Lynn would often spar with the likes of the other young teens under her mentor's wing. He intended to make them all stronger and tougher, after all. He paired Lynn against a boy of similar size and weight... though strength was another matter.

This was a Lynn Loud who was already insanely athletic and strong, and now also had an inner rage she needed to let out. She quickly took her opponent to the ground and began manhandling him. She soon got him in the camel clutch position, wrenching his neck back so strongly that he was forced to tap out.

"Done!" the man said before helping Lynn back to her feet, raising her hand, and shouting "Winner!"

Completely absorbed in the thrill of the moment and amid an intense adrenaline rush, Lynn acted almost like a primal beast for a moment, roaring loudly and pounding her chest as if she were a gorilla... not too dissimilar from how she would later act during snow 'packing days'.

"See, what did I tell you? You have all the makings of a true champion... and I'm not talking about some dumb sports champion, either. I mean you have the potential to be a real winner at life, someone who doesn't take it from anybody." her mentor then praised her.

After a moment of relishing in her victory, Lynn's adrenaline rush started to wear off, and she realized what she had just done. There was a young boy, beaten up and bruised on the floor, because of her. And yet... she liked the feeling. She couldn't help it. She enjoyed the experience of beating another person into submission and proving herself dominant. It made her feel... safer.

And yet, there was this niggling feeling in the back of her mind... something telling her that something was wrong, though she did her best to suppress it.

The Loud's Finest Hour

Chapter Three: A Fearful Warning

Liam Hunnicutt was preparing for an average afternoon's work on his family's farm. He was in the barn, whistling away to himself, preparing for his next duty of the day, milking the cows. However, this had to wait, as he heard a screeching sound coming from outside.

"Huh? What could that be?" he said to himself as he went outside to look.

A large black van had pulled up out in the middle of the farm, about 200 yards away from where the young farm boy stood. Liam hid behind the door of the barn and stealthily peeked around to see what was going on. He noticed there was also another small vehicle parked right beside it.

He saw a large group of people step out of the van, some of which he could recognise. Chandler, Hank, Hawk, and the bus bullies were among them. There were also some adults there that he wasn't familiar with. However, there was one familiar figure that he could distinguish despite the distance between them. The familiar white hair he could not mistake...

"Lincoln?"

Lincoln's head sack was removed though he was still tied up. He was forced down to his knees as all his enemies surrounded him on the seemingly empty farmland. They had dragged him far out into the outer edges of Royal Woods where it was far less likely anyone would see or intervene. They also took his phone and destroyed it, just as an extra precaution. After a brief moment of viewing his surroundings and trying to understand the severity of the situation he was in, Lincoln courageously spoke up.

"Why are we out here?!" he asked, still confused and unnerved by what was happening.

"We just took you out here for a little talk... somewhere secluded, somewhere that nobody will see or find us." Doctor Linnaeus said.

Lincoln looked around at all his adversaries who had gathered together in a plot to bring him down. "Wow, all of you working together? How is that even possible?" he asked aloud.

"We may have our differences..." Jeff began to speak.

"...but the one thing that brought us together..." Carly followed.

"...was our mutual hatred for you!" Ryan finished.

"And those bratty sisters of yours, too!" Morag added.

"Your whole family is gonna pay for what you did to us!" Bosley the Bulldog aggressively threatened.

"Oh, and while we're here, I guess we should say..." Jeff then said as he suddenly put on his Joey McGill disguise, "Thanks for all the information about you and your stupid sisters, it sure came in handy."

"Ugh! I should've known!" Lincoln said in response.

"Honestly, with the sheer number of enemies your family has made over the years, an alliance like this was inevitable sooner or later. It just took someone with intelligence, vision, and strategic brilliance to point it out to all my friends here." Dr Linnaeus then bragged.

"Oh, and I take it that's you?!" Lincoln snarked.

Linnaeus scoffed before replying "While I'd love to take credit for all this, I'm afraid I cannot. Another was responsible for bringing us all together, and sure enough, he's ready to join us now."

