Act VII: Revolution, Chapter IV: Pheno Wars, Part Two
August 7th, 2030
Luna Loud was still weak, limped away from the scene of the accident, where she had to leave Sam Sharp's body for the police and paramedics. Carly Evans-Nguyen never strayed too far behind, always keeping close to Luna; she was scared now, scared and vulnerable like never before. She feared Luna would not be able to protect her if it came down to an offense attack from the unseen enemy. Leven and Caroline were gone, the twins missing, one of their own dead, and Linka was still stuck as an icicle on a Kapacity Korp facility. The numbers had truly dwindled against their favors. Right that second, Carly had been berating herself for being out of it all, when Caroline had turned on them, when Sam had been shot, and when they had kidnapped Leven. All of this, and she was asleep, drugged. Carly had nothing to say, and neither did the lone Luna. Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they were mentally exhausted; they needed that break. They never would have it. They didn't earn it just yet.
I can't tell if you're strong, or just-
Luna had noticed her lack of tears, the inability to mourn the late Sam. Nothing yet, but Leven raised her a question. Was it that Luna had a hardened heart that plowed through Sam's passing, or was it that she was too weak, feeling too weak to allow herself to feel and accept it? But nothing would change the outcome; her lover degraded to a corpse. A twisted endgame that seemed to bring about a test of her character. Am I gone? ...Wait-
Luna ceased her slow walking, struck harshly by another condemning moment of clarity; she was back at square one. The same world she knew in the days before the great shift in reality that came to be. The world of those old days, filled with the mourning of three fallen family members. It was so much simpler back then, she felt. Her siblings were close enough, and she wasn't too far away after being kicked out by Aunt Rinn.
Why do I always find myself running away? I can't be, I'm supposed to be superior-
Her leg, still seeing its guest, a group of bullet fragments, still ached and slowed Luna down as the pair made their way to a freeway underpass. Luna chose this, a vacant parking lot where it ended in an unlicensed housing project for the homeless- tents, carts and trash scattered all over. Luna approached the lot, jumping over the wide barrier, struggling to push with her wounded leg.
"Hey, we can just go around it!" Carly pointed out, fingers directed to the entrance. "I mean, you can-"
Luna ignored the minor, but lost her footing and fell on her side over the barrier. "Ugh!"
Carly pounced up on after Luna and stopped atop the barrier. "Hey, are you okay?" Carly looked down at Luna, seeing her roll and thrash just a bit before she sat up to lean on the barrier. Carly set her legs to dangle on the edge, back turned to the streets. "I did say it-"
"I heard you before!" Luna barked back angrily. Then, she rose her knees up and curled herself up into a ball, wrapping her arms over her face and knees, going painfully silent. What was the Superbeast of Dadetown to do at a time like this?
"Sorry, I know..." Carly wiped her face to remove the sweat that formed in the heat of the ongoing day. "You're hurt, figured you'd be more careful."
"We're so... Helpless now, Carly..." Luna sighed, brooding.
"You don't have to say it, I got the memo..." Carly rubbed the part of her skin where Caroline had injected the needle to knock her out. "As much as I can blame her, I let my guard down just like you. God, how...?" Carly felt completely empty without a Leven or a Linka around her. "How did it come to this?"
"I don't know, dudette," Luna regretfully answered, wishing she had an idea. "How didn't any of us see it?"
Carly shook her head. "Woman was smart, and she had her new friends-" Carly clamped her hands together. "We need to get into contact with LK, that means getting some phone or tablet or something. It can help us-"
"Can it?" Luna had so little hope and faith up to here. "The damn thing didn't know about Caroline, it's as useless as we are."
"Then..."
"It's over, we've all been cut off from each other by them, can you feel it?" In the seconds when she blinked, Luna saw her blonde lover of pale-reddish skin again. She was back there alone, tended to by a couple of paramedics on the spot. She'd get a grave and be buried, and her parents, the entire Sharp clan, would get the call. Luna didn't need to picture it to get the idea, but in the end, she did hope that Sam would be given a perfect burial, and to be remembered by her own.
And then, Luna panned the blame onto herself. Sam... I brought you on this path and led you to die. I... I killed you.
"We need to do something... This is Leven we're talking about, the wanted Link-N! The missing piece of their global domination plans!"
Luna tuned Carly out for the voice in her head. Why did I think nothing would happen? Why did I go ahead with you, thinking we'd both make it out alive?
"Uh... Luna?"
Whuh- why do I keep making unbearable mistakes? Why do I continue to fail-?
"Yo!" Carly nudged the tip of her foot onto Luna's head. "Hey, we need to find a way to act, this just got really, reaaaaaally bad!"
Really bad...? Luna lazily moved her head halfway to Carly's direction, gazing upon her mindlessly. The clone... Sam... The twins-
"We need that beastly Luna right now!"
Need? Need me...? But I'm a danger, I hurt and I lead loved ones to their deaths, dudette.
"Gnaw out the suppressor round giving you headache!" Carly boomed. "I'm not as strong as you, Luna, you're the only one out of both of us with a fighting chance!"
Luna exhaled, witnessing the coldness of her breath suddenly take form in front of her; she was still a cold-blooded hybrid created by artificial science, some unholy abomination not responsible by Mother Nature. She twisted her leg and checked on her bleeding wound, undoing the rag she ripped off of her shirt. Still bleeding when she unraveled it.
"Pull it out, Luna, or you'll definitely bleed out!" Carly voiced again. "And don't think a hospital can save you, it won't!"
Luna waddled her fingers over the round crater of flesh, still trapped in the deformity of her unyielding mind. If I bleed out, would that be so bad? Am I meant to die this way?
"Hey, what- What are you thinking?! S-say something!"
Would it be so bad if I just...?
"Think about that jokester sister!" Carly squealed, doing her best to get through to this pensive Luna- and that had done the trick. The mere, grim reminder of a missing Luan had jump-started her relevance and necessity to continue down the road. Luan, sister and old roommate of an era long lost with time, the very person Luna had a grand debt to pay to until her timed dying breath. It broke Luna away from her self-wallowing, the decline of her worth and ability to play life-saving heroine. "She's as good as dead-"
Luna jammed her fingers into the open wound, driving right through Pain Lane to manually extract the remains of the harmful bullet shards. Never mind the feel of cold blood and flesh. Carly gagged and turned away, nearly toppling over the other side of the barrier.
My sister... My sister will not be-!
Luna felt the sharpest amount of pain spike all around her leg when she tugged off a handful of her flesh around the bone, now digging away with both hands. In seconds, amidst her pattern of whimpers and hisses, she turned her leg into a greater mess of blood and flesh, having chunks of her skin barely holding on. As for the flesh scattered on the pavement, Luna had succeeded to remove the suppressing lead. Her eyes fixated onto her bloodied hands; Luna concentrated her energy on them, trying to regain control of her beastly side again. We will not fall! Not any of us!
Rapidly did Luna's leg heal, closing off the dangling bits of flesh that automatically fell out from the skin, detaching like goo. The fingers on her hands tingled at transformation, switching to its scaly, green form. Check, she seemed to be working properly again, making an ecstatic leap onto her feet. "You're right..."
"I'm not that great at pep talks, but... Are you back?"
Luna lifted her head back, closed her eyes and sniffed the air. All she picked up was the nasty scents of burning garbage, crap and some heavy alcohol around the homeless encampment. She was quick to cover her nose, but the smells burned her nose and hurt her eyes. "Goddamn, I wish I wasn't!"
"You're the boss, Luna," Carly addressed her as the head of the duo, strutting to her feet. "We can still use LK, it can tap all cameras and help us find our missing allies!"
"Hmph," Luna grumbled, "like I said, it didn't know about the traitor. What else can't it detect?"
"I trust it enough... Even though it's a machination created by our beloved clone with raunchy jokes and innuendo."
Luna put away her beastly form, rubbing around her leg. "All I had to do was remove it myself?"
"I... I said to pull it out, and you went overboard-" Carly hiccuped again, "-but at least..."
Luna motioned her to move away from the scene of her shedding. "Go, go."
Carly happily obliged, taking lead to guide herself and Luna away from the underpass garage. From there, they wandered further into the city, and up ahead was a fiery riot they weren't aware of yet. Five streets away from the pair, a horde of seventy plus protesters were planted on the streets, taking to the roads and sidewalks. These protesters in question proved their allegiance, their side, to stand with the victimized phenos, chanting around and blocking traffic. They held up picket and cardboard signs, holding up phones to stream and record. Wouldn't take long for armed police forces to arrive on the scene and disperse the enraged crowds.
