"Alright, guys. Make yourselves at home." Lincoln told Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zach as they came inside. The five had a big group project to do and they had all agreed to meet at Lincoln's house to discuss their ideas about what to do. "Right now, nearly everyone is out so we got the whole house to ourselves."
As the five dropped their backpacks to the ground, Rusty suddenly felt the urge to go.
"Hey, Lincoln." Rusty said as he started to hop from one foot to the other. "Where's the restroom here? I really need to go."
Lincoln popped his head from the kitchen. "It's upstairs, opposite my room. Also, could you grab some papers from my room, too?"
Rusty saluted. "Sure thing, buddy."
Climbing up the stairs, he looked between the two ends of the hallway before making his way into the bathroom. After doing his business, Rusty walked over to Lincoln's room. But first, he passed by Lisa and Lily's room that happened to be slightly ajar.
As he passed by it, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked at the door before looking at Lincoln's room and the stairs. Then he bit his lip as he carefully crept forward, slowly opening the door. What Lincoln's sisters didn't know wouldn't hurt anyone.
He opened the door wider. His eyes widened.
"DUDE, WHAT'S WITH THIS MACHINE?"
"What are you talking about?" Liam said as he and the others ran upstairs. Lincoln looked up from the sandwiches he was making as he quickly realized what Rusty was talking about. Setting down the bread and the knives, he climbed the stairs and walked into Lisa and Lily's room to see his friends looking at the machine in awe.
"Lincoln, what is this thing?" Zach asked.
"Well…" Lincoln prepared for the barrage of questions. "Lisa built it. It's a machine to view alternate realities."
"...WHAT?!" Lincoln leaned back as his friends screamed.
"YOU MEAN ACTUAL ALTERNATE REALITIES?!" Zach stared at the machine absolutely bug eyed.
"WHAT DID YOU SEE?" Rusty asked, absolutely buzzing. "COME ON, MAN! DON'T LEAVE US HANGING!"
Liam looked at the machine in awe and a bit of fear. "Pretty sure even my folks would call that machine sorcery."
"IS THERE A REALITY WHERE ME AND LORI GET TOGETHER?!"
Everyone stopped and looked at Clyde, all raising their eyebrows. Clyde shrugged.
"Hey, is it wrong to be curious?"
Lincoln thought to himself before making a decision.
"You guys want to see it work? I think we got some time before we actually need to work on the project."
All four of them looked at Lincoln with excitement yet with a bit of apprehension.
"You sure about that? I mean, it would be cool to see it in action, but do you know how to work it?" Zach asked.
Lincoln merely walked over and typed a few things on the console. The machine roared to life, the screen turning onto a blank screen, ready to show wonders. "Yeah, I fiddled around with it. Haven't blown it up yet."
"AW, SWEET!" Rusty said as he sat down. "This is going to be awesome."
As the others sat down, Clyde was whispering to himself with his fingers crossed. Lincoln distinctly ignored how Clyde's lips constantly formed 'Lori.' "How about we try a new universe?"
With that, Lincoln tapped a few buttons, the screen shifting to a new universe.
The sun slowly rose over a ruined forest.
The trees were stripped of their leaves, utterly blackened and looking more like pillars of charcoal that had been erected. The few bits of vegetation that had been growing on the ground looked shriveled and ugly. The ground itself seemed dry, as if nothing can grow from it.
And above all that, there was the silence. No chirping of the birds, no chattering of the squirrels. Simply the whispers of the wind, and even that sounded almost harsh.
Lincoln and the others stared at the screen.
"Yelp, there goes the happy feelings." Rusty said, looking a little sad.
"What do you think happened?" Liam asked.
Zach adjusted his glasses. "Well, judging from the condition of the plants, I think the most similar thing are pictures from Chernobyl, only these look way worse."
Clyde looked at Zach utterly shocked. "Chernobyl, you mean that nuclear reactor that melted down? Then to make something like this…"
Lincoln connected the dots. "We're looking at a world where a nuclear war happened."
All five of the kids stared at the screen in horror.
"Dude, this got heavy." Rusty remarked with the others slowly nodding their heads.
The people of the town had long gotten used to that, as they slowly got up and greeted the coming day. Some of the people got dressed and went over to the fields, tending to the crops they had managed to grow. Some of them tended to the cows and chickens that provided milk and eggs. And others tended to the homes that had been made from the wreckage or the husks of the houses and buildings that had managed to survive.
Life in these days was harsh, but it was a life that the village had managed to carve out for themselves.
"Okay, that's better." Rusty sighed in relief.
Liam couldn't help smiling. "Good to see that humanity haven't forgotten their roots."
