(A/N: Thanks bunches for the great reviews, keep 'em coming:)
J.D.: "Had writer's block, sorry for the wait, you can blame it on Johnny boy"
St. John: "Ain't no way 'm takin' the rap for this, mate, y'are on your own"
J.D.: "Oh you'll take the blame, if you ever wanna get hooked up with Wanda"
St. John: "I..you can't...that's no fair! Why couldn't the universe give me Gambit's roll? That friggin' lucky bloak is a practical god when it comes to the ladies"
J.D.: "And you're a desperate Aussie that always gets the short end of the stick, poor baby, I just might let you play with your flame thrower after this chappy"
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A silence fell over the hardware store, Kitty and Rogue were both lost in thought.
After a few minutes Mystique began to grow impatient, but not wanting to ruin her chance at successfully winning the two over, she kept quiet.
Wanda watched Gambit, Colossus, and Pyro's reactions carefully, St. John obviously couldn't care less, Remy looked as if he desperately wanted to say something, though Rogue still had his mouth clamped shut, and Peter was staring with concern at Shadowcat.
"Alright" Rogue's voice echoed loudly in the ears of everyone present, she glanced at Kitty who slowly nodded her head, "But only on our terms"
Raven gave a cool nod, signaling her to proceed.
"No battles against the X-men, and you have to stop harassing them" Rogue prepared herself for an argument, surprisingly none came.
"Fine, go get your things and meet me at Destiny's old house" then she left.
Weariness overcame the new BoM.
Wanda, Rogue, and Kitty exchanged saddened looks, Wanda's was of sympathy, knowing how hard it would be for them to leave their family, having lost a mother and close friend herself.
*Don't put yourself through this, Cher`e* Rogue flinched at Remy's plea in her head, she released her telekinetic hold on his body and he fell to the floor, "What's it to you, Swamp Rat?" she hissed.
Before he could answer she grabbed Kitty by the hand, "Wanda, Ah think we'll need help packing"
The Scarlet Witch came up beside them and her and Rogue put a comforting arm around a crying Kitty, heading back towards the mansion.
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Irene hung her head in grief, she hadn't been able to get in contact with Rogue soon enough, now the girls would suffer great emotional pain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Rogue motioned for Kitty and Wanda to head upstairs while she dealt with the rest of the X-men.
"Rogue, you can't be serious" Kurt said, even as tears threatened to fall from his eyes, Rogue felt a stab of pain, *Why do ya'll have to make this so difficult?* out loud she said, "There's nothin' you can do to change our minds, not that some of you would want to" she glared pointedly at Jean and Scott.
"Listen, Stripes, you know the consequences of rejoining Mystique so why are you doin' this?" asked Logan.
"'Cause Ah don't want to live in a place that treats me like an eggshell, like Ah could break any moment, and because.." she trailed off, "All you need to know is Kitty and Ah are leaving" she stalked up to her room, no one followed, *What else were you expecting?* she thought bitterly.
Kitty and Wanda had already gotten all their stuff packed, and without another word they were off, nobody tried to stop them.
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Ororo rose in the air, her ice blue eyes flashing with anger than turned white, "Why did you not stop them?" lightning cracked outside in it's godess's fury, Logan unsheathed his claws with the same rage.
"Yea, Chuck" he growled.
Xavier raised his hands in attempt to calm the two teachers, "Rogue's choice to leave at this time, I sense, has to do with something much greater than her insecurities, if we were to go after her we would only be interfering with her search for completeness, I believe there is no cause to worry"
Logan's eyes narrowed, but he relented, Storm, however, wasn't satisfied with the explanation for the Professor's lack of action, "That is Rogue, what about Katharine?"
"Kitty and Rogue share a special bond, they are inseparable, they need each other to be near through this struggle" his answer was confident.
Wolverine reached a hand up and gently tugged Ororo's ankle until she floated back down and the skies cleared, she still looked upset, leaning on Logan for support.
"It's okay, Darlin'" he soothed, "They'll be back" he escorted her to her room, leaving a group of saddened students behind, too hurt over another loss to notice their mentors out of character behavior.
