11. Chapter 11

AN: I finish chapter. Head hurt. Sleep now, but you can read. Maybe.

Zeobide274: Minions aren't inherently good or evil. Though I suppose a group of persons who are biologically compelled to obey the orders (within reason) of someone with a strong personality would probably end up finding themselves angry at the world. Chandler's alignment is more along the lines of like, Neutral Jackass. Maybe Lawful Jackass in this fic? With Fiona being more like, Chaotic Irritable. So neither of them is making the other more evil by association. Or something. I've been up for a while, I can smell colors.

nuuo: It's a big world. Leni's just top dog in Royal Woods.

Lincoln Loud had lived a life that, until recently, had been blissfully free of conflict. There had been the minor things that every child deals with at one point or another; bullies, power-tripping teachers, the neighborhood dog that was always giving him the evil eye. But in a world where Soulless were an ever-present problem with no end in sight, Lincoln had been one of the rare few who had grown up never needing to experience the terror of being in the middle of a battle between beings far more powerful and dangerous than you could ever hope to be. Looking back, it made his enthusiasm to become a hero feel somewhat misguided. He, a kid who knew nothing of battle, of tribulations, of the cost of heroism, nevertheless still craved them. Demanded them, in stark defiance of his own ignorance. His outing with Lori had been something of an eye-opener, a much-needed wakeup call as to just how unprepared he was when it came to actual life and death situations, when one was faced with a being who could end your life in an instant, and had no qualms about doing so. Though harrowing, Lincoln had come out of that experience feeling wiser, and more importantly, more aware of his limitations. He'd felt that he was now in a place where knowing his shortcomings meant that he would work through them, overcome them.

In the span of moments that followed Chandler's proclamation, Lincoln Loud quickly went from feeling annoyed, but ultimately amused by the strange and wonderful world he inhabited, to being utterly terrified by it, as a veritable sea of Husks began pouring into the mall from all directions.

Even as the attack began, and mall space previously left empty by Fiona's antics quickly began to fill with moaning, shambling, humanoid monstrosities, and terror began to wrap it's ice-cold hands around Lincoln's heart, there was a portion of Lincoln's fear-stricken mind that still tried to respond to the battle that was becoming increasingly imminent. He took stock of what combat capabilities were available to their little group (Leni and Fiona's respective arsenals, naturally), and began searching for places in the immediate vicinity where they might best be able to leverage the raw power of the magical girls against their numerically superior, but otherwise relatively frail foes.

And yet, it was all for naught.

As Lincoln began opening his mouth to shout instructions to his companions, the situation abruptly changed once more. One moment he was shuffling backwards, trying to reposition himself closer to Leni, and in the next the horde ramped up from from being oppressive, to overwhelming. The mass of Soulless building around them surged forward, causing the half-formed instructions on the tip of Lincoln's tongue to change into a yelp of terror. Lincoln gaped at the wall of horrors quickly closing the distance, and in that moment, the young boy succumbed to his most craven instincts. Lincoln Loud looked death in the face and blinked, squeezing his eyes shut and turning away.

Lincoln cried out in pain as something swatted him aside, opening his eyes just in time to see the ground rushing up at him. He landed, hard, his small body bouncing several times before finally coming to a stop. Lincoln struggled to his feet, fighting the nausea and dizziness that permeated his brain, parting gifts from his short lived flight. And that was the point where realization set in.

Husks on all sides, as far as the eye could see. And Lincoln in the center, very much alone.

Uwooooo

A chorus of moans shook Lincoln from his terror-stricken stupor. Don't freeze up! he admonished himself. Not again! He'd choked during the fight with Whitney, and only come out unscathed because Lori had been there to save him. But she wasn't here this time. This time it was just him, and...

Leni

Lincoln glanced around, every ounce of his willpower focused on stifling the urge to scream. Husks, Husks, and more Husks. Far too many, it would seem, for what had suddenly become such a confined area, if the way most of them were mindlessly milling around was any indication. And then, he saw it. An opening.

Steeling his nerves and taking a deep breath, Lincoln began to move, quickly but cautiously, trying not to draw attention to himself. For whatever reason, the Husks in this immediate area seemed disinterested in him. It may have been that having so many in the same area did something to whatever semblance of intelligence they possessed. Conceivably, it also could have been that he was just too puny to bother with. Regardless, there was no guarantee that they would remain passive forever. He needed to find Leni, and then together, maybe they could find a way out of this mess.