Lincoln groaned. "Pretty sure Luan would made that into a joke."
In one house that stood despite looking old and covered with vines, the day was just starting.
"Alright, I'm off to the fields! Love you all!" A heavily tanned Lynn Loud Sr dressed in a faded shirt and jeans called out as he grabbed his farming equipment.
"See you later, honey!" Rita Loud said with Lola and Lana parroting their mother, their clothes just as drab and faded as their father's.
"Dad, don't forget your hat!" Lori, a bit more tan, shouted. Lynn Loud Sr reached up and felt the top of his head.
"Huh, so that's what I was missing." Lynn Loud Sr said as he leaned forward, letting Lori put on the hat. With that, Lynn Loud Sr walked to the fields to begin his day.
Clyde sighed. "Even in this hellish landscape, she is a flower that manages to bloom."
Zach looked at Clyde weirdly. "Why do you like her that much anyway? No offense, Lincoln, but Lori doesn't look like anyone special."
Clyde loomed over Zach, his eyes bright red. "WHAT DO YOU SAY?! DID YOU JUST QUESTION LORI LOUD'S PERFECTION?!"
Zach leaned back, quickly shaking his head. "Nonononono, nevermind. She's perfect, LORI LOUD IS PERFECT, PLEASE DON'T HURT ME."
Clyde nodded as he leaned back. "Just what I thought… What are you guys doing over there?"
Lincoln, Rusty and Liam shivered over at the corner. Lincoln shakily smiled as Rusty covered his face and Liam made a cross with his fingers.
"O-o-o-o-oh, y-y-y-y-you k-know…"
"Alright, everyone!" Rita said to her four daughters: Lori, Leni, Lola and Lana. "Remember what you need to do today! Then you can hang out with your friends."
With that, everyone went out to complete their own chores. Leni went outside and grabbed the pail to draw water from the well for her family and the farm animals. She looked over and smiled, patting the family cow on the head.
"Don't worry, Charles! I will be right back with some nice water for you!"
"Moo."
"Huh, Charles is a cow in this dimension? That's new." Lincoln commented as the four other boys looked at him.
"Who's Charles?" Rusty asked.
"Our pet dog." Lincoln responded.
Liam looked around before looking back at Lincoln. "You guys have a dog?"
Lincoln looked contemplative. "Yeah, we do. Though now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen them recently."
Taking the pail and humming a song as she walked to their well, she reached the area and paused for a moment as she took in the scene before her.
There was a strange cloaked man trying to draw water from the well.
There was a strange man trying to draw water.
There was a stranger.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Leni shrieked before dropping the bucket and running away.
"Ow... " Clyde groaned as the others tried to get rid of the ringing in their ears.
The man looked at the fleeing girl before grimacing.
"Shoot, should have done this earlier in the morning." The man muttered to himself as he redoubled efforts to pull the water up. Hearing a couple of noises coming closer, he pulled the water up and felt the dryness of his mouth keenly.
Water… Glorious water! If he wasn't so thirsty, he would have drooled. But no time to savor.
"Uh...I wouldn't do that." Liam grimaced.
"Do what?" Zach looked at Liam.
Immediately, the man tipped the bucket over his mouth, trying to drink as much water as he could. The cold water splashed all over his mouth, chin and his clothes. But almost immediately, the man felt the liquid push up his throat. He leaned over and dry heaved onto the ground.
"Trying to chug all that water when you're that thirsty. Believe me when I say that I've been through what that guy's been through after a hard day's work." Liam explained.
Lincoln nodded as he scrunched his face. "I see that, man."
Then someone smacked him on the head.
Clutching his head, he was left open for other strikes. He curled into a ball and covered his head as he was mobbed and many blunt objects smacked his body. Eventually someone shouted out.
"Stop! STOP! ENOUGH!"
The blows stop raining down on the man's body, letting him slowly uncurl. Then, two pairs of burly hands, one more heavily tanned than the other, reached down and grabbed him roughly, forcing him on his knees. An old wrinkled hand reached out and pulled off the hood of the cloak, revealing the familiar face of Lincoln, ony that the shade of his hair seemed a little off.
"Lincoln!" Clyde gasped. "You're a thief in this universe."
Lincoln sighed. "I've seen worse."
Before Clyde asked, Rusty rubbed his chin as he looked at the alternate Lincoln's hair discerningly. "Hey, is it just me, or does that Lincoln's hair looked different to you?"
The others looked at alternate Lincoln's hair, before Liam nodded. "Yeah, I see what you mean?"
Zach looked at Liam and Rusty. "I don't see it. Both of them look like they have the same hair color."
