Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
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Chapter eleven: Surprise Pardon
Lincoln was sitting in the living room of his ex-family's house one day in Royal Woods, Michigan. He was skimming through a comic book while Lucy, Lola and Lana, the only family members who Lincoln had forgiven so far, were watching cartoons. Lincoln wasn't even paying attention to the cartoon that the girls were watching, but the white-haired boy highly doubt that the girls would watch some raunchy cartoon that was rated far too high for younger elementary school-aged children such as them.
When the cartoon went to commercial break, the girls started talking amongst themselves. "Hey Lucy, Lana," Lola began, "Anything interesting happening?"
"Lynn mentioned something about student body elections at Royal Woods Middle School," Lucy replied, "I don't know much beyond that, although I think we can ask either Lynn or Luan whenever one of them gets back."
"Student body elections?" Lana asked.
"Imagine if Royal Woods Middle School was the United States," Lucy began to explain, "And the students taking part in the student body elections are presidential candidates."
"…So, whoever wins the student body elections at Lynn's and Luan's school becomes president of the students at the school?" Lana asked.
"Sort of," Lucy replied, "It's a bit more complicated than that."
"Why can't the candidates do something a whole lot simpler to determine who becomes president of the students," Lana remarked, "Like wrestling or bare-knuckle boxing each other?"
"I'm pretty sure that if that were the way the student body elections were determined, then Lynn would end up as the new student president at her school," Lincoln deadpanned, having heard just enough of what his sisters were saying to follow the conversation. Having heard their older brother speak up, Lucy and the twins all turned to face him.
"It would make things easier for her if that were the case," Lola remarked, sounding like she agreed wholeheartedly with Lincoln.
"Well I don't think that any of us will have to worry about either Lynn or Luan becoming a school-level politician," Lucy said in her usual emotionless monotone, "Because Lynn also said something about her, Luan and Ulfric helping Benny, who's running for student president."
"Benny?" Lincoln repeated in a mildly confused tone, "Wait, you mean Luan's crush?"
"Yeah, him," Lucy replied in a confirming tone, "From what Lynn said, things are looking good for Benny due to a lack of other students competing for the same-" The gothic Loud sibling was cut off when the front door of the Loud family's house was thrown open, letting Luan, Benny, Ulfric and a clearly steamed Lynn walk in.
"What in the hell does that bastard think he's doing?!" Lynn nearly exclaimed at the top of her lungs, "He's got some nerve!"
"Relax, Lynn," Luan said, "There's no way that Benny will lose the elections to him, not with you, me and Ulfric backing him up."
"Your sister has a point," Ulfric remarked to Lynn, "And keep in mind that he still carries some of the stigma that resulted from when his team was disqualified from that one game where they played against your team. I doubt a lot of the students at our school will trust him."
Having heard the commotion that the four middle schoolers were making, Lincoln and his little sisters looked over to see what was going on. "Hey Lynn, Luan," Lincoln called out, getting the older kids to turn and see Lincoln and the younger Loud girls, "What's going on here? You guys sound like something dumb just happened."
"That's because something dumb did happen, Lincoln," Lynn replied, "That jerk Francisco is running in the student body elections at Royal Woods Middle School!"
"Really?" Lincoln said, surprised to hear of this turn of events. From what Lincoln remembered about him, Francisco did not seem to be the kind of person to do something like compete in a student body election. Might Francisco's budding rivalry with Chandler have something to do with this?
"Well here's hoping that Benny creams him in the primaries," Lola said, pumping a fist into the air, "Jerks like Francisco are jerks!"
"Umm, thanks," Benny replied, a bit taken back by the support Lola was giving him.
"Is anyone else running in the student body elections?" Lincoln asked.
"A boy named Jack and a girl named Kendra," Benny replied, "And every person running besides myself has someone running with them as a running mate."
"You haven't picked your running mate yet, Benny?" Luan asked, looking a bit confused.
"Well I was thinking about asking Ulfric if he was game," Benny remarked. Patting Ulfric on the shoulder, Benny continued, "He's a solid guy from what I've gotten to know about him so far."
"Ha, you flatter me," the Swedish boy remarked, "And you are more of a trustworthy person than that Francisco person you're running against." Giving Benny a clap on his shoulder, Ulfric said, "Sure thing, Benny. I'll join you."
"Okay, you guys," Luan said as she clapped her hands together, "We've got to plan out how Benny's going to win this thing!"
"You mean establish his campaign platform?" Lola asked.
"Yeah, that," Luan replied as she pointed in a commending manner at her younger sister. The four middle schoolers then went upstairs to one of the bedrooms to discuss the plan for Benny's bid to win the student body elections. After they were gone, Lincoln and his little sisters turned back around.
"Wow, student body elections," Lana said, "Sounds like fun."
