"HAHAHA. This is priceless. The poll only got three votes."
Go on, Ronalda... Get it out of your system.
"I'm sorry. But this is just too much. Not to mention my family's origin story still won."
*sigh* Yeah, at least we got a decisive winner. Well, let's not dwell in the past. Let's look to the future, as we take a look at a new group of heroes with the Santiago-Casagrande family!
Duck and dodge and push and shove
That's the way they show their love
Raining justice from above
Heroes of the Loud House
Sound Barrier!
Rising up against evil, taking villains on
Lori, Leni Luna, Luan, Lynn and Lincoln
Lucy, Lana and Lola, Lisa and Lily
With each other they discover their destiny
And rise!
SOUND IT OFF!
Duck and dodge and push and shove
That's the way they show their love
Raining justice from above
Heroes of the Loud House
Sound Barrier!
Growing up in Royal Woods, Michigan, a quiet town
They uncover all the power that's been hiding all around
The city needs heroes when there's trouble on the prowl
One brother and ten sisters rise to take the villains out!
Duck and dodge and push and shove
That's the way they show their love
Raining justice from above
Heroes of the Loud House
Sound Barrier!
With Mom and Dad to guide them, together they find their fate
With each adventure, yeah, they've gone from green to great
No matter what the problem, their choice will be the same
They'll stay a family and put the bad guys to shame
Royal Woods' Loud kids throwing down!
Duck and dodge and push and shove
That's the way they show their love
Raining justice from above
Heroes of the Loud House
Sound Barrier!
Episode 6 Pt 1: The pride commeth before the fall.
Out in Great Lakes city, a large town neighboring Royal Woods, Ronnie Anne sat in her bedroom of her family's apartment, talking to Lincoln on her laptop via video chat. "So they were kind of panicking because of how the bomb only had thirty seconds left until it went off." Lincoln explained as he told Ronnie Anne about a recent event the Sound Barrier had went through. Both were being careful not to mention names or identity reveals in case Ronnie Anne's family was eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Heh, I'm assuming Chameleon managed to diffuse it?" Ronnie Anne asked confidently.
"Actually, she didn't have time to figure it out. Trackstar just ran it out into the middle of nowhere." Lincoln corrected. Ronnie Anne's eyes widened in shock.
"Wait. That explosion that woke me up last night was her?" She asked slightly angry. Lincoln couldn't help but chuckle in response. However, his laugh was cut short when he heard the sound of a young child groan loudly in disapproval in the background.
"Uh, what was that?" Lincoln asked skeptically.
"Ugh, probably just my little cousin; Carl." Ronnie Anne replied with a sigh. "I got to go, Lame-o. He's been doing this for a while these past few days." Ronnie Anne turned off the chat and closed the computer. Opening the door to find a little boy with black hair and red sweat shirt arguing with a woman in a pink dress holding a pair of scissors.
"Carl, you know that you can't use these. They're too sharp for someone like you." The woman noted.
"Grr come on, Mom!" Carl groaned.
"No buts! Use the safety scissors your father and I bought you." The woman instructed. As Carl groaned in annoyance, Ronnie Anne laughed.
"Aunt Frida, you know that Carl is too stubborn to just take this lying down." She joked. Carl eventually burst after hearing the remark.
"Darn right I won't! It's not just scissors either. You won't let me cut a birthday cake. You never let me watch any movie higher than PG. And you still won't take the training wheels off my bike. It's not fair how you always treat me like a little kid!" Carl complained. As if on cue, a teenage girl wearing a green dress and black hair tied in a long pony tail walked in alongside a little baby with a tuft of orange hair.
"Carl, you're six years old. You ARE a little kid!" She remarked with a sassy wave that the baby mimicked perfectly.
"Shut up, Carlota." Carl growled through clenched teeth. Before the situation could escalate any farther, the lights briefly went out as an electric hum was heard. The baby boy was frightened by the event and started to cry. Frida bent down and wrapped the child in her arms.
