Hi Loud House lovers! Sorry for the long wait. I've been researching on how the American court system works. Since the trial looks like it's going to be lengthy, I've decided to split it into three parts. I've been doing as much research as I can on how American trials work while also trying to write how I think the Louds might behave in this situation. But if any of you think I've overlooked something important, feel free to let me know so I can correct it. Thank you and enjoy.
It was late in the morning, and so many people were gathered together at the courthouse in Downtown Royal Woods. So many members of the general public (including Albert, Aunt Ruth, Flip, Chunk, Scoots, the McBrides, and the Santiagos) were filling both sides of the gallery. The jury box stood on the right side of the room and was filled with twelve jurors of different gender, age, and race. The bench where the judge sits was located at the far wall of the room. There was a witness stand on both sides of the bench. There were two desks between the bench and the gallery. The Loud family, with the exception of Lincoln and Lily (who was in the gallery with her grandfather, Albert), were all sitting at the desk on the right with their defense attorney. The defense attorney was a red-haired man in his early to mid-thirties wearing a dark blue suit with a black necktie. At the desk on the left sat Lincoln, who was wearing his light blue suit with his orange necktie and brown shoes with his hair was combed backwards, Brenda, Derek, and the prosecutor, who was a tall man in his mid to late-forties with gray hair and wearing a black suit. The prosecutor was a very charismatic and intimidating man who enjoyed his job and loved breaking his opponents with as much evidence he could dig up. Near the left corner of the room sat the court reporter.
Lincoln didn't look very comfortable. Not just because he was sick, but because he also really didn't want to be there. His family looked like they were feeling the same thing if not more than him.
"Oyez! Oyez!" a bailiff announced to the entire courtroom. "All rise for the honorable Judge Martha."
Everyone got up out of their seats as Royal Woods' judge took hers at the bench. She was a woman in her late 50s, wore glasses and the traditional black court gown, she had stress lines, bags under her eyes, long tear-troughs on her face, and grayish brown hair. She was a very stern woman who took her job very seriously. Once she was seated, everyone else sat back down.
"Court is now in session," the bailiff announced.
"What is the case?" the judge asked.
"The Children's Protective Services vs the Loud family," the bailiff answered reading a paper form.
"What is the charge?" the judge asked.
The prosecutor stood up and addressed the court. "Child abuse, your honor!" The entire courtroom let out appalled gasps. "This family is charged with an awful crime and here are the complainants," the prosecutor said pointing to Lincoln and the two CPS agents.
"You dirty rat!" a furious Lola yelled at her brother.
"You rotten little jinx!" Lynn angrily barked.
"You backstabbing twerp!" a livid Lori shouted.
"To be fair," Lincoln said to the readers. "I haven't gotten a chance to complain about anything since I got here."
"When I get my hands on you, I'll turn you into a –" Lori continued but her threat was interrupted.
"Order in the court!" the judge demanded striking the sound block with her gavel.
"I'll have a Greek salad!" Leni responded. Luan couldn't help but chuckle at her older sister's obliviousness.
"That's not funny!" the judge said glaring irritably at the sixteen year old.
"What's not funny?" a confused Leni asked.
"It was a little funny," Luan commented.
"Kids, please behave yourselves!" a nervous Rita told her daughters. "We're in a courtroom."
"Well, this is going to go well," the defense attorney sarcastically said to himself.
"Just look at this poor lad!" the prosecutor continued while the court reporter took notes. "He has suffered so." His voice had a sympathetic-sounding tone that made people feel pity for the 'complainant'. Lincoln, on the other hand, felt a little uncomfortable with the prosecutor talking about him because he felt that his tone wasn't truly genuine. "His own sisters ostracized and shunned him from their family activities and eventually their lives, treating him like an outcast. And what action did the boy's parents take during this dreadful injustice? Did they discipline their daughters for their mistreatment? No. Did they try to reason with them that what they were doing was wrong and unfair? No! Instead, they decided to take sides with these spoiled delinquents and ban their only son from the warmth and safety of their family home completely!"
