"You didn't have to poke her in the butt." Lynn said sourly.
"I doubt you're in a position to lecture me about "roughhousing" others." Renee replied snidely.
The two girls were heading back home, with Lana, inside a bed sheet, being carried over Lynn's shoulder. Lynn tried to ignore Renee and just be happy about the fact that they had caught Lana and she wasn't hurt. The only issue was, they still hadn't heard from Lincoln and were starting to wonder what was up?
"Besides, my original intention was to knock her out with my fist, so in a way, it is fortunate that we stumbled across that animal control officer and his equipment." Renee freely admitted.
"You have issues, you seriously do." Lynn scoffed.
Renee didn't seem offended; she actually seemed far more relaxed than she had been since the dinner incident. "I don't see how that is relevant to our current discussion. I would believe the fact that we caught this brat-"
"Lana!"
Renee rolled her eyes. "Yes, I think the fact that we caught Lana is cause for celebration? Don't you think?"
"Then why aren't you leaping for joy." Lynn asked snidely.
"Believe me, I am on the inside." Renee replied dryly. "But at the risk of being a killjoy-"
"Too late. Way, way too late." Lynn mocked her.
"-we still haven't heard the status on the other two runaways?" Renee continued, unfazed. "Or the one in charge of the retrieval?"
Lynn narrowed her eyes. "Listen here, you're not going to threaten my bro, you he-"
"I wasn't insinuating that. I'm merely pointing out how he hasn't reported back to us about his relatively easy assignment." Renee explained. "We've almost reached the town center and still no call from him, I tried calling him but got no response. Evidently, something went wrong."
Lynn's face fell. She had a point. Why hadn't Lincoln called them? Did Luna and Leni put up a fight? Lynn sort of assumed they would get tossed out of the concert since they had no tickets, and would therefore have no reason to put up resistance? Unless Luna was that terrified of Renee's wrath?
"No way." She tried dismissing it. "There were five of them and Luna only had Leni, who wouldn't want to fight anyway, and the two were chained together. I reckon Linc and his team had the upper hand."
"Or perhaps there was a conspiracy and they all turned on him?"
"Pffft….you're paranoid, ya know that?"
"Do you have a better explanation?" Renee calmly challenged her, making her have second thoughts.
"No way. Lucy worships the ground he walks on, and Luan and Lisa wouldn't backstab him either. Lola would, no doubt about that, but she's-"
"Or maybe they can give us some answers?" Renee looked away.
Lynn glanced in the direction and saw Sam walking past them on the other side of the street with some boy, both wearing SMOOCH t-shirts over their regular clothes.
"This was so rad, dude!" Sam cheered. "I still can't believe I was actually there!"
"You better believe it, babe." Sully shot her a finger gun. "Wanna go for a smoothie? My treat?"
Sam smirked. "Aren't you the charmer?"
"Hey, Sam! Sam!" she heard a vaguely familiar voice and the two turned around to find Lynn running up behind them.
"Hey, Sam? Remember me?" Lynn greeted her, oblivious to the fact that she smelt like ten gallons of sweat.
"Hey, Lynn, was it? What brings you here?" Sam smiled, but her smile faltered as Renee joined her.
"Renee?" she tried to be polite and looked at Sully. "Eh…this is Lynn, one of Luna's many sisters. And Renee, their…..friend…or er…babysitter, I guess?"
Blinking, Sully chuckled with disbelief. "Luna still needs a babysitter?" Sam bumped him in the shoulder and he stopped. "Eh… I mean, how's it hanging? Name's Sully, I'm her date."
"We were just going as friends." Sam insisted, blushing slightly.
"How charming." Renee rolled her eyes. "We do not mean to intrude on your date, believe me, we just wanted to know if you had seen Luna?"
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Seen her? I thought she had a curfew or something, and couldn't go to the concert because of that?"
"And what's in that sack?" Sully pointed at Lynn.
"It's the Louds' laundry." Renee improvised an answer. "It's self-explanatory that their combined laundry couldn't possibly fit in a single washing machine."
"Yeah, yeah, which is why on laundry day, we always split up and visit five different laundromats, so we can keep laundry day to just a day." Lynn played along, chuckling.
"Well, I haven't seen Luna. She couldn't have been at the concert? I told ya, tickets were sold out months ago." Sam shrugged.
"Yeah, but some desperate fans still tried to sneak in without them." Sully shook his head humorously. "They all got caught by the bouncers and tossed into the dumpsters."
Renee looked intrigued. "Dumpsters you say?"
Lincoln was now all alone in the dark, foreboding warehouse. He stopped once he was sure that Lyle wasn't following him and tried to find his bearings. He moved under a small skylight, where he could finally see his own hands, but still could hardly make out anything before him.
He considered turning his flashlight on, but feared that this would give his location away to Lyle. He breathed in and out, trying to calm his nerve.
This was just like a horror film, being trapped in a dark building together with a psycho who was hunting you down and there's nothing you can do besides trying to avoid bumping into the killer and getting bumped off? And Lincoln didn't do so well with horror films, no siree. He hoped that his sisters at least made it out of here, but the nagging feeling that they hadn't scared him to no end.
"Lincoln, it's me." He yelped and jerked back as someone touched him.
He recognized the voice. "Lucy, is that you?"
"Yes." She walked into the light, along with Lisa, who was holding her hand and squinting.
"Thank God…." Lincoln clutched his chest, trying to catch his breath. "Why didn't you get out of here?"
"We got lost in the commotion; we couldn't see where we were going."
Lincoln mentally kicked himself, but then got an idea.
He looked up at the skylight. "I think I know how? That's your exit…." He pointed up and then at a stack of nearby crates. "….you should be able to climb up, and then you'll be safe."
"Aren't you coming with us?" Lisa asked, though she was reluctant to say anything to him, fearing her brother would explode after her repeat offense.
"And what about Luan?" Lucy reminded him. "And Ryan? Where are they?"
Lincoln's face fell, fear etched across it. "I…I don't know. Last time I saw him, Ryan….he tried distracting Lyle and Luan….." he rubbed his neck "…I think she was unconscious."
