Hey, here's chapter 27 of Neon Flash. This is the fourth and final chapter of The Way of the Light mini-arc. Enjoy.
"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."
"No, I don't think so!" Lincoln mustered up enough strength to use his powers to break the staff that was between them. Once bisected, Lincoln used his other hand to punch Malazar into a crowd of his cult.
His attention quickly turned to Lucy, he removed the spear from her and from himself, taking out two beans, one for her and one for him. He quickly placed one into Lucy's mouth. "Lucy, eat this and fast… NOW!" He exclaimed. He felt his strength slipping from him. He shoved the bean meant for him in his own mouth, his molars quickly crushing it into dust. The moment he swallowed, he felt literal life breathing into him once again.
The first thing he witness was Malazar ready to slash at him, to bring his hand down and strike him down. Knowing that he wouldn't be quick enough to strike him in the face, he was quick to deliver a body cross to his abdomen. Lincoln wasn't sure that hitting him in the jewels would work, considering his morphology was different.
Lincoln got up to punch the leader in his jaw with a lead uppercut, then a lead hook. He then stepped to an angle when he saw a hook coming from the lizard thing. Lincoln ducked and once he got up he channeled his powers into his fist and delivered a looping cross that sent Malazar flying to his cronies.
Lincoln looked to his left and saw a cultist charging at him. 'Okay, I know how to deal with you now.' Lincoln knows that blinding the guys won't work, and they attack in linear fashions. They just go straight for him, so if he could attack from angles, counter them when they make the first strike. That'll be a good place to start.
But Lincoln knew that if he had to fight seriously, he had to get Lucy out of the way. So he did a blast, not one meant to attack the cultist, but one to maneuver himself to get Lucy out of the way. Grabbing her in mid air, they landed away from their initial area. Lincoln saw another cultist coming towards them both, before any of them could land a strike, Lincoln was able to create a barrier.
Straining to keep the shield active, Lincoln had to find a way out for Lucy's sake. He knows a wall is behind them, and it had to lead to a hall, or better yet outside.
With one hand he gathered energy and blasted the wall, leaving a gaping hole for them to escape, but it was meant for Lucy's escape.
"Run! I'll catch up!" Lincoln said.
"What about you?" Lucy questioned. Despite this, she already knew the answer, existing in pangs in the back of her head.
"I'll take care of the reptiles! Go! I'll be fine!" He demanded once more. Lincoln saw Lucy get up and run towards the wall and away from the battle. Lincoln then placed his mask on and dissipated the barrier.
"It's lizard season now." Neon Flash said as he took his blade out. As it glowed, he started by doing a sidestep and vertically slicing downwards on the reptile, splitting him from face to torso. Neon looked forward to see a claw coming straight for him and he swayed back to avoid it, he then countered by viciously slicing off the attacker's arm.
With a free hand, he spun and charged it to do an explosive attack, which landed on many cultists, killing some of them too. Neon spun again to slice the head of the cultist whose arm he severed. Two cultists grabbed each of his arm, attempting to stop him from casting any more of his abilities.
Neon smiled at this, because they had no idea what they were in for. He charged both hands, and two different kinds of energy came out. The first kind came from his blade, it's size increasing like a spear, blowing away one of the cultists with a gaping hole in its heart and another was a traditional blast, which saw fit to incinerate the other until nothing was left but burnt ash.
Neon Flash used his speed to charge towards a group of cultists, pulling out his chain and whipping them all, contorting their bodies into broken anatomies strewn throughout the room.
Neon found himself to be surrounded by more of those lizards. While he was outnumbered, those guys are outmatched with his new tactics, he needed to expedite the outcome of the match. Lucy may be able to run, but long and how far can she go was left in ambiguity. Neon Flash had a plan, it didn't work the first time… maybe it'll work the second.
"Geo… Geo… Geo!" Lincoln said. But what he heard and seen distracted him from the fight.
A figure was dancing with maracas, clad in a modest lime green dress with a matching headdress that bore various kinds of fresh fruit. Grapes, bananas, apples, strawberries, all of this stemming from a different culture. He would even sing something existing in a different tongue.
'Of course he'd do this.' Neon closed his eyes in embarrassment as the cultists just looked in confusion, like the slaughtering of their brethren just did not matter at that point.
Geo opened his eyes to no longer see the people he was dancing with, but rather hideous, deformed lizard creatures. "Aah!" He yelped. He looked at one cultist from head to toe. "You are one ugly motherfucker!" He exclaimed.
Geo turned to see Neon Flash pinching the nose of his mask. Placing his hand to his side, he simply had a blank face on him.
