It seems the writers have selected magic to be Lincoln's talent while some fans have headcanon Lincoln's talent to be art. Some fans have also worried that Lincoln might have renounced Ace Savvy after Kings of the Con despite the fact that Lincoln was seen reading Ace Savvy comics in future episodes. But I doubt the writers would actually have Lincoln drop his favorite super hero. Besides, the show rarely acknowledge past episodes. But not to the extent of Spongebob's level of ignoring continuity.
"Cut! Again!" Piper said.
"We must stop this toxic behavior." Lori said.
"Cut! Again!" Piper said.
"We must stop this toxic behavior." Lori said, repeating her lines.
"CUT!" The dark skinned woman yelled before rubbing her forehead as she inhaled in frustration. "Everyone take a half hour break." She said with a sigh before getting out of the director's chair and walk away to get more coffee.
Lori didn't feel like she was improving at all. Sure, she seemed to be getting the most screen time but they've been stuck on the same scene for some time now. What's worse is because the directors have the camera guys focus more on her, her younger sisters (including Lily and excluding Leni) have been constantly giving her glares and wouldn't talk to her. She tried to tell them that she had no say in the script but they wouldn't even hear her out.
A horrible sound came from her bottom made Lori wince and it was made worse with the awful stench that came after. She looked around, relieved that no one had noticed, before running to the door that lead to the stairwell and ran down. She had no direction of where she was going but she wanted to be clear of anyone to avoid the humiliation. To take her mind off her flatulence problem, she thought about that one night where she had to babysit her siblings who were out of control.
"What is wrong with you people?! YOU WRECKED THE WHOLE HOUSE!" Lori yelled at her sisters who were lined up in the living room.
"Geez, we were just having fun!" Lana protested.
"Fun?! Your stupid foxes, ripped up all the couches and beds, pooped everywhere, and attacked Charles!" Lori yelled.
"They're not stupid." Lana murmured.
They all heard whimpering and turned to see Charles who was in the corner with a traumatized face, rocking back and forth as he whimpered.
"See this is why mom and dad always put me in charge, you guys would be out of control without me." Lori stated.
"Oh really, like you have any self-control." Lola said nonchalantly.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Lori demanded, fixing a glare on the youngest twin.
Lola was taken back by the hostile look but put on a challenging glare and said. "Remember you, forcing Lincoln and Ronnie Anne together."
"I-I stopped trying to make them a couple!" Lori said, defensively.
"You stopped, not because you learned to stop controlling people's love-life, but because Lincoln brought up the possibility of either him and Ronnie Anne or you and Bobby needing to drop a relationship because of in-law statuses." Lola explained.
Lori balled up her shaking fist. This went unnoticed as Lisa decided to say her piece, regarding the relationship.
"Speaking of which, I do not know what caused me to think our brother unit and her would be compatible. They find similar interest but the relationship is like how our brother unit sees her as a sister unit. I seemed to have made an error in my analyses about the chemistry between the two."
"Nothing new there." Lynn said under her breath.
"What was that?" Lisa asked, hinting anger in her voice.
"Well, let's face it. You're-" Lynn was interrupted.
"Nothing!" Lori said through clenched teeth as she gave the athlete a warning look. Lynn crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.
"You know what, all of you just go to your rooms! You're all grounded!" Lori screamed. She immediately grabbed Luna's electric guitar and tried to yank it out of her hands. This set off Luna who tried to tug it free from her oldest sister.
"Let go!" Lori demanded.
"NO!" Luna protested managing to yank it out of Lori's grip.
"In case you haven't noticed I'm the oldest so-" Lori was cut off by Luna.
"Oh what, you popped out first and you think that means you think you're special? Let's be real. The reason you act all high and mighty around us because it's the only way you'll level the playing field. You think that if you keep so much control over us, you might actually think you're worth some crap."
The others were stunned by what Luna just said. Lily and Lucy's jaw dropped as they gasped, Lynn dropped her crossed arms with wide eyes, Luan nearly dropped Mr. Coconuts, Lola and Lana took a step back, all the animals stopped what they were doing and stared in shock, Lisa still had a stoic look on her face but inside she was shocked, Leni was horrified and said, "Luna, that was-"
Leni didn't finish as Lori threw a fist at Luna's face.
The fight between her and Luna had been nasty, with her swinging her golf club and Luna swinging her guitar. Both objects broken in the brawl which made them even more angry at each other. They also threw swear words at each other, despite Lily's presence (which she has unfortunately repeated). When Mom and Dad arrived home to find the Lori and Luna in the middle of a brawl and that the sisters had initiated the Sister Fight Protocol, they immediately ran back out the house.
Lori stopped as she found herself in an empty dark hallway. There were no guards, no camera guys, no make-up artists, nobody. The atmosphere itself was unsettling. It looked and felt like she was in a horror movie. But the whole building was a place of people who create films, not psychopaths. Sure, the guards carried some very dangerous high-tech weapons and often glared warningly at them, but no one here was out to hurt them.
Lori groaned as she dropped to one knee and held her stomach. Ever since her first scene, her stomach had been feeling off and it was getting worse.
She then thought about the fight between her and Luna back at home. The fight had nearly lasted past midnight before both she and Luna were pinned down by the other sisters. Lynn, Lana, Luan, and Lucy holding down Lori while Leni, Lisa, Lily(though she wasn't much help), and Lola holding down Luna.
"GET OFF ME!" Lori screamed. She had a black eye, a bloody nose, and her hair was disheveled. Luna had similar injuries, and both stared heatedly at each other as they tried to escape their sisters' pile and continue their fight.
After a while, the two ceased their struggles to escape and opted to stare at each other hatefully instead. This caused their sisters to get off them, though they kept a large gap between the two.
"Now Luna you had no right to-" Leni tried to say.
"What do you mean 'Leni'? Lori is the one who threw the first punch at Luna." Lana argued.
"Well what did she expect? She practically called Lori a failure." Luan said.
"So? We don't call Lincoln a failure!" Lola fire back.
Lynn butted in. "Stinkoln hasn't found his talent yet but he's hardly a failure. Plus, he doesn't act all high and mighty, unlike some people." The athletic sister was looking straight at Lola.
"Really?" Lola said with a smirk, "I thought he seemed all high, mighty, and talented knocking you down a peg during the 'Bad Luck Incident'."
"Don't you dare bring that up!" Lynn growled.
"What, the fact that you're horrible or the fact that you-" Lola was cut off by Lana who noticed Lincoln's absence.
"Wait, where is Lincoln?" Lana asked.
"He left." Lucy said, startling her sisters. They all frowned as Lincoln had been leaving without telling anyone where he was going.
Lisa loudly cleared her throat, getting her sisters attention. "In this stage of the Sister Fight Protocol, both sister units need to cool off in separate rooms. Sister unit Luna is assigned to Lynn and Lucy's room. Sister unit Lori is assigned to the attic."
Lori stopped her flashback as she noticed something crawling at the end of the hallway. She almost ran back where she came from out of fear until she heard whimpering.
Alarmed, she ran toward it to find it was a living animal that was covered in large claw marks and bite wounds. The fox whimpered up at her pleadingly. Lori immediately felt sympathy for the creature, she wasn't knowledgeable about caring for animals like Lana but maybe she could get this fox upstairs to a hospital.
"It's okay, it's okay, I'm going to get you to a vet."
She bent down and extended her arms to pick up the creature but then noticed something about this fox however, he didn't halt her movement.
"Wait, aren't you-"
The sound of hissing was the only warning given before something black dashed at her and slash at her leg.
"OW!" Lori screamed in pain.
She fell to the floor on her side and held her leg which had had four large gashes.
The sickening sound of something cracking got her attention. The fox hanged limply in the Kitty's jaw, with blood sprouting from its crushed neck. The Kitty's golden eyes stared warningly at her before leaping into the darkness, its black fur made it blend in and out of sight.
The oldest sister was creeped out by the scene. Ever since they arrived at Stether's filming industry that black cat had been making Lori feel uncomfortable. She knew of the common stereotype of cats hating humans but their own cat, Cliff, had never seemed to outright hate them. Sure, Cliff sometimes scratched some of them badly, but the Kitty just gave an ominous present that made Lori want to stay as far away from it as possible.
Lori was reminded, she was on the ground when her phone beeped. She got up, wincing as the blood dripped from her wounds and looked at her phone. Break time was over, she was told to come back. The eldest sister sighed, she looked around for that cat before bolting to the end of the hallway and up the stairwell.
When she got back her sisters and the directors had been waiting for her.
"Yo, sis, what happened!?" Luna asked, taking notice of her wounded leg.
Lori growled. "That stupid Kitty scratched me, that's what happened!"
"Hey, don't call him stupid!" Lana protested. "It was an accident!"
"ACCIDENT!? You weren't even there!" Lori screamed, irritated that her little sister was defending yet another hostile creature.
Lana scowled up at Lori and said, "You probably just scared the poor thing!"
