Cieque du Loud part 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the Loud House and make no profit from this story.

Lincoln smiled and took Lynn's hand as they stood before the applauding crowd. The two gave a tandem bow before they left the field, crossing a wooden beam that led across the pool from their platform to another with a ladder. They climbed down and ran back to join the rest of their family, finding their mother waiting for them. She was tapping her foot and giving the two of them a stern look that said 'you better have a good explanation for what you did.' Something that would have proven more effective had she not currently been wearing a baggy pair of pink clown pants with violet polka dots on them.

"When I asked you to help your brother with the act, I meant you should use a radio set so you could talk him through it. Not to blindfold him and play backseat driver!"

"Wait, so I didn't have to wear the blindfold?" Lincoln asked. "Lynn!"

"What? It worked out, didn't it?" the girl replied in her defense. "Besides, Mom never specifically said what to do. She just told me to help you out. And I did."

Rita let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We'll talk about this after the show. But for now I want you to go and lay down again, young lady. You're looking a little green."

"Pfft, I'm fine." Lynn said. "I don't need to lay down. In fact, I think I'll get a little calisthenics in before I get to be fired out of the cannon."

"I wasn't making a suggestion." Rita firmly stated. "I'm telling you to go and lay down. Now! And I think to be safe, we should forget about the cannon."

"But..."

"That isn't up for debate. Now march!"

The mother thrust her arm out and pointed towards the waiting area. Lynn grumbled and did as told, dragging her feet as she went. Lincoln was able to relate to her mood, albeit for a different reason. When she had joined him for the daredevil run, he had silently hoped that she'd be able to do the human cannonball as well. But now that it was definitely not happening, it seemed like he would be going through with it after all. That is unless someone else volunteered to take his place. And he had a sneaking suspicion that told him that wasn't about to happen. There was a better chance that Luan would just agree to cancel the human cannonball altogether. And she had used her own money to rent the thing, taking it directly out of her April Fool's savings. Not to mention that it had been one of the more prominent things featured when they had advertised the circus in the first place.

'Thanks for being so insistent on that, Lynn .' The boy silently complained.

Lincoln went to join his sisters and take a well earned rest. He would need it for the upcoming finale. There was only Luan's clown act and Lisa's magic act left before then. Which reminded him, Lynn was supposed to be part of Lisa's act too. It looked like he'd have to substitute for her there as well.

'Maybe if I'm lucky, Lisa will make me disappear and I won't be around for them to fire me from the cannon.' He joked to himself, sitting down in a folding chair and making himself comfortable. 'Or better yet, maybe she could just make the cannon disappear. That would be cool. Not to mention a lot less for me to worry about.'

He continued to relax, closing his eyes and let his mind wander on the subject of Lisa's act. He had been very surprised to hear her say she wished to do that. All of them had been surprised by it. With her dedication to science, none of them would have guessed she'd dabble in something like pulling a rabbit out of her hat. But she had insisted on it since it would be the most sensible thing to do. That and she could use science and technology to pull of tricks that would make even professional magicians gape in awe. The thought of getting to participate in something like that actually got Lincoln a little bit excited. Although he had no idea what to expect since Lisa had kept most of it secret from the start, and that was slightly worrying. Regardless of that though, it would definitely be a nice change from the more dangerous stuff he'd been doing thus far.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He cracked one eye open and found Luan standing beside him, a wide yet nervous smile on her face. It was pretty obvious to him that something was up.

"Everything okay, Luan?" he asked, opening both eyes and sitting up a bit.

"Well, yes and no." Luan answered. "Dad is making lots of money right now selling his food to customers. But...he's super busy. There are even people walking in off of the streets to try his stuff. So he won't be able to participate in the family clown routine I put together. You wouldn't mind taking his place, would you?"

"Sure, I'll do it." Lincoln answered with not even a moment's hesitation.

"Really?" She said, her face lighting up. "Oh, thank you Lincoln! I'll have Leni whip up something for you real quick to wear. Luckily I brought all my clowning supplies with me, so it shouldn't take long. But to be safe, I asked Luna to do another interlude to buy us a bit of time. Lisa even said she'd have a few of her little flying orb things do some kind of light show to go with it."

"That's good, we should have plenty of time. I remember a lot of your routine from when you practiced it during the week, but run me through it anyway, just to be sure." Lincoln said.

"Absolutely! But first..." Luan pulled him into a quick hug, squeezing him tight. "Thanks again. I know I've asked a lot from you today. I really appreciate you helping out at the last minute again."

"Hey, it's no problem. After doing two of Lynn's acts I'd love to just clown around for a bit."

Luan giggled. "Good one!"

The two siblings began to go over the clown act while Luna entertained the audience with some hard rock. Lisa accompanied the music with her flying orbs, each of them glowing one of the primary colors. They shot through the air, arcs of light trailing behind them as they whirled around in loops or spirals, earning many 'oohs' and 'ahs' from the crowd.

