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

Ten reasons

Chapter twenty-one: Awesome Rock part three- Burning flames of justice

Luna Loud decided to do a bit of snooping around on her own, to gather evidence and testimony concerning her little brother Lincoln getting beaten up by two grown men, seemingly out of the blue, while the sole Loud boy was supervising the twins Lola and Lana while they were playing outside. The first thing that Luna did was talk to the twins about what they told the police.

Lola said that the two men both looked like men with blue collar jobs; they both wore white shirts under plaid shirts that were open in the front, blue jeans, dark colored boots, and the men both had longish brown hair. Lana further elaborated that both men had mullets, one man had a green plaid shirt and brown boots while the other had a red plaid shirt and black boots, the green plaid shirt guy had a moustache, and the two men were in a fairly beaten up-looking red pick-up truck. Lana said that the truck still looked to be in somewhat better shape than Vanzilla, though.

After jotting down everything the twins said about what happened, Luna then went to Aloha Comrade Hawaiian Russian Fusion Restaurant, the place where her dad Lynn Sr. currently works as the co-chef. Luna had asked to speak with Sergei, the head chef of the multicultural establishment. "Those men don't sound familiar to me," Sergei said when Luna asked him about the two men the twins had described, "And I can certainly say that your dad doesn't have anyone working under him. This might be a case of mistaken identity, if you ask me."

Luna nodded once in thanks before she took her leave in order to continue her investigation. Upon leaving Aloha Comrade, Luna was surprised when someone seemingly landed in front of her on their feet. However, Luna instantly recognized the person as Haru, the twelve-year-old grandnephew of Harold Fisher, Luna's music tutor. "How's it going, Luna?" Haru asked.

"I just found out that my little brother might have been beaten up because of a case of mistaken identity," the musical Loud sibling explained, a mild hint of frustration in her tone.

"You said that you got notes from your little sisters about the two men and their getaway vehicle, right?" Haru asked, "Can you show me? I might be able to help you track the two guys down."

"Really?" Luna replied, a mildly confused look on her face.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Haru explained, "It wouldn't be the first time I was given a description of someone that needed to be tracked down. Of course, the first time I did that, it was a cat I had to bring back to its owner."

Luna was mildly apprehensive of recruiting her tutor's grandnephew to help her, mostly because she wanted to do this on her own. But since she hit something of a dead end, Luna relented and handed Haru a little spiral-bound notebook. "The notes I jotted down are on the first page," Luna explained as she handed the notebook over.

Flipping the notebook over, Haru scanned the words that Luna wrote. "I see," the raven-haired youth remarked as he read the notes, "I see, I s- HOLY CRUD!"

"Little dude?" Luna said in a curious tone, caught off guard by Haru suddenly exclaiming something.

"I just need you to clarify something for me really quick," Haru said. Looking around the parking lot of Aloha Comrade, Haru spotted a pickup truck that was mostly green and looked to be in relatively good condition. "That's a pickup truck, right?" Haru asked as he pointed the green pickup truck out to Luna.

"Yeah, that's a pickup truck," Luna replied in a mildly confused tone, "What, you don't see a lot of pickup trucks over where you and Harold-sensei live?"

"Not really, although I have seen pictures of them once or twice before," Haru explained, "But that's beside the point. I've seen a truck that matches the description of the one in your notes when I was making my way here since your little sisters told me you were heading over here."

"You've seen the truck?" Luna asked, her eyes widening with surprise.

Nodding once, Haru said, "It was parked in a driveway of a house in a neighborhood that I passed on my way here. The neighborhood looks like it's populated mainly by people from those funny blue-collar movies that my Uncle Harold and his friends like so much." Turning around, Haru continued, "If you want, I can take you over there. I'll have to take off as soon as I drop you off, but you should be able to make your way back home." Luna nodded in agreement as she asked Haru to lead the way.

Kneeling down slightly, Haru replied, "It'd be quicker if you just climbed onto my back and let me carry you over."

"Are…are you sure?" Luna replied, a confused look on her face.

"I'm a lot stronger than I look," Haru replied, "It helps that my mom taught me this one trick that lets me enhance my strength."

