Reversal of Fortune: Chapter 16: Fire-Forged Friendships

(Scene Change: Santiago House)

As the Sweetwater family van pulled up to the Santiago house, Linda asked Paige, "You sure you don't want to get Burpin' Burger with the rest of the fam?"

Paige replied, "No, Mom. Ronnie Anne and I will figure out something."

Linda chuckled and ruffled Paige's hair before reminding Paige, "Now, make sure you text us every 15 minutes to let us know you're OK, and if anything goes wrong, give us a call."

Paige chuckled, "I know, I know. I'll be fine, Mom. Jeez, you don't have to be such a worrier."

Linda sighed, "Yeah. But with all this stuff going on with Lincoln and the Louds, I seriously don't know."

Paige assured Linda, "Hey, I'll be OK."

Linda cooed, "I know you will. I just can't help worrying about my babies. Now, I'm gonna drive back to the house to watch the security footage with the Sweetwaters."

Paige asked, "Wouldn't it be a good idea to visit Lincoln in the hospital? You know, to see if he's OK?"

Linda explained, "I'm needed at home to help the others with the security footage. Plus, I'm pretty sure the hospital will call me for any updates on Lincoln's situation."

Paige sighed, "OK," before cheerfully waving, "Bye, Mom!"

Linda waved Paige goodbye as she watched Paige , deciding to stick around a little longer just to see if Paige got into Ronnie Anne's house safely.

As Paige walked to Ronnie Anne's front door and rung the doorbell, she thought to herself, OK. Here it goes. The moment of truth.

Fortunately, the front door opened practically immediately, revealing a somewhat shocked Ronnie Anne. She testily asked Paige, "What?"

Paige took a deep breath before telling Ronnie Anne, "I just want to talk. It's about Lincoln."

At the mention of Lincoln, Ronnie Anne immediately scowled at Paige and readied her arm to slam the door shut on her. Upon seeing the scowl on Ronnie Anne's face, Paige immediately recognized where she went wrong, and explained, "It's not what you think. Lincoln's in the hospital."

When Paige mentioned Lincoln's hospitalization, a concerned Ronnie Anne decided to hold the door open for Paige and let her inside before closing the door firmly. Linda, having a gut feeling that Paige would be safe, rolled the window up and drove off.

Once Paige was inside, Ronnie Anne simply motioned with her eyes to a brown couch in the middle of the living room. Paige, realizing that Ronnie Anne was telling her to sit there, took her seat on the far end of the couch, while Ronnie Anne took her seat on the near end.

Ronnie Anne simply told Paige, a blank expression adorning her face, "Talk."

Over the next half an hour, Paige proceeded to tell Ronnie Anne everything she knew about Lincoln's home situation. Ronnie Anne had already heard some of the stories from Lincoln and/or Lori directly, but the extra details Paige provided painted Lincoln's situation in a whole new light. Because she had her phone taken away due to her grounding from her fight on Monday, much of this information was new to her. This only added to its shock value.

After Paige was done telling Ronnie Anne about Lincoln's recent trials, only one thought went through her mind: They WHAT?!

After Ronnie Anne was sure she got over her enraged eye-twitching from hearing Lincoln's story, she excused herself from the room, pointed towards her room, and told Paige, "E-excuse me. I have to go to my room for a second. Uh, be right back."

Ronnie Anne then walked to her room and closed the door nonchalantly, leaving Paige alone with her thoughts for a few brief moments. Paige considered pulling out her phone to check her text messages, but that train of thought immediately went out the window when, behind her, she heard Ronnie Anne's bedroom door slam open.

When Paige heard Ronnie Anne's room door slam open, she turned her head to see Ronnie Anne walking out of her room holding 2 scimitars, one in each hand.

When Paige noticed the glazed look in Ronnie Anne's eyes, she worried, "Ronnie Anne, what are you doing?"

Ronnie Anne robotically said, "I just want to talk to them."

Paige asked, "Ronnie Anne, why are you holding two long swords?"

Ronnie Anne blankly answered, "They're scimitars. I just want to talk to them."

Paige gasped, "Two scimitars? Seriously? Why do you need two?"

Ronnie Anne monotonously replied, "I just want to talk to them. And you're coming with me to talk to them," while trying to hand Paige one of the scimitars.

Paige pushed the scimitar away while crying, "No, Ronnie Anne! This is ridiculous!"

Ronnie Anne flatly repeated, "I just want to talk to them."

Paige begged, "Put the scimitars away!"

Ronnie Anne flatly repeated herself, "I just want to talk to them", as Paige tried to follow Ronnie Anne as she started to walk in the direction of the Loud House.

Paige yelled, "What are you doing? Now's not the time for this!"

Ronnie Anne responded, "I just want to talk to them."

Paige insinuated, "With scimitars? You definitely don't just want to talk to them."

Ronnie Anne started, "I just wanna…", before shrieking, "FUCKIN' CHOP ALL THEIR HEADS OFF, LEAVE THEIR BODIES IN FUCKIN' PIECES, AND WATCH THEM BURN TO DEATH!"

Paige pleaded with Ronnie Anne, "You'll get your chance! Now's not the time for that!"

Ronnie Anne asked, "Wait… now's not the time?", before screaming, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY NOW'S NOT THE TIME? THOSE PIECES OF INHUMAN GARBAGE ARE FUCKING MONSTERS!" She then implored Paige, "We'd better get rid of them RIGHT NOW, or who knows what they'll do to Lame-O?"

Paige shrieked, "There's 10 OF THEM AND 1 OF YOU! Do you REALLY think you'd survive if you tried to fight them all? Have you seen Lynn Jr.?"

Ronnie Anne emotionlessly stated, "It's OK. I can take her. That's why I'm taking you as backup."

Paige cried, "You're crazy! You can't do this!"

Ronnie Anne blankly replied, "I just want to talk to them."

Paige chased Ronnie Anne down and cried, "What about Bobby? How do you think he'd feel if you KILLED HIS GIRLFRIEND? Or, more likely, if his girlfriend KILLED YOU?"

Ronnie Anne stopped in her tracks and murmured, "B-Bobby?"

Paige insisted, "Yeah, Bobby. Before you kill the Louds, Bobby deserves to know."

