43. Chapter 43 - Lynn Arc

Siege here:Paperman0: You know, I didn't intend for that to be a reference, but Night Watch is probably the book I've reread the most, ever. And I'd like to think a little PTerry bleeds into my writing every now and then.

Hey everyone, UnderratedHero here. Sorry for taking so long to start this arc. After doing a long arc that consisted of 7 chapters that added up to like a hundred million words, I thought "Alright, I think I've earned a little break, thank God Siege will be dealing with the Carol arc next". But the burrito guy decided that three chapters was enough for his arc, and he even wrote them in advance.

I was SHOCKED, just like you my fellow compatriots, so I bullied him into doing something else before I started another big arc. And finally, all the bullying we did forced Siege to finish the Lori Origin arc. Now I'm okay with starting the next one.

It'll be a nice arc because: A. It's about my favorite sister. B. It'll finally bring us some answers to what the Harem King is and how it works. Not ALL the answers, but some. Which is cool!

Now, let me do a quick response to some of the reviews we got last chapter:

SonicMax: The Index doesn't arbitrarily name powers. The names of the Archetype are written in people's souls, and Index merely reads them. This was established in the beginning of the story, and even Diablo brought it up in the Luan arc, talking from a predeterminism point of view about the nature of the human race.

STR2D3PO: Yes, the Index merely gives them a name for the sake of the Archetype Academy functionality. They can manifest very early on, as we've seen with Lana (or even Lucy).

OzzyOzborne: I will try my best to deliver!

JRC1700: Lincoln is the perfect fusion of Mirabel (Encanto) and Deku (My Hero Academia). What does this mean? I don't know. Does it make any sense? I don't know, but it sounds cool!

So yeah, this is the official start of the Lynn Arc! And don't worry, I won't let my very well known Lynncoln bias get in the way of telling a good story…

Or will I?

The long wait is over! Lynn and Lincoln Prepare for the big day!

Lynn Loud Jr. was completely, passionately, heart-numbly, head-over-heels in love with her brother, and she had no problem with it. She wouldn't quite say it out loud, knowing how most people would react to her declaration, but she didn't try too hard to hide it either. Anyone that cared enough to pay attention to how she treated Lincoln and how she acted around him could have guessed it.

In fact, most of her sisters had guessed it before Lynn herself did. She'd never stopped to question her feelings for Lincoln. From the day he was born, she'd always felt the same way. She loved him more than she loved herself —quite the feat, given her unapologetic pride—, and as they grew up, she never considered her feelings weird or in any way different from how sisters should feel about their brothers. She only had one brother, he was her only point of reference. The fact that she'd always been more touchy and physical around him than the rest of her siblings could be attributed to her personality and how close their relationship was.

Yes, he was close with all of his sisters, as Lynn begrudgingly had to admit. But she knew, she knew that the two of them had a special bond. One of the reasons she'd never figured out the true nature of her feelings for him was that she'd just taken it for granted that she would always stay with Lincoln. Forever. It's not something she'd rationalized. There were certain things in her world that were inevitable: death, taxes, the sun coming out every morning, and the fact that Lincoln would end up marrying her at some point in their adult lives. It just made sense. They'd vowed to do it at some point when they were little kids, toddlers even, but while the adults and their older sisters seemed to take it as child's play, she'd never thought of it as a game. They both clearly loved each other on a deep, deep level. What was there to dismiss? Aside, as she eventually realized, from the fact that seemingly no one should feel the way she felt about him.

Of course, once Lucy shed light onto Lynn's forbidden desires, the Martial Artist had to admit that there would be many obstacles in her perfect future. It didn't bother her, though. Lynn Loud was anything but a quitter, and she'd fight for her feelings and her rightful place at his side. Ever since she became aware of her crush on Lincoln, she'd taken a bolder approach, which definitely didn't go unnoticed by the rest of her sisters. Unfortunately, the only one that seemed to be none-the-wiser was none other than the ashen haired boy himself.

Still, as much as she liked going straight to the point and heading head-first into the brawl, she also knew how to play the long game. This wasn't a single match; this was a championship. And she was convinced she would come out on top, winning the Lincoln Prize she oh-so-desperately wanted.

