Chapter III: Homecoming
Logan arrived at Royal Woods Municipal Airport to find his gunmetal gray DeLorean with copper accents ready and waiting for him. He drove past the "Welcome to Royal Woods" sign and pulled into the parking lot of Flip's Food and Fuel. He wore a charcoal-colored canvas jacket with copper trim over a beige T-shirt tucked into dark gray cargo pants. His leather belt and shin-length motorcycle boots bore the same color scheme as his car and jacket. Strapped to his forehead was a pair of brassy steampunk-style goggles, and his hands were covered by black fingerless gloves. He ran a hand through his shaggy mop of white hair before stepping inside the convenience store. Over the last ten years, he had grown into quite a strapping young man; the total of five scars on his chiseled face stood out a few shades lighter than his lightly tanned skin, and his red-rimmed bright yellow eyes sparkled with crafty intelligence.
"I wonder if the Flippies are as good as I remember," he said to himself as he watched the frozen treat dispensers churning away. He then heard a commotion and looked to the front counter. The owner of the store, Flip, was arguing with a pair of girls that looked to be about six or seven years old. One wore a pink dress and a tiara and had blond hair that hung down her back, the other wore stained overalls and a filthy red baseball cap and hair that was the same color, but much greasier, tied into two pigtails. Aside from those differences, they were undoubtedly twins.
"C'mon, Flip, it's only fifty cents!" the tomboy-looking one complained.
"Sorry, small fry; no money, no service!" the much older man shot back. Thinking fast, Logan poured himself a Flippie and walked over to interject.
"What seems to be the problem?" he asked.
The princess-looking twin sniffed, wiped her running mascara, and replied, "We're trying to buy something for our big brother, but we're fifty cents short." In the hands of the tomboy twin were a fancy-looking Ace Savvy thermos and a bag of strawberry candy. Logan smiled, took the items from her, put them on the counter alongside his Flippie, and pulled a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet.
"I'm paying for these two lovely young ladies. Keep the change, Flip," he said.
"Wow! Thanks, mister!" the tomboy twin exclaimed while Flip completed the transaction. "I'm Lana, and this is my sister Lola," she introduced herself and her twin.
"A pleasure to meet you both. My name is Logan," Logan said and shook both of their hands.
"We really appreciate this, Mister Logan. Our brother has been helping us with all sorts of things lately, and this was the only way we could think of to pay him back," Lola said.
"Aw, heck, it was my pleasure, kids. Do you two need a ride home?"
"No thanks, Mister Logan. Lola's car got us here, and it can get us right back no problem," Lana replied. Logan looked out the window and saw a glittery pink twelve-volt toy jeep parked right next to his own car.
"Alright, if you say so," he said. "I guess I have places to be, too. See you around, kiddos!"
"Bye, Mister Logan!" the twins said in unison.
...
Logan's next stop was Sunset Canyon Retirement Home to visit his beloved grandfather, whom he and his younger sisters referred to as "Pop-Pop." He walked through the door and greeted the sour-looking nurse at the front desk.
"I'm here to visit Albert Reeds."
"Do you have an appointment?" the nurse asked.
"Since when do I need an appointment to visit a loved one?" Logan asked incredulously.
"Since I became the head nurse, that's when! You never know what nasty diseases you people could-"
"Sue, you'd better not be driving away my grandkids again!" interrupted and older gentleman who was very familiar to Logan. His hardened features had grown softer over the last decade, but the white hair inherited by Logan remained unchanged. Sue huffed and walked away, leaving the two men alone in the lobby.
"Hi, Pop-Pop. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Logan asked uncomfortably. Albert stood in shocked silence.
"Logan, boy? I-is that really you?" he finally asked.
"Yeah. I know you're probably mad at me, but-" Logan was cut off when Albert wrapped his arms around him. Logan hesitated before returning the hug, and the two stood in silence once more.
"Your mother's gonna be livid. You know that, right?"
"I know, Pop-Pop. I know."
...
Logan stood on the front porch of his old house with butterflies in his stomach.
"Okay, Logan, chill out. You haven't seen your family for nearly ten years. They couldn't have changed that much," he told himself. "Well, it's now or never. I wonder if Dad ever got around to fixing the doorbell?" He yelped in pain and jerked his hand back when said appliance delivered an electric jolt to his finger. "I'll take that as a no." The door was answered by a young boy wearing an orange polo shirt and jeans. Logan immediately knew who he was; after all, the family resemblance was uncanny. "Hello, Lincoln. You've really grown since the last time I saw you," Logan said with a warm smile.
Lincoln turned around and called, "Mom, there's a white-haired man at the door that knows my name! And it's not Pop-Pop!" Logan's mother walked out of the kitchen carrying a stack of plates.
"Well, if it's not Pop-Pop, then who could it-" When she saw Logan, Rita froze in her tracks. Her mouth fell open, and the dishes dropped from her hands and shattered. "L-L-Logan..." she stammered.
This chapter might be a little shorter than the others, but I couldn't miss the opportunity for a cliffhanger! Credit to ZexyZane for creating the OC Logan Loud. Any other OCs are my creation alone. If you want to get a better idea of what Logan's outfit looks like, I based it off of the outfit of Jim Hawkins in the animated Disney movie Treasure Planet.
Fun Fact: the DeLorean was the car Emmet Brown used for his time machine in Back to the Future.