Dawn: Decimation

by Outsider316

Fourteen years after a fire destroys the Loud family, the children, now older, are reunited by a mysterious party that aims to stop a rising threat in the form of Lisa Loud, the genius behind a domestic science division, and are thrown into a world where all choices have consequences. Reiteration of the original 2026 trilogy.

21. Chapter 21

Lyrics to Beginning of the End by Spineshank

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Act II: Blood Ties, Chapter X: The Prime Enemy

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July 18th, 2030 - Malibu, California

Lincoln kicked in the left door, breaking it off its hinges aggressively, leading him to barge right in swiftly and quickly. He had been loaded to bear, ready and itching for a blood fight, however that would be here. He came in, and spotted numerous private security guards stationed around Lisa's private dream house. With the heavy machine gun at hand, and the large mag consisting of armor-piercers, the destruction to lay waste upon a body, he centered the butt onto his shoulder, took aim, and began spraying the large caliber rounds at every single one of Lisa's affordable guards. Whether or not they'd been paid do to a job here, he gave no shit about, only putting into account that they accepted the evil woman's blood money, uninterested in the role she was playing.

He gripped the trigger hard, still finding that the recoil fought him. The weapon tore through his opponents in front of him, shredding through bone, limbs, and even heads. He had started it within ten seconds, and had caused a bloody mess made up of the innards of his new victims. And he let out a raging scream as he massacred the wall of the goons.

Zoomer Lynn, who voted to take out the opposition without any casualties, ran in and held the big machine gun upwards with one hand. "Lincoln, enough of the killing!"

"Let go of my weapon," the albino hissed coldly at her, fighting her grip for it. "Now."

"Lola, Lana, clear out the property!" Lynn called out to the twins. "Hurry!"

"No- Stop, you-!" Too late. The two blonde zoomers entered the scene, going around to do the very thing they've learned and excelled at for a few years now. They finished off where Lincoln had left off, incapacitating anyone not Lisa without so much as a fatal wound delivered unto them. The albino formed an pouty face and gave up his weapon, accepting it reluctantly. "Whatever."

"Hate me all you want for this, but I won't ever let you run around and paint the town red."

"Hmmm..."

Lana came back by herself, pointing to a room far beyond the living room. "Lisa's here! She's been cornered by Lola already, come on!"

Lincoln followed Lana while Lynn wiped away her forehead and turned back to the outside. "Just stay out and warn us for any reinforcements!"

"I read ya!" Luna yelled from outside, being stuck on overwatch duty. "Hey, is that blood I smell?"

"Luan!" Lynn warned. "Stay!"

The rocker chick with the reptilian appetite for flesh just moaned in defeat, stomach lusting for the fresh meat Lincoln had helped to spill.

Meanwhile, Lola had cornered Lisa in her own study, blocking the entryway to prevent her untimely escape. Lola was all the more disgusted and angered to see the very being responsible for Aunt Rinn's death, Lily's missing status, and all other horrible crimes and acts all done in the name of the one project to enhance the average human being. Lisa Loud, a sociopathic individual who made it clear she had not cared for the siblings she lived with a lifetime ago. The very notion of relatives had to have amounted nothing to her in the long run, and this might have been made true when she had tried to shoot and kill Luan in their first encounter with her.

Here, Lisa was without a weapon, sitting nonchalantly at her desk, almost as if she had accepted she had lost. No movement at all, no intention to run. It made it all easy with the Louds here. Or so it seemed. "How nice of you to visit me, dear sister," she greeted with pretentious warmth, grinning an awkwardly dirty smile that radiated distrust within Lola. "Tell me, how fast do you think you're going? Like, how many miles per hour? Have you even bothered to examine your abilities?"

"Enough of that!" Lola made a break for it, but Lana and Lincoln arrived just in the nick of time, with the latter twin sister holding Lola back from unleashing her long-overdue judgment of fury. "Hey-"

"Sis, no need for that!" Lana assured her that violence would not be the answer, even as angry and revenge-craving she, too, might've been. "I know, I know you want to, but we can't!"

"Speak for yourself," Lincoln teased, sprinting right towards Lisa. He reached the desk and flipped it to the side, knocking the computer, the files, and office objects all over the place. They made an endless clattering noise, unheard to their ears when everyone had been focusing on Lincoln burst out and try to kill the second youngest sister of his family tree. He gripped onto her by her dark green sweater, pulling her upwards. And Lisa had the audacity to laugh and squirm around as if she'd been told an amusing joke. And even then, Lola knew she wouldn't find any joke amusing to have a giggle fit for, but rather for some accomplishment she'd just gotten achieved. This was the real Lisa at work. "Any last words?"

"No- No, they!" Lynn protested his murderous advances, hoping to remind him that Lisa was still needed back at the Division base. "Don't, damn it!"

"Lincy!" Lana attempted to appeal to him with her sweeter, soft side nature, hand pressed to her chest with the other halfway held out to their direction. "Please, that's still the Lisa we know! There's no need- There's no need to kill her!"

"Do as you please, my brother," Lisa guided the Ungodly Stormbringer, "there shall be no verbal limitations to halt you from what your heart desires- whatever is left, to be clear!"

"Linc!" Lynn knew she'd be able to stop him, but the thing was, she would not be able to. It was his mind, his MO, purely the very thing he knew to do, regardless of the nature behind his mindset. She tried her hardest, and it had never been enough to set the killer straight. Her word, their word, all futile attempts to defuse the darkest creature that lived, wearing the skin of the long-lost brother they had lost. She could very well fight him, but she knew now, it being clear as day.

She had somehow gotten the clarity that he would never stop. He'd never stop in his ways, the destructive path with unforeseeable, perilous consequences. The furthering of his own sentencing in the afterlife. He had her feeling powerless, a big nothing of a zoomer who could speed through time, having more of that in the whole world. All of her words, a series of attacks that could be piled up into a compilation, a compilation of futile, useless words. What could she really do?

"Kidnapping random people, and having others killed- You're over, Lise! Your reign is over, and your valuable empire has been dismantled!" Lincoln backed her into a wall, pinned her head hard against the decorative frames hung on the wall. "Everything you worked so hard to achieve, it's done! You're done, you hear me?! No more..."

Lisa smirked, lightly chuckling. "You're right about that, my older brother. It is done! The formula for homo superior, the advanced human, has been realized! I, for a great many years, have not only found the answer to humanity's problem, but have created the very first advanced human to ever come out of Project Superior!"

"What?" Lincoln took it into account, suddenly desiring for answers which changed his plans to kill her right then and there. "What are you talking about?! Keep speaking!"

Lynn and the twins exchanged worried glances at each other, trembling at the thought of this particular human being in league with Lisa. They had no idea that it just so happened to be Leven, the infiltration unit designed to kill and replace Lincoln. Meanwhile, his handlers replicated the design- the cell structure that was applied to him- the exact formulas and applications to give birth to the winner of Project Superior.

"He lives, he breathes! My greatest achievement in the form of Link-N!" Lisa raised her arms up and gave herself some claps, happily giddy at her own announcement, ego escalating as high as the clouds could take her. "The ultimate clone, Lincoln! Half you and most certainly half me!"

"What?!" Lana yelped out.

"That- that clone is-?" Lynn's mouth propped open. "The first-?"

"Yes, indeed he is! The brains and the brawns combined as a unity model of my precious clones! Oh, how I love them all!"

"Hate to break it to you, but your creations have turned against you, and your little Black Network base is compromised, leaving it to us for the taking."

The triumphant smile of the super genius faded away, replacing it with a morbid frown that only gave pleasure to Lincoln. It told him that she had been so gravely defeated, a victory that belonged to them, the majority of which were victims to her agendas in one way or another. The justice hsd prevailed again, as it should have. They had her by the balls, the figure who had control of the literal future in the palm of her hand. Vial Corp, Kapacity Korp, the continuation of her nefarious schemes she justified with the salvation of humanity- it ended here. It had to have, right?

"You know, in all honesty, I cannot simply fathom on how you guys, this little team of phenos those Division guys formed just for me, keep coming to me thinking you've got some advantage. Oh, where do you think I directed my minions to?" Her sadistic grin formed again. "I'll applaud you for anticipating their escape from the base, but you surely had to make the mistakes of assuming I had them go deeper underground!"

"Deeper underground meaning in various Kapacity Korp facilities?!" Lincoln readjusted her to slam her again. "You've surely thought ahead of this, haven't you?"

"A simple correction, Lincoln. Only the staff from Vial Corp have been placed, transferred successfully to Kapacity Korp rather easily than I have estimated. Yeah, you heard me correctly. I, too, can be wrong. My Black Network men, and my close bodyguards- Well..."

The ceramic floor crumbled away beneath them, with a large, hairy hand bursting out, immediately followed by more of them. The middle of the room had its floor caved in, replaced by a black pit with the four deadly, formidable creatures once Freights crawling right out of it, the stuff of nightmares. These monsters, the very same ones that the albino brother had killed once before, only for them to be pulled from the brink of death by the mad genius. After they appeared and formed a line that blocked the Louds from Lincoln, more special guests dropped into the party. Next to Lincoln and Lisa, the familiar blue oval formed from thin air, and making an entrance was none other than the mutated Shepherd, the blade-wielding Carly, and Lupa, all seven fighters under Lisa's control, whether willingly or forced into it.

