Here we are, the finale of the FanFiction and the big showdown you've all been waiting for. This and chapter 20 are being uploaded simultaneously, so don't go anywhere once you finish with this part of the story. The ending awaits your viewing in the next chapter. Hopefully, I've done a decent job getting you all hyped up for the ending. But now, it all ends here. Lincoln has ascended to the rooftop of the school for a verbal confrontation with his nemesis… which will no doubt turn into a physical battle very quickly. Well, no use me continuing to ramble on in the opening paragraph. You came to see Lincoln face off against Viribus, so let's get on with it…
His forces were obliterated. His efforts were crushed. Viribus was on the brink of defeat, and he knew it was only moments away. He sat down in a corner while on the roof of the school, awaiting his enemies to come up and take him down, recognising all hope was lost for him. Lincoln and his friends were searching downstairs for his whereabouts, and the police, once having dealt with the brawling kids and captured disciples of his, were surely going to come up and catch him as well. He waited during his moments alone, anticipating his ultimate downfall once his long list of foes arrived to defeat him.
Alas, one of his adversaries did arise to the roof, but it was just Lincoln, by himself, ready to settle their beef one on one, once and for all…
Lincoln: "It's over, Jake. All of it! You're done for!"
Viribus didn't react in the manner Lincoln expected. Instead of rage, anger, fury or vengeful wrath, Viribus simply turned around to face his foe, and calmly began to speak…
Viribus: "All I ever wanted was to make society a better place to live in, kid."
Lincoln: "Well, all you did was hurt and scare a bunch of people. You're not doing this because you care about making the world a better place. You just wanted revenge because you were bullied years ago!"
Viribus wasn't even sure how to answer that question. He had spent so long using his bad memories to justify his extreme actions, that he didn't even know which of the two was the truth anymore. Was he genuinely concerned for the welfare of everyone in society, or were all his plans purely for his own desire for vengeance and power? He didn't know, but he thought he'd humour the child and answer…
Viribus: "You're right. I admit it… I was a lot like you once, Lincoln Loud. I was a skinny little boy with somewhat geeky interests. Like you, I spent a lot of time playing video games, or on my electronic devices. I didn't have a wide circle of friends, and I mostly kept to myself in my room. I never really liked having to face conflicts head on. I always tried to keep my head down and just let myself slip by under everyone's radar, so they'd leave me alone. To tell you the truth, I was scared… of people, of interacting with others. I always got the impression they thought little of me, that I was just some sad, pathetic loser who deserved to be on his own. To be fair, whenever I did interact with the others kids, it would normally end up with me being bullied or insulted… Something tells me that if people weren't so discriminating and mean by their very nature, that my youthful years could have turned out very differently. But now, I have to live with the fact that I was the sad loner with no friends, and the fact that I had a lame, lonely childhood life for the rest of my days. Tell me, was it wrong that I just didn't want anyone else to have to put up with that?"
Lincoln was just taken by surprise. He knew Viribus as someone who was incredibly violent, aggressive and dominant. Somebody who would never dare show his weaknesses, because he was supposed to install a sense of fear and respect into those whom he encountered. But there and then, at that moment, Viribus was… actually pretty sympathetic. He was sad, sitting down and speaking in a very calm and collected, if regretful and sorrowful tone of voice. Lincoln had the capacity to become mad with people if pushed far enough, but he wasn't a spiteful person, nor the type to hold grudges. All the recent experiences he had been through paid testament to that. He actually came to feel sorry for the man. In spite of every despicable action he had committed…
Lincoln: "I'm sorry. I know you had it hard. But it still doesn't justify what you've done!"
Viribus: "I saw a bit of myself in you, kid. You have similar personality traits and interests to myself at your age. You too, are a geeky little kid with a struggling social life and a limited ability to fight back against people attacking you."
Lincoln: "Gee, thanks." He responded sarcastically.
Viribus: "But that's why I saw the potential in you. You experienced the same things I did as a youth, and I figured I could use that to make you share my vision and ideas. I could take you, make you a blank slate, and then make you a mirror image of myself as I am today. I'm no longer what I once was. As I got older, I started to see things as they really are. I started to understand just how bad the situation was, and how vile the people around me were. Over the years, I learned to fend for myself. I swore I would never let anyone push me around ever again! I became the strongest, toughest person around, and I made it my mission to make sure nobody messed with me, by making them all fear and respect me so much! And I thought you could follow in my footsteps! You may find it hard to believe, but I genuinely grown to like you, boy. You could even say I was… heartbroken, when you turned against me. Though that's debatable, as I've been told by many people I lack that organ." He said with a range of emotions. First calmness, then anger, and finally sadness.
