Lyrics to Enemies by Shinedown
Listen up
There's not a moment to spare
It's quite a drop from the top
So how are you feeling down there?
It's a cold, cruel, harsh reality
Caught stuck here with your enemies
Who do you think you are?
Tearing us all apart
Where did you think you could go?
'Cause everyone already knows
It's twenty to one
Yeah, so you better run
You got the world on it's knees
You're taking all that you please
You want more but you'll get nothing from me
You're like the burden we bear
You love the hate that we share
You want more but you'll get nothing from me
But enemies
"-That goes without saying, all of Vial Corporation's assets have fallen over to the hands of-"
"All Vial Corporation facilities are now being reported to shut down after rumored conspiracies of an illegal-"
"The leading director of Vial Corporation is unavailable for a statement at this time. We are addressing these allegations head on-"
"You've got mutations running around now! The Dadetown and Little Rock incidents have James Shepherd and his dream corp written all over it! It's wrong, it's wrong and he should go to prison for kidnapping all of these people-"
Vial Corp Responsible For The Abduction Of Many!
Pro-Pheno Movement Rallies Support For Victims Of Vial Corp
"It's not gonna end well for us, and it should be known. Beings with extraordinary powers of all sorts, but how can we be sure they are on our side? You know, the side of the angels? The concept of evil heroes is not a foreign, strange one. The world is already filled with monsters, what's to stop just one such pheno from becoming one? I am aware that they have been subjected to torture and whatnot, but I'd be feeling pretty safe if these beings were contained in proper care- The Pro-Pheno Movement is too blindly ignorant of the situation."
"Phenos have had their rights taken away from them, and it is one of the most inhumane acts that violates an Amendment right off the bat."
"Remember that Camp Flagg incident in South California? You know who cleaned up that massacre? Freaking Vial Corp did! What are they hiding? And what monster did they create that caused it?"
"I KNEW IT! MOMENTUM AND VELOCITY HAVE TO BE-"
"So, the rumors have to be true right? These two women known as Momentum and Velocity are undoubtedly phenos created in some Vial Corp facility."
"Someone did right by America and exposed these-"
"The break-in at the facility in Maine was reported to be a pheno attack, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a false-flag operation carried out by the black ops boys. That's the [beep] we need!"
Over 300 Phenos Come Out With Horror Tales Within Vial!
"And just how many properties did Vial Corporation own? Over a hundred? Two hundred? Multiply that by... I'm sorry, how many cells were in each one?"
"The world is changing, and not in our favor. Not for us regular humans. The playing field has to be even, and I don't care if phenos will be offended, I'd like to know I can defend myself should one go rogue."
James Shepherd Goes Into Hiding! Nationwide Manhunt Ensues!
"He fled the country because he knows he's guilty as [beep]!"
Anti-Pheno Parties Form!
"-Same time, the bear is being poked with no end! These poor phenos just want to be integrated back into society, and hate crimes are leaving them as victims yet again!"
Twelve Phenos Found Dead At Hall Moon Bay Beach! Hate Crime Or Paranoia?
"They are victims!"
"They are monsters!"
"It's only a matter of time before one pheno makes the wrong move, and quite possibly...-"
"We're not looking for war, we don't want it, but if they ask for it-"
Government Issues Anti-Pheno Weaponry!
"We will fight back if they fuck with us."
Act II: Blood Ties, Chapter I: Rocking Nightmare
July 18th, 2030
Lincoln turned off the television, having heard more than enough of his fair share of world politics, especially revolving around phenos, Vial Corp, and whatever the fuck else was there. He dropped the remote at his bedside, sitting upright. With a long sigh, he wondered if they'd ever find a clue.
The way it went was, Elmont had copied all the files of the hard drives and dispatched the real ones to the superiors he answered to. With all that he found, he had names of all the victimized test subjects, access to serum formulas, their legally-partnered affiliates, and other juicy details that had incriminated Vial Corp quite guilty. All employees had been arrested and given sentences of above twenty years apiece. James Shepherd, whom the public believed was the mastermind of Vial, had gone missing, which served to Lisa's favor for two reasons; his disappearance would make them main the overlooking of Lisa Loud being the real head of Vial, and secondly, he was still serving under her somewhere. Somewhere underground they knew not where. It was the very fact that they vanished off the face of the earth that concerned Elmont, the Divison, and their superiors.
