Okay, chapter/episode 25. I think we're getting pretty close to the climax of this arc. Will it be a super long chapter like the previous arc? Well, I can try to make it that long and epic, but I can't make any promises.

What I can promise you, however, is that a certain technique will be introduced pretty soon. One that may or may not open a door of possibility for the future.

Also, I'm gonna have to take a break after next chapter, to try and get some more work done on this story.

But for now, let's answer some reviews!:

1) Hatoralo: Neither, this is an entirely different Atlantis.

2) animehero1000:

* As big as the hydra in Disney's Hercules.

* She doesn't: They work for her.

* Yeah, about that...

3) Nobody245:

* What is a good villain nowadays, anyway?

4) Omega Ultra:

* Being conplicated isn't always s good thing.

* I try, hence why I'm going on hiatus after next chapter.

5) Observant Guest:

* I bet that enhanced the experience. Why not listen to... I don't know, some kind of epic battle music for the next part of the fight?"

* Interesting, right?

* Yeah, she got it from a certain someone...

* I hope I can deliver, hehe.

6) ChernoMan:

* Oh, right...

* So many questions, so little answers. I may need to dedicate a mini arc to Atlantis just to cover everything.

* Thanks, I hope I can keep up this quality.

And now, to the chapter!

Episode 25: The Beach Day Grows More Intense! Atlantis Rises Once More!

At a taco restaurant close to the beach, Sam and Tabby were sitting at one of the tables, eating a pair of tacos. Well, Sam was eating a taco, Tabby just looked at hers with disdain.

"Okay, these tacos still taste as good as they've always tasted," Sam stated before taking another bite of her taco. "That means Mr. Universe's masculinity hasn't affected our orientation yet."

"How would that even work?!" Tabby snapped, slamming her fists at the table. "How would they even be related!?"

"Isn't it obvious? A female of bisexual orientation is attracted to both guys and girls, but certain factors can have the scale go more towards one gender than the other," Sam explained, with Tabby rolling her eyes. "An extremely handsome, masculine look can make bisexuals go more towards men, and there's no better example than Mr. Universe himself!"

Tabby looked elsewhere. "I wish I had gone with Maggie instead."

"So do I."

The rocker's eyes widened and she turned back to see a forlorn Sam as she said:

"If I had gone with Maggie and not you, then you would be safe back home, and Maggie could've at least cheered me up somehow. But no, I wanted this to be Sam-Tabby bonding time, and now a giant sea monster's attacking, and I can't help because of that stupid Mr. Universe is there too!"

Sam slammed her fist down the table. "This is the worst day ever!"

Tabby frowned. "Sam..."

"I mean it! First, Luna ditches me for a hotter chick, then, a giant sea monster attacks out of nowhere, and as if that wasn't enough, Mr. Universe appears out of nowhere and forces us to cut and run so he doesn't turn us straight!" Sam groaned. "What's next? Is the Atlantis going to surface!?"

And that exactly happened, as the sunken city became sunken no more, with its arrival catching the eyes of everybody nearby, including the sisters.

"Do you know what that means?!" Tabby asked.

"Yes, I have obtained the power to predict the future!" Sam smiled deviously. "I will use this power for my most nefarious desires!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Tabby rolled her eyes. "But no, it means that things are going to get worse! I need to go back there!"

Tabby jumped off her chair and tried to run to the beach, only to be stopped by Sam grabbing her by her swimsuit.

"Tabby, I already told you," Sam tried pulling her sister back. "I can't let you go back, It's too dangerous!"

And then, Tabby generated an energy knife and sliced Sam's arm with it, leaving a small cut that made Sam wince and release her. "Our friends are in danger, even your supposed girlfriend, and yet you won't help them when they need it the most?!"

Sam took several deep breaths as she grabbed her injured arm, not even giving her sister an answer.

Tabby shifted her energy knife into a guitar and and scowled, "And you still wonder why I like Maggie more than a coward like you!"

Sam flinched and watched as Tabby ran off to help the team, leaving Sam alone. However, shortly after, the girl took a look around until she spotted a music store, which made her narrow her eyes and smile as an idea popped in her head.

And of course, the news crew also caught a glimpse of the Atlantis...

The Casagrande Residence...

