Morning shone over the city of Royal Woods, Michigan as the sun peeked out from it's slumber and the residents began to awaken.

In one specific… and very loud house, a white haired teen began to arise from his slumber as he sat up on his bed. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he opened them with a loud yawn.

'Finally Saturday...' A small smile formed on his face as he thought about his plans for the weekend. 'Better go get some breakfast an- huh?'

His thoughts were cut off as he found himself staring at a blue screen in front of him with a small wall of text.

Hello there!
Congratulations, You have awakened the unique Gamer ability!
Would you like a tutorial?
Yes(O) / No(X)

The teenager responded in the only way he felt was reasonable in this situation. He threw his back against the wall and yelled.

"What the hell?!"

"So you just woke up one day with a video game screen in front of you?" Renee asked, taking a bite of her burger as she listened to her friend's story.

Lincoln nodded. "Yeah, and it caught me more off guard that no one else could see it. Leni came banging on my door asking me if I was alright, but when I tried to show it to her she didn't see anything."

"Sounds like it was a bit of a shock."

"It was…" Lincoln gave a half grin before frowning. "Honestly, the whole day I thought I was going crazy. I kept getting quests and stat points for little things such as taking out the trash, going to the local store, or helping out my sisters with something."

Renee laughed. "I can imagine."

"Honestly, this ability is pretty awesome." Lincoln looked at one of his hands before clenching it. "I feel like I haven't even begun to utilize it to it's best ability. There's so many ways I can go with it, it's insane."

"It really is…" Renee muttered with a nod of her head. "An ability that turns you into a video game character, you're basically a blank state with untapped potential. Like a canvas just waiting to be painted on."

"Exactly, though I managed to get my first class yesterday."

"Oh?" Renee perked up at that, leaning forward. "What class is it?"

"It's called Handyman but it comes with all sorts of abilities that I can unlock with points I earn leveling up or other ways. I looked through them and they all seem pretty cool." Lincoln leaned back in his seat. "So I don't want to push it but do you guys think you can lend me a hand?"

Renee remained silent for a moment before sighing. "If it was just up to me, Lincoln, I wouldn't mind. But…"

"But you don't know if the others would be okay with it." Lincoln finished for her as Renee nodded.

"Yeah, you already saw how strict Hazel was and the other two don't really know you either. We formed this group because we already were familiar with each other, and I'm the only one who's familiar with you." Renee's face became apologetic. "I'm really sorry Linc, but I'm going to have to run it by them first."

"It's fine, I wasn't really expecting anything different to be honest." Lincoln laughed, grinning at his friend who smiled back. "So don't worry about it too much, just keep me in mind. I can keep up my own training in the meantime."

"Sounds good, I'll be sure to ask them, Linc." Renee said, standing up from the booth as she grabbed her tray of trash.

"Oh yeah!" Lincoln went for his backpack, starting to dig around inside it as Renee raised an eyebrow. "Got something you might like… here it is!"

The boy held out an item in a bag towards Renee as she looked down at it in confusion. He grinned at her. "I know you've been looking for this everywhere. Luckily Rashuad managed to find the last copy in the back of his shop and gave it to me for a good price."

Renee took the bag and opened it only to gasp loudly in surprise.

"T-This is a limited edition copy of Ace Savvy vs One Eyed Jack…!" The girl's eyes seemingly sparkled as she held it up towards the light. "I've been looking for this everywhere, Linc! I can't believe you managed to find it!"

"Don't underestimate the Man with the Plan, Renee." Lincoln said smugly, pointing a thumb at himself.

Renee stared at the comic for a few more moments before turning to Lincoln as she hugged the comic close to her. "A-Are you sure you want me to have this? This is a limited edition copy after all."

"I gave it to you didn't I?" Lincoln smiled at his friend. "It belongs to you now, Renee. Enjoy."

Renee stared at the white haired boy before rushing over and giving him a tight hug. "Thanks Lincoln, I'll always appreciate this."

