A green van parked into a driveway of a two story house before eventually shutting off. Silence reigned over, an uncommon sight for this part of the neighborhood.

Lynn Loud Sr sat silently in the driver's seat, staring at the steering wheel in what appeared to be contemplation. In the passenger seat sat Rita Loud who was staring at him in concern.

In the back sat two of their children, Luna and Lincoln Loud. Luna was ansty, rubbing her hands in what appeared to be concern as she took a glance at her older brother.

Lincoln, however, sat in his seat quietly with his expression unreadable as he looked down. His clothing was a little scratched up, and he had a few blood stains on them as well.

"Luna." Lynn Sr finally spoke up, getting his daughter's attention. "Go inside. We'll be in after we've talked to your brother."

Luna took a glance at her brother before turning back to their parents. "Pops, I-"

"Luna, listen to your father. Go inside." This time it was Rita who spoke up, looking at her daughter through the rearview mirror.

Luna still looked a bit unsure, still wanting to defend her brother before a hand placed itself on her shoulder.

"Luna, go inside. It's going to be okay, alright?" Lincoln assured, giving his younger sister a smile.

Luna stared at him for a moment before nodding as she gave him a quick hug and quickly left the van, closing the door behind her.

Lynn Sr watched as his third daughter walked into the house and closed the door behind her before sighing. "Lincoln… I'm not mad. I don't care what anyone tells me, I'm proud of you for defending your sister's honor."

"We talked to the police when we came to pick you up from the station." Rita spoke up as her husband finished. "They said they were sent video footage of the boys trashing the club from an anonymous source. There's also the confession from that McCann boy that was on that girl's phone. They decided to let you off with a warning this time since they felt you reacted how most people would in your position."

'...Thanks Hazel.' Lincoln thought with a small sigh of relief. He wasn't sure what would happen after he beat up Chandler and his group, but it appears fortunes smiled upon him for once.

"But that's not why we asked you to stay in the car." Rita turned fully towards her second child. "Lincoln… you've awakened to a Natural Ability haven't you?"

Lincoln's eyes widened. "W-What…?"

"You don't have to hide it from me, I guess you could maybe call it a mother's intuition." Rita gave a small chuckle. "But… the signs are there. You've been changing physically at such a rapid pace, you're going out more often and coming back later looking beat up at times, and you seem to be focused on what appears nothing often."

Lincoln went silent, staring at the car floor. He wasn't naive, he knew they would find out eventually. However, he had been hoping it wouldn't be till much later.

"...I knew this day would come to be honest, as much as I was hoping it wouldn't." Rita confessed, staring at her hands. "I still love you as much as your sisters, that will never change. But… I had been hoping even considering who your parents are, you'd grow up a normal child."

"...So now we can talk about my birth parents?"

"Lincoln!" The patriarch snapped, glaring at his son.

"Lynn, it's fine. Lincoln has a right to know about them, and we were in the wrong to keep them a secret from him." The woman interrupted, placing a hand on her husband's arm. She looked fully at her son. "We didn't mean to keep them a secret from you, Lincoln. We would have told you about them eventually, but we just couldn't find the right time."

Lincoln stared at his parents before shaking his head. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked like that. You two will forever be my parents, no matter what, and I'll always be proud to be a Loud. It's just… when you have a whole side to you that even you don't know about, it bothers you."

Rita nodded, reaching over to place a hand on her son's shoulder. "I know it must bother you, which is why Pop Pop is coming over next week to explain things to you. He would have been here this week, but… you know how Sue can be."

"So I'll finally know about them?" Lincoln asked, brightening up. At his mother's nod, he smiled. "Finally…"

Both parents smiled at each other, before Lynn Sr coughed. "Now! About your punishment…"

Lincoln stiffened as his father glared at him. The man then suddenly relaxed with a smile. "Help me out with dinner today and this weekend along with cleaning behind the pets with Lana, and we'll call it that."

Lincoln smiled as he gave a salute. "Yes sir!"

The front door to a pleasant looking house in one of the richer neighborhoods in Royal Woods slammed open.

