AN: I wasn't planning on getting out another chapter anywhere near this soon, but I've had this chapter planned out since basically the second one, and having the opportunity to finally write it has been...not weighing on me, exactly, because that makes it sound like a bad thing. But I've been eager to write it for a while now. And now that I had the opportunity, it's been niggling away at me, pestering me to finally be written. I'm actually supposed to be preparing for my midterms, which are only a few weeks away, but this thing's been bugging the crap out of me, so I decided to plant my feet and just get it out as quickly as I could. Which managed to be surprisingly fast, even for me. I'm hoping that now that I've gotten this done, I'll be able to focus on my studies.
I actually have more to say. Stuff that will probably be important if you're the kind of person who liked this story enough to read six chapters of it, but I'm gonna save that for the author's notes at the end of the chapter. So...I guess I'll see you down there?
The hills that crested Tall Timbers Park had always been a popular spot for hikers, with the sun-dappled trails that flowed up and over the landscape providing a variety of challenges. Outdoor enthusiasts from all walks of life: from the most hardened trailblazer to the greenest tenderfoot, could all find themselves suitably put upon, but not overwhelmed, thanks to the park's wide selection of painstakingly curated hiking experiences.
Though this, of course, failed to apply if you stood taller than the trees. Or had the good fortune to accompany one such person, as Lincoln and Luna quickly found out as they tromped on their way, hand-in-hand, their impossibly long legs and vehicle-sized feet making mincemeat of the carefully plotted out hiking trails. The pair had started their adventure with every intention of making their trek as unobtrusive as possible, carefully considering every step so as to not disturb the local flora or fauna. But that hadn't lasted long…
"GAH!" Lincoln exclaimed as a squawking, angry cloud of feathers exploded in his face. The act of doing so, unfortunately, resulting in the giant boy inadvertently getting a mouthful of the avian detritus. Though, thankfully without any live specimens in the bunch.
"PLAH," He spat, trying to expel the unwanted debris from his mouth. "GREAT, SCRATCH OFF ANOTHER NEST."
He paused, considering the rapidly disappearing flock of birds. "OR...NESTS, I GUESS. I'M NOT TRYING TO KICK OVER THESE TREES, BUT WHY DO ALL THE ONES I DO HAPPEN TO KICK OVER TURN OUT TO BE THE OCCUPIED ONES?"
"NRRGH," Luna groaned, shivering with barely contained revulsion. "NOT DOING MUCH BETTER OVER HERE, BRO. I THINK I JUST STEPPED ON A BURROW OR SOMETHING. A BUNCH OF STUFF JUST...CRAWLED...EVERYWHERE. REALLY REGRET DOING THIS NOW."
Seemingly taking that as her cue, there was a brief rustling among Luna's hair, which quickly lead to a small blonde head poking out of the sea of brunette.
"Well for the record, I'm doing just dandy up here," Sam proclaimed, beaming happily. "I wish I'd taken up hiking years ago!"
"IT'S PROBABLY A LOT MORE FUN IF YOU'RE NOT THE ONE STEPPING ON, OR IN EVERYTHING IN THE FORREST," Luna grumbled, sending a sour look skyward.
"Absolutely," The comparatively tiny blonde replied, without a hint of irony. Taking a few strands of Luna's hair into her hands, she playfully dug her heels into Luna's scalp. "Now onward, Giant Luna! Mush!"
Luna let out an exasperated sigh and turned her attention to the youngest member of their group.
"BRO, HOW MUCH FURTHER IS IT?"
"IT'S JUST UP AHEAD," Said Lincoln, motioning with one hand. "LOOK OVER THERE."
Not far ahead, particularly when factoring in the strides she and Lincoln were capable of, Luna could see the end of the forest, the treeline giving way to a grassy clearing, situated atop a plateau. Despite having received exactly the answer she'd been hoping for, Luna found that the sight wasn't particularly uplifting.
