95. In the Cards

In Royal Woods' homeless district a limo pulled up in front of an old abandoned supermarket. The back of the limo opened to reveal Andrew Tetherby and Isaac Mercer. Once they step out, Tetherby looked around.

"This is the place?" He asked Mercer.

"Yes sir." Mercer replied.

"This looks like the kind of place that Cheat would live." Tetherby said.

"I nearly forgot you're not a fan of the homeless." Mercer comments.

"I'm not a fan of poor people in general." Tetherby said. "A trait I picked up from my father. So he owns this old supermarket?"

"Actually he owns the whole district." Stuart said much to Tetherby's surprise. "From what I understand he won it in a game. So this whole district is Cheat's territory."

"He won this whole district?" Tetherby asked. "I'm impress."

"Shall we go in sir?" Mercer suggested.

"Yes we should." Tetherby said. They enter the supermarket where they see a large table and several men surrounding it. The two approach the table and sit down in the available chairs. "Which one of you is Cheat?" One of the man flicked his hat up and looked at Tetherby.

"That'd be me." Cheat said. He motioned for the other men to leave which they do. Once they're gone he turns his attention to his visitors. "Andrew Tetherby. What brings you to my humble abode? Surely you're not here to purchase this fine little district I control because this ain't for sale nor will it be wagered."

"No. I'm here to play you're game as is my associate." Tetherby said as he gestured to Mercer. Cheat turned to Mercer who immediately turned his head once he saw the red eyes turn their attention to him.

"So you payed someone to play a game of mine? Will I be a waste of time to you?" Cheat asked as he shuffled his cards.

"Of course not." Tetherby said getting a little nervous. "But i believe two of us have a better chance of winning than one of us."

"Whatever you say rich man." Cheat said.

"So how do we play this game?" Mercer asked as he approached Cheat.

"Simple. You pick a card." Cheat explained. "If you cards two through ten, i win and you get nothing. If you pick an ace, a jack, a queen, or a king you win and I give you my services for a few hours. But if you pick the Joker, well then you decide what you want. You either walk away or request my services. It's a wild card basically. Now who's going first and what are you wagering?"

"I'll go first." Mercer said. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a large wad of cash. "Three hundred dollars."

"A good wager, now draw your card." Cheat said. Mercer drew a card from Cheat's deck. "And?"

"Two of diamonds." Mercer scowled. Cheat tips his hat and slides the money towards him and places it in his pocket.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Cheat said before turning to Tetherby. "Your turn Tetherby."

Tetherby walked towards Cheat as he shuffled the deck. "So what do you wager, Mr. Tetherby?" Cheat asked.

"I wager my limo." Tetherby said.

"Hmm. It would give some of the homeless people some shelter when it rains." said Cheat.

"Shame that it won't happen." Tetherby said as he drew a card and turned it towards Cheat. "The king of diamonds. I believe I win."

"You do." Cheat said. "So what is you want?"

"Are you aware of the L-Crew?" Tetherby asked.

"I am aware of them. You want me to fight them?" Cheat asked.

"Yes. I do." Tetherby replied. "I want you to destroy them. No matter what." Cheat doesn't reply. Instead he shuffled the deck of cards in his hands.

"Well then. I guess the L-Crew and I will finally meet." Cheat said.

At Gus's Game and Grub, Lori was cleaning out her locker when Gus came up to her.

"Alright Loud, here's your final paycheck." Gus said. "Good luck at your father's restaurant."

"Thanks Mr. Gus." Lori said. "And again thanks for the opportunity."

"Don't sweat it kid." Gus said. "Take care and say hi to your brother for me."

"I will." Lori said. She walks out of the room and heads to her car where Lincoln is waiting for her.

"C'mon Lori let's get out of here." Lincoln moaned. "You said you'd take me to the art store."

"And I am." Lori said. "Just had to clean out my locker here. Now get in Eliza and let's go." The two open their respective doors but stop when they see something on the seats. "What the?" They pick up the objects and examine them.

"These are playing cards." Lincoln observed. He looks at his card and sees that it has the letter 'D' on it. "Mine has a letter on it."

"Yeah same here." Lori said turning the card where Lincoln sees the letter 'R' on it.

"Who left these cards?" Lincoln asked.

