Just kidding
Lyrics to Life Of Misery by Drowning Pool
You think you're better than me, better than me
You better change your fucked up attitude
Don't look at me, don't look at me
Like you expect some sort of gratitude
You keep on fooling yourself
You're full of yourself
I could, I could never lead
Lead a life of misery like you live in
I would, I would rather die
Than live a life of misery with you in it
Look at you now, what a waste now
Your life of misery
Look at you now, what a joke now
Your life of misery
Take lie after lie after lie
If it makes you feel that much better
Look at you now, what a joke now
Your life of misery
July 29th, 2030
Lyle Jefferson and Lindsey Sweetwater were the first two victims to fall into the falling cat-and-mouse game orchestrated by the punk-looking fellow with spiky hair and blackened stains around his eyes. Whether or not he was a true ruffian remained to be seen, but that didn't matter now. The very location he used for his base happened to be the defunct Black Network base that he found successfully, turning it into his own personal playground.
One such room, heavily reinforced with steel, went used by the two phenos, their powers suppressed away by the built-in dampener on the ceiling that had not been deactivated since they've been put in there. For the time being, they were asleep, the room itself feeling of foul remnants of food platter Dylan Blood had left for them to stack up and never collect, making it a pigsty.
He monitored the young kids, making sure they were staying put while his mind wrapped around to the game; he needed all the pieces, both pawns and hostiles pulled closer to him.
So far, his concern was the Loud family of phenos, and from the entire catalog or articles and files he'd access, he learned of Lincoln Loud and his pheno abilities; the albino had a good portion of strength from a rhinoceros, the swift agility of an Alaskan wolf, and lastly, the recuperation properties from a new species of snake, all three of which were modified a few different ways before the perfected version had been created. This, the albino had taken for himself to upgrade beyond the human limitations, an indestructible pheno. The indestructible pheno once a Freight, hands drenched in too much blood, and to Dylan Blood, such a person was not, and could ever be worthy of the power.
Luna Loud, debriefed to him by the files as a human-lizard hybrid, could be potentially dangerous on her own, and based on Vial's testing of her, it appeared that Luna had an appetite for flesh that deemed her a monster walking around everyday society. This one needed to be neutralized, and as far as he knew, it wasn't happening yet. Pity the government goons who were slowly incompetent for this shit.
The twins, he'd known about them, seeing their rise aa Velocity and Momentum as dubbed by the public, which caught on as fast as they came. The two zoomers operating around New York as actual vigilantes for the past two years with various theories and questions raised around them. Vial Corporation had created them, but the recapture of the twins was likely to cause trouble, this he saw. Lana and Lola Loud, family members related to the ex-Freight, who could have figured it out?
Truth be told, this was his huge break. You see, Dylan Blood was working on acquiring the intel from scratch. The day the world had learned that the remaining Freight survivors of Lincoln's attack had turned themselves in, the correct information came spinning out, the safe facts making headlines, newscasts, and even in talk shows. Lincoln was the hero who turned it around, dying as a hero to many, but not all of them. Certainly not Dylan.
Lincoln Loud and Lori Loud were siblings, but surely there had to be more. Hunch was correct, he found Lynn Loud, ironically an FBI agent who'd been single and going to bars with her lady friends. That was where Dylan came in, pulling the strings by impressing her, sleeping with her, to establish a false relationship with her so that he could learn all he could to exploit Lynn's relationship with the Freights in retaliation for Lincoln's one true crime; Lincoln had laid waste to the Blood clan during a Freight run. Lynn Loud was the only way to exacting that insatiable desire for sweet payback- and what should happen but her sudden disappearance along with her entire team? It angered him to a pulp, having been denied of the only window when it presented itself.
He had done as much research as it allowed for him before he got to Lynn. From the get-go, there were eleven children in total, not the ideal number of kids for an American family, only one of them being a male. That poor bastard, living with a harem of girls up until the very day it all changed because of a little house fire. Things got murky there, many of the siblings living with an aunt of theirs. Details showed that there were three casualties in the fire, the parents and one of the young daughters.
There was Luan, the psycho killer who had been slaughtering in the recent years. Psychotic break, maybe. Another unwell member to make up the Patriot team under this agency that came to light, formed for domestic affairs happening within the nation's borders, places where the regular agency powers had no jurisdiction in. The way it looked, it was a black ops scenario that missed its point by taking in the six Louds as a covert unit within it, succeeding to use their relevance as the super-powered phenos to dissuade suspicion of who pulled the strings. Of course, it didn't matter in the end.
