AN: A Gwevin one-shot, set in between the first two series. I know, I know, everyone and their funny uncle has written one of these…so sue me.
Disclaimer: No, but seriously, don't sue me. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network, Man of Action and all those jazzy folks out in California, and I'm getting nothing but cheap thrills and a sense of accomplishment from this Fanfiction.
Without further ado…
Every Step Is For You
Sometimes, it was amazing how one little thing could alter the course of an entire lifetime.
It was three weeks until Gwen Tennyson's fifteenth birthday. Most teenagers would be excited, but she wasn't feeling too strongly about it. It wasn't as if she dreaded the day, but Gwen shared her birthday with her idiot cousin, Ben, so it had never really been her day.
It had been nearly four years since Ben took off the Omnitrix. Ever since, Gwen had been refining and strengthening her powers, and she was fairly good with them now if she did say so herself. The color of her magic had changed, though, something she didn't quite understand.
From the blue it used to be, the light that surrounded her hands and shone in the shields she created gradually began to redden. It was a red-violet color now, and Gwen rather liked it.
Her magic wasn't the only thing that changed. Gwen had gotten taller, of course, having hit puberty, and had budded in the obvious places. Her orange hair had smoothed and darkened, falling in sleek layers past her shoulders. She still wore the blue bobby pin she loved often, and was wearing it now as she walked the streets of her hometown.
Bellwood. Gwen had lived here her entire life, in the same house, save the extremely eventful summer in the Rustbucket. It was a memory she could smile at, now. That summer had been…everything.
A discovery of life beyond their world, and the surprising connections they had with them. Aliens really existed, would you believe it? And Grandpa Max was a Plumber, which turned out was much more than an oversized pipe-cleaner who displayed his crack proudly above the seam of his pants.
They had all been through so much, her and Ben. They were literally heroes. But Gwen liked to think that all those intergalactic enemies, near-death experiences, sacrifices, and battles had changed them both for the better.
Gwen pulled her coat tighter around her as the cold November winds caught up to her. The light the morning sun brought was pale and watery, providing little warmth even as it beat upon her back.
It was 7:30 am Saturday and normally quite an unusual time for a fourteen-year-old girl to be up and about. For Gwen, it was completely standard. She was just on an early-morning smoothie run for Ben.
Now, normally, Gwen would never walk to Mr. Smoothy's at seven in the morning to pay for a strange concoction of flavors in a cup for her annoying cousin. But there was a reason he was at her house and not his.
Ben's dog, Captain, died yesterday. Despite him and Gwen's love-hate relationship, she cared about him. And he had definitely cared about that dog. Ben was asleep in her living room this very moment, his own bed – and his own house – too filled with Captain's memory and chew marks and fur. Literally.
A smoothie was just what Ben needed; at least that's what Gwen had decided.
It shouldn't have been a big deal. Mr. Smoothy's was only a few blocks away. All Gwen had to do was walk there, order the strangest thing she could think of to go, and walk back. Simple, on paper.
But nothing was ever simple for the Tennysons.
She was almost at her destination, walking assuredly along the frozen sidewalk, when Gwen's eyes suddenly flashed red-violet. The young teenager stopped short, blinking until her eyes returned to their normal emerald hue.
Her powers were still developing, and she wasn't sure how accurate they were, but Gwen swore there was a powerful energy source nearby.
Previously hugging herself to keep warm, Gwen let her arms drop and held them out as if she was feeling her way through the dark. Invisible energy crackled against her fingertips, leading the way.
Gwen shuffled along the sidewalk with her eyes half-closed, looking quite odd indeed with her hands stretched out and her blue scarf slipping from her shoulders.
The source was like a beacon, and Gwen was its humble disciple.
Gwen whipped her head around, orange hair following in a graceful arc, as the signal cried out, stronger now. Towering above in all its menacing, dilapidated glory, she found the old warehouse where Cash and JT hung out. She didn't know what it used to be, and had never step foot inside – it was probably fraught with spiders – but the building had been there for as long as she could remember.
Gwen frowned. What are those two doing in there that would ping me?
It was only supposed to be a quick look. She was just curious, and had plenty of time to bet back before Ben woke up. Gwen would wonder, months and years later, what would have happened had she gone ahead to Mr. Smoothy's without that detour.