Lynn and Francisco are at the basketball court, playing a game of basketball, and they have just finished a game. "You've been practicing." Francisco stated.

"I sure have." Lynn said as they walked back to their gym bags. "I've been managing to find some time between my workouts and helping my dad at the restaurant."

"Oh yeah, you told me about it. Lynn's table." Francisco said as they both lifted up their gym bags, but Lynn looks in her bag and there's a playing card in it.

"Huh? What is a playing card doing here?" Lynn asked as she turned it and sees the letter "S" on it.

"What the hell?" Lynn said.

Leni was finishing up her shift at mall and was folding the last two shirts on the table.

"Almost done." Leni said.

Leni proceeds to fold the last sweater and once it's folded she sees a playing card with the letter. "M" on it. Leni picks up and wonders who send it. "Did Miguel gave me this card?" Leni asked.

Luna and Sam just finished jamming with their band and were getting ready to leave. Their friends had already left and they were getting their guitars ready to be packed.

"That was a sick jam session." Luna said.

"Tell me about it." Sam said. They head to their guitar cases and when they open them they see two playing cards with one having a "T" on it and the other having a "O" on it. "What the hell?"

Lola has finished rehearsal for her next pageant, she walked towards her make up bag and she looks in the bag and sees a playing card with the letter "U" on it."

"Who left this card here?" Lola asked.

At a birthday party Luan with Lily in her arms was picking up her props. She had gotten stuck with babysitting Lily the day of a gig but she somehow made it work. As she went to grab the cake she saw two playing cards. One had an "P" on it while the other had a "L" on it.

"That's weird." Luan said as she picked up the cards. "I didn't bring any cards with me. Where did these come from?"

Lucy is at her Morticians club in the classroom as they're wrapping up the meeting. "Alright, before we wrap up. Any new business?" Haiku asked as the rest of the club members all shook their heads to no more questions. "Meeting adjourn." Haiku said as the rest of the club exited the classroom.

Lucy walked over to her locker and opens it to reveal a playing card with the letter "A."

"Gasp." Lucy said. "A playing card?" She looks up at where Fangs was perched. "Fangs where did this come from?"

"No idea. Someone just slid it in here." Fangs told her.

Lana was at the park visiting the Fishman. She jumped out of the water as a catfish and turned back to human. She headed back to where she placed her stuff. She picks up her towel and sees a card fall out with the R on it.

"What's that?" Lana asked as she picked up the card. "What's going on?"

Lisa is in her bunker doing a inventory check. "Everything seems to be in order for these supplies." Lisa said. Lisa begins to exit her bunker and when she opens the hatch she sees a playing card with the letter "E" on it.

"Interesting." Lisa said as she picked up the card.

At the Bodega, Bobby was checking out a customer. "That'll be ten dollars." He said to the customer. The customer pulls out a ten dollar bill and hands it to Bobby before grabbing his groceries and leaving. Bobby opens the cash register to put the money in it only to stop when he sees a playing card with an "E" on it. "Weird. How did that get in there?"

Ronnie Anne is skating on her skateboard and grinds on a railing and then skates over to a hot dog stand. "Hey, Phil. I'll take a Great Lakes City special please." Ronnie Anne said.

"Kid, wouldn't you rather order something, that I know how to make." Phil replied.

"I'll just take a hot dog with onions and hot peppers." Ronnie Anne said.

The hot dog vender nodded and made the hot dog, then handed it to Ronnie Anne. She handed the vender the movie and walked away, as she ate her hot dog. Then she noticed a playing card in the wrapper. She pulled it out and it had the letter "K" on it. "This is odd." Ronnie Anne said.

She hears her phone go off and answered it. "Hello?"

"Ronnie Anne it's Bobby." Bobby said. "You gotta get to the base. Lori's calling us all there and if you found a playing card bring it with you."

"Right. I'll be over soon." Ronnie Anne said before riding off.

When Ronnie Anne got to the base, she saw the Louds, Sam, Clyde and her brother already there and were gathered around a table along with Soothsayer, Mr. Cuddles and Petty.

"So these cards just randomly appeared?" Soothsayer asked.

"Yeah dude and they had these weird letters on them." Luna said.

"Weird." Mr. Cuddles said from atop of Petty's shoulders.

