The arrival of Lou's group earned him a collective weary glance from the cluster of adults on the beach. While strangers themselves, they'd already come by a sense of unity through their conversation and plans to both get help and find the missing. This new, even stranger stranger, however, demanded their allegiance and compliance, just when Noelle and Heath stood poised to begin their search, too. Noelle glanced at her husband, trying to gauge his thoughts. Just like her it appeared that he didn't want anything standing in the way of recovering their children.

Harry, meanwhile, weighed his options. “Well...what he says makes sense. He seems like a...well...”

“Asshole,” offered Rosco helpfully and without hesitation.

“Um, sort of,” Harry conceded. “But we should stick together until we figure this out. Whoever caused this could still be around, and we don't know what they want. The more good guys together, the better, right? It doesn't really matter who's 'in charge.' And if the bad guy's with us, he can't do anything without getting caught. Like in the Thing.”

A skewed glance went his way from Noelle, who didn't know what the shopkeeper meant, but Heath got the reference. “I understand, but if we give this guy authority, he could start pulling whatever he feels like. Just look at him, for Pete's sake. He practically stepped out of Goodfellas.”

Noelle finally got the picture, but that didn't mean she liked it. “Enough movies!” she admonished. “What are we going to do?”

A nod from Rosco at the group of teens directed his cluster's attention. “Guys? While we're deliberatin', the kids are actin'.”

Everyone who followed his gaze found that to be just the case. Lou got a good look at most of the teens rebelling against him, turning away to talk among themselves in direct repudiation to his proclaimed authority. He watched them with a stony scowl, but didn't do anything until their own self-made leader, conversely the smallest of their number, came forward. While looking down at her Lou wondered why she'd be the one stepping up to speak for them, but after a moment he got an idea. Something about her, for a brief moment, exuded the sort of selfsure confidence that wafted off the rich and comfortable, a golden bid for the ironclad aura that surrounded the powerful. Their gazes clashed, and for that second Lou wondered if she might be someone important, someone worth dealing with.

But she shattered that possibility in an instant.

It took only a handful of words to wipe away the illusion of earned assurance and replace it with the baseless cockiness of youth. Even one of her own friends, the boy with gray hair, looked baffled by her display. Lou chuffed, dryly amused. “Huh. Seems t'me like you schlubs need a lesson in respect. Maybe ya don't get it. This is a crisis, you see? We all gotta come together, under a strong leader. And a good leader don't take chances.” He gave a dangerous smile, the grin of a fat cat seeing an impudent mouse coming its way. “Lucky fer me, yer cooperation ain't optional. There ain't nobody what can brush me off.” Lou took a step forward, rolling up his sleeves. “You hearin' me, ya chumps? When I'm talkin' to youse...LOOK AT ME!”

All at once his bling began to glow. It glittered a brilliant gold, shining with the luster of the sun. Even Lou himself seemed to shine, and the background behind him to darken, as if he were beneath a spotlight. His luster inexorably drew the eyes of all those before him, seizing them magnetically and fixating them upon him. Nobody could look away. The golden glow burned into the gathered eyes, causing a searing pain, like looking right at magnesium fireworks. At the center of it all smirked Lou, his arms crossed, radiating the power of his epithet.

The adults understood it as an attack immediately, particularly Rosco. As soon as she realized that she couldn't close her eyes Noelle understood just how brutal the move was. If she and the others didn't get relief soon, they could go blind. With that in mind, and her adrenaline-fueled state egging her on, she prepared to charged forward. The moment she launched, though, she realized that the closer she got, the worse the pain became. “Agh!” she cried, tears pouring from her eyes, before Rosco got in front of her a moment later. 

Grimacing, he growled, “I can take the lead since I've got shades. Once we got close enough, I'll drop so you can use me as a springboard.”

Noelle nodded, still streaming despite the relief provided by Rosco's shade. “Then I'll knock him down!” But that was only part of the problem. “The kids,” she said, moving forward behind Rosco a step at a time. “They're way closer! They're on their own until we get close enough!”

The clock was ticking. Until backup arrived, Jude, Aurora, Jessica, Haywood, and Penny were on their own against the baleful luster of Lou's epithet.