"Living Room. Couch. Ass. Plant it."

Chandler McCann flinched at his father's order as he quickly made his way to the living room and sat on one of the couches in the fancy looking area. Soon afterwards, a tall red haired man along with his brunette wife walked into the room, arms crossed in stern disapproval.

The man glared at his son, who was trying to look anywhere else but him whilst messing with his broken nose. "Look at me boy, I'm not in the mood today." As soon as his son turned to him he continued. "Now I'm going to only ask this once, what the fuck were you thinking?"

"I-"

"Actually, let me stop you right there. You weren't thinking." The man placed a hand on his forehead with a low growl. "Couldn't be, considering you decided to trash a whole club with those friends of yours. What the hell made you do that?"

Chandler was silent, continuing to stare at his hands.

"Chandler." The boy's mother spoke up, glaring at her son. "Your father asked you a question."

"…I guess I wasn't thinking."

"No crap, because now that you 'weren't thinking' I have to spend money on repairs for that club! Money that I was going to use to give you a great sixteenth birthday, which is canceled by the way." The older man growled out, as his son looked up at him in surprise. "Why are you acting surprised? Did you really think you were still going to have it after what you just did?"

"But it's that damn Larry and his sister's fault!" Chandler shouted, standing up from the couch. "It's because of them, no one wanted to come to the party anyway!"

"And that made you think it was okay to destroy all that girl's equipment? To wreck that store?" Mrs. McCann asked, watching as her son went silent. She sighed, shaking her head. "That's what I thought… in a way, I blame myself for this. Me and your father wanted you to have what we didn't have as kids, and because of that you grew up spoiled with an overinflated ego."

"But that changes, starting today." Mr. McCann said, taking over the conversation as he approached his son. "First, give me your phone. Next, go to your room and not one device should be on. As a matter of fact, unplug everything. Me and your mother will be talking about the extent of your punishment, which will begin this weekend."

"But dad-!"

"No buts Chandler! Phone. Now." The man said, holding out his hand expectantly.

Chandler stared at the limb, before growling as he placed his phone in the man's hand and turned on his heel to start walking upstairs. Mr. McCann sighed, sitting on the sofa his son was just on as his wife sat next to him.

Chandler growled as he opened his bedroom door before closing it behind him as he entered the room. He started to unplug his electronics, a fierce scowl on his face as he thought back to the white haired boy who had beaten him and his gang.

"Tch, that damn nerd…!" The orange haired boy growled, though winced as he agitated the bruise on his cheek. "This is all his fault. If he had just known his damn place, none of this would have happened!"

He had spent years since elementary school trying to cultivate a popular image of himself. He kept up with the latest fashion sense, made sure he knew the latest trends, and he knew who the most popular kids in the school were so he could make sure he stayed in their good graces.

Of course, this meant he had to step on a few other kids' toes and wreck their own chances for popularity. However, it was a dog eat dog world. You had to make sure you did what you had to do to get ahead is what he would say.

Chandler punched a nearby pillow. "If I could just have one more chance to make that nerd pay…"

"One more chance you say?"

The boy's eyes widened as he jumped, turning around and falling to the ground as he saw a hooded figure sitting in his computer desk chair.

"W-Who are you?" Chandler backed up against the wall. "How did you get into my house? My room?"

The figure stood with a small chuckle before speaking in a masculine tone. "Relax boy, if I wanted to harm you, I would have already. You can call me… Enzo." A grin appeared on the man's face. "And I've come to offer you an accord…"

"I really owe you one Hazel, thanks."

"It was no issue, Lincoln. Besides, you've done quite a bit for us, so it was the very least I could do."

Lincoln smiled at the video chat screen of the secretary of the Royal Woods High Student Council, sitting on a chair in his bedroom. "Well still, thanks. Probably would have gotten into a lot of trouble if it wasn't for you sending that footage to the police station. How'd you manage to do that anyway?"

"Ever heard of the saying 'a magician never reveals their tricks' Lincoln? The same meaning applies here." A smug grin appeared on Hazel's face. "Things like that are child's play for me."

