The sunrise over the summit of Fuji-san. The warmth of the morning mist enveloping the landscape, calling the entirety of Japan to rise up once more. For most people, this would be the time of day where their hope is at its highest level, overly optimistic about the numerous possibilities toward the future. But for Ichika and his friends, it wasn't a time for celebration, or relief. It was a time of uncertainty and unnerving events. There was no way the people of Japan could've missed the spectacle that was the Battle of the Gospel; with loud noises, flashing lights, and a destroyed port that turned out to be a historic site...how were they going to hide the truth from the public? How were they to answer? Would they even answer, given that they failed to contain the Gospel to absolute privacy, having exposed the general public to the hidden dangers of the IS. Details of their battle have been sent to the IS Academy, and the staff raced to his location. The entire group was automatically transported back to the Academy, and all their ISs were swiftly locked up in the repair room.

While Margo was placed in the infirmary, the rest of the party was heavily questioned that day. Ichika was first up, then Houki, and then to Cecilia, Rin, and Charlotte. Their combined questioning amounted to more than two hours.

Lincoln, Akina, Kim, Hana, and Laura awaited their turn outside the main administrative building, for once nervous. There were no words for a good ten minutes.

Then, Akina said, "So...what's the worst that could happen?"

"I could think of a few things..." Lincoln said.

"Ichika was the first to be questioned," Laura said, "The fact that he had not yet returned is very troubling."

"Does that mean jail time for us?..." Hana asked nervously.

"Possibly," Laura nodded, "This was supposed to be a secret operation."

"And the fact that we decided to tell Hana..." Kim looked down, "Expulsion might be the least of our worries..."

Lincoln shook his head, "I'd write a paper about what I did wrong and endure some grueling training as punishment rather than...this."

The others didn't say a word, but they shared his sentiment.

Laura turned to Hana, "Do you know why one of his allies was with you?"

"GULP" Hana turned pale, "...because...Miss Orimura ordered it..."

"What?!" Lincoln, Kim, and Akina shouted.

"After I escorted the others to the battle, she immediately called me over because I was one of the closest to you guys," Hana explained, "She already knew that I knew about the mission and..."

("Why would Lincoln fail himself hours after I gave him the warning?")

("I'm not sure, ma'am. All I know is that they were aware of what could've happened.")

("Ok, fine...but I still don't know how the other managed to block and prevent all communication, so you're gonna have to re-establish connection somehow.")

("Yes, ma'am.")

("Afterwards, a team of instructors will rush everyone back to the Academy for questioning. The instant that's done, you bring him to me.")

"Oh my lord..." Lincoln nearly fainted.

"Welp," Akina sighed, "It's been an honor to work with y'all."

"Hang on. It's not the end, yet," Kim tried to reassure everyone, "We just need to explain ourselves, and maybe they'll give us a more lenient punishment."

"Maybe..." Laura repeated, "But either way, it will be the end, yes?"

"I don't wanna think about it right now..." Hana wailed, right before an instructor opened the door.

"Lincoln Loud?" The instructor called, "Please follow me."

"Uh-oh..." Akina and Hana whispered.

Lincoln sighed and got off the grass. He shuffled his hands inside his pockets as he made his way into the building. As he followed the instructor, his mind began to play the connections game, trying to link the entire mission and its outcome with everything that's happened to him so far. But no matter what lines he drew, nothing made sense to him. He still came back to that story about Margo being jealous of Lynn and Lincoln, and when he tried to link it to the story about the brother and the blonde bully...the backstory fell apart. I'm his mind, the interrogation would include Margo's past, but what would he say in response? What piece was he missing to tie this convoluted puzzle together?

The instructor led him into the teachers' lounge and gave him a chair to sit on, "Wait here."

Lincoln nodded and took his seat as the instructor grabbed a clipboard and a voice recorder. He immediately saw a stuffed bunny on the table that eerily resembled his, "Bun-Bun?"

"Oh, that..." the instructor said, "It was given to me fifteen years ago. I still groom it every now and then."

"O-oh..."

"Now then," the instructor activated the recorder, "Why don't we start with your name and age?"

"Uh, yes...Lincoln Loud, 12 years old. First year student."

"Good," the instructor scratched her clipboard, "This interview is to determine the appropriate consequences of the Operation Save the Lakes and Woods. You are encouraged to answer truthfully, as anything you do and don't say will be taken into consideration."

"Understood."

"Alright, let's start with the main question...We tracked your IS signature all the way from Royal Wood, Michigan, to here. Why did you fly across the ocean?"

Lincoln took a moment to close his eyes and steel his soul. This was his one chance to tell them everything that happened through his unfiltered eyes, the one chance to stop hiding the past. His family kept it hidden under the pretense that it would protect him, when in reality it did the opposite. When he opened his eyes, he let it all out, "It was because the Silverio Gospe had run amok while Margo Roberts, my sister's best friend, was piloting inside. And because it ran amok, her mind shut down."

