Angus and Lela flew across the skies of Royal Woods, aiming to take out some sinister robots along the way. But Angus got his pet beast to stop in its tracks when he spotted someone familiar standing her ground below...
"MORAG! I wondered where you'd gotten to!" Angus greeted her.
"Well, anything beats serving 11 spoiled brat ghouls and being under the constant eye of that lizard!" Morag replied harshly, earning her a scornful look from Lela. "So, I made my escape the first chance I got!"
"To exact revenge against the Loud family, I'm guessing? Well, it looks like plans have changed. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it looks like you're actually HELPING them fight this robot army," Angus pointed out.
A slightly annoyed Morag warned, "It's only temporary. Once all this is over, it's back to being enemies as usual!"
"Well, nice to see you're mellowing out, Morag. I'll catch you later," Angus jokingly replied before flying off as Morag sighed in irritation.
But her irritation didn't last long, as it quickly transformed into fear when she had to narrowly dodge an incoming blast from an attacking android.
The Louds' Finest Hour
Chapter Eleven: Madness Descends
Royal Woods had become a battleground between good and evil, between flesh and metal. Every street, every corner, and every single part of the city was being subjected to chaotic warfare as the people of Royal Woods and Great Lakes City fought together to hold off the advancing army of mechanical monsters.
The people of Royal Woods needed every ally they could get for a battle as big as this. Fortunately, they were here to help. Among them was Lisa's pet monster, Trashy, who engulfed a few of the robots into his body of trash and then flung them high into the air, which resulted in them landing on the side of a large truck.
Lela continued to fly around and blast fire at the robots. While the fire didn't burn them, the force of the blasts was enough to knock them off balance, allowing any nearby citizens to escape their clutches. A group of robots fired at Lela, prompting her and Angus to evade the attacks.
Dolly the Dinosaur was also fighting one of the robots. He managed to chew one of their arms off with his razor-sharp teeth, which he then spat on the ground before pouncing on the metal creature.
Crikey the Kangaroo was also fighting alongside the humans. He used his kickboxing skills and strength to confront one of the metal titans. His kick was powerful enough to send the robot careening into the nearest wall.
Lynn used her athletic prowess to kick the head off of one of the robots spectacularly. However, another group opened fire on her, forcing her to flee into an abandoned, partially destroyed building to take cover. However, a certain someone spotted her doing this.
The alley cat swarm, now directed by Rocket the Bobcat, used their amassing skills to coalesce into a giant fist of cats, then ram into a trio of robots with enough force to smash them to pieces.
Sid Chang was running away from a pursuing android that had her in its sights. She did her best to dodge its laser blasts, but then she tripped on a small pothole in the middle of the street and landed on her knees.
She looked up as the robot stared down at her and prepared to fire. She sealed her eyes shut as she prepared to meet her end... but then help came in the form of an unexpected ally.
"Hey, Chang! Do yourself a favour and get back!" ordered the little blonde powerhouse, Becky.
"Becky?" Sid exclaimed, a little surprised.
Becky briefly grappled with the robot. While it was too heavy for her to just bring down, she was small and fast enough to climb on top of it as it tried and failed to swat her off. The pint-sized animal lover then noticed the robot charging up its wrist cannon; in response, she climbed right in front of its head and shouted, "Go on, tin man! I'm right here!" The robot then fired its laser, but she jumped out of the way in time, causing the robot to shoot itself in the head.
"Way to go, Becky!" Sid congratulated her.
"It's cool. What are friends for?" Becky asked as she then ran away with Sid.
Some people weren't even fighting against the robots as much as evading their laser blasts. Jenna and the cheerleaders adopted this tactic as they utilised their impressive acrobatic skills to dodge the attacks. While this didn't help outright defeat the robots, it did distract many of them, allowing the other nearby citizens to safely escape.
Of course, being the perky cheerleaders they were, Jenna's gang couldn't help but chant away as they dodged all the blasts. "DODGE! THE ROBOTS! DODGE, DODGE, THE ROBOTS! GOOO CHEERLEADING SQUAD!" they chanted in unison, slightly confusing their cold, metallic adversaries.
And the regional pageant girls, Jackie, Chinah, Claudette, and even Cricket Van Doren were all using the athletic prowess they had gained through their years of advanced pageanting to do the same thing, distracting more of the robots to allow the other townsfolk to get away with their lives.
Meanwhile, the aunt and uncle of the Loud family, Lance and Sharon, were using their physical prowess to deal with one of the robots. The two sneaked up behind it and lifted it above their shoulders.
"Hey, Sharon. It's just like when we lift the tree at Christmas," Lance reminisced.
The two then used their strength to toss the robot into a nearby bush.
However, some more androids swooped down from the sky and started shooting at them.
"ARGH!" Lance screamed in terror as he and his wife then ran for cover.
Meanwhile, their children Shane and Shelby were being cornered by another of the relentless robots. However, their spirits were raised when they heard the word "CANNONBALL!" shouted by a familiar voice.
Shiloh Loud plummeted into the mech with a surprisingly large force, enough to knock it down to the ground, allowing him and his siblings a chance to escape.
Meanwhile, Mr Bolhofner just used his brutish aggression and savage strength to wrestle one of the robots down to the ground. He then ripped out its circuitry before roaring as he double fist-pumped the air, fully absorbed in the thrill of the battle.
