Unspecified Time - Unspecified Location

A pair of teenage girls ran heavily, jumping over fallen pillars, ducking down out of clear openings, and more importantly, they did their best to try and survive yet another day here in the city. This once beautiful city full of live in a time before them. There were tall buildings just like the past era, but these ones that had gone undisturbed were knocked down to size, most of them demolished. Cars were abandoned either due to being burnt scrap, flipped on their sides or back, or simply just abandoned. To explain, the future was not nice to anyone who lived in the northeastern board. Anything below old Manhattan was blocked off, splitting the southern cities and places under to be forgotten and neglected. This was where the undesirables lived, looting, pillaging and killing each other if you had never accepted the plan of the ultimate ruler of the United States of Blood.

This ruler controlled the nation, or what remained of it, establishing the Prime Federation as the one and only militaristic force, bigger and nastier than any other army. Did you want to know the secret of what made the Prime Federation forces a hundred and ten percent effective? They had phenos placed into the ranks, and phenos amped with a special concoction known as Medi-Sin, a drug that proved to be the steroids for phenos. They were brutal, they were fast, but they were messy and completely merciful to their invading enemies.

The ones able to make a living out of this war-torn nation saw a hero in the leader, proving that they had New America's best interest at heart, and said no to terrorism, gangs, and up to the smallest itch in their own backyard. Times were certainly easier when a small-time nickel-and-dime crime ring was thwarted by tips and surveillance, over the large resistance that aimed to overthrow the current power. This resistance, known as the Domicile, had come into play not too long after the Prime Federation rose to power, both parties having waged war. This was the key thing, a blow, that enabled foreign powers to attack while the big dog was busy scratching the fleas. It was a beautiful three-way war with a hell lot of casualties and resources and supplies well spent before phenos were used in Prime Fedration and Domicile forces.

The Domicile used hit-and-run guerilla tactics at most, waging war with the Federation on deaf territory. Dead territory meaning the devastated areas the Federation would patrol on daily bases with at advantage in ground and air reinforcements, and technological advancements. Things were now at an equal balance, forces both growing strong. This, a war where no good and evil truly existed. Every war-wager was reduced to the idea, a bullet for a victory, a death for the cause. The very thing about this war between the hometown residents could be described as a meaningless, endless fight. The Prime Federation cleaned up a mess at a time of need, which nobody would dare look at anymore, or it would be at times, used as propaganda to paint them a dictatorship. The Domicile wanted to restore power to the old nation runners, but this was an impossible dream the Federation would give their all to prevent, showcasing the flaws and errors of the government before their time. America was a truly divided nation, half of them supporting the new world order, and the other half having descended into chaos. This alone had the entire nation close its doors to foreign visitors, as for the economic trade lines, the States were no longer receiving the essentials, putting a decrease in value of that which was spent from the natural, rich dollar bill. And with China being one of their sellers, well, let's just say that the Chinese people were not okay with the new rule, and with how incompetent they had deemed it to be. A war with China had never been off the table at this point.

In a regular afternoon, where the sun kept shining its bright rays upon the darker world, sisters Lyra and Lynnette Laude were an on-and-off pair of anti-Prime Federation occupants against the chaos brought upon by the new powers. For one thing, the girls were second generation phenos, placing them at quite the advantage when it counted, and then some. They snuck into an apartment building with one-third of it demolished, paving an easier way inside via the second floor. The pair climbed up multiple stories, digging into an overwatch position that overlooked a sizeable portion of the city, a favor that benefited the Domicile.

The two reached the top level and started looking out from all sides.

"West side is clear," the blonde confirmed. "Checking east."

"South clear, no cloudy sky either!" Lyra rushed it back to the other side. "How are we eastward?"

"No patrols, the Doms will-"

"Hang on..." Lyra caught something in the corner of her eye. "I've got movement here."

"Bladers spotted!" Lynnette jogged back to Lyra's position, joining her in looking out the window. "They were headed..." She also caught what Lyra had spotted. "Oh. God."

A group of seven Domicile members were rigging the roads with tripwire traps, connecting them with a large quantity of C4 charges, and closing in were a group of eight Bladers, a vicious type of robot scout units that got around on wheels for legs, had a cylinder-like body, and came in two models; the melee, with saw blades for hands, and the shooter, constructed with dual laser beams that could cut through anything.

"We've gotta help-" Lynnette made an effort to get down there, but Lyra wanted to live another day, essentially holding the eager beaver back. "Lyra, let go."

"No, I can't let you go down there..." Lyra sank her nails into Lynnette's skin. "We're strictly surveillance and recon, not reinforcements!"

"The Bladers will rip them, you know that!" Lynnette peered out the window again. "We have to to something..."

"We can't, listen to me-" Lyra then had a quick idea. "Wait, bathroom. G-go crack a shard!"

"Huh? Why?" Lynnette raised only questions, only to be pushed by Lyra out of the vacant bedroom. "Hey-!"

"We need to spark a light they can see, a warning!" Lyra aimed for. "Go!"

"Oh!" Lynnette flashed a thumbs up and zoomed off to the bathroom. She broke the mirror for a shard, taking to the rooftop. From her spot, Lyra kept eyes on the guerrillas. It didn't look like they were getting the memo, and the Bladers were closing in, just one block away from intersecting them. "Shit, hurry..." Lyra prayed. "Come on..."

Lynnette twirled the shard around, desperately trying to get their attention. Notice me... Notice me!

The patrol of combat robots finally reached the pack of Domicile resistance members, finally breaking Lynnette's silence. "HEY, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!"

The Bladers made first contact with the resistance, preemptively opening fire before any of them could react. It was a short clip of a massacre, graphic and extremely brutal for the eyes of the two girls. Most of the resistance members were fired upon and shredded, or sliced away by the spinning saw blades the robots swung around. Only one such member sacrificed themselves and set off the very explosives they were concealing, laying waste to that entire block, blowing it off the face of the earth.

"Lynnette, get back down!" Lyra yelled from the window, only for the zoomer in her to swoosh right back, sending a gust of air that messed with Lyra's hair. "Are you crazy?!"

"Bitch, I might be!" Lynnette was prepared to fight the good fight with Lyra. "I can't keep just clearing sectors, Lyra! You know we're both phenos capable of joining the front lines!"

"If we were immortal and invincible!" Lyra snapped her fingers at Lynnette to make it click. "We're still human, we can be beaten and killed, and not to mention...-"

A low humming broke the tension, filling the steadied quietness of the barren, devastated city. Lyra pressed a finger to her lips, guiding Lynnette to take cover. The humming grew louder and stronger until it hit right over them, the source of the noise stopping there. Lyra gasped as three thumps crashed upon the roof. "Oh, no..." she mouthed, crouching her way out of the suite, leading herself and Lynnette back down the stairs. "They've found us."

Lynnette shook her head, holding the door open for Lyra. "Bullshit!"

