Tension rise...
Lincoln and Wendy were unaware of how much time has passed. But right now, that didn't matter in the slightest. Both were completely content in locking lips and holding in each other. Or more specifically Wendy holding Lincoln as due to the height difference between the to causing Wendy to wrap her arms around Lincolns waist and hold him up at her level while Lincoln had his arms around Wendy shoulders.
In reality about a minute passed before the two eventually had to separate in order to breath. When the two parted, they took deep heavy breathes as they looked at each other's eyes with fire red faces.
Everything was silent for a moment until Wendy finally managed the will to speak up. "That…felt…really…"
"Nice." Lincoln finished for her with a small smile.
Wendy then averted her gaze, but also had a small smile on her lips. "Yeah…really nice." She said in quietly sweet tone. Wendy then swallowed a lump in her throat as she lowered her head but lightly tightened her grip on Lincoln. "Lincoln…I'm sorry I just laid all this on you without warning…"
"No! No! No! I-it's fine r-really." Lincoln stuttered as his face practically glowed red. "Plus…I feel the same way."
Wendy's eyes widened as she slowly turned her head to look Lincoln right in the eye. The Loud boy could swear that her eyes started sparkling. "You do?" She asked quietly but with a slightly anxious tone.
"Y-yeah…" Lincoln said while looking away from Wendy with a small but sweet smile. "Everything you said about me…I feel about you." Wendy's eyes were practically glittering as Lincoln spoke up. "When I first met you…you were easily one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen. And spending all this time with you has been nothing short of amazing. Meeting you and gaining the Omnitrix aren't just the highlights of my summer…but my entire life."
Wendy eyes started to fill up with tears. Lincoln was concerned at first but just then Wendy started laughing happily. After a moment Lincoln started to laugh along with Wendy as the girl kept a tight hold on him as she started spinning around in the parking lot laughing away as Wendy shed a few tears of pure joy.
After a few minutes of pure joy and simply laughing in each other's embrace, Wendy finally stopped spinning around and lifted Lincoln high into the air to where she had to look up at him and give him a loving smile.
Lincoln looked down at Wendy and saw her smile and sheepishly laughed as he asked. "So, what does this make us now?"
Wendy hummed for a bit before lowering Lincoln and bit and giving him a quick peck on the lips causing his face to heat up again as Wendy giggled at his flustered state. "I think the right term is 'Boyfriend and Girlfriend."
While Lincoln was caught off guard by this but couldn't help but give Wendy his own loving smile from the idea. "Yeah…I'd like that." He said warmly.
Wendy couldn't help but squeal like a fan girl for a few seconds but manage to recompose herself and pulled Lincoln into a gentle warm hug with her head resting on his shoulder. "I'd love that to." She told her new boyfriend.
"So, what now?" Lincoln asked his new girlfriend. "Should we tell the others?"
Almost immediately Wendy nodded. "Yeah, I think it's only fair to tell your family and my mom." Wendy told her boyfriend before frowning a bit. "I don't like keeping secrets from here. I already don't like keeping the Omnitrix a secret from her."
Lincoln couldn't help but feel bad for making his girlfriend go through that and offered something. "If it'll make you feel better…we could tell her that to."
However, much to Lincoln's surprise, Wendy shook her head. "No. I won't make you give up your secret just for me."
"Are you sure?" Lincoln asked with an unsure expression.
"Positive." Wendy reassured. "What kind of girlfriend would I be if I tried to force you to do something I know you don't wanna do."
"Thanks Wendy." Lincoln said gratefully, but still couldn't help but say. "But if keeping the secret ever gets to you, just let me know."
"Thanks Lincy." She told her boy friend while giving him a kiss on the cheek. Just then Lincoln yelped as Wendy threw him up into the air and caught him to hold him bridal style. "Now come on, we gotta go explain us to everyone."
"Uuuuum…" Lincoln hummed awkwardly as he wrapped his arms around Wendy while looking at the position he's in. "Can you put me down now please?"
"Nope!" Wendy said instantly with a peppy tone. "I may not force you to tell anyone about the watch, but I said nothing about this!" She stated as she started walking towards Lincoln house. While Lincoln sighed, he couldn't help but smile contently and simply lean into her embrace with Wendy noticing and simply held him closer as she walked off.
CLYDE'S ROOM
Currently, to say the Mcbride child was having a nervous breakdown was an understatement. Clyde was walking in constant circles around his room. He was breathing heavily as he rubbed his arms with the opposite hand. However his gloves were off and his hands could be seen constantly surging with blue electricity with an occasional spark flying off and ending up zapping parts of the floor and leaving it with black soot spots.
He had witness Lincoln and Wendy's kiss at the parking lot of Gus's Games and Grub. He was originally heading over there as sort of a celebration/welcome home thing as we wanted to try some of their pizza and play a few arcade games after being absent for half the summer…but once he saw his best friend and the Japanese girl kiss…he lost his appetite.
And Clyde couldn't help but let things get to him and think of every single bad scenario to spawn from this event. "What if he doesn't need me anymore? What if now that's he's with Wendy he'll just toss me aside?" Clyde asked himself as images of his best friend abandoning him for Wendy.
"Come on Clyde, he wouldn't just do that would he?" Clyde then told himself as he tried to calm himself down. "You've been with him for most of his life. He wouldn't just leave you after gaining a super attractive girlfriend who he obviously loves and she obviously loves him but that wouldn't put a dent in our friendship, right? Right? Right?!"
At this point Clyde had to take out his paper bag and start breathing into it as his hands continued to surge uncontrollably. However, this was what caused Clyde to stop hyperventilating. Holding up his arms and looking at the electricity surging through them, he suddenly started to slowly smile and then eventually start to laugh. "Hehe…that's it. Once I mastered my powers, Lincoln definitely won't leave me. I'll become a valuable asset of his team and then I can finally sweep Lori off her feet with my new superpowers!"
At this point, Clyde started to rub his hands together as the black lines around his eyes become more prominent as the electricity surged more powerful then before as Clyde looked back towards his various gadgets that used energy and grinned to himself. "Better start practicing."
Back with the brand new couple, Wendy was still carrying Lincoln bridal style as they approached Lincoln's house and walking up to the door. While they headed to the Loud House, Wendy had Lincoln pull out her phone and text her mom to met them at Lincoln's house so they could tell her along with Lincoln's family. Lincoln also texted his whole family to meet in the living room and to expect Karen to visit.
Once the two approached the door of Lincoln's home, Wendy finally set Lincoln down on his feet. When Lincoln stood back up, he had a brief headrush but Wendy help him balance at and get proper footing. He thanked her, earning him a kiss on the check causing him to get a bit flustered.
Lincoln, after cooling down his face, knocked on the door and was almost immediately answered as Leni opened the door. She quickly gained a huge smile as she looked at the to before asking in anticipation. "So, are you two…"
The two 11-year-olds didn't respond and simply looked away from each other with pink cheeks and small smile's and held hand. Leni's eyes slowly widened as she quickly covered her mouth with both of her hands to muffles her squeal and she stepped up and down hyperly. "Oh, M, gosh! I'm so happy for you to!" She quietly yelled as not to alert the others in the house. "You both are totes adorable together!"
"Hehe, thank Leni." Wendy said sheepishly and she grabbed Lincolns arm and gently pulled him closer to her. "I do have quite the handsome boyfriend."
Lincoln's face burn red as he leaned into Wendy and said. "Thanks, be-beautiful." Lincoln said in an awkward tone as he wasn't quiet used to being in a relationship yet. However, Wendy seemed to think it was cute and giggled as she leaned her head on his own head.
Leni had to muffle another squeal at the scene before being able to speak again. "Well everyone else is in here waiting for you two, including you mom Wendy. I'm, like, guessing one of you told her to come over so you can tell her?" Both nodded in response as Leni gave them a supportive thumbs up. "Well, don't wanna keep everyone waiting."
Despite the nervousness the two were feeling, they nodded and proceeded to follow Leni inside. Once in, they saw the rest of Lincoln's sisters sitting around the couch. They didn't seem to notice the two as they were all busy talking with each other. Lincoln then got all their attention's by separating from Wendy's grasp and clearing his throat. All of his sisters stopped talking and looked to him as he asked. "Hey, where's mom and dad at?"
"They're in the kitchen with Wendy's mom." Lana answered while pointing her thumb to the entrance to the kitchen. "Talking about…whatever adults talk about."
"Can you get them please." Wendy asked as he fidgeted with her hands. "We have something we need to tell everyone, including them."
Everyone rose an eyebrow while Leni was practically beaming with excited anticipation. It was then that Lola decided to fulfill the request. "MOM! DAD! MRS. YOROI! LINCOLN AND WENDY WANT YOU IN HERE!" She yelled make everyone else wince at the volume.
"Dude, how about a warning next time." Luna told her while rubbing her ears. However, this got a 'really' expression sent at her from everyone. "What?"