Knowing about the things that people from where Harold lives are capable of doing, Luna decided to let Haru carry her on his back. After she climbed on, Haru leapt up into the air, landed on the roof of a nearby building, and proceeded to run along the roofs of various building, leaping from rooftop to rooftop as needed. Luna, with the guitar case over her back bouncing along with every leap, felt like she had never been on a wilder ride in all of her life.

In one of the neighborhoods of Royal Woods, two blue collar men were standing outside in the front yard of one of the houses. A red pickup truck, that looked somewhat beaten up, sat in the driveway of the house. The two men were talking while one of them, the one wearing green, was tending to some meat that he was cooking on a barbecue grill.

"Hey Buck," the man wearing the green plaid shirt said, "I thought that the boss man only had one kid. What was with those little girls at the place earlier?"

"No clue Gary," said the man wearing the red plaid shirt, apparently named Buck, "Maybe the boss man has more kids than just a son."

"And another thing," the man wearing the green plaid shirt, apparently named Gary, said as he continued, "I was told that the boss man's son had dark reddish hair, but that kid that we beat up had ashy white hair." With a mild hint of worry in his tone, Gary continued, "Buck, you don't think that the kid we whumped was the wrong kid, do you?"

"Boy, I'll say you beat up the wrong kid," a mysterious female voice called out, getting Gary and Buck to look around to see who had spoken up. It was Buck who first spotted Luna standing on the roof of the house that they were at, but the two men in plaid had no clue who the musically inclined Loud sibling was. Luna was also holding Axeimum the Awesomeslayer, not that either of the two men recognized the truly epic and awesome legendary guitar.

"Hey kid," Buck said as he pointed up at Luna in an accusatory manner, "What are you doing up there? Also, how did you get up there?"

"My little sisters told me that they saw our brother get beaten up by two grown men before said men took off," Luna replied without answering any of the questions that was asked of her, "The two of you both match the description of the two men that my sisters gave me." Looking over to the driveway, Luna got a good look at the slightly beat up looking pickup truck that sat there.

Turning her attention back to Gary and Buck, Luna continued, "And your truck matches what my sisters said the getaway vehicle looks like. Not only that, but I did just hear the two of you talking about beating up my little brother." Her gaze narrowing slightly, the musical Loud sibling continued, "I don't suppose that you two would care to explain, would you?"

"That kid we beat up is your brother, right?" Buck said, "Then that means that the boss man is your dad as well! That dad of yours has a lot of nerve, trying to run the sewage treatment plant like a business center full of cubicles! He even has us wear suits to the job! Wearing suits, to a job at a sewage treatment plant! What the actual hell?!"

"Sewage treatment plant?" Luna repeated in a confused tone, "What the hell are you guys talking about? My dad works over at Aloha Comrade!" Upon hearing that information from Luna, the two men went wide-eyed with shock before turning to face each other.

"…Buck, I think that we really did get the wrong kid by mistake," Gary said in a worried tone.

"And now you men will pay for that mistake," Luna declared as she held up a guitar pick. The musical Loud sibling then did play an epic song of awesome on Axeimum the Awesomeslayer.

And lo, a great pillar of flames did shoot up out of the barbecue grill, burning the food that was being cooked into a fine powdery ash in the process. A large crack appeared in the front yard as the very ground shook, tearing the yard asunder as steam from the bowels of the earth shot up from the crack and into the sky. In a blue jay nest that was in a nearby tree, the eggs hatched into full-grown bald eagles. In a bald eagle nest that was on the roof of a church across the street, the eggs hatched into explosions.

When Luna played a particularly epic chord, a sonic wave did emanate from Axeimum the Awesomeslayer, flying right at Gary and Buck, assaulting them with a pounding sonic wave of awesome and rock. Gary was particularly harmed by the epic rock, as his face shifted and began to melt, causing him to scream in agony and pain.

"We gotta get inside!" Buck exclaimed upon seeing his friend's face starting to melt. However, before the two men could even get close to the house's front door, a crack appeared along the pavement in front of the front door, and a great wall of fire shot up out of the crack, blocking the men from being able to escape into the house.

