August 3rd, 2030 - Afghanistan

"I roll out the special red carpet just for you bunch, this over serving time. Bobby here was extradited from Mexico for a little errand that required the assassination of a certain mayor of a Texas town. It wasn't that you accepted it that made me loom his way, it was that he managed to do it from across the border! You can't be taught that so simply." General Flip had his special team of the shadow-dark X-Elites sitting around him, listening in.

"Make me look good, hombre," Bobby grinned proudly. "Make me look good."

"Hey, I can shoot, too!" Lemy whined. "Where's my spotlight?"

"When wannabe vigilantes learn to not get so caught easily-" Flip broke into a laugh, joined by Bobby and Caroline. "That's amusing, hands down."

"Well, you're one to laugh, you caught me but not my partner!" Lemy defensively yelled. "What kind of general are you?!"

"The one who's always a step ahead," Flip scoffed back, smile still intact. In front of him, he had only three yellow folders, one of which was passed to Lemy. "This is for you, but be wary of the contents inside. You wondered why I only brought you and not the Taggart girl, here's why."

"H-how do you know about-?" Lemy ended up taking the folder, opening it. Lynnette and Caroline looked over both shoulders as he did so. Photographs of both Peter McMahon and Allie were shuffled in a tiny pile. "What am I looking at?"

Leven and Linka followed Lemy's eyes. "Hey, that's-"

"The girl is his niece, Porter," Flip dropped with no hesitation. "He has her playing his errands, and to both of them, you are just a puppet, going around and shooting up potential enemies of their scattered connections."

"...You're lying!" Lemy accused. Leven tugged the first few photos, revealing the next few ones to be of crime scenes, of bodies in grotesque shape and bloody remains. "What-"

"Cross-retrieved identification. You have been played for a while, but it stops now. I have just broken you free with this... Revelation. Naive boy, now you owe me one."

"I smell bullshit!" Lemy forced a laugh. "This is false! It has to be! I know Allie, she'd never-"

"Earlier reports indicated you fought the one and only Lincoln Loud," Flip continued. "How you managed to walk away from such a person unscathed is beyond me, and for that, I say you've really lucked out, but you're still sloppy, not all the way there to being a perfect patriot. One, more thing..."

Lemuel had withdrawn to the silence, studying the photographs of Allie and Peter McMahon, wondering, just wondering if it might have been true. These claims, these... These accusations where Allie was actually playing him.

"You are to address me as sir from this point on."

"Y-you said scattered connections," Lemuel singled out. "Enemies...?"

Flip turned his attention to Leven and Linka, looking to them to explain it from there. Leven gave a simple nod before giving Lemuel the rundown. "Peter McMahon has invested his money into buying out Kapacity Korp."

"That name, that's the guy who was friends with that Shepherd dude, right? The one who did all of that fucked up shit in kidnapping and killing countless people?"

"That's..." Leven scanned his eyes around in a clockwise position. "That's the version the powers are trying to put out for the media, but all of that is just a cover to hide the real brain behind it."

"What do you mean, real brain?" Lemuel pondered.

Lynnette herself had drawn in confusion, mainly from her not bothering to learn what was going on around this era's time. Then again, she could not out herself as a full-on stranger to it, lest she'd have them all raise questions about her- and would you look at that, Leven and Linka had noticed the clear resemblance she had to Lynn. And then, there was the matter of Linka herself- a girl of white hair, a face that was briefly familiar to her... "Someone fill us in," she tossed it carefully.

"It's simple," Leven zeroed down, "Shepherd was only a puppet, and behind him, the true mastermind of all of that was someone that the government goons seemed to be reluctant to drop to the press, the public. It makes sense for the ones who know about it, they would not want to have their authority be questioned when any single citizen would cover up the fact that..." Leven eyed Flip, getting a pass to drop the bombshell from the general. "...a girl not even in her twenties created, facilitated, and orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of... Well, who can say the exact number? It's high as it is, and the dead... There's more of them than the ones who'd been transformed into phenos, rescued or run amok into the world."

"...What?" Lynnette blinked away rapidly.

"A young girl d-did all that?!" Lemuel repeated, dumbfounded. "That's not possible."

Bobby stayed silent as of yet, but his brown eyes only narrowed away.

"But it is," Leven ventured on. "Regarding this girl, she has been killed, but her work, everything she's ever done, it remains-"

"The leaks..." Lemuel dropped to himself and the others. "Then-"

"We did that," Linka cut in. "We're the ones who leveled the playing field to make sure the senator has just as much trouble as we did."

"We...?" Lemy raised a finger at Linka and Leven. "Y-you two are involved? And... You're behind that?"

Caroline voiced her opinion. "I was also there, but I don't think that was a good idea, putting it all out there. You two may be literal clones, but you have shown me that you have sustained brain damage to some degree."

Leven zipped up, glaring blankly, but Linka stuck her tongue out at her. Meanwhile, Flip himself wanted to see these kids act like big boys and girls, getting down to the issues and seeing how they could resolve it... Right before he'd go and tell them why they were here, and it wasn't to mainly inform them all of what was going on back home.

"The fact that you're silent tells me that you know you messed up," Caroline grinned, "that's good, I'm glad you understand what you've done wrong."

"I'm not following..." Lynnette hiccuped.

"Vial Corporation, the Network and that little agency that had us doing their errands- all three of them suffered blows as massive as imaginable. For Vial, you already know the state of what that cesspit is in, no recovering from that, but their database surely contained sensitive information, catastrophic levels, I might add, and so did the Network."

Leven dripped sweat from his forehead, going noticed by her.

