"Heeeeeey Lori..."
Lincoln broke the silence with that, facing his sister. He was honestly expecting her to be pretty mad for having ran away, but he didn't expect her to have hugged him. She was holding onto him pretty tight, that it almost felt like he couldn't breathe. She didn't seem like she wanted to let go of him, like she wanted to cherish this moment...
"I'm so glad...", Lori said. "I'm so glad to see you again."
"Lori...", Lincoln said. "I-I..."
"I'm sorry, Lincoln.", Lori said to him. "I should've have treated you that way."
Lincoln replied, "Lori, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ran away, but I was upset and I...I just couldn't be around you guys...I didn't want to be a burden."
"You've never been a burden to us, Lincoln.", Lori said. "I'm more of a burden, honestly. I'm just a madhouse most of the time. I nearly lost it when you ran away."
The two look at each other with watery eyes, then continue on hugging...
"It's felt like forever since I last saw you.", Lori said.
"Hey...", Carol said, interrupting the siblings moment. "I just wanted to thank you again for helping us, Lori."
"Of course." , Lori said. "That's literally what friends are for...but, if I may ask...", she them breaks up the moment with Lincoln. "What is all this? What is going on?"
"Lincoln didn't fill you in?", Carol asked.
"Just the stuff you guys needing help.", Lori stated. "Not everything else though."
"Well, Lori...", Lincoln began. "Carol and the others have been protecting me. When I ran away, they took me in and decided that I could stay with them. I didn't know that they were actually protecting me from that psycho chick. And apparently, they were also protecting you guys too."
Lori had let that sunk in for a moment before saying, "Wait, what do you mean protecting us too?"
"If I may...", Carol said. "We had a feeling that Cherry would go after you guys of Lincoln was still around you, and she'd tried to take him by force. So, we made sure that you guys were kept watch of as well."
"I see.", Lori said. "Well, then I guess I owe you big time."
"Don't mention it.", Carol said.
Lori then faces her brother once more, saying, "Lincoln, everyone else is waiting for you. We need to go see them right now!"
"No, Lori, I can't right now.", Lincoln said.
"What do you mean not right now?", Lori asked.
Lincoln replied, "We still need to take care of Cherry."
"Seriously?", Lori asked. "We left that nutbar in the dust back at her hideout."
"Lincoln's right, Lori.", Carol said. "We need to take care of her. She's too dangerous to leave out there."
But, Lori said, "We'd be putting not just Lincoln, but everyone else here in danger!"
"Miss Lori..."
Lori turned around to see Greg coming out of the backroom. It looked like he could barely stand on his own feet, but he made his way over to the teen.
"This is how it must be, Miss Lori.", Greg said. "Cherry too dangerous to be left un-apprehended. We must...take...her down."
"Why can't she just call the police?", Lori asked.
"I've actually tried that before.", Greg explained, starting to roll up his sleeve. "Didn't work out as well as I hoped.", he shows a huge scar across his left arm. Seeing that made everyone wince.
"It might have to take all of us again.", Lincoln said.
"You don't have to help if you want.", Carol told Lori.
"No. I'm not backing out from this.", Lori said. "I just got back with my brother, I'm not letting him out of my sight."
Carol asked her, "So, you're in then?"
Lori didn't say anything until Lincoln asked her.
"Come on, Lori. What'd ya say?"
"...That you're all crazy.", Lori said. "...But let's take that Psycho Chick down."
Everyone seemed to be overjoyed to have Lori on their side. She wasn't completely for it, but she was willing to go along. It was then that Miguel, Mandee and Jackie were beginning to come out of the backroom, looking drowsy and exhausted..
Jackie yawned, saying, "Hey, can you guys keep it down? I've had a long day."
"You guys shouldn't be up right now.", Carol said. "You need to rest."
Miguel spots Lori, then asking, "What's Lori doing here?"
"I called her.", Lincoln answered. "We needed more help than we thought."
"So, I guess the secret's out, huh?", Mandee asked.
"Yep, but I'm on your side. So don't worry.", Lori said.
"Good to hear.", Miguel said.
"How are Carlota and Fiona doing?", Carol asked.
