Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Awkward Hero

Chapter four: Rise of the morning sun

To say that Rita Loud was concerned upon hearing about the loss that the Ace family suffered would be accurate, if just a little bit understated. Later in the morning after the impromptu Viking funeral that Allison, Aggro, Amy, Alphonse, Lori and Bobby held, like around ten or so in the morning, the Loud matriarch came by the Ace residence with a basket full of muffins that she had baked for Ashe and the rest of her family. Upon seeing that Ashe had almost as many children to look after as Rita herself (the number grew when Ashe and Shigure took in their niece and nephew), Rita said that she'd be back with more later. This drew a bit of appreciative, good-natured laughter from the Swedish woman.

It was the first time she smiled since before her sister's untimely death.

Lori also wanted to do what she could for her friend. Allison, although she was able to deal with the loss of her aunt and uncle surprisingly well, still had a moment or two of weakness when her emotions would overtake her. She would sit on her bed in her room and cry, asking the Allfather for a sign to explain why he had to call her aunt and uncle up to Valhalla so suddenly. Lori was there for Allison, sitting next to her and hugging her, assuring her only friend that there was no shame (Allison used the word 'dishonor' rather than 'shame', but the principle's more or less the same) in letting it all out.

A few days after Allison and her siblings lost their aunt and uncle, something related to the final affairs of the deceased popped up that the Aces had to deal with; the will. Aside from a few things that would go to Ashe and her sister Avarosa's aunt Sejuani, and a few things that had to go to Randy's father, everything that they had would go to Ashe, her children, Amy and Alphonse. When the moving truck came to bring what the Aces got, Allison just so happened to have Lori over at the time. Similarly, Aggro had Bobby over. Thus, the Hispanic twelve-year-old and the oldest Loud child were both conscripted into helping with bringing everything that was inherited into the house.

"Hey, Mrs. Ace," Bobby said as he and Aggro were both carrying a single large box, "Where do you want Aggro and I to put this box?" Ashe walked over and took a quick look at the box, trying to see if there was anything written on the side that would give her a clue as to where the box should go.

"Put this in the kitchen, boys," Ashe said. After Bobby and Aggro made their way to the kitchen with the box, Ashe walked out of the house, where she saw Allison and Amy trying to handle a recliner. "Girls, wait until your father gets back from Odin-Dono's," Ashe called out to the girls, then with a sigh added, "It's bad enough he can't help right now because he has to run the restaurant. I don't want you two out of commission because you hurt yourselves trying to carry the recliner inside."

"Wait a minute, Aunt Ashe," Amy said with a mildly confused look on her face, "Why did you say 'your father' when referring to both me and Allison? Uncle Shigure is just Allison's father."

"Oh," Ashe said with a mildly embarrassed look on her face, "Well, about t-"

"Hey, what's this?" Lori called out from where she was in the open moving truck, cutting Ashe off in the process. Walking out from the back of the truck was Lori, holding a simple wooden staff that, when you got close enough, had some intricate carvings in it. Upon further inspection, the carvings clearly denoted the staff to be of Native American make. "It's really pretty," Lori remarked, slowly turning it around with her hands.

"Ah, that was Uncle Randy's staff," Allison explained as she walked over to her friend. Receiving the staff from Lori, Allison explained, "My Uncle Randy would use this staff as a walking stick when he would go on walks at night on the reservation where he lived with Aunt Avarosa, Amy and Alphonse. He told us of stories where he would go to a mostly secluded spot on the reservation that had the best view of the night sky, as he had a fondness for stargazing."

"Whoa, that's pretty deep," Lori remarked.

Nodding in agreement, Allison added as she gestured to the staff, "I don't think that the will said anything about who would receive this, so I'm figuring that it should go to Alphonse, seeing as how this was a personal possession of Uncle Randy's, and Alphonse was Uncle Randy's first-born son. Sons usually inherit personal possessions from their father, with the son that was born first being put ahead of any other sons." Turning around to face Ashe, Allison said, "Isn't that right, mom?"

"Actually, Allison," Ashe began to explain, "Amy is supposed to get it. That's what was written in the will."

