Lincoln strode doggedly towards the gates of Dairyland Amoosement Park, his every step conveying purpose and determination far beyond what seemed appropriate for a boy his age. He approached his destination with the resolve of one who had seen battle, and while not having developed a taste for it, was willing to take up arms one more for a cause that was sufficiently just. He maintained this energy until at last, he had reached the entrance, the site upon which his greatest trial to date would commence. then, with a crisp, 180-degree pivot, Lincoln Loud strode doggedly in the exact opposite direction, no determination lost in the transition.

Lincoln, I'm worried about you. Spoke Seven as Lincoln continued to march away from the site upon which his greatest trial to date would commence.

"Why?" Lincoln murmured, mindful of his volume. The surrounding area was in a constant state of cacophony, a veritable symphony of noise, figurative and literal, each intrinsically linked to its own story, one among many that would form the mosaic that was the overall tale of Dairyland on this day. Accordingly, few were paying any sort of mind to the fast-walking young boy, seemingly talking to himself, but Lincoln felt there was a basic degree of paranoia that was acceptable in most situations, and further felt that he was well under that allotment on this particular occasion.

"Because I'm going on a date with a girl who's already tried to kidnap me, destroying my house in the process?" He continued. "Because I'm doing this in spite of the fact that she's clearly working for the big evil thing we're fighting against? Because there's a very real possibility that this is all some kind of setup for them to get their hands on me?"

No. Seven replied as Lincoln pivoted on his heel once more and began quickly walking back to the Dairyland entrance at full steam. Because you've been walking this route for several minutes now with an intensity that suggests some sort of medical deficiency. In such an event, I was given explicit instructions by Ms. Luna to inform you that you need to 'chill out'.

"...Oh." Lincoln's steps faltered as his pace began to slow, eventually coming to a full stop. He raised his arm, thoughtfully regarding the shining silver band attached to it. "You think I might be overthinking this?"

Absolutely not. Came the device's immediate reply, and Lincoln winced at the implied reprimand. You just provided a number of entirely valid reasons as to why you should be on your guard today. However, while I would advise caution...

"Yes?" Lincoln prompted once a few moments of silence had passed.

Lincoln smirked, as he reluctantly turned his attention back to world around him, unwilling to lose this rare advantage over the normally unflappable alien machine. And then...he quickly forgot about the conversation, his arm falling limply to his side.

Patience. Seven grumbled. There are a lot of variables to consider. I wouldn't be a very good advisor if I gave you bad advice.

"It stands to reason," Lincoln said, neutrally.

Quite. Now, as I was saying, while I would advise caution, as I would under any circumstances, it is my...contention—

"Is that like having a gut feeling when you have no actual guts?" Lincoln quipped.

It is my conclusion, based on the empirical evidence available to me...that on this specific occasion, you may not have anything to fear from miss Maggie.

Lincoln squinted at the device, examining its surface for any sort of obvious damage, or defects it might have suffered.

"I'm surprised." He confessed once he determined there didn't seem to be anything physically wrong with his companion. "I figured you'd be the most opposed to this."

I was. Seven answered. Am. It's difficult. She serves the Great Enemy, the being which I was specifically created to combat. And yet...there is something different about the way this invasion is being conducted.

"Meaning what?" Lincoln pressed.

Meaning I need more data. Seven grumbled. Speaking of which, you should probably stop talking to yourself and start paying attention to your surroundings.

"Lincoln?"

The pale-haired boy immediately abandoned his conversation and spun around, his fight or flight instincts kicking in, already preparing him for whichever option proved most viable.

