It's been too long, I know, but I wanted Hope to beta read this chapter before it came out. It's the least I can do after messing up this story's updating schedule so much. XD

First, let's revive something we haven't seen in a while: review replies!

1.) Nobody245: For all intents and purposes, she knows what's going on behind the scenes and how things might play out, so she's kinda superior to Lincoln in that sense.

2.) Mysterious Mr M: She is, yet isn't.

3.) An Observant Guest: Let's see if this one is just as whammy.

* She wants her toy to get the spotlight, clearly. XD

* Interesting how a little genetic mix up can mess someone up, huh?

* If you think Sincoln's bad, wait until you see what happened to Lincoln after the separation.

* If you knew half of their backstory, you'd love-hate him too. Though in her case, she edges more towards the love half of the equation, unlike the proto-sisters, who are firmly on hate.

* It was great, kinda disappointing, but great nonetheless.

4.) GennaiArakida-XIV: No kidding, even Luna's last shouting match thousands of years ago wasn't that bad!

And now, to the story!

Episode 56: The Fated Battle of the Lincoln Buster Begins! An Unexpected Tag Team?!

Back where we left off, the battle between Sincoln and Clyde continued as the duo exchanged blows before exchanging barrages of attacks, unleashing powerful gust of winds with every attack. These gusts were so strong, the wildlife was sent flying all over the place, with only Lori and the Santiagos-and Chandler-staying in place.

"This power... I'd expect this from Lincoln, but how's Clyde going toe to toe with him?!" Ronnie Anne asked, frowning as she turned her attention to the dark-skinned boy. "What happened to Clyde?!"

"Back in the original reality, several desperate projects were made with the hope that at least one of them could help fight against the increasing instability of the progenitors and the original reality," Mrs. Santiago started, getting Ronnie Anne and Chandler's attention. "One of these projects was gifting a person with the power to fight Lincoln himself. The project was tilted The Lincoln Buster."

"I remember hearing about that," Chandler scratched his chin. "Something about it being an unforgivable sin or whatever one of my friends was whining about when he came back one day."

"Was there something off about him?" Ronnie Anne inquired, turning to the red headed guy.

"Yes, His used to have green eyes, but when he came back, they were purple," Chandler frowned. "He also got worked up about any and all insults towards Lincoln."

"Sounds like something related to Lincolnism," Ronnie Anne then turned to her mother. "But, how do you know about anything like that, Mom? Have you had visions too?"

Mrs. Santiago paused. "Yeah. Including a very important one..."

She snapped her fingers, and the mind control collar appeared in her hand. "Regarding this."

"The collar?" Ronnie Anne inquired.

"The same one you wore during the day of the announcement," Chandler narrowed his eyes. "So there was more to it after all. Care to tell us what it is?"

Mrs. Santiago glanced at the kids; Chandler glaring at her while Ronnie Anne looked concerned. At this, she took a deep breath and answered:

"I won't need to tell you if I show you instead."

Mrs. Santiago separated The sphere in two, one containing herself, the other containing Chandler and Ronnie Anne. And as the kids began hitting the shield trying to break it, Mrs. Santiago flew towards Lori, whose eyes were still glued to the fight, and leaned the collar closer to her neck...

Suddenly, Lori snapped a glance at Mrs. Santiago, startling the woman and prompting her to slap the collar to her neck before activating it.

The only real differences was that Lori's eyes began glowing green.

"Did you seriously think you could take control of Lincoln with this?"

Lori grabbed the collar, ripped it off, and sent a current through it strong enough to turn the object to dust before she grabbed Mrs. Santiago by the neck and pulled her towards her.

"Lincoln isn't just any divine being, Maria! He was designed by The Maker to be the most powerful thing in the universe! He can't be controlled, he can't be defeated, so anything you would've tried against him would be pointlesd!"

Lori narrowed her eyes. "And while I'm not a religious person, the fact is you tried something as blasphemous as try to control God himself. Duty dictates that I have to punish you."

Lori get ready to electrocute Mrs. Santiago, ignoring Ronnie Anne and Chandler's pleas for her to stop. However, before she could do the deed, a heart symbol blinked in the sky before Stella blasted out of it, hitting Lori straight in the face before she continued flying off into the direction to Lincoln.

This brief clash was hard enough to stun Lori long enough to allow Mrs. Santiago to break free and fly away, taking Chandler and Ronnie Anne with her, while Lori turned to look at the spot Stella flew to.

Terrific. Not only do we have to deal with Sincoln, but Cristina's champion too?!

Lori glanced at the fight between Sincoln and Clyde as another gust of wind was shot at her direction.

