Okay, it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted a chapter for this story. Mainly because I spent all of last week working on episode reactions for the most recent batch of new episodes for the show. Anyway, I wanted to take a break from this for a week or two since I wasn't in the right mindset to continue at that time. Now, I appreciate my last chapter generated some controversy, specifically the ending announcement where I went off on a mini-rant about No Such Luck and Brawl haters. Admittedly, adding that paragraph of outburst onto the end of my previous chapter was rather unprofessional and could even be considered offensive to some, so for that sudden outburst, I apologise. Regardless of how I feel, I should not use my FanFiction as a means to directly bash on fans with differing thoughts to my own. The truth is, the character of Viribus is not purely a cipher for the intent of reflecting on the actions of haters, even if I did point out some parallels between them. Direct criticism isn't really the best way of conveying a point. In actuality, Viribus is more of a reflection on the notion that has been put fourth regarding what would happen if Lincoln actually became the angry, revenge filled person some have suggested he should be when concerning his sisters. There are also some other sources of influence behind his character, though I would rather not diverge into that right now. Anyway, I've come this far into writing the story, and I'm not going to stop now. So, here is the newest chapter, which will return to The Loud House itself and see how the family responded to the events of chapter 7, before shifting back to Lincoln's predicament…

The Loud family returned home in Vanzilla from what had been a painfully unsuccessful attempt at regaining their lost son and brother. While they finally knew where he was, they had discovered he was not as forgiving or reaccepting of them as they had hoped. Lincoln Loud had washed his hands of the rest of the family, and had chosen a new life alongside his new allies.

Completely defeated inside, the Loud siblings each retreated to their own bedrooms upon entering the house. Lynn Sr and Rita simply sat down on the couch, wallowing in self pity and intense sadness over the cold rejection of their own son against them. Rita held back the tears as Lynn Sr offered her a tissue, trying to comfort her. Then, in typical fashion for the sensitive and somewhat excitable adult, it was the father of the child who actually began sobbing uncontrollably, with his wife being the one who had to hug him and calm him down.

The children were in no better an emotional state. Lori didn't even touch her phone, not being in the mood for talking to Bobby, which for her was a real shocker. Leni was beside her and was just crying into her pillow. Luna was playing an incredibly slow, sad, gloomy and depressing tune on her guitar, while Luan stated the following…

Luan: "I think I'm going to have change over to tragedy, because comedy just isn't something I can get into right now." A statement which perfectly reflected the negativity inside her mind at the time.

Lynn Jr was throwing a tennis ball against the wall repetitively like always. But she did so with much more aggression than usual, almost as if she were taking out her anger by trying to break a hole in the wall with her ball. Lucy, seemingly appearing normal since she's already gothic in personality, said the following to show how much worse she was than usual…

Lucy: "I know how you feel, sister. This Lincoln stuff has hurt me, too. I can't be my cheerful self right now." She said to Lynn's confusion.

Lynn: "Um, Luce. You're never cheerful." She responded with a deadpan tone.

Lucy: "Well, I'm not normally as miserable as this."

Lynn: "Sorry, it's hard to tell the difference."

Lucy: "Sigh."

Lana and Lola were so depressed that they were actually doing the opposite of what they would normally do. Lola was actually so desperate for comfort that she went over to some of Lana's reptile pets and began hugging and stroking them, hoping they would embrace her back.

Lola: "Maybe we don't talk often enough, Hops. I guess your kinda cute, if you take away the warts and disgusting tongue."

Lana: "You always said my lizards and pets were disgusting!" she challenged.

Lola: "Hey, I'm trying to bond with my new friends here! Do you mind?!" she bit back.

Lana herself was sitting at Lola's play table and was trying to have a tea party with Lola's dollies. Something she would never normally do. But she was also desperate for comfort, and was trying to fill the part of her that felt empty following Lincoln's rejection with a bunch of stuffed animals in a pretend social gathering.

Lisa was actually resorting to her scientific niche to devise a (completely ridiculous) solution to their dilemma. She was thinking of cloning Lincoln, holding a set of blueprints in her hand. She then looked at Lily, who was also sad, as a potential test subject. Lisa then decided against it, her more caring and morally aware side getting the best of her…

Lisa: "No, sister. I couldn't do that. Risking your well being isn't going to get our brother back." She regrettably said.

