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 twenty-one: Restaurant Rage

Lincoln couldn't believe it; he was standing in a dark alleyway in Great Lakes City. Although this was something of a recurring theme for the white-haired boy, there were two things that made this specific time different from all of the previous times in the past. The first thing was that Lincoln, this time, was not dressed up in his outfit that he wore when he did his dark work as Broken Mirror, the violent vigilante who had taken it upon himself to do the work in Great Lakes City that local law enforcement had seemingly decided to flat out ignore. However, that was very easily explained by the second thing that made this occasion stand out from past examples.

Broken Mirror himself was sitting across from Lincoln.

The two boys, one a regular kid from Royal Woods, Michigan, and the other his murderous hero identity (if you would call a character like Broken Mirror a 'hero'), sat opposite of each other at a fairly large wooden spool, the kind used for storing certain kinds of wire, and each boy was sitting on plastic milk crates. Lincoln's was red and Broken Mirror's was black. Broken Mirror leaned forward slightly so that his elbows were on the surface of the wooden spool. His left hand was covering his right, and his chin rested on top of his left hand. The vigilante was making no move, unless one were to count casually examining his civilian counterpart.

The white-haired boy was very much worried.

As if on instinct, Lincoln reached over his right shoulder, as if to grasp at the handle of a weapon that was holstered over his back. Sure enough, Lincoln grabbed the familiar hilt of Starlit Sky, the high-quality bokken he had received as a gift from his Kendo instructor, Aggro Ace. Seeing that the white-haired boy had went for a weapon, Broken Mirror casually held up his left hand, its palm facing Lincoln. This was a gesture to signal to Lincoln that there was no need for him to go for his weapon. Seeing Broken Mirror give this signal, Lincoln, more out of curiosity and mild confusion than willingness to obey the vigilante, removed his hand from Starlit Sky's hilt.

Seeing that Lincoln had taken his hand away from his bokken, Broken Mirror resumed his casual position of sitting at the wooden spool, chin resting over hands. The white-haired boy could tell that his vigilante self was giving him a visual look-over, sizing him up like an aloof teenage boy would size up a girl who confessed to him, or how Lincoln's ex-sister Leni would size up two different dresses that she wanted to get but could only get one so she was looking to see which one would be the best option.

Ever since he had first come to in this scenario, Lincoln saw that Broken Mirror had yet to say a word; unsurprising, as when he himself operated as the vigilante, Lincoln never spoke a word to anyone who had ever seen/spotted him. Lincoln gave his vigilante self a look suggesting that he wanted him to speak first. But the murderous vigilante simply returned the look to his civilian counterpart, adding a hint of coolness that would broker no compromise. The white-haired boy knew then and there that he would be doing all of the talking here.

"…You can't forgive them, can you?" Lincoln said. The white-haired boy's question prompted Broken Mirror to arch an eyebrow, suggesting that his interest in where this conversation would be heading had been piqued. "You know," Lincoln continued, "My family. Or rather…" After a bit of consideration, Lincoln amended his words. "…I should say our family." The vigilante's eyes widened just a bit when his civilian counterpart had brought up the Louds. The white-haired boy saw this, this momentary drop in Broken Mirror's total stoicism.

A chink in his armor.

"In your defense," Lincoln continued as he spoke to the vigilante, "I cannot honestly blame you. After all, what they did to drive me away, which eventually led me into becoming you, is not something that can be easily forgiven, if at all. As it stands right now, I'm not all that sure if I'll be able to reconcile with all of them. There's one or two who, from what I'm seeing right now, I will never be able to forgive."

Lincoln's words made Broken Mirror's eyes assume a more relaxed expression, signifying that he liked hearing what his civilian counterpart was saying about him not ever being able to let go of his resentment to at least some of the Louds. However, the vigilante's eyes widened again out of shock when Lincoln said, "Which is why I'm willing to give the one I have not yet reconciled with time to prove to me that, contrary to what I am feeling right now, they are deserving of me acknowledging them as my family once again. Things that are worth it take time, and with what is going on right now, it will need plenty of time."

Broken Mirror's gaze never left Lincoln's, nor did Lincoln's gaze ever leave Broken Mirror's. The two boys, the white-haired civilian and his vigilante counterpart, kept their respective gazes locked onto each other's eyes, neither daring to break eye contact. While the two boys continued their impromptu staring contest, Lincoln slowly reached for Starlit Sky's hilt again. The last time he had seen Broken Mirror, the white-haired boy had been able to defeat him. The vigilante was smaller than Lincoln; he was not the whole of Lincoln, just a small part.

