Chapter 5: A Special Sibling Meeting

From the moment she and Luna exited the Pings' SUV, Luan could feel the icy glare of disapproval emanating from Mrs. Ping. Thanks to the prank, her standing with the mother plummeted to an all-time low. That got Luan to contemplate just how would her own family take the news. She'd probably get off better than Lee's punishment, but she'd still be treated as a pariah in her own home. Her musing was interrupted by a hand on her right shoulder, causing her to realize that she and Luna were standing before the front door.

"Are you holding up ok?" Luna asked her clearly troubled sister.

"I don't think I can face them," Luan groaned.

"You hafta face the music at some point, sis," Luna stated. "Just know that I'm here for you."

Luan gave a somber smile and started to turn the doorknob. She and Luna were quickly overwhelmed by their younger siblings' assault of questions as soon as the door gave way.

"This has to be just a joke, right?" Lincoln asked in denial. "Please tell me you and Lee didn't actually do all the stuff Lori said."

"Please, we all knew you were gonna crack," Lynn retorted. "But did you have to go overkill like that?"

"Do you think I get some of that gnarly gunk from your clothes, Luna?" Lana begged. "Lori and Leni took their clothes straight to the washer before I could get any."

"If it were up to me, I would've had you expelled," Lola berated. "You and Lee got off too easy."

"Well, that's one way to be greeted back home," Luna muttered under the noise.

"Look, I can explain everything," Luan stammered.

"There's no need," came the unified voices of the Loud parents, quieting the small crowd. The pre-teens stepped aside to let Mr. and Mrs. Loud (the latter holding Lily) come into view for the pair of returning teens.

Luan and Luna slowly walked indoors; Luna intended to join her sisters upstairs but was stopped by Mr. Loud's sudden grip on her shoulder.

"Mrs. Ping told us everything," Mr. Loud surmised with a stern look. "I can usually tolerate your practical jokes, but what happened today was inexcusable."

"Poo-poo!" Lily added her own words of displeasure pointing at her prankster sister.

"I know, Dad," Luan didn't even bother to object.

"Lucky for you, Luan, you're not getting the same type of punishment that Lee has," Mrs. Loud declared, her face full of disappointment. "You will, however, have your TV privileges reduced to only for family viewing (so no watching your own shows); all pranks regardless of magnitude are forbidden, and all outings will require you to be accompanied by a family member. All of this for an entire year. Are we clear?"

"Understood, Mom," Luan affirmed ashamedly.

"Seeing that you are roommates," Mr. Loud now addressed Luna, "we're going to need you to be her default chaperone and hold her accountable outside of school."

"OK, Pops," Luna sighed. "It's not like I have plans anymore."

"Alright, gang," Mr. Loud announced to all of the family before walking back into the kitchen, "Dinner will be ready in an hour."

On that note, the Loud children dispersed to the second level of the Loud house. Luan made her way to the room shared by the two eldest sisters and knocked fervently on the door.

It didn't take long for Lori to open the door with annoyance. "Welcome back," she droned. "I take it that Mom and Dad already talked with you?"

"Yes, they did," Luan grumbled. "Which is partially why I'd like to call for a sibling meeting."

"Why exactly?" Lori asked with some awakened curiosity.

"I just want to give my side of the story; that way our younger sibs don't see me as some sort of unhinged monster," the jokester Loud confessed.

Lori internally cringed as she was partially to blame for this prevailing view from Lynn and down. "OK, we'll do it after everyone has finished their homework. And I'm sorry if I contributed to their current attitude towards you."

"Thank you, Lori," Luan breathed gratefully before heading to her room. "See you at dinner."

Lee was glad that dinner was over. Since his father was busy with work, it was just him and his mom; the awkwardness he felt from his mom's occasional glares was incomparable. In her eyes, Lee turned from a decent student to a vandalizing delinquent. If anything, he should be grateful that he can still have her home cooking.

Now, Lee had all the time to focus on his investigation. What he didn't account for was how long it took for his computer to read the card from the destroyed camera (he had since changed into his sleepwear after the first hour). In the meantime, he resorted to a little redecorating by adorning his bulletin board with the blueprints of the gym. While this so-called "evidence" is in his possession, Lee figured that he might as well put it to good use.

'If I'm ever going to get my life back,' the partial redhead thought, 'I need to find the real culprit so I can prove Luan's and my innocence to our parents and that half-cyborg principal. If only this camera card would just get load.'

As if on cue, the card reader gave a positive chime to indicate that the pictures were ready to view.

"Finally," Lee sighed as he got to his computer. "Let's see what we've got." He scrolled through the snapshots that were taken of the prank. They seemed to be mixed between poorly captured background pics and graphic depictions of the more eye-catching/disgusting events. The Tatzelwurm sighting caught his interest, but a picture of the jocks' projectile vomiting was something that Lee could've lived without seeing.

Lee's photo-viewing was interrupted by a FaceTome messenger window popped up to reveal the face of Camillio, his best friend that didn't live next door. "How you holdin' up, holmes?" the wannabe gangster asked.

