Ok I'll be answering any reviews in here now. I'm running out of humor now XD And see what happens when you review? I update faster! No, jk…I've had the first two chapters waiting for a while now XD Chapter 3's being worked on right now. I promise I'll have it updated as soon as possible, so…how did I do without my beta reader/friend? Trust me, it'll be a lot better once she starts editing. My brain…doesn't want to think so if I do the math for Japan and San Francisco incorrect…let me know *grins*
Fanamaniac: Ahaha, it's love and he doesn't want the others to die. I tried to keep them in character but I can't do that…Yep, she only needs a toothbrush. Yeah I couldn't think of anything, but maybe she's just SOO tired after fighting someone like Mumbo Jumbo or Dr. Light (yeah right Lol)
Ultrawolfie: What's this about May annoying you? O.o? First chapter is right as Grimmjow is attacking. This chapter is Ichigo seeking to train. Third chapter is still being developed. Yeah, Aizen's a butt face…I would love to swing my racket at his face every few times…*grins evilly*
Luffyfan1: Thank you I've drawn some sketches of their masks. But I still can't think of anything for Raven.
5stareader (also a friend): Mwahahahaha:) If cliffhangers didn't exist, stories wouldn't be that interesting would they?
WingedHero540: Thanks for favoriting my story :D
Disclaimer: Yeah, like I own Bleach or Teen Titans…I'm not THAT amazing.
Oh right, there will be cursing…after all, this is Bleach so of course there will be cursing.
12 Hours after the Titans' Departure…
9 A.M.
-Raven-
We descend onto the field next to an abandoned warehouse. I see the same 15 year old I had seen in my dreams a while ago walking into the abandoned warehouse. We get out and peek into the warehouse. We see him standing on the ground, looking up at 8 people.
A girl with blonde pigtails is on the lowest part with a man with silver hair and piercings. The center of them is a boy with jaw-length, blonde hair with another blond-haired man standing to his left and a black-haired girl to his right. The top has a pink-haired, chubby man at the center with a green-haired girl to his side and a spiky afro-haired man stands to his left. The first and last thing we hear before the door closes is: "Good job finding this place…Ichigo…"
We turn to each other with question marks and Robin decides, "We'll wait here and we should probably see what's going on. Raven, see if you can contact that person."
I close my eyes and the connection starts again.
"Tōshirō?" I look around and I feel an icy presence walking up behind me.
"Are you already here?" He is wearing a black, short-sleeved, golf shirt and gray pants, very different from that black outfit he had been wearing before.
"Yeah, we're at the edge of town from what I've noticed. Most of the buildings are abandoned and I saw this orange-haired kid…Ichigo, I think, head into the warehouse next to me. How long do you think it'll take for you to come here?"
Tōshirō's eyes widen from the name and he replies, "The rest of us are recuperating right now. It might be a while before we see you. Can you stay there for about a day?"
"I'm pretty sure it'll be fine."
"And watch over Kurosaki. I'll tell Rukia and the others that he's training. See you in a day or so."
The connection ends and I open my eyes.
I see Cyborg bringing the bags out of the ship as Robin is standing in front of me. "Where's Beast Boy?"
"I told him to look for a window to fly through and look at the situation. What did the guy say?"
"He said that 'the rest of us are recuperating' and that he'll see if he can make it tomorrow. He suggested that we stay where we are until he comes."
Robin stares at me suspiciously and then asks, "Can we really trust him?"
"He looks trustworthy, plus he seems to know who that guy was."
"You mean that Ichigo?" I nod and we see Beast Boy flying over to us in a bird form. "What happened?"
"Um, that orange-haired guy…"
"Ichigo," I correct.
"Right, Ichigo. He was fighting those two blondes and then the girl was being choked by him. Plus both the girl and he had masks just like Starfire."
"Did you see Star in there?" Robin asks, getting rigid. Beast Boy shakes his head as Robin's shoulders slump.
"…We'll find her soon…" I assure him.
The three of us walk over and find Cyborg with everything unloaded. "I heard we're staying here for a while. I'll pitch up four tents for each of us," he begins, pulling out four rolled-up tents.
"What happened after she was being choked?" Robin asks Beast Boy.
"She almost died, but then the rest of the people stopped Ichigo. The leader's called Shinji and he broke the mask. He said that Ichigo…passed and that they'll show him how to suppress his…Hollow…I think?"
