September 08, 2023
Hi guys!
I know, more than 1 month has passed. Sorry much. I still need to learn to be more disciplined.
After Lily, Luan and Lisa, it's time to finally see Lucy's sistership with her roommate, Lynn Jr., possibly the most hated Loud sister in the fandom. And yes, time to see more references to that episode...
Now, however, a shocking event could put Lucy on a collision course with her family.
Chronologically, my other fanfic Lola Loud And Lincoln Legacy takes place right before this chapter 05 that you have in your hands (after a little revision that I did there).
Seanrudin: Pastor Schindler and Pastor Luke can be very helpful to God's work, each in their own style.
Enjoy!
Chapter 05: Like Fangs, Like Lynn
Lucy leaves her room to discover the source of the noise.
Upon entering the hall, she is faced with a bizarre scene.
That boy in black sweatshirt, so enigmatic, is hammering on Lincoln's bedroom door, nailing it shut.
"What are you doing?" Lucy wants to know.
"My orders," Lynn Jr. appears suddenly, behind Lucy. "We cannot let Lincoln sleep with us tonight."
"But why?" Lucy turns to Lynn.
"Because he is unlucky. And we cannot risk having an accident because of him."
"Absurd," Lucy protests. "Lincoln is not bad luck."
"Not even? After he made me lose a softball game the only time he showed up at the stadium, I amended 5 straight wins in his absence. How do you explain it?"
"Huh… Well…"
"And he broke Lori's golf club and made Lola break a cup of tea. What will be the next step? Break your bust of Edwin?"
Lucy swallows hard.
"Trust me, Raven," Lynn lightly punches her sister's arm. "For our own safety, it's best that we keep Stinkoln isolated."
"Yeah... Maybe you're right..."
The boy in black whistles at Lucy.
After she approaches, he hands her a bottle of a suspicious liquid.
Lucy raises her hand with the intention of removing the boy's hood and revealing his face, but something tells her that this is not the best time.
She turns and heads for the garden, knowing exactly what to do.
She spreads the liquid around the garden of the house, in the middle of the night.
Then she enters the house again.
After Lincoln, somewhat annoyed, washes his hands and leaves the bathroom, he crosses the hall towards his room.
His surprise is to see his room barred, with a note on the door:
"Sorry, Lincoln, but this is not your room. You don't belong to us."
Lincoln turns, looks down the deserted hallway of rooms, and yells, with all the rage in the world:
"ARE YOU OKAY?!"
All the doors open and her sisters (including Lucy) yell in unison:
"NO!"
"Get out, Stinkoln!" Lynn Jr. orders.
All doors close.
Lincoln, quite irritated, goes downstairs and leaves the house to sleep in the garden.
Lynn lies down on her bed, very peacefully.
"Good night, Lucy."
And she turns over and sleeps.
Lucy curls up in bed but can't sleep.
Suddenly, a whistle makes her come out of the covers.
There is standing before her the boy in black, now with a Michael Jackson hat on his head.
The lights come on and the boy begins to moonwalk.
Without Lynn waking up, the music rises to full volume:
Are you okay, Linc?
Linc, are you okay?
So, Linc, are you okay?
Are you okay, Linc?
Linc, are you okay?
Will you tell us that you're okay?
Then Lucy, terrified, hears Lincoln's screams in the garden:
"AAAHHH! I'M BURNING! I'M DYING!"
The boy in black, at the height of his excitement, also shouts:
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"AH!"
Lucy wakes up suddenly, in her black bed.
She looks to her left and sees Lynn Jr. sleeping in her own bed.
She checks her alarm clock: 4 am.
"Please, Lincoln, say you're not dead. Tell me you're fine."
Suddenly, Lucy hears a piercing scream.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"LINCOLN!" She despairs.
"Lucy, what is it?" Lynn awakens.
"We left Lincoln trapped outside! We need to save him!" Lucy gets out of bed.
"Lucy, Lincoln is dead!"
Ignoring Lynn's protests, Lucy leaves the room.
But as she crosses the hallway, she sees Lori and Leni standing in the doorway of Luna and Luan's room.
