A/N: As the title's summary implied, this is the second story arc that will give us another window into one possible outcome from the main episode. Like much of my other stories, this takes places after the episode had ended. And being me, it isn't going to have the type of cartoony atmosphere we see in the show. For this arc, I want it to be similar, yet different from the first story arc. If anyone remembers a pretty depressing early in the fandom's history (not counting Requiem), there's an old fic called Inadequate. It was based on Making the Case where Lincoln essentially slips into depression after failing to find what's special about him, being fueled by his jealousy towards his sister's achievements. I encourage everyone to read it, as it gives some accurate points about what people go through when trying to cope with depression.
However, as good as the story is, Making the Case doesn't feel like an episode that would generate the amount of emptiness Lincoln expressed in that story. Yeah, he hasn't gotten a win in a long time (however long that is), but the episode itself is rather exaggerated; for example, Lily got trophies for thumb sucking. So in honor of Inadequate, I want to try and emulate that sort of feeling when it comes to Kings of the Con, as I feel this episode would've presented a greater opportunity to bring those negative feelings out. Might sound a little cliche at times since this sort of thing was done by many before.
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.
The sun was just above the horizon with a few clouds dotting the sky. It was comfortably warm this late April, and a tad humid as well due to a rain storm the previous night. The birds were singing, adults were getting stuck in traffic, and for one certain family, they were just getting their daily routine started. It was business as usual for the Louds; the parents had left for work already, and the kids were getting prepped for school. The line for the bathroom had shrunken a little, with just seven siblings in the pattern. The door to Lori and Leni's room opened, with Leni stepping out already wearing her usual turquoise sun dress and shades. Or should we say, just Leni's room.
Lori had gone to college the previous year.
The second oldest sibling smiled to herself, almost the exact opposite of her tired siblings. All was normal; the twins were arguing, Lynn was doing pushups to pass the time while trying to ignore whatever pun Luan was trying to tell her, Lisa was reading some science book the Leni guessed had to do with the earth based on the cover, and Lily was last in line; she was lying on the floor trying to catch more Zs. Lucy stood stoically in line, but movement of her head told Leni she was looking towards the converted linen closet bedroom at the other end of the hall. Leni followed her gaze, a frown growing on her lips once she realized their resident brother wasn't awake. Or rather, he was, but didn't want to come out of his room; that too was an unfortunate norm these days...
Looking back towards the front of the line, Leni raised a brow as she realized one sister was missing. "Where's-" She paused upon hearing a high note being sung in the bathroom. "Never mind." The fashionista muttered. Drawing in a breath, "Does...anyone want to grab Lincoln?"
The girls (sans Lily) halted whatever tasks they were doing, with 6 pairs of eyes looking towards their sister-in-charge.
"Well," Luan started. "I would, but uh..." Her response was dragged out as her eyes shifted side to side.
"Sheee's helping me keep score!" Lynn, still on the floor, spoke for her quickly. "Uh, how much was that Luan?"
Luan's eyes opened up a bit more as she caught on. "Oh, um...20?"
Lynn deadpanned, knowing the number was much higher than that. She gave a shrug regardless. "Great." She continued going down and up, increasing her pace as Luan started counting from 20.
Leni looked towards the other sisters. The twins looked at one another, and Leni noticed the beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. " DIBS NOT IT!" They shouted simultaneously while touching their noses.
When Leni looked towards Lisa, "I'd rather not risk personal injury after the last time I tried..." She buried her face back in her book.
Giving an irate sigh, the dark-haired girl in the middle spoke out. "I'll get him..." The girls watched as Lucy stepped out of line and started towards their brother's bedroom. "Shows how much you all care..." The goth muttered, speaking in a high enough volume to make sure the others heard her.
Once she got to the door, Lucy lightly tapped the wood with her knuckles. "Lincoln?"
A moment of silence passed without a sound being heard.
"Lincoln." Lucy knocked again. "I know you're awake..."
"...Go, away..." A tired, masculine voice responded.
"Lincoln..." Lucy started, giving a wordless sigh. "I know you don't want to, but you need to get up and get ready. School is only gonna last another month." She put her hands on her hips. "And I know you don't want Mom and Dad to ground you for skipping school again..."
"...Like I'd care..." The boy responded. Lucy heard the movement of springs on the other side of the door.