As Ronnie Anne imagined Bobby's devastation at Lori's death, she sighed before starting to relax. When Paige saw this, she slowly told Ronnie Anne, "That's it… put the scimitars down and give them to me. I won't hurt you. I won't tell on you. We'll put them away, wipe the fingerprints off, and act like this never happened."

Ronnie Anne slowly walked over to Paige and gave her the scimitars before the two walked towards the house to do what Paige said. When Paige and Ronnie Anne finally cleaned the scimitars, Ronnie Anne stammered, "S-so what do we do?"

Paige assured Ronnie Anne, "It's going to be OK. My sisters and I have a plan. We've already recruited many of our own classmates, Roberto's classmates, and a couple of Lola's classmates into our group. You heard of a girl named Carol Pingrey?"

Ronnie Anne replied, "Yeah", before asking, "Wait… that girl who Lori always complains about?"

Paige confirmed, "Yeah, that one. Apparently, her sister, Cassandra, heard about what happened to Lincoln as well, and is working Lynn Jr.'s teammates in to be part of our plan."

Ronnie Anne gasped, "Wait… multiple Pingreys are in on this plan?" She then smirked in realization, "Ho-ho-ho! So, what do you guys have planned?"

Paige explained, "You'll get to beat up the Louds… eventually. We're planning on completely destroying them." Ronnie Anne's grin widened as Paige continued, "But for now, if you're going to join our group, I'd recommend you, Bobby, and Maria get checked to see if Lisa implanted tracking chips in your bodies. Given how much contact you three have had with the Louds, it wouldn't be surprising if you all got chipped."

Ronnie Anne grumbled, "Why does it matter? Even if Lisa put those tracking chips inside of me, I've been pranking Lincoln and getting away with it just fine!"

Paige countered, "Yeah, until Principal Huggins finally suspended you."

Ronnie Anne replied, "Touché."

Paige then continued, "You have to remember that the Loud sisters are a completely different ballgame. You've seen what those girls are capable of firsthand. And when push comes to shove, they stick together. If we're going to get back at the Louds, we have to make sure we set this up right."

Ronnie Anne shuddered before groaning, "Fine. I'll see if I can get Bobby to come home so we can go to the hospital and get the tracking chips removed."

Paige chirped, "Great!"

As Ronnie Anne pulled out her phone to dial the phone number of the workplace Bobby was currently working at.

Meanwhile, at the local Little Nero's, Bobby heard the landline ringing, and assured his boss, "I'll get it." When Bobby picked up the phone, he answered, "This is Little Nero's. How can I help you?"

Ronnie Anne replied, "Hi, I'd like to make an order for delivery, please?"

Bobby smiled before responding, "Sure… what would you like?"

Ronnie Anne said, "Umm… one medium pizza with pepperoni, black olives, beef crumble, and green peppers… uh, Paige, are you OK with that?"

Paige asked, "Can you just make mine pepperoni please?"

Ronnie Anne replied, "Yeah. One medium pizza, one-half pepperoni, black olives, beef crumble, and green peppers… and one-half just pepperoni."

After Bobby wrote down Ronnie Anne's order, he said, "OK, cool," before asking, "What's the address?"

Ronnie Anne said, "2004 Wallace Avenue."

Bobby informed, "OK, your pizza will be here in about 30 minutes."

Ronnie Anne said, "Thank you," before asking, "Oh, and if you'd be so kind, could you please stay at our house for a while? There's some things about the restaurant I'd like to talk to you about."

Bobby obliged, "Oh… OK."

Ronnie Anne replied, "Cool, see ya in half an hour. Bye," before hanging up the phone.

Paige whistled, "Wow. Disguising a call for help as a pizza delivery call. Didn't think you had it in you."

Ronnie Anne smirked, "Well, we are getting food out of it. I was getting hungry, anyways."

Paige chuckled, "Fair enough."

Ronnie Anne then asked Paige, "Wait… what's been going on in school over the last couple of days? My mom grounded me to the point where she took away my phone, my gaming consoles… pretty much everything. It was like living in the Stone Age."

Paige laughed, "OK, I've got you."

(Scene Change: Sweetwater Manor)

As Becky scrolled through Instapic, she saw a collage of pictures of Lori, Leni, and the whole Loud family, including Lincoln, with all their pets. Becky gasped in horror as she read the caption Lori had written for her now-deceased pets:

"Words can't describe how I'm feeling right now. But I can try.

Just as our family grew to include many people… it also grew to include many animals. My little sister, Lana, absolutely loved these little critters. With time, we all grew to literally adore them, too. We had so many great memories together. These creatures… all of them… these beautiful, cute, adorable, majestic creatures were taken away in such an untimely fashion, and brutally at that. It's so unfair. I miss hearing the barking of Charles, the meow-ing of Cliff, and the numerous noises of our other animals as they filled our house with life. They were the best cuddle buddies. I wish we even started a zoo with these animals, we could have made some money LOL.

And then we wake up and find that in addition to our pets, our house was robbed too. But my family and I value life over material possessions any day. Material possessions can be replaced lives can't. Life is too short. Hug your loved ones, human or animal. Tell them how much you love them.

May these beautiful animals rest in peace. And may the monsters who took our animals away from us in the middle of the night face justice… either here or in the afterlife. RIP Charles, Cliff, Geo, Walt, Fangs, Hops, Izzy, El Diablo, Bitey, Steady, Charlotte, Jasper, Hound, Mr. Chips, and Lucifer you will be missed 10/5/2016 #rip #pets #love #family #lostapet #bereaved"

Becky liked the post before commenting with teary-eyed emojis, "OMG I'm sooo sorry girl. If u need to talk DM me".

As Becky slouched in her chair with a horrified look on her face, Linda asked her, "Becky, sweetie, are you OK?"

Becky squeaked, "I-I-I… I just need some time," before getting up from her chair and walking out of the dining room. Everyone else seated at the dining table traded concerned glances before Melissa assured them, "Uh… I'll go check up on Becky", before grabbing her food and following Becky.

Seeing Becky slowly shuffling down the hallway, Melissa ran up to her, "Becky… wait!"

When Melissa finally pulled up alongside Becky, she asked, "Is everything OK?"

Becky muttered, "N-No. I-I have to call Leni. See if this is true."

