21. Chapter 21

AN: I wrote a thing. But you probably realized that when you saw the chapter count go up. Also, just as a general sort of PSA thing, if you have questions about the story that you want answers to in a timely manner, the easiest way to get those answers would be to either PM them to me, or to ask them on the AO3 version of the story, which allows me to respond to comments without reviewing my own story like some kinda weirdo. If you leave questions in the form of a review, do so knowing that I won't be able to respond to them until I upload the next chapter. And even then, only if I remember there were questions to answer. Which, full disclosure, I have straight up forgotten about more than once :).

Fox Boss: Sure, hit me with it. Can't promise I'll write anything with it, my dance card is pretty full, but I like hearing story ideas.

NoSoul01: I'm going to say...no. I mean yeah, strictly speaking yandere is an archetype in the literary sense of the word. But insofar as Archetypes(capital 'A') work in this setting, I'm gonna say that it's not the sort of Archetype people would be born with. I mean, Ronnie's pretty tsundere in spite of the fact that it's not her archetype, so logical consistency would dictate that yandere isn't an Archetype. Also, it'd be weird if specific types of behavior were monopolized by an Archetype.

Chaosneobreakage: So right off the bat let me remind you that Archetypal is a collaborative work. And literally all of the stuff pertaining to Ronnie thus far has been written by my co-writer, LoudAutomata16. So if at any point you get angry about the way she's being treated in the story, remember to direct your angry reviews and PMs to him :)

As I said before, villainous archetypes have their places in the established system. Some of them are scarier than others, but society has countermeasures to deal with them. I suppose you could compare it to how something like, a lion, or a tiger is scary and deadly, and if you ran into one all by your lonesome, you'd be pretty screwed. But you don't live your life terrified of deadly animals because society has developed in a way that makes them a relative non-issue in your life. Lincoln's Archetype is something that's never been seen before in living memory, and that scares the hell out of people, because nobody knows what he's capable of, or what he could potentially become. Fear isn't a rational response, and fear of the unknown doubly so.

The younger girls don't know about Lincoln's Archetype. Just his parents and the older sisters. But that's an interesting reaction, and one that would be in character for Lola. Duly noted.

Also remember that we don't write the tvtropes page :). That's being written by really dedicated fans of the story, and what's written there just represents their interpretations of the story. Auto and I could go and fix things we don't agree with, of course, but that seem like a slippery slope to go down. And personally I think it s a lot more fun to see the story through other people's eyes.

Last I checked they removed the Chick Magnet trope from the page. Because, as the story establishes early on, you are born with an Archetype. While it can take some time for characteristics of an Archetype to manifest, you don't suddenly become a different person just because you've been indexed.

The "Adaptational Curves" thing is a little harder to answer. Loud House has a really simple art style, and physical characteristics can't really be taken at face value. For example, Lori's literally like, twice as tall as Lincoln. As a middle schooler, and assuming he's around five feet tall (I myself was closer to 6 at his age), that would mean that Lori would be about 10 feet tall, and their parents even more gigantic. And that's not even getting into weird stuff like Maggie being the same age as Lynn but looking nothing like her or the other girls their age, and also whatever the heck Boris is supposed to be. Lori and Leni are clearly established to be canonically attractive and they're drawn with visible curves, so in my stories I tend to depict them as being fairly shapely. Lori is particularly curvaceous in this story because she's modeled after Power Girl. Likewise with Carol, who I typically depict with a similar body type to Lori in my stories, and who is modeled after Wonder Woman here.

Auto has plans for Ronnie, that's all I'm going to say on the matter. But if you'd take a look at his own profile, I think you'd see that he's not exactly anti-Ronnie. So let him do his thing :)

"Alright, alright." Luna chuckled, giving Lincoln one last squeeze before releasing him from their embrace. Lincoln began to follow suit, but rather than letting him go entirely, Luna allowed her hands to linger on his shoulders.

"Hang on." She murmured, stooping down so that their faces were more or less level. "Lemme have a look at you."