From where he'd landed, Lincoln had been able to spy a small gap in the crowd of Soulless. It was far smaller and more intimate than he'd prefer, but he could spy solid, unoccupied ground on the other side, and that was far preferable to his current situation. As he closed in on his destination, Lincoln began to low crawl. It slowed his progress somewhat, but kept him well below the eye line of the average Husk, and while he wasn't actually certain if they used their eyes to see, it still made him feel better about his chances. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a husk stumbling forward, possibly having tripped on something. Reacting as quickly as he could, Lincoln scuttled sideways like a hermit crab, only narrowly avoiding the creature's flailing hands. He paused momentarily, eyeing the collapsed Soulless in case it decided to get back up. Instead, the thing merely stayed prone on the ground, thrashing around, but otherwise making no effort to upright itself. Somehow, that made it all the more disturbing.

Lincoln shook off his revulsion, and continued on, half expecting a gnarled hand to reach out and grab him from behind. Thankfully that never came to pass, but the thought was never very far from his mind. Finally, Lincoln arrived at the particular group of Husks he'd been looking for...only to find that the gap he'd spied earlier was smaller than previously. The reasoning why seemed as obvious as it was unnerving. Husks were still milling into the mall from the sub levels, and that meant that standing room was going to be an increasingly rare commodity.

Uwooooo

As if acknowledging his reasoning, the Husks on both sides of the opening began to shuffle towards each other, as if pushed by something. Seeing that his window of escape was quite literally closing, Lincoln threw caution to the wind and ran towards the gap. He slid through the legs of one Husk, before tucking and rolling to avoid the grasping hands of another, breaking out of the roll to leap forward and springboard off another Husk that had fallen to the wayside. In truth, it wasn't all that different from running one of Lynn's obstacle courses, and for the briefest of moments, he was almost enjoying himself.

That abruptly to an end as a pair of disheveled, grasping hands emerged from the throng and reached for him. Reacting on instinct, Lincoln bounded forward, skidding to a stop just before colliding with another Husk. Then, with no other avenues left to him, he threw himself into a cartwheel, propelling himself towards the rapidly closing hole in the crowd. It was extremely sloppy, Lynn would have had his head if she'd seen it, but it served its purpose. Lincoln was able to hold the cartwheel long enough to complete a single rotation, which was all he'd needed. The instant his feet found purchase on the ground once more, Lincoln pushed off and ran as fast as he could, the momentum from the impromptu gymnastics routine giving him just enough speed to slip through the mass of Soulless. The two groups of Soulless collided, slowly and inexorably as the individual Husks that comprised them, but by then Lincoln had made it through. For a moment, Lincoln allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief, the first proper bit of breathing he'd been able to do in what felt like forever.

Uwooooo

That relief was distressingly short-lived. While Lincoln had managed to finagle his way into an area that was fairly open and free of Soulless for the moment, there were two big problems that could be readily ascertained. The first was that there wasn't anywhere to go from here. Lincoln now found himself in a closed-off corner of the mall, adjacent to a store that sold artisanal cinnamon buns, and another that sold frozen yogurt, neither of which were enclosed, and consequently impossible to secure from attack. The other was that at the far end of the corner stood another group of Husks, albeit considerably smaller than the mass he's just left behind. Unfortunately, this group was looking directly at him. And any hope he'd been nursing that they might ignore him was quickly dashed, and they turned to him in unison, and began to shamble forward.

Instinctively, Lincoln began to skitter backward—

Uwooooo

Only to realize just in the nick of time, that doing so would send him right into the waiting arms of the horde he'd just left. Stopping so abruptly nearly caused him to topple over, which would have almost certainly doomed the young Loud at this point, but Lincoln managed to recover. Still, that didn't leave him many options, and now that at least some of the Husks appeared to be aware of him, his options for escape were rapidly disappearing.