A tall, muscular young man then stepped out of the car. He was wearing casual exercise wear. Tracksuit pants coupled with a grey vest that showed off his lean, muscular physique. He was around six feet in height and with dark brunette hair. He appeared to be somewhere in his twenties, age-wise. But the thing Lincoln was most concerned with was his ice-cold, stern, slightly aggressive stare that he was directing down at him.

"So, you're this annoying brat Lincoln Loud that I've heard so much about?" the man looked at the boy and questioned.

"That's me!" Lincoln bravely answered back.

"You don't look like anything to be concerned with. Then again, I guess looks aren't everything. All my associates here have informed me that you and your family are an exceptionally resourceful if annoying bunch. According to the doctor here, you're an even bigger obstacle to me than the likes of three gods. If enough people claim that you are a threat to be taken seriously, then I guess I should take note of their advice."

"What do you want, anyway?!" Lincoln angrily questioned. "Why drag me all the way out here?!"

The man maintained a stoic and composed exterior as he listened to Lincoln and then provided a response. "I just want you and your family out of the way. I have big plans for Royal Woods, and the rest of the world for that matter, and I don't need your meddling family interfering with me."

"We don't even know you! Why would we interfere when I don't even know your name?!" Lincoln pointed out.

"I've gone by a few names over the years, but for the sake of simplicity, you can refer to me as Lord Viribus." the man stated.

"Lord Viribus? What kind of dumb name is that?!" Lincoln asked.

"It's a name I chose, it means 'strength' in Latin." Viribus casually explained, before altering his outward demeanour slightly so that a tiny hint of compressed anger could be felt through his otherwise collected front. "And it's a name you and others will learn to fear in good time... Anyway, all you need to consider is the fact that you and your family have been identified as a threat to me, and I have the means available to 'dispose' of you all."

Lincoln immediately caught on to what he meant by that. An intense expression of defensive rage began to surface from the boy as he could tell Viribus and his band of adversaries posed a very real danger to the people he loved most.

"You listen to me, Viribus! Actually, this goes for all of you!" he began to raise his voice. "I'm assuming you watched the footage the Millers took of me and my family for whatever scheme you're cooking, and let me make one thing perfectly clear..." he continued. "I meant every word I said! There isn't a dang thing I wouldn't do for my sisters! If I have to take on every single one of you lowly thugs and criminals to protect them... then I will!" he said with a powerful and aggressive vocal tone.

His enemies, and even Viribus himself, appeared to take his threat seriously. Despite being a lone pre-teen boy, restrained, and out in the middle of a farm surrounded by a group of very dangerous individuals... his words still held weight when the intention behind them was so pure and powerful. Viribus gazed down into the boys' eyes, and he could tell... Lincoln truly meant every word. He would go to any lengths to protect his loved ones. For the first time, he began to understand exactly what his new allies had been telling him about this child.

"Maybe there is some truth to what I've been told. Maybe you really are every bit the threat that I've been informed you are." Viribus replied. "You certainly have determination on your side, I'll give you that much. Maybe you have the resourcefulness to back it up, I don't know."

"Lincoln Lame? Ha, are you guys serious? You think he's some big hero or something?" Chandler loudly mocked the white-haired boy, though this only earned him disapproving frowns from the others standing around him.

"Such spirit deserves recognition, and as such, I'm feeling generous. I'm willing to make you a one-time offer, Lincoln Loud." Viribus then stated, to the surprise of not only Lincoln himself, but also everyone else present.

"Wait? What are you..." Morag tried to question, but all Viribus had to do was raise his hand and signal her to cease speaking.

"If what you say is true, and you really would do anything to protect your family, then you should accept the terms I put forward." Viribus then spoke, as Lincoln continued to look up at him sternly. "Take your family and leave town. Get them far away from here, and allow me and my associates to carry out our plans. Do this, and there will be no reason for us to come after them."

"And if we don't leave?!" Lincoln daringly questioned back.

A slightly surprised Viribus simply responded, "What did you say?"

"I asked what you and your little cronies here would do about it if I don't take my family and get out of town! What are you going to do about it!?" Lincoln then boldly challenged him. "If you had the guts to kill me and be done with it, then I'd already be dead... but you can't bring yourself to do it." he then said as a small smile grew on his face. "That's it, isn't it? You can't do it, because if you do, you fear what my family would do in retaliation. Am I right?" he cockily asked the villains.

