Disclaimer: copyrights are way overrated anyway.
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Twenty-four years ago…
Deep inside a frozen cave. The subterranean darkness is pierced by artificial light from collective high powered flashlights. A party of five treks deeper into the cavern. Their bodies completely covered by full winter gear. Their faces concealed by masks, goggles, and the hoods of their jackets.
"It's here."
"What's here?"
"This isn't another wild penguin chase is it. I've had more than enough of my share of those during my last stay here."
"Trust me on this one, you've got to see it to believe."
"All I see is more frost in my goggles. Jeez, man, where is this thing?"
"It's right after this next corner, wait till you see it."
They turn the corner. The enter a large cavern blocked by a giant wall of solid ice.
"…There's nothing here!"
"What do you mean nothing? Look!" he points his flash light at the ice wall.
The others collectively follow his beam of light with their own. The collective shine from the flashlights illuminates the ice deep enough to reveal…something…frozen within the ice. A longer glance reveals a lot more things inside.
"…oh…my god."
"…Jesus Christ of Nazareth."
"…unbelievable."
"…what in the blue hell…?"
"See? What did I tell you guys?"
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Twenty-one years ago…
In some anonymous, dimly lit room, in some anonymous location. Two men in laboratory coats stare up onto a large cylindrical glass container filled with a very conspicuous liquid. In the center floats freely a silhouette of some unknown humanoid form.
"Amazing, Allen. Can you believe it?"
"I'm looking at it with my own eyes, Nikolai, and still I have doubts."
"Who do you think she is?"
"A better question would be 'what is she?'"
"I'm afraid there is no way of telling for sure. However with the discovery of her genome structure, who knows what we can accomplish."
"Yes. Her genome exhibit startling properties doesn't it? It has double the base pairs of any terrestrial life form. As well as three extra chromosomes. Do you think this is natural to her?"
"No way of telling for sure. But we can tell what it did for her. With this kind of structure she would have over double, even quadruple, the physical and mental capabilities of even an above average performance rate of a human. Her body would be near invulnerable to any form of bacterial or viral invasion. It would also be able to regenerate tissue, even entire organs and limbs, three hundred times faster than any animal on earth. Also, there is something that can only be described as a strong spiritual energy about her."
"The perfect survivor."
"Can you imagine the applications of this if we can break it down."
"Of course. Just think. An end to all diseases. A solution to restoring all physical and mental handicaps. Safe organ replacement procedures. With her spiritual properties we can learn to utilize bioethiric energies. And who knows what this research could bring after we're gone?"
"This will completely revolutionize the world."
A door opens somewhere along the wall. A woman, also in a lab coat, walks in.
"Dr. Cannes, Dr. Volkov, we're ready to start…"
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Nineteen years ago…
In another anonymous room, there is a screen showing the computerized image of a human fetus. While looking at it observantly, two men talk.
"How is the specimen?"
"He's doing very well."
"Define 'well' for me, Nikolai, if you don't mind."
"Alright. He is already in the fetal stage and growing normally. He shows normal vital signs as any other embryo."
"Is the genome showing any effects at all?"
"We're not seeing any effects as of the moment but analysis confirm that the genome has fully been integrated into his systems. We won't be able to confirm anything else until he passes the fetal stage. But look on the bright side Allen, at least he didn't end up like our initial tries."
"True…how many did we have to go through till they came to be successes?"
"A lot to say the least. Thirteen female specimens and eleven male ones were all failures until we could get two specimens that did not reject the genome. But when we can successfully raise this one, we can start with raising the female specimen."
"Oh, plans have already been made for that. If the male survives fourteen months pass the fetal stage the female embryo will be taken out of cryo stasis."
"I wonder what we should call them…?"
"Oh about that. The lead bio-engineer on this project, Dr. Takahashi, is asking us that, since he supervises the raising of these two, that they be named after his children."
"You mean the two he lost at Hiroshima, during the war?"
"Yup."
"…that's doable, I think."
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Fourteen years ago…
A long metallic hallway lined with doors on all sides. All leading to unknown locations.
"What's going on, Allen?"
"The boy and the girl went on one of their tantrums again."
"No one seriously injured I hope."
