"Mmrggh..." Lynn grumbled upon finally regaining consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself staring up at the stars. "What the...?" She sat up and rubbed her eyes before realising that she had been lying down on the backseats of Rick's cruiser.
"Geez, you finally awake? Took you a while." Lynn looked to see that Rick was driving the cruiser through space. He looked completely fine despite...what happened.
Everything then came flooding back to her. Her stealing the infinity balls. Her fight with Rick. The following battle with Lincoln and her finally giving up the infinity balls. Remembering all of this caused her to start feeling sick, disgusted at herself. How could she have done all of that? The things she said and did to her own brother. She wanted to blame the infinity balls affecting her mind but she knew that deep down, she couldn't say that the person that did all of that wasn't her.
Truthfully, a part of herself knew that what she was doing was wrong. While she pretended to be happy, a part of herself was screaming at her to stop. And then when Lincoln confronted her, everything just came spilling out. Her fears, her insecurities. She couldn't hide them anymore. A knot started to form in her stomach. Was giving everything up the right choice. True, she knew that trying to stay on top was taking a toll on her mentally and letting it go would be a huge relief but how would the people around her start treating her then? How was her family going to treat her?
She then glanced at Rick, remembering what she did to him. In her rage and fury, she almost... she didn't want to think about it. Realising that she was completely alone with him and currently powerless, Lynn started to get nervous. "W-Where are you taking me?"
"We're just going on a ride is all." Rick answered in a neutral tone.
"You're not mad about what I did?"
"You mean stealing the infinity balls? Not really. I'm actually a little impressed you managed to pull all that off."
"W-What about the fight?"
Rick glanced back at Lynn in surprise. "You actually remember all of that? Huh. Wonder if that's just a weird side effect of holding five balls at once. Anyway, surprisingly no, I'm not mad." Rick started to look contemplative. "I-I guess in some ways, you showed me what is was like to be on the other side. You know, in some ways, we're pretty similar."
"I...I'm not like you." Lynn argued weakly.
"Oh really? Hey, stop me if I'm wrong. At some point, you went through a traumatic experience. Because of that experience, you decided that you needed to do everything in your power to avoid anything like it happening again. The best way to do this was to prove to everyone around you that you were the best and that nothing could touch you. You needed to be the one in control. However, this also meant that anything that may break this illusion of you being the absolute best fills you with indescribable rage which fuels a compulsive need to correct it so that nobody questions you and nobody could hurt you in case they realise you aren't completely untouchable. Is this about right so far or am I off in any way?"
Lynn stared at Rick in shock. "How did you know?"
Rick shrugged. "Just had a gut feeling is all." He started to look downcast. "Hey, listen. This isn't exactly easy for me to say but... I'm sorry. For everything. The eye thing, the quest stuff, the heist bullshit. I treated you like shit and I shouldn't have done that. Believe it or not, I can totally understand why you reacted the way that you did."
"Oh..." was all Lynn said, not really knowing how to feel about this. He hurt her. But she couldn't deny that she hurt him too. She decided to swallow her pride. "I-I'm sorry too."
Rick shrugged. "Hey, it's no big deal. Like I said, I get it. And I get that you probably still don't like me. So, how about we just stay out of each other's ways from now on after today, huh?"
Lynn sighed. "I guess."
"Cool, so anyway, how did you manage to pull that off? Where'd those other infinity balls come from?"
Lynn grimaced. "Well...when I was out in space...I met Tammy."
"Tammy?!" Rick exclaimed. "Jesus, don't tell me you just gave her my portal gun."
Lynn winced. "S-Sorry."
"Oh for fucks-" Rick cut himself off before pressing something on his watch.
"What did you do?" Lynn asked.
"I had that portal gun self destruct. Least now she can't use it anymore." Rick then frowned in thought. "Though it's kinda weird..."
"What is?"
Rick was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "Ah, it's nothing."
There was another moment of silence before Lynn asked. "So why did you take me out here?"
"Well, to be honest, I kinda lied earlier. I brought you out here for two reasons. One is to give your siblings some space to let everything sink in."
"Makes sense." Lynn thought to herself, still somewhat dreading seeing them again.
"The other reason is that I want to show you what real sports is like."
Lynn raised an eyebrow at Rick. "Um, I think I know what a real sport is."