A brand new game had started just for him, the work of fate smiling upon him in gokd graces, giving him the board, the players, and the placement for all of them, and this involved not just the main six Louds, but their allies and enemies up to here. The clones, the Wolverines, the Black Network faction that remained.
Lyle and Lindsey were not the only two captured in the old base; a third individual, tied to a chair, burlap sack covering their head. The sack barely moved, the person's face sucking breath in and out. This person was part of the game, one such card that had to break the Ungodly Stormbringer, the laat resort to get him on his knees to end the game.
Rest easy, young ones... Tomorrow will come with bigger plans for you all.
Act IV: Bloodier, Chapter I: Blood Strike
July 30th, 2030
Luna had not yet rationalized yet, and could probably never dig past the surface of Lynn's berserk motives for siding with the big, bad brother on his mission to exterminate the clones. She wanted to nelieve that it wasn't the real Lynn, for the real Lynn would have been trying to stop Lincoln and the Lucy clone. Nothing made sense no matter how much she tried to piece it together, and in the end...
Lynn had already done it, choosing her side already. The zoomer in red made herself the next excommunicated member they didn't want, leaving the main Louds divided by half. Linka, Leven, Sam and Carly made up the missing number to comolete, and even then, ot never felt the same. It never once felt like Luan, Lynn and Lincoln since the line-up of outsider phenos had changed massively.
Luna grieved for the tough state she and her siblings were in. She didn't need the strain, the pain of knowing how broken up they were, and that was before she could even say something about Luan to them. She'd already told Linka and her crew of Luan's disappearance which tickled Leven funny. The clone suggested putting Linka to use by tapping into feeds and monitors she could to gain any clue to Luan's whereabouts, but they simply did not have enough time to look at all of them. Linka tried, but nothing had come up.
Things could not be any worse than now, but then again, what could she possibly know?
"Lunes?" Sam had no plans to let Luna fall from the heavens by herself. Any and all dark thoughts had to be thrown out, shared off to release the burden's heavy weight. "You okay, honey?"
Luna didn't budge, back still leaning against the black armored van. "I didn't ask for this, Sam. Not any of this."
Sam closed her eyes, mutually relating to Luna in that aspect. "None of us wanted this, but what can you do?"
Luna sighed.
"Listen, hon," Sam turned to her, holding one of her lover's arms, "it doesn't have to stay the same, it might not. Maybe we'll come across Luan again, I have a feeling we might just."
"I should have seen it, Sam," Luna confessed to her guilt. "I can practically tell that she didn't like the idea of us having to go off without her. I know I'd have been scared if it were me without any pheno powers, praying to the gods above that my siblings come back in one piece."
"You had no way of knowing, Luna," Sam believed. "It could or could not have happened, it's unpredictable-"
"But I should have seen it- One of us, if not me at the very least!"
Sam shook her head. "You didn't do anything wrong, Luna. You've told me that it was decided that she had to be taken out of the team for her own good. I know it hurts, but this..." Sam took a deep breath, ready to be shouted at by Luna. "This is better over her staying on the team just so she could die."
Luna shot her eyes at Sam sharply.
"Luna, this is no place for regular joes, and Luan being away from us makes her safe... For now."
"She's still defenseless, not to mention sick."
"Not too defenseless, she lived on her own as you also told me..." Sam kissed Luna's cheek warmly. "You are stronger than this, believe in her just as much as I do in you, babe."
"Maybe I should..." Luna tightened on Sam's grip. "Thank you, Sam."
Linka, Leven and Carly had come out of the Target store the gang stopped at. The clones and the Asian girl needed new threads. Carly looked like she was ready for a summer party, grasping away at her baby blue zip-up sweater over a light-red shirt, mixing it up with a plaid skirt and leather boots, heavy upon the soles. She brushed some of her hair over her face additionally, an interesting look to appease Linka's sexual appetite. Leven decided on track suit clothes in the blue color, looking like he was about a month away from a marathon he'd been set to participate in.
And then there was Linka, short blue skirt, black shirt with a pink heart sparkling over the chest, and top it off, a green beanie to give her that rebel girl look. It did her well when she checked herself out, loving the look. Apart from the new get-up, they walked out with snacks- and for Linka, A Minecraft creeper plushie she held with utmost price and enjoyment.
"Hey, Luna, we're back," Leven grinned, waving two bags of snack food at Luna and Sam. "Thanks for that."
"Yeah, no problem, we should get back to the motel now."
"Ditto." Sam knew the cue, tailing it back inside the van with Carly and Linka. Leven manned the wheel, Luna riding shotgun to join him.
Linka snorted while giggling, envisioning herself shoving the creeper plushie into Sam's vagina to help her get off, and that impropriety went suspected by Carly and Sam. "Hehehehehe..."
