Finally! A new chapter is up. These damn creative blocks, they just come and go at the worst of times. Just as the right time of year for updating fics more quickly rolls around, I suffer from a severe lack of drive to do the job. But I finally overcame it two weeks ago and now the story can continue.

Be warned, if you find Lola or Renee annoying, which I'm sure some of you do, let me assure you, they'll be put through the wringer in this chapter.


The kids encircled their uninvited guest, who was spread out on the floor, groaning in pain and her head throbbing.

"Are you alright?" Lincoln was the only one to show any kind of concern by helping the princess up.

Everyone else gazed at her with scornful, disdainful glares. Even the dog and the cats picked up that this was a volatile situation and opted to observe it from a safe distance. Charles and Cliff have had years of experience in picking up even the subtlest of hints.

Lola repaid her brother's kind gesture by angrily swatting his arm away. "Don't…" she rasped "…touch me!" Her voice was stronger than last night but still croaky. At least she didn't seem to be injured from the 8-foot fall.

"Oh, don't you worry about that." Luan retorted sarcastically. "Nobody with their head screwed on straight would touch your Heinousness with a 10-foot pole."

Lola glared daggers at her, forgetting about her twin who charged at her, pushing her back.

"Hey!"

"I said, what did you do-"

"Nothing! I didn't touch those filthy beasts!" Lola fought back and warded Lana off. "They attacked me! All night long, they…" she coughed from her sore throat while simultaneously trying not to cry from those awful memories "…they crawled all over me, coating me in their disgusting mucus!"

"All over you?" Lana gasped before scowling. "What's the matter with them? You don't deserve such love and attention, you spoiled, prissy brat!"

"If that's…love, I wouldn't wanna see hate from those slimy vermin." Lola scoffed.

Lana barred her teeth and charged at her again, but was blocked by Lincoln. "Enough, Lana!" he barked. "Let's just take a deep breath and-"

"She started it!" Lana cried. "Lemme at her!"

"Started it!" Lola was shocked. "I was…was the one locked up in my room and at the mercy of those foul creatures you call pets, while you…" she coughed and rubbed her throat "….while you were sleeping all nice and cozy and bunking with my roommate, by the by!"

"Go blow it up your big bottom!"

Lincoln was taken aback by the tomboy's "profanity", while the others snickered, except for Lucy, who dejectedly dropped a small sack of flower.

"Sigh. I assume pancakes are off the table?"

Lincoln glanced at her sympathetically and exhaled. It was about time they addressed the twin issue. Usually, even the most hostile of arguments between these two would blow over by the next day, but this time around that didn't happen, since Lola had gone that extra little mile to ensure the continued flow of bad blood.

"Alright, you two? This needs to stop." he looked back and forth between the tomboy and princess. "I know you two had a little….a major disagreement."

"Disagreement?" Lynn scoffed, instantly jumping to the younger tomboy's defense. "Don't underplay it now. That pint-sized prima donna knew what she was doing and declared outright war on Lana!"

"Yes, and I hate her!" Lana snapped angrily. "She destroyed my hat!"

"Oh, get over yourself, you big baby!" Lola snapped her head back, her tone somewhere between amused and utterly exasperated. "It was just a dumb cap! You've got a closet full of them! Quit being so….so spiteful!"

"Spiteful?" Lynn laughed curtly, unable to believe Lola's gall. "You're spite personified!"

"Lola!" Lincoln gave her a warning glare. "You know that "dumb cap" meant a lot to Lana and Lynn's right, you tore it apart to be spiteful, we know it and you know it. You did that to upset her and might I say, you did a bang-up job at it."

"Why thank you." Lola bowed down smugly. "The trick is to know them inside and out and hit them where it hurts. By which I mean the heart."

"You heartless witch!" Lana cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "I got that hat when dad took me to my first race car derby and I saw my hero, Bobbie Fletcher!"

"That racer chick? So you meet her and she gave it to you?" Ryan assumed.

Lola laughed bitterly. "Of course not, stupid! Like that would ever happen!"

Ryan grew visibly more annoyed by the remark than usual.

"She just watched her from the bleachers like all the other classless louts who enjoy such garbage entertainment and bought the stupid hat from some bargain price vendor who probably found it at a flea market! What a touching story, am I right?" she continued sarcastically.

Lincoln had to use all his strength to keep Lana from mauling her twin. No one else seemed to care much about sparing the princess from bodily harm. Lola was indeed living up to her bragging, for her taunts were quite specific and deliberate, trying to press all of Lana's buttons.

Lynn balled her fists. "Oh, a hat is stupid but if you had an autograph from your precious Donnie Doofini you would blow a gasket if someone touched it." she shot back, partially defending her little sister, partially triggered by Lola's insinuation that it's stupid to hold something up to sentimental value, like the red-and-white jersey she was wearing.

"As a matter of fact, I have one, thanks to Kathleen." Lola replied haughtily. Luan tensed up hearing that name. "But I was smart enough to hide it, so none of you could take it! Ha!"

"Lola, it doesn't matter what it is or how she attained it. That hat meant something to Lana and you cruelly took it away from her." Lincoln tried to keep his temper even. "I don't care how much back and forth there was in your feud, I think you owe her an apology for the hat."

"Yeah…" Luan snarked. "….when mimes become chatterboxes."

"Apology?!" Lola was taken aback. "It was all her fault! She was the one who got us both locked up by making Renee angry!"

Lincoln seethed. "That's not the point-"

"Oh, yeah, and you were so respectful to her by trying to strangle her?" Lynn folded her arms, oozing with sarcasm. It was getting increasingly harder for her not to give the tiara-wearing miscreant a knuckle-sandwich.

"My fault?! Your botched stink-bomb attack nearly killed us both and all my pets!" Lana shot back.

"And you twisted my tiara around my arm!"

"Enough! Look, I'm not going to pick sides here." Lincoln tried to be the voice of reason. "You were both at fault for provoking Renee. But at least Lana knew when to give up and owned up-"

"Oh, you're "not taking sides", are ya?" Lola mouthed off to him. "Gotcha!"

"Better to apologize while you still can, than keep silent and regret it later." Luan folded her arms.

"Pffftt…of course you would say something like that. Wanna sweep your April Fools tradition under the rug?"

Luan grew flustered and snapped. "My pranks never hurrrr…." She stopped herself as Lola flashed a victorious smirk.

"Never what? Never hurt anyone?" she probed. "Oh, wait. That's not true. Not true in the slightest."

"Oh, that's rich coming from you?" Ryan interjected and all eyes were on him now. Even though he firmly viewed the idea of idolizing some celebrity you didn't know, and who was more than likely a jerk in person, as childish and naïve, he was more than willing to stick up for Lana. And not even because she was a million times better than her pest of a twin. Someone needed to address the roided-up psycho bully in the jail cell.

"You think you're in a position to play the victim card when you were the one who nearly got all of us killed last when your scatterbrained revenge scheme backfired and gave some vengeance-seeking loon superpowers, and then…" he emphasized his last point with a brass laugh "….you left us in the lurch to save your own skin. Your own flesh and blood! A very despicable act of cowardice, if I do say so myself. I think you owe all of us a big, sincere apology, not just Lana."

Lincoln was weary of the other boy's tone. Beneath the usual sarcasm, there was clear anger bubbling beneath the surface. He knew from personal experience that Ryan Taylor didn't lose his temper easily, but when he did, it was a scary sight. Naturally, caught up in her own hypocritical self-righteousness, Lola was completely tone-deaf to the warning signs as she faced him.

"Oh, please! Not like the others didn't run away too!" Lola insisted.

"They didn't." Lincoln narrowed his eyes, his voice adopting an increasingly more firm tone. "I had to plead with Lucy and even Lisa just to get them to run to safety."

"And Luan saved my bacon by stabbing Lyle with a shard of wood." Ryan added, locking eyes with the comedian and making her blush. "While Twinkle Toes drove a forklift into the bastard."

Nervousness briefly flashed across Lola's features before morphing back into her usual anger. She had two more aces up her sleeve.

"Nobody asked you, ugo! And if you're too stupid to remember, none of that would have happened if Lana there…" she pointed at the tomboy "….hadn't gone off her rocker and started running around town naked, leaving us without Lynn or your hag of a sister to protect us!"

Lana shrank at the remark, guilt welling up inside her. Lincoln grimaced; she was not holding back any punched in her vain attempt to deflect blame for her own actions.

"And you, Mr. Innocent, ditched us too for no good reason, just to be a jerk! And you only showed up to help us at the last second, after Lyle had already harmed us and beaten the stuffing out of my wimp of a brother! So you're one to talk!"

Ryan grimaced and folded his arms. "I'd watch my tongue if I were you-"

"And, oh right!" Lola gleefully continued. "If it weren't for you and Lynn going around, picking fights, that Lyle creep would never have gone after us in the first place!"

Lynn scowled, she was livid now. "We didn't start the-"

Everyone gasped as Ryan's hand seized the collar of Lola's dress and hoisted her up.

"Care to say that again, you little rat? I had just about enough of your bitching and moaning." Ryan hissed dangerously. Lola was caught off guard but quickly resumed her brave face.

"How dare you!" she glared at him. "Unhand me this instance, you vile scum!"

"Scum, ey?" Ryan growled and raised his fist. Lincoln started to panic but saw none of his sisters making any move to intervene. In fact, Lana and Lucy were both smiling.

Luan wasn't, but being reminded of last night's events, among other things, wrang any shred of sympathy she had for Lola straight out of her. Lynn stood there, stunned and indecisive.

"Stop it! What's gotten into you!" Lincoln grabbed Ryan's free arm.

