June 14th, 2026

The pain from the altercation with the white-haired man had left him more thsn defeated. Never had he'd been bested by simply being tossing around. Now he knew to not hold back. He wanted to wrap this up fairly quickly. Ronnie Anne was probably angry at him again, but at least she wasn't aware of his current "job."

At first, it became hard to lie to the only person he cared for in the new world. It had grown to be easy, but the price to pay was her trust and respect for him if she ever knew, and God help whatever remained of the Santiagos if that ever happened.

This time, he rolled around the streets in an armored dark green Hummer. He didn't even bother wiping away his scars from the previous day. The blood on his left cheek and arms had dried, but were visible at a certain position.

The only intuition handed from his contractor was that the Louds were active around the New York area, specifically the speedster twins. That, and access to high tech weaponry that came from a very high place, left for him in the Hummer they also supplied. Bobby did not question it, setting out for the contract.

By sheer dumb luck did he come across both twins, both of whom were going around in a scout run. He revved up to beyond fifty miles, chasing after the pair

They ran slower than they were, leading their little merc into a trap Luna and Lori worked on. Both twins were to turn at an ambush point around, coming from Lexington Ave to East 109th Street. The minute he veered right, he knew something was wrong.

Lynn moved like a charging rhino, making the Hummer spin out of control. The twins moved all civilians in the block away. Luna and Lori joined Lynn, circling around the Hummer. "Out of the car; asshole!" Lynn cried out.

Bobby wasn't going down easy this time. He jumped to the back seat, unwrapping the heavy machine gun of a full hundred belt, and sprayed away in a circle after opening the roof window.

"TAKE COVER!" Lynn flipped herself a car on its side, activating the alarm. Luna and Lori both shielded themselves from the firing. "LANA, LOLA!"

The twins, combining their running strength, gave a big heave of force upon the vehicle, sending it flipping in the air like a Michael Bay movie scene. The machine gun flew out of his hands, making a hard clank of an impact in front of the twins. "We got him!"

Bobby laid dizzy, feeling some fractures before the Hummer's air ride ended. He hurled to his side, punching through the windshield. Bobby crawled out, growling with broken pride. A pair of feet acted as a blockade, making him turn directions. Lori ceased his hopeless escape, grabbing him by his foot.

"Great job, dudes! We did it without serious violence!"

Bobby and Lori met each other with looks; the same ones given when meeting a familar face after so long. What Lori saw wasn't someone who was paid to kill them. It was him, her supposed true love long lost.

"Well, how do I look?" Her sea-themed dress mesmerized Bobby completely. He wanted to drop his mouth in awe, but had the will to fight it off. Lori had never looked so beautiful, so gorgeous. His heart revved up, but he didn't feel it at all.

They slow danced in the middle of the school gym. Hair groomed, dressed in a puce tuxedo suit, and a nice Axe adjustment under his pits made him the living embodiment of the man of Lori's dreams. Their eyes were locked in love mode, a deep moment that was sure to have meant something. Lori developed a somewhat goofy smile, which remained stuck throughout the night.

She blushed, and it made him laugh mentally. It was an adorable sight he enjoyed with a passion. He loved her, and she loved him back in equal.

This look wasn't what she saw and felt that day. No, this was someone else entirely, despite knowing him inside out. Lori was tensed up that she dropped him, already lost in the now unearthed memories of him.

Lynn, Luna and the twins made sure he had nowhere to go. "Tell us, who hired you? Who wanted us dead?" Luna's voice wasn't as demanding and booming like Lincoln's, but rather that of a concerned mother's. "Who wants us dead?"

"You don't know how this works. Besides, I wouldn't tell you if I knew," Bobby bluntly answered.

Lori decided to give the interrogation a try her own way. "Bobby..." It all slowly came back with each second, which was building up to something painful and emotional. "Boo-Boo Bear..."

"I'm Roberto Santiago now, Lorelei."

"You remember us, I see. Didn't think of you as a hired gun. What... What happened to you? And... Your sister," Lori pictured a girl, wearing a sweater mixed of pink and purple, and blue shorts. Ronnie Anne. The girl's name was- "Ronnie Anne, wasn't it?"

Bobby pushed himself off of the ground, targeting Lori for his hands. The twins intervened, flipping him back down. "Para eso! I need it! I need the money! Nothing personal!"

"Then tell them you failed, mate! Payday's cancelled!"

Lynn twiddled with her fingers in a guilty fashion. Lincoln and Lupa entered stealthily behind them. He drew a gun, cocked back and readied to fire. "Luna, you're unworthy to lead us to war." Lincoln fired away, but nothing happened. The weapon had vanished from his grip. Lana waved it around in between two of her fingers.

"Don't stop me," Lincoln hissed.

Lupa made Lana fly right into Luna, giving Lincoln a limited time window. Lynn turned on Lori, kicking her in the stomach. Lincoln had his hands on the defeated merc, halfway through the strangling process. Lola rushed by and forced Lincoln away.

Lori, Luna and the twins formed back to back against the three. "Lynn, you told Lincoln about our plan?!"

The sports fan nodded at her, "I'm sorry, I still prefer him to you."

Luna was heavily disappointed in Lynn's move, and only shook her head gently. "What is it about him that makes you choose him over us?!"

"You know why, Lunes. Lincoln is necessary, and not afraid to get his hands dirty."

"But, you're not like him! You just like fighting! This is more than violence, it's about ideas and-"

"You're not a politician, Luna. Shut the fuck up," Lincoln hissed, "I came here to end this, because you wouldn't. Lynn filled me in on what happened after. You did good in killing Ventura. Now, do that to him," he pointed at Bobby.

"It's... It's not right!"

"It's not-" He laughed, giving Lupa a look. "Bring her to me."

