--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 23 - The Shopping Torture Continues

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He smiled to himself as he gently ran his hand through his sleeping mate's hair. It was nearing dawn, roughly two days after he had witnessed a green dragon emerging from a collection of seven orange balls, and today, they would be reaching the planet that had become their destination two days ago; today, he would be subjected to the whims of five shopping-mad females. It was understandable, therefore, that he was in no rush to start the day, hence why he just lay there waiting for his mate to wake on her own; well, that, and he just enjoyed holding her like this.

For the first time in... forever, Kaen had actually chosen to remain in bed after waking, something the still sleeping Pi was still unused to, evident by the way she wriggled around in her sleep, before nestling her head on his chest, her tail unconsciously finding it's way wrapped around his leg, and a smile finding it's way onto her face. After a few more minutes, however, she finally awoke, shifting slightly so that her half-open eyes could meet his as she greeted, "G'morning."

Leaning up to give her a quick kiss, he replied, "Morning yourself."

Smiling at him tiredly, she commented, "I could get used to waking up like this."

He smiled back, "I think you'll have to."

Her smile turning into a playful grin, she asked, "So why are you up so early? You looking forward to today, huh? Can't wait to start?"

He grinned back, albeit with a wry twist as he replied, "Not how I would have phrased it, no." She could tell from the look in his eyes alone, never mind the feelings she got through the bond, that he really didn't want to play pack mule today, but he would do it, for her, because it made her happy. Laughing quietly, she gave him a deep kiss, as a pre-emptive 'Thank you' for what was going to happen today. With his mouth busy, he added mentally, "I can tell you're excited though. Even when you were still asleep I could feel it."

Still not breaking contact, she replied, "Well, I can't help it. It's been a while since I had a chance to go with my mother, let alone yours as well."

Kaen shuddered slightly as he remembered the last time those three had gotten together in a retail environment, commenting as they broke contact, "That was not pleasant... I'll be surprised if I live through the day..."

She just shook her head at him and hit him playfully as she started to get up, "It's not that bad."

He snorted, replying wryly, "Easy for you to say, you've never been on this side of the equation before."

"Maybe if you tried to enjoy it you wouldn't think it was so bad." She replied matter-of-factly as she got dressed.

"Well..." He 'thought' to himself as he cast an eye over her half-dressed form, "There is an upside I know of."

Turning towards him, and spotting the cheeky grin on his face, she sighed over-dramatically as he too climbed out of bed, saying, "What am I going to do with you?" She was a little surprised at how quickly the two of them had adapted to being able to speak telepathically, and even more surprised at how much she enjoyed speaking that way; probably because it was something that only they shared. (Obviously, other Saiyan couples were bonded, but each bond was unique to that couple.)

Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he whispered into her ear, "I guess you should have thought of that before shouldn't you?"

Turning towards him, and nipping playfully at his nose, she replied, "I never said it was a bad thing." Breaking free of his grip, she finished getting dressed, pinning her hair back as she left, and calling out, "I'll be helping get breakfast ready. Don't be late now." She knew it would never happen, as his derisive snort proved, but it was just one of those things you said.

o-o-o

Kaen arrived in the refectory a few minutes later, dressed as casually as he'd ever been; opting against his weighted training gear, he'd chosen a pair of black pants, and a sleeveless red t-shirt (both of which Pi was surprised he actually owned), to go with his usual gloves and boots. As an afterthought, he'd grabbed his custom scouter out of one of the many inner pockets of his trench coat.

Looking around, he noticed Kat was already sitting at one of the tables, nursing a fairly large cup of coffee, and obviously having a little trouble sitting still; whether from the coffee, or excitement, he wasn't sure. He was a little worried that a caffeinated Kat seemed to resemble a sugar-high Oran or Lime, but realised that a hyped up Kat was less likely to cause trouble than a tired Kat, so he left her to it.

Taking a seat at another of the tables, he was joined shortly by the other Saiyans on the ship, each leaving room for their respective mates, and shortly after that, the twins darted in, grabbing their own seats; once the females joined them, the seating would go, anti-clockwise, Kaen, Oran, Lime, April, Avarrdo, Truniz, Kellre, Raene, and finally Pi, who herself was next to Kaen, the two mothers taking up either end of the table. From the faint bruises and cuts on their faces, it was obvious the twins had been getting in an early morning workout; he was proud of them for that.

