Hey, here's chapter 26 of Neon Flash. Let's see what happens in part 3 of this mini-arc.
The monsters… he could only hear their snarling. Scurrying around his body, lurking in the darkness. Scratching the concrete floors, with their overgrown nails. He could hear some sort of ringing, yet no bells were present.
A door opened and from there, the sounds of metal chains clanking together could be heard. The cold steel snaking its way onto the unconscious anti-hero's wrists as it held him in bondage, at the mercy of such predators.
Placing Neon Flash on the metal table, two figures looked at him, awaiting for him to regain his consciousness… to bear witness to an inevitable fate.
"Agh, motherfu—" Lincoln eyes opened, he could feel a sharp pain in the back of his head. Taking two deep breaths, he woke up to see two of the cultists, simply silent… looking at him.
"Okay." Neon started. He then got a good look at the two of them. "Wow! You two are the ugliest people I've met in my lifetime!" He shakes his head. "Okay, wait, wait! Getting off-topic… so here's my question. Which one of you assholes put me in these freaking chains?!"
The cultists were unmoved, simply just staring at him. To them, he was just an angry young man without much of a bite right now. Since the chains, figuratively served as a muzzle.
"The reason why I'm asking… is because I wanna make sure I kill the guy who did it! I'm debating on cutting your head off and maybe keeping the skull!" Neon threatened them once more. Yet the two cultists decided to walk away from the room. No words were spoken to him, as he was left there in eerie silence.
Bringing his head to the table, he sighed. "Son of a bitch!" Neon growled. "Of all the things that Lucy has to be involved in, it's gotta be with these cult psychos!"
"You make it sound like it's surprising to you. Why?" Lincoln's right ear picked up the sound. He looked to where the sound came from. He found the little perpetrator, the silent sound of their walking filling the now private room. The being took the hood off to reveal it to be Lucy Loud herself. Only something horrendous existed in her… or on her to be apt.
The upper left half of her face had stratified squamous epithelium. The skin cells were dry and scaly, the pigmentation turning her pasty appearance into a sickly green.
He looked at her in horror. "Oh, god damn it, kid…" Neon couldn't take his eyes off the mutation, this shocking atavism. "What the hell did they do to you?" He asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" She traced her finger on the crest of his costume. "The Way of the Light gave me something… a gift. A way to be like them. I will soon become a part of them, a sister. Soon… the entire planet will share in something so glorious." Lucy answered.
"Well, it's more like glorified bullshit if you ask me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to stop this crazy-ass ritual by cutting the leader's head off." Neon attempted to gather his orange aura, charging energy to release him from his restraints, only to have the energy recede. "What the… this usually works…"
Lucy yanked at the chain. "These chains aren't normal. Your restraints will suck the energy from your youthful body until all that remains is a lifeless husk."
Neon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I got that part. It's obviously not for a video that's on those adult websites. I mean I've got myself out of a lot of situations like this, you really think some magic chains are gonna stop me?"
Lucy did not humor the anti-hero with an answer. "Tough crowd." That is what Neon would have thought, but he had to try a different approach to this. He remembered Clyde's different perspective on how a cultist was indoctrinated.
"Look. If I can ask… what would your family think about this? They're worried sick, y'know. I mean… you being in this crazy group, it's not right. Because I'm under the impression that you're smarter than this."
"Family?" Lucy scoffed at such a word. A word that held no meaning, no validity. To her… 'family' was simply a word. "You really think they care? To them, their little guilt and worry masquerade as an insecurity, a fear of control. They thrive on their chaos and selfish desires, drunken with their obsessions… no longer understanding what 'love' really is."
Neon was a bit impressed by Lucy if she was murmuring such nonsense. The goth was one heck of a linguist. "C'mon kid. That's gotta be a load of bull." He stated. Lucy only looked at him in silence. "Okay, maybe not all of it was bull, but you know I've met them before right? With the Madame Cheveux thing… and the Android situation… they love each other like crazy, just as they love you. You can't tell me that they don't care."
Lucy's eye twitched. "They don't care about me!" Her voice was raised. "They never cared! Can you even imagine what's it's like for me?! Walking into a room at any time of the day, I greet them and they just scream in horror, as if I wasn't even there! Imagine being forgotten, acting as if they forgot something and I actually have to say something that shows they didn't leave me behind for something… and there were times where they ACTUALLY left me behind! Just being all alone… you couldn't fathom what that was like!" Lucy was venting all of her anger towards Neon. He had to be the ear that listened, as if he had a choice. Maybe Neon would have just ignored her and went on with his day, just like everyone else does.
"Then HE decides to show up. HE decides to come into our home, and EVERY sibling are tripping over their feet on trying to know him or help him feel welcome. Since then, I've been pushed to the sidelines even more and I just HATE it!" Lucy then touched the side of her face that had the scales anointed on her skin. "It was only that I started to sneak out at night, being the way that I am now that they decide to pay any kind of attention to me!" Lucy concluded, still standing over him, yet her posture wasn't the same, as if the anger in her made her lose her composure.