Meanwhile, the revelation of Vial Corporation's actions had come to light, making for a topic of endless controversy. Multiple viewpoints, voices and opinions were formulated, going back and forth since the fall of Vial Corp. For the most part, the pheno team under the Patriot Division were the ones who stripped Lisa away from her empire, leaving her with nothing but the disgrace and bad reputation of the name. Luna and the twins could not have been more proud to dismantle all her hard work in one day, ultimately getting their justice for all phenos.
Only, phenos weren't exactly being treated like the helpless souls they've been reduced to. That's the thing that pissed Luna off the most, over the twins combined. She expressed her rage in full, having messed up her custom room she spent some time decorating, making it homely.
Spare funds were passed down among the six, sufficient enough for them to upgrade their rooms in that timespan, modeled after their old rooms of their old house, and more. Changes were made, however. Luna and Luan bunked down on the same one, following the twins' choice of doing so. Lynn was nostalgic about Lucy, expressing loneliness when she was never coming back. She and Lincoln were the only two who dared sleep alone, and for Lincoln, it was natural and common for him, having slept alone in approximately forever.
Luna was aggravated again, mind wandering back to the situation her phenos were in. She and her siblings did all they could, restoring them back into the world that forgot them, only for more conflict to arise since Vial's downfall. And while she felt that being here, away from that mess knowing how it was, Luna just had to do something. For all she could do, Luna could have started her own pheno movement, strictly made up of actual phenos as opposed to regulars forming together to raise awareness and help them.
The one and only obstacle that prevented her from making some move was Elmont himself. Elmont and the complicated rules that stated Luna could not intervene in such affairs. Simply put, Luna could not be involved with anything if it meant risking her past and current affiliation, and this meant for the other five as well. Lana and Lola were the only ones allowed to roam free as long as they never stopped for comments to avoid more of controversy around the outed truth.
"What's wrong, Lunes?" Luan had an idea of what was making Luna tick, but she didn't care about hearing the same problem Luna was usually stringing along behind her.
"Ugh, it's that bullshit again, dude," Luna complained again. "Why are the phenos being attacked? I don't understand it, Luan."
Luan rolled to the side, facing Luna. "I'm sorry, Lunes. I know how strongly you feel about this, and I wish we could be able to help them."
The older woman looked up at the ceiling, swirling a hand high mindlessly. "Elmont just wanted us to take down Lisa and her empire, and they don't care for the phenos unless they're bad."
"L-Luna-" Luan wanted to keep it rationally stable.
"I mean, he made it clear that the purpose of this little team was to counter any phenos and defeat them, not with kid gloves, and not to hold back, but to... To end them..." Her hand folded into a fist, sending it crashing down to her bed.
"Could you ever l-live with yourself if you... You know, k-killed someone?" Luan whispered.
Luna averted her eyes more, being asked the question of the day. "Fuck... Ask me something less fucked up..." Luna picked on Luan's soft sigh she'd not been able to hear on a normal scale, formulating an answer. Her guess, and evident enough to be true, was that Luan needed to get it out of her system, to cope with her sinful, heartless actions of yesterday. "I know I've done that, with guards working with Vial, but I couldn't- I mean, I can't answer that, cause I don't know if that was the real me or the thing they put in me that did the killing."
Luan readjusted herself on her bed, keeping her eyes on Luna.
"I don't think that was, now that I think about it," Luna continued. "That kid, that young guy working with them, I don't know why, I had a- A sense to spare someone- Save someone, actually."
"Right..." Luan didn't forget that.
"I know it's weird to say but, that look of fear on his face when I had him cornered. I could have ended that boy's life, but something stopped me in that instance..." She pulled out her long claws again, waving around her hand. "So, I find myself questioning if I'm the monster here."
"Th-that's absurd, Luna! You stopped yourself, you had self-control, and-" Luan stopped, assessing her own words when Luna pointed a sharp fingernail at her.
"And that's it right there. That's not the answer for me, Luan, but the one I would have dropped on you."
"I don't understand..." Luan shook her head.
"Luan, that person you were back then was not the real you, that was someone else, and those things that you did were not of your own."