"Better you than me," Lincoln remarked dryly, "Sorry, but stuff like that just doesn't sound like my cup of tea. I don't really see myself as much of the type to run for any sort of office."
"But you do hope that Benny will win, right?" Lola asked, "I mean, Lynn and Luan are directly working with Benny to help him win, so if Benny wins, that means our sisters w-"
"Your sisters, Lola," Lincoln clarified, "You, Lana and Lucy are the only sisters that I'm aware that I have." The three younger Loud kids all looked a bit disappointed, having been reminded that their older brother is still resentful of most of their family overall. Even though Lucy and the twins had all been forgiven, they were still guilty of the roles that they played that contributed to Lincoln running away.
"…Still," Lincoln continued, prompting the younger girls to look up, "If the alternative is Chandler's new rival winning, then yeah, I'll be rooting for Benny." Hearing their older brother say this brought a measure of relief to Lucy and the twins, who all smiled. "But anywho, let's leave that business to Lynn, Luan and their friends," Lincoln said, "We're students at a different school than them. We should focus on what's happening at our school."
"Yeah, that does make sense," Lucy replied as the cartoons just got off of commercial break. Seeing that their animated programming just came back on, Lucy and the twins turned their attention to it. Lincoln, smiling in mild amusement at his younger siblings, picked his comic book back up and resumed reading. It was a new issue of Ace Savvy, and Lincoln wanted to make sure that he gave the latest issue of the world's savviest crimefighter's exploits a thorough read through.
"Hey, Lincoln! You wanna come to my softball game today?"
Lynn caught her younger brother in the hallway at their family's house one morning before one of her sports games. Out of everyone in Lynn's family, Lincoln is the only one who has yet to come to one of her games to support her, and she really wanted Lincoln to be there. Lynn noticed her brother grumble something to himself before he spoke up.
Sighing in a resigned tone, Lincoln said, "Sorry, Lynn, but I just can't. I've been to things our sisters have had non-stop ever since this month began, and I'm just tired. I was planning on just staying home today, read some comics, and maybe catch on some sleep that I've missed due to the aforementioned events our sisters had."
"Oh, come on!" Lynn said in a tone of complaint, "My team in on a win streak here! Don't you wanna see me cream the competition, little bro?"
"Maybe another time, Lynn," Lincoln said, his tone sounding tired, "Just…just not today, alright?" The sporty Loud sibling was annoyed, and a little bit dejected, that her little brother didn't want to come out to her game and be there for her. Lynn wanted Lincoln there, even if she had to use the baseball bat she had with her to make him come, and Lynn, in a rare moment of weakness on her part, was sorely tempted to use the bat in such a way.
…But just as she began to raise it, the hitting end of the bat barely an inch above the hallway floor, Lynn suddenly stopped short when she realized what she was about to do; she was about to threaten her little brother, with physical violence, into doing something he just said he isn't in the mood to do. That made Lynn no better than the bullies she protected her siblings from. The sporty Loud sibling's grip on her bat's handle slipped, allowing the sports equipment to clatter to the hallway floor. The slipping of Lynn's bat caught Lincoln's attention.
"Lynn?" Lincoln said in a mildly concerned tone, "Are you okay?"
"I…" Lynn began, but she stopped short, then furiously shook her head. Taking a breath to try and steady herself, Lynn said, "I'm sorry, Lincoln. Yeah, I can understand you wanting some time to unwind. Going to events the rest of our siblings had can be tiring." Lynn bent over to pick up her fallen bat, straightened up, then patted Lincoln on the shoulder. "…Yeah, hopefully you can come out to the next game," Lynn said, "Sorry for trying to be pushy just now."
Lincoln was confused by his sporty older sister's sudden change in attitude, but the apology, plus Lynn relenting and letting him unwind like he wanted, put a small but appreciative smile on his face. "Thanks, Lynn," Lincoln replied, "Good luck at your game."
"Thanks, bro," Lynn replied with a smile as she headed downstairs to finish up getting ready to head off to her softball game. The sporty Loud may have wished that her little brother would have come out to support her, but she respected that he needed some down time. After all, with a family as big as theirs, they can get worn out rather quick trying to support each other all the time. A bit of rest and relaxation was needed from time to time.
…
The softball game ended in favor of the opposing team. As Lynn rode in the passenger seat of Vanzilla, bummed over her team's loss, she thought that maybe it was a good thing Lincoln wasn't there to see her make a fool of herself. Although…maybe if Lincoln was there, then his presence might have been a good luck charm, giving Lynn just the luck boost that she needed for her team to-
No, that made no sense, Lynn thought as she shook her head gently to rid her mind of the trail of thought that it was about to follow. Before the game that her team lost today, her team had won six games in a row, and Lincoln didn't come out to any of those games. Lincoln didn't come to the games where Lynn won, and Lincoln certainly wasn't at the game where she lost. That means that Lincoln's being at a game was irrelevant if Lynn won or lost a game.
