Act VI: Renaissance, Chapter III: Welcome To Grimmtown

Link-B, the clone structured with the cells of Lincoln and Luna, and Link-C, of Lincoln and Lynn, were running further south with no real sense of direction. It was just the two of them when Link-D had been left behind to buy them some valuable time from the monster. It had already been some long few days since it happened- and they simply didn't know the date. Not the day, month or year as of yet.

Lacy and Liby were still in the skin-tight suits they've come out of their chambers in. Liby, still rather slow, had been moving like an ant, meaning Lacy had to slow down too often so that she could catch up. They hid in the daylight hours and moved through the night, further away from the monsters in human clothing and the truth that they had yet to stomach like a hard pill. Stomach, digest, the end.

"Lynn..." Liby and Lacy were still in the phase where they addressed each other as the people whose faces they've been wearing. She was Luan, and Lacy was Lynn, not Link-B not Link-C. Fuck all that. "I'm getting hungry again."

"Yeah, I'll do something about it..." Lacy peeked her eyes through the blindfolds of a house they'd broken into, the real estate sign planted on the lawn. "At least we got a roof over us, huh?"

Liby sighed and shook her head. "That's... That doesn't make things any better than before."

"I know..." Lacy fell back and laid down, hands set over her chest like a happy puppy receiving belly rubs. Only she wasn't. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't worry about it, Lynn..." Liby put a hand on Lacy's back and rubbed. "I know you mean well, I do. Just wish I could afford a laugh over constantly worrying. Where are we supposed to go from here? Not Royal Woods, right? Not back home."

"I don't know, I'm not big on ideas..." Lacy let out a pitiful sigh, falling to her side. "Sorry."

"We'll figure something out, but we've gotta do it fast."

"Yeah..."

Something clicked in Liby. "Maybe we need to go to Canada."

"No!" Lacy opposed the idea- No, she just blurted it out for no reason. "Wait, why Canada?"

"I like Canada..." Liby shared. "They're peaceful and welcoming! Plus, they gave us... Wait, Ryan Reynolds is Canadian, right?"

"Dunno who that is," Lacy shrugged. "Obviously not sports related. Anyways, the sun's going down, food run is coming up. You know what to do, don't you?"

"Yeah." Liby knew the plan by heart. They'd get to a store and she would find some object- trashcan, carts, maybe a bunch of rocks- and have it into the storefront for a staged diversion. She'd rant like some crazy chick and lure the employees out. See, it worked for the small ones, gas stations and 7-11 stores mainly, but it never worked the full hundred percent of the time. Here's to hoping it worked again. "I'm ready. Grab me some donuts if you can."

"Donuts, huh?" Lacy went down and did some sit-ups. "One... Two... Three-"

Liby's eyes noticed a shadow moving in the faint corner of the kitchen. She could just as easily have imagined it, but there was a sudden scuffling sound that stopped Lacy before the seventh sit-up was done. The two girls grew alarmed but stayed in place, ominously staring at the kitchen. "Hey!" Lacy called out into the kitchen. "Who's there?"

"Lynn, I'm-" Liby went white when a pair of threatening yellow eyes glowed from the dark. "Oh, my God-"

"Stand down, Lizy," a girl's voice echoed within the dark. "You know what we're about."

"They smell like garbage," the second female voice insulted them. "They're garbage."

"Provide overwatch, I've got this..." Alejandra Santiago stepped out of the shadows with a comforting smile set in place. "Hi, don't be alarmed. Don't mind my friend, she is snappy and distrusting of strangers. Why, she even punched me in the face the first time we met."

"And what is it that you want?" Lacy demanded of her.

Alex, rocking in gray jeans and a black shirt with no bra underneath, stopped just three feet apart from the clones. "Great question, I like you already. I just happen to know about this very special place down in the heart of Mexico."

"Mexico?"

"It isn't much as it is now, it's still being worked on, but... This place in particular is being built as a safe haven for phenos. I take it you know what those are."

"Phenos?" Lacy shook her head. "No, I-"

"It's what you are, and it's what I am," Alex explained. "People with powers, they've all come out of the woodwork, escaping their Vial Corporation captors. These very same people took in all directions to hide or make noise. A bunch of them fled south with the idea to establish a town there, where they could hide from U.S. jurisdiction. Granted, they could be extradited in a heartbeat but that's to be played as of yet."

"Oh..." Liby nodded slowly. "So you've come to give us invites, huh? How do we qualify for that?"

"You've got some eyes on you," Alex revealed so simply. "We're rounding up all the phenos we can find and bringing them back to the haven."

"How do we know you're not lying?" Lacy defensively asked. "We've been on the run by too many in the last few days. You could just be another one of them."

"Easy there, I haven't spoken any lie yet," Alex calmed. "You'd just have to trust me, you two can have rest, better food, and no more stealing and risking getting caught here. Come on-" She held out her hand. "-it's time for you both to be part of a better community now."

Liby stepped forward.

"Luan!"

"Lynn, I- I trust her..." Liby couldn't explain it, but she felt it with her besting heart. She felt that Alex was being honest and could be trustworthy. She took her hand and shook carefully. "I want to go to this place. I'm hungry for something better than munchies."

"Tacos, enchiladas, chalupas- all the food down there is more organic and tastier, I promise you that!"

Liby licked her lips. "I could eat a horse..."

"What of you?" Alex looked to Lacy for an answer. "I get it, you think I'm fishy, and that's why I won't force you to come. Just say the word, yes or no, and I'll leave with or without you."

"Lynn..." Liby urged. "Come on, we- We can finally-"

"You're right, there's something off about this..." Lacy spoke. "And my brain is telling me not to come. So... I reject your offer, and it would do well for you, Luan, to do so as well."

"Lynn... No, you can't-"

Alex frowned. "You don't know what it is you're missing-"

"I'll take my chances," Lacy scoffed. "Luan, if it makes things easier for you-"

"It will, but not just for me!" Liby tried to persuade her sister, grabbing onto her shoulders. "Lynn, we could only go so far until... I can't do this anymore. We need to stick with others, we needed to fund a better way, not this. Not just the two of us, and- And I think you knew that. You had to have known we couldn't-"

"Shut up..." Lacy hissed. "Just shut up, right now."