The two Lucys had regrouped with their fellow Morticians Club members, now in the process of performing a ritual that would summon their familiar ghost friends. "We call upon you, spirits of the past, to help win this battle, AND FAST!" Lucy-Prime chanted as she and her friends held hands in a circle. Their familiar ghost allies, Lady Emmeline, the Hipster Ghost, Buzz, and Shanks Bogey, all emerged from beneath the ground and flew into the sky to confront the dastardly androids.
"Alright! Come at us, bucketheads!" Buzz taunted them.
The robots fired at the ghosts, but the projectiles naturally flew right through them.
"You metal creatures have absolutely no manners!" Lady Emmeline griped in disgust.
"Now it's our turn!" Buzz smirked as he flew inside one of the robots, messed around with its machinery and wiring, and then possessed the droid so he could fire at the other robots surrounding him, successfully destroying them.
Speedy the Ghost then also appeared and took possession of another robot, making it spin around and fire in every direction in the sky, taking out some other robots flying nearby.
"That's how we do it in my backyard!" she boasted to herself as she forced the robot she was in to deactivate itself before flying back out.
The Morticians Club then joined hands again, and this time, their leader, Lucy-Prime, was granted extraordinary powers through another spell. She developed fangs and a dark purple aura, beginning to float in the air.
"Wicked!" she marvelled with a level of audible excitement.
She then flew over and then bit a robot in the shoulder, causing it to short-circuit and collapse to the ground.
Maria, Rosa, and Mama Lupe prepared to throw their chanclas at an oncoming android.
First, Maria threw hers, and it hit with enough force to knock the robot slightly off-balance.
"Yes!"
Next, Rosa threw hers, which hit it with enough power to make it stumble backwards.
Finally, Lupe threw hers and successfully knocked it down to the ground in impressive fashion.
The three women then high-fived each other.
Lola and Lana were firing away at the robots with the weapons they had been given, but the sinister titans suddenly shot their guns out of their hands. Just as they were cornered and seemingly done for, the cavalry came to the rescue in the form of Lisa's robots.
"Don't worry, Lisa's sisters. We are here to save you," spoke a robotic, monotonous voice.
"Todd?" the two sisters questioned.
It was indeed Todd and his robotic comrades who swooped in to save the day. They opened their chest units to reveal that Lisa had built-in potent laser weapons for occasions exactly like this. They fired their lasers at Viribus's robots, terminating them and, more importantly, saving the two young Loud twins.
"Yeah, Lisa came through for us!" Lana exulted.
"Even miles away, she can still find a way to show off," Lola joked.
However, Lana then heard a familiar sound coming from the distance...
"Yeah, well, she's not the only one," Lana then bragged.
"What do you mean?"
"Lisa has her robots, and I have my guys."
Lana's words quickly became clear to her twin once her "guys" arrived on the scene. Lana's many animal companions, from Hops, El Diablo, and Izzy to the other non-human allies she had made during her past misadventures, including the ones she made during the Tall Timbers Park incident, all arrived in the form of a huge stampede to help the humans defend the city against the armies of Viribus. They then let Lana join them to form the same lake monster structure they used to scare away a bulldozer driver a while ago. They then confronted one of the robots in this form and grappled with it.
Perhaps most notably among Lana's list of animal allies were the destructive duo of Jazzy and Snazzy, who were a pair of very dangerous rabbits when sufficiently angered.
They bravely approached and engaged in a fight cloud with one of the robots, even managing to mangle it into several pieces. They would prove valuable allies of Lana's in the fight against the metal machines.
Meanwhile, a now lone and irritated Lola just muttered, "Well, what am I supposed to do, then?!" She took a moment to clear her mind. "Where's my princess car when I need it?"
Carlos Sr also used his huge and heavy book to smack a robot into the wall before ripping off his shirt to reveal his muscular physique as he got absorbed in the battle's thrill.
CJ and his friendly rival Doyle used their sign-spinning skills well, except the "signs" were very sharp spears this time. These skills enabled them to precisely hurl the spears right into the eyes of one robot each, successfully taking them down, which they celebrated with a high-five.
Scoots put her mobility scooter's petal to the metal to distract two robots in a high-speed chase. She was accompanied by her young hunk boyfriend, Tyler, whom she had somehow managed to obtain in this chase. Unfortunately, Tyler was proving useless in the face of a crisis, as he was clinging onto his girlfriend for dear life in a very comical display.
"ARGH!" he yelled as he feared for his life.
"Ugh! Stop hugging me and screaming like a dang weakling, Tyler! I can't see where I'm going!" Scoots bluntly complained.
Fortunately for them both, they were saved when the four oldest Loud sisters intervened and blasted the duo of droids down with the laser weapons given to them by Lisa-1.
"Yeah, that's what ya get when you mess with the Louds, metal dudes!" Luna shouted in victory.
But her banter was a little premature as ten more robots descended from the sky to confront the four sisters. While they were armed, they were still outnumbered. It appeared their time was up, until suddenly...
"Not happening!" someone called as the ten robots were suddenly blasted by lasers from several different directions. To their surprise and relief, the four Loud sisters were saved—by their own enemies.
Morag and the other villains, who had previously worked with Viribus to destroy them, had now just saved their lives. Understandably, the sisters didn't quite know how to react to this turn of events.
