Chapter Text
"It's finally here! The live season finale of the greatest show ever!" Happy Lincoln crosses out the date on the calendar. Then he began to talk to himself, figuratively addressing invisible spectators.. "But Lincoln, with ten sisters, there's no way you're going to get to watch your favorite show.' And you'd be right. Every Sunday at 8, it's the same thing. But tonight, I have a OUCH!" His monologue was interrupted by a folder with paper falling on his head.
Rubbing his head, Lincoln picked up an object that had come from nowhere and began to examine it: the cover of the folder was cyan and it was written "Episodes". Out of curiosity, he opened it. The first page was called "Left in the Dark".
"Hah, it's just like in the advertisement..." Lincoln chuckled and sat down on the bed.
"And what do we have here? Wow, these are my own words that I didn't get to say, because of you. There I call Clyde, we talk and understand that it's almost 8... Almost 8?!" Lincoln checks the time, he noticed that there were still a few minutes left before the announced time. "Oh, I have some time." He wanted to continue reading, but he had a question.. "But who could write this? Not Lori. Definitely not Leni. Not in Luna style. It's too hard and strange to be a Luan joke. Nothing to say about Lynn. Not Lucy; she writes everything by herself, not printing. Some words are too difficult for twins, so not them. And only Lisa left, maybe she creates things to predict the future? But for some reason, she gives it to me, I should ask her later." He decides to read further" What's next? My plan with the twins works; I distract Luan with them, give Lisa what she wants, trick Lynn, scare Leni... Too bad that I didn't come up with a better idea. Then I give the flashlight to Luna, distract Lori with her phone, and put Lily in the laundry basket... and I forgot about Lucy... I forgot about Lucy?!"
Lincoln put his hands to his head in a panic and ran out of the room, still holding the folder, but ignoring sounds of his walkie-talkie. In a hurry, Lincoln quickly executed his plan, distracting his sisters. He didn't even listen what they says. When he reached the couch with no one on it or around. He quickly grabbed the remote control. "Ha! I'm first!" He stood in a victory pose, victoriously raising the remote control. Then he noticed Lucy approaching.
She noticed the remote in his hands. "Sigh." Lucy said emotionlessly and walked away. Sadness on her sister's face(that her face was hidden didn't stop him from seeing it) upset Lincoln; he thought she most likely wanted to watch her show about vampires. Boy didn't want to leave his sister sad and remembered about the old black-and-white TV that Lucy might like more than the colorful.
"Lucy, wait!" Lincoln ran after her, hiding the remote in his pocket.
"You came first. TV is yours. That's the rule." Lucy turned to him. "I don't watch your show. You know it."
"I know, I'm talking about something else." Lincoln smiled. "I was just thinking about you and remembered that we still have dad's old black-and-white TV. Vampires must look great on it, right?"
"Black and white are my favorite colors." A barely noticeable smile appeared on her face, but it quickly disappeared. "Why are you doing this? Your show is starting soon. I don't think you want to miss it."
"Making my sister happy seems more interesting than the 'ARGGH!' season finale." He didn't want to miss even part of the season finale, but Lucy's smile was worth more to him. Then a sudden realization came to Lincoln. "And I can put the TV on record! Lucy, I'll go get the TV to your room; can you please put the season finale on record?" He ran upstairs.
"Sure." A more noticeable smile appeared on her face. She noticed a folder with papers on the couch, the unremarkable brown color and the absence of anything on the cover had little to say to the goth. When she opened it, Lucy saw only blank pages and nothing more. She closed it back.
"How can only two colors be so heavy?" Putting the TV on the bed and wiping the sweat from his forehead, Lincoln was about to insert the plug into the socket when he noticed its condition. "Oh, it's better not to use that one. But I'm almost out of time, maybe Lana can help?"
Opening the door to the twins' room, he saw youngest sisters sitting at the table and Luan with camera sitting on Lola's bed.
"Hey Lana, I could use your help." Lincoln approached them.
"We are busy!" Lola crossed her arms and had a look of annoyance on her face.
"Did something break?" Lana, unlike Lola, was not upset by his interruption.
"I want to turn on dad old TV for Lucy."
"Old TV?" Lana raised an eyebrow. "Ah! That one with a bad plug! It will take five minutes, Lola. I'll be quick!" Tomboy grabbed a bunch of tools and ran out of her room. Lola muttered to herself unhappily, Luan giggled quietly. Apologized, Lincoln left and went to Lucy and Lynn's room. Upon entering, he noticed Lucy sitting on her bed and Lana working on the plug.
"Thanks, Lincoln. I put recording on." Lincoln nodded to goth and stood next to Lana.