Well, Clyde has his hands full and Lincoln can deal with Stella himself. Gotta deal with what's in front of me.

Nodding at her own plan, Lori powered up and flew after the Santiagos-and Chandler-taking some of the alien creatures with her.

Back with Stella, the girl slowly stood up and dusted herself after her rather rough landing on the nanomachine floor. As she did, she spotted Lincoln trying to stand up too, while Proto-Lisa looked at the Sincoln-Clyde fight with a little smile.

"You should try enjoy the fight while you still can, Lincoln," Proto-Lisa remarked, not taking her eyes away from the fight. "Soon, Sincoln will be taken care of by your friend, and you can continue to deal with the rest of my sisters when this is over."

"What... are you talking about?" Lincoln asked, trying to keep his balance. "Why are you talking like you won't... die, like your sisters before you?"

"Lola, Lucy, and even Lana were dumb enough to think that just because we're fated to fight you, it meant that we had no choice but to become your enemy," Proto-Lisa explained, still not paying attention to the boy. "I, however, know better. And let's be honest, after everything my sisters have done to you, I'm the closest you got to an ally from the original reality-"

"That doesn't change anything, though."

This time, Proto-Lisa turned to look at Lincoln with a confused look as the boy promptly explained:

"You're not part of this world, Proto-Lisa. This world, nor any world I think, has to have two different versions of a Loud sister on it. Besides, Lola told me about the mutants and-"

"Just cut to the chase, will you?" Proto-Lisa interrupted.

Flinching at being called out, Lincoln took a deep breath and summarized:

"Even if we fight and I let you live, the damage you could potentially do would mean you'd have to be either sealed or sent to another dimension."

Then, he narrowed his eyes.

"There's also the matter of what you did to Clyde: I want to know what you did before coming to any conclusion."

Proto-Lisa paused for a moment, as if to think about the request, before she folded her arms and explained:

"Back in the original reality, as the sisters became more and more unstable, I was the only one to notice that my brother was also going nuts. And since doing nothing would ensure the end of the universe, I took matters into my own hands, and created the Lincoln Buster, a person capable of fighting Lincoln himself, to death if necessary. A last resort against an almighty foe-"

"Wait a minute, what's "fight to death" supposed to mean?!" Lincoln's eyes widened. "You mean Clyde could die?!"

"The Lincoln Buster's purpose is to destroy the unholy being you call Sincoln, even if it takes their life to do it," Proto-Lisa shrugged. "Even if he ends up dying in the process, as long as Sincoln dies as well, It's a victory."

Lincoln gritted his teeth. "And what if that isn't enough to kill Sincoln!?"

Proto-Lisa threw an "are you serious?" look at the boy. "You think now's a good time to ask that question? You agreed to separate Sincoln from yourself as soon as I brought that up, you should've asked then."

"Fair enough, but that doesn't answer my question!" Lincoln clenched his fist. "When Sincoln was inside me, I felt a horrible power unlike any other! And when I channeled my powers during the zombie apocalypse, the unholy mix between Lucy and Proto-Lucy couldn't do anything to me!"

Lincoln looked back at the fight. "If Sincoln has anywhere near the same level of power, Clyde might-"

"Die a glorious defeat permanently softening the ultimate evil so the god of this world can finish the job? Yeah, how awful, how could I do something so vile?" Proto-Lisa half-heartedly bemoaned. "Anyway, I got more important things to do than talk with a dead-end like you-"

Suddenly, an arrow struck Proto-Lisa right on the side of her head, sticking out as she and Lincoln turned to see who shot it: Stella, who held a pink bow in her hands, finally doing something other than stand and listen.

"Stella, what a surprise... Is what I would say," Proto-Lisa said with a mocking smile. "But Cristina did come to me for help in order to recruit you, so I did expect you to appear eventually."

"You should've also expected that telling Lincoln all that stuff about his best friend would only anger him," Stella sternly responded. "An angry Lincoln is a potential universe completely destroyed!"

Proto-Lisa nonchalantly ripped off the arrow and healed the injury. "I'm not angering; he asked a question, and I gave him the answer. However he decides to react to it is his problem. Now, as I was saying, I got other things to do. Bye."

The prototype melted into nanomachines and merged into the ground as Stella ran up to Lincoln and helped him with his footing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little disoriented, thanks Stella," Lincoln answered as he and the girl separated. "I didn't think I would end up seeing you here of all places, but I'm glad to have another friend by my side."

Then, he grew concerned. "You're the Stella from this world, right?"

"While I'm glad You're more conscious about the fact anything and anybody could ve from another dimension, you got nothing to worry about," Stella answered with a little smile. "I'm the Stella from this world."

