Disclaimer: Cartoon Network owns them, not me. But if I did own them, there WILL be a new season!
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The noon sun shined upon the metropolis that is Jump City.
A new day in the big city goes as most other days would. A beautiful day with cloudless skies and fresh air. People mingle about going about their daily chores with out a care in the world. The peaceful, tranquil atmosphere is yet to be broken. And as with all eventualities, it is.
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BOOM!
Techno Depot, a large scale electronics and appliance store somewhere uptown.
What one may assume as a giant snake made out of random electronic appliances was wrecking the place, causing massive chaos. From what would be the snake's sparking 'head', it shoots out bolts of electricity that completely incinerates everything that it hits. People, naturally, were madly panicking and running for cover where they find it.
Behind the rampaging metal serpent, Control Freak stood laughing, apparently enjoying the mayhem he is causing. In his hand he held a red glowing remote control.
"That's right!" exclaimed the obese villain. "Run and scream! I'll show who's in 'remote' control up in this joint! Hahahahahaha!"
Control Freak pushed the button on his remote. The metal serpent began to reel up like a cobra about to strike. It also began to glow an eerie red as the villain's remote. More and more appliances from all over the place began to be magnetically drawn towards the giant snake making it grow in overall size and length. It reeled up its 'head' and gave a deafening electronic roar. Sparks flew from its mouth as it did.
"Hahahahaha! Eat your hearts out, Wachowski Brothers!"
The giant metal snake continued its rampage through the store, 'eating' up some electronic debris on it's way in and around the space. People were almost in a mad hysteria as Control Freak continues to bellow out his laughter which comically resembled that of the Wicked Witch from West.
The chaos continued for a while. Of coarse this chain of events could only go so far before coming to an eventuality which will probably happen right about…now.
"Control Freak!"
The villain stopped his incoherent cackling for a moment to see who called out his name. He turns around to look behind him. Standing at the entrance was an all too familiar team of teenage superheroes: The Teen Titans.
"This show is over for you!" exclaimed Robin, "It's time for your final curtain call!"
"Man! You people are about as predictable as a James Bond plotline! Always poppin' out when nobody wants ya!"
"Well if you think we're so darn predictable…" said Cyborg as he prepared his arm into a sonic cannon, "then you pretty much know that your gonna be eatin' dirt by the end of the day, punk!"
"Yeah, dude!" concurred Beast Boy, "We've beaten you once, and we're gonna do it again!"
"You should know, Beast Butt!" retorted Control Freak, "Sequels hardly ever work out!"
Control Freak aims his remote in the Titan's direction and clicks. Behind him the giant metal serpent turned its attention towards the Titans. It 'glared' at them, its 'eyes' glowing bright red. Its mouth glowed a bright white while spraying sparks into the air that seemed to be getting bigger. Everyone knew what was coming next.
"Evade!" ordered Robin.
The metal serpent blasted a bolt of high voltage at the heroes who promptly spread out in avoidance of the preemptive attack. Robin launched up into the air via a grappling hook, followed by Starfire and Raven. Beast Boy and Cyborg jumped to either side of the blast.
Cyborg was the first to recover. He managed to pick himself up and aims his sonic cannon at the giant electronic monstrosity. He shot the serpent with a strong blast of seismic energy, the impact causing the thing to reel back a bit as if stunned.
Robin took this as a window of opportunity. He swung from where he hanged via his grappling hook. He picked up momentum and detached the device at the right moment in order to propel himself towards his intended target which was the stunned metal serpent. He lands on the monster's head and saddles it like a rider on a bike. He took out a birdarang from his belt, held it out like a dagger and began stabbing downward at the metallic creature.
The metal serpent bucked wildly as if in pain from the stabs at its temples. It shook its head from sided to side in an attempt to get the boy wonder off of its cranium. Robin does his best to hang on, riding the serpent like a cowboy on a rodeo.
"Whoa—whoa—whoa-oh—whoa!"
Meanwhile, Starfire was flying towards the area behind the serpent. She is attempting to catch it off-guard by attacking from the rear. She prepared a couple of starbolts to attack. Suddenly, as if sensing her, the metal serpent turned its head around to face her. Starfire was taken by surprise. The serpent quickly launched a bolt of electricity at her. Starfire barely evaded in time by ducking as the bolt of lightning passed above her.
