Team-L: Arise

Lynn made her way across the dark alley. She crept toward the end and tried her best to remain concealed within the shadow. She slowly turned her to view the street. As she peered over at it, Lynn frown as she was met with disappointment. It was another empty street with little to no activity. She rolled her eyes and made her way to a fire escape. Normally, she would have stayed a little longer, but Lynn wanted some action this night. After her humiliating defeat against the Psycho-guy or whatever he was called, she wanted to find some way to redeem herself.

Or to be honest, let off some steam. She knew Lori would scold her for looking to pick a fight but how could she blame her? She was Lynn-freaking-Loud! The team's powerhouse of strength. She could send a guy flying several feet if she wanted to. She was a living weapon, she was meant for a fight. Yet again, she knew she shouldn't. Even if she could win any fighting tournament, being a hero didn't exactly mean abusing your powers. Lynn was fully aware of the whole great power and responsibility speech and blah blah blah.

Lynn made it on top of the roof and sat on the edge. She checked her portable suspicious activity monitor from her belt and refreshed the feed for at least the fourth time so far. As it loaded, Lynn had already anticipated the outcome. Nothing was going to pop up and she was going to regret not going home where she could at least she could send some shockwave enhanced punches at practice dummies.

However, she was pleasantly surprised when found herself to be corrected. Lynn excitedly jolted from her sitting position. The screen showed a map of Royal Woods and there was a flashing location that was just half a mile away from her position. It identified it as an energy surge at the Royal Woods cemetery. A wicked smile stretched across her face. Her prayers had been answered.

In an upward punched in the air, Lynn squealed in happiness. "YES! Action!"

Lincoln checked his watch. The digital screen read a quarter past seven and the sun was starting to disappear. He stared at the entrance of the cemetery. A Victorian style fence the looked like it had spearheads on top that were attached to cobblestone pillars. He could see tombstones littered across the green fields as a solemn silence rested across the place. Places like these were uncomfortable to go to. And while he was a little hesitant to enter, he had priorities on his mind. Lincoln let out a large exhale and reached for the entrance handle. Pulling the relatively heavy fenced door, he made his way into the field of dead.

Lincoln looked around and found the place area to be relatively empty. Not a family insight or any sign of the living. Other than the grass and trees, the cemetery was vacant. He couldn't help but feel like he wanted some company or just anyone in general. Gripping the Ouija tighter in his palms, he made his way towards what he came for. After passing plenty of identical graves, he found the one he was looking for. It was a large stone that had a marble plate on it. Engraved into the rock was a four-word name. Lynn K. Loud Sr.

Lincoln pursed his lips and sat on the ground in front of the tombstone. 'Just six feet below me is my dad. That's not uncomfortable at all.' he told himself. Unfolding the board game, Lincoln began what he had planned. He wasn't sure if it was going to work or not but it was worth a try. Placing the planchette in the middle of the board, he gently placed his hand on the wooden piece. And remembering how Lucy did it, he concentrated hard about his father and began his first question. "Dad, are you there?"

Nothing...

Again, he attempted to contact his father's spirit. "Dad, if you're here then please make a sign."

Nothing again…

"Uh, dad? Can you talk to me? Or is there some sort of traffic in the afterlife right now and I'll just have to leave a message?"

This was going to take a while…

Thirty Minutes of Absolutely Nothing Later

"I never got to know: who was your favorite child? Was it Luan? I always felt like it was."

Nothing had moved an inch and he was getting tired of the lack of activity. Of course, it wasn't going to work. Lincoln let a defeated sigh and his face winced in annoyance. He should've taken a page out of Lisa's book and use something that actually worked. He checked his wristwatch, now reading 7:45 PM. He should start packing up now as the sun was still up. Lincoln started shifting the planchette to over the letters to spell 'goodbye'. That was until…

"You know you need lots of candles right?" a calm and gentle voice came out of nowhere. Lincoln jumped in his place from shock and was quickly turned his head around. He was able to calm down again after was met with a familiar figure.

A pale girl with long, jet black hair that covered a side of her face stood behind him wearing a long dark purple dress that wrapped around her slender figure. Along with her attire was a black belt with a white skull, purple eyeshadow, and dark purple fingerless gloves to compliment her goth look. In her hand was a black, hay basket.

