After a couple of weeks, the night of the talent show finally arrived. All of the seats in the auditorium were filled, and the room buzzed with the excited murmurs of all the families who came to support their child. This, naturally, included the Louds and the Meyers.

Lincoln's heart went pitter-patter as he allowed himself a peek out at the audience. spying his parents and ten sisters taking up two-thirds of Row E. He had performed magic in front of them plenty of times, but this was different. Far, far different. He wasn't practicing and bouncing ideas off of his sisters; he was performing for a packed auditorium, an audience that was fully expecting him to deliver.

"Nervous?" asked Mindy.

"A-a little," he said. "Aren't you? I mean, probably not as much as me, since you perform a lot, but-"

Lincoln was cut off when he felt her grab him by the shoulders and spin him 180 degrees. Her piercing eyes locked onto his.

"Lincoln, listen to me," she said. "You. Will. Be. Great. In this business, you've either got it or you don't, and believe me, you've got it."

He took a deep breath, replaying those words in his head over and over in order to quell his nerves. "T...thanks, Mindy. And I'm sure you'll be great, too."

She chuckled. "Thanks, but I already know I'm awesome." With that, she gave him a pat on the back, did an about-face and walked towards the dressing room - only to turn her head back around a second later.

"Oh! And you still remember our plan, right?"

While waiting for his response, she noticed a light blush grazing his cheeks that may or may not have been there prior. "Oh, uh, that," he uttered. "Are you sure it'll be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. I ran it by Principal Ramirez and she said it's fine. Anyway, break a leg!"

Mindy turned back around once more and sashayed back to the dressing room, her skirt swishing to and fro. Although her intention had been to calm his nerves, his anxiety only heightened after she reminded him of the stunt he had, against all logic, agreed to go through with.

Well, it'll all be worth it in the end, he thought. I hope...


Before they knew it, the talent show was underway. Girl Jordan kicked off the night with her Irish stepdancing, followed by some lasso tricks from Liam. Rusty, as promised, delivered all of his best pickup lines, with highlights including, "If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together," and, "Want to come over to my place for some kissing and pizza?...what, you don't like pizza?" Amusingly, his list was cut off when Mollie marched on, lifted him over her shoulder and carried him offstage (as a segue into her weightlifting performance).

After Mollie cleared her weights off of the stage (with a little help from some stage hands), the emcee strode back on to introduce the next act... who just happened to be Lincoln.

"Thank you, Mollie!" he cheered. "No, I'm not insecure that a twelve-year-old girl can outlift me, why do you ask?...anyway, next up we've got a miraculous magician, an incredible illusionist, a prodigious prestidigitator! Give it up for Lincoln Loud!"

Welp, that's my cue, he thought as he walked onto the stage to the sound of enthusiastic applause. He grabbed the microphone and stared downstage at the audience, waiting patiently for the applause to die down. As soon as he spoke his first syllable, there would be no going back; his act would be set in motion. No hesitations, no do-overs, and no second guessing himself.

"G-good evening, everyone!" he announced. "Sorry if I seem a bit under the weather. You see, I've had this sinus congestion for the past week. Something's been clogging up my nose and I can't imagine wha- AH-CHOO!"

He interrupted his own sentence with a fake sneeze, and when he pulled his hands away, he revealed that he now had a strip of rainbow tissue paper dangling from his nose.

"Dang it! My nose still feels stuffy!" he said, pretending to be unaware of the tissue. "Anyway, I've talked to a few doctors, but none of them..."

His voice trailed off once he heard the laughter and the occasional cries of, "EW!" coming from the audience. "What? What's so funny? Do I have something on my face?"

He patted around his face until one of his fingers happened to graze the dangling strip of tissue paper.

"Wait, what's this?" he asked as he grabbed the strip and gave it a tug. The audience tittered with glee as he used both hands to pull foot after foot of tissue paper out of his nasal cavity. Once he finally dislodged what appeared to be twelve feet of tissue paper from his nose, he looked down at the strip in his hands and laughed in disbelief.

