Okay, things are gonna get interesting: Proto-Lana is here, will she make as much of a spectacle as her "Sister"?
Let's hope not, cuz last double-length chapter nearly killed me XD
Sorry for the super long wait, I needed to finish some stuff... and I can't think of another reason, so double sorry XD
This is the last chapter I write from FFNet, btw. Chapter 22 and onwards are written using my phone, hopefully making things a little less troublesome for me. XD
And now, to the reviews:
1) Nobody245: Hmm, Lincoln does seem to be left out a lot...
2) Hatoralo: That's not a good thing.
3) Observant Guest:
* How do I keep doing this by accident?! XD
* Sam and Margo are two girls you don't wanna mess with.
* Here's a hint: They each have a different caste, and are not part of Lynn's caste.
* Now I'm curious, how deep are you in the show, and are you liking it so far?"
And now, to the chapter!
Episode 21: Some Much Needed Relationship Counseling! Proto-Lana's Summoning Plan!
Lola covered her mouth, making sure to stay as quiet as possible as Proto-Lana finished setting up the scene. Skippy stood as close to the circle as possible without outright entering it, while Claire and Proto-Lana stood at the sidelines, and Liam and Hattie held hands as they remained in the center of the circle.
"H-Hattie, are you sure you want to do this?" Liam stuttered, getting his cousin's attention. "After all, this summoning spell, or whatever it is, supposedly only works correctly if the host is from caste as the summoner, and your caste... isn't the same as mine."
Hattie brushed her cousin's hair and smiled, "I'm flattered you see the need to worry about me, but don't do that, okay? You know how I would do anything to keep you safe!"
Liam frowned. "That's exactly what I'm worried about."
"I'm afraid I have to agree with him, Mother Lana," Skippy remarked, getting Claire and Proto-Lana's attention. "I mean, Liam's of your caste, but Hattie's from Progenitor Lisa's caste. I thought her caste was exiled from Lincolnism?"
"Lisa herself is banished from Lincolnism, but those from her caste are accepted as long as they pledge loyalty to "the lord and savior" Lincoln," Proto-Lana sternly stated. "And besides, this "Hattie" you speak of seems to be of the stubborn type, and I don't feel like dealing with someone like her right now."
"Just what the heck is she planning to do?" Lola pondered to herself, narrowing her eyes as she tried to take a closer look at the. "And who the heck are those two guys inside that circle-thing?"
However, this action proved to be detrimental to an extent, since Claire suddenly turned to face the rock Lola hid behind, causing the diva to hide back as quickly as she could and silently catch her breath as she clutched her stomach, trying not to get the girl's attention any further. However, Claire just continued to look at the rock, before inhaling, which prompted her to get on all four and crawl towards the rock as she sniffed the ground, only for Proto-Lana to get in the way and lift her by her shirt.
"Claire, are you seriously looking for a bathroom right now?" the prototype plumber scolded. "I told you to go before we headed out here!"
"T-That's not it, Mother Lana," Claire pointed at the rock. "I smelled the scent of a member of Progenitor Lola's caste from behind that rock!"
Narrowing her eyes at the statement, Proto-Lana sniffed at the scent as well, and hummed to herself as she thought about it.
"No, Claire, I'm afraid you're wrong," Proto-Lana stated. "That's not the scent of any member of Lola's caste."
Lola took a sigh of relief, before the rock she was hiding at suddenly blew up, revealing her existence to everybody. She slowly turned around, and was met with angry looks from Claire and Proto-Lana, the latter holding her left palm in sight, with smoke coming out of it.
"The scent belongs to Lola's own daughter," Proto-Lana released Claire and folded her arms. "And before you ask, Claire, you can be my guest: Teach this brat we don't appreciate eavesdroppers."
And as that happened, a familiar type of flying eyeball watched the scene from a safe spot, "zooming" it's eye forward for a clearer view. From the other end, the Biker Trio, Cindy, Mindy, and Ronnie, sat on the ground and watched the footage through a circular screen on a wall. The only one like it, in fact, since the rest of the wall was "decorated" by long-sleeved robes of some kind.
"Seems like Sweet Feet and his sisters are having a good time so far," Ronnie remarked, taking a deep breath. "I hope they get enough time to rest before weird stuff happens again."
And then the screen changed it's focus to the parking lot, where it showed the Santiago car parking in it. From said car came out Bobby and Ronnie Anne, the latter covered with a white towel. They spoke for a moment, then shared nods before Bobby went back into the car and Ronnie Anne walked towards the beach.
