Pre-chapter Author's note: This is a Loud House story that I'm writing. Nothing new about that. This is going to be a story that primarily features my OCs the Ace siblings, as well as a few others such as Ulfric, Mitzie, Kara and even Trixie. Again, nothing new. But what is new is that this is going to be a story based off of another story that is up on this site; in this case, 'Syngenesophobia' by That Engineer. Before anyone tries to give me any flak, let me just say this; 'Syngenesophobia' is That Engineer's story, not mine. In fact, I wouldn't even be writing this story if it wasn't for the fact that That Engineer is a creative and brilliant writer whose works can inspire others. Full credit for his story should go to him. Thank you for writing some of the absolute finest stories that I have ever read in my entire life, That Engineer. Keep on trucking.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Ace Observations

Chapter one: A peaceful enough night that leads to a troubling morning

It was a peaceful enough late evening over at the Ace family residence located in Royal Woods, Michigan. Ashe, the matriarch of the family, was in the kitchen preparing dinner for herself and her children. The Ace matriarch was even singing a little song to herself as she went about her business in preparing the fish. "Dig vill vi giva en kungason till man," Ashe sang to herself as she was lightly adding spice to the fish, "Som haver mera guld an lille Roland ha-"

Ashe was cut off when a large, and I do mean large, dog came running into the kitchen randomly; this dog was covered in mostly dark fur, save for the light brownish fur that covered its belly, front of its neck and the bottom of its muzzle. Startled somewhat, Ashe turned to face this large dog, and saw that it, along with a Red Fox and a Skunk, of all things, were all turning around in circles, as if they were excited for something.

Running into the kitchen was Anna, Ashe's youngest child at six years of age. Anna had fair skin and brown hair that was long enough to keep in twin pigtails, although they weren't all that long. Anna wore a long-sleeved light purple shirt with a white kitty face in approximately the center, a purple skirt that reached her knees, a pair of ankle socks the same shade of purple as her shirt, and a yellow hat that is exactly like the hats that are worn by young Japanese schoolchildren.

"Fenrir, Kyubi, Spirit, come on!" Anna said to the animals in a mildly bemused tone, "Mommy's trying to make dinner, and you guys bothering her isn't going to help!"

"They probably smelled the food I was preparing and came rushing in," Ashe said to her young daughter. Stealing a glance at the three animals, Ashe continued, "Besides, your older siblings always take their pets for walks before dinner."

Anna nodded in agreement with her mother, then turned around and left the kitchen. When Anna had left, Ashe returned to the matter of making the pets leave. Fortunately, this was solved when Ashe's three oldest children, Allison, Aggro and Amy, walked into the kitchen. Allison and Aggro are twin seventeen-year-olds, whereas Amy is only fifteen.

Allison, technically the oldest since she was born a few minutes before Aggro, had fair skin and yellow-blonde hair that was long enough to keep in twin pigtails that trailed down her back. Allison wore a dark green and somewhat baggy t-shirt, a pair of jeans, a brownish leather coat that was tied around her waist, and a red Sherpa hat with tassels hanging from the ear flaps. There was also a white square cloth bandage over the bridge of Allison's nose, but one got the feeling from looking at the female Ace twin that said bandage was there for reasons of trying to go for a certain look; Allison wasn't really nursing any sort of injury.

Aggro, the younger twin brother of Allison, was as tall as his twin, and possessed the same skin tone. Although also blonde, same as Allison, Aggro's hair was of a somewhat paler shade; additionally, Aggro's hair was bound in a single men's ponytail that trailed down his back, save for the bangs which he allowed to frame his face. Aggro wore a light gray long-sleeved shirt (the sleeve ends hung loosely about the wrists, not cling tightly to them) under a seafoam green men's tank top, a pair of light gray somewhat baggy pair of cargo pants held up with a belt, and a haori long coat the same shade of green as his men's tank top. Aggro also had a pair of white studio headphones, with black circles on the outer side of the earpads, resting around his neck; cords came from both earpads, trailed down until they joined and became a single cord, then said cord disappeared into Aggro's front right pocket.

Amy, the youngest of the group, had skin that seemed to be a pale shade of light gray. Amy had jet black hair that covered her right eye, although her left eye, which was a vibrant and piercing shade of burgundy, was exposed. The rest of Amy's hair was bound in a braided ponytail that trailed down her back. Amy wore a black sleeveless blouse, a black skirt that reached her knees (going about half an inch past her knees, actually), black and white-striped arm warmers and black and white-striped stockings. As soon as Allison, Aggro and Amy walked into the kitchen, the animals all turned around, having sensed someone enter; the large and powerful-looking dog was the first to go to the three oldest Ace siblings, making a beeline for Allison. The fox and the skunk were very quick to follow, with the fox going to Aggro and the skunk going to Amy.

