Lincoln just keeps running. He's going to find this mysterious lost brother even if he has to do it himself.
But he may not have to anyway.
He bumps into Clyde.
"Lincoln?" he stares at him, confused. "What are you doing? Why did you leave the party so quick?"
"I'm going out there to figure out where this brother of mine might be," Lincoln answers.
"What do you mean, out there?"
"I mean out of Royal Woods!"
"Are you serious right now?!" Clyde asks with a burst of shock.
"Yeah, I'm serious! Lori sounded REALLY upset when I tried to talk to her about it. I gotta fix this." Lincoln checks in his bag to make sure he's packed enough supplies for the trip.
Clyde crosses his arms, tapping his foot. "What makes you think this is gonna fix it? What if this 'brother' doesn't even exist?"
"He HAS to exist! There's too much pointing towards it!"
"...If you're going, then I'm going too."
"Clyde, you don't need to-"
He gives Lincoln a determined glare. "YES. I do."
"OK..." Lincoln tightens the straps on his bag, lifting it onto his shoulders. "Do you have anything you can bring?"
"I got some snacks in my bag from Jordan's party. They also had burgers in cans... it's kinda weird."
"Then let's get going."
Lincoln and Clyde head out towards the woods just outside the neighborhood, while Cristina notices them from outside Jordan's house.
"Just WHAT are those boys doing...?" she wonders as she starts to follow them.
In the woods, Lincoln and Clyde sit down to take a break for a moment. Lincoln pants heavily; he's never run this fast before.
"There should be a train station at the other side," says Clyde. "Let's get some fresh air before we keep moving."
"What time does the next train arrive?" asks Lincoln.
Clyde checks his phone. "In about... 25 minutes."
"I guess that's enough time for us, then."
Cristina catches up to them in a sweat. "Lincoln? Clyde? What are you guys doing all the way out here?"
"Lincoln told me he was looking for his... long lost brother, or something." Clyde shrugs. "I'm just tagging along to make sure he stays safe."
Cristina turns to Lincoln, her eyebrow raised. "Is that why you left the party so quick?"
"Yeah... what about it?"
"...nothing. Do you guys need something to eat?"
"Nah, I think we're good."
They sit in silence for a minute, breathing deeply as they listen closely to the nature around them.
Lincoln closes his eyes and focuses on the chirping of the crickets, the hooting of the owls, the rustling of the leaves in the wind, as he thinks about the situation at hand. He might have a brother... this is something he never thought could be a reality. He's known his sisters for as long as he can remember, but a brother was only a dream until now.
He smiles as he continues to let the sounds of the night guide his thoughts. The owls, the wind, the crickets, the car-
Wait.
"Do you guys hear... a car?"
Clyde looks around. "I think so..."
The sound of the engine comes closer. The kids can make out the tires rolling against the ground, and eventually, the car comes to a stop nearby.
After they hide behind a bush, Clyde pulls out a pair of binoculars and gets a good look at the vehicle. "It's a green Jeep... and there's a group of people in there."
Lincoln reaches out for them. "Lemme see."
He finds the people getting out of their Jeep, having some kind of conversation.
"Ayo Shelly, can you help a man out here?" The first one to speak is a dark skinned, somewhat pudgy man in a grey sweatshirt and a black pair of pants. The top of his head is clean shaven and a dark goatee surrounds his mouth. He's a Fat Albert sort of man, but with a more aggressive look and tone.
"Ugh... the door got jammed again, didn't it?" Shelly, a tall, slender woman with a purple streak in her shining jet-black hair, struggles to get the man's door open from the outside. Her light blue tank top and skinny jeans closely surround her form and her hoop earrings glisten in the moonlight.
"Never let big strong Jay to do a nerd's job," says a shorter man with curly hair covered with a yellow baseball cap, with all of his other clothes being purple to balance it out.
"Shut it, Norman," Jay grunts.
"Can you guys chill out?" A pale man about Shelly's height, seemingly the leader of the group, gets out of the driver's seat. He sports a faux mohawk and a short, bristly beard, with a black flak jacket, a plaid red shirt, khakis, and brown army boots making up his outfit.
"I'm sure they'll be fine, Elijah," Shelly tries to assure him. "It's just their usual antics."
A lanky man leaps out of the Jeep on all fours. His sickly green skin, pale yellow teeth, and torn clothes gave him the appearance of a Hanna-Barbera character gone wild.
"Hey Gator!" Elijah reaches down to pat his head. "You got enough to eat?"
Gator nods quickly with his tongue sticking out, making happiness noises.
Lincoln lowers the binoculars. "Who are these guys?"
"Ssh!" Cristina warns him. "They might hear us!"
The group in the Jeep continues their talk as the kids stay in their hiding spot.
"So what we doin' tonight, Eli?" asks Jay.
"Eh, I dunno," Elijah admits as he pops up the collar on his flak jacket. "You guys got any ideas?"
Shelly is quick to answer. "Since Royal Woods is pretty close by, I say we rob Flip's."
"Sounds like a cool heist to me," Norman approves.
