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

Ace Observations

Chapter four: Reflections on the past

It was Saturday, the day after the Friday in which Lynn Loud Jr. and Ronnie Anne Santiago were allowed back onto school grounds. The Ace siblings were doing what they would normally be doing; hanging with friends, mostly. Although Andy and Astrid didn't leave the house right away, with Andy watching some cartoons and Astrid catching up on the latest episodes of an anime that she was really getting into, most of the Ace siblings were still out socializing with their friends.

Only…a lot of them lacked the flare that they would normally have, as if something was weighing down on them emotionally speaking. But then again, the Aces were still trying to sort out exactly how they felt in light of finding out about what the Loud sisters (Lily excluded) had done to Lincoln, the only boy among the number of the Loud siblings as a whole. And the Aces were not the only ones still trying to figure out exactly what their thought on the matter were.

"I still cannot believe that Lori would have gone so far as to betray her own clan like that," Allison remarked in a clearly disappointed huff, her arms folded over her chest, as she hung out and spoke with her friend Trixie Goldman, as well as Aggro, her (Allison's) younger twin brother, and Bobby Santiago, Aggro's closest friend.

"I'm…I'm still trying to sort through a bit of thought here myself," Trixie said, clearly sounding conflicted, "I mean, I know that word of what Lori and her sisters have done started to spread at school, thus most everyone has taken to avoiding the Louds like they bore a black spot or something." Gently shaking her head, the former rich girl sighed in a resigned tone. "But I…I would never expect anything like this out of Lori. She is one of my closest friends."

"Was one of your closest friends," Bobby said in a bitter tone, emphasizing the word 'was'.

The former rich girl turned her attention to the teen who worked many jobs, casting a firm look at him. "Is one of my closest friends," Trixie shot back, emphasizing the word 'is', "Sure, what Lori and her sisters did is nothing short of monstrous, and of course I'm very disappointed in her." With the firmness in her resolve dissipating in another resigned sigh, Trixie continued, "But she…I still care about Lori. And who's to say that Lori and her sisters aren't feeling guilty about what they did? Maybe they acted in the heat of the moment, without realizing what they were doing until after the fact."

"You…" Allison began in a tone of piqued curiosity as she spoke to Trixie, "…You think that Lori and her sisters were overcome with warrior's madness?"

"Pfft," Bobby said in a bitter and indifferent tone, "That's one way to put 'losing one's mind', I suppose." Bobby's comment earned him another firm glare from Trixie.

"What is wrong with you, Bobby?" Trixie snapped at the Hispanic teen, "How can you have such a lack of compassion? Do you know what Lori and her sisters could be going through right now?" In response to the former rich girl's attack, Bobby's brow furrowed, a clear sign that he was not going to be having any of Trixie's crap right now.

"Do you have any idea what Lincoln is going through right now?" Bobby snapped back, "I saw the state that Lincoln is in right now when I took Ronnie Anne to the hospital so she could visit him. His arm is broken, he's covered in bruises, I think he was missing at least one tooth, and he needed a tube to help him pee." Crossing his arms over his chest, Bobby added, "So yeah. I can't really see how I can have any compassion for a girl who clearly has no compassion for her own younger brother."

Trixie sighed in a resigned tone as she looked down to her broken arm, its cast having been signed by friends a few times by this point. "…I can't help but remember what things were like back five years ago," Trixie said as she continued in a tone that carried a mix of disappointment and heartbreak, "How the lot of us starting hanging out with each other after my father was arrested." Turning her attention to Bobby, Trixie went on, "You were just starting to recognize Lori back then, weren't-"

"I recognized her long before that," Bobby said in a resigned, somber tone, cutting Trixie off in the process. This sudden interruption piqued not only Trixie's attention, but that of Allison as well. Only Aggro lacked any sort of surprise in his expression due to what Bobby was talking about; it was as if the male Ace twin knew what his best friend was talking about.

