May 29th, 2030

Carly awoke due to a noise that frightened her. Before that, her fact was planted against a cold surface she could only guess as hell having frozen over against her wishes. Jerking her head up right, she opened her eyes widely, quite startled. "Wha-?"

Lincoln stood seated in front of her, his back turned to the hallway of the interrogation room. Elmont, Luna and Lynn were lined up right behind him, standing as if they were bowling pins. Lincoln's hands were tucked away under the table, occupied with the SRM-1216 sbotgun that rested on his lap. "Good, you're awake."

Carly threw her up a for a blind attack, but found that she was restrained by handcuffs. "AGH! FOOLS! VIAL CORP WILL-"

Lincoln withdrew a hand and slapped the Hmong girl across the face, not having it today. "Now what the hell is a little ninja doing with criminals in Vial's ranks?"

Carly rubbed her cheek, being stung by her own touch. A tough cookie she was when she made no effort to whimper or cry, barely impressing Lincoln. "Wouldn't you like to know, old man?"

"I'm not playing games here, you little shit," Lincoln coldly grunted.

"Tone the language, Loud," Elmont suggested. "Or I'll be taking over."

"Very well..." Lincoln pulled out the shotgun from underneath, aiming it at Carly. "Tell me what I want to know."

"Whoa, whoa!" Carly strolled off of her chair, yanking back her hands valiantly. "Wait-"

"Lincoln, no!" Lynn grabbed the gun and swiped it away from Lincoln's deadly grip. "He warned you!"

"Tch..." Lincoln scoffed, pinpointing his cue to leave. "You girls can't do better than I can, that's for damn sure."

"Just leave, dude," Luna seconded, crossing her arms in disgust at both Lincoln and Elmont, who allowed Lincoln to try his tactics.

"Don't look at me..." Elmont innocently waved. "Who wants a turn?"

Lynn cracked her knuckles and took her seat. "Hi there, my name is Lynn Loud-"

"I know who some of you are. I've been working with Lisa long enough to know about you guys!" Carly chortled fiendishly, eyeing both Lynn and Luna. "And let me tell you, she planned ahead, knowing full well what was happening."

Lynn opened her mouth to say something, but she looked back at Elmont with this news, then back at Carly. "Sorry, what do you mean by that?"

Carly pointed a finger at each of them. "Lynn Loud Jr, Luna Loud, and Alexander Elmont, nice to meet you. I can't say I was expecting to be captured, but here I am!" She clapped away at them, mocking them indefinitely.

"You- You know who we are?" Lynn wondered. "You're that close to Lisa, are you?"

"I wouldn't say I'm that close to her, but the genius is too open with me, but that isn't the point." The chick in black brushed away at her clothes. "I take it this is the Division?"

Elmont took a deep breath after these particular words eluded Carly's mouth. "Th-that's classified Intel... It shouldn't be possible that you know about this!"

"Oh, but it is! And guess what, Elmonty? I've-" She raised a finger to herself, grinning. "-Been told of this by Lisa herself! Soooo..."

Elmont exited the room, fuming. Luna followed to make sure he was alright. "Dude, this sounds sketchy?"

"It should not have been possible for Lisa to have known about us! I'd call it a bluff if that girl didn't just name-drop us or this place!" Elmont did the math in his head. "It makes no sense! If they knew about us, then they could have countered us, regardless of how we went about it!"

"Earth to Alexander Elmont," Lincoln snapped. "Maybe it was just an act, and they wanted us to capture the girl."

"No, that can't be..." Elmont denied. "We didn't just capture the girl, but everything they've had! All their data is being downloaded into our databanks as we speak!"

"Maybe that was the plan all along, Elmont," Lincoln tossed. "If I were being cornered, I'd cut off an arm and and made sure I bled enough to fool whoever had me backed into a wall. Don't mind the fact I can make my own exit, thought."

"Sounds dumb!" Luna expressed. "What does Lisa gain by having this girl being kidnapped by us? We've checked her, she has no communication device, tracking device, or any small camera we've been able to find, so there is no advantage for anyone."

"Maybe not, but the girl is telling you something alright," Lincoln pointed out.

"That someone is talking from above?" Elmont inquired, giving it thought. "That's impossible, my superiors would never-" But then he paused.

"Talk," Lincoln requested, sensing it.

"We've suspected state senator Peter McMahon of being in league with Lisa, but it never occurred to me-" He curled his hands into fists, feeling quite humiliated and angry at the same time. "Damn it, McMahon surely has connections of his own among those I answer to."

