Look, being a middle child isn't easy. You've got to put up with both cruddy older siblings and gross, annoying little siblings. With most other families, this isn't so bad, since you only have to deal with around 2 or 3 siblings at a time. But when you throw 9 sisters and an older brother into the mix, things can start getting a little more complicated for a certain Lynn Loud Jr…
"IT'S THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE SEASON! TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT, THE STADIUM IS PACKED, SNACKS ARE FLYING OUT OF VENDORS' HANDS, AND THE ATMOSPHERE IS ELECTRIFYING HERE AT ROYAL WOODS!!! TUNE IN AT 8 PM ON SUNDAY TO CATCH THE BIGGEST, MOST ACTION PACKED, AND MOST MEMORABLE GAME OF THIS YEAR'S MLB SEASON!!"
13 year old Lynn Jr. excitedly circled a box in her calendar, which had the words "GAME DAY!" hurriedly scribbled in the middle of the box. Several red X's preceded the circle, each one representing a different day of the month. Today was finally the day, and Lynn was practically bouncing off the walls in her room in excitement.
"This is gonna be AWESOME!!" She screamed, clutching her baseball bat and swinging it around her room, pretending she was in a major league baseball game herself. Her parents would surely reprimand her for being careless and risking hitting either herself, her roommate, or breaking something in her shared room, but she didn't care. Tonight was the biggest, most important night of the year- no, her whole life.
"The Royal Woods Woodpeckers VS The Detroit Tigers. Action, sweat, tears, loss, and victory!!" She exclaimed, giving one final swing of her baseball bat as she set it on the floor and leaned against it, looking up at the many, many posters and pieces of merchandise of her hometown's baseball team on her side of the room. Jerseys, baseballs, gloves, bats, caps, and even foam fingers, each of them emblazoned with the logo of the Royal Woods Woodpeckers.
She stared up at a poster of her favorite baseball player on the Royal Woods Woodpeckers: Terry "Hotshot" Jones. The man who scored a home run for 9 games straight, and hasn't missed a single swing since the start of the season. He was the man who carried his team to the World Series Final.
And tonight, she'd get to watch him play live.
'All the glory, in just a few minutes!' Lynn thought, grinning from ear to ear with stars in her eyes. Just imagining how intense and nerve-wracking tonight's game was guaranteed to be was enough to send her into yet another energetic frenzy, bouncing around her room and swinging her bat.
Now, you may be wondering: With 10 siblings, there was no way on Earth Lynn would be able to make it to to the TV to catch her game on time, let alone being able to watch it in peace without one of her siblings either bothering her or hogging the TV to themselves. And while you'd usually be correct in assuming such a thing, this time? This time, she had a plan.
Lynn was not exactly known for her intelligence, or her forethought. But the one thing she was known for was her ability to come up with effective strategies on the fly. Once she knew her opponent, she already knew everything she needed to know and do in order to win. And luckily, she knows all 10 of her opponents like the back of her hand.
Checking the clock on her dresser, she quickly saw that it was 7:55; only 5 minutes until the biggest game of her life.
Once she heard the opening of the door to the right of her and her sister's room, she knew it was now or never.
"Game time," she whispered, quickly grabbing something from underneath her bed and bolting out of her room into the hall, looking to her left to see the first two players on the opposing team. The twins, Lola and Lana.
"Cartoons! Cartoons! Cartoons!" The two 6 year olds screamed, marching down the hallway, each with one arm around her twin's shoulder. Although they were twins, their personalities and interests couldn't be more different, with Lola enjoying more stereotypically feminine things, such as wearing pink dresses and having tea parties, and Lola preferring to get messy and play in the mud with her dirty overalls and faded red cap. The one thing they had in common besides their blonde hair, however, were the two wide, gap-toothed grins they wore as they stepped out of their rooms and into the hall, intent on making their way downstairs and watching their Sunday night cartoons.
But Lynn had a different plan in mind. The sporty girl quickly stepped in front of her two younger sisters, giving them a wide smile as she held a silver platter covered by a dome in one hand. "Did somebody say 'tea party'!?" She exclaimed, uncovering the silver platter and revealing a bright pink set of tea cups and a tea pot.
Lola squealed excitedly, quickly grabbing the items and darting back into her room with a cry of, "Thanks, Lynn!", all thoughts of cartoons quickly leaving her mind at the prospect of enjoying one of her favorite activities.
Lana, on the other hand, simply looked at Lynn with an unimpressed look. "Hey! I don't wanna go to some dumb, lame tea party! I wanna watch TV!" She yelled, crossing her arms. Lynn grinned, before revealing two frogs who croaked in boredom from behind her back. "Not even if these two guys are invited?!" She said invitingly, grinning as Lana's face lit up and she, too, squealed in excitement. "Thanks, Lynn!" She cried, grabbed the frogs and heading straight back into her room.
Lynn sighed, wiping her forehead as her plan worked.
'2 down.'
Truthfully, she wasn't sure if that would actually work as she intended, but now, with the twins successfully distracted, that left only 8 more siblings.
She turned to the left as she saw her direct older sister, Luan, about to head down the stairs. "Yo, Luan!" She called out, prompting the 14 year old to look back at her. Luan Loud was the resident comedian and entertainer of the family, always the first to make a pun or pull a prank. Lynn knew that one of Luan's favorite activities included catching her family's funny or embarrassing moments on her video camera that she got as a gift for her 10th birthday. And as Lynn heard the tell-tale sounds of the beginning of one of her identical younger sisters' iconic arguments, she knew the perfect way to distract Luan.
Luan looked at her with a bucktoothed and braces-filled smile. "Hey Lynn, I was just heading downstairs to watch TV!" She said. Lynn smirked as she looked into the room and saw the twins fighting.
"Better idea, go grab your camera! The twins are throwing down again!" Lynn said, jabbing a thumb towards where the twins were arguing and throwing stuff across the room. Luan peered into the room before gasping, grinning. "This is totally gonna go viral! Thanks, Lynn!" She exclaimed, sprinting to her room to grab her camera and record the fight. Lynn smiled.
'3 down.'
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small, dark figure silently slink towards the stairs. To anyone but Lynn, the dark mass would have gone completely unnoticed. But after years of sharing the same room, Lynn could easily recognize the sight of her 8 year old sister Lucy sneaking around.
"Lucy! Hold on a sec!" She called for her younger sister and roommate, watching as the young girl dressed in all black paused before the stairs.
"Sigh. What is it, Lynn? The season premiere of my favorite show 'Vampires of Melancholia' is almost on," Lucy said in her monotone voice. Lynn grinned, digging around in her pocket. "Oh, you know, nothing. Just wanted to show you this totally creepy looking skull I found in the attic!" She exclaimed, presenting an extremely detailed and disturbing crow's skull to her sister.
While most 8 year olds would find such a thing to be horrifying and the source of months worth of nightmares, Lucy was not like most 8 year olds, and instead looked at the skull with her signature frown.
Inwardly, Lynn was nervous. She had no idea if what she'd shown Lucy would distract her or not. Not because it was something Lucy didn't seem like she would be interested in, but because no one, not even their parents, could tell what Lucy was feeling at any given moment. She could be disgusted, ecstatic, or completely apathetic towards the skull Lynn had presented her with, and the 13 year old would have no idea. The only other person who could even somewhat decipher Lucy's current emotional state was their older brother.
Lynn, thinking fast, acted like she was about to shove the skull back in her pocket to elicit a reaction from her sister. "Well I mean, unless you don't want the skull. In that case, I'll just-"
"Wait," Lucy cut her off, a rare hint of panic in her voice. The 8 year old goth regained her composure, before replying flatly. "I'll take it."
