Author's Notes:
Well, here it is, people, the final chapter of this story of mine. I hope, that you will enjoy reading this chapter of this story of mine. All right, anyway…
Before starting this chapter of this story of mine, I would like to say sorry to everybody for it took me a very long time indeed to write this chapter of this story of mine, slightly more then two months to be more precise.
Also, I would like to once again thank both my reviewers – RichardRahl and Agent Regina. Thank you very much, you wonderful people, for reading and reviewing this humble story of mine!
RichardRahl, I thank you very much for all the wonderful compliments you gave me and this story of mine, as well as for putting me on your Author Alert list and providing me with an advice regarding my story's location. However, I truly believe that each story should be placed into an appropriate category, and truth to tell it really disappoint me seeing so many stories at fanfiction.net being put into the inappropriate categories. And so, I intend to keep this story of mine in the category where it belongs to, i.e. Misc/Crossovers, and just hope that there are more people who are reading this story of mine, even though they aren't reviewing it. Oh, and by the way, everything you have written in your last review was perfectly readable, however I am very sorry to hear about your virus problem, even though I am quite sure that you dealt with this virus problem of yours by now, since slightly more then two months have passed since you wrote your review for the previous chapter of this story of mine.
Wow, Regina, you don't know who the Shadows are?! Well… BRO smiles …I guess this story of mine will be even more interesting for you then, as it will contain quite a few surprises for you! But the way, this very chapter of this story of mine is going to involve Shadows (who, as you definitely guessed by now, aren't really gone) some more. Of course, I remember quite little of them from the original Babylon 5, just their general ideology as well as some of their abilities and technologies, and so, it is rather likely that in this story of mine Shadows will be more or less different for how they were made in the original Babylon 5. But I truly hope that readers will forgive me for that. Oh, and I would like to once again assure you, that you should never worry about lazy me overworking myself… BRO winks …For while I truly enjoy writing fanfiction very much, I never deny myself some rest!
Also, I would like to mention, that I am once again changing the genre of this story, this time to "Action/Adventure/Angst". I did a little bit more thinking about where this story is going, and finally I have come to conclusion that "Action/Adventure/Angst" genre will be most appropriate for this story of mine. If you have any comments about whether "Action/Adventure/Angst" genre will be appropriate for this story of mine or no, please give them to me in your reviews, okay? Not that this story's genre matters much now, with this being the last chapter of this story of mine, but still…
Oh, and one last thing before I'll get to this chapter of this story of mine. In this chapter of this story of mine some things spoken in alien languages (especially the names, and especially the VERY LONG names, like those that contain many thousands of letters all of which are different, LOL!) will be simply untranslatable. In such cases, I will place "(untranslatable word)" comment instead of actual word.
All right, and now without further ado, let this chapter of this story of mine start, and let this story of mine end with it!
The FinalThe dark and gloomy room, which in fact was a bridge of a black spider-like alien spaceship, was empty. At least, it seemed to be empty for any unaided eye. In reality, however, it was far from being empty.
In reality, a few dark silhouettes occupied the room; and the most of them were before a strange piece of alien machinery. Yet they were invisible to any unaided eye, unless they would choose to become visible themselves.
All silhouettes looked more or less alike, or at least it would seem so to any other being, should it somehow be able to spot them. They seemed to be larger then human beings, though it was difficult to tell for sure as they weren't humanoid at all; in fact, they looked more like giant multi-legged insectoids. The closest things they could be compared with were spiders, ants, or mantises, but it was a very distant correlation; for even though they had some similarities with each of these insects, they still looked very different from them.
Suddenly the door into the room opened, and another similar silhouette walked into the room. While it didn't seem to be in hurry, it still moved rather fast, it seemed, that speed was a natural attribute for these alien creatures.
"How is the female survivor?" One of the alien creatures asked, with some difficulty its alien voice could be recognized as male.
"She is sleeping." The alien creature, who has just walked into the room replied, this one's voice could be recognized as female, although also with some difficulty.
"Does she suspect anything?" The third alien creature asked, this one's voice could be recognized as male, although also with some difficulty.
