Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Restored Image: A tale retold

Chapter six: The Chandler Tales, part one

Chandler McCann, a fifth grader over at Royal Woods Elementary School, was at home one day, playing on his Playtendo Swap. The popular boy was feeling a bit amused, as he had heard that someone had duped Ross, his rival for the affections of Astrid Ace, into thinking that Astrid was confessing her love to him by leaving him a fake love letter. The embarrassment that blonde boy suffered, which was further magnified when Ronnie Anne Santiago actually confessed to writing the love note as a prank on him, was excruciating for Ross.

…But amusing to Chandler.

Amused by the embarrassment that his rival-in-love suffered, as well as feeling relieved that the girl that the two boys were competing against each other for didn't actually confess to said rival, Chandler was in a really good mood. The red-headed boy felt as if there wasn't anything that could possibly sour his good mood right now.

…Unfortunately, as Chandler got his character in the game he was playing to the next town for some sort of quest, he heard some shouting from the downstairs living room that decided to prove to him that he was actually rather wrong in his assumption.

"Are you kidding me?!" an adult man's voice practically shouted, "How is it that the phone bill for this month is this frigg'en high?!"

"Didn't I tell you I had that call with my brother who lived over in Washington State?" an adult woman's voice replied, "About our father who he's caring for is in terrible health?"

"Seriously?! A cross-country call?!" the man's voice shouted, "How long was it?"

"At least an hour," the woman's voice could be heard saying, "We had a lot to discuss, especially since our father is dying from the looks of things."

Growling a bit in a frustrated manner, the man's voice shouted, "Couldn't you have kept it brief, though? It's not like I'm made of money, you know!" Sighing, the man's voice said, "This isn't what I need right now, especially given that I'm still competing with that asshole at work for that big promotion."

As the argument downstairs simmered down, especially since the woman was shifting to stroking the man's ego which calmed him down significantly, Chandler could not help but feel disgusted, feel angry, feel trapped. Arguments like that between his parents have been the norm for quite some time now, even more so when it involved making Chandler's dad spend more money than he absolutely had to; why else do you think Chandler's birthday parties are held as the sewage treatment plant every year?

As Chandler closed out of the game he was playing so he could start up another one, he overheard another conversation from downstairs. "So yeah, I'm now having to compete with that asshole at work for the new management position," Chandler's dad said, "It'll mean a lot more money if I get the promotion."

"Wait a minute," Chandler's mom replied, "Wouldn't it also mean that if you get the promotion, you'll be having to work more hours?"

"Yeah, I won't be around as much if I get the promotion," Chandler's dad remarked. After a bit of a pause, Chandler's dad added, "That being said, it's still no excuse to blow through my paycheck, increased as it will be."

As the talking downstairs continued, Chandler shifted gears to focus on his video game. Even so, the red-headed boy could not help but be intrigued by the one part that he overheard his dad say downstairs. He won't be around as much? Chandler and his mom will have more time away from that controlling, dominating oaf? This sounds like it's too good to be true.

But never let it be said that Chandler never dreams.

The following day, Chandler was over at his cousin Kara's place. Kara is a fair-skinned thirteen-year-old girl who has white hair with pale green shading near the ends, and the hair was tied into twin pigtails, with each pigtail adorned with three fairly large green beads. Kara wore a white capelet (with green trim) that had a light fur collar, a green long-sleeved blouse, a white frilly skirt, white stockings that reached over her knees, and green shoes. The girl's eyes were also a bright and vibrant shade of emerald green.

"So your dad's competing with some guy at the sewage treatment plant for some big promotion," Kara began, sounding like she was trying to get facts straight, "And if he gets it he'll hardly be around because his new work will be keeping him that busy?"

Nodding a few times in the affirmative, Chandler said, "It'll give the rest of the household a fair bit more breathing room away from him."

Kara, with a dry look on her face, replied, "So…you and your mom." Chandler once again nodded in the affirmative. With a sympathetic sigh, the thirteen-year-old girl continued, "To be honest, I can't really blame you, cous. My own old man is pretty shitty as well."

