Unfortunately chapter 11 is pushed back to April, but with my recent momentum improvement, no reason why we can't get a lot of chapters in the future!

Btw, this and Chapter 11 are the official halfway point of Season 1! Get ready, it gets heavy here! Lots of angst, guilt, descriptions of pain (though not too graphic) and TW: Desire to get unalived. You have been warned.


Drip.

Drop.

Drip.

Drop.

The chorus echoes in Lori's mind, a symphonic ocean swirling around her mind. It felt warm and inviting, despite how cold everything else felt.

'Where am I?', Lori asked no one in particular, her mouth barely forming the words, more like thoughts that floated up from her spirit. She moved her head around, hearing more dripping and dropping. 'Am I at Aloha Beach? Oh, that sounds totally heavenly!', she thought, a silly smile on her face as she pictured herself, younger, on a towel, lying down, enjoying the orchestra the beach offered when one took the time to enjoy it.

The sand was so warm, it nearly smelt of home. Lori could feel her sunglasses shielding her eyes, her sunscreen protecting her from the sun and from the weight of the world. The other siblings would be laughing away, playing their games, mom and dad would be reading together under the shade. Everyone was happy and where they were supposed to be, and everyone was sa…

Clink.

Clank.

Clink.

Clank.

'No, wait… That's a non-beach sound. Definitely not very beach aesthetic.', Lori noted, and her head drifted elsewhere, painting a new picture. Only thing she really knew that clink clank clunked like that was… Maybe the chains on a rollercoaster as it flew down the tracks? Maybe the bell on a Dairyland mascot?

'Dairyland! Now that's literally a blast!', Lori was suddenly in her dorkier phase. Shorter now, she cheered, excited to board the next ride. Her siblings were excited too, and felt easier too, for some reason. Sure, she loved peace and quiet, but there was a rowdy playing side to her too, and a day at Dairyland after everything recently sounded like a dream come true!

'Let's go on the butter churner next! I heard Carol say it's literally the best ride, and if she thinks so then it must be true! And mom and dad gave me enough money to buy us all cotton candy!', Lori told the others, bouncing from foot to foot, wanting to hug them. She just felt lighter, like she was in the air…

BZZT!

CRACK!

BZZT!

CRACK!

'Okay… Those are… Those are scary sounds', Lori mused, teeth chattering in her stupor. The scene changed once more, as did her POV. Everything seemed so… High now. Like she was just hanging there. But it was still familiar, still safe. Home. Her home. She had lived there 17 years… No, wait. 4. 4 years. That's right. That's the number.

That sound. It came from.. 'The window', Lori voiced aloud, suddenly, pointing at it. Scary licks and claws of lightning flashed from the night sky. 'Mommy! How can something so pretty be so scary?', Lori asked, frightened. She desperately searched for her mother's embrace, but it was nowhere to be found, like her siblings embrace, like the embrace of the sand.

Lori sat down, shaking in the corner, begging for someone… Something… To comfort her from the lightning. 'Good things can't be bad', she whispered. 'Good things can't be bad.'

It was logic, pure and simple, Lori deduced. Good and bad were opposites! Even a baby knew that! That couldn't be the sky, that so often smiled down so brightly! How could something good do something bad? What if someone got hurt?

Then what?

Lori suddenly looked down and saw she was growing. She was 6, but still so afraid. Ashamed of her growing concerns. Big people were supposed to have all the answers. But she had none for the other louds!

Now she was 12. The lightning still scared her. Only Lincoln was too now. He was 6. Like she was.

She held him. 'Don't worry', she whispered, like she tried to whisper to herself. 'Good things can't be bad. Big people have the answers. Your good big sister Lori will guard you from the lightning.'

Lincoln reciprocated the hug, and Lori smiled. Maybe she was scared, but at least…

Wait…

Where did he go?

'Lincoln?', Lori murmured, the boy gone. 'Leni, did you see…' she looked for Leni, but she was gone too. 'Dad? Mom?' Gone. The house melted into Dairyland that melted into the beach, all three sounds combining now, and suddenly Lori felt a horrible pang of pain rage through her body. Fire scorching in her chest, she returned to her normal age and height. Her heart burned, but for more than one reason.

'Where… Where am I?', Lori asked, almost whimpering. Her bed and pillows were already strangers, but she felt further than ever from them. Her wrists chafed, causing discomfort. Lori felt her upper body cry out in exertion. The safety and warmth were gone. Replaced with a cold all too familiar. One she had been trying to escape from, defeat, all these years.

'No… Don't go. Please. I'm not ready… I'm not… I need to do right by you before I…', Lori begged to her family, eyes firmly shut, refusing to face what was before her, for the nightmare was far more attractive.

'Good morning, Ms. Loud', came a voice, almost soothing, almost carrying a cinder of warmth.

But Lori knew better now.

Letting out a wistful sigh, lips only now noticing how parched they were, Lori cracked open her eyes, and faced the horrible reality.

She was no longer a kid, or even a big sister, surrounded by family, by problems that however hard, had to be solved.

She was in a cell.

A glass cell, hanging in the air, like she can.

Water drip dropping from a tap next to her.

Chains clink clanking on her wrists.

Barbed Wire's electrical surges bzzt'ing and cracking through her body.

Her oddly weak body.

Lori tried to move, but she could barely budge. 'Fuck. It's been a while since I've felt like this.', Lori thought, noticing the novelty. She then frowned, clicking her tongue. 'Didn't miss it.'

Moving her eyes for the source of the voice that had spoken before, for anything really, her sleep deprived, sandman covered orbs observed a long hall before her, with a wall seemingly separating more areas. Below her was a desk and a few chairs. All of it was gray, mind numbingly gray. On one chair, tied to a generator of sorts, there was Barbed Wire. Instantly she felt her fist knuckle up, but she knew even now it meant nothing. Still, she flipped them off.

Looking away from them, Lori saw only one other figure. Despite this, her breath hitched like an entire army stood in her way. Maybe because, in essence, one did.

After all, that man had assembled some of her worst enemies, beaten her up, kidnapped her, seemingly locked her up here, and who knew WHAT else he had planned for her beloved city and people.

'Guess that's what happened last night', Lori noted darkly, her comedy noticeably grim.

The Raven… Or, well, as I should really call him, Bertrand 'Ratface' 'Buttface' 'Don't face him or he'll back and front stab you in the face face' Tetherby, Lori thought, sending daggers with her eyes at him. He simply looked up at her, holding today's newspaper in his hands, actual pet raven on his shoulder.

'7:57 AM. I see you're finally awake. Took us some time to get you up and at 'em', Bertrand informed, casually, as if this really were her home, and her dad was telling her that chocolate covered blueberry pancakes were ready.

'Great, now I'm starving, depressed, AND imprisoned. Not exactly Swiftypic #morningmood material', Lori muttered, almost chuckling at herself. Was this REALLY what was on her mind? It almost reassured her that she wasn't totally grown up yet. There were still five and a half or so months left before that.

'But right now, I don't know if I'll live to see them', she thought, getting serious. Whatever Bertrand… The Raven… God, she'd have to process THAT bombshell later. Whatever this monster had planned, she needed to stop it.

Answering his previous comment, she coughed through morning mucus and dryness and pain. 'Well, I always cried at sleepovers.'

Bertrand let out a chuckle at that, and Lori wanted to punch his teeth to never hear it again. 'I admire your commitment to humor. But we only have three minutes before I must get a few errands done, so listen closely, Ms. Loud, and you'll be fine.'

The nature of his voice, the tone. Lori wanted to tear her hair out. 'How does this sound normal to him?', she couldn't voice, not just out of puzzlement.

The Raven, folding his newspaper carefully so as to not crease it, got off his chair and took five steps to the right and then three to the left. Suddenly, a metal disc on the ground raised him up into the air! Slowly but surely, until he pressed on a button, leaving him face to face with Lori's cell. 'Anti-gravity elevator. Less accidents. It's also all over your cell, similar to what Mr. E used when he tangled with you the first time.'

Grunting angrily, Lori let out a battle cry and flung herself towards the cell, but her face hit the glass, and her chains left her limply hanging now face to face with Raven.

Raven looked at her blankly, his face an empty canvas, like of a starving artist who had eaten all his paints. 'To keep you here…'

Lori grinded her teeth and, forcing her hand to endure the pain of the chain, struck the glass cell. A shocked grimace practically coughed out of her larynx, her knuckles red now not just with rage. She struck again, and again, practically growling at Raven, anger sweat beads mixing into her messy hair. Both knuckles now in blistering pain, she resorted to scratching at the glass like a cat had been asked to finally make its mind up about going in or out the door. She even mewled like one. After that failed, she simply stared back at Raven's face, breathing like a bull that saw red.

'...We also had to disable your powers temporarily. Luckily, I've been working on a cure for some time, though sadly its effects remain minimal. You'll be back to 'normal' by sundown.', Raven explained, pointing at his own chest. It was only now that Lori even realized there was something on her chest, specifically on her shirt. Looking down, she saw a triangle shaped metallic implant, sort of similar to the arc reactor on that one superhero. 'What was his name? Titanium Guy? Idk, his actor's just kind of a DILF so that's why it reminded me of that.', Lori mused, before snapping back to attention. Her powers were neutralized, she didn't care how sleepy she was!

'You know, for someone who was at the hospital just last night, you have a strange definition for 'cure',

Lori's dark stare seemed to have no effect on The Raven. He simply waved her off. 'Your powers were an accident. A happy one, considering what could have happened.'

'What do you mean?', Lori questioned, but he was already beginning to head down again. She banged on the cell, ignoring the shooting bursts of pain. 'What do you mean?! Why are you doing this?!'

Raven didn't even turn around to look at her. 'I'll be back in… 11 hours. Until then, you'll be guarded in shifts. Mx. Wire, make sure to tell Mr. E and Mr. Stone of this arrangement.' His tone remained steady and sure, like a man ordering his dog to be good. 'She is to be watched at all times. Food and water to be provided. Under no circumstances is she allowed out of this cell until I come back. Understood?'