Lupa paralyzed the punk rocker, lifting her like a statue in front of him.

"This world doesn't care about us, Luna. Childish concepts are nothing, and you understand nothing either. Open your eyes. He threatens us, and you wanna hand him off to prison. You did that with Lisa, right? I almost feel sorry for you, Luna," he ended the speech, pointing to the skyline over them. "Send her to heaven, Lupa."

Luna's tail went whipping out, trying to strike him. She failed, and was sent flying backwards, as if she was flickered by a huge unseen hand.

"Lincoln, Lupa, stop this!" Lori commanded. Bobby was confused by the heated altercation before him. To him, it felt strangely familiar. Maybe it was because this was like his own fights with his younger sister. No, this was worse. This, this appeared to be a broken family like what was left of his own.

This was a graduated version of the arguments they had, over the same thing. He left them every now and then, to take a dirty job and return. This was all too familiar, and he was in Lincoln's shoes. This could have been it; this could be his own in the future. A stalemate between the two seemee likely, and he grew afraid of the day Ronnie Anne would eventually find out who he was and what he did.

"Lana, take them home..." Lori ordered, "Lola, find Luna. She couldn't have landed too far."

Only her and the hurt Bobby remained. She still expected another attempt by him, but that was not at all what happened.

"I see it's bad around, isn't it? I told you, this wasn't personal," he moved and placed himself at the curb, already feeling freshly new scrapes on his skin. "I've been... Trying to raise Ronnie Anne and her son."

She sat next to him, unsure if she was comfortable or not with the new Bobby. "Is this worth it? Does she know?"

"I... She can't ever know. If it's not too late..." He faced her again, and felt a bit at home with her caring face he recognized formed on her. "I can quit it, this contract. I thought I could do this, but..."

"Oh, I see. What you saw was familiar, wasn't it? You and her are strained as well, huh?"

"That's it. I leave her alone, been doing it often. I don't want to, you know. But it's how I put food down on the table."

"At the cost of your soul? Your innocence?"

"From the looks of things, you're no angel anymore, either," he remarked defensively.

"So, who's the guy who hired you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My clients are ghosts. I don't know much, all I do is accept what's put up, and sometimes they give me the proper tools for the job. Whoever this one is, definitely has access to serious firepower. Look in the hummer, you'll see."

"Thanks for that. You know, you and Lincoln, you're just like each other. I'll allow you to leave, because you have family too. And don't come back..."

He rose, fighting through the pain. He groaned before talking again, "Don't you ever wonder, what could've been, if not for all of this?"

"I stopped dreaming of the better days, Bobby. But sometimes, I guess I do," she softly replied, hearing his slow footsteps sound off behind. They stopped, making Lori turn to her good side.

"She misses Lincoln a lot, you know. He was her first love, and she mentions him in her sleep. As much as I'd like for her to be happy-"

"The two are best left not reunited for their sakes, and it's sad. Take care of yourself, Bobby."

"You too, Lorelei..."

Lola returned with Luna, who was brushing off glass from her purple shirt. She received a hard knock to her noggin, and many cuts on her clothes. The side of her head was already leaking out red. "Ugh, what- Where's Lincoln and his vigilante crew?

Lana zoomed back to the scene. "At home, sulking. Did we win?"

Lori pointed to Bobby's overturned ride. "Twins, find whatever you can in there."

"Where did Bobby go?"

"I let him walk, Luna. I don't think he'll make a third attempt." Lori sounded fully confident this was the case, and Luna almost countered it with hostility. All she did was look at Lori with a face that told her to not regret her decisions.

Lana and Lola dropped four guns they scavenged from the hummer. "You know what these are?"

"Agency weapons, stolen by Lisa and her pals. This isn't making any sense. We've toppled it all, and her and Ventura are dead. What is it we're missing here? Something is happening..."

"We'd best literally go now. Twins, do your-" Lori gagged on the air that flowed through her by heavy force. Lana closed Lori's mouth at only halfway through the run. Lori gasped once the L train reached its destination. "A little warning next time!" She yelled through the coughing.

Lana shivered upon a weird sensation of coldness that came over her. "Brrrrrr..." she rubbed shoulders. Luna also noticed Lola doing the same, making her curious. "Lola, you okay?"

"I-i-it just g-got really chuh-chilly all of a s-s-s-sudden. It's even cuh-cuh-colder than when I fell through a fuh-fuh-fuh-fuh-frozen pond once," she exclaimed, heading inside the house for heat.

Lori and Luna were mentally recapping the new information. "I'm sure we buried everything. No one high knows anything. Maybe about Lisa and all that, but us? It's not the government or something, isn't it?"

"At this point...-" Lynn came crashing through the window of the clones' room, right over Lori and Luna.

"LYNN! WHAT THE-"

The thump of dirt grabbed their attention, thinking someone else had plummeted down on to the ground. Instead, it was something not human, but a metallic being of a light gray color scheme. It was an android, with an almost full human anatomy, except for its head, which was concealed in what seemed like a motorcycle helmet; or maybe it was the head. Two tiny flag shaped ears were waving back and forth after spotting the two.

"It is time for vengeance!"

The android lifted both of its metallic hands, aimed at them. The center of its palms slowly emitted some neon green light of some sort. Lori and Luna prepared to fight, taking their battle stances. They assumed the light was a blast beam, but this was a wrong assumption. Their eyes were blinded when the light expanded to stun them.

Luna cupped her eyes, blinkling like crazy. Lori yelped in pain after a hard punching sound took place. "LOR-" She was knocked unconscious as well, falling onto the grass, and onto enemy hands as well.

AN: Time to do research one last time... The final days are vastly approaching. Now comes the real pain.