"I wouldn't call it bullshit," a third voice from above them cut in. Lissandra Mercer, a familiar face to the two Laude girls, leaned over the stair railing, looking sideways at them. There she was, her long blonde hair, with a red cap placed backwards, and the face of hers that read devious intentions. "I can smell your scent, ladies."

"Mercer..." Lyra turned her regular hands into the reptilian state, revealing that she inherited more than just Luna's hair color. "Lynnette, defense!"

The blonde spread her lips apart, revealing sharp teeth and slit-shaped tongue. "Locked and loaded!"

"Hey, now we're talking!" Mercer grinned happily. "Gotta say, I'm glad that you've shown your ugly faces here, surely saves me from boredom. You, you're Adrenaline's booger brat, ain't you?"

Lynnette curled up her arms into fists. "What's it to you?"

"Are you just as fast as her?" Mercer mocked wildly. "Primers started a pool on that, I've got fifty bucks says Lynn Loud is the superior zoomer out of all zoomers that ever existed. That goes without saying..." Mercer tapped on her hat once to showcase the downfall of one specific zoomer, laughing mercilessly at them.

"One day..." Lynnette flicked out her sets of claws. "Our aunt will be avenged, Primer slut!"

Mercer was then joined by the two other allies that had arrived with her. One, all dressed up in the same stealth fabric too similar to one Carly Evans-Nguyen, and for all everyone knew, it might have even been the same one. This one behind the mask was Bethany Kira Chang, a Chinese-Japanese girl who brought out katanas for the hunting party. The other one sported the common Prime Federation combat armor, but custom for them, stylized in velvet red among the black. A protective mask concealed their face, but the chest layout suggested it was a female at that, a deadly one holding an AK-47, strangely opposing the natural assigned weapon. "It's fair game now, bitches!"

"Don't rely on mommy to save you two this time," Chang intimidated, moving down towards them.

Lyra and Lynnette maintained their distance from her, being forced further down the stairs. It was a slow process for them, and Chang still continued to spook them downwards, insisting on doing so up until Mercer came charging down like a beast broken out of its cage. "LONG LIVE MY APPETITE!"

"RUN IT!" Lyra encouraged Lynnette, both girls booking it down the building.

"YOU CAN'T OUTRUN YOUR FATE!" Mercer got on all fours, galloping down after the two scouts.

The armored woman pulled back the slide of her rifle to load it, setting aim right in the opening middle of the stairwell. "A little something about these fast types," she shared to Chang, revealing a light Russian accent. "They're easy pickings when you got them running in a circle." She opened fire, aiming at not where the zoomers were, but where they'd be- and she was lucky to get a hit off of Lynnette's cheat and right arm while Lyra remained safe by hugging the walls.

"ARGH-" Lynnette had a nasty fall, hitting her face on the steps before the gunfire ended. "LYRA, HELP-"

"Idiot! Idiot, you didn't lean against the walls!" Lyra locked onto Lynnette's arms, holding by her armpits, taking her backwards.

"THAT- YOU ARE NOT HELPING ME! MY ARMS NEED TO BREATHE!" Lynnette rattled about as she went down stairs backside first, and with her buttocks smacking against the steps. "LET ME LIMP!"

"IF I CARRY YOU ON MY SHOULDERS, WE'RE DEAD!"

"I HATE YOU!"

Lyra was half as fast when running backwards, and a little extra when she had to do so here. One false move was all it took. When she reached the second floor, Lyra dragged Lynnette into the hall, where the demolished side of the building faced them. "We're almost clear!" Lyra declared with hope in her voice. As she and Lynnette ran down the hill of rubble and debris, Mercer punched the stairwell door off its hinges. "PEEKABOO! HERE I AM!"

"Lyra, tag-team maneuver boost!" Lynnette hardened herself on purpose to slow Lyra down. "I NERD YOU TO TRUST ME!"

"NO, NOT NOW!" Lyra was against it, but was left without a choice. Mercer crawled towards them rather slowly, a predator circling and toying with its prey. "L-Lynnette..."

Mercer pressed against the ground, and gave herself a high leap from her heightened position, opening her mouth wide, claws ready to attack and ravage the Laudes.

"I PUT MY LIFE IN YOUR HANDS!" Lyra used all her strength to lift Lynnette up, the latter adding support by kicking herself up with her good leg, matching to strike Mercer's head right before they could be devoured. Lynnette's only power attack here knocked Mercer to the side, knocking her out cold. Lyra turned around quickly, waiting for Lynnette to land and latch onto her back. "YOU- YOU MAGNIFICENT-"

"GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Lynnette slapped on Lyra's face, pointing to the streets. "GO, WOMAN!"

After Lyra and Lynnette had fled the area, Chang and the armored woman arrived at the scene, finding the unconscious blonde Mercer lying over rubble. "Damn it, they got away..." Chang sighed. "We need new members..."

The unidentified Russian woman removed her mask, revealing herself to have long red hair, and facially having a look that put her in her mid-thirties. "And we will have them, Bethany. We will soon enough."

Act III: Further Into Darkness, Chapter VIII: The Purple Diary

Later

The status of most subway lines were all but abandoned, and some battles were fought under these tunnels, permanently putting all trains out of commission of their original purpose, and for some poor but lucky souls, they made a home inside such cars. The lines were also a good way to get around for Domicile members, and the same could be said for the two scouts, as long as they were fast enough to move in and out. And they were.

Lyra had left a flashlight and a heavy backpack at the station they got out of, and they were glad to find that no one had taken it. "All good here, camp time..."

Lynnette limped it from there, moving behind Lyra while the brunette shone the flashlight in front of them. "I can't wait for the double-stack sandwiches."

"I've got my salad and sparkling water I'm so ready for..." Lyra could practically taste the ranch dressing. "Alright, we're far enough from Roosevelt station, here's as good a spot as any..."

Lynnette licked her lips as Lyra unpacked, setting up shop. It started with two rolled up sleeping bags lined up vertically against either side of the rail tracks, and then a blanket in between them, which was where their food were placed upon. Lynnette hogged her three sandwiches quite fast, mixing them with a nice Powerade bottled sports drink. "Oh my God, so good!"

Lyra was more of the classic variety, having ladylike mannerisms that outclassed Lynnette. "Could you be anymore manly?"

Lynnette burped in retaliation. "I'm good, man."

"Well, it pays to be a little healthy-"

"Hahaha, don't talk to me about health!" Lynnette guffawed. "We are so far from healthy, you know? All the killing and the fighting, that's not good for us. There's... There's all these bullet cases and skeletons- No, bodies that aren't even decomposed completely yet, all of that is up there-"

Lyra let her fork slip away, facing Lynnette's direction. The flashlight had been facing in front of them, placing each other in the bleak of darkness. "Lynnette...-"

"-It's never pretty. I wish it was, I wish things were different, like... Like how mom described it."