"I believe that this is what they call "willing delusion"." The second alien creature replied. "She believes just because she wants to believe, even though her mind surely tells her otherwise."
"I still fail to see the wisdom in taking her in." The fourth alien creature commented, this one's voice could be recognized as female, although also with some difficulty.
"They are… were the dead end in evolutionary process." The fourth alien creature continued. "Growing bitter from their inability to evolve farther, they eventually caused their own self-destruction. Even if this wouldn't happen, they would eventually be annihilated by one of the greater races. Survival of the fittest – such is the way of evolution. This being so, I remain puzzled; why did you choose to interfere this time?"
The first and the third alien creatures – the males, exchanged glances, and then the first alien creature spoke. "Indeed, the race known as humans were believed to reach the end of its evolutionary potential, and this being so, none of them were expected to survive the recent cataclysm. Our presence here was just…" The first alien creature made a short pause, as if thinking about what to say next, and then continued. "…To ensure that everything would go the way it was expected to. However, the fact that these two somehow managed to survive the cataclysm suggests that we could have erred in our assumption about the human race. Or, to speak more precisely, while the most of humankind might indeed have no future as a race, these two must have more potential then the rest of their race, perhaps even the potential to evolve to a higher state of being and to give birth to a race greater then humankind ever was. Indeed, the two survivors represent the both genders of human race, and so they will be able to breed and thus to restore the human race. What do you think about this matter, Professor (untranslatable word)?"
"The way you put it, Captain (untranslatable word), I am beginning to see the wisdom in your words." The fourth alien creature replied. "Indeed, the fact that the both genders of the human race were represented by the two survivors can be more then a coincidence, for evolution indeed works in the strange ways. And are we not evolution's primary tool? I say we need at least make a through and careful study of the female specimen before rushing to a hasty decision. And I also say that we also need to recover the male specimen immediately."
"Perhaps that is what we will do." The first alien creature said. "Professor (untranslatable word), what can you say about the female specimen?"
"Her mental capabilities seem to be well above the human average." The second alien creature replied. "While analysis suggests that she is either a child or a young adult by humans' standards, her mind seems to be developed well above what the most of fully-grown humans were capable of. Also, her performance against the Centaurian battleship suggests that she has a very powerful though most likely poorly developed telepathic powers. Her physical capabilities are also seem well above what we have seen the most of fully-grown humans to be capable of. In fact, I believe that she would be able to fight in unarmed combat with members of such physically strong races as Narns and Drazi, and not the weakest members of these races, on equal terms, and she likely even would be able to beat them. I am not sure, however, which of her abilities are inherent and which are results of her symbiosis with the Soul Hunters' frigate, which has apparently been modified with our technologies. In many ways, ours and Soul Hunters' technologies are somewhat akin to each other, as we both use some organic components for our spaceship; yet in reality we know very little about Soul Hunters' technologies, and thus we cannot be sure about what symbiosis with the Soul Hunters' frigate could have done with her. I must also add, however, that the female specimen seems to be somewhat unstable mentally, once again it could be a result of her symbiosis with a Soul Hunters' frigate, but I suspect that this is something different, possibly a result of a cataclysm which she was forced to live through. Either way, this mental unstability presents a certain degree of danger to us, especially taking her possible telepathic powers into the account. I believe, that she was able to disrupt the core of the Centaurian battleship and thus able to destroy it, and this means that she will likewise be able to disrupt the core of our own battleship if she will choose to do so, or perhaps even accidentally. With this being so, it is needless to say that she presents a mortal danger to us. But I believe that you, Captain (untranslatable word), as well as my colleague, Professor (untranslatable word), are right; this is too much of an interesting opportunity for a study to dispose of the female specimen despite the obvious danger that she poses for us."
"It is decided then." The first alien creature said. "We will collect the male specimen and return back to (untranslatable word)."
"Excuse me, Captain (untranslatable word), but I wouldn't suggest such course of action." The second alien creature objected. "The female specimen seem to harbour conflicting feeling about the male specimen, and I have absolutely no idea what would they do when and if they will meet again. I would suggest preventing the tow specimen from meeting each other, for some while at least."
