GangLouds, Chapter 2: Loud-mouthed punks

>It was the month of January, 2027.
>A couple of months after the successful deal of the Loud siblings, the troublesome duo could be seen walking along the streets of their home town, Royal Woods.


>"I'm still not convinced by this, Lynn."
>"I'm telling you, Linc! Protection racket is how you assert yourself a real turf! You 'protect' local commerces from possible outsider punks, and they reward you with a percentage of their income! Simple as that" was explaining the insouciant sister to her partner in crime
>"We can't just barge anywhere in and ask for money. At best, we'd just look like volunteers collecting for a non-profit organization."
>"It'll be okaaay, you bundle of nerves! We gotta have this in the genes! Our Italians ancestors have been doing this for decades, after all."
>"For the last time, Lynn, our ancestors were not Italians! They we-"
>"French and Swedes, I know! ... It sucks, though."
>"About what?"
>"Being Swedish! You can't brag about it! All you can think of when you mention Sweden is... Liberalism, crown-flowers and Disco music.
>"Lynn..."
>"And don't even get me started on the French. How the heck do you want to intimidate anyone with that? 'Hey, you! Put the money in the baguette, or else I'll surrender!'
>"Now you're just being stupid."
>"Whatever you say, Linc."
>"Anyway. So... Who is our target?"
>"Some old friend."
>"What do you me- Oh... Oh, no..."

>As they walked around the corner, Lincoln noticed Flip's Food&Fuel's store.
>He momently stopped to hoping for Lynn not to head for the gas station.
>Unfortunately for him, his doubts were confirmed.

>"Lynn, please tell me you're not planning to-"
>"Oh, I am! After years of getting scammed by that old scumbag, it's time to get our money back!"
>"Fuck no. Let's find someone else." protested Lincoln as he grabbed his sister's wrist.

>However instead of blocking Lynn in her advance, he found himself dragged along with her.
>"Fuck yes, we ARE totally going to racket him!" ignored Lynn as she kelp walking to the gas station with a confident step

>It was now Lynn who was grabbing Lincoln's wrist to make sure he wouldn't run away.
>Lincoln whined and attempted to dissuade his sister as much as he could before they reached the front door, in vain.
>They were now both standing in front of the Glass door. However, the sign on the door was flipped showing the "closed" side
>Yet, Flip was inside talking with a customer.
>The customer was a well-dressed, tall and slender young man. His classy suit was oddly rupturing with the jewfro he was sporting.
>They observed the exchange between the two men. Flip was clearly intimidated by the other man.
>And although they couldn't clearly hear the conversation, nervousness could be noted in the old man's voice.
>They eventually saw the shop-keeper heading to the cash register to pull out a large sum of money, before giving it to the well-suited man

>"That motherfucker..." mumbled an outraged Lynn, hands on the glass wall
>"Looks like the spot's already taken." commented her brother "Huh. Extortion practised in Royal Woods. Who would've known."

>They saw the stranger place the money in the inner pocket of his vest before heading out of the store.
>He however stopped outside the entry doors by the two Louds who were unknowingly blocking the way out of the store

>"Get outta my ways, punks!" groaned the young man to the siblings as he bumped his way out
>Sometimes, you only needed a sentence to fully know a man. And this dude's accent, it was screaming arrogance.
>A rich daddy's boy, an annoying tone of confidence in his voice. A vernacular that Lynn learned to passionately hate in her high-school years, after receiving advances from the entire football team

>"Hey, lanky fuck!" called out Lynn
>This caused the stranger to stop. He turned around with disbelief in his face. And walked up to Lynn who was standing as firm as a pike
>"He looks quite self-assured for someone who doesn't look really muscular" thought Lincoln to himself
>But then, Lynn with her 5.3 feet didn't look anywhere as dangerous as she actually was. Appearances can be deceiving, and Lincoln knew this better than anyone.

>"What did you just call me, you fucking schmoe?" asked the slander guy, approaching his face to Lynn's as a form of intimidation.
>"You apologize to people when you bump them, douchebag." responded Lynn, clearly unimpressed by her speaker

>A feeling of worry engulfed Lincoln as he assisted at the scene. There was no way this would end well.
>He tried to persuade himself that the stranger couldn't be of any threat.
>At best, he was just a brat with a sur-dimensional ego. At worst, he was a rich boy with a sur-dimensional ego, and a lawyer as a father.

>"You have a problem, smurfette?" taunted Flip's former 'customer'
>"Oh I can taunt your physic too. Have you even seen your nose?"
>the foe's jaw dropped against Lynn's provocation.
>He indeed had a large nose, and that insult apparently hit him close to home.

>"The fuck you just said?"
>"You heard what I said, Pinocchio! I'm gonna hit your nose so hard you'll need to carry it with a wheelbarrow!"

>It was now Lincoln's turn to drop his jaw. Not even two minutes ago, a complete winter calm was ruling over the place.
>Right now, a punch-out was about to start

>"... W-what?" stuttered Lynn's opponent in dismay, too shocked to even show anger, anymore
>"Hell yeah, I'm gonna send my fists right through your face! Mark my word, if I ever miss you, you'll catch a cold just with the air-stream!"

>Oh that was it. The suited man, suddenly grabbed Lynn's wrist, but before he could do anything next, Lynn caught his arm and twisted it to the point the antagonist had to throw himself to the ground in pain, to prevent his limb from breaking.
>Seeing her opponent on the ground, Lynn seized the occasion to throw a couple of punches over the man's face.
>She eventually stood up, and proceeded to arrange her hair that got messed up during the clash.
>The young gentleman was still on all four, rubbing his nose with the rear of his fist to see how bad his new nosebleed was.
>And just as Lincoln thought she was done, he saw Lynn's face suddenly turn dark, as she flipped around to face her victim.

>"And THAT'S for calling me Smurfette, you dick!" yelled Lynn as she gave an enormous kick straight into the poor man's ribcage, sending him back to the ground
>"Lynn, what the hell!" screamed Lincoln

>At the same moment, some ruffle could be heard inside of the store.
>It was Flip, running his way outside of his shop.
>"Stop, Stop! Are ya crazy, young Lady?" panicked Flip when he opened the door
>The old man's jaw was the third to drop today, when he recognized who that "young lady" was: Lynn Loud Jr.

>"Sorry, Flip. I wasn't here to cause trouble." apologized Lynn, feigning an innocent smile, getting down on the wounded guy
>Lynn dug through the man's pocket, pulled out the wad of cash and gave half of it into Flip's hands
>"I just don't like when my favourite shop-keeper gets bullied by schmucks." cheered Lynn "I'll keep those as a payment for my efficient services!"
>"Are ya nuts? Do you even know who this man is?" whined an unnerved Flip
>"No idea. And I couldn't care less." dropped Lynn
>"Of course ya don't! Otherwise you wouldn't have hit him! He's Joshua Silverman!"
>"Oh, really?" asked Lynn in total indifference "Nice to meet you, Josh." she said to the man on the ground

>The so-called Josh couldn't do anything but writhe in agony, coughing every once in a while.
>"You poor girl really don' get it, do ya? He's the nephew of-"
>"Yeah, that's really interesting and all, but we're busy people, Flip. We have to leave. We'll come another time, though! Linc, We're leaving?" asked the sports, visibly unconcerned by Lincoln's stupefaction

>By the time Lincoln was trying to come up with a rational sentence, his sister had already left the parking lot.
>He gave a quick glance to Flip, who was finally daring walking out of his store to check on the young lad, still twisting in pain on the parking floor.
>Lincoln then proceeded to run up and catch back his sister...
>She was busy counting the little amount of cash she just earned


>"520, 570, 620, 670, 680! Here you go!" merrily declared Lynn as she handed half the revenue to her brother
>"Lynn..."
>So, ho do you think it went?" she proudly asked
>"Lynn..."
>"I told you, Linc. It's all about 'protecting your local community'."
>"Are you serious?" responded Lincoln, scandalized
>"What's the problem?"
>"WHAT's the problem? THAT's the problem! You just caused a shitstorm and can't even see what's wrong in it!"
>"Well, yeah. Are we gangsters or not?"
>"There's being gangster, and being a complete fucking idiot, Lynn! This guy could have simply been a friend of Flip!"
>"Now it's your turn to be silly, Linc. Flip has no friends. That dickhead I threw on the ground clearly was a mobster."
>"And that's even worse! That means we just assaulted a rival organization we know nothing about! And what if Flip calls the police?"
>"... He wouldn't do that, would he?" asked Lynn, after meditating a couple of seconds
>"Why wouldn't he? He got all the reasons in the world! You just assaulted and beat the crap out of a stranger right outside of his store before going through his pockets!"
>"Ah, dude. It would completely suck if he did." figured out the careless girl
>"Tell me about it..."
>"... So what do we do now, should we go back and apologize?"
>"No. I don't want you anywhere near Flip's mart, anymore. We'll just call Luna. I need someone with more than half a braincell to discuss with about it."