"Everything that has happened since then, in relation to all of that digital downpour is on you two," Caroline coldly blamed, "you've given the wrong people ammo, showed them blueprints on weapons unlike that of a simple military firearm. Chemicals, pheno serums- for all you know, there could be a but out there eager to replicate what they find of value."

Leven closed his eyes, facing down at his lap. Linka turned her head at him, suddenly hurt that there was that little spark of guilt detected from this motion. "Leven?"

"All of that, so that you could spare yourselves- and in the end, you make the rest of world pay for that by letting its psychopaths have the DIYs on becoming whatever pheno they want to be, and that's to say they don't get killed in the process. And let's not forget Lisa Loud's dream in creating the perfect human-"

"What?!" Lynnette let slip.

"L-Loud...!" Lemy burped. A Loud family member...! UNBELIEVABLE FAMILY OF...-

"Que carajo?"

Linka jumped onto the table, swinging her right foot right at Caroline's face. "HOW YOU DARE TO BLAME HIM!"

The older blonde received a hefty kick to the head, forcing her out of the table and right down on her back. "You're a clone who knows only violence-" Caroline covered her face up, feeling the nice tough bruise followed by the blood. "Violent and completely idiotic."

"WHAT YOU SAY IS UNFAIR TO US!" Linka raged. "WE CERTAINLY HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO DO THIS TO GET THEM OFF OF US!"

"I don't buy that," Caroline disagreed, getting back up from the dirt, facing up an angry Linka standing on the table. "There could have been a better way, but you ensured more conflict and death, that's what you're good at."

"And what about you?" Leven challenged. "You used those arms to slice up people, in case you have forgotten."

Caroline looked for words. "What I do does not fare in comparison with what you guys have done."

"I'll kill you, and I'll molest your corpse!" Linka vowed. "The dildo will be a knife instead!"

"Control your animal," Caroline addressed to Leven. "No leash, no control."

"Linka, attack," Leven allowed.

Lynnette forced herself from place, suddenly zooming in to defend Caroline. "No fighting in the war room, kiddies."

Linka gasped, looking back at Leven. "She's a..."

Finally, Leven made his move, getting up and walking towards Lynnette and Caroline. "No way, another zoomer..."

It didn't hit Lynnette until he said that, which had her berating herself mentally. "Shit, not again..."

"What the fuck is going on here?" Lemy exhaled out.

Caroline had forgotten her own argument, trading it in for the astonishment the girl in the green and black suit brought. "Begs the question... Who are we and why are we here for?"

"Hang on, I have questions for you." Leven was right in front of Lynnette, close enough to not only see her but smell her. The freckles were there just as Lynn's key features were, but the color scheme was different. Eyes gray, pupils and iris were bright red, and her hair, a sunshine-yellow- this girl was as if someone took Lynn and changed her up, but other than that, it was still Lynn, even with the additional bangs on the girl. "Who are you?"

"A girl," Lynnette sassed, trying to reel away from them snooping. "A zoomer girl."

"Yeah but..." Leven studied the twinkle in her eyes. He detected it; Lynnette was trying to keep some secrets under wrap, and Leven could not find himself to try and pry out the essentials out of her, and not when she was an actual zoomer. "Actually, it might just be a coincidence, sorry, you remind me of someone."

Linka looked over Leven's side and gave Caroline the finger. "Take those words and shove them up your vagina!"

"Uhh..." Bobby went, while Lemy wheezed, laughing a bit.

"Two phenos, two gunners, and two clones of Lincoln Loud-" Flip coughed.

Lemy stopped, choking on his own tongue. "Buhhh- What the fuck, clones?!"

Bobby gave a nod, laughing slightly. "Science mumbo jumbo here isn't my cup of tea, big boy."

"Give it a rest, accept what you hear," Caroline hissed at Lemy. "Say, how old are you even? Why's a kid throwing in with us? General said you're a vigilante-"

Lemy tapped his fingers against the table. "Ugh."

"Vigilante of diapers, I'll bet."

"You've got a little blood on your neck-" Lemy tapped on his to show Caroline, adding insult to injury.

"Hey, so how wait-" Lemy had been cut off by the fussing before he got answers. "McMahon and Allie, how do they...?"

Leven eyed the photographs, placing a finger on the one with McMahon. "He was working with Lisa and Shepherd behind the scenes, never meddling close enough to be spotted around any Vial facilities. This girl, Allie Taggart, was it?"

Lemy nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know her," Leven shook, "but it's obvious that she's being utilized in the same fashion like McMahon, working in the shadows away from the main grounds."

"And there's also the fact that she had you, boy, offing the potential enemies of the furthering Black Network and what remains of their contacts. You wouldn't notice closely because she simplified it, made them just bad guys who want to take advantage of the chaos ensuing, meaning all those encrypted files."

"I..." Lemy exhaled through his nostrils. "It can't be-"

"But it is, boy," Flip reprimanded. "You're being played by McMahon's own niece- It must run in the family, that."

Lemy closed his eyes, entering an aura of emotikn, too dramatic for Caroline's taste. "I can't believe this."

"Gimme a break," Caroline rolled her eyes, moaning. "Sad little boy faces puppy drama, boo fucking hoo."

"Hey, he clearly didn't know," Leven defended. "Hey, if that girl can lead us to McMahon, we can finally end this!"

Linka clapped. "Yeah, yeah!"

"What- You want me to lead you two to-?" Lemy shook his head and angrily expressed his anger, throwing his fists onto the table. "No! Fuck you!"