"Yeah..." Lyra let her eyes fall upon the empty ground. All she knew, all they knew of the world before this one, it had been described as beautiful and peaceful, more than this one. Parks with playgrounds, all occupied by happy kids. Dog owners who walked their best friends of four legs around streets. Bicycle riders, taxi drivers. Friendly people, friends, neighbors, loved ones gathered around on special occasions, holidays. There was so much the two wanted to explore, to experience. To be alive and free from the very state and life conditions forced on them. "I'm sorry, I know how much it meant to you back there, but-"

"But you don't want to see me get killed, I know the drill," Lynnette dismissed. "You're not my mother, Lyra."

"But we're sisters..." Lyra nodded to. "You may be my cousin, but we are sisters in this. I've certainly thought of you as a sister, and nothing will change that."

Lynnette gave a reply through silence.

"Do you know I love you?"

"Don't be all mushy on me, Lyra."

"Okay, but just know that I do."

"Tch..." Lynnette let out. "Anything else you gonna say?"

"Other than the fact that we're going to be hung by our mothers, no, I can't think of anything to say."

"Oh dear fucking God," Lynnette moaned out. "Mom's so gonna blow a gasket. It's out thing she runs around in red and white, but me- I mean, us, well..."

"Not like my mom is less merciless than yours, please!" Lyra laughed.

"I'd trade in a heartbeat!" Lynnette offered jokingly.

"Nay!" Lyra picked her fork back up. "So... Can I ask something?"

"You goddamn... Ugh, yeah, why not?" Lynnette continued devouring her sandwiches.

"I'm sure you have a dream, a perfect heaven for you, would you perhaps want to share it with me?"

Lynnette opened her mouth, but the words were still mentally forming together. "It's a simple one, you really want to know?"

"Wouldn't have asked, sis."

Lynnette chuckled, snorting away. "Fair point... I imagine a nicer world, all clean and pleasant like in those picture books they've read to us when we were kids. You remember those, right? The pictures with the kids running in the park, and barbecues going on. I'd like something like that with all of us. Aunt Lana and the other fallen of the family to be alive and healthy..." She stopped to think. "No... What I really want is a better future for us all, that's what I really mean. That's all."

"That's deep and... Selfless to say the least." Lyra twirled her fork around aimlessly. "I like that answer. You know, I do wonder about the past. If I could have a chance to go back, I would accept in a heartbeat. I don't mean that to say I want to escape this world solely out of fear, I want to be the one to change it all. You know, change the past, write a new future, and a better one."

"Oh, getting all scientific on me, huh?" Lynnette finished her food, and as luck would have it, her body finally repelled the two bullets inside of her. "Stupid fucking anti-pheno bullets!"

"Be grateful the effect wears off or I'd have clawed them out, and that could have been painful."

Lynnette's wounds healed as she dug herself underneath her sleeping bag. "Yeah, so you say! I'm going to sleep, Lyra. Goodnight."

"Right... Yeah, sweet dreams," Lyra whispered.

My name is Lyra Laude, and I'm sixteen, just a few days older than Lynnette. We both share the same father, which leaves me on a nasty question to wonder, but I know that he loved my aunt Lynn more than my mother, because Lynnette has a younger sister named Lynn Laude III, only ten years of age. The thought that dawns on me is that my father... Well, our father was a Domicile member, met his after his third daughter was born. Yeah, I grew up without him but I do faintly remember him and his weird white hair on him, just really briefly. There really isn't much I know about him, and it doesn't help that my mother and aunt Lynn keep us in the dark about it. He's a Domicile member... Right?

Lynnette started snoring strong and heavily.

I come from a family of first generation phenos, mostly. That's the name for the super-powered people of the world. Well, most phenos were American citizens at the start, and the knowledge of what everyone knew back then, I found out about it via mother. She broke out of the Dadetown facility, found a nice woman, was part of a team of phenos while the world turned sideways. She'd been through so much over those years, and raising me all alone, well... If I wasn't here, if I obeyed the rules, maybe i wouldn't have been giving her the likely heart attacks to date. I can't tell if I am a burden to her, considering the only resources and supplies are delivered from the functioning parts of the New States to the towns and cities that welcomed and accepted change. That was how anyone who wanted to remain unscathed was to survive, and for the Domicile resistance and local scavengers, they raided Prime Federation supply convoys.

Lyra finished her salad in the dark.

My mother and aunt Lynn are members of the Domicile forces, leading a select group of pheno fighters, which I guess makes them one to disapprove of what we do- and trust me when I say they do. Getting home, we'll face only verbal scolding, and serious scolding, too.

She fixed herself underneath her sleeping bag.

We come from Royal Woods, a town that went to shit, state of which hasn't changed. Everyone alive in Royal Woods were not loyal to President Blood. I mean, there were those who were willing to agree to the terms to keep the town thriving, and those guys were the mayor and the town selectmen. Needless to say, the voice of the people spoke for itself, the angered residents uniting to take down the mayor and company and publicly hanging them. I know this because I have seen the remains of their corpses dangling at our tiny city hall. They've been skeletons in ripped up business suits, and I gotta hand it to their bones that had never cracked through the rope. Just a few more years until the skeletons went broken... I think.

She closed her eyes.

To count, there's me, my mom, Lynnette and Lynn Loud III, their mother, my aunt, and we were all that was left now. I lost a few aunts along the way, and someone else I've been told was related to me. This particular person, I barely remember her, but she up and left when I was six. Her face was fading on me, but I remember she had light-brown hair, had a ponytail, and had the signature freckles. What was it, was the name they called her? What was her name? For the life of me, I can't remember, but maybe Lynnette does. Lynnette really took a liking to that girl, and when she left, it devastated Lynnette pretty hard. I only wish there was some sort of closure for Lynnette... Now, if there is any other living relative of the family tree, I don't know about them and I probably won't expect to learn about them anytime soon. If it makes it easier for mom and aunt Lynn, then I can't ever pry it outta them.

And she fell asleep.

Things will be easier... Things will be easier... Won't it?

The Next Day

Both teenagers kept off the road, passing through fields, forests and whatever the easier way there was to remain undetected by any convoys passing around, and air recon as well. They had already dropped the critical information at a resistance outpost miles back, successfully warning them of Blader patrols and the elite team deployed around the areas. It was an eye for an eye, and the Intel had earned them some essentials to take back.

Lynn Loud, the aging zoomer, had been shouting at both girls while Luna Loud dumped the contents at the table, of which were consumables mostly. "DO YOU TWO ANY IDEA HOW MUCH YOU TWO HAVE ENDANGERED YOURSELVES?!"

"And for a day's worth of food?!" Luna was in disbelief at this. "Dying over this, Lyra?!"

"A day's worth?" Lyra approached the table. "Should be enough for-"

"Divide it by five, Lyra! It is too little for us!" Luna then studied Lyra's surprised face, and then added two and two together. "Oh, don't tell me you were planning to keep for yourself! Or maybe for you both!"

"No..." Lyra denied.

"Then why didn't you get more if that were the case?!"

"I had something..." Lyra shot her eyes downward in shame. "Never mind, I'm sorry, mom-"

"Yeah, you should be!" Luna pushed Lyra out of the kitchen, into the living room. "You know how dangerous it is out there! You are incredibly lucky that neither of you were so much as shot!"

