This is chapter three, I hope you all like it and there might be some similarities to my other story "A Sparking Relationship" but it is necessary to keep in in par with the future chapter of what would happen to them. Enjoy my readers.
Family of two.
Chapter 3. Friends and Flips.
The loud house still hasn't made any loud noise as of lately, the last time loud noise was made was on August ten which was a few days ago. This actually makes the neighborhood more peaceful and less stressful and everyone is feeling okay with the new situation and changes.
The front door to the loud house opens and coming out is Lincoln in his day clothes and Luna in her new attire as usual. "Okay, so you're gonna be hanging out with your pals while I go with Merris to put Vanzilla into a storage unit" said Luna. She locks the door. She then looks to her son. "You sure you're gonna be okay kiddo?"
Lincoln goes over to his bike. "I'll be fine mom. Even though Rusty isn't gonna be out till tomorrow, I'll be having some guy time with Clyde, Liam and Zach. See you later mom."
But before he heads off, Luna hugs him and then kisses his cheek. "Have fun and stay safe Lincoln."
Lincoln chuckles. "I will." He then rides off to the arcade to meet up with his friends.
Luna watches as he rides off, she was proud that he was going to step up and hang out with other people now. She seems concerned about him if he gets hurt, but on the other hand this gives her a chance for some me time of hang out with some of her pals.
Luna then sees Merris's car and following behind a tow truck, with a flat bad on the back. Merris gets out of her car. "Alright kid, let's get this heap of junk of a van out of here."
Luna smiles. She then goes over and checks if Vanzilla has nothing else inside, she then sees a picture of the when the family was still together. She sighs and takes it, but she does see a cowbell. 'You gotta be kidding me?' She ignores it and then sees a charger, a fashion magazine, a whoopee cushion, a football, a poetry journal, a ribbon, a wrench, a math book and a pacifier. She takes them all out of the van and into a plastic bag and then she locks the van. "Okay, take her out of here!"
She backs away holding the plastic bag, these items were too much in reminding her of the family she once knew and loved. Well, she still doesn't hate some of them.
The tow truck man, who is actually Flip comes out. "What the? Flip?!" said Luna.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your questions in a bunch, let's finish this thing so I can get back to my convenient store" replied Flip as he hooks up the van to the tow truck and it pulls Vanzilla onto the flat bed.
Luna stands next to Merris and looks at what's happening with her arms crossed and looking upset. "You know this guy?"
"You can say that" replied Luna but she still doesn't like that guy. Merris can tell something was up. She needed to look into this "Flip" guy some more and also inform her partner about this.
They then hop into her car and Flip's tow truck follows them to the Royal Woods storage area.
(Gus's Games n' Grub.)
Lincoln arrives to the arcade, he then places his bike onto the bike rack and secures its chain and attaches the security system that Luna got for him.
Lincoln sees the bikes of Liam, Zach and Clyde (Tandem bike.) were there. "Looks like they're here and probably waiting." He then enters the arcade and he sees them playing on some games. "Hey guys."
They all stop and see him. "Lincoln."
"Hey man, you made it and you don't look stressed at all" said Zach.
Lincoln chuckles. "What? Were you guys betting on whether I'd come or not?"
Zach and Liam chuckle nervously, and then get elbowed by Clyde. "Good to see you again buddy. You feeling alright?"
"I am, now come on. Let's see this new arcade game you guys talked about" said Lincoln. He heads to the new game called Pack Rat and starts playing. Clyde, Liam and Zach were glad he was opening up to hanging out with his friends again. 'He's back. Lincoln Loud is back!'
They then watch as he plays and beats he current high score. The high score was from a kid named "Stella."
"Whoever this Stella is really made the score look good" said Liam.
They then see the total score. "Yeah, she must've spent all day making that high score" said Zach. The total score is 175,000. Now that is a high score.
"Well, I'm not planning on playing for more than two hours, that sounds kinda wrong and painful to do. Lesson learned from the past. I don't want my mom to worry about what I'm doing and I am not doing the stupid 20-20 rule Clyde, just so you should know" said Lincoln.
This makes Clyde chuckle nervously, Liam and Zach also sigh in relief. "But, I will give it my all to beat her high score!"
"Yeah, you go Lincoln!" cheered Zach.
"You got this bud! Show that high score whose boss!" cheered Liam.
Clyde checks his watch and then he pulls out a stopwatch. "Let's time this to see if you can do it in record time!"
"Now you're talking Clyde! Let's do this thing!" cheered Lincoln. He then continues to play, while Clyde keeps track of the time and Liam and Zach cheer him on.
"Let's see if you can beat the score and time before lunch, I didn't eat much this morning" replied Zach.
They continue to watch Lincoln play and try and beat the game and high score, and he still has three lives! So, Game on!