"He has a big mouth!" Hank angrily said to Hawk.

"He just doesn't know when to keep it shut!" Joyce Crandall said aloud.

Once again, Viribus simply raised his hand as a signal to tell them to stop talking, so he could continue issuing his threat. "I admit your family provides a complication that I would rather have out of the way. That is why I am making this offer. Don't be a brave fool, Lincoln Loud. Take advantage of the chance I am giving you, the chance to save their lives." he sinisterly told him. "I am sure we could deal with your sisters if we had to, but we would rather take you all out of the equation entirely. So, do the right thing by them and leave Royal Woods. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?!" Lincoln asked.

Viribus then leaned slightly forward towards Lincoln and looked him right in his eyes, shooting intimidation into his soul as he did so. "If you try to interfere with our plan, then this all becomes a lot more simple, boy." he warned him as Lincoln tried to maintain a courageous and fierce expression on his face. "I will kill your mother. I will kill your father. I will kill each and every one of your sisters, one by one." he said quietly but with an underlying tone of anger and aggression, which was enough to make Lincoln's brave appearance crumble as fear visibly began to show on his face.

Viribus then almost whispered the last sentence, just for emphasis. "I will kill your infant sister."

This last part unnerved some of the less outright villainous as well as younger members of the alliance, as their reactions positively radiated the thought "What have we got ourselves into here?!" Meanwhile, some of the more actively malicious ones like Morag and the Millers still wondered why they didn't just kidnap and slaughter the entire family when they had the chance. As such, the words of the master were generating a lot of controversy amongst his followers.

After sending a powerful and terrifying message to the lone boy, still helplessly on his knees and at their mercy, Viribus walked away and let his associates conclude their business.

"Well, you heard him, Loud. It's your choice! If you try to stop us, your family is history!" Dr Linnaeus said sternly. "So, I suggest you do as he says. Goodbye for now." she then said ever so affably to the boy, as if she and her leader had not just kidnapped him and threatened the lives of everyone he held most dear.

"What? We're just gonna leave him here?!" Anderson asked.

"I advise you all do exactly as Viribus instructs. Now let's go." Linnaeus bluntly replied.

The villains then made their way back inside the van as Viribus drove away in his own vehicle. The van then followed behind him as the alliance left Lincoln alone on the farm.

Finally sensing that he could safely approach his friend, Liam made his way from the barn over towards the boy...

"Lincoln, what the heck was all that about?!"

But Lincoln didn't respond to his classmate's question. He was still too stunned and shocked after being threatened with such intensity by Viribus and the other villains.

"I don't know how a boy like you can make so many enemies this early in his life, but..." Liam then went to say as he untied him, but was stopped when Lincoln finally decided to speak up.

"I have to get out of town!"

"Huh?" a surprised Liam reacted.

"I have to get myself and my family out of Royal Woods! Otherwise, those monsters are going to kill us!"

"What?! Why?!" Liam asked.

"Look, if you don't mind, I need a ride back to my house, fast! In the meantime, call my parents and tell them where I am, since they destroyed my phone. We were all at Dairyland when I got captured. They must think I'm lost, they're probably worried sick!" Lincoln explained.

"Sure."

But just before Liam could run off to the house, Lincoln grabbed his hand. "And one more thing... tell them they have to get ready to leave!"

Back in the van, the villains stood in the back part while Doctor Linnaeus sat in the passenger seat up front, with her suited goon in the driver's seat. Her new allies were a little confused about the whole plan at that point in its execution...

"So doc, why did we just let him go?" Jeff asked.

"Yes, exactly! We should have just offed him right there and then! It would have been so easy!" Morag insisted to the slight discomfort of some of the other less lethal-minded members of the group.

"And then have to deal with twelve enraged and vengeful members of the Loud family? We all know that's not the brightest of ideas. Viribus knows what he is doing." Linnaeus responded.

"And another thing! We actually had the chance to capture all of them at Dairyland!" Vic pointed out.

"Yeah, but we just settled for the boy! Why?!" Guy asked.

