Rick groaned as he entered the garage. It had been three months. Three months since Lynn had stolen his portal gun and run away, forcing Rick to go searching around the universe for her. How she hadn't somehow died out there was beyond him. It was highly doubtful she got captured or imprisoned either. If she was, it'd be much easier to find her. For all he knew, she had probably figured out how to reach an alternate universe. If that was so, finding her would be nearly impossible then. The longer this went on, the more it felt like she wasn't ever going to come back. It didn't help that Crocubot hadn't got in contact with him for a while, meaning he had probably given up. Or he had died. He should probably activate the self destruct on that portal gun he gave him at some point.
Rick went to open his drawers and searched around until he got out the voucher that he had received from the Citadel months ago with Lynn's face on it. He stared at it. He wondered if it was still valid. It would be so easy. Just get a new Lynn, brainwash her into thinking she was their Lynn and things can go back to normal.
Rick stared at the voucher a little longer. Lynn's grinning face on the voucher almost felt like it was mocking him. He glared at her face. "Annoying, luck obsessed piece of shit." He grumbled to himself before putting the voucher away. He really didn't know why he let these kids have this much of an effect on him. He knew it wasn't a good idea. Though he supposed there was a chance that Lynn could come back after he did this, which would seriously mess things up. So logically, it made sense to hold off on this for now. At least, that's what he told himself. He sighed, deciding that he might as well help Rita with the Christmas decorations.
...
It was the day before Christmas. Royal Woods was covered in a thick layer of snow while the Loud house was covered with Christmas decorations. For Lincoln, there was no better place to be on Christmas eve than the Loud house. After getting into his winter clothes, which included an orange sweater and a brown cap, Lincoln left his room to see Luna playing guitar outside of her room. "Christmas time is totally rad! I want those gifts, so I won't be bad!" She sung before groaning. "Aww, come on!"
"Having trouble with this year's Christmas song, Luna?" Lincoln asked.
"Bro, I'm stuck like Santa in a chimney!" A look of inspiration then appeared on Luna's face. "Ooh! That's not bad!" She started playing her guitar and singing again. "I'm stuck like Santa in a chimney! I've been good all year, so gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme!" She stopped, frowning. "Ugh, rubbish!"
"You're not the only one who's stuck." Luan remarked as she exited her room. She was wearing a headband with reindeer antlers on them.
"Hey, Luan. Are you gonna do your twelve puns of Christmas this year?" Lincoln asked.
Luan shook her head. "You know I don't do puns any more. I'm trying to think of something else Christmas themed to do this year but nothing's coming to me."
"Maybe you shouldn't force these things." Luna advised. "You gotta let this stuff come naturally to you."
Luan sighed. "You're probably right."
After Luna and Luan went back into their room, Lincoln then noticed Leni coming up the stairs, wearing a red and green dress with ornament earrings. "Hey, Lincoln! I just made the perfect Christmas outfit."
"Hey, has anyone seen my plaid Christmas table cloth?" Rita shouted from downstairs.
Leni glanced down at her dress before shushing Lincoln as she went into her room at the same time that Lori left as she was on the phone, talking to Bobby. "Oh, don't worry about buying me a gift, Bobby Boo-Boo Bear. I mean, sure, it's our very first real Christmas together and I'll probably remember what you give me for the rest of our lives, but no pressure."
...
Bobby was at the shopping mall, looking for gifts while he was on the phone with Lori. "Right. Uh, no pressure, Babe." Bobby chuckled before hanging up. He then fell to his knees and started crying.
...
Lincoln had gone downstairs where there was a large pile of boots near the front door. Lincoln stuck his hands in to try and find his though he ended up picking up two of his sisters'. "Oops. Wrong ones. This might take a while." Lincoln said as he was about to dive into the pile.
Before he could, Lola dashed in front of him to stop him. "Hey there, favorite big brother!" Lola greeted in a overly sweet tone. "Allow me to dive into that pile of smelly sweaty footwear and find your winter boots for you." She curtsied before diving into the pile. A moment later, she emerged from the pile, gasping for air while holding onto Lincoln's brown boots. "Here you are, good sir!" Lola said as she helped Lincoln put his boots on. "Two big brother boots. Boy, these are stylish!"
Lincoln gave her a suspicious look. "Ok, what gives? Are you trying to get into Santa's good books or something?"
Lola frowned. "Oh come on, Lincoln. I've been good this year. Mostly." She glanced to the side. "Course it doesn't hurt to do one day full of good deeds, just to be safe."
"You're wasting your time." Lisa said as she came up to them, pulling up a white board full of equations with the answer to this equation being the word 'nope'. She pointed to the equations with a candy cane. "Factoring in sleigh speed, time zone changes, and reindeer bathroom breaks, it is scientifically impossible for this so-called Kris Kringle to deliver gifts to the approximately one billion qualifying children. As you can see, X equals no stinkin' way."
Lola shook her head, tutting. "Oh Lisa, the hoops you'll leap through to try to deny Santa's real. If he's not real, who's leaving the presents?"
"That would be our parents." Lisa answered.
Lola raised an eyebrow, giving Lisa a smug look. "How can they do that when they're asleep?"
Lisa huffed in annoyance. "I haven't the time for this asinine debate." She then stomped off, taking her whiteboard with her.
Rita was nailing some stockings onto the fireplace with each stocking having one of the siblings' names on it. She had already done four when she was about to nail in the one with Lynn's name on it. She paused and stared down at the stocking before letting out a sad sigh.
At that moment, Rick then entered the living room. "Hey uh, you guys need help with decorating or whatever?"
