Posting this now 'cause I may not get the chance tomorrow.
Well, would you look at that, a chapter that's slightly longer than average! I did warn you there would be some of these, and it's not going to be just this one that's gonna be extra long.
Also, I once again want to apologize for the long waits between arcs: It takes a lot of work to make them, I'll make that lear, but I feel like the quality that I've been writting these hasn't been up to par with either how it started, or how it should be considering my years of writing fanfiction.
Simply put, we might be going through Seasonal Rot before the season is even over.
Or I'm just making up that illusion and going nuts, either one is possible. XD
Anyway, to the reviews:
1) Nobody245: Like mothers, like daughters, I guess. And in the worst way possible.
2) TheCartoonist294:
* Do you mean as in how many chapters are there now, or how many chapters will there be? Because right now, we're at thirty seven, and I'm thinking we may reach past a hundred when this story finally gets completed.
* It's in order to give it more of an Anime-like feel to it, since Anime is a big inspiration for this story.
3) Observant Guest: Before we start, I'd like to ask, maybe again, how's your SVTFOE watch going? At what season are you? I'm not asking because of WoD, either, I'm just curious.
* Well, Polly Pain, Tabby, and Giggles mainly. I like to think Haiku is not so easy to get through.
* Hmm, that is weird actually: We get a minor character and their popularity blows up, but then we get an actual new member of Lincoln's friends, and nobody pays attention to her?
* Yeah, imagine his reaction XD
* Oh, okay.
* I actually haven't seen the episode, so maybe it was a coincidence?
" Pain's theme, on a character that's been a pain, and has received a lot of pain.
* Carol is OP confirmed.
* Well, that only adds to the things they do share in common, probably to their mutual dislike.
* Yep, you'll get to see her soon. :)
4) ChernoMan: Again, only gonna focus on what you said about the chapter.
* Now you get two headaches for the prize of one!
* A small sun is nothing compared to the Lynns' true power.
* Yeah, really.
* I see.
* There's no definition given to the artificial moon, just that its artificial. Take that however you want.
* Encountering a progenitor is generally anything but nice.
* Well, time to you to judge however I kept up the promising pace.
And now, to the chapter!
Episode 37: The Ultimate Sacrifice Brought by Faith! Proto-Luan's House of Horrors' Made Visible! Wait, Has Luan Unlocked Her Angel Form?!
A portal opened at the plains beyond Royal Woods, and Carol came out of the portal, and into the grand entrance to the church from before.
"Alright, time to see if the lincolnists are involved in this madness," Carol said to herself as she walked towards the door. "If they are... then I hope I don't have to get my hands dirty."
"Halt!"
Carol was stopped on her tracks by the gate guardians, who turned out to be none other than both Boy and Girl Jordan, the former sporting purple eyes, while the latter had one purple eye and one green eye.
"So, you guys decided to show up today, huh?" Carol put her hands on her hips. "What's your excuse for being absent over two weeks ago?"
The kids exchanged looks, and Guy Jordan promptly snapped, "T-That's none of your business!"
"We were tasked to not let anybody enter the Church while the progenitors were doing something at the city," Girl Jordan explained. "So, sorry, Carol, but that includes you. We can't let you in."
Goraning in exasperation, Carol promptly opened a portal and went through it, with her coming out right inside the church as the Jordans blinked in confusion.
"Oh right," Girl Jordan scratched the back of her head. "I forgot she can create portals at will."
So, once inside the church, Carol ran around the hallways as she looked for any signs of living people. But sadly, she found next to nothing: The hallways were completely empty, almost as if the place had been evacuated before she arrived.
In fact, the only thing she found was a disturbed Mabel, leaning against a wall and clutching her chest as she took heavy breaths.
"Mabel!" Carol exclaimed as she ran to the disturbed girl. "What happened? Why do you look like that?!"
"T-The Lincolnists... t-they..." Mabel weakly said, avoiding eye contact with the girl. "They're doing... something awful..."
"Mabel, tell me what's going on!" Carol asked the disturbed blonde girl. "Why is there barely anybody present here?!"
"Everybody's gathered at the sanctuary of the damned," Mabel answered as she tightened her clutch on her chest. "They're planning to help Progenitor Lucy with the gashadokuro by creating even more zombies."
"But, how would they..." Carol soon got a horrifying idea. "Wait, don't tell me..."
"Paige went there to stop them," Mabel lowered her head. "But I don't know how many of the damned will be saved..."
Carol ran through a door and went deeper and deeper down, until she found herself at the mentioned sanctuary of the damned: A massive set of walls with both big and small holes, most of which were completely empty.
And once she looked deeper, she found out why: The inhabitants of the holes, the so called "damned," were being forced to walk towards the center of the sanctuary, where some lincolnists killed some of the damned and teleported them using some spades-shaped artifact, all while being watched by a cloaked figure.
"Don't show mercy to any of these damned children, fellow brothers and sisters!" the cloaked figure proclaimed, raising their hands as they exclaimed, "Their very existence has been cursed, and dying for nothing would be a disgrace for Mother Lucy! Kill them, so their corpses may fuel the rise of the gashadokuro, who'll create a staircase to the heavens!"
"Renee!" Carol snapped, taking a couple steps forward.
The cloaked lincolnist turned around and took off her cloak, revealing herself to be Renee, one of Lincoln's former dates. She sported purple eyes and a black, foggy aura around her being.
"What do you think you're doing, Renee?!" Carol asked as she walked closer to the girl. "Did you even get Paige's permission to do this!?"
"I never agreed to this savagery."
Carol and Renee looked around, and next thing they knew, a green flash of light passed by the lincolnists and knocked them out, while freeing the cursed people, and the light revealed it soon after.