"Well, duh. It's FLIP'S. Nobody likes that dude anyway."
"You ain't wrong," Elijah chuckles. "Always getting up in everybody else's business for no reason."
Clyde is shocked. "How DARE they make fun of the man who created the Flippee!"
"SSH!" Cristina holds her finger to his lips in irritation.
"Uh..." Jay gestures to them. "Y'all hear somethin'?"
"Sounds like it was coming from that bush," Shelly responds.
"Dang it, Clyde!" Cristina scolds him.
"Well, SORRY!"
Elijah glares at the bush, hearing them. "We've got witnesses! Let's get 'em!"
Lincoln swiftly gets up and starts running. "Guys, to the train! Let's go!"
Lincoln, Clyde, and Cristina make a run for it as Elijah and his companions chase after them.
"Let's split up!" Clyde yells to the other kids. "If they find one of us, the other two can be back-up!"
And so they do, with Lincoln leaping behind another bush while the criminal gang isn't looking.
Elijah leans down to Gator. "Alright boy, do your thing!"
Gator starts to sniff around for the kids as Jay and Norman pull flashlights out of their pockets.
"We know you kids are out there!" Elijah calls out to them. "It's only a matter of time before we find you!"
Lincoln keeps quiet, sitting perfectly still and trying not to make a peep. But there's something about this bush that makes his nose feel rather itchy. He tries to hold in the sneeze he knows is coming, but it's useless...
"ACHOO!"
Jay tracks down the source of the sneeze and finds him behind the bush, picking him up and throwing him down in the middle of a circle formed by the gang.
"So..." Elijah kneels down in front of Lincoln. "Where'd you come from, huh?"
Lincoln ignores the question. "What do you want from me?"
"You're a witness, kid. We gotta figure out what to do with you before you run off and tell the authorities."
"I don't even know who you guys ARE!"
"Well, I'm assuming you already heard... but I'm Elijah, that's Jay, THAT'S Shelly, and THAT'S Norman. And Gator here... he's all sad and lonely. You see what he's gotta do to make some friends?"
He points to Gator, who is capturing a squirrel and putting it into a white sack.
"Yeah..." Elijah sighs. "So, why don't you come with us for a while? Maybe you can be his best friend."
Lincoln stands up, glaring at him. "I'm not going ANYWHERE with you freaks!"
"Nah, listen..." Elijah tries to reason with him. "We're not freaks. The stuff we do is important to us. Right now, we've only got each other. We've gotta make a living somehow."
Lincoln stands his ground. "I want nothing to do with whatever you guys are doing..."
"Well..." Elijah shrugs. "I guess we don't have any choice but to put you in the trunk."
He tries to grab Lincoln, who backs away as fast as he can, but is knocked out from behind.
"I like muffins..." he murmurs in a daze before falling to the ground.
Lincoln sees Cristina with a log in her hands.
"Uh... nice hit."
He follows Cristina through the woods as Jay, Shelly, Norman, and Gator look down at the unconscious Elijah.
"We better get him back to the warehouse," Shelly suggests.
"I'll drive!" Norman shouts with excitement.
"Can't reach the pedals," says Jay.
"...you'll drive!"
The gang starts up the Jeep and heads out, with Lincoln, Clyde, and Cristina rushing towards the railroad.
"Who were those guys?" Clyde asks.
"I don't know," says Lincoln. "And I'm not sure if I WANNA know right now."
As they eventually reach the tracks, Cristina looks around the area, noticing how far they've run.
"...do you guys even know where we are right now?"
Lincoln glances at her awkwardly. "No...?"
"What's the name of this brother of yours, anyway? Everybody in Royal Woods knows at least ONE of your siblings or your parents, and nobody has said anything about a missing brother until now."
"I mean, it caught me by surprise too. The rumor was linked to Imperial Grove University and all the theoretical names start with an L."
"That could be anyone! Besides, Imperial Grove is REALLY far away from here... it could take us days to get there."
"My parents are on vacation for the whole week. I'm sure we can get back home in time."
Cristina glares at Lincoln. "Do you know for sure that this guy exists?"
"Well..." Lincoln is starting to lose his train of thought. "Not really, but it doesn't hurt to find out!"
"Can't you just call the college and ask them to go through the list of students whose names start with an L?"
"To be fair, I don't think they take calls like that," Clyde reasons.
Cristina shrugs. "I guess you've got a point... but still! You can't just walk in there like that! You need to make an appointment! What happened at Lincoln's house that caused you guys to come all the way out here, anyway?"
"Lori's really upset about something that she's been repressing," Lincoln explains to her. "I gotta see if I can find the rumored brother and bring him back home to make her feel better!"
"I feel like YOU'RE repressing something too. What's the REAL reason you decided to do this?"
"That IS the real reason!"
"No it's not! There's something else going on!"
"No there isn't!"
"Come on, spit it out!"
"She called me a twerp, OK?"
Cristina is stunned. "So you're upset because your sister called you a twerp?"
"It might not sound that bad out of context, but she got SO upset about it when I asked her that she called me a twerp. I NEED to do this."