Lynn inwardly cheered, and dropped the skull in her sister's outstretched hands. Lucy looked at the skull in fascination(?), before quickly darting off to who knows where.
Lynn pumped her fist in celebration.
'That's 4!'
Suddenly, the door to her two youngest sisters' room opened, and her 1 year old baby sister Lily came waddling out while giggling, shortly followed by her genius, glasses-wearing 4 year old sister Lisa.
Lynn raced towards them, picking up a laughing Lily with one arm and pointing at Lisa with the other. "Yo, Lisa! Got you all that stuff you needed from the kitchen for your weird experiment thingy!!"
Lisa looked at her blankly. "The lactose, Triticum protein, sodium chloride crystals, sucrose, and gallus gallus ovum?" She said with a lisp, spit flying out of her mouth and onto Lynn's hand. Lynn grimaced and held back an annoyed yell, before she shook her hand and grabbed all the stuff from behind her back as she tried to translate Lisa's science-talk. "Uh, that's nerd for milk, flour, salt, sugar, and eggs, right?" She said hesitantly, placing all of the items in Lisa's hands.
Lisa shrugged with her arms full. "You say tomato, I say Solanum Lycopersicum. Thank you," she lisped, stepping back into her room and slamming the door. Lynn sighed, shaking her hand one more time for good measure as she still held a giggling Lily in her other arm.
'That makes 5..'
She looked at her watch. 7:58. She was running out of time!
She saw her second oldest sister Leni come out of her room with a happy expression on her face. Lynn instantly knew what she had to do to get her 16 year old, airheaded sister out of the way. She inwardly apologized for using such a cheap trick, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
"LENI, STOP! There's a spider in your hair!!" She yelled, pointing at Leni's head with the best worried and fearful expression she could fake. Leni paused, her eyes widening, before she gave an ear-piercing scream and started rapidly raking her fingers through her hair.
"EW EW EW EW EWWW!!! Get it off, get it off, GET IT OFF!!" She screeched, running back into her room as she continued to swat at her hair like it was on fire. Lynn flinched, rubbing her ears from the damage Leni's scream caused.
'6. 4 more to go.'
The door to Luan's room opened, and out stepped her third eldest sister, Luna.
"Sup, 'sis! TV tonight is gonna be ROCKIN'!!YEAH!!!" She yelled, giving an enthusiastic strum of her electric guitar. Luna was 15 and on her way to becoming a rockstar. While the rest of her siblings were chaotic and loud in their own way ('Luan would be proud of that one', Lynn thought absently), most of their noise complaints originated from Luna jamming out too hard in her room.
"Orrrrrr…" Lynn dragged out, whipping out a strobe flashlight from her pocket that rapidly changed colors. "You could have your very own, totally wicked, absolutely rockin' light-show concert in your. Own. Room!!" Lynn exclaimed, shoving the strobe light towards her rockstar older sister. Luna looked at the flashlight in awe for a moment, before her face split into a massive grin, and she grabbed the light in a flash ('Luan would be proud of that one, too').
"Woah! That is sweet! Thanks, Lynn!" She said, backing into her room and closing the door. Not even 5 seconds later, Lynn could hear the shredding of an electric guitar.
'7.'
Lynn looked around for her next target, and saw her marching down the hall with a ticked off look on her face.
"Has anyone seen my phone? I need to live-tweet my show!" Lori said. Lori was 17 and Lynn's oldest sister. She was the bossy and figurative matriarch whenever their parents or brother weren't around. When it comes to the Loud House food chain, only 3 people ranked higher than her.
As of now, however, she was practically flipping the hall upside down looking for her cellphone, which Lynn conveniently had in her pocket for this exact reason. She quickly took out the device and sent a quick text. Lynn knew she'd get an earful from Lori once the 17 year old discovers that Lynn had her phone, but that's exactly what the sports nut was counting on.
"Hey, Lori!" She called out, walking towards her eldest sister. "Found your phone right here! It was under all the laundry!"
Lori scowled and snatched the phone from Lynn's hands. "Give me that! How many times do I have to tell you: Keep your hands off of my stuff!" Lori continued to reprimand Lynn, who simply tuned her out and began counting down from 3.
'3…'
"I mean seriously, what part of-"
'2…'
"-do you not understand?! Is it really-"
'1…'
"-hard to just keep your hands to YOURSE-!"
*RIIING!!*
"Hello? Oh, hi, Bobby~" Lori giggled, holding the phone to her ear with a pleased expression on her face. "No, I didn't text you to call me, but I'm glad you did~" She said sweetly, moving towards her room. Right before she closed the door, however, she turned back towards Lynn with a scowl, covering the speaker of her phone.
"Thanks for nothing, twerp," she said, before slamming the door.
Lynn smirked.
'That was 8.'
She heard snoring coming from her arm, and noticed little Lily fast asleep, her head resting on her shoulder. Lynn smiled, setting her down in a nearby bed.
'9.'
And with her brother out with his friends, Lynn officially knew that her master plan had worked.
'10. Another win for Lunatic Lynn!'
She checked her watch. 7:59.
Faster than she ever remembered moving in her life, she ran to the stairs, skated the railings to the bottom, and front-flipped into the living room.
As she landed, she looked to the clock.
8:00.
"ALRIGHT! Time for the greatest game of the seas-"
She froze, staring at the couch.
Leaning backwards with his legs crossed and one arm draped across the back of the couch, Lincoln Loud looked at his sister and gave a smirk.
"Too slow, Junior."
Lynn fell to her knees.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"
Lincoln barked out a laugh, before relaxing and continuing to watch the latest episode of his ghost hunting show, ARGGH.
Lincoln Loud. The oldest Loud child, and Lynn's older brother.
He was 19 and dressed the way you'd imagine any bully older brother to be dressed. An orange t-shirt underneath a black vest, with black trousers and a pair of shades on his stark-white hair. He wore a silver chain around his neck, black leather gloves on each of his hands, and his blue eyes shone with obvious mirth as he watched his sister slam her fists on the floor in grief.
Lynn looked up, staring at her brother in shock and anguish. "Didn't you say you were gonna be hanging out with Clyde!? Why are you here?!"
Lincoln's smirk widened, scoffing as he juggled the remote in both of his hands. "Please, Lynn. I've been rocking this here couch every Sunday since before you were in diapers. Tonight's the season finale of ARGGH, and I knew you were gonna pull some plan, which is why I lied and said I was heading out," he explained, catching the remote one final time. "Whatever tricks you pulled on the rest ain't gonna work with me, Junior. Trust me, I invented them."
Lynn quickly jumped up, grabbing Lincoln's shirt with both of her hands. "Come on, Linc, PLEASE?? This is the biggest baseball game of the season! All of my friends are gonna be talking about it at school tomorrow, I can't be the only person who misses it!!" She pleaded, looking at her brother with the biggest puppy dog eyes she can manage.
Usually, she would resort to threatening or violence whenever she wanted something, but she and all of her siblings knew that wouldn't work on their big brother. In fact, the last time she tried, she was hung up on the coat rack by the back of her shirt for almost an hour and a half.
Lincoln smirked, looking to be in thought. "Hmmm…" he said, looking up in deep concentration.
Lynn looked at him hopefully, praying to whatever god that would listen that her normally mean and rude older brother would show mercy just this once.
"Nah."
Lynn suddenly felt herself get picked up by her shirt and set on the floor. She bounced back, hopping onto the couch and shaking her brother's arm. "Come on, Lincoln, just cut me some slack this once! I'll do your chores for a week, a month! I'll do them for a year!! Just please let me watch the game!" She begged, looking at her older brother with a pleading expression.
