Lyrics to You're Going Down by Sick Puppies
Prologue
For the most part, the Doomsday Clock had turned back even when there was that high possibility it could go forth yet again, and the sixth sense paranoia of a great, impending calamity remained to be a tingling feeling in the back of the public's next. As it stood, a series of new legislature actions had dragged, with weariness, the Pheno Registration Act, or the PRA, where all existing phenos had to go to their nearest court and register their basic information and the precise ability, where it would be entered onto the newly created database for all authority agencies' access, but this was only the first step.
The second was not so easier, and that didn't account for the regulars to ridicule and look down upon them like they were the lowest form of scum to exist; Pheno Aid facilities had come to be, funding of which was gathered from donations graciously handed in person by Murdock Mandel, the founder and CEO of Mandel Industries. These facilities housed unbiased and open-minded staff for the most part, where they'd work with the registered phenos to help them in life, specializing in social skills, economic skills, therapy sessions and whatever it had been that they had missed out on in the time the poor folk had been encased in transparent Vial Corp glass. And with the powers of many of these growing phenos, they forged their own purpose and would go on to lend their hands for the heart of America to see and slowly accept these formerly-called freaks/abominations; the strong ones helped in construction, the flying ones were helping with food deliveries, the animal hybrids were dispatched in game reservations to prevent hunters and poachers from driving endangered species to extinction, praised away by animal activists wholeheartedly. Fire-based, placed in the coldest of environments, ice-based, on constant standby to be dispatched wherever wild fires broke out, to effectively have a higher chance at containment and eradication. You name it, they had it, thought of it and continued to do so, improvising and constantly redirecting phenos like a sophisticated strategy game's moving of its pieces on the long board.
However, as good as they've proven to be, it wasn't like that for every single one of them. There were, much to the credibility to the growing anti-pheno movements out there, powered criminals made up a new class of lawbreakers and had grown to be a common issue to be addressed often in news and talk shows, which was mainly why the distribution of anti-pheno ammunition was a good idea, delivered to all agencies and utilized in all types of guns, from pistols and shotguns to carbines and even sniper rifles- they were a different variety than the ones used by the original Prime Federation, replicated from the first formula and modified so that the rounds expel the counteracting liquid dubbed the Subside. In short, the Subside was a bio-engineered breed of offensive microorganisms built to recognize the normal human genetic makeup while any foreign genetics- pheno genetics- were to be incinerated by the organisms. Unlike the short-term suppression effects, the Subside turned a pheno back to base form for nearly two whole decades, but the testing continued to make the Subside permanently take away a wanted pheno's powers. It was quick to make headlines and be called the unofficial cure by enough people, including pros, antis, and those who wanted their 'awful burden' to be lifted away from their very being. Results wound up expanding the use of Subside as a cure, a move heavily criticized when it should have been adapted for a voluntary cure first before being weaponized, but it didn't matter by that point. And for $165 dollars, Subside had come in the form of a pill with temporary neutralization effects.
Next, the fight between the regs and phenos had calmed to peaceful levels, but the inner hostility had remained, for on August 7th of that terrible year, an unnecessary toll of over five hundred lives were lost in the blind attacks, and another eight hundred plus injured in the aftermath when the chaos escalated to riots and looting, far from where cops were dispatched to. As it was, the boys in blue had been stretched thin, so they never covered all the current incidents in progress.
But now that both sides had gotten a taste at the bloodbath and its consequences that could very well repeat, and with the anti-pheno groups being at fault for the provocation of phenos as well as the intent to kill as many as they could. Needless to say, enough conspirators/murderers within the antis were sentenced, still serving to this day, and for the rest of them, they understood the warning and kept back to the shadows, waiting for the right time to kick a pheno down.
With the leaks that came down from the two secret empires, expert computer hackers on the payroll worked around the clock to erase the digital trails the footprints had made- and LK had not involved itself to provide assistance of any kind. The process was endless, even when other hacktivist groups, such as Anonymous, lent their hands to keep all the files off the internet. Try as they might, they'd only be able to remove the digital copies, but the smarter criminals who acquired the files had printed out enough, specifically the weaponry blueprints, had gone to sell them in physical form, or were the type to keep and get them manufactured immediately. Either way, it was the same outcome just as the Black Network had done; the advanced class weaponry once delivered by crates, via trucks, sent to warehouses and storage facilities controlled by organized crime, had roughly quadrupled in size, spread to just about most of the corners on the planet. This mess, too advanced for the local PD, too resource-consuming for the specific authorities, but just right for the restored Patriot Division to handle. And all of that was what they had known, versus a great deal of other illicit activities beyond their knowledge, which there were.
Which was how things returned to how it began in the first place, reinstated in full, plus upgrades, and its dear, loyal band of agents back in control of the formerly abandoned base of operations; Alexander Elmont gathered his crew back together and all was the same save for one small change. The Division no longer had to operate within the shadows, status changing from unofficial to officially public, and its special pheno team- the carnivorous Luna Loud, who had started to take a special medication throughout the years to suppress her cold-blooded nature, when it had been ruled that her inhuman tendencies were, at all times, dangerous on and off duty. Lana and Lola Loud, as it turned out, had been at risk of effects of rapid body temperature shifts, which was of certain when either twin had gone running. This made their bodies undertake a weight of stress to adapt to the matching temperature. This led to the creation of the Multi-Thermal Absorption Suit, otherwise known as the M-TAS, that almost perfectly solved this particular issue, and there was no need to worry about the regular wear and tear. It came in pink for Lola, and in an overalls-like livery for Lana, not to be questioned by the other siblings. Lynn herself had requested one- it came in red with two white lines running down on each shoulder, perfectly coming closer to full circle with the future Lynn, who had been wearing that very same M-TAS attire that night.
There had been no real light at the end of the tunnel after the defeat of Dylan Blood, proved when Luan's body had been found, and the arrangements for the funeral, and the reception for the wake, fell into the age of true darkness. They laid her to rest in an elegant yellow dress, placed in a black coffin worth half a million, price determined by the custom carving all around it. But, while Luan had received a massive send-off, the same could not be said to the other fallen; Lacy, having finally received a proper name, sadly never got the chance to wield it with pride. Her own grave was the first in the cemetery in Grimmtown, and Leven's own was held where the Prime Federation base had been, to be unmarked and left undisturbed for all of time.
The others' who had died were all given more private, small funerals, not attended by all the Louds, but you could be certain Lynn was there for Phoebe Ward's own.
