Only the sound that was clear was the chirping of the crickets preforming their nighttime symphonies. While they beautiful, and reminded Zephyr of home, they seemed quite annoying now. Especially when he was currently out in the field.
He and everyone else (with the exception of Aunt Maria and Damian) had left for the mission, just before the sun went down. Zephyr was still a little disappointed about his limited role in the operation, but after the previous evening's…discussion…with Mari, he wasn't about question the cross-breed anytime soon. So, he was going to do the best he could with what he had.
Crouching underneath thick brush the young hedgehog had an almost perfect view of the targeted facility. The large rounded metallic structure loomed over him, scraping the starless night sky. Only lit with large white spot lights. A number of guards (all of whom were clearly armed) patrolled the interconnected system of balconies and stairs that hung on the rounded wall.
There was a barely audible beeping from the comm link in his left ear (Sparky as the mission assigned support specialist decided that it would be better to use the older stealth G.U.N comms, rather than the normal ones they wore on their wrists). Zephyr took a deep breath, and answered.
There was a blip of static and then the familiar voice of a two tailed fox crackled through, "Zephyr you there?"
"Roger," Zephyr replied in a hushed voice.
"How many doors on the silo are there? Other than the entrance."
"Uhm…Seven. Why?"
"You-Know-Who, structures and building always has a door to the outside on every floor, unless said floor is under ground."
"Why?"
"Don't ask, me. I don't know. Now, how many doors are there?"
"Oh, right. Uh…Like six."
"Okay, how many guards do you see on the outside?"
"Uhm, I see seven maybe eight on this side of the building, and it's probably the same on the other side."
"What about grounds around the silo?"
Zephyr winced, "Double the amount then the ones on the actual silo."
"Oh, boy. Okay."
"Is everything alright? Did I do something wrong?"
"Yeah, it's fine. You did great. Come on back to the nest."
Zephyr nodded and cut the call, dashing back towards the temporary base. He and others had set it up only an hour ago in one of the secluded caverns in the nearby mountain.
Her plum eyes peered out the small hidden mouth of the cave. Angie drew in a shaky breath, and her left wing twitched. She was actually outside. She was actually on a mission. She was actually going to break in to that silo. Follow in her mother's footsteps. Nervous, couldn't even begin to describe what she was feeling, but at the same time excitement wasn't the right word either. To enter the enemy's territory, to pick all their locks and discover all their secrets. The idea was stealing her breath away from her.
She glanced down towards the pathway that led to the cave. A bright streak of blue lightning was dashing up it at unbelievable speed. She watched as the young blue speedster skidded to a halt in front of the cave entrance. She smiled at him, as he brushed off the dust that coated his fur.
He started to rub at his new painted eyes, "I don't know why Mari wanted me to wear this."
"Don't pick at the makeup. The face paint is to make sure that even if you're seen you won't be recognized," Angie said, looking at the now smudged black eyeliner that was painted over the young speedster's upper face and covering the pink parts on his frosted quills.
"I look like a raccoon," Zephyr said.
Angie rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway, "No you don't," her expression sobered, "How's it looking down there?"
"It looks like a guarded silo," Zephyr said.
"Figured that. Anything out of the ordinary I should know about?"
Zephyr glanced at the silo below, "Well, there isn't sort of alternative exit on what I think is the ground level. Only the heavily guarded main entrance is there."
"Good to know," Angie paused, "You still want to go, don't you?"
"Of course, I do Angie. But after what happened with Mari…" he rubbed the back of his neck.
Angie raised a suspicious brow, "What are you going to do?" she asked knowing he had something planned.
"I'm just going to lay low for a bit, train, and then beat the crap out of her. That's the plan."
"Okay, First, that's not a plan. That's a wish list. And second, it's a terrible wish list. Why would you even think of trying that?"
"Because, it's pretty obvious that Mari is the type of person who only sees physical strength. If I can beat her in a fight, she'll listen to me."
Angie swallowed her discomfort with this situation, "Zephyr, that is the most stupid thing I've ever heard. Mari doesn't see it like that. I mean some of her ancestors might have, but not her."
Zephyr rolled his eyes, "It doesn't change the fact that I'll have to prove I can do more than just scouting to her."