Finding a broken window without too many jagged edges, Gwen hoisted herself up onto the sill and swung her legs inside the dark fortress.
It was almost as cold inside the warehouse as it was outside, and Gwen shivered as her boots touched down on the cold concrete.
The smell of rusted metal and gasoline filled the air, prompting the petite ginger to hold her scarf over her mouth and nose with a grimace. Her nose wrinkled in distaste as her gaze flicked around, taking in her surroundings.
It was junk.
The abandoned factory was little more than a pile of scrap metal. There were a few old-fashioned machines scattered around that Gwen supposed had a purpose once, but now were barely even recognizable under years of rust and graffiti. Among piles of trash and rubble, dark stains that Gwen desperately hoped were water coated half the floor. Flimsy metal stairways stood against the wall, more than one of them broken, lying on its side like a kicked puppy.
Beyond one of the emaciated staircases that were actually upright and vaguely operational was a hallway that she couldn't see the end of. A pale – but ever-strengthening – reddish light was pulsing from within, throwing the beginnings of a demonic shadow across the vestibule.
Gwen started up the stairs without a second thought. She was positive that whatever was making that light was also what had been sending her signals.
She gripped the rickety banister tightly, feeling the rust scrape against her skin as she ascended. Her boots clanged against the metal with each step no matter how carefully she placed her feet, making her cringe and slowing her climb. Chunks of concrete had been captured from the walls at several intervals, leaving gaping holes with exposed copper skeletons and rats munching on the remnants of a candy bar.
Gwen had to suppress a squeal when her eyes found the shifty little animal, and she covered her mouth with her hands to stifle the noise that surely would have given her away to whoever it was that was here. She hoped, for the first time in her life, that it was just Cash and JT.
As it was, the rat squeaked loudly in her place, skittering off with a lump of caramel and chocolate clenched in its dirty teeth.
Gwen hesitated a moment more – she told herself it was because she wanted to see if anyone came to investigate the noise, not that she was afraid of rats or anything – before navigating through the stinking wreckage toward the light at the end of the tunnel.
No pun intended.
Gwen crept down the hallway, keeping low as the unearthly light continued to glow and shine from around the corner. Energy buzzed in her brain, the pulsating rhythm comparable to a gong being hammered at the plate of her skull. She was close.
Gwen daringly stuck her head out from beyond the wall, cracking open her eyes to see what there was to be seen. Her jaw dropped.
A Null Void generator.
Gwen still recognized the horrible machine, after all this time. It threw a large red rune into midair, spinning it hypnotically and spending enough energy to put a wormhole through to the pocket dimension that housed the galaxy's most dangerous criminals; a desolate place known fondly as the Null Void.
Gwen had the pleasure of visiting the prison in person several years back. She wasn't excited to return.
Just when the redhead began to wonder what this generator was doing in Bellwood, years after all the alien nonsense had seemed to stop, she spotted movement in the dim lighting beyond the barrel of the machine.
Two of Vilgax's robots. One was tapping something out on a display panel with its metallic fingers, and the other was doing nothing but standing. Standing in that creepy, stock-still way that only robots could.
Gwen's heart sank to the bottom of her shoes. They had to be attempting to bring Vilgax out. Maybe he had programmed some for this special mission as a precaution, or maybe there was someone on his side here, in Bellwood. Gwen's hands began to shake with the thought.
She thought all this was over. Vilgax had been sent to another dimension; it should have been over!
If he came back…Ben! I have to get Grandpa Max; he'll know what to do!
In the back of her mind, Gwen knew she would never be able to get all the way to the Rust Bucket and back before Vilgax came through to their world. Then it really would be over. Maybe she wanted an excuse to leave, but fate had other plans.
As Gwen shuffled backward, keeping an eye on the androids while making her semi-stealthy escape, her heel hit a crumpled can of beer – God, she hoped it didn't belong to Cash – sending it skittering across the concrete with a more than audible clatter.
Simultaneously, the robots' heads swung abruptly in her direction, twin flashes of their computerized eyes confirming that they had sighted her. The scarlet light of the portal shone against the metal of their bodies, giving both a satanic appearance.
If possible, Gwen's heart sunk even lower. Crap!
There was a flash of light and metal, and the first of them was upon her. Snapping mechanical fingers reached out to snatch her, and Gwen took a chance. She ducked quickly, rolling her slim frame between the android's legs – scraping her knee in the process, but avoiding the metal digits completely. Thank you, Tai-Kwan-Do!