"I don't get it," Lincoln shared, trying to figure it out. "You haven't told them you suspected the state senator?"

"It doesn't work how you think it works, Loud. All the board members want to hear is results and authentic information, not the finger-pointing assumptions where I can't supply evidence to back up any claims I make, even if they would believe me. The only thing I can pass up is the data, nothing more than that."

"So we know it's not a leak, but an infiltration," Lincoln concluded. "Everything we do, this McMahon maggot knows, having gotten some classified intel by sweet-talking your superiors. Question is..."

"How much did he know to tell Lisa?"

"Dudes... I don't like this." Luna grew mildly scared.

"We're bound to have information on Vial, enough to tear down everything Lisa has ever worked for," Lincoln hoped. "I'm more than positive-"

"Unless..." Elmont stopped. "Unless there is nothing that links Vial to their connections. We don't know for sure what we'll find."

"Right... Here's to hoping."

Later

The data had been looked over by Elmont, Lincoln, and Luna that evening. They were pleased with their findings, but the real tragedy here was a lack of list of connections Vial kept, not even a queue of buyers for their illegally manufactured weapons reportedly seen by many criminals mostly on foreign territories. Nothing at all that could bring about the fall of Lisa's friends, however many there were, but this was enough of a win to have some sort of celebration for.

"Fuck!" Elmont wasn't really too happy with how it was going. "All of this information, and not one strip or mention of who helped Lisa! Ugh... What am I missing here?"

Lincoln cleared his throat. "Maybe nothing at all, Elmont. Question has to be when McMahon squealed to dear sister of mine, right? Gives her all the time to prepare, to move the real stuff."

"Yes, but all of this is her essential stuff, years worth of work! She left it all..."

"She left what she's able to sacrifice, I'd say. Compare this to the real gold mine, this would be nothing. Lisa made weapons, right?" Lincoln, accessing the Vial Corp database through the oval table's screen, searched for the category everywhere, finding nothing that matched. "Of course, she took the real stuff with her. Well, maybe she took everything by making a copy and deleted the essentials off of these drives here."

"Does that mean she knows it was us?" Elmont placed a hand to his forehead. "This is a total clusterfuck if I do say so myself..."

"That girl knows more," Lincoln believed. "It feels like she does."

"So..." Elmont gave out a deep sigh. "Lisa might still be in play... I've been thinking she should have not any place to run, but now..."

"Yes, its gonna be wise to assume she has an underground facility where she can continue her shit," Lincoln shared, making Luna gasp heavily. "And that she knows about us, that's gotta be the point of giving up that girl. It's a way to tell us she's steps ahead."

"In that case, I'll have to keep her here as long as it takes until she gives up info," Elmont decided. "I've got my own method of doing this, you two will stay out of it."

"Understood," Luna abided.

"Is it effective?" Lincoln teased mockingly.

Just then, Lynn came wandering about to update them on her progress. "The girl's name is Carly Evans-something. She's... Erm, Vietnamese? Anyway, she didn't talk much but she said she was one of two bodyguards for Lisa-"

"Bodyguard?" Lincoln chortled. "That little girl?"

"She didn't seem to know about what they were doing, she's been instructed to keep away from the holding cells. I don't think she knows Lisa is evil, but Lisa made us the bad guys in Carly's mind."

"How a girl like that ends up in the hands of Lisa I'll never know," Lincoln muttered. "Bet she's bullshitting though. She's had to have known what she was getting herself into."

"Well, apparently Lisa told her much about us and how we were working with a rival suit who wanted to take over data to use it for our... Evil intents." Lynn looked at the screen opened to the Vial Corp database. "Is this all it?"

"We have reason to believe its incomplete as of yet, and it's not an accidental case either. Oh, great, this is gonna be a hassle if we have to repeat this mess again." Elmont groaned, leaving to his office to make the update to his superiors. That's when Lincoln developed an idea.

"I have a solution." His words made the Division leader freeze in his tracks. "You might not like it, and it's not gonna be okay with many, I'm sure."

"Why don't you come into my office?" Elmont proposed, walking back with Lincoln and the girls following. "Oh- Only Lincoln, girls."

Luna and Lynn gave each or disgruntled looks, staying behind.

Lincoln helped himself to the comfy chair in from of Elmont's desk. "Great, we've made them retreat instead of backing them into a corner."