'Yes.', Barbed Wire replied, turning to Lori, who was getting rowdier. She had tears hanging off her eye lids from the effort and rage, punching the cell again. 'ANSWER ME! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! MONEY?! POWER?! WHAT DO YOU WANT, ASSHOLE?!'

Raven stopped. Turning around, Lori was struck by the deep sadness, tragedy, weight, that were clear in Bertrand's eyes. His face was similar to…

To one she saw frequently…

Lifting one arm, Bertrand sent his raven to her cell, the newspaper in his beak. Offering it a free palm, Lori managed to catch it and move her arm enough to look.

'Because we're the same.'

Lori gazed at the headline. 'Election night! Tetherby out to save Royal Woods!', it read out, in bold letters. On the byline was Lyberti's name. The school paper. Lori stared back at him, and her face twisted into one of hate.

'I'm nothing like you.', she growled, tearing the newspaper into pieces despite the cure.

Bertrand shook his head. 'Perhaps. But we share the same goals. Same destination, really. It's just that our roads diverged until now. You might find my path gets you out of this necessary hell I've designed.'

Suddenly, Lori felt her body explode, volts of electricity from Barbed Wire surging through her body, making her cough up blood and cry out tears of exhaustion.

As her eyes got heavy and her body got limp, she heard Tetherby leave her with a final 'Choose well.'

And suddenly everything turned into darkness.


Meanwhile, at Royal Woods High, there was another teen girl feeling trapped. Just metaphorically speaking.

It was Lyberti, who stared at the same school paper that Lori had seen, stared at it with a feeling of black coffee bitterly spreading across her blood stream. She had planned a far different headline. But the crackling black and white letters, gleaming wet like her tears, fresh off the press, told a cautionary tale to the only one who knew.

And worst of all?

It hung on the wall. Her first ever piece to do so, framed picture and everything. Lyberti had sort of underplayed it, but she was the first to get a proper interview during the final 24 hours, and that sort of made her famous? Big? The editor's jaw nearly dropped to the floor, and all her Java Club friends had congratulated her non-stop. Even Leo had… Well, he had been quite gushy. He may have hugged her. She may have only now felt her heart slow down.

'And I can't enjoy it. Not even a little bit.'

The reporter girl sighed, listening in to her radio earrings again, just in case… 'Please, pick up, pick up…', she begged, but nothing. Pure static.

She slumped onto the hard wooden chair in the office, accepting the shooting back pains like a bushel of roses from an admirer. The office, all white walls like all of Royal Woods schools, but adorned with a few other framed articles, and a printing press, was such a source of joy to her up until now. A place to express herself beyond acting, a place to do some good. She had an article written up, she had uncovered the ugly truth of Bertrand Tetherby, at least a part of it. She had a mission from the closest thing she had to a female role model.

Now all she had were doodles. Doodles of that role model, reassuring Lyberti. 'Hey, it's gonna be okay. I promise.', she had written next to her hero.

Lyberti hated to write lies, but she committed that cardinal sin once, for her own sake.

She sunk into her chair, sighing, creaking across the tiled floor. The framed article stared down at her, mocking her. 'Mom must be rolling in her grave. Look at you. I finally got some 'good jobs', and it's for you?', the bow wearing girl crossed her arms. If looks could kill articles…

'But you wanted that praise, no?', Lyberti fake asked herself, then grunted in annoyance. 'Yes. I did. But I learned to do a good job, then care about the feedback. I learned that that job matters more than my name on a byline. I learned it thanks to her. To the one who SHOULD be getting the praise! To the one YOU should be about!'

'It should say 'Guardian out to save Royal Woods'', Lyberti muttered, head slumped forward, a tear running down her nose.

'It still can.'

Lyberti jumped up like a frightened cat, squawking like a frightened birb, then yelped like a frightened reporter named Lyberti Evans. She pawed at the window, where the dew drops of a supposedly warm dawn broke sideways on the top of a…

'Robot… Flying Squirrel?', Lyberti voiced aloud, confused. Had the question come from…

'Yes, indeed. A prototype I've been working on that had to proceed out of the gates early. Fortuitously, it can provide me with a vessel from which to work with you in secret.', a lisping intelligent sounding voice garbled out of the squirrel, which opened its mouth to convey its message.

'Woah… Sick!', Lyberti whooped, momentarily forgetting her funk. 'You got a name, lil robot?'

'Prototype, and what I have to say is of utmost urgency.'

'Why? Isn't this some cute thing from the lab down the hall?', Lyberti asked, scratching her head in confusion.

A mocking laugh rang out from the squirrel. 'Those amateurs? Please, I make it a habit not to laugh so hard until an appointed time at 17:32 in the evening.'

'Oh. Well, then, why should I let you in? How do I know you're not some sort of… Enemy?', Lyberti accused, crossing her arms and staring crossly at the robot, which was hard, 'cause it was kinda cute.

In response, the robot suddenly changed the frequency in Lyberti's radio earrings, playing a, well, a very vulgar and curse word laden rap number.

'But… Only I know the password. Which means…', Lyberti began, and the robot finished.

'Only one with the manual override could change the frequency. Exactly.'

'...Are you old enough to listen to such music btw?'

'Shut the fuck up.'

The robot then opened up a screen on its belly, revealing Lisa Loud. The genius was sitting in her green tinted room, rings in her eyes, a ton of gadgets littered across her desk.

Lyberti smirked in response. 'I should have figured The Guardian would turn to you. Or that you would figure it out. Everyone in Royal Woods knows how crazy super smart Lisa Loud is!'

'While I would have preferred far more technical terms, yes, I am, as you say, 'Crazy super smart'', Lisa air quoted, before turning serious again. 'Now, for the second time, this is URGENT. You say you want The Guardian to stop whatever is going on with the election?'

'Yes! I don't have, well, visual evidence. But I have reason to believe that Bertrand Theterby is working with or is allied with or whatever with with a criminal mastermind named The Raven!', Lyberti whispered harshly, just in case anyone could hear her. 'And we have to do something by tonight! I haven't been able to find The Guardian though! Why hasn't she answered? Is she…'

Lyberti choked a little, braving the guilt. 'Is she mad at me? Did I fail again?'

'No.', Lisa answered bluntly, though she tried to soothe. '...You did well. It's… Not your fault that… She's so goddamn stubborn.'

Lyberti caught onto the resentment, but didn't comment. Instead, she listened intently as Lisa explained.

'You see, I have reason to believe that… She's been kidnapped.'

Lyberti gasped. 'No!'

'Yes, sadly. That's why I came to you. I need someone to help me break her out.'

Lyberti wasn't blind to what this meant. 'Of course! I'd be happy to return the favor.', she smiled. 'Yes! My chance is still alive! Take that, depression! In yo face, son!'

'You didn't mean to say that aloud, right?'

A crimson blush spread across Lyberti's face. 'Let's keep that one off the record.'

'Sure. Now, get ready to deliver more than breaking news. Because we need to break out of here.', Lisa answered, eyes narrowed.

'You had that one prepared, didn't you?'

'Frankly, even with the gravity of the situation, a girl is allowed a play on words or two.'


Everything was dark. Everything but Lincoln.

His brown eyes, his messy white hair, the assorted freckles on his face. They all had a strange sort of gleam to them, like the sun was shining just right onto him.

He moved his arm to wave, and it was nearly blinding. 'Lori?', he asked, echoing over and over in her mind. 'Lori?' 'Lori?' 'Lori?' 'Lori?' 'Lori? 'Lori?' 'Lori?' Lori?' Lori?'

Lori shook her head, causing the echoes to mix around her head like a milkshake. Her eyes were still seeing nothing but darkness and Lincoln. She moved and felt like she was wading through the ocean, before being met with what felt like an invisible glass wall. No matter, she could break that if needed. 'Lincoln?', Lori tried to say, but nothing came out.

Lincoln simply kept on waving, moving towards her. 'Wait, moving? Why wasn't he on a wheelchair?', Lori thought, feeling more water swish in her head, making every syllable sound quiet yet impactful.

Lori suddenly felt a new light shine, stinging her sensitive pupils. Looking up, barely, she caught a word on a buzzing in her ears electrical sign. 'Gus… Gus' Game and Grub?', Lori blurted. Lincoln… At Gus' Game and Grub… Not on a wheelchair?

'Oh no.'

Lori desperately searched for HIM, but she could see nothing but Lincoln and the sign. 'Gonna have to take a shot in the dark', she grimaced at the unfortunate choice of expression, and tried to lurch forwards.

But she couldn't.

'My arm… Feels frozen solid!', she cried out internally, shivers running down her spine. It was like she was paralyzed! She tried to move her other arm, but it was firm too. Her legs didn't move either, giving her an odd mixture of balance and imbalance. 'It's like Dairyland, but like, if it was a theme park dedicated to sleep paralysis.', Lori thought, trying everything in her power to move, but she just couldn't. She was stuck, watching the worst thing that ever happened happen again.

She hoped that maybe her expression could at least change, to warn Lincoln, but it conveniently got stuck too. A neutral expression painted her face as the man who shot Lincoln painted the scenary with his blinding gleam.

And all Lori could do was open her mouth and hear nothing come out, a silent scream that tore her body to shreds as Lincoln got shot in front of her again (BANG!), and again (BANG!), and again (BANG!), and again (BANG!), and again (BANG !), and again (BANG!), and again BANG!), and…

'Wake up!'


Lori jolted up, wincing as the chains scraped her wrists. The skin around her arms was starting to look like her brand of lipstick. 'Ugh…', she grunted, breath cutting her lips, spit dripping onto the floor, chorusing like the tap near her. 'Been a while since… Since I hurt like this.'