The latter sent him a vicious glare. "I'm gonna end this shit-stain's pageant career prematurely!" He shook Lincoln off, sending him stumbling back.

Lynn caught him. "Ryan…." She started tentatively "…you're not seriously going to beat up a little kid?"

The boy sneered. "No, but I don't have the same policy with demon spawn in the guise of little kids."

Lincoln hoped Lynn would do something but instead, she blinked before shrugging. It didn't take much convincing for her to let someone else do what she was on the verge of doing. "Uh, fair point."

"You're bluffing!" Lola squirmed in his grasp, sweat dripping down her face. "You don't scare me!"

Ryan grew only more agitated and raised his fist again. "I'll show you who's bluffing, tutz."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Lincoln regained his footing, his voice shaky.

"Oh, are you going to stop me?" Ryan scoffed at him. "You're not stupid enough to put yourself in harm's way for her." He really didn't want to hurt him, but his heart was set on pummeling this diminutive devil one way or another, right here and now.

"No! And I thought neither were you?" Lincoln retorted, confusing the former.

"What do you think mom and dad will think of you after mangling their 5-year-old daughter? You think they'd still let you hang out with us?"

Ryan blinked at him before his face scrunched up. He cursed inwardly before deflating. Has he mentioned how much he hated when Lincoln was right?

Lola was released and plopped on her butt as Ryan loomed over her. "It's your lucky day, Pinky."

No longer in immediate danger, her vigor returned with a vengeance. "My name's Lola! LOLA!"

"Yeah, yeah, you were named after a buxom, basketball-playing cartoon bunny, you're point?" Ryan retorted, having cooled down enough to regain some of his wit.

Lola was seeing red, but was grabbed by the elbow before she could try anything foolish.

"Will you stop!" Lincoln straight-up yelled at her, his eyes blazing with fury. "Do you have any idea how lucky you were? You do not talk smack to the bigger kids on the playground, especially if they're already mad at you."

"Well, if we learned one thing from Kathy, it's that spoiled brats don't have that survival-ufff!" Ryan snorted but was elbowed in the gut by Lynn, who was oddly smirking.

"What?" Ryan cocked an eyebrow.

"You better never lecture me again about keeping my cool. I never tried to beat up an ankle-bitter, even if they are, as you say, a devil in disguise."

"This isn't funny, guys!" Lincoln turned his anger at them. "Violence never solves anything! We're thinking, feeling human beings, not savage barbarians!"

"Lincoln's right." Lucy spoke up. "We should always try to rise above our base impulses and settle disputes in a more constructive and tactful manner."

The boy exhaled. "Thank you, Lucy."

"Which is why I propose that we subject Lola to a plethora of cold-blooded tortures! Those that won't leave behind any direct evidence of our deeds, so it will be her word against all of ours."

"What?" Lincoln turned wide-eyed.

Ryan grew a smile. "I like the way you think."

"Hate to admit it, but that's actually a half-decent idea." Lynn said begrudgingly, eyeing Lola with glee, as did Lana and Luan.

"No! Lucy, that's a horrible idea!" Lincoln threw his arms up flippantly. "That's not-"

"Let me finish!" the goth cut him off and turned to Lola. "Unless Lola here swallows her pride and offers everyone present a sincere and heartfelt apology, especially to you Lincoln and Ryan, given how you two nearly had your heads torn off on multiple occasions last night."

"She'll never apologize!" Lana shouted without a single doubt. "Let's torture her!"

"I second that." Ryan smiled sadistically. Even Marceline and Cliff seemed to agree, as they sat up and meowed happily, while Charles looked on in confusion.

"You wouldn't dare!" Lola hissed, moisture forming all over her forehead as she found herself surrounded and outnumbered.

"Honey, listen to someone who knows." Luan glared at her. "You have no friends in this place."

Even though nearly every part of her brain told her to shut it, Lola couldn't resist the opportunity.

"Of course nobody would be friends with a buck-toothed and unfunny moron like you!" Lola spat. "I don't know why Kathleen even bothers!"

Now it was Luan's turn to be restrained by Lincoln from killing her. The white-haired boy stepped up, making one last-ditch attempt to reach out to her.

"Lola, I think it's a fair deal. Just say you're sorry-"

"Shut up, you traitor!"

Lincoln seethed but kept his voice even. "They have every right to be mad at you! You got us into one hell of a mess last night! I think an apology, sincere or not, is the least you could do-"

"It's not my fault!" she insisted adamantly. "That stupid flask came from Lisa's laboratory!"

"Stop deflecting the blame!" Lincoln snapped. "You nearly got us killed last night! Do you even comprehend that?! You nearly got us killed last night! Do…do you feel any remorse for that?"

Lola froze for a moment. That was a heavy question to be sure. She angrily debated with herself on how to respond. Unsurprisingly, her response was….less than ideal.

"It wasn't my fault!" she cried, her face red with anger. "And I never apologize!"

Lincoln deflated and went from livid to eerily silent. A wave of emotions overtook him; anger, hurt, confusion. He had tried to reach out to her so much and she rejected him every time, and now that he had asked her to admit her mistake and show the most basic form of human decency, she still wouldn't budge.

"Well, that settles it!" Ryan clasped his hands before grabbing the spoiled brat and securing her under his arm. "Let us commence the torture!" he exclaimed as he ran up the stairs, with the girls following him.

"Take her to the attic! I have a foldable torture rack there!" Lucy told him.

"You have a foldable torture rack?" Luan blurted following her.

"A swirly session is mandatory!" Lynn declared.

"And she must lick the fungus from between my toes!" Lana added, resulting in audible "ews".

Left alone with the pets, Lincoln stood there, broken and defeated, before slowly and quietly following them.

Marceline was intrigued by this. About time the shrill-voiced brat got punished! She looked at Charles and Cliff and meowed once for them to follow her. These nimrods wouldn't know a good show if it literally passed by them.

Charles followed her, with Cliff flanking his left side, wanting to be as far away from Marceline as possible.


Wearing a Grim Reaper-esque dark cloak, last year's Halloween costume, Lucy watched their struggling victim and gestured with her scythe for Ryan and Lynn to place her on the wooden platform.

"You can't do this to me, you barbarians! I'll have your hides! I'll tell mom and dad!" Lola wailed as her wrists were chained to the top rollers while Lana took off her heeled pink slippers.

"Take your filthy mitts off them, Lana! Those cost more than all your overalls combined!" Lola growled as her ankles were likewise chained.

"Somebody find some duck tape to gag her." Ryan quipped, tired of hearing her insufferable voice.

"No, half the fun is listening to the victim's tortured screams." Lucy said with a sinister smile, which Ryan gladly returned. Lola was starting to legitimately fear for her well-being. They wouldn't?

The goth turned towards the struggling blonde. "Lola Loud…." She spoke ominously in a (somehow) reverberating voice "…..for your innumerous crimes against your own family and your most recent act of treachery and cowardice I hereby sentence you….to death!"

"What?!" Lola's eyes widened as Lucy swung her scythe and lopped her head off. At least that would have happened if Lucy's scythe wasn't a plastic prop. But it got the job done.

Hearing her captors snickering, Lola pried her eyes open to find the dull-edged blade being pressed against her throat and promptly removed. After catching her breath, she glared venomously at the goth, foaming at the mouth.

"I'll get you for this!"

"Enough fooling around, Spooky. Let's see how brave she is once her joints start poppin' and lockin'." Ryan chuckled darkly, making Lola swallow a huge lump.

"And after that, let's tie her up and give her a terrible makeover! Bad makeup, frizzy hair, out-of-fashion clothes, the whole package!" Lana vouched, horrifying Lola further.

"They can't be that sadistic?!" she thought fearfully.

Ryan looked at the tomboy oddly before Lynn explained it to him. "It's Lola. Trust me, ugly dresses are legit torture to her."

Noting their captive's fearful expression, which she desperately tried to hide, Ryan's smile widened.

"We'll keep that mind, if she survives the first round that is."

He had wanted to this so badly from the moment he met the pesky little shrimp, but not nearly as much as Lucy. She had been anticipating this for nearly two years. She had envisioned many great scenarios of torture over time, all she needed was to somehow get all her siblings to rally up and cooperate, and today, the seemingly impossible had finally come to pass. Good things did happen to those who waited patiently.

The two nodded at each other, and the goth directed her scythe at the crankshaft, prompting Lana, now wearing an executioner mask, to grab it and rotate it.

Lola's pupils shrank. "You wouldn't dare! I know you don't have the guts to cause me harm!"

"Yeah, that's a stretch." Luan laughed. "Get it? Stretch!"

Lola felt all four of her limbs being pulled in different directions. Her blood ran cold. This thing couldn't possibly be functional? It was just another stupid Halloween prop Lucy was hoarding!

Its functionality was soon confirmed, as a sharp burn coursed through her arms and legs. She would have cried, if not for the gleeful laughter surrounding her. That abhorrent noise fueled her rage and compelled her to suck it up and take it.

Ryan held up his fingers. "Expect cries for mercy in three…..two…."

"Is that all you got! Ha! Pathetic!" Lola yelled while shutting her eyes tight and trying to ignore the burning sensation. "Waiting in line for the bathroom is more tortuous!"

"She has guts." Ryan noted begrudgingly. If there was one difference between her and someone like Lyle, it's that she didn't crack easily when subdued.

"Don't worry! I'll put my back into it!" Lana proclaimed irritably as she was about to fasten her pace on the crank, when Ryan lifted his hand, signaling for her to stop.

She blinked in surprise. "But…but, Ryan-"she whined.

"Oh, we're too tough for a little stretching exercise?" Ryan paced towards the rack and loomed over their captive, arms folded behind his back.