Rick shook his head. "No, no, you only know Earth's version of what sports is, which involves a bunch of meatheads working out their latent desires to 'angry hug'. I'm talking about the only pure sport there is. Something that represents the truest nature of sport."
Lynn frowned. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to like this.
...
Despite having woken up in the middle of nowhere at the state of Washington, the citizens of Royal Woods were able to make it back home safely, including the Loud family.
The following day, the Loud siblings all gathered in Lori and Leni's room to discuss what had happened. After Lincoln told everyone the truth of what happened, there was a moment of silence for everyone to take it in as their expressions all ranged from shock to anger.
The first one to speak up was Luna, who glared at Lori. "Dude, why didn't you tell us what happened to Lynn?!"
Lori frowned. "Because we didn't want any of you to panic and do something like try to find her yourselves."
Luan scoffed bitterly. "Sounds to me like Rick was just trying to cover for himself."
Leni had been shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe Lynn would do all of that."
Lola was barely able to contain her anger. "I can't believe she tried to brainwash us!" She growled in anger. "When she comes back here, I'm gonna-"
"Lola!" Lincoln interrupted as he went over and placed a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down. "I know you're mad at her, and you have every right to be. But attacking her now isn't going to help. She knows what she did was wrong and there's no point in making her feel worse about it. She's not in a good place." Lincoln sighed. "Well, actually, she hasn't been in a good place for a long time."
"Sigh. All this time. Underneath her facade of a confident sports star was a tortured soul, just wanting to protect herself." Lucy remarked.
Lola pushed Lincoln's arm away, barely able to contain her anger. "So what?! Are we supposed to just let her get away with all of this? After what she did to us?!"
Lincoln gave her a pleading look. "Lola, please-"
"RRGH!" Lola grunted angrily before storming out of the room, cutting Lincoln off.
Lincoln was about to follow after her when Lori spoke up. "Let's just give her some space. This is a lot to take in so it'd be best to just let her calm down first."
Lana frowned. "She kinda has a point. What are we even supposed to say to her after this?"
"Guys, I promise you that Lynn would take it all back if she could." Lincoln argued. "Before she gave up the infinity balls, I saw a side of her we haven't seen for years. I know she's willing to change for the better. All I'm saying is just give her a chance to make things up to us when she gets back."
"I agree." Lori added. "We've all made mistakes in the past. Lynn deserves a second chance too."
"What about Rick?" Luan then asked.
Lori sighed, having somewhat dreading this topic coming up. "I've been thinking about what Rick's done recently. I know he didn't exactly help with this situation with Lynn."
Luan raised an eyebrow. "Didn't help? If you asked me, it's his fault Lynn did all of this."
"Luan, you remembered what Lincoln told us right? Rick didn't make Lynn go into that blood dome and-"
"Lori, do you seriously think any of this would've happened if Rick wasn't around at all?" Luan asked, interrupting Lori.
Lori was struggling to answer that question. "Look, you're right that some of the blame lies with Rick. Which is why I decided that he only gets one final chance and if he causes anything messed up like this to happen again, that's it."
Luan gave Lori a look of disbelief. "Last chance? How many chances is he gonna get? You said a while ago that Rick was gonna change for the better but he's barely changed at all!"
Lori pinched the bridge of her nose. "Luan, change isn't easy. You should know that. It's easy to regress into old habits."
Luan rolled her eyes. "Oh please, just because you keep projecting your own issues onto Rick doesn't mean we should keep giving him a pass!"
Before an indignant Lori could reply, Luna suddenly snapped. "So what? It's not like you've never regressed, Luan."
Luan gave Luna a confused look. "What are you talking about?"
"You..." Luna took a moment to calm down before giving Luan a vulnerable look. "Luan, are you still mad at me about what happened on Valentines day last year?"
"What?!" Luan yelped. "What gave you that idea?"
Luna was silent for a moment before speaking. "Back when Maggie had that infinity ball and you got brainwashed. You said some pretty harsh stuff to me and the others."
"But...that was just me being brainwashed right?"
"But why would Maggie make you say that stuff about us? And how would she know about what happened last year unless you told her about it?"
Luan's eyes widened. "You...you shouldn't know about that?"
"Luan?"
...
"This is gonna sound kinda gross but my sister, Lana, keeps eating trash. It's really disgusting."
...
"My sister, Lola, can be a real spoiled brat sometimes."
...
"My sister, Lisa, kept trying to lecture everyone about car safety again. She's such a smug little know-it-all."
...