Lucy crossed her arms. "Lincoln, we've went through this before..." She stared at a certain spot on the door where she knew his bed was. "And you know I'm not gonna let you get yourself in trouble for the 20th time." She brought a hand to her face, parting her hair just enough that one eye was visible. "I know you haven't cared about much of anything for a while, but don't you want to at least try and go through a day without having someone yell at you?..."
The void was filled with silence for a few moments; behind her, the other girls were watching with a baited breath. A sigh could be heard before Lucy heard what she hoped to hear. "Fine..."
The springs of a bed squeaked before the shuffling of feet could be heard. Lucy dropped her hand to her side, stepping back as the knob turned. Once the door opened, the goth was hit with a wave of heat that was accompanied by a rather foul odor. The goth scrunched her face for a brief moment due to the smell before her brother came into view. She was thankful her eyes were hidden from view, for they couldn't hide the sorrow she felt for her older sibling.
Lincoln, for lack of better words, looked as if the light had went out in his life. His white hair had taken on a more greyish appearance with small specks of dirt visible at certain spots, and his unique hair was long enough to barely touch his shoulders; the fact large bundles stuck out at certain spots made it obvious it wasn't just a case of bad bed hair either. His blue eyes appeared to be dull, and the same could be said for his skin which was paler than normal. The eyebags on the sides of his vision looked normal, but those under his eyes were deep and very prominent. Even his chipped tooth had a tint of yellow on it, likely due to poor brushing habits. Lucy momentarily gazed at the rest of his body; his PJs were a little wrinkled (which was normal), but they looked looser than they should have been on his frame. With that in mind, Lucy couldn't help but notice that the round edges of brother's cheekbones were more visible than they should've been; they started coming in when the baby fat on his face began to disappear, but looked as if there was nothing to replace the fat that was dissipating.
Being that he was nearly 13, it could've been a case of his growth spurt was kicking in. But Lucy knew her brother didn't grow much over the year; a couple inches at best.
"When was the last time he properly ate?" Lucy mulled to herself as she stared at the loose sleeves of his PJs. "I know he only picked at his food last-"
"Are you gonna keep standing there or what?..." Lincoln asked, his brows arching down in irritation.
Lucy fidgeted as she was pulled off her train of thought. "Sorry..." The 10 year old spoke quietly before heading back towards the others.
"I always hated seeing him like this..." Lucy thought to herself as she stood in the back of the line with her brother behind her. "To think he went from being bright and cheery over a year ago to being...almost a corpse..." The goth brought her hands to her chest. "And this is only the second time I've been this close to him..." The other girls pretended like everything was the usual business, but they'd occasionally glance at Lincoln with uncertainty. He'd just give an indifferent look similar to Lucy's, only ever moving from his slouched position when the line moved. Lucy's frown deepened, giving an unseen glare at her sisters. "But at least I'm actually trying to help him get better..." She gazed at the floor. "Even if it's still a work in progress..."
Lincoln scratched his hair, forcing some dead flakes to fall out in the process. He gazed at all of his sisters, doing his best to hide the jealousy that pooled in his chest before opting to stare at the wall. "All of them are lucky...they still have something to look forward to in their lives." The boy sniffled before rubbing his nose. "All of them talented, won a bunch of awards and whatever else...unlike me whose just stuck with a title of being 'the only boy in a family of girls'..." His lips meshed together as a faint ember was lit behind his eyes. "And just a stupid assistant to help THEM achieve their dreams only to be put back in the closet when I'm no longer needed..." Lincoln went back into his stoic look as stuck his hands inside his pockets. "And Mom and Dad sure don't seem to care either, with how they always want me to be 'more like them'." He rolled his eyes.
"Now I get what you're thinking: what the heck happened to me? How did Lincoln Loud, the middle child of 11 siblings, comic book and video game enthusiast, and ghost hunter, go from looking like the boy you see in my old photos to what I am now?" Lincolns voice could be heard over anything else going on in the story. "See, this is just a typical morning. Lori already went to college (whatever...), most of my sisters are pretending to ignore me, and the only one who even cares what I do is Lucy. And I'll have you know, I would've brushed her off too but..." A sigh of frustration was heard. "She's pretty determined..." There was a pause as the line moved forward, with Lynn going into the bathroom as Luan exited. "You'll find out why later, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself. If I had to pick a time when I realized I had no hope of being more than just being the 'boy' of the family, I'd say it started not very long after that..." Lincoln could be heard groaning in a mix of annoyance and sadness. "A-After that Ace Savvy convention where we all tried getting into a movie..."
