Sometime later, at Rita's car...
Lisa sat on the back seat as her mother drove back to the Loud house, a place that wasn't exactly where Lisa would like to go right now. First, her sisters sent Lincoln to try and get her reason for why she wouldn't tutor anymore. Then, they send him again, right outside the door, and this time it caught the attention of the matriarch Rita Loud, who snapped at her siblings to go back home and wait for her return.
While this did manage to let Lisa enjoy her visit to Darcy's house all the better, it didn't change the fact that once they came back home, her siblings would swarm her with questions. Well, her sisters would, anyway.
Then again, she did learn how to stand her ground from her mother...
Flashback...
Lisa and Rita sat on the living room, while Darcy and her mother went upstairs.
"Now, Lisa, the secret to knowing how to get your message across, is to make sure there's no way that the receptor, that's the one who's receiving the message, can misinterpret it," the Loud matriarch told the prodigy, who listened carefully. "You must make sure you know what you want to say, otherwise you'll stumble in your words, and it won't work."
"Mother unit, I'm aware that you and father unit are supposed to be "Experienced" in this regard," Lisa remarked. "But are you forgetting that in general, I'm not the most emotional of my siblings? Sure, I'm not as stoic as Lucy, but-"
"Lisa, take it from somebody who's had to deal with your sisters-and Lincoln-since they were babies," Rita put a hand on Lisa's shoulder. "You, like everybody else, has the ability to be emotional. And unless you send the message with a loud tone of voice, and do it in the most emotional way you can, they won't get it, and they won't learn anything. Do you understand?"
The prodigy took a second to think about it, then took a deep breath before confirming with a nod.
"Yes, mom."
Back in the present...
But somehow, the prodigy had a feeling... that it simply wouldn't be enough. And she had reason to doubt it; After all, she had enough experience with her siblings to know how they'd act in this kind of situation. And it didn't help that once they had arrived back at the house, the first thing Lisa saw was her sisters sitting in the living room, with Lincoln sitting at the staircase with a worried look.
"Take a seat, Lisa," Lori sternly stated. "There are some things we need to talk about."
Lisa exchanged a look with Rita, who closed the door and gestured Lisa not to worry. So the prodigy sat down right where she was.
"Lisa, nobody here is angry with you," Leni started, trying to keep up a positive tone. "We're just, like, upset that-"
"You just up and left without telling us a reason for why you wouldn't tutor us anymore!" Lori suddenly yelled, causing Leni to shut up and shrink in fear. "I mean seriously, you just told us you weren't going to tutor any of us anymore, and then you left it at that! And you didn't even tell Lincoln anything about it, and he's supposed to be the guy everybody can trust with their secrets!"
"And now that she mentions that, something else confuses us," Lynn added, getting everybody's attention. "You not trusting us upsets us, but we get it, sort of, but why wouldn't you tell Lincoln anything, if he's the most trustworthy secret keeper in the house?"
"Because I knew you would force him to tell you whatever I told him, and I didn't want any of you to get involved," Lisa bitterly growled and looked away as she continued. "You all should've noticed by now how all of us tend to get involved in one sister's situation, regardless of whether or not they desire the help. And I didn't want that to happen again."
"But didn't you think that just telling us you wouldn't tutor us anymore, rather than tell us and explain why, would make that happen anyway?" Lynn sternly questioned, folding her arms as Lisa started to shake. "I mean, you're supposed to be the genius of the family!"
That statement caused Lisa to snap:
"Then maybe I don't wanna be the genius of the family anymore!"
This shout caused everybody in the room to gasp, with the sisters taking a step back in disbelief, and Rita's shocked look soon turning into a proud one.
"Lisa, what are you, like, talking about?" Leni inquired, with evident fear in her tone. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's supposed to mean that maybe I don't want to be seen as the genius of the house anymore! Maybe I just want to try living life, like a normal toddler, for once!" Lisa flailed her arms up and down. "And most importantly, maybe I don't want to let myself be used, by my moronic sisters, just to tutor them on stuff they should already know!"
The sisters gasped again, while Lincoln slightly backed away, feeling like he should get out of there, but still desiring to see what would happen next.
"What did you literally call us?!" Lori snapped, gritting her teeth.
"And not only are you morons, but you're also deaf, apparently!" Lisa snapped, stomping the ground. "I called you morons, and I had a much harsher word in mind! And I call you morons, because I can't think of a better word to describe the sort of sisters you are! I mean, you rely on me to tutor you on everything!"
And then, Lisa pointed at her princess-like sibling, Lola.