Lynnette winced at Luna's words when she was escorted out by her mother, which Lynn noticed, stopping her. "What was that? D-don't tell me- Lynnette fucking Laude, do not tell me that they shot at you!"

The blonde girl remained fearfully silent, only affirming mother's suspicion.

"Is this true?" Luna demanded to know. "Did the Federation soldiers find you? Bladers, perhaps?"

"We managed to escape them-" Lynnette skipped to the chase.

"But were you shot at?!" Lynn urged to know.

"Y-yes..." Lyra admitted. "If- If it means much, we fended off the Primer Lissandra-"

"I'm sorry-" Luna held a single hand up to silence her young. "Y-you two... Were up against the Primers?!"

"Yeah, cause I totally wanted Lyra to share that!" Lynnette gave Lyra the death glare.

"In all fairness, we fought off Mercer somehow," Lyra pointed out, radiating with guilt.

"Lynnette, you know the Primers are the elite units of the Federation! What if they managed to shoot you-" Lynn placed her finger on her daughter's forehead, and pushed her head back severely. "Just one shot here is all it takes, and never mind the fact that you are both zoomers with claws and tails, able to regenerate as fast as nasty wounds are inflicted upon you. Just one anti-pheno round right here, any area in your fucking brainless head, and your younger sister and I would not even be burying you, and the same goes for you Lyra."

"Aunt...-" Lyra let exit in solemn.

"You're still kids, and I don't want you two dying anytime soon. Grow up and live, far away from this." Lynn took a breather and headed upstairs. "I'm gonna go wake up your sister, Lynnette. She's been missing you since you two left."

"Okay..." Lynnette sat on the couch of the living room, joined by Luna in the middle, leading Lyra to seat herself down at the other side.

"What you both did was wrong and dangerous," Luna scolded. "Look at me, girls. This is not in any way okay, do you understand me? Lynnette, your mother does everything she can to provide for you and your sister, and you go off and do your own thing. She raised you better than this- And Lyra, I thought you knew better as well. I'm awfully disappointed in you."

"I'm sorry, mom..." Lyra apologized, locking hands with her mother. "I'm sorry."

"Girls, I know you mean well, I know that you wouldn't just sit around and do nothing, and I admire that, but this isn't a fairy tale. It's real, it's all real and there are consequences of all kinds around this. Scavengers, Prime Federation and their Primers are always out there, and that's before I could even mention the diseases. Antibiotics and medicine, those are hard to come by, and if none of us hsd regenerative abilities..." Luna couldn't picture the dead children and infants that succumbed to the illnesses where the counter medicine were in the hands of the smart looters. She pulled Lyra and her niece for a group hug. "Do you know I love the both of you?"

That explains it... Lynnette rolled her eyes. "Thanks, auntie."

"I want the absolute best for both of you," Luna preached. "You three kids are all we have."

"I love you too, mom..." Lyra rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "We'll be here."

"You'd better be," Luna threatened, then released and looked upon the girls with shock. "You two really fought that Mercer chick? Seriously?"

Lyra let out a laugh, leaning back to the couch. "Oh, God-"

"That's right, I kicked her out cold!" Lynnette loved to feel like the pro. "You've had to have been there."

"Ah..." Luna let something enter her mind. "Hang on-"

Lynn Laude III came running downstairs in excitement, jogging to reunite with her older sister and cousin. "Lynnette! Lyra! You're both back!"

The youngest daughter of Lynn was different from her mother and sister, proving to be a nerd girl eho loved all things books and comics. Up close, she didn't look like a Lynn's kid. For one, her hair preference was not a ponytail, but a bun, giving her a sophisticated look. Next was that it seemed her vision was impaired, and without a system, she had only been given random glasses that improved her eyesight. She was also born with fangs right st birth, unnatural for the family and definitely worth noting. It made her a carnivore of a girl when it appeared she had taken a liking to meat, either cooked or raw. Lynn Laude III was a happy girl for the most part. Today, she presented herself in a pink zip-up sweater and jeans that were already getting shorter on her. "Good afternoon!"

"Hey, little sis," Lynnette greeted, trading in Luna for the little girl. "Taking care of mom?"

"You know it!" Lynn Laude III jumped on her older sister's lap, leaning on her. "I do the best to make sure mom remains safe!"

"Frickin' A!" Lynnette gave the young girl a high five.

"You know..." Lyra found herself back in wasteland territory. "Mercer saw us both and knew who Lynnette was."

Luna skipped a heartbeat while Lynn froze in place on the stairs. They looked to each other with freakishly serious expressions, and then things sped up past their understanding. Luna quickly pulled Lyra and Lynnette away from the living room, and Lynn moved towards her youngest daughter. "Sweetie, why don't you go read one of your books? Your aunt and I are going to talk to the girls."

"Oh- Okay, mom..." The little nerd was left alone again, feeling sad once her mother left to follow Luna.

"Are you sure?!" Luna just had to know. "Are you sure Lynnette-"

"Mercer described her as 'Adrenaline's booger brat' and that's saying enough," Lyra specified. "Why, what's going on? I thought they knew-"

Lynn came in and cut everyone off. "Idiots! We kept the existence of you kids away from them... Or so we thought! Damn it, where the fuck did we go wrong?"

"Y-you kept me a secret-" Lyra grasped at this revelation. "We..."

"Had all the reason to hide you..." Luna assured. "We had to make sure we were safe here- Safe meaning away from the crosshairs of the Federation, I know. That's why we never want you to step outside the town borders. We hope that this would have kept you safe-"

"They knew all along..." Lynn snorted through her nostrils in anger. "We're being played with, then..."

"What do you suggest, sis?" Luna wondered in desperation. "They're going to close in soon enough, they'll have to."

"Luna..." Lynn pulled up a chair at the table, seating herself down. "There's only one thing to do here... Final Reset."

Luna's eyes widened at the last two words that eluded Lynn, then went dreary, centering on Lyra. "Final Reset... Lynn, it shouldn't be time yet-"

"Whether it's time for it or not, it's better than this hellish world. You know the pros."

"Um- I'm sorry, what is this Final Reset you're talking about?" Lyra inquired about. "Sounds like a plan of some sort."

"Oh, it is..." Lynn nodded. "It's something your mother and I were thinking about carrying out, but under the circumstances... I think the best candidates to carry out the Final Reset would be the both of you."

"I- I'm sorry, did I just hear you correctly?" Luna snapper repeatedly in Lynn's face. "Lynn, no, they're just kids!"

"Yeah, I understand that, but they are also people of the world, and they chose to escape home to try and make things better, regardless of our words and the very nature outside these walls! Plus..." Lynn placed a hand on Luna's shoulder to appeal more emotionally to her. "They'll have a chance to be free. The ticket out of this life."

"M-my Lyra... The thought of my Lyra-"

"In safe hands, sis," Lynn eased. "The era will be different, you know this."

"I don't understand-" Lynnette dropped.

