A/N: Annnnnnnd we're back. The Loud girls are looking to find their brother whilst seeking out the judges that dared to make the boys feel worthless. But something big is occurring behind the scenes, and soon the Full House will find themselves caught in the middle of it.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

It wasn't a long trek towards the area Luan last saw the boys. Along the way, the girls hoped it would be much easier if Lincoln and Clyde decided to seek them out instead of the other way around. Sadly, the lack of texts from their brother told a different story. Lori already tried calling him, followed by Luan, and Leni (who put in the wrong numbers and called some stranger's phone). Feeling they might lose track of them more than they already have, the group spread among the corner of the convention where the boys were thought to have been. Luan checked around all the bathrooms, even giving some people a rough description of the boys and asking if they'd seen them; Lori (and Lily by extension) searched the booths while calling out for her brother, with the oldest sibling calling his phone numerous times and leaving growingly frustrated messages; Lana (humorously) checked under all the stands, winding up getting herself shooed away a few times; and Leni asked random cosplayers if they had seen an Ace and Jack, but failed to give more details that would've stood out.

Naturally, the girls were a little irritated at that last one.

Realizing the boys weren't in the area Luan last saw them, the group broadened their search, going from one end to the next. The idea to make an announcement through the service desk was floated, but only if they had no other choice. Going in a widened linear fashion, the girls went from one side of the convention to halfway across the building, covering each area of interest in hopes of finding the two missing children.

As each minute passed, the sisters grew more and more anxious, not seeing hide nor hair of Lincoln or Clyde. Lori checked the time on her phone, her irritation almost reaching its tipping point as no texts or calls from Lincoln had been made. Instead of going into a rage like one might expect, the oldest sibling breathed in before letting out a more controlled breath.

"Getting angry isn't going to help anyone right now..." Lori huffed internally, readjusting her hold on Lily before her thumbs typed away at a brisk pace.

[Everyone meet at the front entrance...] Was the message she sent to her party.

After a minute of walking, Lori sat on one of the benches, placing her infant sister next to her. For the moment, Lily appeared to be distracted with pretending her Ace Savvy figurine was an airplane, making faux jet noises as she steered it through the air above her.

Lori flared her nose a little as a small smirk grew. "At least she's not crying." Was her thought before being promptly shaken out of them as Luan and Lana approached. The fact they were empty handed spoke volumes. "You couldn't find him either?" Lori spoke in an obvious, empty tone.

Luan slumped her shoulders. "No..."

"I didn't find Clyde or Lincoln," Lana started as she reached behind her. "But I found this cool wrench someone left under a booth!" Pulling out the aforementioned tool, the other girls saw it was a large, black, adjustable monkey wrench. If anyone could guess, it was probably half as big as the little mechanic.

Lori rolled her eyes. "That's nice Lana..."

"Guys! I found him!" Came Leni's voice, making the girls turn their heads towards her.

At first, they perked up at the fact Leni found one of the boys, hopefully their brother at best. Instead, mixed negative emotions were spread out on their faces; Luan facepalmed, Lana had a disapproving frown, Lily just shook her head, and Lori furrowed her brows in great irritation.

"He was over by the food court getting a hotdog!" Leni told them as she let go of the person who was CLEARLY not Lincoln.

"Leni..." Lori started in an even tone, pinching the bridge of her nose. "For the last, freaking time..." Glaring hotly at her roommate, "THAT'S JUST SOMEONE DRESSED AS OLD MAID!"

Leni recoiled under Lori's harsh tone, rubbing her arm nervously. "B-But I thought-"

"And I'm a girl, thank you!" The kid blew a raspberry at Leni before walking off.

"That's the third time you've done that." Luan added.

"Poo-poo..." Lily nodded.

"I-I'm sorry..." Leni lowered her head in shame, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. "I just really wanted to find Linky..."

Lori sighed. "We know Leni. But you can't keep grabbing random people just because they might look like Lincoln. You have to be certain it's him."

"And, security might throw you out otherwise." 'Joker' added before turning to Lori. "He still hasn't called?"

"No." Lori growled a little. "I know Lincoln would've picked up if any of us called him." Her eyelids narrowed a little. "Unless someone took his phone..."

Lana shifted her stance, feeling a little uncomfortable as she used the wrench as support. "You...don't think he might be in trouble, do you?"

"I'm hoping he's not..." Lori stated firmly, though her body language told everyone the opposite.

Lily sat the toy on her seat as she stole a glance out the window, her eyes scanning the front parking lot and the various persons milling about. Her small mind didn't register anyone aside from the typical curious staring most babies do, but as she panned to the right, the infant made a questioning noise while tilting her head. Climbing off the seat, 'Deuce' wobbled over to the spot of the window she was looking at, growing excited when the baby recognized the two boys sitting outside on a different bench.

"Incon! Incon!"

The older sisters looked towards their infant sibling, seeing her rapping a flat palm on the glass panel.

"Incon!" Lily shouted again, growing a little frustrated as neither boy turned towards her.

Lori got up and walked over, under the impression that Lily might be making the same mistake Leni did. "Lily..." She started in a smooth tone. "Just because someone has white hair," Taking a pause to glance at the kids sitting outside, "An orange polo and blue jeans, doesn't mean-" Her eyes widened as her lips thinned into a straight line whilst that last sentence echoed in her head. Lori looked back at the boys, studying their clothing carefully to make sure she wasn't just assuming things.

"They've been right here this whole time?!" 'High Card' suddenly shouted.

The other sisters gathered around; Luan and Lana sighed in relief while Leni let out a gasp.

"Lincoln and Clyde have got to be the best Hide and Seek champions."

Ignoring that comment, "Outside, now!" Lori ordered, pointing towards the nearest exit.

On the other side of the window, Lincoln and Clyde gave a synchronized sigh as they continued slumping in their seats, completely unaware of the girls' presence as they moved towards the exit. Both boys were dressed in their regular day attire, having changed out of their costumes some 20 minutes beforehand. Clyde still appeared to be handling the disappointment well, though Lincoln was only faring marginally better than before. His eyes were no longer completely red, and his face was back to its usual color; but he still looked drained and his eyelids were a little puffy. The Loud rubbed at his left eye, feeling the stinging sensation that came after having cried to the point he felt he no longer could.

Clyde checked his phone as another text came in, pocketing the device a couple seconds later. "Welp, my dads are stuck in traffic, so it'll be a little while before they get here."

"Uggghhhhh..." Lincoln sighed exasperatedly. "I wish walking home was an option."

"Actually," Clyde took his phone out and opened the navigation app. "It is." He showed the phone to Lincoln, which had his friend's house selected as the destination. "But it takes a couple hours."

