Mr. Grouse, along with his mobsters, was searching around the foyer of the mansion, his tommy gun at the ready once he spotted either Rick or Lincoln.
"Hey, Bud."
With a surprising amount of speed and agility, Mr. Grouse performed an evasive roll before getting up and aiming his gun at Rick, as did the other mobsters. Rick raised his hands in the air. "Whoa! Whoa! Calm down there, Al Capone, I just wanna make a deal."
Mr. Grouse's eyes widened upon seeing what Rick held in one of his hands. "Is that..."
"Lasagna? Yep. Specially made by Lynn too."
Mr. Grouse stared Rick down for a moment before lowering his gun, as did the other mobsters. "Alright, what's your offer?"
Rick smirked. "This."
Before Mr. Grouse had time to react, a yo-yo suddenly flew towards his infinity ball from the side, knocking it off of him. "Nooo!" Mr. Grouse shouted, reaching out for the ball before suddenly falling unconscious. In a flash of light, the classy, old fashioned mansion turned into a rather messy looking one as all of the colour came back. The mobsters all went from wearing suits to casual clothing as they started partying while loud rave music started playing from somewhere.
After tossing the lasagna aside, Rick went over to pick up the infinity ball with his gloved hand before putting it in his container with his other infinity ball and turning to Lincoln with a smile. "Good job, Lincoln. Never knew you were such a big fan of yo-yos."
Lincoln smirked. "I've been learning a few tricks recently." He then used his yo-yo to 'walk the dog'.
"Gotta admit, you really came through today. That was actually a pretty good plan."
Lincoln started frowning. "It...was probably just a fluke. I'm really not the kind of person you should get help from."
Rick raised an eyebrow at Lincoln. "Geez, what's with this defeated attitude lately?"
"I just don't think I should try to help people anymore. Especially since I usually just make things worse when I try anyway."
"Well...shouldn't you be happy with that? I thought you resented the idea that your only value comes from helping people. And it's not like me or any of your sisters go out of our way to ask you for help any more so why are you so down about it?"
Lincoln frowned in thought. Rick was right. He should feel happy about leaving that part of himself behind. So why did he feel so torn up about it?
Before Lincoln could think about it any further, they both heard groaning. Mr. Grouse, now back in his normal clothes, started to regain consciousness before looking around in shock. "Whu? Where am I?!" He then noticed Rick. "Where have you taken me?!"
...
Lisa, Lana, Lola and Darcy all took a step outside and looked around at the transformed area. All of the people inside Darcy's castle were now standing around outside, wearing dark and gloomy clothing. Chaz sighed. "Chaz does not like the current state of society."
Upon hearing Lisa's explanation of what's been happening, Darcy had a guilty expression on her face. "Lisa, did I do anything bad before you saved me?"
Lisa placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "No need to worry yourself about it. You weren't in control of your actions. Therefore, you are not accountable for anything that happened."
Darcy tilted her head. "Huh?"
Lisa cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed. "I mean, nothing that happened was your fault, so don't worry about it."
"So, now what?" Lana asked.
"We need to reunite with the rest of our siblings and assist them with their tasks." Lisa then pulled out a tablet which displayed a map of Royal Woods. The locations of each of their family members that Lisa had chipped were also displayed. Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Strange, it appears some of our elder sisters have been separated. Two of them are currently at the park."
"Do you think they're in trouble?" Lola asked.
"I can't say for certain but since they're the ones closest to us, it'd be best head over as quickly as possible to see what the situation is."
"What about her?" Lana asked, gesturing towards Darcy.
"She will accompany us. She likely wouldn't be safe left here in this environment."
...
After bursting out of the Chang's apartment, Lynn soon found herself face to face with both Carl and Adelaide. Both of them were wearing karate gear. Lynn gave them a confused look. "What the...?"
Carl struck a pose. "Stop right there! We're not gonna let you go anywhere near Carol!" He then began to run towards Lynn before jumping to deliver a flying kick. "Hiyaaaa!" Lynn simply grabbed his leg in midair before throwing him against the wall. "AAH!" He groaned in pain as he fell down to the floor.
With Lynn's back turned to her, Adelaide ran up to her and attempted to deliver a punch, only for Lynn to quickly block it. Lynn turned to glare at her. "You know I'm a black belt, right?"
Adelaide glared back at her in defiance. "I don't care! I'll do whatever it takes to stop you from hurting Carol!"
Lynn pushed her away before growling in frustration. She really didn't have time for this.
...
