*whistle* Pikmin, bring me another hot chocolate!

*The Pikmin does as instructed and leaves*

I bet you're wondering why I have some of Nintendo's cutest creatures as my servants? Well, after the reveal of the plot of The Loud House movie on Nextflix, as well as the summary for a few upcoming episodes for Loud House and Casagrandes... Yeah, I needed some help chilling out and taking some hype and or stress off my plate. Anyhow, last we left off on this story, Lincoln's suspicions were proven correct without a shadow of a doubt. With some help from Lynn, he was abel to destroy the demon corrupting Ronnie Anne.

Problem is that Ronnie Anne herself slipped away after everything was said and done. So while you see the aftermath of that little incident, I'm still going to be sitting here coming to terms that The Loud Family is actual royalty... And from Scotland of all places.

Chapter 8:

[Ronnie Anne's P.O.V.]

Run.

That was the only thought going through my head right now. And considering what I saw when I came to, I didn't really have the time to think about anything else. I couldn't just feel my heart beating out of my chest, I could hear the sound of it echoing in my ears and drown out anything else. I ran out of the junkyard and down the streets, shoving past anyone in my way. Eventually, I started to feel the fatigue set in so I came to a stop after a while. I don't know how long I was running, or how far I ran, but honestly I didn't care.

I panted as I put my hand against a wall to keep myself standing. With my free hand, I slapped myself in the face. "Okay, Ronnie Anne pull yourself together." I said out loud. "Alright, just retrace your steps. You went to the junkyard with Loud. You were about to pulverize him, but then that other girl showed up and… splashed me with a bottle of water." I lifted my hand up to my forehead as I struggled to think of what happened after. "Then when I came to…" I shuddered as the memory of that freaky nightmare creature came to me. Along with how right when it was about to eat my face, Lincoln swoops in with a pair of wings and stabbed it with a knife. The whole thing was so surreal and terrifying, it was like it was a nightmare but in real life.

"Well, well, well…"

Great, now it's only getting worse.

I turned around and saw Chandler McCann. He looked the part of a rich sleaze ball to the last detail. Messy brown hair, expensive, green, designer t-shirt with a gear on it, jeans and sneakers that all costed a fortune. I groaned in response to the condescending smirk he was giving me. I don't know what was on his mind, but I could already tell it was stupid. "Spill it, McCann. What do you want?"

"Oh nothing. I was just heard that you were in a fight with that new kid. Was hoping to hear what happened?" He explained before getting a better look at me. "Hey, how come you don't look roughed up?" He scrutinized. I didn't say anything and walked past him I couldn't really think of a good lie to get him off my back. "Well, come on, spill it."

"Nothing happened, okay? Just beat it." I waved Chandler and kept walking. Then, I heard Chandler let out a snicker, which turned into laughter. I could already sense he was about to say something dumb. I reluctantly turned around and saw him covering his mouth with one hand and laughing at me. "What is it?"

"You didn't fight at all, did you?" I rolled my eyes at the question.

"So? He was a coward. What else is there to explain?"

"I'm not so sure. Clearly he seems pretty brave to ask you out on a date?" He stated.

I… I didn't think of anything else to say with that comment. The whole thing just came out of nowhere. He seriously didn't think that our fight was a date, did he? I thought about it for a moment and shrugged it off as him just trying to mess with me. I doubt he could pass it off as a rumor around school considering what happened between me, Lincoln, and that little sister of his in the hall with so many people watching. "Just shut up, Chandler."

"Aw man, it's like some beauty and the beast shit." I scoffed at Chandler's little jab.

"Didn't you say your family got their money from working at the gross sewage plant?" I asked rhetorically to try and shoot him down. Unfortunately, Chandler's ego didn't seem to let him care.

"Yeah. And who's rich and who's poor in this town?" I growled in anger and started walking in the opposite direction. Clearly he was too deep into his dumb joke to let up, so I decided to just ignore him and head home.

…At least that WAS my plan. Up until he said something that really pissed me off.

"I bet you folks are going to be happy to hear you have a boyfriend. I can see daddy walking his little princess down the wedding aisle right now." Hearing him make that little taunt instantly made my blood start to boil. My anger surged through me and I turned around, grabbing Chandler by the throat. I heard him choke out a strained breath and grunt in pain as I slammed him against a wall. I growled and looked up at him and saw he was giving me a weird grin as he snickered.