"Wow, erm... thanks," Lori gratuitously said.
"Yeah, we were goners," Luan followed.
"Don't get used to it!" warned Vic.
"Yes. As soon as we're finished here, it's back to plotting your demise for us!" Morag threatened.
"We'll never be friends or anything, this is purely a professional courtesy. Just remember that!" Joyce told them.
But Lori appreciated their brutal honesty and smirked, "We wouldn't have it any other way."
Back at the villains' fortress, Lisa and Doctor Linnaeus put on the headgear that connected their minds together. They both stared each other down with confident and determined looks on their faces. Both geniuses wanted to defeat the other, and they both believed that they could.
"I'm going to enjoy bending and breaking your arrogant little mind, Lisa," Carol cackled. "When this is over, there will be no question who possesses the greatest intellect in Michigan!"
"Talk is cheap, Carol. Let's get it on!" Lisa dared as Carol obliged and activated the machine.
The mind battle was underway!
Their two minds were linked as they both shot powerful energy blasts at each other, generated by the intellectual power of their brains.
As their minds became interconnected, they began to communicate with each other internally as the battle ensued. While their bodies were almost motionless, their mental faculties were more active at that moment than ever.
"So, you think you're so impressive just because you got a PhD at age four? That's cute. What have you done since then?" Carol asked her.
"Plenty. I've accomplished many feats of extraordinary science at my young age," Lisa claimed.
"Ha, all child's play compared to the accomplishments under my belt, I'm sure. I've achieved things your primitive little brain couldn't begin to comprehend!" Carol bragged.
"Try me!" Lisa challenged.
While his robotic minions battled with the citizens of Royal Woods and Great Lakes City, Viribus had noticed his former apprentice flee into a damaged building...
...he just smirked to himself before following her in.
He walked around the wreckage inside as he tried to draw her out. "So, here you are. The strongest and allegedly toughest of all the Loud siblings... hiding away in here like a dirty little coward while all your friends and family stand against me outside," he mockingly stated. "Honestly, Lynn. You really are the living embodiment of disappointment."
But Lynn was still too afraid of him to come out for a confrontation. She just sat there behind a pile of debris, trying desperately to control her sounds, even her breathing, in the hopes that he would just give up and walk away.
"Lynn, I know you're in here. If you don't come out in the next minute... well, I'll just have to collapse this whole building with you inside," he continued to goad her.
But still, Lynn felt too afraid to stand up and reveal herself.
Getting slightly annoyed, Viribus stepped up his game. "Ugh! Seriously, kid, I thought you were the Loud that had a backbone! Come on, face down your old master. If you don't, well, I'll just have to settle for your brother, won't I?"
That last sentence made Lynn grow a shocked expression on her face. He just crossed the line. While she still maintained a lot of her fear, now there was an underlying layer of anger and rage mixed in. Her anger was then amplified when he followed up with, "And I'm going to have so much fun with him. It will be so amusing as I break every one of his little limbs, one by one. Then maybe I'll go for the slow and agonising..." he went to say, but stopped once he finally spotted Lynn emerging from behind the debris.
"Ah, there you are. That wasn't so hard, was it?"
"Touch my brother, and you're dead meat!" she told him as she did her best to compress her fear and sound more imposing.
But Viribus saw right through it; he even spotted her body shaking a little as she stood before him. "Oh, now that is precious. You're actually trembling. Honestly, I didn't think going through you would be this easy. Lynn Loud, so tough on the outside... such a screwed up little crybaby on the inside," he continued to mock.
But Lynn continued to stand her ground and told him, "I'm not kidding around! You leave my family alone, or you're gonna be sorry!"
"Oh, please. What could you possibly do to stop me?" he arrogantly asked her.
"You want to find out, huh?! Because they call me number one around these parts for a reason! I'm Lynn Loud Junior, and I don't..." she blustered as she tried to regain her confidence and intimidate him, but he saw right through it and cut her off.
"You know what, Lynn?" Viribus sassed as he removed his bulletproof helmet for a moment. "As much as I'd love to stand here and listen to you try and big yourself up like you always do until the death of the very last black hole in about ten to the power of a hundred years... I literally have a billion better things to be doing right now. So, here's what I propose. I've removed my helmet, I thought I'd give you a sporting chance. I want you to hit me as hard as you can."
"What?" a confused Lynn replied.
"Come on, you know you want to," he continued to goad her. "I know people often take you for a rough brute who's too violent and mean all the time, but I know you better. If anything, I'm willing to bet you hold back your true strength. I'm right, aren't I? You never let yourself go all out. I mean, I've heard how you sometimes let your sisters, or Lisa's robots, or Bolhofner's pet get the drop on you, and honestly, that doesn't sound right. I know how tough you are. If you really did cut loose on someone, ha, you'd probably kill them," he said. "The rest of the world is just so weak and pathetic, isn't it?" he carried on with his condescending words. "But we both know I can take it, no problem. So, here's your chance to go all out. Come on, no holding back, show me what you've got, Lynn... hit me as hard as you can!" he demanded.
Lynn tried to fight through her dread and began to clench her fist tight. Only her fear restrained her in the moment.
"Do you think this is some kind of game, Viribus?!" Lynn angrily asked him.
