Author's Note: Hey-ho! Well, I intended to upload this on Christmas, but internal errors with the server conspired to prevent me from doing so. Oh well, better late than never, I always say!

Anyways, my faithful readers, here's my Christmas gift to you all – more of this ultra-depressing story! Enjoy!

I'm Captain Dodge – thank you, and Merry Christmas (and Happy New Year)!

(…)

"W-What do you mean, his face is all cut up?!"

All Clyde had wanted to do was allay his friends' worries about Lincoln, but Rusty being who he was, it wasn't long before everyone in school had heard about Clyde talking to Lincoln in person. Clyde had managed to finish lunch without too many people pestering him, but now, in the hallway, the forming crowd cornered him. Clyde's other friends – Rusty, Zach, and Liam – formed a defensive perimeter around him, separating him from the crowd, but there was still no way through them all. Even worse, Clyde's friends seemed to have joined them, as they were now facing him. So, he decided to tell them everything, if only to get them to back off.

"Y-Yeah, well, um…" Clyde rubbed the back of his head, looking away. Recalling the memory was still rather difficult for him. "It's… It was just, like… these gashes, you know? Like, huge cuts across his face. I mean, they were sewn up neatly and all, but the stitches were just…" He shuddered. "It was gross…"

"Oh my gosh!" a girl with brown hair and a heart-shaped clip in it said. "I didn't know his sisters did that to him!"

Clyde waved his hands back and forth, shaking his head. "No, no, I don't think his sisters did that to him. The cuts looked too recent to have happened… then, and his sisters didn't come home until last Friday, so…"

"Then… what happened?" the girl asked.

"I…" Clyde rubbed his hands nervously. "I think… he might've done it to himself…"

The crowd was aghast. Several students exclaimed in shock, and began clamoring for more information. Clyde was only barely able to get them to settle down.

"Why would he do something like that?!" someone from the back called out loudly and clearly. Everyone looked at Clyde for the answer.

"Beats me," he said. The others were not satisfied with this, but before they could voice their frustrations, Clyde held his hands up, signaling that he was not done. "I-I just don't know, alright? Lincoln's… This is the first time I've seen him in over a month, and he's… he's…" He hung his head, sighing. "…He's unstable. Just really, really messed up."

The crowd was moved to sympathy. Some students shook their heads sadly; others started to cry. Zach nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, I'd imagined he would be, after something like that…" he said.

"Uh-huh. It was like… there was this constant air of fear around him, you know? Like… a sense of insecurity. He couldn't really relax, even with me there with him… must've been his sisters in the house…"

Liam sighed. "'Tarn it. Ah wish there were somethin' we could do for him…"

"Well, my next appointment with Dr. Lopez is a week from now, and I'll have to see if I can't find any help for him then – professional help, I mean. But as for right now, all we can do for Lincoln is pray for him."

"Oooh…" Girl Jordan growled. "I still can't believe his sisters didn't go to jail for what they did! I mean, they did it in front of a crowd of people, and they still got away with it?!" She started shadow-boxing. "Those Loud girls better watch their backs, because when I see 'em, they're gonna wish they'd never –"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, hey, hey! Girl Jordan! HEY!" Clyde shouted, interrupting her rant. Everyone turned their attention back to him. Clyde shrank back a little – he still wasn't used to all the attention. "U-Um… ahem... I-I get that you're angry, but please… please don't blame Lincoln's sisters, all right? Look, I followed that case, okay? The case with Lincoln, and Lori, and all his other sisters? It wasn't them – it was a pheromone that makes girls attracted to boys. Drove them crazy."

"Aw, come on!" someone in the crowd said. "A 'pheromone'? Really?"

Many others in the crowd agreed with him, finding the concept of a pheromone that makes girls attracted to boys frankly ridiculous. Clyde shook his head angrily.

"Look, either believe it, or don't. But just accept that whatever made them do what they did just wasn't natural, okay? I know Lincoln's sisters. I know they'd never be capable of doing something like that under normal circumstances." His gaze swept over the entire crowd. "And you should, too."

The crowd simmered down, slightly ashamed. No-one could think of anything to counter that with. Clyde huffed, feeling that he had made his point, but the crowd still didn't disperse.

