When Lynn Loud entered school that Tuesday in risen spirits, everyone noticed. She said nothing, but when she returned to her sports and usual competitive nature, it was clear something had happened: Something that seemed to make the loss of her little brother a forgotten memory or bad dream.

In fact, we she passed Lincoln's memorial, she took a picture of it before sending said picture to Lucy and another phone, who both gave her a thumbs up. She then smirked at the memorial and then went back to her classes….

Just as the Bus Bullies, Taylor, Anderson and Pablo, found themselves being called into the principal's office. She shot then a smirk and even waved to them as they headed into the office.

"Sit." Was all Principal Rameriz said, her voice leaving no room for argument. They obeyed, not really caring whatever she had on her…until she pulled security footage from her laptop: Security footage from the day the lab had exploded. Showing Bolhofner letting them, Hank, Hawk, Smiley and Mr. Durant into the school at 3:50, then rushing out at 4:02; a single minute before the explosion that killed Lincoln Loud.

"Explain." The principal demanded.

"Forgot our books." Anderson replied.

"Then why weren't you holding them when you left?"

"We just needed to glance and wrote down what we needed." Pablo followed up.

"Who were the others with you?"

"Our boss and his aide." Taylor followed. "Mr. Durant of the Redevelopment Project. His, not Tetherby's."

"Yeah, the one that's actually making progress." Anderson smirked. "He was kind enough to give us a lift and help us."

"Hey, quick question?" Pablo followed. "Why wait this long to ask us about this? What, was the footage missing?"

"Exactly." Rameriz said, making the trio tense before Anderson and Taylor glared at Pablo. "How did you know?"

"…L-lucky guess?" Pablo smiled sheepishly. The principal shut off the

"Thought so." Rameriz sighed. "Bolhofner!"

The trio still didn't react in fear. In fact, they smirked as the teacher walked in, looking ashamed.

"Selling out Mr. Durant, really?" Pablo smirked.

"Maybe you'll get better rest in jail." Taylor followed.

Mr. Bolhofner then sighed looked the trio of students dead in the eye and said:

"Mr. Bolhofner's been missing for a while now."

The teen's eyes widened as Bolhofner suddenly kicked his legs off, landing on the floor at the height of a twelve year old. He then shook his arms violenetly and they fell off, revealing banadaged arms which reached for his face….

The room went silent.

"…No."

"Oh yes." Lincoln Loud smirked.

LH-DM

Elsewhere, Principal Rameriz was enjoying a lovely lunch date with Doyle Tetherby.

Knowing this, some may wonder what happened to the real Mr. Bolhofner. The answer could be heard in the wilds and camping grounds around Royal Oaks:

"CAW! CAW! GOBBLE! GOBBLE! WOOOW!"

A half-naked, unshaven, and maddened man would be heard making bird and or moose noises. He would never been seen for more than a second or two, and soon enough, Royal Oaks had its own 'Mothman/Bigfoot' in the mysterious Moose-Bird man.

LH-DM

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Lincoln asked his attackers, stepping towards them slowly. "Seen a….actually I've seen and met those, so no."

He then turned to the reader.

"Still feels wrong to do this, but these three deserve it, right?"

He then returned his attention to the trio.

"Y-y-You can't be here!" Pablo screamed in fear.

"We saw you blow up!" Anderson snapped

"Did you really though?" Lincoln asked. "Cause if I recall? You left me beaten and bloodied while Smiley set up the explosion."

Taylor screamed and lunged at Lincoln, who caught her by the hands and tossed her backwards into the desk, knocking her out. Rameriz calmly moved out of the way.

"I do believe tehre's some anger to work out here, so….." She stayed in the room as Lincoln turned his attention to Pablo and Anderson.

"Dunno how you survived all that, Loud, but you're not going to rat on us!" Pablo snapped.

" 'Rat on you?'" Lincoln asked. "Oh no, no, no….Not yet."