"I know you're near, freaks!" they all ducked down behind the crates as they heard Lyle's voice echoing through the building. "I can hear you running! I can smell the piss on your crotch, Taylor!"
Lincoln, Lucy and Lisa tried to remain still as Lyle's haunting laughter filled the building. Even Lucy had to admit that experiencing this kind of horror movie-esque situation was a lot less fun when you were a player instead of a spectator.
"Sounds like he found Ryan, and maybe Luan?" Lincoln deduced.
"Then we have to find them." Lucy said immediately.
"No, I have to find them, you two get out of here." Lincoln replied in a stern whisper. "This is serious, girls. You can't waste your one chance to escape."
"You want us to leave them?!" Lucy was flabbergasted.
"No!" Lincoln retorted before lowering his voice. "Keep your voice down, Lyle might be near us. I said I would look for them."
Luan was no question, and Ryan? As much as it tempted Lincoln to leave him behind as the distraction, his own family took priority after all, he couldn't do it in good conscience. Not after how much Ryan had helped them, through thick and thin, through the mundane and the life-threatening, regardless if his altruism was likely only fueled by his desire to schmooze his way into Lynn's life. It was times like this that Lincoln envied the fact that he couldn't be a self-serving sleaze like Ryan.
"How are you going to do it? Lyle took us on like it was nothing on his own terms, but now that he has super strength?" Lucy pointed out and shot a side glare at Lisa.
"I'm not letting you go alone and get yourself killed."
"Lucy, please listen to me. I know what I'm in for…" her brother kneeled in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders "….but all of us going into the hornets' nest is not going to make a difference. If anything, if there are fewer of us, that will increase our chances of escaping. That's the only thing we can do; escape him."
"So you're saying it's hopeless and you have a death wish?" Lucy asked bluntly, not at all reassured by his words. Lincoln stared at her forlorn.
Lisa fidgeted, fearful of saying anything to Lincoln. "If I may make a-"
Lincoln raised his hand to silence her and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Do you think you can make some kind of antidote from just the pebbles, dirt and sewage around this warehouse?" He knew it was a stupid question, but he had to make a point.
"What?" she blinked. "No, of course not. I would need a sample of Lyle's DNA, and a lab and I would have to-"
"Then you're of no use." Lincoln said simply, trying to focus on the matters at hand. "And you don't have your glasses. So, the best thing you can do to help us is to get out of here pronto. End of discussion."
Lisa looked down and nodded. His logic was impeccable.
"And Lucy, you need to guide her. Without her glasses, Lisa can't find her way on her own." He added, hoping it would compel the goth to obey him.
"And what do you plan on doing?" she asked, not seeming to be in any hurry to escape.
"I…I…" Lincoln sighed inwardly, time for a little white lie. "I have a plan."
"What plan?"
"Come out, come out, wherever you are! Come out!"
"Lucy, I don't have time to explain." He shook her by the shoulders, facing her with pleading eyes. "Every second we waste, we waste our chance of escaping. Just trust me on this, please. I know what I'm doing. I always think before I leap, you should know that."
Lucy looked at him silently for a moment, and, after hearing Lyle knock something down in the distance, she reluctantly nodded. The others needed help and she was indeed wasting time.
"Okay…..but promise me you'll be back?" Her tone was no longer stern; it was meek and full of fear and worry.
Lincoln swallowed another lump. Another lie was needed. "Yes….I promise. Just go now."
Searching all the dumpsters around town center would have been a chore, if not for the fact that few dumpsters had a blonde girl covered in garbage standing next to it, with one hand still stuck inside it.
"Ewww…come on, Luna? We gotta get back home and refresh?" Leni whined, unable to bear the smell anymore. How rude of those big guys with shades to toss them into a dumpster, over and over again. What kind of a jerk did that?
All she received was a weak groan from the dumpster.
"Luna, I think you're being a bit ridiculous?" Leni scowled; a rarity for her.
Luna rose up from the dumpster, looking like all life had been drained from her soul. "What's the point, man? My life is over…and eh…I…." she stopped as she looked at Leni and found two glowering figures standing behind her.
"Uh-oh…." Luna said weakly before resuming her glum expression.
Confused, Leni glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Renee? Lynn? You're back! It's so totes-"
She stopped as Renee walked past her and towards Luna, grabbing her by the collar of her shirt.
Instead of utter terror, Luna simply raised her hands in defeat. "Okay, you got me, bra. I give up…" she said in a monotonous voice "….I've surrendered already…"
"You seem awfully nonchalant about this?" Renee questioned.
"Punish me however you want, I don't care. I've got nothing to live for." She slouched. "Just leave Leni out of it, man. She's dumb and I roped her into it."
"You think I'm dumb?" Leni was shocked and looked at her with puppy dog eyes.
Renee was surprised by the rocker's sudden cooperation, but she was too tired to ask questions. It seemed that her failure to attend this idiotic concert of incoherent screaming trying to pass itself off as music had utterly crushed her spirit. Figuring that, Renee honestly felt relieved. One more major problem she could check off for tonight.
"You're being uncharacteristically reasonable, but okay. I hope you like spending the night in a bunker without pillows or blankets?"
"Whateves…."
"Was this all because of that Sully boy?" Lynn scoffed. "Didn't want your best friend moving in on him? You went through all this crap because of a boy? How desperate can you get?"
"Quite right, you would be the knowledgeable expert there?" Renee smirked at her, making her seethe.
"Hey, Lynn?" Leni turned to her younger sister. "Is Lana okay? She seemed a bit….hyperactive last time I saw her. Where is she?"
Lynn scowled and showed her the content of the sack.
Leni gushed at Lana's curled-up form. "OMG! She fell asleep after playing all day in the mud? That's so adorable I could die."
Lynn wanted to sock her but had more important questions bogging her mind. "Where are Lincoln and the others? Did you stage a coup against him?"
"Yes, why aren't they with you?" Renee asked, resuming her cold demeanor.
"Huh?" Luna scratched her head. "Weren't they with you?"
"What?" Lynn's eyes widened. "We sent them to catch you two deserters!"
"I don't remember having desert at the concert?" Leni chimed in obliviously.