Linnaeus then poked her head around through the small face-sized hole to the back part of the van and said, "Are you all serious?! You just barely managed to snatch the boy and get out of the park in one piece, you never would've captured them all and made it out of there without getting caught! Fortunately, Viribus and I devised a superior strategy, allowing your jobs to become a lot easier. You should be thankful."

"But I thought the whole point of this was for us to bring them down once and for all?" Joyce asked. "So why aren't we? All we did back there was tell the kid to back off!"

"We will exact our vengeance on them... but we'll do it in the right place, and at the right time." Linnaeus deviously expressed.

"What do you mean by that?" Carly questioned.

"Yeah, doc! Start spilling the beans!" Jeff said. "It's like you don't even trust any of us with the important details!"

"It's fine, don't get your panties in a twist." Babs told them.

"Oh, and what makes you so sure?" Jeff said back.

"Because Subject 927 has taken measures to ensure our victory. Our intention here was never to capture or exterminate the boy and provoke aggressive retaliation from his family. It was to strike fear into his mind so he would go home and convince his family to do exactly what we want them to." Linnaeus explained.

"Yes, now that we've planted the seeds, the runt will return home and do the hard part for us." ALT-Albert claimed.

"What are you guys even talking about?!" Guy rudely questioned.

"Yeah, you're starting to annoy me now!" Bosley said.

"Just shut your cake holes and know this! I've done my job, so that means Lincoln Loud will now go back to his house, scared out of his socks, and lure his own family right into our trap!" Babs told them.

Liam and his mee maw returned Lincoln home to his family. He stepped out of the vehicle before saying "Goodbye, Liam. Thanks for bringing me back, Liam's mee maw."

"Think nothing of it." she told him.

"Lincoln, you still haven't really told us who those people were." Liam said.

"Let's just say there are a lot of people angry with me and my family. We're all in danger! That's why I have to get them out of here!" he said as he ran back inside.

Liam then sat there outside Lincoln's home for a moment and pondered to himself as he heard Lincoln walk inside, only to be immediately greeted by his elated twin sisters. "OH, LINCOLN, LINCOLN, LINCOLN! WE WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" he heard them shout. His grandmother then finally drove away as he continued to fear for the well-being of his friend.

Lincoln quickly gathered everyone in the living room as he had to tell them all as soon as possible what kind of danger they were facing. Of course, it was all a lot to take in, and hard for some of them to even believe. Besides, the Loud family wasn't known for backing down...

"Woah woah woah. Slow down, bro! Why the heck do we need to get out of Royal Woods?!" Lynn argued.

"Yeah, dude! There's no way we're giving up without a fight!" Luna said. "That's what we told your friend Liam when he called us, and that's what we're saying now!"

"Yeah, they kidnap you and now you want us to just run away and hide?!" said Lola.

"Forget that!" Lana followed.

"That's right! Whatever happened to Loud's never quit?" Luan asked.

This then prompted the entire sibling group to loudly and angrily chant "LOUD'S NEVER QUIT!" a few times, making it clear that they were in no rush to whimper away out of town.

Lincoln then turned to his parents and pleaded with them, hoping they would see his sense of reason. "Mom, dad, I know you don't want to run away and hide from this, but I don't know if we can beat them! They've got the Millers, Morag, Dr Linnaeus, the lady who tried to build a dam here, that chef from TV... even the bullies from the school bus are in on it! I don't know how many others they've got; I couldn't make out all of them, but I don't think this is a fight we can win! We're not safe if we stay here!" he warned them, which made Lynn Sr and Rita reconsider his advice. However, their other children were quick to interject.

"Come on, bro! Where's your fighting spirit?!" Lynn questioned.

"Yeah! We can take 'em!" Lana claimed.

"If they want a war, we'll give them one!" Lola said.

"It sounds like they want to pick us off, one by one, and scare us away. That's what they did to Lincoln!" Lynn said.

"Well, we're not cowards. We'll fight fire with fire!" Luna stated.

"Exactly! If there's one thing we Louds are not, it's cowards! I say we hit back hard and take the fight to them!" Lynn said as she riled up her siblings and got them all pumped up and ready to strike back.

"YEAH!" the sisters, except Lori, who shared some of Lincoln's caution, all shouted in unison.

