Author Notes - I cannot begin to explain how many times I accidentally named Lisa 'Luisa' during the making of this story. That aside, time for one of my favourite scenes from the movie. Admit it. You laughed your head off when Luisa loudly declared that she was a loser. ... The words 'Luisa loudly' really makes me want to say 'Lisa Loud'. Dang it...

CHAPTER NINE - A DISASTROUS DINNER DATE

Now in silence, Lincoln could properly read the glowing message in front of him.

Lincoln Loud will bring about something
Though what, I cannot be certain
He may bring about destruction and ruin
Or he could bring prosperity and joy
All I know is that Lincoln Loud is important

Lincoln's eyes widened, and he read it through a couple more times just to be certain. Every time he read it, it never changed: he would do something, but it wasn't known what.

'Even Lucy wasn't sure…?'

He stared at it in silence, struggling to comprehend the message. If it simply said he was bound to cause doom, it'd be depressing but at least he'd know for sure. But this uncertainty, where even the Seer couldn't tell what was to happen… no wonder no one wanted him to find this one.

He flinched just slightly as he heard the door opening. Ruidosa moved the table in such a way that the tombstone would hopefully be covered by his body (unlikely, with how skinny he was), while Lincoln turned around to the intruder. Lynn… For a moment, he worried that he was going to be carried swiftly away to another location for another verse, or that he was simply about to be rugby-tackled. Those worries were put to rest when he noticed a look on her face that he could only describe as a little frightened.

'Uh, so Mom and Dad told me to get you for the dinner,' She said. 'And, um, since I can run so fast I've got some time to talk. So… last night.'

Lincoln groaned. 'Lynn, I get it. I was crazy. You don't need to rub it in.'

'What? No! So, last night, you interrupted Lisa's party to mention something about the cracks. Since I'm so fast, I got there first and-'

'Okay Lynn, I get it. You can run super fast and I have nothing. Stop rubbing it in.'

'Lincoln! I'm trying to help you out here!'

She took a deep breath, and Lincoln wasn't any more convinced about her good motives than he was when she walked through the door. What she would kill for another quick a-hundred laps around her room right now.

'The point I'm trying to make is,' She said. 'When I got there, for a moment… I could actually see the cracks.'

Lincoln's jaw fell. 'Wait, you did? Why didn't you-?!'

'Yes, I know!' Lynn cried, frowning. 'I should've said something about it before, but I didn't because there was already so much going on and I didn't want to send everyone into a panic. That's why I'm here, telling you now, and-' She leaned to the left, just a little. 'Um, what is that?'

Lincoln just gave her a nervous smile, hoping she'd just ignore it and carry him off to dinner. Except she didn't, and she zoomed up to the table before he could even try to stop her. She arrived at the spot so fast that he fell over backwards, and her jaw was already wide open.

'Is… is this one of Lucy's visions!?' She yelled. 'And you might be responsible for destroying the magic?!'

Lincoln got to his feet. 'Lynn, I know just about as much as you do. And how did you read it so fast?'

'I do everything fast, Stinkcoln. That's kind of my entire point! Look, I love ya bro, but if anyone sees this you're gonna be in big trouble. They're going to think that everything is your fault. Lori's already lost her gift and won't stop crying about it. How do you think everyone's going to take this?'

'You think I don't know that?! The vision also says that I might fix this. So until I find a way to fix this, I don't want anyone else finding out about this.'

Lynn wanted to say that she would tell no one, but she was swiftly beaten by the sound of approaching footsteps moving almost as fast as she could. Both Loud siblings immediately went silent and stared at each other in horror, all but certain with who exactly this was.

And they were totally right.

'DUDE!' Luna yelled, running into the open door. 'First you tried going into Lucy's room, then it turns out that apparently the cracks were real, and now this?! … I knew we should've sung the song first.'

'Alright, there's already too many people who know about this.' Lincoln said. 'And for all I know, the rats in the wall are on their way to tell Lana about it too. Let's try to keep this between the three of us.'

Lynn rolled her eyes. 'Oh yeah, Stinkoln, that'll work. It's not like they'll notice those cracks when they inevitably come back!'

'We have to let everyone else know.' Luna said. 'I'm not sure if a fast runner, a giftless boy, and a girl who can hear things well are going to solve the problem.'