And today, she would be taking a crucial step forward. Thus, as soon as her alarm clock rang, she jumped up onto her bed and swiftly clicked it off, then stretching with a smile on her face.

"Oh, yeah," she said to herself. "Game's on."

She walked to the window and threw the curtains open with a precise roundhouse kick, leaving only the UV-blockers Lisa had built for Lucy. Speaking of the devil, the young Vampire-to-be rose from her coffin, her body moving seemingly by itself since her arms were crossed over her chest. She stood up, yawned, and suddenly the stiffness —"rigor mortis" she liked to claim, much to Lisa's disapproval— left her body, leaving her wobbling and struggling to stay up as she rubbed her eyes under the disheveled bangs of hair that covered them.

She would've fallen face-first onto the carpet had Lynn not caught her by the hem of her shirt.

"Mornin', Spooky," she said with a radiant smile.

"Mmmhhmmmummm," Lucy mumbled.

"Oh, you're definitely not a morning person."

Lucy yawned again, taking a step forward to properly stand. "I'm not a creature of the day."

"Well, today's a big day for me," Lynn said, grabbing a towel and her Martial Artist outfit, "so I won't be around much to make sure you don't zombie-walk into a pit. Gotta step up your game, alright Luce?"

"Oh," Lucy said, her tone remaining the same for any outside viewer, but Lynn managed to detect the unmistakable perk-up hidden in there. "You start training Lincoln today, right?"

The brunette was about to leave her room, but she stopped and turned to look at her little sister with a smile on her face. "Yeah. His shoulder healed, so we can start working on his aura skills."

"I know you're excited, but don't be too brutal," Lucy said, walking closer to Lynn, "I've seen how troubled he is by his Archetype. He's scared, and he's yearning to learn more about how it works. He really needs your help right now."

"Oh, come on, Luce. You know I know that. I'm gonna teach him everything I know about auras and how they work."

"No fighting?"

"Maybe a little fighting," Lynn admitted with a smirk. "But seriously, I'm not planning on just doing combat practice. Dealing with auras can be… pretty intimate, you know?" She added with a gentle blush on her cheeks.

"Hmm. Alright. I suppose you know what you're talking about. Just make sure you don't end up scaring him away by being too upfront about your feelings."

"I'm not gonna declare my love to him, you dingus. I'll be the one that helps him figure out and control his powers, and when he does, he'll realize I'm the most awesome girl in the world, and he'll be the one to ask me out on a date to the movies. He'll finally notice me."

She was about to add a bitter comment at the end, but decided against it. Her face betrayed her, however, and she didn't manage to fool Lucy.

"Lynn, I hope you get what you want, I really do. But if you keep seeing this as a competition, I fear you might end up losing yourself. And even him."

Lynn clicked her tongue. She hated it when her little sister imparted wisdom on her. Especially because Lucy was usually right about almost everything.

"Don't worry, sis. Trust me, it'll all turn out great. Lincoln's finally gonna realize that I'm good enough for him. And once your Archetype fully awakens, we'll work on it too, and he'll be able to help you. Then we'll all grow up and go live together somewhere nice, just the three of us. Our little Loud Apartment. Wouldn't that be nice?" She said, losing herself in her favorite fantasy.

"I'm cheering for you," Lucy assured her with the most neutral and unexcited face in the world.

"I can see that," Lynn said, leaving the room to join the line for the bathroom.

Leni and Luan were already waiting, and judging by the shower-singing, Luna was occupying the bathroom. Lynn took her place in line, and her mind began to wonder. Would Lincoln finally fall for her excuse of wanting to save hot water and join her?

"Don't even think about it," a voice behind Lynn said.

Of course, she'd sensed her aura, but she would have rather ignored her. Instead, she grit her teeth and turned to look at the Superhero of the family.

"I told you not to use your Super Mindreading on me, especially not right before my shower," Lynn accused her.

"Super Mindreading? I wasn't using my—" Lori's eyes seemed to glow for a second before her face turned red and she visibly shivered. "Lynn! We've talked about this! Ugh! But no, I didn't… I wasn't talking about that."

"Oh. Then what were you talking about?"

"I'm talking about whatever you're thinking of doing with Lincoln this afternoon."

"You mean teach him how to use his powers?"