"No shit, what is your plan?" He asked when sitting at his desk.

Lincoln leaned forward. "Simple for us, but it's gonna be a fuck-up of all sorts for the lesser agencies. What I'm pitching here is us moving forward and taking out Vial's regular buyers of their weaponry, specifically those that are being under surveillance."

"Five and Scythe terror cells are two terror orgs we know have been doing shopping from them," Elmont disclosed. "Not to mention a cartel or two, which I gotta say was the reason we caught wind of that. Vial seems to have a connection in all underworlds, it's a challenge to be able to cut all of them off, we're unsure of the exact numbers, and this is excluding small-timers."

"There a list of known or suspected bases of these buyers?" Lincoln requested. "If I can wipe enough, this underground network will have to pull a desperate play and find out who is taking care of its source of funding."

Elmont grinned, showing his perfect white teeth at Lincoln. "I fucking hate to have to admit it, but bringing you in here isn't such a mistake after all."

"What the fuck was up with that hate-boner the first time we met? Had you figured out you couldn't stand me?"

"Don't get the wrong idea, no one would be professionally happy to have an ex... Ex-terrorist join the Patriot Division. A very little chance has been given, and that was due to your little stunt that ended the Freights and that silly, dangerous ideology. However..."

Here came the but Lincoln expected to hate. "But?"

"You are still going to be tried in front of the court the very second your involuntary services are no longer required. Make no mistake..."

Lincoln narrowed his eyes.

"You have never been off the hook yet."

"That's all well and good, big man," Lincoln agreed. "While they think that, they know they'll need men like me to throw into their battles. They've seen my rap sheet I'm sure, and I have much to take from the world."

"Don't get too cocky, Loud..." Elmont grunted. "You are not the hero we deserve, but one reality has given us, so, as a compromise, we're willing to take you as long as you don't fuck up for us. And also, considering this is clear and unauthorized intervening in the affairs of our friends-"

"You want me to leave one survivor of each compound I hit?" Lincoln assumed. "Can do, but they won't be left in perfect shape."

"As long as you don't send them into shock or worse," Elmont allowed. "You're going to need an upgrade. This is a good strategy nonetheless, but this means for the other agencies pullback maneuvers and months of recon to be thrown away much to their dismay. Lucky for us we can pay them off, even if some of them will hold a grudge towards us. If you could step out for a second, while I..." Elmont picked up an old-school black phone, one of those kinds with a built-in speaker. Lincoln pushed his chair back and took his exit, meeting Lynn and Luna back out.

"What?" He poked, annoyed by their staring at him.

"Are you gonna let us in on this solution?" Luna was eager to know the severity of Lincoln's suggestion, just as Lynn was.

Only, Lincoln had no intention to share his method. No reason, considering how soft-hearted and weak he believed they were. The thing he knew about Luna and Lynn was that they would not go about it the way he did, despite them, and Luan, having crossed it. Rather than molding them, he'd rather keep them out. Making them know him and planting that mindset were of different things. Lynn and Luna, the closest ones to know his path, but weren't there yet. To him, Luan was below the two, still a child at heart. A child who wanted out.

"That's for me to know, and me only," he denied his older sisters, marking another secret to hide.

"D-damn it, Linc. What, you don't trust us?" Luna accused coldly, aggravated enough to take a step.

Lynn heeled her with a hand to her shoulder rather calmly. "No, isn't it obvious, Lunes? The big, bad wolf found a way that requires bloodshed. That's the Freight way, after all..." Lynn pulled Luna away, the both of them walking away to their rooms. When entering the elevator, Luna revealed what her ears have heard.

"Lincoln's going after Lisa's customers, dude. They're allowing him to go out and kill anyone on the list to break Vial's silence and routes."

"What- Y-you're kidding me! The guys in my department had eyes on three separate Five compounds! Nine months! No- This, this can't-" Lynn threw a fit and punched the elevator, but had measured her strength to light terms. "Damn it... Why, of all things, does he have to undo that to my department?"

"Lynn..." Luna didn't want to be the one to point it out again. "You're not in with them anymore..."

Lynn let out a broken stutter. "Oh... R-right..." She rubbed her face from eyes to mouth, sighing painfully. "What's wrong with me?"

"What do you mean? There isn't anything!" Luna protested from within. "You're all right up there, you care... You've... Shown me you care, Lynn. There isn't anything wrong with you wanting to go back to the way things were..."

"When you say that, do you know what the 'things were' part means to me?"