Carlota walked to the living room and sat on the couch, taking a long, deep breath without even noticing Bobby right next to her.

"Oh, hi Carlota," Bobby greeted. "What's up?"

"Well, I took over your turn, so: I cleaned the floors, organized the merchandise, put price tags on them, answered the customers' question of how much did something cost despite the blatant price tag, and half a dozen people, both male and female, tried to flirt with me," Carlota tiredly recapped, rubbing her forehead. "I swear, you must be superhuman to be able to deal with so much stuff at once!"

"Well, I don't have half a dozen people flirting with me," Bobby put a hand on Carlota's shoulder. "And besides, the bodega's a family business, I thought you'd have some kind of training to deal with it."

"I do, but I was expecting my first job to be at some fashion business, not a bodega," Carlota grabbed the control remote. "But, at least that's all said and done."

As soon as she turned on the tv, however, both Carlota and Bobby saw the current news report with shock:

"This is Catherine Sweetwater on the beach of Royal Woods once again," the news lady reporter before the camera focused on the Atlantis, and a bit on the hydra. "As a bunch of children bravely fight against the sea monster that rose not long ago, a giant city, presumed to be the long lost civilization of Atlantis, has resurfaced from the ocean."

"Wait, a giant monster's attacking? And Ronnie Anne didn't tell me about this?!" Bobby exclaimed, putting his hands on his cheeks in shock. "Why wouldn't she-"

As soon as he turned around, however, Bobby saw Carlota running back to her room, only to stop and turn around before shouting:

"Come on, Roberto, we need to go help Ronnie Anne!"

However, the guy sadly shook his head as he got up. "I'm sorry, Carlota. No matter how much I want to help, I got some business to deal with my team first."

The fashionista raised an eyebrow. "What?!"

"We're going on an investigation," Bobby explained as he headed to the door, walking past Carlota in the process. "One that's been postponed for long enough, and one that I want to uncover the truth of."

"What case are we talking about?" Carlota asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Bobby sighed. "Well, to give you a hint, the victim's a lovechild."

Carlota flinched, and gaining a sympathetic look, she took a deep breath and stated:

"Good luck with the investigation."

With that said, Carlota went towards her room, and as soon as she was out of sight, Bobby heard the doorbell ring.

And once he opened it, he saw Ronnie Anne's city friends: Nikki, Casey, and Sameer, all wearing a red-white long-sleeved jacket with the symbol of a rooster in the chest.

Not only that, but Casey took an armband and a hat, and handed them to Bobby, who glanced at them before he glanced at the trio... And saw them saluting him.

"Alright, chief, we're ready to start the investigation," Nikki stated as Bobby stepped out of the house and closed the door. "Where do we go first?"

Bobby put the armband. "Where else would we go?"

Then the hat. "To the alleged murder scene."

Finally, he walked forward, and pointing right in front of him, he proclaimed:

"The Johnson Residence!"

"Um, Chief," Casey nervously pointed at his back. "I think you mean the one in Royal Woods, which is over that direction."

Noticing his mistake, Bobby turned around and lead his team to the tunnels as he proclaimed:

"To Royal Woods!"

Back at the Beach...

As the fight continued, Lori and Leni sensed someone else coming, and saw none other than Chandler and Penelope approaching them, still riding a cloud.

"Well, look who we have here," Penelope stated with a slightly spiteful tone as the cloud leaned closer to Lori. "If it isn't my Clyde's former love interest."

Then Penelope got on the top of her feet and leaned even closer to an exasperated Lori. "Why are you just standing there, watching things happen, while Clyde is risking his life!?"

Lori slapped the redhead and pushed her back, growling, "Your boyfriend/husband/whatever isn't even here!"

Chandler raised an eyebrow. "Then, where is he?"

Leni pointed at the Atlantis in the distance, but while Penelope looked at the city, Chandler watched the fight and spotted Ronnie Anne among the people fighting the hydra. This made him whisper to the cloud:

"Guide Penelope to Atlantis!"

The redheaded guy jumped off his cloud and ran towards the sea monster while the cloud immediately flew onwards to the missing city, not giving Penelope any time to think of a plan.