"Oh, hey Haiku."

"You also should never play alone. It's bad luck."

"I think you can trust me when I say bad luck is an old friend," Lincoln said with a smug smirk.

"Really now? How intriguing. Lucy must've done a bad job protecting you from the maliciousness that some spirits are capable of."

"Huh, I guess so. What are you doing here anyway?"

The emo girl began to walk towards him. "I should be asking you that question. After all, you're not the type to be into the morbid stuff."

Lincoln nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh… It's kinda personal…"

Haiku advance to the boy and sat next to him. Lincoln couldn't help but shift awkwardly where he was sitting. Not that she was invading his space, just cause he was still trying to get used to being around women who weren't his sisters. "

Haiku opened her mouth again. "You can tell me anything and I will not speak a word of it to amongst any living soul. I am a like a safe, you can trust me with your secrets. And we are only surrounded by the past, they cannot tell share gossip to those of the future," she said in her most comforting and solace tone as possible. It felt warm, contrasting to her cold appearance. Like he was catching up with an old friend.

Lincoln took a deep breath. He didn't like keeping his feelings and emotions to himself. Yet, he really meant it when he said it was personal. Could he really share something so personal when he hadn't told anyone else this? But with the way she spoke to him, Lincoln convinced himself that it was okay to tell her. Reluctantly, he told her his life story. "I never got to say bye to my dad. He got into an accident two years back."

Haiku simply nodded her head, as if she had already anticipated his tale. Lincoln continued.

"I should be sad and all but I feel nothing. I think it's because I was never close to him. He was never home a lot. In fact, I barely even saw him."

Lincoln took a second his break as his heart began to feel heavy but he did his best to ignored it. "I guess… It's the reason why I didn't cry when the news came about his death. It made me feel like a psycho for not feeling much while my sisters were balling their eyes out"

Haiku thought for a second and commented, "That is perfectly normal for those who have never created an intimate relationship with those around them to feel immense pain when they leave us. Though I feel sorrow you never had the father figure you needed in your life."

Lincoln shrugged. "I guess I'll never know what it's like to have one. Though I'll admit my sister Lynn has certainly played the role as a 'male' figure in my life. If her gender was swapped, nothing would change."

Haiku let out a small chuckle. "I've met her. She's very extroverted."

"Tell me about it and I'll know. It can get really grating sometimes."

"I suppose. But I really want to know why you brought the Ouija board for?"

Lincoln shifted his attention back to the wooden board. "Oh...That. Yeah, um, that's hard to explain. It's complicated"

"We mortals often complicate rather simple situations that can be easily be told."

"Huh… Alright, give me a moment." Lincoln took the short amount of time to simplify his dilemma. He had come here to get answers yes but to discover more about his power. If she knew about his powers, he could risk his compromising his sister's identities. So he was going to have to be careful with his words when he told her. After all, it felt good getting this stuff off his chest.

As Lincoln was thinking, his train of thought was broken when he heard something from the distance. It was awful. His ears rang in irritation that felt as if he was going to go deaf. The sound sent shivers down his spine and made his hair stand. Like someone's last breath was ripped from their lungs. The shrill cry was haunting and pitiful. But more importantly, it was terrifying.

"Did you hear that?" Lincoln asked, hoping it was just a hallucination. He looked over to Haiku, who looked equally shocked.

"Yes," she confirmed in a shaken tone.

"I kind of wanna check to see if they're okay. But I know that usually gets you killed in a horror movie situation."

"Very logical assessment. Yet we remain where we are seated."

"Then I think we should take it as a hint that we need to leave," he said as he grabbed his Ouija kit. Haiku nodded in agreement. "Yes, for the sake of our well being… Let's leave," she responded, gripping her basket tightly. The two stared each other with fearful eyes. They picked themselves off the ground with their belongings in tow, rushing for the exit.

James Honen's eyes shot open. The last thing he remembered was death and the pain it had brought along. He lifted himself from where he collapsed and completed his ritual. People have always said that they had died and come back from the dead, bring stories to tell with them. But that is just simply because they were never dead to begin with. However, he had actually died. He died and had come back to life. And he was the first to have ever done it. Not for long.