"You okay, sport?" Lynn Sr., the one who was driving Vanzilla at the time, asked as he noticed his sporty daughter and the child named after him shake her head, "You're not upset that you lost, are you?"
"Well, I'd be lying if said that I wasn't upset about that," Lynn admitted, "But I…I was about to blame Lincoln for my team losing." Sighing, Lynn said, "I was thinking that if Lincoln was at the game to support me, then my team wouldn't have lost. But we won the last six games before this one, and Lincoln wasn't at any of them."
"Well sport, Lincoln did have to go to some grave-digging competition that Lucy was in," Lynn Sr. began, "And he also had to go to a fashion thing of Leni's that I think was for charity, and he went to that tournament where Lori's varsity golf team played against the varsity golf team of another school, so your brother understandably had his plate rather full." Noticing that his daughter still seemed a bit bummed, Lynn Sr. said, "There's always the next game, Lynn Jr."
"Dad, I…" Lynn said as her voice started to break out of regret, "…I almost threatened Lincoln into coming to today's game."
"You almost did what?" Lynn Sr. said in a shocked tone, not believing what he was hearing.
"I almost threatened Lincoln!" Lynn nearly exclaimed as tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes, "I kept getting annoyed with how Lincoln never came to any of my games, so I was going to threaten him into coming today!" Curling up into a fetal position on the seat she was in, Lynn rest her forehead against her knees as she sobbed, "What's…what wrong with me, dad?"
"…Not as much as there would have been if you actually did go through with bullying your younger brother like that," Lynn Sr. remarked, "Junior, I can't say that I'm proud of what you were considering doing. Threatening your little brother, or any of your siblings, is one of the absolute last things I ever want to hear about you doing." Lynn knew that her father would say something along these lines, although knowing that it would happen didn't make hearing about it any easier for her. It also stung Lynn when her father referred to what she was considering doing as a form of bullying; she really wasn't any better than those bullies after all.
"…But what I can say that I'm proud of," Lynn Sr. continued, getting Lynn to look up at him in the process, "Is that you realized what you were doing, what you were about to do, and that you stopped yourself before you crossed that line. That proves that you have a lot of strength as a person, Junior. Good job."
Still a bit emotionally conflicted due to what she had almost done, Lynn nonetheless smiled, a small and mildly sad but ultimately appreciative smile, due to the words of encouragement she was getting from her father. Wiping a tear from the corner of her right eye, Lynn said, "Thanks, dad. Sorry for being so weird and everything right now, but I still can't believe that I almost became what I protect my siblings from."
"Yeah, I can understand what you're getting at," Lynn Sr. replied, "I mean, I'm pretty sure that Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Lily wouldn't really app-"
"Who said that it was just limited to protecting my younger siblings?" Lynn said, interrupting her dad in the process, "Did you not hear what that one jerk said to Luna while she was on a date with Sam, and what I did to said jerk in retaliation?"
"Wait a minute," Lynn Sr. said in a tone that was partly surprised but mostly confused, "I thought that it was Lori who threw that guy head-first into a nearly full garbage can."
With the biggest smile she had since before she left home earlier for the softball game today, Lynn said, "Nope."
…
Lynn couldn't believe it; her team had not only made a recovery from their earlier loss, but they did so by scoring a doubleheader! They were heading to the playoffs! To make things even better for the sporty Loud sibling, her entire family was at the game, meaning they had all seen her win it big time! As her team cheered down on the field, Lynn looked over to the bleachers where the audience sat, and after a quick scan, Lynn found her family.
Lincoln was sitting there, between Luna and Leni.
Having seen her family, she gave them a quick wave before her teammates swept her up into some celebratory running around and all-around revelry. Lynn and a teammate of hers even dumped a cooler of water over the head of their coach in celebration. Yeah, this is how Lynn liked things; her team winning, and her family being there to see them win.
No threatening them into coming necessary.
…
"GAAAAAAAA!" Lynn exclaimed suddenly as she jolted awake, surprising Luan, Ulfric and Benny in the process; the four middle schoolers were in Luan and Luna's room, brainstorming about what to do to help with Benny's campaign in the student body elections. At some point, Lynn drifted to sleep while Luan and the boys were talking.
"…Did you sleep well?" Ulfric asked Lynn, a hint of knowing amusement in his tone.
"I…" Lynn began, but she stopped short and shook her head. "…It's nothing," Lynn continued, "So anywho, what did I miss while I was out?"
A few days later, there was some sort of school dance event over at Royal Woods Middle School. Lynn, after much internal debate, finally managed to work up the courage to ask Ulfric if he'd go to the dance with her. Ulfric, although he was at first confused because he thought that in the United States it was boys who asked girls to events like the dance, nonetheless accepted.