"Three guards were injured, suffered a broken leg each and plenty of bruises. Dr. Takahashi suffered a couple of broken ribs as well."
"Shame. And I thought we raised these kids right."
"We did. Their problem lies in who did the raising."
"Oh, so they were demanding for their 'mother' again, weren't they?"
"Yes, excessively. I have argued this before. Moving them here to this research facility was a mistake. They have a deep longing for their 'mother' that when unsatisfied can cause them to have…hostile tendencies."
"How is that different from any other child born in the last hundred centuries. They want their mother, and if they don't get her, they get mad, very mad. It's a law of nature, Allen. It's human to long for that which gave you life. Theirs is no different."
"If so then why did we agree to the decision of them moving here?"
"Like you said, my friend. We want to explore their 'hostile tendencies'."
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Ten years ago…
Inside an office, seated at a desk, filling papers of sorts. He sits inconspicuously. When suddenly the door bursts open.
"Volkov, how could you do this?"
The man at the desk looks up.
"Do what, Allen?"
The man who bursts in presents a piece of paper with printed writing. The man takes one quick glance and instantly recognizes it.
"I had no choice, Allen."
"Why did you do this behind my back?"
"You would have disagreed with me."
"Damn right I would have! How could you abandon our objectives like that?"
"I never abandoned them, I just…revised them."
"What about the two children?"
"They're in cryo, preserved."
"What, how could you--- ?"
"Look, Allen, I had no choice but to pursue this course of action. We needed extra fund. Also we need new equipment and this is the best way to get them and, the way I see it, the only hope left for this project to ever break ground!"
"The purpose of this whole project was to better the human condition. Not to make more excuses to make it worse! Are you telling you've lost sight of that?"
"No I have not!"
"Then why sell out this project to the military ,Nikolai!"
"Because they're willing to do what your afraid to do, Allen."
"What are you---?" he pauses. "Dear heavens. Your not planning on actually resurrecting Maria, are you?"
He points down to the piece of paper.
"Allen, times are changing. Look around you, no one wants to better the human condition, they just want to make it hell for everyone else! Look at the progress we've made with Riya and Sakura. With our research, the military can mass produce tailor-made super soldiers. Not to mention completely nullify the effects of chemical weaponry as well as---"
BAM!The man behind the desk falls over backwards after receiving a. impromptu right hook in the face. He holds his hand to his bruised cheek.
"You son of a ---!"
"I quit, Nikolai! I want no part in this…this debacle! Your on your own"
"…!"
The man turns to leave. He reaches the door and stops. He glances back.
"But don't think this is the last you'll hear of me…"
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Seven years ago…
In what seemed to be a board room of sorts. A man sits alone in waiting. A door opens along the wall and from it enters a man in uniform carrying an envelope.
"Dr. Allen Cannes?"
The man seated stands up. "Yes sir, I am"
The man in uniform walks up to him and formally greets him with a hand shake.
"I am Col. Williams. I'm here to talk about your involvement in Project: Maria."
"Colonel, please, I officially retired from that after it went under military authority."
"We know that, Doctor. We just need you to confirm some stuff for us. Here have a look at these."
The Colonel hands the envelope to the doctor who takes it and takes a few minutes to browse its contents.
"My god…what happened?"
"The project manager, Dr. Nikolai Volkov, decided to try and revolt against us when we tried to shut him down for conducting illegal experiments outside of protocol. We had to use force in order to stop him but when he resisted…disaster struck, to say the least."
"…How many died?"
"…The whole facility went up in flames. I don't know the official toll but I suspect it would be pretty high. We suffered many casualties ourselves and so far only a few of the people from the facility were found able to breath. All the others we presume are gone."
"…and Volkov?"
"Sorry, we found no trace of him yet."
"And the two children?"
"…you mean the bio-weapons?"
"Yes them, but please don't call them that…"
"…Alright…They were in cryogenics last, according to the record, and according to our report that part of the facility has been completely destroyed. We found no survivors there."
"I see…" he sighs. "What happens to Project: Maria now?"
"It's been completely wiped from the face of this world. As far as you or I or anyone else is concerned, the project never happened. I think that's all we want and need it to be."
