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 nine: Royal Reconciliation
Lincoln Loud, who had recently returned home to Royal Woods after having run away from home, had just woken up and finished getting dressed in his bedroom, which was actually a (formerly boarded-up) converted linin closet. After stretching a bit while letting out a yawn, the white-haired boy left his room and proceeded to head down the stairs to get himself some breakfast. After making a turn to enter the dining room, Lincoln saw that his ex-sisters Lola, Lana and Lucy were all sitting at the table eating breakfast. Over in the kitchen, Rita, Lincoln's ex-mother, was preparing something for breakfast for herself and the other residents living in the Loud family house.
"Morning," the white-haired boy greeted in a tired tone as he let out a yawn, getting the ex-sisters to notice him walking into the dining room.
"Oh, good morning, Lincoln," Lana greeted, her tone sounding with a bit of trepidation. It was clear that the tomboyish Loud twin was worried about doing/saying anything that might upset her older brother, which was the last thing that she wanted.
"So, umm, Lincoln," Lola began, her tone sounding mildly unsure, "Do…do you have any plans for today?"
Shooting his younger ex-sisters a wry look, the white-haired boy had his interest/curiosity piqued by the fact that they were trying to spark a conversation with him. He supposed that the twins were just trying to be cordial. "…Well," Lincoln began, "Given that the schools here in the Royal Woods area have today off due to some sort of teacher's protest, I was planning on seeing if any of my friends were available to hang out." The tone that Lincoln spoke with was neutral yet cool, which had become something of a staple for the white-haired boy as of late. However, the coolness of his tone has simmered down a bit.
"Oh yeah, we have today off of school," Lana remarked, "I completely forgot about that." Turning to face her twin sister, Lana asked, "Hey Lola, would you be interested in coming with me to find some mud to play in?"
"No," the pageant-winning Loud twin replied instantly and in a flat tone, "Although I was thinking about heading to the park to play, provided that mom says it's okay."
To Lincoln's surprise, he let out a casual chuckle, finding some amusement in how his younger ex-sisters were going to have some fun. The Loud twins both turned to face their older brother after hearing his chuckle, then they turned to face each other. Ever since Lori found Lincoln over in Great Lakes City and brought him back home to Royal Woods, the sisters as a whole were worried that their only brother would keep to himself and continue to deny them (the girls) as his family. But that chuckle they heard out of him gave the twins something that they feared that they wouldn't have, not any time soon, at least.
A bit of hope that things will eventually be resolved.
The twins, as well as the other Loud sisters aside from Lily and Luan, were all still struggling to come up with something that they could do to make things right with their only brother. Lori and Lisa especially, since Lincoln had remarked that they're both on the right track to making things right (which they took to mean that one more thing, maybe two, might be enough to let them both reconcile with Lincoln). The twins proceeded to turn their attention back to their bowls of cereal, hoping to finish breakfast before they both headed out to go play.
The looks on the faces of the twins did not go by Lincoln unnoticed. As he sipped his glass of orange juice, the white-haired boy himself was feeling a bit hopeful; he could tell that both of the twins felt like they had a shot of making things right with him. Granted, Lincoln is still rather upset with what had happened to him, but that doesn't mean that he actually hates any of his ex-siblings, or the rest of the Louds, for that matter.
After all, if the white-haired boy actually did hate the rest of the Louds, then would he have even given them the chance to make up for what they did to him in the first place?
…
After making a few calls, Lincoln discovered, to his mild disappointment, that none of his friends were available to hang out today. Clyde and his dads were visiting some relatives of theirs, Zach had some relatives of his visiting, Rusty somehow did something that resulted in him getting grounded (in case anyone was wondering, Rusty's younger brother Rocky wasn't in any trouble), and Liam was at the hospital, given that his mother was rushed there due to breaking a leg; Liam was trying to provide moral support.
This meant that any plans that Lincoln had of hanging out with any of his friends today were shot. After he hung up the phone after talking to Liam, Lincoln turned around, looked up, and let out a bit of a resigned sigh. The white-haired boy supposed that he could spend the day reading comics or playing video games, but he was actually hoping to go outside to socialize and hang out with someone today.