Lincoln had taken notice of the second female clone, curious and suspicious about the nature of her origin and background when it became apparent her own hair had been of absolute interest to him upon eyeing upon it. A third Lincoln clone, by the looks of it. This brought up the question of just how many Lincoln clones Lisa had created in total, from the five they had known existed- and then he grudgingly recalled that neither Linka nor Leven had told him which ones were. Inconvenience to the Louds present here.

Lupa had been coerced into this fight between the Louds and Lisa's regiment, otherwise it'd have been her head put on a platter, and not to mention the lives of the other two clones she had traveled with- and looking at the one, true Lynn, she understood it for what it was and had no more doubts about the very nature of the three of them being clones just as what had been directly implied before. She had no time to truly process it, or even slowed down to give some degree of thought. For one damn second, she had been overwhelmed with shock but left with that irresistible taste to acquire more intel on what laid beneath this surface of unspeakable truth, and why it had come to be in the first place. Lupa had arrived to the pre-fight wearing regular clothes, them being a black sweater and a yellow skirt, with the additional tube socks over some track shoes, all being more comfortabor over the tasteless suit she had been stuck with.

Looking at Lincoln, Lynn, Luna and the twins, it had been rather odd and shocking to her in the sense that it seemed the entire family was involved in this huge, unraveling case. Although she had been here with a threat that was promised for the fake Lynn and fake Luan, she figured she'd get something out of it. Answers as to who she was, why she was, and what was going on, right from the very start. At no doubt did both sides know much more than she had, but it was Lisa's own side to be wary of, and to not defect from. This put her on that very path where she just had to defeat these Louds... The very people Lucy had grown up with for a portion of her life. Family. Lupa was going to fight family, and with a pack of strange creatures and random people at that.

"Just how many are there?!" Lincoln demanded to know.

"Attack, my minions!" Lisa commanded, right before being thrown across the room, over to the Louds.

Lynn caught the genius as soon as the four super mutts charged toward them. Shepherd galloped behind them as well, leaving Carly and Lupa to focus on Lincoln. The Asian girl dashed and jumped on the lopsided desk, moving her way to Lincoln with her katanas high above her. She figured she got the drop on him for an easy kill, smiling erratically. The expert fighter dodged it with no sweat dropped, swaying to the side and letting the girl miss him by a long shot. Not one second had passed when he went back for her, grabbing her arms from behind and squeezing hard to relieve her of her blades. Carly screamed with painful anguish, tragically surrendering her goodies to him.

Lupa had maintained a spectator on the sidelines up until that point where Lincoln had claimed the title of victor, and it had been made clear Team Lisa could not afford a loss. She controlled Lincoln like a puppet, resorting to her supernatural based power. She separated his hands from Carly, raised them up with her own, and then had him fly into the wall, keeping him pinned there as the Hmong girl recovered. "I've got him! Take him out!"

"I didn't need your help!" Carly hissed, hands quaking away while she let the pain fade. "He almost broke my hands!"

What the fuck is this?! What kind of clone-? Lincoln would have been positively amazed at the third clone they came across here, if it weren't for her being in league with the enemy. Did that mean the other two had this same ability? Or was it just this one? Knowing he had been no match for Lupa, he had to suck it up and call for the preoccupied back-up. "Lynn! Twins! One of you, take out my clone!"

"A little occupied!" The three zoomers were running around the pack of mutated phenos, each of them landing blows while ducking all of the swings of their current opponents. It was almost child's play, up until the amateur in Lynn messed up and hit her left shoulder upon the doorway, making her fall off balance and plummet to the floor. This was enough time for one of the four Wolverine beings to latch onto Lynn and kick her while she was down. The force of its hind leg knocked the agent further into the hallway. The wind had been kicked out of her, leaving her immobilized until she recuperated to jump back in.

Luna came running in on all fours, having heard the trouble bubbling from inside. She tackled Lynn's attacker when the wolf beast followed the sooner, initiating a monster brawl. They roared at each other, which caused a stir of echoing around the walls, going back and forth. The two unnatural beasts, formerly pure humans, clashed with each other after they met, displaying their brute force with their hands literally locked against each other's own. Luna tried to push the enemy back, and the latter attempted the same thing. The advantage Luna Lizard had over the bigger creature was her long, slithering tail, utilized to drag the canine entity off its feet. The furball fell forward with an irritable roar, head and back slamming hard.

Lisa had been left unattended, taking cover against a corner while the brawl kept going before her.

Lynn swooshed forward, gripping the Wolverine by its head right before Luna made a pounce. "HEAD STRIKE, SIS! DO IT!"

Luna folded her hands together, cupping them for a powerful strike upon the furry pheno. "LET'S GO!"

"Raughhhhh!" All that power, and poor Dana was not able to prove herself superior to Luna or the zoomer. Luna did her in, putting her into a forced nap. Lynn exhaled sharply and let go of the thick, long head of the pheno.

"Holy shit..." Lynn sighed.

Luna had no time to stop and catch breath, continuing further towards Lisa's study hall. "Hang on- I've got-"

Lana slipped out of the room, falling on her side. Luna became distracted one second too late, right as Shepherd came staggering out, ramming right into Luna- and taking her right through the opposite wall, where they took their fight away from the room. Lynn had followed the two of them, until another one of the Wolverines crawled towards Lana, opening its wide mouth, seemingly ready to devour her.

"Hey... Get up..." Lynn uttered. "Lana- Lana, get up!"

The tomboy had been neutralized, knocked out of the fight at some point while she had been running around the villains. If Lana had been taken out this fast, then it meant Lola and Lynnno stood chance against Lisa's phenos.

"Lana!" Lynn sped off, driving a foot right into the slow-moving Wolverine, keeping this one at bay from attacking dear Lana. "You fight me!"

"Lynn, heads up!" Lola warned to the red zoomer, albeit being too late; Lincoln flew across the room and struck Lynn hard. "Oh, come on-"

Lincoln patted on Lynn's back, nonverbally thanking her for breaking his fall. He found himself facing the Wolverine around Lana just as Lola had stopped her running and backed up to join him. It became apparent that the two of them might not have been fortunate enough to win this fight against the three transformed Freights, the ninja girl and the telekinetic clone, and this was assuming that Shepherd could have been beaten by Luna, both of them who were fighting away from here. "Get behind me!"

Lola zagged around him, taking cover while shaking Lynn back to the living world. It shouldn't have been this easy to subdue both her and Lana. She went for a clean slap, when the shaking didn't work. "No good, she's out!"

Lincoln lunged toward the Wolverine closets to them, which hadn't made its own move since he and Lola had been back into the corner. He could feel its red eyes of hatred send daggers his way, cursing at him with the deadliest demise known to man. He made the assumption this was Lori, unable to distinguish which Freight he was dealing with. His bare hands met its face, and he grabbed himself each a jaw, prying the mouth open while the furry beast sank its claws repeatedly into Lincoln's chest. He flipped the monstrous Fiona with all his strength, leaving Lola susceptible to attack by the others.

Lori and Cristina gave each other snarls, moving slowly as if they were trying to determine who it was they wanted. Their sights had already been confirmed to be on Lincoln, so they decided to wait. Carly came sprinting into the hall, going for Lola. "This one's mine!"

Lola repelled her back simply by running a few steps, and returning to Lynn's and Lana's aid. Lupa made sure Carly didn't receive another injury this time, stopping her from falling hard again. "Caught you!"

"Great, put me down!"

Lola's blue eyes had met Lupa for the first time. This clone resembled Lucy in many areas, which had her wondering the internal question if this was a pure Lincoln clone. That, and then there was the albino, levitating in the air, moving swiftly across the room. They were dealing with more than they anticipated to begin with. They had a dangerous knack for that, it seemed.

The four closed in on Lola, entangling her in a series of emotions. She knew fear again, the humility of being powerless, and the anger it came along with the second feeling. She wasn't good enough, certainly not as good as she was out there, along the fine streets of New York. These inhuman creatures, how were they the difference? None of them were rivaling, matching zoomers equivalent to her power, and yet... And yet, they've just proven to best the other two zoomers.

At most, she could take out the two girls before the furry beasts could grab and do her in. "L-L-Lincoln..."

Lincoln had find her with Fiona, pulling his thumbs out of her canine eye sockets right after jamming them deep into her skull. He believed to have beaten her when it was apparent she had stopped moving, the low growls not emitting from her mouth afterwards.

As for the man himself, he was bloodied up by the time he was done. He remembered where he was, and what was happening right after being done in ravaging the old Freight, taking notice of a fearful Lola trembling for her life, seeking out a perfected exit strategy as Team Lisa boxed her in. "Lori!"

The Wolverine on the left raised a hand behind her, telling the other to stand down. "Back off, this one is mine!"

"Hey," the second one snorted, "he is my personal problem, too."

Lori turned back to normal, all the fur on her skin sinking back. The darkened skin color changed its tone to the normal pale orange she kept for her whole life. The ugly features, ranging from her snout to the deathly claws, had vanished. In a matter of some long, few seconds, the beautiful but cruel Lori Loud stood there, all naked like it was no one's business. She cracked her knuckles and waved her blonde hair out of her face, smiling with a sinister intention in mind. "Yeah, but he's my brother," she casually stated in her strict, womanly voice. "He's all for me."