Leven pulled out of the lot at a steady rate. He had indeed noticed the expression on Luna's face, gathering the troubles that flooded her head. "Are you alright, Luna?"
"No, yeah, everything's fine-"
Leven was no idiot to believe it. "It will be, Luna."
"That's what Sam says," Luna peeped out. "I want it to be."
"We just have to stick together and wait for the mess to subside." Leven knew better than to believe they would be at peace, but a pep talk was needed for the group as a whole, especially for Luna. "We just have to stay hidden from McMahon and his Kapacity Korp resources and any other silver of power he's got, same as its been, and that's our real concern over any other."
"How can we expose someone like that?" Luna wanted all their current enemies out of the way, for her to not think and worry about them and the steps they took. "We need to, don't we? The Shepherd guy and Lisa had to have some connection-"
"I would doubt it to be the case," Leven shook. "If we chase him, it won't be easy. All he owns is Kapacity Korp, but more importantly, we cannot approach him as it is. Not unless..."
"Unless...?" Luna became intrigued. "Unless what?"
"Before Linka and I joined you, she wiped the files on all clones, that means that no outside being could know we exist. Maybe they have their suspicions of me due to-"
Luna snapped her fingers. "The Superior Human thing."
"Right, but if we share actionable evidence that it happened- That McMahon had always been involved with Vial Corp from afar, then there is a possibility that we get ourselves clear. We can get it over the air, or online- whatever works. Linka is the advantage-" He stopped his critical thinking, finally hitting a gold mine. "Linka and Carly..."
The contingency they had if McMahon had ever caught up to them was to make it look like Carly had captured them, had them hostage while she took them back to him.
"What about them?" Luna didn't understand it yet.
"There is a risky all-or-nothing move that puts the three of us right in the heart of risk..." He couldn't even believe that it was now being thrown on the table, despite that it was his and Linka's Get-Out-Free pass that guaranteed them and Carly to safe waters. The probability had been low enough to hold off, but maybe he was the fool to think of it as an impossibility, believing the distance put between the good and bad would be the same. They've only been running for so long, trying not to be captured- and that inevitable end of the free pass had reached its end now. "Luna, I sincerely hope you trust me, I've already come up with a plan."
"And this plan..." Luna pulled out a bag of Lays chips, helping herself to them. "Walk me through it, all of it."
"It starts with Carly's status as a close ally of the Black Network," Leven explained. "McMahon knows that the clones have defected, but Carly is still one of their own to them. We all get to a Kapacity Korp facility and announce ourselves, I can say McMahon will pay it a visit just for us. Linka has a huge advantage in her head, we could tap Carly with a wire of something- Or maybe Linka could bypass their monitors and redirect the feed to where we need it to go."
"Oh, that's smart," Luna weakly complimented. "Do you trust this plan?"
"There can be no wrong," Leven assured both Luna and himself. "There will not be."
The next time Luna would see Leven, she would not see a clone, but the same face and confidence as that of her brother's own. And yes, this character in nature was him, only better. The sun that reflected off his face only deceived her for the illusion. But she knew not fear from the essence of Leven, but rather hope. Hope and positivity where she would never have imagined to find it. And then maybe, just maybe, in the heart of the darkness that lived inside Lincoln, there might have truly been hope. "Thanks... Lincy."
Years Ago
The big kid of the five children flaunted his power around, commanding his minions to grab the scrawny, defenseless brat while on the playground. The kids grabbed the skinny boy who had been but minding his own business- and they didn't care about the poor soul.
Yes, mob mentality. Follow the leader.
They'd shove him to the ground, make an example out of him. The playground was the jungle of Eddie Lars, the damn sadist of a child who loved the power, the slaves, over friends. The ridicule, the continuation of this nasty social order, the domination of the cruel, lawless power.
And nobody seemed to be fighting it back out of fear. This could not have been the natural order of things, yet it was.
You're worthless nobodies, mindless drone serving a fuck who cares not about you.
Dylan Blood read a book that day at school, looking up when it happened. He not only saw the beating start, but the observations of the other boys and girls not making a move, watching the crew act under Lars' command.
Do something...
There was that desire where he wanted his inner justice to be satiated. Right and wrong could have battled here in the playground, but nothing came of it. And in the end...
The animals had won again, buying out the other witnesses by fear. No tattle-telling, not now. Not ever.
Why don't do you it? You are more than five.
Oh, how it angered him, disgusted him. Made him question the way the world turned while it went on. How did it come to this? Why weren't they immobilizing, uniting against the bad kids? Why... Why didn't they? Why were they weakened?