"Porter, you are now involved just as much as these two clones here are," Flip reminded. "You are free to do as you please, but I do not suggest going back. You cannot pretend otherwise, McMahon and Taggart are affiliated with Lisa Loud and the dream-"

"Maybe he just doesn't know what's truly at stake," Leven believed. "Kid, don't you know what they're planning?!"

"Fuck you, that's not my concern!" Lemy growled back, hurt. "This is your problems, you fix it!"

"Damn it!"

Linka held her arms out. "I'll pull him by the fucking ears, Leven!"

"What's your name?"

"FUCK YOU!" Lemy roared.

Leven raised his voice. "TELL US WHERE WE CAN FIND ALLIE TAGGART OR YOU WILL BE KILLED AND REPLACED BY A CLONE!"

"...What?"

"R-replaced by a clone...?" Lynnette circled it around.

"What do you mean?" Lemy had decreased his rage, letting it subside while the rest was replaced with fear and eagerness to get more info.

"The final play that he and his friends and followers planned was to acquire me, study me and understand my cellular structure. I am the prototype of the ideal perfect human in all angles, achieved by Lisa herself, and what she had planned from the start was to clone the entire world with the special tune-ups that could beat infection and disease, know no bodily cancers and deterioration in the later years. Clone everyone, kill everyone in what can only be described as global genocide, and live in her image."

Lynnette jerked her head, and Lemy and Bobby expressed their emotion by merely spreading their lips apart. "Genocide...?"

"Clone the entire world-" Lemy was at a loss for words. "That's... That's insane..."

"As horrible as it is, it has not happened yet," Flip cut in, "and will not as long as Leven here stays away from all Kapacity Korp facilities. As it is, running away to another country will prove futile- McMahon is already attempting to expand further. A facility in every city of every country to speed things up. The Korp will extend to medical servicing, a mere ploy to gain access to medical backgrounds of those they'll clone."

"Jesus fucking Christ-" Lemy's breath was faintly shaking. "All of that... That's-?"

"Under your nose while you've been shoved to do his bidding, yes."

"Why are you telling me all this? With Allie, I can understand, but... D-do you really believe I can be of use?"

"All of you here, you come from different worlds, but what's that mean when it's the same beat in the long run?"

Linka's eyelids closed in a bit. She could still picture Carly in those last moments, right before she had lost her head, finishing move courtesy of McMahon. What could she have been thinking right before the slicing? What was the teenager's final thought like? Did she hope-? Linka closed her eyes. Final moment. Why can't I hear you?

Leven sought to it that he comfort Linka around this time, having known that she possibly grieved for the late Asian girl who turned her back to her masters for life. For them. You poor girl...

"You've all had loved ones taken from you, with the exception of Caroline here- And there might be people you love and care about that you might not want this to happen to. Lemuel Porter's got extended family, Roberto Santiago here has a younger sister, you two clones would not like the members of the Loud clan to die, Caroline Pingrey's old folks-"

Caroline scoffed at the mention of her parents.

"-and you-" Flip turned his attention to Lynnette. "Nothing comes up for you, you're basically a ghost. But nothing about you screams off-grid runner, so..."

They focused their attention on Lynnette, the looks of which had her feeling like she'd been thrown under the bus. Damn it, fuck.

"I can't afford to give any care today, you're a zoomer, and you have potential- I mean, it's not every day you see someone trying to stop a convoy that contains one such dangerous man whose whereabouts are still... "Unknown" to the Feds."

"Hmmm?" Leven raised an eyebrow.

Lynnette suddenly blurted out, "I'm a huge Lynn Loud fan...!"

Leven and Linka exchanged odd looks at one another.

Lynnette was close to committing suicide at this point. "Agh... Please don't..."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me..." Caroline scorned.

"If that's the story you wanna go with, that's fine," Flip brushed away, jazzing his hands. "What matters to me is your speed, I tend to put it to good use."

"Regarding that," Leven pointed his finger at Flip. "I can only imagine we're here for a mission, and we're already past the debrief. Linka, Caroline and I know what's at stake, this boy, vigilante or whatever, has a connection to be exploited, and Lynn fangirl is useful, but..." Leven had his eyes on Bobby. "What's with him? Bringing an outsider into the war-"

"No..." Linka made the connection. "That's not an outsider... That's... That's Bobby Boo-Boo Bear."

"Ay por Dios..." And he remembered that nickname. "Right... That was Lori's nickname for me."

Lori...? Lynnette noticed.

"Did... How many Louds are there?" Lemy gagged.

"I get it now..." Leven flashed his thumb at Flip, complimenting him. "You found us a guy you knew we'd be able to trust."

"Hey!" Lemy cried out.

"I am so terribly offended right now," Caroline shared.

"Now tell us about what you want us to do for you," Leven cut to the chase. "Something that requires four superhumans, which I know has gotta be big."

"You were never here, nor did we meet, that's official," Flip threw onto them. "I'll need all your heads to stay in the game, should you back out..."

"We won't," Leven accepted, representing the group. "Debrief us."

"Very well." The elderly general Charles Flip cleared his throat, rubbing away at his mouth. "The war here with these insurgents turned against us. I sent three of my squads out to investigate and locate a lieutenant codename "Black Dog", a real nasty piece of work worth interrogating to get further into the network. In the midst of that mission, Intel was off, he had more firepower covering his turban ass, and that's when those three squads went radio silent. They're dead, that's the official report- But I have some doubts."

"You believe they're alive?" Bobby asked.

"Concrete proof?"

"Message came through, we leave and they'd be free, but we know better to believe that crap," Flip croaked.

