Volume 3 Chapter 7: Mercury Poisoning
AN: Well, if you're still here, then you already know to consider yourselves warned. RWKY does not have a happy ending, and the further on you read the less happy that ending gets.
Okay, let's see how many days off it takes me to write this chapter, where Kassidy finds a few people to run into on her way to see Yang fight. And, of course, her finding out something's wrong at the exact perfect time… to do absolutely nothing and just watch it happen.
Kassidy found herself all but skipping down the sidewalk as she made her way across Beacon. The Vytal Festival Tournament's singles round would begin in just over an hour, and of course she had to be there to support her girlfriend as she competed on the largest stage on the planet. Contrary to yesterday, she and Yang had spent all today training and planning. Nothing strenuous, obviously. They'd spent time working on Yang's skills with a knife, just in case it became necessary to rely on her secondary weapon. Practice with grapples, grabs, throws; really, anything that would help Yang control the pace of battle and her opponent. About an hour or so was dedicated to improving Yang's ability to emulate Kassidy's own Aura gliding technique, bolstering her overwhelming power with (in Kassidy's expert opinion) a much-needed boost to mobility. Never anything that would tax Yang more than she could recover from in a couple hours' time.
Of course, they were both almost late to their planned training sessions this morning, on account of… the mere memory of it made Kassidy's face turn a burning crimson. She still wasn't even sure what had initially prompted her to come to that decision and take that next step forward in their relationship. All she knew was that hormones were to blame, and that she wanted more of it. She could probably blame that on the hormones, too, but that would just be lying to herself. Last night had been absolutely amazing, in a way beyond her wildest dreams. She felt like she was more complete; like there had been a puzzle piece missing all along that she didn't even know about, having finally returned to the greater whole. It was… well, at the moment, it was probably a bad thing, on account of how it so thoroughly distracted her. While the official reason that they had spent even half as much time practicing Yang's grappling as they did was to make sure she was extra-ready for the tournament, in reality Kassidy just wanted the excuse to get her hands on Yang and get a bit physical, in a manner that her overprotective uncle wouldn't tear her a new asshole over if he ever found out.
Still, as nice as it had been, any more slipups like that would probably be in an area of preparation less benign than physical training, where the distraction would do some real harm. Kassidy needed to get her mind back in the present, and not allow her mind to wander about how things seemed so different (and so much better) now, or about those wonderful abs that would make Sun green with envy, or those twin round, firm–
"Okay," Kassidy muttered to herself, shaking her head and doing her best to dispel the blush as well as her thought process, "that's enough of that. Personal fantasies and plans for the future can happen after the tournament. Already given Yang her extra motivation to win. Need to focus."
She decided the best way to do that was to turn her attention to the duffel bag she was carrying, and its contents. Part of Bob's homework assignment yesterday was designing something for Ember Celica that would give Yang an edge in the fights, a trump card that nobody could see coming. And boy did that AI of hers not hold back. Kassidy took out one of the black-striped shells and shook it a little bit. Same as the previous couple times she'd done it, there was barely a rattle out of it, evidence that it had been packed to bursting. This wasn't some fancy Dust round, or a common armor-piercing slug. No, this was an anti-personal shell, crammed to the brim with serrated, razor-sharp miniature flechettes. A simple fire test earlier today had both proved their hideous effectiveness against unarmored flesh and left even Kassidy a bit too worried about how dangerous they were. Bob, naturally, absolved her of those fears – namely, by shooting her with one of the rounds. While he claimed it was a demonstration that it couldn't penetrate Aura (though that one shell did remove eighty percent of hers), Kassidy was obviously not exactly amused. Still, she trusted Yang more than anyone at this point, and even with the occasional temper issues it wasn't like she was going to accidentally murder someone in the middle of the fight.
So lost in thought was she that Kassidy only bothered to look up and pay attention to her surroundings when a door opened and clobbered her in the face. She took a half step back in shock, automatically bringing up a hand to her forehead, and promptly shoved the prototype round into the bag as quickly as she could when her assailant identified herself with a musical, "I'm sorry!"
"It's okay," Kassidy answered automatically, before she picked her head back up and frowning at the sight before her. Pyrrha looked… troubled. Lost, even. She had the feeling that Pyrrha had been paying as little attention to her surroundings as Kassidy had been, and not for as pleasant a reason as Kassidy had. Trying to figure out what was going on with one of her best friends, she asked, "Hey, you alright?"