"So you haven't seen them?" an irate Renee asked, and they both shook their heads.
"What do you mean you haven't seen them?" Lynn threw her arms up flippantly. "Where else could they have gone to?"
Renee pondered when it hit her. Of course it did. She grumbled, "Ryan…."
"What do you mean?" Lynn narrowed her eyes. "Are you seriously blaming him for this?"
"Do I need to spell it out for you?" Renee said irritably. "I sent Ryan to rondeau with them, and they never made it here? Open your eyes."
"Now listen here!" Lynn snapped when a shrill scream cut their argument short.
The sisters recognized it. "Lola?" Lynn blurted.
Psychotic giggling continued to echo through the warehouse.
"I know you're somewhere near, Ghoul Face!" Lyle laughed as he stalked the aisles. "You can't escape me; I know this place like the back of my hand!"
Hearing no response only made his pulse race. The feeling of dominance, the adrenaline rush he felt from being the hunter stalking his hapless victims was so invigorating!
"You're just making this all the more fun for me, the longer you play hide and seek! Taylor! TAYLOR! Where are you, buddy!"
Still no response, Lyle giggled with childish glee. "I'm gonna get you!" he shouted in a sing-song voice. "Lyle's coming!"
"This way." Ryan and Luan ducked behind a crate, trying to find their bearings. Ryan knew this place; he just had to find the entrance. Easier said than done though when you had to hide from a roided-up lunatic.
"Taylor! Come out and play!"
"Ryan, I'm scared." Luan said meekly as she hugged his chest, shaking uncontrollably.
Ryan shared that sentiment, but wouldn't show it in front of her. In situations like this, it was his gallant duty to be the fearless macho man who protected the terrified damsel.
"We'll get out, just give me a sec." Ryan patted her back, holding her close. He tried to pinpoint where Lyle might be, how far he might be from them, but his loud voice bounced off the metal dome ceiling, amplifying it and making it sound like it was coming from everywhere.
"How?" Luan sniffed. "We don't know where we are?"
"Just shush up and let me think." He whispered to her. "I…I know a thing or two about navigating mazes, and in the dark."
Luan sniffed and held on to him tightly, his presence being the only comfort she had.
"Lincoln? Lucy? Where did they go?" she whispered, unable to keep quiet about it any longer. Not knowing their whereabouts drove her crazy, and she was already struggling to stay calm.
Ryan didn't want to ponder about that. "I'm sure they ran off as soon as the lights went out."
At least that's what he hoped happened, that they had enough common sense to run. Lyle was fixated on him after all, he wouldn't go after them? Unless he bumped into them first?
"How do you know?" she shed tears.
"I…..Lincoln's smart, so is Lucy? Right?" he reasoned. "They would know what to do?"
Luan didn't say anything. She just silently sobbed in his embrace. Ryan felt like dirt for saying this like it was a certainty, but he himself didn't want to believe otherwise.
"C'mon, pipsqueak, you're no idiot? Don't be a hero and don't make me a liar."
"Ugh! Don't think about it! Think about her!" he tried to concentrate on the girl in his embrace, the one companion he had a chance to pull out of this shitty predicament. She felt so weak and frail, only compelling him more to protect her.
He found himself caressing her face. "Just stay calm, I'll get us out of here. I promise."
Not hearing anything from Lyle, Ryan inhaled and made a bold choice. "C'mon." he grabbed Luan's wrist and pulled her after him as he ran across the aisle, quickly ducking behind a stack of boxes.
From there, he spotted a skylight, illuminating another stack of boxes. He vaguely remembered that part of the warehouse. If he recalled correctly…
"Make a right turn, run down the next aisle…." He mumbled to himself. "Yes, the entrance!"
"What are you saying?"
"Shhhhh…." He placed his palm over her mouth.
"Show yourself, you wimpy coward!"
Luan hugged him as Lyle roared.
"Why don't you try and find me, bitch!"
Luan gasped as Ryan actually replied. "Are you bonkers?"
"Shhhh….I know what I'm doing."
Lyle smiled after finally getting a response. "Trying to hide from me? Ha! I'll relish beating you to a bloody pulp!"
Ryan yanked Luan and they ran across another aisle. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch!"
"Ryan, keep quiet." Luan urged him, looking at him like he was mad.
"Is that supposed to be a threat!" they heard Lyle's retort. "I could cave your ugly face in with a flick of my finger! You can't hurt me! I'm all-powerful! Invincible! Your wimpy ass is nothing compared to me!"
The pair stopped at a corner, hiding behind the shelving unit. "Just keep talking, Dumo." Ryan talked to himself before leaning towards Luan. "And now, Lu, you'll get a lesson in roasting idiots."
"You know you're not stronger than me, Lyle!" he shouted. "Didn't you hear, Lizzie? You're not strong, you're just going through roid rage! And the thing about drugs? Like Lizzie said, they wear off quick!"
Lyle growled. "We'll see about that when I rip your spleen out and feed it to you! Show yourself, coward!"
"Would love to, but I have a pretty dame to defend!" Luan blushed, in spite of their situation as Ryan led her through the dark maze.
"And, oh boy, did you piss me off tonight after what you did to her!" Ryan mocked him. "Once you're out of juice, I'm so gonna enjoy dismembering you piece by piece! Even your own momma won't recognize what's left!"
Lyle growled, ready to explode. Even when he had the upper hand, this smug little piece of shit wouldn't give him the satisfaction of showing fear. He still didn't treat him seriously! He would have to teach him a lesson real good.
"And speaking of not doing drugs!" Ryan continued. "Didn't Lizzie mention side effects? What do steroid abusers tend to suffer from? Oh yeah, acne for starters! Well, you're used to that! But hair loss?"
Lyle bit his lip and tentatively touched his head and noticed a bald patch at the back of it.
"And remember my comment about testicle size? I wasn't yanking your chains, dummy! That's another side effect!"
"You can't trick me!"
"Why don't ya take a look?"
Luan couldn't help but snigger at that, while Lyle grew pale and slowly reached down in his pants to see if….
"NOOOOOOO!"
Luan couldn't contain it and giggled uncontrollably, but it didn't last once Lyle roared like a mad animal.