"Then why bother...?" Lemy poked.

"Because..." Flip started.

"Because the old man's got family who was in one of the squads," Leven pieced together. "He wants us to verify for him. The general isn't asking us, but rather a worried father."

"That brain of yours is truly something to behold, sir," Flip vaguely complimented. "I'll deploy you to the outskirts of the town where they've gone missing. Find the squads, and if you can, find any clue on the Black Dog. Body cams could point you the way to him."

"Fair enough," Leven agreed. "I guess that just about covers it."

"I'll dismiss myself to give you lot time to talk." On that note, Flip left in silence and slow movements. "No fighting. And fix your nose, Pingrey."

"Ugh..." Caroline gave Linka the death glare, sending daggers at her. "Like I said, violent and bloodthirsty."

"I'd like to see you do better than us if you're so certain you are," Linka rebutted. "Eat my ass."

Lemy stayed staring at the photographs. "Damn it, Allison."

Lynnette sat herself back against the table, back leaning against the table. "You and your drama, I don't want it."

"Who does?" Bobby rhetorically asked. "Who could ever say they want it?"

"Right?" Lynnette laughed back.

Caroline wiped away at her bloody nose. "I have no part to play here, this isn't my fucking fight."

"Yes it is," Leven countered. "Lisa made you what you are today, and you accepted throwing in with us back there in the Patriot Division."

"Yeah, but the difference is that I ran with the initial assumption that we were going to be some unstoppable force not to be reckoned with, but those guys proved that even phenos can be killed easily. I'm not going to endanger myself around that, I'd rather-"

"Cowardice!" Linka accused. "You really are a pussy, pussy!"

Caroline seethed, teeth gritting. "You can get yourselves killed fighting whoever dares try and push for a new world order, but its easier to run and hide."

"Well, when the world becomes clone-infested," Leven added, "make sure to not depend on anyone else. I hope you've seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers. That's exactly the crisis you'll face if McMahon and company gets their way."

She groaned only.

"We're fighting it," Linka addressed. "Fuck running, everything's at risk! And I can tell you all right now, they won't hesitate to kill anyone they don't think they need!"

The Pingrey woman crossed her arms. "And how do you know?"

Linka then hesitated to answer that, her little head dropping down to crotch level. "Oh..."

"McMahon murdered a teenage girl in front of us," Leven dropped. "If he could do that..."

"W-wait, seriously...?" Caroline began to backtrack. "H-holy shit, I..."

Lynnette, Lemy and Bobby shared their moments of silence, noting that by Linka's expression and body language that they were close to this girl.

"I didn't know..." Caroline's voice had gone to an apologetic tone. "Shit..."

"We're far in too deep for us to avoid it," Leven believed. "We need everyone on board for the fight against the senator, I am not certain how many serve him other than the employees, escapees from Vial and the Network. Even still..." Leven turned his attention to the two other folders left where Flip had sat down. The clone's curiosity compelled him to take a look at them, but what contents awaited him? "Linka," he called out to his sister.

"Alzheimer's, hehehehe..." Linka joked. "Too soon? Sorry, not sorry."

Leven opened the left one first, finding it was a compilation of files of Bobby, Lemy, Caroline, and some photographs of Linka, Leven and the other Louds, followed by what could only be described as a crime scene, and a captured Lynnette resting up inside a hospital. "They've done their homework."

Next one presented a storm of a new issue coming their way; Dylan Blood's broadcasted message and the execution of twins Lana and Lola, divided in fourteen images. The man in the iron-skull mask, and then revealing his face- and the bodies of the two zoomers Linka and Leven instantly recognized. "No... Fucking... Way..."

"What the-? When did this shit happen?!"

"Don't tell me McMahon's already made a move..."

Lemy peeked over their shoulders. "What's with the surprise? You guys didn't see that go on air?"

"G-go on air? ...Like on television?" Leven shook his head profusely. "How can that be? These two are zoomers-"

Linka allowed her anger to suddenly flare up. They'll all pay for this.

Lynnette glanced over the trio, taking a look at the photo of the twins' corpses. Aunt Lana and Lola? But... Th-they're-?

"That's bullshit, we left them to handle their own issues and we're down two zoomers," Linka lashed. "We're all fucking up to idiotic lengths, getting ourselves kidnapped and them being murdered on live television. Where the fuck is Lincoln when you need him?"

"Hmph, Lincoln," Lemy snorted.

Leven looked at the crime scene photo of the bloodbath caused by Lynnette. "Alright, which one of you shooters caused this?"

"Not me, man," Lemy excused.

"Seconded," Bobby shut down.

"That's on me, the convoy thing the old man mentioned," Lynnette confirmed.

"A Lynn fangirl who does what she won't?" Leven found the irony to be poetic. "That's a good joke."

"Get out."

"So how about it?" Leven extended a hand out to her. "We could use someone like you to give us a hand in this battle. Lynn's own life is at stake, and if you care about her...-"

Lynnette slapped his hand away, remembering the rule to not interfere or intervene with past events and affairs. "Can't be fucked to bother, it's not my fight, never was..." Still, she had her eyes set on the twins' bodies, wondering how it was possible... They're supposed to be alive...!

"Final answer?" Leven asked again.

"Come on, the world's at risk of a human overwrite on a global scale!" Linka shrieked. "Free food at the end of the journey! Rewards are to be reaped!"

It is a beautiful place here... Looking past the chaos these folks have just presented... Lynnette moved her face from Leven, having already made up her mind. "Sorry, but I'm only here for one thing."

"Very well... Carol?"

