Had to split this chapter in two. Sorry about that. Hope you all enjoy the quick update!
Mailbox Time!
Rogue444: Heh, yep. Whoever said action isn't better with humor was a damn liar. I like to stick some humor in every once in a while.
Dark Azarathian: Yep, my dear friend Foamy gave me that idea. I love his crazy brain sometimes. Yes, someday those will fall... and be replaced by new ones... and more new ones... hell, I might make the Epilogue a cliffhanger in and of itself ^_^.
Golem XIV: I looked out the window and, what did I see. Cliffhangers blooming on the apricot tree! LOL, have some more Star Wars references friend!
bearhow: (chanting) later, later, later, later.
LostDemonessRaven: I really hope this was what you wanted to happen next. I'm hustling to finish this. As to the troublemaker part, I get that a lot :).
Foamsatmouth: Ah, yes you told me so Frankie. Yes you did. Hope you like the other references in this!
Since Last Time: 1 more favorite, 1 more follow (Total: 95 favorites, 106 follows)
Updated: January 13, 2017 10:11 P.M.
Disclaimer: I'm the owner of epic cliffhangers! But I'm not the owner of the Teen Titans... dudes, I think I got ripped off.
Chapter Twenty-One: Getting Desperate
Krchhhhhhh!...
The stairwell groaned as it fell floor by floor.
Goons screamed in fear as some ran up or down falling stairs to find exits. Wide open doots. Ventilation shafts. Etc. If only to escape the falling death trap.
Some made it… and some didn't make it.
Those that didn't make it had terribly gruesome deaths… be it being crushed under the weight of tons of metal or steel… or those whose bodies had been halfway through the doors or vents as the stairs came down on them...
…
Let's just move on to the heroes before we all get sick. Shall we?
…
Despite the collapsing stairs, Robin kept on running up them four at a time in the desperate hope of reaching the top. It didn't matter that the stairs were falling now. The stairwell went all the way to the top of the skyscraper. He just had to be faster than the falling stairs to get to the thirtieth floor.
To get to Starfire.
Several more flights of falling stairs he went up. Each time he looked through the gathering dust at the wall to check his progress.
20.
20.
20.
Robin growled and tried to put in more effort. He couldn't stay on the same floor.
21.
21.
22.
There was the progress he was looking for. 'Only eight more floors, hang in there Star.'
23.
23.
24.
Boom! Kcccckkkkkk! Blam!
Robin pounded harder, a ringing sound was filling his ears from the loud sounds of the stairway gathering at the bottom. His ears were hurting from the loud noises, but he just had to keep on running… even though dust was starting to gather in his throat.
25.
26.
He was able to look and up see the floor now… he just had to keep on pushing, and then... wait, he was able to see the floor he needed to get to?
Then he found his foot hitting nothing but air, and he looked down in shock. The last stairway was falling down below his form now. Gathering speed as it traveled towards the bottom with the rest.
A loud ringing in his ears kept Robin from hearing when he pulled his grappling hook out of his belt and fired it. Whether by pure talent, or plain dumb luck, it caught on to a piece of jutting steel pipe about fifty feet up above. His downward descent stopped sharply, and his momentum made him hit the wall...
Bam!
Hard.
Robin groaned in slight pain, but managed to keep his grip. When he recovered enough, he looked around himself through the rising dust for an open door… but he couldn't find one in the dark shaft filled with dust… his ears were still ringing as he hazily looked around himself.
"Titans! Status!" He tried to yell. He barely heard his own voice. He was so tired…
He got no response.
Robin coughed up more dust. "Titans! Titans!..." Robin tried yelling again.
Boom!
Robin's ears barely caught the final clattering boom as the last level of the staircase hit the bottom on top of the others ten floors below. He looked down, trying to see if he could find anything. All he saw was an endless darkness.
"Guys?... Cyborg?... Wally?… Jinx?... Bumblebee?" He called out in a ragged voice.
Urrrrrkkkkkkk!...
The ringing in his ears decreased slightly. Yet all he heard was the loud sounds of the settling of many tons of metal and stone down below. Along with the shouts of many men calling for their comrades or friends. He didn't hear any of his friends.
Robin hung his head. "Bruce?..." He called out weakly.
He didn't get a response.