"Great... Stella, I'm going to need your help," Lincoln scratched the back of his head. "I'm way too strong and unstable without Sincoln acting as a limiter: a single step I took caused a huge crater!"

"Of course it would create a crater," Stella said incredulously. "You're a god, Lincoln. Actually, not even just a god, but the God. You're the strongest being in the universe, simply walking around could cause great destruction."

"Thanks, but it doesn't help me," Lincoln sighed. "I need to... I don't know-"

"Transform? Power up?"

"Wouldn't that-"

"Lincoln, like I said, you're the strongest being in the universe, and you created most techniques. Why would you create something to make you stronger, if you're already nigh invincible?"

"But... Every other person who's used the Savinoken grew stronger from it."

"Of course: you created the Savinoken to empower anybody weaker than you, so... Pretty much everybody else. But if you use it..."

Lincoln slowly pieced together what Stella was talking about, he stood up as carefully as possible, and clenched his fists as he exclaimed:

"Savinoken!"

Lincoln gained the fiery orange aura of the power and bathed in orange light as he felt something... Interesting: instead of becoming stronger, he was growing weaker.

"What?"

"Transformations for you will make you weaker rather than stronger, Lincoln," Stella explained as Lincoln checked himself out. "That's what makes the most sense, right?"

But the boy didn't answer; instead, he began walking around, and saw he could do it without creating craters with every step.

"I can walk without destroying anything!"

"Now you owe me one," Stella rolled her eyes. "And you still owe Master Cristina a few dozens, so-"

'I'll pay you back eventually, " Lincoln narrowed his eyes with determination. "For now, I need to go help Clyde!"

Lincoln leaped and flew towards the Sincoln-Clyde fight, leaving Stella to take a deep breath and nod.

Now that he mentions that, I should go help as well. And I think I know where to start.

Stella planted her bow on he ground, created an arrow, and jumped on top of it as she pulled the string back. Once far enough, she shot the arrow-and herself-forward, the arrow flying at Stella's command after a few seconds, heading straight to another part of the planet...

Polly summoned a fireball and shot it at Paige, who struck it with her hammer and sent it flying to Lulu, who deflected it with her bare hands. This continued for several more times until some of the fireballs nearly hit the capsules, angering Tabby.

"Hey! Keep an eye out for the abducted!" she snapped. "I don't want to leave this place carrying a charred corpse!"

Hearing that, Polly dissipated her recent fireball. "You got any ideas, Paige?"

The girl hummed for a moment, then looked at the ground. "There's one, but there's a high chance it won't work."

"If it can buy me enough time to go look for help, then it'll be fine," Polly said.

Paige smiled. "In that case, catch!"

The girl threw her hammer at the athlete, who narrowly managed to catch it before it hit the ground. This was followed by Paige putting her arms on the ground and taking a deep breath as the arms changed: slowly getting covered in a black matrix with green highlights. She lifted them after a while, and a large structure rose from the ground, slowly shaping into a fist before launching itself at Lulu, catching her in their grasp easily.

"What did you do?" Tabby asked.

"Nanomachine manipulation," Paige answered with a confident smile. "High-ranked members of Lisa's caste can manipulate nanomachines at their leisure, and since this whole planet is nothing BUT nanomachines, you can guess what that means!"

Paige motioned her arms down, causing the fist to slam Lulu right on the nanomachine-concrete. "Polly, go get help!"

The speedster nodded and bolted out of the scene, leaving behind a line of fire that was soon absorbed by the nanomachines. What followed was silence as Tabby kept looking around the abducted people, see if there was anybody else who she could break out, while Paige tried her hardest to keep Lulu in place, the humanoid alien giggling as her eyes glew brighter.

As for Polly, the athlete ran as fast as she could, looking around the scenery for any signs of any living form that could help with the situation, until a sudden gust of wind forced her to stop and turn towards the source: Sincoln and Clyde's fight.

Hey, that looks like Lincoln... no, wait, his eyes are different... and he resembles-*gasp*! It's the evil Lincoln we've heard about so much! I need to go tell everybody-"

Suddenly, a hot pink blur flew past Polly, prompting her to stop once more and in complete awe, had one question.

What was that?!

The jellyfish Lori took with her got charged with electricity that they released in spread arcs, most of which were dodged relatively easily by Mrs. Santiago. It helped that she could simply summon the light blue gem's power to absorb the lighting blasts.

"Stop absorbing so I can shock you!" Lori snapped as she shot a lighting laser at the woman... who absorbed it just as easily as the rest.

"Yeah, real motivated!"