"This… this is normal for me." Geo defended. From the look of it, he was letting loose before he was called here.
"Y'know what? I'm just gonna leave it. Listen can you help me with these Zatteran wannabes?" Neon asked him.
Geo just looked at him. "You're serious, aren't you? You drag from my tropical paradise, dancing with the people in the grass skirts and fire, just for this?"
"Help me and you can go back! I'm just asking for this, please!" Neon implied.
"Alright fine. One second everyone." Geo made something appear from his hand. A soda can. Inside it had a lemon lime flavor with a citrus kick. A green background with mountains with white and red letters graced the appearance. "Here you go, drink this." Geo gave to Lincoln. The rest of the cultists just humored them, but a small group saw fit to sneak away.
"Find the girl." Malazar whispered. He still had plans to kill Neon Flash and "re-educate" Lucy.
After everything that's happened, Neon did feel a bit parched. He shrugged his shoulders. "Ehh, what the hell…" Neon cracked the can open and took the mask off to reveal only his lips. From there he drank the whole thing. "Okay, thanks… but now…" Neon's body glowed red, an eerie power coursing through him. His body rattled at the strong feeling that consisted in bombarding him.
A cultist having enough of this distraction decided to launch at Neon and another tried to attack Geo. Neon attacked with a wave that pushed the cultist back with a wave that turned him to dust and attacked a battalion that was behind him.
Geo simply looked at the cultist attacking him, but he held his hand towards him, quickly turning his assaulter into a husk.
"Whoa!" Neon said in amazement. "What did you do to me?"
Geo looked at him. "Aside from giving you a drink, I've granted you with a special ability. The eighth most powerful ability ever given… the Geonosis Wave!"
From there, the cultists attacked, coming all at once. Neon blasted the ground, blasting himself to higher ground. Geo just simply vanished and reappeared. "Well, thanks! I mean it's great and all, but how does it work?" Neon asked.
"It's like a temporary boost to your abilities. You just activate it like how Goku uses the Kaio-ken," Geo instructed. "Oh yeah, you might wanna get to Lucy. Some of those guys went after her."
'You're telling me this now?' Neon's eye twitched at this. But now wasn't the time to scream about it. Neon Flash decided to gather his energy and explode it into a red aura. He looked at a cultist jumping up to the beam supporting him. Neon took out his blade and sliced him in half as he jumped down. Upon landing he released a shockwave that pushed a lot of his enemies back.
Neon then took his chain and whipped it horizontally. It severed the heads of the cultist close to him and released a ray matching its pattern of striking, which served as a mere knock back attack. He then placed his attention to a cultist running to get Lucy, obviously, this one was running away from the fight. Neon saw this and used his super speed to dash forward, grab its head and violently bash it towards the wall.
"Didn't think I'd forgot about you, did you?" Neon snarled. His ears perked and he looked to the distance, for the sound of a girl screaming echoed throughout the halls.
"Lincoln! Help!" She screamed. It didn't take a detective to deduce that it was Lucy.
"Hang on!" Lincoln made a mad dash to where the sound came from.
Back in the chambers, Geo looked at Malazar and the rest of his followers. Many immortal beings in this cult. Maybe this is a promising opportunity.
"Another being, similar to Lincoln but different. Perhaps we should take your soul, when we're done with the unruly children." Malazar threatened. Despite one of those unruly children beat him without a problem.
Geo just simply smiled at his threat. For it was empty, hollow and lacked credibility.
Lincoln sprinted to Lucy's location, two cultists blocked his path. Lincoln decided to slash one of the cultists hands off before going to the other and stabbing him in the temple of his skull, leaving the blade there. He went back to the lizard with its hand severed and snapped its neck, shoving the broken body to the ground. He then took his blade and dashed again towards another sound.
"Lincoln! Help me!" Lucy screamed once more.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Lincoln told himself so he could push himself further. Another voice came to his ears, only that it wasn't Lucy's.
"You have deviated from us Lucy. But we are capable of forgiveness, but we must recondition you to better understand our culture.
He blasted a door to a room, to reveal Lucy strapped to a table. The cultist looked at him, still dripping with the red aura, compounded with an unbridled rage. By then he spoke.
"You wanna mess with me, that's fine. But when you mess with my little sister, that's another… and that is something you're gonna learn real quick." Neon raised his hands, firing two energy blasts that honed at the cultists. Leaving nothing but ashes as it disintegrated all of the cultists in the room.
Lincoln rushed to Lucy's side and free the girl from her restraints. "Lucy, are you okay?" He said. He helped her stand up.