Various members of the pro group showed their hate, voiced their opinions and thoughts by yelling out into the world. The swarm of patrol cars, sirens blaring, came from one direction, filling the airs and drowning out their rants. One protester escalated the disorder further, coming up to the windows of storefronts and using the picket sign's wood handle to try and break against it.
Luna and Carly were met with a group of onlookers giving them zero mind just as the patrol car units had arrived, a tiny army of officers exiting their vehicles, scurrying their way towards the agitated party.
"Is this happening everywhere?" Both girls had already gotten the idea of what the civil unrest might have looked like, given all the fuel being added to the fire with no end, but this, among the regulars... "They're fighting each other."
"It's out of control!" Carly tugged at Luna's arm. "Cops are here, we have to keep moving-" She looked around the streets to quickly find a surveillance camera. There was one just behind them, at the other side of the street. "Hey, I'll signal for LK!"
Luna didn't look back, compelled only to be drawn in closer by the heated environment still developing. No, wait a second... I didn't free them all so you can fight each other for their place in society! Their future!
Luna pushed her way out of the bystander crowd, tailing the protesters and the police. If anything, she felt it was her obligation to fix this assortment of messes made from one single act, one moment that would be cemented well into history, told from one person to the next, for generations to come. The legacy of the Superbeast of Dadetown, branched with the aftermath on infighting regardless of how noble her intentions were. All of this, Luna knew, had fallen on her, of her own actions. She brought out a whole new world into the existing one. New peoples with various labels, either pitied or attacked. Just one thing, just the one thing she wanted. Why didn't it work to begin with? Why were-?
Wait just a second...
A protester charged at an officer gripping a baton, leading them to swing it against the opposing protester. Two more officers flanked around the offending protester and let him feel the might of their combined force. They hit him repeatedly on his arms and parts around his upper body, making for a helpless man struck down in another example of police brutality. Luna took her eyes off of them upon hearing a middle-aged woman let out a terrified shriek; she fell lopsided on the curb with a hard push from mother officer with a medium muscle build. Next, another protester retaliated against the officer, soon engaging each other in a struggle of punches and shoves.
Luna got behind the three officers still beating on the protester now rendered defenseless and toppled over on his back, crying and yelling. All this violence, all this needless savagery...
Luna had no room to think and assess her next course of action. If she could talk down to them with nothing but words- "H-hey," she started, aiming to get the attention of the three officers. The middle one stopped his harsh beating and gave his attention to Luna and shot his hands in front of him to try and clear her out. Luna didn't budge. The petty officer tried again, raising his baton at her. "BACK AWAY! BACK AWAY, NOW!"
Luna still didn't budge.
Away from this, Carly waved her hands up in sight of the camera, pointing without seeing at the ensuing disorder. "I know you can lip-read! They've got Leven, we're a number of two only! Sam's dead, Caroline's defected! We... We don't know what to do, we've run out of options, so we're counting on you!"
"MOVE BACK, NOW!" the baton-waving officer advised strictly, the final warning before he started on Luna. Behind him, the other two cops continued to go off on the beaten protester. Luna noticed them and tried to circle around the aggravated officer, who in turn had wrapped up in giving verbal warnings, proceeding to strike Luna's face without warning. Luna didn't expect it at first, the hard, cold strike of the weapon to graze upon her smooth, silk-soft skin.
It just is, he said to me. It just happens, sometimes there's reason, sometimes it's random, and that there's never going to be warning- Luna saw the face of her late father, his calm face and a happy smile, with that signature hairstyle that made him distinguishable among other fathers, other men in general. Wait... Why did you tell me that? Were you... Were you trying to get me ready for the ugly side of life? Or is it as I thought all along? You, not trying to hide the true nature of reality?
The officer reset his arm to strike again.
I have to ask you now! I need to ask you, what do you think I should do in this situation?! What am I supposed to-?!
"LUNA, FIGHT BACK!" Carly yelled, running back to Luna.
It echoed through into her mind, destroying all the current thoughts cycling her head. She stood back in real time and faced the aggressor cop again, and this time she blocked his second attack, countering it with her left arm and keeping the baton at bay before she flipped him over her shoulder like nothing. This, the Superbeast of Dadetown at work again, before the two parties. And she dove in further, battling the two officers next.
Carly positioned herself parallel to Luna, running behind her, acting as overwatch. "I see over ten officers fighting the protesters! But what's the plan?"
Where Luna had so little experience in fighting, she made up for in her overpowering strength, taking upon the law enforcement units. And before she knew it, she found her side with the pro-phenos officially, no longer a sideliner. Luna punched, kicked and pushed around all cops that she rushed, if not whom rushed her, taking her to join the protesters.
"Two behind you!" Carly warned.
Luna moved a one-eighty degree and engaged a male and female officer, with the female one drawing her taser out. She tripped the male cop with a frontal kick, directing him right into his partner. As she fought, the bystanders had started recording the fighting Luna butt heads against the officers, nothing more than that. I won't accept this! I can't! Peace and equality... Peace and equality for all!
Next to Carly, there was a phone booth that had begun to rung. She thought of it was creepy, eerie at most- and it was then that she realized what it was. "Ah! It's LK!"
Luna ventured on with the pros, wrapping up her brutal business without even needing to transform. This party, they were careful to keep their distance from her. "Wait, I'm not here to fight you guys!"
Carly picked up the phone, pressing it against her right ear. "Is it really you?"
"Status report, Carly."
"R-right..." Carly bobbed her forehead. "Did you get my message?"
"Yes, and it is imperative we act fast. I am deploying a vehicular unit to your location, please stay put and avoid any and all attention."
Carly faced Luna and the protesters again. "Um..." And she let out an innocent laugh. "Yeah, that might be an issue."
"As to how you two weren't taken away means something. The odds of you being captured were well over seventy percent."
"Is it possible for you to try and track Leven down? I mean, have you already done so? Y-you have, right?"
"No traffic cameras have detected a ping just yet, and GAIT systems will not be of much help."
"Radio channels? Cellphone lines? Anything?!"
"They are operating with closed channels, I can safely deduce. I can only tap into the closed network through one of their communications pieces. You will have to forgive me indefinitely, I cannot acquire the critical intel on Leven's whereabouts-"
"Wait... Caroline...!" Carly flipped her hand high in the air, signaling for Luna. "Hey!"
Luna didn't understand it; she could never understand it when she was up close to it. She saw them, the fear on their faces when they instantly knew the pheno was here before them. She didn't want that- not even when she had stopped what she perceived as police brutality. The downed man was still unconscious, and the woman that had been pushed down had taken sight of Luna.
"Let me handle it from here."
"Handle what...?" Carly shifted her eyes rapidly, confused of what the artificial intelligence had meant. And what it meant was more impactful and ingenious than that of Luna's thoughtless, impulsive actions. It tapped into the phones of everyone on the block, both streets, sending out the same message via an image with text. This image, an image of Luna running rampant out of the Vial Corp facility from Dadetown, text reading;
The woman before you is Luna Loud, the savior of all phenokind.
"What- Is this you doing something?" Carly found herself amazed by the sudden change in the scene. They were mostly afraid at first, but then, one had actually bowed to Luna, dropping gracefully on one knee. The surrounding protesters around followed the trend, going silent and forgetting the commotion they'd been in the middle of. The bystanders had moved in closer and huddled around the neutralized pro-pheno group,
Luna's mouth had pried open, gasping away at the developing scene. They're...?
"LUNA!" Carly gripped the telephone harder. "QUIT WASTING TIME!"
Luna didn't know how to react to the protesters, so she only raised a hand up as high as she could, having it open before she realized she could close it to form a fist. And when she did, a wave of courage and valor seeped into her to give her a tremendous amount of confidence and importance upon a new community and its supporters. "I WANT FREEDOM FOR THE PHENOS! I'LL FIGHT FOR IT, FOR THEM, AND FOR YOU!"
Can you be more cheesy? Carly had rolled her eyes from afar. "Where's our ride, LK?"
"Three blocks away, coming southbound."
"Can't get here soon enough!"
Elsewhere
"Sure thing, friend," Troy replied to Leven. "Sure thing." Leven crossed his arms and closed his eyes to drift away in the armored van they rode in on. Troy Lindemann established contact with Chad McCann through the radio on him. "Chaddy, how do you feel about backing Phoebe's squad?"
"Nah, she's a bitch," came Chad's reply. "Uh, over."
"Makes her too well qualified to be in this field of work, Chaddy," Troy laughed heartily back in response. "Go on, give your teammates a hand."