As Maggie's parade marched on, Maggie suddenly felt something strange. While she wasn't affected by the influence the other infinity ball users, she could still feel their presence. Like something trying to break through but can't. It's how she realised there were other people with infinity balls and that she needed to take it from them. Suddenly, she felt the presence of one of them disappear as her influence expanded. She looked to the left. "So, the princess' kingdom has fallen. That means one of your siblings has the infinity ball now." She turned to Luan. "Sunshine, could you find them and bring that infinity ball to me?"
Luan giggled in response. "Sure thing, Mags!" She then jumped off of the float before running off.
After she left, Maggie turned her attention over to Carol's area, where she and her followers were approaching. She narrowed her eyes in disgust. It represented everything she hated about society. It reminded her of the people that stabbed her in the back just so they could briefly feel what it's like to be popular. Celebrity culture was a disease. No matter what horrible actions they performed, people blinded themselves to it simply because a celebrity they worshiped was doing it. Not that different from people that were friends with jerks just because they were the most popular. It was pathetic. These people didn't care about morality. They only cared about their own comfort. She was going to take great pleasure in taking Carol down. And once she has all of the balls, celebrity culture will be a thing of the past.
...
Carol strutted down the street, followed by her fans and some paparazzi taking photos of her (with Frida amongst them). She suddenly stopped before looking to the right. "So that old man went down, huh?" She shrugged. Whoever has that infinity ball now, she was sure her fans could take care of it. She then looked over to Maggie's area.
Not only could Carol feel Maggie's presence, she could feel the hatred coming from it. She knew Maggie was coming. Truthfully, she felt sorry for people like Maggie. Could never make it to the top so all they can do is be bitter and jealous of people like her. She had strived all of her life to be the best. She earned her place and she wasn't going to feel bad about it because of bitter, jealous people any more.
She briefly started to think about Lori. She ignored the small voice in her head calling her a hypocrite.
What did it matter anyway? She was a celebrity. She could do whatever she wanted because she was at the top. She earned this. This was reality and people needed to accept that this is how it's always going to be. She didn't need to feel bad about it because once she had all of the infinity balls, who was going to tell her otherwise?
Carol then looked up at the sky. After she's got all of the infinity balls, Tammy was next.
...
Hank and Hawk were searching around a street, trying to find any sign of Luan's sisters. "Find them yet?" Hank asked Hawk.
"Not yet, bro." Hawk replied.
Hank let out a frustrated groan. "Ugh, this is boring. I bet they're probably where Maggie is anyway."
"Yeah, let's go see what Maggie is doing."
The two then left the area. Once they left, Lisa's group all emerged from their hiding place, behind a ruined house, letting out sighs of relief. "You sure we couldn't have just fought those guys?" Lana asked, remembering the last time she encountered the two bullies.
Lisa shook her head. "It's best to avoid any confrontation. It may waste time and draw attention to us. Now, let's continue on."
As the four continued making their way to the park, Lisa noticed Darcy looking around at her surroundings nervously. She also noticed she was shivering slightly from the cold. Lisa then went to hold Darcy's hand, which took her by surprise. "Huh?"
Lisa scratched the back of her head with her free hand. "Darcy, it has occurred to me recently that I haven't been the best friend to you. I have admittedly failed to take your feelings into account at times. It also occurred to me that I never apologised for briefly ending our friendship so...I'm sorry. I let my fears get the better of me. But I assure you, it will never happen again. Whenever you need me to help you feel better when you're down, I'll strive to be there for you."
Darcy stared at Lisa in surprise for a moment before a heartfelt smile appeared on her face. She then wrapped Lisa into a hug. "Thanks, Lisa." A warm smile appeared on Lisa's own face.
...
As Rick, Lincoln and and Mr. Grouse walked down the street, Mr. Grouse raised an eyebrow at Rick upon hearing Rick's explanation for what was happening. "So, uh, did you get any of that?" Rick asked upon seeing Mr. Grouse's expression.
"Oh, I got it. I'm just not sure if I believe it." Mr. Grouse replied.
"Bud, literally what reason do I have to lie to you about this?"
Mr. Grouse shrugged. "I'm just saying. Things were pretty normal here before you moved in. Now all of a sudden, a buncha sci-fi junk keeps happening every week."
Rick pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ok, first of all, a form of science that you were unaware of isn't 'sci-fi', it's just science. Second of all, what would I have gained from making all of this happen?" Rick turned away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to call my granddaughters to see if they're close to getting the rest of the infinity balls."
Mr. Grouse stared at Rick in shock. "You've got your granddaughters helping you with this?"
Rick turned back to Mr. Grouse. "Yeah? It's so that this can end quicker. What of it?"
"You're fine with putting them in danger like that?"
Rick frowned. "Ok, I don't need to take life advice from someone that keeps hoarding our stuff. Besides, they're wearing some dumb superhero outfits that I made for them that gives them powers. They'll be fine, old man."