"I mean whatever you're planning to do to him with the excuse of teaching him how to use his powers," Lori said, glaring at her.

By now, Leni and Luan were looking at the two brawlers of the family, wondering if maybe they should take a couple of steps away, or even leave the house. Lynn clenched her fists, and the carpet wrinkled around her toes with the sheer power of her stance.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm gonna teach him how his Archetype works and how to use it. That's it."

"Is that really it? Lynn… We know how you get when you're with him. You just made me use my powers to see what you were thinking right now."

"What was she thinking?" Leni asked.

"I don't think we want to know," Luan said.

"I just want you to consider that this is a big thing for Lincoln," Lori continued. "You've seen how much his Archetype affected him. He needs answers. He doesn't need to be distracted by—"

"Ugh, you think I don't know?" Lynn interrupted her. She could handle Lucy bringing up these issues because the two roommates were close confidents with each other. But of all her sisters, Lynn appreciated Lori's lectures the least. "I'm doing this for him!"

"Lynn…"

Lori reached out with a hand, but Lynn quickly caught her by her wrist. Leni and Luan held their breath. Lori shut her lips tight and began to "gently" —only a couple hundred Newtons of force— try to pull herself free, but Lynn didn't let her. The oldest sibling sighed.

"Lynn, please let me go."

"Make me."

"I can. And I would, but this time I would rather have you listen to me."

The Martial Artist thought about it for a few seconds before releasing her grip. Lori's wrist had a bit of soreness, but the blonde superhero didn't flinch. Instead, she decided to bend over to be at eye level with her sister.

"I know this is a big deal for you. I'm always busy, and no one else can keep up with you in fights. I know you want him to Genre Shift with you to have someone to spar with, and I'm sure he'd love to do that. But this is bigger than you. This is about Lincoln understanding who he is and what he's capable of. This isn't a competition to see who genre shifts with him first or anything like that."

"It's only a problem when I want to do it, right?"

Lori blinked twice. "Excuse me?"

"You took him out without asking anyone else, and he ended up activating his Archetype with you," Lynn pointed out. "Then Leni took him for a day. Then Luna took him to the outskirts. Then Luan had him fight ghosts and demons. You even let him go out with Carol Pingrey of all people to do God-only-knows what. I'm the only one you ever have a problem with. You're always getting in the middle of us, you never leave us alone. Ever since you got your super powers, it's like you're always meddling, like you don't trust me—"

"Of course I trust you."

"...like you don't want us to be together—"

"It's not like that!"

"...always trying to be his favorite sister!"

"Stop it!" Lori said, raising her voice. "See? This is your problem. For some reason you always make everything into a competition, even the time we spend with him, and you get so possessive and jealous whenever one of us spends more time with him than you."

Lori glared at Lynn, knowing that she'd cornered her, and that she would probably skip the dialogue and jump straight at her with a flying kick.

Instead, Lynn just stared at her and said: "And you don't?"

Lori flinched. "Huh?"

"Yeah, you're always controlling everything he does, whom he spends time with, where he is, what he's doing. You call me jealous, but you're the one who can't stand him wanting to spend time with me!"

Luan and Leni stared at each other. Lori and Lynn remained in silence for an amount of time that was entirely too much for comfort, until the oldest sighed.

"He better not come home with too many bruises," she warned.

"You better not show up to interrupt us," Lynn threatened.

Just then, Luna came out of the bathroom, with a towel on her head and a purple robe. "Shower's all yours, dudes!"

"And for the record," Lori pointed out, raising a finger at Lynn, "I was mad at Luan and Luna, too. They were also reckless. It's not just you."

Without any further words, Lori turned around and headed to the kitchen.

"What did I do?" Luna asked, trying to figure out why her name had come out of an angry Lori's mouth.

While Leni stepped into the bathroom and Luan tried to summarize the situation to Luna, Lynn was left fuming in silence. She loved Lori, of course she did, but for the longest time —and especially ever since she'd acknowledged her feelings for Lincoln—, she also saw her as her biggest threat.

As obvious as it was for everyone else that Lynn and Lincoln were close, the same could be said for how obvious Lincoln's admiration towards Lori was. He'd always been enamored with superheroes, and when Lori ended up having that Archetype, she basically became the boy's idol. Back when Lynn hadn't realized she was in love with him, his adoration for their oldest sibling was just annoying. Now that she knew how deep her feelings for him were, she realized that Lori would probably be the biggest obstacle she'd have to face.