>An hour later, Lynn and Lincoln were waiting in the kitchen of an almost empty house. Lincoln was slumped over the coffee table, while Lynn was sipping on a mug, resting over the counter top.
>After their first score, the 3 siblings decided to invest their earnings on a home, to use as a crib for their activities, nearby the 13 kilometre road.
>The good thing with Detroit is that you can buy a house for the price of a V.C.R. as long as you don't mind having a crack den at the end of the block.
>And for the aspiring criminals, it was a win-win situation.
>The house wasn't in relatively good shape, but the Louds didn't have high standard anyways.
>Well, there still was an issue with the missing furniture, but it could be solved easily, with just a trip to Ikæ.
>The two of them were lost in their thoughts, imagining the worst scenarios that could happen after the latest "accident".
>Both suddenly woke up as they heard the entry door open, signalling Luna's arrival.
>They barged in the entry door, Lynn immediately closing the door behind her sister, Lincoln making sure through the window if she wasn't being followed, out of an irrational paranoia.

>"Alright," said out an annoyed Luna as she entered the living room "Either you're being over-dramatic, or fucked up big time. What have you done?"
>"Lynn slapped the shit out of someone in front of Flip's mart." bluntly declared Lincoln

>Luna waited a couple of more seconds before reacting, genuinely expecting something worse.
>To her, it didn't seem that unusual for Lynn to beat someone to a pulp. The jock got in custody more than once in the past few years for such petty crimes.

>"...That's it?" she asked, bewildered by her siblings overreaction.
>"If only... She also robbed him." sighed Lincoln
>"We actually were planning to racket Flip..." admitted Lynn
>"YOU were planning to." precised Lincoln with spite in his voice
>"... This guy provoked us before we entered the mart. We got in a fight... I won." continued Lynn, with a hint of shame mixed with pride in her last sentence
>"... Aaand?"

>Seeing Lynn's refusal to admit the deep end of the plot, Lincoln decided to do the job for her:

>"There might be, and I emphasize on the "MIGHT BE" that this dude was a mobster, working for a another gang, and that Flip's commerce was already taken!"
>"... Which means you just tried to fish on someone else's territory and slapped some gang's bag-man to the ground." concluded Luna
>"And this is why I called you." confirmed Lincoln

>Luna silently nodded in acknowledgement, as she slowly pulled a chair to sit on.
>She kept meditating quietly for another span of minutes before eventually giving her analyze:

>"This means we have two possible outcomes: 1. That gentleman was legit, might sue us, and Flip knows where we live. 2. We may have just declared a war against a rival organization."
>"So how do we make things unfuck themselves?" asked Lynn
>"Well, most importantly: The Gang feud possibility. We have to get ready."
>"Well, so far, there's only the 3 of us. And Lucy. That's a pretty good army, if you ask me." stated Lincoln in derision
>"Yeah... We're going to need more than that, right?." commented Lynn
>"Have you figured this out on your own or did someone help you?" cynically responded the white-hair boy to the tomboy
>"What about your crackhead of a friend?" asked Luna
>"Chandler? He's not my friend." denied Lincoln
>"I don't want to see that guy, again! He smells like sewage" sighed Lynn
>"YOU are not in position to complain, sis! It's because of your poor reasoning that we're here in the first place." called back Luna to her little sister
>"Right, that makes us 5." pointed out Lincoln "Jesus Christ, Napoleon better watch his steps!"
>"We're going to need friends." reckoned Luna

>Luna reached for her bag that was lying down the foot of her chair and pulled out a map of the city that she unfolded over the table.
>"Here." shown Luna "This is Royal Woods. This is Mom&Dad's house, this is our crib, and right here is the 13 kilometer road."
>The young duo was carefully listening to every information the eldest sister was giving out.

>"Now, if I assume we're planning on controlling this part of Royal Woods," continued Luna as she encircled an area whose centre was their current hide-out "this means we'll have a couple of neighbours, and everything to gain by making friends with them."
>"Go on..."
>"On the East, this is the Damned MC's turf. I'm mainly on their good side, so I'm gonna try and make things work out."
>This street there, the 13 kilometre road. Everything south of it, it's only-"
>"Black ghettoes?" asked Lynn
>"... I guess you can say that: Street-gangs, a lot of them. They're small and divided, but unpredictable. We can afford having a couple of them on our good list. And that block on the south-East, that's little Assyria."
>"I know the place," pointed out Lincoln "A middle-eastern ghetto. I sell weed for them in the university district every now and then."
>"Then I guess you'll have to talk them out. We need as many buddies as we can, Lincoln. The wider our social circle, the less people will dare mess with us."
>"We'll try not to piss them off. What about the others?" asked Lincoln
>"On the West of Royal Woods, there is a Jewish mob. and further East, by the marinas, These are the Italians..."
>"We should definitely team up with the Jews!" suddenly exclaimed Lynn out of the blue
>"... What's on your mind, sis?" asked Luna, not following her excitement
>"Well, we could fit in easily! I mean, since we got some family, after all. They shou- What?"

>An awkward silence took place around the table. Both Luna and Lincoln were looking at the excited jock in confusion without really knowing what to say.

>"Lynn. We're Catholics." dropped Lincoln
>"What?"
>"We don't have any Jews in our family, sis." confirmed Luna
>"Where did you even got the idea we were Jews?" asked Lincoln, glowering dubiously at his sister
>"Well, with our dad's nose, I thought..."
>"Ah, for FUCK'S SAKE, Lynn!"

>Lynn lowered her head, puzzled by the news. As someone would be when their conviction are just proven wrong.
>"You sure we don't have any Jewish ancestry?"
>"Lynn, believe me." insisted Lincoln "I'm better placed than anyone else in this family to confirm you that we're NOT Jewish."

>Lynn, still perplexed, gave a look at her brother trying to understand what he meant by his last sentence.
>Lincoln was staring back at her with a bored expression, that was more and more justified as seconds went by without Lynn getting the hint.

>"What do you mean yo- OOOOH, right! Hehe... Oh yeah, that's right. I remember, now." chuckled Lynn awkwardly
>"Please, Lynn. Don't make this any more weird."
>"RIIIiiiiight!" cut in Luna, visibly discomforted by the path this discussion was taking "So I'm going to need you guys to do some neighbourhood awareness here. Make yourself some friends."
>"Right, we'll take care of this!" confidently said Lynn
>"What about Flip, though? What if he speaks against us, to either the gang or the authorities?" asked Lincoln

>Luna twitched her head upwards. She mumbled something in her breath, weighting the pros and cons of her plan, before slowly raising a finger

>"I MAY have an idea." she inconclusively stated
>"Which is?"
>"If we don't do anything, he may call the cops and we're screwed."
>"So should we threaten him?" asked Lynn
>"If we threaten him, he gets pissed scared, he calls the cops, and we're even more screwed." rejected Luna
>"So what's your suggestion?"
>"Remember that time when Lola blackmailed us into becoming her pets because she knew about our dirty laundry?"
>"Yeah?"
>"That's what we need. Flip has everything to gain by calling us out because we have nothing on him."
>"Flip is definitely not a saint. There must be something on him we can use to our advantage." agreed Lincoln
>"Do you know any dirty secret about Flip?" asked Lynn to Luna
>"I know someone who does... But I'm not sure if it's a good idea to involve them in this."
>"And who it is?"

>Luna looked at her brother, and spelt the concerned's name with mute lips.
>As they deciphered the name, Lynn threw her head backwards as she dropped a swearword while Licoln placed his elbows on the table, resting his head over his fists

>"Aaaaah, fuck. Not her." sighed the duo in unison
>"I'm not sure we have a choice, dudes. We can't take our chance, here."

>Lynn silently stared at ceiling while Lincoln was facing the ground.
>Luna had a point, they knew it. But they weren't eager to do this.
>Accepting his fate, Lincoln slowly pulled out his cellphone, and dialled a number
>He could feel his sisters focussed on him.

>"Lincoln?" asked a voice on the other side of the line
>"Hey, Lola. How are you doing?"

--- ---

>Although she kept a taste in fashion and her appearance, it's been ages since Lola grew out of her 'princess pageant' phase.
>However, some habits die hard, and even if she never betrayed her siblings again, Lola kept tracing her way in life by exploiting embarrassing facts on people and blackmailing them.
>Lincoln and his other sisters knew well about her knowledge on people's dirty laundry, but asking her to share information was rarely worth it, as Lola could set the terms of the contract as she wished.
>And the days where she would request them to become a maid or a butler for her tea parties were far gone. She would now ask for hard cash, astronomic amounts of it just for a gossip.
>But Lincoln and Lynn were pinned against a wall. Fortunately, this time, maybe they'll have enough to satisfy their little sister's greed.

>Lincoln invited Lola to come over the new hide-out, so he could explain her the details.
>After spending a good 10 minutes criticizing the lack of decoration, Lola finally brought herself to listen her brother's request.

>"... And this is how we need your help." said Lincoln after explaining the whole story to his little sister
>Lola, sitting on a chair of the kitchen first said nothing, glaring at her brother and smiling at his stressed-up look:
>A desperate sibling is an exploitable sibling.
>"And what's in for me?" with this air of superiority she always had

>The three older Louds looked at each other before looking back at Lola
>"...Cash money?" proposed Luna
>"Then it's a deal!" cheered the teenager
>"Well, that was easy." shrugged Lynn

--- ---

>Flip has his eyes fixed on a magazine when he heard the door of his mart open and saw four of the Louds enter his shop.
>Lincoln stayed close to the doors, flipping the door-sign to 'closed', while Lynn casually browsed the price of goods on a shelf.
>Luna and Lola walked straight up to the counter.