"THAT?" She asked, incredulously. "THAT'S WHAT WE CAME ALL THE WAY OUT HERE FOR?"
"TRUST ME," Lincoln replied, confidently, as he stepped towards the edge. He stopped himself mid-stride, presumably realizing that a cliff edge was significantly more perilous at their size than it was for normal people, and adjusted, instead stepping closer but still giving the edge a wide berth. Then he turned to Luna, and beckoned her closer.
The rocker hesitated, briefly considering outright refusing to press on any further, purely out of spite. But the sincerity in her brother's eyes eventually won out, and after one quick, self-gratifying roll of her eyes, Luna stepped out into the clearing.
"OH...WOW," Luna's eyes widened in surprise as she joined her sibling. Ever since her change, Luna had become accustomed to looking down upon the world. Part and parcel of her new stature was being an adult among a world of toys. It had been terrifying, and then exhilarating, and then novel, and then...mundane. When the fantastical persists long enough, it simply becomes your new normal. And after weeks of living with her condition, Luna had long since ceased to be amazed by the tiny word around her.
Until now.
Enormous as she was, Luna had only ever looked upon Royal Woods in disconnected pieces. Here, on the other hand, standing atop this cliff side, she found the entirety of Royal Woods on display. An interconnected mosaic of streets and buildings, culture and industry, and life, all intermingling in a big mass of civilization. And in spite of how accustomed she'd grown to sights like this, this particular view, struck a chord in her.
A rustling at her side brought Luna back to reality, she was reluctant to tear her eyes from Royal Woods in its most natural element. Fortunately, she didn't have to. A flash of white out of the corner of her eye, and the familiar sensation of her brother's warmth at her side, told her everything she needed to know, and so she reached out and snaked one arm around Lincoln's waist, pulling him close. And smiled, as the younger boy mimicked her action.
"LINCOLN, THIS IS AMAZING", Said Luna, leaning into the hug. "IS THIS WHY YOU BROUGHT US HERE?"
"YEAH," Affirmed the younger boy with a satisfied chuckle. "LYNN BROUGHT ME HERE ONCE, BACK BEFORE ALL THIS HAPPENED. THE TRIP WAS A LOT LONGER, BUT THE SIGHT'S ALWAYS STUCK WITH ME. I THOUGHT COMING HERE WOULD MAKE FOR A NICE OUTING. YOU KNOW, FOR THE THREE OF US."
"YOU THOUGHT RIGHT," Luna murmured, leaning down and pressing her lips to his. As always, Lincoln hesitated, just for an instant, but then he threw his arms around Luna and returned her affections with much gusto. For a time they stood there, tangled up in each other. It wasn't long before hands went wandering, touching, teasing, the already nonexistent space between them as their bodies pressed even more tightly together.
Knowing where this was going, as it had gone so many times before, Luna chose this moment to break the kiss, albeit reluctantly, and gently pushed Lincoln back. The look of confusion and disappointment on his face face was heartbreaking, but she gently caressed her brother's cheek, her eyes silently promised him that she would resume...appreciating his thoughtfulness soon enough. But there was a matter that needed to be addressed first.
"S-SAM?" Luna asked, trying to exert some control on her raging libido as she tried to address the miniature elephant in the room. "THIS IS...PROBABLY GONNA GET A LITTLE LOUD RIGHT NOW. YOU GONNA BE WANTING IN ON THIS?"
"Gimme a minute," The blonde replied in a dreamy voice. "I'm appreciating the view."
Luna paused, rolling over the words in her mind. "...ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE TOWN, OR ARE YOU LOOKING DOWN MY TOP?"
She'd been half joking. Knowing Sam, it would have been a little of both. But the point of this outing was to help break in their newly expanded relationship, and simply pouncing on Lincoln like she very desperately wanted to do, wasn't going to be much help in that regard. She needed to get her girlfriend and her brother on the same level, and that meant opening a dialogue. And...maybe a few other things while they were at it.