…Heh, it's rather ironic, if you think about it. The one time that he actually wanted to spend time with someone instead of being forced into it, Lincoln couldn't find anyone available to-
"Come on, mom!" Lincoln could hear his ex-sisters Lola and Lana say in unison in clear tones of complaint, drawing him out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry, girls," Rita's voice replied in an apologetic tone, "But I don't really feel all that comfortable with the idea of you two going to the park on your own. I mean, it would have been completely different if any of your five oldest sisters were available to keep an eye on you, but they all have something going on today."
Huh, so the twins couldn't go outside and play at the park because Lynn, Luan, Luna, Leni and Lori were all unavailable to keep an eye on them? The white-haired boy chuckled to himself a bit in a tone of slightly dark amusement. "Oh well," Lincoln thought in regards to the twins' plans being shot, "No skin off my nose."
…But then again, Lincoln realized that, to be completely honest, he himself didn't have much reason to find any amusement in the twins' plans being shot. After all, his own plans were shot due to lack of friends being available for him to hang out with, thus leaving him with nothing to do for the day. At the very least, the white-haired boy wanted to get out of the house for a bit, to get some fresh air.
After giving the notion a bit of thought for a few seconds, Lincoln walked over into the kitchen where Rita was talking to the twins while saying, "Hey, Mrs. Loud!"
A few minutes later, Lincoln was sitting on a bench at the local park. The white-haired boy' arms were laying over the back of the bench that he was sitting on as he looked up into the sky and watched the clouds go by. Nearby, Lola and Lana were playing, with Lana on the monkey bars and Lola in the sandbox. Lincoln let out a sigh that clearly indicated that he felt conflicted; despite a part of him actually wanting to reconcile with the rest of his ex-family, another part of him knew full well that none of them had done enough to warrant said reconciliation. Even Lori and Lisa, with the leaps and bounds that they had respectively made recently, haven't quite yet done enough reach that level.
As he watched the clouds overhead slowly move on by, Lincoln heard a familiar female voice call out, "Hey, Lame-o! What are you doing here?" Snapped out of his cloud gazing, Lincoln looked down and turned his head to see Ronnie Anne come walking over while carrying a skateboard under her right arm. Ronnie Anne was accompanied by her friend Astrid Ace, along with a girl who Lincoln didn't recognize.
The girl that was with Astrid looked to be about the same age as both Lola and Lana; this girl had her brown hair in twin pigtails, similar to how Lana has her hair. She wore a long-sleeved purple shirt with a white kitty face symbol in approximately the center, a light purple skirt that reached her knees, white socks that reached halfway up her shins, purple slip on shoes, and a yellow hat with matching bag. Similar to Astrid, this younger girl bore noticeable hints of having some degree of Asian heritage, leading the white-haired boy to suspect that this younger girl might be a sibling of Astrid's.
"Hey, Ronnie Anne," Lincoln greeted casually as he got up from the bench he sat on. Walking over to the girls, Lincoln continued, "Hey, Astrid. What's up?"
"I needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air," Ronnie Anne said while holding up her skateboard, "So I figured that I'd come here to the park and ride around for a bit." Jerking a thumb towards Astrid and the younger girl, Ronnie Anne continued, "I bumped into Astrid, who was on her way taking her younger sister Anna to the park, so I figured that I'd shoot the breeze with her."
"Astrid's friend's coat is a very pretty color!" the younger girl Ace girl, who was apparently named Anna, remarked, prompting Ronnie Anne to let out a mildly amused-sounding chuckle.
"That's the first time that I've heard someone outside of my family complement my jacket," the Queen of Pain said, "Most of the time, people tend to associate my jacket with terror."
"Ehh, I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss that," Lincoln remarked dryly to Ronnie Anne, "I mean, I've heard some people refer to you as the 'Purple Pain' on more than one occasion."
"Purple Pain?" Ronnie Anne repeated in a tone of slight confusion. After giving what Lincoln said a bit of thought, the Hispanic girl let out an amused laugh. "Heh!" the Hispanic tomboy chuckled, "That's actually pretty good! I think that I might actually start using that one!"
Letting out a mildly resigned sigh, Astrid said as she turned to face Ronnie Anne, "And you always wonder why I'm worried that you'll eventually get yourself into some trouble." Ronnie Anne said nothing, only let out another chuckle.