Rusty looked back at Zach. "What? No, Lincoln's hair is supposed to be Platinum Blonde."
Then it was Clyde's turn to look at Rusty weirdly. "Rusty, no offense. But Lincoln's hair is definitely white."
Liam shook his head. "Nah, I'm no color expert, but I'm definitely sure that Lincoln's hair is Platinum Blonde."
Zach held up a hand. "Wait, why don't we ask Lincoln what color his hair is?"
Seeing everyone turn their attention to him, Lincoln pulled a hair from his head and looked at it. After a few moments, he looked back at the group and shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know."
The elder that stood in front of a group of people, including Leni, was absolutely stoic as he looked Lincoln over, before he spoke.
"Who are you?"
Lincoln shrugged, or at least he tried to with the two burly men restraining him. "Just a drifter. I just need some food and water and a bit of rest and I'll be out of your hair in a moment."
Lincoln groaned and shook his head. "Never say 'you're just something.' Chances are, you're probably not."
Before the elder could speak, one of the burly men sneered, showing a tooth gap. "Sure, you do. Bet you're just some two bit bandit from the Outside!"
Clyde turned green. "That's right. What are the chances that peace and civilization would actually survive after a nuclear apocalypse? No supermarkets. No Police… NO ACTUAL MEDICINE! I...I…"
Clyde's eyes rolled to the back of his head before bonelessly flopping to the ground.
"Is...Is he alright?" Liam asked.
Lincoln checked over Clyde for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, he sometimes does this. He'll be fine."
"Please," Lincoln begged. "I just need food and water."
"So, you're going to keep lying? We'll get the truth out of you, soon enough." the other burly guy sneered.
The elder sighed. "Hank, Hawk. Where would you even suggest we even put him? We do not even have any faculties for that thing."
Hank and Hawk looked at the elder. "Don't we have that building that used to hold criminals in the Time Back Then? What was it called? Umm… Prison! We should hold him in Prison!"
Before the elder could talk, the rest of the group cheered and voiced their approval. The elder looked over and saw the fear and paranoia that the villagers had towards Lincoln. He looked back at Lincoln and also felt the same, yet he couldn't help but give a look of sympathy.
"My apologies, but we must have a better answer than that."
Lincoln could only groan as he was picked up and dragged off. Near the edge of the crowd, Leni watched as the rest of her family looked over her.
"That's probably not good for that you, Lincoln." Rusty commented.
"Well, at least it's not entirely unwarranted. Still, mighty inhospitable of them." Liam shook his head.
"Leni, are you sure that he didn't do anything to you?" Lori asked, alternating looks between her sister and the man that might have harassed her.
"Just tell us, and we'll beat him up!" Lola shouted with her twin sister nodding.
Her mother didn't say anything as she hugged her, and her father stood close by and watched to make sure that the stranger didn't make a break for it.
"No, he didn't do anything. I think he really just wanted a drink of water." Leni frowned. She knew that the other villagers could be scared of anyone that wasn't from the village, but to see what just happened.
She just didn't feel right about it.
Lincoln smiled. Looks like some things never changed.
Lincoln groaned as he laid down on a ratty mat inside a jail cell that was probably made and used during Back Then. He honestly thought he lucked out when he stumbled upon a hidden village that looked to be populated and flowing with resources. It should have been a simple thing…
"No offense, man. You should probably tell the truth." A dark blond haired well muscled teenager with freckles that stood out among his farmer's tan said as he stood guard in front of the jail cell.
"Huh, that guy seems familiar." Lincoln commented as he pursed his lips. "I just can't place his face."
"And I did. I'm just a drifter that just wants some food and water. Why is that so hard to comprehend?" Lincoln grumbled as he rubbed his face.
The guard looked over at Lincoln and frowned. "I know I'm not the brightest tool in the shed, but even I can see that body of yours ain't ordinary or gotten from hours of farm work."
Lincoln looked down at his form. Though his clothes looked like nothing special, his vest and jeans looking just as faded as the villagers, what stood out was his musculature. His muscles showed that he had worked out, but it wasn't with the purpose of packing in as much muscle as he could to make the rigors of farm work more easier on his body.
It screamed that his muscles had been created for another purpose.
Everyone's jaw dropped when alternate Lincoln's musculature was revealed.
"DUDE!" Rusty exclaimed. "YOU'RE RIPPED."
Liam nodded. "That ain't no farmer's body."
Zach adjusted his glasses. "Practically movie-star looks."
"Uhh...What did I miss?" Clyde said as he woke up.
"Dude, Lincoln's ripped." Rusty said.
Clyde looked over at Lincoln. "...No, he's not."