"What's a Hollow?" Cyborg asks, stopping halfway with one of the tents and turning towards us.
Beast Boy shrugs and I suggest that I go watch Ichigo and the other 8. "Don't stay too long though…" Robin says. I fly up and look around for a window that I can peek through. I fly to the back of the warehouse and I look through the window. There is no one in there and I decide to fly back to the T-Ship. Before I leave, I see a flash of red in the warehouse.
Ichigo's House
Yuzu runs out of the dining room when she hears the front door close. But her happiness changes to disappointment when Rukia walks in and not her older brother, Ichigo. "Rukia-chan! How did it go? Did you find Ichigo?" Yuzu asks hoping for good news.
Rukia looks away sadly and replies, "No…I'm sorry…"
"Oh…" she mumbles, tears forming. Rukia notices Karin standing by the door with a calm look and she takes Yuzu back.
Later that night, Rukia is on the roof looking out at the town. "I can't find any trace of his reiatsu. Where did you go…Ichigo…?"
Abandoned Warehouse: 11:00 P.M.
-Raven-
I sit inside my tent with my eyes closed. Instead of hearing Tōshirō's voice, I hear a girl's voice and it sounds like she's talking to herself.
"I can't find any trace of his reiatsu. Where did you go…Ichigo?" I wonder if she's one of the people that Tōshirō knows. I hear a faint scream outside the tent and I open it quickly.
"BB!" Cyborg yells, opening Beast Boy's tent. Robin and I stand behind him as we all peek into the tent. Cyborg pulls him out and we see the same white substance that was on Starfire the night before. But this time, it has just started forming. Before we could say anything, he passes out and the mask finishes forming. But it still looks like the white substance and the only thing that has changed are the two fangs around where his mouth would be.
"Beast Boy?" Robin asks, shaking his shoulder. Beast Boy remains unresponsive and I hear footsteps walking towards us.
"Who are you?" I ask as the shadow comes closer.
"Shinji Hirako…I felt some strong spiritual pressure coming from the outside. So, I decided to explore and I find three teenagers…and one that's forming a Hollow mask," he introduces, looking over at Beast Boy.
"Do you know Tōshirō Hitsugaya?" I promptly ask as he walks over to Beast Boy.
"Nope, if he's a Shinigami, then I probably don't. I only know some of them. I'm just someone that lives in that warehouse. Oh, the mask stopped forming…" he comments.
I turn my head towards Beast Boy and the mask really did finish. The mouth area has two pointy teeth like a saber tooth tiger and a row of teeth underneath it. There are two small holes that will allow him to look through. The mask resembles a saber tooth tiger as much as Starfire's resemblance to Cheshire's. "Can you help us?" Robin asks, turning to Shinji.
"Well, why not? We saw this red-haired girl flying by earlier. She collapsed in front of the warehouse about 5 hours before you guys came here. She had a mask on her face like that kid over there. But this is weird…we've only heard of Ichigo becoming a Vizard…" he mumbles at the end.
"Wait! You saw a red-haired girl? Did she have green eyes?" Robin hastily asks.
"I don't know; the mask's still on her face. It looks like a grinning cat though and she's in the warehouse. Come on, I'll help you guys with both of them." He picks up Beast Boy and heads back to his warehouse as we cautiously follow him.
"Who are you guys? And what's a…Vizard?" Cyborg asks Shinji.
"We're the Vizards. We're…people that acquired Hollow powers. Although, it used to be just the 8 of us until we found out Ichigo was like us. This is the first time we've seen people besides us become a Vizard, though. The girl woke up about an hour after we took her in and was fighting us until Hachi managed to restrain her. Now, we're having her rest up," he explains.
The warehouse opens and there are a few lights turned on above us. As we walk in, I sense two people above us. Before I can look up, I hear quick footsteps like someone's running and the girl with the pigtails comes into view and kicks Shinji in the face. He drops Beast Boy by accident as he jumps away from the girl. "WHAT THE HELL HIYORI!"
"Why the hell are you letting strangers come into the warehouse? You dumbass!" she yells, pointing at us. Cyborg kneels down to pick up Beast Boy and the girl notices the mask on his face. "Who the hell's he?"
