*Ring!* The school bell finally rings, signaling the end to yet another mundane school day.
Immediately, the numerous students jump out of their desks and make a mad dash for the door. Many of them would make their way to some afternoon activity while others would break off to work or the like.
Yet some, like Linka, are part of what the teachers call, "The Two-Thirty-Five Club."
"Bout time." Linka quips, as she pushes her chair from her desks and takes to her feet. "Man, I feel like I haven't been in school since October!" The young girl stretches, before grabbing her book bag, a pink backpack with a red heart and white angel wings on the side.
"Hey Linka." Claudia walks over carrying her own bag, "You sure you don't wanna hang out today? My moms got a new cat and, you know, it's super cute!"
Linka shakes her head, "Sorry Claudia, as much as I'd like to see it, my dad really wants me home, it's a bit cold and he doesn't want me getting sick."
Claudia looks away in disappointment, "Ok then…"
"Don't feel down Claudia." Linka playfully grabs onto her arm, "We can hang out later ok? You can tell me about France and about those weird cosplayers you met in Paris!"
Immediately, Claudia's face goes red, "S-sure Linka, I'd love to do that!" And with that, two girls hug.
"Hey Linka! You comin'?" Lynn calls, "We're waitin' for ya sis!"
"Coming!" She breaks her hug with Claudia, grabs her bags, and runs over to her waiting siblings, "All right guys. Let's go home."
And with that, the Loud Siblings walk through the winding halls of Royal Woods Elementary and Middle School, before they come to a set of metal doors. Lynn and Leif nod at each other, before running at the door, slamming at the lock bars and forcing them open, causing a burst of cold airs to slam into them.
Linka responds by zippering her yellow button-down jacket and securing a red bonnet to her head. "Ok guys, let's move!"
Within minutes, the family is walking down the sidewalk, just as they had done countless times before. The warm sun's rays fall down upon the young family like rainfall, bringing a comforting heat to their frostbitten nerves.
"Hey Linka, how was your first day back?" Lynn walks side-by-side with his sister.
Linka smiles at him, "It was all right I guess. Nothing really interesting happened." While she thinks, "But I've had the strangest feeling that I should bring the Matter Key with me…"
Then she looks forward, "So how about you bro? Did you get to show off your you-know-what moves?"
Lynn rubs the back of his head and puts on a sheepish smile, "I would've but the teachers said it was too cold to do Baseball outside, so I ended up having to show off my Wiffleball skills.
"Yeah, Wiffleball, totally not the new ballet moves you showed me yesterday." Linka chuckles at the thought of Lynn dancing for her, while wearing a tutu.
"I'm sure the girls loved it." Linka jokingly quips.
"Ye-yeah, they loved it!" Lynn's face goes red in embarrassment, "The teacher said she had never seen anyone with my level of skill before."
Linka then turns around, "What about you guys, how'd you enjoy the first day back?"
"Sigh." Lars responds, "I ended up with more than enough inspiration for my story about bullying, I'm planning on calling it, 'Just Like A Purple Sky'." Then the young boy looks at the notebook he had written in, "My writing is still more interesting than everything else I did today… it almost reminds me of the futility of life."
"Bro… you really need to lighten up." Lexx responds, before puffing out his chest, "I, on the other hand, had been allowed to go on a date with my beloved Nala!" The actor boy then pulls out a picture of the blonde girl in pink overalls.
Aww, that's so cute! You two are perfect for each other!" Linka smiles and thinks, "Yeah, more perfect than you'd think. To think, I don't even know if dating the female counterpart of your twin from an alternate reality counts as incest or not."
Leif then speaks up, "Yeah, that's good for you bro." He crosses his arms in frustration, "Today wasn't that good for me."
Linka raises an eyebrow, "Oh? Why's that bro?"
"Is someone bullying you?" Lynn immediately cracks his knuckles, "You know what we'll do to anyone who hurts our brother!"
"Yeah, only we get to do that." Linka chuckles, "So tell us, what happened that's got you so riled up?"
"I got detention!" Leif flares his arms up.
