The idea of the L-ementals was originally collectively created by AxelGripp, Khalalat, juribelit, Bry-Guy-1996, and Syfyman2xxx.
The cover image belongs to AxelGripp on DeviantArt and is used with permission.
This story is co-written with dubb1.
Chapter Seven
Lincoln had been wondering for the last five years what he would first see when he finally came back to Royal Woods. He had thought of several scenarios, but in all of them he would be greeted by his family within minutes if not immediately. Sure they would be there waiting for him, happy to see him after so long.
He had not been expecting to be in some locked room that looked like it was meant to contain something, in a hallway that looked like nobody without a suit had ever walked through it. So when he heard footsteps approaching, as much as he wanted to believe it was his family, his gut instinct was telling him otherwise.
'I don't know exactly what happened here in my absence, but I'm pretty sure most people would not react well to seeing an elemental.' He thought. 'I better stay unseen until I know who it is.'
With that, he became as transparent as he could then floated to the ceiling. No one would see him unless they had magic eyes or were specifically looking for an air elemental.
From down the hall, a man in a black suit, someone Lincoln assumed was a guard, walked along like any normal person minding their business, though they stopped by the door and examined it.
Lincoln saw that the door wasn't completely closed. If he could sweat as air he probably would have. The guard reached for the handle, and acting on a need to protect his family, Lincoln dropped down and tackled him to the floor, catching him completely by surprise.
"Who are you?" Lincoln said, getting over the guard and becoming visible, hoping that he'd be too surprised to scream.
"Oh, sir, it's you. Did I do something to offend you?" The guard asked.
Lincoln looked confused but decided to go along with the given opportunity. "No, I thought you were someone else. My mistake. Carry on."
"Wait." The guard said, looking less worried. "Who are you? You're not Mr McCann."
That name sounded familiar to Lincoln, but it had been five years so he couldn't be immediately certain why. It didn't matter, this guy knew Lincoln wasn't him and had a problem with that. So Lincoln threw a punch at the guard's face. His air-based punches, he had found over the years, didn't have quite the same effect as his flesh-and-blood ones did on real people. Those he had experimented on had described it more like being hit with a powerful breeze, one strong enough to knock them over but not actually have much of an impact. The fall over would hurt the man in black more than the actual punch would. But once he had fallen over, Lincoln had the chance to search his pockets and sides. He was relieved to discover no gun.
The door opened a little more. "Lincoln?" Ronnie Anne called from the other side.
"Come on out, there's no point in hiding." He told her, and so she came out with Leslie.
The guard was dazed but saw them both, looking at them in shock. "You're elementals."
"You know what we are?" Ronnie Anne asked.
The guard scrambled to his feet and went for what looked like a walkie-talkie. "I need backup in the Linnaeus wing. I have two unknown elementals, possibly the Louds."
Lincoln had a lot of questions come to him hearing this, but one part stood out to him the most. 'The Linnaeus wing? Holy crap, if Linnaeus has anything to do with this place I have to get us out of here.'
Before he could take action, Ronnie Anne beat him to it and shot a couple of slime balls at the guard. One hit the walkie-talkie and it sizzled, while another hit his shoulder and one hit his chest. His clothes protected him from direct damage, but the splat by his shoulder got some of it on his neck and lower jaw resulting in his skin burning. So the guard yelled in pain and tried to wipe it off him, getting the acidic substance on his hands too.
"Run." Lincoln told Ronnie Anne, and the two took off down the hall.
"Where are we going?"
"Anywhere that looks like it will take us outside."
Sirens started to sound off with a few flashing red lights on the ceiling. Leslie got agitated and began to cry, prompting them to move faster. It didn't take them long to find a window, and it didn't look like they were on the ground floor. But to Lincoln that was irrelevant.
"Stop right there intruders!" A male voice said over a PA system. "Or else we'll hurt the captive Loud siblings!"
That made Lincoln come to a stop, while Ronnie Anne continued for a few steps only to slow to a stop.
"What was that?" Lincoln asked.
A screen appeared on a wall and then turned on. A face began to appear, looking rather pixelated and made of blue and black bits, taking the form of a man roughly around 20 or so. He had short hair and no particularly unique features, though there were a couple of blue specks floating around him like confetti. Honestly, it kind of reminded Lincoln of that character Zordon from the old Power Rangers show.