James noticed something though. He felt different. More strange. More powerful. More threatening. He looked around him and saw all of the unawaken graves. That was going to change today. He was going to change the world, like how it changed him for the worse. And he was going to do it with the wrath of the underworld.

James shoved his hand into the earth and began to shuffle it through the dirt. He felt something solid hit his fingertips and smile wickedly. Wrapping his hand around what seemed like a rod, he began to pull it from the ground. Busting through the soil, a beautiful scythe. The blade has a silver clean sheen (aside from a few particles of dirt) and the handle was made from a smooth texture dark wood. The weapon was decorated with obsidian, gold, and emeralds glimmered so ostentatiously. He gripped it tightly, and threw up his cowl's hood. His reign would start today.

James waved his new tool around the cemetery. Sickly cracks in the earth could be heard as the sun was overshadowed by his darkness. Hissing green gas emitted from the terra and the shadows began to stretch towards the direction where he was standing. And his first minion had finally erupted, with a decayed hand shoving itself from its grave. James wicked smile transformed into maniacal laughter. He had done it. His hard work had paid off. This was his revolution. His Armageddon. His world. James was once a man with nothing and was a worthless mortal. But now that old person didn't exist anymore. He was reborn as the Baron of Death...

Lincoln noticed the sky was getting darker and grayer as the clouds seemed to swirl around. The wind was starting to pick up and green mist began to materialize around them. 'What the heck? What is even going around here?' Lincoln worried. Whatever was going on, it was a dangerous anomaly.

Haiku noticed their morphing surroundings as well, only giving her more of a reason to run faster. But she had a small issue, and that was her usual attire that constricted her mobility. Her long dress that fell past her legs was a huge inconvenience and disadvantage. Haiku dropped her basket and pulled up her dress, allowing her to sprint full speed and catch up to Lincoln. She was not going to die today nor be a liability to him.

However, too preoccupied with the fear of death, she wasn't even watching her steps. It was as if she forgot she was running fast in a graveyard, where tombstones and empty graves were scattered everywhere. Soon, Haiku yelped in surprise her leg collided with something solid and lost balance. She found herself stumbling onto the ground of a freshly buried grave.

Lincoln noticed this from his peripheral and stopped in his tracks. He ran over to Haiku and helped her up as she flinched from her wound. Her lower leg stung, and her wrist burned a little from landing a little harshly.

"Are you okay?" Lincoln asked in a hasty voice.

"Yes, I think so... Let's keep moving. The exit isn't far."

"Can you still run?"

Haiku took a step and gasped as she felt a thrust of stinging pain permeate quickly across her leg. "I think I really hurt something. But I'll try walking it off."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, the entrance where we came from is just several feet ahead. We can just walk to it and get out of here in no time," Haiku reassured.

Lincoln looked around and the green mist had overcrowded the place while the smell of sulfur filled the air. The stench punched Lincoln's nostrils when he took a whiff and gagged. He covered his nose and examined more attentively to his surroundings. Only then was he able to see it. The Victorian-style gate. She was right; they were close, there was no need to keep staying all worked up anymore. They began to walk again, more relaxed as Haiku held onto Lincoln's shoulder for support and carefully watching her step.

Little did they noticed, that the dirt around them was moving and was pushing upward. Just ten feet away from the gate, a rotten and disgusting hand popped from the soil and clawed its way out of the ground. The hand then extended to a wrist. Then a full arm. It aimless waved it's undead arm around but was concealed by the shadows. The duo continued their walk until…

"Aaahhhh!" Lincoln shrieked in absolute horror. A deformed figure had launched itself from the deceased earth and latched it's once living skeletal arm onto his leg. As Lincoln tried to pull his leg free, he was only cranking the creature further from the ground. Using his free leg, Lincoln kicked the thing at its "face" as hard as he could. The thing did not refrain from letting go and even strengthen its grasp on Lincoln's leg. Lincoln was wailing and freaking out by what was going on.

Zombies.

Freaking zombies were attacking him right now.

Lincoln screamed as the monster began to single-handedly drag him towards it. However, what happened next was even more shocking.