"I'll fucking murder you and your bitch! YOU HEAR ME! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN! DEEEEAAAAD!"
She gulped. "Ryan? You just made him angrier!" she feared for their lives and clutched Ryan's arm.
"Exactly." He nodded, "Which means he'll be even less focused."
They heard their pursuer roaring and toppling things over.
"Meanwhile…" Ryan pointed at a source of light at the end of the aisle they were standing in "….I do believe that's the entrance I came through a.k.a our exit."
Luan beamed with joy, unable to believe her eyes. "You…you did it-"
"Thank me later. Let's blow this dump!" Ryan exclaimed and they ran towards it at full speed, still holding hands.
Escape was imminent, but they stopped dead in their tracks as two crates were pushed out of the way like a gate and a livid Lyle jumped at them. In the blink of an eye, he seized Ryan by his shirt and threw him across the air like a ragdoll. Ryan slammed into a crate and dropped to the floor.
"Ryan!" Luan cried, cowering on the ground in fright.
Lyle's snarl morphed into a grin as he watched Ryan groaning on the floor and laughed.
"My gonads are a small price to pay for ridding the world of you!"
He grabbed Luan by her arm and pulled her into a headlock.
"But! Just to spite you!" he told Ryan who looked up and gaped in horror. "I'm gonna make you watch as I twist her pretty little head!"
Luan cried as his hand gripped her head like a pair of pliers, but right as he was about to make good on his threat, Lyle heard the sound of a driving engine. He looked ahead and gasped as he saw a huge crate carried by a forklift driving towards him. Startled, he let Luan go and she jumped out of the way just in the nick of time as the forklift collided with Lyle.
Ryan saw Lincoln jumping out of it, before the forklift rammed Lyle into a shelving unit.
"Lincoln?" Luan exclaimed incredulously and ran up to him immediately to help him up.
"I'll be…" Ryan got up and staggered towards them, despite every bone in his body aching. "How the hell did you start that thing?"
"I hot-wired it, Lana taught me. Explain later." Lincoln rubbed his head. "Let's go! That won't hold him for long."
"You got that right!" the forklift was pushed back and Lyle stepped out of the crates and boxes, completely unscathed. The others gasped while he grinned manically.
"You should have run when you had the chance, twerp!" he pointed at Lincoln. "Now, I'm gonna…." He stopped as they all heard a rumble.
Ryan, Luan and Lincoln were the first to notice the shelving unit collapsing. Ryan smirked at the sight.
"You might wanna run, Lyle?" He told him as the three backed away and Lyle looked over his shoulder, and his eyes promptly widened.
"Run!" Lincoln yelled and they bolted away while Lyle was quickly devoured by the avalanche of debris. This created a domino effect and every single unit in the building started collapsing.
Outside, Lucy and Lisa waited anxiously for the others' return, when they heard the roar of the avalanche within the warehouse. It was so loud that for a moment, Lucy thought the building would collapse in on itself. Fortunately, it didn't.
"What's going on?" Lisa blurted, while Lucy saw three figures running out of the building, followed closely by a dust cloud. The three stopped a safe distance away from the warehouse and rested on their knees to catch their breath. This was a close shave.
"It's them!" Lucy smiled and ran towards them, pulling Lisa along.
"Are you okay?" she called out.
"Lucy! You're alright!" Luan beamed as she saw her and hugged her. The boys looked at them and smiled.
"I thought you were…." Lucy's voice trailed off and she sniffed in her sister's embrace.
"Are we all reunited? I can't see anyone?" Lisa spoke up.
"Looks like it." Luan chuckled nervously, still shaken.
Lincoln did a headcount. "Wait? Where's Lola?"
The other's looked around and saw no sign of her.
"Lola?" some of them called.
"Meh, that's one loss I can live with." Ryan shrugged nonchalantly and went over to slap Lincoln's back, knocking him off balance.
"I saw her running away, you shouldn't worry. She's probably far away by now." Lucy told her brother, not even pretending to give a hoot about Lola's whereabouts. This was all her fault after all.
"Nice going, Lincaroony! I seriously thought we would bite the dust, but then you came in and flattened that son of a bitch with the forklift." Ryan told him sincerely.
Lincoln erected himself. "I was just-"
"Thank you! You're a real hero!" he was cut off by Luan's tight embrace. "And here I was worrying that Lyle caught you."
"It was nothing, Luan." Lincoln sighed humbly. "He was threatening you."
"Lincoln?" he looked to see Lucy approaching him, growing a small smile.
"I'm sorry I doubted you." she nodded and he smiled back awkwardly. He totally had no plan and just improvised on the spot when he ran across Lyle attacking Luan and Ryan, but why ruin the moment?
"Hey…..it's nothing. I wasn't sure my plan would work either…"
"I hate to ruin the mood, but can someone clarify what exactly happened with Lyle? Has he been incapacitated?" Lisa asked.
"Him? Oh, we kinda tipped one of those giant shelves, the others fell like dominos and they collapsed on ol'Monobrow." Ryan shrugged.
Lucy looked stunned for second before glancing back at the warehouse. "Did he die?" she asked with a small smile.
Lincoln's face fell, as it dawned on him that he may have just inadvertently killed a guy.
"Oh…" Ryan rubbed his chin, looking at the warehouse as well. "Who knows, doesn't seem like made it?"
"You really think that?" Luan asked.
He exhaled and turned to the siblings. "Alright, guys. We were never here, got it? We never met a Lyle Owen and we never saw this warehouse. This will be our little secret."
"Good riddance." Lucy said coldly, still watching the warehouse.
"We need to get our story straight, but first…." Ryan looked at Lisa specifically "….should Pinky start blabbing anything about this to anyone, or if anyone comes asking, you can use that hypno ray of yours to make them forget about it, right? To make up for giving us this little problem in the first place?"
Lisa wilted, and looked down in shame. "I….that invention was destroyed while we were fighting over that letter-"
"Now, now, I know what eggheads like you are like." Ryan cut her off impatiently. "Whenever you build something, you always keep a spare copy in storage." He stepped closer to her and leaned down menacingly.
