Author's Note: A few things to declare before starting off the chapter:
• In response to SparkyBoi's comment, Mondo can't use Crazy Diamond to alleviate the poison, since it can only restore things to how they previously were, not heal people from poison. That should already be explained back in Makoto's fight against the enemy stand. Also, the poison inside the collars act fast and painfully, much faster than the poison Celeste ingested. Sakura's Hamon isn't quick enough to completely banish the substance before it can kill someone.
• If anyone is confused as to how Mukuro could free herself of the collar without releasing the poison, she simply rewinded time back to where she didn't have the collar on. Unfortunately, none of the other students were near enough for her to use the same trick on them.
• I've decided to take another one of V's suggestions and rename Toko's stand into Fu Manchu. I hope that you don't mind me using it, and thanks for another idea once more!
• This should already be apparent, but non-stand users can see stands thanks to Celeste's ACT 2, regardless of where the stand and Celeste are. Such effect expires when Celeste loses either her consciousness or her life.
Enjoy the story!
The surrounded students could not help but gather together at the back of the gymnasium.
"W-well, what do we do now!?", asked Toko.
"If we keep going like this, then we'll have no choice but to fight back!", responded Mondo, summoning his stand above him.
"Is there even a point in fighting?" asked Hifumi to himself, standing behind Sakura. "One of us will die by tonight, anyway..."
"We have to focus on the present first", responded Kyoko, straightening her gloves. "We can worry about what happens next later. Our first priority is protecting ourselves from the robots."
"No murders are to be allowed while in punishment! Whoever kills during this time is to be terminated immediately!", said Monokuma in the intercom. "And don't even think about staying in the gym, either! I don't plan on giving you guys the hope of being huddled together, after all!"
Suddenly, a hole opened up below the students, dropping them on different sections of the school through a series of tubes.
A few seconds after, the students were left on different floors, forced to either fight or flee for themselves...
Second Floor, at the library...
"Geez, that was a fall", said Aoi while rubbing her head. Celeste slowly stood up herself, accompanied by Taka. "Although, since we were in the gym earlier, doesn't that mean that we've gone up a floor?"
"The tubes we were in earlier had strong air currents, probably strong enough to lift us up a floor", Celeste deduced, her hand in her chin in a thinking pose.
"Then if the air was already strong enough for us, then what about the other students on the floors above us?", asked Taka, dusting himself off.
The library's entrance then exploded, a mechanical dichromatic bull of brown and white on the other side.
"We'll have to find out later", responded the gambler, her stand appearing beside her.
Third floor, at the physics lab...
"Hrrgh...", groaned Makoto to himself, holding his head as he stood up. He then raised his head to study the room surrounding him, coming across a purifier of some sort.
"...Is that an air purifier?", asked the luckster.
"Seems so", responded Yasuhiro anxiously, standing up slowly. "What floor are we in, anyway?"
"Since we don't know what this room is, we're probably in a new floor", deduced Kyoko, walking into the room (and scaring Yasuhiro). "Also, Monokuma has closed off all the stairs leading into the other floors, probably until a student dies."
"So we're closed off here until then", added Makoto worriedly, Yasuhiro beside him having the same bewildered expression.
"Also, I should add that several Proto-Monobeasts are headed our way", stated the detective. "So we should be ready for them, as well."
"As if we weren't already screwed enough!", complained the clairvoyant, crying into Makoto's shoulder.
Suddenly, a mechanical elephant of white and purple lunged at Kyoko, the detective barely dodging it to the side. The entire entrance was destroyed, leaving exposed the elephant plus several other beasts waiting for them.
"We should deal with them somewhere else!", said Makoto, dragging the clairvoyant with him. "We can't let them destroy the air purifier!"
Fourth floor, at the music room...
"...What was that?", groaned Chihiro silently to himself, several bruises spread throughout his body.
"Chihiro, you're okay??", ran Mondo into the room, Hifumi nervously behind him.
"I'm fine, just a little bruised", responded Chihiro, being healed by the gangster's stand. "It's probably the air pressure from the tubes that wounded us like this."
"Seems so", said Mondo, having the same type of bruises the programmer had. "Although, I can't heal myself with Crazy Diamond, so I should be the only one left here with a bruise of some sort."
"How is everyone doing?", walked into the room Sakura, a few cuts and scratches already present.
