"Now we have reached the absolute. There is nothing left for us here. Let us erase this pointless world and move on to the next." -Chara, September 15, 2015
Chapter Synopsis: Lola deals with the immediate fallout of the crime
Lola is surrounded on all sides by her siblings and in-laws. No doubt that they arrived after hearing about the LOL murders. It seems that they're ready to give her a brand of swift justice after hearing that she was a suspect in a triple homicide! The worst part is that even though Lola has been guilty of some pretty horrible things in the past, she's completely innocent in this crime!
"Lola…"
Lola prepares for the inevitable beatdown they're going to inflict on her…
"Are you ok?"
Lola recognizes that familiar voice. It's Lana's.
"Yes, Lans. I'm fine…"
"I just want to know one thing. Why didn't you try to save him?"
"I didn't want to be another casualty. 4 deaths are worse than 3, but even 1 is too much."
"Quién se tengo asesinado un toda familia? Que es un inconcebible acto!"
"Lyle. He's the one who committed the murders."
"What? Lyle did this? But he looked so well adjusted!"
"Leni, he has the same personality as me…"
"Oh, so he's evil then?"
Lola begins to break down upon hearing Lori's deduction.
"Where did I go wrong?!"
"It all started… when you were born."
Linka and Lisa give a slap to the 2 dissenters.
"Linky?"
"Yes, Lola?"
"Do you remember the time when I made up those fake stories to torment you?"
"Yes…"
"You aren't…still holding a grudge over that…are you?"
"No, that's all water under the bridge."
"So…you…forgive me?"
"Yes."
"And in the naked light I saw, 10,000 people, maybe more."
Lola recognizes the lyrical reference and responds with the next line of the song.
"People talking without speaking. People hearing without listening."
"Ah, Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel. One of the greatest songs ever made." Luna acknowledges
The coroner wheels out the corpses of Lola's family members. Everyone shuts up and responds with a moment of silence. Once the corpses are out of sight, they resume talking.
"Hey, I know you didn't kill them. I know you loved my brother."
"Thanks. It's comforting to know that someone from his side of the family knows I wouldn't do it."
"I thought this happened because of you?"
"Loni!"
"No, I know that our little bro had the time of his life with you, that's all the proof I need to know that you wouldn't betray him like that."
"I would never betray him."
"I know you wouldn't."
"Thanks."
"Well, I would pull the trigger on our conversation, but it seems that the perpetrator already did that."
"Dude, what the heck?! That's so insensitive!"
"No, it's fine. I needed a good laugh to lessen the stress that this tragedy caused."
"That's what I was trying to do. After all, laughter is the best medicine. But seriously, I'm sorry for what happened here tonight. I know that you two loved each other and would protect each other."
"Lane…"
"If I may, what caused the triple homicide to transpire?"
"It began with Lyle's delusion that Leif raped me, which is completely untrue. He's so into it that he even was willing to resort to patricide to "protect me". I can protect myself, and besides, Leif is completely harmless! He wouldn't even hurt a fly!"
"So, you mean to say that my nephew was suffering from schizophrenia?" Levi enquires
"No, the doctor we went to deduced that he was a narcissistic sociopath that only cared about me and Alexa. He thought all the despicable stuff I did when I was 6-years-old was cool, even though I regret most of my actions at that time. He tried to convince me to commit crimes with him, which I obviously refused."
"Ah, so he was mentally unstable."
"Yeah."
Lana takes over the conversation.
"Well, I know that you probably won't want to live in your house for a while considering what happened tonight. So, you're welcome to stay with me and Lexx until the "professionals" clean up the crime scene."
"Thanks, Lana. I appreciate it."
"No problem, it's what families do."
Linka approaches Lola.
"Look, I know you did everything you could. You made the right choice. If you tried to fight him off, you would have ended up in a body bag. I checked the news update that chief Rosato just sent out. Leif was already killed before you would've gotten there. You would have just caused more pain if you got killed by him…"
…
…
…
"My brother made the right choice, choosing you as his partner."
"Thanks, Linka. That means a lot, coming from you."
The crowd disperses and leaves for their houses.
Preview
"Oh, that's your finishing school diploma. I thought you'd be ashamed of that thing. Especially since it says "Cum Quod Summa Honoris"."
"With the highest honor."
Author's Note: Once Lola found out about Lyle's narcissistic sociopathy, she thought about euthanizing the little shit so he wouldn't be able to kill anyone. Unfortunately, that's illegal. Next, she thought about locking him up in a psych ward, but that would be unfair to him, because even though he's the scum of the Earth, he is still her son! Maybe she should have done one of those two options after seeing what has happened.
Originally, Lola thought about the L.O.L.A leader trying to assassinate her during her NPD suppression treatment, and Luna singing that lyric from Sound Of Silence would have snapped her out of it. She specifically chose the lyric "and in the naked light I saw, 10,000 people, maybe more" as a reference to the Loud House fandom, and how some of the fans have gone crazy, actually wishing death on some of the characters in the show. While the original thought Lola had was erased, the lyric still stands as a poignant warning about the devout fans of the show. It's even strengthened by the next line of the song "people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening".
