Meanwhile, back at the Loud house...
Lincoln sat on the basement, in one of the corners where he was both hidden, and where nobody would hear him as he answered a phone call. And this was important, since he was talking with Lisa.
"And then I tried out some jump rope, and I fell on my butt just as I was about to jump for the third time!" Lisa cheerfully said. "Then we played hot potato, and I... kinda got too in-character and started panicking when I lost."
"That sounds like something you would do, actually," Lincoln answered.
Sternly, Lisa said, "I flailed my arms up and down and ran around in a panic.
Lincoln thought about it, then said, "Still sounds like something you would do."
Lisa actually laughed at the statement, which surprised her brother. "Since when do you know how to laugh at yourself?"
"That was one of the things Darcy taught me," the prodigy answered, her tone sounding more cheerful as she added, "After the whole park deal, she taught me how to laugh at something that sounded funny, rather than explain it or just not get it."
"That sounds like advice Luan really could use," Lincoln quipped.
"Speaking of her and our sisters, how are they doing?" Lisa suddenly asked. "Have you been able to start your part of the plan? After all, in order for it to work, we both need to make our part."
"It's barely been a day, Lisa, I needed time to prepare, unlike you," Lincoln sighed. "But don't worry, I already know what I'm going to say, I already practiced what I'm going to say to try and get them to hear me out, and just in case things go awry, Mom's on standby to put them on their place."
"I'm glad to hear that, I hope you have good luck in your part of the plan," the prodigy replied. "Well, I gotta go, Darcy's about to introduce me to something called pudding. See ya!"
Lisa hung up, and Lincoln put his phone on his pocket before he got up and took a deep breath. He then went upstairs... only to find his sisters were all in the living room, basically laying around like nothing was happening, and eating some chocolate for a snack. Rita was standing nearby, looking at them in disapproval as Lincoln approached her.
"W-What are they doing?" the boy asked his Mother in disbelief.
"Waiting for Lisa to come back on her own, apparently," Rita rolled her eyes. "I was getting ready to act like the bad cop, when I found them just like this. When I asked them what was up, that's basically what they told me."
"It's the only thing we can really do, after all," Luna blurted, getting her brother and mother's attention. "I mean, Lisa left, yeah, but she's probably just a bit stressed. Once she's finally calmed down, she'll come back, right?"
"Girls, listen: Lisa decided to leave the house because we abused her, and we refused to change for the better not just for her sake, but ours too," the boy explained sternly. "Granted, I will admit that Lisa also has issues to deal with, but that's exactly what she's doing right now! Meanwhile, you're all just sitting here eating chocolate, acting like waiting for Lisa to come back is going to fix anything!"
"That's because It's the only thing we can do, Lincoln," Lori stated. "Lisa's the one that literally started all of this by not telling us the reason why she literally would do what she did!"
"Yeah, why would she stop tutoring us whenever we need her, and instead focus on this girl she met called Darcy?" Lynn added.
Lincoln was about to shout, but Rita beat him to the punch:
"The answer! Is! Right in your statement!"
Everybody turned to face Rita, the Loud sisters visibly too scared to argue back as she added:
"Darcy is the first real friend Lisa's gotten: She's not a robot, she's not a machine, she's not an experiment, and she's most certainly not a person Lisa would disregard as unimportant. This is her chance to finally learn how to act like a normal toddler, rather than a "science prodigy" who's willing to use anybody as their test subjects!"
The sisters flinched at the mention of "test subjects", knowing full well how it felt to be treated like such.
"And, if he plan works, you'll finally get to wake up every morning without being scared of Lisa putting you in the middle of some sort of experiment!" Rita added as she walked to her son's side. "And if we want the plan to work to It's best capacity, you have to listen to your brother, and hear out his suggestions to work out your issues."
"W-Well, what about your issues, then?!" Lynn snapped, giving her mother the pointer finger as she added, "You also have issues, so-"
However, all Rita needed to do was throw a furious glare at the jock to strike fear to her very being, successfully getting her to shut up. She then explained, after taking a deep breath, "I'll try to learn how to properly do math in a moment, but since I also have to work with my and your father's... slight incompetence as parents, I need to try and balance both issues, while also trying to act like a mother to all of you."
"And I'll make sure to balance working out my problems with looking after the plan as well," Lincoln added, before clapping and saying, "As for what each of you will do..."
Lincoln pointed at the respective sister as he spoke:
"Lori, you will find some other past time so you can stop focusing on your phone all the time. Leni, you will quit this "dumb" persona you've put up for so long and stop acting like an idiot. Luna, you either get headphones, or you learn to live with lower volume from now on. Luan, you need to try and hold your own laughter after telling your jokes, to let other people genuinely laugh at your pranks, and also learn to tone it down for April Fools Day. Lynn, stop being so physical and start putting effort into becoming smarter. Lucy, try to cheer up. Lana, put some of your pets for adoption, or otherwise find somebody else who could take them. And Lola, start learning how to read!"
It wasn't long before Luan pointed something out, "Wait, what about Lily?"
After a couple seconds of silence, everybody but Luan laughed out loud, with Luna patting Luan's back as well. The comedian raised an eyebrow, not sure on what her sisters found funny, but the laughter soon calmed down and Lincoln continued:
"Anyway, that's all you need to do in order to convince Lisa to come back to the house. If you can manage to deal with your bad habits before the month's over, then I'm sure Lisa will gladly return home."
Of course, Lucy had to be the pessimist, "What if we fail to do that by then?"
"I can't tell you that-"
"What?!" the sisters snapped.
"Let him finish!" Rita yelled, causing the sisters to shut up.
"I can't tell you that, because if I did, I'd be afraid that you'd be forcing yourselves to change, rather than change on your own," the boy continued. "Sure, you may end up dealing with your bad habits anyway, but Lisa's smart enough to know when you're changing for the better, and when you're changing just to get her back to the house. Specially since she'll think you changed just so she could come back."
"Wait a minute, I'm, like, confused," Leni remarked. "So we're supposed to change before a month passes, but change in a way that seems natural, which would take time?"
"I know it may sound like I'm contradicting myself, but trust me, it'll make more sense once we've started the rehabilitation process," Lincoln put his hands on his waist. "Now, can I at least trust you to promise me that, whenever you get the chance, you'll try your hardest to fix these problems?"
The sisters exchanged looks, and nodded, prompting Lincoln to nod in approval and turn to Rita. "As for you, Mom-"
"I know, I have to try and learn how to do math," the Loud matriarch sighed. "I'll be sure to call a tutor as soon as I finish cooking lunch, don't worry."
"Yeah, that too," Lincoln waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "But actually, I wanted to ask you something."
Rita raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."
And what Lincoln asked next not only shook the rest of the present Loudsters, but also made them question the exact same thing:
"Where's Dad?"
