The next day after placing the tablet in the Zero-G scanner the night before, Lisa was sitting at the computer still scanning the tablet. While Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, and Clyde watched the tablet float.
"Any idea why it's glowing?" Asked Clyde.
"None, but it's brighter than last night," Lincoln said.
"So Ronnie Anne, how'd your family take you wanting to stay in Royal Woods for a while?" Asked Clyde.
"They were a little reluctant at first, but my Abuela convinced them this would be a good chance for Lori and me to reconcile,"
Ronnie Anne didn't want to go into too much detail, seeing as Carlota gave more clothes she made and lingerie. She was certainly encouraging Ronnie Anne to make Lincoln hers while she had the opportunity.
"How did your uncle react to finding out Lincoln stole the tablet?"
"Hey, I didn't steal it; I borrowed it; I just didn't ask before I did!" Rationed Lincoln.
"Well, after freaking out and then calming down, he understood why Lincoln took it and replaced it with a fake, but he had no real information on it aside from that tablet being proof of an ancient civilization that disappeared centuries ago, not much to go on,"
"Fascinating, I think I found something," said Lisa.
Everyone turned to see Lisa, who was typing at the computer.
"You found something, Lisa?" Asked Lincoln.
"If I'm not mistaken, and I rarely am, this tablet is paring with something,"
"Paring? Like a smartphone and air pods?' asked Ronnie Anne.
"Exactly like that," Lisa said. " I believe the blinking is the result of the connection not being fully established,"
"Well, is there a way to find the other end?"
"I believe so; whatever this tablet is connecting to, the tablet is the Receiver, and the other end is the beacon, so if I attune the scanner's energy field to the tablet's, maybe I can pinpoint where the beacon is coming from,"
Everyone looked at each other before nodding and telling Lisa to go ahead. Typing at the computer, Lisa went to work; in a matter of moments, the scanner and the tablet were in sync,
"Okay, now if I channel the signal through the Loud Cloud's satellite, I should be able to pinpoint the beacon's location; okay, found it; according to my readings, this beacon is signaling from…."
Later
"San Lorenzo!?" said everyone in the house.
"To be more specific, somewhere in the jungles of San Lorenzo," replied Lisa.
Lisa had called the family together to discuss this matter; even Albert and Myrtle were there.
"Whatever is down there, I know it has something to do with whatever Adonis and his crew were looking for before they ended up in the other world," Lincoln stated.
"Looking for?" Asked Lori.
"Back when I was with the party, I heard them discussing how they were in the middle of a mission before they ended up in the other world, I didn't think much of it until now. But now, if they still want it, I gotta make sure they don't get it,"
"Daddy, are you going away?" Asked Lina as she approached Lincoln.
"Just for a little while; remember, there are some bad people out there; your dad needs to stop,"
"Okay, go get'em, Guardian,"
"Hold on stinkin', how do you plan on getting there, not to mention back?" Asked Lynn Jr.
"Same way I got from Asia to Great Lake City, sneak aboard a plane," he replied
"Son, that's dangerous," said Lynn Sr.
"It's fine, and if push comes to shove, if I find trouble that's too much to handle, I'll teleport back to safety,"
"You can teleport?" Ask everyone in shock.
"Oh great, he really is going to be one of those anime guys," thought Ronnie Anne.
"Well, I can, but there are three major problems with my teleportation skill; that's why I don't use it,"
"What's wrong with it?" Asked Leni.
"Well, I can't just teleport anywhere I want. I have to set up a waypoint which is a magic circle; wherever I am, I teleport exactly to where I drew the circle, and once I teleported, the circle is gone, so there are no round trips; it's only a one-way and one-time deal for each teleportation, and my max distance is only two miles from where I place the waypoint otherwise, I'll be out of range, and I'll have to place a new one, but that's not the main reason I don't like using my teleportation,"
"What's the main reason," asked Lana,
"I'd rather not talk about that," he replied.
"I should add that I did some geological scans over the land and discovered that there will be a Blood Moon over San Lorenzo two nights from today. If anything about this will involve mystical aspects, this may correlate with whatever is happening," Lisa continued.
"Then I better get going, I may have the tablet, but I wouldn't put it past Leanne getting lucky and finding another way,"
"Hold on, Dearie," said Myrtle, "instead of sneaking onto a plane, I still have friends from my O.S.S. days that might be willing to do me a favor. I could give them a call and see,"
"Really? Thanks, Gran-Gran,"
"Well, I better get ready," said Clyde.
