The elevator was steady at its rate.
Something isn't right here. Nothing was on lockdown like before. I know Lisa managed to take control of the Agency, but, was she able to this time? Lincoln was prepared for another fight. The only problem here was, the others weren't.
A surprise move that had been orchestrated perfectly. But then again, Lisa wasn't over there. So maybe...
As soon as the elevator doors opened up, and Lincoln was sprinting to the end of the hall, passing several of the agents who did not look his way. He bursed through the room on the end. There was nobody in there.
Lisa's still in her cell.
"What are you doing now?" Luna peeked inside. "What are you looking for?"
Lincoln brushed her away, redirecting to the armory. Upon looking inside, he realized everything had changed. New, more advanced tech had been placed over what Lincoln remembered. A sign in black was placed over the middle gun safe.
Anti-Phenomenon Weaponry
Lincoln held up what seemed to be a shotgun round, but laced with a tougher coating of metal.
"Special weaponry was designed by Vial Corp. They made special guns and bullets to stop powered people like Lynn, who were, say, bad guys."
Lincoln pieced together that this was what Liberty was talking about.
He placed the shell in his chest pocket.
"Lincoln, the cell blocks are down. Why are-?" Luna took a glimpse at the armory. "This is new, dude. Check out the firepower." She touched what seemed to be Striker shotgun. "What the hell's a Phenomenon?"
"I've seen enough. Let's get down there."
As soon as everyone went back inside the elevator, Lincoln caught one of the agents looking at them, and taking off a finger pressed on his ear, quickly turning away.
Something is not right, at all.
"Look alive, you guys." Lincoln kept staring at the agent, up to the point when the doors blocked his sight.
"Twerp, this is a waste of time. These guys-"
"Have not done anything to break up Lisa's secret regime. They haven't gotten anything out of her. That's why we're here, to try."
The hall on the cell floor was smaller, fully white to its end. All cells were on the left, while the right side was just wall. Lincoln wasted no time in meeting Lisa.
The fourteen year old, in a orange prison jumpsuit, sat in the corner, reading Sun Tzu's Art of War. Lincoln tapped on the glass. Lisa turned from the page she was on. "What a surprise. I expected someone to come. If you're the one, it means you're serious. I can give you everything, but the one thing you came for. You know that."
She placed the book down, and walked over to him. "We're supposed to be in each other's places, Lincoln. All of you, actually." The four other sisters huddled around Lincoln.
"This whole... System I created, was primarily to house you all. Most of you wandered away from a better life, strayed from the path. Luan and Lily, they had the closest thing to one, and yet, it was still horrible."
Lincoln held a hand to the glass. "You've been watching us?"
"Yes, I have. But not always. I kept track of you on a monthly basis. Luna, the twins, they were contained. The rest of you, I planned to capture. To keep this intention from being discovered, I set up so that others were captured. Its a win-win, I took runaways, hobos, orphans. It was also a win for me, as I used them for my own needs. That's when the agendas changed."
Luna angrily banged on the glass. "You made a monster out of me!"
"Nonsense! I put you off the streets! I housed you three! I helped you guys! You spat in my face!"
"Where is...-" Lincoln stopped from saying the name he didn't get. "Tell us where your partner is! Tell us where the remaining facility is!"
"I can't, and I won't. Nobody's gonna stop, until you're all dead. I'll do whatever it takes."
"Wait, rewind. You said three of us. That's wrong. You imprisoned the twins, me and Lynn."
Lisa returned a confused expression. "Lynn?" She laughed. "No, I never caught Lynn. I didn't bother, she seemed peaceful with what she had."
Lynn stepped back, displaying a scared face.
No, not now! I don't know what he did! I can't say anything...
"No, you captured her! She has-"
"I never did! Would I lie about something like that? Truth be told, I'm curious how she got ahold of that serum. I know Lincoln broke in, before. But no one has ever, afterwards."
Luna met Lynn's eyes. "You... Lied to us?"
Lisa scanned her eyes from Luna to Lynn. "Looks like you have some explaining of your own. Too bad you won't make it out alive." The cell opened automatically, as the elevators opened up. Lisa tossed a concealed dampener into the hall.
"OPEN FIRE!"
Lynn pulled Lana behind her. "What the hell?! What's going on?!"
Lincoln entered into the cell. "You took over, didn't you? This was a trap from the start. That's why its still active, in play!"
Lincoln grabbed Lisa, and slammed her on the glass. "You're quite right, of course."
Lynn went down, falling over Lana. "No!" Lincoln screamed as Luna fell to the side.
"Relax, Lincoln. Those are rubber bullets. I still need you all alive. They're falling easily because of the power dampener. Surrender, you lost."
His sisters, moving in agony, were quickly pulled away by the Black Network agents, much to his horror.
