Rick and The Loud House

by Itsnouse95

In one of many alternate universes, Rick Sanchez doesn’t have just one grandson and one granddaughter. He has one grandson and ten granddaughters.

48. No Such Thing As Luck

AN-The song that comes up in this chapter is Crash and Burn by PhaseOne

...

Lincoln reappeared in what looked like some kind of cube shaped labortory. He blinked in confusion as his outfit transformed back into his usual outfit. "Wait...what?" Wherever he had gone, he was now free of Lynn's influence as everything started coming back to him. Strangely enough, he could still remember the events of the past week. He wondered how that worked, considering everyone seemed to usually forget their experience of being brainwashed.

Before he had time to process any of this, the door to the lab opened and a familiar face stepped in. "Ah. If you're here, I guess Rick's prediction came true then." Zeep surmised.

Lincoln stared at him in confusion. He recognised Zeep from the Royal Woods Astonishing Quest when he teamed with Lisa and Darcy though all he knew about him otherwise was that he came from the Microverse. "W-What?" Lincoln stammered, still trying to process everything.

Zeep gestured for Lincoln to follow him. Lincoln left the cube shaped ship and entered Zeep's lab. "So, if you're here, that means your sister took all of those infinity balls and took over the world. However, since it's influence doesn't reach my universe, you were able to come here thanks to a clue left by Rick. Is that about right?"

Lincoln stared at Zeep in shock. "Rick...planned for all of this?" He then gave Zeep a pointed look. "Wait, I thought you and Rick didn't get along?"

"You mean because of the quest thing?" Zeep waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, that was mostly an act to throw Lynn off. He's had a feeling Lynn was up to something ever since she came back. Good thing Rick never told your sister about this universe, huh?" Zeep then noticed a mix of emotions on Lincoln's face. "Uh, do you need a moment?"

"It's just...I can't believe Lynn would do something like this. And that Rick knew it would happen. Why didn't Rick try to stop her from doing this?"

Zeep shrugged. "Look, I don't know all the details of whatever's going on with you and your family. You're gonna have to ask Rick that yourself. He just asked me to finish his research on ways to completely block off the effects of the infinity balls. Which I've managed to do." Zeep picked a vial of green liquid and placed it inside an injector. "If I'm correct, this serum should completely block off the effects of any amount of infinity balls."

Lincoln hesitantly approached Zeep who then injected the serum into his neck. As Lincoln rubbed his neck, Zeep picked up another vial before placing it into the injector and then another extra vial. "We didn't exactly have enough time to mass produce these so you'll only be able to free two other people from your sister's brainwashing. One of them needs to be Rick and I guess you can choose whoever else for the other one. You got all this?"

Lincoln nodded as Zeep handed him the equipment. He wasn't sure why Rick trusted him with all this but despite his current issues, he knew this needed to be done. No one else could do it.

"Good." Zeep then picked up a large suitcase before also handing it to Lincoln. "Give this to Rick when you've freed him. All of this stuff should also be unaffected by the infinity balls' influence."

"But how do you know? Have you been able to test it."

"We haven't exactly had any opportunities to test any of this but my calculations are usually never wrong so you should be fine." Zeep replied. Lincoln gulped, not liking the sound of this. "Well, all you need to do now is go back."

"Right." Lincoln was about to head back into the cube ship before he turned back to Zeep. "Uh, how do I get back again?"

Zeep rolled his eyes. "It's the big red button."

"Right. Got it."

...

Upon returning to his room, Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief as the serum worked. He was still in control of his mind. Though his clothes still turned back into that red outfit. He frowned as he looked around his room. All of his comics and action figures had been replaced with sports equipment. He thought back over today. How Lynn tried so hard to get him into any kind of sport. People have made fun of his interests before and he usually brushed it off. But Lincoln still couldn't help but feel hurt that Lynn would go this far just to change him.

Though, on the other hand, a small voice in his head was wondering if another reason Lynn did all this was because she wanted he and her to be as close as they used to be. Before they started drifting apart. He knew that incident in that post apocalyptic wasteland traumatised her but that couldn't be the only reason she'd do something like this. Could it?

Lincoln sighed. What did it matter what he thought? It's not like there was anything he could do to help this situation beyond freeing Rick of Lynn's mind control. He wasn't exactly a good person either so who was he to tell her that what she was doing was wrong? It's not like Lynn would listen to him anyway. Even if a part of him just really wanted to talk with her. Pushing these thoughts aside, Lincoln left his room as he started to think about which of his sisters he should free from Lynn's brainwashing. Maybe Lori would be able to do something to help here. Or perhaps Lisa?

"Five! Six! Seven! Eight! You suck! Lynn's great!" Lincoln heard Lucy chanting from her room. If anyone in their family knew Lynn the best, it was her roommate, Lucy. Maybe there was something she could do to help.

Lincoln put down the suitcase before entering Lucy's room to see her in the middle of a cheerleading routine before she noticed Lincoln. "Oh, hey Lincoln. What's up?" It was so weird for Lincoln to hear Lucy talk with so much emotion in her voice. She almost sounded just like Lynn.

"Hey, um...can I tell you something secret?" Lincoln asked.

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "Um, ok?" Lincoln gestured for her to come over, giving her the impression that he wanted to whisper it.

Once she got close enough, he injected her with the serum he had been hiding behind his back. "Guh!" She gave Lincoln a surprised look at first before a look of realisation appeared on her face. "Lincoln? How did...?

"Apparently Rick had a feeling something like this would happen so he had a backup plan involving the Microverse." Lincoln explained.

"I see..." Lucy was then overcome with a mix of emotions. "How...how could she do something like this?"

Lincoln frowned, looking downwards. "I don't think I can answer that."

There was a moment of silence before Lucy asked. "So what now?"

"Only thing left is to free Rick from being brainwashed." Lincoln replied as he placed the final vial into the injector.

Lincoln then stepped out of the room and picked up the briefcase. Lucy was about to follow him before she paused upon noticing herself in the mirror. She stared at herself for a moment. While she was disgusted that Lynn would try to warp her into something she wasn't, she had to admit, she looked kind of cute with pigtails. "Huh."

"Lucy?" Lincoln called after her.

"Ah-coming!" Lucy replied, looking somewhat embarrassed as she dashed out of her room.

...

Lincoln and Lucy entered the garage. Rick was working with his chemistry set before he quickly noticed them. "Oh, h-hey kids!" He then noticed their mixed expressions. "Uh, is something wrong?"

"Uh, we just need to tell you something." Lincoln lied.

Rick raised an eyebrow at Lincoln. "Ok?" He then approached the two. Once he was close enough, Lincoln quickly injected Rick with the serum. "Gah!" Rick stumbled back for a moment before a look of realisation appeared on his face. He then looked annoyed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fuck, I hate being right sometimes."