Then, a voice rang out in the quiet hallway.

"Hey, so, do you think Larry could hook me up with some of that pheromone?"

Everyone in the crowd turned their heads to find the source of the voice. The crowd parted enough for Clyde to see that the source of the voice was Chandler, leaning against a locker and flanked by his two cronies.

"What?" Clyde said.

"A pheromone that makes girls attracted to boys? Sounds useful…" Chandler smirked. "Think you could talk Larry into giving me some?"

Clyde put his hands on his hips, glowering at Chandler. "First, Chandler, his name is Lincoln, and you know it. Second, he doesn't have access to the stuff – and even if he did, he wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole."

"Tch!" Chandler shrugged. "You know, all I ever hear is 'poor Lincoln, poor Lincoln'… Well, I say, what has he got to complain about? He's got a pretty sweet deal, if you ask me! I mean, if I had ten hot sisters who had the –"

One of Chandler's friends waved his arms back and forth, cutting him off. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa – ten hot sisters? Dude, five of them are younger than we are. One of them is a baby!"

Chandler rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively. "You know what I mean. If I had hot sisters who had the hots for me, then I wouldn't be sitting in my room moping about it! I'd let them jump my bones anytime! My own private harem… who wouldn't want that –"

Unable to contain himself any longer, Clyde rushed through the opening in the crowd faster than the eye could see and shoved his forearm against Chandler's throat, pinning him to the wall. "Well you don't have any sisters, Chandler, so you have no idea how to react to something like this, do you?! And don't pretend that what happened to Lincoln isn't such a big deal, either! Do I need to spell it out for you? He was raped, okay?! Raped! There, I said it! How would you like to be raped by someone like your mother, or your father? Someone you know and love – someone you thought you could trust? Huh? ANSWER ME!"

Chandler grabbed Clyde's arm, silently begging him to ease off. "Ack… They… They would never… do something like that to me…"

"Yeah, that's what Lincoln thought about his sisters, too – so don't judge him like that." Clyde released Chandler, who doubled over, gasping for breath. "Now, was there anything else you wanted to add, Chandler, or are you done being an insensitive jerk?"

As Chandler caught his breath, he looked up at Clyde, fear in his eyes. He didn't respond.

"That's what I thought." Clyde turned and walked away. Behind him, Chandler turned to glare at his friends for their lack of support, but they shrugged helplessly – there wasn't much support they could give.

Clyde walked past the awed crowd. He could feel the tears coming on.

"Clyde…" Girl Jordan said as he walked past, "…that was so cool –"

But Clyde held up his hand, and shook his head. "Please…" he said, "I… I don't want to hear it…"

He started walking again, and the crowd started to disperse. Clyde walked faster. He couldn't let them see him cry…

(…)

Word about the abortions got out at the end of lunch. Leni and Luna hardly noticed the differences in the stares and the whispers that they received throughout the rest of their classes, but Lori saw them, heard them. She knew what they were all about. She didn't tell the other girls, though.

It wasn't as if it changed much.

By the end of the school day, the news had spread all throughout Royal Woods High. When the bell rang, the Loud girls reassembled in front of the school as the students began to pile onto the buses. Each of them looked weary, beaten-down – a few years older, even. Leni looked especially sad, and Lori…

Lori looked empty.

Finally free of having to push her body to take her where she needed to go, she allowed Leni to take her by the arm and guide her to the bus, while Luna walked ahead, not once looking back.

There was nothing else for them to do except go home. Of course, no-one on the bus was willing to share seats with any of them, so the Loud sisters were exiled to the back of the bus. To their dismay, their shared isolation was already starting to feel familiar…

The ride back to the Loud house was an ordeal. Unexpectedly, the mood on the bus became light as the bus rolled out onto the streets – very light, in fact. Everyone was happily chatting to each other (or more usually, on their phones), texting, and otherwise acting as if everything was fine. But that is precisely what made the ride so painful – everyone was acting fine. The earlier glares, jeers, murmurs, and sneers were by no means pleasant, but at least by doing so, the other students acknowledged their presence. Now, however, it had reached a point the other students simply did not want the Loud sisters to exist.

And so, they acted as though they did not.