Lincoln's cheeks turned slightly red as he chuckled, giving Renee a few pats on the back. "Don't worry about it Renee, what are friends for after all?"

Renee nodded, before noticing the position they were in. Giving a small yelp, she quickly let go trying to hide her red face. Managing to regain her voice, she turned around. "W-Well I'll go and talk to others about letting you in on some of our training. I'll try and get back to you soon Linc, so see ya!"

With those words, the brunette walked briskly out the Burpin Burger to Lincoln's small amusement. The Gamer rubbed the back of his neck as he sighed.

"Well that went about how I expected it too…" Lincoln muttered to himself. "Guess I'll keep it up with the Item World and-."

He was cut off as a blue box appeared in front of him with a block of text.

Congratulations! You have unlocked the Harem Aura ability! You have also unlocked your first route, the Renee route. You lucky bastard you!

"Harem… Aura?" Lincoln muttered to himself before sighing. "This system is going to be the end of me, I know it."

Shaking his head, he threw away his trash as he walked out the Burpin Burger.

At the Sunset Canyon retirement home, Albert walked into his room before closing the door behind him. Approaching his desk, he pulled out a small piece of paper from one of the drawers with a few lines written on it.

The elder sighed. 'Well, I finally managed to find her number. It's been a few years since we last talked, so hopefully she'll recognize me.'

Sitting down at his table and pulling his phone close to him, he dialed the number and waited a few moments before hearing a female voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Hello Aramintha… it's Albert. It's been a long time."

"Albert…? As in Albert Williams?" The voice sounded genuinely shocked before laughing loudly as Albert smiled. "Well, I wasn't expecting this today at all! It's been what? Three to four years since we last talked?"

"Sounds about right. Sorry for not keeping in contact for all these years, but I heard you had formed a new group and were pretty busy."

Aramintha laughed once again. "It's fine, it's fine! I should have made an effort to call you myself if we're being honest. Just been so busy with my work and the dealings that have been going on in the Abyss. These young ones that I've taken in too are a real handful as well."

"You've adopted kids?" Albert asked, surprised.

"Oh no, they're all college age at the least. Well, except for two of them but they're still self sufficient. I'm just keeping an eye on them and giving them some wisdom on handling things in the Abyss. They all have some circumstances too."

"I see. Heh, you always did have a kind heart from what Sieg and Liza said about you."

"Yeah…" Aramintha trailed off before speaking once again. "Is there a reason you're calling by the way? It's not that I mind, it's just been a long time since we last talked."

"Yeah, it's about Sieg's and Liza's son." Albert responded, leaning forward. "My daughter says she thinks he has awoken his own Natural Ability."

"...Did he now? Is she sure?"

"She sounded pretty sure from what I could tell. He's been acting strange lately and his body has been changing. It didn't sound like puberty from what she told me."

"I see." Aramintha became silent for a moment. "And I'm guessing you want me to come and meet the kid huh?"

"I'd imagine you want to, considering whose son he is and how close you were to them." Albert smiled slightly. "From what Sieg and Liza told me, you were like family to them."

Aramintha laughed. "Yes, I still remember our days together like they were yesterday. I… I just wished I could have been there for them. Maybe things would have gone..."

"Aramintha." Albert cut the woman off in a stern but almost soft tone. "It wasn't your fault. They knew they were running out of time and they made the only decision they could at the moment."

"I know, I know. It's just…" Aramintha stopped herself before sighing. "So you want me to meet with the kid right? Maybe talk with him about the Abyss?"

Albert nodded, even though he knew Aramintha wouldn't be able to see it. "Yeah, that's right. I'm planning to head over to my daughter's house in a week and talk to him myself. So if it's not too much trouble for you…"

Aramintha laughed loudly. "It's not, it's not! It'll be nice to finally meet him and see how much of his parents are in him. Only problem is, I'm not in town nor even in Michigan at the moment."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, me and my guild are down in Arizona on some Abyss business actually. We won't be back in town for a few weeks." Aramintha explained, causing Albert to grimace. He had hoped to be able to get his grandson to meet the woman sooner.