One year and 10 months prior...
After taking photos for the press release, the kids were informed that they would be called to the studio to make their cameo appearances in the movie within a few weeks. The girls were ecstatic about the roles they would play, however minor, although the boys didn't share those sentiments. Yes, they admitted guilt in fabricating the crime of catnapping one of the movie stars, and the girls were then declared the winners of the contest by default. The boys would've thought it was punishing enough to not get a starring role in the movie of their favorite franchise at all; which seems to add insult to injury that they were given the role of being Kitty's litterbox cleaners. Sure, they were told they made a 'splash' with the fans, but it didn't take long for the boys to realize that could have meant the opposite of the typical meaning.
Dressed in their Ace Savvy costumes, Lori started down the road towards home. Lincoln and Clyde sat in the rear row, both slouched forward in their seats with their heads resting on their hands. The rest of the girls were chatting animatedly about their upcoming roles in the seats leading to the front, leaving a silent void to fill the rear.
Wanting to take his mind off the day's events, Lincoln pulled out his phone and started to browse the internet.
"Like, oh my gosh, we're on the internet!" The boys heard Leni say.
A few minutes later. "Heck yeah we are!" Luna responded next. "Didn't think we'd be trending already."
"Word goes around fast on social media." Lori spoke next.
"Why are you guys acting surprised?" Lynn voiced afterwards. "The crowds love us."
Lola gave a sigh. "I can already see legions of fans lining up, just waiting for me to grace them with my presence."
Lincoln rolled his eyes, though his curiosity was high enough to want to figure out what people were saying about them all. He typed 'Ace Savvy Convention (current year)' into the search bar, which lead to a host of websites with some images already available. He clicked the first link that led to the convention website; a moment later, he already saw pictures of his sisters in groups of themselves, with fans, with the judges, and even some rare individual photos. Some of them had titles like, 'New hero group to the big screen', 'Superheroines win cosplay contest', 'Guess what powers these new supers have', and he even saw one that said 'Youngest hero to make it big'; that last one was a picture of Deuce.
As he scrolled around, he occasionally read some of the comments for the posts; just about all of them were positive. "But where are me and Clyde?..." He muttered to himself.
Somewhere around the middle of the page, Lincoln caught a picture that looked like it had him in it. Tapping the photo, it brought him to the picture's page. What the title read made Lincoln have an unsettled feeling in his chest.
'Catnappers become poop cleaners'.
The comments below held the same level of contempt; some were much less savory, calling the boys names Lincoln would rather not repeat. Exiting the page, Lincoln found there were a few other photos of them posing or pretending like they were cleaning a litter box. Titles such as 'Catnappers Get Karma', 'Kitty enslaves Would-Be thieves', 'Kitty's New Cleaning Crew', and one where someone snapped a photo of Lincoln getting pelted in the face by a hairball said 'Worst Job Ever'; Lincoln would have to agree with them on that. He didn't bother going to each picture, as the first made it perfectly clear where 'fans' stood when it came to them.
Clyde was leaning over his shoulder, having also caught the pictures and headlines. "Wow. That's just mean..."
Lincoln silently nodded.
"Just wait til Mom and Dad hear what you boys did today!" Lola chuckled evilly with a snide smirk.
Lincoln couldn't help but gulp at that prospect. He knew it was coming, but Lola always made it sound sinister. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't dreading what kind of punishment his parents had in store for him.
"I still can't believe you two would literally stoop that low." Lori added.
"Seriously..." Lynn could be heard grumbling. "And if there's one thing I hate more than losing, it's cheaters..."
"Aw, it's not gonna be that bad." The boys looked up at Lana, who was leaning over the seat in front. "You guys get to clean poo for a supervillain! I'd definitely jump at the chance to do that."
"So why didn't you?" Lucy asked, looking over her shoulder.
Lana shrugged. "Being a hero is more fun."
"Statistically, it's often better to be the protagonist as they have a higher popularity rating." Lisa stated, adjusting her glasses slightly. "But even antagonists can have similar ratings; however, it does not occur very often."
Lincoln wanted to say that it actually happens more frequently than she thinks, but decided not to. After being easily upstaged by his siblings in a realm he was the 'expert', what would he know?
"Man, my dads are gonna be really disappointed..." Clyde muttered.