When the bus pulled up to 1216 Franklin Avenue, the girls got off as quickly as they could. The bus drove off, and they trudged across the lawn to the front door. The day that they had just gone through at school was akin to torture, but they wondered if their home life would be much better…

Luna opened the door, and the three entered to see Mrs. Loud standing in the living room, with Luan and Lynn sitting on the sofa. Lynn sat with her arms folded, fuming.

"O-Oh! Girls! You're… you're home…" Mrs. Loud said. "H-How was your day?"

Luna showed her mother her shirt, still stained from the foodstuffs she had been pelted with earlier that day. "What do you think?"

"Guys? What are you doing home so early?" Leni asked Luan and Lynn.

"Oh! W-Well, um…" Mrs. Loud fidgeted nervously. "Luna, honey, your shirt! How did that happen?"

She was dodging the question; even Leni could tell. "Mom…" she said insistently.

Mrs. Loud didn't look Leni in the eyes. "I… I came to pick them up."

She may have left out the other half, but that was still half of the truth. Truth be told, Mrs. Loud was actually a little bit grateful that her two middle-school age daughters had called her, wishing to be picked up early. Mr. Feinstein, her boss, was completely understanding of the situation with her family, but she still didn't want to be in that office anymore. A few of the patients recognized her – not many, but enough to matter. It didn't matter that they were polite enough to not say anything – they said everything they needed to with their eyes, with the way they looked at her.

And she hated the things they said.

Leni was beginning to grow impatient with her mother. "Why?"

Seeing that Mrs. Loud was unwilling to answer, Luan answered for her.

"Lynn got suspended."

Luna and Leni started. "What?!"

Mrs. Loud stopped forcing a smile and held her gaze away, nodding.

"Dude! What happened?!" Luna asked.

"U-Um… Well…" Mrs. Loud turned to Lynn. "Lynn, sweetie, do you… feel like talking about it now?"

Lynn didn't say a word. She just kept on scowling.

"O-Oh… Okay, then… Um, Luan? Do you mind… again…?"

Luan nodded. "Sure, Mom." She leaned forward in her seat. "It happened during lunch. Lynn and I were sitting together, eating. Lynn was already in a pretty bad mood because she'd gotten kicked off the team for… you know…"

Luna and Leni quickly nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Yeah. Anyways, this guy comes up, I don't even know who –"

"Danny Rosato," Lynn said. "I shot him down for a date once, and he never forgave me for it. Stupid jerk…"

"Uh… right. So, anyways, this guy, Danny, comes up and starts harassing Lynn, saying stuff like, 'Oh, you know, I get it now. I get why you didn't want to date me. I mean, why should you go out looking for a guy when you've got one right at home?' You know, stuff like that."

Lynn bit her lip as she recollected his taunts. Luna blinked.

"Wow. That guy does sound like a jerk."

"Uh-huh. So, Lynn got even madder, she told him to shut up, he wouldn't shut up, so she stood up, and she called him a…" Luan hesitated. "A, uh…"

"A motherfucker."

Mrs. Loud gasped. "Lynn!"

"Yeah, I know it's a bad word, all right? I just don't fucking care anymore!" Lynn shouted. She stood up. "And then… oh, that smug bastard… And then, you know what he did? He just smiled and said, 'I may be a motherfucker, Lynn…'" She pointed her finger forwards.

"'…but you are a brotherfucker.'"

Luan shook her head. "And that's when Lynn went berserk."

Lynn folded her arms, smiling proudly. "I broke his nose, a bunch of his teeth, gouged an eyeball, and even bit off a bit of his ear." She turned her angry gaze to Luan. "And I would have done worse if you and two other chumps hadn't dragged me off of him!"

"Lynn, I genuinely thought that you were trying to kill him!"

"I was!"

"Lynn, listen to yourself…!"

Before the two of them could get into a fight, Mrs. Loud took action. "Girls…! Girls!" she shouted. She turned to her sporty daughter. "Look, Lynn, I get it. I know that boy was being rude to you, all right? But… But that was not the right way to go about dealing with him, okay?"

"He started it, Mom!" Lynn shouted.

"It doesn't matter if he started it. You shouldn't have continued it."