"Mmm... Lynn..." Liby let go of Lacy's shoulders. "We don't have to be by ourselves anymore!"

"It's all just bullshit..."

Alex walked to the back, opening the balcony. "You, Luan, was it? We don't have long here, we're always on the schedule."

"Lynn... Come with us, I am begging you."

"No," Lacy denied. "I'm not gonna, this doesn't feel right. It feels like a trap."

"Maybe to you," Liby went. "For some reason, maybe to you, but not to me..."

"We're supposed to stick together."

"Yes!" Liby shouted. "I'm trying to keep you close but you're pulling back! No one else has offered us some ticket out of this madness! I'm taking it! Whether or not it's a trap, I have to see for myself! Why, why would in the name of God would I dare risk it?! Why do you?! Why do you?!"

Lacy broke her eye contact from Liby. "It just doesn't feel real to me anymore."

Liby forfeited her anger and just let out a hopeless sigh. "It really has been a hard past few days, hasn't it?"

"Yeah..."

"Lynn, y-you know I can't-" Liby placed a hand over her chest. "I need you, I need a fighter. And you- You've always been stronger than me, how could you just leave me all defenseless?"

"Really gonna go there, aren't you?"

"We've lost white-haired Lucy, haven't we? It's just us- Unless you..."

"I can't come," Lacy mouthed. "But if that place is occupied, then you'll have friends. You'll have your own protection, which means you won't depend on me, rely on me."

"For God's sakes, you're my sister!" Liby slapped her and Lacy did nothing. "We've been separated for too many years! I can't see you go! I won't-!" She grabbed and locked onto Lacy's arms. "HEY, WHATEVER YOU CAN DO, I SUGGEST YOU DO IT NOW!"

"Nice trick!" Alex jogged at the clones as Lacy tried to break free. "Here goes nothing!"

Mexico

Lacy, Liby and Alex, or rather Alex in a dark blue suit of some sort, ended up in a dirt field just close to a town thirty feet away. Alex got up and brushed the dirt off her suit. "You've made the right call, Luan," Alex told Liby with a grin. "Come this way."

"Why the hell did you do that?! I didn't want... To..." Lacy looked around at the setting. It was as Alex had promised so far. Desert-like setting. Tumbleweeds rolling about, the night having taken over. Waves of dusty storms that picked up the sand and blew it into their eyes. "Mexico..."

Liby tagged along Alex's side, following her into the assortment of tiny houses. "Is- is that it?"

"Still filling up the populace here, but yeah, it's what they've got as of yet. Fifty-seven of them, now fifty-nine with you two here."

"Fifty-eight," Lacy corrected.

"No, she's right!" Liby blocked. "You and I will live here without a second thought."

"We'll see about that."

"So we will," Liby agreed. "So we will."

They came up to the town- five streets of cement brick houses and storage shacks- and met with various townsfolk of all ages. Old men and women, young ones, and one kid for every batch of six or so they saw. Not much of that around here, but most of them were of Caucasian descent. The lights filled the porches and illuminated the sides and back of the houses. Liby's stomach dared to betray her by growling away.

"Tortilla is aplenty here," Alex shared joyfully. "You can never know hungry. Most of these people here, the adults, were declared missing or dead, so their loved ones cleared their bank accounts, transferring all that they've worked for. Only a few here still had access to their money, but cash-cash, not from the banks. Sheesh, it's almost too painful to think about."

"That money was tossed into a pile for everyone, right?"

"Oh, yes," Alex nodded, leading them into the first street. "This place is only five streets wide, but no one's gonna pave the roads. We don't have the resources to do it, nor the cars to use on it. Fresh start for everyone, but it's not always the best thing."

"All of these poor people," Liby lamented. "They've got the bad end of life..." She stopped and looked down, feeling a sort of sad pity upon them.

"Don't mourn for how shitty their lives turned out," Alex pressed, wrapping a hand around Liby. "You have a wide heart, I admire that, but this isn't as bad as having been killed. They've survived and they will adapt and flourish here! The rare second chance grantee by the likes of God, and who could say otherwise?"

"I- I guess..."

"Come, the last house on the first street is like the town hall," Alex led. "The walls are carved with the names of the good people of... Um, they call this Grimmtown, just an Eff-Why-Eye, I'm not sure why exactly. I know for a fact that someone among the original group named it that."

The people they've come across smiled and waved at Liby and Lacy with hearty attitudes, none of the radiating any hostility that would make Lacy fly into battle or retreat from this dump. Right now, her main concern was if they had working toilets and showers and meaty foods. Her mouth might have just been watering for a beef burrito right about now. Liby herself smiled and flung her hand to wave back at the nice townsfolk as she and the two girls walked around.

"Hey, sorry to do this to you but I have to get going, I've a long day ahead of me, the relocating of phenos is almost never ebding." Alex pointed to a wide house at the end on the right of the street. "Ms. Demonet there cooks a mean steak. She is friendly and kind, go tell her you're new and she will fill your stomach. We'll pick this up later, okay?"

"Steak?" Lacy rubbed her stomach. "The Holy Grail of meat is-" She booked it and ran to the house Alex had referred her to.

"I guess she's been hungry, too," Alex laughed. "You'll be fine here, Luan. You can trust me... You do trust me, right?"

"Yes," Liby nodded happily. "Thank you... Really, thank you for this, uhhh-"

"Right, I never introduced myself, haven't I?" Alex took Liby's hand and shook it. "Alejandra Santiago at your service. Now I'm off! See you later, gator!"

Liby turned back and followed Lacy after Alex had disappeared in the blink of an eye; science stuff was always meant to elude her, but in the today world, it wasn't make-believe anymore. Lisa Loud was singing and dancing out of overwhelming joy, wherever she was. She joined her younger clone sister and sat down on the rectangular table on the kitchen of the house that one Ms. Demonet lived in. The middle-aged woman was a mother of three in the before time, and one silent night, Black Network goons came and kidnapped her and the kids. She lived through their experiments, but the poor two boys and the one girl had their insides destroyed, the end. Sharon Demonet lived here a widow and with her young now gone from the world. Liby would hear Ms. Demonet's story and be touched right in the artificial heart.