Clearly he was getting a rise out of me lashing out at him. "Woah, did I touch a nerve?" The way he said that really pissed me off. I clenched my fists as tightly as I could, closing it around Chandler's throat and making him mix in the sound of choking with his laughter. I reeled my other arm back to punch his lights out and make that jerk's laughing stop. But for some reason, despite being all alone with no one to stop me, I didn't. He obviously wanted me to turn his face into a pancake if he went through such trouble to tease me, knowing what I could do to him might be worth it for whatever dumb reason he had. I let out a sigh and dropped him back to the ground. He coughed as he got the air back in his lungs. "Yeesh, can't you take a joke?"

"Get out of here, Chandler. And get a life." I huffed before walking away, leaving him alone in the streets. I looked down at the sidewalk as I walked away and started to head home. "I don't know why people bother with that creep." I groaned to myself as I kept walking. While walking down the sidewalk, I felt something vibrate in my hoodie, which was still wrapped around my waist from earlier. I undid the knot and fished around through the pockets until I found my phone, seeing Bobby on the caller ID. I rolled my eyes and answered it. "Hey, Bobby."

"Nie nie, where are you?" He asked while I kept walking and put my sweatshirt back on.

"Relax. I was just out skating and I lost track of time." I lied. I could hear Bobby groan nervously on the other end.

"Sis, please don't lie to me. I know you left your skateboard at home today. And I had off so I know you weren't around to pick it up." I pinched the bridge of my nose over how he shot down my lie so easily.

"Okay, I was taking care of some personal stuff at school."

"You got detention again?"

"No. Look, can we not talk about this right now?" I asked hastily to try and get him to drop it. The last thing I wanted was to try and explain what happened with Lame-O. I crossed my fingers for him to just let it go. Then, I heard Bobby sigh in response.

"Okay, I won't bug you about it. Just come home soon. Mom's had a long day at work and I don't think making her worry about you right now."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." I answered quickly. I was about to hang up on Bobby and save myself from his dorky ramblings, but he kept talking before and effectively prevented me from ending the ball.

"And Nie nie, can I say one more thing?"

"What is it?"

"I love you." I stopped walking when he said that and fell silent.

'I love you.' I don't know why or how those three words got to me, especially now. I've heard Bobby, Mom, and even… him, say that to me a dozen of times in the past. And every time, it just felt so stale to me. Like it was just a common phrase people threw out everywhere. But hearing Bobby say it this time and with the tone in his voice, it felt different somehow. "Ronnie Anne?" Bobby calling my name managed to bring me back to my senses.

"I'm fine… I love you too. I'll see you when I get home." After I reassured him, I hung up and started walking again. I looked up at the sky and started to reflect on today. Something about Bobby calling me just helped my mood for some reason. Not a whole lot, but definitely lessened the sting of what happened earlier today with Chandler and Lincoln. I sighed as I left down town and made my way to the suburbs.

"At least he cares."

[Luna's P.O.V.]

"Okay Luna, just calm down." I told myself in an effort to stay calm and focus my thoughts. I had recently returned home from school after meeting Sam and her friends during their band rehearsal. I continued to talk to myself while I walked back and forth in the room I shared with Luan. "You just need to talk to them again tomorrow and ask to join their band." I paused for a moment and thought about what I said before I gripped my head in frustration. "Grr. No, Luna. That's absolutely ridiculous. You don't even look the part of their group." I argued with myself while still pacing from one end of the room to the other.

"Is something wrong, Luna?" I stopped my monolouging when I saw Lily in the doorway with her tiny cherub wings exposed. She flutter over to me and landed on the top bunk bed in the room.

"Lily, why are you flying around here? We can only use our wings in emergencies."

"But I can't help it, Luna." She countered. I was about to object, but I bit my tongue as she continued explaining it. "Walking around with these human baby legs is hard. And no one is around in the house to see us, so I just thought it would be easier for me." Lily crossed her arms defensively and turned her head away. Just from her expression, I could easily see Lily's resolve on this issue. Before we were assigned, Lily flew everywhere she went in the great beyond. When we were assigned, she had little to no ability to use her legs. Even with all of the time we spent practicing normal human behavior, she still struggled with actually going anywhere without flying. I sighed in exhaustion before answering her.

"Just be careful where you fly and talk to Lori and the others later. For now, I have other stuff to worry about."