"Rrrrgh…!" Lynn clenched her fists and her jaw, grinding her teeth.

"Oh…" Mrs. Loud saw Mr. Loud coming down the stairs, and tried to change the subject. "Honey! H-How's Lola?"

Mr. Loud shook his head. "Still inconsolable."

"Lola? What happened with Lola?" Leni asked.

Mr. Loud sighed. "She just found out that she's been banned from every child pageant in Royal Woods – heck, every child pageant in Michigan. Which means she won't be able to compete in the state or national championships…"

Leni stared at her father incredulously. Before all of this started, Lola had been bragging about how she only needed one more local pageant win before she could qualify for the state pageant – and from there, the national pageant. Now, however, those ambitions were dashed.

"Oh, gosh…" was all Leni could manage to say.

"W… Well…" Mrs. Loud forced a smile again. "It's okay, girls! Really! D-Don't worry! Everything is going to be alright!"

Lori gave a mirthless chuckle at that. Everyone turned to her – it was the first time she'd spoken since she arrived home. "'Everything is going to be alright'… You haven't heard the worst yet…"

Mrs. Loud's smile faltered. "The… The worst…?"

Leni, Luna, Luan, and Lynn all dreaded what Lori was about to say, but still leaned in intently. Lori stared ahead with dead eyes.

"They know."

"Know… what?" Luan asked.

"They know… about the abortions…"

Luan and Lynn bolted out of their seats, and Mrs. Loud gave a strangled cry. Mr. Loud, Luna, and Leni were just as horrified.

"W-What?! Wait, w-who's they?!" Luna demanded.

Lori shrugged. "Everyone."

"How… How did they know?" Leni asked.

"That guy outside the abortion clinic… He spread the word…" Lori looked at her mother, smiling sadly. "You were right, Mom – word always finds a way of getting out…"

"You're lying!" Lynn shouted.

Lori shook her head. "No, I'm not."

Lynn sank back into her seat, unblinking. Lori had no reason to simply make something like that up, and the more everyone thought about it, the more plausible it sounded…

"Y… You're lying…"

"No, I'm not."

Mrs. Loud was speechless. All that effort to persuade her daughters into going through with the abortions, all the effort gone into keeping it a secret – it had all been for nothing. She couldn't bear it anymore – her lips started quivering, her eyes started watering, and she gasped desperately. Finally, she covered her face with her hands, and ran into the kitchen and out the back door, sobbing.

"Rita!" Mr. Loud called. He came down the rest of the stairs and followed her, calling out "Girls, I-I'll be right back!" as he went.

For what seemed like ages, the Loud sisters stood or sat where they were, utterly dumbstruck. No matter how bad things were for them, they always managed to get worse. The sheer cruelty of fate left them at a complete loss. All they had ever wanted was to forget about what had happened and let things go back to normal, but the more the situation developed, the further and further that possibility became.

After a while, Luan – wacky, comedic Luan – spoke up, startling her other sisters into awareness. "That… That's it. It's over…"

Leni, for her part, refused to give up hope. "No – it is not over! Come on, guys! We can't give up! We have to… We have to keep trying to make this right – together!"

The others stared at her, wholly unconvinced. "How…? Why…?" Lori said.

"Be… Because…" Leni shook her head desperately. "Because we just have to, okay?! We have to!" She grabbed Lori and Luna's wrists. "Come on, you guys, we… W-We have to go cheer up Lola!"

Leni dragged her two sisters upstairs, and the other two on the couch reluctantly followed them. Lana was sitting in the hallway outside the room she shared with her twin.

"Lana…?" Leni said.

Lana looked up at her elder sister with a glazed expression. "Hey, guys," she said.

"H-How's Lola?"

Lana jerked her thumb towards her and Lola's room. "What do you think?"

Inside, Lola could be heard sobbing loudly. Leni understood her pain. Pageantry was Lola's life – and now, she was forbidden to take part in it.

"Oh, poor thing…" Leni reached for the doorknob. "Lola?"

"I wouldn't, if I were you," Lana warned. "Now's about the time when she shifts from 'sad' back to 'angry'."

Leni ignored her, and grasped the doorknob. "Lola, we're coming in!"