…
While Ronnie Anne was riding around the park on her skateboard, Lincoln and Astrid both sat on the bench that Lincoln initially had to himself, keeping an eye on Lola, Lana and Anna. While the two white-haired kids were keeping an eye on their respective younger siblings, they decided to talk to each other. "Your friend Rusty got himself grounded?" Astrid asked in a concerned tone, clearly taken back a bit, "What did he do?"
With an indifferent shrug, Lincoln replied, "I'm pretty sure it had to do with breaking something. I didn't get a whole lot of details on the matter, so don't quote me on that."
"I see," Astrid said, her tone still sounding concerned. Turning to face Lincoln, Astrid asked, "Wasn't Rusty that friend of yours who mentioned that you got both Ross and Chandler to be afraid of you?"
"Yeah, that was Rusty who brought it up," Lincoln answered with a single nod, "You're still creeped out by both of them constantly trying to flirt with you, aren't you? Have you tried either telling a teacher or Principal Huggins about it?"
"I have tried pursuing both of those options, yes," Astrid replied, her tone sounding mildly dejected, "But I haven't actually been able to tell anyone on the school staff anything on the matter. Something always pops up before I could get a word out edgewise."
"Have you tried setting the record straight with either of them?" the white-haired boy suggested.
"Yes," Astrid began to explain, "But whenever I try to tell either of them how I feel, they always interrupt me before I could get my point across, making my efforts for nothing."
Lincoln gave a bit of consideration to the situation that the Swedish/Japanese girl was finding herself in. After thinking about it for a few brief moments, Lincoln asked, "Why don't you tell your parents about what's going on, and getting one of them to meet with Ross's folks and the McCanns? That should sort things out."
"I…suppose that I could inform my mom about my problem," Astrid began a bit nervously, "My dad…unfortunately isn't around anymore. Although I suppose that I could bring in my older brother Aggro to help."
The white-haired boy understood what the white-haired girl was talking about. He could also tell that the absence of her father was something of a rather touchy subject for her, so he decided not to push the matter further.
"But enough about my own problems," Astrid remarked, "From what Ronnie Anne has told me, you've got some rather serious issues of your own, considering that some of your sisters did something downright unforgivable to you. Ronnie Anne didn't go into a whole lot of detail on the matter, but she did say something about having a very strong desire to bloody the noses of all of your sisters who are responsible for your troubles."
Lincoln wasn't all that surprised to see that Ronnie Anne had talked to Astrid about how he was compelled to run away a while ago, although he had to wonder if Ronnie Anne had told the white-haired girl about the four specific girls that he mentioned when Bobby was expecting him to name some names. And if the Queen of Pain seriously wanted to bloody the noses of all of the ex-sisters that were responsible for Lincoln's troubles, then she would have a hell of a lot more work ahead of her than what she must have been currently thinking.
"I'm…going to have to ask Ronnie Anne not to do that," Lincoln remarked dryly, "I can deal with my sisters on my own."
The white-haired girl smiled in a mildly impressed manner upon hearing Lincoln's response. "You really are a great person, Lincoln," Astrid remarked, "Now I see why your friend with the glasses trusts you so much."
"My friend with the glasses?" Lincoln repeated in a mildly confused tone; he had two friends who wore glasses, so it could have been either one. "Which one are you talking about, Astrid?" the white-haired boy continued, "Clyde or Zach?"
"I don't know his name," Astrid admitted, a mild hint of embarrassment in her tone, "All I know is that he wears glasses." With a hint of blushing on her face, the white-haired Ace girl added, "Also, he's a far nicer boy than either Ross or Chandler." After hearing Astrid say this, along with seeing the look on her face, Lincoln's expression changed to one of mildly surprised piqued interest; does Astrid actually have a crush on either Clyde or Zach (she wasn't being all that specific, only saying that Lincoln's friend in question wore glasses)? Better not mention this to either Ross or Chandler.
...Actually, scratch that. Lincoln would totally enjoy rubbing this fact in their faces.
