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 ten: Chandler Begins

Chandler McCann was at the local comic book/card shop one day, alongside his friends Trent and Frank. The red-headed boy's friends were watching at Chandler himself was playing a game of Duel Monsters against an opponent. Now normally, this wouldn't be all that big of a deal. However, the opponent that the fifth-grade McCann boy found himself facing off against was Aggro Ace, the seventeen-year-old older brother of Astrid Ace, the cutest girl at RWES (at least if you ask Chandler, that is).

It was no contest; the male Ace twin soundly defeated Chandler. "I don't suppose you'd care for another-" Aggro said as he began to offer Chandler a rematch, but a ringtone that repeatedly said 'A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE!' went off from somewhere. Realizing it was his phone, Aggro reached into his pocket to grab his phone and answer the call. "Hello?" the male Ace twin said, "…Oh, hey, Amy. …Oh, okay. Yeah, I'm out at the moment, but I can easily come home right away. I'll see you and the others shortly."

After he ended the call, Aggro flipped his phone closed and slipped it back into his pocket. "Sorry about that, kid," Aggro said in an apologetic manner, "But we're going to have to cut things short here. I'm needed at home to keep an eye on my younger siblings."

"I'm guessing that includes Astrid?" Chandler asked as he and Aggro were gathering up their respective cards. Having heard the red-headed boy mention Astrid by name, Aggro paused in his card gathering.

He looked up from where his cards were laying on the game mat he had and over to Chandler. "…Funny how you mention my younger sister like that, little man," the male Ace twin began, a mild hint of suspicion in his tone, "I got it from Astrid that you're one of the kids at her school who has taken to being a little…consistent…in flirting with her."

Chandler, having picked up on the shift in the male Ace twin's tone, instantly became a little wary of where this conversation was going to lead. "…Well, yeah," the red-headed boy replied, "I mean, Astrid is pretty much the cutest girl at my school. I also gathered that you're one of her siblings who goes to the high school."

"Well I'm sure she'd appreciate the kind words," Aggro remarked, "Had they not, of course, come from someone who flirts with her way too much and way too often. It's making her feel rather uncomfortable."

A look of surprise, with a little bit of worry mixed in, appeared on Chandler's face. "What do you mean uncomfortable?" Chandler asked, "If that was the case, why didn't she say-"

The red-headed boy found himself cut off when Aggro held a hand up, palm facing towards Chandler, in a gesture signaling for him to stop. "…Astrid told me that whenever she does try to bring the matter up to either you or the other boy who has taken to flirting with her in a way that makes her feel uncomfortable, both you and the other boy don't give her a chance to get a word in edgewise," Aggro explained, a firm look on his face.

Having finished gathering his things and putting them away in his bag, Aggro got up, the right strap of his bag over his right shoulder. "…I'm getting the vibe that you honestly meant well," the male Ace twin said to Chandler, reigniting a spark of hope within the red-headed boy, "It's just that you were a bit too…bold in your approach, let's say. You just need to tone down the boldness, is all."

The red-headed boy looked up at Aggro, a curious look on his face. "Tone down how bold I am when I try talking to her?" Chandler asked.

"Considerably," Aggro replied in an affirmative manner. Turning around, Aggro said before he left the shop, "As it stands, you ought to give Astrid some space for the time being anyway. It would be a shame if I had to have a talk similar to this one, but your folks got involved." As he walked away, the male Ace twin said, "Sayonara, Chandler-kun."

After Aggro had left, Trent and Frank turned to regard their friend/leader of their group of friends. "…So Chandler," Frank began, "What's the plan?"

Sighing in a resigned tone, Chandler said, "I'm going to have to put trying to get Astrid as my girlfriend on the back burner for the time being." Getting up from the table he was sitting at, Chandler continued, "Besides which, I have something else that needs taking care of."

Both Frank and Trent chuckled a bit, knowing full well what the red-headed boy was talking about. "…Oh yeah," Trent remarked, "That Francisco fellow."

"His dad is competing with mine for that big promotion at the sewage treatment plant," Chandler explained, "So if either Francisco or I do something good or bad, it will reflect in an appropriate manner on our respective dads." Giving his friends a serious look, Chandler continued, "That being said, if we make Francisco look bad enough, then his dad will look like someone who isn't all that good a person, as he's responsible for Francisco."

Trent and Frank both nodded in agreement with their red-headed friend. "Anyway, come on," Chandler said as he gestured for his friends to follow him, "We got to get going. I unknowingly got a bit of a head start since Francisco's youth baseball team was barred from playing for the year because they were revealed to be cheating, but that's not something that I can exclusively rely on, especially since he didn't do any of the actual cheating himself."

