Be it confusing now, not to be later
Memories of the Past, Chapter XI
When I learned about it myself, you can be damn sure it hurt. The story- plans, whatever- it didn't just include me and Clyde, but potentially Lori and Darcy Holmandollar. Now, when I proposed this to Darcy, she was onboard the very second I stopped talking. Her and I, the first pair of superhumans alive- and in my timeline, McMahon called in a satellite strike that incinerated her and hundreds of other resistance members before we could even get the drop on an armored convoy. Soon after, they caught me and turned me into a prisoner for some damn time.
My Darcy is dead- and me changing this Lincoln's fate led to this Darcy being killed by a stranger's hand. As in, Darcy was never told of the so-called master plan, so she never broke into the Vial Corporation facility, therefore she remained a fragile girl like every other out there. I was never too close with Darcy, but we could've been, for it had been a possibility. But because I'm wired knowing my Darcy chose me over them, then all Darcys in the endless multiverse out there likely did the same. And maybe some of them got to live.
But it hurt for a reason when learning this one died in a rather quiet way. The news on her death had never covered the critical fact, therefore no one had known, which made sense- Darcy had never stepped into the spotlight yet, she wasn't quite ready yet considering her age. If anything, she was the only one of us who could have had a proper life, and not even that...
Not even that. Yeah, that's the fire that added to my anger and sadness. It was senseless.
Whatever, nothing I could have done, really, and I'm not at fault for not being there, but I could have done more. I could have been more protective of the others from the shadows instead of being around them knowing full well I brought nothing but trouble and danger. Just what...
What the hell am I supposed to do?
Often do I walk alone, waiting for the time to come back to where it knew me, which would've been years from now until I faced my sisters and the mud they'd been dragged through involuntarily. I had to be there to keep the body count on our side to a bare minimum if I found I couldn't have saved everyone, but I knew who the hidden enemies were, so it would have been no issue to find where they strategized. Meanwhile...
Clyde McBride didn't bite the dust, not that I worried over him, but it was pleasing to see that he had changed drastically, almost unrecognizable, even. There he was, a computer expert and running with MIT so suggested by the goofy profile I came across. Awfully lucky of him so I could only wish him the best and never come knocking on his front door. Ever.
I had years in my hands as a ghost persona, trying to get by out of the digital world. That accounted for not running in with the law. So no fighting, no speeding. Nothing that led to my arrest where they'd have to get an identity out of me, and Jerry Cruise was not going to cut it. Man, I hadn't realized how hard an off-grid life was. And with the Freights, it was entirely different than of me trying to get by now.
Maybe I should have returned to Clyde, after all, the fake IDs existed because he made it so with sweet greens. Everything had been ready for me to start anew, but the me had never shown up. Yet. I deemed it not to be, but who knows what is down this new path laid out for me?
I wait in this world, reliving the pandemic and the mess brought upon to society, obvious evidence humanity only furthers its history down the toilet. I'm grateful, I get to wear a mask that helps me conceal my face and I don't need a vaccination, being immune to the virus. Unless of course it mutates to kill me, and that wouldn't be ideal.
They're all out there, to tend to their thoughts and to have this period in relaxation. They may not know an idea of suffering and I hope that remains to stay as is. They'll have a good chance of survival due to me being here, and then, that's it, I won't be needed here.
Yes, I'd like to have my long rest if you catch my drift, to end the torment and the paranoia among them. That's how I've pictured it. Me, going out by my own hand, on my own terms. Right this second I feel no fear, but will it be the same when I'm in that spot? Will I just face it head-on or will I have trouble?
But I just wanted you to know. You and them, this reason I was doing this. And you'll have never noticed my death, because there'll be this other Lincoln to regain his life. He'll hate me, but that's okay cause he'll be glad if he ever found out my big finish.
But... I'd have liked to know what the others thought. I know it'd have helped me, but to each their own.
Well... I'm done here-
"LINCOLN!"
The scream had snapped him out of it, bringing him back to be facing the strange artifact not of earthly origins, but of a place far beyond the stars seen at night. This thing, or rather things, appeared to be a series of illuminating sky-blue crystals stuck together, becoming one solo thing half the size of a car. His own two hands were pressed against the bright outer layer of crystals, just as the others' own were. "G-great-"
"Oh, my God..." Among the bunch around the crystal cluster, Lynn let her reaction escape. "You...?"
"That's not-" But he had no excuse around it, so an attempt was only futile. "Don't give me lip, I thought it was right."
"Keep your hands on the Relic!" Luna, another face Lincoln had forgotten about, reminded her peers. "No matter what, the Hive Bond connection can't be severed! Keep syncing in!"
Starting at a clockwise rotation starting at his left, there was Luna, Lori, Lily, Lupa, Lynn, Luan, Dylan Blood himself, clone Link-A and Bethany Chang. All had gone through the first phase and gave to the Relic a sort of deep memory where they were to relive it again so that it, a sort of sentient being, perhaps, could see for itself if they were worthy to accept the group request of accessing the Hive Bond at full power.
"How much longer?" Luan asked away, still tuning in to the grizzly images brought to her by her peers. "I can't- I can't handle it!"
"No, keep your hands on! We're almost there, we're almost close to tapping into its power!" Luna encouraged them in desperation. "We're the final hope, after all that Lola's done, we can't just-"
"We won't!" Lupa shouted from her end. "We've come this far thanks to the others, none of you can afford to fuck this up massively! Or I'll kill you myself!"
"Clear mind, twerp, we're so close-"
Lincoln took a deep breath and surrendered his own memory to the Relic. "This, I give to you so that you know I have carried guilt- My moral compass, not fully broken."
Lori couldn't help but bite her bottom lip. "Err... I'm sorry, little bro-"
"Get a room, losers!" Linka retorted jokingly, rolling her eyes. "This is the same type mush that broke me once, I never realized how much I could hate it."
"Will you shut-?" The Relic had cut her off and disabled their vocal cords briefly, for it had begun to expel a gooey substance from the edges of the crystal-shaped objects, that floated about all around them, taking a long, narrow shape like rope before it decided to break apart and spread about in a random pattern, breaking away. It was a magical sight, almost unreal- and even more unreal when the blue goo flung to their skin without warning, stretching out to cover them from head to toe, as if they had their own gravity forces that lured the goo. "IS THIS NORMAL?!"
"It must be working!"
Lincoln tried to scrub the slop away from his arms. "There's no way-" The goo's properties activated quickly, taking him away from there to a dark, cold and lonely place. Just as he was in his mind, he was there with no company. But, there'd be no company yet, or ever, for this place was not a place but a vast space of infinite darkness. Maybe he had died and this was the so-called afterlife countless people have mentioned time and time again. No heaven or hell, just a resting place while confined to the planet as an invisible force. Oh, but this was worse if this was the eternity to spend at. "Hello?"
And his first question within the Hive Bond had been heard through the minds of all alternate universe Lincoln Louds, because what had come answering was nothing but an overlapping stampede of their matching voices; the Hive Bond's true power had been obtained by the Distortioners, and thus far, where Lynn Loud III had left off before her inevitable 'death', they would continue to finish it.
And stop Lola.
Don't say goodbye
Cause I don't wanna hear those words tonight
Cause maybe it's not the end for you and I
And although we knew
This time would come for me and you
Don't say anything tonight
If you're gonna say goodbye
Lyrics to Say Goodbye by Skillet