The Loud Residence, home of the Loud Family, currently composed of Lincoln Loud, his wife, Ginger K. Loud, and their son, Luther.
For about a decade and a half, the Loud House slowly grew less and less raucous as each and every one of the children of the senior residents grew up and pursued their own lives, with only the occasional get-together seeing all of them come back together under the same roof where they had spent half of their lives.
Now, the only resident of the house was the lone male child of the family, made owner of the place where many memories were made upon its walls and windows, still and silent now without the bustle of the one boy and ten girls.
But soon, he and his family would learn that the Loud House is not one to be quiet for very long.
The front door clicked open and good old Lincoln came in, carrying with him a box, "Honey, Luther! I'm home!"
"Hi Dad!" little Luther came running up to his father, looking at the box he was holding, "What's inside the box, dad?"
"Oh, just some special stuff I had to pick up, they're for when your cousins arrive, Luther."
"Really? Are they toys?" he asked, moving closer and trying to see the opening from the top.
"No, no… just some stuff your aunts wanted me to have in the house before the other kids got here."
"Okay, anyway, me and Felicia helped tidy up the rooms where they'll be staying."
Lincoln adjusted his grip and gave his son a gentle ruffling on his head, "Good boy, thanks Luther."
A little girl's head popped up from the side of the top of the stairs, "Hey, Mr. Loud," it was Felicia, Luther's friend and the daughter of Lincoln's childhood friend, Liam Bramley.
Lincoln waved to her as he started up the stairs, "Nice to see you, Felicia."
"Mind if Luther and I go have some fun at Gus' Games and Grub?" she asked.
"Sure, I think I can handle the rest now that you've finished your end of the chores."
"Thanks dad!" Luther thanked his father and departed with Felicia to some fun and frolic.
…
A few minutes later, after putting together all the necessities in the rooms for his nieces and nephews, he headed back downstairs and towards the smell of his wife's cooking.
"Hey Cookie," Lincoln rested his palms on her shoulders as he leaned in and snuggled into Ginger's neck.
"Hi, Linky, I missed you this morning," she responded back.
He cooed playfully, "Come on, I thought last night would have been enough to get you through the morning."
"A night of dilly hardly fills my pickle jar, you should know by now from years of marriage."
"Duly noted, anyway, we'll be expecting the first wave of the new arrivals."
Ginger sighed, "Don't remind me…"
"Well, they are still my family, Cookie." Lincoln explained, "it's the least I can do for them. Besides, I just know you will love them."
"Fine, I just hope they won't be too disruptive, and more importantly, not a bad influence on Luther." If there was one thing to be said about Ginger, it's that her greatest pride and joy was her little boy. Perhaps it was the novelty of having an only child, but Ginger doted on her son quite possibly more than her husband did, the result of which made Luther a sweet, but ultimately naïve, child.
Ginger grew more and more protective of her son, at times becoming obsessed with protecting him against anything and everything she thinks would be a threat to his psyche. Her aggressive mothering might have been a terrible ordeal for Luther to deal with, were it not for Lincoln providing a second opinion.
He wrapped his arms around her, whispering soothing words into her ear, allaying any misgivings she had at this point, "Relax, Luther will be fine, and I should know, I grew up in a large family; sure, we had our ups and downs, but I think I grew up pretty well-adjusted, and I'm pretty sure Luther will as well."
"Very well, I'll give them a chance, and Luther is really fond of his cousins when they come over. It would be nice for him to have friends his age live with us."
She turned to him, and they gave each other a kiss, "So, where's Luther?"
"He and Felicia went to have some fun over at Gus' Games and Grub."
…
Over at Gus' Games and Grub, Luther and Felicia were sitting down in a booth, enjoying some pepperoni and mushroom pizza.
"So, after this, what do you feel like playing first? Maybe we can try out that new House of the Undead: Carmine Dawn."
Felicia raised her brow curiously, "Isn't that the game your mom said was too intense for you?"
"Oh yeah, she did say that… well, my dad told her that I could play the next time we came here, and that he'll make sure I don't get too scared."
"I see…" she glanced over to the arcade machines, "You know, if you wanted to, we could have a go at it now, maybe get good at the game before you and your dad play together, you could wow him by showing off how good you are by knowing what to expect."