It was Paige, who put her hammer behind her head as she stated:
"But then again, like the progenitors, you'd just do whatever you want regardless of what I said, right?"
"So, the rebellious lover has arrived," Renee pinched the bridge of her nose. "Where's the true descendant when you need her?"
"If you're talking about Stella, she's a bit busy taking care of something in Royal Woods," Paige stated as she walked to Carol's side. "And if you're talking about Ronnie Anne, well, jokes on you: She'd be as disgusted as I am!"
Renee gritted her teeth and shot a glare at Paige as the Sister-Lover added:
"Now, what the hell do you think you're doing, Renee?! We were explicitly told to keep the cursed lovechildren safe and sound here!"
"Wait, the "sanctuary of the damned" houses the lovechildren?!" Carol exclaimed, taking a step back. "I thought it was the house for even more messed up beings!"
"Well, by Lincolnism standards, any lovechild born between an union without Lincoln is considered "damned" and "messed up" by default," Paige moved her hammer to point at the lovechildren around. "And not a single one of these children you see here has Lincoln as a parent."
"To be distant to the lord and savior is as much of a curse as to refuse to acknowledge his divinity in his presence," Renee raised her arms. "These children were cursed from the very moment they were born! To kill them now so they fuel the gashadokuro is the kindest mercy that could be given to them!"
Renee lowered her arms and clasped her hands. "To let them live would make us no better than the lord and savior's enemies!"
Some more lovechildren were killed, then teleported, making Carol wince and Paige narrow her eyes in disgust.
"I'm so glad the biker girls aren't here to witness this," Paige stated, getting a confused look from Carol. "They were picked by a Lupa and a Lacy to go rescue a Lizy and a Leia that were captured by the organization."
"A Lupa and a Lacy..." Carol scratched her chin, then got an idea. "Wait, don't tell me..."
Speaking of the biker trio...
The toddlers sat on a bench, sandwiched in between the Lacy from before, and a Lupa, who looked like a mix between Lincoln and Lucy. Her uniform was the same as the other lovechildren, but with grey highlights.
"So, you're all girls "born" from Sweet Feet and one of his sisters?" Ronnie inquired, tilting her head. "But how's that possible if Sweet Feet seems to be your age?"
"Well, we're not his children in this dimension," Lupa answered, trying her hardest to avoid eye contact with the biker trio. "Truth be told, we're actually from different dimensions."
"Wow, that's so cool!" Mindy said as she turned to Lacy. "So, how many daughters and sons does Sweet Feet have?"
"Well, for daughters, there's me, there's Lupa, Lacy, Lizy and Leia who we're going to rescue... most of his children are girls, actually," the lovejock answered. "The only boy we've ever met is Lemy-"
"Did someone say my name?"
The girls turned around and saw the mentioned boy literally levitate into the room, in a pose kinda similar to a T pose, except his arms were slightly raised. He was wearing a purple dress with a black spades symbol on it, with matching opera gloves, boots, and stockings, and a purple headband that covered his eyes.
"I'm glad I came here to check up on the passengers, then. We're about to reach our destination, so please stay calm until then," Lemy said calmly as he levitated to Lacy. "Is there anything you desire to ask me, Sister Lacy?"
"N-Not at all, Lemy!" Lacy answered, while Lupa took out her soul weapon and blocked the biker trio with them. "I was just telling the newest Lincolnists about how you're the only son of Lincoln we've met so far!"
Lemy turned to the covered trio, and his eyes glew purple-with red lines underneath-before Lupa's soul weapon was shattered, allowing the boy to see the trio as Lupa backed away and her soul returned to her body.
"So, these are the biker trio that Paige told me about?" Lemy tilted his head. "What is your relationship with my Father, Lincoln?"
"We're his loyal followers!" Ronnie answered. "Although, for a long time, we never really met or talked to him. But that changed recently."
"We joined this "Lincolnism" place about a week or so ago," Mindy added, getting the boy's attention. "Time's always been weird for us, so that's why I say a week or so ago."
"Interesting," Lemy leaned back, then turned to Cindy. "And you..."
"Me?" Cindy flinched and pointed at herself.
Lemy levitated forward to the girl and leaned closer, saying:
"I can sense a feeling of romantic affection coming within you. Would you, perhaps, have a crush on my Father?"
"W-What?!" Cindy flinched and blushed as she looked around. "D-Don't be ridiculous! I like him the same way every other lincolnist likes him!"
"Every lincolnist holds romantic feelings for the lord and savior, whether they recognize them or not is irrelevant," Lemy leaned back. "Nobody joins Lincolnism without having a certain amount of love for the lord and savior."
Cindy blushed and giggled, with Lemy turning around and levitating away as he said:
"Just be careful not to get the attention of the Sister-Lovers.."
Cindy stopped giggling, and Lemy stopped, turned around, and said, with a calm, serene smile:
"They're the lord's personal love interests. And they don't like it when somebody gets in their way."
With that said, Lemy left the room and floated straight to the driver's spot, where the one driving the vehicle taking them to the organization drove it while looking at a large map in front of them.
"How are things back there?" the driver asked.
"It's all going fine," Lemy answered as he levitated to the driver's side. "The passengers will stay calm until we reach our destination. Until then, I hope you avoid taking any unnecessary risks..."
Lemy slowly turned to the pilot seat and stated, "Sister Liberty" with a frown.
The driver in question, Liberty, looked like a female Lincoln with longer hair, and the same outfit as the other lovechildren, with orange highlights.
"I'm the best pilot lovechild there is, Lemy," Liberty answered, focusing on the screen in front of her. "You have nothing to worry about."
Lemy smiled, and flew off, allowing Liberty to catch her breath. "That guy's so creepy."
Meanwhile, back with Luan and Lucy...
