Rain poured down, thunder booming in the sky.

Lightning flashed, causing a car alarm in the distance to go off.

The neighborhood was quiet outside of the weather, however. Most likely everyone was asleep for the night and getting ready for the next day. It was a Sunday after all. Not that they were complaining, it made it easier to move around in.

Two figures, wrapped in cloaks, approached a two floored green colored house. One stayed behind, constantly looking around as if they were afraid of being followed.

The other one walked closely in front, it's arms wrapped around a basket with a blanket draped over it. From the basket, however, one could hear the faint signs of crying.

The figure holding the basket took notice of this as they stopped at a corner and leaned their head closer to the item in their hands. "Shh, don't worry little one. It won't be long now."

It appeared to work as the crying eventually died down, causing a small but sad smile to appear on the person's face.

"Is he alright?" A male voice asked from behind, as the person in front turned to see the other looking straight at them. They could make out two blue eyes staring at them concerned.

The one in front nodded, their own ruby eyes staring back at the bundle as a female voice escaped their lips. "Yes… he seems to have calmed down for now. The storm is probably frightening him." The person turned back to the house in front of them. "All the more reason to hurry and get him to Albert."

"Yeah…" The male figure remained silent for a moment before continuing. "Liza, I…"

"Sieg." The woman cut him off as she began to walk forward to the house. "I've made my peace with the decision as much as I hate it. We have to protect our child, no matter the cost. That's our job, our duty, as parents. So please… don't make me start having doubts about it now."

The man named Sieg stayed silent, before nodding as he continued on their way. "Right… I'm sorry. But don't worry, I have no doubt whatsoever that Albert will find a good family for him. He's a trustworthy friend and mentor of mine's. In fact, he might even leave him with Rita and Lynn. They love children and I've known Rita for awhile now. He'll be loved, I'm sure of it."

Liza didn't respond, simply opting to continue walking forward towards their destination. Sieg sighed as he followed the woman.

The two stood in front of the front door of the one story house, using the overhead as shelter from the rain. They looked at one another, blue meeting ruby, before they turn to the bundle in Liza's arms.

"Can… can we have one more look at him?" Liza asked, obvious begging in her tone.

"Liza…"

"Please!" Liza's ruby eyes looked up at Sieg, small tears beginning to form. "I know we have to hurry and leave. B-But he's our child! I-I just want to look at him one more time."

Sieg remained silent, before coming close to the bundle and pulling off the blanket that was covering it. There laid in the basket, was a small male infant with a small crop of white hair and closed eyes as he cried. He seemed to take notice of the two adults staring at him, as he opened his blue eyes to stare at the two.

Liza smiled. "He has your eyes."

Sieg also smiled. "He has your hair."

The infant took notice of the two smiling adults, and began to reach out towards them. Liza grabbed one of the small hands, playing with it slightly causing small laughs to escape the infant.

"Aren't you just the most adorable thing?" Liza cooed, a smile forming on her face as she played with her child, getting cries of delight.

"Liza." Sieg interrupted, causing the woman to look at him. "We need to hurry."

Liza's eyebrows furrowed and she appeared ready to argue, before looking into Sieg's eyes. There she noticed the hurt, remorse, and pain in them as he stared at his child and wife.

'This is killing him as much as it's killing me…' The woman thought, feeling bad for her selfishness. Of course it was killing him, this was an option no parent would ever want to make.

But… it was the only one he had. They had.

Liza took a shaky breath, forcing down her emotions as she looked at her son for what would most likely be the last time.

"I'm sorry about this my child. But… but we must go. It is not because we do not love you, for we do, but we must do this for your safety. I hope that one day you'll understand and you grow up loved and strong."

As she stopped, Sieg looked towards his first, and most likely, last born. "I'm sorry for this too son. If I had any other options, I would have chosen any of them. But, unfortunately I do not have enough time and things have grown far too dangerous to keep you with us. As your mother said, I hope that you grow up strong and loved, which under Albert's watchful eye I have no doubt that you will. We love you, and we always will… Lincoln."

