0335: Singled Out – Chapters 22-25

Title: Singled Out

URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12605636/1/Singled-Out

Media: TV show

Topic: The Loud House

Genre: Allegedly Hurt/Comfort

Critiqued by: mysteryleap

Welcome to the long-awaited final part of Singled Out.

WARNING: Mentions of psychological disorders, Satanic themes, and the mind control stuff gets more intense.

“I want to feel compassion. I mean, everyone I’ve ever known does!”. Lola sighed. “I just don’t know why I’m not able to”.

Because of angst, that’s why.

Lincoln ruffled his sister’s hair. After their conversation in the woods, Lincoln had agreed to talk to Lola about her condition. The sky above them was growing dark. Their parents had not returned from their trip to the police station yet, and worry was starting to grow amongst the Loud children. For now, though, all that concerned Lincoln was helping the pageant princess.

“It’s okay, Lola. You’re probably just overthinking this.” Lincoln paused to think. “When was the last time you thought that you should have felt guilty but didn’t?”

Lola’s eyes widened. The answer was obvious; the time she sabotaged her grandfather’s motorcycle show.

But she did feel guilty about that. She had a whole nightmare sequence, remember?

But, was she prepared to tell Lincoln that? What if he told the rest of the family? Lola knew that they’d lose all respect for her indefinitely.

Still, if she wasn’t brutally honest, how could she hope to ever get better? Lola gulped. She’d have to tell Lincoln the truth.

“Well…” she started. “Remember the accident that Albert got into?”

Why are you calling your grandpa by his name?

Lincoln nodded, but was confused why Lola was bringing up the accident now. “Yeah, why?”, he asked.

“Uhh… I… Lincoln, it was me!” Lola broke into tears, covering her face. “I rigged Albert’s ramp so that it would break! I’m the reason he was in the hospital! I’m the reason he almost died!”

By now, Lola was covering her eyes with her hands, sobbing lightly into them. She heard Lincoln say nothing; she figured that he was processing what he just heard.

“But, the worst part? Even now, I don’t feel bad about it!

Dude, you’re sobbing. Sobbing is a sign of feeling bad, isn’t it?

What’s wrong with me, Lincoln?!”.

Lola looked up. However, she didn’t see Lincoln. In fact, she didn’t see the woods that they had been in. She was in her room, on her bed, alone, hugging one of her stuffed animals. In shock, Lola threw the stuffed animal across the room.

“What the…?”

So that was also a dream sequence?

As if things weren’t confusing enough, her door opened, and in walked Albert and Lisa. Lola’s little sister was holding on to Pop-Pop by the arm, bringing him into the room.

Is she hallucinating or something?

“There she is,” said Lisa, using her free hand to point at Lola.

Albert cracked his knuckles.

“So, you were the one that tried murdering me, huh? Well, I’m about to give you a piece of my mind! I haven’t been this energized since my navy days!”.

As Albert approached Lola, she crawled backward on her bed, desperately trying to escape him. However, instead of reaching her bedroom wall, she instead fell backward. Everything went black. She was in an eternal fall, doomed to decline into the immutable abyss for eternity.

Um… what?! Has she suddenly turned into Alice? Honestly, at this point, this story makes even less sense than Alice in Wonderland.

At least, that’s what she thought. That illusion was quickly broken as she felt herself hit the ground. There was a loud Thump! as the pageant princess made contact with the earth below her. She looked around. Lola was in a hospital room, along with the rest of her family.

?!?!?!?

They surrounded Albert, who was lying in his bed. The machine next to him beeped steadily, until suddenly, it flatlined.

Pop-Pop was dead.

Is this another guilt-induced nightmare? Moments after it was stated Lola didn’t feel compassion!?

Lola, along with the rest of her family, sobbed, mourning the loss of Albert. Unfortunately, before long, their sadness turned to ire. All of them faced Lola, anger evident on their faces.

Lincoln in particular stepped forward, and put his hands on Lola’s shoulders.

“How could you?!”, he cried with anger. “Why did you wait so long to tell us? Why did you do it in the first place?! What did Pop-Pop ever do to you?!”. Lola’s brother shook her violently back in forth. “Why!”, he screamed. “Lola! Lola! Lola!”.

“LOLA!”, screamed Lincoln. His hands were on his shoulders, still shaking her back and forth. “Wake up!”.

They were still in the woods. Lola figured that she must have fallen asleep and had a nightmare.

So it was a nightmare sequence. But she fell asleep in the middle of the conversation?!

“What… what happened?”, asked a confused Lola. “Did I fall asleep?”.

“No!”, said Lincoln, still disturbed by his sister’s blackout.

So… it was a hallucination, then? 

“You were wide awake, and as soon as you mentioned Albert, you went into some kind of trance! I think you had a panic attack!”.

As if one psychological issue wasn’t enough, the author had to throw in two!?

Oh. That’s right. Lola had admitted her sabotage of Albert to Lincoln. He must be really mad at her right now.

“I know it means nothing…”, said Lola, grabbing her arm and looking away in shame. “But, I’m really sorry. I just want to get better. Really, I do!”.

Lincoln sighed. “What you did was horrible, yeah… but, at least you can admit that it was wrong. You feel bad about it, and that’s the important thing”.

Lola frowned. “But, can’t feel bad about it! That’s why I came to you for help!”.

“You do, idiot!”

Took the very words out of my mouth, Lincoln. “Panic-attack-cum-acid-trip” is an odd way of feeling bad, sure, but it’s definitely feeling bad.

Lincoln very rarely addressed his sisters like that, so Lola knew he was serious.

“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have had that panic attack just now, would you?”.

Lola opened her mouth, but was unable to speak. Lincoln was right. The pageant princess had constant nightmares about Albert, and just now, even a panic attack! She could feel guilt; just only subconsciously.

So she’s not incapable of guilt after all? If that’s the case, why make us believe she is?

Did that mean she was even more guilty than if she only felt bad when she was conscious? Was the pain she felt for hurting Albert so bad, it was forced to the back of her mind, in the deepest depths of her brain? Was that the only place to put it without making Lola go insane?

This was weird.

The story’s now self-aware.

Lori been driving for hours now. She was making a beeline straight back to her family’s campsite. Right now, she assumed that she was in Pennsylvania. She didn’t know for sure. Even if she took a few seconds to check, that would mean she would arrive at her destination a few seconds slower.