Rita turned to him with an angry look on her face. "Rick, it's been three months, how has Lynn not finished that softball tournament yet?"
Rick rolled his eyes. "Rita, you're severely underestimating how many kids across the galaxy are competing in this tournament."
Rita huffed. "Ugh! You know what? I don't care anymore. I can deal with missing Lynn on Halloween and Thanksgiving but NOT Christmas! Can you please just do something and bring her back?"
"What and ruin her chances of being an intergalactic sports star?" Rick argued. "You sure you want to shatter her dreams like that?"
"Rick, you've taken down a galactic government, how is something like this harder than that? Surely you could do something so she could come back for a couple days at least?"
Rick growled in frustration. "Alright, fine, I'll...go over and try something. I can't make any guarantees but I'll try something to get her back home."
"Just please, do whatever you can to bring her back." Rita pleaded.
"Sure, fine, whatever." Rick grumbled as he went to go back into the garage.
Lincoln frowned. The situation with Lynn has always been in the back of his mind. While the clone thing gave Lincoln some comfort, knowing she at least couldn't die out there, he still couldn't help but be worried about her. He really wondered what was going through her mind right now. He shook his head. It's not like there was anything he could do to help now. Besides, the last time he got too involved in his sisters' issues, it ended in disaster for him. He needed to focus more on himself. Constantly stressing out over Lynn wasn't going to help anyone.
"LOUDS! What's with all the racket?" Lincoln was broken out of his thoughts as he heard his crabby old neighbour, Mr. Grouse, shouting from next door. He was especially crabby around Christmas. "LOUDS! Turn down that annoying music! LOUDS! Shut off all those horrible lights!" Mr. Grouse continued to shout.
...
Upon entering the garage, Rick took a sip from his flask, only to suddenly spit take as his eyes widened in shock. "HOLY SHIT!" Right there, lying on the floor was none other than Lynn. She looked exactly the same as the last time he saw her apart from the eyepatch over her right eye. He slowly approached her. "Lynn?" She appeared to be unconscious. He then noticed that she was lying on something. He gently lifted her up and picked up what appeared to be scraps from a completely destroyed portal gun. "What the hell..."
He then heard Lynn groaning as she slowly opened her eye. She looked at Rick. "Rick? What happened? Where am I?"
"You're home." Rick replied. "Hey, what the fuck were you thinking, stealing my portal gun and running off? Do you realise how fucking stupid that was?"
Lynn gave Rick a confused look as she slowly sat up. "What are you talking about?"
"What, you don't remember?"
Lynn frowned in thought. "The last thing I remember was...being in that blood dome. That guy swung a sword at me. Then..." She placed a hand over her eyepatch.
Rick raised an eyebrow. "You seriously don't remember that you stole my portal gun and then ran away for three months?"
Lynn's eye widened in shock. "I've been gone for THREE MONTHS?!"
"Yup. Though how the fuck you didn't get yourself killed that whole time is beyond even me." Rick remarked, earning a glare from Lynn. "By the way, you don't seem too upset about losing an eye."
Lynn gave Rick a nervous look. "W-Well, you can fix this, right?"
"Course, I can." Rick said as he went over to lock the door to the garage. "Though, there's a couple other things we need to sort out first."
...
Lincoln wasn't going to let Lynn's absence or Mr. Grouse take away his Christmas cheer. Now that there was finally enough snow, Lincoln could finally go sledding as he brought out his red sled, The Fearsome Flyer 8000. Or as Lincoln affectionately called it, 'Big Red'. However, after taking one step outside, Lincoln was suddenly caught in a net trap. "Ah!"
"Woo-hoo! My reindeer net worked!" Lana shouted after emerging from a pile of snow. She then noticed that she had caught Lincoln and let him down. "Sorry, Lincoln. I'm just getting ready for tonight. I'm gonna catch one to keep as a pet!" Both of them then heard car tires screech before the sound of a car crash. They both ran to the front of the house to see that a car had crashed into ditch. "Woo-hoo! My reindeer pit worked!" Lana cheered. "Uh, don't worry, buddy! I got a winch!" She assured the driver as she went over to the car with a winch.
...
"Now, where was I?" Lincoln asked himself. He was currently on top of a slide in the backyard, holding his sled. "Ah, yes. It's just you and me, Big Red." Lincoln sat down on the sled and put his helmet on. "Let's do this." Lincoln pushed himself forward, causing him to sled down the slide. "Ha ha! Yeah!" However, as he then sled through the snow, he suddenly crashed into a rock, sending him and the sled flying. "Aaah!" Lincoln crashed into a pile of snow while the sled went flying into Mr. Grouse's backyard. Once he realised what happened, Lincoln shouted. "Noooooo!" Unfortunately for Lincoln and his siblings, anything that goes into Mr. Grouse's yard never comes back. Every time Mr. Grouse finds something, he declares "My yard, my property" before taking it into his house. "I can't lose Big Red! Not on the first day of vacation!" Lincoln stated before attempting to climb the fence.
"Louds!" Upon hearing Mr. Grouse shout, Lincoln quickly jumped down and looked around for him. Luckily, he noticed that Mr. Grouse was shouting from a window upstairs at the festive air dancers that were decorated on the roof of the Loud house. "Take down that eyesore. You're bringing down the property values!"
"It's too risky to go in alone. I'm going to need backup." Lincoln remarked as he got out his walkie talkie. "Clyde, come in!"
"Hey, Lincoln." Clyde replied. "What's up?"
"I've got a Code Six emergency!"