"Well, I'll be! No wonder I felt so congested!" he said as the crowd burst into a flurry of laughter. "God, that feels so much better. On with the show!"

He proceeded to go through his usual repertoire of tricks - changing the color of his handkerchief, pulling a rabbit out of his hat, disappearing in a puff of smoke only to reappear in the audience - and with each successive trick, the audience's excitement steadily grew. After turning three metal rings into an interlocking chain, he hazarded a glane into the audience to see how his family was responding. To his delight, they were all completely enraptured and beaming with pride - even Lynn and Lola, who typically rolled their eyes at his magic acts.

This is going great!, he thought. Now I just have to wait for...

And that was when he noticed Mindy walking on from stage left out of the corner of his eye. Bingo. He dropped the rings onto the floor and turned to face her while the audience murmured in confusion.

"Mindy, what are you doing here?!" he cried.

"My act is next, silly!"

"Right. You come on after me. I'm not done with my magic yet!"

"I know, but you're taking forever."

Lincoln groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Mindy, I know you're eager, but you're messing up my-"

He then interrupted himself with a gasp of surprise, before sneaking a glance towards the audience and waggling his eyebrows. "Actually, stay here. I think you'd be the perfect volunteer for my final act."

"I would?!" she cried, beaming and clasping her cheeks.

"Indubitably!" said Lincoln, as he turned downstage and swung his black cape back with a flourish. "For my final act, I, Lincoln Loud, will steal this young lady's voice!"

The announcement elicited a flurry of gasps from the audience; meanwhile, Mindy balked at the idea, and began taking quivering steps back towards the wing. "Um, never mind," she said, twiddling her fingers. "I don't want to impo-"

Suddenly, Lincoln stamped his foot, causing Mindy's body to go rigid. He then snapped his fingers, and on cue, her mouth popped open. Her fearful eyes darted around as he shimmied up to her, giggling with glee. As soon as he got within arm's length, he reached into her gaping mouth and plucked out a shimmering golden marble, which he then brandished for the audience. Mindy tried to cry out in protest, only to find that she couldn't produce a single sound.

"Ta-da!" he exclaimed, while Mindy hopped up and down, shaking her fists (much to the audience's amusement). "The power of Lincoln the Magnificent knows no bounds-"

He was cut off mid-sentence when she tried to grab the marble out of his hand; he just barely managed to snatch it away. "Oh, you want this back?" he asked. "You may have it... assuming that you can take it from me."

The wily magician proceeded to play keep-a-way with the marble while the frustrated songstress desperately grabbed at it over and over. With each attempt, she grew closer and closer to victory... until Lincoln, in a rather poor display of sportsmanship, popped the marble into his mouth. Once he did, he folded his arms and gave her the smuggest grin he could muster, while she fumed and seethed. His grin disappeared, however, once he felt her smooth, dainty hands grasping his shoulders. He looked into her eyes, and for the briefest of moments, he saw her expression of (staged) anger give way to a mischievous smile.

She pulled him in, and kissed him square on the lips. The action left the audience in stunned shock and left Lincoln himself borderline catatonic. His face cherry red, he let the microphone fall from his hand, and it landed onto the stage with a thud. A moment later, he, too, hit the floor.

After a tense silence, she turned downstage, bent over backwards and fanned herself in an exaggerated manner. "Hoo-WEE, what a rush!" she cried, while an uptempo soul track started playing on the auditorium's speakers - an earthy baritone saxophone, accompanied by a lively drum beat. The audience erupted into cheers and applause as she swung her hips to the music, swiped up the microphone and burst into song.

"Whenever I'm with you, something insii-iide, starts to burning, and I'm filled with desire!" she belted out, with almost enough force to shake the foundation of the school. "Could it be a devil in me, or is this the way love's supposed to be? It's like a heat wave!"