Melissa asked, "What, the fact that the Loud pets are…"

Becky yelled, "DON'T! SAY! THAT!", startling Melissa. Becky then apologized, "Look, I'm sorry. It's just… wow. The Loud pets are dead, you know. Wow. Unbelievable."

Melissa pressed, "Becky? Is something wrong?"

Becky stuttered, "F-fine. L-Let's go into Dad's office. We need to talk."

As Melissa and Becky closed the door to Brian's office, Melissa whispered, "So, what happened?"

(Time Skip: 5 minutes later)

Becky hyperventilated to a horrified Melissa, "We were just going for the technology and the pranking supplies! We didn't know Marcus Quick would do… ALL THAT! It's just… oh my god. Oh my god. We're going to jail. We're going to fucking jail. If the Louds don't kill us first, that is. We can't survive in there!"

Melissa pleaded, "Becky, chill! If you stress out, you're just going to make things worse for yourself, your family, and Lincoln!"

Becky cried, "I can't just chill! We killed animals! Maybe Lisa has this place wired, and she's going to kill us!" Becky then put her hands on her head while softly whimpering, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, what am I going to do?"

Melissa sighed, "Look, I get it, Becky. The situation's fucked up. Your dad ordered a guy to rob the house who also went on to kill that family's pets. First of all, I hate to be Captain Obvious here, but criminals are prone to doing extracurricular criminal shit. So, there's that."

Becky mildly glared at Melissa, "Not helping."

Melissa continued, "Secondly… you and your family might just get away with this, from what you told me. You didn't participate in the killings or robberies yourselves. You kept your communications encrypted from Lisa of all people. Your family shut off the power to the entire neighborhood before the robbery even started and kept the power shut off well after the robbers left. And you didn't even use your computer to do it. You used one of the other parents' work computers to do it. And it wasn't just any parent: said parent happened to be a top guy at an electricity company. That means it can be passed off as a rolling blackout. So it's already nearly impossible for Lisa to trace this back to you guys. And if your dad's the tech geek everyone says he is, he'll figure out a way to make it so that this can't be traced back to you. At all."

Becky fretted, "I know, but from what Lincoln told me, that girl Lisa is scary smart. She has DNA samples of everybody in the house. She implanted a tracking chip in Lincoln's brain and somehow didn't kill him."

Melissa opined, "Believe me, I've worked with Lisa. She's not as smart as she seems. If she was… you don't think the Louds would have kidnapped Lincoln by now?"

Becky giggled, "Touché."

Melissa replied, "One question, though," before asking, "What were you guys planning on doing with the pets… you know… before all this?"

Becky explained, "We were going to have one of the Louds' neighbors call Animal Control on the Louds, and have them taken away in front of Lana and released into the wild. And, you know, with the Louds' reputation, they were going to be banned from all nature preserves, animal shelters, and parks anyways. The domestic pets would have been sent to the animal shelter."

Melissa murmured, "Mmm-hmm. That seems fair. But what sane person would want to adopt those pets after what they did?"

Becky conceded, "Fair point," before asking, "But how are we going to tell my parents this?"

As the rest of the Sweetwaters walked into the room, Melissa quipped, "Speak of the devil."

Becky whispered, "Shut up."

Brian chirped, "Hey, who's ready to watch some more Loud House security footage?"

Becky murmured, "Umm, yeah. About that." She then sighed, "Mom, Dad, Lindsay… there's something you need to know."

Linda implored, "What's wrong, sweetie?"

Becky revealed, "T-the L-Loud pets. T-they're dead."

Brian, Linda, and Lindsay gasped in shock, before Brian asked a soft, "What?"

Becky sniffled before unlocking her phone, which revealed Lori's Instapic page. Becky then showed her family the page as she explained, "L-Lori and L-Leni posted these pictures on Instapic."

First, Becky showed the family the pictures of Marcus Quick posing with a bikini-clad Lori and Leni.

Brian and Linda gasped in disgust before Linda muttered, "T-they didn't," before Becky interrupted, "Yes, they did. Marcus Quick banged Lori & Leni."

Linda and Brian's jaws dropped before Lindsay asked, "So he hit Lori and Leni?"

Becky blushed and told Lindsay, "Not exactly. You'll find out when you're older," before quickly mentioning, "Also, someone killed the Loud family's pets. I can't confirm whether or not it was Marcus Quick. However, judging by the fact that Marcus Quick and his boys were the only strange people at the Loud House at the time it was robbed, it would be safe to assume that Marcus and his friends did kill the Loud pets while they were there."

As Brian, Linda, and Lindsay gasped in disbelief, Linda shrieked, "Oh my fucking god, we didn't mean for this! We're no better than they are!", before crying into a sickened Brian's arms.

Brian then tightly hugged Linda as he gulped, "Y-you're right, honey. This is unbelievable. We got the technology, but man... not like this."

Lindsay cleared her throat before interrupting, "Well, the ends justify the means."

Melissa and the reeling Sweetwaters gasped before glaring at Lindsay.

Linda growled, "What did you say?"

Lindsay insisted, "Think about it. This is an opportunity."

Brian roared, "How could this possibly be an opportunity? Do you realize how much of a risk this puts our family at?"

Lindsay countered, "With risk comes reward."

Linda snapped, "You'd BETTER change your attitude, young lady, or you're grounded AND off the plan!"

Lindsay reminded everyone else, "Remember, we all want the same thing here. This just takes care of some loose ends."

When Lindsay saw the Sweetwaters relax, she said, "Thank you", before clearing her throat and explaining, "As I was saying: from Lincoln's description of the Loud family when he first came here, even minor grievances could result in a full-blown war between sisters. I want you to think about this: Marcus Quick, of all people, was the one who killed the Loud pets. Lynn Jr. worships the ground that man walks on. Add to that Lori and Leni doing stuff I can't find out about until I'm older, thanks Becky, by the way, and Lana's love for the Loud pets. Right there, you have a 'hissing cat'-level Sister Fight Protocol that could easily escalate into World War 3. Then, there's the fact that we robbed Lisa's technology and Luan's pranking supplies. Lincoln also mentioned that one of the pets, a bat, apparently belonged to Lucy. That marks at least seven Loud sisters deathly mad at each other for the robberies and deaths of the pets. And remember, when two Loud sisters start fighting, the whole family inevitably joins in within minutes. Do you get what's happening here?"