"We can try to isolate the specimens from each other." The third alien creature suggested.
"Once again, I must say that I wouldn't suggest such course of action." The second alien creature objected once again. "For effectively imprisoning the specimens will definitely set the specimens against us. And while I do not know anything about the male specimen, I am absolutely sure that setting the female specimen against us will be extremely dangerous, perhaps even fatal, to us. Also if we are to win the specimens, or at least the female specimen, to our cause, we need to win her trust and friendship, and this definitely won't be archived should we effectively imprison her. We cannot hold her in our illusions forever, and when these illusions will be removed she must be ready to accept the reality, as well as to accept us for who we are. And to archive this we also must be ready against this time when it comes."
The first alien creature thought for a short while, and then said. "Very well, let him remain on Sol Three for now. The humans never had any real spaceships, and with the Centaurian battleship now gone there is almost no chance for him to escape from Sol Three. And while on Sol Three, he is as good as in our grasp…"
"Excuse me, Captain (untranslatable word), but according to our surveillance the male specimen has established contact with two of surviving Centaurians, those who have managed to escape from the Centaurian battleship before its destruction." The third alien creature said. "And thus, should Centaurians launch a rescue operation, the male specimen will be lost for us, for some while at least."
"So what?" The first alien creature asked. "Centaurians won't be a disturbance to our plans, and neither the male specimen will be…"
"We cannot be sure, as we have never studied the male specimen!" The fourth alien creature commented, daring to interrupt the first alien creature, who appeared to be the Captain, whom some of them were referring to, and thus was in charge of all of them.
"I am against recovering the male specimen right now, but nevertheless I must admit that Professor (untranslatable word) has the point." The second alien creature said. "We cannot be sure in what the male specimen is capable of until we will perform a through analysis of him."
"I see." The first alien creature said. "But, Professor (untranslatable word), if the male specimen will be beyond our reach, wouldn't it be better if some out civilization would take care of him?"
"This depends." The fourth alien creature replied. "Any development, whether it is brought by us or by… Some other powerful civilization is in favour of evolution. However, the male specimen's prolonged contact with one of the lesser races will risk bringing degradation rather then development, especially if the male specimen will be above this particular race."
"Hmmm… This may be so…" The first alien creature said. "But Centaurians are among most developed of the lesser races, and the approaching war, that is going to wipe out the weaklings, will definitely bring Centaurians to the higher state of being."
"Yes, but only if they will survive it." The fourth alien creature said. "Survival of the fittest is the only way, after all."
"All right, but this is going away from the main topic." The third alien creature commented. "We are not discussing the fate of Centaurians, we are discussing whether we should leave the male specimen with them or not."
Silence fall upon the room for about a minute or so, and then the first alien creature spoke.
"When the war will erupt, Centaurians will be among the first involved into it." The first alien creature said. "If the male specimen will prove himself worthy, Centaurians will definitely try to use him in this war. And thus, they will unintentionally set up a test of him; whether he is fit enough to survive and perhaps someday to give birth to a new race, the reborn human race, or not. Why not let Centaurians do our work themselves? And on our part, we will test the female specimen, to ensure that she is fit enough to survive and likewise someday to give birth to a new race, or no. Although it seems that there could be little doubts about the female specimen's capabilities. Any other comments?"
Three other alien creatures remained silent, and thus, the decision was made.
Meanwhile, down on Earth…
"Hmmm… This tastes kinda strange, but delicious." Millie said, as she was eating some cookies of unknown to Shinji sort – they were among the food that Sandro and Shinji had brought from the city.
It also will be important to mention, that most of the food and drink that Sandro and Shinji have found was of unknown to Shinji sort, the only exceptions were world-renown soft drinks, like Sprite, Fanta and Coca Cola. Also, nearly all the signs on they encountered were of written on unknown to Shinji language, and the few others were written in English language, that Shinji couldn't really read either. In short, wherever they were right now, it was definitely not Japan; indeed, Shinji saw the whole Japan annihilated before his own eyes, when the Black Moon broke free before beneath it…
"Hay, these drink isn't bad either, although it doesn't even began to compare with some of ours!" Sandro proclaimed, as he took another gulp from a can of what Shinji thought to be some sort of beer or possibly some other alcohol.