She opened the door, and saw Lola lying on her bed, devastated. Her stuffed animals were scattered all around the room.

"Oh, Lola…" Leni looked at her other sisters, who looked back at her expectantly. This was her idea – she had to go through with it. Lana, for her part, shook her head disapprovingly. Leni took a deep breath, and stepped forward.

"Lola –"

Lola pushed herself up and grabbed another stuffed animal, raising it threateningly. "Don't come any closer," she snarled.

She didn't expect the toy to do much damage if thrown, but Leni still raised her hands in front of her. "Lola, it's okay," she said gently. "We understand why you're so upset. And… we want to help."

Shaking, Lola turned away from the others and threw the stuffed animal at the wall, and started pounding her fists on her bed. "It's not fair…! My dream… The thing I love doing the most… I'll never be able to do it again… It's not fair!"

Leni sat on the bed next to Lola, and started stroking her beautiful blonde hair. "I know, Lola. I know it isn't. But it's not the end of the world…"

Lola swatted Leni's hand away. "Oh, no? What if you weren't allowed to make any dresses ever again? What if Luna wasn't allowed to play or listen to music ever again? What if Lynn wasn't allowed to play sports ever again?!"

"I'm not," Lynn said, stepping up. "I got kicked off the team – did you know that? No, of course you didn't, because you don't care about my, or anyone's problems except your own."

Lana ran up in front of Lynn. "Whoa, Lynn, take it easy –"

But Lynn was in no mood to "take it easy". Shoving Lana aside, she spat, "You selfish little brat. Don't act like you're the only one suffering here. We're all paying the price for what we did – what makes you so special?"

Infuriated, Lola hopped off the bed and stared Lynn down – despite her short stature, she still managed to be intimidating. "HEY! That wasn't my fault!"

"G-Guys," Leni said, "it's not anyone's fault –"

"Really?! Really?!" Lynn shouted. "Who's the one who laughed the loudest that night? Who's the one who asked Lincoln if he needed to be potty trained again? Who's the one that left one of Lily's diapers on his bed?!"

"You were laughing too, Lynn! We ALL were! But that doesn't mean anything! We always tease him like that! If Lincoln hadn't –"

Lola stopped short. She had just happened upon an idea – an idea of who was really responsible for this disaster.

"If… If Lincoln… hadn't made… that stupid wish…!"

Growling furiously, Lola shoved past Lynn and the others and came out into the hallway. She stood outside Lincoln's door.

"LINCOLN!" she screamed.

Lincoln jumped, scrambling off the bed. Lola – what did she want? She was angry – that wasn't good. He braced himself against the door.

"LINCOLN, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

That caught Lincoln off-guard. His fault? "This"? This whole situation, did she mean? What was this about? Was this another trick? Lincoln tried to figure it out by playing along, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was him who didn't have a thick enough skin to stay in the house; him who chose to go to the park that night; him who got himself exposed to that pheromone; him who was foolish enough to believe in wishes as to come back the next day and end up getting a full-body dosage of that same pheromone…!

Lincoln sank to the floor. Maybe she was right. Maybe this was all his fault… But then, why was she accusing him of this? What were her intentions?

The other Loud sisters were drawn into the hallway by Lola's screaming. "Hey! Leave him alone!" Luan shouted.

Lola didn't listen. "COME OUT HERE!"

Lincoln perked up. That again? The same plan as before… Perhaps she intended to make him feel so guilty, that he would feel he'd have to come out and deliver an apology in person? Whatever her motives were, they certainly couldn't be benign this time. He kept his back to the door.

"COME OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"N… No…" Lincoln started to curl up. "No… Nononononononononono…"

"U-Um… Uh…" Leni stammered. The situation was quickly spiraling out of control. If she didn't do something… "L-Lola? W-We know you're upset, but…"

But it was too late. Lola was well past upset – she was furious. Furious with Lincoln for his perceived part in all of this; furious with the whole situation for being so unfair; furious with life for treating her, her, so poorly; furious with it all. There was no more reason in her mind – only rage. She lifted up her high-heeled foot…

…and started kicking the door.

Lincoln screamed in terror, throwing his entire weight against the door. This was it; it was happening; his worst fears were being realized! They were coming for him! They had lost all patience, and now they were coming for him!