"Eek!"
The blast missed her completely and only managed to create a new hole in the ceiling. Robin, who was still on top of the serpent's head, stabbed down one last time and managed to take out an eye of the monster. It gave out a very loud electronic screech.
Starfire took this opportunity and flew at a high speed towards the thing. She tackled the thing by the neck and rammed most of the metallic snake's head area into the floor. Robin wisely jumped off the creature before its impact with the tile floor and concrete. There was a moment of silence as a huge dust cloud came up from the point of impact. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg gathered together near the site to try and assess the damage.
Suddenly and without warning, the metal serpent's head exploded out of the dust cloud, 'mouth' agape, and towards the unsuspecting figure of Starfire. The serpent clamps its mouth down on the female Titan as Robin and Cyborg are too blinded by the dust too react on time. The metallic snake rose above the floor once again, this time holding a captive Starfire clamed in its jaws. The tamaranian tried to struggle against the grasp of the serpent but to no avail.
"Starfire!" "Starfire!" Cyborg and Robin said at the same time.
The metal snake seemed to glare at them again with its one remaining eye. The two boys take a prepared fighting stance each. Cyborg prepped his cannon again while Robin took out and extended his bo staff. The two then charged the metal creature head-on.
"Man, what fabulous script this is turning out to be!" said Control Freak as he watched, "I should get an Emmy for this."
"How about one for best imitation of an onion…"
Control Freak looked behind him. There was what looked like a miniature black hole that formed on the floor. From it emerged Raven. From above, a green sparrow landed next to her and transformed into Beast Boy's elfin form. The two Titans took fighting stances.
"Dude, just give it up already!" ordered Beast Boy.
"Just because you have Mr. Spock's ears doesn't mean you can order me around!"
Control Freak aims his remote control though not directly at the two teens but at a rack of toy robots behind them. Control Freak clicked and his remote released a beam of red energy towards the toy robots that covered the entire shelf. Upon impact, the toy robots began to glow red. Then they apparently gained a live of their own as they all hopped off their respective places and began to assault the two teens.
A dozen or so robots made a grab for Raven who tried to fly away. But one of the robots managed to grab her cloak followed by many others. Together they pulled Raven to the floor and anchored her to it. Raven did her best to yank off her cloak from their grasp but made little progress. She tried casting her black telekinesis at them.
"Azerath, Metri---"
Unfortunately, she was interrupted in the middle of her chant as she was overwhelmed by the toy robots. She continued to struggle as the merciless things began to pile up on her.
Meanwhile, Beast Boy was having his own troubles. He was currently in gorilla mode batting away the figures with his large arms of pure muscle. He was successful at batting off, and even breaking a few of the robots but there were to many of them grabbing onto his fur. He then quickly transformed into a crocodile and started chomping on the annoying toys. But he found that he was to slow on his feet in this form and the robots started pilling on his back.
Before he could be overwhelmed, Beast Boy managed to transform into an elephant, knocking the robots off of his back. The Robots began to recover and gather around the green elephant, a scant few brave ones charging the Titan head-on. Beast Boy was able to counter their charges by using his trunk to sweep them a way from his hide. More and more Robots kept charging and Beast Boy was forced to walk backwards slowly.
While all this was going on, a relatively large pile-up of robotic mass was formed of where Raven should be. The pile started to pulse violently while entrails of black energy bellowed out from inside. Suddenly, it exploded in a black mass. Robots and robot parts flew in all directions. In the epicenter of the blast stood Raven with her arms out stretched and lightly panting for air.
She glanced around to see Beast Boy in the form of an ostrich running away as a veritable army of toy robots was chasing him. Raven also saw Control freak to one side mockingly laughing at Beast Boy's plight. He was completely oblivious to her at that moment. She took this moment to make her move. She extended his arm forward and chanted her spell.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
A black aura surrounded Control Freak's remote control. The object flew out of the fat villain's hand like it was made of butter. Control Freak was taken by surprise by this.
"What on Middle Earth!" he searches for his remote and finds it in Raven's grasp. "Aww, man. Not again!"