The sisters got up and Luan held Lucy's hand as Proto-Lucy continue to look at them, her condescending smile unfaltering as Luan snapped:
"What are you trying to do, Fake Lucy?!"
Proto-Lucy chuckled. "Geez, I thought Luan's descendant would be a bit more optimistic than her."
Luan groaned in frustration, and Lucy promptly asked, "What are you trying to do, Other Me?"
"Original Lucy, if you will," Proto-Lucy answered, further aggravating Luan. "And all I'm doing is finishing the work I was doing before the old reality fell apart."
Proto-Lucy turned around and faced the pile of bodies as she explained:
"You see, even before the war that destroyed the old reality, there were several events that ended in the death of several innocent protophilim. And, feeling sorry for them, I started working on creating one of the primordial creatures. More specifically, one with the ability the pierce the very heavens, so the innocent protophilim that died could come back for a second chance at life."
Luan narrowed her eyes. "Don't trust her, Lucy. She probably had more sinister intentions than that!"
Proto-Lucy then remembered something. "By the way, Ariel..."
The prototype turned around and took out from her back... the bag containing the eyes of the eldritch Lucy.
"Harut handed me this bag, and inside it were the eyes of a Lucy, the thing I demanded from our deal."
"Uh, y-yeah, that's exactly what they are!" Lucy said as she got a confused look from Luan. "So, I've fulfilled my part of the deal, right?"
"Your part of the deal?" Luan inquired, getting the goth's attention. "Lucy, what did you do?"
Seeing she had spilled the beans a bit too fast, Lucy caved in and answered:
"Lynn and I used the summoning spells in the Ars Loudia to summon our counterparts, thinking that we could control them. However, the summoning went wrong, and if it hadn't been for Lynn's friend Margo, my counterpart would've taken my eyes right then and there!"
Luan pinched the bridge of her nose. "Lucy, I know you're a fan of the occult, but what made you think doing something like that was a good idea?!"
"We weren't thinking straight, alright?!" the goth girl argued back. "It's a large book filled with occult knowledge about the progenitors! What was I supposed to do with it?!"
"Tell us about it! Or at least, tell Lori and Leni about it, they can be trustworthy!" Luan argued in return. "You can't just play around with stuff like this, Lucy! It could cost you your life!"
Suddenly, a demented cackle echoed across the city, getting the sisters' attention. So they turned around and saw the cackler was none other than Proto-Lucy who promptly proclaimed:
"It's utterly hilarious to see the descendants fight with each other, especially over such a foolish blunder!"
Luan gritted her teeth, and she turned back to Lucy, who frowned and said:
"Luan, I'm sorry that Lynn and I did something so foolish with the book. We should've told you and the girls about it when we had the chance."
The comedian sighed and put up a little smile. "It's alright, Lucy, you couldn't have known how bad things would've gotten."
"Yeah, right, after all, it's not like she's faced us before... oh wait, yes she has!" Proto-Lucy scoffed, then narrowed her eyes and smiled with a sadistic intent. "But, oh well, if she's going to be that blind to reality, I guess the only thing left to do is to punish her."
"B-But I gave you the eyes, like promised!" Lucy said, taking a step back. "We made a deal! I gave you the eyes, and you'd leave me alone!"
Proto-Lucy glanced at the bag. "Oh, these things?"
The prototype threw the bag towards the pile of bodies, which assimilated it as it morphed to form the upper part of a skull's head. Then, the empty eye sockets gained glowing lights for eyes, and stared at the duo.
"Everything goes towards the gashadokuro's arrival," Proto-Lucy stated as she cracked her knuckles. "And besides, be honest: You deserve it for being so blindly stupid."
"Stay here, Lucy," Luan said as she stood up. "I'll deal with her."
Lucy frowned. "But, Luan-"
"Lucy, do you remember what I told you just a moment ago?" Luan turned to the goth girl and smiled. "I already failed to protect you once, and I'm not going to fail you again."
"But this is a progenitor we're talking about!" the goth exclaimed. "Do you really think you'll be able to beat her?"
Luan sighed, brushed Lucy's hair and stated with a smile:
"Lucy, I'm going to protect you, one way or another. That's what's important."
With her mind spoken, Luan walked forward and met with Proto-Lucy, who kept her arms folded as she looked at the comedian with an eyeless expression of derision.
"What kind of sick joke are you trying to play with me, Artiya'il?" the prototype scoffed. "You should know better than anybody else that you're no match for me."
"Artiya'il? Is that supposed to be my angel name?" Luan scratched her head. "I thought it would be some name that ends on "el" or something like that-"
"Answer the question." Proto-Lucy sternly stated.
"Well, aren't we a bit of a buzzkill," Luan replied. "Yes, I know I'm weaker than you. In fact, if I were to face you in my base form, you'd probably completely destroy me."
"And then I would use your corpse to fuel the rise of the gashadokuro," Proto-Lucy turned to the pila of bodies, which was still in the process of summoning the creature. "Which, to be honest, has taken much more dead bodies than I thought it'd need. Just how many bodies did I use to create the original one?"
"However," Luan smirked. "I'm not going to fight in my base form."
Lucy's eyes widened, while Proto-Lucy chuckled as Luan clenched her fists and started transforming, tiny pieces of rock levitating up as the girl was surrounded by a yellow aura.
"Hmph, there's no way you could've gained access to your angel form," Proto-Lucy stated with a confident tone. "Knowing your kind, the only thing you did all this time was take everything as if it was a joke!"
Luan paid no attention to the obvious taunting of the prototype, and instead focused on continuing her transformation as her form started to change:
From her back sprouted a flower-shaped wing, which glitched slightly as it fully formed.
The girl's ponytail was undone, allowing her hair to flow wildly in the wind as from the top, a pair of hyena-like ears sprouted out.
