Okay, this chapter won't be as long as the last one, but I don't think it needs to, it just needs to... show a couple of interesting details. That's all I have to say, though, enjoy. :)

And remember... read and review.


The trio slowly woke up and recovered consciousness to see they were at the end of the slide...tube...thing, and were now at the rocky interior that was known as the "Sanctuary of the Damned".

"Wow, that slide was harder than I thought, definitely doesn't compare to the ones at the park," Ronnie remarked as she rubbed her head and dusted herself. "Come on, let's see where Paige-"

The first thing the girls saw when they turned around was Paige, with an angry look on her eyes, and her hands on her hips.

"What are you three doing here?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "I thought you were going to stay with the Sister-Fashionista that Candy and Beverly sent you to."

"And we did, for a moment," Ronnie explained, with Cindy and Mindy nodding in agreement. "But after she told us a little story, and got some problems with her machine-thingy, she told us to go off explore, and we ended up following you."

"Candy and Beverly took you to Mabel?! No wonder you left her office, then," Paige sighed and continued to walk, with the trio following her. "Listen up, I don't know how you followed me without being caught or why you thought going to a place called "Sanctuary of the Damned" was a good idea, but you have to leave right now!"

The trio exchanged looks. "Why?"

Paige rolled her eyes and sighed. "Because you're toddlers, and the stuff that's in this place is not something everybody can just watch and come out unscathed, there's some horrifying stuff down here!"

"Then why aren't you leading us to an exit?" Ronnie asked, folding her arms. "Certainly, if you know how to come in, you know how to get out."

"I got my priorities straight, and I need to deliver this basket to... some friends," Paige looked at the ground. "The only real friends I have in this blasted place besides Mabel, so I really need to try and make sure I don't lose their trust."

And so, the quartet continued to walk deeper into the "sanctuary", until they found the spot Paige was walking towards: It was a massive, gargantuan even, sat of walls with several holes-both big and small-all around it, and with several... peculiar residents in them. Though most of them seemed to be more than happy to just stay in their holes and do nothing.

That is, until Paige whistled. "Hey everybody, I brought you food!"

"Paige, there are several hundred of people in here, and you just brought a little basket," Cindy pointed out as Paige reached for her back and took out... a plush bunny that looked like Bun-Bun. "Even if they share among themselves-"

Paige touched the Spades symbol on her bun-bun's cheek, and the symbol glew before the bun-bun seemingly shot several more food baskets out in the open, taking out a couple dozen of them before finally stopping and collapsing on the ground. Paige then grabbed the toy, gave it a kiss on the forehead, and saved it back to... wherever she got it, as several of the peculiar residents came out of their holes and ran to the baskets.

"Be sure to share some of that food with your roommates if you can," Paige told the residents as the trio walked closer to her. "Just 'cause some of you don't need to eat doesn't mean that there aren't mavericks that do need to eat."

"Maverick?" Ronnie blurted, catching Paige's attention. "What do you mean by... maverick?"

Paige flinched and hesitated to answer, but she eventually thought that it wouldn't hurt to reveal the darker side of Lincolnism. And besides, if it helped the trio NOT do a terrible decision, that was also good. And so, she spoke:

"Children who don't have either Lincoln or one of his sisters as their parents, fusions between people that aren't Lincoln or his sisters, even children of Lincoln, his sisters, or so that have minor... peculiarities... all these things are not considered "acceptable" by lincolnism standards."

The trio turned back to the peculiar people and frowned as Ronnie said, "That's horrible."

"And what's even worse is that Lincoln was someone who thought everybody was perfect the way they were, and yet these "followers" of his don't seem to do the same thing. Generally, if there's even one thing that doesn't match up with what they believe, no matter how small it is, it will be enough to brand that person as a "maverick": Someone who doesn't fit the mold demanded by Lincoln's "followers", and thus seen as subhumans at best, and outright vermin at worst."

Of course, this prompted Ronnie to ask:

"So, does that mean you're a maverick, Paige?"