There, striding through the crowd of passersby was Maggie, raven locks and alabaster skin wrapped up in a sundress the color of midnight. It was a simple outfit, but she wore it well; ample curves embraced tenderly by the black fabric, the occasional but tantalizing flash of her ivory legs as the breeze would occasionally kick up the hem of her dress, and that smile. In his short time with her, Lincoln had come to know Maggie as a girl who didn't find it within herself to smile often, preferring to keep her emotions held fast to her chest. As she approached, her normally guarded expression slipped away, replaced by a smile as radiant as any he'd ever seen. Hope, anticipation, and much to his secret relief, no small amount of anxiousness warred for position on the older girl's face. Nevertheless, above all else, she seemed...happy, and that did much to put the boy's own nerves at ease. They were together in this, in more ways than one.

As Maggie closed the distance, Lincoln held out his hand to the raven-haired girl. "Shall we?" He asked, trying his best to keep his voice steady. Much to his relief, her answer was swift, and without hesitation. Maggie snatched his hand in with her own, and tightly threaded her delicate fingers with his.

"Let's." She said, simply and without room for argument. Then, hand in hand, the pair headed towards the gates of Dairyland Amoosement Park.

Lucy Loud wasn't happy. This wasn't an unusual state of being for the young Goth, as her interests called for a fairly specific degree of unhappiness in her life, a mixture which, axiomatically, would result in a very distinct subset of Goth-flavored joy. However, this called for a carefully curated variety of cultivated misery and watching her older brother treat another woman that she herself wished to be treated, was not the sort of suffering she aspired towards. Particularly when the other woman in question was not too dissimilar to herself in both appearance and temperament.

Almost of their own volition, Lucy's traitorous eyes flicked down to her nonexistent bust line, and she let out a quiet, non-enunciated sigh. Well, not too dissimilar in most respects, at least. At least this was fairly clear-cut evidence that Lincoln was attracted to dark-haired girls who didn't spend much time in the sun. She just needed to increase her milk intake. Considerably.

"Excuse me, miss. I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to be—"

"No thank you."

Lucy twitched in irritation and glanced behind her. She'd had her misgivings about bringing Leni along on this mission. For one, Lucy just worked better alone. This was equal parts a scouting and surveillance mission. It was important to keep an eye on Lincoln and make sure that nothing especially untoward occurred on this date. Specifically, another attempt to abduct her brother. However, the raven-haired seductress currently occupying his thoughts had demonstrated a strange propensity towards leaning over and giving Lincoln an eyeful of her expansive cleavage with an alarming degree of frequency, so Lucy had taken it upon herself to expand her mission parameters to include ensuring that particular behavior went no further. For Lincoln's own good, of course. She was fairly certain her sisters would agree with her assessment.

"Hey there, pretty lady. How's about you and me—"

"Aw, how sweet. But no."

Again, Lucy twitched violently. The problem was the surveillance called for discretion. And while she herself was a master of blending into a crowd—

"Why hello—"

"Nope!"

Leni was emphatically not.

Lucy pivoted in her seat, trying simultaneously to keep one eye on the happy(?) couple, while also addressing the adjacent problem. To her credit, Leni had tried. The fashionista had, wholly of her own initiative, decided to actually wear the sunglasses that normally rested upon her head, unused. And without her trademarked headgear, Lucy was forced to grudgingly admit that the older girl didn't quite look like herself.

"Um—"

"Thank you! But no thank you!"

The problem was that there wasn't much you could do to change the fact that Leni Loud was a blonde, statuesque bombshell. And having a girl like that sit all by herself, unaccompanied by any potential paramour seemed like an open invitation for any and all potential suitors to try their luck. The line to ask Leni out had grown so long, and so fast, that Lucy was beginning to worry that park attendees had mistaken it for the line to a new ride or something. Which...it was, after a fashion, she supposed. Just not one that was open to the general public.

"I'm going ahead, Leni." She said as she watched the latest victim of Leni's charms walk dejectedly away, only to quickly have his spot filled by the next hopeful.

"Aw." Leni protested, pouting cutely. "But I thought we were gonna be incognita together, Lucy."

"Incognito." Lucy corrected her for the thousandth time that day.

"Gazuntite," Leni replied, completing the ritual.