Lincoln wasn't quite certain how he was supposed to react, so he stood ramrod still as the older girl began to look him over, humming to herself all the while. At one point she leaned closer than before, her face brushing against his as she peered over his shoulder, and Lincoln's nose wrinkled as a strange scent wafted over him. Some kind of perfume, he assumed, presumably from her brand. It wasn't unpleasant by any means, just unexpected. Even as a hard rocking ragamuffin, nobody could ever accuse Luna Loud of being unfeminine (especially if they wanted to walk straight for the foreseeable future), but perfume had never been his sister's style. The demands of needing to maintain a public image, he supposed. His musings came to an end as Luna finally seemed to have completed her inspection, finally surrendering her grip on him as she stood up straight.

"Lookin' good, lil bro!" Luna proclaimed, giving him a thumbs up. "You get more grown up every time I see you. I bet the ladies must be hanging all over you by now."

"C-come on, Luna." He protested, feeling an embarrassed blush coming on. "You know that's not true." Still, even knowing that earning his sister's approval wasn't an especially high bar, Lincoln found himself standing a little straighter.

"Uh uh." Luna replied noncommittally, a knowing smile on her face. Then she turned her attention past him. "And what are you doing hanging back there, Lori? Get over here and get in on this!"

FOOM

An explosion of wind was the only warning Lincoln received as Lori suddenly appeared between him and Luna. The elder girl snatched up her siblings, one in each arm, and spun around, lifting them off the ground as she hugged them close to her.

"Welcome back, little sister." Said Lori, smiling warmly as she placed her siblings on the ground once more. Lincoln steeled himself as his feet touched the ground, determined not to reveal how dizzy the short trip had made him.

"Right back at you, big sis." Luna smiled back, seeming no worse for wear.

"Luna! I hear hugging but I don't feel hugging! Pass some of that my way, would you?"

All three Louds exchanged glances. Some more amused with the fallen idol's antics than others.

"Which reminds me." Lori interjected, her face the very definition of nonplussed. "I was expecting the two of you to arrive together. What happened there."

"We did arrive together." Luna replied, rolling her eyes. "But..."

"Now Sam..." Luna began, briefly glancing over to make sure her girlfriend was listening before returning her eyes to the road. "I know your really eager to see Li—I mean my family again..."

"Nice save Lunes." Sam said, giving Luna an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"But we've got a van here full of expensive equipment. And since corporate needed an unreasonable amount of time to get us a moving crew—"

"They said they needed an hour. And that was before our plane had even landed!"

"That's what I said." Luna growled, shooting the blonde a quick glare. "So before we run off to greet...the fam, we've gotta unload this stuff first. You got me?"

"Of course, babe."

"I'm serious, Sam. Do not run off and leave me to unload the friggin van all by myself!"

"Can't wait to find out how that turned out." Lori said, dryly.

"Well, let's see." Luna slid past her siblings and stepped over to Sam, who was now lying on her back, comfortably reclining with her hands clasped behind her head.

"Sam?" Luna asked, nudging the blonde with her boot. "What did I tell you not to do?"

"Run off and leave you unload the van all by yourself." Sam immediately replied.

"What what did you end up doing?"

"Ran off and left you to—oh, ho!" Sam cut herself off, chuckling with amusement. "You almost got me."

"Right." Luna muttered, rolling her eyes. "Almost." She turned back to her siblings. "So yeah, that's why it took me a bit longer."

"Shoot." Lori frowned slightly. "Wish I'd known Luna, I could have taken care of that for you."

"Eh." Luna shrugged indifferently. "It's all good. Got our stuff squirreled away in the garage. So now..." She reached out and pulled Lincoln close, affectionately tousling the boy's hair. "Now I can catch up with our little bro. Least, if that's cool with you, Linc."

"That'd be awesome!" Lincoln exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.

"And on that note..." Lori interjected, glancing at a nearby clock. "I've got to get back to work." She started to turn away but stopped, hesitating. "Luna, please tell me you're still the responsible one. "

"That...depends." Luna's eyes darted back and forth. "You guys get any calls from the record company within the last couple of days?"

Lori blinked in surprise. "No?"

"Then yes." Luna declared, patting Lincoln's shoulder for emphasis. "Between Sam and I, I'm the responsible one."

"I...feel like I'm missing some context here." Lori replied, sighing softly. "But I really need to go. So if you guys are going to hang out with Lincoln, please keep an eye on Sam. I know she likes to tease him, but..." Lori trailed off, her eyes narrowing as she frowned at the girl who was currently doing her best impression of a throw rug. "She takes her jokes way too far."