Lexx turns to his twin, "Seriously? That's what you're annoyed about? Don't you get detention like every other day? What's got you so annoyed this time?"
"It's because well…" Leif looks at the ground, "I don't know how I was caught this time. Usually, if I'm caught I'm doing something out in the open, you know, like getting a little rough with a game, or being late to class." Then Leif looks back at his twin brother, "But this time, I was playing Pocket Monsters in my locker with my friend acting as lookout. He didn't know how it happened either."
"Oh?" Linka goes, "Maybe he just didn't notice them, after all, he could've been too busy watching you play."
Yet, Leif simply shakes his head, "The thing is though, he just appeared in front of us. My friend's pretty good at what he does and was actually looking around. You know, like an actual lookout. Then wham!" The young boy slaps his hands together, "He just appears out of nowhere and gives us both detention."
"Strange… maybe that's an anomaly or something…" Linka then shrugs, "Oh well then I guess. There's nothing much you can do about it now except serve it."
Lynn then nudges Linka, "Hey sis, we're here."
And with that, the brothers and their one sister turn.
"This is where I drop you guys off, I have to go to practice ok?" Lynn continues and his siblings respond by nodding.
"Awesome." Lynn then turns and continues down the block, his destination: a place only Linka knows about.
"Ok bros, let's head inside." Linka turn turns and continues down the icy path and over to the front door. With a quick movement, the door opens up… And immediately, Lexx and Levi run passed the girl with, "Time to open that new box of cards we got!"
Lars then follows, "I should get to writing, the only reason why I'm able to post something so soon is because a friend sent me an idea at the last second and I stayed up all night working on it. Yawn, I'm going to edit what I have, post it, and go to sleep." And with that, the spooky boy walks up the stairs.
"Heh, first day back to school. At least it could've been worse." And with that, Linka steps into the home, closes the door behind her and heads up to her room as well.
She throws her pretty pink bag on the floor, before plopping down in her chair, "What a day, random bullying from Chandler over Claudia's sexuality, random homework assignments, a kiss from Ron Andy…" Linka blushes, "That guy… he's so cute."
Linka then shakes her head, "You seriously have to get a hold of yourself Linka, err Lincoln, what would Ronnie Anne think?!" Her expression softens, "Actually, she thinks I'm gay for Clyde… right…"
"Well, let's see what damage the real Linka has done this time." She whispers, before going into her drawer and pulling out a familiar set of goggles. Within seconds, she's strapped in, "Ok GLaDOS, you-"
*Crash!* Linka hears one of the doors burst open, followed by some unintelligible screaming.
"Should I intervene? I mean… it sounds like my brothers are fighting…" the memory of what happened when her sisters fought echoes in her mind, "You know what, if the sisters have a sister fight protocol, I'm pretty sure the brothers-"
"Linka!" The twins kick open the girl's room door and shout, "We need your help!"
Linka stares at them in annoyance for a moment, before gritting her teeth, "Both of you, get out of my room and knock!" There is fire in the young girl's eyes as the twins back away slowly, close the door and knock twice.
"What the heck Linka?! Your sisters always barged in on you!"
The young girl takes a deep breath, before opening the door, revealing Leif and Lexx, standing with their hands both holding a Duel Monsters Card.
"What's the problem?" She asks, annoyance filling her voice.
Lexx speaks, "Leif and I pulled a rare card and we need help deciding who should get it!"
Leif responds, "I pulled it!"
Yet, his twin counters, "Yeah, but we always share our card pulls!"
"So… you barged into my room, to bother me with some menial issue like this?" Linka holds her anger back, "Why does this bother me so much?!"
"Uhh… yeah sis…" Leif rubs the back of his head. "We just don't know how to deal with this…"
Linka crosses her arms in frustration, "Seriously? You two play this game together! What do you want me to do?"
Lexx takes a deep breath, "We want you to choose who should get the card."
"Wow... well, I guess this is brother fight protocol..." Linka thinks for a moment, before snapping her fingers, "Ok guys, how about this: you both have Duel monsters decks, how about you both duel for it?"