Lupa's eyes widened with horrified shock. L-Lori?! What the fuck is going on here?!

"S-sis?" Lola and company had not been shared of this fact as of yet. These four beings had always been in their monster form, never to have appeared into their human shells before. It seemed Lincoln had not been dropping all he knew. "Lincoln, you have some explaining to do!"

"Lola, on me!" Lincoln fell on his knees to bent down for Lola.

Immediately, she knew what he was getting at, wasting no second to race over and use him as a ramp. She made a high leap and went for a punch- which Lori had raised her hands to block, only for Lola to actually phase right through her and connect her fist to Cristina's face. "Surprise!"

Lori looked down on her body, and then turned around. "She can do that?!"

Cristina slipped, falling right on Carly. Lupa had been rendered confused with Lori as of yet, shifting her head to both sides.

"Don't just float there!" Lori boomed to the Lucy clone. "Stop Lola!"

"Right-" Lupa snapped back into play.

"Focus back on me!" Lincoln came and delivered a hurricane of punches just in time when Lori had turned around. She let him have it, feeling his furious rage before he would wear himself out, or when she decided to end the fun he thought he'd have. "That's right, I'm going to beat you-"

Lori giggled and ducked, delivering a blow from below. She connected her only strike to his chin, bobbing his head upwards in the process.

Damn it, Lynn! Taking my weapon like that... Lincoln dragged himself back, going for a kick to Lori's leg to knock her down to size. The naked sister blocked it perfectly, already knowing this move.

Lupa took control of all the objects in the room, spinning them around her when Lola tried to run around her for a quick incapacitation. "No way you're getting-"

Lola brushed it all off without breaking a sweat, diving right at Lupa in the air. "Don't be so sure!" She laid a hand on Lupa's face, covered it, and brought her back down to earth, thinking she had bested the clone.

Lupa shoved the diva away by her legs, sending her right into Cristina's grasp. "Handle her, damn it!"

"Don't tell me what to do," Cristina hissed, pinning Lola on all fours, right on the hard floor. "Gotcha!"

Carly rubbed her head before sliding one of her katanas at the Wolverine. "Here, take it and end her!"

Lori and Lincoln were still locked onto the same dance, exchanging their hands in the illustrious tango. They were formidable, undoubtedly matched and synchronized in their one-on-one match. When he swung, she dodged, and when she struck, he blocked. There was a counter for every fifth hit they performed, and one of them went down when someone made a fast rebound after the counter. At last, Lincoln broke the tie by throwing a high punch. He expected her to block with both arms, and when she did so, Lincoln moved to her side and elbowed her back and finished with a back kick.

"Yeargh!" Lori cried. "Nice move-"

Lincoln kicked Cristina in the face just mere seconds before she could stab and kill Lola, and then picked up his younger sister, throwing her right at Lupa. "TAKE HER THE FUCK OUT!"

"Oh shit-" Lupa raised her arms again, directing Lola into the bookshelf onto the side of the room. "Fuck this..." She turned around to face the window and shattered it with a wave of her hands, escaping from the right. "This isn't my fight! Don't follow me!"

Lisa, having been quiet up until now, had finally spoken up. "COWARDICE! I'LL MAKE SURE YOUR SISTERS DIE IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY WITH ME!"

Lincoln heaved little Carly up and tossed her right into Lisa, both girls screaming before they made physical contact. "Stay quiet for once!"

"Ow," Carly squeaked, twitching to move before acknowledging it was over for her.

Lisa pushed her servant off of her, groaning while trying to look for her glasses. "Curses!"

Lincoln gave Cristina the firm taste of his shoes by repeatedly shoving his foot into her dog face, not stopping for a second, even after he was certain he knocked her out. And Lori, the worst of the bunch, the one ue hated most, had not done anything to stop him. She was amazed, yet disgusted by him, his persistence mainly. All this, and reminded just how concentrated he was, how desperate and eager the young brother had been to end them. Her, and her three friends of a dead era now. Her, them, and him as well; the five free-thinking weapons of America, reduced to minions, the destructive war toys that could so very easily bring about the everlasting firestorm. War toys that were once a brother and sister who went through hell and kept their love for each other. A love that was forced to end.

When he finished caving in Cristina's skull, he gave Lori all his attention, forgetting that Lola was still on the floor, but free to move about. The elder sister crossed her arms, daring a step forward. "Lore..."

"You little twerp..." Lori gripped a fist and held it to her chest. "Don't think for a second that it's gonna end up your way again."

"I'll bet it will be, sister," Lincoln believed. "As long as you all draw breath, I don't think I'll ever stop."

"So..." Lori lowered her arm. "Tell me something."

Luna came back, limping right through the pheno-made hole in the wall, just in time for Lynn to emerge from her slumber. "Ugh, what happened- Shit!" The two looked into the room, where Lisa and Lola had been still up and about. The floor had become Lincoln's and Lori's now, with the silence of the forming audience following.

"I can't say family means nothing to me, Lincoln. The Freights were the second one to me-"

"Right after you abandoned the first one, Lore- Your real one, all of them."

"Don't play hypocrite with me, you stubborn idiot!" Lori shouted. "You ran, too! I left to find you, it wasn't my intention to leave them all! It was you-" She pointed at him, which worked to play into the vlame card that she pulled out. "You made your decision, didn't want to come home. You couldn't, and I remember it well. I'll always remember what you said to me when I asked."

Luna transformed back to her old self as Lynn got up and moved forward. "What? What... What did he say?" Lynn begged.

Lola dragged herself back, leaning against the wall when she had sat up. She looked on in wonder, feeling the fight had ended. This was nothing she wanted to miss out on.

"Go on, Lincy," Lori urged. "Why don't you fill them in?"

Lincoln snorted heavily, still having the intent to wrap up their fight. "This isn't the time to-"

"LINCOLN, YOU ANSWER WHAT I WANT TO KNOW!" Lynn screamed, advancing forward to him. He didn't turn around, but felt Lynn's hands grip onto his shoulder. "You're going to tell us, because we're done! I'm flat-out done with this shit you keep playing! More and more, you make me hate who you've become..."

Lori broke contact from him.

"I don't want to say it, but I see now..."

Lola and Luna scattered their eyes to the ground. Even Lisa herself exhibited some degree of emotion at the scene.

"My brother has always been dead..." Lynn let go of him, moving to Lori instead. "You, you look at me... You look at me and you tell me what it was!"

Lori exhaled, moaning reluctantly. "To him... In his eyes, the whole family died when the house caught on fire. We survived, but that meant nothing to him. He didn't stay because he saw us for a pile of dead bodies..."

"H-he-" Lynn stuttered. "He ran away because...?" She found it amusing, giving way for her soul and sanity to crack just a little. And then she shoved a fist right into his face when nobody was expecting it. "I HATE YOU!"

He did nothing, letting Lynn have that hard blow. Maybe he did deserve it, or maybe it was that Lynn needed to cool off by using him as that punching bag she needed. Maybe she did need it, a nice reliever. Who could know at this point?

"Dude..." Luna had never felt more disappointment in him than she did now. The answer to everyone had always been that Lincoln had just been too hurt by the loss of the family, which led him to his running away. This, the real answer which was that he had accepted his family would never be the same post-fire, had paved the way to the future he accepted with the Freights. And he was the one responsible for Lori being here today. If only... If only things were different. "How could you just-?"

Lola wiped the tears that leaked from her eyes in silence, too heartbroken to say anything. The man, once the boy who taught her to read, gave up on their own family. Left her alone for so long.

Lisa coughed and threw an order down Lori's way. "You can cease the sentimentality, Lori! Continue as-"

"Sorry, Lisa, but I don't wanna be a part of your little clique anymore," Lori dropped. "I thank you for giving me this second chance-"

"N-no! No, I will not permit-!"

"And I won't permit to your use of me, making me nothing more than someone to be bossed around. I was in it for Lincoln and Lincoln only, not for the rest of my sisters..." She took a few steps back, meeting the downed Cristina to help her up. "I can't thank you enough for this second lease on life you've given us. I won't lie, I've always had that unbearable itch to repay Lincoln that debt long overdue."

Cristina lowly growled, rubbing her head as it healed from Lincoln's heavy beat down. "Your head, Lincy-boy..."

"Where is your sense of gratitude?!" Lisa blurted out. "Has it been misplaced! Oh, why are you all showing me the utmost defiance among my ranks?! All five of my clones, and now you?! Et tu, Lori?!"

F-five of them running around... Right. Lynn had her breath robbed right out from her lips. Luna and Lola gave each other concerning looks before covering right on her face. Five Lincoln clones, most likely...

"Believe me, I can't be more grateful for what you've done..." And this was Lori being truthfully humble for the maniacal sister. "I've done all I think I can here-"

"Lori Loud!" Lisa bellowed.

"I'm leaving... Being around all of this, with them-" Lori meant her pack of sisters, the ones now older than she'd last seen them, having to adjust her mind to their new looks as well as knowing they hsd grown up this much- and fell into the lower of life's many paths. "I don't ever see myself fighting them... Not today."