(Royal Woods Storage area.)
The Camaro and Tow Truck enter the area, Merris shows them her ID and so does Luna. The woman then hands them the key to their locker and lets them pass, they then drive through and park the car. Luna and Merris then get out of the car and walk to the storage locker.
Flip follows them with his tow truck. "I think I was here once, when I was doing the same thing for someone's electric car or something."
Luna scoffs. "Yeah, whatever."
Merris notices this. "Okay Luna, mind telling me what's up with you and the guy I hired with the tow truck?"
Luna checks and sees Flip following them slowly, he was too occupied looking at all the lockers and recalling doing some other storage jobs and also coming there when there were some auctions.
Luna then whispers to Merris. "I know you and you're partner were new to this town, months ago. But I need to ask, have you two been to Flip's Food n' Fuel?"
"Not really, we heard of it but we never had the chance to go there. Too busy with work" replied Merris.
Luna sighs in relief. "Well, let's just say Flip has a track record of being a cheapskates at times in town. Whether he's swindling cash from others, probably pick pocketing, selling cheap knockoffs, running more than one business, conning people out of their hard earned cash or … Or tricking my kid and his best friend into being interns and having them do manual labor so they can fight over a stupid free refill of flippies!"
Merris is a little taken back by this, she sees Flip didn't hear her. "Okay, okay. Let's take it easy and try not to make a scene Luna."
Luna then calms down. "Sorry dude. I just really, really hate that guy. Lincoln told me some thing's I needed to know about what happened when he and Clyde were interns for Flip, they were really excited to do the job, but then it turned to competition when the guy said he was gonna promote one of them and that they'd get their hands on some free flippie refills. They almost broke their friendship when they fired each other."
Merris was starting to see the connection here. "Okay, well I think I have all I need to know about the man. I'll see what I can do and inform my partner about Flip, try and keep calm and just let the old coot park the van into the locker okay?"
"Yeah, I'll try" replied Luna.
They then spot the locker. "There she is, locker 116" said Merris.
"Finally, let's get this thing over with so I can get paid and get back to my store. Some folks will wanna buy some flippies" said Flip.
This annoys both Merris and Luna. "He's starting to get on my nerves now" said Merris.
"Now you know how I feel dude" replied Luna. Luna uses the key and opens the storage locker.
Merris then opens the storage unit, then her and Luna back up and Flip reverses his truck and lowers Vanzilla. The van is then pushed into the storage locker.
"Please fit!" said Luna. And it does. They then sigh in relief. "Finally, got rid of that scrap heap."
Flip then comes out of his truck. "Alright, I did my part now you do yours. Pay me up and I'll be on my way."
Luna sighs and pulls out one hundred fifty dollars from her wallet and hands the cash to the convenient store owner. "There, now you can go back and run your little shop."
Flip checks the cash and notices something. "Hey rocker, what about the services fee?"
Luna chuckles and then looks to him with an annoyed look. "I'm sorry, the what now?"
"Services fee! I towed the whole thing this is just payment for my truck pulling that dang van in there. I want the payment for me driving the truck and bringing it all the way here and also the payment for the use of gas for my truck and her battery power, and the chain used to tow it' replied Flip.
Merris is stunned by this man and his words. "You told me it was gonna be one hundred and fifty bucks for the whole job, what the hell are you even saying with this other payment?"
"Yeah, well I gotta cover up on the other charges too. This is just for me having my truck leave my store and closing the place while we were doing it. Now pay up Pixie cut" said Flip.
Luna is close to beating the living crap out of this guy. But Merris intervenes. "How about, you take your cash and leave, before I start charging you for swindling this young mother of her money."
Flip sees the badge and scoffs. "Whatever you say lady." He then gets back into his truck, but then he has an idea. "Hey, if you don't want the van is it cool if I can take it off your hands?"
"Leave dude!" yelled Luna. Merris then shows him her badge again and looks sternly at him.
"Alright, alright. Jeez! Don't gotta get all serious, I was just asking you know!" he then drives off.
Luna and Merris watch him leave the area, both of them annoyed by that man and his swindling actions. "So, you thinking of reporting him to your partner?" asked Luna.
"Once we're done dealing with the investigation with the Fox Quintuplets" replied Merris.
Luna looks to her. "You mean those kids who I used to babysit with Lori, Leni and Luan?"
"So, you know about them?" asked Merris as she closes the locker.
"Yeah, those kids are bad to the bone, they made a lot of trouble when we were babysitting them. If you need some eye witness words, then I can vouch for it, as well for the recent babysitters" replied Luna.
They then close the locker and leave the area, all the while Luna tells Merris everything about the Fox Quintuplets and their parents. Detective Merris takes note of this, she was going to end this case faster than she thought.
(Gus's Games n' Grub.)