As for the team, everybody pulled attacks at the beast to distract it while Johnson and DiMartino spun Mr. Universe around, gaining more and more speed as the beast tried to attack them, but found the rest of the kids too much of a pest to ignore.

"Keep going, guys!" Ronnie Anne exclaimed. "Just a couple seconds more!"

And then, Tabby ran past Ronnie and Lucy and leaped high, turning her energy guitar into a megaphone as everybody but the spinning trio stopped fighting and turned to look at her.

Realizing what the girl planned to do, everybody covered their ears before Tabby screamed through the megaphone, sending shockwaves and a massive double headache to the beast, stunning it in the process as her megaphone dissapeared into nothing and she fell right into Polly's arms.

"Universe! Now!" Polly shouted as she and the rest of the Sadie Hawkins girls moved away from the center of the monster.

The suited teachers threw Mr. Universe at the beast, the man's speed increasing as he covered his fist in crystal, just moments before he crashed and punched the monster hard enough to make it fall and hit the ground hard enough to cause a large splash of water.

"Alright!" Ronnie Anne exclaimed while Lucy clasped her hands in hopeful relief. "Critical hit!"

However, once everybody took a closer look at the spot that Universe hit, they saw that it wasn't punctured: It was deformed, yes, but not to a significant extent, let alone enough to create an opening.

Mr. Universe could only utter "What the?!" before the beast aimed It's eyes at the man and shot lasers from it, with Universe only being saved by Shrinivas flying and snatching him before the lasers fried him.

The lasers did fry the beast's skin, revealing metallic innards before it healed back to normal.

"That thing's insides are made of metal?!" Mr. Universe exclaimed with a shocked smile.

"It really isn't a normal hydra after all," Lucy said, clinging to Ronnie Anne for safety. "What do we do now?!"

Before the tomboy could answer, The beast opened it's mouth and looked at each other before charging a large lighting sphere, which they shot at Ronnie Anne and Lucy. Luckily, though, Ronnie Anne managed to grab it and hold it back for a moment with her arms.

"Run, Goth-O!" Ronnie Anne barked at the goth girl.

"But-"

"Run!"

Lucy ran to Lynn's side, leaving Ronnie Anne alone to keep the sphere at bay... Until someone appeared and helped her not only stop the sphere, but throw it back at the monster, successfully stunning them for the monster.

Ronnie immediately recognized who the certain someone was afterwards: Chandler, who threw a neutral look at her and a thumbs up.

Though Ronnie could only say one thing in response, one which she said with a furious tone:

"You!"

Meanwhile, in Atlantis...

The team scanned their surroundings in sheer disbelief, one so great their bubbles popped from it: They were on the mythical Atlantis, and it had resurfaced once more.

But most importantly, it was Proto-Lana's territory.

"It's beautiful, Isn't it? I honestly didn't think it would keep It's natural beauty after what Lincoln did to him," Proto-Lana stated as she herself looked at the city, then turned back to the team. "But hey, I guess I should give him some credit: He left my stuff alone in the end."

"Come on, Lincoln, wake up!" Clyde told the unconscious white-haired boy. "If there's a time we need you the most, It's right now!"

"Quit trying to wake him up: I made sure to hit him hard enough so that he'll be out of commission for a while," Proto-Lana sternly stated. "And even if he was conscious, he would be stuck in his mind, trying to get himself to agree to help."

"What are you talking about?!" Lana snapped, stomping the ground. "Stuck in his mind how?!"

"Oh, Hayyel, you don't have to keep acting as if you cared about him!" Proto-Lana proclaimed as the monitor extended out a megaphone. "Nobody has to!"

The shout was heard all the way to the shore, but everybody there were forced to listen, as they had their hands full with the hydra.

And thus, Proto-Lana proclaimed:

"The divine dictator Lincoln only has power as long as one person cares about him! Genuine or fake, any display of affection powers him! The only way to weaken him, to make him pay for what he's done, is to scorn him with every bit of hatred everything in this reality holds against him!"

The team narrowed their eyes and gritted their teeth as the prototype continued:

"So demean him, like he demeaned you! Insult him, like he insulted you! Treat him like a lesser being, in the exact same manner he trested you! Only then, can his corrupted mind be eliminated from taking a part in the inevitable Loudgeddon, that he caused!"