Lincoln scoffed, unaffected. "You can barely do your own chores. Which, by the way, is just taking out the trash. I have to do it for you half the time."
Lincoln grabbed the top of her head with the arm Lynn was shaking and placed her on the floor again.
"Sorry, Junior, you know the rules," he said, looking down at Lynn with a cruel smirk.
"I was here first."
Lynn scowled when she heard that, clenching her fists. She grit her teeth. "Dang it, Lincoln!"
This only served to heighten Lincoln's amusement, as he let out another sharp bark of laughter. Lynn continued to yell at her brother.
"You never let anyone do anything! You're such a jerk!" She yelled through grit teeth.
Lincoln simply grunted and leaned back even further in the couch. "That's where you're wrong, Junior," he said, before winking at his younger sister cheekily with an infuriating grin. "I'm just a step ahead."
Lynn huffed, turning around and storming up to her room. When she was halfway up the stairs, Lincoln stopped her.
"You know, if you really want to watch the game, I think Dad's old TV still works," he said lazily. Lynn looked at Lincoln incredulously.
"Are you serious?! That thing is ancient! I'd be surprised if it didn't show footage of dinosaurs!"
Lincoln simply shrugged. "Sorry, Junior, but that's your best bet. Now, if you'll excuse me," he said, before raising the volume of the TV even higher.
Lynn groaned, before marching back up the stairs and into the attic.
Lynn gave one last grunt of effort as she set her Dad's old TV on the dresser in her room. "Stupid Lincoln, making me lug this stupid TV around.. It probably doesn't even have color," she grumbled underneath her breath, muttering curses that she wouldn't be caught dead saying in front of her parents.
She sighed, before giving herself a few encouraging slaps on the cheek and straightening her back. So what if she couldn't watch the biggest, most important game of her life on some lame, colored, HD TV? This was more authentic, anyways!
"It's just like how they used to watch the World Cup back in the day!" She said, grabbing the power cord and holding it up. She flinched at the poor state of it, one of the pins being bent and wires sticking out of the cord.
She shook her head. It didn't matter.
"Just gonna plug this bad boy in, and I'll be on my way to baseball heaven!"
She plugged in the cord into the wall outlet with vigor.
There was a spark, and the Loud House went dark.
"Dang it."
There was a cacophony of nervous whispering and yelling in the hall, as all of the sisters simultaneously wondered why the lights had gone out.
"Alright, alright, everybody just calm down!" Lori yelled, trying to get everybody under control as all the sisters gathered in the hall. Her efforts were useless, however, as everyone was in varying states of fear, panic, and confusion. Lola and Lana were clinging tightly to each other, while everyone else was either looking around nervously or asking what happened. All except Lisa, of course, who simply stood with an uninterested look on her face.
"Alright, CALM DOWN!"
All the sisters jumped as their older brother marched up the stairs, a serious and no-nonsense look on his face. They all heard a scream as Leni came rushing down the hall, looking around in a panic.
"Guys! I can't see anything! I think I've gone blind!!" She exclaimed fearfully, prompting Lincoln to pinch the bridge of his nose and Lori to facepalm.
"No, Leni, you haven't gone blind. It's just a power outage," Lincoln explained, an exasperated look on his face.
"What even happened?" Lori asked, looking at Lincoln curiously.
All the sisters turned to look at Lincoln, expecting their big brother to have an answer. Lincoln looked thoughtful for a moment, before his eyes narrowed.
"LYNN!" He called, prompting everyone to notice that the sports nut was the only one not present. They heard the sound of a door opening, and saw Lynn step out of her room with a sheepish look on her face.
"H-Hey, bro! W-What's up?" She said innocently, staring at the unimpressed look on her brother's face with a nervous grin. Lincoln simply crossed his arms, looking past Lynn and into the room she shared with Lucy. He spotted the TV on the dresser, plugged in, and quickly deduced the cause of the blackout.
He sighed. "Of course.." he muttered under his breath. Lori quickly rounded on Lynn. "Lynn, what did you do!?"
Lynn looked shocked, before it shifted into anger. "Hey, I just wanted to watch the game! Lincoln was the one who told me to plug in dad's cruddy old TV! He was being a jerk and hogging the one downstairs!" She yelled, pointing an angry finger at her older brother. An argument ensued between all the siblings, with the sisters blaming Lynn for causing the outage, and Lynn defending herself by pinning the blame on Lincoln.
Lincoln, finally having had enough, clapped his hands loudly. "ALRIGHT!" He yelled, quieting everyone. "Honestly, I really couldn't care less who did what. The point is, the power is off."
"But you were the one who-!" Lynn quickly fell silent at the scathing look on her brother's face, rubbing her arm and grumbling under her breath.
Luan piped up with a smile. "Hey, I know why the lights went out! Cause they liked each other! Get it?" The siblings all groaned, rolling their eyes at Luan's lame pun. There was a shadow of a smirk on Lincoln's face, before it was quickly wiped away.
"That one deserves a cookie," said Lisa, who had been quiet this entire time. She handed Luan a small wafer cookie, and the comedian took it gratefully.
"Hey, thanks!" She said, eating the cookie in one bite. "Anyways, what did one light bulb say to the other?"
Suddenly, Luan began to glow a bright green, and everyone gasped in surprise, stepping away from Luan. Except for Lincoln, who's eyes simply widened at the sudden change. "Uh, Luan? You're glowing," he said simply, pointing a finger at Luan's illuminated form.
"Aw man, did I already tell you that one?" She said disappointedly.
"No, dude. You are glowing!" Luna exclaimed, pointing at Luan. Luan looked down, and finally noticed the bright green glow around her. "Oh, hey!" She said, smiling at her new green form.
"Everyone, back away from Luan!" Lori said fearfully. The siblings, minus Lincoln, all took a few steps back from their now green sister.
Lincoln rolled his eyes at his sisters' antics and looked down at Lisa. "Lisa," he said sternly with his arms crossed, prompting the 4 year old to look up at him. "Mom and Dad said you're not allowed to use your siblings as your personal lab rats anymore."
"Yeah, not after what you did to me!" Leni exclaimed. Lincoln snickered as he recalled the image of Leni's enlarged and pimple-ridden face. Lisa smirked, "Classic. Apologies, eldest brother unit, but all I did was infuse the DNA of the Aequorea victoria jellyfish into a cookie," she explained, as if it was an everyday occurrence. She then smiled lightly. "I call them Gloweos."
For some reason, she seemed prouder of the name than the actual experiment. Lincoln snorted in amusement, patting the young scientist's head. "Nice name."
"Lincoln! Don't encourage her!" Lori scowled, looking at her brother angrily. Lincoln scoffed. "It's fine, Lori, just relax. Does it look like Luan's hurt? Besides, at least now we can all see," he explained simply. Everyone realized that he was actually right, and slowly began to huddle around Luan.
Luan grinned. "I always knew I was the light of your life!" She said, eliciting another round of groans and rolled eyes, and another phantom smirk from her older brother.
Lynn, getting impatient, made her thoughts apparent as she spoke up. "Okay, so, how about we get that power back on, huh?" She said anxiously. Every second that passed by was another second she missed out on the greatest, most important game ever! Terry Jones probably already scored a home run by now!!
Lori glared down at her. "Hey, when mom and dad are gone, Lincoln's in charge," she scolded her, making Lynn glare back.
Lincoln rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Whatever. Let's do a headcount. Who's here?"