"Ah, well alright then," Allison replied, "That will save some confusion down the line." Walking over to her cousin with the staff, Allison handed it over to Amy while saying, "You ought to go put this inside with your other things."

"R-right," Amy replied, sounding a little shaken, as she received her late father's staff and took it inside. After the half Swedish half Native American girl disappeared into the house, Ashe turned to face Lori and Allison and sighed in a resigned tone.

"What's wring, Mrs. Ace?" Lori asked.

"It's my d- my niece," Ashe explained in a concerned tone, "She's still a little withdrawn. I know that what happened to her and Alphonse was terrible, but I was hoping that Amy would have cheered up at least a little by now." With a resigned sigh, Ashe added, "I really hate seeing Amy like this."

"If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion," Aggro said as he and Bobby walked out of the house, "Might we try having some sort of party tonight? Sorry, but I heard that last part with the concerns for Amy, and Alphonse to a lesser extent."

"A party?" Lori said, sounding mildly confused.

"Yeah, a party," Aggro began to explain, "It's quite obvious that Amy and Alphonse are going to be staying with us for a while, and what better way to make them feel welcomed than to throw them a party?"

"That's a rather sweet thing for you to consider for your cousins, Aggro," Ashe remarked to her son, "I'll have to go over it with your father when he gets back, but I'm not seeing him wanting to turn down the idea of a party." Since the idea for the party had already received approval from one of the Ace parents, the kids that were outside cheered a bit in celebration.

After he got home from working at the restaurant that he and Ashe owned and managed, Shigure was given the rundown of the idea for the party to make Amy and Alphonse feel welcomed. The Ace patriarch thought that the party was an excellent idea, and after he took Ashe aside to talk to her about something that none of the kids heard, the Ace parents both agreed to the idea of the party for Amy and Alphonse. Shigure even said that he and Ashe had a surprise of their own in mind for the party.

Hearing that the Ace parents had a surprise of their own planned, everyone else was looking forward to the party even more.

As it was going to be a party to try to make Amy and Alphonse feel more welcomed, Lori assumed that it was going to be a family-only thing for the Aces. But Ashe and Shigure didn't object when Allison had invited her to the party. Likewise, Aggro invited Bobby, although that was partly because his older twin sister had prompted him into doing so. As it was going to be an overnight deal, Lori had to pack a few things before she headed over to the Ace residence. Her backpack from school came in handy for this, as it wasn't being used for school at the moment due to summer break. The same applied to Bobby and his backpack.

When the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl and the Hispanic twelve-year-old boy were both over at the Ace residence for the party, they were surprised to see that some of Allison and Aggro's younger siblings were already excitedly running around, with two boys age three and five playfully chasing their older cousin Alphonse.

"Oh, those little dudes are Aggro's little brothers Andy and Argent," Bobby explained, "Andy is the five-year-old, and Argent is the three-year-old." After Alphonse, Andy and Argent disappeared into the house somewhere, a six-year-old girl came down the stairs and spotted Lori and Bobby. This little girl had long white hair, wore a sleeveless orange shirt, and a blue skirt that reached halfway down her shins.

"Bobby!" the little girl said, apparently having recognized the Hispanic twelve-year-old boy.

"Hey, Astrid," Bobby greeted with a wave of his hand, "You know where your older brother is?"

"Aggro is up in his room," the six-year-old girl, identified as Astrid, replied as she pointed up the stairs. After Bobby gave his thanks, he went up the stairs to get Aggro. While Bobby was doing that, Astrid turned her attention to Lori. The young girl just stood there, staring at the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl. About ten seconds or so passed before either of them broke the silence, with the person in question being Astrid.

"Are you a friend of Aggro's friend?" Astrid asked in a curious, innocent tone.

"That…would be accurate to say, yes," Lori replied, not entirely sure how to handle talking to the young Ace girl. Luckily for Lori, Allison appeared at that time from the kitchen, carrying what appeared to be a fairly large drinking horn.

"I hope you are not bothering Lori, young lady," Allison said to her little sister.

"Is she your friend, Allison?" Astrid asked.

"Indeed," the twelve-year-old Ace girl replied before taking a swig from her drinking horn. Allison drained the drinking horn dry, then let out a rather loud belch that lasted for a few seconds.