Not in the sense that she would try to stop them from being together. She would, most certainly, but Lynn would never let her get away with it if Lincoln shared her feelings. No, the biggest threat would be making sure Lincoln fell in love with her and not Lori. Most of the time, Lynn wouldn't doubt or second-guess herself, but in a sense, she truly felt intimidated by her older sister.

Not only was Lori just as strong as her —if not stronger, which Lynn would argue against—, she was also indubitably more attractive in basically every measure of conventional beauty. And that, Lynn couldn't dispute. She couldn't really hope to compare to her, or even Leni. She wasn't as tall, she wasn't blonde, she didn't have the beautiful curves they had. She couldn't offer Lincoln a bombshell body, only what she had, which in her mind, was much less than what Lori could offer him. So her only hope was to become as strong as she possibly could, stronger than everyone, stronger than Lori, to maybe have something unique to stand out and earn his love.

That's why she trained so hard, why she constantly pushed past her limits. Lucy liked to talk about how beautiful the universe was, giving her of all people an Archetype that specifically excelled at pushing people past their limits. Lynn didn't care if it was a correlation or causation, or whatever they called it. It just meant that for the longest time, her only hope of earning his love was to train hard and become the strongest fighter in Royal Woods.

That's it, until they learned his Archetype required a strong connection with and control of auras, the very energy that fueled most Martial Artists and that Lynn had an absurd control over. Now she entertained the idea that maybe someone out there —perhaps even a duo of omnipotent beings— had planned it all from the beginning, arranging their destinies so Lynn could be the one to finally help Lincoln understand and control his Archetype. The opportunity to bond with him on a deeper level, right when she felt like he was drifting apart from her the most. When he was spending more time with their sisters and even other people like Carol Pingrey, leaving Lynn on the bench. When she needed it the most, the opportunity had been handed to her on a silver plate.

She couldn't throw away her shot. She needed to make it count. She was determined to earn his heart, his love.

But that would be after school. First, she needed to shower and survive another day at the Academy. She allowed herself to relax and let her mind go back to her happy place, fantasizing about Lincoln joining her in the shower.

She had a long shower.

At lunch, Lincoln struggled to find a table. By now, there was no one left in school that felt curious about his fight against Diablo along with his sisters. Not that his popularity had risen too much this time. People had collectively headcanon'd that every single demonstration of power or skill he'd been recorded performing was a result of his sister's powers. There were some that tried to somehow link his Archetype to those incidents, but given that all his classmates could attest that he could never even once use his Archetype in any class, the main theory was that his sisters were using their powers to try and make him popular.

For a couple of weeks though, he'd managed to at least gain enough interest from people that wanted to know what fighting a Prime Evil was like, and he was charming and charismatic enough that other students didn't mind inviting him on their tables to hear the stories. Now that they all knew the gossip though, no one wanted to be associated with the Harem King anymore. After wandering around for a couple of minutes, he finally gave up, and decided to head to the library. Another lunch by himself.

He was near the doors when he felt a sharp pain in his skull that almost made him drop his tray.

"Ouch! What the…?" He said, turning around.

He wasn't expecting anything in particular, but if he had been forced to rank what he thought he would see, Ronnie Anne wouldn't have made it in his Top 20.

"Ronnie Anne? Uh, what are you doing here?"

She said nothing. She stayed silent, glaring at him like he'd disrespected her mother. She held her tray with one hand, and had the other up with her fingers pinched. At first he didn't understand what she was doing, but then he noticed the almost invisible strand of white hair she held.

"Is that…? Did you just pull a hair out of me?"

The girl said nothing. She turned around and left, joining Sid at their own table. The Assassin noticed him looking and waved a hand at him. Ever since the incident with Diablo, Sid seemed a lot more friendly than before. She often approached to give him muffins that Charlie had allegedly cooked for him. He had a suspicion that some were from her, but lacked the evidence to prove it.

He waved back, but decided to drop the issue with Ronnie Anne. He didn't need to start a fight, which is all she seemed willing to do lately. He made his way to the library and found an empty table to sit on. He was about to start enjoying his meal when he heard familiar voices.

