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 twenty-three: Punk, Britannia

Lincoln Loud woke up in his bedroom (actually just a converted linin closet) at the Loud family residence one morning in Royal Woods, Michigan. Stretching his arms as he sat up in bed, Lincoln proceeded to hop out of bed and leave his bedroom. Once in the hallway, Lincoln saw to his surprise that there was very little traffic. …And by that, I mean only Luna, one of Lincoln's older sisters, stood outside of the bathroom door, clearly waiting for her turn to do what she was going to do.

"Morning, Luna," Lincoln said with a yawn as he approached his musically inclined older sister and the bathroom door. Hearing her little brother speak up, Luna turned around and saw him.

"Oh, hey, lil' bro," Luna greeted, "You sleep well?"

"Yeah, but I had this weird dream last night," Lincoln remarked. Upon hearing her little brother say that he had a dream the previous night, Luna became concerned.

"You…you didn't kill someone else in your dream last night, did you?" Luna asked, clearly looking concerned for her little brother.

"No, no," Lincoln began to clarify, understanding what his older sister was getting at, "I didn't say that I had a nightmare, I said that I had a weird dream."

"Oh," Luna replied, calming down visibly. With a mildly amused look on her face, Luna continued, "I bet it wasn't as weird as the dream that I had last night."

Lincoln looked up at his musically inclined older sister. Recently, Lincoln ran away from home, was gone for roughly two months, then was found and brought back home. Due to the nature of why Lincoln ran away, his entire family was remorseful, and all of them were working to at least try to makes things up to Lincoln. It was a rather slow process at first, but over time, Lincoln had come to forgive most of his family. Luna, who at the time was the only Loud girl that Lincoln had not yet acknowledged, was the one most recently accepted by the white-haired boy. Lincoln could tell that, seeing as how she had just returned to his good graces, that Luna was trying to be as friendly as possible, clearly not wanting to repeat what happened, and her trying to initiate small talk was part of that package.

Giving Luna a wry look of amusement, Lincoln remarked, "Try me."

"Heh, you're going to get a hoot out of this," Luna began, "So anywho, in my dream last night, Sam and I were gearing up to-"

Luna was cut off when the bathroom door opened, with Luna and Lincoln's older sister Lori stepping out. "Sorry about taking so long," Lori remarked, "But I literally had some facial business to take care of. It wouldn't do if I had a zit on my face right before my next date with my Boo-Boo Bear."

"Nah, there's nothing wrong with that," Luna replied as she moved to use the bathroom. To Lincoln, Luna remarked, "I'll fill you in on the rest of the dream later during breakfast." After Luna closed the door to the bathroom behind her, Lori turned to face her little brother.

"What did she mean by that part?" Lori asked.

"Oh, Luna was trying to tell me about some weird dream she had last night after I told her that I myself also had a weird dream, and she bet that hers was weirder than mine," Lincoln explained.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Lori replied with an amused smirk on her face, "I bet that the dream I had last night is literally weirder that yours and Luna's combined."


Later that day, Lincoln, along with his older sister Lynn, accompanied their mother Rita to greet some new neighbors in their neighborhood. "I wonder what kind of kids just showed up," Lynn remarked aloud, then continued when she turned to face Lincoln, "Do you think that they'd be interested in playing sports?"

"Assuming that the people who did move in have any kids in our general age group," Lincoln replied, "You can't say for certain, Lynn."

"Aww, come on, little bro," Lynn replied, "Don't be like that."

"Now Lynn," Rita, who was carrying a Tupperware dish of some homemade food, said to her athletic daughter, "Your brother has a point. There's no saying for certain that-" Rita stopped short when, as she and her kids that were with her turned the corner and saw the house that was being moved into, that there was a girl that looked to be roughly the same age as Lynn standing in the front yard, among the various boxed and furniture. Lincoln also saw this girl, and when he did, a few alarms immediately went off in his head.

The girl had fair skin and long yellow-blonde hair with streaks of colors in it, obviously there to give the girl a punk look. She wore a baggy hooded jacket that looked like the Union Jack, baggy jeans with torn knees, and large sneakers. At the time he and his family saw the girl, she was fishing something out of one of the front pockets of her Union Jack hoodie. The girl hadn't seen Lincoln yet, but he had a very good reason to fear that she'd somehow recognize him.

This girl was the same British punk girl that, back when Lincoln was under the guise of Broken Mirror in the city that he ran away to, had stumbled upon him having killed two gang members in order to save Ronnie Anne from being forced into joining said gang. Lincoln even saw that the British punk girl was wearing the ring that he gave her, after he, at her request, salvaged the ring off of one of the gang members that he killed. It was on one of her fingers on the hand that was holding the lollipop that she had taken out of the pocket of her Union Jack hoodie.