The girl looked at the ground, but before she could think about it for too long, an explosion happened, making everybody focus on the source: several Lolas, whether they were lovechildren, alternate counterparts, or whatever, ran towards a pink portal on the ground, which prompted the people at the food baskets to take what they could and hide back in their holes.

"Ugh, dang it, how could I forget there was going to be a breach today?!" Paige grabbed her hair and pulled it, before turning to the biker trio. "You three, run away as fast as you can, while I try to deal with what's going on! Don't try to look anything up, just run and find a place to hide! Now go!"

"But-!"

Paige summoned a large hammer. "I said go!"

One swing later, the trio were sent flying away from the walls, and off a cliff, only for them to land on a giant, soft... something, landing at another part of the "sanctuary". Once they looked at what they fell in, though, they saw they were just a bunch of inanimate bun-bun dolls.

"Aw, these are so cute!" Mindy squealed, hugging one of the plush toys. "Can we keep them?!"

Cindy snatched the doll. "Focus, Mindy, Paige told us to find a way out of here."

"And after what she told us, we really need to get out of here," Ronnie added as she and the girls "Swam" through the sea of bun-buns. "This place is a lot more uncomfortable than I thought it would be."

So the girls jumped off the pile, and took a quick look around. They failed to see anything of much importance, or of any importance at all, up until they came across something bizarre: a recorder tape, laying on the ground, and with a name marked on it with red marker.

The name... was Cristina.

"Do you think it's the same Cristina that Mabel told us about?" Cindy asked to Mindy, while Ronnie walked closer to the tape. "The one that betrayed Sweet Feet or whatever?"

"There can be several people with the same name, Cindy," Mindy replied, rolling her eyes. "After all, if my mom can have the same name as me, then a random person can have the same name as Sweet Feet's former girlfriend."

"Oh, former girlfriend?" Cindy repeated, suddenly chirping up. "Do you think he's available, then?"

Mindy pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not this stuff again."

And as the duo continued to argue and talk, Ronnie nonchalantly pressed the play button, and as the tape started, her friends went to her side, seemingly ready to ask what she was doing, up until

"You know... I always thought that the best lesson the lord could give me was how to be seen as the best girlfriend he'll ever have in his eyes..."

Yup, this was the Cristina that Mabel was talking about.

"But recently... he taught me something much better."

The trio's eyes grew wide: What did Lincoln teach her?!

"The lord saw all before him, and though nobody could see it, he knew that they would soon become corrupted... ungrateful... andunworthy to enter the new world, that he would rule... even his own sisters would be corrupted, and only he would be saved from decay, for he was pure... in the worst sense possible."

The trio exchanged looks as the tape continued:

"And so, without saying a word, for he worked in mysterious ways, he destroyed the old reality, and made a new one with his bare hands. With the end of the original reality, came the end of most prototypes. But being immortality, they refused to stand down, and so, he got rid of them in another manner, and his sisters, his former wives and fellow rulers, gave birth to one last set of children before being... sterilized."

The trio raised eyebrows at the last part. They didn't quite knew what "Sterilized" meant, but it couldn't be good, judging from what came next from the tape:

"This set were girls who looked just like them, but with certain physical differences. He then explained his plan to the sisters, who he no longer saw worthy of being treated like equals: A new world will be made, and these girls will serve as my new rulers, when the time comes. You, however, are no longer worthy of my respect. No longer worthy of my care. No longer worthy... of my love. And so, a rebellion began, and fall, with the sisters winding up being chained for the rest of eternity, chained to the dreaded, ethereal "chains of reality" that connected them to the dimensions they hurt in their pathetic, worthless defiance."

Ronnie frowned, not really knowing who to trust or be sympathetic to, while her friends continued to look confused.

"That, was the greatest lesson he could've taught us: The lesson of treachery. Betrayal, motivates you to take action. Betrayal, helps you fix problems before they even begin. Betrayal, can make you worthy of his grace. And most importantly, betrayal..."

Three shadows loomed over the trio, which they barely managed to notice before they were knocked out cold, with the last thing they heard being the end of the tape:

"Can save your life."