"Yes, your right, Colonel."
"Now that you are up to speed, Doctor, there are some things we need you to take care of for us. This way, if you please…"
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"After that, I retired form the military. I moved here some years back just living off the rest of my life. I now work for STAR labs as a supervisor in bio-engineering. I swore to myself that I would never be involved in something like Maria ever again. Though I said so, recent events had made me reconsider my silence. And that is why you're here talking to me."
Back at the present day Skyline Tower Apartments. Outside, the sky had completely darkened. Stars have completely carpeted the night-time atmosphere as the pale blue moon slowly treks upward.
Dr. Cannes was kindling the fire with an iron poker at his living room's fireplace. Behind him seated on the couch, Raven calmly sips from a warm cup of tea along side a now much calmer Robin. Both teen heroes have been listening intently to the Doctor's testimonies of past events with fascination and deep curiosity. Dr. Cannes' accounts were unbelievable to say the least.
"And so you called us to offer your help," said Raven.
"You want to give us information about those two, and this 'Dr. Volkov' as it were," concurs Robin
Dr. Cannes stands from the fire place, sets aside the poker, and moves to a recliner by the couch and takes a seat.
"Yes, Mr. Robin," he said. "I do so because I know exactly how much of a threat Project: Maria really is. And I feel that you and your band of gifted youngsters can stop it."
"Thanks for the complement, Doctor, but first thing's first. I want to know everything I can about this case. Can you really confirm that Arsenic and Lithium are the two children, Riya and Sakura?"
"I've been with them since they were artificially born and helped raise them. I'd never mistake their faces…or their capabilities."
"And can you be sure Dr. Volkov is truly running this operation?" inquires Raven.
"He was the only one not confirmed during the clean-up of the facility. Plus he's the only one who knows the induction procedure, and with the recent string of stolen goods…I can be very sure it is Volkov."
"Induction process, Doctor?"
"Let me explain…I can fully account for the missing object from the bank and the one stolen from the highway convoy."
"How so, Doctor?" inquired Robin.
"Because I own them."
"…?"
"After the incident the remaining pieces of the genome were put under my supervision. There were only two left, and were not enough to complete any attempt at the induction process. But the military still deemed them too dangerous and decided to keep the two hidden until recently when I filed a request to have them since I decided to use them in my research. They finally agreed. The first one came about a month ago and I had it placed in a safety deposit box at the Roscher bank. The other one was arranged to be transported directly to STAR Labs via a convoy. I think you both know what happened to those two."
The two teens nod.
"So he's trying to proceed with the induction process as it would seem," said Raven.
"But he can't be all that close to completing it. Like you said, Doctor, he only has two pieces of the genome but without the other two---"
"Unfortunately for us, Mr. Robin, he already has all four segments of the genome," interjected Dr. Cannes.
Robin's eyes grow wide. "Huh? But…how?"
"From the start of the project we decided to split the genome into segments for security purposes. We were on equal terms then so I took care of two segments and he took care of two of his own. We never told each other where we stashed our respective segments. He's the only one now who knows exactly where the remaining two segments are."
"This is dangerous," Raven says "That means he can start the induction process at any time."
"No, Ms. Raven, it's not that simple. The induction process is very complicated. One would need specialized equipment to pull it off."
"Like the one stolen from the Garland Tech Center!" concludes Robin.
The Doctor nods and continues. "But I doubt he has all the things he needs to complete the experiment."
"How can you be sure?"
"The man is obsessed with this project. He would not hesitate for the queen of England to resurrect Maria if he was able to. Which is why I'm urging the Titans to crack this case as soon as possible."
"While we're on the subject, Doctor, can you tell us anything about this 'Maria' and who or what exactly is she?"
"I afraid, Mr. Robin, I cannot tell you much. No one really knows exactly what she is. She was found somewhere in Antarctica. Her carcass was found preserved deep in ice along with some unknown ancient artifacts as well as the corpses of others of her own kind. No one exactly knows how she got there or why. Rumor has it she was an alien being that came to rest here on this planet a long time ago. Though this is very unlikely. It would be better to think of her as a remnant of some ancient forgotten civilization. We can only assume so because of her unusual genes. That's all I can say about her origins."