Lincoln pushed the phone away from his face. "Might be worth doing if this takes any longer..." He looked around at the other cosplayers, the sound of laughter and joy making feel a little sick in the stomach. "At least they're lucky they don't have to be left behind by TEN siblings...if they have any..." He shifted his position slightly, folding his arms a little tighter. "I really gotta get away from this place...especially before my sisters get casted for the movie..."

"Boys!" Lincoln and Clyde flinched a little as they were momentarily pulling from their shroud of depression before their heads to their right, spotting the five Loud sisters running over.

"We've been looking everywhere for you!" Lori spoke, her breath hitching a little as she was coming down from that sprint. She looked at Lincoln with a small glare. "And I've called you several times! Why didn't you answer your phone?"

Lincoln looked away from Lori as he pulled out his device, a bout of confusion clear on his face. He didn't feel any vibrations or ringing from his phone, but he could've had it on silent. He pressed the power button, but nothing happened. Furrowing his brows, he pressed it a few more times; it refused to change from the endless dark screen that stared back at him.

"My phone's dead..." The boy muttered, pocketing the mobile. "And why would you girls be out here?...Don't you have a contest to win?..." The bitterness in that last sentence didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

"Well, yeah." Lana started, "But we can't do this without you!"

"Um, like, where are your costumes?" Leni asked.

Clyde bit his cheek, wondering if Lincoln was going to answer first. When the Loud hadn't piped up, Clyde pointed towards the backpack that sat on the ground. "Mine's in here."

Everyone else looked at Lincoln, expecting some kind of answer. The middle child pursed his lips in a mixture of nervousness and anger from the pressure, giving a heated groan shortly after.

"...I threw mine away..."

The girls gave a collective gasp. "I tried to tell him it was a bad idea!" Clyde added.

"Why would you do that?!" Luan asked, her mouth slightly agape.

"You literally spent days remaking it!" Lori stated.

Lincoln shrugged a little. "I didn't see the point in using it anymore..."

"But how are we gonna get you and Clyde back into the contest without your suit?" Lana added.

Lincoln furrowed his brows before whipping his head in her direction. "Why do you guys want us in it so much?! You've gained a lot more attention than either of us, maybe the entire con combined, and you're gonna win it EASILY! So why would you care?!" He gripped his arms, not caring about the marks he was imprinting on his skin. "You just want us to make you look good even more, don't you?!"

"Lincoln," The comedian started in a calm tone, a little unphased by the boy's irritation. "It's not what you think."

"Really? Because if I remember a couple days ago, NONE of you cared about coming to a 'geeky', 'boring', and 'stupid' convention until I mentioned the casting contest!" Lincoln put big emphasis on the adjectives used to describe the event. "That was pretty much the only reason you girls came with us, while me and Clyde had been planning to come since it was first announced last year!" He tore his gaze away from them as the boy continued to fume on the spot. "Well you got what you wanted, without even trying like always mind you. So thanks for using us as a pair of stairs to fame..." Lincoln turned his head a little so his face wouldn't be within view of his sisters; fresh tears were starting to form in his eyes, and he didn't want them to see him crying.

No one said a word, unsure if they could form the right sentences to ease the white-haired child's anger. Clyde looked at the girls and motioned with his eyes towards their brother.

"Do something!" He mouthed to them.

Lori dispelled a sigh through her nose. "We already know we're going to win Lincoln." She looked over at the 'Joker'. "Luan overheard you guys earlier. But we're not here to gloat, use you, or anything you might think is negative..." She handed Lily over to Leni, walking up to her brother's seat until she was kneeling next to him. Even then, Lincoln still refused to look at her. "At first, we were excited to hear we had this in the bag, until Luan told us the judges planned to leave you two out of it. We already started thinking it wasn't fair that they chose only us, it got worse when Luan told us how you were really feeling..."

"Not like any of you would understand how I feel about it..." Lincoln muttered.

"I do." Luan spoke up before walking over. "Remember that time Lucy had a poem recital at the Royal Woods Theater?"

Lincoln blinked, a couple shallow tears leaving a trail down his cheeks. "Yes..."

"You may find it hard to believe Lincoln, but I felt just like you are right now..." 'Joker' leaned on the back of the bench. "I was very jealous of Lucy because she managed to get into the ONE place of entertainment I dreamed of performing in since I was five. I gave her some advice a couple days before to that helped Lucy deal with stage fright, and the next thing I knew, she came home saying her teacher wanted her to recite her poem at the theater." Luan rapped her fingers a little on the metal surface. "How did you feel after knowing you weren't going to be part of the movie?..."

Lincoln bit his cheek. "Sad?...Crushed?..." His nose flared as he drew in a sniffle. "Jealous that I tried hard to win at something but failed, while you guys barely had to do anything?..." He huffed a little as he shifted his posture a bit. "And I've known way more about Ace Savvy than you girls for years?..." He growled.

"Ok ok." Luan said quickly, not wanting him to go into another rant. "But that's exactly what I felt when Lucy first broke the news to me. I initially blew her off when she came to me for more advice..." The brunette sighed. "But I couldn't stay mad at her forever. It's not her fault she happened to reach a goal earlier and so easily while I still have to try and get a shot. I mean, it stung a lot, sure."

"Like a bee sting?" Leni asked.

Luan shook her head. "More like, I couldn't sleep well for over a week. But Lucy was very thankful for the advice I gave her, and even made it clear during her recital she wouldn't be where she was if I hadn't helped her."

Lincoln stole a glance at her, making Luan bite her tongue as she stated at his reddish, tear-leaking eye. "Well, you wouldn't be on the verge of being movie stars if I hadn't gotten you suited up and gave basic knowledge about Ace Savvy." He looked away once more. "And look how that turned out..."

Lori rolled her eyes a little. "Ok Lincoln, we get it. You think we used you to get a chance at fame after dissing you for liking Ace Savvy for a long as you can remember, and unknowingly making you ride our coattails. You're really upset, and we understand that." She put a hand on his shoulder, feeling him tense up but he didn't try to move her hand away. "But the truth is...we were wrong."

Clyde raised a brow, as did Lincoln.

"Yeah, Ace Savvy is a bit dorky, but we actually enjoyed coming out here with you, whether we want to admit it or not. We practically shoved the contest to the back of our heads after getting so absorbed into the lore of the series." Lori frowned a little as she thought about the other group of siblings. "Well, most of us. But after spending some time here, we saw why you enjoy Ace Savvy so much."

Leni smiled. "I totes love how the styles fit each character."

"Poo-poo." Lily agreed.