"You got a plan to help things along, then?" Frank asked, both he and Trent regarding Chandler with curious looks.

The red-headed boy turned around to regard his two friends. "…I do," Chandler replied, "And I've already set it in motion."

Francisco, a thirteen-year-old boy living in the Royal Woods area, couldn't believe his luck. The cheating of his baseball team had been discovered, resulting in them not only being disqualified from the last game that they were playing, but they were also barred from playing for the rest of the season. Not only that, but the trophy that Francisco's team won last season was revoked since the team had cheated during the game where they won it, and the coach was in quite a bit of legal trouble since his betting on the games was discovered.

And this is saying nothing of how many people in the Royal Woods area had lost a lot of trust and respect for the team, coach and all. At least singular members of the team were able to avoid this distrust if not a lot of people were familiar with them; this included Francisco himself, one of the very few who did not commit any of the actual cheating. There was also this one girl on Francisco's team who didn't commit any of the actual cheating, but the thirteen-year-old boy couldn't for the life of him remember that girl's name.

There was also something else that was bothering Francisco. Well, two things, actually; the first was how did word of what his team was doing even get out? Those men who searched the team's locker room wouldn't have done so unless they were tipped off, so someone had to have told them. And with how the coach, as well as the members of the team who were doing the cheating, were pressuring those who weren't cheating into keeping quiet (Francisco was among those who were pressured into silence), there shouldn't have been any leaks.

The second thing that was on the thirteen-year-old boy's mind was that girl from the opposing team, the one who slapped him hard across his face before turning around and running off. Francisco was partly familiar with that girl-he believed she was one of the girls from that one local family that had a whole lot of kids-but he had no idea who she was beyond that. He wasn't even sure if he was right about that girl coming from that large local family. Francisco shrugged indifferently as he laid on his bed in his room, figuring that the girl wasn't any concern of his.

As the thirteen-year-old boy laid on his bed, he heard a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Francisco called out, and about a second later, the door opened and an adult woman appeared in the doorway. Seeing this woman, Francisco said, "What's up, mom?"

The woman, Francisco's mom, sighed in a bit of a resigned tone. "How are you holding up, sweetie?" Francisco's mom asked.

With a shrug, the thirteen-year-old boy replied, "As well as I can, given that I'm being punished for something other kids on my team did and I had no part in." Sitting up on his bed, Francisco continued, "Is there anything you need me to do or help out with?"

"As a matter of fact," Francisco's mom remarked, "I need you to run down to the store to pick up a few things for me. I'll give you a twenty to cover costs, and there should be enough change left afterwards to get yourself a nice little something."

Francisco looked at his mom as he arched an eyebrow out of mild curiosity; given how much of a hardass his dad was being (even though Francisco didn't actually do any of the cheating his baseball team had carried out), the thirteen-year-old boy was under the impression that he wasn't allowed to have any manner of privilege until the heat-death of the universe. Francisco was fairly sure that if his dad found out he got himself a little something with the change from this grocery store trip, he'd be punished even more.

Francisco agreed to do the chore for his mother, saying that he might get himself a snack if there's sufficient change for one after the groceries were purchased. The thirteen-year-old boy got himself ready to head out (all he had to do was throw on a pair of socks and his shoes), and after accepting a twenty dollar bill and a shopping list from his mom, he headed out of the house and proceeded to make his way to the local grocery store.

As it turned out, Francisco was not only able to get everything on the list his mother had provided, but there was a little over five dollars in change. Even so, the thirteen-year-old boy didn't get himself anything, knowing that his dad would complain about him getting any sort of privilege while he's being punished. If Francisco's mom pushes the matter, Francisco will simply say that he couldn't find any of the snack that he wanted to get and thus decided not to even bother with it.

He hoped that both parents would buy his answer without pushing the sub-

"Hey, aren't you Francisco?" a younger male voice called out as the thirteen-year-old boy stood outside of the grocery store, having taken out his phone so he could shoot his mother a quick text letting her know that he got the groceries. Looking up and over a bit, Francisco saw a red-headed boy who was somewhat younger than him come running up to him, waiving his right hand in the air as he came running. Curious as to how this random kid knew who he was, Francisco decided to let the kid come over.

"Whew, glad I caught up to you," the red-headed boy said when he reached Francisco.