Lexx and Leif look at each other in shock, before turning back to Linka and nodding. Lexx pulls out his duel disk and shouts, "Great idea Linka!"
"This brother fight is on!" Leif responds, before turning and running out of the room, "Race ya to the ARC System!"
"You're on!" Lexx shouts, before chasing his twin out the door.
With that, Linka sits back down and chuckles, "I guess brother fights are just more relaxed than sister fights. After all, in a sister fight they wouldn't even talk to each other. And when they did, they'd always ended up arguing more."
*Slam* the front door goes.
"We're home guys!" Loki calls out, before the four oldest Loud Brothers head up to their rooms.
"Hmm, I should ask about it. After all, who knows, maybe it could come in handy." Linka then stands up and walks over to Luke and Lane's room.
"Knock, knock." She goes, knocking on the door as she does so.
Luke flinches, before he turns and responds, "Hey Link, what brings you here so soon?"
"Oh I-"
"Three!" Lane shouts, cutting her off.
Linka turns to the clown boy and tilts her head in confusion, "Three?"
Lane throws his head back in laughter, "Oh nothing Linka. I was just estimating how many d-"
Immediately, Luke slaps him upside the head, "Not the time Luke, you seriously need to watch your mouth." Then, Luke turns to his sister, "So, why'd you come Link? You know we have to get to homework, before we do anything else."
Linka rubs the back of her head in embarrassment, "Oh, sorry. I just wanted to ask you something... in my room."
Luke raises an eyebrow, "Girl stuff huh?"
"Ye- yes." Linka nervously responds.
"Come on sis!" Lane gestures at the young girl's hair, "Hair are you going? You just got here!"
Immediately, she turns and looks at the room's mirror... only to find that her long, white locks were now randomly twisted and turned, as well as the top was more rounded than usual, "No doubt about it, I have hat hair!"
"No, no, it's now about my hat hair..." Linka sighs, "Though I do have to get it fixed later." She then turns to Luke, "I just wanted to ask you something personal Luke."
"Ooo, maybe you can show her your moves bro!" Lane playfully nudges Luke, eliciting a glare from his older sibling.
"You know... after dealing with lanes shitty puns, I thought I'd stop getting angry over them... but you know what, I haven't." Linka thinks, before asking, "So can we talk?"
Luke hesitates for a moment, before grabbing his bass guitar, strapping it to his back and nodding. "All right sis. Let's go."
A few seconds later, the duo are standing in Linka's room once more.
"So, why'd you call?" Luke sits on the young girl's bed and begins to strum away."
Linka rubs the back of her head nervously, "I just wanted to ask you something."
"Yeah? Is it about you-know-who?"
Linka shakes her head, "No, no. I was just wondering if you guys have a 'brother fight protocol' or something like that."
"Brother fight protocol?" Luke tilts his head in confusion, "What's that sis?"
The young girl's voice softens, "Back home, my sisters had an entire list of stuff they had to do when two or more of them got in an argument. What do you guys do here?"
Luke rubs his chin, "Well, it's not so much or a protocol as it is just what we do." Luke motions for Linka to sit down next to him and she complies, "We just kick each other's arses and make sure that you're not around to see."
"Why's that?"
"There are reasons I'd rather not talk about, but the main reason is cause us guys, unlike those girls you see in your five o'clock cartoons, can go a bit... overboard. And we don't want to risk you getting hurt."
"And why would-"
*Boom!*
"What was that?!"
Luke stands up, "Sounds like it came from the backyard!" He then turns and runs out the door.
"Should I? If it's a brother fight..." Linka hesitates, before shaking her head, "Nah, these are your brothers! Their fights can't get that out of hand... right?"
Then, she stands up and follows.
A few moments later, she runs out the door and into the freezing, snow-filled backyard, where her brothers and standing, watching Leif and Lexx duke it out for their prize
"So, what's going on Loki?" Linka runs over to her eldest brother.
Loki turns to her and responds, "Oh, nothing Linka!" He puts on a desperately sheepish smile, "Lexx and Leif are just having a nice, calm duel is all."