"Would you care to elaborate on how Margo came into contact with the Gospel in the first place?"

"Well... it ain't gonna be a short story."

"We have time."

"Ok. Then...it's a lot of reasons. But they all led to Margo coming into contact with Phantom Task, and them setting up this whole scheme of stealing the Gospel and shoving it in Margo's face."

"I am aware of the scheme. What I am not aware of is why her. Why was it Miss Roberts of all people?"

"Probably because of her past. Phantom Task saw how messed up it was and played on her emotions, manipulated her into taking the Gospel."

"What happened in her past to warrant such a harsh fight? The battle ended up involving your sister, as well as your hometown and several casualties."

"The fight...yeah..." Lincoln reassured himself that this was necessary to fix his future. That was his reasoning for saying the beloved, "Lori Marie Loud."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Lori...my eldest sister...She sent Margo on the irreversible path of self destruction," Lincoln already figured out that he can see into the past of any nearby pilot and told the instructor everything he saw, from Lori's encounter with Kenneth, to that fateful moment. During his narrative, he was finally able to connect the fight against Margo with the fight against Kenneth: Margo was in severe distress, and possibly denial, about her brother turning the fist against Lincoln and Lynn, so she decided to use sports as a sort of bridge between her ideal life and the real world. But that bridge was shattered the moment Lynn tapped into her inner athlete and became the star player of Royal Woods, and it became irreparable when Lincoln became the world's youngest pilot. Those events spurred Margo into latching onto the most accessible thing to keep her from losing herself, AKA siding with Phantom Task. All this, Lincoln told the instructor, "And that's how I think it happened."

"Unbelievable..." the instructor was winded, "All of this because of your family..."

"Yeah. Lori started it, Luna and Lynn restarted it, and nobody told me anything. They wanted to protect me fron the dark side of life... and look what happened."

"Going back to the end of the mission, Miss Orimura instructed you and your team to allow no one to find out. And yet, you could not contain the fight to a private space. Even before then, I was told that you told one of your friends about the mission, and that one of your classmates discovered and leaked the information out to all those with personal IS units."

"I just had to tell someone. Hana, I could trust, but Laura...I don't know how Laura found out. And yes, Margo was very angry. She really went all out, and she wanted everybody to know."

"Do you know how much damage she caused?"

"Um...a lot? Probably more than I can comprehend."

"So, from my understanding, Margo came into contact with Phantom Task some time after the semester began. So, she must have been planning this for months at least."

"I guess... I didn't get the full details about her whole plan, but I know she had friends that helped her with taking out my family in Great Lakes City."

"Funny you mention that...Margo enlisted Hank, Hawk, Janice, and Juniper to deal with the Louds and the Casagrandes."

"What?!" Lincoln yelped, "Those thugs?!"

"You weren't aware of their involvement?"

"No...no, I wasn't...Why would they..."

"Their interests probably coincided with Phantom Task's, so Margo recruited them to further their plan."

"But...they were going to kill them?!"

"Yes, because it wasn't just Lynn. All your sisters showed compatibility with maneuvering an IS."

"Oh, great," Lincoln threw his hands away, immediately knowing what that meant, "I have two targets the size of Jupiter on my back and my forehead."

The instructor didn't expand on that point. She just stood up, "Well, I believe we have everything we need. Please, wait in the room behind you until we finish questioning with the others." She then led Lincoln to a separate room.

"Others?" He asked. Then, he saw a door swing open, revealing a sort-of conference room, with a couch, a giant TV, and several pilots sitting round the table, "Ichika? Guys?"

"Hiya, Inc Linc," Rin waved.

"It has been a long while," Charlotte said.

"Why did they bring you here?" Lincoln asked.

"Probably because we have to explain ourselves to Miss Orimura," Charlotte guessed, "I assume she didn't want anyone to know about your secret mission, but..." She grabbed the remote and tuned in to an American news channel, which boasted-

["Breaking news tonight, disaster at Royal Woods. Lincoln Loud, the youngest pilot in the world, has been involved in an IS battle that's costing Michigan close to a billion dollars in damages. The person he was fighting has not yet been identified, but sources are telling us that there are bystanders who know who was piloting the Silverio Gospel~~~"]

The newscast was played for five whole minutes before Charlotte turned off the TV.

"Oh my god..." Cecilia muttered, "I know what this means..."

"What?" Houki asked, "What does this all mean?"

"It means he can't return home," Cecilia said, "at all."

"My membership to the Loud House has been, by mine own hands..." Lincoln slowly collapsed to the floor, "...revoked." He landed under the table, burying his head in his knees.

"So, what now?" Ichika asked, "I doubt we'll be commended for this."