Just then, a large rock was hurled at the giant monitor, but all it did was make a little scratch on the surface. And once she looked down, Proto-Lana saw that Lana herself had thrown the rock.

"So, you choose to ignore my message?" Proto-Lana scoffed. "What a Jophiel thing to do."

Lana growled, "Why, you!"

Proto-Lana smirked. "I guess I need to take out the big guns."

The prototype beastmistress let out a shrill roar, forcing the team to cover their ears as several aquatic animals jumped into the city border and soon morphed into grotesque humanoid forms.

And as soon as the roar ended, Lana snapped, "What did you do to them!?"

"I turned them into an army, one made specifically to make you suffer," Proto-Lana narrowed her eyes as the deformed fish monsters all looked at the team. "Now, you have two choices: Submit to the message and make Lincoln suffer, or fight the very animals you love so much."

Lana looked at the fish monsters as they slowly crawled towards her, the plumber holding back tears at the horrific transformation of the fish.

"Lana, don't let her get into your head!"

The plumber turned around and saw Lola standing by her side. "They're not the animals you love anymore!"

"She's right!"

Lana turned to her other side, and saw Carol. "Your counterpart turned them into monsters!"

Carol threw a reassuring look at the tomboy. "But, you can heal them back into the animals they used to be. I believe you can."

Lana turned back to Lola, who nodded in agreement, and with her confidence rising, Lana got surrounded by a navy blue aura similar to the one back in her fight with Proto-Lola, and raised her arms, lifting a bit of rubble as she prepared to attack.

Back at the Beach... Again...

The fight with the hydra continued as Ronnie Anne continued staring at Chandler, who kept shooting a stern glare at her.

"Chandler, why did you come here?" the tomboy asked, narrowing her eyes. "And why did you help me!? I thought I told you to never speak to me again!"

Chandler remained quiet, which soon got on Ronnie's nerves. "Say something!"

"You literally just told me to never speak to you again," Chandler saved his hands in his pockets. "So, do you want me to speak to you, or do you want me to never speak to you again? It's either one or the other, Ronalda."

Ronnie Anne flinched as the team briefly looked at the scene between the duo with shock before they continued fighting. The only exception was Lynn, who continued looking.

"He literally called her by her real name," Lori blurted in disbelief.

"D-Don't call me that!" Ronnie Anne snapped. "I may have been fine with it years ago, but hearing you say that makes my blood boil!"

"That should be my line," Lynn growled, narrowing her eyes. "I'm the one with fire powers, after all!"

"Lynn, stop screwing around and help us with the monster!" Margo barked at the athlete. "The Ronalda girl can deal with the guy on her own!"

"Yeah, listen to Margo, Lynn!" Polly shouted. "We need to focus our attacks on the beast as much as possible!"

Lynn rolled her eyes and continued watching the scene unfold.

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't come here for you," Chandler folded his arms. "I came here with Penelope to help Clyde."

"As if knowing you're not here to mess with me would make me feel better! Just the fact you're here ticks me off!" Ronnie Anne hissed, stomping the ground. "And besides, if you really came with Penelope, then where is she?!"

Chandler pointed at the Atlantis, with everybody turning to look at it afterwards. Yes, even the hydra.

"Huh, how didn't I see that earlier?" Ronnie Anne shook her head. "Anyway, we're doing fine on our own, so get the heck out of my face now!"

Lynn's eyes widened as she heard the tomboy say that, and she narrowed them as she jumped out of the beast and landed right in front of Ronnie Anne.

"Are you crazy, Ronnie Anne!?" Lynn snapped at the girl. "We're fighting a giant sea monster, and a guy is offering to help us, and you want him to go away!?"

Ronnie Anne narrowed her eyes. "Well, I-"

Lynn grabbed Ronnie Anne by her swimsuit and pulled her forward, her fire and Ronnie's electricity clashing with each other as she hissed:

"Listen, I hate to admit it, but we need as much help as we can! And I'm not going to let you blow that like the good-for-nothing bully you are!"

Chandler narrowed his eyes and walked towards the jock as Ronalda replied:

"You still consider me a bully!?"

"No, the other word I wanted to use for you is too mature for some of the people here!" Lynn clarified, gritting her teeth as her fire intensified. "But even if that wasn't the case, it wouldn't change the fact you've done nothing to change the fact you're nothing more than an abusive bully!"

