The next day, Lincoln opened his eyes and noticed the clouds fly by. Lincoln closed his eyes for more sleep until he realized that he shouldn't be able to see the sky. He quickly sat up and found himself on his front yard. Before he could process what was happening, he noticed Luan walk by with an I-Beam.
"Not funny, Luan," said Lincoln.
"What's not funny?" asked Luan.
"Huh? Oh, right, she's no longer about comedy," Lincoln mumbled to himself. "What's going on?"
Luna popped up from behind Luan and said, "Sorry, bro, but we need to move you out of the way, while we work on our new project."
"What project?" asked Lincoln.
"We're expanding your room," said Luna.
Lincoln couldn't believe what he heard. A bigger room for himself sounded too good to be true.
"So, uh, how big is this expansion?" asked Lincoln.
"A whole wing," Luna answered.
"A whole wing?!" Lincoln exclaimed. "That's…"
"Lincoln!"
Lincoln looked around and asked, "Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" asked Luan.
"I thought I heard someone call my name," said Lincoln. "Must have been my imagination."
Lincoln turned around and was shocked to find Lana on his bed.
"What are you doing?" asked Lincoln.
"You didn't make your bed," Lana said with a smile.
Lincoln looked to his side and said, "I know I said that I could get used to this, but that's going to take time. Anyway, what should I do to kill time until my new room is done?"
As if on cue, Clyde rushed to Lincoln and informed him of a new game at the local arcade.
"That should do it," said Lincoln.
Later that day, Lincoln and Clyde walked into the local arcade and were suddenly crowded by a legion of fans, asking Lincoln for his autograph.
"Whoa! What's going on?" asked Lincoln.
"What do you mean, Lincoln?" asked Clyde. "This happens every time you come ever since you broke the world record scores for all the games here."
"I broke all the records here?" asked the shocked 11-year old. "I… think I remember doing that."
Soon, his fans started to beg Lincoln to play the new game, which he immediately agreed to. After all, it was the reason he came to the arcade in the first place. Lincoln walked up to an arcade machine titled, Lincoln Loud's Underwater Adventure, inserted a quarter and started playing. To his surprise, he was incredibly good at the game and soon was approaching the international high score. The crowd started chanting his name as he took on the final boss, Vrej, and won. The game calculated his final score and revealed that he set a new worldwide record.
"Yes!" Lincoln cheered as the crowd chanted his name.
Lincoln basked in the glory of his achievement until he heard his name being called in a frantic manner.
"Lincoln! Lincoln!"
"That's not going to work! I'm going in!"
"I can't let you do that! Why would you-"
Suddenly, the voices stopped, causing Lincoln to wonder what he just heard. Lincoln ran out of the arcade and was stopped by a hole in space appearing in front of him. Soon, a familiar figure walked through it, someone Lincoln didn't think he'd see again.
"Vrej!" Lincoln exclaimed.
"Long time no see, LL #6," said Vrej.
"But you… and Neptune… and the trident…"
Lincoln was so stunned that he could only speak in fragments.
"Surprise to see me, Lincoln?" asked Vrej. "Did you really think that a blast from a sea god would finish me off?"
Lincoln nodded his head and Vrej replied with, "Okay, it would have finished me if I didn't escape at the last second. But I'm not here to tell you how I cheated death."
"What are you here for then?" asked Lincoln.
"I'm here to get you out of here," Vrej answered.
Lincoln shot a confused look at Vrej. He didn't understand what Vrej meant.
"What are you talking about?" asked Lincoln.
"Haven't you got it yet?" asked Vrej. "This is all an illusion."
"An illusion?" Lincoln mumbled.
"Another way to think of it is like an extended mirage," said Vrej. "Or like when the author of a story uses one plot to hide the real one behind in a vain attempt to be shocking or betray the audience's expectations. Those authors usually suck by the way."
"Yeah… you probably should stop talking before something bad happens," said Lincoln.
"And we should get out of here right now," said Vrej. "Your car's not going to hold her off for long."
With lightning fast speed, Vrej grabbed Lincoln and tossed him into the rift in space. Suddenly, Lincoln woke up in his front yard and was shocked to find it the state it was in. Their tree was knocked over and the family car was on fire. He then noticed Lynn place a cloaked figure in a chokehold and asked, "Who is that?"
"That's the lady who put you and your sisters in your illusions," Vrej answered.
"I'm not the only one who's noticed that these guys all wear cloaks, am I?" asked Lincoln.
"Technically, I wore a hooded robe during your trip to Bikini Bottom," Vrej corrected. "Timmy destroyed my cloak."
The cloaked figure tossed Lynn off of her and turned her attention towards Lincoln.
"You shouldn't have done that, Vrej!" she shouted. "They all would have been better off in the illusion!"
The cloaked figure lunged at Lincoln, but stopped in her tracks when Malie jumped in front of him.
"Move, Malie!" she shouted.
"Don't let them force you to do something you wouldn't want to like father… mother," said Malie.
"Mother?" Lincoln said in disbelief.
Instead of attacking them, the cloaked figure opened a rift in space and escaped through it.
"What's going on?" asked Lincoln.
But instead of receiving an answer, Lincoln was instead hugged by his sisters, who expressed their relief that he was okay.
"I honestly can't tell who has it worse," said Vrej. "Dad's a power source and mom's… well, you know."
Malie approached the Loud Siblings and bowed her head.
"Please forgive our mother for causing you trouble," Malie apologized. "Also you should be on your guard. I fear the worst is yet to come."