Bobby sighed in a resigned tone once again, gently shaking his head as he did so. Apparently, the Hispanic teen was just trying to work himself up enough so that he would be able to share a tale with the other teens that were with him at a time. "…Here's the thing," Bobby began, "I always thought that Lori looked cute. The make-over that Lori got after she became popular with all of those girls didn't change a thing about how I felt about her…"

(FLASHBACK)

Twelve-year-old Bobby Santiago was talking with twelve-year-old Aggro Ace in the living room of the Santiago residence; the boys were more or less in the kitchen while their respective younger sisters Ronnie Anne and Astrid, both six at the time, were playing together in the living room. Casting a nervous glance at the living room, Bobby said, "Are you sure the girls won't hear us, dude? If Nie-Nie overhears us talking about you helping me try to win over the girl that I have a crush on-"

"Relax, Bobby," the male Ace twin remarked in a reassuring tone, "Your little sister is too preoccupied playing with Astrid to even think about us." The two boys were sitting at the dining table, nursing cups of soda. Taking a sip from his drink before speaking, Aggro said, "Now then. Who is this girl that you have a crush on?"

"To be honest," Bobby replied as he blushed somewhat in an embarrassed tone, "I don't even know her name. All I know is that she hangs out with your twin sister all the time."

Aggro gave Bobby's response a bit of thought before he snapped his fingers. "I think you're talking about Lori Loud," Aggro remarked.

"Lori Loud?" the twelve-year-old Hispanic boy repeated in a confused tone.

"Go get your school yearbook," Aggro instructed. Bobby nodded in agreement before getting up and leaving the kitchen. About a minute later, Bobby came back, carrying a school yearbook. At Aggro's request, Bobby handed it over to him, only to watch Aggro open the yearbook and flip through the pages. "Where is…where is…" Aggro muttered to himself as he was looking for a specific picture, "…Where is AHA!"

Aggro stopped flipping through the pages suddenly, then pointed to a picture that was in the yearbook. Taking a look, Bobby saw that Aggro was pointing at a picture of a girl about their age. The girl that Aggro was pointing at had fair skin and yellow-blonde hair that reached roughly halfway down her neck. She also wore a light blue sleeveless top with a white collar, white heart-shaped stud earrings (one in each ear lobe), a pair of glasses and, since she was smiling, you could see she also wore braces. Additionally, the girl…admittedly could do with some anti-acne medication.

Nodding in an affirmative manner, Bobby said as he pointed to the girl that Aggro was pointing to, "Yeah, man. That's the girl."

"Yeah, this is Lori Loud," Aggro explained, "She's one of my sister Allison's friends, just like you said." Closing the yearbook, the male Ace twin continued, "Also, from what I've been able to gather on the subject, Allison is pretty much the only friend that Lori has."

"That…" Bobby remarked with a confused look on his face, "…Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. How can a girl like Lori not have more than one friend?"

Aggro shrugged in response, as if to say 'beats me'. However, Aggro had a pretty good grip on the social hierarchy over at school; he had an effective working knowledge of all of the rumors and gossip that was going about. Being one of the most sought-after boys at his and Bobby's school went a great distance in helping Aggro with this. Because of the understanding that the male Ace twin had, he knew that Lori Loud was considered by and large as a nerdy, unpopular loser that, as far as the in-crowd of the school's student population was concerned, more or less didn't even exist. Aggro's personal opinion of Lori was far better than what most of the rest of the school thought, though.

"…Maybe she doesn't do a very good job at standing out?" Aggro offered, trying to sound as helpful as possible.

"Well she stands out to me," Bobby replied, "And that's what I care about." Aggro could tell that his friend had feelings for the nerdy-looking Loud girl, and that said feelings were honest. With a sigh, Bobby continued, "A shame I don't know anything about her, like what kind of a person she is and what not."

Smiling in a mildly amused tone, Aggro replied, "Well then, it's a good thing that Allison dragged me along a few times when she went to go hang out with Lori. From what I have seen so far, Lori is an intelligent albeit shy girl who clearly must be in possession of an unlimited amount of patience if she's able to consistently put up with a girl like Allison on the regular basis." With a nod in the affirmative, Aggro went on, "Also, Lori is great when it comes to handling her younger siblings."

"Siblings?" Bobby repeated in a confused tone.

"From what I gathered," Aggro explained, "Lori is the oldest out of nine children. She has seven sisters named Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana and Lola, and one brother named Lincoln."

