Reversal of Fortune: Chapter 7: Unlucky Revelations

(Scene Change: Royal Woods High School, 10:30 AM)

As Becky saw Lori in her first class of the day, Psychology, she felt her body temperature rise and her muscles tense up in fury. However, remembering Lincoln's bright smile from their meals together in her head allowed Becky to relax enough to smile and wave, "Hey, Lori!", with the smile on her face matched only by the intensity of the anger in her eyes.

Lori smiled back, "Hey, Becky," not noticing the fire in Becky's eyes while taking her seat.

Becky asked Lori, "Did you do the homework?"

Lori answered, "What, pages 108-111? You bet I did. Lisa's literally a great tutor."

Becky replied, "I'd bet she is. But look, we'd better focus. Mr. Peterson doesn't like it when we make noise."

Lori chuckled, "Literally."

When Mr. Peterson turned his back to the class to write on the chalkboard, Becky briefly looked up from her desk at the back of Lori's head, glared at her, and gave her a middle finger that could only be seen if you looked underneath her desk. Luckily, the other students were so engrossed in taking notes that no one noticed this, so Becky didn't get in trouble for it.

(Time Skip: 12:15 PM)

As Becky walked through the long hallways filled with endless lockers to get to the cafeteria for lunch, she saw Lori run to Bobby.

Lori cried, "Boo-Boo Bear!"

Bobby cheered, "Babe!", before kissing Lori on the lips at his locker. Bobby then asked Lori, "You ready for Burpin' Burger?"

Lori excitedly said, "You know it! Hungry y'all, look no further," before Bobby jumped in on the famous chant, "Come on down to Burpin' Burger! Grade B beef & special spice, when it comes back up, it's twice as nice!"

The two laughed before leaving the school arm-in-arm, making Becky feel sorry for Bobby. However, as soon as Becky remembered her mission, she shook herself out of her pity for Bobby and headed straight towards the cafeteria.

Once Becky went inside the cafeteria, she scanned the room for Leni, Luna, and Luan. Becky saw neither Luna nor Luan, but seeing Leni leave with Jackie, Mandee, and her other fashion friends allowed her to relax. After ensuring no Loud sisters were in the cafeteria, Becky looked for her friends: Melissa, Dana, Whitney, and Carol. When she saw them smiling and waving at her from another table, she took a deep breath before flashing a smile at them and walking to their table.

Melissa, Dana, Whitney, and Carol simultaneously cheered, "Aah! Becky!"

Becky chirped, "Hey, girls!"

Becky high-fived the four girls before taking her seat on the far left of the table. Each of them greeted Becky, "What up doe!", with Becky greeting them in kind.

After taking her seat, Becky pulled her lunch out from a brown paper bag. When Dana noticed this, she teased Becky, "A packed ham and cheese sandwich? Seriously, what are we, back in first grade?", to which the other girls boisterously laughed.

Instead of laughing or even teasing Dana back, Becky immediately started silently eating her sandwich, not bothering to even talk or look in her friends' general direction, worrying the other girls. While Becky tried to look as casual as she could, she was eating the sandwich like she wanted to finish it and get out of the cafeteria as quickly as possible. Melissa was the only person at the table to catch Becky seemingly glaring at the sandwich. The last time Melissa saw Becky just silently and blankly eat food like that was the day she returned to school after her great-grandmother's funeral. To Melissa, this meant only one thing: something terrible must have happened. Dana, Whitney, and Carol caught the worried look on Melissa's face, and stared at her as if to tell her, ask Becky what's going on.

Melissa nodded at her friends before assuaging Becky, "Oh my god, so you texted us about your family emergency. Ooh… I'm so sorry, girl."

Dana asked, "Yeah, and why did you have to text me to get Lori out of here by having Bobby take her on a date?"

Whitney pondered, "Wait... if Lori's gone, and Carol's here…"

Carol groaned, "Oh boy, what did the Louds do this time?"

Becky sighed, "You want the full version or the SkipNotes version?"

Carol encouraged, "Don't hold back, girl. Give us the full version."

Becky stammered, "O-Ok, girls. But I'm warning you… it's bold."

The other four Gal Pals nodded, giving their full attention to Becky as they ate. The girls worried when they saw Becky's face darken, but decided to support their friend by not saying anything.

Becky sighed before starting, "Ok. So, this story actually started last week. You know Lincoln, Lori's little brother?"

Dana giggled, "Wait, Lincoln from the party? Or should we say, Lincolnovich Loudinski?"

All 5 girls laughed as they remembered Lincoln's antics at Lori's house party, or in Carol's case, remembered the stories she heard about "Lincolnovich."

Becky giggled, "Yeah, Lincolnovich," causing the table to erupt in more fond laughter. When the girls calmed down, Becky asked them, "So remember the golf tournament last Tuesday?"

The other four girls confirmed, "Mm-hmm."

Carol inquired, "Yeah… what about it? And how come Lincoln wasn't there?"

