As the house came into view, Lynn mentally prepared herself. The jock girl had spent the rest of her ride home coming up with her own plan to outsmart them. It was difficult and risky, but worth it.

"Ooh, here she comes!" Lori sighted Lynn coming up the sidewalk on her bike towards the house. She turned to her siblings. "Is everybody ready?"

She looked to Leni (wearing her swim suit and an inflatable pool ring), Luna (standing inside a zorb bubble), Luan (holding two ping-pong paddles in front of a ping-pong table), Lucy (sporting a beret and spinning a clay turntable), Lola (dressed in a tutu and ice skates), Lana (masked in scuba gear), Lisa (dressed in 80s punk clothes and carrying a boombox), and Lily (covered in paint) peeking out from their hiding spots. They all nodded and disappeared.

With a confident smile, Lori zipped up the collar of her fencing outfit, foil at her side. This time, they wouldn't be letting Lynn get away. She stiffled a yawn, not wanting to appear weak in front of her sisters (despite her growing weariness).

"Here we go," she said to herself.

"Here we go," Lynn muttered as she parked her bike and approached the porch. She stopped at the stairs to breath, preparing herself for what she was about to do.

The doorknob began to turn.

"Here she comes." All the sisters braced themselves.

The door opened, revealing Lynn, who looked just as sad and downdraught as she had the day before. ' Bingo .' Lori thought proudly. Just as she'd expected.

"Hey Lynn," She greeted her in fake surprise, as if she hadn't expected her sister to sudden be at their door, before immediately switching to a concerned face and tone. "Oh, is everything okay?"

Lynn sighed, slowly slumping inside. Lori walked over and put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her.

"Hey, it's alright," her older sister soothed her. "Lori's here. You know, I bet I know what'll make you feel better." She pulled her fencing mask on. "How about some fencing at-"

"Lori, please." Lynn interrupted her. "I know about your plan."

Lori's mask dropped from her face, revealing her shocked and stunned expression. Her sisters all bore similar looks in their hiding places.

"W-what are you talking about, Lynn?" Lori asked nervously.

"You're trying to stop me from winning Jumbo," Lynn answered plainly. "And I know why. You think I poisoned Lincoln."

"We-we don't think that, Lynn!" Lori stammered.

Lynn gave her a look that said she wasn't buying it. "Well, whatever reason you're doing it-" "Lynn, I swear we literally have no idea what you are talking about!"

Lynn rolled her eyes, now looking fed up. Turning to the empty house, she suddenly yelled, "Okay girls, come on out! Jig's up!"

All the sisters emerged, just as confused and baffled as their eldest sister.

"Look at you guys," Lynn put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "You really think I wouldn't suspect anything?! Even for our family, this is weird."

"Told ya," Lola muttered.

"Well, I didn't poison Linc," Lynn heavily emphasized the negative, "and I don't care if you believe me or not, because…" she paused to sigh, "I'm done with Jumbo."

All the girls' jaws hit the floor. As much as this should have relieved them, it only shocked them. They'd all knew of Lynn's persistance and drive to win, let alone the trophy being a nostalgic idol from childhood, so hearing her give up so quickly and suddenly was nothing less than unbelievable.

"What?" Several of them cried.

Lynn put her hands back in her pockets and looked down. "Well, as you probably already knew, I was at the fair, trying to win him."

"I thought you were out of cash," Leni blurted out before being elbowed.

"I-" Lynn stammered, nervously looking up at her family. "I used my savings."

The girls gasped. "But that was all your money!" Lola cried.

"Yes, I know," Lynn said, her flat tone obviously holding back frustration for the reminder. Sighing, she turned out her pockets, revealing nothing. "And look what it got me. Nothing." She looked back down. "I should have listened to Mom and Dad and just gotten over it. They were right; it was just a stupid doll from a stupid show."

She gazed up at their bewildered faces. "I know you probably expected more of a fight, but I'm afraid I just got nothing left to give." She pulled out a little white flag. "I surrender."

Yep, this was her plan; admit that she knew about their plan, fake defeat, and surrender. It may sound risky and stupid and her performance obviously wasn't the most convincing, but Lynn was actually riding on that. She knew that if her sisters didn't (and likely wouldn't) believe her, they'd resort to other methods to get the truth. Thankfully, she already suspected what a good deal of those would likely be and had prepared herself for them. It was hard to hide stuff in a family this large and this girl was more than just the big, dumb jock her sisters obviously took her for.