It was a surprise, then, when Sam did not respond immediately. Lincoln inched forward, seemingly seeking a resumption of activities, something Luna was very much in favor of, but she held up one forestalling hand, pleading with her brother for another moment.
"SAM?" She asked, trying, very much in vain, to glimpse atop her own head. Even Lincoln was starting to look concerned, knowing full well that it was unusual for the blonde to remain so quiet. Luna began to raise her arms, prepared to begin gingerly probing through her own hair—
"L-Luna?"
Only to freeze in place. Relief that her girlfriend had finally spoken intermingled with concerned over the odd tone in the girl's voice.
"EVERYTHING OKAY, BABE?"
"I'm feeling...kind...of…"
The seconds slowed to a crawl, crystallizing as if reality itself had briefly lost its wifi connection, and needed to buffer. Then...things...happened.
Luna lurched to the side, her arms flailing wildly as she was suddenly unbalanced by a great, crushing weight pressing down upon her. The battle with gravity was a losing one, and she quickly found herself toppling over, but the one thing her distressed and confused brain was able to parse during that brief confrontation with physics, was the lovely pair of legs that were suddenly straddling her shoulders.
Luna hit the ground with a crash, which while mild for her, undoubtedly displaced the remainder of whatever wildlife still remained in the area. A thought which swiftly came and went, as Luna wasn't particularly concerned with anything that was happening outside her eyeline at the moment.
She was too busy ogling the beautiful blonde girl who was laying atop her.
"Luna?" She asked in a hushed whisper, eyes wide with surprise. It was at this point that Luna noticed she was very, very naked. The kind of nakedness that needed to be prefaced with an italicized adverb to properly convey the amount of skin on display. It was very much appreciated, even though Luna's brain was trying to draw her attention to something it promised was extremely important. Luna, for her part, was trying to care, but it was difficult, given what was in front of her.
"Luna!" The girl wailed, throwing her arms around the brunette, shoving her prominent chest against Luna's own, the sensation finally jolting the rocker into wakefulness.
"S-Sam!" She wheezed, goggling at the gorgeous, full-sized blonde who had wrapped herself around her, and was currently squeezing the life out of the equal parts distressed and delighted Loud. Managing to flick her eyes away for just a moment, Luna caught sight of Lincoln, standing only scant inches away (relative to their perspective), goggling in amazement at the two girls. Which could only mean…
"Oh, Luna!" Sam wailed, drawing the brunette's attention back. There were honest to god tears in her eyes, slowly trailing down her cheeks. That was surprising.
"You've gone back to normal!" Sam sobbed, hastily brushing her tears away. "This is awful!"
"...Say what now?" Asked Luna, her face scrunching up in confusion.
"I loved having a giant girlfriend," Sam whined, sniffling pitifully. "The perks were amazing! Not that I'm not glad to have you, obviously. But it's gonna be really hard to go back to our normal stuff. Though now, I guess you won't need to dress...like…"
The blonde slowly trailed off as she took in the state of Luna's attire. Then looked a little further down, apparently only now noticing the state of her own clothing, or lack thereof.
"Yeeeeeah," Luna drawled, amused in the fact that her brain was running a million miles a minute, trying to catch up with this turn of events. "I think you've got things a little backward there, babe."
Sam looked to Luna, then back down at herself. Then back to Luna. Then, in an impressive display of flexibility, she twisted herself around, allowing herself to look back at Lincoln without leaving her place atop Luna. The younger boy, uncertain what he should say, or do, settled on giving her a friendly, but uncertain wave.
"...Oh HELL, YES!" Sam shouted gleefully, leaping to her feet, apparently not the least bit distressed by her state of undress.
"Comere, you", She purred yanking Lincoln close and into a passionate kiss, and loudness and fervency of which finally spurred Luna into motion.