Becky responded, "Well…"

(Cut: Royal Woods Elementary Cafeteria, South Side)

Paige was sitting in the middle of the "Cannonball Gang" table at the cafeteria, with Girl Jordan and Cristina on either side of her, and Mollie, Kat, Sadie, and Joy sitting across from her. As she ate a ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread, her eyes darted around the cafeteria as she looked for any sign of the Loud sisters. While Paige did see Lola, Lana, and Lucy in various parts of the cafeteria, they seemed too interested with whatever their current cliques were doing to really pay attention to the Cannonball Gang's conversation. Relieved, Paige solemnly sighed before starting her story, "Lately, Lincoln's been forced to go to all of his sisters' events. And I mean all of them."

Girl Jordan gasped, "Is that why Lincoln showed up to class this whole time with bags in his eyes?"

Sadie snarked, "Yeah, and is that where he got the idea for the 'Girl Guru' thing from?"

Mollie sarcastically snorted, "Should have known… sleep deprivation messes with you like that."

The girls laughed heartlessly at Lincoln, causing Paige to annoyedly glare at them.

Kat taunted, "Yeah, just because he goes on 10 girls' dates doesn't mean he's an expert on girls!"

While the rest of the Cannonball Gang laughed even harder at Kat's joke, Paige scoffed at them, "Girls, this is important! And these events weren't some stupid dates!"

Cristina ridiculed Paige, "Yeah, we believe you. And I jumped in Girl Jordan's pool last week & stayed perfectly dry."

As Cristina & her friends laughed even more viciously at Lincoln, Paige got up from her seat and yelled at the girls, "Ugh… you girls playin' it crazy! I'm out, I'm not gonna take this from you."

As Paige stomped away from the table, Joy heckled her, "What you gonna do, 'Michaela Tyson', punch one of us, now? Just because you feelin' yourself after knocking out Ronnie Anne doesn't mean we won't bang in if needed. You ain't gonna be the 'One Punch Woman' against all 6 of us."

At Joy's threat, Paige turned back to the table and clenched her fists, ready to fight her. But then, Paige remembered that Principal Huggins would suspend her if someone caught her fighting again. Not wanting to compromise her plan, Paige mentally imposed Lincoln's face on Joy's body, which allowed her to calm down. Paige then walked back to the table slowly and solemnly before sitting in between Girl Jordan and Cristina. When the Cannonball Gang noticed Paige's body language, they gave each other, then Paige, devious smirks while telling her, "Thought so."

Joy then teased Paige, "What's wrong, Paige? Look, if all of a sudden, you feelin' Lincoln like that, that's your problem. I'll tell you what… go ahead, tell your Lincoln story, and then we'll tell you all the reasons why you shouldn't date him."

As Paige heard the girls laugh boisterously at Joy mocking her, she glared at them. However, when Paige remembered her mom telling her, "the opposite of love is indifference, not hate," she realized that she could channel the Cannonball Gang's feelings of hatred and disgust at Lincoln towards his sisters for ruining his life. With this in mind, she huffed, "Alright, but one more joke or disrespectful comment about Lincoln, and I'm leaving this table."

The rest of the Cannonball Gang nodded and snickered amongst themselves. While they did, Paige took a deep breath, and resumed her story, "So anyway…".

(Cut: Royal Woods Elementary School Cafeteria, Northeast Corner)

Meanwhile, in another part of the Royal Woods Elementary School cafeteria, Lindsay told Winston Wetta and Skippy Fletcher, "So that brute, Lynn Loud Jr., begs him to go to her baseball game, as Lincoln couldn't go to her other games due to supporting other sisters at their events."

Winston and Skippy murmured, "Mm-hmm", in understanding. Winston mentioned, "Yeah, sometimes I can't come to my sister's badminton matches because I'm judging beauty pageants. And sometimes, even I need a break."

Skippy then asked, "What did Lincoln say?"

(Cut: Royal Woods High School Cafeteria, "Gal Pals" Table)

Becky exhaled before sighing, "Lincoln said no, telling her he wanted time to read his comics."

Carol mused, "Makes sense. Sometimes my little brother won't go to my golf games because he wants to read comics."

Whitney added, "Yeah, same for my little brother. Sometimes, he can't attend my badminton games because he's going to his talent show practices. No big deal."

Dana mentioned, "Melissa here's been looking at colleges lately, so sometimes she doesn't come to my stuff."

Melissa briefly glared at Dana for her comment before asking Becky, "Well, given that you're saying this is a family emergency, I'm guessing Lynn didn't take no for an answer, right?"

Becky muttered, "About that…"

(Cut: Royal Woods Elementary School Cafeteria, "Cannonball Gang" Table)

Paige grumbled, "Lynn Jr. threatened him with a baseball bat at the top of the Loud House's stairs, saying, 'Sure you won't reconsider?'"

Despite the Cannonball Gang's animosity towards Lincoln, everyone's eyes widened in concern.

Girl Jordan fretted, "D-did s-she h-hit him?"

Paige groaned, "No, thank god. But with what happens next, I almost wish she did."

(Cut: Royal Woods Elementary School Cafeteria, "Little Royals" Table)

Lindsay surmised, "So Lincoln goes to the game and the Squirrels lose anyway."

Winston replied, "Well, you win some, you lose some."

Skippy agreed, "Mm-hmm."

Lindsay sighed, "If only Lynn Jr. felt the same way. When Lincoln came to encourage her for next time, she jumped behind a dumpster and yelled at Lincoln to stay away from her, calling him 'bad luck' and blaming him for the loss."