"Sakura!", Chihiro said worriedly. "What happened to you?"
"Several beasts are already on their way to kill us, so I had to deal with some of them", responded the martial artist, Crazy Diamond restoring her wounds. "There are still more onto us, though, so we have to be ready to fight back."
Chihiro could only nod nervously, while Hifumi was whimpering to himself.
"But do not summon your stand", warned Mondo at the programmer. "You still don't know how to control it, so you should leave the fighting to us, ok?"
"...Okay", responded Chihiro dishearteningly.
And thus, Mondo and Sakura braced themselves for the onslaught, a pack full of Proto-Monobeats led by a mechanical jaguar with flamethrowers charging at them.
Fifth floor, at the greenhouse...
"Wake up."
Toko was woken up out of her sleeping by a stern voice, looking around to see Byakuya looking at her with arms crossed.
"M-master, you were worried about me?", asked the writer while blushing profusely.
"No, I wasn't", the progeny coldly responded. "We are under the attack of several beasts. I need you to defend me with your stand."
"O-of course, master", Toko drooled.
"I already told you to not call me that."
Toko then noticed that she was bruised seriously, looking up to see that Byakuya was in the same condition. In fact, even the left side of the progeny's glasses had a small crack.
"M-master, are you okay?", asked the writer worriedly, ignoring even her own injuries. "I-I'm sorry for not noticing that you were injured earlier!"
"I'm fine", Byakuya flatly responded, turning to face the entrance. Mukuro was dodging several beasts effortlessly by the greenhouse's entryway, the entrance exploding to give way to more enraged beasts.
The soldier kept throwing knives into the beasts' foreheads and necks, severely destroying them in one hit. The soldier then retreated said knives while continuing to dodge the robots.
Suddenly, the another Proto-Monobeast erupted out of the greenhouse's ceiling, lunging straight towards Byakuya and Toko.
"Fu Manchu!"
Suddenly, the writer's apparition materialized in-front of her, one of its crystallized tentacles stretched out to deflect the beast backwards.
Mukuro was momentarily surprised for a moment to see another stand, until a serpentine Proto-Monobeast rammed into her, sending the mercenary flying into Byakuya.
Standing up to continue fighting, the soldier asked, "Whose stand is that?"
"Why should we tell you?", retorted Byakuya, dusting himself off. "You too had secrets that you kept from us, most notably about working with the mastermind."
"I'm not working for her anymore", the soldier said, throwing another combat knife at a Proto-Monobeast and destroying it. "I'll even tell you all I know."
"...Seems fair enough", simply responded Byakuya, looking at the soldier once more. The once energetic girl was now serious and monotone, the progeny noted. Byakuya knew that there was more to her to know about.
Back at the library...
"You two, stay back!", Celeste shouted, both Aoi and Taka following her orders. The gambler already had her stand's second act active, meaning that both the prefect and the swimmer could see it.
"Mimimimimimimimimimi!"
As soon as the stand was finished with another barrage, the gambler dodged a hit from a mechanical scorpion of crimson and white.
Shit, there's too many to handle, noted Celeste to herself. The gothic lolita was pulled out of her musings, dodging yet another attack from a crocodile monobeast. She still managed to get hit by the scorpion's stinger, the beast scraping her left arm.
"Celeste!", Aoi called out.
"Fucking pieces of shit", the gambler muttered to herself, trying to ignore the searing pain as she continued to dodge. Cloakie was taking a few monobeasts down, but more always appeared behind. Soon enough, all three individuals were cornered into the far back of the library.
Back at the third floor, outside the Physics Lab...
After a few seconds of dodging several monobeasts (and Yasuhiro crying), all three participants were already running into the hallway, the beasts continuing to follow them.
Turning back to face the monobeasts, Makoto steadied his breathing, yellow sparks forming around him.
"Sunlight Yellow Direct Earthquake!"
He then punched the ground, yellow streaks of Hamon colliding with the beasts and destroying them.
All right!, thought Makoto to himself. The Hamon training I've taken has paid off immensely! I still have more energy to spare even after that attack!
He was then pulled out of his little celebration when another beast leaped towards him, this one being a spiked toad.
"What the-!"
"Visionz!"
The clairvoyant's stand materialized and shot its chain of crystal balls at the toad's forehead, effectively destroying the beast in a small explosion.