"A duel?!" Linka's voice fills with excitement, "Can I watch bro?!"
"No, no. Uhh..." Loki quickly looks around, "Wouldn't you rather uhh..."
Linka looks him straight in the eyes and uses her own, "Please big brother. I wanna see my brothers play."
"Dad is going to kill me if I let her see this..." Loki hesitates, "but if she really wants to be our brother... it may help her to know how we sort our problems out... just to know what she's getting into..."
"Please Loki." Linka begs and Loki sighs, "All right sis. You know I could never say no to those eyes."
Linka squeaks in delight, "Thanks Loki! You're the best!" And with that, she hugs him.
"Yeah, yeah." Loki responds, "I guess having a soft spot for my sister is the reason why I'm her favorite."
And so, Linka stands in front of her brothers as she watches Leif and Lexx's fight.
"Go Raikiri! Destroy Revolution Falcon!" Lexx points at his disheveled twin. Leif's blue overalls are torn with only one strap remaining in place while his hat is tattered. Lexx is no better, however, his typical white polo and pink scarf are dirtied and tattered from the battle at hand.
Immediately, the birdman flies up. Raikiri is bird-like with a metal right wing, and black left wing. He has bird-like feet and a samurai sword in his right hand and his body is covered in bird-like purple armor.
With one swoop the beast cuts the robot bird in half.
"Now attack his life points directly!" Lexx declares, "End this duel Raikiri!"
"I'm not letting you win that easily Lexx!" Leif shouts, "I banish RaidRaptor Readiness in the grave to protect my life points this turn!"
Immediately, and translucent barrier appears around the young boy, causing the birdman's attack to flow around him.
"Curses." Lexx lowers his disk, "I end my turn."
"My turn!" Leif declares, "And I'll play Rank-Up-Magic Soul Shave Force!" Immediately, Leif's counter falls to 500 while the once destroyed Revolution falcon takes to the field once more, before glowing with purple aura and flying into a starry black hole.
Leif's voice fills solemnity as he shouts, "Dauntless falcon, ignite the flames of rage and become the light that scorches the Earth! Go, Rank-Up Xyz Evolution! You're clear for take off, RaidRaptor Satellite Cannon Falcon!"
And with that, a massive metal bird takes to the field, a golden shielding protects its rounded white body while its wings consist of thin metal sheets with engines at the sides takes to the field.
"Oh poop." Lexx goes.
"You know it bro." Leif responds, before pointing at the avian warrior, "Kill Sat Falcon! Destroy Raikiri!"
And with that, the massive metal bird raises its elongated neck towards the heavens, aims it's engines and launches itself into the stratosphere. Finally, Leif shouts, "Go! Stellar Cannon Bombardment!"
Within seconds, a bright green laser descends from the stratosphere, zeroing out the birdman's attack and engulfing both him and Lexx in a pillar of light... as well as causing a pile of snow to fall on Linka and Loki.
Lane breaks out into laughter, "I guess that's what you call some 'Angry Birds'!" Then he points at his brothers, "That's what happens when you guys have a cock fight!"
"Well, at least these jokes don't grind my gears." Linka thinks, before she pushes through the snow covering her. "A-chu!"
"You ok sis?" Loki reacts and immediately pulls out a handkerchief.
Linka simply nods in response, "Yeah bro, I'm fine. Just a bit cold is all. That was amazing!"
Loki smiles, nods and motions back at the two brothers.
"Ahh, good game Lexx, but alas, I win." Leif declares as he walks over to his twin. Lexx lies in a small crater with his arms outstretched. Leif offers his hand.
Lexx tiredly opens his eyes, "Good game Leif, you win this round." And with that, he takes Leif's hand, "You win the card."
And with that, Leif outstretches his arms, "Awkward sibling hug?"
"Awkward sibling hug." Lexx responds, and the twins come together in an embrace, before their eyes go wide and they both say, "Pat, pat."
"Huh, I guess that-"
"Boys!" Lynn Sr. angrily shouts, immediately grabbing the Loud Brother's attention. Their father stands in front of the backdoor, his arms crossed and his expression filled with rage, "Living room, now! Linka, head up to your room while I talk to your brothers!"