Winston and Skippy gasped in shock and anger, with Winston annoyedly asking, "Really?"

Lindsay sadly nodded her head.

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Becky continued, "Leni then tried to get Lincoln to come to his fashion show before Lynn Jr. yelled at her that Lincoln was bad luck."

The rest of the Gal Pals rolled their eyes and groaned in response, with Melissa muttering, "Great, another sore loser. And I'm guessing Leni fell for it, right?"

Becky nodded, shocking the Gal Pals.

Dana begged, "D-did Lincoln try to do anything about it? Like tell his parents?"

Becky shook her head before explaining, "No, worse. Seeing that Lynn Jr. didn't want him around due to his bad luck, and still wanting his alone time, he began to also try to get out of the rest of his siblings' events by telling them he was bad luck."

Becky's friends groaned, "Seriously?"

Carol asked, "As petty & selfish as Lori can be… and we can say that out loud because she's not around… did she & the rest of the sisters call Lincoln out for it?"

Becky murmured, "No, worse. They believed him. And he enjoyed the alone time."

The rest of the Gal Pals groaned in annoyance.

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige darkly continued, "By Friday, the Louds refused to let him eat with them at their breakfast table, and didn't let him go out to a movie with them on the grounds that he was 'bad luck.' And then… stuff got ugly."

The girls' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at Paige's ominous warning as they started to worry about what Paige would say next.

(Cut: Little Royals)

Winston and Skippy were appalled and enraptured as Lindsay growled, with barely restrained anger showing through her teeth, "When Lincoln walked up to his bedroom door that night, his sisters left a notice that he couldn't sleep there and yelled at him to get out of the house. They kicked Lincoln…"

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Becky snarled, "…out of his own house,"

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige hissed, "…and left him to sleep there."

(Cut: Little Royals)

Lindsay growled, "Outside."

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Becky snarled, "In the cold."

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige hissed, "All. Night."

(Cut: Little Royals)

Lindsay growled, "And when Lincoln asked the family dog, Charles, to stay at his doghouse, he kicked Lincoln out, too."

Winston and Skippy gasped in horrified outrage and shock. They had known Lola and Lana to be rambunctious, and had heard of cases where kids were hit by their parents, but this was on a whole new level. Winston and Skippy tried to diffuse their rage by tightly gripping the underside of their seats, but it didn't work.

Lindsay noticed the fury building within Winston and Skippy, and warned them, "And the story doesn't end there."

Skippy immediately cried out in protest, "HOW? THEY FORCED HIM TO…"

Lindsay immediately shushed Skippy and pointed to Lola and Lana sitting at their respective tables before whispering to Skippy, "Calm down. They might be listening."

When Winston saw Skippy jump out of his seat to try to fight Lola & Lana himself, he held Skippy back and firmly told him, "Skippy, I know you're angry."

Skippy desperately growled, "But they…"

Winston interrupted Skippy, "Shh. Lindsay's telling us this far away from… well… those poopyheads. If we yell at them now, we might never get to sit with her again. And I know this is horrible, but something tells me this story's not done, and I want to see where it goes."

Skippy gasped before slumping back into his seat in horror. Winston, however, quietly let out a dignified, "G-go on, Lindsay," that barely concealed his fury.

Lindsay exhaled flatly, "Thank you, Winston. Anyway…"

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Becky snarled, "The next morning, Lincoln woke up to find the Louds had kept the door locked on him."

Carol, Dana, Melissa, and Whitney gasped before whispering venomously, "What?"

Becky nodded her head and seethed, "All that… after they promised to never kick any of their kids out of the house."

The other four Gal Pals gasped again before irately clenching their fists tightly.

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige continued, "And when Lincoln asked back in… they refused to let him in," rendering the rest of the Cannonball Gang speechless. They were both enraptured by Paige's story and overwhelmed with horror & fury at the Louds.

To try to diffuse some of the tension from the room, and some of her own guilt about the way she treated Lincoln, Kat started, "But Lincoln…"

As soon as Kat uttered those words, every girl at the table gave Kat a death glare.

Kat shrank into her seat at her friends' glares for a split second before asking Paige, "Wait, if all this is going on, didn't Lincoln at least try to tell his family that he was lying about being bad luck?"

Paige, continuing to glare at Kat, responded, "Yeah," before asking, "And you know what happened?"

Kat squeaked, "W-what?"

Paige grumbled, "They still didn't let him in."

Kat gasped in outrage and horror before nervously stuttering, "H-how d-does t-this e-end?"

Paige sadly glanced at Kat before pulling out her phone and searching for the infamous social media picture of Lincoln in the squirrel mascot suit on the beach with his family. When Paige found it, she showed the photo to her friends, who all gasped in disbelief.

A horrified Sadie begged, "P-please t-tell me this isn't what I think it is?"

Paige nodded, causing Sadie's jaw to drop. Sadie gulped before weakly asking, "B-but h-how?"

(Cut: Little Royals)

Lindsay explained, "Lincoln attempted to sneak into Lynn's next game in a squirrel mascot suit. He thought that if Lynn could win the game without her knowing he was there, he could show himself to not be 'bad luck,' and therefore, be let back in the house with his family."

Winston and Skippy cringed before Winston murmured, "H-how did that work out?"