"A little bit of blue tape and, Voila! No short circuits! I'll take a closer look at him later. I'm off!" She quickly left the room. Lincoln plugged the TV into the socket, the screen began to show a black-and-white picture, changing the channel several times. Lincoln found himself right at the beginning of Lucy's show.
"Here we go! Enjoy Lucy!" He ran back downstairs. He was glad to notice the sisters were absent, the 'ARGGH!' had already started. "And I didn't even miss anything, not counting the intro!"
He sat down on the couch and noticed the folder. "Hah, if not you, I wouldn't be sitting here now. I'll have to ask Lisa about you later, and say thanks." Even greater curiosity made him read the contents of the "Episodes" further. "What's next? Hmm, because of hurry with Lucy and bad plug, power goes out. Luan would make a joke as usual. Lisa gave her a cookie for... a 'good' joke? This is clearly not Lisa's style. Whatever. Because of the cookie, Luan started to glow... I take it back. It's Lisa's style. Luan jokes again, ugh. I forgot about Lucy... again. Then we all go to the basement from which creepy sounds come. Please let there be no ghosts there. Oh, it's just a pipe, Cliff, Lily, and Clyde. Then electricity is back and it becomes clear that I missed the finale, aw. Well, at least my sisters tried to cheer me up."
Suddenly, the lights go out, and Lincoln hears his sisters' panicked screams. He was very confused because he had read that the reason for the shutdown was an old TV, which had been repaired by Lana. Lincoln didn't doubt his sister's skills, but he couldn't think of any other reason; maybe Lisa had made a mistake in her prediction? He'll still going to miss what he's been waiting for all week? This realization made him groan in frustration.
"Mine and Clyde's idea didn't work out." Lincoln thought to himself. "Perfect evening ruined."
Soon he heard footsteps, urging on by Lori's voice. He turned around and saw Lori and Luan. It was too dark to see others. Lori was using her phone as a flashlight, and Luan was still holding her camera.
"My equipment is the cause of the network overload." Lisa voice replied to Lincoln.
Now Lincoln was trying to figure out what was happening. Now, instead of him, it was Lisa who caused the shutdown. But, if she predicted the future, wouldn't she be more careful with electricity? Lincoln didn't like the next thought: what if she didn't do it? What if...
"Let's go, Lincoln." Lori roughly grabbed his arm. "We're going to the basement to get the light back."
"Hey!" Luan was excited. "What did the power outlet say to the plug? 'You electrify me with your voltage! Get it? Get it?" She laughed at her own joke, everyone sighed.
"You used your physics knowledge to create a joke, which deserved a cookie." Lisa handed it to Luan.
"And what will happen to Luan when she eats the cookie?" Lincoln decided to ask. He decided to check if Lisa knew the future. If she knows that he knows, then she won't answer, that's the idea.
"I infuse the bioluminescent DNA of the Aequorea victoria jellyfish into a cookie. I call them... Oops." Lisa realized that she had delivered her speech earlier than she wants.
"Lisa!" Lori turned to the scientist, looking angry. "Mom and Dad told you not to...Luan!"
"Yummy!" Luan brushed away the crumbs. She began to glow, and the others moved away from her. "Oh, it actually works!" She examined her hands. "I always knew I was the light of your life." She laughed again, and everyone sighed again
"Even the joke was repeated, and perfectly." Lincoln thought to himself. He felt a touch. He had enough self-control not to scream; it was Lucy who took his hand, in the dark she was almost invisible.
"We'll talk about this later." Lori pushed Luan forward. "Move."
Thanks to the light from Luan, Lincoln was able to see the others, Leni was holding Lori's by shoulders like hiding behind her. Luna was holding Lily. Twins looked scared and were holding Lynn's hands, her face showed that she didn't like this. Lisa now stood up at the end.
Approaching the descent into the basement, Luan unexpectedly stopped.
"What?" Lori's voice implied that the comedian shouldn't do it.
"Um, can someone else go first?" She turned around and smiled nervously. "I'm the light of your life indeed... but giant moths aren't included in my list."
"Giant moths?!" Leni screamed in fear.
"There are no moths here!" Lori shouted.
"Well, if you're sure, then go ahead." Lynn grumbled.
Lori looked at her angrily, then looked down, and the angry look had changed to an uncertain one.
"Someone scared by dark." Lynn chucked. Lincoln felt that Lucy let go of his hand.
"Boo." A Goth whispered in an athlete's ear, causing her to scream. Then she take Lincoln hand back. Everyone started arguing.