Lincoln shrugged. "Either way, that's what I'm telling you. It's not like there's any machines you can use to prove that I'm lying."
The guard frowned. "You do realize that if you don't cooperate, we'll have to treat you like a threat."
Lincoln stared at the guard before outright laughing his head off. The guard stared at him, not knowing what was funny. After a while, Lincoln finally calmed down as he smirked.
"You say that like you guys can, no offense."
Everyone felt a shiver go down their spines as they heard that.
"Definitely different you." Clyde said as he hugged himself.
Lincoln nodded. "Yeah."
Before the guard could even ask what he even meant by that, Leni stuck her head in.
"Hello, is anyone… Oh hi, Chaz!"
Lincoln's eyes bugged. "CHAZ?!"
"Who's Chaz?" Rusty asked.
"This guy that I think Leni likes. He's a lot more...huskier here than in this one."
Liam frowned. "Well of course. Doubt anyone would want someone just sitting around eating all the food when the whole world has gone to heck in a hand basket."
The guard froze, a bit of a blush already starting to appear on his cheeks as he turned around. "H-Hi, Leni. How are you doing? I mean, are you okay? This guy didn't do anything to you, right?"
Leni rubbed her chin, revealing the basket she had in her hand. "No, unless looking at me counts. Does it?"
"No, it doesn't. By the way, what do you have there?" The now identified Chaz asked, pointing at the basket.
"Oh, this?" Leni said as she lifted up the basket. "These are some bread and water for the stranger."
Chaz looked apprehensive. "I don't know. I was just talking with the guy, and I'm not sure that we should be giving him anything that could help him recover his strength."
"Really? Pretty sure that no amount of food could help him get out of a prison cell." Zach commented with Rusty and Liam nodding in agreement. Meanwhile, Clyde noticed Lincoln simply watching without reacting to Zach's comment.
"Lincoln, something wrong?" Clyde asked.
Lincoln shrugged. "Just waiting."
Clyde raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
"Just waiting."
When Chaz looked back at Lincoln, he noticed the expression on the prisoner's face. He looked... shocked? Chaz wasn't sure as like a bolt of lightning, Lincoln shook his head before grimacing.
"Bet top dollar that there's a story behind that." Liam said.
"Hey, I said that like nothing you guys can do can pose a threat to me, not that I was planning to hurt somebody. The lady… Leni, didn't you say, is offering me food. If you want, you don't even need to come inside the cell or get near. Just hand the stuff through the bars, will that work?!"
Chaz looked at Leni, who looked at Chaz with a frown. "Stranger or not, we shouldn't have treated him like that. Here, fresh out of the oven and well!"
Leni handed the bread and water to Lincoln, who took it delicately from her hands. Staring at them, he immediately started to feed, visibly restraining himself from scarfing the nourishment down and actually enjoy his food. After a few minutes, there was nothing left but a few crumbs on Lincoln's hands.
"Thank you." Lincoln said, blowing his head deeply. "I needed that."
Leni smiled. "You're welcome. So I can ask you something?"
Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what is it?"
"Why are you here?"
"This again?" Lincoln sighed. "I told you…"
"I know." Leni said, her eyes radiating her plea. "Everyone here are nice people, they don't like it when something in our village is off. I know that you can be scary, but I feel like there is something inside of you that I can believe in. Please, can you tell us why you're here?"
Liam nodded. "Good to see that someone is going to try some hospitality. You never know how much it can work."
"Well, Chaz did have a point. They honestly don't know what Lincoln is doing there." Clyde lightly argued.
"And I'm not saying there's never a time for caution. I'm just saying that suspicion shouldn't stop you from lending a hand. After all, that's how my folks met."
Everyone looked over. "Really?"
Lincoln frowned at Leni, though there was something more...melancholy in his expression. He turned to Chaz.
"Hey, take off your shirt."
Everyone blinked.
"Wow, Lincoln." Rusty commented. "That's pretty forward of you."
"Alternate self." Lincoln said.
Both Chaz and Leni blinked, before Chaz waved his hands. "Woah, no offense, I see that you worked hard, but I already have-"
"Just show me your chest!" Lincoln snarled.
Chaz immediately lifted his shirt. Seeing Chaz's bare chest, Lincoln clicked his tongue. "Well, you should count yourself lucky."
Leni frowned. "Why?"
Lincoln looked between the two, before sighing. "This building is pretty out of the way from the rest of the village, right?"
Chaz and Leni looked at each other, before nodding.
"Okay…" Lincoln took a deep breath. "I was telling the truth when I said that I stumbled upon your village. But I figured that if…" Lincoln looked down at the ground and unconsciously snarled.
"He was here, I didn't want to tip him off that I was looking for him."