Besides, not everything she was telling them was a lie. She was being full-on truthful in her insistance that she hadn't poisoned Linc, but she didn't expect them all to buy that. After all, she knew they would so easily resort to lying to try and throw her off. If they were going to try and play with her emotions, she would do the same.

The girls all exchanged glances. Needless to say, this was NOT what they'd been expecting! On one hand, they (especially Lori) were relieved that Lynn apparently was choosing to surrender over drawing out this conflict (or worse, getting back at them for trying to distract her). On the other hand, something about this didn't feel right. It wasn't like Lynn to be so humble to admit defeat, let along fess up to her mistakes like a goody-two-shoes.

"Uh…" Luan stammered, unable to find words.

"Well, Lynn…" Lori finally spoke. "We're… shocked to hear this. Honestly, I can't believe you'd do something so… insane." She spoke of both the savings and the surrender, her voice doing a balancing act between between relief and disbelief.

"Well, I did, so feel free to say "we told you so," Lynn replied.

"What about you?" Leni asked, concerned. "What are you going to do for money?"

Lynn shrugged. "I'll be 14 in a few months. Guess I'll just tough it out until I can get a job."

Again, the sisters all glanced at each other in silent debate, all hardly daring to believe what they were hearing (or in some of their cases, not at all).

"Well," Luna took her turn to speak, "We're glad you've come to the right decision."

Like Lori's, her voice carried both relief and uncertainity, though the rock star was clearly trying to sound more optimistic than her predecessor. While not the most moral of the family, Luna did follow (or at least tried to follow) in her older sister's (and younger bro's) footsteps in seeing the best in people, let alone her own family. She knew lying wasn't unheard of in this family (hell, she herself was guilty of a great many), but Lynn definitely sounded truthful, more so than she'd ever been in the past. At the very least, her insistant denial at poisoning Lincoln was appealing and pathetic.

"Sorry if we treated you like you were dumb," Leni apologized, giving her sister a smile, "because you like totes aren't."

Lynn brushed her off. "Eh, it's alright. It was pretty dumb of me to spend so much time going after a silly stuffed animal anyway."

While some appeared to be convinced, a good number of her sisters (particually the younger ones) still bore looks of skeptical doubt (or in Lucy's case, absolutely nothing) completly neutral)… which was exactly what the jock wanted. If the sisters were split on whether to believe her or not, then they would no doubt be pushed to get

a direct answer all the more quicker, meaning Lynn would be free in even less time. All she needed to do now was push them a little more.

"I'm gonna head upstairs. See yah." She started for the stairs, only to be blocked by Lisa, Lola, Lana, and Luan. "Hey," she said in fake shock.

"Lola, what are you doing?" Leni asked.

"Did you all take stupid pills this morning?!" Lola cried. "You're guys seriously letting her off the hook?! You know she's probably lying."

' Bingo .' "I'm not, I swear," Lynn emphasized her words once again.

The pageant queen put her hands on her hips. "That's just what I would say."

"Well, how can we prove that she's not lying?" Leni asked.

"A-hem," Lisa coughed, "I think I know a way."

Lynn found herself sat in a chair in Lisa's lab, a number of wires and cables suctioned to her chest (over her shirt) and leading over to a monitor Lisa was operating for the others (all of whom were back in their normal outfits).

"Okay sisters," Lisa addressed them. "She's ready."

Lori stepped forward. "Lynn, just be honest and we can finally be done with this."

It was true. Now that she was no longer acting, the eldest sister was looking more tired than ever in her normal garb. Her eyes were cracked and droopy and her eyelids baggy and drenched in eyeliner in an attempt to hide them.

Lynn gave her a sad face and hung her head. "What's the point in being honest if most of you won't believe me anyway? It feels like no matter what I say, at least one of you won't be convinced."

It was corny, but Lynn knew she had to make herself look as pathetic as possible in order to draw out the most sympathy from her more compassionate sisters as possible. As the old saying goes, "united we stand, divided we fall" and Lynn was already starting to see a clear divide between her sisters.

Indeed, Leni and Luna both grew looks of guilt at this statement.

"Honestly, I'm starting to even wonder how I can even believe what you're saying."

Lucy fidgeted at this and Lynn had to fight herself from smirking. Served the goth girl right for playing with her own emotions this morning.

Lori groaned. "Enough with the pity." She looked to Lisa. "You sure this will work, Lisa? No mistakes?"