Before anyone could say anything, Lynn quickly counted everyone on her own. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! And me! That's everyone, now can we go?!"
Lincoln then reached into Lynn's room and grabbed a hockey stick, before pushing it up towards the ceiling and pushing a vent grate out of the way. "Lucy?" He called into the vents, hearing his voice echo.
All was quiet, before a dark mop of hair suddenly poked out from the vent, scaring everyone but Lincoln.
"Here," she said flatly. Lincoln raised his arms, and Lucy jumped down into them, before her big brother set her down on the floor. Lincoln looked at an embarrassed Lynn.
"Now, that's everyone."
Lynn shook her head. "Whatever, I get it! Now can we go flip the stupid circuit breaker thingy so I can watch my game!?"
"Where is the circuit breaker, anyways?" Luna asked, looking around.
Everyone was wondering the same thing, before Lincoln silenced everyone with two words.
"The basement."
Lincoln stood in front of the stairs to the basement, a bored look on his face. His sisters all huddled behind him, staring apprehensively at the pitch dark abyss in front of them. Lincoln sighed, before motioning for Luan to follow him.
"Alright, Luan, let's go," he said, grabbing Luan's hand in his as they walk towards the stairs. Luan grinned. "That's the brightest idea you've had all day! Hahaha!"
Lincoln smirked just the smallest amount, and he led Luan by the hand into the doorway to the basement.
Just as they were about to descend, Luan suddenly stopped glowing, leaving everyone in the dark once more. Everyone gasped, and Luan let out a noise of surprise. She looked back up, grinning. "Welp, I thought I was staying in tonight, but I guess I'm going out!" She laughed, and another wave of sighs escaped the Loud children.
Lincoln shook his head, looking down at his scientist little sister hopefully. "Hey, mini-Einstein, you got any more of those Gloweos?"
"Negative," answered Lisa, writing something down in a notepad. "That was the only one. Prototype."
Lincoln sighed, as all of his sisters looked more nervous than before. "Wonderful.." he said sarcastically, before a loud, ominous groan came from the basement.
Lori jumped, darting to the back of the group with a yelp. "There's something in the basement! I am not going down there!" She said fearfully. Lynn cackled at her, pointing a finger at her scared older sister.
"Ooooh, you're scared of the daaark!" She mocked. Lori glared at her younger sister. "I am not! You're the one who was too scared to admit you caused the outage!"
Lynn scowled. "Shut up! I'm not afraid of anything!"
"Boo."
"AH!" Lynn screamed, looking behind her to glare at Lucy, who looked as blank as ever. "Not cool!"
"You're the reason we're here in the first place, Lynn. You go!"
"What!? No way! Leni should go!"
"What?! Why me!? There are probably spiders down there!! Luna should go!"
"No way, dude! It's pitch black in there! Lucy, you go!"
"The darkness beckons me, but no."
"You know why there's no 'c' in 'dark'? Because you can't see in the dark! Get it? Hahaha!"
Lisa was too busy scribbling in her notepad to care about the ongoing argument. The twins looked at each other fearfully, their eyes watering and chins trembling.
"THERE'S A GHOST IN THE BASEMENT!!" They cried, sobbing in fear as they clung to one another.
Lily was giggling in Luna's arms as the chaos ensued.
As the argument got louder and louder, Lincoln stood in front of the doorway silently as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He scowled as he slowly but surely felt a migraine coming along, before he finally snapped.
"OKAYQUIET!!!" He roared, quickly silencing any and all arguments.
The twins were still crying and holding onto each other, and Lincoln slowly knelt down and opened his arms.
"Come on you two, come here.." he said softly. The twins didn't need to be told twice, and they didn't hesitate as they ran directly into their big brother's comforting embrace. "It's okay, big bro's here…" He cooed softly, wrapping his arms around them and rubbing their backs in a display of affection that was extremely uncharacteristic of the eldest Loud.
Once they calmed down, he stood up, scowling at the rest of his sisters.
"Alright, LISTEN UP! I'm only gonna say this once: There is NO ghost, there is NO monster, and there is NO NOTHING in the basement!" He yelled, his sisters flinching back every time he said no.
Lincoln pointed behind him angrily. "Now, you all stay here, while I head into the basement and flip the circuit breaker. And there better still be a Loud House by the time I get back!" He threatened. They all nodded, and Lincoln looked towards Luan.
"Luan, hand me your camera. I know it has a night vision setting," he ordered. Luan did so without a moment's hesitation, handing the device to her older brother's outstretched hand.
Lincoln then looked at both Luna and Lori, who straightened up once they saw their big brother's piercing gaze on them. "Luna, look after Lily. And Lori, take care of the twins and Lisa," he ordered, Luna nodding her head and giving a silent salute. Lori, however, had a problem with that request.
"H-Hold on! You aren't actually leaving us all alone up here, are you?! I-I mean- We can't possibly let you go down there all alone! We should all go together! As a group! Right girls?" She said anxiously, looking at all of her sisters with a nervous grin. Lincoln was about to snap and tell her that she was way too old to be this afraid of the dark, when one by one, all of his sisters began nodding their heads and looked at him expectantly.
Lincoln gave a lengthy sigh, dragging his hand over his face and ending at his chin.
"Fine…" he said reluctantly, gritting his teeth. All of his sisters beamed, quickly huddling behind him as he turned on the camera and faced towards the stairs. He looked back at all of his younger sisters.
Despite himself, he suddenly felt like a little kid again, standing outside of little 4 year old Lynn's room, armed with a flashlight and a baseball bat as all of his sisters huddled behind him. The tot had just come running into her big brother's room at 12 AM, crying and sobbing into his shirt about a monster underneath her bed. Lynn's crying woke up all of her sisters, and they were all understandably scared as well after Lynn explained the situation to them. Lincoln, being the good and caring big brother he was, quickly grabbed his flashlight and his baseball bat that he kept under his own bed, told his sisters to stay close, and slowly ventured into the hall, stopping just outside of little Lynn Jr's room as she trembled and buried her face into his side.
Standing in front of the basement, now 9 years older, and looking at the newly-turned-teenager that used to be his baby sister, Lincoln felt a wave of warmth rush through him, and then guilt, as he remembered how crude he acted towards her earlier when all she wanted was to watch the game. He gripped the camera tighter in his hands, took a deep breath, and looked behind him.
"Ready?" He asked. All of his sisters nodded, and they slowly began their decent into the basement.
"Alright, stick close, and don't wander off," Lincoln instructed, looking through the camera as he tried to find the circuit breaker in the dark with the device's night vision setting. The basement of the Loud house was damp, hot, and smelt like an odd combination of dust and dirty laundry.
"There's nothing funny about this situation, although I do like dark humor!" Luan smiled nervously, joking in an attempt to reassure herself more than to make others laugh. No one groaned or made any reaction to Luan's joke, too caught up in their own anxiety.
Leni suddenly yelped. "Is someone touching my hand!?" She exclaimed, looking around fearfully.
"You're touching your own hand!" Lynn said through grit teeth, her eyes shifting from side to side, waiting for something to pop out. She tried her best to act like she wasn't fazed by their current situation. But if anyone saw her shift just a little closer to their big bro, then no one said anything.
"I hate basements..." Lori muttered, shuddering as a cold chill swept through her.
Suddenly, a loud groan sounded out from within the darkness. The sisters gasped, huddling closer to Lincoln.
"What's that moaning!?" Said Lori, subconsciously clinging to Lincoln's vest. Despite being 17 now, there was still that little girl inside of her that instinctively reached out for her older brother whenever she was scared or afraid.