"Oh no! What went over the fence this time?"
"It was Big Red! Put on your snow boots. It's time to put Operation Scale the Fence and Retrieve Big Red Before Mr. Grouse Finds It and Takes It Into His House Forever and Also Think of a Shorter Name For This Operation into action!"
As Lincoln was talking, Clyde was trying to put on a red turtleneck though it was currently over his head. "Sorry, I got stuck in a turtleneck. Could you repeat that? Never mind. I'm on my way." Clyde then set off before immediately walking into a door. "Ugh!"
Lincoln then headed back inside and ran up the stairs. Meanwhile, as the living room was currently empty, Lori snuck over to her stocking and picked up one of the presents from it. She took a sniff before sighing in satisfaction. She really loved the feeling of opening presents. The sound of the paper tearing, the smell of the tape. Something about it was just so satisfying. "I don't think Mom will mind if I just peel back the corner a little." She tugged on the ribbon slightly before shaking her head. She then remembered last year where her lack of self control caused her to open everyone's presents. She put the present back. "I gotta fight this! I can be strong. I will not open another gift until Christmas morning." It'd probably help if she had something to distract herself with. She wondered how Rick was doing.
...
"Uh, what are you doing?" Lynn asked as Rick was using some kind of device to scan her.
"Well considering that you just randomly showed up in my garage and apparently have no memory of everything that happened while you were gone, I'm just making sure you aren't brainwashed or some kind of clone or something." The device then made a dinging noise. "Huh. Guess you're all clear. You're definitely our Lynn."
Both of them then heard knocking on the door along with Lori's voice. "Hey, Rick are you in here?" Rick thought about it for a moment. He supposed there was no harm in letting Lori see Lynn now since she already knew about the situation and could keep a secret. He went over to unlock the door and open it, allowing Lori to step in. "Hey Rick, are you-LYNN?!"
Lori stared at Lynn in shock. Lynn responded by giving Lori an awkward wave. "H-Hey, Lori." Not only was it a shock to finally see Lynn after a couple months of uncertainty but the sight of Lynn wearing an eyepatch was deeply disconcerting for her. She stared at Lynn for a couple seconds before her face turned from a look of shock to one of rage. She then stomped over to Lynn before grabbing the front of her jersey and picking her up. "Hey, what are you-"
"WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?!" Lori shouted. "How could you just run off like that?! Do you have any idea how worried we were about you?!"
"I-I-I don't..." Lynn stammered.
"Save it Lori." Rick interrupted. "She said she doesn't remember anything that happened after she lost her eye."
Lori gave Rick a confused look. "That's...weird." She then turned back to Lynn, still angry at her. "But still, don't you realise how stupid it was to go fighting in a death battle? Do you literally have any idea how lucky you are that you're still alive?"
"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking, I-" Lori then put Lynn down before wrapping her arms around her. "Huh?"
"I'm just...so glad you're okay." Lori sobbed. "We've missed you so much!" Lori kept sobbing while Lynn stood there awkwardly.
Rick rolled his eyes. "You can really turn on a dime, huh Lori?"
Lori then let go of Lynn, taking a moment to calm herself before turning to Rick. "So, aren't you going to tell everyone else?"
"You know she's still missing an eye, right?" Rick asked. "She's not exactly ready to see everyone else."
Lori nodded. "Fair point. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"We'll be fine as long as everyone's busy. Just make sure no one feels like coming in here."
Lori nodded before making her way out of the garage, giving Lynn one last glance before she left. Once she was gone, Lynn raised an eyebrow at Rick. "Since when did you two get so chummy?"
"It's a long story and I don't feel like going over it."
...
Lori went back into the living room before hearing the doorbell ring. She answered it to see a delivery man at the door. "Delivery for Miss Lori Loud." The delivery man said as he then stuffed a giant green a red present through the door.
The delivery man then walked away before suddenly getting himself trapped in a cage. A moment later, Lana then ran outside, cheering. "Woohoo! My reindeer cage works!"
Meanwhile, Lori was still distracted by the present as she read the tag. "To Lori. Open immediately." It was as if the universe was trying to test her. "Oh, screw it." She said before tearing off the wrapping.
To her surprise, it was none other than Bobby inside the present. "Merry Christmas Babe!" Bobby exclaimed.
Lori gasped. "Boo-Boo Bear?"
"I couldn't find anything good enough to buy you for our first Christmas together, so I decided to give you myself." Bobby explained.
Lori let out a loving sigh. "That's literally the perfect gift." She said before the two shared a hug.
Leni then came downstairs, wearing a white dress made of tinsel. "Hey guys! Forget what I was wearing before. This is the perfect Christmas outfit."
"Has anyone seen all my tinsel?" Rita shouted from the dining room. Leni then made a shushing motion at Lori and Bobby.
Meanwhile, in the dining room, Rita was searching through a box for the tinsel when Lola came up to her with a huge smile on her face. "Oh, mother. You've done so much to make this glorious holiday perfect. Allow me to look for the tinsel and after I find it, I'll rub your tired, aching tootsies."
"Thank you, Lola. That's very nice of you." Rita thanked Lola as she pulled some paper dolls out the box.
"Did you hear that, Santa? She said 'nice'!" Lola shouted at the ceiling, shaking her fist.
"Wasting your time..." Lisa said in a sing song tone as she entered the room.
"So are you..." Lola sang back.
"You know, it's actually better for you to find out about Santa's nonexistence early so as to not be disappointed later in life." Lisa stated.
Lola gave Lisa a fake smile. "Aww, that'd be so nice if it wasn't completely untrue."
