Lincoln and the teens were walking through a dirt path in the woods, heading back to the club. They were all exhausted, tired, a tad bit hungry, but mostly, they were sad. They left Greg behind in the hands Cherry and her goons. It was wrong for them to have left him like that, they'd do anything to make it up for him...
"Greg...poor kid.", Carol said.
"I can't believe we lost him.", said Dana. "If only there was some way to get him back."
"...Maybe there is.", Lincoln says.
"Maybe, but not right now.", said Whitney. "We're exhausted."
"Whitney's right, Lincoln.", added Shannon. "We've been through a lot today, and we all need to rest."
"Just hear me out...", said Lincoln, before getting cut off.
"Give it a rest, Lincoln!", said Chaz. "We need a break!"
"Besides, we're not gonna risk losing you again.", Mandee said.
Lincoln raised his voice, saying, "I'm not saying that we go to try and get him right now. But, I might have a plan."
"You do?", asked Carol.
"Yeah, but we're gonna need everyone.", Lincoln stated.
Not too long after, at the Club were some of their friends waiting for some good news. Parvana, Lyberti, Rex, Carlota, Fiona, Sam and Mazzy to be exact. Some waited at tables, Rex stared at a computer that was showing video feed from the woods, Parvana and Lyberti were pacing the floors as the group soon came in. They were very relieved to see that they were all okay, especially Lincoln...
"Oh, thank goodness.", said Lyberti. "Lincoln, it's so glad to see you're okay."
Lincoln replied, "Yeah. Well, it's bittersweet for us, since Greg ended up captured this time."
"You gotta be kidding me!", said Rex.
"We'll get him back.", said Carol. "For now, we'll need to listen to Lincoln. He's got a plan."
"And it's gonna require a whole lot more people.", Lincoln said. "Everybody listen..."
Back at the Loud house, just about everyone seemed tired, haven't been getting out of bed for hours now. Lori was lost in her train of thought, Leni was on the verge of crying, Luna was playing with the strings on her guitar, Luan covered her face with a joke book, Lynn and Lucy were laying face down in on their beds, feeling dead inside, Lana cuddled Hops, Lola was crying into a tissue, Lisa want to work, but couldn't get herself to, and Lily was sound asleep. Their parents had let the others girl stay at their home, having been sleeping in the living room, and at this point, the Loud Sisters were on the verge of depression...
"There's nothing I want more right now than to have Lincoln in my arms right about now, and to tell him how much I love him.", said Leni.
"Believe me, Leni. I know exactly how you feel.", Lori told her sister. "...I just wish he would come back home now."
"Will we be searching again soon?", asked Leni.
"Yeah, but it's been a long week.", Lori said. "We need to get rest."
"But we've all been in bed for 10 hours now.", Leni stated.
"Seven.", Lori corrected. "And it feels like it's not enough. We all need to...", She yawned. "...regain our energy if we to keep going."
"...Okay.", said Leni, still not feeling so much better.
All the while, Luna continued to play with the strings on her guitar, thinking of wanting to make a song for her brother, but she finds nothing to work with and grows frustrated. Eventually, she just throws the guitar away from her and covers her face with her hands, beginning to cry softly as she misses Lincoln...
"I just can't seem to rock with Lincoln.", she said with a breaking voice. "He always had good taste in music."
"Yeah? Well nothing seems to be funny anymore with him either.", said Luan.
"Nothing was funny to begin in the first place with you.", Luna remarked.
"Hey! There's no need to say stuff like that!", Luan yelled. "You acted like Lincoln's dead. We don't know that."
"All I want is to see him again.", said Luna.
"That's what we all want.", Luan stated.
Heading towards Lynn and Lucy, both appeared to be depressed. It seems like they feel same way at this point, not wanting to do anything and just stay face down in bed. But so long after, did Lucy begin to move from bed and head over to Lynn...
"Hey, Lynn?", she said.
"Yeah?", Lynn said in a muffled voice.
"You feel depressed too about this whole thing?", Lucy asks her sister.
"Uh-huh.", Lynn responded.
"Do you Lincoln is okay?", Lucy continued to ask.
"I don't really care at this point.", Lynn answered.
Surprised by that, Lucy then asks her, "How can you say that?"
Moving around so that her face was showing, Lucy could see that her sister was actually looking pretty exhausted...
"Look at me, Lucy.", Lynn said. "Do you really think I'd are about anything at this point?"
"This is so not like you, Lynn.", Lucy commented.