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Becky explained, "Actually, perfectly. Lynn's team won the game, Lincoln revealed himself to be in the squirrel suit, and the family apologized…"

Carol, Dana, Melissa, and Whitney breathed sighs of relief at that, but Becky quickly interrupted them, "…for calling him bad luck… and selling his furniture."

The rest of the Gal Pals gasped in rage at this new twist to Lincoln's story. Their hands hovered over the parts of their bags where they kept their phones, ready to pull them out and call the police on the Louds in that instant.

Meanwhile, when Carol heard the news that Lincoln's furniture was sold, her face went ghost-white as the whole truth of Lincoln's situation hit her.

Becky noticed Carol's queasiness and asked her, "Are you OK? What's wrong?", as the rest of the Gal Pals gave Carol concerned looks.

Carol squeaked, "I-I s-saw Connor wearing an orange polo to school this morning."

Becky questioned Carol, "An orange polo? But that doesn't mean… wait… did you say, an orange polo?"

Carol nodded quickly, "I thought about it. And I remember seeing the Louds give my parents some boxes Saturday morning. You don't think they could have…"

Becky quickly gasped before exclaiming, "Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! They did, didn't they?"

Carol started, "They might have...", before fully realizing what she was implying and queasily telling her friends, "O-oh god. I think I'm gonna be sick."

Carol's friends murmured, "Take your time," or, "Go on, girl." From there, Carol beelined to the nearest girls' bathroom and puked in its trash can. While that was going on, Becky, Dana, Melissa, and Whitney felt like puking themselves. Fortunately, they managed to keep their puke down.

Once Carol washed her mouth of leftover puke and recovered enough to think clearly, she briefly considered looking for Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan to brutally beat them up. However, when she remembered the consequences if she beat up another student, she merely resorted to frantically scanning the hallways and the cafeteria for Loud sisters. Even though Carol didn't see any Loud sisters on her way back to the Gal Pals' table, she still looked pale and dazed when she returned.

When Carol returned, she apologized, "Sorry guys."

Becky reassured Carol, "You don't have anything to be sorry about. What the Louds did was disgusting."

Dana, Melissa, and Whitney nodded in agreement before Melissa cried, "P-please tell me this is where Lincoln's story ends."

Becky shook her head, and her friends gasped once more.

Dana growled, "Let me guess. Something to do with that squirrel suit?"

Becky nodded, causing all 4 of her friends to groan in both horror and disgust.

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige continued, "So for the rest of the weekend, Lincoln's family only allowed him to be around them when he was in the squirrel suit. This included their day at the beach… that hot day yesterday."

As the Cannonball Gang's faces mixed horror, disgust, fury, and regret, Girl Jordan yelled, "How did he even survive that?! He could have gotten heatstroke!"

Paige quickly warned Girl Jordan, "Shh. Lisa has eyes and ears everywhere. She's implanted tracking chips on all her siblings. And if they did that to their own brother… imagine what they'll do to you."

The rest of the Cannonball Gang immediately shrank back into their seats at Paige's threat. Meanwhile, as Cristina remembered the video Lincoln posted that embarrassed her, she also remembered that at the beginning, Lincoln mentioned that he posted it "to fix things with his sisters."

When Cristina realized that these were the same sisters who locked Lincoln out of his own house over being bad luck, she queasily muttered, "Oh god," before running out of the cafeteria and into the nearest girls' bathroom to puke in the sink.

After recovering, Cristina rinsed the sink and her mouth thoroughly before returning to the cafeteria table looking haggard. Luckily, the table was not that far from the cafeteria's door, so she was able to return to her seat without being spotted by any of the Loud sisters.

When Cristina returned to her seat, the rest of the girls gave her sympathetic looks as she whimpered, "S-sorry girls. It's just… Lincoln went through all that, and we treated him like garbage? What's wrong with us?! The video incident..."

Mollie muttered, "Lincoln's sister pranking Mrs. Johnson..."

Kat added, "Lisa..."

Sadie stuttered, "H-hours... of... homework..."

Girl Jordan gasped, "Oh my god!"

Mollie cried, "We're monsters!"

Joy shrieked, "What have we done?"

Kat exclaimed, "We need to apologize to him!"

Paige soothed her hysterical friends, "Don't worry, things get better."

(Cut: Little Royals)

At the Little Royals table, a stunned Winston asked, "Wait, how do you know all this? And how can we be sure you're not making this up? And Lincoln certainly couldn't allow this to happen to him… right?"

Lindsay groaned at Winston, "I was just getting to that," before resuming, "Now, as I was saying…"

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Becky stated, "Eventually, Lincoln found the courage to ask his parents to go to the bathroom, which was yet another lie for him to escape the squirrel suit."

Becky's friends groaned, with Carol grumbling, "Oh god, please tell me this ends well for Lincoln."

A small smile adorned Becky's face as she assured her friends, "It does," which made them breathe a sigh of relief.

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige went on, "As soon as he got out of his parents' sight, he started running. He must have gotten 500 yards or so away from the beach."

Small, teary-eyed smiles formed on the Cannonball Gang's faces as they silently cheered for Lincoln's escape.

Wiping her tears, Mollie sniffled, "Wait, how do you know so much about this? And why would your 'emergency' have so much to do with Lincoln?"