Liby didn't fully have the stomach to gobble down the sizzling steak on her plate. Her hands had indeed been gripping the knife and fork, but the knife had never cut through the steak, nor had the fork tried to take it whole and put it into her mouth. Meanwhile, our young Lacy wasn't paying attention. The clone athlete was halfway through the steak, not slowing down for any silly old wives' tale. "I'm- I'm sorry to hear that..." was Liby's fair, mindful response. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"I'm sure," the older woman told not just Liby, but to herself as some reminder, "that they're up there with God. They're with their father and one fine day... One fine day, I will leave my vessel and take flight to the gates. But enough of this speaking of ill tragedy... Eat, my girls."

Liby looked down to her steak; she had been hungry but... "I will, ma'am."

"It's good to see the faces of young again," Demonet pleasantly stated. "You are such sweet, and mighy I add famished as well. I hope we can accommodate you two in any way we can."

"That's awfully nice of you..." Liby smiled at the woman, but then her eyes broke from contact and she had herself looking down on her lap. "Actually, all I would like right now is for my other sister to be here. You see, Miss Demonet, there were three of us but she- Her name is Lucy by the way- We were in a pickle, and-" Lacy stopped her ravenous munching and turned to Liby. "'-she was fending off people who were attacking us. Others like us, it seems. Like-" Liby then turned the knife on herself and ran it across her palm.

"Sweetie, what are you-?!" Demonet gasped and placed her hands over her mouth, sensitive to such scenes. Liby's wound closed by itself, and the elder woman then lowered her aging hands, astonished and bewildered. "Is this-?"

"What they've done to me?" Liby began nodding. "One of many things, there's more, I'm sure-"

"Luan-" Lacy meant for Liby to stop talking, but Liby wouldn't.

"The three of us can do that, but it's Lucy who has... Well, we think it really is telekinesis, we believe."

"Tele-" Demonet hiccuped hard. "Funny you should mention that. Earlier today the scouts brought a girl who displayed that ability. She moved stuff with her hands as if she were controlling the air, and she was also able to fly. Couldn't be her, could it?"

Liby shook her head. "I'm not sure, Lucy was fighting a group, it was... It seemed that she would lose, but I pray for her... I hope she made it out alive."

"She did, she's out there somewhere," Lacy hoped. "I'm sure of it, but we can have that Mexican girl look for her. Girl with white hair and a moody attitude, not hard to find."

Sharon Demonet's eyes widened with realization. "Wait, is that how Lucy looks like? That girl who came by today matches this exact description!"

Liby dropped her utensils. "Are you sure?!"

Lacy choked on the next piece of steak that entered her windpipe. "Luthy!"

"That's her, gotta be!"

"Oh... Are you sure you aren't four sisters?" Demonet then presented the girls with a greater surprise. "She came with another girl of white hair, but... The other one didn't have telekinesis."

"Other one-?" Liby scratched her head, lost. "Wait..."

Lacy nudged at Liby's shoulder. "Come on!' she insisted, swallowing her steak piece hard. "We have to find her! Miss, where did you see her last?"

"She was on the third street, helping out the men build another shack down there."

"Wait, Lacy-" Liby stopped her from talking. "Ma'am, could you tell me about this other girl? Was she shorter than our sister Lucy? Longer hair?"

"Yes, long hair, but..." A third guest entered the house without warning, and Old Lady Demonet flashed her eyes up. "Ah, well, here she is now!"

Liby tensed up, expecting to see the crazy girl Linka again. Lacy had looked back and stared at Liberty standing on the doorway, her arms crossed as she greeted the youngsters. "And I see that Alex brought us a duo of little-widdle chicky-chick chicks! Hello there!"

"Uh-" Lacy zipped up, not having much to say.

Liby formed a sly smile and waved. "Hi there, I'm Luan, and this is Lynn."

"Oh! Small world, my name starts with the same letter," Liberty laughed. "I'm Liberty, and I'm certain you're acquainted with the lovely Ms. Demonet here!"

"Always the modest one, aren't you, Liberty?" For Demonet, it was always a pleasure seeing Liberty droop by every now and again.

Liberty had come with a weaved basket in her hands, lifting it up to place on the table. "Apple and rhubarb pie here from Evans just down the street. He didn't remember which one you said you loved so he baked both."

"Oh, why isn't he a dear peach?" It surely delighted Demonet in the wholesome way, as Liby and Lacy could see. Why, this place seemed... Friendly. Lively. A positive community just like- "Do give him my gratitude, will you? And thank you for delivering it to me personally, Liberty. You are a sweet girl."

Liberty smiled widely, closed her eyes and rolled around in the compliment, the very pride she was feeling, the sense of great importance here. "I sure will! I'll see you later!" She turned to leave- and flashed Liby and Lacy a cruel grin that bypassed Ms. Demonet's sightlines. The calling card of death. Soon, clones, you will fulfill his purpose.

"I must be tired or..." Lacy yawned, believing her eyes to be deceiving. "I could use a nap..."

"Certainly!" Ms. Demonet pointed to the wall of the kitchen. "You can take a nap on my own bedroom if you'd like, just as long as you don't pull the covers over."

"Nice!" Lacy cheered.

"Ma'am, are you certain?" Liby questioned the woman's good nature.

"Hey, just cause I might smell-" Lacy tried to defend.

"This is fine," she responded to assure. "You two look like you could use more than just a nap and food. This place is to provide for all the people who seek it. Like I said, we accommodate each other as God wills it."

"Right... God..." Liby nodded, albeit slowly. "Lynn, go ahead if you want. Heck, it's late, maybe a good night's sleep is due."

"Just a nap is fine, miss," Lacy agreed upon. "I wouldn't want go intrude. Luan?"

"I'll be around taking a look here in... Grimmtown..." Liby looked down at her plate. Nothing had been eaten from her own platter. What's wrong with me to not eat? I... I don't know what to say here...

"Hey," Lacy noticed it. "You feeling okay? I thought you'd be necking that steak."

"Necking? What does that mean?"

