While it was a losing battle, the people of Royal Woods still held their own against the advancing robot army. Lynn's sports buddies tackled one of the robots and tried to take it to the ground. Miguel and Fiona ran as one of them fired at them. Rusty and Zach jumped into a sewer entrance hole to escape a duo of pursuing droids. Babs protected her sister Beth and got her to safety while fending off some oncoming enemies.
The alternate Loud siblings, minus Lisa, all regrouped as they were pursued by a small squad of androids.
"What do we do now?" Lana-1 asked worryingly.
Lori-1 replied, "Everyone, get into formation."
"Oh-ho-ho, now we're talking!" Lynn-1 grinned.
The alternate Loud sisters formed a collective move that their brother Lincoln-1 knew exceedingly well… the Sisternado.
The human whirlwind spun toward the robot squad, which stood in confusion…
SMACK
The Sisternado knocked down the robots like bowling pins, impressing the nearby Ronnie Anne.
"Woah!"
Just then, a black and golden ALT-Viribus robot appeared behind her. Ronnie Anne turned around and looked up in horror, but then…
SLASH
The robot was sliced in half by none other than Lincoln-1.
"Lincoln?" she asked out of surprise.
"Ronnie Anne, I…" Lincoln-1 began, but he paused out of awkwardness.
"Thanks for saving me."
"It was nothing."
"Wait, since when do you own a knight's outfit?" she asked, commenting on his choice of clothing.
"Oh, right. Ronnie Anne, this may be hard to believe, but I'm not the Lincoln you know. I'm from another universe, or timeline, or whatever."
"Lincoln, we're fighting an army of evil killer robots and a literal God just got here! I think I'm willing to believe a lot of things right now," she pointed out. "So, are you close with the Ronnie Anne in your universe, too?"
"Yeah, very close. I mean, we did have a little falling out after dealing with the whole Viribus thing in our world, but we made up again. It was kinda on me, to be honest," Lincoln-1 explained.
"Well, that's good to hear…" Ronnie Anne went to say, but she was interrupted as a particular friend approached her in her blue Coyote form.
"Ronnie Anne, time and a place!" Punguari told her, reminding the two that they were still in a war.
"Oh, right," she said.
"So, where is that power-sucking monster?! We have some unfinished business!" Punguari snarled as she looked around for the one responsible for her parents' suffering.
Just then, Viribus descended from the sky and appeared before Punguari and the others. He had a sly, devious grin as he had his last Godly adversary in his sights, and more than that, she was wearing the Mask of Many Faces.
The Louds' Finest Hour
Act 12: One Family Can Save The World
"Okay, Viribus! You're going down!" Punguari angrily declared, throwing the Staff of the First Gods over to Ronnie Anne. "Quick, use it on me!"
"On you? Why?"
"That Staff is used to grant an already powerful God an even greater power-up to help defeat the greatest of evil threats. So quick, use it on me!"
Ronnie Anne pointed the Staff at Punguari, but before she could use it, Viribus used his super speed to rush over and knock Ronnie Anne to the ground, sending the Staff flying several yards down the street.
"As if I'd just let you," he mockingly pointed out.
"HEY! She's my friend!" Punguari shouted furiously as she prepared to attack.
Punguari roared and charged at Viribus, but he darted out of the way. She transformed into an owl and fired a laser at him, but he used his stolen power to deflect the beam.
"Please, kid. You're going to have to do better than that," he mocked.
Punguari grumbled, "Don't call me a kid! I'm 12,000 years old!"
She transformed into her humanistic form and engaged him in hand-to-hand combat, with Viribus using his enhanced speed and strength to dodge or block all of Punguari's strikes. A tear formed in the girl's eye as she tried to unleash all her pent-up rage against the man who had almost killed her mother and father.
However, Viribus suddenly caught Punguari with a vicious knee to the gut, followed by a slap to the face.
"Punguari?!" Ronnie Anne cried out to her friend.
But she wasn't going to let herself go down that easily. She got back up and threw a few more punches. Finally, Punguari caught Viribus with a surprise hook to the head that shattered through his glass helmet.
SMASH
The punch was also enough to knock him down to the ground. Punguari wasted no time as she transformed into her coyote form and pounced atop him. She tried to bite his head off, but he held her jaw back with his hands. A struggle ensued as Punguari gradually forced him down to the ground. Ronnie Anne looked on with hope and excitement as it appeared Punguari would finally overpower the big bad himself.
However, this excitement turned to a look of pure dread as Ronnie Anne noticed something. As Viribus held Punguari in place, a purple stream of energy began to course out of Punguari and into his suit. It was starting to absorb Punguari's power.
"Punguari! Get back! He's stealing your—" she tried to warn her, but it was too late.
Punguari transformed back into her Demi-God form as Viribus sucked the Godly essence away from her body, as well as the power of the Mask of Many Faces.
Viribus jumped back to his feet as his power grew and hers diminished. He regained control of the battle and quickly rubbed her nose in it.
"I told you, child. One God rules this world… and it's ME!"
"Ungh!" she cried as she collapsed to the floor, her purple aura now gone and her eyes looking drained and tired. The mask, now also depleted, fell to the floor beside her.
The two Lisas and Asherah were working together in a room to construct a machine that would undo Doctor Linnaeus and Viribus's misdeeds.
"Lisa-Prime, pass me that wrench!" Asherah instructed.
"Here," Lisa-Prime immediately obliged.
"With any luck, this thing won't take too long to finish. It goes without saying that the more time we take, the less likely your loved ones will survive," Asherah reminded them as she worked quickly. "But with our combined intellects, we can close the walls between timelines and send those monstrous creatures back where they came from! Viribus and Carol have ruptured the boundaries between different pockets of reality, but we can reverse it. If we create this machine, it will generate a wave that will hit all those robots, and force them out of this world. Viribus's plan will be ruined!"
"I failed to build the machine quickly enough the last time we were in this situation... I won't fail again!" Lisa-1 vowed, still grimly remembering The Human Harvest and that if it hadn't been for her siblings, she would have failed, and the entire human race would have ended in her world. "I can't fail again."
Seeing that this memory caused Lisa-1 to feel uneasy, and at a time when that couldn't be afforded, Lisa-Prime placed her hand on her counterpart's shoulder and told her, "Well, this time, you've got assistance. With two of us, plus Asherah, we'll finish it in half the time."