"I see. Well, give me a call once you get back to Michigan. The sooner I get you two to meet the better."

"Will do. I should go, I'm needed right now." Aramintha paused once again. "And Albert. It was good to hear from you again. Thank you for looking after their son."

Albert smiled. "You don't need to thank me for that. Sieg and Liza meant a lot to me as well. There's absolutely no way I betray their trust in leaving their only son with me."

"That's good… well, I'll call you when I get back. Take it easy old man."

Albert laughed as he heard the dial tone go silent. 'Been a while since anyone called me that. Seems age hasn't gotten rid of all her spunk.'

He stood up, running a hand against the back of his neck. "Well, it seems she's on board with meeting Lincoln which is good. Now I just need to focus on the conversation I'm going to have with him."

With a whimsical smile on his face, he walked out of his room to join his friends for dinner. Now if only Sue would be a bit more lenient about dinner time.

"Wasn't expecting that to be honest…"

In a luxurious hotel room, a red haired woman sighed as she placed her cellphone on the table in front of her. Her dark blue eyes closed as she chuckled, leaning back in her chair.

"Shouldn't be surprised that their son developed a Natural Ability of his own. Especially considering how powerful Sieg and his own dad apparently were, it's only natural that it'd run in the family."

Aramintha looked up at the ceiling, running a hand through her damp hair as she had recently come from the hotel spa. "Have a feeling things are going to be a bit more troublesome through here on out." She smirked. "Well, wouldn't have things any different. Nothing has been normal or easy in my life after all."

A knock on the door caught her attention, breaking her from her musings.

"Aramintha, it's me. May I come in?"

"You may enter." Aramintha commanded in a joking regal tone. From the other side, she heard a small giggle before the door opened as a blue haired young woman wrapped in her own towel walked in.

The lady smiled though it seemed to be laced with some concern. "Is everything alright? You left the spa in quite a hurry."

"It's fine, Bellona. An old friend called unexpectedly is all. There's some business I'll have to handle when we get back to Michigan however." Aramintha assured, standing up from the chair as she approached her teammate. "On that note, how is everything? Lidica and Sez aren't causing any more trouble are they?"

"No, no they're not. We finally got Lidica to calm down and stop demanding duels. She's enjoying herself for right now." Bellona giggled as she continued. "And Sez finally relaxed when the food came. Though he still won't let the masseurs touch him."

Aramintha nodded, rubbing the back of her head a mirthful chuckle. "That's good, though not surprising. It's important to get rest when you can, however, especially since we'll be back to business starting tomorrow morning." She then turned her head away with a strained smile. "Also… I want to avoid getting kicked out of this hotel."

Bellona smiled mirthfully at her leader's expression. "I agree with you, it's quite nice here after all."

Aramintha grinned before starting to walk out the room. "Well, I'm going to go back and enjoy myself. Coming with?"

"Of course, you should also try out their beverages. They are amazing."

"Are they now?" Aramintha's grin widened. "Then I'll guess I'll have to give them a taste!"

Clyde McBride considered himself an observant person.

Ever since he met his therapist, Dr. Lopez, when he was younger, he had always tried to get a read on different kinds of people.

He considered himself actually pretty decent at it if anything. He wouldn't consider himself a great judge of character, but he could get a gist of who would make decent company at the very least.

However… someone who he thought he knew better than anyone, seemed to be going through some changes.

The dark skinned boy walked behind Lincoln as they went to their next class which was History. The rest of their friends were either going their own way or had a different class for the period.

'I wonder what's been up with him lately…' Clyde mused in his own thoughts for a moment before finally speaking. "Hey Linc, everything's been alright lately?"

"Hmm?" The Loud son turned his gaze back towards Clyde. "As good as it can be I guess. What's up?"

"It's just, I haven't seen too much of you lately outside of school. Sure we still text each other, but I was curious if something was up."

Lincoln scratched the side of his head, looking away. "Oh... that. My bad Clyde, I've just been busy with some personal stuff is all. I'm not trying to avoid you or anyone, don't worry."