"Then you don't really know me.", Lynn said. "I just...I just want him back."
"...We all do.", said Lucy, wanting to comfort her sister.
In the Twins' room, Lana was cuddling her pet frog Hops, while Lola was blowing her nose into a tissue, being so timid at this point, that she was regretting everything she's ever done wrong towards her brother...
"If only I didn't blackmail him, or treat him like a servant!", Lola said, sniffing.
"Couldn't agreed more.", Lana said blankly.
"Huh?", Lola said.
"You always act like a total brat around him.", Lana told her sister. With that, Lola grew angry
"Hey! Don't blame this whole thing one me!", she yelled. "I'm sure you did some bad things to him as well!"
"Maybe, but at least they weren't as bad as you!", Lana said. "I treated Lincoln with great respect, while you worked him to the bone! You can't deny that, Lola!"
The pageant queen was about to say something back, but she had to admit that her sister had a point. She felt on the the verge of crying again, and even Lana started to regret what she said...
She sighed saying, "Lola, I-"
"No, don't.", Lola interrupted. "... You're right. I'm just a huge brat...what I wouldn't give to have a hug from Lincoln right now."
"...Me too.", Lana said.
In the living room, Ronnie Anne was waking up from her sleep, feeling like there was top of her. She tried to get up, but what was on her felt heavy and had some hair in Ronnie Anne's face. It was Kat, she fell asleep on top of Ronnie Anne, which was something she wasn't too happy about. Managing to get up, Ronnie Anne flopped Kat over to the other side of the bed and stretched herself out...
Yawning, she asked, "What time is it, Jordan? ...Jordan?"
Seeing that Girl Jordan was no where around, Ronnie Anne looked around the house. Heading upstairs and passing the bedrooms full of depressed girls, she turned over to Lincoln's bedroom, where she found Girl Jordan sitting on Lincoln bed, looking at a photo on her phone...
"You alright?", Ronnie Anne asked her.
"Not really.", Girl Jordan answered. "I'm actually starting to miss him myself."
Ronnie Anne replied, "Yeah, I know the feeling."
But then, Girl Jordan turned towards her and said, "If you know something about his whereabouts, you better say something, because everyone's getting depressed."
"I swear, I don't know where he is at this point.", Ronnie Anne stated. "I've already told everything I know."
"Hmph.", went Girl Jordan. "Well...if we're going to go back to that club soon...you better pray that he's there."
"What's with that all of a sudden?", asked Ronnie Anne. "Everyone's getting depressed over nothing. We're all just tired! We're acting like Lincoln's dead. He had to be alright! ...He has to be."
"...Sorry.", Girl Jordan said. "I just wish he was back already."
"... I'm pretty sure that's how everyone feels at this point.", said Ronnie Anne.
Lisa overheard what those girls what they were saying, not able to get the thought of her brother out of her mind. She wanted to work on her experiments, her research, but she just couldn't. She was too tired, and getting too depressed to work on anything. She'd didn't think she'd be showing emotion as this. She began to think it was funny how she continued to show human emotion as such convenient times. It was then that the sight of her sister, Lily, holding a picture of her and Lincoln together and crying over it made her more upset. She decides to take Lily and hold her close, wanting to show her some comfort...
"I miss him too, Lily.", she told her baby sister. "I really do. Life just seems...incomplete without him."
Lily saw the sorrow in Lisa'a eyes as well and held onto her tightly. Her embrace was the comfort she needed right now. But eventually, Lisa felt Lily's grip weaken, and saw that her little sister had fallen asleep in her arms. Giving a smile, she carries Lily back into her grip, puts the picture right next to her and then begins to lose herself in her own train of thought. If she couldn't work, she can at least lose herself in her own mind. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Lynn Sr. was on the phone, talking to the police, wanting to file a missing report for Lincoln. Rita sat at the table, silently weeping with her hands covering her face. She was regretting not being there when he needed her support. The stress of having eleven kids, most of them being girls, had taken its tole on her. She was beginning to hate herself for it...
"That's right officer, he's been missing for over a week now.", Lynn Sr. said over the phone. "He has white hair...No, he's not an albino, he just has...natural white hair...well then, thank you for your time.", he hangs up the phone, feeling a bit peeved. "The nerve of some people."
"I should've been there for him more.", said Rita silently.
"Huh?", went Lynn Sr., listening to what his wife was saying.
"I should've been more reasonable.", Rita went on. "Like the time at the grocery store, all he wanted was cereal, it wasn't even his fault. I should've been there for him more. I shouldn't have been more neglectful."