Pyrrha tried to perk back up and gave the hollowest laugh she'd ever heard. "What do you mean, Kassidy? I'm fine."
Kassidy sighed and fixed a disappointed expression on Pyrrha. "I'm not sure it was even possible, but you just proved yourself a worse liar than I am." When Pyrrha merely looked away instead of answering, Kassidy pressed, "Didn't I hear you were called up to Ozpin's office? Did you get in trouble? Did he say something?"
"No, I'm not in trouble," Pyrrha replied. "They just… gave me a lot to think about."
"They?" Kassidy asked.
Pyrrha winced at her slip-up. "I – I really shouldn't talk about it," she stammered.
"But do you want to?" Pyrrha looked at the ground, seemingly conflicted about wanting to say anything. It got to the point that Kassidy felt the need to repeat, "Do you –"
"Do you believe in destiny?"
The question got Kassidy to stop dead in her metaphorical tracks. It nearly got her to openly question what was going on, but if it was tearing Pyrrha up this badly… she deemed it best to take it seriously, at face value. "No, I don't," Kassidy eventually answered. "I choose my own fate."
"I'm not talking like some kind of predetermined fate you can't escape," Pyrrha clarified. "I'm thinking of a final goal of some sort, something you spend your entire life working towards."
Kassidy let her eyes wander to the horizon as her focus went to the words her friend was telling her. "I've… not really had the luxury of thinking that far ahead until recently," she hedged. "Pyrrha, what's bringing this on?"
Pyrrha's brows furrowed as she looked for the next words. "Let's say something that would be all you want from life." Her cheeks blushed as she asked, "Maybe a life with Yang? Maybe, even, children? Just, whatever you could possibly ask out of your life."
Kassidy's eyes glazed over as Pyrrha unknowingly recited what had been a reoccurring, almost dreamlike fantasy of hers that had popped up once or twice since last week. Shaking her head to bring herself back to the conversation and ignoring several of the impossibilities in the scenario, she offered, "So, use that as my 'destiny' for the purposes of this conversation?"
Pyrrha nodded. "Well, what if there was something keeping you from your destiny?"
"Kill it, probably," Kassidy answered almost automatically. A heartbeat later, she elaborated, "Though, I've been informed by several authorities on the subject that I'm not the best judge of these kinds of matters."
Pyrrha had only seemed to be half-listening to Kassidy talk, as the moment she'd finished she'd blurted out, "Or what if you could have it in an instant, at the cost of who you were?"
Kassidy stood stunned by the outburst, before she put two and two together. "This isn't a hypothetical situation we're talking about here," she slowly said. It wasn't a question. Pyrrha nodded anyway.
A palmed face and a slow, explosive sigh were the response to that as Kassidy started going over what could possibly be going on. "At the cost of who you were," Kassidy repeated softly, before asking in a more conversational tone, "Is someone threatening you?'
"No," Pyrrha answered. The way her tone wavered made Kassidy shoot Pyrrha a glance, who tugged at her arm and continued, "It's not me that's being threatened."
"Who is it?" Kassidy demanded. When Pyrrha refused to answer, Kassidy leaned in, grabbed her by the elbow, and whispered, "Is it Ozpin that's making these threats?"
"They're not threats," Pyrrha answered. "They're… nobody's really sure what's going on. But they say they're out of time. They say that they're out of other options. And that this is the only option left."
"There's always another option," Kassidy stressed. She scowled as she thought. "Okay, I won't keep pressing you for answers – no need to get you in trouble with the headmaster. But answer me this." She waited until Pyrrha looked up and met her eyes. "If I can help, would you want me to?"
Pyrrha's shoulders shuddered and her face fell to the ground, and it was with a broken, entirely uncharacteristic voice that she answered, "I don't want to do this." She paused long enough to let a choked sob break through before clamping back down on her composure. "But I might not have a choice."
"You always have a choice," Kassidy said. She planted her hand on Pyrrha's shoulder and reassured, "You might not be on my team, but you're still one of the best friends I've ever had. I promise you, if I can help, I will. There's not a damn thing in this world that will keep me from helping the people I care about."
A face of confusion, sorrow, and regret was one that rose to greet Kassidy's face. "I appreciate the offer," Pyrrha said. "But I don't think there's a way you can help with this."
At that, Kassidy merely smirked as she pulled her Scroll out of her jacket pocket. "Oh Bob," she said, "have you been listening?"