"Still out cold.", Jackie said. "They'll be fine though."
"Hope they wake up soon.", Lincoln. "We still might need everyone again."
Miguel asks, "Why? What are we gonna have to do?"
"We, uh, still need to take care of Cherry.", said Sam.
"You're kidding me.", said Jackie.
"No, it's true.", Carol said. "We can't leave Cherry un-apprehended, it's too dangerous for everyone."
Mandee then said, "You do realize that one of her goons ended up torturing us, right?"
"Don't worry about that.", said Lori. "He's literally nothing but paste at this point."
Jackie began to ask, "Wait, you're saying he's-"
"She did it.", Lori said, pointing towards Carol.
"Hey!", Carol said.
"Okay then.", Miguel said. "I guess that's one less problem to deal with."
"Not exactly.", Greg spoke out. "Because of the death of one of her own, Cherry will most likely a little more extra help from some other friends."
"What are the chances she'll bring an army?", asked Ronnie Anne.
"Pretty high.", said Greg.
"Then...I guess we'll just have to get an army of our own.", said Lincoln
"How are you planning on getting an army?", asked Lori.
Lincoln thought about it for a second before saying, "Can I borrow your phone, Carol?"
"Um...sure.", said Carol, bringing out her phone and handing it over to Lincoln. He begins to dial three numbers and waits as the phone rings. All the while, Carlota had gotten up and headed out of the backroom..
"Hey, everyone.", she said drowsily. "What'd I miss?"
"Hey, Carlota.", Lori said.
Carlota then asked, "Lori? What are you doing here?"
"Lincoln asked for my help with getting Greg back.", Lori explained as her eyes began to motion toward Carlota's hips. "Hey, have you gotten a little more plump, Carlota?"
"You shouldn't really say that to her, Lori.", Fiona said, coming out of the backroom behind Carlota. "She kinda hates it."
"No, no, it's cool. I'm used to it.", said Carlota, now fully awake. "Besides, I'm beginning to find huge hips kind of useful."
"...Good for you, I guess.", said Lori, a little confused...and disturbed.
Meanwhile, at the police station, a phone was ringing and a police officer picked up right away...
"Royal Woods Police Department."
"Hello? This is Lincoln Loud.", Lincoln answered through the phone.
"Loud? Where have I heard that name before?", the officer asked, thinking about for a second. "Oh yeah, I believe you're parents filed in a missing person report about you."
"Good to know.", Lincoln said.
"If you give me your location, I can have a squad car pick you and-"
"Hold on, officer.", Lincoln interrupted. "I need to report a crime."
"Really?", the officer asked. "What crime?"
Lincoln replied, "An attempt of kidnapping and murder. A girl named Cherry Willis has tried to kidnap me and hurting me friends. We need her arrested. She's hiding somewhere within the woods, so it'd be best to set an ambush."
"I've heard of Cherry Willis before.", The cop said. "But why exactly should I believe you, kid?"
"You don't have to.", Lincoln said. "Just take my word for it and we can have Cherry apprehended."
The cop gave into Lincoln's demands saying, "Alright, kid. We'll see what we can do."
And with that, Lincoln hung up, unsure of what he said was enough to get the police to help out. Turning around, he saw Mazzy was up and sitting next to the buffet table. She wasn't looking so awake as Sam, Jordan and Mollie went right next to her...
"How you doing, Mazzy?", Sam asked.
"I'll live.", Mazzy answered. "But everything's kind of fuzzy."
"How many fingers am I holding up?", Jordan asked, holding up her hand.
"Funny.", Mazzy said. "And that's three fingers."
"Well, at least you're brain's still in intact.", said Mollie, before asking Lincoln, "So, who did you just call?"
"The police.", Lincoln said. "I told them to help us set an ambush for Cherry."
"Won't be enough.", Greg said. "Cherry's smart. She won't fall for any tricks so easily."
Carol then said, "Well, we're just gonna have to find a way to bring him out into the open."
"We could use someone as bait.", said Mazzy. "Someone she wants desperately."
"Someone...like Lincoln.", Mollie points out, leaving Lincoln wide-eyed.