Lana rushed forward and grabbed Lola's wrist. "What are you DOING?!" she cried, trying to drag her away.

Lola turned to her twin, her face twisted into a frightening snarl. "GET OFF ME!"

With one swift motion, Lola's carefully manicured fingernails dug into Lana's cheek and tore deep claw marks through the flesh. Lana released Lola and cupped her face, reeling with shock and pain.

The sight of this act of unwarranted violence pushed Lynn over the edge. "Why, you stupid FUCKING –!" She leapt forward, grabbed Lola's head, and started slamming her into the door, face-first, repeatedly.

Luan still had enough sense to be shocked by this brutality. She grabbed Lynn's hands and pried them off of Lola. "Lynn, stop! That's enough – OOF!"

Blind with fury, Lynn spun around, twisting out of Luan's grip, and punched her hard in the chest. As Luan stumbled backwards, gasping for breath, Lynn turned her attention back to Lola – but before she could start ramming her face into the door again, Luna and Lucy each grabbed one of her arms, dragging her backwards. Kicking and howling, Lynn headbutted Lucy and bit Luna's hand, forcing them to let go. She turned on the three of them – Luna, Luan, and Lucy – and they had no choice but to fight back. Lynn was a fearsome opponent, but it was three-on-one, and slowly but surely, she started losing the advantage.

Lana, meanwhile, had begun brawling with Lola, enraged by her clawed face. Luan managed to land a fierce kick on Lynn's stomach, and she doubled over and fell. Luna, Luan, and Lucy immediately surrounded her, saw her writhing on the floor in pain… and found it cathartic. One moment was all it took for three of them to stop caring; for them to let loose, and start pounding and stomping on Lynn. Overwhelmed, the only thing Lynn could do was desperately curl up into a defensive ball.

The two eldest Loud sisters could only sit and watch all the chaos being unleashed. Lori stared at the scene vacantly, feeling helpless to do anything to stop it. Leni rocked back and forth and bawled, fruitlessly begging everyone to just stop fighting.

And Lincoln stood with his heels dug in, pressing against the door with all his strength, crying and screaming for his father to come save him. The only thing separating him from the whirlwind of chaos outside was that one flimsy, wooden door – and it would only hold against the lot of them for so long…

(…)

"I… I just don't know, Rita…"

Mr. and Mrs. Loud stood in the backyard. Mrs. Loud had finally calmed down, and now husband and wife were having a serious conversation about their family.

"Lynn, please," Mrs. Loud said, "think about what this means for them! A fresh start for the girls; a chance for Lincoln to recover! They won't have either of those things if things stay the way they are!" She looked at her husband pleadingly. "Please, honey, I'm telling you, this plan would be best for everyone…"

Mr. Loud sighed. "Everyone… but us…"

"W-What? What do you mean?"

"Rita, I don't want to leave you any more than I want to leave the girls. Do you really think our marriage could survive this?"

Mrs. Loud put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Lynn, I love you. Nothing will ever change that. And it's not as if we'll never see each other again! We've got phones, video chat… We'll keep in touch, Lynn, I promise!" She made Mr. Loud look at her. "We can make this work, honey. Trust me."

Mr. Loud blinked, fighting to retain his composure. He folded his arms, and cast his eyes downwards again. "I… I just wanted to help them."

"You are. This is how you're helping them."

Mr. Loud was silent for a long time. Then, he said, "Well… We should at least ask them for their opinions on it. I mean, it's only fair…"

Mrs. Loud shook her head, disappointed in his continued resistance. "I can't imagine they'll be too enthused with it…"

"It's only fair, honey." Mr. Loud turned towards the house, beckoning her. "Come on."

Mr. and Mrs. Loud headed back inside the house – and as soon as they entered the kitchen, they heard thumping and shouting upstairs.

"Wha –? What's going on up there?" Mr. Loud said.

The parents exchanged worried looks, then rushed through the kitchen and dining room and up the stairs…

…and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw their daughters engaged in an all-out brawl, while Lincoln screamed and begged for help.

"Wha –?! What the –?! What is going – HEY!" Mr. Loud yelled, trying and failing to get the girls' attention.