"You don't look like you snuck in here, but you're clearly not aligned with us. So you must be with the Louds. Ooh, could you be the missing Loud son? Link Loud?"
"It's Lincoln." The air elemental corrected before he could stop himself.
"Ah, so it is you. You've finally returned, and to this place of all locations. Our boss has been very eager to find you most of all."
"What did you say about my sisters?" Lincoln demanded.
The pixelated man grinned and then dissolved before the blue spread all over the screen with the black glittering around. It looked a lot like an effect from one of the Matrix movies. After a moment, it switched to some footage of a field filled with plants, and two people working in it like farmers. Except one looked to be made out of dirt, and the other to be covered from head to toe in leaves. The camera was showing their faces, and while they were older, Lincoln recognized them.
"Lana? Lola?"
"Holy cow, they became elementals too?" Ronnie Anne whispered.
The screen turned to black before the blue pixel guy reappeared. "Your family has been causing a lot of trouble since L-Day, and the world would love nothing more than to see you all pay the price for it. Especially you, the one who caused it all."
Lincoln blinked and stepped back. "Me? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything. I couldn't have done anything."
"Well, that's not what everyone else thinks. And do you really think you can convince them otherwise?"
From down the halls, several people wearing body armor and brandishing guns appeared and took position, treating Lincoln and Ronnie Anne as potential threats.
"Are you guys crazy?! There's a baby right here!" Lincoln warned while Ronnie Anne secured her daughter.
The man on the screen did something unexpected and actually walked out of it. It was like something out of The Ring, except less scary but no less surprising. He sort of turned into a swarm of blue and black dots that reformed from the ground up, again much like something out of the Matrix, until he stood before them. Like some sort of hologram.
"Then it's in your best interest to comply, now isn't it? After all, clouds and slime might not be affected by bullets, but that little one will be."
Lincoln grit his aerial teeth and threw a punch at the blue guy, but his fist went right through him. There wasn't even a visual effect, he was like he punched literally nothing. The blue man just laughed, unphased.
"Nice try Lincoln, but my element can't be beaten up. Now, follow me, unless you'd rather risk being shot at."
"I think we'll try Door Number Three instead." Ronnie Anne declared before creating a hammer fist and threw it at the window she was by. The glass shattered and she jumped through, covering Leslie completely save for a small air bubble to protect her from the shards. Lincoln smiled and zipped through too, faster than the guards could react. A few bullets went off, but none hit anything except the walls.
Lincoln raced down below and caught Ronnie Anne before carrying her and Leslie off into the distance. She tried to reduce her density as best she could while releasing a crying Leslie, and in doing so she got a good look at their surroundings.
"Where are we?" She asked herself, seeing a city much like the ones she remembered back on Earth, but this one didn't look like Royal Woods or Great Lakes. It was more rundown, not quite the slums or a shanty town, but one that looked like it had been torn down and was in the process of being rebuilt. A recurring shimmer in the air kept her attention so Ronnie Anne looked to the sky, but she didn't see it. Above her was just a massive dome, with artificial lights shining down. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie where people were on another planet.
"Lincoln what happened here?"
"I-I don't know, but we need to find somewhere safe."
"You're not going anywhere."
From behind they saw the blue hologram man reappear on the ground. Accompanying him were two drones that were armed and aiming their guns at them. More specifically, they were aimed at Ronnie Anne and Leslie.
Ronnie Anne grew a tendril that whipped out and swatted the drones, smashing them but also melting a few parts for good measure.
"Go ahead, I have dozens of these things. There's nowhere you can go to hide from me." The hologram man mocked, crossing his arms.
Ronnie Anne tried to attack him directly, but like with Lincoln her limbs just went right through him. He laughed and gestured as if wanting her to do it again.
'Just what is this guy made out of?' Lincoln asked himself. 'If we can't hit him, maybe he can't hit us either.'
Having no better ideas, Lincoln turned into a cloud and swiftly got under Ronnie Anne before going up. This caught her by surprise but due to old habits she got less dense so he could carry her up. He went up more than forty meters, seeing that the building they had escaped from was the only real skyscraper in this city. One that had to be at least twelve stories tall, and must have been one of the only buildings in town designed professionally.