Lincoln: "I know it's hard. But I try to look at life optimistically. I sometimes try and take what I can in life, and when bad things face me, I just roll with the punches and keep looking to the future."
Viribus: "You're too young to understand, boy."
Lincoln: "Understand what?"
Viribus: "The older you get, the harder it is to maintain the positive outlook you have as a child. As I got older, I became more bitter and cynical towards the outside world, which continued to reject and exclude me. My mind began working at a million miles an hour! I began to think of all the harshness, hardship and tragedy of life and all the complexity of it! It drove me insane, many times! I couldn't stop thinking about how the world around me was seemingly out to get me at every turn! So, I dedicated my life to making myself stronger, tougher! To be the dominant being in any situation! To be the alpha male of society! There was no room for survival for the young, cheerful, sensitive, wimpy child I once was. Survival of the strongest is the game, kid. You have to dominate and supress others if you're going to thrive, and that's exactly what I did!"
Lincoln: "And where has that got you? Where are you now?!"
Viribus: "This was my one big chance!" he blurted out.
Lincoln: "And it failed!"
Viribus: "I know! But I had to try!"
Lincoln: "Why?!"
Viribus had regained his sense of anger as he and Lincoln were pushing each other's buttons, and then he stood up to let loose what were his building frustrations against his adversary…
Viribus: "Grrr. Did you really think after all the bullying, exclusion and cruelty everyone dealt to me, that I was just gonna roll over and take it like a chump?! You people really thought I wouldn't do something about it?! Let me tell you something, child! Because of everybody's dislike of me, I had to spend countless years on my own. At school, nobody hung around with me, I was all alone! At home, it was the same thing. I was by myself every single day and night, never doing anything fun with friends! Always wasting away in my room, on my laptop and playing video games! Never hanging out with anyone, or being able to contribute anything to anybody's lives! All my intelligence and ideas, and nobody in the world to share it with, because nobody cares about me or what I think, ever! Now even if I ever make new friends, or find a girlfriend, or start a family, I have to discredit myself to them by revealing I was the lonely loser kid in school who never had anyone to hang around with! I have to live with the fact that the whole world deemed me the worthless loser for the rest of my life! But while I must live with that burden, those punks who victimised me get to live on and get off scott free despite everything they did to me?! HOW IS THAT RIGHT?! Huh?"
Lincoln: "So you admit all this was just because of your own need for revenge? Look, I get you didn't have it easy, but there are people worse off than you. It still doesn't give you the right to…"
Viribus: "SHUT UP!" he interjected furiously.
But he then quickly lost his anger as his sense of defeat returned to him. After his big rant, Viribus decided it was pointless arguing any longer. He knew Lincoln had already beaten him, and no words could change that. He just sat back down, awaiting his arrest.
Lincoln then tried to take advantage of his adversary's defeated and demotivated state of mind, and actually try to talk him down into surrendering…
Lincoln: "Jake, listen to me. You're messed up. Maybe it wasn't all your fault, but you need help. Despite all the horrible things you've done, quite honestly, I've seen enough fighting and destruction for one day. I don't want to cause any more of it. I guess what I'm saying is, right now, you're facing the only person in the world who might show you some mercy."
Viribus: "What are you suggesting?" he asked, genuinely confused and intrigued.
Lincoln: "Viribus… Jake Kelly, let me help you, what do you say?" he asked with legitimate concern for his fallen foe, and even hopefulness for success as he extended his hand out as a gesture to help his enemy.
Viribus then looked at the extended hand for a brief moment. At this point, he had lost the war. He wondered if it would be the pragmatically beneficial move to accept Lincoln's offer for help and friendship. He had a conflicted look on his face, visually displaying the internal struggle inside his mind, trying to decide whether or not to accept. All logic pointed to the conclusion that it was too late in his head, but he considered if the possibility for emotional warmth, acceptance and friendship was even just slightly plausible…
…and at that point, the other Loud family members and Lincoln's friends all ascended to the rooftop. In a sudden reaction of shock and panic, Jake made his tragic and dark decision…
Viribus: "All of you, on your knees, or the kid gets it!" he shouted as he grabbed Lincoln's hand, pulled the boy towards him and then wrapped his arm around the kid's neck.
