A/N: This story picks up after Unchained as well as the one-shots Unleashed and Unclaimed and the short story Undaunted.

Standard Disclaimer: All rights belong to those whose rights they belong to, primarily Marvel, though quite namely not me. Don't own a thing aside from my OCs.


Downtown New York City

Well, this seems familiar, Caitlin Brown mused to herself. She was scrambling across the rooftops of New York City, racing on bare feet as fast as she could

/There are differences, though,/ her conscience, Chris, replied wryly.

A blast of ice appeared in front of her, making her yelp as she veered off to the side. Yeah, maybe a few, she conceded.

*Slippery situation, to be sure.*

The small brunette girl snorted to herself as she hurtled over another parapet. She felt a flash of heat against her back as another fire bolt narrowly missed singeing her.

I don't know why I thought I missed you, Eric.

*Oh, now don't be like that, Cat. I gotta make up for lost time.*

You don't, really.

Her enhanced hearing picked up on the sound of running feet behind her, easily keeping up with her pace.

Dammit, I can't lose her, there's no way I can… If I turn and fight, I'm dead.

/You got a destination in mind?/

Not really, I'm just running until I can find help. I can run all the way to the Avengers if I need to.

/Good a plan as any. It's a bit far, though./

Don't really have a choice here, Chris.

*What about Stark Tower? It's close.*

No, Eric. No way in hell.

Coming up was a bit of a longer jump. She put on a little extra speed to make it, but heard the distinctive blink sound of a portal opening nearby.

Oh no, not now…

Just as she was about to make her jump, another cold projectile struck at her feet. The explosion of icy debris sent her gracelessly stumbling towards the edge when she was hit square in the back by a fiery blast, sending her over the side of the eight-story building. The pain of the impact on her body nearly made her blackout. When she was able to regain her senses, she eyed the approaching ground from only a few meters up now.

Yeah, this is gonna leave a mark.

New York City
Four Hours Earlier

"I am not sure of the necessity of this," Rebecca commented somewhat humorously.

"What? Why not?" Caitlin grinned. "We're celebrating!"

"I realize that, yes, I am simply unsure why this is cause for celebration."

"It's a big deal!" her sister grinned enthusiastically. "Only happens once, in fact!"

Rebecca eyed the brunette girl sitting across from her at the cafe table suspiciously. "And did you celebrate as well when you lost your virginity?"

"I did!" she grinned in reply. "By having more sex!"

The redheaded girl, to all outward appearances a fairly normal-looking teenager, shook her head with a sigh. The pair of them together looked as if they might actually be twins, even though they were a couple of years apart in physical age. The similarities were due to their having come from the same Hydra laboratory, and the differences evident through their slightly dissimilar models.

Rebecca, with her silky-long red hair, today tied back into a braid that fell past her shoulder blades, as well as a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, was rescued by Caitlin a little over six months ago from the lab. She had been grown as a pure combat model with enhanced strength, stamina, and reflexes. In addition she'd been spliced with the mutant gene, courtesy of the Wolverine, to allow her a superior healing factor.

In contrast, Caitlin had brown curly hair that fell just past her shoulders. It was normally up in a ponytail but she'd left it unbound today. She'd been unintentionally activated almost three years ago and had escaped into New York City. The diminutive girl was an infiltrator model, though she'd not had much of the programming uploaded by that point, such as languages and social cues. Hence she'd had to pick up things as she went along, mostly due to the assistance of her 'residents', as she called them, three distinct personalities that activated her and guided her as best they could, through experience and muscle memory.

Caitlin had the added bonus of being able to transform into a few different forms, though she tended to stick with the common black housecat and panther forms exclusively. The third form was far too uncontrollable and dangerous for her to ever risk using again.

"I still do not see why this is worthy of celebration," Rebecca murmured as their waitress brought them their drinks, a pair of sweetened iced teas. "How did you come to the conclusion that having sex for the first time should warrant such?"

"Oh, is that what we're celebrating today?" the waitress, a pretty blonde woman asked, her eyes twinkling merrily. "Well, congrats, hon!"

Caitlin grinned victoriously as she moved away again. "See? It's a thing."

The redheaded girl sighed resignedly. "Very well, then. I am glad you are with me to celebrate."

"That's what sisters are for, silly."

"I can think of many things sisters are for, not all of them complimentary."