The thirteen-year-old boy gave this red-headed kid a wry look. "And you are?" Francisco said, trailing off in a manner showing that he was expecting to be filled in.

"Oh, my name's Ross," the red-headed kid said as he introduced himself with a bit of a bow; it was actually Chandler, giving the name of his rival for Astrid's affections as his own. "Sorry about not introducing myself earlier." Francisco was about to ask this Ross kid what he wanted with him, but he beat him to the punch on that matter. "Anyway, I saw you and your team play in that baseball game against that red team," Chandler began. With a noticeable hint of sympathy in his expression, Chandler added, "Sorry about what happened to your team."

The last thing that Francisco needed right now was to be reminded of his baseball team getting barred from playing for the rest of the season, as well most of Francisco's teammates (as well as Francisco himself) getting grounded by their respective parents AND the fact that the team is going to have a new coach when they're allowed to play again beginning next season. The look on Francisco's face, a scowling, annoyed look, actually made Chandler back up a step.

"…Your point being?" Francisco asked, his tone making it clear that he was in no mood to be messed with at the moment.

"Hey man, I understand how you feel," Chandler replied, "I have a sibling who played in that game, and they are not happy with what happened either. I was even at the game, so I was what happened when those guys ended the game early."

Francisco instantly thought that this was just super; the kid sibling of one of the kids who played in that fateful game decided to come up to him and grill him over his team's actions that led to their disqualification from the game and the rest of the season. "…Wait," Francisco thought as he started to realize what (he thought) was going on, "This Ross kid doesn't sound like he's out to bust my chops over the game." Deciding to see where this was going, Francisco asked, "So you saw my team and I get embarrassed that day. Big whoop."

"I just wanted to tell you that I actually saw someone go into the locker room I saw your team use for that baseball game," Chandler said. Leaning forward somewhat, the red-headed boy continued, "I know that what your team was up to was bad, but I don't think that you and your teammates are being treated all that nicely for a lapse in judgment. Plus, I heard that there are more than a few kids on your team who are looking to find out whoever it was that ratted them out to the officials."

The last part that this Ross kid said was…not untrue, Francisco realized; there were, in fact, no less than eight kids on his team, one of which being Francisco himself, who wanted to find out who it was that ratted them out to the officials from the game so that they could teach that kid a little bit of a 'lesson'. And Ross here was willing to give that kid's name to Francisco? This was an opportunity that the thirteen-year-old boy could not pass up, not if he wanted to get revenge on the little bastard who got him into trouble for something he technically had no part in doing.

"…I have to get these groceries home first, but is there someplace I can meet up with you at later so we can talk more about this?" Francisco asked.

Jerking a thumb over his shoulder, Chandler said, "The local park across the road from here ought to be sufficient. You can meet me by that big multi-colored jungle gym thing starting at six in the afternoon."

"And you said your name was Ross, right?" Francisco asked, drawing a nod in the affirmative from the red-headed boy. Nodding once in confirmation, the thirteen-year-old boy said, "Okay, Ross, I'll meet you at that jungle gym in the park at around six. Don't keep me waiting."

With a mildly self-amused look on his face, Chandler replied, "I was going to say the same to you." Francisco nodded once in thanks before he took his leave, leaving Chandler alone. When the thirteen-year-old boy was out of sight, Chandler turned around and walked into the grocery store, figuring that he could get himself a snack.

As he browsed the aisle of candy in the store, the red-headed boy smirked to himself, knowing that the first part of his plan had gone off without issue.

Later that day, Chandler went to the park about fifteen minutes before six, as he wanted to be waiting for Francisco to show, rather than the other way around. The red-headed boy saw that his thirteen-year-old associate was nowhere to be seen; good, being here first gave Chandler a bit of an advantage, and he wanted any and every edge he could get. Chandler had also assumed that there was a fair chance Francisco might bring some of his fellow disgruntled teammates along, but Chandler had no need to worry about this; the only person from Francisco's team who could have recognized him was Kara, and she was by no means disgruntled over what happened. There was no chance Francisco would bring someone who'd recognize Chandler and make the whole plan go south.

After waiting for about seventeen minutes, Chandler's waiting paid off as he saw Francisco come dashing over to him; the thirteen-year-old boy was also alone, so Chandler figured that he would tell some of his (Francisco's) friends about the info later. Closing the book he had brought with him to skim through as he waited, Chandler gave Francisco a bit of a self-amused smile. "It took you long enough to get here," Chandler said as he held up one of his wrists, which had a watch on it. "And here I was beginning to think that you were going to stand me up at the park," Chandler continued, "But I'm glad to see that you cared enough to come by."