The eldest sister groaned as she did not feel like arguing with the 6-year-old. Despite the fact that Lana brought all the animals that resided in their house to Stether, she still wanted to play with the Kitty. Lori, Lincoln, and her parents had tried to let Lana know that she shouldn't be trying to make friends with every animal, especially wild ones, but she refused to listen. Lori thought that loose alligator during the 'Bad Luck Incident' would have made Lana a little more cautious about which animals she should befriend. Lori wondered if her gross little sister was aware that the Kitty had just killed a fox, maybe that will convince her to leave the Kitty alone. But she decided not to tell Lana the news as she would be devastated as Lori recognized the fox.
"Oh no!" Preston screamed as he ran toward Lori and grabbed her leg to inspect it. Lori felt touched that the director cared about her well-being but thought that she should assure him. "Don't worry I just need some bandages and-"
"THE SUIT'S TORN!" Preston screamed in a high-pitched voice. Lori failed to stop the disappointment from showing on her face.
Lola immediately tried to seize the opportunity and happily said, "Well, guess she'll just have to sit the rest of the filming out." The pageant champion stated with a smile as she walked toward the set. Eldest Loud daughter looked fearfully at both directors at what Lola said.
"No, there's no need for that." Piper protested, as she turned to the crew team. "Some of you guys take Lori to the costume room and have one of the designers fix the suit."
"Yes, ma'am."
"What about my leg?" Lori asked before reeling in pain. She held her stomach, which was acting up again.
A roll of bandage hit her in the head before falling into her hands. She didn't appreciate it being thrown at her, but she was glad to receive the bandages. "Thanks, I guess-WOAH!"
Lori found herself being picked up by crew members and carried out. They soon arrived at the costume room where the crew informed the designers of what the two directors wanted. The designers were all busy with other outfits so the High Card suit would have to be repaired later. The eldest Loud sister rolled the leg of her High Card costumed up and wrapped a bandage around the wound.
The designers allowed to sit in a chair as she watched the designers work on other outfits. The whole room displayed a variety of outfits like dresses, biker jackets, monster suits, but Lori noticed that there wasn't too many superhero costumes.
Lori wondered if she should consider asking Mrs. Tetherby if she could work on another movie, preferably one about romance. Her sisters could fight over the leading role like the wild animals they are and she could be in another movie away from them. But Mrs. Tetherby had made her opinions on them clear and she looked like the kind of woman who wouldn't give her the time of day. She wondered if Mrs. Tetherby would have a more favorable opinion with Lincoln, due to his experience in acting in commercials.
Lori then thought what had caused her to want to outshine her only brother after being outshined by her sisters for so long. If she had guessed what had spark the interest in Lincoln's life, it would be when she was exiled to the attic after the brawl.
Lori bolted up the stairs and opened the entrance to the attic. She kicked over a box in anger that was full of hand-me-down clothes. She sat on one of the other boxes, determined not to let a tear drop as she rubbered her watery eyes. Luna's words had hurt her deeply but she was vowed to never let any of her siblings know this. How did her siblings get so talented anyway?
Wait a minute.
She remembered watching her siblings grow up as they were toddlers and how they favored things that grew into their talents. She began searching boxes, tossing them away uncaringly as she searched. She finally found the box full of the Loud children's baby books.
She dug through it until she found her own baby book. She opened it and looked through her own photo album: her being bossy with her siblings, her lovingly cuddling her teddy bear, several times of her being outdone by her siblings, her being distracted by a television set, her deflecting blame on to her toys, and her farting.
The oldest sister growled and tossed the scrapbook away in irritation. That hadn't been enough for the blonde's frustration as she turned and kicked the box over. This caused all the baby books to fall out.
An orange book caught Lori's eye. She walked toward it, ignoring the other books. She identified the orange book as Lincoln's scrapbook due to the baby on the cover holding a stuffed rabbit. She decided to open it and find out if her brother had a potential talent. The section for his birth story was blank. Weird. She then thought hard about the day her brother was delivered by scientists, which she thought was weird but there was nothing really abnormal about her only brother.
She turned to the next section and froze as she stared at one page with one particular photo.
The photo showed a baby Lincoln proudly holding up a chipmunk with a wide grin. The chipmunk eyes were open with its jaw open wide. Toy stuffing was pouring out of its stitched-up stomach along with some blood. The head lolled to the side at its neck appeared to be broken. Both of baby Lincoln's tiny fingers were covered in blood.
Lori screamed.
According to her parents, that was the only time Lincoln did something so horrific. Lori had hoped so because, though she doubts her brother would ever kill anybody, she didn't know the exact limit of his fury. Considering the fact that Lincoln is an artist; would he ever take an interest in taxidermy? For their sakes, she hoped not.
The designers finished with the other costumes and patched up her High Card suit. Lori then thanked the designers and entered the hallway to head back to the set. She was still mindful about the Kitty as she walked cautiously while looking around for any signs of that menace.
She then saw the tall man with the black sunglasses walking down the hallway. Lori recognized him as Adam and thought that now would be a good time to ask to other projects. "Hello, Mr. Adam. I was wondering if there was an opening for a role in a romantic-", the bald man in black had simply walked passed her as if she didn't exist. Despite the big man wearing black sunglasses, Lori could tell that he did not even glance at her.
"Oh, okay." Lori said with a nervous expression. But she shook it off and continued walking until she reached the set.
Pain exploded everywhere as he felt several bones break, Lincoln could barely move. The pain was so bad that tears ran down his face, he was too weak to cry but the tears still fell.
"SSSKKKRRREEEOOONNNKKK!"
Lincoln managed to turn his head and saw Godzilla running toward him. The child eyes widen in horror and he instantly looked at his arm and focused as he watched the bones go back in place and heal. Godzilla lowered his head and opened his salivating jaw but the preteen had reached into his belt with his healed hand. Soon Godzilla's face and Lincoln was incased in smoke. Godzilla instantly darted to full height with a dumbfounded expression before shaking it off with a scowl. The smoke dispersed and the child had disappeared.
The white haired boy was crawling through the small vents at the bottom of the wall. He formed a blue card and threw it at the vent exit, causing it to fall off on the city side of the wall. Lincoln dropped down to the ground with a relieved expression.
He checked his belt and opened a container; the jewelry didn't seem to be damaged. The boy sighed in relief.
BOOM!
He felt the impact of Godzilla colliding with the great wall which made him lose his footing and fall forward. There was a large banging from the other side of the wall followed by Godzilla's roar. The boy looked at the wall nervously before running deep into the futuristic city of Citro.
Lincoln could not be any happier as he worked on his comic in his room without the threat of his sisters disrupting his work. He also didn't have worry about a line for the bathroom, getting the last desserts, no more needy favors, and none of that stupid protocol. Other than some people asking about the Ace Savvy movie and the Anti-Lincoln Group, everything was going great.
He was about to work on the part where a confused Ace saw his sleepy 6-year-old brother sleeping on the bench outside, but he stopped drawing. Ace Savvy's little brother was modeled after himself but while Ace's white hair was spiked forward, the little brother, who Lincoln named Seif, white hair spiked in all directions.
Should he really model Seif after himself? He had already model Ace Savvy and Swipe Deck after himself, maybe a third character modeled after himself was overdoing it. He threw darts at the photo sticked to the target without his eyes leaving his work as he wondered how he should design the Seif Nifty character. He should probably think about how he'll model the characters before putting them in the comic.
He then thought about the creator of Ace Savvy and decided to look up the recent reports about Bill Buck. He was disappointed that there was still nothing new.
Maybe he should look into the history between Stether and Bill Buck. Stether distributes the Ace Savvy comics, movies, tv shows, etc. But they rarely interfered with the production of Ace Savvy contents. The only time they interfered was with the Ace Savvy the Movie 2, where Swipe Deck was heavily pushed into the movie. Swipe Deck was Lincoln's favorite Ace Savvy villain but his presence in the movie ruined the film when Ace was battling the Bluffer. Lincoln wasn't sure who was responsible but he knew the director, Ivan Johton, was forced to include Swipe Deck because he was a new and popular villain.
He found articles about a younger Bill Buck signing a contract with a woman with brown plait hair looking over his shoulder with a serious expression. Lincoln recognized her as the head of Stether, Kell Tetherby. Probably related to that greedy punk, Lord Tetherby. Lincoln was not one to be prejudice against those related to bad people unless he met them.
He then searched 'Ace Savvy and Kell Tetherby', Kell was only briefly mentioned in the development of Ace Savvy contents. Lincoln frowned he searched 'Ace Savvy movie promotions', Kell Tetherby did not appear in any of the promotions until if and after the product turned out to be a huge success. Lincoln saw her smiling at the camera with other actors in the Ace Savvy movie. Most of them looked a bit...uncomfortable.
He observed an image of Kell having a rather tight side hug with Grant Peterson, the one who played Ace Savvy in the Golden Trilogy and Lincoln's favorite Ace Savvy actor. He wondered if he would have met his favorite actor if he had won the contest. The thought was instantly shaken out of Lincoln's head. He reminded himself that it was too late now. His premonitions were not hundred percent accurate, but Lincoln was certain he made the right call in giving up.