"I think we'll have to stand in front of the paparazzi and explain ourselves," Cecilia moaned.

"They're not gonna make us do that!" Rin panicked, "We're pilots, but we're also students, aren't we?"

"And as students, we just took part in a fatal rescue mission," Charlotte said.

"Well, whatever it is," Houki looked out the window, "it's not gonna leave our minds for quite some time."

"Agreed," Ichika nodded.

"Aren't you guys being a bit too down for something like this?" Rin raised an eyebrow, "I mean, nothing bad's gonna happen to us, right?"

At that moment, the door opened. Hana poked her head inside and whispered to Lincoln, "Miss Orimura will see you now."

Lincoln's heart sank. His expulsion seemed imminent. He followed Hana to 1025, where he could catch a faint scent of tea, "And this is gonna... I don't know..."

"It'll be ok," Hana rubbed his shoulder, "Just be brave."

"Brave..." Lincoln shook his head, "...right..." He forced the door open and stomped in. When he entered, it was like he stepped in the room for the first time. All the ruffled bed sheets, the small mess in the center of the room...even the pile of props for the midnight games...cleaned out. "What the heck..."

"You two really got along, didn't you?"

"Uh..." Lincoln turned around and saw Chifuyu emerging from the entrance, "Yeah...we did..."

"I expected more from you two," Chifuyu walked in, "This room was a mess when I got here."

"Heheh...we're boys, after all."

Chifuyu motioned him outside to the balcony. There, they bore witness to the rising sun and its warm glow spreading across the campus.

"I'll be frank with you," Chifuyu said, "We're in a difficult position. I'm strongly considering removing you from the Academy."

Lincoln was shocked, "What?! Why?! What gives?!"

"Two things. One: the higher ups saw a twelve year old girl using a weapon of mass destruction to devastate an entire state, causing a major terrorist organization to gain influence through that incident. That's already a major issue with the matter of world security."

"Ok..."

"And two: you blabbed to Hana."

"URK-" Lincoln flinched.

Chifuyu smirked, "I thought I told you, no one can know you're undertaking the mission." Then she yanked his ear, "And only a few minutes ago did I find out that she blabbed to Cecilia and Rin."

"Owowowow..." Lincoln rubbed his ear, "So, what if I swore off of secrets? So, flunk me..."

"SOOoooOOO..." Chifuyu leaned in, "...I would have given you a zero for your final."

"HAAA?!" Lincoln yelped before he processed the rest of her words, "Would have?..."

"Well...I did see something that literally reversed my decision," Chifuyu turned on the TV and flipped to several different civilian interviews, all showing a certain level of appreciation:

["I'll never forget how she threw herself in the way just to shield me."]

["He looked so cool throwing those cards! And his sidekicks looked killer with their weapons and guitar and~~~"]

["What a shame we couldn't help him."]

["He goes to my school!"]

["She did a great service getting that thing away from us."]

"Whoa..." Lincoln gasped.

"And that's just in Michigan," Chifuyu said, "The locals in Japan have been saying the same thing about Ichika and his group."

"Really?"

"Yep," Chifuyu turned off the TV, "But there's still the matter of your family. Just because you are cleared, doesn't mean that your family is."

"Uh...huh..." Lincoln didn't like where this was going, "So... I can stay, but there-"

"-is a major contingency," Chifuyu finished, before handing him an official looking document.

"What's this?" Lincoln asked.

"That's the contingency," Chifuyu explained, "We're relocating your family here."

And in that specific instance, Lincoln felt his second world come crashing down, "Wha...no...no, that cannot be-"

"Oh, but it is," Chifuyu said, "Your family has already been targeted by Phantom Task once before...and almost succeeded. Need I remind you of what happened to LJ?"

"Lynn? How did you-"

Chifuyu flipped the TV on silent, "I recorded this last night." The TV showed Lynn on a wheelchair in a comatose state, being escorted into a hospital, "She's maintaining her bodily functions just fine, but all voluntary actions from the shoulders down have been completely destroyed."

"What the hell..." Lincoln slumped over.

"If you're worried about the cycle, we have a countermeasure," Chifuyu said, "There's farmland allocated in the Hokkaido prefecture just for them."

Lincoln was somewhat offended by that. For the IS people to stick him between his family abroad and his family at home was just too much already, as if they're making him choose which destiny he would prefer. But she had to bring up the one thing that cannot be escaped or canceled, and has already affected the one person he considered his soul brother.

"I understand, Miss Orimura," Lincoln couldn't take it anymore and headed out.

Orimura noticed that tone of anguish, "Do you need anything from me?"

Lincoln turned his brain off, "Tell my family I ain't coming back," then slammed the door.

