This should go without saying but unless it is an actual sequel or otherwise stated none of the chapters are connected to each other. Each chapter is set in its own universe, with that out of the way here's chapter 4!
Chapter 4: Welcome to the Gun Show!
It's fairly common for the Loud family to have a nice family outing every other weekend and every member of the family must attend to them, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Now, normally the outings are something simple and wholesome such as going to the movies, having a nice time at the park, or even taking a trip to the mall for everyone to roam at their heart's content.
This time, however…. Lynn Sr. decided to take everyone to Kendo's gun range.
Now, why would the Loud patriarch decide to take the Loud clan to the gun range you might ask? Well… he wanted to go about teaching gun safety and how to handle and use a gun… he also wanted to find a new way to bond with the family besides the same old same old, something he learned from his kids when it came to the meals he served for dinner.
"Ugh! Dad, why are we even here, can't we just go to the movies?" Groaned Lori, who was sulking along with the rest of the girls, once she found out where they were going she was trying her damnedest to try and persuade her dad from going here.
"Yeah honey, don't you think we should go somewhere much safer since we have Lucy, the twins, Lisa, and Lily? I don't want them going around and getting hurt and the people around here aren't the kindest of people." Said Rita, she was at first on board with the idea since it would be a learning experience for the family, but upon further thinking she found that she wasn't really sure if she wanted the younger kids around any firearms since they probably wouldn't retain the information given to them and she didn't want them getting hurt by anything in there.
When it came to the state of the siblings some of them were nervous, curious, or outright scared of being at the range. None of them have ever even fired a gun before and the thought of being around one or even firing one filled them with mixed emotions… all except for one.
Out of all the siblings Lincoln was actually quite happy with the idea of learning about guns and even a little excited to hold and fire one. He was happy with the idea of doing something different for once and if he was being honest with himself he felt as if this outing would teach him something about himself that he never knew before.
"Aww come on guys this is gonna be fun! Tell you what, how about once we're done here we go out for ice cream?" Said Lynn Sr. who was trying to get the family to warm up to the idea.
The rest of the girls perked up at the idea now that the chance of ice cream was on the table and was now moving with renewed vigor into the range. Lincoln rolled his eyes at the display of his family.
"hehehe works every time." Chuckled the Loud patriarch.
Once inside the range, the Loud family then went under quite a few lessons about everything dealing with guns from how to handle one, clean one, reload one, and even basic gun safety and etiquette. The family was quite shocked with how much information went behind guns and some of them warmed up to the idea of handling one themselves. The younger ones were a wee bit jealous since they couldn't get to hold and fire one themselves.
After they learned the ins and outs of gun safety, they were then led into the range where there were human shaped targets set up down the line and few people out either testing out a new gun or just practicing. The Loud family was both excited and nervous about the situation but they would persevere as best as they could.
The family would go from the oldest being Lynn Sr. to the youngest being Lincoln. The owner of the range was guiding the family to the target they would be firing at and he handed Lynn Sr. a Glock 19 9mm compact handgun to fire with.
Lynn took the firearm and faced the target, he took the stance, breathed, and squeezed the trigger. *BANG* Lynn took his first shot and barely missed the outer edge of the target. Annoyed by this he took his stance again and fired. *BANG* This time the bullet hit the far left of the bullseye if it were an actual person he would have hit the kidney… if that.
The rest of the family were watching the Loud dad intently and were involuntarily flinching everytime the gun was fired. The bravado that the rest of the family had prior to this was slowly fading, however, Lincoln's was steadily rising the more he saw his father shoot.
As Lincoln was watching his father shoot he couldn't help but find himself inwardly criticising his father's stance, how he was holding the gun, and his overall aim. He couldn't place how he knew the proper technique on how to aim and shoot, he just had this unknown sense of understanding and what could be deemed advanced knowledge on how to shoot. This sort of unnerved him since this was knowledge of something he himself didn't really know anything about.
Once Lynn's time was up the rest of the family moved forward to fire next.
Rita was overall a better shot than Lynn but that wasn't really saying much since all of her shots were on the sides of the target… well…. at least she's good at performing rib shots.
After Rita was Lori who was considerably okay if it weren't for the fact that she fumbled with the gun whenever her phone would go off. She damn near fired at herself when she slammed the gun down on the counter as she was reaching for her phone.
Leni's was honestly the worst since she hit herself in the face with the gun when she felt the recoil of the gun. She dropped the gun and screamed whenever she fired it too. It was an unspoken agreement to never let Leni go near a gun ever again.
Luna was a bit rattled when she was firing the gun, after three shots she put it down and distanced herself from it. She really didn't want anything to do with it and when Rita went to comfort her she said, "Me and guns just don't gel dude. I'll just hang back."
After Luna came Luan and like Luna, she wasn't very keen on how the gun felt in her hands. She was having a bit of a dilemma knowing she was holding something capable of causing great harm and even death. She fired it a few times and quickly put it down while nervously saying, "I don't want anything to go out of guntrol, hehehe…. Get it?