"Is humility below you too?" Renee muttered from her own chat screen.

"...No, but neither is your internet history." The Ace Savvy fan instantly went quiet, causing a smirk to appear on Hazel's face. "Incognito Mode doesn't protect you from me either."

"Always keeping the blackmail, huh Hazel?" Yuna muttered from her screen, with a roll of her eyes.

"Don't give me a reason to use it and you don't have to worry about it." Hazel smirked at the other girls' looks.

"On another note…" Lincoln interrupted. "Why am I here by the way? I thought this was for a Reingar meeting, but I'm not part of the guild."

"...Do we need a reason to include you?" Yuna asked, looking to the side. "Besides, you might as well be a part of the guild considering you've been fighting with us so much lately."

"Well, you keep asking me to join you guys…" Lincoln muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"You're the one who said if we ever needed your help to just ask you." Yuna shot back, a slight glare on her face.

"Is it we or just you and Renee, Yuna?" Hazel interjected, the glare of her glasses hiding her brown eyes. "Because I'm pretty sure we can do fine in the dungeons we have been going in without his help. It wouldn't be good for us to over rely on him anyway."

"W-We're not over relying on him, we're just making sure to be careful!" Yuna shouted, glaring at her secretary.

"Yeah! Dungeons are dangerous after all!" Renee added.

Hazel was silent for a moment before continuing in a tone dry with sarcasm. "My apologies, let me rephrase myself. I'm pretty sure we can do well in the dungeons without you two bringing him along for your poor attempts at flirting with him. Because as amusing as it's been watching said attempts, it's also wasting ours and his time."

Both girls' cheeks turned into a bright red as another argument started. Lincoln merely sighed as Karin laughed sheepishly.

"Oh right…" Lincoln's eyes opened as he smiled towards the dark haired girl. "Thanks for recording everything Karin. It helped out when the police started asking questions."

Karin blinked before smiling widely. "Oh, no problem Lincoln! It's the least I can do for a friend!"

Lincoln chuckled before hearing a knock on his door.

"Hey bro it's me… can I come in?"

"Just a second Luna!" Lincoln turned back to his laptop. "Sorry guys, but family needs me right now. I'll catch you guys at school tomorrow."

"No worries Lincoln, I think they'll be at this for a while." Karin drawled as her guildmates continued to argue.

Lincoln gave a half grin before leaving the chat and closing his laptop. "Come on in, Luna."

The door opened as the fourth member of the Loud children walked in, closing it behind her. "Hey, you weren't busy or anything were you?"

Lincoln shook his head, moving along in his chair closer to his sister. "Nah, I just finished. You alright?"

"Question of the day isn't it love…" Luna walked towards her brother's bed before sitting down on it. "You… didn't get grounded did you?"

"Nah, dad let me off since he and mom knew I only did that because they destroyed you and your band's equipment. I will have to help with the cooking and clean up after the pets with Lana this weekend though."

"That's good." Luna smiled, rubbing one of her arms. "I was worried they'd punish you pretty hard since the cops got involved. Either way, thanks Lincoln I really apperciated you standing up for me and the rest of the band like that."

"Don't worry about it, it's not the first time I've done something like this for one of my sisters." Lincoln chuckled.

"Oh yeah, that jerk who played Leni. Heard Lori and Carol basically ruined his and his girlfriend's social life on social media and they had to move away."

Lincoln nodded at that. "Yeah, normally I'm highly against stuff like that but in that case, it was well deserved."

"Ditto." Luna laughed, before stopping. "Mom and Dad talked to Chandler's parents who called over what happened. They apologized to our rents and offered to repay for my band's equipment that got wrecked."

"That's good at least…" Lincoln muttered, crossing his arms. "Won't make up for what Chandler did, but at least you guys will get new equipment."

"Yep, and the owner said he'll reschedule our show too. He's going to have to close the place down for a while to get it repaired though."

Lincoln smiled. "Looks like you guys won't miss your chance to attract some talent scouts after all like you hoped."

Luna nodded before frowning. "Hey bro, can I ask you something?"

"What is it Luna?"

