"Oh Lucy, I really didn't want to do this." Nergal said as he finished putting on additional chains and duct tape on Lucy to keep her to the chair.

Lucy gritted her teeth, "Keep talking, you freak, when Lincoln gets back he's going to kick your-"

"Oh, but he won't be coming back!" Nergal interrupted her, "I decided he's far too dangerous to keep around, even if he were under my control."

"Wait, what are you planning to do, Nergal?" Eris asked.

Nergal smiled, put a finger to his neck, and made a motion of cutting it off.

"No!" Eris and Lucy cried out.

"You can't just do that!" Grim told him.

Nergal approached the Reaper, "Oh, I know I can't, but you can, Grim!"

"And what makes you think I'll do that?"

Nergal wrapped a tentacle around Grim and started to shock him, "Oh...oh you will do whatever I want!"

Fiends in Low Places, Part 3

Lincoln had opened the obsidian box given to him by the Chaos god Ayan. Inside was...

"A butterfly?" Lincoln asked.

A golden butterfly sat inside the open box. Another glint of gold caught Lincoln's eye, and he noticed there was an inscription on the inside of the box's top.

"Bedlam Gold - Destroyer of Worlds"

"...Bedlam Gold?"

Somewhere, a Hellish rabbit stirs in his sleep, while being held down by a dog, an owl, and a succubus

Suddenly, the butterfly came to life and flapped its wings.

There was a loud crash, and Lincoln looked up to see his vanity mirror had shattered.

"How did-"

The butterfly then started to fly. It landed on the door to Lincoln's bedroom. The door came off its hinges and fell to the floor.

Lincoln was aghast, "OH, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

The golden butterfly took off again and Lincoln decided to go after it, "Oh no you don't! You aren't destroying the house!"

The golden butterfly did not stop, it flew into Lisa and Lily's room. Lincoln watched as it simply fluttering in the room of the little scientist set off the chemicals she dangerously stored in there, causing several explosions. Lincoln ducked out of the way before he got hit.

"Well, at least there's nobody here to get caught in that...wait, where are Charles, Geo and the other pets?"

Meanwhile, in Charles's doghouse, Charles, Cliff, Walt, Geo, Izzy, El Diablo, Hops, Gary, and Fangs were taking advantage of their pets - the Louds - being out of their fur, scales, and mucus so they could play a poker tournament in peace.

The golden butterfly flew out of Lisa and Lily's room and entered Lola and Lana's room.

"Oh no you don't! Lola will kill me if you destroy all her toys and rewards!" Lincoln ran in after the butterfly and spotted a butterfly net Lana had. He grabbed it, and swept the net at the golden terror.

Miraculously, Lincoln caught the butterfly with said net. "No way, it was that easy?" Lincoln asked.

Hey, if it has wings and can fly, it can be caught.

Thinking the butterfly could just destroy the net, Lincoln reached in and grabbed it.

...

Back in the Center of the Earth, Nergal smiled as he held Grim's scythe, "Okay Grim, once more for clarity! What did I ask you to do?"

"To go find Lincoln, to separate his head from his body, and retrieve his soul." Nergaling Grim had answered in an eerie, even tone.

"And what will you do with that soul?" Nergal asked.

"Bring it to you, my dearest friend." Nergaling Grim answered.

Nergal handed over the scythe, "Grimmy, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship! Now go collect my prize."

"Grim! Stop!" Lucy yelled, "Please!"

Eris tried to plead as well, but she had several strips of duct tape over her mouth.

Grim turned towards Lucy with a blank expression, "Lucy, Nergal is my friend. He can be your friend too if you just give him a chance." he told her. He reached back and pulled the hood of his robe over his head, and raised his scythe. Swinging down, he created a portal, and walked right through it. The portal closing after he went through.

Nergal smiled, "Don't worry Lucy, Grim won't let Lincoln suffer."

...

Blue.

Everything Lincoln saw was a mysterious, eerie blue color. This didn't seem right, especially since he could swear he was at home.

Now he was in the middle of a dark, blue, and oddly silent forest. The trees seemed to hum with a low, melancholic tune, and the leaves glowed faintly with bioluminescence. The sky above was a swirling canvas of indigo and sapphire, with floating islands drifting lazily through the air. Everything about this was wrong.

Before Lincoln could really do anything about this, however, he noticed something golden flutter by, trailing a shimmering dust that seemed to form fleeting images of strange creatures in the air. The chase was on again, and Lincoln ran after it on all fours.