"Clyde' you don't have to,"
"There is no way I'm letting my buddy go alone,"
"What about your dads?"
"They mellowed out, especially after I turned 18," said Clyde. "Plus, they're out of town for the weekend and won't be back for a few more days, so we should be back before then. Also, Lana, could you look after my cats?"
"Sure, I already know where the spare key is,"
"Thanks,"
"Well, I'm going too," said Ronnie Anne.
"Oh, no, you're not!" Replied Bobby.
Ronnie Anne then turned to her brother, who had a stern look.
"But,"
"But nothing; Lincoln and Clyde may have turned 18, but you're still 17, and I'm not letting you go on some crazy adventure to fight monsters," Bobby insisted.
"I can handle myself, I fought them before, and unless you plan on locking me up, it's not like you can stop me," Ronnie Anne snapped.
"Maybe not, but I can tell mom, dad, Abuelo, and Abuela, and they can stop you, with or without locking you up"
Ronnie Anne instantly became angered upon hearing that. "You'd rat me out like that?"
"Oh yes, I would; you said we're down here to reconcile with Lori and help out at Lynn's Table; if you're not here for that, then you need to go back home,"
Lincoln could feel Ronnie Anne's anger rising and felt like he had to say something.
"Ronnie, I-"
"No, Linc, it's fine; it's not like this is the first time he's ruined something for me,"
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
"Figure it out!" She snapped. "Clyde, make sure you two come back, okay,"
"You got it,"
"I'm going to the playground to cool off,"
As Ronnie Anne walked to the door, she turned to Bobby, giving him one more death stare.
"Ronnie Anne, don't just walk away like that,"
"Watch me, and by the way, "Boo-Boo Bear," seeing as you have no problems being a rat, I'm sure you won't mind me telling Abuelo how that hole in the Mercado's basement really got there last month," she said, slamming the door behind her before Lincoln and Clyde left after her.
"Wait, Lori, does that mean you and Bobby wrecked the basement while having-?" asked Lynn Jr.
"LYNN! Not in front of Lily and Lina," said Luan.
Bobby let out a frustrated grunt over how this situation turned out.
"She's been like this ever since she was 13, and it's gotten worse every year,"
"Bobby, don't you think you should have explained yourself better instead of just saying no," asked Lori.
"Babe, this is just another fling for her, just like the archery lessons she took that one year and the martial arts classes she took the next year. I'm not going to let her risk her life just because she's going through another phase,"
Lori looked surprised and somewhat in disbelief at hearing that. "Bobby, I love you, but you can be clueless, " Lori sighed.
"What are you talking about?"
"Let's talk outside,"
Bobby and Lori stepped out of the house into the yard to continue their conversation.
"Okay, Lori, what am I not seeing?"
"Bobby, she wants to be a part of this, not for some fling or some adrenaline rush; she wants to be by Lincoln's side."
"Look, I get she wants to be a good friend for Lincoln; that's no excuse for risking her life,"
"Bobby, it's not about being a good friend; it's love," Lori claimed.
"What?"
"your little sister is in love with my little brother,"
"So suddenly she's in love with your brother?" Bobby asked, not convinced.
"Suddenly? Bobby, those feelings have always been there since they were kids. It just never got a chance to grow because of us,"
"Us?"
"You, me, my sisters, your cousins,"
"But Babe, We always wanted them to be a couple; they decided just to be friends," Bobby pointed out.
"We wanted it to happen on our terms, not theirs. Remember how we were at 17? We expected them to be like that at 11, and that's not normal for 11-year-olds. We were all so caught up in pushing them together that we actually pulled them apart until they got fed up and decided just to be friends, if not just to spite all of us. That's what she meant when she said this wasn't the first time you ruined something for her,"
"Babe,"
"Haven't you noticed how she blushes when she's around Lincoln and how defensive she is for him? Remember how you said she never spent any time around boys when Lincoln was gone, and now that he's back, she can't get enough time with him? She's probably been holding on to those feelings for all this time, and now that she's older and has Lincoln back in her life, she can finally let them out. Plus, all those things she was into that you called phases were probably her coping methods,"
"I didn't think of that," Bobby admitted, starting to see her point.