Unfortunately, her showy dodge had positioned the robot between her and the only way out. Gwen cursed silently. She would have to fight them; and Ben wasn't here with the Omnitrix to help her this time. She wasn't at all helpless, but wasn't sure how confident she should be in her abilities; whether in magic or in combat.
By the time Gwen had found her feet again, the robot had turned around, empty eyes boring into hers as if it could consciously see her. The girl had braced herself for a new attack, purplish light pluming around her hands, when she was grabbed suddenly from behind.
Gwen was suddenly crushed against a hard, steel chest, those ugly green tentacles squishing against the back of her head.
No! I forgot about the other one! She struggled fiercely, but was no match for its motorized strength. And every time she managed to gain a centimeter of space, it was squeezed away from her.
Gwen's vision began to blur and spot, her lungs constricted by the brute arms that held her. She was getting dizzy, and saw through half-lidded eyes the other automaton advancing toward her.
If she was defeated here, Vilgax would be released from the Null Void.
Ben…Grandpa…Everyone…
She couldn't let that happen.
Salvaging her strength, magic curled around Gwen's fingers once more, charging up in her palms, which pressed flat against the belly of the robot that held her.
"Let go…or else!" Gwen's voice was strained, and she had to take an extra breath to spit it all out. But the point was clear. The robot didn't oblige, of course, but it bought her the time she needed.
Her nails scraped against the metal, which heated slightly at her energized touch.
I warned you!
When the energy was let loose, a small explosion was the result. Small, but enough to send the android flying across the room. Mechanical arms dropped Gwen with a metallic screech as its body was blown backward, twin handprints scorched into its belly. It smashed backside into the wall, wiring ripping loose as it crumpled to the floor. The occasional spark flashed, but there was no movement from the pile of scrap.
This time, Gwen didn't allow herself to be distracted. Barely stopping to catch her breath, she let loose a similar bolt of magic at the other robot, which it received with a sickening – but satisfying – crunch. It smashed into the generator, flipping over it with enough momentum to knock it completely off balance.
The portal tossed upside down as the generator did, beginning to falter in its swirl. The wormhole was breaking up. Gwen sank to her knees with liberation, finally taking a moment to clutch her bruised ribs and take deep breaths through her mouth.
I did it… She wasn't sure whether to be more surprised or relieved.
But the action was far from over.
The Null Void portal began to morph, the sickly light strengthening for just a moment as a new energy came into being. Something was coming through.
Gwen's head snapped up, alarm pulsing in her wide green eyes as she feared the worst. Had she been too late?
An arm, thick with muscle and riddled with cuts and bruises, worked its way through the center of the gateway, palm up.
They must be coming in upside-down… Gwen thought in a side note. Funny, the things your mind comes up with while you're scared out of your mind.
Gwen probably should have run, right then and there. But two things stopped her. One: The portal was between her and the door. And two: The arm looked human.
It wasn't Vilgax coming through, but the thought brought little comfort to the reedy teenager sitting on the floor.
The pale appendage was quickly followed by a twin, then a head and a pair of broad shoulders. It was like watching a baby being born. A very large, terrifying baby.
A thick chest and long legs quickly followed, and Gwen found her assumption was correct. Whoever this was, he thought gravity went the other way.
The moment the man was through, he crashed hard onto his back with a deep grunt of surprise, and a smacking sound filled the room as his head slapped the concrete.
"Ow! Dammit!"
Not the words Gwen was expecting to hear first-thing from a Null Void convict. Something like 'I shall rule the planet Earth!' or 'Where is the Omnitrix?' was what she was used to.
To the left, the portal flickered, and then died. The red light faded, to be replaced by diluted sunlight that filtered far too cheerfully through the window.
This…person – Gwen wasn't yet convinced to call him human – clutched the back of his head in pain, sitting up to grumble to himself.
Now that she got a good look at his face, Gwen realized he was younger than she had first thought. Older than her, definitely, but a teenager all the same.