"No, you're not going-" Lincoln was quick to protest, but Lynn prevented him from having a voice by slapping his shoulder. "Tsk..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Lola cried out. "Lori, y-you aren't-"

"Lore-Bore..." Cristina had been confused by the blonde's choice to leave. "We can gain the high ground, pay him back in full of what he did to us! He destroyed our dream and the future we worked hard to achieve-" She circled the eldest sister like a true dog. "i wouldn't-"

"And then what?" Lori tossed back the redhead's words, arranging it in her own sentences. "Revenge is all we seem to want, but things have just become clearer. I mean, looking at my sisters here, I'm no much as clouded by my endless hatred of him. I feel..." Lori closed her eyes briefly. "I feel calm but I feel empty at the same time. And then I realize that this..."

Lynn, Lola and Luna maintained themselves as her audience. Lincoln had been reluctantly turned into a spectator as well, only wishing in that long, touchy-feely moment that he was ramming his fists down Lori's throat. Nothing in the world would have ever been more gratifying than killing her, the elder sister who betrayed him by not betraying them. Just when he found the inner quarrel to attack, it had begun to come back like a windstorm; he hated her so much because she made her choice to leave him, to make him feel like he was alone again. Why, that-

Lincoln flinched. He remembered it now, clear as daylight. And suddenly, that emotion had begun to escalate, burn up and swell his insides. She left him, choosing death among the Freights over his better decision. She killed herself, and yet, here she was, playing some sort of act and blaming him for what she had chosen long ago. Was it on purpose? Or did she simply delude herself? Maybe she had also forgotten it, too? Was it possible that Lori had drowned out her actions up to here?

Whatever the case, the fire of his eternal anger took over, compelling him to suddenly charge after pushing Lynn off of him, and come right for Lori. His white face graduated to a nasty, ravenous red color, and he was then screaming the loudest of battle cries. He didn't hold back his strength, letting Lori have a huge knuckle sandwich that sent her spiraling down to the floor. He granted no mercy on her, took seize of her throat and then began lifting and dropping her head down to the floor. "YOU! YOU DID THIS! YOU DID THIS, AND LEFT ME! I GAVE YOU A CHOICE, I GAVE YOU THE WAY OUT OF THE FUCKING DARKEST LIFE!"

The seventh strike Lori received disoriented her enough to make her giddy. Her eyes rolled around the room, shifting to no end, but her ears, albeit ringing, still functioned normally. "L-Lincy- Oh, Lincy..." She received a few tough blows to her skull that it formed scars, and her blood came flowing out. Her lips quivered, breath becoming drastically labored. "I- I'm-"

She accepted it, if she hadn't already. She thought about it, looking back to how it began, and why they were here now. Her, and that young brother she had to take care of. He did, he really did have a way out, and offered it to her. No, nothing that was greedy or selfish. He never was like that, at any part of their lives. He was mature as mature could be, and he had a big heart. She broke it a little more, adding another crack to it when it had already been broken by the world. For all she knew, it was her who created the monster she had been fighting just minutes ago. That behemoth of a human, her own creation.

He went berserk, going more and more unstable with each slamming he performed on her. This got to the point that Lola jumped on his back, her tiny arms wrapping around his neck to cut his oxygen off. Lynn and Luna rushed in, each taking hold of one of his strong arms, retracting it away from Lori. "NO, YOU USELESS VERMIN! LET ME THE FUCK GO! SHE HAS TO PAY! I HAVE TO HOLD HER ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS!"

"LINCY!" Lynn struggled to pull him off of Lori. She strained hard as she talked, doing her best to prevent him from killing her.

"STOP IT!" Luna hollered.

"THIS INSUBORDINATION! BLASPHEMOUS! CEASE THIS REBELLIOUS PHASE, WHY DON'T YOU?!"

"Oh, Lincy-" Lori's whole face was left bruised and bloodied at this point. Her eyes had closed, going near to a drifting sleep at this point. Any more of these punches and he'd have gotten his wish. Her last words on earth just had to be shared on earth before she passed, if today was truly her time. "I'm so sorry I turned my back on you," she weakly whispered.

Lincoln froze in place, one fist dangling high while the other recovering from a strike. His pause made it easier for the sisters to pull him away, succeeding in pulling him back. He fell, toppling on his back along with Lola and Luna. Lynn had let go at the perfect time, looking over the fallen siblings while Lincoln.

"You? You, sorry?" He never believed in it. How could he buy it? "You've come way too far, down- Down this fucking road-"

"Linc..." Luna addressed that Lori was exploiting herself via the regrets she had been carrying, the heaviest burdens of her sad, miserable life. "Give her the floor."

"No," Lori denied. "Linc, I'm yours... I'm yours to take-"

"Rghhhhhhhh..." Cristina had not done anything as of yet, awkwardly stuck in a family matter. "Pathetic..."

"Lore, no," Lola shook her head at the elder blonde. "C-come with us..."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Lincoln groaned.

"Please-" Lola pushed Lincoln off of her, and in the next second, she was right in front of Lori. "Big sister-" Lola wasn't phased by the blood all over her face. "-I'm sure... I'm sure-"

"No..." Lori wheezed. "This has to end..."

"Goddamn right, it does!" Lincoln regained his composure and stumbled his way back to Lori. "No one stop me, or else!"

"We're going to be at each other's-" Lori drooled blood, gurgling her words. "Throats f-forever-"

"Not unless we kill him!" Cristina suggested. "Dana, Fiona, get up! We can still win this! The three of us versus Lincoln and these weakling sisters of soft Lori over here-"

The only male in the room swung a leg, foot striking at Cristina's face to shut her up. "Stay quiet, red."

"Let him go, let him go, girls..." Lori wished. "Cr-Cristina, you stay out of this!"

"Why are you betraying yourself now?!" Wolverine-Cristina recovered from Lincoln's attack and threw something of a fit, pounding her beastly fists against the floor. "We were all set, agreed that he needed to die in the name of the Freights!"

Lynn narrowed her eyes.

"Get up and remember, Lori! The train! He and that girl went up against you, Becky and Chandler, did he not?!"

"What?" Lynn processed.

"Girl? What girl?" Luna looked down on Lincoln. "What is she talking about, bro?"

Lori released calm breath through her mouth, blinking away at the ceiling. "Twerp... You didn't tell them, twerp?"

"T-tell us what?" Lola wondered. "Lincoln, you... You secretive bastard, what are you hiding from u"

Everything was dropped in that instance. He panicked a little, attempting to cover it up for their sakes by keeping up with his gray preaching. "Let go, let fucking go! They are the enemy! Lynn, come on! L-Luna!" His mental state was on the flux, juggling his rupturing emotions, the current objective, and the fear of his sin neing brought to light. That damn sin on his conscious, leading Lily to his conflict. It got her killed, and that he had been gravely injured by. It had to be drowned, for the guilt of it had proved effective to hurt him, slow him down enough for it to be possibly perilous.

But the shadow sank away, pulling him away from his chance at an escape, the aimless weaseling out of this.

"Who is this girl?"

"L-Lily-" Lori turned on her side, facing away from them. "Lily..."

"Lil-" Lola pushed Lincoln upwards just so she could free her legs. "Our little Lilypad?"

Luna lost her grip on Lincoln's arm, and amazingly, the blunt brother had not gotten up to exact the final moments of his preemptive vengeance. His fight might have been lost at this point, the spark having died when the apparent secret he kept to himself was outed. She, along with the other sisters, could practically smell the aroma of his guilt, all the confession they could ever need. "No- No, tell me this isn't-"

Lola smacked her fists on the floor, hurt and confused over this, the mystery case of the long-lost sister which had come to a close today. "I t-told you, Lincy- I told you guys-" What she felt was betrayal, on a further deeper level she'd never have been able to think possible. Both her and Lana, the twins who so desperately sought some form of closure to fill them for any sign of Lily's whereabouts, had never gained, earned the closing of that case. Their speed meant nothing after all, not in such a huge world where that little girl, their sweet Lilypad, the most innocent of them to remain that way. The minutes and seconds they could bring to a grinding halt, and yet, feeble zoomer Lola had her greatest fear and its reach come around the corner to grasp at her very essence, solely to tell her, ro remind her how imperfect she was, to show her that, even with this bizarre power that came right out of a comic book, Lola was still Lola, a failure of a sister, a Loud weak link who had been able to save many lives- except the one that truly mattered to her. Everyone, but Lily. "Oh, my God... She was there, wasn't she?!"

The transformed Dana and Fiona had risen up, their large heads peering into the room, pointy ears extended upwards to catch themselves up on the conversation. Not one of the two made a hostile move at the time being. Cristina herself advanced backwards, seeing her own escape through the shattered window Lupa had made. "It looks like..."

The eyes of the collective family had been fixated onto Lincoln at this point. Lynn, Luna and Lola broke the limit of their maximum level of hatred and disgust they had with him, silently stricken by the faint hint that it was Lincoln who had her killed. To Lynn and Luna, the in-between of events didn't matter.

"Looks like I don't need to finish you off after all..." Cristina reached the compromise, accepting the reluctant retreat. "Dana, Fiona, we're off..."