Lincoln grinned. 'Ah, but I'm sure you heard that-'

'Yes, I heard! It's all I ever do. But the prophecy doesn't mention how you're going to do this, and…' She went stiff. 'Mom's getting impatient. I can hear her tapping her foot.'

Lincoln glanced back at the vision before him. The ambiguity of it was unsettling, to say the least, but he was sure he could save the magic. Maybe? Possibly? Luna stood by the doorway, listening out for anyone else who might approach them and learn the secret, while Lynn bit into her knuckles and paced back and forth. It added another worry on top of Lincoln's pile: was she nervous about something too?

'Okay,' He said after a while. 'How about we just… don't mention this to anyone until after the dinner? I'm sure we can make it through that.'

'Lincoln,' Luna said. 'They're already discussing a possible proposal between Bobby and Leni. And Mom is wondering where the heck we are. We gotta hurry up!'

'Oh, we are not getting through this dinner.' Lynn muttered.

'Uh, n-not with that attitude!' Lincoln cried. 'Come on!'

Lincoln suddenly had the realisation that they probably weren't going to get through the dinner.

He sat near the end, right next to Luna and Lynn to make sure they wouldn't try telling the all-important secret until after the dinner at the earliest. Yet, when he saw them trembling and twitching just slightly, he had a feeling that wouldn't last long anyway.

Everyone was at the table, for better or worse. Rita and Lynn Sr sat at the front, with the former seeming cool and collected while the latter had that 'help me please' smile on his face. Bobby sat close to them, with Leni right next to him. The teenagers tried to give each other genuine smiles, but they didn't seem especially real to Lincoln. Ronnie Anne sat parallel to Bobby, tapping her fork against the edge of her plate while looking like she was already ready to go home.

The twins were next to each other, which judging by their angry expressions aimed at each other was a terrible idea. Lincoln's gaze stopped on Lisa in particular - were those bags under her eyes? Luan's attention, every few seconds, would dart to a framed photo she kept in her lap, and Lori resembled a boiler about to blow more than a relaxed teenaged girl. Lily, seated all the way at the end, seemed like the only one other than Rita who was smiling.

'It's such a privilege to have you here tonight!' Rita said, looking at Bobby. 'I'm sure you'll love my husband's wonderful cooking. So…' She gave a sly smile. 'When are you going to pop the question?'

Bobby appeared to choke on something; an impressive feat, seeing as he hadn't even started to eat anything yet. 'Uh… I just want to enjoy your amazing dinner first, if that's okay with you.'

'Oh, I don't blame you! Lynn's cooking is simply divine. And I'm not just saying that because of its healing properties!'

Lynn Sr laughed, trying too hard to make it sound real. 'Oh yeah, the food is… it's great!'

Bobby frowned. 'Uh, are you okay, Papa Loud?'

'It's ooo-kay! It's just that cooking my special food for an entire town can get a little… exhausting sometimes. But it's worth it to see all those happy faces!'

Lincoln took a bite of his food - another serving of good ol' 'Lynn-Sagna' - as he stared at Luna and Lynn. They were certainly trying to eat their food happily, but he could see the forks in their grasp shaking and rattling, and his hand was beginning to do the same thing. He could only hope no one noticed.

'Lisa's gift is already proving to be of great use!' Rita said. 'So many fixed computers, so many ovens cooking food in seconds… isn't that right, Lisa?'

They got no response from the five–year-old, and when everyone looked at her they quickly figured out why: Lisa had her face planted on the table, fast asleep. And was snoring kinda loudly too, considering her tiny size. So loudly, in fact, that Luna had to tone down her gift immediately or risk sensory overload.

'LISA!' Lola yelled, loudly enough to make Luna yelp.

'AH!'

Lisa jumped awake with a start, looking like someone who had downed coffee one second and then like a workaholic the next. When she realised how many people were staring at her, she simply gulped down a piece of her dinner.

'A-Apologies, everyone.' She said, yawning. 'Today was a… a big day. So many people needed help…'

'That you forgot to take your nap?' Lincoln asked.

Lisa blushed slightly, displeased with the reminder of her age. 'S-Something like… like that…'

Bobby and Ronnie Anne said nothing, but they exchanged confused (and somewhat concerned) looks with each other before they returned to their food. Everyone went into silence, and it created a very awkward atmosphere that made Lincoln want to throw himself off a building. Luna picked up her glass and gulped it down all in one bite, keeping up a nervous smile.