"No, not really. If this were a game, I'd be having fun. Like killing your worthless little brother. Now THAT would be fun!" he goaded ever so menacingly.
And he knew that was exactly the sort of thing he needed to say to anger Lynn enough to make her obey his request. Lynn clenched her fist tightly, planted her feet, and prepared to charge at her enemy with a rage of fury.
"Go on, then," he taunted excitedly, wanting to see his former apprentice show her true might.
Lynn sprinted towards Viribus and leapt in the air, throwing all her momentum and body weight into one truly thunderous strike.
BOOM!
The punch was powerful enough to ripple through the entire building, causing it to shake and even a bit more debris to fall to the ground. And yet it still wasn't enough to inflict any damage on Viribus.
Lynn stood back in fear as she realised her most brutal punch, as powerful as it was, was even less effective than throwing a feather at a wall of pure diamonds.
"That was impressive. If I were still human, that punch might have done some serious damage," he admitted. "But as you can see, I'm no longer human. I have ascended to godhood!" he bragged before grabbing Lynn by the throat. "I could squash you like a tiny little cockroach right now!"
Lynn tried to get him off with her greatest strength, but it wasn't enough. Viribus temporarily subdued his cockiness and spitefully told her, "I gave you everything. I made you stronger. Then you betrayed me!" He said it quietly and yet with a blatantly hurt and angry tone, as if a part of him still hadn't got over the fact that she betrayed him all that time ago. He tightened the grip on her throat, causing the world to begin to fade to black for her.
But just then, he was distracted by the sound of footsteps. Lots of footsteps. The townsfolk had managed to catch up with him and follow him into the wrecked building. "THERE HE IS!" Scoots shouted as she pointed at him.
"GET HIM!" Rosa Casagrande yelled as she clutched her chancla and led the charge.
Viribus just sighed to himself. "Tedious," he uttered as he dropped Lynn to the ground, picked up his helmet, and resumed his battle with the townsfolk.
Lisa and Linnaeus continued their mind battle as they each tried one-upping each other with their accomplishments.
"I've managed to create artificial life forms in my time! Just look at all my robots, or my living trash monster!" Lisa testified.
"Such juvenile efforts, Lisa! I've managed to create technology that can terraform entire planets by converting air particles!" Linnaeus shot back.
"I've created gravity fields!"
"I've invented rocket travel that operates at 99% light speed!"
"I've cloned dinosaurs using a DNA transfer device!"
"I've made power suits that can enhance the capacities of the human body! Viribus is even using one right now to destroy your loved ones!" Carol fired back, which riled Lisa up even more to beat her.
"I managed to crack the code to time travel! Here, take a peek!" Lisa rattled on as she mentally fired a complex equation into Carol's brain, striking a mental blow against her mind in the process.
"Grugh! Not bad work Lisa, but I've managed to perfect multiversal travel! It was easy!" Linnaeus rebutted as she returned the favour and shot an equally complicated equation back at Lisa, bruising her mind.
"Oof! Nice try, but that wasn't even your work. You just stole that from Asherah! At least my research and experiments are original! Besides, I've travelled across universes, too!" Lisa retaliated.
"Oh please, the originality card? All science these days is derived from previous theories and practices! Even yours! What matters is what I've accomplished, and I've had a lot more time than you to achieve many things! Face it, Lisa. You might be an impressive specimen for a girl your age, but I have years of experience over you. I can read your thoughts right now, I can see what you are. You're just a little girl living in a suburban home who still enjoys watching Dream Boat and dancing in your night clothes with your sisters! You're an ignorant child who can't compare to the likes of my scientific knowledge!" Linnaeus objected as her mind power began to gradually overpower Lisa's own. "FACE IT, LISA! YOU'RE OUTMATCHED BY MY GENIUS!"
She was starting to lose. But Lisa wasn't one to give up that easily. "It's true, doctor. You have years of experience over me, and yet, in all those years, there's something you never learned! Something I understand! The human factor!"
"What?!"
"I may be accused of being too cold and clinical sometimes, but the fact is, deep down, I have a heart! I understand emotions, the importance of family and friends, and the need to care for another's well-being. But you? You're an inhuman monster who experiments on others and tortures them for your own ends without any regard for their physical or mental well-being! And now you've sold out our species to help a madman replace us with artificial servants! That's where you and I differ, Linnaeus! You don't have an ounce of humanity, and that's where you're limited! THAT'S WHY MY MIND IS GREATER THAN YOURS!" Lisa told her as her brain power began to push back against Carol's. Now Doctor Linnaeus was the one struggling to push back against Lisa, though she still hadn't been defeated yet.
But then, all of a sudden, the battle stopped.
The machine shut down and the headgear automatically disconnected itself from the participants' heads.
Both Lisa and Doctor Linnaeus had reached their limits. Their minds and bodies were completely exhausted and overwhelmed by the mind battle that had just taken place.
Both combatants collapsed to the floor in exhaustion, neither of them able to move a muscle. After barely breathing for a moment, Lisa was just about able to mutter the words, "Dang it."
A few seconds later, Linnaeus finally wheezed, "I guess we'll call it a draw."
Viribus flew into the sky and searched for his trusted ally between his scuffles with the people of Royal Woods. However, she was nowhere to be seen. He quickly found ALT-Albert and asked, "Where is Doctor Linnaeus?!"