"Be smart, give up. Put on the cuffs, we're going on a little trip." Lincoln watched the others get blindfolded, and led away by the men. "Go on, Lincoln." Lisa pushed him out of the cell. He was immediately cuffed and wrapped in his own blindfold. "Take them back to the main HQ."
"Yes, ma'am."
Though the muffled sounds, he was escorted out of the Agency, listening to Lynn trying to struggle. "Can't break free, girl." One of the men shook something that sounded like a can with a pebble inside. "As long as we have one of these, you're fucked."
The sound of car doors opened passed through the material. "Get in."
"Ow, Lincoln!" Lana's cry made him try to break free. His strength was normal again, so there was no way to escape. He was struck by a punch. "Get in!" Lincoln was shoved into a seat of a dark green H1 Hummer. "Who's this next to me?" Luna tried to move about.
"Its Lincoln. They're taking us back to their HQ."
The vehicle started up. "They're... They're going to kill us... I know it."
"Stop, we can figure something out. We will."
Luna shook her head, unbeknownst to him. "They got us, Lincoln. They got us. There's no way out of this..."
Hours Later
Lincoln kept trying to free himself from the chains. The five of them were all chained through the floor. Lincoln still tugged at his. Everyone's watches had been taken, meaning no way to call the others.
"Give it a rest, Lincoln. We're stuck." Luna and Lori leaned on the wall, giving in completely to their predicament. Lana was running normally, losing her speed at the moment. A bigger dampener was placed on the ceiling, emitting its magic into the locked room. The sweaty tomboy was out of breath, running slower with each minute.
"Lana, please stop. You'll die of exhaustion." Lori was done trying to talk to her. "This is literally hopeless. No one knows where we are. They're all still waiting for us back home."
Lincoln wrapped the chains around both hands, and yanked with all his might. "GODFUCKINGDAMNIT!"
"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, LINCOLN, STOP!" Luna's voice raised many times over her loudest scream. Lincoln untied the chains around his hands.
Lynn, who was biting her way out, stopped to no avail. Defeated, she sat down.
"Okay, okay. Fine. But let's talk about something. Lynn, what the fuck really happened to you?"
She looked away, moving back as far as her chains allowed her. "I can't tell you..."
"Lincoln, now's not the time." Luna went over to Lynn. "Its okay, whatever it is, you don't have to tell us. I can see it must be hard to share." Lynn nodded at her.
"Fucking typical of you, Luna. She could be working with them, or something. I'm still going to get answers."
Lana had stopped running around, and lied down to recharge herself. "How do I know you're not? You've been acting strange. That little display around Linka, where did that come from? Lincoln... Did you know that Lisa took over?"
His expression changed. He scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You and Lana were the only ones to enter that facility. And now that I think about it..."
Lincoln dripped a sweat.
"When you came out with Lily, we were all surprised. But, your expression. You weren't shocked, you weren't surprised. You-"
Lori and Lynn caught on. "You knew she was there all along."
Lori stood up. "Twerp, start talking."
"I did something... I did something that I thought was right."
Lynn's eyes widened.
"It started when Lincoln did something he wasn't supposed to. Despite fixing it, there was a huge consequence not even Lisa foresaw." This is it! This is what older me warned me about! The paper! I have to-
"Well, what was it? You made a deal behind our backs, right? Yeah, that's it."
"No, I... It might be hard to gulp down, but..." He sighed. Even now, it sounded unrealistic. "I altered the timeline. I guess, twice, now that I think about it..."
"Changed the- Make some sense. I'm not understanding."
Lynn's ears were all on him.
"I changed something, and everything I knew shifted so much. But it was worse, so I brought it back, back to this."
Luna was unconvinced. "Alright, alright. Say that happened. Why do it in the first place? What happ-" She stopped to think, and remembered Lincoln shooting at a black vehicle she didn't fully see. "No... Okay, tell us. Tell us why you did it... Tell us what happened."
He sighed, not knowing he'd share what happened to them. "Linka and Lucy died." Luna let out a whisper of a gasp. "And Luan got hurt badly. If that weren't enough, Lily-"
Luna held her hand up. "No, I don't think I can stomach the next words. Jesus, Linc..."
"Lynn, are... Are you infertile?"
Her face went fully white. "H-How do you know that?!"
"You told me, in the other timeline. So, its true then... I'm-"
Lynn cupped her hands over her face. "Its not fair! I want to marry, and settle down with kids... There is no God."
"The last thing I remember was their funerals. It was on tomorrow's date. They died today, but I prevented that, or... Did I replace them for us?" He sat down next to the hurt Lynn.
"I never asked for this. Any of this madness, I just want a normal life..."
He hugged the girl, rubbing her hair gently.