Lola's eyes burned right through him with pure, unadulterated hatred. "If that's your idea of torture, it's pretty laughable!" she spat.

"Laughable? Okay, then. Let's try something a little more…drastic." Ryan smiled devilishly as he suddenly held up a feather in his hand.

After a brief pause of stunned silence, Lola busted a gut. "You wanna tickle me to death? Seriously? You're even more pathetic than I thought!"

"Tickle torture?" Lynn looked disappointed. "You gotta be kidding? I thought we were gonna put her through a world of hurt!"

"Don't underestimate the feather, Lynn." Ryan assured her. "Have you ever been tickled nonstop for hours? It's no laughing matter."

"He's right." Lucy backed him up, suddenly holding a black feather. "Pain is, in its purest form, sensory overload, and you'd be surprised how little effort it takes, in the absence of violence, to accomplish that."

"You guys are ridiculous! For a second there I thought I had a reason to be scared, but you're nothing more than a pack of pansies!" Lola continued to mock them. "What's next? You gonna tar and feather me?"

"Why not? It would complement your endless squawking!" Luan retorted.

"We'll see who has the last laugh." Ryan said evenly.

"Probably her. But it won't be a victory laugh." Luan smirked while holding up her own feather.

"Ugh…alright!" Lana groaned, tucked her pepper spray into her pocket and pulled off her mask, throwing it over her shoulder. "But after this, she will be eating the fungus from my toes!"

"Wouldn't postpone that for the world." Ryan reassured her.

Lola glowered at them, when she noticed Lincoln leaning in the corner with a grim look.

"Why are you standing there like an idiot! Make them stop and release me!" she ordered him flippantly.

Lincoln's only response was a silent headshake. The other glanced at him, wondering if he was going to try and stop them, but he made no such move. Lynn held up an extra feather but he shook his head again.

"Your loss, bro." the jock shrugged and joined the others as they placed their respective feathers inches away from Lola's armpits, flanks and soles.

She was unfazed and held up her cocky disposition.

"Let's find her tickle spot!" Lynn exclaimed.

"You think I'm ticklish? Just give it a try!"

20 minutes later….

A horrible sound, that was somewhere between side-splitting laughter and agonizing crying, echoed through the attic. Marceline, Charles and Cliff watched the spectacle atop a chest; the free entertainment was enough to even make the skittish tom forget about Marceline's presence.

Lincoln sat next to them on another chest, but he ignored the scene in front of him and looked out of a window, his elbow on the frame and his chin in his palm.

There was only so much of Lola for everyone to tickle, so they had to take turns. Ryan and Lynn were currently caressing Lola's sides with their feathers respectively, while Lana was tickling her soles.

"Stop! Stop! I give up! I surrender!" the princess cried between fits of hysteric laughter, her eyes puffy and streams of tears dripping down the sides of her face.

"Why?" Ryan said with faux-sweetness. "I thought this was nothing to you?"

"Yeah, and you can't really "surrender" when you're already in chains!" Lynn added mockingly, neither relenting.

The tickling sensation was driving Lola crazy. She had to withdraw her previous statement, tickling really was horrific torture. It was pure hell. The kind of hell she herself should have utilized to cow her enemies.

It was amazing how torture gave even the biggest, most stubborn personalities a crash-course in knowing when to fold. Lola would never have used the words "I" and "surrender" in the same sentence, but she had been driven to the point where her basic survival instincts finally overruled her ginormous pride. More than that.

Being stuck in this helpless position, the haughty pageant queen had no other choice but to admit, to herself, that she was, in fact, in a helpless position, where she was powerless to manipulate her own fate. She was at the mercy of other people and was forced to beg in order to improve her current situation.

This felt so wrong; she was accustomed to being the one who struck fear into the hearts of her family. Sure, some like Lana, Lynn and Lori did bite back, but normally, most of them were terrified of her, and if intimidation failed, she always had blackmail as a failsafe. But now, not even the most cowardly and spineless of her kin, Lincoln and Lucy, showed any fear of her.

Lincoln talked back to her now, dismissed her whims, he even started bossing her around and trying to control her actions! And once that started, Lola was faced with a simple truth; he was bigger and stronger than her and could throw his weight around if he wanted to. She had never viewed Lincoln in such a light, as someone capable of challenging her in any way, let alone of controlling her.

The scary reality was, nearly all of her siblings could do that if pushed too far. She and Lana were only the second youngest of the family. She had experienced powerlessness several times over a short time span, especially once Renee had arrived. She tried, she tried so vigorously to fight her oppressors but every time she tried, it blew up in her face like Leni's attempts at cooking.

Could a simple change in their attitudes towards her really change the balance of power so seamlessly? It was something that was rapidly dawning on the spoiled 5-year-old and something that she could no longer deny after several days of trying to convince herself that everything would go back to normal, ever since the day she met Ryan and he casually, fearlessly insulted her, followed by Lincoln's refusal to play butler.

And now, she had no one to back her up. Everyone present was firmly aligned with that Ryan creep, who undoubtedly hated her as much as she hated him. Lori, Luna and Lisa didn't seem to like him, but Lola knew that they didn't like her either. And Leni was about as intelligent and useful as a stump. Who was left? Her parents? Would they also defy her? Was she the family's pariah? The thought of that horrified her to no end, long enough to make her forget about the torturous sensation on her soft, fair skin.

"Your turns, gals!" Ryan's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she remembered that her tickle session was far from over. He and Lynn handed their feathers to Luan and Lucy, who continued where the former left off.

With that, Lola resumed her uncontrollable laughter. "Please, stop it! I beg you! I'll do anything!"

"Anything?" Lynn huffed. "As interesting as that proposal is, I don't think anyone here has much use for you."

"No! Please!" the teary-eyed Lola screamed between giggles. "I'll do anything! I mean anything!"

"Funny? Half an hour ago, you insisted that you would never apologize, let alone do "anything" for us?" Ryan said idly.

An apology? Yes, that was the bargaining chip she needed to end her suffering. Oh, why did she have to be so stubborn not have used it prior!

"I'm sorry, alright!" she cried. "I'm sorry I nearly got you killed!" she gasped between laughs. "I didn't mean to hurt you! Honest! I wanted to hurt your sister! You don't like her either!"

Ryan rubbed his chin, unmoved by her "apology". "True, but I very much prefer regular Renee over Renee as the She-Hulk."

"That's not what was supposed-"

"Not to mention that you abandoned us after single-handedly snatching defeat out of the jaws of certain victory." Lucy said coldly as she tickled her left flank.

"I was scared, alright! I was scared!" Lola cried as she struggled against her binds. "I'm sorry, I was scared, that's why I ran away! I was scared of being hurt!"

No one was moved by her admission. All of them were scared but none of them ran like cowards.

"You think saying "sorry" will make up for what you've done!" Luan said angrily. "We suffered because of you, and you think a mere apology will placate us!"

"You think saying sorry will bring back my hat!" Lana yelled.

"You've been jerks and caused mayhem too!" Lola retorted, more in a desperate attempt at reasoning than out of self-righteousness. "What do you want from me now?! I said I was sorry!"

"Gotta admit, kid." Ryan smiled slightly. "Your methods of guilt-tripping and defecting blame ain't half-bad. If only we were insecure saps who crack the moment someone brings up our naughty deeds."

"But we never left our own family to die!" Lynn snapped.

Untouched, Luan, Lucy and Lana continued tickling their captive, who continued laughing/crying in agony. Mere apologies weren't enough to satisfy those you've wronged, and Lola was learning that the hard way.

"Hope you like being the black sheep of your family. Trust me, I know better than anyone how phenomenally that sucks." Ryan told her, reveling in her misery.

"Indeed, being a pariah is the most empty and soul-starving way to live." Lucy added.

"Preach, sister. Preach!" Luan agreed.

Not participating in the fun for the moment, Lynn and Ryan looked back at Lincoln, who was still staring vacantly through the window.

"You'd think Pinky's pathetic bargaining would have roused his interest?" Ryan whispered to his friend only to find her walking towards Lincoln.

"You sure you don't want to get in on the fun?" Lynn tentatively approached her brother. "You'd be surprised how quickly they crack once their armpits tingle."

"I don't see how that's going to help our situation." Lincoln said simply, turning towards her with an unreadable expression.

"Maybe it's of no benefit to our cause, but it sure as hell is a blast." Ryan elbowed him in the ribs and sat next to him.

Lincoln gave him an unamused look, not even caring to rub his sore chest. "I personally don't consider torturing people funny."

"Of course you don't, cuz you hate fun." Ryan replied casually.

"Not even people who deserve it?" Lynn sat to his other side. "You had no issue with Lyle being dragged off by the cops?"

Lincoln sighed. "That's just it, Lynn. I don't want to think that my own sister is such a person."

"Meh, some people just have no good in them. Kathleen, Lyle, the creep that gave Lana drugged candy. All living proof. It's just life." Ryan shrugged his shoulders, not seeing what the big deal was.

"That's what we said about you and yet the universe seems to insist that you be an ever-present part of our lives." Lincoln told him with a hint of annoyance.

Ryan's expression turned more serious. "Hey! I may not be a nice guy, but I'm reliable in a jam. I brawled with a big, burly beast for you louts, among other things. I didn't leave you to die, even back when you saw me as nothing more than a bully."

Lincoln looked away, completely silent. Lynn sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"People show their true colors when the chips are down. It's not nice but it's the truth." She said simply, trying to give him some comfort. She never liked Lola and wasn't all that hurt on a personal level by what she did, but her brother was clearly taking it a lot more harshly.