Becky whispered, "No. Besides, you know the Louds. Whenever they are threatened, they stick together. And you know they're going to blame Lincoln's 'bad luck' for this whole thing."

Lindsay explained, "Not when they're blaming each other for the mess. I want you to think about this: the oldest two sisters, the most creative, the fiercest, the stealthiest, the hardiest, and the smartest Loud sisters have all been directly affected by this mess. And no room has gone unaffected by this mess. Luan rooms with Luna, Lana rooms with Lola, and Lisa rooms with Lily. With those cowards for parents trying to stay out of the way and, as they say, 'let the sisters resolve the conflict themselves', if we fan the flames, we can keep them at each other's throats. And from what Lincoln told us, they like to blame each other when things go wrong almost as much as they like to blame Lincoln, which is why they fight so much. Plus, we now have the security footage on the Loud House, Lisa's technology, and Luan's pranking supplies. Also, assuming the Loud parents don't get Lana new pets, which they probably wouldn't, this takes care of the 'Pet Question', so that can help us hone our revenge on the human members of the family. We have a unique opportunity here, but we have to strike fast. Plus, instead of merely spreading the word about the Louds' abuse of Lincoln, this gives us opportunities to hit them where it hurts."

After Brian, Linda, Becky, and Melissa murmured in agreement, Lindsay surmised, "Remember, family: Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. We have a golden opportunity here. Don't waste it."

Brian conceded, "Lindsay, sweetie, you're right," before suggesting, "But we're going to need to study this family a little more so we can optimize our strategy against them. Now, come on, let's keep watching these security tapes. And remember, gang… with what we know now, study them intently." Brian then instructed, "Melissa, go get the next USB key from that bag, and let's watch it."

Melissa replied, "OK," before doing just that.

Brian then commanded, "Becky, tell Paige and Lincoln everything."

Becky responded, "OK," before offering, "I'm gonna send the link to the Instapic posts to the family groupchat and explain what happened."

The next USB key Melissa pulled out was labeled "Driving Miss Hazy". Melissa quickly put it in Brian's computer and double-clicked on the first video file she found. The video buffered for a few seconds before the screen came to life with an apparent comic book-styled title card with the USB key's name on it.

(Scene Change: Outside the Santiago House)

Ronnie Anne laughed, "Wait, Marcus Quick robbed the Loud House and came to your house with stolen stuff? That's a load. What are you gonna tell me next… SMOOCH and Mick Swagger threw you guys a private concert? Give me a break. Am I being punked? Where's the hidden cameras? Paige… I'm not 5. I don't believe in unicorns or Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny anymore."

Paige explained, "Look… my dad was college basketball teammates with Marcus Quick's agent. Marcus' agent even introduced my dad to my mom. It's a wild story."

Ronnie Anne gasped in realization, "Oh my god… so your dad is that Brian Sweetwater? The one from the 'Fab 5' documentary?"

Paige smirked, "Mm-hmm."

Ronnie Anne gasped, "Oh my god. So… it actually happened? You met Marcus Quick? The Marcus Quick?"

Paige madly grinned, "Mm-hmm. Such a shame you got into ISS for fighting me. I would've let you meet him, too."

Ronnie Anne blushed, "M-moving on. So, what do we do? You know, while we wait for Bobby to come back?"

Paige told Ronnie Anne, "Call Royal Woods Hospital and tell them you want a checkup to see if Lisa implanted any tracking chips in your brain. They might be able to take you in tonight. But I'd recommend you act fast. If you have a tracking chip inside you, that exposes all of us, and that's a risk we can't afford to take. So, are you in?"

Ronnie Anne sighed, "Ok. I'll do it. For Lincoln."

Ronnie Anne then called Royal Woods Hospital.

Karla, the receptionist, picked up, "Hi, Royal Woods Hospital, this is Karla speaking, how may I help you?"

Ronnie Anne introduced herself, "Hi, my name is Ronnie Anne Santiago. I need to book an appointment for a brain scan for myself and my brother, Roberto Santiago Jr."

Karla replied, "Sure, why do you ask?"

Ronnie Anne explained, "I think Lisa Loud implanted tracking chips in the two of us."

Karla mused, "I see. We've received a lot of complaints like that lately, and we have two patients who are getting checked for that now. Do you mind waiting until say, next Monday, for an appointment?"

Ronnie Anne yelled, "No! I need an appointment today!" She then groaned, "You know what, put me through to Maria Santiago."

Karla asked, "Do you know her extension?"

Ronnie Anne said, "Yup," before giving Karla her mom's extension.

Karla then informed Ronnie Anne, "Alright, Maria will be on the line with you shortly. After a brief elevator music interlude, Maria said into the phone, "Hey, mija."

Ronnie Anne replied, "Hey, mama."

Maria asked, "So, the lovely receptionist here told me that you and Bobby are interested in a thorough checkup for tracking chips like the one Lincoln had?"

Ronnie Anne confirmed, "Yeah. And we also want you to go."

Maria asked, "Why?"

(Time Skip: 10 minutes later)

After Ronnie Anne filled Maria in on Lincoln's situation, a horrified Maria stammered, "V-very well Ronnie Anne. I-I'll get you in touch with our secretary immediately. And I'll arrange appointments for all three of us to get checked out."

Ronnie Anne thanked Maria before the familiar phone line waiting music started playing again. When Karla picked up the phone a couple of minutes later, she exchanged greetings with Ronnie Anne before explaining, "So, I've arranged appointments for you, Bobby, and Maria. If you two could come at, say, around 6 PM… we should be able to slot you guys in for a checkup."

Ronnie Anne said, "Great! See ya! Bye!", before hanging up.

As soon as she did, Bobby pulled up in front of the Santiago house, pizza in hand, and waved, "Hey, Ronnie Anne! Paige! How you two doing?"

The two girls chirped, "We're good! How about you, Bobby?"

Bobby said, "All good here. Here's the pizza you ordered… that'll be $12.99."

Ronnie Anne and Paige traded glances before Ronnie Anne pulled out a $5 bill and Paige pulled out a $10 bill.

As they handed Bobby the money, Paige said, "Keep the change."