Lincoln started in surprise as a hand wrapped itself around his shoulder. Reflexes kicking in, the boy threw himself forward, hoping to break free, but the grip simply tightened, strong like a vice. That was when his brain clued him in on a very important detail he'd missed in his panicked state. The hand clamped onto his person wasn't coarse and rough, like those of a Husk, but rather warm, and soft. And gloved. Lincoln yelped as he was suddenly yanked backward, his assailant expertly releasing their hold on him mid-flight so they could instead wrap their arm around him and pull him close, enveloping him in a familiar, and reassuring softness. From his vantage, Lincoln could make out an elegant, viridian rod being thrust past him and towards the nearest group of Soulless.

"Leni Flash!"

A basketball-sized, crackling orb of emerald energy burst forth from the tip of the rod and rocketed towards the Husks. It crashed into the lead Husk with enough force to cause the creature to double over, and for a moment it simply hung there, lodged within the creature's chest. However, Lincoln knew what was coming, and squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could.

BTOOOM!

And not a second too early. The pale-haired boy flinched at the sheer volume of the explosion, so violent was it that even within his self-imposed darkness, Lincoln could still see a brief flash of light. A brief blast of wind buffeting his face clued the boy in that it was safe to open his eyes. Though he'd expected as much, Lincoln still let out a low whistle of awe and surprise as he opened his eyes and saw that the entire group of Husks, easily twenty-or thirty strong only moments ago, had all been incinerated. Nothing left but small piles of ash here and there.

"Magical girls really are hardcore." He muttered to himself as a second arm wrapped around him and gave the boy a bone-crushing hug. Glancing upward, he was now staring into the lovely face of his big sister.

"Don't worry, Linky." Leni announced with a smile. "I'm here to save you." Lincoln certainly wanted to take the proclamation at face value, but it was hard to ignore the fact that her smile, one that, in normal circumstances came so readily to the older girl's face, didn't quite reach her eyes. They couldn't, so full of emotion were those normally lustrous orbs. The last emotion he wanted to see there.

Fear.

"Hold tight, Linky." Leni murmured. He couldn't actually move his arms, but so tight was the older girl's grip on him, that Lincoln felt reasonably secured regardless. After a quick intake of breath, Leni crouched down ever so slightly and then sprung forward, her soft, slender legs effortless propelling the pair forward until they found themselves in the same dead-end that Lincoln had chanced upon earlier. Despite wearing heels, the blonde girl managed to land lightly on her feet, not wavering in the slightest, then in a single motion, she set Lincoln upon the ground and pivoted one-hundred and eighty degrees, swinging her rod up in the process and holding it before her.

"Leni Barrier!" She shouted, causing a translucent dome to spring up around the pair, perhaps ten-feet in diameter. Lincoln's heart caught in his throat as he realized why. By placing them in this corner, Leni had allowed them to secure their rear, eliminating the chance of being attacked from behind. Unfortunately, while absolutely necessary, her little stunt had drawn untoward attention to the siblings and beyond the edges of Leni's barrier, Lincoln could see the horde of Soulless shambling directly towards the pair. It wouldn't be long before the monsters were upon.

"L-leni?" Lincoln asked, desperately trying to keep his voice under control. "How many more times can you do that attack?"

"Enough." She replied, not looking back at him. Nevertheless, Lincoln could see that her arms were trembling. "I...I think." She added, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly.

"B-but don't worry, Linky." She continued. "I promise, I'm going to get you out of here!"

"You mean we're going to get out of here, right?" He asked, reaching up and placing one hand on his big sister's shoulder. He could feel her trembling in his grasp.

"I'll be fine." Came her reply, not actually answering the question. The first of the Husks had reached the edge of the barrier and were pawing at it, sending tiny ripples through its surface. Lincoln couldn't help but notice the way Leni flinched, each time they did so.

"I can take care of myself. It's..." Leni swallowed. "It's harder if I have to protect you to. So I'll make sure you can get away. Then you can get Lori, and she can come and sa—help me." Leni took her rod in both hands and thrust it forward. Immediately, the front of the barrier moved forward a foot or so, knocking the Husks away, before receding back to it's original dimensions.

"Okay." Leni nodded resolutely. "That seems to work." She glanced around looking for something. "There." She pointed, seemingly at random, as far as Lincoln could tell. "If you go that way, it's a straight shot to Reininger's. You can cut through the store and leave the mall directly through there." In spite of everything, Lincoln couldn't help but smile, and shake his head in amusement. Trust Leni to know the mall like the back of her hand.