"Oh… Classic revenge story." Lincoln said, placing his hands in front of his mouth.
Chaz blinked. "Who?"
Lincoln looked up, his eyes hard.
"A man with seven scars on his chest in the shape of the big dipper."
Zach whistled. "Yeah, that's pretty hard to hide."
Rusty looked confused. "What about make-up and all that?"
"Nuclear apocalypse, remember?" Lincoln chimed in.
"Oh yeah."
Leni stared at him. "What are you going to do if you find him?"
Lincoln looked down at his hand before clenching his hand into a fist. "Kill him."
"...Just brutally honest, huh?"
The blond girl gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Y-You can't mean that! That's so…"
"Why not?" Lincoln snarled. "It's what that b*****d deserves."
Lincoln shrugged as everyone looked at him. "Installed feature."
Leni shook her head before getting up and running up out of the jail. Chaz looked between her and the prisoner before the prisoner looked at him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go comfort your woman."
Chaz blushed. "Leni isn't-"
"AHHHHHHH!"
"OH NO!" Lincoln exclaimed as everyone else gasped.
"That didn't sound good!" Liam said worriedly.
Chaz and Lincoln looked at the door in shock.
"LENI!" Chaz shouted before running out. Lincoln frowned before quickly waving his hand past the metal bars.
The bars fell away, the cut edges utterly clean.
Everyone blinked.
"Did that just happen?" Rusty said, looking at everyone else. Zach looked back and nodded. Clyde looked back at Lincoln.
"Yeah, this was what I was talking about."
Lincoln quickly ran outside and assessed the situation. Chaz stared down two sneering men while one held Leni close to him, the three men looking like they had raided a football supply store and glued a bunch of spikes on the pads.
"S**t, this is a fine woman we got here, looking forward to getting real friendly with her!" The man said as he sniffed Leni, who shivered as she tried to lean away from the man.
"Dude, creeper alert!" Rusty frowned.
Liam shook his head. "Now that ain't no way to treat a lady!"
"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!" Chaz shouted. Just as the bandit holding Leni was about to taunt Chaz some more, he saw Lincoln standing by the prison entrance.
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
Chaz looked back, his jaw dropping as he did. "H-How?!"
Leni screamed. "HELP!"
"COME ON, LINCOLN!" Clyde called out.
"What do you want me to do?" Lincoln asked.
"Oh… I mean alternate Lincoln."
Lincoln was silent. Then-
"SHAO!" Lincoln moved. Blazing past the two bandits in front of Chaz, he swiped a hand past the bandit that was holding Leni hostage, ending up behind him. There was stillness.
"W-" Then the two men in of Chaz fell into pieces…
The five boys stared at the screen.
"AHH!"
"AHH!" Leni screamed as she pushed away the headless body, the limp hands offering no resistance.
"LENI!" Chaz shouted as he came closer and hugged Leni. Leni wrapped her arms around the boy as she took shuddering breaths. Lincoln took a closer look at the bandit's body and frowned.
"Huh, hound dogs. Guess they must have been looking for me."
"HOW DOES HE KNOW THAT?! AND HOW DID HE DO THAT?!" Rusty screamed.
Clyde ran for a nearby trash can.
Liam covered his eyes, muttering something about 'R-rated films.'
Zach went green.
And Lincoln… Maybe he was starting to get jaded towards this kind of thing.
Chaz looked up from Leni. "They were looking for you? AND YOU BROUGHT THEM HERE?! Why?"
Lincoln looked up and towards the center of the village, where it seemed like some commotion was happening.
"What do you mean? The 'why are they looking for me?' or the 'why did you bring them here?'"
"WHY ARE THEY LOOKING FOR YOU?!" Chaz shouted, Leni calming down enough to look at him.
"I killed some of their men for their supplies." Lincoln admitted.
Clyde sat back down next to Lincoln as the others soon got control of themselves. "You know… it's kind of weird, hearing you, even a version of you, talk like that."
Lincoln nodded. "Yeah, though this isn't the craziest thing I ever saw through this machine."
Liam gasped. "What could be crazier than this?"
"I saw an alternate reality where I was the dictator of the world who planned to direct all the world's hatred towards me in order for all the nations of the world to strive for world peace."
"...What?"
"Why did you do it? Couldn't you just have asked?" Leni said.
Lincoln looked at Leni. "No. If it makes you feel better, those people that I killed had killed another group of travelers for those supplies. From what I saw, they looked like regular people, like you. And from all my experiences traveling the wastes, the world out there isn't kind to people like you."
"Okay, that's kind of easier to swallow." Clyde said.
"...Slightly." Lincoln added.