Luan was a bit less nervous when it came to asking Benny, and although Benny accepted, he had to cancel at the last minute because of an out-of-nowhere family emergency that popped up. Although upset, Luan nonetheless understood, even wishing Benny's family luck upon hearing that his grandaunt was rushed to the hospital due to kidney troubles. Luckily for Luan, her friend Maggie was available, so the two of them went to the dance as friends.
"…I don't really think that Benny should worry about that Francisco guy," Maggie remarked to Luan in a conversational tone as they stood off to the side near the table with the punch bowl, "Francisco is just small potatoes." After draining her cup of punch dry, Maggie continued, "Now Kendra, on the other hand, is the opponent that Benny should worry about. That girl's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on her."
"You've…run into Kendra before?" Luan asked, a bit surprised that her friend had such a view on some seemingly random person at their school.
"Luan, girl, trust me," Maggie began, "When you've been doing the social ladder tango with the student population of our school for as long as I have, you'll learn who the crazies are, and how to best avoid them." Confused, Luan nonetheless decided to follow her friend's warnings, figuring that keeping an eye on Kendra might be in the best interest of Benny's campaign for student body president.
…
Over in another area of the gymnasium of Royal Woods Middle School, where the dance was being held, Lynn was talking to her mother Rita, one of the adult chaperones that was needed for the dance. "Aww, isn't this the cutest thing ever!" Rita said in a mildly gushing manner, "My daughter asked her boyfriend to the dance!"
"Ulfric isn't my boyfriend!" Lynn said in an embarrassed manner, "…Well, not yet, at least."
"She's got a point, Mrs. Loud," Lincoln remarked in a cool yet neutral tone; due to the fact that he would have otherwise been left home alone, Lincoln had to come along with Rita. Looking to his ex-family members, Lincoln continued, "I'm pretty sure that Lynn would have brought it up if she and Ulfric were going out."
"Y-yes, Lincoln, you got a point," Rita agreed, hesitating just a bit upon hearing her own son, yet again, refer to her as Mrs. Loud rather than as his mother. It was something that stung painfully at Rita's heart, mostly because she knew full well that she had played a role in making it happen.
"So, Lynn," Lincoln began, getting his sporty ex-sister to focus on him, "How's that student body election thing that Luan's crush is taking part in going?"
"Oh, the election?" Lynn said, her tone mildly surprised but mostly confused by the sudden change in topic, "Oh, umm, it's going fine. Last I heard, that Jack guy currently has the least amount of support, so at least Benny has a chance."
"That's nice," Lincoln remarked, the barest hint of interest seeping through his otherwise cool tone, "Glad to see that the team that you're on isn't currently coming in last place. Anywho, I don't suppose you know where the nearest bathroom is, do you? I think that I've had one cup of punch too many."
"If you go up the stairs on the right-hand side of the stage," Lynn began as she pointed to the stage that was in the gymnasium, "And you take a right, walk straight past the racks of folding chairs, head through the doorway with the green exit sign above it, then take a left, you'll find the bathrooms."
"Thanks," Lincoln replied as he headed off to follow Lynn's directions. After Lincoln had disappeared into the hidden area off to the side of the stage, Rita turned to look at Lynn.
"Is…is Lincoln starting to get along with you girls again?" Rita asked, sounding as if she were a bit hesitant to ask.
"Well, he's forgiven Lucy and the twins, for starters," Lynn began to explain, "And from what they told me, Lincoln may soon extend that to Lori and Lisa as well."
"So, he…" Rita began, but stopped short, took a breath to steady herself, then continued, "…He's starting to trust us again. That's good." Sighing in a resigned tone, Rita said, "How could we have let our imaginations run wild on us like that? How could we have treated Lincoln like that? Who knows what Lincoln might be doing right now if it hadn't been for all of the coincidences that led to Lori finding him?"
"He would probably be hating all of us right now," Lynn remarked dryly, and with more than a hint of regret in her tone, "Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually was hating all of us aside from Lucy, the twins, Pop-Pop and Aunt Ruth." Rita couldn't say anything, although she felt that if her own son, her only son, hated her because of her role in what happened to him, then she had it coming. Some mother she was.
…
"You want me to do what?"
Aside from Rita, there were a few other adults acting as chaperones for the dance at Royal Woods Middle School. One such adult was Chandler's mom, and due to reasons similar to why Rita brought Lincoln along, Chandler's mom had to bring Chandler along. Chandler himself was talking to a middle school-aged girl that was surprised by what Chandler was saying to her, but the tone of her surprise indicated that she was familiar with Chandler to some extent.
The girl herself had white hair with pale green shading near the ends, and the hair was tied into twin pigtails, with each pigtail adorned with three fairly large green beads. The girl wore a white capelet (with green trim) that had a light fur collar, a green long-sleeved blouse, a white frilly skirt, white stockings that reached over her knees, and green shoes. The girl's eyes were also a bright and vibrant shade of emerald green.