"Can't be as bad as what my parents could do..." Lincoln uttered with a sigh. "Why did I think that plan would ever work?..."
"Well, it sounded good on paper." Clyde offered as a means of encouragement.
Lincoln didn't buy it though, almost ignoring that comment entirely. "This is worse than the time I didn't go to the convention..."
Lola was inspected her nails, but overheard what Lincoln said. A smirk spread on her lips. "You mean where you got grounded for clogging the toilet?"
"I hope you don't still read that piece of literature that is too young for your age group..." Lisa chided. Her tone remained neutral, but it still sounded condescending regardless.
Lynn chortled. "Heh, maybe Lily can borrow that book sometime."
"I don't think that's a good idea. He might teach her how to stuff the bowl next time." Luan chuckled, earning a short laugh from some of the girls.
Lucy pursed her lips; she was a little surprised anyone still remembered that incident, seeing as it happened long ago. Glancing at her brother, it was clear this kind of attention wasn't helping his mood one bit. His brows were knotting together, but his mouth was quivering a little. She never took part in these little roasting sessions her siblings did out of the blue, if she could call it that. It was a little weird how it starts; one person makes an insult, then everyone else just piles in. She had seen a few pictures about Lincoln and Clyde through Luna's phone (in spite of the musician not making any mention of it); the boys weren't happy in any of the photos, and it didn't Lisa's intellect to know they already felt the hot shame of embarrassment running through their cores.
Getting on Lincoln's case about that old book must've been like...how would Lucy put it? Rubbing salt in an open wound? Pouring gas on a roaring blaze? Burning the skin with a lit cigarette? Any one of those would be fitting. Seeing him begin to fidget with discomfort, Lucy felt she couldn't sit there and just let him continue to be scrutinized further. After all, he had taken it once before thanks to his thick skin; but this did not seem to be the case now.
He should not be burdened forever more with keeping the real owner of the book hidden. "Actually, it's-" Lucy was cut short when she (and everyone else in the van) jerked forward in their seats as Lori slammed on the brakes.
"Sorry!" Said the oldest sibling, knowing there were many stares of displeasure being sent her way. "Almost missed a stop." She adjusted the center mirror. "Alright Clyde, you can get out."
"Wish me luck..." Clyde whispered before making his way to the nearest door.
"I would..." Lincoln sunk in his seat. "But I feel like I'll need it the most..." The movement of the van sunk his spirits further, dreading what troubles awaited him at home.
It would be another few minutes before the kids arrived at their abode. The conversation about the pony book had seemingly been forgotten (to Lincoln's pleasure), though the middle child stayed rooted into his seat when the van pulled to a stop. The girls chatted amongst themselves as they undid their seatbelts and opened the doors, with one of them helping Lily out of her little car seat. As for Lincoln, he had sunken so far into the seat that one needed to lean the edge just to see his head. As the doors shut, Lincoln glanced out the window.
"Mom! Dad!" Lola shouted as she went through the front door. "Guess whose gonna be a movie star!"
Lincoln shifted his gaze to the carpeted floor of the van. "At least she's not ratting me out..." His brows angled inward. "Yet..." He breathed in before exhaling out his nose. "Maybe it would've been better if I didn't admit we had caused the crime in the first place and just said my sisters deserved credit..." He gazed up at the ceiling. "Or maybe I shouldn't have-"
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Lincoln jolted upright in his seat before looked towards the noise. Lori was staring at him through the window with a deadpan face. "Lincoln, you can't sit in there forever." She thumbed towards the door. "Plus, Mom and Dad want to see you."
The white-haired child groaned as he undid his seatbelt.
"Everything could've played out differently if I just lied and said Kitty got free and me and Clyde tried to recapture him; I mean, how was a cat supposed to communicate what really happened? That way, I could've just said my sisters helped with his recapture so they'd at least get some credit. Or maybe I should've just accepted defeat and left the convention when it seemed pointless to continue..." Present Lincoln spoke as his past self left the van and shuffled towards the door. "But none of that mattered at that point. Whenever it seems like I'm going to be punished, my sisters liked to stand around as if to taunt me about my situation." He gave a dry laugh. "It was bad enough that my face was all over the internet about what I did, and the last thing I wanted was an audience to my 'trial'. This is probably the first time I started to truly resent my sisters; they just couldn't learn to butt out of things that didn't concern them. It was already bad enough that I was humiliated five times at the convention, and now they're just rubbing their success in my face." There was a brief pause. "Yeah yeah, I know some of you are gonna bring up the Sister Protocol thing. But I had good reason to get involved! It's just stupid to cut off entire sections of the house just because you want alone time! If you want some time to yourself, go outside for Pete's sake!"