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Rogue sat in her old bedroom, head resting on Irene's shoulder, "Maybe Ah'm being selfish" the Goth confided, "Maybe Ah should've just kept it in"
Destiny gave her a half hug, "You are not being selfish, dear, it's about time you did something for yourself, you can't keep these feelings bottled up forever, you need to face what's been eating you up all these years"
"But you think it's bad for me to be doing Mystique's dirty work" Rogue had read Irene's feelings about the situation.
"My first prediction was that it would bring nothing but disaster, now I see something else in your future, it'll be months before Raven is able to carry out her plan, so if you can find what you're looking for by then, you will be fulfilled"
Rogue sighed and pulled out of her adoptive mother's embrace, "Ah better start unpakin'"
Irene nodded and left.
Rogue opened her duffel and pulled out her things, tossing them into her old dresser absently, she then went to the bathroom and studied her reflection in the mirror.
Rogue felt cold, not the kind of cold you could melt off by cuddling in front of the fire, the cold that was her mask, her hard exterior, it was starting to seep inside her soul and would not be easily removed.
She was becoming her mask.
Rogue shook her head, turning from the Goth that was her, she headed towards Wanda's room, stopping at the door to listen in and hearing two familiar voices chatting quietly, the ghost of a once radiant smile appeared for the briefest instant on her lips.
She walked into the room, her teammates pausing to acknowledge her as she sat on the bed with them and conversation started up again.
"When do you think are fist mission's gonna be?" Kitty asked, she was surprised at how well the girl was taking this fast transition, she seemed much calmer then earlier, but Rogue of all people knew the very significant difference between "seem" and "was".
"Knowing Mystique, probably sometime tonight" Rogue answered, Wanda agreed, "She told me we'd be up against the Acolytes again, apparently my father couldn't resist a challenge and has come out of hiding long enough for us to lure him into a trap"
"If Mystique kills Magneto, like, tonight, then what's she gonna do?" Wanda gave the Valley girl a concerned expression, "You've never been in this line of work, have you?"
Kitty shook her head, Rogue proceeded to explain, "Mystique doesn't want Magneto dead, she wants him to suffer, too many things went haywire with their past business relations. Plus she's still harboring a major grudge against the chrome-dome for a load personal reasons"
"I'm the one that wants to kill my father anyway, if he sheds any blood, it will be on my hands" revenge clung thickly to the Scarlet Witches words.
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"Mystique has foiled my plot" Magneto said angrily, arms crossed, standing in front of his Acolytes, "But we shall not be intimidated, I have called a place for battle against her team, to test them, you will be fighting against a strong force, I trust you wont disapoint me"
Gambit knew he would have no time to contemplate Rogue now, something bad was in the air, he pulled up his façade, wishing for everything in the world that he didn't have to do this.
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The new Brotherhood emerged from the shadows, clad in black, eyes narrowed, faces expressionless.
They didn't waist a millisecond with pre-war pleasantries, immediately the fighting began.
The landscape was a wide stretch of bare concrete, save for a few abandoned buildings scattered around, Wanda, upon not finding Magneto within sight, took on Sabertooth, rushing at him, then forwards flipping over his head when he made a grab for her, landing expertly behind him.
Acolytes got the message right off, the girls were giving them a chance to prove themselves, instead of quickly taking them out with their powers, they were challenging them in hand-to-hand combat.
An honorable gesture as far as Magneto was concerned so he instructed his team not to use their powers either, unless provoked.
Kitty found herself trapped between Pyro and Colossus, she smirked, phased through a storage house behind her, making her way promptly to the roof in no time at all, then crouching on the edge, hidden by the shadows.
When Peter and St. John got close enough to each other, St. John lit up his flame thrower to try and see her, but Kitty was too quick, she somersaulted through the air, grabbing onto the railing of the fire escape and swinging around it, her boots making contact with both boys faces.
Rogue was currently facing down Gambit, feet spread in a fighting stance as they circled each other, neither daring to make the first move, their opponent was too unpredictable, and with both being brought up in the tricks of the trade, too predictable as well.