"I see." Clyde went silent for a moment before another thought came to him. "You should also know that your sisters have been asking about you too. I saw Lori talking to Ronnie Anne yesterday as a matter of fact."

Lincoln sighed from what seemed like annoyance from Clyde's point of view. "I'm not surprised. I told them I was alright and hoped they would back off."

"You're their brother, Linc. I'm sure they're just worried about you." Clyde placed a hand on Lincoln's shoulder. "You thought about just talking with them?"

"That's… not really an option Clyde. What I'm doing right now is something I really don't want them getting involved with."

Clyde's eyebrows furrowed. "And that is…?"

However before Lincoln could answer, something roughly bumped him in his other shoulder causing him to take a small step back.

"Oops. Sorry Larry."

Lincoln's eyes closed with a sigh. "Hey Chandler."

Both boys looked to see a red haired teenager and green eyes as well as a green shirt and blue jeans around their age flanked by two other boys. He smirked at the two mockingly.

"It's not my fault that I couldn't see a nobody in the hallway. Some things haven't changed over the years huh?"

Lincoln gave an impassive look. "Guess not. Did you need something or are you just here to be a pain in the ass?"

Chandler's smug expression disappeared as annoyance took place and several of the students stopped by to watch them. He quickly got rid of it for a grin instead. "I was just here to let you know that my birthday is coming up. Considering I'll be finally turning sixteen, I decided to make it a pretty big party since we're all grown ups here."

"I see, and?"

Chandler's face twisted a bit but his grin remained. "And I was here to let you two nerds know that you're not invited."

"Good to know." Lincoln responded in pure deadpan. "Anything else, or is that it?"

Chandler's eyes widened as he began to stutter, obviously having been caught off guard from Lincoln's response to Clyde's amusement. Lincoln, however, maintained a look of pure apathy and uncaringness.

"Hey! What are you five doing just standing around?"

"Ah crap, it's Fantaria!" One of the boys next to Chandler muttered in fear as they began to take off to their next class, dragging Chandler behind them.

A dark haired girl wearing what looked like a blue and white soldier-like outfit with a white skirt with black leggings and shoes approached them with a glare on her face. She also had a white strap around her that said Hall Monitor and to her side rested a shiani.

The girl approached the two boys, crossing her arms. "And why aren't you two heading to class? Are you trying to skip?"

"Nothing like that Karin." Lincoln responded, holding up a hand as a peace gesture. "We were just having a conversation. Me and Clyde here were heading to class just now, right?"

"Y-Yep we just were!" Clyde nodded rapidly, a small twinge of fear going through him as Karin's red eyes glared at the two of them.

Karin's face relaxed as a smile appeared. "Oh I see. Well then, get a move on!"

"Will do, let's go Clyde." Lincoln said, turning back towards his best friend with a smile. Clyde nodded following behind him.

"Oh wait!" Karin suddenly yelped, quickly touching Lincoln's shoulder to get his attention. "Can you stop by the student council's office after school, Lincoln? We want to talk with you."

Lincoln's eyebrow raised before it appeared realization hit him as he nodded. "Yeah I'll be there. See you guys after school then."

"Great!" Karin smiled before walking further down the hallway.

Clyde turned to Lincoln with a confused expression. "Why are you meeting with the Student Council? Are you in trouble or something Lincoln?"

Lincoln placed a hand behind his head. "Eh… I'll explain another time, Clyde. Let's get to class before we're late."

Still curious but knowing his friend wouldn't give him any more information on the subject, Clyde nodded as he followed after his friend towards their next class.

The rest of the school day went by as a blur for Lincoln, as he could only focus on the upcoming meeting with Renee and the Student Council. He walked down the hallway to the club room, moving through the going home traffic as well as those going to after school clubs.

Eventually arriving at a brown door with a sign on it saying Student Council, the boy took a deep breath before knocking on it.

"H-Hold on a second!" a female voice yelled from behind the door.

Lincoln raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'Renee?'

