So...this is a long chapter XD. Ok, in all honesty, I didn't think it would be NEARLY this long. It just kinda happened. So was I planning this? No. Am I ok with this? Yeah. Do I find this hilarious? Oh, absolutely XD.
So, before I start this chapter I wanna say a few things.
1. Huge shout out to someone I consider one of my best friends online. Petrus-C-Visagie. I'm sure you all know him as the guy who does the cover art for this story as well as RWBY Academia. Well, I wanna give a shout out and tell you guys to go check out his stuff. He also helped me out with a part near the end of this chapter. Not only is he an amazing artist but he's an awesome writer. His drawings are top notch and he does so much more than Loud House stuff, he really deserves so much more praise then what he's already getting. And his writing is fantastic. He's currently doing a Loud House and Ed, Edd N Eddy crossover story and (after watching Ed Edd N Eddy again) I have to say he nailed it with combining the two shows and having everyone stay in character. Go check out his Devianart and Fanfic account and tell him how awesome he is because he really is.
2. Now TomahawkESP brought this up in his review and I want to make everyone clear on something. NO HAREMS! I stated this in RWBY Academia, but I really don't like Harems. In my opinion, they ruin stories with hos crazy they get and they just go against my morals. If you like them, that's perfectly fine. We all have opinions, that's what makes us human. They just aren't for me. There is one story I do like that has harems and once again I stated it in RWBY Academia and you can just find it by looking at my profile.
and lastly...ugh. Things like this need to stop happening, my heart just can't take it. First my amazing Grandma, then Stan Lee and now this :'(
R.I.P
Stephen Hillenburg
You gave us one of the most iconic shows and characters of all time
thank you
And with all that said, here's the ridiculously long chapter.
"Bye, mom! Bye, dad!" Lincoln shouted as he exited the house. Lincoln decided that today would be his day off. No crime fighting. No getting kidnapped. No action at all. And what better way to spend his day off then hanging out with Ronnie Anne.
"Bye Lincoln!" His dad shouted from inside the house.
"Call us when you get there," Rita added.
"Alright!" Lincoln shouted back as he went to the side of the house. Lincoln peaked around a bit to make sure none of his neighbors could see him. One he was in the clear, he did behind the trashcans, out of sight. What followed quickly was a green flash of light.
'Hey what're you- AAAAAAAH!'
Before Ra'ad had a chance to finish, an orange blur left the trashcans with none other than Fasttrack running out into the road heading in the direction of the big city where Ronnie Anne lives as fast as he could.
'Warn me next time kid!'
"Sorry about Ra'ad." Fasttrack said with a sheepish smile. "Just a little excited for today." He'd been wanting to visit Ronnie Anne again for a while now but with everything's, that's been happening recently, he hasn't had a lot of free time.
'Oh yeah, gonna go spend some time with your girlfriend.'
"Ok look! I already have to deal with Lori telling me Ronnie Anne is my girlfriend, I don't need you doing it too!" Fasttrack yelled in frustration. He was so sick and tired of people saying he and Ronnie Anne were in a relationship. They were friends. Nothing more. Nothing less.
'Oh right. Wendy's your girlfriend right?'
"Ok you know what…I'm just gonna start ignoring you." Fasttrack just decided to give up and just focus on getting to Ronnie Anne. As he said, nothing was going to ruin today.
'Alright then, I'll be playing pool if you need me.'
"When did you get a pool…I almost fell for that."
*CLANK*
'Fell for what?'
THE LOUD HOUSE
Back at the Loud House. Most of the Loud sisters were sitting down on the couch watching tv together. The only one absent from the whole thing was the eldest sibling Lori Loud. However, it didn't take long for said girl to come down the stairs and see the rest of her sisters watching TV.
Hey girls," Lori said waving her hand.
"Hey, Lori." All the sisters said in unison as they turned to face the 17-year-old.
Lori smiled and looked around the couch and rose a brow when she found one of her siblings was missing. "Where's Lincoln."
"Goo-goo," Lily said from Luan's hands while pointing at the door.
"He fast and tracked outta this joint. Hahaha! Get it!" Luan joked making everyone groan and for Lily to blow a raspberry.
"Lincoln went to go see Ronnie Anne in the city," Lana said, pretty much translating what Luan meant with the bad joke.
"What?" Lori gasped. "He's going to Ronnie Anne's place without me?" Lori couldn't believe Lincoln would do this to her. Not only not telling her that he was going to see his girlfriend but also not bring her. She wanted to see her Bobby-boo-boo bear.
"He doesn't have to everything with us Lori," Leni spoke up as she stood up and walked towards her only older sister. "Lincoln just wanted some time off to spend with her after all the crazy stuff that's been happening. And I'm kinda on the same boat as him." She explained making Lori raise an eyebrow.
Then Leni brightened up and grabbed Lori's shoulders surprising her "Hey I know! Let's, like, have a girl's day out at the mall? We haven't had one in a while."
Lori put her hand to her chin and thought about it. It was true, it has been a while since she and Leni had some personal sister time together. Heck, it's actually been a while since she's been to the mall. Giving Leni a soft smile, Lori nodded. "Yeah, why not. It might literally be what I need right now."
"Eeeeeeh!" Leni squealed as she pulled Lori into one of her signature bone breaking hugs, making her go blue from the lack of oxygen. "This is gonna be, like, so much fun!"
"Great…now please let me go…before I…suffocate." Lori managed to speak out. Leni quickly responded as she let go of her older sister and smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry," Leni said with a small blush of embarrassment. "Come on! Let's get our purses and go. We'll take my car." The light blond said as both of them went up to their room to get there stuff.
"Welp," Lana said as she got up and dusted her hands. "Since those two are doing their own thing, Lola, you wanna help me with something." She asked, facing her twin.
"Help with what exactly?" Lola said with a suspicious luck. She was willing to listen to what her twin wanted help with, but if it was anything that would get her dirty in any way or make her puke, no way.
"I was thinking of building a tree house in the backyard. Come on, please. Think how cool it would be to have our very own treehouse." Lana said nudging her pageant princess of a twin, who was now deep in thought.
"And what would I have to do exactly?" Lola asked in interest. The treehouse things did sound pretty nice, but still…
"You would just have to help me cut and move wood. The worst that could happen to you get some wood shavings on you and those wash out easily." Lana reassured her.
"Hmmm, alright I'll help out," Lola said as she got up.
"Alright! Come on! We're burning daylight!" Lana said as she grabbed her twin sister's arm and ran out to the backyard.
"I'm off to," Lucy said as she walked towards the door. "Me and Haiku are gonna go work on some new poems." And with that, the Goth girl left the house.
"I'm gonna go work on some sick jams," Luna said as she headed upstairs.
"I got some new jokes I wanna test out," Luna said as she stood up with Lily still in hand. "Come on Lily, you can be my audience."
"Poo-poo!" The baby complained but went unheard as Luan still dragged her away anyway.
"I still have work to do on my cure to the H1N1 virus," Lisa said as she headed up to her room.
That only left Lynn as the only sister in the room. Looking around, the athlete raised her arms into the air in glee and grabbed the TV remote. "Sweet! TV's all mine. Sports channel all day baby." She cheered as she turned on her favorite channel.
Back with Fasttrack, the speedy alien was still running to his destination. But it wasn't long until he saw the big city. Smiling widely, the boy turned alien sped up and ran as fast as he could towards where his friend lived.
It didn't take long for him to make it to the city from his house. When you have an alien that can move faster than the speed of sound, it made getting to faraway places more of a chore than a really long trip.
Closing in the Casagrande Bodega, Fasttrack diverted his course to a nearby alleyway. Once he was in the clear, the Omnitrix started beeping red. In a flash of red light Fasttrack changed back to Lincoln.
Just as he changed back, Lincoln immediately felt the heat of the city. Today was a bit hotter than it was the last time he came here with Lori and Wendy. Lincoln took off his jacket and wrapped it around his waist leaving him in just his black tee-shirt.
Currently, Ronnie Anne was packing things into her mom's cars. Maria's car was currently filled with various camping supplies. Tents, sleeping bags, skewers, everything you could need. Putting a dark pink sleeping bag into the trunk, the young Santiago took a second to wipe some sweat off her head.
"Hey, I'm looking for this jerk named Ronnie Anne, you know her?"
Ronnie Ann quickly narrowed her eyes and shifted her gaze to where she heard the voice. "Who wants to know?" She asked as she turned around, ready to beat down who whoever said that. But what she saw was the face of a familiar white-haired boy.
Ronnie Anne's expression quickly turned to a smile as she ran up and quickly greeted Lincoln with her signature arm punch. "How'd you get here lame-o?" Ronnie Anne asked as Lincoln chuckled and rubbed his arm.
"Let's just say I took the Fasttrack express," Lincoln said while pointing to the Omnitrix.
"Sweet, so why are you here?" Ronnie Anne asked. She was glad Lincoln was here, but she was still wondering why exactly.
"Well, after a bunch of crazy stuff that's happened lately, I figured I would take the day off from hero stuff today and maybe we could hang out together." But as Lincoln explained this, Ronnie Anne's expression turned to a less happy one as she rubbed her arm. Lincoln quickly picked up on this and frowned. "What? What's wrong?"
"Well…you see," Ronnie Anne struggled to say. She didn't want to burst Lincolns bubble, but she had to tell him. "Me, Bobby and my mom are going camping this weekend. And we're just about to leave."
"What?!" Lincoln gasped out. Just like that, his day off was ruined.
"Yeah, mom said it would be nice to go out in the woods for a few days after living in the city for a couple weeks." Ronnie Anna explained as she leaned against the car.
Unbeknownst to the two, Ronnie's grandpa Hector was listening in on the two's conversation from the Bodega. He always had a knack for picking up on gossip, even if it was with his own family. But as he was listening, his eyes were glued to one thing. The Omnitrix on Lincoln's wrist.
"That watch…" He muttered as he hid under the counter. "It can't be."
Hector saw Lincoln lower his head. He had heard everything the kids say to each other. Perhaps he could get some answers from the boy and fix his free weekend problem.
Taking a deep breath, Hector put on a casual smile and walked outside just as Ronnie Anne was patting Lincolns back, trying to make him feel better. "I couldn't help but listen to your problem muchacho." Hector said, making Lincoln and Ronnie Anne jump a bit.
"Granpa! H-how much did you hear?" Ronnie Anne asked in a panicked tone. She practically prayed that her grandpa didn't hear any of the alien or hero stuff Lincoln mentioned.
"Oh not much," Hector said shrugging his shoulder, doing a rather well job at lying. "I just heard that Lincoln now has nothing to do this weekend since he couldn't spend it with you."
"Oh ok," Lincoln said as both he and Ronnie Anne breathed a sigh of relief. Good, Hector didn't hear any of the alien or hero stuff. "So what about it?"
"Well, I was just thinking, what if you spent the weekend with us in the city!" Hector suggested with a toothy smile, surprising both 11-year-olds.
"Really?" Lincoln said with a raised brow. That was certainly an unexpected offer.
"Hey that sounds pretty good, you'd get some time away with your crazy family to spend some time with my crazy family." Ronnie Anne approved of the idea. Granted it was still weird that her grandpa just suddenly offered, but hey, if it made lame-o happy, then she was all for it.
"I'm not sure," Lincoln said as he looked at the ground. "Would it be ok with everyone else?"
"Oh, of course, my boy!" Hector waved off. "We'd more than love to have you here for the weekend." The watch aside, the whole Casagrande family did really like the Louds. So Hector was sure the rest of his family wouldn't mind having Lincoln over, heck CJ would be more than happy since he and Lincoln quickly became friends.
"Well, I guess if everyone's ok with it, I'd love to stay over," Lincoln said with a smile. It would be nice to get to know the rest of Ronnie Anne's family better.
"Wonderful!" Hector cheered, patting Lincoln on the back making the Omnitrix wielder stumble a bit. "I'll just tell the rest of the family while you call your folks to tell them the news." And with that, the Hispanic man went inside the apartment to explain Lincolns visit.
Right as Hector enters, Bobby comes outside with a backpack holding a sleeping bag on top. The older Santiago sibling quickly sees Lincoln and smiles while walking up to his brother from another mother. "Lincoln! What's up bro, when you get here?"