"I understand that you have a warrior's appetite, Fenrir," Allison said in a mildly amused tone as she ruffled the top of the dog's head, "But dinner won't be for a while yet. Also, mom is preparing food for us humans." Giving her dog a knowing look, Allison asked, "You didn't think she was making all that fish just for you, did you?" The mildly confused sounding woof that came from Fenrir was all the answer the female Ace twin needed.

"Yeah, we ought to take them for walks before dinner," Aggro said to his sisters as his pet fox was gently swiping at his right pants leg with a paw.

"You know, I've noticed how some of the people in the neighborhood have given me odd looks whenever I'm out with Fenrir," Allison said.

Amy, while holding her pet skunk, said to her older sister with a hint of knowing in her tone, "Well many people expect seventeen-year-old girls to spring for something like a Chihuahua or a Corgi, not a Tibetan Mastiff like Fenrir. Of course, you'd be turning a few heads while you're out and about walking a large dog that can tackle a grown man to the ground."

"But then again," Aggro remarked, "A large dog like Fenrir is one of the reasons why Allison has never been bothered by guys that would have certain ideas with her."

Realizing what her brother was getting at, Allison declared in a firm tone, "If any man would try business like that with me, I would send him straight to Loki's daughter!"

"I said one of the reasons," Aggro pointed out. The male Ace twin could not help but find some amusement in his older twin sister's declaration; with her strength, willpower and ferocity, Allison is very much reminiscent of the Vikings that were deep in the Ace sibling's Swedish heritage. And woe to any guy who thinks to try and get lucky with Allison.

"Well then, you two," Amy said as she proceeded to walk over to the front door, "We shouldn't keep Spirit and the others waiting for their walk." The Ace twins both nodded in agreement, then led their respective pets out of the kitchen as they walked behind Amy on their way to the front door so that they may take their pets for walks.

Later that evening after dinner, the Aces were settling down and relaxing. Allison was watching something on the TV in the living room while Astrid, the eleven-year-old sister of Allison and the others, sat on the end of the sofa opposite of Allison.

Fair-skinned like the rest of her siblings, Astrid had long hair that reached about halfway down her shoulder blades. Her hair was also completely white in color. Astrid was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse that looked like what Japanese schoolgirls would wear as part of their uniforms; this blouse also had an orange sailor-style collar, and an orange ribbon was worn around the neck. Astrid's outfit was completed by the dark bluish skirt that reached her knees.

During a commercial break for the show she was watching, Allison turned to regard her eleven-year-old younger sister; the white-haired girl was fully invested in the hand-held video game system she had in her hands. "…That is an interesting game, I take it?" Allison asked, getting Astrid's attention in the process.

Pausing her game before turning to regard her older sister, Astrid said, "Yeah, it's a game that me and a few friends of mine at school have all been dying to get. In fact, Ronnie Anne also got the game as well, and from what she's been telling me, she's been at it nonstop."

"Ronnie Anne?" Allison repeated in a confused tone.

"You know," Astrid replied, "Ronnie Anne Santiago? She's my friend? She's the younger sister of Aggro's friend Bobby?"

"Ah yes," Allison remarked, having realized part of what her younger sister was getting at, "I am familiar with Bobby. A solid and dependable friend from what Aggro says about him. However, I mainly only know Bobby as Lori Loud's champion."

"I…see," Astrid replied before turning her attention back to her video game. The two sisters sat like that on the sofa until the show Allison was watching ended; at exactly the same time the show ended (Allison would later go on to comment about the timing), Aggro walked into the house, having gone somewhere after he and the rest of the Aces finished dinner. The male Ace twin was also carrying a small plastic shopping bag that looked like it came from a convenience store of some sort.

Holding up the shopping bag, Aggro said, "Hey Astrid, can you go get Anna for me? I got something for the both of you."

…

If one cannot tell, the Ace siblings are all mixed-heritage. There is Swedish, Japanese and Native American ancestry among the total eight siblings. However, the Ace siblings all tend to lean towards one specific aspect of their heritage, with Aggro, Astrid and Anna all leaning towards their Japanese side. As such, the three of them tend to interact with each other more than they do with their other siblings.

Thus, it was not uncommon for Aggro to spring for small treats to share with Astrid and Anna, while making sure to take into consideration some unspecified illness Astrid has that makes it so that she can't have too much sugar at once, or too much sugar in general. The treats were eaten, and afterwards Aggro got a pot of water set on the stove for tea; although his younger sisters would use coffee mugs for their tea, as they usually do, Aggro opted for his yunomi tea cup.