Lincoln scowled. "What's going on? Did you seriously plan for all of this to happen?"

"Not exactly." Rick explained. "I did suspect something like this might happen after four infinity balls just showed up out of nowhere. Your sister isn't exactly good at covering her tracks. I mean, she showed up out of nowhere with amnesia and a broken portal gun. Did she seriously expect me not to get suspicious. She didn't even ask about what happened to her muscled up arm since, according to her, she should've still remembered having it."

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked.

"I'll explain it later."

"Well if you knew something like this was gonna happen, why didn't you stop her before she even thought of it?" Lincoln asked.

"Simple. I wanted to see what she'd do."

Both Lincoln and Lucy gave Rick a look of disbelief. "Seriously?" Lucy asked.

Rick shrugged. "I didn't see much point in interrogating her so I decided to let things play out to see what she'd do and how'd she do it. Now that it's happened, I now know that she's at least been in contact with someone with access to alternate universes. That's valuable information, kids." Rick then looked around at his surroundings. "Gotta admit though, I'm kind of impressed that Lynn would go this far just to get one over on me." He noticed Lincoln and Lucy still giving him looks of disapproval. "Oh, gimme a break. So you spent a week brainwashed, it's no big deal. Uh, speaking of which, is there any more serum?"

Lincoln shook his head. "Zeep only had time to make enough for three people."

Rick sighed. "Alright, fine, I can work with this. I'm guessing that's for me, right?" He asked, pointing towards the briefcase Lincoln was holding.

"Huh? Oh, right." Lincoln handed Rick the briefcase.

Lucy shook her head. "I don't understand. Why is Lynn doing all of this anyway?"

"Because your sister's a massive narcissist who feels insecure any time she's not the centre of attention." Rick replied plainly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to change." He then headed into his own room.

After Rick left, Lucy gave Lincoln a questioning look. "Is there something both of you aren't telling me?"

Lincoln sighed. "Honestly, I don't know where to start. You remember when Lynn went to compete in that intergalactic softball tournament?" Lucy nodded. "Well, that actually never happened. When we went on that adventure, Lynn basically challenged some people to a fight and it...caused her to lose an eye." Lucy's mouth hung open at this. "She blamed Rick for what happened and called him bad luck. Then she stole Rick's portal gun and ran away for three months before randomly coming back with amnesia. Though, by the sounds of it, she was just faking it. We didn't tell you guys because we didn't want you to panic." He started to look guilty. "Though, I guess in hindsight, we should've told you guys. I'm sorry."

Lucy took a moment to process all of this. She knew that Lynn had some issues before all of this happened. She couldn't imagine what something like that would do to her. "Sigh. So that's why she's been acting so strange ever since she came back. Is that why she did all of this?"

Lincoln scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure. I think it's more complicated then that."

Rick then came back into the garage, now wearing his old outfit again. "Have to admit, dealing with Lynn now's gonna be a pain in the ass. I had Zeep work with most of my gear but I'd be lying if I said I was fully prepared to deal with her."

"So what's the plan?" Lincoln asked.

"It's two plans, actually. This one might make things easier." Lincoln's eyes widened as Rick got out Lincoln's Ace Savvy outfit.

"So that's why you didn't let Lincoln take it before." Lucy said in realisation.

"I've seen what Lynn's been doing ever since she took over. It seems to me that she wants to rekindle some level of closeness you two used to have. If you challenge her like this, there's a good chance she won't actually want to fight you. Hell, you might even be able to talk her out of all of this."

Lincoln stared at the outfit for a moment before looking away. "I'm sorry but...I can't."

"Huh? W-Why not?"

"I just can't. I can't help Lynn. I'd only make things worse." Lincoln turned his back to Rick and Lucy. "I'm not a good person. I've done some bad stuff in trying to help people. I thought helping people might make me feel good enough. But all it did was show how worthless I really was."

"Lincoln..." Lucy said softly.

Rick looked somewhat surprised by this as he put the outfit aside. "Ok, um...Jesus. Alright, that's fine. I can deal with Lynn alone. I-It's no problem."

Lucy gave Rick a concerned look. "Are you sure? How strong does five infinity balls make her?"

"Lucy, it's me your talking about here. I'm Rick Motherfucking Sanchez! I'm the smartest man in the universe! When have I ever lost?"

"You lost to that goose."

Rick frowned at Lucy. "Ok, that only happened because I was completely unprepared. If I were ready for it, that goose would've been dead within a minute. B-Besides it only got that strong because it got into MY stuff." Lucy didn't look completely convinced. "Look, don't worry about this. I've got this. I'll get the infinity balls back and we'll be done with this social darwinist hell." He then got out his portal gun. "You kids ready to go?"

Lincoln shook his head. "I think it's best if I just stayed here."

Rick sighed in annoyance. "Fine. Lucy, you coming?"

"Give me a minute." Lucy said before going over to Lincoln to place a hand on his shoulder. "Lincoln, I know Lori's already told you this, but you're not worthless. You never needed to prove yourself to us."

Lincoln sighed. "Lucy, you saw what I was like when I was detoxified. I was a selfish jerk. That's what I am underneath it all."

Lucy shrugged. "We all have our selfish sides. I don't think you're a bad person."

Lincoln turned to look at her with a defeated expression. "Thanks, Lucy. But I think it's best if I just stayed out of it."

Lucy was silent for a moment. "Sigh. If that's what makes you happy."

Lincoln stared at Lucy as she went back over to Rick. Rick then fired a portal before he and Lucy stepped into it, leaving Lincoln alone. He remembered Lucy saying something similar back when he was detoxified. It was the biggest reason he chose to go back to normal. Because he wasn't happy with being a selfish jerk. Now he was wondering if he really was happy being like this.

...

After arriving at the White House, Lynn entered the Oval Office, which was now decorated with her trophies and portraits of herself. She was greeted by her butler, who just so happened to be the former President of the United States. "Good afternoon, President Lynn Sanchez. May I offer you a protein shake?" He offered Lynn a protein shake on a silver platter.

"Thanks, Curtis." Lynn said before taking the protein shake. Just as she was about to take a sip, her eyes widened. "Wait, what did you just call me?"

"President Lynn Loud." Curtis repeated.

Lynn stared at Curtis for a moment. "R-Right." She then went over to sit at the President's desk, resting her feet on it as she drank her shake. She didn't exactly come here to work as the world ran itself anyway. She just came here whenever she needed time to herself.

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Ms. President?" Curtis asked.