"I'm going to do that pushing thingy one more time." She continued. "Then I'm going to drop the barrier and fire another blast. As soon as I do, start running. Hopefully, it'll clear enough of a path that you can get through. Okay?"

"But Leni—" Lincoln began to protest.

"No buts, Linky!" She snapped back at him. "You're going. End of story! We go on three, okay?"

"But—"

"One!" She shouted, overriding any further protests. "Two—"

GWAAAAAAAOR

Leni didn't get to three. A piercing roar cut through the mall, dwarfing the sound of Leni's earlier explosion. Even after it had ended, Lincoln's ears were still ringing. But Leni...Leni had lost all pretense of bravery. The older girl's mouth was agape, her whole body visibly trembling.

"No..." She breathed, the words barely audible, her eyes wide with terror. In the distance, amid the sea of Soulless, a great shadow rose up, the surrounding husks parting in its wake. To say it looked like a Husk would be a great exaggeration, it only resembled the creatures to the extent that a jungle cat might resemble the home-grown variety. There were enough similarities to identify them as being of the same species, but one was clearly the lesser of the two. This being stood twice, if not thrice the height of its fellows, head and shoulders clearly visible above the throng. While it bore the same vaguely human, gnarled look of the lesser creatures, this one was considerably heartier, it's chest broad, its limbs thick and strong with ropy, sinewy muscle. Upon its body, seemingly formed at random, were hard, chitinous plates, clearly the vestiges of some sort of natural-born armor. And finally, in place of a hand, each of its arms ended in a long, scythe-like blade.

Lincoln's mouth went dry as the creature began moving towards them. Powerful, confident strides, carried it across the mall, completely removed from the halting, shambling steps if its lesser brethren. Any Husks that didn't clear its path fast enough were flung aside like so much debris, and clearly with as little consequence, as the creature's gaze never wavered from its destination. Lincoln and his sister. Lincoln shuddered as some half-remembered information began to surface within his brain, school lessons he couldn't be bothered to learn because they seemed so trivial at the time. Something about how, should a Husk survive long enough, there was an infinitesimal chance they they could undergo some kind of mutation, becoming something greater in the process.

"Linky..." Leni whimpered, so consumed with fear that she could barely utter the words. "It's a Corrupted."

And then her barrier winked out of existence.

Leni Loud had lived a difficult life, though it had started innocuously enough. From a young age, she and Lori had always idolized heroes, the pair of them would sit there in the family living room, eyes glued to the television, staring unblinking as their colorful, smartly dressed idols fought bad people and saved good people. It seemed easy, it seemed fun, and it wasn't long before both girls had promised each other that they too would become heroes. That they would save everyone.

Things had started off well enough. Being the older of the pair, Lori's powers had manifested first with the onset of her teenage years. She and Leni had been innocently playing with their little brother, and Lincoln had decided he wanted "upsies." The elder girl acquiesced, taking the boy in both hands, and lifting him up into the air. And then Lincoln had just...kept going, flying out of Lori's grasp and straight up into the air. It was several, panicked moments later that Lori, seemingly acting on instinct, leapt up after the boy, and to the surprise of everyone involved, it worked. The landing was not graceful, Lori couldn't actually fly at the time, but when the dust cleared, there stood Lori, in the middle of the Loud family's brand new crater, holding their little brother tightly in her arms. Safe.

Leni had been inordinately jealous. Lori didn't have any of her really flashy powers, those would come later, at the time she was merely strong and durable, but it meant something. Lori'd had her powers for literally seconds, and the first thing she did was save a life. She'd become a hero without even knowing it, without even making the conscious decision. So ingrained in her personality were the traits that would eventually lead to her becoming one of Royal Wood's most prominent heroes, that she'd chosen her path without even realizing that the question had been asked.

Leni had tried to endure, tried to be happy for her big sister, but it was hard. She'd see Lori and her cool new friends going off and doing hero things, and she'd wanted that for herself. She'd tried to be happy for the older girl, even making Lori her first costume.

"Make one for yourself!" Her big sister had insisted. "You're going to get your powers any day now, and then we'll be heroes together! Just like we promised!"