Leni turned to her parents, desperation in her eyes. "Mom… Dad… DO SOMETHING!" she wailed.

Mr. Loud gritted his teeth. Steeling his resolve, he bellowed, "All right, that is ENOUGH!"

But the girls didn't listen to him, so engrossed in fighting each other were they. Mr. Loud was floored by this – the girls had never, ever, defied him before. Growing even angrier, he marched up to Luna, Luan, and Lucy, still pummeling Lynn.

"Did you hear me?! I said, that is ENOUGH – WHOA?!"

Mr. Loud had grossly misjudged his daughters' state of mind. All of the anger and frustration towards their entire situation that they had bottled up was now surging out all at once – and there was no stopping it. Luan batted her father's hand away from her shoulder and shoved him hard, making him stumble backwards and bang his head against the wall.

Mr. Loud slid down to the floor, utterly stymied. Now they were physically assaulting him? He pounded his fist on the floor. Enough was enough – he stood up, and took off his belt.

For the first time in his children's lives… he was going to enforce his authority the hard way.

The whole ordeal might have lasted three minutes, or it might have lasted thirteen. It certainly felt longer than it probably was. But it ended, and when it did, the Loud sisters sat or lay panting on the floor bruised, bloodied, and spent. Gasping and heaving, the girls started aching as their adrenaline high began to wear off, and they began to more acutely feel their injuries. Groaning, they noticed a presence, looked up in a daze…

…and saw their father, beaten and scratched, belt in hand, looming over them.

And as they saw the look in his eyes, they knew that they were in big, big trouble.

The girls froze. None of them wanted to say a word, even though they felt as though they had to. They turned their eyes to Luna.

Luna gulped. "U-Um… Dad –"

"Downstairs. Now."

Mr. Loud didn't have to raise his voice – his tone made it perfectly clear that he was going to be obeyed. And the girls did obey, quickly pushing themselves up and marching down the stairs. Some of them were holding their arms, wrists or sides, and others were limping. Mr. Loud knocked gingerly on his son's door.

"It's okay, Lincoln, it's okay… They're gone now," he said.

Lincoln continued to choke out sobs.

"Don't you worry, son, I'm going to make everything all right. You'll see."

The girls came into the living room and sank down onto the sofa – Lola and Lana as far away from each other as possible, and Lynn sitting well away from Luna, Luan, and Lucy. They heard their father's heavy footsteps slowly coming down the stairs, flinching with every step. Mr. Loud reached the bottom first, followed closely by Mrs. Loud. Before Mr. Loud could devote his full attention to the girls, Mrs. Loud placed a concerned hand on his shoulder.

Turning to look at his wife, Mr. Loud closed his eyes, sighing. Then, he turned to the girls. "I'm going to have a word with your mother," he said. "I don't want to hear anything from you girls until we get back."

The girls all fearfully nodded, and Mr. and Mrs. Loud went into the kitchen. From the living room, the sisters could hear their parents talking heatedly; not quite arguing, but not having a friendly conversation, either. Mr. Loud was understandably still angry; Mrs. Loud sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Lana leaned over to look at Lola.

"Nice going, princess," she whispered. "Now they're fighting because of YOU."

"I told you, this is NOT… MY… FAULT…!" Lola growled.

"You're still gonna stick to that?"

"Dudes, shut. Up," Luna whispered.

"Hey, if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be in this mess –"

"HEY!" Mr. Loud yelled from the kitchen. Luna, Lola, and Lana all straightened up, looked forwards, and shut their mouths.

After a few more minutes of talking, sobbing, and consoling, Mr. and Mrs. Loud came back into the living room. Leni was so afraid that she started crying.

Mr. Loud stood on facing the girls across the coffee table, while Mrs. Loud stood to the side. His piercing glare shook every sister to the core.

Although she was terrified, Luna spoke up again. "D-D-D-Dad, we're s-s-so –"

"I am going to talk, and you are going to listen," Mr. Loud said. Lips quivering, Luna quieted down. Mr. Loud took a deep breath. "Now, I don't know what all that upstairs was about, but I think I can guess. And I don't know who started it, but I don't care. All I know is, this behavior is unacceptable. I can't have you girls behaving like barbarians – especially not around Lincoln."