"They can hold their own, but do you have a bonus assignment? Or maybe big boss does?"
"Operation Chain Yank is putting us all on overtime, I'd suggest you'd remain on standby in case any team comes across an obstacle."
"Phooey... Fine, but I ain't gotta like it. Not her, anyway."
"Fair, but make no fuss of it, Phoebe's proven herself to the Federation-"
"And yet isn't one of the Primers you and Link-N so cautiously formed, shows how much trust can run in these rivers."
"Off comms," Troy advised.
"PRIMERS!"
Troy stopped replying to Chad. What a clown.
Leven snickered away before opening his eyes. "That guy's got quite the mouth."
"Rowdy personality when it counts. Kid may be a hothead but he's got talent. You've seen it first-hand... So to speak."
Leven moved the hand that Chad at shot at, circulating it. "He tore right through the bone."
"Told you, he's talented. The roster of these Justice Teens are, just a shame McMahon didn't get to introduce him to the world. There was a date for that, you see..." Troy bobbed his head up. "Well, I suppose it's for the better. Dylan Blood has made a mess of things for everyone in the Prime Federation, it was because of him Operation Chain Yank is going down today, a very last-minute thing... But I guess you're more or less aware of this now, right?"
"Given the surge in protests and his fixated tirade against the Louds and McMahon, I can see why. He forced your hand, but I hope you're able to protect the important checkpoints, and your boss shouldn't forget that they have Link-A on ice. That facility where she is currently suspended in is the one worth truly protecting."
"Well..." Troy wasn't about to sugarcoat the truth of the matter. "The girl is of no concern to them, it's the device they want but they want soldiers for the cause, meaning they're going to try and extract the chip safely from her and then they'll reprogram her. They could control the entire nation in the technological sense with that chip. You can't remake the world without access to technology."
"They really thought of everything, haven't they?" Leven knew when a miscalculation had been made; it had been in the capabilities of the unseen enemy. Fair, he could give them credit where it was due. The mysterious Supervisor and the Prime Federation they currently led, the final boss there was and had to be. No other behind them from what Leven had come to find out second-hand. "How long do we have?"
"The very second you step foot in the PF base, we've got less than a day. They'll be running experiments on you to update their files on you. Everything needs to be in tip-top shape before our eggheads begin taking samples of you for the processing stage."
"It won't be easy, given the number we're at right now. The Primers Six up against a battalion of foot soldiers, that's not something we could so easily win. You do understand what I'm getting at, right?"
"The Louds teaming up with the likes of us?" Troy Lindemann was not one to turn away a sensible suggestion. "I can say you are the bridge that can connect them to us, a mutual goal. Granted, the other three phenos were dispatched to take care of the Louds. Traffic around tells me Phoebe and her team encountered the zoomer twins."
"I see," Leven lightly nodded. "I don't doubt that your affiliates have captured them, but I hope it doesn't leave a bad taste in their mouths."
"Any word on Site Prime?" Leven ran a finger down his cheek, wondering about the breakout. "Someone dropped a ball on that. How did you say it happened?"
"Some buddies from there said a blackout happened. All generators and systems were checked out just like any other day, no one knows the source of it, but we're more concerned about the prisoners than a technical error. Like I've mentioned before, over half were phenos, and the rest, they were mere enemies able to interfere with the Supervisor. Hell, there's even a girl who witnessed-"
"Camp Flagg..." Leven cut in. "The green baby creature."
"Uh..." Troy stuttered, bewildered. "Oh... Oh, right. You are half of Lisa Loud... Amazing, you must know of more stuff than I do! I don't have clearance for everything, but I heard this surviving camper was the only witness to a massacre by something. We figured it was an early project with an infant child, but you know more, don't you?"
"I don't know why Lisa added her core memories to me, what was it that she believed I could be?"
Troy just nudged his head, looking on.
"I appear as my cell father in the physical sense, but this mind, the thoughts, the interest of wondering and gathering and solving things... Why, I would like time to know and understand more about..." Leven broke his eyes away from Troy, redirecting them down to his hands. "Ultimate Human, this was her dream, and she died, she'll never see it come to fruition. I mean..."
"You've decided for yourself, have you?"
"Decided? Decided what?"
"I mean, you have free will, you have as much as right as anyone else to live and breathe. And yet, you're seen by too many as a tool. You're the secret catalyst for a possible World War III if you haven't given it much thought."
"Yes... Yes, I agree with you on that, they think of me as nothing but the tool for subjugation of humanity. A world where this Prime Federation pulls the strings and leads the future, that's not a world I want. But..." For the life of him, he didn't know which cell parent influenced him to say that. Or was it that he truly disconnected himself from captivity? Given himself true free will and the ability to make self-conscious choices?
"So you have decided, you don't want what they want! Put your foot down and fight for your right as a human being!"
Leven winced at those words, of a concept he didn't get to grasp fully. Him, an artificial creation bred in a lab, born underground. Could someone like him possibly be labelled a true human being? Did he have all the right to live? He gave Troy a nod while having an internal battle about it. It truly was something to consider. I have been fighting, I've established contact with Troy just to get a better place in winning for every single person at risk! For them, for the main Loud generation, and little Link-A as well! But... Could I say that I had my own reason for me myself? For my own future? A place in the world?
July 18th, 2030
Leven wrapped his fingers around Sprocket-4, but had not had the occurring thought to remove it from the database mainframe. "No," he told his younger clone sibling, "I was promised- Promised that none of you would die, even you! I didn't want that, A! I'm doing this to ensure everyone's safety!"
Linka, still running under the technical Link-A moniker, had taken a submachine gun's rain of bullets to her entire torso and legs. From her chest, multiple holes of dark-red blood dripped out of her body, staining and shredding her clothes. "Dumb fuck, what if they're lying?!" Currently, she was on a leg, still determined to keep walking, moving. "It could be a ruse, words you had to hear so that you could cooperate."
"I will take my chances." Leven pulled out the Sprocket-4 and contemplated in leaking the entire Patriot Division base.
"We can run away," Link-A counter-offered. "Everyone just wants what we can do, n-not who we are! Fuck their Ultimate Human shit, it won't change anything like you think it will! People will eventually die, there will be conflict, and maybe a war over this! Leven, think about it! The countries will want to take you and the secrets that come with you-"
"Wait-"
Link-A collected herself. "I'm sorry- I- I did know all this time. I knew who and what you really were, and I kept it to myself-"
"A... Why?" Leven didn't understand Link-A's intentions yet. "I- I don't follow-"
The girl limped to him, still bleeding, hugging him tightly. "I did this for you, Leven! I got us out of the Network and you want to pull such a fucked up stunt like this?! Holy shit, you have some iron balls, I'll give you that."
"You did, didn't you?"
"Because I care, you dipshit! Now, press the button or don't, I am going to kidnap you myself and we can run off together!" Link-A gripped the sides of his black spandex suit with breaking blue eyes. "That way- that way, we've got each other's backs and we'll be fine, w-won't we, Leven? Won't we?!"
Now
You chose for yourself, didn't you, Linka? Way back then when things were too fresh, the beginning of the collapse. Leven rubbed his left wrist up and down with two of his fingers. You decided we were people just like the average citizen. You've made your choice, you've shown me you wanted it...
For all it was worth, it stung him where it hurt the most; right in his heart, the artificial generator that powered this vessel strange. He felt a degree of pain, real emotion. The separation of Link-A, the young sister and clone who had expressed her own humanity more times than him. She was insane and raunchy at times, but she had cried and worried herself tired for a chance- a place in the world. Leven could only picture that icicle that currently remained of Link-A. You gave yourself up so thar you can live. I promised you... I promised you we will find your way out! We will do it! We will grant you your life- No, our lives!
"I have!" Leven grasped. "I will forge my own fate!"
"As it should be!" Troy seconded, raising a firm fist into the air, nearly hitting the roof. "Free will for all!"
Elsewhere
"Three bills?" Leia took note of Loanne's wallet. "I thought you were worth five million?"
Loanne ignored Leia's side comments and pulled a red credit card from her baby blue wallet, applying it on the card payment machine in front of her. Darcy shared a chuckle, then went away from Loanne to locate a table, taking the talkative fangirl with her. "Come on, junior."
"What-? Wait!" Leia stretched her hand out towards to Loanne, hand opened up. "HER RECEIPT WILL BE WORTH HUNDREDS!"