"All science is prone to biased, my dear sister," Lisa explained. "Contrary to belief, it is not meant to serve as an all-knowing truth, but rather provide it's readers with the confidence to work the truth out for themselves." She glanced up at her confused audience. "It'll work as well as you'll allow it to. If it makes you feel any better, I myself like to leave little up to the imagination. As far as I'm concerned, the truth will appear here." She motioned to the moniter showing a growing, straight green line.

"If you say so, sis," Lynn replied.

In actuality, she wasn't the least bit concerned at all. A lie detector test had been pretty high up on her list of potenial truth-telling methods (right behind truth serum) and Lynn was more than ready.

You see, as well as action movies, Lynn particually enjoyed spy movies. Much like ninjas, she highly admired CIA agents for their cunning, stealth, and lack of fear; if anything, they were the ninjas of the modern age. And much like she did with the black-garbed assassins, Lynn had sought to aquire (or at least professionally mimic) the skills of the sharply-dressed, gun-carrying, martini-drinking agents of esponage. From their quick-thinking and extreme professionalism… to their heavy resistance to torture. While many of her siblings cringed and hide their faces during torture scenes in said movies, Lynn watched them with adsolute gusto. And while she obviously could not simulate those exact scenarios as a means of practice, Lynn had still found ways to study and copy the heroes' ability to not give in (most notably being the pyschological section of their local library). Frankly, a lie-detector test was FAR from the most brutal method she'd come across in her research.

All it took was a stern mind and a strong heart. Lie detectors were all about detecting anxiety and guilt, traits most associated with lying. It was a battle of the physiological will and Lynn, for better or worse, had readied herself for it on the ride over. She knew what she needed to say, what her sisters would be asking. As long as she relaxed, believed in what she said, and didn't let her conscious get in the way, she'd be fine.

' Breathe,' she did so, passing it off as a sigh, ' and relax .' Thankfully, the detector couldn't read minds.

"You sure you don't have a brain scanner to go with it?" Lola asked.

"In the shop, I'm afraid," her sister nonchalantly responded, "Besides, for it to work, I'd have to make an incision to access our sister's frontal lobes."

' What?! ' Lynn grimaced and the green line on the monitor spazzed out.

"She's lying!" Lola scretched.

"Or maybe she just doesn't want a hole in her head," Luna objected.

"Uh, yeah!" Lynn blurted out.

"Nobody's drilling any holes in any heads," Lori declared. "We've already got ONE sibling in the hospital. Let's not go for two," Yawning, she watched as the line went back to it's steady, flat pace. "Okay, Lisa, can we please start now?"

"Be my guest." Lisa directed her over to a chair in front of Lynn. She sat down while her sisters all crowded around Lisa and the moniter.

"Okay Lynn," she stared her sister dead in the eyes, trying her best to look firm in her tired state. "Are you still interested in winning Jumbo?"

' Relax and… go .' "No," Lynn replied, making sure not to answer too quickly or too late. Like her face, her tone was clear, confident, and neutral, showing no hints of anger, frustration, or unease.

As she'd expected, the line didn't change.

"Very good," Lisa said. "Continue."

"Are you, in any way, planning on sneaking off to the fair today, tomorrow, or some other day in the near future?" Lori asked.

' Wow, totally not rehearsed, sis .' Pushing a slight mental urge to show amusement, Lynn answered, once again plainly, "No."

Again, nothing on the monitor. Leni smiled, Luan looked uneasy, and Lori raised an eyebrow. "Lynn… are you literally telling the truth?"

' Must… not… sass… back! ' "Yes."

The monitor didn't change and her sisters all started glancing at each other. Lynn's mouth tingled with the urge to smile, but she kept it still while keeping her mind blank except for her own monotone, mental voice.

Lucy suddenly stepped forward and approached her roommate. Lynn hadn't been expecting this, but she forced herself to stay calm.

"Lynn-"

"Lucy, what are you doing?" Lori asked, irritability. "Get back over there."

"Let her ask, Lori," Lisa advised. "It's important that this test not be completely predictable." Sighing, Lori motioned for Lucy to step forward.

Looking right into her sister's eyes through her bangs, Lucy began again. "Lynn," Unlike Lori, there was a hint of pain in Lucy's voice, as if what she was about to say hurt to do so. "Do you think I lied to you this morning?"