"And now my sister, Luna's gotten depressed because her girlfriend broke up with her. I'd have probably felt more sorry for her if she hadn't already ruined my life."
...
Those were her private confessions. No one other than Maggie should have ever known about them. She started to get flustered. "You-you shouldn't..."
Luna gave Luan a pleading look. "Luan, please talk to me, I just-" Luna was unable to finish that thought as Luan suddenly bolted out of the room. The siblings heard her run down the stairs and out of the house.
An awkward silence occurred after that as no one knew what to say while Luna started to look downcast. Eventually, Lincoln spoke. "Sh-Should we do something?"
"Let's just...give her some space." Lori replied, not really sure how to deal with this predicament. She started to feel a headache come on.
Lisa then cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. "To get back on topic, I believe Luan had brought up a valid point earlier."
Lori gave Lisa a surprised look. "Wait, you're actually siding against Rick?"
Lisa nodded, adjusting her glasses. "I had recently come to the realisation that Rick is a deeply flawed human being that's aware of his own shortcomings yet lacks the drive to actually fix them."
Lori raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you say that?"
Lisa shrugged. "This is merely a theory but it's possible that the idea of self improvement may bore Rick or-"
"No, I mean what made you change your mind about him?" Lori interrupted.
"It's a long story. I realised that despite his genius, Rick doesn't always make the most logical choices. He can be somewhat self-destructive."
Lori huffed. "Well, even if you believe that, I know that he can be better. Right guys?" She asked the rest of her siblings."
"Like, if you think it's the right thing to do then sure!" Leni replied, smiling.
Luna sighed, not really sure what to think at this point and still feeling distraught about Luan. "I guess."
Lincoln thought about it for a moment. With everything that's happened, you hadn't really thought about his relationship with Rick himself. He definitely had an issue with how Rick handled the situation with Lynn. Though considering he got beaten to near death for it, it's not as if he didn't end up paying for it. "I think you're right, Lori. We've all made mistakes. I think Rick deserves one last chance."
Lucy was silent for a moment. "Rick's a complicated person. I'd like to believe that deep down, he wants to do what's right. One last chance seems fair."
Despite always sticking up for Rick, even Lana had started to realise that he's done some questionable things. "I know he's done some bad stuff but he's still our grandpa. I don't think we should throw him out."
"Poo poo." Lily babbled.
Lisa sighed. "Well, for your sakes, I hope you're all right."
"So, like, what do we do when Lynn comes back." Leni then asked.
"I think we should all give Lynn a chance to explain herself first before we say anything." Lori then made her way out of the room. "Anyway, I'm just gonna go see how Carol's doing."
"Ah, that reminds me, I should go see how Darcy's doing." Lisa remarked before leaving the room.
As everyone else left, Lincoln decided that he should go over to Mr. Grouse's house to see how he was doing too.
...
Eventually, Rick drove the cruiser over to a large meteor covered in lime coloured domes. Upon closer inspection, she realised there were stadiums inside of these domes. "Let's get ready to RUMMMMMMBLLLLLLLE!" Rick exclaimed as he flew towards the meteor.
...
The stadium was full of all sorts of aliens from all over the galaxy. Rick had apparently paid for first class seats as the two took seats fairly close to the action. The two were currently watching some kind of strange performance before the games properly began. "Whoa!" Lynn exclaimed.
"Wha-What did I tell you, Lynn. First class all the way!" Rick said as he took a drink from his bottle of beer.
As the strange performance started to wrap up, Lynn asked. "So who's playing? Which team should we root for?"
"That's up to you, Lynn. I couldn't really care less." The two then noticed both teams enter the arena. Both consisted of a random assortment of aliens. It was somewhat hard for Lynn to tell but both teams appeared to be made up of teenagers. One team was wearing orange uniform while the other team's uniform was a slightly darker shade of orange. "Oh hey, l-looks like they're about to start."
"So, what exactly are the rules to this game?" Lynn asked.
"I think you'll pick it up as it goes." Rick replied.
Lynn then watched in horror as the two teams began slaughtering each other.
After recovering from her shock, Lynn stammered. "Wh-What is this?! They're just-they're..."
"This is sports, Lynn." Rick stated before taking another sip of beer. "A bunch of brainwashed kids thrown into a ring to fight for the approval and enrichment of their parents."
"Enrichment?!"
"Oh yeah, did I mention people bet on this? A lot of these people have a real, personal stake in what goes down on this field."