The luckster then turned around to look at the nervous clairvoyant.
"Look, I'm scared as hell, but I can't let you die, either", stated Yasuhiro.
"...Thanks Yasuhiro", the luckster nodded.
"Anytime", the clairvoyant smirked a little. He then screamed in nervousness, "In other news, get back here! Don't let the beasts eat you up!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah!", Makoto responded, running towards both Yasuhiro and Kyoko once more.
Back at the music room...
"Mondo, are you okay!?", screamed Chihiro, the gangster almost fainting from the concussion he was given. Sakura could only protect the unconscious bike rider while continuing to break apart the machines with punches and kicks.
"Chihiro, get Mondo away from here!", Sakura said, driving one of her bloodied fists into another Proto-Monobeast. "He should still be fine, but I can't heal him yet! I need a few seconds from these machines first!"
"A few seconds?", asked Chihiro in nervousness. While dragging the bike rider towards Hifumi with all his might, he couldn't help but repeat the statement to himself in his mind.
Perhaps I can do something about it, the programmer thought.
Back at the library...
"Aoi, Ishimaru, get into the room!", Celeste said, both individuals going into the room with countless archives. Cloakie ACT 2 managed to defeat another beast, but more came in retaliation.
Goddammit, Celeste reprimanded herself. Cloakie ACT 2 isn't enough for me to handle these beasts! I need to think of something!
Unfortunately, she couldn't come up with an idea quick enough, as another monobeast in the shape of a bulldog lunged toward the gambler.
Only to be intercepted by a purple tail spike.
...Huh?
The gambler looked up to see the purple enemy stand using its tail as a lance, decimating the machines easily with one swoop of its tail.
"...Consider this as me thanking you", said the stand, Celeste bewildered at what just transpired. "I still don't fully know why I'm doing this, but I can't afford to have you perish here. Not after your countless ramblings that have recently ignited a spark within me."
"You...", the gambler trailed off.
"Now stand up and continue fighting", the purple stand ordered, the gambler doing as told.
Back at the greenhouse...
Byakuya momentarily studied the hole that the monobeast left in the ceiling, a series of rusty pipes revealing underneath contrasting the fake blue sky.
"Master, look out!", screamed Toko, Byakuya turning to see a feline monobeast run towards him. The progeny was grabbed with one of Fu Manchu's tentacles, while the beast was taken care of by Mukuro.
"A-are you okay?", asked Toko, dropping Byakuya gently beside her.
"...I'm fine. Continue defending me."
"A-as you wish."
Back in the music room...
The programmer could only look at the fainted Mondo, Hifumi shivering nervously to himself. Chihiro knew what he could do to buy Sakura some time and heal the bike rider, but it brought a great risk. The programmer could only struggle to actually do it or not.
But he had not other choice.
"The Mind Electric!", Chihiro shouted, his lighting dragon appearing once more above him. It moved erratically throughout the music room, back to its unpredictable demeanor.
"Chihiro, why did summon your stand!?", Sakura asked, turning to punch another beast once more. "Mondo told you not to do that!"
"Mondo would risk his life for me!", Chihiro shouted. "There's no way I can't do the same!"
The martial artist could only keep silent at the programmer's response, dodging the electric dragon's frenzied attack. The dragon passed through countless monobeasts, short-circuiting the machines and destroying them.
"I still can't control my stand, but it should be enough to hold the Proto-Monobeasts back for a little!", Chihiro stated, Sakura looking at him with bewilderment. "Please heal Mondo while the beasts are still distracted!"
The martial artist could only hesitate from the current situation a little before doing as she was told, resting her hand atop Mondo's forehead. Sending a few waves of Hamon across his body, the martial artist eventually finished, leaving the bike rider almost spotless.
"It might take a while for him to wake up, but he should be far from dead!", Sakura explained with a sweat on her forehead. She then looked at Chihiro and continued, "But don't do something rash like that again! I heard that you suffered from using your stand yesterday, so I don't want you risking your life again!"
"I have no choice!", Chihiro responded. "I'm willing to risk my life to save Mondo, even everyone else! Not even my own stand can change that!"
Sakura could only look at the programmer in shock. She recalled seeing him as meek and fragile the first time she met him.
It was definite that Chihiro had grown into a strong person since then.