Lisa tried to speak to keep them at the tip of her fingers, but all that came was a hiccup. She felt zipped out during this, with the whole scenery belonging to the rest of her family members. "Egad..."

The three Wolverine creatures ventured out of the room, crawling to the outer world. The house overlooked the beach and the vast ocean that went on for miles. "Lori... Come or stay..." One of them rasped near diabolically.

"Lincoln..." Lynn gave up, losing all her faith, the idle, draining belief that he could have changed. It went down that sink, and she felt like a fool for bothering in the first place. All of that, only to find out that he would go further that they'd expect him to, by simply using his own blood to aid him in his quest of bloody, gritty revenge. "I don't want you around me anymore..."

She made up her mind, got up and turned around, with no anger in her voice. All chances had been gone, turning to a great none, unable to be recuperated. Her feet came back down, planting on solid ground. She grabbed the mentally sulking Lisa, heading outside. Luna shifted her head between Lynn and Lola up until Lynn had taken off with the genius sister, which put her on the comforting role. She wrapped around Lola, hugging her while picking her up. "Lola, come help me with Lana... I have to take Shepherd."

"Wait..." Lola still wanted the answer to the request she made. "Lori, we can find you a place with us! I'm sure- I'm sure you'll fit in-"

Lori wiggled her fingers before shaking her head. "I can't..."

"Uh?" Poor Lola's eyes watered, allowing the flood of her misery to come falling down her pretty face. "No, don't you dare-" It led her to run up to the naked Lori and and hug her tightly. The elder sister's skin was icy cold, making Lola's cheek freeze up upon contact with her, but she held on tight nonetheless. "I've missed you, I've really missed you..."

Lana whimpered away the very second she rose up, amazed yet distraught by them. Lola, displaying that thought-to-be exclusive affection onto Lori. This, leaving Lana out of that particular picture. For a second, but enough time, she felt alone.

"Lola- Erm, guys..." Lori had never earned her way to the golden heavens, not the places they belonged to. She disgraced herself, relinquishing the title of Best Sister and Babysitter of the family, having done so since an ancient era that had been buried in the sand of time. The anger that drained out of her was replaced with the depressing gift of profound realization. "Its been good seeing you again. You've all changed, grown up since-"

There was a sudden burst of wind that blew her way, sending her hair forward, waving out of proportion. It called out to her, the necessary advisement for her to retreat from this. The drill had been wired into her programming; staying was not an option, not even for them.

"I hope-" She broke the hug, pushing Lola away. "Forgive me, I'm so sorry..."

"Lore- Lori, no-" Lola tried to remain, but Lori drew more force to keep their distance. "Why are you doing this? We're here, we're all here-"

"Lola..." Luna pulled her away smoothly, closing in to comfort her as well. "We have to go..."

"No, no! Not without her!"

Lori turned back into the ugly, freak abomination, the blonde no longer being around there for them. The Wolverine, the leader of this pack, stormed off without so much as a tearful, meaningful goodbye. She had not once ever looked back at them- and that gave Lynn the impression that was because it had hurt Lori just as much as it had Lola; no need to express or show the sparkles of misery in her rabid eyes to them.

Unbeknownst to them, she had started up the tears. The fractured Loud sister jumped through the window frame with blurry eyes, making a hard landing on the sand, racing on all limbs, accompanied by the pack, the newly defecting creations once under Lisa's control, no longer.

"Damn it! Why can't things go back to the way they were?!" Lola struggled and jerked her way out of Luna's grasp, but proved to be just a tad weaker than the brunette. "Get her back! That's our Lori, you moron!"

"Lola..." Lana moved forward with quiet footsteps, taking over for Lynn. "Lola? I'm here..."

The adult diva had stopped her fidgeting, head nodding downwards before Lana caressed her with the unforgettable sisterly love. "Lana..."

"Shhhh... I miss her too, Lola. I miss her, too..."

Lana shot her eyes at Luna, promptly asking, "Did we win? We did, didn't we?"

"Win... Right," she answered quietly, moving away from them to pick up Shepherd. "Head outside, we're done here."

"Lola, what- What did I miss?"

"I'll explain on the way, I just- I-" Lana cut her off and led her away from the room, waltzing through the bloody hallway and past the living room, where the corpses had been left at, a new addition to the property per Lincoln's decorative skills.

Lincoln himself remained in the study, looking out the window like nothing more than a zombie. He was reduced to a battered being, eyes lifelessly scouting without his consent or knowledge. He had not said a word, but had seen and heard everything unfold while he was trapped in his mind, held a hostage by his own memories of both the good and the bad series of them, both containing the oldest sister. The what ifs of his head played, and that was where the battle started.

Conflict eternal, of my everlasting soul

Vessel not empty, but the skin, ungrateful and cold

Blessed be the dark of my thoughts

One that replenishes, one that rots

The flower will bloom from the dead of my light

New life, new love, be born after my final fight

Lupa had been perched on the rooftop, following the Loud adults when they had exited. Lynn still held tightly onto Lisa as the twins had come out of the private estate, and Lupa, the snow-haired goth girl, came floating down like Mary Poppins, to meet them at the steps. "Hold on..."

Lynn handed Lisa to Lana, expecting a fight none of the three girls wanted. "You gotta come with us," Lynn forced on the clone.

Lupa was dared and frightened by the stripping of her choice in the matter. She couldn't, and they'd have known it if she knew what was happening around her. "Wait, I'm sorry! I didn't want to do what I did... I just needed some answers from you-"

Lynn circled around her before Lupa had blinked, sending a gust of air that blew right onto the left side of her face. "Right, cause you really did look reluctant to fight us!"

Lisa cleared her throat. "She speaks the truth-"

"You, not a peep from you!" Lynn strictly ordered. "Now, Lincoln clone, how are you able to do that with your hands? Can the other four do that? Huh?"

"F-four?" Lupa gulped, keeping her face forward. "What?"

"Don't play dumb... You know just as well as I do that I'm talking about the five clones."

"Clones-" Lupa fired a twinkling spark in her cold blue eyes, finally ready to understand that all of these words being thrown around her were not part of some pseudo, make-believe fairy tale. Clones, possible monsters born of government experiments- why, it wasn't so far-fetched anymore. "I'm...-"

"Well?! I'm waiting!"

"N-no, just me-"

"Do enlighten me, if you are aware of how such a-" Lisa began.

"Cover her mouth!" Lynn yelled to Lana, to which the latter did. "Now, tell me-"

"I- I'm the only one," Lupa responded shakily. "Just me... Hey, is Luan-?"

"Luan?"

"Is she with you?" Now, Lupa turned to face Lynn, keeping her eyes locked on the zoomer's freckled face. "She is, isn't she?"

"Why is this your concern?" Lynn made a cross expression. "Are you gonna-?"

"Wait," Lola wiped the tears from her face, getting an idea as to why Lupa had asked. "No way... Y-you don't mean to tell me-"

"Took one of you long enough," Lupa sassed.

"What, what is it, Lola?" Lana eagerly wondered.

Lola turned to Lisa, who nodded to confirm her suspicions. "Oh, my God."

"Talk!"

Lola gulped. "Right, uhh... Luan, one of the missing two is-" Lynn and Lana drew surprise before Lola had closed the statement. "-Luan's clone."

"What the fuck? Lisa, you- Why Luan?"

"And the other?" Lana asked.

Lupa raised a finger just as Luna was coming out with the unconscious Shepherd, just in time to see the next revelation live in person. Lupa pointed to Lynn, too close to her face that Lynn shoved her hand away. "WHAT FUCKING BULLSHIT-"

"FBI agent Lynn, friends with Paula Ward-"

Lynn was taken back, exchanging her irritation for utter horror, the trauma of it being that she had lost the three agents to the enemies of their future. "No... No!"

"-Polly Peine and Margo Jefferson. Is that what you call regular bull?"

"You could have learned-" Lana tried to logically counter. "Lisa surely knew about her and her associates-"

"The minute I left my pod, or whatever you call it, I ran away with the other two. The fake Lynn and Luam. That Lynn... Clone..." She felt weird addressing Lacy like that. "Look, we all came out to see a freak show, and that other clone, the one with the letter A, she was the one who said it first. She labeled us, and I saw those monsters, those- L-Lori and her friends, right?"

Luna nudged her shoulder at Lynn to keep her head in. "Hey... Be easy there, champ. I know you lost your friends to Lisa-"

"Ow!" Lana had released her hand from Lisa's mouth after being bitten by her.

"Would you care to elaborate on that comment?" Lisa did not understand what Luna had meant by that.

And Lynn had reason to have a mini heart attack, putting the pieces together that her lies, that sensible cover story, could come apart right here and now. "Um- L-Lana, shut her up-"

"Delay that order, my tomboyish sister!" Lisa barked back. "Lost your friends to me? Why, I have not done such a thing..." She paused. "Now that we're on the subject, I'd like to inquire on how you came across the formula, Lynn, and how you were roped into this-"

"What are you playing at, Lisa?" Luna knew who she had to blame. "This was all you, and you know it!"