At some point, Luan had entered the living room and had overheard the conversation. She went over to Lola and gave her a slight nudge. "Heh, Santa deniers, am I right?"
Lola rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it."
Lisa scoffed. "Oh come now. Surely someone at your age should realise that Santa is nothing more than a myth, right?"
Luan shrugged. "Well who else would leave all the presents?"
Lola pretended to whisper to her. "She thinks our parents do it."
Luan chuckled. "Next you'll tell me they eat the cookies and milk too."
"Ugh!" Lisa groaned before storming off. Luan and Lola couldn't help but giggle at her expense.
As Lisa stormed off, she passed by Lincoln, who was running outside, holding a pair of binoculars. He climbed up to the top of the slide to look into Mr. Grouse's yard, only to suddenly see Clyde's face. "Hey, Lincoln!"
"Ahh!" Lincoln jumped, causing him to fall down the slide, knocking into Clyde in the process. "Clyde!"
"I'm okay!" Clyde assured him as he readjusted his hat. "So what's the plan?"
Lincoln picked up a stick and drew his plan on the snow, making drawings of himself, Clyde, Mr. Grouse's house and the sled. He then drew a line connecting Clyde to the front of the house and a line connecting himself to the sled. "You'll go to the front door and sing Christmas carols here. When Grouse comes out to yell at you, I'll hop the fence and grab Big Red here."
"Strategic genius!" Clyde complimented.
...
Clyde was stood in front of Mr. Grouse's house at the front door. He got out his walkie talkie. "Turtledove to Sled Man Walking. I'm in position."
"Copy that, Turtledove." Lincoln responded. "Commence caroling."
Clyde then blew into a kazoo and started practicing his vocals. "Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi!" He then got out some sleigh bells and jingled them as he started to sing. "Dashing through the snow. In a one-horse open sleigh."
An annoyed Mr. Grouse then opened the door as Clyde kept singing. "Stop your off-key caterwauling! I don't care for carolers." Meanwhile, Lincoln had hopped over the fence and slowly made his way over to the sled. However, he accidentally bumped into a wheelbarrow full of logs, causing the logs to fall out. "Go on! Get!" Mr. Grouse yelled at Clyde before both of them heard the commotion in the backyard. "What the Sam heck was that?"
Mr. Grouse was about to check his backyard when Clyde ran in front of him, dancing. "Don't look in the yard! There's nothing there to see! Got lots of songs to sing! So keep your eyes on me! Ugh!"
Mr. Grouse pushed Clyde aside and continued his way to the backyard. Lincoln, who had been putting all the logs back, hid behind them once he noticed Mr. Grouse coming. Mr. Grouse quickly noticed the sled. He picked it up and shouted into the Louds' backyard. "My yard, my property!" He then headed inside which caused Lincoln to let out a sigh.
...
Lincoln and Clyde were sat on the front door steps of the Loud house. "I can't believe I lost Big Red." Lincoln bemoaned.
Both of them then noticed Ronnie Anne and Sid approach them. "Hey guys." Ronnie Anne greeted. "Have you guys seen Bobby? He's...kinda gone missing."
"I think he gave himself to Lori as a Christmas present." Lincoln said, unsure.
Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes. "Of course he did."
"What's up?" Sid asked, noticing that Lincoln looked kind of down.
"Lincoln lost his sled in Mr. Grouse's yard." Clyde answered.
"Couldn't you just ask your parents to get it back?" Sid suggested.
Lincoln scratched the back of his head. "I could but I don't think my parents would be very happy once they find out about all the other stuff that me and my siblings lost to Mr. Grouse."
The front door then opened up as Luna came out, playing guitar. "Merry Christmas, honey! If you don't have a gift, I'll gladly take money! I wrote it down on my Christmas list! If I don't get my prezzies, I'm gonna get pissed!"
"LOUDS!" Mr. Grouse shouted as he left his house and made his way to the car. "KNOCK OFF THAT RACKET!"
Ronnie Anne stroked her chin as she watched Mr. Grouse drive off. "You know, you could try sneaking into his house to get your sled back."
Lincoln smiled. "That's a great idea!"
Clyde wasn't so eager. "What? You can't do that! That's Mr. Grouse's property."
"But that sled is my property!" Lincoln argued. "I'll just slip through the doggy door, grab Big Red, and he'll be none the wiser."
Sid didn't seem too sure about this plan either. "I dunno, isn't this kind of illegal?"
"Yeah, what if you get sent to jail?" Clyde added.
"That's not gonna happen because you guys are gonna be my lookout." Lincoln stated as he got out his walkie talkie.
...
Lincoln climbed over the fence to get back into Mr. Grouse's backyard before rushing towards the doggy door to get into the house. Once he was in, he talked into his walkie talkie. "I'm in. Just keep a lookout for Grouse."
"Don't worry. You can count on us." Clyde assured him while Sid gave an overdramatic salute, trying to appear serious. "We're not going anywhere." The two started marching around before stepping on a catapult trap. The two screamed as they were both sent flying.
"Guys!" Ronnie Anne shouted before running after them.
After that, Lana then ran up to the catapult. "Yes! My reindeer catapult worked!" She then realised something. "Although, it might not be the best way to catch a reindeer."
Meanwhile, Lincoln was still searching around the house for his sled. "Now, where would I hide a sled if I were a grumpy old sourpuss." Eventually, he found the sled propped up against the stairs. "Big Red!" He ran over and picked it up. He was about to leave when he noticed an old, framed photo on the fireplace. He picked it up to see a smiling, bespectacled kid holding a sled. "Whoa! Is that Mr. Grouse as a kid? And is he holding a Fearsome Flyer 1000?" He then heard someone unlocking the front door. Lincoln gasped as he realised Mr. Grouse had returned home.
