Lincoln had all too vivid memories of that one time he offered to do grocery shopping, provided that he kept the purchases within the budget that his mother requested. His intention was to buy a new brand of cereal known as Zombie Bran and he might have believed that no one else would pick it up for him, even as a request. Keeping within a reasonable budget was one thing, as the Loud family did have eleven kids, four pets, Lucy's bat, and a few other animals that Lana maintained responsibility for, but would an extra box of cereal be too much? Lincoln could just reimburse his mother later if it came to it. Instead, when the other ten sisters came along for the ride, chaos reigned in the local Super Mart. And here was the store's angry manager, ready to unleash his fury and explain exactly what antics erupted that day.
"There he is!" he roared, fiercely pointing at Lincoln first. "The devil boy!" Poor Lincoln buried his face in Lyra's chest, not wanting to look or even being afraid of getting hurt. Lyra held him tight and glared questioningly at the manager.
"What's your problem?" she said. "I know retail businesses can have it rough, but-"
"Don't you try and protect that menace!" the manager interrupted with a loathsome growl. "That bratty kid and his sisters wrecked my store! It took me a month to clean up and our store lost way too much money! In all my years, I have never witnessed such harrowing and haughty chaos in my store!" The poor lawyer trying to represent and defend the Loud family looked like he might have pissed his pants.
"In that case," said Gavelyn. "It might be in the court's best interest to get an insight as to-"
"NO!" barked the manager. "NO! You will listen to ME and ONLY ME! I know what I saw, and a court of law will not take that away from me! Do I make myself clear?!" Wonklin banged his gavel again, but it only made the manager scowl. Gavelyn frowned, already not liking the direction this was going in.
"Explicably," he said dryly. "Go on, then." And so the manager listed off each atrocity that he witnessed as a result of the Loud sisters' antics. The parents were beyond shocked, while Gavelyn and Wonklin raised an eyebrow over such behaviors coming from even high school students, which served to only further cement Mr. Schwimmer's previous statement that the Loud parents had pretty much just decided to let the kids raise themselves rather than bestow necessary parental discipline and guidance. Unfortunately, the manager seemed to pin most of the blame on poor Lincoln.
"If that... that freak hadn't come into my store, none of this would have happened!" the manager bellowed with great enmity in his voice. Wonklin banged his gavel again to call for silence. "STOP DOING THAT!" the manager roared in response, which of course upset the judge and he gave the manager a scowl of his own. Calling Lincoln a freak was way out of line and angry glares from Lyra, Rita, and Lynn Sr. were about let him know, but he was far from done. And unfortunately, baby Lily was starting to cry, having been surprisingly calm before. "Troublemakers have no place in my store!" the manager continued to boom, spit flying from his mouth as the rest of the courtroom audience grew shocked at the man's appalling behavior. "Troublemakers have no place in the world! They deserve to starve and wither away to nothing! And I personally make sure of that! This family is toxic to polite society! All of them! All thirteen of these wretched, disgusting monsters should be banned from every single grocery store! They should be banned from polite society! They deserve to rot in prison for the rest of lives! And I should love to spit on their tombstones as only wild animals would mourn them!"
"Are you done yet?" said Wonklin.
"How dare you!" scowled the manager. "I am NOT DONE! I'm here to personally see to it, Your Honor, that you give these miserable maggots the ultimate sentence! And I'M NOT LEAVING THIS ROOM UNTIL YOU DO! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" There was about five seconds of silence that followed, apart from Lily crying. "WELL?!" the manager suddenly barked again, which only made Lily cry louder.
"I think you're forgetting your place and whose court this is," said Wonklin with defiance.
"You?!" snarled the manager. "You're not even from around here! So what do you know about even being a judge?!" That did it.
"Get him out of here," the judge ordered.
"WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU?!" roared the manager, as Gavelyn signaled to Officer Schoffner. "I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL YOU PERSECUTE THESE... these... THINGS who aren't even human!" Officer Schoffner attempted to apprehend the manager, but he resisted. "Get off me, you pig!" he snarled. Schoffner didn't care for his name-calling, but him resisting police escort was already going to look bad for his track record. It took a few more police officers to hold the manager's arms, but they ended up having to bodily carry him out in his state of anger and frustration. "Some court of law you are!" he bellowed with corrosive hatred. "Do you even know who I am?! I'll sue! I swear I'll sue! This isn't over!" The doors quickly closed after he was brought out of the courtroom. The audience was stunned by the entirety of the unprecedented outburst while the Loud parents tried to shush and comfort Lily gently. The bailiff, Gavelyn, and Wonklin massaged their temples for a full minute before Gavelyn spoke up again.