"Has everything been alright lately? I'm not going to dig into it like Lori, but you've seemed to be different lately."

"...I told you guys, everything is fine." Lincoln chuckled, smiling at his sister. "I know you all want to help if I have a problem, but this is something I want to handle."

"It's nothing bad is it? Because I can at least help if you need it love." Luna insisted, standing up from her brother's bed.

Lincoln shook his head. "It's nothing bad Luna, I promise."

"...Alright, well I'm going to get started on my homework. See you at dinner bro." Luna said, giving her brother a hug before walking out of his room and closing the door behind her.

Lincoln sighed, leaning back to his seat and absentmindedly opening his menu. It was then a thought hit him. 'Are my sisters affected by the harem aura…?'

As if reading his thoughts, a screen popped up in front of him.

Close family members are not affected by the Harem Aura skill

'...Good.'

Yuna Woo dropped on top of her bed, hugging her pillow close to her as she buried her face into it.

'Does Hazel always have to be so blunt?! I can't help it if I've fallen for someone so nice!' The Reingar guild leader gave a muffled groan into the object in her arms, yet the sound seemed to reverberate from the walls of the fancy bedroom. 'Doesn't help he's cute, strong, and… stop it Yuna! You two have only known each other for a week!'

The young Korean American girl was not used to feeling this way about anybody. Her whole life she had been brought up to mainly focus on her studies and success. Due to this, she was a bit lacking in the social department and kept to herself often.

She had only met Renee and the others by chance when she first discovered the Abyss and her own Natural Ability which led to the idea to form a guild together. That Natural Ability being her outstanding intelligence as she was able to use 100% of her brain without any trouble. She always picked up on things easier and at a small age, found she had a prodigious talent for machinery thanks to her father.

'Dad…' The girl's eyes grew wistful as she looked at a picture on her nightstand next to her bed. A photo of a younger version of herself being held up by a dark haired man in a lab coat. '...I miss you so much.'

"Young mistress."

"Aah!" Yuna screamed, nearly falling out of her bed as she swiftly turned around to see a white haired lady in a maid outfit standing there. "Sigret! What did I say about sneaking up on me?!"

"I knocked on your door several times but you did not answer. So I entered to make sure you were okay and not in any trouble." The maid bluntly responded in a monotone voice.

One of Yuna's eyebrows twitched before shaking her head. "W-Well, is there anything you need right now?"

"I just came to inform you that dinner is ready, and to come down before it becomes cold." Sigret explained, still keeping her monotone. "Also I'm pretty sure I heard something about a boy if I'm correct…"

"You will ignore that!" Yuna yelled, her face turned a bright red as she saw a small twitch of Sigret's lips. She coughed, calming down. "I'll be down in a minute then, thank you."

"You're welcome." Sigret observed as her young charge began to step out of the bed. "Mrs. Woo also called. She won't be able to make it again tonight, so she said not to wait on her."

"That's nothing new…" Yuna muttered under her breath bitterly. "Thank you for telling me. I'll be down in a few moments Sigret, you can leave now if you wish."

"...Understood young mistress." Sigret bowed before exiting the room and leaving the young girl alone.

Yuna listened as the door closed before picking up the picture that held her and her father. '...I'll make you proud, father… and finish your legacy.'

With those final words, she placed the picture down and walked out of the room.

Roberto Santiago Jr or better known as Bobby by his friends had a full dedication towards his family. Blood is thicker than water as his father would tell him and his sister when they were younger. Due to those teachings, even though he was only a year older than her, he felt a responsibility to look out for Ronnie Anne and protect her. This mindset had made him admittingly a bit overprotective of her and it annoyed her, but she was his blood and he would be damned if he let her get hurt on his watch.

However, on occasion, he wished he was an only child…

"Hermana… are we done yet? We've been through nearly your whole closet and the dance isn't until next week."

"Just a few more outfits Bobby! I know I have something in here that will knock Lincoln's socks off."

