And we're back!
Before we begin, I would just like to clarify something. Now I'm sure some of you are confused by the orange ghost in the last chapter. Well I don't wanna give too much away, but I decided to use more video game characters other than just the Sonic ones. The roles might not be as big as the Sonic characters, but will still be important to the story. Also, if you're wondering, I do have plans to include other characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchises, but those will come later.
But anyway, back on to the story. As you read in the previous chapter, Lincoln's sisters have been captured. But the question remains, how will Lincoln feel after finding out? Will he be happy that he got his wish? Or will he regret it?
Let's find out
The next day, Lincoln woke up from his bed after coming back home from the arcade.
"Ah, what a night. Well at least no one knows where I've been."
Lincoln hopped out of his bed and headed out the room. As he made his way to the bathroom, he then noticed something that almost never happened before.
"No line for the bathroom? Huh, that's a first."
At first, Lincoln thought it was strange, but decided to ignore it anyway.
Moments later, he went downstairs fully dressed and saw his parents in the kitchen.
"Morning son," his father greeted.
"Morning mom. Morning dad. Where's everyone else?"
"I don't know sweetie," Rita explains. "I haven't seen them since yesterday."
"Huh. Maybe they're just sleeping in. I mean Lori and Lola usually complain about not getting their beauty sleep."
Lincoln opened the fridge to get some orange juice, but right as he closed the door, he found a note hanging on it being held with a magnet.
It read:
To whom it may concern,
By the time you read this, we will not be here. We have gone on an extended vacation and will remain there until further notice.
Signed, the Loud sisters
Later, Lincoln shows the note to his friends.
"Yeah, Bobby just got the same message from Lori," Ronnie Anne claims.
"That's weird," Lincoln pondered. "From the looks of it, I'd say all 10 of my sisters are gone."
"Well did they all go on vacation?" Clyde asked.
"Maybe they went to get juice or something," Ronnie Anne said.
"I don't really digest pulp well. It makes me bloat."
"I don't get it. Lori never misses a date with my brother. How could she just disappear like this?"
The world 'disappear' in Lincoln's head.
"Uh…..Lincoln?" Ronnie Anne snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Lincoln! Have you been listening?"
"Huh? Oh! Yeah. Look, why don't you guys go home? I'll let you know if I find them."
"Okay…...weirdo."
As soon as Clyde and Ronnie Anne were gone, Lincoln ran back into the house and shut the door.
"I made my sisters disappear!" He thought to himself. But after remembering what happened last night, a smile grew on his face. "I made my sisters disappear. This is perfect! I finally have all the free time to myself! And there's no one else to tell me I can't!"
All throughout the day, Lincoln spent all his time doing the things he normally couldn't do because of his sisters. Including watching whatever was on tv, going out to places all on his own, even reading comics in the living room in his underwear.
"This is the life."
Now you would think that after a while, he'd eventually get bored of all this alone time. And in this case, you'd probably be right. But more into detail later.
Meanwhile, XJ9/Jenny was busy patrolling Royal Woods in search of alien life forms.
"XJ9! Hello XJ9?" Nora appears on Jenny's built in screen. "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear mom!" Jenny answered. "Go ahead."
"Have you located any foreign objects?"
"I'm afraid not. I've been searching all over Royal Woods and I haven't seen a single thing that looks like it came from outer space."
"Nothing at all?"
"No. But I did see a dragon with two heads doing cartwheels. Does that help?"
"No."
"What about a coyote having a piano dropped on his head? I'm pretty sure that would have been painful."
"Fraid not."
"Seven fairytale dwarfs on a bicycle singing melodies while juggling diamonds and writing fanfics?"
"Mmm-mmm."
"Then I got nothing."
"Is that all you saw?"
"Well not all of it. I also saw a fishtail kid with blue hair. And a red dog that was the size of a two story building."
"Oh. Well keep looking XJ9. Remember, the security of humanity rests in your metallic hands."
"Don't worry mom. If there's any aliens in this town, I'll bring them to justice." Jenny turns off her screen, but the smile on her face faded away. "Oh who am I kidding? Why did I have to say all that? Better yet, why did I get called to come here? Nothing really wild ever happens in Royal Woods anyway."
But Jenny decided to just ignore it and proceed.
Several days had passed, all the fun and excitement had died down. Lincoln's room was a total mess. His clothes and bedsheets were all wrinkled and scattered everywhere.
As for Lincoln himself, all the pets (including Lana's and Lucy's pet bat) were in his room trying to put him out of his misery.
"I know you miss Lana Hops," Lincoln said to his sister's pet frog. "I miss her too. I mean I'm happy I get to do whatever I want, but I still feel like something's missing. You know what that's like, don't you?"
Just then, Clyde bursts through the door doing air guitar. "Oh yeah! Going off the rails on a crazy train!"
However, Lincoln was not in the mood. "Hey, hey, hey! Not now Clyde! Can't you see I'm in the middle of a discussion here?! Sheesh!"
Lincoln pounded his fist to the desk.
"Is something wrong Lincoln?" Clyde asked.
"Just think about it," Lincoln lamented. "I can do whatever I want, yet I don't know what to do. It's just not fun anymore."
"Sorry, you lost me."
"I mean. My sisters are gone, aren't they?"
"Well not gone as in dead necessarily. Technically, they're gone as in they left."
"And I've got all the time in the world, don't I?"
"Well yes."
"But why do I feel so unhappy?"
"Are you saying that you miss your sisters?"
"I don't get it. They should've been back by now."
"Okay, well…...what if tomorrow, we could go to the arcade? That always seems to lift your spirits!"
Lincoln smiles for a second, but then began to frown again. "Yeah….good idea Clyde. But without them, what's the point anymore?"
"Oh, okay. Well you know, it was just something to consider. And if it's okay, I'm just gonna leave you alone for a while then." Clyde left the room, leaving Lincoln alone with his thoughts.
That evening at dinner wasn't much better. Lincoln was so upset that he wouldn't even eat anything. So he just spread the food around his plate.
His mother took note of this. "Sweetie, you hardly ate any dinner. Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine mom," Lincoln said. "I'm just not feeling hungry today. No amount of food could fill the void I have in my heart."
"You know, that sounds just like something that Lucy would say."
"I know."
"Come to think of it," his father wonders. "I haven't seen her or any of the girls for the past few days."
"I know."
"And you've barely said a word since they left."
"I KNOW MOM!"
"Lincoln!" His father scolded. "Mind your manners!"
"Sorry. I just can't help thinking it's my fault they're gone."
"What makes you think that?" Rita asked.
"Before I went to bed, I yelled at them and I wished they would go away."
"Now why would you say that?"
"I don't know, I just got too mad. I didn't mean to say it, but I did. I guess I'm nothing but a jerk."
"Lincoln," his father consoled. "Don't say that. You can never be a jerk."
"No! I am!" Lincoln was in denial. He got so upset, he jumped out of his chair and ran up to his room. "My sisters are gone and it's all my fault!"
"Lincoln! Wait!"
But it was too late. Lincoln didn't wanna talk about it anymore. He ran into his bedroom and shut the door. He took a look at the picture on his door of him and all his sisters. The picture made his anger turn to sadness which then became guilt.
"What have I done?"