What a statement. What a… What a thing to say. It was at times like these that Lori really grasped that she wasn't the teen girl she used to be, she was someone else. Something else.

Losing her powers, even temporarily, was a stinging slap of a reminder, and she didn't know if it was welcome or horrifying.

'Maybe a bit of both. Like frikin everything in my life.', she exhaled, lungs on overdrive. This was some serious pain. And a serious scent of… Something. 'Is something burning?', she asked no one in particular, before noticing Barbed Wire disembark the disc elevator.

'Oh, I know! It must be my body, from being electrocuted!', Lori barbed Barbed Wire, sarcasm dripping from her words. She let out a snicker, hurting her ribs. 'You know, it's real considerate of you to help me tan! I bet ALL the boys are gonna leave likes on my 'burn mark' selfies!'

'I'm not supposed to engage with you.', Barbed Wire replied, turning their chair away.

'Whoops, that was engaging with me! You seem to do a lot of things you say you wouldn't!', Lori replied, sarcasm and hate dripping from her words like melting molasses from a spoon.

Barbed Wire really did ignore this time, choosing to whip out a phone instead. Lori was too far away to catch what was on the screen.

'Nice of you to take pictures for me! I'm a little tied up at the moment!', Lori didn't know if she was making a joke, or guilting him. Maybe frikin' both, again.

'Shut up.'

The phone went through exactly three rings, surrounded by eight drip drops of the water, and four painful breaths from Lori. The numbers and data drowned out the thoughts. Of Lincoln getting shot, of the city in danger, of how final it all felt. She nearly missed the phone call until her guard's voice shot out.

'Hey, I just wanted to say… Yeah, I know. I know, it's been happening a lot.'

Barbed Wire stood up, beginning to pace. Electricity bounced off of their every move, fizzing and tazing anything in sight. It made Lori jump each time.

'He makes us work all nighters. I gotta tend to this customer, I promise I'll be…'

Their eyes grew narrow now. They had sounded real soft and sorry before, but now they seemed aggrieved, defensive. 'Sarah, The kids are big now, they don't need to be coddled. What, you can't tuck them in?'

They stomped their foot, sending a minor shock wave that flickered off the glass cell. 'Of course it's important! It's for them! They'll thank me when they get to actually live, unlike us!'

Barbed Wire snorted like an angry bull, shouting louder. 'OH, SURE! DON'T TRY AND SEE THE NUANCE! GREAT WORK, SARAH! HOW ABOUT YOU CALL ME WHEN YOU REMEMBER THE WATER USED TO BE SHIT BROWN?!'

Angrily hanging up, the electrical person covered in wire armor breathed heavily, sparks firing off of their burning head.

'She doesn't know, huh?'

Barbed Wire looked up, killer frown on their face, at Lori, who wore a disgusted expression. 'Don't you talk about my family.'

'Why shouldn't I? You gave me your little sob story on the day the kids got kidnapped. I thought you were against The Raven's dubious methods.', Lori reminded them, a growing sense of outrage in her tone.

'I am! I didn't approve of that!', Barbed Wire deflected defensively, stepping closer to her. They could see the marks running down her legs now, and tried to ignore them.

'Yet you approve of this, clearly.'

'Oh shut up.'

'And of nearly hurting all those people in the museum.'

'And no one did!'

'Seems like a very flip floppy moral compass you got there, pal.', Lori finished, and Barbed Wire growled at her, pointing their finger at her face, sparks forming. 'Listen here, 'Guardian'! You don't KNOW anything!'

'I know that you told me you wanted to save the city!', Lori reminded him, trying to fight back her anger. All those scared faces… Lincoln had been there…

Barbed Wire shook their head. 'I am. This is the way.'

'This is the way? He sold you a campaign slogan, how peachy! Surely you don't believe that crap!', Lori scoffed, laughing mockingly at them. Barbed Wire growled. 'I do. I do believe that, because unlike you, I know what's at stake! I know what's gonna happen!'

Lori challenged them, her palms inviting as much as they could considering they were chained. 'All right then, enlighten me, asshole!'

Barbed Wire pinched the bridge of their nose in frustration, and took a deep breath.

'Bertrand knows that someone has horrible plans for Royal Woods. He's getting elected to stop that someone from doing that, and at the same time, helping people like me get out of the mud!', they explained, hoping that would shut her up.

'Who's someone?', Lori asked, urging them on. Barbed Wire shoo their head. 'Classified. I've been ordered not to tell anyone else.'

'Oh, isn't that fucking convenient?', Lori retorted loudly.

'It's the truth! Get used to it!', they shouted back at her, pushing their chair out of the way in anger.

'Oh, so something scared the two of you, and that makes it okay to kidnap children, conspire with corrupt cops, enact terrorist attacks?', Lori's voice grew louder and angrier, her rage at being hurt and at what was going on rising like steam in a fire. 'To get rid of me, you people kidnapped a family! Was that THE WAY? Was that THE TRUTH? You've got me chained up here like a prisoner so that you can win the election! If you've got nothing to hide, why are you hiding it?! You literally fought me in that museum, you saw the people who got scared, maybe for life! ALL THOSE PEOPLE ARE TRAUMATIZED AND TERRIFIED! GOTTA WONDER HOW BAD THIS SOMEONE IS IF THIS IS NECESSARY GOOD!', Lori trashed their methods with clear respite, with pure unadulterated fury. Her knuckles whitened and the glass kept echoing thanks to her kicking it with her feet in anger.

'Real bad, okay, Loud? Real fucking bad!', Barbed Wire retorted.

'Yeah, well, takes one to know one!', Lori stabbed him back with her words.

'Oh, you're one to talk!', Barbed Wire took the elevator, tired of the disrespect. 'I know who you are now, and my suspicions were confirmed, you did do something bad! You let your brother get shot!'

Lori glared back at him, but she didn't pretend. '...I did. That's my sin, and I accept it. It's the shadow of my cape.' She hung her head low, fighting back a sniffle.

She then looked up, tears coating her eyes like tiny blue diamonds, her blue eyes glowing a little bit. 'But I know I'll never do something like that… anything like that… Ever again in my life. What about you?'

'What about me?'

'If Raven tells you your kids need to get shot to stop this, would you?'

Barbed Wire didn't answer.

'Would you?', Lori repeated, a sort of solemn anger in her voice now, a wise anger. 'You have to be able to answer that question.'

They looked at her, lip subtly quivering, eyes watering. They opened their mouth…

Nothing came out.

Lori breathed in and out quietly, before stating with judgment in her voice 'I would never. Because I ACCEPT that what I did was wrong. There is no justifying my actions. I didn't mean for it to happen. But it happened anyway. My failure. My choice. My fault.'

Her face pressed close to the glass. 'You said you're doing this for them. What kind of future are you building for your family if you have to hurt them to protect them?'

'You don't understand.', Barbed Wire finally choked out.

'No. I don't think I do.', Lori replied in disgust.

'No, you don't!', Barbed Wire screamed, shooting her with a bolt. They could see her hair shoot up and frizz, her skin steam up. they could see the life in her eyes burn. 'The world isn't nice, Loud! There's no gift wrapped cuddly solution, like your dreamland make believe game! This city's been choking people like me for decades now!'

They got angrier and angrier, burning up from the rage at a life of torture. 'You think you got it bad, because you got selfish and it led to your brother getting shot? My family had nothing and still disowned me! My wife used to collect plastic bottles for spare change! Our water filled our lungs with rust! Rats nestled in the corners and we had to turn away starving children from our doors! I went to sleep every night praying that when I would actually wake up, not die from the cold! But you people didn't know and care because you lived cushy lives uptown, where every house looks the same, where you all work in the same office buildings, doing the same thing every day!'

Tears flew out. 'I FUCKING WISH MY LIFE WAS THAT AVERAGE!'

'But no. We got to suffer in silence and suffocate because 15 or so people didn't make the mistake I made: being born to poor parents! So they practically hunt me for sport! And what was I supposed to do? Sit by like you, and let those I love get hurt? NOT FUCKING LIKELY!'

Barbed Wire finished frying her, breathing heavily, exhausted from the effort.

'So to answer your question: No. I don't want to hurt my kids. But I already have been all my life. Letting this injustice slide. Their nightmares are marks on my skin, like your brother's are on yours. The difference between us is that I'm willing to do ANYTHING to make it up for them.'

They began to go down, as Lori's eyes began closing again.

'Maybe if you would, you'd stop drowning to your guilt', they added.

Lori embraced the fire of pain that engulfed her. 'Not nearly enough. Nothing could ever really be.', she thought.

'I hate it. I hate myself. For thinking that that doesn't sound insane.'

Lori couldn't deny that argument had merit.

But her heart didn't sink just yet. Clearing room by coughing out blood, she wheezed out a reply. Weak in voice, strong in spirit.

'It's not about my guilt.'

Barbed Wire didn't turn back to look.

'...It's about hope. You… You want them to have a tomorrow.'

She closed her eyes, hacking one last time.

'I want it to be a better one.'

Barbed Wire still didn't turn.

But they didn't deny that Lori's final gasp had no merit.


Again, it was all darkness. All but Lincoln, the sign, and the man.

The one who shot Lincoln.

His face was obscured, but Lori didn't need to see it. She remembered. She remembered every detail, every shape, every shadow. His dark, piercing eyes, cutting through her morals as she let him escape. His short, nearly buzz cut brown hair, that had glistened in the moonlight when she learned who he was. His thin, bony fingers, clutching a shining black pistol.

The pistol that shot Lincoln.

And there she was, standing there, watching him, letting him escape. A sin of inaction. An accomplice to the crime. Lori had let him go, heck, she had helped him escape by closing the elevator! She could have stopped him with one punch, one trip. Sure, she had never fought a criminal before, but what excuse was that? If not Lincoln, he would have hurt someone else. No matter what, Lori had made her choice, had chosen not to act, and so there she was.