"L-Luna... I try. I try so hard to forget it, but no matter-" Luan gripped on her sheets tightly. "No matter how hard I try to push it away, I see those bodies everywhere. Here, there, in my head. In my dreams. And that's what I've got to live with..."
Luna sat upright, putting away her claws. "How bad is it?"
"To- to the point I wish..." Luan bit her lip and confessed a heart-stopper. "I wish that Lisa didn't miss..."
"Holy sh- Hey, no!" Luna clamped her feet down, switching from her bed to Luan's. "No, I won't allow you to say such rubbish, sis."
Luan felt nauseated for the 50th time again, hands quivering uncontrollably again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." She closed her eyes, but was only projected the split-second of that moment where Lisa had pulled and aimed her weapon at the poor Luan. She gasped sharply, jumping out of Luna's consoling arms. "I can't-!"
"Easy, sis, easy! I told you I've got you!" Luna exclaimed, assuring her that everything was going to be alright. "I've got you... I've got you..." She stayed there, holding onto Luan until she had fallen asleep, hoping that Luan would not have those traumatizing nightmares again. After five minutes of observing and stroking her hair, Luna left the room, moving to the elevator.
Lincoln, coming from his room, dressed in a black shirt and blue jeans, as part of some new threads he bought when they had gone shopping, had joined her. Unlike him, Luna stuck to her old thread design, only it was different; Luna chose a purple tee, underneath a purple hoodie, but her pants were black jeans, and those didn't really matter to her as long as she sported something similar lime her old days.
She gave him the silent treatment mainly, due to him denying her a good deed. The man was the fucking devil. He knew that, but gave no shit about her feelings or bitchy fits. The ride up to the main level had been silent, save for their thoughts on wondering where the other was going, and what for.
It was an awkward thing between them when they both went to Elmont's office, with Lincoln holding the door open to let her in. Luna scoffed and went in first, sitting down across from the Division's leader. "Luna, Lincoln, is there something I can help you with?"
Luna exhaled through her nose before making a request. "There's gotta be something for us, right? Some mission, or maybe community service-"
"Luna, I thought I've been made very clear on the matter," Elmont explained, turning away from the monitor in front of him. His hands came together and folded flatly against each other, forming a wall. "As much as I would very much love to provide aid for the nation, we simply cannot allow you to go around playing hero, or in your case heroine. You, Lincoln, and the others are founded only to fight threats any other force is incapable of, or in operations just like what we've pulled off, and I'm talking the off-textbook kinds."
"Yes, we know that, but still... There's gotta be something we could follow."
"Oh, believe me, there is, but... It's not possible for us to sanction missions of this sort. We're on tight funding here, and it was barely enough to create and sustain this place, you know?"
"Luna-" Lincoln noticed what Elmont was really saying.
"So, we're going to be kept here until you decide to put us out there?" Luna seethed.
"Yes, and until we find definite clues about which rock Lisa Loud and her puppet have crawled under, there is not much I can do."
"Bollocks! I'd like to-" Lincoln placed his hands on Luna's face and tilted it upwards at him. "What the fuck do you want?"
"Didn't you hear him?" Lincoln asked, eyebrow raised. "He said he can't make a mission happen officially, but what the man really means is he isn't going to be responsible for you if you get caught or killed."
"What?! No, but he-" Luna broke through his grip and looked back at Elmont, pointed a finger at him and waved it around. "Didn't-? The others-!"
"That's just fancy talk, Luna. You've been able to come in and out as you pleased, as is Lynn and ghe twins. The twins are still fighting crime, and you're being a pussy bound by rules."
"G-Goddamnit..." Luna lowered her hand. "Y-you've gotta be fucking kidding me!"
Lincoln chuckled, poking fun at her. "Don't you have a lot to learn here?"
"I hate you, Linc," Luna detested, getting up. "So..."
"Officially, you cannot meddle... You know what I mean?" Elmont asked.
She shook her head. "I thought I did..."
"We won't be responsible for you. Make so much as a mess of maybe make enough noise that attract outside attention, our doors will be closed to you and you will be on your own." Elmont leaned back in his chair and circled a finger up in the air. "Do what you think you can."