"You should really learn to keep a spare…" said Raven, smirking slightly.
The dark girl then tossed the thing up into the air. While it was in mid-air, Raven through a bolt of black energy at the device. It was completely destroyed upon impact.
"No, nooo! Say it isn't so!" screamed out Control Freak
"…You really need a new hobby…" said Raven in a monotone.
On one end of the place the robot army that was chasing Beast Boy began to spontaneously deactivate. While to another side, the giant metal serpent that was fighting with Robin and Cyborg began to crumble back into its many individual parts enabling Starfire to be set free.
A relative calm followed as everything started to simmer down now that there were no more threatening electronic stuff around. Control Freak was kneeling and flooding the floor with a stream of tears as he was begging Raven to spare his life.
"Pleeeaasssss forgive me! I didn't mean it! I swearrrr!" Control Freak groveled at Raven's feet in a pathetic plea for mercy.
"Okay, somebody get him off me before I do something really nasty."
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A little later that day.
A police van plus a couple of patrol cars were parked outside the Techno Depot storefront. From the store itself, out came a familiar bunch of teen superheroes followed closely by a pair of guards escorting a now detained Control Freak to the police van. He was no longer groveling but instead struggling against his holders.
"And I would've gotten away with it too," Control Freak screamed out, "if it weren't for those meddling ki---!"
Control Freak was interrupted as the back door of the police van was shut in his face. The teens went in a separate direction and gathered in front of nearby T-car.
"I must say," said Starfire, "that ordeal had a rather 'smooth' outcome as it is said. Would you not agree, friends?"
"I'll say." Cyborg replied, "That guy is so old news, he barely lasts five minutes with us anymore."
"Yeah we kicked his butt good!" said Beast Boy "…of course, much props going to Rae here."
"Just doing my job…" Raven replies in a monotone.
"But still, it was pretty cool the way you made him drool at your foot and all. Ain't that right Rob?"
Robin doesn't respond or even acknowledges Beast Boy's inquiry. The Titans are curious but Beast Boy seemingly read his mind and voiced out his opinion.
"Dude, don't tell me you were really wanting them to show up, were you?"
Robin finally acknowledged the animorph.
"Actually, yes I was sorta wanting them to be here. But apparently they're not."
"And you're actually upset that it wasn't them and it was just that blubbered up couch potato with a pimped out remote.?"
From the police van: "I'm not fat, I'm big-boned!"
"Not really. I just want to solve this case as soon as I can." Robin said. "It's been two days since police HQ. Problem is, like always, We get jack crud for evidence or any lead. Maybe I did want them to show up so we could get another crack at them. If I only had one decent clue we could crack this case by now."
"Hold up, are you talkin' 'bout Arsenic n' Lithium?" asked Cyborg.
"Yep."
"Aww man, stop trippin' over them already. So they've been gone for the past two days. They'll show up when they show up."
"I would suppose though that you are worried about the 'Project: Maria' that you and Raven have briefed all of us about, am I correct friend Robin?" asked Starfire.
"Yeah, Starfire, you're right," replied Robin, "If Project: Maria is as bad as we've heard, we could be facing a major crisis if those two actually managed to finish this induction process."
"I doubt they're done with the process," said Raven.
"…How so?"
"From what we could recognize from those two and their mastermind, they don't want to hesitate one bit if their goal is so close as to they can already achieve it. They're hesitating now, maybe because of some kind of obstacle they're having trouble surpassing, like maybe they haven't acquired all they need yet to actually start the process."
"Or, they're just tired of us kickin' their butts!" exclaimed Beast Boy.
"…Hmm. That could be true, actually."
"But that would entail that they're taking time off for plotting against us," said Robin, "That's partially why I'm a bit worried they haven't showed up yet."
The Titans took a silent moment to ponder this possibility.
"I would not worry to much, friends," said Starfire. The rest of the team look at her to hear what she has to say.
"Because I am confident that we can overcome any offensive they could possibly project towards us, correct?"
"…heh, and I thought I was the optimist of the team." Beast Boy stated following her.
"…I guess your right Starfire," said Robin, "We've been through worse, after all."
"So what do we do now?" asked Beast Boy.