"Are you sure that it is okay to drink so much of this stuff, taking our current circumstances into account?" Mille asked. "After all, Shinji thought that it might be an alcohol of some kind…"
"Hay, if there's any alcohol in there, it's too little to even notice it!" Sandro proclaimed, as he took a final gulp out of his can and thrown it some fifteen feet away to the ground, to join four others.
"At times like this, I think that your manners can use some improvement, Sandro." Millie commented.
"What, even in an uninhabited place like this?!" Sandro asked in surprise, but then quickly excused himself, say. "Sorry, Millie-sama."
"Yes, even in a place like this." Millie replied, then letting out a sigh.
Then for some while a silence has fallen, interrupted only by Sandro's opening of yet another can.
"Okay, so what are we going to do now?" Shinji finally asked, breaking the silence.
"I guess we all can use some sleep." Sandro replied. "Shinji, you and I are going to take turn staying on watch."
"That's not what I meant." Shinji said. "I meant that…"
"Hay, we can't really do anything except for waiting, remember?!" Sandro said, interrupting Shinji. "Anyway, I presume that you know how to use this?" Sandro drew his blaster pistol out of his holster and demonstrating it to Shinji. "I suppose it is not much different form some of your handguns, is it?"
"Ummm…" Shinji said. "I never actually had any experience with handguns before."
"What, but from what you told us, you were in a military, weren't you?" Sandro asked, raising a single eyebrow.
"Well, yes, but it was completely different." Shinji explained. "I was never trained with anything but Evangelions."
"Specialized training; leads to complete inability under unexpected circumstances." Sandro muttered under his nose with a sigh.
"All right, well then we'll…" Sandro began, but then fall into silence, as he couldn't think of what use Shinji would be on the watch then, except for possibly crying out loud before getting captured or killed by a possible attacker.
"I'll take a turn staying on watch then." Millie suddenly said.
"But you are…" Sandro began to speak…
"Yes, I am also untrained in the use of any weapons." Millie said, interrupting Sandro. "But I have other means of protecting myself, and in worst possible case I will be able to sent telepathic messages to two of you, awakening two of you far more surely then any cry or alarm."
"Alright, I'll take the first watch and you'll take the second, Millie-sama." Sandro said finally, as he was unable to think of any other way to handle the situation.
It was nearly morning when Shinji and Sandro, who had relinquished his watch duty to Millie not a long time ago, heard Millie's voice in their heads, "Hurry, wake up! I think our communicator is picking up something!"
Sandro almost immediately got out of his bedroll, which was one of the two bedrolls that he took out of Stiletto's survival kit, and rushed into Stiletto's cockpit, where Millie also were. It will be important to mention, that neither Sandro nor Millie bothered to take their clothes off before going to sleep, and after a brief hesitation, Shinji also choose to follow their example.
In Stiletto's cockpit, Millie was trying to adjust Stiletto's communicational systems to the proper radio waves, but failed to succeed in this task; as Stiletto's communicational systems were only beeping in response.
"Let me try it." Sandro said.
Millie obediently stood up, relinquishing co-pilot's chair to Sandro, which he immediately took. About half a minute or so later, Shinji, who needed more time to get up then Sandro did, also joined Sandro and Millie in Stiletto's cockpit.
"There, I think I got it!" Sandro said victoriously about another half a minute or so later.
There was a very brief delay, and then a male voice spoke through the communicator in clear Centauri language (Japanese language for Shinji), "Does anybody hear us? This is Valarius of Centauri Space Forces. Repeating, this is Valarius of Centauri Space Forces. Does anybody hear us?"
After hearing this, Sandro couldn't help but to smile broadly, and Millie smiled as well, although much more reservedly. After watching his new companions' reaction for a brief moment, Shinji also smiled reservedly; for it seemed that rescue party, which his new companions didn't really believed would ever arrive, has arrived against all the odds, and very soon at that.
