Act III

"What do we do? What do we do?!" Lola nervously panicked.

"LYNN!" Ronnie Anne signalled the strong member of the group to react.

As the wall advanced towards them, Lynn leapt into action and began trying to push the wall back. "Oh no, you don't!" she aggressively said to the wall as she positioned herself, planted her feet, and started resisting with all her might.

To everyone's surprise, even Amy's back in the control room, she was actually managing to hold the wall in place.

"Woah!" Lincoln said in awe.

"That's great, Lynn!" Ronnie Anne congratulated her.

"Heh, too easy!" she bragged cockily.

Lola then saw the camera in the corner of the room, faced it, and stuck her tongue out.

But back in the control room, the observing Amy wasn't having it. "So, she's a little powerhouse, huh? Well then, time to start pushing with some extra FORCE!" she said as she pulled a lever on the control desk, which changed the setting from "1 ton" to "2 tons".

Now the wall started pushing with twice as much force, causing Lynn to be forced back a little bit. "Woah!" she said as the increased pressure rate took her by surprise.

But she quickly replanted her feet and began holding the wall back again. With a little bit of visible sweat starting to show on her face, Lynn still felt the need to showboat a little. "Ha, is that all ya got?!" she boasted out loud.

Amy then grumbled angrily before pulling the lever up to its maximum setting, "5 tons".

"GACK!" Lynn cried as she now had to put in her full strength just to barely hold the wall back at this point.

"Lynn!?" Lincoln worryingly cried out to her.

She was struggling… but she was STILL holding the wall back. Amy looked through her monitor in disbelief and shouted in frustration. "What the heck!? How can she possibly push back against FIVE FRIGGIN TONS?! She's inhuman!"

But it was clear to everyone in the room that this resistance wouldn't last much longer. "She can't hold it back for long! We need to think of something!" Lincoln urgently reminded them.

Ronnie Anne then noticed that the hatch on the ceiling wasn't that far from where the advancing wall was now positioned.

"Quick! Everyone make a ladder!" she said as she climbed on top of Lynn's shoulders as the sporty jock stood and held the wall in place.

Lincoln then climbed on top of Ronnie Anne, and finally, Lola climbed to the top of all three of them.

"Lola, the hatch!" Lincoln told her.

Lola was high and close enough to it that she was just about able to reach over and grab it. She pulled the lever of the hatch, which then opened the entrance to the ceiling, and a stair ladder popped out of it. However, Lola reaching over to grab it caused the pile of them to collapse, resulting in herself, Lincoln, and Ronnie Anne all falling to the ground.

"Oof!" Lola cried in pain.

"Everyone, quick!" Lincoln said as he climbed the ladder and made his way through the entrance hole in the ceiling. Ronnie Anne and Lola then followed him.

"Lynn!" Lincoln then called out to his sister.

"Ungh! I can't hold on much longer!" she said as her entire body was now trembling against the pressure of the wall. "Go, save yourselves! I'll be okay!" she told them.

"She's right! It's too late to get her out now!" Ronnie Anne said.

Finally, Lynn was unable to hold back the wall any longer, and it quickly pushed her back, also smashing its way through the ladder in the process.

The wall stopped advancing just as it reached the big pile of dirty diapers, pushing Lynn into them and smothering her with the rotten stench.

"ARGH!" she screamed as she collided with the soiled infant underwear.

"Ugh!" she then cried in disgust as the diapers surrounded her in the remaining cramped up space of the room.

But Lynn had proudly and courageously held back the wall long enough to allow the others to escape to the next floor of the house, giving them a chance to make it out unscathed.

Back in the bathroom, Rusty updated Luan on what he was hearing…

"So Lynn fell too, huh? That's not good for their chances." Luan reacted to Rusty's latest update.

"Yeah, but I still bet Lincoln and Ronnie Anne can pull through." Rusty confidently claimed. "So, this Amy chick, is she hot?" he then asked her.

"Erm… she's 15 and you're 12. Wouldn't that be a little weird?" Luan responded.

"Eh, I guess that's true. I didn't think." he awkwardly admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "So, she must have done her research on us before trapping us here. I mean, that must be why she trapped me to this chain against the wall. Because she knew otherwise, she'd have to deal with the sheer awesomeness of the Rust-Man!" he then cockily bragged.

"Yeah, sure, that must have been it." Luan sarcastically pretended to agree. "Now keep listening to the communicator, I want you to tell me what's going on." she instructed him.