Paige trailed off, "About that…"

(Cut: Little Royals)

Lindsay explained, "He was resting when we almost hit him with our car while we were on our way to Huron Beach."

Winston and Skippy gasped before Skippy pointed out, "But wait… we saw Lincoln come into school this morning. Is he OK?"

Lindsay answered, "Yes and no."

Winston asked apprehensively, "What do you mean by 'yes and no'?"

Lindsay started to explain, "So…"

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Becky revealed, "When my parents found Lincoln, he had a fever, looked weak, exhausted, and dehydrated, and was delirious to the point where he couldn't speak in complete sentences. When they saw him like that, they knew they had to take him home with us. We had to cancel our beach trip because of it."

Tears streamed down Carol, Dana, Melissa, and Whitney's cheeks as they muttered amongst themselves, "Oh, god."

Remembering a video her cousin had sent her, Whitney then sniffled, "So Lincoln escaped the squirrel suit?"

Becky sniffled, "Yeah."

Whitney probed, "Did his family happen to go looking for him when that happened?"

Becky shrugged her shoulders before telling Whitney, "Frankly, I don't know, and I don't care. Why do you care?"

Whitney pulled out her phone and told Becky, "Well, that would explain this video my cousin sent me."

Whitney pressed the play button on her phone, and all of the Gal Pals immediately crowded around it to try to see the video Whitney wanted to show them. In the video, the Loud sisters furiously banged on the entrance doors to Huron Beach like gorillas. They threatened both Lincoln and the desk worker to try to intimidate Lincoln into coming back with them. They called him such things as "squirrel boy", a jinx, and a twerp. Additionally, pretty much every sister but Leni threatened to kill Lincoln, either directly or indirectly.

After re-watching the video, a terrified Whitney texted it to her family's groupchat. Meanwhile, the Gal Pals watched the video in a combination of shock, horror, revulsion, and fury.

A teary-eyed Melissa lamented, "P-please t-tell me Lincoln gets better!"

Becky nodded, "He does," calming her friends down a little bit.

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige sniffled, "When Lincoln got home, he slept for hours before eating dinner with us. We had pizza."

The rest of the girls, wiping the tears from their eyes, smiled proudly at Paige treating Lincoln to a good time.

(Cut: Little Royals)

Lindsay then recounted, "And then I called Lincoln into my room, asking what was wrong with him, and why he was so out-of-sorts when we found him. And he explained everything. We were horrified, shocked, appalled, and absolutely livid at the Louds for what they had done to Lincoln. And believe me… this was just the tip of the iceberg."

Skippy whimpered, "W-what do you mean?"

Winston stopped Skippy, "W-wait a minute. That actually makes sense. I mean, it would explain this video my sister sent me just now."

After pulling his phone out of his pants pocket and loading the video he was looking for, Lindsay, Skippy, and Winston watched as the Louds tried to break down the entrance door to Huron Beach. They effectively threatened to kill both Lincoln and the front desk worker if Lincoln wasn't handed back over to the family immediately.

As the video ended, the Little Royals' jaws remained dropped in shock and horror. For Lindsay, the video confirmed that the Louds needed to be destroyed at all costs. After recovering from her horror at the video, Lindsay resumed, "Now, as I was saying about the 'Luck Incident' being the tip of the iceberg…"

(Cut: Boys' Bathroom, 1st Floor, Royal Woods Elementary School)

Lincoln groaned, "As if that wasn't enough, I found out that the family I was staying with actually bought all of my furniture, except for my clothes."

Clyde's jaw dropped and he nearly screamed out in terror before Lincoln shused him, "Keep quiet. Lisa could be listening in on us at this very moment."

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Becky started, "Wanna know why April Fools' Day is so feared in this town?"

Carol, Dana, Melissa, and Whitney murmured in approval, with Melissa encouraging, "Go on."

Becky told the Gal Pals the story of how the previous April, Lincoln had volunteered to take the entire family's pranks in their place to save Ronnie Anne, a girl who was crushing on him, from taking the pranks. Becky revealed that upon Ronnie Anne finding out Lincoln did that for her, instead of throwing a pie in his face like she had originally planned to do, she instead threw the pie in Luan's face.

The girls gushed, "AWW!", before Becky explained Luan's history during previous April Fools' Days. Among other things, Luan had tacked the Louds' furniture upside down to the ceiling, shaved the pets' hair off, and trapped her family in a gelatin mold, horrifying the Gal Pals even further.

Dana then asked Melissa, "Should we ask her? You know… what happened to our house?"

Melissa sighed, "Yup," before asking Becky, "So… that one time our entire block was painted red… three years ago… you don't mean…"

Becky responded, "Yup," confirming the sisters' suspicions.

Dana and Melissa's faces turned as red as their neighborhood did three years ago as they silently swore revenge on the Loud family, particularly Luan. For the next couple of minutes, they, along with the rest of the Gal Pals, recalled other instances of the Loud sisters personally tormenting them.

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Girl Jordan implored Paige, "W-what about the 'Girl Guru' incident! Lincoln came up with that idea on his own, didn't he? He had to!"

When Girl Jordan saw Paige remain stone-faced, her eyes widened as she whispered, "No. Please tell me that wasn't..."