Mr. Grouse put his hands on his hips. "Hey, I ain't that much older than you, you know? And do you even think about what putting your grandkids through this stuff might do to them?"
"I..." A look of guilt briefly flashed on Rick's face before he scowled at Mr. Grouse. "Look, don't act like you fucking know us. Why don't you mind your own business? Don't you have your own family to worry about?"
Mr. Grouse started to look downcast. "I worry about my family a lot considering I rarely ever get to see them. And I would mind my own business if I wasn't getting dragged into this nonsense!"
"Hey, this isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my day either, you know?"
"Um, guys?" Lincoln spoke up. Neither Rick or Mr. Grouse heard him as they were too preoccupied arguing with each other.
...
"Urgh..." A roughed up Adelaide groaned before collapsing onto the floor.
With her out of the way, Lynn quickly ran down stairs to the next floor, only to come across Carlota and CJ. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
CJ was dressed up in a pirate's outfit while Carlota was dressed like a pop star. "There you are!" Carlota exclaimed before strutting towards Lynn. "If you think we're gonna let you get anywhere near Carol then you've got another thing com-" Lynn suddenly grabbed her hair, pulling her down so that she and Carlota were face to face. "AH, my hair!"
"Move." Was all Lynn said before using Carlota's hair to slam her into the ground.
CJ gasped before unsheathing a fake sword. "Argh! There's no way you'll...get past...me..." CJ started to get nervous as Lynn slowly approached him with a dark glower on her face.
...
Upon seeing Carol, Maggie's face contorted into a sneer as the two of them approached the line separating their areas, along with both of their armies. As they got closer, the line separating the two started to look like it was glitching as it began contorting. The area around them looked like it was glitching out too as both their influences spilled over into each other's side. Maggie stepped down from her float. While Maggie was still glaring at her, Carol had a carefree smirk on her face. "Looking for this?" Carol taunted as she showed off her ring. "Let me ask, do you really think the world would be better off if it looked like that?" She gestured towards Maggie's area.
Maggie tightened her fists. "When I take all of the infinity balls, the world will finally be free from society's corruption. I won't let people like you use their power to abuse people."
Carol scoffed. "Ha! With you in charge? You think the world would be better off if everyone was part of your creepy little cult? I think that's just an excuse. You just want power all to yourself so you can dictate society's standards."
"The only cult I see is stood behind you."
Carol's smirk faded away. "Alright. Answer this. What have you ever done to deserve this? I've worked my whole life to be the best at everything I do. What have you done with your life except be a whiny little emo who's bitter because she can't fit in?"
Enraged, Maggie materialised an orb of darkness in her hand before throwing it towards Carol, who quickly dodged it. "So it's like that, huh?" Carol then materialised some brass knuckles on her ringless hand before the two armies went to battle.
...
An irritated Lynn stomped down the stairs to the next floor, only to roll her eyes upon noticing Maria and Carlos. Maria was wearing her nurse's uniform while Carlos was wearing some skateboarding gear. Neither of them noticed Lynn yet as they were too busy squabbling about something. "Carlos, what makes you think you think you're going to stop her with a skateboard?"
Carlos huffed, folding his arms. "Oh, and what are you going to do? Force her to attend a doctor's appointment?" His eyes then widened upon noticing Lynn. "There she is!" He then hopped onto his skateboard before skating towards her.
Lynn gave Carlos an unimpressed look. She then dashed forward and stomped her foot on his skateboard, sending him flying. "Aah!"
Maria's eyes widened before she glared at Lynn, trying to hide her nervousness. "Y-You need to stop right-AH!"
She was unable to finish as Lynn simply charged into her, sending her to the floor. "I don't have time for this!" Lynn exclaimed before heading down to the next floor.
...
"Ugh..." Leni groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. Upon opening her eyes, she saw three figures in front of her. Once her vision stopped being blurry, she realised they were Fiona, Miguel and her boss, Ms. Carmichael. Surprisingly, they didn't look any different than usual. Leni smiled. "Oh, hey guys!" She then frowned. "Oh wait, you guys are like, brainwashed and evil now!" She tried to move, only to struggle as she was tied to a chair. Looking around, Leni noticed that she was in the storage room at Reininger's.
"Don't even bother." Ms. Carmichael told her. "There's no way we're letting you out of here."
Miguel gave Leni a look of disgust. "Ugh! I can't believe you would go against Carol Pingrey! She is like, the biggest celebrity ever!"
Fiona nodded. "Pretty disappointing, Leni."
"Also, that superhero outfit? Way too tacky." Miguel added, causing Leni to gasp.
"You two keep an eye on her. I'm going to keep an eye on the front of the store in case her siblings come by." Ms. Carmichael ordered before leaving the storage room.
