Chapter 2: School's Out

Somewhere down the road from the Loud House, Lincoln whistled as he casually strolled down the sidewalk towards an intersection. There was a familiar figure in the distance who fidgeted with an unusual-looking contraption, barely holding onto it as he attempted to balance himself next to the curb.

"Hey, Clyde!" Lincoln called out, waving at the local geek. "Mornin', Lincoln!-Woah!" His best friend called back, attempting to wave his hand before losing his balance.

The white-haired boy gasped, before reaching out to him from afar. "Radiohead! Help him up!"

From Lincoln's body, the silhouette of a green phantom emerged, rushing to Clyde's side. With a pair of unbound, ethereal hands, the young nerd was propped back up with a slight nudge, and the Stand of his best friend had managed to save him from yet another trip to the first aid locker.

"Woah! Thanks, dude. You really saved my butt–and my Rube-Goldberg machine!" He grinned at the young Stand user, who dusted off his hands and gave off a smug grin as his Stand dissipated. "Anytime, ol' pal. I always got your back! Besides, I didn't spend the night at your place building that thing for nothin'."

"Hey, speaking of spending the night, have you seen Ronnie Anne? She's supposed to be with some girly clique down the street…you know the deal. Girly sleepovers are quite the excellent source of information." He asserted, walking towards their school as his friend led the way.

"Oooh yeah. I'll have to tell my sisters about that. Gotta find Ronnie first, though." He commented, snapping his finger as they stopped at a crosswalk. As the cars passed by, Lincoln's eyes widened, and a smile soon followed. "Hey, once we get that sweet sweet intel, maybe we could pull some last-minute pranks on those rich kids! Like Chandler…ugh, I still can't believe I was that guy's doormat for a day."

"Yeah…that was pretty low, even by your standards." Clyde sighed as they looked for a sign of their skater friend. "Hey…" He sniffed the air. "...is that–lemon I smell?" He asked, and Lincoln sighed. "Yeah, don't worry about it–oh, look!"

As the traffic proceeded past them and cleared up, they noticed a figure in the distance speeding down the adjacent sidewalk, riding a skateboard. The figure was accompanied by the familiar sounds of the board's wheels grinding against the hot concrete, which occasionally increased its spin when the skater kicked.

When the traffic had finally cleared out, a familiar purple hoodie popped out from the background, and the girl wearing it showed no signs of slowing down. As she approached the curb before the crossing, she performed an ollie, shouting out;

"Bouncing Soul!" And with a flick of her wrist, a long, elastic red slime formed itself from her hands, attaching itself next to where Lincoln stood. With one pull of the amorphous mass, she was dragged mid-air towards the opposite sidewalk, as if the slime acted like a grappling hook. As this happened, Lincoln and Clyde appeared dumbfounded at the sight, before laying eyes on her as she stuck her landing.

"Hey, guys!"

"Ronnie Anne!" They exclaimed simultaneously. "Sweet moves, by the way!" Clyde grinned, eyeing her Stand, which seemed to snake around her skateboard on its own.

"Yeah, Ronnie. When'd you learn to use your Stand like that?" Lincoln asked, eyeing Bouncing Soul with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh! Well, remember that thing where I had to go to Great Lakes? Well…they have a skatepark there! Got to practice my stuff, y'know. Sucks that I have to move next week, though…"

"Hey, we can always visit, you know? It's only a few hours away, no biggie." Clyde reassured, patting her shoulder.

"Yeah! Now that Leni can kinda drive, we can go sometime! Besides, she loves the fashion scene out there…" Lincoln quipped, and the three shared a hearty laugh.

"She'll do anything for fashion, won't she? Heh. She'd definitely get along with Carlota." She commented, as Bouncing Soul picked up her skateboard and handed it to her before dissipating. The three began to cross the street, still engaged in conversation. "Carlota? Who's that?" Lincoln asked.

"Oh, right–well, she's my cousin! She's a fashionista, too. Eldest of the Casagrandes. She's like, really obsessed with her looks, though…" Ronnie explained as they approached the front of their school.

"Yup. They'll hit it off." Lincoln chuckled along with his friends as they eventually reached the front steps of Royal Woods Elementary.

"Hey, speaking of hitting it off…how was the sleepover?" The boy in orange asked, leading the way into the building. The three were met with many familiar faces, most of which were abuzz for the end of the school year. In the distance, Ronnie Anne spotted a group of well-dressed girls and turned away from them.

"It was, uhm…pretty lame." She rubbed her arm and looked to the ground, her lips forming a frown. "I mean, that's kind of expected, I guess. Their interests are miles away from what we've got." He put a hand on her shoulder as they proceeded down the hallway. She shrugged him off, walking forward before turning to face him with a sour look.

"Look, I don't really wanna talk about it right now." She raised her skateboard to him. "But–the information!–" Lincoln was left behind by the skater girl, for she had turned away before he could finish his sentence.