"The two children, you said that they were created out of her genome?"
"Yes, and because of this they exhibit what we theorized would be the traits and characteristics of Maria if she were alive."
"Can you expound on these traits?"
"Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and agility. As well as an I.Q. of about one-eighty, plus add to that regeneration capabilities over three hundred times faster than normal and immunity over all current chemical weapons."
"That's bad. They're essentially the perfect soldiers in terms of physical ability."
"Which is, really, the reason why Volkov should be stopped at all cost."
"I sense a lot of anxiety within you, Dr. Cannes," Raven speaks up while looking at the old man. "Is there something about Maria your not comfortable with? Most likely there is."
The doctor seems to have lost his voice all of a sudden. He sinks a bit lower in his chair. He looks down at the floor avoiding the stares of Raven and Robin at the couch.
"Doctor, please," said Robin "If there is something else we need to worry about---"
"There is." Dr. Cannes lifts his head to meet Robin's gaze.
"What is it, Doctor?"
"There was a reason Maria was never planned to be resurrected."
"What reason?"
Dr. Cannes sighs and puts his entwined hands to his head as if to gather his thoughts. The two Titans wait patiently, intently, for the Doctor to continue.
"There is a theory," he says. "It stems from how we originally found her, how she was with the others, and how the others differ from her…"
"How so?"
"The archeological dig revealed a scant few ruined remnants of the past. Some of which seem to say something about her, about Maria. It is this that spawned this theory."
"What's the theory, Doctor?"
"That Maria was something else. That she was not of her people and that she was either a foreign creature or something of their creation. Evidence favors the latter. But much is clear from the analysis of her and the ones along side her is that she is unique. But this uniqueness was what made he frightening. We can now truly speculate that Maria was not of her 'companions'."
"If so then what might she be?"
"A monster. A devil that brought ruin to the civilization that created her."
The two heroes became silent at this.
"We found very, very little evidence of the people she lived with. And from those tiny scraps of evidence we can almost fully conclude that she was somehow directly involved in the destruction of that civilization. It was therefore deemed to risky to society to try and resurrect her."
"If Dr. Volkov is actually able to resurrect this Maria…" said Robin
"Then it could mean the destruction of this entire metropolitan area, and further even," finished Raven.
"Like I have said before," said the good doctor. "Volkov must be stopped at all costs…"
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JCPD, Precinct fifteen.
Here reside the more unsung heroes of Jump City. Men and women who give their lives and honor to uphold and defend the law. To protect and serve the citizens of democracy. But that's besides the point at the moment.
In one of the interrogation rooms…
"Alright punk. I'm gonna be askin' you some questions, ya, hear? Where were you on the night of the fifth? The sixth? The thirteenth? The forty-eighth! Who was that dame yous was with, huh? Where'd you stash the cash, son? Who was the mastermind? Was it you? Him? Her? A cactus! Can't yous' undertands me? What, you don't understand English, boy! No habla Espanol, amigo! The silent type, ey? Oh, you'll crack anyways, they all do. We got ways of making you talk, punk. I will break you down, boy! By the time I'm done with you, you'll make the glee club look like the varsity football team! You're gonna squeal, boy, like a rump roast. You understand me, boy? Do you, huh? Huh? HUH!"
"YO, BEAST BOY!"
A very annoyed Cyborg interrupts his green little friend from his incoherently senseless ranting. Starfire was standing in one corner with a humored expression on her face and a hand to her mouth to suppress a giggle. On the other end of the table was a guy in handcuffs seated on a chair and an officer standing beside him were both sweatdroping with expressions of nervousness and dumbfound.
Beast Boy, who was leaning over the table while holding a desk lamp by the head and directing it in the suspect's direction, retreated back to stand up straight, raise his arms sideways at waist level and says: "What?"
"Your not helping, man," answered Cyborg while glaring.
"…ehehehe…sorry, got a little carried away…"
"No kiddin', jeeeez!"
Beast Boy moves aside to make way for Cyborg. Cyborg takes chair and sits down while placing his hands the table.
"Alrighty then," he starts, "You, sir, have been arrested on counts of robbery, particularly the Roscher bank. We're on a very important case right now and if you cooperate with us, we might be a little forgiving on y'all."