The Hispanic male sighed, sitting in his sister's desk chair as he watched her rummage through her closet as clothes came flying out. When they had made it home after school, she had literally grabbed by the arm and dashed up the stairs to her room with him in tow to help her find an outfit for the Sadie Hawkins dance next week. Apparently, Lincoln had asked her out and she wanted to look her absolute best.

'It's about time if you asked me and babe…' Bobby thought with a small smirk. Him and his girlfriend, Lori, had been trying to push their younger siblings together for awhile now. It was obvious the two had a thing for one another but were too shy to admit it. Now the fact that his "bro" had finally asked his sister out had brought a smile to his face. "Ronnie Anne, I'm pretty sure bro would like anything you wear to the dance. Besides, it's just a dance not the prom."

Ronnie Anne's head peeked out to glare at her brother before sighing. "I guess so… I just really don't want to mess this up, you know?"

"Don't worry, I know. Should have seen me on my first date with Lori, ended up puking in the bathroom at the pizza place because I was so nervous." Bobby chuckled as his sister seemed to cringe at the disgusting thought.

"Yeah… gross." The girl cringed, walking out of the closet fully before sitting on her bed as she grabbed a nearby teddy bear. "...You think Lincoln will find anything I wear cute?"

There it was, the more vulnerable side to his sister that she hated people to see yet only really showed to him and their mother. Despite being a tomboy, Ronnie Anne was still a young woman with an emotional side. A side Bobby felt it was his duty to protect as her older brother.

The older Santiago sibling sat next to his sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulders with a smile. "I'm sure he will sis. Lincoln's a really good guy, I can see that with how he treats his sisters. I mean, you've known him since you guys were eight, so you should know that better than me."

"If by that, you mean when I threw sand at him at the playground…"

"And then he threw it right back at you." Bobby chuckled along with his sister. "Was that when you started crushing on him?"

"...Probably to be honest, he always seemed different to everyone else." Ronnie Anne rubbed one of her arms as another memory came to mind. "When we were partnered up for that egg project back in elementary, he said he didn't care about my reputation as the school's tough girl. He knew I wanted that waffle breakfast as much as everyone else and he trusted me. That… meant a lot."

Bobby grinned teasingly. "Sounds like you got it bad for Linc."

"S-Shut up…!" Ronnie Anne's face turned bright red, but she still held a smile on her face.

Bobby chuckled once more before getting off the bed. "Well, let's see if we can find something that will knock bro's socks off."

"...Thanks hermano." Ronnie Anne said, smiling as she went back into her closet with her brother.

"I'm going to do it today Lincoln, no backing out!"

"Really? Finally?"

"Yes, finally! Just hope she says yes…"

Lincoln chuckled as he and Clyde walked to school, the dark skinned boy going over his plans for the day including one in particular.

"So today is the day Clyde McBride finally asks out Penelope Miller to the Sadie Hawkins Dance huh?" Lincoln grinned at his friend. "It's about time if you asked me, considering you've been crushing on her for a while."

Clyde looked away with an embarrassed expression. "You don't have to mention that… I guess I just started looking at her in a different light after I got over my obsession with Lori."

"Probably helped by the fact you usually ended up getting partnered with her for projects when not with me." Lincoln noted. "She always seemed happy to be with you."

"You think so?" At Lincoln's nod, the boy smiled. "Then here's hoping!"

"What are you two nerds so excited about?"

Both boys turned around to see Ronnie Anne and Sid coming up behind them. The two girls walked in between the boys, Ronnie Anne to Lincoln's left and Sid to Clyde's right.

"Good morning ladies, how is your day so far?" Lincoln greeted in an over exaggerated British tone.

Ronnie Anne giggled, punching the boy in the arm. "Well it is quite good so far, my good Lame-O. Thank you for asking."

"My good Lame-O?" Sid repeated with a teasing grin as Ronnie Anne's face grew red, noticing her slip up. "Wow Ronnie Anne, you two just started dating and you're already referring to him as yours."

"W-We're not dating!" The blushing latina denied, glaring at her grinning friend. "We're just going to the dance together, that's all!"

"Together. Like a couple." Sid's grin widened as she saw the other girl's face redden even more. "You don't have to deny it Ronnie, not like the rest of us can't see it."