'There's no way we're getting out of this.' Lynn whispered to Lincoln. 'We're boned.'

'Just keep quiet!' Lincoln whispered back. 'And I'm sure we can-'

'HEY!' Luna yelled, making everyone jump. 'T-This silence is really gnarly, and nothing solves a gnarly silence like a little bit of music! I'll just go fetch my guitar, and-'

'Hey, I have an idea!' Bobby said. 'If we want really nice music, we'll need a piano. Lori!'

The teenager in question looked up from her plate, and directly into Bobby's eyes. It took more willpower than she had to cope with the man of her dreams being with Leni, and she squeezed the fork in her hand. It only made her more stressed, since she missed the days when she would bend it by doing so.

'Can you fetch the piano?' Bobby asked.

Lori gasped. 'M-Me? Why me?!'

'Uh… cos you're the strong one?'

The rest of the family stared at her in horror (except for Lisa, who was already falling asleep again), hardly able to anticipate what her next action was. It was hard for anyone inside Ruidosa to miss that super loud wailing, after all. Instead of the complete mental breakdown that everyone was expecting, she merely contorted her face as much as possible to stop the tears, and stood up.

'O-Okay…' Came her absolutely broken voice.

As she walked away, she buried her face in her hands and began weeping quietly. Unfortunately, not quietly enough so no one could hear her. Bobby could practically feel his heart shattering at the sound, even as she left the room.

'Is she okay?' He asked. 'She sounds so… sad!'

'Uh…' Rita said. 'It's a… long story.'

While Rita fumbled through her explanation, Luna found herself being stared at by Lola. The girly twin was giving her a nasty stink eye that went right through into her soul, and it was enough to make Luna shudder. As if they weren't dealing with enough already.

'W-What?' Luna squeaked out.

'You're hiding something.' Lola said. 'I know you are! And, frankly, it's annoying me. You get to hear all this exciting drama, and you keep it all from me! And now you've got a really juicy secret. I can tell from that look in your eyes. Tell me!'

Luna groaned. 'It's hard enough handling all the horrible stuff I hear from the townspeople. I don't need you constantly heckling for more!'

'Come on, Luna!' Lola yelled, slamming her fist into the table. 'I have to know!'

A cloud quickly formed over her head, already emitting thundering sounds.

'Uh, Lola…' Ronnie Anne said. 'The cloud…'

'I NOTICE THE CLOUD!' Lola yelled, causing some electricity to spark from the cloud. 'I'M AWARE OF THE CLOUD! I'm only thundering because LUNA ISN'T COOPERATING!'

Lana groaned. 'Yes, Luna is the annoying one here.'

'SHUT UP, LANA!'

A big swarm of hail fell from Lola's cloud, most of it pelting up against her head. The tomboyish twin emitted increasingly-frustrated 'OW's with each ice ball that plonked on her.

'Clear skies, Lola!' Rita yelled, pouring a drink for Bobby in an attempt to distract him.

Lola took a deep breath and clenched her fists, muttering her little 'clear skies' mantra to herself. Unfortunately, it didn't help. It stopped the hail, but the cloud only grew bigger and bigger until it overshadowed the entire table. It darkened until it was almost black, and a threatening crash of thunder boomed.

'AHH!' Lisa screamed, waking up again. 'I'm up, I'M UP!'

'S-Should we leave?' Bobby asked, pointing to the exit.

'NO!' Lincoln yelled. 'It's fine! But, uh… y-you should propose now. Because, um, Leni is just so excited for it!'

Leni put her finger to her chin. 'Wait, am I? … Oh! Uh, y-yep!'

'Well, if you're excited for it,' Bobby said, reaching into his pocket. 'I guess I can't keep you waiting.'

He pulled out a little box, no doubt one containing a little ring inside it.

'Uh, bro…' Ronnie Anne said. 'All that's in that box is an onion ring.'

'S-She doesn't have to know that!' Bobby cried, before he laughed nervously. 'I-It's good enough, right?'

Leni pulled a smile that, truthfully, didn't seem completely real. Lincoln peered at it, trying to figure out why, but couldn't because soon enough he heard Lola screaming.

'LANA!' She shouted. 'GET YOUR SNAKES AWAY FROM ME!'

'YOU STARTED IT!' Lana yelled back, summoning a couple of rats by her side.

'DID NOT!'