"She took a portal out of here! She said she had to take care of something personal," ALT-Albert replied.
"Why would she abandon us at our time of..." Viribus began to question, before stopping mid-sentence as he figured out why. "Of course! Those sneaky little vermin!"
"What is it?" ALT-Albert asked.
"She's gone back to the base to take care of whoever stayed behind! Those Louds must have some kind of plan!" Viribus deducted. "That means this whole battle is just a distraction!"
"What? So now they're just taking a page out of our book?" ALT-Albert questioned.
"Well, Carol should be more than capable of dealing with them. But just in case..." Viribus turned to face a group of robots flying past him. "Soldiers! Head back to Doctor Linnaeus's fortress! If you spot any intruders upon your arrival, exterminate them on sight!"
"We obey!" one of the robots responded as they changed direction and headed for the base.
After a few minutes of recovering, Lisa and Doctor Linnaeus mustered the strength to pull themselves back to their feet. "Not bad, Lisa. I will admit that didn't go the way I wanted, but I must give credit where it's due. Your intellectual prowess is truly equal to my own," Linnaeus congratulated.
"But I guess it doesn't matter." she continued as she pulled her pistol back out of her pocket and pointed it at the girl. "You've still lost, Lisa. Now that I've had my fun, all that's left is for me to terminate your existence. It's such a shame, too. A mind like yours would have been an excellent fit for our new mechanical world."
But just then, the monitor on the wall turned on and Asherah's face could be seen. "I'm sorry, Doctor Linnaeus, but I'm afraid there's been a change of plans."
"You?!" Linnaeus yelped at the screen.
"Yes. I stayed behind to help with reversing the effects of your little multiversal project, along with the two incarnations of Lisa Loud. While you were distracted with Lisa, her other self and I went and hacked into your fortress's security systems," Asherah stated as a turret attached to the wall suddenly rotated around and pointed itself right where the sinister scientist was standing.
"What the...?!" a surprised and enraged Carol muttered as she lowered her pistol.
"Now, I suggest you drop your weapon and raise your hands in the air when I can see them. You don't have to be a scientist to figure out that not doing that would be a terrible idea."
Out of luck and options, Doctor Linnaeus obeyed Asherah's order and surrendered.
Asherah focused on the more ethical prodigy in the room. "Okay, Lisa-Prime. Grab what you need from out of that room and join me and your other self in the basement. If we work together, we can get this machine made before it's too late."
"Don't mind if I do," Lisa-Prime affirmed as she walked around the room and took what equipment she felt would be handy to her. She exited the room once she collected what she needed, but not before she gave her rival a cheeky eye wink as a form of subtle gloating, further angering the defeated evil scientist.
Lincoln was still holding his own, firing away at any robots that came near him as the battle continued. However, he was suddenly approached from behind by none other than Lord Viribus himself.
"ARGH!" Lincoln yelped as he noticed Viribus standing behind him and prepared to fire, but Viribus was too quick. He effortlessly swiped the weapon out of his hands and crushed it with his newfound power. Lincoln was now defenceless against him.
"So, Lincoln Loud? Do you remember what I said back on that farm?" Viribus asked the boy.
"Huh?"
"I said that if you dared to interfere with my plans... I will kill your mother, I will kill your father, I will kill each and every one of your sisters," he told him with an incredibly sinister and menacing tone, scaring the young boy. Though only a whisper, the next line chilled the young boy to the bone: "Even your infant sister, Lily."
The fear he had implemented back on Liam's farm was now rushing back into the poor boy's mind. Brave and headstrong, he may have been, but even so, the idea of every single member of his family being mercilessly slaughtered at the hands of this madman was enough to crumble his courageous mindset. The realisations that said madman would have been able to do so with astronomical-squared levels of effortlessness and would make these deaths hours or even days of nonstop pain that would make being burned head to toe alive look like a paper cut wiped the twelve-year-old's mind clean of all remaining internal strength, replaced only by terror, desperation, and crushing defeat.
Tears filled Lincoln's eyes as he looked around at all the ensuing carnage and mayhem taking place around him. He, his family, his friends, and everyone had banded together in a heroic effort to defeat this threat... and they were losing by light-years. Viribus and his army were mopping the floor with them.
He noticed his sister Lori trembling in fear from a distance as she was hiding behind a dumpster, hoping to pick her moment where she could shoot one of the robots down, while just barely clinging to survival herself. He then turned to his friend Rusty running for his life down the street as two robots fired at him. He could see that if something wasn't done about it soon, his family and friends would likely not live to see the end of the day.
"So, which one of your sisters do you care for the least? Maybe I'll be nice and waste them first," Viribus joked. "Eh, who am I kidding? I doubt you're even that close with any of them." Viribus felt more and more cocky and arrogant the closer he came to achieving absolute victory. "Honestly, with how dysfunctional they are, I bet part of you would love seeing me end their pitiful lives, even if you don't want to admit it."
But Lincoln just ignored his foe's taunting. All he could think about was how he could possibly find a way to save the people he loved. He could see the destruction around him and just how close his loved ones were coming to their end. Growing fearful and desperate, he decided to surrender. "Please, you win," he sobbed.
But these words actually caused Viribus to stop joking around and adopt a more severe and aggressive expression. He actually looked somewhat insulted by those last three words. "What?!" he asked, surprised.