"If you have to ask me that, you'd have to think I don't know..." Luna addressed. "But I do know, Lynn. I know because I also feel the same way... I want to go back to the past, where... Where we all laughed together, hugged, cried... M-mourned-"

Lynn let out a weak laugh. "Too much... There's too much of it around us. Pop-Pop. Leni. Lucy. Mom and dad. And... Rinn. Aunt fucking Rinn, too... I never-" She sniffed out achingly. "I left too fucking fast to say anything. I was sure of it... I was sure we'd see each other again, and you're t-telling me-"

"Dude..." Luna wrapped a hand around her, leading her off the elevator. "I thought... We were past that..." The elephant in the room was still there. "You think we should tell Lincoln about them? Leni and Pop-Pop, I mean. No one brought it up..."

"Y-you can do it," Lynn squeaked with her breaking voice. "I don't care for that monster... Literally fuck Lincoln."

"Literally?" Luna forced a nervous laugh out. "You sound like Lori."

"L-Luna, you're fucking killing me..." Lynn let herself be escorted to her own room, being sat down by big sister Luna. "Lori... Lori broke our Leni... How could she have done that, Luna? T-tell me why..."

"Lynn, I don't know about that. The twins, when they told me, were only vague about it, and they weren't strong enough to tell me how or why..." The perfect stillness of the room befell them, silent enough to drive them virtually insane if they had ever stopped talking long enough to notice the strength of the nothingness of sound. The breath of Luna's mouth blew out, coming out like an audition for an Icebreakers commercial. She set her hands on her legs and leaned forward, tangled in wires of emotion. "I wish... I wish I was there with you guys to see everything fall..."

"What? What, why would you say that?" Lynn only looked onto her sister with confusion, close enough to form into anger. "What the fuck?"

"Look- No, look at it from my perspective... I hate having to be told this by words. I can't- I can't get the same emotion you guys felt when it happened. You and the twins now how it went. Not me, nor Luan... For me, it doesn't just hurt me that it happened, but it's painful that Luan and I will never feel the way you feel when her name, or Pop-Pop's name, comes up. Hell, you surely have to understand me! I mean, you were never there to see Aunt Rinn die! That's it, that's what the fuck I'm saying... We were never there."

Lynn understood where Luna was going with this, and heavily agreed, nodding her head. "We've been so left out of it, and we will never-"

"Understand their true pain," Luna concluded. "I just get words but not an image. I want to feel that so I can cry with them properly. Them, you. Is- Is that so insane to ask for?"

"It's... Crazy but it's not irrational... No."

"And hey..." Leaned back up and turned to Lynn. "Don't worry about Lincoln. I'll be the one to tell him about them, don't worry."

Lynn leaned back to her bed, falling with her eyes closed. "Y-yes, please, I don't want to deal with that man."

With that, Luna let Lynn have time to herself and left the room. Not long after, the heartbroken tears echoed softly out of the rooms, and Luna's sharp ears picked up a guilt-ridden speech Lynn was letting out in memory of their fallen. Luna had returned to her room- only to fall on her knees and cover her ears in a weak attempt to block out the tragedy her eardrums welcomed.

One floor above, Lincoln had entered the lab, coming into a workshop set up in the middle of the lab manned by some brilliant technicians the Division had onboard, all working day and night on both new and used technology Lincoln had yet to be disclosed with. Elmont led him well past them, taking Lincoln to the back of the room. The wall at the end was covered in a glass layout, it being a display case that was all empty, save for the eye-catcher that mesmerized Lincoln; a black suit he knew right away was of an armored type. "Is that a-?"

"This is one such prototype of a special type of battle armor we're still working on. This one you see has only been wore once before, and it exceedingly passed all expectations."

"Battle armor?" Lincoln pressed a hand to the glass, blocked by it from touching the armor. "Tell me more about it."

"It's a hundred percent metal, so it will slow you down, but it's still pretty mobile."

"No running?"

"Jogging, no running... Unless you disassemble the leg plating from the back of the legs, which would be you, the wearer's call. Anyways, there is no helmet to go along with it, a major downside, but this baby, which were calling Patriot Armor, patent pending, has the strength of five strong-arms types. If I had to make a comparison, maybe like... I don't know, a terminator?"

"So... This can be destroyed?" Lincoln pieced.

"...Moving on," Elmont coughed. "See that button right below the abdominal area?"

Lincoln noticed a square centered in the middle, just above the crotch region. "What, is that a communicator? Not a good place to put that."