"Heh. Yeah, that Sam." Luna replied, laughing nervously. "S-such a kidder."

"Okay then." Lori leaned down and pulled Lincoln into a side hug. "I'll be heading off then. Lincoln, give me a call if you need me and I'll be right there."

"I will, Lori." Lincoln chuckled, returning the hug. Lori preened, clearly delighted. Then her expression turned serious again.

"No, seriously, Lincoln. If anything happens, call for me. I mean it."

FOOM

A familiar explosion of wind exploded outward, the kind that normally announced the heroine's departure, but by all appearances she hadn't moved an inch.

"See that?" Lori asked, lips curling upward into a slight smirk. "I literally just flew there and came back. All you need to do is—" Lori suddenly winced and began gingerly began massaging her ear. "Whoops, Carol sounds mad. Alright, gotta go. Bye guys!"

FOOM

More turbulence, but this time Lori was actually gone.

"Alright." Luna said once several moments had passed without the eldest Loud sibling reappearing. "Now why don't we..." She trailed off, blinking in surprise as she peered down at Lincoln. Then, Luna reached into her pocket and produced a purple handkerchief decorated with a large, stylized LL logo.

"Here, lil' bro. You look like you need some toweling off."

"Oh." Lincoln reached up, feeling a sizeable damp spot that was now on his cheek. "Weird. Wonder how that got there."

"Sam, quit playing around and get up already." Luna ordered. To Lincoln's surprise, the blonde kicked swung her legs up in the air, then, with a powerful jerk of her hips, she propelled herself up off the ground and landed lightly on her feet. From lying flat on her back to a standing position, all without using her hands. Dutifully, Lincoln directed some light applause her way.

"A-thank you." Sam said, bowing deeply.

"So..." She prompted, turning to Luna while discretely reaching one hand towards Lincoln. "Now that the cat's away, how shalt the mice play?"

"Bad." Luna replied, slapping Sam's hand away. Nevertheless, she slipped one arm around Lincoln's shoulders and gently pulled him towards herself. "As for our plans...hmm."

Luna consulted a nearby clock. "We're gonna need to kill some time first, but I think Plan C is gonna be our best bet."

"Really? I get why Plan A is off the table, but why are we skipping the B-series? I was gonna call up my fireworks guy so we could do B-23!"

"The B-series was in case we had to, uh..." Luna's gaze briefly slid towards Lincoln. "Secure the package."

"You guys having trouble with your mail?" Lincoln asked innocently. Two pairs of eyes locked, one silently imploring the other to remain silent.

"Absolutely." Sam chimed in. "You wouldn't believe how much trouble we've had with our male over the years. You should see how frustrated Luna gets when—"

"That's enough, Sam." Luna growled. The Sharp girl's grin only broadened, her eyes sparkling with mischief. However, before she could continue—

"Hey, Stinkoln!" Lynn's voice floated down the stairs. "Where'd you go?" Two pairs of eyes locked more, this time united in purpose.

"Plan Q?" Sam asked, her voice low.

"We don't have a Plan Q." Luna hissed, rolling her eyes. "Linc, is Luan home?"

"Nnnnoooo?" Lincoln replied, concentrating. "Pretty sure she's taking care of a ghost on the other side of town. Think she said it'd take all day."

"Good." Luna turned her attention back to the blonde. "Sam, do your thing. Then we'll hole up in my room for a while."

"Woohoo!" Sam cheered, fumbling around in her jacket pocket. "I love doing my thing!"

"Uh..." Lincoln looked worriedly to Luna. "What exactly is it that she—"

"Improvised smoke bomb!" Sam shouted flinging a small cylindrical object up the stairs.

foop

Which was followed by a rather subdued sounding detonation a few moments later. Were it not for the thick tendrils of smoke that began to snake their way downstairs, Lincoln would have assumed that the whole affair was a weird, practical joke of some kind—

"Aaaaah! There's smoke in my everything! And complaining about it is only making things worse!"

—but Lynn's wails of agony sounded real enough.

"That was a...nice, smoke bomb. Sam." Lincoln said, hesitantly.

"Perks of being a rock star." Sam replied, preening at the praise. "You get access to some really good special effects stuff. Now then..." Sam stepped a little closer to Lincoln. "Last one to Luna's room is Luna!"