With that, he took out a small bag along with a letter from underneath his cloak and place it in the basket with Lincoln along with a small letter. He then reached towards his neck, and pulled off a dark necklace with a dark X shaped pendant. Closing his eyes, he gave a small chant before placing the item as well with Lincoln and pulling the blanket back over him.

The couple shared one last look with one another, before nodding as they place Lincoln down on the ground and Sieg rang the doorbell. Wasting no time, they began their trek out into the rain, desperately trying to ignore the loud cries of their now abandoned son as Liza struggled to hold it together with Sieg holding on to her hand in an effort to comfort her.

Soon after they left, the front door opened and a large grizzled man with white hair stepped out and stared down at the bundle on the ground in front of him. Crouching down, he pulled the blanket back, revealing a crying infant with white hair and a letter along with an assortment of other items. Opening the letter and giving it a quick read, he gave a small sigh.

"God… I'm starting to get too old for this." The man chuckled as he looked at the infant who had stopped crying and was instead looking at him curiously as he lifted the basket up and walked inside his home, closing the door behind him. "Well, guess I need to start trying to find you a home little one. Hmm, maybe Rita and Lynn will take you in. Sure they just had Lori almost a year ago, and are already expecting their second in a month or two, but I'm sure we can fit you in there."

Noticing a smile come to the baby's face, the large man grinned. "Don't worry Lincoln, everything is going to be alright. Your good ole Pop Pop is going to take care of things."

The baby laughed, causing the older man's grin to widen.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

The alarm on a phone blared, signaling the coming of morning as traces of sunlight peered through one of the upper windows into the bedroom of a two story house.

The bedroom was quite small, just big enough for one person and their things. It contained the bare essentials for one living in it, namely a twin sized bed, a dresser with a mirror behind it, and a few posters on the walls. On top of the dresser were a few items namely figurines, books, and a laptop.

From the bed came a small groan as a light skinned arm shot out from underneath the blanket and went for the phone that was lying on the floor next to the bed. Picking it up, it brought it up towards the mattress as light blue eyes peeked out from underneath to look at the screen.

"Dang…" A masculine voice muttered, as a finger pressed the snooze button ending the annoying beeping. "Seven already?"

The arm went back under the blanket before rustling followed. Not long after, the blanket was pushed to the side revealing a male teen underneath. He was of medium build, having slightly defined muscles. On top of his head laid likely his most defining physical trait which was his snow white hair that was worn in a messy style with a noticeable cowlick in the back. He was dressed in an orange t-shirt along with a pair of black shorts that came down to his knees.

The teenage boy yawned as he stood up from his bed and looked into the mirror, his blue eyes staring back at him. Smiling to himself, he began to stretch before looking behind him to see a strange sight.

There hovering behind him, was a light blue screen with a group of text on it which he tiredly began to read.

You have received a good night's rest! HP and MP have been fully recovered.

Sighing slightly, he tapped the small X in the top right corner of the screen causing it to close and disappear. He scratched the back of his head, as he opened one of the drawers to his dresser to pull out several towels along with a few toiletries.

'Don't complain now Lincoln…' The teen thought to himself with another yawn as he stepped out of his room and into the hallway as he dragged himself towards the bathroom, relishing in the rare silence of the house. 'You decided to start waking up earlier to beat the long line to the bathroom.'

A few moments later, the white haired teenager exited the bathroom, wearing his everyday clothes which consisted of blue jeans and an orange opened button up shirt with a red shirt that held the symbol of the boy's favorite superhero, Ace Savvy.

Lincoln looked around, noticing it was still quiet. He placed a hand to the back of his head as he began to walk downstairs.

'Huh… must have finished earlier than I expected.' Lincoln thought to himself as he approached the kitchen. 'Then again, it is early and on a Sunday besides that. Not surprising that they're still asleep."