But where the darkness lurked, an illuminating light had given way and broke through it to shine upon them; Lily had made her return in the sisters' lives again, almost like a holy sign Luan had bestowed upon them from the heavens, another step to restoration of pure humanity.
The following years of them being a family had made them see, in a slow manner, that they should not, and would not have taken it all for granted; the group decision to turn in their resignation was the better choice, after all that they have done for the good of man, it had been time for them to start doing and living for themselves and each other. It had been the year 2036 when they had settled down and hung up the mantle, ultimately replaced by a new team of phenos working under the Patriot Division. They lived quieter lives, free from the constant dangers out there. They attended special therapeutic counseling, coming as a recommendation from the Patriot Division, as well as other perks they'd have for the next forty years.
Lemy, Lyle and Meli became official members of the Patriot Division, specifically integrated into the Junior team. For Lyle, some things were familiar, but proved to be no easy feat after the passing of the person he was supposed to keep safe and could not even muster the courage to face her family and break the news that she wound up as street pizza. No one had identified the body publicly, so Lindsey Sweetwater became another Jane Doe and what was left of her corpse put in a black bag, and the large blood splatter, which he feared was most of her than the solid chunks, had been washed away into the sewer system. And that was it, that was the horrific end of the redhead's journey.
A firm month following after the Louds' resignation, Congress called for the shutdown of the Division, all of its assets transferred to different agencies and wiping their hands clean of its remaining pheno affiliates.
Leia had shared her tragic origins to the Loud women, leaving no detail out and had reached through to Lola the most, so much that the pink zoomer had decided to adopt Leia as a daughter, one of the better days in her life, as she put it. Turned out, they had too much in common, from fashion to beverages, and even shared the same idols.
Loanne had returned to the world of acting, but had also started a podcast on her terrifying encounter with Chester Flanagan, pressed by the portion of her fans who were the victims of similar incidents to move forward with 'a brave and captivating moment story' to embolden women and girls everywhere. And she had liked that idea, if it meant for other women to be safe and on guard. The podcast, A Wardell Word, had become a popular success both domestically and internationally, and had become, for the next few months, a symbol of women empowerment until the podcast had come to an end, and all the hype had died down. On the regular, she attended group therapy once a week every week, having been consistent until the fifty-something time where she had tapped in to the genes of her father and let alcohol do the fixing. She cried that day and made a mess of her house, and a snooping member of the paparazzi had gotten enough to take it to TMZ. It was a scene of embarrassing humiliation displayed on the television for all to see the symbol of empowerment losing quite a nerve. And time only went forward. She blamed the demon.
Grimmtown expanded, but still remained as it was, a secret safe haven to protect phenos from the jumble up north, most certainly those who wished to not register as a pheno to avoid the inevitable harassment and targeting of themselves. Liby and Lupa remained there and had never gone up, having no reason to visit the Loud women. They closed that chapter of their lives, trying to start anew, and with Lupa having to be checked up on by Liby often.
But as quiet a life they lived, there had been a series of mysteries that plagued them throughout the years, simple thoughts that came back to remind them that they were unsolved, brought up in convos or manifesting in solitude. Such mysteries like, what happened to Chad McCann and Link-A? And, why had the artificial intelligence LK suddenly grow quiet since that one dark day? Odd disappearances that could mean no good, but with no clues or leads upon the series of searches for either three, the cases were closed and filed under cold. The most focused search was on Linka, the girl with a super-weapon inside her brain that needed to be extracted as fast as possible- if they cared for her the way Leven surely did. It was a promise he himself had placed for them to witness, and they were made to help him no matter what may have happened to him. They surely tried their best to locate the missing clone and uncover the mysterious party, but no luck. If LK were around...
And in the shadows where light never shone on, other familiar faces, as well as new ones, continued to move about until it had been time to emerge into view.
Act VIII: Nine Years Later, Chapter I: The Mechabeast
January 18th, 2039
Lynn and Luna, among a horde of people around them, waited patiently for the subway train to arrive to continue their sightseeing. Lola and Lana didn't need to come, considering they had known just about every single inch of the eastern seaboard. Lily had gone ahead of them in pure eagerness, and also because both brunettes had grown hungry, and wee Lily had already eaten at home prior to going around the busy and crowded New York City. The pair had agreed to take souvenirs on the way back when they had filled themselves of enough fun and taken too many selfies than they could remember to count. Why, yes of course! This day was going to be to their pleasant enjoyment, and in no way would some fan or hater try to ruin it for them.
The train had arrived and released some of its passengers to allow for more space. The girls quickly moved in to avoid being bumped into, but it happened anyway when they had stopped right after getting in and were flooded by about over ten people coming in. Luna held onto the railing, beaten by Lynn to the only available seat in the car. "Still trying to win, I see."
"Pffft, I just wanna take a rest. My legs aren't what they used to be!" Lynn excused.
"I hear that!" Luna laughed in agreement. "I knew we made the right call back then, I didn't really think I'd be fighting forever, but I figured you would."
"Eh," Lynn raised her shoulders. "I could have lasted a few more years, but whatever the majority decides..." Her eyes went to the passengers. "Besides, this life is peaceful. Just like you said, no more fighting, no more guns or blood or whatever some rogue pheno had to show. You know it's not been our problem since the Subside's been distributed to every service. All it takes to stop a pheno is a good marksman with a clip of Subside rounds and not a zoomer anymore."
Luna had to ask to know, "Do you miss it?"
"Miss it...?" Lynn drew confusion. "I just said-"
"No, I mean-" Luna scoffed at herself, laughed. "Before all of this, you were an agent, that's what I mean. You turned that chance down to stay with the big boys, but-"
"Are you asking if I've ever had second thoughts?" Lynn wondered with an eyebrow raised. "I have no regrets about the choice I made, but... Yeah, I do, I miss it and I don't have a right to even say so considering it truly was dangerous work. I could never go back and revert human just to get shot in the head, not when-" Lynn grasped an old ideology and found herself remembering how she had been beginning to understand that life was not just about throwing oneself into perils with fatal consequences; she had been a mortal girl with goals to face danger to overcome them all until all possible dangers were promptly defeated. She had, from the start of her time-traveling journey to this day, survived a great deal of dangers that so verily grew beyond regular limitations. Were she not a zoomer, she'd have been the dust and proved to be a failure. Were she sticking to the same ideals, failure for sure.
But that had not been who she was anymore. Not when she had come across the nostalgia; that mush that caused her to feel and care for her family, such a level that not even the three members of her unit could ever be reached with. Her sisters and that one brother to give her something worth fighting for...