>"'Afternoon, Flip!" Called Lynn, waving her baseball bat at the old merchant
>"Oh, no. I ain't dealing with you two anymore. Loud Family out of mah store!"
>"Cool, Flip. Where's the hurry?" asked the rocker chick with a relaxed smile that was obviously hiding more vicious intents
>"I saw you beat one of mah customers like a lunatic! Step right out or I'll call the police!" threatened Flip, placing his hand on the telephone handset of his counter
>"Not so fast, you old rag..." grinned Lola as she put a hand over Flip's one, preventing him from picking up the phone
>"Let's be honest here, he wasn't an actual costumer was he?" told Luna as she rested her arms on the counter
>"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" rejected Flip, already sweating bullets.
>"How much does he ask a month? 1 grand, maybe 2?" insisted Luna
>"W-what do you freaks want, for the love of God!"
>"I don't know" shrugged Lola, "1 grand... Maybe 2?"
>"Alright, where's your prankster sister, where the camera? It's not funny anymore!" yelled Flip inside of his store as he looked around, hoping for a set crew to pop out

>Lincoln, as much as we wanted to enjoy the scene, had to make sure no one was getting near the store.
>He span his finger at his sisters to tell them to hurry up.

>"Alright, let's make this clear. We're the new ones in charge, here, Flip." declared Lola with an imposing tone
>"Just wait til the police comes in!" muttered Flip, trying to pull Lola's hand away so he could pick up his phone
>"I wouldn't if I were you, old man. If you start being talkative with the authorities... So could I."
>"And what would you tell them about me?" laughed Flip, hoping to mask his stress with confidence
>"I don't know... Maybe I could mention Theresa Jimenez or Maria De Silva... You know, a couple of clandestine teenagers you maaaaaay have momently hid from the police so they could pass the Canadian border in exchange of... favours?"
>"W-What?" wheezed the merchant "H-how you do you-"
>"Shh, shh shhhh" whispered Lola, placing her fingers over the merchant's lips. "Your secret is in good hands; but we'll need you to cooperate. Have I made myself clear?"
>The old merchant couldn't even move a muscle. His life flashed before his eyes. He knew he would regret doing this one day. But he was over 60, single for so long, and they were so... available.
>Eventually, Flip nervously nodded, agreeing the sisters' terms.

>"Good! We'll start collecting funds by next month." exclamed Lola, with a devious smile
>"B-But what do I-I tell them next time they come-'
>"You tell them that we took the seat."
>"But they're still gonna want their money b-"
>Well, that's YOUR problem, big boy. Until then..."

>As in her pageant practice days, Lola majestically flipped around and headed to the exit in a solemn walk.
>Much to the amusement of her sisters.
>After a chuckle, Luna leaned atop the counter, grabbing Flip's collar to pull his ear down to her mouth

>"You ever wonder what a guitar sounds like when it's shoved so far up your bum, you're tasting the music in the back of yer throat?"
>Flip eyes widened at the hearing of this sentence. Were they the same girls who as kids, occasionally came by his store to buy smoothies or candy bars?
>"Stick'it in yer head, dude:", ensued Luna "I've once managed to cause 5 grands of damage in a Hotel Room on me own with nothing else but an Air-Guitar. Imagine what I can do here, today, with an actual one, plus some company."

>She winked at the shop-keeper before heading to the exit as well, making Lynn the last Loud inside the shop.
>The jock came to the counter with a motorsports magazine and a $5 bill.
>The mag was $6,95.
>"Keep the change!" cheered Lynn, right before walking away with her new purchase

>Flip silently watched the last sister walk out of his store, too afraid to make a move.
>Once they were out of sigh through the glass walls of his mart, he collapsed on his counter.
>The sign on the door was still flipped on 'Closed', but he was okay with it.
>He felt like taking a day-off, today.

>In the parking lot, the 4 Louds were walking back to their car, Lynn head buried in her new magazine.
>"Wait," she suddenly said pulling out her head out of her reading "Weren't we supposed to ask informations about the competition?"
>"Ah, Shit! I knew we forgot something!" cursed Lincoln
>"What do we do. We head back inside and ask him about it?"
>"Nah, it'll just make us look like idiots. We'll find out soon enough, anyway."

--- ---

>Definitely, this day was about nothing else but heading back and forth from the crib to Flip's gas station.
>After driving Lola to their parents' home and made her promise she wouldn't share this 'experience' to anyone else, Lincoln, Lynn and Luna went back to their own safehouse, to discuss their future moves.
>Since it was the only room with furnitures and a coffee brewer, they were once again gathered in the kitchen.
>Lincoln was pacing the room, brainstorming the situation to a bored Lynn, and an already drunk Luna sipping on a cup of coffee, mostly containing alcohol if anything else

>"So..." started Lincoln, "Now, we're sure Flip will keep it shut, our main objective is now to build ourselves a name, and all that stuff."
>"Uh-uh..." lazily nodded Lynn. Meanwhile, Luna was pouring more liquor into her 'coffee'
>"Since I'm the one with rhetorical skills, I shall be the one to make contact with our soon-to-become friends!" proudly advanced Lincoln, taking a sip of coffee to celebrate his flawless plan
>"And I shall accompany you!" added up Lynn

>This statement of Lynn's made Lincoln choke on his drink.
>"Uh, I appreciate, Lynn. But I don't think you'll need to-"
>"Of course, I should! You're like what, 150 lbs, soaking wet! Because of lack thereof, you need muscles by your side, too!"
>"I don't need muscles, Lynn! I can sort myself out!"
>"Bullshit, you couldn't even lift me up if you tried!"
>"I could!"
>"Oh yeah?"

*One failed lift-attempt later*

>"Alright, fine. You'll accompany me while I do the chit-chat. But I, and only I do the talking, alright?"
>"Fine by me." acquiesced Lynn, still containing her laughter from her brother's embarrassment
>All right. Who do we visit first?" asked Lincoln as he sat around the table
>"Assyrians, Lebanese, Italians, Jews, Black street-gang n°x..." leisurely listed Luna "It's your move, bro."
>"Who should we start with?" wondered Lincoln

>Lincoln started to rub his chin as he concentrated on this decision.
>The more choices you have, the harder it is to choose, and siding with any of them could block the door to other relationships.
>Lincoln first tried to ignore Lynn's over-excited smile that he could notice from the corner of his eye.
>He knew she was trying to gain his attention and make him ask her opinion, but he already knew what was she about to suggest.
>He attempted to remain focussed, but this stare. Dear God, this stare! It was impossible to think in those conditions!

>"FINE!" gave up Lincoln "We'll see the jewish mob, first!"
>"YES!!!" shouted Lynn, as if her favourite team scored
>"Now, I have absolutely no idea how to contact them."
>"From what I've heard, they hide their monkey business behind a legitimate company" commented Luna, "Something about real-estate, if I recall correctly."
>"Real-estate, huh? Hey, Lori's in the real-estate business too, now! She might know them!" exclaimed Lynn
>"Well. Now, we know who are we seeing, tomorrow." concluded Lincoln, with a satisfied smile

--- ---

>"Miss Loud, a certain Lincoln pretending to be your brother requests to see you" said a voice through the intercom
>"Really? Let him in!" answered the young businesswoman

>With the years going by, Lori grew up to become the CEO of a small, local real-estate agency.
>It was a merciless business to work in. Investing in poor neighbourhoods was the equivalent of a Russian Roulette to the company, and you had to fight to get a grasp on the 'fine' quarters.
>Concurrence, Urban renewal projects, mortgages, foreclosures...
>no matter how hard they tried, Lori always seemed to speak in a foreign language whenever she talked about her job.

>Lincoln was now sitting in front of her, in her office, located near Southern Royal Woods.
>She looked so professional in this environment, in a business suit, with her determined and stern attitude.
>It quite contrasted with his own outfit, consisting of a loose hoodie and a beanie hat, giving him the look of a stoner if anything.

>"So, Lincoln. How do you like this house I've found you?"
>"That was an awesome deal, Lori! Thanks again for that!"
>"Family first, Linc. Anything for my little brother. Anyway, what can I do for you this time?"
>"Well, I wanted to ask you; do you know many other real-estate agencies operating around town?"
>"How come" asked Lori, cocking an eyebrow "my brother isn't satisfied with my own services?"
>"No, no, no! Not that at all!" refuted an intimidated Lincoln, "I'm just looking for a guy in particular, I know he's an executive in the business but I can't remember his name!"
>"Don't worry, bro. I'm just messing with you. But yeah, there are a lot of agencies working in and around Detroit. If this city was renowned for its flourishing landholding business, we'd know it."
>Lori sighed before sinking into her desk chair.
>"Companies come and go, the average lifespan is 5 years. The old-timers hold the monopoly of the fine places in Royal Woods. And they have no intent to leave any room for the newcomers who instead have to operate in the god-forsaken ghettoes south of 8 mile."
>After venting for a bit, she gazed back at Lincoln who was looking at her with discomfort, which made her feel inconvenienced as well. Lincoln didn't come her to listen her whining
>"It's basically a giant game of Monopoly, when you think of it." she eventually joked out, to lighten the mood, "So who were looking for?"
>Lincoln tried to search in his memories the least piece of information. It was quite a delicate thing to explain to his sister he actually wanted to make an arrangement with a Godfather of Detroit's mafia, only pretending to work in the same field as hers.
>"Uuh, he was a man, rather old..."
>"Hmm... Maybe McGowan?" suggested Lori
>"Nah, doesn't sound jewish enough" refuted Lincoln, although keeping the end of the sentence himself, "I think he was an old-timer."
>"Wagner? Jefferson? Williams? Cook?" kept brainstorming Lori
>"Oh, and he operated on Western Royal Woods!"
>"Hmm, maybe Silverman? He owns most of the properties for sale in the area."