"Oh, now you're just being snarky."

Rebecca gazed into her glass, eyebrows furrowed. "Caitlin?"

"Yeah, Becca?"

"You do not think that I… love you less, now that I am closer to Sam, do you?"

"What?" Caitlin leaned over with a reassuring smile on her face, reaching across to clasp hands with the other girl. "Becca, we're sisters. It's a different kind of love. We're family, and we always will be, no matter what."

Rebecca blinked her pale green eyes. "No matter what?"

"No matter what."

"I see." She looked down again, this time at their entwined hands. "I do not know what I would have done without you, Caitlin. You… completed me, filled my emptiness when my resident was burned away. Yet you also have given me purpose and filled my being with… joy, I believe." She looked up again, but was startled to see her sister's matching pale green eyes filled with tears. "Did I say something to upset you?"

"Not upset, Becca," Caitlin whispered happily. "I'm just… I'm glad I found you too. I can't imagine life without you now."

They sat like that for a while, staring at each other with smiles on their faces, until the waitress returned with their order. Caitlin released her hold on Rebecca's hand so that she might unwrap her silverware.

"So, this 'cheesecake', it is not actually cheese?" Rebecca queried, eyeing her plate suspiciously.

"Not so much. Just filled with creamy goodness. Go on, take a bite!"

The redhead complied, pulling the fork out and chewing thoughtfully. "That is quite pleasant," she murmured, reaching down for another bite.

"I know, right?" Caitlin mumbled around her own fork. "It's delicious!"

The pair sat in silence and enjoyed their cheesecake until their plates were clean. Caitlin pulled out her wallet from her green capris cargo pants and left enough bills to cover their meal, plus a decently-sized tip.

"Caitlin, you have soiled your shirt."

The brunette looked down to see that her undersized bust had managed to catch a glob of the cheesecake. "At least it's white," she muttered, dabbing at her tank top with a napkin. "Freaking size-A's and they still get food on them…"

"As skilled as you are in combat, you manage to remain a somewhat messy eater," Rebecca commented, standing up. Her jeans and dark blue crop top were, of course, immaculate.

"I'm a carnivore," she joked back. "We're messier than you eaters of rabbit-food."

"I am a vegetarian," she corrected as they walked out the cafe and onto the street. "Not a rabbit."

Caitlin snorted a laugh, but before she could issue a retort her Stark Industries phone rang. She pulled it out of her back pocket to see an unrecognized number. Brow furrowed in curiosity, she answered the call and stopped on the sidewalk.

"Yes, hello?"

"Is this Caitlin Brown?"

"Yep, you got it. Who's this?"

"Caitlin, this is Scott Summers, from the Xavier school."

The brunette pulled the phone away from her ear so that her sister, whose hearing was as enhanced as hers, could easily listen in. "Hello, Mr Summers, it's been awhile. What can I do for you?" She was quick to become more polite in her attitude, as she knew Cyclops was a senior member of the X-Men, even though she'd not worked with him much before.

"We have a situation, a serious one. Many of the X-Men are here in Europe, including the Professor, but we were hoping you could help out."

"Of course, Mr Summers, anything. My sister and I are in NYC right now, do you need us to go somewhere else?"

"No, actually, that's perfect. Allow me to explain."

Summers proceeded to reveal how several mutant children had disappeared from the school. They were on a field trip with some of the teenaged X-Men to visit a museum when they were noticed to be missing. Blink, Kitty, Bobby, and Johnny left to track down their whereabouts while Rogue brought the remaining children back to the school safely. The last Rogue heard from the other four was that they had tracked the missing mutants to a warehouse there in New York, but then their transmission ended. That was four hours ago, and they haven't heard anything since.

Caitlin glanced at her sister, who was listening attentively, and raised her eyebrows. Rebecca gave a solemn nod back.

"Alright, Mr Summers. Becca and I will go check out this address. We don't have comms with us, but I'll call you back at this number when we find something out."

"Thank you, Caitlin. Please be careful. We hope to be finished up here soon and should be back tonight."

Caitlin ended the call and slipped her phone back into her pocket. "Why is it always warehouses?' she mused absently as the sisters changed course to stride down a different side street. "Why can't it be someplace cool like an art gallery, or a toy factory, or something…"

"If we are to engage in combat, I would prefer to do so in a place with low intrinsic value," Rebecca commented.