"Says the girl who blows the roof off this joint whenever they played, hahahaha!" Luan joked before quickly gaining a deadpanned expression. "But seriously, you're playing was so loud one time it sent pieces of the roof falling."
"Ok touché." Luna admitted with a sheepish smile.
Just then the three adults in the house walked out of the kitchen with Karen having a concerned look on her face. "Is something wrong? You yelled for us."
"Nothing's wrong, I think, these two just wanted to tell us all something." Lynn Jr explained while gesturing her head to the 11-year-olds.
Lynn Sr and Rita looked to each other before nodding and gathering around their kids as Lincoln and Wendy walked in front of everyone. Meanwhile Karen seemed to already know what news the two would bring and swallowed a large lump in her throat before slowly walking to the ground and standing next to Lori.
Once everyone was gathered, Lynn Sr asked. "So, what do you want to tell us all sport."
Both Lincoln and Wendy looked at each other, with Lincoln having a nervous expression while Wendy gave him a reassuring nod. Taking a deep breath to settle his nerves, Lincoln finally spoke up. "I'm glad you could all show up for today. Me and Wendy have something to tell you."
This caused most of the family's eyes to widen a bit. Leni look like she was about to explode from excitement. As for Karen, she simply looked down, breathed slowly, and put on a brave and supportive smile. Lincoln then looked to Wendy and asked her. "You wanna tell them?"
His response was Wendy nodding with an excited smile. Everyone then watched as Wendy took Lincoln hand, making them gasp, as Wendy's heartbeat increased. However, despite that, she managed to get a hold of herself enough to say. "Lincoln and me…are together!"
Everything and one was in complete silence. No sounds could be heard. Not even any crickets or frogs from outside. This unease silence caused Lincoln and Wendy to become extremely anxious and nervous. They breathed heavily as their hearts felt like they could burst out of their chest. They tightened their grip on each other's hand to comfort each other. And then…
"SQEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL!" Like fangirls fueled by radio-active sugar, all the Loud girls squealed at the news to the point where the on squealers had to cover their ears and all the animals in the house were running around like crazy from the noise. It was a miracle none of the windows are any other glass item in the house didn't break.
"LOOOOOOUDS!" They could hear their neighbor Grouse yell from next door. "KNOCK OFF THAT RACKET! I'M WATCHING MY SHOWS!"
While this caused the girls to stop their fangirling, but they still had extremely happy silence as they rush the new couple and quickly started to say their congratulations and compliments.
"Dude, we're so proud of you two!" Luna told the couple as she patted them both on the back. Then she started to quickly think about maybe having a double date with her and Sam and them.
"You two are literally perfect for each other." Lori complimented as she was happy to see her brother enter a relationship. She'll admit, after getting over Lincoln being with Ronnie Anne she had been planning to try and get these two together. Guess things happened on their own.
"While I'm normally impervious to such as human emotions like 'love' I must say…YOU TO ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER!" Even Lisa couldn't help but be excited and happy for the new couple.
"We knew you'd score a girl eventually Lincoln." Lana complimented by patting her big brother's arm.
"I mean I've had my doubts but we're so proud of you Linky!" Lola stated earning a deadpanned expression from Lana, which she responded with an eye roll.
"Goo-goo!" Lily said happily while being carried by Luan.
"Well aren't you a couple of snow-whites! Hahaha, get it?" Luan joked as she ruffled both of their hair.
"Hehe, thanks everyone. I did earn myself quite a man." Wendy said as she gained a cat-like smiled and grabbed Lincoln's arm to hold the white-haired boy close, making him laugh nervously as his face become flustered.
"Y-Yeah, and Wendy's the most awesome girl I've met." Lincoln said quietly enough for everyone to be able to hear it. This earned him a kiss on the cheek from Wendy making his face an even deeper shade of red.
"Aaaaaaw~" All the Loud girls said in unison as Leni quickly took a picture of the two with her phone.
"Totes posting this online." Leni said happily as she started to make a post of the picture of them together.
"Way to score dude! You got yourself a good one!" Lynn complimented while giving them both a shoulder punch, making Lincoln wince and for Wendy…not to really feel it all too much.
"Way to go big brother." Lucy said as a small smile came to her face. "May your romance bloom like a blood flower in the full moon night." This statement caused a few of the sister to take a step away from the goth 8-year-old.
While the new couple blushed in all the compliments, it was then that the grown-ups stood up and walked towards them. Rita and Lynn Sr had smiles on their faces while Karen's expression was hidden since her head was held down. Rita was the first to speak up. "Well congratulations you two. I always suspected you both had an eye for each other and I'm happy to see you saw that in one other."
"Called it!" Lynn Sr cheered with a pumped up first. "Knew you liked her. You really are a chip of the ole block huh son?" Lynn Sr couldn't help but be proud of his son. While he was unaware of who made the first move, he'll get that information later, but it reminded him of when he and Rita first got together at the British Eatery. After that, it was one date and they were sealed for life, getting married years later and eventually creating the family they have now. Who knows, maybe it would be the same for these to.
"Wendy…Lincoln…" Both of the mention kids couldn't help but flinch. It was Karen talking. Both of the 11-year-olds moved their heads slowly to the silver haired women as her face was still hidden.
"Y-y-yes mother?" Wendy stuttered nervously. Even though it was Karen herself that helped Wendy with confessing her feelings, she couldn't help but be a little scared of what her mother would have to say about her new relationship.
Once again, everything entered a complete silence. Lincoln swallowed a lump in his throat as his family looked around the room awkwardly. Just then they saw Karen's head start to slowly rise and they all prepared for the worse…only to be met with a warm smile from the Japanese women. "I'm really happy for you two." She said warmly.
Everyone was caught off guard by the reaction, thinking that Karen was going to enter a 'Over-Protective Mode' but were met with a calm one. Wendy couldn't help but smile sweetly and jumped towards her mother and hug her. "Thanks mom!" She said happily as Karen caught her daughter and patted her back.
"…anything to make you happy." She muttered so quietly no one could hear her. She then put her daughter down and looked towards Lincoln. The Loud boy flinched at first, but calmed down when he saw him give her an approving nod.
However, Karen's face then turned into a frown for a split second before she looked towards the Loud parents. "Lynn Sr, Rita, may I please talk to you in private for a moment?" She requested as all the Loud's attention were focused on her now.
Rita and Lynn Sr looked at each other awkwardly before Rita told Karen. "Well, that's gonna be hard in his house. The walls are thin so privacy is a rarity around here."
"Not to worry." Lisa spoke up as she walked toward the adults. "My bunker in the backyard is soundproof, you three can have a private talk in there."
"Oh, I forgot about the bunker, thanks Lisa." Lynn Sr said as he and Rita started heading outside to the backyard with Karen catching up and raising an eyebrow.
"Why do you have a bunker in the backyard?" Karen asked in confusion.
"Piece of advice, don't come here during April Fools." Rita told her and she and Lynn Sr shivered at all the bad memories before dragging Karen outside. Meanwhile they could hear the voice of the girls constantly asking questions to the new couple.
Once in the backyard, the three parents quickly made there way to where Lisa's bunker was and opened the hatched. They then all climbed down into it and sealed the hatch shut. When they all went all the way inside, Karen took a look around and took note of the thick metal walls and the rations of food and water. "Impressive." Karen nodded, still amazed by the brilliance and Ingenuity of the 4-year-old.
"Well it certainly works." Rita commented as she took a water bottle for herself. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about Karen?"
"Yeah, do you have any kind of problem with Lincoln and Wendy's relationship?" Lynn Sr asked with a concerned tone as they all took a seat on the floor.
"Well, no, not exactly." Karen said nervously. This was it. She was going to tell the Loud parents everything. She was beyond terrified…but she had to do this. Especially if Lincoln and Wendy were gonna have the long term relationship Karen was confident they would have. "It's just…I'm afraid."
"Afraid. Of what?" Rita asked with concern evident in her tone as she and Lynn Sr were giving the Japanese women their full undivided attention.
Taking another deep breath, Karen kept explaining things to them. "Of the future. Of Wendy's future." Rita and Lynn Sr nodded in understanding as Karen went on. "I've had to keep Wendy sheltered her own life. Homeschooled her. Did everything to make sure she never stopped smiling. So…seeing her start to do things on her own like this…it scares me. I'm afraid she'll end up seeing or doing something that will make her smile disappear. And love can be a complicated subject with many different outcomes. Please don't get the wrong idea, I really do think Lincoln is a good kid, it's just-"
"It's alright, we understand." Rita told Karen as she gave her a comforting smile. "Watching your kids grow up, find things out by themselves, develop relationships. It's terrifying. You're always afraid something is going to happen to your kid and you just…can't do anything.
"Yeah, I still remember the time Lori first told she was in a relationship with Bobby." Lynn Sr said with a hearty chuckle at how he reacted.
"Yes. I still miss that glass coffee table." Rita said with a deadpanned expression as Lynn Sr tensed up as he let out an awkward laugh.