He researched Kell further. She heavily promoted movies, but none of those movies were superhero related. In fact, it kind of seemed like she dismissed all superhero movies. He wondered about Ace Savvy the Movie 2, Kell was in charge of Stether so either she was responsible for forcing Swipe Deck in a story that didn't need him or neglected the movie to not understand there were issues with the inclusion of the character.
"Cut!" Preston said.
"Alright, everyone that's enough filming for tonight." Piper said with a smile. The sisters turned to leave until they heard the producer speak.
"Lori, see me in my office." Maisie said, turning to leave through the other door, while followed by the duo directors.
"Yay, Lori's getting a prize!" Leni cheered, jumping up for joy. Lori didn't share her sister's enthusiasm as her blood went cold. Panic was easily seen on her face. She couldn't be fired now, after she was so close!
She heard Lynn and Lola snickering. There was no doubt that they were hoping that Lori would be fired or have her role in the movie reduced, the eldest knew that they didn't care which. She bared her teeth at them but this didn't stop their smug grins but they did leave with the other sisters. The others didn't offer any comfort but they did not give her smug grins. Lori knew them enough to know that they hoped for the same thing, except for Leni who was cheering.
She made her way to Maisie's office and stopped right in front of the door. She took a deep breath. She could hear it now, the taunts of Angel and her friends, the disproval and punishments of her parents, and worst of all, Lincoln's wrath.
Lori opened her eyes to find herself duct taped to a table in a dark room. The only source for light was the light bulb from the ceiling. Her mouth was silenced by duct tape, she couldn't scream for help. She heard footsteps and saw Lincoln emerge from the darkness. Lori narrowed her eyes and tried to tell him to free her, or she would turn him into a human pretzel. Lincoln grinned and raised his gloved hand which held poison ivy plants that had been cut from the ground. He walked toward her, much to Lori's horror.
She shuddered at the memory and entered Maisie's office. Lori wondered if Lincoln would be lenient if she told him whose idea it was to keep him out of the movie. She wondered if she could stay with a friend until the movie came out and the others returned. Yes, she thought it was stupid when Lynn suggested they do that but-
"Hello, Lori." Maisie greeted.
Lori noticed that Preston and Piper were in here as well, they were all smiling at her. The kindness in their smile made Lori hoped that maybe they weren't firing her after all but she readied herself if they said otherwise.
"I asked you to come here because we wanted to discuss some things." Maisie said.
"Alright," Lori said, swallowing.
Preston spoke, "We reviewed all your sisters and we felt that you, Lori Loud, shall be the protagonist of the movie."
"R-REALLY!" Lori said, excitedly. She knew her role was bigger than her sister, but she thought that Dominic or Rube would have bigger roles than her. She wasn't being sent home after all! "So you think I'm the best actress in this movie?"
"Actually no, Luan had the best acting out of your other sisters and she's funny, but she's not pretty enough to be the protagonist." Piper explained.
Lori deflated at the comment. She did think that calling her comedic sister ugly was uncalled for but decided to keep her mouth shut.
"We thought you had the most beautiful face, a face we want for Full Deck - Rise for Power." Maisie said.
"R-really?" Lori asked, rekindling her hope.
"Yeah, we'll work on the acting later." Maisie dismissed. "Dominic here, is going to be playing your boyfriend in the movie."
Lori turned to see the young man in his early 20s with short wavy brown hair. She did not realize his presence until Maisie beckoned to him.
"Hey." Dominic said dismissively. Lori shakily waved at him.
"In promoting the movie, we would like for the two of you to show your love for another." Maisie said with a smile.
Lori froze. "W-what?"
"To promote the movie, you two are going to be hugging, kissing and smiling at the camera together. You are also going to be educating viewers on how to correctly express love." Maisie explained.
The seventeen-year-old was horrified by this. Though she admitted that Dominic was hot, her love belongs to Bobby and Bobby alone.
"B-but I..." she tried to protest to the chairperson of Stether.
"Is there a problem?" Maisie asked as she, Preston, and Piper frowned.
Lori swallowed and did what her brain told her not to do. "No, ma'am."
"Good girl." Maise said, smilingly approvingly. "You and Dominic are dismissed."
Both Dominic and Lori exited Maisie's office while the producer and directors discussed promoting the movie. Unknown to anyone, Lucy had been in the vent the whole time.
Lori thought it would be best to explain to Dominic about Bobby. "Um, Dominic, I actually-"
"Just do what they say and don't cause any problems." Dominic said seriously. Lori was taken back by Dominic's seriousness as she had never talked to him unscripted. Before Lori could respond further, Dominic walked away. Lori shrugged it off as Dominic being dedicated to his work.
She then remembered that some actors kissed in some movies, but the relationship was only for the movie. She should talk to Bobby to explain what would be going on and would stress that the love for Dominic would just be for the camera and that there was no love between her and the hot actor. Bobby will understand. She was the star of the movie, and she might not get another chance because no doubt Lincoln will fire her and her sisters. She needs this!
Lincoln woke up the next morning to work on his comic, specifically the part about Ace Savvy's backstory.
Ace Savvy's time with his family had barely been explored which is why his evil older brother, Swift Nifty, could exist without retconning anything as siblings in foster care were often separated. Bits of memories appeared when Ace encountered Swipe Deck though, but it was never elaborated on.
Ace Savvy's origin always been the same. While sleeping in his bed as a kid, two armed men came in to rob the house and ending up shooting Spade's parents. Spade was then placed in foster care. When he got older, usually high-school aged, he was surrounded by crime everywhere where even his friends were involved. This inspired Spade to put on his costume and fight crime.
Maybe he should try something different.
Six-year-old Lincoln scowled as he watched his parents carry his baby brother upstairs. He crossed his arms and sat while facing the corner.
"What's your problem?"
Lincoln turned to see his 8-year-old brother, Swift, who looked exactly like him, but his white hair was spiked backwards.
"The stupid baby." Lincoln growled.
Swift chuckled, "Oh relax, Spade, babies need more attention than big kids like us." His expression soon turned serious, "Besides they have to get Seif's powers under control before someone notices."
Lincoln sighed and stood up. He then looked at his hand and a blue light shaped as a rectangle formed in it until Swift roughly grabbed his hand and caused the energy to disperse.
"What are you doing?!" Swift said, gritting his teeth.
Lincoln was taken back by his brother's tight grip and stammered. "I-I w-was j-just-"
"Do you know what will happen to us, if someone sees that you're a Meta?!" Swift demanded.
Lincoln nodded shakily.
"You better not do it again!" Swift warned before storming out through the giant glass door and into the backyard. Lincoln watched him go before heading back to the stairs. The baby had stopped crying. He approached the stairs and saw his parents leaving the front door, they looked upset.
His mother turned to him and put her face in her hands as she cried. His father gave his son a sad expression as he lead his wife away and into their bedroom. Lincoln just stood there confused before heading upstairs. The 6-year-old walked past his baby brother's room and heard the sound of a creature letting out a rumble.
Lincoln froze.
He stared at the door, but the noise stopped. Gulping, Lincoln leaned in and pressed his ear against the door, the noise he had heard sounded like a creature rumbling. He continued to hear nothing.
He opened the door and looked around, but the room was too dark, he reached for the light button but decided not to. Lincoln formed his blue card in his hand and shined the glowing blue card around as he walked. There was nothing in here but the baby.
Did he just imagine that monstrous noise?
Lincoln hovered over the crib to stare at the red-haired baby who was sound asleep. His confused expression turned into a scowl as he discarded the blue card and walked out. Unknown to him, the blue card glided down and landed under the baby's crib.
As Lincoln gently closed the door, he heard something else.
Ssskkkrrreeeoonnnkkk!
"What was that?" Lincoln asked out loud. He headed down the stairs and walked out of the front door.
The 6-year-old looked left, then right before stepping on the glowing vacant road and staring up to see Godzilla in the distance. Godzilla was shrouded in shadows only for his golden eyes to be visible.
Lincoln stared up at the monster, not knowing what to do. Godzilla stared right back.
KA-BOOM!
The little boy was launched forward as an explosive impact released behind him. Lincoln got to his hands and knees and turned his head back to see his house has scrambled and surrounded in flames.
"MOMMY! DADDY! SWIFT!" Lincoln screamed; tears welled up in his eyes as he ran for the house. He stopped once he saw someone coming from the corner of what remained from his house.
He ran on top of the debris, ignoring the stings of the fire that burned his feet as his skin regenerated each burn. He started digging through the pile and lifted up rubble in different spots to search for his family. He lifted the rubble off and stopped, he stared at the sight then looked at his hand, the same one he had used to summon his explosive card. His tears strained eyes widen in horror. He dropped to his knees and cried. The burning pain hurt but he did not feel it as the fire spread across his body
He heard the crying voice of his baby brother and looked up, to find the crying coming from somewhere. The little boy staggered up and without thinking he ran forward; the fire ceased their burns on him as he regenerated. He dug through the pile and picked up his baby brother.
He then ran back to the road, out of the pathway of the fire. The fire ceased across his body, leaving behind his clothes burnt. He didn't acknowledge it and simply stared up with an emotionless look. Paramedics soon arrived but Lincoln did not react as they threw a blanket around him and put out the fire.