"Jeez…what happened last night?" Clyde pondered, putting his thumb and index finger on his chin.

"Oh, man…I don't wanna end the last week of school on a sour note. It just feels–wrong! We gotta find her during lunchtime."

"Good idea. Besides, something tells me she'll want to do those pranks, considering the popular girls made her a little…pissed off." Clyde suggested, and the two nodded at each other in acceptance, proceeding to their classrooms as the bell rang.

As Lincoln approached his desk next to the window, his homeroom teacher, Ms. Johnson, walked into the room with a smile on her face. "Good morning, everyone!"

"Good morning, Miss Johnson." The class replied half-heartedly as she stood by her desk. "I have great news, everyone! Since we finished our final exams early this year, thanks to–heh–a few overturned snow days…we'll be having a special schedule this week…"

The young students' expressions lit up, murmuring and pondering amongst themselves what could have possibly been planned for the end of the year, and by extension, the end of their elementary school days.

Ms. Johnson pulled out a rolled-up poster from her desk drawer, and revealed it to the class. On the poster paper was a carnival-esque setting; fair rides ranging from small rollercoasters to the anchor's away surrounded a rather familiar building, with game booths lining the entrance to the structure in the center. "Hey, is that–our school?" One of Lincoln's classmates pointed out.

"It is! Class, this week, we'll be having Royal Woods Elementary's first-ever Year-End Summer Fair! As we speak, the rides and booths we ordered are on their way! Rides, live music, carnival food, we got it all!"

The class erupted in joy and excitement, and Lincoln joined along with them. "So that's why the cafeteria food was nasty this year!" He commented.

"Erm–yes, Lincoln. We were saving money for a reason…besides, you kids are moving up to middle school! Therefore, we should go out with a bang. This whole thing was my idea, you see." Ms. Johnson smugly crossed her arms.

"Wow, Ms. Johnson! When did you get so…cool?" He asked, while the class seemed to be occupied in their own excitement.

"Well, Lincoln, if you must know…right after this week ends, I'm going to take a leave. I've finally found my true passion…equestrian sports!"

"Miss, uh–didn't you break your leg from a mechanical bull that one time?"

"Yes! Well, that was before I got a hang of it! But now…well, I'd say I'm pretty darn good. Hey–I ran into your sister the other day at the racetrack, by the way. She said I had a tight form! I don't know if that's good or bad…"

Lincoln's eyebrows were raised. "You mean Lori's in town already? She said she'd come back, like, next week!"

"Oh!-" She covered her mouth, her eyes widened. "-I…wasn't supposed to say that. Well, she was in town, but that was for her apprenticeship. She's back at campus, as far as I know." Ms. Johnson shrugged.

"Oh…I see." He gave her a suspicious look momentarily, and she turned to the class. "Everyone, I'll be right back…since it's basically a free day today, let's watch some movies!" The students responded with a resounding 'Yeah!' and Lincoln grinned, leaning back on his wooden chair momentarily, before looking out the classroom windows.

"Ah, what a nice day…" He sighed to himself, observing a flock of pigeons pecking at the grass outside. Their chirps and coos were heard through the glass quite easily, and these avians appeared to be as content as the students within the classroom. As much as the children basked in the year-end excitement, the feathered flock basked in the late-morning sun, and so did Lincoln. The sun's rays only barely entered the classroom, giving Lincoln an opportunity to charge up his Stand as he waited for Ms. Johnson to return with some films to watch. With every second in the fleeting sunlight, what little UV radiation came through was absorbed by Lincoln's fair skin, allowing Radiohead to gradually materialize. The robot-like phantom loomed over the young boy, looking out the window along with his master. The truth was, Lincoln walked to school not only to rendezvous with his friends, but to prepare his abilities…

As he stared at the flock, a distinct caw filled the air. From the skies above, a large black crow flapped its wings before landing next to its smaller grey counterparts. It curiously looked around, letting out a short call before turning its head towards Lincoln. It flapped its wings once more, and landed on the windowsill.

"Oh! Hey there, little buddy."

The crow cawed, attracting the attention of the class. They huddled around Lincoln, gazing at the avian omen with curiosity. "Wooah. Cool bird." One young boy commented, as the crow hobbled around, eyeing Lincoln for a moment. Its head looked upwards, eyeing Lincoln's Stand before letting out an angered cry.

CRACK!

The bird had used its sharp, dense beak to strike the windowpane, causing Lincoln and his classmates to recoil and let out spooked expressions of their own. "Ah!" The only son retreated, and his Stand dissipated while the crow let out another caw, flying away. In the bird's wake was a sizeable crack in the glass, leaving the students' excitement in pieces.

"That bird was crazy or something!" One girl commented. "Yeah! You should probably watch out for those crows, Lincoln. I don't think they like you. If anything, like, they want your hair, dude! It's way too shiny."

The class shared a hearty laugh with themselves while Lincoln crossed his arms, a frown on his face. "Stupid bird." He mumbled.