"Oh uh, just earlier." Lincoln hastily answered. "I took an uber, my dad knows a guy so I got here at half the price." He said with a nervous smile and sweating forehead. Meanwhile, Ronnie Anne just facepalmed. Lincoln really needed to work on his lying skills.
"Oh cool," Bobby replied. Of course, he fell for it. "Is Lori with you?"
"Nope, sorry Bobby, just me," Lincoln replied.
"Oh ok, because we're going camping anyway and I don't wanna disappoint her by not being able to spend time with her. So what about you, what's up?"
"Well, Lame-o here came to hang with me, but due to our plans, Grandpa offered him to spend the weekend with the rest of our family." Ronnie Anne explained with Lincoln nodding.
"Sweet!" Bobby replied enthusiastically. "Trust me Lincoln, you're gonna have a blast."
Just then Bobby and Ronnie Anne's mother Maria came out wearing a pink sweater, purple plants on plants. The Hispanic women quickly saw Lincoln and let out a small gasp. "Oh, Lincoln. I didn't know you were coming." She said with a worried look on her face. "Sorry, but we kinda already have plans.
"It's alright Mrs. Santiago," Lincoln reassures her with a wave. "Your dad already set up some backup plans for me."
"Really?" Maria asked with a raised brow, to which Lincoln, Ronnie Anne and Bobby nodded in confirmation. "Well alright then, you two ready to go."
"Yep," Bobby replied before turning to Lincoln. "See ya later Lincoln." Bobby and Lincoln said goodbye to each other with a bro handshake.
"Try not to have too much fun Lame-o." Ronnie Anne tells Lincoln as she punches his arm and head into the car.
"See ya later!" Lincoln waved off as the Santiago's took off for weekend camping.
Right as they left, Hector came back outside with a satisfied smile on his face. "Good news amigo! Everyone is perfectly fine with you staying here. They're actually quite excited." He explained which made Lincoln brighten up.
"Sweet!" He cheered. "It's still kinda surprising you made the offer in the first place. No offense."
"None taken chamaco." Hector replied. But then his eyes darted over to the Omnitrix. Well, better now than never. "Although, there is one thing I would like to discuss with you. If you don't mind of course."
Lincoln's face turned to one of slight confusion as rose an eyebrow. What did he want to talk to him about? But regardless, he did just invite him into his home so having a little talk was the very least he could do. "Sure, what do you wanna discuss?"
"First let's take this to the Bodega," Hector said, pointing behind him with his thumb at the Bodega. "It's air-conditioned in there."
Lincoln's eyes quickly widen as he runs to the Bodega and holds the door open for Hector. "Well, what are we waiting for?" He wanted to get out of this heat. Now!
Hector simply chuckled at the Loud boy's antics and went inside. "Gracias," Hector said as he entered with Lincoln coming in close behind and closing the door. "Get behind the counter, I just gotta take care of a few things."
Lincoln did as he was told and went behind the counter where Bobby usually worked at. Just as Lincoln did this, Hector poked his head outside to make sure the coast was clear. Once he was done, he turned the sign to closed and started closing all the curtains to the windows keeping anyone from looking
As he was doing this, Lincoln was just watching confused about the whole thing. "Uuuh, what are you doing?" Lincoln asked. Was Hector closing up shop? But it was the beginning of the afternoon and a man like him didn't seem like the type to just randomly close.
Hector didn't respond and just kept closing off the Bodega, making sure no one could peep in and spy on them. Once everything was taking care of, Hector walked behind the counter in front of Lincoln. "That discussion I wanted to have, it's about this." He said quietly as he grabbed Lincoln's wrist and pointed at the Omnitrix.
Lincoln quickly went into panic mode and pulled away his wrist and put his jacket back on to hide it. Leaning against the counter, Lincoln smiled nervously and was sweating nervously. "Wh-what a-are you talking about?" Lincoln asked in an equally nervous tone. There was no way Hector knew about the Omnitrix…right?
"Before I go any further, you wouldn't happen to know a man named Albert Baxter would you?" Hector asked, wanting to make sure of this first. The second he first saw Lincoln, the white-haired boy quickly reminded him of his old friend.
Lincoln's eyes widen in complete surprise. That was the name of his Pop-pop. "Uh, yeah," Lincoln responded I a tone that matched his expression. "He's my mom's dad. My family calls him Pop-pop."
At this news, Hector released a loud gasp. "He's your grandfather?" He asked, to make absolutely sure he heard that right. Lincoln nodded, confirming the information. This was following by Hector laughing heartedly and grabbing Lincoln by his shoulders. "I should have known you were related to him once I saw you! Your hair is exactly the same!"
Lincoln pulled away from Hector's grasp and gained a confused expression. "Wait, wait, wait, wait….you know my Pop-pop?"
Hector laughed again in response. "Knew him? Haha, we were amigos back in the day. We used to work together." The old Casagrande realized making Lincoln gain a thoughtful expression and rub his chin.
"Work together?" It was then Lincolns eyes widened in realization. There's no way. "You didn't use to be a…plu-plum-"
"A plumber?" Hector finished with a grin taking Lincoln back a bit. "Why yes, yes I was!" He said rather dramatically while putting his arms to his hips and puffing his chest out.
Lincoln didn't react to the hero-like pose and instead just smiled brightly. "That's awesome!" Lincoln cheered making Hector grin in a little self-pride. "You and my Pop-pop really worked together?"
"Better believe it muchacho." Hector said with a little smugness. He couldn't help but be a little prideful for his plumber days. This was the first time he's really talked about it with someone else. Other than old amigos of course. "In fact, step a little to the side for a second."
Lincoln tilted his head in confusion but did as told. He watched as Hector pulled out a laptop from under the counter and started it up. Lincoln continued watching Hector fiddle with the laptop until…
"Hey there Hector, how goes it?"
Lincoln's eyes widen. He knew that voice.
"Albert! Mi amigo! How goes it?" Hector responded to his old friend. Lincoln peaked and saw that Hector was video chatting with none other than his Pop-pop.
"Doing just fine hector. We just got a new flavor of pudding at the retirement home." Albert responded on his end. Completely unaware his grandson was on the same end as Hector.
"Ah Bueno, Bueno. Hey, I got a surprise here for you." Hector told his old friend, making him curious.
Hector then faced towards Lincoln gestured him to come up. Lincoln smiled wildly and happily went next to Hector and waved at the computer screen. "Hi, Pop-pop! It's me!"
"Lincoln?!" Albert said completely surprised. It was then that the Oldman put on his glasses to make sure he wasn't seeing things and sure enough, there was his favorite grandson. "Kiddo! It is you, what are you doing with that bum?" He asked with a grin.
"Haha, you're divertidísimo." Hector said with the roll of his eyes. "Lincoln happens to be staying the weekend with us and I was just telling him how we used to be plumbers together."
"Yeah! I never would have guessed you were friend with Ronnie Anne's grandpa." Lincoln said with his smile never leaving his face.
"Hehe, yep. Me and Hector go way back." Albert confirmed while taking off his glasses. "Hey, have you heard anything from Phil lately?"
At this Hector shook. "Nah, he's probably on some tropical beach trying to flirt with some ladies." He said with an amused smile while Lincoln raised a brow.
"Yep, that sounds like Phil," Albert said with a smile while shaking his head.
"Who's Phil?" Lincoln asked. Here they were talking about some guy that Lincoln didn't even know and not telling him about this Phil guy.
"Oh, he's another old friend of ours, Albert's partner actually." Hector explained gaining an 'Oooooh' from Lincoln.
"Yeah, Phil was great," Albert said as he started off into distant memories. "Although I haven't heard from him from a while, I'm sure the old birds doing fine."
"Or getting his butt kicked by senoritas." Hector joked making the two white-heads laugh.
"Well, I gotta go. It was nice talking to you Hector, and Lincoln, I'll see ya later kiddo. Keep up the good work with the hero stuff." Albert waved bye before signing off.
"Wow. That's amazing. I bet you got a lot of Plumber stories." Lincoln said, vaguely asking to hear some stories from back when Hector was still a Plumber.
"Yep," The old Casagrande sighed happily. "We sure had some good times. Just now Lincoln that only my wife knows about this. I also know that you told Ronnie Anne about the Omnitrix." Hector relived making Lincoln go wide-eyed. "Don't worry, I'm just asking you to keep this on the low is all."
"Can do!" Lincoln responded with a salute which Hector returned. But then something came to Lincolns head. "Hey, I was wondering…" He hesitantly asked making Hector raise an eyebrow. "Do you know a man named…Zed?"
Hector released a silent gasp before his face turned to one of pure seriousness. "How do you know that name?" He asked in a tone that matched his expression to a T.
This made Lincoln flinch a bit from his tone and expression, but he quickly regained his composer. "He was working with this group called the Forever Knights. He said he used to be a Plumber but was kicked out."
"And for a very good reason." Hector immediately responded. "Lincoln, that man was a psychopath in every meaning of the word. The things he did, he turned the prison of the Plumbers into a torture chamber of alien experimentation. He was a maniac bent on alien genocide."
"Geez," Lincoln said with an audible gulp and a sick feeling in his stomach. He knew Zed was sick and twisted but this…this was intense.
"Indeed," Hector said grimly. "Lincoln, if you ever run into him again, you have to take him down. A man like that is too dangerous be left on the loose."
"Right," Lincoln said with a determined expression.
"Excellent." It was then that Hector expression softened to what it usually was. "Now why don't we stop with all the conversación seria and start having some la diversion."
"Yeah, that would be nice," Lincoln replied. He knew his fair share of Spanish from both Ronnie Anne and Spanish class.
"Wonderful!" Hector cheered as he and Lincoln walked to the exit. "I'm gonna open up the Bodega again. Meanwhile, why don't you go have some good time with the rest of the Familia."
"Alright. See you later Mr. Casagrande!" Lincoln waved as he opened the door to leave.
"Lincoln please, call me Hector." The old Hispanic man told the white-haired boy. He was the grandson of one of his best friends, there was no need for formalities. Lincoln smiled brightly at this and waved goodbye just as he left the bodega to begin his weekend with the Casagrande's.
ROYAL WOODS MALL
Back in the town of Royal Woods, the two oldest Loud siblings were currently spending their girls day in their favorite store. The clothes shop.
"Ok, what do you think of this one?" Leni asked as she stepped out of the changing room. He was now wearing an amber knee high dress with short sleeves. She struck a pose while Lori rubbed her chin in thought.
"Not bad, but it doesn't really compliment your hair color." Lori critiqued. So far this was the 3rd dress Leni had tried on with. In Lori's opinion, the 2nd dress was the best which was a pure white dress with a sunhat to go with it.
Leni took a look in the mirror and hummed to herself before nodding. "Yeah, I guess you're right, it's a nice color and not really, like, me."
"Yeah, now move over. It's literally my turn." Lori said as she got up carrying some clothes of her own to try on.
"Ok, just let me…huh?" Leni was saying but something then gained her attention making her narrow her gaze to get a better look.
"What? What're you looking at?" The eldest Loud sibling asked.
"Is that…IT IS! Lori, look! It's Wendy." Leni said pointing to where she was looking.
Sure enough, Lori saw the Japanese girl in the same store as them. She appeared to be looking at various clothing items on hooks and shelf. She also has an indecisive look on her face. Leni knew what that meant. She needed some fashion help.
"Come on let's go see what's she up to!" Leni said as she dragged Lori by her arm.
"Wendy! Wendy!" Leni shouted trying to gain her attention.
Sure enough, it worked. The 11-year-olds attention was drawn to the two oldest Loud girls and Wendy was quick to gain a smile and run towards them. "Lori! Leni! I didn't know you two were here."
"We didn't know you were here either. It's, like, so good to see you." Leni replied happily, brightening up Wendy's smile.
"So what are you doing here?" Lori asked with a raised brow.
"Well after Lincoln told me about it, I thought exploring the mall might be fun. I asked my mom and she agreed to let me spend some time exploring here." Wendy explained gaining nods from the two blonds. "And I heard about shopping sprees and I thought I'd try it for myself."