"Hey I'm here." Ronnie Anne announced as she squeezed in between Bobby and Clyde where she saw thirteen playing cards on the table. "So I wasn't the only one." She pulls out her card and placed it on the table with the others.

"So we each got a playing card with a letter on it?" Lori asked.

"So who's the guy who made these cards" Lana asked.

"That is something I would like to find out." Sam said.

"But what's with the letters?" Clyde asked. "Each card has a letter on it. A few have the same letter but why?"

"Good question." Lori said.

"Maybe it's a message of some sort." Lincoln suggests. "Maybe the letters make a specific word or two. We just need to figure out what they are."

"I say we start with the S. That's something my grandmother would do." Sam suggested.

"No start with the A or the O. It could be the start of the message." Luan said.

"Guys get real. Start with one of the Rs." Lynn said.

"We can't start with the Rs because that doesn't sound right." Lincoln argued. While everyone argued Clyde looked at the playing cards closely. Each had a letter on it and there were a few that had the same letter. He then tried to think of possible words that could possibly be made with these letters. So he started arranging the cards. Moving then around until they made a word. After a few seconds of arranging he got something and gasped.

"Guys I figured it out!" Clyde shouted. Everyone stopped arguing and turned to look at the table and saw what words the cards made.

"Old supermarket?" Lola read. "Please that can't be right." However Mr. Cuddles started breathing heavily and Soothsayer tensed up. "Um are you two ok?"

"Old supermarket. Playing cards." Mr. Cuddles choked. "Knew exactly where to put the cards. It couldn't be."

"I'm afraid it is." Soothsayer said. "Children this is no ordinary message. This is a message from Cheat."

"Cheat? That's the meta human who the L-Angles met?!" Ronnie Anne exclaimed.

"I wonder why he gave us these cards?" Lincoln asked.

"He's said that he's wanted to meet you guys every time we've met him." Mr. Cuddles told them. "I guess he decided the time was now."

"Yes but be warned. Cheat is very dangerous." Soothsayer said. "While we don't know the full extent of his abilities, he's dangerous in what he knows and his ability to manipulate any individual mentally."

"We'll be careful." said Lynn.

"But what about his location? Where is the Old Supermarket?" Leni asked.

"Homeless district." Mr. Cuddles answers. "Word is that Cheat controls that whole area and isn't too keen on giving it up."

"Right." Lori said. "Alright let's head down there and go give Cheat what he wants."

The L-Crew all drove up to the Homeless district on the L-Monster. "So this is Cheat's turf?" Parkour asked.

"Looks like it." Amplifier said.

"Can't believe he controls all of this." Firecracker said.

"Doesn't matter." Speed Queen said as she opened the door. "What matters is seeing Cheat."

The L-Crew all walked towards the old supermarket as they see some homeless people on the streets.

"Man this is kind of sad when you see this." Surge said.

"Wonder if Cheat took over this place to help them." Multiple Girl suggested.

"Who knows?" Armor said. "Let's just find Cheat."

They approached the old supermarket and entered inside the supermarket. "Ok let's find Cheat and get out of here." said Speed Queen.

"Right." Everyone says. The L-Crew make their way through the supermarket until they see a large table in the center with several men surrounding it.

"Maybe one of these guys is Cheat." Wildgirl suggested.

"Let's find out." said Speed Queen as the rest of the L-Crew walked towards the late table.

Once they get to the table the other men scatter leaving only one man who was shuffling the cards. "Well well well." The man said. "You got my message." He looks up at the L-Crew and they flinch a little at his red eyes. "And now we finally meet."

"You're Cheat?" Surge said.

"That I am." Cheat smirked.

"Alright we're here." Speed Queen said. "What do you want?"

"For a while I've wanted us to meet." Cheat said. "Sadly I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Um what do you mean?" Crystal Princess asked.

"Earlier I had a couple visitors." Cheat said. "They both played my game and one was victorious. These two apparently have a grudge against you and decided that they wanted me to do was destroy you."

"So are you?" Genarocker asked nervously.

"I sadly must because I must honor my game's rules so my apologies." Cheat said. "How about a quick card trick? Any volunteers?"

"I'll do it!" Multiple Girl said. "I love card tricks."

"Then step right up Multiple Girl." Cheat said.