"Heck, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she's been having perverted fantasies about him too,"
"Babe, I don't wanna think about my little sister having dirty thoughts like that."
"Really? This coming from the man who fucked me so hard my ass went through a brick wall and got stuck there for 20 minutes," Lori replied dryly.
"Hey, that wall was rotten, it hadn't been redone since my mom was born, but I see your point. Still, she's my little sister, my only sister, and if something were to happen to her,"
"Bobby, I understand; I literally went 6 years believing my brother was dead,"
"Lori, I just don't know,"
"At least don't put this your hands if she wants to go, then have her ask your parents,"
"You're right babe, why should I be the bad guy?"
"It's the burden of being the oldest," Lori claimed.
The pair then headed to the playground, where the trio sat together, talking by the swings. Ronnie Anne obviously didn't want to be bothered, but Bobby still had something to say.
"Oh, what? Now you have a problem with me sitting here?"
"Look, sis, I did some talking with Lori, and I decided I'm not going to be the one to tell you no; if you want to go that bad, then you ask mom, Abuelo, and Abuela; I'm not including dad right now, since he's on that emergency mission. You tell them the truth about why you have to go, and if they say no, then that's the end of it.
"Fine," she replied.
The Next Day
As Ronnie Anne sat in the kitchen of Bobby and Lori's house, Bobby watched as she explained things to her mother, Maria.
"Okay, let me get this straight. You want to fly to Central America to look for some hidden 'magical artifact' before some 'evil magic users' get to it first and do… bad stuff with it. And assuming I actually am crazy enough to say yes to this, you'd be going with two boys for at least two days and fighting 'monsters from another world'. Did I miss anything?" Maria asked her daughter.
"That's pretty much it,"
"Ronnie Anne, speaking on behalf of your father and your grandparents, why would we agree to this?"
"Mom, I just want to help him, I promise I'll be safe, but I just want to be there," she said, blushing though her mother couldn't see since they were talking over the phone, though Bobby could.
"Wow, Lori is right; she is in love with Lincoln," he thought.
Bobby could see now just how much Lincoln meant to his sister; however, unlike him, Ronnie Anne really struggled to show romantic feelings; she wasn't a romantic like him but loved just as deeply. It was easy for him to say he loved someone, but Ronnie Anne probably preferred to show her feelings instead.
"Ronnie Anne, mind if I try to talk to her?" Bobby asked, only to receive a stern look. "I promise I'll at least try to convince her."
"Why? You were against it." Ronnie Anne asked, not buying it.
"Because I know what you want to say, and I might be able to say it in a way Mom will agree with better than you."
With some reluctance, Ronnie Anne handed him her phone. "Fine, I gotta use the bathroom anyway. But you had better not backstab me." She warned before walking off.
"Hey, Mom, I know you think it's a bad idea, and part of me agrees, but maybe we really should let Ronnie Anne go on this trip," Bobby said to Maria.
"Why should we? So she can be one of those Girls Gone Wild?" Maria asked, sounding like she had already made up her mind.
"Mom, don't insult your own daughter by calling her loose. She hasn't even tried to be on a date since she was 11, and that was with Lincoln. She had 6 years and turned down anyone who asked. Now he's back, and she's the happiest I've seen her in years. Don't you know what that means?"
"Yes, it means she's a horny teenager who's looking to score with her first flame. You were the same at that age."
"So if we're the same, then tell me how faithful and respectful I've been to Lori despite being a 'horny teenager'." Bobby challenged.
Maria was silent on her end.
"I'm concerned about the danger she'll be in and the choices she might make, but people don't do these sorts of things just because they're horny. They do these things because they care about more than sex. I… I know it's hard to believe or accept, but I'm starting to think that Ronnie Anne really does care about Lincoln as more than a friend."
"But they haven't seen each other for years. They don't know each other anymore." Maria insisted.
"Which is why they want to reconnect and learn. They want to start over,"
"It's not that I don't trust Lincoln or her; it's just she's my little girl,"
"I know how you feel, but at some point, we both have to accept she's not a little girl anymore,"
Maria thought for a moment, but soon realized something she had forgotten.
"Bobby, put your sister back on,"
Just then, Ronnie Anne finally returned from the bathroom, handing her the phone. Ronnie Anne partly expected the worse.
"Ronnie Anne, I'm going to allow you to go,"
"Really?"