Luna moved up, quickly exiting the room, pushing past Lincoln. "I'll... Yeah, okay." She left, and didn't let them know at all. She left the underground base, coming into the driver's seat of the A.I. trailer truck the Division owned, the only one of its kind as far as Luna had known. "Um, h-hi..."
The truck's stereo flashed a shiny blue and green wave of lights before a female voice spoke out through it. "Welcome to Model 76! How may I be of service, Luna?"
"Can you access news outlets?" Luna twiddled her fingers together.
"Affirmative! Would you like me to play stations? Or maybe do a cross-reference search?"
"Uhhh, I don't know what this is?" Luna scratched her head. "But, anything involving phenos, please."
"Searching..."
Luna looked outside the windows, seeing the vastly green plains at peace. A perfect example of tranquility realized before her eyes. She sighed, wishing her own heart was on that same level of peacefulness, and Luan's as well.
"Three hundred and sixteen matches have appeared since the last two months, and that is only for news stations in the U.S."
Luna hummed. "Okay, what about this week? Like, recently? Surely there's been some crime-"
"Narrowing results..."
Luna felt hot. "Open the window, too."
Model 76 instead activated the air conditioner, blowing cool air into Luna's face. She enjoyed the nice breeze of it, sticking her hands up to the conditioner, letting her fingers kiss the chilly air. "Thanks, dude."
"Twelve matches since the past seven days. Would you like me to read them off?"
"Please," Luna implored.
"Affirmative. For Kremmling, Colorado, the Vial Corporation facility manned there has been burned down by the residents, some of which are phenos returned to their own homes. Second is the government pushing for an all-pheno Institute after the pro-pheno movement have made their voices heard."
Luna grinned with content. "Good to hear..."
"Third one is a report of a possible pheno roaming around the town of Reece, Missouri. Description of this person is depicted as a woman with pale-red skin, golden blonde hair and superhuman strength. There's more. Similar counts of a woman in red skin and blonde hair trace back to Dadetown, Colorado-"
"Wait, what?!" Luna stopped the A.I. "When exactly was this released?!"
"This aired in the morning news today, but the event itself has taken place late at night. Said woman was causing property damage, sending pro-pheno propaganda messages and vandalizing."
"D-Dadetown..." Luna repeated. "Are you sure?" This pheno was someone she had freed, by the sound of it. Maybe someone who wasn't aware of what was going on? Or... Was it something else? "How long would it be from here to Reece?"
"I am sorry, but I am not designated to take non-personnel without clearance. It is my purpose to stay here for Division agents."
"Oh..." Luna crossed her arms. "Isn't there a way to go?"
"I do have these-" Model 76 popped open a special container where the cupholders were. "Do you know what these are?"
Luna looked into the container, seeing it full of round, black objects. "These are some big pills..."
"No, they are Matrix Portals. These can take you anywhere in the world, and are voice-operated. All you have to do is press the black button in the center, say where you want to go, and drop it on the ground. A portal leading to that location will open up, allowing you in. But it, being a small projectile, is only powered for five seconds before the battery dies, and you cannot recharge."
"Oh, cool! So, any location?!"
"Any location as long as it's on the outside layer of the planet. Like, say you teleport to Colorado without saying where in Colorado, you'll wind up at the state's capital, the default if you don't clarify. Same for all states, so I strongly advise you clearly state where you wish to-"
Luna grabbed four of the Matrix Portals, tucking three into her sweater and jumped out of the truck. "Thanks, see you!" She wasted no time in pressing the button of the one she held, and stated her destination. "Reece, Missouri!" She dropped the black device, watching a blue portal open before her. She jumped in, taking a leap of faith.
Reece, Missouri
Luna didn't know where she'd land in this town, but in this hour of day, she wouldn't go unnoticed at all, but the upside would hopefully maintaining her human form. This pheno woman sounded like a thug who wanted to paint a message using destruction, not as dangerous as Lincoln Loud, but worth looking into, especially since it just so happened to be one of the phenos she had broken out. In a way, this was all on Luna, and that alone brought a freshly new idea she never considered: where the actions of a pheno she had freed in Dadetown her fault?
I'd better hope the fuck not...
She came appearing in the center of a four-way alley, where a homeless person in ragged, stained clothing, sitting against one side of the wall, had spotted her. "Oh, oh what in God's name?!"
