The media circus went just as Lincoln had predicted after announcing he was alive. The next day The local news was right outside the Loud House and the homes of his older sisters wanting answers. Luckily his family already had a plan for that; during his first exclusive with Katherine Mulligan-Spokes.

Lincoln's cover story is that after the crash, he was found by monks who saved his life; unfortunately, he lost his memories; he couldn't remember anything, not even his name, so he was called Ken. How he spent the next 6 years with the monks, then, one day, his memories started returning to him, like his name and where he lived. Lincoln then stated he set out to find out about his past; he wound up in Great Lake City, where he ran into Ronnie Anne and regained his memories of her and her family. How when Lori was called, he was taken back to Royal Woods. Lincoln then explained how his family worked to restore his memories for a while, eventually calling Clyde to help. Clyde helped Lincoln remember his friends and the rest of Royal Woods. His family didn't come out sooner because they wanted him to rest and regain his memories.

After weeks of interviews and people asking questions, things began dying down, allowing Lincoln to focus on more preparations, namely for Ronnie Anne, and Sid. Traveling to Great Lake City, with permission from the Casagrandes, Lincoln transformed a closet in the Mercado's basement using the same spells for his own base of operations and providing the same equipment and teaching both Sid and Ronnie Anne the basics for repairing their gear. Lisa also helped as she had built a second supercomputer with an AI that sounded just like Yoon Kwan. Sid was quite happy about that. Lincoln told Ronnie Anne he had one more gift, but it had to wait until her birthday, which was next week.

Today was Friday; it was the third to last week of July. Lincoln and Clyde were sitting in Gus's Game n' Grub, bringing Lina and Lily there so they could play while taking care of some personal business. They had been sitting at their favorite booth for a while. Gus came by earlier, offering the kids a pizza on the house.

"Do you think they'll come?" asked Lincoln.

"Oh yes, they'll come,"

Like clockwork, Stella, Zach, and Liam came walking in, all three were nervous as none of them got to speak to Lincoln after he revealed being alive.

"Hey guys, it's been a while," said Lincoln.

Stella and the others sat down despite the awkward tension in the air.

"Is it me, or did this booth get smaller?" Zach awkwardly jokes.

"No, we just got bigger," said Liam.

"Lincoln, look about the last time we spoke and when I-" Stella started.

"Slapped and dumped me?"

"Yeah, I…"

"Stella, if you're expecting me to be angry or resentful towards you, I'm not; you were tricked too, just like me,"

"Really? You're not?" Stella asked, surprised but not ungrateful.

"I'd say if anything I'm disappointed and hurt, but that's not really worth holding onto or taking out on you."

"Still, I'm sorry. I should have asked more questions." Stella added, looking ashamed of herself.

"Ah just wanted to know what happened. I know things were bad, but you suddenly stopped coming to school, locked yourself in your room and wouldn't come out even when Zach and Ah came to visit," asked Liam.

"Yeah, then a month later, we heard that you were leaving, and you were gone before we could talk to you," finished Zach.

"Let's just say something bad and personal happened to me because of that damn photo, and I couldn't face anyone. I just had to leave,"

Both boys didn't want to press any further, feeling that there was more to the story than they knew. Suddenly the door opened again, and to everyone's shock, it was Rusty.

"What's he doing in here?" Asked Zach.

"I called and told him to come," said Lincoln.

"You did?" Asked Liam.

Grabbing a chair from a nearby table, Rusty sat at the table as his former friends stared him down, adding hostility to the already awkward situation.

"Well...well, look at this, the dawg squad back together again?"

"We didn't like that name back when we were friends, and we still don't," said Zach.

"Whatever, now why am I here?" Rusty asked, sounding like he was curious but also impatient.

"So I can ask you right to your face." Said Lincoln.

"What's that, Loud?"

"Why? Why did you do all this to me?"

Rusty glared and crossed his arms. "Why? You've got a lot of nerve asking that when you're the one who started all this!"

"How did I start all this!?"

"We all made that pact that none of us would ask Stella out, yet I see you two kissing in the hallway. That's how you backstabber."

"You simple-minded sack of fertilizer, when will you stop using that stupid pact as an excuse!" Liam asked.