Bobby smiled, "Thanks," before asking, "So what's going on that you guys told me to stick around? I mean, not that I don't like hanging out with you guys, but…"

Ronnie Anne interrupted, "Roberto, it's an emergency."

Bobby probed, "An emergency… what's going on?"

Ronnie Anne said, "It's about Lincoln. He's in the hospital."

Bobby gasped, "L-Little Loud's in the hospital? B-but why?"

Ronnie Anne sighed, "Bobby, there's something you need to know. Not just about Lincoln… but the rest of the Louds."

Bobby asked, "What about the rest of the Louds?", before begging Ronnie Anne, "Please tell me Lori and Leni just took… that picture with Marcus Quick."

Paige asked, "Picture? What picture?"

Bobby groaned before pulling out his phone, opening Lori's Instapic page, and scrolling to and opening the picture that started a slideshow of Lori and Leni kissing Marcus Quick in bikinis. He implored the girls, "Please tell me this is just for the Insta. I've been hearing rumors around the school that my babe and her sister… uh… got intimate with Marcus Quick. Please say it ain't so!"

Ronnie Anne huffed, "I don't know anything about that. I got suspended & grounded for that fight with Paige remember? If you want… Paige can tell you what you need to know."

After that, Paige spent the next half an hour telling him everything she knew about Lincoln's situation over pizza.

(Time Skip: 30 minutes later)

As Paige noticed the vacant, horrified, tearful look on Bobby's face, she gasped, "Bobby? Are you OK?"

Bobby, whose hand was resting on his chest, gulped while stammering, "S-sorry Paige. I-I mean, this… from Lori… and her sisters… Lincoln… I can't believe it… ¡ay, dios mío. I feel like a fool."

Ronnie Anne tried to console Bobby, "Hey, it's going to be OK."

Bobby sniffled, "I know… it's just… Lori… and the others… doing… that… to Lincoln."

Ronnie Anne assured Bobby, "I know. But we can't change it. What's done is done. Here's the plan: there are hospital appointments booked for Maria, you, and I. We're going to find out if Lisa implanted any tracking chips in us, and if she did, we're going to get them removed."

Bobby pleaded, "W-what if I call L-Lori… ask her to end all this madness?"

Paige insisted, "No. First, you're calling your boss to tell him you're off for the day due to a family emergency."

Ronnie Anne concurred, "Yeah," before continuing, "Second, you're calling Mom and telling her that we'll meet her at the hospital. And this will be before you call Lori. The next time you call Lori will be to break up with her. Look, do you really want to hitch your future to a girl that's willing to cheat on you any time she sees someone rich, famous, or some combination of both? Plus, what do you think she'd do if she deemed you bad luck?"

Paige added, "Look… just text Dana, Whitney, or any of Lori's other friends that you know. They'll back us up on this. Maybe they'll tell you the truth as to how faithful Lori really is to you."

Bobby sighed, "Fine. I'm going to the hospital." As Bobby opened the doors of his pizza delivery car, he told Ronnie Anne and Paige, "Get in." They obliged, and after Ronnie Anne took shotgun and Paige took the back seat, the three of them set course for Royal Woods Hospital.

As Bobby drove down the road, Ronnie Anne connected his phone's Bluetooth to the car's computer dashboard before telling him, "It's all yours."

Bobby responded, "Thanks, Ronita," before scrolling through his contacts to call his boss. After a couple of rings, the Little Nero's manager picked up the phone, answering, "Hello?"

Bobby said, "Hey, Teri."

Teri asked, "What's going on, Bobby? Something wrong with the delivery?"

Bobby informed, "Sorry, Teri. Have to leave. Family emergency. Have to go to the hospital."

Teri stammered, "O-ok. Take care of yourself, Roberto. See you tomorrow," before hanging up.

As Bobby continued to drive to the hospital, he tapped the "Phonebook" button on his car's main menu to scroll through his phone's contacts. He scrolled to "B", with the first entry he saw being "Babe". As Ronnie Anne caught Bobby searching for the "Call" button, she quickly told him, "No."

Bobby begged, "Why?"

Ronnie Anne explained, "Whatever you do, you can't let Lori know that you know about the 'luck incident'. Because if you do, she's going to start asking questions. And they're going to find Lincoln, and they… they…", before she started sniffling.

Bobby asked, "Ronnie, are you crying?"

Ronnie sniffled, "N-n-no… I've just got something in my eye."

Paige quickly said, "Moving on," before suggesting, "Bobby, wait until after your hospital visit to call Lori. I know you're on the fence about breaking up with her. So, how about this: if the doctors find that Lisa implanted a tracking chip inside you, Ronnie Anne, or Maria, then tell Lori you're breaking up with her over the Quick thing and the tracking chips. And before you do, make sure you get Lori to tell you what she actually did with Marcus Quick. If the doctors find that all of you are clean, then continue to act normally around her until the time is right."

Bobby asked, "What do you mean by 'when the time is right?'"

Paige said, "We'll tell you."

As Bobby continued to drive the trio to Royal Woods Hospital, Paige texted her "Cannonball Gang" and "New Royal Woods Leaders" groupchats, "Know anyone who works at lil neros?"

Carol replied, "Lol Whitney told me her dads an exec at lil neros". She then explained in another text, "Delivery guy came 2 her house once we didn't even have to pay". She added, "Why do u think Roberto works there".

Paige smirked and texted back, "LMAOOO" with crying laughing emojis.

Carol responded, "What u got a problem?"

Paige answered, "LOL Bobby kinda stole the pizza delivery car 2 take himself & Ronnie Anne 2 the hospital 2 get their tracking chips removed".

Carol double-texted back, "I see", & "I got u".

Many of the groupchat's members replied with thumbs-up, crying laughing, & sly smirking emojis.

As the car pulled up to Royal Woods Hospital, Bobby, Ronnie Anne, and Paige immediately burst out of the car and ran into the hospital.

When they got to the receptionist's desk, Bobby panted, "Hi… it's… Roberto and Ronnie Anne Santiago."

Karla pointed to the waiting area and told the trio, "OK, wait over there."

Once Paige, Ronnie Anne, and Bobby sat down, Paige asked Ronnie Anne, "So…"

Ronnie Anne spat, "What?"