Anderson used this to rush the kid and slam his knee into his groin. He smirked, anticipating Lincoln to keel over in pain….the white haired by simply smirked viciously: One upside of the surgery? He'd never have to feel the worst male pain.

Shame Anderson didn't have that; as he found himself being in more pain than ever on top of his eyes being blacked by Lincoln's bandaged fists before the boy threw him to the desk, where he awoke Taylor.

Pablo had, rather sensibly in this situation, tried to get out of the room and reach for the door. However, he felt a strong hand grab his ankles and slam him onto the ground several times before flinging him with his friends.

"How does it feel?" The boy asked, a maniac smirk on his face. Not waiting for an answer, he simply added. "That was for me. Everything else? Will be for Clyde, Stella, Liam, Zach and Rusty."

Rameriz just watched, recording everything on a phone.

"HELP!" Anderson begged.

Rameriz smirked and then said, in a very different voice:

"Literally. No."

She then reached for her hair and pulled off her face, revealing a snarling Lori Loud, who kicked Anderson back towards her brother, who had snapped Pablo's wrists before hearing Anderson slamming into his stilt-legs, which he grabbed and slammed down onto the bully's hands.

"And where do you think you're going?" Lori growled as she grabbed Taylor by the hair and threw her at her brother who punched her right eye black before reaching for his face…

The trio of bullies screamed at what they saw. Lori for her part turned away, not wanting to see…THAT…any more than necessary. She then heard two crunches and from then on, all she heard from Pablo and Anderson where gulgs, whimpers and gurgles.

"LOOK! AT! ME!" Lincoln demanded, grabbing the three by their collars and forcing them to see their work.

RIIIIING! RIIIIING! RIING! RIING!

The fire alarm suddenly began to blare, forcing Lincoln to drop his attackers and ditch his disguise as he leapt out a window. Lori followed in suit, quickly bringing Vanzilla around and taking her brother back home before the fire department and police showed up.

Unbeknownst to the siblings, Clyde McBride had spotted them fleeing the scene as the students were brought outside and counted just as Doyle's limo pulled up and Princiapl Ramirez stepped outside in shock.

"What in the world?!" She called out. Mryle told her what she knew (not much) before realizing Anderson, Taylor and Pablo were missing. With no sign of an actual fire, the Principal raced to her office, where she found the three bloodied, battered….

"Okay! We'll talk!" Taylor screamed in a mix of pain and fear, thinking Lori had slipped her disguise back on. "We did it! We blew up the lab! We 'killed' Lincoln Loud! But it wasn't our fault! It was Mr. Durant's orders! Something about a memory and dumb?! Just please! Don't hurt us anymore!"

A police officer who had seen the firetruck racing towards the school called for another car as he collected the three battered teens. His partner then arrived and took the two boys, leaving the first with Taylor so that 'they couldn't come up with lies together.'

It was only when the door to the cop car closed that Taylor realized she wasn't alone.

"S-Smiley?" She gasped.

The psychopathic teen smirked as he jumped onto Taylor and wrapped the tape over the girl's mouth, the officer rolling up the window to mute whatever was happening, driving away from the school and past the police station towards a dilapidated house.

LH-DM

Pablo and Anderson found themselves being driven up to an unfamiliar, small mansion close to the woods of Royal Oaks. When they saw the police officer accept a wad of cash from a tall, muscular man and another hoping on one leg, they knew where they were and began to fear for their lives.

Walked in, they found a warm, fireplace and library surrounded by taxidermied animals along the walls…and their boss, petting a wolf's head while on the phone. He motioned them to wait a minute as he heard someone pick up.

"Hello Samuel." Durant said over the phone. "It's Robert G. Durant. May I speak to Rick, please? Thank you."

As he waited for Rick, Durant walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out a small, jeweled box.

"Ah. Rick." Durant said, the smallest hints of a smile on his face appearing before vanishing. "Don't speak. Just listen: The funds Hank and Hawk misappropriated have begun to mettle me. We have a serious cash flow problem. Did you receive certain moneys from the restaurants today?"