"I tried everything. I was patient with her, I defended her, I gave her every opening to be good, to at least be a little considerate, but every time…"

"She just went back to being a good-for-nothing brat. Yeah, I've noticed." Lynn exhaled. "Look, you know I'm the last person to say "let's give up", but sometimes…"

"Sometimes you gotta throw your hands up and pack it in. There's only so much you can try until you fall into a vicious cycle of nonstop failure." Ryan finished. "You can try to be optimistic all you want, but I think last night showed us that there is no good in her. I mean, I could infer that from the moment I met her, but I'll admit, even I didn't expect her to sink that low. Even Blondy at least showed sympathy for her "Boo-Boo Bear" when she learned that his cousins died in a car crash."

"So you're saying I should just give up on her?" Lincoln looked at him seriously. "Just give up and resign myself to the fact that she's an irredeemable bad guy?" His tone was unchallenging, it looked like for once, he was actually willing to listen to Ryan's advice and not just for the sake of tactical advantage.

Ryan noticed that and felt compelled to be sincere. His shoulders dropped as he took a deep breath. "I dunno, I don't tend to see good in most people…."

"But you're right, Ryan, at least on one thing. There's only so long you can give someone the benefit of the doubt before accepting reality." Lynn said poignantly.

"And how are we supposed to live with her if she's no good?" Lincoln asked dejectedly. "How are mom and dad-"

"Good or not, that ain't important as long as they can discipline her." Lynn pointed out. "You may not have heard it, but Lola just ate some humble pie after we made it clear that only do we not like her, but we can overpower her and make her pay for her misdeeds anytime we want. Mom and dad won't have any issue doing the same."

"Oh, yeah." Ryan chuckled. "It didn't take long for the high and mighty princess to start begging for mercy. Typical, it's always the biggest braggarts who squeal like piglets being driven to the slaughterhouse when the going gets tough. She's tenacious but everyone has their limits."

"I heard all of that." Lincoln confirmed. "But living with a sister who's rotten to the core-"

"Oh, big whoop!" Ryan snapped his head back and jumped to his feet. "I've managed that just fine. Need I remind you that you have nine sisters to choose from? And many of them are some of the coolest folks I've ever met!"

Lynn blushed at his remark, while Lincoln looked at him bemused.

"So you have one rotten apple? Big deal! Many of them are great gals, and the others are…. negotiable." Ryan stated. "You know how lucky you are to have any siblings that are cool? Plenty of kids are settled with one loser or asshole that makes their lives miserable. Look at my sister? I'd kill to have a sister like one of yours."

Lynn chuckled, making Ryan pipe down. He may have gone off the rails with his pep talk.

"So you admit you're starved for some family love?"

Ryan became flustered. "No way! It would be awesome to be an only child! I'm just saying that if you have to have a sibling then they might as well be cool to live with."

"Sure you were…"

"Will you cram it!" Ryan told her curtly before looking back at Lincoln. "My point is, stop whining about one thing you can't have and appreciate the things you do have."

Lincoln let out a light chuckle. "Wow, that was surprisingly profound coming from you, you keep surprising me with that. Were you trying to cheer me up?"

Ryan snorted. "In your dreams, pipsqueak. I just hate dealing with you when you get all mopey and whiny. A wet blanket is better than a sad sack. And you've been nothing but sad for days now."

"Can you blame me?" Lincoln said evenly. "I'm constantly worrying that my house might collapse and that my parents might get divorced. And I almost died thrice."

"Maybe, but it wouldn't kill you to loosen up a bit when there's nothing to fret about." Lynn cut in. "Ryan's right about you taking things way too seriously."

She seized the sides of his mouth and forced a smile on his face. "See?" she laughed. "You look much better when you smile!"

"Lighn….schop ith!" Lincoln protested.

"I wouldn't call a Glasgow grin "good-looking", Lynn." Ryan quipped snidely while Lincoln pulled his face free.

"The day of reckoning is closer than ever." They all jolted as Lucy appeared in front of them. "One way or another, you won't have to worry about it for much longer."

Ryan was the first to recover. "Spooky, has our captive made any new offers for her freedom?"

"She offered to give us all a makeover, but nobody was interested. We all detest pink."

"Lucy…" Lincoln rubbed his head. "I don't want to be harsh to you on your first day, but you aren't really helping our mission with this stunt."

"But torturing Lola did help." Lucy smiled slightly. "Not only did we get her to apologize but, as Ryan and Lynn said, this was a humbling experience for her. So, even though she's vile to her very core, such experiences will make her more manageable and hopefully marginally more tolerable. It's realistically the best we can expect out of Lola."

"Give the kid credit." Ryan said. "Your "get kindness through kindness" tactic was a sham, so we gotta resort to some aggressive means of persuasion."

Lincoln rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder. Lana and Luan were still very much enjoying tickling Lola and they showed no signs of stopping.

"I think Lola's had enough, guys. Another five minutes of this will surely drive her permanently insane. I think she got the message."

The others exchanged glances. "I guess…" Lynn shrugged. "Tickling her got tedious after the first fifteen minutes anyway."

Lana and Luan frowned at them, much to Lola's relief as she was allowed to catch her breath.

"We can still give her the horrendous makeover Lana suggested?" Lucy said, a little too eagerly. Luan and Lana exchanged smiles as they loosened the chains.

Ryan was about to agree, when he spotted a long, dark object moving into the corner of his eyes. He peered through the window.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Could you please not swear in front of Lucy!" an annoyed Lincoln asked.

Ryan grabbed his head and shoved his face against the glass of the window. "Forget about that, there's trouble twelve a clock!"

Lynn and Lucy looked down too and saw the most alarming sight.

"Ugh….what's her deal!" Lynn ranted. She jumped over the chest and towards the rack. "Forget about her, girls! There's trouble afoot!"

"What trouble?" Lana asked.

We gotta lock the doors, turn off all lights, act like no one's home." The jock pointed at the window. "The Limo of Doom has parked in our driveway!"

Luan's eyes widened in shock and her pupils shrank. "Kathleen?!"


"You go lock the door, Luan, but be quiet." Lynn whispered atop the stairs, pointing at the snoring Renee.

"I…..I d-don't want to go down there." Luan whimpered, hiding behind the wall.

Lynn rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll do it. You guys close the curtains, turn off the air conditioning if it's still on, disconnect the phone, and then help me barricade the door if we have to-"

"What about Fenton?" Lana pointed down. "He's still guarding the door."

A light-bulb went off above the others' heads respectively.

"Oh, this is just too perfect." Ryan wrung his hands.

"No, no, wait." Lincoln spoke up. "Let's not take that risk unless we have to. We'll go with plan A."

The others were disappointed and rolled their eyes, but knew that sicing Lisa's murder-bot on Kathleen could have consequences that could land them in some boiling hot water.

Below, the diminutive door guard was approached by Ryan, Lynn and a nervous Luan trailing behind them.

Fenton's first assumption was that they wanted to go outside. "I assume you haven't. Forgotten-"

"What? No. No." Ryan shook his head. "We are perfect angels with no intention of going outside. Actually, we need your help to enforce another important rule."

"If you're not. Violating rules. There's no need to-"

"We just spotted one of Luan's unruly classmates parking in the driveway." Lynn continued. "There's no doubt she came here wanting to take us on a dangerous joy ride."

"That is unacceptable." Was Fenton's monotonous reply. "Such blatant endangerment would. Be against Master Renee's wishes."

"Exactly, which is why we cannot allow her to set one foot on this premise!" Ryan pointed at the floor.

"And if she does, take care of her!" was Luan's knee-jerk reaction upon considering the possibility.

"Terminate intruder?" Fenton replied with a hint of confusion.

Lynn and Ryan paled. "No! No! Just keep her out!" they exclaimed simultaneously.

"Just kick her out. Taser her if you have to, but don't hurt her in any way that could leave lasting damage, capice? Remember, we organics are fragile beings." Ryan explained to him.

"Correct. Humans cannot transfer consciousness. Into new host body."

"You did lock the door?" Lynn asked the robot.

"Affirmative."

"Great, then how about we do everything we can to encourage her to leave?" Ryan asked.

"How may I be of. Service?"

"Just pretend like you're not here, like the rest of us." Lynn explained. "Make Kathleen think the house's been abandoned."

Just then, the sound of a door handle moving was heard by them, as well as Lincoln, Lana and Lucy, who were all closing curtains or lowering the blinds across the house.

"The backdoor?!" Lynn blurted.

"You didn't lock the backdoor!" an incredulous Lincoln peered down from the stairs at Fenton.

"Ops. I apologize for. My lapse in judgment." The robot said bashfully, or at least as bashfully as his monotonous voice could convey.

Lynn slapped her forehead, while Luan cowered behind her and Ryan as she heard footsteps.

"No…" she said in a shaky whisper, ducking behind them "….s-she c-can't enter private p-property?"

Ryan and Lynn looked at each other worriedly. Last time they've seen her, Luan had the courage to stand up to Kathleen, but last night's brush with death, among other things, must have really shaken her up.

Lynn placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just…just stay put, Lu. We'll show her the backdoor."

"Pretty sure she knows it already." Ryan quipped but still patted his friends back. "Easy, she won't get past the kitchen. Promse."

He and Lynn made their way towards the kitchen, followed by Lana and Lincoln, the latter of which told Lucy to help Luan find a place to hide. The goth didn't argue, she was in no mood to chat with evil incarnate.

Lynn and Ryan peered into the kitchen and found Kathleen standing in the center, glancing in confusion at the sack of flour Lucy had dropped earlier. What struck them immediately was that Kathleen was dressed rather….casually. She was wearing a simple pair of shoes, blue jeans and a teal t-shirt that said "Teens of Tomorrow", with no other accessories, not even earrings or bracelets, and there was barely any trace of makeup or lip gloss on her face.