"You know Zephyr," she took a deep breath, "Maybe Mari is right. Maybe you should stop and go home to your family."
"Are siding with her now? You don't think I can do this either?"
"No, no! It's nothing like that…It's just…You have people to lose, and I don't want to see you get hurt."
Zephyr sighed, "You don't need to worry Angie, I'm not going to get hurt. Sure, I can't beat Mari in a fight, yet, but last time I checked superpowered chaos creatures are pretty rare."
"You haven't been reading our files, have you?" She deadpanned worryingly.
A sudden beeping from deeper into the cave sounded, catching Angie and Zephyr's attention.
"I got it!" They heard Sparky squeak.
They shared glance with each other before quickly heading towards the makeshift computer console that the little fox had set up. Sparky had pretty much worked with what he could carry to the cave. But the lack of sufficient equipment didn't slow the young inventor down. Connecting the varies pieces of tech, he could easily form something that allowed him to hack into the silo's network. Unlocking almost every file that place housed, including inventory, security cameras, and building schematics, all right at his fingertips (though the more encrypted ones he would have to dig through at home later).
"Got what? Spark," Zephyr asked as he leaned in next to the young fox.
"I finally got through this place's firewalls," Sparky said.
"Did you already download all the files? I'd hate for them to find you in the system, and we don't get that information," Angie said.
"Don't worry about it, Angie. These guys don't even know they've been breached, yet. And once I'm done, these guys won't be able to do anything about it," Sparky said.
"Well, done, Sparky," Mari said. Pulling herself from the wall she had been leaning on to join them. The chains that were wrapped around her forearms chimed and jangled as she walked. Angie, tried not shaking her head or rolling her eyes, while she knew the reason why Mari carried weapons and that chains were a way for her to honor her ancestry. It was still a little bit redundant with the powers the crossbreed already possessed.
"Okay, so judging by these specs," Sparky said, "Starting at the roof and then going down level by level will still be the easiest route. Not that it means this will be cake walk."
"Everyone know the plan?" Mari asked.
"You and I break in, fight our way down, and plant the bombs," Angie answered.
"I manage the cameras, making sure you two stay out of sight," Sparky said.
"And I just sit around, pretending I don't exist," Zephyr said.
"Good," Mari said, before turning to her mission partner, "Ready?"
Angie, nodded, patting the pouches on her mission suit's belt, "Yep, explosives are all here," she walked up and took Mari's hand.
Bright light washed over her vision, and her body was suddenly seized in a vice grip. But Angie didn't panic. She had felt this similar sensation before. Teleportation wasn't foreign to her. Mari had taken her on this ride of folding time and space many times when they were little. In the blink of an eye, the cave was gone and the scene was changed into roof top.
"Hey!" shouted the posted guard.
Mari only turned her head, her eyes narrowed. A shimmering green crystal blade, was thrown lodging itself in the guard's chest, cutting through his armor like softened butter. The silver chain attacked to the handle was tugged, removing itself from the body, and was sent flying back to its owner's hand. The guard fell to the ground, either dying or already dead.
"One down," Mari said, approaching the entry door.
"But so many more to go," Angie said following, while trying not to look at the corpse.
They both paused at the door, hesitant to touch the handle.
"Remember, if they attack, they're not friendly," Mari said.
"I know," Angie said taking a deep breath.
"You ready?"
"Go Team Dark."
The door opened with an audible squeak.
Sparky's eyes remained glued to the makeshift surveillance system. On one screen the girls were two bright glowing dots on that were dashing through the building specs. Both of them already five floors down. On another was the silo's security cam feed. The young fox was focusing on making sure that the right cameras were shut off at the right times, keeping his teammates out of sights. This type of task took the utter most concentration!
Meaning the very impatient, fidgeting, hedgehog leaning on the cave wall behind him was not helping.
It wasn't even a moment after the girls had left, that Zephyr had grown restless. The youngster had truly tried to keep still, but with his bountiful amount of energy, it was a losing battle. His thoughts ran as fast as his foot was tapping the ground, and with his speed that was pretty fast. It was clear that he wasn't one for sitting around and doing nothing.
Sparky tried, he really did, to ignore the tapping, but once the whistling began…Oh he had to do something.