"Yeah. I… I…" Lucy stuttered to get her words out. The fear of nearly being killed was something she did not expect. Even if she was someone who enjoyed the occult, to die in such a way, with cultists… it shook her.
After everything, the cult promising her an attentive family, love and a purpose in life… all lies, merely smoke and mirrors to hide the insecurities of their fear of death. They would dare cheat the reaper, the inevitable companion that spectates and greets us all. Their fears manifesting in actual immortality, with the need to take the life of others whom they considered strong.
It repulsed her to know the truth of this cult, whatever feelings of longing she had, whatever respect and loyalty she had swept away in her hurricane of emotions until it was a murky wasteland. 'Via Lucis', what a joke. To her, they simply lied, manipulated and killed those who'd never give consent to be killed for such whack-jobs.
But Lucy bought it. Bought every word, every sentence, phrase, or lesson was laced with such honey to her, such sweetness that would entice her to do such things, to alienate herself from her family and adopt a worse one. Such sweetness produced an aftertaste, a taste that left a sour feeling in her mouth and a bitter feeling laced into her heart. Those words were poison… venom.
Geo appeared behind them after the rescue. Lincoln turned to see him. "Okay. I need answers." Lincoln started. "Why did the cult want my soul?"
"I previously told you, that the reason they wanted your soul was to continue their longevity for immortality. What you do not know is that your soul has a certain purification." Geo said.
Lincoln furrowed his brow. "Purification? Yeah, I'm not exactly a goody goody given my track record."
"Your soul has a purification, but it doesn't exactly indicate that you have to be pure of heart. There are a total of eight souls, including your own that has such purifications, for it manifests itself into an energy known as Manaspex. Somehow, you were able to activate it. How you did is unknown to me." Geo explained to Lincoln. As the anti hero pondered on that, Lucy had questions of her own.
"The cult wanted Lincoln for his soul, but it was more than immortality. I heard Malazar talking and he kept saying that he will awaken someone." Lucy added.
"It seems that he wanted to resurrect someone dangerous. Her name was Kalshara."
"Kalshara?" Lincoln asked. 'Where do they get these names?' Was his thought process.
"A sorceress that predates my time as a dimensional nomad and guardian. During that time, my predecessor who was my mother sealed her away. Kalshara swore that she'd escape once all eight souls were drained and placed into her crypt, lying dormant in a space between dimensional planes."
Lincoln was quite surprised at this. "Wow! Here I just thought they wanted me for my powers."
"They did. They wanted the source, the Manaspex, which is not just a source of your purified soul, but a source of your powers. How it got to you, I don't exactly know."
"I remember getting these powers when I was a kid. I remember a glowing meteorite." Lincoln remembers. The memories of a distant day came to him.
"The color of the meteorite, what was it?" Geo's tone turned into an urgent one.
"I remember that it was orange. That's about it." Lincoln answered.
Geo was piecing something together. "That wasn't just a space rock." He muttered. He paced the room. "It wasn't just a meteorite, but it was a remnant of an actual dimension destroyed. The first Loud Dimension to be exact."
"First Loud Dimension? Like a dimension with an alternate me?" Lincoln says. This was all too surreal for him to understand. If this was just some sort of scientific accident, it'd be well enough to understand. But this whole theory, of a different world, a different dimension. It's unbelievable, but he was made a believer out of it thanks to Geo's… expeditions.
"In a manner of speaking. There was a war between guardians like myself and our enemy, calling themselves the Cursed Hearts. They are acolytes who sought to destroy multiple dimensions. The wars raged and with numerous dimensions being caught in the crossfire, they were destroyed. The first Loud Dimension was one of them. If that meteorite piece came here, and you were exposed to it, it's surmised that it may have been the catalyst to your powers awakening."
"Unreal." Lincoln whispered to himself.
"You said that Lincoln was the eighth soul, who are the other seven?" Lucy asked.
"I cannot say. I do not know at all. Despite my omnipotent knowledge, there are things beyond my understanding."
"Look, it's fine. Don't worry about it." Lincoln brushes the thought off.
"They Way of the Light is finally gone… but there's one thing I need to do." Lucy walked towards Geo. She looked him dead in the eye and made an important request.
"Geo. I want you to erase my memory." Lucy insisted. "The memory of the cult and knowing that my brother is Neon Flash." She stood firm in the matter. Nothing was making her falter on such a notion.
Lincoln however, was not sure that this was the right thing to do. "Whoa, Lucy! That's a little extreme. You don't have to do something like that, I mean…" Lincoln was stopped by Lucy's voice.