"EWWWWW!" Astrid exclaimed, "That was super gross!"

"I…think you beat your record from the last time," Lori remarked to her friend, drawing a bark of laughter from the Viking of RWMS in response.

"Well anywho, what are we waiting for?" Allison said to Lori, "The night's only getting started! We've got a party to get to, after all!" Lori nodded in agreement before she followed Allison to get some of the party snacks that had been procured. Lori couldn't remember the last time she was invited to an overnight party that wasn't just her and her siblings getting together to have a sleepover with each other.

Not that those were bad, mind you.

After everyone had their fill of pizza, Shigure and Ashe, the latter of the pair holding a baby girl roughly the same age as the Loud twins Lola and Lana, stood up from the table while everyone else was still seated, drawing the attention of all of the kids. "Kids, we have an announcement to make," Shigure began, "It's a rather important one that will have an impact on our family."

"Well don't let any of us stop you," Aggro replied, with his siblings all saying things that went along similar lines. Even Amy, Alphonse, Lori and Bobby mirrored the sentiment.

"Thank you, kids," Ashe replied, "Anyway, on to business. As we all know, our family suffered a rather tragic loss a few days ago, what with my sister and her husband getting killed in that car crash. We lost a sister and a brother-in-law, an aunt and an uncle, and a mom and dad."

"Furthermore," Shigure continued, "Amy and Alphonse were staying with us until something permanent could be figured out for their living arrangements. Well, that permanent thing has been figured out." Reaching over with his left arm to rest his left hand on Ashe's left shoulder (he stood on her right), Shigure said, "Your mother and I have adopted Amy and Alphonse."

Hearing this declaration from the Ace family patriarch drew a chorus of surprised "WHAT?!"'s from all of the kids sitting at the table; even Aggro, who normally keeps a cool demeanor about him at all times, could not hide his surprise upon hearing that his cousins were now his siblings. Lori and Bobby, neither of which were even related to the Aces, were likewise surprised. But none were more surprised than Amy and Alphonse themselves; they had gone from kids with parents to orphans to the adopted kids of their aunt and uncle, and all during the first week or so of summer vacation.

If either of them gets a 'how my summer vacation went' type of assignment when school starts up again, Amy and Alphonse would have quite a tale to tell.

"This calls for a celebration!" Allison declared, "I say that we should welcome Amy and Alphonse as our siblings by having a soda drinking contest!"

"Yeah, glad to have you guys in the family," Aggro remarked as he turned his attention to his cousins-turned-siblings, "Even though you guys were part of the family to begin with."

"Hey, Alphonse," Bobby began, "If you need anything for living here in Royal Woods, feel free to hit me up!"

"Aww, well isn't this the sweetest thing," Ashe remarked as she turned to face Shigure while all of the kids were talking to each other, "Even Allison and Aggro's friends are helping Amy and Alphonse feel welcomed here. I bet living in Royal Woods will be loads different than living on the reservation."

"It will be quite the change of scenery, I will admit," Shigure remarked with a nod of agreement to his wife. The two Ace parents then turned their attention back to the children, seeing that Bobby and Alphonse were trying to outdo each other in who can drink the most soda (Alphonse looks like he's winning), while Allison and Andy cheered on the competitors. Aggro, Astrid and Amy were all just calmly watching the spectacle, while Argent was laughing.

Speaking of laughing, Allison's friend Lori was also laughing, clearly having a good time.

Shigure was called over to a friend's place to help with an emergency, leaving Ashe alone to handle the kids. This wasn't much of an issue, as about an hour after Shigure left, it was time for everyone to head to bed. Even so, after Ashe and most of the younger children had gone to bed and were fast asleep, Allison, Amy and Lori were still awake, talking the night away as girls would do at overnight events such as this.

"So, Amy," Lori began, "How are you feeling right now?"

"What do you mean?" Amy replied, sounding mildly confused.

"Come on now, sister," Allison remarked, "To say that your week has been full would be an understatement.