"This is horrible! This isn't a sport!"
"How is it not a sport? There's winners and losers, there's a pretty obvious objective and I bet there's some shady consortium of owners covering up player concussions. Sports."
Lynn stood up. "They're gambling on their kids' lives! That doesn't bother you?!"
"Of course it bothers me, Lynn, but how is that different from any pursuit in life?" Rick argued back. "People prepare their kids for the world and hope they slice off a still-beating slice of it to serve back to them. These people just do it in an enclosed area with hot dogs and beer." Rick then noticed a few people around them starting to glare at them. "Uh, also I'd be careful what you say, Lynn. People here take this stuff pretty seriously and you know how sports fans on Earth are like when they get mad."
"This is just..." Unable to stomach watching the carnage, Lynn ran off.
...
Rick followed Lynn into the lobby where she was taking some deep breaths. Upon noticing Rick, she turned to glare at him. "Why did you show me that?"
"Because I wanted you to see the true nature of sports." Rick replied.
"That was sick!"
Rick shrugged. "Sports brings out the worst in people. Difference between this sport and the ones on Earth is that instead of dying, the losers on Earth receive death threats or get called racial slurs by their 'fans'. Hell, if you ask me, it makes more sense here. Least these people are actually related to the players. People on Earth lose their shit because the winning team just happen to be from the same town or country as them or whatever. As if that fucking means anything."
"You think these people killing each other makes more sense?!
"Hey, at least it achieves something. What do they do on Earth? Score a point? Whoopdie friggin' do."
Lynn shook her head in disbelief. "This...this can't be what sports is."
Rick shrugged. "Sorry to break this to you, Lynn, but it's always been insecure assholes wanting to feel superior over others by whatever means. Besides, it's not like you can talk. You tried to complete in that Blood Dome, remember? That wasn't much different than this."
"I..." Lynn's eyes widened as she recalled that day. She remembered feeling so desperate to win. So desperate to stay in control that when she was in that dome, beating those Death Stalkers to death, she didn't even care. She even got a thrill out of doing it. The only thing that mattered to her then and there was winning.
Lynn started to feel sick.
What the fuck was wrong with her?!
"Lynn?" Rick asked as he noticed Lynn's face go pale. She then broke down, sobbing. "Aw, fuck. W-What's wrong?" He asked, concernedly.
"I-I'm a monster!" Lynn cried.
Rick knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, come on, you're not a monster. It's no big deal, those guys knew what they were getting into anyway." This didn't stop her crying. Rick then had an idea. "Hey, w-what do you think Lincoln would want you to do here?"
"He..." Lynn stopped to think about it as she wiped her tears away. She recalled what Lincoln said to her yesterday. "He said I should take responsibility for my actions."
"Right. So to take responsibility for your actions, you should do something to make up for them."
"But what can I do?" Lynn sniffled.
"Well here's my offer. Why don't you help me tear this place down? Just tear it all down and make sure no one competes in this sport ever again. How's that sound?"
"Tear it all down?" Lynn thought to herself.
In a sense, she'd be tearing down the truest nature of sport. Something she based her whole identity on. As much as she wanted to deny it, Rick was right in some ways. Sports can bring out the worst in people. It brought out the worst in her, after all. In a way, sports were what led her to become the person she was today. And considering what she had done, perhaps it would've been best if she had never gotten into sports to begin with.
So why not tear it all down?
Lynn gripped her fists. "Let's do it."
...
Lisa entered Darcy's room to find her playing with her cat. Darcy didn't seem to notice her at first so she cleared her throat. Upon noticing her, a huge grin appeared on Darcy's face. "Lisa!"
"Greetings Dar-" Lisa was interrupted as Darcy pulled her into a big hug. She chuckled. "It's good to see you too, Darcy." She then noticed Darcy trembling. "Darcy?"
Darcy stepped back, revealing that she was on the verge of tears. "I-I th-thought I'd never see you or mommy or daddy again!"
The look of hurt on Darcy's face was almost enough to make Lisa want to cry as well. She pulled her back into the hug, patting her back to comfort her. "I'm sorry, Darcy. You never should've gotten dragged into this nonsense. I can assure you nothing like this will ever happen again."
Darcy sniffled. "O-Ok."
After Darcy had calmed down, Lisa asked. "Is there something you might like to do together to cheer you up?"
