Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Broken Mirror: New War
Chapter ten: Awkward Adjusting
As the car that Bobby Santiago was driving pulled into a familiar neighborhood in Royal Woods, Michigan, Lincoln Loud, one of the people sitting in the back seat, stared out the window with a more or less apathetic loon on his face. The white-haired boy thought that he would never see this neighborhood ever again, not since he ran away months prior due to the whole 'bad luck' deal where his family ultimately kicked him out of the house. Granted, Lincoln actually did have something to do with it, but it was the rest of the Louds who took it way too far.
Which is part of the reason why Lori, the oldest of the Loud siblings and the person sitting in the front passenger seat of Bobby's car, felt so guilty and remorseful over what had happened.
Lincoln, Bobby, Lori and Ronnie Anne, the last of those four being Bobby's younger sister, were silent for about the first half of the trip from the city back to Royal Woods, but after they stopped for lunch at a taco place, Ronnie Anne decided to break the silence. "…So, Lincoln," Ronnie Anne began in a somewhat unsure tone, "How…how did you even survive on your own for the months you lived in the city?"
"I lived in an abandoned building up until a few days before the city-wide riot started," Lincoln began to explain, "That building was eventually condemned by the city. A few hours after I took the stuff I had in there and left to hopefully find another abandoned building to live, I ran into your cousin, and her family took me in. A few days later, the riot occurred, then after that, you guys showed up."
"W…wow," Bobby said, surprised to hear that the white-haired boy, who he considered as a younger brother, had gone through so much, "What did you do for food, though?"
"I worked various odd jobs, like chores for older people," Lincoln explained, "I still have quite a bit of the money I earned from doing that." After taking a sip from his drink, Lincoln continued, "Given how much I still have, I think it's best not to tell any of my sisters how much I have exactly. Given how money works in our family, I don't think that even everything that I've gone through and everything that's happened will be enough to keep the girls from acting like that one time we all fought tooth and nail over a quarter I found in the sofa."
"Yeah, don't remind me about that," Lori remarked with a hint of bemusement in her tone, "I still can't believe that I acted like that."
With a shrug that was more or less indifferent, Lincoln said, "We all make mistakes, Lori." After Lori nodded in agreement with what her little brother said, the group was silent for another minute or so. The silence was broken by Lincoln who asked, "So, aside from everything that's gone on with me and Lori's family, what else have I missed while I was gone?"
"Did you hear what happened at our school?" Ronnie Anne asked as she turned to face Lincoln, getting the white-haired boy to turn and face her, "It was attacked with bombs!"
"Oh yeah, I did hear about that on the news," Lincoln replied, "I still can't believe something like that would happen in Royal Woods."
"Well it did happen," Ronnie Anne said, "In fact, about a month or so after the attack on our school, the local sewage treatment plant was also attacked with bombs!"
"The local sewage treatment plant?" Lincoln repeated in a mildly confused tone, "Hey, isn't that where Chandler's dad works?"
"Yeah. That jerk's dad works at the sewage treatment plant," Ronnie Anne confirmed, "Oh, that reminds me. Chandler's dad actually got his huge promotion, so now he's some really big and important person where he works. The extra income Chandler's family is getting as a result of the promotion is making that jerk act like he's the richest guy at school."
"Great, as if his ego wasn't already inflated enough," Lincoln scowled bitterly. Before he took a bite of the soft taco he was eating, Lincoln asked, "Hey, wait. Was Chandler's dad hurt in the attack on the sewage treatment plant?"
"No, he wasn't," Ronnie Anne replied with a gentle head shake in the negative, "From what I heard, he wasn't even at the plant at the time of the bombing."
"Sort of like how you were out sick with the stomach flu the day your school was attacked," Bobby remarked as he pointed at his little sister.
"Yeah, kind of," Ronnie Anne agreed.
"Hey, I've been wondering about that," Lincoln began in a mildly concerned tone, "Who all wasn't hurt or killed in that attack?"
In response, Ronnie Anne went over everyone she knew was still alive. This included all of Lincoln's sisters who were RWES students, Lincoln's friends Clyde, Liam and Zach, all four of the girls that some of Lincoln's sisters tried to force him to go to a school dance with that one time ("Yeah, I still want to give Luna, Luan, Lynn and Lucy each a smacking for that," Ronnie Anne remarked casually), all of the Ace siblings who were RWES students, Lucy's crush Rocky, Lisa's friend Darcy, Chandler and his goon-friends ("Unfortunately," Ronnie Anne added), two boys named Winston and Skippy who Ronnie Anne admitted to having no idea who they were outside of the fact that they hang out with Lola and Lana a lot for some reason, and some boy named David who Ronnie Anne saw talk to Lisa a few times.
