A few days ter, the situation worsened. Sister Moira—who had once served as Mendez's trusted ally—was found near the Findy Safehouse, speaking out publicly on an encrypted channel. Her testimony was damning, and she was no longer part of their operations. The women she had once protected now saw her as a symbol of resistance, not to 6C, but to the very power Mendez had represented.

  “I can’t keep running anymore. The truth is, I don’t know what we were trying to protect. The Church? Our faith? Or the men at the top who wanted to control us?” Moira’s voice crackled through the feed, her words carrying the weight of betrayal.

  In a desperate response, Mendez called for a meeting of the remaining leaders, an emergency strategy session to decide whether they would continue the underground operations or scatter, effectively ending the resistance.

  As he entered the room, Bishop Jeffrey Walsh, the final holdout of the Catholic faith in the region, stood waiting. Mendez could see it in his eyes: the weight of indecision. Walsh was a man used to moral certainty, but now, faced with the public colpse of their operations, he was unsure if the war was worth continuing.

  “Carlos, we have to pull back,” Walsh said ftly. “This is no longer about protecting the faithful. We’re dealing with something much darker than we thought. The women who were once loyal to us—they’ve been taken by the siren call of 6C. And they won’t come back.”

  Mendez’s face twisted, a mix of frustration and desperation.

  “I don’t abandon my people. I won’t leave them to be devoured by 6C’s lies. We fight until the st.”

  But the others in the room remained silent, their eyes averted, unable to disagree with Walsh’s assessment. One by one, the leaders nodded, signaling the end of an era for the Catholic underground in Ohio. The underground had splintered. Some would return to the Church in secret, others would flee to more remote areas, but the stronghold they had built was no more.

  ...

  Mendez’s Final Decision

  Hours ter, Mendez stood in front of the old church, now abandoned, its doors locked and its once-immacute stained gss windows now chipped and cracked. The weight of defeat settled over him like a shadow.

  “There’s nothing left,” he whispered to himself. “We’ve lost.”

  In that moment, Mendez realized that the Catholic underground would not rise again in Ohio. Their message had been corrupted, and the grip they once held on their followers had slipped.

  Zara Lin had won—not just a battle, but the war. And now, with Mendez’s forces fragmented and scattered, 6C's cultural influence would reign unchallenged in this region. The Femme Cuse had redefined power dynamics in ways the Church could never have anticipated.

  ***

  Epilogue: The Aftermath

  As the remaining Catholic leaders withdrew, some retreated into obscurity while others were quietly picked off by 6C’s own forces, who had learned the value of patience in dismantling their enemies.

  Toledo, Findy, and Lima would not soon forget the spectacle that had pyed out. For many, it marked the fall of an old world and the ascension of a new one. The Femme Ascendancy, with Zara at the helm, now stood unchallenged in the region, and the Catholic underground—once an unshakable pilr of resistance—was all but a memory.

  ***

  Femme Ascendancy's Strategy Session – Toledo, Ohio – 1 Month Later

  The Femme Ascendancy had fully capitalized on the chaos created by the disintegration of the Catholic underground in Ohio. With Zara Lin at the helm and the Femme Media Networks running interference, the feminist movement had gained unprecedented power. Toledo, Findy, and Lima had become symbols of their rapid success, and the influence of 6C’s Femme Cuse continued to ripple across the region.

  Inside the headquarters of Femme Ascendancy—a sleek, modern building hidden behind yers of security—Zara Lin sat at the head of a rge conference table. Around her, key figures of the movement—Naomi Chavis, Leigh Anne Morton, Vanessa Cross, and several others—convened for a private meeting. The room buzzed with anticipation; this was not just another strategy session. This was the beginning of the next phase.

  Zara Lin looked around the room, her expression calcuted. "The Catholic underground is fractured, and their influence in Ohio is dwindling. But this is just the beginning. We need to push further. We need to not only solidify our control in the state but expand it."

  Naomi leaned forward, her voice urgent as she addressed the group.

  Naomi Chavis: “We’ve made significant strides in Toledo and Findy. The people here are on our side—our media, our policies, they’re starting to see us as the future. But what about the rural areas, Zara? The ones that haven’t yet fully embraced 6C?”

  Zara nodded, acknowledging the concern but not allowing it to distract her from the rger picture.

  Zara Lin: “We push the agenda with the Femme Cuse, continue to dominate the media, and give the women in these areas the resources they need to rise up. We empower them, and they’ll do the rest. The Femme Media Networks are already amplifying the voices of women who’ve turned on the underground Catholic movement. It’s only a matter of time before even the most staunch resistance crumbles.”

  ***

  Toledo Streets – A Week Later

  The influence of Femme Ascendancy was evident as Zara Lin’s Femme Uprising Podcast continued to dominate the local airwaves. The streets of Toledo had become a battleground of ideologies, with Femme-affiliated protests and rallies garnering mass attention.

  Women marched boldly with slogans supporting the Femme Cuse and the "Empowered Wife" movement, showing their complete rejection of Catholic patriarchal control. As part of the media blitz, the Femme-run podcasts released stories highlighting how women's sexual autonomy under the Femme Cuse had empowered them to recim their power—dispcing male authority structures while creating safer, more inclusive communities.

  Zara Lin (on her podcast): “You see it every day in Toledo. Women are in control of their lives, their bodies, their futures. 6C has given us the freedom to thrive without the constraints of archaic doctrines that only served to oppress. Our time is now, and we’re not going back.”