One of the windows on the fifth floor was broken, presumably the one they had escape from, and from out of it extended a slimy tendril just like the ones that Ronnie Anne had created. Only this one was black. This tendril wrapped itself around Ronnie Anne's neck and to her shock, she couldn't dissolve or escape it, before it yanked her off of Lincoln. In the process Leslie was dropped and fell over, wailing like any infant would.
As much as he wanted to help his wife-in-all-but-legality, Lincoln's paternal instincts took charge and so he dove down to save his daughter's life. Unlike her mother, Leslie couldn't change her density so it wasn't just about catching her. So he got under her and began to spin around, hoping to create a cushion of air that would slow her down enough. It worked, but just to be safe Lincoln turned to flesh just above the ground and caught her, landing naked and hurt but at least she was unharmed.
"Back already?" The hologram man taunted, standing over the fallen Loud.
Lincoln turned back to air and stood between this enemy and Leslie. But he didn't attack.
"What's the matter? Aren't you afraid of what I can do to you and that little girl?"
"Then come at me." Lincoln said.
The hologram man glared, his eyes briefly darting from side to side.
"That's what I thought. Whatever element you are, you can't fight back either can you? No one can hit you but you can't hit anyone else. You need machines or other people to do it for you."
Lincoln then extended an arm that grabbed an incoming drone, where he used his hand to throw off the propellers enough to make it stall and crash to the ground.
"You're going to run out of toys sooner or later, but there's no shortage of air for me."
The hologram man then smirked. "You know what? Go ahead, take the child and run. I won't go after you at all. But out there, in that city, everyone will be your enemy. Good luck finding anywhere to hide or keep her safe Lincoln Loud, because sooner or later, you're all going to be brought back here anyway."
With that, the hologram man vanished, shimmering until nothing was left.
Lincoln took the chance to turn flesh again and grab Leslie before running off to hide between two buildings behind a dumpster. His eyes were locked on the skyscraper's upper levels, wondering what Ronnie Anne was encountering right now. Odds are it wasn't as harmless as what he had to deal with.
Ronnie Anne found herself pulled back inside the hallway she had escaped from. Whatever was grabbing her was not gentle, nor was it effected by her acidity. She tried to make herself thin out or even melt, but the black sludge holding her kept a consistent grip regardless. Then, like something out of a hentai, several other black gooey tendrils grabbed her limbs and pulled them away, making her look like someone about to be tortured medieval style.
"My my, this is quite an interesting find here."
Ronnie Anne saw what she suspected was a woman in front of her, except this woman was made from head to toe in black slime not unlike her. In fact, the only thing about her that was't black and mushy was a white labcoat, which didn't look right on someone like this. The tendrils were coming out of her back, making her look like some combination of Doctor Octopus and Venom.
"You're a plasmic elemental, similar to myself. Your substance appears to be inferior to my own, I'm going to enjoy figuring out how it works."
Ronnie Anne spat out a purple glob that hit the labcoat and burned it, but the oily woman only looked amused.
"Interesting, I'd say your element is corrosive, perhaps acidic even." She mused, stepping forward and tightening her hold on her captive. "A little science lesson, acids have no effect on oils."
'An oil elemental, I've never seen one of those before.' Ronnie Anne thought. 'Science was never my best subject, but if acids have no effect, maybe bases do.'
Ronnie Anne altered the toxicity of her body, only this time it was towards the other end of the pH scale. Back in Nowhere when she and Lincoln were experimenting with their abilities, Lincoln questioned if her slime could be bases instead of acids, and while it took effort she could make it happen. Her body seemed to favor the acidic side of the scale as its default though.
Something must have been happening because the oil woman looked perplexed and then irritated. "What are you doing?"
Then, Ronnie Anne felt her binds weakening. The tendrils weren't holding her as strongly anymore, so she melted through and this time she was able to get unstuck and free. Going all the way, Ronnie Anne became a puddle and slithered over to her captor, who was withdrawing her tendrils. In the process, weird grey flakes fell off her, not unlike ash.
"What did you do to me?" The oil elemental demanded, stepping away from Ronnie Anne who was trying to get below her. She then pressed a button on her coat's collar. "This is Dr Linneaus on the fifth floor! I need assistance and an elemental container right now!"
'Linneaus, Lincoln mentioned that name before.' Ronnie Anne thought, but rather than reflect on old stories she instead extended her own tendrils to grab her for a change. Linneaus jumped back, unwilling to be exposed to her more.
"I don't know what you did, but you'll never get away. I've trapped Louds before, I'll trap you too." Linneaus rued.