Paige interrupted her, "Partially. Lincoln and Clyde's original idea was to bake a bunch of chocolate pies for the school."

The girls briefly smiled before Sadie gulped, "B-but what happened?"

Paige griped, "Well, those Loud sisters ate all of the chocolate, forcing Lincoln to improvise."

The rest of the Cannonball Gang gasped in horror and fury.

Kat shuddered, "My braids… burnt off."

Joy shivered, "The frogs… the friggin' frogs."

Sadie trembled, "So… much… cringe."

Girl Jordan squeaked, "And we threw pies… at Lincoln and Clyde…"

Cristina croaked, "W-we should have thrown them at his sisters…"

Mollie queasily said, "Oh god," before telling her friends, "I think I'm going to be sick."

The rest of the girls' faces turned green soon thereafter as every girl in the Cannonball Gang but Paige ran into various girls' bathrooms and vomited in whatever empty trash cans, toilet bowls, and sinks they could find.

After returning to the cafeteria, the Cannonball Gang barely staggered themselves back into their seats, coughing and leaning over the table before slumping back into their seats.

Joy regained her composure first, weakly asking Paige, "Is there anything else we should know about that we've been blaming Lincoln for instead of his sisters?"

Paige sadly nodded her head.

(Cut: Little Royals)

Lindsay introduced her next topic of conversation, "Ever heard of the 'Sister Fight Protocol'?"

Winston and Skippy shook their heads before Winston asked, "Wait, why are they calling it a Sister Fight Protocol when a boy lives in that house?"

Skippy hissed, "Because they're selfish, stupid jerks who don't care about or love Lincoln. Lindsay, I'd love to hear this."

Lindsay recounted one story of the Sister Fight Protocol that resulted in all 10 sisters fighting each other, an Erupting Volcano situation, not once, but twice in the same week, and blaming Lincoln for both situations.

After gasping, Winston fumed, "W-wow. I can't believe what Lola, along with the rest of her sisters and parents, are putting Lincoln through every day."

Skippy growled, "Yeah. Those girls are monsters! And not the good kind."

Lindsay sadly sighed, "All of these stories are true. And these are the three most prominent ones. One time, Lola told me that Lincoln wasn't listening to anything his sisters were saying because he had Noise-B-Gone earbuds on. So they orchestrated an elaborate prank where they told Lincoln that if he didn't do what Lola asked of him, he would be horribly punished. And then they had the nerve to tell him, and I quote, 'you're not the only one who has to live in a noisy house. We all do.'"

After Winston and Skippy gasped again, Lindsay sniffled, "And you know what's sad? I thought it was funny at the time… Lola getting back at Lincoln like that. I laughed when she told me about it. But now…", before breaking into sobs.

After Winston and Skippy overcame their initial anger at Lindsay for laughing at Lincoln's misfortune, they sat on either side of her and reassured her, "Hey, it's OK."

Lindsay looked up at Winston and sniffled, "It is?"

Winston nodded, "We all make mistakes. But what matters now is that we fix them, and make things right. Do you still think it's funny that Lola did that now?"

Lindsay whimpered, "No."

Winston told Lindsay, "Good. Then that shows you're sorry. Why don't you tell Lincoln you're sorry about that when you come home?"

Lindsay replied, "I already apologized to Lincoln for everything. Last night."

Winston smiled, "Then you know what, it's OK."

Skippy then comforted Lindsay, "Yeah, it's not you that you need to be mad at. It's those stupid Loud sisters! And like Winston said, we can still make things right."

Lindsay sniffled, "Thanks, boys," before continuing, "But I wish that was the only other major incident the Louds put him through…"

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Carol whimpered to Becky, "L-Lincoln asked me to replace L-Lori in his 'family picture.' Please tell me that's the end of that?"

Becky shook her head, causing Carol to gasp, before Becky snarled, "That 'picture incident'… well, Lincoln only wanted to take the picture because his parents threw the coffee mugs he made for their anniversary in the trash. Every. Year."

Carol's eyes started to water and her body started to tense up yet again in pure rage at the Louds as Becky continued, "So Lincoln tried to get his sisters to be 'perfect' for the…"

As Carol horrifiedly realized why Lincoln picked her to replace Lori in the picture, she gasped and interrupted Becky, "No."

Becky sadly said, "Yes", confirming Carol's suspicions. Carol gasped before breaking down crying. She had to be comforted by a tearful Dana, Melissa, & Whitney.

After Carol calmed down, Becky continued to tell stories about the Louds' misdeeds towards Lincoln.

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige asked her friends, "Remember a couple of weeks ago, when Lincoln told off Ronnie Anne for bullying him?"

The rest of the Cannonball Gang nodded their heads.

Paige groaned, "Well, when Lori found out, she blamed him for causing Bobby to break up with her, and forced all four of them to go on a double date to 'make up'."

The rest of the table gasped, "What?", to which Paige hissed, "When Lincoln refused, Lori threatened to hit him over the head with the end table."

At that, a loud chorus of, "COWPOOP!", erupted from the Cannonball Gang's table.

Mollie frowned, crossing her arms, "If anything, Bobby made the right decision to break up with that psycho bitch," to which the rest of the Cannonball Gang nodded, "Mm-hmm," while also frowning.

Paige continued, "They made up, but I wish it ended there."