"This is Stiletto of Centauri Space Forces!" Replied Sandro happily through the communicator. "Pleased to hear you, Valarius!"
Meanwhile, the black spider-like alien spaceship kept at some distance from the small fleet, that so unexpectedly jumped into the Solar System. Partially hidden by the Planet Sol Three's only moon, and protected by the very best stealth systems in the universe, the black spider-like alien spaceship remained undetected; even though the race that has just arrived to the Solar System tended to boast about their superior technologies, including their superior scanners and radars.
"They have arrived sooner then we expected, and in force at that." The male alien creature at the black spider-like alien spaceship's bridge, who was usually addressed as a Captain by the black spider-like alien spaceship's crewmembers, said. "How much force did they bring here?"
"Two battleships, six destroyers, and a dozen frigates. We can only speculate on how many fighters do they carry with them." The other alien creature replied. "I'd say this it a little bit too much for a simple search and rescue operation, unless you expect a powerful opposition, that's it."
"They definitely have expected, or perhaps even knew what they will find in here." The first alien creature agreed. "This wasn't supposed to happen. They had not means to know what is going on in here, unless… Unless they have been warned."
"Should we attempt to annihilate them?" The second alien creature asked, even though he has already knew the answer, the only logical one.
"It would be the best course of action, but unfortunately we cannot do that." The first alien creature replied. "Even with our technological superiority and with element of surprise that will definitely be on our side, they will definitely overcome us with their sheer numbers. No, we must return back to (untranslatable word) to make a report, and it is also our duty to deliver the female specimen to (untranslatable word) safely. We will retreat… For now."
Still unnoticed by anybody, the black spider-like alien spaceship drifted away into the blackness of space, where it could open a Hyperspace portal without anybody noticing it…
Some while later, very far away…
A middle-aged Centaurian man, who was dressed in a formal black suit and had his usual for Centaurians black hair done into a rather high crest, sat in the long-range communication room before the rather large screen. The Centaurian man upon the screen appeared to be sitting in some kind of a chair and appeared to be about of the same age as the Centaurian man the long-range communication room, although he was dressed in black military-style uniform with stripes of a Captain of Centauri Space Forces upon it and his hair was done into a somewhat shorter crest.
"As you were predicting, Lord Londo, our battleship that was sent to a reconnaissance mission to the Solar System, and almost all of its crew as well as almost all living creatures on the Planet Sol Three, the only inhabited planet in the whole Solar System, were wiped out."
"Almost all?!" The Centaurian man the long-range communication room – Lord Londo asked, apparently surprised, as he made an emphasis on a word "almost". "Explain yourself, Captain Randel."
"Unlike you were expecting, Lord Londo." The Centaurian man upon the screen – Captain Randel said. "There were a few survivors, two crewmembers from our battleship and one native from the Planet Sol Three. I am currently on my way back to Centauri Prime with them."
"So there were a few survivors, very interesting." Lord Londo muttered under his nose.
"Alright, carry on, Captain Randel." Lord Londo finally said, ending their brief conversation.
"Yes, Lord Londo." Captain Randel said, saluting to Lord Londo.
And then, the communication screen went blank.
"A few survivors, that is very very interesting." Lord Londo repeated himself, speaking aloud this time, even though he seemed to be by himself right now. "Survivors are unexpected gift they have given to us. But one way or another, it has begun."
"Yes" Spoke the deep and nearly emotionless voice from somewhere behind Lord Londo, although the source of this voice remained invisible. "It has begun."
And some more while later…
Shinji, wearing his old and quite dirty clothes stood before the large palace, feeling no small uncertainness. The palace as well as the whole city around it, which was a strange but fascinating combination of a very advanced technology and an antique style, was a true wonder in Shinji's eyes, although on the other hand, he had seen more then his share of wonders lately.
"There is no need for worrying." The Centaurian man, who stood in front and a little to the right from Shinji, and whom Shinji now knew as Captain Randel Visson, said, half-turning to Shinji. "You still have more then enough time to prepare yourself for the meeting, forgive me for saying so, but especially since you are desperately in need for a bath and new clothes. And then… Then Emperor Turhan himself will be most eager to hear your story."