"Lincoln…" The voices stopped and paused for a moment. "After everything I've done… it's only right. Whether I knew your identity or not, I nearly got you killed and turned into some monster." Her hand traced the scaly parts of her face, a consistent reminder of her indoctrination. "It's not that I don't trust myself in keeping your secret, it's that I do not deserve to know. After how I acted, this will fit the consequences."
"Well, it's your memory, but it's your brother's identity. He should also have a say." Geo said and they both looked at the anti-hero.
Lincoln sighed. "I… I mean… it's bad that one of my sisters know. With them knowing, it'll be a potential danger to them. Me, I can handle it, but I don't want them getting hurt because of what I do…" Lincoln relented to the notion… while he didn't mind Lucy knowing and how she wants to make amends her own way on her own terms. "I just want my little Duchess of Darkness to be safe."
"I know that I won't remember this. But I'll always be grateful for what you're doing. I hope you'll still look out for us." Lincoln nodded his head, accepting this fate.
Geo cracked his knuckles and sees the outcome of this short debate. "Very well, from this point on…" Geo pointed his index finger towards Lucy's forehead. "You will forget the cult and the identity of Neon Flash." Once his finger touched her forehead. Geo whispered. "Now hush."
Lucy's consciousness was ripped from her. Falling into Lincoln's arms, she went into a slumber. Geo had also healed the mutation that existed on the left side of Lucy's face, no longer having that wretched atavism from the cult.
"Oh yeah, don't worry about Malazar." Geo said. Afterwards he released a burp. "Whew! Did not mean to let that out!"
Neon Flash pressed a button his watch, changing back into Lincoln. Carrying Lucy bridal style, he carried her out of the chamber and outside of the cemetery.
Lucy stirred, she held her head and woke up from an induced slumber. Her vision became clear as she saw her older brother's smiling face. "Hey there, Sleeping Spooky."
"Ow, my head hurts. Where are we?" Lucy asked.
"You went out for a walk here, I was trying to catch up to you, but ran and hit your head. Do you remember anything?" Lincoln asked.
"Lily…" Lucy said. "Lily… I pushed her." Her monotonous tone held a broken tone, a saddened sound to her voice.
"Yeah, you uhh… you were acting like a total bitch to everyone and I'm saying that in lack of a better term." Lincoln told her. It didn't cheer her up or make her feel better, but it did reveal a truth, which was what she needed. He then used his strength to give her a piggyback ride back home. "C'mon, let's get back home."
"Lincoln… I'm sorry. I didn't… I didn't know. I didn't mean to…" Lucy struggled to get the words out. But Lincoln stopped her.
"Look, don't worry. Let's just get home, get some sleep and figure it out in the morning."
"I said those things to you. But you came for me." Lucy also remembered that she nearly instigated a fight between them both.
"Look, it may have stung, but trust me, you learn to adjust." Lincoln said. "Maybe our… birth givers didn't want me. Which is not good for someone's head. But when you said 'Mommy Luna', that was something. Honestly, I love Luna, she's our sister. But every time I think about it, she helped make things bearable for me when I was a kid. The others did their best, but the memories Luna stuck with me. This is gonna sound weird, but every time I think of a mom, normally we would think Rita. But that wasn't it for me, every time I did, I remember how angry and abandoned I was. But with Luna, that was a different story, every time I think of a mom, I think of her. She isn't my mom, but after everything, she's the best I've got close to it. I know you all are trying to get along with me and I can be difficult… but I do care."
From that point, Lucy saw it. Lucy saw the wounded boy beneath his bluster and aggression. Lucy felt unwanted by her parents, Lincoln WAS unwanted. Lucy had a couple bad days, Lincoln had a horrible childhood. Lucy hated the world and maybe her family to a degree for several reasons. But Lincoln, he had EVERY reason to despise them.
But he didn't. He was here being a guardian, being a protector. Being an actual big brother.
"I hurt her so bad." Lucy referred to Lily. "I don't think she's ever gonna forgive me."
Lincoln decided to ease her mind for a bit. "If I learned something about being with Lily, the little tyke is pretty forgiving."
They arrived at the house, with no one in sight, they decided to sneak their way into their respective rooms. Waiting for the figurative chicken to roost.
Once it did, Lincoln and Lucy made their way downstairs. Once they saw Lily on the couch watching TV, they looked at each other. Conveying what they wanted to say to each other through facial expressions.
'Should I really go through with this?' Lucy 'asked.'
'Yes. Go to her.' Lincoln 'answered'.
Lucy walked further down the steps. As Lily paid attention to the TV, she didn't notice Lucy. Until she spoke.
"Lily." Lucy said in a soft voice. When Lily turned to see her, she wanted to feel frightened, but she couldn't. From the look of her body language, Lucy was a wreck right now.
