Chapter Text
Lincoln Loud never did have an ordinary childhood. Mostly because he never was an ordinary child. It was peculiar enough for him to be the only boy in a predominantly female household and for him to have inherited naturally snow-white hair. But when Lincoln was eight years old, he developed pyrokinetic abilities. His mother, Rita, thought his abilities were a gift and continued to treat him like an ordinary child, as did most of his sisters. His father, Lynn Sr., on the other hand, considered his son’s powers to be a horrible curse, and demanded that they be kept a secret from everyone outside the family.
When Lincoln was twelve and went to visit one of his best friends, Ronnie Anne Santiago, in another city, it was discovered that he had another talent. Ronnie Anne stumbled across Lincoln and one of her neighbors holding a steady conversation entirely in Japanese. When questioned afterwards, Lincoln looked confused, genuinely thinking they’d both been speaking English. Later, a cloaked and hooded man shrouded in orange flames started appearing to Lincoln in his rare moments of solitude.
Speaking in Japanese, the figure said his name was Hanzo Hasashi, and he had come from beyond the grave to be Lincoln’s instructor. Lincoln eagerly agreed to be taught, especially if it meant actually controlling his powers instead of just suppressing them as per Lynn Sr.’s harsh command. From that day forth, Lincoln walked to a clearing in the woods every day, where Hasashi would appear and teach him advanced martial arts and techniques to control his pyrokinesis. The lessons continued every day for several years, even in the middle of the harsh Michigan winter, as Hasashi claimed pain and discomfort would make him stronger in the long run.
As Lincoln continued to learn from his spectral mentor, he began to take more of an interest in Japanese art, music, and culture. His mother was elated that he had finally found a singular passion to focus on after such a long time of being a jack-of-all-trades. They had no shortage of money once the family restaurant finally took off, so Rita gladly indulged in her son’s hobbies, gifting him with a flute to play and traditional Japanese clothing to wear.
Then, when Lincoln was about to finish high school, everything changed…
Lincoln was seventeen, a high school senior. He was tall and strapping, his body hardened and toned from years of rigorous training. He wore his shoulder-length white hair tied back in a ponytail, and was currently dressed in a burnt-orange kimono over brown canvas trousers and black tabi boots. What other young men his age carried in their wallets, Lincoln carried in a pouch attached to the black sash around his waist.
Classes had just ended for the day at Royal Woods High, and after collecting his homework for the weekend, Lincoln was on his way to meet his sister Lucy so they could walk home together. Lincoln and Lucy were three years apart in age, but Lucy had above-average intelligence for her age and was allowed to skip a grade. Thus, Lucy attended the same school as a sophomore.
When Lincoln hefted his leather bookbag onto his shoulder and walked out the front doors of the school, he was greeted by the odd sight of a decent chunk of the student body gathered in a circle with a clearing in the center. He shouldered his way past his peers to get to the clearing, and his eyes widened.
Two burly jocks were tightly restraining Lucy while his old enemy, Chandler McCann, rifled through the contents of her backpack. The Goth girl herself was screaming her protests and struggling with all her might with tears streaming down her face. While Lincoln loved all of his sisters equally, Lucy held a special place in his heart, and he couldn’t bear seeing her getting hurt and humiliated.
“What’s going on here?!” Lincoln demanded angrily and marched over to Chandler. The redheaded boy just gave him a confident smirk and pulled his prize from within Lucy’s backpack.
“Oh, nothing much, Larry,” Chandler replied, deliberately calling Lincoln the wrong name just as he’d done for the past six years. “You see, I had a sneaking suspicion that your sister wasn’t really as dark and mysterious as she pretends to be, and I just found evidence to the contrary.” He then held the object high for everyone to see and shouted, “BEHOLD, THE PROOF!” The students gasped, Lucy let out a strangled sob, and Lincoln’s heart dropped into his stomach.
The object was part of Lucy’s secret passion that nobody but Lincoln knew about, lest she become the laughingstock of the school and the whole town. It was an autographed manga novel of Warrior Unicorn Princess. When most of the assembled students burst out laughing and called out insulting phrases to Lucy, Lincoln saw red. He forced himself to remain calm, though; Hasashi had warned him about anger clouding his judgement.
“Alright, Chandler, you’ve had your fun. Now let my sister go, give her book back, and go back to the sewers you crawled out of,” Lincoln told him. Chandler only laughed.
“Nah, I don’t think I will. You see, your sister lied to all of us for years and years. We deserve an apology, and she deserves a punishment. Don’t you think that’s fair?”
“I’M SORRY, OKAY?! I’M SORRY FOR LYING!” Lucy screamed, causing Chandler to smirk.
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? All that’s left now is the punishment!” he jeered, causing Lincoln to scowl and set down his bookbag.
“That’s enough, Chandler. You have five seconds to let her go…” Lincoln warned, starting a timer in his head.
“Still the wrong answer, Larry. Boys?”
Lucy screamed in terror as one of the jocks bent her over his knee and the other started tugging on the waistband of her jeans.
That’s when Lincoln took action.