"Oh, shhh. Don't worry Carlitos. Mommy is here." She soothed before putting one of her arms on her hip. "That's the fifth blackout this week." She complained. A large orange, red, and blue parrot swooped into the room, followed by a plethora of other people.
"BWARK! Lights out again!" It cried.
"Why do the lights keep going out?" Asked CJ, a boy around Ronnie Anne's age wearing a yellow t-shirt, blue shorts, and a black bow tie.
"Perhaps it's the cause of mischievous spirits. I should get my warding charms." Suggested Rosa, the grandmother of the family.
"Mom, you always suggest things like that. Besides, it's affecting the whole town." Noted Maria, Ronnie Anne's mother.
"Whatever the cause is, I want it to stop. It's causing the freezer section of the store to melt." Complained Hector, the grandfather.
"Well, I may have a theory as to why these rolling blackouts are occurring." Everyone turned towards Carlos, Maria's brother, who wore thick square shaped glasses and a yellow sweater vest with white sleeves. "I heard a rumor from my students at the university. They say that someone rented out an empty building down in the run down part of town, and ever since they came around, the blackouts have been a regular occurrence." He explained. Bobby blinked in confusion.
"If the blackouts only started happening when they came to town, why don't the police do anything?" He asked.
"Like I said Bobby, it's just a rumor. No real evidence exists to justify a search warrant yet. Nor has anyone believed the rumor is solid enough to call the police." CJ felt the reason a little unfair and crossed his arms, with Carlitos mimicking his movements in Frida's arms.
"Someone should do something about it." As he said this, Carl had an idea pop into his head as he furrowed his brow and gave a mischievous grin as the lights rapidly flickered before fully turning on again.
"Yeah… Someone should…"
…
Later that night, Ronnie Anne was sleeping peacefully in her room. However, her slumber was soon interrupted by something cold and wet touching her face. She shook herself awake and came face to face with a large, blonde furred dog. "Ugh, Lalo, I'm tired." She scolded the hound as she wrapped her blanket over her and turned away. Lalo whimpered and pawed at the girl, trying to get her attention. Ronnie Anne simply ignored it and tried to go back to sleep. Getting desperate for her attention, Lalo bit down on the blanket and ran off with it. "Hey!" Ronnie Anne snapped as she ran out of her room after the dog. She followed Lalo into the living room of the apartment and was about to take her blanket back when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.
Ronnie Anne looked over to see Carl walking out the front door in the middle of the night. Ronnie Anne rubbed her eyes in disbelief, trying to confirm if she was dreaming or if what she saw was real. After a few seconds hesitation, she narrowed her eyes. "Oh, he is so in for it!" She whispered.
…
A good half-hour passed as Carl trudged through the streets of the city with little trouble. Using a flashlight to illuminate the way in front of him, he went down the sidewalks with a cautious demeanor as sirens wailed in the distance and a stray cat's cry was heard from a nearby alley. "Alright, this is as run down as the neighborhood can get. Now which of these buildings could be the one that was rented out?" He asked himself as he looked upon the series of run down buildings with graffiti on the walls and smashed windows. As he was peeking at the buildings, he saw something catch his attention.
In the middle of the cluster of buildings, a decayed two floor structure gave off a mysterious green glow from the windows. The brick structure was surrounded by a tall fence with barbed wire lined around the top. Carl smiled as he set his sights on the building. He pulled out his phone and immediately started taking a few pictures of the area, from the street signs to the building. "If whoever owns this place is doing something bad to cause the blackouts, and I get evidence of it, I'll never be called a little kid again!" He cheered as he put his phone in his pocket and held his flashlight in his mouth as he began to scale the fence. However, before he could get up halfway, a light shined on him from behind. Carl turned around and saw Ronnie Anne, Bobby, and Carlota all giving him a disapproving scowl.
Carl screamed in shock upon seeing his sister and cousins. His flashlight dropped to the ground and rolled over to Bobby's feet and he picked it up. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?" In response to the question, Carlota took out her phone, which displayed a map on the screen.
"Mom and Dad put a tracking app on your phone. As to why we're here, you know exactly why!" She roared. Bobby took a step forward and proceeded to lecture as well.