"But enough about me," Astrid said, snapping Lincoln out of his thoughts. Giving Lincoln a concerned look, Astrid continued, "You aren't going to hold what your sisters did to you against them forever, are you? Because despite what they may have done, they're your family." With a mildly sad look on her face, Astrid said, "You'll never know when the chance to let go of your resentment towards one of them will disappear because they might…no longer be around." Shaking her head gently, Astrid said, "Sorry about that last part. I guess that since my dad, along with my aunt and uncle, aren't around anymore, I tend to let my imagination run wild a bit."
Despite Astrid apologizing for letting her imagination run wild a bit, Lincoln had to admit that the white-haired Ace girl had raised a very excellent point. After all, the white-haired boy had no way of telling if one of his ex-sisters might suddenly 'no longer be around', as Astrid had put it. If such a fate did happen to one of the Loud girls before the girl in question had a chance to make amends with Lincoln, the white-haired boy had no doubt that he would feel guilty about it.
The dream that he had where he chased down and killed Lori in cold blood also made Lincoln feel a degree of horror with the idea. It was a dream that still gave him chills to this day.
"I don't want to hold what my sisters did to me against them forever, no," Lincoln remarked to Astrid, "But given the stunt that they pulled, I don't want to just hand them forgiveness on a silver platter." Looking up into the sky, Lincoln let out a sigh as he continued, "When the time comes for me to reconcile with one of them, I want to be justified in doing so. Otherwise, would the reconciliation have any actual meaning?"
Astrid looked at Lincoln, a small but appreciative smile on her face. "That sounds pretty wise of you, Lincoln," the white-haired Ace girl remarked, "But still, I hope that you'll eventually be able to rebuild the bridge between you and your sisters who have wronged you." Looking up into the sky herself, Astrid added, "Not being able to ever make things right with a family member doesn't sound all that pleasant if you ask me. I wouldn't like to be in such a spot like that myself, even more so if something ends up happening that would make it impossible for me to reconcile with a family member that wronged me."
"Yeah," Lincoln replied as he continued to look up into the clouds. Granted, Lincoln was upset with more of the Loud girls than what Astrid was aware of, and he still wanted to forgive those who have wronged him during the bad luck fiasco.
But the white-haired boy also wanted to be justified when he rebuilt a bridge.
After Lincoln had gotten his younger ex-sisters home, his friend Rusty called him up; as it turned out, the offence that Rusty had been grounded over was actually the fault of his dad, Mr. Spokes, who had apparently used his oldest son as something of a scapegoat. When Mrs. Spokes found out about this, she ungrounded Rusty, making him free to go, while she had a serious talking-to with her husband. After the two friends had been hanging out for approximately two and a half hours, they made their way past the local comic book/card shop.
"Hey, Lincoln," Rusty began as he eyed up the comic book/card shop, "You mind if we swing in here really quick? There's something that I want to check out."
The white-haired boy, who had no objections, simply gestured to the store's front door in a casual manner, giving his friend the cue to go on ahead. The older Spokes boy promptly entered the comic book/card shop, with Lincoln following close behind. Lincoln had come here multiple times prior to his…extended vacation…over in Great Lakes City, as it was a reliable seller of the newest issues of the Ace Savvy comic whenever they're released. Thinking about this reminded Lincoln that he missed more than one issue, and he would have to order a few from backlog.
Rusty himself was also something of a fan of the Ace Savvy comics. However, he didn't enter the shop for its selection of comics, which Lincoln observed when he watched Rusty take out a deck box from his backpack. It was a basic plastic deck box in a solid green color that matched his shirt that he was wearing. "I want to see if I can get any cards to improve my deck," Rusty explained as he held the basic green deck box.
Looking at Rusty's deck box with a look of mildly piqued interest, Lincoln asked, "What kind of game is it for?"
"Duel monsters," Rusty replied, "My deck is mostly a generic mash-up of machines and machine support. But I will say that I'm better than a fair chunk of the kids at our school who also play." With a bit of an amused smirk, the older Spokes boy said, "Hey Lincoln, did I ever tell you about the time where I played a match against Ronnie Anne in a tournament at this shop and won?"
Hearing that Rusty, of all people, actually beat Ronnie Anne caught the white-haired boy by surprise. This was something that he wanted to hear more about. "…Really now, Rusty," Lincoln remarked, "You beat Ronnie Anne."