"Whaddya mean there ain't no books 'bout aliens in Royal Woods?"

Lincoln perked up and walked to a nearby aisle, where the librarian was currently arguing with two of his best friends. Liam, whom he'd just heard, and Zach.

"Yeah, my parents told me they heard about this book, and that the Academy was supposed to be holding it for study," Zach said.

"It looks like the book you're searching for does not exist," the old lady calmly explained after looking at a computer screen.

"Impossible," the boy continued, shaking his head. "Perhaps the archives are incomplete."

The lady smiled, but it looked like a forced mask to hide some resentment. "If an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist."

And without adding anything else, she left.

"That ol' lady sure ain't helpful," Liam said. "Sorry Zach, guess we have nuthin' for yer homework."

"Guys!" Lincoln called them.

"Lincoln!" They both said as they turned to look at him. They all shared a hug.

"What are you guys doing here? It's been so long!"

A couple of months, in fact. Some weeks into the semester, classes had been divided between combat and non-combat Archetypes, with the two groups of students almost never interacting with each other due to their different schedules and the physical distance between the different parts of the Archetype Academy building. By that time, videos of Lincoln fighting as Tuxedo Linky had been posted online, so he'd been sent with the combat students. Liam, Zach, and Rusty were all sent to the non-combat classes.

Of the three of them, Liam still had hopes of possibly joining Lincoln's class. He had the Archetype of a Farmboy, which meant he would either grow up to be really good at trimming cows feet, or he would eventually start a path in the Hero's Journey and become a local champion. Zach, on the other hand, had been identified with the True Believer Archetype. Those with that Archetype held strong, unwavering beliefs and/or faith in something, and could never be persuaded otherwise. Some of them were valuable supports for combat Archetypes, giving them inspiration when they needed it the most, showing how much they believed in them. Unfortunately, not all True Believers were as useful in battle. Depending on what they felt so strongly about, some were part of the Fanatic subtype, and in Zach's case, he fell in the category of Conspiracy Theorist. His hyperfixation was aliens and how the government tried to keep them a secret. Finally, there was Rusty, who was…

Actually, Lincoln couldn't remember what he was.

"We're doing some research on our Archetypes for a project," Liam explained. "Zach needed to find some books on aliens but we ran outta luck."

"Yeah, I don't know how I'm supposed to make a report of my Archetype if no one in town seems to have books about Xenobiology."

His eyes shot wide when understanding dawned upon him.

"That's it! There are no books about it because the government doesn't want us to know! It's the only explanation! It all makes sense!"

Liam and Lincoln enchanged worried looks.

"So Lincoln, what have you been up to?" The Farmboy asked. "We barely hear from ya these days. It's been awhile since we last hung out."

"It's… complicated," he said. "Homework's been piling up like crazy, and Lisa won't even help me with it."

"He also has the whole thing with his Archetype," Zach muttered, avoiding looking Lincoln in the eye. "We, uh, you know, we've been hearing things."

Lincoln shifted the weight of his body to a different leg. "Things, huh? What kind of things?" He asked, not quite sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Lies," Liam quickly said. "Silly things from folks that don't know you like we do."

"Yeah, people like making stuff up. I think they're just jealous that you can do a lot of stuff and fight Soulless and demons. We know you better than that."

Lincoln sighed in relief.

"Thanks, guys. I know I can trust you. I just wish I had more time to hang out with you like we used to in Elementary school."

"Say… Do you maybe wanna come to my farm today after school?" Liam offered. "We just moved Virginia to a new shed, so we have the old one to hang out and catch up while lying on some hay. The manure's gone. Mostly."

"Oh, man, I'd love to… But today I'm starting a special training for my Archetype," Lincoln lamented.

"Special training?"

"Yeah, it turns out that my Archetype seems to be related to something called auras, and Lynn's super good at controlling them, so she's gonna try to teach me how to use my skills."

"Lynn, huh? Does that mean you'll be turning into a fighter?"

"I… don't know. Probably?"

"I gotta say, never thought of ya as the kinda fellow that would get into fights," Liam mentioned. "But I guess bein' 'round those sisters of yours has turned you into a combat Archetype kinda guy."