Entering the land of food and drinks, he approached the fridge as his mind thought of things he could make himself to eat. Bringing his left hand to his chin, his eyes landed on a package of eggs.

'Hmmm…' A smile formed on the teenager's face as he reached for the eggs. 'An omelette this morning sounds nice.'

Grabbing the ingredients he needed, he close the fridge with a smile...

"Lincoln."

"Gah!"

Only to jump in surprise as he took notice of a pale skinned preteen girl standing to the side in her sleepwear. He fumbled with the materials in his hands before managing to get a grip on them as he sighed in relief. Calming down, he gave a cross of what was a glare and exasperated look towards the girl, who stood there with her arms behind her back and a small bat resting on top of her head.

"Lucy…" Lincoln started with a sigh. "You really need to stop doing that before one of us hits you by accident."

"Sorry." The preteen responded, though her monotonic tone didn't seem to be apologetic at all. You wouldn't be even to tell from her expression either, considering dark bangs hid most of her face.

Lincoln simply shook his head with a small smile. "Of course you are."

Lucy simply shrugged as she followed her brother, who had began walking towards the oven. "Why are you up so early anyway? We don't have school today."

"Wanted to beat the line to the bathroom this morning. No offense to you guys, but all of you take way too long to get ready." The teen pulled out a few pieces of kitchenware he would need. "Not to mention the last thing I wanted to do was forget something again, and end up right back to the end of the line."

"You know you could always keep your stuff in the bathroom."

"And have Lynn use my soap again because she always forgets hers? No thanks." Lincoln then gave a slight glare towards his gothic sister from his crouching position on the floor. "I also know you use it sometimes too, because you like it's dark color."

The sheepish grin that appeared on Lucy's face told him all he needed to know about that accusation. The teen simply sighed as he stood back up.

Lucy walked closer, growing curious. "What are you cooking by the way?"

"An omelette." Lincoln replied, as he cracked a few eggs over a bowl. "Mom bought some more eggs yesterday, so thought I used the ones left over from earlier before they expire."

"...Do you mind if I have one too?"

Lincoln stopped his task, thinking it over for a small moment before giving his gothic little sister an amused smile. "Let me guess, you want it black too?" Seeing the young goth nod, he chuckled. "Alright… just grab me a few more eggs."

Lucy nodded, smiling as she hurried over to the refrigerator to grab what her brother asked for. Lincoln simply shook his head, returning to his prep.

'The things I do for love…'

The chaotic morning of the Loud household had come and gone, the daughters fighting over who gets the first shower of the day, the equally if not more chaotic breakfast, and the morning rituals of everyone involved. With those done, everyone decided to get on to their daily routines for Sunday.

"Oh my god, she did not!" a voice belonging to a female teenager shouted.

Lincoln's, who was sitting in the living room watching television, ears twitched as his expression became slightly annoyed. From one of the hallways leading to the room, came a tall female with blonde hair and a light blue shirt with cargo shorts. She talked on her phone with an excited expression on her face as she plopped down onto the couch.

"I literally told her that was a bad idea! But nope! She never listens." The blonde spoke, almost ignoring Lincoln's presence as he simply stared at her annoyed.

The white haired son of the Loud clan sighed. 'She couldn't have taken this anywhere else?'

It was nothing new for Lori to have her loud phone conversations anywhere in the house. The fact that she was the eldest of the Loud children gave her the idea she could do so unless their parents told her to tone it down, which didn't happen too often unless they were in the middle of something.

Quite frankly, even though he loved his older sister, Lincoln thought it was one of the most obnoxious things in the Loud house.

Shaking his head, he instead opted to focus on the anime that was playing in front of him, trying his best to drown out the obnoxious talking next to him.

"Hey twerp."

Lincoln perked up, turning slightly to look the blonde next to him, who was giving him her own annoyed look.