"Nah." Lynn replied. Though she looked like she was relaxed, her mind was in turmoil. Why was she unhappy? She had everything she ever wanted. She was at the top of the world. She was basically a God. And yet all it took to make it all crash down was Lincoln telling her that he might not be made for sports. Why? Why was this such a big deal?

Well she supposed she knew the answer to that. She cared about him. She wanted to help him be strong, right? The world was cruel and she wanted to prepare him for it. But then again, why would he need protection when he has her? Did he really need this? And why did it sting so much when he said that? Why did it scare her? Was it wrong to do this? Was it guilt that she felt?

She shook her head. Why was she thinking like this? She ruled the world. She dictated what was right on wrong. Maybe she was overthinking this. It was likely that the reason he didn't enjoy any of those sports were because his body was weak. She needed to help him muscle up, get him to work out more.

Before she could think about it any further, a portal suddenly appeared in the office. The person that stepped out of it was the last person she wanted to see right now. "What up bitches? Bet you weren't expecting me, were you?" Rick taunted.

Lynn stared in shock. "Wha? How are...what did...?

"You didn't think I'd be prepared for this? I knew you'd try something as soon as you came back. You're not exactly a good actor, Lynn."

Lynn then noticed someone else had stepped through the portal. "Lucy?"

Lucy looked away from her. She didn't know what to say then. She knew what Lynn's been through but she couldn't help but feel angry at the person that took over the world and brainwashed her.

"Yeah, she's free from your brainwashing. Lincoln too." Rick explained.

Lynn's eyes widened in horror. "...what?"

Rick then glanced around the room, whistling. "Gotta admit though, I'm kind of impressed you pulled all of this off. Though to be honest, if you were really that curious about what it would be like to rule the world, you could've just asked me. I could probably have done it in like, an hour tops."

Lynn scowled. Admittedly, her anxiety spiked upon seeing Rick like this but hearing Rick flaunt his ego again made her blood boil. She wasn't going to allow him to make her look weak. "Yeah, well, unlike you, I wasn't just born a God. I actually earned it."

Rick raised an eyebrow at her. "Jesus, you're full of yourself. It's no wonder you run the world under a social darwinist anarchist regime. Which I guess sounds cool as long as you're at the top of the food chain. Not so much for everyone else."

"And what would you do? Make everyone listen to your lame references?"

"I'm not interested in ruling the Earth. It's pretty much fucked anyway; there's like, almost no hope for world peace at this point. Though if I had to run it, I'd uplift the most talented, not whoever the biggest muscle head is because believe it or not, kicking a ball into a net or hitting one with a bat doesn't contribute as much to society as you think it does. Also, what, you think your fart based humour is any better?"

Lynn growled in anger. "You just think you're the best at everything, don't you? Then why are you such a miserable, old jerk?!"

Rick rolled his eyes. "What, you think you can play psychiatrist now? No offence but I think I'd rather take my chances with Dr. Phil and he's not even a real psychologist. He's a hack that exploits people's issues for views and money which is really-"

As Rick was talking, Lynn got up and walked over to him before spitting into his face. Rick paused, wide eyed while both Lucy and Curtis gasped, staring at the two nervously. Lynn glared at Rick defiantly. "You're. Not. Funny."

Rick slowly wiped the spit from his face as a look of fury appeared on his face. "Alright. Alright, you little shit. You think you're top shit? You think you're the alpha? You think you're anything more than an insecure jock? Fucking prove it then!" He stretched his arms out, as if daring Lynn to hit him.

"You wanna fight?!" Lynn growled through gritted teeth. "Fine! But not here. We'll fight where I'll say we'll fight."

"Hey, I'll fight wherever you want, it's not gonna make a difference."

A twisted grin appeared on Lynn's face. "Well then, I hope you're ready because you're about to get fucking destroyed."

...

Lincoln was sat on the front steps of the house. Earlier, he had been watching a row of cars all go down the street until it was completely empty. It almost seemed like everyone in town was heading somewhere. He even noticed his family drive off in the family van without even noticing him in the garage. Lincoln was now left alone with his own thoughts. He knew it was pointless to do so but he couldn't help but think about Lynn and what led her to do all of this. He knew what happened in that post apocalyptic world was a major contribution but that couldn't have been the only thing. He's not sure what happened while she ran away but he knew that she's had issues beforehand. Ever since she started middle school. When they started drifting apart. He never wanted them to drift apart but her change in attitude made it really hard for him to want to hang around her. Her over competitiveness. Her roughness. She couldn't even stay a night in his room without making it unbearable. Though, now that he thought about it, he remembered her being meaner than usual to him afterwards when he basically admitted he didn't like her staying with him.

Maybe it hurt her. Maybe she never wanted them to drift apart either. Lincoln frowned in thought. Maybe all of this could have been prevented if he had just talked to her. He always tried to avoid her but maybe if they had just discussed her issues, he could've perhaps got her to tone things down. Heck, maybe if he'd talked to her after she came back, he could've prevented all of this.

He looked downwards. No, he wouldn't have been able to help. What were the chances she would even listen to him anyway. She'd have probably just told him to toughen up or deny anything was wrong. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Why did he keep thinking like this? What exactly did he want to do?

He glanced to his left. Once again, he thought he caught sight of someone looking at him past the boards on the window. He narrowed his eyes. He remembered that people that held the infinity balls weren't affected by it afterwards. And after Lynn took over, he didn't remember seeing Darcy, Mr. Grouse, Maggie or Carol ever since. Was Mr. Grouse still home?

Only one way to find out as he headed over to his house and knocked on the door. "Hello? Mr. Grouse? Is anyone home?" There wasn't any answer. "You can trust me. I'm not brainwashed anymore."

After a couple seconds, he heard a couple sounds from behind the door before Mr. Grouse opened it, giving him a suspicious look. "How'd you get unbrainwashed?"

"Turns out Rick had a backup plan."

Mr. Grouse scoffed. "Of course he did." He allowed Lincoln to go inside where he found Darcy, Maggie and Carol all staring at him, having overheard the conversation.

"You guys are here too?" Lincoln asked.

"Where else are we supposed to go?" Maggie snarked.

"It's scary out there." Darcy added.

Carol had a tense look on her face, looking like she was trying not to lose it. "Hey, Lincoln, um, now that you're not brainwashed, do you mind telling us what the heck is going on here?"

Lincoln scratched the back of his head. "It's...kind of a long story."

Maggie shrugged. "Not like we have anything better to do."

Lincoln sighed. "Ok. Well..."

...

Both Rick and Lucy sat inside of the helicopter taking them to the arena where Rick and Lynn would fight. Lucy gave Rick a worried look. "Did this really have to end in a fight?"