But unbeknownst to the two Lisas and Asherah, another incentive to hurry was almost at the base, being the robot kill squad Viribus sent. The clock was ticking...
"Yes, now the power of three deities, plus the mask, is all mine!" Viribus gloated victoriously.
With the power of three deities, the Mask of Many Faces, and his own power suit, Viribus could feel a genuinely phenomenal energy level in his body. A red aura now surrounded his suit, and his eyes began to glow red.
But despite his victory over Punguari, the people of Royal Woods and Great Lakes City would not stand by and let him complete his conquest without a fight. Suddenly, Viribus was surrounded by hundreds of enemies charging at him from every direction.
The alternate world Loud siblings, Ronnie Anne and the Casagrande family, the Changs, the McBrides, Lincoln's friends and classmates, Leni's friend group, Mr Grouse, Flip, Scoots, Mr Bolhofner, Trashy, Lynn's jock friends, the cheerleaders, Cricket and the pageant girls, Doyle, Crikey the Kangaroo, Jazzy and Mazzy the destructive rabbit duo, Lana and all her animal companions, Dolly the Dinosaur, Lisa's robots including Todd and Darebot, the Mortician's club and their ghost friends, Lance Loud and the Loud cousins, La Tormenta and some of the other wrestlers, Becky the Lucha Libre prodigy, Stern Fern, Coach Packowski, Pop Pop and Myrtle, Ham Hand, Zia, and even the other members of the Louds' rogues gallery… they all charged at Viribus.
But all he did was smirk, knowing he had enough power to deal with them all.
He used his power suit to send out a powerful, violent shockwave that blasted in every direction, immediately knocking back all the attackers. An entire crowd of strong enemies had been effortlessly taken out by this being using a microscopic fraction of a per cent of his newfound cosmic power.
"Pathetic," he smirked, looking at his fallen adversaries.
"Today's forecast… pain…" La Tormenta muttered as she lay on the ground in fatigue.
"Hmm, I think it's about time to show you worthless little insects just how much might I really have. A form befitting of my true power!" Viribus boomed as his red glow began to intensify.
The red aura began to turn white, and that white light began expanding. Viribus, in his power suit containing all the absorbed power of the Gods, was swelling significantly in size. Just then, the light started to suck in all the surrounding robots that were patrolling the skies, further adding to Viribus's size and mass.
As the city's people returned to their feet, they watched in awe and fear as the light grew brighter and brighter as it absorbed more robots.
"What's happening now?!" Lincoln questioned out loud.
Finally, the light intensified one last time, causing everyone to cover their eyes for a second as a flash engulfed the city. After the light dimmed, the people of Royal Woods feasted their eyes at a spectacular but terrifying sight.
It was Viribus, transformed. He was now a titanic, robotic God, still with his previous red aura. This robot was gigantic in scale, dwarfing even the likes of Ucumu. His new form made even the tallest buildings in Royal Woods look small in comparison. As he towered over all his surroundings, the Loud family looked up at this robotic being with overwhelming dread.
"Uh oh!" Lincoln muttered.
Punguari also looked up in horror. "No! The monster from my visions! I was trying to prevent this!"
The alley cat army formed its giant cat monster form… which was still tiny as it stood before this metallic behemoth that was Viribus.
He simply leaned down and flicked the cat monster, causing it to explode into scattered cats.
Fortunately for its head honcho, Rocket the Bobcat, he fell back into his owner's arms.
"Oh, I'm glad he didn't hurt you," Bolhofner breathed as he hugged and kissed his cherished pet, showing his sporadic soft side in that moment.
As all this was happening, Lincoln noticed the Staff of the First Gods was still lying on the floor. He rushed over to pick it up, only to be beaten to the punch by one of Viribus's robots, as it swept over and grabbed the Staff, before ascending back into the sky. It tried to break the Staff as it held it, but the object proved even more durable than it looked.
To show off the true scope of his power, Viribus raised his hand and caused the Moon to move with it. He moved the Moon in front of the Sun, eclipsing it and leaving the area much darker. "The Sun, the Moon, and all the Planets are my playthings now!"
As Lincoln and his siblings looked up at the towering mech in fear, Lynn fretted, "Yeah… we're boned."
Fifi looked up at the giant robot and pulled out a communicator device. "NOW!" she ordered.
Just then, a few of Fifi's henchmen appeared in fighter jets in the sky. They fired missiles and lasers at the mech, only for them to inflict absolutely no damage against it.
Robo-Viribus fired a few missiles of his own, effortlessly taking out the fighter jets.
However, one more smaller plane was seen speeding above him. It was carrying a giant flaming stone chancla, the same one used to depower Ucumu back in Mexico.
"That's it, get him!" Mama Lupe shouted excitedly as Maria and Rosa stood beside her.
The chancla was dropped, and it landed right on the head of the robotic God.
SHATTER
The stone chancla just crumbled upon impact, much to the shock and horror of the Casagrandes.
"What?" Rosa blurted out.
"But how?!" Maria followed.
It appeared nothing could stop this mechanical titan. Finally, both sets of Loud siblings, plus all the other Loud villains, used the weapons they were provided with to fire at the villain. However, they too, had no effect.
It seemed all hope was lost.
In his new mechanical, godly form, Viribus loudly spoke to the populace. "Victory is ours! My full power has been realised! This is the ultimate triumph of the Virion Empire!"
Viribus used his newfound power to raise his hands and open dozens of more portals, resulting in thousands more robots pouring out of them. Very quickly, it became apparent to the city's people that there were too many to fight. As they all swooped down and held the human resistance at gunpoint, everyone ceased fighting.
Lisa-Prime, Lisa-1 and Asherah were so close to finishing their invention. "It's almost ready!" Lisa-1 chirped.
"It's time to shut down that madman's operation, once and for all!" Asherah swore, determined to get it done as she wired up her crystal ball device to the larger machine they were building.
"Wait, Asherah, isn't there something else we can do to buy the people of this world some more time?" Lisa-Prime suggested.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, can't you use your portal technology to bring in some 'multiversal' reinforcements of our own?"
Asherah immediately understood what she was referring to but, unfortunately, had a less-than-ideal answer. "Oh, right, I forgot that you, too, are familiar with the many other alternate realities that the multiversal realm has to offer," she sighed, referencing Lisa's previous journey to another world. "I'm sorry, Lisa-Prime, but with the technology I have with me right now, I can only generate multiversal portals sparingly. Right now, I can only open one portal at a time, and we'd have to wait a while to generate another like earlier. I'm sorry, but I've been contained in a cell for many weeks, remember? My brain isn't at peak condition right now," she explained.