The intercom from the back corner on the left came on.
"How does it feel to be so helpless? Unable to act, slow to succeed? You're all atrocities to humanity. Dangerous, with such power. You're all gonna die here, together. The freaks of mankind, in my merciless grip. You're imperfect, and the world, the world will be one step safer from you. Isn't that right, Lincoln?"
Vince's voice was cut off, followed by another's voice.
"Whu- Where am I? Lincoln? Lincoln, where are you?"
A recorded session with Lily played through the intercom. "Oh my god..." Lori covered her ears, not wanting to hear it. Luna rushed at the speaker in the corner, but was unable to strike it. "Damn..."
"Lincoln, I'm scared! Lincoln, where are you? Where is..." Lily cried softly. "Don't me alone, please. I don't want to be alone again... Lincoln! Linc-..." She stopped.
Lincoln screamed. "YOU ANIMAL. I'LL KILL YOU!"
The door unlocked from the other side. Four men heavily armed entered, followed by Vince himself. "You want to? You want to?! Here I am! Come on!"
The only thing keeping Lincoln from getting his kill was the chains. "I'll kill you, I'll kill you all."
Vince snickered. "You might want to play nicely, now. Bring her in!"
Another man, leading a mysterious figure with a sack over her face, placed her beside Vince.
"On your knees, sweetheart." The person dropped to her knees. Hands were tied completely.
"Mmmmphhh..." The person uttered.
"I know everything about your family. Every sister, every hobby, every fear. Should it come as a surprise when..." Vince removed the sack, revealing the scared face of Leni Loud underneath, mouth shut with duct tape. "MMMMMPPHH!"
"...Leni is actually alive! This, this is the best joke ever told! This could not be possible without the clones. The one called Lupa, specifically!" He laughed with such a cruel tone. "You idiots! Their suits, they had cams! I found Leni that way!"
"Leni-LENI!" Lori's hands pulled her into the ground. "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE ALIVE!"
"MMMMPH FMMMMM KRRRM!" She shook her head, and sank down.
"Lupa... Knew all along?!" Luna tried to pull from her locks as well. "WHY, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!"
Vince fired into the wall. "THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU! THIS IS NOT A HAPPY REUNION MOMENT!" The gun shifted at Leni.
"MMMMPH MMM-MMM!"
"WAIT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! NO, STOP!" Lori hadn't given up on trying to free herself. "NOT LENI. NOT HER!"
Lincoln grew silent. "Don't you dare-"
"You'll what? Lincoln, do you know the old saying? 'An eye for an eye?' Well, in this case-" The gun aimed at her chest. "ITS A SISTER FOR A SISTER!"
Vince fired into her.
"NOOO! NOT HER! NOT LENI!"
Lana screamed, submitting to the horror unveiled by Vince.
Blood squirted from the wound, and Leni's common green attire mixed with the red streams of the blood. "Mmmmm..." Vince removed the duct tape from her mouth. "Luhh..." The left corner of her lip dripped red as well. She gasped, trying to speak. "Luhh... Lincy-"
Lincoln's eyes widened with shock and pain. A familiar sight that haunted him since-
"I luhh... I love-"
Vince showed no mercy. The second bullet send Leni down to the ground, bleeding out.
The others, apart from Lincoln, were shaken, and crying at the sight of Leni.
"You... Bunch of pussies. I'm just finishing what I started."
1216 Franklin Ave, Royal Woods, MI
2039
Lynn deactivated the machine. "Best of hope for a better future."
She raced upstairs, meeting up with Luan, still rolling around in her wheelchair.
"Pointless, Lynn. Real pointless. You burned the paper you gave yourself. Its the written timeline. We can't-" She looked down, tired of explaining. "Everyone's going to die. They have, I mean. Lori, Luna, Lucy. There's no stopping this. If she really changed our fates, why am I still in a wheelchair?"
Luan had a point. "I know, Luan. We still have the machine. And if-"
Lynn bolted through the door. Luan rolled to the exit as Lynn returned with a suitcase. "If younger me didn't stop this, then you and I will." Lynn opened the case for Luan to see. She gasped.
"Luan, its time we took matters into our own hands. Let's help and save the others."
AN: Ooooh, let's make things more interesting. Redoing this, it wasn't easy. Retribution is officially undone, prevented. But is this trade up better, or worse? Can you feel what's coming? Can you be able to predict what card I'll play next? Are you having fun reading?
I've come this far, and its amazing. More people are beginning to look this way, which is surprising, given how non-light this is, in terms of theme. That gives me a (figurative, not literal) boner of excitement. At first, it might be confusing, but I'm going to fix that, make things clearer. Thank you all. Thenk yoo.
I'll probably unveil the title of the new arc before it comes, which will likely turn many heads.
H, bite me.