Chapter 8: For Bros About To Rock The mood around the house was morose in the days that followed valentines day. Ever since Luna and Luan had their argument, the siblings felt it was best that the two stay away from each other for now. It was decided that Luna would swap with Leni and sleep in Lori's room while Leni slept in Luan's room. Despite fears of any conflicts coming from the new room arrangements, both Luna and Luan were mostly quiet and barely talked to anyone. Especially Luan, who hadn't cracked a joke in ages. Though after some of the Loud siblings thought about it, she hadn't cracked many jokes at all after she and Rick had come back from space after suddenly going missing for a day. This conflict concerned the Loud's parents but neither could really do anything about it since no one would explain why exactly they had fallen out. All they could gather was that Luna was somehow responsible for Luan getting rejected.
Rick opened the door to Luna's new room to see her alone, lying face down on her bed pillow. As much as Rick loathed to admit that he was wrong, he couldn't help but feel just slightly guilty about what happened. Rick swallowed his pride and then came in to greet her. "H-Hey Luna." Luna didn't answer back. He couldn't tell if she heard him at all as she still had her face in the pillow. Rick awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Look, I'm uh...I'm sorry about what happened. I-I-I know I tried to pass the blame on to you but...Lori was right. It was my bad, really."
Luna turned her head slightly to look at Rick. She had a depressed look on her face. "S'alright, Grandpa dude. Wouldn't have happened in the first place if I didn't act like a creep."
Rick sighed. He sat on Luna's bed. "Look, I know how hard it is in your position. I-I'm actually a-a-well, I'm pan myself so..."
Luna raised her head slightly and looked at Rick with widened eyes. "Wait, really?"
"Oh yeah. So you know. You're not alone on that in this house." There was awkward silence for a moment before a thought occurred to Rick. "Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I was in a band?"
Luna sat up. It looked like she was starting to cheer up as she was starting to smile. "A band? Dude, how come you never told me?"
Rick shrugged. "Never came up." He then smiled as he reminisced on old times. "Yeah, we were The Flesh Curtains. Just me, Birdperson and Squanchy. Oh man, t-the things we'd do after shows-"
Before he could continue that thought, Luna interrupted him. She was grinning excitedly. "Dude, I gotta hear you play at some point."
Rick shrugged. "I-I mean sure, if you want. I was actually coming in here to ask if there's anything I could do to, you know, make things up to you so-"
Luna interrupted him again as she remembered something upon hearing what Rick said. "Wait, actually, I need to ask, what do you think of SMOOCH?"
...
"YEAAAAAH!"
Speaking of SMOOCH, Lincoln was watching a performance by the rock band on his laptop, pumping his fist to the song.
Take my advice and don't be a mooch
Grab life by the lips and give it a smooch!
WHOOOOO! Give it a smooch!"
Lincoln got out his walkie-talkie. "Clyde, SMOOCH is the coolest band ever!"
Clyde was currently doing the same thing as Lincoln as he answered. "Copy that! I'd totally give life a smooch if I wasn't saving my lips for Lori."
Lincoln made a gagging face to that comment before turning to the audience. "Clyde and I are going to see SMOOCH tonight, and not to make a big deal of it, but it's our FIRST CONCERT!" Lincoln threw his head back as he yelled the last part out. He went back to talking to Clyde. "Okay, Clyde, meet you at the ticket counter in T-minus one hour!"
"Ok, that'll give me time to work on my dance moves." Clyde then attempted to dance before tripping over himself. "Ugh!"
Lincoln then left his room. After he closed the door, he then jumped at the site of all his sisters, except for Luna and Luan, standing in front of him. "Yah!" His sisters then pushed him back into his room before closing the door and blocking it.
"Simmer down and listen up!" Lisa demanded, giving Lincoln a serious look along with her other sisters.
"We overheard your conversation, and we're here to warn you." Lori stated.
"Do not let Luna know that you're going to your first concert. She'll insist on going with you!" Lola warned.
"What? Why?" Lincoln asked.
"I don't know, 'cause she's nuts?" Lynn answered before folding her arms in annoyance. "But she's done it to all of us."
"Yeah. And when she goes, she gets way too excited and literally ruins everything. There was my first Boyz Will Be Boyz concert." Lori recalled when Luna, bored of the performance, tried to hype up the crowd which resulted in her knocking someone's drink onto a control panel, killing the lights and ruining the performance.
"And our first Blarney the Dinosaur concert." Lola recalled when Luna attempted to crowd surf despite the crowd being way to young to even attempt to carry her.
"And my first opera." Lisa recalled when Luna had gone up on stage and tried to do a stage dive, resulting in her landing on the orchestra.
After hearing his sisters' stories, Lincoln was starting to get worried. "Oh man. I can't let Luna find out about SMOOCH."
Lori gave Lincoln a confident look. "Don't worry. We can get you out without her knowing."
"Guys, I am not getting in one of Lucy's coffins again."
"That won't be necessary." Lisa then walked over to one of Lincoln's posters. She lifted it up to reveal an emergency cord behind it. She pulled it which caused an inflatable slide to appear outside of Lincoln's window. "Please keep your arms and legs inside at all times."
The sisters then moved in to help Lincoln out before he stopped them. "Wait! Are you sure Luna will want to get involved? I mean lately she's been kinda...you know?"
The sisters then had a look of concern as they were reminded of the state Luna had been in recently. Lori sighed. "Well, you can never be too sure so..." Lincoln's sisters then assisted Lincoln in getting out the window so he could slide down and leave without anyone noticing.
...
Lincoln and Clyde had both made it to the mall. Lincoln was just finishing explaining the situation to his friend as the two approached the line to buy the tickets. "It's all taken care of. Luna will never know about the concert."