The Louds and friends then all froze in position as they stood off against the villain.
Lori: "Let our brother go!"
Luna: "Hands off our bro, dude!"
Lynn: "Let him go and come here and fight like a man!"
Viribus: "Drop your weapons and get down or I will incapacitate the boy! His neck will be snapped in two!" he yelled in an attempt to frighten his adversaries.
Lynn Sr: "Do as he says, kids! I don't want us to do anything that will put Lincoln in harm's way!"
All the Louds, Casagrandes, McBride's and friends lowered whatever weapons they held to the floor, and then proceeded to kneel down, complying with Jake's demands…
Viribus: "That's better. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be getting out of here." He said as he slowly, with Lincoln still in his grasp, walked towards the exit staircase of the roof.
Lana: "Let our brother go!"
Viribus: "Oh, I will. He has gone out of his way to prove that he lacks the will to do what is necessary! He seems more contempt with being your punching bag!"
Lincoln: "Yeah, and do you know what, I'm proud of it! Better to be a punching bag than to make everyone else one!"
Viribus: "You're unbearably soft!" he remarked.
Lincoln: "Well, I was raised in a house full of girls." He then joked back.
Viribus then rolled as his eyes and resumed his escape attempt…
Viribus: "Ah, always so selfless, if misguided in your beliefs. You know something, kid. If things were just a little different, you and I could have been great friends."
Lincoln: "I know!" he replied before biting his would-be-friend's arm. The bite was enough to make Viribus scream in pain and release Lincoln, giving the others a chance to charge at him.
Lana: "GET HIM!"
Even Viribus had to be somewhat intimidated by the fact that so many people were charging towards him at once, but he wasn't going to back down. He was going to make his violent intent and inability to surrender known…
Viribus: "Alright, runts! Come at me! As long as I'm still standing, this isn't over! SO LET'S GO!" he yelled as his array of opponents were quickly approaching.
Lori and Luna managed to reach Viribus first, and grab each of his arms. But he used his superior strength to simply grab their heads with those arms and slam them together, harming the two girls.
After shoving them aside, he was next approached by Rusty, Liam, Clyde and Leni. As Clyde leaped at him, Viribus used that momentum to step aside, grab Clyde as he was leaping, and continue sending him forward into the direction that Liam was coming from, slamming Clyde right into him. He then used a push kick to send Leni flying away, and took out Rusty by executing a low kick to his knee cap, wounding him.
Luan: "I bet you won't SEA this coming!" she shouted as she performed one of her classic pranks while using it for the sake of winning a battle. She pulled out a giant water pistol that shot out what effectively seemed like mini tsunamis to the victims.
Luan: "You don't even wanna know where I was hiding this." She stated, as she pulled the trigger.
But Viribus saw the water coming and simply dodged the attack, while Zach, the McBride parents, several of the Casagrandes, and Lynn Sr, who were all running up to Viribus from behind, were caught by the water blast and sent back.
Luan: "OOPS!"
Viribus: "Oops is right, cockroach!" he said as he picked her up by the throat, only for Lana and Lola to tackle him.
Unfortunately, while that was able to help Luan slip out of his grip, it was not enough for them to knock him over, given his superior weight and strength over the 6 year old duo. He then simply shook them off, and then, as they landed on opposite sides of him, they both ran at once towards him, but he ducked and they went into each other.
But then Viribus was grabbed by Bobby from behind.
Viribus: "Back for round two, I see?"
Viribus then backhanded Bobby to make him let go. He then proceeded to use some boxing technique to toy with Bobby while dishing out a painful beating.
Viribus: "Poor little man, just not smart enough to know when to quit!"
Lucy, Rita and Lincoln then all tried to attack him from behind while he was distracted with Bobby. But without even looking, Viribus sensed they were coming from behind and backhanded Lucy, sending her crashing into Rita and knocking them over. Lincoln then tried to grab his arm, preventing him from further striking Bobby.