Neon was aware of who Lucy was referring to. Of course it was gonna be him… in his civilian guise at least. "Lincoln." He said. Lucy looked at him upon hearing her brother's name. "You're talking about your brother, aren't you?"
"And what if I am?" Lucy deflected. "Why would you care anyway?"
"Because I'm…" Neon raised his voice but caught himself. For a split second, he was going to reveal his identity to her. Maybe hoping that it'll get her to snap out of it, get a hold of herself and leave this nonsense while she still could. "I'm your family's… unofficial protector, yeah we can go with that." He mumbled the last part of the sentence. "Lincoln contacted me about you. He was actually worried about what was going on, especially after he said some… things. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have called me to look out for you and leave you to do this crap. He's done this for your other sisters because he cares about them, and if he cares about them, he cares about you."
"Sure he cares, maybe he's just doing it to save his own ass… maybe Luna got worried and he just went on to find me because of her! You really think I'm that stupid, don't you?!"
"Stupid in general, no. Stupid for joining an obvious cult, yes. But I do know one way that I can get you to trust me on this." Neon didn't want to do it, but maybe it'd be best if he did.
"My mask… take it off." Neon offered.
Lucy was bewildered by the offer. Neon Flash is exposing his biggest secret to her of all people?! It was so enticing, to find out who it really was behind the mask, being the Loud sisters 'savior' and protector.
"Look, if you want a reason to trust me, just take it off. When you know who I am, maybe it'll do something. I don't know, but just do it!" Neon said.
Lucy's temptation slithered its way into her mind again. Her hands would even leave her side and slowly make its way toward the mask, to a point where her fingertips touched its sides. She could take it off, see the secret before anyone else. It was like being that kid who eagerly wanted to open their Christmas present before anyone else awakened. The thrill was too great to pass up. But she knew it wasn't right… the moment wasn't right.
"No." She stopped herself. "I would rather save this for the ceremony. The occasion will be much more momentous." She stepped away.
From there, a door creaked open to see two figures walking in. Cultists if anyone else, walked in and loosened the chains. While still restraining the anti-hero, but allowing mobility.
"These freak shows are what you call family? I call bullshit on that." Neon said.
Lucy interjected. "You have no idea what it's like to have your family completely reject you." She looked away from him.
"I know the feeling better than you… I really do." The cultists then hissed and snarled at Neon. "Yeah, yeah… go fuck yourself or eat a bowl of flies or something. You aren't that intimidating." Lincoln insulted the cultists as they wheeled them off.
At the ceremony, he was hoisted into the air, his feet almost touching the ground. "Hey, if you Predator rejects actually take my immortal soul, can one of you actually point to my rotting corpse and say 'your soul is mine'! In a way, it makes me feel more at peace with dying." Neon sees Lucy walking to him once more.
"You may know rejection, but you don't know it like I do. You want someone to relate? I'm the best you've got!" Neon stated with such boldness.
"You expect me to believe that?" Lucy asked him in disbelief.
"I mean, if your head was out of your ass, then yes. I would've expected you to believe that."
Before Lucy can talk once more, someone stopped her.
"The time for talk is over, Sister Lucy." Someone came from the shadows. As he walked forward, a menacing grin existed on his face.
"Yes, Lord Malazar." Lucy stepped back and obeyed.
"Oh great! The cult leader himself, named after some shitty wannabe satanic crap." Neon Flash rolled his eyes at his appearance.
"Quite the sharp tongue on you, Neon Flash. That is my presumption of you indeed." The cultist leader said.
"And my presumption of you happens to be an old deluded bastard, who's running around targeting little girls and boys to join some immortal bull crap cult. I mean playing with kids is your speed isn't it?" The area was silent. But Neon Flash filled the gap once more. "Yeah, I'm Neon Flash, resident superhero, anti-hero, whatever you wanna call me. What happens after this is that I obliterate every single one of you."
The cultist leader chuckled. "That's cute. You really think you can stop me Neon Flash? Or would you prefer me to call you by your given name…" Malazar took off his mask. "… Lincoln Loud!"
Lucy's eyes widened in shock. The identity of the resident hero was her older brother! How could it be? Why? Such confusion and disbelief was existent in her mind because so much stuff became clear. Anytime her siblings were in trouble, Lincoln bailed them out. The bank robbery with Luan, Leni's problem with Madame Cheveux, Lori saved from being a target by Stormbuster, 239's death for trying to kill Luna, Lindsey Sweetwater thwarted from harming Lola, saving Lisa's friend Darcy from those scientists. It all came full circle! He really was the one looking out for his siblings.
Everything drowned out for Lucy, while the leader was trading conversation with Lincoln, and Lincoln himself… practically just smart-mouthing him.
"So you figured it out, yippee for you! How'd you figure it out?" Lincoln asked.
"The Way of the Light has eyes and ears everywhere."
"Enough to stalk little old me and manipulate people younger than you. How you get around, a van with candy inside?" Lincoln just kept insulting him, not really taking him seriously. "Regardless, I'm just gonna take you down and get on with my night."
Malazar got close to Lincoln. "You couldn't hurt me even if you tried." Lincoln took it as a challenge. Lincoln smiled and cocked his head back.