Chifuyu turned everything in the room off and sighed, "Not that kind of countermeasure..." She left and went to the conference room, where Ichika and the others were awaiting judgement. When she knocked on the door, she heard a collective gasp of surprise. "Oh, brilliant," she thought, "They know my every choice," and opened the door.

"Uh...Miss Orimura!" Cecilia and Charlotte addressed her.

"At ease," Chifuyu said.

"Ma'am? What's going to happen to us?" Hana asked.

"In due time, Suzuki," Chifuyu responded, "Not everyone's assembled yet."

Just then, Kim and Akina snuck inside using an alternate door, which landed them right in the front of the room.

"Glad you could join us," Chifuyu smirked.

"Uh...hello, Miss Orimura..." Akina said nervously.

"Everyone on the couch," Chifuyu ordered. Minutes later, the pilots were gathered in front of the TV.

"Why are we here?" Rin wondered, "We should be at the resort relaxing our way to LaLa Land."

"Normally, yes," Chifuyu sat in front of the group, "But the fact is that you all have committed a very grave offense, not only going against direct orders to remain on standby, but also endangering the general populace. And I don't meant the pilot or the boat."

"Oh...about that," Kim quickly jumped in, "I can assure you that-"

"Not one word," Chifuyu growled.

Kim sat upright.

"Now then," Chifuyu rubbed her head, "In spite of those screw ups, you did manage to safely complete the mission." Then, she looked up at each and every one of the pilots, "So I will take that, and your statements into consideration when deciding the final outcome of your semesters...including one last chance to make your case in front of me. Right now."

"Yes, ma'am," everyone hid their disdain when they acknowledged.

While everyone was making their case for the mission results, the Louds and Casagrandes were all cooped in the hotel trying to turn in for the night. They were all still reeling from the sudden attack and decided that the best way to move on was to forget about the negatives of that night and try to focus on the positives.

"Ok, girls," Lynn Sr said, "Let's all try to turn in for a good night's sleep."

"How?! How are we supposed to get a good night's sleep?!" Lola screamed, "Thanks to this stupid mess of a vacation, my make up is eternally ruined!"

"Really?" Lana shook her head, "I would think that makeup would be the least of your worries."

"It's always a beauty day when you're trying to maintain an outward appearance," Lola wagged her hand, "Now, if you'd excuse me..."

Leni sat behind, "Lola, can you pass the lipstick?"

"Here," Lola tossed the glittery pink, "Just don't get your lips all over my tips."

"Erm..." Leni held in her laughter long enough for Lola to not notice, "Right."

Meanwhile, Rita tried to contact Lynn for the third straight night, to no avail, "Dangit, why doesn't that girl answer?"

"What's wrong, Mom?" Lana asked.

"Oh, it's just Lynn, being Lynn," Rita answered, "She didn't want to be disturbed, I suppose, so she's been giving us the cold shoulder."

"Just a cold shoulder?" Lana wondered, "That's all?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it. Now, why don't you find Luna and Luan and rush them over to bed?"

"Can't," Lana deadpanned her thumb behind her, "They're too busy giving Carlino and earful."

"Still? Ugh, what in the world is keeping them?"

"Honey?" Lynn Sr called out, "Lily and Lisa are out cold, but Lucy's...doing her thing!"

"Just leave her alone," Rita said, "She'll come around."

"Hmm?" Lana thought, "That never came out of their mouths before. The heck is goin' on?" She decided to sneak out of the room, but the moment she came one foot in front of the exit, she could hear a massive argument brewing between Lori, Bobby, Luan, Luna, Carlota, and Carlino. And three of those people were stuck on the ultra offensive:

"Oh, what?! You're saying it's my fault this happened?!"

"I don't suppose you literally blabbed our secrets to those thugs, did you?!"

"Ok, you are way outta line!"

"I'm not done, Bobby!"

"Yes you are!"

"Both of you, get a grip already! This isn't gonna solve anything!"

"But what will is a fist full of bone if you don't fess up!"

"Luna?! What the heck are you saying?!"

Lana crept away from the door, "Oh my waddles...does anybody not notice the wrestle-mania happening outside?"

"We do," Lucy crept up behind her, but she didn't startle her, "We've just chosen to ignore it."

"But why?" Lana was even more disturbed, "Am I missing something, or are we just living under a rock?"

"I'd say, yes we are," Lucy looked around at the other family members just going about their daily business, "I personally think we're avoiding the inevitable...which makes no sense whatsoever."

"You're telling me," Lana muttered, "What's their problem, anyway? Coming after us just because we could use a robot suit?"

Suddenly, Rita's scream penetrated the entire floor, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

"Oh, poop deck..." Lucy and Lana groaned.

Lynn Sr ran to the bedroom, "Honey, what happened?" He saw Rita shaken, struggling to hold back her tears. He rushed to her side trying to rub her shoulders, "Sweetie? What happened? Talk to me?"