That day would never come, because Leni's archetype was not that of the hero, but that of the magical girl. They were similar enough, on paper at least. Leni got to wear a pretty dress (albeit, one that forced her to accessorize around it, since no matter what she tried she couldn't alter the look of the dress, magical as it was) and fight bad guys, though her methods were considerably more explosive, and prone to causing collateral damage than Lori's. There was a brief period of time when it seemed everything had finally fallen into place. Then she'd met her peers.

Leni didn't know what it was, but something about being a magical girl resulted in most people becoming sociopaths. Maybe it had something to do with how destructive their powers tended to be, though Leni was reasonably certain that she had remained normal in spite of that. Well, normal...ish, at the very least. At any rate, her group had none of the close-knit camaraderie that Lori had with her friends. There was a lot more trash-talking, and backstabbing, sometimes of a very literal variety. Things tended to go too far, much more frequently than they had any right to be, and it usually wasn't long before you had magical girls brawling in the streets, usually over some perceived slight. Initially, Leni had tried to stay out of it, tried to remain in everyone's good graces, as difficult as it was. But then...people started getting hurt. Normal people, people who easily could have been her parents or her younger siblings, getting caught in the crossfire of a stupid conflict that had nothing to do with them. And that was the point where Leni realized she could no longer stay on the sidelines. Something had to change.

Though she wasn't a violent person by nature, Leni had put that aside, and she'd fought. The battles were hard, taxing, both mentally and physically, but one by one she'd put each and every magical girl in the city in their place. And once she stood at the top, she'd put The Rules in place. Simple things, really, but they'd kept order. They kept people safe. And to accomplish that, all Leni had to do was become the very thing she'd hated. A monster.

The Husks came after. Leni had done too good of a job with her crew, people knew her now. They didn't know the particulars; they'd never seen her smash a girl senseless with her Lovely Rod. They'd never seen that girl wake up hours later, bloodied and battered, and hanging off the edge of a very tall building. They'd never seen Leni give that girl a stern talking to, inform the girl that things were changing, and she needed to start playing by Leni's rules, or...be released from her duties. They'd never seen any of the times that had happened. But they knew that the other girls all respected Leni. They knew she was strong, and so they came to her for help.

Leni had quickly gained a reputation to rival Lori's without even trying, and that imparted responsibilities upon her. She was now at the forefront of every conflict, her name on the short list of archetypes who were called whenever things got really bad. And things got really bad, really often. Within a few short years, Leni had seen far, far too much. Monsters of all shapes and sizes, some Soulless, others not having that excuse. She'd also seen their victims, heard their dying screams, their curses. Oftentimes it was inevitably, there was nothing that could have been done, or so she'd been told. But there were times, however rare, when she knew in her heart that it was her fault. And she carried that with her.

The one shining point in all that misery had been her little brother. Her Linky. Ever the optimist, ever the brave one. Ever the one person in the whole wide world who could take that misery from her, and put an honest, genuine smile on her face. Lincoln was always the one to comfort her when she was at her lowest, though he'd most likely never known that was the case. Sweet as he was, the boy could be distressingly dim at times. Nevertheless, it was in those moments, when she clung to him for dear life, that she would always renew her vow. She would always protect her Linky, no matter the cost.

...This time, however, the cost seemed rather high. Things had already been looking hopeless, though she'd tried her best to put on a brave face for her brother's sake. Her plan was slapdash, desperate, but it was the best she could come up with. Fiona was gone, having been swept away by the same tide of Soulless that had taken Lincoln from her, leaving everything to Leni. "As usual." Her brain supplied. Regardless, she was fairly confident her plan would have worked. Would have saved Lincoln, if nothing else.

And then the Corrupted had arrived, a monster she'd only fought once before, and fervently prayed on a nightly basis ever since that she would never have the misfortune to encounter another. And then, exhausted, spent from her earlier efforts, her strength had finally failed her. And then, at last, she had failed Lincoln. A perfectly terrible end to a perfectly terrible career.

Leni sagged to the ground, no longer capable of standing. Inside she raged, demanding that her body pick itself up once more and fight! If not for her, then for her little brother. But the flesh was far weaker than the spirit, and her calls came unheeded. She didn't even have the strength to cry.

Leni felt movement behind her, limbs instinctively tensing before immediately flagging once more. But she knew in her heart it wasn't Soulless. She knew the touch that gently laid itself upon her person.

"Stay...back...Linky." She rasped.