Linka nods, "Ok…" before walking passed her father and going up to her room.
The boys on the other hand, file in and take their places at the living room couch. A fearful hush overtakes the boys as their father stands in front of them.
"So, care to tell me who's bright idea was it to let Linka see one of your sibling fights? You know how out of hand they can get!" The man's voice is filled with both concern and anger.
"Come on dad, it wasn't that bad!" Loni looks away and puts an awkward smile on, "I mean, she wasn't in any danger!"
Lynn Sr. facepalms, "Leif just fired a laser from orbit. I trust you boys with that ARC system because you're tough enough to take the hits! But Linka isn't. She ended up covered in snow and shivering because of your antics!"
Loki then stands up, "I apologize for my lapse in judgment. I tried to get her to leave, but she asked to see what Leif and Lexx were doing and I decided that their game was in no way dangerous to her. So I decided to let her watch."
"Oh really now?" Lynn Sr. thinks for a moment, "Then tell me Loki, was she entertained?"
"Yes sir, she seemed to enjoy their game, no matter how little of it she got to see." Loki's voice fills with a submissive authority.
"Ok then." The father then turns to his wife, and Rita nods, "All right then, you are not grounded."
"But?" Luke asks.
"We're letting you off the hook because Linka asked to see and seemed to be entertained, but don't let her see your fights. We don't want to remind her of the 'incident' a few years back."
Levi, Lexx and Leif all tilt their heads in confusion, but remain silent as their father continues.
"Is that clear?"
"Understood sir." The boys unanimously respond.
Lynn Sr. then turns to his wife, "Good, now all of you, go to your rooms. And Loki, send Linka down to help your mother cook dinner." And with that, he takes the young Leon in his arms and walks into his own bedroom.
And with that, the brothers head to their rooms, with Loki walking over to Linka's modified linen closet.
"Hey Linka." Loki's voice is filled with a fatherly care.
Linka takes off her goggles and responds, "Yeah bro?"
"Mom and dad want you to come down, Mom needs your help cookin'."
Linka smiles, "Awesome, I'll be down in a few seconds."
Then, the young soldier turns, "Oh, and sorry about having to see that. We usually try to keep our fights out of sight because… sometimes we get a little carried away."
Linka simply waves him off, "It's fine Loki, I found it very entertaining to see, after all, it's not everyday I see a satellite canon fly up into space and send a laser crashing down." While she thinks, "But why do I feel like I'm supposed to have repressed memories of something involving a fight…"
And then, she sneezes, "Ah-chu!"
"You ok sis?" Loki stares at her with determination filling his eyes.
"Yeah Loki." Linka waves him off, "I'm fine."
The eldest brother nods, "All right then. If you need to talk or need help with something, you know where to find me."
"Thanks Loki."
And with that, the young man turns around and walks away, leaving the young girl behind.
Meanwhile…
"Well Luke… what to do, what to do. I've finished my homework and my daily song." He whispers.
"And the real Linka's in an alternate reality, and I can't even talk to her… the closest I can get are Link's goggles… that were made by Levi!" The young man's eyes go wide in realization, "I can talk to her. I just need to get Levi to make me a set of goggles that have that ability!"
He then turns and jumps out of his bed, before making a beeline for the door and walking over to his scientist brother's room.
"Hey Levi, you busy right now?"
Levi turns from his computer and shakes his head, "Not at all brother. I'm just working with Chlorine Trifluoride and some Azidoazide Azide. Is there anything you need?"
Luke rubs the back of his head, "Yeah, you made those Dimension-viewing goggle-things for Linka correct?"
"Yes I did." Levi turns around and scrolls to his schematics of the device, "I've been working on the device, but seeing as the prototype has been so successful and Linka hasn't really asked for anything other than minor corrections, I have had no reason to start production on an upgraded version." Then his voice fills with slight embarrassment, "That and that the U.S. Army would try to get me to make more of these for 'national security' purposes."
"Oh… I see…" Luke's voice fills with uncertainty. "Well I was wondering if you could, maybe, make another set for me?"