After she left, there was a brief, awkward silence as Fiona and Miguel stared at Leni before she spoke. "So, like, if I said Carol was my favourite celebrity, would you guys let me go?"
Miguel chuckled. "Yeah, no, that's not gonna happen."
The three then heard what sounded like faint shouting coming from outside. "What was that?" Fiona asked.
"I'm gonna go check it out." Miguel said before leaving the storage room.
This left Leni with Fiona who had gone back to staring at her. Leni then decided to ask something that had been on her mind for a while. "So, what's it like being brainwashed? Does it make the inside of your head cleaner?"
Fiona gave Leni a confused look. "Uh...what?"
Suddenly, Lori bursted into the room. "Lori!" Leni happily exclaimed.
Fiona turned to her, ready for a fight. "Oh no you-"
"Stop!" Lori shouted, freezing Fiona in place. She then ran over to Leni to untie her. "Are you okay, Leni?"
"I'm okay." Leni replied before standing up. She then noticed Lori had a rather guilty expression on her face. "Is something wrong?"
Lori sighed. "I'm just wondering if it's my fault Carol's acting like this. Last year, we put our rivalry behind us. But back at the Royal Woods Astonishing Quest, I started getting jealous when I thought Carol was upstaging me again. Leni, do you think I'm a hypocrite?"
Leni tilted her head. "Like, I don't think you're a hyper crate."
Lori sighed again. "Hypocrite, Leni. It's just that earlier, I got mad at Rick because he's been regressing into old habits but I have too! I've even fallen back on just blaming Rick for everything!" She slumped. "Never realised how easy it was to regress into old habits."
"Uhh?" Fiona said upon finally regaining control of herself.
"Stop!"
"Oh come-" Fiona was cut off as she froze again.
Leni tapped her chin. "So, like, do you still think Grandpa Rick caused all of this?"
"I don't know. It just seemed strange to me that Rick came home with an infinity ball one day and then literally four more from alternate universes show up. That can't be a coincidence. I don't know how Rick couldn't be linked to this. Unless Lincoln or Lynn somehow had something to do with this." Though now that Lori thought about it, Lincoln and Lynn had been acting pretty strange recently. Especially Lynn with how standoffish she'd been lately. Lori frowned. The more she thought about it, she started to realise Rick and Lynn actually had a lot of things in common.
A disturbing amount of things in common.
"Lori?" Leni asked upon seeing Lori lost in thought.
Lori shook her head. "Sorry. When this is over, I need to make things right with Carol. As for Rick..." She sighed. "He gets one more chance. Whatever happened here, he still assaulted my boyfriend. I'm not gonna go through a loop of forgiving and forgetting every time Rick does something messed up. Either he changes his ways or we're done with him. Do you agree?"
Leni frowned. A part of her wanted to argue against it though she then remembered the time when Rick pretended that he was going to shoot her. While she knew Rick cared for them, she couldn't pretend that he never did things that harmed her siblings. "I guess..."
Lori gave a satisfied nod. "Good. Now let's deal with Carol."
...
Upon making it to the next floor, Lynn was immediately hit in the face by a flying chancla. "Ah! Hey!"
"That's enough from you!" Rosa exclaimed. She was wearing a white tunic with a green skirt. Next to her was Hector, wearing a green suit with a red bow tie, and Bobby, wearing a white tuxedo with a purple bow tie. He still had the black eye from yesterday.
Rosa then threw her other chancla at Lynn, only for Lynn to catch it before angrily ripping it in half. "Grrrrr."
Rosa gasped. "How dare you!" She pointed towards Lynn. "Get her!"
"Never fear, Abuela, I won't let you down!" Bobby exclaimed before charging towards Lynn.
As soon as Bobby got close, Lynn grabbed him and picked him up. "Ah! Let me down! Please!"
She then ran forward before tossing him, causing him to crash into Hector and send them both to the floor. "AH! My back!" Hector shouted.
"Hector!" Rosa exclaimed worriedly, briefly forgetting about Lynn to check up on him. Lynn paid them no mind as she rushed down to the next floor.
...
After a long trek, Lisa's group finally made it to the park. Albeit a more twisted, creepier version of the park. From behind the wall blocking off the park, Lisa used a pair of enhanced binoculars to try and find her siblings. She eventually spotted Lucy and Luna tied up while Abradolf Lincler was marching back and forth, guarding them. He also appeared to have Lucy and Luna's weapons strapped to his back. "Hmm, it appears Luna and Lucy have been captured by Lincler. He also currently has possession of their weapons." Lisa explained.
"What about Luan?" Lana asked.
"She must have gotten separated somehow."