The girls shut their eyes tight and cringed, dreading the oncoming punishment. They'd already had a taste of their father's belt's sting upstairs – they didn't want to imagine tasting it again…

"Now, the last time Clyde was here, he gave your mother and I some advice on what we should do with you all…"

The sisters opened their eyes again, looking at their father in confusion. Clyde? What did he have to do with any of this?

"I had my reservations, but now, after everything that's happened, there's no more doubt in my mind. This has to be done – for everyone's sakes."

Even though Leni knew she wasn't supposed to talk, she couldn't imagine what harm what she had to say could have. "W… What… Dad…?"

Mr. Loud took one last look at his wife, who nodded encouragingly. He closed his eyes, took one last deep breath, and said definitively:

"Girls, pack your things. You're moving out."

The order rolled over the Loud girls like a tidal wave. The girls, beside themselves with shock, immediately began to protest. Mr. Loud slapped the table with his belt, silencing them.

"You're moving. That's final." Seeing how devastated this made them, Mr. Loud shook his head and decided to explain. "Look, girls, I'm not going to sugarcoat this: Lincoln is terrified of you. With you girls in the house, he won't even leave his room! And he's mentally unstable – really mentally unstable. He probably isn't getting any worse cooped up in here, but he definitely isn't getting any better, either; he needs professional help, soon. But again, as long as you girls are here, he'll never leave his room, much less the house. So, tomorrow at the earliest, you and your mother are moving away."

"B… But… where will we go?" Leni asked.

"Your mother and I have that all figured out. You'll be staying at your Great-Aunt Ruth's until your mother can find a proper home for you all. We still have plenty of money left over from the trial, so she'll definitely be able to find a place for you out of state… or out of country," he added under his breath. Seeing his daughters start to break down in tears, he said, "Look, girls, this isn't all for Lincoln's benefit. We know that each of you is a victim, just like he is. But as long as you're here, in a… what did Clyde call it? A 'hostile environment'…? As long as you're in this 'hostile environment', you'll never be able to move on from the incident. And all these… frustrations… that you're having here, they're not going to stop. They'll just keep mounting and mounting until you explode, like you did just now. In a new place, you'll have clean slates. You'll be able to move on, live normal lives without anyone judging you…"

The Loud girls definitely liked the sound of that, but they still didn't want to leave. They needed to make amends with Lincoln; they needed him to know that they were really, truly sorry, and that they loved him.

"C-Can't any of us stay?" Lynn asked.

"Well… Lily's staying here."

"Lily? Why is Lily staying?" Luan asked.

"Because she's the only one who wasn't a part of the incident; because she's the only one that Lincoln still trusts. Clyde said that she might be able to help him along with his recovery, and I think he's right. Actually, that goes for the pets, too. Not your pets, Lana, they can go with you – I mean Charles, Cliff, Walt, and Geo. They're staying – the rest of you have to go."

"B-But –" Leni stammered.

"No 'but's." The girls started breaking down, so Mr. Loud attempted to comfort them. "Look, girls, this is only temporary. After Lincoln has recovered, you and your mother can come back home."

Lola sniffled. "H-How long… How long will that take?"

Mr. Loud shrugged. "I can't lie to you… it might be months. Years, even. Not anytime soon, I can promise you that much…" he said grimly.

The other Loud sisters all looked at Lucy. They remembered what she had said the night they came home…

Luna wiped away her tears and gulped. "P-P-Please, Dad, we're sorry! We're so sorry! We promise we'll never fight again – just please give us another chance…!"

Mr. Loud wasn't moved. "Your mother and I gave you another chance, girls, after that little incident yesterday. And guess what? You blew it. We're not going to sit back and let you girls tear each other apart anymore."

"But… But…!"

"Girls, you are moving. That. Is. That."

The girls looked at each other despairingly. It was hopeless – nothing they would ever say or do would change their father's mind. The girls couldn't take it anymore – they started sobbing uncontrollably, completely and utterly defeated. Mr. Loud looked at his daughters sadly, pitying them.

"Girls… this is for the best. You'll see." He looked at Mrs. Loud. "Sweetie… get the first-aid kit."