AN: Didn't want to leave this story arc unresolved. Should only be one more chapter.
Lori frowned in concentration as she leaned around the corner, attempting to get a visual on her prey without alerting them to her presence.
Said prey, her younger sister and brother, were sitting on the couch playing video games. She strained her ears, trying to hear what they were saying to each other over the noise of the tv.
"Something, something, LENI PUNCH!"
"Something, Leni, something, something."
"Something, Linky, something, Punch?"
Lori let out a silent groan of frustration. Obviously she wasn't getting anything useful from over here. She began to scan the room with her eyes, looking for a route that would get close enough to be in hearing distance, without getting spotted.
It wasn't that Lori enjoyed spying on her siblings, but their behavior as of late had been worrying her. Yes, Lori had been...somewhat high strung as of late. Getting let go from Gus' when she was trying to save up money for college was an extremely unexpected and stressful setback. Then there was the breakup with Bobby...and the recent rash of giant monster attacks.
Lori flinched as memories of the most recent attack assaulted her. Getting the news that the city was being destroyed (again). Realizing that Leni and Lincoln were nowhere to be found. Running around in a panic, desperately trying to find her missing siblings, until she reluctantly drove home and collapsed on the couch, a tearful, sobbing wreck. Only for the pair to show up later than night. Tired, and scruffed up, but otherwise fine. Albeit, without a convincing explanation for where they'd been all that time.
"I told you Lori, I was looking for my shoes."
"Purse, Leni."
"Thank you, Linky. I told you Lori, I was looking for my purse Leni."
The two had been weirdly inseparable lately. Granted, they'd always been close, but now they were basically tied at the hip. Even now, with all that couch space available to them, Lincoln was practically sitting in Leni's lap! She couldn't even remember the last time he'd asked to sit in her lap!
Lori blinked, surprised at the suddenness of the last thought. The point was, sneaking off in the middle of a city-wide disaster was only the most recent instance of Lincoln and Leni's weird new co-dependence. And as their big sister, it was her duty to make sure they were happy, and well cared for.
"There you are Lori!"
Lori shrieked in surprise, then spun around, red face and angry.
"Lucy!" She growled reflexively. Then stopped, realizing that the quietest Loud was nowhere to be found. The perpetrator was, in fact, her mother, looking rather abashed.
"Sorry, sweetie." Rita apologized "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's literally okay, mom." Lori said, blushing in embarrassment. "I was just thinking about...stuff."
"Well, I'm not surprised." Rita smiled at her daughter good naturally. "You've got that interview today, right?"
She did, and that certainly wasn't helping her stress levels. There weren't a lot of local opportunities for inexperienced 17-year olds in Royal Woods, especially with the way the recent attacks on the city had affected the local economy. Even Flip had found himself with surplus of down-on-their-luck youngsters willing to swallow their pride, and he paid them in expired Flipees for the first few weeks of their employment.
Lori, in a surprising turn of good fortune, had managed to snag herself an interview at a local law firm, Vandal, Vandal, and Dershowitz, who were doing gangbusters with the recent rash of workplace and personal injury claims that had become all too commonplace as of late. It was for an unpaid internship, nothing especially exciting. But it would get her foot in the door, and potentially lead to bigger and better things.
"–Lori?"
Whoops, there she went again.
"Sorry mom, could you repeat that?"
Rita gave her daughter a patient smile. "I was asking if you'd like me to give you a ride down town. One less thing for you to worry about, right?"
Lori shot one last glance at her younger siblings, still laughing and playing together, and a small twinge of jealousy bubbled up inside of her.
"Yeah. Yeah, thanks mom, that would be great. In fact, I should probably start getting ready right now."
Fiona took a deep breath to steady her nerves.
"Nothing to worry about" she silently reassured herself. "The hardest part's already over. Probably."
She desperately hoped it was. Darkness' instructions hadn't given her much to work with. Find a bunch of sad sacks and suck out all the juicy negativity. But, Fiona felt that she'd risen to the occasion rather admirably.
Morale in Royal Woods had been faltering as of late, with the last vestiges of hop being pinned on a certain, gargantuan, spandex clad hero. But that didn't help her much. She couldn't exactly run around at random, waving her orb around like a kid with a butterfly net. What she needed was a place where all that despondency would come to her. Enter Vandal, Vandal, and Dershowitz, a local law firm which she had discovered, thanks to a little internet research, was turning a tidy profit in light of recent events.
The office was nice. Almost too nice, she had very nearly been turned away by security at the front door, presumably for not meeting the expected standards of their clientele. But a quick sob story about how her poor grandpa had been terribly injured in during the last attack, and they'd welcomed her with open arms and dollar signs in their eyes.