He was tall and powerfully built, with pale skin that was blemished with unhealed cuts and purple bruises. His pitch-black hair fell past his shoulders, dirty and rumpled from years without proper care. Sharp, dark eyes perched under a furrowed brow, and on either side of a hooked nose. His mouth was a grim slash over a prominent chin, pulling a deep frown as he inspected the damage to his head. He was almost completely naked, much to Gwen's discomfort. He didn't even have any shoes on. Just a pair of dirty grey cargo shorts that looked like they had once been stretched past their limits.
He looked familiar, strange as it sounds, but Gwen couldn't place who he was. She felt like she should remember, though. That for some reason, it was important.
Finally, the boy noticed her. His eyes met hers, matte black in the poor light. A deep scratch on his right cheekbone was still leaking blood, trickling down to his chin without notice. He didn't make a particularly menacing face, spout death threats, and it wasn't that he was at all bad-looking, but Gwen had to catch her breath. She sat up straighter and steadied herself, trying to look brave and unintimidated.
Was it just her, or did she see a flash of recognition in those dark eyes of his?
"Well, well, well," He voiced suddenly, bass tones echoing in the concrete room. A smirk pulled at his lips, a smug, feral look that Gwen had seen far too many times. A sharp pang, memories of that one crazy summer, flashed before her eyes.
New York City.
A broken game at the arcade.
Herself, berating an unusual Heatblast.
Heartbreaking screams of fury and pain from atop a cable bridge.
A fight at a wind farm.
Mismatched arms gripping her body with frightening strength.
Leaving that jumbled mutant behind in the Null Void.
It was Kevin.
Panic coursed through Gwen's system. The psychotic kid with a taste for Ben's blood was back. In Bellwood. Alone with her in an abandoned warehouse. While Ben slept ignorantly on her couch, probably drooling on the cushions that she had helped her mom pick out.
"Look who's here," Gwen had been so focused on her resurfacing memories and quelling her fear that she hadn't noticed that Kevin – Kevin! – was still talking. "It's the sister."
He was staring at her with those dark eyes - darker than they used to be, she noticed; maybe it meant he was even eviler now – and that mischievous smirk that looked like a kid about to sneak a cookie from the jar. Except the cookie was probably her.
Forcing her voice not to shake, Gwen responded as haughtily as she could. "Cousin. And my name is Gwen." She realized that he had probably never known that. If he had paid enough attention during all the battles, he might have figured it out, but she doubted that.
She probably should have wondered why Kevin was human again. The last time she saw him – it sounds so innocent, doesn't it? – he was stuck supposedly permanently as an awful amalgamation of the aliens in the watch; huge, hulking, and horrible.
Not that he wasn't all those things now, in some respect.
Kevin began to stand, and Gwen shot up from her kneeling position, feeling the need to be tall, if only for a moment. Despite herself, she felt a flash of concern as Kevin's face crumpled briefly in pain, blood dribbling wetly from a gash on his side.
Gwen probably also should have wondered why he was so beaten-up. It surely couldn't be that bad in the Null Void, especially for a lifelong criminal like him.
Kevin got to his feet, towering over her once again, his face a strange combination of curiosity and suspicion.
Gwen decided to take the initiative. For all Gwen knew, he could be heading straight for Ben. He was so vulnerable right now, asleep and broken by the death of a friend.
"You're not going to hurt Ben! I won't let you!" She called her magic for effect, and enjoyed a moment of satisfaction at the surprise that flared in his features when the light surrounded her raised fists.
The fulfillment was crushed, however, as Kevin rolled his eyes.
"Relax, drama queen. I'm not gonna hunt down your precious cousin." He spat bitterly, managing to sound condescending even as he lifted her spirits. It was probably the fault of his New York brogue.
But Ben's safety wasn't the only issue. Kevin was a raving, sociopathic, criminally insane lunatic with superpowers and more than ample knowledge of the alien world. No way was he just going to sip spiced tea and read Jane Austen novels for the rest of his life.
Gwen's eyes narrowed and she didn't lower her glowing fists. She hoped that Kevin didn't realize how inexperienced her magic was, how tired she felt, how much her ribs still hurt, how easily he could overpower her physically, or the fact that the door was literally right behind him.
"So what are you going to do? Rob a preschool?"
Kevin laughed, something she didn't expect. She caught the ring of mockery in his tone, however, and tightened the reign on her powers, strengthening the energy and the glow.
He stopped laughing, and Gwen realized that the glare had never left his eyes; like it was permanently engraved there.
