Ronnie Anne watched Lincoln slip out the window, trying to keep a brave face. She wanted to be supportive, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't afraid that this could all go south.
"I better go wait downstairs for him,"
As Ronnie Anne walked out, she stopped dead when she discovered Lisa standing outside the door.
"Lisa, were you listening outside the door?"
"I didn't have to; I saw and heard everything from my bunker,"
"Wait, do you have cameras here?" asked Ronnie Anne, fearing Lisa had recordings of the times she and Lincoln fooled around.
"I'm no longer legally allowed to,"
"Then how did you?"
"Come to my bunker, and I'll show you,"
Lincoln was jumping from rooftop to rooftop; his athletic training from Lynn, spy training from Myrtle, and his now nanite-enhanced body made it easier for him.
"This is amazing," thought Lincoln.
Lincoln continued moving until he reached Lynn's Table, landing on the rooftop sign. As Lincoln looked around, he could feel a dark aura around Royal Woods. While Royal Woods isn't exactly a night owl town save for special events and the local comedy club, it gives off a feeling that makes people feel safe to be out at night, even if the town has to deal with the occasional burglar. However, since Vic became mayor, that feeling was gone. More and more shady people started visiting Royal Woods. One of the few saving graces was that they mostly congregated around the Royal Woods Spa Hotel, leaving the town folks alone mostly; however, there were a few incidents, and at night they seemed to get worse. Now, the townsfolk avoid going out at night as much as possible to limit their interactions with them. Slipping in through the back entrance, Lincoln saw firsthand the damage they did; it only angered him more and motivated him to find them; the problem now was where to start.
"I don't know where to start," Lincoln said in frustration.
"Might I suggest the vault," said a voice.
Lincoln jumped, wondering where that voice was coming from, although he quickly recognized it as Lisa's.
"Lisa? Where are you?"
"In your head, in a way,"
"What?"
"I was going through the folder you inappropriately named in my bunker when I noticed an unknown device; upon accessing it, I saw you speaking with Ronnie Anne through your eyes,"
"What!?"
"It seems the nanites infused in your brain have caused The Loud Cloud to recognize your mind as a device,"
"This kind of leans toward me being a robot now," said Lincoln with a bit of fear.
"Again, you are bionic, not robotic," Lisa corrected.
"Okay, you said the vault?"
"There's a strong possibility that fingerprints from the men who attacked you are still there, and if I can get proper scans and narrow down the culprits.
"Okay, I'm heading there right now," said Lincoln.
Lincoln headed to his dad's office while Lisa watched; Ronnie Anne watched, too, as she sat by Lisa.
"You know this makes you the guy in the chair," joked Ronnie Anne.
"Excuse me?" Lisa asked with confusion.
"Every vigilante has a guy in the chair that runs mission control, who is super intelligent and helps the hero and watches their back from a computer, and that's you.
Lisa thought for a moment; the idea sounded both silly and promising. Lincoln walked to his father's office; just like the rest of the restaurant, it was ransacked, right down to the vault door that was torn off.
"Okay, Lisa, now what?"
"I have a working theory about your new vision, and I need you to activate it,"
Lincoln nodded before turning on his vision; thanks to him being linked to Lisa's computer, she and Ronnie Anne could see what Lincoln saw.
"Woah, trippy," said Ronnie Anne.
"Indeed, but look," pointed Lisa.
Everyone now saw spots all over the vault glowing yellow; seeing this seemed to confirm Lisa's theory.
"Seems I was correct; your vision doesn't just tell how people apply to you but can see points of interest that may help," said Lisa.
"What is this?"
"These are fingerprints; if I can scan these prints, I can find the ones belonging to your attackers,"
"How are you going to do that? There are dozens," asked Ronnie Anne
"Quite simple: every time you touch something, you leave behind prints that can last from 2 hours to 40 years,"
"I get it based on that logic; their prints should be fresher than ones from Dad,"
"Correct. I'll be able to filter out our father's prints along with everyone who works in the restaurant from the perps; keep focusing on those prints,"
Lincoln followed Lisa's instructions; back in Lisa's bunker, she began typing at the computer; she activated a second screen and began analyzing and filtering out the multiple fingerprints. Lisa immediately filtered out Lynn Sr. and found six distinct prints.