Her monotone voice actually cracked a bit at the end. Lynn would have felt sympathy if she wasn't still bitter over the fact that she obviously had. Regardless, she'd save that bitterness for later. "No," she replied.

Without another word, Lucy turned and walked off.

"Anyone else?" Lori asked.

Luan stepped forward. She gulped as she approached.

"Lynn," her voice was tense, "Do you… remember what you did to us the last time you were into Jumbo?"

' What? ' For once, Lynn was generally stumped. She had no idea what her sister could be referring to. Was this some kind of trick?

Whatever it was, it got her to stay silent for one second too many.

"Aha!" Lola cried, making everyone jump and the monitor spaz out. "See? She's ly-!" "Yes," Lynn replied. "And I'm sorry."

Everyone went silent, including the monitor. Lynn stared down her sister, her expression back to it's neutral state.

"Really?" The jester sounded hopeful, "The beatings? The screeching? The… ," she gulped, "c-cookies?"

Okay, this had to be some sort of trick. Lynn didn't have the slighest clue what Luan was talking about, but it had to some sort of trick to confuse her. Well, she could play tricks too. After all, improv was not just a comedy routine.

"Yes," Lynn repeated. "It was stupid and crazy and I probably hurt you guys a lot more than you let on. Sis, I truly am sorry for what I did."

Luan's eyes went glossy and a tear formed. Sniffling, she got up and walked right into Luna's arms. Lynn fought back a smirk once again. They'd almost had her there, but she'd outdone them. The jester could shed as many

crocodile tears as she wanted. If they were going to try and play games with Lynn, she'd play games with them too.

"Okay…" Lori tried to take the reigns again. "Let's get this back on track." She turned to face her sister once again.

"Lynn," she began, "what are you planning on doing tomorrow?"

"I'm going down to the baseball field to play a game with Margo and the rest of the Squirrels. We planned it at the fair today." Well, this one wasn't totally a lie since Lynn technically would be going there tomorrow, it just wasn't the Squirrels she was planning on meeting. Regardless, her lie fooled the machine.

"And you swear this isn't some ploy to go after Jumbo again?"

"Yes."

"And you're absolutely sure you didn't posion Linky?" Lola blurted out before anyone could stop her. Now Lynn was starting to get irritated. The moniter started to spaz.

"Ha! See?" Lola folded her arms, a smug smile on her face. "Told you she was lying."

' Breathe Lynn .' She did and the monitor slowed. Ignoring the look on her little sister's face, she calmly spoke the first full truth in the entire interrogation. "For the last time, I absolutely, positivity, irrefutably swear that I did not, repeat did not, poison our brother."

"Yeah right," Lola muttered, earning scowls from several of her sisters.

"Well, I think that's enough questioning," the little genius concluded. "Elder sister?"

Lori turned to look at Lynn. The jock girl's face was calm and collected as it stared back at her, waiting for the verdict. In Lori's sleep-deprived mind, she weighed their options.

They could continue probing, but given all that they'd already asked and learned, would an even deeper analysis really be necessary? After all, it's not like Lynn was somehow outsmarting the machine. The girl was clearly not as dense as Lori had assumed, but she still was no genius.

"Lori," Lynn said all of a sudden, "I've told you everything you wanted to hear. Why keep this up? Do you want me to be guilty?"

Lori frowned. She'd never considered the possibility.

"I know what I did to you was horrible and I'm sorry. If it's payback you're looking for, then fine, do your worst. I won't fight back or anything. Just please get it over with so I can finally put all this Jumbo crap behind me."

Her voice tinged with what sounded like desperation and it was enough to make tears come to Lori's eyes. Her eyeliner began to leak down her cheeks. Behind her, most of her siblings had the same face.

"Lynn," Lori choked. "We-I forgive you."

Getting up, she pulled the wires off Lynn and helped her to her feet.

"I forgive you too," Leni joined in.

"Same here," Luna added.

"Come here you," Luan jumped into the fray, followed by the rest of the sisters (even Lola).

' Suckers, ' Lynn thought.

Biiiiiiing !

Lori's phone buzzed. The group seperated as she pulled it out of her pocket and answered. "Hello?" Lori's eyes went wide. "Mom?!"

All the girls gasped.

"Yes. Yeah. REALLY?! Oh, that's great. Don't worry, we'll have everything ready. Bye." She hung up. "They're bringing Linky home!"

All the girls started cheering.

"Yay, Linky!"

"Linky's coming home!"

"Winky!"