Ok, gotta do something unusual first: address an author's note.

The Loud family love each other dearly, that's obvious. But they are dysfunctional. Not as bad as the Griffins at their WORST, but still. Don't wanna do this, but look at Brawl in the Family, No Such Luck, Chore and Peace, and episodes like that. Yes, Lynn Sr. and Rita lean more positively on the cartoon parents scale, but they are by no means great parents. If nothing else, I would give them a "B" for trying.

Anyway, with that out of the way, enjoy the conclusion to this story.

Lincoln sighed. It was the big day. He entered school nervously; he had actually woken up an hour earlier specifically so he could get to school and have plenty of time to do what he needed to do. He was trying not to be so nervous, but he was. What happened today would most likely have lasting consequences.

"Most likely, yeah right," Lincoln muttered to himself; he KNEW there would be consequences to today's actions. He could only hope they would be GOOD consequences.

He entered the front doors and looked around; obviously there weren't too many people here, seeing as school didn't actually start for another half hour. Most of the kids would be showing up in the next 10-15 minutes. But all that mattered was that Chandler was here.

And sure enough, Lincoln saw him with some of his friends at the end of the hallway. Taking a deep breath, Lincoln headed into the bathroom to get ready for this. It wouldn't be easy, but he had to do it.

The Loud siblings, even little Lily, were terrified as they zoomed through the streets towards Royal Woods Elementary. They had run several red lights, and even had a cop car after them. However, the cop did not yell at them to pull over; Lori figured their parents had already called the police, and they were following the girls to the school.

Finally, RWE appeared at the end of the block. From where they were, the girls could see that the majority of the students were already pouring in. At that moment, the girls saw a couple other cop cars, as well as a news van, pull up in front of the school, the officers getting out and waving kids and parents to stop them from entering the building.

The sisters gulped nervously as they skidded to a stop before jumping out of the car.

"This was a bad idea, dudes," Luna said, as the girls ran towards the back of the school, "If those cops see Linc as a threat, they'll make sure he can't harm anyone!"

"You mean they'll taser him, right?" Lana asked, though even she knew the truth.

Right as they rounded the corner, the girls saw a couple officers in swat gear kick open the front door. They had to hurry.

After splashing some water on his face, Lincoln exited the bathroom and headed towards Chandler with a determined look on his face.

At the other end of the school, the sisters crashed through the back doors, entering the gym. As they ran for the front, Lynn saw a baseball bat leaning out of the sports equipment closet. Between a baseball bat and…what the cops would do, Lynn knew this was the better choice. She grabbed it as the girls continued running through the halls.

Kids and teachers gasped and braced their backs against the walls as armed officers ran through the front hall towards Lincoln, who remained oblivious.

Lincoln marched right up to Chandler and stated, "Chandler, I'm tired of all this, so here!"

At that, Lincoln stuck his hand into his jacket pocket, and time seemed to freeze. The students near them who saw the police looked at the Loud boy with looks of horror; many of them were his friends (or at least acquaintances) so they were even more shocked.

The head officer, standing only a few feet away from Lincoln, saw what he was doing and pulled out his gun.

At that moment, the sisters came running down the side hall. Their eyes went wide as they watched Lincoln stick his hand in his pocket, as well as the head officer reach for his gun. With a burst of adrenaline, Lynn high-tailed it down the hall, bat at the ready.

As Lincoln went to pull his hand out of his pocket, he heard, "DROP IT, KID!" Stunned, Lincoln turned around to see half-a-dozen police officers approaching him. Before he could react, he felt something SLAM into his knee.

Everyone's eyes went wide as they saw Lynn had hit Lincoln in the knee with her bat. Lincoln yelled out in pain and threw his arm out of his pocket in shock as he fell to the ground. Everyone watched as a small, black object flew through the air before landing at the head officer's feet and breaking.

Not a gun. A flash drive.

No one said anything for a good few moments, during which Lincoln clutched his knee on the ground in pain. Finally, the head officer turned to Lori and said, "Miss Loud, you owe everyone an explanation."