This was beyond weird. The Kathleen they knew would feverishly follow the latest and most expensive fashion trends like the flock of hungry vultures tailing One Eye for scraps. She almost looked…like a normal kid, instead of the stinking-rich elitist they knew her as. It was uncanny.

Getting over her shock, Lynn stepped forward and cleared her throat. Kathleen turned her head towards her, wearing a passive smile.

"Ever heard of knocking?" the jock spoke in a decidedly unfriendly tone.

"Hello, Lynn. I'm so sorry if I was trespassing. Force of habit." Kathleen replied lightly, seemingly oblivious to the former's unwelcoming tone. The boys and Lana joined her.

"I always use a back entrance to dodge those pesky paparazzi."

"And calling first wasn't an option?" Lynn asked, folding her arms.

"I would have, but I still can't reach any of you. And I couldn't find a phone book for your home number on such short notice, given my busy schedule." Kathleen explained. "And hello, Lincoln, Lana. So nice to see you again."

Lincoln just awkwardly waved, while Lana shuffled her foot next to him, still not knowing what to make of Kathleen? As evident from her sister's tone, Lynn was still very suspicious of her.

"And Ryan?" Kathleen laughed, despite his likewise displeased demeanor. "My, my, you and the Louds never seem to be apart?"

"I'm the new kid on the block, don't have a tone of friends." The boy shrugged.

Kathleen smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, it's not easy integrating yourself in a new home, I could-" she stopped as she felt someone tapping her leg. She looked down to find Fenton looking at her.

The others grew nervous, worrying about what the fox-bot might do.

"Pardon me, ma'am. But you do not have permission. For entrance."

In sharp contrast to Renee, and most people, Kathleen's immediate reaction to him was one of pleasant surprise.

"Is that a Fenton the Feel Better Fox?" she chuckled nostalgically. "I had one of those when I was little, thought they had stopped producing them like a decade ago?"

"Ma'am, I must insist that you leave. I'm under direct. Orders from my Master. To prohibit trespassers. From invading this. Premise."

"You better listen to the fox, Kathy. You don't know what he's capable off." Ryan advised her, but Kathleen didn't seem to hear him as her focus was fixed on Fenton.

"Funny? I don't recall mine speaking this eloquently, let alone responding to me? I only remember him signing that earworm of a ditty."

"Kathleen, you really don't want to stick around." Lincoln approached her, hoping to get her to leave before the robot decided that "drastic measures" were required to evict her. "Don't you remember who's babysitting us?"

Kathleen heard the snoring and looked ahead to see Renee sleeping on the couch.

"Oh, her?" her brow fell. "I almost forgot about her? No offense, Ryan. But your sister doesn't strike me as a nice person?"

"Observant, aren't we?" the dark-haired boy rolled his eyes.

"She's a real tyrant." Lana had to say it, earning annoyed glances from her siblings.

"Oh, I guessed that." Kathleen nodded, now mindful to keep her voice down. "I've known several nannies who took their job way too seriously." Then, her face lit up. The others recognized it as an "idea face" and it spooked them.

Kathleen snapped her fingers. "Why don't you use this opportunity to give her the slip? I would have helped you sooner, but I had a big group of friends to escort to a concert and said concert was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But now, I have an empty limo waiting in the drive-"

"What, no, no, no!" Lincoln waved his hands. "That won't be necessary."

"Oh, but I insist. I can't watch a bunch of innocent peers being mistreated by some control freak who despises fun."

The others looked at Fenton, whose right hand morphed into a taser. Lincoln panicked, while Lynn and Ryan grew looks of eager anticipation.

But through a quirk of fate, Renee turned around in her sleep, which wound up activating a certain remote device in her pocket. As Fenton raised his taser-hand, sparks of electricity flickered all over his body and he froze in place.

"Oh, no. Deactivation code initiated." Fenton spoke, his voice dropping an octave with every word as he slowly tilted backward. "Mechanical functions disabled. Losing balance. Help." His back hit the floor with a loud clang.

"What just happened?" Ryan asked, surprised and immensely disappointed, as Fenton's optics turned pitch-black and his body shut down.

Lana blinked. "I think he broke? Is..is it a bad or good thing?"

"Hmmm…you might want to give him some new batteries." Kathleen suggested before turning back to them. "Anyway, how about my offer-"

"No way, sister!" Lynn stated. "We're staying here and that's that."

"Excuse me, but may I ask something?" Lincoln asked, more politely. "Why exactly have you come here? To spring us? Because-"

"Only if you agree to it." Kathleen shrugged. "Actually, I was just passing by and remembered to give you something."

Out of her pocket, she pulled out a keychain with two gold-encrusted letters dangling from it, spelling "L.L".

"What's that?" Lynn squinted suspiciously.

"Sweet, isn't it? It could be used by any of your Louds? It was meant to come with your new van but I forgot to leave it in. My bad." Kathleen explained as she handed it over to Lincoln.

"Eh…thanks?"

"Where are the others by the way? Luan? Lisa? Lola?"

"They…they're still sleeping." Lincoln answered hastily.

"Well, if that's all." Lynn grew a smile. "How about you get going?"

Kathleen blinked. "Well,I was kinda thinking…"

"No, no, we insist." Ryan joined in as he and Lynn grabbed the rich girl by the arms and turned her around and started pushing her towards the door. "Don't want to impose on your busy schedule and all your publicity st-eh, I mean charity work."

"Yeah, don't let the door hit you on the way out." Lynn added.

"Lincoln, doesn't that seem a bit harsh?" Lana whispered to her brother, who didn't say anything. They sure looked like the bad guys whenever Kathleen crossed their path, with only his two sisters and Ryan's word to confirm that it was the other way around.

"KATHLEEN!" Ryan and Lynn halted, cringing at the shrill voice, and let Kathleen go. A pink and yellow blur zapped past Lana and Lincoln and wrapped herself around Kathleen, who barely kept her footing from the surprise attack.

"Kathleen! My idol! My hero! You finally came!" the little blonde sobbed, clinging on to the rich girl's waist with both her arms and legs.

"Lola?" Lincoln blurted incredulously. "But how?"

"Ohhh….I think I forgot to fasten her chains again?" a blushing Lana wilted, while her brother sent her an annoyed glare. Ryan, meanwhile, immediately glanced at his sister, who stirred in her sleep.

"Keep quiet." He warned them. "You don't want to wake that sleeping lioness. She isn't a morning person!"

"Lola, it's you? Wow…don't crush me, spaz, will ya?" Kathleen chuckled. "Glad to see your voice is better."

"Kathleen!" Lola looked up at her, all teary-eyed. "It was so dreadful. That witch Renee is a monster, she held me in a choke-hold and I couldn't even cry for help! Please liberate me! You're my only hope!"

"Wow, take it easy, kid." Kathleen said with confusion. "I could try-"

"And my family was so mean to me too! They bullied me, they chained me up and tickle me mercilessly! I was mauled by Lana's pets! And….and last night, some maniac with super strength kidnap us and-mpphf!"

Lynn hand-gagged her and pried her off Kathleen, who looked nothing if not utterly dumbfounded.

"Eh…what was that she-"

"Nothing!' Lincoln smiled nervously. "Kids, they have such fertile imaginations."

Kathleen glanced back at Lynn, who was still gagging and restraining the struggling Lola.

"Lynn? What are you doing to her?"

"Nothing. Say, are you looking for Luan by any chance?" Ryan asked, purely to divert her attention. Any more loud noise would surely wake his sister.

Shame seemed to wash over Kathleen's features. "Not really, I did promise to get off her case. Where is she by the way? Or Lucy, Luna, or Leni-?"

"She's practicing her mime act in her room, Lucy is assisting her. Lisa is still asleep, as we I said, and Lori is still on her trip with mom and dad." Lincoln answered, while Ryan moved in to manhandle Kathleen out of here.

"But what about Luna and Leni?"

Lincoln's eyes widened. He totally forgot about them! "Oh, my god?! They're still-OW!"

"Oh, sorry, Lincoln?" Ryan removed his foot from Lincoln's, before turning back to Kathleen. "They're still on their trip. Yeah, yeah, Moon Girl's band landed a gig at some nightclub out of town, left this morning. And the other one….eh, she's their roadie! Yes, roadie."

Kathleen gave a skeptical look. "Leni's carrying their instruments?"

"Roadie?" Lincoln "corrected" the other boy while tending his aching foot. "No, that's Chunk. She's their personal stylist, remember, Ryan? They took her to make sure they looked good on stage."

"Ow!" Lynn cried and shook her hand, now sporting a fresh bite imprint. Lola rushed back towards Kathleen and grabbed her hand.

"Please save me, I can't stay with these loons any longer! They'll torture me!"

"Lola, stop being ridiculous." Lincoln nervously told her.

"You're adorable, Lulu." Ryan chuckled halfheartedly before turning to their guest and hissing through gritted teeth. "Now let Kathleen go, so she can return to her damn limo!"

"LIAR!" she screamed, making everyone cringe, before pulling Kathleen towards the stairs. "Here! I'll show you!"

"Hey now, where are you taking me?" Kathleen asked as she was dragged up the stairs.

"Get back here!" Lynn chased after them, followed by the boys. Lana halted as she noticed Renee stirring.

"I'll show you! They turned the attic into a torture chamber!"

Kathleen grew a puzzled look. "A torture chamber?" she smiled, thinking Lola was exaggerating. "Lola. Torture chambers cost money, and not to be mean, but I doubt you have the money to construct one." She said lightly before turning awkward.