"Lola, you still don't know how to read! And while I do understand you have difficulty reading, the fact you don't even try to learn... I don't get it!" the prodigy ranted, causing the diva to rub her arm and turn away. "I mean, what if a beauty pageant included reading as part of its categories?! What would you do then?!"
Lola tried to come up with an answer, but she failed to come up with anything to say, prompting Lisa to point at Lana, her twin, next.
"Lana, you insist on keeping all your reptilian pets, even when most of them are venomous!"
Lana looked at the ground in shame. "Not only that, but they're not even domestic animals! They're snakes, serpents, and other wild animals that you just so happened to find and decided you wanted to keep them! It makes me wonder just how have you lasted this long, without suffering some horrible injury from those beasts!"
"I-I was just thinking that they needed a home!" the plumber replied, sounding slightly afraid as she spoke. "Please, Lisa, you have to understand!"
"Oh, I perfectly understand," the prodigy folded her arms. "You decided to risk not only yourself, but the rest of our family, with these dangerous wild animals, just to get what you wanted! In fact, doesn't that sound like a familiar girl?"
Lisa glanced from one twin to the other, until they looked at each other, and flinched in horror, just in time for the prodigy to turn to take her anger out on Lucy.
"Lucy, I may not tutor you, but I've heard about your poems, and haven't you thought that they would be better, if you focused more on them and not on looking gothic?!" Lisa stomped the ground, as Lucy gritted her teeth, potentially showing some bit of anger. "I mean seriously, I swear you put more effort into looking a whiny bag of depression, than a potential poet!"
Lucy's anger was mixed with sadness as tears started falling down her cheeks. "I'm trying as hard as I can, Lisa!"
"Trying as hard as you can, in doing what, exactly?" the scientist sternly, but calmly asked. "Because from what I can see, I can't tell if you're trying to be gothic, or if you're trying to be poetic."
The goth flinched and took another step back as the scientist turned to Lynn.
"Lynn, as an athlete, you should know that the ideal athlete has both brains and brawn, but you're basically brainless!" Lisa growled, increasing the volume of her during the "brainless" part. "You claim to be the very best, but if you had any sort of brain in that hollow head of yours, you'd know that's far from the case!"
The jock opened her mouth to speak, but she was quickly shut up when Lisa turned her attention from her to Luan.
"Luan, you need to get something through your thick skull: Laughing at your own jokes doesn't, make them, funny!"
The joker twiddled her fingers and laughed nervously, only to fall silent as Lisa turned to Luna.
"Luna, how can you expect anybody to learn anything when you're playing your music at ear-busting volume?!" Lisa lifted her arms. "I mean seriously, how are you not deaf yet?!"
Luna immediately-almost instinctively-covered her ears and stuttered, "I-I was just lucky, I guess?"
And then came Leni's turn to earn an earful. "Leni, you're a sweetheart, and I know you're not stupid, but good lord, could you show me you're not stupid rather than tell me?! I mean, how many more times are you going to fail your driving test?!"
Surprisingly enough, Leni's reaction was fairly subdued: Only looking at the ground with a regretful look.
"And Lori... oh dear lord, Lori... stop messaging your stupid boyfriend for one second, and maybe you'll be able to understand half the stuff I'm saying!" Lisa walked closer to Lori, who was writing something on her phone. "I mean, even right now, you're more focused on texting Bobby about something, rather than the rant that I've been going on for a couple minutes now!"
The eldest sister, however, just paid her sister no mind and focused on her phone, at least until Rita took it away. "Hey!"
"You can use the phone later, Lori," Rita sternly stated as she put the phone on her pocket. "Right now, you need to listen to the words Lisa has to say to all of you-"
And then the genius snapped, "I got some harsh words for you too, mom!"
"Wait, what?"
"Need I remind you that whenever there's a problem that needs mathematics, then you come to me for help, now matter how simple the problem is?!" the prodigy growled, gritting her teeth. "I mean, you couldn't even solve a simple train problem when Pop-Pop came to town!"
The woman twiddled her fingers. "I... was never the best in math, so-"
"There it goes, another excuse!" Lisa paced back and forth. "You know, I just noticed we come up with excuses so often, I'm surprised know us for our numbers, rather than our inability to take things at face value!"
Lisa stopped, took a deep breath, then pointed at her only brother with a furious look. "And last, but certainly not least, I got some word for you, Lincoln!"
"Well, can't say I didn't see it coming," the boy sighed and looked at the ground. "Hit me with all you got, I'll listen."