"I know this is excruciating for you, but could you try to be a bit quieter?" Sparky asked, not looking up from his station.
"Sorry," Zephyr said, "I just don't like not being able to do anything."
"That's obvious," Sparky said.
Zephyr sighed, "Are you mad at me too?"
"About last night?"
Zephyr nodded.
"Well, not mad per say. I'm more, shocked, confused and bit relieved. But I'm not mad."
"Really? Angie seemed really upset last night, and she was acting weird earlier today."
"Well, I know for a fact that Angie is probably a bit frustrated with you and Mari. You can't just pull a stunt like that."
"Hey, don't blame me for that, Mari was the one who set up the meeting."
"Only after you pressed her buttons. You can't mess with Mari. I know she can seem cold, but she really does care."
"I don't think that Mari knows the meaning of the word 'care'."
"Look, just take my advice. Don't try to pull at Mari's strings again, and stay away from the subject of her dad. Unless you want to a one-way ticket to your grave."
"So, the emo girl has daddy issues? How original."
Sparky rolled his eyes, "Just be glad that Aunt Maria didn't find out about last night. Then you would've truly awakened Angie's temper."
"What do you mean?"
"Your little stunt last night could've cost us the mission. Other than the basic scouting and grocery runs that Mari does, Aunt Maria has never cleared us for a mission before. Some of us have been waiting for this chance for years. She could've taken this away in heartbeat if she found out about the fight last night."
Zephyr ears pressed against his head, "I didn't think about it that way."
"This isn't just some random adventure, this is war. And if we're successful tonight, we can finally do something to help."
"You want to fight?"
"Well, not exactly, but an invention is only worth so much if it's just sitting around collecting dust."
"I'm sorry."
Sparky sighed, "Just don't forget, that there's more to this than saving the day for us."
Zephyr nodded, and another pause fell over the two. Sparky returned to his computer screens and Zephyr went back to trying not to be bored. A sudden beeping alert popped up on one of the young inventor's screens.
Zephyr's ears perked up at the sudden noise, "What's that?" he asked, while walking over.
"I coded a program to help me hack into the camera systems, while I keep my eyes Angie and Mari. It just broke through to a few more cameras," Sparky explained tapping a few times on his keyboard.
Sparky then steadily flipped between the newly unlocked images. All of which were clearly video feed, if one were to judge by the timestamp in the corner of the frame and the odd angles. Most of them seemed mundane and what one would expect for a silo. Some storage rooms, hallways, and what looked like breakroom. But then a feed that made both of them freeze popped up on screen.
The image was from what looked like a hallway corner, making the room appear titled. But it was on the walls of the halls that scared them. There weren't normal walls, only what looked that small hovels where there. Heavy metal doors separated the hovels from the outside hall. Trapping anyone inside them.
"Sparky? Is that what I think it is?" Zephyr mumbled.
"Yep, that's a prison block," Sparky slowly nodded.
"Why is there a prison block in a storage silo?"
"I don't know," Sparky turned back to his other screen, clicking a few keys, "but this isn't anywhere in the building specs and it shouldn't be here in the first place. This isn't a military structure; it shouldn't have anything remotely combat related."
"There are people in there. Are we sure this was supposed to be a storage silo?" Zephyr asked, looked away from the camera feed and towards Sparky.
"I don't know," Sparky said, forcing his fingers into overdrive.
"Are you going to contact, Mari and Angie?"
"I'll try but I don't think, they'll be able to do anything," He stopped typing and pointed at the screen in front of him, "These dots are Mari and Angie, and this is where the prison block is. There at least three floors below them at this point. They can't backtrack now without being seen."
"Couldn't you just shut off the cameras?"
"For a few seconds, any more than that and it will look suspicious. But even with Mari's teleportation, they won't be able hack into all of those cells in time, and that's assuming there isn't a blocker in there. Even if they don't set the bombs first."
"What do you mean set the bombs first?! There are people in there! They should be getting them out before setting the bombs up!"
"Zephyr, if they go let those people out now, they'll one hundred percent be seen. And then the chances of them getting to level they need to be to complete the mission falls practically to zero."
"Then can't they go after them once the bombs are set?"