(Cut: Little Royals)

Lindsay then added, "There was one time when I actually helped Lincoln… he wanted dirt on Lola Loud, so I decided to give it to him, and I quote, 'not because I like him, but because I was always tired of coming in second place to her.'"

Winston and Skippy silently nodded, allowing Lindsay to continue, "But now that I know it was because Lola was blackmailing his siblings & him to do whatever she wanted in exchange for not telling their secrets, which she found out by wearing a wire… oh god."

When Lindsay broke down crying, Winston and Skippy again rushed to Lindsay's side to comfort her, "It's OK," and, "You didn't know."

(Cut: Gal Pals)

Becky asked her friends, "You know how Lori goes full military dictator on the Louds whenever she's babysitting?"

Her friends murmured in agreement before Becky sighed, "Well, there was one time Lincoln tried to usurp Lori from power, and when he couldn't keep the house clean, all of his siblings mocked him for it."

Hearing Whitney inhale, as if getting ready to ask whether Lori joined in, Becky then punctuated for emphasis, "All. of. them."

Carol, Dana, Melissa, and Whitney furiously began tightly gripping the underside of their seats to prevent them from jumping out of their seats and pounding whatever Loud sisters they could find.

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige continued, "There was one time when Lincoln was laughed at for his Ace Savvy costume, blamed for clogging the toilet with a Princess Pony book, and took the fall for his sister, Lucy, for actually clogging the toilet. So Lincoln got grounded by his parents, was forced to miss an Ace Savvy convention he was really looking forward to, and his sisters tease him to this day about it."

The rest of the Cannonball Gang gasped again before Girl Jordan asked, "So Ponyboy...", before Paige interrupted her, "Yup."

By now, the Cannonball Gang's fists were clenched, they were red in the faces, their teeth gritted, and their pupils were shrunk. Paige looked at them, and instantly knew: they were ready.

Kat seethed to Paige, "We're getting them back for this, right?"

Paige nodded icily, "Oh yeah."

(Cut: Little Royals)

When Skippy saw Lindsay regain her composure, he sneered, "What are we going to do?"

Lindsay asked, "You remember the plan my sisters & I came up with, right?"

Both Winston & Skippy nodded their heads.

(Cut: Gal Pals)

After explaining her family's plot to get back at the Louds for their abuse of Lincoln, Becky asked her friends, "So, are you girls in?"

Every single member of the Gal Pals nodded their heads.

Becky smirked, "Good, so it begins. And if you can, meet me in the hospital after school tomorrow."

An unsettled Dana asked, "Why?"

(Cut: Cannonball Gang)

Paige explained, "Now, I'll be in detention after school today while Lincoln and my sisters go back to Huron Beach to find his squirrel suit and return it to the team."

Joy asked, "Sounds like a dummy mission. Lincoln shouldn't ever have to wear that suit again."

Paige huffed in response, "Yeah, but knowing the Louds, the police might come after Lincoln for stealing the squirrel suit," causing the rest of the Cannonball Gang's fists to clench, teeth to grit, eyes to pop out, and faces to turn red as they seethed at the Louds.

Paige then informed her friends, "Also, Lincoln will be in the hospital tonight to get his tracking chip surgically removed. And from what we heard... it's in his brain."

Every girl gasped in horror before Cristina cried, "Wait... Lincoln's going for brain surgery? Oh god!"

Cristina broke into tears while Girl Jordan and Kat also muttered tearfully, "L-Linky… please be OK."

Even Joy, Mollie, and Paige couldn't keep their eyes dry at this news, as they silently prayed for Lincoln to come out of the surgery fine.

Paige sniffled, "Yeah… I know. But since the surgery's happening a little late, meet me at my house tonight, where we'll discuss how we're going to take care of Lynn Jr. and Lucy. After that, we're gonna visit Lincoln at the hospital tomorrow after school. If you can't make it, text me. And by the way, if you happen to see Tabby, Giggles, Polly Pain, or Haiku today, fill them in on everything as well. Seek them out if you need to."

Sadie started to ask, "But why..." before remembering, "Oh yeah. He took those girls to the Sadie Hawkins Dance."

The rest of the girls muttered, "Mm-hmm", before Paige told them, "Good. See you tomorrow."

The group finished their lunch in silence before dispersing to the playground to get some fresh air before class resumed. Across the cafeteria, Lindsay, Winston, and Skippy did the same.

(Cut: Boys' Bathroom, 1st Floor, Royal Woods Elementary School)

As Lincoln walked out of the bathroom stall in the spare outfit Clyde had given him, Clyde asked, "Yo, so you're sayin' mans need a checkup?"

Lincoln told Clyde, "Look, ask your parents. They'd probably be the first people to tell you 'yes' to a checkup."

Clyde laughed heartily at that before confirming to Lincoln, "Yeah, you right."

As the two laughed off the thought of Clyde's parents frantically worrying about whether or not Lisa implanted a tracking chip in Clyde, Clyde checked the time.

Clyde gasped before telling Lincoln worriedly, "Holy! It's 1:28 PM! We gotta get back to class!"

Lincoln quipped, "Let's 'dip', then!"

Clyde and Lincoln then rushed out of the bathroom to try to get back to class on time. Fortunately, they succeeded, with their butts hitting wooden chairs in Mrs. Johnson's class as soon as the lunch-ending bell rang.