"Do I really need to, though? I mean, you basically just showed everybody my biggest problem with you," Lisa folded her arms as Lincoln looked at the prodigy with a confused look. "You lack spine or anything that makes our sisters take you seriously or respect you. Sure, at least five of our sisters are older than you, but if they don't even act like it half of the time, then you must show them who's boss!"
"Technically, that's me literally most of the time-" Lori spoke.
"Quiet, you technophilliac jerk, I'm not speaking to you!" Lisa shouted at Lori, before turning back to Lincoln. "Point is, you're the only guy in this household, and you let yourself be treated like a servant by everybody! I mean, do you even enjoy helping a jerk like Lola practice for beauty pageants? Or listen to Lucy's poems day after day with no end? Or be Lynn's personal punching bag? Do you enjoy any of those things, Lincoln!?"
Lincoln twiddled his fingers. "I... don't think so, no."
"Then you must show everybody that you're not some sort of butler they can call in whenever they need help with something! You're Lincoln Loud, a valuable member of the Loud family, who deserves to be treated with the same respect as everybody else in this household!" Lisa stomped the ground. "I mean, you're the link that keeps us all sane in this family!"
Then, the scientist turned to her sisters, who were basically frozen in shock at this moment. Not to mention anger for what the girl was implying. But still, they listened as she spoke:
"I know it sounds like I'm glorifying Lincoln too much. I'm not even going to try and deny it, compared to what I said, I seem to be complimenting him a bit too much. But I want you to be honest with me. No thinking, no lying, and most definitely, no stroking my ego just to get your way. I want you to tell me honestly... if Lincoln wasn't here to begin with... if he wasn't here to be our guide... our helper... our brother... and at times, our scapegoat..."
Lisa adjusted her glasses and put up a serious look as she sternly finished her question:
"Would we even be able to function as a family?"
Rita gasped and covered her mouth, followed by her children gasping as well. And though the sisters stood still with their mouths wide open, Lincoln shivered and glanced between the stern prodigy and the rest of their sisters. He honestly felt like, any minute now, the sisters would blow up in Lisa's face, or otherwise get angry at everything she's said to them.
And yet... that didn't happen. They just... stood still, mouths wide open, and even as they tried, they couldn't even manage to utter a single word.
It's almost as if the question left them speechless.
"All your silence does is prove my point even further," Lisa harshly spoke before turning to her brother. "Come with me, Lincoln, there's something I need to tell you in private."
Lisa walked upstairs, and the boy followed her, but not before taking a look at his stunned family members. The duo then walked to Lisa and Lily's bedroom, sat on Lisa's bed... and the prodigy sighed in exhaustion.
"I... apologize that you had to see that, Lincoln," the prodigy clasped her hands and looked away. "I just... needed to get those words out of my system and... I guess I went too far."
"Actually, something tells me that you needed to be that harsh, or else they wouldn't get it," Lincoln sighed and brushed Lisa's hair. "And before you say anything, I agree with everything you said, specially with what you said about me. I really do need to grow a spine."
Lisa sighed and twiddled her fingers as the boy asked, "Lisa, would you like to hear my idea to deal with this situation?"
"Go ahead," the prodigy stated.
The boy leaned closer to Lisa's ear and whispered his plan to her. And judging by how Lisa smiled afterwards, she liked the plan. Either that, or she found it so stupid, ridiculous, or improbably she couldn't help but smile.
"Your plan may work, Lincoln, but it also has a high chance of failing," Lisa adjusted her glasses. "You do realize that, don't you?"
"Of course, it wouldn't be one of my plans without a high chance of failure," Lincoln quipped, laughing a little before he added, "However, I'm sure you also realize that our sisters' worst traits can be worked or otherwise dealt with. And since we don't know if they will be willing to take the first step, we'll have to do it instead."
"Hehe, yeah," Lisa chuckled.
"So, while you do what I told you to do, I'll stay here and help our sisters recognize and work out their worst traits, and once they've changed, you can come back," Lincoln explained with a smile. "Trust me, I'm sure that with some effort, our sisters will better themselves in no time-"
Lisa laughed out loud like a hyena, almost as if she just heard a really funny joke. However, her laughter ceased soon afterwards to allow her to state, with a pleased look:
"Lincoln, I promise you that, from this day onward, I'll trust you with helping our sisters change for the better."
Then, without warning, although really he did it slowly enough to let Lisa react, Lincoln hugged his scientific sisters before stating:
"And I promise you, from this day onward, I'm not going to be such a pushover."
The prodigy paused to take what the statement meant at face value, and then smiled before happily returning the hug to her older brother.