Ronnie's look grew stern as she saw Ronnie Anne walking towards the duo of Clyde and Lincoln. "Hopefully that "Rocky Anne" or whatever her name was doesn't ruin the fun. She seems like a troublesome girl."
"You're just hoping she doesn't tease or bully Sweet Feet as "revenge" for hitting her with your bike, right?" Mindy inquired, making her boss flinch and shrink a bit. "I warned you about doing that, you could've simply sassed her like normal, and you wouldn't need to worry about it."
And as Ronnie and Mindy continued to talk with each other, Cindy watched the screen intently, even crawling closer towards it to get a better look at Lincoln. However, a simple statement froze her in place:
"Cindy, back away before you hurt your eyes."
The trio stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the source of the voice: A girl with long blonde hair, a red headband, white sweater, red skirt, and brown shoes sitting at a desk nearby, with a sewing machine close to her.
"Sorry, Mabel," Cindy apologized as the blonde girl, Mabel, turned around to face the trio. "It's just that, well, we've never really seen Sweet Feet in anything other than his shirt and pants, so I'm kinda curious to see how his body looks in general."
Mindy turned to Cindy, clearly not buying the girl's explanation. "You're just succumbing to your crush on him, aren't you?"
"Leave her alone, Mindy, at least 90% of the people in this place share Cindy's opinion," Mabel stated, scratching the back of her head as she added, "It doesn't change the fact it's kinda weird of course, specially since she's just a toddler. Anyway, I suggest you three just keep watching in case something happens. We need to be vigilant just in case something happens to him."
The trio nodded and turned back to the screen, but not before Cindy was dragged back to a safe distance from the bright screen. With that done, the trio sat, and watched as Ronnie Anne finally reached the boys.
"Hi, Nerd-O, hi, Lame-O," Ronnie Anne greeted, getting the guys' attention. "Sorry for taking so long, finding a swimsuit to wear was a pain."
"It's okay, Ronnie Anne, we only just arrived not too long ago too," Lincoln replied as Clyde gave Ronnie an annoyed look before returning to the sand castle. "Anyway, what swimsuit did you wind up picking?"
Ronnie Anne gave a little teasing smile before she reached for her towel and threw it away so hard, it landed on top of Lori as the Hispanic tomboy struck a pose as the boys actually looked stunned at what she was wearing: A simple yellow skin-tight one-piece, with a blue "R" and "W" to her right and left respectively.
"Whoa, Ronnie Anne, that... that looks great on you!" Lincoln exclaimed, blushing as he got up. "And if it helps, to me, any swimsuit would've looked nice on you."
Ronnie Anne blushed and chuckled in return before turning to Clyde. Unlike Lincoln, he simply rolled his eyes before he turned back to the sand castle, "Meh, I've seen better."
The Hispanic tomboy growled and stomped her way forward to Clyde, until she was right up close to him. "What's that supposed to mean, Nerd-O?"
Clyde turned to Ronnie and growled, "Ronnie Anne, I'm sorry, but as much as you may want to hear me say I find you to be the hottest girl I've seen, whether in a swimsuit or in general, then I'm afraid you're setting your expectations too high."
Ronnie Anne held a smile as best as she could as she answered, "Oh, Nerd-O, I think you're the one who set their expectations too high. Because as far as I know, the hottest girl you've ever met is a certain four-eyed redhead who's a pain in the butt!"
Clyde stood up and narrowed his eyes. "Don't you dare bring up Penelope in this matter!"
Ronnie Anne leaned closer until her and Clyde's noses touched. "I'll bring up whoever I want in this argument, as long as it proves the point!"
Suddenly, Lincoln got between the duo and lightly shoved them away from each other.
"Okay, you two, stop that for a moment!" the boy exclaimed, glancing between his best friend and his long-distance friend as they shot glares at each other. "Clyde, Ronnie Anne, we're all here to try and take a break before we inevitably find ourselves right back into the madness. Can't you two set aside your differences to relax for at least five minutes?"
"Not until this jerk admits I'm right!" Clyde and Ronnie Anne exclaimed, giving each other the pointer finger.
"I mean, Nerd-O over here has to have a bad taste in girls if he doesn't think I look good in this swimsuit!" Ronnie Anne snapped before pulling a pose and throwing a flirty wink at Lincoln. "I look good, right, Lame-O?"