Lincoln then heard a familiar voice come from the line. "Yo, bro! I saved you a spot in line!" Luna then signaled where she was with some rock on signs. To Lincoln's surprise, Rick was also there, signalling some rock on signs while sticking his tongue out. His hair was currently slicked back as he was now wearing a blue undershirt with a pair of black leather pants along with some spiked wristbands and a collar around his neck.
Lincoln approached the two apprehensively with Clyde following behind. "Luna? How did you know about the concert?"
Luna smiled, hyped up about joining her bro on his first concert. "You kiddin' me?! When it comes to music, I know all."
Lincoln then turned to Rick. "And why are you here?"
Rick was just as hyped as Luna. "The hell do you think I'm doing here, Lincoln? I'm here for some mother effin SMOOCH!" Rick raised his hand up in a rock on sign as he shouted to the line. "Can I get a hell yeah?"
The line cheered as some of them held up rock on signs in return. Clyde looked uncomfortable as he turned to Lincoln. "Kinda wished you told me your grandpa was so...foul mouthed."
Luna then grabbed Lincoln's shoulders and started to shake him. "So, are you ready for me to show you how to have the greatest first concert ever?"
"Well, I, uh..."
Luna didn't bother letting Lincoln answer. "AWESOME! First up, something has to be done about your duds." Luna pointed to what the two boys were wearing. Lincoln and Clyde glanced at each other before giving Luna a blank look. "Your threads, man." They still gave her a blank look. "Wow. Your clothes, dude."
"I think we're fine." Lincoln argued.
About five minutes later, Lincoln and Clyde were dressed up in SMOOCH attire. Both had face paint and lipstick on while Lincoln was wearing a long, black haired wig. "So much better." Luna stated, content with their appearance.
Lincoln started to freak out. "There's no zipper. What if I need to pee?"
"You'll be having too much fun to pee!" Luna stated confidently. "Now, let's see your rock pose." The two boys glanced at each other before Clyde got down on to the floor and curled up into a ball. "Uh...what's that?" Luna asked, confused.
"My rock pose." Clyde answered. "I'm igneous."
Luna shook her head. "No, dudes. I mean, throw up the goats, like this!" She threw her arms up with both hands doing the rock on sign. "YEAH!" She stopped and turned back to the boys. "You try."
"Yeah, uh..." Both boys then attempted to copy her but neither put any actual effort into it.
"We'll work on it later. Now, let's see your dance moves." Luna pointed to them.
"I can't dance." Clyde stated.
"What?! Everybody can dance, man!" Luna then started dancing herself. "You just have to feel the music and move yo booty!"
"Whoa!" As she was swaying her hips, she then accidentally bumped Lincoln, causing him to bump into a snowcone cart. This in turn, caused some ice to drop out of the cart and fall down into Lincoln's pants, causing him to move around like crazy from the frost.
Luna thought he was simply dancing. "That's it, Lincoln!" She then got out her accoustic guitar. "Come on, everybody. Pre-show sing along! Sing it with me!"
Lincoln quickly got the ice out of his pants before he ran up to Luna with his hands held out. "Luna! Please, just stop!"
"W-What's wrong? I'm just trying to make your first concert unforgettable, bro." Luna was starting to look sheepish.
Lincoln was looking frustrated. "All you're doing is embarrassing me! Our sisters warned me about you."
Luna was starting to shrink back. "What are you talking about?"
"They said you ruined all their first concerts, just like you're ruining mine now." Lincoln ranted, throwing his arms up for emphasis.
"...I see." Luna closed her eyes and lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry bro. Seems like ruining things is all I'm good at these days.
Seeing Luna return to the depressive state she had been in recently, Lincoln started to regret snapping at her. "Wait, no, I shouldn't have-"
Luna held out her hand out to stop him. "No, you're right. You'd have a better time without me there. I'll just leave you be." She then raised her voice for the line. "Goodnight, Royal Woods Mall. Luna Loud has left the building..." She made her way out of the mall, dragging her guitar behind her on the floor.
Rick looked concerned as he watched Luna leave. He then gave Lincoln a pointed look. "Geez, what the hell, Lincoln. She was just trying to get you to have fun is all. Y-You didn't need to act like that!"
"I-I didn't mean-hey wait!" Lincoln raised his eyebrow at Rick. "So then why aren't you going after her?"
Rick then gestured to what he was wearing. "Because I didn't dress myself up like this just to not get tickets, Lincoln!" Rick left out the part where he was planning to buy a ticket for Luna anyway.
Both of them then noticed Clyde was back on the floor, curled up into a ball again. "Clyde, what are you doing?" Lincoln asked.
"My rock pose." Clyde answered. "I don't like confrontations."
The three then noticed the line moving without them. "Clyde! Line's moving!" Lincoln exclaimed before the three then tried to get back in line.
"Hey! No cuts, kid!" A man called out, stopping them from getting in front of them.
"But that was our spot!" Lincoln argued.
Rick got mad at the man. "Hey, you do realise we were standing in front of you a minute ago right?"
"Too bad, you shouldn't have moved then." The man replied.
Rick then flipped the man off. "Yeah well, up yours pal!"
The three then resigned themselves to waiting in the back of line. Eventually, it was their turn to get to the ticket counter.
"WE MADE IT!" Lincoln shouted in relief.
"Sorry, boys. SMOOCH is officially sold out." The vendor stated before putting up a sold out sign and closing the booth.
"Nooooooooo!" Lincoln and Clyde both shouted dramatically.
Lincoln became downtrodden. "I can't believe we didn't get SMOOCH tickets."
Rick slammed his fist on the counter. "The hell is this? W-We're the last customers and you just happened to be sold out now? What is this bullshit?"
As Rick ranted, the two boys then heard a man in a trench coat whisper to them from around a corner. "Psst, hey, kid. Did I hear you say you needed SMOOCH tickets?" The man held out a pair of tickets.
The boys ran up to him looking hopeful. "Yes! Two, please!" Lincoln asked.
The two then gave the man their money before receiving their tickets.