"…Huh," Rita remarked, unknowingly snapping Lincoln out of his thoughts in the process, "I guess you were right after all, Lynn." Back to reality, Lincoln proceeded to follow his mother and older sister over to the house that was being moved into. "Excuse me, young lady!" Rita called out, prompting the punk British girl to turn and see Rita approach with Lincoln and Lynn.

Seeing Rita, Lincoln and Lynn walking over to her, the punk British girl waved a hand in a gesture of greeting. "Top of the morning to you!" the punk British girl called out as Rita, Lincoln and Lynn came walking up, "The name's Mitzie Cornwell. I take it you'd like to speak with me mum, right?"

"That would be nice, yes," Rita replied, "Where can I find her?"

"She should be inside, luv," Mitzie replied as she pointed to the house her family was moving into, "Why not give the door a knock?"

Nodding in understanding, Rita went to go try and speak with Mitzie's mother, leaving Lincoln and Lynn behind. "You know," Lynn said as she began trying to make conversation with Mitzie, "You sound a lot like me and Lincoln's older sister Luna."

"Is she one of those Yanks who likes to pretend she's a Brit?" Mitzie asked.

"Ehh," Lynn said as she made the so-so gesture with her right hand, "It's mostly because her favorite musician is British. You ever heard of Mick Swagger?"

"Shortly before me family moved here from the other side of the pond," Mitzie began, "Me old man got himself in a bit of a pickle at a Mick Swagger concert in London."

"What happened?" Lynn asked.

"He got into a fight with a really fat woman and got arrested," Mitzie replied, "Although to be fair, the fat woman got arrested too, given that she started it."

"So…" Lincoln began, a mild hint of trepidation (that went by unnoticed by the two girls) in his tone, "…Your family moved from England to Royal Woods?"

"We actually moved from England to some city in the next state over," Mitzie clarified, "We moved here from that city to Royal Woods because me old man got a really nice job." Yeah, Lincoln figured as much. He already knew that this girl didn't move to Royal Woods straight from England, but he was hoping that if he played dumb, then this punk British girl, apparently named Mitzie, would fail to recognize him. She certainly hasn't said anything so far.

"Well if you got any questions, feel free to hit my family up," Lynn said, "We'll be glad to give you a hand."

Smiling, Mitzie said, "Glad to hear it, luv. Oh, I don't suppose I can get the names of the both of you, can I?"

"Oh, I'm Lynn Loud, and this is my younger brother Lincoln," Lynn said as she introduced herself and Lincoln, "That was our mom Rita who was asking for your parents."

"Nice to meet you, Lynn and Lincoln," Mitzie replied, "I'm looking forward to life here in Royal Woods."

"Yeah," Lincoln remarked, "It's…pretty great here in Royal Woods."

"I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what this place has to offer," Mitzie said with a nod. Shortly after Lincoln, Lynn and Mitzie had exchanged each other's names, Rita came walking back over.

"Lynn, Lincoln, it's time to get going," Rita said. The three members of the Loud family took their leave, with Lynn and Lincoln waving good-bye to Mitzie.

As Lincoln walked back with Lynn and Rita, Rita asked, "So, were you two trying to make friends with the new girl?"

"Yeah, mom," Lynn replied, "Her name was Mitzie, and her family moved from England to some city in the next state over, and they moved from that city to here in Royal Woods."

"Oh yes," Rita remarked, "The Cornwells moved to the United States from England. I bet that your father will be interested in hearing about that, given that he studied for a semester over in England."

"I bet Luna might also get a kick out of it," Lynn said, "She likes speaking in a British accent sometimes, remember?" As Lynn and Rita continued with their conversation, Lincoln allowed his mind to wander. Wander to concerns about someone from his violent past in the city that he ran away to suddenly showing up again.

He hoped that things won't end badly for him.


The following day, Lynn had invited Mitzie over, and while there, Mitzie got a first-hand account of how…creative…Lynn's family can be at times. The punk British girl was also formally introduced to all of Lynn's siblings, minus Luan and Lucy because they were both out at the time, but Lynn said that they should be back before long. As a side note, Mitzie and Luna both got a hoot out of meeting each other; Mitzie even thought that Luna's practiced British accent sounded more authentic than some of the actual accents she heard back in England.

"I've got to say, luv," Mitzie said to Lynn, "You got yourself a fine family here. But I only counted eight siblings."