"Oh, you know; the fact that being grounded and having detention sucks just as bad as it sounds," Lee admitted.

"I just don't know what I'm gonna do now that you're in lockup, man," Cam complain. "Who am I going to hang with now?"

"Oh, I'm sure Luna will still be available," Lee half-joked.

"You know what I mean, bro," Cam chided. "Who's gonna be, like, my wingman?"

Another window popped up, showing their mutual Scandinavian friend. "Oh, Holger be volunteering to be Cam's man-of-wings!"

"I'll leave you guys to it. Later, guys," Lee concluded while exiting the program. Now, back to business, he thought as he continued to go through the digital gallery.

He finally hit pay-dirt as one image caught his eye: a photo of a light-skinned hand reaching into his open bag.

"I knew it! Someone did mess with my bag!" Lee proclaimed to himself.

"Lights out!" came the voice of Mrs. Ping which prompted Lee to turn off his computer's monitor while she shut off the light switch & shut the door. Of course, he turned it back on when he was the coast was clear.

"One way or another, I'm going to find out who did this and nail them," Lee self-declared with the most intensity he's ever put into something. "But first things first; I've gotta show this to Luan." And with that, he began writing up a quick email.

Whenever the state of the Loud house is thrown into question, the ten daughters and sole son would hold a conference within the shared room of the two eldest to discuss among themselves on how to resolve the problems. The matters discussed ranged from minor issues such as Lana's gross habits encroaching on everyone's well-being to heavier ones such as drawing lots on who can be exempt from the April 1st shenanigans. Tonight's sibling meeting would put the comical sister in the center of discussion.

"… And that's why Lee and I shouldn't have but did get a whole year of detention," Luan finished retelling her side of the events.

The visages of her siblings were displaying varied expressions of shock and curiosity. Half a minute passed until one of them decided to speak.

"I knew you two were innocent," Lincoln responded with relief.

"We're really sorry for not hearing you out first," Lola repented.

"Poo-poo," Lily concurred solemnly.

"That said, I can't believe that someone hated your jokes so much that they'd punish you for it," Lynn ribbed.

"I'm still jealous that the three of you got to get covered in goo instead of me," Lana addressed the other high schoolers.

"Of course, that's your takeaway," Lola remarked snidely.

"Anyone else?" Lori wryly probed her remaining siblings from her dresser/make-shift podium.

"Did you happen to get the specifications on the principal's cybernetic prosthetics?" the brainy Loud asked.

"The general's robot parts are beside the point, Lisa," Lori sighed. "While Luan is going to serve time, the rest of us will have to deal with all of our classmates seeing us in new lights with us being associated with the alleged pranksters."

"In what ways?" Lucy queried.

"Strangely enough, most of the school seemed to like us for the prank," Luan explained. "Of course, there were some people were seeing red when they saw us, and I'm pretty sure they weren't just staring at Lee's bangs."

"We'll have to wait until tomorrow for everyone's initial reactions to settle down to get a full assessment," Lori concluded. "I just want you all to be prepared to face any recognition or backlash."

"Isn't there some way for Luan and Lee to prove they're innocent?" Lincoln asked.

"I don't think there is," Leni spoke up. "Not unless they were to sneak out of detention and grab the camera with the recorded prank from the gym."

Luan and Luna's eyes shifted towards each other with worriedness evident on their faces, something that was noticed by Lucy and Lisa.

"Don't be ridiculous, Leni," Lori scoffed. "That would just wind up getting them into even more trouble."

Right as that was said, Luan's phone went off with a sudden notification, prompting her to check the new email. The face of the girl in question flashed momentarily with shock, excitement, and realization; that last one was more in response to her siblings witnessing her initial reactions. 'Of course, Lee would update me now of all times.'

"Show it," Lori demanded.

Luan hesitated but handed the device to Lori, not wanting to face the consequences if she refused. Upon looking at the message, Lori's face changed from curious to appalled. The email and its attached picture just boggled her mind:

From: RedRebelLee Anigmahigh
To: LaughOutLoud Anigmahigh
Subject: (Nothing)

I've attached what I found on the camera. Turns out someone did mess with my bag.

"You mean you two actually snuck out of detention?!" Lori asked incredulously.

"It was just trying to find proof of our innocence; I swear!" Luan defended.

"Dude, that's hardcore!" Lynn praised. "I never knew you had it in you."

"So, you did go through the gunk from the prank," Lana realized.

"Actually, that was just Lee," Luna explained before she realized that she outed herself.

"You knew about this?!" Lori shouted.

"I just stumbled across him in the hall, and they explained everything on our ride home," the musical Loud contended.

"Which one of you thought it was a good idea to even do something so stupid?" Lola berated.

"It was a detention regular named Biffy," Luan admitted.

"Biffy? You mean the guy large enough to be mistaken at an adult?" Leni asked, seeming confused.

"And you thought trusting someone with that history was a good idea?" Lori interrogated with a slightly calmer demeanor.

"From what the two told me, it seemed like he set up a solid plan for them," Luna brought up.