"Those are the only ones I know off the top of my head," Ronnie Anne said after she finished filling Lincoln in on what she knew.
"I see," Lincoln replied as he went over the list of people Ronnie Anne juts gave him. After he was doing a mental check list, Lincoln said, "It's kind of weird that so many people I know are still alive, even with that bombing."
"Yeah, that stomach flu that was going around actually saved a lot of hides that day, my own included," Ronnie Anne remarked.
"Do you, or either Lori or Bobby for that matter, know if the guys who were responsible for the bombing were ever caught?" Lincoln asked.
In response to her little brother's question, Lori gently shook her head in the negative. "I'm sorry, Lincoln," Lori replied, "But that all is still a mystery."
"…So, some guys who could have potentially hurt Lucy, the twins and/or Lisa are still at large?" Lincoln asked, his temper starting to rise just a bit. Standing up from the table where he and the other all sat, Lincoln continued, "Are you kidding me?!"
"I know how you feel, bro," Bobby remarked in an understanding tone, "You're an older brother worried about at least one younger sister." Holding a fist out to Lincoln to offer him a fist-bump, Bobby said, "You and I are of a kind."
"Oh, for the love of…" Ronnie Anne muttered in reference to her older brother being a goof as Lincoln accepted the older Santiago sibling's fist-bump. After Lincoln sat back down, Ronnie Anne continued, "If you want my opinion, I don't think you have to be too worried about your younger sisters, Lincoln." After taking a sip from her fountain drink, Ronnie Anne explained, "I think that whoever is responsible for the bombings is trying to get back at Chandler's folks."
"Chandler's folks?" Lincoln asked as he gave the Hispanic tomboy a questioning look.
"Chandler goes to the same school as us," Ronnie Anne said, "And his dad is now a really important person at the local sewage treatment plant. Both of those locations were attacked with the bombs."
"It could be just a coincidence, Nie-Nie," Bobby remarked.
"Maybe, but I still have my suspicions," Ronnie Anne replied, "And will you stop calling me by that nickname? It's embarrassing for me!" The group as a whole shared a good laugh, then proceeded to finish their lunch of tacos. After they were done eating, the group all got back into Bobby's car, and proceeded to make their way back to Royal Woods.
Bobby dropped Lincoln and Lori off at their place before he got himself and Ronnie Anne back to their place. After Lincoln got the few bags he had brought with him out of Bobby's trunk, the car took off, leaving Lincoln and Lori standing in front of their family's house. "Well…here we are, Lincoln," Lori said in an unsure tone, "…We're back home."
"…Yeah, home," Lincoln replied in a neutral tone as he and Lori walked up to the front door. As soon as the two Loud siblings walked into the house, they were greeted by a large, and I do mean large, furry dog that could give the dog that the Casagrandes own a run for its money in terms of size. Its fur was mostly black, although it did have a brownish underside what went up to the bottom of its muzzle. The dog also produced a loud, booming barking as soon as it saw the two Loud siblings enter the house, although most of it was aimed at Lincoln before it proceeded to sniff at him in a manner that most friendly, curious dogs would do.
"You…guys got a new dog while I was gone?" Lincoln asked in a cautious but mostly confused tone as the dog then started to lick his face.
"Oh no, this is actually Allison's dog Fenrir," Lori explained, "The girls and I are pet sitting for Allison and her siblings while they're still in the city. They'll come by to pick their pets up when they get back."
"Oh, so you are pet sitting for-" Lincoln began to reply, but he was cut off when Lola and Lana, the twin six-year-olds, saw Lincoln and immediately ran up to him.
"LINCOLN! YOU'RE BACK!" the twins cried out in unison as they threw their arms around their older brother, who had been missing for so long. As the twins hugged Lincoln while Fenrir continued to try and lick his face, the rest of the Loud sisters came to the front area of the house, having been summoned by hearing what Lola and Lana shouted.
"Whoa, dude," Luna said as she turned to look at Lori, "What you said about finding Lincoln in the city was right!"
"Lincoln, where have you been?" Luan said, clearly sounding like she was beyond worried.
"Wincon!" Lily, who was being carried by Luna, cried out as she tried waving her arms at Lincoln.