"Your Honor... I personally apologize regarding that witness," he said. "I think we all underestimated him."
"Apology already accepted, my friend," said Judge Wonklin. "However, I must say that I do believe we have... succeeded." Gavelyn raised an eyebrow.
"Pray tell," he said.
"If I recall, you said those two witnesses would be key to unraveling any eccentricities and... shed some light," Wonklin replied. Gavelyn seemed to understand where this was going. "If we are to believe that Rita Loud and Lynn Loud Sr. really have failed to raise their children properly, it opens a window for this court to see that it might have been no mere accident that young Mr. Loud here..." Lincoln was still crying in Lyra's chest as she tried to comfort him. "...was in fact a victim of domestic abuse for that period of half a month," Wonklin finished.
"O-o-ob-ob... obj-j-j-jection... Y-y-y-your... Honor," the lawyer stuttered, trying to recover from the angry Super Mart manager's outburst.
"Speak now, or hold your peace," Wonklin advised. The lawyer was able to compose himself and he cleared his throat.
"Objection," he said again. "There's no connection to the case at hand."
"Again, we'll see about that," insisted Wonklin. "Now then... while I would normally say after our last witness made quite the scene that we are in need of a recess... I simply must have answers about this Super Mart incident first. Young Mr. Loud... if you are able to testify, you may do so at your leisure." Lincoln had in fact stopped crying. Wiping tears out of his eyes and taking deep breaths, he looked right at the Honorable Judge Wonklin and spoke.
"I... I-I just wanted to... Th-there was this... cereal... I-I wanted to try. I didn't think... anyone else would get it for me... even though I don't ask for much at home. So I offered to do the family shopping... for the month... and I thought I would treat myself."
"So what happened, young man?" said Wonklin, a bit kindly.
"My sisters... wanted me to get treats... for all of them... I got pushed into a stack of cans... so we all got thrown out... and... and..."
"Yes?"
"My mom... she blamed me... and only me..."
"Did she now?" said Wonklin. "So we have your reckless sisters causing chaos and through little to no fault of your own, you all get kicked out of the store and your mother placed the blame squarely on your shoulders?"
"Wait!" Lori suddenly called out. "We did feel sorry for him... and guilty of our own actions... a-and we literally got him the cereal he wanted..." Wonklin simply banged his gavel again.
"Pathetic," he said without missing a beat. "You still allowed him to take all of the blame for not speaking up when you could have. In this instance, young Mr. Loud was singled out, further adding fuel to the fire that is the case of domestic abuse inflicted upon him for which this trial is being held." Lori's eyes widened.
"Whoops," she murmured.
"Mrs. Rita Loud," the judge went on. "Is this all true? Did your only son take the heat for this matter? And remember that you are under oath." Poor Rita had no choice.
"Yes," she said, defeated.
"Did your son try to explain?"
"Yes."
"Did you let him?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I was... far too disappointed... in him."
"I see," said Wonklin soberly. "Very well then, Mrs. Loud... End. Of. Discussion." He ended his sentence with a sneer. These very words hit home for Rita, as she remembered saying those exact words to Lincoln during the car trip home. She never let him explain the situation, which only further cemented what the court needed to know - Lincoln was being singled out, the parents were only afraid of playing favorites when it concerned their only son, and the case of domestic abuse being treated as intentional, mainly locking him out of the house for two nights straight and forcing him to wear a mascot costume during a hot day at the beach, was now warranted in the eyes of the court. Rita buried her face in her hands and cried.
"You take back what you said to my wife," Lynn Sr. hissed.
"I don't think so," said Wonklin confidently. Fascinating, he thought. I think this case will reach its conclusion faster than I thought. He then banged his gavel once more. "This court will now declare a recess. We will resume in half an hour's time." He then began massaging his temples again, so the bailiff offered a bottle of water and aspirin to him, Gavelyn, and Lyra. He then helped himself.