Lincoln hid behind the curtains as Mr. Grouse came in, unfolding a newspaper. Lincoln then realised he had dropped his scarf on the way. While Mr. Grouse closed the door, Lincoln quickly picked it up before returning to his hiding place. Mr. Grouse then hung up his hat and coat before opening the curtains. Lincoln had managed to sneak off beforehand and was now in the kitchen where he opened a cabinet to hide in. Unfortunately, the cabinet door made a squeaking sound, which caught Mr. Grouse's attention. He went into the kitchen and opened the cabinet, only to find nothing there. As he made his way out, he stepped on something which turned out to be Lincoln's hand. He was currently hiding under the table and had let out an 'oof' sound when Mr. Grouse stepped on his hand. Mr. Grouse checked under the table, only to find nothing there. He raised an eyebrow before he started shivering. "Hoo...cold." He then went over to the fireplace and lit a match. Lincoln's eyes widened as he was currently hiding in the fireplace. "Aw, dang. All out of wood." Mr. Grouse didn't notice as Lincoln blew out the match while he went to go get some more wood. Lincoln ran out of the fireplace and made his way to the backdoor. Before he could leave, however, Mr. Grouse grabbed his shoulder. "Gotcha!"
This made Lincoln scream as he threw his sled into the air. It then crashed down, shattering into a bunch of pieces. Heartbroken, Lincoln fell to his knees and cradled it. "Big Red!"
Mr. Grouse put his hands on his hips. "Serves you right, you little thief!"
Lincoln glared at Mr. Grouse. "I'm not a thief! You're the thief! You stole my sled and now it's broken!"
"My yard, my property!" Mr. Grouse retorted. "I'm calling your folks right now! They'll straighten you out." He went over to the phone to call the Loud family. However, due to everyone being too busy with their own activities, no one answered the phone. "No one's answering. Probably can't even hear the phone over all that racket." He hung up the phone, grabbed Lincoln's arm and dragged him over to the fireplace. The floor around it was covered in ash. "Till I reach your folks, you can clean up the mess you made." Mr. Grouse ordered as he handed Lincoln a broom.
"Why do you have to be so mean all the time? I just wanted my sled back." Lincoln pointed to the photo he saw earlier. "You of all people should understand that. You had one, too."
Mr. Grouse tilted the photo down. "Stop snoopin' and start sweepin'!" Both of them then heard the phone ringing. "Ah, that's probably them. Get to work!" Mr. Grouse went into the other room to answer the phone while Lincoln started angrily sweeping.
"Hello? Oh, hey, Junie. Sorry I didn't call back." Upon overhearing the conversation, Lincoln stopped sweeping and listened carefully. "No, it doesn't look like I'm gonna make it back for Christmas after all. I'm sorry. I know it's been five years, but I just don't have the money to travel this Christmas." Lincoln then noticed another framed photo on the fireplace. He picked it up to see Mr. Grouse along with a very large family. Realising the situation Mr. Grouse was in, Lincoln started to feel sorry for him. "Tell the girls Uncle Buddy says hi and loves them whole bunches. I miss you, too." Mr. Grouse hung up the phone and came back into the living room to see Lincoln staring at the photo. "I thought I told you to clean up your mess!"
"I didn't know you were from a big family."
"What's it to ya?" Mr. Grouse snapped.
"Well, it's just, it must be hard not to see them at Christmas."
Mr. Grouse's eyes widened before he started to push Lincoln towards the front door. "Enough! Go on home!" He opened the door.
"So, you're not gonna tell my parents?" Lincoln asked.
"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Mr. Grouse shouted as he pointed to the door. Lincoln then immediately left.
After Mr. Grouse slammed the door shut, Lincoln stuck his hands in his pockets, feeling terrible for his neighbour. He looked through the window to see Mr. Grouse staring down at the photo of his family before putting it back onto the fireplace.
Suddenly, an idea came to Lincoln. He was about to rush home when he heard Ronnie Anne talking through his walkie talkie. "Lincoln! You there?"
"Ronnie Anne!" Lincoln answered. "What happened?"
"Clyde and Sid walked onto some kind of catapult trap and got launched halfway across town. Don't worry, they're okay. Kinda. Seriously though, did your grandpa lay that trap or something?"
Lincoln frowned. "That was probably Lana. She's been making all these traps to try and catch Santa's reindeer."
"How's a catapult supposed to help her catch reindeer?"
Lincoln shrugged. "Don't ask me. Anyway, I think I know why Mr. Grouse gets so cranky around Christmas. It's because he can't see his family."
Ronnie Anne sighed as she started thinking about her dad. "Yeah. I know how that feels."
"Rescuing Big Red was a bust, but now, I've got a new mission. I'll call you and the others back with the plan." Lincoln put away his walkie talkie and rushed back to his house.
...
Rick approached a rather nervous Lynn, holding the electronic eyeball that he had built. "Now this is gonna feel a little weird but it should be relatively painless." Rick then took off Lynn's eyepatch and opened her right eyelid before inserting the electronic eyeball into the eye socket which instantly connected with Lynn's retina and optic nerve.
Lynn blinked a couple times as everything became blurry before her sight was back to normal, as if she had never even lost her eye. "Whoa..."