"W-Well, yeah, b-but maybe Clyde just has his own preferences?" Lincoln argued. "After all, you can't just expect one particular style to please everybody, right?"
Ronnie Anne folded her arms and looked away. "Doesn't change the fact his taste's terrible!"
"My taste isn't terrible, you're just a biased jerk!" Clyde snapped, adjusting his glasses. "I mean, not only do you expect me to feel "enticed" or whatever by seeing you in a swimsuit, but you have the guts to bring up Penelope in the matter!"
"Oh, then perhaps I should've brought up Lori instead?" Ronnie Anne smirked and leaned closer to Clyde, who gritted his teeth and audibly growled. "After all, last time she talked about you, she pointed out how you couldn't even stand close to her without nosebleeding and short circuiting like a robot! And I just can't help but wonder, does that still happen?"
"No, it doesn't, because I actually bothered to work out that issue!" Clyde snapped, stomping the sand. "Not unlike you and your image!"
Seeing another fight was inevitable at this point, Lincoln looked around for something that could give him some idea on what to do with those two. He then spotted the trio of Tabby, Polly Pain, and Haiku, and he immediately got an idea.
"Hey, I'm gonna go... talk with some other people," Lincoln said, getting the duo's attention. "I'll be gone for a while, so try not to kill each other before I come back, alright?"
The duo growled and stared at each other, and Lincoln took it as a yes. He then walked towards the Sadie Hawkins girls, and Lori and Leni noticed this.
"Is Lincoln literally leaving Ronnie Anne and Clyde alone? Specially when they were in the middle of an argument?" Lori pondered before turning back to Clyde and Ronnie Anne. "Doesn't he know that those two could literally blow up and beat each other up at a minute's notice?"
"Ronnie Anne, maybe, but Clyde's way too mature and smart for starting something, like, a big ball of violence," Leni replied before she turned around, then stood up and waved her arm. "And besides, look over there! Carol and Lana are coming here! Hi girls!
Lori, however, flinched and blushed in shock at what she was seeing: Carol and Lana both waved back at Leni, with Lana laughing as Carol put her free arm behind, seemingly ignoring as any guys nearby, and even some girls, gasped and fainted upon seeing Carol's bikini, sometimes with a nosebleed included.
"Aw, the bikini looks great on her!" Leni remarked with pride in her tone.
Lori, meanwhile, remained stunned at the bikini Carol wore before her shock slowly turned into anger, and she got ready to pull Leni close to her face. However, seeing her sister didn't have any clothing besides a bikini, Lori pulled her through her bikini top, making sure not to use enough strenght to tear it off.
"Leni, what literally were you thinking!?" Lori snapped at the fashionista.
Leni blinked twice, then sheepishly asked, "I, like, need you to be more specific."
"You know how hot Carol looks and how people react when they see her curves, and yet you put her in such a skimpy bikini?! What the heck?!" Lori released Leni and pointed at Carol's cleavage, where her birthmark was. "Furthermore, her birthmark is exposed, and the fact that it doesn't look anything like the other symbols our sisters have seen so far is bound to make them ask about it!"
Leni thought about it, and quickly realized her mistake. "Oh no."
"Yeah, literally oh no!" Lori grabbed Leni's arm. "Come on, let's go to her before Luna or somebody else starts asking questions!"
Before the fashionista could say anything in return, Leni was dragged by Lori as she ran towards Carol as fast as she could. And as they did that, Lincoln reached the Sadie Hawkins dates, and immediately got their attention.
"Hi girls, long time no see," Lincoln greeted, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Do you remember me?"
"Of course, how would we be able to forget the guy that tried to date us at the same time, only to be gracefully ditched for four other guys that were worth our time," Haiku replied, taking off her sunglasses and giving Lincoln a stern look. "I'm being sarcastic, of course, we know how the real deal went like."
"What the grumpy emo dwarf over here is trying to say is that we're happy to see you again," Tabby clarified before shaking hands with Lincoln. "Specially after we heard you and Clyde met Haiku at the mortician's club, you poor guy. Don't worry, you're safe with your fellow wankers here."
"Um, thanks?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "I was wondering if you could help me get Ronnie Anne and Clyde to try get along better."
"Wait until they get married," Polly Pain shrugged.
"I need them to get along better now!" Lincoln stated.
"Ha! In that case you don't need a plan, you need a miracle!" Haiku chuckled. "Everybody knows how much of a bully Ronnie Anne is, and Clyde's been through enough bullying in his life. There's no way the two of them will be able to get along."