It doesn't take long for Lynn, Lana, Lola and Lisa to leave their respective rooms and follow Lucy.
In such a noisy family, sound sleep is a luxury item.
Inside the room...
"NO, GARY, NO! WHY?! WHY?!"
"Luan?"
The door is opened internally by Luna and the sisters quickly see Luan, in checkered yellow pajamas, crying on her knees over a black shroud.
Luna leaves the room, in her purple nightgown, closing the door immediately.
"Get out! There's nothing to see here! I'm going to call Mom and Dad!"
Luna quickly goes down the stairs.
Obviously, nothing stops the sisters' curiosity.
They open the door again and see Luan face down on the floor.
"Luan? What happened?" Lori asks.
"That animal killed Gary!" Luan responds, showing her face full of tears.
"WOW! A hunted animal!" Lana gets excited. "This I need to see!"
She extends her arm towards the shroud...
...making Luan grind her teeth!
"Or maybe not…" Lana flinches.
"How horrible! Who could have killed your magic rabbit?!" Lola puts the head in her hands.
"It was that stupid bat!" Luan points to Lucy.
All the sisters look at Lucy, with accusatory looks.
"What it was?" Lucy complains.
"Why did you kill Gary, Lucy?!" Leni asks naively.
"I am not a bat!"
"But you always claim to be a vampire!"
The sisters sigh.
"I assume Luan is referring to Fangs, the Lucy's bat," Lynn suggests.
"Himself!" Luan confirms. "He always invades our room at dawn, entering through the window! And now he's bitten Gary's neck, sucking his blood!"
"Absurd!" Lucy disputes. "Fangs would never do that! He was never one to attack other animals or humans! It could have been any other bat, but not Fangs!"
"Unless he's angry," Lisa speculates.
Lucy is speechless.
Lisa continues:
"I've been monitoring the colony of bats that Lucy keeps in the attic, and they've been showing certain symptoms like uncoordinated flight and excessive salivation. I would venture to say that they are all infected with rabies. And that means we should..."
"SHUT UP!"
Under the startled look of the sisters, Lucy runs to her room.
"Gary…" Luan sniffles. "What will become of me without you, my furry artist?!"
Back in her room, Lucy lies down in her coffin, as she always does when she is sad or upset.
"They'll try to kill Fangs… But they won't succeed. They already took Lincoln from me... but not Fangs! They will have to kill me first!"
The first notes come out on the piano.
No audience to applaud.
A lonely and harrowing symphony.
Lucy sighs as she improvises some sad melody.
Lincoln Loud, when alive, complained about always being called to help with the plans and tasks of his 10 sisters, leaving little time for him to do his own activities. Obviously, his complaint was not about quality (he loved helping the sisters, and no job was too "feminine" for him), but about quantity. He was unable to refuse all of his sisters' requests, whether out of fear or simple convenience.
After Lincoln's death, Lucy and Lola kind of "inherited" their "Jack (or Jill) Of All Trades" post, as neither Lola wanted any more Miss Pageants nor Lucy wanted to hang out with the Morticians Club. So they had plenty of time to help the sisters pursue their projects and interests.
But now Lola is dedicated to delving into the universe of Ace Savvy to write her own superhero adventures, inspired by the concepts she found in Lincoln's orange notebook, which was lost for a long time. The sisters understand that this is her way of honoring Lincoln, so they started to leave her alone.
So Lucy took over as the family handywoman for good.
Washing Lori's panties, being Leni's "dummy" (both dark and colorful outfits), sparring with Lynn Jr., looking after Lana's exotic pets and, of course, changing Lily's diapers... No task is too big for the little shadow mistress.
Now Lucy understands better what made Lincoln invent for the family he was unlucky (or rather, extend the rumor created by Lynn Jr.): helping such a large family sometimes borders on the unbearable, but hey, it's still your family.
Today Lucy was ready to resume her role as Luan's stage assistant. The family clown finally reactivated Funny Business Inc. and was ready to count on Lucy's help, returning the moral support given by her little sister.