...other than the insecurity in her that compelled her to continue to be a winner until it could- and would have certainly- cost her her life. "-I have all of you to worry about, and I know you'd be worrying about me."
"I'd have told you off," Luna confirmed. "You and your bad ideas, Lynn. I'm glad you didn't."
A heavy pair of thumps that came from above disturbed their conversation, as well as gather the attention of the other passengers. Luna and Lynn shot their eyes up, heads tilting in awe to see a hole forming from the roof, and with it, a gray, metallic hand bursting right through. The hand pulled back as some of the passengers began spreading away from the hole, a select few taking out their phones like clockwork. Lynn got up and pulled Luna away. "Move, move!"
"Did you see that?!" Luna yelled with curious astonishment in her voice. "That thing-"
The being the hand had belonged to made its entrance right through one of the windows, jumping in to reveal itself as some sort of metal being with a face that resembled a motorcycle helmet, only it had two ears at each side. And in a distorted, echoing voice, it spoke out to them, "Luna Loud, I've come to kill you."
"M-me?" Luna stuttered. "How did-?"
Lynn moved herself in between Luna and the metal behemoth. "You want her, you gotta get through me!"
"With pleasure!" The metal android moved closer, but Lynn moved past it and managed to get behind it, where she kicked at its hip with all her strength. The kick did nothing but injure Lynn, and left her open for a backhand attack by the mecha. The zoomer had fallen on her back, reeling from the counter.
"Lynn!" Luna immediately turned around to the passengers behind her. "Everyone, move to the other car!"
Just as she had said that, the train had begun to slow down, suggesting that they had just reached the next stop. Lynn signaled to Luna with her eyes to make a break for it.
"Stay where you are..."
"Hey-" Luna raised her hands in the air. "What's with the murder intent? What did I do to get a robot after me?"
The train had arrived on station.
"Come to me," the android had demanded of her. "Face me."
Luna made one step forward, and then the sliding doors spread apart from one another. Lynn made a fast leap up and tackled Luna right out of the train, in turn striking upon the next group of passengers ready to board the train. They cried out in anger as Lynn quickly pushed Luna back on her feet and away from the train, with the metal creation now running after them.
"DON'T LOOK BACK!" Lynn roared, glossed with fear. "MY ATTACK DID NOTHING!"
"Try it again!"
"AS SOON AS WE LEAD IT INTO A CLEARING-" Lynn panted, following Luna up the staircase leading to the streets. "SHIT!"
"Stop talking and keep running!"
Lynn did the opposite, stopping right before going up the stairs that took them to the street. "KEEP RUNNING, I'LL SLOW IT DOWN!"
"What?" Luna had no time for such theatrics. "NO, YOU IDIOT! COME ON!"
Lynn ran back to the metal foe to engage it while Luna was to run, if she understood her role then and there. And she did, jogging up to the street side, taking out her phone immediately to contact Lily. Shit! Why now?! Why here, of all times?!
Somehow, the mecha had gotten the better of Lynn and caught right up to Luna at the top, where they found themselves at the corner of a busy intersection. The formidable foe grabbed and flung Luna right into a taxi cab. Her body had caved the side of the roof right in, momentum of the throw having enough power to flip the vehicle over. The side of her hip had bled from a shard having cut in a clean line.
"LUNA!" Lynn finally reached the street to see the area being vacated, the atmosphere growing with screeching tires, screams, and the impact of crashing cars around the flipped taxi. "YOU!"
Luna rolled right onto the ground free from the taxi, peering right into the cab to see the driver had already died from a head injury. "Agh..." She placed pressure over her wound, cursing herself for taking Subside to begin with. "L-Lynn-!"
"Don't bother, I am radiating an anti-pheno aura," the robot voice explained, "so your speed is null around me."
"That- that's why-" Lynn formed her hands into fists, challenging the mecha to a fight. "Come on, scrap metal. Let's go!"
It definitely tried to fight, and judging by its moves, Lynn sensed it was a person operating an advanced battle suit. She dodged their attacks, perfectly countering them with measured punches to the face. Luna stumbled around the taxi, seeing the pair fight. "Lynn, b-be careful-"
"There's someone under the suit!" Lynn revealed, taking a kick to the chest. She fell back, leaving the operated mecha to focus back on Luna.
"No need to hurt her!" Luna pleaded, dropping her hands from her wound. "I'm here-"
"L-Luna, you crazy bitch!" Lynn rebounded and jumped right onto the mecha, digging her hands right onto the helmet. It came loose, but not lose enough. Lynn jerked herself back, falling with the mecha and succeeded to remove their adversary's helmet right off. "I did it! I've exposed the bastard-"
The mecha pounced back to its feet, revealing the unmasked face of the operator. Luna was the first to see them for who they were, petrified from head to toe. Lynn pushed herself up and only saw the backend of the operator's head. "Hey, why are you just-?"
The pilot turned back to Lynn and picked up the helmet wordlessly; now Lynn herself had seen it for herself, gasping aloud. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"There's no way," Luna released softly. "There's just no way..."
"Oh but there is a way this has come to be," they echoed back. "And now you will learn that there is no God."
"I hardly think that's necessary," a male voice interrupted, the source coming from the subway system. "They know very well by now-"
A flash grenade flew out of the tunnel, landing and rolling to the operator. Lynn covered her eyes, facing away from the equipment piece. It gradually went off and blinded the pilot directly, allowing Lynn to help Luna up and take her away from the foe. The third party, revealed as none other than Lincoln sporting nothing but casual clothing, along with a carbine rifle loaded with armor-piercing rounds, plus two bonus clips, took aim and fired away at point-blank range. How funny that the rounds bounced off to ricochet everywhere did not amuse him, but he had emptied the entire magazine; the armor was indestructible and impervious to bullets, meaning he had even more desire to take the pilot out and take the suit for himself. "So bullets will not cut it..."
"Oh, this isn't over..."
"Lincoln..." Lynn glanced over her unoccupied shoulder. "D-don't fight her-"
Her? Lincoln lowered his carbine. "I don't know who you are underneath but you have my attention, targeting my sisters the way you are now."
"Good to see some things never change, huh, Lincoln?"
"I don't know what you mean with those words, but it's only a matter of minutes before this place crawls with the right firepower. Feeling lucky to take upon many heavies?"
"I can withstand-"
"Means nothing for you, they'll use too many explosives to rattle you inside until you're forced to get out- unless they've killed you."