"True enough. Less fun, though."

"Possibly. There are many types of warehouses, however."

"Ooh, also true, maybe they'll be something cool stored in there like… I dunno…"

"Robotics?"

"Oh, God, yes that would be amazing. A battle in a robot factory? Legendary. Even more if they somehow get activated and start roaming around… I'm gettin' chills just thinking about it."

Rebecca chuckled lightly. "You are still easily entertained."

"Always have been, always will be."

They reached the address in question, pausing around the corner to eye the large structure.

"Seems pretty ordinary," Caitlin murmured.

"From the outside," Rebecca agreed. "Up top?"

"Yep. You lead, I'll follow."

With a tight grin Rebecca streaked across the deserted street and into an alleyway between the warehouse in question and an abandoned textile factory. She leapt back and forth between the walls, kicking off each brick surface to bring herself to the rooftop. Caitlin followed her once she was above the warehouse.

The pair stalked forward towards a skylight that was murky and clouded. Enough vision was allowed for them to see inside, though they didn't lean directly over it so as not to block light and alert those within to their presence.

Caitlin gazed at the stacks of shipping containers. "Boring…" she griped.

"Oh, hush," Rebecca chided gently. "No sign of anyone. Shall we access here?"

The small brunette crept around the circumference of the skylight, examining the edges both inside and out. "No alarms or locks. But it's gonna make noise."

"Any means of entry will create noise. It is inevitable. At least we are able to observe the lack of alarms here."

"Yeah, you've got a point."

"Of course I do."

"If you say, because you're the more intelligent sister, I will drop you through that skylight on your head."

Rebecca blinked her eyes innocently. "I assure you, the thought never crossed my mind, sister."

Caitlin snorted, but couldn't conceal her grin. "You're so full of shit. Alright, here goes…"

She eased her fingers under the edge, testing the give of it. There seemed to be enough to indicate easy entry, so she gave Rebecca a nod before flinging it open.

The redheaded girl jumped down, landing three stories below in a crouch. A split second later Caitlin joined her.

The two girls immediately spied a pair of motionless forms standing against one of the shipping containers, tucked away from where they'd been able to observe from above.

Caitlin touched her sister briefly on the arm, and with a nod slipped off into the shadows to the left while Rebecca did the same to the right. They circled around until they could see the figures with better clarity.

"Blink! Kitty!" the brunette hissed, striding forward to stand in front of the two.

Both the alabaster-skinned and purple-haired Blink and the short brunette Kitty, the latter similar enough to Caitlin that some assumed they were related somehow, stood at attention with their arms at their sides. Their eyes were closed, but when Caitlin approached both opened them simultaneously, causing her to suck in a startled breath.

Their irises and sclera were completely enveloped by a blackness that filled the entire eyeball.

They made no other move, however. Caitlin crept backwards slowly to be joined by her sister. "That is eerie as hell," she whispered. "What's wrong with them?"

"I do not know," Rebecca murmured back. "But we should leave and report our findings."

Caitlin nodded, not taking her eyes off of her seemingly frozen friends. "Yeah. Okay."

"Now, now, don't leave just yet!" a jovial voice called out.

The sisters turned to see a man standing on top of a shipping container on the far side of the cavernous room. He wore what looked to be black tights with dark purple underpants over them and wore a ridiculous Dracula-themed cape, though also in dark purple. It was long and flowy with a high starched collar that rose up to the tips of his ears. He had a mop of greasy black hair on his head and had his arms stretched out wide, the cape billowing out like a gigantic purple bat.

"Oh. My. God." Caitlin giggled. "What the hell is he supposed to be?"

"If his attire is to be believed, I am assuming a villain of some sort," Rebecca commented, the sides of her mouth quirking upwards.

"But… But… God, that outfit!"

"True, it is a bit much."

"It's like a goth wannabe actually got bit by a vamp!"

"The color scheme is impressive, however."

"Well, true, yeah he's got that going for him."

The man by this point had dropped his arms and crossed them, tapping his foot impatiently. "Are you two quite done?" he asked querulously.

"Oh, sorry, were you about to monologue?" Caitlin snarked.

Rebecca took a step forward. "First we would like to know what you have done to our friends, and where our other friends are located."

Instead of replying, the man grinned slyly and snapped his fingers. Blink moved finally, her hands whipping up and outwards to form multiple portals all around the sisters.