"And I wanna break High Roller's truck to see what's under the hood." Lana added with a smug grin, padding the wrench in her hand.

"And, I know this is waaay overdo," Lori stood up for a second before taking a seat next to her brother. "But I'm sorry for dissing you about liking comic books and dressing up as Ace. Just because I wasn't into it (til now) doesn't mean I should've used that to belittle you." She paused before adding, "And I'm sorry for saying Princess Pony was worse than you..."

Clyde had his mouth agape as his eye squinted a little. "Wha?"

"It's a long story." Luan replied.

"But you're wrong if you think we're just going to let you lose out on something you deserve to have a part in." Lori gripped the sleeve of her outfit. "See these?"

Lincoln didn't react, still thinking over his sister's words. For one, he never expected Lori of all people to apologize for rudely dismissing his interests, much less take her words back from that one incident with the toilet. Heck, pretty much everything she just said went against how he believed his sisters would act based on past moments similar to this.

"Lincoln...can you please look for a moment?" Lori asked in a caring, almost motherly tone. Lincoln gazed at the ground before finally deciding to turn so he could fully face her. He grew a little confused as she tugged at her suit. "You made all of our characters Lincoln. None of us could've thought up something like this overnight. You took days, months even, to plan our outfits and powers; but those idiot judges don't even realize we're your creations." She let go of her suit before placing both hands on his shoulders. "And we're going to set the record straight, or their movie isn't going to be as glamorous as they hoped."

Lincoln bit his cheek, taking a moment to clear his eyes. While he still felt upset at getting upstaged and outshined so easily by his siblings, his chest and stomach felt a bit lighter at least. It wasn't uncommon that the girls would pull together to help him, at least without wanting a favor in return. He didn't show it, but Lincoln was thankful the girls were taking an 'All or Nothing' approach. Before, there was nothing but certainty that the girls would just reap the rewards and leave him without anything to show for his work, thus leaving him in an awkward position he wouldn't want to talk about.

But now...

"I STILL don't know my sisters that well..." The middle child mused to himself.

"Besides, it's better you found out now instead of when the judges made their choice at the end. Imagine how that would've turned out." Luan suggested.

"...Probably would've been worse..." Lincoln muttered. "But even if you wanted to get me in," He looked up at Lori. "How could you guys even do that? The contest ends in," He pulled out his phone out of his pocket slightly to check the time. "Five minutes...and I threw my costume away..."

"Well, the others went to hunt down the judges and get them to change their minds." Lori paused in thought. "Which, now that I think about it, was a good idea. I doubt you'd want to hear Lynn or Lola's version of 'helping' you feel better, much less Lucy's..."

Lincoln cringed a bit. "Y-Yeah..." His sisters would have the best intentions, but proper wordplay wasn't their best attribute half the time...

'High Card' removed one of her hands and rested it on the head of the bench. "Feeling better?"

"Not...really..." Lincoln replied, rubbing his nose before sniffing. "But I don't feel completely hopeless anymore."

'High Card' gave a half-lidded stare. "That means you're getting there bro."

Clyde sniffled as his eyes watered. "That was...so beautiful!" He whipped out a tissue from his pocket and blew into it.

Luan squinted an eye in disgust. "Do...do you carry those in your pockets all the time?"

"Hey, I don't judge." Lana shrugged. "I carry mud in my pockets all the time for emergencies."

Lori shot a glare at the six-year-old. "So that's why your pockets have mud stains on them. Even when you've been clean!"

Lily stuck her tongue out, aimlessly grasping the collar of Leni's outfit with one hand while grabbing the air of the other. Raising a brow, the infant looked down at her left hand, realizing it was empty. She let out a small gasp, remembering she left her toy on the bench when she saw Lincoln. The baby started making panicking sounds as she looked around.

Leni raised a brow. "What's wrong Lily?"

'Deuce' made some incomprehensible sounds as she pointed towards the window.

Leni looked in the direction of her finger, giving a small smile. "Oh, that's a window silly!"

Lily slapped her gloved hand against her face whilst giving a frustrated groan. "Gab gah ack!" She tried pushing herself out of Leni's hold, to which the blonde got the message and sat her on the ground.

The baby waddled over to the window where the bench sat where she left her toy, only to gasp as it was no longer there. Lily started giving choked sobs as she sat on the ground, which grew into a wail seconds later as a fountain of tears poured from her eyes. Luan came over and scooped her up, a little confused as to why the baby was upset.

"Does she need to be changed again?" Lana asked.

"Dibs not it!" Leni shouted, tapping her nose with a finger.

Luan, squinting an eye, almost regrettably moved her face towards Lily's bottom, giving a faint sniff lest she passed out from the anticipated putrid smell. Her eyes widened when the only smell that greeted her was the scent of a fresh diaper. "She's clean."

"Is she hungry?" Clyde inquired next.

"No." Lori shook her head. "We just ate." Lori looked at the crying infant as Luan tried to soothe her. The blonde narrowed her eyes as she focused on Lily's hands. "Hold up..." She rose from her seat and walked to the window. "Where's her...?" The oldest sibling muttered to herself, pressing her face against the glass and cupped her hands over her eyes to block out the excess luminescent.

'High Card' looked to and fro before spotting the bench they were sitting at moments ago. Her eyes traced around the bench before looking at the floor, only to find dusty carpeting. The teen's stomach sank; it was already bad enough that Lily's toy was missing (after they left it behind), but Lori knew Lily would be in one of those moods if they didn't find that exact item. Sure, she could always buy a new one and Lily wouldn't know the difference; at least that's what most would think. Lily could always tell when a toy wasn't the one she wanted to play with; as if she put a permanent claim to it. Just ask anyone in the family about the time she dropped her teddy bear at a rest stop.

Lincoln won a new bear for her that looked much like one she lost, but no. It had to be HER stuffed animal, the one she gummed on half the time and fell in love with.

"Great...if we don't find that stupid toy soon, Lily's gonna be crying til next week!" Lori muttered to herself. "And we gotta link up with the others..." She pursed her lips. "Unless..."

The teen whirled around, "Lincoln," Lori started as she walked over. "You and Clyde are still good at this detective stuff, right?"

"I..." Lincoln paused, waves of uncertainty radiating around him. "I-I guess? I'm not so sure if-" He was cut off by Lori putting a hand on his head.

"Don't say you aren't, because both of you," She pointed at the boys, "Were playing detective since you were six. And there's something important you got to do."