Luther's eyes perked, as did his interest, "You really think so?"
Felicia nodded, "Oh, I know so."
"Well, okay, you've talked me into it, come on." Luther headed towards the arcade area and sat in the booth machine of the game in question.
"Ooh, spooky…" Luther commented while the game played its attract mode.
"Getting cold feet?" Felicia asked teasingly.
"No way, I can handle a bunch of zombies and crazy monsters!" Luther declared, puffing his chest as a show of bravery.
The game was a lot more hectic than the previous installments he had known, and he and Felicia were a little overwhelmed but slowly, their gaming experience slowly caught up and they were able to hold their own, with a generous handful of quarters to help them along the way.
"We're not doing so bad, are we?" Felicia commented, while helping to hose down another horde.
"Nope, we're just that good," Luther replied, smiling as he continued having fun with his best friend.
They had beaten the prologue and moved into the first chapter, which proved to be their first real challenge of the game.
"Almost there, man, my blood is boiling!" Felicia said, excited.
Luther was likewise eager, "Heck yeah!"
The two kids were performing admirably, and between the two of them, they only lost one life.
Felicia turned to Luther, pumped and confident, "Here it comes, I'm ready to tackle the bad boy, you?"
"Sure am!" Luther responded, matching her eagerness.
"No you are not!" Suddenly, a hand reached out from the curtain hiding the booth and Luther was rather brutishly yanked from the game.
Felicia curiously and hurriedly rushed to look out and see what happened to Luther, and was disappointed, though not surprised, to see Luther being dragged away by his mother.
Luther looked up as Ginger pulled him by his navy-blue hoodie, his eyes meeting with Felicia's, "Sorry Felicia, I guess we'll have to continue the game next time."
Felicia shrugged, smiled, and waved him goodbye, "I'll be counting on it!"
"No, you won't!" Ginger bellowed angrily, as she pulled herself and her son out the door and on their way back home.
…
After getting a half-hour earful from Ginger about the dangers of exposing Luther's innocent mind to violent media and associating with the likes of young miscreants like Felicia, Lincoln sat in the living room, entertaining himself with his phone and waiting for his guests to arrive.
Outside, and mere minutes later, a car drove up to the curb in front of the Loud residence. Inside the car was a couple, preparing to take their child into the house.
The driver, a bespectacled African-American male, of roughly similar age as Lincoln, looked back from his seat and stared at his son.
"Well, this is it; you ready to get into your new home?" he asked.
The boy wearing a violet sports jersey with a number 2 on it sulked in his seat, arms crossed and eyes aside, "I still don't see why I have to stay in this crummy old dustbin."
The mother, a lean athletic lady with brown hair, almost jumped over the front seat, holding her son by the collar of his shirt, "Don't sass your father like that, you little turd!"
The man grabbed her by the shoulder, trying to force her to relent, "Lynn, Lynn! That's enough, calm down!"
Lynn let go, took a deep breath, and slumped back in her seat, "I'm… I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I'm calm… I'm calm…"
"You want me to take him to your brother myself, Lynn?" the father asked, concerned about his wife's outburst.
She turned to her husband, now thinking clearly, "Yeah… just, I need a minute, okay, Clyde?"
He nodded, "Of course." He turned to his boy, "Come on, time to go meet Uncle Lincoln."
The boy hauled his backpack and followed his father up to the door. Ringing the doorbell, the father was greeted by his lifelong friend and brother-in-law, "Hey Lincoln."
"Clyde, great to see you buddy!" They shared a friendly hug, before he looked to the side to see his nephew, "Hey kiddo, you stoked to move in with your uncle?"
Lynn III scoffed, "Sure, I guess."
Lynn stomped up next to her son, "Hey, I thought I told you no sass, you!"
That seemed to put the decidedly unenthusiastic son in his place, freezing up as he could feel his mother's judgmental aura.
…
Clyde got together with Lynn Jr after he helped cater a sports event that Lynn Jr organized. After a few months, the two hit it off and got together; few people expected it, but they did, and eventually, they had a son from their union – Lynn Loud III McBride.
He was molded by his mum as a sporty individual, and he's almost as good at sports as Lynn Jr. Almost, because the poor kid never seems to get a break from his mother, who never settles being number two to anyone, even her own son. Any success that Lynn III tried to earn by his own merits, his mother more than eagerly attributes to being born with luck inherited from her success.