Loanne had waited for two minutes, standing in the counter before her caramel frappe of a beverage had finished being prepared. For once in this mess of what should have been a fine day, things were now brought to a calm, no fighting any armed forces or rescuing minor damsels in distress. Speaking of, Loanne sat down next to Leia to ensure the little gi didn't try to escape- not that she would, given how much of her drool fell beneath her lips over the living legend that was Loanne Wardell. Oh, how Leia was groveling over her, might have been overboard, but Loanne had become accustomed to such fans. "Did you know it's impolite to stare?"
"Yes, I'll buy you a hare," Leia grinned, drunk on Loanne.
"Oh, my God!"
"Hey, girl!" Darcy snapped her fingers at Leia. "Can we get back to the matter at hand?"
"Uh- Oh, yeah..." Leia brought her hands up to the table. "I'm sorry, this is just so...!"
"I will give you my sweater if you can stop the freaky admiration," Loanne bartered.
Leia let out a constipated gasp. "Y-yes!" She sucked it up and tried not to blush for this.
"No fair, you told me you'd tell me if I saved your sorry butt, which I have!" Darcy protested fiercely.
"Well... Uh, that's different!" Leia pointed to Loanne without facing her. "You've involved a gold mine with legs!"
"You greedy little shit," Darcy insulted.
"You're a fan but you want to exploit me monetarily?"
"No, I just want to leech you for cash!" Leia admitted.
"...That's what I just said."
"Oh, pfft," Darcy snorted. "She's just as immature as she looks."
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"
"See?" Darcy smiled. "Case closed."
"That's enough!" Loanne slammed her hands on the table in rage; the vicious demon that was known as Excetum to Loanne had worked its magic, spiking her anger without her realizing it just yet. "I don't have too much patience like I used to, and hearing you two being childish can rest assuredly give me a headache. From where I'm standing, you both have things to explain! Hm?"
"Y-yeah..."
"Okay, but the girl talks first," Darcy finalized with Leia sticking her tongue out at her. "I am very interested to hear how you fell in with those anti-pheno units."
"Just as much as I'd to know how you knew about them," Loanne returned fire.
"Touche."
"I'll give you a background before I just happened to be captured by them," Leia addressed. "This was my first encounter with them today, if you can believe me."
"Go on..."
"Me and my two friends, we've been going on a road trip, I guess you can say, right?" Leia nodded her head to get them to agree, which didn't work. "There was this... Man, like... I don't know, high school student? College? My point is he's young as f-f-" Leia wanted to curse, but in Loanne's presence? Bother that. "He just came to us, found us- I don't know how but he came and he made an offer that seemed forced..."
"What do you mean forced?"
"H-he held us hostage," Leia quietly dropped, her head hanging low. "He said he was going to kill us but it was... A test, and not a tasteful one when I think about it. Work with him, he said, and he could make our troubles go away."
"You... Didn't go to the cops?"
Leia shook her head. "I have my own reasons not to do that, okay? It's... I mean, it used to be complicated with me, until he came along..."
"Does this mysterious man have a name?"
"They've been calling him the Tacitus Man," Leia answered. "I don't know what that means, but he had me make a video that sounds awfully lot like a declaration of war."
"The- The- The Taaaa..."
"I... Uh, wow," Darcy disregarded, jerking her head. "You're being serious with that body language you're displaying and that's fucking concerning."
"What the hell are you doing making friends with those types of people?!" Loanne scolded. "You kids, you and your generation, are lucky to not know about him. It's sad that he's made a big move just by making a hostile announcement!"
"You know about-?" Leia raised an eyebrow to Loanne.
"Well, of course I do!" Loanne stated before she backtracked. "Well, I mean, he was a boogeyman when I started my acting career. My early years and I have seen his propaganda on social media and the news outlets. This person is a hardcore anti-elitist psycho who's somehow turned his attention to phenos."
"He bought some little girl like you, for what reason?" Darcy had trouble understanding it. "What's he done that got you in trouble."
"Mmm! I'd rather not talk about it..." Leia pushed the graphic image of Dillon's decapitated head from her mind- and gagged as Loanne sipped from her drink. "Jesus Christ!"
"Turn away if you're gonna do that!" Loanne set down her drink. "Actually, don't tell us, I have a bad feeling it isn't sunshine and rainbows."
"Okay so it's that bad... Major red flag, you foolish girl!" Darcy yelled. "Keep going!"
"No, he did me a favor I could not be able to accomplish myself!" Leia fought back. "He saved me and that's all I can make count! I know that he's not so kind or soft, but he's a sort of hero! He did something not even the speed twins could never do!"
"Hmph..."
"Well, were these results worth it?" Darcy tapped a finger on the table. "I get the picture, you worked for this Tacitus nutcase and you two got caught back there in Central Park, right?"
"What-?" Leia huffed through her mouth. "H-how close were you? D-don't you know?"
"Know what?"
"Those women, Velocity and Momentum, they were captured by phenos working with the anti-pheno soldier guys."
"Are you...?"
"Figured they could outrun the world..." Darcy retracted her finger. "Phenos working for the other side, that's odd. How many?"
"Uh, there were three of them, and..." Leia gasped. "There was a third zoomer, a teenage boy from what I can tell."
"Another..." Loanne and Darcy processed this. "This year is really something else."
"And I thought 2020 was bad enough," Darcy joked.
"Zoomer, a telekinetic, and one who can freeze stuff- I don't know if there's a name for that but yeah, they were helping the armed soldier men take down the pair. I was there taking photographs for my new... Friend."
"Your friend is a piece of shit-"
Loanne grunted intently to stagger Darcy away from cursing in front of the minor in this unlikely gang.
"He saved me," Leia told them again.
"Oh, and we didn't?" Darcy blasted. "I didn't save you? Okay, well I can always drop you off and leave you for the cops. I hope I see a story about you, I'd very much like to know what you've done that makes law enforcement not an option for you."
"That is my business!"
"By the logic you're explaining here, you owe us! I've pulled you out of harm's way, which I'm beginning to massively regret right about now."
Loanne finished her frappe, sipping the last of the liquid violently through the thin white straw. "She's told me all I need to know, now how about you, Darcy? How do you know about them and who are you, really? Ugh!" Loanne was a total natural blonde; she had truly excused Darcy's failed suicide attempt as luck of the devil when it was more than that. Then- "Oh, okay so you're a pro-pheno supporter, right?"
"Basically..." Darcy looked over her shoulders; no one had been eavesdropping, and the three had made sure they were as quiet as possible, when they helped it. "Wow, that was a dumb question to ask."
Loanne gave herself a facepalm. "You're right, I'm being stupid..."
"I'm guessing you were one of the ones set free by that Superbeast pheno, right?"
Darcy nodded- lying- to Loanne. "Yeah, that's how every pheno was created. I don't mind my powers, but it sucks that it'll never be normal for me again..." She thought about her own words she let out, words that contradicted the main fact that nothing was and would ever be normal. Just another small white lie to feed Loanne and Leia. "I've seen a bunch of those exact guards around the facility I'd been jailed in."
"Jailed..." Loanne could totally see a prison where there was a Vial Corp facility. "Interesting word."
"I hate them, I really do, but even so..." Darcy wished for another cigarette at hand. This smoking habit would never do her any favors, but even so, there was an aching, an itching for it. "You've become my issue if you mean what you've said up to here," Darcy decided to keep Leia under her wing. "They didn't care about you being a minor, means they're that much evil. Oooooh, they've just pissed me off for the last time..."
"Huh?"
"Loanne, it's been nice meeting you," Darcy waved, relieving her from this newfound crisis. "I do hope our paths cross again-"
"Wait a second, I thought I made it clear-" Loanne watched helplessly as Darcy scooted out of the table and motioned Loanne to make way for Leia. "I can't just go back to-"
"I'm sorry, but last time I checked, you were just an actress, a C-lister at most. You're not an inhabitant of our side of the pond. Well, neither is blondie here but she's safe with me."
Loanne's anger burned in her furnace again, fueled undoubtedly by the shadow demon that roamed and reeled inside. Take your place. Take your place among the abominations, Loanne... It might just do you some good. Gooooood...
"The capture of those twins is bad business here for the citizens... And I have an advantage that could be the game-changer."
"Wha- Are you thinking what I think you're-?" Leia made a run for it, scurrying to the front exit. "OH HELL NO, YOU'RE NOT TAKING ME TO THEM!"
"Damn, how isn't she tired?!" Darcy wasted no time in dilly-dallying. "Come back here, you little shit!"
Loanne spread her lips apary, basically hissing through her teeth. Like hell I'm sitting this one out. Just you wait, I'm gonna-
When Loanne met up with Leia and Darcy back outside, the three were greeted with Phoebe Ward and her armed unit. With them, Meli Ramos and Benny Harrington were on opposite sides of the row of Prime Federation foot mobiles. Never mind!