"WE'RE IN!" Lincoln and Clyde proclaimed, raising their arms and making rock on signs before both of them were handcuffed.
"You're in, alright. Incarcerated!" The man said, pointing at them.
"Are those good seats?" Clyde asked, oblivious to what was happening.
The man then revealed a mall cop badge. "Buying scalped tickets is illegal. Let's go, hooligans."
Rick had overheard what was happening and ran up to the mall cop. "Hey, hey, what the hell's happening here? Did you just arrest two kids after baiting them with tickets?"
"So you were supposed to be supervising them while they were doing illegal activity?" The mall cop accused.
Rick gave the mall cop a confused look. "...what?"
...
The three of them were now locked up in the mall's jail. Lincoln and Clyde were now back in their normal attire. "For the record, this mall sucks." Rick stated before going into a corner where it looked like he was working on something.
"Well, might as well practice my dancing." Clyde said before poorly attempting to dance again.
The three were also in a cell with their neighbour, Scoots. An elderly woman with short gray hair, wearing a turquoise hat with a pink flower on it, a white sweater, beige pants, white sneakers, and black sunglasses. She was riding around on a red scooter. "Oh, give it up, kid. My hip can pop and lock better than you." Scoots said to Clyde.
"Pipe down, Scoots, or I'll add disorderly conduct to your speeding charge." The overweight mall cop captain with a grey moustache watching over the cell warned her.
Clyde gave up. "I still can't dance, Lincoln."
"What does it matter?" Lincoln's shoulders slumped. "We're not going to the concert, anyway."
Lincoln then heard a familiar voice. "Yo, little Loud! What are you doing here?"
Lincoln turned towards the voice. "Bobby? What are you doing here?"
Bobby was currently dressed up in uniform, holding a bucket of fried chicken. "This is my new job. Lori loves a man in uniform, plus, I'm learning a ton about police work." Bobby then walked over to the mall cop captain's desk and handed him the bucket. "Here are those chicken samples you wanted from the food court, captain."
"Great work, Santiago. Now, go do a stakeout at Wok of Art. I think they're giving out egg rolls." The captain ordered.
Bobby tipped his cap. "Right away, boss." Bobby left as the captain then helped himself to the chicken.
A while later, the captain then called out. "Boys, your mom's here!"
"What?" Lincoln and Clyde both exclaimed, surprised at who they saw. It wasn't their mom, it was Luna wearing a disguise of Lincoln's mother.
Luna tried doing an impression of her mom. "Oh, my babies!" Luna then winked at the two boys.
Both of them came up to the front of the cell. "Luna? I mean, Mom?"
Luna came up to them to whisper to them. "You're lucky I answered the phone when the fuzz called, bro." She resumed impersonating her mom. "Officer, I'll take it from here."
The captain got out his keys. "Yes, ma'am. Right away, ma'am."
Bobby then returned, holding a plate of steaks. "Your steaks, captain."
Luna got nervous and looked away, hoping Bobby wouldn't recognise her. "What the heck are you talking about? Where are my egg rolls, son?" The captain asked, irritated.
"You said to do a 'steak-out', so-" Bobby then noticed Luna. "Hey, Luna!"
"You know their mother?" The captain asked.
"That's not their mother. That's his sister. Nice wig, by the way." Bobby complimented.
"WIG?!" The captain snapped. Luna giggled nervously in response.
Luna, no longer wearing her disguise, was now in the cell, sitting in between Lincoln and Clyde. Luna sighed. "Looks like I messed up again."
"I can't believe you came back for us." Lincoln remarked.
Luna closed her eyes. "Wasn't much point though was there. I just ruined things as usual. Sorry for going crazy earlier by the way. I thought maybe that if I tried to give you an awesome first concert, maybe it'd make up for the horrible thing I did.
"Horrible thing?" Clyde asked.
Lincoln then realised Clyde really shouldn't hear this. "Oh, sorry Clyde. This is kind of a private family matter so..."
"I hear you loud and clear." Clyde then got up and walked up to a corner. He then plugged his ears in with his fingers.
Lincoln then noticed Scoots. "Umm..."
"Hey, I ain't no snitch! I don't care what you've done." Scoots told him.
Lincoln shrugged before putting a hand on Luna's shoulders. "Luna, you know none of us hold a grudge over what happened right?"
"Luan does." Luna argued as she lowered her head. "Not that I can blame her. If I'm honest, I don't really deserve Sam."
Lincoln sighed. "I know Luan's still upset but I think she'll get over it eventually. It's like Grandpa Rick said. None of us really lost anything. As far as this world and Sam are concerned, you never did anything. And you've already realised what you did was wrong so why keep beating yourself up over it?"
Luna raised her head and looked at Lincoln. She wasn't entirely convinced she should forgive herself just yet but after what Lincoln said, she decided it'd be best not to let it get her down anymore. At least for now. She smiled softly. "Thanks bro. You know, I've been thinking about what you said. And you and the girls are right. I do get a little crazy when it comes to first concerts."
"Why are they so important to you?" Lincoln asked.
"'Cause my first rock show...changed my life." Luna confessed as she recalled the night of her first concert.
...
In the summer of Luna's seventh grade, a younger Luna, unsure of the kind of person she wanted to be, sat in the audience for 'The Gimme Swelter Tour', waiting for Mick Swagger and his band to perform. Back then, Luna had longer hair and wore a purple dress with white earrings. She wasn't too sure how she'd feel about this concert. Up until then, she had only played classical music and had only decided to go due to a suggestion from her parents. Though admittedly, she was a little curious anyway.
Eventually, Mick Swagger took to the stage and started to sing.
It was a hot June night
When she saw the light
Luna found her self tapping her feet to the song. She was surprised to find that she was getting into it.
To Luna, listening to these lyrics made her feel like Mick Swagger was talking directly to her. Nothing she had heard before got to her in the way this song did.