Within a few heartbeats Rebecca and Caitlin were surrounded by the missing mutants and Blink caused the portals to disappear once again.

They swiveled, looking out among the black-eyed children and teens. Some unrecognized adults stood silently as well. Bobby and Johnny were there, Iceman and Pyro, though they didn't take an aggressive stance of any sort, just stood there blankly once they crossed over the portals.

Caitlin hitched her breath as she recognized one of the mutant children, a small blonde girl named Jillian who had become attached to her when she taught combat classes at the school.

"Oh, no, Jilly-bean," she sighed. Turning to the melodramatic man, she shot him an angry glare. "Alright, fine, you're big and bad and all, what did you do to them?"

"What did I do?" he asked, having walked across the tops of the containers. He was now standing close enough, on top of another container, that the girls could see his irises were completely black so that it looked as if his pupils were greatly dilated. "Why, I embraced them! Showed them all the promise of utopia!"

"This would appear to be slavery," Rebecca stated, her own anger tinting her words. "Not utopia."

"Yes, well, the path to utopia is long, and to get there I require soldiers."

"Alright, asshole, enough." Caitlin flexed her hands and prepared to grow them into claws. "Release them all or I'm gonna eviscerate you."

"Such ferocity!" the man laughed. "But I have not revealed my name yet. My name is Pied Piper!"

The sisters turned to each other and shrugged.

"Really?" Piper asked incredulously. "You don't… Haven't you read the fairy tale?"

"We did not have a childhood," Rebecca replied.

"Well, in any case, I take my name from what I can do. Observe!" He swept his hands grandiosely around to encompass the enslaved mutants.

The sisters glanced at each other again and once again shrugged. "Um, yeah, you know that didn't do anything, right?" Caitlin asked.

"That is because I didn't do it yet, you little twit!" he barked irritably. His hands began to move in an intricate pattern before him.

Caitlin stared up at him, still unimpressed. "What exactly is it you're doing?"

He dropped his hands with a sigh. "I see, you must not have the mutant gene then."

A cold wash of fear swept through the brunette girl's veins, and she slowly turned to look at her sister.

Rebecca now stood motionless as the rest, her eyes opaque pools of black.

Guys? We are in a major shitload of trouble here…

"Well," Piper harrumphed, "if you're not part of my army, you're an enemy." He turned with a flourish of his cape and strode off into the darkness, his hand waving carelessly over his shoulder. "Eliminate her," he said casually.

Downtown New York City

Caitlin raced ahead on her bare feet. She'd lost both her sandals earlier when Bobby had tried to freeze her in place, and her cellphone had been fried by a stray blast of static electricity from one of the mutant children. The response of the enslaved mutants had been uncoordinated and slow, allowing her to escape so far, but she knew without turning that Rebecca would be right behind her.

If she stopped, her sister would catch her, and she'd be dead. Because there was no way she could fight her off as well as Bobby and Johnny, now also in hot pursuit thanks to Blink's portals.

And then her jump was interrupted by the dual combination attack of ice and fire, and she was sent tumbling to the ground, unable to shift quickly enough to let the panther take the impact.

Just as she was bracing herself for a heavy dose of crippling pain, her fall was arrested. She somehow found herself to be swinging like a pendulum to end up on the roof across the street.

She landed in a tumble, rolling to a crouch to face her new adversary, only to drop her defensive posture in shock.

"You!" she uttered, stunned.

"Oh, you know me?" the red-and-blue masked man asked, crouched on the edge of the parapet. "So, are you in the I-hate-Spidey-and-wanna-roast-him camp, or the yay-Spidey-is-awesome group?"

"Um," Caitlin blinked her eyes uncertainly, still mentally trying to catch up with the situation. "More the latter than the former?"

"Cool!" Spider-Man exclaimed, leaping over her head to end up squatting against the wall of the next building over. "So, why were you being chased, and being thrown off a roof and all? I saw you move, not just a typical teenager, are you?"

"Um, no I'm not," she began, but then whirled as a blink sounded behind her. "Oh, shit… Okay, long story short, they're friends but being mind-controlled, okay?"

"My kinda summary!" the webslinger replied merrily. He fired a strand of web up onto the tall antenna of the building Caitlin was standing on and jumped off, soaring around wide. "I'll be gentle!"