"We only made that promise because we were all still crushing on Stella. By the time Lincoln and Stella decided to date, Liam, Clyde, and I were over our crushes and moved on; you jerk," Zach added.

Rusty scoffed. "Well, I didn't. I was still keeping our promise, so why couldn't he?"

"First of all, Spokes, that promise only applied to the five of you, not me," informed Stella. "If I wanted to ask one of you out, I was within my right to. I didn't ask any of you out because I only saw you all as friends, but I started developing feelings for Lincoln, and I had a right to ask him out. You had no right to ruin us,"

Rusty rolled his eyes, not wanting to believe any point that his actions were as bad as they said. "If he were my friend, he would have said no."

"Would you if I asked you instead?" Stella challenged.

Rusty tensed and looked like he had bad taste in his mouth, but he said nothing.

Clyde frowned and stood up. "You jackass. The pact was never about protecting our friendship, was it? You just wanted to keep us away from Stella the entire time so you could improve your odds of getting with her, didn't you?"

"I did what I had to do." Rusty claimed.

"Look at you; you look and sound like you feel no remorse for what you did to Sam and me," Lincoln said.

"Hey, for years, people acted like it was my fault you disappeared and ended up lost in Asia? I get your and her reputation wrecked, but I don't see how you going to the other side of the world is supposed to be my fault. I didn't make you run away." Rusty challenged.

"You really don't see how what you did wrecked not just me and my family, but Sam's life too? A girl whose reputation you destroyed, with her being called a pedophile all because of you?"

"Why did you even confess?" Asked Liam.

"I thought Lincoln was dead, and at that moment, I felt ashamed of what I did. But it was all for nothing; he was alive this whole time. I became a pariah because of something that never happened."

"So you only confessed to get it off your chest because you thought Lincoln was dead and the damage couldn't get worse. But would you have kept that secret forever if Lincoln never left?" Asked Clyde.

"I don't see how a damaged reputation led to Lincoln getting on a plane. No one was threatening to kill him or anything." Rusty shrugged.

"You really don't see the gravity of a situation and how you're to blame?"

"No, I'm still not seeing the connection, but I do know that I suffered for 6 years because of you,"

"YOU SUFFERED!" roared Lincoln slamming his fist down.

"My brother barely speaks to me, my dad lost all respect for me, and everywhere I go, people look at me like I'm a monster. I'm the most hated person in Royal Woods, even more than Flip, and while I'm dealing with all this, you're in Asia with amnesia, all because you ran off like a coward because your family was mad at you again. Oh boohoo, you big crybaby, I had to stay and deal with the hate. I didn't get to have amnesia and get a break from it conveniently."

Enraged, Lincoln reached over, grabbed Rusty by the collar pulling him over the table towards him.

"You worthless piece of shit, you really think you have no responsibility for what I've been through. I nearly died in a plane crash because of you, lost 6 years of my life, stripped of my dignity and humiliated, my family torn apart, and had something taken I can never get back because of the series of events you set off. After all this time, you believe you don't deserve to suffer any consequences for what you did. Maybe I should beat you to a bloody pulp and call it even! What do you think, Rust-man?"

"Please don't," begged Rusty.

"Lincoln, I know you're angry but don't do anything you're going to regret later," asked Clyde.

Lincoln then noticed Lily and Lina coming; not wanting them to see him like that, he pushed Rusty back into his seat, nearly making him fall over.

"Get out of my sight Rusty, and if you ever do something like this again to my family or me, you're going to wish I had died 6 years ago,"

Rusty nodded as he got up and ran past Lilly and Lina, with the latter waving, but he kept running, confusing her. Lincoln relaxed as he slumped back into his seat.

"I don't know what I was expecting from Rusty when I called him,"

"Remorse?" said Clyde.

"An apology?" said Zach and Liam.

"Some small bit of proof that you two really were friends?" Stella said.

"Maybe if I got something like that, I could've worked on forgiving him."

"Lincoln, look what we got," cheered Lily as she and Lina presented the stuffed animals they won.

"That's great, guys,"

"Can we stay a little longer? There's an Ace Savvy blanket we want to win," asked Lina.