Sighing, Lincoln touched Luan's hand. "Luan, give me the camera. I'll lead the way."
"Linky is brave!" The twins and Leni whispered in amazement.
"Everyone lined up behind Lincoln!", Lori ordered.
Still holding Lucy's hand, Lincoln went downstairs and made sure the others did too.
"You may want to stay close." He told the others. "So as not to trip over something... or someone." He couldn't help himself, as he knew there was no one else here except Cliff, he feeling a little ashamed at scaring his sisters, but the cheeky smile didn't leave his face.
"Luna, why did you talk about the Mothman exactly today!?" Luan clung to her older sister; she already stopped glowing.
"Sorry, dude." Luna smiled guiltily. "How could I known that today power would drop to zero?"
"Are you talking about that lousy horror movie?" Lori asked.
"Yeah." Luna nodded. "He is really bad. Just like everyone saying, only Mothman himself is scary, and only because how he looks." Suddenly her face wrinkled, youngest Loud start to giggle. "Lily!" Luna stretched her arms, trying to keep the smell of the soiled diaper away from her.
"I warned you about the bowel cycle, but you ignored me." Lisa rolled her eyes.
"Huh, Lily happened before pipe and Cliff, but I think this is normal, a little more time passed than in the prediction." Lincoln thought to himself.
Suddenly an eerie sound comes. Causing (almost) everyone to sigh in terror.
Lincoln moved the camera. "Don't freak out. It's just a pipe settlement." From his answer, everyone calmed down.
Walking further, Lincoln had already seen what they were going to, but this made him wonder. "Wasn't Cliff in the basement when the light went out?"
"He was already in our room with us. Lola wanted to him to join tea party." Lana replied.
"Bad prediction, Linc." Lynn chuckled.
"Hey!" Lincoln pretended to be insulted. "I'm just a beginner! Once I learn how to predict the future half a century in advance, then you'll see!" He said this more to Lisa then to Lynn; Lincoln hoped that the scientist would continue the conversation.
"Which is scientifically impossible and just a product of unrealistic science fiction or even more ridiculous literature." Lisa spoke as if she were talking to an unintelligent child.
Her answer didn't make Lincoln feel better; if even Lisa doesn't believe that the future can be predicted, then where did this folder came from?!
When the light returned, all the sisters ran upstairs to fight for the TV except for Lucy and Luna with Lily. Only Lincoln remained downstairs. He remembered that the remote control was still in his pocket, so he went upstairs to give it back.
Looking at the battle cloud, he sighed, pulled out a remote control and whistled. The cloud instantly disappeared and all the sisters looked at the remote control in surprise.
"Hey, thanks Linc!" Luan grabbed the remote control from him, but stopped when she noticed her brother sad look. "Why the long face?"
"I missed 'The live season finale of the greatest show ever." Lincoln sighed sadly.
"Oh, poor Linky!" Leni hugged him. Lori silently patted his head.
"That stinks." Lynn put her hand on his shoulder. Lucy took his hand in hers.
"But look!" Luan handed him the camera. "You just lived it!" She looked at what the camera recorded. "Well, um, that ain't much, but its already something."
"Linky is a hero!" Lola hugged his leg.
"Yeah!" Lana hugged the other one. "What she said!"
"I'm sorry, brother." Lisa wiped the dust off her glasses. "I didn't mean to ruin your viewing experience."
"It's nothing, Lisa." Lincoln sighed. "It's nothing."
"And all because I went into Lori's room?" Lincoln thought as he read a folder in his room, then he signed. "Typical Lori. However, I need to watch where I'm going. Future me learned it the hard way, and I learned it from his."
The blackout situation had already passed several days ago, and Lincoln has been trying to deal with the future thing. He learns a little: new "episodes" are revealed over time, when he try to read them earlier, Lincoln end up back at the beginning. No one but him knows what's written; he learned this from Lucy when she asked why he needed a empty folder. He had to lie that it was for school.
Now he didn't know what to do; the only thought was to just move on and use folder on critical situations. Of course, he would only read what was relevant to him; he didn't want to learn other people's secrets, only if they going to tell him. And he would try to avoid spoilers; he had already accidentally read a little about his new game, which spoiled his exactment a little.
He picked up his "Why 'blank' is the worst sister ever" paper.
"Maybe you're not such a good idea as I thought." He scratched his head. "It's better to get rid of you." Lincoln began to tear the piece of paper into many pieces, trying to make the title completely unrecognizable. Gathering all the torn pieces of paper into a pile, he threw them into the trash can, putting them under other trash for safety.
"Well, that's all. How can you 'Get the Message' if Message is no more?"