It was a bright day in the small town of Royal Woods, Michigan. Everything seemed to be normal until a malfunction happened at the power grid station that provided the electricity for the town. It was only for a moment but the entire town was affected by the lost of power. None of the authorities know the cause for the malfunction, they tried searching for any clue that would explain the problem they were facing but found nothing that could help them.
After making sure that everything was back to normal, they brushed the subject off with the assumption that it was only a small interruption in the system. If they were any wiser, they would have notice the sudden increased of electricity in a certain house before the power went out. Since they have no further information about the situation, they decided it would be better to claim that it was only temporary to not raise concern from the civilian.
As for the said house that caused the malfunction, four new figures appeared in the residence, all of them look identical to each other, especially their white hair that was quite rare in the town.
Three of them stood in a circle with their naked bodies exposed to their respective eyes. Around them, the room was no longer in the shape or form it used to be before. Nothing survived the explosion except for the four figures that suddenly appeared in there, with one of them already leaving the place through the fallen metal door.
How did he do that was something that they chose to ask when they meet him later. For now, they have something more important to tend to. First, figuring out their current situation, and second, searching for a suitable clothes to wear. Although they have the same feature and physique, it was still hard for them to concentrate with how uncomfortable they were at their own exposed skin.
"Perhaps now would be the appropriate time for us to search for any article of clothing to cover ourselves," One of them stated while covering his private with his left hand.
"Huh, took you long enough to notice that," The other glanced at him in annoyance. "I thought you almost developed a new weird fetish into your book." He leaned his back against the wall, his arms folded over his chest.
The last one chuckled at the second joke, totally oblivious that it was actually sarcasm. "What's the matter with both of you, we just met and you guys already on bad terms with each other?" He stood straight, his confidence and bright personality radiating from his smirk.
"I also don't understand your displeasure towards me, is there anything that you want to share with us, maybe we could reach an agreement regarding your unsatisfaction." He slightly moved, now facing the figure leaning against the wall.
It was quite for awhile as neither of them speak. Both still naked but agreed to ignore that fact until they find where they stand between each other. It was hard not to acknowledge the tension that is slowly building in the air.
"You do know that until we can figure out a way to solve this, we will be here for a long while, am I right?" Silence followed the statement.
Seeing no other way to avoid the subject, the figure let out a sigh and lifted his head. "It's nothing, I'm just... " He paused, his gaze downcasted. "... Nevermind, it's not important, we better find a way to fix-"
"Hey guys look what I found in the attic," The third person interrupted, a box of hand me down and costumes being held in his arms. "I think we can use one of these." He suggested before stopping to stand infront of them. They looked at him with one of their eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Not complaining, but when did you leave?" The first person asked, slightly intrigued with the matter.
"Well, you two started staring at each other and-" He averted his eyes to the side. "-its become awkward really fast since none of you say anything, so I thought it would be better to leave both of you alone." The third figure answered before dropping the box to the floor.
"What is wrong with you? What if any of our sisters see you walking naked in the house?" The second person pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Do you even think about that?"
"Don't worry dude, the others aren't back yet, it would have been much louder if they were here," The figure crouched and started rummaging the variety of clothes in the box. "And the only sound I heard was that crying earlier, but its already stopped." He reasoned.
"What about Lisa?" The first figure asked, not noticing the short glance he received from the person near the wall.
"I can't say much about that, but I'm pretty sure she is still in the house." He pulled a grey boxer up his waist and threw two other almost similar boxers to each boys near him.
"Thanks" Both of them said in unison. He smiled and looked to their direction.
"See! I know you at least has something in common." They turned at him with a blank faces. "Of course, not counting that we are the same person after all." He rubbed the back of his neck.
After they finished choosing and wearing the clothes that suited their interest, they returned to the other important matter in their list, figuring out what actually happened to them, or him to be precise.
"So what should we do know?" The third person asked.
"In my opinion, we should stay in the house until I can entirely understand our situation," The first person rubbed his chin with his right hand. "I have a theory, but without enough evidence and information I can't give the exact answer to explain this occurance." He concluded before his eyes lowered to the floor in defeat.
"But of course, none of you would listen to me and already left when I started talking." He muttered, and sure enough when he looked around, he was the only person left in the ruined room. "Why did I even bother." He let out a sigh.