"Why are you even bringing this up!?" Ronnie Anne snapped, her electricity intensifying as well. "Neither you nor any of your sisters had a problem with it when Lame-O told you about it years ago!"

"And that's precisely the issue! We had no problem with our brother being bullied because we thought it was your way of showing affection!" Lynn yelled, holding back tears as she continued. "But now that we know nothing is what we thought it was, it means our brother was being abused, and we did nothing about it!"

Lynn threw Ronnie Anne at the ground, just in time for Luna to notice.

"Lynn, now's not the time to be an emotional jerk!" the rocker snapped at the jock. "We need to attack the beast!"

"Not until I give this brat a lesson!" Lynn pointed at Ronnie Anne. "Maybe then she'll actually try to change her attitude!"

Just then, Chandler reached Lynn, turned her so she was facing him, then kicked her straight in the stomach, sending her flying several feet away until she fell face-first in the sand.

With that done, Chandler helped Ronnie Anne get up as Lynn slowly stood up, clutching her stomach as Leni went to her aid.

"Lynn, are you, like, okay?!" Leni surrounded her hands in turquoise energy. "Here, let me fix you up."

Leni put her hands in Lynn's stomach, and as the jock was slowly healed, Chandler stated:

"Just because you have a lot of hatred for yourself, doesn't make it right for you to take it out on others!"

Lynn flinched, and Ronnie Anne asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Some people hold a lot of hate for themselves: For their actions, the consequences of said actions, it doesn't matter, they hate themselves," Chandler glared at Lynn. "And one way they try to cope with it is by projecting their faults on other people, regardless of how well they fit together."

Lynn looked at the ground upset, and Chandler asked Ronnie, "Anyway, what was up with the Mr. Universe stuff?"

"We had a plan to have him punch the beast to make a hole so some of us could enter and kill it from the inside," Ronnie Anne looked at the monster. "But the thing turned out to be much tougher than we thought."

Chandler faced the beast, and turned back to Ronnie and nodded before he leaped high into the air, charging his fists with electricity as he fell down. Once he landed on the monster's body, he morphed his energy to create energy swords, and cut open a hole with them.

"You got your hole, now get going!" Chandler shouted at Ronnie Anne. "I'll help everybody keep the monster occupied!"

Ronnie Anne nodded, and she, along with the Sadie Hawkins girls, jumped into the hole and went inside, with the hole slowly covering itself until Lynn suddenly jumped inside as well, upon which it closed completely.

And once inside, everybody noticed Lynn's presence pretty quickly.

"Why did you come here?!" Ronnie Anne snapped. "Don't you have to help deal with the beast on the outside?!"

"And leave one of my friends alone with you?! Not a chance!" Lynn stated, wrapping her arm around Polly's shoulder. "I'm here to both keep an eye on you and provide help with the beast's insides."

"Um, I'm not sure what you think," Haiku pointed at her surroundings. "But these don't look like entrails to me."

The team scanned the beast's interior, and found that rather than look like a disgusting mish mash of organs and arteries, the hydra's insides looked like a large, technologically advanced machine.

"This thing really is something else," Polly stated, with Lynn nodding in agreement.

"We've been dealing with a cyborg hydra all along!" Giggles exclaimed in shock. "By the way, what would you call one of those, cydra or hyborg?"

"I personally like hyborg," Haiku remarked.

"Whatever it is, we don't have time to waste," Tabby walked forward. "Come on, let's see what we can find."

The girls nodded and followed Tabby deeper inside the belly of the beast, though Lynn did eventually skip ahead until she was right next to Tabby, leading the group as well.

At the Skies...

Paige continued to pilot her mecha as it flew closer to the beach. And once it was close enough, the hydra's signal appeared on the radar.

"Alright girls, we're fairly close," Paige stated. "Just a couple more meters and-"

Just then, another couple signals appeared on the radar, with one being spade-shaped.

"Huh, that's strange," Paige remarked. "I'm picking up Lincoln's signal, but he doesn't appear to be conscious."

"He's not conscious? That might means Sweet Feet's in danger!" Ronnie exclaimed. "We have to go help him!"