Before he could continue the thought further, a long bang came from the other side of the door causing him to jump. The door then shot open as a familiar brunette came out beaming at him.

"Hey Linc, nice of you to join us!" Renee greeted, an unnaturally large grin plastered on her face.

"Uh nice to be here Renee…" Lincoln said, trying to look behind the girl only for her to block his line of vision. "Everything's all right in there?"

"Yep! No problems whatsoever!"

"I see… so can I come in?"

"Um…" Renee quickly looked behind her before turning back towards Lincoln. "So… nice weather we're having today right?"

Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "I guess? Renee, what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on Linc, just having a conversation with my best friend!" Renee laughed though Lincoln could see the back of her foot hitting the door.

'What kind of group is this?'

Eventually the noise on the other side of the door seemed to die down as Renee opened the door to take a peek inside. Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned back to Lincoln.

"Sorry about that, Linc. If you haven't guessed things can get pretty… chaotic around here."

"I can tell…" Lincoln shook his head with a whimsical smile. "So I'm guessing it's alright for me to come in now?"

Renee nodded with a smile. "Yep! Everyone's here today too."

"Then I'll be sure to try and make a good first impression." Lincoln joked, walking in after the girl as they entered the room.

The room was fairly bigger than a normal classroom, with computers and laptops scattered around everywhere. He also noticed there seemed to be a few pieces of large screws and gears littered around the floor as well.

"So I was right."

Lincoln turned to his left to see the girl that he saw in the hallway with Renee before staring right at him. In her left arm held up against her was a large book, as her right hand adjusted her glasses.

"So you are a Natural Ability user… I thought the aura around you was peculiar. Renee had noticed it too and had her suspicions, but thought she was being overly cautious."

"Hazel right?" Lincoln asked, trying not to offend the girl in any way.

"Correct, Hazel Stresa to be more precise." Hazel smiled. "It's nice to meet in better circumstances, Lincoln Loud. As you can now tell, I am also a Natural Ability user and a member of the guild."

"I see… and where are the others?"

"Right here!"

Lincoln turned to see Karin coming through the door with a smile on her face. She stopped in front of him before giving a salute.

"Karin Fantaria, reporting for duty!" The girl relaxed, still smiling. "Nice to have you here Lincoln! Feel free to request any assistance!"

Karin Fantaria
Level 27 Royal Woods High Enforcer

"I'll keep it in mind, thanks." Lincoln turned towards one of the corners in the room to see one last girl sitting there by herself with a spherical object in her hands.

Renee followed his line of sight before speaking up. "Yuna! Come join us already!"

The girl sighed, standing up after putting the object to the side. "Fine, fine I'm coming."

As she approached them, Lincoln took notice of her features. Her brown hair was long, with multiple black ribbons in it. She was wearing a school uniform that was similar to those from Asian countries along with a blue skirt and pink headphones wrapped around her neck. Finally, she was wearing pink eyeglasses over her reddish amber eyes.

"This is our leader, Yuna Woo." Renee introduced, smiling at the girl. "Yuna, this is Lincoln, my friend who I was talking about."

"I was able to figure out that much…" Yuna muttered, before giving Lincoln a small smile. "Anyway, my name is Yuna as Renee just mentioned. I'm sort of the leader here. Nice to meet you."

Yuna Woo
Level 25 Student Council President

Lincoln smiled back. "Nice to meet you too. So this is everyone?"

"Correct, we're only a small group after all." Hazel confirmed, opening her book and going through it's pages. "It helps to keep the numbers small since you know who you can trust."

"The Abyss is really that dangerous huh…?"

"Very much so." Hazel's brown eyes once again glared through her glasses. "I'm sure you've heard from Renee and Maggie Granger that this isn't a place to take lightly. So I'm hoping you're not trying to get involved in it because it looks and sounds fun."

"Hey Hazel…" Renee started, only for Lincoln to raise an arm in front of her and smile back.

"It's fine Renee." Lincoln turned back to Hazel. "I'm not going to lie, I don't have a complex reason or anything for getting involved into the Abyss. To be honest, part of the reason I'm doing this is because I want to have something I'm good at. Something that sets me apart from my sisters."