"One kid out of nine in a family is a boy?" Bobby said in clear surprise, "Geez, I bet the little dude feels outnumbered all the time."

With a gentle shake of his head, Aggro replied, "He didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that he's outnumbered by his sisters. In fact, he seems pretty close to Lori."

"Oh yeah?" Bobby asked.

Nodding once, Aggro said, "It's a classic case of a younger sibling looking up to an older sibling, thinking said older sibling is the single greatest person in the history of forever."

"Heh, I bet that it'd be pretty cute to watch Lori's little brother say how great his big sister is," Bobby remarked with a chuckle. The male Ace twin nodded once in agreement. "So Aggro, dude," Bobby began, "Think you can help me work out a plan to try and win over Lori?" Aggro smiled in mild amusement, clearly able to see how set his friend was on winning over the heart of the girl he had a crush on.

"…Just tell me what you need my help with, Bobby," Aggro replied.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Back in the present, Bobby was finishing up his tale that he was telling to Allison and Trixie. "…And Aggro was right," Bobby remarked, a hint of somberness in his tone, "Lori did turn out to be a kind girl who cared about her siblings." With a resigned sigh, the Hispanic teen added, "But with what happened, the condition I saw Lincoln was in at the hospital…I'm not entirely sure what to think anymore."

"What happened is something that everyone is having trouble coming to terms with," Aggro remarked in a casual tone of agreement. Casting a glance over at Trixie, Aggro added, "I bet that Lori and her sisters are also having trouble coming to terms with what happened as well."

"Wait a minute," Bobby said in a tone of complete shock, "What?!"

Turning back to face his closest friend, Aggro explained with a hint of firmness in his tone, "Trixie has a point about how Lori and her sisters must be going through a lot. In fact, I have no doubt that all of them feel beyond guilty over what they had done, what they had all taken part in doing to their own brother."

"Lori and her sisters aren't the only ones to have ever succumbed to warrior's madness," Allison said to the Hispanic teen. With a chuckle, Allison added while jerking a thumb at Aggro, "Luckily for me, I have a brother that was able to smack some sense back into me before I did something that I would be regretting for the rest of my life."

"Well…" Aggro began, a hint of knowing amusement in his tone, "…I would be lying if I said that I was never interested in testing my bokken out in a fight against that golf club of yours."

"Wait a minute," Trixie interrupted suddenly, a surprised look on her face. To the Ace twins, Trixie said, "The two of you fought each other with weapons?!"

"Welcome to Royal Woods, Trixie," Bobby remarked dryly as he held his arms out to the side at length, earning a few chuckles out of the Ace twins.


Sunday, the day after the talk between Allison, Aggro, Trixie, and Bobby, was generally considered by the school-aged populace of Royal Woods to be the last day of freedom before one has to go back to school. It is for this reason that many kids in the Royal Woods area try to make the most of their Sundays before heading back in for five continuous days of going to class. However, not all school-aged youths in Royal Woods dreaded the obligatory return to the public-school system. In fact, there were a select few kids living in Royal Woods who actually cannot wait to go back to school, seeing the two days off as wasted time.

David, a boy in Royal Woods combined grade school's Kindergarten year, is one such student. Although only four years of age, David is very clearly one of the school's finest students, able to readily pass assignments far above his current level with flying colors; there has been more than one occasion where girls in the school's eighth grade year had sought David out to help them prep for an important math test due to their troubles that they were having with their math skills. Eighth-grade level math is no challenge to David, especially considering the fact that David has, on multiple occasions, given lectures over at the local college; why he is still bothering with going through grade school classes when he can teach at a college level is anyone's guess.

Yes, David is very much the star student, able to get his assignments done in next to flat. Because of this, David is one of the aforementioned very few students who cannot wait for the next week of school to start. And it wasn't just for the chance to stretch his academic muscles, either; David actually has a small but close circle of friends. There is Hugo Ashveil, a shy but kind-hearted boy who for the longest time enjoyed a status of being invisible to the rest of his classmates and the school as a whole. David was able to get through the shell that Hugo had built up around himself; Hugo warmed up to David, and now the two boys consider each other as their closest friends. David is also familiar with…

…Lisa Loud.