Lori gritted her teeth and growled, but her anger was replaced with confusion once she heard Ronnie Anne call her name: "Lori!"

The lighting goddess stopped and turned around, Chandler and Ronnie Anne nearly crashing into her as a result. "What do you want?! Can't you see that I'm busy!?"

"Lori, look, I know Mom did some things that would get anybody angry," Ronnie Anne threw a disappointed look at her mother. "And I'm gonna need to talk with her a lot when this whole thing is over."

Mrs. Santiago winced and rubbed her shoulder.

"But you don't have to go so far as to try kill her!" Ronnie Anne continued, oblivious to Lori's surging anger. "The one you should be trying to deal with, is the evil Lame-O that Clyde's fighting right now! So please-"

"There's nothing anybody can do about Sincoln, Ronnie Anne!" Lori snapped as she charged a lighting ball. "The best we can do is evacuate, so be a good girl and stay put!"

Lori shot a lighting bolt, and the resulting smoke cloud made it clearly hit something. Only, once the smoke dispersed, it revealed it didn't hit either Ronnie Anne or Chandler.

Instead, it hit Lincoln, who turned to look angrily at Lori before he continued his way.

"Lincoln?!" Lori exclaimed as the guy left.

"Yep, I think you just got on God's bad side," Chandler quipped.

Lori gritted her teeth at the comment just as Lincoln arrived at the Sincoln-Clyde fight, breaking it between the two and sending the former flying off into the distance, though it wasn't long before he regained his footing.

"So, you're using the Savinoken, huh?" Sincoln scoffed. "Who told you that using it wouldn't power you up so much it'd destroy reality?"

Lincoln lowered his eyelids. "An old friend gave me a hint."

"I'm happy you're figuring out things for your own, Junior," Sincoln smirked. "But I'm afraid you're still missing quite a lot of information."

Sincoln glanced at the distance, and Lincoln did as well, spotting his parents and the lovechildren... Except for Lemy and Link, who were nowhere to be seen.

"What are you planning, Sincoln!?" Lincoln yelled at his counterpart.

Sincoln turned back to Lincoln, raised both his arms to the side, and his fingers turned pitch black as he extended them towards the lovechildren, piercing their bodies and causing them to convulse as the fingers gained colored veins with the colors of the castes.

Clyde immediately returned and kicked Sincoln away, but by then it was too late: the colored veins had reached the ultimate evil, and he chuckled as he clenched his fists and stretched a bit.

"Now, let's see if it worked..."

Sincoln raised his fists, and one was encased in crystals while the other was surrounded with fire.

"Yup, totally worked."

"What did you do?!" Lincoln asked in disbelief.

"I just sapped some of their power, in order to get rid of some of the rust I've accumulated over the years," Sincoln casually explained. "After all, I've been nothing but a disembodied voice since the skinwalkers appeared."

Then, he glanced back at the lovechildren and parents. "Although, it seems that a few of them are missing. Not that I mind, the powers I got from the others will be enough, but it does make you wonder..."

Sincoln scratched his chin with a sly smile. "Just where are they?"

Lincoln narrowed his eyes. "Listen up, you-"

Suddenly, an orange blur flew past Lincoln and Clyde, and leaped high into the air, screaming at the top of his lungs as he swung his blade down... which Sincoln caught with his fingers.

"Oh look, there's one of them right here!"

The attacker, Link, gritted his teeth as Sincoln easily sent him flying back with a swing, causing him to land right by Lincoln's side.

"Now, Junior Junior, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Sincoln's smile slowly turned into a frown. "And if you don't want your very existence to become unrecognizable, you better pick the easy way."

Link said nothing, simply standing up and gripping his sword tightly as Lincoln and Clyde powered up by his sides.

"What a shame," Sincoln's eyes glew. "Guess we'll do it the hard way!"

Carol crashed on a wall and slid down just as the beast lunged for an attack, digging its claws deep into the mechanical wall before slashing them at Carol.

While they got close, they didn't get the chance to do anything before a burst of sound sent the beast flying back, followed by Lemy making his entrance.

"Are you alright?" Lemy inquired, extending his hand to Carol.

"Yeah... You're the lovechild called Lemy, right?" Carol asked, raising an eyebrow as she grabbed his hand and stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to get some help," Lemy sighed. "My sisters were trapped in some odd, nanomachines-ish-thing, and they're at Dad's mercy."

"Okay, before you go on, what Lincoln are you talking about?"

Lemy's baffled look could've been his only answer, but he quickly added, "The evil one!"

"Sincoln? You mean he's out?!" Carol exclaimed, earning a gloomy nod from the boy. "This is bad, this is really bad! The planet needs to be evacuated immediately-!"