Lincoln quickly shifted the camera in the direction of the noise, and found it to be nothing but an old pipe. "Calm down! Don't worry, it's just the pipes settling," he said, reassuring his sisters.
Just then, there was an ear-piercing scratching noise, and they all gasped yet again. They huddled even closer to Lincoln, pressing against their older brother as much as they could and subtly but tightly clinging to him.
"What's that scratching?!" Leni exclaimed, her eyes wide with panic. Lincoln quickly panned the camera back towards where he heard the sound, and found it to be none other than their cat Cliff scratching a pipe.
"It's just Cliff!" Lincoln snapped, starting to get annoyed at his sisters' paranoia.
Suddenly, an awful smell hit Lynn, and she used one hand to cover her nose while the other clung to the hem of Lincoln's shirt. "What's that smell??" She gagged.
Lincoln already knew the answer before he even panned the camera towards the culprit. "It's just LILY!" He yelled, fed up with his sisters' baseless fear. The baby giggled as Luna held her at arm's length. "Poo poo!" The baby giggled.
Lincoln growled. "Seriously, guys! There's no monster, no ghost, NOTHING!" He quickly shook their hands off of him, stepping in front of them and staring them down with a scowl.
"This is why I told you all to stay upstairs! Because I knew that once you came down, you'd start losing your minds over every little thing!" He said heatedly. His sisters all looked down or away in shame, refusing to make eye contact as Lincoln expressed his frustration.
"Everything you think is a ghost has a perfectly logical conclusion! There is nothing in this basement, alright!?"
Lynn slowly looked up with an ashamed expression on her face, before her eyes landed on something behind Lincoln. Her knees suddenly felt like jello, and she struggled to keep standing.
Lola and Lana soon followed, their eyes landing on a pair of brightly colored eyes peering at them from the darkness. Their legs began to tremble, and their eyes widened.
"G… G… G… G-Gh…" they whimpered softly, holding onto each other for support.
Lisa also took notice of the eyes, and she suddenly stopped scribbling in her notepad.
"I'm TRYING to find this da- dumb circuit breaker so we can all go upstairs, and you all can go on with whatever it is you were doing!"
Luna and Luan also saw what everyone was terrified of, and despite themselves, the two girls began to back away, their eyes wide with terror.
"But you guys screaming in my ear over every little thing is NOT helping!"
Lori felt something violently tug on her hand. She was about to scream, before she noticed it was Leni. She was trembling, her eyes watering as she pointed at something behind Lincoln. Lori looked at where she was pointing, and felt every hair on her body stand on end.
"So, for the last time: There is nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING in this basement! AM I CLEAR?!"
Lori slowly raised a trembling finger, pointing behind Lincoln. "L-L-L-L-Linc-c-coln…..?" She rasped, beginning to hyperventilate.
Lincoln rounded on his first sister, his eyes furious. "WHAT?!"
Lincoln saw that she was pointing behind him, and he turned around.
In an instant, his entire body locked up, and felt his blood freeze in his veins.
Towering over even his 6ft frame, a giant, dark figure with horns and a pair of glowing red eyes peered back at him through the dark, and he could hear what almost sounded like labored breathing coming from the creature.
Everything was silent, and it felt like time itself had stopped.
Lincoln took one step backwards, feeling his foot brush against something. He looked down, and could make out what looked like the outline of a wrench.
Slowly, extremely slowly, he began to kneel down, reaching his arm out for the weapon.
"Lori…" he whispered, prompting his sister, who by this point was wide-eyed and silently crying in terror, her mascara running down her face, to turn her head to look at her older brother.
"Run."
Lincoln felt his fingers brush against the handle of the wrench.
Lori struggled to make sense of her brother's words. "W… What…?"
He didn't think. Everything he just said about there being a logical conclusion to everything had completely gone out the window. In that moment, Lincoln Loud wasn't thinking of logical conclusions. Only 3 things existed in the world.
His baby sisters.
Whatever monster was in front of him.
And himself being the only thing between the two.
Lincoln grasped the wrench in a death grip.
"RUN!!!"
Lincoln roared, charging at the figure and swinging the wrench with all of his might.
Screams erupted from everywhere, each sister either bursting into tears or screaming in pure terror.
Lori grabbed the closest two people to her, who just so happened to be Leni and Lynn, and ran full speed toward the stairs. "COME ON!!" She yelled. Or at least she thought she yelled. She didn't know. She just focused on running, trying to make sure both herself and all of her sisters made it out of there.
She felt something struggle out of her grip, and looked down to find Lynn had broken out of her hold and was running faster than she had ever seen her run towards her brother.
"LYNN!!" Lori screamed, running after her.
Lynn was running purely on adrenaline. The world was moving in slow motion, and she tunnel-visioned on the figure of her big brother charging towards the monster in the basement.
"LINCOLN!!!" Lynn cried, booking it towards her brother like her life depended on it. She didn't care what it was, what it wanted, or what was going to happen to her. She didn't care about how he acted with TV, which was the whole reason they were in the basement in the first place.
She wasn't about to let whatever this thing was take her big bro away from her.
She dashed right next to her brother, just as Lincoln swung the wrench and felt it impact the monster. He expected to hear the sounds of bones crunching, or the sound of metal impacting flesh, or at least a scream of pain.
Instead, all he felt was the impact of something… soft?
Lynn charged forwards, impacting against the monster and feeling herself sink into it. She struggled, thrashing around violently, swinging wildly at whatever she thought was her enemy.
"I GOT YOU LINCOLN!! TAKE THIS! AND THAT!! HYAH!!"
Luna, who was busy running with Luan, turned around once she began to hear the yelling. Luan, who was being dragged by her sister, bumped into Luna's back, caught off guard by the sudden shift in motion. She stumbled backwards, before she felt herself impact the wall. She felt something metal press against her back, and looked behind her to see none other than the circuit breaker.
She looked to where her brother and younger sister were fighting whatever monster that they saw, and hastily opened the circuit breaker, flicking switches at random until she was suddenly blinded by the lights in the basement turning on.
The sudden light blinded Lincoln, but he quickly recovered, and noticed that instead of a towering 7ft monster with horns and glowing eyes standing beneath him, it was just…. dirty laundry? And dad's old radio?
Lynn did not seem to notice the sudden change in lighting, still thrashing and swinging in the laundry basket she ended up in.
"HOW'D YA LIKE THAT?! AND THIS!! UPPERCUT!!!"
Lincoln noticed his sister still fighting clothes, and slowly spoke up. "Lynn…"
"I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU TAKE MY BRO AWAY FROM ME, YOU HEAR?! TAKE THIS!! AND THAT!!! AND-!"
"LYNN!"
Lynn suddenly felt herself get picked up by the back of her shirt, still thrashing around wildly. She was kicking and punching the air while her eyes adjusted to the light, only then noticing that there wasn't any monster, and that the basement was completely lit up.
She slowly stopped moving, panting and sweating, and looked up to see her brother staring above them. She followed his gaze, and saw her dad's old moose trophy from when he went hunting.
Lincoln panted beside her, the wrench clattering to the floor.
"It.. was just.. the laundry…" he panted, sweat pooling on his forehead.
Everything was silent, aside from Lynn and Lincoln's panting, and the occasional hiccup and sniffle from the rest of the girls as they slowly began to calm down.
Lynn's eyes suddenly widened, and she looked at her watch.
It was almost 11.
Her blood went cold, and she quickly threw herself out of her brother's grip.
In all of the excitement, she had almost forgotten about the game.
She quickly darted past her brother and sisters, up the stairs, into the kitchen, and through the living room.