"To the truck, man!" Buck exclaimed in steadily growing panic as he led his friend to the truck. The two men managed to get inside the truck, Buck stuck the keys into the ignition, turned them, and was able to pull out of the driveway to start driving away. As the two men tried to flee, Luna played another chord on Axeimum the Awesomeslayer.

As Luna played that chord, the fire from the crack near the front door flew up and flew right at the fleeing truck. The aim was true, and the truck was struck by the homing flames, getting blown up as a result. The explosion was so loud, so grand, that it was bound to get attention.

"I…should probably make like a bird flying south for the winter and get the duck out of here," Luna remarked to herself as she stopped playing Axeimum the Awesomeslayer upon witnessing the truck blowing up; it was not her intention to have the truck blow up, as she only wanted to hit it in the side, making it spin before it hit a parked car (Luna was even trying to aim for it). "The sooner I get out of here," Luna continued to herself in a worried tone, "The better. It'd be really bad if I was seen around here."

Quickly making her way off of the roof of the house that she was standing on, Luna got her feet back onto solid ground. Once she did, Luna looked around quickly, got a general idea of where she was at, then proceeded to run like hell as quickly as she could, lest she be spotted in that area when people undoubtedly would begin to come out and investigate the explosion they heard. She did not expect her efforts to have that much of an effect.

"…blew up in the Royal Woods neighborhood of Country Comfort earlier today," a news reporter said as the Loud family, Harold Fisher and Harold's grandnephew Haru were watching a breaking news report on the TV in the Loud family's living room at their house, "The two men who were in the truck when it exploded, Gary Freeman and Buck Hunter, died in the explosion. An investigation launched by local law enforcement deduced that the truck blew up due to internal problems such as a leaky gas tank. And now onto sports. Roger?"

Right as the sports section of the news started up, the front door of the Loud family's house was opened, and when everyone turned to see what it was, they saw Luna walk back into the house. "Luna, my student," Harold said in greeting, "Glad to see that you made your way back. Did you have fun while you were out?"

"Of course, Harold-sensei," Luna replied as she nodded once in the affirmative, "I just had to take care of some…urgent business that I had."

"Did you hear?" Rita said to her musically inclined daughter, "A truck blew up in one of the neighborhoods here in Royal Woods earlier!"

"A truck blew up?" Luna said, looking mildly alarmed; the alarmed look was flawless acting on Luna's part, however, acting that fooled everyone.

"Two men who were in the truck both perished in the explosion," Rita continued in a worried tone, "Oh, if it wasn't for the fact that we have someone like Lana looking after Vanzilla's needs, I'd have gotten your father to replace it ages ago!"

"Well don't worry mom," Lana said with a hint of smugness in her tone, "As long as I'm around, Vanzilla will stay running."

"Well I hope that you and stayed safe while you were out," Lynn Sr. said, "With everything on the news as of late talking about either some trucks blowing up or people being killed, a man can't help but worry about his kids, you know?" With a mildly confused look on his face, Lynn Sr. asked, "Speaking of you being out Luna, what were you up to? Just getting some fresh air, I take it?"

"Yeah, I just needed to get out for a bit," Luna replied, "Getting some fresh air, just like you said, pops." Sniffing the air, Luna asked, "Is that pizza?"

"Yeah, we're having pizza for dinner," Lynn Sr. replied as he nodded once in the affirmative. Turning to face Harold and Haru, Lynn Sr. continued, "Say Harold, would you and Haru care to join us for dinner?"

"Sure, why not?" Harold replied with a casual shrug. Turning his attention to Haru, Harold said, "What do you think, little dude? Pizza sound good?"

"I have no objections," Haru replied.

With a mildly amused smile on his face, Harold turned back to face Lynn Sr. and Rita and said, "Well, there you have it. We'll be glad to join you all for dinner."

…

And so, Harold and his grandnephew joined the Loud family for dinner that evening. Due to the increased number of people that are having dinner, both the kiddy table and the main table had to be used, something that hadn't been seen since Lynn Sr. and Rita decided to do away with the concept of the kiddy table. The five youngest Loud girls, Lincoln and Haru sat at the kiddy table while the five oldest Loud girls, Lynn Sr., Rita and Harold sat at the main table. The guests of the evening were even kind enough to entertain their hosts with stories of things that occurred back where they lived.