SNAP

Haiku had taken his Ouija board and slammed it on the zombie's head, consequently, breaking in half. Its grip loosened and Lincoln managed to wriggle his leg free. He picked himself up and trembled from his first near-death experience. 'I just almost died. I can't believe I nearly died. How come my super strength wasn't activated? I thought it was a defense mechanism. I could have definitely used it to defend myself and Haiku right now. What is even happening?!' he rambled off in his head.

Haiku sighed and grabbed Lincoln's shoulder, who yelp as he was effectively snapped out of his trance but calmed realizing it was just her. Lincoln began to escort himself out of the area but found Haiku to still stray behind him, who was on a limp. Running back for her, he picked her up bridal style, not noticing Haiku's face instantly go red as a tomato, and bolted for the exit. He kicked the gate doors open and ran outside. Lincoln set Haiku down, who was still incredibly blushed and ran back to close the gates behind him. He felt finally able to breathe again and bent forward while holding his knees, getting some fresh air after breathing in what smelled like rotten eggs. He was also catching his breath and trying to calm down.

"Haiku. Tell me none of this is real," Lincoln said exhaustively, finally calming down.

An arm then appeared through the openings of the fence, startling Lincoln as it attempted to grab his face. Lincoln quickly ran over back to where Haiku was sitting as refuge while the gate began to have more zombies sticking their arms through the entry way

"Well Lincoln, I think the situation is evidently quite real," Haiku answered fearfully.

The gate began to pile more and more of the undead monsters from the other side, appearing as it wouldn't hold much longer. Lincoln took this opportunity to scoop Haiku up again and began to run to a safer spot. He could hear the gate beginning to give out as heard something snap; it only motivated him to pick up the pace.

CLANG

The sound of the metal gates falling onto the ground made Lincoln's heart sink. He wasn't even near a main road yet and didn't know how fast these guys could run. It was taking a considerable amount of effort to not turn his head to face the ensuing carnage. Lincoln continued to dash with Haiku wrapping her arms tightly around him. He could hear the sounds of disarranged gurgling , feral snarls, and comatose moans of the zombies beginning to fill the background noise.

Lincoln then made one of his worst mistakes. He had peered over his shoulder a little and saw a glimpse of hell that broke loose. The living dead had flooded the streets. And they were chasing him, including one that was just several feet behind him. Haiku screamed as she saw the zombie jump at them until...

BOOM!

"Oh yeah! It's your girl Quake! Back at it again to make it rumble!" a young and spunky voice shouted happily behind the two. Lynn had found the opportunity she wanted and had dropped kick some creature goon thingy that looked like it was going to jump a fleeing couple. Not only was she was the first to arrive, she had found herself an entire army of goons to take down all by herself. A gross zombie looking garbage monster was charging at her. Cracking her knuckles, Lynn gave a wild smile.

She rubbed her hands together, which began to glow a faint red and distort the air around them. The creature was just inches from touching her but Lynn threw a powerful left hook at it, once again making the undead dead again as it was sent flying like a ragdoll. Another came at her but was met with a cross to the face, causing its head to burst into disgusting corpse bits. Now that was what she was looking for.

The horde began their assault on the young heroine but Lynn back down. 'I can take them,' she thought as she began her counter assault.

Lynn had just arrived on time to rescue them from that pouncing zombie, who she. Lincoln instantly knew who it was and sprinted even faster as he heard more thundering explosions and the ground shake violently. Once covering a considerable amount of distance and he saw plenty of cars passing, Lincoln then felt like he was comfortable to be able to look back after setting Haiku down once more.

He stared in awe at the situation. Without a doubt, his sister was an absolute beast at the moment and a formidable fighter. But there had to be over a hundred zombies pouring through the entrance. She could only hold off so much till she would find herself getting overpowered. And he could already see she was beginning to get overwhelmed. A could of zombies had managed to grab her and she was forced to emit an indiscriminate burst of shock around her body, effectively freeing herself. She was still fighting but that little detail was a sign that Lynn wasn't enough. She needed more power on her side.

Lincoln looked to his hand. He felt scared right now. Like any moment he was risking ruining his pants. But, he felt like he had to help as well. He already saved Haiku. And he could save more by preventing any zombies from escaping and hurting more people. He had the ability to help his sister win. If only his super strength could just come back on already then he could totally turn the tide. He wasn't supposed to join his sisters in helping to save the city and possibly the world today. But he wasn't going to sit back. Right now his sister was in trouble, as well as the livelihood of Royal Woods. He closed his hand into a fist. Lincoln was going to help.

