The Science Fair

"Would it be cheating if I asked Lisa for help?" Lincoln asked Clyde as they waited in line for the signup sheet.

"Probably, but most kids get help from their parents, so it's not like you'll be the only one," Clyde said. "Besides, it doesn't affect our grade. Heck, I'm just entering for a chance to mess with the judges."

"Mess with the judges? How are you going to do that?" Lincoln asked.

Clyde adjusted his glasses and smiled. "I'm going to do one of those displays that show inherited traits and I'm going to have a sidebar with pictures of me and my Dads and a list of traits I inherited from both of them!"

Lincoln blinked. "But you can't inherit genes from both your Dads, only the biological one."

Clyde's eyes teared up and his lower lip trembled. "You mean… I'm adopted?!" He tried to keep up the act while Lincoln started panicking, but he couldn't keep a straight face and burst out laughing.

Lincoln almost collapsed in relief when he realized it was a joke. "You are a cruel man, Clyde."

Clyde grinned evilly. "It's going to be hilarious."

"Of that, I have no doubt," Lincoln said as they reached the front of the line and signed up.

"So, what are you planning?" Clyde asked.

"I'll talk to Lisa and see what she thinks," Lincoln said as they collected their stuff and waited for the final bell to ring, releasing them from school.

"I'm sure she'll have a lot of great ideas," Clyde said. "And a lot of terrifying ones," he added after a moment's thought.

"Very true," Lincoln agreed.

The bell rang and the school emptied, kids flooding the halls and rushing out the door. Lincoln tried to swim against the flow to reach his locker, but found himself swept outside with the current.

Lynn hooked an arm around him as soon as she spotted him and drug him out of the sea of schoolchildren. "Come on Lincoln, you're helping me practice today!"

"I am?" he asked as she dragged him off.

"You are," she agreed cheerfully.

"Ok, and what am I helping you practice?" Lincoln asked, pulling himself free from her grasp and swinging his bag onto his back.

"A new soccer idea I had," Lynn said excitedly. "I'm gonna have you kick like half a dozen different types of ball while I defend the net, that way I have no idea what's coming my way and I'll have to think on my feet!"

"Why not have Lana help you?" Lincoln asked. "Cause that sounds right up her alley, she's trying to become the kickball champ of the elementary school and she'd enjoy the practice."

"You kick harder, but it is important to encourage our younger sibs," Lynn said. "OK, it's decided. You won't be bouncing balls off my face today, we'll give that honor to Lana."

"Excellent, because I have to figure out what to do for the science fair," Lincoln explained.

"Baking soda volcano," Lynn said. "I know you like to do your own thing, but we've got it down to a science! The model volcano is in the attic, it guarantees at least an honorable mention."

"As the first boy, I am already breaking with tradition, what's one more?" he joked.

"First?" Lynn asked. "Don't you mean only?"

"I don't know… You know how our parents are," Lincoln pointed out.

"You best prepare for a roomie then," Lynn said, while trying to figure out if their Mom had been gaining weight.

"You think they'll put the new baby in with me?" Lincoln asked.

"No, but the most likely arrangement is going to bump me to room with Leni and there's no way I'm going through that!" Lynn declared.

"My room isn't that big and you drove me nuts last time you slept over," Lincoln had to point out.

"I am thinking a loft bed, the type with a smaller top bunk," Lynn explained.

"I could be hitting puberty any day now," Lincoln warned.

"I know, we all got the speech," she reminded him. "Lisa even gave the genetics lecture."

"There is a two percent chance of genetic malformation as compared to the one percent chance with a complete stranger," Lincoln quoted.

"The percentage can be reduced to half a percent if you marry a fourth cousin," Lynn added, "but societal pressures frown on marrying family, thus you have to put up with a full percentage."

"Smoking and having a child in your mid-forties carries the same chance of genetic damage, so avoid those as well," Lincoln finished.

"I don't care what her probability tables say," Lynn said, shaking her head, "I'm pretty sure you aren't going to be knockin' boots with a sib, much less knockin' one of us up."

"Her charts included a list of situations where it was likely to occur," Lincoln reminded her. "Apparently we should not go on a cruise and get marooned on an island together."

"I could totally pull off a coconut bra, I don't care what Leni says," Lynn said with a smirk.

"Well there goes my plan to enter a radio contest to win a trip for two for your birthday," Lincoln said, snickering.

"Think catcher's mitt," Lynn suggested.