"No, it activates an EMP blast, reaches up to a hundred feet in range wide, and with height, it's double that. Of course, that's if you're own ground level. You go high and you can exceed the height's range to three hundred, or more, depending on the building. My advice is, the taller the building, the measureable of the halfway point."

"Huh... Okay," Lincoln short-circuited.

"Gloves have built-in tazers, activated via buttons on the back of them, which you can't see from this angle. The tips of them are where you can feel them, but we find that it was a bad choice on our end, so we don't suggest you use them, even as a last resort."

"Anything else added in for the extra mile?"

Elmont shook his head. "No, that's it for the armor."

"Battery-powered, right? Lifespan of...?"

"Days, if you don't use the EMP frequently. That takes five percent off each time, and the EMP itself recharges every fifteen minutes, we find. Gonna do it, you do it right."

"Anything else?" Lincoln inquired.

"Yeah, Loud. Don't fucking wreck it or get killed. This is the only one of it's kind."

He nodded. "Better give me good weapons, then."

"Speaking of weapons..." Elmont took back to the hall, escorting the white-haired man to their armory. The Division had all classes of the best weapons, plus more. Light machine guns, assault rifles, tactical shotguns. Grenades of silver, black and other colors with different labels, those being kinetic ones, incendiary ones, and others he would not be keeping track of. A row of shields unlike anything he's ever seen before. Pistols, very high-tech and more compact than those Lincoln knew. Rockets of the RPG-7, M72 Law, and Smaw types as well. "One primary, one or two sidearms, grenades if you want, and..."

Lincoln came across some serrated blades within a case in the middle of the armory. "Glorious..." He drooled. "Anything special here?"

"Special?" Elmont redirected to the sniper rifles. "Oh, we do have one interesting weapon you might like." He opened the cage, accessing a black sniper rifle high on the wall that resembled a Barrett M82. "Meet the RA-K68, ahead of its time for one and one reason only." He aimed it upwards, activating a mechanism at the bottom right where he gripped it, sliding it forward to reveal the sniper rifle could extend almost two feet more in length.

"Is that all it can do?"

Elmont reversed his action, returning the rifle to proper length again. "The barrel is top-notch accurate, instantly out-performing all others. Sight is too zoomed in, so you can be five hundred yards out and see your target's head blow the fuck up with no problem- if your aim is excellent."

"I've missed shots or two, but a sniper rifle experience is lacking. Say, what happened to the one I left back in New York?"

"Called in the proper crew to bag and tag," Elmont admitted. "Where did you even get it?"

"Cop transported it before I subdued him," Lincoln revealed. "Pretty sure it was evidence but it was that over the shotgun he had in his patrol car."

"Great... Another crime to add to your sheet."

"I'll take that, but I also want..." Lincoln had taken a liking to the 1216 shotgun, but his eyes were also fixated on an MP5K. "You have an arsenal, and you torture me by limiting me. I want to take half."

"No, you will not," Elmont denied. "I'd prefer it if you hit a compound, come back to resupply and report, then go to the next one."

"It'd be faster if I didn't, it'd be a risk on itself, me coming back many times. Who's to say I don't have a tail?"

"Nonsensical, you're smart-"

"But not an expert, Elmont," Lincoln reminded him. "Don't be so fucking stupid or careless. I'll take half and I'll come back until I make enough noise and destroy Vial's funding, and until then-"

"Hold on..." Elmont offered a compromise. "I've got something that will make us both happy."

May 30th, 2030

Five was just like any terror organization, but were nothing short of bad guys similar to Freights. There they were, inside a warehouse, playing some poker, laughing and having a good time. While some rifles of theirs leaned against some boxes, no one seemed to care to keep the place secured.

That's right, let it run through your heads... Not a brave, smart soul could ever figure this is Five territory. Lincoln hid behind some crates at the far end of the warehouse, crates which he suspected contained all of Vial's stock they had sold to these guys. Armed with the 1216, the MP5K and bringing an RPG to the party, Lincoln kicked it off with the latter weapon, firing off the rocket at one of three vehicles away. Through the commotion, he revealed his location and began firing.

June 2nd, 2030

A convoy of Scythe members packed into four black vans rolled along an empty highway, and coming from the other end, Lincoln Loud and the A.I. known as Model 76 were racing towards them. The truck was currently on auto-pilot, allowing Lincoln to perch on the hood of the truck, firing the M60 he wielded, shooting in bursts at the windshields and tires of all four vehicles.