Lacy slapped herself upside the head. "That's Luna's British slang. Wow, she rubbed off on me this much..." Lacy shared a quick, humorous laugh. "What, are you not hungry?"

"It is good steak," Demonet cut in. "I've made it with love."

"And she went overboard with it!" Lacy practically licked her lips when she was done eating. "I have not had steak in... Well, it feels so long ago..." The frown and her happy mood subsided. "Actually... No, I can't remember when I had it. The taste, the sizzled skin and the grease on it, my taste buds know all of that by heart, but..."

Liby touched Lacy on the shoulder. "It tastes as good as you remember, doesn't it?"

Lacy looked to her- there were tears there already- but didn't form the smile that Liby was forming. "It does, it's just like before." She turned to Ms. Demonet. "I can't thank you enough for cooking us such a yummy meal. You are a good cook."

"Thank you deary," Demonet smiled. "Now wipe your tears, it is unbecoming of you."

Liby grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped Lacy's eyes for her. "How about now? Do you still want to run from this?"

"Don't hold me to my previous thoughts..." At last, Lacy smiled and laughed. "Dang it, you wanted that, didn't you? You sly devil, you!"

"I take it as a yes..." Liby set the moist napkin onto the table and turned to finish her steak piece. "Looks real thick."

"Thick is good and you know it, Luan!" Lacy squealed, sniffing. "Make me proud."

Outside, Liberty had hung back, eavesdropping on the girls. And all that she'd heard had made its way into her heart. It was a worm, but not a bad worm at all. It dug and wiggled through her body and wrapped around her heart and it did some good to make her feel that sort of sisterhood even the clones shared when, back home... Why are they closer? Why doesn't Mercer and Chang treat me-? Why doesn't my own birth mother-

Alex returned and strutted along the dirt ground in between the first two rows of buildings, just barely visible in the shine of the porch lights. Liberty noticed her and tiptoed her way from Demonet's place, walking over to her slowly. Alex rolled her eyes at the sight of her own clone. "Keeping out of trouble, I hope," Alex warned.

"Sure," Liberty muttered without any care. "What's Mercer doing now?"

"She's just seeing the world for herself," Alex answered, not looking at the clone. "And You, how are you feeling in this new world?"

"New world..." Liberty found the choice of words funny. "It's going to die, why do you-?"

"I mean to say it's new to us, smartass..." Alex crossed her arms. "New to us, and we may never come back here after this is over. Make the most of it, go meet some guy and have sex. Eat a cheeseburger- we can all do things we can't back home. Lissandra's been downloading off The Pirate Bay to take back."

"Lissandra..." Liberty felt attacked now. "First name basis, since when?"

Alex then looked at Liberty and then away from her. "I don't know..." was her lie.

"Okay..." Liberty saw through her- mainly because she was her. "Cool."

"Is there any place you wanted to go see?" Alex motioned her hands around like a teacher going over a lecture. "Malls, arcades. Hey, we both love Space Invaders. Remember that? You share my memories, so I know you know of that..."

"I do..." Liberty nodded. "Space Invaders, it was fun."

"And so many more games to be played. There's this place called Dave and Buster's. That's where the magic-"

"Hard pass..." Liberty faced away from Alex and left down the street. "You can take me anywhere and everywhere in this new world as you claim, but at the end of the day, you made it clear you didn't want me to be a Primer. You didn't want me around..."

Alex never followed Liberty; she knew how destructive her words were, and she accepted that the damage might have been done. She sighed in exasperation. But... You're the only person in the world... Who could possibly understand what I'm feeling now...

Later

Liby went outside and went to where Demonet had told her Link-D would be. Lupa was her branded name, thanks to Linka, but the name Lucy had still stuck. Lupa had not yet given herself a different name yet, despite the facts that had now been. Clone, not the real Lucy, and it had been proven to Lupa direct when she and the real Lucy were kidnapped and then cloned themselves, spawning in Lilith and Lumi. One new entity after the other.

She found the white-haired goth moving cement bricks around in the air, taking them into one of the shacks with a couple of older men. "Hey, Lucy!"

Lupa dropped the cinder blocks when she heard Lucy's name. "Shit."

"Really? Is that the first thing you're gonna say?"

"Hi! Shit..." Lupa tried again. "What the fuck brings you here?! I thought I'd seen the last of you uo north."

"Same for you!" Liby hugged her sister tightly. "Oh, my God, I thought you were dead! I thought they'd have killed you!"

"Hey..." Lupa hugged Liby back, happy to see her in good shape. Is... Uh, is Lynn here too?"

"Oh yeah, she's napping over at Demonet's right now. We've had a rough couple of days."

"I'll bet..." Lupa cleared her throat. "I just came here today, I didn't miss you, did I?"

"No, we did the same, too!"

"Nice!" Lupa looked over Liby's side. "Hey, I'll be right back!"

"Sure thing, Lucy!" one of the men said. "Don't worry a bunch."

"Thanks!" Lupa grabbed Liby by her arm and then ran, taking her away from the scene. "Come, we can catch up in private! Although there isn't much I have to tell."

"Uh, sure..." Liby had only wonder for what happened after she and Lacy ran away. Nothing more. They moved past outside the town perimeter, up some fifty feet away. Lupa had to make sure she wasn't in range of anyone, not even those of super-hearing. She put a hand to her lips to keep Liby from talking.

"Listen," Lupa whispered like a mouse. "It's not good up there, I learned way more stuff than you can imagine."

"What-?" Lupa cupped Liby's mouth shut when Liby used her normal voice, then shook her head.

"Don't- don't speak, you'll just listen."

Liby nodded, and Lupa let go.

"Somehow, the connection has been made here," Lupa warned. "Lisa Loud, you know her, I know her- She was behind everything that we ask questions about now. The place we woke up in, the missing years- You do know what this year is, don't you? Or... I bet you have a sense of long-passed events" you can remember things but not the senses synonymous with them, right?"

"Oh..." Liby's mind raced to earlier, how Lacy went weird with the steak. "Oh, so that's what it was..."

"Yes, yes, now... Here, I learned that they hate the Louds, they really do. Not just the one who did this to them, but the entire family tree. And you know who we are!"