Nodding in the affirmative, Rusty continued, "Totally, man! She was running some sort of generic warrior build, and I was paired to face her in the tournament. I actually defeated her two duels in a row, winning the match outright. So yeah." With a bit of a self-amused look on his face, Rusty said as he gently rubbed the middle knuckles of his right hand fingers against his chest, "I beat Ronnie Anne."
"Ha! Ain't that the biggest lie that I've ever heard," a familiar male voice called out, making Lincoln and Rusty both turn to see Ross come walking over to them. "That girl is nothing short of an absolute terror when it comes to brawling on the playground," Ross went on, "Are you aware of how many people were sent to the nurse's office at school because the Queen of Pain physically injured them?" Giving the older Spokes boy a look of total disbelief, Ross said, "I believe the other kids at our school would have heard word of it if you actually beat Ronnie Anne in a fight."
"Oh no," Rusty began to explain, "I never got into a fist-fight with Ronnie Anne. If I did, then she would have soundly throttled me." Holding up his deck box, Rusty continued, "I was telling Lincoln about the time I beat Ronnie Anne in a match of a Duel Monsters tournament that was held here a while ago."
Ross looked at the basic green deck box that the older Spokes boy held. "…Oh, my mistake," the conceited blonde boy remarked indifferently, "And here I was thinking that you were claiming to have fought Ronnie Anne in a one-on-one fight and won." With a bit of curiosity entering his otherwise entirely dry expression, Ross asked, "So what kind of deck do you run?"
"Why do you care?" Rusty asked.
Cracking his neck a bit in a casual manner, Ross said, "I'm actually looking for a few cards. I was thinking that there's a chance that you might have one or two." The conceited blonde boy reached into his back right pocket, pulled out a folded-up sheet of paper ripped out of a seventy-page spiral bound notebook, and unfolded it. Handing the list over, Ross said, "These are all of the cards that I'm looking for."
After seeing just the first few items on Ross's list, Rusty scoffed in a tone that indicated that he wasn't surprised in the least by what he was seeing. "Of course you'd be looking for these cards, Ross," remarked the older Spokes boy, "These are some of the most expensive card in the duel monsters TCG. Even the cheapest one I'm seeing here is a little over thirty dollars."
Thirty dollars? For just one card? Lincoln could not help but be surprised by that notion; back when he lived as a runaway in Great Lakes City, Lincoln did various odd jobs to earn some money so that he could at the very least buy something to eat if he got hungry. Although he was occasionally payed fairly well for his odd jobs service, such as receiving twenty dollars for one job that only lasted an afternoon, most of the time Lincoln only received a few dollars for the work that he did. It took the white-haired boy a while to save up a decent amount, even if one were to take into account the aforementioned occasional boons. So to hear that some people would actually be willing to drop roughly thirty dollars just to buy one card sounded to be a bit on the excessive side for Lincoln.
Taking his list back from Rusty, Ross said, "Well I am someone who appreciates the finer things in life, which tend to veer on the expensive side of things." Folding his list back up and slipping it back into his back right pocket, the conceited blonde boy pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose a bit. "So Rusty," Ross began, the conceited tone in his words unchanging, "I take it that you have none of the cards on my list, then?"
"Yeah, I don't have any of them," Rusty replied, his tone towards the conceited blonde boy cool yet neutral, "Apologies."
"Hmm," Ross replied indifferently, "I should have figured as much." Arching an eyebrow a bit, Ross continued, "I don't suppose you might know anyone who might have any of the cards that I'm looking for, do you?"
Rusty gave the matter a bit of thought. "…During the tournament here last Saturday," the older Spokes boy began, "I remember seeing Ronnie Anne's older brother Bobby using a Black Luster Solider-Solider of Chaos, which was one of the cards that I saw on your list. Bobby told me he borrowed it from Astrid's older brother Aggro, who couldn't come to the tournament that day since he had other business that he had to take care of."
"You've got to be kidding me," Ross nearly exclaimed, "You're telling me that the older brother of our school's cutest girl has a BLS-SOC?"
"Heh," Rusty chuckled, "Good luck trying to get it from Aggro."