"H-Hey!" She exclaimed, climbing to her feet and approaching the pair, whose verbosity made it very apparent as to how much they were enjoying the act. Lightning quick, Sam reached out and snagged Luna around the waist, her hand briefly lingering upon Luna's rear before trailing up, her slender frame and cupping her fingers around Luna's left breast. All in the span of a few moments, without looking away from, or breaking her contact with Lincoln. The brunette found herself amazed and titillated and confused in equal measure as she found herself pressing against the blonde, who was still in the act of making out with Luna's little brother.
"Oh yeah," Sam sighed, chortling in amusement as she finally pulled away from Lincoln, the white-haired boy sagging listlessly, as if all life had been drained from him. "I can definitely work with this.
"Sam!" Luna shouted, pulling herself (however reluctantly) from the grasp of her still extremely naked girlfriend, while also surreptitiously yanking the still-dazed Lincoln from the blonde's grasp, and tucking him against her side, pausing to plant a quick kiss on the boy's cheek before turning her attention to the matter at hand. "Cut it out! This is important!"
"I'll say", said Sam, nodding in agreement. "You guys still have your clothes on. But we can fix thaaa—"
"Not that!" Luna growled, swatting the girl's wandering hands aside. "You're big too now!"
"Right?" Sam took a moment to admire herself, smiling in satisfaction. "Don't get me wrong, I was definitely enjoying being your little lady but…"
She reached down and picked up what was probably a good-sized rock for normal people, now little more than a pebble in her hands. A quick squeeze of her fist, and when opened her fingers all that was left was a fine powder, and even smaller rocks.
"Oh yeah," She chuckled, shaking the debris from her hands. "I can definitely get used to being large and in charge."
Sam let out a squeak as Luna grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around, forcing her to look Luna in the eyes. An oddly novel sensation after what they'd gone through these last few weeks.
"That...was pretty hot," Luna admitted, allowing herself a moment to bask in the girl's feat, before turning serious again. "But this is a problem!"
"How do you figure?"
"Because!" Luna shook the other girl for emphasis. "If you got big, that means whatever's happening is still happening! We need to tell Lisa about this! Now!"
"Ooooh,"
"What was that?" Luna's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What 'oooh'?"
Sam reached back and scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well, I didn't really put two and two together because...you know, everything kind of happened really fast. But...while I was up there on your head, I could see some...stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" Luna growled, giving the blonde another shake.
"That kind of stuff," said Sam, pointing over the brunette's shoulder, down at the town below them. "Looks like its still going on."
"Leni, being on the clock normally means you help other people find clothes," Fiona drawled as she lounged against a Reininger's dressing room. The fact that having this conversation in this particular place meant that she herself was going woefully underutilized as a customer service representative didn't phase her consciousness in the slightest. After all, that was what Miguel was for.
"I know, Fiona", Came Leni's reply, drifting out from the room. "But I can't focus until I get this done. I really want to have something new to wear for our next selfie session with Linky."
"That...was pretty fun," The brunette agreed, a small smile spreading across her face. "Not to mention, we all got a ton of likes on those pics."
"Right?"
The door swung open and out popped Leni.
"Wow," Said Fiona, genuinely meaning it. Leni was the kind of girl who was stunning, no matter what she wore. But some outfits definitely played to her strengths more than others.
"Really?" The blonde looked herself over, a surprisingly severe expression on her face. But then again, fashion was one of the things Leni always took very seriously. "Summer's coming up, so I thought it might be fun to do a beach thing."
"Definitely," Her friend nodded in agreement. "But...I'm a little surprised you went with the bikini."
"Well I was gonna go with this cute one-piece I found, but then I realized that Becky was definitely going to go with a bikini, and I don't want her to get ahead of me."
"Ahead of you…?"
"With Linky," Leni confirmed, very matter-of-fact about it. "I just know she's gonna...huh?"
"What's up?"