"Sit down..." Lynn told them. "There is so much that you two need to know, and now that things have gotten this dangerous, we have no choice but to lay it all out on the table. Final Reset is an operation we've been planning for ourselves to carry out, but it has to be you two now."

"I still don't understand-"

"Niece," Luna tried, "Final Reset calls for us to leave you three unattended for an unknown time period. The stakes have risen now, we cannot leave you now, so this mission falls from our shoulders and onto you, do you understand?"

"A mission-" Lyra hiccuped.

"You want us to do a task?" Lynnette raised an eyebrow at the mothers. "This Final Reset thing?"

"Want you?" Lynn mocked the very concept. "I don't want you to, that's a fact. But... Choices are being taken away from us, just as time is, so we need you to do it."

"Mom, what is Final Reset?" Lyra begged to know.

"Girls, before I answer that, you've got to know some stuff." She cleared her throat and made sure she had their full attention. "As you know, your father has been missing for the last several years, and... I can't hide it any longer, but I'm afraid that he is gone."

"G-gone?"

"He's dead?"

Lynn found yesterday to be easier. "There is more to him than you both realize, and we can't drop all the secrets to you, but your father is the one true catalyst of this war."

"Oh, ho!" Lynnette squealed. "What the fuck?!"

"What?"

Now it was Luna's turn. "You heard right, girls. Daddy dearest did something that led to a crisis back then. If not for that, the Prime Federation would not have risen from the shadows."

"In other words... Final Reset is an assassination mission to kill him before he can get a chance to make the move that binds our fates to this horror."

"What did he do?"

"He tried to play God," Lynn vaguely stated. "And none of us knew about it until after it happened. Now..."

"Wait, if we kill our father before he, you know, meets you, doesn't that mean we'll fade out of existence?" Lyra theorized. "And... We have a time machine?"

"Mom, oh my God, you've been holding out on us!" Lynnette gasped. "Why can't we all just go to the past and live there?! That works too!"

"Lynnette, it's not that easy or simple," her mother turned down.

"Well, we don't know for sure what will happen," Luna reasoned. "We have nothing to base our conclusions off, so anything can happen."

"And I have high hopes for you," Lynn continued.

"So tell us about him," Lyra implored. "Now's the time to get an idea on him."

"Ugh..." Lynn hit nerve territory immediately. "He never was father material, that's for damn sure. He's a pheno like us, but he was just too... Sick, a real bloodthirsty maniac. The thing we both knew he loved was the guns and all the killing he did with them. We weren't always at good graces with him, we've had our moments."

"If I recall correctly, you sided with him-"

"Oh, not this again," Lynn rolled her eyes up. "That was long ago, and it was a mutual interest... I don't feel any less dirty, but you won't let it go, will you?"

"Fine, whatever!" Luna quieted down. "Back to this, yes, he never played well with others, it makes him a lone wolf, but to get on his good side, you'd have to appeal to his nature, and you know what? You girls are nothing like him, taking after us in looks and personality and that's a good thing."

"Y-you want me to kill-" Lyra felt a little uneasy at the concept of taking life. "Mom, I... I don't know..."

"If we kill him, will the war be over?" Lynnette questioned.

"It's time sensitive, we'd have to deploy you at the only point in time where he is vulnerable and isolated. I figure it is the best time for it to happen, and don't hold anything back, no need to hide your powers, okay?"

"All out?"

"You know it!"

"Huh..." Lynnette twisted her fingers. "A time travel mission..."

"What's his name?"

"Lincoln, his name is Lincoln, and that is all you need to know about him for now," Luna detailed. "Now, we have no place to tell you what he did, knowing of this event has more consequences, so kill him... Or if you really feel against it, you kidnap him and make a prisoner out of him, but I don't recommend it because there are parties chasing him."

"What- That's critical!"

"I don't know man, prisoner stuff means we'd be there for..."

"Forever," Lynn and Luna ominously shared. "You cannot let him leave."

"That settles it." Lynnette had made up her mind. "If it's for the world, then I'll see it to the end."

"What's his abilities?"

"All there is to him is everything's enhanced, the essential superhuman."

"The point in time I want you both for is when he, and shamefully me as well, were arrested by anti-pheno forces. You ready for the briefing?"

And aunt Lynn went over the plans with the both of us. On July 25th in the year 2030, a special anti-pheno convoy that started a journey, was moving two wanted phenos to a black site in San Francisco, California. The phenos in question were aunt Lynn and my father. From what she can remember, it was a total of four armored personnel vehicles, and the fifth and middle one was where they, the precious cargo, were in, depowered and heavily chained. And you know what auntie had the courage to admit? She says there was a little accident around nightfall when the convoy passed around the Los Angeles area. Not just any accident, but one where a certain someone had broken out- and no body of a white-haired man named Lincoln was found. It baffled me, and it could have ruined the writing of our own future that way. Still, it meant something. It had to have, apart from the whole fact that we had achieved it somehow...

And that had worried me. A convoy that was hit, and that Lynn had no idea who struck it and freed him. Why, I didn't sign up for the mindfuckiness. No, not at all.

"Holy fucking shit..." Lynnette went after hearing it all.

I'd love to know what Lynnette was thinking... Perhaps if I asked, it would knock off a portion of my concerns. Tell you what, I think I could very well get my mind off of this by watching a drama-comedy. I do love some Jennifer Aniston, may God rest her soul. Or maybe something with Ashley Rickards, or Britt Robertson. But none of them could even tread water in comparison to Loanne Wardell, the youngest of them all. She did comedy, she did drama, and she was a strong woman who survived a horrible kidnapping. I didn't get access to enough of newspapers that continued the story, but Wardell stopped with her acting career not long after. It makes me wonder, what became of her in the war?

Yeah, if I go there, go to the past...

"I'm in..." Lyra decided. "It's crazy, and I'm not overstating it, but I'm all in."

Later

Turned out mom and aunt Lynn raided a Prime Federation facility that came with a time machine. This machine was in the shape of a magnet with its legs upwards. A few brainiac members of the Domicile had worked on it, resetting it to be part of their movement. It was in our favor, and tonight, it would be put to use for us.

Lyra ran the plan again through her mind again. Route, convoy, strike in South California on July 27th, the day it passed through the state. She readied herself in a purple leather jacket that didn't go covering past her black shirt, and her blue jeans were faded and torn, enough to make her hope she would get new ones.

Lynnette had received a gift that came from somewhere neither girl could figure out, and it had never been explained as to where it came from, but the present in question was a zoomer suit identical to Lynn's, only the color scheme was different. Different, meaning green and black. And Lynnette didn't deny herself to wear it. The thing was skin-tight, bringing out her natural curves. Lyra felt silly and left out that she didn't get one of those. Lynnette held some black goggles in her hand. "You ready, Lyra?"

Lyra, nervous and shaken, feigned a calmness that was betrayed by her voice. "This is a huge weight on me, sis. Mom's asking too much of me to do this."

"Yeah, well, we're on the same boat, Lyra. We just have one person to kill, and it's the end of the war. Simple as that." Lynnette gestured with a smile and a thumbs up.