"Duh," her computer responded over the device. "What do you need?"
"Do you remember that little agreement we had with Ozpin about staying out of certain Beacon systems?" Kassidy asked. Bob replied in the affirmative, prompting her to continue, "Check the security footage on campus for what Pyrrha and the headmaster have been up to this afternoon. If we can't figure out what the hell's got Pyrrha so upset through normal channels, it might be time to start being a bad student and break some rules."
"It'll take a while. I'll start work immediately and let you know what I find." Kassidy had assumed that her computer had instantly left to begin his work, but Bob surprised both her and Pyrrha by speaking up again. "Ms. Nikos," he began, "Please understand that I consider you a good friend myself, and that I am in much the same boat as Kassidy. If there is anything I can do to help, know that I will go to great lengths to do so."
Pyrrha, who had been listening to Kassidy's whole conversation with Bob with her mouth hanging open, shut it with an audible click, before smiling and answering, "Thank you, Bob. I'm proud to call you friend as well."
Kassidy smiled herself. That was sure to make Bob's day – he'd been becoming more independent lately. Having people recognize him as a friend himself, rather than simply being Kassidy's proxy, was something that seemed to be increasingly important to him. Drawing herself back to the present, she had one thing left to say to Pyrrha. "If I might offer some advice? Talk to your team about it. I know that they won't let this happen lying down, whatever it is." Chuckling a little bit, she added, "They also might be better at giving out life advice than I am."
Pyrrha giggled at the remark, finally starting to show signs of returning to her normal self. "Thank you, Kassidy. I'm so blessed to have a friend like you."
Kassidy just smirked again. "You won't be saying that if you go up against Yang."
A blanched face was Pyrrha's reply, before they bade farewell and both went their separate ways. Kassidy went straight to the Amity Coliseum, while Pyrrha evidently had a stop to make before getting to the main event. As Kassidy traveled, however, she couldn't help but think over what had just happened. It seemed like something out of the Twilight Zone. Her brooding kept her busy all the way to the Coliseum, before she ran headlong into Ruby and realizing that she didn't have to look at this alone. The other members of RWKY would surely be all aboard helping Pyrrha with whatever was going on.
Obviously, her team leader noticed her expression. "Is something wrong, Kass?" Ruby asked. "You look sad. A little confused, too."
Kassidy thought for a moment but shook her head. "Nothing's wrong. Not yet, anyway. But do you mind if we have a team meeting tonight, once everything's over? Something's come up I want to discuss with everyone."
"Is it bad?" Ruby asked.
"Maybe," Kassidy allowed. "But not yet, it isn't. Right now, let's focus on the tournament."
"Yang's all ready to go!" Ruby exclaimed, seemingly forgetting the prior thirty seconds as the singles round was brought up. "Weiss and I already talked with her, so we're headed to our seats now. Oh, that reminds me!" Digging through her skirt pockets, she brought out an extra ticket and handed it to Kassidy. "Our seats are on the complete opposite side of the stadium from the locker rooms for some reason, so don't stay too long or else you won't make it in time for the fight!"
"Wouldn't want that," Kassidy laughed. Mussing with Ruby's hair, she encouraged, "Don't wait for me, I want to talk with Yang first before I take my seat."
Ruby pouted at having to fix her hair before saying goodbye and speeding off to her seat, her excitement somewhat leaking into her Semblance. Kassidy laughed again before turning to outside the locker room and stepping in to talk with her favorite person.
"You didn't even knock, K?" Yang asked, leer forming on her lips already. "What if I'd been changing?"
Kassidy blushed slightly, before giving a leer of her own and sauntering up to Yang while answering, "Then I sure would've enjoyed the view." Yang's mouth gaped open, giving Kassidy room to grab the front of her jacket and pull her in for a quick kiss. When they broke, she asked, "You all ready for the show, Firecracker?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Yang replied. "Any final words of advice from the number one fighter in our class?"
"Yeah, stop making crap up," Kassidy laughed. After she and Yang got their giggles under control, she continued, "First off, made you some new ammo."
"Ooh, Mama Yang likes," her partner exclaimed as she pulled the shells out of the bag and stowing the magazines on her person. "What are they?"
Kassidy's face fell for a brief moment, getting the point across that this was serious. "Think of it as birdshot, if it was designed to kill people instead of geese." She rubbed her thumbs across the back of Yang's hands and added, "Look, it's safe if they have their Aura up, just… be careful with this stuff, alright? It's super dangerous. Bob didn't design it with the safety of the target in mind."