Polly Pain scratched her chin and hummed, "Unless they start off small..."
Everybody turned to face Polly, Haiku doing so with an "are you serious?" look of disbelief. And they smiled, except Haiku, as Polly added, "You know what, Lincoln? I may have an idea on how to get them to become closer."
The quartet united together, and started whispering the plan to each other, all while forgetting one important question:
Where the heck were Lisa and Lily in all of this?!
Meanwhile, with Clyde's Parents...
A mechanical door slid open, allowing Howard and Harold to step inside into a room, where they saw a rather surprising sight:
Lisa and Lily stood at the opposite ends of the room, Lisa holding some large reddishs word, while Lily took out her pacifier, which somehow transformed into a long pole.
"There's no need-o for this-o fight, Lily-Tan! We're sistas in same battoru!" Lisa proclaimed, trying to imitate a Japanese soldier's voice. "Assapt my proposal, cease-to and desist-to this instant-to!"
Lily replied with random baby gibberish, though it was still notable she was trying to imitate a Japanese type of voice. And whatever she said, it was enough to anger Lisa into leaping straight for the baby, shouting:
"Take-u that-o back-o!"
Lily leaped back, shouting "geeee!" as the duo got closer to each other. Just as their weapons clashed, however, they instead clashed with a mechanical wall that came out of the ground, which slowly retracted as the girls hit the ground, then turned around to see Howard and Harold looking stunned at the scene.
"Um, what's going on here?" Harold nervously inquired.
"Oh, nothing that you need to worry about, paternal units of Clyde," Lisa replied, adjusting her glasses as she added, "My baby sister, Lily, and I are just spending the time we have right now playing a parody of a scene we watched in a movie a little while ago."
"That I can guess, but what I meant was, what are you doing here?" Howard walked towards Lisa. "I thought you explicitly said you were never coming back to our headquarters after we gave our opinion on your Royal Woodroid 5000 idea!"
"Hey, there's always the chance you'll give the project a shot after thinking about it some more!" Lisa argued, with Howard shaking his head in disagreement. "And besides, the babysitter I was assigned by my eldest sister, Lori, took me here in order to give me more... freedom, as she said it, to have some fun while she worked something out."
Harold raised an eyebrow. "Who's your babysitter?"
"That would be me."
Everybody turned around and saw Becky, one of Lori's friends, entering the room with a stern look.
"Lisa, would you and Lily be kind enough to leave the room?" Becky requested, looking strictly at Howard and Harold. "I'm fairly certain these gentlemen have something to tell me."
The duo exchanged looks, then shrugged and left the room. With that done, Becky sat down on a chair and projected a screen from her forehead, while the couple sat on a couch nearby. They then remained silent as Becky checked some stuff on the screen.
And then Becky suddenly said, "If you got something to tell me, then say it, I'll hear you while I'm checking the inmates' records."
Harold and Howard exchanged raised eyebrows, and Howard promptly asked, "Why did you bring Lisa and Lily here? You know the parents don't like it when-"
"Rita and Lynn Sr. are currently on standby to go with Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Shrinivas, and Mrs. DiMartino to the realms of Progenitor Lola and Progenitor Lana, in search for progenitorial blood," Becky pointed out in a nonchalant tone. "Even if they knew about their children being here, they're still contractually obligated to obey the boss' orders, first and foremost."
"Why would they go to those two realms?" Harold inquired. "I mean, I can see why Rita would go to her progenitor's land, but why are they going to Progenitor Lana's territory as well?"
"Because elementary, my dear Harold, both of those realms have both champions and ruling progenitors out of there, leaving them completely exposed," Becky reached for the screen with her hands. "And if you're wondering how they're supposed to get progenitorial blood without the progenitors being around, that's because, simply put..."
Becky expanded the screen as big as she could, before splitting it in half, turning it into two maps, one labeled "Lolaspace" and the other "Lanaspace," with several red dots appearing in the land masses.
"The progenitors aren't the only ones with the blood," Becky pointed at one of the red dots, which showcased the image of some aqua green creature with a red crystal on their forehead roaming around. "Some of the creatures residing in that location have it as well."
"And what the heck are those creatures?" Harold inquired.
"They're Carbuncles, the corrupted version of those who are part of Progenitor Lola's caste," Becky explained before turning to the couple. "So, for example, if Howard over here became corrupted, this is what he would turn into."
Harold gasped and fainted, earning the redhead an angry look from Howard.