"How right you are... This isn't over for any of you, but I only want the Superbeast, so you'd do well to stay out of my way!" The pilot had activated its jet thrusters built into the bottom of the feet, making it shoot up like a rocket, leaving a pair of scorch marks in its wake. The thing had disappeared faster than it had appeared, leaving Lincoln itching to have it.
"Agh-" Luna winced in agony, "she got me good, dude."
"Don't say that!" Lynn checked her free hand and shook to see if her speed had returned. It had. "We've gotta get you the hospital. The Subside in you isn't gonna heal you."
"Lincoln-" Luna coughed blood in between her words. "Did you... Did you know?"
"This is new to me," he shared, "but I was on the trail of someone else. Isn't it interesting how I lost them only to come across you girls? I followed you for a bit just to make sure there was no one tailing you, but you've gotten rather sloppy watching over your shoulders. I count three creeps lying face down inside garbage cans who've been circling you for blocks. Don't worry your souls, I took care of them."
"Meet us later in Central Park." Lynn took Luna into her arms, leaving Lincoln in the dust. He didn't pause to stay, not when the sirens had already rung out in the distance. He didn't feel like staying to make a statement both verbally and on written paper, so off he ran, taking the scenic route.
Lynn called it a she, a female working that wonder-weapon? Just who dares operate a total game-changer? The questions flooded his head as he ran, and sidetracked him from the main reason he had come to the city; he was in search for the other Lincoln who had popped up here after breaking out some time ago. That Lincoln had yet to make some serious noise and gather the group attention of his sisters, but maybe if there had been time left to prevent that- Goddamn it for coming back to bite me in the ass like this. Whatever next?
After two miles of running around, he reached a parking garage and made his way up to the top floor. A lone black van had been waiting for him just as he left it. He tapped on the backside with the barrel of the carbine. "Open up, kid."
"How do I know you're the same one who left?" the voice of Lemy tested.
"He wouldn't be reminding you to cut your long hair, idiot," Lincoln insulted. "We've got bigger issues now."
"Is it worse than chasing that bony version of you?" Lemy let Lincoln in, scooting back. "This brings into question what I thought I knew about time travel, man. Hell, I'm still so freaking confused, like-"
"Shut up, Lemy," Lincoln silenced, dropping his weapon on the floor. "Shit!"
"Was his body armor stronger than the rounds?" Lemy removed the magazine and looked into it. "These rounds are premium-"
"There was a woman in some metal suit." Lincoln unstrapped the two extra magazines from his waist. "None of the rounds had any effect, and two of my sisters- Uh, the sisters, were there fighting her."
"A woman in...?" Lemy processed this, running a hand through his thick beard. "That's above the Reta Corps paygrade, don't you think?"
"I don't take this type of hostile lightly, and as is..." His fingers acted on their own, tapping away at the metal beneath him. "We need to assemble our own group of phenos. No Reta Corps, and none of my sisters. We'll take care of this one ourselves. Got any connections?"
South Florida
Underneath a lone warehouse, taking up the entire basement was a bloodsport at work. A cheering crowd full of blood-eager folk, bills in their hands, mesmerized and delighted by the spectacle, had filled the room, taking up most of the space save for the two participants of the sport; one of them was Nyla Laude, once a different person with a different name, no longer in use. From head to toe, Nyla had a dark green mini shirt left unbuttoned to show off her black bra and most certainly her cleavage, which proved useful as, per the rules, she could get help from the spectators if she had some influence. And quite the idea she had, gaining a popularity composed of thirsty guys and a few girls, even, working in her favor. Below that, she had short-shorts of the jeans brand and black leggings to add to the sexiness she'd been going for. To top it off, the blonde had come with no shoes to the match this time, usually feeling confined to her regular boots.
But today's match was different this time around. This match, not to her advantage anymore when a new girl, much prettier with bigger cleavage, clad in a black dress, had taken all of Nyla's potential assistance within the crowds. Here was the thing; Nyla had never used her zoomer powers to quickly end the battles, remembering to take Subside right before a match. She'd win or she'd lose, but she'd never find herself cornered tight to dare use her speed. Fists and kicks, that was the way it was going to be.
And that was the way it wasn't for this one; she fought valiantly, but her opponent Gloom, the stage name the black-dress girl had gone by, was by far faster and moved around Nyla with no issue, scratching and biting where she couldn't reach to in time. And let me tell you, Gloom had quite the teeth, it was almost like she wasn't even human, but that couldn't be right. Phenos were not allowed to fight, but they were certainly in the spectating crowd.
By the time Gloom had finished with her, Nyla could barely stand due to the bites on her legs, but she hoped this fight would go to her, seeing as how Gloom had been snacking on her, never even throwing a punch at all. Were it by her rules, Nyla would have disqualified her. How it really turned out was not what she had in mind. Gloom had won, her hand being held high by the runner of the beatdown. "WINNER BY MEANS OF BODILY HARM WITH NOTHING BUT THE SHARP JAWS INSIDE HER MOUTH! THE ALMIGHTY NYLA LAUDE FALLS AT HER MERCY AFTER SIX CONSECUTIVE WINS IN A ROW!"
"HOO! HOO!" the hive crowd cheered. And just like that, Nyla was disregarded, turned away like yesterday's news. She pushed into the crowd to disappear, unwilling to protest the cheating Gloom, who looked like a little young to have been fighting. It had been over the moment she stepped foot into the chalked circle, full of cocky arrogance like some drug. Maybe it had been rigged for Gloom to win, had to have been. She blew the right people. Dirty little whore, that one.
Nyla kissed the cash prize goodbye, and no cash meant no more Subside pills. She had begun to succumb to her numerous wounds, already having enough blood to become giddy, continuing to let herself bleed out. Not once had she shown concern for herself, never thinking about her own demise. She made that date today, trying to go far. She reached a cargo container back at the top and fell right behind it lifelessly, taking in labored breathing. Nine years of prolonged mental torture finally getting the kill on her. Can I finally see your face again, Lyra? Please... I need to see you again-
"Hey!" Gloom had followed the blood trail Nyla had left behind. "You need to- AGH!" She nearly had a heart restart when seeing Nyla bleeding face down. "WHY?!"
"Ffffffuh-" Nyla forced out. "Fuck ah-"
Gloom lifted the dying woman upright, putting her against the container. "Hang on, I'll- I'll get some-"
"Nghhh, go away..." Nyla exerted. "Let me die."