Karen couldn't help but give a small laugh at the scene, but she quickly frowned again as she still hasn't told them the complete story of why she had to treat Wendy the way she has for the past 11 years. "There's…more to it then that." Karen said in a grim and sadden tone that instantly made Lynn Sr and Rita turn their attention back to her. "There's another, more serious reason why. You know how Wendy is so different then most 11-year-old girls right? How she's so tall, incredibly strong?"
Lynn Sr and Rita rose a brow and gained a confused expression. "Yeah, it's kinda hard to miss." Lynn Sr stated causing Rita to nudge his arm hard with her elbow.
"Yes, we do." Rita said in a more gentle tone then the blunt one her husband used. "What about it?"
"…It's not natural." Karen muttered quiet enough for the Loud parents could here. Both were a bit taken back by that statement but let Karen go on. "It's not just an abnormal growth…a genetic mutation…or anything like that. Someone did this to her."
Lynn Sr and Rita's eyes widened in both surprise and horror. The way Wendy was, her height, her strength…someone else caused her to gain this? "Wh…what do you mean by that?" Rita asked with a trembling tone.
Karen gripped her legs tight as she started trembling. Tears started to build up in her eyes, but she kept them from flowing. "His name was Akinari. We met in grade school. I had an immediate attraction to him, as well as him to me I found out a few months later. Soon after that, we were a couple. We did almost everything together for years. It was almost impossible to keep us apart. And over the years our bonds only strengthened. When we went to college, he majored in the advanced sciences and I trained to become a teacher. And then a month after we graduated…he popped the question."
While Lynn Sr and Rita listened with open ears, they couldn't help but be confused by the story and how it strayed from topic. But they were sure Karen was going somewhere with this and let her go on.
"We got married 6 months later, and for the first 5 years, things couldn't have been better. I become a college professor while Akinari was actually asked to become a scientist and researcher for the Japanese Government. I thought our lives were perfect, and then something amazing happened, I became pregnant with a beautiful baby girl and 9 months later…I gave birth to Wendy."
"That's a really sweet story Karen, but what does this have to do with Wendy's condition?" Rita asked as she started to feel like things were getting to off topic.
They watched as Karen's trembling intensified as a few tears started leaking out. Lynn Sr and Rita quickly grew concerned and were about to go over to her to comfort the single mother, but Karen held her hand up to stop them while wiping away her tears. "I'm fine, it's just…listen and you'll see."
Karen took another deep breath as she continued. "Then, a month after Wendy was born…something changed in him. At his work with the Government, they were currently developing a serum to push the human body far past its limits. Stronger, fast, more durable. A super solider project like in comics you could say. However, every time they tried to utilize it, it would kill the subject as it would try to change an already developed body forcibly, causing fatal consequences. But as they were trying to find ways to stabilize the project, apparently a thought occurred in my husbands head…what would happen if the serum had time to grow and work…in an undeveloped body."
That part really sent a shiver down the Loud parent's spines. She didn't mean that her own husband…
"For three months, he would bring home a suitcase that he never showed me the contents off. He always just told me it was paperwork. Simply nothing to worry about. And I believe him…until one night. I was sleeping soundly in bed, but then I woke up to hear Wendy crying. I saw that my husband wasn't in bed either, so I assumed he was taking care of Wendy. However, Wendy was crying a lot louder than I've ever heard her before. So I got up and decided to help him out since it seemed Wendy was being extra fussy that night…but what I saw…made me sick to stomach."
"In one arm, Akinari held Wendy. In his other hand…a needle with a strange liquid. And I watched him inject it in Wendy's arm."
Both Loud parents felt their hearts stop at this as they froze, and their faces turned to one of pure horror. "Yo-you're husband…tried to use that serum…" Lynn Sr struggled to say as the words couldn't come out due to the intense and shocking reveal of what her own husband did to his own daughter.
"On Wendy…" Rita finished as she now struggled to hold back tears.
At this point Karen completely broke down. She buried her face in her hands as she started to sob quietly. Rita and Lynn Sr quickly rushed over to her side and started to comfort the Japanese woman. They couldn't blame her for how she was right now. They couldn't begin to imagine what that must have been like to see her own husband, who she's loved for years, try to make a potentially lethal science experiment out of Wendy when she was just a newborn.
After about 5 minutes of Karen crying, the silver haired women managed to calm herself down with her eyes now red and puffy. Sniffling, she wiped her eyes and said. "Thanks." Taking a minute to make sure she was ok, Rita and Lynn Sr took their seats back in front of her for Karen to finish her story.
"So, after I saw that, I was so shocked that instinctively grabbed the lamp on the desk next to the door and smash it over his head. It knocked him out and I caught Wendy before she could fall. I gripped her tightly and quickly called his workplace. They showed up quickly and arrested him and ask me to take Wendy to their doctors to make she was ok. He was thrown into maximum security and while Wendy was being looked after, I learned he did it all in secret. Stealing the serum and using it on Wendy all without any of his peers or bosses knowing. Then when the doctors finished with Wendy, they said it was a miracle. She was perfectly fine in healthy…but three months of serum was already injected into her and couldn't be taken back."
"They explained to me what would potentially happen to her. Incredible strength, speed, and stamina. Increased durability. And potential other effects since it was still in the early stages, they said to expect just about anything. So far over the years I've seen all these effects from Wendy, including her abnormal growth. They told me it would be a good idea to shelter Wendy, to keep an eye on her as she developed to make sure she wouldn't end up becoming a danger to herself or others. Things seemed fine for the 11 years I've had her, so I thought it was finally time to let her go out and experience what the world is really like. Interact with other people and make friends. And I thought the best way to do that was to move to another country. I remember the stories of my grandmother telling me how she and my grandfather took their honeymoon in Michigan and so I decided to move here with Wendy. And that leads us to where we are now."
It was…a lot to take in to say the absolute least about everything. Now everything about Wendy made sense. Why's she's so surprisingly strong. So tall for her age. All because of what her father did to her with that super solider serum. They honestly couldn't blame her for how she treated Wendy. Having some on you loved for years and years suddenly pull that on your newborn child…it was disgusting and dishonorable to put it mildly.
"Karen, we are so sorry. We can't begin to imagine what you've been through." Rita said softly as she moved back to the single mother's side and patted her back.
"If you don't mind me asking…what happened to your husband?" Lynn Sr asked carefully, curious to what the fate of the man was.
"…He was sentenced to death." This news made the Loud parents blood go cold as Karen explained. "They said was he did was a serious matter that violated all their rules. He went behind their backs, stole an experimental serum and used it on a child, our child no less. A month later…he was executed."
Rita and Lynn Sr had absolutely no idea how to respond to all of this. It was just so…intense. However, they didn't need to say anything as Karen stood up, wiped her eyes, and actually gave them a smile. "Thanks for listening to me. It's not every day I get to speak about this to other people. Now you know why I'm so scared of Wendy started to do things on her own. I'm afraid something will happen and…"
However, Karen's concerns were put to rest as Rita put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting smile. "Karen, I promise you Wendy will be fine. Yes, she may have things that almost every kid doesn't, but she'll still be fine. She may struggle from time to time, but that's part of growing up. It scares us parents and there's little we can do once they leave the nest, but all we can do is hope and watch as our kids blossom into adults."
"And trust us Karen, this isn't just father's pride her, Wendy won't find a better, more caring person then our son Lincoln." Lyn Sr told her as he wrapped an arm around his wife who nodded in response to her husband's words.
"I suppose you're right." Karen couldn't help but agree. Then, dropping another bombshell, Karen smirked as she looked them both in the eye. "I guess I should be proud my daughter's dating a super hero."
Both Loud parents froze as they watched as Karen put her hands on her hips and grinned at them. "U-u-u-um, we have no idea wh-what you're talking about." Lynn Sr stuttered nervously. Did Karen somehow know about the Omnitrix?
"Ye-yeah, I think you have Lincoln mistaken with someone else." Rita added in with a way to big smile.
Karen simply scoffed playfully and shook her head. "Don't try to play games with me. I know all about Lincoln and that weird watch he has."
Lynn Sr and Rita flinched as they suddenly felt a whole lot small as the latter asked. "Did either of them tell you…"
However, much to their surprise, Karen shook her head. "No, I figured it out." The Japanese woman revealed, surprising the other two adults. "I first took notice of how every single one of the aliens that show up have an hourglass symbol somewhere on their body. The exact same symbol on Lincoln's watch. At first, I thought it was simply a coincidence, however, I notice that the aliens usually only appear in Royal Woods, but there were some reported sighting at Great Lakes City…but only the times when Lincoln was visiting. And finally, it seems your son never seems to be around whenever those aliens show up."
Rita and Lynn Sr were wide eyed. Karen…really hit the nail on the coffin for this one. "Wow…good deduction." Rita managed to say.
Karen couldn't help but laugh a bit as she adjusted her glasses. "I'm an avid reader Rita. And mystery and detective stories are my favorite. So, once I got to some investigating, it was easy to put the pieces together and figure things out."
