Sometime later, back at the McBrides...
Clyde walked back and forth in front of the Loud sisters, who firmly watched him as he spoke, "Okay, ladies, it took a while but we managed to create an obstacle course to try and turn you back to normal!"
And then Clyde pointed at the amalgamation that was the Loud course.
"Lori! For your challenge, you have to call the cellphones, no matter how much your bracelet shocks you!"
"I will sacrifice my magnificence if it means returning to normal, I guess," Lori replied.
"Leni! For your challenge, you must identify what's good and bad fashion, no matter how much your bracelet shocks you!"
"Piece of cake," Leni said, focusing on spinning a basketball.
"Luna! For your challenge, you must rock the socks off these mick swagger objects!"
The teenager drooled, seemingly in awe.
"Luan! For your challenge, you must prank every single cardboard cutout!"
The pranksters shrugged.
"Lynn! For your challenge, you must kick the balls into the goalposts, and no, mine don't count!"
Lynn just said, "Obviously."
"Lucy! You must write poetry!"
"I'm telling you Haiku, I can't believe you're dating this guy!" Lucy complained to her phone.
"Lana and Lola! You must play in the mud and look beautiful respectively!"
"My gut tells me it must be done, but my brain tells me we will all die in the end, so there's no point," Lana stated.
"I have a gut feeling about this," Lola said with a chuckle. "Get it?"
"Lisa! You must solve an incredibly hard equation!"
Lisa shrugged. "Like, okay."
"Everybody got it?" Clyde asked, earning nods from the girls. "Then get to it!"
And so, all the sisters ran forward to their courses and... well:
Lisa attempted to complete the ecuation, but she had her attention constantly taken by the fashion in Leni's course. And even then, every single time she tried to even go near the equation, the bracelet shocked her and sent her flying back quite a while back.
Lana just laid on the ground around the puddles, apparently acting like an opposum. Meanwhile, her twin Lola spoke to the mirrors... and told them jokes. Thank goodness they couldn't hear her.
Lucy sat on the ground and wrote something on a paper, so nothing seemed out of place. But instead of writing a poem, she was apparently writing about Clyde... while still speaking to Haiku on her phone, "And now, Haiku, I'm going to literally write all the reasons why you and Clyde shouldn't date!"
Lynn strategically tried to play with the ball in a way that the bracelet wouldn't shock her in return, but she was shocked no matter what happened. Eventually, she just gave up and started to calculate a better way to try and undo the bracelet's influence.
Luan shredded an air guitar as an audience of puppets watched motionlessly. Meanwhile, Luna was shocked everytime she tried to touch the guitars, and then she grabbed a poster of Mick Swagger and rolled in the ground with it, crying in the process.
Finally, Leni constantly bounced a ball against the fashion mannequins, while Lori took a bunch of selfies with the phone, and did absolutely nothing else with it.
"Good lord, I had a feeling the bracelet's influence was going to be strong, but not this strong," Clyde thought in disbelief. "Okay girls, get back here."
The Louds immediately returned to Clyde's side. "Alright, it has become clear to me that this obstacle course... isn't going to be of much help right now," Clyde told the girls, and they couldn't help but agree with him. "Do any of you have any ideas of how we can fix you up?"
"Oh, I have an idea!" Lisa exclaimed, waving her hand. "We should, like, just go with the flow and wait for the bracelets to short-circuit on their own!"
A couple seconds of silence later, Clyde remarked, "I don't know how that bracelet does it, but it definitely knows how to make you sound like Leni."
"Actually, Lisa might be having one of those rare smart Leni moments," Lynn argued, catching everybody's attention. "We tried to force the bracelets to short-circuit, and it didn't do us any good. However, if we were to try and let these things short circuit on their own, perhaps that would wind up being far more beneficial in the long run."
After hearing that little explanation, Clyde immediately ran inside, with the sisters exchanging looks of confusion. He bolted all the way to his room, and then looked at himself in a mirror while touching his left ear, revealing he had an earpiece in it.
"Bobby, did you get all that?" Clyde asked to his earpiece.
"Loud and clear, Junior, but the little red girl probably had that in mind when she commisioned the bracelets," Bobby answered from the other line. "As for what you should do now... beats me, but the girls musn't return to their house just yet. Do something, anything, to convince them to stay there with you."
With that done, the girls barged into Clyde's bedroom and startled him. "Girls, please don't scare me like that!" Clyde told the girls, right before saying the next in a far gentler tone. "I mean Lori, you can come in anytime, but all 10 of you... it's troublesome."
"Whatever, we just wanted to know if you needed us for something else," Luna said. "If you have nothing, then we'll just be on our way-"
"Wait!" and then, Clyde said something he would regret very soon: "Would you like to have a sleepover at the basement?"
A couple seconds of silence later, Lynn narrowed her eyes and said, "Clyde, you're acting a bit suspicious, have you been affected by Cristina's tricks too?"
"N-No, not at all!" Clyde replied. "I just believe that you should spend some time away from Lincoln, 'cause I get the feeling it would be better that way."