"Slightly." Clyde agreed.
Leni and Chaz's eyes widened in horror. Lincoln ignored them as he looked back at the center. He seemed to be weighing something in his mind before nodding to himself.
"Wait here, I'll be back." He said as he turned around and started to walk in the direction of the village center.
"WAIT!" Lincoln looked back at Leni. Leni let go of Chaz.
"What are you doing?"
Lincoln stared at Leni for a moment, before giving a small smile. "That was some fine bread that you gave me. I figure I would do you a favor by getting rid of the scum."
Leni flinched when she heard Lincoln say that word, but nodded.
Lincoln didn't return the acknowledgement as he jumped onto the roof of the prison before jumping into the distance.
Lincoln stood up and looked back at the four. "You know, we can stop here if you want. Pretty sure it is going to get worse from here on out."
The four looked at each other before shaking their heads.
"Part of me wants to see the alternate you stop those bandits from hurting any decent farmer folk." Liam admitted.
"Just don't tell my parents about this." Rusty admitted as he settled in.
Zach adjusted his glasses. "Do you think that we'll get an explanation of how what your alternate self does works?"
Clyde gestured to Rusty. "I'm in the same boat as Rusty."
Lincoln nodded. "Alright, let's continue."
Landing on the roof of one of the buildings (and managing not to destabilize the whole roof), Lincoln took a look at the situation.
Near the edge of the field, there was at least 60 men on motorcycles with a few better on a jeep, hooting and hollering at the other 15 men that was doing battle with the village men, with a few laying in a pool of their own blood. A bit farther away, the women, the children and the elderly could only watch as the men did their hardest to fight.
It was valiant, but they were still farmers trying to battle seasoned warriors.
Lincoln watched one man fall down, having overextended. The bandit he had been battling grinned viciously as he raised his sword. The man's family, a blond woman with three girls, one looking slightly older than Leni and two little girls that looked like twins, shouted out in horror. And come to think of it, the man shared some features with Leni…
Lincoln held his breath. Even if it was an alternate version of his dad, he still hoped...
Before he could even think about it some more, Lincoln jumped from his perch, hands passing in front of the bandit and landing in front of the brown haired man. The bandit blinked before he fell apart. Lincoln looked at the brown haired man, who was looking between him and the bloody pieces. He looked around.
Lincoln let out a sigh of relief.
He noticed that the battle had stopped, both villagers and bandits staring at the carnage that Lincoln had just unleashed.
Lincoln simply nodded his head towards the noncombatants. "Take your fallen and wounded and get to safety. This battle is mine."
The villagers looked unsure of his words, before the brown haired man quickly got up and nodded to Lincoln. "Thank you."
With that, he left, triggering a shift. The villagers began to ran back to the safety of their families. Leni and Chaz along with the rest of Leni's family, at least he presumed, welcomed back the man with open arms. One of the bandits regained their wits and tried to strike one of the fleeing villagers, only for Lincoln to appear in front of him and swipe his hand in front of the bandit's head.
Angry red lines appeared on the bandit's face before he fell back, a bloody spot where his head was.
"...Seriously, how does that work?" Zach asked.
The bandits stopped, staring at the two corpses.
"So… You're the f****r that killed my men."
Lincoln looked past the bandits at the truck that was slightly ahead of all the motorcycles. A giant of a man with bulging muscles was sitting in the back of the repurposed truck with an object covered with a tarp stared at him. He looked both contemplative and angry.
"Okay, weird question." Rusty said out loud. "But how did these guys get so ripped? What, does protein powder still exist in this world?"
Liam rubbed his chin. "Rusty, you got a point. I mean, these bandits clearly ain't farming, and yet, they got them bodybuilder looks. How does that happen?"
Lincoln shrugged. "Just chalk it up as being part of that universe. It happens."
"But now, I understand how you managed to kill them. You practice a Fist of the South Star, don't you? And judging from your movements, it is the Waterfowl Fist, isn't it?"
The Southern Star Waterfowl Fist. Called 'Nanto Suicho Ken' in its native language, its movements have been comparable to a swan. However, its beauty is matched by its destructive potential and cruelty. Though there is around 108 sects of the South Star, the Waterfowl Fist is counted among the Six Sacred Fists of Nanto, where each sect has a successor that carries out one destiny that have been described in the stars above.
The man smirked. "So...Do you plan on doing, O Star of Justice?"
"...Lincoln, does that normally happen?" Clyde was the first to speak.
"...Sometimes." Lincoln admitted.
Zach grimaced. "That was really unhelpful."
Lincoln grimaced as well. "I agree."
Rusty looked confused. "Wait, are waterfowl the same as swans?"