On the dark, empty highway, something caught the teen’s eye. It was hard to see in the dimness of the night, but Lori was able to make out a man. He was leaning against the side railing of the highway. There were spots of fresh rain on his shoulders. He was carrying a cheap overnight bag in one hand. He was thin, nondescript, with a cap pulled down over his eyes.

The man held his hand up, waving at her, as if he was waiting for a lift. He appeared to be a hitchhiker looking for a ride.

Not thinking much about it, Lori drove past him without hesitation.

Lori: Being in an angsty badfic was bad enough, but being in a ghost story would be even worse!

“Our pasta this evening is squid ravioli in a lemongrass broth with goat cheese profiteroles, and I also have an arugula Caesar salad.”

Lynn could barely pay attention to the waiter as he blabbered on about food.

So Lynn’s in a restaurant now?!

She would much rather be in Lincoln’s giant backyard, running freely in its vastness. After all, she had never seen such a large area of perfectly trimmed grass, just waiting for her. Still, her brother had invited her over for the first time in about forty years, so it was only right to be polite and wait until at least dinner was over.

Oh, it’s yet another one of these weird future dreams.

Luna had to force herself not to yawn. She had to cancel her band’s upcoming tour of Europe to visit Lincoln, and she didn’t want to make a bad impression on him. After all, this was the first time she had seen him since childhood.

“Our pasta tonight is a squid ravioli in a lemongrass broth, and the fish tonight is grilled casper with exotic caviar.”

You’re grilling a friendly ghost!? What did he do!?

Lori was able to appreciate Lincoln’s lifestyle. After all, she was a CEO herself. However, she was never able to reach the same kind of success as her brother. Even if she did, though, she was sure that she wouldn’t have abandoned her family.

She looked around the room. All of her siblings, as well as their parents, were there. They were gathered in the same place for the first time in decades. Still, despite this amazing milestone, everybody looked so… unhappy. And, Lori knew why.

Because this story seems to plonk unhappiness in every nook and cranny.

Lincoln had changed. Success had blinded him to what was really important, causing him to lose touch with not only his family, but reality as well. This was made evident as he casually drank his expensive wine, while everybody else at the table could only stare at their drink, unsure how to grab such an oddly shaped and fancy drinking glass.

Lori stood up. She’d need to talk some sense into her brother, or else the family reunion would do anything but reunite the family. As the oldest, it was her job to set things like this straight, even at age 56.

What does her age have to do with anything?

“Lincoln… can I talk to you in private real quick?”.

Lincoln nodded.

Although they only traveled one room over, they had put plenty of space between themselves and the rest of the family due to the sheer size of Lincoln’s home.

Lori started the conversation by shaking her head. “Lincoln…” she said. “What’s going on?”.

Lincoln: None of this is real. It’s a dream being had by me for no reason!

This was a very general question, and at first, Lincoln didn’t know how to respond.

“What… what do you mean?”.

Lori cut straight to the point; she didn’t want to beat around the bush any longer than she needed to.

“Why did you cut off contact with us for so long? Why did you abandon us?”.

Lincoln: Because this story is oversaturated with unnecessary drama!

Lincoln knew that he would probably be confronted like this at some point during the family reunion, but not this soon. He inhaled a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry, and I know I can never make it up to you guys. I just got so busy with the business, and—”.

“Cut the crap, Lincoln! Even when me and Bobby started our company making custom phone cases, we always made sure to make time for our families, too! And, it’s not like we had it easy like you did. We spent countless sleepless nights keeping up on orders. Me and Bobby just didn’t get lucky like you and make billions of dollars from drawing comics all day!”.

Ouch. Lori wasn’t holding back. Still, Lincoln knew that it was only fair after how he had treated his family, letting his success get to his head.

Again, I feel these dreams are meant to have a moral about how family means more than money. However, now’s not the time or the place to be teaching that moral, even though I do agree with it.

“I know what I did was horrible, Lori, but I’m here to apologize! Now that I’m a lot less busy with work, I’ll be able to spend lots more time with you guys. Hell, I’ll call you all every day if that’s what you want!”.

Lori shook her head again. “It’s not that easy, Lincoln. The damage is already done. In fact, I think you’ve been hurt by this more than me.”

A prolonged silence took place in the room.

“You used to be… interesting!”, she said.

So she’s mad at him for being… boring?

“Now, though… you’re just a yuppie.”

“Yuppies are young,” half-joked Lincoln.

“Goodbye, Lincoln,” said Lori, not reacting to her brother’s joke. She made her way back to the dinner table; she had made her point clear.

Lori was right. Lincoln knew he needed to fix things with his family, or things were bound to only get worse.

Family problems in waking life, family problems in dreams. He can’t escape!

As Lori continued her drive down the long, barren road, she saw him again! The same man who had been looking for a ride to hitchhike on appeared again on the side of the road, exactly as he had been seen before— thin, nondescript, with the same cap and same overnight bag he had sported before.

Lori had promised herself to not stop for anything until she reached her destination. But, this was a special scenario. The teen slowed down the car, not necessarily to pick up the man, but to get a better looked at him. As she put her foot on the break, however, the man started to approach her. His more distinct features became visible. He was old, and his face looked to be worn with age and stress. Above all else, though, he looked… scary. 

Again, is this a ghost story? It’s starting to feel like a ghost story.

Even though he clearly had no intentions of harming Lori, the teen couldn’t help but to feel threatened as he approached. In a rush of fear and adrenaline, she slammed her foot down on the gas pedal, leaving the man far behind in the dust.

The next couple of hours traveling went without a hitch. Although Lori was still a bit disturbed by her encounter with the man, she was able to get a grip on her composure.

It was about four in the morning, and Lori’s eyes began to grow heavy with sleepiness. That was, until, she saw him yet again! The same man, with the same clothes, wearing the same hat, holding the same exact overnight bag, was back! Again!

Random Creepy Guy can teleport?

Lori started to speed away from the man, putting as much distance in between her and him as possible. He made her feel very uneasy, and she didn’t know exactly why.

Only ten minutes later, when Lori thought for sure that she was done seeing the man, yet again he appeared before her. And, yet again, she quickly drove away. Was she imagining him? Was she going crazy?

Then, she saw him again.

And again.

And again.

By now, Lori had lost track of how many times she had seen the man while driving down the highway. She was understandably frightened at this point, and unsure if she was going insane.

Not just you; the whole story went insane ages ago.

I’m not too far from the campsite, she thought. I just have to get back before I go crazy.