"But you're going to check in with your father and tell him to expect you,"
"Dad's there?"
"His foundation sent him there for a seminar; he's staying in the town,"
"Okay, mom, I promise, and I promise I won't get too involved; I just want to be there, I'd rather be there, and Lincoln doesn't need me than have him need me and not be there."
"Fine, I'll tell your father you're coming, although I'll have to tell him about Lincoln,"
"That's fine. I think Lincoln will be okay with it,"
Later that night,
For the rest of the day, Lincoln and Lisa worked together, upgrading his, Clyde, and Ronnie Anne's suits with Lisa's tech, giving them HUD screens linking them to the Loud Cloud, and to Lisa, who agreed to work the computer. Lincoln enhanced Clyde and Ronnie Anne's suit with magic, including the computer. Enchanting them to increase their physical attributes while wearing them and self-repair in case of damage. Lincoln then gave his dad the potion to enhance the food instructing him to use only one drop, and Clyde postponed his classes claiming he was invited to a baker's seminar. As they waited for their lift in an abandoned airfield at midnight, as per Myrtle's instructions, they were being seen off by the Louds, minus Sam and Lina.
"This is going to be awesome," Clyde said, excited.
"You'll bring back souvenirs, right?" Lola asked.
"I hope my coming back alive in a few days will be enough of a souvenir," Lincoln said, chuckling a little, but no one thought it was funny. "Yes, if I don't have to hightail it out of there, I'll stop and get you all something."
"Do any of you know the language?" Rita asked.
"Please don't tell me you have some kind of translator power," asked Ronnie Anne.
"No, but thankfully, Lisa put one in our phones," Lincoln assured her.
"I think I hear something." Luna pointed out, making everyone look to the sky.
Soon everyone saw a small plane land in the field, clearly trying not to be noticed by anyone except them.
"Okay, you three, you have three days to do what you must do if you want to catch the return flight. If you don't, you'll have to find your own way back, and considering that you're technically going to another country illegally, you should definitely make an effort to catch the sure thing. Also, the blood moon will be fully revealed at midnight tomorrow night for three hours. Whatever needs to be done needs to be done within that time frame," Lisa reminded them.
"We'll do our best to help Lincoln do what needs to be done." Ronnie Anne stated.
"If we're lucky, we'll do it fast enough that we could enjoy a day at the beach or something like that," Clyde added.
Hearing that made Ronnie Anne think about her and Lincoln having fun at the beach, and so she decided to check her overnight bag as soon as she had some privacy. Now that she thought about it, she was certain Carlotta had snuck in a swimsuit for her, and she wanted to make sure it wasn't too spicy.
"We'll see you all later. Tell Lina not to worry, no one goes into my place without Lisa's permission while I'm gone, and Dad, do not use that potion in anything with chocolate in it."
"Why?" Lynn Sr asked.
"Mixed with Chocolate creates an aphrodisiac effect that won't end until the urge is settled. If you gave it to customers, you'd probably risk a lawsuit if anyone lacked control over themselves in the restaurant."
"I don't know; son sounds like a pretty good money maker,"
"Dad, trust me, you don't want to go down that rabbit hole,"
"Okay, note to self, don't use that stuff in chocolate." Lynn Sr said.
'Note to self, get some of that stuff and chocolate.' Lori thought, hoping no one there suspected her intentions.
"We better get going. Since we're leaving now, by the time we land in twelve hours, it will be after two when we arrive; goodbye, everyone." Lincoln said, turning and heading to the plane. Clyde and Ronnie Anne said their goodbyes, too, and quickly followed him. They got inside the plane, strapped into their seats, and in no time, the plane took off towards Brazil. Unknown to anyone at the plane climb, something metal had attached itself to the tail; from a distance, Edgar Allsand had been watching, having followed the Louds and was now contacting his father,
"That's right, dad, Lynn Loud put that girl and two other guys on a plane going somewhere; I'm not sure where it's going, but I managed to shoot a tracker on it,"
"Interesting, maybe this is how he gets his supplies through illegal imports. Follow them,"
"What?"
"You heard me; use my private jet and follow them to wherever they are going. If we can get proof of his dealings, he'll be begging me to take his restaurant to not go to prison; now get moving, boy,"
End Of Ch.8
Author"s Note
I made changes to CH. 3