>Silverman... That sounds jewish enough.
>"Yeah, I think that's the one!" answered Lincoln, satisfied

>Lori looked at her brother with a dubious glare.
>"Yeah, I have his coordinates, here." she said as she handed him the concerned's business card
>"I owe you big one, Lori!" thanked the younger brother as he reached for the card, but his fingers closed on void as Lori switfly withdrawn the card from him. Lincoln stretched his arm even more, but Lori dodged her brother's hand once more.
>"Okay, what gives?" asked an annoyed Lincoln, not realizing the icy look on his sister's face
>"What do you exactly plan to do with this guy, Lincoln?" bluntly asked Lori
>Lincoln's heart skipped a bit, did she know something about her concurrent's underground business?

>"...Something's wrong?" feigning innocent curiosity
>Lori let out a sigh
>"This guy has a bad reputation, Linc. He's not a joker."
>"Oh... Really?"
>"Couple of known event of loan-sharking. Don't let him fool you, Lincoln, whatever you plan to do with this guy. He's a scammer." told the businesswoman as she finally let her brother take the card out of her hand.
>"...I'll watch my back, sis. Promise." replied Lincoln with a grateful smile

>Few minutes later, Lincoln was in the parking lot, setting a three-way calling on his phone
>"What's up, Linc!" eagerly asked the athlete as soon as she answered the call
>"Verdict, bro?" asked the rocker
>"Got the dude's name&address, a certain Silverman!"
>"Awesome! when should we meet him!" said the younger sister
>"I'm going to contact him after this call. Hopefully, soon enough" replied Lincoln, "I'll knock at you when we'll get an appointment, Lynn."
>"Alright, dudes. I'm in the middle of something so I can't hang out for long. Good luck with that, and please: Don't fuck this up! We don't want no trouble with these guys!" warned Luna before closing the call, letting only Lynn and Lincoln left in the discussion.
>"Hey, Linc."
>"What's up?"
>"Doesn't 'Silverman' remind you anything? I think I already heard the name somewhere..."
>"Doesn't ring a bell, nope."
>"Huh, Nevermind. It might be only me, then. Anyway, Cya Linc!"

>Lincoln heard his second sister shut her cellphone, letting place to a latent audible signal warning that the conference call had ended.
>"Don't Fuck This Up!"
>Luna's words kept replaying in Lincoln's mind. Of course he'd make sure everything goes smoothly with one of the most powerful man in Michigan.
>But he couldn't help but have a bad feeling heading to this rendez-vous with Lynn.

-----

"You get it, Luce. The Cures! Now THAT was a good band."
>Lucy had stopped listening to Luna's rambling minutes ago. It was always the same discussion anyways: debating about bands whose times were half a century ago.
>Luna however, wouldn't even notice she was talking to no one but herself. The bong she was holding in her left hand had something to do in it.
>In fact, it's been now years that Lucy hasn't held a proper conversation with a sober Luna. When it wouldn't be alcohol, it was pot or something even more extreme. But Lucy learned to deal with the lifestyle of her older sister.

>"But hen this dick'ead came by and you know wha' he said? You know wha' he said, Luce? Sid Delicious was a hack! Can you believe it? This prick who kno's nothing about punk comes by, an pretends he's some sort of absolute truth-holdah!"
>"That's terrible." monotonously commented Lucy, focussing her attention on the novel she was reading
>"Das why I stopped hanging around with punks, sis. Everyone you kept meeting were fucking self-assumed political expert shitwits telling me how ye waeren't "a real punk" if ye didn't think "x was right and y was wrong"!
>"How tragic."
>"You know it... Sid would be backflipping in his grave if his ashes didn't got snorted by his bandmates thinking it was cocaine."
>"What a way to go."
>"I know, sis. Punk is dead, and it went out with a bang."

>Before Luna could resume her one-way debate on musical tastes, her phone started ringing.
>"Luna Loud on the phone." she lazily announced
>"Luna? It's Lynn!" called the sports with a melodious voice to hide the death rattles of her brother in the background
>"Aeverything's roite, mate?"
>"Well. It's funny now you say it, because we're currently crashed down the ditch of a road."
>"What?!"
>"Long story short, we screwed up! So we bailed out and goons started chasing us. I think we lost them but the bike's completely out of shape... And I think Lincoln's leg broken."
>"We're coming for you, sis! Just give me a location!"
>"We were driving up Blossomfields, by the natural park. Right before getting through Lakeforests. There are motorbike scraps all across the place when you'll pass by, you can't miss it."
>"Okay, Hang in there little dudes! We're on our way!"
>"Well, Lincoln's not going anywhere with that leg..."
>Luna shut her phone before hearing Lynn's statement.

>"Oh, shit." flatly cursed Luna, before standing up and fetching her coat
>"What's happening?" asked Lucy, who finally dared pulling her attention off her book, intrigued by her sister's turmoil
>"Lincoln and Lynn. They're having troubles, you're coming with me!"
>"But I don't know how to fight." sighed Lucy
>"Luce, I'm going to tell you something," calmly said Luna, putting a hand on the goth's shoulder "In this world, it's all about showing you have a dick, but not using it."
>"Your metaphors are arguable, Luna."
>"As long as you get the message, now grab the dick on the dinner table! We need to join them!"
>"...What?"
>"I meant the gun, dammit!"

---

>"I mean, sure. We almost got shot and the bike's completely destroyed. But still, we are super lucky the snow absorbed our fall!" exclaimed Lynn as she dug herself out of the pile of snow to join her brother.
>"Speak for yourself! It hurts horribly!"
>"Well, tell yourself that without the snow. It would have been worse."
>"I'm cold, Lynn..." whined the white-haired boy, placing his hand on his sister's shoulder
>"Yeah, that's because you got snow in your neck, bro."
>"My leg. My left leg, I think it's broken!"
>"Wait a sec, let me se- Oh..." cringed Lynn as she noticed her brother's injury
>"What's wrong?"
>"Well. To make it short, your kneecap is kind of doing bad, right now. I think it's disjointed."
>"What? oh, Christ. You got to take me to a hospital!"
>"No way, Linc!"
>"What do you mean, 'no way!'? I'm half buried in snow, with a broken leg in the middle of a forest and our vehicle's in scraps!"
>"Dude, you forgot the JEWS are after us! Getting in a hospital when chased by the jewish mob would be like a crocodile walking in a leather store!"
>"Lynn. My neck is full of snow and my knee is twisted sideways. I CAN'T deal with your anti-Semitic stereotypes right now!"
>"It's okay, Linc! It happened frequently back when I was in sports, look, I can find a way."
>"What?"
>"Are you ready, Linc?" asked Lynn, placing one hand above Lincoln's patella, and another one below.
>"Lynn, what do you me- Oh, no."
>"I'll count to three..."
>"Lynn, don't."
>"One..."
>"Lynn, please no!"
>"Two..."
>"Lynn, no. No! Lynn!"
>"Three!"
>"Don't do it, don't do-" Lincoln's lungs deflated as he heard a loud snap coming out of his body and one of the worst feelings emanated from his left knee. Then, he could only scream in pain.
>"See? No need for a hospital!"
>"Lynn!" yelled Lincoln, hyperventilating "I hate you so much right now!"
>"It's okay, Linc. It just needed to be replaced correctly. Joints might be a bit damaged, you should take it easy next couple of weeks, but the pain will fade away."
>"Well, getting up and running away was not part of my plan, though I'd like to." sighed Lincoln, letting himself fall on his back.
>"True, true." sighed Lynn before lying by her brother's side.

>The two crash survivors stared at the cloudy sky of February, letting the snowflakes fall over their face.

>"What now?" asked Lincoln, who caught back a normal train of respiration
>"Well, I called Luna for help. Hopefully, she'll come by and pick us up, soon enough."
>"Yeah...""
>"... It kinda turned bad, didn't it? I mean, with the Jews."
>"Yeah. Shocker."
>"Where did it all go wrong? You think I pissed Mr. Silverman off?" asked Lynn, oblivious to her brother's sarcasm
>"What, when he found out that we racketed Flip's shop which was under his protection?"
>"No, after that."
>"When he found out that you beat his nephew to a pulp?"
>"After that."
>"When instead of begging for his pardon, you proudly bragged about the latter?"
>"After that."
>"When you defended your case saying that, I quote 'his nose wasn't that pretty to begin with'?"
>"After that."
>"When you farted in the room to show your disapprobation?"
>"After that."
>"And then attempted to lighten up the mood by explaining how 'Jews should be used to Dutch ovens, anyway'?"
>"You think I went too far, with that joke?" asked Lynn, turning her head to see her brother
>"... Maybe, you did."
>"Man, Jews get offended so easily." groaned the jock, staring back to the sky.