"Eh….not that I'm insinuating that I own one or ever owned one. Or used it." She hastily added.

Lola didn't even hear her as she stopped below the attic door and pointed up. "There, I'll show you-"

"I thought you were leaving!" Lynn grabbed the rich girl's other arm and tugged her back.

"No, she is staying!" Lola tugged her back. "She'll tell everyone-"

"Shut your yap, thumb-sucker!" Lynn tugged back. "You have no saying in this!"

"I don't suck my thumb!" Lola roared when she was grabbed from behind. "Lemme go!"

"As soon as you let her go!" was Lincoln's curt response as he tried to separate the two, but Lola's hand clung onto Kathleen's arm like a steel trap.

"I got this." Ryan intervened and started digging for gold. Lola's eye's widened as he slid his bugger-encrusted finger across her gloved arm, making her screech and let go.

"AHHH! You'll regret that!" Lincoln had to hold her back again, while Ryan glared at her bitterly.

"Enough of this!" Lynn shouted, keeping a tight grip on Kathleen's arm. "You, rich girl, are leaving. Right. Now." She nearly jabbed Kathleen's right eye out with her index finger.

"Way ahead of you." Ryan grabbed Kathleen's other arm, eager to toss her ass out, and they started dragging her behind them.

"This really isn't necessary."Kathleen tried to be polite as the soles of her shoes screeched against the floor. "I can take a hint, guys."

"Not really, we dropped a billion of them." Lynn said bluntly, when someone stopped them in their tracks.

She and Ryan looked down to find a nervous Lana blocking their path.

"Lana, what is-"

"Guys, she is up!"

"Who is-" the tweens froze as someone stomped their foot in front of them. Hearing shallow breathing, they didn't want to look up, fearful of what might be awaiting them, but they forced themselves to slowly tilt their head up.

What greeted them was a mouth full of clenched teeth, messy bed-hair, eyes filled with pulsating arteries and rancid morning breath, akin to those of an enraged sasquatch that was woken from its slumber in a deep, dark cave. They unwittingly let Kathleen go, who took a few nervous steps back.

"What's going on here?" was Renee's frosty response. It frightened Lana enough to make her hide behind Lynn.

"Sis, you're up?" Ryan laughed uneasily. "Did you sleep well?"

"What's with all the screaming?! How…how long was I out?!" realization dawned upon her and it made her, if possible, even madder!

"Chill. Everything's okay, we weren't up to anything, honest!" Lynn raised her hands. "We were just trying to kick her out!" she pointed back at Kathleen.

"Don't listen to them!" Lola, rather stupidly, tried to interject. "They all ganged up on me, and then they wanted to throw Kathleen out for no reason-"

"Kathleen!" Renee pushed Ryan and Lynn aside like a saloon door and nearly trampled the complaining princess in her path as she marched up to the surprise guest. Lincoln, very wisely, gave them both a wide berth.

"You again?!" Renee backed Kathleen up against a door. "Who on Earth let you in!"

"I didn't let her!" Lana pointed at her twin. "Lola did!"

"I did not!"

"Nobody did, okay!" Lynn ended their debate. "That entitled brat barged in through the backdoor."

"She's saying the truth." Lincoln backed her up. "But there's no need to get-"

"Be silent!" Renee roared, obviously not thinking clearly, and seized Kathleen's arm.

Kathleen yelped. "Ow….that hurts. I just dropped by to give them a keychain."

"Word of advice, don't hurt her too bad." Ryan came up to his sister. "She's got fancy lawyers on her side, let's just kick her out."

Renee was too groggy to care about that, but not too groggy to see through a clear lie. "And what other reason?" she asked Kathleen matter-of-factly, not a single hint of doubt in her voice.

Kathleen gulped. "Other reason…well, I….ah!" her elbow accidentally pressed the door handle and she fell into Lynn and Lucy's room.

She sat up and found Renee standing over her, looking even more terrifying from this angel. Her furious expression was a clear indicator that she was waiting for an answer.

Kathleen awkwardly stood up and dusted her shirt, before pointing at the writing "Teens of Tomorrow". "Well, you see. The charity organization I hooked up with is putting together a group of young volunteers who spread sunshine and joy to those who needed it most, see?"

Renee was unmoved and didn't change expression, prompting Kathleen to continue. "I know, I know. A little cheesy, I admit, but sincere and catchy. And I dropped by on the off chance that-"

"You thought that these miscreants would do free labor for your vapid publicity stunt out of the kindness of their hearts?" Renee sneered, curling her lip all the way up as a subdued but unnerving chuckle escaped her. Ryan and the Louds, shuddered at the sound. Yup, sleep deprivation was defiantly at play.

"Well, actually, they can join with the promise of payment for their efforts." Kathleen tried to smile. "Most charity foundations don't have a filthy rich young philanthropist sponsoring their activities."

"I don't know if you're really entitled or just really stupid." Renee stepped forward imposingly, making her step back. "You think these monsters would do that?"

She stopped and let out another unsettling laugh. "Oh, who am I kidding? If money is involved, they might just suppress their hedonistic ways long enough to do it."

"Speak for yourself, Renny. I don't help Make-A-Wish kids or decrepit old coots! It's bad for my bad boy image." Ryan insisted.

"Yeah, no thanks. I'd rather join a "volunteer group" that isn't spearheaded by a conniving glory hound." Lynn added.

Kathleen's face dropped. "So I take it that's a no?"

"Yes! No-yes! I'll join you!" Lola jumped towards her. "I love helping poor and ugly souls!"

"Eh…you mean "poor and unfortunate souls"?"

"Yeah, yeah, those too! Just get me out of here!" Lola pleaded and clutched her hands. "I won't survive another day with her!"

"No." Renee said flatly. "None of you miscreants are going anywhere until your parents return."

Lola narrowed her eyes. "And you call me evil! Kathleen here wants us to come and help people, while you just want to keep us prisoners like the wicked witch you are!"

"I don't care if it's moral or not. I'm in charge and I will complete my job."

Lola glanced at her siblings but nobody cared to back her up, again. Cowards and bullies! That's what they all were! They would rather suck up to this cold-hearted hag just to exploit her dislike of Lola so they could get away with bullying her! Despite Lincoln giving her a "cut it out" gesture, she snapped.

"Why should we listen to a monster like you!" the blonde cried, challenging the teen."We could just run out and you couldn't catch us once we escape with Kathleen's limo!"

"That's it, four hours in your room and no breakfast or dinner." Renee hissed, infuriating Lola further.

"No fair! I didn't get two strikes!"

"You talked back to me twice, those are two strikes." Renee replied, not giving a crap if it adhered to her own rationale or not.

"As for you, young lady!" She grabbed Kathleen by the ear, a maneuver that got the rich girl paralyzed with pain and she could only hiss with shock and discomfort. Lana and Lincoln cringed at the brutal display, while Ryan and Lynn wore subtle smirks. Lola grew a face of utter shock.

"You are getting out here this instance."

"Let her go, you….you tyrant! You can't do this to her!"

"Watch me." Came Renee's dismissive response as she was about to show their guest the door.

Like a feral cat, Lola pounced and grabbed Renee's leg, sinking her teeth into it. The teen cried out in pain and released Kathleen. Everyone else gasped at what they saw.

"Get off me!" Renee growled, hopping on one foot and trying pry Lola off her, but the little girl was persistent, clinging on with every ounce of her strength.

"Lola, stop this!" Lincoln tried to interfere, but was blocked by Ryan's arm.

"Hold your horses." the other boy smirked at him. "Let the little nuisance rot in the bunker."

Renee did shake her off. "You're dead!" she seethed as she zeroed in on Lola, who got up and swiftly dove between her legs. Renee gave chase, while the others looked on, mostly amused, except for Lincoln and Kathleen.

No, she can't let her win, this was her moment of triumph, Lola thought angrily. She found a hairdryer on the nightstand and grabbed it, just as Renee's grabbed her shoulder. As she turned her around, Lola blew hot air straight into her eyes. Blinded, Renee cried out and jerked back. Lola laughed, but that was drowned out as Renee yelped in surprise, one foot on a skateboard and stumbling back.

It happened so fast. Before anyone could react, Renee's back slammed against the frame of the window and she screamed as she toppled over and fell out, followed by a loud thud.

A collective gasp ran through the room. Ryan broke away from the group and peered through the window, finding his sister lying motionlessly on the lawn.


They wasted no time rushing down. They were joined up by Lucy and Lisa, both of whom had heard the blood-curdling scream, but Luan still refused to reveal herself.

"Oh, my god, Lola! What did you do!" Lincoln exclaimed frantically, his heart thumping rapidly, as they spilled out of the house.

"I didn't do anything!" Lola cried, her face ridden with guilt and horror.

"You pushed her out of the window!" Lana said scathingly.

"I didn't put that skateboard there!"

"Who fell out of a window?" Lucy caught up to them, as they found the limp Renee in the same spot where she had landed and huddled around her.

Ryan knelt down in front of his sister and said, in a shaky voice, "Renee?...hey, sis?" He shook her shoulder, hoping to get a response.

A soft groan and a rising chest alleviated his worries a bit, as well as everyone else's, especially Lola's. She won't be charged with manslaughter.

Ryan chuckled nervously, lightly bumping her shoulder. "You're breathing? Good. So…eh…that was some fall? Accident, they happen. Now get up, will ya?"

The siblings looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Lynn was the one to approach Ryan and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Um….Ryan? I don't she's going to-"

"Don't be ridiculous, Lynn." Ryan retorted with a smile; a very anxious, strained smile. "If it didn't kill her, she'll spring right back up. A Taylor doesn't let a little pain keep them down."