A short while later, after Luna had played a few more songs, Lincoln was ready to go. Leni had expertly sewn together some orange fabric to make a pair of baggy clown pants for him to wear, which needed to be held up with suspenders. She had gotten a little creative and added a selection of patches cut from other colors of cloth leftover from when she had made everyone else's outfits. Lincoln's bright orange pants were adorned with blues and greens and purples, along with some red, yellow, pink and black. He wore one of his normal orange shirts to go with them and then Luan did his make up for him and stuck a big, red clown nose over his real one to complete the look.

"I look ridiculous." He said, taking a look at himself in the mirror.

"Perfect!" Luan said, grabbing his arm while carrying a large duffel bag in the other. "Then it's time to make em laugh!"

She and Lincoln rushed out to begin their performance, followed by Rita who was pushing Lily in a stroller. Luna cut the music temporarily and Lisa's orbs returned to their positions as the audience turned their attention back to the field. During the interlude, Chunk had brought out a set, including pieces of furniture, that strongly resembled the Loud's living room back in their house. Chunk was also using the camera again, so that the audience could get a better view of them if they so wished.

Lincoln hopped onto the couch and turned on a prop television. It was really just a computer monitor hooked up to a external harddrive and powered by a small, solar powered generator. But it looked the part, including having a few different 'channels' which were nothing more than GIFs on a slideshow that could be changed via remote. The 'television' currently showed a crudely drawn image of a man's body wearing a suit, with a donkey head where a human head should have been. Lincoln inconspicuously changed the image, now showing a similar one, only the body was wider and had an elephant's head in place of the donkey's.

"Heya little bro, what are you watching?" Luan asked, setting down her bag and hopping onto the couch beside him.

"Political debate." Lincoln answered, getting a good number of laughs from the crowd.

Luan made a face. "Ugh, talk about boring! Let's watch something more practical. There's a cooking show on right now that is showing new pie recipes."

"Ooh, that does sound interesting!" Lincoln commented, changing the 'channel'.

"You betcha! I'm hoping to learn how to make something fancy so I can give it to a boy I like at clown school. Nothing says 'hey, I like you' like a fresh baked good in the face!"

"Um, wouldn't it be better if you just let him eat it instead?"

"Well duh." Luan said, rolling her eyes. "That's the idea! Why else would I smash a pie onto someone's pie hole?"

Lincoln shrugged. "I dunno. It seems like a waste of food to me."

"Why so serious, little bro?" Luan asked. "Is something bothering you?"

"Not really, although...I have been thinking about clown school a lot lately..."

"What's that about clown school?" Rita asked, strolling Lily over.

The sight of Lily in her little clown outfit began melting the hearts of many in the audience. Rita took Lily out of the stroller and set her down, the little clown starting to walk around, giggling and clapping merrily as her shoes squeaked. Chunk zoomed in on her for a moment, Lily waving at him and further winning over the onlooking crowd.

After allowing the people to continue adoring Lily a few moments longer, Chunk returned focus to the other Louds. Rita stepped over to her only son and sat beside him while Luan went to keep tabs on Lily. The mother put her hand on Lincoln's shoulder and givng him a soft squeeze.

"What's the matter, sweetie? Having trouble with your classes?"

"No. It's not that." Lincoln answered. "I...I've just been getting bored with classes lately."

"Oh, I get it." Luan said, turning over to look at him. "The material is pretty tame sometimes. It's easy to feel like you're stuck further back than you should be. No worries though, I have just the solution. We just need to expand your horizons a little. Maybe try out some new props. Check out this one that I got the other day!"

Luan pulled an object from her pocket to show off. It was roughly six inches long and torpedo shaped. One end was rounded off and the other flat, as though it had been cut. Around the middle was a band of paper with a brand name written across it. Rita narrowed her eyes upon seeing the item and put her hands on her hips as she scowled disapprovingly.

"Young lady. Is that a cigar?!"

"No Mom, it's just a prop. It's really a lighter. See?" Luan said, pressing on the rounded end and making a small flame spark from the other.

"Well I don't care if it's real or not. I don't like you having something like that! I don't want to see that anymore!"

"Oh...okay then. Hang on a sec." Luan said.

Luan walked over to the large duffel bag and began to dig through it. After a moment she pulled out a large foil pie tin with a plastic cover, housing a banana cream pie. She removed the cover and then firmly planted the dessert on her mother's face, covering it entirely.

"There you go. Problem solved." the teenager said, grinning widely.

Rita wiped away the pie that was covering her mouth. "Much better. Thank you."

A series of laughs came come the audience. Some of them only chuckled while others burst out into hearty chortles or guffaws. Rita cleaned off the rest of her face while the laughter died down and then went over to Luan's duffel bag and began pulling out half a dozen objects that looked like cartoon bombs. She gathered them all up in her arms and then took a position just a short distance from her teenage daughter.