His tone and demeanor changed. "If not, you better goddamn build one fast if you don't want me to strangle you for nearly getting me killed a second time!"
Lisa stepped back while Lincoln grabbed his arm. "Take it easy."
"What do you mean "a second time"?" Luan asked before blinking with realization. "Wait? Does that have something to do with the zombie thing you mentioned? That wasn't a joke-"
"Guys, look!" Lucy spoke up, pointing at the warehouse.
The others looked and soon heard the sound of debris being tossed around. The sound made their blood run cold. It couldn't' be?
"You can't be serious?" Ryan clutched his head. "That son of a bitch is alive?"
Lincoln grimaced. This was another comic cliché, the bad guy seemingly being vanquished only to then pop back up unscathed, signaling that the fight wasn't over. He despised that cliché.
Out of the wreckage, Lyle slowly walked out and stepped into the moonlight, now sporting even more zits than before, along with a shiny bald head.
"You losers thought that would stop me!" he shouted. "How cute!"
"Run!" Lincoln yelled and gestured at the gate.
"Yes, for once you're right." Ryan quipped nervously. They made a beeline at the gate, with Lucy pulling Lisa along. Lyle laughed and spotted a nearby pile of steel bars.
"Ah-ah! You're going nowhere!" He grabbed one, lifted it with one hand and threw it like a javelin.
"Look out!" Lincoln cried and the group scattered as the projectile pierced through the ground, standing up like a flagpole.
Lyle laughed, this was so much fun! "Let's play skew a freak! You're "it"!" With that he continued throwing his oversized javelins one after the other.
"Ah, stick one up your ass, cuz your aim sucks!" Ryan shouted as he narrowly dodged another projectile.
As he ran for cover, Lincoln tripped and saw the last projectile hurling towards him. He screamed but was pulled out of the way by Ryan as the bar dug deep into the ground, and was dragged behind a rusted forklift.
Lyle pouted as he ran out of spears but quickly perked up and cracked his knuckles. It was more fun to snap their necks with his own bare hands!
The girls hid behind the rusty trailer of an old truck, panting heavily.
"Oh, God….I can't take this no more!" Luan cried and clutched her head, feeling like she was about to faint.
Lucy looked around. "Where are Lincoln and Ry-"
"Peekaboo!" they yelped and looked up to see Lyle crouching on top of the trailer. Backed up against the fence, they had nowhere to run.
"Now, which one of you wants to be the bait!"
"Please, leave us alone!" Luan's eyes watered. Grinning, Lyle jumped down, causing the girls to fall back. He walked up to Luan and seized her by the face.
"Keep it up, sweetheart. Your resistance just gives me more thrills!"
Still paralyzed with fear, Lincoln caught his breath and tried pulling himself back together behind the forklift.
"Can you save the "being frozen with fear" thing for later? I'm not gonna be your pack mule again." Ryan asked sardonically.
"I'm fine…" Lincoln insisted and stood up on wobbly legs. "Where are my sisters?"
Lucy's scream answered that for him. "Lucy?!" the two blurted and looked to see Lyle standing on the trailer, and holding Lucy in the air while pinning Luan down under his foot.
Lyle soon spotted them and grinned. "You boys come here this instant, or the emo brat gets it. Three….
"Lyle, don't!" Luan screamed.
"….two…." he raised the goth higher.
"Let her go!" Lincoln ran at him in a blind panic.
"Poor choice of words, Ace!" Lyle laughed and threw her down.
"No!" Lincoln jumped and caught her, their combined weight made them crash and Lincoln hugged her tightly as they tumbled around, ending with him landing on his back and her on top of him.
"Are you okay?" he asked and she just stared at him, wheezing rapidly.
Looking past her, he saw Lyle leap into the air and towards them with his leg extended.
Lincoln rolled out of the way as Lyle's heel slammed into the ground, creating a small crater, and quickly pushed Lucy away.
"Run!" he ordered her and dug his hand into the dirt. As Lyle looked at him he was pelted in the eyes.
"Catch me if you can!" Lincoln yelled and made a break for it.
Lyle wiped the mud off his face and grinned exuberantly. The hunt was on again!
But suddenly, he felt dizzy and nearly lost balance. Shaking his head, the feeling soon disappeared and he brushed it off.
"You're mine, Acey!" he called out to Lincoln and gave chase.
Panting, Lincoln rummaged through the junk lying around the building for anything to defend himself. He found half a wooden board and threw it at Lyle.
He caught it with ease and snapped it in two. "That was pretty desperate." He chuckled and advanced towards him.
Lincoln backed away, looking for anything else to use as a weapon and picked up a broken wall mirror.
"Y'know, I think I underestimated you, twerp. The forklift? That was pretty crafty. Too bad I'm invincible now, so why don't you cut the pleasantries and let me pop your head off? That way you won't have to watch me doing the same to your sisters."
Lincoln glowered. "I won't let you hurt them!"
Lyle erupted with laughter. "And what ya gonna do about it? Cry like a baby! Stab me with that? I'll just heal up in a sec!"
Lincoln sweated as he came nearer. "No….but…I can show you what you look like right now!"
Lyle made a face. "What do you mean?"
"Well…look!" Lincoln nervously lifted the mirror. "Don't you see what the serum did to you?"
Lyle gasped as he saw his own bald, pimple-ridden reflection and snatched the mirror from him, allowing Lincoln to run.
"My face! My beautiful face!"
Lincoln ran but came to a screeching halt as he found himself in front of a sewage trench. He looked back and barely dodged being decapitated by a spinning glass frisbee flying towards him, making it plunge into the sewage. Lyle came storming towards him, teeth bared and fists clenched, but also looking a bit dizzy and disoriented.
Lincoln tried jumping into the sewage but was caught midair by the back of his head and yanked back.
Lincoln was forced to kneel and Lyle seized his head with his palms, applying pressure to it.
"Ah! Stop, please!" he cried, making Lyle grin.
"You've been an annoying distraction long enough, Ace! Time to put you out of my misery!" without hesitance he applied more pressure on Lincoln's head, making him cry in agony as he felt his skull being crushed in Lyle's vice-like grip.