"Hey, I'm sorry about it, but I need to entertain myself somehow," Becky chuckled and turned the screens off. "Specially when you deal with someone like Sam..."
Meanwhile, with Sam and Luna...
Luna was pined against the wall, looking nervously as Sam shot a furious glare at her as she snapped:
"Don't you ever do what you did to me today, got it, Luna!? Don't even think about doing that, you wedlocked child of Mick Swagger-looking jerk!"
Luna pushed Sam away, "First of, do I really look like that?"
"Well, you already have the hotness and forced British accent," Sam growled, before covering her eyes with her hair. "All you need to do left is let your hair grow some more, cover your eyes with it, and screw anything and anybody you come across. Bonus point if you do the last part both figuratively and literally."
"I knew I was forgetting something," Luna folded her arms. "And secondly, what do you mean by what I did to you today? Go with Carol? She made it clear she didn't want to go with you-"
"The issue I'm talking about, is the fact that you ditched me for a smoking hot stranger," Sam lifted her arms, "Which, may I remind you, being hot doesn't change the fact she's a stranger!"
"To you, maybe, but I've been around Carol enough to know a bit more about her," Luna narrowed her eyes. "And you had nothing worry about, she's a really nice girl!"
"Look, Luna, I'm not saying that I know you much better than you know yourself, and I know that if you were to be heartbroken, you'd end up killing yourself," Sam took a deep breath, and continued with a stern tone, "But I know you much better than you know yourself, and I know that if you were to be heartbroken, you'd end up killing yourself."
"Dude, you just contracted yourself." Luna stated with a deadpan tone.
"Dude," I don't care!" Sam stomped the ground. "Consistency doesn't matter as long as it gets the point across! Now tell me, do you understand what I'm trying to get?"
"No, I don't! I mean, yeah, I did ditch you for Carol, and I'm sorry I did that, I really should've thought about it better," Luna put her hands on her hips. "But going so far as to say that I would, without a shadow of a doubt, kill myself from something as minor as a breakup is just too much!"
"Not just a break up, Love, a fallout, a mean comment, anything that can break your heart, no matter how minor, will be enough of an excuse for you to just throw away your life!" Sam added, closing her eyes and shaking her head in concern. "All because of one bad moment-"
And then Sam noticed Luna was walking away. "Where are you going!"
"Anywhere that's far away from you!" Luna yelled, not botering to look at the blonde musician. "And I'm not going to go back with you until you stop being so condescending towards me!"
Sam just sighed and sat down. "Man, who knew being Luna's girlfriend could be so tiring."
As the upset British rocker walked away, she walked past Luan and Giggles, who separated soon afterwards. The comedian ran up to her sister and walked alongside her.
"Hi Luna, fancy seeing you here again!" Luan chirped, though Luna didn't pay attention. "Listen, I was going to buy some beach toys to play with Lucy and cheer her up, but I got so caught up with Giggles' story that I lost track of time, and next thing I knew, Lucy was off to play with Haiku! Although, I have no idea where she is right now."
"I'm right here."
Luan flinched and saw Lucy was suddenly walking on Luna's opposite side. "I was looking around for something to play with since Luan was taking so long, but I couldn't find anything."
"Good to know, Lucy," Luna somberly answered. "Good to know."
If Luna not reacting when Lucy appeared out of nowhere didn't catch the duo's attention, then her sad answer certainly did.
"Luna, is something wrong?" Luan inquired.
The rocker glanced at her sisters, then looked back at the ground before answering, "I got into a little bit of a fight with Sam, and... I'm a bit upset about that."
"Well, how about we go back to the others?" Lucy suggested, grabbing Luna's hand.
"Yeah, I'm sure we can find a way to cheer you up over there," Luan added, grabbing Luna's remaining hand.
The musician glanced at her sisters, both sporting reassuring smiles towards her, and as she started feeling a bit more... secure, Luna returned the smile and stated:
"Thanks, let's go. Whatever's going on over there, it has to be less stressful than what I just went through."
Back with the main trio...
Clyde and Ronnie Anne continued to stare at each other, just before Lincoln arrived and separated them, saying, "I'm back! Hey, Ronnie Anne, those three girls over there want to talk with you. They have an idea on how you and Clyde can learn to stand each other!"
Ronnie Anne raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged it off and walked towards the trio, leaving Lincoln and Clyde alone. And, immediately sensing some sort of ulterior motive, Clyde turned to Lincoln and folded his arms. "Alright, Lincoln, what's the big deal?"