The girl that let Lincoln get shot.

But for whatever reason, maybe her knowledge of what was happening in this darkness now unlike before, there was no paralysis.

Just her, Lincoln…

And HIM.

'...Not this time.'

Letting out a primal scream, so strong that it shattered the invisible glass wall before her, she leaped towards the shooter, striking his face with a wall cracking punch. No sound came out of him, but he careened off to the side, sweat flying off onto the abyss surrounding them.

Turning her body to the other side, dropping a shoulder, Lori uppercut his jaw, sending a tooth into orbit. Then, shifting her weight again, a callback to her wrestling days, she jabbed him twice over the right eyebrow, roundhouse kicked him in the right pec, lifted him up into the air with her, and headbutted him down to the ground, sending up dust and grime and smoke.

'Ugh! Aagh! Ugh! Gah!', Exclamations ripped out of Lori's throat, as she pounded away at him, sitting over the shooter's fallen body. Every punch produced airborne blood, some of it covering Lori's eyes, forming a domino mask.

Restraining herself from crossing the line, Lori brought both fists up, and crashed them down, knocking him unconscious with a blow to the noggin. Breathing heavily, she tearily whispered 'Not this time… Not this time…'

A feeling of odd, foreign relief crept into her tense shoulders and back, as she dropped her head back to part the sweat drowning her face. 'How you doing, Linc?', she asked, enjoying every syllable. Standing up, her muscles all reshaping to standing position, rippling biceps gleaming in the new light formed, she turned around to observe her safe brot…

BANG!

'N…No…', Lori choked out, disbelief etched on her face, pupils growing in fear. Lincoln… Lincoln had still been shot. She didn't even know how or why. He just still got shot.

She could see his face, twisting in screams of pain, screams that would haunt Lori's nightmares. She rushed to him, as if she was underwater. Slow motion. It meant nothing. It didn't change anything! 'I fought him… And it changed nothing.', Lori breathed out finally, only now noticing the pool of tears she was forming.

Lincoln stretched out an arm to her, looking like his little self again. 'Why, Lori? Why?'

Lori held him close, weeping in horror. She had no answer.

All she could get was revenge.

'If that doesn't stop it… What does?', she asked out to the darkness.

She got no answer, so she waded further, closing her eyes…


And opening them, to see an all too familiar looking man holding an all too familiar looking cane, staring at her intently. She didn't need to look to remember his red bowler hat, or his jet black hair, or the watch on his arm.

You don't really forget your first villain after all.

'E…', Lori greeted, a declarative whisper managing to leave her throat. She really needed to drink, but the demeaning tap next to her wasn't helping. Then again, what pride DID she have? Leaning over, she took a quick drink, feeling lightheaded from how badly she needed that.

'You still remember me. I was afraid you'd have forgotten by now.', E's voice was wistful, borderline affectionate. Lori wasn't sure if that was scarier than his rage.

She breathed in and out heavily from the effort of drinking, sniffing every few words. 'You tortured me… Got me to do this job right… Kidnapped my friend… Yeah, you're kinda hard to forget.'

Lori smirked. 'Like a sweat rash, or an ugly pimple.'

'Ah, ah, ah.', E wagged a naughty finger at her. 'You are far above such childish banter.' He tapped his pitchfork cane, leaning his chin on its sharp top, seemingly not caring for the discomfort. He stared at her in a way that was, frankly, disturbing.

'Well, I am a child.', Lori reminded him, swallowing some bile, trying to ignore his look. Trying to ignore her building anger at him, now that her senses were clearing. Of course he was involved. Of course. 'Is there no low he won't stoop down to?', she thought, grinding her teeth. She tried to swing front and back in a threatening way, but it came across as silly.

E shook his head, however, still treating her with utmost reverence. 'Oh, no, Guardian. You are no child. Hell, you aren't even human anymore.'

Lori darkly turned her head away, hiding her guilt. 'I know what I did was wrong. I don't need some sociopath to confirm it.'

Lori's eyes widened however when E had the audacity to laugh! As if she had just misspelled Elephant, or named New York the capital of America! 'Are you STILL hung up over that?', he seemed to quip.

Lori scowled, turning her head right back to him and practically snarling. 'Are you for real? Like, I thought you were LITERALLY Mr. 'We are all sinners'. Did you get to the part in the bible where Jesus forgives crippling your little brother?'

E chuckled again, and stepped forwards, taking the elevator in simple, confident strides. Nothing seemed to phase him.

Not even Lori's death stare as his head observed hers through the glass. Lori barely even noticed the bag he yeeted into her cell, her backpack.

'Please. You proved to me you were different. Or, well, that you COULD be different.', he smiled at her, and it sent a shiver down Lori's spine. His teeth were far too perfect, and his eyes still seemed so dead, even when they were up close. Did they not shrink, or grow? Did they not move at all?

'Yeah, well, the feeling's not exactly mutual.', Lori barked. Her hands tried to reach for him, but they couldn't, restrained by the chains, scratching her even further.

'Oh, that won't do at all!', E expressed in mock (?) concern. He tapped his cane on the disc over and over again. 'No, no, that won't do one bit!'

'And since when do you care? Last time I checked, I trashed your entire world view. You're welcome, by the way.', Lori smirked again, still fighting her need to pummel him. What he had done to Lyberti…

Thank god she seemingly recovered from that.

'On the contrary! Your attempts to dull my flames only enhanced them!', E 'happily' informed her, smile still wide and sickening. 'I spent all my life knowing how disgusting we all were. But no one wanted to discuss it. And of course they didn't! I was preaching to the choir!'

A strawberry red tongue licked his lips. 'But then… I met an angel.'

Lori stuck her tongue out in disgust. 'Eww.'

He didn't react, stroking the glass in front of him, as if he were cupping her face. 'You, you winged, scarred dove. You descended from the stormy heavens and you killed me… By not killing me.'

'Oh, gee, I'm growing regretful.', Lori tried to intimidate him, but E suddenly snapped at her, making her jump. 'DON'T TRY TO LIE TO ME!'

His eyes actually jumped into life, fiery, blurry almost. He buried into her vision, surrounding her. 'Don't talk like you're one of them.'

'Who?', she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He began smiling again, 'stroking her face' again. 'People. You're different.'

'Excuse my French, but what the fuck is your deal?', Lori questioned, growing tired of this. If she could just get her hands on him…

'Not my deal. Ours. Our… Great battle.'

'Okay, you're really losing me, man.', Lori tiredly berated him, already feeling her little energy being sapped by the conversation. Her ribs were hurting too. God I miss my healing factor thingy, she whined inside her head.

E rolled his eyes in impatience. 'You REALLY don't get it, do you?'

Suddenly, he began to whisper to her, his voice growing more and more deranged. 'I spent my whole life being right. And then, you come along. you, with your moral compass, with your otherworldly powers. You… Are the first person to challenge my truth.'

He was practically giddy with excitement. 'Finally… The yin to my yang! The battle to give my life meaning! Finally, I can prove once and for all how broken and depraved we all are! All I have to do is create some scenarios, test your limits, make you fail people. If someone as pure and selfless as you can be broken… Then I was right.'

He wore a Cheshire cat grin. 'I win.'

Horror filled Lori's eyes, and she barely managed to get the words out of her mouth. 'You're actually crazy!'

'I have purpose. It drives us all a little mad. Why, look at you.'

'Me?'

'Yes, you.', E drew circles around Lori's head, eyes and chest, drawing her hood, eye shadow and symbol. 'You let sin reign in your mortal body, you obeyed its passions. Now, you let sin reign in your immortal body, by making guilt your passion.'

He tutted, voicing his disapproval. 'Disappointing. We can't have our philosophical battle like this.'

Suddenly, Lori lunged at him, teeth bared, eyes storming, like she was engulfed by blue fire. Her nose breathed out on the glass, marking it, and her nails and toes scratched on the glass, bonking it over and over.

'IS THIS JUST SOME GAME TO YOU?! YOU'D PUT PEOPLE'S LIVES IN DANGER JUST TO PROVE A POINT?! EVEN FUCKIN TETHERBY SEEMS TO HAVE SOME SORT OF REASON! EVEN THAT KIDNAPPER WAS JUST A MONSTER! YOU KNOW THIS IS WRONG!'

She grew angrier and angrier, heart pounding, breath racing. 'YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT DISGUSTING? YOU'RE DISGUSTING! I BECAME THE GUARDIAN TO STOP PEOPLE LIKE YOU! I DO THIS BECAUSE IT'S MY RESPONSIBILITY! MY PURPOSE!', she screamed, cracking the glass wall a little bit.

E raised an eyebrow in intrigue, and unphased, looked at his watch. '...And what of your guilt?'

'What about it?', Lori huffed, calming down a little bit. She was surprised by her anger. Perhaps because…

'It was a game. To you. You let Lincoln get shot because you were finally happy, playing pretend. That you were okay.'

Lori's words were as true as the painful tears in her eyes and the blood now trickling from one of her wounds down her legs. '...Like I told you. I am driven by doing what is right.'

'And your guilt holds you back.', E explained, and Lori hated how he didn't sound wrong. He stared at her, a mixture of condemnation and… Pity. 'You'll never truly be able to prove your point, regardless of me, if you are held back by guilt. You either move on… Or you don't. It's that simple.'

Lori hung her head, shame coating her words. '...How?'

E sighed, affectionately almost. 'You know, I'm leaving.'

Lori looked up in hope.

'Raven, that is.'

Lori looked down in disappointment.

'I was never a big fan, to be honest. Oh, he likes to wax lyrical about his holy war…'

'You would know.', Lori bantered, and E couldn't help but smile a little at that. 'I would.'

He then grew serious. 'Guardian… There is one key difference between you and Raven. Oh, you share others. He's not as… Ridiculously noble as you. Not as absurdly incorruptible. No.'