Levi shrugs, "Sure. But for what purpose if I may ask? What's in it for me, and what features do you want it to have specifically?"
Luke sighs, "I want the goggles to have the ability to talk to people within those alternate universes, because I'm curious. As for what's in it for you… what do you want?"
"To be honest brother, I'll do it for no cost, I'll just save it as a favor for later, if that's all right with you."
For a moment, Luke hesitates, yet he simply sighs in defeat, "Ok Levi. That's fine." While he repeats, "I need to talk to you Linka… and I guess Link needs to talk to you as well given as they say you're ruining their life…"
And with that, he turns and walks out of the room, "Thanks Levi."
Then scientist then turns back to his computer, "I hope that I'll be able to fulfill my end of this deal, after all, these pesky anomalies just keep on growing, and I can't seem to deal with this stuff yet."
"Why don't you want to come home Linka…" Luke thinks as he carefully walks down the stairs, his base guitar strapped firmly to his back, "We loved you, did everything we could to protect you, heck! We wouldn't stop caring for you!"
"Hey Luke." Lars greets, while appearing from the shadows.
Immediately, the young man flinches, "G'ahh! Where'd you come from?!"
"I wanted to ask you about a story I was writing."
"Why do you ask Linka? She's a better choice for writing than me after all."
Lars responds, "Sigh, I would, but she's currently busy cooking dinner for us., and it's not a good idea to interrupt their mother-daughter bonding time."
The memory of the last time one of the boys tried to cut in on their two girls bonding flashes in the young man's mind, causing him to shiver. "Hmm, ok then. What's your story idea?"
Lars takes a deep breath and responds, "It's-"
The next day…
*Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* The alarm clock goes, filling the dark morning with its annoying greeting.
"Ugh." Linka groans, "Morning already?"
She tiredly leans over and smashes her hand against the "snooze" button, causing the digital device to stop its beeping… only for it to immediately switch to radio, "Good morning Royal Woods! It's a beautiful Tuesday morning up here! It's a balmy twenty-seven degrees and the weather calls for some spotty snowfall and sunshine!"
"Well… I guess it's not as bad as it could be." Linka thinks, before she tosses and turns in her bed for a moment, eventually causing her to end up sitting straight up. *Yawn* "Ok then. Let's-"
"Kids! Hurry! You're going to be late!" Rita shouts, her motherly voice cutting through the morning chaos.
Linka groggily stands up and sneezes, "Ugh." And with that, she tiredly walks downstairs. Her brothers are already waiting at the tables, with Rita serving them bacon and eggs, just as they always want.
"Good morning Linka!" Rita greets. The lone daughter tiredly takes her seat next to her father, before tiredly responding, "Good morning mom."
"You feelin' ok sis? You don't look too hot." Lynn goes, tilting his head as he says so.
"Yeah, bro. I'm fine."
Rita stares at her daughter for a moment, before standing up, walking over to the first aid kit they keep bolted by the door and pulling out a special gun-shaped thermometer. "You sure Linka?"
Linka puts on a weak smile and nods, "Yeah mom."
"Let's see what this says…" Rita aims and the device measures her temperature. A few seconds later, the reading comes up. "Linka you have a fever of one hundred and three degrees, you're sick. You have to stay home from school today."
The Loud Brothers respond by turning to their waiting father, as if preparing for a command to come.
"If they are anything like my sisters back home, I have a bad feeling about what is about to happen." Linka thinks, before Rita grabs hold of her arm, "Come on Linka. Let's get you in bed."
Linka sighs in defeat, "All right mom, let's go." And with that, the mother leads her daughter up to her room.
Back at the table, Lynn Sr. puts his newspaper down and looks at his five eldest children, "You boys know what to do, make sure Linka's sick day is at least somewhat tolerable. I'll call you all in sick to take care of her, ok?"
The five eldest boys nod, before standing up and rushing to their rooms.
Lynn Sr. then stands up and walks into the kitchen where his five youngest children are eating, "You five, get ready for school. Your sister may be sick, but I can't give all of you a free pass to take care of her.