"Huh, I think you're the first person to actually figure it out without having to see it firsthand." Lynn Sr pointed out as the only time people have figured out Lincoln had the Omnitrix was when he told them it was him such as with Sam and the Casagrande's.
"Well you don't need to worry about me spilling the beans." Karen reassured them. "Your families secret is safe with me, and for the kid's sake I'll pretend to be oblivious. But it does show me how responsible Lincoln is and that he's capable of protecting my daughter and making her happy."
Rita and Lynn Sr sighed in relief as they gave Karen a grateful expression. "Thank you, Karen, that's really generous of you." Lynn Sr said sincerely as Karen nodded.
"Your both quite welcome." Karen said before stretching out causing some audible cracks. "Now, I'm feeling quite exhausted. I think me and Wendy should head home."
"Yes, and Karen if you ever need someone to talk to, me and my husband are always willing to listen." Rita told her friend as Karen smiled gratefully and nodded.
"Thank you." She said quietly before the three headed back outside.
THE NEXT DAY
The very next day, Lincoln was walking by himself towards his best friend's house. He was hoping to get another day to practice with Clyde's powers and hopefully ease Ra'ads worries about Clyde possibly being dangerous. At first we was concerned that since he and Wendy we're a couple and should be spending more time together, but Wendy texted him and told him that he should still get plenty of time with him and his best friend. She really was the best.
Sighing contently at the thought of his girlfriend, Lincoln looked up and smiled as he saw the Mcbrides house and speed up his pace to get there faster. Once he was there, he was quickly met with Harold who happily let Lincoln inside while thanking Lincoln for whatever he did with Clyde to make him so happy and excited last night.
Once inside the house, Lincoln quickly made his way to Clyde's room where he knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Clyde's voice came from inside.
"It's me, Lincoln." Lincoln answered back.
"Lincoln?!" Before the white-haired boy knew it, Clyde's door opened, and he was quickly dragged inside. Once Lincoln had a chance to realize what was happening, he saw that Clyde had dragged him into the room and clung to him. "I thought I'd never see you again!"
"Uuuuh, why?" Lincoln asked with a confused tone and expression. Why would Clyde have the impression that he wouldn't see him again.
Clyde's eyes widened as he realized what he said and quickly let go of his best friend and sheepishly held his arm with his other hand. "Oh, uh, no reason, just uh…nevermind." Clyde stuttered to say as he didn't want to reveal that he saw Lincoln and Wendy's kiss. He didn't want Lincoln to think he was spying on him.
"Oooook." Lincoln said awkwardly before looking over Clyde and noticing something…off about him. "Everything ok buddy?"
Clyde rose and eyebrow as he looked back at his best friend. "Yeah, I'm ok."
"Are you sure?" Lincoln asked with an unsure tone. "Your eyes looking really baggy, did you get any sleep last night."
Clyde put his hands under his glasses and felt around his eyes were the black marks were, but simply waved it off. "Don't worry Linc, I may have gotten to bed a little late last night but I assure you Clyde Mcbride is ready for anything."
Thought Lincoln was still skeptic to everything, he decided to give his friend the benefit of the doubt and say. "Alright, if you're sure."
"Great!" Clyde said instantly afterwards as he then got into what he wanted to tell Lincoln. "So, I've been working on my powers ever since I got home last night. Check this out." Lincoln then watched as Clyde closed the curtains to his room and heads over to the light switch before shutting out. Despite the dark, there were a few rays of sunlight that allowed Lincoln to see as Clyde but his hand on the wall right next to the light switch. Suddenly Clyde's hand surged with electricity that was conducted into the wall. What resulted was the lights turning on, with the light switch switched off.
Lincoln let out a long whistle in response. "Impressive." The Omnitrix wielder complimented as Clyde removed his hand. This caused the lights to go off, but he fixed that by simply flicking on the light switch.
"Thanks, I also been practicing absorbing energy with all those battery's over there." Clyde pointed to the other side of the room and Lincoln looked, to his surprise, saw a rather big pile of batteries on the floor. And if Clyde was meaning what he was saying, they were all drained of their energy.
"However…" Lincoln then looked back to see Clyde fidgeting with his hands and staring at his wrist. More specifically, the Omnitrix. "I haven't felt anything like absorbing the energy from your watch and transforming like that." Clyde then started to slowly reach out for it. "Maybe if I do it again…"
However, before Clyde could touch it, Lincoln jerked his hand back and took a step back. "Um, maybe let's not do that. I mean what if one of your dads walked in on us?" Lincoln explained with a sheepish smile. In reality, we was more afraid of Ra'ads words about the energy making Clyde act…not himself.
Although Clyde frowned at first at his friend denying him asking to the Omnitrix, as well as his hands suddenly twitching, he simply shook it off and managed to call himself down. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yo-you're probably right."
There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment. After a few minutes, Lincoln cleared his throat as he spoke up. "Hey, why don't we just walk around town and see if anything happens."
Clyde immediately brightened up at the idea and grabbed Lincoln's wrist that didn't have the Omnitrix and quickly started to head out before Lincoln could say anything. "Sounds like a great plan buddy!"
"Woah! Clyde slow down!" Lincoln yelled as Clyde quickly yelled to his dads that the two were heading out before dragging his best friend outside.
Later, after Lincoln managed to separate from Lincoln's wrist, the two best friends were walking through the streets simply waiting for something to happen. While Clyde was looking and walking around anxiously, Lincoln kept a calmer demeanor as he simply walked with his hands in his pockets while glancing from left to right now and then.
"So how long does it usually take for a crime to occur?" Clyde asked, finally breaking the silence the two had as they walked around town. "Does it usually happen during the day or night, will I need to focus on certain attributes depending on the situation? How quickly should we handle the situation. Should I have brought a first aid kit or-"
"Clyde, Clyde, Clyde, calm down." Lincoln interrupted Clyde's question barrage. "Look, the best thing to do when you're a hero is to just wait for something to occur, then go about the situation the best way you can and adapt as it goes down. That's the best advice I can give, just go with the flow."
Lincoln then saw that Clyde took out a notebook and pencil and was writing everything Lincoln said down. "Just…go…with…the…flow. Alright, thanks buddy." Clyde said as he put the notebook away and put the pencil behind his ear.
Lincoln couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's usual antics. All concern from earlier was gone as he simply chalked it up to Clyde simply being Clyde. He was anxious, awkward and tend to over think things from time to time…but that's what made him Clyde Mcbride. His best friend. And Lincoln wouldn't have it any other way.
Just then he heard a ding on his phone and pulled it up. It was the local news app he installed. "What's that Linc?" Clyde asked as he peaked his head over Lincoln shoulder to look at the phone.
"News app. Installed so I can get the information of what's happening around town." Lincoln explained. The two then read the article as Lincoln rose an eyebrow. It was news about shady characters being reported underground in the Royal Woods caves. The underground cameras caught pictures of figures wearing trench coats and matching hats.
Lincoln hummed a bit as he noticed something about face area's that were mostly covered in shadow due to the coats and hats. But Lincoln used his fingers to zoom in around there faces. It was barely noticeable, but Lincoln could eventually make out their faces…or rather what's on their faces. Iron mask.
"Forever Knights!" Lincoln gasped out as Clyde looked to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Who are they?" Clyde asked, completely oblivious to the group Lincoln was talking about.
"Long story short, bad news." The white-haired boy said seriously. "And if they're here, they're up to no good. Come on Clyde, we gotta get down to the caves." Clyde nodded as the best friend duo quickly took off to the caves. But since they were dealing with the Forever Knights, Lincoln texted Wendy and his family to meet him and Clyde in the caves incase they needed back up. Can never be to careful when dealing with these guys.
Soon Lincoln and Clyde were in the underground caves of Royal Woods. Caves that have been here for who knows how long since they were discovered around 50 years ago already dugout. There were many theories on why and who dug the caves, but so far nothings been proven. So, the town used the caves and the mystery as a tourist attraction. Thankfully they seemed to be barren today as Lincoln and Clyde walked through the caves wielding flashlights.
"So where do you think they are?" Clyde whispered as he followed close behind Lincoln. He had trouble holding the flashlight at first due to his powers causing the light to go from dim to very bright rapidly. Eventually he got the hold of it and steadied the light. But this didn't stop Clyde from glancing at the Omnitrix every now and then, like his hands were fidgeting to touch and absorb more energy from it again.
"Not sure." Lincoln responded from in front of Clyde, unaware to his friend looking at the alien watch. "Just keeping going, stay quiet and try to find where they are."
Then as if on cue, they heard the sounds of banging echoing through the tunnels. They stood still and listened to where it was coming from and deduced that it was coming from the north east tunnel and speed walked down there. Sure enough, the sound got louder as they went forward. They soon started to see a light at the end of a tunnel and quickly hid behind a wall. Lincoln and Clyde peaked their heads out of the walls to witness that, sure enough, a group of forever knights with various digging equipment and even explosive with him.