"Negatory! Such a bashful accusation, for shame!" Lisa readjusted her glasses. "Luna, you and the twins were the only three that I have managed to successfully capture, contain and restructure and adapt your genetics with my genuine science, but for Lynn here-"

The red zoomer took a step back, which drew suspicion and cast it off from her person. "Guys-"

"I have never captured or displaced her from society at any point in her life," the youngest sister revealed. "She was doing quite well for herself, and truthfully, I did lend some help to get her where she wanted to be. Lynn is an FBI agent only because I paid off her professors to pass you for, what is it you needed, a Bachelor's Degree? I don't seem to recall these facts all too well, but-"

Lynn fell on her knees. "You- You helped me cheat my way to-?!"

"You should be so grateful to me, Lynn," Lisa beckoned firmly. "If you can kindly explain on how you acquired the serum, I would appreciate it enough and call it even, what say you?"

"Lynn?" Luna and company looked to the athletic woman for answers.

"Hey, are you really going to believe her?!" Lynn found herself backed into a corner. "She's lying!"

"I am many things, but I do not lie," Lisa reminded them. "You should know that by now. After all, we are sisters, are we not?"

Luna checked Lisa's eyes; either she was great at the art of deception, or her words held truth to them, which meant Lynn herself was hiding secrets of her own for some reason. "Lynn... Is it true?"

"Of course not!" Lynn denied. "What other way would there be to get ahold of... Whatever number that was?"

"Most certainly a mystery I would like solved."

"Obvious to me that Lisa is pulling a fast one," Lola assumed.

"Are you telling me that none of you checked my Vial files? Everyone I've ever stripped from the world and into my facilities have made it into the manifest. File seven-eight-three, that's the one."

Luna and the twins exchanged looks. "Wasn't Elmont still-?"

"Yeah..." The twins said in unison.

"Luna Loud, Lana Loud, and Lola Loud, but no Lynn Loud, this I can address head on."

"Then-" Luna exhaled with a laugh. "Lynn, what are we going to find out? Who's lying?"

"You can't be seriously doubting me-"

"I'm not..." Luna shook her head. "But what will we find if we take a look? Lynn, I don't want to believe that you were... Hiding something from me, lying about it, but these secrets are becoming the norm now, and... Well, frankly, dude, I don't want any of you to keep secrets from each other. Was that not the point of opening up to each other and catching up? Don't tell me it was for nothing..."

Lupa coughed awkwardly.

"If I lie..." Lynn sighed, "Just know it's for the sake of your safety, all of you."

As indirect as Lynn was, Luna and twins caught the implication of the possible Lynn Loud lie. "What?"

"Hey, back to the topic at hand..." Lynn shrugged it off. "I can't believe I have a clone..."

"And Luan, too..." Lana reminded them. "That's... Crazy."

"Hey," Lola called out to the Lucy clone. "Where are they? They're- They're not bad, are they?"

Lupa scratched her cheek before tossing a response. "Like I said, the three of us ran off, we had no idea what was going on. They're scared and in hiding, so I don't suggest you come looking for us. Now, regarding Lisa, she caught me with my pants down when I was in New York and blackmailed me into teaming up with these freak dogs. If I didn't do that-"

"Then I would have terminated them via one of my minions," Lisa dropped coldly. "As of now, I see no use for them in any way. If I were able to, I'd place the order-" Lupa slapped her mercilessly, shutting her up with a stinging ache on her cheek.

"Blackmail..." Luna's disgust in Lisa only kept growing. "Damn you, Lisa."

"Oh-" Lisa raised up a giggle fit. "Isn't anyone wondering why she resembles Lucy? Surely you had to have noticed it!"

"Lucy-"

"Now that's some bullshit, see?" Lynn scoffed. "Quit trying to find an out, Lisa."

"The hair she's got," Lola pointed out, "it does look familiar-"

Lupa rose into the air, eluding their grasp. Had she a few answers, it wasn't enough for her to say she could stay around them, even now that Team Lisa had been taken out of the equation. "Don't follow me, I want no part of this life..."

"Hey, get back here!"

Lupa shook her head. "Not until whatever you guys got going on is over. Listen, we aren't far from home, you know what that means-"

"Far from home...?" Luna tried to piece it together.

"And don't even consider us threats, got it?" Lupa had reached past ten feet above ground.

Lynn and Luna wished they were able to stop her, all efforts being fruitless ones now. Lola was quick to stop her, but only briefly. "Hey! Is she alive?" The diva had to know this as well, if there was that chance that-

Twelve feet above, and Lupa stood in place. "All of you, don't ever go looking for Lucy," Lupa indirectly confirmed. "She does not want to be found."

"Oh, God-"

"Then, this one... Is a Lucy clone!" Lynn gasped. "Wait, wait, don't leave! I have so many questions!"

"We aren't far from home," Lupa repeated, flying away again. "Seek us out as soon as you can..."

In seconds, she was also gone, swiftly moving across the shorelines. The four girls stared away- and gave Lisa enough time for her to pull out portable dampeners and place them on Lana and Lola, right before Lynn noticed her moving about. Lisa froze in place, forming a creepy, ecstatic smile that drew out her nefarious state.

"Jesus, there's so much that we don't even know..." Luna expressed with discontent. "Lucy's alive, Lincoln had Lily-" She zipped up for the sake of the twins. "-And this... Whatever it is you're hiding, sis..."

"Lunes-"

"Don't."

"Okay."

Lincoln emerged from Lisa's hiding spot, coming out with little Carly dangling over his shoulder. "Funny how cops aren't showing up," he stated. "Ready to go?"

Miles Away

The closest police precinct had received the few calls of the shooting, but no living soul had answered- and this was primarily thanks to the mustard-green haired teenager puppeteered by Lisa, the short Allison Taggart, a female friend who had just arrived from a staged play involving Leven and Linka. Her next immediate assignment was to ensure no annoyances came to Lisa's corner while the fight had gone down. No need for the authorities to look into that which was at risk of being revealed to them. The Wolverines, Shepherd, the Louds under the Patriot Division, etc, had to be protected until the final move in Lisa's chess game brought it to a close.

Most of the officers were slain in a massacre, and the slaughtering pawn had never been more pleased to wipe out a whole precinct, save for one. A black man, middle-aged and slightly chubby, had taken three bullets to his chest, tearing holes at his blue uniform, and had fallen flat on his stomach during the bloodbath. His colleagues had died faster than he had been crawling for, bleeding away with the fragments still wiggling inside his system, causing him to choke up and vomit out blood. "Uhhh... J-Jackson- O'Connor- Hey-"

Allison let her submachine gun scrape across the floor, both arms falling flat to her sides. The perfect scenery that gave her immense satisfaction; these pigs, similar to the Blue Scouts who created a cruel history with an orphaned Allie, were broken, beaten, the very enjoyable sight she had the pleasure to reel in with a deep breath and a wiggling smile, which almost implied her disconnecting from sanity. "No one left alive, my man," she whistled.

The officer had reached a desk, probably his, and started weakly banging a fist against it. The gun left at the counter was near the edge, but Allison followed closely to make sure he didn't play hero. "Nrghhh! Come on!"

"Nope," Allison chuckled, beating the cop to the punch. "Sorry pal, but your luck just ran out!"

She spun him over, making him cry out with a high-pitch squeal, more like a woman's than a man's own. His name tag was revealed; Joe F. Vale

"Well, Vale," Allison closed their encounter by cocking the gun- and a bullet flew out of the sliding chamber. "Stupid fuck, why was this loaded? Ugh, fuck it!" She fired the next round of the clip at point-blank range, having aimed it at his forehead, killing him. As for the gun, she kept it, tucking it away underneath her uniform, and then pressed on her earpiece. "Loose end has been tied up," she informed her superior. "What's my next assignment?"

"Return to Site Prime, child. Let's lock down and hope for the best."

"Copy that, returning to Prime, over."

Long Island - Patriot Division

The main Patriot team, the Loud siblings, achieved in capturing Lisa while Elmont sent the clean-up crew to handle the leftovers they left behind. Under lock, key, and the dangerous pair of eyes that were of Lincoln's own, Lisa and the impostor Peter McMahon were being given the bad role of the common interrogation Elmont carried out. The albino, Lynn, Luna and the twins surrounded Elmont in a line, overshadowing him while he asked the questions, and secretly, he found them to be distracting, but he had to mind it not.

He had a folder open to show scattered photos and files in from of him. The object in the photos were of the insides of several Vial Corp facilities, such as the cells, the labs, and the arranged serum that were placed in their cryogenic freezers. This was before he began to lead them on to the fresh catch that lied within the Black Network, her true bond she had to the underworld. Had being the keyword. "We've got you, Lisa. It's over, it's all over, and as we speak, Shepherd has been neutralized and awaiting a transportation unit to a black site as we speak."

Lisa frowned. "I see."

"You are lucky that it won't be you in his place, when it damn well should be. But I have no regret, no knot in my stomach knowing that he falls in your place."

"Yeah, because the whole world's gotta remain ignorant of the fact that I, not even in my twenties yet, had created and controlled my beautiful corporation. All of that work, all of that research-"

"Research that involves countless missing persons. Justify it all you want, what you did was truly evil. You've taken and killed too many to even know, but that doesn't matter to you, does it?" He had leaned closer to her for intimidation points, but Lisa was not an easy person to break.