Lola started to look worried. "Do you think she's in danger?"
"Can't say. Hopefully, Luna and Lucy will know what happened to her once we rescue them." Lisa hypothesised.
"But how are we gonna get past Lincler without hurting him?" Lana asked.
Lisa held her chin in thought. "An excellent question. Considering that Lincler is an enhanced superhuman, I fear that even attempting to knock him out would be troublesome. Let alone trying not to hurt him." Lisa thought about it for a moment as she tried to formulate a plan. "I think I know how to deal with him." She turned to Darcy. "Darcy, is it possible that I could ask for your help with this plan?"
Darcy smiled. "Sure, Lisa! I'd love to help!"
...
"Dude, come on! This isn't you! You're being brainwashed! Can't you just try and fight back against it?" Luna desperately pleaded to Lincler.
"Silence!" Lincler barked at her before he continued marching.
"Sigh. I don't think we can get through to him." Lucy said.
"Well, what else are we supposed to do? We have to do something!" Luna argued.
"Hey, Abe!" Lincler stopped marching and turned to see Lana a slight distance away from him. "Looking for me, ya big dummy?" Lana then made some armpit farts to taunt Lincler further before running off, giggling. Lincler growled in anger before pursuing her. With Lincler distracted, Lisa and Darcy ran over to Luna and Lucy to untie them.
Lincler chased Lana through the park until she hid behind a fountain (which was somehow spouting black water). He went around the fountain, only to come across Lola, who used her cape to blind Lincler. "Argh!" With Lincler blinded, Lana ran up behind him and used a pair of pruning shears to cut free Luna and Lucy's weapons. Both she and Lola then scooped up the weapons before running off.
Once Lincler regained his sight, he looked around for the Loud sisters, only to find no sight of them. "Where did you go?!" Lincler shouted. "Ah-"
Lincler suddenly fell into a portal of darkness. With Lincler now out of the way, the Loud sisters and Darcy all revealed themselves. "Uh, where did you send him?" Luna asked Lucy.
"Far away." Lucy replied. "Don't worry. He'll be fine." She turned to Lisa. "Thanks for rescuing us."
"Guys, what happened to Luan?" Lana asked.
A concerned look appeared on Luna's face. "I'm not sure, dudes. Last time I saw her, she was with Maggie. She was asking Luan to join her. I dunno what happened next since me and Luce got taken away."
"Does anyone else hear ticking?" Lucy asked.
Sure enough, the Loud sisters and Darcy all started to hear ticking from somewhere. They all looked down, noticing a present on the snowy ground. The ticking started to get faster.
Lisa's eyes widened. "Run!" At this, the six all started to run off in different directions, though just as it seemed like it was about to explode, it just stopped ticking, causing everyone to pause.
"What the heck was that?" Luna asked.
Everyone then heard someone cackling. "Welcome to hell!"
Everyone looked over at the fountain where none other than Luan was balancing at the top of it, currently bowing to them. She was still wearing her Joker outfit though it was now black and white. Her skin was paler than usual too, making her almost look like a demonic jester.
Luna took a tentative step towards her. "Luan?"
Luan then raised her head, revealing a psychotic grin that she shot directly at Darcy.
"Eep!" Darcy yelped before running off to go hide.
Luna's eyes widened. "Oh no. Guys, I think Maggie got to her!"
"Aw, what's wrong, Loony? Aren't you happy to see the sister whose life you ruined?" Luan taunted.
"W-What?"
"Hey, what's your favourite rock band? Is it Apocalypse?" Luan joked before cackling.
"What to we do? I don't wanna fight Luan." Lana asked Lisa.
Lisa gulped. "Lucy, perhaps you could-"
"Aw, don't leave yet!" Luan interrupted. "The fun's just getting started!" She then got out a remote and pressed a button on it. Green gas then erupted from the present which covered the area. Not only did the gas smell as bad as Lily's diapers, it was also hard to see through.
The Loud sisters all started coughing, apart from Lana, who tried searching around for Luan, hammer at the ready. "Pfft, this is nothing. I've smelt worse stuff than this!"
"I know." Luan said from somewhere, causing Lana to frantically start looking around. "I didn't think a disgusting little freak would mind it."
"Where are you?!" Lana shouted.
"Right behind you!"
Lana turned around, only to receive a pie to the face. "Argh!" Unfortunately, the pies were full of rhubarb. Due to Lana being allergic to rhubarb, her face started to swell up.
As Luan laughed at Lana's misery, the gas started to dissipate. Luan soon found herself blasted away by the force of Luna's guitar. "What the heck is wrong with you?!" Luna yelled at her upon seeing what she did to Lana.
