April Fools Day. Normally a time of merriment and pranking joy, but for a certain house on Franklin Avenue...

"Lincoln, what do you see?..."

"Nothing yet...Lori, take point..."

...it's every nightmare they've yet to experience, rolled up in one day. And it's tomorrow.

"She's literally goofing off at the porch...what is that?"

"Kinda looks like Rambo if he was trained in clown combat..."

The Loud siblings called in an early day to spend the whole afternoon observing Luan. So far, she hasn't shown any signs or interest in pulling her usual extreme pranks, but they know she's never one to shy away from pranking period.

"You think she remembers the moving prank we pulled last year?" Lincoln asked.

"Not a chance!" Lola shook her fists, "She's gonna jello us in the nose and switch our makeup with Icy Hot!"

"I think you're losing it, Lola..." Leni said, "Maybe if we just ask her-"

Lola yanked Leni down to her level, "What is in the crud you've been chewing?! We're dealing with the original April Fool here!"

"There's no room for negotiations here, dudes," Luna pulled on a camo helmet, "It's time to lock and load!"

"Lisa, anything in the house?" Lincoln commed over his walkie talkie.

"No sign of unusual activity," Lisa whispered, "I believe the "Luan" you're seeing is just a scarecrow, and apparently it's fulfilling the purpose given to said prop."

"Then, where's the real Luan?"

"SHHH! Movement detected in the stairs!"

Lisa, Lucy, Lynn, and Lana saw Luan chugging down a giant milkshake.

"WOOOHOHOHOOOOO!" Luan got hit with a brain freeze, "Whoever made that forgot the sugar! It's details that milk the difference! Hahahahahahahaha!"

"Outer team," Lana commed over, "She's gone back to home base."

"Copy that, over and out," Lincoln put his communicator away, "Everyone, plan D! Rampage the yards and destroy everything that looks like a prank!"

Leni has doubts, "Aren't we taking this April Fools thing a little too serious?"

"Get it together, woman!" Lola growled, "If you don't hit first, she will!"

"Everyone ready?" Lori asked, and her allies readied their protective gear, except Leni, "Ugh...Leni, Why don't you give the scarecrow some company..."

"Oh, ok!" Leni walked to the porch.

Lori grabbed her rake, "Everyone else..."

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!"

The battle was underway. Lincoln's team smashed through every opening and open object they could find in a desperate attempt to destroy any pranks that might set off.

Lynn heard the noise from her room, "That's the signal! Everyone move out!"

The younger sisters scanned every object in the house for anything out of place, while Lynn guarded the door, "Puppy Ball to Traffic Cone, what's your status?"

"We didn't find anything! Luan didn't go outside today!"

"Huh? Lucy! Lana! What'd you find?!"

"Nothing," Lana popped out of the stairs, "The place is completely clean."

"What else have we not touched yet?" Lucy wandered.

"*GASP* Traffic Cone!" Lynn screamed, "Destroy the fallout shelter!"

"What?" Lincoln asked, "What's in it?"

"Nothing! The shelter is the prank!"

Just then, the shelter began to whirr. It extended a small cannon and turned to face Lincoln.

"Uh, sure..." Lincoln muttered, "How do we destroy it..."

"Impossible," he heard Lisa say, "That shelter can withstand the force of five simultaneous hydrogen bombs."

He saw the cannon charging power and prepared for the worst.

And yet all that came out was a farting noise before the cannon fell off.

"Uh...ok? What is happening?"

"No idea..." Luna said, "Should've been a cream bomb or something..."

"Ok, now I think we're the ones going crazy."

"Better safe than sorry," he heard Lisa communicate, "Luan is a master of both misdirection and deception. We'll check the basement while you continue your search outside."

"Anyone check the garage yet?" Lori asked.

"Oh, she better not mess with my amps!" Luna took Lola to storm the garage.

Leni continued to observe the scarecrow, "You know, you may be just a statue, but Luan's scarecrow fashion sense is atrocious. I'll just fix that riiiii-" she yanked a whoopie cushion that was attached to a string, that set off the house's sprinkler system... and unplugged a few small holes from the basement's water pipe.

Meanwhile, Luan was going through her joke book, "Which one should I go with..."

"Waawaa!" Lily pointed to a random line on the page.

"Ooh, that's a good one, Lily!" Luan commented, "Alright, that pun, it is." After she picked her ideal pun, she heard the gentle sound of water sprinkling from several openings, "Ope! That's my cue!" She grabbed her megaphone and opened her bedroom door and window.

All the siblings, minus Luan and Lily, had their nether regions sprinkled with water.

Luan made sure everyone heard, "You know, it's getting ridiculous just how much you're wet with anticipation! Hahahahahahahaaa! Get it?!"