"They... Hate us!"

"Such is the nature of the situation..." Lupa cleared her throat. "Don't tell anyone your full names. What did you say?"

"Told a few we're Luan and Lynn, but only a few, but..." Liby went silent. "Never mind. No, we didn't give our last names."

"It would be better if you didn't... But I did," Lupa revealed. "Here, I'm Lucy Grimm, that's the alias I've been sticking to. Didn't tell anyone about you just yet, but if you told anyone you two were sisters, we can all stick to the Grimm girls lie. Funny that the town had to be named Grimmtown of all things, though. I got it off some novel I saw in a bookstand and I was just in the heat of the moment..." She moaned with disgust. "I hate this, all of this "

"Lisa, I could get... But the rest of them? No, they weren't involved-"

"These guys don't care. They believe in an eye for an eye and they also believe trouble could come here. They want to protect themselves, even some are willing to go back just to raid facilities with their powers. Well I say good luck to them and that they may never find out about us. I've told you before, I will again. We're only clones with the faces of our originals. The files of us exist and roam on the internet. Just the files, nothing on our faces."

"I haven't seen anyone who looked like me-"

"But you've seen that other Lynn, same as I have too!" Lupa reminded. "That's not all..."

Lupa ran her hands down on her chest. This was where Lincoln had shot her with the boomstick her had around back there. She could still feel the full force of the blast. "I've run into the real Lucy. It was her, the real her, she was alive and I couldn't believe it. Whoever you think you are here, you're a clone. I am a clone, and the Lynn sleeping in Demonet's place isn't the real Lynn..."

"Then... Okay."

"Sorry..." Lupa spat on the ground. "Last thing I want to do is hurt you, you know that-"

"Are- Are we monsters...?"

Lupa shook her head rapidly. "No, we did no wrong here, I know that. You know that, too. You're both good."

"Hey, so are you!" Liby let Lupa know. "You saved us from them- Him. He would have-"

"Shut up," Lupa cut in. "Don't think about the "if" in this equation. We're here together again, we got real lucky and I hope you know that..."

"Okay... Okay, sorry."

"Hey, did you eat?" Lupa raised an eyebrow and observed her. She then leaned in and sniffed Liby's mouth. "Oh, whaddya know? Steak!"

"Steak," Liby repeated.

"Good, wouldn't have you sleeping with an empty stomach. Know no hunger."

"Yeah..."

"I'm sorry I was never able to catch up to you..." Lupa apologized from within. "He got me good, I was... Out of commission for awhile but I'm fine now."

"He did?" Liby closed her eyes. "Oh, God..." She couldn't help but sob a bit.

Lupa made no effort to wipe her sister's tears away. "It'll be okay, he can do us no harm if we hide here until we die of old age. We're safe here. We'll be safe here."

Elsewhere - The Next Day

Lissandra Autumn Mercer, the blonde teenager with a faint Southern accent, seen sporting a red cap worn backwards, a green-blue cut top that showed skin, and blue jeans and white sneakers, rocked the world of today with a Strawberry Acai drink and a sunshine smile on her face. Boy-oh-boy, the world pre-World War III was full of life. Social media galore. Memes. Vines. Tiktok bullshit for days and weeks. Was it this way before the war ravaged the planet?

She discovered pizza! She knew a triple cheeseburger's divine taste. The smell of yummy meat, and no decomposing corpses lying in the street. No cities in ruins. No smoke and fire that kept the nights lit for days. Everything was working one way and the only day. And the best part was when she saw dogs and cats and birds- Wait, what the fuck were birds? Lissandra had never seen birds before. Picture books never amounted to the real thing. Birds! Those happy winged bastards sung their song and moved all over the place. They...

Lissandra noticed them and the joy that was brought out in her suddenly drained. They were free. They were able to go anywhere and everywhere they so desired- and here she was, walking the sidewalks, physically unable to fly. A human condemned to move with two legs, in her case, four when she transformed into her alter ego, the reptilian beast of green skin, deadly claws and teeth, and a plug-ugly snout. The Luna Loud of the Primers. Lizy.

"Yeah..." She minded the birds and sat on the curb, suddenly forgetting the current objective. "You can fly anywhere, but can you time travel? Can you go arrange it so that-?"

"Hey," Alex popped up from behind and sat next to Lissandra. "How do you like this place?"

"All the world is bigger than I thought it was," Lissandra stated in a wondrous sense. "Milkshakes, you ever tried that? Strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate! Alex, there's- There's fucking chocolate milkshakes before it all went to shit!"

"Yeah, there really is..." Alex agreed, conveying some sort of disappointment. "Maybe too big for us."

"Too big-?" Things slowly began falling in place. "Oh, right,.the four of us are here doing Dylan Blood's bidding. Hmph... You know, being here, seeing things differently, I've been thinking it dangerously. Alex, do we really need to go back?"

"You know we do," Alex scoffed at the notion. "Liberty does, I do, you and Bethany included."

"Beg pardon..." A young girl of Chinese-Japanese descent, perched up on a tree, looked over them while she read a manga novel. "We could stay for awhile and come back to the present in a year or to. He won't notice it, it'll have been hours for him there, wouldn't you agree?"

"See, Bethany is the smart one here, and you ain't," Lissandra insulted.

"He'll notice, I'm sure," Alex believed.

"Not a month, no," Bethany countered. "Or maybe... Hey, Lissandra. Be wary that he told her and her clone we'd all be coming back. And of the four of us, you and Liberty are the frontliners for the Grimmtown operation. Now what about us? What did he put us here for?"

"Umm..." Lissandra had questioned it. "He said-"

"Providing protection for them both?" Bethany Chang dropped from the tree, dropping her My Hero Academia manga novel. "That isn't right. Not when Alex here has an anti-pheno battle suit. And what's more, Liberty used that Silver Element. The magic fucking watch that Blood keeps guarded under three layers of Compound C."

Alex went silent.

"Wait, what? The Silver Element-"

"I'm only telling you that something isn't right here..." Bethany pulled out a dagger from her back. "What is our role here?! You know the reason we were told to join you, don't you?!"