A citizen of the rock and roll nation
Transformation
Total mutation
It all started to become clear for Luna. It was in that moment that she finally realised who she was and who she wanted to be. Luna Loud. "STAGE DIVE!" Luna shouted as she raised her hands to do rock signs and jumped into the crowd. She felt blessed as the crowd carried her off. The following day, Luna got a haircut, got some new threads, bought a guitar and the rest was history.
...
Back in the present, Lincoln looked at her in amazement. "Wow. I had no idea." Clyde had also come back to listen to the story as he was currently sitting next to Luna again.
Rick had also come up to listen to Luna's story. He whistled. "I'll say."
"I know it's only rock and roll, but I like it." Luna admitted.
"Hey, uh, by the way, I called in a couple friends to help bail us out." Rick told them.
Lincoln started to get worried. "Uh, what kind of friends?"
Rick smiled. "Oh, you'll see."
Everyone then heard a door open. The captain's eyes widened when he saw the two people standing there. One of them was a short orange cat-person with a tiny blue nose, a dark brown goatee, messy fur and whiskers. He has a naked tail with a brown tuft of hair on its tip. The other was a tall humanoid with bird-like features. He had two giant eagle wings with gray on the ends, that drape down along his back like a cape. He also wore yellow gloves, a red skirt, and yellow boots. He had a green, feathery helmet with white polka dots.
"Uhh..." The captain gaped at the two aliens. The bird like one then came up to the captain and delivered a swift karate chop to his head, knocking him out instantly. He then took the keys from him.
"He-hey, Squanchy! Birdperson! How's it going?" Rick greeted the two.
"Hey! What the squanch is up with you, Rick?" Squanchy greeted Rick back.
"Are you injured, Rick?" Birdperson asked monotonously.
"Nah, we're good." Rick replied.
Birdperson then unlocked the door to the cell. As soon as it was open, Scoots immediately drove off. "Adios."
The kids then exited the cell. Clyde's jaw had dropped at the site of them. Lincoln had previously told Clyde about their adventures with Rick though Clyde didn't really believe him. Seeing two aliens in person though, had blown Clyde's mind.
Meanwhile, Lincoln and Luna looked at the two aliens in amazement. Especially Birdperson. "Wow, are you some kind of superhero?" Lincoln asked.
"I have previously been referred to as such before, yes." Birdperson answered. "You must be Lincoln and Luna. Rick has told me many positive things about you."
This surprised the siblings. "Really?" Lincoln asked.
"Yes. He-"
Before Birdperson could continue, he was interrupted by Squanchy, who had been rummaging through the captain's desk. "Hey, this guy's got some tickets to a concert." He held up six tickets to the SMOOCH concert. His eyes then widened as he spotted something else in the desk. "Oooooh." Rick then closed the desk before shaking his head at Squanchy.
"Six tickets? That's enough for all of us to see the show!" Lincoln announced.
Luna gave Lincoln a surprised look. "You sure you want me to come too, little brother?"
"It wouldn't be a first concert without Luna Loud." Luna smiled at that. "I'm sorry I said all those things in the ticket line."
Luna put her hand on Lincoln's shoulder. "It's cool, little bro. And don't worry. I promise to be on my best behave."
Rick then turned to his friends. "How about you guys?"
"Hell yeah, I'm down to squanch!" Squanchy replied.
Birdperson nodded. "I suppose it could be enjoyable."
"Uh, what about him?" Clyde asked, pointing towards the captain.
Rick shrugged. "Eh. Nothing a bit of memory wiping can't fix."
"Uhh..." Everyone then turned to see Bobby holding a shrimp platter, gaping at the site before him.
...
After Rick had dealt with Bobby, the group had made it to the SMOOCH concert. All of them were sat at the back row. Rick and Squanchy were stood up, rocking out while Birdperson was sat down, simply watching quietly. Meanwhile, Lincoln, Luna and Clyde were struggling to see past the other audience members. "I can't see a thing. Ugh. I thought my first concert was gonna be unforgettable." Lincoln lamented.
"It could be..." Luna looked down. "But I don't wanna interfere."
"No! Please! Interfere!" Lincoln pleaded.
Luna smirked. "Okay. First up, we gotta get to the front." She pointed towards where the band were playing.
Lincoln looked worried. "Whoa! I can't cut in front of all these people!"
"That's why they invented Crowd Surfing!"
"What?" Lincoln and Clyde both asked before Luna picked both of them up and tossed them over the crowd who then carried both of them towards the stage.
"WOO! THIS IS AWESOME!" Lincoln hollered.
Clyde wasn't quite as excited. "Careful, guys. Cradle the neck."
Once they reached the front, they were surprised to see Luna was already there. "Enjoy the ride, dudes?"
"Whoa! How did you get up here so fast?" Lincoln asked.
Luna folded her arms. "I have my ways. Now come on. Pose it like you chose it!" The three then raised their arms to make rock on signals as they jammed to the music. After noticing the three of them, the lead singer offered his hand to them, allowing them to join him on stage to rock out.
Lincoln turned to the audience while still rocking out. "Boy, did my sisters have it wrong about Luna. She's not nuts at all. She's just really passionate about the thing she loves. And in the words of my favorite band, sometimes you gotta..." Lincoln then sang along with the song. "grab life by the lips and give it a smooch!"
Luna put her hands on her hips with a satisfied look on her face. "That's my bro!"
"THANKS FOR MAKING MY FIRST CONCERT UNFORGETTABLE, LUNA!" Lincoln shouted.
Both of them then posed together. "ROCK AND ROLL!"
"WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB!" Rick shouted as he, along with Squanchy and Birdperson, were crowdsurfing.