"Honey, please. Don't beat yourself up like this.", Lynn Sr. said. "You're just exhausted and stressed. Don't let that get to you."
"Lynn, our son ran away, and one reason being was that we were not there when we needed to be.". Rita stated.
"It was just bad timing.", Lynn Sr. tried to defend.
"He punched his own in the face, ran away and as far as I can tell, most of our family takes him for granted.", Rita explained. "He mostly had every right to have run. We gave it to him."
"We will find him, Rita.", Lynn Sr. told his wife. "I promise."
Rita replied, "...He doesn't want to be found...I know that for certain."
Seeing the sorrow coming from his wife, Lynn Sr. simply embraced her, wanting to replace her hopelessness with comfort...
Lynn Sr. then said, "It's not like the solution to our problems is gonna come knocking at our door."
It was then that somebody came knocking at our door, surprising the couple as they headed for the living room. Opening it, they were greeted by Carol, who was looking pretty tired herself...
"Mr. and Mrs. Loud, I need your help.", she said straight away.
"Nice to see you too, Carol.", Rita said. "But, what do you need our help with?"
"There's no time to explain.", Carol stated. "I'm gonna need those girls over there.", she pointed towards Renee, Kat and Mollie sleeping on the chairs and couch.
"Carol, what is this about?", Lynn Sr. demanded. "And do you anything about where our son is?"
"...If you help me you, I promise that you'll see your son again.", said Carol.
Lynn Sr. replied, "You better not be lying to us, Carol."
"Trust me.", she said. "I'm telling the truth. Just please, let me have the girls."
The couple gave themselves some time to think. They're weren't entirely sure if they could trust Carol right now, but if her word is genuine, then they could get a chance to see Lincoln again...
"Well...they're still sleeping right now, Carol.", Rita said. "Do you mind coming back in the morning?"
"...Sure. I can wait that long.", Carol said. "And I'll make sure to have the girls back by the afternoon."
"And you swear we'll see our son again?", Lynn Sr. questioned.
"I do.", Carol said. "I swear."
And with that, Rita and Lynn Sr accepted Carol's proposal. The next day, she picked up the girls up with her own car, a purple convertible, and drove off, heading towards the woods.
"So, where are you taking us?", asked Ronnie Anne.
"To your doom.", Carol answered jokingly."
"Say what now?", Girl Jordan asked hysterically.
Carol replied, "I'm just joking. No, we're heading over to the club Lori showed you guys. We have people waiting for you."
"Can you put the top up?", asked Kat. "This wind is messing with my hair."
"I second that.", Renee said. "I can't get her hair out of my face!"
"Deal with it.", Kat said. "It's gonna be a long ride."
"Can't you at least try to move it yourself?", Renee asked her.
Kat answered, "Nope. It's just like that."
"You're unbelievable.", Renee told her.
"Alright!", Carol intervened. "I'll put up the top, so you guys can stop complaining."
"Good.", both girls answered at the same time.
It wasn't long before they reached the club, but before they went inside, the girls pulled Carol inside, wanting some answers...
"Carol, can't you just tell us as to why dragging us out here was so important?", Ronnie Anne asked.
Girl Jordan added on, "Yeah, and why just us?"
"Do you guys really want to find Lincoln?", Carol then asked them.
"Yeah!", all the girls went.
"Then just shut up for a second and come inside.", she told them, surprising them by her town.
Inside, Lincoln was talking to Fiona, Miguel, Parvana, Lyberti and Rex about how they're gonna help with the plan. They would be the lookouts, and have specific places to be...
"Now, since we can't back track to where exactly Cherry is in the woods, each of you are gonna have to stick to the shadows, try to get as close as possible.", he told them.
They all agreed to where he was going with this. But soon after, the doors of the club opened and Carol showed up with the girls, just as how Lincoln wanted...
"Right on time.", he said.
The girls were wide eyes, seeing Lincoln after spending so much time searching for him. He was kind of expecting that reaction from them, merely stepping forward to see what they were gonna do next. He was only hoping that it was something good...
"Lincoln...", Girl Jordan spoke, before running towards him and hugging him.
"Mmm... it's good to see you, Jordan.", Lincoln said, right before being dogpiled by the rest of the girls.
"Where have you been, man?!", Renee asks.
"I've just been with some friends.", Lincoln answered.
"We've all been missing you!", Mollie said.
"You kind of owe your family an apology at the moment.", Kat added
"Yeah, I know.", Lincoln said, sadly.