"Trust me, I'm pretty good when it comes to getting something that I'm after," Ross remarked as he proceeded to walk around Rusty and Lincoln in order to head out of the shop. As he started to walk around Lincoln, Ross continued with a hint of knowing amusement in his tone, "I'll get Astrid to help me out on this. There shouldn't be any reason why a cute girl like her wouldn't be willing to help me with-"
Ross was cut off midsentence, as well as being stopped from moving, when Lincoln put his left hand against Ross's right shoulder, bringing the conceited blonde boy to a screeching halt. At first, Ross was going to object and complain about the white-haired boy stopping him. But when he saw that Lincoln was giving him a glaring look that was just shy of exuding Killing Intent, Ross wisely decided to catch himself.
"…Here's a newsflash for you, Ross," Lincoln began, his tone calm but clearly carrying a hint of stern warning, "Astrid Ace isn't just some trophy that you can use to get whatever you want from her older brother. She is her own person, and must be respected as such. Give up what you have in mind concerning her." Adding just a bit more seriousness to his glare and his tone, the white-haired boy said, "Now."
The conceited blonde boy was very much cowed by the intimidation from Lincoln. It still escaped Ross how such a seemingly dorky person could not only stand up to him, but exude enough will to overpower him. Not wanting to push things any further with the white-haired boy, Ross wisely decided to back down from him.
Ross knew when and where to pick his battles; this one against the white-haired boy was practically bellowing at Ross that it was one that he wasn't going to win. "…I'll give her some space for the time being, I suppose," Ross replied, "I need time to gather my thoughts on what to say to her, anyway. A girl like Astrid isn't someone a guy can just walk up to and chat up casually." Without waiting around for Lincoln to reply, the conceited blonde boy took his leave from the shop.
Lincoln figured that this was the best that he was going to get from Ross, and thus he decided to let it be. Getting off that subject, Lincoln, wanting to be a good friend, proceeded to ask Rusty about this 'Duel monsters' game that he apparently liked. For his part, Rusty was all too happy to go into detail about the game. From the way that the older Spokes boy was talking about it, Lincoln figured that it might be worth checking out at some point. Thus the rest of his time at the shop proved to be time well spent for the white-haired boy.
…However, little did Lincoln know that he was secretly being watched by two blonde-haired six-year-olds, one a well-dressed boy with the arms of a sweater tied around his neck, and the other was a certain pageant-winning girl. The boy of the pair, for his part, was a bit wary of Ross, having encountered him before and not being all that fond of the self-assured fifth grader who saw himself as the pinnacle of everything.
The girl of the pair, on the other hand, did not like how Ross was annoying Lincoln. AT ALL. The way he so arrogantly talked while addressing the white-haired boy did not sit well with her, and she also didn't like how he was referring to some girl who didn't even like him as a trophy that he had previously won, and how he thought that entitled him to something belonging to the girl's older brother.
"There is NO way I am going to let that oaf get away with how he talked to Lincoln," Lola Loud thought as a plan began to form in her six-year-old mind, "That blonde jerk with the glasses is going to get a VERY rude wake-up call."
To say that Ross was surprised that a pair of six-year-olds, those being Lola and her crush Winston, would confront him a few moments after he left the comic/card shop would be just a little bit of an understatement. He and the two six-year-olds were in an alleyway a few storefronts away from the shop, in a somewhat dark area that would make it difficult for someone to see what was going on from outside the alleyway without going inside to take a closer look.
"Uhh…okay," Ross began in a baffled yet casual tone, "Is there something that I can help you two kiddies with?"
The pageant-winning Loud sister pointed an accusing finger at the conceited blonde boy standing before her and Winston. "I saw what you were doing," Lola began in an accusing tone, "Giving Lincoln and his friend trouble like that! You think that I'm just going to stand around and let something like that go?"
Upon hearing the six-year-old girl's declaration, Ross chuckled a bit in a self-amused tone. "Oh, I get it," Ross remarked, "You have some schoolgirl crush on Lincoln, and you didn't like how I had a bit of an argument with him."
"EWWW!" Lola exclaimed in disgust, "I don't have a crush on Lincoln! How disgusting can your mind be, you uncultured swine?!"