Lincoln rolled his eyes in amusement as he turned back in front of him as the group entered the school. However as he did, he noticed some of the groups around him go silent as they started staring at him.

"Okay… weird…" The white haired teen muttered as he started gauging people's expressions at him. "Did something happen?"

"Lincoln!"

The sound of his name being yelled caused the small group of four to stop as they saw several of the rest of their friends running towards them. Rusty was the lead one as he grabbed Lincoln and started shaking him. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to beat up Chandler and his gang?! I could have been there with you!"

"Wait what?!" Ronnie Anne's eyes widened along with Sid and Clyde as they stared at their friend in surprise. "When did this happen, Linc?!"

"Yesterday!" Stella answered as she pulled out her phone and started the video, showing it to her friends. "I'm pretty sure the whole school has seen it by this point!"

The three who had arrived with Lincoln watched as Lincoln weaved through multiple attacks before returning blows of his own and knocking the boys back if not knocking them out. Their eyes widened, not used to seeing their usual laidback friend act so violently.

"Geez Lincoln, what did Chandler and his group do to get you to act like that?" Clyde asked, staring at his friend who pushed Rusty off of him.

Lincoln placed a hand behind his shoulder, cracking his neck. "Found out they destroyed the Nite Cafe and ruined Luna and her band's equipment because Chandler was salty that I embarrassed him during P.E."

"You're… not going to get into any trouble are you?" Sid asked, worried for her friend as Lincoln shook his head with a smile.

"Nah, the police had security footage of Chandler and his goons wrecking the place and after listening to my story and reasons, decided to let me off with a warning. My dad just gave me some minor punishments as well."

"That's good and serves him right in that case." Ronnie Anne smiled, punching Lincoln playfully on the arm. "Nice to see you can fight after all Lame-O."

Lincoln snorted as they proceeded with walking to their classes. "Thank my grandfather for that, considering he put me through some of the training he went through in the military."

"Hey! Get to your classes everyone, the morning bell is about to ring!"

The sound of a familiar voice yelling caused Lincoln to chuckle as he saw Karin dispersing the crowds as she directed everyone to their first period. The girl caught sight of him before smiling and waving with a small blush which he returned.

"You seem comfy with Fantaria all of a sudden…"

Lincoln flinched slightly as he noticed the glare Ronnie Anne was giving him. He coughed into his fist. "I told you Ronnie, we're just friends! It's not what you think it is."

You have begun the Karin Fantaria Route

'...I hate this system.'

From the distance, however, a lone person with a pair of green eyes watched the Loud and his friends before smirking as they stalked off.

Clyde paced back and forth in front of the bench not far from the school. He stopped to look at his watch before taking a breath as he went back to his pacing.

'You got this McBride, you're just going to ask the girl you've been crushing on for the past month to the dance. You don't need Lincoln to help you out with this one!' The African American fixed his glasses, a determined look in his eyes. 'Just don't faint, have a nosebleed, or-!'

"Hey Clyde!"

The boy jumped, snapping out his inner self motivation rant as he turned around to see a red frizzy haired bespectacled girl with pink sweater and blue jeans smiling at him.

'...I was not ready!'

"Clyde?" The girl repeated with a head tilt. Clyde noticed as he coughed into his fist, giving the girl a smile.

"H-Hey Penelope! How's it going?" The boy asked, a wide grin on his face.

Penelope raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "Um, good I guess. How about you?"

"Good… Great even!" Clyde blurted, laughing awkwardly. He noticed the strange expression on Penelope's face before sighing. "Sorry Penelope, I'm just a little nervous is all."

"Nervous? Nervous about what?"

'Here goes nothing…' Clyde took a deep breath before giving Penelope a serious expression. "Penelope, I was wondering if you would like to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me next week."

Penelope's eyes widened as a bright blush formed on her face. "C-Clyde… are you asking me out?"

"Y-Yeah I am…" The dark skinned teen laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "So… do you want to go together?"

"Yes!" Penelope exclaimed. "I'd love to go with you!"