"Yeah, didn't you say something about how he's constantly forcing you to participate in sports?" Chandler asked, a mildly questioning look on his face.

Nodding in confirmation, Kara said, "Exactly, even though playing in sports like that is the absolute last thing I'd ever want to do."

"Does he know you don't like sports?" Chandler asked.

"When I tried to suggest that one time," Kara began to reply in a dry tone, "He gave me a backhanded slap across the right side of my face." Crossing her arms over her chest, the thirteen-year-old girl continued, "So basically, it's a cardinal sin in my family's household to not have any liking for sports. At least that's my dad's mindset."

Chandler took in a breath as he contemplated things; it seemed that when it comes to terrible dads, both Chandler himself and Kara were in the same boat. This made Chandler realize how lucky some of his classmates were compared to him. Chandler's friends, those being Sid, Frank, Trent and Richie, all had awesome dads. Even Chandler's classmates who the red-headed boy had belittled prior to the turnaround of his character had a good relationship with their respective old men, especially McBride, who had TWO great dads. The red-headed boy was even jealous of the kids in his class who DON'T have dads, such as Ronnie Anne and Astrid.

Gently shaking her head, Kara said, "Well anyway, I have to get ready."

Curious, Chandler asked his older cousin, "Ready for what?"

"I have a baseball game later today," Kara explained as she gestured to what looked like a kid or very young teen's baseball uniform, obviously made for a member of a youth team. The uniform consisted of a jersey with the top third blue, middle third white and bottom third blue again; there was also a pair of sports shorts the same shade of blue, and a baseball cap that was blue for its entirety save for the front of the cap part, which was white. "We're going to be playing against our rivals today, who are basically the red team to our blue team," the thirteen-year-old girl said.

"Do you think your team will win?" Chandler asked, sound curious.

With an indifferent shrug, Kara replied, "Seeing as how we're going to be cheating during today's game, I don't see how we can lose."

Chandler, with a surprised and mildly shocked look on his face, said, "Wait a minute, cous. Did you say that your team was going to cheat during today's game?"

"We've cheated in every game we've been in during the current season," Kara said, "It's under the coach's orders." With an indifferent shrug, the thirteen-year-old girl continued, "But then again, since the coach is making money off of bets he makes on the games we play, I can see why he'd want us to win no matter what."

"Does anyone know?" Chandler asked.

Gently shaking her head, Kara replied, "Nope. The coach told us not to tell anyone."

"You guys could get into a lot of trouble if word of what your team's been doing gets out," Chandler pointed out.

"Hence why our coach told us not to tell anyone," Kara replied. With a sigh, Kara continued, "Trust me, Chandler. If I could, I would gladly leak word of what my team's been doing, because doing so would get me out of having to play baseball for the rest of the season. But not only would my team probably find out, which will lead them and the coach to give me no end of grief, but my dad will also get pissed because he'll interpret it as me trying to get out of having to play in sports."

The red-headed boy considered what his cousin had told him; he could not blame Kara for keeping quiet thus far because of how she was trapped between a rock and a hard place. That made Kara more similar to Chandler than he at first believed, if not making Kara have a more difficult time than Chandler. At least he wasn't being made to compete in sports like his older cousin; he wouldn't suffer any negative repercussions if-

Chandler suddenly stopped mid-thought, as a look of dawning realization started appearing on his face. "…Where is your baseball game taking place today?" Chandler asked.

Kara, with a mildly curious and confused look on her face, replied, "At the local baseball park. Why do you ask? You planning to come out and join me in hoping like hell that my team will actually lose today?"

"Oh, yeah, I'd like to come out and see you play," the red-headed boy replied, a hint of knowing amusement in his tone, a hint that his older cousin failed to pick up on.

Either way, Chandler was sure that Kara would be grateful towards him before the day was out.