"How bad?" Yang asked.
"Eighty percent of my Aura in one shot."
Yang's reaction was instantaneous as her eyebrows shot to the ceiling and her jaw dropped. "Holy shit! What the hell is this stuff?!"
"Like I said, be careful," Kassidy murmured.
"No using it when they're below a third Aura, got it," Yang said. She pulled Kassidy into a hug and went for another kiss, and said, "Best not keep the crowd waiting for the star of the show. Wish me luck?"
Kassidy shook her head. "You won't need it. Go get some, Firecracker."
Yang smirked and jogged over to the main arena floor. Kassidy watched her go, then looked at the time and had her eyes bug out. She was going to be late! She all but ran out of the locker room, taking turns she could've sworn would get her across the stadium… and quickly found herself lost. She paused and glanced around, spying a maintenance tunnel on her left. It was supposed to be for employees only… but did desperate times not call for desperate measures? Kassidy made her decision, checked to make sure nobody was watching, and snuck in.
Conveniently enough, there was a map back here showing how to get to where she needed to go – Wait, why are there maps in the maintenance tunnels, but not in the public areas? Seems like bad design to me – and Kassidy quickly started making her way towards the entrance nearest her seat. Along the way, she passed a few workers that looked at her funny but evidently decided it not worth the effort to try and stop her. Oddly enough, they seemed to be almost entirely Faunus, and it almost looked like they were trying to avoid attention themselves? No, Kassidy decided, that was absolutely her being paranoid.
That train of thought was interrupted as Kassidy, for the second time in an hour, literally ran into someone as she rounded a corner. Groaning and clutching her forehead, she whined, "Damnit, not again. Sorry about that… Emerald?"
Kassidy trailed off as she caught a glimpse of Emerald who was, similar to Pyrrha, acting completely out of character. The darker-skinned girl had paled dramatically, eyes wide and unblinking, and in general openly staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights. "Kassidy?" She slowly asked. "Why are you here?"
"Got lost trying to get to my seat," Kassidy replied.
"Oh, I see!" Emerald all but yelled, far too loudly for it to even plausibly be part of the conversation. Continuing at the elevated volume, she added, "Yeah, I got a bit lost myself. Think we can find our way up together?"
Kassidy couldn't help but wince as the already-loud voice echoed through the tunnels and bore into her extra ears, even feeling her newest appendages flatten against her head instinctively. Still, she had a question to answer. "Sure. If you don't mind following me, we can take this tunnel over this way to get right up to my seat. Yours can't be too far from there, I don't think."
She hadn't even taken two steps when Emerald jumped in front of her, face looking panic-stricken before she wore a more natural shade of worry. "Wait!" she cried. "You don't want to go down there. Nasty spill, rather not deal with it."
At this point, Kassidy just grunted – if she was any later than she already was in getting to her seat, then she'd be sure to miss the first part of the singles round. "We'll just be careful, then," she gave in reply, stepping around Emerald and hurrying to the next corner. She rounded it…
Just in time to see Cinder in a nurse's uniform? Indeed, there was no mistaking those amber eyes anywhere, or that hair. Both of them came to a screeching halt, each staring at the other like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Kassidy couldn't believe what she was seeing. She closed her eyes, rubbed at them for several seconds, and made to open them again when she heard Emerald running up to her and planting a hand on her shoulder. When Kassidy opened her eyes again, the nurse that looked remarkably like Cinder was gone.
In its place was the most crippling headache she'd ever had. Kassidy cried out in pain, grabbing her head and falling to her knees. She tried to bring her face up to see what was going on around her but was only left momentarily confused when she saw nurse Cinder fading in and out of her vision. First raising her palm at her, then blinking out and returning to vision as she was in the middle of turning around, and finally only one of her legs blinking and returning as it disappeared into an adjoining room.
"Kassidy!" Emerald yelled, and it was only as the headache disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived that Kassidy realized that her companion had been trying to get her attention for some time. Groaning and leaning against the wall, Kassidy got to blinking away the stars while Emerald asked, "Dust, are you okay? What happened?"
"No idea," Kassidy said weakly. "Worst migraines I've ever had. It almost looked like…" She shook her head, finally bringing herself back to the present. She looked up at Emerald and asked, "Why did I see Cinder in a nurse's outfit whenever I was having that headache?"