He sneered at her derisively, an expression that wasn't pretty on any face. "None of your business," was his cold response. Outside, a cloud shifted in front of the sun, throwing the room into sudden shadow and chill. Kevin's shady eyes disappeared in the darkness beneath his raven hair.
Gwen shivered, not just from the cold.
"It is my business," she pressed, stepping closer. "It's my responsibility to keep Ben and everyone else safe from freaks like you!"
At the word 'freak', something haunted blazed in Kevin's eyes, lighting up the dark hues with tones of brown and gold. He suddenly looked ten times more terrifying.
Gwen swallowed, her magic flickering with sudden uncertainty. She had to remember that Kevin wasn't so human like her. Gwen had never believed he was evil, but that didn't mean he wasn't still a heartless monster who would attack her just for saying the wrong words.
The battered teen didn't say anything. He just stared at her with blistering, untamed fury. Fury she didn't understand.
Then Kevin turned, stepping over the crumpled body of Vilgax's robot without comment and pacing out of the open doorway, bare feet slapping on the pavement with no effort to stifle the clamor.
Frustration licking up her insides like fire, Gwen followed, stomping and angry. He was halfway down the hallway already, shoulders square and hands curled into tight fists, silhouetted in the pastel light.
Gwen swept her arms toward him, magic crackling on her fingertips and extending outward in a red-violet arc. The partition of pure energy stretched past Kevin's retreating form, wrapping tightly around him and throwing him flipside against the wall.
Kevin looked as surprised as Gwen felt. That was new…
The redheaded girl drew herself up, strolling toward the captured boy with a stern look on her face. That impressive move had left her feeling smug, but she schooled her features as if this was an everyday thing. She kept herself concentrated on the bindings, willing them to stay strong.
Kevin struggled uselessly, throwing her dirty looks from beneath his dense bangs. "You can't keep me here forever," he hissed, only his head and right hand visible under the wall of magic.
Gwen knew he was right. Already her arms were beginning to ache with the effort of keeping up the magic field. It would hold for a few more minutes, at the most.
"I can hold you for as long as it takes," she replied, impressed at the strength and determination in her voice as she stepped close, staring him down. Gwen was nothing if not headstrong. "I can't just let you go free. You're a criminal!"
Kevin scowled, fidgeting in his bonds. "Come on, what did I ever do to you?"
"You kidnapped me and tried to kill my cousin!"
"Oh, are you still upset about that?" He curled his lip, voice as dry as Death Valley.
Gwen gnashed her teeth. As demented as she remembered Kevin being, she had forgotten how cynical and mockingly sarcastic he also was.
"…I'm going to find my mom, okay?"
Gwen started, her furious look fading as she gazed up at Kevin. He was staring at a point past her head, stubbornly refusing to meet her eyes. His bloody face was set in a grimace, almost looking embarrassed for having said anything.
"Your…mom?" Gwen repeated, both surprised and confused. For some reason, she believed him. Even Kevin couldn't lie so well. Could he? "But I thought–"
"I told you it was none of your business!" Kevin shot back abruptly. He struggled once more, and, admittedly with the help of Gwen's divided concentration, broke through the magical barrier.
It shattered like tinted glass, falling earthward before fading like smoke, and so did the light surrounding Gwen's hands.
Startled, she fell backward, stumbling as vertigo wracked her mind. Something warm closed around her wrist, keeping her on her feet.
Gwen looked up, meeting Kevin's smoldering gaze. His large, pale hand was clasping onto her, pulling her upright in a startling and rare moment of kindness.
But why? It was so random.
Why would a guy who was willing to waste his life hunting someone, destroying himself physically and emotionally in the process, instinctively stoop to help up a tripping stranger?
This wasn't the scrawny street rat she met all those years ago; the one who was willing to kill hundreds of innocent people to make a quick buck, and blame someone else for all the misfortune he had brought on himself.
Gwen wondered if maybe, just maybe, Kevin had changed. She had heard of people that reformed themselves in prison; maybe the Null Void had done the same for him?
Old Kevin would have attacked her on sight, but this Kevin…something was different.
He was very close; uncomfortably close. Her fingers brushed against his bare cest the moment she tried to move them in his iron grip, and she could feel his hot breath on her throat. Goosebumps were prickling on her arms, sending a chilling shudder down her spine that didn't have anything to do with the cold of the November morning. Gwen didn't move. She doubted that she could.