Lori crossed her arms with a frown. "Mind passing me the remote? Rather not sit here watching your kiddie cartoons."

"First of all, it's called anime. There's a difference between the two." Lincoln responded, getting an eye roll from his sister. "Second, you know the rules. I was here first."

"Well I was born first." Lori's glare intensified as she snarled towards her brother. Her eyes then turned towards the remote that was resting on the table.

Lincoln took notice however and grabbed the remote quickly, pulling it towards him almost protectively. "And that's supposed to mean something? You're only older than me by eleven months you know."

Lori sneered and looked ready to lunge before a voice cut into their argument.

"Lincoln! Can you come here for a second? I need your help with something."

The white haired teen grunted from the sound of their mother's request as Lori's expression grew smug. Thinking quickly however, the male teen gave the remote a quick lick much to the disgust and shock of the eldest.

Lincoln grinned before tossing the remote towards his demanding sister, who screamed as she avoided it by scooting backwards into the sofa. "Here! Enjoy Lori." He laughed as he left the room, taking amusement in the death glare his sibling was giving him.

Suddenly, another screen popped in front of him causing him to stop.

You managed to get the better of your elder sibling!

+3 to INT and WIS.

Lincoln deadpanned as he closed the screen with a tap of his fingers. 'Seriously? You get stat points for anything…'

Thinking nothing of it, he continued on to the kitchen to help with whatever his mother needed, not paying attention to the confused stare he was getting from Lori, who noticed his actions.

"Alright kids! Dinner time!"

With the cry that came from the patriarch of the house, the rumbling of footsteps came roaring down the stairs as the children of the Loud clan came running for dinner. It helped that today was a special day as Lynn Sr had decided to try out a pizza recipe thanks to some persuasion from his wife who decided to treat their kids for once.

Speaking of which, Rita watched with amusement on her face as her children from her seat at the table. Shaking her head as she noticed them began to argue, she finally spoke up. "Now kids, no need to fight. There's enough pizza to go around, and your father already has another in the oven."

That seemed to calm them down a bit, though she could still see a few of them glaring at one another causing a chuckle to escape her lips. It was then at that point she noticed something else.

"Girls…" She stopped as her daughters turn towards her. "Where's your brother? I thought he would be one of the first ones down when pizza is being served."

Lynn Sr nodded from where he was standing as he raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, where is Lincoln? Thinking about it, I haven't seen him too much today."

"Bro stepped out earlier, said he was going for a run." Luna answered, finally approaching the front of the line. "He did say he'd make it back in time for the grub."

"A run huh…" Rita muttered to herself, as she placed a hand under her chin. Lincoln had been going out on runs quite a bit lately. While he wasn't unfit and took good care of his body, he wasn't really known to exercise a lot. At least not at the level of their athletic daughter, Lynn Jr.

It was as if just one day, he decided to start working out a lot more. She had noticed him doing pushups, situps, and all sorts of exercise lately for the past month and a half. It was starting to show on his body as well, as he was becoming slimmer, losing remnant baby fat, and his muscles were becoming more defined.

'Only a matter of time before the girls at his school start noticing him…' The matriarch grew a whimsical smile on her face. So far, the only child who seemed to get a fair amount of attention from the opposite sex was their eldest, Lori, who was in a relationship with that Santiago boy whose sister was long term friends with Lincoln. The way those two swooned over each other, reminded Rita of her old sweetheart days with Lynn.

Before the woman could reminisced about the past anymore, the kitchen door opening caught her and everyone else's attention as in stepped the white haired son of the Loud house, panting with sweat dripping from his brow. He seemed to take notice of everyone looking at him, as he looked up with his right hand forming a peace sign.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" The boy greeted with a grin.

Rita breathed out a small laugh. "Nothing much, but you're a bit late for dinner Lincoln."

"Ah…" Lincoln scratched the back of his head with a slight grimace. "S-Sorry about that, I lost track of time while I was out."