"Yeah, Luan and Lucy are out at the moment," Lynn replied, "I'm not sure where they-"

"THAT SWINDLER!" Luan's voice exclaimed from the area of the front door, prompting Lynn, Mitzie, and everyone else in the house to investigate. Upon arriving, the other Loud siblings and Mitzie all saw that Luan and Lucy had returned from wherever they both went off to.

"What's going on, girls?" Lori asked.

"It's Flip," Lucy explained in a far calmer tone that what Luan was currently using, "He's at his old tricks again."

"I'm guessing that he ripped off either you or Luan?" Lincoln asked in a knowing tone.

"Actually, neither of us were ripped off by Flip," Lucy explained, "But we did witness Flip cheating Benny out of his change, so Luan's pretty livid right now." Shaking her head, Lucy continued, "How is that man still in business? I would have imagined that his shady business practices would have been made public knowledge by now."

"…Umm, you lot are going to have to fill me in on this," Mitzie said to the Loud siblings as a whole, "Who is this Flip person?"

"He's a local business owner who runs a gas station slash convenience store," Lori explained, "Flip is also something of a swindler, and is incredibly cheap to boot."

"So, I take it he not all that well received around these parts," Mitzie reasoned.

"Exactly," Lincoln replied; although he was still somewhat hesitant around Mitzie due to him having encountered her back when he was a runaway and was under the guise of Broken Mirror, Lincoln still would not wish being cheated by Flip upon the punk British girl. "Take my word for it," Lincoln added, "Doing business with Flip is not the best idea in the world."

"Alright, guv," Mitzie said with a nod in the affirmative, "Thanks for the warning. By the way, who's that Benny fellow you claimed was cheated by that Flip person?"

"A classmate of me and Luan's over at Royal Woods Middle School," Lynn explained, "Luan happens to have a crush on Benny, so you can imagine how much it bothers her that Benny was swindled by Flip."

"Hmm," Mitzie replied as she considered what she was just told, "You don't say." As the crowd of gathered siblings began to disperse, Lincoln saw a look of consideration on Mitzie's face. The white-haired boy had no idea what Mitzie was thinking, but Lincoln didn't think that she was connecting dots that he hoped would never be connected.


Later that evening, sometime before dinner, Lynn heard that Mitzie needed to be taken to the hospital because of some food poisoning she got when eating one of the hot dogs from the hot dog rack at Flip's Food and Fuel. When Lynn got back home with Rita after visiting Mitzie at Royal Woods General, Lynn told all of her siblings quite the tale; apparently, Mitzie did not like hearing how Flip was being a swindler, so she decided that she would teach him a lesson via exposing his questionable business practices, which included selling expired products such as expired hot dogs.

Mitzie only told this to Lynn; when police asked her about it at the hospital, Mitzie said that she had no idea that she had bought a hot dog that went bad until she started throwing up and having to make mad dashes to the restroom, and that was before the ambulance showed up to take her to Royal Woods General. To say that the Loud siblings, Luan especially, were happy to hear that Flip would be getting into so much trouble for all of this would be an understatement.

The day after Mitzie got out of the hospital, Lynn was hanging out with her, laughing out of amusement over the British girl's daring. Mitzie was also wearing a completely different outfit than the one she showed up in when her family moved to Royal Woods; the British girl had done away with the colored streak that was in her hair, going for full yellow-blonde, and had styled her hair into two side curly pigtails that reached halfway down her torso. Mitzie also wore a white long-sleeved shirt under a light gray sweater-vest, a plaid skirt that reached close to halfway down her legs, and socks that came up to about an inch under her knees. Mitzie also had a pair of brown shoes.

"Dude!" Lynn laughed as she and Mitzie drank cans of soda, "I can't believe you ate one of the hot dogs that was cooking in the hot dog cooker over at Flip's! Even my little sister Lana wouldn't eat one of those hot dogs, and she's recently developed a taste for peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwiches! You're crazy!"

"Well that disgusting bloke was crazy for thinking it was a right proper idea to sell expired products to unwitting customers," Mitzie replied. After draining the last of her can of soda, Mitzie said, "But seriously, luv, back to what I was originally asking you." Gesturing to herself as a whole, the British girl asked, "What do you think of me new look?"

"You look like you could pass for a student at that fictional school for British kids who are wizards," Lynn remarked.

Laughing in a good-natured tone, Mitzie gave her new friend a playful push against her shoulder while saying, "Oh, shut up!" The two girls then proceeded to share a laugh, as a bright friendship started to form between the two of them. The two girls proceeded to spend the rest of the day together, enjoying hanging out with one another, and their friendship overall.