"He's our teammate and Shinji says that he can help us with both Beast Boy and Starfire," Robin explains as the girl walks over to us.
"And what makes you think we're gonna help you? Huh?" she asks menacingly looking up at him. The girl is a lot shorter than him so she has to look up more.
"Look, he's the one who offered it. We just want someone to help Beast Boy and Starfire," I explain, cutting in before Robin could say anything.
"We're already watching that red-haired girl! What makes you think we're going to let 4 more people stay here?" she asks, pointing at me.
"Just let them, Hiyori. Two of them are turning into Vizards and we have to help them gain control of their Inner Hollows. We've got no choice. Aizen took the Hōgyoku, which means we have to show them how to resist their Hollows. If not, those two will kill their teammates once they wake up…"
"Tch, fine…" she agrees reluctantly, going back the direction she came through.
"Now that that's settled, I'll show you guys where to stay. Follow me." He turns to the opposite direction and we follow him cautiously. We emerge into a small room and I see four beds each separated by a partition after Shinji turns on the light. I see a lump on the one farthest from us and Shinji walks over to it. "Hey, Lisa, we're going to have some more people staying with us."
She sits up and puts on her glasses, looking at us. She spots Beast Boy and turns towards Shinji asking, "What, another one?"
Shinji nods and takes Beast Boy from Cyborg. "You guys will be staying here with Lisa. I'll be taking this guy to the room with that girl. We'll be monitoring them throughout the night to make sure they don't do anything." With that, he closes the door and we turn towards Lisa.
"Choose your beds. I recommend the big one at the end for the guy in the sweatshirt," she suggests, pointing at the bed closest to the door. "We'll talk more tomorrow once you meet the rest of the Vizards."
Cyborg walks over to the last bed and crawls in, not even taking off his sweatshirt. Robin goes to the bed next to Cyborg's and takes off his cape, draping it over the partition. He takes off his shoes and crawls into bed with the mask on. I unclasp my brooch and hang it on my partition. "Not very cautious are you?" Lisa begins as I take off my boots.
"You guys were the ones that decided to help us," I reply, crawling into the blanket. I hear a faint tap on the nightstand next to her bed and I realize that she had taken off her glasses.
"Well, this is the first time someone that isn't a Shinigami began to become a Vizard," she explains, lying down. "Well, we'll let Hachi look at them tomorrow…" A few minutes later, I hear her breathing quietly so I close my eyes as I enter a dreamless sleep.
Above Karakura Town
A dark-skinned Arrancar with brown, wavy hair and green eyes is suppressing her reiatsu as she scouts the area. She spots her teammate, a girl with heterochromia (two differently colored eyes) and black, jaw-length hair standing on top of a warehouse with her reiatsu also suppressed. She descends and lands next to her. "Why do we have to scout around?" the dark-skinned Arrancar complains.
"Halibel-sama was the only one that volunteered to have a scouting team, remember? It's not our fault the other Espada are lazy asses," her teammate replies angrily.
"Tch, Nnoitra probably doesn't want to do any of this stuff for Aizen-sama. Plus, Starrk's too lazy to do that and Baraggan barely listens to Aizen-sama. Szayel-Aporro probably wouldn't do something like this. Yammy's dog can't do anything and Grimmjow's Fracción are all dead. So we're stuck with the scouting…" she notices.
"Oi, Mila-Rose! They're on the move!"
"I know that, Apacci. Now shut the hell up, otherwise they're gonna hear us!" Mila-Rose replies angrily.
The pair looks down as the Titans and Shinji walk into the warehouse. The girl with the blue cape, Raven as Aizen had told them, stops momentarily. They duck their heads a bit more, hoping she won't spot them. Luckily, Hiyori kicks Shinji in the face and both her and her teammates walk in. "So, those four are the ones that Aizen-sama is planning to use…" a voice pipes up, making both of them jump.
Their last teammate, a female with long olive-green hair stands behind them with her right arm covering her mouth. "Damn it, Sun-sun! You didn't have to do that! They could have seen you!"
"If they weren't in there right now, they would probably be hearing your loud mouth, Apacci," she calmly retorts.
"WHAT WAS THAT?"
"Ladies…" A quiet voice begins, stopping their brewing argument. The three look up to find their master, Tia Halibel, descending. "…Have you found the five we're searching for?"