"Oh," a disappointed Lisa-Prime responded.
"Besides, Viribus and that quack have already ruptured the space-time continuum so much with all the portals they've just opened to this world. I fear us doing the same would completely shatter it!" Asherah claimed.
"So, my siblings and the people of this world are on their own?" Lisa-1 asked.
"I'm afraid so," she confirmed.
"Then we must act fast!" Lisa-Prime commanded, determined and focused on her task. She quietly whispered to herself, "Just hang on, loved ones. I'll save you," still worried about her family.
And she had every right to be worried, as now they had been pretty much defeated. Viribus and his army were too great a force to fight against any longer.
"For your valiant efforts in fighting my forces, I will give you all one last chance to surrender and become a part of my new empire. Ascend to glory with me, or die by the hands of my soldiers!" Robo-Viribus brutally declared to the people who stood before him.
"Give it up, kids!" ALT-Albert ribbed to the Loud siblings. "Why not join us? After all, we're just trying to make things better for everybody."
"Spare us that absolute garbage, dude!" Luna shot.
"Yeah, how can you guys say that you're doing this for the good of everybody?" Luan asked.
"Especially when all you want to do is turn people into robotic, mindless drones?" Lincoln pointed out.
"So soulless," Lana condemned.
"And not in a good way," Lucy followed.
"And do the rest of you lowly humans share the sentiment of this dysfunctional, chaotic family?" Robo-Viribus loudly asked everyone else.
The rest of the people of Royal Woods and Great Lakes City all frowned and stood together in response, making it clear that none accepted his terms. Ronnie Anne, who was now helping a drained and fatigued Punguari stand, spoke on behalf of everyone.
"The Louds might be chaotic, but they're still totally awesome, and between them and you, I'd rather stand with them any day of the week!"
"YEAH!" the other townsfolk replied in unison.
"As you wish, humans!" Viribus responded.
The Loud family and their many friends closed their eyes and braced themselves for what would come. The thousands of robots around them all prepared to fire.
Elsewhere, the kill squad of robots returned to Linnaeus's base in the swamp, preparing to breach the last wall between them and their targets, who just had their moment of triumph inside.
"Sweet Stephen Hawking! It's done!" Lisa-Prime bubbled in excitement and surprise, astounded that they managed to finish the machine as soon as they did. "I thought it would take at least another hour."
"Then we're ready," Asherah affirmed.
BOOM
The wall had been blasted down, and outside were half a dozen sinister robots, ready to blast them into oblivion.
"So are they!" Lisa-1 shouted in fear.
"NOW!" Asherah ordered.
Lisa-Prime reached over and punched the big red button, activating the machine they had just built.
Just like they had anticipated, the machine unleashed a massive energy wave that emitted out in all directions, and it was one powerful enough to circle the entire planet.
Before the robots could terminate the three young scientists, they noticed they were beginning to fade away. One quickly charged its laser and fired at Asherah, but all it did was singe her.
"Is that all you can do, tin men? Back you go to your own timelines!" Asherah shouted as the robots vanished.
The wave required so much power that the local power grid was completely drained. The lights shut off all across the building, as did other things. But a little darkness was worth it, given what they had just managed to do.
The wave quickly made its way to Royal Woods within seconds, resulting in the robots there also beginning to vanish.
"What have you Loud brats done now?!" ALT-Albert asked, to which the siblings just collectively responded with a cocky smirk.
All the robots patrolling the streets and coasting the city's skies were suddenly gone, clobbered out of this world and back into their own corners of reality. The ones in the sky also disappeared, including the one holding the Staff of the First Gods, resulting in it falling back to the ground.
And the wave kept on travelling rapidly. Just as the world was on its knees, the ultimate saving grace came through for everyone.
Ronnie Anne noticed one of the TVs playing the news report in the store window. "Hey, look!"
"This is Katherine Mulligan, and I'm delighted to say that there are now reports from all over the United States saying that the robots are vanishing into thin air. It looks like the crisis is over!" she announced as clips of the robots vanishing in the sky played over her voice.
Everywhere, from Great Lakes City to Loch Loud, witnessed the armies of Viribus fade away into nothingness. The people of Earth rejoiced.
Of course, the robots weren't the only ones affected by the wave. Lisa-1 and the other Loud counterparts were also compelled by its effects to return to their timeline.
"It looks like you won't be staying, my esteemed friend," Lisa-Prime breathed to her counterpart as she noticed she was transparent. "Before you go, I must say thank you."
"It was my pleasure, fellow prodigy. I'm just glad that this time, we were able to finish the machine in time. Goodbye, Lisa-Prime," Lisa-1 stated before she, too, faded away.
"Emergency power activated," an electronic system within the building announced. An internal reserve power source activated automatically to get some lights back on.
But that was the moment Lisa remembered something. "Dang it! Wait here, Asherah, I need to check something!" she shrieked, quickly running out of the room.
Back in Royal Woods, the golden-plated Viribus counterparts and ALT-Albert were the last to fade away. He looked at his transparent hand in shock. "No, no way! There's no way I'm going back to that awful prison!" he yelled furiously as he also vanished back to his home world and the confinement that awaited him there.
But as this was happening, the other Loud counterparts were also beginning to fade.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Lori-1 sighed.
"Thanks for helping us today," Lincoln said to the IAKW Louds.
"It was our honour to fight beside you," Lincoln-1 graciously replied. "We were glad to help make sure your world didn't turn as screwed up as ours."
"Yeah, well, maybe things will start getting better in your world, too," Lincoln encouragingly told him.
"Oh, they are. I think both our worlds have bright futures ahead of them," Lincoln-1 agreed.
"Goodbye, erm, me," Lincoln awkwardly waved him farewell.
The IAKW Loud children waved their counterparts goodbye as they finally faded away.
But this moment of warmth was brief, as despite dealing with the threat of the multiversal robot army, the Louds and company still had to deal with a mighty foe.
Robo-Viribus violently stomped his foot on the ground, creating a giant crater and causing a minor tremor across Royal Woods, knocking a few people like Flip and Mr. Grouse off-balance enough to fall over.
Lincoln gulped, "Now we're in trouble."