A large smile grew on Clyde's face. "Really?! That's great, I promise you'll have a great time Penelope!"

"Ah, sweet nerd love. How innocent… and disgusting."

Clyde's smile quickly turned into a frown as he turned around to see Chandler walking up to the two of them. "What do you want, Chandler?"

The redhead snickered, his hands in his pockets and his hair shadowing his eyes. "Oh don't worry McBride, I could care less about you. I just need your assistance with something."

'What…?' The tone of Chandler's words caused an uneasy feeling to grow inside of Clyde's stomach as he placed himself in front of Penelope, seeing the girl grow nervous. "And what would that be…?"

"Getting back at your friend Larry of course. He seems to have forgotten his place and I think I should remind him of where it is." The smile on the redhead's face grew wicked. "And you're going to help me…"

"What makes you think I'll hel-!"

It happened so fast that Clyde thought he was hallucinating for a moment. One second, Chandler was a few feet away from him. The very next, the boy was holding him and Penelope up in the air with his hands clenched around their mouths.

"Here's the thing though, McBride." Chandler looked up as Clyde shivered at the boy's glowing green eyes. A large maniac grin formed on the boy's face as a greenish aura seemed to rise around him.

"I wasn't giving you a choice."

"Hm?"

"You alright Lame-O?"

If Lincoln had heard Ronnie Anne's question, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, the boy continued to stare towards the sky as an uneasy feeling grew inside of him.

'Something's wrong, I can feel it…' The teen's hand began to clench around the smoothie in his hand as his eyebrows furrowed. 'But what is it?'

"Lincoln!"

"Huh?" The Gamer turned around to see Ronnie Anne giving him an annoyed glare.

The girl huffed, placing her own smoothie down on the table outside of Flip's they were sitting at. "Seriously, is everything okay? You're acting pretty weird right now."

"...Oh sorry. Just thinking about something right now is all." Lincoln explained, giving an apologetic grin. "Sorry about that Ronnie…"

Ronnie Anne only sighed before smiling. "Don't worry about it, but has everything really been alright lately? You really have been acting weird lately."

"I told you everything is-"

"Stop lying Lame-O, I know something has been up." Ronnie Anne interrupted, frowning. "You've been changing physically so much lately, you're hanging out with the Student Council a lot, and your personality has been changing somewhat too. I'm just worried."

Lincoln looked at the concerned face of one of his best friends, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't know I had made you so worried…"

"You're important to me, of course I'm going to worry." Ronnie Anne retorted, a small blush on her face as she realized what she said. "Look, I won't tell Lori or any of your sisters what's going on if you don't want me to, it'll stay between us. I just want to be sure nothing bad is going on, that's all."

"Ronnie…" Lincoln muttered, a blush of his own growing. 'Would it really be so bad to tell her what's going on? I feel like she can be trusted and she'll probably find out later on knowing her. Maybe just…'

The boy's phone vibrating caught his attention as he reached into his pocket to notice a text notification from Clyde. Raising an eyebrow, he unlocked his phone and opened the messages app for his eyes to widen.

Murderous Intent Activated

"L-Lincoln…?" Ronnie Anne stuttered, taking aback from the sudden anger she sensed from the white haired boy.

"Ronnie…" Lincoln said, staring at the girl. "I'll explain everything to you later, I promise. There's something I need to take care of right now."

"O-Okay…" The Santiago girl could only watch as Lincoln took a breath, looking around to make sure no one was watching, and disappearing in a burst of speed sending a blast of wind towards a shocked Ronnie Anne.

'Hang on Clyde, I'm coming!' The white haired Loud thought as he quickly made his way to his destination.

The image of his friend beaten and chained up still in his head.

Finally got this out, and right before Xenoblade Chronicles 3 hit.

We're approaching the end of the First Act of this story and trust me that the action will pick up next chapter. Just had to focus on story progression for the time being. Hopefully the next chapter won't take me as long to get out.

Anyway, you all have a good one, please fav, follow, and review if you enjoyed as it helps with motivation for sure, and I will see you all next chapter.

Peace Out

Jacula