"I thought I got this in my size," Said Leni, placing her hands over her breasts. "But this top feels so...ti—"
She was abruptly cut off by a loud snap as the back of Leni's top suddenly undid itself, causing both girls to blink in befuddlement.
"Tiiii—" Leni began again, only to shriek as her body surged upward, not stopping even as her head crashed through the roof of the department store."
"And that's a birdie," Lori announced, watching with satisfaction as her ball made dropped gently inside the hole.
"Not bad, Loud." The sound of slow clapping drew Lori's attention to another blonde who was now approaching the green.
"What's with the slow clap?" Lori asked, one eyebrow raise quizzically. "Are you the villain in an 80's sports movie, or something?"
"Eh, seemed like a thing to do," Said Carol Pingrey, shrugging her shoulders. "Seriously though, great job."
"Thank you," Lori nodded appreciatively, then set about retrieving her ball.
"Although, I heard you had a fantastic run just the other day."
Lori giggled as she straightened up and stretched out her arms. "Heard about that, did you?"
"Lincoln's kind of hard to miss, these days," Carol replied with an amused smirk. "Word was gonna get around when you brought him here. But yeah, people are talking."
"Good things, I hope. But yes, I had an amazing game with an amazing caddy."
"Any chance you'd be willing to lend him out?" Carol inquired, stepping closer. "I've actually got a friendly game coming up with a few of the gals from our old golf club. It'd be fun to have that extra little edge on my side. Whaddya say?"
Lori sighed. "Sorry Carol, but no," She said, whirling around to address the other blonde. "I'm not going to...just…"
Lori blinked in surprise as she found herself looking several inches above her friend's head.
"Carol?" She asked, slowly, "Aren't we about the same height?"
"U-usually," Replied the equally confused Carol, who was unused to standing in her friend's shadow. She opened her mouth to say more, but whatever she'd intended to say quickly turned into a gasp as the shadow only grew larger, and larger…
"Hey, Lynn?"
"What!?" Seethed the sportiest Loud as she unceremoniously shoved her gym clothes into her locker, and then slammed the locker door shut. She didn't bother to turn around. She knew what the question would be. It was always the same question."
"We were just wondering when we were going to have practice at your place again?" Asked Margo.
"Never!" Lynn growled, whirling around and glaring at her friends. "So quit asking!"
"Aw come on, Lynn," Maddie pleaded. "Last time was really productive."
"No, it wasn't! All you guys did was sit around and drool over my brother!"
Click!
"We also took pictures," Said Paula, holding up her phone demonstratively. The tall blonde was taken aback as suddenly the entire group's attention was on her. "What? That's a thing that happened!"
"See?" Lynn exclaimed. "That's exactly what I'm talking about!"
She swung her arm backward, slamming it against the locker for emphasis. At least, that was her intention. Her eyes widened in surprise as the loud bang she'd been aiming for was also accompanied by the locker flying backward, crashing against the wall and displacing every other locker that was unfortunate enough to be in the way.
"Holy cow," Lynn breathed, taking in the mess that she'd inadvertently caused. "Hey! Did you guys see—"
Lynn abruptly stopped mid-sentence as a shudder overtook her body, causing her to double over. Not quite in pain, exactly. But the sensation was strange, and unlike anything, she'd ever experienced before. Even so, it passed quickly enough.
"Ugh," Lynn groaned, shaking her head as she straightened back up. "That was—OW!"
Now there was pain, a sharp, stinging sensation split right down the middle of her head. With a growl of annoyance, Lynn sharply looked up, fully prepared to exact vengeance on whatever it was that had wronged her so.
It was the locker room ceiling. Complete with a small hole, where her head had been only moments earlier.
"—Weird?" Said Lynn, completing her earlier thought. Another tremor coursed through her body, and she let out a very undignified yelp as the ceiling suddenly rushed towards her.