"We can see that…" Rita shook her head, taking notice of the boy's damp and dirty clothes. "Why don't you go upstairs and freshen up before you eat. Don't worry, there will still be pizza here when you get back."

Lincoln turned to his father, who nodded with his own smile. Sighing, he gave his mother a nod before walking upstairs. However, as he began to walk up the steps Rita took notice of weird gestures he was making with his right hand. Thinking nothing of it at the moment, she stood up as she began to grab her own share of the food.

Lincoln plopped down on his bed with a sigh, drying his hair with a towel.

Dinner had gone just about how he expected. The kiddie table or table that contained the younger Loud children from Lucy to Lily, caused mayhem and were quite loud throughout their meal. He felt a bit sorry for Lucy, who seemed to be mainly trying to eat her food in peace but the other siblings loved to pull her into their antics.

At the grown up table, things were more calm, though the children's mother had interrogated them a bit on how school was going. Apparently, she had also found out from several parents and the principal at Royal Woods Middle about how Luan had done a massive prank on the cheerleading squad at her school and wasn't happy about it. Luan had defended that the only reason she did so was because they were picking on her and some of her friends, getting some sympathy from their mother who decided to not punish her, but Luan would still have to go to in-school suspension for a few days.

Lincoln's expression soured at the thought of one of his younger sisters being picked on. Whilst he knew most of them could defend and look out for themselves, he still was the second oldest of the sibling pack. As such, he felt a duty to look out for his sisters when he needed to. He had remembered this past summer when one boy had tricked Leni into thinking he had feelings for her only to reveal he was using her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous so she'd want him to get back with her. Once he had succeeded in that goal, they both embarrassed Leni in public sending the girl crying home.

Lincoln was far from the violent type, but when he had found out, the very next day he confronted the boy in the park. Once he got confirmation from said person, in a smug manner at that, he proceeded to punch the boy in the face before giving him a much deserved beatdown before two of his friends, Clyde and Rusty, had pulled him off the bastard and got him to calm down. He had gotten in trouble for it later, but he didn't care and knew he'd do it again if he had to. His sisters were his family, he'd defend them and fight for their honor as much as he needed to. His parents after grounding him even gave him praise for standing up for Leni and defending her honor. The feeling was quite mutual too from what he's experienced as his sisters would poke their noses into his business whenever they could especially if something seemed to be bothering him, even if it annoyed him to no end with their meddling. It didn't help that there was this time he had a small crush on this one girl named Christina, they had found out and tried playing matchmaker for him.

The end result was him getting slapped in the face and the girl quickly changing her all of her classes to make sure she avoided him.

The white haired teen sighed, trying to dispel the memory before the sound of his cell phone vibrating caught his attention. Picking it up, he noticed he had received a text message from his friend Clyde. Raising an eyebrow, he opened the app to read it.

"Hey, u want to face chat on Skype?"

Lincoln chuckled before typing and sending his response as he sat up to grab his laptop off the dresser.

"Sure, let me start up my laptop."

A few minutes later, the teen sat atop his bed with his laptop in his lap as he awaited the call. Soon a notification of a call came and in a fluid motion, Lincoln clicked the accept button as the picture of a dark skinned teenager with glasses and his hair styled in an afro appeared.

Lincoln grinned which his friend returned. "Hey Clyde, how's it going?"

"Pretty good." Clyde seemed to lean back in his chair, as he placed his arms behind his head. "What about you?"

"Not bad at all, just had dinner and chilling right now." Lincoln responded as he also leaned into a more comfortable position. "You finished that English assignment yet?"

"For Ms. Cruz?" Getting a nod in confirmation, the african american nodded back. "Yeah, finished it just this morning. She wasn't kidding when she said it was going to be a tough one."

"It was just an essay man over Romeo and Juliet man. If you read it or at least used Sparknotes, you would have been fine."

"Fair enough, still you know how hard she grades…" Clyde rubbed the back of his head as he glanced to the side. "I've already failed one essay from her because I didn't give enough detail on the subject."