"Say what now?", Lincoln said, feeling a little offended.
"Oh no.", Lori said. "There is no way Lincoln is gonna be bait for a psycho chick."
Carol began to tell Lori, "To be fair, Lori, Lincoln is kind of the one Cherry wants."
"I literally don't care!", said Lori. "You said that you'd protect him, and now, you're literally planning to do the opposite."
"I agree with Lori.", Ronnie Anne spoke out. "I mean, it wasn't too long ago when Lincoln kidnapped by Cherry. We don't need that happening again."
Lori nodded her head, saying, "And besides, after we did over at that place, pretty sure Cherry will be coming after all of us."
"Well, we're kind of low on options here.", said Mollie. "As much as I hate to admit it, using Lincoln as bait is...pretty much all we got."
"Yeah, well I'm all against it!", Lori said out loud.
"...Forget it, Lori.", Lincoln spoke out. "I'll go along with it."
"What?", Lori asked. "Lincoln you can't be serious."
"If you got any other options, we're all ears at the moment.", Lincoln said. "But there's no need to endanger any one else."
"He's got a point."
"It's our best chance."
"It's all we got."
"I don't see any other way."
Everyone seemed to be agreeing, all except for Lori. But she sees that they all believe that this plan is their best bet. Giving in, she's leaves herself with one thing to say...
"...We're toast."
Back at her hideout, Cherry had managed to gather a bunch of punks from Joshua's old gang. Now, at least 20 thugs were at her disposal. As of right though, she was waiting for them to shut up, pacing back and forth on a wooden platform as all the thugs were talking and making noise, arguing amongst themselves, some even looking like they want to fight. Cherry wasn't having any of this as she brings out a Mare's Leg gun and fires it twice up high, managing to get everyone to quiet down and get their attention. Now, she could make her little announcement...
"Alright...", Cherry said. "I brought you all here today for something big. As you have heard, a good friend of ours, Dear Joshua, is dead."
She points outside, to where a wooden cross was sticking from the grown above where Joshua's body was buried. A lot of the thugs couldn't believe it, others were growing angry and clinching their fists, wanting to sink it into something. They began to chatter once more before Cherry fired her gun again, regaining their attention...
"He was a good man, despite being a double crossing, selfish, heartless little pink...", Cherry said. "He didn't deserve to be taken down by the hands of two girly girls. What I say now is that we find them, we hunt them down like a pack of wild animals and drive our blades into their skulls!"
A lot of the thugs were agreeing with that, some of them even beginning to cheer...
"I don't care how long it takes! I just wanna see them taken care of, just as much as the lot of you do! They disrespected me! My sanctuary! They disrespected dear Joshua before throwing him into the ground! We're just returning the favor, now aren't we?"
From where they stood, Frank and Margaret were watching the entire twenty thugs begin to get excited and go wild. They were not believing that Cherry was gonna pull off a plan like this...
"I'm promising y'all some big money if you help me out with this! Help me have those fools left in a ditch, and you're be getting some cash! You'll be getting retribution! And Ol' Joshua's soul will be put to rest! How's with me?!"
The entirety of the crew was now roaring happy, making some noise that can be heard outside. It seemed like Cherry was making a little plan of her own...
Back at the Loud House, Lynn was heading down to the kitchen to get herself a drink. In the fridge, she only find the milk and decides that it's good enough, so she takes it out and then looks for a glass.
"Hey, Lynn."
Hearing the voice of her sister, Lucy, made Lynn freeze in place and squeeze the milk carton until it explodes like a volcano, having milk rain over her head. With that, she lets out a heavy sigh and pours what little milk is left inside the glass as she faces her gothic sister...
"Yes, can I help you, Lucy?", Lynn asks sarcastically.
"I was just wondering if you had any idea where Lori might be.", Lucy says. "She wasn't in her room."
Lynn takes a sip of her milk, replying, "Nope. I haven't seen her for a half hour now."
"Where could she have gone then?", asked Lucy. "It's not like her to just leave."
"I'm sure she'll be back before you know it.", Lynn said.