Suddenly, a grotesque, fleshy barrage of nanomachines, avian and human material erupted from the monster's arm, grazing Carol's arm hard enough to make her scream out loud and clutch her arm once the attack was over.

Carol looked at her arm, taking deep breaths to try minimize the pain, and nearly gasped upon seeing the matrix-shaped wound left behind. "How did it...?"

"You look like you need help too," Lemy said, glancing at the beast. "Tell you something, how about I help you with the beast, and you help me free my siblings?"

"The siblings who see me as a lovechild killer like those two cowering in the corner?" Carol replied, pointing at Gloom and Lupe with her head. "Look, I'll be happy to help, but won't they just think I'm trying to hurt them or something?"

Lemy turned to the girls and sighed. "Okay, let's add to the deal: I convince them to trust you."

Carol smiled. "Sounds good to me. Now stand back!"

Lemy raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"'Cause I'm about to do something I haven't done in a while!"

Lemy flew to the girls, and Carol took a couple steps towards the beast as her eyes gained an orange tint. Once close enough, she clenched her fists, and exclaimed:

"Savinoken!"

Link swung his sword wildly as he, Lincoln, and Clyde unleashed an united barrage of attacks against Sincoln, who blocked the barrage with a bored look.

"Geez, if I had known things would devolve into such a bore, I would've asked if you wanted to do things the easy way or the dull way."

With a flick of his fingers, he sent Lincoln and Link away, leaving an exhausted Clyde behind to be grabbed by his throat.

"Time to put this battle to an end."

Suddenly, a screen materialized from the ground, and its screen turned on to reveal an angry Proto-Lisa, with a worried Lulu-the lovechild not the popstar-by her side. "What are you doing?!"

"Your little toy failed to amuse me," Sincoln stated. "Normally, I would let Luan take care of him, but it's not like she's around now, is she?"

"What are you planning?" Link asked, barely standing up.

"He will die as he lived: an inferior being who thought he could stand against God," Sincoln slowly turned to the screen. "A fate you'll share once I'm done with him."

Proto-Lisa took a step back, and Sincoln turned back to Clyde, ready to kill him.

"Clyde!"

The dark-skinned boy turned to face Lincoln just as they collided, and an orange and green light flashed before a pillar of both lights burst from the ground, with the boys' figures shown as shadows within it.

"Wait, d-don't tell me!" Sincoln stuttered. "Junior can't possibly-!"

"Lincoln did create the idea first, but it was meant for everybody else," Proto-Lisa remarked, taking a step back as she out a hand on her head. "I never thought He'd apply himself to it!"

"What are you talking about?!" Link exclaimed. "What's Dad doing?!"

The lovechild got his answer once the pillars vanished, leaving behind a new being: he had Clyde's afro and Lincoln's cowlick, as well as the latter's clothes over the former's, and finally, a pair of orange glasses with spades-shaped pupils.

Sincoln narrowed his eyes. "Who the hell are you?"

The new being smirked.

"I'm neither Lincoln nor Clyde. I'm both of them."

Then, they flashed a confident grin.

"You can call me Clincoln McLoud."

Next Chapter Preview...

"Yo, Clincoln here."

Clincoln stood still as everybody watched him in awe. The scene changed to showing him snapping his fingers, causing Sincoln to look confused at what had just happened.

"A fusion involving God himself, huh? I think we got this in the bag!"

The scene changed to show three things: Lori's fight with Mrs. Santiago, Ronnie Anne, and Chandler, the room with the Lulus and Lisa and Lola, and Carol's fight with the monster.

"Still, we can't help but wonder how everybody's else doing..."

Mrs. Santiago grabbed and ripped off a tree that she promptly used as a club on Lori, only for the scene to change to Ronnie Anne, with electricity surging through her. This was followed by Lola walking forward and pointing at Proto-Lisa, and Carol's eyes once again gaining an orange color as she activated the Savinoken.

"Guys, if you're hearing us, just hold on! We'll go to your aid once we're done with Sincoln!"

From the walls of the room Lola and Lisa were in, a figure clad in green armor burst forth, with Lola punching their buster just as they began to shoot.

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

The scene changed, showing Lori about to throw a spear when she was hit by a fireball, one thrown by Mrs. Santiago.

"The Ultimate Fusion is Born! Clincoln McLoud Versus Sincoln!"

Another scene change happened, and this time, it showed Sincoln and Clincoln summoning the orange, divine weapons.

"Don't miss it!"

Sincoln smirked as he said something, while Clincoln responded as he reeled back and charged energy in his closed palms...