"I…" Lori had no idea what to say. Thinking quickly, Lynn dug through Lincoln's jacket pockets before turning to the police and shaking her head.

At that moment, a news lady and her camera man arrived, "And we're here live on the scene where one of the Loud siblings-yes, one of THAT family-has apparently been prevented from taking part in a school shooting."

"WHAT?!" Lincoln cried out in shock, looking up at everyone in confusion.

Nervously, Lori spoke up, looking at Lincoln yet glancing to the camera, "Linc, we…we found your audio diary about how you're suicidal, and then Lana overheard you talking about how you're tired of Chandler and don't wanna have to deal with him anymore."

Needless to say, many people, police, students, and teachers all looked at Lincoln in shock.

"Linc, what's going on?" Clyde and Ronnie Anne shoved themselves to the front of the crowd, looking at their friend in worry.

"Well," Lincoln sighed after a moment of taking in what Lori had told him, "I finally found out why my sisters have been treating me like royalty this past week."

Lori repeated what she had said, louder for the now crowded hallway. Lincoln sighed as she said this.

"So," He muttered, "You didn't think to TALK to me about this? Maybe try and get to the bottom of what was going on? AGAIN, you just went behind my back, assuming you knew what was best for me?"

The girls looked guilty as a few people glared at them.

"Ok," Lincoln sighed, "I've been fighting it long enough, so I no longer feel like I'm gonna black out from the pain in my knee. While one of you nice officers calls a paramedic," He paused to send the cops in front of him a look that said he was telling, not asking, "We're gonna deal with the TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT events that are going on here, got it?"

Everyone, including the sisters, nodded. The head officer stated into his walkie that he needed a paramedic on sight, nothing serious, just a bad knee injury.

"So, incident 1: Chandler," Lincoln gestured to the popular jerk, "He and I were assigned a big History project together. We had to each give 50% on the project, otherwise we would both fail. Well, he outright told me that he expected me to do all the work and give him most of the credit, seeing as he's "entitled" to it."

"I am," Chandler said, "I'm the coolest kid in school." Everyone, including the redhead's friends, rolled their eyes at that.

"Anyway, that flash drive," Lincoln pointed to the small device at the head officer's feet, "Contains video proof that I did my share, and enough to pass. I was gonna show it to Chandler and let him know that I would be passing while he would be failing. I'll admit I was a little nervous about him retaliating, but I decided to just go for it." Lincoln sighed as he looked right at his sisters, "So NO, I was not about to shoot Chandler. I don't even have a gun."

"Ok," Luna spoke up, "But what about your audio diary? In it you said you feel inferior to all of us and that you were planning on using Rusty's dad's gun on yourself within the next month. So naturally we figured you would off Chandler then do it. Rusty even confirmed that his dad's gun isn't in their safe."

A gasp from everyone rose up; everyone, that is, except for Clyde and Ronnie Anne, as they already knew about the audio diary.

"That's because," Rusty stepped forward, "Every Friday before work, my dad takes his gun to the shooting range. I was gonna tell Lucy that, but she hung up before I could."

Everyone shot the Gothic Loud a look, and she shrugged sheepishly.

"Ok," Lori spoke up, "So no gun. But that audio diary clearly stated you're feeling suicidal!"

"I can answer that!" A lean, middle-aged gentleman stepped forward. He had light-brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and was wearing what looked like a director's beret on his head. "I am Nathan Ewing, head of the Royal Wood's Drama Club. I came here a couple weeks ago looking to see if any kids at this school would like to join my club. I only had a few volunteers, with your brother being one of them."

"Remember Spring Cleaning Day?" Lincoln asked, at which his sisters nodded, "Well, after Mom found out how well I covered for you all with them and Pop-Pop, she said I had to join the Drama Club. I was originally gonna wait till next year, but then Mr. Ewing came here and announced tryouts, so I figured I'd give it a shot."