"Please, Viribus, enough is enough! Call off the robots! We won't fight you anymore. The world is yours. Just don't hurt my family or friends!" he desperately pleaded with the man as tears formed in his eyes.
"Wow, really? Just like that? After all the hype everyone gave me about you, I'm kinda let down, kid. I mean, what was all that 'Louds never quit' stuff earlier?" he growled, increasingly clearly holding back some internal outrage from Lincoln's willingness to give in.
"I'm not kidding! I don't want you to win, but I also don't want to see everybody I love get butchered! So please, I'm begging you, round up your robots and tell them to stop firing at everybody! Royal Woods surrenders! Please just don't hurt them anymore."
"Seriously?!" Viribus asked him.
"I might act the part sometimes, but I'm not some brave hero. I'm just a little boy who wants his family to be safe. So for their sake, please just..." he continued, unaware that his efforts to bargain for surrender were actually doing more to anger his enemy than anything else.
"And there it is! You see that, right there, kid?!" Viribus angrily stared down at the boy and asked him. "That is what I hate about you the most!" he grumbled through gritted teeth, much to Lincoln's surprise. "You know something? There are a lot of things I can say in criticism of the other people in this backwater town! Your sisters might be a chaotic mess, your classmates might be wimpy little dweebs, and the townsfolk might be scummy little low lives, but do you have something they all have in common? They stand up for themselves and fight for what's theirs! They know that society is a harsh, unforgiving place, and they do their best to fight against it! Right now, they're fighting for this whole world, and every worthless human fool living on it! But you? Honestly, you're an embarrassment!"
"Wha..? What do you mean?" a terrified and upset Lincoln trembled as he asked.
"I mean, how hard can it be to get an eleven-year-old boy riled up and pushed to his breaking point?!" Viribus asked rhetorically.
"I'm twelve," Lincoln corrected him.
"Whatever! The point is... you have every reason in the book to lash out against the world for what's happened to you! You were locked out of the house for being unlucky! You've been pushed around by your sisters and school peers alike for years! Your own parents called you a life ruiner... I mean, come on! Where's your rage, kid?! Where's your self-respect!? You actually take pride in the fact that you're a little pacifist nerd who's so content with letting everyone else walk all over him all his life! That's what drives me insane about you!"
"Please, just stop," Lincoln spoke through his tears as he pleaded for his family's lives, but Viribus grew increasingly angry.
"Why should I?! I have all the power in the world and the will to do whatever I deem necessary with it! That's the difference between you and me, kid! You live your life with a smile on your face and an idealistic look on everything, and then you crumble into a little ball when that naive worldview of yours is broken down and shattered into little pieces! Me? It took me a long time, but I did what I had to do in order to take back what's mine! The world doesn't bend and break me to its whim... I bend and break the world to MINE!" he gloated aggressively as he thoroughly relished holding all the power and control of the situation.
A horrified Lincoln could only mutter, "You've lost it, Viribus. You've gone completely insane," He realised begging and bargaining wasn't going to work at this stage. He could only back away in fear as he realised just what kind of man he was dealing with.
"No, boy. This is who I've always been! A man with both the vision and the will to force the world to change! Besides, I'd rather be an all-powerful being with a bit of arrogance than some wimpy little pushover like I once was... or like you."
But then something clicked in Lincoln. A spark of confidence had fought its way through his ruined mindscape, and his bravado finally began to recover. He realised why Viribus hated him so much, and amusement blossomed.
Viribus looked at the boy and actually started to laugh. "You know? All your enemies insisted to me that you were some kind of formidable foe to be reckoned with. Morag, the Millers, Joyce, Fifi, and even the school bullies, they all believed you were a worthy opponent. But looking at you now, I have to say... they all vastly overestimate you."
But as he stared down at the white-haired boy, he was surprised as his target, just 15 seconds ago a complete blubbering mess, returned the favour and began chuckling at his expense.
"What are you laughing at, boy?!" Viribus asked him.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm only just now getting how weak and pathetic you really are," Lincoln replied.
Viribus scoffed and asked him, "What? You, a scrawny little weakling, are calling me, a god amongst men, weak?"
"Yeah, that suit gives you a lot of strength, but you're still weak in here," Lincoln reasoned as he pointed at his forehead.
"Ha! I'm not the one who lets everybody walk all over him!" Viribus retorted.
"And how long has it taken you to finally stand up for yourself? How old are you, anyway? Well into your twenties? Thirty? Let me guess, the reason you hate me so much is because I'm just like you were when you were my age. Am I right? Like me, you barely ever stood up for yourself, and when you did, it just made things worse, didn't it?"
Viribus's blood began to boil as he was being verbally roasted by a physically helpless pre-teen child. Despite all his power, Lincoln was still managing to expose his vulnerabilities.
"The difference is, I think I've handled my hardships better than you ever did. Maybe that's your problem. Maybe you're just jealous," Lincoln denounced as his voice adopted a cockier tone.
"Me, jealous of you?! You're just a worthless little brat kid loser!" Viribus argued.
"Well, I have a family that loves me, a group of close friends, and a whole ton of great stuff in my life. You, on the other hand, have to surround yourself with tin toys and pretend you're a god," Lincoln sassily replied.