"It could be a trap." Speed Queen whispered to Multiple Girl.

"It's a card trick. Nothing can go wrong." Multiple Girl said as she walked towards Cheat.

"Pick a card." Cheat said. Multiple Girl picks a card and looks at it. "Do you remember your card?"

"Uh huh." Multiple Girl replied.

"Good now put it in the deck." Cheat said. Multiple Girl does so and Cheat shuffles the deck. He then holds it out the deck. "Now pick the top card and tell me if it's the same card you picked." Multiple Girl draws the card and gasps.

"It is!" Multiple Girl exclaimed.

"Good. Now I must ask for forgiveness now." Cheat said. Multiple Girl looks at him in confusion when the card in her hand begins to glow red.

"Multiple Girl look out!" Ms. Appear shouted. However the card exploded sending Multiple Girl flying back.

"Multiple Girl!" Speed Queen shouted.

"I hope you enjoyed the trick. I got plenty more to show." Cheat said.

His eyes then glow and the cards float up and spread out behind him. Cheat then thrust his hand forward firing the cards that hit Parkour and Surge sending them flying back.

"How are playing cards doing this?" Prodigy asked.

"Maybe it's Cheat himself?" Genarocker pointed out as she dodged an incoming card.

"I have power over these cards my dear." Cheat said.

"But how is he controlling them?" Amplifier asked as she blasted cards.

"Perhaps that energy surrounding the card that blew up has something to do with it." Black Ice said. "Time for a different trick." She takes a deep break and fires a snow breath at Cheat who uses his cards to block it.

"Snow?" Speed Queen questioned.

"Was taught it at the temple just never used it." Black Ice said. "Not like it matters, he blocked it."

"Still gotta figure how those cards are so strong." Crystal Princess said as she avoided cards before jumping onto Wildgirl who was a jaguar. "Let's get him."

Wildgirl charges towards Cheat as Crystal Princess shot some crystal shards at Cheat, while he dodges the shards. Crystal Princess forms a crystal hammer, but when she swings her hammer at Cheat, he dodges the attack and threw the Ace of diamonds card at the crystal hammer.

"A diamond for a crystal princess." Cheat smirked.

The card explodes which knocks Crystal Princess off of Wildgirl who keeps rushing towards Cheat.

"You'll pay for that!" Wildgirl snarled. Once she gets close Cheat sidesteps her causing her to crash into the table.

"His movements are fluid and his fighting style is more defensive than anything." Prodigy said. "However his powers are the one thing i can't figure out. I need to observe. That being said I need a bullet shield so to speak. So, Armor get over here and let Cheat hit you."

"You got it!" Armor nodded as he he touched a metal shelf and absorbed the metal coating his whole body. Armor runs towards Cheat and tries to punch him, but Cheat dodges the attack. "You can't dodge my attacks forever you Gambit knock off!"

"I believe i can actually." Cheat said. He pulls out a card flicks it at Armor hitting him in the chest sending him flying to where Prodigy was.

"Ok that hurt." Armor groaned. "But from what I saw and felt, the cards are covered in some weird energy."

"Fascinating." Prodigy said. "Red energy, when hit an opponent is sent flying back. I've figured it out." She then slowly approached Cheat. "Your meta ability is kinetic energy." Cheat looks at her surprised before letting out a chuckle.

"So you figured it out." Cheat said. "Well done."

"So he has energy powers like me and Nuke?' Surge asked as she stood up.

"No. Kinetic energy is the energy of mass in motion. The kinetic energy of an object is the energy it has because of its motion. Cheat harnesses the kinetic energy into his cards to give them a explosive like state so that when they hit us, we're actually hurt by it." Prodigy explained.

"Thanks for the lesson Prodigy. Now let's beat this guy." said Surge as she flew towards Cheat and shot some energy blasts at Cheat. Cheat dodged some of the blasts, but he was blast back by the last energy shot.

Cheat than ran away from Surge into the frozen food section. "You're not getting away from me!" Surge shouted,

Once she's in there however she sees Cheat waiting for her. "Oh I can assure you that I'm not trying to escape." He says. Surge looks at him confused then sees cards on the doors of the freezers. With a snap of his fingers the cards explode which knock the freezers down and onto Surge. Surge looks up and scowls. "I do apologize for this especially since I know you'll be visiting again." He then runs off leaving a shocked Surge behind.