"Not today." Ronnie Anne replied, deciding she had humored the oil elemental long enough. She slithered backwards for a moment before collecting herself and jumping backwards and out the broken window. Linneaus did not try to stop or follow her.
Ronnie Anne landed on the ground with a big splat, the kind that would have surely killed anyone not made of slime. She recollected herself and saw herself surrounded by men wielding guns. They looked like what you'd expect from a SWAT team.
"Don't move. You are under arrest." One of the SWAT men said.
"What are you going to do? Handcuff me?" Ronnie Anne replied sarcastically. At the moment she was on all fours, looking like she couldn't put up a fight.
"We have ways of dealing with your kind." Another SWAT member said, this one a woman.
"So you know how to deal with this?" Ronnie Anne asked before dozens of tendrils burst free from the ground around her, whipping at them and wrapping around them. Now they were back to their acidic nature, which strangely felt more comfortable to Ronnie Anne.
The SWAT team were caught by surprise and tried to break free. A few shot at the tendrils and even at Ronnie Anne's main body. The bullets went into her slime, and to Ronnie Anne's surprise and horror, these actually hurt. That should have been impossible, elementals didn't feel pain unless it was caused by ether or other elementals, they had confirmed that several times back in Nowhere. Just what kind of bullets were these guys using? And where did they get them?
Ronnie Anne didn't have much time to think that over, as Lincoln charged in blowing them all over. He was howling both like stormy wind and like a protector on full fight-or-flight mode. He bounced from one to another in rapid succession, like a cloudy pinball, aiming high and low but never missing. In less than a minute all the SWAT members were down on the ground, and Ronnie Anne's slime had retreated back to her body while she laid on the ground, semi-melted like a popsicle, and still in pain.
"What happened?" Lincoln asked, going to her and trying to pick her up. Her body wasn't cooperating, it was literally like trying to pick up mud.
"They have bullets... that can hurt us." She told him while grimacing.
"Hold on, we need to get somewhere safe."
Ronnie Anne got to her feet, looking like she was limping a little, so Lincoln helped support her and then got her to where he had stashed Leslie, who had remained undiscovered. Right away Ronnie Anne hugged and soothed her daughter, benefiting her as much it benefited Leslie.
"We have to get away from here. That Linneaus woman you told me about was in there, and she's an elemental like us."
"Linneaus? An elemental?" Lincoln gasped. "She's back and-"
"No time Lincoln. We need to get Leslie somewhere safe."
Lincoln nodded and became a cloud they could use for transport again. They got on and he rose above the buildings, flying slowly and not in any straight line in case anyone was looking for them. Sure, most people didn't look up, but now that people were actually looking for him he couldn't take that chance. At the same time, Ronnie Anne began to feel less hurt. She wasn't sure exactly why, but at least she no longer felt the pain of being shot at.
"This place, it really looks familiar." Ronnie Anne noted, yet nothing significant stood out. She saw water towers, some houses that looked normal, and a few shops, but there were few cars or vehicles of any kind on the roads. What looked like an unused train laid on the ground and had been converted into what looked like a storage area. There were also a lot of demolished buildings, just rubble and materials laying about, as if someone had torn down a building and left the parts to rust. Though a few people were carting away the metal from within. And there were a few electronic billboards spread around, much like they had in downtown Great Lake City.
Speaking of which, on all the billboards, the blue hologram man appeared. Everyone who was out and about stopped what they were doing and paid attention.
"Citizens of Haven, I come to you with a dire warning. The Louds have infiltrated our safe city and are planning to destroy what has been keeping us safe from the pandemic for so many years."
Right away the people looked scared.
"What is worse, we have confirmed the identity of the Louds." The hologram man said before showing pictures of the two back when they were eleven years old. "They are Lincoln Loud and Ronnie Anne Santiago, once thought to be the first casualties of L-Day but now confirmed to be the masterminds behind the spread of the L-Virus along with Lisa Loud."
"Wait, what?" Lincoln asked. "Is this guy saying this is all our fault?"
"What exactly is even being blamed on us? We were gone for over five years." Ronnie Anne asked back.
"The two are about 17 years old now and like their terrorist families have acquired elemental powers which they abuse. Here is some footage." The hologram man continued before the screen showed video of them trying to escape the skyscraper and Ronnie Anne fighting off Dr Linneaus. It clearly showed them as air and poison elementals, and even worse, that a baby was in the mix of the whole thing. Not only that, but the screen zoomed in on Leslie before the hologram man returned.