Hope blossomed in her chest as she sat on the couch, struggling to find the remote, before quickly turning on the TV. She could still make it, she wasn't too late, she could still-!
"HOOOOOOLYYYYY SMOKES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! THAT WAS BY FAR THE MOST INTENSE GAME OF BASEBALL I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY 30 YEARS AS A SPORTS COMMENTATOR!!! I WOULD HATE TO BE THE SORRY CHUMP WHO MISSED THIS CLASH OF CHAMPIONS!!! TUNE IN NEXT SUNDAY TO SEE THE TIE-BREAKER!!! HAVE A GOOD NIGHT, FOLKS!!"
Lynn was frozen, watching in silence as the TV shifted to a group of commentators discussing what they just witnessed. Lynn couldn't hear them over her own thoughts.
She missed it.
The biggest, most important, most epic, and most amazing event of the season.
And she missed it.
She sat in silence, watching as clips of the game she could've seen were played onscreen in snippets, cutting off at just the best moments.
She felt tears sting her eyes, and she didn't bother wiping them away.
She felt a weight on the couch, and noticed all of her sisters, still with tear stains or, in Lori's case, running mascara on their faces, giving her a sad yet comforting smile.
She suddenly felt a something land on her shoulder, and saw her big brother give her a sad, guilty look as he rested his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry you missed your game, Junior.." he said softly, looking away in shame. Her sisters piped in one by one, offering words of reassurance and telling her that it was okay.
Their words entered one of Lynn's ears and out the other.
She missed it..
Sunday of next week rolled around, and everyone had thankfully recovered from their terrifying experience the week before. All except for Lynn, who this time around, was more determined than ever to catch the game.
Apparently, last Sunday had been a tie, and since so many people had shown up expecting a result, the MLB decided to set up yet another match, promising to be even bigger and better than the last one.
She got a second chance, and she knew that those only came once a blue moon. She looked up at the poster of her hero, Terry "Hotshot" Jones, and nodded.
She wouldn't miss it, not again. She had another strategy in mind, and this time, it would be foolproof.
She heard the twins' door open, and after applying some face paint underneath her eyes, she was ready to put her plan into action.
She grabbed something from underneath her bed, rushed towards her door, and bolted out of the room.
…Only to slam into Lincoln's legs and fall backwards onto her butt.
She rubbed her head, looking up at her brother in surprise and agitation. Her brother simply looked unimpressed.
"Good, you're here. I didn't wanna go looking for you. Come on, we're heading out," he said curtly, walking towards his room to grab the keys to the family car, Vanzilla.
Lynn froze. "What?" She muttered, disbelieving. She shot to her feet, darting into her brother's room as he grabbed his keys.
"WHAT!?" She yelled, looking up at her brother in shock. Lincoln just looked annoyed.
"Jesus, quit your yelling, alright? Mom and Dad told me to go pick up some stuff, and they told me to take you with me," he explained, putting his shades on his head and tightening his gloves. "Oh, and we're going to the flea market to sell some junk, too, so make sure you bring all of your Woodpeckers merch. Dad's orders, not mine."
Lynn simply stood there, frozen in place as what her brother just said slowly registered in her mind. They wanted to.. what? They were gonna sell.. everything?
"Wh.. Huh? What do you…" She sputtered, stepping back.
Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Lynn, look, it's really not that big of a deal. It's happened to all of us, so let's just get it over with and you can replace it with some more junk when you're done, alright?" He said, in a vain attempt to reassure Lynn.
Lynn snapped out of her stupor. "Wh-! Y-You CAN'T! I can't go, t-tonight's the only night-! I missed it last week, this is my only chance!!" She yelled, looking at her brother with pleading eyes.
Lincoln just looked down at her with an unamused expression.
"Lynn. I don't care."
Lynn felt her heart drop to her feet, looking up at her brother with a betrayal written across her face. The normally confident and brash girl felt tears come to her eyes as she looked up at her big brother.
Suddenly, she clenched her teeth, and tightened her fists so hard her knuckles turned white.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" She screamed, looking at her brother with the angriest, most intimidating scowl she could muster. All the usual noise and chatter of the Loud house stopped, each sister peering out of their room to see what all the commotion was.
All they saw was a livid Lynn standing in front of their older brother, who looked as nonchalant as ever.
Lincoln sighed in frustration. "Lynn, quit acting like a brat. Just head to the car and-"
"SHUT UP!!" Lynn screamed, tears flowing freely down her face. "JUST SHUT UP!! YOU ALWAYS DO THIS! EVERY! SINGLE! TIME! EVERY TIME ANYONE WANTS TO DO ANYTHING THAT YOU DON'T AGREE WITH OR THAT DOESN'T HELP YOU, YOU NEED TO MAKE IT WORSE FOR EVERYONE ELSE!!" She screamed, her tears smudging the face paint she applied just moments earlier.
All of the sisters looked on with a grimace, never having seen Lynn this hurt before. They had seen her break limbs and cry, but they had never seen her as hurt and anguished as she was in this moment.
"CAN'T YOU JUST LET PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY LIKE!? WHY DOES EVERYTHING ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ABOUT YOU?! WHAT YOU WANT?! WHAT ABOUT WHAT I WANT?! I JUST WANT TO WATCH THE GAME, LINCOLN!!!! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS… why do you… why…" she trailed off, sobbing. She sniffed, trying her best to rub away her tears, but it was futile. The dam had broken, and she was openly sobbing in the hall.
All of the sisters looked at each other, debating on whether or not they should step in, when their brother stepped forward, having been silent this entire time.
He kneeled down to be eye-level with his sister, and she glared daggers at him the entire time.
Slowly, he handed Lynn a small, plastic bag.
She took it with trembling fingers, and he stood up.
"I'll be waiting in the car," he said.
Lynn scowled, gritting her teeth as she looked at him one final time.
"I HATE YOU!!!!"
She bolted away, running back into her room and slamming the door with enough force to rattle the walls. All of Lincoln's sisters turned to look at the lone boy.
His expression was unreadable.
Silently, he closed the door to his room, and walked out towards the van.
The Loud house was quiet long after Lynn marched down the steps and out the front door with a plastic bag full of Woodpeckers merch.
The ride was completely silent, and the atmosphere was so thick with tension, you could cut it with a butter knife. Lynn had her arms crossed over her chest, looking out the window with a dark look on her face. She wasn't actually paying any attention to whatever was outside the car. She just wanted to look anywhere but her brother.
The man in question was driving silently, his shades over his eyes as he kept his eyes on the road.
The only sound was the hum of Vanzilla's AC as it blasted cold air into the vehicle.
After around 20 minutes of complete silence, Lynn began to take notice of just how long the drive to the flea market was taking. She looked out the window, and saw trees passing by rapidly. She didn't recognize this street, or their surroundings, and she quickly turned towards her brother with a glare.
"Hey, did you get lost or something? I don't even recognize this street," she said, glaring at her brother. The man didn't respond for a while, before replying, "I know where I'm going."
Lynn huffed, sitting back in her seat and resuming her previous activity of looking out the window. Suddenly, she heard something slide into Vanzilla's CD player, and a hip hop song began to play through the speakers. She quickly recognized it as "I Want It Your Way" by Boyz Will Be Boyz, and she looked at Lincoln in confusion. The 19 year old didn't respond, simply getting comfortable in his seat and nodding his head to the beat.
Lynn didn't comment, just scoffing and looking out the window again. But subtly, she began to tap her foot to the rhythm of the song.
They stayed like that in silence, until 10 minutes later, Lynn began to get antsy.