"Yup, that's the girl that escaped us!" Meli confirmed to her unit leader. "She knows where to find Blood- Unlike Fasty over there."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that!" Benny, built with a level of cockiness, circled around Leia and pushed her down, not bothering to hold back. "At least we've got a lead on the Tacitus bastard, right? You'll do better not to give me lip, taco."
"Bring her to me, Harrington," Phoebe Ward ordered. "I want her wrapped like a gift for the Supervisor. Won't he be glad to find out we can pinpoint the son of a bitch who dared to move up our timetables."
Leia had fallen on her knees, face only saved by her hands that had reacted quicker than her mind that processed what was happening. She stayed staring at the ground, panicking in place. Benny had the honor of picking her up by her arm, finding it easy to take her away. He didn't care to notice Loanne and Darcy observing them closely.
"Hey, what's with those two women being creepy?" Meli pointed out. "Hold on, is that...?"
"Men, escort Benny and the package back into the vehicle!" Phoebe locked her eyes on Loanne and Darcy just as people inside the restaurant began to notice their presence. "This place will get hot if we don't leave."
"If you're gonna do something, do it fast!" Loanne quickly suggested.
Darcy hesitated when in the presence of a zoomer. She had enough doubt of beating such a being that it had gotten her to allow them to take Leia. "But he's faster..."
"C-come on-"
Phoebe narrowed her eyes, suspicious of them now for not dispersing. "Meli, keep an eye on those two. They're up to something."
"M-ma'am, that's the actress Loanne Wardell," Meli discovered. "Third-rate mediocrity that has no place being on the big screen."
"Sounds like you're not a fan," Phoebe chuckled, amused by Meli's insult of the actress. "Very well, pull back. What was I thinking, considering a washed-up child actress to be a POI?"
"Copy that-" And Loanne had been enraged enough by the pure dissing of her acting career, driven to break the calm and give in to what she had been offered. The demon persona that lived inside her like a parasite under the skin laughed like a cold-blooded hyena with a deep, dark pitch. She went directly to Phoebe Ward, running at her with nothing but fists raised in front of her. Meli kept still, following Loanne's actions only, thinking she posed no threat to team leader Ward. "How embarrassing."
Phoebe Ward welcomed Loanne's invitation for a fight, smirking arrogantly without moving a muscle. "Cute."
Here, allow me... The demonic entity lingering around had decided to put on a show for all to see. It began when Loanne's entire skin turned a degrading charcoal black. Her hands, down to her feet. Her face followed the odd procedure, blackening it whole save for her eyes that became blank pearls of white. Her illustrious blonde hair faded to black, finalizing the dark magic trick she put on display, successfully making Darcy's jaw drop in freakish bewilderment. Goodie, time to play!
"WHOA!" Meli squealed, stunned to the core.
Phoebe didn't expect this to happen, but it had happened, and Loanne swung her closed fists right at Phoebe, hitting her face like it was nothing. Those punches redefined pain for her in such a bad time. Loanne sent the younger Ward girl fall on her back, disoriented for the next few seconds, getting the attention of Benny and the soldiers.
"LOANNE!" Darcy made one step before being beaten to the punch. Meli locked grip with the demon-possessed actress and hoisted her up in the air. "Oh, crap!"
"Neutralize this pheno!" Phoebe commanded in desperation. "Melinda! Benjamin! Take her down!"
"With genuine pleasure!" Loanne let out an inhuman howl while Meli kept her suspended high in the air. "I'm gonna put her down!"
Benny readied himself, with four of the soldiers taking up arms, centering on Loanne. "I've never seen one like her before! What do you think she can do?!"
"We'll find out-" Meli was then cut off by Darcy's sudden battle cry, trailing her to jump in for an aerial attack. "Shit!" Had Darcy not yelled, Meli would have had her skull caved in; Darcy had made a crater five feet wide, missing the pheno by a long shot. "They're both phenos!"
Benny cracked his knuckles, choosing to spar against Darcy. He threw the first blow once coming directly to her- and whimpered when he broke his hand. "OWWW!"
"Oh... Huh, looks like I was worried for nothing..." Darcy formed a satisfying smile, returning a punch back to him, knocking him out. "Now it's your turn, mind-moving minion!"
The men had opened fire at Loanne, starting the firefight that brought heat to their doorstep. Phoebe felt rather disgraced over how south things had just gotten. "Don't stop firing at the freakshow! Kill her if you must!"
The demon skin she wore brushed away all the bullets meant for her, keeping her in the fight. She went through the armed forces one at a time but kept tabs on Darcy, who had begun to be toyed by Meli now.
"A little help, Loanne!"
Meli got the better of them, using both hands to bring them up feet from the ground. "You two are done! Hey, ma'am, what should I do?"
"Kill them!" Phoebe took her time to get up despite being on a timer. "We need to get back to-"
Luna Loud entered the scene, pouncing on Meli from behind, but it didn't end there. The Superbeast of Dadetown held her in a chokehold, straining her neck enough to break Loanne and Darcy free. Carly picked up a rifle and pointed it right at Phoebe, bringing an end to the fight. The self-driving Tesla was the third and final intrusion to barge in on them. "We've just made it in the nick of time!"
"You two, come on and get in!" Luna spoke to Loanne and Darcy. "Carly, LK, eyes out!"
"Wait, wait," Meli pleaded. "You, you're Luna Loud, right?"
"No, I'm Kim Kardashian."
"Take me hostage," Meli compromised. "I have things you need to hear-"
"Hey, Meli! What's that, what are you saying?!" Phoebe drove her left hand slowly behind her back, aiming for her handgun. "Let her go, freakshows! She is a valuable asset!"
Loanne and Darcy hesitated to enter the Tesla; Leia was still their obligation. "Go get her, Loanne!"
"Why should I?" Luna had no plans to take any of her enemies.
"I- I know something you don't," Meli dropped, struggling to talk. "Link-N- Link-N would want you to listen-"
Meli only did a job well done in upsetting her captor to the point of being flipped to the side, crashing hard to the ground. Loanne rushed to the half-opened armored van, seeing a handcuffed Leia shivering in fear. She said nothing but Leia panicked terribly upon seeing her, and Loanne had remembered that she was laced in the black suit made up of the demon's essence. However she looked while wearing it, she knew she looked like a menacing creature. "Hey, don't worry," Loanne eased, using her voice to appeal to Leia. "Come on, we have to go!"
"L-Loanne?"
"Did y-you get them all?" Leia scooted closer to the opening.
"We're safe- You're safe, now come on-"
"Why do you look like that...?"
"It's a long story... Now come on-" Leia jumped up and allowed herself to be taken by Loanne, jumping right into her arms. "Oh, okay, I'll carry you, don't you worry a thing."
"I love you!" Leia sobbed into her chest. "Oh, I love you!"
Carly shot her head to Luna. "What should I do with this one?"
Luna kept Meli on the ground with her foot. "Maim her, but no killing!"
"Hey..." Phoebe identified Carly as one of their own. "You're that ninja girl! Traitor, working against us! When the Supervisor finds out-" Loanne kicked Phoebe in the face, still sulking about being insulted where it struck her ego.
Carly simply lowered the rifle, studied Loanne and trailed behind her. "Excuse me, are you another pheno? I mean, the three of you?"
Loanne ignored Carly and put Leia to the backseat next to Darcy. "You're safe here."
"Tell me where Link-N is being taken!" Luna pressed her foot hard against Meli's back. "If you know what's good for you!"
"Aghhh! Wait, I'll talk! I promise I'll talk if you take me with you!" Meli had found herself in the best seat on the house, plus extra now that two phenos and the lead to Dylan Blood had fallen onto the lap of the secret Primers. "I know everything, I swear on my life!"
"Nice try, but you could have a tracker on you!"
"No, I don't!" Meli insisted. "Leven has been in contact with some of us! He and our-"
"Leven- Did you just call him Leven?"
"That's the name we know Link-A has given him," Meli forced out by means of groan. "In case it ever came that he would be captured when and where we could not help him, you were a mandatory contact for us to reach out to. Leven's going to be fine for the next set of hours before his final physical examination. You and I both know what's going to go down real soon!"
"Carly?"
"There is no way she could have known that," Carly broke down, "unless he had been really talking. But, how-?"