Knowing that they are responsible enough to not cause any trouble, he decided to let it slide before also leaving the room. Since he woke up after the explosion that happened earlier, there is only one thought that keep nagging at the back of his mind, reminding him to make sure of something before doing anything else. He walked into the second hallroom and stood infront the door at the far end. Upon reaching the door, he slowly pushed it open. A sigh of relief escaped from his mouth. He walked into the room and looked at the sleeping figure of his younger sister, Lisa. The person he has been looking for this entire time.
He didn't know why she was in there in the first place but he didn't care as long as she was safe from the explosion. His eyes unconsciously went to her peaceful face as her unkempt brown hair almost covering most of her forehead, her glasses sat beside the pillow, probably had fallen when she moved in her sleep. Her nose twitched and she pressed her cheek closer to the pillow, brushing her face against them before settling back to her sleep.
For a moment, he almost forget that she was the same girl that almost brought the house down with her creation. If he was late even for a single second, he couldn't think of another outcome except for the house to be a large pile of rubbles. That won't matter much to him, but Lisa and Lily were still in the house, which sealed the deal for what he needed to do earlier. Their safety is his main priority and he will do anything to make sure they won't be in any sort of danger. And he kept that close to his heart, ignoring all other consequences that may come, no matter how weird it may be.
Which bring him into this unexpected situation he was having with the rest of 'him'. As ridiculous as it may sounds, he couldn't ignore the possibility of it to actually happen, especially with the result that he experienced himself. With enough studies and researches involving Lisa's recent experiment, he might find something that could help him figuring out their current condition. But with how most of the recent file, either digital or physical copy were in the room during the explosion, they would definitely be destroyed by now. There is no doubt that Lisa would of saved her research in a back up storage somewhere just in case she lose them during one of her experiment, but he won't be able to find them without waking her up. And right now, looking at her sleeping in his bed, he just couldn't find it in himself to disturb her. For all he knew, this would probably be her first sleep since she decided to lock herself in her room.
'Lisa, what were you thinking.'
With a sigh, he pulled the blanket over her body and tucked her in before getting down on one knee. He caressed her cheek with his right hand, his thumb gently rubbing a circle against her skin as she buried her face into his palm. He couldn't help but let a small smile graced his lip at her gesture.
"Sleep well, I will be waiting for you when you wake up." He softly whispered, retracting his hand back to his side. He picked up her glasses and put it on the desk. Getting back up, he carefully made his way out of the room and slowly closed the door behind him, not wanting to wake up the sleeping girl. Once he was out of there, he walked down the hallroom with only a single thought playing in his mind. He wandered what the others are doing right now.
Meanwhile, in an empty basketball court near the park, a brown haired girl in ponytail could be seen bouncing a basketball a few times before throwing it into the net, scoring for another time since she got there. She wore a white jersey with red sleeves and white number one imprinted over the chest and red shorts.
Lynn Loud looked at the ball rolling to her feet and picked it up with a sigh. Her eyes, ignoring her order, glanced at the group of boys ranging from her age having a basketball game at the second court. The rapid sound of footsteps and ball bouncing against the court filled her ears with excitement, only for her to lower her head in defeat. Another one of them scored and she lifted her head to see them cheering for their teammates. She gritted her teeth, her grip tightening against the ball in frustration.
If felt like they were teasing her for how weird she looks right now just because she was alone. She tried to ask them if she could join them for a game earlier but they only chuckled and pushed her away, giving excuses like they already have enough player or don't want her to get hurt. Give her the ball and she will show them what its meant to get hurts. She didn't get this far in sport just so they can treat her like this. She is Lynn Loud, the most talented athlete known in Royal Woods for always bringing her teammates for victory.
She was in the same league as them in the knowledge and requirement needed for any sport or perhaps better with how many experience she had acquired. She won't get this far if a little bruise, cut, blood, or even broken bone would be enough to prevent her from keep going for her dream. She isn't like any other girl so what is the problem with that. She could be much more than just a girl that would rather busied themselves with makeup and look pretty, then why aren't they seeing her like they supposed to. Why can't they see her as more than only a girl, but as someone on the same level as them.
She loved competition, it gives her the excitement and thrill to be better. Whenever she was out there, playing any kind of sport, she would meet a few people like herself. They would compete with each other, proving their ability in the field, ignoring all other things except for the sport that they played. She respected those kind of people, not only because they gives their all for the game but also acknowledging her ability while facing her. In the game, nothing matters more than to score. She loved competing against those kind of people, the challenges is what that make them even more better. Even from someone like Lincoln.