The suspect nervously nods.
"Okee dokee, first question: who was the girl?"
"…sorry man, I just don't know."
"Chief says that's the same answer you gave him but I'm wantin' a bit more than that, dawg."
"I'm serous, man, I don't know nothing on her. We never met before the heist. She showed up like she was supposed to that day just like that old guy sai---"
"Woah, hold up! What old guy?"
"The dude who hired us. Said he needed some henchmen for a small job. Promised me and my guys all the loot we could carry. Only catch was we had to work for that girl when on the job."
"You know who this old guy is?"
"Never saw his face. We only talked to him over the phone."
"Why did he say he needed you? For muscle, or back-up, or something?"
"That's what I thought too at first but after I saw that chick in action I knew they didn't really need us that much, at all, man."
"Then did he or she give you a reason for being hired?"
"All the chick said was that she only needed us to make it look legit'"
"Legit?"
"I swear that's all she told us, man. But we couldn't complain, man. That heist was a blue plate special. We did leave with a pretty big haul then dontcha think?"
"Yeah you did, but don't be so proud of it. Remember why you're here, dawg."
The suspect simpers nervously as Cyborg continues.
"How much of the loot did the girl take? Forty, fifty, sixty percent?"
"No, she didn't take any of the stash, man."
"…none at all?"
"Well, just that one thing."
"What thing?"
"See, from the start she said that she was only after one thing and that we could keep the rest after the heist was done. After that, man, she was gone."
"You know what the thing she wanted is?"
"Just some kooky little cylinder thing. We don't know what it was, man, honest."
"That's it? You got nothing else for me dawg?"
The suspect shakes his head. Cyborg looks to his side. Star fire and Beast boy we're both shaking their heads as well as if to say: this really isn't going anywhere. Cyborg had to agree with them. He sighs out loud. He looks to the officer.
"Okay, bring in the next guy." said Cyborg to the officer by the suspect. He taps the suspect on the shoulder making him stand up from his seat. They both leave the room.
"I do believe we are not achieving much in terms of gathering necessary information," said Starfire.
"I'm with her, dude. We're totally goin' nowhere," concurs Beast Boy.
"Well, let's just get on with these guys and meet up with Rob n' Rae," answered Cyborg, "Hopefully, they got somethin' we could use."
Moments later, the same officer walks in only with a different suspect beside him. The suspect takes a seat at the end of the table. Almost immediately, Beast boy confronts the suspect up close holding a bright lamp head to the man's face.
"Alright punk. I'm gonna be askin' you some questions, ya, hear? Where were you on the night of---"
"DANG IT, B.B.!"
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Later that evening. In front of the Police Building
The three teen heroes stand in front of the T-car. Beast Boy, in particular, is looking over the vehicle with much curiosity. From where the changeling is standing he observes that the T-car's side is covered in bullet holes and the tires were patched up in half-hearted effort. He turns to his metallic best friend while pointing at the car.
"Um…Cy, what happened to the T-ca---"
"Don't ask B.B." Cyborg replied. "Just don't ask."
"…ok…this turned out to be one peppy day…Not!"
"Do not be so disheartened my friend," said Starfire "There is still Robin and Raven's venture to meet the unknown caller. Maybe we should try to contact them. Cyborg?"
"Yeah, good idea, girl," replied Cyborg, "It would be nice to know if someone else from this team makin' progress."
Cyborg activates the built in communicator in his arm. A panel opens up uncovering a small LCD screen. He presses a button beside it. Starfire and Beast Boy scoot up to Cyborg's sides to see the screen.
"This is Cyborg. Yo, Rob, Rae, anybody there?"
A few moments of static passes until Robin's image appears on the screen.
"This is Robin, copy."
"Oh, hello Robin. I am ever so delighted to see you!" gleefully said Starfire into the screen.
"Yeah, dude. We missed you. It's just no party with out you and Raven." Beast Boy added.
"Uh…yeah, nice to see you guys too," replied Robin's image. "So, how are things on you side?"
"Lousy," replied Cyborg. "Bank robbers were a complete dead end."
"Sorry to hear. Though I was kinda expecting as much."