But the tragic death of the rabbit Gary changed everything, and Luan decided to call her boyfriend Benny to help her at the birthday party she was hired to host.
"Please Luan."
"I told you, Lucy! You are not going with me!"
"Benny and I can help you together."
"He is more than enough!"
"You can't blame me for your rabbit's death."
"That's not the question! Fangs killed Gary and you're more concerned with protecting your bats! It's like you're against me! You just don't sound like you're my ally! So, for consistency, I can't see myself working with you!"
"But..."
"Today I'm staying with my Ben and you can stay here with YOUR Ben!"
"My Ben?"
After Luan and Benny left, Lucy wondered what her sister meant.
Of course! The horror movie!
It's as if the bat Fangs was the mouse Ben, hated by all of society, and Lucy was the boy Danny, committed to protecting his great animal friend.
With that in mind, Lucy went down to the basement, towards the grand piano.
After improvising a bit, she finally starts playing and singing (and adapting) the film's theme song:
Fangs, the two of us need look no more
We both found what we were looking for
With a son to call my own
I'll never be alone, and you, my son, will see
You've got a Mom in me
(You've got a Mom in me)
Fangs, you're always flying here and there
You feel you're not wanted anywhere
If you ever look behind and don't like what you find
There's something you should know
You've got a place to go
(You've got a place to go)
Saturday afternoon.
Lucy enters the house with a shoebox under her left arm.
She looks both ways.
Free way.
She closes the door and crosses the room, whispering to the box:
"Quiet. Nothing to draw attention to. It was hard to find you again after being missing for so many days. I don't blame you: I know you're still scared. Don't worry. Mom will clear your record. She signs with her own blood."
She goes up the stairs.
"For now, you stay in my room. Then I'll find a safer place for you to stay. I could leave you in Lily's room, or rather Lincoln's room, but I don't want them to think I'm putting her at risk."
After keeping the box in her own room, Lucy comes out with a baby bottle.
She goes down to the kitchen, opens the fridge, takes the pitcher and fills the bottle with milk.
After inserting red food coloring, so that the milk looks like blood, Lucy leaves the kitchen and goes back up to her room.
But when she gets there, she remembers that the room is not hers alone.
CRASH!
"Lynn!"
Lucy opens her room door and...
"Get out of here, you pest!" Lynn Jr. yells at Fangs, who has somehow gotten out of the box. She nearly hit him with a soccer ball.
"Lynn! Leave him alone!" Lucy demands.
"Did you bring that little killer back home, Lucy?!"
"He is not a murderer!"
"Yes! You want to cover him up anyway! But I will not let Gary go unpunished!"
Lynn throws another ball, this time tennis, towards Fangs, who keeps flying over the room.
CRASH!
"Enough! You want to destroy the whole room?!" Lucy complains.
"And?! We've always done this! Even Lincoln trashed our room the day you clogged the toilet!"
"Doesn't matter! If you want to hurt Fangs…"
He lands on Lucy's head.
"...you'll have to punch my dead body!"
"I don't care!" Lynn throws another ball, now football, towards Lucy's forehead.
The goth girl throws herself to the ground.
The stone hits Edwin's bust...
...and he breaks in half on the floor!
CRASH!
...
...
...
Lucy screams from the depths of her being:
"NOOOOOOO!" "EEEEDWIIIIN!"
"Wow," Lynn scoffs, but also amazed at her prowess. "I never thought you could scream so well."
Lucy flares up:
"You said Lincoln would break Edwin for supposedly bad luck. But if there's anyone who brings bad luck to this family... IT'S YOU!"
"ME?!"
"Yes! You never help at all! You only serves to make matters worse!"
"Oh, come on?! Look on the bright side: now that Edwin is gone, you can stop your stupid obsession with him! You're free to marry that idiot Pony Princess now!"
Lynn gets a slap in the face!
"Oh, are you going to face it now?!"
In a few minutes, the parents and sisters crowd the door, attracted by the screams, punches and kicks.
"Enough, girls!" Lynn Sr. decrees.