Amy had a look of mild uncertainty on her face, saying nothing for a few seconds. Getting up from where she sat on the floor, Amy walked over to where she had leaned the staff she inherited, grabbed it, and simply held it in her hands. The Swedish/Native American girl looked at the staff with a somber look on her face. "It's…" Amy began, "…It's a lot for me to take in. I still can't believe that most of this week has happened."

"Take your time," Allison replied, "Just know that we're here for you."

"Your sister has a point, Amy," Lori remarked, "In fact, I can give you a hand if you want it."

Sniffling a bit as she tried to keep from crying, Amy said, "Thanks, Allison, Allison's friend. This…all of this means-" Amy was cut off when she and the other girls heard the door leading to the backyard open. "…Why would father come in through the backdoor?" Amy asked Allison in a tone of confusion.

"Maybe some of the boys are heading into the backyard to do some stargazing," Allison remarked, "After all, Uncle Randy used to love stargazing, so I have no doubt that Alphonse would want to-" Allison was cut off this time, although she wasn't cut off by the sound of a door opening, but rather by the sound of a young girl screaming in fright. This was followed by the gruff shouting of a grown man.

"That was Astrid," Allison said as she got up from where she sat on her bed, dashed over to the wall opposite of the foot end of her bed, and grabbed a four-iron golf club (that had a reddish-brown handle) that was leaning against the wall before running out of the room, followed by Lori and Amy, the latter having taken her staff with her.

When the girls left the room they were in, they were met up by Bobby and Aggro, the latter having his bokken with him. "Someone's breaking into our house," Aggro said over the sounds of the man and Astrid struggling downstairs, "And it sounds like Astrid was unlucky enough to encounter him while heading downstairs for a glass of water."

"This is bad, you guys," Lori remarked, "What do we do?"

"What else is there to do?" Aggro replied, a hint of urgency in his tone, "My little sister is in danger! I'm heading down there!" Before anyone could stop him, the twelve-year-old Ace boy went charging down the stairs, soon followed by Amy and Allison. After the three oldest Ace kids made their way downstairs, Lori decided to follow them for reasons she couldn't even name. Not wanting to leave everyone hanging, Bobby decided to head downstairs himself.

Due to being a convicted felon, the intruder didn't have a gun, and it was very difficult for him to get ahold of one. Still, the crowbar he had should serve him more than well enough. He even thought that he wasn't going to need it, as he assumed that everyone in this house was asleep at the time, allowing him to rob it with impunity. But all thoughts of that fled the intruder's mind when he was spotted by a six-year-old girl.

Acting quickly, the intruder ran for the girl and grabbed her. The girl screamed loudly as she struggled against the strength of a grown man. He didn't even want to waste his breath threatening the little girl into shutting up; he was just going to hit her in the head with his crowbar repeatedly. With his left arm around the struggling young child, the intruder took his right hand and raised it up as it gripped his crowbar.

"NOOOOOOO!" an angry and relatively young male voice shouted, making the intruder take pause as he saw a twelve-year-old boy charge at him with what looked like a sword made of wood. The little girl noticed that the mean man that was trying to hurt her was distracted, so she kicked him in his left shin with the heel of her right foot, making him yelp more out of surprise than anything else. Due to the surprise, the intruder's grip on the young girl was loosened, allowing her to slip away and run for safety.

"Damn little bra-" the intruder hissed, but before he could finish he was cut off by the twelve-year-old boy. The intruder was cut off in such a way that it ensured that he would never say anything ever again. The intruder went wide-eyed with shock after the twelve-year-old boy had cut him off. Looking down, the intruder saw something that he knew he wasn't going to be able to walk away from.

The twelve-year-old boy had shoved his wooden sword into the intruder's gut with such force that it actually pierced his stomach, impaling him. Rich, warm crimson oozed from the point of entry, not to mention a bit from the intruder's mouth. Slowly, steadily and somewhat shakily, the intruder gripped the wooden sword, as if he were going to try and yank it out. Seeing this and fearing retaliation from the intruder, the twelve-year-old boy began to swish his wooden sword around back and forth, as if he were trying to grind up what was inside. This only made more of that scarlet life bleed out, not to mention making the intruder cough up a glob of it from his mouth. The intruder's grip on the sword went slack, his arm falling away. Seeing that the man who had tried to harm the young girl was losing strength, the twelve-year-old boy yanked the sword out of the older man's gut, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain.