I don't understand it... Nor do I want it. No...
Dylan Blood found himself eager to be the one to stand up to them. And he did so, dropping the book, swiftly approaching the cabal of assholes. And the uneven, unfair fight...
...It not only left him beaten, but it made him the instigator of the fight, with no kid who'd been there a spectator backing him up, tossing the truth on the principal's lap. He was the bully here, not them. Not any of them, and the world only watched, letting it happen without intervening. Dylan Blood felt alone in resisting the rules of the world.
These people, these abusers with power that goes to their heads, they who believe they can do anything without consequence...
Now
A black SUV stopped right outside a mint, its passengers all armed to the teeth with submachines, sporting Kevlar on their chest. The four of them had come for a grand heist as promised by the fifth member, the leader of the pack, none other than Dylan Blood himself. "Get going! Five minute bag-and-tag! No casualties, masks on!"
"Got it, boss man," one of the heist crew members mockingly said.
Dylan put on his own iron skull mask, concealing his face. His crew advanced up the steps, heading into the mint. The plan was not to make off with the dough, but to lure out two specific zoomers he'd read about on the newspapers. Velocity and Momentum had always been rookies, two inexperienced crime fighters that did not cut out deserve what they've received forcibly. A pair of blonde girls with speed abilities, and they had supporters instead of the smart members of the public never considering that the pair could one day turn against them, proving to be sinister as the anti-phenos preached. If no one did anything...
Dylan checked his gear again. Armor set, gloves on. Handgun. His first dance with Lola and Lana Loud was now or never, and he hoped it was now.
They didn't fail to deliver, showing up right on time after the shootout had happened, and not even three minutes in. His crew had come out again, carrying only two large bags of what had to have been a hefty snatch, and they were all stunned to see the zoomers standing between them and the getaway vehicle. Dylan did not wait to see them at work, getting out of the SUV and circling around back while Lola and Lana made quick work of the four thieves.
"That was easy," Lola complimented herself with satisfaction.
"There's one more," Lana noticed, pointing at the approaching Dylan. "I got him."
Dylan held out his hands, getting to his knees, confusing the twins silly. "I surrender."
Two minutes before the police would get here. He had to make it fast. Lola and Lana grew closer to him- close enough for him to activate the dampeners hidden beneath his gloves. He pressed them, quickly jumping up to fight them. Lana tried to move away first, but her speed had been grounded, leaving her susceptible for a nice one-two from the madman's fists.
"LANA!" Lola jumped behind the getaway driver to tackle, and what she got instead was a swinging kick to the face that knocked her sideways, slipping head first on the stairs. "Augh!"
Dylan finished Lana off, hitting her again with a harder punch that did her in, knocking her lights out. Lola crawled back up, head going dizzy while she bled away, the blood running down into her left eye. She panicked, heart racing to insane levels, mind fogging up with fear and the adrenaline presented from this senseless beatdown. "Zoomers aren't shit!"
Lola went out with a whack from the masked man's fist, submitting defeat to Dylan Blood.
Elsewhere
Linka, Leven and Carly were talking it over, and from what Luna could hear, neither girl had been objecting to Leven's proposal. In fact, Linka let out a cheer and hugged Leven, and Carly smiled proudly, nodding her head to agree. Surely looked like they were onboard for it, pleasing Luna. It did sound perilous, she couldn't deny, but here was hoping that they could pull it off and topple McMahon, a man she had never heard of before she ended up on the Patriots, out from his power and resources.
Sam, inside the bathroom, peeked her head out, disrupting Luna. "Hey, could you come in here for a second?"
"Sure, dude," Luna agreed, wandering into the bathroom. "What's up?"
Sam sighed before crossing her arms, clearly bothered by something. "I get the dwelling I'm not supposed to shower, Luna. D-do you remember that thing that happened to me? You know, back at the joint?"
"Yeah, how could I not?" Luna grabbed a sheet of toilet paper, soaking it with the running water from the faucet. "Water triggered it, but..." Luna shook her head, then tilting back on it. Elmont had gotten the rundown on the six Louds and what they could do and what could possibly stop them. For Luna, her other form had a taste for blood and flesh, and she knew that. What had been recommended was mental training to destroy the insatiable bloodlust Lizard Luna yearned for when it presented itself. So far, it was not an issue.
Then, the matter of the other four phenos he brought unto the team came without so much as a fact. Maybe it was that Elmont had not monitored Sam, sure, but there was enough time for him to know. Did he know more? Or was it that Luna had been trusted that the Patriot Division's runner had never looked into it?
"I'm going to wipe this on you..." Luna motioned Sam to hold her hand out. "It didn't hurt you, right?"