Paige asked, "Umm… if anything happens to you guys, you want to exchange phone numbers? I think we should keep in touch."

Ronnie Anne chuckled, "Yeah, I'd like that," as the two put their phone numbers into each other's phones before texting each other. Ronnie Anne then asked Bobby, "Roberto, you mind giving your phone number to the lovely lady sitting next to me?", before signaling with her eyes to Paige.

Bobby chuckled, "Sure," before exchanging phone numbers with Paige.

As that happened, Ronnie Anne scrolled through her phone before telling Paige, "And here's my mom's number just in case you're in trouble and you can't reach your parents." Paige immediately put Maria's number into her phone and texted her, to which Maria replied, "Hey, it's Mrs. Santiago. Ronnie Anne's mom. So glad you and Ronnie Anne are getting along. I forgive u lets be friends."

Paige laughed to herself before replying, "Sure."

Immediately after that, Karla chimed, "Santiago… Roberto and Ronalda Anne."

After Bobby and Ronnie Anne got out of their seats, Karla instructed them to head to Rooms 107 & 118, respectively, to begin their check-ups.

As Bobby and Ronnie Anne walked out of Paige's sight, Paige gasped in realization before walking up to Karla and asking, "Excuse me… do you know where Lincoln Loud is staying?"

Karla told Paige, "Sure, darling… he's up in Room 502."

After Paige thanked Karla, she rode the elevator up to the 5th floor to meet with Lincoln. When the elevator doors opened, Paige bolted down the hall to Room 502, and slammed the door open. When Paige opened the door and saw Lincoln casually texting on his phone, she felt like she would collapse and cry tears of joy.

Lincoln looked up from his phone and smiled, "Hey, Paige? What's up?"

Paige squealed, "LINKY!", before running to his bedside to give him a big hug & kiss on the cheek, causing both preteens to blush. Paige then held Lincoln's face as she tenderly asked, "Oh… how are you? Did the big, mean, sca-wy doctor huwt you?"

Lincoln laughed, "No, no, I'm fine. Dr. Chase was great. Said I need to rest, but I should be able to come back to your place tomorrow night, and back to school on Friday."

Paige gasped before chirping, "Wow… that's awesome! Not even a scratch?"

Lincoln tilted his head as he smirked, "Uh… no."

Paige gasped, but when she noticed Lincoln's white-colored bandage, she giggled to herself.

Lincoln asked Paige, "What… what's so funny?"

Paige said through giggles, "Sorry… I couldn't help myself. It's just… the color of your bandaid matches your hair, so you don't have to take it off," before bursting into loud laughter.

Lincoln joked, "Well, if I do, I bet I'd look like one of those new rappers that's coming out. I think taking it off will help with my street cred", while mockingly flashing an upside-down "L" sign at her with his fingers.

Lincoln's mention of "street cred", combined with his mock gang sign, caused Paige to burst into such hysterical laughter that she fell on the floor and slammed her fists on it. Lincoln smiled as he found that Paige's loud, uncontrollable laughter sounded oddly melodic to his ears.

After about a minute of hysterical laughter, Paige got up, wiped a tear from her eye, and apologized through giggles, "No… I'm sorry… I'm sorry. It's just… BWAHAHAHAHA!"

Paige again fell to the floor in hysterical, loud laughter. As Paige spent the next batch of seconds laughing, Lincoln smiled as he wondered how he could continue to make her laugh like that.

When Paige finally managed to calm down, she got up and wiped the new tears of laughter that had formed beneath her eyes. She then giggled breathlessly, while barely stifling even more laughter, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry. What I was trying to say is… you wouldn't know street cred if everyone on Earth punched you with it. And I would know."

Lincoln jested, "Say what you want. But when Linkin Logg gets a billion views on YouClip, don't ask to be my groupie."

When Paige heard Linkin Logg, she again laughed so loudly that Lincoln could barely hear the second half of his own joke. Paige ended up laughing so hard that she started to cough in between laughs.

As Paige coughed, Lincoln, "Are you OK?"

Paige stood up, caressed Lincoln's hair and face, and giggled, "Linky… you're just too much. Too much."

Lincoln blushed while stammering, "Uh… thanks… buh… buh… buh", causing Paige to giggle. But when Lincoln noticed what he was doing, he blinked his eyes before stammering, "Uh… moving on. So, what happened while I was out?"

Paige giggled at Lincoln's embarrassed reaction before asking, "Clyde probably told you about what happened at school, didn't he?"

Lincoln answered, "Yeah. The whole Rusty thing… ugh, what was he trying to accomplish?"

Paige groaned in disgust, "I don't know. But if he wanted to be the biggest dork in history, I guess he succeeded."

Lincoln agreed, "You got that right," before mentioning, "Plus, all our classmates texted me the homework and stuff, so there's that."

Paige smirked, "Good. We don't want you missing out on nightly torture, now do we?"

Lincoln and Paige laughed before Lincoln mentioned, "And then there were the texts Carol sent me about all of you visiting me in the hospital and giving me these gifts", while turning his eyes towards the gifts his hospital visitors had given him.

Paige blushed, "Oh… um… that… heh heh," before yelping, "It was TOTALLY Becky's idea, not mine! I swear! Then Mrs. Johnson said you were in the hospital, Clyde and Girl Jordan, not me, started making you the card, and…"

Lincoln assured Paige, "Hey, it's OK. I appreciate it. My ex-housemates never used to appreciate me for anything I did around the house, and would always complain that I wasted their time. If they found out I was here, the first thing they'd probably do is try to take me back and force me back into that goddamn squirrel suit."

Paige's face darkened at the mention of the squirrel suit before she sighed, "Umm… yeah… Lincoln… about that,"

Lincoln paled "What? What happened?"

Paige sighed before informing Lincoln, "Once we gave the squirrel suit back to Lynn Jr. and her football coach, they wanted to have you arrested."

Lincoln gasped before yelping, "Arrested? Why on Earth would I be arrested?"

Paige sighed, "We warned you about this, remember? We said the cops might come looking for you for stealing the squirrel suit."

Lincoln grumbled, "Oh. Well, seeing as I got blamed for everything in that madhouse, even stuff I didn't do, that's to be expected."