"Okay, Linc, just spill the beans. Where are we going?" She said, looking at her brother in the driver's seat.
If Lincoln heard her, he gave no indication as to such, simply looking forward without so much as a word.
Lynn, realizing she wasn't gonna get a response any time soon, simply gave up on trying to start a conversation, and slowly closed her eyes.
She didn't know how long she slept. All she knew was that when she awoke, they were not in front of the flea market.
As she slowly pried open her eyes, the bright lights blinded her, which she thought was odd, as it was past 8 PM. There was no sunlight, and as she slowly adjusted to the light, she quickly realized that it wasn't sunlight she was seeing.
It was stadium lights.
She gaped, looking up in complete awe at the massive structure standing proudly a short distance away from the van.
She quickly looked around for her brother, only to notice him take off his shades and put them in the glove compartment. He looked at her, and gave an actual, heartfelt smile when he saw her awake. Not a cruel smirk, or a cheeky grin. A rare, real, soft smile.
He reached into his vest pocket and, to Lynn's utter bafflement, pulled out a vintage Royal Woods Woodpeckers baseball cap. He set it on his head, replacing his shades, and looked at the still amazed Lynn with an amused expression on his face.
"Well?" He said, gesturing towards her plastic bag. "Aren't you gonna put yours on?"
She quickly looked down at her bag, and then back up at her brother. He still held that soft smile on his face, and his blue eyes shone encouragingly.
"Wh.. Wha? B-But I thought- Y-You said that we were gonna-"
Lincoln reached across, plucking the hat from Lynn's plastic bag and setting it on her head. He rubbed her head affectionately, and Lynn ducked in embarrassment. He chuckled softly, prompting Lynn to look up at him with a confused but happy blush on her face.
"I wanted to surprise you," he explained simply, unlocking the doors of Vanzilla and stepping out. Lynn quickly shook herself out of her stupor, unlocking the door and running to stand next to her brother.
She gazed at the stadium in the distance, completely starstruck. She could see the outlines of spotlights shooting into the sky, and she could faintly hear the cries and cheers of the crowd from all the way outside.
She saw Lincoln offer her his hand, and she looked up at him, disbelief, confusion, but most of all, hope shining in her eyes.
Lincoln smiled, and after a beat, Lynn smiled back, taking his hand. She giggled in excitement, quickly darting off towards the stadium and dragging her older brother behind her, the young man laughing and telling her to slow down.
Once they reached the entrance, Lynn's hopes were greatly diminished by the sight of the long, long, long line to get entry to the stadium. She looked up at her brother apprehensively, but to her surprise, Lincoln looked unfazed. He simply walked forwards, giving her hand a gentle tug, and she followed along obediently. Once they reached the entrance, a security guard stopped them.
"Tickets?" He said gruffly, assessing them. Lynn felt nervous underneath the man's scrutinizing gaze, but tried her best to look tough. Lincoln simply reached into his vest, and what he pulled out shocked her, the guard, and whoever was next in line into complete and utter silence.
Two V.I.P Golden Woodpeckers membership tickets. Lynn and everyone in the general vicinity stared at Lincoln as if he just pulled out the Holy Grail. Those tickets weren't just rare, they were exclusive. The only way to get those tickets is if you knew someone really, REALLY high up in the MLB board, or if you were the friends or family of a star player. How in the world her older brother had gotten his hands on just one, let alone two of those tickets, Lynn had absolutely no idea.
The security guard sputtered for a moment, before quickly stepping aside and allowing Lincoln and Lynn to pass through. "O-Of course, sir. My apologies, right this way," he said hastily, giving Lynn and her brother a wide berth as they stepped into the stadium.
Lynn and Lincoln continued their way through the stadium and into the stands. She expected them to make their way to one of the nosebleed seats, or maybe even some decent ones near the top if they were lucky. What she did not expect, however, was for her brother to gently lead them towards the V.I.P seats right in front of the pitch. At this angle, they could not only see the whole pitch, but they were sitting directly behind the Royal Woods Woodpeckers dugout!
As they sat in their seats and watched as more and more people began to flood the stadium, she finally turned to look at her older brother, who was leaning back in his chair with a satisfied smile.
"Lincoln.." she started, unsure of how to continue. "H-How did you… I mean, w-where did you even…?" she sputtered, and Lincoln gave a sharp bark of laughter as he rubbed her head again.
Finally, he answered. "It was nothing. Just a bit of saved up money and a favor was all it took," Lincoln said vaguely, giving his sister yet another cheeky wink. Lynn looked at him incredulously for a moment.
"Must've been a pretty big favor…" She said eventually, causing Lincoln to bark out another laugh. Shortly after, she joined him, and the two siblings were both laughing as they waited for the game to start.
Lynn will never forget how she felt when it started.
She finally understood what people meant when they describe the atmosphere as "electrifying". The entire time, she could feel a buzz in her bones, and it felt like the air itself was practically vibrating with something indescribable. She could practically smell burnt ozone every time the ball went flying through the air after being struck by a bat, the sound still managing to ring out like a gunshot in the fully-packed stadium.
She grinned as a snack vendor came by, and Lincoln told the vendor that he'd have whatever she chose. The two sat there, cheering and yelling as they ate hot dogs and sweets together.
Near the middle of the game, Lynn nearly had a heart attack as none other than Terry freaking Hotshot Jones sat in the dugout in the seat closest to them. They were sitting so close that if she called his name, he would probably be able to hear her.
She said nothing, however, simply continuing to stare at her idol in frozen shock as the dark-skinned man panted and wiped the sweat from his brow. Suddenly, he looked to his right, and saw Lynn staring at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Lynn froze, and her entire body locked up as she was now staring directly into her idol's eyes. Suddenly, Terry smiled at her and gave a wave, and after a moment of complete and utter disbelief, she wordlessly waved back.
Near the end of the game, she was really getting into it, practically jumping up and down, trying to see even more of the field. Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms lift her up and place her on his shoulders, and she looked down to see her older brother give her a toothy grin. She smiled widely, cheering and jabbing her foam finger into the air along with her brother. In that moment, she felt like a little kid again, giggling at the new elevation as she sat on her big bro's shoulders. It was just like when he took her to her first ever baseball game. That was one of the best days of her life, and right now, reliving it was enough to almost bring a tear to her eye.
They ended up on the jumbo screen together, and when she noticed, she patted his head frantically, pointing at the screen in utter joy. They both looked at the camera that was pointing to them and gave two wide, toothy smiles, each of them making a peace sign as Lynn leaned on her brother's head, and Lincoln kept a firm grip on Lynn's legs on his shoulders.
After the game was over, they were walking out of the stands, exhausted after such a long and exciting match. The game was almost 4 hours long, and in the end, the Royal Woods Woodpeckers won the World Series. Lynn cheered harder than she ever had in her life, and at the end, her voice was raspy from all of the yelling, cheering, and screaming she had done.
As Lynn was trying to chug water for her sore throat and ramble about how amazing and incredible the game was to her brother at the same time, Lincoln suddenly stopped, getting her attention as she was still holding his hand tightly. While she usually would be embarrassed or ashamed to show this much affection in a public space, at the moment, she was far too happy to care what anyone else thought of her clinging to her brother's hand like a baby koala.
She looked up at Lincoln, curious, before her big brother pointed in the direction of the team locker rooms and looked down at her with a cheeky grin. "What do you say to meeting Terry Hotshot Jones himself, eh, Junior?"
It was like a record scratch played in Lynn's head, and time once again froze. She looked up at her brother with her eyes so wide they nearly popped out of their sockets. Lincoln simply smirked and held up the two V.I.P tickets once again.