"This is a nightmare," Luan grumbled, pinching her nose as she peered into the mass of drama kids that were churning about the stage. "Where are my ogres!?"
"Think I saw a few of them sneak out the back," Called out a voice from the crowd, the sheer density of the thing, and the accompanying noise pollution preventing the comedienne from identifying who, if anyone, had actually responded.
"Fantastic," she groaned, dope slapping herself. "Alright, come on guys! Guys!? Hello!?"
Though only the second Loudest of the Louds, Luan prided herself on having a hefty set of lungs. The secret, she often confided in people who hadn't asked, was to never skip laughter day. Which, conveniently, was every day for her. So it came as a surprise, and no small amount of irritation when she found her voice completely swallowed up by the crowd, her calls for order both unheeded and unwanted.
With a sigh, Luan walked over to the director's chair that should have been occupied by Mrs. Bernado (who for all she knew was now among her missing ogres), and helped herself to the teacher's megaphone. Thumbing the trigger, she took in a big gasp of air, and aimed it directly at the crowd.
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" She yelled, the sound tearing through the air, magnified exponentially by the auditorium's excellent acoustics. Both the shout, and the resulting silence, were deafening. And in a matter of seconds, all eyes were on her.
"Finally," Said Luan, breathing a sigh of relief. It was only at this point that she realized she was no longer holding the megaphone. And that the room of suddenly silent drama kids were no longer looking at her, but rather up at her."
"What in the—" She began, but the stage below her suddenly gave way. To her surprise, even though there was clearly no longer any floor beneath her, the ground did not draw any closer. In fact, it swiftly drew further and further away…
"And now," Said Lucy, looking between her friends. "We will commence this latest meeting of the Half-Past Midnight Society."
It had been difficult to manage, but the spookiest Loud had, after painstaking lobbying (and the issuance of a few low-key curses), managed to reserve a small table in the darkest part of the library for her and her closest friends. While they already had the Morticians Club, there were certain...subjects, that had been deemed unfit for discussion during club time. To that end, she, Haiku, and Persephone had formed a second club, which met in the library once a week to share and discuss stories. Both those they'd read, and those they'd written themselves. For the last couple of weeks, Lucy'd had the floor all to herself, and from the eager looks of her friends, it seemed that today would follow suit. Unbothered by the attention, flattered by it, in fact, Lucy simply reached into her backpack and withdrew her manuscript.
"Alright," She said, flipping to where she'd left her marker from their previous session. "Chapter Four. 'I shivered in fear, as I beheld the sight of my dark lord. He loomed over me, his vastness indescribable. His power, impossible to deny. And yet, among the terror I felt, it was impossible to deny that there was no small amount of...anticipation…"
Persephone leaned closer to haiku, and whispered "Are we still pretending we don't know that this is about her brother?"
"Shhh!" Her fellow goth admonished her. "Shut up, she's getting to the good part."
"'Then he took me in his hands,'" Lucy recited, flipping the page, "And began to run his enormous fingers down...my…'"
Lucy trailed off, her body trembling so much that she could barely hold the pages in place. This wasn't exactly out of the ordinary. Writing and reading her own work often had this sort of effect on her, this story in particular, but it normally didn't happen for a few more pages.
"S-sorry, guys," She said, placing the manuscript down on the table. "I'm not s-sure what's come over—ME!?
A sense of vertigo overtook Lucy as the room spun around her, the only things she could perceive being the sense of rapid movement, and the distinct sound of fabric tearing. Finally, the world stabilized, and Lucy let out a sigh of relief. But that lasted only momentarily, as she realized that the library was now far below her.
"Wow," Said Persephone, peering up at her now super-sized friend. "So this is what it feels like to be short."
"This is terrible," Luna groaned, sinking to the ground, holding the still-dazed Lincoln close.
"Terrible, nothing!" Sam laughed, peering out into the distance. "This is awesome! Oh hey, look! It's that cute redhead that hangs out with Leni! Oooh! And I think that's whatshername! You know, that middle school teacher. The really hot one!"