One of her eyes gained black sclera and a yellow pupil, with the other eye just getting the yellow pupil.
And finally, the flowers she had on her shoes and shirt started growing fines that spread across her body.
And with that, Luan stopped screaming and caught her breath, her transformation... kinda sort-of completed.
"Is that it? An incomplete angel form?" Proto-Lucy scoffed, earning a glare from the comedian. "How long did you train in order to each that pathetic form in the first place? A couple days? Maybe even a week?"
"It doesn't matter if my form is incomplete or not!" Luan proclaimed as she clenched her fists. "Even if I'm only partially an angel, I'll still find a way to beat you somehow!"
Luan lowered her palms on the ground, and they glew green as vines sprouted from the floor and headed straight for Proto-Lucy, all while Lucy looked on in awe.
Unfortunately, all the prototype did in response was grab the vines with her hands once they got close enough, causing them to wither away into dust as she stated:
"Suicidal taunting should be something reserved only for Lynn's caste!"
Meanwhile, with the fight with Proto-Lynn...
Proto-Lynn came out of some rubble and dusted herself, moments before she sensed something and looked around.
"I get the feeling I was insulted."
And then her attention was caught again when Ronnie Anne and Chandler charged a pair of lighting bolts at her, with Clyde standing right in the middle, charging his arm cannon.
"You still dare to fight me?!" Proto-Lynn snapped, stomping the ground. "What does it take for brats like you to understand?! My beef is with Camael and Camael alone! You're doing nothing but risking your lives for no reason!"
"Oh, don't get the wrong idea, we have a reason to risk our lives!" Ronnie Anne exclaimed, narrowing her eyes. "You and the rest of the progenitors aren't just trying to kill your descendants! You want to destroy everything, don't you?!"
"Such a ridiculous motivation," Proto-Lynn shook her head. "Why would I want to destroy everything if I can just rule it once Loudgeddon's come and gone? After all, there will be nothing left of this reality when it happens."
"In that case, there will be nothing left for you to rule over, right?" Chandler pointed, narrowing his eyes as he asked, "Then shouldn't you try to stop Loudgeddon from happening, rather than try and kill your descendant?"
"Once a dimension has been damaged enough that its damage cannot be easily repaired, Loudgeddon becomes an inevitability," Proto-Lynn answered with a somber tone. "This dimension of ours is but one example of such a tragic plane of reality. The world will be destroyed, and it's all thanks to that good-for-nothing Lincoln..."
With those words spoken, Clyde adjusted his glasses as he finished charging his arm cannon and deduced:
"Then your real target is Lincoln, isn't it!?"
Chandler and Ronnie Anne powered up the boy's cannon, and he shot a green-light blue energy beam at the prototype, who promptly ran forward and held the beam with her hands... at first, eventually the beam engulfed Proto-Lynn despite her best efforts.
This didn't stop her, though, and she simply dashed through it as she prepared to punch the trio, who jumped out of the way before the fist connected.
And with that, Proto-Lynn's aftermath was revealed: While her skin wasn't charred or injured, there was steam and smoke coming out of it, not to mention a surprisingly bright gleam. She almost looked like she came out of a car wash.
But regardless, Chandler and Ronnie Anne shot a pair of lighting bolts at her before Clyde grabbed them and used his jet shoes to fly back to Lynn's side, who slowly turned to her allies.
"Guys, I'm serious, you have to get out of here!" Lynn told the trio. "Nothing you can do is going to hurt her! You must leave before she starts getting serious!"
"You really think we're going to leave you behind, just like that, Jock-O? Especially looking at how badly hurt you are?" Ronnie Anne answered, folding her arms and shaking her heads at the thought. "Nuh uh, we're staying here no matter what!"
"And besides, if this is something about this "being between you and your counterpart," then that's not a valid excuse," Chandler added with a stern tone. "The progenitors take several teams just to pin them down: Just because you're her counterpart, and a god as well, doesn't mean you alone can win this fight-"
"I've never won anything!" Lynn suddenly snapped.
The trio went silent, and realizing what she said, Lynn took a deep breath and explained:
"Ever since the progenitors entered the picture... ever since we had to train just to survive, I've never managed to net a single victory against them! Sure, I've helped the twins, and I've managed to hold them back sometimes, but I've never actually won against them!"
Lynn looked at her own charred hands and weakly clenched them.
"I went from the sports superstar of the family, to the only one of my siblings who hasn't been able to do anything against the progenitors!"
"Lynn, don't clench your hands like that, you're only going to make them worse!" Clyde said as he ran to the girl's side and separated her hands carefully. "And besides, what are you talking about? You're not the only one who hasn't been able to do anything against the progenitors! I myself haven't really done anything against them since they attacked!"
"Then what the heck was that energy beam combination you did with Ronnie Anne and the redheaded guy?!" Lynn snapped. "Just admit it: Out of me and my sisters, I'm the only one who hasn't done anything against the progenitors!"
"I agree."
The team turned around and saw Proto-Lynn walking out of the smoke cloud, looking particularly annoyed.
"In terms of combat ability, you have done little to nothing to contribute to the fight, Camael," Proto-Lynn added. "While everybody's fighting for their lives, or at least doing something to help the fight between us, you just enter the fray and get beaten again and again."
Suddenly, the prototype jock teleported to Clyde's side. "Even this brat managed to figure out the real target, and attacked, even if he knew he was outmatched."
Proto-Lynn grabbed Clyde by the neck of his sweater and lifted him. "So yes, child: The real target of all this agression is Lincoln!"
The boy aimed his arm cannon and shot a blast right in Proto-Lynn's face, prompting her to throw him off to Ronnie Anne and Chandler's side.