"Here's a suggestion," said Cyborg, "how 'bout we get back to the tower and lunch before those dang egg rolls get cold!"
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In that oh so mysterious underground lair.
"It has to be him." Dr. Volkov was at his usual position in front of the giant computer screen looking up at the display. It was some kind of sheet that featured names and numbers of sorts.
One particular entry was highlighted: Cannes, Allen J. rm. 1251 phone. 6573319
"So he's in this city too," said Sakura.
"What are the odds?" said Riya.
"He's the only one who could have told them about Maria," said the doctor, "Sakura, how much do the Titans exactly know?"
"I'm not that sure myself," answered the girl, "As far as I've heard, they know we're trying to do the induction process. They probably also know about the genome samples and the equipment we've been taking."
"Damn, this is why I am wanting us to take a break for a while. If they know as much as Cannes does thaen they could actually be planning against us in advance."
"Yeah, they could be."
"Somehow I think that's unlikely." Riya said, out of the blue. The Doctor and Sakura looked at him as if to urge him to explain what he meant by that.
"Think about it," he continued, "they haven't done anything to secure what ever things were planning to steal. I mean we ourselves hardly know when, where, and what we're suppose to take next. They're still waiting on us. They may know what the induction process is, they have no clue how it's suppose to be done. Face it, we're all at a stale mate. We still have to find our objectives and the Titans can't do a damn thing until we make a move first."
Sakura and Dr. Volkov seem to ponder at this for a while.
"…Good point, my boy," said the Doctor, "If the Titans did know what we were really up to then they would have done something to try and stop us."
"So what do you suggest we do, bro?" asked Sakura.
"Same thing we always do: look for the next target, find it, go after it, and to hell with anything and anyone who gets in our way."
Sakura smirks at this a bit.
"However," continued Dr. Volkov, "we still need to take care of our old friend."
He looked back up at the screen display and the highlighted entry. Riya and Sakura follow his sight. The two siblings then met their eyes and as if non-verbally communicating, nods in some kind of agreement.
"Skyline Apartments right?" asked Riya, "we'll take care of it."
"Are you sure?" asked Dr. Volkov, turning his attention back to them.
"Yeah, this 'ill be quick, Doc," answered Sakura, "We'll be right back."
The two teens proceeded to make their way out. Dr. Volkov offered no objections. He knew they could handle it. So now he was left to his own devices. He decided that he should probably start searching for their final target to complete the induction process.
The sooner they were done, the sooner he would have what he wanted for all this time. He could afford to be patient for a bit more time. After that the world was his oyster. And his alone. All the power he could ever want will be his, soon.
He begins to go to work on his searches. But before he does he takes one last long glance at the entry containing his old comrade's name.
"Always the persistent one, aren't you, Allen?" he said, "but you can't stop me now. No one can."
He chuckles softly into the silent atmosphere.
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Titan's Tower, the roof.
Raven sat near the rooftop edge. Actually, more of floating while in a sitting position, with hands raise at an angle just at shoulder level, thumb and index fingers touching, quietly chanting her famous magic words.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos…"
This was her most favorite meditating spot aside from her room. Away from the mainland, Titan's Tower enjoys a clean and tranquil atmosphere devoid of the sounds of traffic, pollution, people, radios, TV's, and all that. Nothing but quiet.
She sensed a presence approaching her. Though she didn't need any psychic powers to know who it was. So she decided to greet him first without even turning to look at him.
"Good afternoon, Beast Boy."
"Whoa!" the said visitor yelped, "man, it's kinda weird when you go all emphatic like that."
"I wasn't being emphatic. You're just too easy to predict. Don't you have anything to do in the tower?"
"Um…well, Cyborg and Robin are in the garage and Starfire is gardening again so I've got not much. How about you Rae? Meditating the day away again?" said Beast Boy as he scratched the back of his neck
"More or less. I was trying to---"
"Feel out those two trouble makers using your powers?"
Now Raven actually turned to meet the animorph's glance
"Heh, your that hard to predict yourself, Rae." He said, to answer her unsaid inquiry.
"…indeed."
"So I'm guessing no luck, huh?"