…But Broken Mirror was a part of Lincoln nonetheless.

With a bit of exhaling through his nostrils, Broken Mirror leaned back in his seat slightly, both hands raised at around shoulder level, with their palms facing Lincoln. The white-haired boy could tell that this was his vigilante counterpart's way of admitting defeat. Getting up from the overturned plastic milk crate he sat on, Broken Mirror turned around and proceeded to walk away, leaving Lincoln alone in the alleyway.

However, just as Lincoln was getting up from the large wooden spool himself, Broken Mirror turned around slightly, only his right side facing his civilian counterpart. Broken Mirror made eye contact with Lincoln just one more time. The vigilante gave the white-haired boy a slightly wincing glare. It was a serious look that did all the talking for the ever-quiet killer. Lincoln could tell very well what his vigilante counterpart was asking with that look.

Can you really forgive all of them?

Without anything else, Broken Mirror turned his head away from facing Lincoln, turned the whole of his body away as he continued to walk away like he had been. Soon enough, Lincoln found himself alone in that alleyway where he had just had a conversation with himself, or rather another version of himself from another time. It wasn't much of a conversation, as Lincoln did all of the talking himself. And yet Lincoln had gotten more from 'talking' to Broken Mirror just now than he ever got from talking to anyone else.

It was up to Lincoln what he was going to do with what he got.

…

With a bit of a start, Lincoln woke up from his dream. It wasn't a nightmare like what he had the last couple of times he woke up with a start ever since he returned from Great Lakes City, but the dream still had left quite the impact with the white-haired boy. Looking over to the dresser in his bedroom, Lincoln right away spotted two things; the first thing being his old-fashioned digital nightstand clock, which told Lincoln that the time was roughly five-forty-five, and the second thing being the carrying case that held Starlit Sky.

Getting up out of bed, Lincoln walked over to his dresser. Looking to the carrying case that held his bokken, Lincoln gently placed his right hand on the end where the bokken's tip should be. Lincoln slowly ran his hand over the length of the carrying case, as if he were stroking the back of a very long cat. Just as it had done back during Lincoln's dream where he vanquished Broken Mirror, Starlit Sky was a source of strength, a source of comfort, that he was able to draw upon.

"I wonder…" Lincoln thought as he patted the end of the carrying case where Starlit Sky's hilt should be, "…I wonder if Starlit Sky will help me be able to reconcile with the rest of the Louds." The white-haired boy was lost in thought for a bit as he contemplated the surprising progress that he had been able to make when it came to reconciling with the Louds one at a time; by the time that he turned his attention back to the old-fashioned digital nightstand clock, Lincoln saw that it was about ten minutes until six in the morning.

Knowing that the Loud sisters, both those he had reconciled with and those he was still shunning, would begin to awaken sometime in a few minutes, Lincoln decided that he ought to take the opportunity to go use the bathroom right now. He can very easily get a shower in right now, so the white-haired boy decided to seize the opportunity. When he got to the bathroom, Lincoln remembered how the bathroom door was occasionally broken, especially in regards to the knob and/or being able to lock the knob, thus preventing people from walking in unknowingly.

As such, Lincoln tapped a sign that said 'occupied; taking a shower right now' to the front of the bathroom's door. Additionally, Lincoln placed a ten-pound weight right up against the door once he was in the bathroom and had closed the door behind him; if the sign he placed wouldn't be enough to tell someone that privacy (a rare commodity in the Loud family) was needed at the time, then when they tried to force their way in, they would find a lot more resistance than what they would have expected.

Far be it from Lincoln to let anyone see him in the buff.

Breakfast was a relatively quiet affair that morning, Lincoln noted after he finished his shower, got dressed and sat down at the dining table to eat his simple breakfast of a bowl of Zombie Bran cereal (Luna explained that she had bought it while she did a run to the store earlier for some sodas she got for when she was expecting some friends over later). Sitting at the dining table with the white-haired boy were the five oldest Loud sisters, although Lincoln has yet to forgive either Lori or Leni for their respective parts in driving him to run away.

"Hey bro," Luna began after taking a sip from her mug of coffee, getting Lincoln to look up at her, "Would you mind it too much if Luan and I borrowed you for today? There's something that we want to show you in town."