"Lincoln, your sisters said you got involved with something related to a...cat?" Rita asked, a little confused as to what she heard due to many voices that tried to speak out at once.
Lincoln hung his head. "Yes..." He glanced at his sisters, who were standing around the stairs. He bit his lips upon noticing some of them had smirks on their faces, like they were enjoying his suffering. The others had small frowns or an indifferent stare. Lincoln felt his blood pressure rise in relation to the heat building in his chest; they may look like they didn't really care, but they wouldn't be standing nearby, watching everything unfold if that were the case. Directing his attention to his parents, "C-Can we talk about this in private?"
"Oh no you don't!" Lola shouted, drawing Lincoln's and the parent's gaze as she pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You're not gonna weasel your way out of this one!"
"You gotta tell 'em the truth bro." Luna added.
"It's better to not dig a deeper hole for yourself." Lori stated.
Lincoln's hand tightened into a fist as his arm began to shake. "Geez, they already ripped on me on the way home. Why do they need to watch me get grounded?..." His lips curled inward to prevent his teeth from gnashing together, with his eyes screwing shut tightly for a brief moment. "I've been humiliated too many times today...and I'm NOT gonna let them get me in even MORE trouble!" Lincoln thought to himself before shouting, "Can you guys just mind your own business?!"
"Lincoln..." Rita admonished him briefly before turning to her daughters. "Girls, why don't you go upstairs? I'm sure you had a long day today."
"Mom," Lynn folded her arms. "He tried to cheat his way into the movie."
"By stealing a cat!" Lola added.
The parents raised a brow before glancing at their son, whom was now glaring daggers at the girls. "I was going to tell them that..." He spoke through clenched teeth, with one of his eyes twitching slightly in anger.
Sensing a fight was going to break out, Lynn Sr. decided to try and ease the tension. "Ok ok, everyone. Settle down." He pointed to the girls. "Girls, go upstairs."
"But dad-" Lola started, but Lynn Sr. held a hand out.
"Uh-uh, no butts." The patriarch stated firmly. "If Lincoln wants to tell us on his own, he can." Lola raised a finger as she opened her mouth. "And NO interruptions!" Lola put her hand down, glaring at her brother before marching up the stairs. The rest of the girls soon followed.
Lincoln released a breath he didn't know he was holding as the girls disappeared to the second floor. "At least THIS time they want to hear me out..." The boy mulled internally as he followed his parents into their room.
The middle child sat on the bed in between his parents, who were looking at him with concern. "So, what is it that you wanted to tell us?" Lynn Sr. asked.
Lincoln sighed. "My sisters are getting the roles we all wanted in the contest..." He frowned. "But me and Clyde aren't..."
Rita raised a brow. "You boys didn't make it?"
The 11 year old shook his head. "No, we did. Just...not the way we wanted..." He clasped his hands together. "My sisters impressed everyone at the convention, including the judges; but no one thought of anything about me and Clyde." Lincoln pursed his lips for a moment as he glowered at the floor. "And because of that, me and Clyde weren't gonna make it into the movie while my sisters would..." He shifted his position slightly. "We tried everything to impress the contest judges." The Loud counted on his fingers. "We did guessing games, tried other stuff like the dunk tank and strongman, we even tried doing some Ace Savvy stuff we were sure we'd have no problem handling." Lincoln sighed. "But we blew it every time. So, I suggested that we try to solve a crime like the real Ace and Jack would do."
"That doesn't sound so bad." Rita said. "But, what does that have to do with a cat?"
Lincoln's stomach sank, knowing he'd have to get to the point. "...I suggested that we'd make a crime to do that...and it involved 'stealing' the stunt cat for the movie..."
Both parents let out a gasp, which soon turned into stern frowns.
"Lincoln, why would you do something like that?" His mother spoke sternly. "I know you kids have a habit of taking things from each other, but stealing a movie actor?"
"W-We only had an hour left to impress the judges so we could earn our spot in the movie...a-and it was the easiest thing I could think of..." Lincoln stammered out. "I didn't think it'd get out of hand like it did..."
"What happened?" Lynn Sr. asked.