Rogue finally saw her advantage, she back flipped, hands making contact on a crate, and with amazing agility, landed herself behind a dumpster.
She pushed it towards him, only giving her a split-second's distraction, just enough to swipe his bo-staff and knock his legs out from under him.
He was quick though, with speed that would've put Pietro to shame, jumping up and tossing a card at her feet, ignoring his boss's orders.
Then it was as if everyone sensed the change in game strategy, to say all hell broke loose would have been an understatement, Gambit had worked on his mental shields, they were much stronger than earlier that afternoon.
*Come prepared or leave dead* Rogue thought with dry humor, she discarded her telepathy, counting out mind control, and put extra doses of concentration into her telekinesis, easily lifting Remy in the air, but not so easily keeping him there.
Throwing cards every chance he got put strain on her mental ability, so he began bobbing up and down as Rogue moved forward to absorb him.
Mean while all Kitty could do was phase through Pyro and Peter's attempts to hurt her, and occasionally throw them a blow herself.
Wanda on the other hand took out Sabertooth faster then a pile of weekend's trash at the Institute, he was hexed and unconscious before Mystique found Magneto's convenient hiding spot.
Wanda clenched her teeth in rage that had been pent up for years, unleashing all her fury as soon as she saw her father's covered face.
Buildings started to collapse, fire erupted everywhere, debris tumbled dangerously close to the mutants now caught in heated crossfire.
Instinct took Rogue over immediately she allowed Remy to drop and grabbed his arm, "C'mon, Swamp Rat, this is gonna be one deadly reunion that we don't wanna stick around for"
They passed Kitty who was phasing herself an the other two Acolytes through jagged metal and charred brick that feel from overhead, "Move it, Kitty- kat, soon's we get these goons outta here we're coming back for her!"
Shadowcat knew better then to be offended by her friend's harsh tone, then needed to hurry so they could stop Wanda from killing herself.
As soon as they got the others to safety they rushed back into the destruction and searched for their teammate.
The Scarlet Witch stood over her father who was forced to his knees under all the unrestrained power she was throwing at him, "You will pay" her calm demeanor added a freaky aura to the scene of carnage she'd created around her.
Rogue saw that it was too late, what was coming next was inevitable, Magneto, Eric Lensher/Maximoff, would die.
Kitty and Rogue rushed out of the inferno.
"Will she make it?" Kitty asked in desperate hope, after a pause Rogue answered with confidence, "Don't sweat it, Sugah, she'll be out before sunrise"
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Remy woke up in an unfamiliar house, causing him instant alert.
He was up with a charged card in hand, the motion going faster than Quicksilver could blink, "Unless you want the next ten years taken off your life span, Ah suggest you put that thing away, Swamp Rat"
Rogue was leaning against the doorframe, glaring at him, one hand ungloved, he smirked as last night's events came back into his mind.
He did as he was told and the card was flicked up his sleeve after discharging, he wasn't the least bit upset at that moment, in fact, he felt like singing, something along the lines of 'Ding-dong the bastard's gone'
Rogue fought to keep down a smile at his thoughts, "Yea, he's dead, and Wanda's recovering" the momentary humor left her, she scowled.
"What's wrong, Cher`e?" Rogue was suddenly in her mask again, "Nothin', Cajun" she left before he could question her further, that didn't keep him from following her though, he figured they weren't exactly on speaking terms.
They came into the kitchen, Kitty, Irene, St. John, Mystique, and Peter were sitting at the table.
It was a tense atmosphere.
"I trust you will be going back to your semi-normal, pitiful lives after this" it was a statement more than a question that Mystique directed at the Acolytes.
Gambit shot Rogue a 'look', she displayed absolutely no emotion on this comment, he sighed, "Oui" he murmured in response to Raven, although he doubted any of them would be able to go back to their lives before Magneto, and Xavier might not welcome them with open arms, so where that left him, well, for him and Colossus that all depended on two certain girls.