Rick sighed. "Look, she's got the power of five infinity balls. Trying to take them at the White House would've been too risky. We don't know what she's capable of now. Better to do it in whatever arena she's got prepared for us."

"Sigh. I guess that makes sense. But did you need to antagonise her like that?"

Rick was silent for a moment. "Challenging her ego got her to agree to this fight, didn't it?" At least that's what he told her. But he knew deep down why he did it. To assert his own dominance yet again. If there was one thing that set him off, it was people who acted like they were better than him. And Lynn's ego truly drove him up the wall. He'd known that she wanted to try to one up him ever since she came back. That's why he kept trying to assert his dominance. He thought it might make her give up. Make her realise she was way out of his league. Instead her response wasn't too different to something he would do. Go above and beyond to prove that she's better.

Truthfully, he knew deep down that trying to put her off trying anything wasn't the only reason he did that. Part of it was anger at her running away. All the stress and worry she'd caused him. The other part was the same as always. Wanting to feel in control. Wanting to prove to everyone else that he was the alpha. Even after Lori called him out and exposed this, he still couldn't help himself. It's just like Unity said. He couldn't change. He still made excuses for himself. He still couldn't help being abrasive. He still needed to feel like he was above everyone else. Because every time he tried to stop, he felt scared. Scared of getting hurt again. Scared of being rejected again. Scared of feeling miserable. Scared of going through another incident like Birdperson's wedding. And yet all he really achieved from all of this was the situation he was in now. Maybe Lynn was right about him being bad luck. Bad luck seemed to follow him all of his life.

Rick glanced outside the window, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of the 'arena' the helicopter was headed towards. It was literally a huge football stadium floating in the sky. "Geez, overdramatic much, Lynn?" Rick snarked, doing pretty well to hide his nervousness. As he had said, he didn't really know what Lynn was capable of at this point. He needed to be ready. He might need to use everything he had and all of his abilities to take Lynn down. He couldn't just kill her either, considering his subterranean lab didn't even exist any more so he couldn't rely on that extra body. He couldn't do anything that would destroy the entire stadium either.

Not to mention now that he was completely disconnected from Operation Phoenix, if he fucked up and got himself killed, he probably wouldn't be coming back from it this time. Despite the dire situation, a small smirk appeared on his face. He had to admit, that would be a pretty fitting way to go out. Killed by someone just as broken and fucked up as he was.

As he thought to himself how he was going to deal with Lynn, he put on his anti-booby suit.

...

"And that's when I came here." Lincoln finished, now currently sat on the sofa. Mr. Grouse, Maggie and Carol all had stunned expressions on their faces while Darcy just looked lost.

Eventually, the silence was broken by Mr. Grouse. "Anyone ever tell you that your family's kinda messed up?"

Carol was still stunned after hearing all of that. "Wow...that's...a lot."

Maggie scowled. "So, all of this is your grandpa's fault."

Lincoln scratched the back of his head. "I dunno about all of it. All of this started when Lynn just kind of...lost it that day."

"Even so, she wouldn't have lost an eye if your grandpa didn't take her to a place like that in the first place." Maggie argued.

"I guess but... I don't know, it's complicated."

"So your grandpa's now going to take those infinity balls back and make everything normal again?" Carol asked.

Lincoln nodded. "Yeah. Only thing we can really do now is wait." He then sighed, looking downcast.

Darcy quickly noticed this. "Are you okay, Lisa's brother?"

Lincoln forced a smile. "Oh, i-it's nothing."

Maggie had also noticed how troubled he looked. "Is there something else on your mind."

Lincoln's expression became mixed. "It's...kinda personal."

Maggie took a moment to think about what to say. "You don't have to tell us anything else but...sometimes it helps to talk to people outside of your family about your problems. Even if it's just to, like, get it off your chest."

Lincoln's expression was unsure. "I dunno..."

"We promise whatever you say will never leave this room." She looked at the others. "Right?"

"I promise!" Darcy said without hesitation.

Mr. Grouse shrugged. "Sure."

Carol, on the other hand, looked conflicted. However, she eventually nodded her head. "Yeah. I promise too."

Lincoln thought it over for a moment. He hadn't wanted to trouble his family with his issues. But a part of him really wanted to just get it all off of his chest. He exhaled. "Alright, it's just that...ever since I was young, I always felt overshadowed by my sisters. They were all so talented compared to me. It made me feel kind of...worthless. So I ended up just trying to help them with stuff like helping them with their work or playing with them. It made me feel like I was worth something." He frowned as a feeling of guilt started to rear its head. "But lately, I've realised my help hasn't always been helpful. Sometimes it's only made things worse. And not only that but..." He started to look distraught. "I've done some really bad things trying to help my family. Things I'n really not proud of." He didn't want to tell them that those bad things involved killing people. "I thought they were the right things to do at the time but when I realised that the reason I helped people in the first place was for validation. Th-That I did all those things just to make myself feel good." His eyes started to water. "It made me feel like a monster." He sniffled, wiping his tears away. "That's when I decided I wasn't going to try and help people any more. Any help a selfish jerk like me offers isn't any good to anyone anyway."

The others all had a look of shock on their faces. Eventually, Darcy broke the silence. "B-But Lisa says you're a great big brother!"

Lincoln gave her a light smile. "Thanks but...it doesn't change what I've done. Or why I did them."

Mr. Grouse went over to take a seat next to Lincoln. "Mind if I ask ya something?" Lincoln nodded. "So, when you threw me that Christmas party and got me that bus ticket so I could see my family; are you telling me that you only did all that for validation?"

"I..." Lincoln frowned in thought. That didn't sound right. His family assured him that he didn't need to help people to feel validated at that point and it's not like he had anything to prove to Mr. Grouse. "No. I...I don't think I did."

"Then what did you do all that for?"

Why did he do it? Well, he saw the situation Mr. Grouse was in and he wanted to make him feel better. Lincoln's eyed widened. Was he wrong? Was the actual reason he was so set on helping people because he actually just wanted to make people happy and feel better? How did he not realise this? Maybe he did only help people out for validation at first but why did he still need it at this point? He had been so blinded by his own guilt that he didn't even realise that he just simply enjoyed helping people. He liked making people happy. Thinking about it, not even his recent funk really stopped him. He still gave Bobby a ride in the cruiser to that snake planet when he asked. He still wanted to save Mr. Grouse from the infinity ball's influence. And truthfully, he still wanted to help Lynn now. He supposed he just couldn't help himself.

Heck, it was even the reason he wanted to draw comics. Not just to prove his skills. But because he liked seeing people enjoy his comics. He liked entertaining people. Realising all of this was such a relief.

"Sounds to me like you're not as selfish as you think you are." Maggie remarked.

