And here's the next chapter of Living Edge. And before we begin, there's something I'd like to mention.
I just watched The Loud House Movie not too long ago, and now I really wanna do a Scotland arc. If only to try to do more with the concepts introduced in that movie.
But of course, that's an idea for another day. For now, let's answer some reviews:
1) Uroten: Don't worry, Cristina would never go that far… would she? Also, thanks for your reviews!
2) Guest: We'll see them soon enough, don't worry. ;)
3) Nobody245: Someone will need to run, alright. :)
4) Mr. Haziq: Just because you're correct, doesn't mean you're right!
5) Guest: Yeah, cool, right? I thought it would be neat to introduce the concept, so I'll try to use it to the best of my ability.
6) Guest: She's actually based on Sun Wukong, the monkey King… who Goku is also based on… so yeah, you're right in a way. XD
And now, to the chapter!
Back where we left off, Lincoln and Polly stood up as Cristina prepared another arrow, eyes glowing pink.
"Cristina, wait! It's not what it looks like!"
"What a Cliche statement!"
A short silence developed between the trio, until it was broken by both Cristina and Polly bursting into laughter.
"Ever since Cliches appeared, sentences like those just don't have the same impact as before, do they?" Lincoln asked.
"They really don't! Ahahaha!" Cristina laughed as she wiped a tear off her cheek. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, honestly."
"No, it's alright," Lincoln scratched the back of his head. "What I said was pretty generic."
"Good, great, hahaha, now, where was I? Oh right!"
Cristina aimed her bow and arrow at the Ynovation girl, flashing a murderous glare as she yelled:
"Die, you dirty boyfriend stealer!"
Cristina shot an arrow at Polly, but the monkey girl spun her staff again and deflected it before grabbing and dragging Lincoln away with her.
"Polly, wait! You're gonna make it worse-"
"Too late!"
Cristina floated up and screamed as she chased the duo, ready to unleash a valley of arrows at them.
Back at Cyberspace, Leni flew around as Stella shot fireballs at her, baring her fangs as she gave chase to the Hacker, who shot lightning bolts in turn.
This continued for a while until their attacks clashed and exploded, the pair catching her breath as the alarm spoke:
"SENDING SECURITY DRONES TO INDEX SYSTEM! REPEAT, SENDING SECURITY TO INDEX SYSTEM!"
Stella gasped and shot a fireball at the gate, destroying it and allowing her to fly out, with Leni in hot pursuit.
"Wait! Why did you, like, hack the system!"
"Connect the dots, genius!" Stella snapped as she went through the firewall. "Did you really think a new Cliche could become anything other than an Outsider?! Lincoln deserves to be a Protagonist at the very least!"
"And I, like, agree, kinda," Leni pointed out as she went through the Open hole in the firewall. "But why are you putting him against Lola? Against his own family?!"
Stella scoffed and shot a fireball at Leni, who dodged and watched as the fire covered the hole.
"The Loud family is far from the only family that's been forced to fight each other thanks to the Index System, and Lincoln's the only one that can put a stop to it!"
"But why?!"
The Demon Lord smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Um, yeah?" Leni raised an eyebrow. "That's, like, the reason why I'm asking."
Baffled by her answer, Stella promptly flew towards the open portal to the real world, with Leni chasing right behind her.
Once the duo went through the portal, Leni crashed into Becky while Stella landed on her feet, her bodysuit turning back into its original form: a white shirt with a black skirt and green shoes.
"Try to keep this in mind before you try anything else, Outsider," Stella said as she faced the Hacker. "The only Cliche user that can innovate without punishment is a Protagonist."
And before anybody could do anything about it, Stella teleported out of the alley, Becky quickly standing up and closing the portal while Leni got up, and scratched her head.
"Leni, what the heck happened?!" the redhead exclaimed, catching the Hacker's attention. "Why did a Demon Lord come out of the portal with you?!"
Leni blinked twice and shook her head. "She's the one who hacked the Index System."
"You mean that's possible?!" Becky's voice cracked. "Oh god… but wait, how could she even hack it if she's not a Hacker? Or even enter the Cyberspace?"
"The most, like, logical explanation is that she has help, but I'll look into it later," Leni answered as she dialed a number on her phone. "For now, I'm gonna check up on something."
Becky rubbed her forehead and hummed. "What is going on?"
The phone at the Loud House's kitchen rang, with it only getting the chance to do it twice before Lola answered.