"Least you're doing better than Rusty…" Lincoln said, trying to cheer his friend up. "From what I hear, he's in danger of failing the class. You know his dad will be pissed."

Clyde grinned awkwardly. "Point. Then again Rusty doesn't seem to do good in any of his classes if we're being honest. He would have been held back last school year if you didn't convince Lisa to tutor him."

"He still owes me one for that." Lincoln rubbed his arm, shivering slightly as if recalling an unpleasant experience. "Had to be Lisa's test subject for awhile as 'compensation for wasting her time with trivial matters'. I'm pretty sure I still have hair growing in places they shouldn't be."

"Heh… well he did say he'd help you get a girlfriend…"

"He needs to get one himself before he promises anyone that." Lincoln deadpanned, his expression completely blank.

Clyde laughed in amusement before deciding to actually approach that subject more. "Speaking of that, isn't there the Sadie Hawkins dance next month?"

"It is?" Lincoln looked to the side at his school's calendar which was on his wall. "Huh, what do you know… it is."

"So… you going to go?"

"Mmm…" Lincoln leaned back in his chair in thought. "Not sure actually… was thinking of passing on it and going to the arcade instead. Should be pretty quiet that day, so the lines for games will be short."

Clyde's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh come on man! We're high school juniors! We're in our youth! We need to enjoy this time!"

"Is there a reason you sound like Rusty right now?"

"What I'm saying is…" Clyde continued, ignoring the question. "Instead of always going to the arcade on Fridays like we usually do, let's enjoy our youth for once! Find a nice girl, go to the dance and show off our moves, and maybe, just maybe, get a kiss and a girlfriend by the end of the day!"

Lincoln, however, look completely unamused. "Yeah… because we're real popular among the girls at our school."

Clyde winced slightly as if he had been hit in the heart, but he continued on. "Come on man. I gave up on Lori last school year because I realized it was never going to happen…"

"More like you gave up on Lori because her and Bobby were getting annoyed with you and he threatened to beat you up if you didn't stop." Lincoln crossed his arms. "Really man, if wasn't for me and Ronnie Anne smoothing things over with him, he would have beaten you into the ground."

"I could have taken him…" Clyde muttered before continuing. "But seriously, after realizing me and Lori were never going to happen, I've been trying to find a girlfriend for awhile. It's just… I haven't had a whole lot of luck in that regard. So I figured this might be the best time to actually get one. I know it's still early to think this, but next year is our senior year. We won't have a lot of time to focus on stuff like this at that point."

Lincoln stayed silent for a moment, thinking over Clyde's words. His friend did raise a point. Their high school years were getting shorter each day, and they promised themselves when they first became freshman, that they would make this time some of the best years of their life.

'Maybe I should put some thought into going to the dance…' The white haired son of the Louds looked up at the ceiling. 'From what Lori said last year, it sounded fun and it's not like I can't go to the arcade at any other time. Besides, maybe I should see if I can find myself a girlfriend, if they can survive the Sisternado that is.'

As he was in thought, a screen with a wall of text popped up to the side of him catching his attention.

LONG TERM QUEST ALERT

Sadie Hawkins Dance

Your best friend Clyde has brought to your attention the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Instead of being a lonely nerd, enjoy your youth and find a good date to go with. You might just enjoy yourself!

Rewards for Success: 1000 XP, Increased Charisma, Increased Reputation, (Secret Reward: Unlock required skill to see what this is), Increased Friendship with Clyde.

Consequences for Failure: 100 XP, Decreased Charisma, Decreased Reputation, Decreased Friendship with Clyde.

Accept?

Yes(O)/No(X)

Lincoln's expression remained completely blank as he read through the information before scratching his head with a sigh.

'I wish this thing would stop trying to control my life…' He then looked at Clyde, who seemed to be in thought himself. 'Still, if things work out, it could be fun. Not like I'm doing anything important that day, but the last thing I want to do is risk destroying my already low reputation.'