However, Lincoln then frowned as he remembered something. "But...what about all the bad things I've done?"

Mr. Grouse waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, we all make mistakes, lord knows I've made a lot. The important thing is you learn from them and take some responsibility."

Lincoln started thinking about Lynn again. How maybe he could've prevented all of this and just talked to her at some point instead of avoiding her. A look of determination appeared on his face. "I need to do something." He said before suddenly getting up and running out of the house. He ran over to the Loud House's garage before picking up his Ace Savvy outfit.

Rick sometimes told Lincoln that Ace Savvy was basically just 'Superman with a card gimmick'. He hoped he meant it.

...

"Welcome everyone, to the fight of the century!" An announcer said to the cheering crowd at the stadium. "Introducing first. He's the meaner, drunker version of Doc Brown. It's Rick Sanchez!"

Rick Sanchez walked onto the field from one side of the stadium to a generic sci-fi entrance theme. Immediately, the crowd erupted into a chorus of boos. Rick glared at the crowd in response. "Oh, like I care about being booed by a bunch of brainwashed morons!" He shouted. He looked around the stadium. It truly was massive. Big enough to fit all the citizens of Royal Woods in it. In fact, now that he looked closer, he could see people from Royal Woods here. From Clyde's family to Leni's co-workers, it looked like everyone from Royal Woods was here. He heard that Lucy was sat at the front somewhere but it was hard to spot her. Considering how huge the stadium was, he decided to use his portal gun to reach the centre of the stadium to save everyone's time.

"And his opponent." The announcer continued. "The unbeatable, unstoppable, President of the world, Lynn Loud!"

Pyrotechnics were then set off all around the field as Lynn entered the field from the other side of the stadium to a rather patriotic theme song which sounded like it would fit an Olympic hero. The crowd immediately erupted with cheers of adoration. Rick noticed that her appearance had now changed. She was wearing what looked like red and white MMA uniform, which included a vest, shorts and gloves. Strangely enough, she also now had some heavy black eyeliner, making it look like there were dark circles around her eyes. She posed and flexed as she basked in the audience's adoration while fireworks were set off and confetti rained down. Flags were then raised at all sides at the top of the stadium, all resembling the flag of the United States. Except instead of stars, all of the flags had Lynn's face on them. Lynn saluted the flags as they were raised up.

Rick rolled his eyes at the display of utter narcissism. However, the moment he took his eyes off her, he suddenly realised that she was now close to the centre once he looked back. Rick also noted that Lynn didn't look nervous in the slightest. She looked completely confident. The announcer spoke again. "Who will come out on top? What happens when the smartest man in the universe takes on the strongest woman in the universe?"

Rick then saw a spiked, metal bat materialise in Lynn's hand. However, she didn't seem to be making any move for the first strike. Rick took this opportunity to press some buttons on his watch. A forcefield appeared around him. Then a second forcefield. Then a third forcefield which started off sphere shaped before shrinking down to fit his form. "Have you got enough shields?" Lynn asked mockingly.

"Hope you don't blame bad luck again when you lose this time." Rick taunted, hoping to distract her as he fired a portal beneath his feet which led to directly above her, hoping to end this quick by taking the infinity balls away from her.

However, with insane speed, Lynn smashed Rick with her bat while he was still in the air. "GAH!" Rick was sent flying before landing painfully on the ground. The impact had also destroyed one of his forcefields. He slowly got up, staring at Lynn in shock. Even with all of his forcefields, Lynn was still able to hurt him.

Lynn laughed at Rick's expression. "You know, maybe you're right. Maybe you're not bad luck." She then gave Rick a death glare. "I just fucking hate you."

Rick fired a glare back before shouting. "Go, go Sanchez ski shoes!" This caused rocket powered ski shoes to appear underneath his feet before he blasted towards Lynn.

Lynn looked unimpressed. "Seriously?" She then dashed forward before stomping on the skis, breaking them apart and sending Rick flying.

However, while he was in the air, he activated his jet powered shoes, causing him to fly back towards Lynn as he tried to grab her sweatband again. It seemed like Lynn was unaware of this as she stood there for a moment before disappearing at the last second before he could touch her. "Huh?" Lynn then reappeared above him before swinging her bat down on him, sending him crashing down and destroying another forcefield. "ARGH!"

Lynn disappeared then reappeared nearby Rick as he slowly got back up. Her bat had disappeared. "Had enough? Maybe you'd do better if you actually toughened up instead of relying on your dumb, nerdy gadgets."

"Fuck you." Rick responded before getting out his freeze ray and firing at her, encasing her in a block of ice.

A second later, the ice shattered. "Is that all you got?"

He fired another gun at her that seemingly created a forcefield around her that froze her in time. Once again, it took her a second to break out of it. "Ok, now you're annoying me." She zipped towards Rick before throwing a punch at him. However, surprise, her fist bounced off of him. "What the?"

Rick grinned. "Not this time. This one's a deflector shield. I'd like to see you try and break this-GACK!" Lynn zipped to him before grabbing him by his throat, lifting him into the air as she floated above the ground. However, Rick then grinned. "Bad idea."

"Huh?" Rick's nanofiber defence mesh then activated, causing an electrical explosion from Rick's throat that sent Lynn flying back, forced to let go of Rick who activated his rocket powered shoes again. "Rrrgh!" She flew towards Rick, attempting to punch him, only for him to phase through her. "Huh?" Rick then made another attempt to grab her sweatband, only for Lynn to catch his arm first. She began to slowly twist it.

"Aargh!" Rick cried out in pain.

"You're not gonna beat me if you keep trying that." Lynn told him.

Out of desperation, Rick grabbed his tranquilliser gun with his free hand and fired it at her. It had no effect on her whatsoever but it did distract her momentarily, giving Rick just enough time to escape her grasp and fly away. As he flew, he dropped some strange devices on the ground before firing another portal and flying into it.

Lynn landed back on the ground as she looked around for any sign of Rick before noticing that the devices that Rick left had all formed into floating cubes with spiked on them that began to float towards her. "Oh, please-huh?" Before she could take action, a couple multi-coloured drones flew around her before restraining her arms, legs, torso and head with steel wires. Noticing that the cubes were getting closer, she broke out of the restraints, destroying the drones in the process before materialising her bat again. A second later, Lynn had smashed each of the cubes in the blink of an eye as they all exploded at the same time.

As the smoke from the explosions settled, Lynn's eyes widened as she realised she was now surrounded by an army of Rick. All of them began cartwheeling around her, laughing at her. Lynn looked around, trying to see which one was real but to no avail as they all looked identical. Lynn then closed her eyes, concentrating as she prepared her bat. After a moment, she swung it behind her, striking an invisible Rick, destroying both his invisibility belt and his last shield, leaving him with only his anti-booby suit to protect him.