The following day, Lynn had Mitzie and Ulfric over; Lynn figured that Mitzie might be good to join one of the many sports teams that she (Lynn) belongs to, and she was testing Mitzie to see which sport might be her cup of tea. As Lynn and her crush were training with Mitzie, Lincoln was watching from the back patio. "…This is football?" Mitzie said in a confused tone as Lynn held up a football.

"Yeah," Lynn replied, "Why do you ask?"

"This isn't the kind of football that I'm used to from my side of the pond," Mitzie remarked.

Sighing in a frustrated tone, Lynn explained, "Well here in the states, that version of football is called soccer." Gesturing to the football that she held, Lynn said, "This is what we call football over here."

"Uhh huh," Mitzie remarked as she, Lynn and Ulfric began to work around a little bit. As the three thirteen-year-olds threw the pigskin around, Mitzie remarked, "Hey mates, you know something that really annoys me? Yanks who pretend to be brits but are bad at it."

"Yeah, sorry if my dad trying to talk like he's from England yesterday when you came over offended you," Lynn replied in a mildly apologetic tone, "You know, I'm surprised that my sister Luna using her British accent doesn't offend you."

"That's because she isn't bad at it," Mitzie explained, drawing a bit of a chuckle from the sporty Loud sibling. As the playing went on, the British girl said, "Did you blokes hear about what was going on in the city that I moved here from? About how that violent cape Broken Mirror was nailing the hide of that local gang to the side of a barn?" As soon as Mitzie said that last part, Lincoln's heart immediately skipped a beat.

"Yeah, what about it?" Lynn asked casually.

"Did you know that I actually encountered Broken Mirror?" Mitzie continued, and when she said that, both Lynn and Ulfric stopped what they were doing.

"You…you actually encountered a dangerous vigilante?" Lynn asked.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Mitzie explained, "Look, luv, here's the deal. Back when I was living in that city, I was something of a punk, as you should have undoubtedly been able to tell from how I outfitted meself before I changed. Anywho, the local gang found me, and they were trying to recruit me. They made me a tempting offer, but I had doubts about wanting to actually join the gang."

"Did you tell them that you didn't want to join?" Ulfric asked.

Shaking her head in the negative a bit, Mitzie explained, "I never got a chance to. The two blokes I was set to meet about that business were lying dead on the floor of the abandoned building that I was going to meet them in. They were killed by that Broken Mirror fellow, who from what I remember about finding him was trying to let a Hispanic girl go."

"…Huh, that actually reminds me about this one story my older sister Lori told me," Lynn remarked, "You see Mitzie, Lori has a boyfriend named Bobby, and Bobby's family, the Santiagos, were set to move to the city that your family moved here from, as they have relatives living over there. Anywho, Bobby has a younger sister named Ronnie Anne, and from what I heard, while Ronnie Anne was in that city, the local gang was trying to force her to join. The reason why I bring all of this up is because Bobby, Ronnie Anne and their folks are Hispanic."

"Hmm…" Mitzie began, "…You think that this Ronnie Anne girl might be that same girl that I saw Broken Mirror save from being forced to join the gang?"

"She might even recognize you if you talk to her," Lynn remarked, "Although it might be good to switch back to your old look. That was the look that you had going when you and Ronnie Anne saw each other back then, right?"

"Right you are, Lynn," Mitzie replied, pointing a commending finger at the sporty Loud sibling, "So then, if we are to pursue this, we need to find that Ronnie Anne girl. Did she really move to the next state over?"

"No," Lincoln replied, him having spoken up causing the three thirteen-year-olds to turn to regard him. "…From what I heard from Lori while she was talking on the phone to Bobby," Lincoln began to explain, "Mrs. Santiago decided not to move her, Bobby and Ronnie Anne to that city because she thought that it was too dangerous, and she doesn't want Bobby or especially Ronnie Anne exposed to a place like that." With a look of consideration appearing on his face, Lincoln added, "Also, Lori recently heard from Bobby that the city in question is now having issues of racial tension aimed at people of Hispanic heritage."

"Oh yeah, he's got a point about that last part, mates," Mitzie said to Lynn and Ulfric while pointing to Lincoln, "Some of the blokes over in that city are flipping their lids over how the city's being run, and they're taking it out on others of a different race."

"Well that bites," Lynn remarked, "But anywho, we ought to go see if Ronnie Anne will recognize you. Come on." Lynn then proceeded to lead her friends into the house, with Lincoln following along, hoping that things wouldn't lead back to him.