"Hello?"
"Lola, it's Leni."
The Ice Queen raised an eyebrow. "Why are you calling the house number instead of my phone?"
"How else would you, like, be able to check if your phone's no longer glitched?" Leni argued. "Speaking of which, does it still show your enemy's Lincoln?"
Lola turned on her phone and looked at the newest notification she got.
"Nope."
"Oh, that's good! So Winston's taken his place, then?"
Lola hummed as she saw her new target was not Winston, but Cristina, with a push of a button showing her where they were.
What caught her attention the most, however, was that next to Cristina's spot were two Protagonists: Lincoln and Polly.
Seeing this, Lola narrowed her eyes and answered Leni with a stern:
"Leni, I'll call you later."
Meanwhile, back with Polly and Lincoln, the duo dashed and dodged Cristina's arrows as she shot them in a frantic manner, with Polly taking some time to deflect them back at her with her staff.
"Dude, whatever you're thinking, that's not it at all!" Polly snapped. "We were just resting after training for a bit, that's all!"
"Of course you'd say that!" Cristina yelled as one of her arrows hit her shoulder. "Anything to hide the fact Lincoln's a big, fat cheater!"
Lincoln snatched Polly's staff and activated his newfound ability as he yelled:
"I'm not a CHEATER!"
The staff struck Cristina's arrow and sliced it in half, both halves exploding when they hit the ground.
Cristina looked shocked for a second before she charged and shot again, with the same result.
And for several more times, Cristina shot an arrow at Lincoln, only for him to slice it in half without much effort.
"Cut it out already, Cristina!" he snapped as another explosion happened. "We've been through this before! I'm not a cheater! Just because I hang out with another girl doesn't mean I'm gonna make her my girlfriend!"
Cristina looked stunned, but whatever she planned to do next, she couldn't do it before a wall of ice enveloped the group.
And shortly after, a familiar Ice Queen slid in, sporting a cheeky smile on her face.
"Hey, everyone."
"Lola!"
"Sorry if I interrupted something, but I'm in the middle of work, so I kinda couldn't help it."
"Work?" Cristina grimaced. "So wait, does that mean-?!"
"Yup, I'm here to fight you."
Everybody raised
"But, that's impossible," Cristina shook her head. "I'm just a Neutral!"
"Yes, you're a Neutral who just so happened to pick a fight with two Protagonists," Lola smirked. "One would be problematic enough, but two? You've made a big mistake, Cristina."
"I-I didn't make a mistake! I was just stopping Lincoln from making a mistake himself!" Cristina argued. "I mean, he already has over a dozen girls falling for him, why would he want another?!"
Polly shot a raised eyebrow at Lincoln, who could only groan in frustration and pinch his forehead.
"You still tried to hurt a Protagonist, therefore violating the Rule of Neutrality that all Neutrals are expected to follow," Lola put a hand on her cheek and gasped. "Oh my, if the council were to find out about this, you'd be demoted to an Antagonist in an instant!"
Then, she flashed a sadistic grin. "And your love with Lincoln would become impossible."
"N-N-No! Anything but that!" Cristina cried, flailing her arms. "Don't tell them anything, please!"
"Luckily, there's one way to avoid your demotion," Lola folded her arms. "I was tasked to beat you up in order to distract you from Lincoln and Polly. If you beat me, you'll be forgiven for the transgression. And if you lose…"
Cristina took a step back, and shivered for a moment before she clenched her fists and sighed:
"Fine, I'll… I'll do it."
"But before we do that," Lola squinted her eyes. "I believe you owe my brother and his girlfriend an apology."
"Dude, seriously, I'm not his girlfriend!" Polly snapped. "Why does everyone seem to come to that conclusion!?"
"I'll… explain everything," Lincoln sighed. "To you and the rest of the girls."
"The others too!?" Cristina snapped.
An icy structure nearly impaled Cristina's chin, with the redhead turning to see Lola glaring at her.
"I mean… I'm… sorry, about what happened. I didn't mean to snap the way I did, and attack you like that."
"I believe that's good enough," Lola snapped her fingers and melted the structure. "Now, shall we take our fight elsewhere?"
Cristina wordlessly nodded, and sharing one more look at Lincoln, she sighed before she and Lola flew away, leaving the duo behind to go back to Polly's home.
And once there, Lincoln slid the door open, getting everyone's attention as he said sadly:
"Girls, there's… something I gotta tell you."