The blast knocked Luan back into a decayed tree. This didn't seem to bother her as she kept on laughing. "Loud and annoying as always, eh Luna?" She then went to hide behind the tree.
"Hey!" Luna ran over to the tree and looked behind it, only for a rather disturbing looking inflatable clown to pop up out of nowhere. "Ah!" Before Luna had time to realise, Luan was behind her, swinging her mallet at her. "Aaah!" Luna then went flying before rolling across the ground.
It turns out that Lisa was using a cube shaped device to suck in all of the gas. Once it was all gone, she gasped upon seeing Luan stood right in front of her. "Got something for me?" Luan asked, causing Lisa to take a step back.
Luan then suddenly blocked a flying roundhouse kick from Lola with her mallet. Lola jumped away and landed in front of Lisa, just as Lucy ran up to her side. "Luan, snap out of it! You're being brainwashed!"
"Aw, sorry Lola, but you can't always get your way. Spoiled little brat." She then quickly threw some chattering teeth over at Lucy, which then bit onto her nose.
"Ack!" Lucy stumbled back as she frantically tried to pull off the teeth.
Lola then barely dodged a swing from Luan's mallet. She tried to use her cape to blind Luan, only for Luan to quickly get out her own pocket mirror, sending the shine back towards Lola, blinding her instead. "Ah!"
Luan then picked her up before throwing her into a nearby portable toilet. She then tipped it over so she couldn't get out. "Well isn't this like your pageant career. Down the toilet!" Luan laughed before setting her sights on Lisa.
As Luan approached her, Lisa got out her taser. "Luan, listen to me, you-"
"Blah blah blah!" Luan taunted. "You're such a smug, little know-it-all. Nobody wants to hear your boring lectures." Lisa bristled at Luan before jumping forward, attempting to attack her with her taser. Unfortunately, Luan was easily able to dodge her. "Now that's no way to greet someone. Put 'er there!"
Luan then grabbed Lisa's free hand, which electrocuted her to due the joy buzzer Luan was holding. "Gahhh!" Lisa screamed before collapsing, falling unconscious.
Luan then looked over her. "Now where did you put that infinity ball?" Before she could search her, she got out a bottle of bleach, opened it and then tossed its contents behind her. Lucy was barely able to dodge it. "What? You don't wanna have a sip?" Luan taunted.
Lucy readied her shovel. "That's enough, Luan." She then attempted to create a portal beneath Luan, only for Luan to cartwheel over to Lucy and swing her mallet at her. However, Luan hadn't noticed that Lucy had pressed a button on her shovel, which caused her to start glowing blue.
As Luan swinged her mallet at Lucy, her mallet phased through her like she wasn't even there, causing Luan to lose her balance for a moment. Lucy took the opportunity to then press another button on her shovel, making her now glow red. She then jumped back into a portal.
Once Luan regained her balance, she looked around, trying to find Lucy. Her eyes then widened before she glanced upwards. Before she had time to react, a miniature coffin then landed on her head with enough force to knock her out. Lucy was inside the coffin and as soon as it hit Luan, she jumped out and landed back on the ground as the coffin shattered.
Lucy stood there, staring at Luan for a moment as she caught her breath. She was soon joined by Lana, whose face was still swollen, Luna, who was clutching her side, Lola, who looked like she was trying not to lose her temper, and Lisa, who had just regained consciousness.
"You okay, dude?" Luna asked Lana.
"No..." Lana groaned.
Luna then looked over Lola, who had started to stink. "How about you, Lols?"
"I DON'T want to talk about it." Lola then looked over Luan. "What was up with her? Was Maggie making her act like this?"
Lisa held her chin in thought. "Luan goes to her friend to vent, correct? This is just a theory, but it's possible that this is simply how Maggie thinks Luan is, based on what she may have told her about us."
This didn't make the sisters feel much better about it. "So, does that mean this is what Luan actually thinks about us?" Lola asked.
"Who's to say? Nobody can really know how someone thinks. It's possible this is simply the impression Maggie got due to Luan possibly coming to her after being in a bad mood with us." Lisa theorised.
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Wait, would that mean that Luan told Maggie about what happened last year?"
"That is a possibility." Luna frowned at the thought that Luan might secretly still be upset with her after all this time. Lisa shook her head. "But we're getting off track. We need to focus on claiming the remaining infinity balls."
"What about her?" Lucy asked, gesturing to Luan.
Lisa sighed. "Unfortunately, we can't take her with us in case she attacks us again. I'm afraid we've no choice but to leave her here for now. Claiming the infinity balls takes the upmost priority."
At that moment, Darcy reunited with the group after leaving her hiding place. "Is the scary girl gone now?" She asked nervously before noticing Luan. "Eep!