"Sure thing,"

"Yay!" Cheered the girls as they ran back to the game.

"What do you say, guys? Want to help them out?"

Everyone agreed and headed to the game area after Lincoln made an order with Gus for a Pizza pie later. After winning the blanket and having some pizza, everyone was leaving, but Stella had something she wanted to ask Lincoln.

"Lincoln, I had a lot of fun with you and the others, even if it's not exactly the same, cause we're still missing one,"

"I understand," replied Lincoln, admitting they miss the Rusty they thought they knew.

"But there's something I wanted to ask. Is there any chance we can start over?"

"Stella, I'm with Ronnie Anne now, so starting our relationship over is out of the question,"

"I see, and I understand,"

"But starting our friendship over is something I'm happy to do," Lincoln added.

Stella smiled as she hugged Lincoln. "It's good to have you back, Lincoln Loud,"

"For what it's worth, it's good to be back."

After taking the girls home later that night, Lincoln tucked Lina into bed with her new blanket and Bun-bun.

"Goodnight, sweetie,"

"Daddy, grandma told me how everyone is mad at the man Rusty because he did something bad,"

"Yeah, Lina, we are,"

"But why was he there?"

"He and I used to be friends, and I wanted to see if he at least felt bad for what he did."

"Does he?"

"No, sweetie, he doesn't."

"But why?"

"Sometimes, when people do bad things to others, they try to say the people they hurt deserve it. He hurt me, he thinks I deserved the hurt, so he believes he did nothing wrong, and he thinks people are supposed to be mad at me instead of him."

"I see,"

"Don't worry about it; now get some sleep; you and Lily have a Blue Bell Scout meeting tomorrow,"

"good night Daddy,"

"good night,"

As Lincoln left, he ran into Sam, who was coming up the stairs; Sam and Luna both worked at The Burnt Bean; Chunk bought and now owned the store, and on Friday nights and the weekends, she and Luna would play music. It was a far cry from the fame and fortune they dreamed of as kids, but they did get a lot of Hometown love.

"Oh, hello, Lincoln,"

"Hello, Sam,"

"So, how's your day?"

"Well, I had a conversation with Rusty today,"

" I see, and how did that go?"

"Well, all I can say is despite everything that happened between us, at least you take responsibility for your actions and want to make things right. So I actually have more respect for you than him right now." Lincoln said, walking down the stairs and leaving.

Hearing this gave Sam some hope that Lincoln would forgive her eventually as she checked on Lina, seeing that she was already asleep. Heading home, Lincoln decided to take a long way as he suited up, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Suddenly Lincoln started smelling smoke from the direction of the Royal Woods condo area. Summoning the calvary, Lincoln drove off in that direction. Arriving in under a minute, Lincoln saw residents of the Chateau Royal evacuated and smoke coming from the top floor. Jumping out of the calvary, Lincoln saw one of the residents trying to get back inside.

"Let me through ma sister Cheryl is still in there!" cried Meryl Farrell.

"No, you can't go in there,"

"I can!" called Lincoln, running up to the residents and confusing everyone.

"What are you supposed to be? we got no time for playing around!"

"Do I look like I'm playing around? Meryl, where's your sister?"

"She was still on the top floor, sugar, when the roof collapsed while we were trying to escape, and she got trapped inside,"

"Don't worry, I'll get her," said Lincoln, as he charged inside the building despite people trying to stop him. Lincoln ran as fast as he could to the top floor, avoiding the fires and collapsing stairs. Reaching the top floor, Lincoln saw that the hallway was blocked entirely due to the ceiling collapsing, but he could hear a voice calling out.

"Help…help…cough…help!"

"I'm coming!"

Bringing out his sword, Lincoln started hacking and slashing through the debris until he reached Cheryl and Meryl's apartment. Bursting in, he found Cheryl barely conscious.

"Cheryl, stay with me. I'm gonna get you out of here,"

"Who…are you, sugar?"

"They call me the Guardian…"

Lifting Cheryl up, Lincoln knew he couldn't get out the way he came.