  The response was overwhelming. Across Toledo, women began joining the movement in droves, seeking out Femme-run businesses, Femme Safehouses, and Femme Legal Clinics. These services became not only a sanctuary for those leaving oppressive retionships but also a critical part of building a new feminist infrastructure in Ohio.

  ***

  Expansion into Rural Areas – Lima, Ohio

  The next challenge was Lima, a more conservative area still heavily influenced by the Catholic underground and older patriarchal traditions.

  Zara dispatched Naomi Chavis and Leigh Anne Morton to work with local women’s circles in Lima, encouraging them to stand up against the st remnants of male-dominated rule in the region. The Femme Ascendancy started organizing smaller-scale events, education sessions, and workshops to educate women on their rights under the Femme Cuse.

  Naomi Chavis (on the ground in Lima): “We can’t expect them to just join us without some groundwork. We’ll offer financial incentives, training in self-defense, and public speaking. They’ll see that we don’t just have ideas—we have a movement that works for them.”

  Leigh Anne echoed her thoughts as they spoke with local women who were skeptical at first.

  Leigh Anne Morton: “It’s about more than just sex and power. It’s about economic independence, safety, and a future where women don’t have to answer to anyone but themselves. We’re here to show you how to take that power back.”

  The Final Push – A Month Later

  As the weeks passed, Femme Ascendancy’s dominance in Ohio grew stronger. Rural communities, once reluctant, now saw the benefit of aligning with 6C’s progressive feminist ideals. Small, locally-run businesses were flourishing under Femme-led governance, and safehouses for women escaping abusive retionships were filled to capacity.

  Despite the Catholic remnants still holding a small amount of sway in some areas, the overwhelming force of Femme media, the Femme-run podcasts, and 6C’s backing had broken the back of resistance.

  Zara Lin, standing in front of the new Femme Safehouse in Lima, looked out at the growing crowd of supporters. It was clear now—Ohio had been transformed. What started as a battle for women’s autonomy had turned into an unstoppable wave that was reshaping the state, pushing patriarchy and outdated doctrines into the rearview mirror.

  ***

  Metro Detroit, two weeks after the Polygamy Law’s enforcement.

  The Archbishop’s Last Broadcast.

  In the underground catacombs beneath the Archdiocese of Detroit, a secret studio hums with tension. Archbishop Allen Vigneron, frail but fierce at 75, faces the camera.

  "My dear children of Christ," he begins, voice solemn, "the wolves have not just breached the gate. They now sit in our pulpits. This... is not the kingdom of God. This is empire, built on the bones of truth."

  The livestream only sts 8 minutes before 6C censors bck it out—but it goes viral in encrypted Catholic networks, reaching Detroit suburbs and even Arab-Christian communities in Dearborn Heights. It sparks whispers of the "Marian Underground."

  ...

  Kensington Under Fire

  At Kensington Church in Troy, Pastor Steve Andrews speaks to a crowded sanctuary. Men and women sit divided—per 6C enforcement—but united in tension.

  "We are not rebels," he says. "We are faithful. And faith has no room for fear."

  Outside, 6C patrol vans idle. Zara Lin appears live on TikTok, standing near the parking lot. “Kensington’s idol worshipers are now a national security concern,” she says. “They refuse to accept divine w—and protect polyandrous sluts.”

  The congregation is given 72 hours to comply or face “behavioral dissolution”—a euphemism for forced reeducation at a 6C correctional farm near Flint.

  ...

  The Cracked Gss of Greater Grace

  The only independent church left—Greater Grace Temple on 7 Mile Road—is split. Half the board supports compliance; the other half is led by Pastor Renee Lockett, who calls the Wife Femme Cuse "Satan in scripture’s clothing."

  Renee shelters a runaway named Shay, age 19, from Inkster, who fled a forced marriage to a 42-year-old trucker with three wives. Shay's "crime"? Being caught kissing her ex-girlfriend in a 7-Eleven parking lot.

  6C youth officers hunt Shay, tagging her as “polyandrous under suspicion.” Renee hides her in the old choir room beneath the sanctuary.

  ...

  The Men’s Dilemma

  On Detroit’s west side, a group of Bck pastors—newly converted to 6C—host a meeting with Imam Hassan Qazwini. Reverend Deon Carter boasts about “restoring patriarchy with elegance.”

  But not all pastors are satisfied.

  Rev. Thomas Jefferson, once a liberal preacher, now finds his wives fighting each other. "They sleep with women now," he vents, "but not me. They quote 6C like scripture: 'Women can share beds, not wages.'"

  Qazwini only nods. "Welcome to divine irony."

  ...

  On the Belle Isle footbridge, Zara Lin hosts a ritual "feminine liberation" ceremony. Three women publicly divorce their same-aged polyandrous partners, decring loyalty to their “harem sisterhood.”

  Fire consumes a pile of books: Letters of Paul, The Purpose Driven Life, and copies of Michigan’s former state constitution.

  Shay watches from a distance, disguised. Pastor Renee beside her whispers: “Satan doesn’t always wear horns. Sometimes, she wears lip gloss and TikTok clout.”

  As sirens scream toward Kensington, and drones circle Greater Grace, a Catholic-smuggled USB drive crosses the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, beled simply: “Detroit Shall Rise.”