"You good?" Rick asked. Lynn nodded in response. "Alright, now there's something you'll need to do when you meet your family again. While you were gone, I told everyone that you went off to compete in an intergalactic softball tournament. Now that you're back, you're gonna have to tell them that you lost."
"Excuse me?" Lynn snapped. "You want me to tell them that I lost? I don't lose anything! I'm not a loser!"
"Well you can't exactly tell them you won. You don't have anything to show for it. This is for your own good too, you know. You think your parents will be happy if they found out you competed in a death match, got your eye stabbed out, stole my portal gun and then ran away for three months?"
Lynn growled in anger for a moment before huffing and folding her arms. "Fine!"
Rick glared at Lynn. Now that she was finally back, he was finding it hard to hide his anger towards her. All those weeks of searching and lying to his family, all because of her fragile, little ego. "By the way, just so you know, you won't be coming on any more adventures with me."
"WHAT?!" Lynn screeched. "Why not?"
"Because the last adventure you were on showed that you can't be trusted to not be an idiot. Besides, why the fuck do you care? I thought you hated adventures."
"I just..." She huffed again. "Ugh. Fine!"
Rick then took a sniff before covering his nose. "Jesus, you stink. Seriously, don't tell you didn't clean yourself or change your clothes for three whole months."
"How should I know?!" Lynn exclaimed, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Rick groaned. "Christ. Well we're just gonna have to wait until everyone goes out at some point. Then, once you've taken a shower and put on some clean clothes, you can go see your family."
...
Despite the sky going dark, the Loud house was still full of activity. Lily was chasing the hamster, Geo, Lola was vacuuming and dusting, Luan was making a popcorn string, Lisa was reading a book and Lucy was sat on the floor in a meditating pose, surrounded by candles. "Oh, Ghost of Christmas Past...reveal to me where the presents are hidden."
"Why would you find them here, Lucy?" Luan asked. "Santa has all the presents."
Lisa sighed. "You really shouldn't be spreading this misinformation, Luan."
Lucy appeared to actually be thinking about it. "I suppose Santa being real would explain why me and Lynn could never find the presents."
Lisa narrowed her eyes at Lucy. "I swear, you're all doing this to irritate me."
Luna then came down the stairs. "Guys, can you chill? I'm trying to write and I'm down to the wire!" A look of inspiration appeared on her face. "Ooh! Maybe that's it!" She started singing while playing guitar. "Down to the wire! Santa's on fire!" She groaned. "I'm never gonna get this!"
At that moment, Lincoln then arrived home. "Guys!" No one could hear him over all of the noise being made.
Leni then came downstairs, wearing yet another Christmas themed outfit. "Ok, forget that old rag I was wearing before. This is the perfect Christmas outfit!"
"What happened to the stockings? Seriously, why does everything keep disappearing?" Rita asked after looking over at the fireplace. Leni shushed Lincoln.
"GUYS!" Lincoln shouted, once again failing to get everyone's attention.
Lily then popped out of one of the stockings on Leni's dress, giggling. Leni then smelt a foul stench. "Oh, Lily, you didn't!"
Lynn Sr. then entered the living room, carrying a plate of figgy pudding. "Hey hey hey! I need a taste tester for my figgy pudding!"
Leni let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, phew. It wasn't you." She said to Lily.
"I'll do it, Daddy!" Lola said, going up to Lynn Sr. "Your figgy pudding is always the highlight of my Christmas!" She gave a desperate look to the ceiling. "You're seeing this, right, Santa?" Lynn Sr. then fed her some of the pudding. Lola chewed it forcefully. "Mmm...figgy!"
"GUYS! WOULD YOU JUST STOP AND LISTEN TO ME FOR A SECOND?!" Lincoln shouted as loud as he possibly could, finally getting everyone's attention. "I was just in Mr. Grouse's House..."
All of the sisters then voiced their displeasure for their neighbour. "That big meanie?" Lola asked.
"He dresses, like, horribly!" Leni remarked.
"He is literally awful!" Lori added.
"He's not that bad." Lincoln argued. "Well, he is, but now I think I know why." He then told his sisters about everything that happened today.
...
"...And then he told me to leave." Lincoln finished.
All of his sisters felt their heartstrings being tugged upon hearing this. Lori was on the verge of tears. "That is literally so sad!"
"I can't believe he has a big family, too." A downtrodden Lana remarked.
"And he can't be with them? That's awful!" Luan added, feeling heartbroken.
"Seeing all of us together must make him miss them even more." Leni added.
Lisa's lip trembled before she bursted into tears.
"No wonder he's such a grumpy-butt this time of year." Lola said, remorsefully.
"How did we not notice this?" Luan asked.
"Maybe because we've been so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays." Lori answered.
Lucy blew out her candles. "We were so worried about what we were getting when we should have been worried about what we were giving."
"And isn't that what Christmas is all about?" Lola asked.
Leni then frowned as something then occurred to her. "Do you guys think Lynn might feel the same?"
Everyone's eyes widened at this. Lana looked down in shame. "She's been gone for so long, I kinda forgot that we were having Christmas without her." She sighed. "I really miss her." Lincoln frowned at this, feeling the same way. He started to feel guilty about trying to dismiss Lynn in his mind. He couldn't imagine that she'd be happy to be alone right now.
"W-Well, who knows, maybe she'll come back sooner than you think." Lori said somewhat nervously.
Luna gasped as a look of inspiration appeared on her face. "Dudes! That's it! No wonder I couldn't nail my song! I've been going about it all wrong!" She then ran upstairs.
"We need to do something for Mr. Grouse." Lincoln stated.
"Yeah!" All of his sisters agreed.