The twelve-year-old boy, his sword covered in blood, backed away a few steps as the intruder fell to his hands and knees on the kitchen floor. A few seconds later, the intruder fell over onto his side, and there, on the kitchen floor of the house he tried breaking into to rob, the intruder laid in a steadily growing pool of red, never to get up again.

…

Lori couldn't believe it as she, Amy, Allison, Bobby and Astrid stood there in the kitchen doorway. One second, there was a grown man breaking into the house clearly with the intent to rob the place, and he even caught Astrid, who was able to get away from him. Then in the next second, Aggro shoved his bokken into the man's gut with such force that it impaled him. After swishing his bokken around a bit, Aggro pulled it out of the man's gut, allowing him to fall to the floor of the kitchen.

Aggro had just killed a man.

Right after the man fell over onto the kitchen floor, Ashe appeared in the kitchen doorway, holding a baseball bat. Upon seeing what was in the kitchen, Ashe immediately lowered the arm that was holding the bat. "…Kids, back away," Ashe said to Lori and the others. Turning to her oldest son, Ashe continued, "Aggro, please go with your siblings and friends. I'm…I'm going to have to call the police."

Like hell the police were going to arrest Aggro. The man he killed was an armed intruder (he had that crowbar) that managed to grab ahold of Aggro's six-year-old little sister. Furthermore, both Aggro and Astrid saw that the man was going to hit her with that crowbar. Also, the intruder was a convicted felon who had previously served time for burglary and assault; the officers who arrived at the Ace family residence, once they learned about the past of the slain intruder, felt that the intruder was highly likely to harm the residents.

This did little to ease Aggro's guilt because, regardless of justification, he just killed a man.

Due what had happened, the people who were currently at the Ace residence found it impossible to go back to sleep. Lori, Bobby, Allison and Amy were in the living room right at around dawn when Aggro, carrying his bokken (which had since been cleaned), descended the stairs. Aggro's shaky breathing, plus the lingering scent of puke that Lori caught, indicated that the twelve-year-old Ace boy had just returned from the bathroom after throwing up.

"Are you going to be okay, dude?" Bobby asked his best friend in a concerned tone.

"I…" Aggro replied, "…I will be fine. I still…I still can't believe that-"

"He was going to try and bash Astrid's head with a crowbar," Amy pointed out to her cousin turned older brother, "You have no need to beat yourself up over this. It helps that the officers said that you made a good call."

"That still doesn't mean that I can't feel horrific for taking a life," Aggro said.

The other kids were silent for a few seconds. Even Allison found it hard to say anything. The silence wasn't broken until Lori stood up from where she sat on the sofa. "Look, although what happened was bad, it prevented something far worse from happening," Lori began, "If that man was able to do what he was trying to do, then Astrid would be in his position right now, and we would all be feeling loads worse." The nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl walked over to the living room window and opened the curtains, allowing the first of the sunrise to creep its way into the living room.

"Look, it's the beginning of a brand-new day," Lori said as she pointed out the window, "And I say that we shouldn't let what we've done bother us as we enjoy the new day."

"You got a point," Bobby remarked, "I mean, what's done is done. We'll deal with things as they come and go."

"Yeah, I think that's as good as a solution as we're going to get," Aggro said, "I think that we should just enjoy watching the morning sun rise this-" Aggro stopped midsentence, a look of inspiration crossing his face. Holding his bokken with both hands as he looked at it, Aggro said, "…That's it."

"What's it?" Lori asked.

"…My bokken," Aggro said as he looked over to the nerdy twelve-year-old Loud girl. Aggro looked back down to his bokken, the sword that he had used to take a life in order to spare another. With a slightly relaxed sigh, Aggro said, "I'm going to name it Morning Sun."

END, AWKWARD HERO CHAPTER FOUR

Author's notes:

…Remember in 'Restored Image' where a seventeen-year-old Aggro tells and eleven-year-old Lincoln about the time he killed a man? Yeah, this is it. Anywho, the next chapter will be the last one before school goes back into session. The next chapter will also see happen something that has been mentioned in passing once or twice.