"Running away, Carl? Really?"
"I'm not running away. I'm just trying to show everyone that I'm not a little wimp." Carl retorted. Ronnie Anne was not amused in the slightest.
"Well news flash, you're failing miserably. So quit acting like a doofus and get down here." She commanded. Unfortunately, Carl was determined to see his self imposed mission through to the end. He growled as he gripped the open spaces on the fence tighter and he climbed over the barbed wire to the other side. When he jumped down to the ground, he winced in pain and lifted his pants leg to reveal he scraped his knee. Nonetheless, he shook it off and ran towards one the buildings doors. Gripping the door knob and turning it hastily, his face lit up when the door was revealed to be unlocked and opened up.
Bobby clenched his hands into fists and pointed at the spunky child. "Carl, if you go through that door, I'm telling everyone back home!" He warned in a fierce and aggressive tone that took everyone by surprise. Carl froze for a moment in hesitation upon hearing his older cousin speak so angrily. However, his bravado helped him power through his fear and enter the building. The other three were at a loss for words over Carl's choice. After taking a few seconds to recover from the shock, Ronnie Anne stomped forward and proceeded to climb the fence in pursuit of her cousin.
"If any of you want to help me drag him back, I'd appreciate the help." She asserted, causing her brother and older cousin to climb up the fence as well. Once they got to the other side, the three wasted no time in entering the building to look for Carl. The group shined their lights around the large room they entered and were a rather unsettled by what they saw. The walls were lined with cages containing rabbits, pigeons, and rats. Scattered across the rest of the room was a series of bizarre looking machines and light fixtures. Carlota felt a chill creep up her spine and she swallowed a lump in her throat.
"Okay, this is officially the creepiest thing I've ever seen." She said as her knees started to buckle in fear. Bobby stepped closer to Ronnie Anne and wrapped his arm around her.
"Stay close, Nini." Ronnie Anne ignored her brother and tried to act tough, lifting his arm away and stomping forward.
"Carl! Come out right now and maybe I won't give you an atomic wedgie." She threatened. No response came and the trio delved deeper into the facility to find Carl. The dark and expansive rooms continued to unnerve them all as tried to spot Carl in the darkness. One of the birds let out a loud cry that startled Bobby, sending him stumbling towards Ronnie Anne. She caught him and snickered a little bit. "And you were trying to act like a guardian for me?" She joked earning a laugh from Carl, who inadvertently revealed himself with his giggles.
"Uh oh."
"Get him!" Carlota ordered as the three rushed towards the young boy. In a matter of seconds, they entered a fierce struggle as the three all made an attempt to wrestle Carl to the ground.
"Let go of me!"
"Stop squirming."
"We just want to keep you from hurting yourself." As the four wrestled, they stumbled close to a lever on the wall. Carl pushed Bobby away, causing him to stumble and grab said lever for support. The force of his arm pushed it downward and activated a mysterious electrical hum that caused them all to stop.
"What's that noise?" Ronnie Anne asked in confusion. Before anyone could react, one of the light fixtures gave off a sudden and intense burst of blue that blinded them. "AHH! My eyes!"
"Carl, what did you do?"
"ME!? I didn't touch anything!" As the light shined brighter, Bobby managed to open his eyes a little bit and noticed the flipped switch. Realizing his mistake, he stumbled over to it and turned the light off. All four of them were left groaning as the hum of the machine died down to silence. Before anyone could say anything else, a voice boomed from the floor above them.
"What is all that noise?" It yelled. With pure fear and adrenaline fueling their bodies, all four of the intruders ran out of the building at high speed. Wasting no time in scaling the fence and bolting down the streets all the way back to their apartment building. When they made it back home, they all felt like their hearts were about to burst right out of their chests. With a couple of deep breaths, Ronnie Anne peaked through the door hole to see if they were followed. When she saw no one at the door, she sighed in relief before immediately gripping her little cousin's shoulders.
"You were lucky I saw you sneak off. You almost got us all in trouble for breaking and entering!" She lashed out at Carl in a yell like whisper. Carl narrowed his eyes and pried Ronnie Anne off of him.