"Not yet."

"…Unfortunate." Durant sighed as he then pulled out a cleaning kit and placed it beside the jeweled box, which he opened. "Seems we'll have to visit the buffet after all. Either they provide the funds owned to us…"

Anderson and Pablo finally saw the contents of the box: Severed fingers. From men, women…and even a child or two. Different colors and shapes

Durant picked up one and began cleaning it as if it was a small cup that needed cleaning.

"…Or they become part of my collection." Durant smirked. "They'd make lovely additions, don't you think?"

Rick chuckled on the other end.

"They really would. So, should I come grab you at your place Friday around, say….10?"

"10 in the morning?" Durant asked. "That would be….Just fine."

LH-DM

Unbeknownst to the Crime Lord, his guests had been bugged by Lincoln during their scuffles.

From the table she shared with Luna and Leni at Royal Oaks High School, Luanne listened in

"That would be….just fine." The prankster Loud Sister smirked before she gulped down her lunch and hurried to make it to her and Benny's play practice.

"Like, normally Luanne would scare me acting like that." Leni mused. "But this time? I'm with her."

"Same, sis." Luna nodded. "Hope Linc got some good licks in before…"

They suddenly received a text from Lori: 'Linc's Payback'

And now they and the rest of the family had something to look forward on TV tonight. The two sisters quickly finished their lunch and headed to their next class.

LH-DM

After ending the call, Durant took a moment to observe the state the two boys were in: Broken wrists, bloodied noses…and barely able to speak.

"….Curses. I do hope Smiley doesn't leave Taylor unable to speak." The crime lord sighed. 'Going to have to deduct some of that officer's pay…."

He then shrugged it off and motioning the taller henchman, his right hand Guzman to bring them closer

"Now boys." Durant said, searching his desk for something. "I do believe that you remember the rules of your employ under me, yes? Do as I say and do when asked. Ask questions only when it seems unbeneficial to me and above all else…Do. Not. Reveal. My. Name."

The boys tried to explain themselves, but the one legged thug hit them with his own leg.

"I'm aware of and will deal with Bolhofner as soon as he pops up again…Ah! Here it is!"

He pulled out a golden cigar cutter and looked over at the two.

"I suppose, were you able to speak, you'd have points of your own, yes? Point One; you're kids, making mistakes is part of growing up. Two; you panicked and forgot. Point Three: It was your first kill. All decent points, I see. And points that are why I chose you and the others for the gang."

He showed them the cigar cutter before taking Anderson's hand and forcing a finger into the cutter's hole.

"So, let's go over my points." Durant said. "Point one: I try not to let my temper get the best of me."

SNIP!

He moved to the next finger.

"Point two: I don't always succeed."

SNIP!

He moved to the next finger.

"Point three." Durant paused; a smirk overtaken his face. "I have 17 more points."

SNIP!

Both boys finally screamed.

To be continued…

I bet you're all missing Morag, Tetherby and the other Loud House Villains about now, right? As you can probably tell, Rick, played by director Sam Raimi's brother Ted, will have a much bigger role in this story.

A darker chapter with Halloween getting closer…. The next one will be a lighter one; a more slice of life chapter, showcasing the downsides of suddenly becoming superhuman. And the shipping MAY begin next chapter as well, so stay tuned.

Was what happened to the Bus Bullies too much? Should I have done more? Leave your thoughts in a review.

On the shipping matter (again, I know some of you tune in just to see who Lincoln will end up with) I have narrowed it down to three finalists: Girl Jordan starting next chapter and through distance over the story, or two candidates for later in Part Two: Ronnie-Anne and Sid. Either that or Girl Jordan in this volume and then one of the other two in Part Two onwards.

Leave your preferences/suggestions for the lucky lady and any suggestions for interactions/ship tease with Lincoln in comments or a PM. If I use your ideas, you will be credited!

Until next chapter, stay safe, warm, and happy!