"…And that's how my Uncle Harold and his friends made a supercar," Haru said to Lincoln and the five youngest Loud girls, "It was the coolest car I ever saw in my life. Uncle Harold and his friends even used it in a fundraiser to raise a lot of money!"

"I wish I could ride in a car like that," Lana remarked, "It sounds totally awesome."

"And that's not even the coolest thing that Uncle Harold and his friends did," Haru replied, "You guys wanna hear about the time that they met Santa Claus and saved Christmas?"

"They met Santa Claus and saved Christmas," Lisa said in her usual dry monotone, "Yeah, like that's believable."

"Oh no," Haru continued, "They actually did that. In fact, Uncle Harold told me how he and his friends flew from home to home to deliver gifts to all of the kids…"

Meanwhile, a different story was being told by Harold over at the main table. "Yeah, she's got about twenty pounds or so left to lose the last time I checked," Harold remarked, "Hell, I bet that the dudes back home made some progress on that while Haru and I are here."

"You and your friends helped a local overweight woman lose weight," Rita began in a mildly confused tone, "By dancing?"

"Hey now," Harold replied as he pointed to Rita, "The power of dance is almost as potent a power as the dank power of awesome and rock. It is very difficult to master."

"Harold-sensei is right, mom," Luna remarked before she took a bite out of her slice of pizza.

"So, Luna," Lynn began, "Your battle of the bands is tomorrow night. You think you're ready to wow everyone?"

"I don't think I'm ready, mom," Luna said, "I know I'm ready."

"It is good that you have faith in yourself, my young student," Harold remarked, "You were ready for an event such as the one tomorrow night ages ago. I have no doubt that you and your band will achieve awesome immortality." Giving Luna a pat on the back, Harold continued, "You got this."

"Thanks, Harold-sensei," Luna replied, a small but sincere smile on her face.

"Ah, forget about it," Harold said, "But anywho, I'm wondering how that brother of yours was treated and released so quickly. Are there medics in Royal Woods like the medics back where Haru and I come from?"

The following evening, a stage was set up over at the Royal Woods community center for the battle of the bands performance that was taking place. People from all over Royal Woods, along with a few people from outside of Royal Woods, came to watch the showdown between multiple bands. The music was loud, the light effects were dazzling, and even the very air itself seemed to be electrified.

Luna, Sam and a few of their friends were having their go at rocking out. Their music was by far the best that had been played so far; from the looks of things, it was looking like Luna and company were going to win the battle of the bands. It helped that the musical Loud sibling was using Axeimum the Awesomeslayer to rock out.

Near the back of the main auditorium of the community center, Chandler, a local boy, was watching the battle of the bands. A rather popular student at Royal Woods Elementary School, Chandler was also a rather conceited boy as well. Granted, he didn't get exactly what he wanted all the time, but at least he's able to worm his way out of any and every unfavorable situation that he finds himself in.

…That was until about thirty seconds into the song being performed by Luna and her band, that is. As he was standing in an open doorway, Chandler yelped a bit out of surprise when someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Turning around to see who it was, Chandler saw that it was Francisco, a local thirteen-year-old and sportsman who, in recent events, had been shamed in sports, although one was a team thing that most of the team, not counting Francisco himself, was in on. Chandler could tell full well that Francisco did not look happy.

"About damn time I found you, you little turd," Francisco hissed quietly at Chandler.

"What do you want?" the conceited boy asked, a mild hint of fear in his tone.

"I know it was you," Francisco said as he pointed an accusing finger at Chandler, "I know it was you who was behind it all."

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Chandler replied, his worry slowly but steadily growing.

"Don't you lie to me," Francisco said as he raised a fist, "You conceited little s-"

Before Francisco could even finish, a quick blow to the back of his head knocked him out, causing him to fall over. Behind Francisco was a tall man; fair-skinned, the man had raven black hair that came up out of the back of his head, aside from bangs that framed his face. He wore a dark-colored long-sleeved shirt under a green sleeveless vest that had multiple small pouches on each side of the chest, a pair of pants of the same color as the long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of men's sandals. To Chandler's mild confusion, the man also wore a headband that had a thin metal plate over it; etched into the center of this plate was a stylized symbol of a leaf.