"It's very simple, cousin," Chandler said to the green-clad girl, who was apparently his cousin, "I need you to find either that Benny guy, that Jack guy, or that Kendra girl, get the person that you managed to get ahold of to follow you to where I got something set up, and get them to wait there until my friends and I carry out our plan."
Chandler's cousin, with her left hand on her hip and her right hand to gesture at Chandler, remarked in a mildly confused tone, "And you're sure that this will screw over the guy whose dad is competing with Uncle for that position at the sewage treatment plant?"
"The boys already got some stuff we can plant as evidence to make it look like Francisco is behind it, yes," Chandler replied in a casual laid-back tone that sounded like it was being reassuring, "Don't worry, Kara. This'll be guaranteed to help our family out."
"…Alright, Chandler," replied the cousin, apparently named Kara, as she turned around to go look for any of the three students who Chandler just asked her to go look for. A few minutes later, Kara came back to Chandler, who was hanging near where he was at when he sent Kara off to find either Benny, Kendra or Jack. With a gentle shake of her head, Kara said, "Sorry, cousin, but I couldn't find either Benny, Kendra or Jack."
"Are you kidding me?" Chandler said, a bit shocked by the turn of events.
With a gentle shake of her head, Kara continued in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, but I asked around, and everyone that I talked to said that neither Benny, Kendra or Jack came to the dance today. If it helps, a few of the students that I had talked to said that they saw that Francisco had come to the dance."
"No, Kara," Chandler said in a mildly strained tone, "For my plan to work, it has to look like Francisco is the guilty party, and that would be rather difficult if Francisco himself is the one that fell for the plan. It'd be ideal if one of Francisco's opponents in the student body elections was the one to fall for the plan, because then people would be quick to-"
"How about someone on the team of one of Francisco's opponents?" Kara suggested, interrupting Chandler in the process.
"…Go on," Chandler replied, his interest piqued by his cousin's suggestion.
"Although no one saw either Benny, Kendra or Jack themselves at the dance," Kara began, "A few students said that they did see Kendra's and Benny's respective running mates here. I also personally saw that Luan and Lynn Loud, who are part of Benny's team, are here as well."
"Loud, huh?" Chandler remarked, "Huh, now why does that name strike me as familiar?" After a few seconds of consideration, Chandler said in a dismissive tone, "Nah. It's obviously nothing important if I don't bother to remember anything about it." Gesturing to Kara with his right hand, Chandler said, "Yeah, go ahead and get one of the people you figure would work to follow you and wait at the spot so my friends and I can carry out our plan." Chandler's cousin nodded once in an affirmative manner, understanding her order, before she turned around to begin helping to advance her family's position.
Meanwhile, off in the area to the right-hand side of the stage in the RWMS gymnasium, Chandler's two primary goon-friends were hiding in waiting. "Dude, what that seriously Larry that we just saw walk on by?" the first goon-friend said to the second in a hushed whisper, his tone clearly conveying surprise mixed with more than a hint of worry, "Dude, what are we going to do if he finds us?"
"He didn't see us when he walked by," the second goon-friend replied, "So as long as we keep quiet and keep behind some cover and in shadows, there's no way Larry should see us. Besides, we got other things to worry about, remember? When one of the students that Francisco guy is running against comes by, we have to spring the plan." The second goon-friend pointed over to something that was off to the side somewhat, getting his friend to look up; there was some sort of trap set up. The second goon-friend then held up a rope for the first goon-friend to see.
"A good thing we found enough stuff to make sure that the plan won't cause anything really bad but still be rather serious," the second goon-friend said, "And we can't forget the part where we make sure that we plant the evidence to make it look like Francisco's behind it."
"…I'm still a little rattled that Larry's here for some odd reason," the first goon-friend said, "I mean, do you not remember that stare-down that he gave to Chandler? Did you not hear how Larry single-handedly made that third-grade bully Biff back down? And remember when Larry came running out to the playground when that little girl trounced you, me and Chandler on her own? I'm not sure if you noticed, but I saw the look on Larry's face back then, and he looked like he was ready to go to war!" Shuddering in a way that clearly conveyed fright, the first goon-friend said, "I think that Larry's managed to accomplish the impossible, and has become even more terrifying than Ronnie Anne!"
"Dude, try to calm down," the second goon-friend said, "Larry doesn't know that we're here, and so long as you follow my lead, he's not going to find out."
Slowly breathing in and out, the first goon-friend said, "Alright, man."
"Good," the second goon-friend said, "Now all we have to do is-" The second goon-friend was cut off when he felt his pocket vibrate. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a phone and saw that he had gotten a text, which he proceeded to read; Change of plans, I'm bringing someone who's connected to Benny's party to fall for the plan, get ready.