"Here, how about you watch the new juggling act your sister and I have been practicing? Maybe that will help you feel the joy of clowning again."

"But..." Lincoln began.

"No buts, just watch." Rita told him. "You'll enjoy what you see."

Rita tossed the first bomb towards Luan, who caught it with ease. The teen juggled it to her other hand while her mother threw the second one at her. As the third was flying through the air, Luan readied to catch it while juggling the other two with one hand. She began to juggle her three bombs and Rita did the same with her own. Then they began to juggle all six between them for a short while, maintaining perfect rhythm.

Lincoln, and the audience, watched as the juggling continued until Rita was the one juggling all six bombs. She tossed one back to Luan, who used her cigar-lighter to light the fuse. Luan then returned it to her mother and caught the next one to light up. Eventually Rita was juggling all six of them with their fuses burning away. As the first one was about to blow, Rita tossed it as high into the air as she could, the bomb going off as it reached the apex. And when it exploded, a multi-color burst of light spread out in all directions, the sight making the audience gasp in awe.

The rest of the bombs went out with similar bangs in quick succession. Four additional bursts of colorful lights dazzled the crowd and Rita then tossed the final one up...only for it to fall back down to her with it's fuse still burning. It blew just as it fell back into her open hands...resulting in blue dye coating her entire face, neck, upper body and arms.

"Oopsie." Rita said with a giggle. "Looks like I just blue it big time!"

"Good one, Mom!" Luan laughed along with the audience. " Here let me help you wash off."

Luan took a spray bottle of seltzer out of her bag and aimed at her mother. She began to shoot the liquid at her, dousing her heavily and leaving her drenched. And seeing the results of her work, she smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head.

"Looks like I went a little overboard. I'll get you a towel." She said, passing the seltzer to Lily. "Here, hold this for me."

The moment Lily had her tiny hands on the bottle, she began to spray her big sister with the remaining seltzer. It had been one of the things Luan had taught her to do for the show, and had proven quite easy to do too. Lily picked it up quickly, enjoying how fun it was. The little clown was letting out giggles like crazy as she soaked her big sister. And the crowd was dying from the combination of cuteness and hilarity they were seeing.

Lincoln went over to Luan's bag to find towels for his mother and sister. As he dug through it, he tossed out various other things, all of which were comedy related items. After going through nearly a dozen items, he found a couple towels. He then went to bring them to Rita and Luan, but overlooked a second bottle of seltzer that he had taken out during his search. His foot came down on the bottle and he began to sway midstep and fell backwards, landing rump-first onto a large and fully inflated whoopie cushion. The sound the rubber object made blasting throughout the area.

"Uh-oh." Lily said, pointing to her big brother. "Poo-poo."

Lily walked over to the big bag and reached into it. She took out a comically oversized diaper and set it down by Lincoln. Next she took out a large bottle of baby powder, the thing almost as big as she was. She let it drop next to her brother as well, the contents spurting out of the openings on the cap and coating Lincoln entirely.

A new collective roar of laughter came from the audience, many people either crossing an arm over their stomachs or covering their mouths with one hand, as though trying to contain themselves. The Loud sisters were no different, Lana was rolling on the ground, kicking her legs and Leni had tears in the corners of her eyes, she was laughing so hard. Even Lisa was having trouble maintaining her composure, finding the sight before her so absurd that the corners of her mouth were arcing upwards as the performance continued.

By the time Rita, Luan, Lincoln and Lily finished up their act and returned to the waiting area, they were a complete mess. Each of them had been doused or coated with something in the process of entertaining the crowd and were in need of a change of clothes and a wet washcloth. Lily was the least messy, having only gotten some pie on her face. The result of her own actions as she found a pie in the bag while her mother and older siblings were busy with the act. She managed to get the plastic cover off of it and then pushed her face in, earning another bout of laughter from all who had seen it.

The four clowns cleaned themselves up, Lincoln stepping aside to change back into the unitard he had worn earlier. He went over to Lisa who began to give him the details he'd need to know for the magic act. It was nothing complicated, just instructions on what to do for the tricks he'd be participating in. Mostly it would be Lisa who would do all the work. He'd just stand aside until he was needed for a few feats of wonder towards the end.

There was need for another brief interlude while Chunk took care of the set used in the clown act. The mess they had made also required a little attention, large spots created by cream pies dotted the field in a few places and needed to be wiped up. Then Chunk set up the things Lisa would need for her performance, consisting mainly of a card table with folding legs, the pool that had been at the end of the daredevil run, now emptied of water, a box large enough to hold a child which could be suspended in the air by wires, and a wooden frame with a swinging door that he had to attach to the underside of one of the platforms.