"We can't confirm the identity of this one, but we suspect that this child is their offspring. Possibly a second generation elemental. The one identified as Ronnie Anne Santiago is confirmed as capable of harming esteemed scientist Dr Linneaus, so they are all to be treated as highly dangerous."
Lincoln looked down, hoping no one was looking up. Fortunately, they were too fixated on the nearest screen.
"Remember, these three are elementals so conventional weapons will not work on them. That's why for today, we will be granting you all access to anti-elemental weapons to protect yourself. A reward will be given to whoever can bring these three to McCann Tower, preferably alive. And I should note, any use of the anti-elemental weapons against heroic elementals such as myself will result in severe punishment, including banishment to the wastelands. Only use these against the Louds, no exceptions."
Several of the people watching nodded.
"Heroic elementals..." Ronnie Anne mused.
"That will be all. Thank you for listening, and keep your eyes out for these criminals. This is Pablo Horvitz signing off." The hologram man said before the screen returned to normal.
"Pablo Horvitz?" Lincoln said in shock.
"There they are!" Someone shouted from below. Lincoln and Ronnie Anne looked down, and the people who had been watching were now looking up at them. Apparently someone thought that checking the sky for an air elemental was a good idea and happened to be right.
"Oh crap." Lincoln muttered before flying off. He headed right for the edge of this town, seeing the dome. He slowed down so he could avoid crashing into it. Up close, the dome was not a solid construct like a glass bubble or anything, rather it was like hundreds of drones were flying in place and creating a force field between them all.
Ronnie Anne threw a glop of acid at the closest drone, but the surrounding ones shot at it with lasers and vaporized it in midair.
"Okay, that didn't work and don't even think of getting us closer."
"Gotcha, we just need to find another way out of this place."]
Lincoln lowered to hide between the buildings to better keep out of view, and sort of zigzagged to lose any pursuers. After a while, he found a momentary safe spot in an alley filled with cardboard boxes, which he landed behind for cover.
"Weird, all of these are marked for charity." Lincoln noted. "This whole place looks kind of destitute, so who counts as charity here?"
"Are there any clothes in there? We'll be able to hide better in human form." Ronnie Anne asked. In their hurry to escape Nowhere neither had been able to bring any clothes with them and walking around naked would only attract more attention.
Lincoln opened a few boxes, finding clothes in some, and pulled a couple. "Well, it's for charity and I'd say we're in need."
Finding the right sizes for them both took some trial and error. Ronnie Anne was particularly glad to find a fitting bra since Nowhere had more old-fashioned underwear so this one felt more supportive by comparison. It kind of felt weird to wear one since she had never worn one before in her life thanks to the circumstances, but right now she was glad for the support.
"Nice." Lincoln said, holding up an orange shirt.
"No, if they're looking for us and have old pictures of us, the last thing we need is clothes that look anything like what we were known to wear. It's bad enough we can't hide your hair, but that will just make you more obvious." Ronnie Anne warned.
Lincoln nodded and kept looking. He pulled out a hat but rejected it, then he found a hoodie. "What about this?"
"No, it's better but walking around on a normal day with a hood up just makes you look like you have something to hide. Is there a wig?"
Lincoln dug through this and another box.
"Hey Lincoln, earlier it sounded like you recognized that creep on the big screen." Ronnie Anne noted.
"Oh yeah, I think that was one of the jerks who liked to pick on us on the way to school long ago. I thought he toned down when we all stood up to him, but I guess he went back to picking on people once he became whatever element he is now."
"I'm still wrapping my head around all this. I understand us becoming elementals, we fell into another dimension full of them. But people here becoming them? And your family is considered terrorists? We have to find someone who can tell us what happened here. Someone who won't put us in cages of course."
"And we have to get my sisters out of wherever they are." Lincoln proclaimed, then sighed. "Nothing but a baseball cap. I guess it's better than nothing."
"Let's hope."
Once dressed and in flesh form, and after Leslie was calmed down and wearing new clothes as well, they stepped out into the streets of this strange new city. They noticed this part of the city appeared deserted, with the buildings covered in graffiti and more litter on the sidewalks than usual. One thing that caught their eyes quickly were two posters plastered on a wall, one saying 'The City's Hero' and the other saying 'Humanity's Only Hope'. Both showed the same image, a boy their age who looked triumphant and celebrated, like a celebrity. This boy was one they immediately recognized, because although he was older he was still a familiar looking jerk.