Lisa ran over to comfort her. "Don't worry, Darcy, she's simply asleep."
As the six made their way out of the park, Luna turned to Lucy. "You know, I didn't know your shovel could do all that stuff."
"They're actually my ideas." Lucy explained. "I asked Grandpa Rick if he could've updated my shovel recently."
...
"Finally!" Lynn exclaimed as she made it to the bottom floor of the apartment building. Unfortunately, her joy was short-lived as she still had one more roadblock in her way.
Ronnie Anne, who was wearing wrestling gear which included a green mask, smirked as she stood in Lynn's way. "If you think I'm gonna let you get to Carol, you've got another thing coming."
Lynn growled in annoyance before charging forward, hoping to simply bulldoze through her. However, this time, Ronnie Anne managed to stop her, simply by grabbing her. She then delivered a head butt to Lynn which sent her flying back. "AHH!" She landed roughly on the ground before getting up, rubbing her sore head. She had forgotten that Ronnie Anne had an enhanced body. While her superhero outfit could absorb a lot of damage, Lynn still felt like she just got hit by a truck.
Ronnie Anne chuckled. "Is that all you got?"
Lynn growled in anger. Irritated and tired from having to deal with the rest of Ronnie Anne's family, Lynn decided to say something that had been on her mind for a while. "I don't get it. Why does he like hanging around you?"
Ronnie Anne raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"We're not that different. We're both tough. We both like sports. So why does Lincoln like hanging with you but can't stand being around me?!"
Ronnie Anne gave Lynn a confused look before shaking her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. The only thing I care about is making sure you don't hurt Carol!"
Lynn sighed. "Figures." She muttered to herself before preparing herself for a fight. Ronnie Anne wasn't going to be as easy to deal with as the rest of her family.
...
Almost everyone from both Maggie and Carol's armies had been either knocked unconscious or had simply collapsed from exhaustion (luckily, no one had died). The only ones left standing were Maggie and Carol. Despite the power that the infinity balls gave them, even they were starting to look slightly tired. Maggie was floating up in the air, her hands covered in dark orbs as she glared down at Carol, who smirked in return. "Just give up!" Maggie shouted.
Carol chuckled. "And let the whole world be as miserable as you? I don't think so."
"Rrrrrrgh!" Angered, Maggie then flew down towards Carol.
Carol didn't lose her smirk. Once Maggie got close enough, Carol jumped up and pulled Maggie's necklace off of her. Maggie then fell to the floor as she lost consciousness.
The necklace then transformed, turning into another ring on Carol's hand. With this, not only did Carol gain complete control over Royal Woods, but due to now holding two infinity balls, her influence started to spread outside of Royal Woods as well as Carol simply admired her two rings for a moment.
Maggie, now back in her regular outfit, groaned as she stared to wake up. Her eyes then widened as she looked around in confusion. "What the..."
She then gasped as saw Carol stood over, a strange red aura emanating from her. Carol grinned. "Not so high and mighty now, huh?"
"Stop!"
...
"Argh!" Lynn yelled as she reeled back from another punch to the face. While Lynn looked beaten and exhausted, Ronnie Anne barely had a scratch on her. Lynn stared in shock at Ronnie Anne. How could she possibly be losing?
Ronnie Anne chuckled. "Is that all you've got, loser?"
Lynn's eyes widened at this before her face contorted into a look of fury. She started growling in anger before letting out a scream of rage. Unbeknownst to her, her right eye had started glowing red as soon as Ronnie Anne called her a loser. As she screamed in rage, she also shot a red laser from her eye, which barely missed Ronnie Anne.
Ronnie Anne stared at Lynn in horror. Even Lynn was shocked by what she had just done until she noticed Ronnie Anne's expression. She then dashed up into Ronnie Anne's face. "Stay out of my way, or the next laser goes into your face."
While Ronnie Anne wanted to fight back, she really didn't want to risk a laser to the face. Not helping was the psychotic look of fury that Lynn was currently giving her, which told her that she WOULD do it. Ronnie Anne had no choice but to slowly nod and step out of her way.
As Lynn walked past Ronnie Anne and made her way outside, Lynn couldn't but feel slightly disgusted with herself for using something Rick created to win. Though she supposed it didn't matter as long as she won. Nothing else mattered as long as she stayed at the top.
"Ah!" Upon stepping outside, Lynn was caught off guard as someone rollerbladed into her, sending her to the ground. She looked up to see both Margo and Polly Pain standing over her.
"We're not gonna let you any where near Carol!" Margo stated.
There they were. The two so-called friends that stabbed her in the back. Lynn stood up and cracked her knuckles. A part of her was really going to enjoy this.
...