"What were you girls thinking?!" Rita shouted to nine of her daughters during court recess while holding Lily, tears still in her eyes. She was both mad and sad. "You were mostly responsible for getting our family kicked out of the grocery store and you let me blame poor Lincoln for everything! You ostracized him!" The Loud sisters looked even more guilty than they did that day. Their mother was right. They failed to come clean for their little brother. And worse, the court had used the incident as evidence towards intentional abuse committed to Lincoln. "Don't you see?!" Rita huffed, sadness began to overpower her anger. "The court is using this to prove that our abuse to Lincoln was done on purpose! We are losing him!" Rita lowered her head and wept bitterly. The nine sisters looked at each other and then lowered their own heads in shame. There was no mistaking that their actions were irreversible at this point and the whole Loud family was about to pay the ultimate price. Karma was catching up to them faster than they could have anticipated, if they were even under the belief that they could ever get caught.
When court resumed, it was time for the testifying to begin. And as the victim and survivor of his family's abuse, Lincoln was allowed to go first. At last, Lincoln would be able to describe everything from his own point of view, but it did mean having to relive the horrors. So when Lincoln stood up to speak, Lyra stood up with him, gently rubbing his back and shoulders. Whenever Lincoln paused to cry a little, Lyra provided more of her motherly affections by stroking his white hair and and even kissing the top of his head. Rita could not bring herself to watch Lincoln as he testified against his family. She was either jealous of Lyra or ashamed of herself and her family... or even both.
"I heard... voices..." said Lincoln, trying to wipe away his tears. "I didn't know... if I was dreaming... I felt... short of breath... I thought that... maybe... I-I was dying... A-and then the next thing I know... I opened my eyes... and there was... Patti... the nurse... from my school... I was told... what happened... When I woke up... the next morning... I... I cried..." Lincoln sniffled heavily and Lyra held him in a hug, guiding him back to their seat. The rest of the Loud family felt sorry, but they had a bad feeling it was far too late for them.
"This brings us to our next witness," declared Officer Gavelyn. "From the local hospital, Doctor Otis Antilles." The doctor who had taken care of Lincoln during his hospital hours entered the courtroom, giving nods to Officer Schoffner and Gavelyn.
"Thank you, Mr. Gavelyn," said Dr. Antilles, taking the floor. "To start, young Lincoln's case of pneumonia was nowhere near life-threatening, but we were still very glad to have him treated at the hospital. I'm sure Mr. Gavelyn has already described how and why my patient got sick, so I will forgo the details on that. So I took the liberty to call the boy's family..."
On the day that Lincoln was taken to the hospital, that afternoon, the phone rang at the Loud residence and Lynn Sr. answered.
"Is this the hospital?" he asked. "Listen, we still have the costume here, so whatever you do, don't touch my son-"
"Will you shut up and listen to me?!" a voice roared on the other end, nearly making the resident father drop the phone. "Lincoln Loud has pneumonia, do you hear me?! He has pneumonia! He just slipped into a coma moments ago!"
"...What?"
"You heard me! Pneumonia! He's in a coma!"
"..."
"Do I have your attention now? Good. Now listen. Your son has developed a slightly mild to moderate case of pneumonia. It's not life-threatening, but since he's now in a coma, he'll have to be treated here at the hospital. Although we're confident he'll wake up this evening, we're keeping him here for a few days."
"My... my son..." murmured Lynn Sr. "What happened? How did this happen? How on earth did he get pneumonia?!" Rita and all ten daughters overheard this fact and gasped loudly.
"Apparently, he's been sick for at least ten days and it went untreated," the doctor on the other end of the phone confirmed. "So we're gonna be the ones dying here... for answers."
"Ten days?!" gasped Lynn Sr. "But... how?! Why didn't he...?!"
"We've found multiple skin rashes leading to various infections," said the doctor. "There are also traces showing that a wild raccoon had come into contact with the boy. And apparently the reason he slipped into a coma was because of a near heat stroke." The Loud father grew increasingly nervous. "Has your son been exposed to extreme heat?" the doctor asked. It was now Lynn Sr.'s turn to start sweating. He and the rest of the family knew exactly what they made Lincoln do for the past two weeks, as well as how a wild animal touched his son, and right then and there, he finally realized the negative impact it had. "Has your son been exposed to extreme heat?" the doctor repeated. "And what about the raccoon coming into contact with him? ... ... ... Hello?! Why won't you answer? What's going on?!"