"Don't you point that thing on me!" Alex switched to her dark blue battle suit, raising her arms into fists. "You're about to be Ching-Chang-Chingado a la madre, pendeja!"

"Guys, cool it!"

"We weren't aware you'd come! Blood told us it was just me, Liberty and Lissandra only!"

"Bullshit!" Bethany roared. "Take off the suit and fight-"

A blinding flash of light filled the world, and they covered their eyes. And when they opened them, the found themselves in the middle of a desert, maybe Nevada by the looks of it. Lissandra looked around, baffled. "I was going to the ice cream shop, for fuck's sake!"

"What was that?" Bethany checked her hand and found no dagger in it. "How-?"

"Liberty!" Alex pointed to the latest addition to the Primers group, just standing twenty feet before them. Liberty held up her wrist and revealed the all-powerful watch-shaped device on her wrist. "Holy shit... He let you-?"

"Stop fighting, you animals..." Liberty addressed. "You wanna know why Blood brought us l together when he didn't have to?! This is why! We're still at each other's throats like we really wanna kill each other! Team bonding, that's what he called it!"

"Team bonding...?" Bethany repeated.

"Of course, he knew you two would object to it if you were directly asked to strengthen the relationship!" Liberty lowered her hand. "I was the only person entrusted to know of his plans, but I can see that it wasn't working as expected. All of us were set to Grimmtown despite his orders for you two not to set foot. Don't be stupid, how could you protect us if we were miles away?!"

"Oh..." Bethany felt pretty stupid. "What-?"

"Oh..." Alex exited her battle mode. "Geez."

"Can you three just regroup to Grimmtown?"

"Ugh..." Lissandra let out a moan. "I was enjoying myself! Do we have to?"

"Now!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Alex laughed. "Help us out!"

"Don't push it, mother..."

"Tsch... Spoilsport," Alex cursed. "Lizy, Bed, I'll give you the tour if you want."

"Yeah, why not?" Bethany inhaled deeply. "Liberty, do your thing, clone."

"Lazy bums!" Liberty complied, lifting her arm out and engulfing the world again in the endless, blinding light again. "LONG LIVE THE PRI-"

Grimmtown, Mexico

Lupa carried the sleepy Lacy up on her shoulders. "Nice to see you again, sporty, now how about some champion breakfast?"

Lacy held on and yawned. "Please, mom... I want b-bacon..."

Liby trailed beside Lupa, constantly holding her hand behind Lacy to keep her from falling. "We couldn't bring it to her?"

"She has to wake up for her own good," Lupa firmly believed, deciding on that. When she, Liby and Lacy stepped foot in the dining hall of Grimmtown, they were greeted warmly by everyone around. "Hello, people! Hope you have a good mornijg!" Lupa greeted while Liby merely waved, multitasking here. "My sister here needs a good dosage of coffee if you can!"

The tables were assorted near symmetrical to each other, most of the occupied. The hall looked like that of a camp's own, but the people did not totally give it camp vibes it was due. Lupa found the trio a table and turned around, bending her knees. "Sit, girl," she introduced Lacy, her knees then quaking vividly. "I can't support you."

Lacy dropped herself from Lupa's back, sliding down and striking her buttocks hard against the plank seat. "Ouchie!"

"Be more careful!" Lupa bashed. "You're just as heavy as I imagined a Lynn would be."

"You're mean!" Lacy whimpered, then yawned. "I could use a side of bacon to whatever we're having-"

"I don't even know what we're having, actually," Lupa looked around to the end of the hall. "Wait, how does this work?"

Three older folk, with one of them being Demonet, bringing the three girls the same breakfast players of eggs sunny-side up with a side of toast and three bacon strips, setting them on the table in their midst. Lacy sniffed the bacon and grew more awake, her tongue peering through her lips and so graciously licking around them counter-clockwise. "Oh, momma!"

"It is made to be of your liking," Sharon Demonet happily announced. "As much as I wished we had syrup for the toast-"

"No, this is fine," Liby implored, assuring the kind woman the breakfast was as good as it was. "It's perfect is what it is!"

"I'll say!" Lacy placed the bacon pieces over the toast and began eating away like a wild animal to a carcass. "Mmmm!"

"She likes it," Lupa shared. "It must be good, thank you."

Lacy was halfway done with her breakfast by the time Lupa and Liby touched theirs; they were the slower, natural ones here. Bite by bite, one swallow at a time. It wasn't much, but it was delicious for what it was. Five minutes later, some drink, they called it horchate or something, had come in plastic, small cups. It looked like milk but the taste was nothing like milk, and neither three girls could describe the taste. At all. Lacy burped the minute she devoured all on her plate- and had the piggish audacity to look upon the plates of her sisters and glaze in desire. She was about to ask, but Lupa took her head from her plate and said, "No," just like that. Surely made Lacy frown.

"Here..." Liby slid her plate to Lacy, of which the bacon strips were still intact. "You can have these."

"Far out!" Lacy grinned. "I love you!"

Liby took a free glance around the halll and spotted Alex and Liberty sitting together on a table at the far left. They were facing the entire hall from where they sat, but were digging into their own breakfasts, mindful of their food. "Hey..." Liby signaled her sisters towards the direction of the two. "Not-Lucy, we've been told that you came with that girl. Do you know her?"

Lupa took a look at Liberty, but shook her head. "Barely. Yeah, we were both picked up by that other one next to her, that Alex chick. She found her before she found me... At least that's what they've told me, but-"

Liby then made a connection the more she stared at them. "They look like each other... The hair, the face features- Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"Alex..." Lupa ran a finger down on the table and scratched against the wood. "Liberty..."

"Wait a second..." Liby narrowed her green eyes at Alex. "That face- I thought it was just me but... Tell me, who does Alex remind you of? Who does she bear uncanny resemblance to?"

Lacy chugged the last of her horchata- and she spit it back out when it connected her mind, spraying about like a mist. "Ronnie Anne!"

"What, that girl Lincoln dated back fucking then?" Lupa blew her lips, feeling they were being ridiculous. "There is no way, the odds are too-" Lupa looked at Liberty again. -...F-fucking-" Her eyes widened. "...You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

"Lincoln and Ronnie Anne got together and had twins!" Liby concluded.