Lucy rolled her eyes but pressed forward anyway. "We are, Leni. But there's only so much we can observe from here. I'm going to get closer."

"Want me to come with?" Asked the blonde, seemingly oblivious to the pair of suitors that were now trying to get her attention. Both of them girls.

"No." Came Lucy's flat reply, a bit harsher than she'd intended. "We need multiple vantage points on our target. You continue to observe from here while I try to shadow them a bit more closely."

This seemed to pass the Leni test. "Okay." She said, nodding sagely. "Then I'll keep watching Linky from here."

"Fantastic," Lucy grumbled, practically leaping from her seat and diving into the crowd, surrendering to its natural ebb and flow as it brought her closer towards her prey.

"Hiya!" Lincoln yelled as he let fly another baseball. "Dangit." He grumbled, as once again, the boy failed to hit his target.

Lucy had been watching this pattern repeat for some time now. Lincoln had promised his date that he would win her a prize from one of the carnival-styled gaming booths that littered the area. One of those games where you tried to knock down a stack of bottles, in spite of the fact that the game was almost certainly rigged against him. Unfortunately, Lincoln had yet to earn the opportunity to be properly scammed. Lucy loved her big brother with all her heart. He was kind and brave, and his frequent training sessions with Lynn had cultivated a lean, athletic body that had made its way into many of the young girl's dreams. However, for all his progress as a defender of humanity—

"Dangit!"

She sighed. Lincoln Loud still couldn't throw to save his life. He'd failed, quite miserably, if she was being completely honest. And it was a testament to just how much Maggie seemed to like her brother, that the older girl continued to dutifully stand by and cheer the boy on. It was getting to the point where Lucy was seriously considering sneaking into the booth and leveling the playing field a bit. Fortunately, she didn't need to.

As Lincoln reached into his pocket, undoubtedly to fish out a few more dollars and request another try, Maggie stepped forward and gently placed one hand upon the boy's shoulder.

"Let me try this time." Said Maggie, so softly that Lucy was barely able to hear her. The older girl turned to the portly man who was running the booth, reaching into her purse as she did so. "I'd like to play this time."

"On the house." Said the man, holding up one hand to forestall any payment. He didn't even bother to try hiding the bemusement upon his face. "Your boy's put enough money into this thing. Go ahead and try your luck, miss."

"I won't be needing any." Still, Maggie nodded gratefully to the man, before picking up the balls that were offered to her and taking her spot. Lucy leaned forward with interest. For all her...physical attributes, Maggie didn't strike Lucy as being particularly athletic. Certainly not more than her brother. So she was very curious as to just how the older girl expected to—

"Pew." Maggie intoned, forming a gun with her left hand and pointing it at the stack of bottles. To Lucy's surprise, a small blast of obsidian energy erupted from her outstretched digit. It flew directly towards her target—

KABOOM

—And exploded. Mercifully small enough that no damage was done to the booth itself, beyond a few singe marks on the interior. The bottles, however, had been vaporized. Maggie turned back to the man running the game and held out her hands expectantly.

"You...uh." The man blinked slowly, seemingly trying to process this turn of events. "You kind of blew up my bottles, kid."

"I did." Maggie nodded. "But I also knocked them over." Silently, the buxom girl indicated a few bits of bottle which seemed to have survived the blast, albeit still smoldering. The man chewed his lip thoughtfully.

Finally, he shrugged. "Eh, fair enough." And with that, he turned to the prize wall behind him.

Lincoln approached the pair, his eyes wide with surprise. "You blew up the bottles." He said.

"Yes." Maggie nodded again. "But I also knocked them over." She turned back to the man still fussing at the prize wall. "I want the big cow, please."

"The cow's a mid-tier prize." He corrected her. "You knocked down all the bottles. That means you get the grand prize. Ah, here it is." Having apparently found what he was looking for, the game operator spun towards the couple and deposited a misshapen green lump on the countertop.