The entire courtroom gasped in shock and horror. The court reporter was so shocked that he hesitated for a moment before resuming his note-taking. Lynn Sr. and Rita sank in their seats, both nervous and embarrassed.
"This is a waste of time!" Lynn Jr. complained.
"Order in the court!" the judge demanded and allowed the prosecutor to continue.
"And then, to add insult to injury, they only agreed to let him back into their lives after selling his possessions and forcing him to wear a mascot suit 24 hours a day!" This last line from the prosecutor caused everyone in the courtroom to start murmuring to one another. "Now look at him! The child is clearly not in the best of health," the prosecutor said as Lincoln let out a sickly cough.
"Your honor, this child is in no condition to live outside on his own," Brenda said.
"And being forced to wear that dirty, toasty suit is clearly not helping either," Derek added.
"I can guarantee you, ladies and gentlemen," the prosecutor resumed. "This is not the first time they have behaved in such a manner. In fact, they have quite a history of selfishness, self-absorption, and immaturity. And you will see that everyone who has come into contact with these people has been abused, wronged, and betrayed. This time, they've gone too far. This time, they will answer for their deeds. This time, if the parents of these delinquents won't do their job, then we will do it for them!"
"This is a very serious charge," the concerned judge said.
"Oh please," an apathetic Lynn remarked.
"Will the defense attorney make his statement?"
"Your honor," the defense attorney rose. "I find this appalling and unfair. This accusation is preposterous! Look at these people." He pointed to his clients. "They have eleven kids to take care of. The youngest is not present due to being an infant, which makes her the most innocent. But who's to say that the rest of this family is any less innocent? I'm sure some of you have kids of your own, but do you have just as many kids or more than these people? Being a parent is a hard job, but this many children makes it twice, no, five times harder. And these people want to make life harder for them than it already is!" The defense attorney pointed to the prosecutor and the two CPS agents. "We're all human beings. We all make mistakes. Even as parents. I find it hard to believe that any parent would put a ridiculous superstition above the safety of their child. Would any parent who's willing to take care of this many kids really stoop so low to commit such an act?" The defense attorney's question made Lynn Sr. and Rita sweat a little. "These people have survived this long in such a big family. But now, the rest of their survival rests on you." With that, the defense attorney took his seat.
"Have you any witnesses, prosecutor?" the judge asked.
"As a matter of fact, your honor," the prosecutor replied. "I do. I'd like to call to the witness stand the victim of this heinous crime, Lincoln Loud."
The ill adolescent walked up and sat in the stand on the right on the bench. He found himself facing the entire courtroom which made him even more nervous than he already was. The bailiff approached the white-haired boy holding a bible in his hands. Lincoln raised his right hand and put his left hand on the bible.
"DoYouSolemnlySwearThatYouWillTellTheTruth,TheWholeTruth,AndNothingButTheTruth,SoHelpYouGod?" the bailiff asked in a fast-paced voice.
"Y… yes," Lincoln reluctantly agreed. He didn't want to get his family into any more trouble than they already were, but he knew he had to tell the truth. He just took the oath.
"Lincoln Albert Loud," the prosecutor addressed the boy. "Would you kindly tell the court how this all started? And don't leave out any details."
Lincoln took a huge gulp before speaking. "Well, you see it was –" But before he could finish his first sentence, he started violently coughing and hacking. His family looked concerned. His voice was weak and it sounded like he was getting worse. For a moment, even Lynn looked a little worried for her brother's condition before going back to giving him a blameful glare. "Sorry about that," Lincoln apologized once his coughing fit was over. "You see, it was like this. It's obvious that I live in a big family. Which means, my sisters all have activities that they want me to attend. With ten sisters, my calendar gets completely booked."
"Hold on, your honor," the defense attorney interrupted. "How do we know the boy is speaking the truth?"
"Which brings me to Exhibit A," the prosecutor announced and snapped his fingers.
The bailiff brought out a projector and a projector screen. He turned on the projector and a slide of Lincoln's calendar appeared on the screen. Sure enough, the days were filled with events associated with his sisters.