June 3rd, 2030

The fortieth floor held that particular meeting, just across the rooftop where he was. He activated the EMP, correctly guessing that he'd take out the power of the target building. When it had gone dark, and made the six members of Five pull out their handguns, Lincoln let the RA-K68 do its thing. When the first bullet ejected, no such noise had echoed about, making this a perfectly suppressed weapon. Stealth kill!

He dropped his first baddie with this amazing weapon, but he didn't stop to fangirl just yet, quickly switching between the other five targets, shooting away. He was glad it was a semi-auto, not a bolt-action brand. The glass of the window shattered after the third shot, sending glass flying to the ground. Hopefully no one would be hurt or killed by that.

June 5th, 2030

Bodies with missing heads and shot-off body parts lay scattered in the back of a Mexican hacienda down somewhere in Mexico. The only survivor of this was a fidgety cokehead with the body akin to an anorexic person, shivering to the point his teeth chattered like a skull on Halloween. Lincoln's 1216 kissed the junkie's forehead, staring down with a lustful desire to shed more blood again.

June 6th, 2030

He ran out of ammo on the M16, due to more gangsters being at the abandoned hospital, more than he had bullets. Luckily for him, enough were dropped that weapons lay everywhere. Picking up an An-47 and an Uzi, he dual-wielded to get the job done, fighting both the gang members and the recoil that rattled about.

June 8th, 2030

And he killed.

June 10th, 2030

And he killed.

June 11th, 2030

And he killed...

Later

"This is getting us nowhere," Elmont said with disappointment. "I mean, you did good work, but this should have been enough to stir the hornet's nest, wouldn't you say?"

Lincoln was basically dragging an empty M60 at this point, face covered in blood. "I need a shower."

"R-right... Carry on."

Lincoln dropped off the armor at the tech lab, leaving the guys to pick up after them. He heard them yell, but naturally, Lincoln gave no fuck. It was only after his showering that he thought to re-interrogate the so-called bodyguard they had, and headed to Elmont's office to give him access to the special cell that was concealed at the end of the interrogation room.

Elmont brought the girl back for him to question again. "No funny business."

"Says you..." Lincoln snorted, then turned his attention to Carly. "You're some dumb kid, choosing to be jailed here like this."

"I didn't choose this!" Carly countered defensively. "I'm being held here against my will by evil folk! I can talk, but I won't give Lisa up to you, and that's a promise!"

"What has my sister ever done for you?" Lincoln wondered. "And how did you get here? You didn't run away from your parents, did you?"

Carly fell silent.

Elmont whispered into Lincoln's ear. "Did you not read the file on her?"

"Uhh..." Lincoln shook his head. "Sh-shut up and tell me..."

"Girl's parents are dead, killed due to a hate crime."

"Oh?" Lincoln looked back at Carly. "Is your precious mommy and daddy all deady-weady?"

"H-hey... Shut it!" Carly jerked her hands forward, fixing for his throat but missed. "Curse you!"

Lincoln sniffed. "Hey, Elmont, didn't you give her a good hose down?"

"What are you doing now?" Elmont groaned.

"Come on girl, just tell us where Lisa's underground facility is," Lincoln implored. "I know you know where it is, or have some clue about it."

"Like I told Lynn, I don't know everything-"

"But you do know Lisa played with your head, right?" Lincoln interrupted forcefully. "Whatever she told you is wrong-"

"So you're not an ex-Freight?" Carly poked. "Is that a lie Lisa told me? Hmm?"

G-goddamn sassy little shit... Lincoln sighed. "You really don't know what was down there? You say you know all about Luna, but do you really?" He turned to Elmont. "Haven't you thought to convince her Lisa was evil? We have evidence, and my sisters, except Luan, are all examples!"

"Keeping her locked away could have broken her, too," Elmont reasoned. "Isolation drives people insane after all..."

"And Lynn says I'm the monster... Jesus Christ."

"What about your sisters?" Carly asked. "Well?"

Minutes Later

Luna transformed, roaring into Carly's face and releasing her bad lizard breath all around her. Carly's eyes watered a painful red, nose plucked up by her fingers. "Ew! So-!" She gagged as Luna pulled back her face, stepping away from the table. "Okay, I'll- I'll talk! I have-"

"And that's how it's done, baby," Luna cheered.

"Is that really all it took?" Lincoln was flabbergasted, and not in the good way. "Was my work all for nothing?"