"An omelet cannot be made without eggs being broken, my good sir," Lisa nonchalantly replied. "Those who died did so with purpose, I can assure you of that-"

"And what of us, sis?!" Luna crashed in. "What if one of us died, huh?!"

"I took immense calculations to assure you had the lowest percentage rate of death when applying the formulas that changed you. I ran multiple tests to see which one would be the least dangerous, even though it halted my research for some time. You were the most compatible with the lizard formula, you see... Just as Lana and Lola were most fit to be injected with-"

"Interesting words..." Luna looked at Lynn. "That means Lynn put herself at risk."

"Theoretically, yes. To be alive as of now, it seems Lynn is compatible... As far as I know."

"They've all been examined, Lisa," Elmont went on. "None of them are showing any sort of complications."

"Still, you killed our aunt!" Lola blurted out. "I can never forgive you for that, you sadistic bitch! Rot in hell!"

"It is what it is." Lisa cupped her hands together. "Killed, wounded, whatever- It makes no distinct difference to me. I just sought out to achieve my only goal, and that is exactly what I did! I did it, you inferior, weak-stomached, simple-minded fools! The formula exists through Link-N, my ultimate clone, and from there-"

"What is it, Lisa?! What is your endgame?!" Lincoln demanded.

"Kapacity Korp, of course!" Lisa laughed. "Oh, I won't spoil the surprise, but when you find out, you cannot stop the beautiful revolution!"

"Stop the-?"

"I'm fairly certain we did stop it-" Leven entered the room amidst the commotion, prompting Elmont to get up all of a sudden. "We're going to shutdown all Kapacity Korp facilities as soon as possible , that's what's gonna happen."

"And you're fairly certain you won, right? Strip me of my assets, and I'll have nothing. But you're wrong-"

Leven went for the M60 Lincoln had left in the corner, picking it up.

"And I'll always be one step ahead of you!" Lisa exclaimed.

"Hey!" Elmont alerted the faction of Leven's role. "Hey, I know! I heard everything, son, you don't have to do this!"

"What is he doing?!" Lynn and the twins were more than ready to put their zoomer powers at work, to take down the now-hostile clone.

"I-" Leven stuttered. "This is for humanity... There are people- Loads of people who are dying, of- Of illnesses! Cancer, failing organs, brain aneurysms! I- I'm sorry, but we've all seen what Lisa can do! The world can change, and she has the will and intelligence to do it! I know it, I believe in it!"

"She's done it with genocide!" Luna countered. "She has to be held accountable for all that she's done! Done to us all!"

"Are- are you being... Held hostage, too?"

Leven gasped, eyes widening with shaking fear, able to reek from his essence. The heavy weapon rattled violently in his grasp, suggesting that fear was all he had in that second. And then- "I am nobody's hostage!"

The three zoomers ran to him, with Lynn knocking the huge gun away from Leven before he could fire. Lana and Lola were left confused as to why their powers weren't fuctioning at all. Lincoln moved in for the kill, only for Luna to whip out her tail and wrap it around Lincoln's leg to deny him that. Lisa took delighted pleasure at the scene, looking right at the impersonator disguised as the senator. "Do what I've paid you to do."

Click. That was the sound of a pair of cuffs unlocking, and Luna was the first to be alerted. "Dudes, he's out-"

"McMahon" reached into his pockets and pulled out two of the mini dampeners and dove right over the table, flinging them right at Luna and Lynn before engaging with the old rocker. She tried to transform, but took several embarrassing punches to her face and body, ending with her being pushed right out of the room.

Lincoln entered next, putting up a fight with the impostor. "You didn't tell us he knew-!"

"He doesn't!" Elmont shrieked, drawing his gun and aiming at them. "This might hurt!"

Leven elbowed Lynn hard, to which she let go of him, plummeting to the floor. He picked up the gun and drew it onto Elmont, firing right at his feet with no hesitation.

"GODDAMNIT- ARGH!"

The impostor closed in after throwing a failing punch, pushing Lincoln right into Leven, where he struck the butt of the huge gun against his head, instantly subduing him. "I've got this, advance to the next objective!"

Right, the hard drive... Leven nodded and tossed the M60 to him before exiting the room, scurrying away to the data library.

Outside, the new additions of the Patriot force looked in awe at Leven, displaying fear and concern- and backed away from him when he raced their way. Lindsey gripped tightly onto Lyle, Sam stepped onto the side, and Caroline was contemplating her decision in joining this seemingly organized agency that was falling apart faster than a simple shower.

"What the hell do we do?" Sam had asked her peers.

"I don't... Know," Lyle answered with honesty.

"Fuck this, I'm not staying!" Caroline had decided, running towards the entrance.

Lisa was the next person to exit the interrogation room, meeting Luna on her way out. "Hey, did, how's it feel to be at my feet?"

"Go to hell!"

"Well, I'm fighting!" Sam flared up for the occasion and pushed Lisa with a strong force that sent her sliding across the hall. "Luna, up!"

"S-Sam!" She raised a hand out for the college girl to pull her back with. "Take him, my powers are stripped!"

"What?!" Sam grunted, letting out a growl before jumping through the window, taking her shot to dance with the fake McMahon. It wasn't too hard; one simple swing of her arm sent the man slamming right into the wall, weapon tumbling out of his arms. "Got him!"

The depowered zoomers clustered around him for a dog pile maneuver, defeating him quickly with their hot bodies. Oh, my. Luna went over and punched him repeatedly before asking, "What did you do to us?!"

The impostor merely groaned at them, head shifting away from them to avoid their silly questions.

"Hey, Monty, are you alright?!"

"Luna, Sam, get to the data room! Stop Link-N from-" He seethed in pain, but had grabbed his gun and focused on "McMahon."

"What, why is he-?"

""McMahon got to him, sold him on this insane crusade towards human evolution," Sam explained, leading her out. "He set the dude to download all the data from this place so that it can all be leaked."

"Leaked?!" Luna shuddered to think how big the fallout could be should it happen. "Faster, we can't let him do it!"

Leven had already burst into the data room, comic across towers of storage hardware. It was a replica of a city, if that city was strictly symmetrically made by the OCD-diagnosed mayor. Any one of these towers had to be it; playing a casino game, he plugged the tiny drive he had into a random one. "Fuck-"

Soft footsteps detained him from advancing; right behind him was the bloodied Linka, still at the process of healing all the sustained gunshot injuries she took. At this point, only half her face was healed, her left eye visibly healthy again while her right eye was enclosed underneath a red gash, as was that part of her face. She had been limping, leaving a blood trail behind as she did. "S-s-stop... Don't do it, Leven!"

"Sorry, girl Lincoln, but I do this so that we can advance."

"We?!" Linka dragged herself forward and fell three steps after with a nice bloody splat. "Ouchie! Anyways, incorrect! Leven, they do need you, just you! I'm not going to be saved if you go down this path! Anyone who is seen an enemy of their movement will be killed in freak accidents, emphasis on the accidents!"

Leven hadn't pulled out the drive yet. "No, I was promised- Promised that none of you would die, even you! I didn't want that, A! I'm doing this to ensure everyone's safety!"

Linka dragged her body with her hands at this point. "Dumb fuck, what if they're lying?! It could be a ruse, words you had to hear so that you could cooperate."

"I'll... I will take my chances." Leven pulled out the drive, thinking he had taken the data from them. Next thing was to press the button on the little object.

"We can run away," Linka threw on the table. "Everyone just wants what we can do, n-not who we are! Fuck their superior human shit, it won't change anything like you think it will! People will eventually die, there will be conflict, and maybe a war over this! Leven, think about it! The countries will want to take you and the secrets that come with you-"

"Wait-"

Linka took a deep breath. "I'm sorry- I- I did know all this time. I knew who and what you really were, and I kept it to myself-"

"A, why? I don't understand-"

The girl reached his feet and tightly hugged them. "I did this for you, Leven! I got us out of the Network and you want to pull such a fucked up stunt like this?! Holy shit, you have some iron balls, I'll give you that."

"You did, didn't you?"

"Because I care, you disphit! Now, press the button or don't, I am going to kidnap you myself and we can run off together! That way, we've got each other's backs and we'll be fine, won't we?"

"Uh-"

"TE DIJE, NO SERAMOS?!"

"I don't French."

"Spanish, but who keeps count, am I right, Cheshire?"

"What?"

"Pick me up, pick me up! We are leaving!" Linka roared. "And, I've got an idea now. You leak the Patriot files, I'll put out the Black Network and Vial stuff online. Literally everyone will be covering their own asses while we run off to..."

"Mexico?"

"I tried that with my nephew Lucky..." Then, Linka slapped herself on the forehead. "Right, that is no longer canon."

"Stop it," Leven suggested, picking her up right after pressing the button on the drive. "We won't have long."

"I never have long anymore," Linka complained, rubbing her privates. "Farewell to my non-existent penis."

Luna and Sam blocked them just feet away when Leven exited the room. "Hold it-"

"Oh, Luna! Sam!" Linka waved. "Hiyah!"

"Jesus..." Sam cringed. "I figured she'd be dead."

"I'm alive because my ass is a virgin! Better get the lube and dildo ready, cause here I come, baby cakes!"

Sam cowered behind Luna and pushed her towards them. "You deal with her!"