Godzilla was gone, his parents were gone, his older brother was gone. It was now him and his little brother.
The preteen artist had to stop as he had to go to school.
On the bus, he received a notification from Monarch on his phone, they posted a video online. Lincoln wasted no time in selecting the video with an eager face, but an ad showed up. The ad showed the cartoonish smiling green rabbit in purple overalls who presented a popped-up sign of Stether. The ad soon displayed his sister, Lori, with some guy with brown short wavy hair. Lori smiled at the screen, "Hello, my name is-"
Lincoln skipped the ad. The video displayed Baragon sleeping on his back on the beach at Tokyo. The crimson Kaiju's tongue hanged out as he snored with his body moving up and down as he breathed. Occasionally, his back foot kicked the air. A boy soon climbed up Baragon's stomach, stumbling as Baragon's body heaved up and sown as he inhaled and exhaled. The boy soon bent down and started rubbing Baragon's tummy with both hands, the giant creature felt it because Baragon let out a sound that sounded like purring. The boy giggled at the crimson Kaiju's behavior. This woke Baragon up who stared at the boy in confusion, the cautious boy cautiously stared back. Baragon leaned his head in and gave the boy sloppy licks that left the child doused in slobber.
Lincoln liked the video and saved the video to his playlist. Godzilla remained number one in Lincoln's book, but even he had to admit that Baragon is adorable.
When he entered the school doors, he caught everyone looking at him. When they saw that he was looking back, they instantly looked away. He wondered when everyone would stop staring at him. Lincoln went to his locker and was accompanied by his friends.
"Hey, guys did you see Lori on TV!?" Clyde asked excitedly with hearts in his eyes. "Sure, she was making out with some other guy and her acting was a little off but other than that it was a great commercial! Hey, maybe the movie won't suck after all!"
His friends had stared at him in shock, they did not take into account of Clyde's huge crush on Lori. Girl Jordan looked toward Lincoln and saw that he had a neutral expression. Clyde was too lovestruck about Lori to see his friends giving him disapproving looks as he resumed talking.
"Sure, there was really no scenes involving the movie, but Lori was giving some really good advice about love and-", Clyde couldn't say anymore as Stella rushed behind him and slapped her palm on his mouth.
"Clyde, remember how I urgently needed you to bake a cake for my aunt!" Stella hastily said with a nervous grin as she dragged the dark-skinned boy away.
"Hey, guys s-since it's Friday how about we plan a party at my house. We can have all kinds of things like games, music, and other things." Girl Jordan said, they agreed whenever Stether's Ace Savvy movie was brought up around Lincoln, they should change the subject.
"Actually," Lincoln spoke, which made them all freeze. "How about we we have the party at my house?"
"Wait, really?" Zach asked. The conspiracy theorist remembered how Lincoln would have to bribe potential friends into coming over. His sisters' craziness often made it hard for Lincoln to make new friends but most of them have grown use to his sisters that they didn't mind them.
"Yes," Lincoln said with a smile, "In fact, we should bring kids from this school, middle school and high school."
"This is the best party ever!" Carson screamed as he danced under the disco ball with other kids. The Loud's house was packed with kids partying in the basement and in the living room, with music blasting. Most of the party was in the basement but the little kids had a blast in the living room. The party was crazy and yet tamed as Lincoln had forbidden anyone from bringing any types of drugs or alcohol.
Simon was annoyed that Chaz was hogging all the chocolate drinks from the chocolate fountain. Sam who went to get a cup of fruit punch approached the chubby teen and said, "Hey Chaz, how about you let the others get some of that chocolate?"
Confused, Chaz turned to find the line of impatient kids who were giving the chubby boy dirty looks. He sheepishly took the cups he poured and walked away. Sam shook his head at the chubby boy's oblivious nature and gave her little brother a cup of chocolate.
Simon happily slurped his chocolate drink while dancing to the rock music that was being played.
"Simon."
The blond chubby boy turned to find Lincoln.
"Oh hey, Linc." Simon greeted.
"Simon, how would you like you to be in an Ace Savvy comic?" Lincoln asked with a kind smile.
The younger chubby boy could only stare in confusion at his future brother-in-law. Don't get him Simon shared Lincoln's love for Ace Savvy, they often played Ace Savvy video games when they visited one another. The blond had been shocked when he found out that Lincoln has no involvement with the movie. Rumors had spread through school about the Loud sisters, Simon didn't want to believe it as he saw Luna as another big sister but based on that horrible convention and the sisters' actions afterwards, it was hard to dismiss the rumors.
"Are you sure?" Simon asked, eyeing the sole Loud son with confusion.
"Yes, of course." Lincoln answered with a smile.
"Okay. Then yes I would like to be in your comic." Simon answered with a smile.
"Great," Lincoln stated as he took out his notepad and placed Simon's name next to the Slayer, who was a Saratic, parasitic aliens that hunted Ace. "Enjoy the rest of the party." with that Lincoln walked away. Simon watched him go, wondering what comic Lincoln was working on.
Carol turned to her younger sister and said, "Seriously why did you come? Aren't you an enemy of the Morticians Club?"
"It's Lincoln's party. Besides, Lucy's not here. Plus, there's cake." Carrie said simply before walking off to get the many different flavors of cake with a wide smile.
The 17-year-old watched her go before noticing that Lincoln was approaching Conner and his friends who were laughing at something. Lincoln didn't appear to hold any anger within him, but he might have been hiding it. Carol had remembered seeing cracks in his anger.
She remembered one golf tournament where Lori had looked as if she had not slept at all, she avoided looking at everyone and rushed to where the karts were held. The whole atmosphere changed to dead-serious when Carol was approached the only boy of the Loud children. Lincoln had asked her in a emotionless tone about where Lori was and Carol answered, Lincoln had thanked her before heading in Lori's direction. Lori was absent from the tournament afterward. Though she did arrive at schools with rashes all over her face.
She watched as Lincoln and Conner stared at each other and got ready to intervene as the two were known into getting into fights.
"Conner." Lincoln said in an even tone.
"Lincoln." Conner said, matching his rival's tone.
Mark silently waved at the white-haired preteen while Chloe greeted him. "Hey, Lincoln."
"Would you three like to be in an Ace Savvy comic?" Lincoln asked.
The trio gave him looks as if he had grown a second head before forming a circle and spoke among themselves before facing Lincoln.
"Sure." Conner answered.
"That's good." Lincoln said, he put each of their names down to certain characters.
"But what's it about?" Chloe asked, not daring to mention the Full Deck.
"Ace Savvy facing a gigantic threat." Lincoln answered before walking away.
Mark turned to his friends and motioned his hands in sign language, 'I'm surprised he's making another Ace Savvy comic so soon after what happened.'
Chloe said, "I'm surprised he's even putting people in his comic."
'Do you think Ronnie Anne will be in it?' Mark signed. He immediately regret his action as Chloe gave him a teasing smirk.
Conner had stared at Lincoln in suspicion as he walked away.
"Not that I have anything against him, but I'm glad Lincoln doesn't attend the Serrate conventions." Trent said. Serrate was a more violent superhero and his comics were known to be gory, full of cursing, and graphic depictions of...let's say...love. Some Serrate fans had often prided themselves as saying Serrate for big kids and that Ace Savvy was for little kids.
"Yeah, he would just attract trouble." Lance agreed.
"What's wrong with Lincoln?"
The two looked up to see Clyde who was frowning at them. Clyde spoke in a confused tone instead of a demanding one so they weren't worried that they riled up an Ace Savvy fan. Lance and Trent were one of the more sensible fans of Serrate, so they did not want to get into fandom war against other fans of different heroes.
"Well..." Lance started, "there's nothing wrong with Lincoln personally. It's just that he ends up bringing baggage with him everywhere he goes."
"What do you mean?" Clyde asked.
Before they could explain, the two Serrate fans noticed Lincoln approaching Clyde from behind and chose to close the conversation. They did not care for Ace Savvy, but rumors had spread that Lincoln had always wanted to be in a Ace Savvy movie and how his sisters seemed so determined not to let Lincoln be in it. The two couldn't help but feel bad for him.
"Hey, Clyde, would you like to be in an Ace Savvy comic?" Lincoln asked.
"Oh sure." Clyde answered. He thought about telling Lincoln about the love advice Lori gave on television but his other side told him to be quiet about it.
"Great, see you later." Lincoln waved as he walked away. Clyde wondered if his friend would still put his sisters in future comics after what they've done. The African American had noticed Lincoln hasn't brought up his sisters at all and wondered if he should convince Lincoln to try calling them to eliminate the possible bad blood. According to Dr. Lopez, it wasn't good to give in to anger.
"Man, Lincoln should throw parties more often!" Ronnie Anne cheered as she danced alongside the light-brown haired girl under the disco ball.
"Yeah!" Girl Jordan cheered but noticed that Ronnie Anne had stopped dancing and looked conflicted.
Ronnie Annie spoke in a concerned tone, "Is Lincoln alright? I heard what happened at the convention."