Chapter 8: For Bros About To Rock
RispondiEliminaThe mood around the house was morose in the days that followed valentines day. Ever since Luna and Luan had their argument, the siblings felt it was best that the two stay away from each other for now. It was decided that Luna would swap with Leni and sleep in Lori's room while Leni slept in Luan's room. Despite fears of any conflicts coming from the new room arrangements, both Luna and Luan were mostly quiet and barely talked to anyone. Especially Luan, who hadn't cracked a joke in ages. Though after some of the Loud siblings thought about it, she hadn't cracked many jokes at all after she and Rick had come back from space after suddenly going missing for a day. This conflict concerned the Loud's parents but neither could really do anything about it since no one would explain why exactly they had fallen out. All they could gather was that Luna was somehow responsible for Luan getting rejected.
Rick opened the door to Luna's new room to see her alone, lying face down on her bed pillow. As much as Rick loathed to admit that he was wrong, he couldn't help but feel just slightly guilty about what happened. Rick swallowed his pride and then came in to greet her. "H-Hey Luna." Luna didn't answer back. He couldn't tell if she heard him at all as she still had her face in the pillow. Rick awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Look, I'm uh...I'm sorry about what happened. I-I-I know I tried to pass the blame on to you but...Lori was right. It was my bad, really."
Luna turned her head slightly to look at Rick. She had a depressed look on her face. "S'alright, Grandpa dude. Wouldn't have happened in the first place if I didn't act like a creep."
Rick sighed. He sat on Luna's bed. "Look, I know how hard it is in your position. I-I'm actually a-a-well, I'm pan myself so..."
Luna raised her head slightly and looked at Rick with widened eyes. "Wait, really?"
"Oh yeah. So you know. You're not alone on that in this house." There was awkward silence for a moment before a thought occurred to Rick. "Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I was in a band?"
Luna sat up. It looked like she was starting to cheer up as she was starting to smile. "A band? Dude, how come you never told me?"
Rick shrugged. "Never came up." He then smiled as he reminisced on old times. "Yeah, we were The Flesh Curtains. Just me, Birdperson and Squanchy. Oh man, t-the things we'd do after shows-"
Before he could continue that thought, Luna interrupted him. She was grinning excitedly. "Dude, I gotta hear you play at some point."
Rick shrugged. "I-I mean sure, if you want. I was actually coming in here to ask if there's anything I could do to, you know, make things up to you so-"
Luna interrupted him again as she remembered something upon hearing what Rick said. "Wait, actually, I need to ask, what do you think of SMOOCH?"
...
"YEAAAAAH!"
Speaking of SMOOCH, Lincoln was watching a performance by the rock band on his laptop, pumping his fist to the song.
Take my advice and don't be a mooch
Grab life by the lips and give it a smooch!
WHOOOOO! Give it a smooch!"
Lincoln got out his walkie-talkie. "Clyde, SMOOCH is the coolest band ever!"
Clyde was currently doing the same thing as Lincoln as he answered. "Copy that! I'd totally give life a smooch if I wasn't saving my lips for Lori."
Lincoln made a gagging face to that comment before turning to the audience. "Clyde and I are going to see SMOOCH tonight, and not to make a big deal of it, but it's our FIRST CONCERT!" Lincoln threw his head back as he yelled the last part out. He went back to talking to Clyde. "Okay, Clyde, meet you at the ticket counter in T-minus one hour!"
"Ok, that'll give me time to work on my dance moves." Clyde then attempted to dance before tripping over himself. "Ugh!"
RispondiEliminaLincoln then left his room. After he closed the door, he then jumped at the site of all his sisters, except for Luna and Luan, standing in front of him. "Yah!" His sisters then pushed him back into his room before closing the door and blocking it.
"Simmer down and listen up!" Lisa demanded, giving Lincoln a serious look along with her other sisters.
"We overheard your conversation, and we're here to warn you." Lori stated.
"Do not let Luna know that you're going to your first concert. She'll insist on going with you!" Lola warned.
"What? Why?" Lincoln asked.
"I don't know, 'cause she's nuts?" Lynn answered before folding her arms in annoyance. "But she's done it to all of us."
"Yeah. And when she goes, she gets way too excited and literally ruins everything. There was my first Boyz Will Be Boyz concert." Lori recalled when Luna, bored of the performance, tried to hype up the crowd which resulted in her knocking someone's drink onto a control panel, killing the lights and ruining the performance.
"And our first Blarney the Dinosaur concert." Lola recalled when Luna attempted to crowd surf despite the crowd being way to young to even attempt to carry her.
"And my first opera." Lisa recalled when Luna had gone up on stage and tried to do a stage dive, resulting in her landing on the orchestra.
After hearing his sisters' stories, Lincoln was starting to get worried. "Oh man. I can't let Luna find out about SMOOCH."
Lori gave Lincoln a confident look. "Don't worry. We can get you out without her knowing."
"Guys, I am not getting in one of Lucy's coffins again."
"That won't be necessary." Lisa then walked over to one of Lincoln's posters. She lifted it up to reveal an emergency cord behind it. She pulled it which caused an inflatable slide to appear outside of Lincoln's window. "Please keep your arms and legs inside at all times."
The sisters then moved in to help Lincoln out before he stopped them. "Wait! Are you sure Luna will want to get involved? I mean lately she's been kinda...you know?"
The sisters then had a look of concern as they were reminded of the state Luna had been in recently. Lori sighed. "Well, you can never be too sure so..." Lincoln's sisters then assisted Lincoln in getting out the window so he could slide down and leave without anyone noticing.
...
Lincoln and Clyde had both made it to the mall. Lincoln was just finishing explaining the situation to his friend as the two approached the line to buy the tickets. "It's all taken care of. Luna will never know about the concert."
Lincoln then heard a familiar voice come from the line. "Yo, bro! I saved you a spot in line!" Luna then signaled where she was with some rock on signs. To Lincoln's surprise, Rick was also there, signalling some rock on signs while sticking his tongue out. His hair was currently slicked back as he was now wearing a blue undershirt with a pair of black leather pants along with some spiked wristbands and a collar around his neck.