Fiona didn't need supernatural senses to know that she'd hit the jackpot. From the moment she walked into the lobby, she could feel it in the air, see it in the eyes of everyone here. Avarice. Despair. Anger. And sprinkled liberally around, the most desperate kind of hope. This place was a veritable smorgasbord of bad vibes, and exactly what she needed. All that was left was to find a nice, quiet place to start soaking it all up, and then she could get the heck out of dodge.
A quick lap of the floor had appeared to provide her with exactly that: a utility closet. Unlocked, empty, and away from prying eyes. It had seemed like serendipity was smiling upon her, and she discretely availed herself of her newly discovered hiding spot at the earliest opportunity. There was only one, small problem. She couldn't figure out how to get the orb to work.
Darkness hadn't bothered to give Fiona any instructions on how one actually used the thing, so she had assumed it would be self evident. Sadly, this was not the case. To the naked eye, the orb was exactly that. A small, obsidian-colored sphere, completely devoid of any sort of operating mechanism. Fiona had run her hands all over the thing, expecting to find a button, a switch, a dial. Literally anything that could potentially set it from Off to Consume, but it was to no avail.
From there, Fiona had moved on to less conventional methods. She'd tried shaking it. She'd tried rubbing it, like a magic lamp. She'd even tried asking it to work. Nicely, at first, then progressively more desperate, and finally threatening outright violence upon the device. Nothing. It simply sat there, as dark as its creator. Literally unmoved by her pleas.
Knowing that she couldn't possibly remain unnoticed indefinitely, and absolutely dreading the thought of having to trudge back to Darkness empty handed ("Oh my. You couldn't even figure out how to turn it ON? Well done, Human. Well done indeed.") Fiona twitched in irritation as the imaginary Darkness in her head began to clap sarcastically. Did Darkness even have hands? Like, functional, nonmetaphysical hands? Well, he was an eldritch space horror from beyond the stars, so presumably he could grow them if he wanted to. And he would too. Just to mock her. Because that was exactly the kind of prick he was!
With a wordless cry of outrage, Fiona picked up the uncooperative device and hurled it at the wall as hard as she could, only realizing what she was doing just as the sphere flew from her fingers. Too little too late, unfortunately, the orb collided with the wall with a resounding crash. Then fell to the floor with a second, slightly diminished crash, as if to underscore her mistake.
Fiona took a few seconds to reflect upon her actions, desperately trying to put off the moment where she'd have to examine the remains of the orb, and personally confirm her failure. That was when the humming started.
It started low, nearly imperceptibly so, to the point where she couldn't tell if she was imagining it or not. Then it grew in volume, clearly making it's presence known. It grew louder still, the intensity of the sound making it painful to listen to. That's when the it started sparking.
Acknowledging that the situation was well and truly beyond repair (in every sense of the word), Fiona quickly exited the closet and fled as fast as she could. No need to see what the next stage of the device's breakdown would bring, she'd take her chances with Darkness, and the hands he may or may not actually possess.
Lori was only a few steps away from full on hyperventilation as she approached the lobby elevator. She tried to reassure herself that it was just an internship. That there were bound to be other opportunities in the future. And that most of all, no matter how things turned out, her family would always love and support her. At this, a image of Lincoln and Leni cuddling on the couch came to mind, unbidden, and her panic attack was briefly replaced by a surge of irritation. However, both the image and the moment passed as quickly as they had come, and anxiety quickly took its place.
A short ding interrupted her reverie as the elevator finally arrived, and Lori stepped lively forward, unwilling to miss her ride.
"After all" She muttered to herself, as the elevator door closed behind her "It's not like its the end of the world if they don't pick you, right?"
As is trying to prove her wrong, the utterance of that phrase coincided with the elevator shaft being rocked by a massive blast of force, knocking a very confused Lori to the ground. Anxiety giving way to full blown terror, Lori opened her mouth to announce her feelings in the form of a loud, and hopefully therapeutic scream. It was at this point, that she noticed the elevator trembling around her. The trembling ceased as a loud, terrible snap echoed through the air, and the elevator fell. No longer under its own power, but subject to the cruel whims of gravity. Lori finally managed to release the shriek that had been building within her as the elevator plunged into the darkness below.
Lincoln sighed in satisfaction and leaned back into the couch cushions, energy spent, vaguely aware that Leni was mimicking his actions just out of view. Operation: Show Leni a Really Good Time and Help Her Relax And Maybe Think Of a Shorter Name For This Operation was going swimmingly.
Leni had been through a lot lately. His gentle-natured sister had been drawn against her will into a conflict that she had been wholly unprepared for. And despite her insistence to the contrary, it had been clear that that the strain of the battles, the super heroics, and the constant need to lie to their family about what they'd been up to were taking a toll on the girl. Not to mention the strange interest Lori had taken in their...extracurricular activities as of late.