Ross's expression highlighted how his attitude became immediately cross upon being insulted by someone who, unlike Lincoln, can't stop Ross from getting back at them. "Look here, little girl," Ross began, "I don't really care for being insulted. So you best be taking back what you called me, unless of course you want me to introduce both you and your little friend here to some of the garbage cans in this here alleyway." Narrowing his eyes to give his expression a more serious look, the conceited blonde boy added, "Face-first."
"With all due respect, my good man," Winston began, "Not only does Lola have every right to recoil in disgust from you implying that she has a crush on Lincoln, but threatening to shove a pair of six-year-olds face-first into garbage cans is not called for. Not to mention how you'll get into some rather serious trouble if you go through with your threat."
"Which is why neither of you will be talking unless you want it worse," Ross said as he cracked his knuckles. Taking a few steps towards Lola and Winston, the conceited blonde boy said to Lola, "Now let me say it just one more time. Apologize for insulting me, or else I will thrash both you and your little friend here."
Although Winston was a bit worried by the fact that an older and clearly hostile kid was approaching both him and Lola, Lola herself was completely dismissive of it. "Pfft, yeah right," the pageant-winning Loud sister said in a casual tone, "Like anything you pull can be worse than some of the-"
*HWHAP*
Lola was cut off when Ross's right fist slugged her in the left eye, knocking her back a few feet and landing rather hard on her rear end. Before Winston could react, the conceited blonde boy grabbed him by his shirt collar, hoisted him up, and proceeded to carry him over to the nearest garbage can in the alleyway. However, Ross didn't get a few steps towards his goal before he was grabbed around the waist from behind, making him drop Winston mostly out of surprise.
"You let him go right now!" Lola screamed at the older kid, prompting him to turn around and throw a punch into Lola's face, striking her across her face in a manner that broke her nose a bit. The pageant-winning Loud sister could not help but scream as she immediately covered her now bleeding nose with both hands.
As she had both of her hands occupied, Ross was free to go on and teach this little girl a lesson for daring to give him lip. Turning around, the conceited blonde boy also considered giving the boy of the pair a good thrashing to, knowing that it should give the kid the idea that trying to distract him when he was busy was a poor move. Yeah, that's what Ross decided he would do as he left the little blonde girl-
*WUHBAM*
Ross's trail of thought was interrupted once again when he was shoulder-rammed from his blindside, making him stumble back about three feet or so. Ross was as at first going to snap at whoever thought it was a good idea to launch a sneak attack on him like that while he couldn't counter it. But all thoughts of making a comeback or getting revenge fled the conceited blonde boy's mind right away when he saw that it was Lincoln who shoulder-rammed him.
"…What…" the white-haired boy began, his tone calm yet clearly veiling a brewing storm, "…The…FUCK?!" Ross and the six-year-olds in the alleyway were all taken aback by Lincoln's sudden shouting, Ross especially so. The conceited blonde boy went wide-eyed with surprise, with fear, as that white-haired nightmare was absolutely livid.
Lincoln was glaring angrily at Ross, who was fixated to the spot he stood in out of sheer fright. So potent was the Killing Intent that the white-haired boy was exuding at that moment that even Winston and Lola, neither of whom were the target of Lincoln's fury and in fact stood behind him, could feel the sheer savage wrath that was radiating off of Lincoln. In fact, Lola was so frightened by seeing her older brother like this that she actually pissed herself out of sheer fright right there and then.
The three kids bearing witness to this side of Lincoln could do nothing, say nothing, as they watched Lincoln raise his right arm. Using his right index finger, Lincoln pointed to the other end of the alleyway, which was behind Ross. "…Five," Lincoln said, not shouted, in the same storm-masking calm tone that he was using before he shouted.
Confused (and still very much frightened), Ross said, "E-E-Excuse me?"
"…Four…" Lincoln continued, "…Three…" Ross then understood right then and there what this white-haired terror was implying. More than glad to take the cue, Ross turned around and ran as fast as he could in the direction that Lincoln was pointing in. It wouldn't be until after he literally ran all the way home that Ross discovered he (had also) pissed himself out of sheer fright.
When the conceited blonde boy was out of sight and earshot, Lincoln lowered his arm to his side, his anger dissipating quickly. Turning around, he got a look at Lola and Winston. Other than being a bit ruffled up, Winston was fine. It was Lola who was worse for wear; the heavily bruised eye, the hard landing on her rear, and the broken (and still bleeding) nose were all signs that the pageant-winning Loud sister had bitten off more than she could chew.