Darcy thought for a moment. "Do you wanna play dress up?"
Lisa nodded, smiling warmly. "Of course."
...
Lincoln knocked on the door to Mr. Grouse's house, which was now back to normal. After a moment, Mr. Grouse answered it. "Oh. Hey there, Loud." Mr. Grouse greeted somewhat awkwardly.
"Hi, Mr. Grouse. I just wanted to come over to see how you were doing after everything that happened." Lincoln explained.
Mr. Grouse raised an eyebrow at Lincoln. "Feh. I'm fine. I should be asking you that question. You seemed kinda down on yourself last time you came here."
"Me?" Lincoln asked, surprised. He hadn't really thought about himself recently since he'd been worried about Lynn and where Rick took her. He scratched the back of his head. "I'm actually feeling a little better about myself. I think you helped me see the bigger picture."
While he was happy that he no longer felt an intense feeling of self-loathing, now aware of the person he really was, this still didn't change the point that put him in that funk in the first place. That fact that he still felt guilt over killing those people. However, looking back over those incidents more logically, he only ever did them to protect his family and friends.
Well, apart from Krombopulos Michael but he was an assassin so should he really feel that bad about killing him? He supposed whether or not he should've didn't change the fact that he still felt bad about it. All he could really do was try to put it all behind him. And never kill anyone again.
"Got something on your mind?" Mr. Grouse asked, noticing Lincoln's troubled expression.
Lincoln shook his head. "It's nothing." He still didn't feel comfortable about telling someone like Mr. Grouse what he had done. "I just wanted to thank you for telling me what I needed to hear."
Mr. Grouse waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, it's nothing." His expression went serious. "Though I hope things aren't too messed up at your home. Wouldn't want another incident like this."
"Don't worry. I promise that nothing like this will ever happen again." Lincoln reassured him.
Mr. Grouse gave a satisfied nod. "Good. Now leave me alone. 'Bout time I get some alone time for once." He then shut the door. Lincoln shook his head in amusement before heading back home.
...
A still distressed Luan marched down the street, stewing in her thoughts. Because of that stupid infinity ball stuff, all her siblings knew that she had been talking smack about them to Maggie. Now they think she hated them. It was only venting brought upon by annoyance at her siblings habits. It didn't mean anything.
Though what was her excuse with Luna? Admittedly, even after all this time, a part of her still felt annoyed at how Luna basically got away with trying to brainwash Sam. Sure, she didn't mean for everything else that happened, that was all Rick's fault. But it kinda baffled her how this Sam was able to accept all of that and still stick with her. What she did to Sam was awful. It was a miracle the two were still together.
She shook her head. Why was she thinking like this? What would be the point in bringing this up again? To further depress Luna? She already forgave her for what happened. Even if a small part of her felt somewhat peer pressured into forgiving her at the time. And was it really righteous anger at Luna or was it just simply ugly, bitter jealousy?
Though it's not like she wanted to have all this brought up again anyway. She would have been completely fine, leaving these feelings a secret for the rest of her life. And she had done a good job keeping them secret up until now too. The only reason any of them know about this is because of...
Before Luan knew it, she was in front of Maggie's house. Why was she here? She supposed she should check in on her to check how she was doing. She knocked on the door. After a moment, Maggie answered it. "Oh...hey, Luan." She greeted somewhat awkwardly.
"H-Hey." Luan greeted back.
There was an awkward silence between the two before Maggie spoke, noticing Luan's troubled expression. "Is there something you want to talk about?"
"I-I just wanted to know how you were doing." Luan replied, finding herself now staring at the floor. "After everything that happened, I wanted to see if you were okay."
Maggie sighed. "This last week has been hell but I'm just glad it's over. Though there is something I wanted to ask you."
Luan's eyes widened. "W-What is it?"
"Luan..." Maggie looked at her with a vulnerable expression. "Did I do...anything bad when I had that infinity ball?"
"You..." Luan trailed off. What would be the point in telling her what she did? She didn't do it on purpose, she was brainwashed too. She only made her say those things because that was the impression she got from her. She was just as much of a victim in all this as she was. So why tell her what happened? To make her feel bad? To make her feel guilty for what happened so that she didn't feel as bad for stupidly getting herself brainwashed by her in the first place? Why did she even consider this? "...didn't do anything that bad."
"Are you sure?"
"Yup!" Luan said a little too quickly.