Lynn grimace, she had never heard him talk in such a manner. He looked like was in some kind of denial and was barely keeping up the façade.

"Sigh." Lucy glanced at the resident medical expert. "How bad is it?" she asked sardonically.

"Hmmm….." Lisa walked up next to Renee, looking up and examining the position of the second-floor window. "It would require placing her under my x-ray to be certain, but if I were to gauge the severity of her internal damage based on the height of her fall, it would surely be…." She trailed off as she made eye contact with Ryan, who didn't look angry at her so much as seconds away from panicking.

"…..manageable, nothing a rendezvous with medical practitioners couldn't mend. I'm….75 % sure of it."

With an unreadable expression, Ryan slowly stood up and turned to the others.

"Don't just gawk there, you numbskulls!" she shouted frantically. "Call an ambulance!"


The siblings could do nothing but watch on nervously, some of them sweating, others biting their fingernails as the paramedics were rolling their babysitter into the ambulance van. Lincoln was seconds away from fainting from a panic attack. How did this happen? This couldn't be real? They were neck-deep in trouble now! He couldn't recall the last time they had injured someone so bad that it required immediate hospitalization!

"Oh, god, oh, god…." He rambled to himself. "What will happen to her? How are we gonna explain this to mom and dad?! They'll lose their minds! Oh, no! Oh, no! What do we do?!"

"I wanted her to go away, but not like this?" Lana gripped one of her many spare caps.

"I appreciate karma, but this is beyond disappropriate." Lucy had to admit. Seeing someone you loathed in a critical condition, badly wounded, was nowhere near as fun in practice as it seemed in theory.

Lola did not even dare to speak to them, and slinked off to the doorstep, wanting to hide, but being unable to look away from Renee until they carried her off. Only Kathleen came to her side to offer her some words of comfort.

"Wait up?" Ryan stopped the paramedics to look down at his unconscious sister. "She…she's gonna be alright, right?" he tried to stay chill. "She is breathing, I checked and all."

"Don't know, kid. Can't make a prognosis until the docs examine her." One of the men shrugged as they placed her inside the van. The other one turned to the boy.

"Don't fret about it. Your family will be informed immediately. Where are your parents?"

"Ehh…? Mom's at a convention in Montreal. And I think dad's currently on a train to Phoenix. At least I think so?"

The paramedic cocked an eyebrow. "So in other words, they should only expect one visitor at the infirmary?"

Lynn watched from a distance, feeling sorry for Ryan. He was trying to hide it, but it was clear to anyone that he wasn't taking his sister's accident well. Why anyone would feel sorry for that monster, she couldn't fathom. But despite the bad blood between them, Renee was still was his sister.

The jock sighed. It was amazing how one unfortunate accident could make people forget about their feud and reawaken a familial connection, even one that was seemingly dormant for nearly a decade.

"I'll go talk to him." She walked off. Lincoln didn't even notice her go, being too caught up in his own frantic thoughts.

"So Lincoln?" Lucy asked her brother. "What do we do now?"

"Eh…what?" he looked at her, his face betraying pure panic.

"Sigh. Now that Renee's out of commission, what are we going to do? Who's going to be in charge until mom and dad return? How are we going to break this to them?"

"I don't know." he said feebly. He couldn't decide what was more worrisome, leaving their home without an authority figure or said authority figure being wheeled off to the hospital?

"Hey, don't worry about it." Lana grabbed his hand, speaking tenderly. "None of us will cause any trouble. I won't at least."

"I don't think any of us will be inclined to cause trouble today." Lucy said sullenly. "I'm not sure how we could possibly trounce this?" Well, maybe demolishing your house could trump pushing a person out of a window in the "trouble department", but that's what they were trying to prevent.

"You think she'll pull through?" Lana asked about their babysitter.

"For now, I think we should be more concerned about easing mom and dad into this? It goes without saying that they will be furious." Lucy pointed out.

Lana scowled. "We don't have to take the heat for it, it was all Lola's fault! I say let her take the fall."

"Sounds reasonable." Lucy agreed, her worries somewhat alleviated. "You make your coffin, you have to rest in it."

Lincoln didn't argue with this one. It was Lola's fault, accident or not. It was simple justice. Still, it wouldn't do much to ease their parents into the news, or the hospital bill? Renee surely wouldn't let bygones be bygones either, not after being dropped out of a second-story window.

"You okay?" Ryan jumped a little as a hand touched his shoulder. He had been completely fixated on the ambulance that drove off, disappearing into the horizon.

"Okay? Pffftt….sure I'm okay? Why wouldn't I be?" he tried to look nonchalant, not that it was fooling anyone.

"Eh, maybe because your sister fell out of a window and just got carted off to the hospital?" Lynn raised an eyebrow.

Ryan looked unsure and rubbed his arm. "Oh, that? Well….I'm not worried, she'll pull through."

Lynn hoped so. Otherwise, her family would be in a lot of trouble. Despite her disdain for Renee, Lynn couldn't help but feel some amount of guilt over this.

"I'm sorry, Ryan."

He blinked. "What for?"

"She got hurt babysitting us." Lynn sighed. "Bad stuff tends to happen to folks who enter our home."

Ryan's brow fell. "It wasn't your fault, I got her to come here." His gaze drifted back at the road, carrying a forlorn look. Now he was seriously regretting not intervening when he had the chance. Watching Lola and Renee duke it out didn't seem even remotely worth it in hindsight.

"Don't blame yourself for this." Lynn replied softly.

His face then darkened. "I'm not…" he said in a low tone "…we all know who's really to blame."

Lynn saw where his gaze had shifted towards, and it made her feel a twinge of fear for her sister.

Lola was sitting at the doorsteps, trembling with anxiety and hyperventilating. Kathleen was sitting next to her, trying to offer her some comfort.

"Hey, hey…" she spoke gently "…just calm down and take a deep breath. Accidents happen."

"Accidents? Yeah, yeah, accidents…." Lola twitched nervously, trying to convince herself of it.

It wasn't working. What had she done? Her mind raced as unwavering guilt was consuming her like boiling acid. This had to be some sort of horrible nightmare? Someone fell out of a window because of her? If she wound up crippled or worse….how would she able to live it down? Just like how she abandoned her family-

"Well, I hope you're proud of yourself." Lincoln's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"You've gone and done it! You put someone in the hospital! Congratulations!" he applauded her.

"It was an accident!" Lola cried out defiantly.

"Didn't look like one to me." Lana crossed her arms. "You attacked her!"

"I may not have witnessed it, but what the others described to me sounds pretty deliberate. I know you love breaking people emotionally, but this….this is a new one." Lucy added. She knew whatever progress Lincoln and Lynn had made in making their parents' lives easier was undone in one fell swoop.

Lisa didn't say anything and just watched from the sidelines.

"We can only pray that Renee will just sue us for endangering her life, and not for being a cripple too!" Lincoln continued, absolutely livid.

Lola cringed in Kathleen's embrace, but not as much as when she heard the person she was dreading the most to face.

"Unbelievable. You're unbelievable!" Ryan exclaimed, not even trying to hide his unbridled anger. "Congrats, Pinky. You've accomplished the fucking impossible, you broker the master of babysitting! I'll dial the newshounds back in Cape Town ASAP to give them the jaw-dropping headline!"

"Hey, calm down, guys." Kathleen interjected, pulling the frightened Lola closer to her.

"Calm down?!" Lynn threw her arms up. "Were you asleep for the last ten minutes?!"

"I know what happened, I'm not trying to downplay it. Something awful happened, no two ways about it, but you're not helping anyone by making her feel worse about. It was an accident after all."

"Oh, I'm sure you know all about the differences." Lynn scoffed.

A look of annoyance flashed across Kathleen's features. "Yes, I guess I would. But rubbing it into my face won't fix your predicament, will it?"

"No, but I know what will bring me some relief." Ryan sneered dourly, stepping up. Lola cowered under his glare and huddled closer to Kathleen.

Kathleen sensed that things were getting volatile and rose up, placing herself between Lola and Ryan and pressing her hands against the boy's shoulders.

"Ryan, I know you're seriously ticked-off and nobody blames you for it." she started in a placating tone. "I can't tell you enough how sorry I am, but please, don't do something rash that you will regret later."

Her words had no impact on him, as his furious gaze was fixated on Lola and a low growl escaped his throat, which made the hair on Lola's neck stand up. There was no talking this out. He looked ready to kill her and Lola doubted Kathleen could hold the mad brute back.

Sure enough, Ryan grabbed the rich girl's shoulder and pushed her aside. Her heart thumping, Lola made a break for it as Ryan tried to snatch her.

"Come back!" he roared furiously. "You're dead meat!"

She bolted towards the road but didn't get far as Ryan lunged after her, landing on his belly and seizing her by the leg. Lola hit the dirt and was promptly pulled back. Her eyes widened as she found herself under Ryan, who pinned her down with one hand and raised his fist in the air.

"No!" Lincoln's grabbed his hand. "Get a grip on yourself!"

"Stop it!" Lynn joined him and together, they wrestled the enraged Ryan to the ground. Lola tried to run again but was caught by Kathleen, who pulled her up and held her protectively.

"Get off me! I'll wring her neck!" Ryan roared as the duo held him down. Lynn had to resort to a Nelson hold to keep him restrained, allowing Lincoln to let go and catch his breath.

"Ryan! What's the matter with you!" Kathleen frowned, looking scandalized. "I know you're upset, but that's no excuse to attack a defenseless child!"

"Defenseless? That's rich!" he laughed bitterly.

"Okay, that's it." Kathleen stepped back. "I'm taking her with me."