---

Lisa was hunched over a table, deep within the woods, far away from the rest of her family. Her parents were still out for the police station; they had been gone all day. Her siblings were all still back at the main camp. Luckily for Lisa, they hadn’t noticed her slip away in the darkness of the night. She needed to work in peace, and she had a deadline to make.

What’s she working on now?

On her table, barely visible, were hundreds of microscopic computer chips. Although small, these little inventions were currently the most important thing in the little scientist’s life. She held a miniature, pointed metal rod in her hand that she used to work on the chips. Because it was nighttime, a light was pointed down at her desk so she could see what she was doing. Now sweating, Lisa ever so carefully made movements to get the chips configured just right.

She’d been doing this for weeks; making microchips, and shipping them off. Not for a profit, but for something greater, something more important.

Now done, Lisa backed away from her work, and brushed the sweat off of her forehead. Behind her, dozens of wooden crates could be seen, each with a label on them. Soon, they would be filled up with the microchips Lisa had been making. Some were marked for Europe, some were marked for other states, but the overwhelming majority of the crates had a label to one specific country on them, clear as day;

Mexico.

*spit take* So she’s the one supplying Mr. Santiago with these mind-control chips!? I thought Lola was meant to be the most evil one in this story! Next chapter.

It was late, and still, Lynn Sr. and Rita have had yet to return from their trip to the police station.

What’s with the tense change?

By now, all of the Loud children were voluntarily back inside of the houseboat. Some of them, mostly the younger ones, had fallen asleep. Still, most of them stayed up, waiting for the return of their parents, too worried to enter slumber at a time like this.

“Enter slumber”? Unnecessarily poetic.

Lincoln looked up at the digital clock on the wall. It was 4 AM. The only times he’s stayed up this late was when he was sleeping over with Clyde, but even then, it was rare for the two best friends to be awake at this hour.

Clyde. Ever since the stupid war started, the once inseparable duo had split ways. Even after all that he did to him, right now, Lincoln found it hard to remain angry at Clyde.

Even though he knocked you unconscious?

He was weak, and Lola preyed on his weakness, using it to her advantage. The pageant princess manipulated Lincoln’s best friend against him, making him betray him; something Clyde would never do otherwise.

Lola had turned so many people against him. Clyde. Lucy. Not to mention, all of his sisters at one point. Why was she trying to single him out? 

Because that’s the title of the fic.

What was the end goal?

Heck if I know.

Was she doing this for fun? 

If so, she’s got bad taste in fun.

Lincoln was growing angry. He balled his hands up into fists.

The Loud brother looked over at Lola. She was the only younger sister to still be awake, pacing around the floor nervously. Lincoln sighed. She seemed to be taking the absence of the Loud parents harder than most. Was it because she felt guilty? Could Lola even feel guilty about anything?

I thought you established that she could, but only subconsciously.

Lincoln wondered what it would be like to be unable to shed a scrap of empathy, living your entire life without being able to feel bad for others. What would that do to somebody’s mind? He didn’t want Lola to go down that road. Her childhood had been setting her up to become a sociopath— she attended pageants weekly, an event that constantly stacked her up to other children her age. She was not supposed to feel bad for her competition; she was only supposed to do whatever it took to come out on top of them, and that mindset had taken its toll on her over the years. Not to mention, Lola had grown up being used to being able to do anything necessary to get what she wanted. That didn’t leave much room for worry about other’s feelings.

Lincoln’s anger diminished. Lola had caused the most problems for the family, and yet, he knew that she was the most vulnerable out of all of the Louds.

Make up your mind, fic. Are we supposed to hate Lola with a burning passion, or feel sorry for her?

It sounded a lot worse than it actually was. When the explosion went off, knocking down the previously locked front door from the Santiago hacienda, Ronnie Anne, Bobby, and their mother all made a break for it. The servants that worked around them didn’t look up, even when the loud explosion shook the house and the ground rumbled beneath them; they were only drones, after all, programmed to do only what their jobs needed them to do. Reacting to what happened around them was not a part of their job, and therefore was not necessary.

Life at the hacienda was fun. It was nice to be able to swim in a giant pool whenever she wanted, or to be driven around by a servant in a fast car around the many acres of property that her father owned. Still, her life here had just been so empty compared to back in Michigan.

Again with the “living-the-high-life-but-it-feels-empty” trope? You did that already with Dream!Adult!Lincoln.

Sprawled out before the three Santiago escapees was the dark, desert night. It was beautiful. Stars dotted the sky, and the moon was full, illuminating the ground beneath it. In science class, Ronnie Anne learned that the moon didn’t actually give off light, but rather the sun reflected off of it, lighting up the earth under it. Although she never thought she’d admit it, Ronalda actually missed science class. She missed her life back in the States. She missed her extended family, her friends, her old life. Why was all of that suddenly ripped away from her? Ronalda’s mother was a hardworking, law-abiding citizen. Why did this happen to them?

Because plot.

It felt like somebody was out to get them, but she didn’t know who.

The young Hispanic girl was brought out of her trance when she heard several new pairs of footsteps approaching behind her. She turned around, and much to her horror, saw several drones in hot pursuit of her and her two family members. They ran unnaturally; their arms frailing beside them.

So their arms were weakening as they ran?

Still, they were fast, more so than the Santiagos that were trying to escape them. They were scary.

“Run, mi niños!”

And run they did. Ronnie Anne’s legs were pumping faster than she ever thought possible. Even in the cold desert night, she was sweating, but the young hispanic girl did not notice.

In the distance, a long line of bright lights could be seen. It was civilization. Safety.

“We’re so close! Keep running!”, cried Maria.

Close they were,

Yoda, that sounds like.

but it was all in vain. Before she knew it, a very bright light shined in Ronnie Anne’s face, forcing her to come to a halt and shield her eyes with her hands. A jeep had pulled up behind them, driven in front of them, and turned around on the desert ground, spraying up pebbles and dirt in the process.

“So, you thought you could blow up my door and run away, huh?”. Ronnie Anne, unfortunately, recognized that voice— it was her father. He turned off his jeep lights and hopped down from the vehicle. They were caught.

Ronalda looked at Mr. Santiago as he approached them. She noticed something. The look in his eyes… the unnatural expression he wore… something was off.

So he’s a “drone” too?

Just then, in that very moment, a lightbulb went off in the young Santiago girl’s head.

With a newfound courage and confidence, without hesitation, Ronnie Anne quickly grabbed a thick, long stick from off of the ground, and, struggling to hold it, started to run at her father.

Maria held her arm out, as if she would be able to stop her daughter despite being meters away from her. “Ronalda, no!”