Lincoln smiled but didn't say anything, his mind busy with complicated thoughts and emotions. Right then, Zach took his phone and looked at the time.

"Oh, dang it. We should probably get going, we still need to get our lunch," he said. "Well, sorry Lincoln, hope we get to hang out some other day."

"Yeah, sure, no problem. Good luck with your report."

"See ya!"

His friends walked away, leaving Lincoln alone with nothing to distract himself from the thoughts that invaded his brain. He sighed, returned to his table to eat his meal, and allowed his mind to dwell into the hurricane of ideas that wreaked havoc within him.

Liam hinted that being around his sisters so much lately had changed him. He most certainly meant that no one would have thought Lincoln would ever be participating in a serious fight. And yet, in a couple of months, he'd fought two hordes of Soulless and the leader of Hell. Way above his pay grade. Clearly, he'd broken into new horizons he had never thought possible to even approach.

What Liam couldn't know was that there were other changes happening as a result of these new experiences. Changes that started light enough for him not to think too much about it, but that had been brought to the frontline during his Genre Shift with Luan.

For the first time in his life, he didn't know how he felt about his sisters. Since the moment he opened his eyes, he would have said that he loved them more than anything, without even thinking about it. And he still did, that hadn't changed. What he now wondered was exactly what that word meant. Love. There were so many different ways that word could be interpreted. He loved his friends. He loved his pets. He loved mustard.

He loved his sisters. How deep did that love go? He knew, for sure, that he loved them more than he loved himself. Then again, he didn't really think too much of himself, did he? Still, he cherished his relationship with his sisters, he looked up to them, he wanted to always see them smiling, he hated it when they cried, he felt their pain, he rejoiced in their success, he was always more than happy to spend time with them, and missed them when they were gone.

Why did it suddenly feel like he was describing a crush? Maybe it was just his lack of experience. He'd never had a girlfriend. He'd been… infatuated with some of his classmates, but nothing had ever happened. At thirteen, he was yet to fall in love with anyone. Not that it bothered him, he didn't need a girl in his life, he—

"I'm good enough with just my sisters," he admitted in a whisper, covering his face with his hands.

The more he thought about the issue, the more it confused him. He loved how close he'd always been with them, but now that he stopped to analyze the situation, the weirder it looked, especially with his older sisters. For starters, he may have been way more aware of their beauty than a brother should be. And then, the way he felt about each of them… His idolatry of Lori, the tenderness and pampering in his trait with Leni, the relaxation and openness he and Luna —and Sam— indulged in, the eye-opening experience he and Luan had experienced…

That had been it, right? The usage of their combined Archetypes had allowed him to tap into their deepest feelings, way under the surface, on a level he'd never ventured to.

And he was supposed to train and practice this ability with Lynn of all people?

At first it seemed like a perfect plan. And the logic still held strong: his Archetype worked with auras, something Lynn could not only see but control to a certain extent. Logically, this was the best course of action. Realistically, he was bound to die of embarrassment.

His relationship with Lynn was perhaps the most complex of all his sisters. They loved each other just as much as they all did, but Lynn had strange ways of showing her love. While Leni was happy to just announce it and give him a hug, Lynn would instead tackle him and choose him as the supposed perfect partner to practice a new sport with. She'd give him little room to deny her requests, and the consequences could easily escalate to… painful levels, let's say.

Even people in their family would look at her actions and be mistakenly led to think she was too careless or even that she didn't care for how he felt. Then again, they weren't him, and they didn't see the little gestures. The way she'd take every advantage to touch his hand, to use her judo grabs as screens to hide brief but genuine hugs, how she ruffled his hair all the time… Well, he was convinced that these things were there. Some people might not see past the surface, thinking she was just bullying him, but he knew otherwise.

He knew their relationship had these nuances, and also that of all his sisters, it was her whom he had the most "best friends" vibe with. They had their fights, and she never missed a chance to tease him. She wasn't the best at talking, so he couldn't count on her for deep conversations like he could have with Luna or Lucy. But in terms of just hanging out and having fun… she might be a solid choice for him.