"Yes. I'm starting to doubt if this method would actually work anymore. It would seem that Arsenic and Lithium have been able to hide their spiritual signatures. I don't know how they're doing it or how they know that I was sensing them through it. During their raid on the chemical factory and Police HQ I was barely able to sense them until I got up close to them."
"It looks like they're pulling one over us."
"That's true. And now I don't know what else I can do."
"…Well, don't sweat it Rae. Like you told me before, we're just gonna have to wait them out to get another chance. You don't have to as paranoid as Robin."
"I'm not paranoid Beast Boy. I just…"
"…what?"
"…I actually want to help them."
"Help them, how?"
"Well, remember when we talked about them? When I said they were 'lost'?"
Beast Boy nodded.
"I truly want to help them. Help them find what they're looking for."
"You mean a family?"
"Back in Azar, where I grew up most of my life, I didn't have a real family since my mother was forbidden to see me and my father… can't be allowed to see anyone at all. But I was taken good care of. The nuns of the temples of Azar gave me all the motherly care I'd ever need to grow up. And also, I felt that I was accepted there, praised even. But I also had a longing for my real mother. At least I eventually met her. Arsenic and Lithium never had any of that."
"…Yeah, I kinda feel for them too. I mean before my real parents died, I had the best time with them. I'm alive right now thanks to them, as well as being the hero I'm hopin' I am. And even after that, The Doom Patrol was a pretty cool bunch when I lived with them as their junior trainee. I may have lived with mostly unnatural people most of my life, no offence to you guys, but at least I felt accepted. I never had to go looking for it."
"All of us long for acceptance. Arsenic and Lithium are no different. They are only dangerous because they chose to commit crimes. But I believe there is still hope in them if they only let us help them."
"Don't sweat, Rae. We've done stuff like this before. We'll find a way to help them and everyone else so we can all have a happy ending!"
Raven smiled at that. Beast Boy's optimism was always a good help to her and the rest of the team.
"You're right, we just have to be patient."
"Couldn't have said it better myself, Rae!"
A silence passes over the two as the turn their sight towards the city. With a renewed confidence, they take it easy. A little patience can go a long way in the long run. They were sure, then and there, that everything will be alright. They'll make sure of that when the time comes.
"…wait a minute. You were with the Doom Patrol?"
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Much later in the afternoon after the sun had set.
The City began its nightly calming. Things are slowly lessening their paces once again as most of the city's citizens return to their respective homes to retire for the night. It was that time of the day where there was no excitement at all. Everyone was basically going home and the would-be neck-breaking night life of the city won't start for another few hours.
The same is true for one particular location in the finer side of the city. The Skyline Apartment Tower. And one particular resident was going through his nightly rituals.
Dr. Allen Cannes had just finished eating his dinner and has put away his dishes in the dryer for the night. He was finishing up on preparing his nightly cup of tea for himself. Every self-respecting Englishman's delight. He picks up the saucer with the cup of tea on top and makes his way back to his living room.
In the living room, the fire place was roaring. The stereo system to one side of the room was already turned on and playing a mellow jazz. Dr. Cannes' personal favorite genre of music as it suits him and calms him down every time he hears it. He sets the saucer and cup down onto the coffee table and settles himself down on the couch. He took a deep sigh of relief as he did so.
Once settled in, he took his cup and took a sip, feeling the warm liquid's soothing effects as it rolled down his esophagus. He was, at that particular moment, completely relaxed as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"I thought it was customary to offer tea to your guests first before drinking it yourself, Doctor."
Dr. Cannes nearly choked on his tea from the sudden voice. He turned his head to the direction he heard the voice from, to his left. And there, in the light of the fire place, was Riya, sitting on the nearby recliner. And leaning on one of the armrests next to him was Sakura.
"It's been a while, Dr. Cannes," said Riya.
"…Yes, it has…" responded Dr. Cannes. "Why, may I ask, have you two come here?"
"I'm glad you still remember us, coz' we sure as heck can't forget about you, Dr. Cannes," said Sakura. "We just wanted to visit an old acquaintance, is that so wrong?"
"I would imagine you two would be very busy at the moment."
"So you've heard about our little escapades in the City, eh Doctor?"
"You two have caused quite a racket. There's an APB out on you two by the police. The Titans are probably your worst enemies at the moment."