Smash!

She did it. Ronnie Anne hit her own father as hard as she could in the head.

And that went smash?! Did she break his skull!?

The recoil made her arms shake. She stumbled backward, dropping the stick.

To Maria and Bobby, the strike did not sound like they thought it would. The stick hitting the top of Mr. Santiago’s skull sounded harsh, almost metallic.

So he’s a robot? Wouldn’t that make Bobby and Ronnie Anne cyborgs?

He didn’t even yell or recoil in pain. To Ronnie Anne, though, the sound of her strike was exactly what she predicted it would be.

The drones had been fast approaching the three Santiagos, not having ever stopped their chase. When Ronnie Anne struck Mr. Santiago, however, they stopped in their tracks. Some fell to the ground, motionless. Some simply hunched over. It was almost like they had all suddenly been turned off or disabled.

Finally, after standing still for a few seconds subsequently to him being hit, Mr. Santiago fell to the ground. Ronnie Anne stood back up, picked her stick back up, and ran back to her ‘father’. She hit him again and again, harder and harder, and eventually, she had destroyed the robot.

So he is a robot but that’s not really Arturo? That would explain why he’s nothing at all like Canon Arturo (even though this was written before Canon Arturo was fully formed), but it ultimately creates more questions than answers.

Lincoln’s eyes were heavy. Even though his parents were missing, and he was worried sick, he still was just an 11-year-old boy who needed his sleep just as much as anybody else. After trying his best to stay awake for so long, Lincoln finally threw in the towel. He closed his eyes, and allowed himself to relax back on the couch.

Just as slumber was about to overtake him, Lincoln jolted awake.

Probably for the best, since if he’d fallen asleep, we may have had another pointless dream sequence.

All of his siblings did. Lola had sounded a very loud air horn, immediately waking up everybody in the room.

Lynn gritted her teeth. “You little…”

“Not cool, dude!”, said Luna, rubbing her eyes.

Leni screeched. “Is that a wombat? Get it away from me!”

No, because you’re not in Australia, but I don’t know what it is.

Lola only smiled. Next to her was a projector (where did she even get that?).

Don’t ask me! I don’t know.

Before the rest of her siblings could complain about their rude awakening, the pageant princess switched it on, and a black square was projected against the blank back wall of the houseboat.

“I think you guys will want to see this.”

She pressed a button on the projector, and a video started to play.

A red ‘live’ symbol flashed in the bottom left hand of the projector, and immediately, the Loud parents were revealed on the screen. What the Loud siblings saw horrified them; the two were tied up to a chair, blindfolded, and guarded by multiple police officers. The officers wore lifeless expressions in their eyes, almost like they were robots.

So now Lola and Lisa have gotten their own parents arrested?! I just… I can’t even.

“Mom? Dad?”, cried Luan among the shocked gasps of her siblings.

“It’s no use, they can’t hear us,” Lola said coldly. “I have complete control over the police station they’re locked up in. Thanks to Lisa, they all have brain chips in their heads that allow me to control all of their actions remotely.” Lola smiled. “You all need to comply with me, or else… well…”

Wait, so are the brain chips controlled by Lola and Lisa, or by Robot!Arturo?!

She didn’t say anything more. She left it open to the imagination what she would command the police officers to do to her parents. Lincoln immediately regretted feeling bad for Lola earlier. She was a monster. The pink nightmare was using her own parent’s well-being

Which one?

as leverage to take control of her siblings. Did she not feel a shred of empathy for her own mother and father?

Lola was insane.

“I won’t ask much of you guys,” continued Lola. “All I want is to give you all a little, uh, dose of something. Let Lisa stick you all with a needle for a couple of seconds, and I’ll let Mom and Dad walk free without an argument… do we have a deal?”

Disagreement erupted from the Loud children.

And from all of us!

“No way!”, cried Lana.

“Yeah, not happening, dude.” Luna crossed her arms.

Lynn gritted her teeth. “When I get my hands on you…” The athlete wanted nothing more than to charge at Lola, but one cold look from her leader, Lincoln, told her that it was not a good idea at the moment.

“Yeah, like, no way Lola!” said Leni, stepping back in fear.

“…What’s even in the needle?”, asked Lincoln.

Lisa walked in from the outside door, holding a syringe. “If you must know, allowing me to do this will let Lola stop you in your tracks whenever she wants. If I put this shot in your neck, the microchips will make their way to your brain. They’re voice activated only by Lola, so if she gives a keyword, your motor functions will immediately be cut off. You’ll be prevented from moving until Lola says another keyword.”

Why do you want to do that anyway!?

Luna slammed her fist down on the table. “Bogus! No way I’m letting you do that!”

Lana’s eyes grew wide, frightened by even just the idea of her twin having control over her. “If she wants to make me stop playing in the mud whenever she wants, she’ll be able to actually do it?”

“More than that,” said Lisa. The little scientist didn’t sound like she cared at all. Did she not care that her older sister was doing little more than enslaving her siblings? Did she not remember the last time she tried that? 

If you’re referencing “A Tattler’s Tale”, there was no brainwashing there.

 “If you’re prevented from moving whenever Lola wills it, you’ll really have no choice but to obey her every command, irrelevant to the fact if you like it or not. You’ll be powerless.”

“No way I’m agreeing to this!”, cried Lynn. She started to charge at Lola, ready to, as Lori put it, turn her into a human pretzel.

As the athlete ran past, Lincoln reached out and grabbed Lynn by the back of her shirt. It took all of his might to keep her from getting away.

“No, Lynn! Lola has our parents in custody, and there’s no telling what she’s willing to do to them!”.

Shame, really, because this version of Lola really does deserve to be beat up.

Lynn stopped her resistance (which was fortunate, because Lincoln was just about to lose his grip; Lynn was strong), and looked her brother in the eye. She was just now realizing the severity of the situation. Lynn sat down on the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs and bringing her knees to her chest. “Oh…”

The sisters looked to their leader.

“What do we do, Lincoln? There’s no way we’re letting this little monster take control of us… right?”

Lincoln gulped. He should have known it; he was certainly no leader. Just once, he was tasked with looking after the family in place of Lori while his parents were out on a date.

He wasn’t tasked, he decided to do that himself.

Of course, he had no remote amount of success with this. Within five minutes, the house turned into utter chaos. He was forced to get Lori and have her fix everything.