"Uh..." Lynn Sr. stammered. "We'll... pay a visit to the hospital and explain everything."
"Negative," said the doctor. "Visiting hours will have to wait until at least tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm afraid we'll have to conduct an investigation."
"I believed something was seriously wrong with the Loud family," Dr. Antilles concluded. "I didn't know what, but I had a feeling I couldn't leave it unchecked. Fortunately, I had a little bit of help. Miss Leni Loud had already called the police, so there was no need to make a follow-up call." He turned to Leni and nodded. "Thank you, Leni." The ditzy Loud sister only blushed and waved sheepishly. She knew that she was just as guilty as the Loud family, but her saving Lincoln would certainly not be overlooked.
"If I may ask the Loud family a question rather than our witness..." Wonklin began.
"I object!" the lawyer shouted again. "Leave my clients alone!" Wonklin banged his gavel thunderously.
"Are you even aware of your duties as lawyer?!" he bellowed slightly.
"It's my job to protect my clients!" the lawyer snarled through gritted teeth. It was clear that he was trying to get the judge to back down, but it wasn't working. Not on a man like Wonklin, it seemed.
"No. Favoritism. In fact," he said. "I've come to notice that you've been exempt in being impartial, contrary to a lawyer's common duty, you've taken an aggressive approach, accusing a court of law of acting biased and questioning a judge's judicial ethics-"
"I've heard enough!" said the lawyer in a fit of rage. "This isn't a fair trial!" Wonklin banged his gavel again.
"You may think that your attitude will bring others to bend to your demands through intimidation," Wonklin hissed. "But these manners of yours only solidify favoritism and lack of proper duties. I think it's high time for you to sit out... until both sides make their closing arguments."
"You don't understand!" said the lawyer. "I have to-"
"Oh, we understand," said Wonklin. "We've seen that in spite of hard evidence against the defendants, you still call us out."
"I knew it! This case is rigged! I can sue! I'll-"
"Are you mad?!"
"It's you who's mad!" said the crazy lawyer. "The Loud family is innocent! I can prove it!" Wonklin banged his gavel with contempt.
"Leave!" he finally demanded.
"What?" said the lawyer. "No!"
"Leave, sir!" the judge ordered again.
"Please!"
"I said LEAVE!" In the end, the lawyer conceded to the judge, not to return until the closing arguments would begin. "I must say, I'm rather disappointed," said Wonklin, regarding the lawyer. "Mr. Loud, I hope this poor choice wasn't made to gain any favors, per say." Lynn Sr. looked nervous.
"He was... the only person I could get... o-on short notice," he said, trying to save face. Wonklin of course didn't look entirely convinced, but having just dismissed the lawyer, he decided to let this slide for the time being.
"As a token to show that this will be a fair trial, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt... for now," he said. "We obviously have more pressing matters."
"Doctor Antilles," said Gavelyn. "We personally apologize for the inconvenience."
"No worries," said Antilles.
"Now then," said Wonklin. "Where was I? ... ...Oh, yes. I was about to ask the Loud family a question, namely the parents." Both Rita and Lynn Sr. gulped. "As you consider the ramifications of your intentional abuse towards your only son... supposing the wild raccoon had rabies, what would you have done? Would you have allowed his sickness to get even worse, since you would not have let him back into the house or even so much as touched him because he was bad luck? What if the boy had been kidnapped during the night? Or... perhaps..." Please don't say it, Rita thought. "What if your son... had died?" Rita burst into tears. He had said it. Fascinating, thought Wonklin. That's exactly what I thought would happen. Guilt. "Sometimes, actions you think are so simple can haunt you for the rest of your life," he concluded. Officer Schoffner had said these exact words to the Loud parents previously.