"Are the goggles really necessary?"

"If I'm gonna wear a suit, I will make myself look better with these!"

For some reason, aunt Lynn wasn't here, but my mother and some of the soldiers were. It seemed we had their firm blessing for this one mission, and then... I don't know why, but seeing my mother... It was as if something bad was going to happen. It was her face that I could read, it wasn't that of a hopeful one, but it was more... Dark. There was anguish and despair in her eyes... There was pain. I... I didn't know what to make of it, but my mouth and mind did all the talking. And then, I saw her crying. I saw her crying, and it hurt me to see her like this. So...

"M-mom..." Lyra had been guilt-ridden with running off and worrying her. She had to do it, she had to live up to Luna's expectation and not mess up. Not anymore. "I'll come back, mom! There's no need to cry! I'll be back soon enough and I'll make you proud of me! I'll make you proud of me, I promise!"

Lynnette placed on her goggles, readying herself up as the time machine went online. Lynn then came in, appearing before her daughter and niece not a second too late. "And I thought you'd be busy fighting the Prime Fed guys."

"Plenty of guys to fill in for my absence," Lynn explained, "plus I was not going to miss this. It's going to be the last time I'll see you again in a while."

"Yeah," Lynnette curtly agreed. "It'll be fast, right? I mean, it sounds all too simple if you ask me..."

"It should be, yes..." Lynn closed her eyes and looked down on her, placing an arm on the daughter's shoulder. "I'll be with you, okay? Always, in your heart..." Lynn turned to Lyra. "My niece, c'mere."

"Ah, auntie-" Lyra hugged the zoomer, as did Lynnette.

"Sing it again, girls..." Lynn then requested.

"Ew, aunt, no!" Lyra begged, shrugging.

"Come on, mom, we're too old for that-"

Lynn tightened the group hug. "I won't let go until you do it on behalf of me and your mother. Lyra, start it off, why don't you?"

"Oh, fine, aunt..." Lyra agreed, reciting the lullaby in her melodious sing-song voice. "Um... If you find yourself lost, deep within the woods... Follow the sunlight to the end of time..."

"And all the happiness from the world will be waiting to meet you again," Lynnette ended. "Still freaking short if you ask me."

"Maybe it is, little one, maybe it is..." Lynn allowed them to leave. "We'll see each other soon, okay? You guys go on now... Time awaits you..."

I was nervous, not just because I was about to be a part of something huge, and not to mention right out of a sci-fi movie, but because I would soon be entering a world on my own. I wouldn't have my mother watching over me, no telling me where to go and what to do, other than what I was going into the past to do. I had to be a woman, a strong one who took initiative just as much as Lynnette would soon be, and that in itself... It was a frightening thing for me. On my own for the first time, unsure of what I would see. What would it be like on the other side?

Lynnette raced to the blue portal eagerly, and Lyra jogged it at a slower rate, both girls disappearing into the past.

July 25th, 2030

At first, we didn't know where we were...

The two girls faced a brighter afternoon of a holy day. The sun, set in a beautifully, perfect place, shone upon them and the very field of grass their feet were planted in. Lyra's guess was that they were standing in where the future facility would be constructed on. Up ahead was a highway, packed with several passing cars heading in either direction. Cars in color, over the rust and paint-burned metal scrap left in the junkyards of streets back home, cars that were functional. One piece of a healthier world. "It's... It's beautiful..."

"There's not a sign of...-" Lynnette grew closer to the road. "Look, Lyra. Look at it..."

"I am."

"I need to see more..." Lynnette wished to get a full worldly experience, and so it was that she ran down the left side of the road, zooming away out of Lyra's sights.

"No- Oh, my God, woman!" Lyra had no choice but to chase after the green afterlight made from the blonde. Lynnette, ever the eager beaver.

And there was a city that Lynnette came to. A city of light, a city full of people wandering about. No corpses, no bare skeletons or skulls around. Certainly no signs of fallout or.a citywide destruction. Her nose sniffed the air once she stopped right on the rooftop of the highest building her eyes caught. She detected the scent of hotdogs, popcorn, right down to even hot pretzels, all of which we're new to her, proving that there had been more than she believed. And she wanted it all.

Lyra caught up to her three seconds later. "I'm so glad I'm a zoomer, but you can't keep running off like that!"

"Hush," Lynnette suggested. "Take it in, take in the yummy smell, sis."

"I-" Lyra let her sniffer discover the new scents. "Oh, my!"

"Isn't it everything you could ever want?! Oh, I want to try out whatever I can get my hands on."

"Cool it..." Lyra looked around the city. "Mom sent us back before the 27th, that's for sure. We'll need to find out today's date and where this Los Angeles is on the map. We know the who, we just won't know the where it'll happen, but there are two of us, and we're zoomers so that's favorable to us."

"Date... Oh, find a newsstand. They'll be sure to tell us!"

"Good idea, what about-"

"I vote we stay in a hotel for the few nights we've got until then."

"And while we're at it, you need a disguise," Lyra barked. "Get out of that suit, you're radiating pheno all over you."

"Bullshit!"

"Lynnette, don't argue..."

"Eurghhhh, fine! But only because it's... Uncomfortable around my boobs."

"I wouldn't know," Lyra shrugged off. "About that hotel..."

Later

It was the 25th today, meaning only two days until we were to go do our thing.

Lynnette swiped a keycard to one of the rooms on the upper levels of a fancy four-star hotel, disappearing with Lyra into the elevator. And as per the brunette's suggestion, Lynnette had gone incognito, hiding her suit underneath a hooded green sweater, black pants that were slightly baggy, and a baseball cap. "So, are you ready to beat daddy?"

"Well..." Lyra questioned it again. "I know mom made it clear what was at stake, but... I feel like I'm having cold feet."

To make Lynnette give into a disguise, Lyra joined in, switching her attire for a gray sweater with a skull, and pink leggings that brought out an unnecessary sexiness, making her yummy eye candy.

"What, don't wanna kill one person to save millions?"

"I mean, I do want that! I just don't want it to be us!" Lyra touched her hair out of guilt. "I know what I said back there, but it's scary to know that I have to get my hands dirty. And not to mention, he's the reason I'll be born, same as you..."

The elevator kept going up at a slow rate.

"If we do this, doesn't that mean that we just fade from existence?"

Lynnette had a blank expression.

"I don't want to disappear..." Lyra had pulled the curtain off the hidden fear not even she knew she had. "I don't-"

"Well, clearly you didn't watch enough Marvel movies to know that it might not work out like that."

"That's all fictional!" Lyra just rolled her head back. "Oh, my God, you are just a nerd like your sister."

"Maybe so, but let's not forget that altering the timeline is a concept only played in media. Different rules all around, but Endgame makes the most sense for me. We already exist, and if..." Then, she gave it some thought. "Oh, no, fuck everything. I take it all back..."

"What?" Lyra wondered.

"If those rules apply to real scenarios, then we won't actually accomplish anything, we'll just be creating an alternate timeline if we succeed... Um- Damn it, I wish I knew what was real..."

