CHAPTER 26:

"What time did you stop drinking last night?" Lucas asked. Upon arriving home, he had discovered that Izzie and Meredith were the only ones still drinking and dancing. Lucas had intended to talk to Meredith that night, but she consistently turned away whenever he tried to approach her. Realizing he couldn't inquire about her well-being at the time, he decided to address the topic the next day. However, it seemed that Meredith was still not speaking to him.

"We probably went to sleep around midnight, right, Mer?" Izzie replied, taking a bite of her toasted bread. The intense dancing session from the previous night had left her feeling famished, and she intended to satisfy her hunger during breakfast.

"Something like that," Meredith replied, her gaze never meeting Lucas'.

"Damn, are you really mad at me?" Lucas asked, his face marked with a weary smile.

In response, his sister let out an annoyed snort and proceeded to take a bite of her fried bacon. Despite the night of drinking and dancing, she was still clearly irritated by Lucas' songs and Lucas at the same time.

Observing the situation, Lucas glanced at Alex for some kind of support which Alex just shrugged, as they continued their meal. It was evident that attempting to bring up the conversation again with Meredith would be futile. She was acting more childish than he was and engaging in a conversation with her at this moment seemed pointless.

As the group carried on with their meal, Meredith was the first to finish. She placed her plate in the sink and, for the first time that day, acknowledged Lucas' presence. "Alex will be the one to take you to school," she stated before leaving the room.

"I guess I can take Lucas," Alex said to himself, unable to refuse Meredith's sudden request.

"Wow, she can really hold a grudge, huh," Izzie commented while taking a sip of her coffee. "Or is that how siblings typically fight?" she wondered aloud, prompting Alex to wear a thoughtful expression on his face. He began reflecting on how he and his brothers used to fight in the past.

A few minutes later, Freddie could be seen rushing through the doors of Ridgeway. He zoomed past all the students blocking his path as he made his way directly to Carly's locker. Carly and Sam were already there, their faces showing confusion as they watched Freddie catch his breath.

"You need to work out more, Fredward," Sam teased, observing Freddie's heavy breathing.

"Something... interesting... happened," Freddie managed to say between breaths.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Gibby appeared and immediately inserted himself into the conversation. "Are you guys talking about all the bodies found near the port of Seattle?" he asked.

"Gibby! Don't scare us like that!" Sam shouted back, clearly startled by Gibby's sudden appearance. The three of them hadn't even noticed where he came from. It was as if he had materialized out of thin air, catching them off guard.

"Geez, I'm sorry?" Gibby responded, his face displaying genuine confusion. He hadn't meant to frighten them.

Seeing that Freddie was still catching his breath, Carly decided to engage Gibby and asked, "What are you talking about, Gibby?".

A look of surprise crossed Gibby's face as he replied, "You didn't see it yesterday? It was all over the news."

"Do we look like we watch the news, Gibby?" Sam joked, raising an eyebrow. Gibby paused, contemplating the question for a brief moment. His hesitation, however, only served to fuel Sam's frustration, intensifying the demand for immediate answers.

"Just tell us already!" Sam exclaimed impatiently, while slamming her foot on the floor.

"Okay, okay, chill," Gibby said, raising both hands in a calming gesture to appease Sam's growing agitation. "Two scuba divers found multiple dead bodies in the ocean yesterday. Authorities are still in the process of collecting all the bodies as we speak. They say that it might be a serial killer," Gibby explained.

"Wow, Seattle's got its own serial killer. Finally, something interesting is happening in this place!" Sam remarked with a smile marking her face.

Carly, furrowing her brow, replied, "That's not something to be happy about. There's a serial killer on the loose. We don't know if we might be targeted next." She couldn't fathom why Sam would find the presence of a serial killer amusing.

"Last I heard, all the bodies were adults. So, I think we're fine," Gibby chimed in, trying to reassure himself.

With a mischievous glint in her eye, Sam responded, "Only adult bodies, so far."

Gibby's calm demeanor immediately shifted, his mind now consumed with the possibility of being targeted by the killer. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind a few minutes ago, but with the ongoing collection of bodies, the idea of a child being among them was not entirely impossible in Gibby's opinion.

Sam, noticing Gibby's mind starting to wander, couldn't resist the urge to scare him. She was about to make her move when Carly swiftly intervened, realizing what Sam was about to do.

"Sam, don't. Gibby's therapist already has a lot to deal with," Carly stated firmly, gripping Sam's arm to prevent her from proceeding.

"Fine," Sam responded with a resigned sigh as she freed herself from Carly's hold. She felt a twinge of annoyance towards her best friend's do-goody attitude in moments like these.

Carly redirected the conversation to Freddie, asked, "Is that what you were going to tell us, Freddie?"

"What?! No!" Freddie interjected, correcting himself quickly.

"I was about to..." Freddie began, but before he could finish his sentence, Lucas noticed the group and made his way over to them. "Yo! Good morning, guys!" Lucas greeted them with enthusiasm.

"Good morning to you too, Lucas," Carly greeted him with a smile, while Sam and Gibby acknowledged him with nods.

"What's going on?" Lucas asked, joining the conversation.

"Oh, Gibby was just telling us about a potential Seattle Serial Killer, and Freddie was about to add something else as well," Sam responded, glancing at Freddie who seemed to have recovered from his previous running.

Lucas's eyebrows furrowed as confusion washed over him. He muttered under his breath, "A potential Seattle Serial Killer?". He couldn't help but question whether this unsettling development was a genuine occurrence in this world or if it stemmed from yet another unexpected TV show crossover. Both scenarios seemed equally plausible to Lucas. However, before he could delve too deeply into his thoughts, Freddie stepped forward, taking the lead in the conversation.

"Can I talk now?" Freddie stated in annoyance, eager to deliver the news he had been holding onto since he arrived.

With a chuckle, Carly responded on behalf of the group, "Sorry about that, Freddie. What's your news?"

Freddie reached into his bag and pulled out his laptop, quickly opening it to reveal multiple screenshots on the screen. "Nevel saw our show last night and started releasing hate articles about our show and about Lucas. It's currently trending on Twitter," he explained, frustration evident in his voice.

Although Freddie had initially felt annoyed by Lucas, the events of last night had already begun to shift his perspective on the young teen. He realized that it was unfair for Lucas' reputation and talent to be questioned and attacked solely because of his involvement with iCarly. This feeling was particularly strong because the person doing the attacking happened to be an enemy of himself, Carly, and Sam.

"What!" Carly exclaimed in surprise upon hearing what Freddie said. With her anger bubbling up, she immediately snatched the laptop from Freddie's hands. Her eyes scanned the hateful articles and read through Nevel Papperman's malicious tweets about iCarly and Lucas.

"Papperman!", she shouted in righteous anger.

"Carly, calm down," Sam said, noticing Carly's growing temper. In Sam's mind, it was evident that Carly's anger was not primarily directed at Nevel attacking iCarly, but rather at Nevel attacking Lucas instead.

Gibby, who was oblivious to the situation, asked innocently, "Who's Nevel Papperman?"

"Gibby!" Carly shouted without thinking, her anger momentarily getting the better of her.