"Let him explain it yourself," Meli continued. "If you could kindly-"
Luna narrowed her eyes but then gave in and pulled back her foot. There was a reason she wanted to get, an excuse to label Meli's words nothing but lies, cheap attempts to trick them into venturing into the heart of their enemies' home field. No way could she find herself to trust strangers anymore when said strangers had been falling in line to the other side. No, strangers and blood relatives alike, it seemed. "How do I know? How can I be sure-?"
"Uh-"
"Well?! Tell me, tell me what makes you different from the rest?!" Luna had significantly raised her voice to mean business. For once, Luna's trust in strangers such as Caroline had been shattered. Meli might have been truthful here, but the time to take chances was far over. "You're one of them! You could be playing me and my companion here! You and those you serve have always wanted the one thing!"
"I swear on my life I'm not going to pull a fast one on you!" Meli assured, rotating herself right on her knees. "I know about Caroline Pingrey's defection to the Federation, but while she did just that, five of us in the ranks have opted against the entire hive."
"Five?" Carly kept mental score.
"Hey, we can't stay here!" Loanne yelled from the Tesla. "Get in or I'm carjacking this car!"
"Luna, I think we should give her a chance!" Carly voted. "She could prove useful!"
"That's exactly what she wants us to do!"
"It's not a trap!" Meli further insisted, growing irritated by Luna. "Things should have been clear to you but... I think you should be aware that it was Leven who helped set this up in motion. Him and our lieutenant Troy Lindemann, together."
"...What?"
"There's- There's no way Leven could have..."
"Link-A. Link-N. Carly Evans-Nguyen of the Black Network! And Caroline Pingrey, college student kidnapped in Dadetown! You four were together since the fall of the Patriot Division!" Meli faces the two right as sirens wailed in the distance. "Tell me, Carly! Has Leven ever touched his earlobe seemingly at random? Did it ever look or feel like some weird habit?"
Carly exhaled sharply before responding. "Y-yes... He did, I can still see him do it. He'd turn around and touch it with two fingers, as if he's trying to pop...-"
Meli nodded profusely. "Contacting Lindemann, keeping him updated on their movements."
"Earlobe? H-how?! When?!"
"During that little scuffle in Royal Woods. Lindemann made damn sure he got it, but I'm not sure how he did it."
Carly snapped out of it, gave up her staring at Meli and pulled her to the Tesla. "You'll tell us all! Luna, we have no choice!"
"Urgh..." Luna let out. "I won't be happy."
"Well, who is?"
Grimmtown, Mexico
The sun was brighter and hotter here than she, actually meaning Lucy, had been ever accustomed to back in the hometown Royal Woods. It engulfed her entire face, but as she floated high in the air, she had silence again. No dust getting into her eyes, no overlapping voices from the phenos down below, and for the time being, Liby and Lacy weren't being pests about. With her eyes closed, and eyelids flashing red from the heat source millions lf miles away, Lupa found the peace to be pure and divine.
And it would be, for the final ten seconds before the familiar voice of a man called out to her. Lupa opened her eyes and turned away from the sun, looking down upon the entire town. Did I just imagine a voice?
"Lucy... Over here," the voice whispered lowly again, bringing the chills rolling down Lupa's back, giving her goosebumps. A finger went on to tap her shoulder, causing Lupa to spin around immediately. Where the sun had been just seconds ago was replaced by a thick treeline that covered most of the sunlight. Lupa had faced a forest right as her feet suddenly touched ground. Her face hung down, taking sight of the dirt ground filled with falling leaves and twigs around. "Hi, Lucy."
"AGH!" Lupa jumped when Ray Robertson peeked his face from behind a tree. "DAMN YOU!"
"Peekaboo, my pupil."
"Cut the crap with me, we both know I'm not the real Lucy."
"Oh, but you are Lucy, my dear!" Ray smiled pleasantly. "All those memories, the blood you share, and the recognition of me is enough to say that you are. Putting aside what you are in technical terms... Does you best to not disconnect yourself from that."
"What the hell do you want?" Lupa only saw the liar of the person who had her believing everyone of her family had perished in the fire. "Come to speak another lie for me to believe?"
"Now, now," Ray moved around the tree, raising his hands in front of him. "I've come here to inform you of a greater predicament on the verge of happening. For this, you must answer the call I set upon you. Luna Loud and her allies will need all the help they can get for this very important-"
"Oh, what the fuck do you know?! And what's with the tour guide aesthetics?!"
"My dear, I have but sensed it! A great disturbance that upsets the global conscience. A greater evil has just made its move, advancing on a course that cannot be stopped by any rivaling behemoth except by someone- You!"
"Your wording is shit!"
"Lucy, you surely must see reason!" Ray tried to persuade. "Millions of lives are at risk, and this includes the residents at Grimmtown!"
"What? The Grimmtown people?"
"Lynn and Luan are at risk, dear," Ray addressed. "They'll be killed, all of them. Them, and you included!"
Lupa gulped drastically. "Whuh-whuh-why are they at risk? What's going on? T-tell me!"
"I need to have your word you will do whatever it takes!" Ray held out his hand. "You, Lynn and Luan need to go to the Prime Federation and provide assistance to Luna and Link-N!"
"Lincoln?!" Lupa shook her head. "Not another one of his-" She moaned longingly, disgruntled and bothered. "I don't even know anything that's going on back up there! It's not my issue, not my sisters' either, so how can it be possible that we're threatened?!"
"It is the way of the world, Lucy. A trial set for you and you alone when you walk down this path set by the unknown."
"Always the vague one, aren't you?" Lupa checked her surroundings. "So, where did you and your magic take me this time?"
"We're close to the base where you were created, the place called the Black Network."
"Oh, swell! Why are we here?"
"You're here to meet Dylan Blood."
Prime Federation Base
She called herself Nyla to him, and was still going by that alias while James Shepherd tried to beat all information he could out of her. He punched her and Lemy alike, taking it to their faces, chest and stomach as they were held up by units of the vast Federation, alone and bloodied up in what she perceived as a torture chamber, or maybe an interrogation room at the very least. Lynnette's right eye knew the state of being purple, barely open as it was. James Shepherd delivered another blow again. Her only thought was wondering why she was being punched repeatedly by those who were supposed to be on Lemy's side. Nothing made sense right now, but then, what did?
"Well?!" Shepherd was trying to force the whereabouts of Allison Taggart out of them. "Where is the girl?!"
"What part of kidnapped by Lincoln Loud does not click, you fucking-" Lemy took an uppercut right to his chin, defeating his dialogue. "Agh!"
"SO WHERE IS LINCOLN LOUD?!" Shepherd turned to Lemy. "IF NOT FOR ALLISON'S MISSING WHEREABOUTS-"
"Who the hell are you?!" Lemy yelped. "What is all this?! Where are we, and what does this have to do with Allie?!"
"STUPID BOY!" Shepherd slapped Lemy hard across the face, the smack of which echoed through the room. "I'll tell you well that Allison was an agent working for us, working you and this blonde pheno she has allowed to work with her! If it isn't clear, you were nothing but a tool she and Peter McMahon used to wipe the enemies of potential friends we hoped to keep!"
"What- No, that- Allie could never-"
"Allie has!" Shepherd declared. "Allie has used you to help herself and us make sure we were on top of the food chain. We're here and we're higher than we've been before, and now the end... The end is us! The end is the dream! The end is our beginning!"
"What the hell are you spitting about?" Lemy gathered spit and sent it down Shepherd's face. "Crazy boomer, fuck right off!"
"How dare-"
Lynnette bit her bottom lip and swung out a headbutt to her handler which freed her from their grip, swiftly moving to lurch onto Lemy's captor. "Here we go!"
Lemy tried to go for the bigger game that was Shepherd, only to prove that he was nothing in comparison to the older gentleman, given only a series of punches and kicks that left him even more in bad shape than he was just minutes ago. Lemy had broken ribs, a concussed head, a bloody nose and nasty bruises around his face now. He stumbled down to take breath, arms flailing up to speak his defeat. "N-Nyla- Nyla, you can't!"
Lynnette forced the other soldier against the wall, her elbow pressed hard against their neck. "You're all as good as dead!"
"Do you want to test us all?" Shepherd pointed to the door behind him. "Tens of thousands of armed agents outside of this room. Now, maybe with your powers, you could stand a chance, but you're a base human right now. You can kill maybe five before ee gun you down. Do you want to find out?"
"Nyla, we can't win..." Lemy wheezed with struggle. "Let him go!"
Nyla crushed the soldier's windpipe when it appeared she was pulling back her hand, killing them with little remorse. "Okay, but I'm not cleaning this shit up."