He began to go down in the elevator, secretly pressing a button that spread some sort of… Substance inside Lori's cell.

'And what is that difference?', she asked, feeling suddenly faint. 'Am I getting a headache from listening to him talk?'

'He gave himself a second chance.'

Lori was still able to talk, though drowsiness slurred her speech. She began swinging weirdly. 'I've tried. Stopping criminals… Protecting people… It doesn't make up for what I did.'

'...Then what does?', E asked, oddly genuine, almost… Sad. Lori knew he didn't believe in such ideas, yet… It seemed he almost granted her the chance for it.

She tried and tried and tried…

But she had no answer.

Tipping his hat, E finished. 'Farewell, Guardian. May our next meeting have us both in our proper forms.'

And with that, E left, as darkness invaded Lori's sight again.


In the dreamscape hellhole again, and Lori was jolting awake and into sleep over and over, the nightmares increasing in visceral effect.

She broke the shooter's arm with a twist, moving it aside of her, practically growling at his face.

BANG!

But the gun still fired and hit Lincoln.

She lifted him high above her head, and with a mighty roar, threw him into the air.

BANG!

He still managed to shoot Lincoln.

She took the gun and broke it in half on her knee, throwing the two parts away.

BANG!

He took another gun and shot Lincoln.

All the while Lori could hear her own voice echo and reverberate in the back of her mind, like the wail of a wraith. 'YOU LET THIS HAPPEN. YOU LET THIS HAPPEN. YOU LET THIS HAPPEN.' Loud, all encompassing, so prevalent that Lori found herself whispering and muttering it as she tried over (pushing him forwards to a faraway wall)…

BANG!

And over (banging down on his head a few times until he was stuck in the ground)…

BANG!

And over (flying Lincoln away, as far as possible, to the other side of the world).

BANG!

After exactly 1,080 dreams (one every six seconds, Lori had counted, 'Which is probably a bad sign. Probably.'), Lori found herself hanging to a final thread.

On her knees, tears covering her body and face, creating a pseudo watery version of her costume, The Guardian stared up at the shooter and begged.

'Please… Please, please, please don't shoot my brother.', she breathed out heavily, rasping from the screams, the cries, the thirst. 'Please… Don't make him pay for my mistake. I'm not letting it happen, see? Look, I'm here, I'm stopping it!', she smiled, sniffling.

Lip quivering, she buried her face in the shooter's shirt, his blank expression unwavering, unchanging. 'Like my guilt', she thought.

She took all her strength and begged one last time. 'I'll do anything. Anything! Just don't hurt him.

Finally, the shooter's lips parted, whispering into Lori's ear.

'Why are you asking me? You're the one who can stop it.'

Lori looked up, confused. 'Um, no offense, but did your brain fall out of your ear? The one who shot Lincoln was…'

She gasped, interrupting herself, a dawn of horrifying realization creeping into her eyes and mind like twisting spiders into a basement hole.

The shooter's face was now different, yet all too familiar.

'...You.', finished the shooter, who looked just like Lori.

'NOOOOOOO!', Lori let out an ear piercing scream that was so loud, it flung her doppelganger out of sight. But it didn't matter. The gun went off, and Lincoln was once again down on the ground, clutching his legs.

'YOU LET THIS HAPPEN. YOU LET THIS HAPPEN. YOU LET THIS HAPPEN. YOU LET THIS HAPPEN.', the voice went over and over, as Lori screamed out 'NOOOOOOO!' again and…


'AH!', Lori bolted up and karate chopped whoever had touched her. Breathing heavily, she shook the shock and fear out of her eyes, now feeling a distinct dryness. 'God I'm as thirsty as my parents seem to be…', Lori thought, but she opted to see who she had struck first. Plus, 'I don't really deserve it.', the teen glumly mused, too depressed to even be startled by the lack of self-preservation.

Staring out of her cell, she let out a shriek at the sight of Mr. Stone, who didn't show any sign of injury, though perhaps that was because of all the pre-existing marks on his face. His face truly was odd. Rough, yet seemingly full of a sort of… Innocence.

'What the hell are you doing?!', Lori rasped out, before entering a coughing fit, sputtering words out between hacks and wheezes. 'Don't… You… Fucking… Touch… Me! That… Is… Mega… Naughty… Mister!'

Mr. Stone was quick to explain, waving his hands in worry. 'Oh, no, Ms. The Guardian, I would never! I don't even want to dream of touching you! I mean, that makes it sound like you're ugly, but you're not, not that I think you look good, that's gross! Oh, darn, I'm so bad at explaining things!'

Lori seemingly didn't hear much of this, as she spat out some bile and blood, shivered, and went right back to scolding Stone. 'And… (big gulp of air) another thing, you! You… You work with them! You… You were nice on the rooftop! You… Why would… Oh fuck.'

Lori was just so tired, woozy, hurt, depressed, thirsty. She felt a million things. 'But crap pretty much sums it up.', Lori voiced internally, sighing morosely. 'Why?', was all she could muster after that.

Stone, looking very sad and sympathetic, had to stop himself from comforting her again. 'It's just… You were screaming, Ms. The Guardian.'

'Ms. Guardian.', Lori couldn't help but correct, thanks to years of teaching little kids (and especially Lily) how to say things properly. She wasn't a texting champion of Royal Woods 6 years running for no reason!

'Oh, right! Um, Ms. Guardian, you were screaming. In your… I think, sleep? I was watching for a while after Mx. Bailee had another turn, and you seemed to be tossing and turning. As much as one can when tied up.'

'And?', Lori slurred, still not sure she got it. 'I am, like, literally dying so maybe that's why.'

'Well, I felt bad! So hard as it was, I broke orders and opened a little circle of glass here in your cell, and released your right hand. You know, to comfort it.', Stone finished, twiddling his thumbs, looking more like a little boy who was asking if HE can get comforted for a nightmare he had.

Lori groaned, a headache coming on again. She was sure she could smell something, but the place was so thick with it that maybe it didn't matter. '...Thanks.', she muttered, frowning. 'But you shouldn't.'

'You're right, I'll ask next time.'

'No, you shouldn't, because you're a piece of shit working with these SICKOS, and I'm a piece of shit who's not much better!', Lori suddenly shouted, before coughing violently again. Acting quickly, the alarmed Stone grabbed a cup from the floor of the elevator next to him and offered it.

Lori shook her head. 'What did I just say?', she put on her angriest face, but it really just came across as sad and pathetic.

'You're not a piece of shit! And neither am I, I hope. I… I didn't approve of any of this! Honest! I had no idea they were going to kidnap you! Or do all those horrible things you mentioned!'

'How did you hear?', Lori felt like that wasn't exactly the right question, but darn it, she was curious. She was also struggling with that water below her. So… So tempting…

'I was given security detail in the building. Had to listen in just in case stuff happened. But dad said I couldn't interfere until my shift. I… Oh god, I can't believe this. He's never been this extreme! They were electrocuting you! AND I JUST WATCHED! I WATCHED!', Stone suddenly cried out, tears in his eyes. He shivered from fright, breathing hard, clearly entering a panic attack.

Lori's eyes widened, and out of instinct, she reached out to his hand. 'Hey, hey. Listen to my voice.'

'I… I…', Stone stammered, face red with guilt. Lori lowered her voice into a 'Lily going to sleep' whisper. 'Hey. Listen to my voice, Stone. Follow it.'

Stone tried to nod.

'Breath. Just… Breath.', Lori instructed, stroking his palm, giving him a center of gravity. Stone recoiled from the touch, but began to calm down, ever so gradually. '1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3.' they both went, Lori first, then Stone repeating after her, and after about a minute, Stone was breathing properly again. Lori made sure he drank some of her cup of water.

'Thank you.', he whispered, and she nodded, like it was matter of fact. Stone then face palmed. 'Oh, darn, this is yours! Want me to get you another? And, oh, holy ravioli, look at this, your food is getting cold!'

Lori, pouting, went right back to where she was before. 'Oh, no! I told you three times now, stop offering me stuff! Besides, I'm not hungry!'

Suddenly, a loud stomach growl practically shook the room, making the cell emanate worrying 'is that glass breaking?' noise. Lori and Stone hung for dear life until it stopped, echoing throughout the underground lair.

Lori looked at her 'captor', and blushed, laughing sheepishly. 'Um, now, when I said I'm not hungry, I meant not hungry for whatever you brought, which I bet…'

Lori looked down and saw a takeaway lunch special from her father's restaurant, 'Lynn's Table'.

'World, you're literally testing me!', Lori shook a fist at the sky, while Stone politely cleared his throat. 'If you don't mind, this is going to get cold, and I heard it's real good. Guy who made it was super nice too.'

'I can second that. He's…', Lori started, before realizing that revealing her father would… Then again, they knew she was Lori Loud, no? Maybe only Raven did? Not worth the risk. '...He's very nice.', Lori finished, nodding her head wistfully.

'Well, then dig in!'

Lori sighed again, too tired to do anything but explain, using her free hand (she wasn't used to that after all these hours) to rub her face a little. 'Stone, look, that's… That's really nice of you. Also just basic human decency, but I've had a rough couple of hours so I'll take anything. But…'

'I know what you're gonna say. You do deserve it.', Stone stood his ground, suddenly firm, and Lori, taken aback, adopted a look of sympathy. 'I… Get the sus that you might have felt that way yourself once.'

Stone didn't look at her, but she didn't need him too. 'Stone, I know what I said, but deep down, you're a good guy, I just know it! It's bad to do this to yourself! Once, Leni did, and I…', Lori started, not realizing she let slip her sister's name, but Stone interrupted her accusingly.

'See, you did it again!'

'Did… What again?', Lori tilted her head to the side, confused and curious. One shoulder shrugged, the other couldn't.

Stone pointed, sounding like a little kid tattling. 'That thing! Where you let yourself get treated like trash, and call yourself a… A monster or something, yet you give people like me every chance in the world, and tell me to take care of myself! What about you? You're a friggin super hero! I'm… I'm not even good enough for my dad.'