Once everything was set, Lisa walked out to take her place in the middle of the field. She recalled all of her flying orbs, the holographic tent vanishing as they returned to the bag from whence they came. Lisa zipped it shut and kept it by her side as she faced the many people seated on the bleachers. She adjusted the microphone she was wearing and gave it a quick test before she spoke.

"I'm sure that you are all wondering as to the reason behind my actions just now. To put it simply, I do not wish to have anyone be misled into believing that holograms will be responsible for what you are all about to witness. I assure you that each of the marvels that I am about to display are quite real. Furthermore, I also did not wish to have the tent hinder the scene of natural beauty that is about to astound you. Now look above, and prepare to be left in awe..."

Lisa took off her hat and reached inside. She pulled out a large flask containing a dark, shimmering liquid. Then she reached back into her hat again and removed another flask containing a clear liquid. Both of them had a rubber stopper which she removed. Next, Lisa slowly poured the clear liquid from its flask into the one containing the darker fluid. She quickly put the stopper into the flask as the two liquids began to mix. The flask began to shake a little and Lisa counted down the seconds in her head before she removed the stopper again and she ducked down while holding it up as high as she could.

There was a sudden noise, startling many of the people, including Lisa's siblings. It was like the sound of a giant champagne bottle popping open, only much, much louder. A dark pillar rose rapidly from the flask Lisa was holding, shooting straight upwards. It rose up and up until it was as high as the clouds before it burst like a silent firework, a dark cloud covering the sky and blocking out the sun for a few seconds before it cleared again. Some members of the audience began to clap prematurely, thinking that had been the trick. But they soon saw what was really going on when a colorful arc appeared in the sky, just on the opposite side of the sun.

A giant rainbow had appeared. Lisa had created it and left every onlooker with their heads craned back and their eyes wide open. But then, the rainbow began to shimmer and divide. Moments later, two rainbows were visible in sky. Mouths were agape, the hands of children reached out to point at the spectacle and many people scrambled to capture the rarity with their phone cameras.

Lisa allowed them a moment to take in the sight and then applaud. She took out a deck of playing cards and began to shuffle them. Then she divided the deck into two, holding one half in each hand. Holding her arms up in the air, she began to bend the cards enough to make them fly out of her hands. The cards flew up and out, but did not fall to the ground. Instead they all began to change shape, folding themselves into little cranes or butterflies that could actually fly. The little oragami playing cards began to zip around, passing by the people sitting in the bleachers, some of them slowing to hover close by for a moment or two.

While her flying cards entertained the crowd, Lisa began preparing her next trick. She had Chunk bring in a bag of potting soil, a gallon of water and a dozen empty flower pots. Lisa set up the pots in a line on the ground while Chunk cut open the bag of soil. Then Lisa held out her hat and pulled out a magician's wand from inside, which she used to tap against the brim of the hat. The playing cards all flew down towards the little magician and dove into the hat and out of sight. Lisa then reached in again and pulled out a single, giant novelty playing card with the image of a joker on it's face. She folded the card and held it against the opening of her hat while Chunk poured the soil from the bag onto it, letting the soil slide into the hat.

Lisa's actions left many of the onlookers confused. But as the contents of the ten pound bag of soil were completely emptied into the hat, they all realized that something was odd. There was no way all of that soil could fit into the hat. And yet it kept sliding on into it, ounce by ounce until all of it had vanished. Lisa then set the seemingly empty hat onto the table and had Chunk hand her a packet of seeds. She opened it and then took the giant playing card and folded it again, this time making it take the shape of a rectangular block. Setting it down on the ground by the table to use as a step, Lisa emptied the packet of seeds into the hat and then had Chunk add the entire gallon of water. From that point, Lisa swished her wand over her hat and then reached inside with both hands...extracting a full grown zinnias flower from within, soil clinging to it's roots.

Lisa passed the plant to Chunk so he could place it into the first flower pot. Meanwhile, she reached into her hat again to pull out another zinnias flower. The process was repeated over and over until all twelve of the flower pots were filled. Then Lisa reached into her hat again and pulled out a test tube with a light green liquid inside of it. She approached the potted flowers and removed the stopper from her test tube, tilting it over the first plant and allowing a single drop to fall onto it.

The audience watched attentively, eager to see what was to come next. Lisa moved onto the other flowers, giving each of them a drop of the green liquid as well. By the time she was halfway done, the first flower began to grow. And it grew and it grew and it grew until it reached ten times its original size, the sight once more astounding the audience. But it didn't end there. Suddenly, the petals of the flower began to glow and shimmer, creating a radiant beauty that again made people bring up their phones to capture the moment on screen.

Again Lisa allowed the people a moment to take in the spectacles she had created, a small feeling of pride in her chest. The bioluminescent flora had been significantly more difficult to create than the vapor creating solution she had earlier used to achieve the double rainbow. This was primarily due to her having to develop a strain of bioluminescent bacteria that would live in symbiosis with the zinnias flowers she had grown for her trick. And she had yet to get to the best of her planned feats of magic.