His burgeoning resentment towards Lynn's egotistical parenting plan strained their relationship, first when he became less-inclined to inform her of the things he did, and eventually to flat-out lying about things when he got the chance.
When Lynn got wind of what he had been up to, she confronted him about it. Needless to say, tempers flared, threats were shouted, and perhaps most seriously, injuries were sustained, in the form of a black eye on Lynn III.
Their tussle had finally forced Lynn to come to a realization about herself – she was a horrible mother. She needed to change herself before she tore apart the people she should care about. Clyde and Lynn arranged to go out on a couples' retreat for an indefinite number of months or so, and they decided to leave Lynn III with someone they could trust and who knew better than to put him in harm's way.
…
Lincoln placed a shoulder on Lynn III, giving him a friendly smile as he bent slightly to meet his eyes, "Ginger's preparing dinner so if you haven't eaten yet, you're welcome to join us, then I'll show you where you'll be staying while you're here."
Luther got down and stepped out to the porch, wanting to see the first of his cousins, "Hey, Lynn, haven't seen you in a while."
"Hey, Loser," Lynn III responded condescendingly, though Lynn gave him a sharp nudge.
Luther just kept his cheer, "I see you still have that lisp pronouncing my name."
Lincoln ruffled his son's hair, chuckling with bemusement, "Come on in Lynn III," Lincoln helped guide Lynn III inside, where the boy dropped his backpack off.
Clyde clasped Lynn's hand, then asked, "So, Lincoln, you prepared everything that we requested, right?"
Lincoln nodded, "Got everything squared away earlier this afternoon, we can handle it."
"Good," Clyde turned to his wife, then looked to his son, who was returning the gaze back to his folks, "You be good to Uncle Lincoln now, all right, Lynn III?"
"Yeah…" Lynn III responded, a bit of a distant tone in his voice.
"Lynn, you wanna say something to our son?" Clyde asked, hinting to his wife to make one last effort to leave a good word with Lynn III.
Lynn had trouble finding the words, then stumbled out something, "Hey, boy. You uh… do good and keep outta trouble, all right?"
"Sure…" was Lynn III's reply.
Lincoln gave Clyde and Lynn a friendly goodbye hug, wishing them well, and the couple returned to their car and set off. Lincoln closed the door and turned to Lynn III.
"I'm gonna be waiting for the others to arrive, so you can go to the dining room now, if you want."
"Yeah, come on, Lynn!" Luther grabbed his hand, eager to catch up with him on matters.
Lynn III lost his footing for a brief moment, but rebalanced himself, "All right, all right, geez, you're still a bubbly bundle of smiles, aren't you?"
He turned and faced him, "That's what people like about me the most!"
Lincoln returned to the couch once the two entered the dining area, hearing them greet his wife as he continued waiting for the others.
About thirty minutes into his wait, another car pulled up to the curb, this time a sleek teal SUV, driven by a stout fellow and his voluptuous spouse.
Leni looked to her husband with a pondering expression on her face, "I still don't get why we can't take the kids with us to the Hamster Dam."
"It's Amsterdam, honey," Chaz corrected her, "and I don't think it would be a good idea to bring them with us where we can't keep an eye on them."
Leni Loud Mackenzie had achieved her ambition of her becoming one of America's premiere fashion designers, and with success came endorsements, commissions, and foreign visitations for publicity. Leni and her husband Chaz were preparing for a long fashion tour of Europe, with Amsterdam being their first stop; however, Chaz was concerned that bringing the kids on tour with them may not be a good idea. So it was decided that they would be left with their Uncle Lincoln in Royal Woods.
…
Charlene "Charlie" Mackenzie, daughter and older child of Leni Loud and Chaz Mackenzie, was in many ways like her mother: sweet, big-hearted, slightly dim, and keenly aware of all esoteric fashion knowledge. That being said, she has shown much more self-awareness in her everyday life than her mother did in her teenage years, and many were the smooth-talking Casanova jocks and self-absorbed plastic clique queens upended and left with injured dignity when they made the foolish mistake of trying to exploit her for whatever reason.