---


>After taking Lynn and an injured Lincoln from the snowy ditch in which they were hiding, Luna brought the duo back to their crib. In there, they could think of a plan B and nurse their injured brother.

>"You know, Linc," started Lynn "I still think it could have gone pretty much worse. I mean, at least we're both alive and without any bullet holes inside of us. That's amazing!" she cheered, sitting by Lincoln's side on the bed he was lying.
>Her little brother giggled as a response.
>"I'm serious you know! That's some divine intervention we're talking about!"
>As serious as Lynn tried to appear, Lincoln couldn't bring himself to cut his uncontrollable laughter.
>"Everything's alright?" asked Lucy behind Lynn
>"GyAAH! Lucy, for F... When did you even come in?"
>"I was hearing moanings from the kitchen. Wanted to make sure Lincoln was okay."
>"Well, I think he broke a nerve, he's been like this for a while now." sighed Lynn, lazily pointing at their chuckling brother
>"Only a matter of days before this life of crime gets the better of him and he blows his own brains out." monotonously commented Lucy
>"Or maybe I went too hard with the painkillers..." suggested Lynn
>"What did you give him?"
>"I don't know, the first thing I found. This was in Luna's stash." replied Lynn, giving a tiny pharmaceutical bottle to her goth sister
>"Glycerin Tincture -Sativa. ~3.0g, Energizing, Uplifting" read out loud Lucy, "You gave him liquid Cannabis, Lynn."
>"Ooooh, so that's why he's been giggling like a little girl for the past 10 minutes."
>"How many drops you gave him?"
>"I don't know, a dozen? Maybe a bit less?"
>"... We're not getting him back until tomorrow morning."

>As Lucy and Lynn were contemplating the mess the latter made, her phone started bleeping. She pulled it out of her pocket to see the notification:
>1 new message.
>Sender- Luna: "Lori just pulled over infront of the house N she lookin pissed. Fukken RIP m8"

>"Lucy, you still do funerals, do you?" asked the sports, as she heard loud footsteps coming from the staircase.
>"I still do. Clandestine ones, though."
>"Perfect."
>"Why are you asking this?"
>"You'll be getting a new client soon enough."
>Speaking of the wolf, a blonde figure blasted into the room, slamming the door open so hard the paint on the wall slightly cracked to the impact.
>"LINCOLN, WHAT THE SHIT HAPPENED WITH SILVERMAN?!"
>The concerned sibling just laughed even more at Lori's entrance, putting a pillow over his head to muffle his own laughter.
>"Lori!" exclaimed Lynn with the most fakely-innocent possible looking smile, "How are you doing?"
>"How am I doing? HOW AM I DOING! OH, I AM PERFECTLY WELL! YOU KNOW, JUST RECEIVING DEATH THREATS FROM A RIVAL COMPANY, BUT ASIDE OF THAT, I'M DOING DANDY!"
>"Oh, this is unfortunate." moaned Lincoln, who managed in the meantime to calm himself down, silently chuckling every once in a while
>"Unfortunate?" choked Lori, "Cut this out, both of you! What the hell did you do with this guy?"
>Not finding anything to answer, neither Lynn nor Lucy said anything. Lori profited of the silence to put 2 and 2 together.
>"You guys were involved in his underhand activities, aren't you?"
>"W-what? No we-'
>"Do you think I'm stupid, Lynn? I've been aware about Silverman's real 'business' for years!"
>"Ouuh, yeh-eah" commented Lincoln in a daze, "Turns out the guy runs all of West Royal Woods and BlossomFields!"
>"Yeh-eah", cynically imitated Lori, " I literally just received a call from 'the guy'! I don't know what you talked about. But it seemed like he took you guys' behaviour the wrongest way possible. And he now suspects that I sent you guys to give him 'a message' since we all share the same last name! Jesus Christ, I knew I should've changed my last name to avoid troubles from you guys!"
>Lori slowly inhaled while pinching her nosebridge.
>"To think that I led you to this guy, and almost got yourselves killed... I should have taken the hint. The way you twerps paid this house in cash, Lincoln being dodgy when I asked him why would he want to meet him. What business are you even trying to run?"
>"Extortion, Gun running, drug trafficking, we're still considering a bit of everything." bluntly answered Lucy
>Lori stood there silently, staring at Lucy. She raised her hands, about to ask "Why?", but realising the futility, she let them fall instantly. She walked up and contemplated the wall she damaged few minutes ago, and guessed the answer to her question:
>"All of this just for money..."
>"Hey, we're not doing this for money!" denied Lynn
>"Oh, no!" agreed Lincoln
>"We're doing this for shitloads of money!!!"
>"Oh, yeah!" agreed Lincoln
>Lori kept silent in front of the duo, before turning to Lucy
>"Are they fucking with me, right now?"
>"No. One of the two is high off their mind. The other one is just genuinely stupid." replied Lucy

---

>Waking up with a headache was becoming too much of a habit to Lincoln. He groaned as he tried to turn on his side, not immediately realising the presence of Lori, waiting on a seat next to the bed.
>"Good morning, sunshine" sarcastically said Lori "How are you feeling?"
>"... Thirsty." difficultly replied Lincoln through his sore throat
>"Considering the way you haven't drunk for over 20 hours, this is understandable."
>"Wait, what? What time is it?" asked Lincoln, suddenly awaken by the news
>"2PM, you've been high since yesterday afternoon after Lynn gave you what she thought was painkillers for your leg."
>Lori gave Lincoln a bottle of water to her brother that he chugged out almost immediately, after tossing it away, he lied back down to catch his breath.
>"I suppose you know what am I doing here?" asked Lori. Lincoln didn't answer, sticking to silently stare at the ceiling, accepting his fate.
>"Lincoln, why have you tried to meddle with Silverman?" she interrogated. Once again, having nothing clever to answer, Lincoln said nothing.
>"Lincoln," sighed Lori "Have you ever heard of the purple gang?"
>"... The Saints?"
>"What? No, you moron! I'm not talking about your dumb video games!"
>Lori took a breath and started reciting:
>"Back in the early 1900's, due to the rise of anti-Semitic resentment in Central and Eastern Europe, a massive Jewish immigration occurred in Metro Detroit. Only once here, they still had to face hostility and poverty. Out of that was born the Purple Gang.
>"Why purple?"
>"For nearly two decades" continued Lori, disregarding Lincoln's irrelevant comment, "They ruled the streets of Motown. They stood against both the Italians and the Irish during the Prohibition, and were known for their brutality. Threats, assaults, murders, they would have killed nearly a thousand of people during their prime.
>"Oh.."
>"Recessive violence and infighting progressively brought an end to their reign in the 1930's."
>"That was a nice history lesson. But why are you telling me all of this?"
>"If the Purple Gang per se is dead and buried, some organizations are still their direct descendants. They have pulled back from the streets and play low, but they're still as ruthless as the purple gang was. The Silverman clan is one of them."
>"So this is where it was leading to..."
>"Lincoln, why didn't you tell me what your real intentions to do with Silverman were?"
>"Hello, Lori. Me and the sisters were planning to form a crime syndicate. Would you please give me the address of this local kingpin so we can start somewhere?"
>"Fuck no!"
>"That's why..."
>"Why would you even try to have anything to do with him, Lincoln? Silverman is not someone you want to mess with! When I started my Real-estate business, he advised me not to invest in what I learned, later on, was his turf. Thinking it was just some lousy attempt to keep his own business, I still did it. And the next day, I received an envelop from his name, with a bullet in it!"
>"That's rude."
>"Do you even know how bad you messed up, Lincoln?"
>"Well, that's my problem, isn't it? But thanks for confirming it to me, I was having doubts."
>"NO. It is mine too, now that he found out we share the same name and that I sent you to him, it is only a matter of time before he has the confirmation we're related!" He has friends, Lincoln. IN and OUTSIDE of the law!"
>"Well, then. Let's all take a one-way ticket to Guadeloupe."
>"Because you think we could get to the airport before he guns us down?" nervously laughed Lori
>"Well, then. Let's do a public apology."
>"Lincoln, did you even just hear a fraction of what I told you?"
>"WELL," shouted Lincoln as he sat up on the bed "I'M OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS HERE!"
>Surprised by her brother's attitude, Lori sat back down on his chair
>"We can't obviously wage a war against him, we can't run, we can't hide. Even if we manage to, he'll retaliate on our family! What do you want me to do, Lori?"
>The room went quiet for a couple of minutes until both sighed, lost in their thoughts.
>"Everything okay?" asked Luna barging into the room, followed by Lynn and Lucy "I heard some shout-" the mood of the room alone interrupted her.
>"Lori, just call Silverman, and tell him I want to make up for yesterday. He'll set the location. I'll come there, alone."
>"No, Linc. No more of your monkey business" replied Lori "I'll be there too."
>"Lori, I told you, this is not your prob-"
>"Yes, it is, Lincoln! I wish I wasn't, but you involved me into this! And it is now my own personal interest too to make sure things don't go any worse!" she shouted as she left the room
>"Your loss..." mumbled Lincoln while fixing at the ceiling he never detached his gaze from. Had he faced Lori's eyes, he would have probably burst in tears.
>"Out of my way, punk." bluntly ordered Lori as she shoved Luna aside on her way out of the room. Lynn was ready to call out on Lori for her rudeness but was pulled back by Luna who put a hand on her shoulder.
>"Let her be, sis. She has a lot on her mind, right now."
>The room fell silent, as the trio listened to Lori's fading footsteps leading out of the house, then to her car before hearing the vehicle leaving the street. They waited until they felt enough of the tension left with their elder sister.
>"... Bro, are you ok?" asked Luna
>"It doesn't really matter, does it?"
>"How's your leg, Lincoln?"
>"Numb enough, I guess the drugs still made their job."
>"Linc," asked Lynn with anxiety in her voice "You're not actually thinking of talking sense into this guy, do you?"
>"She's right. It is safe to assume that we burned that bridge." added Lucy.
>"Of course I don't. This guy sworn to get rid of us the last time we met. Heck, his guys were spraying at us when we were running away."
>"So what are we gonna do, bro?"
>Lincoln sat up on the side of the bed and buried his head into his hands, thinking of a plan B.
>He always has a back-up plan. He was the kid that had a back-up plan for everything.
>"I can think of something. But it won't please Lori, might not work, and cause even more problems on the long term."
>"Let's think of the present, for now" stated Luna, "A major kingpin is likely to wish death on us all."
>"Alright, first. We need to find the nephew, Joshua Silverman.
>"I know where we can find him" said Lucy "He's always hanging out at a strip-club. He's a sex maniac, and a sadist. Paying strippers for favours, threatening them into it if they disagree."
>"Hmm, hmm" acknowledged Lincoln as he nodded, "That's good to know. Very good."
>"What's on your mind, bro?"
>"Come here, I'll explain you what will happen."