"What do you think they're doing?" Clyde whispered.
"No clue, but it can't be anything good." Lincoln explained as he and Clyde went back behind the wall. Lincoln then rolled up his sleeve and activated the Omnitrix. Clyde's eyes suddenly became glued to the piece of alien tech as his hands started to surge with electricity.
Currently, the group of five Forever Knights were busy at working adding onto the underground tunnels. Two of the knights were busy busting rock with pickaxes while another two were shoveling dirt from the corners. Meanwhile the last one was working on the explosive they brought just incase they ran into something they needed to blow up. "We had better hurry up." The Forever Knight working on the explosive said to his cohorts. "Lord Enoch want's this done fast."
"Then he'll be very disappointed today." All the knight's stopped working and looked to the source of the voice and saw Four-Arms with both sets of arms cross and glaring at the Forever Knights, meanwhile Clyde was standing behind Four-Arms, but his eyes were on the Omnitrix symbol on the muscular aliens shoulder.
The knights quickly gripped their tools to use them as weapons as they all prepared to charge at the duo. Four-Arms simply cracked his knuckles and neck when Clyde spoke up. "Linc, let me absorb the watch again so we can take them down together!"
"Uuuuum…" Four-Arms let out indecisively.
'Lincoln! No! Bad idea!'
"Uuuuuh…ON YOUR LEFT!" Four-Arms suddenly yelled as he quickly punched a pickaxe wielding knight that was coming in from the left. Clyde tried to call out to Four-Arms again but was ignored as Four-Arms charged at the group.
Clyde surprisingly growled in irritation at his best friend ignoring him and fighting the bad guys on his own. However, the glasses wearing child noticed that the red aliens back were completely bare as he was focus on his front side fighting off the knights. Rubbing his hands together, causing them to spark a bit, Clyde quickly ran over to the 12-foot-tall alien and jumped up onto his back and started climbing to his shoulders.
Four-Arms was unaware of Clyde climbing on him as he was busy holding off the knights by taking their weapons with his upper hands and punching them away with his lower set of arms. It was honestly pretty easy. It seems like these knight's didn't really have much combat experience. And other then the explosive, no real weapons. This group was probably sent her to sneak around the tunnels and dig…for whatever they were digging for. But as he was fighting…
'Hey! Clyde's going for the Omnitrix!'
Four-Arms stopped fighting and looked back and gasped as he saw Clyde hanging onto his shoulder with his hand over the Omnitrix symbol. "Clyde no!"
However, it was too late as Clyde completely put his hand on the Omnitrix symbol and started to absorb the energy from the watch. Like before, Clyde started to change and mutate to match the form his best friend was in. His skin started to turn a sickly red color as he started growing taller. An extra set off arms grew under his regular arms that ripping through his shirt. Just then a giant muscular arm grew out of his right side over his original arm. Finally, his glasses fell off and revealed the left side of his face had changed to match Four-arms with having 2 yellow eyes.
Landing with a thump on the ground, Clyde took a second to look over himself and actually grinned like madman and started laughing rather manically. "Alright! No, it's really on!" Clyde yelled with his voice sounding much deeper. Just then another giant arm grew above his original left arms as he quickly charged at the group of knights as they started to try and retreat.
"Going somewhere!" Clyde yelled as he used his right giant arm to grab on of the knight's legs and lifted him up in the air and used him to slam another knight away. Using his other giant arm, Clyde grabbed another knight by his face and the slammed the heads of the knights he had in his grasp together and hard. He then finished the job by slamming them both into the ground hard enough to leave craters and shake the cave. "Who else wants some!" The mutated Clyde yelled as he went to town on the two remaining knights.
Four-Arms back up from the scene. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Clyde, the anxious, awkward, boy…was acting so vicious. The last time he was burning Commander with Heatblast's powers, the Omnitrix wielder simply thought it was because Clyde wasn't used to this and needed to learn how to hold back…but this…this was something else.
Rights as Clyde was pinning two knights against the wall and started gripping them hard enough for audible cracks to be heard, Four-Arms knee it was time to step in and stop his friends rampage. Running up to his mutated friend, the red alien wrapped all over his arms around Clyde and pulled him back.
"Hey!" Clyde yelled as he tried to escape the grip. "What are you doing!?"
"Keeping you from going to far!" Four-Arms yelled back as he released Clyde.
Turning around and glaring at the four-armed alien, Clyde retaliated. "I knew I what I was doing! I was taking out the bad guys!"
Shaking his head, Four-Arms said in a stern tone. "Clyde, our job is to stop the bad guys. We take them down not out!"
Four-Arms was actually surprised as Clyde growled, gritted his teeth, and tightened all six of his fists. The transformed Loud boy couldn't remember a single time his friend did any of those actions…except when involving Bobby but this was to an entirely different scale. "Why do we always have to follow YOUR lead?"
Four-Arms scoffed as he crossed his arms. "We do not always follow my lead."
"Oh yeah!" Clyde yelled back as he poked Four-Arm's chest with his upper left arm hard. "Whose idea was it to baby sit Lily? Yours! Whose idea was it try and survive in the wilderness? Yours! Whose idea was it to try and steal cookies and end up blowing our money on Kale puff? Yours!"
"…Ok…those were some moments." Four-Arms pretty much had to admit. "But what about all the good times we've had? Catching a real ghost? Ending up in the yearbook together? The SMOOCH concert with Luna?"
"That's not the point!" Clyde yelled poke with another strong poke. "The point is we always go along with that you wanna do while I'm just your sidekick!"
"You're not my sidekick! We're partners! Friends!" Four-arms tried to reason with his hands up in piece. "What's gotten into you?"
'This is exactly what I was warning you about!'
'What?' Four-Arms asked mentally.
'That's not Clyde talking! The energy from the Omnitrix is doing things to his sanity! It's making him mentally unstable. You have to calm down and release the energy!'
"From now on, we do things my way!" Clyde yelled as he pointed to himself.
"Clyde, listen to me." Four-Arms tried to reason with a worried frown and raised hands. "I'm sorry if I ever made feel like that. I just wanted us to have together doing crazy stuff. But this isn't you talking. The energy's making you go crazy with power; you need to release it."
"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you!" Clyde yelled back hostilely. "You'd like to be the only one with powers. To be the famous superhero everyone loves while I just get left behind!"
"That's not it! Please just listen!" Four-Arms yelled back.
"I'm sick of everything going your way! Who's the one with the big family?! You! Who's the one with the alien watch?! You! Who ended up getting a beautiful girlfriend?! YOU!" Clyde yelled as the rest of his arms started to bulk up along with getting slightly taller with each claim.
The last statement caused Four-Arms to gasp. "Wait…how'd you find out about me and Wendy?"
"I saw your little scene in the parking lot." Clyde explained before yelling again. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! I've been chasing after love for years! Doing everything I could! Yet you actually got a girl to confess to you! I'm sick of you getting everything while I'm stuck in your shadow!"
Before Four-Arms could respond in anyway, Clyde suddenly charged at him and tackled the transformed whitehead to the ground. Four-Arms was shocked to see Clyde raise his fist to attack him, but he got over quick enough to catch the fist as well as the other. This led the two into a power struggle as Four-Arms managed to speak again. "You need to calm down!" Four-Arms plead as he looked Clyde in the eyes. "This isn't you Clyde! This isn't my best friend! It's the power! It's doing things to you!"
"Maybe I like what the powers doing to me!" Clyde retallied as he used one of his middle arms to try and reach for the Omnitrix. "Maybe I'll take more of it! Give me that watch!"
Four-Arms managed to catch Clyde's other hand with his lower left hand before he could reach the Omnitrix. As the two were struggling with each other, they failed to notice that the Omnitrix started beeping red, and Clyde's unnatural arms started to get smaller and retract back into his body. Just then, in a flash of red, Four-Arms changed back as Clyde started to de-mutate more. When the flash died down, it showed both Lincoln and Clyde turned back to normal but were still fighting.
And as the two were fighting…
"Lincoln! Where are you!?" It was Wendy's voice echoing throughout the cave. "Me and the rest of your family are here!"
"Wendy!" Lincoln yelled as he continued to fend off Clyde. "I need help! Get over to me as fast as you can!"
"Don't worry son! We're on our way!" His father's voice echoed.
However, it was then that Lincoln slipped up and Clyde was able to get his hand on the Omnitrix. "Let's see what happens when I'm one with the power!" Clyde yelled as he started to absorb energy directly from the watch while also pulling on it hard to try and remove it forcibly. However, just then the Omnitrix started to pulsate with energy just like it did with Vilgax during Lincoln's first encounter with him. Suddenly a green pulse blast was released from the Omnitrix which forcibly sent Clyde off Lincoln and flying into the wall. Clyde then landed on the floor with a thud as energy was pulsating violently throughout his body.