"I-If Lincoln's your real target, then why are you attacking us?" Lynn asked, getting her counterpart's attention. "I mean, I know you hate us because we're your descendants, but why bother fighting us first, and Lincoln second?"
The prototype chuckled and promptly explained:
"You see, we're family, and divine entities on top of it. The former guarantees that as soon as we tried to hurt Lincoln, you'd jump in to protect him, and the latter made sure that the gap between us wasn't as wide as with any other creature."
The proto-jock folded her arms and took a deep breath:
"Trying to strike Lincoln himself means being stopped by you and your sisters, Camael. The only real way we could ever hope to get close to him, was to get rid of you."
"But we just found out we were gods, and we don't have access to all our abilities," Lynn pointed out sternly, and regrettably. "Why didn't you strike him while you still had the chance?"
Proto-Lynn looked at the sky with a contemplative look. "Truth be told, we tried that once."
Then she closed her eyes and groaned. "And he nearly wiped us out."
Lynn and Chandler's eyes widened in shock, while Clyde and Ronnie Anne exchanged proud looks and smiles, almost as if they were saying "that's our Lincoln!" to each other.
"Truth be told, it seems that his power is connected both to the love interests under his wing, and you and your sisters as well, Camael. Like a living battery, if you will. The more batteries you take out, the less power something has."
"No, the instant you take out one battery, whatever thing had them doesn't work at all," Ronnie Anne pointed out, with the boys nodding in agreement. "I should know, all control remotes seem to work like that."
"Well, whatever, you understand the point of the analogy, right?" Proto-Lynn folded her arms. "The only hope we have of defeating Lincoln, is by getting rid of the sisters that both protect and empower him."
Proto-Lynn looked strictly at Lynn's eyes and, with a malevolent tone, she proclaimed:
"Once he's completely alone, he'll be defenseless. And once he's defenseless, that's when we'll strike and destroy the body of the one that caused us so much trouble before!"
Now officially angry, Lynn kicked her counterpart upwards, just in time for a large moon-like object to crash on her, and then crash-land on the ground, with the team jumping away before the collision.
Shortly after, Proto-Lynn cracked the object in one punch and caught her breath. "Where the hell did that even come from!?"
"Over there!"
The team jumped away from another incoming moon projectile, which Proto-Lynn crushed to pieces as she realized something:
"These things... they're Luna's artificial moons..."
And then she looked up, and saw at least a dozen more of the things heading straight for her direction.
Frustrated at this development, Proto-Lynn exclaimed:
"Just what is that madwoman doing!?"
Luna and Lori Versus Proto-Luna...
The enraged prototype rocker threw her arm forward, and sent a couple of the artificial moons at Lori and Luna, who braced for impact.
The first one was held back by Lori using her hands, then the second one cracked the first one, but was slightly held back by Luna, who aimed her arms forward and slowly pushed back both moons to Proto-Luna, who immediately threw some more moons at them.
Lori and Luna pushed back the moons, and the artificial bodies crashed and exploded, sending several bits and pieces of debris off to the street, angering Proto-Luna.
"Lori, we can't keep throwing back her moons!" Luna said, with Lori nodding in agreement. "The more of them we destroy, the more debris that falls on the city!"
Proto-Luna clenched her fists and flew towards Lori, who made Luna's cloud fly away before the duo clashed, crashing on a building's wall in the process.
As for Luna, she crashed right on top of a familiar face: Her mother, Rita.
"Mom?!" Luna exclaimed as she got up. "What are you doing here?!"
"Well, that's a bit of a long story," Rita said as she stood up. "But all you need to know, is that I got a little gift for you."
Luna raised an eyebrow, but her confusion was quickly changed for excitement when she saw the sword that Rita held.
And then that excitement turned into distrust. "What's that thing, Mom?"
"It's a Loud Slayer!" Rita excitedly answered. "A weapon made with progenitor blood that'll help you fight your counterpart... Hopefully!"
"Is it safe to touch?" Luna asked as she glanced at the weapon uneasily.
"Absolutely!" Rita answered cheerfully. "In fact, it would definitely be on our best interest if you were the one to touch it."
Luna raised an eyebrow, but seeing as the weapon could probably help them, she hesitantly grabbed it and inspected it for a couple of minutes.
And then the sword glew as it was engulfed in a purple light, which slowly broke off to reveal the Loud Slayer had changed from it's simplistic design, to that of a crescent sword with a purple handle.
"Yes, it worked!" Rita chirped as she clapped wildly. "I had a feeling the weapon would morph once you held it, and I was right!"
Luna, however, was too baffled by the transformation. "Okay, what just happened?"
"You see, being the descendant of one of the progenitors, the Loud Slayer, being made from progenitor blood, reacts to your identity and morphs into one of the several hundred weapons you and your "sisters" used to own," Rita explained. "In this case, it transformed into one of your personal swords: The Flaming Pearl Blade!"
However, the last part wasn't what caught Luna's interest. "You said I used to own a hundred weapons?!"
"Well, it could've been a thousand," Rita argued with a shrug. "The archives are a bit contradictory and vague about it."
As the duo talked about it, Lori and Proto-Luna's fight was brought into a stand-still as the pair held hands and tried to overpower each other, a struggle that cause electricity to surge through both of them. During this struggle, Proto-Luna caught a glimpse of Luna's sword, and her eyes widened.
"That sword..."
Proto-Luna promptly narrowed her eyes and shot an energy blast at Luna, giving Lori enough time to knee her in the gut and send her flying away, continuing their fight.
As for Luna and Rita, the latter noticed the incoming blast, so she jumped in front of Luna and summoned a crystal pillar to block it. And not only did the pillar blocked it, but absorbed it, causing it to explode and send the pair flying back.
"Okay, Luna, I'm sure that's your cue to put the sword to work!" Rita cheerfully exclaimed. "Now go and make me proud, sweetie!"