Lori pinched the bridge of her nose, now that she could. She didn't expect to miss that. 'Look, it's complicated, but I've done some real fucked up stuff, okay? So have you, it seems, but… Okay, you know, who even is your dad, why do you keep mentioning him?', Lori changed the subject, biting her cheek.

Stone shrugged, like it was obvious. 'Mr. Tetherby, duh.'

Yeah, it wasn't obvious to Lori.

'WHAT? BUT… BUT…', Lori started, too shooketh for words. She was swinging back and forth, almost as if she was pacing in thought, buggy eyed.

'What?'

'You… You look nothing alike?'

'I'm adopted.'

'You're old…Ish?'

'Actually, I'm only 34.'

'...The fuck did he call you Mr. Stone?', Lori commented, but Stone laughed. 'Oh, no, my name's Clive!'

'Dude, secret identity?'

'We know yours.'

'Oh, right.'

Lori felt like she should, so she did. '..Lori.'

'I wish we met on better circumstances, Lori. Like in the mall, for some frozen yogurt. I really like frozen yogurt.'

Lori snorted, giggling at the sight of the big strong man who she fought expressing his love for frozen yogurt with dreamy eyes. 'You remind me of… Someone.', Lori trailed off, thinking about Lincoln.

'You remind me of no one.'

'Why?', Lori asked.

'You're kind.'

Lori felt her heart break at that, and began sniffling. She so so SO wanted to hear that, and to believe that.

But she couldn't.

'I'm not, Clive. I'm responsible. And the responsible should be punished', Lori muttered, hanging her head in shame, a tear forming on her nose and rising all the way to the top of the cage, thanks to the zero gravity.

Clive disagreed vehemently. 'If anyone should be punished, it's me! I sat by and let stuff like this happen! Even if for the greater good!'

'Yeah, well, I don't even have that, so there!', Lori stuck her tongue out, before feeling really stupid and silly.

'I bet it wasn't so bad…', Clive started, but Lori, who had been through a LOT that day, didn't even let him finish.

'OH YEAH, BRAINIAC? YOU HAVE NO IDEA! YOU DON'T KNOW THE… SHIT, LOOK AT ME! I FLY AROUND PRETENDING I'M SOME HERO, BUT NO AMOUNT OF SAVING CAN MAKE UP FOR WHAT I DID! I HAD POWERS, AND I COULD HAVE USED THEM FOR GOOD, BUT I DIDN'T! I WENT TO BECOME SOME STUPID WRESTLING STAR, AND ONE THING LED TO ANOTHER, AND I LET A ROBBER GO, BECAUSE I WAS ANGRY AND SELFISH AND DUMB! AND HE WENT AND SHOT MY BROTHER! MY LITTLE BROTHER GOT SHOT! I LET MY BABY BROTHER GET CRIPPLED! I AM RESPONSIBLE, AND I SHOULD BE PUNISHED!', Lori ranted, breaking down, finally confessing to someone about it. Why here, why now? Maybe it was the pain, or the psychological trauma. Maybe it was all the conversations before.

Maybe Lori just finally needed to let it go.

But here it was. Out. In the open.

Lori Loud had been responsible for the crippling of her little brother.

'There. See now?', Lori asked, whispering. 'I'm no hero. I never was.'

Clive was silent for a long time. He sat there, ponderously, in a sort of meditative stance. Lori swung there in silence too, wallowing in her guilt, closing her eyes. 'I knew this how people would see it. How dare I even… Even dream of being forgiv…', Lori thought, when Clive cut the silence with a sharp question.

'Did you know?'

'What?', Lori questioned, puzzled. 'Know what?'

'Did you know that he would shoot him. Your brother.', Clive persisted, staring her in the eyes, into her soul.

'Well, I mean, no, I'm not a mind reader. If I was, life would be a lot easier, everyone likes being subtle, and it's confusing the fuckles outta me.', Lori replied, not sure what this contributed.

'Then why are you responsible?', Clive asked her, voice full of compassion. It made Lori cringe.

'Because I am! Because… Because I let the guy go! I could have stopped him just like that! I'm responsible!', Lori shouted, prodding her chest.

'Indirectly.', Clive corrected.

'Oh, like that's any better! 'Sorry, Lincoln, see, I indirectly got you crippled, that makes it, like, all better, right?', Lori mocked the idea, blowing a raspberry.

'Lori, you couldn't have known. Obviously, you made a mistake. A big one. But everyone does! Especially big ones. I've done some bad things to 'save the city', and you let that guy go.'

'This isn't just any mistake!'

'That's why I said big one.', Clive held her hand, and she recoiled at first, but let it happen. 'Lori, I get it. You feel guilty, and of course you do. But this doesn't have to be the end for you. You didn't let your brother get shot, you let that guy go. And yes, that was bad. But it's not too late for you, and I bet that Lincoln thinks that too!'

That's when Lori shriveled up, and truly felt her heart shatter. It was so clear on her face, that Clive barely needed to ask. It was just a formality. 'You haven't?'

'No. I was…', Lori spat it out, ashamed of herself, resentful. 'Afraid.'

Clive took a moment, looking wistful. '...Then tell him. He's family, and I am sure he'll understand. Heck, it sounds an awful lot like Chameleon Kid.'

'It does! That's what Lincoln told me!', Lori explained, looking a little lost for words as she remembered, as if she was hanging onto a rope and slipping. 'He said it wasn't too late for him. But… Just cause he thinks that about him doesn't mean… Well…'

'...Maybe it's not Lincoln that's the problem.', Clive suddenly observed. At first, Lori didn't get what he was saying, and narrowed her eyes in confusion. 'How isn't he the problem? Sure, he might forgive me, but I don't see why, if I was him I wouldn't…'

Then her eyes widened with realization, as if a large gong had been struck inside her head, shaking everything she knew, like there had been one missing puzzle piece stuck to her shirt that she kept missing because she looked everywhere but herself.

But now she knew he was right.

She knew what the true problem was.

And looking into his expectant eyes, she so wanted to say… To say something. To say that maybe there WAS a chance. That maybe she could move on.

Other people forgave her.

Heck, Lincoln just might!

And yet…

'...I just don't know, Clive.'

Lori hung her head back, as if searching for the sun.

It was nowhere to be found.

'I just don't know.'


Clive had made sure she ate and drank. It wasn't easy, but Lori had been convinced when he said that she 'couldn't do her job if she starved to death'.

One thing it did was help her fall asleep, she went out like a light. Clive had left to replace with Barbed Wire again, and hoped that somehow he could do something. He didn't know anymore what was right, just that he was afraid he was no longer doing that.

Lori, meanwhile, drifted off into one last nightmare.

Once more, she was there, seeing the shooter about to cripple Lincoln, the boy just standing there waiting to get hurt.

Lori however now knew what really blocked her, and it took no effort to get to the shooter.

Now came the harder part.

'All you… You voices, you nightmares, you keep saying the same thing. YOU LET THIS HAPPEN.', Lori repeated, fire in her chest and determination lacing her words. 'You're telling me what I already know: That it's my fault, my responsibility. Geez, I get it, okay?'

The shooter with Lori's face kept on looking at her blankly, gun slowly aiming at Lincoln.

Lori kept her resolve.

'Then let's punish the one who let this happen. Who REALLY let this happen.'

Grabbing the shooter's arm, she aimed the gun at herself, standing before Lincoln.

Lori's arm shook, as did the shooter's by proxy. Sweat beads mixed in with her tears. Her costume began to disintegrate, revealing just Lori Loud, 17 year old girl begging for…

Peace? Resolution? Comeuppance?

Maybe all three.

'Come on…', she exclaimed quietly, urging the shooter on.

The shooter's arm suddenly moved, again aiming at Lincoln out of nowhere, again breaking her heart…

Except this time Lori was faster.

BANG!

Lying down on the floor, blood gushing out of her, swirling and turning into her symbol, Lori looked up at Lincoln, who was skipping off, free to live his life happily.

Returning her head to the floor, Lori had a startling realization, one that filled her with horror and understanding.

'...This is the best I've felt since that day.'

Closing her eyes, she had a peaceful slumber, finally.

Though she didn't notice a blue light begin to form in the backspace of her mind…


Four hours of actual sleep, actual fucking sleep later, and Lori got to wake up on her own accord, not thanks to any nightmare or other presence. Yawning, she rubbed an eye to clear some sandman sand from her vision. 'Leni, you mind brushing my hair? I know it got all weird recently, but I won't squirm a lot this time, or curse. I could really use some girl time… Lori's eye now cleared however, she found far more pressing things to attend to then girl time.

For one, she hadn't been magically transported back home.

And the other reason…

'19:00. You're awake. Good. I only have a few minutes.'

There he was, Bertrand Tetherby. The Raven. The one who put her through this night and day of absolute torture.

Lori grunted, tired of his cold, metallic voice, like if a dentist's tools could talk. 'Yeah? I'm kind of on a schedule too. I gotta beat up some mobster mayor wannabe by tonight, maybe you've heard of him? Yea high, playmobil figure lookin' ass, likes to hold teenagers prisoner to save them because THAT makes a lot of sense.', she grinned sassily, flipping him off with her one free hand.

Bertrand's face didn't shift. He was all business right now, and he stared at his watch. Lori could see he hadn't changed his clothes from the morning. 'Really, dude? You're not even gonna try and get a mayoral fit? My sister might be the bigger fashionista, but I believe in 'dress to impress'.'

'I don't care much for pomp and circumstance.', Bertrand informed her, not adjusting his cufflinks. Lori swore one of her veins would burst. 'I don't go golfing in my superhero clothes, man! Change!'