Paige frowned. "But the hydra-"

The pilot turned to the biker trio, and all they had to do was throw a triple puppy-dog eyed look at Paige to change her mind:

"Alright, in that case, hang on tight: We're going to Atlantis!"

Speaking of the Atlantis, the battle between the team and the fish creatures continued, with Proto-Lana watching the fight unfold with a smug look.

First, Lana lifted some rocks and lunged them at some of the fish things, destroying the upper half of their bodies. Then, once the rock split into pieces, Lola grabbed whatever crystalline matter she could find inside and threw it at the things, which screamed as their bodies were easily pierced.

Clyde held Lincoln in his hands, jumping away at any attack from the fish and allowing Carol to get closer and cut the beasts with her lighting swords.

And yet, the fish things just kept coming.

"It hurts, doesn't it, Hayyel? The animals who would've been your allies are now your enemies instead," Proto-Lana hissed. "This is the fate of everything if Lincoln is allowed to live! He will transfer his pariah status to each and everyone of you! Everything and everybody you once loved will loath your very existence!"

Lana threw another rock at the monitor, which, again, did little to no damage. But then, before Proto-Lana could even say anything, a missile was launched at the screen, causing it to crack even more as the launcher arrived:

It was Paige's mecha, with the cockpit opening to reveal the biker trio waving hello and Paige looking proud at her actions.

"Heh, that felt good," Paige stated.

"Hi everybody!" the trio chirped. "Is Sweet Feet here?!"

Clyde immediately ran to the mecha and presented the unconscious boy to the girls. "He's been unconscious since he fought the rip-off Lana!"

"Mindy, Cindy, Ronnie, help Clyde put Lincoln on the healing pod," Paige ordered as she jumped out of the mecha. "And you, Clyde, pilot this thing in the meantime."

Clyde raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?"

Paige took out a large hammer and smiled, "I know a lot of things."

Annoyed by the interruption, Proto-Lana looked around the battlefield, and spotted Carol and Lana fighting the fish beasts back-to-back.

"You and Carol seem to share something of a bond, Hayyel," Proto-Lana remarked with a devious smile. "I wonder how strong that bond is."

Lana separated from Carol and narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about now?"

Proto-Lana threw a look at Carol, who flinched as she nearly figured where this was going.

"Hayyel, everybody has a dark secret, some worse than others," the prototype narrowed her eyes. "And Carol just so happens to hold one such secret."

The screen changed, this time showing Carol, with purple, glowing eyes, slashing down lovechildren.

"Before her current state, she worked as the "Love Slayer," a person given the job to kill any lovechild that Lincoln didn't approve of. Which, of course, basically meant any lovechild that wasn't his own."

More images, showing the same scenario but with different lovechildren, played as Carol shivered.

"You believed all along that the hybrid was your ally," Proto-Lana stated as the screen turned back to reveal her face. "But she's no friend of yours."

Carol took a step back and looked at her hands as Proto-Lana scoffed:

"Her hands may not show it, but they're covered in the blood of countless, helpless lovechildren all across existence."

A brief flash happened, and Carol found herself in the middle of some kind of battlefield, littered with the corpses of dozens of lovechildren, though that was all she could see before she returned back to reality.

"Are you serious?"

Carol and Proto-Lana flinched, and the former turned around to see Lana walking past her, while staring sternly at her counterpart in the monitor.

"You really think that, just because you show me a couple of creepy pictures of Carol, that it'll be enough for me to believe you?" Lana gritted her teeth. "That it'll be enough for anybody to believe you!?"

"Hayyel, the proof is irrefutable," Proto-Lana stated. "She murdered lovechildren, both born from you and Lincoln, and from the union of Lincoln and his other "sisters." Certainly, as someone who values family above all else, you would see no reason to trust Carol anymore."

"Oh please, as if you valued family to any extent: You and the other progenitors attacked us the first time we met!" Lana hissed. "And you summoned a giant sea monster, and swarmed Atlantis with fishy things to attack my siblings and my friends!"

Lana turned towards Lola. "You were even willing to hurt people who had nothing to do with this!"

Lana turned back to the screen. "And besides, even if Carol did any of those things, I can't take anything at face value anymore! None of us can!"