Paige groaned, "You should have seen Junior. She barged into the hospital, cackling like a cheesy cartoon villain about how your 'luck had run out' and stuff."

Lincoln deadpanned, "I'm not surprised", before asking, "So, why am I here?"

Paige said, "Daddy talked Junior down."

Lincoln sarcastically chuckled, "Oh, how did he do that? Did he convince Marcus Quick to meet the Queen of Pain?"

As Lincoln continued to chuckle, Paige's face remained blank. When Lincoln caught this, he asked, "You're not telling me that actually happened, are you?"

Paige confirmed, "It did."

Lincoln stuttered, "B-b-but how?"

Paige shrugged, "I don't know. Turns out Marcus Quick's agent and my dad are old college buddies or something."

As Lincoln remembered Brian's Michigan basketball pictures, he mused, "Huh. Makes sense."

Paige groaned, "Yeah, totally." She then glanced around the room as she inwardly debated whether to fill Lincoln in on the rest of the Marcus Quick story. When Lincoln saw this, he asked, "What's wrong, Paige?"

Paige quickly replied, "Oh, oh… nothing."

Lincoln pressed, "Come on, Paige."

Paige nervously started, "Uh… Uh… Umm…", before she felt her bladder fill up and her stomach rumble. Paige then quickly hugged Lincoln and said, "Uh… I gotta go to the bathroom! Like now! Bye!" before giving Lincoln a goodbye kiss on the cheek and running out of the hospital room. Lincoln smiled and chuckled as he watched Paige leave.

(Time Skip: 25 minutes later)

After making it back to the hospital's main lobby, Paige asked Karla, "How are the Santiagos doing?"

(Scene Change: Bobby's Hospital Room)

After Dr. Harris left the room, Bobby sulked as he sat on his hospital bed. He had just learned that during one of his visits to the Loud House, Lisa had implanted a tracking chip inside Bobby's jaw.

When Bobby's phone vibrated, he pulled it out, only to see text notifications from both Ronnie Anne and Maria revealing that they, too, had tracking chips detected in their jaws. Bobby groaned to himself, "Santa Maria, these Louds are loco."

As Bobby unlocked his phone, he reflected on everything he had heard over the previous day. Bobby didn't even bother to send Lori a warning text. He just pressed the "Phone" icon on his phone's menu, scrolled through his contacts to "Babe", and pressed her phone number to start the call.

It took all of two rings before the phone sprung to life with Lori's excited and somewhat saddened voice: "Bobby Boo-Boo Bear!"

At the sound of Lori's sniffles, Bobby tenderly asked, "Babe… what's wrong?"

Lori wept, "All of our pets! THEY'RE DEAD!", before hysterically wailing into her phone so loudly that Bobby had to nearly pull the phone back.

Bobby asked, "Dead? What do you mean?"

Lori sniffled, "M-M-Marcus. M-Marcus Quick."

Bobby gasped before shouting, "What? Marcus Quick? What did he do?!"

Lori wailed, "MARCUS QUICK KILLED OUR PETS AFTER HE PROMISED ME I'D BE HIS GIRLFRIEND!", before breaking into more hysterical crying.

Bobby gasped in horror before asking Lori, "His girlfriend?" He then growled, "Wait… what did the two of you do?"

Lori blubbered, "Leni and I… we took him to our room… and we… and we… WE FUCKED HIM! 3 TIMES! I'M SO SORRY, BOO-BOO BEAR!", before hysterically crying into the phone once again.

Bobby channeled his rage, jealousy, and betrayal as he seethed, "Maybe you deserved Quick killing your pets."

Lori stopped crying and muttered, "What?"

Bobby scolded Lori, "You heard me. You cheated on me… you betrayed me. For a one-nighter with an NFL star. With your sister, Leni, no less. That girl is so naïve… so innocent… and you and Leni teamed up to do that. You probably influenced her, too. After we said we were going to start a family. Not to mention, I got some interesting news from the hospital."

Lori whimpered, "What? What did they tell you?"

Bobby explained, "Your sister, Lisa, apparently put a tracking chip in my jaw."

Lori sniffled, "Hold on," before roaring, "She did WHAT?! I'M ABOUT TO TURN HER INTO A HUMAN PRETZEL!"

Bobby shouted, "NO! YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!"

Lori spat, "And why not? Boo-Boo Bear, they…"

Bobby coldly muttered, "Don't. Call. Me. Boo-Boo Bear, Lori."

Lori wept, "But Boo-Boo…"

Bobby screamed, "DON'T!"

Lori sniffled, "But that's my nickname for you, Roberto."

Bobby asked Lori, "You really think you deserve that nickname after everything you've done? Your sister chipped me and my entire family, and now we all have to go for surgery. Your family's antics have put my family's lives in danger. And on top of that, you cheat on me for a one-nighter with an NFL star who killed your pets? And there's rumors going around that you bully your siblings?"

Lori pleaded, "Boo-Boo Bear… I can explain…"

Bobby interrupted, "No. Not now. Not ever. We're through. Goodbye, Lori," before hanging up the phone.

Immediately after hanging up, Bobby also texted Maria and Ronnie Anne to have Lori permanently banned from the Santiago house for her antics. Bobby then collapsed onto the examination table and cried his eyes out for the next couple of minutes. As Dr. Harris walked in on Bobby crying, he quipped, "Jesus, Bobby, it's just a brain chip. You sound like you just found out you have Stage 4."

Bobby blubbered, "It's not that. I found out Lisa Loud was responsible. You know, for my chip."

Dr. Harris mused, "Ah, yes, Lisa Loud. Smart girl. Too bad about her family, though. Locking their son outside because they think he's bad luck… who does that?"

Bobby sniffled, "I know. And I'm dating her sister. Lori. Or was, anyway. I just broke up with her."

Dr. Harris sighed, "Well, I'm not one for emotions, but I will say you made the right choice. Now come on… we've got to get that tracking chip removed before Lisa and her family track you down and kill you for breaking up with her."

Bobby chuckled through his tears, "You're right," before following Dr. Harris into the operating room to begin his surgery.

(Scene Change: Royal Woods Hospital, Main Lobby)

After Paige learned the Santiagos had brain chimps implanted in them, she uttered to Karla in horror, "Dear god… those people are monsters."