"B-but what do we do about the dragon then!?", asked Hifumi, getting both individuals' attention back.
"I can't make it leave yet, so the only thing we can do for now is rely on it!", responded the programmer.
The three participants could only look as Chihiro's stand continued its onslaught, ripping apart every Proto-Monobeast in its path.
Back at the third floor hallway...
"Kohhhhhhhhhhhhh...", breathed Makoto to himself steadily, the Hamon coursing through his blood flow. He was in-front of both Yasuhiro and Kyoko, protecting them both from the aggressive machines.
"Visionz! Help Makoto out!", said Yasuhiro, his stand continuing to use its crystal ball chain to hit the monobeasts in multiples.
"Thanks Yasuhiro!", Makoto shouted, his breathing as concentrated as ever. He then touched the ground and shouted, "Sunlight Yellow Hamon Ripple!", countless waves of minuscule Hamon reverberating out of his hand and into the floor, temporarily stunning the machines.
"That should give us more time to run!", said Makoto, both the clairvoyant and the detective understanding his words.
Back at the Greenhouse...
Both Mukuro and Toko kept destroying the Proto-Monobeasts, the heir standing behind the writer. He couldn't help but feel that something was approaching them. The floor rumbling, the ceiling pipes creaking, the hole above slowly growing bigger, this could only mean something:
Something was about to drop from the ceiling again.
"Toko, use your stand to encase me", the progeny ordered, Toko suddenly confused at his words.
"...W-what?"
"You've heard me", Byakuya responded. "I feel that something is headed from the ceiling, so I want to protect myself."
"Huh? O-of course", the writer responded, covering Byakuya safely with one of Fu Manchu's crystallized tentacles. She didn't know why he said that, but he was a progeny for a reason, right?
Of course, the ceiling giving way did more than enough to catch both her and Mukuro up to speed.
She was pulled out of her musings when another mechanical serpent emerged out of the ceiling hole, this one being much, much bigger than the last one. It wasn't alone, though, as more holes began ripping out, more serpents dropping out of them in succession to create one giant falling bundle.
"It's a snake showerrrrrr!", Monokuma said in the intercom cheerfully, both girls moving out of the monobeasts' trajectory. The snakes plowed right through the floors and ceilings, creating more holes between said floors in the process. Upon reaching the first floor's cafeteria, the falling machines were destroyed upon impact, leaving a remarkable series of holes between the floors.
"Annnnnd time's up! First round over!", Monokuma said, all monobeasts suddenly deactivating. The confused students approached the direction where sound from the serpents came from, suddenly in shock as they saw a gigantic hole. The bewildered participants could see the other floors from within the school, even each other.
"Everyone, descend into the cafeteria!", Monokuma said, suddenly appearing on the first floor's food court. "Just be careful not to die, though!"
Toko decided to use her Fu Manchu's tentacles to grab each group of students throughout the floors, slowly dropping them alongside her into the floor.
Within a few seconds, all students were reunited at the cafeteria around the serpents' robotic corpses, Fu Manchu letting go of them and retreating back into her user. Toko collapsed into the floor afterwards, breathing in a slow manner.
"Toko!", Aoi ran up to her, checking to see if the writer was okay.
"I-I'm fine", the writer responded. "It's just that using Fu Manchu requires a lot of my energy". She then stood up panicking, "W-what about master? Is he okay?"
"Ugh, yeah he is", the swimmer responded, pointing to the progeny standing at the far away from the rest of the students. "I still don't get why you're so obsessed with that jerk, though."
Toko would have normally ran up to Byakuya to drool at him like usual, but she was too tired to even stand up, let alone move. So instead she collapsed into the floor once more, the swimmer barely catching her before laying her down slowly.
Celeste still saw the purple stand beside her, the apparition saying one last thing before disappearing, "And before I go, none of this happened."
"Who is your user?"
"...It wasn't either of the people you were protecting earlier. That's all I'll say". The enemy stand then dissipated into thin air, leaving both Celeste and her stand in confusion.
According to Mondo, that would mean that the enemy stand is an automatic type, meaning that the user cannot control it directly, Celeste mused to herself, Cloakie reverting back to her first form. Why did it decide to help me just now, though? And what was it referring to when it said, 'reignited spark'?
Those were all questions that definitely needed to be answered.