Lincoln approached the two apprehensively with Clyde following behind. "Luna? How did you know about the concert?"
Luna smiled, hyped up about joining her bro on his first concert. "You kiddin' me?! When it comes to music, I know all."
Lincoln then turned to Rick. "And why are you here?"
Rick was just as hyped as Luna. "The hell do you think I'm doing here, Lincoln? I'm here for some mother effin SMOOCH!" Rick raised his hand up in a rock on sign as he shouted to the line. "Can I get a hell yeah?"
The line cheered as some of them held up rock on signs in return. Clyde looked uncomfortable as he turned to Lincoln. "Kinda wished you told me your grandpa was so...foul mouthed."
RispondiEliminaLuna then grabbed Lincoln's shoulders and started to shake him. "So, are you ready for me to show you how to have the greatest first concert ever?"
"Well, I, uh..."
Luna didn't bother letting Lincoln answer. "AWESOME! First up, something has to be done about your duds." Luna pointed to what the two boys were wearing. Lincoln and Clyde glanced at each other before giving Luna a blank look. "Your threads, man." They still gave her a blank look. "Wow. Your clothes, dude."
"I think we're fine." Lincoln argued.
About five minutes later, Lincoln and Clyde were dressed up in SMOOCH attire. Both had face paint and lipstick on while Lincoln was wearing a long, black haired wig. "So much better." Luna stated, content with their appearance.
Lincoln started to freak out. "There's no zipper. What if I need to pee?"
"You'll be having too much fun to pee!" Luna stated confidently. "Now, let's see your rock pose." The two boys glanced at each other before Clyde got down on to the floor and curled up into a ball. "Uh...what's that?" Luna asked, confused.
"My rock pose." Clyde answered. "I'm igneous."
Luna shook her head. "No, dudes. I mean, throw up the goats, like this!" She threw her arms up with both hands doing the rock on sign. "YEAH!" She stopped and turned back to the boys. "You try."
"Yeah, uh..." Both boys then attempted to copy her but neither put any actual effort into it.
"We'll work on it later. Now, let's see your dance moves." Luna pointed to them.
"I can't dance." Clyde stated.
"What?! Everybody can dance, man!" Luna then started dancing herself. "You just have to feel the music and move yo booty!"
"Whoa!" As she was swaying her hips, she then accidentally bumped Lincoln, causing him to bump into a snowcone cart. This in turn, caused some ice to drop out of the cart and fall down into Lincoln's pants, causing him to move around like crazy from the frost.
Luna thought he was simply dancing. "That's it, Lincoln!" She then got out her accoustic guitar. "Come on, everybody. Pre-show sing along! Sing it with me!"
Lincoln quickly got the ice out of his pants before he ran up to Luna with his hands held out. "Luna! Please, just stop!"
"W-What's wrong? I'm just trying to make your first concert unforgettable, bro." Luna was starting to look sheepish.
Lincoln was looking frustrated. "All you're doing is embarrassing me! Our sisters warned me about you."
Luna was starting to shrink back. "What are you talking about?"
"They said you ruined all their first concerts, just like you're ruining mine now." Lincoln ranted, throwing his arms up for emphasis.
"...I see." Luna closed her eyes and lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry bro. Seems like ruining things is all I'm good at these days.
Seeing Luna return to the depressive state she had been in recently, Lincoln started to regret snapping at her. "Wait, no, I shouldn't have-"
Luna held out her hand out to stop him. "No, you're right. You'd have a better time without me there. I'll just leave you be." She then raised her voice for the line. "Goodnight, Royal Woods Mall. Luna Loud has left the building..." She made her way out of the mall, dragging her guitar behind her on the floor.
Rick looked concerned as he watched Luna leave. He then gave Lincoln a pointed look. "Geez, what the hell, Lincoln. She was just trying to get you to have fun is all. Y-You didn't need to act like that!"
RispondiElimina"I-I didn't mean-hey wait!" Lincoln raised his eyebrow at Rick. "So then why aren't you going after her?"
Rick then gestured to what he was wearing. "Because I didn't dress myself up like this just to not get tickets, Lincoln!" Rick left out the part where he was planning to buy a ticket for Luna anyway.
Both of them then noticed Clyde was back on the floor, curled up into a ball again. "Clyde, what are you doing?" Lincoln asked.
"My rock pose." Clyde answered. "I don't like confrontations."
The three then noticed the line moving without them. "Clyde! Line's moving!" Lincoln exclaimed before the three then tried to get back in line.
"Hey! No cuts, kid!" A man called out, stopping them from getting in front of them.
"But that was our spot!" Lincoln argued.
Rick got mad at the man. "Hey, you do realise we were standing in front of you a minute ago right?"
"Too bad, you shouldn't have moved then." The man replied.
Rick then flipped the man off. "Yeah well, up yours pal!"
The three then resigned themselves to waiting in the back of line. Eventually, it was their turn to get to the ticket counter.
"WE MADE IT!" Lincoln shouted in relief.
"Sorry, boys. SMOOCH is officially sold out." The vendor stated before putting up a sold out sign and closing the booth.
"Nooooooooo!" Lincoln and Clyde both shouted dramatically.
Lincoln became downtrodden. "I can't believe we didn't get SMOOCH tickets."
Rick slammed his fist on the counter. "The hell is this? W-We're the last customers and you just happened to be sold out now? What is this bullshit?"
As Rick ranted, the two boys then heard a man in a trench coat whisper to them from around a corner. "Psst, hey, kid. Did I hear you say you needed SMOOCH tickets?" The man held out a pair of tickets.
The boys ran up to him looking hopeful. "Yes! Two, please!" Lincoln asked.
The two then gave the man their money before receiving their tickets.
"WE'RE IN!" Lincoln and Clyde proclaimed, raising their arms and making rock on signs before both of them were handcuffed.