"Ok, but what does that have to do with your audio diary?" Lola asked, confused.

"Let me answer that question with a question," Mr. Ewing spoke up, "Have any of you ever watched a show about kids in school, and there was an episode where the kids put on a play? A play that was so good, one parent in the audience would turn to another and say, "This is surprisingly good for an elementary school play"? And it would be, meaning the actors portraying these kids had been acting since they were babies, as opposed to actual kids just putting on a school play. You all know what I'm talking about?" Most of the adults in the room nodded, as did a few of the kids. "Well, that's what I want. I get that all the kids at this school are newbies when it comes to acting, so they're not going to give Shakespearean performances during their first plays. However, I need to see they are SERIOUS!" At this, he paused and sighed dramatically.

"I remember back in middle school, my first year I was in the drama club with about 10 other people. I loved it, and came back the next year with half of the original kids. That year, we were told we could go to the empty warehouse down the block to not only show our plays, but also do our after-school rehearsals. Well, since it now became a "field trip", we actually had another 2 dozen kids join. Sadly, because our school was right in the middle of a housing district, between the suburbs and a couple cul-de-sacs, we only had one bus-make that one HALF-SIZED bus-because the superintendent decided that since we were in an "easy location", kids could either walk or get their parents to drop them off. So, long story short, AFTER the practices at the warehouse were canceled, all of those new kids dropped out. It never really sat well with me. So, when I became head of the town's Drama Club, I decided I was only going to allow people to join who were truly serious about drama and theatre. Not allowing any kids who just wanna "show up and hang out" at my theater."

"So, he had everyone auditioning record a realistic fictional monologue," Lincoln (now propped up against the lockers) spoke up, "I'll admit there are times when I've felt depressed in the past, but only once have I even CONSIDERED ending it; never actually done anything to do it. But, since there are still times I feel like the black sheep of the family, I figured I would use it for the audio diary. I spent all day Sunday thinking over the bad times we've had as a family, times you've mocked me, times we were at each other's throats, and times where you guys have shown me up. Then, I poured it all out into that audio diary. I was quite satisfied with it. Then, at lunch on Monday, I gave it to Mr. Ewing, who loved it so much that he said I was in."

"Ok," Lana spoke up, "But back to Chandler, when you and Rusty were talking the other day, he said today you would be known as the kid who doesn't take nothin' from nobody. That didn't exactly sound like telling one guy off."

"That's why I'm busy tonight," Lincoln sighed, looking at Mr. Ewing.

"I was really impressed by Lincoln's monologue, so I gave him a piece for tonight to put on for some old friends of mine. It's a 20-minute one man play titled…" He pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper from his pocket and rolled it out, showing it to the crowd, as well as the camera man.

BULLIED AND NEGLECTED PAST THE BREAKING POINT, HE'S HAD ENOUGH. FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, Lincoln Loud IS…

THE KID WHO DOESN'T TAKE NOTHIN' FROM NOBODY

Underneath the title and description was Lincoln, clutching a fist and looking downward, squeezing his eyes shut.

"It's just a little show to give Lincoln a start in the acting world," Mr. Ewing explained, "I told him he was welcome to invite his family and friends, but he said he wanted to see if he was actually any good before his loved ones saw it."

"I told Clyde about it, and word got around, so most of my friends were aware of what I was doing," Lincoln explained, as a paramedic finally pushed his was through the crowd and began working on the white-haired child's leg, "But I was too nervous that if I told you guys, you would meddle and try to get involved, so…" He looked down at his leg, which was being set.

"Sorry, bro," Luna said, as the sisters looked at the ground.

"Ok," The head officer spoke up, looking at Lincoln, "So, just to clarify: you, Lincoln Loud, have NO plans to be involved in any type of school shooting on this day, or any day for that matter?"

"Correct," Lincoln nodded, "This is all one big misunderstanding involving 2 separate incidents, as well as my sisters being nosy."