"Hmph!" Luna got too cocky, feeling proud of herself that she walked out of the room with swagger.

Carly's lips were quivering away, fright being all too real for some silly fucking act. Unless maybe it was a realistic act altogther. No, this made more sense; Lisa kept this ninja girl in the dark, hiding all the vital facts for the good of them both. Carly was obedient, never rebelling against Lisa's rules and regulations once. Whatever she knew of them all, was incomplete facts on them. It was unclear if Carly was let in on the existence of phenos, but in the now at this second, it didn't matter anymore.

"Do you want to make a deal now?" Elmont offered on the table.

"What- What was that? What did she just-?" Luna seemed to have been the ninja girl's first pheno. "M-monsters!"

Luna heard Carly's label from outside.

"It's all Lisa's doing, if you weren't aware of it," Lincoln explained. "You're missing out on so much. Agree to help us, and we can give you the whole story, and then it's a juvy center for you."

Carly led her eyes downward, breathing hard. "No- No, I'll talk. J-just give me some time..."

"Of course..." Elmont agreed. "Take all the time you need."

July 18th, 2030

Luna was feeling quite stupid by the time she walked out of the office, leaving Lincoln and Elmont alone, running off to place herself on a mission which would ultimately bring her to a familiar face. "Progress on the girl?" Lincoln was getting desperate.

"You know... I'm not gonna lie, but keeping a kid here is starting to make this feel more unethical by the second."

"Oh?" Lincoln sarcastically joked. "You don't say."

Elmont grumbled under his breath some incomprehensible mutters. "Anyways, there is some development on the matter. Carly's finally broken her silence after we so heavily accommodated her cell to barter for info. We've got something alright."

Lincoln formed a smile, happy at the news. "Let's hear it."

"That base we hit in Maine was not the only one around. Their underground bunker, which Carly claims to have only been there once, is bigger than the regular facility layout. However, she's had limited access to it as she claims, but we can never be certain on what is true or not with her. Even so, I want to send you to investigate, but I want you to take Carly since she knows more of the layout than you."

Lincoln analyzed the strategy. "This is sounding like a trap now."

"It very well could be, but the advantage you've got would be Matrix Portals. They'll make for a quick getaway before you get captured. You've never had any problems, why would they start now?"

"Right..." Lincoln had the skeevies regardless, developing chills down his spine.

Later

Lincoln had to keep Carly in handcuffs the whole way, walking around some woods a few miles away from the facility they've attacked awhile back. Ah, good times. Good times. Only two more of those round Matrix Portals left, tucked away safe and sound on Lincoln. His shotgun was loaded, but had only thirty-two rounds on him, sixteen loaded on the firearm. "Keep moving."

"I am!" Carly cried out. "Leave me alone, you old hag."

"You do remember where this underground facility is?" Lincoln jammed his gun into her back, attempting to spook her. "Well?"

"Of course I do!" She raised her hands in front of her, pointing straight ahead. "Where did you think I was leading you?"

"I still don't trust you completely, girl," Lincoln reminded her.

"You do you, man," Carly rolled her eyes. "There's a hatch that leads to a tunnel below. The tunnel stops right before a big steel blast door, like it's some huge safe. Past that is..."

"Is?" Lincoln demanded.

"Lisa once called it the Black Network." Carly stopped him after half a mile of walking, then began to run her shoes against the dirt, then stomped down with medium energy. They could both hear a faint clanking of metal sound off. "This is it."

Lincoln dug his hands around, finding a handle to which he pulled, revealing a dark entryway leading downwards. "You first-"

"Wait, what?! But I-!" Carly was pushed into the pit below with no second thought. "LINCOLN! Ow..."

Climbing down, Lincoln picked Carly up and pushed her back as the guide. "Keep moving."

The tunnel's light activated all at once, letting Lincoln know motion sensors were at work here. They only then reached the huge blast door Carly had mentioned when they both heard a laugh echo around the tunnel. Then- "Silly daddy, you didn't think it could be this easy, did you?"

Lincoln gripped the 1216 high, looking around for the source of the voice. A girl's voice, and young at that, too. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Oh, daddy... I'm just about to introduce myself to you! Do you really want to point that at me?"

Carly hugged against the wall, keeping her eyes open to the front end of the tunnel.

"Who the hell is that?!" Lincoln screeched.

"I- I don't know, I've never seen kids here!"