It was then that the Loud girl's eyes widened and they let out a loud gasp. "Wait, you've literally never cloths shopped before?" Lori asked.
Wendy simply shook her head in response.
"You know what this means, right Lori?" Leni asked facing her older sister.
"Absolutely." She responded, facing Leni with both of them smiling brightly.
"FASHION TIME!"
Wendy had to cover her ears from the high pitched squeal the sisters made. "What do you mean?" Wendy asked in confusion as to what the two girls meant.
"Just trust us, Wendy," Lori said as she popped up to Wendy's right with Leni coming in on the left each grabbing the respective sides arm.
"Once we're done here, you're gonna be totes fabulous!" Leni added. And then the two girls dragged Wendy away, preparing to introduce the girl to the wonders of fashion.
THE CASAGRANDE'S
Back with everyone's favorite 11-year-old superhero, Lincoln and just left the Bodega and went inside the building where the family lived. Once he went up the stairs he was quickly meant with…
"WELCOME LINCOLN!" The entire family, minus Hector, were already in the main hallway with a sign that said 'Welcome Lincoln.' Needless to say, he was surprised quite a bit.
"Wow, did you guys prepare all this just now or did you know I was coming." He said with a light chuckle as the family went over to him, with CJ being quick to give him a hug.
"Lincoln!" Cj cheered with Lincoln quickly returning the hug.
"Good to see you to CJ," Lincoln said as he patted his back with Frida taking a photo.
"Good to see you again Lincoln," Carlos said as while holding a book under his arm.
"Nice to see you all too. Thanks for having me." The white-haired boy said as he and CJ pulled away from the hug.
"Oh Lincoln, you should now that you are always welcome here," Rosa said kindly as she pinched his cheeks.
"So, Lincoln," Carl said as he walked up to Lincoln. "Does your lovely sister Lori ever talk about me?" He asked acting confident.
"Uh…no." Lincoln answered making Carl drop his act and lower his head. "But, she did want me to tell you she said hi." Lincoln quickly adding making Carl brighten up again.
"Really?" He asked with Lincoln nodding his head. "Yes! I knew she thinks of me! Bobby better watch out now!" he cheered with his hands in the air.
Meanwhile, Carlota was just looking at the scene with a confused brow with Carlitos copy her movements. "Why do you give him false hope like that?" She asked.
"Same reason I give my friend Clyde false hope, they need the confidence," Lincoln answered making Carlota just shrug her shoulders.
"Come Lincoln! It's going to be so much fun having you here!" Frida said as her and the family practically dragged Lincoln into the main room.
Once there Lincoln already saw that the table was already laid out with a large variety of food all cooked by Rosa. "Wow, how did you do this so fast?" The Loud boy asked as he and CJ went to go get some food.
"Grandma's a super chef," CJ said as he and Lincoln started to fill up their plates. "Hey Lincoln, wanna see my room when we finish eating?"
"Sure, I'd love to CJ." Lincoln quickly replied.
"Oh Lincoln, you're a twig," Rosa said as she walked up to him. "Here, have some of my famous tamales." And just like that Rosa started pilling on tamales on Lincoln plate. Lincoln wasn't complaining however and just let Rosa fill up with the plate while CJ watched with his usual smile.
"Gee thanks, they smell amazing," Lincoln said, practically drooling over the delightful smell the tamales filled his nose with.
"Por supuesto mi chico." Rosa said with a content smile as she walked off.
Just as Lincoln was about to chow down on the food, a loud squawking from behind startled him. Luckily Lincoln was able to keep a firm grip on his food. Years of dealing with Lucy gave him practice in keeping a firm grip on things he's holding whenever he's surprised.
Turning around, Lincoln saw the Casagrande's parrot Sergio starring at him. "Oh hey, Sergio right?" Lincoln asked the bird.
"Squawk! Nice hair old man." Sergio said making Lincoln deadpan.
"Now now, Sergio, mind your manners." Carlos scolded while keeping his face in a book.
"It's fine. I'm used to it." Lincoln said as he walked away from the bird.
Just as planned, once Lincoln was done eating, CJ had dragged his friend over to his room. "Wow, nice place you got here CJ," Lincoln said as they walked in. CJ's room was painted blue on all the walls and ceiling with darker blue carpet. There were posters for things like superheroes all over the walls and various bins around the room containing some of CJ's things like his pirate costume and some Legos.
"Thanks. I decorated it myself." Cj said as he closed the door.
"Yeah, you did a good job buddy." Lincoln complimented as he took a look at the various posters on the wall. It was mostly superhero stuff like Superman, Ironman, Thor. But when Lincoln looked at the poster at the far end of the room, he got pretty excited. "CJ, you watch ARRGH!" Sure enough, there was a poster for the ghost hunting show in the room.
"Yeah!" Cj said raising his hands in the air. "It's my favorite show!"
"No way! Mine too!" Lincoln said making CJ smile wider.
"Hooray! I love it when Spector goes in those scary places to find the ghost." CJ said as he and Lincoln sat down on his bed.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Me and my best friend Clyde actually got to go in with him one time." Lincoln explained as he told the time where he and Clyde got in the set because they were mistaken for crew members.
"Really!?" CJ said in surprise.
"Yeah, we even saw him get covered in ghost goo. It was pretty scary." Lincoln wasn't gonna explain what really happened. He wasn't gonna ruin the show for CJ or anyone for that matter by saying what really mattered. Plus, they did actually catch a ghost in the end.
"Wow. That's so cool!" CJ said as he got up from the bed. "Wanna see my ghost hunting gear Lincoln?"
"Sure." Lincoln watched as CJ opened on of the bins and pulled some things out and put them on. CJ was now wearing a purple bike helmet with neon green strips, a black jumpsuit with an old vacuum cleaner strapped to his back. "Woah, nice gear."
"Thanks," CJ replied as he grabbed on tight to the hose of the vacuum. "Grandma says she takes care of all the ghost, but I'm not taking any chances."
"Smart move." Lincoln compliment while pointing to his head. "Hey CJ, since I'm staying here tonight, why don't I sleep in here with you?"
CJ instantly smiled widely at the idea. "Yeah! It'll be like a sleep over!" He was more than happy to have Lincoln spend the night in his room. They could have fun all night long playing games and watching TV.
"Awesome! I just need a sleeping bag." Lincoln explained to which CJ pointed to his closet.
"There's one in my closet," CJ said. Lincoln went over to the closet and saw it was filled with all of CJ's cloths. On the floor of the closest, he saw a bright blue sleeping bag.
"Thanks, CJ," Lincoln said with CJ smiling widely in response.
Just then the two heard knocking on the door and look to see CJ's dad Carlos enter the room. The Casagrande father looked around till his eyes were on Lincoln. "Ah Lincoln, I thought I'd find you in here." He said while smiling at the Loud boy.
"Hi, Mr. Casagrande." Lincoln greeted as he set the sleeping bag down. "Did you need something?"
"Yes actually, I was hoping to get your opinion on something," Carlos stated making Lincoln raise a brow in interest. "CJ you don't mind if I take Lincoln away for a bit do you?"
"Go ahead, dad." CJ responded. "Me and Lincoln are gonna have a sleep over tonight anyway."
"We,ll that's great." Carlos responded with a smile as he grabbed Lincolns arm. "Come on Lincoln, I want you to tell me what you think about this."
Lincoln simply obliged and allowed Carlos to take him to where the thing he wanted to show him to. In only a few moments, Carlos had dragged Lincoln into what he assumed what was his and his wife's room. "Sit here," Carlos instructed as he saw Lincoln down in a chair that faced the wall.
Lincoln only had to wait for a second for Carlos to bring out a chalk board with various things written on it. It seemed to be something for marine biology as it seemed to have some sort of fish drawn on it while also labeling all the parts on it. More than half of which were parts Lincoln didn't even know were actually words.
"What am I looking at exactly?" Lincoln asked in a confused tone and expression.
"This is what I've been showing during my college summer school lectures," Carlos explained gesturing to the chalk board.
This however only confused Lincoln even more. Carlos wanted his opinion on this? Lincoln wasn't even sure if he had an opinion on it. He hardly understood anything about it. This was college level stuff. "So why am I here exactly?"
"Well, I was actually hoping you could give me some advice," Carlos revealed gaining a bit of interest from the white-haired boy. "See, lately my class has been falling behind recently and they haven't been paying attention in class."
"Well, it being summer school probably doesn't help," Lincoln said with a light chuckle with Carlos lightly nodding. "So what exactly have you been doing? I'm no school fanatic but I guess I can try to lend a hand."
"Well, what I do is that I draw a picture of the fish that you see here and label different parts. Then I go into an in-depth explanation about what said part does and why the organism has it." Carlos explained as Lincoln slowly grew a face of boredom as he rested his cheek on his hand. "What do you think?"
"Seems kinda…basic. Doesn't it?" Lincoln said as he picked himself up with Carlos gaining a curious look.
"What do you mean?" Carlos asked as he pulled out a pencil and notepad, prepared to write down any potential ideas he may have.
"Well, it just doesn't seem interesting. No offense but everything just seems kinda bland." Lincoln explained trying not to be harsh with his words.
"Well, what do you think could fix that?" Carlos asked with a worried tone. He really didn't want to seem boring with his class. He thought of himself as a funnish teacher. Even if he was teaching he still wanted to keep his students interested in the topic.
"Well, maybe instead of writing out something, show something or do something," Lincoln suggested making Carlos take down notes.
"Do what exactly?" Carlos asked further.
"Well…" Lincoln began scratching his head trying to think of something. He then smiled as a lightbulb went off. "Why don't you actually show them some marine life in action?"
"What do you mean by that?" The Casagrande father asked getting more interested in Lincoln's idea.
"Well, say your teaching about sharks. Why don't you show them a video of a shark attacking something! Give them some action! It'll get them interested while also staying on topic." Lincoln suggested. Everyone loved some action.
Carlos rubbed his chin in thought. He never thought about that before. Instead of just writing down stuff and explaining it, actually, show it to his students. "That might work!" Carlos said with a smile. "Plus the ocean does have very beautiful scenery so bright colors could also grab my student's attention."
"See!" Lincoln said while patting Carlos's back. "Now you're thinking. You just gotta put yourself in the student's perspective. What would they wanna see?"
"Thanks, Lincoln," Carlos said putting everything Lincoln just told him in his notebook. "You've been a big help, hopefully, this'll get my class back on track."
"Hey, they don't call me the man with the plan for nothing." Lincoln shrugged off. He was more than happy to help anyone that needed it. That what a hero does after all. "So since we're done with that, can I asked you something?"
"Anything." Carlos immediately responded. After the advice, Lincoln gave him, the least he could do was listen to what Lincoln had to say.
"Well, it's about my sister Lori." Lincoln began explaining. Carlos seemed to pick up on this quickly and begun nodding.
"You wanna know if she'll get into the college I teach at?" He asked with Lincoln nodding and adverting his gaze. "Well, I can't say anything definitive I will say she has a very good shot at getting in." He explained which made Lincoln smiley brightly.
"That's really great to hear…huh, makes me wonder whats going on right now at home." Lincoln wondered, cupping his chin with his hand.
"I'm sure everything's fine," Carlos reassured while patting Lincolns' shoulders.
"CARL! LINCOLN! ARE YOU TWO STILL TALKING!? THE DREAM BOAT IS ABOUT TO START!" Frida yelled from the living room.
"Ooh! Showtime, care to join us Lincoln?" Carlos asked with Lincoln nodding his head.
"Yeah! Me and my family watch that together too." Lincoln told him Making Carl smile brightly.
"Excellent! My bets are on Eric getting thrown overboard this week." He whispered into Lincoln's ear.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" They heard Frida yell, making them both flinch.
"Uh, nothing dear! We're coming!" And with that, Carlos grabbed Lincolns arm and ran out to the living room with the Loud boy in tow.
THE LOUD HOUSE
Back at the Loud House, or more specifically the backyard, the sun was starting to set. Currently, the twins Lana and Lola were working on the tree house. Currently, both were inside with Lola dusting off some wood shavings on the floor and Lana working and finishing the window.