"But what can we do?" Lori asked.
"I have a plan." Lincoln said before huddling up with them.
...
Later that night, Mr. Grouse was sleeping on his lounger when a mysterious sound woke him up.
Ooooooooh
"Huh? Who? What?" Mr. Grouse turned on a lamp and got up. "Can't get a moment's peace." Mr. Grouse opened the front door. To his surprise, the Louds, the McBrides, the Casagrandes, the Changs and even the Poopybuttholes were all caroling around his house, each holding a candle. Along with Sid and Adelaide was their father, Stanley Chang, an asian man with short black hair, and their mother, Becca Chang, a light-skinned woman with long blonde hair. Along with Mr. Poopybutthole was his wife, Mrs. Poopybutthole. She had a similar sized head to Mr. Poopybutthole and had her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. She wore purple pants, a pink t-shirt, and a top hat. She was carrying their baby son who was wearing a blue onesie as well as a top hat.
Ooooooooh
Luna then started singing.
I used to think that Christmas was
About the wish list filled with stuff
I never really needed, anyway
Lori pressed a button that lighted up the Christmas decorations around Mr. Grouse's house.
But as long as we're together
It's a holiday
Everyone then started singing while Luna started strumming her guitar.
It's not what you get, it's what you give
We've got the spirit, clear and loud
Ditch the list, hug who you're with
'Cause that's what Christmas is all about!
It's what you give, not what you get
We've got the hard part figured out
This year will be the best one yet
'Cause that's what Christmas is all about!
Merry Christmas from the Louds!
Oh!
As the song concluded, Mr. Grouse was still staring at everyone in surprise. Lincoln approached him and handed him a gift. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Grouse."
"We all chipped in and got you something." Lana said.
Mr. Grouse opened the present to see a ticket inside. "It's a bus ticket so you can go see your family for Christmas tomorrow." Luan explained.
"And since you can't be with them tonight, we're bringing our families to you." Rita said as she and Lynn Sr. were carrying boxes of stuff for the party.
Lynn Sr. grinned. "How 'bout it, neighbor?" Everyone then huddled together, smiling at Mr. Grouse.
"LOUDS!" Mr. Grouse suddenly shouted before giving everyone a grateful smile. "Everyone. You've made this the best Christmas ever. Thank you. I'd say you all landed permanent spots on Santa's nice list."
"Even me?" Lola asked joyfully.
"Even you." Mr. Grouse replied. Lola responded by running up and hugging Mr. Grouse's leg with a huge smile on her face.
"I hate to repeat myself but..." Lisa bursted into tears again.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Mr. Grouse asked before gesturing into his house. "Everyone inside!"
...
Mr. Grouse came into the living room to see everyone either decorating the room or socialising with each other. "There, Mr. Grouse. Now it's not so gloomy in here." Luan said.
"Yeah, you ruined it." Lucy said in a disappointed tone.
"Guys, I finally made the perfect Christmas outfit!" Leni exclaimed as she held up a green, patterned waistcoat. Everyone gave her a confused look. "It's not for me. It's for Mr. Grouse." She explained as she helped Mr. Grouse put it on. "You can wear it on your trip tomorrow."
"Well, thank you." Mr. Grouse then noticed that there was some holes in the curtains. "What happened to my curtains?" Leni shushed at him.
Bobby was playing guitar while singing for Lori. "Tonight is Las Posadas. As classic as tostadas. Whatever could be better, than familia all together!" Lori couldn't help but swoon.
Ronnie Anne was in the middle of a face time call with her father, who was looking rather apologetic. "Sorry, I wasn't able to come this Christmas, Mija. Work has been so hectic since that Galactic Federation incident. I promise you I will be there next Christmas."
Ronnie Anne gave a strained smile. "I understand. I'll see you later then. Feliz nochebuena, Dad."
"Feliz nochebuena, Mija." Once the call ended, Ronnie Anne let out a sad sigh. Lincoln placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting smile, which she returned.
Neither of them noticed Hector making a "hmph" sound upon hearing that Arturo couldn't make it this year.
Lana and Adelaide laughed as they watched their pet frogs play with each other. "So, is your mom really a zoologist?" Lana asked.
"Yeah! My mom could give you a tour of the zoo sometime if you want." Adelaide offered.
"Would I!" Lana exclaimed.
Mrs. Poopybutthole was sat on the couch, playing with her son while Rita, Maria and Becca all gushed over him. "He's so cute!" Rita gushed.
"What's his name?" Becca asked.
Mrs. Poopybutthole was about to open her mouth and answer when Frida suddenly took a photo of all of them. "I love reminiscing!" Frida exclaimed before she started crying. Mrs. Poopybutthole rolled her eyes before letting her son down to go play with Lily and Carlitos.
Clyde was swinging a bat at a Christmas themed piñata that Carl had brought to the party. No matter how many times he hit it, it wouldn't open up. Clyde took his blindfold off. "Yeesh, what's this thing made of?"
Carl gave Clyde a smug grin. "Maybe you just don't have enough upper body strength."
Clyde slumped. "Can't say I haven't heard that one before." He gave the blindfold and bat back to Carl.
"Hey Lola! You wanna give this a try?" Carl called out to her.
Lola raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh, sure?" She went over, took the bat and put on the blindfold. She swung at the piñata once before it opened up, dropping all of the candy out of it.
"You did it! You win all the candy!" Carl exclaimed.
Lola took the blindfold off. "Wait, really?"
"You must be pretty tough, Lola." Carl complimented.
Lola gave Carl a suspicious look before shrugging. "Well, can't complain about candy." She then giggled as she dived into the pile of candy.