Leslie Mackenzie was Leni and Chaz's younger child and Charlie's little brother. A youngster with a slight inferiority complex when compared to his sister, he shows a lot of spunk in the things he does, taking any chance to engage his inner-overachiever; aside from that, he was generally a pretty average kid, but tries hard to protect his older sister. Chivalry isn't dead and in Leslie's mind, it was certainly still alive and vibrant. Though Charlie regards his attempt to act older than his age as quaint, she nevertheless encourages and inspires him to continue it, believing that with some guidance and experience, he could become a great man someday.
…
"Hi Linky!" Leni greeted her brother, giving him a familial peck on the cheek. Chaz gave him a courteous handshake.
"Hey, Uncle Linc!" The two kids greeted in unison, which Lincoln responded to with a gentle pat to Leslie and a gentle hug to Charlie.
Chaz approached Lincoln from the side and gave him his best gentle pat to the side, "Thanks for watching our kids, man."
Lincoln smiled back at him, "No problem, Chaz. Charlie and Leslie are such a delight when they come over."
Leslie and Charlie came inside, setting their luggage down, and were greeted with Luther coming by to see them come in.
"Hi Luther!" Charlie picked him up and hugged him tenderly, rubbing cheeks with each other.
"Hi, Charlie, hello, Leslie," he greeted.
"Hey, dude," Leslie greeted in response, setting down his traveling duffle on the floor near the couch.
"Aunt Ginger's in the kitchen prepping dinner, it should be finished in two shakes of a lamb's tail."
"You guys have a lamb?" Leni asked, "I always wanted to have a little pet lamb, makes it so much easier to have some wool to work with."
"No, Leni," Chaz explained, "That's just an expression, it means she'll be finished really soon."
Leni pondered on it for at least a minute before the memory came back to her, "Oh, well, why don't you just say it like that, you know?"
"Anyway…" Chaz cleared his throat, "We ought to be heading out to the airport now; you got everything squared away for the kids, Lincoln?"
Lincoln nodded, "Yeah, we got all the rooms ready, wasn't sure if they wanted to room together or not, I hope they will, though."
"Good to know, good to know," Chaz turned towards his children, "You two be good, all right?"
"No prob, dad!" Charlie responded cheerily.
Leslie likewise turned to their father, "Yeah dad, you can count on me and Uncle Linc."
Leni approached Lincoln to give her brother a few friendly reminders.
"Don't let Leslie forget to change his you-know-what every day. And try not to catch either of them picking locks."
Lincoln nodded, "Yes, Leni."
"And remember to let Charlie do her own laundry because she's embarrassed about her chest." She continued.
He scratched the back of his head and glanced aside, feeling like this was not something to say in decent company, "Uh, sure, Leni."
"And remember, if Johann comes over to visit please make sure that she and him use a co…" Chaz cut her before she could finish that.
"Okay, I think Lincoln should have a good idea of everything that our kids need." Chaz gently guided his wife back to their vehicle, "See you soon, Lincoln! We'll contact you every now and then to see how they're doing, all right?"
Lincoln waved as they headed to their SUV, "No problem, take care, you guys!"
Leni gave one last wave to her brother and children, "Bye Leslie, bye Charlie, Bye Linky! Oh, and remember, you can reach us at the Hamster Dam!"
"Amsterdam honey," Chaz corrected.
"I'll just text you." Lincoln closed the door as they drove off, and he helped his niece and nephew with their things before bringing them up to the kitchen.
…
In the kitchen, Luther was helping Ginger set up the table, while Charlie was speaking to her boyfriend, Johann, on her smartphone; Lynn III and Leslie were challenging each other to a game of hacky-sack.
Lincoln turned to his watch, and took note of the time, "Oh, looks like it's just about that time." He gestured to his son, "Hey Luther, could you wait near the front door for now? It's almost time for the Spokes to get here."
"No problem, dad," he turned to Ginger, "Hey mom, you don't mind do you?"
Ginger shook her head, "Not at all, I can finish up here by myself, go ahead."
Luther proceeded to the living room, waiting for the next set of arrivals from there while Lincoln proceeded to the backyard, where he was expecting his next arrival. He also had a fire extinguisher nearby, because he knew what to expect.
The sun was setting further and further beneath the horizon, and as the last glimmering arc of light set, a circle was burned into the short grass, within that circle was a five-pointed star. A minute later, hot smoke and sparks of ash began spinning and dancing about, and soon, a large and loud puff of smoke emerged, and where once was nothing, came three figures.