"Chandler!?"
"City's hero? Seriously, what the heck happened while we were gone?"
The two chose to walk away from here, and while they wanted to find a way out of this city, they didn't want to be right next to the dome wall. Not if the drones could be used against them or if there were cameras around eager to find fugitives trying to escape.
They came across a park where a few kids were playing and in one area was something that looked like a memorial. They came up to it, trying to look inconspicuous, and saw what it said.
'To those we lost because of L-Day and the L-Virus. Let them never be forgotten, and may the Louds suffer for their crime.'
"I heard them mention this before. L-Day and L-Virus, back at that skyscraper. We have to find someone who can tell us what it's about. It sounds like your family did something that, well, caused all this." Ronnie Anne whispered.
"What can we do? Go up to someone and say 'Hey we've been living under a rock for the last five years, can you tell us what happened?'?"
Ronnie Anne looked annoyed. "I know that Lame-o. But still, we have to figure this out."
"Well I think this L-Day thing might be the day of the science fair that went wrong and we left this world. But I can't believe that it got this bad on this end. How could Lisa's machine malfunctioning do all this?"
Ronnie Anne then went pale. "Wait, this L-Virus. You said when you tried opening the gateway back home, a disease elemental came through the other side. That means it was already in this world."
Lincoln's eyes widened. "You don't think the L-Virus is the disease elemental, do you?"
"I think when we fell through that portal, some elementals came through into this world. Or some people on this side became them like we did. One of them must have been a disease elemental, and it spread. And now everything thinks your sister caused a zombie apocalypse."
"That dome, it's just like the wall that was built around Nowhere to keep the disease elementals out." Lincoln noted. "But still, if that's true, it still doesn't explain why everyone thinks Chandler is some kind of hero."
"Does it matter right now?"
Lincoln shook his head. "No, you're right. Right now the only thing that matters is we get out of this city and find our families."
"Hey look, it's Taylor Griffin." One of the kids shouted.
Lincoln and Ronnie Anne turned, wondering who could be worth the shout-out, and judging from this place it couldn't be anyone they'd want to meet. Strolling through the park with some more SWAT members was a woman covered from head to toe in red. Or rather, she was red from head to toe.
"Is she... a blood elemental?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Don't mind us people, we're just looking for the criminals." Taylor told everyone, waving to them like she was some kind of celebrity being sighted. Maybe in this town she was a celebrity. No one seemed to be afraid of her despite her literally being made out of blood. While waving, she seemed to sweep her hand out around her, as if trying to feel for something. Her attention was caught, and she looked in the direction of the memorial before walking that way with more promptness.
"We better walk away." Ronnie Anne whispered.
"And look like we have something to hide? No, we have to act like we're just getting out of their way." Lincoln said, wondering if this was the Taylor that had been friends with Pablo long ago. And if she was an elemental, did that mean Anderson was one too? These guys, Mr Grouse, Linneaus, his sisters, how many people in his old life had become elementals?
The small family started to walk away from the memorial, doing their best to look like they were just giving the blood girl space, but she still walked towards them. Now they could see her smirk and the SWAT members get ready.
"Nice try Louds, but the blood of an elemental is a beacon to me. Just make it easy on us all and surrender."
Lincoln and Ronnie Anne froze and faced Taylor, with Lincoln getting in front of his partner and child to protect them. The SWAT team kept their guns ready and everyone in the park either left it or stayed on the edge while keeping their eyes on this spectacle.
"The big guy has a lot of questions for you two, you're not in any actual trouble. We just want answers." Taylor said, trying to sound reasonable.
"And yet you're pointing guns at a child." Lincoln hissed.
"Just to get your attention and make it clear that we mean business. Now, I could force the three of you to come with me, but I'd rather you do so of your own free will."
"You force us? I'd like to see that." Ronnie Anne remarked.
Taylor smirked. "Wish granted."
The blood elemental extended a hand, and then all of a sudden Ronnie Anne's body jerked for a moment before she started stepping forward. Her motions were robotic and stiff, as if she didn't want to move.