"They are all in there, Halibel-sama," Sun-sun replies.
"Then we shall return to report to Aizen-sama…" she says, turning around to open up a Garganta. The three follow her into it as it disappears as quickly as it had appeared.
The next day
I sit up and look around at my surroundings. I remember what happened to Beast Boy the night before and I quickly put on my boots and cape. I go over to the bed to the left of me and Lisa isn't there anymore. I hear rustling and I see Robin and Cyborg getting up. "Let's go," Robin orders, as he puts his cape on. The three of us head out to find Lisa waiting outside for us.
She leads the way and we enter the main part. There are 8 others and she turns towards Shinji. "Yo!" Shinji greets, walking over to us.
"Who are they?" the silver-haired man asks.
"They know that girl that we found yesterday. And another of their friends began Hollowfying the night before. Oh right, he's Kensei Muguruma. The green-haired girl's Mashiro Kuna and the one with the glasses is Love Aikawa. The guy with the yellow hair's Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, more known as Rose to us. The big guy's Hachigen Ushōda, but we call him Hachi. The girl that kicked me in the face last night's Hiyori Sarugaki. And she's Lisa Yadōmaru," he introduces, pointing to each of the Vizards.
"What about that guy?" Robin asks, pointing at the one supposedly called Ichigo. He is wearing the same attire as Tōshirō, but without the white coat on him.
"Ichigo Kurosaki! And who the hell are you guys?" he introduces, pointing at us.
"I'm Robin, he's Cyborg, and she's Raven," he explains, gesturing to us.
"Are you guys Shinigami?
"Now that the introductions are out of the way, Hiyori's going to set you up to something so you can start training, Ichigo. Whose turn is it to get lunch today?" he asks, turning to the Vizards.
"It's supposed to be Mashiro and Hachi," Kensei answers. The two leave as Hiyori takes Ichigo off to the top of the warehouse. The rest of them follow as we stand there, confused.
"We'll be watching your friends too. They're up there too and still unconscious. We can keep an eye on both of them and Ichigo," Shinji explains as they push themselves up. Robin pulls out a grappling hook and pulls himself up as I make a disc for Cyborg to have him fly up. When we reach the top, we see Hiyori telling Ichigo to just run on the walker. "They're over there." Shinji points to two beds with Starfire and Beast Boy on them. "We're not restraining them unless they attack us so no need to worry."
With that, he walks over to the couch to keep a close eye on Ichigo along with the rest of the Vizards. The three of us sit down on the chairs in front of their beds as we watch Ichigo begin his training. I hear Tōshirō's voice in my head so I close my eyes. "We have to stay here and set something up. Can you wait for a few more days?"
"That's fine; we found a spot to stay at."
"Alright, I'll let you know when I'm coming…" The conversation ends and I look over to find Ichigo running on something with the Vizards lounging around.
After about 30 minutes of watching Ichigo and looking over Beast Boy and Starfire, I hear Shinji complaining about lunch being late. "Lunch is late, huh?" Shinji begins as Ichigo's panting can be heard in the background. "Hiyori, cook something up for me."
"Yeah, dream on," she scoffs. "Why should I make you anything? Even if I did make something, there's no way I'd give any to you, dumbass."
"Hey Love, have you heard that Prince of Darkness CD that just came out?" Rose asks, changing the subject.
"No, but have you read this week's Shonen Jump? Hysterical!" Love asks, ignoring his question as he laughs.
"How could I? You never let anyone read it but you," he replies.
"Lisa, take proper care of that Shinigami," Kensei instructs, wrapping bandages around his left arm.
"Don't worry, I won't let him out of my sight," she replies, not looking up from the magazine.
"Yeah, but you're not watching him! You're just sitting there looking at swimsuit catalogs!" he retorts.
"Can it, I can see the Shinigami just fine."
"That's not the point. You're on duty today aren't you? You're supposed to be training him!" Kensei argues as Ichigo continues panting.
"Fine, have it your way," she replies reluctantly with a sigh. "1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2…"
"Lunch sure is late," Shinji complains again.
"Stop talking about it! You're only making us more hungry than we already are!" As Lisa continues counting and Love laughing his head off, I notice some veins popping on Ichigo's face and his eye twitching.