"Like what?" I hesitated for a moment, nervous about how to explain my problem to my youngest sister. I was unsure about how she would react if I told her I was interested in joining a rock band for my part in our mission. I knew the facts would come to light eventually, but I didn't want it to be now. I quickly thought of how to word it in a different manner that didn't expose any specific details.

"Well, I found a music group to join at the high school. The problem is I'm not sure if they actually want to accept me as part of them." I confessed. Lily just stared at me before letting out a childish giggle.

"That's all? Luna, you're amazing with music. You singing voice is great and you can play almost any instrument you pick up." She reminded me. Lily hopped off the bed and flew over to the closet. Grabbing a handle, she flew to the side and opened it to reveal a large amount of clothes (both for me and Luan), comedy props, and musical instruments. Lily then pulled out a triangle and flicked it, letting give off an echoing chime. "Just ask them if you can join and play a little bit to prove your point." I tugged at the collar of my shirt and looked up at the ceiling.

"What if they still reject me?"

"Well, then at least you tried." I looked down at the floor and put a hand to my chin. Contemplating my youngest sister's advice, my eyes drifted to a brown guitar. It wasn't anything fancy or special like the one Sam played, but I figured it was similar enough for me to use as practice. With some help from the internet, then maybe I could pick up enough skills and knowledge to play one like hers. I smiled at Lily, bent down, and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.

"You're right. Thank you, Lily." I said sweetly. Lily giggled again, though I couldn't tell if it was because of my kiss or if it was induced by pride. Regardless, she started flapping her wings again and took flight. She was about to leave, but she was stopped dead in her tracks by the sound screaming. "That was Leni!" I gasped as I instinctively grabbed my baby sister and ran out of the bedroom. I looked downstairs and was horrified to see Lincoln and Lynn looking badly injured at the front door. Beside them were Lori and Leni, who were rightfully terrified. Lori took a deep breath, regained her senses, and immediately took charge of the situation. Looking up stairs and pointed at me upon making eye contact.

"Luna, help me carry Lynn and Lincoln to the couch." She ordered. I nodded while setting a now frightened Lily on the floor before rushing down the stairs. Lori then went over into the living room and pulled the curtains in front of the large window in the center. "Leni, tend to their injuries." As Lori gave out orders, I made my way to Lincoln's side and bent down to scoop him into my arms. Lori came back did the same with Lynn as we brought them into the living room. I gently placed Lincoln on the couch as he hissed in pain. His whole body was covered in cuts and bruises.

"Lincoln, what happened to you?" I questioned. Lincoln looked up at me, with one eye shut and a series of claw marks around the left side of his face. As I got a closer look at them, I felt a small sense of dread creep up on me. "What did this to you?" I pressed on. Lincoln averted his gaze from me and bit his lower lip. "Lincoln, please tell me the truth." I pleaded. My little brother glanced back at me and let out a sigh.

"Lynn and I found a rancor. And we slayed it." He admitted. Suddenly, there was a soft thud and we turned to see Lori, who had quickly dropped Lynn onto the couch. Her face looked like a mix of shock and outrage. I glanced at Lincoln again and could see that he was frightened, though it seemed like he was worried less about our oldest sister and more about something else. Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly tell what. "I… I can explain." Lincoln added nervously. Lori lifted her fingers to her mouth and gave a sharp whistle.

"Family meeting. Now!"

[Lori's P.O.V.]

I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath after Lincoln and Lynn explained themselves. I looked at all of my other sisters as they stared at me, awaiting my response. With the exception of Leni, who was still tending to Lincoln and Lynn. Most of the injuries they suffered have already faded thanks to her care. "So rather than tell all of us about a possible demon, you took matters into your own hands?" I asked in frustration. None of them answered me, so I kept going. "You know what could have happened if things went even a little worse than what you described. You two could have been killed!" I turned my attention to Lucy and the twins next. "And you three! You literally should have told the rest of us right away as soon as Lincoln shared his little plan. Especially you, Lana." All three of them looked down in shame from my scolding. I let out a long sigh, crossed my arms, and shook my head in disappointment.

"You know that we have rules that we have to follow for a reason. And you can't just break them so recklessly. What if this demon was more than a mere rancor? Or your plan with the holy water failed?" I asked them in an attempt to make my point extra clear. "You could have compromised our assignment in several dozen ways. God help us if someone actually saw you fighting that thing." I looked at my two reckless siblings and saw they seemed even more nervous than they already were before. Beads of swat were practically shooting out of their foreheads. Lincoln raised a hand up, his index finger pointing upward.