Lisa nodded to Chunk who walked off and then returned with Geo in his hamster ball. He set the little critter down and stepped back. Lisa set her hat down on it's side and took out a treat for the hamster. The tiny mammal perked up as he saw the food and began to roll towards it. Lisa waited for him to get close enough and then tossed the treat into her hat, which he more than happily followed. Once Geo had rolled inside the hat, Lisa lifted it up and then took her wand and gave it a little tap on the brim. Suddenly, a swarm of bats flew out of the hat, startling the audience as they flew over their heads and off into the distance. This was followed up by Lisa reaching into the hat and pulling out a long, scaly tail. She set the hat onto the ground and pulled it back, revealing more and more of the animal until at last the head of El Diablo came out of it.

People gasped as they saw the serpent, especially when it quickly coiled around Lisa. El Diablo's tongue flickered out of his mouth, brushing against Lisa's cheek. The young genius however, seemed in no way worried about her current predicament. She simply squeezed one hand through the mighty coils of the snake, the one that was holding her wand. With a quick tap against El Diablo's long body, the serpent suddenly froze. Lisa then shimmied herself out and put her hat in her place. Another tap onto the snake and he began to move again, slithering into the hat, disappearing inch by inch. After he was gone, Lisa reached into her hat and a moment later, extracted Gary the rabbit.

As the audience applauded again, Lisa beckoned Lincoln forward with a wave of her hand. The boy approached her, his excitement and curiosity at their peaks. After witnessing all Lisa had done so far, he couldn't even guess what she had in mind that required his assistance. Although, considering that she had yet to use the box, he had a strong feeling that it was meant for him. He quickly learned his assumption was correct as Lisa gestured for him to enter it.

"For my final trick, I will lock my elder brother inside of this trunk. The trunk shall then be suspended in midair where my strapping assistant Chunk shall proceed to impale the box with many deadly blades." Lisa announced, holding her hat out towards the roadie, who reached in and pulled out a sword. "And to prove that these are indeed real, he shall first use them to slice open these watermelons!"

Lisa tilted her hat over the ground and tapped it with her wand. A watermelon rolled out, which Chunk immediately cleaved in half with his weapon. Lincoln, suddenly less excited, swallowed a lump in his throat. He had not been expecting anything like that. Not after how adamant his parents had been regarding the safety of his sisters with all of their performances. But this was Lisa after all, she no doubt had managed to convince them to allow this, which could only mean that there had to be either a way for him to escape the box, or that there was some other trick that would guarantee his safety. Whichever one it was, he would find out soon enough.

Taking a shaky step forward, Lincoln walked over to the box and stepped inside. It was just barely wide enough for him to stand inside, and the top was a few inches above his head. He'd have very little room to move, making it practically impossible to let anyone believe that the blade wouldn't be close to him once Chunk ran it through the box. For a moment, he nearly chickened out. But he stayed put, reminding himself he could trust his brilliant little sister.

Chunk stepped over to the box and shut it, leaving Lincoln in complete darkness. The box was then locked with a heavy padlock and then slowly hoisted into the air by the wires attached to it and left hanging a couple feet above the ground. Then Chunk took the sword and lifted it up, resting the tip against the front of the box, right in the center. He adjusted the blade so he held it perfectly parallel to the ground and then shoved it through the box, the tip poking through the other side.

The audience looked on silently as Chunk pulled out more swords and used them to first slice through another melon Lisa produced from her hat. Chunk ran the blades through the box at different angles one after another until it seemed that there was no place left for him to continue. Lisa then had Chunk open the box.

Lincoln was not inside.

Lisa stepped over to the pool sitting beneath the platform with the swinging door attached to it. She held her hat out over the pool and tapped it with her wand. Gallons of water began to gush out of the hat, quickly filling the pool to the brim. Lisa then had Chunk climb up to the platform and open the door. When he did, Lincoln fell from the opening, screaming as he plummeted towards the water. Lisa quickly reached into her had again and pulled out an inflatable raft, which broke Lincoln's fall just in time as she pulled it's cord and tossed it onto the water.

A stunned silence reigned over the entire area for all of one second. Then the entire audience burst into a thunderous applause, people cheering and whistling. Some began to stand, clapping as hard as they could. Lisa took a bow, as did Chunk. Lincoln would have too, but he was still a bit disoriented from both the fall and the way he had gone from the box to the door beneath the platform.

Chunk helped Lincoln out of the raft and set him onto solid ground. The audience was still applauding as he and Lisa left the field, only dying down once they had left the sight of the crowd. They were met with more applause once they rejoined their siblings, Lisa basking in the praise they bestowed upon her.

"That was totes amazing, Lisa!" Leni chirped.

"Yeah!" Lana added. "How did you make Lincoln disappear like that?"

"Simple." Lisa replied. "I used the same technology that allowed me to obtain the plethora of various items from my hat. Wormholes."