"No- I mean, it felt like a layer of stinging all over my body."
Luna hesitated.
"No, don't worry about it- I have to know if it really is water..."
Luna ran the tissue across Sam's wrist, pulling it back to see it emit steam as if her skin had been made of fire. Right in that area, where Luna had rubbed, Sam's wrist turned black, almost a color of bruise. Sam felt it, hissed in sly pain from it. "It didn't do that before..."
"No, but..." Sam poked at the black skin. "It feels hard."
"It can't be water... Can it?"
Sam lowered her arm. "I don't know, but it's only my skin that seems to be affected..."
"Right, I've seen you being able to drink..." Luna turned her attention to the shower. "We know what cold water does, would hot have the same effect?"
"L-Luna-" Sam took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "I'm afraid of finding out."
"No, nonsense!" Luna formed a smile on her, despite there being mutual fear behind it. "Hey, you're strong, I've seen it. No way it can harm you to concerning degrees, dude! I'll be right here..." She locked the door slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Sam opened her eyes again, taking in the positive radiation from Luna's aura. She hesitated for a second, but it was soon apparent that there was no real predicting in the outcome of having warm water pour down on her. Best bet was that she'd freeze up again, her body succumbing once more to that physical state of shock she received before. "Okay..."
Her clothes came off with grace, going from head to toe. Her beautiful breasts were exposed- even when they were the light-red color over normal orange skin, they caught Luna's eyes, catching her in the eye of guilty staring, a sort of pleasure she wished to throw herself at Sam, both their bodies naked and conjoined against each other, their hands running up and down each other's soft, tender skin. Maybe she could wind up in bed with Sam once it was over, and it have better been as soon as possible. The cheeks on Luna's face went red, blushing away before Sam's birthday suit and the divine beauty presented.
Not now, not yet.
Sam entered into the shower, starting it up. She took a step back so that her feet didn't make contact with the water. "Luna, do me the honors?"
"Yeah, hold on-" Luna fulfilled, switching on the showerhead with shaking nervousness. Sam let the water fall from new heights before she jumped underneath it, letting her entire body be drenched by the hot water. She knew fear again, unsure of the outcome. Breathing hard, Luna bit her lip and prayed for the best.
Sam held her breath for it, expecting pain on a different wavelength than before. The hot water did nothing for the first few seconds, and she let her guard down, releasing her breath and heartedly relaxing her nude body. Luna curled her mouth to smile- and then, Sam's skin began to glow a more brighter red, veins popping out all over. Luna quickly switched off the showerhead, dismissing the flowing water. "SAM!"
The golden-blonde girl began hyperventilating, but the sudden effect the jot water had on her body turned out to be different from the cold water; she experienced no pain, but rather a near-high octane power surge equivalent to steroids; her heart beat wildly from the increase of sudden energy, and quite possibly could give out from the overpowering she could not physically handle. "L-Luna-" Gasp. "It feels-" Her feet cracked the bathtub, body mass heightening to an insane level.
Luna pulled the towel from the racket, throwing it over Sam. By then, the blonde woman had started bleeding from her visible veins, but instead of regular blood trickling down, it was some orange substance that intrigued Luna, compelling her to touch it, and it burned her finger right back. "Yeow!"
The towel suddenly caught on fire, repelling Luna back with heavy confusion as she sucked her finger to drive the pain away. It was here that things had started to become more clearer. "D-dude... Your- Your power-"
Sam threw the blazing towel on the floor, and by the time it dropped, her orange blood seeping through the floor somehow, she made it click with grand horror. "Am- Am I volcanic?!"
Later - Black Network
Dylan Blood left his four pawns for the police, trading them for the two zoomers who operated blindly in the side of justice. Their justice and not anyone else's, such justice where it was not regulated by the true lawful personnel of the world. Any youngster could so easily make a judgment error when/if they patrolled looking to prevent crime. In this case, it applied to Lola and Lana, the very thought of wannabe crimefighters acting not only what they knew was a crime, but what the perceived it to be, a dangerous misconception. If it hadn't happened yet, it would have eventually, and what better strategy was there than to take out these freelancers.
The Black Network base supplied him aplenty with special anti-pheno rooms to hold one properly- and in this case, the twins were depowered, trapped in between concrete walls and a steel door that only opened from outside. Things were progressing at the expected time rate, and with no issue either, not any that he could see.
Two down...
Lincoln. Lynn. Luna. Luan. These were the ones left roaming around, and as far as he had known, they weren't all together. At the very least, Lincoln broke away from them, suggested by reports that a man of his description was seen roaming around solo, and another one where female phenos fled the scene of a fast-food joint. Loud girls who'd be searching for the zoomers when their disappearance came to light. He'd have to attack head on, but for now...