"Blimey... Put her back to the med bay, dude, and come with us before I sic Sam on you."

"My, what a swell idea!" Linka sarcastically joked. "How about-?" Closing her eyes, she worked for it and tapped into a few Matrix Portals somewhere in the base, directing them to open right on her coordinates. "Boom, baby!"

"No, no, no!" Luna charged at them, but failed to catch up and stop them before the portal had closed on them. "Fuck!"

Lisa rose up from the floor, quickly getting back up to escape. Right before getting away, there was a faint flash of blue light that went off in the interrogation room, followed by Lynn and Lana flying out of the room. Next thing her eyes to behold was the dastardly Lincoln coming out with the heavy firepower, carrying it with both hands. He saw her and turned his attention from his other sisters. "You there..." He addressed, aiming the machine gun at her.

"Lincy, you can't stop it!" Lisa attacked verbally. "It's going to be out, and someone will finish what I started. Granted..." Lisa sighed, accepting her untimely fate. "I only wish-"

"NO, LINCOLN!" Lana begged him not to fire the shot.

But he did, and he made it a headshot that ruined Lisa's brain on impact. She fell in a lopsided position, destroying any chance of parties interested in taking her brain for their malicious intent. Lynn rushed out and tackled Lincoln, shoving him right into the wall, more than infuriated for what he had just done. "You just had to do it, didn't you?"

"Had to be!" He kicked at her knees, but Lynn jumped back and took hold of one leg, flipping him down miraculously, and held him in a dirty leg lock. "Lynn!"

"Stay down!"

"Dudes, we're too late- The clone leaked everything, I'm sure of it," Luna updated through the comms.

"What?"

"Leaked?" Lynn repeated. "Is that where he ran off to?"

"Everyone, regroup on my position immediately! Someone bring Luan up as well, this now concerns her!"

"Copy!"

Lynn let go of her brother and grabbed Lana, who had been staring down at Lisa's corpse, unsightly mourning for her at no doubt. "Do that later, we've got issues here."

"Yeah..."

Lyle and Lindsey, feeling it was safe to move about, broke their streak of inactivity and followed the two women inside. There, Lola was seen tending to Elmont, applying her tiny hands to his gunshot wounds, trying her best not to squirm at the sight and the feel of his warm blood.

"What's the sitch, Monty?"

"Listen, all of you, the Division will soon crumble from this-"

"Crumble how?" Luna asked.

"My superiors are going to blow a fucking gasket, and we'll all lose credibility-"

Lynn tugged at Luna, pulling her close. "They'll all be thrown under the bus for this, if what I think will happen."

"We're looking at being court-martialed for this- We had it all, every little piece of classified intel on all pheno and related affairs. So, I'm- I'm telling you phenos to run. Run, Patriots, go into hiding."

"Wait, what about-? Elmont, we've got to take down Kapacity Korp! It's still in the senator's name, is it not?! He still has control-"

"And he escaped us, if you guys have forgotten," Luna added in. "There's still a mission-"

"Then, by all means, take what you need from us, and run! From this day forward, we will no longer be backing you, and the Division will be shut down, this I can very much tell you at this point."

"This is so wack, dude!" Lynn complained. "You didn't do this-"

"It's on me, regardless. Anything that happened here has always been on me, you all should know that-"

"Taking the fall for us, huh?" Lincoln had been touched, and let it be known. "How cute, sandbox vet."

"Quiet you..."

"So..."

"Get going, phenos," Elmont suggested. "Go on, live your life or continue to fight the good fight. I can't persuade you to continue this fight, but I would not stop-"

"And neither will we!" Lynn roared. "We are so close to shutting it down- It can be stopped... Right?!"

"Were, Luna. We were close..."

"Were?"

"It never crossed my mind that there are people around Lisa's level who could continue her work. There just might be someone able to, and considering the leak, it will be the topic of controversy and a key interest to many."

"Not good for us..." Lincoln thought. "The lid's been uncovered, and I'm gonna assume it's coded stuff, right? Everything encrypted, but it can be accessed by the experienced hackers, and especially since there won't be security attached to the files."

"Yeah, sadly that's true. The world will know of you as well, Louds, all of you."

"Wait, what?" Lynn staggered. "Do we have our own files?"

"Was it not obvious?" Lincoln picked at her. "That and passing emails that enclose our connections to this place and Lisa, right?"

"Get going already..." Elmont brushed eagerly. "You'll know all about it on the news, I'm sure."

"Shit," Lynn cursed. "We gotta wait for Luna and Luan."

Below the main level, Luna and Sam rushed right out of the elevator, hurrying to Luan's room. "Sis, hey! We've got an emergency, Elmont wants us all-"

When she and the red-skinned, golden-blonde haired woman looked inside, they met a disturbingly heartbreaking sight that punctured through Luna's fractured heart and soul. Right at the opposite end, Luan had left a message written in what she could only assume was of the comedienne's own blood. The message read as followed;

ABANDONED AND MISPLACED, DO NOT SEEK THE DEAD GIRL

"L-L-Luan-" Luna squeaked like a little girl. "Not you-"

"Oh, dude..." Sam held the brunette's hand for the comfort. "Hey, we'll find her, alright?"

Luna kept her eyes into the room, locking onto the beds, envisioning a brief flashback of how it used to be. Their room, occupied with a bunk bed, and the top one had been Luna's, always. She could still see Luan, feel her lively presence, which made her step inside- and she smiled widely while her hand had never let go of Sam's. "Together."

"Together!" Sam agreed, before being kissed lightly by her lover. "Don't be scared to tell them, I'll be right here..."

Luna breathed deeply before informing the others of the situation. "Hey, um... Luan's not here..."

"You lie!" Lola's voice echoed in static.

"Unfortunately not... I-I'm coming back up, what now?"

"Pack up, Lunes," Lynn advised. "We are leaving. We'll meet you down there to pack it up."

"Leaving... Damn it, dudes..." Luna punched the wall with light force at this. "Copy."

"It won't be so bad, will it?"

Lincoln had already started taking from the armory all that he could, from the high-capacity shotguns, to the special armor-piercing revolvers. Among the toys, he restocked the ammo on his overpowering machine gun, placing all of the firearms into the duffel bag he had used. Over it, he took hold of multiple Matrix Portals, letting the clank against the guns, and some cryogenic grenades as well. That, and then the battle armor he used a few times he just had to keep. And let's not forget Stealthkill, the best, and only, sniper rifle used by him. Three different duffel bags, one holstered over his shoulder. The plan here was to go solo, one Kapacity Korp facility at a time.

He walked swiftly out of the hall by the time some of the staff had helped Elmont to the med bay. His sisters and the three remaining youngsters were huddled together, half of them staring at him as he left.

"Should we-?" Lana threw on the table.

"No," Lynn disagreed.

"Let him leave," Luna backed. "All he's got is just secrets and lies- And don't even forget that we know you're being sneaky too, Lynn."

"I guess we have a date, don't we?"

"Guess so..."

"Ahem," Lyle coughed. "Listen, it's been interesting to be here, but-"

"We're leaving and you can't stop us!" Lindsey cut right to the chase, displaying nervousness and courage at the same time.

"Alright..." Luna accepted it, nodding her head. "Just be safe, you two. I'd recommend otherwise, seeing as how-"

Lindsey eagerly pulled Lyle away upon seeing the permission being granted, and Lyle merely waved goodbye to them with an embarrasing smile on his face.

"Just us then, the five of us," Luna shrugged off. "Ready to go?"

Lynn raised the dampener that had restricted her powers until Luna had discovered them, making the connection that the little things were behind the cancellation of the zoomers' powers. "Yeah, just remember, ladies-"

Lola and Lana grabbed Luna and Sam, preparing them for a speed run.

"-After we leave, after today... Everything changes."

"We'll overcome it, Lynn."

"And if we don't-" Lana started.

"-We fall together!" Lola concluded.

Lynn threw a fist into the air. "Never say die!"

---

I thought that we would find our way

I thought our life would be okay

I thought that you believed in me

But now it seems so far away

The life we knew before is gone

There is no compromising

The life you save will be your own

To find your inner senses

It's the beginning of the end

And I don't know where we lost control

It's the beginning of the end

And I know that I am all alone

---

AN: And thus concludes Act II of this insane piece that is grounded as fan fiction. Plenty of things uncovered to go around that each holds a consequence or a series of them that play out further along the story and the character arcs for each and everyone. More of that to explore within the following acts. As of right now, team Loud's gone underground, and they're left with quite a few mysteries that will be acknowledged later on, like, where was Lupa going? What's Lori and company going to do now that they've severed ties? And more importantly, where did Linka and Leven run off to? Plenty of things, but the fight against McMahon and Kapacity Korp has set the stage as a main plot point- and the basic idea on what truly was planned by them willl come to light!

Act III; the whole world now knows of the Division versus Vial, which doesn't help anyone. I never went to this angle with the trilogy, but here, I feel more homely to do what I can, as you know. And then, what does Lincoln do but a thing no one has ever seen him do? Not to the fullest extent.

Clone War from 2026 will be reiterated for Act III, which starts in October. Now to take a break and do the thinking for Act V. Goodnight, everyone, hope you enjoyed.

Did not edit. I just want to be done.