"I…can't take it anymore!" he yells, kicking the machine towards Hiyori. She turns away, grabbing Shinji's sleeve with her so he gets the impact of the machine.
She turns around screaming, "WHAT'S THE IDEA? YOU TRY SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, DUMBASS, AND YOU'RE DEAD!"
"I was…I was…just gonna say that to him…" Shinji shakily replies, blood trickling down his forehead.
"I should be saying it to you! You bragged about how you're gonna teach me how to control and suppress the Hollow inside me forever! So why the hell are you idiots making me run all day long on this cheap, home-made, poor excuse for a cross-country machine?" he yells, pointing at the machine. "Wait, scratch that! You're not the idiots…I'M THE IDIOT FOR LISTENING TO YOU!" he continues as the rest of them stop and look at him.
As he and Hiyori continue arguing, the door opens and Mashiro and Hachi comes in. "Lunch is here…" Mashiro announces as she and Hachi bring in the food.
"Ah…sounds good. I'm starved," Love says, turning back towards the two arguing.
"Quit calling me dumbass, snaggletooth! And how the hell can you consider this training?"
"I'll call you dumbass any time I want, dumbass!" she retorts, Shinji still being held by her.
"Should I interrupt them to tell lunch is here? It might get cold," Mashiro asks.
"Nah, don't bother. I'll eat theirs," Love replies as Mashiro hands a bento to him.
"What the hell are they up to?" Robin pipes up, looking at Ichigo and Hiyori.
"Beats me, but we should probably just stay away from them," Cyborg answers. Hiyori then kicks Ichigo in the face, making him land on the floor.
Then she picks up the machine, runs towards him and commands, "OH QUIT COMPLAINING AND KEEP ON RUNNING UNTIL YOU DROP!" She throws the machine at his chin and it flies off somewhere else as he grips his chin in pain. Before they can continue arguing, Shinji steps in and explains that "Hiyori's Super Walker" is the foundation of his training. The rest of the Vizards, Cyborg, and I go to listen to Ichigo as Robin continues watching the two.
"Just teach me how to control my Hollowfication already! I don't have time to waste on this crap, damnit! I CANNOT afford to lose anymore playing around with you Vizards!"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Shinji aggressively yells, causing Ichigo to flinch. The tension increases before Shinji begins talking again. "You don't have time? Well that's really something coming from a guy who doesn't even know how long it takes for the Hōgyoku to awaken…"
"Wait a minute…What did you just say?"
"I said stop blabbing when you don't know anything about the Hōgyoku or anything at all about Hollowfication!"
"What is this? How do you know about…How is it possible you know about the Hōgyoku?" Ichigo asks in shock.
"I know all about it…The Hōgyoku, the Arrancars, even Sōsuke Aizen…I've known all about them for many, many years…Heh…" Shinji replies. He suddenly leaps down in front of Ichigo and puts his hand in front of Ichigo's face. "Don't worry; I'll give you all the details another day…I thought it would be a good idea to take some time at the beginning. So you can get used to us…but…now that I think about it, you can already turn into a Shinigami. You can use your Shikai…and…you have…a Bankai…"
"You know all about that too?" Ichigo asks, shocked.
"But I can see it would be better if we jumped right into teaching you how to control your Hollow…Just like you originally asked us to…are you ready, Ichigo?" he asks as some white energy begins forming at his hand. "I hope you don't…regret this…" A bright light spreads throughout the warehouse and when we open our eyes, we notice Ichigo on Love's shoulder with dull eyes. Shinji closes his eyes and turns towards Hachi, "Hachi, give us a two-layered fault force field."
"Alright then…" he replies, clapping his hands together. I see an orange force field spread around the warehouse as a part of the floor opens up and they all walk down the steps.
"You guys can go with us if you want, but we'll have to bring those two with us…"
"I'll stay here," Robin says, looking down to them. Shinji nods and Cyborg and I follow them down the stairs.
Behind Robin, Starfire's hand twitches slightly under the blankets as Beast Boy's eyes blink open momentarily before closing them again…
**Hueco Mundo**
Las Noches
"I see…" Aizen replies as Halibel and her Fracción stand at the bottom of his throne. "We shall wait a few more days before sending some Espada to test their skills…Thank you Halibel…you may leave now."
"Yes…Aizen-sama…" Halibel bows and turns around with her Fracción following behind her.