David paused as he looked through his microscope that he had on his desk in his bedroom. The sudden remembering of the brainy Loud sister, one of the very few who David knows of who can match or even surpass him in academics, made the four-year-old genius boy sigh in a resigned tone that carried more than a hint of disappointment. Looking up from his microscope, David slowly pushed away from his desk, sliding back in the spinning chair that he sat in. When he was about a foot away from his desk, David once again sighed in that same resigned tone.

When the rumors of what the Loud sisters had done to their only brother began to spread throughout Royal Woods combined grades school, it spread all over; not even the Kindergarten class, normally cut off from the troubles of the school's social hierarchy ladder and the grapevine of gossip, was exempted from this. It is a good thing that Lisa taught classes over at the local college, rather than go the path that David had chosen; David had no doubt that otherwise, Lisa would be in the same boat as her sisters who go to the combined grades school. As for David himself, he still respected Lisa, both as an intellectual equal and as a fellow scientist.

That was the only respect that the brainy four-year-old boy still had for the brainy four-year-old girl, however. Other than that, David's opinion of Lisa matched that of what the school as a whole had for the Loud sisters, aside from that one baby that people have heard about.

Once again, David sighed in a resigned tone. He never thought that, in the four years of life that he has had so far, that he would ever be disappointed on such a level. And yet here he sat, thinking about how Lisa Loud had taken part in a severe beating that she and her older sisters had given to their only brother. The brainy four-year-old boy could not help but have feelings of disgust, betrayal and disappointment.

(FLASHBACK)

During the previous spring break, David was at the park with a bug catching net and one of those mini plastic tanks used to hold caught bugs. The brainy four-year-old boy, having heard kids at school talk about how some really rare and cool bugs were seen at the park, aimed to try and catch at least one of those bugs so he could study it; if he could catch one of those rare bugs that he heard about, that would just be the coolest.

As David looked around, he heard a young female voice call out to him. "I suppose that you are here because you were forced by someone in your family to go outside and play?" Lisa Loud's familiar voice said, prompting David to turn around and face the brainy Loud sibling.

"Actually, I heard talk at school that some rare bugs have been spotted here in the park," David explained to his fellow scientist, "I am looking to catch at least one of those bugs to study, or at the very least keep as a really cool pet."

"Rare bugs spotted here at the park?" Lisa repeated, the barest hint of piqued interest showing in her otherwise dry monotone, "I have not heard of any such rumors."

"Well another part of the reason that I am here is because I was looking to try and confirm if the rumors were true," David went on, "If they turn out to be false, then I can just go ahead and assume that the rumors were created and spread by boys who were simply trying to talk-" David stopped suddenly, and held a finger out to Lisa in a gesture conveying that she had to be quiet, as he was looking at something over near a tree.

Readying his net, David crept closer and closer to the tree that he was looking at. When he got close enough, he quickly brought his net down on the side of the tree, catching a bug as a result. Walking over to where her crush (David wasn't aware that she had a crush on him) was at, Lisa saw the bug that David had caught. Upon recognizing the bug, the brainy Loud sister was now very much surprised.

"That's an Atlas Moth!" Lisa remarked in a more surprised tone than she had used in a while, "What's a species of moth native to Asia doing here as a wild bug in North America?"

"That's what I would like to know," David replied as he carefully put the captured Atlas Moth into the mini plastic bug tank he brought with him. With the tank firmly keeping the captured bug, David said, "This is something that has to be brought to the attention of the Royal Woods Wildlife Society."

"I could not agree more," Lisa replied as she started calming down, "It is never a good thing if a species native to one continent is randomly found in the wild in another continent. The last thing that anyone needs is having to deal with an invasive species."

"Right," David said as he nodded once in agreement with the brainy Loud sister. With his caught Atlas Moth, David left the park to go contact the appropriate people, with Lisa coming along for the same reasons that interested David.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

David sighed once again in a resigned tone as he remembered that day; as it turned out, the caught Atlas Moth had escaped from a nearby insect sanctuary, so David turned it over to them, receiving a surprisingly generous reward for the Atlas Moth's return. David ended up getting an ice cream cone with some of the money he got, even treating Lisa to one as well since she was with him at the time. David hadn't spent any of the rest of the money (still a considerably note-worthy sum), which is currently sitting in his piggy bank on one of the shelves of the bookshelf in his bedroom. But even if no substantial monetary reward was involved, that day was still a day that David would not be forgetting; after all, it was a day that the brainy four-year-old boy caught an Atlas Moth.