Lincoln put a hand on his hip and told Clyde, "Go up to Ronnie Anne and ask her if you can put sunscreen on her back."
And at the same time, Haiku folded her arms and sternly told Ronnie, "Go to Clyde and ask him if he can put sunscreen on your back."
Clyde and Ronnie Anne reacted accordingly, "What?!"
"You claim to no longer be a bully, as does Lincoln, but we simply can't take your word for it, you have to show us you don't bully any nerd you see," Haiku leaned closer to Ronnie Anne and narrowed her eyes. "Clyde is a well-known victim of bullying, and most bullies have taken the chance to beat and demean him. If you can refrain from hurting him unprovoked, then we'll consider taking your claim seriously. If he provokes you, then beat him up all you want, but if you do so unprovoked, we'll be the ones to beat you up!"
"Listen, Clyde, I know you and Ronnie Anne don't get along, but that's precisely why I'm asking you to do that, so you have a chance to be together and, hopefully, become a bit friendlier in the process," Lincoln put a hand on Clyde's shoulder and gave him a wink and a thumbs up. "And besides, who would pass up the chance to pour some sunscreen on the back of a cute girl like Ronnie Anne?"
"Cute girl?! Lincoln, she's more masculine in a swimsuit than I am in my everyday attire!" Clyde snapped. "I mean, take off her eyelashes and her ponytail and-"
Suddenly, Clyde got an idea and smiled. "Actually, there might be a chance this could work."
"See? You just got to think positive!" Lincoln turned Clyde around. "Now go get her, tiger!"
Both Clyde and Ronnie Anne were pushed towards each other by Lincoln and Haiku respectively. They walked towards the other, taking a brief moment to glance at the people who put them in this situation, until they were meeting face-to-face.
"So, hi, Ronnie Anne," Clyde greeted, before revealing the sunscreen. "Listen, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if I put some sunscreen on your back."
"No, I don't mind, I'd like that a lot, actually," Ronnie Anne took a deep breath, blushing as she looked away and muttered, "Because if there's a part I need protected from the sun, my back is certainly the one."
Clyde grabbed Ronnie's hand, making the tomboy flinch as he said, "I think there's a free towel somewhere around here, follow me."
Ronnie raised an eyebrow, "A-Alright?"
The duo walked to a towel Lincoln put down, and the white-haired boy immediately left and ran to Haiku's side, where they watched as Ronnie rested on the towel, and Clyde got ready to pour the stuff.
"Okay, it looks good so far," Lincoln interlocked his fingers and nodded. "At the very least, they don't seem to be anywhere near close to beating each other up."
"Yeah, Clyde's such a gentleman, he knows how to treat a lady," Haiku remarked with a confident tone, only for her tone to turn serious as she added, "We should probably be a bit wary of Ronnie Anne, though, she seems like the kind of girl that would go on a rage at the drop of a hat."
Back with Clyde and Ronnie Anne, Clyde barely got to pour some sunscreen before the tomboy started complaining, "You better not have some sort of weird idea, Nerd-O. I may need to prove I'm not a bully to Poet-O, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna defend myself if you try something funny."
"Don't worry, Ronnie Anne, the last thing I want to do is try anything that would convince you to beat me up," Clyde poured some more sunscreen. "So calm down and relax, alright?"
Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes and focused on watching the ocean, which soon brought a smile ot her face. "The ocean looks pretty nice from here, doesn't it?"
"I guess so," Clyde continued spreading the sunscreen, leaning closer and closer to Ronnie Anne's hairtie as he asked, "Is that a rare sight in your new home?"
"I moved in to a big city, so yeah, it's rather rare for me to see the ocean," Ronnie Anne shrugged. "I mean, I get to watch it in my computer once in a while, but not so much in real life. It's... much prettier in real life."
Clyde got close enough to reach the hair tie, but he hesitated for a moment. He then asked, "Ronnie Anne, did your reputation follow you into your new home? Does anybody know about your past there?"
Ronnie Anne thought about it, and looked at the ground as she answered, and Clyde took off her hair tie, "No, nobody knows what kind of person I used to be back in Royal Woods. And to be honest, I'm happy that's the case, 'cause it gives me the chance to try reinvent myself, try and shed away from the bully I used to be. And it might be easier to do it there than here, that's for sure."