"We were gonna make it seem like Kitty (the stunt cat) went missing, and me and Clyde would find and bring him back." Lincoln gripped his arms. "But he overpowered us and I had to call my sisters for help...then the judges declared us the winners of the contest, but I couldn't leave my sisters out of the picture..." He sighed. "So I told everyone the truth...and we got booted out of the movie..." The boy's frown deepened. "Or so I thought..."
Lynn Sr. raised a brow. "So you did get a spot in the movie?"
Lincoln nodded. "They made us Kitty's..." He shuddered. "Pooper scoopers..." The boy reflected on the pictures he'd seen online. "And just about everyone is laughing at us over it..."
Both adults looked at each other with a concerned look. There was some unspoken agreement between them that the role he's been given might've been a little harsh. It wasn't as if Lincoln meant to irk the judges, given the sincerity of his tone. Although, there could've been more options that Lincoln hadn't considered. "Lincoln, we understand that you were under pressure to think of something so you can join your sisters, but wasn't there better ways to go about what you did?"
Lincoln tapped his fingers together. "I don't know...I was jealous that my sisters managed to win without even trying, and me and Clyde only had an hour left to do something to WOW the judges; especially after our last failed attempts..."
"Why were you jealous of the girls?" Lynn Sr. asked. "Didn't they have just as hard of a time trying to win too?"
Lincoln furrowed his brows. "No...as soon as we walked in, the whole building flocked to them. All they did was walk around taking photos with people, while me and Clyde were just, there..." He leaned back, supporting himself up with his arms. "Sure, it's been noted a few times that me and Clyde wrote the issue their characters starred in; heck, I didn't even think people liked them that much since (aside from a few mentions here and there) I didn't hear anything from Bill Buck since the comic book contest. And that was months ago." A downcast look adorned his face. "But I doubt anyone cares about it now..." Lincoln bit his cheek briefly as he felt a stinging sensation in his eyes. "It's not fair..."
"Well, Lincoln." Lynn Sr. started. "Sometimes you try really hard for something, but don't always grab it by the hook." The father chortled. "Heck, my first location picks for my restaurant fell through before I was ready."
"But Dad," Lincoln looked at his father. "They weren't even interested in going to the convention until me and Clyde mentioned what the prize for the cosplay contest was. It seems like they only wanted to go just to make themselves famous."
"Isn't that what you wanted to do as well, sweetie?" Rita asked.
"Yeah (and have fun), but I had to try harder than my sisters did just to get noticed. And it still didn't work..." Lincoln gripped the sheets as he mulled in the brief silence. "When I tried to submit that comic about them for a contest months ago, I didn't expect them to help me out then..." His eyes narrowed. "But now I wonder what the real reason was..."
Both parents pursed their lips. "Well, before you get any ideas, I'd suggest not trying to think about it." Lynn Sr. stated.
"Why?" Lincoln spoke a little hotly. "It's not the first time my sisters got a leg up on me and I'm stuck at the bottom..."
Lynn Sr. frowned. "That's why. Obviously, it's a hot button for you to talk about Lincoln, and it'd better for everyone (and you) if you didn't try starting a fight about it."
"And you did cause some trouble at the convention due to what you did." Rita added, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But, you did admit your fault in the matter to everyone." Rita started to cringe. "Annnd the role you have right now isn't very sanitary..."
Lynn Sr. shivered. "Ugh...when I was a kid, I had an odd job at cleaning after my neighbor's cats..."
Lincoln raised a brow. "How many did she have?"
"Thirty..." The Loud patriarch stated, a thousand yard stare on his face as he looked at the wall.
Lincoln winced. He could only imagine what kind of work that took, even if he didn't want to. "M-Maybe I should decline the role I got..."
"Well, we're not gonna force you to pick Lincoln." Rita stated. "Is it something you really want though?"
"I mean..." Lincoln started, juggling his options. "I worked really hard to get into the movie...but at the same time, I don't want to embarrass myself further..." His foot tapped the side of the bed. "I-I gotta think about it..."
"Fair enough." Lynn Sr. stood up. "Now, we won't ground you since you've been through enough already. But no comics or video games for two weeks."
Lincoln nodded. "That's fair..." He looked at his costume. "I don't think I'd be in the mood to read any for a while anyways..."
"Welp," Lynn Sr. got up, pointing a thumb to himself. "This man's gotta get din-din started!" He opened the door and exited out the room.