"What? Die?" Gloom used her two hands to press against two of the scars she made. "But-"
"Go away, I need..." Nyla took her last breath and went silent, never closing her mouth. She died with her head lumped over on the side, and Gloom had the honor of closing her eyes and gave her a proper moment of silence.
But they never stayed closed for long. Nyla inhaled through her nose and focused her eyes on the pair of intruding figures. The syringe pulled out of her neck once its liquid, the Recharge, had entered through her system, which had reversed the Subside's main effects. Her wounds closed, body restoring with energy. "What is this?"
"Nyla?" Lemy reached his hand out.
"You again..." Nyla slapped Lemy's hand away, giving him a cold stare. "I don't need to be bothered."
"You really did it, didn't you?" Lemy did his best not to focus on the blood. "You've gone down this far."
"What is it you want?" Nyla scratched at the spot where the Recharge entered through. "Why do you prolong my torture?"
"We're needed for a fight, Nyla. Pheno mandatory, you know how it is."
"No, I don't- What the fuck, Lemy?" Nyla had finally noticed the other figure next to him was Lincoln. "The man who just won't die."
"Coming from the girl who wants to die," he replied back with no chill. "Throw this suicidal crap away, Lemy here believes you can help, and we're scarce on phenos right now, especially when most are registered. Help us for a change."
Nyla took her time standing up, keeping her stone face of disappointment. "Help you for a change, ha! I could barely help myself all these years, fight after fight, tournament after tournament, location after location. I'd have preferred not to have been bothered by anyone, let alone you!"
Lincoln pushed her against the container, not having it. "Then you'd better turn it around and get your head right or I'll be more than happy to return you to the brink of death. So say it-"
"Fucking asshole!" Nyla had little mental strength to fend him off as it was. "Okay, fine! Shit! Let go!"
Lincoln moved back after freeing her. "Great, let's get moving. Lemy will fill you in on the way." He took the lead, leaving Nyla and Lemy on his six. Nyla shot a finger at Lincoln, mouthing to Lemy, "how did this happen?!"
New York
"Remember, no quick of unnecessary movement, like stretching or running, and be sure to get some rest when you get home," the doctor tending to Luna explained one last time. "The medical bill should come within three to five weeks. Other than that, you're all set to be discharged! Just follow the exits outside and you'll be led back out the waiting room!"
"Thanks, doc," Luna half-smiled, walking out of the room. Nothing had been missing, other than the obvious dormant super healing she wished would help her at this second, but instead it was a quick stitching of her wound. By dumb luck had her organs and intestines been spared from being punctured, but Luna knew the ordeal had only just begun. Already her smile had flipped upside down, dreaded by the fact that the metal monster was still out there, driven by that evil woman with a face so terribly and unbelievably recognizable. But it still seemed impossible for it to be reality.
Both Lynn and Lily had been eagerly awaiting Luna to have been released, a gamble when it was possible the worse had happened. Lily wiped her own eyes again the second Luna appeared in, delighted after praying and worrying over the eldest Loud woman's unknown status. "LUNA!"
"How are you?" Lynn assessed. "You okay?"
"Patched up," Luna nodded, patting Lily on the head when the pure angel had jumped to give her a loving hug. "Let's bail now."
"Right, I'm driving." Lynn took out keys from her pocket, exiting the hospital with her sisters. They got in Lynn's ride, a dark red Chevrolet, Luna calling shotgun and Lily sitting right behind Luna. The truck pulled out of the parking lot and veered onto the road. "Central Park, he said."
"What?" Luna studied Lynn's face. "There's no way we're meeting him. This isn't his problem."
"I don't know what to do!" Lynn bellowed. "On one hand, this could be a trick or something. That woman's gotta be utilizing psychological warfare, looking like..."
"You think that was a trick?" Luna snorted in disbelief.
"Yes I do!" Lynn pressed harder on the gas to floor it. "Look, whatever is going on, she's after you and she means to accomplish it. We need help here, Luna."
"I gotta call the twins!"
"Luna, that thing nullified my speed!" Lynn snapped her fingers about. "I couldn't help you. What could they do? Ugh... The Patriot Division could help in this matter, if only... God, what are we supposed to do?"
Grimmtown
The final knife had struck against the plank, going through it like nothing, causing the plank to fall from the table, being the final plank to have fallen. There were no more knives in front of Lupa's feet, but the continuous training kept her skills honed and updated yet. She felt pleased again and made the planks rise up again with knives going through each one, promptly separating each one from the wood. The knives returned to her, circling around her head, sharp ends facing upwards.
A single arrow fired from the direction of the sun took Lupa by surprise; it landed right between her feet, and one second too late had she reacted, proving she had become sloppy in her time here. She stepped back, challenged to a fight, but the sun had helped to blindside her enough that the attacking figure had quickly subdued her with an easy leg sweep, arms then clamped together, placed behind her back. All the knives had dropped in the sand. "Argh! Who the fuck dares?!"
"You know who dares," Lucy ominously whispered. "Telekinesis and I'm still better than you."
"You used a Hellve's camouflage powder, cheater," Lupa grunted. "Haven't seen you in awhile, what is it this time?"
"You ask that like I'm dumb." Lucy let go and helped Lupa up. "I've come to see you one last time."
"Going somewhere? Awesome."
"Cut the sass, we both know what you've done... I don't know where exactly it was but I've always known it. I've sensed it and it's coming for you."
Lupa slowly nodded and looked down. "I didn't realize it was that obvious to you. What, you want to say goodbye to me?"
"Yeah..." Lucy looked past Lupa. "You should have come with me, but you chose this over demon hunting. You know it's our specialty. What I know, what you know. But still-"
"That's what makes us different from one another," Lupa lectured. "I walked out of a tube with my own sisters alive and well. To tell you the truth, I had planned on it, Lucy. I had planned on leaving them and going with you. My plan was to tag-team with you until I couldn't. Maybe I'd have died fighting a Hellhound or Tiramakkuri creature, away from a city or town, in the woods maybe. Maybe I was destined to perish sometime in the future, but I'll never know. I'll never know because I was... I was put in a situation where I faced death, so I did it! I whispered the chant and I gave it my blood so that I could be invulnerable for a decade because, in that moment, I wasn't ready! I wasn't ready to die-"
Liby found the pair together, surprised to see Lucy having dropped by. She waved at them hoping they saw her. Neither of them noticed her.
"I wasn't ready to give up all that I've seen! And what I've seen was what we both have lost in the beginning! It meant everything to me again, so I stayed... I stayed because I wanted nothing else for those next ten years other than to spend it with them! My Lynn and Luan, here in this godforsaken place, as it should have been. Can you possibly tell me?!"