Fours?

Well, it seemed he was running on four claws covered in soft, white fur. Sure, why not? The golden butterfly - now leaving a sparkling trail that twisted and turned like a playful spirit - was all that mattered, and Lincoln locked his sight on it.

Lincoln saw that he was getting closer, and closer.

SNAG!

Suddenly, something unseen wrapped around Lincoln's neck, and he felt his body pulled back as if by invisible tendrils of ivy. He went prone on the forest floor and tried to get up. Everything below his neck had gone limp, the ground beneath him pulsating like a living, breathing entity.

Lincoln could now see the golden butterflies - yes, there were several - flying towards him. Their wings emitted a soft, melodious chime with every beat.

And as they got closer, he could swear that he heard childish giggling, echoing like the laughter of invisible woodland sprites...

...

When Lincoln woke up from the waking dream, he found he was on the floor of Lola and Lana's room. He quickly got up and felt at his neck with his left hand, his right hand still gripping the butterfly. There was something there around his neck that wasn't there before.

He tried pulling at it, but he couldn't get a grip on it. Lincoln quickly headed to the mirror Lola had to get a better look. Curiously enough, it looked to be a golden necklace that seemed stuck to his body...merged with it somehow. It also led down off his neck and shoulders, and into his right hand where he had grabbed the butterfly.

He looked down and opened at his right hand. The butterfly was gone and in its place was a circular golden pendant that had arrows pointing in every direction. In the center was a butterfly motif that had an eye on each forewing and one in the middle. In each eye was a number: the leftmost one with 0, the center having a 3, the rightmost having a 1. Then a 2. Then a 3-

"Wait, is it counting up?" Lincoln asked.

Now a 6. 7. 8. 9. 0.

The center was now 4.

"...what? What the hell happened? What was that place?"

"So many questions..." said a mysterious voice.

"Huh?" Lincoln looked around the room.

"Hello Lincoln Loud, I am B-G, and you are now mine..."

"What!"

There was childish laughter, "Nah, just kidding! It's me, Ayan! Supreme God of Chaos!"

"...Ayan?"

"Yes! I see you finally opened your present! It took you long enough!"

Lincoln frowned, "Your present was going to destroy my house!"

"Yes, Bedlam Gold is a very destructive creature! And you've got it in your hands! Or rather, it has you. You two got each other now! Congratulations!"

"Uh..." Lincoln looked at the necklace part in the mirror again, "Um, how do I get this off?"

"Oh, I am afraid Bedlam Gold has its proboscis on your very soul, Lincoln. It isn't coming off! Even if you removed your neck!"

"...you...you're serious?"

"I'm afraid so! Once Bedlam Gold clamps down on the nearest soul, it feeds off of it."

"...its eating my soul?"

"Well...sort of! Its eating the chaotic energy your soul is sending off into the world, and yours has a LOT of it!"

"It does? Why?"

"No idea! But it's exciting! Hey, how much has it eaten?"

Lincoln looked down at the pendant. It was now at 0, 7, 2. "Uh, seventy-two, I guess? Is that good?"

"And you're still alive? Good! That just means it is seventy-two percent full!"

"What happens when it hits one hundred?" Lincoln asked.

"Hey, all that energy has to go somewhere! If it gets full, it'll just well, you know, spread chaos in your immediate area! Destroy entire forests, create a typhoon, bend the time-space continuum, bring back bell-bottom jeans, the possibilities are endless!"

Lincoln groaned, "I don't believe this. My life was chaotic enough!"

"Of course it was! You're the one who was spreading it all!"

Lincoln then suddenly had an epiphany, "Wait...wait, all this time the chaos in my life happened just because I exist?"

"Why, yes! And now with Bedlam Gold you can control that chaos!"

"Right...okay, how?"

"Simple, just take hold of the pendant, and try to visualize something you want to change, or something you want to create! Like the broken things in your house for example."

Lincoln took a deep breath and walked out of Lola and Lana's room. The door to his room was still on the floor. He grasped the pendant and tried visualizing the door back in its-

The door started to lift itself off the floor, surrounded by an odd golden-orange glow.

"No way..." Lincoln uttered as the door fit itself back to its original position. He quickly opened the door and shut it again, perfectly fixed.

Next, Lincoln held out his hand and tried to picture himself holding something. A golden bat materialized in his hand. Lincoln yelped then dropped the bat, and when the bat hit the floor, it disintegrated into the same odd golden-orange glow.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Ayan told him.