Dylan looked over the downed girls, having set up a video camera recording the scene perched on a tripod. The iron mask strapped over his head came down as he approached the Loud zoomers, positioning himself in between them. "Good evening, all you fine people all across the world... Allow me to so kindly interrupt your scheduled programming to bring you this special announcement."
Elsewhere
Eric Langston settled down on his day off, relaxing around the apartment. Darcy and Victoria were locked in a Q and A around the topic of phenos when Eric let out a groan of dissatisfaction. "Aw, who dares mess with my Ben 10 marathon?!"
The television went haywire before it cut to a dark room with dimly blue light lighting over three figures to be made out. "Eric, turn that up, will you?" Darcy was oddly curious by the event.
The pizza boy increased the volume for the girls to hear, still moaning.
"I'm sure you've heard of the spectacular zoomers known as Velocity and Momentum, two great heroines running around in the New York City area..." The man in the skull mask picked up one of the girls, Lola, and shoved her face to be shown on screen. "I give you your symbol of peace and justice in their prime!"
"Oh, my God..." Victoria uttered.
Elsewhere
A crowd had formed at an electronics store, all of them focused on the layout of TVs placed on display behind the window. Among these people were Leia, Gwen and Marsha, wirelessly watching history in the making.
"You depend on little girls with an undeserving skill to keep you safe, and I say that is blind. You put your faith in the wrong people, you dare disrespect the commonplace system of justice. Make no mistake, phenos will be the end of humanity if we do not exterminate them. It's all wrong, do not assume they all share the same views, the idea of safety."
Elsewhere
Lemuel sipped on a can of Coke, watching the live broadcast with his partner Allie. "Man's got some serious gonads."
"Yeah, he does," Allie agreed, smirking away.
"Go on, my fellow Americans. Supply yourself, arm yourself to the teeth and take your fight to the enemy who lives among you. They who can so easily team up and overthrow the infrastructure of our nation! It has already started, but there is not enough killing of phenos to make a difference. You've seen them at work, you've seen what they can do! Dadetown was just the beginning-"
Washington, DC
Peter McMahon, the passenger of his own motorcade, watched Dylan Blood preach from a tablet. He laid his eyes on some punk bastard, seeing him as just another anti-pheno member with connections to have been taking this to the media, right on the air. But McMahon had noticed closely at the background, and then his eyes widened once he recognized the room as part of the Black Network.
With everything that had been going around the internet, it wouldn't have been long until someone figured out where the base was- but a random man instead of the proper law enforcmennt? He narrowed his eyes, wondering what the goal was here, wondering who this masked man was and what he knew.
"Phenos and Kapacity Korp are your enemies-"
What in Sam Hill?! McMahon blew a gasket. It cannot be-!
Black Network
"The dream to continue Project Superior still lives on with Peter McMahon and the very company that he owns. Don't you think it's a little fishy that a state senator is interested in the science game when he is buried into politics?" Dylan dropped Lola, letting her fall back down. "Of course, all the Patriot Division files have not been deciphered, but if you are interested, file four-five-two through four-five-five talks all of Peter McMahon's crimes, role and connections so deeply hidden from Vial Corporation. The government would have wanted to keep that hidden from you in every way they can, but that does not sit well with me, and what can we really do but to ensure the balance of this perfect nation?"
Dylan pulled off his mask for the closing grand finale, coming closer to the camera. "My name is Dylan Blood and I approve this message! Tonight..." He pulled out a fresh, silver revolver out for the viewers to see. "My revolution will reign."
Before them, before the viewers from west to east, practically everyone who'd had their television on by then, Dylan turned around, firing two fatal rounds at the twins' heads. The next second after, the broadcast had ended. It would definitely be the stuff of traumatic nightmares for the kids who've been watching their cartoons, or browsing about the web for videos- nothing of which made him rethink this strategy. If there might have been guilt over that little thing, he would not express it so easily. That, and the rest of his mind had been too distracting, too precious and exhilarating for him.
He has just declared war on two different fronts, driving further his own solo campaign to get rid of the unworthy powerful and the one and only power behind the ongoing mission attached to Project Superior. Followers would rise, eyes of the mindless herd would avert widely and wake up to see the hidden, the cover-ups behind your everyday world-runners, and the risk of wars where they should not have been.
The only thing that troubled the young man was the fact that there were a few missing files, and nothing else was suggestive to clue as to what these could have been. Five files missing, at no doubt it was a last-minute attempt to hide something real bad.