Robin looked up again, where the dust and the darkness blended together into a perfect canopy of unseeable black. He looked to the side, where a large 23 was painted onto the wall. Mocking him with its numbers. He was so close, and yet so far at the same time.
Robin coughed a little more. He felt all the adrenaline leaving him. His energy deserting him.
He had led his teammates into a trap. He had let them fall to their deaths below him while he had tried to get to the Joker. To his dying love only a couple hundred feet away… and now he was hanging, on the last shreds of his energy, suspended over a drop sure to kill him. With no visuals in the darkness at all.
Again, the visions filled his mind… but more realistic than ever before.
"No, please, I'll do anything! Just don't hurt her!" Robin shouted at the villain on the screen.
The evil man laughed. "All I asked of you is to never smile again. And what better way to do that than to take the ones you love away." The Joker cackled, as he cocked his gun.
The redhead onscreen looked up into the camera, her wide green eyes focused on it. On him. "Richard. Please save me." Starfire begged.
Robin choked up. "No… I don't know where you are… I can't get to you..."
Starfire sniffed. "I thought you loved me Richard? I thought I loved you." She said tearfully.
Robin was speechless.
The Joker laughed, and pressed the gun to her back. "Checkmate little birdie. Better luck next time!" He cackled evilly.
Bang!
A tear fell from under Robin's mask, and he felt his grip weakening. The edges of his vision were getting murky.
"Oh Kori… I'm so, so sorry." He whispered to the dusty air around him.
Robin blacked out… his grip slackened…
Then he started to fall.
In the Tower
The last goon fell to the floor, a knife wound clear across his chest to his neck. His brown dead eyes were staring lifelessly up at the person who had just ended it.
Frankie cleaned the knife off with some random dead goon's long black hair, then put it back in his belt. He gave it a loving pat. Behind him, the groaning of those that were still alive, but too hurt to fight anymore were heard like the moans of zombies in the Walking Dead.
"Now that is what I call an invigorating life or death situation! Woo, we actually survived!" He yelled happily.
Al came up beside him, his left arm a little limp, and his eyes still mad as hell. Though his face was humbled. "I can't believe I actually fell for that dumb joke of yours." He mumbled to himself.
Frankie looked back and whistled at the trail of bodies. "Well you just can't argue with the results partner. I mean, you bashed a freaking grunts head in with that thing! I've never seen so many people look so scared of your laser cannon before!" Frankie said before laughing to himself.
'I don't think they were scared of me though… wasn't there someone else who had been helping us… I mean since some of those goons are still alive and all?' Al thought to himself.
Al shrugged to himself, while using his good arm to holster his cannon on his back. "I guess blind rage does that to some people… just don't ever tell that joke to me again, or I'll be bashing your head in next time." Al said threateningly while glaring at Frankie.
Frankie raised his hands in self defense. "Alright, I'll restrain myself next time partner. Geeze, sometimes you act like a kid, and then you're a ****ing killjoy." He said.
Al rolled his eyes, but he was smirking. "Yeah, I have a pretty sophisticated personality partner. Besides, I'd hate it if I accidentally bashed your face in anyways. Then how would you ever get all your ladies?" He said in a joking voice.
"Oh, I bet I could still bang your sister if I was ugly as hell." Frankie murmured.
"What did you say Frankie?"
"Oh, nothing partner. You'll figure it out in another… two or so months." Frankie said with a wide grin on his face.
Al groaned to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dude, sometimes, I just can't tell if you're being an idiot… or if you're actually trying to piss me off."
Frankie grinned a little wider. "Would I ever try and piss you off on purpose partner?"
"That one contract in North Korea. I was almost detained because of that lie you told me about you pissing in my drink." Al said offhandedly.
Frankie rolled his eyes. "I wasn't lying then. Some important official went in your cup to get a reaction out of you so they had an excuse to arrest ya… so in reality I told the truth… from a certain point of view."
"Sure, whatever you say Obi-Wan." Al said sarcastically.
"The force will be with you, always." Frankie said in a joking voice back.
Al groaned to himself, took a brief second to wonder why he wasn't making the jokes this time, then looked around them again. They were standing in the middle of the intersection again.
A fact came back to his mind all of a sudden.
"Wait, Frankie. Earlier, before I got grazed, I saw those goons split up at this intersection." Al pointed out.