Lincoln also noticed that both six-year-olds were looking positively frightened, and that they were both looking at him. The white-haired boy sighed in a resigned tone. "…Yeah, that really scary air that I was giving off is how I got jerks like Chandler and Ross to leave me alone," the white-haired boy explained, "Also, this was the first time that I had ever used physical violence, had cursed and had raised my voice when scaring jerks into backing off."
The relaxed and slightly tired air that Lincoln was giving off now got Lola and Winston to calm down and not be as scared. Winston flinched slightly when Lincoln referred to him by name, but he relaxed again when Lincoln explained that he had to bring Lola back home. The posh six-year-old boy understood, and after apologizing to Lola about how terribly their day together had ended today, he took his leave. After that, Lincoln picked Lola up, carried her over his back, and proceeded to walk out of the alleyway.
As he carried Lola over his back while walking on the sidewalk in the neighborhood that they lived in, Lincoln said, "Hey, Lola."
"Hmm?" Lola replied in a tired tone, the experiences she had today making her feel exhausted.
"Why did you and your crush confront Ross like that?" Lincoln asked; his tone carried nothing but concern, worry and a little bit of curiosity. It was clear that he wasn't trying to, nor was he intending to, scold Lola over what she did. Lola could tell that Lincoln wasn't mad at her, which was the last thing that she wanted right now. But she was still a little tired, and more than a little upset. So she just spoke simply.
"I didn't like how that guy was talking to you in the shop earlier," Lola began, "I was afraid that him treating you the way that he did would make you want to leave again, so I decided to confront him about it." The pageant-winning Loud sister scrunched up a bit as she rested over her older brother's back. "…Please don't leave again, Lincoln," Lola said as tears began to fall down the sides of her face gently, "I don't want you to leave again." As Lola sniffled a bit (made somewhat difficult due to the condition of her nose) while she was crying, the white-haired boy sighed in a knowing manner.
This wasn't the first time that Lola made a grand gesture at personal sacrifice for and of her siblings, Lincoln realized; the biggest one that came to mind for him was when Lola took the blame for a lot of what Lincoln and the other Loud girls did, getting them off the hook while getting herself grounded for a month. However, unlike that event, Lola was seriously physically hurt when she confronted Ross over giving him (Lincoln) any trouble. Sure, it was unnecessary (Lola doesn't know/care), as Lincoln is more than able to make Ross back off on his own.
But Lola confronted him anyway. And got very much roughed up for her troubles. All because she was afraid that Lincoln would want to leave Royal Woods again.
As the pageant-winning Loud sister sniffled a bit more, Lincoln said, "Hey, Lola."
After a few more sniffles, Lola said in a mildly upset tone, "Mmm?"
"Luan and that Benny guy she likes are going to be performing at some sort of improv thing tonight," the white-haired boy explained, "You feel like coming along with me after getting yourself cleaned up a bit?" Lola was surprised to hear her older brother ask her that. She thought that he was still mad at her for the part she played in making him leave Royal Woods in the first place. She thought that he didn't consider her as family. So naturally, she had to ask.
"W…Why would you ask me to come along with you?" Lola replied.
"Hmm?" Lincoln said casually, "You're my little sister, aren't you?" And that's all that it took. Hearing her older brother say that, something that she thought that she wasn't ever going to hear again, made Lola resume her crying again. It was still quiet, as Lola was still recovering from her experiences today, but the pageant-winning Loud sister knew that she was going to feel better.
After all, she needed to get ready to go see a performance with her brother when they got home.
END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER NINE
Author's note:
Lola reconciling with Lincoln is rather different here than it was in the original in two regards. First, Lola and Lana both practically made a bakery, burning their hands in the process. Second, Lincoln reconciled with Lola and Lana at the exact same time; here it was just Lola, meaning that Lincoln still doesn't consider Lana as his family. This is something that will undoubtedly come up in a later chapter, as it will be something of a source of conflict.
Anyway, the main plot of this story is going to be taking a bit of a break next time, as I've got more work to do when it comes to developing Chandler's character in the setting of this story. All I will say on the matter is that it's going to show a side of things that wasn't seen in the original version.