"…Look's like Chandler's cousin Kara is bringing by the person to fall for the plan," the second goon-friend remarked as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. To his fellow, the second goon-friend said, "Get ready." The first goon-friend, still a little spooked by who he saw walk past earlier, was nonetheless ready to work, even carefully and discreetly slipping some printed out campaign posters for Francisco's bid to win student body elections.
"So," Lynn began as she walked and talked with some random girl from her drama class that she hardly even knew existed, "…Kara, was it? What was it that you wanted to show me again?"
"I spotted what looked like one of those old leather football helmets that were used before the modern hard plastic ones laying on the floor in the off-stage area off to the right-hand side of the stage," Kara explained, "You're good with sports, so I figured that you might get a kick out of seeing it. You may also be able to tell me if I was right about what I saw."
"Huh, well I did see old photos of football players wearing those leather helmet things," Lynn said, "But why didn't you simply grab it and bring it to me?"
"It's under a folding chair rack that's behind some large stage props," Kara explained, "There's no way I'd be able to move all of that stuff on my own."
"Yeah, that does sound reasonable," Lynn replied as she continued to follow Kara. With Lynn following her, Kara smiled a bit to herself on the inside; there really wasn't one of those old leather football helmet things, but Lynn didn't really need to find that out. All she had to do was fall for the plan, then the friends of Kara's cousin Chandler would carry out their part, then before she knew it, everyone in RWMS would view Francisco at an all-time low.
There was a good chance that Francisco himself might be blamed for the plan, rather than a group of students that were Francisco supporters, which Kara thought would be the most likely outcome of this plan, given what was going to happen. Either way, Francisco's rep would be taking a serious hit, and that was the important part.
"So, Kara," Lynn said, snapping Kara's attention back to reality, "Where is it?"
"Oh," Kara replied, "It should be somewhere-"
"Lynn?" Lincoln's voice called out, getting Lynn and Kara to look over and see the white-haired Loud boy standing there, having returned from using the bathroom. Over from where they hid, Chandler's two goon-friends saw that Lincoln was standing there.
"Dude," the first goon-friend hissed quietly in a clearly worried tone, "Larry's here! We're in trouble now!"
"Man, you've got to relax," the second goon-friend whispered to his fellow, "There's no way we're going to be found out so long as you-"
"I'm doing it now!" the first goon-friend said in a hushed whisper, taking the rope end that his fellow showed him earlier and giving it a good tug, prompting the second goon-friend to go wide-eyed with surprise and a bit of shock.
Over where Lincoln was talking to Lynn and Kara, the white-haired boy said to his sporty ex-sister in a mildly suspicious tone, "What are you doing with your friend here, Lynn?"
"She was just going to show me something, Lincoln," Lynn replied, her tone sounding like she was regretting something. Kara noticed the odd tone, but she had no idea why Lynn would be speaking to this boy in such a regretful tone. Kara decided that it was a non-factor and proceeded to try and go through with helping her little cousin's plan along.
"It's one of those old timey leather football helmet things," Kara said to the sole Loud boy, "I figured that she'd get a kick out of it since she's into sports."
"Yeah," Lincoln remarked in a nod of agreement, "That does sound like Ly-" Lincoln was cut off when he and the two middle school girls heard some creaking from off to the side. Looking over, the three kids saw a large pile of stuff that was piled in a way so that just a little bit of outside effort would be enough to make it all fall over. Seeing some of the objects in the pile shift around a bit, Lincoln could tell that unless he got out of the way quickly, he'd be buried in an avalanche of-
"LINCOLN, LOOK OUT!" Before anyone knew what was going on, Lincoln felt himself getting shoved out of the way. He ended up falling over and rolling a bit before he knocked into the door with the green exit sign overhead, which Lincoln had closed upon returning from the restroom. Right as Lincoln slammed into the closed door, he heard a large commotion of noises clamoring out in a booming symphony, and immediately afterwards, he began to hear the panicked shouts of people out in the gymnasium.
"Ow…" Lincoln groaned as he straightened himself out, "…What the heck just-" Lincoln stopped short when, upon looking over to where he was standing previously, there was now a large pile of various odds and ends, all of which had fallen over due to being overbalanced. Lincoln also saw that the green-dressed girl was picking stuff off of the pile and tossing them to the side, in a frantic attempt to unbury an unconscious Lynn, who was sticking half-way out from underneath the pile while lying face down on the floor. There was also a somewhat large wooden crate pinning down on Lynn's left shoulder blade.
"Holy crap," Lincoln said in a quiet tone of shock as he was quickly hit by the situation. Getting up and running over so he could try to help the green-dressed girl, Lincoln shouted, "LYNN!"
"Mmm," Lynn moaned quietly to herself as she started to stir awake. When her eyes were open enough, the sporty Loud sibling saw, to her mild confusion, that she was sitting on the sofa at her family's house. "…Did they bring me home to recover?" Lynn said aloud to herself as she hopped off of the sofa.