Lincoln raised a brow. "But what about-"

"Don't worry about the contest; we're going to drag those judges over to you if we need to (if the others haven't made things worse). But you need to find Lily's toy." Lincoln looked over at his still-crying sibling, somewhat understanding the situation, but still a bit lost. Lori could tell by the look he was giving, and pressed a hand to her forehead as she sighed. "Look, none of us are good at finding things that went missing. Why do you think I always come to you if my phone is missing?"

Lincoln furrowed his brows a little. "You mean besides accusing me of taking it?..." Lori frowned in response, to which Lincoln shrugged. "I guess..."

"Or when I needed help finding Mr. Coconuts." Luan added.

"Or my sunglasses." Leni piped up.

"Or my lucky booger!" Lana cheered on.

Lincoln cringed a little. "I'd rather forget that last one...but I see your point."

"So," Clyde stood up. "Clincoln McCloud on the case?"

The middle child smiled a little. "Consider it done!" The two boys fist bumped to seal the deal.

"Hold on," Luan interjected, shaking her arms a little as Lily's cries died down a bit. "You still have your pass, badge, or..." She shook her head. "Whatever it's called? Security won't let you in without it."

Lori put her hands on her hips. "I hope you didn't junk it with your costume..."

"Yeah." Lincoln dug into his pocket, pulling out a convention pass that was attached to a lanyard. "I kept in case you girls might try to drag me back in even if I didn't want to go back...though I was tempted to throw it out..."

Ignoring that first comment, "Perfect." Turning towards the girls, "Alright, let's go see how far they've gotten."

"Oooooo I can't believe the stroke of luck I've had today!" 'High Roller' chuckled to himself as he dusted off the plastic object in his hands. "An Ace Savvy action figure from the that one-off issue with workable punching and kicking action!" He pressed a button hidden at the top of the figurine's head, which caused the flexed arm of the toy to extend outward. The fat geek then pressed another button on the back of the toy, which made both legs kick outward. "And I saved it!" He took out a plastic bag. "Was worried that baby would try eating it and ruin its market value. Thankfully, she was dumb enough to leave it behind."

As 'High Roller' preserved the toy in its plastic prison, he couldn't help but become giddy at this truly rare find. This particular model was discontinued after it lost its appeal due to newer merchandise coming in; and the limbs could be easily broken and may become a choking hazard for small children. As such, a 'gem' like this was a bit of a retro find; if 'High Roller' had to ever explain it to someone.

"What are you so happy about?" A snide voice cut through his thoughts like a knife. "Is there a sale at the food court?"

'High Roller' furrowed his brows before staring at a man dressed in an Ace Savvy uniform. "I could ask why you're hiding in the corner like a shadowy stalker. Not that you would understand the merit of my work." He stuffed the bag in his pocket. "And shouldn't you be busy getting more merchandise?"

'Ace' rolled his eyes. "I would, buuuut..." He thumbed to a nearby stand, where a security person and a cop were talking to a disgruntled cashier. "I'd prefer to lay low, at least until someone else causes some shit."

'High Roller' shrugged. "It probably doesn't matter anyway. We've gotten enough merchandise to make a good sale online."

"For you I guess." 'Ace' stated, furrowing his brows a little. "But you know what don't make sense?"

The fat man stared emptily at him. "Your life?..."

'Ace' flipped him the bird. "Piss off." Putting his hand down, "And no. What the hell is this kid after anyway? All these toys, clothes, and whatever costume crap, this brat can buy with mommy's money easily. It ain't like there's something here he couldn't buy."

'High Roller' rubbed his chin in thought. "That does make a valid point. And he did say all of this was a distraction from his real prize; not that he ever elaborated on what it was."

'Ace' shrugged. "Well if it's that big ass truck, what's stopping anyone from taking that thing for a joy ride and crushing someone?"

"Aside from getting caught easily and the ridiculous rollover ability of the vehicle. " 'High Roller' pointed out. "And, you can in fact purchase it after negotiating with the owner. It isn't like they don't have more of those stashed somewhere."

"Whatever."

The two paused as another security man walked past, their ears perking up as they heard his radio buzzing.

"Um, might need some extra hands near the auditorium. Got a group of girls potentially harassing the contest judges." A feminine voice with a southern accent said.

"Copy that." The man replied before speed walking towards the eastern side of the building. The other security people must've heard it too, seeing as they were taking off in the same direction with the cop not far behind.

'Ace' chuckled. "Guess that solves my problem." He paused when his phone rang, along with 'High Roller's', given that the fat geek padded his pocket. His face soured, knowing that brat must've been trying to set up a group call. "Great..." Shoving a hand into his pocket, "What does that kid want now?..."

Begrudgingly, the two men opened their devices. "Ah, so everyone's here! I was about to dock you some pay." The so-called rich kid stated.

"Yeah, you wish you would..." 'Ace' muttered to himself. "What stupid thing are you having us do now?"

The little brat laughed to himself, which soon became a small cough before the kid righted himself. "My prize is ready. And it should be alone in its trailer right now. Sooooo, Old Lady and Fangs are gonna grab it while the rest of ya make sure no one figures out what you're up to."

"Then what was the point of shutting off the cameras?" 'Shark' asked.

"To make things easier. I'll send you the number of the trailer he's in, now shut up and get my new best friend!" The call ended immediately after those words were said, leaving the rest of the group puzzled. A text came through a second later, showing only a single digit number.

'High Roller' scratched his chin in thought, mulling over the last couple lines that brat said. Trailer definitely stuck out, and it was known a few actors from the TV show and upcoming moviewere around to sign autographs; strangely, one of them was an actual cat even. His eyes widened behind those glasses of his as things started to make sense.

"Well," The geek fixed his specs, "I guess there really are some things money can't buy."

'Ace' raised a brow. "What does that mean?"

"What I'm saying is, we better demand a pay increase."

"For the last time..." Lola spoke with fire in her tone. "Put! Our! Brother! And! His! Friend! In! The! Movie!" She took her crown off, pointing the sharp edges towards the two adults. "Don't make me repeat myself a fourth time!"

"Hey hey!" The male judge raised his hands in defense, a bead of sweat forming on the side of his head. "No need to get feisty o-ok?"

The female judge sighed. "Girls, we've told you this already. Even if we wanted to, there's already an Ace and Jack in the movie." Putting her hands on her hips, "And we definitely don't need to be casting anymore sidekicks."

"You're still ignoring the fact our male sibling created our personas, ergo it would be outside of the realm of legality to use us without his permission." Lisa stated flatly.

The female judge gave the toddler an uncaring stare. "I'm pretty sure our lawyers would have something to say about that..."

Lucy instinctively gripped the handle of her spade as she raised it ever so slightly. "Can that threat come from beyond the grave?..."