"But why me?" Shinji asked weakly. "Why it always have to be me?"
"Because you have seen and experienced things that nobody else seen or experienced." Captain Randel replied. "Meeting with Emperor Turhan himself is a great honor, and still you view it as if it were a bad thing."
"But I am afraid." Shinji admitted weakly.
"This is only natural." Captain Randel said. "But with time, the fear will pass. Now, would you please follow me?"
"All right." Shinji replied weakly.
Captain Randel gave Shinji a brief smile, and walked towards the palace's doors, leaving Shinji no other choice but to follow him…
And six months later…
"So, you are leaving tomorrow, right?" Shinji asked Sandro, who became Shinji's only real friend on Centauri Prime during the six months he spent helping Shinji to get accustomed with Centaurian environment.
Currently both of them were standing on the balcony of Shinji's apartment in the Imperial City on Centauri Prime.
"Yes, I've got an assignment to one of defense cruisers stationed on Centauri Beta One. Nothing special so far, just a Junior Grade Lieutenant, but I expect eventual and possibly even quick promotion. And anyway, when you will finish your studies, perhaps we will get a chance to work together, eh?"
"You know, I am still unsure about this." Shinji said, sounding rather uncertain indeed. "I mean, me a Space Forces Officer?"
"Why not?" Sandro asked in return. "You will never know until you try it. And moreover, you have already had some military training, although of completely different kind, and learning the second field is always easier then the first one, or so I have heard. Oh well, your future will be in your two hands from now on, and as about me, I need to go to prepare myself for my tomorrow's departure. Unit we meet again, Shinji."
"Yeah, until we meet again, Sandro." Shinji said.
And then Sandro left the room, leaving Shinji alone with his thoughts…
Meanwhile, very far away…
Along with many others, she hovered not far from the planet, ever ready to destroy possible uninvited guests. Strangely enough, the system she was currently in didn't have a real sun, but it had a strange blazing nebulosity nearby, that gave more or less the same amount of lighting as an ordinary sun would normally give. The surface of the system's only planet looked uninhabitable, because of many defeats its dwellers have suffered over the eons. Yet she knew, that deep underneath the planet's surface there were many great underground cities that housed a race nearly as ancient as the time itself.
She spent a month in one of these cities, before its dwellers, the Shadows as their race was called, have finally opened her eyes to reality. Despite all her delusions, her mother was long dead, as were all the people of her race, all but the one whom she didn't even want to remember. By then, her spaceship, which has essentially became just another form of her by then, was fully repaired by the Shadows, and thus she was free to leave if she would choose to do so. But what was the point? Her race was annihilated and her homeworld was devastated about as much as Shadows' homeworld was, and all of this was essentially done by the hands of the one person; the person, who got as close to becoming her friend as anybody ever got. And since she has never even considered suicide to be an option, the only choice she had was to start her life anew, and staying on the Shadows' side was as good choice as any for her. In fact, it was much better then anything else she could imagine, at least here she had purpose and no small respect; for despite the briefness of her training, she was already considered a very good spaceship pilot, and she was expected to become one of the best of their spaceship pilots or even the very best of their spaceship pilots, and very soon at that. And while as a spaceship she wasn't as powerful as some of their larger spaceships, her skills in piloting more then made up for her smaller size and limited amount of armor and weapons.
She put all these thoughts of hers away, as suddenly the blackness of space turned orange at some distance from the Shadows' fleet, as many Hyperspace portal opened, letting another somewhat smaller fleet into the system. She didn't have to mentally prepare herself, instead she had to restrain herself to fight off her desire to rush forward and try herself in real battle after many months of intensive trainings. But not today, for she knew that these were not enemies who came into the system, but ones of the few allies the Shadows still had.
Still, treachery was not unheard of, and thus she carefully watched approaching mother ships, each of which carried a lot of attached frigate-class ships under its bottom, and appeared to be ready to release them against the possible enemies at any moment. But as mother ships slowly approached the Shadows' fleet, it became clear that even if their allies were treacherous in nature, they had no intention of trying their combat prowess against that of ones of the first ones. According to their custom, a single ambassadorial capsule separated from the flagship, heading towards the planet's surface. Now there will be a round of formal negotiations, and the race known as Drakh will join their long-time masters for an upcoming war.