>Joshua was frustrated.
>Not only was his nose still painful from the ass-whooping he received few weeks ago,
>But his ego was hurting even more.
>He was Joshua Silverman, Godamnit!
>Under-boss and heir of the one of the most influential and feared organized crime syndicates of the state.
>Grew up in Brooklyn and Detroit.
>Has Dozens of men under his orders.
>He got the privilege to execute several trouble-makers.
>And yet here he got beaten hands down against some tiny white girl, barely reaching the height of his shoulders.
>And that, that was making him mad on the inside.
>Hence why he was once again at the strip-club, contemplating the girls performing in front of him.
>His eyes were roaming the room, as a feline looking for its prey.
>He needed to cope his frustration on someone, it was the only way he could walk out without feeling the urge of stabbing someone.
>Though sometimes, the Lord just gives to you the daily bread without you even asking.
>"Are you looking for someone, sir?" asked an employee of the club
>"Wo-hoah, there! I didn't see you coming sunshine!" gasped Josh "But to answer you, I don't think I am anymore." he answered, pulling out a grin "Do you mind if we continue this discussion in private?"
>The young dancer shivered at the hearing of his later sentence. She knew who he was, what he wanted from her, and what would happen if she refused.
>She knew what she had to do. Nothing nor anyone could help her.
>"S-sure..." she stuttered, sadly walking to the VIP quarters, followed by her new 'client'.
>"You know, you aren't that developed compared to most girls around" commented the young gangster to the girl whose rear he was contemplating "Are you even legal?"
>"Not that I mind either ways," he shortly resumed, hearing no answer from the stripper "I like them petites!" he sneered "So what's your name, anyway? ... Not very talkative, are you? I'm okay with that. I won't be paying you to talk after all" he sneered
>The couple were blocked on their ways to the VIP rooms by a tall, muscular North African bouncer who first stared at the client, before interrogating the dancer with a concerned look.
>The young, helpless girl nodded back at him, head low. There was nothing the bouncer could do, for now.
>The bouncer gave an empathetic gaze back, and reluctantly let the couple get in a room, that Joshua locked as soon as they both got in.

----

>Some way or another, Lincoln and Lori managed to settle a new meeting with Silverman.
>He chose the time, he chose the place.
>The time was 10PM, and the place was Delroy. Yet another industrial disaster zone of Metro Detroit.
>Lincoln and Lori were waiting outside of what seemed to either be a disused factory or warehouse.
>Her professional attire funnily contrasted with Lincoln's traditional hoodie&blue-jeans
>They were just standing still, silent, awaiting their judgement.

>"A bit chilly tonight, isn't it?" eventually asked Lincoln, to break the silence
>"Hmm? Oh, sorry I wasn't listening, I was too caught by the wonder whether I'll die tonight or not."
>"If Silverman wanted us dead, Lori, I think we'd both be lying at the bottom of the river with our feet stuck in concrete bars." nonchalantly commented Lincoln
>"The worse is that I believe you're right, for once." mumbled Lori "But that doesn't mean he'll be done with us."
>"I know that" nodded the white haired-boy "Which is why I thought of a back-up plan."
>"... What?"
>"Luna and Lynn are hidden atop of that roof just on the right" explained Lincoln as he pointed the building visible on the other side of the fence "Best case scenario, they don't have to intervene. Worst case, they have guns."
>"What?" repeated an astonished Lori
>"I also have another friend on their way. Pretty chaotic, but he's skilled when it comes to destroying.
>"Lincoln, I thought we were here to seek how to resolve the conflict, not declare a godamn war."
>"Yeah, but nothing promises Silverman will be thinking the same, and I want to have my own arguments if it's the case."
>"How will they even know when to move?"
>"Dangit, I knew I forgot something: A safe word." cursed Lincoln as he snapped his fingers
>"Just when I thought you couldn't make things worse..."

>Although Lori still had a thousand of questions roaming through her mind, the arrival of two SUVs in the court put a term of her interrogation.
>Sadly enough for Lori who worked all evening to maintain a strict and stoic posture, she practically lost all her calm and cool with the informations she just learned.
>They silently observed the two SUVs park one next to each other, meters away from them.
>As soon as the engines cut off, a dozen of mobsters came out of the cars, including Mr. Silverman
>Silverman was the embodiment of capitalism: A slightly overweight, middle-aged, rich, balding white man, with no respect for anyone but himself, and was only running free thanks to his fame and money. He knew that, and loved it.
>"You're here early." commented the old kingpin, walking to the two siblings "Afraid to be late?"
>"Mr. Silverman" stuttered Lori "I'm so, so sorry of what happened. I promise you it was all a misunderstanding and th-"
>"Cut it out, Lori." interrupted Silverman waving the back of his hand when he reached her. "You two, in the warehouse, now. Let's make it the easy way, okay?" he asked, pulling a Desert Eagle from his trench-coat.
>A couple of other mobsters pulled out their guns, in case either of the two would try anything silly.
>Lori just had the time to glare daggers at Lincoln before turning around, following one of the jews who opened the entry door with a set of keys.
>"Into the basement." said the one of the henchmen, pointing at the stairs with his gun as Lori and Lincoln walked inside.

---

>Meanwhile, few meters away, Lynn, on a neighbouring roof was on the look-out, trying to analyse the situation the best she could.
>"Wake up, Luna! they just arrived!" whispered the sports to her sister
>"What? Ah shit, mate! Did you see who was the leader?"
>"Yeah, it was that fat bastard who just took them inside. A couple of goons were following him."
>Luna rose her head up to observe the scene. Most of the other mobsters were hanging around the SUVs, smoking, chatting, or simply on vigilance. She could count a bit less than 10 of them.
>"They just took Linc and Lori inside, you said?"
>"Yeah."
>"Bollocks, mate! That can't be lush! We gotta get ready, pull out the toy!"
>"Sure thing!"
>Lynn unclipped the mallet on her side and opened it before her eyes widened at the sight of its content:
>A grenade Launcher, with 3 grenades, ready to use.
>"Woah, get out of town!" exclaimed an agape Lynn
>"I know, right? That stuff is rocking"
>"I've only seen those in those macho action movies, before!"
>"Yeah, sis. Mikor MGL, straight out of Syria, gotta love them arabs."
>"How did you even got it?"
>"I went to see the Assyrians, as Lincoln told me. I said I was his friend and that we were having a beef with the Jews. They just gave it away. No fees, just a present. They just wished me good luck and to use it well."
>"Awesome..." commented Lynn, picking up the Type II destructive device.
>"Yeah, and you know how rude it is to refuse a gift in those cultures, mate."
>"Can I use it?" excitedly asked Lynn as she held up the launcher, ready to aim
>"What? Hell no, Lynn!" rejected Luna, snatching the weapon from her little sister's hands
>"Come on!" begged Lynn with her puppy eyes
>"No way, Linc especially told me not to let you have it, under any circumstances!"
>"Oh, seriously?!" groaned Lynn, exasperated from this rule she was hidden from
>"Those are the orders, sis."
>"Come on, please!"
>"No!"
>"Please!"
>"No!"
>"Pretty please!"
>"Why would I even do it?"
>"I won the first place at the junior's archery tournament of Michigan when I was 15. I unquestionably aim better than you do!"
>"... I guess that's fair enough." admitted Luna, hesitantly giving the device to the sports
>"Awesome." sneered Lynn, as she mimicked the launch of a grenade, followed by the sound of an explosion with her mouth

---

>Lori and Lincoln, escorted by Silverman and his two henchmen entered an underground room, where the muscles invited the two Louds to sit on chairs set opposite to one another.
>During this calm before the storm, Lincoln observed the situation in which he was.
>The basement was an underground room, with only chairs and desks scattered all around as furnitures.
>Lori was looking at him every once in a while before lowering back her head, cursing under her breath. Probably regretting some of the decisions she took in those last few days.
>In fact, he was glad there were two armed people to prevent her from jumping at his throat, which she would have probably done by now, otherwise.
>Speaking of whom, he took a look at the two henchmen.
>They were standing on either side of the door, stoic.
>One was a slender blond man with straight, long hair tied in the back as a ponytail, while the other one was a bulky bald man with a visible scar on the cheek.
>When Lincoln observed them, they stared back without saying a word nor pulling any emotion. Which was dissuasive enough for Lincoln.
>So he decided to diverge his gaze on the seemingly only man who wasn't staring at him, Silverman.
>The latter was pacing the room, mumbling randomly, chuckling to himself every once in a while.

