Failure; its all your fault, this streak of bad luck.
No escape from this cycle in which you are stuck.
"Wait, how are you older? Did time fly fast already? Lincoln, what did you mean? Lincoln!"
Her heard her pause, but kept walking past the emptiness of the town.
"You are Lincoln, aren't you?" Her voice had gone quiet but nervous. Her footsteps had slowed enough to make him stop. Lynn followed along, unaware of what to expect of whoever this was, if it wasn't him.
"You won a race with a shitty bike, and it was my fault." He met her hazel eyes, waiting for her to realize it was him.
Lynn nodded, laughing. "I was proud that day. Yeah, it must be you. It is you, Lincoln." She ran up to him, and gave him a big hug. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I hurt you all. I'm sorry I broke the family," she cried heavily, not something she had done when she was alive and kicking.
"What- What are you talking about? Where are you from?" Lincoln grabbed her shoulders, pushing her away from. "What- What did you do?" It never slipped from his mind that she came here because something bad happened, something Lynn did. Something that got her killed.
"Lincoln? It... Is you, isn't it?" Poor Lynn was eyeing him strangely again, through her tears of guilt and regret.
"I'm not the Lincoln you know, Lynn, but I'm Lincoln, nonetheless."
Lars appeared from a corner on their right. "Lincoln, I've found you! Holy shit, its... A girl Lynn? What the-"
"Don't ask, Lars. Let's just get back to the house, and hope we don't get newbies anytime soon." No one needed another reset scenario again. Lars has probably been through one too many, and Lincoln was not feeling ready for that.
Lynn felt like that one person a friend would ignore for, while talking to another friend. She scratched her head, confused at this goth teen in darker getup than Lucy. "I've gotta be in hell, I've gotta be!"
The house was still in its place, still as Lincoln saw when coming here. He and Lars stood staring at it from outside, while Lynn eyed down the street. "Damn it..." She remembered running down that direction, to her slow, painful death.
"You wanna tell her, or should I?" Lincoln asked.
"She's your sister, not my brother," Lars laughed.
"Well, I mean..." Lincoln laughed at this debatable fact. "Hey, sis, what are you staring at?" Lynn moved closer to them, still checking over her shoulders. "You wanted answers, I might as well tell you. Long story short, this is rehabilitation for evil ghosts."
"It's more than that, actually", Lars cut in. "You've gotta face whatever it is you've done, as I've seen earlier. Face it, accept it and let go. You're not in hell, but you can go to heaven. Uh, what's your name?"
"It's Lynn", she answered.
Lars gave himself a facepalm. "Of course it is."
"This place, it isn't hell?"
"I said that. So, why are you here?" Lincoln was still wondering how Lynn came to be.
"You've died at this age!" Lars finally noticed it, "Tell."
The garage door opened, and all three were alarmed to see the victims of Lynn's killing spree come out in the way she left them for the coroners. Lynn stuttered wildly, immediately booking it from the house. All the victims followed, among them most of her sisters, and Lincoln and Lars put the pieces together.
Lynn, what have you done? Lincoln wondered, despite already understanding what she'd done.
Lynn didn't dare turn around, while hearing Lori yelling from behind. "Come back, you literally owe me surgery for this!" The clatter of footsteps was what kept the scared Lynn going. Lincoln and Lars followed the large crowd of Lynn's victims closely behind. Lynn ended up to where it all ended; she reached the dead version of the park, and the crowd had, by then, spread throughout the park, closing in on Lynn slowly.
"NO, NO, NO! GET AWAY, ALL OF YOU! YOU'RE NOT REAL! YOU'RE NOT REAL!" The victims stopped at the same time, even those among her family. She sighed, before being spun around by her own Lincoln.
"I'M NOT REAL, AM I?" Lincoln hit her head with the gun that ended her. "I'D DO IT ALL AGAIN IF I COULD!"
"No... No, Lincoln! Please, don't hurt me again! I never-"
"Never? Never what?" The murderous LK persona of Lynn stood waving a knife. "We killed them, we liked it. Don't kid yourself, Lynnie."
Lynn was grabbed into a chokehold by the Lincoln thing. He was incredibly strong, and she was unable to break free. For the first time ever, her own physical strength could not save her. LK inserted the knife into Lynn. She dropped, reeling in the pain.
"Die for our sins, Lynn."
Lynn looked up at the knife still burrowed into her, and blinked, only for it all to disappear. LK, Lincoln, and everyone was gone from the park. Lynn covered her face, crying again. Lincoln and Lars caught up to her.
"Where did everyone go?"
"Forget that. Looks like Lynn needs some comfort."
"Lynn, did you... Kill people?" Lincoln helped her up, holding onto her lovingly. "You can tell me... Lynn-"
"I killed our sisters, Linc. Most of them... I..."