Lucy and Lynn Jr. stop.
"Lucy, let go of Lynn's hair!" Rita demands.
Lucy obey and crawls over to Edwin.
Lynn Sr. pulls Lynn Jr. off the ground.
"How did this fight start?"
"Lucy was angry just because I accidentally broke the bust of her lover Edwin…"
"That bust that Lucy is finishing breaking?" Lana points.
Everyone watches, dumbfounded, as Lucy throws the pieces of the bust at the wall.
"Die! Die! Die!"
"Lucy, stop it already!" Rita orders.
"Lucy is disowning Edwin!" Lola perks up and waves her arms.
She gets negative looks from her sisters.
"Er... Not that I'm happy, of course..."
"This fight has nothing to do with Edwin!" Lucy clarifies, crying with rage. "I only care about Fangs!"
"Your bat?!" Luan frowns.
"Yes! I found Fangs outside and brought him back to my room! But Lynn tried to hurt him with her balls!"
"Balls?!" Leni is indignant. "It's just for that you have balls, Lynn Jr.?!"
Lynn smiles sheepishly. Despite being a girl, she was always reputed to be the second boy in the house.
"That wasn't a good pun," Luan acknowledges.
"What pun?" Leni doesn't understand.
"But where is Fangs?" Lori questions. "I don't see him anywhere."
Lucy opens her mouth in shock.
"No, he can't have run away again!"
Lynn Sr. takes Lucy and Lynn Jr. by the arms and leaves the room with them:
"Well, you two will have a lot to think about in the Room of Solitude! And all of you, you can go searching the house now!"
"If we find Fangs, we'll lock him up in the attic with Lucy's other bats until we decide what to do," Rita informs.
"Yes, Mom," Luna agrees. "Let's go boys. We have a job to do."
"Maybe I can restore Edwin's bust later," Lisa proposes.
"I don't believe," Lola snorts.
"I hate you..." Lucy murmurs to Lynn Jr. as the two are pulled away by their father.
Despite the family's diligent search, Fangs is nowhere to be found.
The family gathers in the living room.
"Well, today we're all going to the mall and the movies," Lynn Sr. announces. "But you two are going to be grounded today."
"You two are forbidden to leave the house," Rita adds. "Lucy, for bringing an infected bat back home. Lynn Jr., for trying to hurt him. And both of you for beating each other up."
"I'm not going to be with that girl," Lucy points to Lynn Jr., still consumed by anger.
Lynn Jr., dejected, doesn't react, preferring to watch the ground.
"No problem," the father decrees. "You stay in your room and Lynn Jr. goes to Lori and Leni's room."
"But if she stays in our room, she'll start breaking my trophies, to get back at me," Lynn Jr. claims.
"Are you going to do it, Lucy?" Rita asks, with her fists on the waist.
Lucy doesn't respond, choosing instead to frown as she crosses her arms.
Lynn Sr. decides:
"So Lynn Jr. stays in her room and you, Lucy, go to Lori's room. Any objections?"
Before Lori and Leni can open their mouths, Rita replies:
"No."
"Uh…Okay…" Lori murmurs.
Lynn Jr., in an apron and chef's hat, puts the finishing touches on the black velvet cupcakes.
"And now, some red whipped cream, to get really morbid."
She nibbles on a candy.
"Hmm… On point."
She fills a tray and leaves the kitchen.
"Time for critical evaluation."
She crosses the room and goes up the stairs.
"This will make her feel better."
She heads to Lori and Leni's room.
"Yummy… Just the smell is enchanting."
She sets the tray on the floor and knocks on the door.
"Lucy! Snack time! I made just for you!"
No reply.
Lynn scratches her chin.
Then she smiles and turns her head back.
"Gotcha!"
No, Lucy didn't materialize behind her like she always does with the sisters.
"Hmm... Looks like she doesn't want to scare me."
She knocks again on the door.
"Lucy... If you don't come, I'll eat it all."
Silence.
"Okay, Lucy, I'm coming in."
Lynn opens the door very slowly.
"Earth calling Lucy... Come back to the world of the living right away..."