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(A/N: I surprised myself with this chapter, I hope you guys liked it:)
J.D.: "Had writer's block, sorry for the wait, you can blame it on Johnny boy"
St. John: "Ain't no way 'm takin' the rap for this, mate, y'are on your own"
J.D.: "Oh you'll take the blame, if you ever wanna get hooked up with Wanda"
St. John: "I..you can't...that's no fair! Why couldn't the universe give me Gambit's roll? That friggin' lucky bloak is a practical god when it comes to the ladies"
J.D.: "And you're a desperate Aussie that always gets the short end of the stick, poor baby, I just might let you play with your flame thrower after this chappy"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
A silence fell over the hardware store, Kitty and Rogue were both lost in thought.
After a few minutes Mystique began to grow impatient, but not wanting to ruin her chance at successfully winning the two over, she kept quiet.
Wanda watched Gambit, Colossus, and Pyro's reactions carefully, St. John obviously couldn't care less, Remy looked as if he desperately wanted to say something, though Rogue still had his mouth clamped shut, and Peter was staring with concern at Shadowcat.
"Alright" Rogue's voice echoed loudly in the ears of everyone present, she glanced at Kitty who slowly nodded her head, "But only on our terms"
Raven gave a cool nod, signaling her to proceed.
"No battles against the X-men, and you have to stop harassing them" Rogue prepared herself for an argument, surprisingly none came.
"Fine, go get your things and meet me at Destiny's old house" then she left.
Weariness overcame the new BoM.
Wanda, Rogue, and Kitty exchanged saddened looks, Wanda's was of sympathy, knowing how hard it would be for them to leave their family, having lost a mother and close friend herself.
*Don't put yourself through this, Cher`e* Rogue flinched at Remy's plea in her head, she released her telekinetic hold on his body and he fell to the floor, "What's it to you, Swamp Rat?" she hissed.
Before he could answer she grabbed Kitty by the hand, "Wanda, Ah think we'll need help packing"
The Scarlet Witch came up beside them and her and Rogue put a comforting arm around a crying Kitty, heading back towards the mansion.
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Irene hung her head in grief, she hadn't been able to get in contact with Rogue soon enough, now the girls would suffer great emotional pain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Rogue motioned for Kitty and Wanda to head upstairs while she dealt with the rest of the X-men.
"Rogue, you can't be serious" Kurt said, even as tears threatened to fall from his eyes, Rogue felt a stab of pain, *Why do ya'll have to make this so difficult?* out loud she said, "There's nothin' you can do to change our minds, not that some of you would want to" she glared pointedly at Jean and Scott.
"Listen, Stripes, you know the consequences of rejoining Mystique so why are you doin' this?" asked Logan.
"'Cause Ah don't want to live in a place that treats me like an eggshell, like Ah could break any moment, and because.." she trailed off, "All you need to know is Kitty and Ah are leaving" she stalked up to her room, no one followed, *What else were you expecting?* she thought bitterly.
Kitty and Wanda had already gotten all their stuff packed, and without another word they were off, nobody tried to stop them.
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Ororo rose in the air, her ice blue eyes flashing with anger than turned white, "Why did you not stop them?" lightning cracked outside in it's godess's fury, Logan unsheathed his claws with the same rage.
"Yea, Chuck" he growled.
Xavier raised his hands in attempt to calm the two teachers, "Rogue's choice to leave at this time, I sense, has to do with something much greater than her insecurities, if we were to go after her we would only be interfering with her search for completeness, I believe there is no cause to worry"
Logan's eyes narrowed, but he relented, Storm, however, wasn't satisfied with the explanation for the Professor's lack of action, "That is Rogue, what about Katharine?"
"Kitty and Rogue share a special bond, they are inseparable, they need each other to be near through this struggle" his answer was confident.
Wolverine reached a hand up and gently tugged Ororo's ankle until she floated back down and the skies cleared, she still looked upset, leaning on Logan for support.
"It's okay, Darlin'" he soothed, "They'll be back" he escorted her to her room, leaving a group of saddened students behind, too hurt over another loss to notice their mentors out of character behavior.
