User blog:Heronimbus/On the Run: A Loud House Story - Chapter 9

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Thursdays on campus at Imperial Grove University were quite packed. Usually, there was some kind of sports game on Fridays, whether it be football, baseball, or perhaps basketball; so the college often set up pep rallies to get the hype going.

Linus had plans to attend the upcoming football game, and he had already bought two tickets for himself and Cici. He didn't quite know what else he could do the night of the game, besides sit in his dorm with anxiety.

No, he thought. ''I won't be having any anxiety. I'll do whatever it takes to get through my last year of college, even if I drop dead trying.''

But why would he want to drop dead trying anyway?

Linus didn't have any classes on Thursdays, so at this point he knew who he wanted to visit.

He sat down in his green truck and drove down about five or six miles away from the university and arrived at a small, brown, wooden house. Upon arriving, he found a short, round woman with curly gray hair and a flower pattern dress smiling out the window.

"Aunt Esther?" Linus called out. "I'm here!"

A moment later, the two of them were sitting down at the black dining room table and having coffee.

"So, how have things been?" Esther asked.

"Eh, y'know," Linus answered. "Last year of college, hanging out with Cici, the occasional drowsiness..."

"Have you been taking your medicine regularly?"

"Yeah, but I dunno... it doesn't seem to be helping anymore."

"...is this about your sister?"

"Yeah... Lori."

"Oh, I know you miss her n' all, but I'm glad you've been able to move on."

Suddenly, Linus got a rapid flashback and saw a familiar van slamming into a nearby car. The vision left him wide-eyed.

"Heh..." he smiled and tried to cover it up. "Yeah."

Somehow, his good aunt Esther knew there was something wrong. She knew it was time to tell him.

She sighed. "Linus... there's something I need to tell you."

"What's that...?"

"See......

your parents and Lori still alive. They didn't die in that crash."

"...what?"

All Linus could do was stare at her.

"Y-yeah... we've been in touch for quite a while. I wanted to wait till you were old enough before I let you know."

"...how come? I wouldn't have been mad if you just told me..."

"I'm so sorry. Please don't take this the wrong way, Linus."

"No, no! I'm not mad at all. Just... shocked."

"Well... I wanted to make sure you were old enough to have a choice."

Linus took off his beanie and looked down at his feet. His full hairstyle was curved with a small tuft at the top, not unlike Lincoln's, and it stuck out at the front as if it was reaching for something ahead of it.

"Now that you're almost done with college," Esther continued, "I think it's about time I let you decide whether you want to stick around here... or return to Royal Woods, and see Lori again..."

"Thanks, Aunt Esther... I'll think about it."

Back at his dorm room, Linus looked back at his photo with Lori and shed a tear. Now he knew she was still out there, and they would meet again some day...

The Loud House was practically empty. Aside from the dog Charles, the cat Cliff, the hamster Geo, and the little bird Walt, no one was around. Who was going to feed them?

Charles's stomach growled as he slumped on the arm of the couch with discontent. Cliff was now chasing mice around the house. Geo was all out of food and water in his cage. Walt was too tired to fly. They were all hungry.

Then Charles noticed something different about the front door.

Lori had left it unlocked when she left with the rest of the sisters.

Charles alerted the other pets, and they seized the opportunity and ran out the door. Searching for good food was their top priority, so hopefully a while of sniffing about would bring them to it.

Charles in particular could smell a grand feast a couple streets away, and he called the others towards it. The smell's source turned out to be a massive purple/black mansion.

As the pets ran up to it, Maggie was also approaching with her light purple hoodie. After ringing the doorbell, she was greeted by Haiku.

"Greetings, Maggie. Are you here for the meeting?"

"Yeah," Maggie answered. "Just make it quick."

Haiku then noticed the Louds' pets coming up to the door. She looked up at Maggie.

"Should I let them in...?"

Charles was whimpering and Cliff was mewling. Walt was pecking his beak on the ground looking for bread crumbs, or anything. Geo just laid down in his ball.

Maggie shrugged. "They look hungry."

So they let them in. Charles kept sniffing as Haiku led Maggie to the dining room.

"Miss Haiku?" A butler called for her attention. "Your friends are waiting for you."

"Thank you, Quinton. Leave us alone to speak amongst ourselves, if you please."

"Understood, madam. Just don't take too long."

Quinton left the dining room through the hallway, leaving Haiku and Maggie to enter the dining room on their own. Charles had tracked down the food and brought the other Loud pets with him.