Lily giggled. Everyone else groaned.

Later, when the parents came home...after hearing nothing but farting noises every time the van accelerated...

"Luan, I thought you said you weren't gonna prank us anymore!" Lana griped at her.

"Well, how could I not, after that sweet prank you pulled on me?" Luan quipped.

"At least this one was tame..." Lori muttered, "And all the other times afterward..."

"Tame?! HA!" Lols growled, "My sash got ruined because of that stupid sprinkler!"

"At least the sprinklers have filtration," Lisa scooted Leni to the bathroom, "Please decontaminate within 8 minutes."

Lincoln babysat Lily until dinner was called, "Lily! How could you?! I thought you were on our side!"

Lily managed to sound out an overly repeated phrase he knew all too well, "Ah, well!"

"Oh no! She's become a second Luan! AAAAA!"

"It's not the end of the world," Lucy said, "she can still be taught out of those antics."

"Really?! How?!"

"Might I suggest a reading from my second book?" Lucy gave him a journal, "She'll be able to understand at least half the poems."

"I'm gonna pass on that..." Lincoln unknowingly dropped the journal on Lily's bottle, on which she used as a rattle.

Dinner came and went. Very slowly. Throughout the small talk, the family was making constant eyes with Luan, who seemed to be eerily calm this night.

The father initiated first contact, "So, Luan. How was your day today?"

"Depends," Luan said, "Did Vanzilla have enough gas to take you home? Hahahahaaaa!"

"*GULP*"

"Haha, I'm just messing with you!" Luan grabbed her glass and called everyone to attention, "Everyone! I have an announcement to make!"

The family jolted and rattled their eyes to their master prankster.

Luan cleared her throat, "I've been thinking about how nutty I can get around this time of year. The time where pure comedic slapstick reigns supreme, and the merriment of the jokers can finally be allowed to sound off..." snap out of fantasy mode "Ah...The point is, tomorrow, I will not pull a single prank on you."

"Really?" Lori doubted, "You're not just pulling our hair, are you?"

Luan grinned, "I did that this morning, didn't I?"

Lori went to texting.

"Is this for real?" Lana seemed excited, "You're not gonna jello our pants?!"

"Or send our tunes against pitches?!" Luna jumped.

"Or retool our house?!" Lincoln piped.

"Or punch our punching bags?!" Lola shouted.

"Wait, huh?..." Luan recovered from her momentary confusion, "Oh, no! None of that! Tomorrow, I am prank-free!"

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" Everyone gave a hearty cheer, relishing in the now very real...possibility...that April 1 will be scratch-free.

But that wave of jubilation went away just as fast as it came, "Instead, I'm gonna let you prank me!"

"Wuh?..." Everyone froze.

"Oh, your little ears heard that correctly," Luan waggled her ears, "I was so impressed with your team prank, that I wanna see what else you have in your sleeves. That's why, for one day only, I am allowing you all the privilege to throw your best pranks at the prank master! Let's see if you can top off your prank tanks, eh?"

After dinner, a family meeting was called, minus Luan and Lily.

"Ok, fam," Lynn Sr said, "How legitimate is Luan's proposal?"

"Well, I for one shall tread lightly on this matter," Lisa crossed her arms, "I refuse to believe she would abandon her savage ways, especially for the one important day of the year."

"Believe what you wanna believe," Lola scoffed, "I am gonna pay her back for ruining my sash earlier."

"I'm game, sister!" Lana high fived her.

"Well, if everyone else is on board," Leni said, "I guess I'll give it a shot."

"Oh, it'll be fun!" Lori encouraged, "Just think of that time that guy stole the dress you were gonna buy."

"You're right!" Leni smacked her fists together, "Let's get my dress back!"

"Ugh, why do I bother..."

Luna and Lynn bumped fists. Lucy allied with Lisa. Lincoln just watched with a satisfied smile.

"Ok, looks like we're all in agreement," Lynn Sr concluded, "Tomorrow, we're going to take Luan's prank-a-thon at face value and come up with the best pranks we can throw at her! And we'll plan an especially over-the-top prank in case we find out she fibbed about not pranking us!"

Bedtime was a weird feeling for Lincoln, "April Fools Day is usually Luan's free day, but I'm surprised that she opted to hand the reins to us. Don't get me wrong. Like the rest of my family, I'm more than happy to play Luan at her own game...but, why, though?"

Then, a devious thought crossed his mind. What if she was pitting the family against each other in a battle of wits and timing? What if she really wasn't going to prank anyone tomorrow...and that turned out to be the prank itself?

"Ohhhhhh...heheh...ok, Luan. You got me. I'll participate...if only just to see how far past the line we go."