Lincoln smiled wide, "Wow! With this power...I could become a superhero! Heck, I could take over the world! I could do anything that I want! Things are going to change around here!"

"Uh, Lincoln, that all sounds fun, but you should probably save your family first."

Lincoln paused a moment, "Oh, yeah, I should...oh wait, can't you come down and help out?"

"Ah, but you got all the help you need with Bedlam Gold! Also, if I appear on Earth, the planet will explode."

"Oh...that would be bad."

"Good luck, Child of Chaos. We will be watching!"

"Wait, what did you call me?"

Ayan didn't answer. Lincoln was alone again.

"Okay...I'll just pretend I didn't hear that part." Lincoln looked back down at the pendant, now at thirty-two percent. "Well, I guess I should get back to that hole and-"

The doorbell rang.

"Huh?" Lincoln looked downstairs.

The doorbell rang again.

Lincoln hurried downstairs and peered through the peephole, spotting a cloaked figure holding a scythe.

"Grim? He got away!" he cheered, flinging open the front door.

Looming over him, Grim gripped his scythe with a menacing purpose. "Hello, Lincoln Loud. I've come for your soul."

His excitement turned to dread. Something was terribly wrong.

Grim raised his scythe.

On reflex, Lincoln slammed the door and backed away. The scythe sliced through it effortlessly as Grim stepped inside. "Don't make this difficult, child."

He darted behind the living room furniture. "Grim, stop! What's gotten into you? Did Nergal transform—no, wait, I see the Nergal-goo, why am I even asking?"

Grim cut through the furniture with ease, forcing Lincoln to flee to the kitchen. "You can't run forever, Lincoln Loud," Grim taunted, opening another portal.

He ducked under the kitchen table just in time to avoid the deadly swipe. Desperate, Lincoln checked his pendant—sixty-four percent. Clutching it tightly, he visualized Grim's normal self. "Snap out of it, Grim!" he shouted.

The kitchen table split in two as the scythe stopped inches from his neck. Suddenly, Grim hesitated and pulled back. "What happened?" he asked, lowering his hood to reveal his familiar bony face. "How did I get here?"

Lincoln stood up and hugged him. "Grim! You're back! I changed you back!"

"Woah, mon! Personal space!" Grim gently pushed him away.

Lincoln stepped back, grinning. "Sorry, Grim. You were trying to kill me and... look, I'm just glad this pendant helped you!" He showed Grim the pendant.

Grim wasn't sure what to make of the pendant, "Huh, I've never seen anything like that before...wait, I remember now. Nergal has Lucy and the rest of our- I mean your family!"

"You're slipping, Grim." a voice in Grim's skull told him.

"I let my guard down for ONLY a moment, and he was one of my bosses!" Grim thought back.

"You're still slipping."

Lincoln nodded, "Yeah, and the Naughty Eris refused to help."

Grim snapped out of his inner conversation, "Figured as much, well, I guess now with me back in control of me scythe and you gaining some magic medallion, we won't need her."

Lincoln looked down at the pendant, it was now at two percent, "Uh...to be honest Grim, I'm still trying to figure out how this thing works, and Nergal easily took your scythe the first time. We're going to need a plan."

"Grim, I have an idea...it might be a bit risky though."

Grim rubbed his jaw as the voice in his head talked to him, "Hmm...well, I think I've got an idea..."

...

Back in the Center of the Earth, Nergal was finishing up creating an ornate display stand with "Lincoln's Soul" engraved on it. He turned and smiled as he presented it to Lucy and Eris, "What do you gals think?"

The two of them had duct tape over their mouths and their screams were muffled.

"Yes, yes! It does look lovely, doesn't it?"

Just then, a portal appeared and Grim walked through it with his hood up, carrying a jar with a shiny sphere inside of it.

Nergal smiled wider as Grim approached, "Ah! And here's my best friend Grim arriving with my prize! I trust Lincoln wasn't any trouble?"

"None at all, mon." Grim answered.

"Oooh! Very good!" Nergal grabbed the jar and brought it to the display stand where he placed it.

"You fiend!"

Nergal turned around to see Eris standing up and he grinned, "Ah, so this is what got you out of your seat?"

Eris approached him, "You've gone too far, Nergal! You better fix this, or else!"

Nergal sent out tentacles that wrapped around Eris, squeezed her body, and held her up in the air, "Or else what? You'll do something to disappoint your family? More than you already have?"

Eris tried to say something but couldn't, one tentacle squeezed her throat a bit.