Rita patted Lincoln's head. "Sorry things didn't work out for you hon."
Lincoln held a solemn look in spite of the affection given to him. "Thanks Mom..."
The boy exited the room, trotting up to the second floor soon after. As soon as he got to the top step, he yelped as someone tugged on his cape before pulling him into a room with the door closing behind him. When he got his bearings, he wasn't surprised (and a little irate) to find himself in Lori and Leni's room with his sisters (now dressed in their regular clothes). Like before, they didn't appear too happy. "What do you guys want?..." He muttered with great displeasure.
"You might have gotten off easy Stinkoln, but we're gonna be watching you..." Lynn stated venomously whilst jabbing a finger in his direction.
"You may have tried to cheat your the contest, but if you try and get us out of our movie roles," Lori leaned forward, to which Lincoln questioned if that was supposed to be intimidating. "You're gonna regret it..."
"Hope you enjoy being a cat poop cleaner," Lola sneered. "Cause if what Cliff drops reeks..." She made fake gagging noises.
Lincoln pinched the bridge between his eyes. "If they were snooping on our conversation, didn't they hear everything I just said?...I don't have time for this..." He sighed. "If you're trying to scare me, good luck with that." Lincoln turned to open the door.
However, Lynn grabbed his cape and tugged hard. Lincoln went wide-eyed as he stumbled backwards, turning around to halt his momentum right at the moment she grabbed the cuff of his shirt. "We're serious Lincoln..." She poked his nose. "No. Tricks!..."
Lincoln gave two blinks, still registering what was said. A second later, he bit his lip to prevent whatever words might've come out of his mouth as a fire lit up behind his eyes. Gripping Lynn's wrists in a tight hold, "Don't." After a slight tug, he pulled her hands off. "Touch..." Then, he shoved her arms back. "Me..."
Lynn stumbled back a few feet due to having her balance thrown off, but she didn't appreciate her hostility being reciprocated. She was stepped forward to make another move, but Lincoln spoke before she could. "I've been through enough today as it is, and the last thing I want is you guys butting into my business again." Lincoln wanted to yell, but restrained himself to keep his voice level, even as he was beginning to have slight twitches. "And you already used me to win the contest, not that you would've cared anyway. So, you're welcome..."
Before any of the sisters could give a response, Lincoln opened the door and slammed it shut. As he stomped towards his room, he didn't notice his gothic sister peeking at him from her shared room; not that he even noticed she wasn't with the other sisters anyway. Opening his door, Lincoln slammed it shut.
"Girls! No slamming doors!" Lynn Sr. ordered.
The white-haired child stood in the middle of his room, breathing heavily to himself let his rage flow through him. Shutting his eyes, Lincoln slowed his breathing until he didn't feel as tense. Opening his eyes, Lincoln shuffled over to his bed and sat down. This morning, he had been the happiest out of all the siblings to go to the convention; what an irony that he would return being the most disappointed in not only the day's events, but himself. "I should've thought up a better plan than that..." He muttered. "Maybe we could've scouted the convention and found out something was going on and solved it that way..." He looked at his costume-covered arm. "Or...maybe we should've picked a different character than Ace or Jack. That might've been why we didn't stand out..."
A beep came from his phone, to which Lincoln lazily pulled it out. The screen showed a text message had been received from Clyde. "Oh boy..." He tapped the button to read it.
'How are ya holding up?' It read. Lincoln spent a few seconds tapping in a message before sending it.
'Terrible...did you dads ground you?...'
A moment passed before Clyde sent one back.
'Thankfully, no. But they said I needed to spend every day with the cats to show more appreciation for them.'
There was another pause before a second message came in. 'How'd you fare with your parents?'
Tapping echoed around the room as Lincoln composed his message. 'Didn't get grounded once I explained everything, but no comics or video games; guess I got lucky...sisters are still mad though...'
'Well, at least they aren't going to be shoveling poop...'
'True...'
Silence filled the void once more before Clyde send another message. 'I probably shouldn't bring this up...but there's a story about the convention today on the website.'