A collective groan emanates from the four youngest boys, while Leon just continues playing with his food.
"I'm driving you, so come on and hurry up." And with that, Lynn Sr. walks over to his room.
Within minutes, the youngest siblings eat their meals and rush up to their rooms as well.
"Feel better Linka, your older brothers are going to take care of you today, all right?" Rita assures, while tucking her sick daughter in.
"Thanks mom." Linka responds, before turning to her and closing her eyes. "Well, at least things can't get too bad. After all, it's just five brothers and they're just going to make sure that today isn't going to be that bad… I hope at least."
And with that, Rita stands up and steps out of the room… only for her first brother to walk in with, "Hey Linka!"
The sick girl rolls on her bed, only to find Lane standing before her, with Mrs. Coconuts resting on his arm.
"Why do I feel like I don't wanna know where that puppet has been." Linka thinks, while she groggily responds, "Hey Lane."
"What did the suited banana say to the apple?" Lane speaks through his dummy.
Linka responds, "I don't know, what?"
Lane smiles as Mrs. Coconuts finishes, "I find this clothing really a-peel-ing!"
"Heh, that's the best joke you made all week Lane." Linka responds with a smile, "Plus, it's the only one that hasn't made me mad!"
"I got another one, wanna hear Link?"
"Sure Lane."
"Ok Mrs. Coconuts, what's a pirate's favorite letter?" Lane smiles as the puppet responds, "I don't know Lane, what is it?"
"Now, you may think it's arr, but nay! His love be the C!" Lane's voice gains a powerful excitement to it.
Linka chuckles, "Haha! You did a great job Lame! Those puns weren't Lane!"
Lane responds by throwing his head back in laughter as well, "Nice pun sis." And with that, he stands up and walks out of the room, making sure to close the door eer so slowly as he does so.
Then he turns, and comes face-to-face with his four other brothers.
"What the heck Lane?! You know that the best way to take care of a sick sister isn't to tell them bad puns, it's to play music to them." Luke strums his acoustic guitar with that.
"You pretend what you say you feel. You pretend that you're something special. All you're lies that you hide behind- " Luke starts to sing… only for Lane to pull a pie out and smash it against his older brother's face.
"We want Linka to feel better not feel like she doesn't matter!" Lane counters.
"Ok then!" Luke wipes the pie off his face and strums again. "Still, and silent. A calm before the storm-"
Lane cuts him off again, while clenching his fists, "That'll just put her to sleep!"
Luke secures his guitar to his back and clenches his fists as well. "Maybe that's what she needs! She's sick after all! What makes you think she wants lame puns for six hours straight?!"
"Guys, guys calm down." Loni gets between them, "What Linka needs is fashion and construction stuff. She's going to be bored waiting for her cold to go away, so the least we can do is go in there and make sure that she's not too bored!"
Luke and Lane look at their older brother for a short moment, before looking back at each other and punching.
Immediately, Luke and Lane fall to the ground, doing their best to overpower the other.
"She needs nice music!" Luke wrestles Lane under him, yet, not to be outdone, Lane forces Luke off and gets on top, "No! She needs laughs! Laughter makes everything better after all!"
"Guys! Stop fighting! Linka's sick, it's not the time to argue over how to take care of her!" Loni begs, while desperately trying to stop his younger siblings from fighting.
"Guys! Attention!" Loki commands, and immediately, Loni, Luke and Lane stand up and fall into line. "Seriously?" The young man's voice is filled with annoyance, "Linka's sick and you guys are fighting?! Make up right now or so help me I will turn you into human pretzels!"
Lane rubs his arm awkwardly, while Luke mounts his acoustic guitar.
"Sorry bro. I just got a little carried away." Lane looks away shamefully.
"Sorry, I did too." Luke responds, "Laughter an music will both help speed up her recovery, right?" Luke then begins to strum away, creating a soft melody.
Loni cuts in, "Yeah! And to stop her from being bored, I can go through fashion magazines with her! Girls love fashion right?!"