With Lisa Loud at his side.

Once more, David sighed to himself in a resigned tone. For all of his academic skill, knowledge and prowess, the brainy four-year-old boy could not for the life of him wrap his head around what exactly would prompt a girl like Lisa Loud to take part in what she took part in. David was really at loss for words; when it came to Lisa as she currently stood, David was unable to express his disappointment, his disgust.

…His heartbreak.


A group of four girls from RWHS sat at a café, enjoying getting a bite to eat together on the lovely Sunday afternoon. Chief among these girls was Carol Pingrey, the girl who won the homecoming queen crown recently. The other three girls were busily chatting away while Carol was looking at something on her smartphone. It was a picture of girls from RWHS's varsity golf team. The reason why Carol was looking at that specific picture was because Lori Loud, who for reasons that escaped Carol was antagonistic towards her, was in the picture.

The homecoming queen had no idea why Lori was so hostile towards her, and that troubled her greatly. If anything, Carol actually wanted to be friends with Lori, to bury the hatchets and let everything be water under the bridge. As Carol was looking at Lori in the picture she had of the varsity golf team, she was snapped out of her reprieve by her friend that sat on her right, a notably well-fed girl with a very cute face, whose eyes denoted some manner of Asian heritage. "Hey, Carol," the well-fed girl said, "Earth to Carol. Are you in there?"

"Oh, sorry," Carol replied, "I was…" Sighing in a resigned tone, Carol continued, "I was just trying to figure out why Lori had been acting down in the dumps all week last week. That so isn't like her."

"Wait, you mean Lori Loud?" asked the girl on Carol's left, a slim Hispanic girl who wore square-framed black glasses. Giving Carol a confused look, the Hispanic girl asked, "Why do you care about her? Isn't she a total bitch towards you?"

"I know," Carol remarked, "But that doesn't change the fact that she's been acting kind of off all of last week."

"Maybe it has to do with Bobby Santiago breaking up with her," said the girl that sat across from Carol at the table, an African American girl who dressed sort of like a rebel.

"Wait, what?!" Carol nearly exclaimed, her eyes widening due to the shock of hearing what her dark-skinned friend had just said.

Nodding a few times in the affirmative, the African American girl continued, "I heard back on Monday that Bobby and Lori are no longer an item. The break up is still going on last time that I checked."

"That's pretty shocking," the Hispanic girl replied in a troubled tone, "I mean, Lori and Bobby were one of the hallmark couples of Royal Woods High. Now that they've broken up, do you know what this means?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you what it means," the African American girl said, her tone full of firm determination, "It means that Bobby is ripe for the taking! And I intend to be the first one in line for a shot at going out with him!"

"You…you actually want to date Bobby Santiago?" Carol asked, giving her friend a confused look.

"He a sweet, kindhearted guy," the African American girl began to explain as she listed off points on her fingers, "He's got one hell of a work ethic, and he most of all dedicated. When Bobby is with a girl, that's the only girl that he has eyes for." Leaning back in his seat, the African American girl said as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Why wouldn't I want a guy like him?"

"I heard that there's already a line," the Asian girl pointed out dryly, "Some of the girls even say that Bobby might hook up with Trixie Goldman, or maybe Allison Ace."

"If Bobby tries to appeal to Allison, then I wish him the best of luck," the Hispanic girl remarked in a casual tone, "I heard that if a guy wants to start dating Allison, she requires that the guy first has to defeat her in a one-on-one fight. I remember once hearing Allison say something about how if a guy wants to prove himself to her as worthy of 'being her champion' as she puts it, then he has to be strong enough to defeat her in combat."

"Allison's tougher than most of the guys on the football team," the African American girl remarked in a worried tone, "And Bobby is no star athlete. If he ends up having to try and fight Allison, the poor guy's going to get throttled."