Lucy turned away in a manner of guilt.
"Can you tell me why someone I loved and cared for ended up dying?!"
Lucy sighed. "I could not tell you, really."
"You can't!"
Liby heard Lupa in her current state, wondering what was going on between the two. She had gotten close enough in ear range, stopping once her words were clear enough.
"I wanted to keep holding onto it all while the memories kept fading further and further. I wanted to see the two pave their future here while we all made memories. To see them as happy as I could have made them, but there's just no way I could have told them I was living on borrowed time. How could I? I..." She rubbed her hand right up over her mouth, letting the reality of the situation flow like a tsunami right into her mind. "I would never be ready for that moment when I'd be taken away from them. I'd knew I could not tell them, I don't ever want to see them hurt or in tears or... Any of the bad shit that could happen at any moment."
"Why did you bother if you knew it was going to end?" Lucy, it seemed, had so judged Lupa on her sentimentality. "I didn't go back hoping for the nostalgic feelings of a past time, it would have slowed me down, distracted me."
"I've been made of your blood, so how is it that you're worse than me?" Lupa accused blatantly. "But you'll never know what this feels like, because it's not you who had to give it up! If it were you, you'd be here with me, or back in the States with them!"
"Maybe so... But who could ever truly know?" Lucy turned away from Lupa. "Isn't it time you left this place? Or are you gonna stay until she has to wake up and see that you're gone? Anyways, I'm leaving. If you wanna spend your last moments with me, you'll know where I'll be."
"Leaving Grimmtown..." Lupa pondered the choice presented. On one hand, this place was her own deathbed if she stayed, and Lucy had not spoken a misinformed fact yet. Lupa's bed would be empty one lovely morning, leaving Liby to live as the only clone sister in Grimmtown. It would devastate her, leaving her in a hell of unanswered questions and repeated thoughts and theories. In no way could Lupa do that to her, to leave her with no closure, no answer as to why. On the other hand, she could very well explain that she was leaving, never due to return. In turn, Lupa would see Liby breaking apart. Either possible choice proved to be a lose-lose situation for both. But before Lupa could even decide the course of action-
"What did she mean?" Liby begged to know, stunning Lupa. "What... What did you do?"
But Lupa could not dare to face her now. Lupa could not afford to hear the cracking of her voice, the painful twinkling that sparkled away in those eyes. Merely shook her head and grit her teeth in misery. "F-forgive me... I just can't anymore..."
"What did you do?!" Liby asked again.
Lupa took to the skies, flying away from Grimmtown. Fled it, and would never come back here. A silent farewell to Liby gone unspoken. May she have done the right thing, for who could tell her such a thing?
Colorado
As the day continued to progress in the more serious of matters, two young women, sitting on a table just outside a restaurant, chatting and laughing it up while they took slow turns in their expensive dishes. Leia Loud, formerly Leia Prescott, was one of the women, happily enjoying the day with her fiancee Gwen, the love she managed to patch things up with right after that rough day nine years ago. Pity only Gwen could be salvaged while Marsha just gave them the figurative finger and called Gwen a pushover before ghosting the pair. To this day, she remained a ghost, and thus, the pickpocket dream team campaign had never risen from the ashes again. Over the years, the pair had finally upgraded their friendship to a firm relationship that had just turned six, and what was the point of keeping it at that level if no one asked the big question? And surely the fourteen-karat engagement rings still looked good on them both to this day.
"And he couldn't hold his liquor so up he goes, running into the bathroom!" Gwen recounted last week's party that Leia had missed out on for the first two hours of. "All that macho talk, but we knew it was nonsense! After that, the money from the pool gets passed around and Jeff's just rubbing it after he collects his take and... Oh, God, he thought he was that high and mighty so he somehow gets the idea he's got all the luck in the world, so he walks over to Rachel-"
Leia held back laughter at this. "Oh, nooooo!"
"Oh, yes!" Gwen kept telling. "He went over to her and we're all just watching, then boom! Rachel spills her drink all over him and that's how we know he botched it. He botched it and it's really humiliating, almost painful to watch!"
"Oh, my God," Leia laughed. "I really missed out, didn't I? God, I wish I was there."
"Maybe next time you'll be early, for both our sakes." Gwen lifted her champagne glass and took a sip.
"No promises, babe." Leia's phone rang away, pulling her attention away from the future wife. She pulled it out to ignore the call, but had seen it was her foster mother trying to reach her. "I'm sorry, I have to take this," she humbly excused, getting up and moving to the sidewalk before answering. "H-hey-"
"Leia, honey, could you get home immediately? There's been an attack, you might be in danger! I'm already on my way back, just please-"
"Uh, yeah, yeah!" Leia became gravely terrified, hearing the tone of voice Lola had. But she had not forgotten the horror of being a personal target of someone's deadly vengeance, so every now and then would she be looking over her shoulder, be it in the literal or figurative sense, checking back to her old hometown, the place that had chosen to forget a former mayor's criminal activities for the sake of its purity, but it could not compensate anything for Leia, ever. The girl who was born with the original identity of Leah Reed was long dead, and remained that way to the public, identity and status changed within the shadows so that she could permanently live like she was her idol, the pop star/actress whom the second alias belonged to. But that was all over. Goodbye to Leah Reed, and goodbye to Leia Prescott. Hello, Leia Loud. She knew the drill, hanging up quickly and snatching her purse that had been dangling on her chair. "Gwen, I- I'm sorry but I have to go, my mom-"
"I heard her screaming, must be serious!" Gwen let her partner excuse herself from the table. "Be safe, babe."
"Always," Leia planted a kiss upon Gwen's cheek, then strutted off with her purse swinging with every step she made. From the moment she left the table, right to when she drove right back home, pulling into the lone driveway that suggested Lola and Lana weren't here just yet, she had been trembling and checking all her mirrors frequently, worried that she had been followed home by an unknown party. It could have been that, more creeps eager to inflict harm on them, maybe worse. Whatever the situation, the handgun inside her purse would prove useful. She stayed in the Land Rover, staring at the front mirror, waiting for the twins' return.
El Paso, Texas
On the border of the endless, high wall that separated one country from another, a Border Patrol unit navigated through the dustbowl of an area, driven by an aging Caucasian fellow five years past his planned resignation in the force. That afternoon was slow and hot, hence why the elder took to his patrol car with the AC on at full blast, choosing that over being confined to a desk with boring paperwork to tend to. But today had different plans for good old Bud Grouse.