"You're in, alright. Incarcerated!" The man said, pointing at them.
"Are those good seats?" Clyde asked, oblivious to what was happening.
The man then revealed a mall cop badge. "Buying scalped tickets is illegal. Let's go, hooligans."
Rick had overheard what was happening and ran up to the mall cop. "Hey, hey, what the hell's happening here? Did you just arrest two kids after baiting them with tickets?"
"So you were supposed to be supervising them while they were doing illegal activity?" The mall cop accused.
Rick gave the mall cop a confused look. "...what?"
RispondiElimina...
The three of them were now locked up in the mall's jail. Lincoln and Clyde were now back in their normal attire. "For the record, this mall sucks." Rick stated before going into a corner where it looked like he was working on something.
"Well, might as well practice my dancing." Clyde said before poorly attempting to dance again.
The three were also in a cell with their neighbour, Scoots. An elderly woman with short gray hair, wearing a turquoise hat with a pink flower on it, a white sweater, beige pants, white sneakers, and black sunglasses. She was riding around on a red scooter. "Oh, give it up, kid. My hip can pop and lock better than you." Scoots said to Clyde.
"Pipe down, Scoots, or I'll add disorderly conduct to your speeding charge." The overweight mall cop captain with a grey moustache watching over the cell warned her.
Clyde gave up. "I still can't dance, Lincoln."
"What does it matter?" Lincoln's shoulders slumped. "We're not going to the concert, anyway."
Lincoln then heard a familiar voice. "Yo, little Loud! What are you doing here?"
Lincoln turned towards the voice. "Bobby? What are you doing here?"
Bobby was currently dressed up in uniform, holding a bucket of fried chicken. "This is my new job. Lori loves a man in uniform, plus, I'm learning a ton about police work." Bobby then walked over to the mall cop captain's desk and handed him the bucket. "Here are those chicken samples you wanted from the food court, captain."
"Great work, Santiago. Now, go do a stakeout at Wok of Art. I think they're giving out egg rolls." The captain ordered.
Bobby tipped his cap. "Right away, boss." Bobby left as the captain then helped himself to the chicken.
A while later, the captain then called out. "Boys, your mom's here!"
"What?" Lincoln and Clyde both exclaimed, surprised at who they saw. It wasn't their mom, it was Luna wearing a disguise of Lincoln's mother.
Luna tried doing an impression of her mom. "Oh, my babies!" Luna then winked at the two boys.
Both of them came up to the front of the cell. "Luna? I mean, Mom?"
Luna came up to them to whisper to them. "You're lucky I answered the phone when the fuzz called, bro." She resumed impersonating her mom. "Officer, I'll take it from here."
The captain got out his keys. "Yes, ma'am. Right away, ma'am."
Bobby then returned, holding a plate of steaks. "Your steaks, captain."
Luna got nervous and looked away, hoping Bobby wouldn't recognise her. "What the heck are you talking about? Where are my egg rolls, son?" The captain asked, irritated.
"You said to do a 'steak-out', so-" Bobby then noticed Luna. "Hey, Luna!"
"You know their mother?" The captain asked.
"That's not their mother. That's his sister. Nice wig, by the way." Bobby complimented.
"WIG?!" The captain snapped. Luna giggled nervously in response.
"Oh, snap." Scoots remarked.
RispondiElimina...
Luna, no longer wearing her disguise, was now in the cell, sitting in between Lincoln and Clyde. Luna sighed. "Looks like I messed up again."
"I can't believe you came back for us." Lincoln remarked.
Luna closed her eyes. "Wasn't much point though was there. I just ruined things as usual. Sorry for going crazy earlier by the way. I thought maybe that if I tried to give you an awesome first concert, maybe it'd make up for the horrible thing I did.
"Horrible thing?" Clyde asked.
Lincoln then realised Clyde really shouldn't hear this. "Oh, sorry Clyde. This is kind of a private family matter so..."
"I hear you loud and clear." Clyde then got up and walked up to a corner. He then plugged his ears in with his fingers.
Lincoln then noticed Scoots. "Umm..."
"Hey, I ain't no snitch! I don't care what you've done." Scoots told him.
Lincoln shrugged before putting a hand on Luna's shoulders. "Luna, you know none of us hold a grudge over what happened right?"
"Luan does." Luna argued as she lowered her head. "Not that I can blame her. If I'm honest, I don't really deserve Sam."
Lincoln sighed. "I know Luan's still upset but I think she'll get over it eventually. It's like Grandpa Rick said. None of us really lost anything. As far as this world and Sam are concerned, you never did anything. And you've already realised what you did was wrong so why keep beating yourself up over it?"
Luna raised her head and looked at Lincoln. She wasn't entirely convinced she should forgive herself just yet but after what Lincoln said, she decided it'd be best not to let it get her down anymore. At least for now. She smiled softly. "Thanks bro. You know, I've been thinking about what you said. And you and the girls are right. I do get a little crazy when it comes to first concerts."
"Why are they so important to you?" Lincoln asked.
"'Cause my first rock show...changed my life." Luna confessed as she recalled the night of her first concert.
...
In the summer of Luna's seventh grade, a younger Luna, unsure of the kind of person she wanted to be, sat in the audience for 'The Gimme Swelter Tour', waiting for Mick Swagger and his band to perform. Back then, Luna had longer hair and wore a purple dress with white earrings. She wasn't too sure how she'd feel about this concert. Up until then, she had only played classical music and had only decided to go due to a suggestion from her parents. Though admittedly, she was a little curious anyway.
Eventually, Mick Swagger took to the stage and started to sing.
It was a hot June night
When she saw the light
Luna found her self tapping her feet to the song. She was surprised to find that she was getting into it.