Lincoln is still playing, it's only been forty five minutes and he's still playing it and giving it his all. Zach went off to order some food for them to eat later, Liam cheers Lincoln on and sees the score going up and Clyde keeps track of the time of how long he's been playing.
Lincoln on the other hand isn't tired at all, he then notices something. "Hey, I bypassed her score!"
"Yeah! You did it bud!" said Liam.
But they notice he's still going. "Lincoln, you can stop now."
"I know, but hang on. I still got one life left!" And then he loses the last life. "Dang it!" He then calms down. "Oh well, at least I beat the high score! Eat on it Ms. Stella!" They then see his total score is the new high score.
"200,000! Wow! New record for this place!" said Clyde. He then checks the stopwatch. "And only forty seven minutes! Nice!"
"You are a pro with all the games here Lincoln, you've aced it all and raised lots of high scores!" said Liam.
Lincoln smiles. "Thanks guys, it feels good to beat the new game." He then types his name onto the scoreboard. "Linc."
"Looks like kids will wanna hear about this, or they might see your name and try and beat it" replied Liam.
Lincoln chuckles. "Let them try, in fact let Stella try. She might need more than just pure dumb luck to win this one score from me."
They realized h said luck, but he wasn't bothered. Then Zach arrives with four cans of sodas. "What did I miss? I heard cheering!"
"Lincoln beat the high score!" said Liam.
"Really?" Zach looks at the high score. "Dang man! That is awesome! And I got some good news for you guys too! When I went to order us some pizza, they were having a special all meat pizza and it was half off!"
"Wow, did you use the cash we gave you to pay for it?" asked Clyde.
Zach nods. "Yup I got the change after paying less for the food, our food will be out in a few minutes. Let's mark this as a celebration lunch to Lincoln!"
"I'd like to know what an all meat pizza taste like" said Liam.
"First I win the new game and now special pizza at a low cost, nice!" cheered Lincoln.
"I agree, for winning the game, beating high score and hanging out with us at last!" cheered Clyde.
They then take their seats by a table and wait for their lunch. "So, since we're all here and your back to hanging out with us. Is it okay if we ask you some questions Lincoln?" asked Liam.
Lincoln understands what they mean. "Go ahead guys, it's alright."
They were all a bit worried but also curios. First was Clyde. "Okay, are you dating Girl Jordan?"
Lincoln chuckles. "Well, not yet. We have a date this Friday and I plan to make it special for her. We're going to the Royal Woods Theater to watch a movie, I have to see what kind of good movies will be out for both of us to enjoy, and also she'd rather be called Jordan. By me of course."
They smiled and were happy for him. "Wow, nice one Lincoln. We know you can nail it and make her one special gal and probably your girlfriend" said Liam.
"Is she gonna be hanging out with us?" asked Zach.
"She might, just as long as we don't do anything else crazy with her. She's a tough and very nice girl and she seems to get me at times, and I tend to get her as well. So, I'll ask if she wants to hang out with us when I have the chance" replied Lincoln.
"Wow, a girl hanging out with our crew. Rusty is in for a shocker with that one" said Clyde.
"Speaking of Rusty, are you in good terms with him now? We did hear about what happened to Poppa Wheelie and that sweet bike of yours" asked Liam.
"I have fully forgiven Rusty. He's earned it after realizing his mistakes in both offending me, my mom and also making the wrong pals, I know he was trying to be a good friend. But he has a long way to understanding how I feel and how his words could be a mistake and end up getting him into trouble. We might also be seeing Flat Tire hang out with us as well, once Rusty and Flat Tire are done with their grounding. Hope that's okay with you guys" said Lincoln.
They smiled hearing that. "Glad you're taking things to a kinder step there buddy, though I know sometimes things have to take action as well" said Clyde.
"And we don't mind having another guy hanging out with us too. Flat Tire could be cool" said Liam.
Zach then asks. "How are you holding up with your new life? I mean your fifteen year old sister is now your mom and you two have full claim of the last name "Loud" and sent half your family away."
Lincoln sighs. "Well, I am a bit tense and also nervous with these really, really big changes to my life. But to be honest, I'm kinda glad too. Luna has been there for me for a long while, even when I wasn't born yet, I recognized her voice whenever she sang when I was still in the womb and I knew who she was when she held me. Having her as my mom …. Has got to be the greatest thing in my life and I am not afraid to say that she is the best mom I have ever had. She's cool, caring, tough, talented, musical, supportive and very, very motherly when it comes to me getting into trouble. I can never truly ask for a better mom than her. Heck I am not even afraid to say I love her in public, she deserves that attention and words from me. Luna seems to know me pretty well, and I love that about her. Always."
Lincoln then looks to his friends who are all on the verge of tears. "Are you guys okay?"