The white-haired boy's interest was piqued by Luna's request. "…I'm going to have to ask where you and Luan plan to take me first," Lincoln replied. Luckily for both Luna and Luan, they were able to pick up on the fact that Lincoln was not in the mood for any answer that was along the lines of 'it's going to be a surprise'.

"You know how dad has always wanted to open his own restaurant?" Luan began, "Well, he was finally able to do so a few weeks before you came back. Luna and I were going to take you over so you could check it out." Luna nodded in agreement, showing that Luan said was what she also had in mind.

Looking over at his comedic older sister, Lincoln simply gave her a dry, albeit mildly curious, look. "…I have a dad?" the white-haired boy remarked, the surprise in his tone carrying a hint of knowing sarcasm.

Right away, Luan realized her mistake, that being she had referred to the Loud patriarch as being Lincoln's dad before the white-haired boy had forgiven him. "Oops, sorry," Luan said quickly, "I mean me and Luna's dad. He got his restaurant open."

"So Mr. Loud finally achieved his dream of owning a restaurant," Lincoln remarked casually as he turned his attention back to his cereal. Hearing their brother refer to their dad as 'Mr. Loud' was admittedly a bit painful to the five oldest Loud girls. Lori and Leni were especially pained to hear their younger brother's words, as they knew full well that both of them were still in the same boat as their father. "How's the business treating Mr. Loud, by the way?" Lincoln asked in a casual manner, figuring he ought to at least try to make conversation.

This time, all five of the five oldest Loud girls had uncomfortable looks, although it had nothing to do with the fact that Lincoln was still denying his relation to a little over half of the family at the moment. "Although his restaurant is doing a little better at the moment than either Giovanni Chang's or Aloha Comrade," Lori began, "And is about equal with Jean Juan's and Bangers and Mosh, da…" Lori stopped short upon seeing the dry look on Lincoln's face. "…My father's restaurant," the oldest Loud sister said after changing her words a bit, "Is, like every other actual restaurant in Royal Woods, losing a fair bit of business to Odin-Dono's."

"Odin-Dono's, huh?" the white-haired boy remarked casually, not the barest hint of concern or care for the Loud patriarch's plight in his tone, as he looked down at his cereal with an almost bored expression, "That's the Swedish-Japanese place that Astrid Ace's family owns, right?"

"Totally," Luna replied as she nodded once in the affirmative, "In fact, out of all of the established restaurants in Royal Woods, my dad's place is one of the lowest ranked compared to others in terms of how many customers it gets a week. It's barely doing better than Bangers and Mosh, which is the overall lowest ranked."

"Meanwhile, the Ace's place is the highest ranked," Lynn explained, "I actually had lunch there a few days ago with Ulfric and his parents." With a hint of concerned worry in her expression, the athletic Loud sister said to everyone else at the table, "Please don't tell dad about that. If he hears that I had lunch there, he'll flip his lid."

The white-haired boy decided to ignore the fact that Lynn, by some of her words just now, had implied that her father is also his (Lincoln's) father. Instead, Lincoln found greater interest in the fact that Mr. Loud would apparently be very displeased to hear any of his children eating over at Odin-Dono's. Given what the girls at the table with him have been saying so far about the rivalry between the established restaurants in Royal Woods, Lincoln could see why Mr. Loud wouldn't be happy if he heard that any of his daughters (as far as Lincoln knew, Mr. Loud didn't have any sons) ate at the very restaurant that his own was losing business to.

…That still didn't excuse the look of worry that Lincoln saw in Lynn's eyes, though. Not as far as he was concerned.

Seeing that there was only milk remaining in his bowl of cereal, Lincoln lifted the bowl up to his mouth and carefully drank the milk. Setting the bowl down, Lincoln turned to face Luna and Luan. "…I actually am a bit curious about this restaurant that your dad apparently has," Lincoln said to his older sisters, "I'll be needing a bit of time to get ready, but once I am, I can go as soon as the two of you are ready to take me."

Both Luna and Luan smiled a bit when they turned to face each other, but they turned their attention back to Lincoln when they heard him say, "By the way, I don't suppose that Mr. Loud is at his restaurant right now, is he?"

"He should be there," Luna replied after checking the time on the wall clock that was in the dining room, "The breakfast rush is about to begin." The white-haired boy nodded once in acknowledgement before he got up from the table with his empty bowl and the spoon he used to eat his cereal with. Depositing the dishes in the kitchen sink, Lincoln then proceeded to head up the stairs to go into his bedroom.