Nergal chuckled a bit, "Hehe, thought so. That's the problem with being nice, it's unrewarding! You do all you can to try to please someone, but do they appreciate it? Never!"

Eris managed to get some air, "Why would you even want Lincoln's soul?"

Nergal stretched his head out so his face could meet Eris's "Oh, simple, you must have noticed by now that his soul is full of Chaos! With that comes endless possibilities and unlimited potential...he could put a stop to me. But that wouldn't be very fun, would it? I thought I could try making him my friend, but he isn't very cooperative, so I'm better off turning him into a soulless husk!"

"Who the FUCK would ever want to be friends with you?"

"Lincoln!" Eris cried out.

Nergal turned his head around one-hundred-eighty degrees to see Lincoln walking through a portal, and frowned, "YOU? You're not supposed to be walking around! Or saying such heavy expletives!"

He gets one f-bomb before every boss fight, Nergal.

Nergal glares at me, "Don't YOU sass me!" he then turned towards Grim, "Grim! What's the meaning of-"

But Grim was gone, and so was Lucy.

"Get your tentacles off Eris, you creep!" Lincoln yelled.

Nergal laughed, "Why don't you make me, tough guy?"

Lincoln grabbed hold of his medallion in his left hand and held his right hand aloft. The shining sphere in the jar burst into a golden-orange glow that quickly died out and a golden one-handed double-edged sword materialized in Lincoln's right hand.

Eris blinked, "Since when could you do THAT?"

Nergal was unamused, "Neat trick, how about I make you disappear?" He sent out a few tentacles at Lincoln.

Lincoln swung his new sword and chopped the tentacles before they could touch him.

"Ow! How rude of you!" Nergal yelled as he grew more tentacles and sent them after Lincoln.

Those tentacles met the same fate, and for each one chopped off, two more took their place.

"Why does this seem familiar..." Eris asked out loud.

"ENOUGH!" Nergal roared as he let go of Eris. He then created all the tentacles he could muster and formed them all into a giant hand. The giant hand then curled into a fist and went right for the sword. The giant fist then flicked the sword out of Lincoln's hand, and it hit a wall where it disintegrated into a golden-orange glow.

"Hey! My sword!" Lincoln cried out.

The hand then grabbed Lincoln and pulled him over to Nergal who laughed in his face, "You foolish boy! Must I constantly remind you that I am a GOD? What were you expecting? That you'd overwhelm me with some new power you BARELY know how to use? You can't just defeat me so anticlimactically like in a poorly written story!"

I just want to be perfectly clear: that was nothing personal against any other author.

Lincoln grinned at him, "No, I was expecting you to put all your attention on me."

Nergal's grin vanished, and he gave Lincoln a confused look, "Why?"

CRACK!

Nergal's jaw dropped, the hand let go of Lincoln and Nergal fell to his knees, "OW! MY GROIN!" he cried out while covering his nethers.

"Puny god." Lucy remarked.

"You...you monster! Why would you do this to me?" Nergal whined.

"How's that for anticlimactic?" Lincoln asked.

"At least you're self-aware." Eris remarked, she hugged Lincoln, "Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"Whoa, relax Eris! This was all part of Grim's plan! We didn't think you'd actually try to break the sacred hospitality thing though."

Eris blushed, "You're way more important than...I'm sorry I didn't do anything sooner for you all."

"It's alright, Eris. I understand vows." Lucy told her.

Lincoln nodded, "Yeah, it's all good, we still won in the end!"

"Oh...oh you little freak, you think you've won?" Nergal asked, still curled up on the floor, "Did your stupid plan include me giving up now? Because give me a few minutes and I will PERSONALLY shove you into MAGMA as a sacrifice to ME!"

Lincoln shook his head, "No, you're not supposed to give up now."

"What?"

Just then, the door to the castle was cut open and Grim ran inside, "HERE THEY COME, MON! MOVE!" Grim yelled.

"What's going-"

Nergal saw the Nergaling Louds rushing the castle. Grim, Lincoln, Lucy, and Eris hopped up on the nearby table.

"Oh."

The Nergaling Louds all rushed in and trampled over Nergal, stepping on his head, shoulders, groin, shins, and toes.

Grim quickly used his scythe to fix the door and put a heavy duty lock on it. Lincoln took out a portable stereo and put on some heavy rock music.

"MOSH PIT!" yelled Nergaling Luna.

The Nergaling Louds all started moshing on Nergal who screamed in pain, "STOP THEM! PLEASE! THEY'RE BREAKING MY SHINS!"

