Ah, Lynn Loud. Love her or hate her, probably mostly hate her, you can't deny that she has a personality: aggressive, energetic, but most importantly, victory-oriented. Her obsession with victory is often attributed to pride, because let's be honest, she's the Mrs. Pride of the Loud household.
But what if there was a... darker source, for said victory addiction?
Well, read on to find out what I'm implying. Hehehe...
The Loud household was unusually quiet, which was a blessing for a certain jock that just so happened to go inside. This jock was Lynn Loud, the athletic child of the family, who not only had a bandage wrapped around her forehead like a headband, but she seemed to be a bit more... disturbed, than usual.
"Alright, just like I suspected, nobody's at the living room at this hour," Lynn remarked as she reached for her back. "Even so, I've been scared by Lucy so many times to know that's a possibility, so..."
Lynn took out a plastic bag from her back, and inhaled and exhaled inside it for a moment before she went upstairs. She breathed in and out inside the box as she headed to her and Lucy's bedroom, with seemingly nobody else nearby...
"Lynn?"
The jock clutched her chest and inhaled and exhaled faster, until she managed to calm down seconds later. She then turned around, and saw all of her sisters-and Lincoln-standing nearby, all looking worried.
"You don't, like, usually come home this late, did something happen?" Leni asked, clasping her hands.
"And why do you have the plastic bag?" Lana asked, pointing at the bag.
"Oh, this thing?" Lynn glanced at the bag and saved it in her pockets. "Well, the nurse gave it to me when I finally came out of her office, she said that I should inhaled and exhaled in it if I started to feel jumpy or energetic."
"You went to the nurse's office?" Lola raised an eyebrow. "I mean, that would explain the bandage, but whenever you go to the nurse's office, you go there because you broke one of your bones, and you seem mostly fine."
"And you arrived later than usual, and you're that kind of patient," Luan quipped, chuckling for a second before turning serious again. "But seriously, though, what happened?"
Though hesitant to do so, the athlete was at least smart enough to know that, if she didn't tell them now, they probably would find out eventually. And so, with all eyes on her, Lynn started...
A long time ago...
"I realized that I was mostly brawn, but no brains, so I tried to change that by joining the chess club," Lynn continued to narrate as her past counterpart walked to one of the members. "I was fairly confident I'd be able to do that, after all, chess was just a sport that used brains instead of physical tactics, right?"
"I'd like to join your club, please!" Lynn from the flashback stated.
The other club members shot angry looks at Lynn.
"I probably should've been a bit less direct with my request."
"Okay, guys, let's give her a chance," Penelope, a member of the chess club, said in a friendly tone as she walked towards Lynn. "Let's hear her out first before we decide to get angry with her. So, for what reason do you wanna join the chess club?"
"People think I'm just a brute with no brains, and I want to prove them wrong!" Lynn confidently spoke. "So, I figured I simply had to join a club where a lot of brain power was required, and I thought chess was the best idea!"
Suddenly, Penelope's friendly stare turned into a furious glare, followed by all the other members of the club shooting similar glares at the athlete.
"I probably shouldn't have said that right then and there."
"Let me get this straight: The reason you want to join our club, is not because you genuinely want to, but because you think it'll make you look smart?" Penelope sternly asked, slowly leaning closer to Lynn's face as she talked. "You're going to use us, just to make yourself look better?"
"Hey, no offense girl, but wouldn't you be used to that, being nerds and everything?" Lynn innocently asked, no doubt further angering the members. "Besides, you'll just have to deal with me until I can prove I'm both strong and smart!"
Just then, Penelope got an idea, and she slowly separated from Lynn as she got a wide, devious smile. Then she suggested:
"How about we have a little chess match?"
Mere seconds later, Lynn and Penelope were having a little match of chess, with the other chess club members staring at the sidelines as Lynn started by moving her rook, followed by Penelope moving her own rook. Lynn was playing white, while Penelope was playing black.
"So, how about we have a little discussion while we're playing this?" Penelope asked, then moved her other rook two squares ahead. "After all, you seem confident you're going to win. Almost like you were no rookie at this."
"I stopped being a rookie a long time ago, girl," Lynn stated as she repeated Penelope's move, with her own rook. "I've been the star player at everything I've been a part of, and I bet it's going to be the same for this club when I join!"
"I'm afraid that won't happen, wanna know why?" Penelope moved her black queen to the side of Lynn's white rook. "'Cause I'm the queen, and you're just a fool's mate!"
"It was in that very moment that I realized... I had been played like a fool."
The Lynn from the past stared at the board in shock, just realizing she had lost the game. And what made her realize she had been played? Well, Penelope laughing like a pompous high-class lady probably gave her a clue.
"Do you like my imitation of a high-class laughter?" the redheaded geek asked in the middle of her laughter. "I'm practicing to laugh at my victory when I eventually find a worthy opponent to face."