Lincoln didn't notice however as he finally stood up and was able to catch his breath. Just then he heard the footsteps on many people behind him and turned back to see Wendy running towards him along with his entire family behind her. "Lincoln!" Wendy yelled as she quickly ran up to him and picked him up into a hug. "Are you ok."
"Yeah…I'm fine." Lincoln managed to say as his face was still in a worried frown over Clyde.
Speaking of which, Lana was the first to take notice of the African American boy. "Woah, what happened to Clyde?"
Lincoln's eyes widened at the mention of his best friend and released himself from Wendy's grasp and looked to see his Clyde breathing slowly while on his hands and knees. "Clyde are you-
"AAAAARGH!"
Everyone was taken aback by Clyde's loud and slightly distorted sounding groaning. "Dude, is he ok?" Luna asked in a concern but slightly fearful tone.
However, fear is what took over as they watched as Clyde's body started to change. He started to grow in size to the point where his pants were incredible stretched out and his shirt was ripped off. Body parts started to come out of him as he screamed in pain as wings and a tail forms as well as his already existing body parts change drastically.
"What's happening to him?!" Lori shrieked in fear and disgust as the rest of the family couldn't say anything as they stepped back. Thankfully they left Lily with Karen for this so she wouldn't have to see it. But this didn't spare anyone else from the sight as the twins held each other and hid behind their parents, who were also holding each other.
Clyde then started to gain extra arms as his normal arms started to change with one crystallizing and another growing goals.
At this point, Lori was hiding behind Leni while Luan and Luna hid behind the tunnel wall but couldn't help but watch. And Lucy and Lisa were actually feeling disturbed by the changes happening to Clyde in front of them. Even Lynn Jr started to shake in her cleats at this.
Meanwhile Wendy was clutching Lincoln tight as the Loud boy could only watch in horror at what was happening to his best friend.
Finally, a massive energy wave was sent out from Clyde that blind everyone. When they could see again, they witnessed the full effect of what happened to Clyde. Clyde was now 11-feet-tall. His skin was mostly a sickly red all over. He had four arms with his top left resembling Diamondhead, his top right resembled Heatblast, and his bottom arms both resembled NRG. And all of his arms had Ghostfreak's shackles on them. He had white lightning streaks like AmpFibian's over his chest. His upper back was tar black with orange circuity tattoo's like Upgrade. He had wings like Big Chill but the pattern of the wings resembled Pesky Dust's. He has a Feedback tail on him and his legs looked like Fasttracks but more bulk to go along with the rest of his body. His head still had his hair style while his mouth resembled Echo Echo's. The left side of his face looked like Four-Arms with 2 yellow eyes and his right side had Gray Matter's eye. Lastly, the lightning streaks on his body seemed to have vein's in them containing an orange goo like substance similar to what Goop is made of.
Clyde look liked an amalgamation of all of Lincolns aliens…well, almost. It seemed he didn't have any traits from Loud-Gax, thankfully.
All the Louds and Wendy were to freaked out, even the likes of Lucy, to utter any words as the mutated Clyde groaned and stood up. "Uuugh, my head." Clyde's voice sound distorted, almost demonic in nature. However, once he saw his hand, the mutated boy was able to look over himself and see what he's become. "What…what happened to me?!"
Clyde then spotted Lincoln and growl as he tightened his fist. "You! You did this to me!"
Lincoln was taken back by this, but tried to reason with the amalgamed11-year-old. "Clyde, no, please just calm down and let us-"
But before Lincoln could finished, Clyde shot out a fireball out of his Heatblast hand at the Omnitrix wielder, but Wendy was quick to grab her boyfriend and jumped out of the way. Once his attack missed, Clyde growled and aimed his Feedback tail upwards and fired an electric blast at the ceiling causing a hole to open up outside. Before anyone could do anything else, Clyde flew out of the caves and into the outside.
Everyone was silent as they tried to process the events. After about 5 minutes, Lynn Jr finally broke the silence and muttered…
"Oh God…"
Vanzilla was now speeding down the roads of Royal Woods as the Loud family and Wendy were in hot pursuit to find the mutated Clyde. He shouldn't be to hard find given the circumstances, but still, they needed to find him face. Who knows how all that energy and powers are affecting his sanity and rationality?
"So, wait, the reason Clyde came back early was because he actually developed superpowers?" Leni asked in a shocked tone as everyone else, expect for Lynn Sr who was focusing on driving, looked to Lincoln with a similar expression after he explained things to them.
"Yeah." Lincoln nodded back. "But Ra'ad told me thing weren't right. Absorbing energy from the Omnitrix is messing with his mind. He's not himself." It was then that Lincoln put his hands on his knees and looked at the floor of the van solemnly. "If only I listen to Ra'ad, then maybe none of this would have happened. This is all my fault."
Wendy was quick to comfort her boyfriend as she wrapped her arms around him. "It's not your fault. No one could have seen this coming. We'll find him and fix this somehow I know we will."
Despite the situation, Lincoln couldn't help but shed a small smile at his girlfriend words. "Thanks Wendy…" He said quietly as Wendy lightly pecked him on the cheek.
"You said this mutation occurred from absorbing energy from the Omnitrix correct?" Lisa asked as she held up a clipboard and a pen in her hand. "If you give me enough time, I think I should be able to come up with a potential solution."
"Thank you so much Lis." Lincoln said extremely gratefully.
"But first we'll need to find Clyde." Lynn Jr spoke up. "How are we gonna find him, we probably has all of Lincoln's powers now meaning he could be anyway."
CRASH!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
"MONSTER!"
"RUN AWAY!"
"MY WATERMELON!"
"…I'm gonna guess he's where the screaming people are running away from." Lucy stated in her usual tone and face.
"Riiiight." Lincoln said slowly. "Dad, step on it!"
"Aye, aye son!" Lynn Sr said as he slammed on the gas and headed towards where the mayhem was happening.
Clyde was currently on a blind rampage. Sure enough, the energy and mutation was driving him mad. And he did indeed have all of Lincoln's powers as we went terrorizing the streets. He was using Echo Echo's sonic screeches to break windows and all glass around the air, setting things on fire and piercing cars and buildings with crystal's, freezing over the streets with Big Chill's ice breath and even melting parts of the roads with NRG's radiation.
Landing on the ground with a thud, all citizens in the area were running away as fast as they could while screaming at the top of their lungs. Just then Clyde picked up a car that was parked to the side and threw it at a building causing the front of the car to get stuck onto the building. This made more people start running away screaming as the driver's seat door to the car opened to show a man with green skin, four eyes, brown hair with a goatee and a blue and yellow striped shirt. "Don't worry it's just a rental!" The green skin man reassured.
It was then that Vanzilla arrived on the scene and all the occupants of the Loud family van witness everything that was going on. "You're right Lincoln, Clyde's lost control." Rita commented as she witnessed all the destruction that was happening.
"I'm putting an end to this." Lincoln said determinedly as he reached the door and stepped out of the van. However, Wendy decided to follow him outside, not wanting him to go do this alone.
"Be careful Linc!" Luan called out in a concerned tone with the rest of the family voicing their concerns.
However, Lincoln didn't respond as he, with Wendy right behind him, quickly ran up to the mutated 11-year-old. Clyde didn't seem to notice at first, but once Lincoln and Wendy were close enough to him, the white-haired boy called out to him. "Clyde! You have to stop doing this!"
Clyde's attention was caught as he turned around and narrowed his three eyes at the couple and growled. "What do you want?" Clyde said viciously, the affects the energy being shown in his voice alone. "You and your girlfriend here to show me up some more?!"
"Clyde, please you have to listen to us!" Lincoln tried to reason with Wendy backing him up.
"We just wanted to help you!" Wendy added in with Lincoln nodding in confirmation.
"Help me? Help me?! Look what you did to me!" Clyde yelled while gesturing to his mutated body and showing off the amalgamation of aliens he had become. "You turned me into a freak! And you say you wanna help me!?"
"I didn't do any of this!" Lincoln yelled back in retaliation. "It wasn't my idea to absorb the powers of the watch, I tried to stop you, but you persisted. This isn't you Clyde. The energy is making you go crazy we just need you to calm down so we can help you."
"He's right Clyde." Wendy stepped forward as she tried to reason with the mutated boy. "I may not know you like Lincoln does, but he's told me so much about you. How you to are always there for each other. How your more then just his best friend."
"Yeah right!" Clyde retaliated by slamming both his NRG arms on the ground. "It's more like I'm always there for him when he gets into trouble and I always end up paying for it."
"Clyde, where's all this coming from. I know the energy is messing with your mind but there has to be more to it then just that." Lincoln pleaded as he looked up right into Clyde's mutated face. "Look, I'm sorry, I really am sorry if I did anything to hurt you, or make you feel inadequate. I really didn't mean for it to seem like that. But come on, we can work this out! I thought we were best friends!"
"Yeah…" It was then that Clyde said something that made Lincoln's blood practically freeze as his heart almost stopped.
"We were."