The other three were now on the floor above. They had narrowly escaped a very disgusting fate, but they weren't out of danger yet. They turned around and saw another key on the ground, right next to an arrow that was painted on the floorboards telling them to enter the doorway on the left.

"Okay, hopefully there aren't too many more of these challenges now." Lincoln said as he picked up the key and opened the door to the left.

Once he opened it, he saw another door on the other side of the room. One that said, "Exit this way". There was just one problem…

…in the middle of the room was something, or rather someone, blocking their path. It was none other than Crikey the Kangaroo.

Wearing his signature boxing gloves and sporting his usual energetic and aggressive facial expression, he began shadowboxing and kicking the air, putting off the remaining trio of kids from trying to get past him.

"Dang it! Where's Lynn when you need her?" Lincoln rhetorically said out loud, regretting the fact that they had to just leave her to get smothered in a mountain of diapers downstairs.

Lincoln briefly spoke to his friend. "Hey, Rusty. You'll be pretty glad you stayed in the bathroom right now."

"Why?"

"We've just run into your best buddy, Crikey the Kangaroo."

Rusty then shuddered in discomfort as he remembered all the beatings he received at the hands of that aggressive kangaroo. He then asked, "What's he doing in this place?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure not going anywhere near him."

Overhearing what he said, Ronnie Anne then replied, "Well I'M not going near that thing, either!"

"Well, what then?" Lincoln asked her before the two pre-teens looked down at Lola.

"Um, why are you guys looking at me like that? I'm sure not waltzing in there just to get kicked in the face!" Lola argued.

Lincoln then adopted a very cheerful and complimentary visual demeanour as he tried to butter up his little sister. "Lola, you're the most charming and lovable person we know…"

"Well, duh." Lola agreed. "But I'm still not going in there."

"Come on, Lola. Everyone knows you're such a great people person." Lincoln tried to encourage her.

"That's a kangaroo!" Lola argued.

"Kangaroos are people, too." Ronnie Anne claimed.

"Pfft, whatever." Lola dismissed.

"Come on, Lola. You're great with animals." Lincoln said.

Lola adopted a sceptical look on her face and replied, "Erm, I think you're confusing me for the other twin!"

"Lincoln, she's right. If she doesn't want to go in there, we can't make her." Ronnie Anne said in defence of the youngest one in the group.

"Finally, thank you!" Lola said in frustration.

But then, as she stood directly behind the little pageant girl, Ronnie Anne quite literally kicked Lola in the butt and sent her flying forward in the room, right next to where Crikey was standing.

"HEY!" she angrily shouted at Ronnie Anne.

"Oopsie." she sarcastically replied.

Lola then turned around and stared upward at the incredibly angry and hostile-looking Crikey, who appeared even more intimidating up close. She tried to maintain a confident and composed exterior and boldly told him, "Hey, tall, dark, and taily. I'm just passing by, so if you'll excuse…"

But as she was about to finish her sentence…

*WHAM*

"ARGH!"

Crikey kicked Lola in the face and sent her flying back into the wall.

Lincoln winced before asking his sister, "Lola, are you okay?"

It was at that moment that Lola reopened her eyes. They were now flaming with rage. She was livid as her teeth looked razor sharp and her body looked ready to explode.

Of course, Lincoln was quite familiar with the fact that Lola's strength increased with her anger level, so this might actually play to their advantage.

"RARRRGGGHHHH!" she then roared in tremendous anger before lunging right back at Crikey, and the two engaged in a furious fight cloud.

"Wow!" Ronnie Anne said in response to the intense fight taking place in front of her.

"Okay, now's our chance while he's distracted!" Lincoln said as he and Ronnie Anne ran around the edge of the room, avoiding the hectic brawl going on in its centre.

They quickly made it to the other side and opened the door, only to find another tape behind it, which Lincoln picked up.

"What about Lola?" Ronnie Anne then asked him, as they were free to continue, but Lola was still stuck in the middle of the room fighting with Crikey.

"Do you really want to get in the middle of that?" Lincoln sarcastically said to her.

"Good point." Ronnie Anne agreed.

"Besides, Lola can take care of herself." Lincoln insisted.

Just then, the two of them heard an audible biting sound coming from inside the fight cloud.

*CHOMP*

"Oh, that's gonna leave a mark on him." Ronnie Anne said.

"Yeah, Lola's a biter, alright." Lincoln replied.