>He eventually ended his walk to end up in front of Lincoln, and started giggling heartily.
>Lincoln did not fully understood the kingpin's behaviour, but he once learned that the best thing to do when someone's laughing at you was to laugh with them.
>So awkwardly, he joined Silverman in his laughter.
>*THUD*
>"AOW! Aow! Aowww...." grunted Lincoln as his entire upper body recoiled from the jewel-adorned fist he just received in the face
>"Lincoln!" Lori jumped out of her chair to check on her brother, but was swiftly persuaded at gunpoint by the blond henchmen to sit back on the chair she was first invited to.
>"What were you exactly expecting coming here, Lincoln Loud?" asked Mr Silverman, massaging the fingers he just used.
>"I would have gladly explained that to you before you disjointed my jaw." sorely whined Lincoln
>"Do you want me to try and fix it?"
>"Listen, sir. We aren't some serious organization. You said it yourself when we first met. We are just some low-players, we never meant to disrespect you nor step in your game."
>Silverman chuckled again as he pinched his eyes.
>"So let me recapitulate. You harassed one of my owned stores, let your little sister beat my nephew to the ground, WHOM you later on brought in front of me..."
>"Big. big sister." timidly corrected Lincoln
>"To FART in my office and make questionable jokes regarding my ethnicity! And now you come TELLING ME YOU MEANT NO DISRESPECT?"
>"Well, put down like this. It does sound pretty absurd."
>"Do you know who I am, kid?" asked Silverman as he grabbed Lincoln's collar "I am Seymour Silverman. I OWN a third of this city! And nothing happens in the rest of it without my knowledge! I chose who lives, and who doesn't. This entire quarter is mine!
>"... So that's why you brought me in this basement where no one would even possibly hear me scream?" asked Lincoln looking down
>"Please, kiddo. I could blow up this whole facility and the police wouldn't even show up until next morning. But you're not worth an explosion. I ask you again, little punk. Who do you think I am, and more especially, who do you think YOU are."
>"Mr Silverman, please..." begged Lori
>"I'm going to tell you who you are, Lincoln." answered Silverman, ignoring Lori's supplication, "You are just a shmutzy white boy from above the 8 miles, who watched Scarface once and felt like you could take the whole underground of Motor City on your own, since! So you took your braindead, shikse, loose canon bitch of a little sister with you."
>"Hey, don't you speak of my sister that w-" Lincoln would have finished his threat if another punch didn't land on his left jaw, causing him to fall off the chair.
>Silverman enjoyed the easy target Lincoln was at this very moment to kick him in the stomach while he was on the ground.
>He then crouched to Lincoln to continue his statement.
>"I speak of whomever I want, however I want. Real life isn't a video game, boy. There are no "cheat modes", no "Save slots", no "press R to restart", and the Russians aren't just kids blathering gibberish through their computers. I killed people for less than what you did, Lincoln."
>As Seymour Silverman walked away from Lincoln to light up a cigarette and calm his nerves, the room felt silent, only disturbed by Lori's nervous breathing, and Lincoln's groans.
>"I'm going to let the two of you live," eventually declared Silverman, contemplating the smoke coming out of his mouth "At ONE condition."
>"Please... Anything" pleaded Lori, not bearing to see more of it.
>"Your little sister, that ponytail Nafke. I want her. My nephew shall do whatever he wants to her for a whole month. If he feels like letting her alive after that will be his move.
>This wasn't what either of the Louds were hoping to hear. One only needed to take a glimpse on Joshua's criminal record to understand how much of a maniac he was.
>"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir..." wheezed Lincoln
>"Then either one of you is going to have to be carried out of this place, feet first. I'll let you choose whom."
>"Mr Silverman. Even if I wanted to, there's no way I'd manage to convince Lynn to come here and become you nephew's slave!"
>"That's not my problem. Fool her into coming here, make her believe the path is clear if you have to." shrugged Seymour, disposing a cellphone over a table near to Lori, "If you don't make her come here, I'll keep tracking this girl until I get what I want. That you both leave this basement alive is her call."

>Lori picked the phone and stared at it, considering her options.
>Making Lynn come here would condemn her into being some lunatic's sex slave for a whole month and who'll most likely kill her once he's done with her.
>But not calling her will immediately result in either her or Lincoln's death.
>Lori looked up at Lincoln, who slowly shook his head.
>He obviously didn't want Lori into giving up Lynn, but he could understand why Lori wouldn't want to pay for his and Lynn's mistakes.
>"Oh, and I dis-advise you to call the police," commented Seymour as Lori started dialling Lynn's number, "They won't be with you on this one."

---

>"Alright Lynn, so you just have to insert the grenade in here." instructed Luna, showing her sister the slot.
>"Ready!"
>"Okay, sis. Now, on my signal..." said Luna, observing the mobsters as she raised her arm.
>*FLUMP*
>Luna saw a small projectile suddenly reaching her field of vision from her right, before fading into a little dot to sneak in between the two vehicles.
>The punk slowly let her arm fall down out of desperation, not bothering turning to look at her embarrassed little sister.
>"I said, "On my signal", Lynn..." she sighed.
>"I'm sorry! My phone just vibrated and I got startled!"
>"Well, at least you DID aim perfectly." noted out the punk.
>"And who it was?"
>"I don't know" shrugged Lynn as she placed her phone back in her pocket, "unregistered number."
>An awkward silence took place as the two sisters observed the clueless mobsters who were about to get obliterated.
>"Now what?" sheepishly asked Lynn
>"Now? Well we better hurry to get Lincoln and Lori out of this mess before hell breaks loose."

---

>Back at the strip-club.
>"Alright, Darling." ordered Joshua as he sat on the bed, "Let's make this the easy way. Undress yourself, then undress me. And you better obey. I don't think I need to teach you what happened to your last co-worker who refused my advances."
>The girl slowly obliged, taking off the little clothing she had, while the under-boss was enjoying the view.
>As soon as she was finished with herself, the performer walked towards Joshua to undo his tie, while the latter let his head fall back and closed his eyes, to let his imagination to begin the job.
>"Whisper something dirty to me, cutie pie." ordered the underboss
>The girl hesitantly but obediently brought her mouth close to his ear and whispered:
>"Tisbah al'a khaïr."
>Expecting something definitely hotter, the mobster looked at her employee with a confused look.
>"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"
>"Good night, in Arabic." she monotonously answered.
>It took a few seconds for Joshua to understand, and then it snapped. But as he tried to move, the tip of a kitchen knife was set on his abdomen.
>"Oh. And the name's Lucy, by the way." said the dancer, grinning from ear to ear.

---

>"Lynn's not answering" nervously said Lori, staring at the phone displaying "Call ended."
>"I got all night. However she better show up before tomorrow morning, else either one of you two is receiving a free encephalotomy." he detailed, swinging his gun around the finger, "Because I have other things to do tha-"
>A loud yet muffled noise vibrated through the basement walls, interrupting Silverman.
>"The heck was that?" questioned the kingpin.
>"I don't know, sounded like a car-crash" replied one of the mobster.
>"More like a godamn train wreck. What the shit are they doing up there? Andrew, check up what's happening!" Ordered Silverman to the blonde henchman who immediately rushed to the door.
>But as soon as he placed his hand on the handle, the door was broken down in a violent clash, knocking him out in the process.
>As the door was "fully opened", it could be seen that Lynn was behind it, entering the room carrying the grenade luncher.

>"Alright, nobody moves!" shouted Luna who was closely following Lynn, pointing her gun on the second mobster who was reaching for his own weapon.
>"Yeah, neither do you, jerk-face!" added Lynn, menacing Silverman with her grenade luncher.
>If Luna wouldn't have been enough to dissuade them from opening fire, Lynn and the destructive device she was holding sure did.
>"Well, if it isn't the loose canon." mumbled Silverman as he raised his hands.
>"Glad to see you too, Mr Silverman" greeted Lynn as Luna was disarming the second mobster from his gun.