"Alright, got the window installed. How're you doing Lola." Lana asked only to deadpan when she saw her twin sister cleaning up the wood shavings.
"Just making things nice and clean. Like me." Lola said as she threw the shavings out the window.
"You know, it would be easier to do that after we're done with the treehouse," Lana explained while Lola just rolled her eyes in response.
"Well excuse me if I want things nice and tidy in here." She said while crossing her arms.
Now it was Lana's turn to roll her eyes as she walked to where the exit is. "Whatever, I'm gonna go get some extra screws just in case." But when Lana tried to leave she found herself running into the wall. Looking up, she gained a blank expression and faced Lola.
"Lola…" Lana said gaining said girl's attention.
"What?" She asked walking up to her tomboy twin.
"Where's the door hole?"
"It's right there see I drew it with a magic marker," Lola stated as she pointed to a drawing of a door outlines with a pink marker.
"You were supposed to cut it out with the power saw," Lana said with growing irritation in her voice.
"I'm gonna!" Lola said in a matter of fact tone while putting her arms on her hips.
"Oh really?"
"Yes!"
"…then go get the power saw." Lana said gesturing to the 'door hole.'
"Ok, I will." Lola said as she walked towards the 'exit.' But just like Lana, she ran into the wall. Looking over the wall, she repeatedly tapped against the wall and quickly realized her mistake gained a panicked expression. "I see the problem."
"OH DO YA!"
THE CASAGRANDE'S
Back in the city, everyone had just got done watching the dream boat. Followed by a lengthy argument about their opinions about the contestants. Lincoln was just washing his hands after using the bathroom. Drying his hands, he opened the door to see Carl leaning against the wall waiting for him.
"Finally, what took you so long?" Carl complained as Lincoln rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Sorry, just had to take advantage of the situation. You wouldn't believe the bathroom lines at my house." Lincoln explained, remembering the numerous amounts of time he had to rush using the bathroom because his sisters kept pounding at the door demanding to be let in.
"Yeah, it's only like that when abuleo cooks dinner. Trust me, one bowl of his chili will turn your stomach into a bomb ready to blow." Carl explained as he walked next to Lincoln.
"Yikes," Lincoln shivered as the image forms into his head.
"Yeah, thankfully that only happens if abuela is sick, so it doesn't happen often, but that's beside the point," Carl said as he started nudging Lincoln's arm. "I was wondering if you wanted to head to the skate park with me, I can show you how a pro shredder does it."
"That sounds pretty fun, I don't think I've been to a skate park before," Lincoln said before realizing something a frowning. "Wait, I don't have any equipment though."
"Pfft, no worries my friend. I have plenty of spares and at adjustable sizes." Carl says with a grin. "What's wrong, scarred to be shown up."
It was then that Lincoln narrowed his eyes and Carl and grinned. "You're on!"
"Excelente. Just let me get my stuff and we'll be on our way." Carl then went to his room and Lincoln only had to wait about a minute before Carl came back out with a duffle bag. Most likely filled with skating equipment
"MOM, ME AND LINCOLN ARE HEADING OUT!" Carl yelled so his mom could hear.
"Be back before the street light turn on Mijo," Frida said as she poked her out from her room. "Oh, and did you remember to bring your anti-bacteria wipes?"
"Yes! Moooom!" Carl groaned in embarrassment while Lincoln chuckled at the sight. Carl quickly caught on to this and glared at Lincoln. "What are you laughing at? You're the one who is about to be shown up at the skate park."
Lincoln ceased his laughing and glared back with a smirk. "You'll see about that." The Omnitrix wielder stated as he and Carl left the building.
After about a 15 minute walk, the two boys quickly found themselves in the skate park and saw the many kids that were already there on skateboards, roller skates, and bikes doing tricks and just having a good time.
"Alright," Carl said as he opened up the duffle bag. "Suit up, grab a board and we'll show you how we shred in the big city."
Lincoln nodded with a grin and grabbed some equipment from the bag and started gearing up. Now bearing shoulder and knee pads, Lincoln looked around the bag and saw that there wasn't any helmet that would fit him. "Uh Carl, we got a bit of a problem here. None of your helmets fit me."
"Hm, maybe we can find someone with a spare around-"
"Hey is that who I think it is?"
"Yeah! I recognize that white hair anywhere."
"Yo Loud, that you?"
Lincoln and Carl turned around and saw none other than Casey, Sameer, and Nikki wearing their own protective gear and having their skateboards or in Casey's case a bike, and walking towards the two boys.
"Hey guys, long time no see." Lincoln greets as he and Carl walked up to them.
"Sup Linc," Nikki waved.
"Aren't you guy's Ronnie Anne's friends?" Carl asked, sorta knowing who they are but still wanting confirmation.
"Yep," Sameer confirmed. "You're her cousin Carl right?" He asked, remembering when Ronnie Anne would talk about her family to them.
"I've been told that," He said smugly while leaning on his skateboard.
"So what bring you back to the city Lincoln?" Casey asked.
"Well, I originally came here to hang out with Ronnie Anne, but she's camping for the weekend so her family invited me to stay with them for the weekend," Lincoln explained with the group of kids nodding.
"Ah cool," Nikki replied. "So you here to shred then?"
"Well, I was," Lincoln started explaining making the city kids raise an eyebrow. "But Carl doesn't have any helmets that fit me."
It was then that Sameer smiled and walked towards Lincoln while taking his helmet off. "Here," He said while handing over his helmet. "This should fit you just fine, show us what you got."
Lincoln smiled and took the helmet and just like he said, it fit him like a glove. "Wow, thanks, guys." He said while grabbing a skateboard from Carl's bag. "Alright Carl, you ready?"
"Ready to show you how it's done," Carl said as he walked towards one of the numerous bowls in the park. "Stand back, I'll go first."
Everyone watched as Carl got on the skateboard and quickly forwarded himself into the dome. Carl quickly skated the side of the bowl and launched up into the air doing a flip and landed back with ease. He then did this one the other side this time doing a quick hand stand and once again making an expert landing.
Everyone continued watching in awe as Carl continued launching up in the air and doing tricks. It was then the young Casagrande decided to change things up and skated outside the bowl and went over to some railing and started to grind on it.
Once he ran out of railing he skated over to a rather large ramp and started skating back and forth on it slowly gaining momentum for a big jump. Once he got what he needed, he speeds up and leaped up air into the air and proceeded to do a triple flip.
Landing flat on his board at the last second, Carl skated off the ramp and back to the group who were all now wide-eyed with gaping mouths. Noticing there expression's he stepped on the front of his board, making it launch into the air. He caught it and grin smugly at them. "And that, my friends, is how it's done."
The group of 4 immediately started clapping for the Casagrande and his amazing skills on a board. They had to admit, he does shred like a boss.
"Nice moves!" Sameer cheered.
"Not bad kid," Nikki said with a snap of her fingers.
"You definitely have some skills." Casey complimented.
"Thank you. Thank you, everyone." Carl said while bowing, completely basking in the glory. Carl then turned towards Lincoln with a grin while crossing his arms. "Your turn muchacho."
Lincoln grinned in response and picked up the skateboard he was borrowing. Getting into position, he placed the board on the ground and stood on it. Grinning smugly, he looked behind him and saw Ronnie Anne's friends waiting with anticipation and Carl still with his smug face. "Well, we're waiting." He said.
"Alright then…here I go!" Lincoln then speed forward before any of them had time to react.
They all watched as Lincoln skated on the sides of the bowl only increasing his speed by kicking against the ground. Once Lincoln decided he was fast enough, he leaned to change his direction and practically shot out of the bowl and into the air and managed to do a triple 360 flip.
Lincoln then changed his trajectory towards one of the ramps where he successfully landed and proceeded to go back into the air on the other side where he grabbed the board into his hand and did a handstand. He then got back on the board with his feet and landed back on the ramp.
He then proceeded to go back into the bowl and used it to gain more momentum, he went back into the air making the board spin before slamming it down on a long piece of railing, grinding on it. Once he ran out of rail he jumped back into the bowl and made one last jump into the air, landing next to the group.
"So, not bad for a small town boy huh?" He said rather proudly. He looked to see all the city kids' practically slack jaw after witnessing his performance.
The silence was slowly broken by Nikki who began clapping followed shortly by both Sameer and Casey as they started clapping and grinning. "That was, hands down, the coolest thing I have ever seen," Nikki said as she Sameer and Casey gathered around Lincoln.
"Thanks, and thanks for the helmet Sameer," Lincoln said as he took off the helmet and returned it to its owner.
"Dude, after that performance, feel free to borrow it anytime," Sameer said as he put it back on his head.
"Seriously man, where'd you learn to do that?" Casey asked just having to know where the heck Lincoln learned to do all that.
"Let's just say I've been on boards a lot tougher to handle then that one, so it was pretty easy in comparison," Lincoln answered them, technically not lying. The hoverboard he got from Tetrax took him forever to fully handle so a simple skateboard was pretty easy.
Lincoln then turned to Carl and saw the Casagrande was still in a state of shock and awe. "Carl," Lincoln said snapping him out of it. "So, how'd I do?"
Carl blinked a few times before giving a light grin and putting his hands in his pocket. "I'll admit, you got skills."
"You weren't so bad yourself," Lincoln replied as he started taking off the safety gear. "Come on, we should probably head back before it gets dark."
"Yeah," Carl replied quickly. "Trust me, you don't wanna face Abuela's wrath when you're late for dinner."
Lincoln nodded as he and Carl put everything back in the duffle bag. Before the two left, Lincoln turned to the 3 city kids and waved them goodbye. "I'll see ya guys later," Lincoln called out to them as he and Carl left.
"See ya later Loud!" Nikki called back.
"Come back anytime!" Sameer told them.
"Just make sure to teach me some of you sick moves!" Casey asked as Lincoln waved again in response.
ROYAL WOODS GRAVEYARD
It was currently midnight in Royal Woods. The graveyard was quiet. Not a sound to be heard. It also seemed like no one was here. Who could blame them? Who on earth would want to be at a creepy graveyard at midnight? It seemed like something from a horror movie. Doing exactly this seemed like you were asking for the killer to come and do this.
However, there were some people who not only did this but liked to do this. Two girls specifically.
One being Lucy Loud, the 8-year-old Goth you all know and love. And another Goth girl.
This girl was older than Lucy and had a similar slender figure and pale skin. She had long black hair that also had a reflective shine to with her bangs covering her right eye with her eye that was still revealed showed that she had purple eyeshadow. She wore a long purple dress with a black belt with a skull on it along with dark purple fingerless gloves. This was Haiku, Lucy's best friend and a fellow Goth.
"Hello Haiku, it's good to see you again," Lucy said in her usual monotone voice as she faced her best friend.
"Yes Lucy, it had been a while." Haiku greeted back. However, the older Goth girl quickly noticed something different about Lucy which caused Haiku's normally emotionless face to raise a brow. "What happened to your bangs?"
Lucy tensed up at the question. She had completely forgotten about that. "Oh, um, just an accident with my sisters involving a razor. It's no big deal, they'll grow back."
"Hmm." Haiku hummed in suspicion. She could tell Lucy was lying…but she could also tell why. Whatever truly happened to make her lose her bangs must have been a traumatic experience for the 8-year-old. So she wouldn't dwell on it…at least not yet.
"Alright then." She responded making Lucky mentally sigh in relief. "Come. Let's connect the spirits so they know we haven't been ignoring them lately."
Lucy nodded as both Goth girls went into a meditating position, ready to connect those who have passed.
MORNING IN THE CITY
Back in the Casagrande's apartment, Lincoln was slowly starting to stir from asleep. He found himself wrapped up in a sleeping bag while on the floor in CJ's room. Letting out a loud yawn, Lincoln sat up and looked around the room and saw that CJ was still sound sleep.
Lincoln was about to lye back down and get some more sleep, but then something caught Lincoln's attention. Specifically his nose. Standing up and quietly exiting the room, Lincoln followed his nose and soon found himself in the kitchen.
Looking inside he found Rosa in there working on various dishes, most likely for breakfast. The old Casagrande women seemed to pick up on Lincoln presence and looked behind her to see the white-haired loud poking his head through the door. "Ah Lincoln, you're up already?