"Success, I've managed to capture at least six distinct fingerprints, now to compare them to the national database,"
"What good will that do?" Asked Ronnie Anne.
"If these guys have a criminal record, it will be easy to narrow them down; all offenders have to have their fingerprints registered; the same thing goes for City and government jobs,"
"But, what good will that do? It's not like it'll help Lincoln find them," said Ronnie Anne.
"But it could work as evidence connecting them to the crime,"
Despite Lincoln agreeing, he still wanted to find them but didn't know where else to go. Sure, identifying them is essential, but what good would it do if they weren't found? They might be miles away; there was no way to tell. Suddenly, a realization dawned on him that he had completely forgotten about.
"My phone!"
"Pardon?" Said Lisa.
"When I was released from the hospital, everything I had on me was given back except for my phone, and the police never said anything about finding it, so what if they have it,"
"Lincoln, that's genius," said Lisa.
"I'm not surprised; gangs like to take things from their victims and make them trophies," said Ronnie Anne.
"Wait, shouldn't my battery be dead by now? It was at 55% when I last had it,"
"Not to worry, the tracking chip on your phone can be activated whether your phone is off or on," informed Lisa. "I'm a little ashamed I didn't think of this before," Lisa thought, typing on her keyboard.
Lisa typed at her computer, activating the tracker. Ronnie Anne, and Lisa were expecting a faraway location; however, it was closer than they thought.
"Lincoln, you'll never believe where your phone is!"
…Elsewhere…
At The Royal Woods Spa and Hotel
It was 1:30 a.m., and the music was blazing throughout the strip club. Numerous women are swinging from poles, wearing nothing but thongs. The only thing almost as loud as the music was the countless men cheering and drinking. One man was having a good time as he watched a particular dancer. The man has long blond hair held back in a ponytail with bangs hanging on the left side of his forehead and bright orange eyes, an athletic body with a robust build dressed in a suit. The girl dancing in front of him was a lovely girl with wavy semi-long crimson hair that was tied up in a ponytail with chest-length hair strands hanging on either side, emerald-green eyes, a pretty cute and youthful facial features, yet slightly shorter than Ronnie Anne. The woman happily danced for the man, swaying her bare breasts at him before bending over and shaking her ass. The man enjoyed every minute of his private dance until the time was up as he had to leave.
"See you in a minute, baby," teased the redhead.
Moments later, the redhead came walking out of the strip club fully clothed, and embraced the blonde man.
"You were as awesome as ever, babe, and I have a present for you,"
The blonde pulled out a box with a diamond-shaped heart necklace and gave it to the redhead, whose eyes immediately lit up. The two immediately embraced and kissed while walking to the elevator.
"I'm gonna ride you all night," moaned the redhead.
Entering the elevator, the two went upstairs to the blonde's room. Once inside, the blonde stripped off the redhead's clothes before he laid her down before stripping down to his boxers.
"How did you get this?"
"Oh, my crew and I robbed that restaurant and kicked the owner's son's ass," the blonde informed. "I even took his phone as a trophy," he continued.
"That's my man,"
"Let's have some fun, baby, "The Boss" wants me and my boys out of town by morning,"
"That's all I needed to hear," said a voice
The couple turned in the direction of the voice, only to see a man covered in black and orange sitting in the armchair.
"How did you get in here?"
"At a time like this, is that what you really want to know? How the fuck I got in here!?"
The blonde immediately went to his nightstand and pulled out his gun, aiming it at the man. At the same time, the redhead grabbed the blanket to cover herself.
"I don't know how you got in, but you're about to leave in a body bag!" the blonde threatened.
"So you're one of the bastards who robbed Lynn's Table and attacked the owner's son,"
"So what if we did?" Threatened the blonde.