She was not a fan of Ace Savvy but her friends: Nikki, Casey, Sameer, and Laird were and went to the convention in Royal Woods. Ronnie Anne declined to come when offered but CJ, Carl, and Adelaide took them upon their offer. She heard from all of them about what happened at the convention, the judges had been extremely bias and had not given anyone, except for the Loud sisters, a chance. The judges were also activists who would direct and produce the movie and believed Ace Savvy was ruining the world.
Ronnie had told them to relax, figuring that Lincoln would probably fix things on the set as she heard later that night that Lori, annoyingly, squealing to Bobby about how she won and was going to star in the movie.
Her friends then told her that Lincoln didn't win the role, much to her shock. The Loud sisters won but Lincoln didn't? She had seen one commercial where Lincoln played the antichrist, it was a more comedic commercial, but Lincoln was scary in it. She knew what kind people those judges were, but have they seen Lincoln act?!
When she interrupted one of Lori's and Bobby's calls to ask the oldest Loud sister why Lincoln wasn't in it, Lori looked nervous and quickly ended the call.
"I don't know, he seems fine, but it might just be an act." Girl Jordan answered. It was a known fact that Lincoln mostly preferred to keep his issues to himself.
"I don't care much for Ace Savvy, but the situation does not paint Lincoln's sister in a pretty light." Ronnie Anne said with a frown. "They have called Ace Savvy and other superheroes lame countless of times, now they seemed all excited once they arrived at a convention that just so happens to have a contest that allows the winner to be in a movie, they don't address how bias the judges were, they get defensive or dodge questions when Lincoln is brought up, and they ran off the day after the convention with their dad's car."
"Yeah, it's why some are calling Lincoln's sisters a bunch of sellouts." Girl Jordan said.
Ronnie Anne nodded and said, "You know, for their sakes they better hope for a miracle their movie does well because-"
"Hey, girls." Lincoln greeted, as he approached them. Ronnie Anne stopped talking as she and Girl Jordan simply smiled at him. The white-haired preteen frowned, noticing that the two were on edge about something and noticed that their smiles seemed forced. He just shrugged at it and asked. "Hey, Girl Jordan, want to be in a Ace Savvy comic?"
"Love to!" Girl Jordan answered with a smile, part of her was excited but the other part was confused that Lincoln would put people in comics again. Still, her Ace Savvy side won out. "Do I get to be a Magistar?"
"Yes, you do." Lincoln said with a smile, glad that his friend was on board with what he had in store for her character.
"Sweet!" Jordan cheered.
"What about you, Ronnie Anne? Would you like to be in a comic?" Lincoln offered.
"No thanks." Ronnie Anne declined. She did not care for Ace Savvy enough to be featured in a comic. She didn't even know what a Magistar was.
Liam, Stella, Rusty, Zach, and Paige had watched as Brad had accidentally stumble into Chaz who was holding a slice of cake, only for the 5th grader to immediately apologize. Despite the fact that Chaz didn't fall over, look hurt, or drop his plate.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Brad cried as he wrapped his arms around Chaz's big gut, the 16-year-old was dumbfounded by the black-haired preteen's remorseful look and said, "Chaz, confused."
"I cannot believe that guy hangs with Chandler." Paige deadpanned,
"I can't believe he use to tease Lincoln about Ronnie Anne." Zach stated.
"To be fair, Chandler's been orderin 'im to make fun of Lincoln 'bout Ronnie Anne. Feller's bin readin his taunts off a singel flash card." Liam chuckled.
"Yeah, he even apologized nonstop to Lincoln for the next whole week." Zach said, remembering how Lincoln got annoyed when he had to drag his foot through school with Brad clinging to his foot and sobbing about how sorry he was.
"You have to admit, Brad is a good actor." Rusty complimented.
Stella would have asked, 'Then why didn't those judges pick him instead?!', but then she remembered that the judges ignored Lincoln too while praising his sisters for absolutely nothing. All that got their attention was that the Loud sisters were the Full House Gang. She had been an Ace Savvy fan for a long time yet the comic featuring the Full House Gang had gone under her radar so she looked up the comic and the reception toward it the day after that awful convention. Lincoln won the contest and got to meet the creator, Bill Buck. But while the comic itself was not hated; it wasn't really loved either. Fans just saw it as just a harmless comic from a kid who's a fan. Some fans have congratulated Lincoln for winning the comic contest and he did win the trophy, but that was all the recognition he received.
Rusty saw Lincoln heading their way and alerted the group. "Guys, Lincoln's approaching. Keep quiet about Stether and his sisters"
When Lincoln got close enough he asked, "Hey guys, want to be in an Ace Savvy comic?"
They each looked excited about Lincoln's offer and looked about ready to explode with 'Yes!', but then they all frowned and looked at each other conflicted.
Stella spoke up, "Um, could you give us a second please?"
Lincoln watched as his friends huddled into a circle and heard them whispering among each other similar to what Conner and his friends to do. After a few minutes they broke from the muddle and faced Lincoln with their answer.
"We would love to be in your comic." Paige said.
Lincoln smiled, placing their names down. Since Ronnie Anne refused, he would have Death Lake designed after Paige instead.
"YEEEHAW!" Brad yelled out in excitement as he rode on top of Chaz's back. Chaz was on all fours hopping up and down like he was a bull. Dana shook her head at her brother's actions, Chaz was such a little kid sometimes.
She saw Lincoln approaching the two goofballs and couldn't help but think about the new Ace Savvy movie. She hadn't been worried compared to other Ace Savvy fans because she thought Lincoln could reason with the directors to make a good Ace Savvy movie. That was before she found out that Lincoln had absolutely no involvement with the movie. She heard how Lincoln had quickly given up trying to win the contest and had convinced his friend to do the same. Seeing Preston and Piper's actions at the convention, she couldn't blame him. She had been dumbfounded when she found the Loud sisters at the convention and without their brother. Dana was happy for Lori but she hoped the blond realized how her actions made her look. She often wondered if her friend knew what she was getting into, working with those activists.
Whatever Lincoln had said made the black haired preteen excited as Dana watched Brad soon grinned excitedly and hugged Lincoln while jumping up and down. Chaz jaw dropped and immediately dropped to his knees with his hands entwined in prayer fashion as he gave the white-haired preteen puppy-dog eyes. Chaz often does the same tactic on her several times with so-so success.
Lincoln sighed and said something which made the chubby teen pout before grinning and incasing the preteen in a bear hug before dropping Lincoln who chuckled then started heading toward a girl with black hair, with purple streak.
Chaz immediately ran to Dana with Brad on his shoulders, both sharing the same grin.
"Hey Dana, guess what?!" Chaz asked excitedly as he ran toward his sister. "Lincoln is making a new Ace Savvy comic!"
"And I get to be in it!" Brad said with pure joy in his voice as his eyes sparkled.
"So can you really see the future with this thing?" Douglass asked as he sat down facing Haiku with a crystal ball between them. He had been one of the many kids that tried their best to avoid the Morticians Club as he found them to be creepy but the concept of looking into the future had intrigued him.
"Of course, the spirits will guide me to the glimpse of the future." Haiku said. "Now close your eyes and concentrate."
Douglass did as he was instructed. He hoped that if the goth could see his future, that it wouldn't be anything bad.
Haiku closed her single visible eye as Douglass closed both of his. Haiku spoke as images begin to show on the crystal ball.
"Yes, I see...what the?" Haiku had to open her eyes and stare at the crystal ball, Douglass did the same out of as he had graphic vision.
They both looked into the crystal ball to see it has displayed Douglass himself. But looked different, he looked younger, and his head was shaved. The younger Douglass squirming as he was being pressed by large stones that were overflowing with a green aura. Blood was spurt out of the younger Douglass's mouth as tears grew in his eyes.
"Wait, what is this?" Haiku asked.
The vision in the crystal ball faded.
"Douglass, has this ever happened to you?" Haiku asked, disturbed by what she just saw. Dark and mysterious were her things, but that doesn't mean that she would wish suffering upon anyone.
Douglass was lost for words. "What? No! I have never even-"
"Hey guys," Lincoln greeted. Douglass and Haiku jumped which concerned Lincoln. "Everything okay?"
Both slowly nodded, Lincoln stared at them for a few seconds then asked, "How would you two like to be in an Ace Savvy comic?"
In Lori and Leni's room, Chandler ears were blasted by the music he was singing and dancing to one of his favorite songs. He enjoyed the party, but he needed his moment of privacy.
"There's a time when the moon reveals its face through the clouds."
"I let out a sigh and want to cry out loud."
Unknown to him, Lincoln had entered and just stared as Chandler sting and danced.
"But deep in my heart I feel love so alive."
"In the depths of my soul I know we will survive."
"I'm the one they would break in their greed and their pride."
"But deep in my heart I feel love-"
He turned around to find Lincoln at the door, staring at him with confusion.
"AAAAH!" Chandler screamed in a high-pitch voice that made him sound like a girl. He immediately removed his earphones and gave the white haired boy an angry look for disturbing his moment.
"Uh, hey Chandler." Lincoln said, not sure what to say.
"What do you want?!" Chandler demanded, wanting to go back to his singing and dancing IN PRIVATE.