"Either way, I don't know about being the one to deal the death blow."

Exiting the elevator, they ventured off into the hall. "What is this, room- Room 39."

They entered their illegitimate room, where two other girls had just vanished from, and neither time travelers had any idea about it. Lyra jumped on the bed and laid face down. "I can't do it. I just can't, sis."

"Running away so soon, Lyra?" Lynnette kicked the door shut. "Can't say I'm not disappointed by your will."

"Not my will, Lynnette. It's my morale, my conscious."

"More like the fucking bible you've been reading whispering thoughts of saints into you."

"You knew-?"

"You're not very subtle reading it at night and away from us, ya know," Lynnette pointed out. "And besides, you have the skills for it! He's dead in the future, it makes no difference in speeding up his date with the grim reaper."

"But... Lynn III-"

"Grew up without a father, remember? We're all fine with only one parent."

"I don't know... I don't know if I can."

"Okay..." Lynnette circled the bed. "Hey, what's with the Sprite can there?"

"Huh?" Lyra hadn't noticed it before. "Oh, huh... I'm not touching that."

"Ditto..." Lynnette joined Lyra in bed, opposite her. "Whoa, this is a comfortable bed!"

"Totally!" Lyra took off her sweater and reveled in the cold sheets. "Ahhh...,

"Me too!" Lynnette did the same, snickering lowly. "This is nice..."

"Yeah..."

"Hey, um, if you really feel like it's wrong for you, then I should be the one to do it by myself."

"There's that, but I- I can't just sit back and do nothing. This is for my mother, a chance to to right by her when I fucked up back there." Lyra shook her head, too conflicted for her own good. "What kind of person would I be if I can't even do one simple thing? It's the game changer, the very thing that spares millions!"

"Exactly right!" Lynnette heartily agreed. "Help me out during that night, we've gotta zigzag through the area thoroughly. I'll take it from there, there's no need to dirty your hands, but I'd rather you did."

Lyra went to the balcony, moving outside to see the world from her position. "Wow, look at all of that!"

"We have time to kill, sis," Lynnette slid in suggestively. "What do you wanna do? No, hold that thought, I want to take a nap."

"No, let's go see the outer world!" Lyra pleaded. "Pretty please?"

Lynnette had already started snoring, having gotten too comfortable in bed.

"Really? Fine, I guess it's just by myself!" Lyra let herself out, strolling off on her own adventure.

Later

I've seen grass before, but not like this.

Lyra sat on a bench of a park nearby, a lively and ideal place for kids, friends and family, and pets to run around. These undisturbed souls, untainted by the spoils of war, a peaceful community that was worth being a part of, worth saving. All of that happiness she witnessed in the kids on the playground, and the dogs that panted cheerfully, keeping up with the frisbees and balls thrown across the fields, it told her of a beautiful reality that could be. A surreal imagery that had never been pictured the way it was now, unbelievable and strange to her. All of that, but it was truly heartwarming, the visual version of taking in the sweet taste of honey.

They're all so... Alive.

One such dog, a German Shepherd, galloped its way to her, rubbing against her exposed legs and turning on its side. Lyra had little knowledge about dogs, not knowing that it wanted a belly rub from her. "Oh, hello!"

The dog barked with content, insistent that it keep rolling around to goad Lyra into touching him, up until the owner walked by and pulled the joyful canine away. Lyra never took eyes off of the pet, wondering what it was like to have owned one, and by the time the dog left her eyes, she decided she wanted one. She wanted a pet dog to love, raise and play with. Forever.

I enjoyed the glimpses of the reality cemented in the past, it was a bright one with no worry about- Well, about anything! Look... Look at all those kids in the playground, running around. I can see all the swings being occupied, the kids on them being pushed by their parents... I never had that, but I wish, just once, that it happened just like this. No curfew, no corner-checking for the psychos. Wouldn't you?

Lyra got enough of a view today, so she booked it back to the hotel... Finding Lynnette had disappeared on her own. "Are you kidding me?!"

I could have gone off on her a million times over and not hold back. Fortunately, I didn't need to do do, because there was a God, and He looked over me. As for what Lynnette's punishment was...

July 28th, 2030 - Los Angeles

Let's just say that our father knocked the much needed sense into her.

Lyra slapped herself upside the head mentally. Lynnette, stripped off her uniform, in place for a hospital gown, stood up from the bed, her feet bare naked. The cops in the room that guarded her wouldn't be waking up for awhile.

"You're way late, sis," Lynnette simply retorted.

"I didn't think you'd make a move on him this fast!" Lyra scouted outside the window. All clear.

"Make a move on him? What are you, fucking incestuous? Work on your context or wording while I find my fucking clothes."

"No!" Lyra tossed Lynnette, ramming her out of the room before the latter could find new clothes. "We have to go!"

"A LITTLE MORE WARNING-!" Lynnette landed on top of a land rover over the parking lot, flat on her back. Lyra raced down sideways and came lifting Lynnette up on her back. "HEY!"

"If I'm gonna carry you, I will!"

Lynnette rolled herself from the vehicle, her green lizard tail whipping about. "No, do not baby me! I am no one's baby!"

"Hey, you found Lincoln, right?" Lyra pryed. "You know, daddy?"

"Yeah...?" Lynnette opened her arms in confusion; a hell of a time to talk over this now.

"Is- Is he how they described him?" Lyra showed fear and worry at the thought of a devil

"Find out for yourself," Lynnette vaguely nodded to. "Trail is hot."

"How hot?" Both girls were speeding away from the hospital, Lyra running behind her. She followed Lynnette into a store, coming in and out for better clothes. "Um, hold up-"

Lynnette skidded to a halt in the parking lot for Lyra. "He's escaped, thanks to my fuck-up! At least we know that what my mom said came to pass. It just wasn't what I was expecting..."

"Then, that means nothing's changed from the timeline-" Lyra froze to think it over. "Um... I'm not good at this. Do it for me?"

"It means that we fail if we're going by the rules of most movies. Who could possibly know?"

"Don't hurt my head, please!" Lyra tugged on her hair. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask, how the hell did Lincoln beat you?"

"Miracle of anti-pheno gizmos," she sarcastically said. "Fucking advancements."

"Timeline of events isn't fully memorized on me yet."

"I left the sheet I made that covers the last few decades behind... Sorry."

"Oh yeah, I remember that... Good God, Lyra, you made something useful, and you blow it!"

Lyra had her attention get sidetracked for a split second. "Actually... Hold on..."

"What- What are you-?" Lynnette lost visual of Lyra for nine seconds, confused as to why she rushed back to the store. Lyra had a goofy, giddy smile on her face, revealing a purple diary right in the blonde zoomer's face. "What, a notebook?"

"Nuh-uh, a diary!" Lyra cheered. "Oh, I've always wanted one of these! Perfect for my thoughts and moments! And also, I can jot down the events that happen in between now and our time!"