Lincoln frowned as the furious face of his older sister flashed through his mind. He couldn't blame Lori for feeling the way she did, he fully empathized with her. And it's not like she was wrong to be suspicious, he and Leni had been lying to her. And for some time now. But...it needed to be done. Bad enough that Leni had to shoulder the burden of defending humanity, largely by herself. The pair had agreed that, as painful as it was to keep secrets from the family, the best way to protect their loved ones was to keep them as uninvolved as possible.
"Linky..." Leni mumbled, sounding as spent as he felt. "Can you turn on the tv? I just wanna rest for a bit."
"Sure thing Leni." He replied, fumbling for the remote. There would be plenty of time to ruminate on their constant betrayal of their family's trust. Right now, the important thing was to keep Leni happy.
"This is Katherine Mulligan, coming to you with a special report. I'm currently in downtown Royal Woods, where a local business has literally collapsed."
Lincoln sat up in surprise, the blood in his veins turning to ice as the camera panned over the building wreckage. What had clearly been a shining example of architectural prowess, was now a pile of rubble. And not a particularly stable one at that.
"Linky..." Leni intoned worriedly at his side, "Wasn't Lori going to be down town today?"
"I'm being told that eyewitnesses reported a loud noise, akin to an explosion, only moments before the building itself imploded. The building has been identified as being the home office of a local lawfirm: Vandal, Vandal, and Dershowitz. Representatives have yet to confirm if they will be handling the claims for damages that are sure to be forthcoming themselves, or if–"
"Leni" Lincoln snapped, shutting off the tv. "We have to–WOAH!"
Lincoln's words died in his throat as his older sister snatched him up in her arms and barreled outside at full speed, only slowing long enough to avoid smashing through the front door.
I must advise against this. Seven intoned from his place on Lincoln's wrist.
Lincoln gave the device an irritated smack, knowing full well that it would neither hurt, nor silence the mechanical being. But it made him feel a little better. And, more importantly, it served to distract him from the nauseating array of colors and shapes that hurtled past him, his ever present companions while flying Air Leni.
"Lori's in danger." Said Leni, her tone booking no room for discussion.
You have no way of knowing this. Unless you were some sort of alien, artificial intelligence with no knowledge of social cues, apparently.
"A sister knows." Came the blonde's confident reply, angling both herself, and her distressed passenger for another burst of speed.
We have too little information as to the situation. At this time, there is no indication that the enemy is involved. You are needlessly expending both time and energy that could be better saved for future conflicts.
"Lori's more important." Leni challenged.
"End of story." Lincoln said, nodding in agreement. Moments later, a sudden burst of acceleration sent the pair hurtling forward with even greater speed.
Lori drifted back into consciousness, and immediately regretted doing so. Darkness and a splitting headache were all that awaited her as she made the transition from a relatively benign dreamscape, to the harsh, metaphorical light of day.
Around her she could hear moans of pain and grunts of displeasure. People like herself, presumably only just awaking to the cruelty of reality.
Lori tried to move, if for no other reason than to hopefully massage away some of the intense pain she was feeling. Terror flooded through her as her body refused to comply, bringing to mind the very real possibility that she had been paralyzed. It abated somewhat as her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, her dilated pupils revealing that she wasn't paralyzed at all. She was merely buried under an enormous pile of rubble. Great.
"You know, those two things aren't mutually exclusive." Her brain helpfully supplied.
"Shut up, brain." Lori slurred, trying to gather her wits.
As she gathered her thoughts, Lori found herself regretting many things. The profoundly uncomfortable high heels she'd chosen to wear to her interview, not knowing that they may very well serve as her funeral dress. Her decision to take the stupid interview in the first place. But most of all, she regretted the very real possibility that the last things she would ever say to Leni and Lincoln, was a unintelligible mess of incoherent screaming.
"I know they weren't trying to worry me. They're not bad kids. They're just...stupid sometimes. Really, really stupid. So...so very stupid. Seriously, running off like that in the middle of a disaster like that? So...stupid"
She pictured the pair. Laughing. Smiling. And she became vaguely aware of the wetness that was dribbling down her cheeks.
"I just wanted to keep you safe. Im the big sister. It's my job to protect everyone. That's all i wanted..."
Shrieks and cries of terror resounded around her as the world began to shake anew. Lori, for the life of her, could not say for certain if her voice was among them. But she was terrified all the same.
A mighty crash resounded the area, and suddenly darkness gave way to light. Lori cried out in fresh agony as the influx of daylight scorched her far too dialted pupils, blinding her.
Lori forced her eyes open and strained against the ensuing pain, desperate to see what new development had taken place.
An enormous shape greeted her, silhouetted by the blinding light of day. She squinted, fighting the urge to close her eyes again, as details slowly began to take shape. Long blonde hair, cresting the form like sunlight. A wide, happy grin, and bright, shining eyes, shimmering with barely repressed tears.
"HI LORI!" Boomed the titan, suddenly extremely familiar to Lori's stress ridden brain.
"..." Came Lori's reply. Literally speachless.