"Cool!" The dirty twin commented.

"Well I'm just glad that it was all just a trick." Rita said. "I'm not going to lie, I was a bit frightened there for a minute. But it was very impressive, honey. Very good job."

"Thank you Mother. I appreciate your positive feedback." Lisa said. "I put a great amount of effort into achieving that which I needed for my act."

"I can tell. It was so amazing that maybe...we can just skip the part where someone gets fired out of the cannon?" Rita suggested.

"I'm actually with Mom on that." Lincoln said. "It's not like it would compare to what Lisa just did after all. So why not just call it a day?"

Luan shook her head. "No can do. When we advertised the Circus, we mentioned the human cannonball every time. It was on every flyer, on all of the posters and Lori spread the word through social media too. People are going to be expecting it!"

"Well, why don't we just say the cannon, oh I don't know, is broken or something?" Rita asked.

"So you want me to lie my way out of doing something? Is that it Mom?" Luan countered. "Just weasel out of doing something we said we'd do? Out of what is pretty much a promise to entertain a large number of people who paid to see that entertainment?"

Rita hesitated, "Of course I don't want you to do that. It's just, I'm worried about the whole thing. Are you absolutely, one hundred percent certain that your brother will be safe?"

"Rest assured, Mother dear." Lisa said, stepping forward. "Lincoln will be wearing the same Safety-Suit, patent pending, that he wore during the high-wire act. In addition to that, he will be equipped with a parachute, a back-up parachute, and a secondary back-up parachute if necessary."

"And don't forget, he's going to land in a giant pie too!" Luan added. "It'll be a nice, soft landing. No need to worry at all!"

Again the mother hesitated, her mind still holding onto doubt. She turned to face her solitary son, wanting to see how he felt about this. He was clearly nervous about the finale as well, it was in his eyes. But if he had any objections, he didn't voice them. Despite the fact that he was scared, he was intent on going through with it.

"Alright, fine. But I swear, if anything goes wrong, anything at all...I will ground you until you're finished with high school!" Rita warned, wagging her finger at Luan. "Do you understand me, young lady?"

Luan nodded, a solemn look on her face. She allowed her brother a minute to change. Then she turned and began to escort Lincoln back out into the field while Lori announced the finale. At the same time, Chunk had started to wheel out the cannon. It was kept on a wide utility trailer which was hitched up to his van. Lincoln watched anxiously as it was brought into position. It seemed so much larger up close, and the thing was already pretty big to begin with.

'It's okay, Lincoln.' He told himself. 'Just remember that Lisa not only prepared all of the safety precautions, she's also the one who calculated everything for the trajectory. She's too good at physics to mess up. You'll be perfectly fine. Just put your helmet on, climb inside and it will be over with before you know it.'

Chunk got out of his van and went to check on the cannon to ensure everything was set. Then he adjusted it so the barrel was aimed according to Lisa's instructions and opened the chamber at the bottom for Lincoln. The boy put on his helmet and walked over to the opening. He reached out with his hands and gripped the edges, but that was as far as he got.

"Luan?" he asked, his voice shaking. "C-could you help me out here? I can't...I can't seem to, heh, to be able to climb in by myself."

"Aw, of course I'll help you out, little brother!" Luan piped up, approaching him from behind. "Hold still."

Luan reared her right leg back and twisted her foot in circles a couple times. Then she booted Lincoln in the rear, giving him the boost he needed to get into the cannon. He grumbled out a somewhat sarcastic 'thanks' and Luan shut the chamber, leaving Lincoln trapped inside. The seconds began to pass by tormentingly slow for the boy, each one crumbling his resolve to go through with it.

Meanwhile, the Loud sisters had all gathered in the field to get a better look at the finale. Lori stepped up to the cannon and pulled out a book of matches. She struck one and reached out to light the fuse. As she did so, she noticed several other hands reaching out as well. Most of her sisters had opted to assist her in lighting it, mainly due to Luan's insistence to do so for comedic affect. Leni, Luna and Lucy all had matches as well, Luan was using her novelty cigar-shaped lighter, the twins were using sparklers and Lisa held out her hat, from which Gary was reaching out with his own match. This got a few good laughs from the people seated in the bleachers, just as Luan had anticipated it would.

Back inside of the cannon, Lincoln was not doing as well. He was completely opposed to the idea of being fired out of the cannon now, regardless of how it would look for him to chicken out at the last second. But there was nothing he could do. The chamber was sealed shut and there was no way they'd hear him no matter how hard he tried to yell to them. They had put a bit of distance between themselves and the cannon, plugging their ears while the seconds kept passing by, each one of them bringing Lincoln closer to when he'd suddenly found himself being sent into the sky.