Luna tipped Lucy's spade down with her index finger. "Look mates," She started in a calm tone, hoping to diffuse the situation. "I know you probably think Lincoln and Clyde ain't worth spending film time on, but you gotta believe us when we say they're the geniuses behind these threads." She pulled at her costume to emphasize her point. "You ain't gonna have a good movie without them in it."

The male judge bit his cheek. "I think we'll take our chances, especially after the messes they've caused."

"Oh come on brah!" Luna yelled, throwing her hands in the air. "You act like they did that stuff on purpose!"

"Maybe not, but my point is that they haven't done anything that would make us consider them." The female judge furrowed her brows. "And we might reconsider casting you girls as the winners if you continue pestering us about this."

Luna's eye twitched as an artery became visible on the edge of her forehead. "Why I oughta-!" She reached for her guitar, only to stop when Lynn put her hand out.

"Don't sis, your hands are too weak." 'Strong Suit' cracked her knuckles. "Allow me." She chuckled darkly as she approached the two adults, both of which felt a bit of fear as they started to step back a little.

However, just as she cocked a fist back...

"LYNN!" An authoritative voice rang out, making the brunette recoil a bit.

The group turned to see the rest of the Loud sisters, with Lori giving them a scolding glare with her arms folded disapprovingly. "What did I tell you guys earlier?..."

Lynn pointed an accusatory finger at the judges. "But they wouldn't-!"

"That's not the point Lynn!" Lori interrupted. "Do you want to get all of us kicked out?!" To emphasize her point, 'High Card' pointed towards the few security agents and single cop standing nearby.

Lynn gave a loud, frustrated growl as she put her arm down. Glaring at the two judges, "You guys got lucky..." She stomped away, making sure they were as loud as possible on the carpeted floor.

Lori sighed as she brushed past Lynn. A hand met her forehead as forced out the anger towards her sibling, leaving a more temperamental attitude as she addressed the adults. "Sorry about my sister, but I gonna assume they hadn't convinced you on anything?"

"Well," The male judge folded his arms. "They were a few seconds away from getting security to escort them out."

"Perfect..." Lori muttered. "Look," She clasped her hands together. "You may not want to hear a repeat of this, so I'll get to the point. Lincoln and Clyde (especially our brother) spent days of their own time getting all of us prepared to impress you two for this convention. We weren't even interested in coming until we heard about the movie contest being hosted."

"Then why did you attend in the first place?" The male judge asked.

Lori furrowed her brows. "I was getting there..." She growled out before adopting a calm tone again. "We didn't think much about our brother's interest in this place until we actually got a chance to enjoy it ourselves, and it's going to literally break Lincoln's heart if we get casted into this movie while he doesn't. He created the characters that grabbed your attention, and it's just grossly unfair that Lincoln gets ignored for his creativity."

The female judge folded her arms. "Annnnd where exactly are you going with this?"

'High Card' put a hand on her hip. "Either let our brother and his friend into the movie, with a good role mind you, or at least give them a chance to prove themselves." Lori was quick to add, not wanting to get the short end of this deal. "Or you can go and find some other bland people for your dumb movie..."

"Yeah!" The rest of the girls cheered.

"Wait, what?" Lola stuttered out as that last sentence fully dawned on her.

The two judges hummed in thought. It could've been easy to let the girls go and seek out other potential actors for the movie; or just can the whole contest altogether. However, the whole point of featuring random strangers in a cameo was to test audience reactions for potential use of said characters in later films. And after spending the better part of the day looking for anything remotely interesting to use for the film, the two judges realized these girls were the only new material that actually would've been worth spending money for.

"Betsy?" The male judge asked.

Betsy sighed. "Honestly Eric, I've haven't seen a group this persistent in years; and the rest of the people here don't have anything we haven't seen before..." She muttered to her companion before addressing Lori. "Alright, we'll give them one chance," She raised a finger, "To convince us to cast them in the movie. If they can't, then we'll agree to your terms and disqualify you all from the contest."

"WHAT?!" Lola screeched, making those closest to her wince.

Ignoring this, the older woman continued. "Buuut, if your brother and his friend can 'wow' us with something original or perform an act that's up to par with the source material, we'll see what we can do." Betsy finished.

Eric rolled his sleeve back to check his watch. "You have 40 minutes. By then we'll have the call an end to the contest and announce the winners." Pointing a finger at them, "Don't disappoint us."

With that, the two judges walked off towards the auditorium. Lori, seemingly satisfied with the results, turned towards her sisters; only for Lola to jump onto her chest, clinging to her suit for support.

"Have you lost your mind?!" The 'Queen' asked, demanding an immediate answer. "Why on earth would you make a bet like that?!"

Lori frowned distastefully at young girl. "Oh get off your high horse…" She pushed the six-year-old off. "Do you think Lincoln would enjoy being the only sibling in our family to miss out on a grand opportunity like this? At least this way, it's fair and no one is getting left behind."

"But what if Lincoln doesn't convince them?!" Lola glared at the older blonde. "You would've blew a golden opportunity for all of us!"

"Lola..." Luan started pinching the bridge between her eyes in irritation. "Is this movie so important that you'd leave your brother to dry?"

"What happened to being all 'He's getting in that movie'? Huh?" Lana stated.

"I...u-uh..." Lola stammered, shrinking under the ever-increasing scrutiny of her sisters. After a moment of staring back at their heated gazes, the pageant winner finally conceded. "S-Sorry...you're right..."

"Besides, it's not like we prop them up to gain a positive review." Lucy stated, staring at her reflection on her spade. "We owe them that much." Looking around for a moment, "Speaking of which, where are they?"

"On a case looking for Lily's toy." Lori explained. "I figured getting onto something they're good at would help their odds."

"Are you certain they'll be able to find Lily's missing entertainment device before they run out of time?" 'Card Counter' asked, taking out a map of the convention floor that contained all the interesting attractions. "This building is approximately 900 by 500 meters, excluding the auditorium."

"Huh." Lynn put her hands on her hips. "You know, it would be amazing if they do manage to find it in here."

"Or the person who took it." Luna added.

"But, do they have enough time to figure it out?" Lucy asked, planting the tip of her spade into the carpet.

Leni tapped her chin, a memory surfacing from the time Lincoln managed to save her job. "Well, the boys found who was stealing clothes at my job, and I think it took them..." She hummed a little. "Less than 10 minutes? How long would this take?"

"This may be harder than we thought..." Lincoln groaned as he checked around the bench Lori pointed them to. "I mean, anyone could've taken it in those few minutes." Finding zilch for the 3rd time, he gave up and sat himself on the seat. "Wish we had one of Lisa's gadgets or, something..."