While the physical form of Robo-Viribus didn't really visually emote, due to his still facial features, the aggressive vocal tone made it clear that he was raging on the inside.
"YOU FOOLS! YOU MAY HAVE CLOSED THE BARRIERS BETWEEN REALITIES AND BANISHED MY MULTIVERSAL FORCES FROM THIS WORLD, BUT WITH MY NEW POWER, I CAN REVERSE THAT EFFECT WITH EASE! BUT FIRST, I SEE THAT I MUST RID THIS WORLD OF ALL YOU VERMIN, ONCE AND FOR ALL!"
Viribus raised his giant, mechanical hands again, this time sending the Moon on a collision course with Earth.
The people of Royal Woods began to scream and panic in fear as, with each passing second, the Moon appeared more prominent in the dark sky.
"ARGGHH! It's the end! We're doomed!" Flip as he held Nacho in his hands.
"No! I don't want to die!" Joyce Crandall squealed as she and the other villains were just as petrified as everyone else.
Lincoln managed to keep a level head as everyone else began to run and scream. He spotted the Staff across the street from where he was standing, immediately rushing over the grab while Viribus continued to pull the Earth's natural satellite towards it.
"YOUR RESISTANCE TODAY HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT THE ONLY WAY FOR MY UTOPIAN EMPIRE TO EXIST, YOU WRETCHED HUMANS MUST BE WIPED OUT! I WILL BRING A GLOBAL CATACLYSM TO THIS WORLD THAT ELIMINATES ALL ITS WORTHLESS LIFE FORMS, AND USE MY INDESTRUCTIBLE GODLY MIGHT TO SURVIVE IT! THEN, ONCE THE EARTH IS A BLANK SLATE, I WILL REBUILD AND REFILL IT FROM SCRATCH… IN MY OWN DESIGN! FAREWELL, HUMAN SCUM!"
But as he finished his rant-filled monologue, Lincoln was now holding the Staff, and he felt the Staff's warm blue glow in his hands. He turned to Ronnie Anne and Punguari and asked them, "How do I use this thing?"
"It's no use!" Punguari sadly informed him. "That Staff works as a device that powers up a God so that they're strong enough to deal with the biggest threats to the world. But I'm the only God here, and Viribus has taken away all my power, so I'm not strong enough to wield the Staff's essence."
"Well, we have to try and use it on someone!" Lincoln argued.
"Yeah!" Ronnie Anne agreed. "Maybe if we use it on someone else here…"
"No, that won't work. Mortals are not strong enough to withstand the Staff's power. Even the strongest human would only have the tiniest chance of survival," Punguari insisted.
However, that last sentence caused Lincoln to glance at his sister, who just happened to be the strongest person he knew…
Having overheard the conversation despite all the noise and chaos around her, Lynn ran over to her brother. "Bro, use it on me. It's worth a shot."
"But Lynn, it could—" Lincoln tried to warn her, but she quickly interrupted.
"I know it's risky, but if we don't try something now, we're all gonna be toast!"
"But…" Lincoln wrestled with his dilemma, as he knew his sister was right, but he still couldn't bear the thought of sacrificing his sibling. However, Lynn placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, giving him the extra mental strength he needed for this next act.
"Lincoln, I know I haven't always been the best big sis to you. So please, let me be the best big sis I can be now," she requested with a soft smile.
He softly smiled in return, then grew a more confident expression as he knew what he had to do.
Punguari gave them concise instructions. "Okay, when Lynn jumps in the air, you blast her with the Staff! Send her flying right into the heart of that robot beast!" Lincoln and Lynn nodded in response.
The Moon was now enormous in the sky. It appeared to be only moments away from reaching the planet, clearly coming in too fast for the Roche effect to avert any meaningful degree of catastrophe. Already, the tidal forces between the Earth and the Moon were causing unnatural, violent earthquakes to erupt all over the planet, and Royal Woods was no exception. A few skyscrapers even began to fall as the earthquakes grew in size and intensity. The Louds knew they only had a moment to save the world.
Lincoln pointed the Staff towards the heart of Viribus, while Lynn sprinted to gain some momentum.
"Viribus! You've reached the end of the road! It's time to bring you down for good! TAKE THIS!" Lincoln shouted as he fired the Staff right at the precise moment Lynn used her insane athleticism and momentum to propel herself high into the air with a leap.
The beam hit Lynn and empowered her with a truly phenomenal amount of Godly power. She accelerated as she charged toward Viribus, with a look of fierce determination as she prepared for a fateful impact.
Viribus looked down and noticed what appeared to be a small but powerful projectile heading his way.
He fired missiles at Lynn, but they exploded without doing any damage. He then tried to swat her away, but his hand got knocked out of the way.
"WHAT?!" he shouted in frustration as his efforts were unsuccessful.
He generated powerful eye beams in a final effort to repel her attack, but she still managed to power her way through them. Realising that he was about to get struck down, he could only muster a shocked "NO WAY!"
B A M
Lynn rammed her powered-up fist right through the torso of the metallic monster like a bullet through paper, causing a massive explosion.
Viribus yelled in pain as it appeared his new Godly form wasn't so invincible after all. "RARRGGHHH!"
Just like when Viribus transformed before, there was a bright white light that engulfed the vision of everyone nearby. The people stopped and covered their eyes as the light was so bright and potent.
As the light began to dim, another light in the sky reappeared. The Sun was finally shining freely again, restoring daylight in Royal Woods as the Moon ceased obstructing it and started to retreat to its natural orbit. As the darkness began to fade, so too did the tidal forces, and the resulting earthquakes ground to a gradual stop. Punguari wasn't sure what force had restored the Moon's orbit, considering she currently did not have her powers, but she wasn't complaining.
Lisa had just finished a quick check around the building, and she unfortunately had some less-than-ideal news for her new science colleague. "Asherah, I've looked all over the complex. I'm afraid Doctor Linnaeus is gone!"
"She must have made her escape during that brief moment when the power went out. No matter, if she resurfaces, I'm sure you and your family will be able to handle her," Asherah speculated.
"Hold on one millisecond. How come you're still here? Shouldn't our machine have also sent you back to your home world?" Lisa realised.
"Ahh, well, that's where this comes in," Asherah pulled up her dress just enough to reveal to Lisa that she was wearing a metal ankle bracelet. "This device essentially gives me immunity from the effect of our invention. That means I can remain in this world even after the barriers between realms of reality have been sealed. Anyway, it's time I got you back to your family. I think enough time should have passed by now for me to open another portal."