Up until then she didn't know what was right
She showed up at the show
All confused and alone
RispondiEliminaShe had no idea what was about to unfold
TRANSFORMATION
To Luna, listening to these lyrics made her feel like Mick Swagger was talking directly to her. Nothing she had heard before got to her in the way this song did.
A citizen of the rock and roll nation
Transformation
Total mutation
It all started to become clear for Luna. It was in that moment that she finally realised who she was and who she wanted to be. Luna Loud. "STAGE DIVE!" Luna shouted as she raised her hands to do rock signs and jumped into the crowd. She felt blessed as the crowd carried her off. The following day, Luna got a haircut, got some new threads, bought a guitar and the rest was history.
...
Back in the present, Lincoln looked at her in amazement. "Wow. I had no idea." Clyde had also come back to listen to the story as he was currently sitting next to Luna again.
Rick had also come up to listen to Luna's story. He whistled. "I'll say."
"I know it's only rock and roll, but I like it." Luna admitted.
"Hey, uh, by the way, I called in a couple friends to help bail us out." Rick told them.
Lincoln started to get worried. "Uh, what kind of friends?"
Rick smiled. "Oh, you'll see."
Everyone then heard a door open. The captain's eyes widened when he saw the two people standing there. One of them was a short orange cat-person with a tiny blue nose, a dark brown goatee, messy fur and whiskers. He has a naked tail with a brown tuft of hair on its tip. The other was a tall humanoid with bird-like features. He had two giant eagle wings with gray on the ends, that drape down along his back like a cape. He also wore yellow gloves, a red skirt, and yellow boots. He had a green, feathery helmet with white polka dots.
"Uhh..." The captain gaped at the two aliens. The bird like one then came up to the captain and delivered a swift karate chop to his head, knocking him out instantly. He then took the keys from him.
"He-hey, Squanchy! Birdperson! How's it going?" Rick greeted the two.
"Hey! What the squanch is up with you, Rick?" Squanchy greeted Rick back.
"Are you injured, Rick?" Birdperson asked monotonously.
"Nah, we're good." Rick replied.
Birdperson then unlocked the door to the cell. As soon as it was open, Scoots immediately drove off. "Adios."
The kids then exited the cell. Clyde's jaw had dropped at the site of them. Lincoln had previously told Clyde about their adventures with Rick though Clyde didn't really believe him. Seeing two aliens in person though, had blown Clyde's mind.
Meanwhile, Lincoln and Luna looked at the two aliens in amazement. Especially Birdperson. "Wow, are you some kind of superhero?" Lincoln asked.
"I have previously been referred to as such before, yes." Birdperson answered. "You must be Lincoln and Luna. Rick has told me many positive things about you."
RispondiEliminaThis surprised the siblings. "Really?" Lincoln asked.
"Yes. He-"
Before Birdperson could continue, he was interrupted by Squanchy, who had been rummaging through the captain's desk. "Hey, this guy's got some tickets to a concert." He held up six tickets to the SMOOCH concert. His eyes then widened as he spotted something else in the desk. "Oooooh." Rick then closed the desk before shaking his head at Squanchy.
"Six tickets? That's enough for all of us to see the show!" Lincoln announced.
Luna gave Lincoln a surprised look. "You sure you want me to come too, little brother?"
"It wouldn't be a first concert without Luna Loud." Luna smiled at that. "I'm sorry I said all those things in the ticket line."
Luna put her hand on Lincoln's shoulder. "It's cool, little bro. And don't worry. I promise to be on my best behave."
Rick then turned to his friends. "How about you guys?"
"Hell yeah, I'm down to squanch!" Squanchy replied.
Birdperson nodded. "I suppose it could be enjoyable."
"Uh, what about him?" Clyde asked, pointing towards the captain.
Rick shrugged. "Eh. Nothing a bit of memory wiping can't fix."
"Uhh..." Everyone then turned to see Bobby holding a shrimp platter, gaping at the site before him.
...
After Rick had dealt with Bobby, the group had made it to the SMOOCH concert. All of them were sat at the back row. Rick and Squanchy were stood up, rocking out while Birdperson was sat down, simply watching quietly. Meanwhile, Lincoln, Luna and Clyde were struggling to see past the other audience members. "I can't see a thing. Ugh. I thought my first concert was gonna be unforgettable." Lincoln lamented.
"It could be..." Luna looked down. "But I don't wanna interfere."
"No! Please! Interfere!" Lincoln pleaded.
Luna smirked. "Okay. First up, we gotta get to the front." She pointed towards where the band were playing.
Lincoln looked worried. "Whoa! I can't cut in front of all these people!"
"That's why they invented Crowd Surfing!"
"What?" Lincoln and Clyde both asked before Luna picked both of them up and tossed them over the crowd who then carried both of them towards the stage.
"WOO! THIS IS AWESOME!" Lincoln hollered.
Clyde wasn't quite as excited. "Careful, guys. Cradle the neck."
Once they reached the front, they were surprised to see Luna was already there. "Enjoy the ride, dudes?"
"Whoa! How did you get up here so fast?" Lincoln asked.
RispondiEliminaLuna folded her arms. "I have my ways. Now come on. Pose it like you chose it!" The three then raised their arms to make rock on signals as they jammed to the music. After noticing the three of them, the lead singer offered his hand to them, allowing them to join him on stage to rock out.
Lincoln turned to the audience while still rocking out. "Boy, did my sisters have it wrong about Luna. She's not nuts at all. She's just really passionate about the thing she loves. And in the words of my favorite band, sometimes you gotta..." Lincoln then sang along with the song. "grab life by the lips and give it a smooch!"
Luna put her hands on her hips with a satisfied look on her face. "That's my bro!"
"THANKS FOR MAKING MY FIRST CONCERT UNFORGETTABLE, LUNA!" Lincoln shouted.
Both of them then posed together. "ROCK AND ROLL!"
"WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB!" Rick shouted as he, along with Squanchy and Birdperson, were crowdsurfing.