The skies were clear and the sun was shining at Royal Wood's local baseball park, which was just a basic baseball field prepared in part of the actual local park, set aside for kids to come in and play some baseball. Chandler's parents were surprised to hear from him that he wanted to go see the game; they initially assumed that their son had no interest in sports.

Things became clearer for the McCann parents when Chandler explained that Kara was competing in the game today, and that he wanted to go out to the game and watch her play. You know, providing moral support and all that good jazz. Chandler's parents found this to be really sweet of their son and only child; Chandler's dad in particular was proud that Chandler was wanting to show support for the rest of the family, so he was all for letting Chandler go and watch the game.

"I can't believe he actually gave me permission to get away from him," Chandler thought as he tried to find a seat in the bleachers that was at least halfway decent. As Chandler looked for a place where he would have a decent vantage point to watch his cousin's baseball game from, the red-headed boy spotted a blonde-haired woman who he recognized from his last trip that he took to the dentist's office (Chandler needed to have a wisdom tooth pulled out).

"Isn't that Lincoln's mom Mrs. Loud?" Chandler thought as he saw Rita Loud talking to a few parents. A few moments into the conversation the adults were having, a girl on the team with the red uniform came up to Rita. This girl, who Chandler did not recognize, was similarly fair-skinned like Rita, and had brownish hair that was kept up in a sporty ponytail. Chandler also estimated that this girl was about the same age as Kara.

"I'm guessing that girl is Mrs. Loud's daughter," Chandler thought, "Which would make her Lincoln's sister. Huh, she's on the team opposing Kara's team." The red-headed boy decided that this entire business was ultimately a non-factor, and proceeded to resuming looking for a good seat. If he was being completely honest with himself, Chandler wasn't planning on using whatever seat he found all that much; he just needed to have a seat somewhere in the bleachers.

It was part of his plan to bail his cousin out of the trouble she was finding herself in.

About half-way though the game, the score showed that Kara's team was leaving the opposing team well behind; the opposing team barely had any points at all compared to Kara's team. As he watched the game unfold, Chandler, who sat in the very top row of seats in the bleachers on the far right (from Chandler's point of view) side, contributed this vast success of Kara's team to the rampant cheating that she mentioned to him earlier.

Seeing as how everyone was focused on the game, Chandler figured that he could slip away. Getting up, he told a few people he had to get past that he needed to use the bathroom, allowing him to leave the bleachers as he made a turn to make it look like he was headed for the bathrooms. In reality, the red-headed boy had a much more different target in mind, that being the locker room that was being used by his cousin's team.

There was very little people around, the only person Chandler spotted being an older male janitor who fell asleep on the job. Given the man's apparent age, Chandler wouldn't hold this against him. In fact, Chandler was silently thankful that the only person who could have been in his way was fast asleep. Chandler also noticed that there were absolutely no camera anywhere, meaning he wouldn't be spotted/recorded at all. Again, lucky; Chandler was planning to weave a tale, and the lack of cameras that could have proven him wrong helped the tale he was cooking up.

Chandler proceeded to check a few of the lockers, as well as one or two sports bags that he spotted sitting around in the locker room for Kara's team. Chandler didn't even search two separate places before he found a jar of Vaseline, the first bit of evidence confirming what Kara had told him earlier. One or two other searches revealed one or two other bits of evidence suggesting known methods of cheating in baseball.

"This is just too good to be true," Chandler thought as he collected the first bit of evidence that he found. He decided that it would be best if he didn't search the entirety of the locker room; best leave any other potential finds for officials to discover.

Two men who were helping to manage the game were talking to each other near the announcer's booth. "Wow, the blue team is kicking the red team's ass, huh?" said the first guy, a fair-skinned slim but healthy man with straight, shoulder length black hair. The Star of David necklace he wore suggested that this man was Jewish.