Behind the trio, Lissandra and Bethany watched them. The blonde southerner had herself a laugh and covered her mouth. "Ohmalooooo-"

"What are they saying?" Bethany wished she had Lissandra's super-hearing.

"Liberty just had to sit next to Alex," Lizy wheezed. "The tall girl there got wise. She just said the name of Alex's mother. She thinks they're twins."

"Wow..." The Asian teenager shared a chuckle with Lizy. "What a clingy albino."

"Don't see how Liberty is beneficial to the Primers," Lizy pondered in retort. "Alex isn't even in the top three, so why... What is Blood's agenda with her?"

"I'm sure he has plans for her, does it matter?" Lizy took another bite from the toast in hand. "This ain't half bad."

Alex left her platter and left from the table, leaving Liberty alone. She went over to Lizy and Bed while Liby kept her eyes on Liberty. "Hey, ladies-"

"You idiot," Lizy scolded, bopping her on her nose. "I've been eavesdropping on the clones, and they already suspect who your parents are!"

"What? What?!" Alex grew alarmed. "That couldn't be, they..." She zipped up and gave it the critical thought; not, it was in the range of possibility, Lincoln had introduced her mother to his sisters all those years ago. The memories of these three clones were burned with the young face of one Ronnie Anne Santiago. And putting Liberty right next to her- "Shit!"

"You dimwits are compromised, take off now."

"We can't..." Alex denied. "He gave us a list of specific individuals to bring back. We've dealt with the easier bunch now, but... I know he didn't tell you but, among these names..."

Freight Base

"...Is Lincoln Loud."

They were all silent when he made his entrance. They stood back, moving away from him as he entered the floor. Chandler was there. Cristina was there. Dana Hall. Rebekka Letenko without any baby. Fiona. And-

Lori was barely alive when she saw Lincoln. Her body seemed to be malnourished at most, her skin paler than any ghost he'd ever seen on the television. Why, it wasn't Lori but the corpse in a weaker shape of her, moving and strolling through the crowd cut in two. She was this way because she had been doing a series of drugs. Her mind was barely alive when he found her, and he suspected she was as she was now because of him. To her, he had gone missing for a total of four years. Wasn't true, her Lincoln was kidnapped and prevented from bombing the Freights. Lori and the rest didn't need to know, but here was a Lincoln. Granted, there was an age difference that made him older.

Jesus fucking Christ, I'm thirty-nine... Lincoln stopped and held out his hand to greet the frail Lori. "Big sister-" It felt too odd to say that. Strange. False. "You're-"

"Y-y-you bastard..." Lori moaned it out like some ghost, her eyes barely opened now that he noticed it. "Four years... Four years-" She lost balance and fell at his feet. Still, not a single soul apart from them uttered any word. "Left me alone-"

Lincoln bent down to help her up- and then noticed the row of cuts on her arms. Suicide-motivated. He pulled up both sleeves of the dark gray sweater on her and his mouth went open. "What the fuck is this? Lori, no-"

"You were gone..." Lori let escape. "Miserable bastard, I thought I made some mistake-"

Finally, Cristina the redhead stepped in. "You've gotta be the worst brother in the world. You broke her heart when you upped and left. She blamed herself, we don't know what or why or what the fuck, but Lori just..." She shook her head and shot daggers at him.

Chandler and Dana closed in on him and put themselves in between him and Lori. "Thinking you should just fuck off, you're not welcome here."

Wait... Why did I come here? Lincoln kept his eyes on Lori. What was my reason-? "I'm not leaving here without her," Lincoln protested. "Hand her to me or-"

"Or what?" Rebekka tucked her hands in pockets, eyebrow raised. "Threaten us, big boy?"

"Get out of my way..." Lincoln reached for the gun on his back. "Or die."

"Lincy..." Lori let out. "Don't kill anyone! I'll- I'll go w-willingly..." Her hands stretched out to strike against Chandler and Dana. "No death in my name, no death- No death!"

Lincoln's hand froze behind. After a few seconds of off-putting paranoia, Chandler and Dana moved away from Lori, allowing Lincoln to take her. He lifted her with both arms and took her away from this awful place. A hotspot of hell. Devil's playground. A gas chamber that killed the morals and innocence of American teenagers mostly. Lost and damned.

He said nothing to them in the end, when, long ago he had settled on burying them with their own toys and blueprints and ideologies. He stopped keeping up with them because they had never stopped. They had never been caught, his guess was that the system needed people like the Freights. One of the Lincolns whom he met had found out the truth and it had never passed onto him. It wouldn't have matter, he guessed. Not anymore.

"Was- Was this your plan all along?" Lori tried to run her nails along his throat desperately. "You planned this- You knew I'd lose my sense of-" She closed her eyes, sniveling hard. "K-kill me... Just kill me, Lincy."

"I'm here to rescue you, Lori," Lincoln explained. "Didn't plan anything, but I decided I... I might have missed you."

No, that wasn't it. That wasn't it at all. I've carried some guilt over from that day where-

Lincoln walked down the building, coming across Alejandra Santiago and her crew of three others. Yeah, he recognized her and said nothing. Liberty raised her arm with the silver watch, and it emitted a bright light that made him squint his blue eyes.

-Chloe Binsley died. I fell in love, or whatever the true term is here, with girls aplenty. In the end, it came down to me thinking about Chloe more than the others. It isn't because she was my recent fling, but because... She might have been the furthest from me.

Grimmtown, Mexico

Lincoln set Lori down on the bed of a house on the fourth street over, doing so carefully. "You don't need to suffer anymore... I'm here, big sister. I'm here and I want to say that I'm sorry."

"Fuck you-" Lori slapped at him weakly. "Kill me, Lincy. Stab me, suffocate me- anything... It hurts so much-"

Lincoln went down to his knees and grabbed Lori's bony hand, connecting it tightly and putting it over her chest. "Lore-"

Alex entered the room and presented to Lincoln a needle with a special substance in it, ready for injection. "Hey, she's gonna need this."

"What the hell is in this?" Lincoln eyed the needle suspiciously.