It started just up ahead, another half-mile away from the station and he'd come across a herd of illegal crossers already in domestic territory. He started the festivity, turning on the sirens and speeding towards the immigrants. Finally, some action that he could sing and dance to. They scattered just as they'd predictably scatter, splitting off in all directions, but he was one step ahead, already sending the developing events to the other units. "Yeehaw!" he hooted cheerfully, running alongside a crosser who was closest to the road. He braked hard and moved the clutch to brake, then got out and left the keys in the ignition. "Halt right there, amigo!"
The runner, a young adult no older than twenty-five, stopped and raised his hands to the back of his head, obliging with Grouse. To the elder, it seemed this one was smart and knew he'd be no match against the law and the key difference of legs versus a Crown Victoria. "That's right, nice and easy- What in tarnation? Yer no Mexican..."
"American citizen, once," the blond, fair-haired runner shared calmly. "My citizenship, if they'd known I was alive. I'd hate to find out what's become of America-"
"That's 'nuff lip outta ya, son," Grouse had enough. "Why don't ya back up over to me, keep yer hands where they are."
"Sorry, old timer-" The young man spun around and lifted his hands from his head. "I'm afraid I can't afford to be detained during my work-"
"Hey!" Grouse drew his pistol, but a freakish lightning bolt that erupted out of the border crosser's hands struck and exploded the gun rapidly and viciously. The debris had maimed Grouse up close and personal. One bullet had dug into his lung and punctured it, making it fill up with blood and leave him dying. He rasped for breath and tried to fight it off so that he could see the end of the day and come back to the missus.
"Nothing personal, dear pops," the American pheno saluted, taking off in the Crown Victoria. But I cannot afford to be captured during these trips. And not when I'm this close... Not now. Not until I- "Hey!"
Nyla had appeared next to him after he had blinked. "Before you try anything, bucko..."
"How did...?"
"Come on, man..." Nyla opened the window, turning the AC off.
"What do you think we are, mythical fucking fairies?" Nyla cackled in mockery. "A electricity-based pheno, that must be cool. Tell me, do you short-circuit ATMs down there in Mexico? Do they even have ATMs there? Bet you can help cheat PG&E if you wanted-"
"Stop talking."
"Okay, but a special person wants a word with you-" She swiped his phone and dialed in Lemy's number, called him, and set the call to speaker. "Here."
"How special?"
"Special enough to handle a case like you," Lincoln spoke through the phone. "Fourteen bodies around the southeastern area of El Paso, right along the border. Most of them fried to a crisp, and all autopsy reports all the victims were BP, only ever at true risk from running into armed escorts guiding immigrants. I don't know your name or identity but it won't be hard until I get my hands on you."
"You've got my attention, what do you want from me?"
"Good to see we're on the same page. How powerful would you say you are? I need a pheno of your calibration to short out a weapon."
"Sounds like you're not so tough, facing some shooter with an advanced high-capacity firearm." The pheno grinned. "I'll be more than happy to help if we're not going anywhere populated. No towns, no cities, nothing with surveillance."
"This is an operation entirely off-grid, so no need to be worried about having your mugshot taken by traffic cams."
"We'll meet back at the hideout, keep my bed warm," Nyla ended, hanging the pheno's phone up. "Okay, my man, now we can be rid of this-" She threw the phone out the window. "By the way, what's your name?"
"Just call me Grant," the pheno said.
New York
Lincoln gave Lemy back his phone, feeling awfully relaxed. "That's good, our very own EMP. That'll teach the tin can bitch to mess with the likes of us."
"But this is just speculation, we don't know the full capabilities of it, and not to mention I haven't seen the monster you're setting us up for." Lemy looked back out the front windshield. "How long until we get there?"
"Five more minutes, beardo," the driver, Bobbie Fletcher, informed. "Not being paid to jump curbs and plow through sidewalks."
"We're not paying you at all!" Lemy fought.
"And I wouldn't be working for you two if McBride didn't fund this little vigilante bullshit. Well, that and the sole fact he provides high-end presents to the garage-"
"Like I said before, we can always buy ourselves another precision driver, and maybe one without a big mouth," Lincoln prodded. "But then, you'd know I'd be crawling out from under your bed soon enough. There's not a thing I hate more than enemies and liabilities in this world."
"Oooooh, you're so scary, big man," Bobbie sarcastically wailed. "As if you could find anyone crazier than me to drive a trigger-happy nutcase and his pupil."
"Is that all I'm reduced to?" Lemy was ridiculed. "Gun Junior? May I remind you who founded the Reta Corps?"
"You and your friends are useless right now, boy," Lincoln underlined again. "Already I'm rethinking my choice of letting you run with us. Greenie can hold her own, our shocker pheno is an advantage, but you're at high risk of getting yourself killed."
"Oh, so you want me out but you're confident you can make a difference? Not even you inflicted damage, you said it yourself!"
"Is this you worrying about me?" He closed his eyes. "I'm touched."
"Fuck you, you're being a hypocrite..." Lemy crossed his arms, pouting. "Don't you agree we need stronger firepower?"
"A little of everything..." Lincoln believed. "Damage in and out. Now, with our shocker, we can overload the suit and it'll be only heavyweight, inoperable metal. There must be a failsafe for the user that will allow them to manually exit the suit, but they won't resort to it when they're cornered like that. They'll try to contain themselves in, so tell me, how do you force a bug out of a hole its burrowed in?"
"You put them in a situation where they have no choice but to get out..." Lincoln pressed a hand to his mouth and thought of the deceased Sam Sharp. Were she alive, she could have been the one to cast her fire and boil the mecha's operator alive. "We need the flames of hell."
"Flamethrowers?" Lemy scavenged the floor to find the walkie-talkie. He picked it up to make contact with the other side. "Overlord, this is Ozone-"
"Hand it over," Lincoln beckoned, holding out his hand. Once having it in his hands, he took over. "Homebase, this is BV, requesting fire-based weaponry for the next drop. Explosives, flamethrowers, anything that can ignite and start a fire."
"Homebase copies all. Anything else?"
"Keep me updated about the mecha's whereabouts."
"Roger that, stay safe, BV."
"Parking now..." Bobbie backed up onto an empty space, parked it and killed the engine. "Be on your way, men with a mission."
Lincoln budged his way out using his shoulders, stepping onto the curb to see Lynn, Luna and Lily already gathered around. "Okay, now we can talk."