A thrust from Ryan's switchblade put a stop to that, and Lyle screamed from the sharp pain in his back and let Lincoln drop. Ryan ducked from his swipe and slashed Lyle across the face.
He screamed but quickly turned back towards him, grinning manically, but by then Ryan had managed to hook his foot around Lyle's shin and tip him off balance. Lyle screamed as he leaned back and plummeted into the trench.
"You might have super strength but you're still the same old klutz." Ryan quipped before turning to the groaning Lincoln.
"Your melon is free of cracks, right?" he asked as he helped him up.
"No jokes…please…" Lincoln mumbled while rubbing his head "….run…."
"Lincoln?" his sisters arrived. "Are you okay?" Luan asked.
"What's going on?" Lisa cried, still having to be led by Lucy.
"We have to run…." He said weakly when they heard a splash and saw Lyle emerge from the sewage, the goop pouring down his body until it revealed his disfigured face.
"You can't escape me!" he yelled happily, making them run as fast as they could.
Giggling, Lyle crawled up and chased after them. "Come on, let's end this feud tonight!"
Fastening his pace he leaped thirty feet, right over them, and blocked their path.
"I said, come on!"
As they halted, Lyle grabbed the rusty forklift and strenuously lifted it up, making them back away.
"You losers still don't get it! Do you! You're not leaving this place alive! You hear me!"
The group ran in the opposite direction. "I'll paint this place with your blood!" Lyle screamed as he threw the forklift, making them scatter again as they jumped out of its way and it bounced off the ground and tore through the wired fence.
They all hit the ground and as they tried getting up, the girls saw Lyle lift Lincoln and Ryan by their necks.
"Still think I'm a joke, tough guy!" Lyle laughed at the struggling Ryan.
"You? A bald, zit-faced prick with tiny nards and drenched in liquid shit?" Ryan choked "Whatever gave you that idea?"
Growling with fury, Lyle started strangling them when something happened. His head started spinning, and instead of seeing two about to be suffocated victims, he started seeing four.
"What's going on…." he mumbled and shook his head, as a searing pain coursed through his cranium, making him scream.
"What's happening?" Ryan gasped for air.
Lincoln's eyes widened. "It's…ugh…it's wearing off?"
"Agh!" Lyle dropped them and clutched his head. Feeling lightheaded and nauseated, he fell on his knees.
"Finally!" Ryan stood up first, eager to finally give Lyle his just deserts.
"Get back from him, who knows what might happen now!" Lincoln urged him and pulled him back.
"What happens now?" Lyle suddenly looked up, breathing heavily. "What happens is I kill your asses!"
"Guys, over here!" the boys saw Luan and Lucy waving at them.
They didn't need to be told twice and bolted away from Lyle, who clumsily stood up and gave chase, only to suddenly stoop and clutch his gut, as the agonizing pain now coursed through his lower body.
Lincoln stopped to observe this, before catching up with the others behind the old truck.
"You know this hiding place ain't worth shit?" Ryan snarked.
"You're okay?" Luan sighed with relief.
"We won't be for long if we don't get out of here." Lucy said.
"How will we get past him?" Luan asked.
"We don't have to." Lincoln said, earning everyone's attention. "Didn't you see him recoiling in pain?"
Lisa's eyes widened. "That's it! The serum has run its course!"
"Are you sure?" Lucy asked.
"He looked like he had a seizure or something when I owned him for the umpteenth time." Ryan shrugged.
They suddenly heard the trailer shaking.
"Where are you?" Lyle called for them from the other side, woozy and disoriented.
"Really? He experienced that while in a state of anger?" Lisa asked, her mind racing. "Perhaps an adrenaline rush helps counteract the deteriorating foreign enzymes in his bloodstream faster-"
"Death by hackling? Sounds like my kind of gig." Ryan smirked and leaped ahead and whistled.
"Wait! That was just a speculation-"
"Hey, Baldy! Over here!" he waved his arms and Lyle shot him a death glare. Ryan noted that his eyes were no longer green. A good sign. Now to put Lizzie's hastily made theory to the test?
"What's wrong? Getting tired? You junkies shouldn't be strolling out this late. Who will pity you enough to drag your sorry ass back home!"
Roaring with rage, Lyle ripped off a tire and hurled it at Ryan, who dodged it and saw Lyle charging at him, only to stop halfway and rest on his knees, panting and sweating profusely.
"Guys, he's burning up!"
The others looked and saw it from themselves. An idea sprang to Lincoln.
"This is our chance! Split up and keep him distracted!"
"What do you mean?" Luan asked but Lincoln ran ahead.
"You call that a throw? Weak sauce! My gramps has better aim than you, you drugged-up dipshit!" Ryan laughed, causing the enraged Lyle to charge at him, but he was hit in the head with a rock.
"Over here, Sewage Breath!" Lincoln flailed his arms.
Snarling, Lyle chased after him, only to be pelted in the head by a mudball.
"Don't wash it off; it will cover your bald spot!" Luan mocked him from a distance.
Lyle roared, dizzy and disoriented, then felt another wave of pain in his head and clutched it. Lincoln started smiling, it was working! He was burning out every time he got mad.
If they kept this up…..
"Agh!" Lyle cried as he was hit in the head by another rock, courtesy of Lucy. The four surrounded him from a distance, forming a circle.
"You little shit!" he growled at the goth. "I'll kill you!" He chased after her but was hit in the head by a glass bottle which shattered on impact.
"Aw, did that hurt!" Ryan taunted him.
"I don't feel pain! I'm the strongest one there is!"
"Pffftt….don't make me laugh!" Ryan snorted. "You ain't no tough guy! Beating up little girls and wimpy dorks!"
Lincoln wanted to take offense at the remark but instead backed him up. "Yeah, you can beat me up! Big whoop! So can most of the student body at my school! Without that strength serum you're nothing, and you know it!"
"A loud-mouthed poser, that's all you are!" Ryan shouted. "You know you're not strong, you never were. You're nothing more than sad, miserable little coward with the face of a chimp and a big dumb caterpillar on your forehead!"