"Hmmm…" Frankie looked back at the trail of bodies. "That explains why there was less of them to kill than I remember." Frankie said.
Al looked down both ways, his eyebrows furrowed on his face. "This can't be good. They might not know the layout of this Tower, but with how many of them there are… if they keep on splitting at each intersection they come across... it won't take them very long to find the Infirmary… and..." Al trailed off.
Frankie's eyes finally lit with anger, his joking side gone. "You know what partner. I'm okay with killing most people. Some corrupt officials pissing in our drinks. A couple idiots driving on the road. A gang here and there. Hell, I'm even fine with the President himself if we get the chance. But a lady in labor, even a superpowered one who tried to kill me before, is not on my list of okay kills." He said venomously.
Al nodded, then looked down both ways again. "Yeah. Question is though, should we fall back to the Infirmary to warn them and risk being mistaken as enemies… or split up and chase them down?…"
Boom… boom… awhooooo...
The two heard faint explosions coming from the left. Along with and loud howl like sound that made the hairs on their necks stand on edge.
"Holy hell, is that-" Al said shocked.
...
"Looks to me that one group might be in trouble." Frankie said while grinning.
Al smirked slightly as well in response. "Alright, I guess that helps our options. We'll leave that side alone since they're screwed, and ambush all those we can find on the right. We can't let them reach the Infirmary no matter what."
"What about your cannon power though?" Frankie asked.
"Don't worry, if I run out of juice…" Al picked up two of the red plasma rifles off the ground, "... these might work just as well as my lasers on their armor. Hell, I might just aim at their ugly faces to see just how well this does on their skin." Al said with an evil smile on his face.
Frankie nodded to Al, approval in his eyes. "Okay partner. Just don't get yourself killed." He smirked. "I'd hate for my kid to lose his uncle before he/she was born." Frankie said lightly.
Al just stared coldly back at him. "That ****ing joke's getting old Frankie. Now let's go kill some of Mr. J.'s men." He said icily, before he turned around and ran back up the hallway to use a different path to cut off the other group.
"Who says I was joking this time?" Frankie murmured to himself, before he ran down the intersection after the other group. He had six knives prepped to throw in his hands.
They thought they had taken account of everything. Minus the fact that they had had help when they were fighting the goons. Something only Al had briefly thought about, but had disregarded.
What the two ex-villains had failed to see though, was the shadow that had stayed hidden behind a piece of debris farther back behind the intersection. Waiting for the dynamic duo to separate and go after his men. The big green scary thing he had seen chase after his men earlier was of no concern to him. Even though it was off beating up his men one by one as he stood there.
He didn't care. What were the lives of a few when it meant that the target was only protected by a crippled girl. A target worth a very large sum of money... enough to set himself up for this life and the next.
The dark figure let out an evil chuckle. "Oh it would be all too easy… but there's one loose end I want to take care of first." The evil figure said, before he slinked down the corridor after the running Frankie.
"Watch out Foamy, cuz Alex is coming for ya head."
Infirmary
Raven was gripping the bars on the side of her hospital bed. Screaming in absolute agony as she felt a pain far more severe than any villain's blow rippled through her midsection. It was too painful to even try to describe what she was feeling. Becoming the portal had felt like a piece of cake compared to this.
Barbara was in front of Raven again, trying to figure out the problem. Yet so far, she was having no luck. There wasn't any extra blood leaking out, there wasn't any signs of infection, there was no visible problem that she could see. It was astounding how seemingly nothing was hurting the pale skinned girl.
Barbara had thought of putting more pain meds in her, but feared with all her lashing around in the restraints, that she might end up doing more damage to a problem she didn't know about.
"Raven!" Barbara shouted to get the half demoness's attention.
Raven continued to scream in agony.
Barbara groaned, and kept on searching for what the problem could be. She flipped to the section of the book Cyborg told her to consult if there was any difficulty with the labor.
Nothing. Absolute jack matched up with what Raven was doing.
Barbara felt a little fear enter her system. Raven hadn't really shown any problems so far with her pregnancy, despite being half demon. Could this have been one of them though?
"Raven, please! I need you to concentrate on my voice!" Barbara shouted as loud as she could to be heard.