Kevin was deadly serious, staring deep into Gwen's emerald hues. It almost seemed as if he was looking for something; he didn't seem willing to break their intense contact.
His eyes were deep and dark, the kind one could find themselves lost inside in an instant, no matter the circumstances. Gwen fell prey to his stare like a deer in headlights, unable to move. Unable to speak.
Something flashed through his eyes, then, something sudden. And as Gwen caught it, she could see it was soft. It was melancholy, in a way; something she knew was unnatural in him. She had no idea eyes could be so expressive. For a moment, she managed to break through all of the arrogance and anger he surrounded himself with and expose the humanity dwelling in the deep centers of his eyes.
And the sight of it sent tremors through the girl. She felt, somehow, that he could see right through her. What he was looking for, she was afraid to know. The emotion she had caught lingering in the labyrinth of his gaze was too strange to place.
It wasn't kindness, she knew. Kevin wasn't kind. But maybe, just maybe, he could be?
"I'm not going to go looking for Tennyson," Kevin stated suddenly, and the moment was shattered.
Gwen blinked, the spell broken with his voice. She was almost angry at herself for letting it go on for so long. Kevin appeared to have a similar state of mind, the way he had so suddenly spoken.
Gwen remembered with a start that she was supposed to be questioning him. She opened her mouth to cough up a retort, but he wasn't finished.
"But if he comes after me, or gets in my way at all," Kevin's grip tightened on her wrist, as if to emphasize his point. It kind of hurt, but Gwen held her ground with a determined set to her jaw.
Kevin continued with a sneer, "Then I won't hold back."
Kevin had left shortly after that, without further explanation or time for any more questioning, leaving Gwen alone in the warehouse.
She wasn't sure what to make of his last statement. What would Ben do if he knew Kevin was back? Go after him?
That would be just like the stupid kind of bravado that boys come up with.
Without the Omnitrix, her cousin would be toast, and Kevin would be the toaster.
She frowned at the analogy. If the situation wasn't so serious, the image in her head would be downright comical.
Gwen decided it would be better not to tell Ben for now, especially not while he's so depressed. If Kevin started stirring up trouble in Bellwood, then she could bring up the subject.
Gwen destroyed the Null Void generator, making sure it couldn't be used again. She had no desire to see anyone – or anything – come in or out of there ever again.
She walked the streets again now, heading across the Mr. Smoothy's parking lot as if nothing had ever happened. It felt strange, somehow. Her thoughts, however, were still trained on the boy who crossed dimensions today.
Has he really changed? Is his word worth anything? Will he really stay away from Ben?
Gwen stepped up to the back of the line, emerald eyes glazed over in contemplation.
Kevin was certainly different than the one she remembered; in more than his physical appearance. He still wasn't nice, considerate, or caring in any respect, but she suspected that he had picked up some sanity in the Null Void, at the least.
Maybe, deep down under all the psychotic inclinations and the insensible violence, he was a good person.
The Old Kevin would have spent those years plotting and obsessing.
The Old Kevin would probably have kidnapped her again as bait for Ben.
The Old Kevin wouldn't have cared about reconciling with his mother.
But what would New Kevin do? She didn't know him well enough to guess. If he had wanted to, Gwen was sure he could have killed her or taken her as ransom easily enough, and gone on to a defenseless Ben.
So why didn't he?
"Next!" It was Gwen's turn to order. She rested her elbows distractedly on the counter, ordering a cinnamon-strawberry-swiss-mocha smoothie with ginger and kiwi. The staff gave her a weird look, but obliged. It wasn't the weirdest thing Ben had ever ordered.
I hope I wasn't tricked. Kevin really has changed; I have to believe that.
"That will be $6.95, Miss."
He's changed for the better.
Gwen reached into her back pocket, searching for her wallet. It wasn't there. Eyes widening, she checked the other. Nothing.
Her wallet was gone.
Kevin hadn't changed at all.
AN: And there it be! Before anyone says anything, yes, I know that Gwen's powers are called 'manna', but at this point she still thinks that it's magic. So tell me what you think, but I really don't appreciate flames. Honestly, I think this was pretty good for my first published story, and I'm usually really bad at one-shots. But I'm not getting cocky... I always worry too much about feedback.
Over 5000 words!
Read and Review, please! ^^