Nodding in agreement to the first man was the second man, who was also slim yet healthy, but was clearly Hispanic instead. He had black hair that was somewhat longer and a bit more on the wild side in terms of appearance. "Totally," the second man replied, "What's especially weird about this is that the red team has a star player like miss-"

"Excuse me, sirs," a young boy's voice said, interrupting both men and making them turn and look down. As such, they spotted Chandler, who wore a concerned expression on his face. "I overheard a few boys wearing the blue team's uniforms talk about how much Vaseline they thought they could get away with putting on the baseballs they threw," Chandler began, "I heard that Vaseline on a baseball is a known method of cheating, so I got worried and decided to look into things." Holding up the Vaseline jar he found, Chandler continued, "I found this just sitting on a chair in the blue team's locker room."

"Are you serious, young man?" the first man asked Chandler.

Nodding in the affirmative, Chandler said, "I was worried that the blue team might seriously be cheating, so I hoped to find someone who can look into the matter further and confirm if what I fear is true."

The two men turned to face each other, then turned to face Chandler. "…We're going to look into matters here, young man," the second man said, then added when he turned to face the first man, "Come on, dude. We've got to do a search of the blue team's locker room."

"Right," the first man replied as he nodded in agreement while following his fellow.

Chandler returned to the seat he had just before the second half of the ongoing game started up. Chandler saw that some girl on Kara's team (not Kara herself) was up to bat, and that brown-haired girl that Chandler had identified as a (potential; Chandler doesn't yet know for certain) sister of Lincoln Loud's was up to pitch. Chandler, from what he has been able to observe up to this point, noticed that the brown-haired girl pretty much scored all of the points that the red team had been able to accumulate in the game, meaning that she had been more or less carrying her entire team during today's game.

"Wow, Lincoln's sister must be really good if she can score fairly against unfair opposition," Chandler thought as he continued to watch the game unfold, "I bet that the red team would have been winning right now if it wasn't for Kara's team playing against the rules." The red-headed boy watched as he saw the brown-haired girl raise her right arm back, preparing to throw the baseball that she was holding.

However, as she was throwing the baseball, she was stopped mid-movement, resembling a statue of a baseball player in mid throw, when an announcement from the announcer's booth sounded out suddenly. "Attention, everyone!" the announcer began, "A search of the blue team's locker room has unfortunately revealed evidence that they have been playing unfairly in today's game. As such, the blue team has been disqualified from today's game, meaning the red team wins." As the audience began to murmur amongst themselves in surprised, confused and disappointed tones while the blue team members (aside from Kara, who looked a little relieved) began to shout and complain, claiming that 'they must have been framed', or other such excuses like that.

But in truth, they weren't framed.

The search of the blue team's locker room not only revealed the three to four max number of things Chandler discovered but left, but the search also revealed several more things well beyond that. The coach's office in the locker room, which was locked thus Chandler couldn't get inside to look around, had just as many bits of evidence as the rest of the locker room combined. Some paper money and a book that was being used to manage bets were also discovered, showing that the blue team's coach was illegally making money off of his team's games.

Seeing how far some of the dates in the coach's bet book went, a proper investigation was launched, and from that, it was discovered that the blue team had been cheating in every game in the current season up to this point, along with a few games in the previous season; this included a highly important game in which the blue team beat the red team, their opponent in today's game, and won a trophy for their troubles.

It goes without saying that not only did the blue team have their aforementioned trophy revoked, but they had been disqualified for the rest of the season, meaning that they wouldn't be seeing any games for the rest of the year. This scandal would be the talk of Royal Woods for the next couple of weeks, if not next couple of months. But that business is in the far off future.

The business here is what's going on in the here and now…

…

"So," Kara said to Chandler in private just after the game today had been ended early, "That's why you wanted to come and watch me play in today's game." With an amused, appreciative smile, the thirteen-year-old girl said, "Thanks, cous. And I believe it goes without saying that this will be kept between the two of us."

"Naturally," the red-headed boy replied. With a curious look, he continued, "Say, now that you don't have any more baseball for the rest of the year, what do you plan to do with your time?"

With a shrug, Kara replied, "Until my shitty old man finds some new sport to force me to throw myself into twenty-four-seven, I'll be doing what I actually like."