"Save it," Francisco said, his tone making it clear he didn't want to be jerked around, "Now then, Ross, you said that you know who it was that ratted my team out to the officials at that game from a while ago. Who is it?"

Smiling a bit, Chandler fished out a photo from his right back pocket on his pants; it was a photo of the actual Ross. Showing the photo to Francisco, Chandler said, "This kid. I don't know what his name is, but this is without a doubt the kid who I saw go into your team's locker room before running out to get ahold of the officials."

The thirteen-year-old boy got a good look at this photo of the real Ross. "…Huh, now I know who my teammates and I ought to look out for," Francisco remarked, his eyes wincing in a manner suggesting that a vengeful plan was already forming in his head.

"I've actually seen him a few times before, as a matter of fact," Chandler went on, "I usually see him pester this one girl named Astrid Ace. He keeps trying to creep on her, from what I've heard about the matter."

"…One of the Aces?" Francisco remarked, a confused and curious look on his face.

Nodding in the affirmative, Chandler said, "In fact, the guy works on Astrid like clockwork. He's always seen trying to bother her at seven in the evening on Saturdays in the residential area of Royal Woods, while Astrid and some of her younger siblings are walking some pets for their older siblings." This part was also true; the red-headed boy knew that Astrid and some of her younger siblings always walk pets belonging to some of their older siblings at seven in the evening every few nights, with Saturdays being guaranteed. Chandler knew this because he and Ross met up with each other multiple times as they came up to Astrid to flirt with her.

"…Today is Saturday," Francisco remarked, dawning realization hitting him.

"Then you better move fast," Chandler said, "Because it's a bit of a walk from here to the residential area of Royal Woods, and it's already a few minutes past six. I'm pretty sure you and your friends on your baseball team don't want to pass up a chance to teach that kid a lesson for ratting you guys out."

"Damn straight," Francisco replied as he fished out his cell phone, "Thanks for the tip, Ross." The thirteen-year-old boy then proceeded to walk away as he pulled up a number from his contact list on his phone.

After Francisco was gone, Chandler smiled to himself. "…Like killing two birds with one stone," the red-headed boy thought as he turned around and proceeded to leave the park.

It was just shortly after seven in the evening in the residential area of Royal Woods. Astrid Ace, alongside her younger brothers Andy and Argent and younger sister Anna, were walking pets that belonged to their older siblings. There were only two pets that were being walked, which are, surprisingly enough, a fox and a skunk, with the fox being walked by Astrid and the skunk being walked by Argent.

"I still don't see why Allison won't let us walk Fenrir for her," Andy complained, sounding mildly annoyed, "He'd be great to have along with us."

"It would take all four of us working together on just Fenrir to keep him from dragging around whoever was walking him," Argent remarked to his older brother. Giving Andy a dry aside glance, the eight-year-old Ace boy said, "Do you want to be dragged around by a very powerful animal that outweighs you?"

Nodding in agreement with Argent, Astrid said, "He's got a point, Andy. Besides which." Trailing off a bit, the white-haired Ace girl crouched down and gently ruffled the top of the head of the fox she was walking. "Kyubi and Spirit are much calmer than Fenrir. Neither of them ever try to drag anyone-"

"Hey cutie, fancy running into you," a male voice called out, cutting Astrid off midsentence.

Sighing in a mildly annoyed tone, Astrid muttered to herself, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me…" Astrid stood back up as she, her younger siblings and the pets that they were walking saw Ross approach them. It was clear from the look on his face that Ross was intending to try and flirt with Astrid, something that the white-haired Ace girl was NOT looking forward to. Seeing the blonde-haired conceited boy getting closer, Astrid asked, "What do you want now?"

"What?" Ross replied in a mock-wounded tone, "Can't I just come over and ask how you've been doing? I'm pretty sure that even a girl as cute as you has her fair share of problems." As Ross proceeded to flirt with her, Astrid found herself suddenly wishing that Allison did allow her and the younger siblings to bring Fenrir with them. "Anyway," Ross said as he proceeded to continue with what he was doing, "Since I have you here, how's about you and I-"

"Hey, blonde brat!" a somewhat older male voice call out, making Ross, the Ace siblings and the two pets look over and see a group of about eight young teens come walking over; one of these young teens was Francisco, who was the one who had called out. Ross and the others could tell that these teens were NOT in a good mood. The pets that Astrid and her siblings had with them began to cower out of fright, having gotten an idea that things were about to go south.