Lincoln then walked out into the hallway as he put the tape in and played the next message.

"Congratulations. If you have found this tape, you are so close, the end is in sight. Just remember that balance is the key. Also, don't forget to look for irregular elements in your environment. These are the clues that will help you prevail today as you face the final game."

"Well, what does all that mean?" Lincoln asked.

"I don't know. But it said to look for anything irregular, anything out of the ordinary." Ronnie Anne recalled as the two looked around the hallway.

But the surroundings looked the same as almost everywhere else in the house. Dark, grotty, run down and unmaintained, creepy… though one thing they noticed is that the pathway they were meant to be taking was not as linear or clearly defined on this floor. There were many doors, but none marked with a number or a hint of any kind.

"So, where do we go now?" Lincoln asked as he continued to observe his surroundings.

Just then, Ronnie Anne spotted a particular door, one that looked a little different from the others. It was made of a shiny silver metal, and it stuck out aesthetically like a sore thumb compared to everything else on that floor.

"I'm guessing this way." she said.

Lincoln then opened the door only to see a large control room, with monitors showing all the different rooms of the building and various different angles of the hallways, explaining the source of all the cameras they had seen everywhere in the building. There was also a large control desk beneath them with a series of buttons and levers. But in front of all that was a large spinning chair on wheels, no doubt where the prank master was sitting and observing all the games.

"The jig is up!" Lincoln pointed at them and spoke.

"Yeah!" Ronnie Anne followed.

Amy then twisted the chair around to face them. "Sorry, guys. I've got one more trick up my sleeve." she said sinisterly, before spinning back around and pressing a button on the control desk, which caused the desk to move, revealing a trap door exit underneath.

"See ya!" Amy said as she jumped down the trap door.

"Oh no you don't!" Lincoln said as he and Ronnie Anne angrily charged in pursuit of their captor and followed her down the trap door.

They travelled down a small chute that sent them back downstairs.

"Come on, she went this way!" Ronnie Anne said as she and Lincoln continued chasing Amy.

As they ran down the hallway, Lincoln pointed something out to Ronnie Anne. "You know, basing herself in the same house where all the victims were playing her games was a pretty dumb move. If she's this big pranking mastermind, I don't know why she did that!"

Just then, Ronnie Anne spotted what appeared to be Amy's shadow in the distance, just by the end corner of the hallway.

"There she is! Get her!" she pointed and shouted.

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne then ran to the end of the hallway and saw a door had been left open. Assuming Amy had just run through it, they walked into the room.

However, now that they had entered the room, they couldn't see Amy, only a big, gaping bottomless pit in front of them, and a narrow plank of wood in place that was their only way of getting over the pit to the other side of the room.

Lincoln thought of turning back, but at that moment, Amy appeared from the other side of the doorway and shut them in, before quickly pulling a key from out of her cloak pocket and locking the door.

"No! Grugh! Darn it!" Lincoln cursed as he instinctively tried to reopen the door, but to no avail. It appeared Amy had outwitted them, and now the only way they could go was forward.

"The tape said that balance is the key. I guess this is what it meant. This is the last game." Ronnie Anne recalled as she stared at the challenge ahead of them.

Suddenly, Rusty spoke to Lincoln through the communicator. "Lincoln, I heard a lot of struggling. Is everything okay?"

"No, Rusty! Luan was right, it was Amy! She's the prankster! We found her and chased after her, but now she's trapped us in this room with no way out! The only way to go is forward over a bottomless pit with a plank of wood."

Back in the bathroom, Luan asked Rusty, "What is he saying?"

"He says you were right. It WAS Amy. But now she's trapped Lincoln and Ronnie Anne in another room and got away."

Knowing they had no choice but to proceed with the final challenge, Ronnie Anne led the way. Lincoln did his best to hold the plank of wood in place from his end, providing Ronnie Anne with some stability as she carefully balanced herself and slowly strolled her way across the plank, over the pit of utter blackness beneath her.

"YES!" she triumphantly fist-pumped the air once she reached the other side.

"Way to go, Ronnie Anne!" Lincoln said. He then followed with a "Wish me luck." to Rusty.

"Go for it, man!" he egged him on.

Lincoln then pocketed the device and slowly started walking over the plank as Ronnie Anne held it in place from her end.

Back in the bathroom, Rusty appeared nervous as he awaited a message of confirmation from his friend.

Just then, the door opened, and Amy herself entered.