Rick rolled across the ground before eventually coming to a stop. He looked over to see Lynn slowly approach him. "Looks like you're out of shields."

Rick got up before pressing something on his watch. "Not quite." He said before activating another forcefield. Though while his other forcefields have all been blue so far, this one was orange.

Lynn rolled her eyes. "Ok, this getting kinda dumb now." She then swung her bat at Rick, striking him, only to be caught off guard as Rick then punched her back, sending her flying to the other side of the stadium. "Gah!"

Rick chuckled as Lynn slowly got up, staring at Rick in surprise. Her ponytail had been knocked loose, letting her hair go wild. "This forcefield absorbs pain and turns it into power." Rick explained. "You're fucked now, Lynn!"

After a moment of stunned silence, to Rick's confusion, Lynn started chuckling herself. "Alright. Guess I'll actually start trying now." She grinned as a red aura exploded around her."

Rick scowled at Lynn before using her portal gun to close the distance between them. He then punched Lynn again except this time, she didn't even flinch. "RRRRAAAAAARRRGGGGHHH!" Rick screamed as he began rapidly punching at her. Lynn simply stood there, not reacting to a single punch.

Once Rick exhausted himself, Lynn dusted herself off before moving a strand of hair out of her face to further rub salt into the wound. She then grinned. "My turn."

She punched Rick once, destroying his pain absorber shield and sending him flying across the field. Before he even had time to recover, he was struck again. And then again from another direction. Lynn used her blinding speed to continuously strike him with her bat, not giving him a chance to recover. Eventually, Rick attempted to try and phase through Lynn's attacks again, only for Lynn to grab him midway through and throw him across the stadium again.

Rick coughed, clutching his chest as he got back up again. His injuries were starting to accumulate. He looked over to see Lynn about to throw her bat towards him. "Try deflecting this!" Lynn shouted before throwing her bat.

Thinking fast, Rick reached his arm out, attempting to catch the bat with the magnet on his enhanced arm. Unfortunately, he underestimated the bat's power as it instead tore his arm off once it collided with it, along with a part of the anti-booby suit. "GAAAARRGGGH! GOD!"

Lynn laughed as Rick got out a device and placed it on the floor which then created a dome shaped forcefield around him. "I thought you were supposed to be the smartest guy in the universe?" Lynn taunted. Rick then got out a bronze, cylinder shaped device. "Why so many shields? What have you got to hide?" Lynn asked.

Rick plunged the device into the spot where his arm was missing. "HRRRRAAARGH!" Rick screamed before pressing a button on the device, causing it to extend into a mechanical arm.

Lynn then punched the forcefield, instantly shattering it. "You done yet?"

"You fucking wish!" Rick shouted before pressing something on his watch again. In a flash, Rick was covered in red armour that made him resemble a Gundam as he unsheathed a very large sword. "Come at me, bitch!"

Lynn gave Rick a baffled look before summoning her bat again and dashing towards him, attempting to strike him. Rick managed to deflect it with his sword. He managed to deflect her attacks a couple more times before in one swift motion, she knocked the sword out of his hands. Before Rick even had time to react, Lynn was behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist before jumping high, high up into the air, stopping just as Lynn reached the edge of Earth's atmosphere.

A second later, Lynn delivered the mother of all suplexes to Rick as she slammed him back down into the stadium, the impact leaving a large crater.

As Lynn stood back up, Rick groaned in pain as his completely wrecked armour fell off of his body in pieces. "You tired of embarrassing yourself yet?"

Rick managed to summon enough strength to pick up his portal gun and fire a portal underneath him. He landed far away from at the other side of the stadium. He took some shallow breaths as he struggled to get back up. "All this over a fucking board game?" Rick rasped as he started to cough up blood. He grabbed his aching head. His vision was starting to get blurry. For some reason he started hearing what sounded like children laugh at him. He looked over to see Lynn casually walk towards him as he realised he was starting to run out of options. He activated his last forcefield, which also gave him a pair of laser goggles. "RAAARRRGGGHH!" Rick screamed as he fired lasers at Lynn, no longer caring how much they could hurt her or if they even could hurt her.

Lynn had no trouble dodging the lasers whatsoever as she zipped towards Rick before punching him in the face, sending him to the ground and destroying his last forcefield. Before Rick could get back up, Lynn then grabbed his anti-booby suit before ripping it off of him. "You're done." Lynn stated before kicking him in the groin.

"Gah-hah!"

A device then came out of Rick's belt. "Assessing threat to groi-" was all it could say before Lynn stomped on it, crushing it.

She looked up to see Rick had pulled out his laser gun as he fired it at her. She easily dodged it but the surprise gave Rick enough time for him to use his portal gun to get away from her as much as possible again. As Rick noticed Lynn flying towards him, he activated a bomb on his lab coat before managing to cough out. "Rip off Dr. Strange." His lab coat then came to life before flying towards Lynn.

Irritated at Rick not just staying down, Lynn fired a laser from her eye at her lab coat, causing it to explode early. Rick watched in horror as Lynn flew through the explosion with a manic grin. "Fuck. FUCK!" He only had one option left. It was a risky one but it was all he could do at this point as threw a cube shaped device towards the ground that created a large, electrical gate in between him and Lynn.

The gate only slowed Lynn down for a second but it was long enough for Rick to get out his time freezing device and activate it, pausing time just before Lynn was able to reach him.

Rick stared at Lynn for a moment and looked at the frozen crowd before breathing a sigh of relief. "Finally..." Trying to ignore the pain surging through his body, Rick slowly trudged over to Lynn, reaching towards her sweatband.

Only for cracks to start forming around Lynn. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" Rick shouted. The cracks started spreading all around him before shattering as Lynn somehow, someway, broke through, causing time to continue.

Before Rick had time to react, Lynn grabbed him by the back of his head before lifting him up and smashing him to the ground, face first. "I win." Lynn stated in a low voice.

After a moment Lynn noticed Rick's head move to the side. As he slowly lifted it up, Lynn stomped on it, using her foot to pin his head to the ground. Lynn chuckled. "You know, Rick, I can see right through you. I know why you're so obsessed with this geeky science junk. It's because it's all you have. If you didn't have all your dumb gadgets to impress everyone, you'd be nothing more than a mean old jerk that no one would ever wanna go near. You go on these dumb adventures and pretend that you're the smartest guy ever because you can't face reality. You act like nothing matters because you know it's you that doesn't matter. You're beyond pathetic." She then heard Rick chuckle weakly. She glared at him. "What the fuck is so funny?"