"Very well," The officer nodded, before turning back to the girls, "As for you ladies…"

"…so the whole thing was just a big misunderstanding. Thank goodness!" The news reporter sighed in relief as she continued, "Lincoln Loud will face no punishment, due to his involvement of this incident being unintentional. However, he did have to postpone his one-man play due to his knee injury, which will take a couple weeks to heal. As for his sisters, for causing a panic, they have each been given 50 hours of community service. In other news…"

Lori turned off the TV as Dad called the kids in for dinner. Lucy helped Lincoln get there, due to being in a wheelchair until his leg was well enough that he could walk on it again.

As the family sat around the table, things were, of course, awkward. Upon learning the truth, Mom and Dad had been furious at their daughters for jumping to conclusions. Though, in their defense, the girls argued that all of it seemed pretty real, especially going over how they had been treating their brother lately. After thinking it over for a minute, the two said they would decide their daughters' punishment at dinner.

"So," Rita sighed, "In the next 2 months, you girls are required to complete 50 hours of mandated community service. Your father and I have decided that you will be grounded until your community service is over."

"Come on!" Most of the girls complained. However, Lisa spoke up, "Siblings, our parental units have merely stated that we are grounded until we complete our city-mandated punishment. Therefore, if we work together, we can knock it out in no time. I suggest either picking up trash on the freeway or volunteering at Pop-Pop's nursing home. While both are tedious, they would keep us busy enough that the time would fly by. And, if we work 6.5 hours a day on both weekend days off, we can be finished in one month."

The girls thought it over for a moment, before nodding. They all then turned to Lincoln.

"We're really sorry about this, Linc," Luan said, rubbing her neck.

"Yeah, we butted in to your personal business, and look where it got us," Luna sighed.

"However," Lori spoke up, gaining everyone's attention, "Despite this going horribly wrong, we did mean everything we said. You're a great brother, Lincoln, and we all wanna be better sisters to you and each other."

The others all spoke up in agreement, nodding and smiling towards their brother.

Lincoln, who had been silent up to this point, sighed and looked at his sisters with a disinterested look…that slowly became a smile, "Guys, I wanna say thanks. You may have spied on me, smothered me with annoying amounts of affections, caused a panic, and gave me a serious injury…but you did it with love. I'll admit there are times when it gets hard, but I always try to keep my head up."

Everyone smiled at that as they ate dinner. Due to the stress of the day, Mom and Dad had decided to order pizza, despite the girls being grounded.

As they chowed down, Lincoln explained that due to his leg injury, he would probably have to wait until the summer before he could be in the Drama Club again; thankfully Mr. Ewing said his spot would be saved. The girls expressed their interest in seeing their brother in a play, which Lincoln was grateful for.

Over the next couple of weeks, Lori and Luna would take turns carrying Lincoln up and down the stairs, until he was able to move from his chair to crutches. The girls did their mandated community service, with Clyde and Ronnie Anne keeping Lincoln company while the girls were busy. He also played with Lily, the only sister who didn't have community service, due to being a baby.

On the girls' last day of community service/grounding, Lincoln, whose leg was now mostly healed, was playing a video game. The girls were due home any minute, and then it would be dinner time. As he played, he looked towards the audience, "If you ever feel like life sucks, remember there is someone who cares. And if you think a loved one is suicidal, gently confront them over it; better to get it out in the open than to sneak around. Still, even though I had to temporarily drop out of the Drama Club and deal with this knee injury, it's nice knowing my sisters care enough to try and make me feel better." At that, Lincoln smiled as he heard Vanzilla pull up.

So yes, it was all a big misunderstanding. Our favorite white-haired Loud is not gonna kill himself or anyone else.

Mr. Ewing was named after my drama teacher Mrs. Ewing; I didn't wanna use her specifically, so I made an OC based off of her.

I'm not sure EXACTLY how community service works, though I think the way I explained it, the girls having 2 months to complete 50 hours, makes sense, seeing as they are minors in school.

Hope you enjoyed, planning on working on my Shared Universe and more LH stuff next :)