"YOU?!" Rusty angrily shouted at her. "So you're this Amy I've heard so much about?! You've got a lot of nerve coming in here!"

But Amy didn't answer him. She just pulled a small device out of her pocket.

"What's that?" Rusty worryingly asked.

Lincoln was about halfway across when he started to feel more confident. He then looked at Ronnie Anne, who was staring back at him with a stern, determined look on her face.

However, her facial expression suddenly transformed into a devious, sinister grin.

"Heh, heh…"

Lincoln then started to worry as he saw his friend stare back at him with such a devilish look.

And then, he suddenly felt the plank fall from underneath his feet…

"It's a powerful taser. It will shock you enough to make you pass out." Amy answered Rusty.

"But why?!"

"Your friends have failed the games."

"Not all of them! Lincoln and Ronnie Anne might still make it!" Rusty insisted.

Just then, a loud but muffled scream of terror could be heard coming from Rusty's device.

"ARRGGGHHHH!"

"Lincoln?!" Rusty cried in fear for his friend.

"Well, sounds like he failed, too." Amy said as she prepared to zap Rusty with her taser.

Lincoln landed in a body of dirty water. He spat some of it out in disgust before looking around. He realised that the bottomless pit had sent him plummeting down into an underground sewer.

"Ugh! Gross!" he moaned to himself out loud. "What the heck just happened?!"

"Please, don't! No!" Rusty begged Amy back in the bathroom.

She appeared slightly sympathetic, but Rusty's pleas for mercy were unable to change her mind. She slowly walked over to him and calmly replied, "Sorry, kid. Those are the rules."

"Wait! At least tell me why you've done this! Was it really all just out of jealousy?" Rusty pleaded to know.

"Sorry, I can't say."

"Why not?!"

"Like I said, those are the rules." she coldly repeated, before lunging forward to strike Rusty with her taser.

But right there, she had made a critical mistake. By approaching Rusty, she was now close enough that he was able to reach over and grab her by the collar. He then pulled her to the ground and the two engaged in a brief fight cloud.

Luan watched on in suspense, surprised that Rusty was able to hold his own as well as he did against the older teen.

But Amy quickly managed to overpower Rusty and then tried to shove her taser directly in his face. However, Rusty grabbed her hands with his and tried to pull the taser away. The two kids wrestled for control of the taser, with all four of their hands trying to grip and guide the weapon in every direction but toward their faces.

Finally, with one short but surprising burst of strength and desperation, Rusty was able to direct the taser towards Amy's shoulder, and then pressed the button to activate it.

"ARGH!"

Amy's shoulder was struck by the taser, causing a violent electric shock to travel through her body, causing her to collapse to the ground, having passed out.

"I did it!" he cried out in shock and relief, before trying to regain a more cocky and confident demeanour. "I mean, of course I did it. No one messes with the Rust Man!" he then boasted.

Rusty then began to search her cloak and jean pockets, believing he might find a key or something useful in the master prankster's clothing.

Luan looked on as the surprisingly triumphant Rusty searched for anything of use, her expression becoming increasingly stern and devilish as he did.

And sure enough, after rummaging around for a few seconds, he found something… though it wasn't a key.

It was a small cassette player, with a tape loaded inside it, just like the one Lincoln had been carrying.

Shocked and confused, Rusty's extreme sense of curiosity at that moment compelled him to begin playing the tape.

Just like with the ones the gang had been listening to, it featured that same sinister and chilling deep voice…

"Hello, Amy. I want to play a game. You know who I am and what I'm capable of. Will you help me trap several other kids into my game to spare yourself from the wrath of my pranks?"

And as Rusty listened to the message, many thoughts began to enter his mind. He now knew that Amy wasn't the true culprit. She was just another pawn in the plan of the master prankster, whose identity was now becoming all too clear as he recalled all the details and hints that pointed to one certain conclusion…

He remembered Luan telling him "When it comes to pranks and schemes, the answers are usually staring you in the face" earlier, while she was staring directly at him.

He recollected Lincoln saying "It looks like whoever put us here likes to watch their own twisted little games play out". And sure enough, Luan had been there with him in the bathroom, seeing or overhearing all the events play out as they happened.

He remembered Luan saying "If only I gave him the nerve disabler ray that I borrowed from Lisa", which was then followed up with "Using that thing on too high a setting could probably knock somebody out cold."