All those people, all those suckers killed or re-purposed to serve as one-use tools to perfect the ultimate human within Vial Corp... But what went on here? What-?
He studied the five golden chambers from that one room. The monitors there were shot up to shit, as well as most of them around all over the base. No way he could pull the right intel to tell him what exactly came out of these chambers. Five missing files... Five of these tanks. Ultimate human... Five...
Link-A. Link-B. Link-C. Link-D. Link-N.
Come on...
Dylan pressed his head to the Link-N one.
What are you trying to tell me?
Later
"Lava..." Luna explained to the Linka trio. "It's lava- Or something along those lines."
"Hehehehehe!" Linka grabbed Sam's arm, rubbing her face on it lovingly. "I always knew you were hot stuff."
"That's unusually interesting," Leven shared, "and if we're speaking logic, it is unpredictabe and dangerous."
"At least we know that water affects me," Sam shone upon, and then frowned. "Fuck, I like swimming and showering! I hate this!"
"It can be solved, Sam," Leven reminded. "There will be counter-actives to this. We know that dampeners can cancel out supers, all they've gotta do is prolong the effects and make it into a digestive or liquid state."
"That won't be anytime soon," Sam feared. "I can't believe this... I literally bleed magma-"
"Lava."
"Lava, and who knows what else I can or can't do?"
Carly had been scared since Luna dropped the news, cowering behind the bed. This is too much!
"Yes, we don't know the full measure of her ability, but if cold water can stop her dead in her tracks, and hot water can overpower her but harm her body at the same time, then what effects would the sir have?"
"Hm?" Sam went and got lost. "Air doesn't harm or strengthen me-"
"Are you sure about that?" Leven pulled Linka away from Sam's arm and blew a gust of air right into her palm. Nothing happened. "Huh, now I'm more curious."
"We can figure that out later," Luna brushed off. "Right now we are dealing with McMahon."
"Linka here has had the liberty of locating the nearest facility from here," Leven patted the girl. "Three hours southeast of here."
"One step ahead of the game," Luna friend, flashing a thumbs up. "Good work."
"If I may..." Leven stood up from the bed to address another proposal. "I want to do this fast, we cannot afford to be wasting time when it so clearly moves against us. Nothing has changed, nothing is in our favor. Exposing McMahon will turn the tide, and enough voices behind us, including the phenos and their own supporters, they'll rally behind and stand with us."
The girls went silent, and even Carly rose back up to her feet.
"We'll get it, we'll get justice for all, and we will be the ones to fight against anyone daring enough to misuse the leaks for evil. We will..."
Far From Now
"We will."
The fated duel was here at long last, an inevitable date between clone and real human. The empty, narrow hall stood still just for them, in this right moment where only one would live, and the other would die, be killed by the victor. Linka, the scatterbrain clone of Lincoln Loud, had been armed with only a handgun, strapped up for the next battle inside the Black Network's long maze. On the other hand, Dylan Blood had only a silver object at hand, a very special grenade that, if thrown at the right angle, would ensure not only a kill, but...
"I know about the chip, clone."
Linka twitched, her mouth curling about uncontrollably. All she had to do was aim and fire. It seemed simple enough, was simple enough, and when she'd finish, the conflict here would end. At least, that's what she hoped for. Sweat flowed down her forehead and temples, feeling the aura of his dark nature. It made her quite nervous, scared even, to be stared down the neck by this egomaniac fixated on forcing his ideas onto the Louds and the world.
Gun versus grenade, who could have possibly predicted this outcome?
"And I want it."
Now
He typed out a very special message out, sending out into a forum on his cell;
We, as a collective, are the most sniveling, petty, hypocritical, two-faced human beings who have ever walked the face of the earth. We constantly give ourselves the grand illusion that we are superior over each other, that- That our opinions, the very ideas that make us who we are mean more than that of the other guy. But you'd be wrong to think that. You're wrong and you- Yes, you, you are in no way entitled to that bullshit. Have you ever once in your insignificant little life earned it? Well, I'm here to drop a bombshell on you. Here it is. Nobody has earned the right to believe their opinion is worth anything more than anyone else's, and that includes me and you, and that is truth. So tell me... Why are you foolishly selfless enough to decide you can toss your shit onto others without a grand repercussion? Acts of violence, the intimidating silence of others, pack mentality, and even the unjustifiable reason to what, maybe kill someone because your partner has cheated on you with them? Or maybe because someone's wearing clothes of a certain insignia that you dislike? Use your words, people! We're all mature adults, are we not? We'd be able to resolve conflict with our mouths, not our fists, and it'd be as easy as one, two, three... And yet it seems to be impossible. Right now, somewhere in the world, some self-entitled man or woman, boy or girl, is out there doing wrong.