He struck hard, and he struck fast. Before the jocks knew what was happening, both of them were sprawled on the ground, feeling like they’d been hit with a sack full of bricks. Chandler realized what was happening and tried to fight back, but Lincoln was just too swift for him to land a hit. With Chandler, Lincoln was a lot more precise, jabbing his fingertips into a variety of pressure points on his torso and effectively paralyzing the bully. Chandler could only glare daggers as he laid on the ground, whimpering and struggling to move.
“Don’t look at me like that; you did this to yourself,” Lincoln told him. “The paralysis will wear off in a few hours, which gives you plenty of time to reconsider hurting my sister in the future. As for the rest of you,” Lincoln raised his voice to address the crowd of his peers, “I am disgusted. Not only did none of you intervene for another student getting bullied, every single one of you joined in the ridicule. This offense will not be forgotten.” Lincoln’s icy scowl lingered on his circle of close friends, the people who caused him the most disappointment. He gathered up Lucy’s belongings and helped his sister to her feet. “Come on, Lucy; let’s go home…”
When Lincoln and Lucy returned to The Loud House, they were the first ones home. Which didn’t really surprise Lincoln, as the rest of his younger sisters all had extracurricular activities and their parents were still at work. Lucy had no more tears to shed, and her eyes were red and puffy. She collapsed onto the couch cushions from sheer emotional exhaustion as soon as Lincoln took his arm from around her waist.
“Lincoln…how do you know Karate so well?” she asked, her voice hoarse from screaming so much. Lincoln sat beside her and smiled as he pulled her into a hug.
“Would you believe me if I told you I was taught by the ghost of a long-dead ninja?” he asked in return.
“Really?” Lucy asked with wide eyes. Lincoln smirked.
“Yup! He started appearing to me when I was twelve, and he’s also been teaching me how to control my fire powers. Why do you think I’ve been running off to the woods every day for six years?” His expression then shifted to concern. “Those boys didn’t hurt you too badly, did they?”
“Almost, but no. Thanks for stepping in.”
“Anytime, Luce. Hopefully, they learn a valuable lesson about manhandling my sister!” he replied with a chuckle. “Now, you just sit here and relax for a minute. I’ll go fix your favorite snack.” No sooner had Lincoln kissed Lucy’s forehead and departed for the kitchen than the twins, Lana and Lola, walked through the front door, Lola sporting an eerie ear-to-ear grin that immediately sent Lucy’s heart down to her stomach. Lola thrived on gossip and blackmail, so whatever she’d apparently just learned couldn’t bode well for anyone.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Miss Tall, Dark, and Spooky,” Lola greeted with way too much enthusiasm. “Oh, wait…we can’t call you that anymore, can we?” Lucy gave a whimper and curled up in the fetal position, her arms, legs, and head disappearing into her baggy black sweater.
“Leave her alone, Lola. She’s been through enough for one day,” Lincoln warned, walking back into the living room with a bamboo skewer and a bag of marshmallows. “I already had to beat the snot out of Chandler, so don’t make me do the same to you.” Lola scoffed.
“Oh, sure, like you could beat someone up without looking worse than the other guy!” she taunted. Rather than dignify that with a response, Lincoln simply formed a ball of flames in his hand and lobbed it into the fireplace, instantly setting it ablaze. “Hey! Daddy said to not use your powers in the house!” Lola protested with wide eyes.
“Dad’s not here right now, is he?” Lincoln shot back with a smug smile, causing Lola to huff and storm up to her room, followed closely by Lana. Lincoln sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, skewered a marshmallow, and held it over the fire. When it was just the right shade of brown, he pulled it out, blew on it to cool it down, and held it out to Lucy. The Goth girl poked her head out of her sweater just long enough to bite the marshmallow and pull it off the stick before vanishing back into the depths of coziness. Lincoln gave a small chuckle and repeated the process. Like all of the Loud girls, Lucy had a sweet tooth, and her favorite dessert happened to be toasted marshmallows. Lincoln continued to feed Lucy one marshmallow at a time until he was interrupted by the ringing cell phone clipped to his sash. Lincoln pulled it out, looked at the caller ID, and groaned. “Sorry, Lucy, I should probably take this.”
“It’s fine, Lincoln. I feel better already,” Lucy told him. Lincoln stood up, walked back to the kitchen, and answered his phone.
“I hate to break it to you, Paige, but this is kind of a bad time,” he said. He had been dating Paige Sweetwater for a few months, and the relationship was already starting to grow stale. When she first agreed to be his girlfriend, he warned her that his family came first; a concept that she was apparently still struggling to grasp.
“Lincoln, you’re late! You agreed to a study date after school, remember?” Paige reprimanded. Lincoln sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Look, Paige, I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to take a rain check. Lucy just went through a very traumatic experience involving Chandler that I had to intervene in. My sisters come first, you know that!”
"No, I should come first! Let your sisters fend for themselves for once!” demanded his girlfriend. “You’re on thin ice, mister! If you can’t get your priorities straight, you and I are through!” Paige abruptly hung up, leaving Lincoln to drag a hand down his face with a grimace.
This had the potential to be a long night for him…