This then triggered a memory where he recalled being struck with something by surprise and falling unconscious, which was the last thing he could remember happening to him before he woke up in the bathroom. No doubt, the nerve disabler ray was used on its maximum setting to capture him and the others and trap them in the house in the first place.

He then heard the next part of the message on the tape. "Listen carefully if you are, these are the rules…" With this sentence, the deep voice faded out and what faded in its place was that of a more familiar feminine voice. The voice of Luan herself. He then paused the tape as this information was enough to help him fully understand the truth.

He then remembered his conversation with Amy a mere moment ago, where she told him, "Sorry, I can't say" and "Like I said, those are the rules."

As he was realising all this, Luan was reaching inside her ponytail and pulling out a small laser pointer, which she used to cut through the dried glue, revealing that she wasn't trapped all along, just hanging around and observing her master prank unfold.

She then leapt down to the ground as Rusty slowly turned to face her with a facial expression that could only be described as a hybrid of fear, shock, and disbelief. He was completely taken aback by what he had just found out. The girl that had been with him in the bathroom the whole time was the one responsible for everything he and the others had been put through. He was so shocked that he couldn't even utter a single word.

Luan just looked down at him with the most devious and sinister of expressions. She had played everyone. She had managed to convince everyone that the most obvious suspect wasn't really the culprit and that it was someone else… only to have fooled them all along.

She walked past Rusty with a mischievous grin. "So, you found me out? I'm impressed. I didn't expect you to pull that off. Not that it matters now, the test is complete."

Finally, Rusty spoke. "But, but… how?" he was just about able to say.

"She had help." Suddenly spoke another familiar voice.

Rusty turned around to see Ronnie Anne, who had just re-entered the room. Also sporting a sinister look on her face, she approached the very proud-looking Luan.

Rusty then remembered a few other details from earlier that day. He remembered Ronnie Anne saying "I'm still working on graduating from your advanced diploma course" and Luan replying "You're closer to it than you think."

He then also remembered the first tape the group listened to earlier. One thing that it said was "Consider this game a test of sorts I am conducting." Now it was clear that the true test was for Ronnie Anne.

He also figured out that the reason Ronnie Anne was able to ace the tickle challenge so easily was that Luan must have used Lisa's nerve disabler ray on a mild setting with her just before the games started, giving her the advantage. He remembered Lincoln's remark, "Wow, you made that look so easy!"

"Ronnie Anne, you passed." Luan then declared. "You're a true prank master. You played your role so perfectly today."

"I learned from the best." Ronnie Anne said. "It's a pity we couldn't let Benny in on this." she then mentioned.

"True. I love Benny Boy, but he's a rookie. He would've screwed this up." Luan reflected. "Still, he's smart. He was the first one to suspect Amy. Maybe we can use this as a learning experience for him."

"Wait!" Rusty then loudly objected. "If all this was a big prank, then tell me something! Why was I the only one chained up?"

"Because you were the most expendable and I wanted someone in here to update me on everything going on." Luan explained.

"Well, looks like our work is done. I just have one prank left." Ronnie Anne then said.

"Oh, right. We wouldn't want to leave the little 'Rust Man' out, now would we?" Luan replied as both girls then looked at the helpless boy as he was still chained to the wall.

Rusty could only stand there and gulp in fear.

"Once we've freed the others, we'll come back and let him out, after the stench has gone away." Ronnie Anne said as she then pulled a small stink bomb out of her hoodie pocket.

"Oh, a classic. Simple but effective." Luan commented on her choice of prank.

Ronnie Anne then threw the stink bomb in the middle of the room, where it exploded and slowly released a very smelly gas into the air.

Rusty then looked at the two girls one last time as they walked out of the room and Luan got ready to close the door. Before she did, she spoke two final words…

"GAME OVER."

She then shut the door, leaving Rusty in the bathroom as he began to cough and splutter as a result of inhaling the disgusting fumes released by Ronnie Anne's stink bomb.

"Ugh! That is rank!" he muttered out loud to himself, as he and the unconscious Amy were now the only two left in the room.

Author's Footnote:

Ah, the power of misdirection in writing can be an effective thing if applied properly. In any normal circumstance, Luan and Ronnie Anne would be the obvious suspects, but the way in which the story is structured and how details are hinted at can significantly affect a reader's perception of things. The story basically delivers a double twist, if you like.