"Well son, it sounds like your sisters have taken a vote to stay here and stand their ground." Lynn Sr said.

"I don't know, Lynn. I'm thinking Lincoln might be right about this." Rita replied.

"Yeah. I mean, I get we want to stand our ground, but maybe Lincoln's got a point." the oldest and most mature sibling said.

"Come on, mom! Don't let those jerks scare you! That's how they win!" the resident jock then argued. "Same goes for you, Lori!"

Lincoln then sighed to himself before speaking to his sister. "Don't I know you guys can argue?" he remarked. "Listen to me, Lynn. I'm not so sure taking the fight to them is such a good idea."

"Oh yeah? Why the heck not!?" she questioned.

"Because sometimes it's better to run!" he told her, with an audible level of fear and hopelessness in his voice. "I'm not worried about looking like a coward! I'm worried about each and every one of my sisters getting killed! I'm worried about this whole family getting torn apart! I just got kidnapped and taken to the farm with my hands tied behind my back! There I was, you guys, on my knees and completely helpless! He told me that if I don't get you guys out of town, then he'll kill all of us!" he explained as he tried to emphasise just how much danger they were truly in.

"Wait, who told you that?" Luan asked.

"I don't know who he was. I recognised the others. Chandler, Morag, the Millers, and so on... but I never saw this guy before, though he seemed to be the one leading them." Lincoln answered.

"Well, did he say what his name was?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, so I can call the chump out before I kick his sorry butt!" Lynn said as she grabbed her baseball bat and whacked it into her palm, showing the others that she meant business.

"He just said I should call him Lord Viribus." Lincoln replied.

Just as he finished saying those words, he saw the expression on the face of his toughest sister change in an instant. Her outer bravado and aggression were lost, and in its place was a look of pure terror and dread as her skin began to turn pale...

"Wh... What?" she barely managed to muster out.

"He said his name was Viribus." Lincoln clarified. "What is it?" he then asked as he noticed his sister looking visibly shaken.

Lynn dropped her bat on the ground and took a few steps back, unable to mutter any more words.

"Lynn?" a confused Lola asked her.

After a brief moment of stone-cold silence from the most boisterous sibling, Lynn finally spoke. "We need to listen to Lincoln."

"Hmm, that's quite a drastic change from the stance you held merely one minute ago." Lisa pointed out.

Lynn replied again, but this time with a louder and more frantic vocal tone. "Do what he says! We have to get out of Royal Woods!" she told them as she immediately rushed upstairs to her room, with everyone else following her.

"What are you guys doing?!" she said as she noticed everyone standing there watching her. "We need to pack up and leave, right now!"

"Astonishing. I've never seen Lynn show this much fear over anything." Lisa stated.

"Lynn, what's the matter?" Lincoln asked.

"That guy you met, Viribus? I know him. He's the one that made me the way I am! He's also not a guy you want to mess with! You're right, Lincoln, we need to go!" Lynn said worryingly as she quickly packed all her most essential belongings into a large sports bag.

"But what about taking the fight to them?" Lana questioned.

"Yeah, and what about Louds never quitting?!" Lola followed.

"Just move your butts, ladies! This isn't up for debate! We're leaving town, NOW!" Lynn shouted at them.

The rest of the family looked at her, bewildered by how she was acting. But then they understood, that if even Lynn Junior was terrified, then perhaps Lincoln's emphasis on the danger they were facing was all too true...

And with that, the Louds were sufficiently scared enough to start packing up ready to leave. Seeing their bravest and most headstrong family member crumble into a nervous wreck at the mere mention of this man's name... that was enough to convince them.

As soon as they gathered what they wanted to take with them, including essential belongings and their own house pets, the family loaded up Vanzilla and prepared to depart. But before that, there were a few small things to take care of...

"Wait, son, did he say anything about our extended family?" Lynn Sr brought up as they stood outside the van.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, he said he would come after all of us, right? But what about Pop Pop?" Rita pointed out.

"Or Aunt Ruth?!" Lynn Sr also mentioned. "Or my dad?! Or Lance and your cousins?!"

"He didn't mention them. But I don't know, maybe we should take them with us, too." Lincoln suggested.