Lori was not here. Lincoln was unable to grab his oldest sister and just have her make everything right. The 11-year-old was on his own. And, right now, Lincoln was faced with possibly the most important decision thus far in his life. Should he cave into Lola’s demands and allow her to implement brain chips in them all? Or, should he resist, and run the risk of something bad happening to his parents?

“I… I don’t know”, sniffled Lincoln. His age was starting to show. The immense pressure that he wore on his shoulders was really starting to weigh him down. How did it come to this? Lincoln wanted to curl up into a ball and hide away forever. He wanted this to end.

We all do, Lincoln.

He wanted someone else, anybody but him to fix things and make everything right. No matter what choice he made, people would suffer.

Who else could do it? Leni was the oldest, but well… she was Leni. Luna was the second oldest, but she was a rash person. Sure, she listened to Lincoln, but if she was the leader, the boy knew that his musician sister would order everyone to charge at Lola, no doubt putting their parent’s well-being at stake.

I’m pretty sure it would endanger both parents.

Lincoln blinked to keep back tears. Why did he have to do this? He was going to make everyone mad at him, no matter what.

Being the leader sometimes means you have to be the bad guy.

A quote went through his head. Where was that from? Ace Savvy? One of his history textbooks? Lincoln didn’t know, but at that moment, the origin did not matter. The important thing was that Lincoln heeded the wise advice.

He wiped his eyes, removing any tears that were there. He needed to be strong.

“Guys…”, he said quietly. “I don’t think we have a choice here… we might have to let Lola do this. It’s what Lori would want… it’s what Mom and Dad would want.”

No, what they’d want is for this nonsense to end and Lola to turn back into a normal girl.

Gasps erupted throughout the room. Was Lincoln being serious?

“I’m so sorry. But, it’s really our only choice. If it makes you feel any better… I’ll go first.”

Lola clapped her hands and smiled. “It’s about time somebody came to their senses!”

Lisa walked up to Lincoln, clearly indifferent to the entire situation. She twirled a syringe in her hand.

“Stay still, Lincoln,” said the junior scientist. “This may pinch a little… well, a lot.”

Not gonna lie, that would be a good line for a mad doctor in a comic book… but not Lisa Loud.

Lincoln didn’t care how much it hurt. He was terrified of shots, but right now, what scared him the most was the fact that he and his sisters would soon be under Lola’s complete control, and he couldn’t do anything about it but to bend his knee to his 6-year-old sister. That fact alone scared him much more than when he saw The Harvester and was frightened for weeks on end, but he didn’t show it. He needed to be strong. Lincoln was a leader and needed to act like it.

It hurt. Lincoln could swear that most of his siblings were screaming for him not to let Lisa do it, but every sound became distorted and blurred; he was unable to make out what sounds were real and what was not. His vision grew blurry. His senses were clouded. The area that Lisa inserted the needle in the side of his neck felt like it was on fire, and Lincoln needed to muster up all of the strength that he could to not resist or scream out in pain.

“Almost done, Lincoln.”

Lincoln thought he heard Lisa speak, but her voice was muffled and distorted.

Well, she does have a lateral lisp, so…

Was this really what it was like to have microchips slowly take over your brain? After experiencing it firsthand, he made a vow to himself; Lincoln wasn’t going to let this happen to the rest of his siblings, that was for sure. The pain was unbearable; he was unable to even move away now if he wanted to. Lincoln would hate himself if he was responsible for any other members of his family going through it, especially the young ones like Lana and Lucy! He didn’t know how, but he was going to put an end to this madness, while keeping his parents safe in the process. It seemed impossible, but if anyone could do it, it was him; Lincoln Loud, the man with a plan. He just needed to stop doubting himself.

Still determined even when injected with brain chips? That’s gotta be a record!

Speaking of Lucy, Lincoln had not seen her recently. It was not uncommon for him to forget about the little goth girl, as she kept to the shadows and usually made herself scarce. In fact, he hadn’t seen her at all recently.

That was, of course, until Lucy appeared out of nowhere and removed the syringe from his neck, pulled Lincoln to the ceiling, dragged him out of the roof’s emergency exit, and everything went black.

Next chapter!

Was Lori going insane? She didn’t know. All that was for certain was that she saw the same man over and over again on the side of the road. He sported the same coat. He held the same overnight bag. He wore the same blank expression each time Lori passed him.

The teen looked down at her phone. She wondered why it had not given her any new directions for a while. Unfortunately, the screen was completely black with the exception of an empty battery symbol flashing.

Uh-oh. How was she going to find the camp now?

I don’t know either.

Nervous, Lori pulled into the nearest gas station. At this point, she had enough fuel to make it back to the camp, and she had promised herself that she would not stop for anything, but she was too scared to drive any longer by herself. Besides, she didn’t know when she would find another sign of civilization on the lonely road. In her current state, any interaction with another human being was welcomed.

As Lori parked her car in front of a gas pump, an attendant made his way out of the gas station building’s door.

“Isn’t it a bit late for a young lady like you to be driving?”

Creepy line!

Lori stifled a nervous laugh.

“I guess, yeah.” She paused. “Have you seen any hitchhikers around lately?”

“Hitchhikers? Here?”

“What’s the matter? Don’t you ever see any?”

“No. Maybe they get the lift before the turnpike starts. I mean, you know, just before the tollhouse. But then it’d be a mighty long ride. Most cars wouldn’t want to pick up a guy for that long a ride. And, you know, this is pretty lonesome country here, mountains and woods. You ain’t seen anybody like that, have you?”

Again, this is feeling like a ghost story.

Lori didn’t want the store employee to think that she was insane.

“Oh, no no no. I was just wondering, that’s all.”

After Lori filled up Vanzilla and made a bit more light conversation with the gas attendant, she was on her way again.

Even though she doesn’t know the way back?

All that she saw for the next ten minutes or so was dark, empty road. To calm her nerves, the teen turned on the radio and listened to her favorite song.

Ohhh girl! Ohhh girl!

Eventually, though, Lori’s peaceful driving was once again interrupted. She saw him again. The same clothes, the same overnight bag slung over his shoulder, and the same grim expression.

By now, Lori was sick and tired of driving in fear. It was time to confront the man, and get to the bottom of this situation. If not for the hitchhiker, the teen knew she would be at the campsite for now.

If he can go that fast on foot, why does he even need to hitchhike?

She was getting closer. Even though she didn’t have her phone charged to use for a GPS, Lori was starting to recognize the area a bit more. It was only a matter of time before she reunited with the family, and she did not want the creepy hitchhiker to slow her down any more than he already had.