"The only thing that can help her," Alex vaguely answered. "Do it now or you can kill her as she so desires, but the choice is yours." She set it over Lori, leaving Lincoln to take the decision. "Trust me, if I wanted her dead and gone, I wouldn't need to speed it up with a needle of death."

Lincoln wound up believing her and grabbed the thing. "What could this liquid do that I can't?"

"All the good shit, man"" Alex promised. "All the good shit."

Lincoln made his choice and poked the needle into the side of Lori's arm. "For your own good, big sister."

"OW, THAT'S COLD!"

"Good." He stood back up and took away the needle after he injected her with the special fluid. "You rest now."

"She'll be fine now," Alex assured platonically. "Sorry, didn't get to introduce myself-" Your skin reeks so much, I don't ever want to touch you- yet I have to.

Lincoln shook her hand when Alex lifted it out. "Hi, thanks for your help." Horseshit, we've met before- Well, is this the same one I've met before? She doesn't seem to remember me- Unless this is some act... Oh, how can I tell without alerting her? ...Does she know it's that me she met before? TIME TRAVEL IS CRAZY!

"I'm Alejandra... Nopales-"

"Jerry Cruise, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Nice name." Interesting...

"I'm guessing you're in the business of picking up phenos?" He walked outside and she followed close behind. "Where is this place anyway? Don't care about the what, just wanna know... Are we in Texas?"

"Mexico," Alex replied.

So, she lied about her name this time... Or maybe she's being truthful this time. Everything but her name and connection to me is a lie.

Alex pointed down the streets. "These fine people are phenos in search of a new life after everything that happened up in the states. New life, fresh start, no worrying over being captured by their own fellow American."

"Peace being preserved here?"

"Not a single fight, no."

"Well, Nopales, I'm not sure about a streak, but I can't say much now. Thanks for-" He froze in place. "Bringing me here..."

Liberty, Bethany and Lissandra were close by, watching Lincoln from the corners of the tiny edifices around. He could feel it, he could sense the many eyes on him as it was, and they picked at his hair and made them stand in alarm. He wasn't here just to take care of Lori as he thought; someone with an ulterior motive had willed it without a second thought. Lincoln was not here to be part of the so-called illusion of peace. Couldn't you just feel the silent hostility in the atmosphere? I did, and it was just as cold as a normal winter morning. I have a funny feeling right now...

"Don't thank me just yet," Alex brushed off. "Do hope you stay around long enough for you to see... Just how important you really are."

Lincoln made a grab for the gun tucked behind- and the piece was gone. No shooty-shooty. "Huh?"

"Your gun's been disposed of, you needn't worry about anyone here."

"I'm not worried about this town's phenos," the albino grunted. "You're the one here being a person of interest, Nopales... Or, would you prefer Alejandra Santiago instead?"

Alex gasped heavily. "No way, you're that Lincoln Loud?!"

Liberty, Bethany and Lissandra knew their cue and circled around Lincoln. "And I see the other girl is here too," he meant Liberty. "Nice to see you two aren't at each other's throats like last time."

"Yes, you used time travel to escape, but..." Alex grew closer just as her pack did. "I couldn't go after you, none of us could, but I have to ask, I want to know!"

"Curious?"

"What was it that you changed?" Alex raised a hand and held it to her chest. "I've been told it was beneficial, but I did not think I would be running into the same you, the very same Lincoln I've first met."

"Changed?" Lincoln laughed and shook his head. "I fixed a mistake I've made, that's all that it is. This timeline here as you see it... It is the one more aligned to the written one, don't you know? We all stand in the destined timeline. Do not tell yourself I altered the timeline, because that would not be true."

"You-" Alex pointed right at him like an enemy. "You are so lucky you're needed alive. You see, we're not here to harm you, but to make sure you're safe and sound. You ought to have known that was the point, my goal when we first met, and now the timer has still extended. Well, it's more extra credit for me if we're being technical, but you are preferred alive. However..." Alex walked around Lincoln. "I have a theory..."

Lincoln followed her steps. "Oh?"

"You're the Plus One here, you're not this timeline's Lincoln..."

What a wise headache... "Okay, I'll humor you. Let's say there were two of me- Where could the other have been? Where is he now?"

Alex stopped right as she reached Lissandra, then leaned on her and faced away. "Knowing you, that one must be dead, or maybe a hostage somewhere in a hole, the poor bastard. I do have a a Question only I can answer. Lissandra-" Alex turned and spun the blonde to face her. "Claw my neck!"

"What?" Alex raised Lizy's hand up and shook. "Are you crazy?"

"We're going to test something! Do it!"

Lizy hesitated momentarily, but her fingers grew those sharp triangle nails again, and she swung once and scratched at Alex's neck. In seconds, three deep lines of red appeared, and it was enough to make Alex choke for it. Her hands tried to cup on the neck. Bethany pushed Lizy out of the way and helped Alex to the ground. Liberty's face drained of color, her eyes and mouth terribly wide in pure horror. Then-

Alex took her hands off her neck, the three wounds then shrinking- healing- like nothing had happened. Lizy and Bed gave each other surprised looks, unable to comprehend this. "No, it can't be-"

"Alex, what fucking gives?!" Lizy rasped in her hick accent. "You- We thought-"

"Test, test-" Alex had no trouble speaking. "Oh! It seems I really am right after all!"

"C-could you explain?!"

Even Lincoln Loud had been mesmerized silly by Alex's discovery. "You really risked your life, such confidence can get you dead."

"But not here, not in this case..." Alex formed a curvy smile and laughed nervously, almost as she had snapped. "There are two of you, that was one half of my guess, and the second half-"

Lincoln's hands became fists without him knowing.

"-You're the one who's the pheno, but the other one isn't, and that only means-" She shot him a dirty, deviant look that paved way from her stupidly-crazy look. You're the man who will get mother pregnant!

And then, Lori cut in, breaking right through the door, having met up with Lincoln, Alex and the other girls. No longer was she a chain of white bony limbs, nor were the bags under her eyes visible anymore. She looked more lifelike, her entire hair blowing with the wind. Her skin was back to its Orange tone. And what was more, Lori had emerged right out of bed a superhuman, the same brand as Lincoln. "I literally hope I didn't miss anything!"