'DID TO!'

Everyone - except for Lisa, who was somehow sleeping through all of this - found, to their horror, that a bunch of dirty rats were now running across the table, with some making no attempt to crawl around the food. As Lana and Lola's glares at each other worsened, so did the storm above them all.

Suddenly, Luna yelped. She saw many of her sisters and mother staring right at her, and she could not bring herself to say 'there are cracks going on right now'. Instead, she simply tapped Lincoln's shoulder and pointed down to the floor. When he looked down, he could see a big crack travelling under his chair.

'AH!' He yelped.

He leapt out of his chair and dove onto the floor, trying to cover up a crack that was right there. When everyone who wasn't pre-occupied in fighting or sleeping looked his way, he flashed them all a thumbs-up.

'You're doing great!' Lincoln said. 'Maybe you should hurry up and propose now…'

'Well, uh…' Bobby said. 'If I'm going to propose, I want some lovely music for a lovely girl! Where is Lori with that piano?'

With perhaps the greatest timing in the world, Lori finally showed up with that piano in tow. Of course, she couldn't lift it anymore, and was instead shoving it along against the floorboards. It created a horrendous squeaking sound, and she couldn't even get it over the tiny step in the doorway. Then, right in front of everyone, she gave up on even trying and buried her face into the piano's top, wailing as loudly as her lungs could manage.

'Lori?!' Bobby cried. 'Are you okay?'

'NOOOO-HOOOO-HOOOOOO-WAH!' Was the teary reply.

Thunder… yelling twins… squeaking mice… a wailing Lori… it was getting loud and obnoxious now. The way Lynn couldn't stop twitching all over wasn't helping anyone.

'WOULD EVERYONE JUST STOP?!' Luna cried. 'I cannot bloody believe how much everything's going wrong right now!'

'Just tell Lola your stupid secret so she'll shut up!' Lana yelled.

'NEVER!'

Lincoln looked up to Lori once again. This time, she tried pulling on the piano instead, only to fall over backwards onto the floor. Once there, she proceeded to cry even louder than she did before, resembling a three-year-old chucking a tantrum more than the collected teenager she tried to be. Luan opened her mouth to make a dumb joke to ease the tension, only to transform some weird Lisa-Bobby-Grouse hybrid one moment, and straight-up turn into a Lori-sized Lily the next.

'Wait!' She said. 'I-I've got this!'

Her attempt at fixing up the mistake only resulted in her switching between her sisters every few seconds, unable to pin down a single form for a second. Even worse, not one time did she manage to transform into 'Luan'. Bobby, deciding to follow Lincoln's advice if only so he could get his little sister out of this mess, opened up the box and showed off the onion ring to Leni. The sight of it only made Leni hunger for more of her dad's food.

'Leni…' He said, staring into Leni's eyes.

The very thought of Bobby marrying Leni made Lori cry out even louder than before, managing to drown out the sound of the thundering in the process. It was as if her voice was the only strong thing left, because it caused a massive crack to tear its way through the dining room. It appeared so suddenly that a little rat jumped away from it and dug its claws into Leni's leg. Had the situation been less stressful, she may have been fine, but with all the insanity already going on…

'AAHHH!'

On complete instinct, Leni made a vine shoot out of the crack-

'OW!'

And inadvertently punched Bobby in the eye with it. He fell to the floor, and Leni gasped when she saw him lying there.

'Sorry!' She said. 'I didn't mean to…'

Lincoln wouldn't show it, but he was seconds away from having a panic attack. Come to think of it, it seemed like most of his sisters and his father were no better. Luna pulled at her hair, Lana and Lola wouldn't stop yelling at each other (which was now causing hail to fall everything and Chomper to return through the doorway), Lisa was dead to the world, Lori could not stop crying on the floor, Lynn Sr was hyperventilating, Lily was beginning to cry, and Lynn Jr…

Wait, where did Lynn go?

Just as Lincoln was asking himself this very question, Lynn reappeared by her mother's side with something in her hands: the vision. Lincoln wanted to yell at her, but couldn't bring himself to do; Lynn's wide eyes and sweaty everything made it clear she was going to break down any moment now.

'LYNN!' Luna yelled. 'Dude!'

'Does it even matter if we hide it anymore?!' Lynn cried. 'Look around, Luns. There are cracks everywhere. Lori can't stop crying because she can't lift anything to save her life anymore. The twins won't shut up. Lisa can't stay awake for even a second, and Leni just punched Bobby in the face! There's no hiding this anymore.'