When the group of young teens got close enough, an African American boy in the group pointed to the Aces and said, "You four get yourselves and your animals out of here. My friends and I want to have a little chat with your blonde friend here."

"Hang on," Argent began in a mildly suspicious tone, "What do you guys have-"

"As you gentlemen wish," Astrid said to the African American teen, cutting Argent off midsentence as she picked up the fox and carried it like it was a small dog. After having Andy do the same with the skunk, Astrid said to the group of young teens, "You all stay safe, now!" Turning around Astrid proceeded to walk away, with her siblings following behind her.

Ross was, admittedly, a little on the dumbfounded side as he watched Astrid collect her siblings and the pets before hightailing it out of there. Turning his attention back around, Ross saw to his immediate concern that the young teens had him more or less surrounded. The blonde-haired conceited boy figured that trying to talk his way out of this was his best shot, as trying to run away clearly wasn't going to work for him. "Umm," Ross began, sounding somewhat nervous, "Is there anything that I can help you guys with?"

"Yeah," the same African American boy remarked, "How's about you go back in time and keep yourself from going into our locker room, finding our stuff, and ratting us out to the officials at our last baseball game?!"

"…Que?" Ross replied, having absolutely no clue at all about what the African American boy was talking about.

A Caucasian boy, one with black hair in a medium-long straight style, in the group scoffed in an annoyed tone. "Oh, don't go playing dumb with us, you little brat," the Caucasian boy sneered, "We already know it was you who ratted our team out, getting us disqualified from that game and barred from playing for the rest of the season!"

"You also got the trophy we won at the end of the last season revoked," another Caucasian boy, this one with bright, vibrant orange-red hair, snapped at Ross, who was growing more and more worried by the second. As he was beginning to get crowded by the young teens, Ross began to try and talk them down, but to no avail.

After the first punch was thrown by the African American boy, colliding into the side of Ross's face, chaos ensued. Ross tried to cry out, but his mouth was covered by the hand of one of the young teens. The conceited blonde boy was scared out of his mind by what was happening to him; he even began to fear the worst. Thankfully, a shout from an angry middle-age woman got the attention of the boys, making them all run away, leaving the beaten Ross just lying there. Due to how quickly everything happened, Ross didn't get a good look at any of his assailants, and the woman wasn't wearing her glasses, so she didn't get a good look, either.

...Luckily for them, Chandler was waiting and hiding nearby, never once having been spotted by anyone. What's more is that he recorded a video of everything on his phone, a video that he was planning to get out to as many different outlets as soon as possible.

Even with Chandler's video, there were no clear cut answers as to the identities of the specific young teens who ganged up on Ross. But suspicion was being thrown around, and since more than a fair number of Royal Woods locals knew that the teens were all from the recently barred blue baseball team, specific kids from that team who were known well enough were given even MORE disdain than usual.

Francisco's dad was even harder on Francisco, even though he had no way of being able to tell for sure if the thirteen-year-old boy did in fact take part in the beating that was recorded on video and uploaded to various sources (the video had been recorded from a bit of a distance, and at a time when there wasn't as much light out as usual). To make matters worse, Francisco's dad's boss not only saw the video as well, but could tell that it was Francisco's team that ganged up on that innocent kid; this was part of why Francisco's dad anted up on being a hard-ass.

As for Chandler, he was in a pretty good mood; not only did he get his main rival for Astrid's affections beaten basically for free, but he screwed over Francisco's dad, costing them an a fair bit of face. The red-headed boy made Francisco's dad look bad (as the dad of a boy who apparently takes part in gang-style beatings) while making his own dad, Mr. McCann, look good, bringing Chandler's ultimate goal one step closer to fruition.

Chandler, as he played on his Playtendo Swap Lite up in his bedroom, overheard his dad downstairs practically bragging about how his rival for that promotion at work is losing more of the big boss's trust, effectively meaning that he himself is getting more of the big boss's trust. "Yeah, just keep doing what you do, dad," Chandler thought as he lowered the volume of his game so he could listen in a bit better on what was going on down the ground floor.

"Just keep doing what you do."

END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER TEN

Author's note:

Just because Chandler is no longer antagonistic towards Lincoln does not mean that he is no longer antagonistic at all. Chandler still has his rivalry against Francisco to deal with, after all, and an antagonist that attains his ends by use of guile and subterfuge rather than straight up physical force is a rather appealing type of antagonist in my opinion. Anyway, the main plot will resume next time, with a few updates to comply with the changes that have been made to the story from its original form.