After a moment of silence, Maggie said. "Ok. Is everything okay at home?"
Luan cringed. "It's...kind of a mess at the moment."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"It's fine...well actually, there is something I want to say."
"What is it?"
"I know I've complained about my family a lot but...I just wanted to say I didn't really mean most of it. I love my family. Sure, they can bug me sometimes but I wouldn't trade them for the world!"
"Oh...that's kinda how I feel about my mom too." Maggie admitted.
"Really?" Luan asked, surprised. Up until now, she had the impression that Maggie hated her mother.
"Yeah...what made you bring this up?"
"Just wanted to let you know is all." Luan said. "I guess I was just starting to feel guilty about talking about them behind their backs."
"I see..." There was another moment of silence before Maggie spoke again. "Luan, I know you said I didn't do anything bad but..." Her cheeks flushed. "Did I say anything...like...revealing?"
"Revealing?" Luan blushed as she realised what she was talking about. After what happened there was no denying it. Maggie definitely had feelings for her. Was now the time? Should she confess?
But what if things didn't work out? Wouldn't this be a bad time to confess? After everything that happened? She didn't exactly find this out in the best way, considering Maggie basically forced a kiss on her (which also brought back memories of another incident she'd have preferred to have forgotten). And how could she confess to her after what she just thought a moment ago, wanting to blame her for what happened? How could she trust herself to not do something to mess up their relationship?
"Nope. I don't think you did." Luan lied.
"Oh." Maggie simply replied. It was hard to tell but she almost seemed disappointed.
"S-Sorry but I better go now." Luan said, smiling nervously.
"Ok. I'll...see you later then." Maggie said before slowly closing the door.
As Luan walked back home, she realised that Luna may have been right about her.
What an utter coward she was.
...
Lori knocked on the door to Carol's house. It didn't take long for Carol to answer. "Oh! H-Hey Lori." Carol greeted somewhat nervously.
Lori tried to give a comforting smile. "Hey, Carol. I just wanted to see how you were doing after everything that happened."
Carol sighed. "This last week hasn't exactly been the best week of my life. But it's not like it's the only weird thing that's happened to me in the past year. Guess I'm starting to get used to it." She chuckled. She then gave Lori a concerned look. "By the way, are things okay at home? Lincoln came over yesterday to explain everything and it sounded like things were a little...messed up between your grandpa and your sister."
Lori cringed. "I'll admit, things haven't been great but we're working on fixing things. I promise that this will literally never happen again."
Carol exhaled. "Well that's a relief." She started to look anxious. "Hey, um... Lincoln also told me about those infinity balls. He said they 'brought out the worst in you'. Did I... say anything weird when I had one of them?"
Lori rubbed her arm. "You...kinda admitted that you were still upset over me trying to upstage you."
Carol started groaning in embarrassment. "Oh no..."
"No, it's okay! I understand. I messed up and relapsed. I understand why you might still be mad about that."
Carol shook her head. "But we both relapsed. It wasn't all your fault."
"Well, it's not just that. You also said that I've been hiding secrets from you."
"What do you..." Carol thought about it for a moment. "Well, actually, I remember back on that tiny planet, you said something about moving to another universe. It's kind of been on my mind for a while." She then waved her hands, nervously. "N-Not that any of this was making me not trust you or anything but-"
"Look, I'll tell you what I meant, but you have to promise to keep it a secret. Ok?" Lori asked, cutting off Carol.
Carol thought about it before nodding. "Alright, I promise."
Lori took a deep breath, steeling herself. "Ok. Here goes..."
...
Once Lori had finished, Carol was starting at Lori in shock. "Oh my God."
"You see why I kept that a secret now, right?" Lori asked.
Carol was silent for a moment as she contemplated this. "Does Bobby know?"
Lori frowned. "No and I'd literally prefer to keep it that way!"
"I-I'm not gonna tell anyone but...this is really messed up. Doesn't this mean you're..."
"I'm still the same Lori you've always known. We didn't tell anyone because it literally didn't matter."
"I-I guess but...God, now I wish I never found out." Carol then gave Lori an apologetic look. "Lori, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried."
Lori sighed. "It's fine. Honestly, I probably would've done the same thing if it were you instead."
Carol chuckled. "We're ridiculous."
Lori chuckled along with her. "Yeah. Still friends?" She asked, offering a hug.
"Still friends." Carol replied, hugging Lori.
...