And that closeness and trust allowed Lynn to have certain advances and attitudes with him that, in his current emotional turmoil, he didn't know how to handle. Her teasing, her physicality, her talks of them being an inseparable duo… They'd always been there, but for some reason, in the past couple of years he felt like they had increased in magnitude. He'd been finding it hard to ignore, blushing madly at her innuendos and jokes. But now, with these intrusive, forbidden thoughts running rampant in his mind, he wasn't sure he could handle them. What she obviously considered funny was starting to confuse him. He didn't want to get the wrong ideas. There was no way she— No, not her. Not for him. Lynn would want someone strong, someone brave, someone who could keep up with her, as much of a winner as she was. Lincoln? He was the polar opposite. And while it had never bothered him, now he was starting to fear it would reveal a truth he didn't want to accept.

"Oh, man," he whined, leaning back against the chair and letting his body slide down. "The way to finally control my powers means she might be able to read my feelings. The person that always plays with them to the extreme, right when they're the most complicated."

He looked up at the ceiling of the library, where a dome with the images of angels and clouds met his gaze. Lincoln sighed.

"Am I the most unlucky guy on Earth?"

"Termination of employment."

Bradley Hughes stared at the letter he'd received in the mail, his eyes fixed on the title just like they'd been for the past twenty minutes. His humble, precarious breakfast stayed cold, uneaten, forgotten. With trembling hands, he decided to finally put an end to his disbelief and denial. He tore the envelope open and read the text, tears beginning to fall down his cheeks.

It was exactly what he expected. The company thanked him for his years of service as a living crash test dummy, but it'd finally reached the point where his adaptive ability (a skill directly linked to his Implacable Archetype) had made it impossible for his body to faithfully recreate the experience of a regular human being subjected to the trauma they needed to measure as part of their security measures tests. They'd run out of options for him, and they were forced to terminate his contract.

Jobless. Again. Which meant he'd soon be homeless, too. Again.

Brad let the letter fall to the floor, moaning as he cried, his hands closing in on his hair and trying to pull it. He'd done it before, however, so his hair would now resist his pulling. Such was his power, for his body to adapt and grow stronger, more resilient. Unlike most men, he was physically incapable of tripping with the same stone twice.

He'd grown up manifesting this capacity, but people assumed he simply had some form of superhuman resistance. When the Index revealed the true nature of his powers, everyone expected great things from him. An Implacable hero, one who'd always come back stronger to defeat the villains and save the people. They'd given him a full-on scholarship for the Archetype Academy.

Of course, no one expected him to be a coward. One who could never bring himself to fight villains, even if his life would seemingly never be at risk. He simply couldn't do it. His grades plummeted, he lost his scholarship and dropped out of school. His parents were devastated by his failure. Everyone saw him as a quitter.

Brad had always been socially awkward, too shy to make new friends, too inept to flirt with other people, girls or boys. He went from one mindless job to another one. His parents died and he was left alone, with no hopes of a brighter future.

He stood up and walked to the dirty mirror in his bathroom. He washed his face and then stared deep into his eyes, looking within, trying to find any anchor to this world. Anything to look forward to. Any reason to keep going.

Nothing.

He then raised an arm, and slowly peeled the long sleeve back. The ever so slowly moving mark on his shoulder had grown bigger. Starting off as a mole, it was now the size of a full palm, black as the night sky, alive, moving.

Growing.

He cried even harder. He knew what this meant. His soul was Tainted, and soon his entire self would follow.

He might have been a coward, but Bradley still believed in good. He'd tried to live a righteous life even if it hadn't served him any good. As miserable as his existence had been, he had always strayed away from evil. But now, he had pathetically allowed himself to lose his soul, and everyone else would have to pay the cost of his mistakes.

"No," he said, staring at his reflection. "It's… It's m-my responsibility. I-I-I can't let this happen."

He knew what he had to do. And for the first time in his life, he pushed past his cowardice. He pulled the curtains down from windows, tied them up to the ceiling lamp, and prepared the noose.

"Mom… Dad… I'm sorry," he said, before kicking the chair.

After several minutes of intense pain and agony… Bradley Hughes cried out in frustration, his body having found the way to breathe through a constricted throat. He undid the blankets and fell on his knees, which had been numbed from pain years and years ago.

He sat there, crying, knowing even without looking that the black stain had grown an inch.