Before long, the kitchen robots, relegated to watching while the Saiyan women cooked, began the bucket-brigade-like line up they used for serving up Saiyan meals, or normal feasts. Throwing a grin at the older men, Kaen quipped, "If nothing else, the service is good 'round these parts." The three of them grinned back, before staring hungrily at the assembled food; no one made a move to take any though. It could be said that it was an unspoken rule that everyone had to be there before anyone could eat, except for the fact that particular rule was very much spoken about, usually just after it'd been broken.

Before long, the three women joined their partners and family at the table, and the gorging began. By some twist of irony, of the men, Kaen was the neatest eater; that's not to say he was a neat eater by any means, but compared to the others... The twins, on the other hand, practically dived headfirst into their food. The Women, by comparison, were much more dignified, but how they managed to retain that while stuffing enough food to kill an average person into their stomaches was anyone's guess.

Some time during this feast, otherwise known to Saiyans anywhere as a light breakfast, Frost and Avery entered, each taking their seats and ordering their usual morning victuals: for Frost, a light meal fit for a king, and for Avery, a simple bowl of cereal, with a giant cup of coffee, at least twice the size of the mug in Kat's hands, and at least three times as strong; the birdman liked his coffee. Avery, however, had another agenda on his mind in choosing his seat; he was partially hiding behind his supposed boss, and, if it came to that, using him as a living shield.

In a monumental feat, most likely attested to by their age, the twins finished their meals first, and they practically raced out of the room after doing so. Before they could even take a single step away from the table, Kaen's right arm lashed out, catching both of their collars in a single motion (a feat they always wondered how he did) as he barked, "Stay." before returning his meal, now in it's last legs; however much they wanted to be elsewhere, they wouldn't go against a direct order from their brother.

Taking a quick drink of water, April spoke up, "Oh, if the twins want to they can come along too. I'm sure you won't mind looking after them while we shop around will you Kaen?" The look of horror on his face, and the fact he'd temporarily stopped eating, was answer enough, as his father and the other two men took a moment to grin bastardly at him over the table.

Said look of horror was missed by the twins themselves, the male of which cried out, "But we'll miss valuable training time!" The look on Lime's face showed that she wanted to go, but she said nothing. Turning to his sister, Oran added, "You can go if you want to, but I am staying here." That, of course, decided her, as she began shouting back at how she wasn't going to let him get ahead of her; Kaen made a note to thank his brother from saving him from that.

Smiling down at the young girl, Pi supplied, "Don't worry, I'll find you something nice."

The girl grinned broadly, jumping up to grab Pi around the neck as she chirped, "Thanks big sister! You're the best!"

Finishing his meal, and suppressing a burp, Kaen turned to the twins and said, "I guess I should set you your daily tasks then." He placed one hand on Oran's shoulder, causing the young boy to look him in the eyes, where a short, silent conversation took place. With a nod, he continued, "You're both doing well in increased gravity, and I'm proud of you for that." He paused while the two beamed, before adding, "But today I want you to work with the increased difficulty that comes from lowered temperature, so your goal is to reach zero degrees Celsius, and to keep going below; I won't be satisfied until you can train in sub-zero temperatures, with the gravity still on, of course."

The two shot to attention, snapping him a quick salute and a "Yes sir!" before running off to carry out their tasks. Oran had an extra reason to want to train hard though. In his brother's eyes, he had seen a special reward: Kaen was going to spar with him, one-on-one, when he got back. Oran wasn't sure what he'd done to earn such a reward, but he was determined to work it out, if only so he could keep doing it and get more rewards.

Pi smiled a moment at Kaen before finishing her meal; she could see how much he really cared about them, and it made her feel warm inside. The twins were almost like his children, instead of his siblings; idly, she wondered what he'd be like when the two of them had children themselves... She shook her head; those were thoughts for another day. Swallowing one last mouthful, she wiped her mouth on a nearby napkin, before rushing over to the fidgeting Kat, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off, exclaiming, "C'mon, let's go find Viola."

As they sped off, the two other women already left to get themselves ready, Truniz went about collecting the dishes; as the only one without a mate, clean-up duty was his job. "Start praying runt. You'll need Kami's help to survive all five of them," he mentioned in passing as he took the plates and things to the kitchen.