Her brows furrowed at the thought of him. He is weak, and everything about him screams a dork. He didn't have any interest in sport like her or even tried to join one. He would always find a way to excuse himself when she asked him to practice with her. But lately, since the start of summer it has became so constant that she barely saw him anywhere else except with Lisa.
The excuses will always be the same that he was helping Lisa with something that he can't tell her. What's the matter with that, what so important that he couldn't leave the younger girl out of his sight. Did Lisa blackmail him to help her, if that was the reason, then she wouldn't hesitate to give the young girl a beating of her life. But the longer she observed their movement, it became obvious that Lincoln was willing to help her.
She still remembered what happened earlier this morning and her expression slightly fell. If he agreed to practise with her than none of this would've happened, she won't be here just to be humiliated by those guys, instead having fun with him in the backyard of their house. Why did she even come here anyway. Right, she don't want to be anywhere near him at that moment so she ran away as far as she can. She was mad at him, still now, but it is not as strong as before. Among those anger swirling inside her, there is something else grasping out from beneath.
Now that she thinks about it, she shouldn't have said those bad things to him. Sure she was upset with his decision but he was being reasonable with her. Even she would never let Lily under Lisa's care with how the younger girl seemed to be unreliable for such task. What was she thinking for suggesting for something as dangerous as that. That's the thing, she wasn't thinking straight at that time. She was too caught up with her frustration that she released all of her disatisfaction towards him, even though it wasn't entirely his fault. She was too deep in thought that she didn't notice the boys from the second court looking at her with a devious smile.
"Hey guys, look," one of them pointed at the brown haired girl standing quietly with a ball in her hands. "I think she is spacing out there." He said with a smirk.
"So what? You want to call her in now after you told her to go away earlier." His friend inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"What! Of course not, just give me the ball, I will show you." He asked for the ball from his friends.
"I don't think that is a good idea man, she is a Loud, you know how dangerous they are." The boy with the ball warned.
"Oh, come on, don't chicken out on me now, besides there are many of us, don't say you're scared of a girl." He teased, his friend chuckled at his remark.
"Suit yourself man," He threw the ball at him. "But I don't want to get involved if anthing happened, I'm not crazy enough to cause trouble with one of those girls." He crossed his arms.
"Pffht, coward, just go back to your mom if you aren't brave enough." He caught the ball and bounced it a few times. "Now watch how real man work." He smiled, caught the ball in both of his hands and faced the unaware girl. He then brought his hands and the ball over his head and threw it with all forces towards her direction.
Unaware of the situation, Lynn didn't have enough time to dodge when she lifted her head to see the projectile coming towards her. She was already expecting for a broken nose when a flash of white and orange flew past her and caught the ball with his right hand. Her eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the figure standing infront of her. It happened so fast that she almost couldn't believe it herself. If he wasn't there, then the ball would definitely hit her straight in the face, causing a severe injury. Where did he come from, and why did he looks so familiar.
"What's wrong Lynn, I thought a good athlete would always keep their mind in the game?" The figure asked.
She instantly recognized that voice and take a closer look for confirmation. "L-Lincoln?" She raised an eyebrow.
The figure turned around, and completely facing her now with the ball spinning over his index finger. He wore a pair of orange jersey with black short sleeves and number ten imprinted over the chest, a black shorts and sport sneakers. He has white hair, blue eyes, a chipped tooth and freckles decorating his cheek. It was definitely him but with a few changes on his choice of clothing. Not to mention, the band aid plastered on his jawline. Lincoln looked at her with a wide smile and her cheeks slightly turning red. She quickly shook her head and narrowed her brown eyes at him, trying to hide whatever she felt earlier.
"W-what are you doing here? I thought you're supposed to take care of Lily." She stated, crossing her arms over her budding breast.
"I already take care of that." He answered. "Thought you would want a company to practise with after what happened this morning, so I searched for you, definitely should've search here first earlier." He chuckled, catching the ball in his hands.
"At least you came prepared, not everyday you choose to wear something else other than your usual orange polo shirt." Lynn commented.
"Oh these, I found them in the attic." Lincoln replied.
"Wait, what were you doing in the att-"
"Hey, can we get our ball back." A new voice interrupted her question.
She turned her head and saw the boys from earlier heading towards them. Her expression quickly turned into a glare when she remembered what almost happened to her if not for her brother. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists by her sides, restraining herself from tearing them apart.