'I don't need to change. I only have one avenue of interest, Ms. Loud. Saving the ci…', Bertrand started, but Lori rolled her eyes and groaned audibly, the chains moving back and forth like a playground swing now as she spoke. 'Saving the city this, saving the city that, I've got people saying they're "saving the city" comin' outta my asshole!'

'Now, look…', Bertrand started, only for Lori to cut him off angrily, slamming the glass cell, not caring how much it hurt. It caused another crack to appear in the glass, splitting Lori in two. 'Oh, no, buster! Not before I give you a piece of my mind!'

She grunted in real frustration and impatience, staring down at this man that she felt real, true hatred for, or, well, just a lack of understanding of what the fuck his deal was. 'You let me stay here all day, chained to a goddamn glass prison cell, with a frikin tap of water to drink from like I'm some kind of farm animal, while you went off doing god knows what to innocent people!'

Lori's face twisted as she ranted, mockery and rage displayed front and center towards Tetherby, who sat still and took it all. 'And for what? Some vague bullshit? "Oh, Lori, there's SOMEONE who's planning SOMETHING so we HAVE to attack the museum, and we have to threaten people, that's what good guys do!" Suuuureeee!', she rolled her eyes so hard they nearly flew off her head. 'I may not know much about being a hero, but this ain't it, chief!'

'If you'd just let me explain…', Bertrand tried, raising a hand, an impatient crease on his forehead. He kept looking at his watch, so he clearly didn't have time.

'EXPLAIN WHAT?! THAT YOU'RE A SUPER VILLAIN PRETENDING TO BE A SUPER HERO?! THAT KIDNAPPING LITTLE KIDS IS SOMEHOW OKAY, BECAUSE… SHIT, IDK WHY EVEN?! THAT SOMEHOW THIS IS ALL FOR THE GOOD OF OTHER PEOPLE, PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SUFFERING WHILE PEOPLE LIKE YOU LIVE IN EASE?!', Lori screamed at him, disbelief sharpening her tongue. She stared at him with utter disgust and contempt.

And that's when Bertrand snapped.

'YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING! WHAT I'M SACRIFICING! IF YOU'D JUST LISTEN, YOU WOULD SEE!'

Suddenly, without warning, he broke into tears. Heavy, painful tears. The kind that had clearly been held back for many years. His body sort of just… Shivered. No, it shook. Like a building during an earthquake. The sobs were ugly and unrefined, escaping his body like water bursting through a beaver's dam.

Lori was so taken aback that she didn't even know what to say. She just hung up there, looking down at her captor, seeing him react emotionally after basically thinking he had no such capacity.

Finally, after two whole painful minutes, Bertrand urged himself to speak his truth. He wasn't confident or resolved as ever. No, he was more like the Bertie who had died all those years ago. There was a quiver in his words, a truly innocent need. 'You wanna know what I've been doing? I… I tried. I tried so hard, Lori, I swear. You think I don't know how hard it is for people in the industrial district, hell, for people like you?'

Lori shrugged. He kinda had to, if he was this involved with the crime of Royal Woods.

He walked over to the elevator, so that she could see him, the real him. So she could see him try and be at her level. When it stopped, he stared right into her eyes, and he recognized the person looking back at him. 'You remind me of someone I knew. A friend. Perhaps the man I failed the most.'

He looked so sad. Lori couldn't help but feel her hand reach out to him, out of instinctual pity.

Then Bertrand frowned, sympathy and sorrow painting his words. 'But you also remind me of someone I haven't known in a long time. Me. The me I used to be. The one who failed my friend, my brother, the sick, the poor… Everyone.'

He waved around him, at his underground lair, despair in his voice. 'I didn't want to have to go to such lengths! To hide underground, surrounded by secrets and lies and gadgets! I wanted to fix things with the wealth I had, my family had, because it was right! Because it was just!'

Bertrand stared back at Lori, pointing at the triangle on her chest, seeping her powers. 'You may find it hard to accept, but you and I ARE similar, more than you believe. We both felt a responsibility to save and protect the world around us. We both knew we had the tools to change things for the better.'

Bertrand gripped the edges of the glass hole in the cell, looking like a beggar in a desert. It freaked out Lori, who backed off a little. 'But everything I tried, Lori… It's a long, long story. But it has a short answer. It failed. I FAILED. Everything I tried blew up in my face.'

'Why?', Lori found herself asking.

Bertrand's voice now grew icy cold, regretful. 'Because you and I are, were, too innocent. The one I'm trying to stop… I can't tell you. I can't risk my counterplan. But… They want to destroy the system. I tried to fix it.'

Now he turned serious, dark, his knowledge illuminating his face. Lori was entranced by his speech. 'But you can only fix it BY beating it into submission.'

'The corruption.', Lori voiced.

'Exactly, my child.', Bertrand replied, a small smile only for her. 'The police. The mayor. His council. This district's representative, the state's senate. That's without mentioning the Michigan Mafia that will undoubtedly try to fill the vacuum of this city once I win the election.'

Bertrand's fist clenched, his teeth gritted. His anger was very familiar to Lori. Too familiar. 'This city is up to its neck in the swamp, and all I had for so long was a tiny raft. I tried to fight the tide, but I was never strong enough, never hard enough. In short, I was too nice.'

'To beat them, you have to play their game. You have to become a larger tide. THAT is what I have been doing.'

'How? You're like some scary god to the people I've fought, and that's not including the guys who work for you.', Lori raised an eyebrow.

Bertrand leaned on the cell, sighing. He was weary, tired, rings around his eyes. Lori started to see more of herself in him than she liked. 'You asked me earlier if I was doing this for money or power. The truth is both, sort of.'

He began to gesticulate, filling the air with excitement. Like this was his last chance to get past the pearly gates, and he HAD to get this right. 'I tried to use my money to help, but I got cut off, and I tried to get elected, but they rule this city with an iron thumb. I wanted to get the true victims, the criminals and poor folk who were in their situation with no choice, not the greedy monsters who stole for fun, I'm talking the true victims… I wanted to give them a true solution.'

He nodded. 'Why apply a bandaid when you can heal the wound within?'

Lori nodded too, sort of. It… It was beginning to make sense.

Bertrand continued, pressing closer to her, trying to get her to see what he saw, his raven vision. 'Things won't get better until people UNDERSTAND. Until it's made CLEAR, to all, rich, poor, and middle class, that things MUST change. That is the nature of people, of all of us.'

Lori frowned, agreeing. 'We don't see how bad we are until it's too late.'

'Exactly!', Bertrand flourished. 'So, I built this persona, this 'Raven' character, as much as I loathe the nickname, to gain power and influence with the people I tried to save. The money we took was from those who deserved it. At the same time, I've been inventing with scientists I hired who wanted to work for those with GOOD intentions. We've been working on medical and housing improvements that even Pingrey isn't, and we're offering it for free!'

He was really getting excited now, pitching his vision as if to a whole crowd. 'And alongside working on a counterplan for my… Someone… I've been bit by bit getting myself known here, all the while alerting people to how bad things are, to how bad the ones in power are!'

Bertrand sat down, as if he were at rest, at glorious rest. 'Once I win the election, and I will win, for sure, because the public opinion has finally woken up… I will enact all that instantly. In a snap. With the power I have, I can arrest those corrupt parasites and leeches with nary a complaint. The police work for me, they can only be corrupt if I say so. Don't you see, Lori?'

He gripped the cell, staring into her eyes, begging for her to understand. 'I am not the bad guy! I am not the one you have to fight! We can fight… Together!'

'Together?', Lori asked, not too opposed. It all sounded… So right? 'Look, this is… Literally amazing. I thought you were just some mobster kingpin type thing. But… Together? What do you even need me for?', she voiced, struggling to hide how she felt.

'Lori, you have powers! And you have time. I've spent my life trying to make it worth living. I'm not in my prime anymore, so to speak.', Bertrand explained, sitting down, tired. He rubbed the wrinkles near his eyes. 'But you, you are full of life, full of power. You are better than I ever was, you just need direction.'

Lori didn't believe it, but deep down she wanted to. She could see his outsrteched hand, offering her that impossible dream of redemption. 'Think about it. You could stop all the criminals who really are bad. Everything else would be taken care of. You could help me rehabilitate the others, speeden the recovery process. With you powers we could build proper houses in a week, we could improve the quality of life! And honestly… You're a symbol. People are already inspired by you. Imagine what happens when you become front and center, to the city, the state, the world!'

Lori couldn't deny, it was tempting. Her promise, to guard others, would come true a million times more than she imagined.

'No more Lincolns.', Bertrand finished, still offering his hand. 'Why wait for death to finally reach heaven? Why not now?'

'So easy…', Lori thought, looking at the hand. 'I could finally make up for it… To everyone.'. Bertrand's plan was… A lot. But it had a happy ending. Maybe she didn't have to d…

'...I don't know.', Lori's hand froze just before reaching his. She felt a voice in her heart, her true voice, speak up in doubt. 'I promised to do good. But you've done some… Things, that I don't know if I'm prepared to do.'

'You wouldn't have to! I've done all of them, really!', Bertrand panicked, trying to keep her on his side, his hand urging her to meet his, twitching.

Lori bit her lip, her soul working overtime. 'But I would still be responsible by letting you, by agreeing to it. And I don't know what you want to do with that someone. Or with all the criminals you hired. And what if you decide to hurt more people for it? I don't…', she roused her courage, and shook her head, true to herself. 'I don't think anyone should get hurt for the greater good. There has to be a better way, a kinder way.'

'Oh, you're being ridiculous!', Bertrand suddenly protested, raising his voice, making Lori jump. There was a sort of frustration in his tone. 'Sometimes you have to make hard choices to do what's right! Why, you think I enjoyed getting my brother shot?'

Lori's eyes widened, her mouth gaped slightly. If she was in a movie, a dolly zoom would have occurred now. 'What…', her voice sounded distant, like a whisper in the wind.