Turning to the other two men, namely both his and Pi's fathers, he asked, "How the hell did you two get out of this?"

Kellre just grinned over at Avarrdo as the older man commented, "Because it's your turn now son; deal with it."

Kaen just scowled, "I hate you, you know that right?"

His father just grinned, "Yes, but I'm perfectly okay with that."

Kellre laughed at the exchange, adding his two cents, "Don't worry so much. We made sure to limit the amount of money they took from us, so it won't take them long to drain themselves of it and be ready to come back. Besides, we're the ones with direct control of the teleporter."

"Your not helping you know," Kaen commented dryly, "Less money to spend just means more bargain hunting. In a way, I almost wish they had more money to spend; while I may have to carry more stuff, it'll be over quicker..." The two men opened their mouths to say something, so he quickly added, "No! I do not want you to give them more money."

With a shrug, Avarrdo said, "Just think of it as weights training."

"Weights training?" Kaen said incredulously, "Why the hell to I need weights training? I'm the strongest person on this ship."

Kellre just shrugged, "You take what you can get kid; remember, you have to deal with it now." With that, the three men headed off, talking about something to do with messages and information relays before they were out of earshot; he could tell they were making a show of looking really busy to make sure they didn't get roped in at the last minute. Grumbling to himself irritably, Kaen made his way to the bridge, thinking to himself, 'Might as well get this express ride to hell over with...'

o-o-o

Kaen was waiting patiently on the bridge, leaning against one of the walls, when the three girls arrived; well, he was about as patient as any condemned man is. The green-skinned women looked quite excited, which, given her usual stoic expression, said a lot about her state of mind. Sparing a glance at Flute, who was meditating silently off to one side, she noticed him giving her a slight smile, his eyes still closed, as he commented telepathically, "Have fun."

"I will," She replied quickly, a matching smile on her face.

Kat looked at least three times as excited as Viola was, her eyes shining and her tail swishing about; like Kaen, she had opted to go without the trench coat today, although in her case it was because it would be too annoying to have to take it off all the time; similarly, Viola was without her cloak. Heading over to the teleporter, where the two older women waited, Pi cried out, "We're ready to go. C'mon Kaen."

He sighed to himself, muttering, "Might as well get this over with," to himself quietly, before turning to Frost, tapping the red box on the side of his head and adding, "I'm on channel five. I'll radio in when we're ready for pick-up." The three Saiyans didn't bother to comment on the unusual device; they may never have seen it before, but Kaen was Avarrdo's son, and he did have some aptitude with machines, so obviously he made it himself. Besides, doing anything to delay the shopping trip would only incur the wrath of five females, and there would be no murder today; at least, not until they came back anyway.

This time, Avarrdo headed over to the console as Kaen climbed onto the platform, keying in the commands. When the blue light faded, Kellre grinned at the other menfolk assembled, commented semi-seriously, "Hey Frost, I just noticed an error in the communications relays. Do you think we should shut them down and do a full diagnostic?"

The tone of his voice showed that there was obviously no such error. Smirking, Avery called out, "You're evil. I like you."

Sniggering slightly, Frost asked, "Won't that result in a horrible burning retribution?"

Kellre just smirked, saying, "Hardly," as he hit the enter key, beginning the diagnostic run himself. The laughter in the control room didn't die down for a good ten minutes.

o-o-o

On the planet, the trio of Saiyan women, with Kat, Viola, and Kaen in tow, headed quickly over to the shopping district, while at the same time appearing to be in no hurry to get anywhere. Surrounded by a mass of shops, they huddled together for a quick discussion about where to raid... ahem visit first. Kat had a typical 'kid in a candy store' look, so she was no help, and Viola didn't know what a great many of them were. Nevertheless, a decision was quickly reached, and the group headed off to what would be the first of many dress shops, Kaen following behind diligently.

The womenfolk made a quick raid on the stock of the store, dragging them, and Kaen, over to the dressing rooms, leaving him near the mirrors while they entered the stalls. Like a good boy, he leaned against the nearby wall, so he was facing away from the stalls, but could see whoever exited them out of the corner of his eye; this was hardly his first time playing luggage-monkey, and he'd been trained well.