Still… the rewards seemed really nice and he was interested in what this secret reward might be. Taking a moment to think about it, he hit the Accept button before another screen popped up in front of him.

By the way, this wasn't an optional quest. It was a mandatory quest. Good for you though, you need a girlfriend anyway.

The teen's eyebrows furrowed. "Then why the hell did it give me a choice…?"

As if responding directly to him, another screen popped up with one sentence of text that got an irritated look from him.

Force of habit.

'I hate this system…' Lincoln placed his face into his right palm. 'I really hate this system."

"Lincoln?"

The teen perked up to see Clyde staring at him in a confused manner. "Everything alright bro?"

"Ah… yeah it is." Lincoln grinned, though it was a bit strained. "Just thought about something is all, but I'm down for going to the Sadie Hawkins dance. We can go to the arcade any other day."

Clyde returned his grin, fist pumping. "Alright! I'll let you lead us, Man with the Plan!"

"Hah… alright, alright I'll work on it." Lincoln scratched the back of his head as he looked to the side. "And of course you're relying on me for this…"

"You say something?"

"Nothing, anyway man, I'm going to log off for right now. Have to take care of some things before heading to bed."

Clyde nodded. "Yeah, same. Cleopawtra needs to be put in her cage around this time, and my dads are too scared to approach her right now since she's been extra feisty lately."

"You sure you don't need to find a different vet for her? She's been like this for a long time man." Lincoln was honestly feeling a bit concerned for his friend's and his dads safety. Their house cat while usually mild, had some temperament problems that caused it to lash out and force them to lock it up at times.

Clyde shook his head, smiling weakly. "It'll be fine! I hope…"

"Whatever man, it's your pet…" Lincoln took another glance at the clock before turning back. "Alright, I'm off. See you tomorrow man."

"Alright later Linc!" And with that, Clyde's face disappeared off the screen as it went black.

Lincoln sighed before leaning back into his chair as he looked up to the ceiling.

"What did I get myself into…?" The sole Loud son muttered to himself as he placed a hand to his forehead. While he wasn't exactly unpopular with the girls at his school, he wouldn't call himself popular with them either. He was probably somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.

Could he ask Lori for help, maybe?"

'No.' Lincoln's eyes hardened as he sat up. 'Hell no actually. No way I can rely on any of my sisters for this, because knowing them they'll make that night a mess. As much as they want to think they are, they aren't good matchmakers.'

Sighing as he ran a hand across his forehead, he eventually shrugged as he lay on his bed. "Well, I got a good amount of time before the dance. I'll figure something out… hopefully."

At least it wasn't going to be a boring month, that's for sure.

Monday morning had come, and along with that the craziness that was a weekday morning for the Loud family. The Loud children pushed and shoved for the front of the line to the shower, though Lincoln had woken up early and managed to avoid it. Meanwhile, the parents had started getting ready to head to work and were waiting for their friends to come and give them a ride to work as Lori would take the family van and drop her siblings off before she driving herself and the other high school kids to school.

Lincoln sat on the sofa in the living room tying his shoes, before standing up and grabbing his backpack which was to the side before starting to walk to the front door.

"Heading out for the day?" The white haired son looked behind him to see his mother looking at him with a smile and her arms crossed.

Lincoln nodded, smiling as he fixed his backpack. "Yeah. Figured I might as well, since I'm walking to school alone today."

"Alone? Clyde and Ronnie Anne aren't available?"

"Clyde told me he had to call in today, something about a family issue and Ronnie Anne went on ahead." Lincoln scratched the back of his head. "So it's just me today."

Rita nodded, a small smile on her face. "Well, just be safe then."

"I will. Later mom." With that, Lincoln turned around to walk outside the door.

"By the way, Lincoln." The teenager turned around to see his mother having a cross between a serious and concerned expression. "Has… everything been okay lately?"