Next up was Lynn who immediately wanted to one-up everyone else… naturally. She was all bravado until she fired the gun and have it fly out of her hands due to holding it improperly, luckily Lincoln caught it before it hit the ground and he gave Lynn a glare while she was sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. Embarrassed by her screwup she shuffled to take her seat next Luan and Lucy while Lincoln went up to get his chance at firing.
When Lincoln grabbed hold of the gun he was enamored with how it felt. The weight, the grip, the overall feel of the gun oddly felt foreign and familiar at the same time. After getting used to how it felt he took his spot in front of the target squared his shoulders, took his stance, spread his feet a few inches from each other, took a deep breath, and fired. *BANG* Lincoln surprisingly wasn't really affected by the recoil and instead was shocked that he hit the target dead center in the bullseye.
"Woah! Lincoln got a bullseye!" Exclaimed Lana
The rest of the family was stunned by how the sole boy of the family was the first and only one to actually hit the target dead center and Lincoln had a feeling he could do it again.
"Pfft. Beginner's luck, I bet he can't get it twice." Said Lynn who was still miffed from her screw up earlier."
Determined to prove his sister wrong he took aim again and fired. *BANG* Another bullseye that was slightly to the right of the first shot.
A sudden surge of focus came to Lincoln soon after the second shot and he simply took aim and kept firing at the target with until the clip was empty.
(A/N: I would play Django Unchained OST- Track 17 for this scene)
Lincoln appeared as if he was in a trance to his family as he was firing at the target but to Lincoln, only him and the target existed for the time being.
The foreign yet familiar feeling was back and instead of Lincoln being perturbed by it, he embraced it and found that he may be considered a natural at handling firearms. He didn't stray off target, he didn't break his stance, he wasn't turned away by the smell of the gunpowder he was instead enthralled by it as he the smell of the smoke caressed his nostrils like a long-lost love, and he wasn't even disturbed by the recoil of the gun.
Everyone was gobsmacked by how skilled Lincoln was at shooting, his family, the owner, and even the other patrons stopped what they were doing to ogle at the Loud boy's shooting skill.
"Okay…. maybe it's not just beginner's luck." Said Lynn, with an awestruck tone.
"So….. cooool." Said the twins with stars in their eyes.
"Jesus dude I never knew our bruv was a marksman!" Said Luna in a surprised tone.
"It would seem as if our only brother has a latent ability in handling firearms." Said Lisa with a curious expression on her face.
Lincoln was soon pulled out of his near otherworldly focus by the click of the gun signifying that he was out of ammo in the clip. He then sets the gun down and presses the button on the side of the booth to bring the target closer.
Upon inspection, it showed that the center of the target was missing entirely. Lincoln landed nothing but perfect shots on the target gaining nothing but praise from the various gun owners that were spectating.
Lincoln was blushing from the praise of both the gun owners and his family until the owner came by to speak with him. "Son, that was the best damn shooting I've ever seen in all my years of opening this range. I'd like to take your picture to put on my hall of fame if you don't mind."
Lincoln was beaming with joy, "Sure! I'd love to sir!"
Soon after getting his picture taken next to the target the owner then pulled Lincoln and his family aside to give the white-haired marksmen a gift.
"Now normally I wouldn't even dream of giving a minor something such as this… but, after the spectacle you just showed me, I believe you've earned this. Kendo then revealed to Lincoln a Smith and Wesson 442 revolver. Lincoln and his siblings were awestruck by the gun and their parents were proud… yet uneasy.
(A/N: I know a minor can't legally own a gun but bear with me here.)
"Wait Wait Wait. As honored as I am to have this Mr. Kendo, I can't afford something like this."
Kendo gave a hardy laugh before he assured the boy, "I think you must be mistaken this a gift free of charge to you!"
"WHAT!?" Exclaimed the Loud family
"Lincoln is literally being given a gun for free!?"
"Lincoln gets a gun!? That's awesome!" Praised Lana who was awestruck by the gun.
Upon realizing that he was being given a revolver for free he was pleading with his parents to let him have it with the promise of keeping it hidden, cleaning it, taking care of it, and everything in between.
A few convincing pleas later and the parents finally caved, "Okay Okay, *sigh* you can take the gun Lincoln but you are to keep the highest of responsibility and are held accountable for everything and I mean everything son. " Said Lynn Sr. in a stern tone with a hint of pride in it.
Lincoln just couldn't believe it, first, he got to go to a gun range and not only learn the basics but also surprise everyone including himself that he was, in fact, a natural born marksman, gets his picture put onto a hall of fame for his perfect shots, and to top it off he gets his very own revolver!
Today just couldn't get any better for him.
"Alright, gang let's go get Ice Cream!"
Scratch that… yes, it can.
Does anyone else get a latent fighter or gunslinger vibe from Lincoln due to his passive nature? I just get the strange idea that Lincoln is, in fact, a prodigy in combat if he were to toss out his passive nature… ehh maybe it's just me. The owner of the shooting range being named Kendo is actually a reference to Rober Kendo the gun store owner from resident evil 2 if you didn't catch it. I also want to say that I'm not abandoning Newfound Strength I'm just in a block as to how to continue it but don't worry chapter 4 is about 60% done as we speak. Don't forget to let me know what you guys think and I'll see you next time!