Luna let out a smile, holding a peace sign at him. "Easy, I'm not an alien, poor dude! Take care now!"
"What the-?" The hobo hacked up some mucus in the process after Luna disappeared into the streets.
First thing was first; going around and investigating this place. A woman with red skin would not be hard to find, unless they were hiding. And they would be hiding, for sure. Hiding somewhere in town. Luna spent her time walking around, looking for this supposed location where the vandalism had taken place. Model 76 had not given her the exact details, so she had to search it out of the ordinary while trying to remember where she had been and what streets had yet to be passed through.
For her, it took over an hour until she came across the sight of a street being blocked off from both ends with police tape. Luna looked past the tape, eyeballs gazing a spectacle of overturned cars damaged beyond repaired, flipped to either on their sides or fully upside down, complete vehicular carnage scenery at its finest. Definitely a pheno at work here...
As Luna thought to go over the tape, a teenage girl on a skateboard called out to her. "Hey, you! What are you doing?!"
Luna drew her attention to the teenager, meeting a wavy-haired blonde girl in a green and purple long-sleeved shirt with the head of an alien on it, dark green cargo pants, and Vans sneakers for the win. "Hey, do you know what-?"
The skateboarder stopped right at her, three feet away from bumping into her. "Dude, this area's off-limits! Like, holy shit! And the cops are scared shitless to get near this place, thinking it's flowing with some radiation from the pheno's powers or something."
Luna switched her head from the scene to the blonde teenager, going back and forth on it. "Have you seen what happened here? Like, the pheno who did this?"
The girl shook her head wildly. "Not at all, and I'm glad I didn't! Man, those freaks are like, dangerous! They could rule the world if they all formed some doom squad or worse!"
Luna nearly popped a vein and blew a gasket at the ideas this teenager seemed to have. For a second, she deeply considered going off on her, and maybe throwing in a punch or two, but at the end of the day, Luna was not a monstrous pheno and only had great conviction to help out the phenos. "Not all of them can be bad," she replied with her tough will at work. "I mean, if anyone is to blame, it's gotta be Vial, right?"
"Oh, pfffft!" The girl giggled, jerking her head to the scene in front of them. "Vial Corp fell, so they didn't do that, but a pheno sure did."
Damn you, girl! Luna winced, looking around. "Don't you have friends to hang with?"
Blondie puckered her lips and narrowed her eyes defensively. "Well, that was uncalled for, dude. I'm just trying to look out for curious idiots get the memo."
"Fuck off." Luna walked away from the scene, leaving the skateboarder back there to mind her own business. Meanwhile, she was evaluating the facts. The whole block was vacant, left to the mess no one had cleaned up. No cops nor tow trucks or anything except tape, giving her the idea that there might have been more going on behind the scenes. She was only half a block away from the destruction when her ears picked up on a noise nearby. A scream. What?!
The blonde girl had fucked off, leaving Luna to run through the tape with no problem. Radiation, my fucking ass!
The buildings around the streets appeared to have been unoccupied, hopefully evacuated right when the shit went down. Luna looked around, trying to detect the source of the scream. This particular one sounded one like an angry one over a fear-driven one. Someone was causing a rage in the vicinity.
Glass shattered, a clear but faint sound she pinpointed from the tallest building on the left, a brown shack-like building with all the right signs for a horror movie location. Luna came charging in, breaking right through the door- with the blonde skateboarder watching from a corner of another building.
Luna took off her shoes and socks, deeming it safe to utilize all her claws and began scaling the wall of the stairwell. A very faint breathing attached to a voice speaking out in anger grew closer the further she went, and Luna stopped just one floor, the voice now being in range of her regular hearing. She dropped down, making a noticeable noise that ceased the mysterious woman from her disturbed ranting. "Who's there?! Get the fuck out of here!"
That voice! N-no... No, it can't be! Her heart sank when her brain recognized and processed who the voice belonged to; Samantha Sharp, the very same one who helped Luna back in Dadetown, thought dead since then. "Oh, God-"
Sam, appearing in a whole new skin suit but with the same clothes she was last seen in, came out of the doorway from the motel room she was wrecking away with rage. Luna had backed herself into the corner of the stairs without knowing it, laced in anguish. The golden-haired blonde ended up recognizing her past the new fashion style Luna picked out. "You! You did this to me!"