Raven gripped more tightly to the bars on the sides, leaving her already white knuckles looking like drisps of smoke. She seemed to grab a little more self control with her screaming though, and managed to turn it into pain filled gasps of air. Her arms shook from all the pain.
Barbara gave a sigh of relief. "There, now do you think you can speak?" Barbara asked.
Raven shook her head, her eyes tightened in more pain.
"Alright… so I guess you can't tell me the problem?" She asked.
Raven gave her best attempt at a blank look, despite the pain.
"How about I try to guess then, is it the baby causing the pain?"
Raven shook her head.
"Um, then is it the position you're in? Is it putting you through any pain?"
Raven rolled her eyes. Of course the position hurt, but not as much as the thing actually hurting her.
"I'm going to need a little help here." Barbara said with a groan.
Raven had to fight through a fresh bout of pain, but then she gestured at her front with her eyes. Barbara looked to it, then back to her face. She shrugged her shoulders, not getting it.
Raven groaned even more loudly through the pain, then let go of the bar briefly to make a widening motion with her fingers. Then snapped them back onto the sides. A fresh wave of tears and sweat dripped down her face as her body tensed again.
Barbara seemed to realize something then. "Wait, your contractions are coming more often… but that's impossible, you still have hours left till you're fully ready…" Then Barbara's face blanched, how long had it been since she checked. Thirty minutes? A good fifteen minutes since she had started screaming. But she had only been at five centimeters, it didn't seem possible.
When she checked though, her heart almost stopped in disbelief. "Nine and a half centimeters." She gasped out. Then looked up to Raven. She nodded her head through the pain.
It finally clicked.
"Your body is speeding up your labor… it's putting you through hours of pain in minutes..." Barbara said in disbelief.
A realization hit her mind. The baby wasn't coming in the early morning like she had thought… it was coming, probably within minutes...
"Oh god, I'm about to deliver a baby! Oh god oh god oh my freaking god! I thought Cyborg would be back here for that! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Barbara screamed in sudden fear.
Raven let out another fresh scream of pain in response. Though there was also a tinge of relief in her tone at getting Barbara to finally partially understand. What she had wanted to say was that because of the incoming danger, her demonic aspect was speeding up the birthing process so she could help fight off whoever was coming their way, but this would have to do.
She was just in too much pain to care about getting a full message across.
Raven screamed once more as another ripple of pain went across her midsection.
Another part of the Tower
The last goon of the small group hit the side of a wall, and then slid down to the bottom with a groan. His arms were both broken, along with one of his legs. He was still alive though, just unable to fight for a long while.
A hulking shadow in the darkness of the hallway lumbered up to the prone man, and a large massive head with a mane of flowing hair on the top of it sniffed the goons head. It's senses caught all the pain the unconscious goon was feeling, and then it stood back up to its full ten foot height. The two leg would not try to harm his mate again.
The Beast looked around the hallway, taking in a large sniff as it did so. It could smell the Mad One on the metal skin of these weak pathetic two legs. Along with the scent of much fear and pain. There was no smell of death around him though despite the carnage he had inflicted.
This was good, he had taken the appropriate lengths to protect his mate and make sure these desecrators never tried to harm her or their cub again. Without doing something his master would have regretted. Killing another two leg being at the top of that list.
The Beast took in a deeper sniff, trying to find more of these two legs in the area around him. There was only the smell of more pain and fear in the man carved caves around him. He had taken care of everyone who had come this way.
The Beast looked back over his head at another sound. The faint cries of his mate in the cave of healing. The Beast let out a small whimper at how loud her cries for him were. He wanted to be there for mate, but there was still many two legs who wanted to hurt her.
He knew this hadn't been the only pack he had to disable. There was still the largest one yet that meant her harm on the other side of the man caves. With its alpha at the head of it. He had to deal with them first, and then he could go and comfort his mate as she brought their cub into the world.
Awhoooooo!
The Beast howled in the darkness of the hallway before he took off running into the darkness.
Skyscraper
"Do you think he'll be okay now?"
"I'm not sure Sparky. You did the best you could though."
"That idiot boy, why did he run up those stairs when he knew how dangerous it was. I thought I trained him to know better."
"Says the guy who ran up after him to try and stop him in the middle of that falling mess."
"At least I was trying to save him."
"Wait, I think he's waking up guys."