Caroline let out a defeated sigh. "I'd like to have a choice, but it seems life won't be doing me any favors, will it?"

"Sadly, no," Leven agreed. "We're all trapped by the same web, and until we win, we can't escape it. I'm the one they want, and that's only because Linka here littered the files on us, but Project Superior is world news, it'll only be so long before they find out I already exist."

"And you're not going to volunteer to commit suicide, right?" Caroline was cold at that, but she wasn't wrong.

"NO, THIS MAN IS MY BIG BROTHER! WE CLONES HAVE EARNED A RIGHT TO LIVE! ...Even thought I may or may not have tried to murder Lupa, giggity."

"And what of you two?"

Lemy hated what it fell into, but the situation could only turn in their favor if he brought them right to Allie's doorstep. "I'll help you, I'll take you to Allie, but that's it."

"That's all we would need to get to McMahon, thank you," Leven graciously expressed.

Clones of Lincoln Loud... The audacity! Lemy went away, leaving the tent. Lynnette and Caroline left after him, taking what they felt was risk.

"Hey, Leven?" Linka took a deep breath. "When Caroline said that you were quiet after she mentioned the leaks- Like, did you really- No... Do you really feel guilty for doing that?"

Leven centered his eyes on Linka, trying to establish a look that said otherwise, that lied to her- But Linka had pushed past it and saw that it was like what Caroline said in the beginning. She'd never asked of him if what he did was wrong. There was that one time where she had tried to stop him from dropping the entire database online- and it was so that he'd ensure their survival. But she didn't ask, she didn't wonder when he did that. She didn't know it, and when he went and did do it... He did it for her. "Big brother..." She hugged and caressed him lovingly. "I'm glad you're here to protect me."

Leven patted his hand on her head. "I've got you, Linka. You know I do."

"I love you, big brother," Linka warmly shared. "Always."

And Bobby eyed the affection, relating it to his and Ronnie Anne's relationship.

Later - Near Sallaheem

A military Chinook had dropped them off in the cover of night, leaving them two miles away from the town of Sallaheem, a sizable town where the three units had gone missing or killed- whichever one was the truth. The place outside of it was dark, but the lights in town lit the way for them to go.

Out of the six so-called X-Elites, the name Flip had thrown around vaguely and seemingly randomly, Linka, Leven, Bobby and Lemy were armed with M13 rifles, supplied with a good optic scope and three magazines. Caroline denied herself one of those, turning it down for her pheno power. Lynnette herself was allowed as she was, no weapon but only the headset given to her.

"Check comms," Leven guided, testing out his own. "Mayday, mayday, clean swipe-"

"Hear ya."

"Got it."

"Si."

"BIG BROTHER STATIC!"

"A little more louder, will you?!" Lynnette yanked off her headset, putting it on her neck. "Actually, hold on a second."

"What, what are you-?" Leven was helpless to stop Lynnette moving in front of them.

"Scout run," Lynnette informed. "I'll speed things up by doing the runs. Should be able to pick up signs real fast-" She sniffed the air, detecting any faint smell of blood. Bingo!

"Take one of us with you, at least-" Leven suggested.

"No," the zoomer denied, running off into the town.

"Wait- Argh!" Leven revved. "Team effort is treated like a cancer!"

"Well, try and keep up with her," Caroline insisted, not stopping for any reason. "Best she can do is make this easier for us all."

"True words," Lemy thought. "Gets us back in one piece."

"Begs the question, should I be sitting this one out?"

"If you want to." Bobby and Lemy didn't stop either. "Wusses."

"I'll see myself as overwatch," Bobby told them, sprinting solely to the first building in the heart center of the entry, climbing up the ladder.

"I'll stick with you," Lemy opted. "If we get overrun, I'll shoot one of you to save my own ass."

Linka swung her rifle right onto Lemy's balls, injuring his kids. "Take that, Patanu."

"Linka!"

"AGH, MY BALLS!" Lemy dropped the rifle, utilizing both hands over his crotch. "WHY-"

"What? He's being a selfless cuck again..." Linka ran a finger down her hair. "Oh wait, did he already start?"

"Did you mean selfish?"

Linka backtracked, humming. "Oh, silly me! What did I say?"

"Enough of your childish antics," Caroline policed, picking Lemy up. "You're okay... Talkative brat."

"Securing yourself to be spared from a leg shot!" Linka yelled. "Why, I oughta-"

Leven cupped a hand over her mouth. "That's enough. Go grab his rifle."

"Mmmmmfff..." Linka rubbed sexually on his arms, kissing his palm gently, driving Leven away. "Just like mother's love... Do it again!"

Lynnette came running back, nothing short of out breath. "I've found something!"

She led them further into the town, escorting them right into a tall building somewhere in the heart of Sallaheem. No sign of any straggling insurgents as of yet, but the entire place graduated a bloody aura of death, something that crawled right into the back of their necks. Linka covered them as they entered, dual-wielding both M13 rifles, going in last. "It's on the third floor, there are some bodies," Lynnette shared, suddenly cupping her nose and mouth. "Prepare yourself for nastiness."

Caroline and Lemy showed some form of hesitation, slowing down long enough to be overpassed by Linka and Leven. "What should we be expecting?"

"War," Lynnette dropped like nothing. "It looks like war."

"I think it should be essential to note that the town is empty..." Caroline voiced. "No sign of anyone despite there having been- What, a tactical raid? It feels off is what I'm trying to save."

"The Black Dog and his men might have left-"

The gang walked right into the third floor of the building, finding two bodies of fallen Marines roughed up around the corridors. Lynnette stopped and turned to them. "Thered a lot of dead people around here, go take a look around the rooms."