The gambler suddenly was pulled out of her thoughts by a bottle of water hitting her face, the other students receiving the same thing. The bottles came from Monokuma himself, who was supplying them to the participants.
"Make sure to drink up!", Monokuma said, a majority of students chugging down their bottles. "After all, you guys are gonna need all the energy you'll get for the second round!"
"You bitch...", Mondo seethed while covering his forehead, slowly recovering from his previous concussion. "You didn't tell us about there being more than one round!"
"I already stated that I wouldn't explain everything at once", the dichromatic bear responded. "And be grateful that I gave you a break in the first place, corn hair!". The bear then turned to the rest of the class and said, "The second round will start in ten minutes! Be sure to be ready until then!"
The bear then suddenly disappeared into the floorboards once more, leaving the students to themselves.
"When is this gonna end??", asked Aoi frustratedly to herself, almost on the verge of tears. The rest of the students couldn't help but ask themselves the same question.
Of course, it was cut short by the Chihiro's stand flying towards them, sparks of lighting coming out of its body once more.
"Chihiro! I told you to not use your stand!", Mondo said.
"I know!", Chihiro responded. "I did it to buy Sakura some time and save you, though! I had no choice!"
"But you still can't control-!"
Mondo, couldn't finish his sentence, though, as he was instead shocked at what he was seeing. The programmer's stand suddenly collided with its user, electrocuting the small teen in a bright flash of light. The only thing that could be heard was the dragon's roar and Chihiro's shriek of pain. His pained expression was one that the bike rider couldn't forget.
After the electrocution ended, the programmer collided into the floor, the body discovery announcement being heard a few seconds afterwards.
"What just...", Taka trailed off before falling silent. He then screamed, "CHIHIROOOOOOO!", approaching to the fallen programmer. Mondo did the same thing, everyone bewildered at what just happened.
"Chihiro...died?", asked Makoto, both the prefect and Mondo crying waterfalls. Even Kyoko looked surprised.
"This can't be...", Sakura covered her mouth. To see someone die so abruptly just as they were growing and maturing.
"C'mon, dude, wake up!", cried Mondo, Crazy Diamond completely restoring Chihiro to near-perfection. It didn't wake the programmer, though.
Suddenly, Monokuma appeared once more within the crowd, a weird red thing in his right paw.
"Your restoration ability only works on injured people, not electrocuted victims!", Monokuma explained jovially. "You can't heal an empty heart, after all!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!", screamed Mondo, his last string of sanity already starting to break loose.
"Aww, what a meanie", the bear said dejectedly before speaking up, "But don't worry! I have a way to bring your precious friend back!"
"...What do you mean...?", asked the gangster in a now-broken voice. "You already said he was dead."
"Nuh-uh! I only said he was 'empty', not completely dead!", Monokuma responded, everybody else hearing him suddenly feeling both somber and confused. "In fact, the body discovery announcement was simply a troll to fool you guys! Did everyone like it?"
"Just bring him back already, dammit!", shouted Mondo in both a demanding and pleading tone.
"Geez, fine! You should be grateful that I'm a considerate bear!", responded Monokuma before placing something red inside Chihiro's mouth.
"Wait, what is that thing you have there?", asked Celeste. "And why did you just put it inside Chihiro's mouth?"
"Ah, this a type of medical fruit given to me from a group of statue-looking people a few years ago!", explained the bear. " And I got it for an expensive price, too! The audacity!"
"Medical fruit? What are you-?", asked Taka in slight stupor before getting interrupted by Monokuma, "Then even instructed me to not reproduce it, so I ended up doing just that! I eventually created a new type of fruit using grafted branches, which is the very one I'm using right now!"
The students listening to him were simply confused at his words, so he instead continued by saying:
"By the way, such fruit is named 'the rokakaka', a type of fruit that exchanges one thing for another. With this type, two individuals are needed for such exchange, one of them needing to be a corpse!"
"So how are you going to bring back Chihiro if he's a corpse?", Byakuya asked in slight interest. Mondo slightly flinched at the mention of Chihiro being named a corpse.
"Oh no, the corpse is someone else!", Monokuma responded, everyone widening their eyes in response. "I've made sure to implant another part of the fruit inside said corpse, meaning that both it and Chihiro will fuse! In any case, your friend here will come back, he'll just look similar to a certain someone!". He then picked up the small programmer out of Mondo's grasp and continued, "In any case, I need both individuals to be next to each other so that the fusion can begin!"