"Luna?"
The brunette's attention was peeled away from the potentially apocalyptic events unfolding in the town below and instead focused on her brother, who had seemingly finally come to.
"What happened?" He asked, blinking slowly. "I think I might have blacked out for a minute there…"
Both siblings yelped in surprise as Sam's face suddenly appeared in their midst, as if by magic.
"Something...big, little bro," She giggled, pulling the Louds close. "Something very...big!"
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AN: Hey look! End of chapter notes! I almost never do these! Alright, so by now you've probably figured out that this is ostensibly the end of the story. I say "ostensibly", because it's not quite that simple. If you read Aces Wild, the short version is I'm doing that again. For everyone else, read on.
Basically, this story, like most of my stories, started as a bit of a gaff. I was inspired by some artwork I saw, and a reader asked for more of a particular kind of story, and this thing just kinda happened. I had fun with it, and it seems like more than a few of you did too. But after a few chapters, I decided that I couldn't maintain the status quo in this story if I wanted to do more interesting kinds of things with it. And I started thinking of ways I could drastically change the status quo to make a world that was more fun to write and (hopefully), read about. But I wasn't too keen on changing the status quo too quickly, because I was enjoying writing about Lincoln and Luna's giant antics. So I came up with a compromise, which is essentially what I did with Aces Wild. I feel like I've told a nice little (ha) Lunacoln story here, and wrapping things up here allows people who enjoyed that arrangement to have a nice, complete-ish story they can reread to their heart's content. But I can continue the story in future installments that are either shorter, self-contained stories in the same continuity, or through one-shots. I feel like that way everybody wins. I don't have another gigantic (ha) ongoing story hanging over my head, but instead something I can pick up and put down as the mood, and inspiration take me. Hopefully what I've set up here piques your interest for what kinds of things could come in the future, and if that's the case, feel free to leave a review saying as much. Knowing I have people waiting for a story tends to incentivize to write more of it faster (Stupor fans, I'll get to you, I promise. It's just hard to write a story like that when you've got exams barreling down on you.)
So yeah, hopefully you guys enjoyed the story so far, and hopefully you guys are interested in seeing what comes next.
...Goodbye.
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Seriously guys, that's the end, I don't know why you're still here.
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OH, right. Okay, I see what's going on. Apparently I'm aping that thing my buddy UnderratedHero likes to do, where he puts a post-credits scene at the end of a story as a teaser for what's to come. Thus completing my descent into being the most depraved kind of fanfic author. Alright, well, I guess we'd better get on it with it then.
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Ronnie Anne Santiago growled in irritation as something jabbed her in the side. She tried to focus on the TV, which was some kind of special report about Royal Woods. Frankly, there had been a lot of those as of late, but this one was apparently important enough that it warranted pre-empting regularly scheduled programming. And while she would never admit this aloud, something of that magnitude happening there worried her, just a bit.
After all, she had a lot invested in that town. Emotionally, among other things.
Poke
Unfortunately, she couldn't pay attention, because of this other crisis she was currently dealing with.
"Call him", Said Sid, going for another poke. This time, Ronnie spun around and tried to snatch the offending fingers out of the air before they could reach their target. Unfortunately, Sid, being as wily as she was, easily danced out of Ronnie's range, none the worse for wear. It was probably for the best, as at this point Ronnie couldn't say for certain that she wouldn't have tried to snap them off.
"Caaaaaaaall. Hiiiiiim." Sid repeated, drawing out each word to an infuriating degree.
"You've been saying that for weeks!" Ronnie snapped at her friend.
"Because that's how long you've been moping about him!" The brunette shouted back, sighing in frustration. "And every time he shows up on the news, you just get more and more mopey! Just call him, Ronnie Anne! I bet he wants to hear from you too!"
