Reboot

Chapter 6

"It's so adorable! And cute!"

"Are you covering up some un-dark past?"

"Well well well! I thought ye were tough! Looks like the peg's on the other leg!"

"Wait, is she secretly cutesy?"

Lucy couldn't give them an answer as she fought not to hyperventilate. She could recall very clearly having her bangs bleached and dyed on a regular basis to keep the colorful highlights. Emmet had even gone with her a few times to see how it was done. "This isn't my real hair!" she finally snapped, glaring in challenge at her friends. "My hair is naturally black! Can you guys seriously not remember my highlights fading?!"

"I dunno, Wyldstyle, that black sure looks like it's washing right out," Benny pointed out.

"They did something to it! Are you seriously going to trust someone you've known for barely an hour over someone you've known for five years?!"

"Pardon my language, but she's a real grumpledumpuss," the vampire huffed, earning a round of gasps. Lucy only gave him a flat glare.

"Take her for some music therapy," the General commanded. "Then she'll be ready to join our ceremony."

Lucy struggled as she was marched to another section of the temple. "Just listen to the music, and let your mind go," the vampire told her, just before she was shoved into a room and sealed in. She stared around as giant speakers lowered from the ceiling and almost immediately began blasting some catchy pop song, the bass thumping through her entire body.

"This song's gonna get stuck inside your- this song's gonna get stuck inside your- this song's gonna stuck inside your head!"

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me," she muttered, but soon the annoyance faded to horror as she could feel it working its way through her. It was burrowing into her brain, just as it threatened it would, slowly starting to pick at her less than happy memories. With a shriek she launched herself at one of the speakers, tearing it apart in seconds. She fashioned a pair of headphones from the debris to try to block out the insidious music before grabbing a long pole and using it to pry open another door. It shattered under the force of her fury.

On the other side was Unikitty, her fur its natural bubblegum pink for the first time in years. "Unikitty, let's get out of here!"

"Wyldstyle, it's fun! Sing along!"

The rest of the group joined them then, closing in on her as they tried to convince her to join in. Metalbeard had had a new body built for him, and Benny's arm was seemingly restored- or was a very masterful prosthetic that mimicked his original perfectly. "What's wrong with you?! You're not acting like yourselves!"

"Don't be a grumpledumpuss!" Unikitty teased.

"Don't you see?! They are trying to change us!" She started to move with the music, and screamed her frustration. "Shoulder! Stay still!" she growled as she glanced around for a way out. If she tried to break out through the door, she'd be greeted by those weird robot guards and the General. She didn't like those odds.

There! Up near the ceiling, an air duct! She jumped up onto the shuffling platforms, using them to launch herself upward and toward the duct, swinging inside with ease. She took a moment to breathe; it was considerably quieter inside. The feeling of those little fingers sifting through her brain had eased. She'd thought something weird was going on, but brainwashing?

Whatever that Queen might have sang at them about being 'not evil', her actions were certainly proving otherwise. This wasn't just weird, this was downright sinister.

She crawled away from the rooms being blasted with music and kicked the grate out with perhaps more force than was really necessary, but the resulting clang! and looks of shock on the vampires' faces was more than worth it. She stalked up to the young man, snarl firmly in place.

"Where's my ring," she demanded.

"Ring?" came the puzzled response. "You didn't have a ring-"

"The hell I didn't!" Lucy exploded. "It was hammered copper with a wire-wrapped sapphire and I was wearing it on my left hand and you took it for 'safe keeping' before you shipped me off for those stupid 'treatments'!" By now she'd grabbed his collar and was shaking him. Maybe putting the fear of The Man Upstairs into him would jog his memory.

A white-gloved fist flew toward her face and she jerked back, releasing her hold on the vampire to avoid getting hit. She glared at the General, and dodged a few more punches before finally managing to kick her away. The moment the opportunity presented itself, she sprinted for the exit, putting a fair bit of distance between it and herself before climbing up to hide among the crystal formations.

She watched from her vantage as the blocky guard-bots were deployed to look for her, but with no luck. It seemed they didn't have flight capability like the General, and so couldn't see her from the ground. Lucy smirked to herself. Apparently the General hadn't thought the temple climbable. Eventually they gave up. Lucy crammed herself further into her hidey-hole in case the General herself came out to search, but it remained silent.

After a while she heard an announcement that the buses would be departing for the wedding soon, and she climbed back down to get a better view. She watched as the others were loaded onto a bus, the General herself taking Batman alone, for who knew what reason. Nothing good, she guessed.

Lucy watched with curiosity as a pair of Systarians in armor similar to the General's approached her, conversed for several minutes, then saluted and left again. She wished she could have heard what they were saying. Just as she was debating creeping closer to sneak a ride out under one of the buses, a whisper caught her attention.

"Lucy!"

That... sounded like Emmet. She shook her head. She had to be hearing things.

"Lucy, over here!"

That was it. That song had gotten to her, and she'd officially lost her mind. She looked over anyway.

To her immense surprise, there stood Emmet, along with someone who looked like Bad Cop (if the sunglasses and scowl were anything to go by, at least) and another man she didn't recognize but who looked somewhat like Emmet. The other two didn't matter to her in that moment. Emmet was there.