She slowed down, and drove closer to the man. Her hands trembled on the steering wheel; she was nervous. Still, she wore a calm expression, and did her best to sound confident.

“Hey! Sir!”, she said, driving closer while lowering the driver side window. By now, she was only mere feet away from the man. “What’s your deal? Got nothing better to do than stalk me?”

https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/e2f206cc-4c8e-4c1e-8a7d-5e48c4eaa355

The hitchhiker smiled. His smirk was perverse and offsetting; any fake confidence that Lori had been able to muster instantaneously melted away. He just looked so creepy and dangerous, especially since his hat was pulled down over his eyes. Who was this guy?

Without giving Lori time to react, the stranger lunged at Vanzilla. He was quick— so quick, Lori had no time to drive away. Before she knew it, the man was trying to enter through the window hole like some sort of maniac! He was thin, so this was no problem for him.

Without thinking, Lori punched him in the head. He cried out in pain. His voice… sounded oddly familiar.

Is this supposed to be a canon character?!

Still, the stranger persisted. He continued to squirm and thrash his way into the car. Lori tried pushing him back out, but he overpowered her.

“Get out, you freak!”

In a final attempt to attack the stranger, Lori bent back and gave a swift kick to his face. Because of this, the hitchhiker’s cap fell off, revealing his true identity. When Lori saw his face, her mouth fell agape in shock.

It was Lincoln’s old tutor.

Hugh.

That’s a one-off character in the series, but don’t ask me what he’s doing here.

“Two phone calls in thirty years.”

Lincoln looked up from his dinner; red snapper with violets and pine nuts.

Even brainwashed, he still has weird future dreams!?

He could have sworn his father had just mumbled something about phone calls.

“What did you say, Dad?”

“Two phone calls. In. Thirty. Years.”, repeated Lynn Sr., this time a bit louder. Still, his voice was relatively quiet, disappointment evident in his tone.

Over the years, the father of the Loud family’s voice has gotten deeper.

Random tense change alert!

He was in his mid-seventies now, and it was starting to show both in his appearance and the way he sounded. Still, his voice held the same authority that it had since Lincoln’s childhood. Guilt flooded over Lincoln; he had been so busy with his growing company, it had been impossible for the man to find even a few minutes within the month to make phone calls.

“Dad… I’m sorry…”

“If you were sorry, you would have visited or at least called a little more, right?”

After that? Silence. The room grew dense. No one dared speak a word.

Yes, we get it. Future!Dream!Lincoln is a jerk who doesn’t speak to his family. Now can we move on?

After the Loud family had completed their dinner, the silence continued. Eventually, however, Lynn stood up.

“Well, I’m, uh, gonna go now. Thanks for the meal Lincoln, and, uh, happy birthday.”

With that, she stood up, starting to make her way to the front door of the mansion.

“Wait! Lynn, don’t you want to stay a little longer?”

“Uh, thanks, but no thanks, Link. I have, uh, some stuff to do.”

It was an obvious lie

She obviously has nothing to do because she’s not real.

; still, Lincoln questioned her no further.

Lola stood up. “Me and Lana should go, too.”

Before Lincoln could protest, Lola and Lana were already on their way to the door.

Soon enough, the rest of his siblings dismissed themselves from the table and left Lincoln’s house. This was supposed to be his reunion with the family. Why were they all leaving so soon?

Because they want no part in this nonsense.

The only two that remained were Lincoln’s parents.

“Mom, Dad!”, said Lincoln, standing up. “You have to forgive me! I’m so sorry for not keeping in contact, I was just so busy, and—”

“No, Lincoln,” Lynn Sr. had cut him off. “You can’t just go off on your own for three decades and then expect to instantly make up with the family as soon as you retire.”

The Loud father sighed. “Lincoln, as much as I’d love to have you back in our lives, it’s just too late. You saw how your sisters just got up and left. They came here thinking that you had changed… but you didn’t.”

How could Lincoln’s own father say all of that to him? In his own house!

It wouldn’t be any less rude if he’d said it outside the house, would it?

“No, no, no!”, said Lincoln, starting to panic. “There has to be a way! I’ll take you all out on a private cruise! I’ll bring the family to Cordovia! I’ll—”

“Lincoln, no,” said Lynn Sr. firmly. “Material things won’t help at this point. The family grew up without you in their lives. It’s almost like ever since you left, they’ve been without a brother.”

It hurt to admit it to himself, but Lincoln knew his father was right. He messed up. Bad. He allowed greed to cloud his judgment. He had every material object that he could ever want, and yet, he was still not happy. He wanted to be loved by his family. He wanted to erase all of his mistakes.

*tosses Lincoln an eraser*

Lincoln was silent. His parents got up to leave, but he stayed still, looking forward and not uttering a word. Once they closed the door behind them, Lincoln called for Markus to bring him a handkerchief.

---

It happened so fast. Lucy came out of nowhere and pulled Lincoln up and out of the emergency exit on the roof before everything went black.

Pointless dream over! Back to the present!

When the white-haired boy awoke, he looked around to find himself in the woods. Lincoln tried standing up, but immediately felt a sharp pain race throughout his entire body, causing him to yelp and fall back to the ground.

“You’ll be sore for a while, Lincoln.”

Lucy. Lincoln could recognize his little sister of three years’ voice easily. She spoke in her usual monotone voice, making it very easy for Lincoln to distinguish her. Although his neck was sore, the boy still turned his head in the direction that he heard the voice coming from. Lincoln saw that Lucy was next to him, kneeling down. It appeared as if she had been with him for a while.

The last time Lincoln encountered the little goth girl, they weren’t exactly on good terms. Although she seemed to feel sorry about it, Lucy had betrayed him. If not for that, the war would probably be over by this point.

Back to the war, which feels pointless now in light of the brain chips thing… or at least, more pointless than it already was.

Lincoln wouldn’t feel sore. Lola wouldn’t be trying to implant brain chips in the family. And, most importantly, Lincoln’s parents would not be held hostage at the moment.

Lincoln’s first reaction was anger. What reason could Lucy possibly have for making the family suffer as much as she had? Was there anything at all could justify such an act?

Lincoln’s second reaction, however, was empathy.

That stuff that most of the characters in this fic need more of.

He knew that Lucy would never do something so evil unless there was a gun pointed to her head. Even then, she would put up resistance. Besides, she saved him (for the time being) from having brain chips pumped into their necks.

That’s right. The brain chips! The rest of their siblings were still alone and vulnerable back in the houseboat. Lincoln knew that time was not a luxury that he had at the moment. In fact, Lola and Lisa could already be getting ready to poison the rest of the Loud sisters.