"I'll make a note," Lincoln promised. "Anyway, I wasn't referring to that, I was pointing out that as a boy going through puberty, I'm going to need a lot of time to myself."

"I don't spend that much time in my room," Lynn argued, "so that shouldn't be a problem."

"Point," he agreed. "Ok, if Mom's pregnant, you can share my room."

"Cool," Lynn said, as they walked up the steps to their house. "Catch you later, I have work to do."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Lincoln paused as he took in the condition of the kitchen. Someone had been making pies and a quick glance in the trash confirmed they were banana crème pies, meaning Luan was lurking somewhere in the house and if the tube of frosting was anything to go by, she had a pie with someone's name on it!

"I used to just accept a pie in the face because it'd make her happy, but Luan is a perfectionist and her pies have been getting better and better," Lincoln licked his lips. "I was looking for an after-school snack and Luan's pie would certainly hit the spot, but how to get it?"

Lincoln racked his brain as he idly looked around the kitchen, suddenly freezing as he noticed there was an extra pie pan lying out and there was some whipped crème left…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Luan peeked around the corner and then pulled back. She had heard someone downstairs, but they hadn't come upstairs yet. The banana crème pie sitting on the stool next to her had 'to whom it may concern' written on it in icing.

Creeping up behind her, was her white haired younger brother, a pie tin filled with whipped crème in his hand.

Luan wiggled in place, keeping herself limber and ready to act at a moment's notice, the floor boards squeaking under her feet as she shifted her weight.

Lincoln timed his movements to match her's, almost as if the two were dancing together.

When Luan began to hum a song to herself and Lincoln found himself humming along with her, there was no more 'almost' about it.

"Oh, don't you dare look back," Lincoln sang with her as he realized she'd known he was there the whole time.

"Just keep your eyes on me," she sang, scooping up the pie and spinning around with a great big smile on her face.

"You're holding back," he continued, rushing forward.

"Shut up and dance with me!" she finished as they both swung.

*Splat!*

"Was it good for you?" Luan teased as she wiped off her face and laughed.

Lincoln couldn't help but laugh along with her. "Yeah, I totally creamed you!"

"Good one!" Luan complimented him. "Got time to hear some of my latest material?"

"Wish I could but I need to talk to Lisa about the science fair," he replied, accepting a towel from the punniest Loud and helping her clean up the mess.

"Decided it wouldn't be 'fair' to use the Loud Lava Launcher?" Luan alliterated.

"If I want better than an honorable mention, I need to do something new. You can't perform at your best using old material all the time," he explained.

Luan nodded. "I hear ya. Just remember, working with Lisa has its own hazards."

"Eh," he shrugged, unconcerned, "if our future selves don't travel back in time to stop us, how bad a decision could it be?"

Luan laughed. "Good one!"

*Boom!*

"Well from the sound of the explosion, Lisa will have some time to talk while she cleans up the debris, so I'll catch your act later," he said.

"Have fun, brominator," she said, collecting the pie tins to take to the kitchen.

Humming the same song once more they headed in opposite directions.

He didn't bother knocking, knowing Lisa would be half deaf from the explosion for at least a little while.

Lisa was briefly surprised as she saw Lincoln help her restore her room and straighten the furniture back up but quickly recovered. "Greetings my favorite assistant, thanks for the assistance," she lisped loudly, her ears still ringing.

Lincoln merely gave her a thumbs up and waited till everything was back in order and Lisa had put in some eardrops to say, "I need your help on the science fair."

Lisa smiled broadly. "I did not expect this, but it is welcome. What is driving your need to excel at this time?"

Lincoln shrugged. "I like to try new things and I wouldn't mind having a trophy I actually earned, or partially earned since this is a team effort, for once."

"I approve," Lisa said. "Do you have any idea what your project should be about?"

"I was thinking something simple but useful, like an easy to make muscle reader." Seeing she was confused, he explained, "Something that can send a signal when you flex a muscle a certain way."

Lisa's eyes lit up. "That branch of technological research has been of great importance to the development of proper prosthesis."

"I was thinking of using it to trigger fake Wolverine claws," Lincoln admitted, a bit embarrassed.

"The development of implantable technology is no less important," Lisa assured him. "We could hardly develop cyborgs without it."

Lincoln perked up. "So, you'll help me?"

"Of course," Lisa replied, already getting excited about the many possibilities this field of study offered.