Cheat runs away but Speed Queen and Ms. Appear gets in the way. "Stop right there Cheat." Ms. Appear said she forms two forcefield swords.

"Ah, Ms. Appear and Speed Queen." Cheat said.

"Cut the the flattery Crap, you Gambit knock off." Speed Queen said.

"Oh I'm hurt." Cheat said in a mocking tone. "Almost as hurt as people hurt by someone's pranks on April Fools day or someone kicked out of another's room."

"H-how did he know that stuff?" Ms. Appear asked.

"I don't know." Speed Queen replied. "But he'll pay!" She runs forward not noticing the playing cards on the ground. She steps on one and it explodes launching her through the roof.

"Damn. Now I gotta fix that." Cheat said.

"You won't be fixing anything." Ms. Appear said charged towards Cheat, Cheat dodges the sword strikes and knees Ms. Appear in the gut.

Cheat then looks behind him and see Parkour right behind him. "Parkour, can smell sweat a mile away, from one of your sport games." Cheat said.

"I don't play sports. I just lift weights!" Parkour shouted.

"Sure you do." Cheat said with a roll of his eyes. Parkour rushes forward to tackle Cheat but he leapfrogs over her causing her to crash into Ms. Appear.

"That didn't work." Parkour groaned. "This guy is tough."

"No kidding." Ms. Appear said.

Amplifier transports behind Cheat and tries to attack Cheat with an electric karate chop, but Cheat leg sweeps Amplifier to the ground. Firecracker flew towards Cheat and tackles him to the ground. "Who hired you?!" Firecracker demanded an answer.

"I'm sorry Firecracker, but I cannot reveal the names of my contact." Cheat said.

"So you're a mercenary!" Firecracker growled. Cheat covers his hand with energy and pushes Firecracker off of him sending him flying.

"Of course not." Cheat said as he stood back up and dusted himself off. "I'm simply another player in this game."

Amplifier forms two balls of electricity in her hans and charged towards Cheat. But Cheat throws a card towards the ground but Amplifier dodges the Kinetic blast and flew towards Cheat. Amplifier hits Cheat with the the two electric balls in the chest and it pushes him back into some canned goods.

"How'd you like that dude?" Amplifier asked.

"You're quite strong Amplifier." Cheat said. "As expected from the second-in-command of the L-Crew. But have you always been this strong. I bet there was a point where you were weak. A moment where you felt weak and terrified. Terrified of what they would think of you. Yes the moment that terrified you the most was the moment you came out to your family." This caused Amplifier to flinch.

"Wait, how did he know that?" Amplifier asked herself.

Seeing that she was distracted, Cheat then flicked four cards at Amplifier sending her flying back through the shelves. "It seems like i have your attention." He said. "Prodigy and Greenthumb I suggest you stop hiding. It'll only make things more worse than it needs to be."

"I wouldn't say we're hiding." Prodigy said as she stepped out from behind the counter to the register. "More like observing from afar. You see Cheat I'll admit that I'm not as strong as my siblings. However what I lack in brawn I make up for in brain. That being said I decided to observe how you fight and I must say I'm impressed. You let your opponents come to you because that's when they're most vulnerable. Truly a interesting style of combat if I may add. However I believe you haven't been going full power."

"Are you literally kidding me?" Speed Queen shouted from the roof. "He's been holding back?"

"Indeed." Prodigy said. "He's holding back because of our shoppingmode battlefield. This supermarket is no doubt special to him as he stores the food for the homeless here. But are they truly homeless if you control the whole district which includes the buildings. Unless that's why you control it because of that very reason." Cheat stares at her then chuckles.

"You're as smart as I thought." Cheat said. "I have been holding back. So if we continue let's go outside." Before he can say anything else he's suddenly hit hard in the cheek. Everyone looks on in shock as they see none other than an enraged Multiple Girl with a fist right on Cheat's cheek that sends him flying out of the store.

Multiple Girl exits the store as Cheat hits a brick wall. Multiple Girl walks up to the down Cheat as two clones appear in front of Cheat. "Listen here you card freak. I like was looking forward to a bubble bath with a bath bomb. But no wanted to fight us." Multiple Girl glared at Cheat.