"I don't know, we're already a pretty big family as it is." Lola pointed out.

"But we can't just leave it to chance!" Leni said.

"After the whole business with Joyce Crandall, Mayor Davis and I are pretty tight. Let me make a quick call." Lincoln said before rushing back inside and dialling the number to the mayor's office.

"Hello, this is Mayor Davis."

"Hi, it's Lincoln Loud."

Oh, hello there, Lincoln. What's the occasion?"

"Mayor Davis, I need a favour. My whole family is in danger! It's the Millers, and Dr Linnaeus, and Joyce, and a whole bunch of others... they're back, and they're going to kill my whole family!"

"Wait, what?! Lincoln, you need to tell the police!"

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to do that, we're in too much of a hurry to get out of town! They told me that if I don't get my family out of Royal Woods, they'll kill us all! I think they've got some big plan or something!"

"What big plan?!"

"I don't know, but my priority is to keep my family safe! We need to leave now!"

"Okay, you do that, and I'll alert the police to the presence of these criminal low lives!" Mayor Davis promised.

"That's good. But it's not the reason I called. I need you to do something else." Lincoln said.

"What?"

"I don't know if Pop-Pop... erm, my grandfather Albert, or my aunt Ruth, or my other grandfather Leonard, or my cousins are in danger or not. You know them, right? You know where they live?"

"Yes, I'm quite familiar with everyone in your family, Lincoln." the mayor then remarked.

"Good. Then I need you to call the police, or whoever, and get them to guard over them. I can't risk anything bad happening to them!" Lincoln said.

"Very well. I will make a few calls and get that arranged for you. No innocent blood will spill in Royal Woods on my watch."

"Thanks for this, Mayor Davis."

"Well, your family did help save the Astonishing Quest from being a disaster... and you helped when Joyce Crandall wanted to replace our town with a dam... and your sister Leni gave up the election to let me keep my job. I guess I owe you and your family one." she said. "I hope you get them to safety, Lincoln."

"Thank you, and goodbye." Lincoln said before putting the phone down and rushing back outside.

Time was of the essence as the boy rushed to save his loved ones from certain doom.

In Great Lakes City, the Casagrandes were at home, getting on with their day as usual, completely unaware of the chaos ensuing for the Louds back in Royal Woods…

Ronnie Anne was sitting in her bedroom, talking to Sid on her phone.

"So, what are you doing this weekend?" Sid asked her.

"Hmm, I don't know. I was thinking I might get someone to drive me to Royal Woods. It's been a while since I saw Lincoln. Also, Luan's planning to show me a few more pranking tips."

"Oh. Well, have fun with tha…" but just as Sid was finishing her sentence, the screen went static for a moment.

"Huh? Sid?" a weirded-out Ronnie Anne said aloud.

"Ronnie Anne?" a different but familiar voice called out on her phone.

"Hey, who's this?"

Suddenly, the face of Punguari appeared on her phone.

"Ronnie Anne!"

"Hey, Punguari! Wait, how are you doing this with my phone?"

"I'm a god, Ronnie Anne. I can do all kinds of things." she dryly replied.

"Wait, are you wearing that mask thing again?" Ronnie Anne then questioned her.

"Doesn't matter. I need your help."

"Why? And where are you, anyway?"

Punguari then showed Ronnie Anne her weakened, tired parents lying on the grass…

"What happened to them?" Ronnie Anne asked, shocked.

"They had their powers drained out of them! I've been hiding in this realm, taking care of them."

"What did this to them? Is it Ucumu?"

"No… worse." Punguari grimly revealed.

"What?!" Ronnie Anne fearfully blurted out.

"Ronnie Anne, I'm going to use the powers of the mask to fight back against the guy who took their powers… but I'm going to need help." Punguari then stated, much to Ronnie Anne's fear.

But she was a brave girl. She quickly suppressed said fear, grew a determined look on her face, and said "We'll help you!"

Author's Footnote:

For now, there are still only minor changes, but the differences will become more noticeable in the final chapters. Either way, this is proving to be a useful task. If nothing else, I'm getting the chance to correct a fair number of spelling and grammatical errors that I missed the first time.

Anyway, keep looking out for the next chapters. For now, take care.