"Oh," the defense attorney exclaimed in slight embarrassment. "I rescind my statement."
"As we can all see, Mr. Lincoln's schedule is quite packed," the prosecutor confirmed to the court. "Doesn't leave you with a lot of time to yourself, does it, young man?"
"Nailed it," Lincoln confirmed while sadly lowering his eyes. "I was desperately yearning for a little quality time to myself. However, Lynn wanted me to support her at her baseball game."
"I take it you didn't want to go?" the prosecutor speculated.
"No," Lincoln shamefully admitted.
"Then what made you change your mind that day?" the prosecutor asked. He looked eager to hear what happened next.
"Well," Lincoln nervously replied. "Lynn 'persuaded' me to change my mind by… threatening to beat me with a baseball bat." This made the courtroom gasp.
"Which brings us to Exhibit B!" the prosecutor announced. Then a slide of a baseball bat appeared on the projector screen. "Young Mr. Loud, can you confirm that this is the baseball bat you spoke of?"
Lincoln took a big gulp. "Yes, (cough) it is."
The rest of the Louds suddenly turned angry and disapproving glares toward Lynn Jr.
"What?" the confused athlete asked.
"So your sister threatened you with physical harm to get you to come to her game?" the prosecutor asked with a grin, he liked where this was going. Lincoln nodded. "And when you attended her game, then what happened?"
"Well, she lost… badly," Lincoln answered with pity in his voice. Being reminded of her loss and sensing her brother's pity made Lynn's blood boil. "After that, she started blaming the entire thing on me. She said I was bad luck. The rest of my family started believing that too. Well, after I started playing along with it."
"Wait, so you actually played along with the slander that was thrown at you?" the confused prosecutor asked. The CPS agents and the judge looked equally confused.
"I desperately wanted some 'me' time. Turns out, lying about being a jinx wasn't the best solution."
"Your honor, he's lying!" Lynn objected. "He didn't lie about being bad luck, he is bad luck!"
"Order in the court!" the judge demanded before turning her attention back to the boy. "Please continue."
"It was all fun, but then things started getting lonely," Lincoln continued. "I wanted to hang out with my family again. But by that time it was too late, they no longer wanted to hang out with me anymore. They were so afraid I'd bring them bad luck that they boarded up my room, kicked me out of the house, and sold all my stuff. When I tried to come clean, no one believed. In order to prove I wasn't bad luck, I snuck into the ball game and disguised myself as the mascot."
"Show Exhibit C!" the prosecutor ordered. The bailiff brought in the hideous mascot suit.
"When Lynn won," Lincoln resumed. "I revealed myself. At first, it looked like they finally started to believe me. But then…"
Lincoln remembered the day he thought he finally convinced his family he wasn't bad luck. Lynn even apologized for her accusations. He was a little upset that they sold his furniture, but he was still happy to finally be accepted back into the family. The family that he missed and wouldn't trade for the world. Everyone joined in a big warm family group hug around their boy.
"Wait!" Lynn interrupted the moment. "Maybe I wasn't wrong. Think about it! Isn't it strange that when he first came to my game, we lost? But when he came to this game wearing that suit, we won!" The family looked at her with confused expressions on their faces. "I'm saying that this suit cancels out Lincoln's bad luck and turns it into good luck! Which means if he wears everywhere he goes, good luck will follow!"
"Give it a rest already, Lynn," Lincoln argued. "Do you really think they're going to believe that after everything that's happened?"
"That makes sense," Lisa said.
"Yeah, it does," Lynn Sr. voiced his agreement.
"What?!" Lincoln exclaimed in disbelief while the rest of the family chatted amongst one another in agreement with Lynn.
"That settles it, son," Lynn Sr. said in a happy tone completely oblivious to his only son's misery. "From now on, you're going to wear that suit." The rest of the family agreed.
"Dang it," Lincoln said in annoyance. His last attempt to put an end to this madness backfired spectacularly. He had gone from being an outcast to a prisoner and a tool.
"… And that's the whole story, your honor," Lincoln finished.