"Yeah, I guess I'm used to getting up early. It's the only way to get a few minutes of peace and quiet at my place." Lincoln explained as he stepped into the kitchen. "I see your already cooking breakfast."
"Of course!" Rosa said clapping her hands together. "I always get up early to cook my family a delicious breakfast."
Lincoln nodding and looked around the kitchen to see the large proportions of food she was making for breakfast alone. "Well, you certainly go all out. Need any help?"
"Why that would be maravilloso. Gracias Lincoln, you can stir that pot right there while I set up the table." Lincoln gave a thumbs up in response as Rosa got out a set a dishes and silverware and headed to the table to set them out.
Lincoln went over to the stove and saw the pot that Rosa told him to stir the contents of. He looked inside of it and saw it was some kind of breakfast soup with an incredible smell. Taking the spoon out, he decided to give it a taste test and quickly noticed it was on the spicy side. "Ah, hot!"
It was still good, but still pretty spicy. As Lincoln was stirring, he noticed all the different spices on the cabinets. The white haired boy repeatedly looked between the soup and the spices until an idea came to him. "I wonder if I could make this better."
Go through his idea, Lincoln grabbed some spices from the cabinet and looked at the name of each one. He wasn't an expert chef by any means but he learned some things from his dad so he knew a few things. Taking the spices he knew would work, he added a bit of each to the soup and started stirring, Tasting it again, it still had its spiciness but also a nice mix of sweetness.
"Lincoln!" Rosa yelled from the dining room. "Everything is set up!"
"Alright!" Lincoln said as he picked up the pot and headed into the dining room. But when he got there he saw the entire family was already there ready to eat. "What the, how did you get here so fast?"
"You'd be surprised how fast we can get ready," Carlota answered while leaning on the table.
Lincoln simply gave an impressed nod as he went to serve everyone the soup gaining a 'Thank you' or 'gracias' from everyone while Rosa went back into the kitchen to get everything else for breakfast. Once she returned Lincoln was already seated. "Alright everyone, dig in!"
After hearing that, all the Casagrande's and Lincoln quickly started eating the food laid out before them, started with the soup. Lincoln watched a bit anxiously as they all took a sip and immediately smiled, having a positive language.
"Wow, you outdid yourself with this Mama," Frida said with Carlitos mimicking her movements while in his baby chair.
"Yeah, this the best soup you've ever made!" Carlota said as she quickly sipped up more.
"Spicy and sweet. That's a new one." Hector said as he had some more himself.
But after hearing that, Rosa gained a confused expression and looked over her own bowl. "Sweet and spicy? That's not how I made it." She said as she took a sip and smiled. "But it is very good."
"Oh, that would be me," Lincoln said rather nervously making all the family turned towards him. "I gave it a little taste and thought it could use a little more to it so I added my own little touch. I hope you don't mind."
"Don't mind? Lincoln, I didn't know you could cook." Rosa said with a smile as she walked up next to the Loud boy.
"Well, not really. My dad showed me a thing or two so I thought I tried to add a little something to it." He replied modestly while the rest of the family smiled at him.
"Well, I'd say it was a success chamaco because this is delicious," Hector said as everyone raised their spoons in the air in agreement.
"Uh, everyone," Frida said with a nervous smile. "I think someone had a little too much of the soup." She said while gesturing next to her.
Everyone looked to see Carlitos smiling at everyone while having a bad smell coming from his pants. It was pretty easy to tell that he had an accident, luckily he was wearing a diaper underneath.
"Not it!" All the Casagrande's said while putting a finger to there nose.
Unfortunately, Lincoln was a little too slow to react and was the last one to call it. "Dang it," Lincoln said as he got up and grabbed the baby from his chair.
"His room is right next to me and Carlos's, diapers are next to his changing station," Frida told Lincoln as he nodded and headed to said destination.
Entering Carlitos rooms, it was pretty much the same as Lily's side of her and Lisa's room, what with baby stuff all over the place and a changing station. "Alright, let's get you cleaned up."
It didn't take long for Lincoln to take care of Carlitos's accident. He's had plenty of practice with Lily and, if he was being honest, Carlitos's number 2's weren't nearly as bad as his baby sisters. "There you go buddy," Lincoln said as he put the youngest Casagrande down and dusted off his hands.
But as he did so he noticed Carlitos did the exact same thing he did. He knew Carlitos like to copy others, maybe Lincoln could see this for himself. Lincoln waved his hands around in the air and saw Carlitos did the exact same. "You sure like copying people huh?" Lincoln said with an amused smile.
It was then a fun idea came to his head. Pulling out his phone, while Carlitos copied him, Lincoln looked at his song playlist and found something that he knew the 2-year-old would enjoy doing.
Pressing play, Lincoln played none other than the song Macarena.
Setting his phone back to let the music play, Lincoln proceeded to along to the song with a smile on his face. Carlitos watched as Lincoln continued dancing to the song, positioning his body, Carlitos slowly started copying Lincoln's movements.
Once he got the hang of it, Carlitos smiled brightly and proceeded to dance along without even needing to look at Lincoln to copy. The two boys just continued dancing to the ever-popular song without a care in the world, until suddenly…
Snap!
Both boys stopped at the sound and looked behind them to see Frida standing outside the room with her camera pointed at them taking pictures of them dancing. "Don't mind me! Keep going!" She insisted. She just had to keep snapping pictures of this adorable moment.
Lincoln and Carlitos looked at each other and just shrugged in unison before going back to dancing. Meanwhile, Frida kept snapping photos and weeping about how adorable and sweet the moment was.
Once the song was over, both boys ended up laughing with each other with Lincoln patting the young Casagrande's head. Just then Carlitos saw the family dog Lalo run by in the hallway and started following him while running on all fours.
"So Lincoln," Frida said as she turned to the boy. "How are you enjoying your visit?"
"It's been a lot of fun," Lincoln answered making Frida give a toothy smile. "It's kinda like my family, but different."
"That's wonderful to hear! It's good to see you getting along with everyone." Frida then exited the room and made a gesture with her finger telling Lincoln to follow her. "Come. I want to show you something."
Lincoln did as told and followed the Casagrande mother and once again entered her and her husband's room similar to yesterday with Carlos. Only this time Frida lead Lincoln to the closest and when she opened it revealed numerous amounts of scrapbooks of huge sizes. "Woah, you made all of these?" Lincoln asked as he looked over the stack.
"Yep, each one taken and developed by me," Frida said as she got on her tippy toes to reach the top of the closet where she pulled out 4 scrapbooks. "Here, these are filled with all pictures I took of me and Carlos's kids."
She set them on the floor for Lincoln to take, and the Loud boy went to take the one on the top. Only when he grabbed it he struggled to lift it due to the weight. And Frida carried four of these with ease? He had to admit, the mother was stronger than she looks.
Setting it back down, Lincoln saw that it was a scrapbook of Carlota since pictures of her were on the front, opening it to a random page he stifled a laugh at what he saw. It was a picture of a 12-year-old Carlota looking like Lucy just gave her a makeover. "What's this?" He asked while trying to stop laughing.
"Oh, that's Carlota when she was going through a bit of a 'Goth phase," Frida answered while lightly giggling herself.
"MOOOOOM!" They heard Carlota yell from the living room making them flinch. "ARE YOU SHOWING OFF EMBARRASSING PHOTOS OF ME?!"
"Uh, no Mija!" Frida yelled back nervously. "You stay here and keep looking, I'll go get us something to drink." She whispered to Lincoln before leaving the room.
Lincoln nodded and set all three books on the last book off the stack, with some struggle, and looked through the various photos of the Casagrande family. Seeing them at different ages, things Frida's kept from them like baby teeth, it made him smile at how much she loved her family.
And it got Lincoln thinking about his own family. All the good times he's had with them. The ups and the downs. And there was a lot of each. But despite everything, he wouldn't trade his family for the world. Maybe when his time here was over, he should spend a little more time with them.
"I'm back!" Lincoln jumped a little and looked back to see Frida holding a pitcher of a yellowish-orange drink with some glasses. "Oops, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
"It's fine," Lincoln said as he regained his composer. "I'm used to it from my sister Lucy. You know Mrs. Casagrande, it's really cool how you take pictures of everyone in your family like this."
"Of course." Frida immediately replied as he started pouring a glass of the drink for herself and Lincoln. "I never miss a moment to capture a moment of mi familia."
"I can see this, these books weight a ton." Lincoln joked getting a laugh from Frida. "Also, it's kinda getting me thinking about my family a bit."
"Oh really?" Frida asked as she took a seat to listen to what he had to say about his own familia.
"Yeah, I guess it's gotten me think about how much they mean to me…and how I haven't been spending as much time with them this summer." He explained making Frida frown a bit at the change of his tone.
"Really?" Frida softly said, hoping to get the Loud boy to open up.
"Well, let's just say some things happened during the summer and it's gotten me pretty busy. And it's been keeping me from spending as much time as I want with them. I mean there are some sisters I'm been spending time with, but still, not all of them." Lincoln explained. While he has been pretty much spending the whole summer with sisters like Leni and Luna, and recently with Lola and Lucy, his hero life has been keeping him from being with most of his sisters more then he would like.
Hearing this, Frida gave a soft smile. "Lincoln, here's how I see it." She started explaining with Lincoln giving his full attention. "I may not know what's going on with your life, but I think regardless of what's going on. Just make time. Even if something unexpected happens, it doesn't mean you should react to it immediately. Family should always come first."
Lincoln thought about what she told him and looked her in the eye. "You really think so?"
"Of course." She confirmed. "Listen, when I went to art school, I had a dream. A dream of traveling the world and spreading my artwork across the globe. But then, I met a man who made me forget about all that. My husband. Once we both graduated from our respective school, we lived together, then we got married, and had four beautiful children. I'll admit, there will always be a small part of me that wants to go out to achieve that dream I had, but I wouldn't leave my family for anything. Plus in a way, I'm still living my dream."
"I'm taking care of and taking photos of the best familia I could ever ask for. Plus I still make time for working on paintings. What I'm saying is that regardless of whats going on in your life, never forget about family. Afterall-"
"They will always be there for you?" Lincoln finished making her nod.
"Si."
Lincoln thought about everything she just told him…and smiled. "Thanks, I needed to hear that."
"Anytime." She said as she handed one of the glasses to Lincoln. "So, while we are on the subject of family, I was wondering…how do you feel about Ronnie Anne?"
Lincoln was taken aback by the question and almost dropped his drink. "Wh-wh-what?"
"I just want how you honestly feel about my niece. I may have been quick to assume you two were a couple. I apologize for that." Frida said with a sheepish smile.
"Well…I don't know. I do get quite annoyed when people call us boyfriend and girlfriend." He said bluntly making Frida avert her gaze and take a long sip of her drink. "But, I don't really know. I'm not sure…if I would be something I would want."
Frida looked down at hearing this but still gave a small smile. "I understand. Just, when you tell her that…let her down easy, complacer."
"Trust me, I wouldn't wanna do anything to damage me and Ronnie Anne's friendship." He replied making Frida smile. "You know, you're a really nice person to talk to."
"Thank you muchacho…just don't get on my bad said." Frida said with a devious smirk.
"Really?" Lincoln said with more of an amused smirk. "Sorry but it's hard to believe someone like you has a bad side."
"Oh trust me Lincoln." Carlos said as he poked his head out of the door. "She may be sweet on the surface, buts she's the devil if she wants to."
"No no, honey. He's probably right." Frida said casually as she watched Lincoln take a drink. A smirk grew on her face as she looked into her own drink. "Enjoying your tuna fish water?"
Lincoln did a double take as he choked on the drink a bit before swallowing hastily. "Tuna water?!" Lincoln said as his face turned green.
"Yes, it really has a zing to it. Don't you think?" She asked while talking a long slow sip.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Lincoln groaned while holding his stomach. But then he soon heard Frida giggling with a devious look on her face.
"Gotcha!" She said while trying her burst not to go full gut laughter. "That's not tuna fish water, it's just citrus juice. And you said I had no devious side."
"Haha, very funny." Lincoln said while laughing a bit himself. He had to admit, it was pretty funny. Lincoln just hoped that Frida and Luan would never meet.