"So you want to be special? That's it?"

"I said part of the reason, not the whole reason. There is another reason, one that involves only me. I've been curious about it for years." Lincoln remained silent for a moment before sighing. "If you guys don't want to help, that's fine. I'm not going to force you to."

"Who said anything about not helping you?"

Lincoln looked towards Karin who was smiling at him. "It's not like we're going to leave you out to dry. Renee asked us to lend you a hand and she's our friend. My aunt Celine always says, ``A friend of my friend is a friend of mine's!``"

"Likewise." Hazel added with her own small smile. "I simply wanted to learn a bit more about you.

Apologies if I came off as too aggressive."

"It's fine, I was just caught a bit off guard." Lincoln said, holding a hand up. "If you guys are okay with teaching me more about the Abyss, I'd really appreciate it."

"We just said we were, didn't we?" Yuna held a small smirk on her face. "Only thing is, we're still learning about it ourselves. We only started this group last year. So we're not experts on this if that's what you were hoping for."

Lincoln chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Hey, anything helps. I'd appreciate any type of information you guys could give me."

The four girls looked at each other before nodding. Renee took the initiative, approaching her friend.

"There is a way we've been training our own abilities, but we can't show it to you right now. Come meet up with us after school tomorrow and we'll show you more on how ID barriers work."

"An ID barrier… isn't that what you and Maggie were in when I saw you guys fighting?" Lincoln asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Right, it's basically a dimension that exists on another plane of existence if that makes any sense. It's hard to explain but once we show it to you and how to make one, it'll make more sense."

"I see… if that's the best way, I'll join you guys tomorrow then."

"Alright!" Karin exclaimed, pumping a fist. "Just leave everything to us Lincoln!"

Lincoln chuckled. "I will, but I'll be sure to pull my weight if you guys need any help."

"We'll be counting on you to do just that Lincoln." Hazel nodded, smiling. "We'll be going through a dungeon and fighting together as a party. You'll be taking on a backup role, however, since you're new to this."

"Got it." Lincoln took a look at a nearby clock. "Crap, I should get home soon. My dad wanted me to help him out with dinner tonight."

"That's fine, we can talk more tomorrow when we go to the dungeon." Yuna said, turning towards Renee. "Renee will come get you when school lets out."

"Leave it to me!"

Lincoln nodded as he smiled. "Alright, if that's all settled I'll see you guys tomorrow then. Thanks for this."

"Don't sweat it Linc, I'm just happy to help a friend." Renee smiled back. "Besides, after you went out of your way to get that comic for me, it's the least I could do."

Lincoln chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I did that because I know you've been looking for it everywhere Renee. You don't owe me anything, I would have done it regardless."

You have earned points in the Renee route

The boy raised an eyebrow before noticing the reddish tint on Renee's face as she was trying to look anywhere else besides him.

'Maybe I should be a bit more careful of what I say…'

Lincoln sighed, walking down the hallway from the student council office. The meeting had gone as good as he hoped, and now he found a way to hopefully get even stronger.

'Should bring some items to prepare, namely healing ones.' The white haired boy placed a hand to his chin in thought. 'They said I'll mainly be taking a backup role, but don't want to be under prepared.'

"So you're not taking my advice after all."

Lincoln raised an eyebrow, stopping and looking to the side to see Maggie Granger leaning on the lockers with her arms crossed. Her dark eyes glared into him as she shook her head with a sigh. "I hope you're not doing this because it looks fun. I thought I told you this place was dangerous."

"Don't worry, I'm aware. They explained that to me."

"Good to know I guess…" Maggie took a look back towards the Student Council room. "To think we have a group of Natural Ability users here at school. Thought Renee would be the only one, though I shouldn't be too surprised."

Lincoln made a small humming noise before speaking. "If that's the case, why don't you ask to join them? Renee isn't the type to hold grudges, so-."