Haiku sat down at the edge of the table, in a sort of throne chair rimmed with gold, as Carol, Chaz, Sam, Maggie, Margo, Rusty, Rocky, Lyndsey, and Skippy all stared at her.

"Uhh... nice place you got here," Sam complimented her.

"Thank you. The people here treat me like royalty. Of course, they have to because I lost my parents in a fire..."

"What fire?" asked Carol.

"They worked at an oil refinery. The oil tanks combusted and the whole place was destroyed. My butlers have been taking care of me since then."

"Whoa, that's tough." Rocky felt sorry for Haiku, and placed his hand over hers softly. Haiku swiped it from underneath him, glaring at him.

"So, Darcy couldn't come today?" Carol asked Maggie as they all started eating. Charles gazed at the large roast chicken in the middle of the table.

"She says Haiku creeps her out," said Maggie. "She thinks she's gonna steal her brains and make her her mindless slave."

"Ugh... I hate it when people assume things about goths..." Haiku sipped on a red liquid in her glass, and her friends gave her questioning looks.

"...what? It's cherry juice."

They all shrugged and continued eating, as Walt gazed at the sunflower seeds next to the chicken.

Margo was next to speak. "So um... in the incident where something happens to the Louds... what do we do?"

"I don't know," Haiku answered her question. "We don't want to get ourselves in more danger, though, would we?"

"Good point..."

Chaz just gobbled on his chicken with pleasure.

Cliff noticed the tuna on the opposite side of the sunflower seeds, and he looked ready to pounce. No one noticed any of the pets preparing to feast until Rusty saw Geo bouncing up and down in his ball.

"Hey guys...? Those animals..."

Cliff pounced on the tuna as Charles simultaneously leaped for the chicken. Walt soared through the air and snatched up the sunflower seeds one by one. Geo popped through his ball's door and scrambled across the table, picking up scraps wherever he could find them.

"OK, letting these animals in was a bad idea!" Maggie yelled.

"Well, hey!" Rusty chuckled. "At least they have food now!"

Haiku groaned. "BUTLERS! Get these animals out of my mansion!"

Haiku's butlers grabbed the Loud pets and took them outside as swiftly as they had come in.

Carol crossed her arms. "They just wanted food, Haiku! Those are the Loud family's pets! Who knows how long they've beem starving themselves since they went to find Lincoln?"

"How do you know they belong to the Louds?" asked Haiku.

"Uhh, texting with Lori! Duh!"

"How was I supposed to know?"

Sam tried to stop them. "Guys, chill out! They've gotten their food already, they can find somewhere else to eat if they get hungry again."

Maggie just got up and started walking away. "Those Louds should've taken the pets with them at least..."

"You're the one who SUGGESTED we let them in!" Haiku nagged at her.

Maggie turned around and yelled, "You're the one who asked me in the first place!"

"Is this really going to be how this meeting goes?" Chaz asked.

Everyone turned to face him, shocked at his sudden burst of wisdom.

"I-I mean... we all want Lincoln back, right? Lori brought us all together to support her and her sisters in finding him."

Maggie scoffed. "Well, we're not even with them, so..."

"You know what I mean! We need to be able to back up the Louds if they ever get in danger, y'know?"

"We can't help them. Lincoln's disappearance is their problem and their problem alone."

"With all due respect, Haiku," Lyndsey Sweetwater stated, "Chaz is right. If something happens to Lori and her sisters, who's gonna bring Lincoln home? And who's gonna feed their pets?"

"I can't risk more people vanishing from my life. My parents are quite enough."

"What about Lincoln?" Sam questioned. "What about Lucy?"

Haiku pondered for a bit. "I suppose you're right... but if we went to get them out of danger, then we would be in danger too. All your parents would catch on to us, and we could be kidnapped at any moment."

"Are you always gonna see the negative, Haiku?" Carol asked. "As long as we bring Lincoln home where he belongs, everything will be alright in the end."

Haiku glared at her. "If you only see the positive... you will take yourself beyond your limits and get in more trouble. This meeting is over." She slammed a hammer on the table in front of her, formally closing the meeting.

Her friends got up and left the mansion. "Uncool, man," she heard Sam call out.

Haiku sighed as she continued to eat what was left of her meal. Alone.

Elijah's van pulled up to Onofredo's Subs & Sweets after a while of driving. The gang hopped out, with Leni now dressed in a seafoam green mask and Elijah's flak jacket. Her own dress was absent, having been replaced by a dark red T-shirt.