Luke grits his teeth, "Yeah, our sister loves fashion." While he thinks, "I just hope whoever is in her body right now does as well, or else they're in for a boring time."
Loki rubs his chin, "Ok then. Get to work you three. Lynn and I have to make the chicken soup for her."
"Sir, yes sir!" The three boys respond, before Luke revs up his acoustic guitar and walks into Linka's room. Loni and Lane then both turn and run over to their room to prepare, while Loki and Lynn head downstairs to make the soup.
A few hours later…
"Ok, there's only one thing let to do Lynn." Loki goes, before pulling some soup out in a ladle and tasting it. He smacks his lips for a second, before nodding, "Perfect for our sick little sister."
Lynn cheers, "Awesome! Let's give it to her!"
"Sure, I'll give it to her in a few-"
"But I want to give it to her!" Lynn cuts in, "After all, she feels most comfortable around me!"
Loki raises an eyebrow in response, "Oh really now?" He throws his head back in laughter, "Giving soup to our sister is my job!"
"I heard laughter!" Lane sticks his head into the kitchen, "What's the joke?"
Loki motions at his younger brother, "Lynn here just said that he should bring the soup to Linka."
Lane smiles, "The soup's done?! I wanna bring it to Linka too!" Lane then steps into the kitchen.
"No fair! Loki and I worked for hours to get mom's recipe right!" Lynn cuts in, "I skipped practice and didn't spend too much time with Linka to help!"
Loni and Luke then both stick their heads in the opening, "We heard screaming, what's the issue?" Then their eyes fall upon the pot, filled with mama's homemade soup. The two then look at each other for a moment, before the realization hits them, and together they shout, "We want to give her the soup too!"
"If you want to give her the soup, you'll have to get passed me!" Loki declares, before raising his fists in defiance.
Lynn proceeds to tackle him to the floor. Yet, Loki reacts quickly and throws him off, before rolling back, and pushing Lane away from the cauldron.
Loni comes from behind to stop him with, "Loki, guys, we don't need to fight!"
Luke proceeds to come up and restrain Lane. Lynn takes advantage of the situation and pours a bowl filled with the soup.
"Not today!" Loki shouts, before elbowing Loni, causing his slightly younger brother to pull back in pain. "You're not getting away that easily Lynn!"
Luke then lets go of Lane… only for Lane to run and immediately do the same, only to be countered by Loni.
"Boys!" A feminine voice angrily calls out, "To the couch, now!"
Within moments, the five oldest Loud Boys are sitting on the couch, beaten and bruised, but still very much conscious.
"What do you kids have to say for yourselves?!" She angrily shouts, "Your sister is sick and you guys can't stop arguing to take care of her?! How am I supposed to leave her in your trust if you guys keep breaking out into fist fights?!"
The boys look at each other regretfully, before turning to their mother and sorrowfully responding, "We're sorry mom."
"Good, now take care of your sister, I have to make a few phone calls." And with that, their mother walks out of the living room and into their parent's bedroom.
"Together?" Lynn asks and Loki responds, "Together."
A few minutes later…
*Knock* *knock* the door to Linka's room goes.
The sick young girl tiredly responds, "Come in."
And immediately, the door to her room opens up, revealing five bruised, but still conscious brothers, each holding a bowl of chicken soup.
"What did you guys fight over this time?" Linka asks with a concerned tone.
Loni waves her off, "Oh nothing much. It was just some boy stuff, no big deal."
The young girl smiles, before taking Loki's bowl of soup in her hands, "Thanks you guys, you're the best brothers a girl can have!"
The brothers simply nod in agreement, before turning around and leaving the girl alone in her room once more.
Linka then sighs, "I just wish you really were my brothers."
A few more moments of silence pass… before another person knocks on the door. "Come in." Linka responds, and a familiar woman opens the door.
"How are you feeling? Rita steps into her sick daughter's room.
"I'm all right I guess." Linka lies back, "The guys are doing a great job caring for me."
"That's great to hear Linka." Rita whispers, before placing a loving kiss upon her daughter's forehead and walking out of the room, making sure to turn the lights off, before she closes the door. "Goodnight!"