She mentally smiled to herself; one way or another, her waiting won't be long now.
Author's Notes:
That is it, people, the last chapter of this story of mine is done. Yes, while a great many things still remain unresolved, this is indeed the end of this story of mine. As always, your reviews with your comments about both this chapter of this story of mine, as well as this story of mine as a whole are definitely welcome.
By the way, as you definitely didn't fail to notice, the ending of this story of mine leaves quite a lot of room for a sequel, and I am likely to be willing to start writing it, but only if at least a few people will be interested in reading it. This being so, if you would like to read the sequel for this story of mine, please don't forget to mention it in your review for this chapter of this story of mine. If at least a few people will be interested in reading the sequel for this story of mine, then I will very likely start writing the sequel for this story of mine sooner or later. Don't forget, however, that it will possibly take me a more or less long time, possibly as much as a few months or possibly even longer, to write even the first chapter of the sequel to this story of mine.
And finally, I would like to thank all the wonderful people who ever bothered to review this story of mine…
Author's Words of Gratitude:
Sippio, even though your review was a rather short one, and even though I don't really know whether you ever read this story of mine beyond the first chapter or no, you were the first one to ever review this story of mine, and I thank you for that oh so very much!
Ultima Tech Incorporated (formerly known as Ultima Bigaroh), it was truly wonderful for me to hear such a gracious compliment from you, especially since I really view you as a very gifted and skilled writer. And you were definitely right back then, my English grammar at the time when I was just beginning to write this story of mine was absolutely horrible, and even now it unfortunately leaves very much to be desired. Also, unfortunately, I don't really know if you have ever read this story beyond the second chapter of it, but something tells me that you didn't. Well, perhaps you have found that the later chapters of this story of mine aren't fully for your liking.
EGBC, just as it was with sippio, I would have really liked your review to be at least a little bit longer. But still, I thank you oh so very much for reading this story of mine at least up to the third chapter of it, and for offering your support to me during the hard times, when a single review was as much as I expected to get for a single chapter of this story of mine.
Galandria the Vampire Queen… Well… I also thank you for at least reviewing this story of mine, although from your review, which you have used primary and only to advertise other people's stories, it is not clear to me whether you read this story of mine at all or not.
RichardRahl, I thank you oh so very much for the enormous amount of support you've offered to me throughout the later part of my writing this story of mine! I am also terribly sorry if my writing of this story of mine wasn't as fast as you would like it to be, but truth to tell, I am rather slow (i.e. terribly lazy ) writer, and if I write at least one chapter for one of my fanfictional stories in a month – that is an achievement for me! Still, I hope that you really enjoyed reading this story of mine, and that I haven't kept you waiting for the new chapters of it for too long. Oh, and by the way, I cannot help wondering, do you have any plans about writing one or few fanfictional stories of your own, RichardRahl?
Scifimimi, I also thank you oh so very much for multiple reviews you have written for this story of mine, although it seems that the latest chapter of it (i.e. chapter nine) wasn't fully for you liking, as you have never bothered to review it, and I don't really know whether you have ever read it or no. Well, I hope that you at least enjoyed those chapters of this story of mine that you have read and reviewed.
And last but definitely not least, I thank my beloved Agent Regina! I am truly happy to know that you have enjoyed reading this story of mine and hope that this chapter of this story of mine as well as this story of mine as whole provided you with a few interesting surprises regarding the mysterious Shadows. I also thank you oh so very much for the enormous amount of support you've offered to me throughout the later part of my writing this story of mine! Oh, and although I have told this to you quite a lot of times already, you really shouldn't worry about lazy me overworking myself, for this will never happen!
And finally, I also thank all those who have possibly read this story of mine, but haven't reviewed it for some reason, and I hope that all these people also enjoyed reading this story of mine to a smaller or greater degree.
– Black Robed One