Lynn shook her head, "I believe that too, but how are we supposed to spend some time away from him? There's nothing left for us to do here."
"Well, I could convince Lincoln to come here for a sleepover," this suggestion immediately caught the attention of the sisters. "He'll sleep here and you can relax back home, and maybe even get an idea on how to fix yourselves. What do you think?"
And as the girls discussed what to do next, Clyde couldn't help but meekly think with worry:
"If this doesn't end up convincing them... Oh boy, I'm in trouble..."
And then Lori, of all people, suggested, "How about we sleep with Clyde? If we go back home, one of us is bound to use the game to play the Lincoln route, and that wouldn't help anybody, would it?"
"Nevermind, I'm in trouble anyway," Clyde thought, before saying, "S-Sure, you can do that too. It might get a bit crowded in here, though, so how about you sleep in the basement?"
"Fine, basement it is," Lori remarked. "See ya tomorrow, Clyde!"
The girls left, leaving Clyde to think, "I never thought this would happen, but Lori-and other girls-are sleeping with me, and I'm not okay with that... Cristina, you better make sure this is worth it in the end."
Back at the Santiago Household...
Ronnie and Lincoln sat together and watched TV. They were currently watching a show about a boy and his many sisters being bounded by the will of an evil mastermind by the usage of bracelets. No doubt Lincoln found this very relatable at the moment.
"Dang it, as long as Evil Lord Christabel holds the master bracelet, my sisters and I are nothing but his pawns!" the main character exclaimed, pointing at the crimson bracelet held by Evil Lord Christabel. "He'll force us to become lovers against our will!"
"You got that right, Albinodrigo! I will show you and your sisters the truth!" Evil Lord Christabel exclaimed, raising his fists victoriously. "You will feel the true extent of depravity! You will see what "the matchmakers" do to us for fun! And when I destroy them, I will be seen as the world's savior!"
"Geez, the only thing worse than this show's acting is the fact that I can relate to it," Lincoln remarked, earning a chuckle from Ronnie.
And then, Lincoln got an idea. "That's it! Maybe the bracelets work the same way they do in that tv show and are controlled by a master bracelet," he argued, no doubt surprising-and most importantly, confusing-Ronnie Anne. "That means that the only thing my sisters and I have to do, is find whoever has the master bracelet, make them take it off and then destroy it, and we'll be free!"
"That... makes sense, I guess," Ronnie remarked.
"I have to tell Clyde about this!" Lincoln exclaimed.
But just before she could stop him, Ronnie decided to let Lincoln go tell his best friend as she knew what she was going to do next. She went back to her room, opened the closet and gave Cristina an angry look, all while the redhead looked bored at best, apathetic at worst.
"Did you seriously have to base your plan out of a television show!?" Ronnie snapped.
But Cristina didn't respond.
"Oh, so we're back to the silent cutie nonsense, huh?"
Cristina nodded, blushing and covering her cheeks with a sly smile. Noticing this, Ronnie blushed, shook her head and returned to reality.
"Well then, answer me this: Who has the master bracelet?"
Cristina smiled as she walked out of the closet... and outright refused to answer Ronnie's question. And the tomboy eventually gave up on that question when the two went downstairs, with Cristina heading towards a tray of cinnamon rolls.
"Fine then, let me ask you something you will answer," and then Ronnie asked, sounding honestly worried, "Cristina, are you planning to do something regarding my relationship with Lincoln?"
The redhead, however, just smiled and continued walking as Ronnie asked more loudly, "Cristina, answer me! Are you planning to do something about that?!"
Cristina stopped right on her tracks, turned around... and gave Ronnie a sly grin and smug look, sending a shiver up Ronnie's spine so chill, she actually stepped back and trembled, though she still tried to stand her ground. Even then, Ronnie couldn't help but feel that Cristina would always be a step ahead of her, no matter what happened.
Narrowing her eyes with slight condescendence, Cristina continued on her way and left the room, letting the hispanic girl get some breathing space. Needless to say, Ronnie soon went to a nearby window and formed a fist with her hand.
"Cristina... If you do something to Lincoln and me, you will pay dearly for it!" she shouted, right before punching the wall.
And it was not a weak strike either, Ronnie actually managed to partially crack the wall. Not that she herself wasn't hurt in return, for she hit the ground and grabbed her fist, shedding a couple tears.
Nearby the room, Cristina heard everything with an apathetic look, and once Ronnie calmed down, she... slid a medical kit into the room before leaving for real. She then went downstairs and, remembering the tray of cinnamon rolls, she took one, gave it a condescending smirk...
And then promptly snapped it in two.
"I hope this is an accurate comparison," Cristina remarked, before grabbing and eating part of the cinnamon bun with her teeth.
Back at the Loud House...
Lincoln went inside, and immediately felt that something was off. Then, he did the thing he came there for: Call Clyde to tell him the news. But not before receiving Ronnie's message:
"Hey La-...Lincoln. It's Ronnie Anne. Hey, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if I hung out with any of your sisters? Lana, Lola, Lynn, anybody is fine. I just need to take a bit of a break from what's happening right now-don't ask me about it-and I would like to talk with another girl. Not that I have any issue talking with you, but since you already got a lot to deal with, I don't wanna be another pest. So, respond when you can."