Poison is one way of putting it, I guess.

Upon realizing this, Lincoln attempted to spring up from the ground and run. He didn’t know where he was going; he would play it by ear. At the moment, only one thing mattered to him, and that was saving the family.

The keyword was try. As soon as he made an effort to get up, Lincoln went forward but quickly faltered, and came crashing back the ground face first. He was in far too much much pain to move at the moment.

“Lincoln!”, cried Lucy, rushing over to him. She grabbed her brother and forced him upright, leaning him against a tree. “You can’t move!”, she scolded him.

Lincoln: I’ve just found that out.

 “You’re too sore for that right now.”

“Our sisters are about to be brain chipped by Lola!”, snapped Lincoln. “We need to do something!”.

Lucy could only shake her head. “We’re powerless to do anything right now. In case you forgot, Lola’s holding our parents hostage, and if we barge in, she probably won’t hesitate to use them like the pawns she sees them as.”

Lincoln hated what Lucy had just said, but he knew that she was right. Lola was acting like a madman.

The white-haired boy sighed. Usually, in a situation like this, he’d make up some harebrained scheme to resolve the issue at hand. Now, though, he kept himself from doing so. His hijinks had only caused trouble so far in the war. No matter what he tried to do to end the fighting, he only made things worse.

Well, things can’t get any worse now… can they?

“Lucy…” he said. After days of not talking to one another, Lincoln had a few questions for his 8-year-old sister. “Why did you betray me? We were so close to ending the war together.

“Lincoln… I’m so sorry. There’s no excuse for betraying you. If I just left you alone that day, we wouldn’t be in this mess… there would be no brain chips… mom and dad would be safe…”

“So why did you do it?” Lincoln’s question was short and direct. He still wanted an answer.

Lucy knew that it was time for her to come clean. Lola was furious with her for backstabbing her during the most important part of the pageant princess’ family takeover, so her secret would probably be leaked sooner or later anyway. It might as well come straight from Lucy herself. Who knows what kind of exaggeration Lola would add?

Besides… Lincoln deserved the truth.

Fox Mulder approves.

Lisa paced the houseboat living room floor in anger and frustration.

“You should have been more cautious,” she snapped at Lola. “Now, there’s a big dent in our plan.”

“How was I supposed to know Little-Miss-Spooky would go rogue?”, shot back the pageant princess.

While the two argued, the remaining Loud sisters could do nothing but watch. There was a gun held to their head; if they angered Lola, there was no telling what the pink nightmare would do to Lynn Sr. and Rita. The best they could do for now was to keep their mouths shut and look on.

Well, at least they aren’t chipped yet. That’s one good thing, isn’t it?

Lisa crossed her arms and ceased her pacing. “Well, there’s no time to waste. We might as well get the rest of these microchips in before we run into yet another interruption.”

Lynn was up next. Lisa figured that it was safest to chip her the next; after all, she was the strongest, and could put an end to Lola and Lisa’s scheme if she decided to attack.

“Get ready, Lynn.”

Before Lisa could even prepare her needle, an extremely loud knock was heard on the houseboat door.

Who’s there?

Justin

Justin who?

Justin time to end this nonsense!

Of course, she had made sure to lock it so that nobody from the outside would be able to get in easily.

“Lucy!”, yelled Lola, figuring that her oldest sister of two years was the one knocking. After all, Lincoln would be in too much pain to do so. “Don’t you remember that I have Mom and Dad in my hands? Step fifty feet away from the boat right now, or else!”

“What the hell are you talking about, Lola? Let me in!”

That voice was not Lucy’s. Instead of a monotone, it sounded authoritarian and older. Could it be…?

“That’s it! I’m breaking in!”

Lori kicked down the door. She saw Lisa holding a needle, the majority of her sisters sweating and fearful beyond belief, and, worse of all, her parents tied up and surrounded by police on a projector screen.

“What… Lola, whatever you’re doing in here is going to come to an end. Now.”

Preach, Lori! *waves a foam finger with “Go, Lori” on it* Only one more chapter to go!

Lynn Sr. was a husband, father, and friend to pretty much anybody who got to know him.

What he was not, however, was a criminal. Lori knew this to be a fact. The Loud father never stole, littered, or even disobeyed the rules of the road

Since when is littering worse than disobeying the rules of the road?

— in fact, he read his driving handbook each night before bed for entertainment.

So why, then, did Lori see him tied up at the police station? Was that even legal for the cops to do?

No, it wasn’t. Lola had something to do with this— her evil, smug smirk gave that away.

“Lola, whatever you’re doing in here is going to come to an end. Now.” Lori’s demand was sharp and clear. Her tone was authoritative and direct.

Lola’s smile widened.

“Oh, dear sister,” said the pink nightmare, walking slowly over to Lori.

“Pink nightmare” pretty much describes the whole story.

Did she have a death wish? Why was she coming closer? Lori was just about ready to turn her little sister into a human pretzel if she didn’t explain what was going on in the next couple of seconds. “What you see on that screen is simply my greatest work yet. Just listen closely to my orders, or I’ll command the nice policemen to, well, rough up mother and father a little bit. They’re under my control, after a—”

Lola’s eyes seemed to bulge out as Lori grabbed her neck. “You what?”, hissed Bobby’s girlfriend. Lola had not even told her about the brain chips yet, and Lori was already seething with rage; she didn’t like the fact that Lola seemed to not care at all about their parent’s wellbeing, and was willing to use it as a bargaining chip.

The rest of the Loud sisters, save for Lisa and Lucy, gasped as they saw Lori grab Lola. She, unlike them, was not caving in to Lola’s demands. Lori held her 6-year-old sister out in front of her effortlessly, staring into her eyes. “Answer me!”, she hissed.

Lor-i! Lor-i! Lor-i!

The pageant powerhouse remained calm, even when she was being held up in the air like a bag of potatoes. Lori was scary; if she was real angry, she was able to strike fear into the hearts of her siblings, nearly making their faces turn white. Her voice boomed with anger, so much so, that the sisters on the sideline stepped back in fear, despite the fact that Lola was the only person that Lori’s wrath was being directed at.

“Brain chips, Lori, brain chips!” squealed Lola, laughing. God, has she gone mad?

Like I said, the whole story did ages ago.

“I had Lisa whip up a few batches of them. I sent a good friend over to the police station to slip them in the friendly cops, and, now, they’re able to be controlled remotely like a toy! Isn’t it beautiful, Lori?”