I hope you all appreciated the efficient use of setup and payoff in this narrative (or as some more pretentious individuals like to refer to it… Chekhov's Gun XD). There were so many little instances, exchanges of dialogue, and other minor details that pointed to the conclusion of the narrative, and I just knew as soon as I started writing this story that I would have the payoff be delivered in the exact same way the first SAW movie (which obviously inspired this story to some extent) delivered the climactic "Hello, Zepp" twist scene. I really went out of my way to write a tightly woven, intricately detailed, and efficiently structured story that would make this whole plot concept play out in the way it did.

Some of you may have also noticed how Ronnie Anne's actions in the story subtly hinted at her being in on the scheme against the others. She teamed up with Lynn and Lola to toss Chandler in the room with the beehive. She allowed one of the others (Benny) to fail the tickle trap before volunteering to beat it herself. She prompted Lynn to hold back the wall and then left her to fall victim to the trap in the third prank, she kicked Lola into Crikey and provoked a confrontation between them, and then she finally revealed herself as the accomplice to the mastermind when she turned on Lincoln in the final game. Yet another piece of setup and payoff that I crafted into the narrative.

Additionally, I thought it would be a good idea to include a mix of both Loud siblings and other side characters. A common complaint launched at the modern era of the series is that balance of character focus is an issue, and many argue there are too many episodes focusing on side characters and excluding the titular family. But my solution to that is to include stories where there is a mix of both side characters and Louds. Then you can have the best of both worlds. And for those who say it's too hard to consistently do that, juggling so many different collectives of characters… do my stories, such as this one, prove that it is not only possible, but perhaps easier than many believe?

I also utilised the plot concept to inject a good amount of humour into the story. Obviously, there are all the gags derived from the prank traps themselves, but I also tried to balance this out with having all these colourful characters have their personalities work off each other in the dialogue-driven scenes. Having a blend of different kinds of comedy is always a good thing if you can pull it off.

I have studied this series for years and I have learned from all the best and worst recurring aspects of the series, from all its different eras, and I believe stories like this one, with the way they are written, structured, and executed, are the show's essential formula for maximum quality output… finally perfected.

Hell, I'd even argue I've managed to avoid the criticisms many episodes get for being "Too Mean-Spirited" here. I mean, yeah, there is some malice in the story, given that the scenario revolves around one big prank scheme, but even then, they're mostly harmless. No one really gets that physically hurt in this story, except maybe Chandler due to the bee stings and the trap door (but hey, that's why I put Chandler in that trap, because he's a jerk who kinda deserves it XD). Benny, Lynn, Lincoln, and Rusty only really got dealt with mildly disgusting or discomforting fates, but nothing that would seriously harm or traumatise them (just to make sure I keep THOSE kinds of idiot fans off my backs). And with Lola and Crikey, well, I kind of left it open how that whole skirmish ended, so you can decide for yourself what happened in the end there. And it's not like this story takes Ronnie Anne or Luan out of character, as they've always had a mischevious pranking side since day one, and like I said, it's not like any of the pranks in this story were overly harsh or painful in any way. In fact, compared to some of the pranks featured in the official April Fools episodes, some of these really aren't that bad. Luan and Ronnie Anne aren't evil... they just ain't saints, easier. XD

Malicious humour can work in this show, or in any show for that matter, but it must be executed in a certain way, unlike some episodes from the earlier seasons which just did it badly. It just comes down to how it's pulled off. The same logic can be applied to toilet humour, which this story also contains. I think I did a pretty good job implementing that here, too.

So yeah. I aimed to create a story with an efficient structure, a great capitalisation of setup and payoff, a high level of excitement and suspense, a good and interesting ensemble of different characters whose personalities can work off each other really well, and some great comedy throughout, with a stunning twist/payoff at the end. I hope the consensus is that I've achieved this end, as that was the intention of writing "House of Fun".

I want you all to see what I'm really capable of. I'm capable of writing stories that feel just like the best episodes of the show. The whole point of what I do is to make stories that feel like they genuinely could be canon (because ultimately, that's what I want them to become), utilising all the greatest strengths of the show's greatest episodes… while not featuring any of the show's most significant flaws. That is the purpose of the B-Canon timeline. I want to show you all just what level of a writer I truly am. People always assume I'm not as good as all the professional writers out there. I say to that… what can I do to prove otherwise?

Anyway, that's a subject to dive deeper into another time. For now, I will be resuming focus on v2 of "The Loud's Finest Hour" pretty shortly. I now know what I'll be doing there. In the meantime, let me know your overall thoughts on this story. And please understand, I just want what's best for this franchise. I always have.