Lincoln eyes widened as his pupils practically dilated into dots. Clyde…the boy he's known for most of his life. Who was always there for him. Who he was there for. The boy he'd been missing all summer long so far…just said that.
Lincoln's eyes become shadowed by his hair, but Wendy looked and could tell that his expression was extremely dark. Wendy quickly tried to reach out for her boyfriends' shoulder to try and calm him and down and say it wasn't really Clyde speaking, but the energy affecting his mind. But it was too late. She watched as Lincoln activated the Omnitrix faster then he's ever done before and slam it down covering Lincoln in an extremely bright green flash that blinded everyone nearby.
When the flash died down everyone witness what Lincoln turned into. Everyone in Vanzilla blood ran cold at the sight, with Lucy in particular having her eyes widened as she knew what transformation that was, being the only Loud other then Lincoln himself to know what it was.
"D-d-did Lincoln just turn into…" Lola stuttered to say as the horrible memories from earlier in the summer came into her head.
"Him?" Leni finished.
Stomping an green armored foot onto the ground creating a small crater, the transformed boy roared his name.
"LOOOOOOOOOOOOOUD-GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX!"
'Lincoln…calm down, that's wasn't really Clyde talking, it's the ener-'
"Not…now Ra'ad." Loud-Gax growled viciously as he and Clyde glared each other down.
Sensing the situation, Wendy quickly back away as Lynn Sr drove vanzilla away. It was intense silence as the two starred each other down. Both were tightening their fist preparing for the inevitable clash. And then…they charged at each other.
Cue: We Will Rock You
Every step they made as they ran towards each other shook the very ground. Both left craters under their feet with every step and as they got closer, Loud-Gax rears his right fist back as Clyde reared his Diamondhead fist back. They then punched forward at full force, their fist colliding and causing a giant shock wave from the force that knocked all nearby object away to the point where the only thing that remained standing were the streetlights built into the ground, and even those struggled to stay up.
"So, you wanna fight." Loud-Gax growled as he quickly readied his other fist. "FINE THEN!" Loud-Gax then rocketed his fist upward and delivered an uppercut to Clyde's jaw. The mutated boy was sent flying into the air but manage to catch himself with his wings.
Clyde growled in retaliation as he aimed his Heatblast arm forward and started firing a barrage of fireballs towards Loud-Gax. But the Cthulhu-like alien was simply able to swat away the fire barrage with no harm to him.
'Hmmp, don't seem to be as strong as the original Heatblast.' He noted mentally as the fireball Clyde sent his way weren't nearly as strong as his own fireball as Heatblast. If he had to guess, only about 1/10 as strong.
"Try handling this!" Clyde as he inhaled and sent a sonic screech towards Loud-Gax. The transformed boy grunt in pain as the sound attack definitely wasn't pleasant, but he tough it out and jumped up high to Clyde and smacked with out of the air to the ground with enough power to cause Clyde to go through and tear up the road.
Clyde groaned as he stood back up but looked forward to see Loud-Gax charging him. Clyde inhaled again, but instead released an icy mist similar to Big Chill. When it connect it covered Loud-Gax , he ended up being covered in frost that halted his charge, but he quickly managed to break free but it gave Clyde enough time to fly back up and started through orange Goop goo from his various hands at Loud-Gax.
Loud-Gax was quickly hit with the goo barrage and quickly tried to claw it off, but due to the stickiness it proved tough. However, he was unprepared for Clyde grinning madly and shoot fire balls again and when it collided with the goo covered Loud-Gax…
BOOM!
Combining the goo and fireball created a quite large explosion that sent Loud-Gax flying and landing back down with a thud. "How do you like that?" Clyde said with a pumped-up fist and a mad grin.
However, Loud-Gax quickly got up…without a scratch. Clyde gasped as Loud-Gax cracked his neck and raised his fist up. "I can do this all day."
Clyde growled as he quickly charged at the transformed Loud boy. Loud-Gax steadied himself and grabbed the street light next to him and yanked it straight from the ground and held it like a baseball bat. Then as Clyde was coming in, Loud-Gax swung it and struck Clyde with it and sent the mutated 11-year-old flying and crashing to the ground.
Loud-Gax quickly continued his assault as grabbed the road and pulled up hard before slamming into back down and creating a shockwave that sent Clyde into the air again. Loud-Gax then quickly ripped parts of the road off and jumped towards Clyde and struck him with the pieces of road he grabbed making them break apart upon impact and sent Clyde crashing into a building.
Clyde quickly recovered and shot radiation blast with his NRG hands at his opponent. Loud-Gax crossed his arms to defend against the orange beam, but still winced when they came into impact. Just then the orange rods in Loud-Gax's arms started to dig into his arms and increase his muscle mass.
Using the increased physical strength this action granted him, Loud-Gax powered through the beams and started charged again. This action caused Clyde to become surprised and stopped firing. But this gave Loud-Gax what he wanted as he quickly ran up to the mutated Clyde and slammed his fist at the center of his chest causing a massive shout of pain and even some blood to be coughed up by Clyde.
However, Loud-Gax didn't simply stop and that and started an onslaught of punches that started to practically jack hammer Clyde into the ground. Despite the pain and force, Clyde managed to use his Feedback tail and connected it with Loud-Gax's chest and started conducted electricity right into the transformed whitehead.
The surprised attack caught Loud-Gax off guard as he was electrocuted. But just then he managed to power through the electric attack and grab the tail and disconnect it from his chest and used it to lift Clyde up and start spinning him around at high speeds in the air.
Once it was at the point that Clyde became a spinning blur, Loud-Gax slammed Clyde into the ground hard causing a giant crater to be formed. Not giving the mutated boy a chance to recovered, Loud-Gax picked him up by the tail and repeated the process.
Once Clyde was slammed down again, Loud-Gax jumped up high into the air and came down fast and landed directly onto Clyde causing the mutated 11-year-old to let out a loud roar of pain.
End Music
Despite his injury's, Clyde managed to look up and glare at Loud-Gax who was glaring back. "I'm sorry it had to come to his…but you left me no choice." Loud-Gax then reared his fist back and aimed It right for Clyde's head. And as he was about to strike…
'Lincoln stop!'
"I told you to butt out Ra-" But right before Loud-Gax could finished, a familiar beeping caught there attention. Both Loud-Gax and Lincoln looked to see the Omnitrix symbol started to beep red. "Oh no…"
"Oh yes!" Clyde cheered with a mad grin.
And then in a flash of red, Loud-Gax transformed back to Lincoln. Wendy was currently watching everything was behind an alleyway and gasp in shock in worry as Lincoln was now defenseless. And despite the major injuries and damage Loud-Gax caused, it seems like Clyde was still able to get up and fight.
And that's just what he did. Clyde, though with some struggle, managed to get up and look down at Lincoln. "Looks like your lucks run out Lincoln." The mutated Clyde then used his Diamondhead arm to pick Lincoln up by his head. "Now let's see how tough you are without being one of those alien heroes!"
Clyde then actually chucked Lincoln into a streetlight. Lincoln cried out in pain from the impact as he fell to the ground with a thud. Wendy cried out in worry as she left her hiding spot and quickly went over to check on Lincoln. "Are you alright?!" Wendy yelled as she helped sit Lincoln up.
The Loud boy winced at the sudden movement but managed to open a single eye and give Wendy a slight smile. "Yeah…just a little bruised is all." He weakly groaned out as Wendy continued looking at him concerned.
"Well, isn't this sweet." Wendy then looked back to see Clyde approaching them with the grin of a mad man. "Your precious girlfriends come to protect you. It doesn't matter. I'll take you both down! Right here! Right now!"
As Wendy looked at Clyde…she suddenly felt her blood start boiling. She just witnesses someone who was supposed to be her boyfriend best friend since childhood, not just throw Lincoln into a metal pole, but do all the things he's currently done so far. Her eyes start to rapidly flash between blue and red. Suddenly her whole body started to flash with a bronze glow that got brighter and brighter with each flash. Clyde soon noticed this, and his eyes widened as he started backing up as the girl slowly turned to him with a stare that was nothing short of completely vicious.
"How…dare…you…" Wendy growled as she stood up. Then, roaring into the sky, she yelled at the top of her lungs…
"That's…my…LINCOOOOOOOOLN!"
The very ground shook causing Clyde to lose his balance and fall on his knee. An enormous amount of bronze energy erupted from Wendy's body blinding the mutated 11-year-old and even pushing him back a bit. When the glow died down, Clyde looked forward and gasp at what he saw. Wendy was starring him down with blood red eyes as a bronze aura shined powerfully throughout her body. Before the mutated boy could respond or react, Wendy suddenly appeared in front of him in the blink of in an eye and drove her fist into his chest knocking the wind out of him and making him cough of blood. "My turn…" Wendy muttered before grabbing Clyde's right NRG arm and using it to flip upward and deliver a roundhouse kick to him and sending with crashing right through a building.