As Johnny and Bobby exited the portal, Spider-Man slammed into them, sending both to the floor. He flicked his wrists and more web strands flew out to envelop them, pinning them to the rooftop.

"Now, then," he began, but was interrupted by a flying redhead figure that charged into him. He took a rapid combo of hits and kicks to his abdomen and legs, but managed to block the follow-up strikes.

"No, Spidey, leave her to me!" Caitlin pleaded. "She's my sister!"

"Sure thing, toots. Hey, you called me Spidey! Does that mean we're buddies now?" He leapt backwards and clung to the antenna about ten feet up. Rebecca started forward but was intercepted by Caitlin. They began to whirl around each other, spinning out kicks and punches while blocking as they were able.

"Yeah… I think I'll just stay out of that one…" Spider-Man glanced over at his two previous opponents to see that Johnny had already burned off his webbing and Bobby froze his, shattering the strands.

"Oh, come on," he yelped as he sprang off his perch to avoid a fiery blast. "Can't you just lay down for a minute? Take a load off? Running across rooftops is hard work, I understand if you wanna rest…"

As he soared over their heads, his landing site suddenly turned into a patch of ice. "Oh, wait, I know this one," he joked. "Make the nimble guy slip and fall, take away his mobility… Pass!"

He shot a strand of web out to connect with the top of the antenna again, halting his drop and flinging him back as if attached to a bungee cord. He shot another strand at the building across from them, behind the pair of mutants, in order to fling himself at them again.

"And that, my friends, is why webslingers are superior-"

His words were cut off as Bobby froze a section of the new web strand. It snapped, and instead of flinging him forward, he continued on his previous trajectory to smack into the antenna. He dropped to the ground with a grunt.

"Me and my big mouth," he moaned, rolling back to his feet. He had to skip to the side to avoid another blast of fire, and then noticed another presence on the roof with them, a purple-haired girl with pale skin and tattoos of the same purple around her eyes.

"Well, hey there, short, cute, and purple, come join the party!" He fired off a shot of webbing to grab her and pull her in for use as a shield but she flung her hand up first. Portals appeared directly in front of her and directly behind Spider-Man, causing his web to hit himself in the back of the head.

"Oh, now, that's just embarrassing," the webslinger remarked. "Hey, mystery-girl! You done playing around yet?"

"Not gonna be done… anytime soon…" Caitlin huffed out as she dodged a strike to her solar plexus. She sent a high kick flying out but Rebecca blocked it, throwing a counter-punch to her chest that hit home, staggering her backwards. "We're evenly matched!"

"Now that is unwelcome news," he replied with a sigh, eyeing the three mutants arrayed in front of him. "I don't suppose we can talk this out? Maybe over a nice pizza or something? No? C'mon, everyone likes pizza…"

In reply Johnny sent another blast of fire his way. He tumbled to the side and shot a wad of webbing at his eyes, blinding him temporarily. Bobby, meanwhile, sent a bolt of ice off to the side, back where he was originally.

"Um, little slow on the uptake, huh?" Spider-Man asked.

Blink had already placed a portal at Bobby's target and another behind the webslinger once again. The wintry blast took his in the back, knocking him forward into a roll.

"Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice…" He rolled to the side once more as Johnny, free of the web blindfold, attacked once more. "Well, yeah, still makes me look like an idiot."

Spider-Man danced to the side, dodging the ice and fire attacks from all quarters, some from directly ahead and some from other various vectors due to Blink's ability. "Wait, I know this tune," he sang out as he shot a quick strand at the parapet behind them. "You're hot and you're cold, you're yes and you're no…"

The webslinger shot forward, knocking Johnny's feet out from under him. He pushed up with his hands, kicking back into Bobby, but Blink interjected a portal and he found himself hanging over the middle of the street.

"Okay, that was unexpected," he yelped. Firing a web strand first at the opposite building and then the one across from where he originated from, he sent himself soaring back into the fray. Johnny and Bobby had turned to assault Caitlin but Spider-Man crashed into the both of them. In close proximity finally, he let loose with his webbing again, this time tying the two of them together.

"Alright!" he crowed. "Now for you, cutie…"

Blink portaled to the other side of the roof, keeping ahead of the advancing webslinger. "Hey, come on, I'm not that bad!" he protested as she escaped another volley of web projectiles. "I showered this morning and everything!"