The two shared a good laugh until a vibrating sound came from Frida's pocket. She reached into it and pulled out her phone and saw something that made her smile. "Oh, Maria just texted me, she, Bobby and Ronnie Anne should be home by 8."
"Alright, I'll text my folks and tell them to pick me up then." Lincoln said as he quickly got out his phone and texted Lori to pick him up. Where he could go Fasttrack but 1. He didn't want the other Casagrande's to get suspicious of him and 2. Lori would probably like to see Bobby.
"Well, until then, why don't you spend some time with my daughter?" Frida suggested making Lincoln raise an eyebrow. "She's the only one you haven't spent time with."
Lincolns' eyes widen at the realization. "Yeah, you're right. Man, time flew. Well, I'll see you later Mrs. Casagrande, thanks again for the talk."
"Anytime Lincoln." Frida waved off as Lincoln left the room.
Entering the living room, Lincoln quickly found the last Casagrande he has yet to hang out with on the couch painting her fingernails. "Hey, Carlota," Lincoln said getting the girls attention.
"Hey Lincoln, what's up?" Carlota asked as he put the nail polish down.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go out and maybe do something." Lincoln requested making the oldest Casagrande sibling surprised.
"Really?" She asked making sure she just heard that right.
"Yeah. I kinda spent some time hanging out with everyone else before you and my family is coming to pick me up tonight so I figured it might be fun." Lincoln suggested. Despite how Carlota…felt, about one of his alien heroes, she did seem like a nice. She actually kinda reminded him of both Leni and Lori.
"Yeah, that does sound pretty nice," Carlota said as she got up and closed up the nail polish bottle. "Just give me a bit to get ready and then we can head out."
"So about 3 hours then," Carl said with a smirk as he walked by.
Carlota simply rolled her eyes in response and headed to her room. "No. Don't worry Lincoln I won't be long, just wait for me outside."
"Alright then." Lincoln said as he put his hand in his jacket pockets and headed out.
About 20 minutes later, Carlota and Lincoln were now walking through the city together. Carlota did apologize if the wait was a little long, but Lincoln brushed it off saying it's nothing he wasn't used to. AS they were walking, Lincoln was looking at all the various places along the streets.
There were stands for tourist, restaurants. Lincoln even saw a street performer or two. All the awhile Carlota was talking about things they could do. "So I was thinking I could take you to some of my favorite thrift stores, but if that's really not your thing I'm open to suggestions."
Lincoln hummed in thought as he looked around the city to find anything of interest. So far nothing really caught his eye. Everything he found was either pretty basic, stuff he could already do in Royal Woods, or flat out a tourist trap.
But then he found something that actually caught his interest. It was a staircase that leads into a place built underground with a sign saying 'Singing N Drinking' a karaoke bar.
"Hey, Carlota," Lincoln said making her look back at him. "How about that. I've never been to one of those places before."
Carlota looked to where he was pointing…and flinched. A sickening feel built up in her stomach as she started to lightly hyperventilate. Immediately turning around she started to walk away at a rather fast pace. "N-no, no, no. Not that." Carlota stuttered as Lincoln expression turned to a confused one as he started to follow her.
"Why not, what's wrong with it?" Lincoln asked as Carlota speed up again, now speed-walking away.
"Uuuum," Carlota began, trying to thinking of excuses. "T-trust me, it isn't as fun as it looks. The floors are sticky the food's bad. You're not missing much."
Lincoln wasn't buying it. Her tone. Her expression. He's seen that kind of thing before. Carlota was lying…but there was something behind it. He was about to try and ask her about it, but just then.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Casagrande."
"Didn't think I'd see you here."
Carlota froze. She knew exactly who those voices belonged to.
Lincoln looked behind him to see two girls that definitely didn't look nice. The first one was a blond girl with pale skin, blue eyes with pearl earrings, red lipstick, and red mascara. She wore a pink shirt that showed off her belly along with tight jeans and expensive looking black high heels.
The second girl had dark skin and brown hair with diamond earrings and dark blue eyeliner and lipstick along with green eyes. She wore a turquoise dress that went past her knees with long sleeves and high heel boots.
Just looking at them, Lincoln could tell that they weren't nice people. Lincoln looked backed at Carlota and saw she was trying to bury her head between her shoulders and was actually shaking.
The white-haired boy started to frown as they watched the two girls step forward.
"Haven't seen you in a while." The blond said in a mocking tone.
"Who's the pipsqueak with ya?" The dark skinned one asked while glancing at Lincoln.
"Pipsqueak?" Lincoln repeated while glaring at the two.
"Just keep walking Lincoln," Carlota said in a quiet tone as she started walking away.
"Aaaw, what's wrong? Not gonna perform?" The blond one spoke up again as she gestured to the karaoke bar.
"No," Carlota spoke through her teeth.
"But you have such a beautiful voice…sunny." The dark skinned one said while putting a lot of emphasis on the last work.
Sunny. Carlota's eyes shot open and she froze at hearing that. Before Lincoln knew what was happening, Carlota ran off as fast as she could while burying her head in her hands.
"Carlota wait?!" Lincoln called out to her in concern as he watched her run off into city. Before he could take off after her, he heard the other two girls laughing and pointing where Carlota was, apparently enjoying what they just made Carlota did. Growling, Lincoln walked up to them and stomped on each of their feet making them yell in pain and hop on one leg. Once that was done, he started to run off in search of the Casagrande girl.
"CARLOTA! CARLOTA! COME ON WHERE ARE YOU?!" Lincoln yelled as we ran through the city. He knew his odds of finding Carlota were low. The city was big and he hardly knew his way. And he couldn't go alien as he would cause way too much of a scene. Even if he got one of his aliens that could go invisible, he'd risk changing back without finding a place to hide.
"Come on, where could she be? Come on Lincoln think." Lincoln said as he banged on his head trying to think of an idea to find Carlota.
As he was walking, he ended up going into the city park. Finding a bench, Lincoln sat down he rubbed his chin in thought. "Alright, how do I find her? And what do I do once I find her?" Lincoln didn't just want to find her. He wanted to help her.
Being a hero aside, Lincoln considered Carlota a friend. And he'd do anything for his family or a friend. They might not have interacted much, but after his time with Casagrande family and of course Ronnie Anne and her family, he'd consider all of them his friend.
Getting up, Lincoln took a look at the scenery…and went slack jaw at what he saw. In the middle of the park was a single tree. And under that tree…was Carlota. Turning to the audience, Lincoln said. "You know, I should just stop trying so hard and just let things happen as they happen."
Running to the tree, Lincoln saw that Carlota was rolled up into a ball, still and unmoving. He slowed down to where he was gently walking in front of her. "Carlota." He said quietly, trying to get her to open up.
Carlota jumped a bit in surprise and Lincoln got a clear look at her face. Her eyes were puffy and her mascara was running. She had been crying. Seeing who it was, Carlota buried her face, hiding it again. "Oh…hey Lincoln." She said in a weak voice.
"Carlota…are you ok?" Lincoln asked as he sat down in front of her. Carlota didn't say anything and just tried to bury herself deeper, trying to ignore the problem.
Lincoln, however, wasn't going to give up that easily. "Carlota, what's wrong?" He persisted.
"Just drop it Lincoln," Carlota said with some irritation in her voice. She just didn't want to talk about it right now. After what just happened, she just wanted today to be over.
Lincoln frowned. Now he definitely wasn't giving up. "Carlota, I know something is wrong. And not just with those jerks from earlier you were acting weird once I mentioned the karaoke bar." Lincoln said making Carlota start breathing heavily. Lincoln soften his expression and put a hand on Carlota's shoulder. "I wanna help you. But I can't if you don't tell me anything."
"…I don't wanna talk about it." Carlota said trying to end the conversation.
"Why not?"
"Because…you'll laugh," Carlota said as she back up against the tree.
"I promise I won't laugh," Lincoln reassured, but all he got in response was a whimper.
Sighing, Lincoln scratched his head in thought. This was going to be hard. She definitely had some sort of problem, but what good was the Man with the Plan if he had nothing to go off of. Just then, a lightbulb went off in his head. If the story was embarrassing enough that she thought he would laugh…then maybe he should do some sharing.
"One time, me and my friend Clyde set up a 'Girl Guru' stand to help raise money for our school," Lincoln said with a smirk.
This made Carlota look up at Lincoln with a completely confused expression. What the heck was he talking about? "But I ended up giving the worse advice, at the end of the day, it turned into a stand of my angry costumers throwing salt and vinegar pies at me."
That did it. This managed to make Carlota start cracking a smile. He saw that she was doing her best to repress it, but was failing. He just found his opening. "This other time, me and Clyde were babysitting me baby sister Lily, we changed her diaper, but it ended up getting launched into the ceiling fan, hitting all of us."
He was getting closer. He could see the teenage girl's cheeks puffing up, showing she was trying to hold in a laugh. He just needed one more story to push her to the edge of laughing.
"And then, during April fool's day, my sister Luan set up all these pranks over the house. Ronnie Anne was also coming over, so to protect her, I set all the pranks off myself. I ended up with a bucket stuck to my leg, pie in my hair and no eyebrows."
That did it. Carlota was now laughing her butt off clenching her gut in pain and rolling around on the park grass. Lincoln just decided to smirk and watch her while crossing her arms. "So what was that about laughing at other people's embarrassment?"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Carlota said in between her laughs as she calmed herself down. "I didn't mean to laugh."
"It's alright. Looking back at it now, it was kinda funny…expect April fool's…that was a lot of pain, but that's beside the point." Lincoln said as he looked Carlota in the eyes. "Now, it's your turn to share. What's wrong?"
Carlota's smile dropped as she leaned against the tree again. Sighing, she nodded. It was only fair that she tells Lincoln her story since he shared not only 1, but 3 of his. "It was over 4 years ago, a musical the mark the beginning year of high school." She started explaining with Lincoln giving all ears.
"I was the lead role. I always was. I loved performing and sing on stage. But…then everything changed. When I went out to perform, my leg got tied up in some rope. Once I got on stage, I tripped. At first, I didn't think it was the biggest deal, just a bit of clumsiness. But that rope tied around to my leg, it was supporting the background. Before I knew it, the entire background of the stage came falling down on me. And along with it came multiple lights, props, almost everything. When I surfaced, I looked to see everyone laughing at me. The audience, the other kids, the composers, even some of the teachers were."
"But that wasn't the last of it. I looked up to see the giant paper machete sun slowly moving back the fourth with the rope holding it up on the ceiling slowly falling apart. And then, SNAP! The rope broke and the sun fell right on top of me. I ended being covered in the stuff, my hair was messed, my clothes were ruined and then, everyone started calling me…"
"Sunny?" Lincoln said quietly, remembered the nickname the mean girls said to her.
"Yeah," Carlota answered. "After that, everyone started teasing me about non-stop. Tripping me. Calling me sunny. And when I tried to perform again…I froze. All I could imagine was everyone laughing at me and making fun of me. I just couldn't perform anymore."
Lincoln frowned at hearing this. He's always hated, bullies. Who didn't? Especially since becoming a hero. But this wasn't just some villain he could go alien on and beat. This was some actual psychological problems someone was having. And he was going to fix it.
"Carlota, I am so sorry," Lincoln said as he stood up. Carlota just looked down in response as Lincoln held out his hand and gained a determined look on his face. "But you know what I think? I think you should go up on that stage at the karaoke place and prove all of them wrong."
"Huh?" Carlota said as she took Lincolns hand to stand up.
"Carlota, you love singing right?" Lincoln asked with a serious tone.
"Yeah, I really do," Carlota answered with nothing but the truth. She really did love going up on stage and singing for other. It was one of her favorite things before she got stage fright.
"Then why should let some jerks stop you from doing what you love?" Lincoln responded while looking right into her eyes.
"Lincoln I just can't-"
"Look, I get it. I've been humiliated before. But I never let it get me down, and I certainly don't stop. If I quit every time I was humiliated or made fun of, I'd never leave my room…yes it happens that much" Lincoln said making Carlota look down in thought.