Carol's three friends proceeded to gossip over a number of different people that Bobby might go out with now that he and Lori were no longer an item. Carol drowned all of that nonsense out, focusing on the main overall point; Lori had broken up with her longtime boyfriend. No wonder Lori was down in the dumps all of last week and might still be down in the dumps on Monday. Yeah, Carol thought, Lori was down in the dumps because she broke up with Bobby. That had to be the reason.

…Right?


"I'm pretty sure that Mr. Loud won't let you come over to play with Lola and Lana, Anna," Argent said to his younger sister at their family's residence during that Sunday afternoon, "When I was over there on Thursday to make that delivery on Rocky's behalf, Mr. Loud said that Lola and Lana, along with all of their sisters aside from the baby, are all grounded." Crossing his arms over his chest, Argent added, "Frankly, I'm not surprised in the least that Lucy and her school-aged sisters are all grounded."

"Oh," the six-year-old Ace girl replied in a disappointed tone as she looked to the floor. Argent, along with Andy and Alphonse, all regarded the youngest member among the number of their group of siblings with surprised looks; their younger sister is aware of what Lola and Lana, and most of the rest of the Loud sisters, had done about a week ago. And yet she still has no qualms with socializing with the Loud twins?

Aggro, who was also in the room, merely looked like he had seen something that was of a similar nature to Anna's disappointment before.

"Argent has a point, Anna-chan," the male Ace twin remarked, getting all of his younger siblings to turn and face him, "Children typically aren't allowed to play with their friends when they are in trouble." With a troubled sigh, Aggro added, "Besides, I doubt that your friends would be in much of a mood to play with you, or anyone else for that matter."

"Because they feel bad because of how they made their brother have to go to the hospital?" Anna asked as she looked up at her older brother.

The male Ace twin nodded once in somber confirmation. "To be honest, I'm surprised that you're still willing to hang out with Lola and Lana," Aggro said to his younger sister, one of his eyebrows arched in piqued curiosity.

Gently shaking her head, Anna said, "I know that what Lola and Lana and their sisters did was really, really bad, and that a lot of people who were friends with them and their sisters had stopped hanging out with them. But what if Lola and Lana and their sisters feel really, really bad about what they did to their brother? Wouldn't everyone shaming them only make them feel worse about everything?"

Aggro was amazed, and a little surprised, that his six-year-old sister was giving such thought to what was going on; Aggro knows more than a few people who aren't giving anywhere near as much thought to what's going on as Anna, and Aggro only knows of very few people who are also taking into consideration how the Loud sisters must be feeling. As far as the school-aged populace of Royal Woods as a whole is concerned on the subject, the nine oldest Loud sisters are all pariahs. Walking over to where Anna stood, Aggro got down on one knee so that he was as level he could get with Anna (he still towered a bit over her) and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Anna-chan," Aggro began, "You've shown more concern for this matter than most other people that I know, put more thought into this than most would even care."

With a mildly confused look on her face, Anna asked, "What does that mean, Aggro-oniisan?"

"It means that you're more mature than most people that I know," the male Ace twin replied in a dry tone that carried a hint of pride for how much maturity his youngest sibling was showing. Aggro had seen a good number of examples where people that heard of what happened cutting off any ties they had with any of the Loud sisters that they had previously associated with, doing so without any hesitation. Aggro has seen very few examples of people who look beyond the base idea of 'the Loud sisters beat up their brother so we should ostracize them'.

Anna was one such person who cared to give more thought to what was going on. This earned the six-year-old Ace girl her oniisan's respect.

END, ACE OBSERVATIONS CHAPTER FOUR

Author's notes:

Once again, I'm going into detail about how people outside of the situation are thinking/feeling about what's going on concerning what (most of) Lincoln's sisters did to him. Chronologically speaking, this chapter should take place during the weekend where the Louds all have their therapy sessions with the good doctor. The next chapter will start out with finishing off Sunday, but then time will move ahead quickly to cover Lincoln's return to school. Also, the episode 'Brawl in the family', which 'Syngenesophobia' is based off of, is set sometime before 'Selfie Improvement', so Carol and Lori hadn't become friends at this point in time yet. Also, Lisa teaches classes at the college rather than being a student over at the combined grades school, as is seen in 'Syngenesophobia'.

As always, 'Syngenesophobia' is the work of That Engineer, not me. Full credit for his story should go to him.