"Do you want to be in an Ace Savvy comic?" Lincoln asked.
"What do I look like a nerd? Of course, I wanna be in an Ace Savvy comic. I LOVE ACE SAVVY!" Chandler screamed.
Lincoln rolled his eyes and left Lori and Leni's room. Chandler peeked his head out and saw Lincoln heading down the hallway and down the stairs. He wondered what kind of Ace Savvy comic the white-haired nerd was making but decided to ponder about it later. He looked left and right before closing the door, putting his earphones back on and played his music. He sang and danced yet again with his eyes closed.
"But deep in my heart I feel love so aliiiive."
Most of the younger kids, which consisted of preschoolers, kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders partied in the living room. Byron and Cici had volunteered to watch after them. Byron volunteered because he thought that watching after little kids would help him get back with his ex. Cici because while food downstairs was great, she preferred the snickerdoodles that were on the first floor.
Caleb was playing Ace Savvy Adventures 2 on the gaming console as it was his turn, there was a multiplayer option, but he preferred the story mode in this game.
"Can't believe there's another level on a different console." Pam said, as she watched Ace jump out of the way to dodge a mechanical spider-like arm.
"Yeah, with my favorite villain, Doctor Spider." Scotty said miserably. The Fox kids had the version that didn't feature the extra levels.
"Wait, I thought you hated spiders." Camille said confused.
"Doctor Spider is not a real spider, so he doesn't count. And neither does Spiderman." Scotty explained.
Ace dodged over Doctor Spider and readied a card but was struck a mechanical arm in the chest. Ace soon fell over. The screen turned pitch black with only Doctor Spider laughing maniacally with the mechanical arms from his back flexing upward. Game Over.
Caleb frowned but gave his controller to Adelaide.
"MY TURN!" The controller was snatched by a grinning Carl. He was about to press start, but he was picked up by the back of his shirt and held in the air to meet Cici's glare.
"Wait your turn like the rest." Cici ordered, taking the controller out of his hands and dropping him. Carl pouted but did as he was told.
The Fox kids and the McCauley kids awaited their turn, but something had been bugging Camille about the Fox kids. It's a known fact that the quintuplets were the only kids to like having Lynn as their babysitter. The Fox quintuplets adored her, but they still did not seem supportive of the movie Lynn would be starring in. Though to be fair, Camille did like the rest of the older Loud sisters but even she was hardly excited for the movie.
"Hey, guys." Lincoln said, popping up behind the couch.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Stevie screamed in fear as his eyes rolled up and he collapsed on the couch. Everyone stared at him in confusion before Lincoln addressed four conscious Fox kids and the McCauley kids.
"Hey guys, can we talk upstairs in private?"
The younger kids looked concerned but nodded. Stuart grabbed Stevie's arms while Scotty grabbed both Stevie's legs, the two lifted their unconscious brother.
"Cici, can you save their spot?" Lincoln asked.
Cici nodded and watched the preteen lead to younger kids up the stairs.
"You know," Byron said as he approached Cici. "I'm surprised Lincoln didn't come with any amazing plan to get the judges' attention."
The video of the mall displayed showed that after Lincoln accidentally made Clyde hit Preston with a chip, Lincoln out of nowhere just stood there frozen with a look on his face that made viewers think he was brainwashed while the directors doted on his sisters for trivial reasons. Clyde looked worried as he and Lincoln were ignored and tried to talk to the judges, but he was ignored. Lincoln eventually looked around, looking a bit confused as if he didn't realize where he was before adopting a thinking expression as he placed a hand on his chin. The sisters and the judges walked off and Clyde tried to follow them but then Lincoln stopped him and convinced him that they should just give up.
"You saw the directors, they were bias. I'll bet if Lincoln saved the judges from an armed robbery, they would still ignore him." Cici said with a growl.
Every other contestant was brushed off in favor of the Loud sisters. Others were accused of cheating if they beat the Loud sisters in a contest. Conner had convinced them to do an Ace Savvy trivia, but the hacks gave the Loud sisters easy, brain-dead questions like 'What does Ace wear on his face?'. The directors even worded the answers to them as they have never watched the shows, watch the movies, read the comics, or play his video games. Everyone else was given impossibly hard questions that Cici knew that Preston and Piper themselves didn't know, 'What is the total amount of punches Ace has thrown in total?'.
"I swear, the only good part of the convention was Lincoln dumping the kitty litter on that abomination." Cici said. She, like many others, had a bad experience with the Kitty with the false advertisement that he was friendly. She also, like most fans, found the concept of the Kitty stupid. If the Kitty was seen as a joke, it would be fine, but nope they were supposed to see the Kitty as a genuine threat for some reason.
Cameras from the convention showed Lincoln dumping the litter box upon the Kitty and it was posted online the next day. Half the viewers took delight in the video, but some cat-lovers called for Lincoln's head.
The middle schoolers noticed the Fox kids and the McCauley kids coming down the stairs with wide smiles. Both middle schoolers wondered what got them in such a good mood.
While Colin would have loved to play more of Ace Savvy Adventures 2 downstairs, he was more interested in Lincoln's comic. The kindergarten redhead open Lincoln's drawer and saw several of Lincoln's artwork. One displayed a huge, mutated panther with golden eyes that lacked irises. If not for the head and the tail, Colin would have mistaken it for a completely black tiger. The monster panther laid down as its massive head was being stroked by the Shadow Man, who looked exactly how Lincoln drew him in the art club. Colin wondered if the mutated panther was the Kitty. If it was, then Lincoln gave the cat a massive upgrade.
The next drawing displayed a tiger striped Smilodon that pinned the struggling preteen Ace Savvy, who was wearing the same suit Colin had seen in the art club, down in an alley, snarling in the boy's face with saliva dripping from its large fangs.
The next drawing was filled with compilations that featured a big, quadrupedal blue monster. One had a regular black cat, that resembled the Kitty from the convention, with a horrified look as its head was being chewed on by the blue hairy monster. The second had the blue monster running from white armored soldiers shooting laser guns at it. The third had the blue monster pinning down Ace Savvy, who was too scared to move. The fourth one had the blue monster sitting on its haunches as it stared down at the costumed child with its tongue hanging on the side and its tail wagging. Ace just looked confused at it. The last one had the blue monster dog bounding through the forest with a determine-expression Ace Savvy on his back.
"What are you doing?"
Colin jumped and turned to find Lincoln by the door looking at him with confusion.
The redhead began to ramble as he didn't want Lincoln to be mad at him. "Um, I was just um looking for monsters! I MEAN, I was looking for mutated animals! I MEAN, I was looking for the last Ultimate Ace Savvy comic before the series got cancelled!"
The Ultimate series might have been too intense for some younger kids but Colin still enjoyed it. All of the Ace Savvy fanbase were disappointed when the Ultimate Ace Savvy comics were cancelled along with the Spectacular Ace Savvy show.
"Why didn't you just tell me? I would have gotten it for you." Lincoln said, giving the young redhead a smile as he reached into a bottom drawer and pulled out the last Ace Savvy Ultimate comic before Stether pulled the plug on it.
"Um, thanks." Colin said as he took the comic and watched as Lincoln put all of his artwork for his new comic back in his drawer. Lincoln then turned back to the 6-year-old and asked.
"Colin, would you like to be in an Ace Savvy comic?" As soon as he finished, the preteen was bombarded as Colin was filled with excitement.
"REALLY?! I'D LOVE TO BE IN AN ACE SAVVY COMIC!" Colin squealed. Lincoln chuckled at the redhead's excitement but then grew concerned when Colin's expression soon faltered as he be pursed his lip and looked down.
"Everything alright, Colin?" Lincoln asked patting the younger boy on the head.
"Lincoln," Colin started. "Are you sure you want me to be in it?"
"Of course." Lincoln answered, giving the redhead a kind smile. "Why wouldn't I?"
Colin glanced at where the framed Ace Savvy and the Full House Gang was before it was taken down, it still had the markings of the frame. He bit his lip not wanting Lincoln's mood to drop by mentioning his sisters and how they took his chances of being in an Ace Savvy movie away.
"What if I end up making a mess out of things like I did at my mom's store?" Colin asked with worry, it wasn't that main thing he was worried about, but he felt it was better than bringing up that he might get Lincoln ignored. Some of the Loud sisters were still angry with him for what happened at his mom's store and wanted to enact vengeance upon him for nearly getting Leni fired (Lola was the most vocal about it) but Lincoln had stopped them. Lincoln had told Colin to let him know if his sisters did anything to him.
Lincoln remembered the event, it's how the two met. He did find Mrs. Carmichael accusing Leni of stealing those scarfs a bit uncalled for but to her credit, she did apologize to Leni when she found out her son took those scarfs. He never really faulted Colin and saw his actions as innocently misguided.
"But one: you didn't actually mean to get Leni fired, two: you didn't know that you were doing something wrong, and three: now you know..." Lincoln left it off.
"To not take things without asking first." Colin finished before saying. "But what about those judges telling me that kids like me were what was wrong with society?"
Colin immediately wished he hadn't said that because he noticed a scowl flash on Lincoln's face for a brief moment before speaking.
