It was Friday night at the Loud House, and the living room felt like the center of the universe. Lincoln stood dramatically in front of the flat-screen, holding up a DVD case like a trophy.
"Tonight," he declared, "we watch ARGGH! — the scariest, creepiest, most spine-chilling horror movie of all time."
Clyde squeaked from the couch, gripping his inhaler. "Do we have to?"
"Of course!" Lincoln grinned. "It's tradition!"
Dante leaned casually against the armchair, a bowl of popcorn in his lap. His calm voice cut through the hype. "You're seriously hyping this up for your ten sisters? Half of them are gonna bail."
Lincoln puffed out his chest. "Nah. They can handle it."
As if on cue, Lori groaned from the doorway, scrolling on her phone. "Ugh, I'm not wasting my night on some dumb zombie movie."
Leni followed behind her, looking confused. "Wait… are zombies the sparkly ones, or the ones that eat brains?"
"Brains," Lucy whispered from the shadows, her voice extra eerie. "And souls."
Dante chuckled. "Guess we've got a split audience."
Within minutes, the living room was packed: Lola perched on a pillow with a tiara shining under the lamp, Lana beside her with a bucket of gummy worms, Luna sprawled across the rug tuning her guitar until Lori smacked her hand away from the strings. Even Lily toddled in, plopping herself in front of the TV with her blankie.
The lights dimmed. The opening credits rolled.
And then… darkness.
The TV fizzled, the lamps blinked out, and the entire house fell into black silence.
"AHHHHHH!" the sisters screamed in unison. Lincoln fumbled with the DVD remote, Clyde practically leapt into his lap, and Lola's tiara clattered to the floor.
"The power's out!" Lisa announced matter-of-factly. "We are experiencing a temporary loss of electricity."
"No duh," Lynn snapped, clutching her basketball like a weapon. "What are we gonna do?!"
From the armchair, Dante's voice was calm, almost amused. "Step one: don't panic."
"Too late!" Lincoln yelped as Lana accidentally stepped on his foot in the dark.
There was shuffling, bumping, and the occasional crash of furniture as the family scrambled. Luna lit up her phone flashlight, shining it on her face like a campfire story. "Well dudes, looks like it's officially a survival night."
Lincoln tried to take charge. "Okay, everybody listen to me. We'll get flashlights, candles, snacks—"
"No," Lynn cut him off. "I'm in charge. This is a survival situation, and I'm the athlete!"
"Correction," Lisa muttered, adjusting her glasses even in the dark. "This is not survival. Statistically, the power should return within two to three hours."
But Lynn wasn't listening. She grabbed a hockey stick and declared herself "Protector of the Louds."
Dante sighed, standing up to his full height. His outline looked like a giant in the dim phone glow. "Alright, listen up. Lincoln's got the brains, Lynn's got the energy. How about you both calm down and let's just… find some candles?"
The sisters, surprisingly, obeyed. Maybe it was his tone, or maybe it was just that Dante didn't sound panicked. Either way, Lincoln shot him a grateful look.
As the night wore on, the family turned the blackout into chaos.
Lola refused to move without someone "guarding her crown jewels."
Luan used the darkness to sneak around telling jump-scare jokes ("What did the ghost say to the lightbulb? Boo-hoo, you're out!").
Lana lit too many candles at once, nearly setting her shoelace on fire.
Clyde fainted at every shadow.
Lincoln tried to watch over everyone, but Dante noticed he was getting overwhelmed. "Hey, I'll check the breaker with your dad," Dante offered. "You keep the sisters from burning the place down."
Sure enough, after a few tries in the basement, the lights flickered back on. The sisters cheered like it was New Year's. Lincoln collapsed on the couch, exhausted.
Dante set the popcorn back down on the table and stretched. "So, what did we learn?"
"That horror movies cause blackouts?" Leni guessed.
"That I'm a hero," Lynn declared.
Lincoln sighed. "We learned that Loud House movie night is always doomed."
But when the credits finally rolled an hour later, Dante leaned back, smirking. "Hey, at least it wasn't boring."