"Um, yeah I guess? Nothing out of the ordinary." Lincoln crossed his arms in confusion. "What's up mom?"

"It's just…" Rita stayed silent for a moment to ponder over her next words. "You seem to be acting strange lately. Zoning out at times and looking like you're focusing intently on something. Are you sure everything is alright?"

Lincoln didn't answer right away, appearing to be in his own thoughts for a moment. Finally, he gave his mother a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine mom. I've just been… thinking about some things lately is all."

"Are you sure? We could always talk about it if y-"

"No! No, everything is fine." Lincoln grinned, trying to convince his mother. "I'll be fine mom, promise."

Rita kept her stare for awhile longer, before finally sighing as she nodded. "Alright, but if things start getting out of hand you come straight to me or your father. Understood?"

"Understood." Lincoln said, giving his mom a quick peck on the cheek before dashing out the house.

Rita simply shook her head with a sigh. "You can't hide things from me Lincoln, a mother knows all." She turned around, walking to her room, to start getting ready for her day at work. 'I might have to call Dad about this…'

Lincoln walked down the street, his thoughts going to the conversation he had with his mother.

While he wouldn't consider himself a model child in any sense of the phrase, lying to his mother when she was simply showing concern towards his well being left a slightly poor taste in mouth. It was obvious that the parents cared deeply about each of their children, adopted or not.

'Well, what was I supposed to tell her? "Hey mom, my life turned into a video game and I have no idea how that happened."' A small grimace formed on his face as he rubbed his forehead. 'Yeah, that would have gone over well.'

Sighing to himself, he reached in his pocket to pull out his phone along with a pair of earphones. Turning on his phone and scrolling through a few apps before finding the music station, he plugged in his earphones as he began to hear music playing.

'Guess I'll think about it late-'

BOOM!

As if some deity decided to purposely screw with him, an explosion rocked in front of him knocking the boy backwards a couple of feet on his back and sending his phone to the ground. Groaning, he sat up wincing in pain before he saw something in front of him that made his eyes widen in shock and awe.

There were two girls, standing across from each other on top of two buildings, glaring at one another. Around them it had looked like a riot had taken place as fences were destroyed, buildings were damaged, and the street had seen better days.

One girl was a brown eyed brunette whose hair was in a ponytail. She was wearing a red shirt with green cuffs and collar and a A in the middle, a yellow skirt, and red socks along with black shoes. In her hands were what looked like cards from Lincoln's point of view. Her face was set into an angry yet determined glare as she gazed at her opponent.

On the other side was a pale looking girl that honestly reminded Lincoln a bit of Lucy. Her hair was black and long while her eyes were also black. She was wearing a sky blue shirt with white long sleeves that came from underneath. Her lower body consisted of a black checkered skirt with a purple jumper wrapped around her waist along with dark grey boots. The girl closed her eyes and as if on cue a large shadowy figure rose up from behind her, grinning with terrifyingly sharp white teeth as it's red eyes leered at the other girl. The girl opened her eyes as her expression turned into a calm uninterested gaze, as if she was considering this confrontation more of an annoyance than anything.

Lincoln calmly surveyed the scene in front of him, before one phrase finally escaped his mouth.

"What the hell?"

I'm alive! Somehow despite the hell that is real life!

But hey guys, apologies to those that have been waiting. I know I said it'd probably only take me a month, but things got pretty hectic over the summer and with me starting school now... yeah. Also playing Epic Seven didn't help. Still, I'll try and keep the updates not too far apart.

As you can see, outside of the final scene I have made some changes from the previous fic's first chapter. But as I said in my AN, not everything in the fic is going to change, I'm rewriting the fic as I gave some more ideas development and wanted to change some things as well. Also the harem will still be there too. I won't say what, but hopefully this is a fic you call all enjoy.

Well, I will see you all next chapter. Please review if you liked it and have a nice day.

Jacula