The room is very tidy.
But Lynn notices a rope made with tied cloths, starting at the leg of Lori's bed and going out through the wide open window.
"LUCY?!"
Lynn, desperate, removes her apron and hat and runs towards the window.
From there, she observes the flowery garden of the house and shouts:
"LUCY! LUCY!"
No Sinal.
"Wanna run away from home?! But I will not allow it!"
With all the doors in the house locked, Lynn starts to climb down the rope from the window.
But Lynn's weight causes the rope to break, causing Lynn to fall...
"AAAAHHH!"
...about Lucy!
BONC!
When Lynn Jr. opens her eyes, she mutters, slightly shocked:
"Lincoln? Where are you, Lincoln? You knocked me out, weren't you? I deserve it. You're awesome."
"Uurrgghh…" Someone grumbles.
"Oh!" Lynn rolls off her sister, getting to her feet. "Get up, Lucy!"
"For what? It's so nice to be your mattress..." The goth girl ironizes, stretched out on the floor.
Lucy is pulled by the hand by Lynn, but lets go of her hand.
"What is it, Lucy? I just want to help you."
"If you want to help me, GET OUT OF MY FRONT!"
"Calm down, Lucy. First of all, why are you dirty with earth? And what flowers are those in your hand? Were you wanting to bury yourself?"
"Don't talk nonsense! If I want to kill myself, I just…"
"Shh! This is a children's cartoon!"
"Whatever! I was taking the best flowers from the garden so I could get away from here!"
"To where?"
"Anywhere away from that hellish family!"
"I could wish the same," Mr. Grouse says, heading to his own house with shopping bags.
"Take care of your life!" Lynn Jr. makes a fist. "This is a private matter!"
"All good! Keep fighting! I don't care!" He assures, as he enters his house.
Lynn Jr. points the finger at Lucy:
"See what you did?! Now, because of you, we are trapped outside our own home! And without smartphone to call our parents!"
Silence.
Suddenly, Lucy starts laughing hysterically:
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
"What are you laughing at, Scaramouch?!" Lynn grinds her teeth.
"I've always said that the universe will one day repay all the evil we do!" Lucy remembers, happy and smiling. "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
"What?"
"Who locked Stinkoln out of the house?! WAS YOU! Who accused him of bad luck?! WAS YOU! Who made him wear a squirrel costume?! WAS YOU! HA HA HA HA HA!"
"Hey, don't start washing your dirty hands! We all unite against him! Including you, Mother Teresa!"
"Doesn't matter! I take my share of blame! But you were the mastermind of all the mess! I guarantee Stinkoln is dying of laughter from Beyond! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
"And stop calling him Stinkoln!" Lynn demands.
"Oh, sure. Only you can call him that," Lucy puts her hand on chin.
"I already stopped calling him that a long time ago!"
"Just because he died, right? If he was still with us, you would still call him Stinkoln and beat him to DEATH! Or am I lying, Lynnsanity?!"
Stunned by Lucy's cynical smile, Lynn lacks the courage to defend herself.
Lucy ignores her sister and continues laughing:
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
"BOOOOHOOOO! BOOOOHOOOO!"
"Huh?"
Lucy stops laughing when she sees Lynn crying uncontrollably!
Not daring to look at Lucy, Lynn Jr. begins to vent:
"When you were born, you were so small and cute! Dad and Mom assigned me early to be your guardian, just like Luna was Lincoln's guardian and Lisa is Lily's guardian! I slept in my bed with you next to me in your crib! Just like Luna slept with Lincoln and Lisa slept with Lily! I was constantly looking and admiring you and swearing to myself that I would never let anyone hurt and mistreat you for any reason whatsoever! I'm done beating and drawing blood from the bullies who made fun of you for liking to wear black and visit funeral homes! Then I understood your love for Pony Princess and accepted your other side! Just now I baked funeral cupcakes to make it up to you, but when I saw it, you had fled through the window... And even after everything, you still disown me and treat me as if I were the worst person you'll ever meet!"