Kat seemed to be having a great time, almost sprinting around the store with arm loads of clothing, before racing to the changing rooms to try them on. Viola, on the other hand, made no effort to try anything; dresses, obviously, were not her thing. After several minutes of watching these polar opposites in action, his musing was interrupted by a movement in his peripheral vision; his mother exiting the change rooms.

Posing a bit in the mirror to see how she looked, she mused to herself, "This might be a little too young for me. What do you think dear?"

Taking a moment to look over the short skirt she was trying on, he replied diplomatically, "Well, it looks good on you, but I don't think it really suits you."

Still looking over herself in the mirror, she nodded, as if she expected this answer, before muttering, "I should have brought your father along. Oh well." With that, she went to get changed again.

Unsure if he'd given the right answer, he simply added under his breath, "You won't find me disagreeing with you." There was a fairly long pause without anyone coming out, and in the mean time a few of the store workers had huddled together, talking quietly about something; focusing his hearing, he could pick up they were talking about him, saying such things as:

"That guy over there! He's sooo cute!"
"And I think he's here with family, so he might be single!"
"Oooh, should we ask for his number?"

Kaen tried to ignore them, hoping that if he didn't pay them any attention, they'd leave him alone, but no such luck. One of them managed to work up the courage to approach him, saying in what was an obvious attempt at hitting on him, "Hey cutie, you seem lonely. Would you like me to keep you company?"

Turning his head slowly towards them, he pretended to think it over for a moment, before simply replying, "No," and looking away again. He had to fight back a grin at the crestfallen looks on their faces as they slinked away to nurse their 'wounded hearts'.

No sooner had they walked away he noticed movement from the change rooms again. Turning towards whoever it was, he felt his jaw drop, and could've sworn his heart stopped beating for a moment. There stood Pi wearing a full, strapless, formal dress, ruby red in colour, with a slit down one side, that sat at a fairly modest height, and by the looks of things, appeared to be satin; she was a goddess. She did appear to be trying not to trip over the hem, however, so it was obviously a little big on her. Brushing phantom wrinkles out of it as she observed herself in the mirror, she mused, "I can't believe Kat talked me into this..."

Not trusting his voice, and doubting he could make it work even if he did, he commented in the one voice that could never lie, "You look... amazing. Not something I'd see you in all the time, but still... I... don't think I know any words to describe how beautiful you look..."

She smiled shyly at him, her face stained with a massive blush, but she still replied, "Chances are you're trying to figure out how to get me out of this thing."

He grinned a bit, "Well... maybe, but can you blame me?" Instead of replying, she gave him a quick kiss, pulling back as Kat rushed over, gushing about how nice that dress was in speeds almost unheard of. Still smiling, she picked up the skirts, to make sure she didn't step on them, and headed back to change again; while it needed work, the dress had passed the test. One everyone had collected their wanted purchases, Kat looking visibly troubled she hadn't found anything she liked, despite having tried on practically half of the entire store, they paid for their selections, piled them all in Kaen's arms, and moved on. Next stop, a shoe store.

o-o-o

Carefully setting the bags down near the entrance, Kaen leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. As soon as they had arrived in the shoe store, Kat had run off to find a new pair of boots or three, while Viola just wandered around the store, no intention to purchase anything, but curious as to the sorts of things other people used. The three Saiyan women, however, had instantly fallen into a discussion about the need to find shoes to match their new outfits, and had begun bothering one of the clerks.

Sighing to himself, Kaen began doing some light meditation, keeping his senses locked on to the five women, in case they needed him for anything, as well as the area around himself, or rather the area around where he'd placed the current horde of purchases; he knew that he'd have strips torn from his hide if he let anything happen to them. Fortunately, their time in this store was significantly smaller than in the previous store; unfortunately, they still managed to find quite a bit, and shoeboxes are quite a bulky item. Their next destination: the nearest lingerie store.

o-o-o

Kat squealed a bit in delight as they entered the store, causing Kaen to wince a bit as he shook his head at her, before moving to lean against the wall again as the five women began their search. Of the five of them, there was only one Kaen wanted to see in anything like the contents of this store, and he could tell she was making an obvious effort to hide her selections from him, so he closed his eyes to make it easier on her; well, that, and Kaen didn't want to see anything his mother picked up. No sense scarring himself for life if it couldn't be helped.

