The living room floor was a battlefield. Controllers scattered, chip bags ripped open, and Lincoln was locked in the most intense video game match of his life.
"C'mon, c'mon, almost there—YES!" Lincoln shouted, mashing buttons furiously.
"Not so fast," Dante said, leaning forward, his eyes sharp with focus. His thumbs moved like lightning, pulling off a combo Lincoln hadn't even seen before.
On-screen, Lincoln's character went flying into digital flames.
Lincoln dropped his controller. "No way! You didn't even know that move!"
Dante leaned back with a grin. "Guess I picked it up fast."
From the couch, Clyde adjusted his glasses nervously. "I've never seen anyone beat Lincoln that badly."
"Don't rub it in," Lincoln muttered, glaring at Dante.
The sisters, who had been drifting in and out of the room, started to take notice. Lynn Jr. shoved her way to the front, cracking her knuckles. "If he's good at games, I'm challenging him to Super Slam Fighters! No one beats me at that one."
"Correction," Lisa said from behind her book. "Statistically speaking, there is always someone better. You may be about to meet him."
The match started, and almost immediately, Dante's character took the lead. Lynn Jr. tried every trick in the book — button mashing, screaming at the screen, even trying to distract him by tossing a basketball in the air — but nothing worked.
"Game over," Dante said, cool as ever, as her character fell off the final stage.
"WHAT?!" Lynn jumped up. "Rematch!"
"Nope," Dante said with a laugh, handing the controller to Lola. "Your turn."
For the next hour, the Loud House turned into a gaming tournament. Each sibling tried their luck, and each one fell. Lola shrieked when her character's hair caught fire, Lana giggled as her frog avatar leapt into oblivion, and Luna strummed her guitar angrily when Dante's rockstar character "out-soloed" hers.
Even Lisa lost, though she claimed the controller lagged.
By the end of the night, the sisters were slumped on the couch, groaning in defeat.
Lincoln crossed his arms, sulking. "You're officially banned from video games in this house."
"Aw, c'mon," Dante said, smirking. "You need me on your team next time you face Chandler. Trust me."
Lincoln perked up at the mention of his rival. "Wait… you'd team up with me?"
"Of course," Dante said, tossing him the controller. "What are brothers for?"
Lincoln blinked at the word "brothers," then smiled. Maybe losing didn't feel so bad after all