Lincoln got dressed, straightened himself out a bit, then once he was done, he left his room. Luna and Luan were still needing a bit of time, so Lincoln decided to wait for them in the living room, watching a bit of TV to pass the time. After a few minutes, Luna and Luan were both ready. The white-haired boy got up from the sofa and, following along behind Luna and Luan, left the house to go see Mr. Loud's restaurant.

After Luna and Luan were both ready to go, they took Lincoln with them into town. After a fair bit of time, the three siblings had made their way to a restaurant that looked like it had once been run down but was recently bought and refurbished/restored. Looking up at the sign next to the restaurant, Lincoln saw that the place was called 'Lynn's Table'. The white-haired boy had a dry, unamused look on his face.

Gesturing to the Loud patriarch's dream made real, Luna said, "Well bro, this here is the restaurant that…" Catching herself in time due to remembering how her brother currently felt, Luna said, "…Me and Luan's dad owns. What do you think?"

"…He named it after himself partly," Lincoln noted, his tone sounding as unamused as his face would suggest he currently felt.

"Heh, heh," Luan chuckled, a hint of nervousness in her tone, "Well, you know me and Luna's dad. A bit on the prideful side since he likes to name things after himself." Trying to calm down the nervousness she felt, Luna then said, "Well then, Lincoln, why don't the three of us go on inside? The food is pretty good, so it'll be quite the experience." Looking up at his older sisters, Lincoln saw that both wore mildly hopeful expressions.

Figuring that both Luna and Luan were trying to be nice to him, especially considering how both of them were among the few in the Loud family to have reconciled with him, Lincoln figured that he ought to oblige the comedian and the musician. Besides, if the cooking here was as good as Mr. Loud's cooking at home (aside from a select few of the very common weekly meals), then the white-haired boy had a feeling that he would have a very pleasant dining experience.

Entering the restaurant with Luna and Luan, Lincoln saw that the first thing they encountered was a podium near the entrance, and that said podium was manned by someone employed as a greeter. To the white-haired boy's piqued curiosity, the greeter was actually Bobby Santiago, the boyfriend of Lincoln's older ex-sister Lori. Bobby, upon seeing Lincoln, Luan and Luna, had a pleasantly surprised look on his face.

"Yo guys," Bobby greeted, "I wasn't expecting you here!"

"What are you talking about, Bobby?" Luan asked while gesturing to herself and her siblings, "Our dad owns the place." Although Luan had just implied that Mr. Loud was his dad, Lincoln was not going to hold it against her; after all, Bobby wasn't aware that the Louds each have to prove themselves worthy of being acknowledged by Lincoln again, and that Mr. Loud was one of those who have yet to prove themselves. Lincoln wondered what Bobby would have to say if he learned what was going on, especially if he learned that Lori was among those who have yet to reconcile with him.

Giving Bobby a wry look, Luna remarked, "If anything, Luan, Lincoln and I weren't expecting you to be here."

With a bit of an embarrassed chuckle, Bobby explained, "Yeah, I was just hired here as the greeter manning the podium. It's my latest job."

Giving Bobby a wry look of his own, Lincoln remarked, "…I'm going to guess that Lori had put in a good word for you. After all, she does know the man who owns the place." Hearing the white-haired boy's remark drew a bit of amused laughter out of the Hispanic teen who has been known to work many jobs, with the latest one being restaurant greeter. After his bit of laughter had died down, Bobby gave a nod in the affirmative.

"Yeah, Lori was able to convince Mr. Loud to give me a shot here," Bobby said. With a look of embarrassment, Bobby said, "You know, of all the jobs that I've ever worked, this is the first one where I'm dating my boss's daughter. It's got me kind of worried, you know?"

"I'm sure that dad won't let your relationship with Lori have a say in your performance on the job here," Luna pointed out, "It would be rather unprofessional of him if he did let that happen." Lincoln nodded in agreement with what his musically inclined older sister had said; if Mr. Loud did allow that to occur, then the white-haired boy would lose what little respect he might still have left for his ex-father.

As the three Loud siblings that were present talked to Bobby, Kotaro came walking up. "Oi, new kid," Kotaro said to the Hispanic teen, "It's your break time, so I'm here to relieve you for the next thirty minutes or so."