Bertrand sighed, looking tragic. 'It was the hardest call yet. But people had to see that anyone could get hurt. Plus, I needed his resources or else he would try and stop me. Don't worry. He needed to learn a lesson. Only I know how to protect him, and now, he'll never get hurt again!', he smiled, actually smiled, as if he had just said the most normal thing in the world.

'...Omg, you're literally crazy. You… You actually believe that?!', Lori was still so shocked that her voice remained distant, rising only a little. It was so much that she wasn't almost angry as much as she was in disbelief that ANYONE could be so… So callous!

'Of course. This is what you don't seem to understand, Lori. I have to! You think I liked kidnapping all those people? We kidnapped Lyberti and her father to stop you from interfering with our plans, that's all! We needed the parents of those kids to sponsor us for the election! I needed people to see how efficient the police were under my command! Nobody cares if a bank gets robbed, but when celebrity kids are kidnapped, they do! You can't just sit by, you have to do what you have to do, no matter what!', Bertrand explained casually, as if he were talking to a little girl.

'...YOU TRAUMATIZED THOSE KIDS!', Lori screamed, wishing he'd get it into his head. She banged the cell, trying to get through to him. 'THEY WILL HAVE NIGHTMARES FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES! THEIR PARENTS WILL TOO! YOUR BROTHER… OMG, YOUR BROTHER IS IN A FUCKING COMA! HE MIGHT NEVER FEEL SAFE OUTSIDE AGAIN! YOU'RE RUINING RENAUD'S FAMILY LIFE AND THEIR MORAL COMPASS, YOU MADE YOUR SON INTO AN UNWILLING SLAVE! MY BEST FRIEND AND HER MOM COULD HAVE DIED THANKS TO THAT ATTACK OF YOURS ON PINGREY ENTERPRISES! DOESN'T ANY OF THAT BOTHER YOU?!'

'What's a little pain, when a lifetime of safety follows?', Bertrand retorted. 'It's that, or eternal suffering. I chose the lesser of two evils. So should you.'

'No! This isn't the lesser, this is evil, period!', Lori barked, glaring at him with righteous fury. 'I swore I'd guard others, that there would be no more Lincolns! This is creating more for something you don't know will work!'

'I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS!', Bertrand suddenly screamed, lunging at the glass, scaring her. 'WHY DOES NO ONE LISTEN TO ME? I HAVE CALCULATED AND THOUGHT AND PLANNED AND THERE IS NO OTHER WAY! THERE IS NO CHOICE!'

Lori heard that, and closed her eyes. She thought of herself. Of what she had learned, maybe the most important thing she had learned.

She opened her eyes, and stared right into Tetherby's soul, every word a part of her spirit.

'...There is ALWAYS a choice.'

Bertrand, taken aback at first, stared back, disappointed. 'Look at you. You and your costume, and your codename, and your powers. Life isn't a comic book. There are no clean solutions. I learned that the hard way.'

He offered a sympathetic glance. 'I was hoping you wouldn't have to, Lori.'

'Don't call me that. I'm The Guardian to you, Raven.', Lori sniped, eyes narrowed at Tetherby.

'Stop that! Stop this… Childish pretending!', Bertrand suddenly yelled, almost pleading for her to see. 'This isn't some bedtime story where you foil my evil plan, because my plan is all we have, and you would rather stick your head in the clouds and search for some magical solution that doesn't exist! Wouldn't you rather just finally saving the city after all this time?!', he asked, voice cracking. He stared at his reflection as much as he stared at Lori.

Lori bit her lip, breathing heavily. Her head considered what he was saying…

But her heart knew from the moment the question left his lips.

'I wish you were right. I wish I could believe that you were right.', she hung her head, face covered in shadows.

When she rose it, the shadows seemed to form a domino mask around her eyes, and the triangle spliced into all kinds of shapes, one seemingly forming a G.

'But I made a promise. I may feel guilty, but at least I didn't purposefully let my brother get shot. I want to keep my promise, to save this city, these people, Lincoln. To make it up to them all.'

'...But I won't build an artificial heaven fueled by sins to free my soul.'

Bertrand stared at her.

Lori stared back.

He waited for her to flinch, to budge.

But Lori planted herself like a tree, and dared him to move.

'...I've lost enough time as it is.', Bertrand huffed, going down the elevator. Lori smirked, taking this as a personal victory. 'At least I proved I have SOME standards!', she mused, a little happy for once.

'Sigh. I wish you'd leave me a choice.' Bertrand said sadly, pressing a button.

Suddenly, gas began filling her cell again. Lori coughed, now definitely noticing it. She tried to speak, but felt woozy and dizzy, barely holding onto her cell. As she swung around, one of her chains broke loose, and she felt herself floating. 'What… What the fuckles did you do?', Lori asked, drowsy.

'Oh, the gas? Mr. E's concoction. It gives the prisoner hallucinations and visions of their inner truth. His words, not mine.', Bertrand explained, watching Lori begin to fall like a bird with broken wings. 'He wanted it to collect info about you. There's a little screen somewhere where he can see what's 'happening', apparently. I just wanted something to slow you down.'

'I'll… I'll stop you…', Lori coughed out, slapping the glass, causing more cracks.

'I wouldn't do that. Could be a nasty fall. Doesn't matter, though.', Bertrand continued, sounding all robotic again. 'You won't stop me. The results are out in 3 hours and 42 minutes. You have no concrete evidence. And by the time you reach me, well…'

Bertrand narrowed his eyes, growing as ruthless as he always felt he needed to. 'Let's just say that denying my olive branch was a SERIOUS mistake.'

'You don't… You don't have to do this…', Lori, somehow still showing compassion, began to feel her eyelids flutter as she slowed down destroying her cell. She looked at her hand. Was it doubling, or was her vision blurry?

'...I told you, Lori. I WILL save this city. That includes you. Whether you like it or not. And if you won't let me save you this way, well… You CHOSE the hard way.'

He turned around, tipping his hat. 'I've waited long enough for them to listen to me. I will be ignored, nevermore. Good evening.'

And so, he departed, Royal Woods in the palm of his hands.

All while Lori felt herself tear in half from fainting and the gas, the cell shattering onto the ground from another button turning off the anti-gravity.


'That was a total disaster.', Lisa's voice coming out of the robot flying squirrel complained as the robot and Lyberti, covered in dirt and dust and scratches from the escape they made.

'Hey, it wasn't that bad!', Lyberti defensively objected, as the two turned a corner into the area where Tetherby's hideout was.

'...Lyberti, you nearly destroyed the gym by using my robot to fly across the room, got us trampled by an army of janitors, the chess club has declared eternal war on you, got us an hour of detention for all that, and then another hour because you got distracted by your boyfriend while sneaking out and talked to him loudly and very VERY awkwardly mind you, and that was the most painful bit, learn how to talk to crushes, bitch.'

'Hey! He's not my boyfriend! It's complicated! And if you don't find his crocheting the tiny astronaut buddies from Amogus for our school play of the semester, 'I Saw Him Being Sus At Medbay: An Amogus Musical', then lady, we have NOTHIN' to say to each other!', Lyberti protested, though she blushed at both the boyfriend accusation, and her constant screw ups. How would she save The Guardian like this?

'Never mind. It is imperative that we proceed with the operation, Evans, so take in our destination.', Lisa moved on, pointing at the building. Lyberti gulped. Seemed so unassuming. But she knew better now. 'What secrets lie here?', she asked aloud, shaking like a leaf during a forest rave.

'Ones that are criminal in nature, no doubt. We have far more pressing matters. Now, let me look at my tracker…', Lisa started, the squirrel hands scratching their head. 'Huh. Now THAT'S peculiar.'

'What is?', Lyberti asked, staring at the confused squirrel.

Lisa looked up from her screen at Lyberti, showing her the tracker, looking phased for the first time that day.

'My tracker is only following L… The Guardian. Why are there two dots where she's supposed to be?'


POST CREDITS SCENE:

The crash had shaken Lori so much that she felt like she had fainted, but it couldn't have been for more than a few seconds. 'I think?', Lori wondered aloud, before sighing painfully, tears choking her throat. 'Oh god. What if it's too late?'

Looking down, she saw glass shards all around her, obviously from her now broken cell. Her backpack shimmered from one, so she turned around to it, heavy, feeling the effects of her day of absolute torture. 'I never liked Ravens anyway. Not cute, or even cool. 0/10 on Bird Yelp. Would that be squawk?', Lori wondered, happy for the momentary distraction, as she reached in for her costume. One quick change, and she'd be right out to get out of here, however she could. 'Maybe through the rest of the underground lair?', she voiced, before her pupils grew in fear.

She couldn't find her costume.

'No, no, no, literally no! Where is it?!', Lori cried out, terrified. Without her costume… Well, duh, she'd still try her best to save the day, but everyone would know who she is! 'Everyone I love, as if they weren't already in danger… Oh, Lori, for fuck sake!', she screamed, pounding the floor, upset that somehow no shards hurt her even a little.

She began to cry, oh how badly she needed it, tears having been held back so much. She covered her eyes, letting it out. 'Oh, Lori. Wake up already. Look at yourself.'

Lori looked at the shards, seeing a pathetic, depressed, broken failure. 'You've already lost the fight.'

Suddenly, the corner of her eye spotted a familiar looking face in the corner of the glass shard. Before she could even react, a blue gloved hand landed on her shoulder, squeezing her both comfortingly and hardly.

Lori swiveled her face to the person…

And gasped.

Lori had seen many MANY weird things up until now in her Superhero career.

But she figured seeing HERSELF IN HER COSTUME topped the list.

The Guardian looked down at Lori with her most determined expression and spoke in a righteous whisper.

'Get up. The fight's only just begun.'


What a doozy of a cliffhanger, huh? Lori and her split self will have to try and break out of the lair, alongside a secret other guest who I haven't mentioned!

Plus, Lisa and Lyberti try to save Lori, though both are struggling with the burden of this position.