"What...? What the hell are you doing?" Ronnie Anne asked, sounding like she was having a hard time talking. Or more likely, like she was fighting whatever had come over her.
"I am the master of blood. Even yours. You will do as I command, or I will take your blood right out of your body. And to prove I'm not bluffing..."
All of a sudden, a blood vessel burst in Ronnie Anne's nose and blood came out. Not only that, but the bullet wounds that had healed earlier had formed scars on her flesh form and they also burst open with blood coming out. All the blood rose into the air and flew over towards Taylor, who spun the red liquid around like ribbons before absorbing it into her body.
"What did you just do?" Lincoln asked, gently but firmly grabbing hold of Ronnie Anne to support her.
"I told you, I am the master of blood. It obeys my every whim. I could drain you both dry right now and there's nothing you could do about it."
"That's what you think." Ronnie Anne hissed, turning to slime. Her injuries healed and she felt whatever hold Taylor had over her disappear. Likely because in this state she had no blood. Lincoln nodded and turned to air to protect himself.
"Looks like that little girl can't change." Taylor pointed out.
"Any of you try anything and I'll melt you to your bones." Ronnie Anne warned, a few bubbles appearing and popping all over her as if she were boiling. Her clothes began to sizzle and corrode too.
'Uh oh, I hope she's not going to snap and hulk out like I did.' Lincoln thought, knowing such a thing would only make things worse.
Taylor laughed. "Show them how we treat Louds boys."
The SWAT team readied to fire, and Lincoln got ready to spring into action. But then, all members of the SWAT team froze as if Taylor had taken control over them. However, she looked at surprised at them, and when she turned to face them, she froze too.
"What? What's going on?"
Lincoln grabbed his best friend's hand. "We gotta get out of here."
She nodded and the two ran off and out of the park. Taylor and her crew were incapable of going after them. It wasn't until after the small family was gone that they could move.
"What just happened?" Taylor demanded.
"We have no idea ma'am. Perhaps one of the fugitives was responsible?" One of the SWAT team suggested.
Taylor fumed for a moment. "Stay here in case they have back-up in the area, and be on the look out. I'm going to go after the fugitives myself."
"Yes ma'am." They all said and spread out and searched while Taylor went off towards where she saw the Louds run off. None of them saw something move under the grass, moving faster than any of them.
With Lincoln's help, everyone got back to the abandoned part of town, particularly inside one of the buildings that looked like it used to be a small shop of some kind. Though now it was long devoid of any merchandise.
"We can hide better if we stay this way, but she can still track Leslie if she's telling the truth about our blood." Lincoln said.
"We have to find a way out of this town. We're not safe here."
"I know. What really gets me is how she controlled you like that. I mean, we've been elementals for five years and we've never been able to control anything that we ourselves didn't create from our own bodies. But she not only controlled your blood, she took it out of your body and basically ate it. What if she's not the only one here who can do that?"
Ronnie Anne grimaced and glanced at her already ruined new clothes before sighing. "I'll dig us out of this hellhole if that's what it takes. I'm not letting her find us again."
"You won't have to." A voice from behind them said.
The couple jumped, seeing a shadow behind them. A shadow with a familiar shape.
"Dang it Lucy, I told you to stop sneaking up on me like- wait, Lucy?" Lincoln said.
The shadow beckoned them closer, where it turned to flesh and revealed itself to indeed be Lucy Loud, now fourteen years old. Lincoln was left dumbfounded as time seemingly froze, seeing one of his family members for the first time in half a decade. A noticeable change was said the bangs in front of Lucy's eyes were cut short allowing them to be visible. The rest of her hair was longer, almost to her rear, as if she hadn't had a haircut since he left this world. She wore what looked like a black bodysuit with some orange stripes, the kind you'd attribute to the Fantastic Four or a gymnast, which made it really stand out on Lucy. Said suit did nothing to hide her figure, showing that she was indeed a lot more grown up than Lincoln remembered her to be.
Before Lucy could say anything else, Lincoln pulled her into a loving embrace, never wanting to let go. Ronnie Anne found the scene beautiful and couldn't wait for her reunion with Bobby and the rest of her family as she hugged Leslie.
"Hold on Lincoln, I'm happy to see you too but this isn't the place, we need to get to safety before we get captured like Lana, Lola, and Lisa."
"Lead the way then Lucy." Lincoln said, having so many questions but willing to wait a little longer for answers.