Rita said nothing until Lana and Lucy walked in. Then, she said, "Turn on the tv."

"Huh?" Lana didn't understand.

"I said, turn on the goddamn tv!" Rita shoved Lana and Lynn Sr away and activated the news channel, which unfortunately, had the worst possible timing to put the top story of the night. It was about the battle of Royal Woods that happened a couple nights ago. It wasn't the fact that Lincoln was involved that shocked her, because she already knew that. It wasn't the fact that the city had endured physical damage, because she already prepared the family for collateral damage.

It was the fact that the fight involved Lynn, who took it upon herself to commandeer an IS until all by herself, and in doing so permanently paralyzed her body from the shoulders down, and possibly trapped herself in a coma-based amnesia. That sent Rita into a night of mournful wailing and frantic flailing, "NO! MY BABY! NO, YOU CAN'T! NOT LIKE THIS! NOOOOOO~~~"

"Rita, honey, please, you can't!" Lynn Sr tried to restrain her, "Not in front of the others-"

"LET ME GO! I HAVE TO GO BACK! I HAVE TO!"

"We will! You just need to rest-"

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT HER?! SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER, TOO!"

"RITA, LISTEN TO ME-"

The quarrel was so bad that Rita destroyed the bedroom door, stole the keys, and ran out of the room, where she yanked Lori and Luna from the fight, "Let's go, you two!"

"Owowowow!" Lori yelped, "Where?!"

"We're going back home!" Rita snapped, "You can drive like a maniac, right?" She tossed Lori the keys, "Then, drive like a deranged madwoman and get us home!"

"Whoa, slow down, dude!" Luna tried to push herself between them, "What's gotten into you-BLAGHCK-"

Rita grabbed Luna's collar and brought her to her eye level, "I. SAID. DRIVE!"

Lynn Sr rushed down to the garage to stop them from leaving, but he was too slow, "No! Rita, what are you-" When he got to the parking spot, Vanzilla zipped past him and leapt into the empty nighttime streets, hellbent on making it back to Royal Woods. "W...wait!..." Lynn Sr gasped for air, "Y...you can't!...What about...HHOH my god, ugh..."

Leni and Luan raced down to the garage level and saw their father collapse.

"Yow!" Luan picked him up, "Dad, what was that?! What was Mom freaking out about?!"

"It's...I shouldn't have..." Lynn Sr was just muttering at that point.

But Leni heard everything Rita just said, and she could read the distress on his face, "Something happened to either Lincoln or Lynn!"

"Huh?!" Luan shrieked, "What?! What happened?!"

"Get the dad upstairs!" Leni ran ahead, "I have to find Body and make him explain!"

"W-wait a minute! I can't-uy...ok..." Luan struggled her way back to the room, "Ogh...heavy..."

By the time Leni got upstairs, it was already too late. The remaining Louds had just about seen everything they needed to see. But she still burst in anyway and screamed, "Everyone! Something's happened to Lincoln and Lynn!"

"Yeah...we know..." Lucy turned around and showed her the frozen tv image of Lynn on a wheelchair.

"Wha...what...no...not this..." Leni trembled. Each step she took, her legs shook more and more, to the point where she could not support herself anymore and knelt down, her face touching the screen, "Not like this..."

"Yes, like this..." Lana said matter-of-factly, "Apparently, Lynn teamed up with Lincoln against some big bad IS villain...and lost."

"Oh no...no, no no no no n...o...n...o..." Leni lost it and crumbled.

Luan hauled Lynn Sr inside, just in time to see nearly everyone's eyes turn right to her, "Uh, hey y'all...How's it going, heh..."

"It's really going, alright," Lucy pointed to the tv.

"What's the..." Luan saw exactly what Leni saw, "No..."

"Oh, yeah...it's happening..." Lynn Sr grunted as he hoisted himself off of Luan and sat on the bed, "It looks like the worst possible outcome has come true... I take it that we've all been attacked because of the thing at the park..."

"What, just because we've all been able to move it?!" Lola griped.

"Exactly," Lynn Sr said, "I knew it..." he then cursed, "I always knew in the back of my mind that something horrible would happen...why in god's name didn't I stop him from going?!"

"We couldn't, remember?" Lucy reiterated, "It's federal law that forbids us from changing his mind."

"That right there's the problem..." Leni sobbed, "He knew...They both knew this would happen, and yet...Oh god!"

Lynn Sr knelt down and hugged Leni, "Easy, Leni...we'll get through this...we all will..."

And that was it for the night. Lynn Sr and Leni were stuck on the floor, while the rest of the children were forced to take refuge in the living room. While Lori and Luna rammed Rita and Vanzilla throughout the region to get home, Lucy, Lana, Luan, and Lola tried to console each other, looking for any possible lighthearted moment to cope with the situation, while ignoring the explosive shouting that had engulfed the Casagrande room.