"I don't think you should take criticism by some bias hacks that feel like they need to hold hands with their chosen winners." Lincoln said with a smirk as he ruffled Colin's red hair. Not liking his hair being ruffled, Colin pouted up at him and pushed at Lincoln's hand, much to the preteen's amusement.
"Tell you what if I ever land the role in a movie, I'll take you along if you want." Lincoln offered
"Really, you mean it?" Colin asked, staring up at Lincoln.
"Of course, especially if it's a superhero movie." Lincoln promised ruffling the 6-year-old's hair again. Colin decided to retaliate and lunge at the older boy which ended up with the two play fighting.
At the edge of Citro City, Lincoln changed out of his costume and into his civilian clothes of a blue t-shirt and jeans. He stuffed the jewelry and his costume into his backpack and slung it around his shoulder. He walked into the futuristic city, but very few people were still out. Lincoln stop when he saw a 6-year-old red haired boy sleeping upright on a sci-fi styled bench.
"Seif?" Lincoln asked as he approached his younger brother. The spiky haired boy opened his eyes a little and stared up at the older boy sleepily
"Spade?" Colin asked.
"Seif, what are you doing out here?" Lincoln asked concerned, as he looked around for any troopers.
"What?" Colin was full awake now and was alarmed at where he was. "Where am I? How did I get here?"
Lincoln saw that Colin was about to get overwhelmed and quickly said. "Hey, it's okay. Let's just get home before some troopers arrest us for staying out too late."
"Yeah, okay." Colin said, he was about to walk but Lincoln picked him up and decided to carry him home. On their way home, they saw a group of people being rounded up by Citro Troopers out of a store. The civilians were on their knees with their hands behind their heads.
"Spade!" Colin whispered in fear as he stared at what was going on.
"Don't look." Lincoln said, refusing to look in their direction. He ignored the dreaded feeling and carried his brother back to his home.
At the Great Wall, Godzilla's reptilian paw reached over the edge of the opposite side of the wall, clenching it and causing cracks to appear.
The entire ride in the limousine had been hell for Lori. Don't get her wrong, the limousine was nice, but her stomach was killing her. She wore her High Card costume as Dominic wore his costume of a green leather suit, Lori had forgotten which Ace Savvy villain he was playing. When the limousine parked in front of the luxurious mall, Lori and Dominic stepped out and were bombarded with flashes from the paparazzi. Dominic smiled and waved, Lori tried to do the same but her smile was a bit faltered, and her wave was weak. Her stomach was killing her! She had managed to put on a fake smile in previous promos but now it was getting harder to pretend that everything was fine.
As soon as she entered the mall, she walked in a rather fast pace toward the restroom. Lori laid her arms on the sink as she weakly looked up. She then wondered about Bobby.
She didn't tell her sisters this, but Lori had told Bobby of their plan the night they've driven away from home. She couldn't keep secrets from her Boo-Boo Bear, she even told him about the 'Bad Luck Incident' much to Lincoln's anger. Of course, Bobby disapproved of their actions.
"Babe, I love you." Bobby said with a sigh as he looked at her through the screens of their phones. Lori could hear the 'but' coming so she gripped the sink with her free hand in anticipation.
"But even I have to say, what you're doing is a pretty crappy. Excluding Linc from his most beloved type of movie." Bobby said, giving his girlfriend a disapproving look, which made Lori feel more ashamed.
"I know Boo Boo Bear, but this could be my only chance to stand out from my siblings." Lori said, hoping her boyfriend would understand.
"Babe, I know you want your chance to shine. But are you sure you're going at this the right way?" Bobby asked, hoping that his lover would change her mind.
Lori remained adamant. "What other choice do I have? You know how Lincoln's like; he'll just take away all the attention. I'm going to be going to college soon and never going to get another opportunity like this while Lincoln will have no problem finding several acting roles. If you actually think about it, I'm only just delaying him from being in a movie not preventing him from being in one."
Bobby knew by the tone in Lori's voice, that nothing he said would change his girlfriend's mind and let out a reluctant sigh. "Alright, Lori. I'll support you in the movie, but I just hope you know what you're doing."
Lori would have understood if Bobby would refuse to support the movie and was delighted that her Boo Boo Bear would stick by her side even to this day.
The happy feeling distinguished as she felt something rise to her throat. She immediately ran for the toilet in one of the stalls and hovered her head over it, readying to barf. Nothing came out. This frustrated her, if something needed to come out of her body then now was the time.
She then thought about the party Lincoln threw back at the house. Last night, Whitney had informed her that Lincoln threw a party at the house. Apparently, he invited high schoolers, middle schoolers, and elementary schoolers. It was a blast to everyone invited. Several photos online showed: Chaz running around with Brad perched on his shoulders, the Fox Quintuplets lunging for the camera, a grinning Conner pushing a nervous Mark toward Ronnie Anne who looked at him confused, a terrified Chandler running away from Haiku who had her crystal ball, Lincoln and Conner in a dance duel while giving each other heated looks, Byron giving a Lincoln a noogie, and Lincoln looking annoyed as the white-shirt Fox kid chewed on his left ear. The photos and the news on how much fun they all had at Lincoln's party had put a pit in Lori's stomach.
'Great, another thing added to his list', Lori thought bitterly.
She knew she was never special compared to her siblings who were very talented. She didn't have Leni's fashion design, Luna's music, Luan's comedy, Lynn's sports, Lincoln's art, Lucy's poems, Lana's mechanics, Lola's beauty pageants, and Lisa's genius mind.
Her own accomplishments weren't anything to brag about. An award for the most texting? What kind of an award was that? Her golfing skills were average at best, compared to other golfers like Carol. Sure, she won a few golfing games and earned a few 1st place trophies, but they weren't enough compared to her siblings. She felt like she won those tournaments because Carol happened to be absent from them. There was this one game where she almost beat Carol, where her frenemy made a mistake and Lori had grown accustomed to the place where the hole was. The eldest Loud daughter practically felt the victory in her hands; but Leni, without warning, took out a megaphone to loudly cheer on her older sister. The sudden noise surprised Lori as she swung the golf club and made the ball hurl into the pond. She missed her shot and Carol won by default, Lori was forced to watched as Carol was cheered and congratulated by her own family, even by that bratty Conner and the stoic Carrie.
She tried Bluebell Scouts when she was six, but she had outdone by Carol. Even then the twins had been better Bluebell Scouts and sold more boxes than her. Although to be fair, Lincoln and Clyde bought them all thinking they were boxes for the delicious cookies, instead they were the healthy but terrible Kale Puffs. Of course, Lincoln, being the Man with the Plan, turned what he had into an opportunity. He used the Kale Puffs in his ingredients to make some delicious cookies and made a lot of money. Conner caught wind of what Lincoln was doing and bought all the Kale Puffs from every scout and decided to make his own cookies. Their actions angered the Bluebell Scout leader as they made more money than the all the scouts combined. If her memory was correct, Conner won that round because he bought more Kale Puffs.
All of Lori's attempts to become prom queen each year were futile as many voted for Carol, Angel, and others instead. Angel, hearing Leni comforting her favorite victim, laughed at Lori's attempt to become prom queen and told her, 'No one on earth would consider you hot'. She even mocked Bobby, calling him an idiot, which sparked anger in Lori and made her move in to punch her, but Angel had delivered brutal slap to her.
Lori soon thought that her real talent was matchmaking with her knowledge on love. She remembered how Lincoln went to her for some love advice, not for him but for his coach to hook up with his teacher. Lori didn't know what happened but apparently her advice didn't work out. Of course, Lincoln didn't tell her this, but he did ask for her advice for how to hook up his teacher with the janitor instead and Lori put two and two together. But during a Sister Fight Protocol issue because of their actions on Francisco, Lucy had told Lori what Lincoln had done while matchmaking his teacher with the janitor.
In the hallway, Girl Jordan had grabbed Lincoln by the shoulders, glaring at him square in the face. "Listen up boys, we are getting Ms. Johnson and that janitor together!"
Clyde grinned, "Great, so let's use what Lori said and-"
"No, shut up!" Girl Jordan yelled at him, before turning to Lincoln. "Listen to me, Lincoln, you're not going to use your sister's advice."
"I'm not?" Lincoln asked confused.
"No!" Girl Jordan ordered, "Your sisters' advice is terrible. It turned our teacher into a goal digger and made our coach spiral into depression. You are instead going to do what you should have done the first time! Do what you and I mean YOU, just YOU, not your sisters, but what YOU think would attract them toward each other! Got it?!"
Lincoln nodded rapidly as Girl Jordan held his shoulders tightly and gave him a stern look.
"Good." Girl Jordan released him.
In the end, Lori was informed that the teacher and the janitor meeting on good terms and she did quit being a hard ass on her students which was Lincoln's true goal. To be fair, she and her sisters realized that Lincoln should probably just be himself in order to get a girlfriend.
Another thing that bothered her was her parents. While they had never said it out loud, she knew they saw Lincoln as more mature and more responsible than her. Her mom would often ask Lincoln to shop at the supermarket after the sole son had convinced the manager to lift the ban off them, the sisters would try to tag along with him, but mom forbid them from tagging along. Eventually, Lori realized that her mother saw her as just as immature as her sisters.