"Well this is an interesting turn of events." Cheat grunted as he got back up.

That's when Multiple Girl and her clones all charged towards Cheat, and one of the clones delivers a roundhouse kick to Cheat's ribs. The other clone gave Cheat an uppercut to the face. That is when the original Multiple Girl grabs Cheat an axe handle as the rest of the clones gang up on Cheat and proceed to beat the crap out of Cheat and even one of them stomps on Cheat's nuts.

"We like had enough of you!" Multiple Girl said as she punched Cheat in the face.

Cheat coughed up some blood as he got back to his feet. He turns to Multiple Girl and wiped the blood off his cheek. "And here I was trying to be civil." He said. "But it looks like being civil is done. Please note Multiple Girl, you brought this on yourself." His eyes then glow bright red and several playing cards coated in red energy float around him. "Try this for a gamble." He thrusts his arm forward sending the cards flying forward hitting Multiple Girl and her clones repeatedly. Once the attack finishes, Multiple Girl and her clones collapse.

"Oh my God." Speed Queen said from the roof after witnessing Cheat's attack. "Guess Cheat isn't all mild mannered as he portrays himself to be." She presses a button on her watch. "Prodigy you practically studied this guy got anything that could help?"

"My only advice is to watch him. He is out of his element and behaves differently." said Prodigy.

"You sure about that Prodigy?" Parkour asked. "After seeing what he just did Multiple Girl, I'd say he's still in his element."

"I'm sure about it Parkour." said Prodigy.

"Then we no longer try to go one on one with this guy." Speed Queen said as she sped down from the roof. "Time to use our best weapon. Teamwork."

"We're with you sis." Amplifier said. "But dudes, just be careful of his mind games." The rest of the L-Crew join Speed Queen while Multiple Girl got back to her feet where they saw her bleeding from her mouth which she wiped off.

"I'm not done yet." Multiple Girl said.

"Prodigy, you seem to have this guy figured out." Speed Queen said. "You help us coordinate."

"Understood. Go help Multiple Girl before she gets herself killed!" Prodigy should.

"Got it! Alright team, let's get him!" Speed Queen shouted.

"Right!" Everyone shouts in unison.

The L-Crew all ran towards Cheat and get ready to take him down. Firecracker flew towards Cheat and tackles him and gives up a fiery punch.

Cheat slides back only to get hit in the back by Genarocker's mechanical foot sending him flying forward. Speed Queen shoulder tackles him right into Parkour who hits him with a double axe handle.

Wildgirl lunges in wolf form at Cheat, but he rolls out fo the way right before Crystal Princess hits a crystal sword in the ground, then double kicks Cheat in the chest. Cheat gets up and right in front of him Ms. Appears turns visible right in front of Cheat and elbows him in the face.

"Is that all you have?" Cheat said. "I was expecting more from you."

"You'll regret saying that!" Armor shouted.

Meanwhile Prodigy watched from the store with Greenthumb. As she watched the rest of the L-Crew fight Cheat, she couldn't understand why Cheat wasn't dodging. Earlier he was avoiding their attacks with ease. Now he was just taking the hits.

"Minor sibling I don't understand any of this." Prodigy said. "He's just taking it. But why I wonder." She strokes her chin and then sees Armor rushing towards Cheat. "Unless he's building it up! Armor stop!" However it was too late. As soon as Armor hit him Cheat smiled.

"Thanks for helping me build up my energy." Cheat said before letting loose a kinetic energy discharge that launched everyone back.

"Dang it." Prodigy growled. "I should've known." She looks down at Greenthumb. "Perhaps it's time for us to get involved."

Greenthumb looked at Prodigy and gave her a serious look and nodded. Prodigy used her telekinesis lift herself and Greenthumb and floated towards the battle. Then they landed on the ground while glaring at Cheat. "I will admit you, I didn't except you to fool my teammates." Prodigy said.

"Sometimes you gotta outsmart your opponent." Cheat said as he clutched his side. "But you, I haven't seen you at all."

"I've learned to study my opponent so I can figure out strategies to defeat our opponent." Prodigy said. "Though normally I don't do this, I made an exception for you. You are a man if mystery which means there's no information on you. So we came here blind not knowing what to expect. While we didn't expect an easy victory, we surely didn't expect this hard of a fight. But now we're here and we're fresh. So Cheat let me put this in terms you'll understand. The cards are in our hands."