"You know...when I first met you... I thought we were nothing alike. But I was wrong. We're exactly alike. We're...the same." Rick said before coughing up more blood.

Lynn's eyes widened. "I am NOTHING LIKE YOU!"

Rick chuckled weakly. "Guess this makes you the queen of shit now, huh?"

At this, Lynn was overcome with white hot rage. After stepping off of Rick, she materialised her bat again before lifting it above her head.

Rick closed his eyes. He started think about his wife and son before Lynn swung down her bat.

"STOP!"

Lynn paused mid-swing just before she ended up bludgeoning her sister, Lucy, who had her arms spread out to protect Rick. "Lucy, get out of my way!" Lynn demanded.

Lucy shook her head. "No. I know you're angry with Rick but you don't want to do this."

"The only thing Rick has ever done is ruin our lives! He needs to die!"

Lucy trembled but stood her ground against Lynn. "Lynn, you know that's not true. Please."

Lynn gritted her teeth. "I said...MOVE!"

Before Lynn could do anything, she suddenly heard something behind her, like something just landed in the stadium. She slowly turned around to see Lincoln stood there, wearing his Ace Savvy outfit, his cape flapping in the wind. Her aura disappeared. "Lincoln?" With Lynn now distracted, Lucy took the opportunity to drag Rick's body away from the fight. "What are you doing? Why are you wearing that?!" The audience that had been cheering every time Rick got hit had now fallen silent.

"Lynn, this needs to stop. I know you're angry. I know you're hurting but you can't just brainwash the world to think like you do." Lincoln stated.

Lynn stared at Lincoln with a perturbed expression for a moment before scowling. "Are...are you challenging me? You seriously want to fight me?"

Lincoln shook his head. "No, I don't want to fight you. I just want to talk."

"Oh, now you want to talk?!" In a flash, Lynn was up in Lincoln's face before punching him in the gut, sending him flying back. However, he managed to recover and land on his feet. "Well, I don't wanna hear it! Just go home! Don't make me hurt you!"

Lincoln clutched his gut for a moment, thankful that Rick was right about Lynn going easy on him. "I'm not just gonna let you do this. Please, Lynn, I just want to help you."

"You think showing up dressed like that is gonna help me? I don't want your help! Nobody's ever needed your help!"

"Rgh." Lincoln grunted. She doesn't mean it, he told himself. She was just saying it to hurt him. "Fine. If I have to fight you then I guess I don't have a choice. I'm not just gonna be your toy. I'm not gonna let you control my life."

"You just don't get it! I'm trying to toughen you up! You're not gonna win any fights dressed like some dumb comic book superhero!" Once again, Lynn zipped up to Lincoln and attempted to punch him, only for Lincoln to block her with his forearm and counter with his own punch, sending her flying back.

Who are you talking to?

What are you trying to prove?

To everyone else

Lynn quickly recovered, floating in the air. "That does it!"

Lincoln stared to fly up into the air as well. "You don't get it. I like comic book stuff. I like superheroes. I like drawing. You can't change that. I don't care what you say. This is who I am."

Who is superior?

How is your vision clearer than anyone else?

Lynn growled in anger. "Shut up!" She flew towards Lincoln, attempting to punch him only for Lincoln to catch her fist with his palm. She tried swinging her other fist, only for Lincoln to catch it too. They both began to try pushing forward, attempting to overpower the other.

Your heads in the sky, in flight

But you will crash and burn (Crash and burn, crash and burn)

Eventually, one of Lynn's hands slipped free before she punched Lincoln in the face, sending him back to the ground.

But you will crash and

She then materialised her bat again before flying towards Lincoln. She attempted to swing her bat at him however, he managed to dodge it at the last second.

Crash and burn

"Just stop!" Lincoln shouted. "I just want to help you!"

"You don't want to help me! You just want to drag me down to your level!"

Lynn then zipped behind Lincoln, managing to hit his back. "Ahh!" He collapsed to his knees.

Your wings seared by the sun

You flew too close, you can't outrun

"I know you've always been jealous of the rest of us! You've always been a talentless geek! You just can't stand the fact that I'm better than you in every way!"

The truth you fear

It's under your skin

Crash and Burn

Lincoln shook his head as he stood back up and turned to her. "You've wrong. Maybe I was jealous at one point but recently, I realised something. I don't need to be the strongest or the smartest person in the world to be happy. We're more than just our talents."

Lynn chuckled. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Of course a loser like you would believe that. What are you then? A nerd who knows he can't win a fight without that dumb superhero outfit?"

"I don't care if I'm stronger than you or not. I don't care if I could beat you in a fight or not. I just want to help you. I want things to be ok between us again."

Lynn scowled. "Oh, now you care? All you did whenever I wanted to hang out was avoid me. And I don't need your help! I'm a God! Everything is just the way I want it."

Lincoln stared at Lynn in disbelief. "Do you seriously think the world's better off if everyone thinks the same way you do?"

Lynn grinned. "Doesn't everyone?" She dashed towards Lincoln again, managing to get a couple hits on him. Eventually he managed to block her, though she used her strength to overpower him, sending him to the floor. She stood over him, glaring into his eyes as he struggled to push the bat off of him.

Your heads in the sky, in flight,

But you will crash and burn (Crash and burn, crash and burn)

"You need to stop playing superhero and wake up. The only one that needs help is you so you can get over your dumb, geeky comic obsession."

Lincoln finally snapped.

But you will crash and burn

He pushed Lynn off of him before flying into her. She blocked him with her bat, only for Lincoln to start pushing her back, faster and faster.

You'll never learn

"Why can't you just accept me for what I am!" An enraged Lincoln asked. "Why do you want to make me something I'm not?!"

The nothingness you preach as truth

It goes unheard

Lincoln eventually slammed Lynn against the wall separating the field from the audience. "You wanna know why I avoided you?! It's because you make it so hard to ever want to be around you!"

You'll crash and burn

Just wait your turn

Lincoln pulled the bat away and attempted to punch her, only to hit the wall as Lynn managed to slip away. He turned around to see Lynn looking at him nervously.

The line between opinion and fact is blurred

Lincoln couldn't stop himself from letting it all out. "And since when did you care about my feelings? You only ever think about yourself! You don't care what other people have to say and you can't handle even the slightest bit of criticism!"

Your wings seared by the sun

You flew too close, you can't outrun

"You're rude. You're way too competitive and you're too full of yourself to ever see that!"

The truth you fear

It's under your skin

Lincoln's comments caused Lynn to seethe with anger. "You are NOTHING!"

She attempted to punch Lincoln again, only for Lincoln to grab both of her arms. He then leaned back before delivering a strong headbutt into her face, causing her to stumble back.