The white glow finally faded, and all that was left was the giant crater where Viribus's giant foot had stomped a few moments ago… and all the destruction around the city that he and his robot army had caused. Now that he had been defeated, all the Godly essence he stole was free, with four orbs of light locating their rightful owners. First, the purple orb enveloped Punguari, and then the white orb engulfed the Mask of Many Faces. Finally reunited with her power again, Punguari quickly took action, opening a red rectangular portal and guiding the yellow and green orbs through it. For everyone around her, its destination was unknown, but Punguari knew precisely where it led.
This was it.
Chipiri was still in the grassland realm, now on the verge of death. He barely managed to look over at the unconscious Sisiki, who now resembled an ancient, lifeless husk much like him. As the world began to fade away and his eyelids began to feel heavy, even though he was not at the top of his attention or cognisance, he could have sworn a red rectangle appeared, and yellow and green orbs came through it...
And then, just as he drifted out of consciousness, he suddenly felt a sensation he had taken for granted. Powerful energy finally began to course through him once again, just like before his fateful battle with Viribus.
Feeling his energy pools rapidly expanding, Chipiri opened his eyes to a world that was becoming brighter and clearer by the second. He looked at his hand, which was quickly becoming smoother and younger-looking, with its golden aura growing thicker.
As he took a moment to stand up, an easy task for the first time in days, he glanced over to Sisiki, who was also rising to her feet. Immediately, he could tell she was also back to her former glory, with all the prior signs of age fading and a lime-green glow emanating from her, a far cry from her state moments ago.
The two exchanged warm, knowing smiles, aware of a glorious success on the other side of the portal...
"Punguari," Sisiki breathed.
"She did it," Chipiri replied.
The people of Royal Woods were all celebrating now that Viribus had been defeated. However, for Lincoln, all he could do was look around while everyone else was cheering. He noticed a small, motionless body lying on the ground inside the stomp crater, right next to a small pile of rubble.
"LYNN?!" he shouted frantically as he dropped the Staff and ran over to check his sister's well-being.
Fifi spotted Lincoln leave the weapon behind as he ran over to his sibling and expressed a look of deviation on her face.
Lincoln ran over to Lynn and held her in his arms. "Please be okay, please be okay," he worried, but she did not respond. Tears formed in his eyes as he held her head and sobbed.
The other Loud sisters, Lynn Sr, and Rita all looked on and cried as it appeared their sister and daughter had been lost. Ronnie Anne and Punguari also looked on in sadness and sympathy for the loss of Lincoln's sister. Lincoln and Lynn's friend groups also happened to see what was happening and shed some tears.
"We did it, Lynn. I just wish it didn't have to cost so much," Lincoln sobbed to her.
However, he then got a response, as the sporty Loud sibling slowly started to open her eyes…
"What are you crying about, bro?" she wheezed while regaining consciousness.
Lincoln started to laugh in relief as it seemed Lynn Jr was strong enough to withstand the strain of the Staff's godly power after all. The rest of his family did the same, ecstatic and relieved that she had survived.
Lincoln then helped Lynn back up to his feet, and the two shared a hug. "I'm just glad you're okay, Lynn," he told her.
"Wow, she must be strong. I had no idea a human could withstand the Staff's power. I was told only Gods could use it," Punguari commented.
"Yeah, Lincoln's sister sure is something," Ronnie Anne replied.
However, the celebration was short-lived, as Lincoln and Lynn were interrupted by a loud "Ahem."
They looked over and saw that Fifi Dufus was now holding the Staff. "I told you, once we defeated Viribus, we'd go back to being enemies. Now that that's done, I'm finally going to take my revenge."
She looked over at Myrtle and Pop-Pop and pointed the Staff at them. "Shooting you down with this thing would give me great pleasure," she growled before reconsidering and looking at the other Louds. "But then again, maybe it would be sweeter to take out your new family first so you can suffer the same way I did!"
However, Morag interjected. "Hey! If anyone is getting their revenge on this meddlesome family, it's me!" she bickered, rushing over and engaging in a tug-of-war with Fifi over the Staff.
"NO! REVENGE IS MINE!" suddenly shouted several other villains. Vic. Joyce, Guy, the Millers, Ham Hand, the Bulldog, and Doug and Michelle all engaged in a fight cloud with Morag and Fifi over the Staff. Eventually, Fifi managed to squirm her way out of the cloud with the Staff.
"Enough! I'll take you down first, boy!" she cackled to Lincoln as she prepared to fire. However…
The Staff didn't do anything, which frustrated the villainess.
"Ugh! How do you work this thing?!"
Punguari chuckled before telling her, "Silly human. The Staff of the First Gods is only designed to work when used by someone who truly needs it. It won't work for you."
"What?!" Fifi shouted in disappointment before shrieking as she was sucked back into the brawl with the other villains.
At that point, Asherah and Lisa finally returned via a portal.
"Great job, dudes!" Luna congratulated, giving them the thumbs up as she saw them return.
"Eh, it was nothing," Lisa replied.
Asherah spotted Fifi and all the villains in the fight cloud and whispered to herself, "Almost forgot about you."
Asherah pulled out a small purple metal ball and threw it into the fight cloud. Suddenly, the ball materialised into a forcefield prison that held all the villains inside. They stopped their fighting once they realised they were trapped.
"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Guy complained.
"They've trapped us!" Vic shuddered.
"Nothing gets past you," Fifi snarked.
"There. That should hold them until the police arrive," Asherah stated.
Just then, next to Lincoln and Lynn, the small pile of rubble started to move. Suddenly, Viribus pushed the rubble aside and emerged from it. He was badly hurt but still alive. His suit was gone, as was all his power. Only some partially torn clothes remained on him, along with many bruises.
"Room for one more?" Lisa asked Asherah.
"NO!" Punguari shouted as she strolled over to Viribus. "He has committed crimes against the Gods. Therefore, he should face OUR justice."
Viribus looked up with a tad of fear as he saw Punguari's livid, hate-filled face stare down at him with intensity. This fear grew once Sisiki and Chipiri stepped through the portal and directly behind their daughter. The realisation kicked in that he had ticked off three deities, and he no longer had the power to fight against them.
"There is no punishment great enough for what you've done!" Sisiki fiercely told him.