"I AM GOD!" Viribus roared furiously, only to make Lincoln laugh even more.
"Ha-ha-ha, and you call me weak and pitiful. That's a hoot!" Lincoln mocked as he began to get inside his enemy's head. "And yeah, you're right, life isn't all sunshine and roses, and sometimes my family and everybody can be a real pain in the butt... but I know they'll always be there for me when it really counts. But who do you have? Really?"
"WHY YOU LITTLE...!"
A now angered Viribus advanced towards Lincoln and prepared to strike him down. But then a familiar face stood in front of the boy.
"Sup, loser?"
It was none other than Babs Bestie, someone he had previously brainwashed, back for sweet revenge.
"Tell the doc thanks for giving me this suit, buddy. It'll come in handy as I kick your sorry butt!" Babs attested cockily as she lunged towards the man.
But Viribus just smirked confidently before replying, "As if, kid," while easily dodging her attacks. "Not only am I the stronger host with the more advanced suit, but I have the power of two deities inside me now! Even you are no match for me," he gloated as he ripped apart Babs's power vest and violently tossed her aside.
And just as he boasted about his new power level, Viribus heard some commotion raging on in the sky above him. He looked up to see some of his robots being smashed into by Lela the Dragon and her rider, Angus. Sensing this was the perfect opportunity to provide a visual demonstration, Viribus looked back at Babs and smugly told her, "Let me show you my real power."
Viribus began to rise to the skies with his suit's elevation capabilities. He flew towards the dragon and stood before it. "Woah, girl!" Angus yelped as he slowed Lela down just as she was about to collide with Viribus.
"Okay, so I take it you're the one responsible for causing all this ruckus?" Angus asked. "If you tell your little contraptions to stand down right now, I might consider not setting my big friend here on you."
But Viribus just grinned deviously and stared down the Scottish man and his pet dragon, making it clear that he had no intention of surrendering.
"Very well, don't say I didn't warn you! NOW, LELA!"
The Louds gazed up into the sky and saw Lela blast an unholy amount of fire at their greatest enemy.
Lincoln stood there and looked on with tension and suspicion as he waited for the smoke to clear. His counterpart did the same as they awaited the outcome of Lela's attack...
...but then the smoke cleared, and their fears were confirmed.
The Louds and the people of Royal Woods all gasped in shock and terror as it appeared the dragon's attack had done no damage whatsoever to Lord Viribus.
However, now it was his chance to strike back. "My turn."
Suddenly, Viribus charged towards the beast in the sky, breaking the sound barrier in the process...
"Hey?!" Angus cried in shock, as Viribus was now suddenly levitating right behind Lela.
In a cocky but astounding display of might, Viribus grabbed the beast by its tail and began to spin it around.
"Woah! Woah! WOAH!" Angus yelled as he clung onto Lela for his life as Viribus swung the giant creature around in the sky like it was a small plaything.
Finally, he let Lela go, and she and Angus were sent plummeting to the ground below.
SPLASH
Unfortunately, despite landing in a big lake, the water did little to cushion their fall. Upon becoming submerged, the two felt several ribs buckle instantly, leaving them momentarily unable to surface. Only after a few seconds did Lela fight through her pain, barely pushing her rider above the water's surface with her head. Even though they were no longer at risk of drowning, it was difficult for both of them just to breathe.
"A-are you alri-right, girl?" Angus barely managed to choke out, to which Lela shook her head.
But while Angus and Lela were passably okay for the moment, it was clear nobody would truly be okay for very long, as Viribus was pretty much unstoppable.
He descended back down to the ground as he managed to lock eyes with Lincoln, who was about 200 yards away from him. "Going somewhere?"
"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Lynn yelled furiously as she tackled Viribus before he could hurt Lincoln.
"You again?! Seriously, ponytail, you already had your chance! You're done!" Viribus roared as he grabbed hold of the little jock and lifted her above his shoulders.
Lynn-1, who was nearby, gasped in horror as she remembered when she was in that same scenario... and the bone-crunching experience that was about to immediately follow.
Acting out of instinct and not caring that her past experience in question was decidedly a pointless sacrifice, Lynn-1 dropped her crutches and frantically sprinted toward her counterpart. Just as Viribus was about to break Lynn-Prime's back with his knee, Lynn-1 dived in milliseconds before impact and barely managed to knock her in a safer direction.
"Oof!" Lynn-Prime cried as she and her counterpart landed on the ground. "Thanks," she said.
"Don't mention it," Lynn-1 replied. "Still, that was the first time I've run since... you know, what happened to me."
"You see? I have people willing to step in and help me. That's why you won't win today, Viribus!" Lincoln declared.
But Viribus just turned to him and scoffed, "You know what? I'm growing tired of this entire exercise." He pushed a button on his suit, which happened to open an exceptionally large portal in the distance.
Lincoln and many of the other battling townsfolk looked on in intrigue and dread as thunderous, clanking footsteps were heard. Then the beast emerged from the portal.
It was an exceedingly large robot with many missile pods in its torso. It was about eight stories tall, and it was not friendly.
"One of my other selves has been saving this big boy for just an occasion like this. Let's see what kind of firepower he has!" Viribus grinned.
The robot began firing its missiles. Deadly aerial weapons were fired in every direction, targeting every organic lifeform in sight.