That last statement certainly struck a nerve, just what did the girl mean?!
"What are you talking about?!" Lynn snapped, slamming her fists at the table. "You don't see me as a worthy opponent?!"
Lynn kept a furious glare as Penelope's laughter calmed down, then ceased altogether. Then, as the redheaded nerd leaned closer to Lynn's face, up until their noses were practically touching basically, the jock couldn't help but feel that in this particular situation, she was the weaker one.
And what Penelope said next didn't help matters:
"Oh please, Lynn, everybody knows you're all brawn and no brains. After all..."
Penelope smirked.
"What sort of "worthy opponent" would let themselves be played so easily, and so blatantly?"
Seconds later, Penelope separated from Lynn, a smug grin frozen on her face as the other chess club members laughed to their hearts delight, with the scene soon changing in Lynn's eyes:
The chess club members turned into large shadowy figures with white, glowing eyes, which all laughed and pointed at the jock as a voice suddenly spoke:
"Is that the best you got?!"
The jock scanned her surroundings, and grabbed her head in slight pain, but she couldn't see the source of the voice. And then it spoke again, while Lynn felt her head being struck by... something blunt:
"How can one of my daughters be such a weakling?!"
The girl continued to look around, but her search continued to bear no fruit. And finally, the voice spoke for a third time, somehow causing Lynn to clutch her stomach in pain in the process:
"Do you really want to prove you're a disappointment?!"
Lynn grabbed her head and shed a couple tears as she hyperventilated, which caught the attention of the club members immediately. In particular, Penelope's smug grin disappeared and was replaced instead with a worried frown, while in Lynn's eyes, her figure morphed to look like an older woman, with red glowing eyes and a furious glare.
"Um, Lynn, are you okay?" the redhead asked, scratching her hair. "Listen, I'm sorry if I was too harsh during that statement, but-"
Suddenly, the athlete collapsed and hit the floor. And as the club members panicked and went to get the school nurse, Lynn slowly closed her eyes, and fell unconscious.
Back in the present...
The siblings argued with themselves about the flashback, though two of them exchanged looks before going forward and stating:
"Just as we feared."
Everybody turned to look at the sisters, who happened to be Lisa and Lucy, the latter opening a book about phobias on a page titled "Atychiphobia" as the prodigy pointed at it and stated.
"You appear to suffer from atychiphobia."
One raised eyebrow from the rest later, Lisa explained, "It's a specific type of phobia that is related to the fear of failure or defeat itself. Like, for example, when Lola thinks one of her tea parties is gonna go wrong, but on a larger, much more crippling scale."
"We had a feeling you had something like that ever since the board game incident, so we looked for some more evidence in the meantime," Lucy added, closing the book somberly. "And the event that happened in your flashback gave us the final clue to conclude that yes, you have atychiphobia."
"Huh, so not only did that feeling have a name, but it's also a phobia?" Lynn scratched her chin. "And here I was thinking it was just my old self trying to convince me to call it quits."
"Well, don't say anything else, girls," Lincoln stated, getting in between Lisa and Lucy and wrapping his arms around them as he stated, "We're going to help Lynn deal with her atychiphobia!"
The other sisters talked about it, with most of them agreeing to the idea. And yet, their excitement was brought down when Lynn, with a small but clearly sad smile, replied:
"Guys, I'm flattered that you want to help me, really I am. But, I just can't accept your offer. I need to rest per nurse's orders, and if you tried to help, you'd probably just worsen the headache I have right now."
The siblings lowered their heads in silent agreement.
"Lynn, at least, promise us something," Lincoln said. "Once you feel better, please reconsider our offer to help you, alright?"
"Don't try to stubbornly deny it, either," Lisa added, adjusting her glasses. "This phobia of yours is something that could very well cripple your mental well being, if it hasn't done so already. The faster you're cured of it, the better."
"I know, and I'll think about it as well," the jock sighed. "But if nothing works... then just stop trying. It doesn't matter if you help me get rid of this "phobia" or not, anyway."
The siblings eyes widened in shock. Lynn Loud, Lynn "Victory At All Costs" Loud, telling her that it didn't matter if they succeeded in helping her or not?!
"I've had this phobia for years, and I've had to deal with it all alone," Lynn looked at the ground. "I'll just... try to deal with it myself sometime... eventually."
Lynn went inside her and Lucy's bedroom, and the rest of the sisters exchanged looks with the trio of Lincoln, Lucy, and Lisa, who frowned as their siblings went back to their rooms, leaving them alone to look at Lynn and Lucy's bedroom door.
"We'll help her eventually, right?" Lincoln asked.
"It would be the best course of action if we did..." Lisa pointed out.
Lucy remained silent for a second, then looked at the ground and said:
"I hope we do."