Lynn glared at Lincoln for a moment before she realised something was trickling down from her nose. She wiped under it before staring at shock at the blood on her hand. Her brother had made her bleed.

Upon realising what he'd done, Lincoln calmed back down, looking guilty for what he'd done. "Oh no, Lynn, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

He was interrupted by Lynn letting out an ear piercing shriek, causing Lincoln to close his eyes and cover his ears.

...

After a moment, he opened his eyes to find that the stadium around him had changed. The audience and most of the stadium were gone. All that remained was the ground. It looked as if he was on a floating island, surrounded by a sea of red clouds floating all around him. He looked to see Lynn, taking shallow breaths as she glared daggers at him. Her eye liner had gotten messed up as it dripped down her face, almost looking like tears. "Why?" She asked. "Why are you trying to ruin this for me? I finally made it to the top. Why are you trying to drag me back down?"

"Lynn, none of this is real. Don't you care that you're brainwashing everyone and taking away their free will?"

"Just shut up!" Lynn shouted. She attempted to throw a punch at Lincoln, which he was easily able to dodge. Lynn just looked exhausted.

"Lynn, I'm sorry. You're right, I should have done something. I should have said something to you. If I did, maybe none of this would have happened."

"I don't need your pity." Lynn growled. "You're just jealous! You want to feel like you're better than me!"

Lincoln shook his head. "You're wrong. I don't need any kind of validation. I want to help because I care about you, Lynn. Because I feel like if I had done something before or said something to you, then none of this would've happened. You were right, I shouldn't have avoided you."

"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't need your help?! I'm fine the way I am!"

"Are you? Can you really tell me honestly that you're happy the way things are now?"

"I..." Lynn shook her head. "You just don't get it! This is how the world works. Nobody cared about me before I started winning." She clutched her head. "I...I can't go back to that! I don't want to be a loser again! I can't show weakness!"

"You're wrong Lynn. I cared about you. Your whole family cared about you. You don't need to be the best at everything to feel loved."

"Shut up!"

"I know you're not a bad person deep down. I know this isn't what you really want."

"Stop it!"

Please, Lynn, just talk to me."

"JUST STOP!"

...

Lincoln blinked and once again he was somewhere else. It looked like he was in a normal field, though it was covered by a thick fog. He could hear someone crying from somewhere. He followed the sounds of crying until he eventually found a goalpost. Sat by it was Lynn, curled up and sobbing to herself. She was now wearing something he hadn't seen Lynn wear in a long time. A grey hoodie and a pair of jeans. Though she was still wearing the sweatband. "Lynn?"

"I'm sorry." Lynn sobbed. "I didn't mean what I said before. I don't want to hurt you. I just..."

Lincoln sat down next to her. "Lynn, whatever's wrong, you can tell me. I won't judge you."

Lynn sniffled. "I... I was scared. I'm scared of getting hurt again. I thought if I was in control of everything, nothing could ever hurt me again."

"This is about what happened when you started middle school, wasn't it?"

Lynn nodded. "I didn't want to go through that again. I thought I needed to be strong. I thought if I never showed any weakness, nothing could hurt me." She started to look embarrassed. "Every time I failed, it scared me. I guess that's why I started to get so superstitious. It was easier to blame bad luck than to admit I wasn't perfect."

Lincoln placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You never needed to be perfect. Nobody's perfect anyway. I liked you just the way you were before all this happened." Lincoln sighed. "Back when we used to get along better."

"I wanted to be close with you again." Lynn admitted. "But you kept pushing me away."

"Because you were just too much sometimes. You changed a lot since middle school. It wasn't even that all you ever wanted to do was play sports. It was just how over competitive and mean you could get."

Lynn closed her eyes. "I know."

"It's not too late to change, you know."

Lynn give Lincoln a sorrowful look. "How can I stop now? What if they make fun of me again? I already lost my friends. I don't know if I could handle that."

"If that happens, I'll stay by your side and support you. Our sisters will too."

"They're gonna hate me."

Lincoln shook his head. "Maybe they'll be mad but they could never hate you. You just need to take responsibility for your actions."

Lynn frowned. "What about Rick."

Lincoln sighed. "I know Rick hasn't been great. And I know what you went through must have been horrible but can you really say that what happened to your eye was all Rick's fault?"

Lynn thought back to that day. She remembered how scared she felt when she lost that board game. She needed to still feel like she was the best. She needed to still feel in control. That's why she challenged Rick. She wanted to prove she was better. That's why she messed with her arm. That's why she lost her eye. "I guess not."

"I know Rick is far from perfect but can you honestly say he's done nothing to show he cares about you?"

"Lynn, where's your collar?"

"I'm sorry. I dropped it."

Lynn's shook her head at the memory. "I guess not, but..."

Lincoln sighed. "I know it'll be hard but we'll be there for you. I know you're more than just a jock. You won't have to prove yourself to the world anymore."

Lynn exhaled. Deep down, she knew her competitiveness and need to stay on top were turning her into a worse person. And as much as she enjoyed sports, working so hard to appear flawless at everything she did could be so exhausting. She was still scared of getting hurt. But she supposed it couldn't be much worse than what she's recently been through. Plus, she already lost her friends. What else did she have to lose? She stood up. "Ok. I trust you, Linky." She then took off her headband before dropping it.

...

In a flash of light, everything was back to normal. Lincoln found himself and Lynn in a wide open field, along with everyone else at the stadium, who stared around in confusion.

This included President Curtis, whose eyes widened as he looked around. "How did I get out here?"

Lincoln noticed Lynn staggering. "Lynn?"

"I'm...sorry..." Was all Lynn said before passing out.

"Lynn!"

...

At the Galactic Federation mothership, Tammy was in the middle of a video call, staring at one of the monitors when a gromflomite soldier entered the room. "Ma'am, we've got some bad news."

Tammy gave the soldier an annoyed look. "Ugh, what is it?"

"It's the Earth! It's returned to normal. There's no sign of any infinity ball influence whatsoever!"

Tammy's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"Ma'am, what should we do now?"

Tammy had a troubled expression as she took a moment to think about before letting out a calm sigh. "It's fine. We'll keep doing what we're doing now."

The gromflomite looked worried. "But what about Rick Sanchez?"

"He's not a concern for us at the moment. You may leave now."

The gromflomite saluted Tammy before making his way out. He glanced back at the person Tammy was talking with before leaving.

Tammy turned back to the person she was calling as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ugh."

"I told you Rick would find a way out of that situation." The person on the monitor said, sounding somewhat amused.

Tammy sighed. "Alright, so what exactly are you proposing?"

President Lincoln smirked. "Glad you asked."