"Oh, well..." Lynnette chuckled, tapping on Lyra's shoulder with her elbow. "Oh, I see, you just need the excuse to validate your feminine side, hehehe."

"Wh-what- No, no, I just... I mean, what I said isn't wrong-" Lyra, at a loss for words, had gone tomato red with embarrassment. "Leave me alone, bro."

"Whatever, ha, you won't catch me owning one of those girly things!"

Ugh, she's such a brat! At least I know she won't get to touch the diary and reaf of its contents. Lynnette was always the one of us who wanted to be macho tough- and my guess is this was why she wasn't reluctant as I was to kill out father. But... I don't know if that was the one true Lynnette, or an act to cope, a defense mechanism of some sort. Lynnette, she may have been an irritation at times, but I genuinely cared for and loved her all the same. And i knew it was mutual. I didn't need to hear her admit it, I didn't need to see it acknowledged directly, I just knew it in my heart like a sixth sense, and that was always enough for me. Nothing will ever change how i feel about my family.

As of yet, things were complicated, and Lincoln was somewhere out there, but he would not be far from here. Lynnette's little stunt had to have made him aware of her, an unknown pheno out to hunt him. It begged the question; who was Lincoln in the now?

"Hey, we need to get info on Lincoln. His last name, any obtainable history, anything that tells us all about him. Where do we start for suggestions?"

"The cops around me were talking while I was taking a 'nap,' they said his full name."

"Really?"

"It's- His name is Lincoln Loud."

"Loud...?"

"Listen, there was something else the cops mentioned, and it caught me by surprise..."

"What is it?"

"Now, before I tell you, I need you to confirm that we've been told our mothers come from the Laude bloodline."

"Yes, we're all Laude... Why- What did you hear?"

"Wait, one other thing. Mines shared the same vehicle with Lincoln Loud, right?"

"Uh-huh, she told us... Lynnette, what did you hear?"

"The officers- One of them called my mother Lynn- Lynn Loud."

"Lynn Loud?" Lyra found herself puzzled. "No, that can't be, she's Lynn Laude-"

"It gets worse..." Lynnette continued. "They confirmed it, my mom and my father... They are brother and sister-"

"N-no fucking way!"

"So if this is true for me, then..." Lynnette pointed at Lyra. "The same can be said about you. Luna Laude is Luna Loud in reality."

"Th-then that makes us-"

"Don't say it..."

"P-products-"

"Don't say it!"

"Of-"

"DON'T SAY IT!"

"Incest!"

Lynnette gagged. "Goddamn it, no... I don't want to hear it out loud!"

"LOUD, WE'RE LOUD!" Lyra shook Lynnette wildly, finally succeeding to make her throw up, and right on Lyra's clothes. "EWWWWWW!"

"Suh- stop!"

"SORRY, I JUST- OH MY GOD, I'M A CREATURE OF SIN!"

"Hey, lady, I wasn't that freaked out, but it's disgusting, I know."

"MY HANDS- MY HANDS ARE-!" Lynnette shut down the hysterical Lyra by slapping her twice, on both sides of her cheeks. "OW!"

"Don't make a scene!" Lynnette lifted Lyra into her arms. "Clearly, you are distraught, but I can manage with you! Deep breath!"

"Ut-" Lyra shut her mouth, gripping her diary tightly. "You better know where you're going!"

"I do, trust me!" Lynnette urged.

I've recently learned of my true parentage, a dark secret of its own over the fact that my birth father is the catalyst for World War III somehow. I'm a child born through a brother and sister, just like Lynnette and Lynn- Lynn Loud III. I had serious questions for them when I get back, and I expected the truth, nothing else but the truth.

My name is Lyra Loud, and I've come from the distant future to ensure that the peace of this nation stays intact, and that right now could mean the erasure of not only my existence, but the existence of my two... Half-sisters, I think. In any case... Whatever the results would be, I don't have long to carry it out, and with the help of Lynnette, I think we will manage. Lincoln Loud, we will come for you.

We will save the rest of our family. This time.

AN: Time travelers are in play now, but Lyra and Lynnette will not be the only ones here. To those who have been my readers since the start, I'm certain you know what it is that must be prevented. Here, I have stretched out the consequences and aftermath of this specific thing that has been fated to pass, and it has happened. There are many factors to consider, and more than I counted on, which is glorious if anything, but not easy.

Regarding time travel rules here, I am going to mindfuck you, make you think, but I found a way to make it work- and this method is one where no movie or book has actually gone through. I can't tell you what I'm doing, but it's definitely crazy.

Lynnette had freed Lincoln and Lincoln only. Don't worry, you'll get that scene before the end of Act III. Prepare for the worst.

"Take a seat, girls..." The man in total control had his back to them, office chair turned away from them. The office itself was half full, occupied only by the mastermind behind the ruling power Prime Federation, and the three female soldiers he had deployed to capture Lyra and Lynnette. His voice was quiet and strict, but absolute in the coldest way possible. There was a hint of a high-pitch tone, but it went nearly unnoticeable due to his lower tone now. "You have failed me yet again..."

"With all due respect, they are zoomers, they-" Lissandra Mercer was quick to use that as an excuse.

"But was it not you whom had once caught a zoomer and ripped her apart?" The man in the chair raised a finger up, wiggling it around to say no. "Don't ever degrade yourself as inferior, you've beaten one, you can do it again."

"Y-yes, sir..."

"Try not harder, but smarter. Use tactics, do not rush this. Dismissed."

Mercer and Chang, sitting at either side of their Russian captain, both got up to the exit. But the middle-aged redhead did not budge. In her firm, heavy voice, she had the audacity to talk back to her superior. "No, you fool."

Mercer and Chang could have shit bricks to convey their fear and nervousness around dissing the nation's leader like this. They froze in place, looking back at the redhead. Things went dreadfully quiet.

"Come again, Letenko?"

"Three proves ineffectiveness! More Primer members are needed!"

"Now, why do you come to me with this now?"

"Uh- I didn't think we would need reinforcements, even with extra regular soldiers in our control. We need more special cases- Men or women with a personal grudge against the Louds as we do!"

"Is that your final answer?" The man behind the chair spun around, finally facing his team of Primers. "We've always had three to keep it minimum, but my, how you have shown mme initiative, Letenko. That is why you are the leader of the Primers, over these two teenagers here with a hard-on for specific Loud members. As it so happens..."

He reached into his desk and pulled out a folder, opening it to show the Russian he called Letenko. The Russian woman spread them across in a line, seeing five different files on their new candidates for the team. "You- You planned on this-!"

"Primers were always going to have an increase in numbers. I had to keep my own secrets, it makes for an interesting game."

"Wait..." Letenko looked at the final file, mouth going agape as Mercer and Chang circled back to look at their potentially new members. "What the fuck- You are considering this girl?!"

"I've been monitoring her well long enough to know that she has what it takes, given the right propaganda and seeds to plant in her."

Mercer and Chang were also in shock at what Letenko stared at; the file in question was of Lynn Loud III, marked down as a candidate for a Primer, an enemy of the Loud family, what remained of them...