Just as he was beginning to detect a pattern in Blink's portals, there was a resounding crash of noise. He spun to see the small brunette girl up against the antenna, groaning and shaking her head to clear it. From the look of her redheaded sister, though, she wasn't about to get the time.

"Whoops! Time for the signature Spidey rescue!" he said, shooting a strand at the prone girl and another up to the top of the antenna. As he flew up he brought a squealing Caitlin with him until they were both thirty feet up and staring down.

"Holy shit!" Caitlin panted.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Spider-Man commented wryly. "That and, 'I'll sue you for whiplash, you menace!'"

A new sound joined the fray, pausing Rebecca as she crouched to renew her attack. The pair clinging to the antenna looked up to see an approaching glow getting brighter.

"Oh, no," Caitlin groaned. "Not him. Anyone but him, please, I do not want to be rescued by him!"

"Friend of yours?"

"No, no he's not, he's-"

With a resounding crack of impact, a red and gold figure landed on the rooftop and straightened, surveying the scene imperiously.

"Iron Man," the brunette sighed resignedly.

Rebecca immediately ran towards the still-bound Johnny and Bobby, scooping the pair of them up and leaping through the portal Blink had made. In the space of a heartbeat, the three heroes were alone.

Iron Man looked upwards at the pair of figures, the brunette girl, barefoot and dirty, clinging to the red-and-blue costumed webslinger who had his arms securely wrapped around her.

He raised his visor and smirked. "Hey there, Kitten!" Tony Stark called out jovially. "I thought you were into girls! Is that your boyfriends now?"

Spider-Man looked at the irritated girl in his arms. "So, not so much into the guys?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

He sighed morosely. "Story of my life." He sprang off of the antenna and landed, letting the girl go when they were back on the ground again.

"I'm Caitlin, by the way," she smiled at the webslinger. "Thanks for the save."

"Hey, what's a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man for?" he joked back.

"Uh, hello, heroic Avenger here," Stark protested. "I came in the nick of time, thank you very much."

"Former Avenger," Caitlin corrected with a shake of her head. "And we were doing just fine."

"Yeah, which is why they ran off when I popped up."

The small brunette flung her hands upwards, growling. "Fine! You want me to say it? Thank you, Tony Stark, for rescuing me."

"Yep, all I needed," he smirked in reply. "Especially since I have it on recording now. I'll use it as a screensaver. Now, then, since one of those people attacking you was your sister, and the other three known X-Men, I'd say we have some talking to do." He closed his visor. "Meet me at the tower. Arachno-Boy, give your girlfriend a lift."

He fired his thrusters and lifted off in the direction of Stark Tower.

"I hate that man so very, very much," Caitlin muttered.


A/N: Oh yes, it's more Avengers/X-Men/MCU goodness with Rebecca and Caitlin. Whee! And we got Spidey in the mix, as well as a few other planned cameos. The dastardly Pied Piper must be stopped! (Did I do a decent job of portraying a completely over-the-top melodramatic villain? I'll keep working on him…)

So just to make sure it's clear, my Pied Piper is a OC villain, not related to the one in the DC Universe. Far as I can tell, there's not one by that name within Marvel.

At this point I'm branching off a bit, taking a bit of a risk as it were. With Unchained I tried very hard not to contradict MCU cannon or the established timeline. But I don't know for sure how they're going to bring Spidey in for Civil War, and other cameos will experience similar difficulties. So I'm going to hope for the best, and pray that this story doesn't sound like complete idiocy once those movies come out.

In other news, I'm flying this one solo, as I've left my usual Betas in the dust. (They tried valiantly, and I appreciate their efforts more than can be expressed, but I'm still waiting for the one to finish reading the last chapter of Unchained.) Thus I'm putting out a call for interested Betas, if you want to take the time and review stories before they go up, both for grammar and content. Requirements are a Google account (I do my writing in GDocs and share them for comment that way) and the ability to do a turnaround within a day or two perhaps twice a week. I understand life happens, but don't volunteer if you don't think you're able. Payment is only via generous heapings of flowery praise at the bottom of each chapter. I have ten chapters planned for this story, so hopefully it won't be terribly onerous. Also, I'm willing to do an exchange of Beta services for other writers, if you want to use my eyeballs on your own stories.

Whelp, thank you all for the reads, hope you stick with it! Please drop me a review and tell me what you think so far!

Stay shiny!