Luna glanced at the fight between Lori and Proto-Luna, then glanced back at the sword, and she prepared to use it as she thought:
"Well, at least Lisa and Lily are okay..."
Meanwhile, with Lisa and Lily...
The youngest Loud daughters flew towards the battlefield, Lily doing so inside her mech, while Lisa did so using her jet legs. And as they flew, Lisa read the contents inside the Ars Loudia for any information that could help them beat the progenitors.
"This book sure holds a lot of content, but I still can't find anything related to the progenitors' abilities," Lisa said, until she stopped at a peculiar page. "Wait, what's this about?"
The toddler scientist stopped on her tracks, and so did Lily.
"It appears to be some sort of paragraph taken from a book," Lisa scratched her chin and turned to Lily. "Should I read it?"
The baby made the mech shrug, and after thinking about it for a moment, Lisa decided to read it:
"We tried to resist a dark descent, but we succumb at the very end. The brand new world, shall get a nasty surprise. For in our place, impostors shall rise."
Lisa closed the book and raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means the progenitors we're dealing with are impostors."
The girls turned around and saw their father, Mr. Loud, running up to them.
"Father Unit! What are you doing here?!" Lisa exclaimed as the man caught up to them. "And what's that thing you got there?"
"I could ask the same thing to you," the man said while he caught his breath. "Both questions, actually: What are you doing here, and what's that you got on your hand?"
"We're heading to the battlefield in order to provide support for our siblings!" the scientist proudly proclaimed as she handed the book to the man. "As for what's this thing, it's a book that Lucy and Lynn found in the attic, named the "Ars Loudia." It appears to have information related to the progenitors."
"And from the sounds of it, the confirmation that they're not the real progenitors as well..." Lynn Sr. opened the book and checked the line that Lisa just read out loud, sighing sadly before he closed it. "I should've at least humored the idea that Flip was on to something..."
"Wait a minute, Flip once theorized that the progenitors we were dealing with were actually fakes?" Lisa folded her arms and rolled her eyes. "Well, if he's the one who suggested it, I don't blame you for not believing him."
"It's not that I didn't believe him, it's just that I wanted there to be more proof before we jumped to any conclusions," Lynn Sr. looked back at the book sadly. "And this seems to be the proof I was looking for..."
Lisa then glanced back at the weapon held by her father. "Um, you still haven't answered my question, by the way. What is that supposed to be?"
"Oh, this? It's the Loud Slayer, a weapon made by your mother and me from progenitor, or should I say prototype blood, in order to try and score a better chance at hurting the progenitors," Lynn Sr. answered, glancing at the weapon as he added. "We made two, but your mother has the other one."
"You made this thing out of progenitor blood?" Lisa repeated, sounding both shocked and confused. "Okay, regardless of however that works, how would it help us?"
"Trust me, Lisa, once you see it in action, you'll understand," the man sighed. "But now, I need to find Lucy in order to give her the weapon."
Lily and Lisa exchanged looks, and nodded.
"Don't worry, Father Unit, we'll help you locate our gothic sister unit!" Lisa proclaimed, with Lily nodding in agreement. "And in the meantime, you can help us decipher more of the content within the Ars Loudia!"
The man hummed, glanced at the book, and sighed, "I guess that's to be expected from someone as curious as you, right?"
Lisa chuckled and put her arms behind her head. "What can I say? I'm a woman of science!"
The scientist toddler extended her hand towards the man. "Now, let's get going."
The man nodded, grabbed Lisa's hand, and he held it tightly as the girls continued flying across the city in search for Lucy.
Meanwhile, at the Sweetwater Mansion...
Mr. Universe caught his breath as he leaned against a wall, clutching his chest and with steam coming out of his body. The zombies that were once plaguing the house had already been taken care of, so the man tried to catch his breath for as long as possible.
"Mr. Universe!"
The man turned around and saw Catherine and Becky running up to him, with the news van parked right outside the gate.
"Catherine... Becky... I'm glad to see you here..." the man answered in the middle of his breathing. "It seems I used too much energy... I'm totally exhausted."
"It's okay, Universe, I'm here for you now," Catherine told the buff man as she comforted him, and Becky acted as lookout. "Where's Lindsey? Is she okay?"
"She's fine: She left the house with some trustworthy people," Mr. Universe answered. "I'm sure she's currently in a safe spot."
Catherine frowned, but her worry turned into shock when she heard Becky shoot a lighting bolt, which she turned around to see she had shot it right at a peculiar team: That of the older Swagger sisters and the Spokes brothers.
Becky walked towards the team as they checked the person that was electrocuted, who was none other than Sam.
"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" Becky pinched the bridge of her nose and put her hands on her hips as the teenager stood up and dusted herself. "The next thing, you're running around in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, paying no mind to the living dead gating around the place!"
"You don't understand, Becky! I can't stay back at the house right now!" Sam said, twiddling her fingers as the redhead narrowed her eyes. "Tabby went out to see something with her friends before the apocalypse happened, so I need to go find her!"
"Another one of your excuses, I bet!" Becky growled, rolling her eyes at the statement. "When will you learn to stop using your sisters as excuses to get away with what you do!?"
"Becky, wait, hear me out!" Maggie said as she got in between the blonde and the redhead. "It's true that Sam tends to use us as excuses, but she's not lying this time! Tabby really left the house to go see some friends when the zombie apocalypse happened!"
"And how are you sure Sam's not lying again?!" Becky retorted. "You've lived with her more than I did, surely you've learned how to tell when she's lying or not!"
"That's precisely the reason: I've lived with Sam long enough to know when she's lying, and when she's being honest," Maggie bluntly stated. "And right now, she's being completely honest!"