"The bombs aren't remote triggered, they're on a timer. Once set they start ticking, and I programmed them with only enough time for Mari and Angie to get out there."
"So, what can they do?"
"Nothing, Zephyr," Sparky's ears folded down, "They can't do anything."
"So, A bunch of clearly innocent people are going to die? And for what, not being seen."
"Even if we threw out the necessity of staying out of sight, they wouldn't be fast enough to get to the prisoners in time."
The young hedgehog, paused for a few moments. Hot emotions were festering inside of him; pain, anger, helplessness, concern. He clenched his fists and, "Then send me in."
"Zephyr…" Sparky groaned.
"I know! I know! Mari is in charge of this mission, and she doesn't want me in the field, but there are lives at stake! If Mari and Angie blow the building down, there's no way the people in the cells will survive."
Sparky sighed, running through all the ways that this stupid idea could go wrong, "If I cut the cameras, I can give you a few seconds. The floors that Mari and Angie have already been mostly cleared, so you probably won't have to deal with enemy soldiers. And pulling the fire alarm should give the prisoners enough warning to get out," Sparky groaned and rubbed his temples, "This is a terrible idea."
They young fox suddenly grabbed one of the stealth comms and started to mess with a few of the buttons on the ear piece.
"What are you doing?" Zephyr asked.
Sparky offered the comm to Zephyr a serious look pressed into his face, "If you don't succeed in doing this, you'll go up in flames too."
Determination filled Zephyr's expression, and he took the comm, placing it on his ear, "How much time do I have?"
"Seven minutes to get in, open all twelve cells, pull the fire alarm and get out. I'll try to contact Mari and Angie to see if I could get you a few more moments, but don't expect much."
Zephyr nodded.
Sparky's ear twitched with concern, "Have you ever gone that fast?"
"First time for everything, right?" Zephyr said and the young speedster was gone in a burst of wild winds and blue lightning.
"Please don't die," Sparky whispered, turning back to his screens.
One guard came from her left the other came to her right. Spinning like a tornado, Angie swung up right leg into the head of the closer guard and then hooked her foot on the other's neck slamming him down into the hard metal floor. She knocked them both out with a single maneuver. Her breath came in short heavy bursts. This was harder than she thought.
The half-breed glanced up, seeing that her partner was finishing up the assailants who were on her. They fell into limb piles of bodies on the floor. Some of them bleeding from stab wounds. Angie ignored the shiver that went through her at the sight of this. She didn't like the fact that her best friend had become a killer but everyone had to reevaluate their limits during battle.
"Last door," Mari spoke.
Angie nodded, "Let's see what's behind curtain number one."
Her wings twitched with anticipation, as she strode up to the basement door. It was a simple cheap door, compared to rest of the silo. Only equipped with a simple key lock. She had no trouble, picking it with the help of two of Mari's quills.
"Open sesame," Angie said as door opened silently.
Angie, slowly creeped through the door carefully closing it behind her, while Mari teleporting deeper into the basement. The room was dark, nearly pitch black. It was at this moment that Angie wished that Mari hadn't covered up her glowing body marks with black makeup. Sure, she could vaguely see things with echo location, but it still would've been nice to have her friend act as a living flashlight.
"I'll take the back, you stick close to the lights," Mari said, "One explosive every three pillars."
Angie, grabbed a small bag of bombs and tossed it to Mari, leaving one for herself, "Let's blow this popsicle stand."
Mari nodded. But just as the girls were going to work their comms suddenly pinged.
"Stop! Hold the Bombs!" Sparky's voice screeched.
"What do you mean hold?" Angie asked confused.
"There are prisoners in the building! Repeat! There are civilians on sight!"
Angie let out a quiet gasp, her eyes widened.
"Prisoners?" Mari asked, "This was supposed to be a non-hostile structure."
"I found the cameras for the prison block after you guys left. And looking at them right now there state-of-the-art, teleportation blocker, force shield doors, you name it. There are at least ten people trapped in them."
"Where are they?" Mari asked her voice remining calm.
"Closer to the roof, than the basement."
"We've already made it down here if we backtrack now, we risk the mission," Mari said almost solemnly.
"We can't just leave them there!" Angie nearly shrieked, "Those are innocent people, practically hostages."