Leven and Linka split up from Caroline and Lemy, all four of them going around. The blonde fangirl was right; bodies of both Marine and insurgent scattered from left to right laid out here and there. Blood stains, heads blown off, and the amount of bullet casings definitely told of a prolonged firefight. Leven and Linka were eyeing the walls, which were devastated by stray bullets. "Desperation to hit anything?"

"I don't know..." Leven began checking the bodies. "Find any dog tags from the boys back home! If there aren't any, learn the names."

"Right!" Linka started going around, looking at the corpses. For one such body that was leaning against the wall at the end of the room, she noticed its hands were gripping around what loomed like paper. She got curious and opened the hands- finding a crumpled up picture of two kids, and inscribed in the back were the words, My Emily and Michael, I keep you in heart, mind and soul

Oh... Linka looked up to the fallen soldier, the nametag on him reading Fairchild. The dead Marine's head looked diagonally left, eyes still open. Linka returned the photograph and closed the dead father's eyelids. "I'm sorry, mister."

"Linka..." Leven had already collected two dog tags, holding them firmly in his hand.

"He had two kids, Leven," Linka dripped out with sadness in her tone. "They'll grow up without a father. Tell me..."

Leven went down to his knees.

"Does that sound familiar, big brother?"

Leven planted his hand on her shoulder. "Yes, it does. It does, and I understand how hurtful it can be, how much this can remind you..." Leven only wished he had more words to tell her, to ease her that it could be okay, but that would be but a lie he'd tell her. Nothing was okay, it could not be... But they had to keep onward. "This can't hurt us, Linka."

Linka shoved her fist right into his chest. "No..."

Lynnette entered at an inconvenient time.

"No, you... You don't try and do that to me. Of course-" Linka's voice broke ever so slowly. "Of course it's gonna hurt me... I can't- I cant escape it-"

"What- What's the issue-?"

Linka huffed near into hyperventilating mode. "I can't hold it in for long... I feel like I'm- He- B-burden- Can't talk- D-don't you know?!"

"Linka..." Leven pulled back from her. "You... Want it to hurt?"

The words had hit upon the young clone as if she had received some shocking new development revolving the hell they were in. She took it into account, guiding herself away from Leven in such a dramatic fashion. She stayed silent, physique going mopey like some suicidal girl. "I... I want to feel something, s-so..."

Lynnette tiptoed in, moving to Leven's side.

"I'd like to feel this- This sadness-"

At that second, Lemy and Caroline entered, with Lynnette turning to shush them by applying a finger to her own lips.

"He forgot what it was like to feel- To be reminded what it means to be hurt..." Linka burst into tears. "I feel trapped by everything, I can't- I couldn't explain it-"

No one dared let out even a peep.

"It won't even end, Leven!" Linka had a fit, uncontrollably clenching her hands. "It never ends! We wanted out of the Freights, but the world-"

Far From Now

"I know about the chip, clone," Dylan Blood calmly revealed to Linka, staring Linka down the hall within the Black Network. "And I want it."

Linka kept her handgun aimed high at him, finger set on the trigger. "You'd have to kill me for the interface, buddy."

The adversary held out a gray, circular object out for Linka to see. "Know what this is? They had these in the memories, under the name Cryogenic Frags. Pull the pin and watch the liquid nitrogen literally freeze up to five feet of whatever it makes contact with. I think it's cool."

"You're cornered," Linka rationalized. "We've got you backed into a wall, there's no escape."

"You're arrogant to believe that. Yes, the odds are not in my favor when you compare it by numbers. Louds aplenty, but I'm only just one, and a regular person at that."

"Regular..." Linka laughed at the joke. "A madman calling himself that- You've got some seriously warped ideas, you bastard."

"Are you that good a shot to take me down? I bet if I throw this, you'll miss and hit me. Wanna play that game?"

Linka narrowed her eyes. "Games with you-"

Dylan Blood threw it like a baseball, sending the gray grenade down Linka's way. "Think fast!"

Linka quickly directed the sight to the grenade and fired one shot, and not only hit it well with a bullseye, but had let out the contents of it- and the liquid came out touching her face.

Now

"Everything is just so unfair, and I hate how it works!" Linka unloaded from her artificial heart. "It's just so dark and messed up, why are we even...?" She ran her hands all over her face, distraught. "I didn't ask to be born, but Lisa could have just taken that out of me, all of that- All that makes me the clone, the monster who knows only what hell he's lived through!"

Leven sighed with emotion.

"I want to go home, and there isn't a home I can go to. Like-" Linka shook her head, in denial. "I want for everyone I've come to know to stay alive. Lana, Lola, and Carly- And then, there will be more, there's gonna be more people we'll lose, won't we?"

"D-don't say that-" Leven attempted to soothe. "We didn't lose altogether-"

"SUPPOSE WE WIN, BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BEAT MCMAHON IF NOT ALL OF US MADE IT TO THE END?!" Linka had finally snapped, long overdue. "THEY WON'T GET TO CELEBRATE, THEY'LL BE MOURNED, THEY'LL BE FORGOTTEN! JUST- JUST LIKE-"

Leven nodded.

"M-mom and dad... Lucy... And the others who died before..." Linka's blue eyes went red, vision blurring up for her. "I hate everything, Leven, it's all unjust and fucked up. We didn't do anything- I was born into this shit, just like you- Just like the other three!"

"Yes, we were..." Leven took daring steps towards Linka. "And we can get out of it if we're smart and strong by staying together. We've come this far."