"How about you, man? You guys met up with that caller?"
"That we did."
"Aaaaand, did you get anything at all man?"
"Plenty. Let's just say we had a pretty interesting conversation with the guy. It turns out his in pretty deep with who we're dealing with. Makes me glad he's on our side. Anyway, I'll tell you guys all about it back at the tower. We're gonna head back there ourselves too."
"Got it, dawg."
"Hey wait, we don't have to hurry, right?" said Beast Boy. "Why don't we , you know, wait a couple of hours so Raven can finish howling at the moon, or stop hanging for a ceiling, hahahaha!"
"Um…Beast Boy, I hope you realize that Raven is standing right besides me and can hear everything you just said," said Robin's image
"…" Beast Boy sweatdrops.
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Somewhere underground. In an empty space of a room occupied only by tall concrete pillars, brightly lit by overhead florescent lights.
"Hiya!"
Sakura throws a punch. Riya catches her fist. He shoves her back. Sakura stumbles back a bit but regains her composure and gets back into a fighting stance. Riya also readies himself for her. Sakura lunges again, with a series of hooks and jabs. Riya slowly walks backwards, blocking and parrying several attempted hits. Sakura delivers a right hook. Instantly, Riya moves tohis left and paries the punch by his sister. The momentum causes Sakura to fall forward a bit, off guard. Riya takes this opportunity to give her a shove with an open palm.
"Hiya!" "Oof!"
Sakura stumbles forward and meets the wall bringing her to an abrupt halt. She looks behind her. Riya is charging at her with his own fist. She runs up the wall as her brother's jab impacts the solid concrete. She kicks off when she deemed herself high enough. She flies over him, lands upside down on her palms, pushes off, and does a series of flips backwards, stopping near what would be the rough center of the room.
She gets into a ready fighting pose. Riya charges again at her. He suddenly jumps into the air, somersaults, and dives into Sakura in a kick. Sakura blocks with her arms. Riya makes contact and propels both of them a sliding distance. He kicks off his sister, which causes her to slide backwards even more, and lands in a crouch.
"Aagh!"
Sakura quickly recover as her brother makes another offensive. He runs towards her delivering blow after blow. Sakura manages to block and parry his attacks. Riya tries to deliver a roundhouse kick to the chest. Sakura reacts instantly and grabs the incoming leg. This catches Riya off guard. Sakura took this opportunity and, with her hold on his leg, throws him straight into a pillar.
"Nnnya!"
Riya flails in the air but quickly recovers. He hits the pillar feet first, kicks off towards another nearby pillar, kicks off again upwards, hits the ceiling with his feet, and kicks off one last time off the ceiling straight down like a missile towards Sakura's position, fist first.
"Yaargh!"
"Sakura reacts by jumping backwards as her brother makes contact with the floor. The impact shakes the whole area and kicks up a big dust cloud. Sakura's vision is impaired for a short moment as the dust slowly subsides. She searches for any sign of him but finds no one exept a cracked floor that is sunken slightly. She turns to look behind her.
"Boo!"
She screeches in surprise and falls on her butt. Standing over her was Riya with an amused expression painted on his face. They stare at each other like that for a moment or two until Sakura breaks the silence between them.
"…showoff…"
Riya reaches a hand out to her. She takes it and he helps her back up.
"Just trying to keep you on your toes, sis." He says.
"Is that really necessary?" She replies
"Yes. We're gonna have to fight harder than we do. We can't let anyone get the jump on us."
"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself just fine."
"It didn't seem that way back tech center."
"They got lucky over me, that's all!" A pained look on her face.
Riya moves closer, unaffected by her outcry. He places a hand on her shoulder to console her. She looks up wearily at him and he looks her back.
"No. we have to become better. I won't let the Titans meddle in our business as long as I can help it. And I will always have you back, sis, as long as I can help it."
Her expression brightens up a bit.
"I'm your brother," he continues. "And as your brother, I promise I won't fail neither you, nor Mother ever again…"
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Author's note: This story is gonna go a lot longer than I originally hoped for. Which is good! I get to write more! Please R&R. Any and all feedbacks are very, very, very much appreciated. Till next update!