He performed a headbutt, causing Malazar to stagger back a bit. But he was undeterred. "I tried." Lincoln smirked. But his attention turned to Lucy.
"Lucy, how can you join these human… geckos or whatever these things are?" Lincoln turned his attention to Lucy.
Still somewhat staggered by the revelation, she began to answer him. "The cult accepts me for who I am." Lucy answers.
Lincoln counters. "What about everyone else back at the Loud House? Lori, Lily, Luna, everyone? They care about you too, they know what you are and they've never judged you for that, did they?"
"If they cared Lincoln, then answer me this… when was the last time that we all did something as a family? That I had a say in whatever we did?" She questions.
Lincoln tries to come up with something but nothing came to bear, everyone did their own thing, he did the same as well. Lucy probably didn't have anything to do, so maybe it was plausible that joining a cult would be in the picture. "Besides me helping you with a poem on rhyming 'reaper' with 'keeper'… I guess I can't answer that, can I?"
"Now that we're finished with the formalities…" Malazar took out a sacrificial dagger. "The ritual can begin. Sister Lucy, since you're familiar with this one, it would be only right for you to begin the ritual."
Lucy stared at the silver, yet worn dagger. "Yes, Lord Malazar." She took the dagger from him and walked towards Lincoln.
"Luce, I get it. You feel ignored, lonely and that there really isn't anything back for you with our sisters. But there can be if we make it and not just wait for it to come to us! If you want to, we can spend time together, work out whatever's going on with you."
Lucy continued walking towards Lincoln. Knowing that insulting her for joining the cult isn't gonna get her to stop, but maybe appealing to the last visage of her humanity that she still held intact would do. Because that part of her was corrupted and manipulated by the cult, for what she held was her pain and need for belonging somewhere. He had to do that, since Lucy was inching closer with killing intent.
That particular matter actually made him panic a bit. Knowing that he'd die like this, at the hands of his sister.
"Lucy. Lucy! You need to look into your heart, look inside yourself and ask yourself is this even worth getting what you want?! You're angry me and our sisters, it's obvious, but killing me isn't going to solve or do anything for you! This is wrong… and you know it!"
Lucy was still silent, but somewhere inside her, Lincoln's words were moving her to not go through with it. Her body language was saying that to him. Eyes looking away, harder breathing and the occasional shaking of her hand that held the knife that would send him to oblivion.
"Every time I went out in this suit, beating up guys like Techton, Stormbuster, and a whole lotta idiots… I did it to protect you… and not just you but our sisters too!"
"Lies." Lucy whispered. She wasn't saying this to Lincoln, but rather tried to convince herself, using a maladaptive mechanism to shield herself from the horrid reality.
"The minute you kill me, you kill someone who actually takes the time to care about you! I don't know how many people there are who do and you'll probably gonna say no one. But there has to be a few who do!"
"Stop lying to me!" Lucy yells. Her voice said it all. She said it as loud as she did, per her namesake. Her hair had covered her eyes, to hide the tears that came from her… but it failed, for her cheeks were exposed.
Lincoln was getting through to her… now he had to keep at it!
"Every day, when I was in juvie, I thought of you and our sisters! Coming back, just seeing you again, that is the only thing that kept me going! Look inside yourself, is this what you really want?!"
Malazar oblivious to the matter, simply shrugs off such sentiment. "Sister Lucy has made her choice. The speech was moving, but you are a fool to believe that this will deter her. You talk of her old family, when we are her family now."
With that, Lucy raised the knife above her head… and quickly raised it down.
Lucy's body moved to stab the chain that held Lincoln's right hand, she then dropped the knife and went to her knees.
"Oh thank God!" Lincoln used his free hand to cut the other chain that held him captive. Instinctively, he went to Lucy.
"I can't do it, I can't kill my brother." Shaking like a leaf, she felt ashamed of herself for what had happened. If she goes to juvie, becomes a pariah with her family, friends and the cult, so be it. Nearly killing her brother and for what, a taste of immortality, this so called… family? It wasn't worth it.
Lucy felt Lincoln's presence in front of her. Was he going to punch him, like how he nearly did back home out of rage? Was he going to use his powers to put a hole in her chest? She didn't know… but all she knew was that she was genuinely scared.
But none of that came from him, she was pulled in a warm embrace. "I'm sorry."
"We're gonna make this right, Lucy. I promise you, we're gonna make this right." He whispers. Lincoln pulled back and placed his forehead on hers, just looking at her.
But then Lincoln and Lucy's eyes widened because they felt a certain painful experience. They both looked down to see a spear impaling them both, sharing the weapon as their blood painted the damned steel.
Malazar stood before them, mockingly viewing their failure. "What a shame. Lucy has fallen from grace and deviated from our family. It seems that you need to be… re-educated."
And that's the end of this chapter. That's a real cliffhanger, eh? This chapter was written entirely by DismalOrc29177, so all credit goes to him. The idea for this mini-arc was thought of by Geo Soul, so credit for that goes to him.
Next chapter will wrap up this mini-arc.
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