>It was a weird turn of tides that this basement was witnessing.
>Lincoln and Lori, no longer threatened, were now standing in front of Silverman, while one of his mobsters was lying unconscious next to the door and the other one, disarmed, was being held still at gunpoint by Luna.
>"Please tell your sister to drop this godamn weapon before she kills us all." nervously demanded Silverman to Lincoln, glaring at Lynn who was sitting by on a table, checking the messages on her phone.
>"It feels weird to be in the beggar's position, doesn't it, Mr Silverman?" sneered Lori, walking up to the kingpin.
>She stopped when her face was only inches away from the Crime Lord's.
>"Your gun, sir. Please." requested Lori.
>Having his back up against the wall, Silverman complied and gave Lori his Desert Eagle.
>Lori contemplated the weapon a few seconds, before punching him in the guts, making him fall on his knees.
>"Hey, HEY! Lori! Come on! Let's not make the situation any worse!" panicked Lincoln
>"Oh, no. I'm done doing that. For more than two years, Mr. Silverman, I played the game by your rules. You forced me to never meddle with your businesses, bossed me around as it pleased you. I played along. But not even 10 minutes ago, you were demanding from me to give up on one of my sisters to spare my life? That's where I draw the line."
>"You poor fool. You have no idea of the consequences. If you touch me you-." coughed Silverman, with a smug smile.
>"What? Are you going to snatch THIS gun out of my hands and menace me once more?" she taunted by shaking the Desert Eagle
>"You don't have the connections I do. The very police department gain more from me than their own pay-checks. They will track you down."
>"Not if I cover my tracks." sternly replied Lori
>Lori suddenly turned around, and with Silverman's weapon, shot twice on the unconscious mobster's chest.
>"Andrew!" shouted the second mobster before receiving a bullet in the head.
>"Wooaah!" reacted Lynn and Luna as the latter covered her face from the blood stains squirting out of her former hostage.
>"Jesus Christ, Lori!" screamed Lincoln
>Lori shot a couple of times more on the walls, to make it look like a gun dispute happened.

>"Luna, give me the gun you snatched from the bald head." requested Lori, ignoring her siblings' reaction
>And so did Luna. She walked up to Lori and handed her the henchman's gun, that Lori immediately aimed at Silverman's chest.
>"And now, it's just an argument gone wrong with your lieutenants, Mr Silverman." declared Lori Loud, now her turn to wear a smug smile.
>"My nephew, he's going to-"
>"Oh, right. About this Mr Silverman" interrupted Lynn, finally detaching her eyes off the phone, "Did you know that Josh spent most of his Friday nights at a strip-club?"
>"Oh, yeah. Because we do." answered Luna before Silverman could answer anything, And it happened he wanted to get some privacy with a dancer, few minutes ago..."
>"... That happened to be another one of our sisters!" finished Lynn "Here, she sent me a snap of what she did to him!" she laughed as she showed her phone screen to Luna.
>"Ooww, those are some weird kinks, mate." laughed Luna, displaying a face mixing emotions of disgusts and amusement.
>"Yeah, she said it's her first time skin-carving. Though it's a pretty well-cut pentagram for a first time if you asked me. Mr Silverman, wanna see?"
>"I don't think he'd want to, Lynn." retorted Lincoln
>"Ah come on, he gotta see this. How do you think it looks, Seymour?" excitedly asked Lynn, showing the screen to the kingpin.
>"You bunch of maniacs." muttered Silverman, too much angered to shed a tear for his nephew.
>"We've been called worse." shrugged Lori.
>"You don't know who I am! I am Seymour Motherfucking Silverman! I'm the shot-caller in the whole god-damn Midwest for the Jewish Brotherhood!!"
>"Nice to meet you, we are the Louds. A bunch of Midwestern siblings." responded Lori with a smile on her face.
*BANG BANG*

---

>All this happened in barely half an hour.
>The 4 siblings were now standing outside the warehouse, contemplating the still-burning SUVs carcasses, along with what used to be the jewish mob, scattered all around.

>"Well that was savage, Lori." input Lincoln, slowly nodding to himself.
>"Thanks, I'm proud of that punchline too." chuckled Lori, flattering herself "We are the Louds... Bang!" she re-enacted with her finger
>"No, I mean the whole "shooting everyone"-thing, and then passing it as an infight. I thought you wanted to calm the game?"
>"I hated Silverman, Lincoln." admitted Lori, "I tried not showing it to you when we first talked about him. But this guy extorted me dry, forced me to keep out of his territories, only leaving me ghettoes and other slums to invest into. And now he wanted Lynn dead. I saw the opportunity, I took it. No one messes with my family."
>"Thanks Lori!"
>"Anytime, Lynn. Aaaaand aside of it, what happened to these guys?" asked Lori, looking at the explosion site

>All looks focussed on Lynn, who mimicked a "pew pew" with the grenade luncher.
>"Yeah, about that, Luna. I thought I told you NOT to give her the Grenade Luncher!" remarked Lincoln
>"Yeah, ABOUT THAT, Lincoln!" repeated Lynn "Where the hell did this rule come from?"
>"Dudes, Chill out!" Luna tried to lower the tension, "I mean look! We all made it out alive! Even Lucy nailed it with the sexofreak!"
>"By the way, how is she going to do with the body?" asked Lori
>"There's a bouncer who's with the Assyrians on the shot. He's handling it from there."
>"Uh-huh..." nodded Lori in acknowledgement.
>"So... Does that mean we just wiped out one of the biggest crime syndicates of Michigan?" she concluded
>"I guess we did." shrugged Lincoln "Wanna celebrate?"
>"Oh man, I'm totally down for a Burpin' Burger!" exclaimed Lynn
>"Yeah, let's give Luce a call to meet up there." agreed Luna, already pulling out her phone
>"Hey, who that guy coming over?" asked Lori pointing a young man in washed-up military attire, walking up to the gang.
>"Isn't that your junkie-friend?" wondered Lynn
>"Oh, let me handle this" said Lincoln, as he started walking up to the newcomer, "I be right back!"

>"You're late!" ranted Lincoln to Chandler
>"Sorry, Larry. I ran over a couple of Haitians and had to get rid of the car... And the corpses... And the witnesses."
>"Well, party's over, but I still got something for you. Can you... make this look as an infight?" demanded Lincoln, pointing his thumb over his shoulder
>Chandler observed over Lincoln's shoulder the remnants of the battle-zone.
>"Sure thing, Louis. That's doable."
>"Perfect, I'll catch you later, man. I'm out of here. Oh, and don't worry. Some dude's inside the building paid the cops. Nobody's showing up here until tomorrow morning."
>"It backfired at him, didn't it?"
>"It did." laughed out Lincoln as he walked back to catch back on his sisters
>"Hey, wait! And how much will I get for that?" shouted Chandler
>"A free slice of pizza, a root beer and arcade tokens!" sarcastically yelled Lincoln
>Fucking Chandler.

>"Why is he staying?" asked Luna, looking at Lincoln's old classmate, picking up guns scattered around the explosion site.
>"He's gonna cover our tracks, making it look like an inner beef."
>"Are you sure he's qualified? He literally looks like a meth-head." disdainfully said Lori
>"That's because he is." replied Lincoln "But he's also a vet. Trust him, he did that hundreds of time in Syria, so the locals couldn't trace collateral damages back to the US army. He told me once. Fun stuff."
>This wasn't exactly what Lori was hoping to hear, as the emotion of confusion and anxiety displaying over her face could show.
>"He'll be fiiiiine. Don't worry." said Lincoln
>"Come on guys. Let's get moving to Burpin' Burger's! I feel like eating at least two N°9s large!" cheered Lynn, frolicking her way to their car, parked behind the facility.

>"Besides that what now?" asked Luna, "I mean, business-related?"
>"Well, now's our occasion or never to step out of the game." proposed Lincoln
>"Yeah, but Silverman just died. Which means there's like... An entire business free for the taken." she pointed out
>"No!" abruptly exclaimed Lori
>"Come on, Lori! We'll get tons and tons of money. You should join us too, we could use your talents! And even hide our business between yours!"
>"I've had my share of trouble with illegal stuff. I'm not going to teach you guys no to do it, but I'm NOT partaking it!"
>"But what you did back there was so bad-ass!"
>"And we'd earn tons of money, though." noted Luna
>"That's a no from me." replied Lori
>"Like, 50 grands a month." continued Luna
>"That's a yes from me." replied Lori
>"Well, then I guess it's settled. We are in for good." deducted Lincoln

>Lincoln slowed his path while Lori and Luna kept walking forward, arguing about the management of their soon-to-be organization, before becoming completely immobile.
>He was lost in this thoughts, wondering what would the future hold.
>If he told himself 6 months ago that he would overthrow one of the United States most wanted Criminal Lords, with the help of his sisters, he would have laughed.
>He's but a white Midwestern boy, originating from the Middle class.
>And yet here it happened. He couldn't even explain how, nor why. But it happened, no matter the odds.
>He's not athletic, he's not street-wise, he doesn't have the business mind, nor the bargaining skills, and can barely stand the sight of blood.
>No, instead, he had his sisters. Who could, who were.
>Acknowledging this, he sighed of relief, and conclude the following.
>No matter what happens, he will always have his family. And they'll always have each other's back.
>And not even the most distraught metropole of the United States of America will be able to face against that.


FIN