"Only one thing to do,"

Kicking out the glass door to the balcony, Lincoln saw the fire department, and paramedics had already arrived, jumping off the balcony and landing on the ground in front of everyone. Luckily Lincoln's armor absorbed all the shock from the landing, so Cheryl felt nothing from the landing.

"This woman needs oxygen and immediate transport to the hospital now," he said, placing her on a stretcher.

With all the residents of the Chateau Royal evacuated, Lincoln felt it was time to let professionals finish up as he remotely called the Calvary and drove off while people were asking questions. Meryl rushed to her sister as the paramedics tended to her.

"Cheryl, sweetie, are you alright?"

"I am now, thanks to that man,"

"Who was he?"

"He calls himself the guardian,"

Lincoln drove off happy that he saved Cheryl but knew he may have complicated things a little now that people saw him as the guardian. Lincoln returned home and contacted Ronnie Anne; luckily, she was monitoring her computer for any demonic activity.

"Are you serious? That asshole Spokes really doesn't see how this whole thing was his fault?"

"According to him, I started all this when I asked out Stella,"

"So he's playing the victim card,"

"I got so angry I almost revealed what I really went through,"

"You better be careful; no telling what that asshole would do if he found out about Lina,"

"I doubt he's smart enough to figure it out, but just in case, I warned him not to mess with my family again,"

"Okay, now, onto this fire rescue; I don't see why you're so worried. You did a good thing tonight,"

"It's not that I'm not happy I saved a life, I am; it's just that the plan was to get Adonis and his crew on my turf, right?"

"Of course,"

"Well, I'm a little worried, considering that by tomorrow morning, the guardian will be all over the news,"

"So?"

"There are much bigger organizations than just La Sombra and all those other organizations Sid took down, who probably profited off of them,"

"You're worried they're going to come seeking revenge,"

"Pretty much, Adonis and the others were going to bring enough heat to Royal Woods; the last thing I need is criminal organizations wanting a piece too,"

"We can handle them too," assured Ronnie Anne.

"Yeah,"

"So Lame-O, do I get any hints on my birthday present?"

"Sorry, but you'll have to wait till next Friday,"

"Please? Just a hint," she teased, showing off her cleavage.

"Sorry, you'll have to wait,"

"Tease, by the way, thank you for giving me and Sid your drones,"

"No problem; since I linked my all-seeing eye stone to Lisa's surveillance system, I didn't need them, plus now you guys have a way of keeping watch over Great Lake City,"

"So, any idea on finding those other gems or what that crown is for?"

"Nothing, Lisa and I have been studying it and researching but nothing; best guess is this crown is part of a legend that isn't well known,"

"Don't forget about my Tio's friend,"

"I'll visit him later," said Lincoln.

"So, any idea when Adonis and the others will make a move?"

"No clue, but they'll come; if I were them, I'd focus on finding and securing the other gems before going back for the one they lost,"

"We'll figure it out,"

The two said their good nights before heading off to bed.

Elsewhere.

As Rusty lay awake in bed, he still was fuming from his meeting/confrontation with his former friends.

"It's not my fault; how did a photo lead to a plane crash?"

Suddenly Rusty remembered running past Lina; for the first time, he started to think of the little girl's appearance. She had hair like Lincoln's and eyes, which wasn't uncommon among relatives, even cousins. Rusty then thought about Sam; he knew she moved into the Loud house after Lincoln "died" but never wondered why. Rusty then thought about how similar Lina looked to Sam, especially now. The wheels in Rusty's head were turning as a what-if popped into his head.

"There's no way,"

Rusty then thought how before Lincoln left, he stopped coming to school, even after the picture was proven to be fake. What if the picture wasn't the worst thing that happened to Lincoln here before he left? Rusty never visited Lincoln, but Clyde, Zach, and Liam kept him informed; in his mind, Lincoln was being dramatic and a baby, but now he realizes what if he wasn't. Rusty then remembered Lincoln telling him something was taken from him that he could never get back. What could a twelve-year-old lose that would be worth getting so mad about? And speaking of age, how old was Lina again?

"Could it be?"

In that moment a horrifying clarity entered his mind.

"What if that picture led to…and that's why Lincoln got on that…oh God what have I done?!"

End Of Ch. 15