"Lincoln, we need to wait for the rest of Team-L or the proper authorities to come to contain this mess. Please, let's just leave," Haiku begged, scared for both of their lives. Her voice sounded shaky and as if any moment she could start sobbing like a baby.

Lincoln steeled his nerves and formed a determined look on his face. "Haiku, I need you to head to the nearest public area as possible. Where you can get help and medical attention. I'll be back," he told the goth. Haiku gave a surprised look. "Uh-um. What? Where are you going? It's dangerous!" she protested. However, her friend had already taken off and Haiku was left alone. "I hope you know what you're doing Lincoln Loud," she whispered to herself.

Lincoln, even though he was exhausted from the incident, still found himself able to run which he found surprising. He made his way towards the massacre as the zombie army kept its focus on Lynn. That was till he realized something. He couldn't just rush to her aid yet. Not when he didn't have a disguise. Lincoln pulled up his hood and ran into an ally. He needed more than just his hoodie as an alter ego. Yet he didn't have any spare clothing. Lincoln looked around and saw the trash cans were empty. He looked around and his attention focused on something else that would solve his wardrobe issue. A clothes donation bin just across from him.

Lynn was beginning to regret not calling for backup before it got torn off from some zombie during her fight. She saw that they were surrounding her and were now attacking from all sides now. This was really really bad. She needed to do something smart and quick. Lynn jumped as high as she could and prepared her super move.

"Quake's RICHTER 10!" Lynn shouted as she landed back onto the floor on all fours. A massive shockwave shook the entire surrounding area, shattering the asphalt and tipping over lampposts. The zombies around her either became mush or were completely incapacitated depending how close they were. Lynn smiled as she stood up victorious. She knew she could handle it.

That was till she felt something wrapped itself around her from behind and firmly locked itself around her. Lynn's eyes widen as she struggled to free herself but to no avail. The thing was like stone and didn't even budge. "Please don't eat my brains!" Lynn pleaded.

But suddenly, the gripped loosened completely. Lynn took this as a surprise as she turned around to see what had happened. A kid close to her age wearing an orange hoodie, white glove and tennis shoes, blue pants, and makeshift mask made out of a beanie and sunglasses was tackling the zombie that got the drop on her. He was punching the thing with a garbage lid and slammed its edge onto the monster's head, now immobilized. The new hero tiredly got up and brush his clothes off.

"Uh, who are you?" Lynn asked, not recognizing the guy.

"I thought you could figure it out yourself," he said jokingly. Lynn instantly recognized his voice and her eyes widened in worry. "What are you doing here dude?! You should be at home!"

"I know… I ended up here anyway. I'm helping though."

"Oh no you won't, you don't even have control over your power or have any idea what it is"

"Actually, I sorta do. I know how it works now and I can get it to activate if I try."

"That's not enough. Lo- I mean, Barrier and the others will get here any moment so stay out of this."

"I know, but I think that horde of zombie that about to flood that gate over there aren't gonna give us a moment," Lincoln protested. Lynn looked over at the gate and her heart dropped. Tons of glowing undead red eyes were marching to them. She gulped as stood near brother and readied herself for one hell of a battle. "Bro, I hope you brought more than a trash can lid to this fight. Cause things are about to get rough over here."

It your boy! Back at it again with that quality content! And what's this? I posted another chapter within the same month? Woo hoo! Too bad classes are starting soon for me again so chapters after this one may take longer to write. But I promise I'll do my best to keep trying to put out good stuff. As for reviews? Wow, I love the toxicity control idea for a villain from that one guest who posted. You guys should really title your reviews cause I want to give you credit. Whoever you are, thanks for the tip cause it's an awesome idea. And the reviewer SuperGoodStory suggested a villain with mind control powers/possession. Hmm, a bit basic but not bad. I'll take it. I think I have enough villains for now but I'll ask once I go through all of them. So expect these new villain that these awesome people suggest in the future. In the meantime, have a lovely day.

P.S. I really should have saved Baron of Death for a Halloween special. I get it if it feels out of fashion/season. Buy hey... Too late now. Bye.