"I still cannot believe that you have been gone for so long," Lisa remarked, more than a hint of emotion seeping into her otherwise dry monotone, "I…I still cannot believe my role in what happened to bring about such a result."
"L…Linky…" Leni remarked, barely able to talk as tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes.
"Lincoln…" Lucy began as she took a step forward, "…I am so-"
"Hold up a minute there," Lynn said as she cut Lucy off, outing a hand on Lucy's shoulder from behind to get her to stop walking forward. With Lucy turning to face her athletic older sister, Lynn continued, "I know that you miss our brother just as much as the rest of us, but Lola and Lana are still practically crying on him. You gotta wait your turn, Princess Pony."
Some of the other girls, mainly Lisa, Luna and Luan, all chuckled a bit at the name that Lynn just refereed to Lucy as, prompting the gothic Loud sister to shrink back a bit. Lincoln noticed this, both the chuckling and Lucy shrinking back. Knowing what he wanted to do, he got the twins (both of which were too occupied with crying into Lincoln's chest to notice what Lynn had said) and Fenrir to back off so he could head over to Lynn.
"…Hey, Lynn," Lincoln began.
"Yeah, Linc-" Lynn said, but before she could even finish saying her younger brother's name, Lincoln cut her off by dealing a swift punch to her left eye. The punch had a fair bit of effort to it, but it was mainly the surprise factor of the punch that prompted Lynn to fall back a bit. Seeing their brother, having just returned to them, punch Lynn in the eye like that made every Loud sister take pause; even Lynn, once she recovered, could not find it in her to do anything, due to the sheer surprise of what Lincoln did just now.
With all of his sisters facing him, Lincoln said, "…Do any of you know why I took the fall for what Lucy did? Because I knew full well that you all would do to her what you all ended up doing to me if I didn't!"
"Li…Lincoln," Lori began, feeling concerned about her little brother's current venting, not to mention still a little surprised that the white-haired boy struck Lynn the way he did, "We…we're sorry about all of the crap we gave you over that. You didn't deserve the way that we treated you back then."
"Who does deserve to be treated like that?!" Lincoln snapped. Although the white-haired boy's triad was mostly aimed at Lori, Lincoln having snapped at the oldest Loud sister like that made every sister, even Lucy, visibly flinch. "You know what I gave up just to keep you and the others from teasing our sister? The punishment I went through? The sacrifice I made?" Lincoln went on as he continued his rant at Lori, "I guess all of my efforts ended up being for nothing, all because you just couldn't let sleeping dogs lie, and the rest of you girls just can't help but take any and every opportunity you can get to make each other as miserable as possible! It's no wonder why a lot of us in this family try so hard to keep secrets, if that is the way that we treat each other when said secrets are made public!"
The sole Loud boy proceeded to breath in and out audibly, his rant he just finished having left him just a little bit shaky. Lori and the rest of the Loud sisters all looked more or less ashamed of themselves. Even Lucy, who the rant was not aimed at in the least, also felt guilty, as she also had some guilt in regard to messing with the other Loud sisters. "…Just…Just please…" Lincoln said in a somewhat quiet tone, getting all of the sisters to turn to face him, "…Don't make fun of each other over your interests anymore."
Lori and the other girls all looked to each other, everyone unsure of what to say because of Lincoln's explosion just now. After a tense few seconds of silence, Lori said, "Al…Alright, Lincoln. We won't tease each other anymore."
"You…you can feel free to punch me in the eye again if I make a repeat of teasing any of our siblings," Lynn offered, sounding mildly unsure because of what had happened.
Giving Lynn a dry look, Lincoln replied, "…If I do take you up on that, chances are you'll eventually lose an eye." This drew a fair bit of chuckling out of the girls; even Lynn found some humor in what her little brother just said.
In addition to Allison's dog Fenrir (who Lincoln learned is a Tibetan Mastiff), Lincoln saw that his sisters were also pet sitting Spirit, a skunk belonging to Allison's sister Amy, and Kyubi, a red fox belonging to Allison's brother Aggro. Given some of the animals that the white-haired boy has seen his younger sister Lana handle, a skunk and a fox weren't all that surprising. It also helped when Lisa explained that both skunks and foxes can be legally kept as pets in Michigan.
Sometime the morning after Lincoln returned home to Royal Woods, the Aces came back from the city. Allison, Aggro and Amy came by to collect their pets, the Loud sisters were paid, and after Aggro, in a friendly yet mildly concerned tone, asked Leni how she was feeling, the three oldest Ace siblings took their leave. After the Aces left, the Loud siblings all turned to face each other. "So…now what?" Luan asked.