Blonko Hubgrub, the owner of the murdertoriums, was a red, frog-like alien who wore a purple suit. He was currently in his office, counting the money he's made from his patrons betting their children's lives away. However, he soon found himself interrupted by Rick Sanchez bursting into the room, alongside Lynn. Rick pointed his laser gun at him. "Alright, we're shutting this shit show down so do me a favour and get the fuck out of here."
Blonko didn't seem that perturbed by Rick's intrusion. "Rick Sanchez. It's an honour to meet you. May I offer you a drink."
"I'm not interested in any deals or speeches about the nature of sports or society or whatever. I really don't care for your corrupt, greedy business man bit. It's a lazy cliché so just do me a favour and-GAH!" As Rick was talking, he was unaware of a turret coming from the ceiling that shot a laser beam at him, paralysing him. "What the hell?"
Blonko chuckled. "Do you think you're the first person who tried to make an attempt on my life? I've had countless regretful parents try and take their anger out on me. Since they missed their children so much, I thought it was only fair that they joined them."
Lynn took a few steps back away from the door as a group of aliens wearing referee uniform all entered the room. Blonko continued speaking. "But don't worry, I think we can come to a compromise. Why don't we let that girl over there compete? I bet people would spend a lot of money to watch Rick Sanchez's progeny compete in the murdertorium. Even if it's just to watch her die."
Lynn's eyes widened as she recoiled from Blonko's subordinates. "Stay away from me!"
"Don't bother trying to fight back, kid." One of the aliens told her. "Just come with us and don't make things difficult."
Lynn couldn't believe this was happening. She didn't want to die like this. Was this some kind of cosmic karma for what she had done? To have the very thing she built her identity on be what kills her? Was this what she deserved for taking her obsession with winning to the extreme?
No! This can't be how it ends. Lincoln told her that she needed to take responsibility for her actions. She needed to make things up with her siblings. But how could she do that if she were dead? She couldn't let them kill her. She wasn't going to let them. She had to do something!
That's when she felt something spark inside of her.
She let out an ear-piercing scream before she was surrounded by a white flash. Blonko covered his eyes for a moment before staring at Lynn in shock. "What the fuck?!"
Once again, Lynn found herself wearing a red and white MMA uniform as a red aura flared around her. Then, within seconds, Lynn zipped to each subordinate, effortlessly knocking them out with little effort before summoning her metal bat to destroy the laser turret holding Rick, freeing him. After that, Lynn turned back to normal before falling to her knees, completely exhausted.
Blonko started sweating nervously as he noticed a now free Rick glaring at him. "Now, now, perhaps we could make another deal-"
"Fuck you." Rick interrupted him before shooting him in the forehead. "Man, I need to stop underestimating people." He then turned to give Lynn a surprised look. "Jesus, I didn't know the infinity balls had those kind of side effects."
"Oh...really?" Lynn gasped as she tried catching her breath.
"You good?" Rick asked.
"Just give a minute." Lynn told him.
"Huh. Well now I'm kinda wondering if the other guys could do something like that." Rick pondered before shrugging. "Oh well." He then went to push Blonko's body off of his chair before taking a seat at his desk. He then turned on the PA system. "Uh, hey um...so we're shutting the games down now. I-I have a bomb ready to blow up this meteor so we'll give everyone about...let's say, an hour to evacuate." He turned the PA system off before looking at Lynn, who looked like she had regained her energy. "So, after we're done here, you ready to go home?"
Lynn sighed, still somewhat nervous about facing her sisters again. "Ready as I'll ever be."
...
All of the Loud siblings, except Luan, Lisa and Lily, were stood outside the house. "You said Rick and Lynn would be back soon, right?" Lana asked Lori, somewhat impatiently.
"That's what he texted me." Lori explained. "Oh, almost forgot, Rick also texted that Lynn remembered everything she did when she had those infinity balls."
Lincoln blinked in surprise. He'd actually completely forgotten that she should've lost her memory of everything that happened after she took those balls.
The siblings then noticed Luan finally return. Upon seeing her, Luna approached her with an apologetic look. "Luan, I-"
Luan raised a hand to stop her. "Look, everything I said to Maggie was just venting. I didn't mean any of it so can we please just forget about it?"
Luna sighed. "If you say so, dude."
Luan then looked around. "Hey, where's Lisa?"
"She's still at Darcy's place." Lori explained. "She texted me back to tell me to tell Lynn that she forgives her."