A link was posted a moment later. Lincoln felt his stomach begin to tie knots; if the pictures of them weren't favorable, what would an entire article say? As much as he didn't want to, he opted to take the plunge and find out. "Guess it can't be any worse..." He muttered to himself as he clicked the link, which brought him to the convention's main web page. Squinting his eyes as he read, "Full Deck Wins Cosplay Contest, Saves Ace and Jack from Kitty." He read allowed. "That doesn't sound too bad. 'The Full Deck from issue #415 made a surprise appearance at the convention today and easily swept aside the competition. Although they only made a one time appearance in their comic debut, they've been a hit with the fans and have gained a sizable following. Their teamwork was also on full display when the vicious Kitty had been let loose in the convention and cornered two boys dressed as Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack, who were originally trying to subdue the villain.' At least they kept that part in." Lincoln murmured. He began to frown as he read the next paragraph. " 'However, it turns out that this Ace and Jack were the culprits who released Kitty in the first place in order to try and win the contest, and have been disqualified, allowing the Full Deck to make their own cameo appearance in the upcoming Ace Savvy movie. However, for their efforts, the Ace and Jack duo have been given cameo roles as Kitty's litterbox cleaners. Pending review, we may even expect the Full Deck to make additional appearances in future movies; possibly even getting their spinoff series'..."
Lincoln sat his phone down, not bothering to read the rest of the short article. Part of him would've felt happy for his sisters in that their personas, his own creation, was getting official recognition and could be a huge addition to the series. That was how he felt at first when he and Clyde admitted their guilt. Now, he felt less inclined to be grateful for them when given a role that now seemed to just add insult to injury. On top of that, Lincoln was still drawn to the fact how little his sisters really cared about the convention until he mentioned the contest prize. The whole point was to make all of them famous, as a group. Instead, it turned into his sisters taking all the gold and the boys receiving no credit for their efforts; and that's before the failed 'solve a crime' plan. Lincoln's eyes began to reflect a hot glare. On top of all that, it seemed like no one realized that he was the one who created their characters in the first place; or if they did, they didn't really care.
Lincoln sniffed, noting how wet it sounded. "I created those personas for them because I love them. My sisters may not have liked the series much, but I spent two whole weeks creating their characters...and yet no one gets that. I could've easily used my friends as a model and it'd probably would've worked out the same way." He blinked, his sight going slightly blurry as his eyes watered up. "I probably should've went with my friends in the first place...at least they might appreciate it more..." His brows angled towards the bridge between his eyes. "And they'd actually like the stuff I'm interested in and not just when it's convenient..." Lincoln closed his eyes, letting a few hot tears leak out. "They didn't even know anything about the series until I coached them, and yet I couldn't be the 'expert' I'm supposed to be!..."
The boy choked back a few angry sobs as he soaked in the revelation that his sisters had handily won in an area that were still effectively novice in. If they only took a few days worth of training and won a major event, compared to how he had spent years soaking in as much information as he could about the Ace-verse, why couldn't he do the same thing? "Was it my fault I made them too popular?..." Lincoln muttered, rubbing his nose. "Was it wrong of me to expose what we did?...I don't think I couldn't live with the guilt if I hadn't, but..." Lincoln wiped his eyes. "Maybe I didn't think everything all the way through..."
The Loud lied back on his bed, blinking away new tears from his reddened eyes. "Or maybe the only thing I am good at is giving everyone else a leg up while I come in dead last..."
"I didn't realize how correct I was on that last thought until months later. At that point, from what I remember, I was basically having some student government meeting inside my head. I was trying figure out what I should've did, why things just never seemed to go my way, whether I should blame myself or my sisters more over the mess (which I guess isn't fair since I dragged them into it), whether I should stay in the movie or ditch my role..." Present Lincoln sighed. "So many personal questions to think about; I pretty much fell asleep without realizing it. Dinner was no better, and Mom and Dad feared a fight might break out with how quiet it was. But at least the girls didn't think to bother me; as far as passing mean looks around the table goes..." There was a brief pause. "But since we had school the next day, I wasn't prepared for what a headache THAT was going to be..."
A/N: And that's just a start. One thing I do notice when people have Lincoln slip into a depressive state is that they tend to make him dress up in gothic clothing; like a friend of mine though, I decided to go for a more physical aspect. Depression can affect people differently, and Lincoln himself is at the late stage by this point. And of course, depression doesn't just happen overnight; it's a process that takes a long time to build up. Before, I believe I haven't truly expressed that in my other works, but this one will take the a real long avenue approach.
Now, I want to be clear that Lincoln is not going to be a patron saint; becoming cynical is one thing, but he will do things that you really can't root for him on (unless you're one of those people). I don't want to give any spoilers, but the cycle of hate always feeds on itself to sustain itself.