As she looked about the various items in intimate apparel, it occurred to Viola that she didn't actually need to buy any of this stuff - after all, she could just create whatever she wanted with a small amount of effort - but, despite that, she kept looking, taking the occasional item; there was just some voice in the back of her head, one she didn't even know existed until the last shopping trip, that just screamed at her it was better this way.

After a few minutes, Kaen could feel a glare on him, so, opening his eyes, he could see he'd attracted the attention of the somewhat rotund-looking storeowner, who proceeded to glare him out like he'd been perving on every female within a half-mile radius. Glaring back at the woman, more out of boredom than a need to intimidate her, he noticed he'd also attracted the attention of a fairly attractive attendant, who walked over and asked him, in a far too friendly voice, "Hello sir, are you shopping for a gift? If you like, I could model outfits for you."

"I'm sure you'd be most willing to help," Kaen remarked dryly, "And as tempting as that sounds, I'm going to give you a definite 'no'; my girl over there will no doubt not be very pleased if I even think anything else." He inclined his head in Pi's direction, and when the girl looked where he'd pointed, she let out a fearful 'eep' at the glare on the young Saiyan's face, before hurrying off. The glare then focused on Kaen. Looking over at her with a raised eyebrow, he asked, "What? What did I do?"

She kept up her a moment longer before breaking out into a grin, replying, "I know. I just like to keep you on your toes."

He glared mildly at her, drawling, "If I didn't love you so much, I'd really hate you some times."

Fighting back her second blush of the trip, she just kept grinning, "I know, and I'm okay with that." Shaking his head, but grinning a bit himself, Kaen just returned to his meditative position, while the girls finished up their raiding. As she handed her purchases to Kaen, she chided, "Now don't peek. You'll see them soon enough, and if you're a good boy and don't ruin the surprise there'll be a special bonus involved."

He grinned again, "Well, I usually hate surprises, but in this case, I'll make an exception." With that, and with their purchases safely loaded onto their trusty pack mule, they moved on.

o-o-o

Three torturous hours later, the girls decided they'd had enough. Roughly two hours ago, the piles of clothes and assorted accessories had become too high for Kaen to actually see where he was going, so he was forced to rely on his ki sense to direct him. As the decision to finish up became unanimous, Raene mentioned, "We should probably head back up, the boys will be wanting their lunch soon."

"So, everybody ready to leave then?" Kaen asked, a little too eagerly. The women all nodded, although the gesture was lost to him; the fact no one voiced a protest was good enough for him. In a feat of Saiyan athletics, Kaen reached his tail up to press the communicator button on his scouter, waiting for the microphone to extend before radioing, "We're ready for extraction."

The reply he got made his blood run cold: a relay message, announcing, "Radio systems diagnostic in place, please wait thirty minutes to one hour before trying again. Thank you, and have a nice day." At this, Kaen began cursing loudly and violently in at least a dozen languages, including Saiya-Go and Basic; if his travels taught him nothing else, it was how to curse people out in no less than a dozen languages.

Somehow, amidst the horde of curse words, Pi managed to pick up what was wrong, smiling as she said, "Another hour? How fun. Come on, I saw this nice store a little while back..." Kaen just grumbled under his breath, slowly working out a plan to exact vengeance on whoever did this to him. The twins didn't know how, and Avery wasn't that stupid, so that left Frost, and the other Saiyans. Now, to work out who...

o-o-o

"Seems like someone tried to get a radio broadcast through," Avarrdo commented dryly, turning the page in his book as he lounged around, his legs up on the desk in front of him.

"Such a pity the system won't be ready for another hour..." Kellre added, making a few quick notes into the pad in front of him.

Truniz just laughed, setting his magazine down, "Hey bro, I think you got some of your sarcasm on me."

Fighting back laughter of his own, Avery stood up from his console and walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "Well then, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I will be spending the next hour barricading myself inside a room somewhere. No doubt when he gets back he will be either half-dead or homicidal, and I don't plan on being anywhere in range if it's the latter." None of the men chose to point out that, to Kaen, being on the same planet was being in range. Flute also took this moment to slip out of the room, a smirk on his face.

The twins raced in a moment later, turning to their father and asking, "Is mum back yet? We're hungry."