"You can't do that." Lincoln stood up. "You can't just take her from her home?!"

"Sorry, but I can't just stand here and let this mistreatment continue. None of you seem to care about helping her, even now when someone assaulted her. As her friend, I'm obliged to intervene in such a situation."

"Help her!" Lynn snapped, while still holding Ryan down. "She brought this on herself!"

"It was an accident and none of you are helping by making her feel worse than she already does."

"You think you can just take her-"

"I believe she has the right to go to a friend for help if she feels threatened. And who, pray tell, is in charge now to forbid her from coming with me? Your parents appointed Renee to be in charge and as you said, all your older sisters are absent."

After pondering for a moment, Kathleen sighed. "Look, we need to have a serious talk. I can help you if you will just let me."

Lincoln watched her with uncertainty. "Help us? How exactly?"

Kathleen stepped past him as well as Lynn and Ryan. "Get your friend to cool down and we can discuss your little problem like rational human beings."


Ryan did calm down enough for Lynn to release him. He brushed off her attempts to talk to him and angrily stormed upstairs, while grumbling to himself, to soak his face. Kathleen didn't feel safe enough to discuss her proposal until he was gone and didn't let go of Lola for one second. Lola felt rather touched by the gesture, though it did little to ease her growing guilt.

"This won't be good, Marcy. I can feel it." Lynn grumbled while petting the savannah on her lap. They were all sitting on the couch, minus Luan, with Cliff and Charles sitting next to them, curious about all the commotion. Kathleen was in the armchair, with Lola in her lap.

Lynn didn't like this one bit. Besides the obvious disaster that would make their parents royally pissed-off, she was now at the mercy of freaking Kathleen Tisdale in order to mend said disaster. She already knew what the rich brat had in mind for them and dreaded the upcoming conversation.

"So what do you propose we do about this?" Lincoln asked their guest.

"It's quite simple. Now, let's not kid ourselves, your parents will be beyond upset once they return." Kathleen started.

"Yeah, no kidding." Lynn grumbled.

"But we can alleviate the situation somewhat and ease them into the bad news, if they aren't faced with a large hospital bill."

"You want us to join your "volunteer" group and earn the money to cover up our babysitter's medical bills?" Lincoln guessed.

"Was I that obvious?" Kathleen asked. "Nonetheless, this is a golden opportunity to work off your parent's depths before they even get notified about it. I wouldn't squander it if I were you."

Lynn narrowed her eyes. "And you can't simply make Renee part one of your charity donations because…..?"

"Because, this might sound mean, but I have a nagging suspicion that you guys brought this accident on yourselves."

"What? But she's the one who pushed her out of the window!" Lana pointed at her twin, who wilted.

"Accidently, yes. But from what I can gather, this was all the culmination of your family's infighting, which drove Lola to lose her temper at the worst possible moment and attack Renee. Why else was she claiming that you all tormented her and ganged up on her?"

The younger Louds drew back, especially Lucy, knowing Kathleen was right on the money. Talk about choosing the worst possible moment to enact your sweet revenge? Lincoln, likewise, shrank. This was the exact kind of thing he had been trying so hard to prevent, and the moment he turned a blind eye on it, everything went off the rails.

Lynn, however, wasn't so easily cowed.

"And you think you're one to talk-"

"I am not. I know my past and I don't try to hide it, which is exactly why I think all of you would benefit from some experience in helping others and being altruistic, instead of fighting amongst yourselves and causing distress, just as I had to learn for myself."

Lynn boiled. The nerve of this cunt! Exploiting them like this when they were in a ditch? She could practically feel Kathleen's sick joy at their predicament.

"But if we do this, you will pay us for it?" Lincoln cut right to the chase. This was already a bad situation and they couldn't waste their opportunity to mend it. As much as he didn't want to do this, his mind was already made up as it was. His lack of history with Kathleen made the decision easier, but he knew two of his sisters and Ryan wouldn't be so easily persuaded.

"Very much, each of you will be rewarded handsomely for your troubles, and believe me, I don't pay anyone minimum wage. I might even throw in some friendly bonuses for extra effort." Kathleen smiled. "What do you say? I personally would consider this offer an enormous privilege, one you won't regret in any way."

Lincoln exchanged glances with his sisters.

The first one to agree came as a surprise. "I suppose I have nothing better to do." Lisa's lispy voice ended the brief silence. The others looked at her in surprise.

For the genius, this was more or less a knee-jerk reaction. She had already endangered her family twice, might as well do something good if an opportunity arose. Or really, just about anything to take her mind off her overwhelming guilt, and inventing things that would leave the scientific community agape was off the table.

"That's very nice, Lisa." Kathleen nodded. "But just remember, this is work, not a play date to meet new friends."

Lisa sent her a grim smile. "Trust me, I have no intention to socialize."

"Socialize? Hmmm….your vocabulary is quite impressive for someone your age." Kathleen noted. "I think you could teach a few of your peers some new words while you're at it?"

"Well, I guess this doesn't sound too bad." Lana sighed. She didn't exactly know what they were agreeing to, but it couldn't be that bad?

The others, Lincoln, Lynn and Lucy exchanged glances. They were all wary about doing this, but they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Eventually, Lincoln spoke on all their behalf. "Alright, we're in."

"Whatever…." Lucy grumbled, barely audible.

Kathleen smiled, which made Lynn shudder. "Well, I'm sorry it had to happen under such circumstances, but believe me, your decision today will touch many lives in the best of ways. How about we start packing?"

Lynn rolled her eyes, mumbling to herself. And here she thought today might be a good day?

Some much for that? They just went from being under one bitch's mercy to another's.


HELP! SOMEBODY HELP US! HELP! HELP!" Luna shouted through cupped hands but her pleas went unanswered, except for her own echoes.

Her lips trembling, the rocker stood there, shaking and sobbing dryly. Why had no one come to release them from their underground cell? It surely was morning by now? Or, for all she knew, it could be late afternoon? With no clock or any source of light to go by, judging the passage of time down here was impossible.

"Luna, could you please not yell so loudly?" Leni said, dangling her legs from the bench. "I'm daydreaming."

"Daydreaming?" Luna growled, barely comprehensible.

"Yes, Chaz and me are on a beautiful trip in Paris. We rode first-class on the plain and he bought me a lovely beret while he's rocking that striped shirt. We visited the Eiffel Tower, then the Hoover Dam cathedral, and the Arc de Truffe and now we're rowing down Venice and he's about to ask me to be his girl-"

"Do you want to die here or not!" Luna snapped. She would have been all up in Leni's face, if she had the foggiest clue where her face was.

"Die? Of joy maybe, this is the most romantic experience I ever had-"

"Nobody cares about that fat bloke of yours! I want to get out!"

Leni gasped. "Bite your tongue! He's just big-boned!"

Luna pulled on her hair in frustration. At this point, she would have preferred anyone, even Lola's company. At least then she could engage in some remotely intelligent conversation, hostile or not.

"And why are you acting like we've been here forever? For all we know, we've just been here for like three or four hours and you're just getting impatient?"

"Four….f-fff…." Luna's eyes twitched. "Did you forget why we're here?!"

Leni blinked. "Actually….I'm kinda blanking on it? Can you give me a hint?"

A loud smack echoed through the bunker, courtesy of Luna hitting her own face in frustration and dragging her hand across it.

"Does this feel like a few hours to you?! We've been stuck here for an eternity!"

"Well, I don't have a clock, but!" Leni had a "smart" idea. "I know, I'll count down the time….okay….one…two…three…four…"

"C-can….can you do it in your head?" Luna asked desperately. If nothing else, at least she could enjoy some merciful silence.

"Okay!" Leni agreed.

Once things got silent, Luna exhaled with immense relief. Why was she worrying? They would be let out of here soon? Renee wouldn't keep them here once the sun rose again, that was the time they had to serve, right? If not, her siblings would bust them out. They wouldn't let them rot here?

"Luna?"

The rocker shut her eyes tight in annoyance.

"What?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"I forget, how many ticks and tocks does a minute have? And how many minutes does a second have?"

She got no response.

"Luna?"

"…..Luna?" …..


Renee's out, Kathleen in. What a brutal way to exit?

Oh, that Lola. She sure knows how to bring out the worst in people, doesn't she? After putting up with her nasty attitude and insults for days, her putting his life in danger and now putting his sister in a body-cast was the last straw for Ryan and he understandably snapped. It's safe to assume that Lola has officially eclipsed Lori, and even Leni and Lisa as his absolute least-favorite Loud. He might even remember her name from now on XD Hate will make you remember someone. Not only that, but she has effectively alienated every one of her siblings, even Lincoln has seemingly given up on her (or has he?). Now that she has reached her lowest point, she can no longer uphold her stubborn delusions of being an innocent and righteous angel surrounded by vulgar scoundrels who are always the aggressors. What will she do now? For this next story, I decided to take a more low-key route, as the last three stories all concluded with very action-packed climaxes. So for this one, I decided to put a little more focus on the characters and their interactions (though that doesn't mean no excitement).

As with the last one, some familiar faces might make their debut in this arc. Given her situation, Lola has now only two options; owe up to her misdeeds and reconcile with her family or take the easy route, remain willfully ignorant and take refuge with her ever-supportive new rich friend. Saving the worst and most stubborn one for last. And then there's Lisa, who still has plenty of demons of her own to overcome, as while Lincoln is willing to forgive her, she too has made herself something of a family pariah.

And if you're wondering, yup! Luna and Leni will remain stuck in the bunker for a while. Luna's sanity might not make it. Sorry, girls, mustn't overcrowd my stories (something the show unfortunately never learned) XD