Lola’s voice was dripping, no, oozing with a tone of insanity. Her words were poison. She was only six year old, but she sounded like a psychopath capable of mass murder without batting an eye. Even Lisa, standing a few feet away from the kerfuffle, looked concerned with the tone of Lola’s voice.

Lori tightened her grip on the pink nightmare’s shoulders, and shook her back and forth in the air. “Brain chips? Is this a joke? Lola, explain yourself!”

Lori is, as she’d say, literally every reader at this point.

And she did. Lori put the pageant princess down while she told her eldest sisters, as well as everybody in the room, about everything she had done. Lola explained that Hugh, Lincoln’s old tutor, traveled the world and went to foreign countries, including Mexico. Seeing an opportunity, Lola asked Lisa to whip up a batch of brain chips to put in him. She did, and Hugh was soon under their control after Lola had spiked his drink with the microchips the day he was visiting the Loud residence. Lola sent her new puppet on a trip to Mexico, where he implemented another drone; the Santiago family’s long lost father.

Lisa, using her funds from winning her Junior Nobel prize, had a hacienda built in the desert on the outside of Mexico City. After a couple of months, construction was complete, and it was time for the next phase of the plan; getting the Santiagos there. With brain chips, this part was easy. Using Hugh, Lola was able to send him to bug the minds of several Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and using them, was able to get the Santiagos down to Mexico despite the fact that they were fully legal and hard working citizens. With them out of the picture, Lola knew that Lori would have no choice but to fully focus on the war.

What?! But Mr. Santiago went away to Mexico long before the war even began!? That doesn’t make sense!

Of course, this didn’t go according to plan at all, as was evidenced by the fact that Lori had just been strangling Lola a few seconds ago. The pink nightmare had only gone through the lengths that she had because Lori was probably the most important person to have on her side of the war; she was the oldest, and the others looked up to and respected her. All of that for nothing, huh?

For the most part, Lori had stood still while Lola told her story, absorbing what she had said. Miraculously, the eldest Loud sibling did not cave in to her instincts and attack Lola; instead, she listened patiently to the entire speech.

Of course, when the speech was over, conditions did not remain the same. Fuming with pure, primal anger, Lori reached out to grab the pageant princess again.

However, Lola had made preparations for this.

As per.

Two, small square portions of the houseboat floor opened, and what appeared to be small, metallic arms reached out from the ground and grabbed Lori’s feet, stopping her in place. She flailed her arms out at Lola, but the 6-year-old was standing just far enough away to be safe from Lori’s grasp.

“Well, it looks like I win.”

Lola’s words were quiet but sharp. Unlike before, she wasn’t smiling anymore, but nor was she frowning. Her face just looked… empty.

“Now, all of you, including dear Lori, are going to get a free check-up by doctor Lisa consisting of a shot chock full of small, friendly brain chips.”

Friendly, my posterior!

No one resisted; they saw what happened to Lori. It was no use.

“Let’s start with our eldest!”

Lisa produced her syringe from her side pocket, and approached Lori, who was still struggling to break free.

All hope was lost.

At least, that’s what everybody thought. Just as Lisa was reaching up to Lori’s neck, the door slammed open, and a white-haired boy, followed by a black-haired girl, rushed into the room.

Just call them by their names, fic!

Lincoln stumbled, still in great pain from the shot, but quickly ran over to Lola, who was caught off guard. He pounced on her, bringing her to the ground. Lucy ran over to Lisa, who watched Lola in horror, slapping the needle from out of her hand.

It happened so fast. “Lincoln, you ruined everything!” cried Lola, struggling under her brother’s weight.

Blinded by rage, Lincoln smashed Lola and her big, stupid head into the ground as hard as he could.

The narrator is as fed up with her as I am.

He did this over and over and over again, not paying attention to the shrieks of pain that the 6-year-old was making in the process.

Her vision went blurry. She started to taste nothing but blood. Lola was certainly not having a good time.

Here comes Captain Obvious again.

“Lincoln, stop!” cried one of his sisters, but he didn’t care. He just smash, smash, smashed Lola again and again without a care in the world of what he was doing. She had caused too much pain. She had this coming to her.

Miraculously, and without any warning, Lola grabbed her own face and ripped it off before Lincoln could bash her skull against the floor another time.

Lincoln’s eyes bulged; he jumped backward in fear of what he saw.

Satan himself clawed his way out of Lola’s dress, growing large as he exited the pageant princess’ skin.

….

….

….

This is the moment where the author gave up.

“Jesus ch—!” That’s all Lincoln could say before the devil, now taking up half of the room, swiped at him, causing the white-haired boy to rapidly fly backward in the air across the room. He landed in the wall, making a large dent, before falling to the floor, every bone in his body now broken.

Good God, that’s violent!

The sheer force of Satan’s strike was powerful beyond measure.

“I’m Satan, hahaha!” cried the red, giant creature that had previously been dressed up as a pageant-loving 6-year-old. “Now, you will all die!”

Before he could do anything else, Lucy sprang into action, a large book tucked tightly under her arm. She opened the novel, quickly thumbed through the pages, and pointed her finger at Lucifer.

“Qwerty!”, she cried, an electric bolt shooting out from the tip of her finger and electrocuting Satan.

“No! NO! NO!”, cried the devil, shrinking and screaming in the process.

So Satan’s vulnerable to… computer keyboards!?

Before he knew it, the devil was no more; where he once stood, now only air occupied. Lincoln saw his sisters running and hugging Lucy. The devil was dead. Lola, or whatever ruse she had been, was now gone too, and forever.

So, that was Lucy’s secret! Lola was able to force Lucy to betray Lincoln by holding the fact that she was secretly a spellcaster over her head.

Then why didn’t she do that keyboard ritual sooner?!

He smiled before passing out.

---

Lincoln looked at the ocean, sprawled out so peacefully in front of him. He had awoken minutes ago, but was told that he was passed out for hours. When he awoke, he found his mother and father safe and sound, returned from the police station. Moreover, Lisa freed everyone who had a brain chip implemented in them. She was not punished due to the fact that Lola had forced her to do what she had done.

The healing process would take a long time. He’d have to get back on good terms with Clyde. He’d have to help Ronnie Anne and the rest of the Santiagos settle back into their old lives. He’d have to help his sisters through the loss of Lola.

For now, though, Lincoln simply watched the waves crash on to the shore.

And that’s the end to the hot mess that was Singled Out. Good riddance.