"W-Wait- Seriously?! Y-You're kidding! This better not be a prank, Lincoln, or I swear I'll-!" Lynn sputtered, still not believing that this was actually happening to her, or that her normally mean brother would actually be willing to go this far for her after she just told him she hated him a few hours earlier. Hope began to slowly build up in her chest, and her excitement practically bubbled beneath her skin, threatening to burst.
Lincoln laughed, patting Lynn's head as the teenager ducked her head. She blushed in embarrassment, but there was a happy smile on her face.
Lincoln gently tugged her arm and began leading them in the direction of the locker rooms. "Well, come on! We better hurry up before we miss 'em!" He grinned, and Lynn's heart exploded in elation. She gave her brother the biggest and happiest smile she had ever worn in her life, and she began running towards the locker rooms, dragging her big brother behind her, who simply chuckled at her enthusiasm.
They passed by security, who let them through after Lincoln showed them their tickets, and stopped just outside of the Woodpeckers' locker room. Lynn slowly began to feel nervous, anxiety replacing her earlier excitement full-force. The door to the locker rooms loomed over her, and she suddenly realized she had no idea what she was going to even say.
Lincoln, seemingly noticing her anxiety, gave her hand a comforting squeeze. She looked up at her big bro hesitantly, but he simply smiled and pushed open the door.
The locker room was abuzz with enthusiastic hollers and celebratory cheers, but all went quiet once the two Louds stepped in.
Lynn's legs trembled in anxiety as she suddenly found herself vulnerable, standing in front of all of her heroes in one place. She scooted just a little closer to her brother, who was somehow completely calm.
"Evening, fellas! Great game today, just wanted to pop by and say congrats with my little sis! We're big fans," Lincoln explained with a smirk, looking down at Lynn, who was almost hiding behind him. She wordlessly nodded her head, clinging to the hem of his shirt and looking away.
Suddenly, the previous atmosphere of the locker room returned full-force, and every player expressed their own happiness at the two's visit. They greeted them, shook their hands, and even gave a few autographs and took pictures.
Suddenly, a dark-skinned man stepped towards the two, and Lynn's mouth went completely dry.
There, in the flesh, standing only a few feet in front of her, was Terry "Hotshot" Jones.
Terry looked at the two curiously, before his gaze landed on the younger Loud girl, and his eyes widened. Then, a soft smile found its way onto his face, and he knelt down.
Lynn was still wide-eyed and open-mouthed, staring at her idol as he began to speak.
"I saw you in the stands earlier, right? I think you were on the jumbo screen, too," he said. "One heck of a cheer you got there. I could practically hear you halfway across the pitch!" He chuckled good-naturedly, and the rest of the team all laughed as well. Lincoln also joined in, chuckling and messing up his sister's hair with his free hand.
Lynn was too shell-shocked to even protest, simply blushing in embarrassment at Terry's comment and Lincoln's affectionate action.
Terry got over his small joke and asked Lynn a question. "What's your name, kid?" He asked with a soft smile.
Lynn struggled to come up with an answer, sputtering for a moment, before finally, she yelled.
"I-I'M LOUD!"
The locker room laughed again, and Terry shook his head with a smile. "Well, I can see that!" He joked, causing another wave of laughter in the locker room as Lynn's face turned scarlet.
She quickly shook her head. "I-I mean I'm Lynn!" She corrected quickly, looking away. "Lynn Loud. Junior."
Suddenly, she felt someone pluck the Woodpeckers hat, which she refused to take off the entire time they were at the stadium, from the top of her head. Terry looked at the cap in his hand with fascination, and he looked up at Lincoln.
"You got a pen?" He asked, and Lynn suddenly became acutely aware of what was happening. There was a part of her that didn't believe it, and yet she still looked up at her big brother, praying yet again that he conveniently had a pen on him.
Lincoln smirked, reaching into his vest, and pulling out a black ball-point pen.
Terry took the pen from his hands and signed Lynn's cap, before placing it on the young girl's head. Lynn shook, but this time with barely restrained joy. She smiled widely, looking up at her brother, who simply gave her hand an encouraging squeeze.
"What's your dream, Lynn?" Terry suddenly asked, and Lynn turned her head to look at the man. Lynn thought for a moment, before answering honestly.
"I wanna be an Olympian!" She said confidently, puffing her chest out and jabbing a finger towards herself. To her surprise, unlike every other time she told someone her dream to one day be an Olympic athlete, no one laughed. All of the players either cheered, whistled, applauded, or offered words of encouragement and advice.
Terry nodded his head, giving Lynn a pat on the shoulder. "I hope to see you there, hotshot!" He smiled, and Lynn nodded her head furiously, before looking up at her brother.
Lincoln said nothing. He didn't need to. The proud look on his face told Lynn everything she needed to know.
The atmosphere in Vanzilla on the drive back home was a complete 180 from the atmosphere of the drive to the stadium. Lynn was animatedly chatting away, recounting all of the awesome and amazing events that transpired during the game with as much vigor and enthusiasm as possible as she ate the ice cream Lincoln had bought her. Lincoln simply smiled, offering his own two cents every once in a while as he ate his own ice cream and drove. They decided to stop by Auntie Pam's Ice Cream Parlor on the way back home, with Lynn choosing rocky road and Lincoln going with plain vanilla ice cream.
"And did you see Jenkins's sprint?! He was running circles around those Detroit losers!" Lynn exclaimed, taking a lick of her ice cream.
Lincoln nodded. "He may be in his mid-30s, but Jenkins definitely hasn't lost his touch," he chuckled, finally pulling in to the driveway of their home.
The excitement of today had tired them both out, and they were ready to get a few hours of much needed rest. As Lincoln unbuckled his seat belt, he suddenly heard something strange. He looked to his right and saw Lynn practically choking the waffle cone in her hands as she sniffled.
Lincoln instantly grew concerned, leaning forward and grabbing the teary-eyed Lynn's shoulder. "Hey, hey, what's wrong, Junior? You alright?" He said worriedly, his eyes softening as he stared at his baby sister.
Lynn sniffled again, rubbing her eyes angrily as she tried to stop the tears from flowing. "I-I'm fine! I just… I.." she sputtered, before looking at her brother. "I.. I.."
Lincoln nodded his head, understanding that she didn't have all of the words yet. He gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It's cool. Let's just head back inside, alright, Junior?"
Lynn nodded, thankful for Lincoln's understanding. "Y-Yeah.. Thank you. F-For today," she said gratefully, looking anywhere but her brother's eyes. "It was r-really cool of you."
Lincoln smiled, patting Lynn's head again, before he stepped outside of the vehicle, Lynn doing the same after getting over her embarrassment.
They made their way up the porch and stood in front of the front door. As Lincoln was about to unlock it and enter their home, he suddenly felt something small slam into his side.
He looked down and saw Lynn trapping him in a death hug, burying her face into his side as she refused to meet his eye.
"…I love you…" He heard her mumble into his shirt.
Lincoln smiled wider than he had the entire day, reaching down and picking up his sporty sister. Despite her age, he easily held her with one arm, much to her chagrin.
Those V.I.P tickets cost Lincoln his entire allowance, at least 2 months worth of pay from his part-time job, and cashing in a favor from an old sports nut with a lot of connections to some MLB higher ups. But seeing his little sister's wide, happy smile made it all worth it.
Lincoln smirked. "It was nothing, Junior."
I haven't written in a long time, so if you notice anything wrong or that doesn't seem right, let me know, please. Have a good rest of your day :D.