The entire sibling group was miserable, but worse than that, they were disappointed and disgusted with themselves. For everything they had done and what they caused to happen. They needed to discuss what they were going to do about the situation and how, if even possible, they could fix things. Their parents were way too down in the dumps depressed to bother enforcing the grounding on the kids at that point, so they figured they would take advantage and hold one of their sibling meetings, like they often do. They decided to talk about what they would do about the whole Lincoln situation…

Lori: "Okay, you all know why we are here. We need to talk about what we're going to do about Lincoln. He literally hates us!"

Luna: "Don't be overdramatic, dudette. He doesn't hate us, bro, he's just getting annoyed that we're not giving him space and time to himself to let go of all his fustrations!"

Lisa: "Unfortunately, sibling, it's not that simple. Our brother has made it clear he does not want to forgive us anytime soon. Also, combine the fact that his new surroundings are clouding his mentality…"

Leni: "What do you mean?"

Lynn: "She means Lincoln's still mad at us and these new nutjob psycho friends of his aren't going to make him ease up on us anytime soon!"

Lana: "Aw man! I miss him. I hope he comes around soon because I want my brother back!"

Lori: "We all do. But the fact is we've screwed up and we're going to need to make a very big effort to make things right again."

Lucy: "Yes, I can see a tunnel, a vision of light at the end of this dark path… oh wait, it just closed! It's hopeless."

Luna: "That's enough of your sass and darkness, sis. This is serious."

Lucy: "Well, how exactly do any of you plan on doing that? Writing an apology letter? Baking him a cake? Making some fake promise to be sweet little angels forever?"

Luan: "She's got a point. Our attitudes have been pretty rotten." She said feeling defeated.

Lori: "Guys, you're not helping!"

Lynn: "Oh, what does it matter!?" she said, feeling ready to give up and give in to all the criticism.

Lori: "Lynn! Stop it! None of this is helping anyone!"

Lynn: "Oh, come on! Let's not beat around the bush, here! We're a messed up family! And that Viriben guy was right!"

Lisa: "I believe our sibling referred to him as Viribus."

Lynn: "Whatever! He was right about everything! I'm the worst sister in the world! All I ever did was pick on Linc, bully him, hurt him, threaten him, make him do things he didn't want to! I even got him kicked out of the house one time!"

Lucy: "To be fair, he did go through with the deception until it backfired."

Lynn: "It doesn't matter! All I've ever done is make his life miserable, and all of yours! Think about it, all the fighting, ruthless competition, mean behaviour and falling out in this house. Who's the biggest instigator of that? Me! My competitive drive must make you all crazy sometimes!"

Lana: "But sis, we're all far from perfect. We all have faults that the others can't stand. It's just who we are and we learn to accept each other anyway."

Lola: "Yeah, like I've learnt to tolerate Lana always getting dirty."

Lana: "Yeah, and I've got used to Lola being such a spoilt pink princess."

Lynn: "But think of all the times I've made you all uneasy just being around me! No wonder Lincoln had enough of this house! Strange thing is, I treated him roughly because I wanted him to be tougher, to be able to handle the outside world and all the hostility we would face. But by trying that, I turned him against me and this house! Now he's gone and he's with some total stranger! I'm a total LOSER! UGH!"

Seeing her usually upbeat and cheery sister so utterly defeated and depressed inside, the usual gloomy and near stoic sister comforted her, starting with a rather ironic sentence…

Lucy: "Lynn, don't be such a downer. Look, none of us are perfect. We all have our flaws. I've sometimes felt the way Lincoln feels now. One time, I got so sick of you all annoying me, without even trying I might add, that I cast a spell on you all to teach you a lesson."

Lori: "Yeah, and all of my harsh attitude and tough commanding… it's just because I want to make sure there is some level of order and reason in this house. I would love to be more relaxed and down to earth with you guys, but I have a role to play as the oldest sibling."

Luna: "I've not been perfect either, dudes. One time, I threatened to punch Linc over something really stupid!"

Luan: "And all I really need to add to this conversation is 3 words. April Fools Day!"

Lisa: "I think the evidence clearly dictates we all have had our moments of distasteful misconduct. My own occasional underhandedness is undeniable."

Lori: "Look. We're by no means a perfect family. But it's the strong and admirable families that recognise their problems and work together to overcome them. It takes strong and good people to grow and make progress as human beings for their own and everyone else's sake!"

Luna: "She's right, dudes. We gotta own up to things and do what we can to work on making it better."

Lori: "Yes. I know it's not going to be easy, and we all have a lot to answer for and a long way to go to make this right, but we're not monsters, and we're not beyond redemption. We can be great sisters to Lincoln and each other, and we can be a stable and reasonable family. I believe we all have that in us."