Lucy wasn't buying it though. She felt that Lynn may not really know where Lori is, but she's getting suspicious of Lori's disappearance. Lucy begins to think of where Lori may have gone too, thinking of every possibility...
"Oh, can I ask you something, Lucy?", Lynn spoke out. "You wouldn't happen to know where my bat is, right?"
"No.", Lucy said. "Did you misplace it?"
"I don't think so.", Lynn said. "But I looked everywhere and I couldn't find it."
"...I might have an idea of who's got it.", said Lucy.
Meanwhile, in Luna's room, she was busy sitting at the edge of Luan's bed, playing some sad music. That is, until she saw something block her version. Brushing it out of the way, it had turned out to be blonde hair, which confused her as she looked up and saw Leni laying on the top punk, with her hair hanging off the edge...
"Leni?", said Luna. "What are you doing in my bed? Heck, what are you even doing in my room?"
"I don't know.", said Leni. "Just lonely, I guess."
"What do you mean?", Luna asked. "Where's Lori?"
"Wish I knew.", Leni said. "I was gonna ask her something, but found that she wasn't in her room. I looked around for a while and I couldn't find her anywhere. And after that, here I am."
Luna saw that her door was wide open. She could've sworn she closed it...
"How'd you get in here without me noticing?", Luna asked her.
"You seemed to be so concentrated on your music.", Leni explained. "So, I just...let myself in."
Luna let that sunk for a second...
"Well...I guess you could stay for now.", she said to Leni. "Just be sure to watch your hair."
"Thanks, Luna.", Leni said. "And...I'm sorry. I'm just...still thinking about Lincoln."
"...Yeah, me too.", Luna said, as she continues to strum her guitar. Leni was listening to the music Luna was making, and it was rather soothing, despite sounding saddening. It would be considered peaceful if didn't express the emotion of sorrow from Luna. Leni had to say something else to her sibling...
"That was pretty good, Luna.", she said. "It was...beautiful even."
Luna stares at her sister, having a small smile grow on her. "Thanks", she said. "I was just dabbling a little."
"So...", Leni said. "How do you think Lincoln's doing?"
"I'm hoping he's doing alright.", Luna said. "I need him right now."
"...Yeah, me too.", Leni agreed on.
Back to Cherry's hideout, outside, she and her little army were preparing for hunting. She was gearing herself up, along with a pair of twin sisters, who were polar opposites, one being dominate over the other. Kylie, who had should lenght, ombre blue hair, white skin, a black t-shirt with a skull on it, black jeans, dark brown shoes and a tattoo of a angel on her left arm, was a seductive type who looks after her little sister, Taylor, who had a brown pixie cut, white skin as well, wears a glossy violet jacket over with pink shoulder spikes over a neon purple shirt, navy blue shorts, silver boots, gray shades with with purple-pink lenses, a dog collar around her neck and a tattoo of a demon over her left arm, and she was known for being quite the crazy person, but not as crazy as Cherry.
As the three of them armed themselves for their hunt, their attention was drawn over to a couple of other goons who were messing with some of the weapons...
"Should catching one kid be extremely easy?", asked Taylor.
And it was then that one of the thugs set off a grenade launcher and smoke began to appear everywhere.
"It should be.", said Cherry, taking a spear from a table. "But I'm not taking any chances."
"And what do we get out on all this?", Taylor continued to ask her. "'Cause I highly doubt you're gonna really pay us."
Cherry replied, "If you help me out here, you get to keep the weapons as payment."
Taylor thought about it for a second before deciding, "Deal."
"Good.", Cherry said. "Now, how about you go make yourselves useful and those nimrods from doing anything stupid?"
It was then, that one of the thugs climbs into a catapult built for rocks and explosives. It wasn't really something Cherry was planning on using, but z wise-guy thought it best to launch himself as he ends up flying across the room until he crashes onto a table of weapons...
"We'll...teach those boys a lesson.", said Kylie, as she and her sister began to walk away from their leader. With them gone, Cherry tries to have a moment of peace, until she heard an explosion from behind her, caused by another grenade being set off as a singed blade flew passed her head and land onto the wall. Letting out a heavy sigh, she pulled out the blade as she said...
"I'm surrounded by a bunch of idiots."