"I miss the part where that's our problem." Lucy told him.

There was a couple of snaps and cracks before Nergal broke, "PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING!"

"You ready for your unconditional surrender?" Grim asked.

"YES!"

Lincoln rubbed his chin, "Alright, first of all, you're going to change everyone back to normal."

"OKAY!" Nergal tried to move a tentacle, but Nergaling Rita crushed it, "I CAN'T IF YOU DON'T STOP THEM!"

"Next, you're going to take us all back to the surface, and then close up all these holes you made." Lincoln added.

"FINE! AT LEAST THEN I'LL BE RID OF YOU ALL!"

Lucy whispered something into Lincoln's ear.

Lincoln turned to her with a smile, "Really? Oh, he'll hate that..."

"WHAT NOW?" Nergal asked.

"Third..."

...

Soon enough, our heroes were relaxing in lounge chairs by the wave pool of Dairyworld. Lincoln and Grim in swimming trunks and sunglasses reading comic books. Eris in a bronze bikini catching sun rays with a bronze reflector. Lucy was in just her regular clothes as she left her swimsuit at home, she also had a sun umbrella up and was writing in a book.

Nergal had turned the Nergaling Louds back and brought them along with Lincoln, Lucy, Grim, and Eris to the surface. He then went about to actually get Dairyworld's waterpark up and running for the weekend so the present family could enjoy themselves.

Currently, Nergal was being tortured by the twins. The less said about that, the better.

Grim looked up from his comic, "You know Lucy, we could just hop back to the house to get you-"

"This is fine, Grim." Lucy told him, "But thank you for the offer, and for saving us all."

"Well, I can't take all the credit..." Grim told her.

"Hey, it was your plan, Grim. And it worked!" Lincoln told him.

"I'm not fond of you using me as part of it, but you did good Grim." Eris told him.

"Grim. I think the time has come." The voice told him.

Grim sighed and took off his sunglasses, "I need to tell you all something. Especially you, Lucy. That plan wasn't mine."

"Eh?" Lincoln asked.

"What do you mean, Grim?" Lucy asked.

"Uh...Grim, do you want me to uh..." Eris made a hand motion to walk away.

Grim shook his head, "No Eris, it's fine."

"Must be really serious." Lincoln remarked.

"It is. Lucy, do you remember the day we met?" Grim asked.

Lucy was quiet for a moment. She nodded her head.

Lincoln scratched his head, "Uh, when was that? I don't think you ever-"

"It was the day Great Grandma Harriet died." Lucy told him.

"Oh...wait what?" Lincoln asked.

Grim nodded, "Indeed...she was...well...her and I were-"

"An item?" Eris asked.

"Eris!" Lincoln scolded.

"Well, she isn't far off." Grim told him.

Lincoln winced in pain, "I wish I could unhear that."

"Anyway...she's still with me." Grim pointed at his skull, "Her spirit at least. I almost literally can't get her out of me head...and she's been really pushy over me helping you lot."

"That explains why I have a hard time talking to her." said Lucy, "Every time I try to ask her about you, she just laughs and says you're 'a special friend'."

Grim shrugged, "I've been a... well, I guess family friend for several generations...a long while ago I made a deal with one of your ancestors that I would keep a close eye on their descendants."

"Uh...and what did you get out of it?" Eris asked.

"The world didn't get destroyed."

All four of them got quiet.

Lucy spoke up, "Well, we can talk about all that later. For now, let's just enjoy what we have. Especially since we almost lost it."

"Great idea Lucy." Eris told her before laying on her back, "Lincoln, if it wouldn't trouble you, could you please put sunscreen on me?"

Lincoln shrugged, "Sure thing...you know, I can't help but think we forgot something..."

Grim laid back and put his arms under his skull, "Eh, if you forgot, then it wasn't important."

...

Meanwhile in the center of the Earth, Lynn was still tied up to a wooden post.

"Hello! Hello!" he cried out, "Is there anybody there? I need to use the bathroom!"

...

I don't know why, but the FanFiction app doesn't bring up the last chapter. I know the site has been having MAJOR issues lately but holy hell it feels like it's getting worse. Especially all the damn BUGS in the app.

I did mean to get this arc done like, two months ago as it starts Summer and Summer is already half-done. Next up will be a minisode showing Lincoln's last day of school and the last day of dealing with a certain character's crap that the show can't seem to decide what to do with. See you all next time.