"Sure!" Lincoln said, extending the ball towards them. Lynn looked at him with a shocked face clearly asking him why.
"Uh, thanks." The boy reached for the ball, only for Lincoln to bounced it to the ground and catching it with his hand behind his back. The boys looked at him in confusion.
Lincoln held the ball out for the boy to take again. "What are you waiting for, don't you want your ball back?" He offered. The boy reached for the ball again, this time Lincoln threw it to his other hand before he get to touch it. Now the boy was infuriated. He leapt forward only for Lincoln to shuffle slightly to the side, dodging the upcoming boy. His friend watched him being played by a boy younger than them and couldn't help but chuckled.
Lynn stared at her brother, impressed with the way he moved so clean and accurate. She never saw him like this before and was quite shocked about it. When did he become so good, and why he never tell her about this before. Whatever it is, she was amused with the show being displayed before her.
The boy looked at Lincoln with a glare, his anger rising inside of him as he kept getting outsmarted by the younger boy. "Is this your way of treating someone older than you?" He snarled.
"No, this is my way of treating a jerk like you." Lincoln replied with a smirk. The boy leapt at him again and he dodged swiftly while still holding the ball. "It would be better if you apologised to her." He said.
"Why would I do that?" The boy asked.
"Well, I see everything that happened earlier, and not gonna lie, I'm pretty sure you are the guilty one here." Lincoln stated, his smile was no longer as wide as before.
"What if I don't want to." The boy sneered.
With a sigh Lincoln threw the ball up high into the sky before it began falling down, straight into the net a few feets away from them. They all watched with their eyes wide open in shock as the ball bounced away until it stopped, letting the silence filled the air for a moment.
"Listen, I don't want to make the situation any worse, so why don't you just apologized to my sister and take your ball with you, I won't stop you this time." He calmly said with a certain coldness in his voice.
The boy swallowed roughly and turned towards the only girl with them. "I-I'm sorry," He apologized with a drop of sweat running down his forehead.
"See, it wasn't that hard." His smile returned to his face. "Hey Lynn, you want to get something to eat." He asked.
"Uh, sure Linc, there is a Burpin Burger a few blocks away from here." Lynn said, still not completely understanding what just happened.
"Great! I'm starving," He chuckled, turned around and started walking away.
"Wait, where did you learn to move like that?" One of them asked as Lincoln stopped in his track.
"You are looking at her." He answered before continued walking.
The boys turned to look at the only girl among them "Hey, we're sorry for earlier, our friend can be kind of a jerk sometimes but he is not a bad guy, if you still wanted to join us for our next game just say it alright."
"Thanks" She replied, slightly taken aback by his offer.
"Hurry up Lynn!" Lincoln shouted already a few meters away from her.
"Coming up Linc!" Lynn responded. "I got to go." She said before started chasing after her brother.
When she was out of their sight, they returned to their game with their basketball. "Told you." He chuckled.
"Oh, shut up will you." The boy threw the ball at his friend who easily catches it.
Once reaching her brother side, Lynn inspected the boy and taking in every different details about him. It was almost as if he was a different person entirely but still the same in his own way. He never showed this side of him before, so why now? Is it because of what she said to him earlier this morning. No, that can't be true, if he was mad at her, then he wouldn't of helped her earlier and let the ball hit her like its supposed to. The longer she thought about it the more it makes no sense to her. Her stomach growled, and her frustration increased at the thought that keep messing with her head.
"Glad that I'm not the only one being hungry right now." Lincoln let out a low chuckle, breaking her from her trance as she looked at him.
"Okay! Cut it out Stincoln, you can't act like nothing has happened to you." She hold his shoulders, shaking him slightly. "There is no way you would suddenly changed like this, is this because of what I said to you earlier." She tightened her grip on his shoulders.
She instantly went quiet when Lincoln leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat at his sudden move. Their gazes met and Lincoln closed his eyes before slowly backing away from her shocked face. For a moment, neither of them moved as she let what just happened registered within her. Then, she looked at her smiling brother, and her cheek slightly becoming red.
"I can't exactly explain it to you right now, when we got home, maybe he would already get it figured out." Lincoln said, his eyes returned to the sideway as he continued walking.
Lynn watched him getting futher away, her flushed face slowly turning into confusion. 'He?' What does he mean by that. "Linc, you're still not answering my question!" She shouted.