"Girls, I think we're overlooking one key detail," Lincoln interrupted. "Lee found something that proves they didn't do the prank."

"Oh, right," Lori blushed, mentally kicking herself for not realizing that precious evidence was in her grasp thanks to the detention-escapade.

"I concur," Lisa acknowledged. "Dubious morality of their actions aside, our comical sibling unit and teenage neighbor have certainly procured an important attestation to rectifying their besmirched public images. This, however, leads to the next query: what is the identity of the culprit? Without an air-tight resolution to that, Luan and Lee will be stuck with their detention sentence."

"Just look at the picture Lee sent," Lori stated as she showed the phone with the image to Lisa. "It's just a hand reaching into the bag; it could take forever find out whose hand it is."

"Interesting," Lisa mused as she forwarded the email to herself.

"Well, we could rule out all the left-hand amputees at the school," Luan snarked.

"Really? I didn't know they came to our school," Leni thought out loud.

"No, Leni," Lucy corrected. "Luan was just being sarcastic."

"OK, this is getting out of hand," Lori asserted. "Luan, if you and Lee plan on doing something like this again, you should keep the rest of us in the loop. Also, I need to stress this: until we get definite proof, Mom and Dad can never know about this. I'm looking at you, Lola."

"FYI, I wouldn't stoop so low as to tattle on them," the young pageant queen rebuked, feeling offended by Lori's insinuation. "Besides, they've been through enough."

"And on that note, I declare this sibling meeting adjourned," the eldest Loud child declared, banging one of her high heels on her dresser like a gavel.

It was midnight when Lucy arose from her bed, careful to not wake her jock of a sister. Granted, that wasn't necessary due to Lynn's snoring, but the gothic girl wasn't taking any chances. She swiftly exited the room and rapped on the door across from her own.

The door was opened by Lisa, who made the briefest of acknowledgments and allowed Lucy inside. The two sisters made their way to Lisa's desk. With a click of the brainy Loud's remote, the desk was transformed into her secret, high-end computer. The screen revealed several diagrams surrounding a picture of a certain redhead teenager.

"Well, now we know that Lee's catalyst has come to pass," Lucy assessed.

"Indeed," Lisa added. "What I didn't account for was Luan's direct involvement. This throws my calculations out of sync."

"On the bright side, we're in a reality where Lee attempts to prove his innocence," Lucy surmised with rare optimism. "It's just now he's got more support and from us no less."

"That is accurate," Lisa supposed, "but the pair of us have to keep our input in their investigation to the minimum. It is imperative that the conclusion is reached organically."

"Let me guess: for the sake of your backers?" Lucy asked rhetorically.

"Precisely. They've become quite intrigued with the affairs occurring at Alexander Nigma High School as of late; more than I could legally divulge with even you," Lisa admitted.

"That's fair; the spirits have been keeping me in sworn secrecy on such matters until the time is right," Lucy remarked.

"Of course, elder sibling unit," Lisa obliged, fighting off the urge to rant about the supernatural. "Even if there's a limit on content, I appreciate the fact that we could have these discussions at all."

"Same here," Lucy smiled as she exited the bedroom.

'Even if I could tell you what my backers are up to, you wouldn't believe me,' Lisa thought while typing away on her computer. With the image of the hand rifling through Lee's backpack on the screen, Lisa had a small smirk on her face. 'Suffice to say, reversing the detention sentence is just one of the heavy tasks ahead for us.'

Nathaniel a.k.a. Nate was having a tough time getting to sleep. Here he was: twenty-five years into the past, seeing sights that he could only dream of and would make his peers back home jealous. And he hated it. Apart from that block-party from a week ago, he was bored out of his mind. He couldn't share in the spectacle his siblings seemed to have for this time period. This was probably why he was so confident that their mission was going to be brief, only for their superior to inform them that their stay would be even longer with going to school put in the mix. Nate could already feel the amount of compartmentalizing his intellect to fit this time's education standards to not arouse suspicion when they're at school.

'Well, at least my sibs will have an easier time,' he thought with a snicker. 'Especially Joel.'

Nate mentally smacked himself. He shouldn't be thinking about them like that; his brothers & sisters were much brighter than he'd admit. But it didn't help that they were skirting on the edge of blowing their cover, and Luke was considering doing that deliberately.

'Maybe looking at it would put me at ease,' Nate thought as he activated his futuristic wristband. The device opened a holographic interface, which he began to peruse until he reached his desired destination. He was now face to face with a photo of his immediate family, most notably his younger siblings (with just as bizarre hairdos) that couldn't join his crew of five, their partial redhead father who seemed rather haggard, and his several mothers ('Well, Mama-N is my biological mother and the one I'm closest to, but you get the idea'). As he recalled, his folks decided to take the photo before the First Five (as they've been jokingly called by the younger kids) had to leave.

Nate smiled sleepily at the sight; the picture serving as a calming agent for his agitated mind. 'I hope our work here would keep all that a reality,' he thought as he finally drifted off to dreamland.

AN:

I wanted to get something out before the year's end. Also, I've been considering changing the title. Check the poll on my profile to make this decision for me.