"Please don't make suggestions like that Loud. I'm fine as is." Maggie interrupted with a slightly raised voice. "I don't have time for friends. I need to grow stronger on my own."

"Fair enough…" Lincoln muttered, looking at the information at the top of the emo's head.

Maggie Granger
Level 31 Emo Queen

'She's strong. She's a higher level than anyone or anything I've seen or fought at this point.' The white haired Gamer averted his eyes from her information. 'Getting on her bad side probably wouldn't be the best idea, at least right now.'

Maggie turned away as she started to walk away. "Well whatever you do, I hope you don't regret it."

Lincoln remained silent, watching as the dark haired girl began to walk down the hallway. Sighing to himself, he shook his head as he started to walk out of the school.

'It'll be nice if things are peaceful at the house for once. Could use some peace and quiet to think.'

"So where were you twerp?"

Well, it was nice to dream.

"I stayed after school to take care of some things Lori, nothing major." Lincoln explained as he walked through the front door to the house. "On that note, what's it matter to you? You've never been that interested in what I do before."

Lori crossed her arms with a stern frown. "Because when mom and dad aren't here, I'm the one responsible for all of us."

"And that doesn't make you mom herself. I appreciate you looking out for us, but you can stand to back off a bit." Lincoln snapped back slightly. He mentally thanked his Gamer Mind for him not getting overly heated, but his elder sister was getting on his nerves.

"In that case, why don't you tell us why you've been looking so beat up coming back from who knows where lately then?"

"As I said, I've been working out hard lately. I don't know how many times I have to keep explaining it to you."

"Then explain the small cuts, scratches, and bruises I've been seeing you on at times. What have you been doing? Wrestling with the wolves and bears in the forest?"

"Training in the forest because it's peaceful out there." Lincoln turned to walk to his room. "Are we done here?"

"Not even close, twerp." Lori said, stepping in front of him. "I literally have plenty of questions to ask you about your behavior the past few weeks."

"And I don't feel obligated to answer any of them if I don't have to. Last I checked, your name was Lori Loud not Rita Loud. So you can stop thinking you're our mom."

Lori's face turned red in indignation. "You little-!"

"That's enough!"

The two teenagers stopped their argument to see their parents having entered the house, standing there with their arms crossed and a stern look of disapproval on both of their faces.

Rita took a few steps forward till she was looking down at both of her eldest. "Now I don't know what you two are arguing about, but it stops here. I want you both to go to your rooms, and don't come out until it's time for dinner, understand?"

"But mom he-!"

"Enough Lori!" The matriarch snapped, causing both children to flinch as they rarely saw their mother this agitated. The woman took a deep breath, placing a hand to her forehead. "Now look, it's been a long day at work for both me and your father so a little peace and quiet for once would be nice. So both of you go to your rooms, and you better be working on your homework. I can help your father with the cooking tonight Lincoln. That includes your sisters as well, since I know they're all listening in right now."

The rumbling of footsteps from upstairs followed by the slamming of doors all but confirmed that statement.

Lincoln and Lori both looked at each other before nodding. "Yes ma'am…"

"Good, now go on."

The eldest two of the Loud children pack turned to walk up their stairs to their rooms. Lincoln sighed as he approached his bedroom, placing a hand on the knob.

"This isn't over by the way."

Lincoln looked behind him to see Lori entering her room as she closed the door behind her. Rolling his eyes, he entered his room and tossed his bag to the side before sitting on the bed.

"It's hard being part of a big family sometimes…" The teenager muttered to himself, before opening his menu. "Well, time to make some preparations for tomorrow. Even if they said I'm going to be playing a backup role, I'm going to take advantage of any action that I get."

A small smirk came to his face as he came to his SKILLS menu.

"And have some fun while doing it."

Not much to say this time haha, just been real busy lately so sorry for the wait. Finally finished med school for right now though, so real happy about that.

I have introduce more characters from E7 and this will most likely be it from that game and any other series outside of Loud House. Want to expand the world around a bit more.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please review and let me know what you think.

Have a good one

Jacula