Giving his older cousin a wry, knowing look, Chandler said, "So it'll be nothing but reading manga, watching anime and playing video games?"

Kara, with a mildly amused look on her face, gave her younger cousin a thumbs up before said, "You got that rig-"

*SMACK* "GAHHH!"

Chandler and Kara both stopped short when they heard a rather loud smack, followed by a boy's voice cry out in surprised pain. Looking over in the direction the noise came from, Chandler and Kara both spotted a boy on Kara's team, standing there looking a mix of physically in pain and mildly dumbfounded. Storming away from that boy was the girl from the red team who Chandler believed was Lincoln's sister. Chandler also noticed the upset, crying look on the girl's face.

"…The hell was that all about?" Chandler asked as he and Kara turned back to face each other.

"Oh, that," Kara remarked, her tone sounding entirely indifferent towards the plight of the boy she and Chandler saw get slapped across the face. Pointing to the boy on her team, Kara said, "That boy over there is Francisco, one of the boys on my team. Like myself, Francisco is one of the very few members of the team who did not commit any of the actual cheating."

Pointing in the direction the red team girl stormed off in, Chandler asked, "And I don't suppose you can fill me in on who that girl that smacked Francisco could be?"

With a look of concentrating consideration on her face, the thirteen-year-old girl said, "…I'm pretty sure that girl was one of the ten Loud sisters." Turning to regard her cousin, Kara added, "I'm going to have to ask my friend Lincoln about it later. He's part of the Loud family himself, and I heard that he recently came back to Royal Woods after having run away from home for some odd reason or another."

"Wait a minute," Chandler said as he turned to face Kara, "You're friends with Lincoln? Lincoln has ten sisters?!"

Nodding in the affirmative, Kara said, "Yes, I'm friends with Lincoln. He's one of the very few people I've met who can go toe to toe with me in video games. That's some serious skill that I have got to give props for."

Chandler turned back to face the direction that the girl who's (most likely at this point) Lincoln's sister stormed off in. Chandler also looked back to where the boy that Kara identified as Francisco was standing. As Francisco continued to stand there with the dumbfounded look on his face, an adult man came over to the stunned baseball player and asked if he was okay. When Chandler saw that man, he was surprised that he recognized who the man was.

It was the man that his (Chandler's) dad was competing with for that promotion at the sewage treatment plant.

Pointing to where Francisco and the man was talking, Chandler asked, "Who's that guy talking to Francisco?"

"Oh, that's Francisco's dad," Kara remarked, her tone sounding indifferent at best, "He's a hell of a lot more lenient than my shitty old man, that's for sure."

"…Francisco's dad is the guy who my dad is competing with for that big promotion at the sewage treatment plant," the red-headed boy remarked, a clear hint of surprise in his tone.

Kara, with a look of piqued interest on her face, turned to face her younger cousin. "You don't say, Chandler," the thirteen-year-old girl remarked.

Chandler nodded in confirmation to show that he was telling the truth. The two cousins talked for a few more moments before they went their separate ways to return home. Chandler was still surprised to discover that one of the boys on Kara's baseball team is the son of the man that is competing with his dad at work. Suffice it to say, the gears in Chandler's head were already starting to turn. Gears that had long since stopped ever since Chandler had begun to clean up his act. But those gears were turning for a reason that Chandler thought was rather justifiable, if one were to get down to it.

The red-headed boy was wondering what he could do with this info that he learned today in order to ultimately get himself and (more importantly, at least if you asked Chandler for his opinion) his mom some much-needed relief.

END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER SIX

Author's note:

And this has been the first of many (at least a few) chapters dedicated to fleshing out Chandler and his subplot that will be going on over the course of this story. He's still going to be antagonistic, but here I tried to give him a reason that was at least decent, at least enough so to help explain where Chandler is coming from on this one. Also, rest assured that Chandler won't be taking any antagonistic actions towards Lincoln. Like, at all. Period.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of Lincoln, he will be appearing in the next chapter, the beginning of which will take place shortly after the end of the baseball game that took place in this chapter.