"I was doing just fine until you came in and ruined everything!" He defended. Bobby shook his head in dissapointment.
"Carl, I don't want to be 'that guy', but you were probably acting like the most selfish person imaginable." He scolded. Carl groaned in annoyance.
"Hey, maybe if everyone here bothered to treat me with some respect I wouldn't have to prove something you all should already know!" Before the child could continue and start a full blown argument, the sound of someone vomiting was heard. Everyone turned to see Carlota spewing chunks into the kitchen sink. "Woah, Sis you okay?" Carl asked with genuine concern.
"I… I'm fine. Just a little stomach bug." Carlota reassured with heavy breaths in between. Ronnie Anne groaned and rubbed her forehead with her fingers in distress.
"Okay, look. We all had a long night, I'm tired, and Carlota is sick. Let's just go back to bed and pretend this whole thing never happened. Agreed?" She offered. After a few seconds of silence, Bobby sighed in defeat.
"Alright, I guess." He replied.
"Yeah… good *URP* plan." Carlota agreed while suppressing another barf and running the sink to splash water on her face. Carl growled in defeat before going back to his room.
"Fine." He reluctantly conceited. As Ronnie Anne and the others went back to their bedrooms, she felt a massive headache hit her again.
"Ugh. Maybe I can just sleep this off." She wondered as she fell on her mattress and drifted off to sleep with a peaceful sigh.
…
The next morning came with a bright ray of sunlight creeping through Ronnie Anne's window. She yawned and rubbed her forehead in discomfort. "My head feels like it's going to burst." She complained with a groan. Shrugging the pain off, she trudged out of her room into the kitchen to have breakfast with the rest of her family. Her brother and two cousins that were involved with last night's escapade looked as tired as her.
"Morning, sweetie." Her mother greeted. Ronnie Anne lacked the energy to respond properly and simply grunted as Rosa put a large stack of pancakes dripping with syrup and whipped cream in front of her and Carl. The young boy licked his lips and was about to scarf them down, but was interrupted by Frida yanking them away.
"Easy there, tiger." She remarked while wagging her finger, a motion which Carlitos happily mimicked. "Those look like a lot of pancakes. Let me cut those up for you first." She offered, much to Carl's dismay.
"Mom, I'm fine."
"Honey, just last week your father explained how many people die from choking every year on average." She warned. Carl growled until his tan skin practically turned as red as his sweatshirt.
"Stop. Treating. Me. Like a BABY!"
In a furious roar, an intense burst of heat engulfed the room and the top of Carl's head burst into a small bonfire. Everyone gasped and was left awestruck at the display. Carl just blinked in confusion as he didn't notice the fire or the heat it gave off. "What?" He asked before glancing up towards the top of his head. Immediately upon seeing the flame, he screamed in terror and started to run around the room and tried to put the fire out by rolling around on the floor. The whole apartment was sent into a frenzy as everyone ran around in panic, trying to find away to get the flames under control.
"Someone get a fire extinguisher!"
"No time. Just get water!"
"Somebody get something for me!" As the pressure built up, Bobby broke a nervous sweat from the anxiety. Eventually, the fear over took him and he snapped.
"Everybody, just calm DOWN!" He yelled as he thrust his arms to his sides and inadvertently shot icy snow out of his palms. The ice covered everyone and extinguished the fire on Carl's head. Leaving him miraculously unharmed. Even his hair, while now soaking wet from the melted snow, was completely unsinged. An unsettling silence befell the whole family as they didn't know what to say. Eventually, CJ broke the silence with an energetic and optimistic cheer.
"THAT WAS AMAZING!"
Hoo boy! Bobby and Carl have manifested powers! And considering Carlota and Ronnie Anne were there too...
"Pff ah ha ha! Three votes. THREE!"
Will you just leave already?
"Okay... I'm leaving. Smell ya later!"
Finally... She can be such a jerk sometimes. Before I sign off on this first part of the story arc, I'd like to give massive credit to Indy Scott for helping me flesh out the plot details!