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Rogue sat in her old bedroom, head resting on Irene's shoulder, "Maybe Ah'm being selfish" the Goth confided, "Maybe Ah should've just kept it in"
Destiny gave her a half hug, "You are not being selfish, dear, it's about time you did something for yourself, you can't keep these feelings bottled up forever, you need to face what's been eating you up all these years"
"But you think it's bad for me to be doing Mystique's dirty work" Rogue had read Irene's feelings about the situation.
"My first prediction was that it would bring nothing but disaster, now I see something else in your future, it'll be months before Raven is able to carry out her plan, so if you can find what you're looking for by then, you will be fulfilled"
Rogue sighed and pulled out of her adoptive mother's embrace, "Ah better start unpakin'"
Irene nodded and left.
Rogue opened her duffel and pulled out her things, tossing them into her old dresser absently, she then went to the bathroom and studied her reflection in the mirror.
Rogue felt cold, not the kind of cold you could melt off by cuddling in front of the fire, the cold that was her mask, her hard exterior, it was starting to seep inside her soul and would not be easily removed.
She was becoming her mask.
Rogue shook her head, turning from the Goth that was her, she headed towards Wanda's room, stopping at the door to listen in and hearing two familiar voices chatting quietly, the ghost of a once radiant smile appeared for the briefest instant on her lips.
She walked into the room, her teammates pausing to acknowledge her as she sat on the bed with them and conversation started up again.
"When do you think are fist mission's gonna be?" Kitty asked, she was surprised at how well the girl was taking this fast transition, she seemed much calmer then earlier, but Rogue of all people knew the very significant difference between "seem" and "was".
"Knowing Mystique, probably sometime tonight" Rogue answered, Wanda agreed, "She told me we'd be up against the Acolytes again, apparently my father couldn't resist a challenge and has come out of hiding long enough for us to lure him into a trap"
"If Mystique kills Magneto, like, tonight, then what's she gonna do?" Wanda gave the Valley girl a concerned expression, "You've never been in this line of work, have you?"
Kitty shook her head, Rogue proceeded to explain, "Mystique doesn't want Magneto dead, she wants him to suffer, too many things went haywire with their past business relations. Plus she's still harboring a major grudge against the chrome-dome for a load personal reasons"
"I'm the one that wants to kill my father anyway, if he sheds any blood, it will be on my hands" revenge clung thickly to the Scarlet Witches words.
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"Mystique has foiled my plot" Magneto said angrily, arms crossed, standing in front of his Acolytes, "But we shall not be intimidated, I have called a place for battle against her team, to test them, you will be fighting against a strong force, I trust you wont disapoint me"
Gambit knew he would have no time to contemplate Rogue now, something bad was in the air, he pulled up his façade, wishing for everything in the world that he didn't have to do this.
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The new Brotherhood emerged from the shadows, clad in black, eyes narrowed, faces expressionless.
They didn't waist a millisecond with pre-war pleasantries, immediately the fighting began.
The landscape was a wide stretch of bare concrete, save for a few abandoned buildings scattered around, Wanda, upon not finding Magneto within sight, took on Sabertooth, rushing at him, then forwards flipping over his head when he made a grab for her, landing expertly behind him.
Acolytes got the message right off, the girls were giving them a chance to prove themselves, instead of quickly taking them out with their powers, they were challenging them in hand-to-hand combat.
An honorable gesture as far as Magneto was concerned so he instructed his team not to use their powers either, unless provoked.
Kitty found herself trapped between Pyro and Colossus, she smirked, phased through a storage house behind her, making her way promptly to the roof in no time at all, then crouching on the edge, hidden by the shadows.
When Peter and St. John got close enough to each other, St. John lit up his flame thrower to try and see her, but Kitty was too quick, she somersaulted through the air, grabbing onto the railing of the fire escape and swinging around it, her boots making contact with both boys faces.
Rogue was currently facing down Gambit, feet spread in a fighting stance as they circled each other, neither daring to make the first move, their opponent was too unpredictable, and with both being brought up in the tricks of the trade, too predictable as well.