There was a moment of silence as Maggie and Lincoln stared at the object. "W-what...uh..." Lincoln ventured. "What is that supposed to be?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The man said with a laugh, patting the...thing with one hand. "Why this is a genuine stuffed Gigant Green. Only available through Dairlyland. As well as certain select secondary retailers. Enjoy!"

Maggie took the doll(?) in her arms, and from her hiding spot, Lucy strained to get a better view. Now that she had an idea of what it was supposed to be, Lucy could sort of see it? The doll was vaguely human-shaped, green fabric arranged in a vague facsimile of Leni's costume, and topped with a flesh-colored lump adorned with stringy, yellow "hair." It looked less like Leni than it did the unknown species that might one day evolve into a Leni, but now she could kind of see it.

Maggie, for her part, didn't seem particularly enthused by her prize. "Here." She said, handing it off to Lincoln. "You can have it."

"But I was trying to win it for you!" He protested, pushing it back towards her.

"W-well then, how about you keep it for me." She said, gently pushing the doll back towards Lincoln. "Then I can come to your house, and visit it. A-nd...you."

"Oh." Lincoln replied, gulping nervously. "W-well, I guess that'd be...okay..."

Lucy could feel her gorge begin to rise as the two just stared at each other awkwardly, blushing and stammering without managing to actually say anything. It was at this point that the young girl's stomach began to growl. She glanced worriedly at the pair, but they still just staring dumbly at each other. Clearly, this was going to take a while. Long enough that she'd have time to grab a snack and something to drink, probably.

Lucy rose from her hiding spot and stretched her tiny limbs, only barely managing to avoid smacking another girl who was passing by.

"Whoops." Said Lucy, quickly glancing back at her targets, worried that she might have noticed her slip up. Fortunately, she'd gone unnoticed. As usual.

"Sorry about that." She apologized, looking her almost-victim up and down. The other girl wasn't much taller than her, wearing a plaid blue skirt, and a blue shirt. There was something strangely...forgettable about her, the girls' only noteworthy feature being that she wore her hair long, to the point where it drooped down and covered half her face.

"I-it's fine." The girl stuttered, waving Lucy off and pushing onward. Lucy turned to consider the girl briefly, before shrugging and continuing on her way. There was something strangely irritating about the quiet, easily missed girl with a hairstyle that obscured her face, but Lucy chose not to ponder it any further. After all, not everything in her life needed to be of significance. Sometimes strange girls were just strange girls.

Had Lucy lingered just a little longer, she might have heard a strange noise emitting from the other girl. One which sounded strangely similar to that of a camera lens finding its focus...

"So what are you calling this one?" Fiona asked, turning away from the office television screen and glancing back at her boss.

"The Shy QT." Said Darkness gesturing grandly. "The latest in top-of-the-line surveillance equipment."

"Because nothing says 'surveillance', like a camera shaped like some nerd's fantasy girlfriend." Fiona deadpanned, shaking her head in exasperation. "Honestly, where do you get these stupid ideas?"

"Market research, focus testing, and valuable input from our affiliates." Replied a low, sultry voice. One that most decidedly did not belong to the cosmic space horror sitting across from her. Fiona spun around to see the familiar, shapely form of a Thicc QT stride through the office door. However, there was something...different about this one. Talking aside, she carried herself with a purpose that was not typically present in the relatively mindless creatures. Moreover, her eyes were bright and alert, and possessing an unmistakable gleam of genuine intelligence. She almost looked like...a person, in that respect.

"You're...different." Fiona observed, sitting up in her seat so she could more readily ascertain the new arrival.

"That's because she is different." Darkness replied, motioning to the yellow-clad woman. "I'd actually been planning on putting this off a bit longer, but what the heck? Fiona, I'd like to introduce you to your new supervisor—"

"QT Prime." Said the woman, closing the distance and graciously extending one hand to Fiona. "Charmed, I'm sure."