"Adelaide, look out!" Sid screamed to her sister as the two of them and Becky quickly jumped out of the way as a missile landed right where they were standing.
Everyone in the area, from the sleazy store owner Flip to the tiny infant Lily, ran frantically for their lives as these deadly missiles began landing and exploding with tremendous fiery force on the ground.
No-one fighting evil was safe. Adults, children, the elderly, the Loud family, the Casagrandes, and even the villains were all sprinting away from the infernal explosions that began to engulf the entire landscape of Royal Woods.
Ronnie Anne saw a missile land near where she was standing. She screamed in terror and panic as it appeared she and everyone she knew were goners. It seemed there was nothing that could save them now…
"AARRRGGGHHHH!"
But suddenly, the explosions stopped.
Ronnie Anne and many others stopped in their tracks and looked on in confusion and relief as the giant robot was no longer firing missiles at them. Instead, it had now turned around and started shooting in one specific direction... towards a mysterious purple light in the sky.
Lincoln looked on, intrigued by this turn of events. "What is it shooting at?"
Suddenly, the figure in the sky zoomed close enough that Ronnie Anne could identify her as a very close and VERY powerful ally...
"Wait, that's..." she marvelled excitedly.
It was Punguari, the Demi-God, descending from the sky, wearing the Mask of Many Faces, and carrying a mighty yet unfamiliar new weapon. With the mask's power, she had been enhanced to Full-God mode. Needless to say, she was tanking the robot's missile explosions like they were nothing.
SMASH
Punguari used her power to smash her way right through the robot's torso like a hot knife through butter, critically damaging it in the process.
"YES!" Ronnie Anne shouted ecstatically.
Punguari flew back around and transformed into her giant blue coyote form, which she used to aggressively pounce on the giant mech, taking it down to the ground.
Damaged and tackled to the floor, the robot deactivated, thus nullifying one threat the humans faced in this great battle against the mechanical, multiversal army.
Lincoln looked at Punguari's triumphant display of heroic might in awe, while Lord Viribus responded with outrage.
"How dare that poser deity oppose me and my army! She will suffer for this!" But he then grew a sly expression on his face. "And so will everyone else. Now that Punguari is here, I will have the power of THREE gods, plus the mask! I will be unstoppable!"
As all this carnage and destruction ensued, a local TV store, which had luckily managed to survive the barrage of missile explosions to this point, had a news report playing on one of the televisions, and it was the news of a nightmare. "This is an update from Katherine Mulligan! More of these evil robots are appearing through the portals, and it's being reported that Earth's militaries are being overwhelmed!" Obviously, this shocked and terrified the Loud parents as they could see footage of military tanks and aircraft getting taken out almost effortlessly. "I'm sorry, but it appears the day is lost."
But was there a little hope left as the climactic battle between man and machine reached its final stretch?
Author's Footnote: It's almost finished. Just one more chapter left. Mind you, it's a rather long one. It's also the only chapter I've rewritten from scratch for v2 (albeit with a few certain scenes from v1 copied and pasted in where necessary). Either way, I'm happy to almost be done with this project. I am certain you guys will enjoy the new ending of this story, now featuring Gods, more villains, and even bigger stakes than ever. XD
Also, special thanks to TheEpicness9000 for proof-reading the story.
Proofreader's Note: This took incredibly long to proofread due to my college work. In fact, a technical issue prevented me from accessing one of my college courses for around a day, and when it was resolved, my first test was late. I did not receive an extension for quite a while, and my second test also became overdue before I got my extensions. In short, due to circumstances beyond my control, this took forever to proofread (so long, in fact, that the final chapter draft was completed when I began my last touches to this one). I am happy to finally put this in the rearview.
I will still maintain my stance that the Louds would have seeked better options than Ensnared, even discounting the Casagrandes' apartment and assuming the villains would target the Louds after leaving Royal Woods. Great Lakes City and its outskirts would no doubt have various hotels they can lay low in, generally name-brand hotels that promise more trust. Despite what the author says, the Louds have many other options to choose from. Not to mention that one really shouldn't be going to a hotel that shows red flag after red flag as I mentioned in the previous chapter, regardless of how much discussion you can make. The Ensnared sequence completely fails to acknowledge the Louds' heightened alertness for any threats they may encounter, considering they were chased out of town under the threat of death and have been to a scam hotel before. As the wise saying warns, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
I am also seeking help for a semi-RP story of my own. Inquire with me on DeviantArt if you wish.
I've still been noticing some common errors the author was making, most notably using apostrophe's with plural's. This error is even present in the fanfiction title and Chapter 10's title. They should be "The Louds' Finest Hour" and "Louds Never Quit", respectively. And the bad hyphen in Chapter 9 has still not been fixed.
I had made three mini-drafts of what happened to Angus and Lela, one of which has been used. They were developed because hitting water at high speed, contrary to typical cartoon physics and in line with the more serious tone of this story (it's a hopeless world war, after all, and people are dying left and right), can kill—from the impact to the water surface alone. One was simply moderate injury, one was severe injury, and one got them both killed.
Lastly, I do a few sweeps of every chapter: first in Grammarly for general error spotting, next one to replace as many instances of the word "said" as I can, then one to get rid of as many instances of "then" as possible, and lastly one to attach -Prime or -1 to much of the Louds' names.
(Phew!)