As he picked up the knocked-out Francisco and slung him over his shoulder, the man said to Chandler, "Are you alright, young man?"

"Well I am now, since you stopped that kid who was about to beat me up for no good reason," Chandler replied. With a mildly confused and concerned look on his face, Chandler continued, "Umm, he's going to live, right?"

"I merely knocked him out," the man replied to Chandler, "I'll lay him on a bench somewhere and let him wake up on his own. Granted, he may wake up with a slight pain in the back of his head, but that's what he gets for trying to beat up kids who are smaller than him."

"You came in out of nowhere and knocked that kid out," Chandler remarked, "Are you a witch?"

With an indifferent shrug, the man said, "If ninjas count as witches, then sure, why not?"

"What are you even doing here, sir?" Chandler asked.

"My son is in this city with his granduncle," the man explained, "I'm just checking in to make sure that my son is okay."

"Oh, alright then," Chandler replied. He then waved the man good-bye, hoping that he wouldn't run into Francisco alone again anytime soon.

The following day over at the Loud family's residence, Luna was helping Harold and Haru pack things into a car. "Here's Axeimum the Awesomeslayer, Harold-sensei," Luna said as she picked up and handed a guitar case over to her pink-haired music tutor.

"I told you that you'd do well last night, my young student," Harold remarked, "Where's the first-place award that your band won, by the way? I was hoping to take a picture of you with it so I can show my wife when I get home."

"It's over at Sam's place," Luna replied, "But my sister Lori took a picture of me and the band with the trophy last night on her smartphone. I bet that can get her to email the picture to you if you want."

"Sounds legit," Harold replied as he shot his student a thumbs-up, which Luna returned with an amused smile.

"Hey Uncle Harold," Haru said as he tossed a backpack into the backseat of the car before closing the door, "I'm all packed."

"Well then, I guess that means we can get going," Harold said. Turning to face Luna, the pink-haired man offered her a fist bump as he said, "You have come a very long way since I first started tutoring you in the ways of the dank powers of awesome and rock. You are already far more accomplished than what most people will ever get to be, but you still have quite a way to go. Do not forget to keep up with your training, my young student."

With something of a smirk, Luna accepted the offered fist bump while saying, "Well I would like to learn how to do that cloud-talking thing that you did. That was one of the most dope things that I have ever seen."

"Ah, there we go," Harold said in a pleased tone, "Having a goal is always helpful in training." Harold and Haru got into the car and drove off, with Luna waving them good-bye as the two of them disappeared into the horizon. As Luna watched the two of them drive off, Lincoln came walking up to her.

"Congratulations on winning the battle of the bands last night, Luna," Lincoln said, "I bet that you've never been happier."

"Well," Luna replied as she turned to face her little brother, "There is one thing that made me happier than me and my band winning the battle of the bands last night."

"Really?" the sole Loud boy replied with a confused look on his face, "Well if it's not music-related, then I have no clue what-" Lincoln was cut off midsentence when Luna knelt down and drew him into a gentle hug.

"The one thing that made me happier than winning the battle of the bands last night," Luna said, "Is you still sticking around here with us." Understanding what his older sister was feeling, Lincoln smiled and gently returned the hug. The two of them stayed like that for a few more seconds before Luna led her little brother back into their family's house.

END, TEN REASONS CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Author's notes:

And…there, Luna's time in the spotlight has finished. From what I've been able to gather, Luna is arguably the most popular Loud sister overall (I'm not sure if that is actually true, but it's what I've been able to observe). Granted, Luna is not my personal favorite out of the ten Loud sisters, but I won't begrudge people who like Luna best out of the ten Loud sisters. Oh, before I forget, this is the end of the bizarre/surreal storylines; the remainder of the story from here on out will, by comparison, be normal. Anywho, the next arc in this story is going to be something of a double-feature, as well as one that I am actually kind of looking forward to.

Next time: Toad-Tiara tag team