"I guess it's been a rough week, hasn't it sis?" said Riya. Sakura nodded back at him in response.
"And I don't have to guess for what. It's about her isn't it? About your 'mother' coming back from her grave. You two are trying to complete the induction process with the stuff you stole from the tech building and the chemical factory. Not to mention the two genome samples that are suppose to be with me right now. And I'll bet anything that Nikolai is behind all this."
"You catch on pretty quick, Doc, as always."
"Why have you really come to me?"
"To confirm something," said Sakura.
"What would that be?"
"You're the only other one besides Dr. Volkov who was part of the original team," said Riya, "The only other person left alive who knows about the intricate details of Project: Maria. The only other person who could have told the Titans about us," said Riya, matter-o-fact.
"…"
"You told them everything you know about the project, didn't you, Dr. Cannes?"
"Indeed I have."
"Why…?"
"I sure you know…"
"You mean that theory of yours that she was some kind of devil, a monster that wiped out her own kind? Heh, you're always speculating on these kinds of things doctor."
"I do for good reason. If she is the monster I've theorized her to be then resurrecting her only puts thousands, even millions, of lives at risk!"
"But what if you're wrong?"
"I asking you of the possibilities if I am right."
"But what if you are wrong, Doctor?" Sakura repeated her brother's question. "What if mother was something else? What if she wasn't a monster at all? For all we know, she could be humanities one saving grace."
"You have no proof of that!"
"Neither do you on your on your own theory, Doc. What makes ours any less valid than yours?"
"Maria is a great risk to the world as we know it and never have and never will willingly take that risk!"
"…tsk, you'll never change will you, Dr. Cannes," said Riya "you're still so strongly holding on to your beliefs even after, what, ten years or so? I guess that's one commendable trait you've got."
"You flatter me."
"But that is also your greatest weakness, as it has always been, Dr. Cannes."
"…"
"It's the one reason you couldn't finish Project: Maria in the first place."
"I was being cautious."
"You were being a coward! You were always afraid of all the little things that could go wrong! You barely ever broke ground during the project 'cause you kept pulling it back! All because you were just too afraid of what could go wrong and couldn't embrace what might have been right! Wasn't it you who taught us that science was synonymous with risks?"
"My boy, you must learn that there is a fine line between acceptable risks and insane ones."
"And you think this is an insane risk?"
"For the sake of innocence, yes I do."
"…well we think otherwise," declared Sakura.
"You kids… why would you even consider such risks?"
"Because on the off-chance that we are right about this, Maria could give us what we've always wanted. Something none of you could ever give us."
"And if that means we risk humanity," continued Riya, "then we're willing to take those risks."
Dr. Cannes was silent. Again he had underestimated these children. Of course, they were raised to be more mature than ordinary kids. But that was not all that made them what they were. All their lives they grew-up to become tools of warfare. They never had the lives of normal children, yet they longed for it. They longed for the one thing all children had that they themselves lacked. And they were willing to risk everything for it.
From an outsider's point of view, those two children were completely insane. But to anyone who could truly understand them may actually find enough merit to sympathize with them. Dr. Cannes was one of those who could understand them. But, as a scientist and a humanitarian, he could not condone their actions. So he was torn between his morals towards society and to the two children he personally helped raise. He was stuck in a rut and couldn't find a way out.
What then were his options?
"We will resurrect mother," continued Sakura, "Nothing will stop us."
"And as for you, Dr. Cannes," said Riya as he stood up from where he sat, "Consider this a warning to stay the hell out of our way."
In a lightning quick move, that Riya is so famous for, he draws his combat knife and throws it like a dart. The knife flew straight, past Dr. Cannes, and embeds itself into the stereo system that was, up to that moment, still playing jazz. The music abruptly stops and sparks fly out coupled by smoke form the impact point.
Dr. Cannes' sight followed the blade till it made the hit and he stares at his now broken stereo for a moment. He then turns to the recliner where Riya and Sakura were at.
They were gone.
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Author's Note: Sorry if the last Chapter was kinda short. I meant it that way. I hope you people are actually reading all this and liking it. Anyways, please R&R. I love it when I get reviews. Next chapter will probably come up later than usual since school is completely smothering me. Till next time then.