"Fuse..with a corpse..." Mondo took in the bear's words, everyone else doing the same. "Just what the fuck are you talking about!?"
"Our little programmer here should be awake and well in around three hours, so make sure to meet his new form afterwards!", Monokuma continued, the collars around the students' necks suddenly coming off loose. "Also, our little game here is going to be put an at an end for now, so you guys are free for another day! I will make sure to put you guys in another game in two days, though, so don't think that you're completely safe! I'll just have to make sure it doesn't involve breaking the goddamn ceiling, though! Until then!"
The dichromatic bear then rushed out with the programmer in its paws, leaving the rest of the students to themselves.
"Mimi..."
"I also have a bad feeling about this", agreed Celeste, the bike rider slowly standing up by using Taka as support.
"...It's fine, dude", Taka said, tears still falling down his face. "Chihiro is going to come back, you'll see."
"What if he won't, though!?", Mondo shouted, alarming everyone else. "What if that Monokuma bastard is lying!?"
"Then you'll just have to prepare for the worst", Kyoko responded emotionlessly. "This is Monokuma we're talking about. You can't fully trust him, either."
"So get a grip already, you crybaby", added Byakuya. "This is a killing game. Deaths are bound to occur."
"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!", screamed Mondo, getting both individuals to fall silent. As the bike rider slowly fell silent to weep to himself, Taka spoke up in an uncharacteristic calm voice to the others, "Just stop talking to him like that already. We're not supposed to overwhelm our companions when they are grieving."
"W-why would you even grieve for someone you barely even know-?"
"Taka's right", spoke up Makoto. "We should give Mondo the time he needs to properly deal with this. Let's all head to Chihiro's room for now."
"...Whatever", responded the progeny before leaving, Toko following him behind afterwards. Soon enough, all students with exception of Makoto, Taka, and the bike rider remained.
"Thanks Makoto for sticking up", continued Taka in his calm voice. "In behalf of Mondo, I'm grateful that you understand how he's feeling."
"Sure, Taka", smiled softly the luckster before asking, "Are you going with us or are you staying with Mondo for a little longer?"
"I'll stay with him", the prefect responded. "That is, unless he says otherwise."
"...I'm fine with you staying here for now", Mondo responded weakly. "I just need some to recompose myself, is all."
"I see...", trailed off Makoto. "I'm any case, I'll be going". He soon left the cafeteria afterwards, leaving both teens to themselves.
Some time later, at Chihiro's dorm entrance...
Due to Monokuma's orders, everyone reunited by Chihiro's room in the hallway, both Taka and Mondo arriving last.
"Mondo!", Makoto said. "Are you feeling better?"
"More or less, yeah", the bike rider sniffled a little. "That Monokuma bastard better not be lying about Chihiro, though."
"And what if he is?", asked Byakuya, earning a glare from the gangster. Before a fight could start, though, Monokuma came out of the room in a doctors outfit, complete with a mask and latex gloves.
"It's a miracle, doctor!", said Monokuma in a fake voice. "We saved the programmer!"
"You did!?", asked Mondo.
"Indeed!", responded the dichromatic bear, suddenly reverting back to his usual form. "Although, remember that Chihiro has now fused with a corpse, so do expect him to...look different. Head inside to see and guess who the other person is!"
As soon as the bear finished his words, Mondo ran into the room worried, looking at Chihiro's bed where the programmer was sitting at. Everybody else soon followed, their eyes widened at what they saw.
Chihiro was alive...but he indeed looked different. His now-messy hair was longer with several strands of deep blue, and he was definitely taller than before. One of his eyes was now turquoise colored, giving the programmer a new dichromatic pair of eyes.
Turning to face the bewildered students, the programmer asked, "...Guys, why do I look like this...?", in a much more lighter, melodic voice.
"N-no way...", Mondo trailed off with his eyes widened.
"So that's what Monokuma was talking about...", Makoto said, the other students sharing the same reaction.
There was no way this could be happening.
Author's Note: Didn't expect that, huh?
Just what is waiting ahead for our students? What even happened to Chihiro?
If you have any comments, don't hesitate to write them below. I appreciate everyone's support with this story.
Until then, I'll see everyone later!