"Well, ignore this suggestion if you want, but don't you think you should also changed your look as well?" Clyde suggested, making the tomboy raise an eyebrow. "I mean, you had a ponytail back when you lived in Royal Woods. Don't you think it's time to let your hair down?"
Ronnie Anne reached for her hair, and noticed it wasn't tied anymore. She then turned to see Clyde walking away, with her hair tie in his hands, which prompted her to stand up and chase after Clyde, who laughed out loud as he ran away. As for Lincoln and the girls? Lincoln, Tabby, and Polly ran after Ronnie Anne, while Haiku remained at her spot, clutching her stomach as she laughed out loud, followed by Ronnie Anne letting out a giant roar as Clyde noticed an odd sight in the horizon...
Meanwhile, back with Lola...
Claire ran on all four towards Lola, roaring as well as she bared her claws and tried to slash at the diva. However, while Lola managed to dodge the slashes by simply running away, she still got a couple claw marks in her cheeks and remaining arm.
"H-H-Hold it right there!" Lola exclaimed, getting Claire to stop for a moment. "Whatever Lana's counterpart has promised you, I assure you, I can give you s-something just as valuable! Just please, stop trying to hurt me and let me go! I won't tell anybody about this, I promise!"
Claire just growled and narrowed her eyes. "Trying to bargain and possibly manipulate your way out of this deal? You really are the daughter of Progenitor Lola!"
Lola flinched and covered herself, somehow causing a large pink crystals to come out nearby her, then enclose themselves around her, creating a crystal dome-shield of sorts, and just in time before Claire attacked, as well.
However, the toddler didn't give up, and she continued to claw at the shield, with little success, until Proto-Lana noticed the action.
"Claire, are you still dealing with Lola's daughter?" Proto-Lana asked in exasperation. "Quit wasting your time and drive her away already!"
"I'm trying, Mother, I really am!" Claire yelled back, focusing solely on slashing at the crystal shield. "But no matter how hard I slash, my hits don't connect!"
Proto-Lana rubbed her forehead and growled, taking a moment to take a deep breath before she leaped up, and spread a pair of wings made of light. From said wings, she shot some energy needles at the shield, and Claire only noticed moments before the needles blew up, destroying the shield in the process. Lola was sent flying off to the ocean, though Proto-Lana, now back to normal, was still fast enough to grab Lola before she hit the water.
And when Lola regained consciousness, she saw two odd things: The first was Proto-Lana keeping her in place rather than just throwing her away, and Proto-Lana was literally standing on the water as if it was an actual floor.
"Listen up, Jophiel, you may think that just because you managed to survive your encounter with my sister, your mother, that you can just come up to my place and try to mess up my stuff too," Proto-Lana narrowed her eyes and pulled Lola closer to her. "But you're forgetting one thing, "Neo-Lola," your mother let you win. If it hadn't been for the deal she made with that redheaded clone of you, there's a high chance you wouldn't have "won" that fight, let alone survive it."
Proto-Lana aimed her remaining hand close to Lola's throat, before turning her fingernails into claws, which were just big enough to almost touch the throat. And then, as she spoke, Proto-Lana gently caressed one of Lola's cheeks:
"But, I'm afraid that the luck you had back then, won't be of use to you now. Because you have no friends here, and, to be perfectly blunt, neither does your sister, Hayyel."
Proto-Lana glanced at Claire with a stern look.
"Claire is my champion, a mumbling, incompetent one in most stuff, but when it comes to slicing and dicing, she's perfect for the job. And besides, her loyalty's guaranteed, so even if you opened her mind to see her situation more clearly, she'd still listen to me, and only me."
Then, Proto-Lana started slowly, painfully clawing through Lola's cheek, all while keeping a stern look towards Claire. And though the girl shivered as if to say she wanted to help, she stayed put, and watched as Proto-Lana turned to face Skippy next.
"Skippy over here is another member of my pride, my summoner for whenever I need to invoke some of the... I guess you can call them "beasts," I have under my control. And besides, he's fine with being both a summoner, and a host."
Proto-Lana narrowed her eyes and smiled maliciously, "Isn't that right, Skippy?"
In that moment, a harsh memory came back to the boy: He was walking at the streets, when suddenly, he saw Lana's hat fly by. He immediately caught it, and returned it to the tomboy, but just as he spoke, he suddenly lost all control over his body, and he could only watch as he called Lana "Lola," earning himself a beating soon afterwards.
Skippy narrowed his eyes and turned back to the summoning circle as Proto-Lana stopped clawing and turned back to face Lola, who was trying to hold back her tears.