Lori had overheard her dad talking to Lincoln about ideas to further promote his restaurant and how to attract more customers. When Lori had confronted her dad about it, her sisters had eavesdropped and barged in demanding to know as well. Her dad scowled and said that he told Lincoln not to tell them about him cooking a new meal for his restaurant. Dad soon realized his mistake when he saw shocked look on his daughters. Their father did say that Lincoln only created one meal for his restaurant and that he planned to ask them all ideas for what to cook. Luna then demanded to know whose promotion idea he had liked best from the grand opening. His exact words in response were, 'That's ridiculous. I'm not ranking Lincoln's, Lucy's, Luan's, Luna's, Leni's, Lily's, Lisa's, Lola's, Lori's, Lynn's, and Lana's.' Then her father gasped, slapped both hands on his mouth and ran out of the house.
Memories of Lincoln as her caddie in the tournament that was vital for her placement at the Fairway University had always plagued her. Particularly the part where Lincoln suggested a pitching wedge club instead of a 9-iron club. She was grateful of course, but then she thought about how she long she had been golfing when Lincoln became a caddie for a day. She knows Lincoln was the one of the smartest kids in her house other than Lisa. Now her sisters had given helpful advice too, but they had faced similar challenges, according to Lincoln's history which they had delved into, he has had absolutely zero experience with golfing. Yet, he figured out which club was most useful after many mistakes on identifying which golf club was which. She feared that Lincoln might secretly be a pro-golfer. She used to fear Lynn might be a pro-golfer too but golfing was actually a very frustrating sport and Lynn doesn't have the patience or self-control, which was more evident when she tried golfing out.
Being a movie star could be her only chance to prove herself of being just as special as her siblings. She was even annoyed that her sisters still wanted to be in this movie when they have enough egos with their own talents. When she agreed to come to the convention to win a role in the movie, she was mindful of viewers paying more attention to Lincoln even before her sister brought it up. In some movies and shows there is often one character, who appears for one second, who becomes instantly popular.
The banging on the door made Lori jump.
"Come on, Lori! It's time to show kids and adults everywhere how to make love!" Preston voiced yelled urgently on the other side.
"Be right there!" Lori said, before groaning as she clenched her stomach. Then as if a miracle the pain had stopped. She soon left the bathroom with a relieved sigh.
She was soon assaulted by the flashes from cameras and the loud noises the photographers made. She had not gotten use to the paparazzi yet but Lori put on a smile anyway and waved. She saw Preston gesturing for her to come to him and Dominic. When Lori got there, Preston had turned to face the people behind the red rope. Lori and Dominic faced each other and held each other's hands as Piper had instructed them to do. They grinned at each other as they stared dreamily at each other for the audience.
As Preston spoke about the High Card and Count Impetus and their love for one another, Lori saw a group of teenage girls on the side away from crowd.
"Wait, that guy's playing Count Impetus?"
"Yep."
"But he's...so...young?"
"Well maybe this is an origin story?"
"Who's playing Ace Savvy?"
"That's the thing there has been no casting for Ace Savvy."
"What, I thought they were making an Ace Savvy movie?"
"Heh, those hacks probably were too scared of getting some guy to play him."
"Well why didn't they give blond kid with the beanie at the convention the role?"
Lori remembered how Conner had tried to get others a fair chance at becoming the winners. But Preston and Piper were adamant about picking the Loud sisters as the Kings of the Con. Lori knew the contest was unfair, but she needed the role desperately.
"Either him of that white haired kid that fought those other kids in silver suits." Another teenage girl spoke.
Lori realized they were soon talking about her brother. She saw the video of Lincoln fighting off a group of kids that have it out for him. It was drastically different from the video about her and her sisters winning the convention in terms of ratings. Viewers were impressed by Lincoln's battle. Some have even added a slow motion of Lincoln in that cloud fight which showed Lincoln dodging and throwing hits like a freaking ninja. The video had even have some viewers say that Lincoln should have won a role for the movie, this made Lori seriously annoyed. Of course, she was happy Lincoln won but she was also reminded how Lincoln didn't tell him that he was being targeted by other kids.
"Now, Impetus how would you rank High Card's kissing?" Preston said, turning to address Dominic.
"Well, her kiss is ultimate as it leaves my whole body burning like it was on fire like my skin was peeling off and showing my bones." Dominic said in a romantic tone. The crowd just stared confused at the choice of words.
"Right, Babe?" Dominic asked, turning to the blond.
Lori remembered her lines and said, "Yes, our love is too eternal for the eyes it is like we connect bottomless pits of heck to the ascension of heaven. Every time we touch, the millions of heats of the sun expand and-" Lori froze, the sickness has returned but it was now in last place she would want it. She felt it, she was going to fart.
Everyone stared at Lori, some in confusion on why she suddenly stopped, others in concern as she looked ill.
"Um, Mr. Sieg?" Lori tried to ask.
"Not now, Loud. Continue what you were saying." Preston brushed off.
Lori tried to say something to Dominic only to freeze under his intense glare. She knew Preston and Dominic wanted her to continue her lines but that would be difficult as Lori has both lost her voice and forgot her lines.
Preston spoke up, "Why don't you two start kissing."
Dominic closed his eyes and leaned in. Wanting this to be over with, Lori leaned in too and split her lips.
Before their lips touched, she released.
She heard no fart and let out a sigh of relief, believing it was now over. Her relief did not last long as her bottom started to feel funny, followed by a foul smell, and the bottom of her suit staining a dirt color.
Everyone around her gasped.
Dominic recoiled in disgust and back away from her. The crowd began buzzing with activity: some laughed and many were disgusted.
Lori's cheeks turned bright red as she ran away in humiliation.
Looking for any sightings of Bill Buck was proving to be more and more difficult as any leads were either false or instantly outdated. His friends were covering different parts of Royal Woods, he was covering the northern part of town. To be honest, Lincoln wasn't sure if he was even in Royal Woods but they decided to keep looking. Besides, no reports have said Bill Buck was seen anywhere else.
Lincoln thought of contacting Stether but decided against it. They were going to hate him as he planned to file a lawsuit against Stether for using his characters without permission. He knew Stether was smart and had lots of lawyers but he had not signed anything off on allowing Stether to use the Full House Gang.
The white haired preteen stopped when he saw someone in the distance with a grey ponytail and was wearing yellow shirt, with red suspenders, and brown slacks.
"Bill Buck." Lincoln said out loud, he headed in the elderly's direction, who turned the corner and out of sight. Lincoln picked up the pace, he didn't run or shout as he didn't want people to think he was crazy. He reached the corner to see the elderly person enter a electronic store. Lincoln walked in through the glass door and entered the electronic store. All of the TVs in the store displayed Lori and Dominic holding each other's hands in their costumes. Lincoln looked around before heading to the TV section, where she saw Mr. Buck staring at TV with a group of people. He heard laughter, saw some people turning their heads with disgusted looks, and others just staring.
Lincoln took a deep breath before approaching the man who created his favorite superhero. He needed to ease his way into wondering what happened. He had no right to talk comfortable around Mr. Buck as his Full Deck comic had been dismissed by some. He just needed to ask why he wasn't at the convention and ask if everything was working out with Stether. Even if Mr. Buck doesn't want to talk about it, he should at least let Bill know that he and the rest of the Ace Savvy fanbase are on his side.
"Excuse me, Mr. Buck?" Lincoln asked, trying to keep his nerves under control.
The elderly turned around to reveal herself as an elderly woman. Lincoln then noticed the grey hair covered the top of the hair and wished he noticed that detail earlier.
"Oh, um sorry for bothering you ma'am. I, uh, thought you were someone else." Lincoln apologized, raising his hands to show he meant no harm. Thankfully, the elderly woman didn't appear to show any annoyance with him, just confusion.
A group of kids and adults laughing was heard and more people approached the wall of TVs. Curiosity overcame the 11-year-old as he walked forward and pushed through the crowd to get a look at what was getting so much attention from these people. His eyes widen once he finally got to the front and saw what the TVs were displaying.
Headline read, High Card Actress Has an Accident in Front of Audience.
The footage came from a helicopter as it showed Lori, in her High Card suit, running outside as if her life depended on it. She tried to cover her bottom to block her humiliation only to recoil when she touched it. Lori bumped into a man that sent them both crashing to the ground. Lori quickly recovered and continued to run, shouting an apology. She ran past red lights which caused drivers to honk their cars and curses at her, only for them to stare in shock once they saw her situation.
"Geeze, what on earth did she eat?" One boy laughed who stood next to the white-haired kid.
Lincoln wondered the same thing before shaking his head and heading toward the exit. He needed to find more clues on Bill Buck's whereabouts.
Once again, criticism is appreciated but please no flames.
I actually like Lori, she's my third favorite sister. I know some have issues with her mainly because she use to keep forcing Lincoln to be with Ronnie Anne and her being bossy but I prefer her and Lincoln's dynamic than the others. Plus her character improved in later seasons.