Lincoln felt a sudden and powerful shift in the cannon around him. Before he could even realize that he was moving, he was already flying out of the mouth and rocketing through the atmosphere, a loud bang announcing his departure. This resulted in all of his sisters being coated in soot from the blast, each of them looking like dark silhouettes. And everyone looked on in awe as he became airborne and vanished into the horizon, a twinkle appearing in the sky behind him.

-The following day-

It had made the news. The circus had done so well that it had been on the front page of the local newspaper as well as in the Detroit Free Press, mainly because of the money that had been raised for the children's hospital. Luan was even approached by the local news channel to talk about the whole thing. That had been just after the circus finished up for the day. The news reporters caught her still in her clown costume. Not that Luan minded it at all. She was beaming with pride at her success, she just couldn't contain it.

[I just want to say that this was all thanks to the help I got from my family. My parents, sisters and brother are all a huge part of making this all happen.] Luan said into the microphone, her smile going from ear to ear. [Especially my little brother, he's the real star here!]

Lincoln watched his older sister laugh at her pun on the television screen for a moment before shutting it off. He was glad that everything worked out so well, he really was. But during the time he was up in the air, he was freaking out big time.

Nothing had gone wrong. Not a single thing. The launch went smoothly, he had no real problems while speeding towards the designated landing area, aside of the sheer terror gripping every fiber of his being. As for the landing, it went just as predicted. The parachute deployed without any trouble, leaving the back-ups unnecessary. And the pie he had landed in was more whipped cream than anything else. Although the sweet dessert did little to ease his state of mind once he was finally back on the ground.

His parents arrived shortly after he had landed, along with most of his sisters. Lincoln had bolted straight into his mother's arms, desperate for the comfort they would bring. He didn't hold back, he let out just how upset he had been through the whole ordeal. His mother hushed him and rubbed his back, his father and sisters looking on with sympathy.

Except for Lynn. She couldn't understand how he didn't love the rush of wind as he soared through the air. She had told him he was lucky he got to experience it. He, still in a slightly hysterical state, had nearly punched her square on the nose. Nearly.

The ride home had been quiet, Rita sitting in the back with him and letting him rest his head against her. Luan, along with Lori and Luna, had all been waiting back at the high school field. Each of them had been surprised to see how upset their little brother was. Luan had taken the front seat, but peeked back at Lincoln nearly every minute. She had wanted to apologize to him when he calmed down a bit, but he had wanted to wash up and lay down the minute they all got home, so she left him be.

Lincoln sighed and got off of the couch. He really hoped that Luan didn't think he was mad at her. It wasn't her fault that he went through that. Going through with it had been as much his choice as anyone else's. He knew he had plenty of opportunities to duck out of it beforehand, he just didn't try to until it was the last possible second. And looking back on the experience, he had to acknowledge that it didn't have to go so smoothly. Not that he'd let that change his mind about never, ever doing it again. He planned to stand his ground on that.

The front door opened and Luan walked in. The brother and sister saw each other and froze in place. Luan seemed a bit hesitant, rubbing her arm and looking down at the floor. And Lincoln was trying to think of what to say to break the odd silence between them.

"Luan..." He started.

"Lincoln..." She simultaneously said.

Again the two stopped, but this time they each broke into a small smile. Then a little laugh as well. Lincoln gestured for his sister to go ahead with what she wanted to say, well aware that the teen had something she wanted to get off of her chest.

"Listen, Lincoln, I'm so sorry about putting you through that yesterday. If I had known it would scare you so badly, I'd never have let you get shot out of the cannon. I can understand it if you're upset with me. But please let me help make up for it."

"You don't need to apologize, Luan." Lincoln said sincerely. "To be honest, I was so freaked out yesterday that I don't think I could have been angry with anyone if I tried. Well, not counting Lynn. She ticked me off just a little."

Luan let out another laugh. "And it was her idea to have the cannon in the first place. I'm not going to lie. It was definitely cool to watch, but I don't think we really needed it. The rest of the acts did well enough by themselves. We might have been able to pull the whole thing off without it."

"Gee, thanks. That really makes me feel better about yesterday." Lincoln joked.

"I know. Sorry, again." Luan said, offering a timid smile. "But like I said, I want to make it up to you. Remember how I said I'd take you out for ice cream as a 'thank you' for all your help? Well, let's make that each weekend for a month. I'll also swing you a little of the money I make after the next birthday party I entertain too. And to top it all off, I have a surprise for you. Come on, our sisters are all waiting for us."

She turned to head back outside, beckoning him to follow. Their nine sisters were all in Vanzilla and waiting for them. Lincoln climbed into the front seat beside Lori and she began to drive them off somewhere. The boy had been tempted to ask, but instead chose to let it remain a suprise.

A short while later they arrived back at the field by Royal Woods High. Most of the circus had been packed up and put away, save for the cannon which was still parked in the field. Lori parked the van and they all got out, heading for the cannon.

"What are we doing here?" Lincoln asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"Easy. We're going to let you have a turn with the cannon." Lori explained. "To fire each of us."