The girl's voice laughed along the tunnel. "You must be Carly, right? They captured you before they let me out, but I'm glad we're meeting for the first time."

"What- Who are you?" The enormous blast door behind her and Lincoln creaked out, opening up rather slowly rather slowly. "Hey-"

Lincoln looked back and noticed the entrance opening for them- followed by a secret narrow one being activated. One second too late to have his advantage, Lincoln found himself in a pickle. The figure who came out, a small girl with straightened white hair just like his, the source of the voice, moved swiftly to attack him. He missed his only shot he could fire before the girl, dressed in a skin-tight black suit with the letter A in white taking up the center chest, snagged his gun away with ease.

"Hiyah, Lincy!" The girl punched him square in the gut, showing that her strength was just as strong as his own when he realized how much it hurt him. When he went down on one knee, the girl threw more jabs to his face, leaving him bloody to a pulp.

All while Lincoln did his best to fight her, but strangely enough, all of his moves were being read and countered perfectly, as if she had anticipated all of his moves. As if she had seen his fighting style before. He tried to make sense of it, and how it was possible that this girl was matching him- no, actually beating him. "Ngh!"

"Don't even try to get up!" The white-haired brute of a girl warned. "Lisa's got a bone to pick with you, dear daddy!"

"Whuh- Why do you keep calling me d-daddy?" Lincoln limped around freely once the girl had stopped, each circling around the other. "Who are you?"

The girl looked at her knuckles, seeing his blood smeared around them. She held it up to show him. "You see this, don't you? Your blood cells... This is me."

It clicked. It was insane for him to know and understand the science behind it, but it very well damn clicked. "It can't be... You-?"

"Introducing the first, the pure, the illustrious Linka Loud!" The clone took a graceful bow in front of her two audience members carefree.

Lincoln got the drop on her by grabbing her face and rushing her back into the wall. He pinned her hard, and then repeatedly struck her head against the wall with his fading strength. "F-fucking clone-"

Linka kicked him in the abdomen once, strong enough to break his grip away. She then pushed him down, spotting a knife on him. "Oooh, shiny!" She took it, quickly going to Carly. "Get the fuck inside!"

"Oh- R-right!" The ninja chick disappeared into the Black Network, going free. "Thank you!"

Lincoln rolled onto his stomach, humiliated in defeat. "Clone... F-Fuck- No fucking way..."

When was this Linka created? And why the fuck? Why did Lisa create this girl, and for what reason? All that made sense to him now was to end the clone. How could he, seeing that she was beyond his equal? Get up, Lincoln! G-get up, fight!

"You're coming with me..." Linka was here following orders on Lisa's behalf, and if he was captured, it would be all over for him. No, Lincoln could not fight like this. Not after he had received quite the beating from a little brat. A little brat with all of his superhuman traits, actually. It was time to retreat empty-handed.

Taking out one of the two Matrix Portals, he pressed the button, wheezed out his destination, and threw it in front of him. He fell in and disappeared, but not before Linka acted fast and threw the knife at him, which went vanishing right after him. "GODDAMNIT!"

Patriot Division

"C-clone... Clone... Linka the cuh-clone..." The breath was slowly coming back to him as he limped it back to base, bloody, bruised, and feeling like the butt of a joke he could simply not shake off for a good, long while. The sun shining right above him was too overpowering in terms of heat that he removed his shirt, leaving it on the grass behind. How dare Lisa-

He passed the Division's honeybee workers, stumbling about and leaving a faint blood trail behind him. Have to... Report it...

Luna and Elmont were up ahead, talking about something that seemed heated between them. Whatever it was, it could not have been more important than this. Elmont was the first to take norice of Lincoln. "You? What- Where is Carly?! What in God's name have you done?!"

Lincoln assumed Elmont had believed him to have killed Carly. Goddamn it, man...

"Lincy?" Luna raised an arm, unsure of what to make of a wounded Lincoln.

"Luh- Luh- Luh-" He tried to utter that name the clone had labeled herself.

"Luh?"

"L-Linka..." His body gave out on him when he pushed the words out forcefully. "Clone."

Act II: Blood Ties, Chapter II: The First Clone

AN: Everyone is fucked if you think about it. The location of the Black Network base is revealed, but they've got countermeasures of their own, thanks to the ties Lisa seems to have at the night table. Can the Louds and company have a chance at tearing down the last base Lisa has hidden in? Or will it be that they are defeated in the end!? Next; attack on the Black Network!