Rogue finally saw her advantage, she back flipped, hands making contact on a crate, and with amazing agility, landed herself behind a dumpster.
She pushed it towards him, only giving her a split-second's distraction, just enough to swipe his bo-staff and knock his legs out from under him.
He was quick though, with speed that would've put Pietro to shame, jumping up and tossing a card at her feet, ignoring his boss's orders.
Then it was as if everyone sensed the change in game strategy, to say all hell broke loose would have been an understatement, Gambit had worked on his mental shields, they were much stronger than earlier that afternoon.
*Come prepared or leave dead* Rogue thought with dry humor, she discarded her telepathy, counting out mind control, and put extra doses of concentration into her telekinesis, easily lifting Remy in the air, but not so easily keeping him there.
Throwing cards every chance he got put strain on her mental ability, so he began bobbing up and down as Rogue moved forward to absorb him.
Mean while all Kitty could do was phase through Pyro and Peter's attempts to hurt her, and occasionally throw them a blow herself.
Wanda on the other hand took out Sabertooth faster then a pile of weekend's trash at the Institute, he was hexed and unconscious before Mystique found Magneto's convenient hiding spot.
Wanda clenched her teeth in rage that had been pent up for years, unleashing all her fury as soon as she saw her father's covered face.
Buildings started to collapse, fire erupted everywhere, debris tumbled dangerously close to the mutants now caught in heated crossfire.
Instinct took Rogue over immediately she allowed Remy to drop and grabbed his arm, "C'mon, Swamp Rat, this is gonna be one deadly reunion that we don't wanna stick around for"
They passed Kitty who was phasing herself an the other two Acolytes through jagged metal and charred brick that feel from overhead, "Move it, Kitty- kat, soon's we get these goons outta here we're coming back for her!"
Shadowcat knew better then to be offended by her friend's harsh tone, then needed to hurry so they could stop Wanda from killing herself.
As soon as they got the others to safety they rushed back into the destruction and searched for their teammate.
The Scarlet Witch stood over her father who was forced to his knees under all the unrestrained power she was throwing at him, "You will pay" her calm demeanor added a freaky aura to the scene of carnage she'd created around her.
Rogue saw that it was too late, what was coming next was inevitable, Magneto, Eric Lensher/Maximoff, would die.
Kitty and Rogue rushed out of the inferno.
"Will she make it?" Kitty asked in desperate hope, after a pause Rogue answered with confidence, "Don't sweat it, Sugah, she'll be out before sunrise"
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Remy woke up in an unfamiliar house, causing him instant alert.
He was up with a charged card in hand, the motion going faster than Quicksilver could blink, "Unless you want the next ten years taken off your life span, Ah suggest you put that thing away, Swamp Rat"
Rogue was leaning against the doorframe, glaring at him, one hand ungloved, he smirked as last night's events came back into his mind.
He did as he was told and the card was flicked up his sleeve after discharging, he wasn't the least bit upset at that moment, in fact, he felt like singing, something along the lines of 'Ding-dong the bastard's gone'
Rogue fought to keep down a smile at his thoughts, "Yea, he's dead, and Wanda's recovering" the momentary humor left her, she scowled.
"What's wrong, Cher`e?" Rogue was suddenly in her mask again, "Nothin', Cajun" she left before he could question her further, that didn't keep him from following her though, he figured they weren't exactly on speaking terms.
They came into the kitchen, Kitty, Irene, St. John, Mystique, and Peter were sitting at the table.
It was a tense atmosphere.
"I trust you will be going back to your semi-normal, pitiful lives after this" it was a statement more than a question that Mystique directed at the Acolytes.
Gambit shot Rogue a 'look', she displayed absolutely no emotion on this comment, he sighed, "Oui" he murmured in response to Raven, although he doubted any of them would be able to go back to their lives before Magneto, and Xavier might not welcome them with open arms, so where that left him, well, for him and Colossus that all depended on two certain girls.
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(A/N: I surprised myself with this chapter, I hope you guys liked it:)