Lucy: "Maybe I could benefit from looking on the bright side for a change."

Lynn: "You guys really think we could do that? Even me?" she asked sincerely, while sniffing and struggling to hold back tears.

Leni: "Of course, Lynn. We're all in this together and we'll make it right together."

Lynn: "Thanks, guys. This means a lot." She said as she smiled and began feeling better.

The whole sibling group embraced in a collective hug. They were all feeling down in the dumps at that moment, so they mutually benefitted from the cuddle as a means of comfort.

Lola: "So… when are we going to try and get Lincoln back again?"

Lori: "When we're able to prove to ourselves that we've become a better family."

Lana: "Yeah, I wouldn't worry about rushing it, sis. I betcha Lincoln's doing just fine over there. From what I saw of that house, it didn't look too bad." She said while trying to reassure her sister.

Lola: "Um, hello! It was old and dusty and had barely anything in it! It was a horrible place!"

Lana: "You stress too much. I'm sure he's having a good time."

Little did little Lana know, Lincoln was, in fact, really NOT having a good time…

While the Loud's came to terms with the past and were making plans on how they could take action to improve their future as a cohesive unit, Lincoln was spending his hours alone, in the dark room where his new so-called friends left him.

Lincoln (to the audience): "Boy, did I screw up. After leaving my house and my family, and wandering the streets by myself, I then put all my trust in a total stranger! And as it turns out, he's a complete psychopath! Now I'm all locked up in this little room, alone! I thought this was what I wanted, to be rid of a crowded house and a bunch of annoying sisters. Guess I was wrong."

He then sighed as he placed his face into his palms, regretting the recent choices he had made. Several hours earlier, his family had arrived at his current destination to take him home, and clinging onto his anger and resentment, he turned them down. Now he was paying the price.

Lincoln then looked towards the window of the room as he saw the sun setting. The cold, dark and desolate room was about to get much darker. This only intensified his feelings of sadness, regret and loneliness at that moment.

Lincoln (to audience): "If only I had let go of my stupid grudge against them. I could have been at home right now. I'd give anything to be there… instead of here." He stated as he closed his eyes and shed a tear.

Lincoln then began to reflect on everything he had experienced the past few days of his life. All the teachings and lessons from his new 'allies' from learning to stand up for himself to responding against hostility with violence. Lincoln then stood up and looked at the window again, but this time, intended to use it as a substitute mirror, taking advantage of its reflective properties. He saw a reflection of himself, except the white hair was a lot messier, the pupils of his eyes were bright red, his teeth were sharper, and he had a sinister and aggressive grin on his face, as if he were ready to savagely attack someone. Lincoln then blinked and then the mental illusion ceased and he saw himself as he actually was at that moment; shocked, horrified and scared.

That reflection he had was a projection of his mentality at that moment. Lincoln saw a version of himself that resembled a stereotypically evil counterpart to himself, because that's how he viewed himself at that moment. That is what he thought Viribus had made him… evil, cruel and violent.

As he stepped back and tried to recollect his state of mind, believing he was hallucinating, Lincoln then blinked again, and this time, in his reflection, he saw Viribus. Utter disbelieve and fear set in, as Lincoln saw the man responsible for locking him in the very room in front of him, with a sadistic and demented smile on his face. Lincoln then fell over and closed his eyes out of fright and panic. He then opened his eyes and looked at the window again, and his vision was back to normal. He saw himself as he was once again.

But Lincoln knew he was not right inside. In his head, all sorts of horrifying thoughts were floating around, and those hallucinations were just the tip of the iceberg. Lincoln tucked up, as if he were cold and were attempting to keep himself warm, because he was trying to comfort himself while being afraid. He began thinking of all kinds of unpleasant thoughts in his head.

Thoughts like… what if he were just like Viribus?

So that was chapter 9. Truth be told, I have almost the entire remainder of the story written in its draft form. Just a little proof reading, tweaking and completion for the ending is required and it'll be ready for submission, and I'll be free to casually go and update it periodically. Based on the ending of this chapter, you can probably guess what the next chapter will be about, but I'll save that for next time. Anyway, the date in which I will upload chapter 10 is unknown at this stage. As always, I have episode predictions and reactions to make whenever new episodes of the show are coming up as a priority task. Also, I am interested in compiling a review for one of my favourite episodes of the show to date from the first season, so that may take up some time as well. It shouldn't be too long, though…