Lincoln laid his hand upon his sister's shoulder in a manner he desperately hoped was comforting. Leni looked diminished, sickly, in no condition to fight the seemingly endless horde that stretched out before them. Not that he was much better, he couldn't stop shaking. He was weak, so much so that on most days, he would say with absolute certainty that even at their worst, there was no scenario where he could seem strong in comparison to any of his sisters. But apparently, that was a bit of an exaggeration. Right now, for the first time in his life, Leni needed him. He stopped, starting in surprise as a dainty hand snaked out and clasped his own in the midst of his passing.

"Stay...back...Linky." Leni rasped. She was trembling, not from fear, but from exertion. She was trying as hard as she could to stand back up, and there was a part of him that wanted to let her. To resume hiding behind his big sister while she took care of everything. But he knew in his heart that it wasn't going to happen this time. For once in his life, Leni needed him to be strong for her.

"It's okay, Leni." He heard himself saying.

"No!" She insisted, her voice still horse. "I can do this!" Lincoln tried to pull his hand away, but he couldn't. Diminished though she may have been, Leni's grip was like steel.

"Not this time, Leni." He declared, his voice sounding far braver than he actually felt. 'This time, I'm saving you!" That was when he felt it, a... connection, a lifeline between himself and his sister. He could feel Leni, not just the physical sensation of her hand against his, but Leni herself. Her...essence, her warmth. He vaguely recognized this as the same phenomenon that had taken place when he was with Lori, but somehow...different. Back then it had all been mechanical, he'd instinctively given...something to Lori, and that had given her the strength she needed to save the day. This time he was actually experiencing the connection in full, he could feel everything that Leni was, including...her power. He extended these strange new senses of his, exploring the sensation. He didn't remember what Lori had felt like, but Leni was strong. At this moment, it was her body that was weak. If not for the limitations of her shapely, fleshy existence, Lincoln suspected his sister would have no trouble blowing away every last Husk here. Up to and including the big, scary-looking one, which was only getting bigger and scarier ad it marched towards them.

Leni didn't need more power, she needed breathing room, she needed a chance to pull herself together so she could get back in the fight. And that was when it hit him. Maybe...just maybe, if he could use this connection to give someone power, that same connection could also be used to take power. Just a bit, just enough to hold the line.

"L-linky?" Leni asked, her voice wavering, uncertain as Lincoln's new senses reached out, unbidden, and began to...tug, on their connection. "Linky? This feels weird! What's going on?"

Lincoln couldn't answer that question, his body was working on autopilot, acquiring the tiny sliver of Leni's essence, a small, glowing ball of light, and pulling it back into himself. As it reached its destination, a phrase manifested within his mind, demanding to be spoken.

"Genre Shift." Said Lincoln, and then his world went white.

Leni squeaked in surprise as her little brother exploded, a supernova of pure white light erupting from his small frame, very nearly blinding her with its intensity.

"Lincoln!" She shrieked, blinking rapidly, trying to restore her sight. Then, from the light, emerged a figure. One she was intimately familiar with. A younger, more naive Leni, yet to have been broken of her innocence, had often imagined this person. She'd doodled pictures of him in the margins of her clothing designs, fantasized about the adventures she might have with him. She'd dreamt of him visiting her, stealing away into her room in the dead of night. Visits which grew increasingly frequent and...decidedly more involved, as she grew older.

He was immaculately dressed in a form-fitting, black tuxedo, a long, red-lined cape adorning his shoulders. Unnecessary, some might say, but she would vehemently disagree, as the sound of the flowing mantle flapping in the wind was what announced his presence. It was a calling card, of sorts, one which reassured the girl that he was near, and he would keep her safe. His steely, smoldering, penetrating gaze, was only barely contained by a white domino mask, again entirely necessary for...reasons, and atop his pure, white, hair rested...top hat. Because it totes pulled the look together, of course. Yes, she knew this person very well, for he was quite literally the man of her dreams.

"Tuxedo Linky!" She breathed, barely able to enunciate the words, so heavy and excited was the beating of her heart.

At the sound of her voice, her hero spun around. He was…shorter than she'd always envisioned, but his cape flapped so gallantly as he did so. He came to an abrupt stop, looking every bit the dashing rescuer, she'd always imagined, height notwithstanding.

"Who?" Came the confused voice of her little brother.