Emerald looked panic-stricken yet again, before forcing out a laugh that might've been able to pass off as genuine had Kassidy's paranoia not firmly taken root. "Cinder in a nurse's outfit. Now that I'd wanna see." Offering Kassidy a hand up, Emerald continued, "Cinder doesn't practice medicine. Maybe you just saw someone that looked a bit like her.
Kassidy opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she parsed what was said again and her finely-honed bullshit detector buried its needle in the red. Something was up. She didn't know what, but she didn't want to be here – not alone, and not unarmed. Endeavoring to drop the matter for now, she apologized, "Sorry about that. No idea what happened there."
Emerald waved it off. "No worries. Let's get back up to the seats and see how tonight's going to play out, yeah?"
Kassidy raised an eyebrow as she visibly looked over the hallway they were in. "I thought you said there was a big spill around here."
Once again, Emerald seemed unsure of how to answer, but recovered impressively with, "Yeah, I thought so, too. Maybe it was in a different part of the tunnels – I've kinda been all over the place trying to find my way out."
Kassidy shrugged, finding the lie obvious at this point but declining to comment on it. It only took a minute of awkward silence for them to find an exit that conveniently led to Emerald's seat. She dug her Scroll out of her pocket, determined to try and figure out what the hell just happened.
Her computer, however, beat her to the punch. "What the fuck was that, Kassidy?"
She skidded to a stop. Bob never swore. Never. "I was hoping to ask you, bud. It felt like someone jammed an ice pick into my brain. Don't think I was seeing straight – for a bit, I thought I saw Cinder there."
"She was," Bob said. "Was the headache messing with your vision it was so bad? No, that can't be it, even through a bit of pain you surely would've reacted to the fact that she nearly incinerated you."
"What?" Kassidy asked. "I didn't see that. You're sure?"
"Absolutely."
Kassidy's brows furrowed. "Show me the iris cam feed."
The video was a bit blurry and shaky, evidence of the tears and motion caused by the headache, but that wasn't what caused Kassidy's blood to freeze in her veins. No, what caused Kassidy's blood to freeze in her veins was Cinder moments away from throwing a literal fireball at her while she was incapacitated by the pain. Emerald running up, shouting that, "She had it covered," and that Cinder "Needed to hide," was the only thing that saved Kassidy from getting cooked.
There was only one thing that Kassidy could think of in response to the clip. "What the fuck?"
"Shall I classify Cinder and Emerald as hostiles? They did just engage in enemy action," her computer reminded.
Kassidy didn't know what to say. Something was wrong. Her paranoia, something she had believe she was getting close to beating, all but overwhelmed her. She was missing something. Something was wrong. She was missing something. Do something. She needed to do something. She needed to do something right fu-
Her eyes widened as a realization dawned. "Where's Mercury?" When Bob failed to answer immediately, Kassidy hand trailed to the small of her back and pulled out the knife concealed there. "Bob," she ordered, "cease all activities and enter combat mode. I want Mercury Black's location right now."
"In the arena," her computer replied. "The first match is him fighting Yang."
Pieces connected in Kassidy's head. Pieces to a painful puzzle. Prototype anti-personal rounds that Bob had developed yesterday and this morning, rounds that paid no heed to their target's ability to survive them. Enhanced training to ensure that Yang would have an edge in her fights. Cinder dressed as a nurse, attempting to blend in… if somebody got hurt. Her face paled as she said, "Bob, please tell me you can stop that fight."
"What a way to kick off the finals!" Professor Port announced over the intercoms – and Kassidy realized that she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings.
Doctor Oobleck added, "Yang Xiao Long wins!"
"Bob," Kassidy said, panic quickly entering her voice as she sprinted to the stands as fast as she could. "Get Yang out of there. Now!"
Now that she was paying attention, she could hear the crowd going wild. The match was over. Kassidy's heart stopped as she heard a gunshot – the report from Ember Celica. Throwing open the nearest door, she sprinted to the railing, just in time to see Yang pull her fist from Mercury's leg as he fell to the ground screaming bloody murder.
Kassidy couldn't do anything but stare wide-eyed at the scene, mouth agape. That, and think about what she just saw because something still wasn't right and why can't she find out what was wrong?!
It was Bob, once again, who came to the rescue. "Something's not right. We have detailed analyses on Mercury's legs."