The redhead and the goth exchanged stern looks with each other before Catherine called:
"Becky! I need your help with something!"
Bekcy glanced at the mansion in the distance, then glared at Maggie before she left, allowing the team to catch their breath and relax, if only for a moment.
"Wow, I can't believe you actually advocated for me for once," Sam remarked with a relieved smile. "I thought you were going to take Becky's side-"
"Don't get the wrong idea: I only advocated for you so we could get this stuff over with faster," Maggie sternly interrupted. "After all, the more time we waste, the more likely Tabby's going to get hurt."
The goth lowered her head and frowned. "Especially because we don't know where to look for her."
"Aw, cheer up, Maggie, I'm sure we'll find a clue "We just got to keep looking! We could look at the park, the mall-"
"A giant artificial moon!" Rusty screamed.
Maggie raised an eyebrow. "Well, Tabby's friends with a girl named Luna, but still-"
"No, Maggie!" Sam grabbed Maggie's head and made her look at the sky. "He means an artificial moon's coming our way!"
Instantly noticing the giant artificial celestial body heading straight for them, Maggie reached for her back and took out a jack-in-a-box, which she threw on the ground before she and the rest of the team ran away from the object.
Then, the moon got on top of the jack-in-a-box, which promptly opened its box and somehow carried enough strength to shoot the moon off into the horizon.
"How the heck did that even work?" Sam inquired before she turned to Maggie. "And where were you keeping that thing?"
"First rule of Luan's caste: As long as it's funny, it'll work," Maggie answered with a little smile. "As for where I kept it-"
Suddenly, the team heard something crashing in the sky, and they looked up to see it was the moon, having crashed into some sort of invisible object, which was revealed soon after:
It looked like a giant, floating circus tent, with a ring surrounding it. The moon had crashed to the side of the circus, with some of the tent's pieces falling as debris.
And of course, this just so happened to be where Proto-Luan and the Sadie Hawkins' dates were at, with the resulting shake from the impact interrupting the prototype's torture.
"Is that one of Luna's moons?!" Proto-Luan growled, slamming her fists in a fury. "I thought I told her not to bother me while I'm being entertained!"
With that said, Proto-Luan jumped off her spot and got ready to jump into the outside world. But before she left, she glared at the Sadie Hawkins dates and hissed:
"Stay put! I'll be back soon to torture you some more!"
Proto-Luan jumped out of the tent as the dates, or at least Tabby and Polly Pain, stood up and caught their breath.
Giggles and Haiku weren't so lucky; They were still being mentally hurt within the tent.
"Ugh, my head's spinning," Polly Pain remarked as Tabby leaned on her for balance. "How are we going to get out of here?"
"Not without Giggles and Haiku, that's for sure!" Tabby stated before she looked at the spots the girls were being held at.
"Well, we can't get them out alone," Polly answered. "Even if we could reach their tents, there's no way we'll break them out of their prisons without some help."
Just then, Tabby got an idea. "Polly, cover your ears."
The athlete raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Just trust me on this one," Tabby smiled. "I know how to get us some help, but you'll need to cover your ears first."
Polly took a deep breath and nodded before she covered her ears, which allowed Tabby to take a deep breath and, using her titanic voice, shout out a peculiar name:
"Sam!"
The resulting shouting was so loud, not only did it send shockwaves across the tent, but it could be heard all across the enclosed city.
Rusty was the first to notice the call fo help. "That voice..."
"It's Tabby!" Sam exclaimed. "And it's coming from that floating circus tent thing!"
Maggie narrowed her eyes. "Then that's where we're going to next!"
"But how are we going to get there?" Rocky asked with a concerned tone.
Without wasting time, Sam promptly cracked her fingers and used the same energy she used to make her weapon to create a hoverboard of sorts, which she made long enough to support the whole team.
"Get in!" she told her sister and the brothers.
They nodded and immediately obliged, with Tabby screaming for help once again as the team flew over to the circus tent.
Meanwhile, at the fight with Proto-Lynn...
The call for help reached Ronnie Anne and Clyde's ears, which made them look over the horizon as Lynn remarked:
"I knew it, somebody needs your help more than I do."
"Says the girl with charred hands!" Ronnie Anne sternly rebutted. "Somebody may be in need of help, but we can't leave you alone regardless!"
"You won't," Chandler stated, getting the duo's attention. "You two go check on the call for help, I'll stay here and help her with her counterpart."
"Thanks for the help, Chandler," Clyde said with a smile, then activated his jet shoes. "Let's go, Ronnie Anne!"
However, the girl didn't go with Clyde right away. She looked at Chandler with a concerned look for a while, but she eventually shook it off and grabbed Clyde's hand, with the guy flying away into the distance as the tomboy looked at the duo one last time.
"Do you really think two of you will be enough to beat me?" Proto-Lynn scoffed. "I mean, if you do, then I'm happy you're confident, but even you should know how outmatched you are, right?"
Chandler said nothing in response and generated a blade of lighting on his arm, while Lynn got ready to fight as well.
Proto-Lynn rolled her eyes and powered up, her sclera turning black and her pupils red as she said:
"So be it."
And then, at Liam's Family's Farm...
Tabby's call for help was even heard all the way to Liam's family's farm, where both him and Hattie immediately noticed the call, while Claire and Watterson continued to battle the zombies.
"That voice..." Hattie remarked with shock. "It's one of the four loves!"
"It's Tabby!" Liam exclaimed.
"Yeah, I guess that works too," Hattie rolled her eyes and, like Clyde and Lisa, activated her jet shoes. "They're one of the most important figures in Lincolnism! We need to go help them!"
"But wait!" Liam exclaimed as Hattie grabbed his hand. "What about Claire?!"