By an incredible stroke of luck, Lincoln's past as Broken Mirror was not exposed. Seeing Mitzie in her original getup did surprise Ronnie Anne a little bit when Lynn, Ulfric and Lincoln brought Mitzie over, but the Hispanic girl confirmed that Mitzie wasn't really trying to pull anything, and she peacefully left when she received the ring from the gang member that said ring was salvaged from. But neither Ronnie Anne or Mitzie were able to piece together all of the coincidences. Even Lynn and Ulfric, both of which were present and thus heard both sides of the tale, did not suspect that it was Lincoln, while he lived as a runaway in that city, who was Broken Mirror.

After their time at the Santiagos' place, Lynn, Lincoln, Mitzie and Ulfric took their leave, with Mitzie and Ulfric parting from the group so they could head back to their respective places. This left Lincoln and Lynn alone to walk back to where they lived. "…Hey Lynn," Lincoln began in a mildly hesitant tone, catching his older sister's attention.

"What's up, Lincoln?" Lynn asked.

"If…if there was someone dangerous like that he-" Lincoln began, but Lynn cut him off.

"If he came anywhere near you, I'd do to him what he did to those gang members," Lynn said in a firm, confident tone, "No one even comes close to any of my siblings with the intent to hurt them so long as I'm around."

"…Well Mitzie did say that the guy only went after members of the local gang," Lincoln pointed out as he continued in the same hesitant tone, "So I'm guessing that he won't even come near me unless I decided to join a gang, and I don't really see that happening."

"Heh, yeah," Lynn replied with a laugh, "I'm sorry Lincoln, but I just don't see you as gang member material. No offence, but you're kind of a dork."

"I know," Lincoln said, mildly annoyed to have been called a dork by his older sister.

Lynn noticed that change in tone, and knew that Lincoln felt bad about being insulted. "Aw relax, little bro." Throwing her arm around Lincoln, Lynn dragged him into a lock so she could playfully noogie the top of his head while saying, "As much of a dork as you are, you're still my little brother." After she let Lincoln go, Lynn wore a look of concern on her face. "And I…" Lynn continued as she began sounding concerned and a little worried, "…I don't want to risk ever losing that again."

Lincoln could tell what his athletic older sister was getting at; even though Lincoln had already forgiven Lynn for her (admittedly rather considerable) role in the whole bad luck incident from a while ago, Lynn still felt awful about what she did in the first place. Smiling sympathetically, Lincoln laid a hand on Lynn's shoulder, getting her attention.

"…Don't sweat it, Lynn," Lincoln replied, "You just need to keep a few things in mind. One, you can't win every last sports game that you take part in. Two, you need to take responsibility for your losses instead of blaming them on things such as luck. And three, in a family as big as ours, a lot of us have a lot of things that we want each other to go to, meaning that there will be some times that some of us can't go watch you at your games, whether it's because we're supporting another sister at one of her events, or we're stuck somewhere, or we've been to so many of our sister's events so often that week that we're just too tired to come."

"…Heh, yeah," Lynn remarked in an admitting tone. Giving her little brother a gentle pat on the back, Lynn continued, "You got a lot of good points there."

"So, I'm going to guess that now," Lincoln began, "If you want one of us to go to one of your sports games, if we just so happen to tell you no, you'll respect our choice?"

With a gentle smile, Lynn replied, "You know it, Lincoln."

Lincoln smiled back at his athletic older sister. "Glad to hear it," Lincoln said, right as the Loud family residence came into view for him and Lynn. Seeing that home was just a quick dash away, Lincoln and Lynn picked up the speed a little bit, both wanting to return home as soon as they could.

END, RESTORED IMAGE CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Author's notes:

Although it came close, Lincoln's past was not blown. The disguise that he wore while operating in the city that he ran away to was really effective. Anywho, the next chapter will put Lynn and Lincoln in a situation similar to when Lynn coerced Lincoln into coming to her softball game. However, things are undoubtedly going to play out differently, given the lessons that Lynn has learned since that fateful morning.

Also, I would like to give a shout out to DJTimmer (I hope I got that right) for being the first to correctly guess who it was from Lincoln's past in the city he ran away to that would be showing up. Good job, man. You get a cookie.

To the person who thought that it was Sam that Lincoln ran into in the city, I'm sorry that you guessed wrong. Sam is fifteen, only has one colored streak in her hair, and wears a light blue leather jacket. Mitzie is thirteen, has multiple colored streaks in her hair (prior to changing her look) and wears a baggy hooded jacket (some sort of cloth, like cotton, I guess) that resembles the Union Jack (again, prior to Mitzie changing her look).