"Detailed ana-" Kassidy began, only to cut herself off as a memory came to the forefront, of a metal leg nearly taking her head off in the dueling hall. "His legs are prosthetics," she breathed. "And unless those are the most advanced prosthetics known to man, it shouldn't have the sensors or code to transmit the concept of pain to his nerves."
"They don't have that capability," Bob confirmed.
"He's faking it," Kassidy muttered, watching him bawl his eyes out on international television at an injury he couldn't even feel. "He's faking the whole damn thing." Her eyebrows shot to her hairline when Emerald raced to his side, appearing completely distraught over Yang's 'assault' on him. "And Emerald's in on it?"
"Analysis suggests that Cinder will be involved as well."
Cinder in a nurse's uniform – it made sense now. "They're taking Mercury out of the public eye," Kassidy concluded. "Whatever he's doing, they want people to think he's not at Beacon anymore." After a moment's thought, she ordered, "Bob, set a new priority: track Mercury Black. If he so much as sneezes, I want to know about it."
"Priority confirmed," Bob announced. "I do believe you're overlooking another consequence to the events that just transpired."
Kassidy nodded. "Get a message to the team. I need to let them know what's going on."
"Someone may have already beaten you to getting everyone assembled," Bob said, just as a new message found its way onto Kassidy's Scroll. "It's a summons," her computer explained. "All members of Team Rookie are ordered to report to their dorm room effective immediately."
Kassidy took several breaths, willing herself to calm down. She could work with this. "That's good," she assessed. "If I can show Ozpin what we have, we can –"
"That probably won't be an option," Bob interrupted.
"Why not?" Kassidy demanded.
Her computer explained, "Because it wasn't Ozpin that issued the summons. It was sent by General James Ironwood." Kassidy frowned at the stress Bob put on Ironwood's title, and at what that implied. The foreign general and his all but invading army were taking matters into their own hands. "Alert: my intrusions into the Atlesian networks report that a full platoon of AK-200 androids have been ordered to convene at the building that your dorm is housed in."
This was it, then. Kassidy's paranoia took full hold, slipping back into the mindset of Colossus. She knew what she had to do. Storming out of the Coliseum and making her way somewhere she couldn't be heard, Kassidy barked out, "Emergency Code One. Keyword: iconoclasm."
Her Scroll flashed green as Bob readied himself for what was to come. "Keyword accepted. Code One protocols in effect."
"Keep an eye on Team Carmine if possible," Kassidy hedged, "but the main focus is on what Ironwood brings to this 'summons'. Tell me what I'm up against, and let me know if more forces start convening on us."
"Would this be the time for –"
Kassidy interrupted her computer. "Yes. Bring down my locker along the path between here and the dorms. Make sure my new toy is in it."
Her weapons, her armor… that new grenade. She'd need it all.
This meant war.
AN 2: Hmm, that took longer than I expected it to. Well, it's one thirty right now, and I need to get up here in about six hours to get to work. I do believe it is time to get these Reviewer Responses done so I can go ahead and crash for the night.
Coming up next: Kassidy vs. Ironwood
AgentDraakis: Oh, my friend, who said anything about Kassidy dying? There are fates worse than death, after all, and I do believe I've proven by now that I am cruel to my characters. Melodrama aside, I'm so thankful you've stuck with this for so long and like this so much. As for what she was(n't) wearing? Well, let me put it this way: if I wrote lemons, I would currently have a RWKY one-shot up involving their night of fun and games. Oh… right. I have a second story published that I haven't touched in over a year, don't I? Uh…
Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to have pets here. I've considered actually having something small like a strawberry vine or something in a flower box, but decided against it as I probably wouldn't be able to invest the time it needs into it.
MorgothII: Well, are you still looking forward to my next chapters? Like I said: Rookie doesn't have a happy ending. Glad to hear you're enjoying things, though.
Shake N. Bake Mormon: Glad to hear you're still enjoying things, hope I can keep the quality up to snuff.
Guest #1: Um… forgive me for asking this, but archive of our own? Is this another popular internet show that I know nothing about?
Ultimatrix bearer: Glad to hear I didn't scare you off. Here's to hoping you're still enjoying things, and that you too are still being awesome.
ThornedRose: These Monty Python references aren't fresh, they're passed on. This reference is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late reference! It's a stiff! Bereft of life! It rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the review board, it'd be pushing up the daisies! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This… is an ex-reference!
(if you don't get that, go look up Monty Python Dead Parrot skit on youtube, funniest stuff I've seen in a while)
Guest #2: Okay. I won't hack into the swords.