Lynn looked around the living room, and aside from the surprising lack of volume in the house (the Louds had a reputation for living up to their family name, after all), nothing was off to the athletic thirteen-year-old. "…Hello?" Lynn called out a bit tentatively, "Is anybody-"
"Lynn, you're awake!" a younger male voice called out, cutting Lynn off midsentence and making her look over to the source of the noise. To Lynn's confusion, she saw Lincoln come running over to her; Lynn was confused because Lincoln was roughly as tall as the twins, and rather than his usual outfit of an orange polo and blue pants, he was wearing an orange shirt and a pair of overalls.
"That's the outfit Lincoln wore back when he was little," Lynn thought as the mini-Lincoln reached her. Shaking her head gently, Lynn said to the mini Lincoln that was in front of her, "Lincoln, why are you shorter, and why are you wearing a pair of Lana's overalls?"
"I'm short because I'm five," the mini-Lincoln replied, "Also, who's Lana?"
Lynn was now confused; her little brother was suddenly five-years-old again, and apparently Lana didn't exist. The sporty Loud sibling had no idea what was going on. But something else was on her mind; if Lincoln really was five-years-old again, does that mean he doesn't remember what she did to him? How she decried him as bad luck, which ultimately prompted him to run away? Did he remember any of the bad things she ever did to him? Could…could this a chance to try to set things right with her little brother?
"Lincoln," Lynn began in a mildly serious tone, getting her now even younger brother to look up at her, "Do…do you remember if I ever did anything bad to you?"
"Anything bad?" the mini-Lincoln repeated in a confused tone, before he proceeded to give consideration to his older sister's question. After a few seconds, the mini-Lincoln replied with a mildly grumpy look on his face, "Yeah, you took the last brownie snack cake, even though mommy said that it was for me!"
"Anything else you can remember?" Lynn asked, a hint of concern in her tone.
"Mmm…" mini-Lincoln said as he gave Lynn's question some thought, "…Nope, you just took my snack cake. You owe me a new one, by the way."
Lynn was immediately hit by a wave of emotions; regret, guilt, sadness, but over all of that combined, Lynn felt relief. Her little brother, oddly changed as he was, was not upset with her beyond something that can be very easily remedied. The sporty Loud sibling could not help but start crying, softly mind you, due to the immense relief that she felt. Crying that the mini-Lincoln noticed right away.
"Umm, Lynn?" mini-Lincoln said in a concerned tone, "Are you okay? If it helps, you don't really have to get me a snack cake."
"No, no," Lynn replied, "It's not that, little bro. It's…something else I had to deal with." Walking up to the mini-Lincoln, Lynn reached down and gently ruffled the top of his head. "Come on, Linc," Lynn said, "Let's look into getting you that snack cake."
"Okay!" mini-Lincoln said cheerfully as he proceeded to follow his older sister into the kitchen.
Lynn had to wipe a tear away from her eye as her little brother followed her. He didn't have the cool indifferent tone he had taken to using since returning home after having run away, he wasn't showing any scorn towards her, and he overall just seemed to be happy. Happy to be around his older sister.
Lynn was happy that her little brother wanted to be around her, too.
…
"Mmm…" Lynn moaned quietly as she started coming to, and after a few seconds, the sporty Loud sibling was fully awake. The last thing that Lynn remembered was that she was leading her de-aged little brother into the kitchen to try and find a snack cake for him, and now, she is laying in a hospital bed. Well, she was laying in the bed; after waking up, Lynn sat upright in the hospital bed as she looked around her surroundings.
It was a standard room with a hospital bed, a bedside table on her right, a table off to the one side of the room, a chair in the far-right corner (from Lynn's point of view) of the room, and a TV suspended from the wall so that Lynn could watch TV while laying in the bed. To Lynn's piqued interest, Lori was sitting in the chair in the far-right corner. The oldest Loud sibling must be here to try and keep an eye on her, and was currently asleep.
Lynn also felt a bit of pain in the back of her head, prompting her to hold her hand to the back of her head. When she did this, she noticed that her hair was down, allowing it to flow over her back; looking over to the bedside table, Lynn saw that the ponytail she used to bind her hair up was laying next to a small vase.
"So…that was just…just a dream…" Lynn thought as she recalled her experiences before coming to in the hospital room she was in. Looking over to Lori, Lynn shouted, "Hey, Lori!" The noise Lynn made was enough to stir her older sister awake, and after yawning and stretching a bit, Lori looked over and saw that Lynn was awake.
"Lynn!" Lori nearly exclaimed upon seeing Lynn, clearly sounding relieved. Getting up and dashing over to Lynn, Lori asked, "Are you okay?"
"Well other than feeling like I got hit by a taco truck, I'm pretty go-" Lynn began, but she was cut off when she felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder blade. Quick reaching her hand over to her left shoulder, Lynn said through a hiss of pain, "Yeah, that smarts."