"There's nothing we can do from down here," Mari said.
"There has to be something!"
"Well, me and Zephyr kind of have a plan…"
"What?" Mari leaned into her comm.
"You're not going to like this…"
Zephyr's heart was in his throat. The halls inside of the silo all looked alike, plain walls, and bright pure white lights. If it wasn't for the fox in his ear, it would've been likely he would've gotten lost. The levels appeared almost empty, the only ones there were the guards, whom were either knocked out or worse. The stab wounds were enough to make the youngster's stomach churn. He didn't even want to think about who did those.
It was a matter of seconds before he was right outside the prison block. He pressed his back into the wall, and his teal like eyes peered down the prison hall. The heavy doors that locked the captives in their cells, gleamed menacingly. He could've sworn he heard someone trying to weep silently. This was wrong.
"I'm in position. What's the plan, Spark?" He whispered into his comm.
"You break the cell locks, then run down a few halls and pull the fire alarm, that should open up all the other doors in the silo. If any of the remaining guards value their lives more than their jobs, they won't stop the prisoners from leaving."
Zephyr nodded, "Okay, how do I do that?"
"Remember what I said about how you shouldn't touch electronics when your running?"
"Yeah?"
"Forget everything I said about that. According to these specs the locks are electrical. If you run fast enough, you could easily overload and shut them down with a single touch."
Zephyr nodded, and cut the call. Run and touch the cells, simple. He took a deep breath, and dashed through the prison halls. He expected the hall flashed passed him in less than a second, feeling the zaps of lightning as they took an explosive hold on the cell with the slightest touch of his fingers. But once he got to the end of the hall time slowed down, he was still moving but everything felt frozen. Allowing him to see who was sitting in the cell through the small window in the door, his eyes widened. It was the Farmer Raccoon who had shared his meal with the young hedgehog.
Zephyr didn't get a longer look at the kind soul trapped behind the heavy door, as time quickly speed up and everything was flashing passed him again. He left the cell block in a dash of blue lightning and a gust of harsh winds. The halls whipped passed him, until he finally skidded to a halt. His heart pounding even harder than before, and his breathing harsh. What had he just seen?
Shaking his head, he quickly dashed back up the rest of the floors and pulled the fire alarm nearby the roof's exit door. Running away from the silo, and back to the cave was easy. Not that he was paying much attention to it. He just leaned on the outside of the cave mouth, keeping his breathing just below full-blown panic. He'd had just seen innocents imprisoned, trapped, and who knows what else they were forced to endure. It was only now that he felt a shiver run down his spin and he hoped it was from the early autumn air.
A large fiery plume rocked the bottom of the silo, and hot flames began to crept up its walls. Zephyr flinched away from the sight, when he heard the screaming. His eyes shut painfully, and ears pressed to his head. Once his fur began to stand, he decided to walk back into the cave.
It wasn't long before; Angie and Mari made their reappearance. In a flash of blue light, the girls materialized in the middle of the cave. Both of them seeming a little breathless.
"You guys alright?" Sparky asked.
"Yeah, we're okay. That was just a rush," Angie panted out while Mari only nodded.
Zephyr didn't pay any attention to their conversations after that, he was too busy in his head. But eventually Sparky began to pack up his equipment. The speedster was never so grateful to return to the mansion.
Aunt Maria looked over the files downloaded from the silo. A pleased, prideful smile spread across her face. Her nieces and nephews had performed beyond her expectations. Proving that her constant concern for their safety might not be completely necessary. Sure, she would always worry at some level, but maybe now she could convince herself to tone it down a bit.
"How much damage was caused?" She asked her nieces.
"Some of the frame work survived the blaze, but we took out the entire foundation," Mari said.
"Even if they decide to rebuild, it well be at least a few months to a year before they'll be operational again," Angie explained.
Aunt Maria sighed, "Well, if they do try again, we can plan and blow the place up a second time. Are you positive that no one saw you?"
"Sparky scrubbed the camera systems during the mission and we knew where the cameras were placed. Me and Mari kept out of sight." Angie said.
"Any casualties?" Aunt Maria's voice turned solemn.
"During infiltration, only those necessary. Those during the explosion remains undermined," Mari said.