"Mother, I can think of one thing," Punguari challenged before whispering into her mother and father's ears. The three nodded mischievously as Viribus wondered what they were talking about.
The three Gods used their power to blast Viribus, and in doing so… they turned him to stone.
"You wanted to live forever, Viribus. Now you can—trapped in a stone prison," Punguari quipped to his rocky remains.
"Trapped and unable to influence anything in the world around him. I can't think of a better punishment for the jerk," Ronnie Anne walked over and said to her friend.
"Yeah, and as someone who spent hundreds of years as part of a mountain, I can tell you the idea of spending forever as a giant stone sucks pretty bad," Punguari joked.
"He is our prisoner now. We will see to it that this despicable mortal never sees the light of day again." Chipiri told the humans.
Sisiki then turned to her daughter and breathed, "We are proud of what you did today."
"Thanks," Punguari replied. "But it wasn't just me. I couldn't have done it without all these people, especially the Louds. One of them even wielded the power of the Staff after Viribus took mine."
"That is most impressive," Chipiri commented.
Lincoln looked around at the destroyed remains of Royal Woods now that the battle was over. "Well, as good as it is that we beat Viribus, somebody's going to have a heck of a job cleaning all this mess up."
"Yeah, and I bet most places in the world aren't much better. His robots were appearing all over the place," Ronnie Anne reminded.
"Well, I'll try to repair all the damage as much as I can, but I haven't done a worldwide fix in quite a long time," Chipiri bemoaned.
"Then let us help," Sisiki told him as she and Punguari held his hands. The trio of Gods used their collective power to create a world-healing wave of energy.
This wave, much like the one Lisa and Asherah created to get rid of all the robots, quickly travelled across the world, and as it did so, it repaired all the damage that was caused. All the decayed buildings, all the trashed streets and cars, all the destroyed trees and green landscape, all the little fires still raging across the city… all instantly reversed. Harmony was restored.
Great Lakes City was in ruins. Debris, defunct cars, and unconscious people littered the streets. Many buildings were in ruins. None of the skyscrapers were left standing.
The rescue workers approaching in digging vehicles knew they had a very long who-knows-how-much-time ahead of them. Even with all of the equipment they had requisitioned, and even considering the fact that most of the populace departed to a destination unknown, they were well aware that most of the people they would find would be dead.
As they began to cross the city line, following a ruined freeway into the heart of the metropolis, their eyes were suddenly overwhelmed by light for a split second.
Momentarily disoriented, they stopped immediately in their tracks, watching a massive wall of light recede into the distance at supersonic speed. As they prepared to shrug it off, they suddenly felt the ground begin to shake... and then the debris started to lift into the air.
Bits of concrete stuck themselves together. Loose bricks restacked themselves as neatly as they once were. Bent pipes straightened themselves and snapped back into place. In the distance, they could even make out the silhouettes of distant debris stacking themselves back into proud, tall skyscrapers.
And then the road under them started to shift. The large fissures and gaps they previously had to cautiously traverse began closing as the asphalt levelled back into a smooth, clean surface. The long pile of debris in the median reassembled itself into a Jersey barrier. Ahead, a fallen overhead sign seemed to jump back onto its supports, revealing a man that it had apparently crushed, with his right leg bent in two.
The rescue workers immediately called for their ambulance to administer first aid, but as the ambulance began to approach the man, his leg suddenly snapped itself straight as an arrow, and he began to pull himself to his feet. He glanced down at his once-broken leg for a moment before sighing in relief and casually walking off the road, fluently climbing over the guardrail as he left.
The workers didn't know what divine intervention caused this, but they silently praised the heavens nonetheless.
The wave continued for Japunda in Mexico. Much like the battle with Ucumu and his underworld minions, the robot army inflicted some damage there while the people tried to fend them off. Fortunately, in parallel to that situation, the healing power of the Gods was still able to fix all the damage. The people of Japunda cheered, aware of precisely what had fixed everything.
The wave continued across the oceans, reaching the likes of Loch Loud. Once again, the wave instantly reversed any damage caused, causing the local populace to celebrate happily. The ghostly Loud ancestors looked on and smiled as they realised their descendants had successfully saved the world from a destructive threat.
Back in Royal Woods, Angus and Lela began to breathe easier, feeling the healing power of the wave as Lela took to the skies once more. Clearly, the wave did more than just restore buildings and plant life.
The people rejoiced as their world was safe, their homes restored, and their injuries healed. Thanks to the Gods, all was right with the world once again, and thanks to the Louds, many villainous scoundrels had finally been dealt with for good.
Later that day, Mayor Davis spoke before the entire city of Royal Woods, many of whom were brave combatants in the battle against Viribus's robot army.
"Today, we fought bravely against a powerful invading army, and we lived to tell the tale. Everyone played their part in saving the Earth from a hostile threat, and for that, I thank you all."
As Mayor Davis spoke to the people of Royal Woods, some other characters were making their way home. Punguari and her parents opened some portals so that Ronnie Anne, her friends and family, and fellow citizens could return to Great Lakes City.
Ronnie Anne took a moment before walking through Punguari's portal to hug her brother and mother, the two most important people in her life and two people she could have lost that day if things didn't go well. She turned around and fist-bumped her demi-god friend before walking through.
"But none were braver or more heroic today than the Loud family. They stood against a madman and his army and took a stand! When he ordered surrender, they stood their ground! For that, we are all in their debt."
With their duty complete, Angus and Lela swooped through Sisiki's portal back to Loch Loud to resume their reign of peace.
"I know we have all had mixed feelings about the Loud family over the years, but for all their chaos and nuisance, they have proved themselves a valued part of our society today. Without them, we may not all be standing here right now!" Mayor Davis continued to say, which made the likes of some who knew the Loud's well, like Mr Grouse and Flip, smile and nod in agreement. Pop Pop and Myrtle also smiled in admiration of their extended family members, as did Leonard Loud, Lance and Sharon, and their three kids.
Chipiri opened a third portal, where the police could escort the villains to a maximum-security prison centre. They would be staying there for a very long time.
"There are many who would see Royal Woods burn to the ground... but the Loud family has stepped in to stop them more times than many of you know. For their services, I feel the urge to say outright... Thank you, Loud family, and bless you. You will all be handsomely rewarded for what you've done. For starters, I think it's time you guys got a home appropriate for your family's size…"
While the adult villains were sent away to prison, the likes of Chandler, Hank and Hawk, and the bus trio were dealt a relatively lighter sentence, if they agreed to the terms provided.