"I want to go check up on a few things," Lincoln began to explain, "See what all I missed while I was gone."
"You…you aren't going to be gone for too long, are you?" Luna asked.
With a gentle chuckle, Lincoln replied, "No, no I shouldn't be. I called Ronnie Anne ahead of time, shortly before Allison and her siblings came by to pick up their pets, and told her that I wanted her to come along as I checked up on everything. If it comes down to it, you can call her up, and maybe Bobby since he also knows, if you get worried about me."
"Th…thanks for letting us know," Lori replied, surprised that her little brother went through the trouble of setting up a safety line in case any of the girls wanted to get ahold of him.
"No problem," Lincoln replied. Turning to face the door, Lincoln continued, "Now then. If you all will excuse me, I've got some friends to go visit." Lincoln then opened the door and walked out of the house, closing the door behind him.
Lincoln met up with Ronnie Anne, and together the two of them headed off to Gus' Games and Grub at Ronnie Anne's suggestion. When the two of them got there, Lincoln saw why Ronnie Anne suggested Gus', as when they entered the establishment, they were met up by Clyde, Zach and Liam. "Lincoln, my man!" Clyde said as he, Liam and Zach came walking up, "You've been gone for ages! What happened to you, dude?"
"Lincoln's sisters were being jerks, but that's besides the point," Ronnie Anne remarked in a more or less casual tone. Jerking a thumb at Lincoln, the Hispanic tomboy continued, "So anywho, I brought the guy of honor, so are we going to party or what?"
"Wait a minute," Lincoln remarked in a mildly confused tone, "Party?"
"We're celebrating you having come back to Royal Woods after being gone for so long, Lincoln," Zach explained, "I mean, the heck kind of friends would we be if we didn't go all out for your big return?"
Lincoln couldn't help but smile; his friends clearly did miss him, and they had even gone through all of this trouble to kick his return off with a party, especially considering how short notice it must be. Speaking of friends, there was a friend…or rather, a former friend, that the white-haired boy wanted to discuss something with.
"I…don't suppose any of you guys know where Rusty is, do you?" Lincoln asked.
"Rusty? You mean that jerk?" Liam began, his tone clearly indicating how poor of an opinion he had for the older Spokes boy, "Why would you want to see him? That guy is lower than a Dachshund's belly to the ground! I mean, you have heard of what he did while you were gone, didn't you?"
"Oh, I've heard, alright," Lincoln replied in something of a knowing tone. As he cracked his knuckles, Lincoln continued, "And that's actually part of why I want to speak with Rusty. I've got a few choice words for that bastard." Clyde, Liam and Zach all nodded in an understanding manner, knowing full well that Lincoln was not happy to have heard what their former friend did to Lucy. Ronnie Anne not only nodded in an approving manner, but she even let out a bit of a chuckle, finding amusement in what the white-haired boy was saying and doing right now.
…
Lincoln, Clyde, Zach, Liam and Ronnie Anne all had a good time at Gus'. Pizza was eaten and soda was consumed. The five fifth-graders proceeded to make their way over to the arcade section of Gus', but Clyde stopped the group suddenly. "Whoa, you guys," Clyde remarked in a tone that conveyed some level of disgust, "I think that we should avoid going into the arcade right now. Chandler's in there with his group."
"Well that just ruined an otherwise perfect day," Liam said, his tone matching that of Clyde's.
Curious, Lincoln leaned to his side slightly so he could get a better look of Chandler and his group in the arcade area of Gus'. Sure enough, Lincoln saw Chandler in there, watching with his first goon-friend, two other boys and a girl as Chandler's second goon-friend was playing one of the dancing games. To his credit, the second goon-friend was nothing short of amazing at that dancing game; Lincoln wondered if that boy was the one who held the last record at the dancing game that he (Lincoln) remembered seeing prior to his…extended absence.
But that's not what really caught Lincoln's attention; what caught his attention was the fact that Chandler's group now had a girl in its number. This girl that was with Chandler's group was roughly the same height as Lincoln, his friends and Ronnie Anne, so the white-haired boy assumed that this girl was a fifth grader same as them. She had long white hair, wore a white long-sleeved blouse that had an orange-colored sailor-style collar, an orange ribbon laced through a loop around her neck, a dark blue skirt that reached her knees, a pair of loose socks, and a pair of black slip on shoes. Also, Lincoln could tell just by looking at the girl that she has some sort of Asian heritage.