Lincoln: "Do all you ever do is hurt people?!"
Viribus: "Come on, Lincoln. You should know me by now!" he bitterly responded before using a ridge hand to strike Lincoln's throat and send him to the ground.
Bobby: "Hey, hands off my honorary bro!" he shouted as he began grappling with him again.
But his struggling was in vain as Viribus quickly finished him off with a groin strike, followed by a mean cross to the jaw, knocking him out.
But all he had done there was provoke the wrath of the youngest Santiago. Ronnie Anne charged towards him and threw a large combination of mean punches. Most of them were blocked or parried, however, and the few that connected did no damage. Lynn also joined in and aimed for a few punches and kicks of her own, but likewise, the effort was ineffective. Despite being two of the toughest girls in Lincoln's life, they were still ultimately little children, pathetically attempting to duel with a highly trained, incredibly tough adult. But then, Lynn managed to get lucky with a flying kick to the face, and then Ronnie Anne capitalised on that by giving Viribus a nasty punch to the groin area.
Viribus: "Ungh!" he cried in pain.
Ronnie Anne: "I told you I'd mess you up bad for what you did to my brother!"
Viribus: "Nice punch. Unfortunately for you, that's the most you're gonna get!" he said as he smirked, before grabbing the girl and preparing to throw her.
As Lynn went for another flying kick, Viribus placed Ronnie in front of himself. Lynn then accidentally took out the Santiago girl with the move.
Lynn: "Sorry, Ronnie! I didn't mean to."
But as Lynn was distracted by what she had unintentionally done, Viribus seized the opportunity to catch her off guard with a devastating palm strike to the face, which sent Lynn flying 10 feet.
Viribus had fought off an entire array of individuals, and he had little Lincoln right where he wanted him… on the ground and in pain.
Viribus: "Well, looks like having lots of family and friends around didn't help much, did it? It's too bad, kid. You would've made an excellent me. I was even thinking of calling you Viribus the 2nd."
Lincoln: "Go and jump off the roof!" he replied with great disgust.
Viribus: "No thanks, but you did just give me a great idea."
Viribus then grabbed the closest body, which was Luan, and then dragged her to the edge of the roof, picked her up and prepared to throw her off. Lincoln then recalled his nightmare from when he was locked up by Viribus, and how Luan was thrown down the stairs in it, and how eerily similar the current situation was to that. Out of rage and protective instinct for his sister, Lincoln used what strength he had left to lunge towards the mad man, and bite his leg.
Viribus: "Time to go splat, comedian!"
Lincoln: "NO!" he yelled as he jumped towards his adversary with aggressive intent.
Viribus: "Argh!" he screamed as Lincoln delivered the bite.
This made him drop Luan and concentrate his efforts on him. Viribus quickly managed to get his leg out of harm's way and then used his dominant position to inflict some punishment.
Viribus then placed his foot on Lincoln's head, slowly increasing the pressure each passing second, preparing to crush it. But then he looked up…
Viribus: "Oh, give me a break!" he remarked as his voice began to reflect his newfound feeling of just giving up.
Lincoln: "Well, you wanted to take on the world! This is just a small taste of that."
All of the Louds, Casagrandes, McBrides, and group of Lincoln's friends were surrounding Viribus. While he had fought them all off momentarily, he had still only slightly hurt each of them with a couple of strikes or throws. He still hadn't taken them all out, and they had him vastly outnumbered. So far, he managed to turn the fight around in his favour by moving around so they could only reach him one at a time and they could quickly be picked off, but now, they were all there, ready to pounce on him simultaneously.
Now, completely surrounded, Viribus was attacked by all of them at once, resulting in a massive fight cloud. Despite his physical prowess and combat experience, he was utterly outmatched and, as a result, was overpowered. The school kids observing from below in the playground, who had just been stopped from fighting themselves by the police and their parents, looked up at the carnage occurring on the roof…
Girl Jordan: "What is going on up there?"
Chandler: "Kinda looks like a mega brawl to me!"
Stella: "I think Lincoln and his friends are up there!"
When the smoke cleared, Viribus was subdued; the group had managed to tie him up on the floor and render him powerless. Finally, the threat had been neutralised, and everyone was safe.
Don't go anywhere, readers. Chapter 20 is just one click away. Go and find out how this all ends…