"S-Sam?! I- I thought you-" Luna had no time to be mopey about it when Sam lunged in and attacked her, throwing a punch that knocked Luna into the wall. Her body formed a crater on the concrete wall, impact aching her back and dropping her on all fours. "Fuck- Wait!"
"And I've been waiting for this, Luna!" Sam triumphed. "You and I have unfinished business."
Luna struggled to get away, having a motive to try and reason with the angry Sam. The angry Sam who seemed to blame her for this, whatever this was, whatever had happened to her. What did happen to her? "Sam, it's not- I didn't mean for this!"
Sam didn't listen to the brunette, only proceeding to give her a beat down. She picked up the Loud woman and threw her over the railing, hoping it would kill her. "Goodbye."
The fall went rather slow for Luna, giving her time to think again. It was fucked up of life to have been telling her that her actions had consequences she didn't intend to create. She thought she made it better for everyone, and that was all she wanted. All she thought would happen based on her thoughts on being free from the hands of Vial Corp. That's what they all wanted, so why was it that not everyone saw helpless people, but rather monsters? Did Luna play a role in this? Elmont said it himself; if not for Luna, the confirmation of abducted and experimented people would have never come to light. If not for... Luna...
Sam's face became more and more distant as she fell. Luna questioned it all again, wondering if she did more damage than good. This, this had to have been on her for leading Sam to a fate far worse than death. "I'm... I'm sorry."
She made a hard plummet back down to earth, thudding hard against the floor. Her skull underwent a heavy strike that made her whole head ring out with a side order of aching pain like no other past injury, even more than what the rest of her body had succumbed to. "AURGH!"
Sam strolled down with calm, cracking her knuckles. "It's not over yet, Luna."
"Suh-stop, I didn't know-" Luna rolled over on her stomach, head still ringing. "Sam-"
"Look at me, Luna," Sam hissed, rolling Luna back over, keeping her on her back. "LOOK AT MY SKIN!"
"I'M SORRY THIS HAPPENED TO YOU, BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT MY FAULT!" Luna dropped, swiping an arm at Sam's leg, pushing her away. "I couldn't have known the place would blow up! I didn't know you'd follow me to Vial! I didn't-" And slowly and painfully, it cleared up like a fog going away. "I didn't mean to-"
Sam pulled back her attacks. "I followed you for you, Luna! I- I wanted you to be okay, and-" She raised her arms to her face. "This is the price for trying to help you?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"Sam..." Luna picked herself up, going on her knees. "Wait- I- We..." Luna had the resources connected to provide Sam with actual help from the Division, and since they had all Vial Corp data stored into their own, finding out what Sam had would be no trouble at all. "I can help you, I can fix you!"
Sam shook her head, in utter denial of her words. "Can you fix me? Can you really? What about my life, Luna?!"
Luna was breathing hard, body tensing up. "I... It doesn't hurt for me to try, Sam."
Luna, the one girl, but an older woman at that, who came and brought to Sam a heavenly escapade, taking her a few steps out of reality. Through her did Sam get to know more about herself, learning of her bisexuality and wondering what other goods Luna could offer, despite her coming out from an unspeakable horror. But this... This was not part of it... Or maybe it had been, and Sam had never read the tiny print. Her fault. Her fault for letting it delude her into having a degree of freedom, a temporary vacation from her own life. And it all came falling down for her.
All because of Luna.
"FUCK YOU!" Sam kicked Luna's face, tumbling her back down with blood leaking out of her nose and mouth. "YOU CAN'T HELP ME!"
"Aghhhh..." Luna was emotionally devastated at this point. Not long ago, there was clear chemistry establishing between the two, and Sam just had to go and idea. The death was on Luna's conscious just as the others she had killed. Thinking of Sam proved to be a nightmare on its own... And maybe if she opened that bottle up with Luan... "I'm sorry-" Luna cupped a hand to cover her bleeding face. "I'm so sorry I- I kuh-killed you..."
K-killed me? Sam analyzed those words, computing for the proper response. Silence formed, and a deeper moment between the two became apparent. Killed me...
Luna stared at her upwards with such concentration that the blood trickled through her hand, falling and staining her sweater.