A moment later, the siblings noticed Rick's cruiser fly down towards them before landing in front of them. Rick and Lynn then both got out. There was then a tense moment of silence as Lynn and the siblings faced each other.
For Lynn, she noticed that there was a mix of expressions on her siblings faces. Some were giving her looks of pity. Some were neutral. Some were angry at her. None of them made her feel good.
For the siblings, it was strange seeing Lynn like this. To see someone once full of confidence look so meek and vulnerable, it almost made them wonder if this was even Lynn.
Eventually, Lynn spoke, her tone quiet and somber. "I...I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. For everything. I shouldn't have run away last year and I shouldn't have taken those infinity balls. I got so caught up in winning and staying on top, I couldn't think straight any more. I was scared of what would happen if I looked weak. I thought controlling everything might make me happy but all it did was make me feel like a monster. What I did to you guys was horrible and I understand if you don't forgive me. But I'm gonna do everything I can to make it up to you guys. And... I just want to say that I'm done with sports."
This caught all of her siblings off guard. "Wait, what?" Lincoln asked.
"I'm done with them." Lynn repeated. "Sports are what led me to being like this in the first place. They weren't good for me. I need to stay away from them."
Lincoln frowned. Considering how much he's defended his interest and passions, it didn't seem right for Lynn to give up hers. "Lynn, you don't have to do that."
Lynn shook her head. "No, I do. If I want to be a better person, I need to stay away from stuff like sports and competitions."
Lincoln sighed. He didn't agree with Lynn but he supposed for now, with the way things are, it might be best if she took a break from them anyway, deciding not to push this subject anymore.
After another moment of silence, Lori spoke. "Lynn, what you did was seriously messed up." Lynn flinched as she prepared for the worst. "But...it's not like I can't understand what led you to this. I know things have been difficult for you lately. It's gonna take some time for me to trust you again but I forgive you. And I know she's not here but Lisa forgives you too."
Leni clasped her hands, her eyes starting to water. "Oh Lynn, of course I forgive you."
"You're not the only one in this family who's done messed up stuff before. You deserve a second chance too." Luna told her.
"Y-Yeah..." Luan stammered.
Lincoln smiled. "You know I already forgave you."
"Sigh. I know how much you've suffered. You have my forgiveness too." Lucy stated.
"What you did was pretty lame but you're still our family." Lana said before smirking. "So I hope you're ready to make up for it with some mud wrestling later!"
Lola was folding her arms, looking away. Lana gave her a nudge. "Lola?"
"Rrgh." Lola growled before turning to Lynn with an angry look. "If you ever try a stunt like that again, I'll make sure you regret it!"
Lynn stepped back nervously. "Y-Yes, Lola." It's been a long time since she had seen Lola get this angry.
Lola then took a deep breath through her nose, calming herself down. "But... it's not like I don't understand feeling the need to stay on top. I'll let this slide for now but you better be ready to make up for this!"
Lynn was on the verge of tears. "I...I don't know what to say."
Lincoln went over to put an arm around her. "It's like I told you, we're your family. None of us could really hate you."
Lynn sniffled. "Thank you. Is there anything I could do now?"
"Well..." Lincoln thought about it for a moment. "Do you wanna come watch ARGGH! with me?"
Lynn smiled. "Sure."
The siblings then all went back inside, apart from Lori, who stayed outside with Rick. Rick then remembered the detail about Tammy's involvement. "Oh, by the way. I should probably tell you that-"
"You get one last chance." Lori interrupted him, giving him a serious, stern look. "If you do anything messed up to me and my siblings or cause something like this to happen again, we're done with you. Got it?"
"I-you-"
"Good."
Lori then headed back into the house, leaving Rick stood outside. Alone with his thoughts. A bitter scowl appeared on his face. "Fuck."
...
Eventually, Rick came back inside, only to come face to face with Lynn Sr. and Rita. Both of them had their arms folded with stern expressions on their faces. "Oh, h-hey guys. What's up?" Rick greeted.
"Rick, do you mind explaining to us why we and everyone else in Royal Woods woke up in the middle of Washington after apparently being unconscious for a week?" Rita asked.
"And do you think you could explain what in the world is going on between you and Lynn Jr.?" Lynn Sr. asked.
"Ah, yeah, about that. The thing is...you see...what happened was..." Rick frowned before getting out his memory wiper. "Alright, fuck it."