"Come on Lincoln, we can't give up now!" Clyde stated, eyeing the surface of the bench seat. "Ace and Jack never had to use scanners or anything to find clues." He squinted his eyes, poking his head closer at cushion until he could see the individual threaded lines.

Lincoln rolled his eyes, soon noticing the weird glances people were giving them. He frowned a bit as the thought of being deceived by his sisters crossed his mind. "Or just making fools of ourselves..." He leaned back, placing his hands to his sides on the seat. "This better not be a trick to distract us..."

The two had been combing the spot for clues ever since they split from the girls, only to waste 10 minutes looking at nothing but dust bunnies. As the white-haired boy moved his left hand off the cushion, he felt something come up with it. He glanced down absently, thinking it was just a loose thread from the seat. However, Lincoln raised a brow upon noticing it was instead a piece of thick, burgundy thread.

"Weird, this doesn't look like it came from Lily's costume...it's too dark..." He rubbed the thin fabric in his fingers. "Definitely not the same material..." Lincoln squinted his eyes, bringing the thread to his nose to dare a whiff. The Loud started to gag as the smell of sweat and lack of proper showering invaded his nasal cavities.

Clyde lifted his head. "You ok?"

"Y-Yeah. And I think I got a lead..." Lincoln gagged, showing Clyde the small thread.

The bespectacled boy raised a brow. "Isn't that from Lily's costume?"

"I thought it was." Lincoln breathed in before coughing, expelling the foul smell from his system. "But I remember using polyester when helping Leni make her booties, gloves, and even her mask."

Clyde rubbed his chin. "What about another Ace Savvy costume?"

"That's a strong possibility due to the color being the same...but this strand feels more like cotton than polyester; at least that's what my costume was made of, and it was bought some years ago..." Lincoln mulled in thought. "Not sure if the type changed, but I remember checking out some new costumes earlier and they felt pretty light."

"So, it's not from Deuce, and it's likely not from an Ace Savvy." Clyde replied, casually eyeing some passing cosplayers. "I doubt it could be a Jack though..." He raised a brow. "Wild Card Willy?"

"Probably..." The Loud responded, but didn't sound so sure about it.

From this distance, Clyde caught a glimpse of High Roller's truck, with some parts matching the color of the red thread Lincoln held. "What about a High Roller?"

Lincoln nodded a little. "That's another theory." He grimaced a little. "Must've been a really heavy guy or something, cause this thing," He pointed at the thread in his fingers. "Has some serious B.O. on it..."

Clyde raised a brow. "Let me see." He spoke as he reached for it.

The Loud pursed his lips. "Just don't pass out..." He reluctantly handed it over to the nerdy kid.

Clyde pinched the end and brought it to his nose, only for his eyes to water before he started having a coughing fit. "Y-Yep!...Definitely been hitting the junk food!..." He whipped out a paper bag and started breathing into it. "But how are we gonna figure out who the real thief is? There's tons of people dressed ad characters in here."

"Well, we could just-" Lincoln paused as he caught site of a camera attached to the corner of the main entrance, angled in such a way that it covered a 50-foot radius that had their position easily covered. He looked up, and saw a couple more cameras attached to the top of the ceiling. The Loud smiled as a new idea came to mind. "Actually, we may not need my sister's help."

Clyde exhaled into the bag before neatly folding it. "How come?"

"Any idea where the security office is?"

The McBride child shrugged. "Wait..." Hesitation was becoming clear on his face as a more pressing matter came to mind. "Wouldn't it be weird for two undressed kids to be snooping around for clues?" Lincoln raised a brow, but didn't immediately answer. "I mean, whoever the perp is, they won't see us coming if we dressed up." Clyde clarified.

"If they haven't left the place already..." Lincoln mulled internally. The Loud bit his cheek as he contemplated on an answer. "I...guess it would be easier to catch our crook by surprise if we hid in plain sight, but I already threw mine away..." He grasped his arm. "And I don't know if I want to put that same old costume on..."

Lincoln felt the weight of the cushion shift as Clyde took a seat next to him. "Lincoln, you didn't have a problem with it before. I mean, aside from not seeing the point in wearing it almost an hour ago; but what was wrong with your old costume?" He looked around at the other Ace Savvies walked around. "It looked the same as everyone else's, minus the towel for the cape."

"You know how costumes are supposed to hide secret identities?" Lincoln replied, which Clyde gave a nod. "I didn't think much on it back then, but my hair sticks out like a sore thumb." He pointed to his snow-capped dome. "I'm...just feeling a little more self-conscious, I guess? I mean, it's easy for you because tons of people wear glasses. But people might think I'm an old man otherwise."

Clyde hummed in thought, giving Lincoln a critical eye as he studied him. "I'm not Leni," He smiled as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "But it sounds like you want to update your image."

Lincoln sent a blank stare Clyde's way. "Gee, what made you figure that out?..."

Clyde dropped his smile. "I'm serious dude. Annnd," He pointed across the way towards a particular shop. "I think I see something that could suit what you're looking for."

The Loud raised a brow. "Was that supposed to be a costume joke?"

Clyde shrugged. "I dunno. Was it?"

Lincoln looked across the way, spotting a large booth that had numerous clothing racks scattered in front of it. The vendor was selling various costumes of heroes and villains for all sizes, an easy place to find for those in need of quick change costumes, and a favorite among first time cosplayers.

Pursing his lips a little, Lincoln got off the bench and walked over, gently pushing past a few kids that were still browsing. The Loud checked each and every costume that was for a different hero, silently contemplating if he should just pick a different persona to work with. However, the 11-year-old found himself getting drawn back to the Ace Savvy section, a sense of familiarity filling his mind in spite of his insistence to change things up. After finding a couple costumes that were his size, Lincoln traced his fingers on the fabric, picturing himself in the costume to see if it'd fit him comfortably. As his fingers dragged themselves onto another costume, the Loud raised a brow.

This one looked a tad different from the rest.

The layout was generally the same as any typical Ace Savvy outfit, but it looked more...modern or vigilante-like if Lincoln had a word to describe it. The entire suit was a darker shade of red, including the area below the belt being the same as the rest of the costume instead of appearing as if one were wearing underwear on the outside. With the handkerchief and cuffs, they were burgundy colored instead of black, and were stitched in such a way that gave the suit such a smooth appearance to the point it was probably a one piece; the boots were the same color as the wrist lines, and after a soft poke, Lincoln could tell a thicker type of leather was used instead of the plain, thinner, easy-to-punch-a-hole-into type he wore for years. The belt itself didn't have a large buckle on the front, only having a simple design that went around the entirety of the waistline; as for the cape, it was stitched onto the back like usual, but appeared almost navy blue in color instead of the usual sky blue.