Was that really it? Did Luna kill her by destroying all Sam had ever been? Or was it that Sam had died beforehand? What exactly was it she was doing by proving she could cause destruction with these newfound, hideous powers she never asked for? Was this... A curse? Or was she looking at it like one, when it was really true freedom?
"Hey, hey... I can help you! I can really help you!" Luna removed her hand from her face, smearing the blood around her lips.
Sam backed away, giving in on her violent outburst. "You..."
"I... I mean it..." Luna closed her eyes but continued on. "You helped me before, Sam. You did that, and I thought that, back then, at your place... I thought I could never repay you for that. You saved me, Sam. You saved me when I needed it..."
Sam's body staggered as a response, her mouth propping open to say something, but no word formed. She did know it, however.
"I'm sorry... Whatever happened to you, I'm sorry, but I know there is a way to-"
"And then what, Luna?" Sam brought her anger down, but wasn't done in the argument aspect. "I go back to my old life?" And suddenly, Sam was finally coming out with what she felt inside. "I was loving it, Luna. I loved where I was, and what I was doing..."
Luna remained as her audience.
"But who I am? I..." She contemplated it all from this spot, feeling conflicted to the point she could date think now. She was either freed by Luna, or destroyed out of the track of society, running around. "I look like a freak!"
Luna pulled out her beast card again, transforming into the ugly beast she kept at bay, ripping out her clothes again. "And you don't think I don't? I know what you feel, even though I'm able to hide it! I hate that I can't get rid of this part of me, Sam!"
"G-guh-" Sam stuttered.
"We are all freaks underneath, but I've understood something. I understood that what we look like should not matter! Wh-who would I be kidding, Sam? I've always known! And I think you did, too! You've seen my form here and yet you followed me anyway! You, Sam! You know I'm better than what I'll be made out to be in the eyes of others! And so can you! I know you, Sam! This isn't the you I've met!"
"Isn't the me... You've..." There was some truth to that, truth of where Sam wasn't blaming Luna for this, and she had sided with Luna against Vial's agenda. "No, you're..."
"Not wrong... Please, I just want to help you..." Luna got up, raising a hand to her. "Let me help you..."
Sam stayed in place. "Why... Do you bother?"
Luna blinked once before having her the reason to throw at the transformed blonde. "Because I... I liked you and I felt responsible for you..." Luna humbly pressed her hand on her chest. "It's my fault you're like this, and I can see that now..."
"You-?" Sam lunged forward, pushing and grabbing Luna by her ripped threads. Amazingly, she was strong enough to carry it out. She had the lizard hybrid pinned to the wall with seething fury. "Yes, I couldn't agree more!"
Luna reverted back, making herself light for Sam. "If- If you're going to do this... Going to k-kill me..."
Sam growled.
"At least let me pray for my sisters..."
Sam lost grip and let go. "S-sisters?" She was confused. "Why would you-?"
"I found some of them, we've- We've been living and..." Luna stopped, looking down. "I got to see them again, at least..."
"Uh..." Sam exhaled. "D-do they-?" She snorted and moved back again. "They care?"
"We do... We care for each other just as we had back then, and I've been better with them, even while there's somd tension between us... I've never been happy to see them."
Sam blinked, closing her eyes long enough to picture her only younger brother Simon, one such sibling she left behind. The brother she'd never stop caring for... But the brother she now felt she disappointed. And not just him, but her two parents as well, all of whom were in another part of the world, likely told that she had gone missing. Or, if they had identified her...
She failed the family name.
And then she screamed, mind troubled in all fronts, too much of it that she couldn't take it anymore. Sam had a psychotic break, thrashing away at the wall behind Luna, punching it while she broke it away, with Luna moving away while the blonde threw her biggest fit. Just as fast as it came, Sam wore herself out and fell against the wall, huffing labored breathing.
"Sam..." Luna dug into her sweater pockets, happy to know that she didn't lose the tiny portals when transforming. She took one out and held it out. "I want you to come back with me, but I want you to be okay. Is there any place at all where you will be safe?"
Sam shook her head, knowing full well safety was no longer possible. "T-take me with you... Take me with you, please..."
Luna took her place next to Sam, taking a safe assumption she had now gone calm, all her fight being put out now. "Yes, I am. I will, Sam. I will."