Back in Royal Woods, Clyde and Chandler were taking a brief walk throughout the city.

"Man, I didn't think this would get that bad..." Clyde muttered.

"I know," Chandler nodded, "In addition to the ass-whooping we all received..."

"What was Margo thinking?! Why would she throw her tantrum around the state, when she's only gunning for Lincoln and Lynn?! It makes no sense!"

"When you've lost a parent and are constantly called "horse face", you might be a little on the nasty side."

"Oh..." Clyde was disturbed by that line, "So, what now?"

Chandler looked up to the nighttime sky, which was blotched out by the city lights, "It ain't safe for them anymore. Not after those looneys tested positive for IS compatibility."

"Wait-huh?!" Clyde stopped him, "We're kicking them out of Royal Woods?!"

"No," Chandler showed him the email he received, "We're kicking them out of the USA."

"Uh...but-"

"It can't be helped. Too many people know."

Clyde slumped, dejected at the thought of never seeing his best friend, or his best family friends, ever again. But when he weighed that option against all other alternatives, it was the choice that bought them the most time to figure out a more efficient solution, "Ok...I'll send out a message..."

Chandler nodded, "And I'll coordinate with Orimura."

"She ain't gonna be happy with that...after what I found out."

"You told her?..."

"No. No, I didn't."

"Good."

The next morning was just as disastrous as it looked. When Rita made it to the hospital, she barged right in and blasted through the hallways to find the room Lynn was in. Sure enough, when Rita saw Lynn lying motionless on the hospital bed, she broke down and demanded that the doctors let her enter, to which she was denied and had to be dragged out by police. Lori and Luna tried to explain everything to them, but they were dragged away as well. All three were escorted to the police station, where they were handed the dreaded letter:

To Mr and Mrs Loud,

It has come to our attention that you and your family have been targeted for a terrorist attack because of your children's special abilities. Because of this, your family is receiving an abhorrent amount of attention. Therefore, you and your family will automatically be placed in the Witness Protection Program. Due to extenuating circumstances, we will be relocating you to an area far away from civilian eyes, but close enough to where the IS authorities can provide you with essential services while monitoring your movements.

You have one day to prepare for the move. Take this time to gather your belongings and disconnect yourselves from the urban scene.

Sincerely,

{REDACTED SIGNATURE}, US Secretary of Homeland Security

Translation: the Louds have made too much noise to the point where it's impossible to contain it all, and now everyone wants a piece of them, including international terrorists. So, now they have to go into hiding. They were informed that they would have to go without Lynn, since she would be transported by a separate carrier. Rita begged the police officers to make an exception, but the officers wouldn't have it, saying that the Louds' presence puts them all in danger. Rita had completely lost all emotion and had Lori drive everyone home. The van returned to the Loud house at the same time as the rest of the Louds arrived in the Casagrande van. And that was when the problems escalated. People and friends were banging on their doors demanding answers, with no intention of leaving until one of the Louds told them what they wanted to hear. Police had to be called in several times to forcefully disperse the crowds, leaving the entire family scarred. During that time, no one knew what was going to happen to them. People were already forming their opinions prior to today. They formed their opinions about them before they discovered the IS. Surely their social lives and reputation would take a huge drop, lightly speaking.

It wasn't until later that evening when Lynn Sr called an emergency meeting and huddled everyone, sans Rita, in the basement.

"Alright, listen up, everyone," Lynn Sr said, "I've just read the letter and spoke with the authorities. Apparently, we're all going to Japan."

"Really?" Luna raised an eyebrow, "Ain't that a good thing?"

"I've always wanted to visit Shibuya," Leni said, slightly dejected, "but this isn't what we're doing, is it?"

"Sadly, no," Lynn Sr shook his head, "and I don't think we're gonna be doing any sightseeing around our new place either."

"But, why?!" Lola whined, "Why do we have to move?!"

"I'm not sure," Lucy suddenly turned to Luna, "but if I had to guess..."

"Hey, you're not blazing this whole wrap on me!" Luna snapped, "I ain't done nothing to y'all!"

"You think that's all there is to it, huh?!" Luan went off, "How about the time you socked Janice and Juniper?!"

"How about you railing on everybody to flip Flip's into a hub for war operations?!"

"How about you ditching your own music to FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT THE POWER-"

"ENOUGH!" Lynn Sr bellowed, and made everyone prop themselves upright. After taking a deep breath, he said, "There's no negation, no "Get Out of Jail" cards, and especially no flexibility. We're all leaving. The police will come get us tomorrow morning, so everyone destroy your phones, electronics, just-anything that can track us."

At which point, all the girls older than Lucy freaked out,

"HAA?!"

"But what about Bobby?!"

"How do I manage my business, then?!"