Liam nodded, though the gesture wasn't done with any confidence. "I...think so?"
Rusty shivered in horror. "Either way, I wouldn't want to mess with that guy."
"By the way, guys…" Clyde chimed in. "What do you think of that title, Star of Justice?"
Zach remembered something. "Hey, didn't that narration say something about the Six Sacred Fists of Nanto?"
Rusty 'hmm'ed'. "Maybe those Six Sacred Fists were supposed to be superheroes, saving the innocent throughout the world?"
Liam looked at Rusty. "Then why did it sound like Star of Justice was the only title?"
"Either way," Clyde looked back at the screen. "That world could definitely use some heroes."
"I'll say." Lincoln agreed.
Lincoln simply cracked his neck before getting back into his fighting stance. "Frankly, scum like you are a dime a dozen. Why bother getting worked up about it that much? Besides, I've heard things about you, MM. Heard you have a weapon that can turn any human into mulch. Figure it would be a decent warm-up for my real target."
MM snorted as he got up.
"Men, kill him."
"But Boss!" One of the henchmen near Lincoln shouted in fear. "What are we supposed to do?"
"Do it, or I'm not sparing you when I bring out Old Betsy."
The henchmen all shivered, before all of them nearest Lincoln turned back to look at him.
"What's the plan?!"
One of them growled before brandishing his sword. "BUM RUSH HIM! HE CAN'T TAKE ALL OF US AT ONCE!"
Lincoln shook his head. "Shouldn't have said that."
The henchmen looked at each other, before their bravado began to build, all of them brandishing their weapons and snarling at Lincoln. Lincoln simply smirked as he gestured to them.
"Come."
With a furious cry, the bandits charged at Lincoln, roaring for blood.
"SHAO!"
With a shout of his own, Lincoln flew into battle. His hands weaved death as they passed by the bodies of his opponents. Soon, his battle cry was joined by a cacophony of screams, punctuated with sprays of crimsons as pieces fell to the ground.
"SHAO!"
A sword was cut into even pieces.
"SHAO!"
A bandit fell forward, mouth dripping blood as his torso and legs fell at different times.
"SHAO!"
A bandit lost an arm.
"SHAO!"
A bandit reached up and fumbled around, feeling the space where his head was.
"SHAO!"
"My word…" Liam looked both disgusted and awed. "He sounded like the most majestic bird."
Rusty nodded. "If he wasn't cutting people into pieces, I could actually watch him fight all day."
Zach chuckled nervously. "He certainly does look fabulous.
With a final shout, Lincoln burst past the final wave of attackers, crouching down on the ground. Behind him, bodies laid silent, their last pleas simply words on the wind. As Lincoln slowly stood up, his ears heard something.
"LOOK OUT!" Leni's voice and his instincts screamed at him to move to the side, just in time as the whir turned into roaring death. Bullets chewed up the ground where he was before the bullets stop coming and the noise ended. Lincoln looked over at MM and whistled.
"A Minigun, huh?" Lincoln said, examining the large barrel gun that MM was holding up and fired with no problem. "I'm surprised you managed to find one in working condition. Still, that's how you plan to fight me?"
MM smirked. "What does it matter? In the wastes, what mattered is the winner stays alive and the loser dies! And I've been watching, you have to be pretty close for your 'Waterfowl fist' to be effective! WELL, GUESS WHAT?! WHAT GOOD IS YOUR FANCY KARATE WHEN I HAVE A GUN?!"
Lincoln smirked. "Well, come on then. Kill me."
MM grinned viciously as the barrel of the minigun spun. "WITH PLEASURE!"
Just as bullets spewed from the barrel, Lincoln dug his hands into the ground and threw them skyward, a cloud of dust and earth erupting from the ground.
"USELESS!" MM shouted as the minigun sprayed lead death, tearing the dust cloud apart.
Only for Lincoln to be not there.
"WHAT?" MM looked from side to side, trying to find the platinum blonde.
"SHAO!"
MM looked up. Falling to the earth, like a bird with its wings outstretched…
"Beautiful…" MM whispered.
"SOUTHERN STAR WATERFOWL FIST: SOARING PURE GRACE!"
Lincoln landed in front of MM, his hands passing through the middle of the bandit leader and the jeep he was on. Silence reigned as everyone stared as MM dropped his minigun. Lincoln stood back up and put two fingers on MM's forehead as he checked MM's chest. Seeing MM's scarless chest, he looked back up at MM's unseeing eyes.
"I win."
As he pushed MM back, he also parted his fingers as he jumped off the jump.
One body fell back, two halves landed on the jeep before the whole thing erupted into a giant fireball.