Lynn cries frantically, under Lucy's disarming gaze. The goth girl starts to think that maybe she's gone too far.
Lynn continues:
"But on second thought, you might be right. It's all idiocy. I'm nothing more than a stupid bully who makes up fools nicknames for our family and finds imbecile reasons to get into fights with others. Why did I come up with attacking Fangs? Because I sympathize with Luan's suffering? Absolutely not. I just wanted a good excuse to vent all the anger I've felt since Lincoln left. Anger at the world, anger at people... But above all, anger at me. You said I'd be able to beat Lincoln to death. This is something that never gets out of my head. To this day I find myself thinking that I helped kill Lincoln when I hit him with the football. Of course I saved his life, making him survive another two weeks, but it's like that sports accident symbolizes everything I've done with him in my life. As if the message was 'see, you also collaborated to bury his life.'"
Lucy is nodding her head the whole time, really moved.
Lynn concludes:
"I thought his death taught me something, but no. I continue to beat you and the other sisters and I still am THE WORST SISTER IN THE WORLD!"
Lynn doesn't have the strength to cry anymore.
Lucy hugs her warmly. Or coldly.
Lucy leads Lynn to the front steps of the house.
There the two sit and watch the sky.
"Forgive me for being mad at you," Lucy retracts.
"I deserve it," Lynn acknowledges.
"No, you don't. You're my favorite athlete," Lucy wraps her arms around Lynn's shoulder. "And you've always been a great guardian to me."
"But I always tease and beat you."
"Just like our other sisters. Like me too. There are no saints in our family. We are all defective. Recognize our imperfection helps us forgive and move on. And we must learn from our mistakes so as not to repeat them."
"I know. But it's so hard..."
Lucy holds Lynn's hands:
"I promise I will never do anything with the intention of harming you."
"Me neither," Lynn agrees. "And I will never dare hurt your 'son' Fangs again."
The two sisters smile.
"I love you, Lynn."
"I love you too, Lucy."
They hug each other.
Lucy throws herself on top of Lynn.
"Hey!"
"Take that, Lynnsanity!" Lucy smirks, pinning Lynn to the floor. "Your goth crusher!"
"I thought you had forgiven me, Raven!" Lynn mocks, also smiling.
"Now you are my stinky mattress!"
"As you wish!"
The two follow embraced, with Lucy lying on Lynn.
The goth girl, snuggled in her sister, sing again:
Fangs, most people would turn you away
I don't listen to a word they say
They don't see you as I do
I wish they would try to
I'm sure they'd think again
If they had a son like Fangs
Lucy caresses Lynn's moist eyes:
And a sister like Lynn
Lynn smiles sadly as she kisses Lucy's closed fist.
"How about we visit Lincoln?" Lucy suggests.
"It's not yet 5 pm."
"But they will arrive before. We have to hurry."
"But then it's like we're running away."
"So what? We are already out of the house. We're going to be punished anyway. Let's face this together."
"Well, and why not?"
Each one deposits their flower on Lincoln's tombstone.
"Kiss, brother. Good death to you."
"I hope you're playing soccer a lot. In the heavenly fields."
As they left the cemetery...
"What's up, Wednesday? Have you come to visit your zombie cousins?"
Lynn turns and sees a blonde girl walking away, her back to them.
"Never mind," Lucy dismisses her. "Not worth it."
"But next time, she pays me," Lynn assures.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Oof. And here we are! Did you imagine that one day you would see Lucy having a hysterical fit of laughter, like Arthur Fleck?
Yes, I picture Lynn Jr. as Lucy's guardian, the one who will always be there to protect Lucy, no matter what Lucy does.
Yes, Lucy's dream is a flashback to the infamous episode No Such Luck. And Lincoln trashed her room in Sleuth or Consequences.
The scene of Lucy playing the piano and singing Ben (Michael Jackson in Jackson Five) was inspired by the horror film Ben (1972), which Lucy certainly watched, but shouldn't find very scary.
Perhaps in the next chapter, Lucy goes for a walk with Clyde McBride, Lincoln's best friend, and gains a new perspective on her brother.
See you soon!