"Don't tell me WE'RE going to be the ones sent again," Apacci complains.
"He said Espada, weren't you listening? That means he'll send just Espada, no Fracción like us," Mila-Rose corrects.
"Of course I was listening! But if he chooses Halibel-sama, that means we have to go because we're her Fracción!"
"Stop quarreling. We are serving under Halibel-sama, meaning that we will go with her if Aizen-sama ordered her to," Sun-sun interrupts.
"Tch, you know as much as I do that since she's the…" Apacci runs into Mila-Rose. "What the hell, Mila-Rose?" Apacci looks in front of her and sees Nnoitra and his only Fracción, Tesla blocking Halibel's path.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Volunteering to scout ahead! Hah! You witch; I bet you're just sucking up to Aizen. Who the hell do you think you are?" Nnoitra insults, looking down at Halibel.
Halibel looks straight ahead, calmly without replying. She gestures to the three girls, telling them to leave. They leave reluctantly and Apacci turns back around, seeing Halibel's calming gaze on the trio.
They arrive at their room and Apacci hesitantly sits down on her bed. "This always happens! Aizen tells Halibel-sama to do something related to the Shinigami and then that bastard Nnoitra starts criticizing her about it! Damnit, we should go and stop him!"
"You know as well as I do that we can't handle an Espada. Halibel-sama's stronger than Nnoitra so she'll be fine," Mila-Rose replies.
"Tch…" Apacci mutters, looking away. She walks over to the window and looks out to the dark skies of Hueco Mundo. "…Is she going to fight him?"She wonders as she closes her eyes.
Abandoned Warehouse: Training Room
"Where are we?" Cyborg asks looking around. Love puts Ichigo down next to his sword.
"We're in a training area. This is where we train and this is where your friends and Ichigo are going to defeat their Inner Hollows…" Shinji pauses and turns towards Hachi. "Hey, Hachi…Throw up a force field here too."
"Whaat?" Hachi asks.
"Don't 'Whaat' me. You're standing there with your mouth open looking like you're trying to catch flies. Just do it ok? And seal off Ichigo's body as well…"
Hachi stands there shocked before saying, "As you wish." He claps his hands together and begins saying an incantation, "Wall of iron sand, tower formed from hate, forge molten iron and neatly finish in silence. Bakudo #75, Gochūtekkan!" Five pillars descend from above and land on Ichigo's body. They wait for a few minutes before Ichigo starts twitching and the atmosphere around him begins to shake.
"Here it comes…" Shinji announces as Ichigo's body continues convulsing.
He lifts his head up as the pillars collide with each other. Lisa stands up with her sword and heads to the force field as Ichigo stands up, making the pillars collapse.
"Hachigen, open it up please. I'm the one on duty today so I'll be going first," she requests. Hachi makes a movement with his hand and a small arch opens for her to walk into.
"Let's try not to kill him, Lisa," Shinji reminds her as she steps in.
"Yeah, if he doesn't kill me first," she replies. Ichigo grabs his sword as Lisa unsheathes hers. "My name is Lisa Yadōmaru…Nice to meet you!" Ichigo lunges towards her and the swords clash, beginning Ichigo's official training.
May: At least you get to improve your artwork…
Lefty: Art…Art…Art…first period…first thing in the morning…WHY ART?
May: …Let me guess you can't draw to save your life…But you've done some sketches before, haven't you?
Lefty: *looks at sketches* …I definitely need Art to help me…
May: Exactly, maybe then you can post pictures of the Titans with their Vizard Masks on Deviant Art. Just a suggestion of course.
Lefty: Maybe I should…At least I didn't have to dance or anything for my ID card.
May: Unlike some people…And yes readers, the people working some stations will make you do embarrassing stuff.
Lefty: Anyways, review please! And if you have suggestions let me know! Plus, the easiest POV for me is Raven because I am 95% like her. I cannot do the others for the life of me. I could try Lady Halibel and I am NOT doing it from Ichigo's POV. Starfire's is VERY difficult, I can't even get the way she talks right…And my beta reader (my friend) and I will be busy because school is starting. But I will work on it as best as I can. Hoo...rah!
May: …Too much Biology with Alcaraz…Waaaayy too much Biology with him…*ahem* Any questions or suggestions?