Clyde rubbed his head as he struggled to get up. Not only did his battle with Loud-Gax take a toll on him, but Wendy seemed to have unlocked something powerful within her. "I won't be beaten!" Clyde growled as he aimed his Diamondhead hand at Wendy and started firing crystal shards at her. Wendy didn't even attempt to dodge as when the crystal's collided with her, they didn't even leave a scratch as they shattered upon impact with her. "What the?!" Clyde said in surprise.
However, this managed to catch him off guard as Wendy rocketed upward and head-butted Clyde right in the chest. Clyde roared in pain as Wendy quickly flipped and preformed an axe kick right onto his forehead and sent him rocketing down in an instant.
Clyde tried to get up but groaned in struggle as all his injuries were taking effect. He then looked up and saw Wendy rear both of her fist back and aiming at him. "I win." Wendy said quietly before zooming down at top speed and striking Clyde with both her fist. What resulted was a large dust cloud forming as well as massive shock waves as Lincoln watched in amazement. The Loud boy then manage to get up and walk up to the sight.
When the dust cleared, it showed Clyde unconscious and Wendy standing on his body. Her bronze aura still present as she stared at her fallen opponent. But just then, Wendy's eyes flashed blue as her aura disappeared. She was forced to take her knee as she felt all her energy suddenly drained away. Lincoln was quickly to go down into the crater and help his Girlfriend out. "Wendy…how did you do that?" Lincoln asked in amazement and curiosity. He knew Wendy was strong…but not that strong.
"I…I don't know…it just kinda…happened." Wendy answered as she honestly had no idea what just happened. One second, she was feeling madder than ever before. Then she felt some surge of power and went to town on Clyde. Before she could offer any kind of explanation, they heard a horn honking.
Looking out of the crater, they saw vanzilla approaching and when it stopped almost everyone in it rushed out of the family van to check on the situation. They were about to go in the crater, but stopped when they saw Clyde in there with them. "Is he…" Lana asked from behind Luna's leg.
"He's unconscious, don't worry." Lincoln reassured.
The Loud family sighed in relief, but that didn't change things much as they all saw his mutated form perfectly clearly. "So, what now?" Leni asked in a sadden tone.
"Is he gonna stay like that?" Lucy asked as a true frown came to her face that was different from her normal expression.
"I…I don't know…" Lincoln said solemnly as he looked at his mutated childhood friend. "I know the things we said were because of the energy...but…what if he stays that way?" Lincoln couldn't bare the thought. The idea of his best friend turning into a mutated monster, it broke his heart.
"Actually, I may have found a solution." Everyone gasped as they all turned to Lisa as she held up her clipboard.
"What?! How?!" Lincoln asked immediately afterwards, desperate for any chance to save Clyde.
Lisa cleared her throat as she looked at her clipboard. "Well, the energy he absorbed originated from the Omnitrix which caused for the mutation. The energy must constantly be flowing through and stored in his body in order to keep the transformation up. So, we simply need to remove the energy."
"So, how do we do that?" Lynn Jr asked with a raised brow.
"Simple. Lincoln." She stated as everyone looked toward the boy in question as Lisa continued. "Didn't you recently require a transformation that is able to absorb and release energy. As well as store it in your body."
Lincoln's eyes widened as he soon caught on to what Lisa was saying. "Feedback! I could remove all the energy he absorbed!"
"It's worth a try." Wendy encouraged as she stepped back as Lincoln quickly activated the Omnitrix and began looking for Feedbacks silhouette. Soon he found it and raised his hand up to hit down on it. "Turn me into anything else, and your dead meat." Lincoln told the alien watch as he slammed down on the core and was engulfed in a green flash. When the flash died down…
"Feedback!" The transformed boy yelled in triumph as everyone watching cheered at seeing the correct alien come up. Feedback then narrowed his eyes as he connected his antenna and tail to Clyde's chest. "Let's hope this works." Feedback back prayed as he started to absorb energy.
Everyone watched as the both of them were covered in bright green light from the process. Feedback grunted as Clyde's body seemed to try and repel him, but he toughed it out and kept his plugs hold on Clyde and continued to absorb energy. Clyde then started to violently shake as he grunts from seemingly pain. But amazingly, they watched as his mutated parts were actually started to disappear. His face started to slowly go back to normal as his NRG arms retracted into his body and disappeared. The same happened to his wings and tail as his Diamondhead and Heatblast arms started to slowly return to normal as well as his legs. Finally his body started shrinking and eventually…Clyde was completely normal.
Feedback gasped as he saw this and disconnected from Clyde before aiming his tail and antenna up and releasing all the energy, he had stored up inside out as a massive blue beacon. Once he released all the stored-up energy, Feedback looked up and gave a small smile at seeing Clyde's normal body and quickly went to pick up his friend and looked him over to make sure no signs of mutation were there. "It worked…" Feedback said quietly and extremely relieved.
He then looked up to his family and said. "Let's take him home. He'll be out for a while."
His sisters, mother and Wendy all nodded at the idea while Lynn Sr pulled his phone out. "I'll tell his dads he'll be spending the night with his us."
Feedback nodded before looking back at the unconscious Clyde. "Come on buddy. Let's get out of here."
THE NEXT MORNING
Clyde groaned as he started to stir from his slumber. "…Uuuugh…what happened…" Clyde groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. After a few moments, he did but winced as the sunlight his eyes. He adjusted his glasses to…wait…his glasses. But he lost them when he…
Panic quickly hit Clyde as he looked over his body for any sort of abnormalities or mutation…and nothing. His body looked and felt normal. Sighing with relief, Clyde told himself. "Thank goodness. Just a dream."
"Actually…it wasn't."
Clyde jumped in surprise and saw Lincoln leaning on the door to his room. His arms were crossed, and he had an unreadable expression on his face. "Everything that happened yesterday happened."
Clyde felt his blood run cold as he looked at his hands. "So I really…
"Yep."
"And I…"
"Uh-huh."
Lincoln then pointed out the glasses he was wearing. "You started keeping a spark set of glasses here remember. After the tennis ball launcher incident with Lynn."
"Oh, right. Hehe." Clyde chuckled sheepishly before he frowned and looked down. "Look, Lincoln. About everything that happened, I can't even begin to-"
"Clyde." Clyde flinched as Lincoln spoke in a louder firmer tone. Lincoln then started to walked towards Clyde as the African American boy closed his eyes, expecting a firm yelling or even a punch of his best friend…but the felt arms wrap gently around him. Clyde opened his eyes to see Lincoln hugging him. "I'm so glad you're back to normal."
Clyde couldn't help but return the hug and smile. "Yeah, good to be back buddy." They then separated as Lincoln sat down on his bed next to Clyde. The African American boy then frown as he looked down and scratched the back of his head. "Look, Linc, about all the stuff I said…"
"You don't need to say anything." Lincoln reassured his best friend. "I know you had energy on the brain, you don't need to apologize." Clyde sighed in relief that things were still good between them, but then Lincoln spoke up some more. "But there is something I wanna ask you…"
Clyde tensed up at what Lincoln's request could be and gestured Lincoln to go on. "I know you said you had energy on the brain…but that stuff you said about feeling like a side kick and always going along with what I'm doing, and be honest with me, do I ever make you feel like that?"
Clyde averted his gaze away from Lincoln and held his arm nervously as he finally spoke up. "Well…you do usually come up with most of our plans…and we do usually follow your lead on most things."
Lincoln then looked down and frowned as he sighed. "Clyde, I'm so sorry that I made you feel that way."
Clyde then gave Lincoln a sympathetic smile on put his hand on the whiteheads shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. You don't need to-"
"No, it's not alright." Lincoln interrupted. "We're supposed to be best friends. Partners. Equals. If I've been leading the charge on some things, then that's going to change. Clyde, if there's ever something you wanna do. Or if you have any ideas, then lay them on me."
"Really?" Clyde asked with an expression that was both happy and lightly surprised. Lincoln nodded as Clyde's expression went full on happy. "Thanks Linc."
"Anytime buddy. Were in this together." Lincoln told his best friend.
It was then that Lincoln held his arms out for another hug and said. "Clincoln Mcloud?"
Clyde was quick to return the hug and repeat what his best friend said.
"Clincoln Mcloud."
And that wraps up season 2 everybody! A lot of stuff happened this season and I'm extremely proud of it.
And I do have to remind everyone that this is the halfway point for the series. I plan on making 4 seasons and 2 of them are done. But trust me, I still got a lot planned for seasons 3 and 4 and I hope you stick around for them. I don't plan on slowing down anytime soon.
Also, to go along with the release of this finale, I have officially started that one-shot series I talked about. Go check out, I'm sure a lot of you are going to love the first one-shot posted to that, I can say it was one of the most satisfying things I've ever written.
And one last thing I wanna ask you guys since Loud 10 is halfway over, what's your favorite chapter so far? I'm curious to see where in the story you guys thought I was at my best and what your favorite parts were.
Well, that's all I wanna say. I'm gonna work on my other stories for a bit, but stay tuned to the Season 3 premier...
Really Loud Music