In the middle of her performance, Lincoln stirred from his staged impromptu nap, and he craned his neck up to peep at Mindy's performance. In that moment, she looked and sounded happier, more lively and more energetic than he had ever seen ehr before, and given how she first introduced herself to him, that was saying quite a bit. He couldn't help but smile.

Gradually, he picked himself up off the floor, managing to get back on his feet just as she was wrapping up her song. Once the instrumental started fading out, the two of them joined hands, beamed at the audience and took a simultaneous bow. For their efforts, they were rewarded with the first standing ovation of the night. Mindy barely managed to keep her composure as she walked Lincoln offstage, after which she burst into excited whisper-screams.

"We did it! YOU did it!" she cried. "What did I tell you, Lincoln? You either have it or you don't, and you've. Got. It." She punctuated each of her last three words by booping Lincoln's nose, provoking a bashful giggle. "Be proud."

He was proud, and not just because of his performance. He was proud that he managed to coax Mindy to let down her guard and open up to him - and in the process, he gave her the reassurance she needed to put her past behind her and start a brand new life in Royal Woods.

After the talent show was over, the participants gradually trickled out into the auditorium to greet their families. Lincoln barely managed to pass the front row before he was met with a deafening choir of squeals from his sisters.

"You totally killed it, dude!" said Luna.

"That was so CUTE!" cried Leni.

"Is Mindy your girlfriend now?!" demanded Lola.

"Girls, girls, easy! It was just a stage kiss!" Lincoln said with a nervous chuckle, all while trying to keep his sisters from smothering him.

But there was one sister who was noticeably absent from the excited mob - Lucy. Of all the members of the audience, none were more affected by Lincoln and Mindy's performance than she. Her stomach tied itself into knots upon seeing her brother and Mindy sharing a kiss, and the knots tightened as Mindy launched into what sounded like an impassioned declaration of love. Then she noticed Milo looking at her and waving from the other side of the auditorium, and by then she felt like she was going to explode. In fact, her heart was still pounding by the time the show reached its conclusion, and she knew there was just one way to quell it.

While the rest of the Louds were bombarding Lincoln with questions, Lucy snuck away and approached Mindy's family, who were in the process of gushing over her. Her stomach churning, she tugged on Milo's shirt to get his attention.

"Oh, hi, Lucy. How are you?"

"Milo, can I borrow you for a second? I need to talk to you."

"Um, sure," he said, looking slightly concerned. After receiving his parents' permission, he let Lucy take him to an empty spot in the auditorium near the back row.

"Milo, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," she said, sporting a bright blush that contrasted sharply with her pale complexion. "I... I like you."

"I know," Milo said with a smile.

"No, I mean I really like you. I think about you all the time, even when you're not around. I want to be close to you. i want you to hold me."

She shut her eyes, too terrified to see what his response would be. She knew full well that she couldn't take back what she said; her true feelings were out in the open, and all she could do was hope for the best. She waited in agonizing silence for him to respond...

...and then, he spoke three short little words that sent her heart aflutter.

"You, too, huh?"

Lucy opened her eyes to see that Milo's friendly smile was now a dreamy, fanciful one, and his chubby cheeks were flushed and rosy. Overcome with joy, she threw her arms around him and gave him a big, wet kiss right on his cheek. He responded by grabbing her in a tight embrace, and she sighed with contentment as she nestled her face into his meaty shoulder. For the next few minutes, the two of them held each other, oblivious to everyone else around them...

...including Mindy, who was watching them the whole time. Beaming with pride, she whipped out her phone and texted the following message to Lincoln:

It worked.


[Author's Note: Some of you may point out that Lincoln has, in fact, performed as a magician in front of a large audience before, in Saved By the Spell. However, that episode aired after I wrote Chapter 2 of this fanfic, in which I established that the upcoming talent show would be Lincoln's first time performing in front of an audience of that size. So I guess you could consider this to be a... prequel to Saved by the Spell? Or an alternate continuity. Whatever works.]