"Uh, well you see, Lori." He began before nervously swallowing a lump in his throat. "When Lynn and I killed the rancor, we were going to check on the person it was inhabiting and bring them somewhere safe." I nodded in understanding, but despite my composure on their surface, I had a feeling I knew exactly where this was going. Sure enough, what Lincoln said next confirmed my assumption. "But when we turned around to get them, they were gone." Lincoln's confession sent the rest of our family, except Lynn, into a frenzy of gasps and questions. I could hardly here what anyone was saying through the chaotic shouting, so I let out another whistle and reigned them in. Once everything went quiet, I shook my head in disappointment.

"Of course this kind of thing happens." I started walking towards the dining room and stopped at the table, putting a hand on top of it. I turned to face my siblings again, looking squarely at Lincoln and Lynn in particular. "Was this person the only one you think saw you?" I asked. Lincoln and Lynn nodded their heads. "And was it just the rancor, or did you have your wings exposed too?" I could see Lincoln flinch in surprise over my question.

"How did you know?"

"Just my intuition speaking. Lisa, your input?" I asked. My second youngest sister stood up and readjusted her glasses before.

"Well, based on our knowledge of the culture of humans in this generation, the odds of one single witness sinking our efforts are very minimal to non-existent. Their peers would most likely doubt any of their stories if they tried to share them. Even if they had tried acquiring evidence through photographs, they would more than likely be dismissed as ordinary pictures that have been altered through the use of computers and technology. Commonly referred to as Photoshop." She explained. I put a hand to my chin in contemplation.

"So in simple terms, the situation by itself is contained already because of social norms and technology acting as a diversion?" I asked, repeating Lisa's explanation as my own words. Despite Lisa giving a smile and a nod, I felt a sense of unease. "Still, we can't just leave this alone without some sort of precaution." I turned back around and began to face a display case of fake trophies. In the center of the case was a brown hardcover book with gold binding around the spine. On the front cover was a green circle of olive branches surrounding a gold heart. I remember when my superiors first entrusted me with this book before we left Heaven for our mission. In it was a record of every known citizen in all of Royal Woods so that we could keep track of them all if the need arises. There wasn't information about every single detail about them, however, just things like address and family.

I sighed as I opened the case and pulled out the book. "Lincoln, what was the name of this girl again?" Lincoln blinked and cleared his throat before responding.

"Ronalda Anne Santiago. But she often goes just by 'Ronnie Anne'." With Lincoln's answer, I began flipping quickly through the book's pages looking for her. Eventually, I found her name beneath a picture of a Latina girl in a purple hoodie. I read through her profile and made note of a few details, reading them out quietly to myself.

"Ronnie Anne. Lives with her mother and older brother. Current personality: Aggressive and stubborn. Friends: None." I sighed before closing the book and placing it back inside the trophy case. I looked at my family again and crossed my arms. "Alright, Lincoln, Lynn, and Lana, all three of you are going to be spending time on dish duty here at home for the next few days as punishment for being so reckless." All three of them groaned at the mention of the punishment. I then pointed to Lucy and Lola. "Because you two were only asked to keep silent and had little involvement in the grand scheme of things, I'll let you off with a warning. But just this once." Lana eyed her twin and jealousy and gave a small raspberry. Clearly she wasn't please with how easy they got off. "And I expect everyone that's stationed at the elementary school to keep a very close eye on this Ronnie Anne girl. The last thing we need is for her to develop a sense of curiosity involving us. Meeting adjourned."

With that final decree, everyone split up and went their separate ways. Including me as I went into the kitchen to prepare dinner for tonight. As I walked past the trophy case one more time, I looked at the book and started to think about this Ronnie Anne girl again. I couldn't explain why, but something about her and Lincoln's course of action regarding that rancor didn't sit well with me. None the less, there really wasn't much I could do about it at the moment, so I decided to put it in the back of my mind. At least for now.

Well, *sip* seems Lincoln's actions are already showing results. Ronnie Anne appears to already growing just a teeny bit softer. At least to her brother. And as expected, Lori was not pleased at all. Feel free to speculate what could happen next with everyone...

See you all around later...

*sip* Scottish royalty... Man.