"No more, no more," Rita begged in her crying state. "Please... no more..." They truly are sorry, Lincoln thought, but he noticed that Lyra, Gavelyn, Wonklin, or even Dr. Antilles didn't seem to be moved by even a mother's tears. And the white-haired boy did understand why. While his family was indeed ashamed of their maltreatment towards him, they also seemed to be ashamed that they got caught, as if they didn't think it would happen. But Lincoln was becoming aware of what might have become of him if no action had been taken at all. And given Wonklin not ruling out any possibilities of what could have happened, Lincoln realized he was right to look at his family, specifically his parents, in a different light than what he knew in the 11 years of his life under their care. Yes, what if he had been kidnapped or killed?
"No further questions, Dr. Antilles," said Gavelyn. "Anything you wish to add?"
"I'm good, thank you," said the doctor.
"Thank you for your time," said Gavelyn. Dr. Antilles gave a quick nod and smile to Lincoln as he left, as if to wish the boy good luck. It was then time for Leni to testify and hers was also very emotional.
And then one night, Leni heard Lincoln crying in his room and managed to catch a few words from him through the door to his room.
"I hate it here!" His voice was somewhat muffled, but Leni could hear him perfectly. "I wish I could get out of this place! They don't love me anymore..." Leni gasped upon hearing this and instinctively knocked on his door. "LEAVE!" Lincoln hollered upon hearing the knock and had a terrible coughing fit afterwards. Leni felt horrible, but in going along with what the family was doing to him, she felt that she had no choice but to leave him be. The poor blonde felt like crying, knowing that her only brother needed help, but she fought back her tears instead. It was time for her to be brave, even if her brother was still being labeled as bad luck while not wearing some silly mascot costume. Whether it was the heat of a moment or an instinct born of sisterly love, she knew what the right thing to do would be. However, it dawned upon her that there was a very real chance that their family would be changed forever. There would be no turning back and the right thing to do could cost everything that they hold dear, but Leni would not swallow her pride, not this time. There's no other way, she thought. Linky... I have to do this! Mom, Dad, LJ... forgive me. Her mind made up, she proceeded to slink off to the kitchen, where she was sure no one could hear her, and whipped out her cell phone to make a late-night call. She waited for the other end to answer and then replied.
"Leni L. Loud," she said, nervous but standing her ground. "I... I wish to report... a confession."
"You realize that for the most part the conditions in this household are relatively unsafe, particularly for your younger children," said the representative. "Honestly, it's a wonder how this lifestyle has gone on for as long as it has. And what doesn't help is that this is tacked on to a report filed for child abuse, negligence, and endangerment. Don't expect this to end well." She then addressed Leni. "Leni Loud?"
"Y-Y...Yes," Leni stuttered.
"You did the right thing," said the representative, putting her hand on the blonde girl's shoulder briefly to assure her. "Thanks for your time." As she went on her way, the rest of the family was left slack-jawed and wide-eyed. Leni faced them with her best brave face.
"I called the authorities," she told them. "And I called for that ambulance." The family was still quite stunned, so there was not one response. "I had to!" Leni went on. "I... I love my brother." She looked down for a moment. "I love Linky." She then looked back up to face her family once more. "Do you?" Two simple words that would pierce their souls forever.
And then came the big one - Lynn Jr., the one who started the bad luck fiasco to begin with. When she took the stand, she was no longer the tough, aggressive girl the rest of the family saw her as. She was in tears the whole time as she confessed to everything - threatening her brother with a bat, blaming him for losing that softball game, and manipulating the rest of her family into believing he was bad luck, which led to him becoming the family's outcast in the first place.
"This is all my fault," she choked. "I... I threatened my little brother into coming to that game..."
"Wait, what?!" said Rita. Lynn Sr.'s mouth hung open.
"I threatened him... with a bat..." Lynn Jr. confessed, beginning to tear up and choke on her words. "I just wanted him to come to one of my softball games... and when he finally did... and I lost... I blamed him for it... I was upset... and I let my stubbornness and pride take control!" She pounded the floor with her fists as she said the last sentence.
"You've literally got some nerve!" said Lori hypocritically, though she might have regretted almost threatening and seriously injuring her little brother herself. "He's our brother! Did you want him to be afraid of you?!" Lynn Jr. kept her head lowered to the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with the rest of her family.