Later
They walked through the green fields, coming up on the underground facility at the narrow stretch of land. "Where are you taking me? There's nothing here..."
"Not at first glance," Luna corrected. "Listen, let me do all the talking, okay?"
"Alright..." Sam rubbed her red skin nervously.
When they entered the facility, the eyes of all employees there were fixated on them, making both women quite nervous. Luna knew this meant that she was likely to be in trouble, having gone and broken heavily-enforced rules by bringing a pheno here, endangering the staff here. Elmont met her when she led Sam down the hall, stopping her at midway. "Do you hvae any idea what you've done?"
"Y-yes, I do- This pheno, I know her-"
"Luna, we have a strict code of protocols to follow regularly! We cannot risk bringing outsiders here like nothing!" Elmont grabbed Sam forcibly, leading her to the interrogation room. "Stay there, damn it! I'll be right back..."
"L-Luna?' Sam got a little spooked.
"Don't worry, just don't resist!" Luna advised shakily.
The handcuffs came on, and Sam tried to actually budge out of them, but couldn't. "L-Luna said you could fix me!" She wailed to Elmont. "Why are you locking me up?"
"Easy, girl," Elmont soothed. "Don't take it personally."
Sam jerked her restrained hand again. "Why- What is this made of?"
"I'll be asking the questions around here, miss. State your name for the record."
"N-name? I'm Samantha Sharp... Do you want the basics? Born in Denver, Colorado, lived around th at area until I moved to Dadetown for college. The very same Dadetown where Luna escaped from-"
"I am aware of Luna's actions."
"She can vouch for me... I didn't come here with bad intent if this is what you're thinking. I just want this-" She scratched at her skin. "This to be gone."
"Have you ever killed anyone before?"
"What?! No, I could never! I..." She did try with Luna, but was that the real Sam. "My soul isn't c-clean but I have never taken the life of another... I swear it on my life."
"How about injury? Have you ever harmed people?"
"Yes," Sam confessed. "I can admit that..."
"So you are here to...?"
"Luna- Luna promised me you can take this off of me! Please, I don't want to look like this, and I want to go back-" She paused all of a sudden.
"Hm? Go on..."
"T-to the way..." Sam sighed. "I-"
Elmont stood up, taking a pause. "Try anything funny, and we'll see to it that we'll help you our way." He left, meeting up with the impatient Luna at the hall. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"Sam needs help, Elmont, sir! I owed it to her because she helped me-"
"Personal feelings can't get in the way off-"
"She's the reason I broke out the phenos! She turned my fear of being recaptured by Vial into courage that helped me overcome that challenge! Without her... Without her, I wouldn't even be here! Of course I wasn't going to give up on her!"
Elmont wished he had a response for this, but sucked it up. "Goddamnit, Luna... Okay, consider yourself lucky just this once! I'm going to see if I can contain this shit but... If I get into trouble, you will not be getting off so lucky-"
Coming from the front end of the facility, Lincoln Loud walked towards them, shirtless and covered in blood. And what was more-
"You! What-? Where is Carly?!" Elmont took steps forward, but noticed Lincoln was actually limping, breathing heavily. "What in God's name have you done?!"
"Lincy...?"
The white-haired man opened his mouth, croaking out a strain of words. "Luh-luh-luh..."
"Luh?" Luna repeated, trying to figure out what he was saying.
And right as Lincoln dropped on one knee, he uttered two words he was able to get out with all his strength. "L-Linka... Clone." He dropped before them, rendered unconscious.
AN: No, I totally lied about when Act II was starting. It's not been exactly an oddity from me considering I did this before, and I will continue to do so from time to time. Kicking it off with more of the Luna/Sam story arc running along the lines. Things will be more intense from this point forward, with more blood on the verge of being spilled on not just two sides, but the third that is being brought to light right about now.
Act II roster:
1. Rocking Nightmare
2. The First Clone
3. Excetum
4. The Fire Within
5. Project Link
6. Blue Dames
7. The Ultimate Clone
8. Junior Patriots
9. The Sisters Grimm
10. The Prime Enemy
11. Dark Before Dawn, Act II Special
Act II re-introducing Linka, Lupa, Liby and Lacy! And for the first time ever... Oh, I won't spoil the surprise. You'll meet them in time. Thank you and goodnight.