Lars gasped to this, and Lincoln rolled his eyes at him. "Why did you, Lynn?"
"I... I liked the first time," she confessed. "And I kept going..."
"Jesus."
"I'm sorry, Linc, I'm so sorry."
"It's gonna be alright, Lynn. Stop- Stop thinking about it." Just like the little display Lincoln saw back in Lynn and Lucy's room, something happened here as well. Young Lincoln was there, holding a gun, watching LK-Lynn crawl away as she was dying. "I promise, it's gonna be fine, Lynn."
"You're the one who killed me..."
Lincoln sighed in annoyance. "Even on other earths, I'm a killer."
"You people are sick," Lars remarked.
Young Lincoln held the dead body in his arms. Then, he turned to face Lynn. She shielded behind Lincoln, scared to face the illusion.
"You made me suffer, and you let Leni lose herself. How you could you destroy our family? You're nothing but a-"
"YOU SHUT UP!" Lincoln was having none of that, especially not from himself. Young Lincoln vanished instantly.
"Jesus, you're scarier than Liberty."
"Who's Liberty? And who are you?"
"It's complicated, Lynn. Look..." She was more short than he originally saw her as. He went on his knees. "What you did can't be undone, and it'll be with you to serve as the ghosts of your past. Lars, I think I understand what you and Clyde were trying to say."
Lars held a thumbs up.
"Lynn, you can't keep looking back. You can't keep feeling guilty. These ghosts that you saw, they weren't there. It's your guilt taking form here..."
"He's right. It is, and it'll only consume you. There's only one thing you know you have to do, Lynn. You have to-"
"You need to forgive yourself, and let go, Lynn. It's all the past now. You can rest in a better place." Lincoln looked up into the dark gray skies above. "You can move on, only if you can move on in your mind."
Lynn stopped her crying. "Forgive myself... Forgive myself..."
A bright light had begun to glow from Lynn. It spread through her clothes, covering every inch. "What is- Lincoln?!"
Lars tapped his shoulder. "Wait, step back! This is redemption for Lynn!"
Both of them moved away. Lynn had now angelic robes on her, and she looked upwards. "M-mom? Dad? Guys, is it really you?!" She let out a smile, covering her mouth with both hands. "Oh, my God!"
"Lincoln, you helped her move on!"
"All I said was words she needed to hear," he coughed.
"Not just words, but true ones. Look!" Lynn had begun to raise above the ground, reaching her hand out to the skies. There was then a huge flash of bright light, and both of them shielded their eyes. They recovered, only for Lynn to be gone.
"Damn. She just got here like twenty minutes ago. I've been here for hours." Lincoln found it funny.
"That's it, you found your own answer. That's what you need to tell yourself to-" The ground had begun to shake violently again. Lars shouted at the skies. "FUCK, NOT ANOTHER SOUL!"
Lincoln grabbed his arm. "We won't be separated again!"
Rather than a complete wipe of the town, something else happened. A black portal opened up feet away from them. "What the fuck- has this ever happened?" The ground still kept quaking, but nothing further.
"No, but I recognize that portal! It's from someone who's made-" Lars then knew who was coming, after remembering a key memory. "LINCOLN, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!" Lars led him right up to the portal.
"My chance? My chance for what?"
"Stay there, don't move!" Lars took steps back, waiting for it to happen like he remembered it.
"What am I waiting for?!"
Lucy emerged from the black portal, surprised to see Lincoln there. "L-Lincoln?! You've been dead all this time?!"
"How could you make a deal?!"
"Wha- I- How do you even-?" Lucy saw Lars wave at her. "...Okay, what?"
"Lars, can I move-" Lincoln was then pulled by an unseen force head on towards the black oval. "Lucy, who's on the other side?!"
She looked down in discontent. "Everyone..." She sadly replied.
"Lucy, Lu- Wait, all this time?! What do you-?!" He stretched out his arm, trying to take Lucy with him. It was hopeless, as his arm only went through hers, disappearing inside. "LUCY!"
Lincoln felt the cold hard ground of the kitchen, and multiple voices of various women came at once.
"Oh, my God, it's Lincoln!" Lynn yelled. Linka and Lily both pushed past the crowd of the Loud sisters, and gasped at the sight of him.
"LINCY!" Lily yelled, leaping on him. "YOU'RE HOME!"
Linka did the same, forming a wide smile on her face. "Daddy, you're back!"
Most of them were giving each other confused looks, all except Luna, who had something else twinkling in her yellow eyes.
AN: Lucy will keep Lars company for all eternity and vice versa. Quite a shame, but not a sad ending for them both. Lincoln's back, but the minute he returned, certain things were erased from his memory. I guess that's merely a fact now; if any of the others were to bring it up, he'd not recall.