Avarrdo just shrugged, replying, "Mum's going to be late, so why don't you get the 'bots to make a snack for you."

The pair of pint-sized terrors just shrugged, "'Kay." With no more fuss, they sped off again; the robot chefs weren't as good as their mother, but when you're eight and hungry, any food is better than none.

o-o-o

Another hour had passed, and in a feat Kaen didn't think was possible, the five women had managed to pile enough stuff in his arms he needed to use his golden transformation to hold them all, as well as using some of his ki to steady them, lest the pile topple over, most likely landing on him. Checking her own scouter, Pi noticed an hour has passed, prompting Kaen to radio in again.

Using his tail to hit the communicate button again, he hissed out, "If you mongrels don't bring us back now I will personally see to it that the rest of your lives, as short as they may be, will be a pain-filled hell." While perhaps not the most appropriate thing to be saying, he was tired and angry, and in no mood for any shit.

The message returned was again not to his liking: "Filter error, please re-transmit the message." If he listened hard enough, he thought he could hear laughter in the background.

Growling harshly, he spat, "Bring. Us. Back. NOW!"

This time Frost's voice came through loud and clear, "Teleporting now." With a soft hum, the group were back on the Icebreaker again, flames dancing around Kaen's tail as he set the enormous pile of crap on the ground; with his arms loaded, his tail was the one place he could vent ki without causing damage, and after what he'd been through, damaging the pile of assorted... whatever, was stupid, and suicidal.

April and Raene quickly moved to collect their purchases, Avarrdo and Kellre all too eager to help them. A fire burned in Kaen's eyes as he watched them leave, silently screaming, 'TRAITORS!', before turning his gaze to the two remaining men. Cowering under Kaen's green-eyes glare, Frost stammered a quick excuse about needing to inspect the pod deployment systems and hurried out, passing Flute, who had walked in to offer his assistance to Viola.

Truniz, being the only male left, offered to assist Kat, but she girl just grinned and shook her head, two shadow beings appearing out of nowhere and carrying her stuff for her. A feral smirk on his face, Kaen phased in front of the older man, saying entirely too calmly, "Truniz, you and me need to have a little chat..."

The man just barked a laugh, replying, "You're barking up the wrong tree. I know nothing about this ship..."

Before he got too far Kaen grabbed him by the collar, slamming him roughly against the wall and growling, "I don't think so. Now, you are going to tell me who did it, and I am going to start breaking bones until you do."

Grinning, Truniz just quipped, "You've got power runt, I'll give you that, but you lack style." With that, he just disappeared; he didn't phase out, he just vanished, meaning that the Truniz he'd been roughing up was a either near-living copy, or a near perfect illusion.

Growling harshly, Kaen put his fist through the wall - which fortunately was only an internal wall - before ripping his fist out of the wall and spinning around to Pi, pointing a finger at her while shaking in barely contained rage, his ki-coated tail slicing gashes into the already damaged wall as he announced shakily, "Never again. I don't care what you say, no amount of talking, pleading, bribing or cajoling will get me to do that again, understand?"

Pi just giggled at him, grabbing a hold of his arm as she said, "Come and help me with this Kaen; I'll even give you a private show of what I've got." In her head, Pi was a little upset that he'd told her he would never again take her shopping, but given the pure rage she could feel through the bond, perhaps it was better that way. Giggling a little again as she watched him take deep breaths to calm himself, she commented, "You know, you're cute when you're homicidally angry."

Finally calm enough to think rationally, and pointedly ignoring Pi's comment, Kaen picked up Pi's stuff and carried it to their room, all the while muttering to himself how much he was going to make the culprit pay as he tried to work out who'd done it. Giggling again, Pi pushed Kaen onto the bed after he set her stuff down, snuggling into his chest while gazing up at him, purring out, "Are you really going to punish them because they made you spend time with me Kapskaen?" in her most innocent, and yet somehow alluring voice, while making her eyes look bigger than normal.

Groaning softly, Kaen muttered, "Damnit... I hate it when you do that..."

Silencing his protests with a kiss, she added, "Now, I do believe I promised to show you all the things you can help me get out of, right?" Mood changed, he tried to hide his grin, he really did; he failed, and rather miserably at that, as the show began.

End Chapter 23

To be continued...