"But, if you love performing, if you love singing, you shouldn't let anyone stop you from doing it," Lincoln told the oldest Casagrande sibling with a confident smile.
Carlota sighed in thought. She really did love it. Singing, performing. She loved it even more then thrifting. But, ever since then, she just lost her confidence. "Lincoln, I would love to back on stage. But I just don't know if I can knowing everyone will see my face."
Lightbulb! After hearing what Carlota said, Lincoln rubbed his chin as an idea came to mind. "Your face huh? Come on, I think I know how to fix that." He said as he grabbed Carlota's arm and started pulling her.
"Lincoln, what are you doing?" She asked as she tried to keep up.
"I think I have an idea about how you can perform on stage."
Back in the Casagrande apartment, specifically Carlota's room said girl was sitting on her bed as she watched Lincoln go through her closet where she kept her accessory's and dresses she got from thrift stores. "Lincoln, what exactly are you doing?" Carlota asked after 3 minutes of watching Lincoln rummage through her things.
"Looking for…ah ha! This!" Lincoln then emerged from closest with none other than the mask Ronnie Anne wore when she was Lucky Girl. "Put this one and let your hair down."
Catching the mask he threw towards her, Carlota raised a brow in confusion but did as he instructed. Putting the mask on her face, and undoing her ponytail, the mask was now completely covering Carlota's face other than her mouth and her hair was now flowing freely, going past her shoulders.
"So what exactly is your plan?" Carlota asked kinda wanting to get to the point right about now.
"Simple," Lincoln said as he held up a mirror to Carlota. "You said you couldn't go on stage with people seeing your face, now people can't see your face."
Hearing this, Carlota tensed up…but also a small part of her was a little…giddy. "I…I don't know," Carlota said as she still felt a little unsure about everything.
"Come on, everything will be fine," Lincoln said as he sat next to her and patted her back. "So long as you wear the mask, no one will know it's you."
"But-"
"I'll give you some advice my sister Luna gave me one time. She said if you're ever nervous about going on stage, just close your eyes and pretend no one is there. It's just you singing for yourself." Lincoln told her as Carlota looked down, thinking about his words. "Come on please, I promise nothing bad will happen."
Carlota closed her eyes in deep thought, and stood up. Taking a deep breath through her nose, she nodded with a determined face behind the mask. "Alright. I'll give it a try."
"Alright!" Lincoln cheered as he stood up. Lincoln then went back to the closest and pulled out a piece of clothing. "And you're also gonna need an outfit to go along with it." He added as he handed Carlota a violet colored dress.
Taking the piece of clothing, Carlota looked at Lincoln with a rather impressed expression. "When did you get so good at stuff like this?"
"I hemy me sisters out with stuff all the time. Guess it's just a habit now." Lincoln shrugged with a smile.
"Well I'll admit, you're rather mature for your age." Carlota said with a smirk as he put her hands on her hips.
"Yes. Yes, I am." Lincoln nodded as he went to go leave the room. But instead, he found himself face first in the wall. "I meant to do that!" Lincoln said as he actually left the room with Carlota giggling.
KARAOKE BAR
Heading back out, it didn't take the Loud and Casagrande duo to make it to the bar. Lincoln entered and immediately started bobbing his head to the music. He looked around to see the place. The bar had colorful lights going all around the place, the bar was in the very back with some people sitting at it. Meanwhile tables were set around the middle where people were eating and enjoy the sick beats. But the most notable thing in the joint was the giant stage that had multiple mics on it with a DJ next to it. The karaoke stage.
Lincoln smiled and looked back only to frown when he saw Carlota not taking a single step past the entrance while shaking. Smiling gently, Lincoln walked over to her and held her arm. "It'll be alright."
"I'm just really nervous," Carlota said in a squeaky voice.
"Look, I called in and signed you up as an anonymous singer. No one will see your face. No one will know your name. It'll be ok." He persisted. He then saw that Carlota was staring in a specific direction. He looked to where she was looking and narrowed his eyes to see the two bully girls from earlier. "Forget about them. Remember what I told you. Just close your eyes, and just imagine your all by yourself."
,Ok." Carlota said while gulping. "Ok, ok. I can do this."
"Yes you can." Lincoln reassured while looking at her eyes. "Now get back stage, you're on in 20 minutes. I'll be in the audience watching. Remember, you can do this!" And with that, Lincoln went off to go find a free table to sit at.
20 MINUTES LATER
And just like that, the 20 minutes have passed. The music stopped as the DJ tapped his microphone to get everyone's attention. "Alright everyone, if I could have your attention!" The DJ announced making everyone present turn towards him. "We got someone coming up here, but she's preferring to keep her name a secret, so give a big hand for our mystery singer here!"
Just then the spotlight turned on and shined on Carlota. The oldest Casagrande quickly saw the audience and started hyperventilating. She quickly looked through the audience to find Lincoln in the front row.
Lincoln caught on quick to what she was going through and made a gesture for her to just take a deep breath and close her eyes. Carlota shakily nodded and took a deep breath and clenched her eyes shut tight while looking down and holding onto the mic in her hands tightly.
"So, what do ya wanna sing?" The DJ asked with a smile on her face.
Carlota then started to slowly side step towards the Dj and leaned in next to his ear and whispered someone to his ear. "Ya sure? That's, uh, that's a pretty intense tune." All Carlota did was take another deep breath and nod. "Alright then, just get on center stage and I'll crank up the beat."
Carlota gulped and did what she was told. 'Alright…it's just me…it's just me.' Carlota told herself. And…she did it. In her head, she just imagined herself standing in her room. No one watching her. No one judging her. Just her.
And then…the music started.
Carlota:
Are you listening?
Hear me talk, hear me sing?
Open up the door
Is it less, is it more?
When you tell me to beware.
Are you here, are you there?
Is there something I should know?
Easy come.
Easy go.
As she was sing, the crowd started smiling and bobbing their heads to the song. They had to admit, whoever this girl was, she had a really good voice.
Lincoln was smiling brightly. She was actually doing it. Deciding to get the crowd a little more hyped, he did something Luna taught him. He starting clapping his hands in rhythm to the music. Sure enough, some caught onto this and started clapping themselves.
Carlota:
Noddin, your head,
don't hear a word I said,
I can't communicate,
when you wait,
don't relate.
I try to talk to you,
But you never even knew.
So what's it gonna be?
Tell me can you hear me?
At this point, Lincoln could see that Carlota actually rose her head up and started dancing a little to the song she was sing. This got the crowd even more ramped up as they continued clapping with a few even cheering.
But Carlota didn't even notice it. All she was doing was singing along. Having fun. She was actually doing it.
Lincoln looked to where the two bullies from earlier were sitting and saw they were the only ones not cheering. They were simply rolling their eyes and adverting the gaze from the disguised Casagrande. Lincoln simply smirked triumphantly and continued to watch the performance.
Carlota:
I'm so sick of it!
Your attention deficit!
Never listen. Never listen.
I'm so sick of it!
So I'll throw another fit!
Never listen. Never Listen.
I scream your name!
It always stays the same!
I scream and shout!
So what I'm gonna do now
IS FREAK THE FREAK OUT!
Everyone:
HEY!
At this point some the crowd was cheering loudly, some even singing along. But at this point Carlota actually started jumping around, further enjoying herself. But Lincoln noticed something. The mask was coming loose. Lincoln got up and started to lightly panicked and tried to signal Carlota to tone it down with the dancing, but it was no use.
With one last jump in the air, the mask came flying off her face. The crowd and DJ cheered as they finally saw the face of the mystery girl. Meanwhile, the two girls jaw dropped. There was no way it was her.
And then something else happened, Carlota opened her eyes. Lincoln flinched and covered his own eyes afraid that Carlota was gonna start freaking out, but peeked out to see the opposite. Carlota was still going.
Carlota:
Whoa-
Whoa-
Whoa-
Whoa-
Strangely enough, she didn't care. She was having too much fun to care. After all these years after the incident, she was finally back on stage, singing her heart off. Having the time of her life.
Lincoln saw this and smiled brightly and started to cheer louder as Carlota kept going.
Carlota:
Patience running thin, running thing, come again
Tell me what I get
What I get
Opposite,
Opposite.
Show me what is real,
If it breaks, does it heal?
Open up your ear.
Why you think that I'm here?
So what's it gonna be?
Tell me
Can you hear me?
I'm so sick of it!
Your attention deficit!
Never listen.
Never listen.
I'm so sick of it!
So I'll throw another fit!
Never listen.
Never listen.
I scream your name!
It always stays the same!
I scream and shout!
So what I'm gonna do now is
Everyone:
FREAK THE FREAK OUT!
HEY!
Carlota then ended the song with a knee slide to the front of her stage and saw everyone's reactions. Everyone was screaming, cheering, clapping. No longer did she hear people laughing and making fun of her and calling her sunny.
She looked to see she no longer saw those two mean girls at the table. They must have left during her performance. She didn't care. All she was focusing on is what was happening now. And she was loving it!
"Well, I gotta say, that was probably one of the best performances I have ever seen here!" The DJ said with everyone raising their glasses and cheering. "Give it up for our mystery performer!"
"Actually…" Carlota said making everyone look towards her. "It's Carlota…Carlota Casagrande!"
The DJ smirked and nodded. "Give it up for Carlota Casagrande everyone!"
Everyone in the crowd cheered as Lincoln climbed up and stage and smiled up at Carlota. "You did it!" He cheered.
Carlota smiled brightly and nodded. She did do it. After years of being terrified of being humiliated again. She got back on stage and did doing what she loved. Maybe…things were looking bright.
Later, Lincoln and Carlota were seen walking back to the apartment with Lincoln smiling brightly. "That was amazing Carlota! You really are a great singer!"
Carlota just gave a light giggle and lightly smiled. "Thanks."
Lincoln then walked in front of the eldest Casagrande sibling and looked her in the eye. "See. I told you. You just had to go up there and just do it." He said as Carlota lightly nodded. "So, are you gonna start doing that often?"
At this, Carlota stopped and looked away and scratched the back of her head. "Well…"
"What?" Lincoln said frowning.
"I will admit…I did love doing that. But, I think I'm still a little nervous about everything." She revealed. While hearing that applause did boost her confidence, she was afraid it just might have been an 'In the moment' thing.
"But Carlota-"
"Look, Lincoln, I appreciate everything you did for me. I really do. But…I just want some time to think about it. Alright?" Carlota said with a soft smile.
Lincoln sighed, but still nodded his head. He didn't want to leave without her being sure of herself, but he didn't want to push too far. "Alright." He said simply.
"Thanks." Carlota then bent down and pulled Lincoln into a hug. Lincoln was surprised at first, but smiled and returned it. Once they broke apart, they saw they made it back. "I'm gonna go up in my room. Thanks again for everything." She said as she went inside with Lincoln not following.
Lincoln just leaned against the villain and cupped his chin. "I know she can do it, but she just needs one last boost in confidence." Lincoln then closed his eyes and tried to think of something. There had to be something that could completely eliminate her fear. Perhaps if someone else told her how great shew as on stage. Someone she admired. Suddenly an idea came to him.
Gaining a deadpanned look, Lincoln look towards the audience. "The things I do to help."
Back in Carlota's room, she had just put her hair back in its usual ponytail and looked at herself in the mirror. She recalled today. Her performance. She loved doing it. But could she continue doing it?
She might have been able to do it today, but what about tomorrow? Or the day after that. Today might have been a good day, but for all she knew tomorrow she could go back to freaking out again.
Groaning while holding her head as a headache started to form, she was about to lay down in bed until…
Click!
Click!
Turning towards her window, she went over it to see pebbles being thrown at it. She opened her window and right as she was about to yell at the punk do it, a larger rock was thrown next to her head and landed on her bed.
She looked to see that the rock had a note taped to it. Picking it up, it said "Please come down. I would like to talk to you."
Raising a brow, she looked at her window and didn't see anything. But she decided to go down. Exiting through her window, she went down the fire escape and back onto the streets. At first, she saw no one, but then she could hear footsteps behind her.
"Hey, I heard you knew me?"
Carlota looked behind here…and went wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Standing in front of her was none other than Four-arms. One of the aliens from Royal Woods. The one she had a personal preference for.