"Lily… I'm so… so sorry." Lucy said. "I shouldn't have pushed you like that. You were just trying to look out for me and…" Lily just got up from the sofa and simply went to hug Lucy.
"It's okay Lucy. I know you didn't mean to." They were there, just hugging each other. Lincoln witnessed the reparation of their bond. He felt glad that all of this can be put behind them. Now, he had one more stop to make.
Knocking on a bedroom door. He opened it to see Lisa.
"Hey Lisa, you busy or what?" Lincoln asked.
"No. My research has reached a conclusion for the time being." Lisa said.
Lincoln let himself go into her room and simply look at some of her lab work.
"I suppose your recent expedition with Lucy became a success." Lisa remarked. She was able to witness Lucy make amends with Lily.
"Something like that. Had to get her away from some people."
"Lucy has exhibited cult like behavior. From the former organization known as the Way of the Light."
"Well trust me when I tell you, there's more to this." Lincoln said.
"What do you mean?"
"Grab a seat. This is gonna be a long one." Lincoln then revealed every detail to Lisa. Why Lucy joined the cult, why the cult wanted Lincoln, his affiliations with Geo and the Manaspex and last but not least Kalshara.
Lisa would have disregarded such adventures as baseless pseudoscience. But given her exposure to things that were considered science fiction, that skepticism faded, so she decided to give it the benefit of the doubt.
"So Lucy felt neglected enough to join an immortal cult, your powers originate from something known as the Manaspex, their are seven others who have this power and there is some sorceress bent on destroying dimensions?"
"Yup. That's just what I learned after all of that."
"I suppose we can treat Lucy's feeling of negligence by having a day dedicated to sibling activities and bonding. But as for these remarkable findings, flagging the investigation is recommended for the time being, since there isn't much to go on."
"Yeah, maybe… but this is just weird."
"Perhaps you can also dedicate your time on honing the new ability you were granted during the rescue." Lisa suggested. Maybe she'd like to know how such power works first hand.
"Yeah, your right. Maybe it's for the best."
As Lincoln and Lisa's conversation went on. There was a curious ear that took a listen to it all.
The ear belonged to none other than the eldest sibling Lori Loud herself. It was a conundrum. Cults, vengeful classmate, mocked scientist, why is all of this happening to this family? It wouldn't be fair to hold Lincoln responsible, those guys were existent before he came along… she knew it was the case for one of them. The others… not too sure, more on the maybe side.
Lincoln looks out the window and sees a moving truck outside. "Someone's moving in?" Lincoln said. He walked downstairs and met someone familiar, yet they were dressed in a green sweater, grey pants and sporting a fake mustache.
"Hi diddly-ho, neighborinos!" Lincoln's eye twitched because he knew one person with this kind of flair and extravagant entrance.
"Geo?" Lincoln asked. Well that's not really my name good sir. I go by Felix Winklebob."
"Okay look…" Lincoln got closer to him. "What are you really doing here?"
"Well, someone has to keep an eye on you, get to live life thanks to a bunch of immortal donors for a couple years and you never know what might happen."
"Are you keeping an eye on me or Luna?" Lincoln asked, he arched his brow awaiting for him to fumble his response.
"Well the answer would be both. Even if I'm one thousand years old, Luna is still a beautiful person."
"Okay, 'Felix'… she's spoken for and I'm pretty sure you say that to all Luna's across the multiverse." Lincoln informed him, he also wanted to chastise him a bit for thinking such a thing.
"Mmm… not the evil ones… they tend to get a little creepy."
"Just my luck." Lincoln mumbled.
"It'll be a very fun time, Lincoln. We'll see more dimensions like that stuttering, awkward kid and his grandfather. But I'll have to check in on every few chapters or so."
"Wait, chapters?" Lincoln remarked in confusion.
"Weeks, I said weeks. My, my look at the time, gotta get all these boxes unloaded. See you around or in town neighborooni." With that, 'Felix' was making quick work of getting his 'things' into the empty house.
Lincoln just decides to head back into the house. Maybe some time with his sisters would help him unwind.
Alright, that's the end of this chapter and the end of this mini-arc. The idea for this mini-arc was thought of by Geo Soul, and was written out by DismalOrc29177, so credit for this mini-arc goes to them.
So, Lucy would've been the third sister to know Lincoln's identity, but given how this arc ended, that's no longer a thing. Still, I enjoyed how this mini-arc played out. I'm not sure what I'll do for the next chapter, but it might involve Ronnie Anne/Black Jaguar since I haven't used her in a while.
Remember to Read, Review and Favorite/Follow.