And then, the boy pondered what to reply. He just got back on Ronnie's good side, so ignoring the message wouldn't do him any good, but if he was to reject the idea, he had to be gentle. So, he said the next:
"Listen, Ronnie, while in any other I wouldn't mind if you hung out with my sisters, right now It's not the best idea. They're suffering a lot, and have had their personalities currently changed into that of others. Seriously, after Cristina's dealt with, we might even need to go to therapy! So the short answer is that no, for the moment, I think it would be better if you didn't hang out with my sisters. It's the best for us both."
So he sent the message, and went on to call his best friend.
"Hello, Clyde?" Linc greeted. "Listen, I think I found out how to get rid of the bracelets!"
"Before you say anything, I convinced your sisters to have a sleepover at my house, so that's why your house is quieter than usual, just in case you were wondering about it," Clyde hastily answered, which Lincoln understood just fine. "Anyway, what did you want to tell me?"
"Oh, right, uh, I was with Ronnie Anne, and I saw a show that gave me an idea: Maybe the bracelets are connected to a "master bracelet" of sorts, so if we got rid of this bracelet the other bracelets would lose power and everybody would be freed from their control," Lincoln explained, with a slight hint of sadness in his tone. "Also, can you please tell my sisters about this? It's very important."
A couple seconds of silence later, Clyde answered, in a matter-of-fact tone, "Sure, I'll tell them everything. Goodbye Lincoln."
"Goodbye."
The boy hung the phone and remained on the couch for a while longer. During that time, he took a look to his left, and a look to his right, but no matter where he looked, the Loud House's characteristic loud environment was replaced by an omnious silence. And it wasn't even any sort of silence by Loud House standards, like the girls being quieter than usual, no, this was true silence: complete absence of sound Lincoln was familiar or even comfortable with.
Not helping were Lincoln's thoughts in that exact moment:
"I miss them already..."
Then, at the McBrides' Basement...
Clyde-now in his pajamas-watched as the Loud Sisters got ready to sleep, laying on their custom-made beds. They had just been told about the master bracelet deal too, so there's that.
"Thanks for letting us stay in here for the night, Clyde," Luna said as she tucked herself.
"And thanks for the information regarding the bracelets too," Leni added. "You're such a sweetie."
"Yeah, you're like a cinnamon roll too, Leni," Clyde replied, giving the teenager a thumbs up and a wink. "Just remember everyone, try to have a goodnight sleep. I will be up a little bit later than usual to deal with some stuff, so if you need help with something, you know where to find me."
"Where?" Lisa asked.
Clyde gave the girl an incredulous look before answering "my room" and leaving straight for his bedroom. Once there, Clyde took out a laptop and turned it on as he got a call, with the caller being none other than Ronnie Anne.
"Hi Ronnie," Clyde greeted. "I'm about to get to work on when the bracelets will change, I'll let you know when I decipher the exact time it will take them to switch again."
"Got it, keep up the good work, buddy," Ronnie replied, hanging the phone before calling somebody else, "Carol, status report on Lori."
"Okay, so Junior is still acting like her fabulous princess sister, so nothing out of the ordinary there," Carol answered, before adding in discomfort, "Although, it seems that Bobby was replaced by some black kid. Not that I have anything against black people, but telling me about the change would have been nice."
"Well, Cristina has gone quiet again," Ronnie replied. "And it doesn't seem she'll talk anytime soon. But worst of all, I asked her if she was planning to jeopardize my relationship with Lincoln... and she didn't answer me."
Speaking of Cristina...
The girl surfed through the internet on her laptop in the middle of a dark room, with the light from the monitor illuminating her face, revealing small eye bags under her... well, eyes. She was apparently writing something to Agape, which basically amounted to:
"Dear Agape, please bring me information on "Project Ghoul Syrum" as soon as possible. There's something I must discuss with you. And stop being such an ass all the time! Do you wanna become part of the garden?!"
And then, once she sent the message, she slowly closed her laptop as she turned to her clock. The clock was marked 9:35 pm.
"Heh, I might actually get to sleep earlier than yesterday, but first," the redhead thought before taking out a list. "I need to make sure I have everything checked out."
The list contained some simple objects: Meatballs, spaghetti, location, romantic mood. They were all checked, meaning the girl had already acquired the items.
Satisfied, the redhead then turned a particular picture on the wall. The picture... was a copy of Lincoln and Ronnie hanging out, surrounded by a large pink heart... and pictures of other potential girls, including the Loud Sisters, marked with red crosses. Including Cristina herself.
"They must get together, no matter what."
-Next Chapter Preview-
Leni, leaning against a wall, watched her sleeping sisters while occasionally looking at her glowing bracelet. And then, once the bracelet stopped glowing, she went forward to Lisa, grabbed her and walked to the door as Lori woke up. "Leni, what are-"
But Leni quickly said, "Would you kindly go back to sleep?"
The teenager fell asleep in an instant, and Leni left the room afterwards.