"Hi Lucy," Lincoln greeted as he set about dousing the embers.
"Hey Lincoln. I see you are prepared this time."
Lincoln loosed a gentle laugh at the comment, "Last time, Ginger almost got a restraining order against you."
"I don't have too much time to talk, sorry Lincoln."
He shook his head, "It's okay Lucy, Fangs already gave me your uh, message. I don't get why you don't use a phone anymore."
"Bad reception in the Underworld; anyway, as I've mentioned in the message, Rocky has gotten himself lost while exploring one of the more dangerous levels and doesn't have the power to come back home on his own. I need you to watch Rudy and Eddie while I go venture downward myself."
…
Rüdiger "Rudy" Spokes was the only child of Rocky Spokes and Lucy Loud. Rudy was much like his mother, being fond of things that were macabre and otherworldly, although that was the extent of their similarity.
Whereas Lucy was rather dour and stern, Rudy was eccentric and whimsical. While Lucy loved dark, serious dramas, Rudy preferred something a bit more comical, if still somewhat grim. Lucy isn't quite sure what to think of the unusual combination that was her son's personality, but at some point a mother's love looks past the oddities of their children; after all, her mother was nothing like her and she still loved her all-the-same, and in the areas where they share interest, particularly that of the occult, she could cultivate it with all the knowledge that she could impart, that Rudy learns and finds his own path in the future.
Speaking of Rudy's fascination and mastery of all things occult, he was studying to become one under his parents' tutelage.
Now they were grooming Rudy to take on their little family business, and their little one showed much promise, although he had much more to learn and techniques to polish before he was worthy in his parents' eyes.
…
After putting out the last ember, Lincoln set the extinguisher aside and turned to his younger sister, "I get that, they're not powerful enough to travel down with you yet, right? Say uh, you got that stuff to get the sulfur smell out?"
Lucy gestured her boy closer to Lincoln, "Yes, he has it in his coffin."
Rudy turned to his mother, pulling his rather garish and decorative luggage and sleeping compartment behind him, "Come on, mom, I'm strong enough! I can help you find dad!"
"No, you're not, you can barely control a familiar," she replied to him, sternly, but she softened after a second, "Rudy, you're still a child, you should enjoy it while you can; there'll be time for us to spelunk in Hades together, but it will be when me and your father have deemed you ready."
"Well, okay…" Rudy replied, resignedly.
Lincoln turned his attention to the third member of Lucy's entourage, a black goat with a small spark of fire floating between his horns, "Um… what's with the goat?"
"This is Eddie," Lucy explained, "he's a demon whom I trapped in the form of a goat."
Lincoln's face showed some concern, "You're not going to leave him here, are you?"
"If I take him to the lower depths, he could escape this form. Also I don't trust him alone."
"I'm not really that much of an expert on demons, but what can I do?"
"Fear not, I've assigned him as Rudy's familiar. He won't harm anyone as long as my son keeps him close, and I've instructed Rudy on how to keep him abated and controlled; additionally, those items I requested from you to prepare Rudy's room with can keep him restrained if Rudy isn't present. "
Lincoln wasn't quite satisfied with the response, but Lucy does know what she's doing, so he decided to take her word for it, "Well, all right…"
Luther unexpectedly arrived, seemed like he had something to say, "Hey dad, I just got a call and… Oh, hi Aunt Lucy!" he waved to his aunt.
"Hello, Luther," she responded back in kind.
Luther walked up to Rudy upon seeing him, "Hi Rudy!" he ran up to him and gave him a friendly hug, "I missed seeing you around."
Rudy smiled and returned the hug, "Hey, Luther, happy to see you too."
Lucy and Lincoln smiled, seeing their kids get along together so well, much like how she and Lincoln tended to be the closest siblings when they were kids.
Lucy stepped back into the circle, getting ready to depart, "Well, I should get going, who knows what kind of horrible pain Rocky might be in?"
She made a few gestures and shapes with her fingers, and soon a ray of light formed around her circle, Rudy walked up to her to see her off, but before she disappeared, she gave one final warning to her son, "Rudy, you had better not try to summon another succubus like last time, understood?"