"Wow Lincoln. That was …. That was …. What was beautiful!" said Clyde. "I need my eye drops!"
Liam wipes away his tears. "I should tell my memaw how much she means to me as well. You know how to make us tough guys cry."
Zach also sheds tears and then wipes them off his glasses. "We're not …. We're not tough guys Liam. We have emotions too, and I need to tell my mom how much she means to me as well!"
Lincoln did not know his speech was enough to make them break down like this. 'Wow, and I thought they were just gonna clap and be okay with it. I did not see this coming.' He then sips his soda.
Clyde then finishes applying his eye drops. "Lincoln …. I know my dad's will at times try and talk to Luna and you about making rules in your home for your safeties. But I can assure you that I am going to make sure they don't do that. You two understand each other and know what to do, you and Luna don't need some dumb guidelines from my dad's all you need is each other."
Zach was next to speak. "Clyde's right. If you need some time to hang out with your mom, then we're okay with it. We can always hang out some other time."
"And if you guys need some backup for when there's trouble, we can back you up" said Liam. "But if it involves police in something critical then I guess we'll try our best."
Lincoln smiles. "Thanks guys, this means a lot to me and my mom." He then looks to Clyde. "And same to you Clyde, I know sometimes your dad's won't listen to you and might continue pestering me and my mom. So, I can't stop her when she's gonna step up and put her foot down, okay buddy?"
Clyde nods. "That's okay. My dad's would get what's coming to them when Luna starts teaching them some manners about respect."
"Thanks for understanding Clyde" replied Lincoln. "My mom will do whatever it takes to keep this small family okay, mostly me."
"Lincoln" they turn around and see Luna with tears in her eyes and Detective Merris is with her also in tears. She then run to Lincoln and hugs her son. "That was so sweet of you to say son."
The others smiled at this. Lincoln smiles and hugs her back. "And I meant every word I said, I love you mom."
"I love you too Lincoln" replied Luna as she kisses his forehead.
Merris takes a picture of this and posts it. The rest of Lincoln's friends shed some more tears.
After some emotional hugging and a few water works they all decide to enjoy the lunch together and also tell them the other family member in the house, this makes them tense. They have a ghost in their home!
(Skip, Nighttime. Flip's Food n' Fuel.)
Flip is wide awake at the register. Not really, he just painted eyes over his eyelids. Then two people stand in front of him and ring the bell. "Half off on Cheese!" Flip then rubs his eyes and sees who it is. "Welcome to Flip's Food n' Fuel, home of the flippies. Can I get you anything?"
The two people remove their shades and reveal themselves as Detective Merris and Detective StoneHeart. "Yeah, we'd like to ask you some questions Flip" said StoneHeart.
Flip recognizes Merris and sees that they both have badges and their guns. "Oh, umm …. " He then hides underneath the counter and then comes back up. "Who's Flip? The names Tuck and welcome to Tuck's Ticks and Tux!"
The two detectives sigh. "Sir, we're gonna need you to come with us. Now" said Merris.
Flip sweats nervously. "Oh, okay …. umm … let me just go and turn off my washing machine. I left some of my underwear running and I gotta …. Put em in the dryer. Be back in a sec!" He then races off into his office.
The two detectives wait, then they turn around and see him outside the convenient store getting into his car and he tries to drive away. "And we got a runner" said Merris.
But then Flip loses control from a black cat in the road and he hits a tree. Flip bails out of his car and tries to run for it, but he's too dizzy and collapses to the ground. "Or not" said StoneHeart. He then pulls his radio. "All units, we got a suspect in custody. Anyone knows who Flip is?"
They then hear annoyed groans over the radio. "I'll take that as a yes" said StoneHeart. He then goes outside and cuffs the unconscious man.
Merris looks around the place and is a bit disgusted at the condition of the store. She then recalls what Luan said, straight from her son Lincoln.
All the milk is expired, all the scratch cards have been scratched and remarked by black spray paint, the cheese was used for Flip's feet and the whole store is either unhealthy or unsafe. Then she recalls what Luna heard from Lincoln about the unclean conditions of the restrooms and the many animals that have been hiding in the dumpster.
Merris then sees the office and goes through, she then sees all the surveillance cameras that have been recording all that has happened in the place ever since it opened. "Hello evidence!"
Yeah, this was gonna help them put Flip away for a long, long time and some old pals of his will be glad he's back in jail, they can all catch up on beating- I mean catch up on some lost friendly time.
A/N: Chapter three and looking kinda nice, I thought it'd be nice to put Flip away early. The guy is a jerk and a bit of a mean man around the block. Even added some nice talk to his pals and some words about Luna, I like this story very much. if you guys got any ideas for some chapters, then PM me one and I'll see what I can do. Leave a review and tell me what you all think.
Date made: 5/5/20.