"... I'm still pretty happy to see you, though.", Kat said.
Lincoln replied, "That's good to hear."
As the girls got off of him, he faintly recognized Kat and Renee from the time he gave advise about girls and the other time his friends tried to set him up after Ronnie Anne moved away...
He said to them, "Kat, Renee. Nice seeing you two again. But, I hope you don't mind me asking: Why are you here?"
"When we heard that you had gone missing from Ronnie Anne, we figured we help them out in trying to find you.", Renee explained.
"It...would also give us a chance to apologise from the way we treated you before.", Kat added.
"Eh. That stuff happened a long while ago.", Lincoln said. "It's all water under the bridge now."
"That's good to hear.", Kat said.
"Yeah. We're all cool.", said Renee.
Ronnie Anne, who wasn't really looking too happy at the moment, merely walks up to Lincoln and slaps him across the face. He'd expect nothing less of her...
"...Ow.", Lincoln went, rubbing his cheek.
"That's for putting me through all this.", Ronnie Anne said. Lincoln glared at her until, by surprise, Ronnie Anne gave him a small little peck on the cheek, making herself and Lincoln blush. "That's for...everything else.", she then said...
"Thanks...And, sorry.", Lincoln said with a smile.
"It's okay.", Ronnie Anne told her.
"So, what's going on here?", Girl Jordan asked Lincoln.
"Well, it's a bit of a long story.", Lincoln said.
Renee spoke up saying, "Well, we got some time to kill."
"Okay. So recently, while hanging out with these guys, I was...kidnapped.", explained Lincoln, shocking the girls. "...By a psycho chick named Cherry. But they managed to get me out, however, we kind of left someone behind in the process."
"How could you guys let that happen?", Ronnie Anne asked, almost angrily.
"Hey! He was half unconscious!", defended Carol. "And he decided to stay behind so the rest of us could escape!"
"Greg was Cherry's best friend before.", Dana said. "She'll go easy on him. She has to."
Lincoln then told the girls, "And the reason why you guys are here is because we need your help to save him."
"Well, what can we do?", asked Kat.
"I'm glad you asked.", said Lincoln. "Because I have a whole plan laid out and Ronnie Anne and Girl Jordan were the only ones gonna be part of it, but I guess you three girls in as well."
"Gee, thanks.", Renee said sarcastically.
"Alright, so here's how the plan is gonna go.", said Lincoln. "So, Carol thinks that Cherry may have moved to another location by now. Not sure how she could've found a new hiding spot so fast, but we're gonna go with that."
And then, Lincoln brings out a map of the woods. Having some places that were marked, indicating the locations of where the club is and where Cherry's hideout is.
"Cherry's hideout was right here.", he said, pointing to a red x, indicating Cherry's old hideout. "And since she may have moved, she could be anywhere around the woods, but we did some research and found that there were several abandoned warehouses around here."
"So, Cherry must've moved to at least one of them", Ronnie Anne said.
"Right, 'cause there's no where else she could've gone.", Lincoln said. "Not unless she was heading into town, or left Royal Woods."
"So then, how do you plan on finding which is the right warehouse?", asked Mollie.
Shannon spoke out, feeling awkward when saying, "We, uh...didn't think about that yet."
"Seriously?", Ronnie Anne said.
"But we did some research and found that each warehouse has a nearly identical design.", explained Lincoln. "And we managed to print out a map for both outside and inside. Which is where these come in.", Then, Lincoln brings out two more maps. First, he shows a map of the outside of the warehouse.
"So this is how the plan is gonna go.", he said. "We each have a team of several people head over to every opposite side of the warehouse: We have Ronnie Anne at the front door with Parvana and Shannon. Then, on the rood, we have Miguel, Mandee and Jackie, see if there's an entrance on top."
"You got it.", said Mandee.
And Jordan, you and Mollie are gonna go on opposites of the warehouse to see if there's a side door, alright?"
"No problem.", Girl Jordan said.
"Sure thing.", said Mollie.
"Okay, another quick way into the warehouse is through the vents. But it's like a maze, and a pretty tight space as well. Carol, Dana, Fiona, Carlota. I'm trusting you three to make it through the vents."
"I'm just hoping our hair doesn't get caught.", said Carol.
"Eh. That rarely ever happens.", said Dana.
"I'm not sure me going through a vent is a good idea.", said Carlota.
"I'm sure you'll do fine, Carlota.", said Fiona. "Besides, I've noticed how you've gotten a tad bit thinner?"