"Your Honor..." she then said. "Please... ... ... Punish ME! Just me! I'm the one you want!" She slipped into a hysterical sobbing fit. "It's all my fault! I goaded my family into turning against my poor, little brother! Everything that happened to him... was because of me! I didn't know my parents were just playing along... but I still talked them into it! Please, Your Honor! Punish me instead! I throw myself to the mercy of your court here and now!" She fell to her hands and knees sobbing, so the other sisters helped her back to her seat. "I'm sorry, Lincoln... My baby bro... I'm so sorry..." Seeing this, Lincoln came to tears of his own as Lyra comforted him. Interesting, thought Wonklin, regarding Lynn Jr.'s confession as he stroked his chin. But a court of law and state law would prohibit a full prosecution against her at such a young age. Then again, juvenile hall does exist.
"We thank you for your sincerity, young lady," said Wonklin. "It'd be in our best interests to wrap this case up, but there's still addressing the other issues regarding your father. We read these charges at the beginning of the trial, as you know, and the seriousness of each one simply cannot be overlooked."
"And to further solidify the seriousness, we will now present the evidence," said Gavelyn, pulling out another thumb drive. "The call made to the Royal Woods Child Care for Mental Health institution was recorded, as no chances were taken due to the Loud parents being under house arrest." This revelation shocked the Loud family, with the exception of Lincoln, as Gavelyn proceeded to play the audio.
"I need to make sure this is okay, so I'll page a manager."
"What for? For wanting to talk to my son?"
"Officer Schoffner said you and your wife are under house arrest, so just as a precaution-"
"I just want to talk to my son! The whole family does! Is that such a crime?!"
"Sir, calm down."
"I'll calm down as soon as I get to talk with my son! Would you please put him on?"
"Sir, I have to take precautions, so please give me a minute."
"Where is my son?!"
"Calm down, sir. We'll inform Lincoln, but it'll be up to him if he wants to talk."
"He has to!"
"Wait, what?"
"We have to tell him we're sorry! We need him!"
"Mr. Loud, if your son wants to talk, he will."
"Where is he?!"
"Sir..."
"Listen! Can you hear my wife crying right now?"
"Sir..."
"Can you hear her?!"
"Yes, I can hear-"
"Then please get Lincoln to talk to us! We have to tell him we're sorry!"
"We will get that chance, girls. We all will. Because Lincoln's coming home. Am I right?"
"Dad, don't fool yourself."
"We haven't lost him yet! There's still time!"
"Dad!"
"Listen, sport. They're not keeping you."
"But I love it here. Lyra's really nice. She was just upset a minute ago. And I-"
"What have you done to my son?!"
"Sir, we haven't done anything-"
"My son's coming home or I'm reporting a kidnapping!"
"Sir! You're acting like a maniac!"
"I don't care! I want my son back!"
"Sir, don't do this!"
"Hold on, son! I'm coming!"
"Dad!"
*Beeeeeep*.
It was Lynn Sr.'s turn to cry. He was busted.
"I suppose Mr. Gavelyn already gave you a thorough talking to regarding your... delusion, did he not?" said Wonklin, not at all pleased. Lynn Sr. swallowed and nodded. "And this also brings me to question your hiring of your choice of lawyer." Lynn Sr. closed his eyes in defeat, as there was just no beating around the bush. "Is there something you should explain?" asked Wonklin.
"Yes," Lynn Sr. answered. "I had no idea what my family and I were up against... so I hired a lawyer who claimed he knew exactly how to set a court of law straight and had a record of... convincing judges... to set the record straight." There were quite a few mumbles from the audience hearing this. Wonklin sighed.
"Mr. Loud," he said. "Showing aggression and an ill temper may come across as intimidating and demanding, but the sad reality is that it fails to exhibit professionalism and manners. And in the case of people such as Mr. Gavelyn and myself who insist on doing our jobs, it can make an ill-mannered person come across as rather... dim-witted, possibly at most. Your lawyer also showed signs of getting desperate when he wasn't expecting to be called out or even questioned, which of course raises a red flag. And although Mr. Gavelyn and I have exhibited strong demeanors, which do not tolerate practices of aggression to a certain degree and favoritism, we do so in the interest of upholding the law and working with reasonable evidence to determine the course of a case, especially cases that involve children. In short, your lawyer might have tried too hard. He acted in a cowardly manner and exhibited signs of favoritism."