Unfortunately for Lincoln and Clyde, as soon as they took their seats, every girl in the class turned to Clyde, and giggled at him with faux-sultry voices, "Hiiiiiiiiii, Clyyyyyyyyde," before bursting into pure pandemonium.

The girls dragged their desks and chairs towards Clyde's, eventually resorting to using their desks to bump other girls and their desks away from Clyde's area.

When Mrs. Johnson noticed some of the girls trying to tackle Lincoln, Zach, Liam, and Rusty off their chairs to try to sit next to Clyde, she blew her playground whistle loudly before yelling, "GIRLS! GET AWAY FROM CLYDE AND GET BACK IN YOUR SEATS, NOW!"

Penelope challenged, "And what if we don't?", to which the other students said, "Oooooooooooooh."

Mrs. Johnson threatened, "Then all of you are getting after-school detention!"

The girls all complained to Mrs. Johnson before returning their desks to their initially assigned places in the classroom. However, a few minutes later, a brown-skinned, brown-haired girl in a blue shirt named Irene Helmandollar interrupted Mrs. Johnson's lecture about energy only being transferable by singing the words, "Don't worry… about a thing!"

Immediately, the rest of the girls turned to Clyde, widely grinned at him, and joined the chorus, "Because every little thing… gonna be all right! Singin' don't worry! About a thing! 'Cause every little thing… gonna be all right!"

While the girls sang, Irene banged on her desk to mimic the steel drums and sang the interludes between lines to mimic the rest of the instruments.

While Clyde flashed a warm smile at the girls, Mrs. Johnson groaned and facepalmed. Zach, Rusty, and Liam watched the display enviously, and Lincoln resorted to repeatedly banging his head on the desk in embarrassment.

(Time Skip: 2:45 PM)

As the bell rang signaling the start of afternoon recess, Clyde and Lincoln opened their classroom's door with their bags packed only to find a bunch of girls waiting for Clyde. When they did, Clyde asked Lincoln, "Mans ready to do di race?"

Lincoln nodded, "Oh yeah," before he and Clyde ran from the girls. For the second time that day, they made it to the boys' bathroom safely. As they hid inside, Clyde told Lincoln, "Yo, I'm marved. Let's eat here."

Lincoln smiled, "Say less," before the two began eating their lunches in the bathroom.

(Scene Change: Area C Pavement)

Cristina finished telling her story to a horrified Tabby, "So, yeah, that's what happened."

Tabby gasped, "Bloody hell."

(Scene Change: Royal Woods Elementary School Playground, Soccer/Football Field)

Polly Pain responded, "Wow," to Girl Jordan's story.

(Scene Change: Tetherball Pit)

Haiku muttered to Paige, "That's dark. Even for me."

(Scene Change: Near the Portables)

Giggles told Mollie, "I… I've got no joke for that. That's messed up. All of it."

Closing A/N: 7 (formerly 10) chapters now & going strong! Thanks to everybody who's favorited, followed, reviewed, & collaborated with me! And special shoutout to Ohma flame… "Jamaican-Canadian He-Man" was EXACTLY what I was going for with Clyde!

A/N 2: I debated whether to write this chapter, as I know that this is basically a re-hashing of past events. In the end, I decided to go through with it because I wanted to capture the raw reactions of the Sweetwaters' friends to NSL, in addition to several other instances where Lincoln suffered at the hands of his family. They're going to know about some other incidents Lincoln has had with his family, but they'll be filled in on those incidents as the days go on. Today was about getting the main point across to convince the friends to join the plot.

A/N 3: Clyde's reaction to Lincoln's troubles would already be pretty obvious to anyone watching the show: even with his newfound demeanor, he would still be horrified beyond measure. And he already knows about all the prior incidents, either through directly being involved in them or Lincoln presumably telling him on previous calls the two have had together.

A/N 4: The "Paint the Town Red" incident is actually based on an incident of the same name that happened to Whitney in Gal Pals. Except here, Whitney already knows about the Louds' raucous behavior on Huron Beach because her cousin works there, and somebody filmed everything. And I needed to give each of the Gal Pals personal motivations for taking revenge on the Louds. Carol has her rivalry with Lori and it turning out that the Pingrey parents actually bought some of Lincoln's clothes when the Louds sold it to them. And Becky... well... she adores Lincoln, and worries that with how harshly the sisters made fun of and turned on him for his passion for Ace Savvy, Lori & Leni might do the same to her if she ever revealed her love for Ace Savvy. So, Dana & Melissa get their house painted red for April Fools' Day instead!

A/N 5: Both Whitney and Winston making the same joke about the video? Straight out of the Butch Hartman school of humor.

A/N 6: The reaction to Cool Clyde is partly based on the girls' reaction to Johnny Test on this episode called "Johnny Irresistible." When I watched it with my little brother back in the day I thought it was hilarious.

A/N 7: The girls singing "Three Little Birds" to Clyde is based on everyone in the class next to mine singing the "Timothy Goes to School" theme song on the last day of school in 4th grade so loudly that I could hear it from across the hallway.

Anyway, what will happen to Lincoln & friends after school? Find out next episode on… REVERSAL! OF! FORTUNE!