"So, girls," Aggro began in a friendly and conversational tone, "How's school going for you?"

"You know who Lincoln Loud is, right?" Astrid replied.

After giving Astrid's question a bit of thought, Aggro said, "I know that he is the younger brother of Allison's friend Lori, and that he has white hair similar to you." With a gentle shake of his head, Aggro continued, "But I'm afraid that I do not know him beyond that."

"Well, here's the thing," Astrid went on, "Lincoln has a friend that I…umm…Well, you see…" As the blushing on Astrid's face started to appear, Aggro could tell full well what was going on; his little sister had a crush on the boy that she was talking about.

"So…" Aggro prodded in a mildly amused tone, "…What is this friend of Lincoln's like?"

A hint of embarrassment appearing in her expression, Astrid began, "Well, umm, he's a dark-skinned boy who wears glasses. Ronnie Anne told me that his name is Clyde McBride." Poking the tips of her index fingers together in a manner that further conveyed her nervousness about the subject, Astrid went on, "I, umm, I don't know if there is someone that Clyde already likes, so I don't know if I should try and, umm, well, tell him how I feel."

"I see," Aggro replied, knowing what his little sister was trying to get at. Once the water in the pot on the stove got hot enough, Aggro poured it into the two coffee mugs and one yunomi tea cup, put tea bags in all of them, then brought them over to the table. Aggro handed one mug each to his younger sisters while placing the yunomi tea cup at his own place. "Let the tea cool for a bit," Aggro instructed the younger Ace girls. To Astrid specifically, Aggro said, "Well, Astrid, the best thing I can suggest is to send this Clyde boy a love letter, preferably put it in his locker if he uses it frequently."

"I…I hope that works," Astrid replied, still sounding nervous and mildly unsure of herself.

"It should," Aggro said with a hint of casual confidence in his tone, "Since Clyde is friends with Lori's younger brother, I suspect that the two boys are similar. That being said, I bet that this Clyde boy is a kind and understanding boy, much like Lincoln."

Nodding once in agreement, Astrid replied, "Yeah. Lincoln Loud is a very nice boy. No wonder Ronnie Anne likes him so much."

That last bit that Astrid said caught Aggro's attention; the male Ace twin knew that there was a boy at the K-8 school that Ronnie Anne liked, given that Bobby, Ronnie Anne's older brother, is close friends with Aggro and tells him a lot. But Aggro had no idea that the boy who Ronnie Anne liked is Lincoln, the younger brother of Bobby's girlfriend Lori. Aggro had no doubt that his good friend found a good deal of amusement in this. "Well isn't that an interesting twist," Aggro thought in amusement as he reached for his cup, "I wonder why Bobby never told me that it was Lincoln-"

*Crack*

Aggro stopped, both mid-thought and in the middle of reaching for his cup, when he saw a crack appear along the side of his cup. Both Astrid and Anna noticed how their older brother had suddenly stopped, as if he were a video on pause. "Is something wrong, Aggro-Oniisan?" Anna asked as she observed her older brother.

"…It's nothing," Aggro replied quickly, dismissing his little sister's question quickly. The crack in his yunomi tea cup did not make it unusable, so Aggro still drank his tea from it. Still, the male Ace twin could not shake the feeling that something bad had just occurred.

He knew an omen when he saw one.

The Ace siblings all went to sleep, and aside from hearing the sound of what sounded like a nightstand smashing into the ground after it was thrown from a bedroom window coming from somewhere in the neighborhood, the Aces were able to sleep soundly. …After Allison's dog Fenrir had stopped barking due to being startled by the aforementioned noise, that is.

The Ace siblings all went about heading off to school, with Alphonse, Astrid, Andy, Argent and Anna heading to the K-8 school, and Allison, Aggro and Amy going to the High School. Additionally, since Allison was going to speak with her friends on the varsity golf team, she brought with her a thin black leather rectangular case that she wore over her back. This case held her four-iron golf club, the only golf club that she owns. The club had a handle that was a faded reddish-brown color.

Similar to Allison's case that held her golf club, Aggro had over his back a cloth carrying case that held his bokken. This bokken was a little over three feet long and made of reddish-brown wood; the end that served as the hilt had a black faux-leather wrapping (the material had red threading). Aggro was intending to go to the park for Kendo practice afterschool.

The three oldest Ace siblings got to the High School well enough, and there was a bit of time before classes, so they decided to walk around for a bit. In their walking through one of the hallways, Allison, Aggro and Amy came across Bobby Santiago, who is close friends with Aggro. To the concern of the Ace siblings, the teen who worked many jobs looked to be dealing with a mix of emotions; disappointment, disgust, sadness, shame.

"Umm…" Aggro began, getting Bobby to turn to face him, "…Good morning?"