Colorado
Leia sat lonesome on the kitchen table, hands conjoined, thumbs playing with each other, going back and forth. A certain voice had dug into her mind like a parasite, and only spoke a pair of two words in a lowly whisper upon a calm wind, "my horse..."
Not a whisper she had heard before, but it felt strangely familiar to her. From her purse placed at the center of the table, she rummaged into it and pulled out her round make-up kit, opening it to see herself in the mirror of the top half of the kit. Saw herself as she was, a woman born again from the ashes of a young girl made an orphan. She should have been as strong as she made herself out to be when she was out with Gwen or with her new family, but all of that, when she was alone, showed itself to her as some act she played. Or maybe it had been the real her, then fading away to becoming lifeless as she was now, stuck in memory torment and with nothing that she had been originally born to. Then, more words. "My special horse shall be raised and await the hay to be delivered."
Leia heard a clank from the kitchen, the very sound made from a fallen piece of silverware. For some reason, her mind registered it as a knife slipping out of grip. She wandered into the kitchen and saw nothing out of the ordinary. It couldn't have been either one of the twins playing some distasteful prank on her either, but she was sure she heard it. "Weird..." She agreed that it might have been her due to the stress and went back to the table only to see her younger self standing before her, dressed in proper uniform, only she was ghostly pale and bloodied up to high hell, a large gash opened up in the middle of her neck. The soul that took her form pointed right at her, fingers bloody, dripping right on the perfectly spotless floor. "OH, GOD-"
Leia turned away from the being and threw up her expensive meal at her feet, coughing and wheezing to clear the airway. She didn't look back up, fearing the thing, whatever it was. But it had gone away, replaced by the twins who had finally arrived. Lola covered her nose once seeing Leia spit out the last of the vomit out. "Leia, are you sick?"
"I'll clean this up-" Lana moved around the house closing all the blinds on every window.
"Leia, we need to get you to the safe room." Lola rubbed her adopted daughter's shoulders, nudging her to the basement. "There's water down there you can use."
"O-okay..." Leia had never felt as safe as she was in the comfort of Lola. These motherly hands, they were just heavenly. "What's going on? T-tell me."
"We don't know that yet! Lana, have you sealed the house?!"
"Everything's shut!" Lana entered into the basement first, leading her sister and niece down to the customized safe room, which was practically a vault filled with non-perishables and essentials, not to mention a battery-operated portable air conditioner. "Hurry!"
"We'll lock ourselves in here as long as need be until we know the others are safe." Lola kept Leia within her arms, taking her down with her as she leaned down to sit. "Someone's attacked Lynn and Luna, someone powerful enough to make them activate the emergency beacon to all our phones."
"I- I'm sorry, I might have switched it off for mines-"
"Next time you'll have it, I hope..." Lola let her arms loosen. "But I also pray there won't have to be a next time... What's taking them so long to call us?! I knew we should have all stuck together, who could defeat a trio of zoomers?"
The top of the safe room caved in with a series of punches from a brute force. The ear-shattering echoes rang heavily into the heads of the girls, making them all cover their ears to ride out the rollercoaster of sound. The met al above them creaked and reformed, taking a new shape as a hole. The operator made a huge thump upon landing. "I can," the operator answered Lola with the distorted, metallic voice.
AN: This chapter has done its intended job, furthering the individual arcs of certain characters, but the likelihood I've overlooked something is a probability never set at zero percent. That being said, there's not much for me to add here, not yet anyways. Now, we're not getting to see where everyone is right off the bat, but nine years is a lot of time for some to have changed, and in more ways than one.
I reached a milestone, establishing a full hundred chapters in this fic, but I can't decide whether that's a good or bad thing. Amazing. This story is older than the timespan of my longest relationship, how sad for me. HA.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are closing in on the Decimation event, the day of the writing in the sky! The word that defines she who becomes Death itself, the destroyer of worlds!
Roster of this act;
1. The Mechabeast
2. What She No Longer Missed
3. Phenocide
4. The Reta Corps
5. The Amnesiac
6. The Phenotown Conspiracy
7. Sorrow And Gloom
8. A World Of Monsters
9. Neon Blue
10. The Two Dawnbreakers
11. DBD Special
Linka had been following her virtual counterpart's instructions ever since she had been dropped off by Bethany and Lissandra to tend to her own business. And what business had stacked up over the years, the world advancing and the other Louds growing older without the likes of her, as mentally twisted as she was thanks to the SCX chip that warped her artificially constructed brain. The sentient program that had gone dormant to the Louds had finally been acting, leading Linka right to Central Park after having asked it to. And why wouldn't it have fulfilled her request? This was Linka, the clone they had planned to save by extracting the killing chip. Whether she had been thawed out at the right time was not known to her yet, but the only sure-fire thing she knew was that time continued to count down.
And she had seen them again, in a different spotlight than before. It was Lincoln, Luna, Luan and another girl of admirable youth and blonde hair whom she'd never met before, but had known right away that this strange girl could only be Lily. "Oh! Hey!" she called out, waving to them with the cellphone in her other hand, opened to the call she had on with LK. "Guys!"
And something that Luna had shared stunned Lincoln. Linka questioned what had been going on, but didn't stop to think. She picked up the pace, eager to reunite with her blood. "Lincoln!"
She got their attention, joining them front and center, but the atmosphere was not to her liking. Why, one could even say that she wasn't welcome- and it was possible because she wasn't expected as she was. As she was in that instance, met with confusion and quite possibly, as she interpreted, anger, maybe hostility. She should have understood it when she appeared out of thin air, but ran on the idea most of them would be overjoyed at her entrance.
What realistically occured next was the albino madman dug back into the van and took out the loaded carbine, itching to finally put down the seemingly runaway clone. "WAIT!" Her plead meant nothing, cancelled out by the weapon at work. She fell over the pavement, bleeding from the fresh bullet wounds. With the bullet casings from the rifle dropping on the floor, Linka had misunderstood her status, the importance of her very being in their eyes. She had not been the missed to all of them, just a mere target to be shot at given how she had vanished- not her fault- off the face of the earth. Why she had been punished for a thing forcibly out of her hands, she'll never know. And she never got a chance to explain herself even.
Define your meaning of war
To me, it's what we do when we're bored
I feel the heat coming off of the blacktop
And it makes me want it more
Because I'm hyped up, outta control
If it's a fight, I'm ready to go
I wouldn't put my money on the other guy
If you know what I know that I know
It's been a long time coming
And the table's turned around
Cause one of us is going
One of us is going down
I'm not running
It's a little different now
Cause one of us is going
One of us is going down!