The judge and many members of the jury felt pity for the poor boy after hearing his story. While they all agreed that lying wasn't the right way for him to get what he wanted, it was nothing compared to how the rest of his family handled the situation. The prosecutor, on the other hand, looked like he was about to burst into laughter.
"All this neglect and abuse over a superstition?!" the prosecutor exclaimed as he couldn't hold his laughter in any longer. Derek soon joined in with the laughter.
"Laugh if you want, I think it's disgusting," Brenda said disapprovingly to her partner. She found absolutely nothing humorous about any of this.
Eventually, the prosecutor and Derek stopped laughing. The prosecutor then walked over to the table of the accused and looked menacingly down at them. While most of the family looked very intimidated, Lynn Jr. stared back defiantly.
"You expect me to believe that?!" the prosecutor asked in a mocking tone.
"Look bub!" Lynn argued. "There's no way I could've lost that game on my own. I'm Lynn Loud Jr.! I'm a winner! And winners never lose! Before he came, I never lost a single game."
"Well, Miss Lynn," the prosecutor mockingly retorted. "I've never lost a case."
For a moment, Lynn and the prosecutor both exchanged glares at one another. Lynn did not like the prosecutor, and the prosecutor did not like her. Ironically, the two weren't that much different. The prosecutor took great pride in his guilty verdict record just as much as Lynn took great pride in her winning streak. However, unlike Lynn, the prosecutor believed in facts and evidence, not superstitions.
"I object, your honor," the defense attorney came to the defense of one of his clients. "To this harsh antagonism of one of my clients. Let's be real here, the claims about what my clients have done are obvious exaggerations. Lynn Loud Jr. do you really believe your own brother is bad luck and caused all this trouble for you and your family?"
"No, I don't think my brother is bad luck," Lynn answered.
"There, you see?" the defense attorney said trying to appeal to the court.
"I know he's bad luck!" Lynn proclaimed. "And he is the one responsible for this whole mess my family and I are in!"
"Seriously?!" the defense attorney exclaimed in disbelief and embarrassment that one of the people he was defending had just foolishly proved him wrong.
"Mr. and Mrs. Loud," the prosecutor addressed the intimidated parents. "Is it true that you kicked your only eleven year old son out of your home on account of 'being bad luck'?"
"Hang on a second," Lynn Sr. spoke. "Now I know this looks bad. But I assure you that my wife and I really do love all our children and would never do anything to hurt any of them. I mean, what kind of father would let anything potentially harmful happen to his own kids?"
"A sad, pathetic, irresponsible excuse of a man!" Aunt Ruth yelled.
Lynn Sr. cringed at his aunt-in-law's harsh words, but he continued his statement. "Look taking care of this many kids isn't easy, even for two parents. But Rita and I are literally 100 percent dedicated to our jobs as parents. We strive to give our children equal amounts of love and attention and we don't play favorites. Sure some things might seem a little questionable to most of you, but it's not our fault, we're doing our absolute best. Rita and I promised we would never get rid of any of our kids. They're the best ten things that ever happened to us."
"There's eleven, dear," Rita corrected her husband.
"Right. The point is we're really good parents. We would never, not in a million years, ever…"
"Exhibit D!" the prosecutor ordered.
Before the patriarch could finish his sentence, a slide of Lincoln poking his head out of the doghouse suddenly appeared on the projector screen causing everyone to gasp in horror. One of the CPS agents must've taken a picture of him at the time to use as evidence. Seeing the photo caused the man of the Loud house to stop talking for a moment as shock and anxiety took over. This was not going to make him or his family look good at all.
"…kick out more than one," Lynn Sr. sheepishly finished his statement.
The defense attorney face palmed in disgust.
"Are there anymore witnesses?" the judge asked.
"As a matter of fact, there is, your honor," the prosecutor answered with a smile.
Well, this is the end of part 1 of the trial. Hope you all enjoyed. The next part will be Witnesses and Testimonies. If any of you have any ideas for witnesses, please let me know. If doesn't have to be only people connected to NSL, it can be anyone who has fallen prey to the Louds' antics.