Robin let out a groan as he finally opened his masked eyes. He first saw his cybernetic teammate, crouching in front of him. Then he saw Bumblebee and Batman were above him. He didn't see Kid Flash and Jinx though… his eyes widened in sudden fear.
"Don't worry man. Kid and Jinx are okay. They're just trying to find another way up while we made sure you're okay." Cyborg said,
Robin groaned in pain, but felt slightly relieved that his team was alright. Then he let out a cough.
"W-Wh-What happened?" He finally asked.
"The Joker blew the stairway, thinking he could take us all down with it." Bumblebee answered.
"All he succeeded in doing though, was killing his own men." Batman said darkly.
"Yeah, and we thought you had went with them for a moment. Till you fell on Bumblebee while she was searching for ya." Cyborg said in a lighthearted tone.
Robin let out a groan. "Why don't we use the shaft to get up?" He asked irritably.
"The dust in there is starting to clear. So the goons that survived are standing at the doorways. Ready to fire at anyone that tries to fly or grapple up." Bumblebee explained.
Robin gripped his side, then tried to get up.
"Whoa, Rob. You need to stay down." Cyborg suddenly said to him.
"Can't. I need to rescue Starfire. I need to find - ow!" Robin said as he felt pain lance up his left arm. He fell back onto the ground again, gripping it near the top of the bicep.
Cyborg shook his head sadly. "You dislocated your shoulder man. I had to put it back in place. Not sure what caused it, but I'm sorry. You can't risk going into another fight with that." Cyborg said sadly to him.
Robin tried to get up again, but more pain came with it. He still tried though. "I can't stay back Cyborg. Not when Starfire is so close, and could be dying as we speak." Robin said through gritted teeth.
"I know man, we're trying. Kid Flash and Jinx are trying to find another way up to her. But you aren't in fit enough shape to-" Cyborg was saying.
"To hell I'm not!" Robin yelled angrily, as he finally got on his feet. The others moved back to give him space. "I didn't come this far just to get stopped by a dislocated shoulder! I did not just risk my life actually trying to reach Starfire just to find out it was all in vain! I-"
Robin suddenly collapsed on the ground, feeling a spike of pain lance up his legs. Now that he thought about it, almost everything hurt. He had to hold back tears from his eyes at the amount of pain.
"Richard." A dark metal hand gripped Robin's shoulder. "There are times to be a hero, and then there are times to be smart... This is one of those times. I'm sorry to be blunt, but you aren't in good enough state to keep fighting. If we get in another fight, then you are a liability." Batman said in his deep monotonous voice to him.
Robin coughed some more, but then started to get up again. "I don't care." He grunted out.
"Richard." Batman said.
Robin got up and glared up at his mentor. "Don't think that will work Bruce. I'm going till the end, whether you like it or not." Robin said in a pained, yet determined voice.
Batman merely stared down at his protege from behind his cowl. "Even though it risks the mission?" Batman questioned.
Robin nodded his head. "I just can't stay and do nothing Bruce. Not when it means that every second that passes brings Star that much closer to death… I can't let the last thing I see be her dead eyes looking at me, her hand outstretched for help that I couldn't give…" Robin broke down at the end. The weight of all the possible visions filled his mind. "... just please… I can't let her die. It would be worse for me than when we lost Jason, or when Barbara was hurt… I just… I'd rather die than do nothing and watch as she died in some video." Robin wrapped up his small speech, tears falling from his eyes.
For a second, there was silence.
Then, Robin felt Batman embracing him, in a comforting hug. Robin immediately squeezed back, tears falling from his masked eyes.
"Alright… even though it goes against what my brain is telling me Richard. I won't stop you." Batman said.
Then Robin felt something prick his skin, and a dash of fear went through his face. "That doesn't mean, however, that I won't help you either." Batman said lowly.
Had it been a trick? Had this been Bruce's way of making him stay? By giving him a sedative, or a hallucogen, or...
Robin felt the pain start to recede, at an almost unbelievable rate. Then his eyes widened, as if he had suddenly chugged down ten coffees in one go. While eating the world's biggest ball of cotton candy ever. His veins buzzed with an energy he didn't even know he had.
Batman let go and stepped back, an empty syringe in his hands. A blank look was on his face. Cyborg and Bumblebee were staring in shock.