"And don't even get me started on the bird-brained bitch that is Bobbie Fletcher," Proto-Lana smirked. "But enough chit-chat."
Proto-Lana threw Lola up in the air, and caught her just before she hit the water, only this time, Lola was looking towards the summoning spot.
"I'll let you see what a summoning looks like," Proto-Lana turned to Skippy once more and barked. "Summon the Leviathan, Skippy!"
Skippy hesitantly nodded and waved his arms around, the back of his head glew blue as Liam and Hattie were enveloped in a blue light coming from the circle, before being enfulged by the blue pillar of light that came out soon afterwards.
However, as the sillouethes belonging to Liam and Hattie slowly merged into one, Proto-Lana got quick a shock where the water she was standing on suddenly got electrified, electrocuting her and making her free Lola, who turned the water below her into ice in order to avoid the shocking fate.
How did she figure out how to do that? Good question.
Anyway, the one-armed pageant princess stood up and ran to the shore... or at least tried before she slipped, fell flat on her face, and slid her way to the shore instead, with the water she slid into quickly turning into ice so as to not let her fall off. Once she finally hit the shore, the ice melted back into water as she got up and saw who helped her:
Ronnie Anne, who had her left arm extended with a couple sparks coming out of it. Alongside her were Clyde, still holding her hair tie, and Lincoln and the Sadie Hawkins dates, with Lincoln immediately running to Lola's aid.
"Lola, are you okay?!" Lincoln asked worriedly.
"I'm more or less fine, but everybody needs to flee now!" Lola stated as she got up. "Lana's counterpart is going to summon a giant monster to attack the beach!"
Upon hearing that, the Sadie Hawkins dates exchanged nods, and all hung to Polly as she stated, "We'll go tell them about it!"
Polly ran away at high speeds with the rest of the dates clinging to her, and once the water stopped being electrified, Proto-Lana regained her balance and rubbed her forehead, hissing, "Let's just hope that the fish were deep down when your lighting struck. Otherwise, I'm gonna be really angry."
And then she turned around and saw Ronnie Anne snatching her hair tie back from Clyde, and Lincoln looking angry at her.
"What's this? Preys, hunters, and Lincoln working together?" Proto-Lana scoffed as Ronnie Anne tied her hair back into a ponytail. "And here I thought I had seen everything after eons of existence."
"Well, we're not so much working together as we just so happen to pass by," Ronnie Anne folded her arms. "Now, what are you doing here?"
"As much as I'd love to answer your question and tell you about my plans, I'm afraid that as the king of the Lana caste, I can't waste my time with commoners like you," Proto-Lana snapped her fingers, summoning Claire to her side. "But don't worry, Claire over here will keep you occupied."
The toddler raised her claws, and the team got ready to attack as she stated:
"Nothing personal, guys. I must follow her every order."
Next Chapter Preview...
"Hello everybody, Skippy here!"
As the boy spoke, the bike trio were shown following Mabel to a room full of statues, only to show Paige coming out of the shadows and greeting the trio.
"The summoning's going as planned, but I wish everything else was going as smoothly."
Back at the beach, Lola and Ronnie fought Claire while Lincoln spoke with Clyde, while Proto-Lana glared at them.
"Being under Mother Lana's watch is bad enough, but now the "lord and savior" is here too!"
Lincoln and Clyde spoke for a little bit longer before Clyde separated from him and walked towards the prototype.
"Having them together can only spell disaster!"
Lincoln and Proto-Lana talked with each other, the former growing angrier as he heard the prototype, who looked rather smug.
"And worse, it's not a case of if, but of when..."
Proto-Lana was sent flying away by Lincoln, only to return and knock him into the water unconscious.
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
The Sadie Hawkins dates tried warning their respective friends about the incoming danger as Skippy said:
"Next time, on Chains of Reality: Divinity Reborn..."
Two scenes played in quick succession: A large rock struck Claire, and Ronnie Anne looked confused before throwing a suspicious look at Clyde, then Carol and Lana teleported to the fight, before the scene changed to the dates talking with Lori and Leni.
"A Hydra-ulic Warning! Sincoln Rises Once More?!"
Ronnie Anne and Lola attack Claire, who is about to conterattack before being struck by Carol and Lana, much to Ronnie Anne and Lola's surprise.
"Don't miss it!"
The last scene is of Lincoln in the water, opening his eyes... Revealing they had spade-shaped pupils.