"What's that—" Luna's query was cut off as Sam hoisted Lincoln on her shoulders and began leaping up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Sam! Get back here!" Luna roared, chasing after the pair.

"Until your speakers blooooooow...OUT!" Luna bellowed, shredding one final arrangements of chords on her guitar. For a time, all that could be heard were the echoing sounds of her final verse intermingling with the ghostly wailing of her guitar, underscored by her heavy, exhausted breathing. Finally, Luna got enough of her breath back to render judgement.

"That...SUCKED!" She roared, impotently kicking at a nearby amp. She wasn't crazy enough to actually connect with the very expensive piece of equipment, but the action alone somewhat therapeutic.

"...What if we changed the song to 'Play it Sharp?'" Asked Sam, somewhat fresher of face and modest in build than her modern incarnation.

"Because that doesn't make any sense!"

"It would if we played the entire song in sharps!"

"HOW could that possibly—" Luna shuddered violently, trying to rein in her emotions. The pair had been wracking their minds over this conundrum for days now, and tensions were a little high. She had to remind herself that while smacking Sam upside her head with her own base would probably feel immensely satisfying for a few seconds, the long term consequences vastly outweighed the short term benefits. However enticing those might seem. Besides, deep down she knew Sam wasn't the cause of her ire. The issue was much simpler than that, and had been staring her in the face for some time now. The truth was—

"I don't think we're ready for this." Luna confessed, her shoulders slumping as she finally voiced the concern she'd been pushing down. Apparently she wasn't alone, as her girlfriend's face was overtaken by a similar melancholy.

"W-we could take it from the top again?" Sam suggested, weakly. As if they hadn't been doing that exact thing, over and over again.

"I don't think that's going to help, Sam." Luna said, shaking her head. "It's the same song as it was when we started this thing. I just...I just don't think we're ready for the Battle of the Bands."

"So..." The blonde swallowed hard. "So what do you wanna do, Lunes?"

Quit. That seemed like the easy, and obvious answer. Months ago when they'd first signed up for this contest, it seemed like a no-brainer. They were going to crush their competition with little effort, earning their burgeoning act both fame and a sweet record deal. It felt like they couldn't loose. But the closer the big day came, the more she'd begun to doubt herself. And now it was the eve of the competition, and the song just didn't sound right. It couldn't be their playing, right? They'd practiced this thing endlessly, already well worn guitar playing fingers growing only more and more calloused as both girls more and more of themselves into their playing. The only reasonable explanation, it seemed was that the song itself was bad. And since she'd been the one who wrote the song, well...

"I..." Luna trailed off, sighing deeply. "I really don't know, Sam."

The silence was palpable. For two girls who immersed themselves in their work so much that everything was a song just waiting to happen, the dead air that now surrounded them was terrifying. For a few, brief moments, Luna entertained the possibility that this was her reality now. No notes, no rhythm, just emptiness.

"...Play it again!"

Luna started in surprise as a tiny voice cut through the fugue that had engulfed her. She blinked, vision suddenly blurred by tears she hadn't realized she was shedding, trying to find the source of the—

clap

There. That sound she heard not just with her ears, but also with her heart.

clap

Two tiny hands, beating together with great enthusiasm. The sound that could draw a smile from her, even when she was at her lowest.

"Play it again, Luna!" Shouted her little brother, clapping enthusiastically from his seat only a short distance away from their little makeshift stage. "Keep going! I wanna hear it again!"

Luna snorted, equal parts amused and embarrassed by Lincoln's antics. The kid was terrible as a critic, he ended up insisting everything they played was his favorite song. And yet...

"What do you say, Sam?" She asked, her smile broadening as she caught her girlfriend furiously wiping away at her own eyes.

"W-well, its a request from a fan, right?" Sam replied, a grin spreading across her face. "We've always said you can't disappoint your fans, right?"

"True. Though..." Luna giggled as she glanced back at Lincoln, still cheering his heart out. "You realize he might be the only one. Like, ever. Right?"

"I think I can live with that." Sam chortled, giving her bass a strum, the warm sound resonating outward, coloring the stage with their presence. "Quality over quantity, right?"

"Absolutely." Luna nodded, grinning fiercely as she laid hands upon her guitar once more. "A one! A two! A one, two, three—!"