Sighing in a mildly embarrassed tone, Bobby said, "I was keeping track of time."

"Well given that you've worked through breaks on no less than four separate occasions," Kotaro began to point out, "Then Lynn wouldn't feel like he had to set some reminders for you." With a look of realization on his face, Kotaro turned to face the Loud siblings, having realized that they were there, although he didn't know who specifically was there until he turned to see; he only had a feeling that someone was there.

"Oh, you're some of Lynn's kids," Kotaro remarked to Lincoln, Luna and Luan, a hint of mild amusement in his tone, "I take it that you're here to support your old man's business?"

Luna nodded a bit in the affirmative, and was about to say something. However, before Luna could get one word out, a cell phone's ringing went off. Bobby, looking like he had just realized something, reached into a pocket on his pants to remove his smartphone, which was the source of the aforementioned ringing. Seeing that it was Lori's number on the caller ID, Bobby proceeded to answer the call.

"Babe, what's up?" Bobby greeted as he and Kotaro switched places, "Yeah, I'm at work but I literally just got on break. Oh, before I forget, some of your sisters and the bro are here." Bobby listened for a bit before saying, "Oh, you knew about that. Yeah, this is the bro's first time seeing your dad's place." Bobby listened on for a bit more as he ended up going with Lincoln, Luna and Luan to whatever table they ended up getting.

While he listened to Lori over the phone, Bobby suddenly had a look of confusion in his face. "What sort of interests does Aggro have?" the Hispanic teen said in a curious tone, "Could you be a bit more specific, babe?" It wasn't just Bobby who was curious as to why Lori was asking about the male Ace twin; Luna and Luan were also curious. Lincoln was especially curious, as it was his Kendo instructor that was being talked about.

After close to a minute of listening to Lori over the phone, Bobby said, "Well for music, I know that Aggro likes listening to the full-length versions of some of the songs from this one anime he really likes. I don't know too much about his other habits, so you'd have to ask him. By the way, can I ask you about why you're asking me about Aggro and his interests?" Lincoln and his two sisters that were with him were especially keen to learn about Lori's reason for asking about the male Ace twin and his habits/interests.

"…What makes you say that, babe?" Bobby replied after hearing Lori's answer over the phone. After a few more moments, the Hispanic teen said, "She told you that she was going to Odin-Dono's because she hopes to see Aggro there? Well that would be a sign, I guess. Is there anything else that might be a reason why you'd think that?" After Bobby listened to Lori's answer for a bit, he turned his attention to Lincoln.

"Hey Linc, bro," the Hispanic teen began, "Lori says that whenever you go to Aggro's place to learn Kendo from him, your sister Leni usually tags along. Is that true?"

The white-haired boy, not expecting being dragged into the ongoing conversation, had a look of confused curiosity on his face. "Leni?" Lincoln said, "Yeah, she usually tries to come along with me whenever I go over to Aggro-sensei's place for my Kendo lessons. Why do you ask?"

"Well Lori just told me that she has reason to believe that Leni has a crush on Aggro," Bobby explained, "And that she was asking me about him so she could get some tips for Leni on getting him to like her."

"What?!" Luna and Luan exclaimed in unison, being caught off guard by what Bobby had said about what Lori just told him. Lincoln, although still a bit surprised to hear that one of his older ex-sisters has a new crush, was nowhere near as expressive about it as Luna and Luan just now; the white-haired boy had suspected that Leni has had a crush on his Kendo instructor for quite some time now. The mild bit of surprise that Lincoln did feel came from having his suspicions confirmed just now.

Nodding in confirmation, Bobby said, "Yeah, you guys can ask Lori about it yourselves when you all get home." As Bobby resumed his over the phone conversation with Lori, explaining to her that he was sitting with her siblings that were at the restaurant, Lynn Sr. at that moment just so happened to come walking by.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you guys here," Lunn Sr. remarked upon seeing three of his children, "What's up, kids?"

"Luna and I wanted to show Lincoln the restaurant that you got," Luan explained as she looked up at her dad. Both Luna and Lincoln nodded in the affirmative.

Chuckling a bit in mild amusement, Lynn Sr. said, "Oh yeah, this is Lincoln's first time seeing the restaurant." Focusing on the white-haired boy specifically, Lynn Sr. asked, "So Lincoln, what do you think of the place?"