"You just pick on little kids cuz you can't even beat a GIRL your own age, you big sissy!" Lincoln shouted.
"SHUT UP!" Lyle roared and tried picking up a steel bar he found in his path, but upon lifting it he felt his strength ebbing away.
"No…" he croaked, feeling dizzy again "….no…."
"A miserable bully who can't even lift a pole!" Lincoln shouted. "You're so pathetic it's actually kinda funny!"
Lyle's anger brewed inside of him, but that only made him feel weaker, smaller, feebler. He tried lifting the bar, but his muscles started contorting, as did his skin.
"Agh! What's happening?" he cried and flailed around, every fiber in his body feeling like it was on fire. "AHHHHHH!"
"Now's our shot!" Ryan exclaimed and charged at Lyle, uppercutting him and making him stumble back. Lincoln grabbed a plank of wood and joined in, whacking Lyle in the head.
"You leave my family alone!" he roared. "You won't lay a paw on them ever again!"
He hit him again and again, anger and unadulterated hatred brewing inside of him. Luan found a plank as well and joined the fun.
"This is for kissing me!" she stuck him in the throat and then in the head. "And this is for, Lucy!"
"I can avenge myself!" the goth shouted and clocked him in the head with a rock.
"Ah! No! You can't do this to me!" Lyle cried when his skin started bubbling and his bloodshot eyes bulged out of his sockets, as his head snapped up and he screamed in agony while clutching it.
The group stepped back. Luan felt nauseous while Lucy looked at the spectacle in awe.
"Gross…."
"Wicked….."
Lyle fell back and continued screaming and contorting on the ground before going completely limp.
The others watched him silently for a few moments. "Is it over? What happened? I heard screaming?" Lisa asked nervously as she stumbled her way towards them.
Ryan grimaced and approached their fallen foe, smirking. "I think we just bullied the poor bastard to death…" he crouched down and pulled Lyle up by his shirt. The bully moaned weakly.
"You better have some super strength left, pal. Cuz I'll make you rue the day you ever crossed my-"
"Duhhh…duh…I know u….?" Lyle mumbled as he opened his eyes, drool dripping from his mouth.
Ryan made a face, staying wary. Lyle looked at him oddly then glanced to his left and his right.
"Wut….wut am ah doin' here…..?" he drawled like a drunkard. The others encircled him.
He looked back at Ryan, confusion evident on his face. "Am…am I dreamin'? Who u guyz?"
Grunting, Ryan let him go and he hit his head on the ground.
"Wut….I do?" Lyle babbled.
"Unless…unless he's trying to pull the wool over our eyes, I think he's suffering from amnesia?" Lisa deduced.
"Well, doesn't that sound familiar?" Ryan asked her scathingly before looking back at Lyle.
"You don't remember anything?" Lincoln asked him cautiously.
"Remember what?" Lyle asked dumbly, trying to focus his eyes. "Whatz with the grampa hair?"
"He looks even more brain-dead than usual." Lucy commented.
"Indeed, looks like those roids scrambled his pee brain?" Ryan scoffed when they heard sirens.
"Uh-oh!" Ryan stood up. "It's the Man. Let's beat it."
The five ran away, leaving Lyle lying there as he was soon spotted by Officer Tucker and his partner.
Lyle hissed and flinched as the cop's flashlight fell on him.
"Well, lookie here? What are you doing soliciting at this hour, son?" Tucker didn't really know what "soliciting" meant but it sounded cool and incriminating. "Are you responsible for that ruckus we heard?"
Lyle looked at him, babbling incoherently.
"Hey? Ain't you that kid who went on a rampage through town? There's plenty of folks complaining about the property damage you've caused."
"Propethy damage?" Lyle babbled, still woozy.
"He does fit the description?" Tucker's partner noted. "Bad teeth, acne, a unibrow? But they said he had brown hair?"
"Meh, I have a bottle of beer and reruns of Cheers waiting for me back home, he's close enough for me." Tucker shrugged and grabbed Lyle by his shirt. "You're coming with us, you hooligan!"
"Lyle in cuffs? I thought I'd never see the day." Ryan quipped as he and the others watched Lyle's arrest from a safe distance behind the fence.
"Does….does this mean he's gone for good?" Lucy asked me.
Ryan shrugged. "Don't get your hopes up too fast, the justice system is rigged. Then again, if the damage I saw is any indicator, he might have a date with juvie after all, and he sure as hell can't afford a fancy lawyer."
"I hope he rots there for all eternity." Lucy grimaced.
"So, he'll be behind bars?" Luan chuckled nervously, her breathing quickening.
"Are you okay, Luan?" Lincoln asked her.
She let out another nervous chuckle. "As okay as I can be given this…." She rested on her knees. "So, the danger has passed?"
The others looked at each other. "It would seem so?" Ryan shrugged.
"Good…" she nodded, her eyelids dropping. "Then I'm out…"
She fainted on the spot. Ryan caught her and placed her down.
"Luan?" Lincoln kneeled in front of her.
Lucy grabbed her wrist and looked for a pulse. "She's fine, just fainted. Can't blame her."
"And who is to blame for your excursion?" a new voice joined in.
"Renee?!" they all blurted and saw her standing in front of them, holding Lola by the ear. Next to her was Lynn, carrying a bag, along with Luna and Leni, still chained together.
"Guys?!" Lynn gasped after seeing the battered and bruised Lincoln and Ryan. They looked like they've been through hell and back. "What happened to you?!" she kneeled next to her brother to check out his face.
"And what happened to her?" she looked at Luan.
"Fainted." Lucy answered.
"Yes, what happened?" Renee asked coldly as she grabbed her brother by the arm and lifted him up. "Care to explain?"
Ryan sighed. "Lemme guess? I can't weasel my way out of this. Whatever I say, you won't believe a single word unless I tell the truth, huh?" he said monotonously, knowing no lies could trick his sister, not with the way he and Lincoln looked.
She just narrowed her eyes, which effectively answered his question. He chuckled exasperatedly. "Of course, nothing gets by you, does it?"
"Save the quips for when we can speak in private." Renee said and turned to the others. "We're all together again? Good! Grab the one with the braces and get moving. We're heading home this instant!"