"Let's do it," Leni smirked.

"You got this, Seafoam," Elijah cheered her on. He gave her some bits of gold, which she took gladly.

"Seafoam" propped the restaurant door open with a block of wood, then stepped inside and leaned against the bar, right in front of Onofredo himself.

"Uh, you're not supposed to prop the door like that," Onofredo warned her.

"Do you serve burritos here?" Seafoam asked.

"...yeah, why?"

"Can I get a beef burrito with jalapeños, extra cheese, your hottest sauce, and sour cream?"

"Um, OK... I'll make it as quick as possible. Hey Marco, you got that covered?"

"Yeah, I do! Just give me a moment!" Marco was munching on another Princess Pie, this time fresh from the market square. He put it aside and prepared Seafoam's burrito rapidly.

Seafoam looked behind her, and Elijah, Shelly, Jay, and Norman gave her the signal. The madman Gator gazed at all the items on the menu, looking forward to breaking in and eating it all up.

"So..." Seafoam began. "You seen a white-haired kid around here?"

Onofredo scratched his chin. "Nah. But I did meet some people the other day who looked like they were searching for someone..."

"Searching for someone, huh? I can relate to that."

"Yeah... I mean, they really looked like they'd lost someone recently. Y'know... they might be lookin' for that white-haired kid you're talkin' about."

"Oh, yeah? Can you tell me where they went?"

"That, I'm not so sure about. See, they just came in for some food, and like--"

Marco came in with the burrito Seafoam had ordered. "Here you go, ma'am. Thank goodness I didn't mess up this time..."

Seafoam placed her gold down in front of Onofredo, who sighed. "You need American dollars, ma'am. We don't take gold."

"Whaddya mean, you don't take gold?" Seafoam yelled with confusion. "It's... it's freakin' gold!"

Onofredo stayed firm. "Dollars! Only dollars!"

"Dude, have a heart. I'm starvin' here. Just take this gold and let me eat this hot, juicy burrito before it starts congealing. Because once the congealing starts...? Now THAT'S when things start to get ugly."

The man wouldn't budge. "American. Dollars."

Shelly and Jay tried to decide what Seafoam should do first, now that they felt Onofredo was close to making her mad.

"Punch," said Jay.

"Kick," said Shelly.

"No, punch."

Seafoam tried to stay calm in her confrontation. "How about a compromise?"

Jay and Shelly continued their debate.

"Punch, then kick?" asked Jay.

"No, kick then punch," Shelly answered. "And let's not rule out the bread roll down the throat..."

"Or a bread roll up the--"

Seafoam continued just as Jay was about to finish his sentence. "I don't have any American dollars, but guess what I do have?"

Onofredo tried to figure it out. "You have... a mask."

"Yep."

He saw a switchblade in Seafoam's utility belt. "And... a switchblade."

"Yep."

"Hmm.... this is a robbery?"

"Yep!" Elijah and his friends burst in upon the sound of the phrase.

Onofredo stared with shock. The Stoneface Stealers themselves were in his restaurant.

Marco swiftly slung the burrito towards them.

"Incoming!" Seafoam shouted as the burrito landed on Norman's face.

"Aggghhh! It's all congealed!" Norman yelled with disgust.

"You know what that means, of course..." Seafoam glared at Onofredo. "Things are about to get ugly." She punched him across the face.

"HA! She punched first!" Jay taunted Shelly.

"Just shut up and fight!" she said, clearly annoyed by his mockery.

Marco kept throwing old glass containers of sauces and veggies at the gang to stop them, but they managed to dodge them all or, in some cases, block them with plates.

Finally, Elijah grabbed Onofredo by the collar of his shirt. "I'm only gonna ask you once... Where is Lincoln?"

"I don't know! I don't know! All I know is that a bunch of girls came in and bought some subs! But I think I saw them go to the west when they left..."

"A bunch of girls?" Elijah turned to Jay. "You think that's where that girl came from?"

"Maybe," he answered. "I know they lied about trying to find the white-haired kid to bring him to a birthday party. There was a brown-haired boy with 'em, too."

"...yep, they're lookin' for him alright." He turned back to Onofredo. "If you wanna survive, you gotta give us all the subs and sweets we want from you... and burritos."

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it!" Onofredo scrambled to grab the supplies as Elijah's gang sat down at the bar, planning their next move.