Lincoln didn't say anything right away; instead, he looked around a bit, taking in the atmosphere and ascetic of the restaurant. He also sniffed a bit, taking in the smells of the restaurant as well. After he had gotten enough of an impression of his ex-father's restaurant, Lincoln turned back to face the man himself. "…I think that anyone who eats here would have a very homey dining experience," Lincoln replied. Although Lincoln spoke in an emotionless monotone, one that he generally uses when addressing Louds who he has yet to reconcile with, he still gave the Loud patriarch a sincere complement on his restaurant.

"You really think so?" Lynn Sr. replied, a bit hopeful that this might be his first step in becoming Lincoln's father again. Before Lincoln could respond, however, Lynn Sr. noticed that not only was Bobby sitting with Lincoln, Luna and Luan, but that the Hispanic teen was on his phone. "Is there a reason why you're talking on your phone, Bobby?" Lynn Sr. asked, "You are supposed to be working, young man."

"I'm actually taking a call during my break, Mr. Loud," Bobby replied, "Kotaro even came up to the podium to relieve me because you were concerned about how I unintentionally worked through a few breaks."

Realizing what Bobby was talking about, Lynn Sr. said, "Ah, so that's it. Yeah, you working through breaks a few times did get my attention. Sorry about trying to bust your chops just now." The Loud siblings that were present were a bit annoyed with how their dad was being hard on Lori's boyfriend just now, but once they saw that it was entirely related to work, their annoyance lessened a bit; their annoyance further dropped when Bobby gave his explanation and Lynn Sr., who was wanting to make sure Bobby remembered to take breaks, apologized appropriately. Lincoln, not being seen by either Luna, Luan, Bobby or Lynn Sr., nodded once in an approving manner to his ex-father.

The Loud patriarch was being professional.

Lynn Sr., figuring that he'd try to make conversation with one of his employees, said, "I'm going to guess that you're talking to my daughter?"

"Yeah, I'm talking to Lori," Bobby confirmed, "She was just telling me about how her sister Leni had gone to the place that my friend Aggro's family owns for lunch and-" Before Bobby or anyone of the Loud siblings at the table could react, Lynn Sr. took Bobby smartphone from him and proceeded to talk to Lori.

"Lori, it's me," Lynn Sr. said in a firm, serious tone, "Is what your boyfriend said about your sister going to the restaurant the Aces own true?" After listening to Lori for a bit, Lynn Sr. said, "Young lady, this is serious. Did Leni seriously go to the Ace's restaurant, yes or no?" After listening to Lori for a bit, Lynn Sr. sighed in an annoyed tone. "I'll be talking to you and your siblings about this later," the Loud patriarch said his tone firm and serious.

Handing Bobby back his smartphone, Lynn Sr. called out, "Hey, Grant! Keep an eye on things here until I get back!"

"Okay, Mr. Loud!" Grant's voice called back from somewhere in the restaurant.

Sighing once again in an annoyed tone, Lynn Sr. muttered to himself as he made his way to the front of his restaurant, "This is just great. Now I have to go and get Leni from those bastards." Before anyone could have stopped him, the Loud patriarch had left the restaurant. Once Lynn Sr. was gone, Luna and Luan turned to face Bobby, shooting him angry looks. Lincoln, who did not understand the full scope of what exactly was going on, had a generous mix of confusion in his angry look that he shot towards the Hispanic teen.

Bobby, with a mildly worried look, said, "Umm, did I mess up just now?"

END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Author's note:

In the original, Lynn Sr. did not have his restaurant yet, even though he was working towards it. Here, he does have his restaurant, and because of that, his competitiveness against the restaurant the Aces own is even greater, which should make for even greater conflict later on down the line. Anyway, the beginning of this chapter, which features Lincoln having a dream where he's talking to his Broken Mirror persona even though they are now separate beings is part of what I'm doing to further explore the psychological/mental aspects of Lincoln's experiences in the narrative, which is something that I touched upon nowhere near as much in the original. I plan to further explore Lincoln's development in this regard.

But more on that later. To be honest, this chapter is more or less the first part of a two-part mini arc where Lynn Sr. makes his displeasure with how his restaurant is currently losing to the Ace family's restaurant known; some groundwork has been laid here, but there's going to be some more development in the following chapter. There will also be a bit of follow up on how Bobby kind of dropped the ball near the end, as well as a bit of references to things that the Santiagos end up missing out on since, in this setting, they never moved to Great Lakes City.