"My music fans are gonna freak!"

"I! DON'T! CARE!" Lynn Sr reduced a lectern to rubble, with just one swing of his fists. He barely managed to rein himself in before giving the final judgement, "That's it. I'm ending it here. The point is...this whole war started because we didn't have the nerve to tell everything up front, so now we're paying for it! And until we can get back to our normal lives without kicking up a storm every step we take, we will remain in hiding. No exceptions."

The family split up into three groups and went to separate rooms. One group had Lola, Lana, and Lisa all in the twins' room.

Lisa read the letter and the accompanying packet in full, in record time, and she wished she hadn't, "Judging from the language of the reading, the length of the meeting, and the level of shouting that caused the abrupt end to said meeting...I'd say that this was our own doing."

"How?! What did we do?!" Lola screamed, "Can someone please explain to me what Dad meant?! Or, what anyone meant?!"

Lucy shook her head, "Not do what you're doing right now?"

"Look, Lols," Lana came clean, "I'll admit... I ain't got no problem living under a rock."

"Because that's exactly what you've been doing!" Lola snapped, "I have to maintain my status quo! If I don't, then there will be massive consequences!"

Lisa rolled her eyes, "Self-inflicted consequences, you mean."

"What'd you say, Poindexter?!"

"Look," Lisa continued, "we've all done things that have repercussions, but those repercussions only affected the parties involved, AKA people who knew about the cause in the first place."

"Ok, your point?"

"My point is: do we know why we are being sent away?"

"Of course!" Lola responded rather sarcastically, "Because, APPARENTLY, we made a big deal and even bigger deal than it needed to be."

"And why the war?"

"Because of..." Lola stopped. She realized that none of it would've been necessary, were it not for Luna and Lynn whomping Janice and Juniper, "Well...They we're just-"

"Exactly," Lisa said, "I strongly believe that the ulterior motive behind this has something that relates to our elder siblings trying to save face."

Lana had a sudden thought, "Oh, I get it...actually, not really. If the sixth grade thing's all it was, shouldn't this have been under the bridge by now?"

"It's not that easy, especially since Hank and Hawk were involved," Lisa reasoned with her, "Someone close to their home must've recruited them to attack us. They're not smart enough to coordinate a full-on home invasion by themselves."

"Are you saying, there's a traitor in our midst?!" Lola grabbed her crown and hugged it out of anxiety.

Lisa had not considered that possibility, but when she thought back to the initial posting of the Squirrel Boy picture, she couldn't figure out any reason how Janice was able to snap a photo of him...unless someone either blabbed his location, or knew where they were going and paid them a visit. She went into deep thought, "...that is certainly an option..."

"What?" Lana didn't like that look, "What super brainy hypothumbo is going on now?"

Lisa thought to the moment when the gangsters had been subdued. She was one of only two people to remain hidden throughout the fight, which allowed her to catch that last exchange, and a distress call, in the living room, "...they said Margo..."

"What?" Lola and Lana piqued.

"Margo's name was mentioned, by both the distress call and that vagrant," Lisa mused, "but why?"

"Margo..." Lana repeated, "You don't think-"

"I knew that little jobber was up to no good!" Lola rolled up her sleeves, "I OUGHTA-"

"No," Lisa swiped the crown away from her, "We don't know for sure. We need to find out if she was the one, and if so, why."

"Why would we do that?" Lola questioned while taking her crown back, "She's probably gotten cozy with us just to expose our dirty little secrets."

Lana attempted to ask, "Wasn't Winston kinda-"

But Lola stopped her right there, "HE! IS! DIFFERENT!"

The second group had Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan cooped up in the attic.

"This is literally the worst!" Lori panicked, "What did we do to deserve this?!"

"Didn't Dad already say what we did?!" Leni got angry, "We were too Loud! Way too Loud for our own good!"

"And whose idea was it to stop by the park and try on that giant hunk of junk?!" Luna glared at Leni.

"What are you giving me that look for?! Lynn and Lana were the ones who wanted to show Lincoln up!"

"Why didn't you stop them?!"

"Why did you join in with them?!"

"Ok, I get it!" Luan yelled, "Pointing fingers is not gonna solve anything!"

"Well, how else are we gonna know how this whole wrap started?!" Luna shouted.

"Guys, can we not for one night?!" Lori screamed, "We already have enough problems as is!"

"Problems you started!" Luna snapped, "As soon as we got back from school, you started plotting our course of this whole shindig!"

Lori ended up arguing as well, "I'm sorry! Who punched Hawk's sister and let Lynn fly at both of them?!"

"Oh, don't you pin this whole wrap on me!"

"We saw the goddamn video!"

And then, Lori, Luna, and Leni wound themselves up in a heated argument. Luan couldn't stand the angry words they were flinging at each other, so she took her ventriloquist dummy and fled the room. She was halfway down the stairs when she took a breather, "Boy...I don't know what's gotten into them, but it ain't turkey and Indians...We should be thankful that we're still alive..."