He was wrong, and he was right. In truth, it depended on the voice of the people to agree or disagree with him, but in the moment, it had only been him to follow it. One game after another, a batch of simple thoughts that came lined up by logical experience. Too much of it, too many egotistical, self-centered bastards and bitches not contributing to society. And then there was more, always more types of people unworthy. Plain and simple.
And it wasn't.
We need to be fixed, and in today's world, will words really cut it? How about...
Lola and Lana were dead, bodies slowly decomposing as the blood from their corpses filled and painted the floor dark red. Verbal methods were for the weak, the hopeless, the faint of heart. Not him, never him. Not anymore.
How about if we employ physical tactics?
Later - Washington, DC
His cellphone had rung sometime around night, right before ten. He had not gone to sleep yet, would not have for another hour, but had been laying in bed, ready a mystery novel. "Mmm, yes?"
"Sir, uhhh, forgive me for troubling you at a late hour, but there are three guests who have broken into one of the North Carolina facilities, and..."
"Eyyyy, is that Mister Moustache! You tell him Linka and her bitches send their regard, hohohohoho!"
"Linka, hush-"
"Sir?"
The clones?! "Do not let them leave, I will charter a private jet out there! You are to treat them as guests and nothing more! All guards will stand down!"
"Yes, sir-"
He hung up. How fortunate! To hunt them would prove to be an arduous task, this... This is favorable! This is perfect!
August 1st, 2030
Here was the state senator, coming down the hall with special cargo for one Carly Evans-Nguyen. And the Linka trio were in the office of the facility's director, having stayed the night over. Carly slept on the seats with Linka laying on top, and Leven leaned against the wall, sleeping in a tilted manner. "Rise and shine, young ones!"
"Wuzzzat?" Linka moaned, looking down on Carly. "Ohai-" She planted a kiss on Carly's cheek before being thrown off.
"Focus!"
Leven looked up, bewildered at McMahon's sight. "H-hello again-"
"I am pleased to see that you have not sustained any injury. Tell me, did any police officer give you any trouble? Or anyone else for that matter?"
"What's to stop us from leaving?" Linka challenged.
"Don't worry, sir," Carly passed with smug. "They can't escape."
"Dampeners?" McMahon formed a wrinkly, sickening smile that tried to radiate positivity, but failed immensely. "Very well, come with me."
The trio were escorted out of the office, led away right behind McMahon. And then the scenery changed for Leven. It all felt wrong, felt off when there wasn't anyone else apart from the four roaming the hall. He pulled Linka back, letting Carly cut in between them and McMahon. As for the elder man, McMahon, still holding out the back-strap with a new set of katanas, had begun to pull one of the blades out. "I see a future that only has the two of you-"
Leven stopped Linka dead on.
"-but for Carly-"
"Eh?"
McMahon performed an unholy spin, slicing through the air- and Carly's small neck clean through. He dropped the bloody katana once the head of the Asian minor rolled out of place, tumbling for five rolls before hitting wall.
"C-CARLY!" Linka rushed over and grabbed the dead girl's falling body. "NO, NOT HER!"
Leven's mouth opened widely, a sighing gasp escaping his lips.
"There is no use for her anymore, surely you had to have known that," McMahon jerked at them. "Whether or not she really caught you or if this was a pathetic ploy to spare you three from my heavy hand, you are here and in my territory."
Armed guards broke the tranquility of the scene, two small battalions of them storming the hall and created two blockades, front and back in between the clones and McMahon. Leven winced in hatred and fear from knowing his plans had gone down the toilet. McMahon had just gotten the key to changing the game. Multiple dampeners came sliding out across the floor towards the clones, neutralizing them well enough to be captured. And the guards rushed in, moving to detain the clones.
And all Peter McMahon could do was laugh maniacally.
AN: Sweet Christmas, we've got three corpses piled up already, and it's just beginning! Then, there is that one scene that should be familiar to you if you've been here since the start. It could only go one direction from here on out, could be anyone's game on what happens.
Farewell to Lana, Lola and Carly/Cici, they will remain dead.
Roster for Act IV, potential spoilers;
1. Blood Strike
2. Ligarto
3. LinKAPACITY KORP
4. X-Elites
5. Blood Hunt
6. Betrayal
7. The Story Of Heather White
8. Blood War
9. In Memory Of
10. Ghosts Of The Past
11. Dark Before Dawn Act IV Special
For this act, we'll be going back a century to visit the impact a famously historical event had on a fan-favorite OC.
The end of Dawn nears.