Cristina turns away, having had enough of Lincoln's stubbornness. "Whatever. But I'm not coming."
"Fine!" Lincoln yells at her. "Me and Clyde can go without you! I'll just tell your sister I said hi, maybe!"
"FINE!"
Lincoln and Clyde see a train rolling down the track and hop on, as Cristina storms away.
But she turns back to watch for a moment as the train leaves.
Her sister...
"Physique... I hope she's doing OK. I never even got to say goodbye..."
...
Back at the Loud house, Lincoln's sisters yell and scream at each other, devastated by the result of Lori's outburst.
"Did you HAVE to yell like that?!" Lynn asks Lori angrily.
"If you weren't my sister, I would punch you right now!" Lana shouts at her.
"Calm yourselves, everyone," says Lucy. "Violence will not resolve this crisis."
"Lucy's right," Leni affirms. "We need to call mom and dad and tell them tha-"
"NO!" Lori stops her. "If we do that, who knows how they'll react?"
Lisa sighs. "To be frank, eldest sister, you sort of brought it down on yourself."
"I know! That's the problem! This is my last time being in charge of you guys before I leave for Fairway! I can't let our parents down NOW!"
"Then what ARE we gonna do?" asks Lola, as she nervously paces back and forth in the living room. "Should we go around town asking if anybody's seen him?"
"That's a good idea," says Lori. "But it's the middle of the night! A lot of people are still asleep right now."
"What about Lincoln's friends?" Luna suggests. "They might know something about the 'lost brother' rumor. Or at least heard of it."
Lori rolls her eyes. "Can we shut up about the 'lost brother' thing already? He's not real."
"IS he real?" Lynn interrogates her. "I'm getting REALLY suspicious right now."
"What is there to be suspicious about?"
"Well, first you cut mom off when she said she didn't want anybody to get hurt, then you got all jumpy when you were talking to Leni about Vanzilla, and now you keep shouting down ANY conversation about the theory of a missing brother."
"The only brother we have is Lincoln! And we might not have him for much longer if we don't get out there and find him!"
"Then I guess we better pack up and hit the road," says Luna.
"Yeah, let's BAND together!" Luan laughs.
"This isn't the time for jokes, Luan!"
"...sorry."
After a moment of quickly and quietly gathering essentials to take with them, the sisters board Vanzilla, with Lori in the driver's seat and Leni sitting next to her. Lori pulls out of the driveway and heads out to search the neighborhood.
Luna notices Stella, Rusty, Zach, Liam, and Jordan waiting outside the house where the party had taken place earlier. She motions for Lori to pull over to the sidewalk, and Leni rolls down the window.
"Hey guys," Stella greets them. "Have you guys seen Lincoln and Clyde?"
"We're looking for Lincoln right now," Lori answers. "He was talking about some sort of 'missing brother' rumor before he left. We didn't know Clyde went with him, though."
"Mind if I tell her WHY Lincoln ran off...?" Lynn glares at her.
Lisa nudges her arm. "That's irrelevant, Lynn."
"He ran out of my house in a hurry a couple hours ago," Jordan explains. "We haven't seen him OR Clyde since then."
"I think I'm gonna barf from how scared I am..." Rusty shivers, as Stella gives him a brown paper bag to breathe into.
"I just hope he's safe," says Zach.
"Yeah..." says Leni.
"If y'all find him, just give us a call or somethin'," Liam requests. He hands Leni a slip of paper with their phone numbers on it, and Leni passes it to Lori.
"Thanks, guys," Lori says with a smile. "We appreciate the help."
"No problem!" Stella responds. "Hope you find him soon!"
But just as Lori is about to hit the gas and keep moving, Luna spots Cristina walking back towards Jordan's house.
She gets everyone's attention. "Yo dudes, is that Cristina?"
"Lincoln's first crush?" Luan is surprised to see her.
Cristina sees them. "Oh... hey."
Lori immediately pops the question. "Cristina, do you know where Lincoln and Clyde went?"
"I mean... I know they got on a train headed to Imperial Grove, but that's it."
"A TRAIN?!" Lori yells. "TO IMPERIAL GROVE?!"
"That's a long way from here..." Stella says, dumbfounded.
"We gotta get going a sap!" Leni exclaims.
Lola gives her a weird look. "...don't you mean ASAP?"
"That's what I said! A sap!"
"Then let's hit the road!" Lori pulls the engine lever out of parking mode. "Thanks again for the help, guys!"
She pushes down on the gas pedal and Vanzilla speeds off in a blaze.
Lynn pumps her fists in the air. "Road trip! Woot woot!"
"No, Lynn," Lori says sternly. "This isn't some fun, happy family road trip. Once we find Lincoln and Clyde, we're coming right back to Royal Woods."
"Ugh... still the Queen of No, as usual."
Vanzilla drives off into the night, as Lincoln's friends watch the sisters leave.
Cristina stares out towards the road."
...no. I'm gonna go find him too."
She runs towards Vanzilla's path, following the tire tracks and hoping to find her sister Physique at Imperial Grove...