"Stay still and do nothing or receive a far greater merciless reckoning from me," the savage man had vowed.
"Tsch...!" Lynnette kept back to the corner, then punched back by the muscle she had headbutted seconds ago. "Mmmf!"
"Hold the lady killer up," Shepherd ordered, curling up his fists. "I'm not through with the fun."
"Cowardly scum, beating on powerless little girls!" Lynnette mocked through the blood gurgling out of her mouth. "Nothing like a paper man such as y-"
James Shepherd made sure to make his next attack right into her face, achieving to break out a tooth out of her bottom jaw. Lynnette hissed and sealed her lips shut, recovering rather slowly from the direct punch. If things hadn't gone hazy already for her, it had begun taking its toll by now, slowing her thinking and movements. Her head bobbed about before settling down, lowly hanging. Her mouth opened for more blood to flow out, a single dying moan escaping her. "B-buhhh..."
"First, I'll break you," Shepherd grinned maliciously, "and then, from what's left of you, I will remold you, remake you. I see true potential in making the both of you new members to the Justice Teens unit under our control. Doesn't that sound fulfilling?!"
"D-don't hurt her, she's gonna-" Lemy was given the literal boot by yours truly, taking it to the left side of his face. "Urk!"
"Last I checked, I was in charge of those I've been dispatched to subdue, and that means you two by default! Now..." Shepherd grabbed Lynnette off of the guard and slammed her to the steel wall. "Someone better start talking about everything that went down. Allison has reported that you three captured Lincoln Loud alive, and somehow, you've dropped that ball."
Lynnette and Lemy remained on the floor, bleeding away.
"Anyone?"
They said nothing.
"Hmm..." Shepherd was disgruntled. "No one wants to talk-"
"Goddamn you, we said we don't know! P-pull the earwax out of your ears, you piece of shit!" Lynnette antagonized again, having herself a laugh. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to hit girls? Maybe you misheard daddy when he said you can hit on girls! Ha, I bet you killed mommy, too!"
"Maybe the boy will talk! Agent, kill the uncooperative girl!" Shepherd ordered fiercely.
Lynnette grasped her place in this situation and winced, having herself a heart attack the moment the accompanying Prime Federation goon drew his handgun from the strapped holster, introducing it to the Loud girl's temple. He pulled the trigger, making Lynnette jump backwards- and gave her the troll welcome; the gun had not been chambered with a bullet. Lemy had blinked, in fear and so terribly concerned of their fates here, those fates that were no longer in their control. Lemy exhaled quickly, his lips quaking harshly. "B-bastard-"
"Load that weapon now!"
"Sir!" The soldier had complied, cocking back the gun.
"Regular bullets tend to kill phenos when they're suppressed physically. We know because we've executed many a pheno!"
"W-wait, you don't have to do this!" Lynnette hyperventilated. "We can solve this! I- I can-! Lemy, he and I will-!"
"You'll do nothing but die! Fire when ready!"
"That won't be necessary," the system intercom blared into the room. "Leave them, Shepherd."
The soldier withdrew his gun and returned it to his holster once setting the safety on. Shepherd himself waved out his hand at the agent. "Guess it's their lucky day... Too bad for me." The pair took their leave, locking in Lynnette and Lemy in their beat-up state. Lemy crawled his way over to the blonde, grunting and moaning, struggling to move as he was.
"Nyla-" Lemy positioned her to be moved right over his lap. Her face, so full of a sou-breaking trauma, it was what he perceived it to be. She was ghost-white in the face, breathing rate to a labored degree, and bloody just as he was. Bloodied and in pain, aching just like him, perhaps moreover. "Geez, he hurt you... That son of a bitch hurt you-"
"Find us a way out," Lynnette huffed out, forcing herself out of Lemy's lap. "D-don't need you like that. F-find a way out-"
"We..." Lemy found himself having doubts about a successful breakout. "He said there are many outside. C-can you-?"
Lynnette didn't feel herself healing from where her body had ached. "I've been neutralized."
"Your powers-?"
"Sorry, I'm useless right now," Lynnette accepted, focusing on her wounds. "Anti-pheno rounds, I'm going to be down for God knows how long."
"Shit!" Lemy eyed the door. "I don't get it! Allie said we could trust that Crudensky person! He'd have friends, but this? This isn't what I know she promised, so what gives? Wha- Where is she, Nyla? What happened to Allie?"
"I wish I knew, Lemy."
"They didn't know..."
"Don't overthink it, she's just as strong, I believe that."
"You do..." Lemy embraced his fearful doubts. "Why do I get the feeling she...?"
"Friendly reminder Allie's one of theirs, she played us both going by what he said. I think that's what Loud meant about her back at the safe house you two had."
"There's- There's an explanation, I'm sure-"
"Idiot! This was her mission!" Lynnette went into depth. "Establish her own team so we could go and kill him! Surely they had reason to want him dead, for what I'm unaware."
"I've been used?"
"That's what it feels like," Lynnette spoke, uncaring for his feelings to be hurt. "It was supposed to be easy, I'm not supposed to be here." Her face went to the only camera in the room. She wondered if the camera was capturing the audio as well as the footage. "My sister would kill me if she found out I was here, assuming these guys don't first. Jeez, that dude nearly had me shot, and my body wasn't able to move."
"You were scared," Lemy rationalized. "You and me both."
"We've come down this path, and I'm suddenly getting afraid of death-" She stopped, froze up and then weeped away in silent, head ducked down out of the camera angle. Lyra, I should have waited. I was too eager to go do this fast. I... Led myself here. P-please come, please come and save me. ...Where are you?
Elsewhere
Lyra laid under a tree on a lovely, quiet park. Her hands set over her waist, she found solace and wonderful peace through the smell, the sound, and the endearing sight of the canvas of blue just above. All seemed well. Get the most of it while you can, Lyra, for the writer known as D has set in stone your fate.
Oregon
Robbie Ackerman wretched yet again, this time not staining her jumpsuit for the fifteenth time or so, putting to end the smelly, rowdy streak that had Lynn constantly clenching her nose. "Jesus, you're worse than a rollercoaster!"
"What were you expecting, a steady Lyft ride?!" Lynn retorted, exercising her legs by shaking and stretching about while Robbie concluded her business over the barrier of the bridge they had stopped at. "I told you to close your mouth!"
"I think I swallowed that fly..." Robbie gagged again. "You know what? This isn't working, I can't ride you like this."
"Fine, but you're on your own, I don't need you-"
"But I do..." LK directed to them through the earpiece communications they've taken before escaping Site Prime. "Robbie Ackerman not only carries intuitive information about Site Prime, but her knowledge about the Camp Flagg incident in 2028 can be advantageous. This creature in particular can be freed if we knew the location of the base."
"How are we looking on Luna right now?"
"She, Miss Evans-Nguyen have just accompanied with four others and are trying to leave areas currently experiencing pheno-related affairs. There has been much progress in that department but time is gravely of the essence."
"I've been running as fast as I can go, but little Vomit Girl here is delaying me."
"Not my fault you move me at speeds greater than a plane!"
"This wouldn't be an issue if we had teleporters."
"Tele-" Robbie was astonished. "We can do that?"
"Work with what there is for the meantime, Lynn."
"What choice do I have, right?" Lynn scratched her head. "I let myself get captured only to be told that they've done what we've feared."
"It can be reversed, the arrangement of all current allies to be deployed against the remainder of these forces at work will most likely have the odds to turn the tide. Especially with what is being revealed right this second."
Lower Manhattan
"I've switched off my communicator," Meli shared, "now I can talk freely without eavesdroppers."
"What's this you've been saying about Link-N?" Luna asked, flashing her eyes suspiciously at Meli. "He's really been talking to you?"
"Yes," the Mexican teen nodded to, "it started first to Troy Lindemann, our lieutenant here. The entire Prime Federation seems to be founded on and driven by the concept of world domination. The Supervisor leads all and it is his dream alone to be the toughest kid on the block, he wants all the power, in all angles. A monopoly on the global scale, that's what his words were."
"Is he the one in charge?"
Darcy, Loanne and Leia, outsiders not involved with the main Loud-versus-genocide-brigadiers, listened in with awkward, puzzled faces that met each other repeatedly and untimely.
"The head of the entire system," Meli replied, "he has all the control now, with Lisa Loud and Peter McMahon now out of the picture. His oh-so loyal foot soldiers of various ranks have signed up to serve him and his great vision of the future. He coats it with sugar and calls this a purge of human deformity on all levels. I know what this is, and I don't like it. I've been faking my cooperation along with the crew I've been running with. We're teenagers in terms of age but we're alongside the adults' affairs."