Carlota asked her, "You have?"
"Yeah, I've noticed that too.", said Carol. "Have you been trying to lose weight?"
"Well, I have been dieting.", said Carlota. "Trying to cut back on some of the stuff I eat. And I have been trying to do a lot of exercise recently. Wasn't sure if it was helping though."
"Did you do mostly cardio and leg workouts?", asked Lincoln.
"How could you tell?", asked Carlota?
Lincoln answered, "Your legs.", seeing how strong and muscular they have become.
Renee spoke out, saying. "Um, what about us? What do we get to do?"
"Well, I suppose I can let you two go with Carol and-"
"Nuh-uh. No way am I going through a vent.", said Kat.
"Oh, just deal with it.", said Renee.
"Wait, Lincoln. Where are you gonna be in all this?", asked Girl Jordan.
"He's not going.", said Lyberti.
"Oh really?", said Kat. "So you just get to laze around while we do all the heavy work?"
"We can't risk him being captured again.", said Lyberti. "I'll stay with him and protect him."
"So will I.", said Rex. "We don't need so many people in the field."
"Great.", said Lincoln. "Now that we all know where we are, let's get this plan into action."
Meanwhile, with Cherry and her goons were busy loading things from a van into a new hideout while the psycho herself was sitting alone, fiddling with her spear that she was barely able to fix. She was lost in her anger, ticked about having lost her prize so soon...
"I had the kid.", she said. "I had him. In my grasp. And yet, that prick made me have him slip through my fingers. When I get my hands on them, I'm gonna put through all kinds of torture, having them beg for death."
"Hey, why do we even have to help you move?", Frank asked her. "All you asked for was the kid, so why should we continue helping your sorry but out?"
Hearing the sound of his irritating voice made Cherry quickly get up, turn around and throw her weapon at Frank's head. He was lucky that he missed, as her spear had plunged through the side of the van. With her eye beginning to twitch, Cherry walks crazily towards her minion.
"Oh, I'm sorry.", said Cherry, crazily. "I'm sorry I haven't paid you fellas yet. But let's get one thing straight. I'm not afraid of you, but you DEFINITELY should be afraid of me. And I find you questioning your job again...you'll be begging for mercy when I'm done with you! And I'm. Not. Kidding around..."
As Cherry got all up in Frank's face, he couldn't help but feel afraid around her now as she grabbed her spear, headed inside the new warehouse. Inside, she had Greg chained up to a bed and he was looking like he hasn't slept in a while. Cherry wanted to keep him cozy, but being someone's prisoner makes that difficult. He lifts his head up and faces her, looking...expressionless...
"...How are you holding up?", she asks him.
Greg replied, "I've been better...but it's good seeing you again."
"Likewise.", Cherry said.
"Really?", asked Greg. "That's surprising, considering the fact that you knocked me unconscious two days ago."
"Oh, get over it.", said Cherry. "To be honest, I really didn't like how I hurt you like that. But I'm having very mixed emotions about seeing again."
"You still want the kid, though. Don't you?", he then asks her. To which, she replies, "Of course, I do. Second time should be the charm, right?"
"You're not gonna find them, Cherry.", said Greg. "Those guys are bound to be far away from the woods be now."
"Yeah...I wouldn't be too sure about that.", said Cherry, showing Greg a tablet that has the video feed from cameras that seem to be scattered all around the woods. One of them, showing that the group is walking through the woods at the moment.
Greg asks her, "You've been spying on us?", but Cherry answers, "Actually they've been spying on me. But Margaret's pretty handy with a computer. Took her only a minute to hack into all those cameras. They're all well on their way here right now, coming to save your sorry butt. Once I get the drop on them, the kid will be all mine."
"Why do you want him anyway?", he then asks.
"Do I really need a reason?", Cherry asks him.
"It would help!", Greg tells her.
"Hmm...I guess I just see a little bit of myself in that kid.", Cherry tells him. But Greg felt when she said, telling her, "That hurts, you know that? Because you said the exact same thing about me!"
"Oh, Greg...", Cherry went on. "You failed me. He won't. I got a good feeling about him."
"Oh, for gosh's sake. Cherry, it's not too late!", Greg said. "You can stop all this insanity."
"It's been too late...for far too long.", Cherry says. "...I'm locking you in here. When the time comes, I'll let you go."
And with that said, Cherry turns her back on him and walks out, shutting and locking the door behind him...
"Cherry, please don't do this.", Greg says.