If this wasn't enough to grab Lincoln's attention, the fact the costume also came with a full head mask surely did. It was dark red in color with a bold white line filling its center; it ran from the eye holes in the front all the way to the back. An Ace symbol with the Letter A was plastered on the forehead section, at which Lincoln finally noticed that the handkerchief on the suit lacked.

"Find something you like?" A kind, older voice asked.

Lincoln flinched as he was pulled from his thoughts, wheeling his head towards the adult. "Huh?"

"You were taking a lot of time staring at that costume." The clerk stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"O-Oh. Yeah." Lincoln turned and pulled it off the rack, flipping the package onto its backside to see the full layout pictured there. His eyes found the barcode near the bottom, though he frowned in disgust at the listed price. "$60?..."

"Yeah. You have a keen eye though: that's one of the newer designs that's fresh from the department. However, they haven't caught on yet as people seem to prefer the more traditional, superhero like appearance." The cashier stated, folding his arms. "Pretty sad too. Those threads are raaad."

"Dang it..." Lincoln muttered. "I spent most of my money on other stuff..."

"Bummer." The clerk frowned seeing Lincoln's disheartened face as he put the costume back. He hadn't been able to sell that particular model due to lack of interest, and finally someone came along that did want to purchase it, but was turned off due to insufficient funds. He stroked his chin as Lincoln started browsing at other, less interesting versions of the Ace Savvy suit, though the man could see him still eyeing that one costume in particular. "Tell ya what," He grabbed the costume off the rack. "How about I offer you a one-time discount?" He pointed at the costume he held. "Cause, seriously, I think Ace is more of a vigilante than a superhero." The man chuckled a little. "Gotta have the clothes that fit the part, am I right?"

Lincoln raised a brow. "How much of a discount?"

"50%, so that'd be $30."

Lincoln fished into his pocket and pulled out the cash he still had on hand: a $20 bill, a $5 bill, and several $1 bills. "Maybe I should ask Mom or Dad if I can get a wallet." The Loud mulled to himself. After counting the $1 bills, a bit of relief filled his chest as he had just enough to pay for the suit; though it'd leave him very short on change. "I'll take it!"

"Sweet." The man smiled, walking over to the register. "Just let me ring you up real quick."

Clyde came out of the restroom, adjusting his eyepatch to a comfortable spot on his face. "Come on...almost there..." He grunted, moving the strap through his curly hair.

As much as he was a fan of One-Eyed Jack, he grew to hate having to wear an eyepatch as part of the getup. Not only did it mess with his depth perception, it was a mess to get the patch sitting juuuuust right on his massive weave. The boy's eyes watered a little as he felt the strap tug on several follicles, forcing him to quickly lift it before setting it down.

"Ah..." Clyde sighed in relief. Turning towards the bathroom entrance, "You done yet Lincoln?"

"Yeah! Just getting...this...mask to fit right." The Loud grunted as he stepped out of the restroom, already dawning his new costume but was busy fiddling with the mask. Lincoln tugged at the top as he adjusted his hair underneath the surface, then tugged at the front so the fabric wouldn't hinder his eyesight. "Ok, I think I'm good."

"Soooo, how does it feel?" Clyde asked with much enthusiasm.

Lincoln pulled at the side of his outfit. "A little snug," He twisted his body to look at the back. "But comfy. Feels more flexible than my old suit."

"It looks WAY better than your old suit actually." Clyde complimented as he looked the Loud over. He frowned upon looking at his own costume. "Maybe I should've gotten a new look too."

Lincoln adjusted his collar until it felt more comfortable. "There's no time Clyde. We gotta figure out who the thief is before the trail goes cold; and it was your idea for me to get a new suit, so..."

"Yeah, but..." Clyde was about to refute a point, but the Loud was already walking away. He pouted his lips in irritation. "Never mind..."

Figuring that the security office wouldn't be anywhere on the floor, the two boys stuck towards the edges of the building, finding numerous bathrooms and other technical equipment rooms, but not the one room they sought. However, as they approached the northwest corner of the convention center, luck shined on them as a sign with the word 'Security' hung above a single door.

Lincoln twisted the knob, a little surprised it wasn't locked. "Huh. It's open."

"You think the security guard might be involved too?" Clyde asked as they stepped into what appeared to be a break room.

Lincoln raised a finger as he puffed his chest out. "Expect the unexpected!"

"What are you kids doing here?" A feminine voice called out, making Lincoln nearly jump out of his suit as he gave a sharp yelp.

The duo looked towards a middle-aged woman dressed in a typical security uniform, staring at them with disinterest while sipping from a coffee cup. Wanting to regain the vigor he momentarily lost, Lincoln straightened himself out before addressing the adult. "We'd like to see a video of what occurred 20 minutes ago near the front door."

"Any particular reason why?" The woman asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"We're on a VERY important case to find a missing toy for a baby." Clyde added, putting on an air of professionalism. "And we have a lead on our culprit, buuuut we need to get a physical ID on our suspects. "

The security officer rolled her eyes. "If you lost a toy, why don't you just go buy another one? I doubt a baby would tell the difference."

Lincoln furrowed his brows a bit. "I cannot do that ma'am. I made a promise to my sister to find it, and I can't let her down!" He folded his arms. "Plus, she can tell when it's not the one she picked out."

"Are you really going to force us to let a baby down?" 'Jack' asked, bringing his hands to his cheeks in feigned shock. "I thought it was your duty to uphold the law!"

"No." The woman paused to take another sip. "I just watch the monitors."

Lincoln gave a glare of disapproval. "Well, we have a code of honor to follow. And I won't rest until justice is dealt to the person who took my sister's prized possession." He shook his fist for added effect.

The woman sighed. "Fiiiiine. If it'll get you out of my hair, you can check the screen to see if you find anything." She turned and shuffled down the hall past the break room towards an open door, with 'Ace' and 'Jack' not far behind.

The moment they got to the door, the boys stared in awe the numerous monitors that lit up the dark room. All of them were arranged in a curve along the wall, with the shadow of the security officer sitting in a rolling chair at the desk in front of them.

Clyde leaned in towards Lincoln's ear. "This looks just like mission control from that space monster movie."

"Yeah..." Lincoln nodded as he whispered back, his eyes shifting from all the monitors. "I think I know why she's mad. I mean, how can one person watch all these screens? I don't even know where to start!"

"Hmmm..." Clyde squinted his eyes, strolling up to the monitors and looked at each one carefully.