Karla nodded, "Mm-hmm."

Paige then took a seat. After sitting down, Paige pulled out her phone to text her mom, "Hey mom… come pick me up ASAP."

Linda replied, "OK will be there in 15 minutes."

Paige texted her mom a thumbs-up emoji before scrolling down her text message list until she saw Lincoln.

She then texted Lincoln, "Hey Linky gonna leave the hospital. Ronnie Anne Bobby and Maria all have tracking chips inside them. Getting them removed now. Luv u bye", before capping the text off with heart and kissy-face emojis.

Lincoln replied with heart and smiley-faced emojis, causing Paige to giggle before being pinged two text alert from the family groupchats.

The first text was one from Becky reading, "Loud pets dead. Will explain everything at home."

Paige gasped before another text from Becky showed two Instapic URLs. The first URL linked to the slideshow of Marcus' photos with a bikini-clad Lori and Leni. When Becky texted the family groupchat what Lori and Leni did immediately after those photos, Paige felt disgusted.

After Paige clicked on the second URL, she gasped in horror and nearly began to cry. The second URL linked to Lori's Instapic photo which confirmed the Loud pets' deaths. As Paige continued to read Lori's Instapic caption, she slumped in her chair in disbelief.

Just as Paige got ready to return to Lincoln's hospital room, she received another text from Cassandra Pingrey in the "New Royal Woods Leaders" groupchat, reading, "Margo just went to hospital. Tracking chip inside her jaw. Paula clean. Margo in surgery."

Paige stopped in her tracks and furiously texted back, "OMG I hope theyre OK." Immediately after that, Paige received a text from her mom reading, "Im here."

After Paige read Linda's text, she put her phone in her pocket, ran to the hospital's kiss-and-ride, and took the shotgun seat of her mom's luxury van. When she did, the two exchanged a look which told Linda that Paige knew everything.

As Paige buckled her seatbelt, Linda tried to comfort her, "Honey…"

Paige whined, "I know, Mom. It's awful."

Linda sighed, "Yeah. But as a family, we improvise, we adapt, and we overcome. And that's what I want you to do here. It's what Lincoln would want. Remember, we're doing this for Lincoln."

Paige conceded, "You know what, Mom. You're right. We have to be strong. For Lincoln."

Linda repeated, "For Lincoln."

Paige asked, "You think Lincoln's found out?"

Linda pointed out, "As long as his phone's fully charged, he probably would. You kids are always on your phones these days, and we did add him to all of our family groupchats. He probably would already know."

Paige gasped before blushing and asking Linda, "Should we go back for him?"

When Paige saw Linda toothily smirk at her, she immediately slumped in her seat and crossed her arms, trying to make her blush go away. This made Linda laugh, to which Paige protested, "You know what, Mom… forget I said anything. Let's go."

As Linda smirked, "Mm-hmm," Paige scoffed, "Mom, I'm trying to watch this Loud House footage Dad and my sisters sent me. Just let me be."

Linda teased, "Alright… alright."

The rest of the drive home was silent as Paige put her earbuds in her ears and began to watch the Loud House security footage that the rest of the Sweetwaters had sent her.

Closing A/N: And... now, the Santiagos know.

A/N 2: The "I just want to talk to him" lines? Straight from Family Guy. I thought they were really funny in both that show & the fanfic, Baby Daddy Bobby, so I wanted to recycle it here. I felt it fit Ronnie Anne's mood.

A/N 3: For Ronnie Anne's pizza toppings, I just used the ones I saw in this YouTube thumbnail of "Best Loud House Pizza moments".

A/N 4: I hope the irony of Lori's post is not lost on anybody here. Read it closely. Speaking of the post, Steady was Lana's tortoise, Charlotte was Lana's pet pig, Jasper was Lana's pet alligator, Mr. Chips was Lana's pet monkey, Lucifer was Lana's pet snake, and Hound was Lana's pet fox. I hope you get the references there ;)

A/N 5: "2004 Wallace Avenue," the Santiagos' address in Royal Woods, is a reference to the 2004 Detroit Pistons NBA championship team, and the star players, Ben & Rasheed Wallace.

A/N 6: I'd heard about somebody using a pizza delivery as a way to disguise a domestic violence call, so I decided to reuse it here.

A/N 7: I thought the "Bobby and Whitney" reference when Paige was listing Lori's friends was too good to pass up.

A/N 8: Since Teri is portrayed as Bobby's coworker at the pizzeria in "Cheater by the Dozen", I decided to make her his manager here.

A/N 9: Rooms 107 & 118? Easter eggs to the production codes of Bobby & Ronnie Anne's first visual appearances, respectively, on the Loud House.

A/N 10: "Linkin Logg" is a callback to Pretty Fly for a White-Haired Guy, a rap-based Loud House fanfic I found to be pretty funny. And Paige laughing at the idea of Linkin Logg is a reference to a fanfic idea another user shared with me in the PM's.

A/N 11: Dr. Harris is a play on Neil Patrick Harris playing Doogie Howser, MD, a fact his character frequently brings up in the Harold & Kumar movies, some of the funniest movies ever.

And now, for the best of the reviews:

- Saccharine Melody: I know, rhetorical question. Rusty thought he could be Clyde. Apparently, he can't.

- Bzflatsman: Oh… you'll see. (evilly smirks)

- Goldenrayne: Not a whole lot of specific reactions will be featured here. But you'll get a general vibe of what they think.

- wollyworld, jeremiahkelly93, qazplm6969, Omegahatchiyak12, davevad, LoudHouseFan88, Mysterious Mr M: Thanks!

- Ohma flame: You almost got your wish. Unfortunately, logic prevailed. For now.

- 57331: It's even funnier than that! PM me if you want the full story on that.

- Grant: You'd think. But remember… this kid's life was in danger. At that point, I don't think him telling off your daughter really matters.

- Claircrystal: We'll see.

- April: Reread Chapter 5. TL;DR: Ronnie Anne got knocked out by Paige in one punch, told off by Lincoln, and was suspended from school and grounded for 2 days.

Anyway, what will the news of Marcus Quick's antics mean for the Louds? For the Sweetwaters? For everybody else involved? For Lincoln? What new opportunities and risks will this present? Favorite, follow, and stay tuned to find out!