"Okay, guys. We're willing to forgive you for the part you played in all this since you're still just kids at the end of the day, but only under a few conditions," Lincoln walked over and offered to them.
"First, you have to serve 100 hours of community service like the Mayor said," Lori reminded.
"Each," Luan added.
Rita spoke to them. "Also, you'll leave my children alone in the future."
"That means no more bullying my baby bro!" Lynn aggressively threatened them.
"Yeah, okay, we got it!" Hank fumed.
"And the rest of you?" Lynn Sr asked.
The rest of them nodded their heads. Chandler just folded his arms and replied, "Pfft, whatever."
Lynn grabbed him by the shirt and fiercely warned him, "Listen, buddy! If I see you lay one more finger on Lincoln for the rest of middle school, it's wedgie town for you!"
Chandler just gulped, "Understood."
"Finally, you will each agree to serve as my test subjects for one experiment each. I mean, after you used us for that little torture game of yours, I'd wager that's a fair bargain," Lisa denounced.
The bad kids didn't like the sound of that last stipulation, but given what they had done, they knew they were in no position to argue or negotiate, so they just nodded in acceptance.
"Good, now scram and don't come back!" Lola pointed and shouted.
Chandler, Hank, and Hawk left, while Taylor and her posse stayed behind for one more moment.
"Erm, Luna?" Taylor awkwardly rubbed her arm and asked.
"What?"
"I know we've been total jerks, but I was wondering if maybe you and the Moon Goats wouldn't mind hanging out with us sometime. I mean, it's been a long time since you and I spoke under less violent circumstances."
Initially, Luna was angry with this request, but then she remembered the moment in the final battle when Taylor saved her from an oncoming robot. Her expression softened and she formed a small smile.
"Sure, we'll see you at the Burnt Bean sometime," The two teens shook hands.
"We wouldn't mind getting to know you guys, too," Pablo walked over and told Lincoln.
"Yeah, that Gurdle kid you hang out with is pretty cool. I guess it wouldn't hurt to get to know the friends he keeps," Anderson admitted.
Taylor's gang walked away, allowing the Louds to stand back and reflect on everything that had happened.
"Well, I guess it's finally over," Lincoln told his family.
"Eh, I'm sure it won't last," Luan remarked.
"Yeah, we seem to be a trouble magnet or something," Leni commented.
"Well, at least we know one good thing came of all this," Luna smiled.
"You mean the fact that all the villains were captured?" Lana asked her.
"No, dude. I meant the fact that we got a sweet new place to crash in," Luna clarified.
"Oh, yeah. It will be pretty cool to see what house Mayor Davis and the people of Royal Woods gave us…"
The Louds would soon arrive at their new place of residence. It was a large mansion in an affluent part of town. It had a massive backyard and a front gate with plenty of parking space.
The family went inside, immediately becoming astounded at how polished and stylish it looked, with shiny walls, sophisticated furniture and appliances, and most of all… space. Lots and lots of space. Just like when they lived in the castle in Scotland, the Loud family members all enjoyed being able to play and roam around in a much larger house than they were used to. The kids excitedly ran through the rooms and up the staircases so that they could check out and choose their own rooms, as there were plenty to choose from.
Much like with the castle, they each got their own bedroom and private bathroom, which they found incredibly refreshing after years of queueing in line to use one shared bathroom.
Lynn Sr and Rita also entered the mansion's guest room, where they saw a large box with a note on top in the middle of the room. The note read, "Many thanks for saving us all from that tyrannical madman. We will forever owe you one. A lot of grateful people contributed to this gift we give you." It was signed by Mayor Davis herself.
The parents opened the box and saw a picture of all the many residents of Royal Woods and Great Lakes City who were friends of the family, as well as a cheque for $100,000,000.
"WE'RE RICH!" they shouted ecstatically and hugged.
Everybody loved their new home, although one still felt uneasy about it. A few minutes later, the parents picked up on this and began a private discussion.
"Lori, what's wrong?" Rita asked.
"This place is great, but… you know, I like my independence."
"Well, with your share of this money, you could buy your own place if that's what you want," Lynn Sr suggested.
Lori then grinned with satisfaction as she realised something. "You know, that just gave me an idea…"
Lori bought the previous home of the Loud family. This way, the family would have an excuse to return to their old home sometimes.
It was also a place where her boyfriend Bobby could go so they could spend romantic times together whenever Bobby wanted a vacation from work.
Once Lori had the house all to itself, she began to appreciate how spacious it finally was. It was no mansion, and it may have been a little cramped when dealing with a family as large as hers, but for a normal-sized family, it would actually be a pretty dang good place to live.
One night, the family was lounging away in their new living room, only to be greeted by a familiar face who portaled in to meet them...
"ASHERAH?!"
"Hello there, Louds."
"What the—?" Lola muttered.
"How did you get here?" Rita asked.
"I have the ability to generate portals, remember?" Asherah reminded them while pointing to the still-open blue portal in the corner. "Anyway, I'm glad things turned out for this timeline in the end. Not to mention, the world was grateful enough to give you guys this place for your efforts. Let's face it, your old house was a little undersized for a family with eleven siblings."
"So, are you heading back to your own timeline now?" Luan asked.
"Yes, shortly. But only to gather a few supplies. I still have much work to do."
"What do you mean?" Lincoln questioned.
"The Viribus of your world may be defeated, but as we've seen, there are many other worlds and timelines out there that he and his armies still govern. Our machine only sent them back to their worlds, but they're still out there somewhere in the multiverse. I will see to it that those worlds are saved and those incarnations of Viribus are also defeated, ensuring a multiversal invasion along the likes of the one we've just dealt with never happens again."
"But do you think you can handle them on your own?" Lisa asked her.
"Who said anything about doing it on my own? You're not the only one who has made many 'universally foreign' friends in your time, young Lisa," Asherah clarified. "If all this has taught me anything, it's that I can't do this solo. But I can't ask any more of you guys, you've already done more than enough."
"Well, good luck to you," Lincoln replied. "And hopefully, that's the last we'll see of all our other enemies, too."
"Well, I just wanted to say goodbye before I left, Louds," Asherah told them.
"But wait! There are still some things we never found out, bruh!" Luna pled.
"Yeah, like everything that happened back in your world," Luan coaxed.