"I won't, jeez!" he responded, irritated that his mom wouldn't let up after that one time he summoned a demon who was a little bit clingy, and not the kind you'd want in decent company, either.
As Lucy vanished into thin air, Luther stood next to his cousin, "What's a succubus?"
Lincoln knelt behind them, with a hand on each of their shoulders, "It's something awful that good little boys shouldn't mess with." He said, hoping Luther wouldn't press the matter further.
"By the way, Luther, why are you here? I thought I told you to stay near the front door in case the others arrive?"
"Oh, right!" Luther suddenly remembered why he came back, "I got a phone call from the aunts, they said they will probably come by tomorrow, because they can't quite arrive tonight."
"Really?" Lincoln asked, mostly from exasperation, "Well, I guess it is in some of their nature to be late. Well, thanks for telling me, Luther, now let's go back inside and have some grub."
"Okay!" Luther turned back to Rudy, then noticed Eddie, "Oh Rudy, you have a pet?"
"Well, he's my familiar, my mom gave him to me."
"Cool," Luther then noticed the little ball of flame over his head, "Rudy, your goat is on fire."
"Yes, yes he is." He replied nonchalantly, as though a goat with a fireball over his head was the most normal thing in the world.
…
After dinner, Lincoln helped the cousins get settled into their new rooms – the Mackenzies would stay in one room, the one where Lori and Leni used to stay in. Lynn III and Rudy would stay in their mothers' old room.
"This was where my mom used to stay in when she was a kid?" Lynn III had only known his mother as an adult, so he wondered what it would have been like to know her that far back.
Rudy took a gander around the room, feeling the energies and auras permeating its walls, "I can sense a lot of my mom's thoughts and feelings in here... and apparently, your mom's body odor.
Lynn III stifled a chuckle, "Man, my mom was a gross lady."
Rudy set his coffin on the bed, opening the lid and taking out his assortment of curios: charms, trinkets, fetishes, vials with various substances – the kind of things that those knowledgeable in the ways of the occult would have.
Lynn III looked on with curiosity at Rudy's strange collection, he knew that Rudy was very peculiar from the few instances that he got to know him, but that was when he came for the occasional get-together; he suspected that bunking in the same room as him would unravel more about his cousin.
…
In Lori and Leni's old room, Charlie and Leslie were putting their things away and inspecting the goods that Lincoln was asked to provide that would help them settle in more easily in the Loud residence.
"O-M-gosh Leslie! Look, it's the bed mom carved out for Aunt Lori!" Charlie marveled at the piece of furniture set up in the room, moreso because it was her mother's handiwork.
After Lori went to live with Bobby, first when she went to college with him and then later when they got married and had their eleven children, Leni decided to do some minor redecorating of their old room, although she decided to keep the bed she had finished as part of her new room design. She left the bed in the room when she married and lived with Chaz, and since then the room has been mostly empty, though it finds some occasional use as a guestroom for any of Lincoln's or Ginger's guests.
Charlie loved her mother's handiwork when it came to woodworking. She also saw that she had left for her a bunch of small woodblocks and a few carving tools, with a small note from Leni wishing her to continue practicing the lessons she had been tutoring her with and a wish of good luck in doing so, bringing a smile to Charlie's face.
Leslie checked and saw that most of his comic, books and videogame discs. He plucked out one of the comics with a bookmark on it as he continued reading.
…
In the Master Bedroom, Lincoln was in his airy, but form-fitting Ace Savvy Undies, now a size larger than from when he was a kid. Cookie emerged from the nearby bathroom, wearing her threadbare silken negligee that left little to the imagination, and littler to Lincoln's libido.
She tucked under the sheets and snaked her way around her husband, snuggling cozily against his skin.
Lincoln placed one hand around her and to her opposite shoulder, and he rested his head on top of her brunette hair, "So, feeling the pressure yet?"
She smiled, glancing up, "I'm made of stern stuff, Lincoln, I won't crack that easily."
Lincoln laughed gently, and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "I know you are, dear, but you know that we'll always have your back – me and Luther – to keep everyone reined in."
She cooed, and nuzzled his neck, "I know, you two are the best…" then she crawled her way up his torso, licking her lips, "…you especially, dear."
The husband and wife kissed each other passionately, Ginger eager to savor every moment she could with her hubby, especially now that things were potentially going to become just a little bit more chaotic.