"So you let your team take a beating just so you could figure out how to beat me?" Cheat asked. He then chuckles. "You're made for these types of games." He then sits down. "You know I don't use my hands in combat at all. A gambler's hands are his greatest tool, so i never use them to hit people. I found other ways to make use out of them."

"I noticed." Prodigy said. "Not many people are able to successfully do that. However I must defeat."

"Why? What do you gain from defeating me?" Cheat asked.

"What ever do you mean?" Prodigy said.

"You think words can be your greatest weapons. But really, they're useless as a dull knife cutting through sheets." said Cheat. "You use your brain as weapon, but sometimes your brain can fail you at times."

"You're correct." Prodigy admitted. "My brain has failed before. Because of my brain, I caused an explosion that turned us into who we are today. Because of my brain, I created a robot that attempted to destroy us because he thought all crimes were punishable. Because of my brain I accidentally released one of the most dangerous criminals from the Dungeon. So yes my brain has failed but I've learned from those failures. So perhaps it's time I learned from my siblings's failures in stopping you." She then begins to levitate. "You shall be defeated by me, my minor sibling and my brain!"

"Very well, then use your brain to defeat me." said Cheat.

Prodigy raises her hands and several of the abandoned cars begin to lift up. Greenthumb then raises her hands to summon multiple vines from the ground.

"Try to avoid this!" Prodigy shouted. She and Greenthumb exchange a glance and nod before lowering their hands sending the cars and the vines converging on Cheat. Cheat quickly stands up and pulls out several cards. He then throws them at the vines and cars cause them to explode. Cheat smirks at his handiwork only to look on in shock when Prodigy flies through the the flames followed by Greenthumb riding on a stalk. Prodigy tackles his stomach but Cheat remains standing only to get hit by Greenthumb's plant stalk.

"Nice job, little sister." Prodigy said as Greenthumb smiled. The plant stalks explodes as Cheat dusts his shoulder.

"Not bad, Prodigy." Cheat said. "But there are times you overthink things."

"I know." Prodigy admitted. "There are times I overthink things and it never works out. But that never stopped me before. I'm a girl of science. I've always been a girl a science and always will be. Overthinking is what scientists do best so they can prepare for every outcome and dang it i won't let you change who I am!"

Cheat threw two cards towards Prodigy and Greenthumb, but Prodigy uses her telekinesis to the two cards upwards and they explode. Then Greenthumb summons two vines and grab hold of Cheats's hands. "It's over Cheat." Prodigy said.

"You're right." Cheat said. "It is over." He pulls a card out of nowhere and uses it to free himself from the vines. "Eight hours are up. Games over." He then begins to walk back to the supermarket.

"Wait excuse me?" Prodigy exclaimed. "You're just walking away just like that?"

"Yes. Eight hours are up." Cheat said. "You see whoever wins my game gains my services for eight hours. Once eight hours are up, I'm no longer obligated to do the job even if it's not complete. It took me most of the day to get those cards to you all and who knows how long it took you to get here. Then we fought for an hour and a half. So eight hours are up."

"So we fought for an hour?" Prodigy asked.

"That's correct. Before you ask, no I cannot reveal the person who hired me." Cheat said.

"So was this a test or something?" Surge asked as she got back up.

"Some thing like that." Cheat said.

"I feel like you're screwing around with us." Firecracker said as he tried to help Armor to his feet.

"Believe whatever you want." Cheat said. "I've had my fun for the day. However L-Crew I feel like we'll meet again." He lays his eyes on Surge. "Some sooner than others." Surge gulps before looking away from Cheat's gaze. Cheat begins to walk back to the supermarket. "Also L-Crew, a little warning. Be careful who you trust. Not everyone is who they seem." He then heads inside the supermarket.

"Well thanks for the heads up." Firecracker said.

"What is he talking about?" Surge whispered to herself. "Hold on guys. I need to ask Cheat something." Surge said as she chases after Cheat.

"Alright." Multiple Girl called after her. "I'm gonna talk to the homeless."

"God I hope she doesn't try to give them fashion tips again." Speed Queen said.