"You nearly killed him,"
"Not my fault the pussy couldn't fight,"
Hearing that angered Lincoln, knowing the only reason they overpowered him was because they paralyzed him.
"I bet that he's probably in a hospital bed right now, crying and in pain like a bitch," the blonde mocked.
"Actually, he's doing just fine. I made sure that he's fully recovered,"
That statement shocked the blonde man, knowing the damage he and his crew had inflicted on Lincoln. However, he quickly brushed it off.
" I doubt that's true, and even if it was, my boys and I will just pay him a visit and make sure he keeps quiet,"
"Well, looks like you don't feel any remorse for what you did; fine by me, it makes the next part easier,"
Tired, the man aimed his gun and fired; however, he realized quickly nothing happened as he saw Lincoln holding the clip to his empty gun.
"You know, you should always keep one in the pipe,"
Lincoln tossed the clip back to the man; however, the moment he caught it, Lincoln rushed in, delivering a straight to his stomach, dropping him to the floor.
"Can't believe you fell for that,"
The redhead tried to slip out with her necklace, but Lincoln called out to her.
"Leave it,"
"But, I,"
"Unless you want some of what he's going to get, I suggest you put the damn necklace down and walk away," Lincoln informed.
The redhead began sweating before reluctantly placing the necklace on the nightstand and running out with only the blanket wrapped around her. However, she quickly realized she had nothing underneath the blanket and returned to grab something. When she opened the door, to her shock and surprise, no one was there.
…Later…
Brought to another location, Lincoln was staring down at the unconscious man when Lisa radioed him.
"Lincoln, I managed to identify this one; he is a low-level thug and leader of a small gang, who I'm assuming are the rest of your attackers," Lisa informed.
"Then what is he doing here?" Asked Ronnie Anne.
"Let's find out," said Lincoln. "Wake up, asshole!" He yelled as he slapped the man awake.
The slap to the face immediately woke up the blonde man. However, when he tried to move, he realized his arms were bound to his sides, and his legs were tied up as he lay on a cold surface. Lincoln had used his nanites to restrain the blonde man.
"Where am I?!" Yelled the man.
"Back at the scene of the crime," said Lincoln coldly.
Lincoln had taken the man back to Lynn's Table; they were now on the roof.
"So, you brought me back here so I can admire my work," the man mocked.
"Shut-up asshole, here's how this is going to go down; you're going to tell me what you are doing here in Royal Woods, who hired you, and then you're going to tell me where the rest of your friends are hiding, or else" Lincoln threatened.
The blonde instantly started laughing, believing Lincoln's threat was empty.
"You must think I'm as dumb as you look; there's no way I'd sell out my boys, especially to a costumed pussy," he mocked.
The man began laughing harder. Lincoln's first thought was to just beat the information out of him, but he realized that would take too long. Then, another idea popped into his head, and he began laughing, causing the man to stop.
"What's so funny?"
"Who said this was a costume?"
The man's eyes widen as the part of the mask where the mouth should be morphed into a sadistic grin with razor-sharp teeth. Lincoln had morphed his nanites to create a mouth with razor-sharp teeth and a long tongue. The man was about to scream when Lincoln grabbed him by the throat and lifted him; he began to squeeze his throat just enough to allow him to breathe, albeit with difficulty.
"Eyes, lungs, pancreas, so many snacks and so little time," said Lincoln as his nanite tongue began licking the man's face.
"What the hell are you!?"
"I am Apex, and you're my prey," Lincoln said, opening his nanite mouth wide as if he were about to eat him.
"Wait, don't eat me, for the love of God, don't eat me!"
"Then I suggest you tell me what I want to know while you still have a tongue,"
"Okay…okay…" pleaded the blonde. "Look…look, I was only down here to visit my girlfriend when someone called "The Boss" offered me a chance to move up in the ranks with a job to ruff up this owner's son, but we went too far, so we had to make it look like a robbery and lay low until we can get out of town,"
"Who is this guy!?"