"Yes, sir," said Lynn Sr., his voice down low.
"Oh, honey," mumbled Rita. "Why did you do it?"
"I was desperate myself," Lynn Sr. mumbled back. "I just wanted my son back." Rita sighed in defeat. This could easily seal their fate in stone.
"So," said the judge. "Before our sides share their closing arguments, is there anything else that needs to be said and done?" Lyra Lone stood up.
"If I may, Your Honor," she said.
"Granted," said Wonklin without hesitation.
"I was angry before," Lyra started. "But there's something I feel even more. I'm... disappointed. I'm very disappointed in the Loud family. Not only have they abused one of their own, whom I can admit I've grown to love..." Lincoln blushed as Lyra went on. "...but we've also seen and heard with our own eyes and ears, in this very room, what has transpired as a result. The family seems to depend on Lincoln to keep them together, which makes it ironic and even more disappointing of how he's been treated, namely before this bad luck incident. And seeing a few family members reach desperate levels in an attempt to take him back makes me wonder just how far the family will fall apart without him, or worse, what they will do with him even if they are able to return to being a whole family." Lincoln recalled having the exact same fears, seeing as nothing was ruled out. Now that he thought about it, his sisters in particular had more than enough chances to set things right, but time and time again, he was either just their footstool, slave, guinea pig, and/or punching bag. "I've worked with many children in the few years I've had my job as a child specialist," Lyra went on. "Not a single one came from an abusive household or even had such a harrowing experience as Lincoln here has. What happens is that parents leave their children in our care for a few days so we can help them deal with their own mental health issues that they might be struggling with, which their parents are usually unable to deal with themselves. Sometimes, kids come on a weekend basis, sort of like being at a retreat. And we help them, to the best of our abilities. Lincoln was certainly a special case... and I was glad to have helped him. I actually hope... to continue to do so."
"Well said, Miss Lone," said Officer Gavelyn.
"Indeed," Judge Wonklin agreed. "Might there be anything else?" There was silence and a few of the important people shook their heads. "Very well. Rita Loud and Lynn Loud Sr., please rise." The Loud parents stood up. "How do you plead in all this?" the judge asked decisively.
"We plead... guilty..." said Lynn Sr. and Rita nodded in agreeance.
"We made a terrible mistake the way we chose to punish our son... and Leni was in the right to... to stop us," she said.
"And I... I'm truly sorry for my behavior... during house arrest," said Lynn Sr. "But it was out of love... and I was desperate to see my son again."
"I commend you for your honesty," said Wonklin. "Let us proceed to the closing statements." And true to his word, Wonklin allowed the Loud family's lawyer to return and offer one last defense.
"Your Honor, I wish to protest one last time," said the lawyer, calmly this time around. "I apologize for my earlier rashness and biased behavior, but I wish for you to look into the hearts of the Loud family, especially the parents. They are aware of their actions and are truly sorry. No family and parents are perfect, and the Louds... are not bad people. They just made bad decisions. But can't you see that they love their children? And they'll do anything for them. Honorable Judge Rex Wonklin... please allow them to be a family once more. They deserve... a second chance."
"Mr. Gavelyn," said Wonklin. "Do you wish to offer a closing statement?" The Loud family waited for the blow to fall as Officer Gavelyn began to speak.
"I'll say pretty much what has already been established," he began. "We are looking at failed parents at most. This case has indeed revealed many actions within closed walls to be intentional, including physical and mental abuse, particularly towards the only boy in a string of ten other daughters. For whatever reason, it's obvious that the parents have allowed their daughters to become people that society may one day question what place they will have in the world. And even if the parents for whatever reason have indeed been too afraid and held back to dish out proper discipline and guidance, then they have either raised more kids than they could handle, which may or may not be a feasible reason, or they knew what they were getting themselves into and decided that their only son would be the perfect puppet to their daughters. There's no telling what will become of them as adults, nor is it clear if these recent transpirations will in fact mold them into better people. But if anything, to set an example in today's society, whatever the verdict is... we must hold this family accountable." Judge Wonklin nodded, as if he was already in agreeance with the prosecutor, and not just because they happened to be old friends from law school.
"This case will now be adjourned temporarily while the jury reaches a final verdict," declared Wonklin, slamming his gavel.