Surge ran into the supermarket to see Cheat bandaging his wounds. As she approached him he looked up.

"Took less time than I thought Surge." Cheat said.

"So you know why I'm here?" Surge asked and Cheat nodded. "Good. Now I want answers so if I gotta play your little game so be it." Cheat looks at her for a few seconds before walking around his table and sitting.

"No." Cheat replied.

"So I don't have to play your game to get answers?" Surge asked.

"No. Cheat said.

"No I don't or no I do?" Surge asked.

"No I'm not giving you your answers." Cheat said. "Even if you play and win i won't give you what you want."

"Why not?" Surge demanded. "I thought that was your rule?"

"It is but in your case it's personal." Cheat said as he shuffled his cards. "You want me to tell you about the man who killed your father. However now's not the time."

"Wait how do you know that?" Surge asked.

"I know many things. I have my sources but you cannot know about them." Cheat said. "Now come to my table."

Surge walked up to the table as he shuffled the cards. "So what now. You're going to show me a harmless trick?" Surge asked.

"The only way I'll give you the info you want is if you remember the feeling of losing a loved one." Cheat said. "You've forgotten that feeling. Now have a seat." Surge does as she's told and sits at the table. Cheat then draws four cards and lays them on the table. Surge looked down at them and saw that one was a king, one was a queen, one was a jack and one was a joker.

"What's with the cards?" Surge asked.

"These cards represent your immediate family." Cheat explains. "The king is your father, the queen is your mother, the jack is your brother and the joker is you. Now watch the king." He waves his hand over the king and Surge notices the card began to fade until it was blank. "I assume you know what that means." Surge doesn't answer but nods. "Now the queen and the jack are to set to fade when you feel loss similar to how you felt even you lost your father. Now it doesn't have to be death, but it can be something similar to bring the feeling. When you have that feeling, one of the cards will fade and then you will come to me to get your information."

"So one of the cards will fade and I come back here?" Surge asked as Cheat nodded.

"That's right. You will go through the same pain when you lost your father and you will come back here." said Cheat. "Farewell Surge."

"No one will die right?" Surge asked.

"I can't promise that." Cheat said with a gentler tone. "But you will have the feeling of loss. Farewell Surge." Surge grabs the two cards and walks towards the exit where the rest of the team was waiting for her by the L-Monster.

"Everything alright?" Armor asked.

"Yeah." Surge lied. "Everything is great. Let's just get out of here."

"Yeah, let's head on home. " said Speed Queen.

The rest of the L-Crew walked towards the L-Monster and drove away. "So what did Cheat tell you?" Fircracker asked.

"It's nothing Lame-o." Surge said.

"Are you sure?" Firecracker asked.

"Yeah." Surge answered. Firecracker shrugged and went back to looking out the window. Surge then pulls out the two cards from her pocket. "Nothing at all."

Meanwhile in the Government facility, Colonel Mavor was observing drone footage of the L-Crew's recent battles, such as their fight with Climate, the Conductor, Electron, Rubbor, Quill and Cheat. "Sir do you think it's wise to use drones to get footage of the L-Crew?" A scientist asked.

"I am certain. We need to gather enough research as possible " said Mavor.

"This is our 4th drone that we're using sir." One of the scientists pointed out.

"I don't care." Mavor said. "We must study the Loud family. We need as much information as possible. Has Mirage reported in yet?"

"Not yet sir." A scientist replied.

"Damn it." Mavor muttered under his breath. "Make sure she reports in and let me know as soon as possible."

"Will do sir." The scientist replied.

"Where's Vaccine?" Mavor asked.

"Preparing for our guests sir." Another scientist answered.

"Good. I want it ready sooner than later." Mavor said. "The Louds will assist me in my plans whether they like it or not."

Smoke: Hey guys, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Now before we sign off, yes we're closer to the 100th chapter by 5 chapters. Now there was someone who asked that we allow the L-Crew to be in some Danny Phantom/Loud House story, Zach and I talked about it, we both agreed to say no, since this was a guest reviewer who asked and we don't know if this was a troll or not. That and we don't do crossovers which we already explained. Got anything to say Zach?

Zachlor16: Got nothing to say. Five more chapters until 100 baby! It's gonna be good!