"I don't know,"
"Don't lie to me!"
"I swear I don't know! I never met him directly. Some guy in a trench coat approached me on his behalf, offered me $200, gave me some TTX darts, and told me where to find him, so I called my crew and took the job, and waited outside that restaurant,"
"$200? He ruined my dad's dream and nearly killed me for chump change!? Thought Lincoln.
Learning that what he went through was for $200 enraged Lincoln as he began squeezing the blonde man's throat a little harder before speaking.
"Please don't kill me; that's all I know,"
"Where's the rest of your crew!?"
The man quickly revealed the locations of his friends, causing Lincoln to smile as his mask morphed back to normal.
"Thank you for your cooperation; now enjoy a little nap until I get back,"
"What?"
Lincoln delivered a straight to the blonde man's face, knocking him out before dropping him. For the next two hours, Lincoln tracked down the rest of his attackers, taking them out and returning them to Lynn's Table. By 4:30 a.m., all men were tied up on the roof; around that same time, Lisa had identified all the men, revealing some of them had warrants. After getting some payback, Lincoln left all the men hanging from the roof by nanite restraints,
"What are you doing?"
"Sending a message, you idiots are going to be my scarecrows so everyone will know what happens when you cross me,"
"You can't leave us like this!" Groaned the blonde man.
"Don't worry, the police will get you down," Lincoln replied.
"What!?"
"Or would you rather I rip out your hearts and eat them while you watch for the last 2 seconds before you die?" Threatened Lincoln as he brandished the nanite teeth, causing the men to freeze up, not wanting to test Lincoln's patience.
"Let me make this perfectly clear: police custody is the only way you'll be safe from me; this town is my domain, and if I ever see any of you trespassing again, consider yourselves dead," threatened Lincoln.
Lincoln leaped away, feeling satisfied that he got his revenge and that his attackers would be arrested. Lincoln knew with them in custody, the B.O.A couldn't dispute his father's claim, meaning the restaurant would soon be repaired.
"Lisa, did you send everything?"
"From their warrants to proof that they were the ones who robbed the restaurant, all anonymously sent to Detective Ross,"
"Good, I'll see you all back at the house,"
Lincoln was halfway home when he started feeling strange; landing on the ground, he noticed the power icon was low; at least 15% remained. Lincoln realized he used most of his power overnight and needed to conserve what he had left, so he converted his suit into a jumpsuit and began jogging home. Once reaching home, Lincoln realized he didn't have his keys but grabbed the spare and entered. Lincoln's first thought was to slip back upstairs to rest unnoticed, but that quickly went out the window when he walked inside and into a very angry Lynn Sr. and Rita. Lincoln's eyes widened before glancing over and seeing that Lisa and Ronnie Anne were sitting on the couch, just as nervous as he was.
"Mom….Dad…good morning?"
End of Ch. 3
Author's Notes
Sorry if the fight wasn't detailed or long; it didn't seem necessary since they're weak and couldn't put up a fight.
The way Lisa sees what Lincoln sees is basically like from Batman Beyond: How Bruce could see everything Terry sees from the Bat-computer.
Lincoln is going to keep it 100% with his friends and family about his vigilante work,
His older sister will disapprove, while his younger sisters will find it cool.
Lincoln can morph his suit to do the venom mouth and tongue, using fear to scare people.
Lincoln's Apex persona is a mix of Batman (Terrence "Terry" McGinnis) and Venom. He can become terrifying, Like venom.
Lincoln's suit is just nanites now, but Lisa will make some upgrades.
Lincoln is immune to poison since if he were to be poisoned again, the nanites would expel it from his body, like from G.I. Joe.
If Lincoln reaches 0%, he won't shut down; he basically becomes powerless like Superman under a red sun until he recharges from eating or sleeping. However, he retains his durability since the nanites coating his bones and organs stay in place.
I put two easter eggs in here. The first one is obvious, but for the other one, you gotta really know your movies to find it.