"When…when did Chandler get a girl in his group?" Lincoln asked as he straightened himself back out and turned to face his friends, "Because last I checked, girls weren't exactly lining up for a shot to hang out with Chandler and the guys he's friends with."
Sighing in a resigned tone, Ronnie Anne explained, "That girl you see with them is Astrid Ace, who's a close friend of mine. I'm not sure if you know this Lincoln, but Chandler has been trying to flirt with Astrid for a very long time in an attempt to get her as his girlfriend. She was able to keep that jerk off for a while, and was even able to avoid him a few times due to how frequently she gets sick." With another resigned sigh, the Hispanic tomboy continued, "But it didn't last forever, I'm afraid. Chandler's efforts eventually won out, and now he and Astrid are going out."
"That's awful," Lincoln thought as he turned his attention back over to where Chandler and the rest of his group were hanging out. Lincoln specifically took a look at Astrid; she was smiling, but Lincoln could tell that she was only trying to keep up appearances, that the fifth-grade Ace girl would much rather be somewhere else. But the girl was trapped, all because Chandler just had to have whatever he wanted, when he wanted it, and without any care for what other people may want. The conceited boy probably only saw Astrid as a trophy that he won, rather than seeing her the way that Bobby saw Lori.
The sole Loud boy was filled with disgust.
Straightening himself back out, Lincoln said as he turned to face the boys and Ronnie Anne, "I don't suppose any of you can have all of us over to play video games, do you?"
"There's plenty of space at my place, and I did just get a new video game that I've been wanting to show to the guys," Clyde replied, "I'll just have to ask my dads first if it's okay to bring you all over."
"Your dads are pretty chill people," Ronnie Anne said to Clyde in a casual tone. Clyde, Liam, Zach and Lincoln all nodded in agreement as Clyde pulled out a phone so he could call his parents. While Clyde was doing that, Lincoln's mind wandered back to the subject of Chandler trying to force his way onto everyone else, along with what Rusty had the gull to do and how that jerk Francisco broke Lynn's heart.
The sole Loud boy was filled with disgust.
"Are…are you serious?!" Luna asked Lori as they and the other eight Loud sisters were all in Lori and Leni's room for a sister meeting while Lincoln was out. It was clear by her tone that Luna felt that she and the girls were just given something that she felt they didn't deserve (or at least something that she (Luna) didn't deserve). "He's just letting us off the hook that easily?!" the musically inclined Loud sister more or less exclaimed, a hint of her practiced British accent slipping into her words.
"Lincoln did say that he felt we suffered more than we should have while he was gone, and that he also said that he just didn't feel like giving us the cold shoulder by the time I finally found him," Lori remarked. With a guilty sigh, the oldest Loud sister continued, "But I understand how you feel, Luna. We literally don't deserve to be let off the hook just like that, even with what Lincoln said. What we did…" Lori paused to turn to face Lynn. "…Especially you…" Lori said to the athletic Loud sister before turning back to face everyone as a whole. "…To Lincoln cannot be excused so easily, if at all. Which is why I propose that the lot of us all work together on a little plan I have that I'd like to call 'Operation do something really nice for Lincoln to deserve his forgiveness for real and I really need to think of a shorter name for this operation'."
Lily made random baby babble in response, which Luan, who can surprisingly translate what Lily says, took the liberty of translating. "Lily said that she wants to do what she can to help with properly deserving Lincoln's forgiveness, and that she recommends the name 'Operation Brother' as a shorter name for your plan," Luan said to the oldest Loud sibling. After Luan finished talking, Lily nodded in agreement, confirming that Luan's translation of her baby babbling was accurate.
"Okay girls," Lori said to her sisters as a whole, "Let's get cracking on this!" The other sisters all let out cheers of agreement, signifying the start of their efforts to try and make things right with their brother, so that they can actually deserve to have their brother back.
END, BROKEN MIRROR NEW WAR CHAPTER TEN
Author's notes:
Without giving away too much, the next chapter will see Lincoln and a few other people go to a carnival that's being held in Royal Woods, and Lincoln ends up befriending a fortune teller who may or may not be from Latvia. Also, Lincoln will be seeing at least of the people on a certain list of his from a while ago.
Also, what did I tell you about the girls acting to properly deserve Lincoln's forgiveness?