"Well at least you're going to be okay," Lori remarked, "Mom said that some girl that she and some others at the school saw trying to help Lincoln unbury you said that she saw a few kids rush out before anyone else could see them. The girl said that she didn't get a very good look at them, but she said that she did hear them say something about screwing up trying to make the competition easier for Francisco."
Pulling something out of a rear pocket on her shorts, Lori removed a folded-up sheet of paper, unfolded it, and handed it to Lynn. It was one of the printed campaign posters for Francisco's bid to win student body elections at RWMS. "…Luan said that she literally found one of these on the floor where that stuff fell down on you while you were loaded onto a stretcher and brought here," Lori explained. As she looked at the sheet of paper, Lynn began to feel mild regret.
"…And to think…" Lynn said, her tone a mix of regret and simmering anger, as her hand that held the printed poster tightened, causing the paper to scrunch up slightly. Lori could hear the crinkling of the paper as Lynn's hand that held it tightened into a fist. Looking up to Lori, Lynn asked in a worried tone, "Is Lincoln okay? I saw that the stuff that fell on me was about to fall on him, so I pushed him out of the-"
"Lincoln's fine," Lori replied in a gentle and understanding tone, interrupting Lynn in the process, "He was a bit upset when we found him and that other girl trying to unbury you, but he calmed down significantly when the medics said that you were just knocked out and would be fine after some treatment here at Royal Woods General." With a bit of an amused smile, Lori added, "By the way, Lincoln literally asked mom if you could be un-grounded."
"I was…" Lynn began, but stopped short upon remembering what Lori was talking about; the morning after Lincoln came back, her parents decided to let Lincoln decide how she was to be punished. Lincoln eventually let them go for Rita's original plan of grounding Lynn for two months, with the suggested punishments offered by Leni, Luna and Lola all being declined. Not Lisa's, for some odd reason, although Lisa has yet to use Lynn as a test subject since then.
"…Oh yeah," Lynn said quietly, "I'm still technically grounded."
"Were grounded, Lynn," Lori corrected, "You were grounded. Mom agreed to ungrounding you. She's literally going to tell dad about it later."
"…But why-"
"Did you not hear me?" Lori interrupted, "Lincoln asked for it. You…" Taking a breath to steady herself, Lori continued, "If it wasn't for you, then Lincoln literally would have been in this position himself instead of you. You…" Having to take another steadying breath, Lori went on, "…You saved your younger brother."
"Don't you mean our younger brother?" Lynn asked, sounding confused.
Gently shaking her head, Lori explained in a mildly somber tone, "Lincoln literally hasn't forgiven me yet for my part in all of us driving him away yet." Sighing, Lori continued, "Like I was literally going to say earlier, Lincoln is sitting in a chair outside of this room, waiting for any updates on you." Walking over to the door, Lori said, "I'm heading out to give Lincoln the go ahead to come on in."
Lynn watched as her older sister walked out of the hospital room, leaving her alone. But the sporty Loud sibling was alone for only a second or so, because Lincoln then peeked into the room, and upon seeing Lynn awake and sitting up in the hospital bed, he was at the door just long enough to close it (he was about to make some noise, after all), rushed over to her, threw his arms around her, and started crying into her right shoulder.
Lincoln throwing his arms around her like that made the pain in Lynn's left shoulder blade sting a bit again, but Lynn was so shocked by what was going on that she didn't even notice it. When Lynn finally processed what was happening, her expression changed from stunned shock to a sad, somber expression.
Slowly, Lynn wrapped her own arms around Lincoln to begin returning the hug. Lynn could tell that this wasn't a dream; the back of her head still hurt and she was starting to finally notice the sharp pain in her left shoulder blade again. The physical pain was going to be a bother to Lynn, and she expected that the part about her shoulder was going to hinder her when it came to sports. But all of that was far from Lynn's mind at the moment.
She was Lincoln's sister again.
Lynn began to cry.
END, RESTORED IMAGE CHAPTER ELEVEN
Author's notes:
…What, you thought that Lynn was going to be the last sibling, maybe even the last of the family overall, to be forgiven? Nope, she's the fourth. In all seriousness, writing the part where Lincoln forgave Lynn for her role in the NSL incident was very difficult, and I'm still not sure if I did it justice. Still, one has got to figure that if Lincoln is able to forgive Lynn, who is arguably the reason why the whole mess even occurred in the first place, then the hope for the rest of the Louds that Lincoln will come to accept them as family again should be pretty solid.
Anywho…wow. This is the longest chapter yet that I've written for this story. Sorry if it dragged on a little bit for you. I guess that I got a bit carried away. I'll try to keep things shorter in the next chapter, which I think will see me adapt more of the collection of one-shots that I mentioned to the setting of this story.