Ronnie hesitated. That was beginning to sound logical, which worried her.
"H-he probably doesn't have a phone," She replied, trying to keep her voice level. "I mean, the dope's the size of a house now. Pretty sure they don't make phones that big."
"Good thing he lives in a house with twelve other people, all of whom have phones," The Asian girl replied, smugly, causing Ronnie to wince internally. "Even the baby, for reasons that...even I don't really understand."
Darn her and her insidious logic! The one time Sid wasn't talking to clouds, or inexplicably creating sentient life out of scrap parts. This was the one thing she decided to be serious about!
"He's probably…" She began. "I mean, I don't think he's even...GAH!"
And then Sid was there, right up in her personal space. The freckled girl placed her hands on Ronnie's shoulders and gave her a comforting smile.
"Ronnie Anne," She said, giving the dark-haired girl a reassuring squeeze. "You're never going to get over this if you don't try to talk to him. I know you're worried about him. It's natural. And I bet he's waiting to hear from you too. Call him. Trust me, you won't regret it."
"You...you really think so?" Ronnie asked, dubiously. "We weren't talking all that much even before he...changed. And now...I dunno. It feels like it'd be weird to just...call him out of the blue."
"But you want to talk to him, right?"
"...Maybe," She said, grudgingly. "It...might be nice to hear from him again. Make sure he's still okay. You know, emotionally...or whatever."
"Then call him." Said Sid, giving Ronnie a little shake. "I bet Lincoln would love to hear from you! He's one of your best friends!"
"I...guess," Ronnie admitted, flushing a shade darker than normal.
"And he's a total sweetie," Sid continued. "He's not gonna hold it against you that you haven't called him for a while. He's just gonna be happy to hear from you at all!"
"Lincoln is...pretty bad at holding a grudge," Ronnie chuckled. "He really is too nice for his own good."
"And he's super hot now! Did you see that news report about him saving those kids from that runaway bus? That outfit leaves nothing to the imagination! Whoo!"
"I guess he has filled out pretty...Hey!" Ronnie directed a baleful glare at her friend.
"What?" Said Sid, shrugging. "I'm just dropping truth bombs."
Ronnie simply stared at her friend. Several minutes later, the pair were still staring at each other.
"What are we doing?" Ronnie said, at last, looking around the room.
"I dunno," Sid replied. "Kind of feels like something should have happened right then."
"What kind of something?"
"Something at least vaguely comedic, I guess. You know, given that we were having that whole back and forth. So, strictly from a matter of timing, it would make sense if we were suddenly interrupted by something really wacky happening."
Again, Ronnie stared at her friend. Albeit this time, less from irritation, and more from curiosity.
"Sid, you say a lot of silly things. But that definitely ranks among the—"
CRASH
Whatever else Ronnie had been planning on saying was abruptly swallowed up as something crashed through the apartment wall, lowing through it like it was tissue paper.
"Sid!" Ronnie called out, coughing from all the dust that was kicked up by the commotion. "Are you okay!?"
"I'm fine!" Came her friend's voice. "I was just knocked back by this...thing? Speaking of, what the heck is this?"
"This may be the fumes," Ronnie began, peering quizically at the tree-trunk-sized object that had speared right through her bedroom, and was looming high above her. "But it kind of looks like...a leg?"
"HEY, GUYS!?"
Ronnie clasped her hands over her ears as a loud, booming voice resounded throughout what was left of the apartment. The part of her brain that wasn't writhing in agony told her that was Carlota's voice. But, even her dust and pain-addled mind realized that didn't make any sense. Unless…
"ANYONE THERE?" The voice that sounded suspiciously like her cousin's called out. Suddenly, the leg-like thing kicked, tearing another chunk out of the wall and kicking up even more dust and debris. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON! I'M SOMEHOW INSIDE THE APARTMENT, BUT ALSO...OUTSIDE? I COULD USE SOME HELP!"
To be continued…?