The siblings, their allies, and even the hydra nodded in agreement as the tomboy plumber continued:

"We lived in a world that was so much more than we thought, and we never realized it! Everything we've found out, everything we've been learning about our world, it's all changed!"

Lana took a step forward. "And it all started when you and the other progenitors showed up and kicked our butts! So if you can think you can trick me, or any of us, with bare-bones information, then you have no idea how wrong you are!"

"Yeah, give her a piece of your mind!" Paige exclaimed while the biker trio cheered for the tomboy. "Expose her nonsense!"

Proto-Lana rolled her eyes at Paige and sternly asked, "So, you will choose to believe your own delusions rather than face reality?"

"I'm saying, that if there's any reason I can think of for why Carol would do those things, is because you forced her to do it!" Lana proclaimed, her pupils turning paw-shaped as she finished:

"After all, what reason do I have to trust you!?"

Proto-Lana narrowed her eyes slowly, gaining an aura surrounding her as she growled:

"It has become clear to me that you can't be reasoned with. Therefore..."

The monitor turned off, and the palace in the background suddenly burst with energy, as a beaming light flew from there to the monitor, destroying it completely once it crashed.

The light turned out to be none other than Proto-Lana, alongside Claire and Watterson, but looking really pisses off.

"If you won't listen to reason, you will listen to force!"

Claire touched her little companion, and transformed him into a large wolf-like beast, before she got up on his back and fought Carol, Lola, Paige, and the mecha with him.

This left Lana alone with Proto-Lana, who dashed straight for the girl as she was enveloped in a navy blue light. She extended a hand as Proto-Lana threw a punch...

And she blocked it, without even flinching, as her form changed a little.

Shortly afterwards, Lana's light dissipated, revealing her hair had grown much longer, reaching past her back and forming a mane, and her clothing sported a spade-shaped symbol on the chest.

Not only that, but from her back, a pair of paw-shaped wings sprouted. And finally, her sclera became navy blue, and her pupils were shaped like paws.

Something was clear in that moment: Lana had achieved her angel form.

"B-But, how?!" Proto-Lana exclaimed, trying to free her clutched punch. "How could you access your angelic form already!?"

Lana turned to Carol and winked. "I got help from a friend."

Carol smiled in relief, and Lana promptly released Proto-Lana only to launch a right hook right at her face, one strong enough to send her flying back into the castle, demolishing it in the process.

Lana looked at her arm and scratched her chin. "Huh, not bad. I guess I could get used to this kind of power."

The tower exploded as Proto-Lana flew out of it and landed at the spot of the monitor, trashing it as she proclaimed:

"A mere power up won't be enough to defeat me, you hear!?"

The prototype powered up even more, gaining bat-like wings and a scorpion-like tail in the process.

"I'm Barbatos, king of the Lana caste! And I won't allow my kingdom to be ruled by an unworthy heir like you!"

Proto-Lana rushed straight for Lana, who rolled her eyes as she said:

"We'll see who's the unworthy heir soon."

Lana dashed straight for Proto-Lana, and the pair got ready to throw a punch, beginning the fight for the rulership of Lana's caste.

Next Chapter Preview...

"Hi everybody, Lana here!"

Lana and Proto-Lana fought in the skies, then on the throne room, as the plumber spoke:

"I've managed to achieve my angel form, and I'm fighting my counterpart."

Meanwhile, at the belly of the beast, Lynn and Tabby have an argument, only for Ronnie Anne to break them apart.

"However, while the fight seems even, I can't help but feel we're stuck in a stalemate."

Back in Atlantis, the fight with the fish monsters continue: Paige used her hammer, Clyde piloted the mecha, Penelope arrived to provide backup, and so on.

"Well, at least Lola and the others are safe..."

Speaking of Lola, she ran, or better yet flew away, towards the tower, leaving a trail of pink light.

"Next time, on Chains of Reality: Divinity Reborn..."

Lana grabbed Skippy and maneuvered around her counterpart's attacks as she and the boy talked.

"Into the Belly of the Beast! The Fight Between the Beast Monarchs Begins!"

Skippy frowned, and Lana did the same before Proto-Lana's attack hit them.

"Don't miss it!"

Finally, Lincoln woke up in some mysterious location, where he saw someone else nearby:

Sincoln.