"Leven, I'm-" Linka dug in from under the surface of her being to reveal her own personal feelings. "Scared of it, all of it. If I die, it will have been for nothing, and all I did was- I added only more horror and madness to the world instead of helping, j-just like the way Lincoln did in his time with the Freights. We were both wrong, we were only thinking-"

"No."

"Selfishly..."

"We weren't- At least I don't think so..."

"I just hate everything... I'm reminded of that shit again..."

"Mmmm..." Leven simply moaned, giving her pity. "What do you suggest we do?"

"What do you...?" Linka wanted to know.

"We remain alive, Linka!" Leven thought. "We've got his memories, and we can carry it on for the others, too! I don't plan on dying, that's fact- We can keep certain memories of the dead alive, you know."

"True..."

"Don't ever give me that implication where- Where you think that the only way out was-"

"Suicide?" Linka was amazed at the man's brain. Then again, it might have been obvious, even when she had tossed in her fear of dying which could have thrown anyone else off. "Damn it... IQ is too high for me."

"Linka, we'll avenge our fallen," Leven promised. "The twins and Carly will be avenged, I swear it."

"If you two are done with this special touchy-feely sibling moment-" Lemy started.

"Hang on!" Lynnette rushed to the window, looking leftward. "I hear something."

"I don't...?"

Caroline scoffed, having enough of this. "We should just turn it around, head back and tell the general we've found them all dead."

"But how do we know that's the case?" Bobby asked.

"We don't!" Caroline rebuked. "We lie and head back to the States."

"What about the others?" Leven reminded the cold blonde.

"We don't even know how many more are missing. How many guys make up three squads?"

"Shove that shit elsewhere, Flip helped us escape McMahon when we needed it, I cannot dishonor a favor that needs to be returned."

"Then that's on you-" Caroline noticed Linka getting angry. "Both of you."

"I'm with the cute woman," Lemy sided, moving to Caroline's side. "This is as far as I want to go. Not going to die for his son."

"What of you?" Caroline asked Bobby.

"Eh, I'll stay around," Bobby decided.

"Thought you were covering our ass?" Lemy recalled.

"Barren place."

Lynnette stepped out of the room, blowing up a nice breeze that sent their hair waving about. Seconds later, she came back with urgent news. "Heads up, we've got a convoy of pickup trucks coming from the far end."

"Is it them?"

"Weapons up," Leven commanded, running to the roof. "Zoomer girl, kill all the lights inside and topside."

"Read ya!"

"We can easily get out of this alive by having fangirl here extract us out of here."

"And run from a fight?!" Linka wiped the last of her tears. "I don't think so!"

"I won't hold you two to this," Leven told Caroline and Lemy. "You are free to run but I would not suggest it. We four are staying to fight, regardless of our lives being at stake."

Linka and Bobby ran to the rooftop. "Hey, how's Ronnie Anne?"

"She's alive, could be better. Say, Lori still around?"

"Somewhere I don't know, but I'll make sure to give her your best."

"Thanks, kiddo."

Lynnette had already wrapped up and pointed the direction of the convoy to Linka and Bobby. "There!"

Six truckloads of insurgents made their way through the barren town, reason which wasn't clear to the group of six. Lynnette stood onto the ledge on all fours in a weird position, sniffing out the air and detecting... Blood? The scent of it was might tasty for her, adding to her carnivorous lust, the same as Lizard Luna's own. It worked to change her quite a bit, bringing out the sacred, animalistic claws and talons on her arms and feet- and Linka and Leven went white as ghosts when the squirmy, green and monstrous tail popped out, growing right out of nowhere. This furthered the mystery as to who Lynn fangirl really was and why she seemed to possess the same abilities as not only Lynn's but also Luna's. "Rghhhhhh..."

"There's something you don't see everyday." Bobby focused his rifle at Lynnette, feeling concerned for his own life.

Lemy and Caroline had decided to stay, but seeing Lynnette's new form was almost enough for them to wish they chose the other option. "Jesus fuck-"

Lynnette jumped down, her mouth watering for some carnage. She ran on all fours like some mindless beast, galloping towards the convoy to attack and devour. The firefight broke out when she'd been spotted, the vehicles immediately screeching to a halt. Bobby began firing from where he was, being the only one while the clones raced back down to provide cover in the close quarters way. "Hurry!"

"What the hell kind of pheno is that girl?!"

"We'll figure it out, Linka!" Leven assured. "Just protect her!"

Lynnette had taken to clawing and biting any human she could grab, taking bites from then or slashing at their limbs and bodies, leaving them in a mess of gore. The bullets that were unloaded from their AKs didn't do the trick- Lynnette only brushed them away with ease, zooming around and wagging her large tail to knock anyone down before she slaughtered them.

"Does she really need backup?"

Leven burst out of the building, doing his best to catch up with thefreakish pheno girl. "Do you wanna risk her safety?!"

Bobby fired away bursts, location being given away. A couple of the opposition directed their guns at him, suppressing him while Lynnette ravagaed and lashed away around, devouring flesh at the same time. "I'm down to two mags!"

"Set!" Leven and Linka took cover at opposite sides of the streets, rifles sticking out of the corner, lead flying out.

"Firing!" Linka aligned the sights to any visible enemy around, trying her best to ignore Lynnette's bloodthirsty rampage. "We need to move closer! Cover!"

"I've got you!" Bobby stuck his head out, unloading his entire mag as Linka and Leven rushed closer to the convoy. "Down to my last!"