"Chow time in five, people!" Lynn Sr. called from the kitchen.
Following this, Rosa then left the kitchen, holding a plate of tamales. "I've made tamales if anyone wants to try one."
"Ooh wee, don't mind if I do!" Mr. Poopybutthole said as he took a tamale and took a bite. "Mmm, you sure do make some good tamales, Rosa!"
"Why thank you, Mr. um...Poopybutthole." Rosa thanked him, feeling slightly awkward saying his name out loud.
"Before we sit down, there's something I'd like to say." Mr. Grouse then announced. "I know I haven't always been the friendliest neighbor, and I'm sorry about that. You've all given me so much tonight, now I'd like to give something to you." Mr. Grouse then opened a closet under the stairs, revealing all of the stuff that had landed in his yard over the years.
All of the Loud sisters gasped. "ALL OUR STUFF!" All of them then gathered to get their stuff back.
"PLUNGEY!" Lana exclaimed as she hugged her old plunger.
Mr. Grouse approached Lincoln, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry your sled was broken."
Lincoln shrugged. "That's alright. It's only a sled. I'm just glad we're friends now."
Howard put an arm around Harold. "Oh, Hare-Bear. Isn't this the most wonderful thing you've ever seen?"
Harold put a finger up. "Now, Howie, remember what Dr. Lopez said about-Oh, forget Dr. Lopez! This is the most wonderful thing I've ever seen!" Both of them then began sobbing.
Everyone then heard a knock on the door. "Hmm? Now who could that be?" Mr. Grouse went to open the door while everyone else also went over to see who had come.
Upon opening the door, everyone saw Rick along with Lynn. "Guess who's back everyone!" Rick exclaimed while gesturing to Lynn, who was smiling awkwardly.
"Hey guys." Lynn greeted.
All of the Loud sisters gasped in shock before surrounding Lynn, bombarding her with questions. "Lynn! We've missed you!" Lana sobbed.
"We're so happy you're back!" Leni cried out.
"Why didn't you tell us you were going to compete in an intergalactic softball tournament?" Luna asked.
"Did you win?" Lucy asked, which made everyone else go silent.
Lynn awkwardly grabbed her arm. "I uh, I..." She swallowed her pride. "I lost."
"WHAT?!" The Loud sisters exclaimed.
"So...you spent three months competing in that tournament for nothing?" Lynn Sr. asked. "Oof."
An annoyed Rita jabbed Lynn Sr. with her elbow for that comment before giving Lynn a pleasant smile. "Well what matters is that you're back home and just in time for Christmas eve too. Besides, maybe you'll get another chance some other day. Though next time, please tell us when you're gonna sign up for these kinds of things."
Lynn sighed, trying to hide her bitterness. "Yeah..." She then stepped into the house along with Rick before she noticed Lincoln staring at her.
After finally seeing her again after months of uncertainty, Lincoln couldn't help but feel mixed about seeing her. Part of him felt angry with her, remembering how this all started. Another part of him just felt relieved and happy that she was finally back.
Lynn felt somewhat nervous though she pretended to just act natural. "Hey Linc, how's it-" She was cut off as Lincoln dashed towards her and wrapped his arms around her. "Lincoln?"
"I was so..." He was about to say he was worried about her but he realised that sounded too suspicious so instead he said. "I missed you."
Lynn stared at Lincoln in shock for a moment before smiling warmly and returning the hug. "I missed you too, Stinkoln."
...
The next morning, everyone was downstairs, unwrapping all of their presents. "Hey guys, check out what I managed to catch on camera last night." Luan then showed everyone what appeared to be a photo of Santa, causing everyone besides Lisa to gasp. Luan gave Lisa a smug look. "Looks like Santa was real all along, huh?"
Lisa scoffed. "That is clearly our neighbour, Mr. Grouse, in a Santa costume." She then grabbed the photo from Luan before showing it to Rick. "Grandpa Rick, could you please explain that this isn't Santa and that he is, in fact, not real?"
Rick narrowed his eyes at the photo. "I dunno Lisa. This looks like pretty solid proof to me. Guess Santa is real after all."
"GAH!" Lisa exclaimed before flopping onto the floor. "I give up."
Lynn looked behind the couch to see the present 'Santa' had left behind. She picked it up and read the tag. "It's addressed to Lincoln."
Lynn handed it to Lincoln who opened it to see a brand new sled inside. "Wow! A Fearsome Flyer 1000?" Lincoln smiled before getting changed and going outside to see Mr. Grouse getting ready to leave as he put some suitcases into the boot of his car. "Hey, Mr. Grouse. Thanks for the sled."
"Don't thank me. Thank Santa." Mr. Grouse gave him a wink. "Merry Christmas, Lincoln."
"Merry Christmas, Mr. Grouse!" Lincoln said as he ran over into his backyard. He climbed up the slide as he was about to test out his new sled. Another Christmas had come and gone and Lincoln couldn't be happier with what he got this year. Not only had he gained a new friend, he finally got his sister back. Finally, things could return to normal...he supposed. Things didn't usually go back to normal so easily these days. Not only that but a part of him couldn't help but feel uneasy after hearing about the circumstances of Lynn's return from Rick the previous night. How did she forget everything that happened in the last three months. Did she still think Rick was bad luck? He shook his head. Why was he still worrying. Lynn was back and everything was cool between them once again. Though, now that he thought about it, were they really 'cool' before all of this happened?
Lincoln then remembered that there was a rock in the way. He should probably remove that first before he went sledding.