Suddenly, Luan's hand felt the need to take control of her puppet. And her mouth felt the need to make words come out of its wooden hole, "You say that now, toots."

"Wha?...Mister Coco-"

Suddenly, she heard three hard bitch slaps coming from the attic, followed by a brief shout fest. It ended when Leni and Luna returned to their rooms.

Mister Coconuts popped right into Luan's face, "Would you like to take back your statement, madam?"

"Oh, be quiet, woody," Luan groaned and continued downward, and into the master bedroom, where Lucy was occupying Lily, Rita sat on her bed motionless, and Lynn Sr was already packing his suitcases. Luan went to where Lily was reciting Lucy's poems, "Uh...quite the English lesson there, Luce..."

"Hm?" Lucy turned her hair toward Luan, "No pun today?"

"Nah," Luan said, "Wasn't the right time."

"Oh..." Lucy looked at Rita, who kept reading over the report on her cellphone about the Battle of Chicago, "You know, I think we could use one right now."

"You sure?" Luan asked.

"I'll never know what happened to make Mom so fascinatingly melancholy, but maybe it's run its course."

"I guess..." Luan sat down and gave her puppet to Lily, "...then again, maybe it hasn't. Lori, Luna, and Leni were wringing the sadness out of each other it got so loud."

"What'd you expect?" Lucy took the puppet away once lily started chewing on it, "It's in the name."

"Poppet!" Lily said, "I want poppet!"

"I don't know..." Luan cuddled Lily, "None of this makes sense. Why would we have to flee our own home?"

"Probably because whoever rattled us has a connection to us spanning years."

Luan and Lily went "Wuh?..."

"No one endures this much damage unless it's direct from their past," Lucy said.

"And how do you know this?" Luan asked.

"Vampires of Melancholia, season finale. Edwin ends up having to flee into hiding because of Griselda's past lover exacting revenge on them both."

Luan rolled her eyes while Lily blew a raspberry.

Just then, Lynn Sr three several suitcases out of the room. He unveiled several more and plopped on the bed, "OH MY GOODNESS...Huhhhhhh...Lucy, you and Luan distribute them to your sisters..."

"I am she," Lucy muttered while hoisting a couple suitcases on her back, "Sigh..."

Luan helped Lucy with the load while Lily carried her puppet upstairs. They gave each sister two cases to pack their essentials in silence. No one spoke a word with for a good while until it was time for bed. They all went to sleep in separate rooms, without dinner.

Lily went down to sleep with Rita, sensing the emotional turmoil inside the maternal guardian. While Lynn Sr chose not to sleep in order to make more time for preparation, Rita held Lily tightly and cooed her to sleep while unloading her waterfall tears.

Lisa stayed in her room and packed her belongings in record time, but she spent the night looking into Margo's past. And after making some startling discoveries, including Margo having a brother, "Impossible...How did she keep a secret after all this time..." She got really busy.

Lana couldn't quell her curiousity and took to sleeping in the backyard. She looked around for a good place to rest her eyes, until eventually some squirrels appeared and offered her a spot on the grass. Once she lay down, she was out cold.

Lola hunkered down in her own room trying to reclaim her lost beauty sleep. But the thought of Juniper declaring Margo's victory over Lincoln infested her brain. What was the missing link, she wondered. How does this connect with their exile? And, most importantly, how would she ever face Winston again?

Lucy huddled herself in the basement scribbling in her journal furiously. All the downtrodden emotions have given her huge inspiration to let her mind loose with all the poems she could think of.

Luan went to the top of the bunk bed and lay there, having a mental break from the drama to focus on the future. If there was one... "How the heck are we supposed to comeback from this?..." she wondered.

Luna was strumming along her guitar in the garage, trying to think of something, anything, that can take her out of the house and into high heaven. But no matter what she played, she always kept coming back to two tunes that kept her grounded. The two tunes that she bestowed upon Lincoln the day of his departure.

Leni was trying to make a PBJ sandwich in the kitchen to get her mind off the recent fight. She was able to place the correct ingredients on the bread, but no sooner had she thought of the photo of Lincoln and Lynn in the hospital did she turn the kitchen into a war zone.

Lori was flat-out scared. Not only was she about to lose all connection to Bobby, but her future was about to be stalled. She had everything planned out, and she thought were it not for the people around her, she would've already been on her merry way out. At least until a text message ran straight into her phone seconds ago:

ChiOri: He knows everything. He knows about Kenneth.

For some reason, Lori was unsettled by the name. She felt like she knew him long ago, but nothing in her memory was responding to the name. She jogged her memory countless times, but nothing happened. Where could she have heard that name before? And when?