With that, she slammed the repaired vision onto the table, right in front of her parents. Through the pouring hail, the wailing teenager, and the snakes currently slithering past their legs, Rita and Lynn Sr read every single word engraved into the tombstone. Lincoln knew they got the message when they looked as though they had seen a ghost.

'This magic is DOOMED?!' Lynn Sr cried out at the top of his lungs. 'Because of… Lincoln?!'

Only then did the loud insanity stop. The cloud continued to hail, but all the animals had scattered and Lori - if only for a moment - had got a grip on her haphazard emotions. Bobby was still on the ground, nursing his bruised eye with his sister by his side, but everyone else stared directly at Lincoln. Everyone could see those giant cracks travelling all throughout the dining room now.

'Oh, I wish we had a real answer like that.' Lynn Jr said. 'But even Lucy didn't know!'

'Lincoln…' Rita muttered. 'Could destroy the magic? That's…'

Lynn Sr yelped. 'Bobby! Oh my gosh, are you okay?'

'No…' The boy in question replied.

'AHH! Quick, have some Lynn-sagna! That'll help. … Hopefully…'

Leni looked around at her sisters, breathing heavily, before she aimed a deadly glare directly at Lincoln. As though it was his fault for ruining everything. The worst part was that Lincoln couldn't even tell if it was his fault or not.

Lori, unable to take it anymore, climbed to her feet slowly while wailing loudly once again. Her face had gone red when she realised that everyone was looking right at her now. She knew how pathetic she must've looked - tears and mucus running down her face while the rain had left her soaked to the bone.

'WAAA-AAA-AAAAHHH!' She cried, running out of the room in a clumsy manner. 'I'M A LOOO-OOO-OOSERRR!'

'Wait, Lori!' Lincoln said, going after her. 'You're not-'

He came to a stop when he almost tripped over Chomper, who bared her teeth at him and snarled much like a dog.

'This was all your fault!' Lola screamed. 'If you haven't brought your disgusting rats in here-'

'My fault?!' Lana yelled back. 'You're the one who made everything worse with that freak storm!'

'I CAN'T CONTROL IT! It's because you made me so angry!'

'Well maaaybe I wouldn't have sent rats your way if you stopped bugging Luna!'

The twins stormed out of the room next, 'stormed' being quite literal as the hail-spouting cloud had followed them through. While Lana and Lola were being pelted, they kept yelling at each other as though that would solve the problem. Never mind their door flickering as they did so. Chomper followed them with a huff all the way back to their room.

Lincoln couldn't say a word, for he was shoved aside by none other than Leni. Her dress had sprouted tiny little cacti, and snapping little venus flytraps grew from her hair and chomped at anything that came near.

'I hate you, Linky!' She yelled, pushing him away with a vine. 'You, like, totes ruined my life!'

Lincoln's heart sank. Of all the people to declare that she hated him… why Leni? He couldn't even notice Luna screaming in frustration as she stomped past him, or Luan (stuck shifting between Frankenstein's monsters instead of real people) running back to her room to get another look at those photos again. He could hear Lily crying, and that was the only other thing he could notice.

'LINCOLN!' Rita yelled. 'What is the meaning of this?!'

He had lost his ability to sense most of what was happening around him - almost all the doors were flickering now. Without thinking, he ran. Where? It didn't really matter. Anywhere that wasn't this very spot. The nasty thoughts would not stop nagging at him.

The magic was fading.

Lori had lost her gift.

Luan was losing control of hers.

The twins were fighting more than usual.

Leni's proposal was ruined.

And it was all because of him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he suddenly fell over and hit the floor. A vine had wrapped itself around his ankle, and was now pulling him towards Leni's room.

'What…? Wait, no! NONONO!'

He grabbed onto one of the balcony's pillars, holding on for dear life, until another vine emerged from Leni's door and grabbed onto his other leg. The strength of a twelve-year-old boy was no match for two magical vines, and no matter how hard he fought the vines would not let up.

With how many kinds of poisonous and dangerous species of plants there were, Lincoln could not even begin to imagine what Leni could do to him.

Author Notes - Aight, so before ANYONE accuses me of writing Leni horribly out of character at the end here, don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I know Leni is better than that.