"Yeah. I mean, you guys gave us hints and bullet points, but not the whole story," Lincoln stated.
"Well, it's a very long tale to tell," Asherah insisted.
"Eh, we've got time," Lincoln light-heartedly suggested as he and his family made it clear with their facial expressions and body language that they wanted to hear the whole story.
An amused Asherah sighed and gave in to the peer pressure. "Okay, I guess that's the least I can give you before I go. Very well, Loud family. Sit down and brace yourselves, this is going to be a lot to take in."
Asherah down in the centre of the room as the family gathered around her, almost as if she was at the campfire telling them stories.
"This is a true story that transpired not too long ago, but in a place far, far away... it's a story I like to call... It's a Kid's World."
(Proofreader's Note: An extra scene follows these credits.)
CREDITS
The original story was written by me last year. This version is essentially a remake with some added and/or changed elements resulting from the recent episodes and movies of the franchise.
The second half of this story was proof-read by TheEpicness9000. Special thanks to him for helping with this project, even if I personally don't agree with some of his criticisms of the story. XD
I also had Alejindio and EezySeven do some artwork based on v2 of this story on DeviantArt, which you can check out if you haven't done already.
I hope you all enjoyed v2 of "The Loud's Finest Hour". I made some changes that I thought you'd all like and that would overall benefit the story. I also just made a quick change to the earlier chapters where Lori is now living in Grouse's garage, in accordance with the start of season 8, at the beginning instead of still being at Fairway (Damn it, it's hard constantly updating this story to keep it up to date with all the new things the official series does XD).
But yeah, as soon as the Casagrandes movie earlier this year started doing stuff about Gods and everything, I just knew I had to deal something with that. After all, Viribus was the one seeking Godhood years before Punguari even existed. Once again, the official series is behind me. Either way, when it comes to big Loud House movies and specials, the first film walked so that "The Casagrandes Movie" could run... so "No Time to Spy" could sprint... and then "The Loud's Finest Hour v2" could travel at Super Sonic Speed. XD
But anyway, here is a small post-credits scene to serve as the icing on the cake. Enjoy.
Also, let me know your thoughts overall on this version of the story. Do you think this would work as a good ending to the show one day?
Post Credits Scene:
Sometime after the crisis was over, the Gods had returned to their regular domain. For her brave, responsible, and valiant efforts in helping the mortals of Earth defend their home from the threat of Lord Viribus, Sisiki and Chipiri decided to reward Punguari with something she had been seeking for thousands of years…
"For many centuries, daughter, we believed you were not ready to take on this responsibility…" Sisiki spoke.
"But we see how much you have grown and matured in such a short period," Chipiri continued.
Sisiki placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder. Punguari smiled as her mother told her, "Finally, you are ready to ascend to Full Godhood."
Punguari suddenly felt a sudden surge of power rushing inside her. Her purple aura intensified slightly. While she didn't undergo a dramatic physical transformation like when she wore the Mask of Many Faces, her power increased substantially. She could certainly tell the difference.
"Wow, this is so cool!" she beamed before taking a deep breath to calm herself in front of her parents. "I mean, thank you, Mom and Dad."
"No, daughter. Thank you," Sisiki replied.
"You saved our lives, and we are eternally grateful," Chipiri thanked.
"Now you can join us in overseeing the affairs of the cosmos and humans. Of course, there is a lot of responsibility to bear," Sisiki informed her.
"I understand, but I know I can handle it," Punguari confidently stated.
"We know you can, dear," Sisiki affirmed as she embraced her daughter.
And so, Punguari had achieved her ambition to reach full God status, just as her adversary who tried to do the same thing watched on from a distance, still trapped in his eternal stone prison.
They couldn't hear him at that moment, but they knew their entrapped stone nemesis was most likely screaming on the inside…
Proofreader's Footnote: Phew, this took a while! I was sidetracked by quite a few things, including but not limited to my cousin visiting. As much as I had critiqued this story both before and during proofreading, I have to say I am at least satisfied with the punishments the villains face. I mean, it's not easy to forgive the people who threw you into a device that put you into a mental prison designed to torture you, thus risking you getting PTSD, after all.
It is also in this chapter where I evolved my progress reporting, and it is this tactic that I will use should anyone else, including Just Some Ordinary Dude for any future story, ask me to proofread for them. Instead of a simple image I slid down the document, I created a digital checklist on the steps of proofreading. In addition, for the general proofreading (first step), I had labeled each section between horizontal lines as S00, S01, S02, etc. so the author can keep track of roughly where I am, even as I proofread in the Grammarly app. After general proofreading is finishing touches like checking periods and commas at the end of quotations, replacing "Said", and fixing the author's common mistakes.
There is also a quick-glance status guide as to how things are going at the top of the checklist. The statuses, and they're all self-explanatory, are Unstarted, In Progress, On Hold, STOP ERROR!, Finishing Touches, and DONE! As a side note, I have never encountered a stop error I could not resolve on my own while proofreading this, nor did I ever put proofreading On Hold.
As for the -Prime/-1 suffixes for the Louds' names, I became more conservative with them compared to just after the alternate Louds were introduced. And it shows; you'll see the suffix -Prime generally at points where both the main (Prime) and alternate (1) Louds are present, and never again in this chapter after Lisa's device activates.
Here's also a bit more of an inside scoop on past stories by Just Some Ordinary Dude that are referenced here:
Inside the Loud House: The Louds' torture machines were made with intel gathered from these interviews
The Quest for Glory: Babs Bestie's power suit originates from this story
New Worlds and Old Soldiers: The Louds' previous interdimensional adventure hinted in this story, ALT-Albert hails from this other world
It's A Kid's World: Asherah and the alternate Louds hail from this other world where they fought off an identical invasion. (WARNING: LONG! The five seasons have a total word count of 292474)
Pushover or Payback / Two Peas in a Prison: These stories written under the previous Just Some Guy Online moniker (available in Just Some Ordinary Dude's Favorite Authors list) get a passing mention in Chapter 8
I do think that Just Some Ordinary Dude could help out with my own fanfiction; I have the general skeleton down, but I would like detail on top of it, and I feel he could help, even if he needs an introduction to my pet concept.
With all that said, thanks again for reading this story. This is The_Epicness9000, proofreader of The Louds' Finest Hour, signing off one last time. Maybe you'll see me again, proofreading another story…