"But… but... how…" Robin trailed off.
"I just gave you a dose of instant painkillers and an adrenaline boost. It lasts for thirty minutes from my experience, but let's you work through the harshest of conditions. It's something Alfred always packs for me in case I ever got in any major trouble. The problem is it gives you a major crash by the time it wears off." Batman briefly explained, before he threw the syringe away. "Now, since we have that done with, I do believe you have some leading to do, Robin." Batman finished in his flat tone.
Before Robin could speak, Kid Flash suddenly appeared with Jinx. "We found a ventilation shaft that we could use to get up! It looks like our best bet! There's several more of those goons between here and there though. Should we use it?" Kid Flash asked quickly.
Robin looked to Batman again, but he shook his head. Robin instantly got his meaning. This was his show now, and he was going to go through with it.
Robin turned to Kd Flash, his face set in stone. "Lead the way." He ordered.
Kid Flash saluted. He smiled widely at seeing Robin okay. "Alright!" He said excitedly.
Jinx smirked. "Any more orders for us bird boy?" She asked teasingly.
Robin nodded his head, and pointed down the hallway.
"Just one… Titans, Go!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Joker stood above his dead underling, surrounded by screens of broken glass. He was unloading the rest of his gun into the guy.
"They escaped the staircase of death! How could you let that happen Will!? That was my one last chance of delaying them! Idiots! The lot of you!" The Joker shouted madly at the dead guy below whilst he continued to shoot him in his rage.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The other guy in the room was cowering in a corner. He had arrived to let the Joker know the news he had to deliver. He had hoped his employer would be in a good mood…
Now the man knew if he delivered the news now, he was a dead man.
The guy saw the Joker finish unloading his clip into the man, whilst screaming. He started to tiptoe over to the exit, in the hope that Mr. J. wouldn't notice him.
The Joker suddenly grabbed him from behind and lifted him into the air. "And you! What did you have to tell me!? It better be good news!" The Joker yelled insanely, spit flying from his mouth.
The guy whimpered in his boss's hold. Why did he ever decide to sign up with the Joker? Why didn't he decide to just join some other random gang? Or work in a fast food restaurant? Anything but being faced with this scenario.
The man gulped. "T-The JCPD is outside the b-b-building b-b-boss. Th-They have the g-g-garage cut off… and the s-s-s-sewers a-a-are… please don't kill me!" He shouted in fear at the look that crossed his boss's face.
The Joker brought the man closer.
"Don't worry, I won't kill ya." He whispered to him.
The man visibly softened in his employer's grip… until the Joker walked over to the hallway, and then opened the door to the stairway. Which was now a gaping pit of darkness.
"I'll let mother nature do that for me." The Joker said evilly.
He threw the man into the darkness.
"AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH…"
SPLAT!
The scream abruptly cut off.
The Joker looked behind him, and saw four goons standing in shock. "Get back to work! Or do you want to join him!" He shouted at them.
The goons scrambled away faster than a crowd fleeing from mindless zombies. Whimpers of fear coming from them as they fled.
The Joker stood in his spot for a moment more, than walked back into the room he had been in before. He walked up to the glass and stared into it. Seeing the alien girl that was beating on the walls, though more weakly than before. Even her smile was waning a little bit, along with the light in her eyes.
"Your precious bird has ruined my happiness too many times my dear. I was going to spare him after this was over. It was the least I could do for him for taking away my precious dear Harley from me… but now he's gone too far. He has made even this grand moment here spoiled for us. For that, he must pay the ultimate price.
The Joker walked over to his desk, where he had a set of controls for the building at. He had one button on it labeled Warning, do not press, with a glass box over it. His goons had placed it there for some reason. As if they had been afraid the boss would ever press it…
The Joker lifted the box up, and pounded the button into the socket. His head reared back and he laughed. "You might think you've won this dear boy, but by the end of tonight, none of you will be alive! You hear me! NONE OF YA!" He cackled insanely. Before he fell to the floor and laughed, and laughed, and laughed some more.
All the while, green gas came out of the vents in his room, and every other room and hallway in the skyscraper.
Author's Notes:
Well, this came out earlier than I thought, mostly because I had to split this chapter in two. So still two chapters.
No time to talk. Gotta keep on writing. Let me know what you all think!
Till Next Time
Allen