Carol was only frozen for a second before she back-handed Lori, causing her to stumble back. "I was wondering if you'd come back." Carol remarked.
After regaining her bearings, Lori gave Carol an apologetic look. "Carol, listen, I'm sorry. I let myself get jealous again. I should have known better. And I promise nothing like that will ever happen again."
Carol stared at Lori for a moment before shrugging. "Alright. I forgive you."
This actually surprised Lori. "Wait, really?"
"It's not like I don't see why you acted the way you did. We have a lot in common after all. Besides, it's not like any of that matters any more." Carol said before showing off her rings.
Lori frowned. "Carol, please, I need you to give me those. This isn't me being jealous. I'm doing this because it's brainwashing you and everyone around us."
"Lori, if you had the power of a God, would you just give that up because someone asked you to?"
"I..." Lori hesitated to answer.
Carol continued. "I wouldn't expect you to. After all, isn't this what everyone secretly wants? Deep down? You know, my Dad always told me that if I wanted to get anywhere in this world, I needed to be the best. So that's how I've lived my life. And now I've finally done it. I'm a God now. I don't have to worry about my future career any more. I don't have to worry about appealing to society's standards any more. I don't have to worry about how my hair looks or what's fashionable any more. None of that matters because I'm at the top now. I can do whatever I want now. This is what actual freedom is like. Why would anyone want to give that up?"
After Carol's speech, Lori took a moment to think about her response. She closed her eyes. "You're right. I can't expect you to just give that up." A look of determination then appeared on her face. "But that literally doesn't change the fact that with you holding on to those infinity balls, other people are gonna suffer for it."
Carol sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that." She then attempted to throw a punch towards Lori, only for one of Leni's sashes to suddenly wrap around her arm. "What the?!"
With Carol's arm restrained, Lori dashed forward and grabbed Carol's other arm as she tried to pull off both of her rings. As soon as Carol began to struggle, Lori shouted "Stop!" which froze Carol for a second. Which was all Lori needed to pull off both of her rings. "No!" Carol shouted before fainting.
As the rings in Lori's hand turned back into regular infinity balls, the world around her changed in a flash of light as Royal Woods finally returned to normal. Lori breathed a sigh of relief. "It's over." She looked down at the infinity balls. She had to admit, she really did see Carol's point of view. And the idea of all of her worries and troubles going away did seem rather tempting...
Lori was then pulled into a hug by Leni. "Yay! We did it!"
At that moment, Rick arrived at the scene along with Lincoln and Mr. Grouse. "Wait, it's over? Jesus, you really slowed us down, Bud." Rick told Mr. Grouse.
"You're crazier than I thought if you expected me to run." Mr. Grouse responded.
At that moment, Carol, back in her regular outfit, started to wake up before looking around in confusion. "Huh? What am I doing out here?" She then noticed Maggie standing over her, giving her a disturbed look. "Uh...who are you?"
Lori walked over to Rick before handing both of the infinity balls to him. "Here."
"Thank you." Rick replied before putting them both in his container. "And that just leaves one infinity ball not accounted for." Rick then noticed Luna, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Darcy trudging towards them. "Jesus, what happened to you guys?"
"Luan ended up getting brainwashed. We had no choice but to fight her." Lucy explained.
"Fuck." Rick responded.
"Is she okay?" Lincoln asked worriedly.
"We had to knock her out and leave her at the park." Luna explained.
"At least this ordeal is over with." Lisa added.
"You got the infinity ball?" Rick asked. Lisa got hers out and handed it to Rick. "Sweet. And that makes five." Rick said as he dropped the last infinity ball in the container.
However, faster than Rick was able to react, one of his grandchildren reached into the container and pulled out all five of the infinity balls with their bare hand.
Rick stared at his granddaughter in shock. "LYNN, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"
Lynn grinned as all of the infinity balls started glowing in her hand. "What's it look like? Winning!" A pillar of light then emerged from her before expanding all around her.
...
At the White House, the President was working on some paperwork when one of his generals marched into his office before saluting him. "Sir!"
"So, what's the situation in Royal Woods." The President asked.
The general started to look uncomfortable. "There's...no scientific way to explain this, Sir. Royal Woods is currently covered in some kind of forcefield that warps reality inside of it. Anyone that steps inside of it becomes a part of that warped reality."
The President raised an eyebrow. "So, what, are we dealing with like a Wandavision situation here or...?"
The general rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I suppose if there were four Wandas in one town then..." The general trailed off. His eyes widened in horror before he pointed towards the window behind the President. "Uh, Mr. President?"
Confused, the President stood up and turned around to look out of the window, only to see a wave of light heading straight towards them. "Dear God..." was all the President could say before the White House was swallowed by the light.
A light which would soon engulf the entire planet.