The boys were staring at the screen.
"...Dude."
"Dude…"
"Dude."
Lincoln didn't pay it any mind as he stared at the remainder of MM's gang as they stared at the spot where their leader had just been cremated at. He frowned.
"Well...Can't let you guys leave."
He brought his hands up.
The screams started up again. The villagers could only stare flabbergasted. Leni continued to cover Lola and Lana's ears as the two little girls closed their eyes tightly.
One bandit, clutching his arm, ran out from behind the smoke and ran towards the villagers before tripping.
Hearing footsteps behind him, the bandit paled as he saw Lincoln step towards him, the tiniest flecks of crimson on his clothes and face a clue to what happened to his comrades. Desperately crab walking back, he lost his rhythm and was soon reduced to desperately flailing his limbs, producing whatever momentum to move him further away from death. He looked back at the villagers.
He cried out to them.
"HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE, I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
"Shouldn't have picked a fight with me then."
Lincoln's hand descended.
Silence.
Everyone looked at Lincoln, who looked a little green himself.
Lincoln looked up before quietly walking over to the villagers, and more specifically, at the elder. Stopping in front of him, he stared at the old man. The Elder tried his best to make eye contact, but he couldn't quite mask his fear.
"I want all the men of the village to take off their shirts."
"Why?"
"I'm looking for someone."
"And what will you do if you find them?"
Lincoln frowned. "What of it? Can you actually stop me?"
The men of the village looked at each other, before taking off their shirts. Lincoln's eyes roamed each man's chest.
He couldn't hide his disappointment.
"Dude…" Rusty looked at Lincoln. "Your alternate self can be a real jerk."
Lincoln thought of something. "Wait a second, did he actually ever say why he was looking for the guy with seven scars?"
The rest of the boys thought for a moment before shaking their heads.
Lincoln checked over his supplies for the second time and nodded to himself. Everything seemed to be in order. Wrapping everything, he attached it to the motorcycle that had been in the best condition from MM's gang. Distributing the weight as best he could and securing the supplies, he checked everything again and nodded to himself as he was satisfied.
Looking back at the village, he looked at the people trying their best to put today behind them. Whether they worked harder in the fields, or whether they were making sure that their children were alright, it was clear that they were doing their best to get back on their feet. Being outside, he could appreciate the humble beauty of the village.
A village that already made it clear he wasn't welcome anymore, judging from the few glares he got.
"'Thank you for saving our village and putting your life on the line.'" Clyde mimed.
Liam rubbed the back of his head. "Well, he was kind of responsible for bringing a bandit gang into their village."
Taking one last view of the village, he hopped on the motorcycle and turned it on, the roar of the engine making him smile. Just as he was about to go…
"WAIT!"
Lincoln looked back to see Leni and Chaz running over to him. Getting close to him, Leni handed over another bag to him. Looking at them curiously, he opened the bag to reveal a freshly made loaf of bread.
"Oh...Thanks. This is really good bread."
"But it's not why you saved us." Chaz said. Lincoln said nothing.
"Why did you?"
Lincoln stared down at the loaf of bread, before pointedly looking at Leni. "You know…"
The martial artist took a deep breath.
"You're probably her age."
Leni looked confused. "Who?"
Lincoln became wistful. "My little sister, Lily. She probably is your age."
Leni and Chaz's eyes widened in horror. "You mean?"
Lincoln nodded. "While I was training in the Waterfowl Fist, the man with seven scars came into my village and kidnapped her. The seven scars are the only lead that I have."
"Oh man…" Clyde shook his head. "He's got so much ground to cover…"
The martial artist was about to take off, before Leni grabbed him by the arm. "Take care out there. And I hope you can find them, both of them."
Lincoln simply smiled.
"I hope the same thing."
With that, and the roar of a motorcycle, Lincoln left.
Lincoln sighed as he turned the machine off before checking the time. "OH CRUD, WE REALLY NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT THAT PROJECT.!"
Liam, Zach, Rusty and Clyde looked at each other.
"Actually, now that I think about it, there was something else that bothers me." Clyde said.
"Lincoln, what's this?" Lisa asked as she and the rest of the sisters stared into the kitchen.
Lincoln looked up along with his friends as they were surrounded by papers and a blackboard that had tons of writing on it with the title of 'White or Platinum Blonde?'
"Oh, we're trying to figure out if my hair is white or platinum blonde."
Lisa scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? It's white."
"Really?" Leni spoke up. "I thought it was platinum blonde?"
Lisa looked at Leni.
Inspiration: Fist of the North Star
Authors Note: Too much? Should I change to M now? I mean, other than this chapter, I don't have any ideas that demand for M rating.