Ryan, Lynn and Lincoln exchanged worried glances.
Leni screamed as she was dropped into the bunker. Luna soon followed, but she didn't make so much as a peep.
"Good night, you miscreants." Renee said her farewells and grabbed the hatch.
"Wait?" Leni asked. "Why are we-" the hatchet was closed before she could finish.
Ryan smiled gleefully. Oh, how rewarding it was to see people like Leni get what's coming to them. "Karma's a bitch."
Lincoln would have protested that this was too cruel, but he honestly didn't have the energy left to argue after everything that happened tonight. They were pretty much busted anyway.
"Don't worry guys…" Ryan reassured him and Lynn. "I can hold my own against her verbal and physical smackdowns, just stay by my side."
"Physical?" Lincoln asked worriedly.
"That's reassuring…." Lynn snarked. Him and her were holding Luan by her legs and arms respectively, and carried her towards the front door.
Lola would have tried fighting Renee, but the grip the latter had on her ear was paralyzing. Renee had perfected that trick over many years, and Lola had no option but to follow her.
"You're going to bed now." Renee told her. "The rest of you? You're also going to bed, except for you, Ryan, and your two goons. We're going to have a long and serious discussion."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can we at least take a shower first?" Ryan asked snidely, not letting her put him down.
"No." she passed by them and unlocked the door. "I'll call the doctor, and while he checks on Lana, you three are going to sit down and we'll-" she stopped upon seeing the state of the living room.
Her eyes widened, as did the others', as they saw a smashed pet cage at the base of the stairs, a broken window, the telephone lying on the floor, feathers and the shredded couch pillows they came from littering the floor, a smashed wall picture and the wall paper ripped in several places.
"What happened here?" Lincoln clutched his face.
Renee narrowed her eyes as she noted the pet cage. "Marceline!"
The cat peeked from within the kitchen and saw Renee storming towards her. She swiftly dove between her legs and ran at her master, forcing him to drop Luan as she jumped into his arms.
"What? What?" Luan woke up with a start and Lynn gladly let her plop down.
"Marcy, did you escape from your cage?" a bewildered Ryan asked before smiling with approval. "Why you sneaky-"
"What did you do, you mangy little monster!" Renee yelled, prompting Ryan to shield his cat.
"Wow, wow. Back off! Who said she did this?"
"He's right. Subject Marceline is not accountable. For the state of the. Living room. I can testify."
"Fenton?" Lisa recognized his voice, even though all she saw was a red and purple blur coming closer.
"Oh, I forgot about little Freddy the Fox." Ryan snarked to the others.
Fenton walked in from the kitchen, carrying a broom and a dustpan. "I was hoping to finish. Repairing the damage. Before your return."
A spin kick from Renee sent him slamming into the wall.
"What the hell is that thing!" Renee exclaimed.
Fenton's eyes turned red. "Alert. Alert. New intruder detected. Terminate."
"No, Fenton! Hold your fire!" Lisa yelled and jumped between them. "She's with us."
"Master Lisa. I'm located to your right." Fenton told her, his eyes returning to normal.
"I know, you twit. I lost my glasses!" she faced him properly.
"Easily fixable." Fenton retrieved a spare pair of glasses from his stomach storage and extended his arm to place them on Lisa's nose. Renee went slack-jawed.
"Vision restored." The fox-bot continued. "I apologize for leaving my. Hibernation without your permission. But I was alerted to the presence. Of two intruders. That had to be dealt with."
"Intruders?" Lincoln stepped up. "You mean burglars?" For God's sake, couldn't they catch a break!
Lisa calmed down. "In-intruders, uh? I guess that explains the broken window and the other damage-" she stopped upon hearing Renee clear her throat.
"What is that?" Lisa gulped and tentatively turned to her.
"What. Is. That thing?" Renee repeated.
Lincoln rubbed his forehead, while Ryan snickered to Lynn. "This is gonna be good."
Lisa fiddled with her fingers. "Eh….did I fail to mention that I am a supremely gifted child prodigy with an abnormally high IQ for my age and a certified genius who builds her own inventions in her spare time?" she chuckled awkwardly. "Oppsss…."
Renee just looked at her slack-jawed.
"Maybe we should give her some time to let this sink in, guys." Ryan whispered to the others, when they heard barking. Very familiar barking.
"What?" Lincoln blurted.
"It can't be…" Lynn said when they both saw him, standing in front of them and wagging his tail.
"Charles?"
"Charles?" Lincoln repeated.
"He isn't dead?" Lucy asked.
"Woof!" Charles was happy to see them.
It's fitting how this chapter came out in the wake of the latest LunaxSam episode (What was its name? Who the frick cares XD) becoming one of the show's lowest viewed episodes, showing that not even LGB pandering can make up for poor writing and save this trainwreck of a show from its fledgling ratings, and to be frank, I'm glad to see the show getting what it had coming. So why is Sam straight here? Besides me not caring about the paring, it ties into the overarching theme that the sisters need to learn, that life doesn't bend to their will. On that same token, you can bet that Lola is going to face shit for what she has done with Lyle, and her delusional and spoiled outlook on life might finally be challenged.
And lastly, about Lyle. From the get-go, he has been portrayed as a joke of a villain, something that has been worked into his character, as he seems very aware about his own inadequacy but will always deny it in the most violent and destructive ways possible. So when I brought him back for this mini-story, I knew I had to give the guy a break and make him a more effective baddie, which I believe I did by showing that he could pull off a scheme that landed Ryan in trouble, (with Maggie's help of course) and if all else fails, he could always get a literal power boost XD That said, I never intended for his feud with the protagonists to wear out its welcome, so I followed the "rule of three", where I showed him make three attempts to exact vengeance, all of them failed but each one gave the protagonists much more of a challenge, and the last one brought about his own undoing. I almost felt bad for him at the end of this, but then I remembered that he is an unhinged sadist who kidnaps people and beats on defenseless little girls. So as the title implies, Lyle is going to be taken out of the picture for the indefinite future, due to numerous legal issues he'll have to attend to XD Who will step up to be next big bad? Kathleen? Someone else? We'll see.