"Well, what are you doing here big boy?" Carlota said in a flirty tone while fluttering her eyelashes.
Four-arms was taken aback and bit and gulped nervously. But he quickly recomposed himself. He had a job to do. "I wanted to let you know I heard your performance at the karaoke place." He said
Carlota went wide-eyed and blushed a bit in slight embarrassment. "You…heard that."
Four-arms just nodded and smiled nicely. "Yep. You could say I was hanging around." He revealed which technically wasn't a lie. "You have a nice voice you know."
"Y-you really think so?" Carlota said, trying not to go absolute fan-girl right now.
"Yep. I would love to hear more some time." He said surprising the Casagrande.
"R-really?" she asked. Was her crush actually talking to her and telling her he liked her singing.
"You betcha, is something wrong?" He asked despite knowing what was going on. He couldn't just tell her, he had to get her to open up again because to her, Lincoln Loud and Four-arms were completely different beings.
"I guess I'm just…scarred." She revealed,
"Of…"
"People not liking me. Laughing at me. Saying I'm not a good singer." She explained as she held her head down.
"Why care?" Carlota looked up and saw him looking serious with both sets of arms crossed. "Why should you care what other people think? You love to sing don't you?"
"Well…yeah of course." She said with a nod.
"Then do it!" He said raising his upper arms in the air. "You can't please everyone. Not even me. Despite my efforts, I know not everyone is happy with me. But do I let that stop me? No."
Carlota held her hands together and looked down in thought. Maybe he was right. She enjoyed doing it. And wasn't that all that mattered in the end?
"Look," Four-arms then put a hand on Carlota's shoulder. "Just close your eyes and imagine it. Just imagine yourself singing, dancing. And see how you feel."
Carlota nodded and did what she was told. Closing her eyes, she started imagining. It took a moment or two, but soon she found herself on stage. Singing, dancing. Doing everything she loved. There was no crowd. Just her. Having fun.
He was right. She should just go for it. Sing just because she loved it. Sing not just for the satisfaction of the audience. But because she loved doing it.
Smiling, she opened her eyes and saw that Four-arms was gone. Looking around to see where he went, she saw a piece of paper on the ground with some writing. Picking it up, she read what was written.
I hope to hear your amazing voice again.
Don't stop doing what you love.
P.S. turn the page around
Carlota turned the page around and silent gasp. On the other side of the paper was Four-arms autograph. Smiling widely, she hugged it close to her chest and went back inside.
Meanwhile, Four-arms was hiding in an alleyway watching the whole thing. He smiled. Hopefully, that will give Carlota the confidence she needs.
'Lincoln…'
"Yeah?"
'You're a good kid.'
"Thanks," Four-arms said with a smile.
'Although you do know now that her crush for this form will probably increase ten-fold right?'
"…Shut up Ra'ad."
Back inside, Carlota was in her drawer hanging up the piece of paper Four-arms left for her. But not the part with the autograph. The half of the paper she left visible was the message. The message to tell her to keep doing what she loved. Letting out a pleased sigh. She turned around to leave her room and saw Lincoln exiting the bathroom. "Hey, Lincoln." She said getting her attention.
"Yeah, Carlota?" He asked with a smile, hoping to hear what he thought she was going to say.
"I gave it some thought and decided…I wanna keep going on stage." She relieved.
Lincoln smiled brightly pumped his fist. "Alright! Good for you. So, what made you decide?" He asked with a smirk. Despite knowing what happen, he wanted to her words on it.
"Well, I guess you could say someone told me the words I need to hear." She relieved while looking up.
"Well, whatever happened, I'm glad it did," Lincoln said completely genuine in his tone. He was happy he could help her with some personal issues.
Lincoln then looked back to see the rest of the Casagrande family in the living room. A smirk grew on Lincolns face as he looked up at Carlota. "Hey Carlota, you're gonna tell your family right?" He asked.
"Of course." She answered. Why wouldn't she tell her family? And even if she didn't she knew they would find out sooner or later. Her family had a reputation of being snoopers…including her.
"Why tell them, when we could show them?" He suggested.
A smirk grew on Carlota's face as she heard the idea. "I'm listening."
Back in the living room, the rest of the Casagrande family were just sitting in the living room doing their usual things. Hector was sleeping with Carlitos copying him, Frida was looking at some pictures while Carlos had his head in a book. CJ was just sitting next to his mom with his usual smile with Carl was just leaning on the sofa next to Lalo.
Just then Lincoln came up in front of them and cleared his throat getting their attention. Even making Hector wake up from his nap with Carlitos still copying him.
"Hi, Lincoln," CJ said with a wave.
Lincoln waved back and face the rest of the family. "Hey guys, so, before I go I wanted to do something for you. None of you would happen to have a guitar would you?"
"I have one," Hector said as he reached behind the couch and grabbed an acoustic guitar. Handing it to Lincoln, he asked. "You play?"
"Eh, well, I've picked up some things from my sister Luna so I think I can give you guys a show," Lincoln said as he stepped back and all the Casagrande's had their eyes on the white-haired boy. "Mrs. Casagrande, you have a video camera?"
"Of course," Frida said with a smile as she pulled one out.
"Do you mind recording this? Trust me, you're not gonna wanna miss this." He requested. Frida raised an eyebrow in curiosity but none the less complied. She wasn't one to miss anything special she could take a picture of and record.
Seeing that the Casagrande mother was recording, Lincoln took a deep breath and…
"Aah-aaah-aaayy!"
Doing this and playing a through strings, this got some 'Ooohs' from the Casagrande's as Lincoln started the real performance.
Lincoln:
What color is the sky
Ay, mi amor! Ay, mi amor!
You tell me that it's red
Ay, mi amor! Ay, mi amor!
Where should I put my shoes
Ay, mi amor! Ay, mi amor!
You say put them on your head
Ay, mi amor! Ay, mi amor!
You make me
Un poco loco
Un poquititio loco
The way you keep me guessing
I'm nodding and I'm yessing
I'll count it as a blessing
That I'm only
Un poco loco
All the Casagrande's smiled and bopped their heads to it. They had to admit, Lincoln was doing an amazing job at playing the Hispanic songs. But just then, something happened that made their jaws drop.
Coming from the hallway, Carlota suddenly ran in and came to a halt next to Lincoln. She quickly took a deep breath and started dancing along to the music. And then she did something that most of the family haven't heard her do in years.
Carlota:
The loco that you make me
Is is just un poco crazy
The sense that you're not making
Lincoln:
The liberties you're taking
Lincoln and Carlota:
Leaves my cabeza shaking
You are just
Un poco loco
They couldn't believe it. They're daughter was singing. Ever since the incident at the musical all those years ago. Carlota couldn't even preform in front of them. But now, here she was. Four years later and she was singing and dancing her heart out along with Lincoln.
Frida practically had rivers coming out of her eyes at the sight.
Lincoln and Carlota:
Un poquititit-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-to loco!
Once the song was over. The family immediately got up and started crowding them and applauding with Frida pulling her daughter in for a hug, still crying rivers. "Mija! It's so good to hear your beautiful singing voice again!" Frida choked out.
"I'll say, what made you do that. I thought you had strange fright?" Carlos asked, just having to know what help his daughter start doing that again.
"Well…" Carlota began as she turned her gaze to Lincoln. "Someone told me something I need to hear." She said as the rest of the family looked to Lincoln and started crowding him.
"Oh, Lincoln! We cannot thank you enough for helping my Granddaughter sing again." Rosa said as she pulled Lincoln into a hug.
"Hey, it's no problem at all," Lincoln said as he broke away from the hug. "Just doing my best to help out." He then looked to Hector and looked to see the retired Plumber nodding and giving him a thumbs up.
"Besides…" He began to say again while looking at Carlota. "Anything for a friend."
Everyone in the room smiled at each other just enjoying the moment. That is until…
Honk! Honk!
"Squawk! There back!" Everyone heard Sergio say as he pointed out the window. Everyone looked back to see the car containing the Santiago's pull up. "They're back!" All the Casagrande's cheered.
Then all of a sudden Rosa's eyes widen as she loudly gasps. "I don't have any food ready! I have to get cooking this instant!" She said as she bolted into the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Lincoln looked back out the window and smiled when he saw a different ride pulling in. "Looks like my ride's here too!" Lincoln said as everyone looked back out to see Vanzilla pulling in with Lori as its only driver.
Carl saw this and smiled widely as he ripped off his clothes to reveal a white tuxedo. "My Gazelle!" He said as he ran to go see Lori.
Carlota just sighed and shook her head but still smiled "I'll go get him." She said as she started walking out.
Lincoln then turned to face the remaining family and waved at them. "Thanks again for having me. I'll see you all later." He said as the rest of the family waved him off.
"Bye Lincoln!" CJ said as he watched his friend leave.
"Come back anytime chamaco." Hector said with a smirk.
Lincoln waved to them one last time before heading downstairs. Outside, he already saw Lori and Bobby holding onto each other calling each other pet names. Rolling his eyes, Lincoln looked around for someone in particular but ended up getting punched in the arm. "Hey lame-o" Ronnie Anne greeted as she stepped up behind him. "Hope you weren't bored to death here."
"Actually, I had a lot of fun," Lincoln revealed as he rubbed his arm. "You're lucky to have a family like them."
"I guess I am." Ronnie Anne said with a small smile.
"Lori!" Both kids look to see Carlota carrying a struggling Carl under her arm with the latter calling out to Lincoln's sister. "No force on this earth can stop my love for you!"
"Except me, now get back in there," Carlota said as she opened the door to the apartment building and threw her younger brother back inside.
Carlota then looked to see Lincoln behind her. Smiling, she walked up the Loud boy. "Hey Lincoln, I just want to thank you for everything again." She said as Ronnie Anne stepped back and looked at the conversation in curiosity.
"It's no problem. I'm just happy I could help you out." He said making the oldest Casagrande child give a small giggle.
Lincoln then watched as Carlota took a pen and piece of paper from her pockets. Writing something down, she then handed it to Lincoln. Lincoln looked at the paper to see a phone number is written on it. "Your number?" he asked.
Carlota nodded in response. "Yep, talk to me sometime. And one more thing."
"What is-?!" Suddenly Lincoln's face went bright red at what happened next. Carlota had leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.
It was only for about a second and Carlota laughed a bit at seeing his reaction. "I'll see ya later Lincoln."
"Y-yeah. See ya." He stuttered as he walked to his family van.
All the while Ronnie Anne was watching with her jaw essentially dropping as much as it could. Regaining herself, she turned to her older cousin. "Ok…what the heck was that?!" She asked completely stunned.
"I'll tell you later. Just now that he's a pretty great guy. You know if you wanna make a move on him, you should do it soon." Carlota explained as she walked back inside.
Ronnie Anne was taken back by this a little, but soon shook it off and went back in the building. But not without a weird feeling growing in her stomach and a growl escaping her mouth.
Lincoln only had to wait for a few minutes for Lori to get into the van. "Ready to go home Linc?" She asked as she buckled her seat belt.
"Yep, so, anything happens while I was gone?" He asked, curious about his sister's activities while he was gone.
"Well me and Leni went to the mall, Luan made Lily listen to her comedy routine, Luna worked on some new music, Lana and Lola got stuck in a tree house, Lucy went to the graveyard, Lisa did some weird science stuff and Lynn pretty much had the TV to herself the whole time." The oldest Loud sibling said as she started driving away.
"Ah, so nothing new…wait, what was that about the treehouse?"
"It's a long story."
OH MY GOSH ITS FINALLY OVER XD.
In all seriousness, I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for so long and I had so much fun writing it. As I said the last chapter, I love giving the side characters more attention and the Casagrande's might be some of my favorite side characters of any cartoon and I can't wait for when they get their spinoff show.
So sorry if this episode didn't have any Ben 10 like action. I wanted this to be more Loud House-esc after the last few chapters.
And speaking of the chapters, getting ready for the next few. I'm officially announcing a new story arc known as
"Disagreements"
What does that mean? Well you might have noticed that not all of Lincolns sisters are all crazy about him with the Omnitrix. And this arc is gonna go into them, so stay tune for the first part of the story arc with...
"There for you"