"Meaning?"
"We're mouthpieces they call upon to dissuade suspicion from potential peepers and curious fellows- or rather, that was their intended use for us. Diplomacy, the Supervisor said, peace within the borders, and a lot of talk about politics... Politics, power, economic and social crap. McMahon was getting shit, we were to assure the nation that all these allegations Dylan Blood somehow uncovered were just superstition, but the man's dead and Blood started chaos in every state if you're not aware."
"Every state?" Luna and Carly exchanged stern glanced. "What-?"
"Every armed and unarmed person with enough bravery to go out and make a move has rallied up and declared war with Kapacity Korp, who can blame them?" Meli found the humor in the joke. "Phenos and pro-pheno supporters have teamed up to fight the antis and the Federation soldiers. We're spread fucking thin, having to protect the public assets from being overrun. I don't know if you've seen it earlier, but all of that made us move quite fast to collect N."
"One person alone made-?"
"All the difference in the world, yes. It's good for us and bad at the same time, we get to move earlier but we weren't ready."
"Leven..." Luna had reason to feel betrayed by the clone. "Why didn't he-?"
"The less who knew, the better, we were all in agreement."
"D-did he know about C-Caroline?"
And Meli nodded to confirm Luna's question. "Caroline is not one of us, she is pure defector working under the Supervisor. For the record, me and my crew, we're all phenos and we can take upon as many soldiers of the Federation if it ever comes down to it, but I'm afraid it will."
"Are they good?"
"They've excelled past expectations, just as I am, but we're here because we pledged our loyalties to the cause, to the Supervisor. We bled for it and now... We get to take back our own blood."
"Hey," Carly turned over to the backseat. "What's the story with these three?"
"This one is a pheno," Loanne nudged to Darcy, "and this one met the Tacitus Man or Kid or whatever."
"Uh-" Luna stuttered. "Wait, what?!"
"What about you?" Carly inquired about Loanne's involvement. "Which one are you?"
"She's a friend," Darcy answered for Loanne. "C-could you fill us in on what the fuck you're talking about?"
"How did a little girl get caught up with that fiend?"
"That's what we said about her!" Darcy shared.
"I am not a little girl!" Leia insisted. "The nerve!"
"So, three phenos sitting in this car alone," Carly calculated, "adding to the other three you've mentioned. There are eight of you and then there's me with the blades..."
"Nine..." Loanne corrected. "Whatever is going on, count me in to this shindig. These people tried to kidnap some random minor, that's as good a reason for me to bust some heads."
"Are you both strong?" Luna evaluated. "We're not looking for pushovers who will run at the sight of blood. I'd like more of you but we're this scarce that we're in no position to turn anyone away. I think it's pure luck we found you guys right at the heat of this... Madness."
"I can hold my own, have for about four years!" Darcy claimed. "And Loanne here can as well, I've seen her in action."
"Don't flatter me," Loanne said, rolling her eyes.
"So, you guys seem to know more about what's going on... You mind filling the three of us in from start to finish?"
Black Network Base
Lupa had known defeat, and in a twisted turn of events, had succumbed to the chemical compound that entered her body. Slowly, it worked its way into her brain, disconnecting her from her humanity and natural state of being. Where Lupa's pupils were, they had disappeared into a sea of pure whiteness, those eyes being blank as long as the Medi-Sin formula would last. Next, most of her face had become dark, as if she had smeared coal on her face to make it black- and then, only when the transformation continued, the veins appeared around, green lines popping out here and there. Lupa Loud became the first Medi-Sin Kid to serve the vengeful Dylan Blood.
Lower Manhattan
Loanne, Darcy and Leia processed everything Luna and Carly had shared, each at their own respective rate. The facial expressions on them could only imply how horrified, or how astonished and bewildered they were. No other words needed to be said after this. It was here that Darcy and Loanne had known that they could not afford to back down from this fight, and little Leia had not wanted to fight... Had no interest to put herself in danger; Luna made it clear Leia was going to be, forcing her to make a choice, which was to stick by them as close as possible, yet not too close to face the dangers head-on.
"Oh, sorry, it slipped my mind!" Meli recalled a vital piece of information. "We have Lynn Loud-" Darcy reacted to the name. "-in custody at Site Prime. That's where we put away dissenters and those who get in the way. Its where Lola and Lana are going as we speak, the location is in North California."
"That- that's where she's been?"
"Treated like a prisoner, yes, but Leven takes priority."
Luna was quick to agree. "You can lead us to the base now, wherever it is."
"I'm aware."
Luna had no intention to help Lynn until then end; she thought Lynn deserved it. Yes, fuck all the Lynn Louds in the world. Carly noticed the aggression from Luna. "Hm..."
"This ends today," Meli valiantly told the group. "For everyone who is completely unaware of this war that is taking place on domestic soil. An imperfect future is better over one paved by the deaths of millions."
"For us-" Luna added.
"For them!" Carly cheered. "We'll remain to keep the memories of our fallen allies alive!"
Prime Federation
Lyle was the next person to be thrown into the interrogation room with Lemy and Lynnette, but in a willing manner over a resisting one. He simply walked inside when led by a pair of armed soldiers, meeting Lemy and Lynnette for the first time, and his red eyes had not faded. He saw them but didn't give them his entire attention. Poor Lyle's mind projected the grisly corpse of the late Lindsey Sweetwater, subjecting him to mental torture that showed no bounds.
Elsewhere
Lincoln Loud turned and twisted and cried out in his sleep. The dream, or rather the nightmare, was the same as the others. It was him back in Niagara Falls, brandishing that revolver Allie had brought into Grimmtown, revealing herself and her status as a threat to anyone and everyone around her. Only, when he grabbed her, pulled her to the edge, things changed for him. She changed when he didn't expect it. Allie Taggart was no longer Allie Taggart. The face and body of Chloe Binsley brought unto him hesitation and challenge, making him halt from pulling the trigger right into her eye. "You wouldn't hurt an innocent girl, would you?"
"Cuh... Chloe-"
"Dare you to shoot me..." Chloe urged right as she raised her hands, forming to push Lincoln. "You've already killed me once."
And she pushed him, reversing the roles Lincoln and Allie in this surreal landscape of his mind. The devil of his mind. Lincoln felt it, the intense rush and weightless fall from plummeting down to the waters below. And he woke up sweating and screaming, jumping right out of the hard floor, finding himself in Leni's sight range. "H-how long-?"
"Not long enough. Maybe an hour," Leni weakly said. "But you wouldn't stop crying out for Chloe."
"I hope I wasn't too noisy," Lincoln let out, removing the covers from his body. "No more napping."
"You worry-wort, go out, I told you I'd be fine for the day..." Leni still held a grudge that could not ever be fully tapped into. "Forever, actually."
"You can tell me to fuck off, but the matter of the truth is, I can't and I won't. That being said, you're not leaving me with many options as we go along. Thank you for taking me away from the old house, but I have no interest in coming with you to wherever you could offer to take me."
"Don't believe in second chances anymore?" Lincoln questioned of her. "I don't think-"
The bell that dangled on a rope that ran across the ceiling of the cabin had rung, alerting Lincoln enough to move to the hidden M1911 hidden under the sink, readying himself at the window. "Leni, stay down."
"It's just the wind, you maniac!" Leni reasoned- not detecting Lissandra Mercer's presence, the latter blonde hick girl whom crawled on the sturdy planks that creaked away. Leni heard the inhuman snort behind, had a funny feeling to glance around to only see some unbearable monster. "L-L-Lincy?"
"If we're going to argue-" Lincoln turned back to see Leni sprawled on the floor, with Lissandra toppled right over her, a nasty grin taking up the bottom of her face. "Leni!"
Bethany Kira Chang ran the katana occupying her left hand upwards, catching Lincoln by surprise, wounding his foot. She then broke through the floorboards and, with the other katana in her right hand, stabbed Lincoln in the shoulder. "Don't move, or my partner here kills the woman," Bethany warned.
"F-fuck-" Lincoln found himself wedged onto the wall, the penetrating blade turning left and right, digging deep to keep him in place. But his handgun had not been let go of.
Took long for this to come out, the sudden decrease of interest in keeping this going has reached what I believe just might be the peak. This may or may not end up being the final chapter before the white nothingness where words alone are to be constructed onto. This was a long time coming, but I do not want to write the characters that belong to SK gang of gatekeeping fascist pricks. It seems it won't end, an injustice that no one wants to correct. Should this be the last, I bid you, my readers, a hearty farewell.