Bobby did not reply right away, but rather merely sighed in a resigned tone. "Sorry for looking so out of it, dude," the Hispanic teen said to his mixed-heritage friend, "But…but something that…*sigh* I broke up with Lori last night." That last line from the teen who worked many jobs struck the Ace siblings with the force of a speeding dump truck. None of them, or anyone at RWHS for that matter, would ever believe that Bobby Santiago and Lori Loud would ever end their relationship.

"Did she release you," Allison began in a stern tone of curiosity, her arms folded over her chest, "Or did you end your role as her champion of your own volition?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," Bobby replied, his tone carrying a very strong hint of somber weariness.

Sighing in a tone that carried a mix of mild disappointment and firm confusion, Allison went on, "Lori is a close friend of mine, so-"

"You're actually still friends with Lori?!" Bobby snapped, interrupting Allison in the process and surprising the Aces for a second time, "After what she did?! What all of her sisters aside from the baby did?!" Just as quickly as his sudden burst of passion came, Bobby deflated back down to his previous state of depressed somberness.

Allison, Aggro and Amy knew that something was up, and it was Aggro who took the initiative. "Bobby," Aggro began in a concerned tone, getting the Hispanic teen to look up at him. Placing a hand on Bobby's left shoulder in a gesture that conveyed support, Aggro said, "I can tell that you are not feeling great right now. Rest assured that if you need anything, you can just give me a holler, alright?"

With a small and slightly sad but appreciative smile, Bobby said, "Thanks, Aggro. You're a real bro, dude."

"I know," Aggro replied, "But still, I have to ask." With Bobby's full attention, Aggro asked, "I think that this might be a touchy subject, given how you just exploded, but what do you mean by 'what Lori and her sisters aside from the baby did'?"

Once again, Bobby sighed in a resigned tone. "Lori and her sisters," Bobby began, "From what Lori told me last night when I got a text from her, she and her sisters got into a nine-against-one fight with their brother Lincoln, and things…didn't end all that well for the bro."

The Aces did not know what to say; if what Bobby just told them is true, then Lori and eight of her sisters all ganged up on and fought their only brother and had also clearly won the brawl. Pressing Bobby for more information, the Aces learned that Lincoln had apparently been beaten so badly by the combined efforts of Lori and her sisters that were involved that the Loud parents had to collect their only son and take him to the hospital. Bobby also mentioned something about some 'Sister Fight Protocol', but none of the Aces had any idea what that was all about and decided to regard it as a non-factor.

"…You would accuse Lori and her sisters of such dishonor?" Allison said to Bobby, clearly mad that one of her friends was being slandered, and by said friend's ex-boyfriend, no less.

Getting a bit indignant, Bobby said, "I'd show you the texts where Lori told me everything, but I showed the texts to Ronnie Anne last night to help shed some light on why Lincoln didn't contact her, then she got so mad that she took my phone, threw it to the wall hard enough so that my phone smashed on contact, then in that same fit of fury she took her nightstand and chucked it out her bedroom window while screaming that she'd put Lori and her sisters in comas."

Turing around, Allison said, "No way in Hel will I stand around and hear people throw around slander about one of my friends! I'm going to go find Lori to get the truth from her!" Before anyone could stop her, the female Ace twin took her leave.

"Oh, for…" Amy said in a mildly frustrated tone. Turning to go after her older sister, Amy ran off in the direction Allison took off in while calling out, "Allison!"

With the two oldest Ace sisters gone, Aggro turned back to face Bobby. The male Ace twin was shocked to hear that Lori and her sisters would really do such a thing to their only brother. He was especially shocked because Lori's sister Leni had also taken part in the beating that was given to the sole Loud boy; Aggro knew Leni about as well as he knew Lincoln, but from what he was able to gather about her, Leni didn't have a mean bone in her entire body. The fact that Leni had helped with beating her little brother to the point that he needed medical attention was something that Aggro was, admittedly, having some degree of difficulty in wrapping his head around.

But Aggro's confusion on the matter can wait for the time being. Right now, Aggro had a friend who was clearly lost on what to do. Just as Allison went to go see to Lori's needs, Aggro would stay by Bobby's side to give him a shoulder to lean on, as any loyal friend would do.

END, ACE OBSERVATIONS CHAPTER ONE

Author's notes:

So yeah, this has been the first chapter, which aligns with the night of the beating and the morning after said beating. The next chapter will see more of what goes on the morning after the beating, although we'll be swinging by the K-8 school, and things are going to be seen (mostly) from Astrid's point of view. I have no idea how well this story will catch on, but there's only one real way to find out, I suppose.

Again, 'Syngenesophobia' is the work of That Engineer, not me.