"Or all of us at the same time." Luan added. "I can get twenty clowns into a clown car, so getting us all into that thing shouldn't be a problem. So, what do you say, Linc? Want to help me make sure we get my money's worth out of this thing?"

Lincoln stared at them silently, his mind trying to take in what he just heard. He looked at his ten sisters, having a hard time believing that they all agreed to this. And none of them seemed nervous or anything like that. Heck, Lynn looked more eager than anything. If he said no, she'd just try to get someone else to shoot her from the cannon. But despite that, he still felt the need to ask...

"You all really mean it? You're okay with me firing you from the cannon?"

They nodded all at once.

"And I don't need to worry about any consequences afterwards?" he followed up.

The girls collectively shook their heads. Lincoln took another moment to think it through and then decided to take up his sisters' offer. The girls all went to change into one of Lisa's Safety-Suits and put on some parachutes that they had packed into Vanzilla. Lori handed him Lily to hold, the youngest Loud not being among the sisters entering the cannon.

The girls spent the next several minutes getting changed and then following Luan's instructions to enter the cannon. Lincoln had opted to fire them all at once since it would be over with quicker that way. But also because deep down, part of him wanted to see it happen. By the time they had all gotten into the cannon, it could only be described as a can of sardines.

"Dude! Who's knee is in my eye?" Luna asked.

"I don't know, but whoever is on my back needs to move their elbow!" Lori snipped.

"Sorry, I think that those are both me." Luan said. "Let me readjust for a second. Oops! Did I just hit your face with my foot Lana? Sorry!"

"It's okay, that wasn't me. You got Lola." Lana said.

"And you're so very lucky that I can't move right now." Lola muttered.

"Okay, I'm closing it now." Lincoln told them. "Everyone all set in there?"

"We're all good, little bro." Luan said, her face sticking out between Lori's back and Lynn's calves. "Fire when ready. We got a huge chocolate cream pie waiting for us in the landing zone."

Well that explained a lot. Lincoln couldn't help but smile at the thought of his sisters agreeing to this stunt just because of the immense amount of chocolate that awaited them. He went to close the chamber, but Luan shot one of her arms out and stopped him before he had the chance.

"Hang on a second! You're gonna need these." She said, holding out a pair of soundproof earmuffs for Lily to wear. Then she also took out her novelty cigar-shaped lighter and stuck it into his mouth. "You can use that too!"

"Sure, thanks." He mumbled out, spitting the lighter into his hand. "Anything else? Last chance to let me know if anyone is having second thoughts."

"Don't worry about it." Luan said with a smirk. "We're staying put. It's gonna be a real blast!"

Luan laughed at her pun while the sisters around her groaned. Lincoln closed the cannon's chamber and sealed it shut. Then he set Lily down away from it and used the lighter on the fuse. Once it was lit, he hurried back and picked Lily up again, putting the earmuffs on her. He then took a seat on the bleachers with her in his lap, plugging his own ears as they awaited the blast. A boom sounded as the fuse burned out and all nine of Lincoln and Lily's sisters were launched through the sky.

"Now this is what I call a high flying act!" Luan said, bursting into laughter.

"Woo-hoooo-ooo! This. Is. AWESOME!" Lynn exclaimed, pumping her fists out in front of her.

"We're blasting off again!" Lana shouted.

"What are you talking about?" Lisa shouted back. "We've never engaged in any such thing prior to this instance!"

"I know! But I always wanted to say that! It's from a cartoon I really like!" Lana replied.

The other sisters all shouted and cried together as they flew off and vanished with a twinkle, one after the other. Lincoln stared, a little slack-jawed at the sight. Lily raised up one little hand and waved in the direction her big sisters had flown off.

"Bye bye!" she said.

Lincoln stood up and started to walk back over to Vanzilla to wait for them to come back. Chunk was waiting were they were supposed to land so he could drive them back. Lincoln opened the side door to Vanzilla and set Lily into her car-seat, sitting next to her once she was buckled in. He leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms, relaxing while he waited for his other nine sisters to return.

Eventually, Lincoln's phone buzzed. It was a text from Lori letting him know they had all landed safely and were on their way back. She also mentioned that Lynn was not shutting up about wanting to get fired out of the cannon a second time, so they'd letting her go again once they arrived back at the field.

Lincoln smiled and shook his head. He just couldn't understand what Lynn enjoyed about getting shot out of a cannon. But if she really wanted to go again and again, then he'd happily oblige. After all, Luan did pay good money to rent that cannon. So Lincoln would do his part to make sure she got her money's worth.

End.

Well, that's all folks! Again, this was a request asked of me a while back so I really put time and effort into thinking this through. But still, any feedback on it would be greatly appreciated. I'll be setting straight to work on my other stories again now that this is done, so keep an eye open for an update on my profile. And as always, thanks for reading!