Lemy ran to the roof and dropped off one of his own mags to Bobby. "Here! Double the firepower!"

"Where's the other blonde?!"

"She stayed, I think!" Lemy fired away at the vehicles. "Agh, machine gun!"

Leven and Linka quickly took cover behind buildings, boty closer to the convoy. Poor Lynnette didn't see the 50 Cal machine gun either, feasting upon a face when it shredded right through her body, mostly piercing through her chest. Blood and pieces of flesh came erupting out the opposite end along with the bullet fragments. Lynnette went down on her side, squirming around in dreaded agony. She vomited blood, shutting her eyes shut- but it didn't end there for her. The last of the insurgents, faces concealed save for their eyes.

"Roof squad, draw out the gunner!" Leven roared through the headset.

"We're doing our best!"

Linka rushed ahead, finally reaching the first truck of the convoy, spotting a gang of terrorists strike at the downed Lynnette, kicking and shooting at her, distracted. Linka fired a full mag at the group, uncaring if she also damaged the carnivorous zoomer in addition to her wounds. Leven was quick to join her, moving adjacent to her position, adding to the firing. They dropped but only a few, leaving five or so left, plus the machine gunner.

"He's not down!"

"You try shooting him from this angle!"

"Damn it!" Leven stayed in cover. "Linka, we can't move in until-"

The gunner had centered to Linka, giving her all of their attention instead. She wasn't fast enough to hide from them, so it was a nice surprise when three lucky bullets hit their mark, digging right into Linka's cheek, chest and leg. She toppled over behind the truck, sticking her tongue out. "Bullet- Bullet in my mouth."

"Shit!" Leven saw no out. "The zoomer's likely dead... Shit!"

"We're almost empty! You'll have to improvise!"

"You are all incompetent shooters!" Linka insulted at the pair. "Get out of this fucking fanfiction if you're gonna be fucking useless!"

"Linka, calm down-"

"FUCK, FUCK, FUCKETY FUCK!"

"If you all are finished running your mouths like rank amateurs, I'd like to make one thing clear-" Caroline had turned out to have been flanking around via the buildings, going undetected to both parties, coming right up behind the gunner, inserting both of her sword-shaped arms right into them. "Was that so hard? Close the herd already!"

Leven grabbed Linka's rifle and tossed it out to lure the remainder of the convoy. "FINISH IT!"

"NO, LEAVE ONE ALIVE!" Linka screamed back. "WE NEED INFORMATION ON THE MISSING MARINES!"

The boys complied, letting the trigger fingers do their thing right up to the last guy being downed, shot at their legs. And then, the firefight had ended. Leven helped Linka out, helping her up and supplying himself as crutch support. As for Lynnette- "Holy shit."

Caroline had regrouped with the clones, dragging their only lead right across from the town-up zoomer. "Good job, you guys could have ensured her life remained intact, now she's dead."

"N-not out fault, you accusing sack of shit!" Linka wanted to drop-kick the strict blonde. "She jumped out and attacked on her own accord!"

Leven kicked at Lynnette's corpse, unsure if the girl was really dead. Lynnette had not been moving, so maybe there was that chance that she had some real bad luck. He went on his knees and pressed his head against her blood-stained mouth. "She's breathing! Jesus, she survived that!"

"Not for long..." Caroline believed, but she was wrong; Lynnette's body fought back against the bullets, pushing the fragments lodged in her right out, wounds closing in a slow manner, but in the rate that shown them she was truly beyond a regular human. "Oh."

"Who the hell is this girl?!" Leven out his foot down. "Linka, we're gonna have to interrogate her-"

"Find us a dampener and then we'll get anything out of her..." Linka looked to the final insurgent left alive. "In the meantime..."

Lemy and Bobby returned to ground level, jogging back to the four.

"We know what to do, right?" Linka aimed her gun at their new hostage, not feeling too merciful. "We'll get them boys back, and we'll get out of this place."

Leven nodded in agreement. "We'll get closer."

The only thought he had circling in his mind was the identity of that fake McMahon he had brought back on the day he, Linka and the three other phenos were deployed to capture him. Who was that, some shapeshifter? A man in the perfect disguise to fool them? He knew he'd have to bring it up with the man in due time, but when that time came...

"We'll find the boys and the Black Dog! Count on it!"

August 5th, 2030

Lemy had the genuine liberty of taking the pair of albino Lincoln clones back to the hideout Allie had a hand in setting up. He'd find her there, resting comfortably on one of the mattresses, either expecting Lemy to arrive on this day or not at all. Either way, he'd see her reaction but only before he had brought his special guests to collect on their prize today. Allison Taggart, the niece of well-known senator Peter McMahon, perched up and doing jack shit would be in there for the taking. "After this, that's all you're gonna get, alright?"

Leven was pleased to have the help. "Its appreciated, I thank you for your help."

"Just take her and do whatever you need to, don't bother me again."

"Spoil sport," Linka sassed, shaking her hips.

"Tell me about her?"

"Uhhh, she's a little feisty to say the least, and eager to fight whenever it proves to be beneficial-"

"Like right now, you mean-" The trio had stopped before the entered the building, Allie revealing herself right behind the corner of the doorway, armed with only a syringe in her left hand. "Sorry, Lemy, but you've done goofed bringing them to my doorstep."

"...You-" Leven and Linka recognized her by voice.

"Good to see you again, freaks!" Allie stuck the syringe into her arm, letting the liquid it contained flow right into her bloodstream. "Now let's see how you can fare against the indisputable super-drug known as Medi-Sin!"

Act IV: Bloodier, Chapter IV: X-Elites