"Don't worry about me, I can deal with these things on my own!" Claire answered without even looking at the duo. "You go and help the loves, we'll be fine here!"
"But-"
Hattie flew away while holding Liam's hand tightly, leaving the girl and the transformed dog to fend off against the zombies on their own...
And then a flash pink light happened, and the zombies were promptly cut to tiny pieces.
"What?" Claire said as she looked around the slashed zombies. "What just happened?"
The one responsible for the zombie's destruction appeared soon after, revealing themselves to be none other than Carlota.
"It's you, Progenitor Lola's former champion!" Claire remarked in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"
"I need to talk with you, Claire," Carlota stated. "It's about something important."
"Alright, but can we talk about it after the whole "zombie apocalypse" madness has been dealt with?" the toddler asked. "I mean, I don't want us to be talking, only for some random zombie to come out of nowhere and attack us."
"You don't have to worry about that."
The duo narrowed their eyes and turned around to see the one who said that was none other than Silas, alongside Margo, the yellow champion, and the purple champion, the last of which proclaimed:
"Because this place will be your grave, traitors!"
And finally, back with Lucy and Luan Versus Proto-Lucy...
Both the undead goth girl and the partially angelic comedian heard the call for help, which caused them to look at the direction of the call. For Lucy, this wasn't much of an issue.
For Luan? This gave Proto-Lucy a free chance to kick her right in the jaw, sending her flying into the sky. The prototype then jumped up and generated a dark soul scythe out of thin air, which she prepared to cut the angelic comedian in half.
However, Luan quickly reacted and generated a staff, which she used to block Proto-Lucy's soul scythe and struggle against her, trying to overpower her while also trying to avoid the prototype from overpowering her.
And as the duo continued their struggle, Lucy walked over to the pile of corpses that was the foundation for the gashadokuro, and the instant she saw the corpses looking horrified, a disturbing memory flashed back to her.
That of the dome that Proto-Lucy trapped her in.
"These faces... they look just like the ones in that dome!" Lucy looked up, and saw some corpses suddenly materialize out of thin air, and fall into the pile. "But more importantly, who's sending these corpses?!"
Suddenly, Luan crashed right next to Lucy, and gathered enough strength to literally send her flying away with an energy blast before Proto-Lucy slammed her kick right into her spine.
And as Lucy got up and dusted herself, her counterpart taunted:
"Look around you, Ariel! People you care about, people who are innocent, even people who have nothing to do with anything! They're being killed, and their corpses are being used as fuel for the gashadokuro, all because you and Camael decided to get too curious!"
Lucy clenched her fists and stood up, growling as her counterpart laughed, "How were we supposed to know you'd just screw us over regardless!?"
"How did you never thought for once that I would do it?!" Proto-Lucy argued back as she reached for Luan's wing. "I'm an entity far beyond your comprehension, Ariel, you should've never trusted me!"
"Margo trusted you..." Lucy hissed.
"Margo? Lynn's plaything?! She never trusted me: She just convinced me to give you a bit of a fighting chance," Proto-Lucy answered. "After all..."
The prototype gruesomely tore off Luan's wing, then threw it away as she scoffed:
"If this brat can't do anything to me, what can you hope to accomplish?"
Seeing her older sister in pain, Lucy's eyes widened as she stared at Luan, then narrowed her eyes as she was surrounded by a red aura. The goth then gritted her teeth, and exclaimed as red electricity surged through her:
"I'll kill you!"
A red pillar of light erupted from where Lucy stood, and as her form gained a red tint to it, Proto-Lucy said:
"So, you've finally decided to use your rage, Ariel? This is surely going to be interesting!"
Lucy let out a titanic roar afterwards before she dashed out of the pillar, revealing her form didn't just have a red tint to it, but both her eyes were completely red, and she had what looked like bloody tears going down the sides of her eyes.
Kinda like a certain alternate version of her...
Next Chapter Preview...
"Hi everyone, Original Lucy here."
The enraged Lucy and Proto-Lucy fought each other, with them being equally matched until Lucy said something and lunged at her counterpart.
"Ariel seems to have brought herself back to life with her anger."
Meanwhile, Proto-Lynn was being held back by Chandler, just as she and Lynn turned around to sense Lucy's furious aura.
"And as that happens, Lynn's making sure nobody else interferes with the ritual."
On another spot, Maggie, Sam, the brothers, Polly, and Tabby were at Proto-Luan's House of Horrors-Tent-Whatever it was, looking around for signs of Haiku and Giggles, before Ronnie Anne and Clyde, then Hattie and Liam arrived out of nowhere and joined them.
"This is going much better than I thought."
The team separated, and next thing Ronnie Anne and Maggie knew, they found themselves in a hallway, with a shadowy figure resembling Luan nearby.
"At last, the Gashadokuro will rise, and the afterlife will be within my reach!"
On the other nightmare, Clyde stood in some blank space with a bunch of Lunas, before the scene changed to show him sitting next to Sam and talking with her.
"I will finally avenge those you killed, Lincoln!"
Speaking of him, Lincoln was shown helping some civillians get to safety along with Penelope, who then took the time to talk with him about something.
"Next time, on Chains of Reality: Divinity Reborn..."
Suddenly, Leni appeared to Lincoln and Penelope, and got their attention as she promptly explained something to the boy.
"Anger That Surpasses The Boundaries of Life and Death! Proto-Luan's Tent Reveals Some Uncomfortable Past Events?!"
Lincoln put two fingers on his forehead, and then the scene showed an explosion happening at Proto-Luan's tent, causing Clyde, Ronnie Anne, and pretty much the rest of the team to fly away.
"Don't miss it!"
The final scene showed Haiku and Clyde in a recreation of the Johnson household, where Haiku smiled wide and confessed something, right before she revealed she was crying tears of blood...