There appeared to be a small box on the upper right side that listed the location of each camera, which Clyde was grateful for as it gave him something to work with. Starting from the left, he looked at each column of monitors to find the cameras located near the main entrance. He blinked after a minute, a dull sting being felt in his eyes from looking at a screen for too long.

"Find anything?" Lincoln asked, checking his own column of monitors.

"Not...quite-wait." Clyde spoke as he focused on a small group of monitors near the bottom. He recognized the set of double doors as the main entrance, especially when he saw the desk that gave people their event lanyards. Just below that monitor, he saw one that showed the area where the bench was located. "There!" 'Jack' pointed at the screen. "Monitor, uh..." He squinted as he quickly read the numbers. "638!"

Lincoln raised a brow as he looked to where Clyde was pointing at, which soon formed into delight. "Bingo! Let's rewind that camera!"

The security officer pushed her chair from the desk towards a computer monitor, typing in the camera number with one hand. The feed was brought up seconds later, to which Lincoln kindly took the mouse and clicked back to nearly a half hour ago. Knowing this might take a while, the Loud sped up the video by times 2, watching intently for anyone that passed by the bench. Several people had sat down, most of them being families dressed up for the con. Several Aces and Jacks had passed by the camera, including a few young kids dressed as various characters; but Lincoln had yet to see anyone that would've matched the description of an obese person dressed as the villainous High Roller.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Lincoln hadn't seen his sisters in the video feed either, nor the toy.

Sticking his tongue out, the Loud rewound the feed to about an hour ago, figuring he could start from there. Speeding up the video a little, Lincoln waited patiently for his sisters to appear, as that would indicate the part where he needed to pay very close attention to the feed. But for some reason, he saw that same small family again and again, doing the same actions before getting up and leaving.

"Is this thing stuck on repeat, or...?" Lincoln muttered to himself.

"Did you find the girls yet?" Clyde asked.

"No. I went back to an hour ago and they still haven't appeared when they should've." Lincoln furrowed his brows as the feed seemed to repeat itself for the 4th time. "I think it's broken or something."

Clyde raised a brow before looking at the rest of the monitors. Looking towards the center of the group, he spotted one feed that generated interest. "Well, I see Lynn playing the strongman game again."

Lincoln went wide-eyed. "What?" He whipped his head towards his friend. "That game's been broken since this morning."

"Well, I guess they fixed it." Clyde pointed toward the screen, making Lincoln walk over so he could get a better look.

Indeed, it showed Lynn proving her strength at the strongman game, with another camera catching the moment the bell puncher broke the bell off its mount and shot into the ceiling.

"Uh, Clyde?" Lincoln spoke, tapping his eye-patched companion on the shoulder. He pointed at the screen that showed Lynn striking the stand with the hammer; but just off to the left, one could see Lincoln and Clyde watching her in amazement.

Clyde had his mouth agape slightly. "But, if we're in here...then who's that?!"

Lincoln slapped a hand on his forehead. "Clyde, it means that the feed is only showing what happened hours ago!" He looked at the rest of the monitors, which were showing the same symptoms from the personal feed Lincoln had watched. The Loud was quick to spot a couple of his other sisters doing activities on camera, such as Lori buying Lily the toy she lost; that served as a further indication that all of the monitors were showing dated information. "Which means something really is wrong with all the cameras!"

"Please." The security officer put her cup down. "All of the cameras can't be broken like that." She wheeled herself over to the computer again, typing something the boys couldn't quite make out. The feed Lincoln was checking was soon replaced with a chart that appeared to show the data for each camera in the building. "Sure, some may go out from time to time, but-" She paused as she looked at the list of the times shown from the current feed being displayed. "What the hell?..." She checked her watch.

'Ace' and 'Jack' stood there in confusion before the officer spoke again. "Ooookay, apparently something went wrong around 11 this morning. No wonder I didn't see anything out of the ordinary when the others started talking about merchandise going missing..." She said to no one in particular.

Lincoln glanced at Clyde. "Merchandise?"

"Someone's been robbing the booths?" Clyde added.

"But, I should be able to fix that." The officer did a few keystrokes, after which the boys saw a prompt appear on the screen. A single click of the mouse was heard before the room went dark as the screens blacked out.

'Jack' started quaking in his boots. "W-What's going on?"

"Relax kid. It's just a reboot." The woman stated, typing what was assumed to be another command before the room started to illuminate once more as camera feeds started booting back up one by one.

The boys watched as the feed started to show real time footage of the convention floor. A couple cameras had another security officer or two talking with vendors that had a noticeable amount of merchandise missing, with another showing one officer talking to an actual cop. Lincoln looked to the right a little and spotted all of his sisters in one screen, with Lola strangely grappling Lori's suit. Lincoln could only assume she was mad about something judging by the look on her face, and it wasn't a surprise that Lori promptly shoved her off. A few cameras to the left would show the contest judges walking away from where the girls stood.

"Guess they managed to convince them." Lincoln muttered to himself. "I think..." He felt a tapping on his shoulder, making him look at Clyde.

"Uh, you are seeing this?" Clyde pointed at a couple monitors to the far right, which were connected to cameras located outside the rear section of the building. In one monitor, there was an Ace, Card Shark, Wild Card Willy, and High Roller (an obese one at that) standing outside a trailer as if they were keeping watch. Well, two of them were keeping watch while the other two were peering inside the trailer's window; they were knocked off balance as the temporary building shook, almost as if something heavy had been knocked over on the inside.

Judging from their physique, Lincoln assumed they must've been a few years older than his oldest sister.

The Loud saw a placard on the door, which was somewhat hard to read due to the angle of the camera. After a moment of studying it, Lincoln was able to make out a name. A sinking feeling started to fill his stomach, for there was something terribly off about the scene the two were watching unfold.

"Um...who's trailer is that?" Clyde asked, feeling a similar emotion to what Lincoln felt.

Lincoln's reply sent a chill up "Jack's" spine. "The Kitty..."

A/N: I wanted to get this out before the year turned over, but was too busy being sick to care. Also, I was planning on having the second act be the final one, but i realized it'd end up being 20k words long and might be a slight turn off for some. So, the next act will be the last; and it will be much more action-packed than what you've read so far.

You may be asking why Lincoln got a costume upgrade. Well, I asked Underrated Hero about using his design from his Marvel-esque story, and he agreed. Personally, I like his design better than the one in the show. It feels like the show tried to make Ace Savvy something akin to superman, but someone had to compromise and went for more Batman type skills while still looking like superman. I don't think it worked out well in the grand scheme of things, especially if Ace's fights seen so far (from Lincoln's perspective) tend to involve "let's fight for 30 seconds before i have to call the cavalry."