"I will tell you after we get home from Burpin Burger, I'm still hungry." He replied, dismissing her shout with a wave.
Somewhere else, In the cemetary of Royal Woods, A lonely girl with black hair stood quietly infront a tombstone. She wore a black dress that reached her knees, matching black and white striped sleeves, leggings and black laceless shoes, in her arms a small black journal being held close to her chest. A gust of wind blew past her, bringing with them the dead leaves that littered the ground. Her raven hair brushed against her pale skin, almost revealing her secured eyes beneath her bangs, before slowly dropping back over them.
In these land of the dead, Lucy Loud found her place of solidarity. It was something that she noticed whenever she was there. Although people would say the place resembled dark thought and fear of death, she saw something else beneath them. Something that most people were mistaken with their own perspective about the meaning of the place. It would be their last destination after they were greeted by death.
Age, color, achievement, and status didn't matter at that moment. When their time has comes, they can't do anything to change the fact that their life was over, everything that they have in this world, their family, their wealth, their loved one was no longer in their grasp. They left everything behind, no longer bound to this world and everything in it. It was definitely a morbid thought, but deep within them there is a beautiful meaning which people oftenly didn't realize.
When they are dead, they are no longer connected to this world, they can no longer feels the pain and suffering that tormented them in their mortal body when they were alive. It was kind of like a release from everything that used to bother them. Emotion would no longer affected them as they has no need of it for where they were going. They were completely free from the restriction that held them back before. And that thought always stuck out to her.
Needless to say it was definitely not a thought a girl her age should have. But she wasn't like them, she never cared to be like them. The calm and peaceful atmostphere in the place always managed to help her think when she got into a dead end. Either with her literature or just to let out what was bothering her mind. And right now, it was the latter that brought her here.
"Sigh, great grandma Harriet, I wish you're here, perhaps you would understand what keep spiraling in my cold heart." She muttered in a low and monotone voice.
They would say that it was nothing more than only a small crush that she is experiencing, there is no harm in developing these kind of feeling for someone. It was normal even for someone that claimed to be as heartless like her. This emotion would only be for temporary and she will finally get back to her usual stoic self soon.
She will get over this feeling somehow, she needs to. It didn't bother her before when she thought it was only a usual occurance between them, but now that she realized that weird sensation fluttering inside her, she couldn't help but contemplated for the reason. Its only became obvious when she tried to kiss him when he was asleep not too long ago. With the picture still fresh in her mind, a tinge of pink painted her pale cheek as a shuddery breath escaped her throat. She can't let her emotion get the better of her.
"Great grandma Harriet, if you can hear me, can you please give me a sign for what I should do, I don't think I'm stong enough to prevent this feeling any longer." She whispered.
Her question was met by silence, just like she expected as she stood there in disappointment. Lucy sighed and lowered her head.
For a moment nothing happened, then a gust of strong wind suddenly blew past her, almost unveiling the sadness she kept hidden. A piece of paper that she had slid between her journal slipped out as it was blown away. Her gaze followed the piece of paper before she started running after it, carefully dodging the row of tombstone and the uneven ground beneath her. The sound of dried leaves and sticks crunching under her feets filled her ears with every step she took.
The wind slowly dissipated and the piece of white paper gently landed on the ground not far from her. Lucy picked it up, straightened her back and lifted her head to see a weird figure sitting under a tree on the top of the hill. She tilted her head in confusion at the sight before her.
There is something about him that looks so familiar to her, but she can't put a finger on what it was. She never saw anyone before hanging out in this part of the cemetary except for herself or the occasional people who came there to visit their dead relative graves. She almost mistaken it for a lost soul wondering the cemetary, but dismissed it since she would've notice it before if it was true. Her curiousity piqued the longer she stared at the weird figure.
Unconsciously, her legs brought her closer to the figure direction, as if being pulled by invincible hands. She kept staring at him, not once blinking, until she tripped on a stone and lost her balance for awhile. When she lifted her head, her eyebrow raised in confusion to see that the figure was no longer there.
Lucy quickened her pace and stood under the tree where the figure used to be. She turned her head from side to side but he was nowhere in her sight. Was she right about him being a lost soul wondering around the cemetary? Perhaps he was trying to communicate with her, but what does it mean?
"Sigh, you should really stop sneaking on other people, Lucy." A monotone voice spoke, sending a cold shiver to the shocked girl.
She turned around and her eyes widened to see the figure behind her.
"L-Lincoln?"