A pinpoint of light blossomed in the middle of the room, slowly growing into a blinding white sphere that crackled with power and blew all the loose paper in the room. The sphere popped with an inconspicuous ping, revealing two familiar looking individuals just a few years older than the current pair.

"No cyborgs?" Lisa guessed.

"Not using our current knowledge of AIs," the older Lisa replied.

"Why am I bald?" Lincoln asked his teenage self. "Radiation?"

Teen Lincoln grinned. "Keep an eye out for an anime called One Punch Man, it rocks!"

Both Lisas sighed and removed their glasses to clean them.

"Are you guys going to vanish now?" Lincoln asked.

"Time travel breaks causality," older Lisa explained. "I'm afraid we are here to stay. I'll see what resources I can scrounge up to help cover the cost for our housing," Older Lisa promised her younger self.

"No need," Teen Lincoln replied, "I memorized some lottery numbers and stocks before we came back."

"I told you not to do that," Older Lisa complained. "The risks are too high!"

Older Lincoln shook his head. "Sharing that information could cause problems, but it's no more potentially dangerous than what we already know and we can use the resources."

"I hadn't thought of that," the two small scientists chorused.

"If you don't memorize the lottery numbers before you come back, you don't deserve to have a time machine," the Lincolns chorused.

"We should go," the older Lisa said, "our presence could seriously disrupt your home life and there is limited room for a second lab anyway."

"Keep me posted on your location," Lisa said, "I'll be sure to send any others of us who show up to wherever you decide to go."

The older Lisa sighed. "Yes, it is highly probably that incidents like this will happen again, though I had not considered it before this instance."

"Bathroom," Teen Lincoln said, ducking out of the room to use the john.

"Well, now that that is settled, do you have any other ideas for a science project?" Lisa asked Lincoln.

"Can we teach an old dog new tricks?" Lincoln asked. "I mean, how hard would it be to increase an animal's intelligence with the right diet and nutrition?"

A spark of light appeared in the center of the room and quickly expanded into yet another sphere that disgorged another pair of Loud siblings.

"Much closer to our age this time," Lincoln noted.

"So, a no on enhancing animal intelligence?" Lisa asked.

Her near twin nodded. "While Planet of the Apes was an interesting movie, the reality is a lot less enjoyable."

"Lord Harambe is kind to human children, but has little use for adults, considering them dangerous," the new Lincoln explained.

"Looks like we are going to need a bigger lab," the oldest Lisa noted. "We have plans for alternate housing at a separate location rather than risk altering out family's natural development."

"We should get moving," the new Lincoln said, "it'll be dark soon."

"I doubt we have to worry about night patrols any longer," the new Lisa pointed out, "however, unaccompanied minors do have more problems at night, admittedly."

"Visit during the holidays," Lincoln ordered, "you can pretend to be our cousins, so no one freaks out."

"Two percent!" the oldest Lisa called out, looking in the hallway, before turning back to the others. "We'll email," she promised.

Once the three had departed, Lisa turned to Lincoln. "I think you should stick to the baking soda volcano."

"Yeah, I kinda figured," Lincoln agreed with a sigh, before helping Lisa collect and sort all the papers that had been blown about.

"I could help you spice up the volcano a little," Lisa offered.

A spark of light grew into another sphere, but it was a small one and when it popped there was simply a piece of paper with the word 'no' written on it.

"Looks like you're on your own, but on a more pleasant note, we seem to have figured out how to send notes so we need not deal with more time generated clones of ourselves," Lisa offered.

Luan poked her head in the door. "Why did I start seeing double a minute ago?"

"Bad idea," Lincoln replied.

"What?" Luan asked before recalling what he'd said earlier. "You're kidding!"

"I'm afraid not," Lisa said, easily figuring out what wasn't being said. "Apparently we cannot work on the science fair together without causing problems."

"You could do a project on that," Luan joked, making Lincoln laugh.

Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Looks like I'm stuck with the volcano," Lincoln said.

"It's good enough for the fair," Luan assured him. "Hey, Linc? You ever consider working out a bit and shaving your head?"

"Two percent!" Lisa grumbled-growled out. "I have already outlined why it's a bad idea."

Luan grinned. "I don't see any copies of us coming back from the future," she noted.

Lincoln opened his mouth, paused, and looked around. "Huh."

Lisa rubbed her temples.

Typing by: Abyssal Angel

AN: innuendo? What's that? (This was fun to write!)