Aunt Maria frowned but nodded, "Well, I'd say you all did a good job. The target was eliminated without much trouble. And none of you got hurt."
The elder hedgehog, shut off the computer on her desk, and stood up. She took a deep breath and tried to flashed a warm smile. But once she saw the concerned glances the girls were sharing, her face sobered.
"Something happened, didn't it?" She asked.
The girls shared another worried glance. Angie's unease was much more prominent than Mari's but it was clear to their caretaker that there was something wrong. The children broke eye contact. Angie's gaze traveled to the floor, but Mari's went straight to Aunt Maria's.
"During the mission, Sparky discovered security feed from cameras set up in an unmarked location in the silo. Upon further investigation, it was found that it was a prison block," Mari explained.
Aunt Maria's grip on her cane handle tightened. The information was troubling to her. There had been hundreds of silos all over mobius that she and the others had secured, and none of them had ever had a prison block built into it.
"A prison block?" she questioned.
"Sparky said they had reenforced metal doors, cameras in every cell, a teleportation blocker, the whole nine yards," Angie explained.
That was even more disturbing. A basic prison in case of a guard getting out of hand or in the possibility of petty thieves breaking in, is something that Aunt Maria, while not agreeing with, could see being implemented into such a structure. But a prison, with heavy doors? A teleportation blocker? That was the type of facility that wasn't standard issue, that was built to hold at least a highly trained professional, or at most a chaos user.
"Was there anyone inside?" Aunt Maria asked.
"A few; Sparky said they looked like farmers," Mari said.
"Did you manage to get them out before you set the bombs?" Aunt Maria asked.
"No," Mari answered.
"So, they perished in the blast," Aunt Maria sadly concluded.
"No, at least we don't think so," Angie said.
The Elder hedgehog's brows rose with surprise and a hint of hope, "What?"
"Sparky decided to send Zephyr into the field," Mari stated.
Aunt Maria, tried not to freeze. She could sense the tension coming off her eldest niece at the statement. When Mari and her were discussing the mission plan, her niece was adamant about not wanting the young hedgehog on the mission. But she had been able to convince the young crossbreed on letting him do basic pre-mission scouting. Of course, she could understand her niece's reasoning, but she knew that the boy needed to gain field experience along with the others.
"Well, is it that he went against your orders that's the trouble? Because from what I have heard from you it sounds like he performed exceptionally," Aunt Maria queried.
"He wasn't ready," Angie said, her voice losing its normal cheerful tone.
Aunt Maria nodded. She understood. It was difficult to see everything that this kind of life offered for the first time. She remembered feeling the same when she was first revived in the Equinox war. Finally seeing the world that she had gazed down upon for so many years, a world she loved, a world that had been in deadly turmoil. She couldn't let her brother risk his life for this place by himself, she couldn't just sit on the sidelines.
Shadow, reluctantly, taught her how to defend herself. Rouge eagerly introduced her to the world of espionage. Zero had taken her under his wing and helped her learn swordplay, until she nearly matched his own skills. Tails and Gadget had given her lessons in modern technology. But no amount training and lessons could prepare her for the true ugly face of war. When death was as common as the air one breathed, and almost every life ended tragically. It wasn't easy for her to adjust to it. Some of the thing she had seen all those years ago still haunt her.
She took a deep breath, "If he's anything like his parents, he'll pull through, and if not. We'll be there to help him."
If there was one-word Neavel could use to describe his situation, it was hopeless. The poor old raccoon looked around his cell. The harsh bright lights, seemingly unbreakable metal walls, and the heavy metal forged door that sealed off the outside made him feel like this place was built to hold someone far more powerful than himself.
He sighed, and leaned his head against the cold wall behind him, letting his mind drift. The thoughts came to his wife and children. What would happen to them if something happened to him? There might have been a small meager chance that they could've paid the new taxes if he had stayed quiet, but if something were to happen to him. There was no chance at all that they could support themselves, without him.
He was scared. So, so scared. He wanted to go home. He wanted to hug his wife and daughters. Hold them, and get a chance to say goodbye. He looked towards the heavy metallic door, the little window near the top of the door was the only glimpse of the outside that he might never get to see again.
If he had blinked, he would've missed what happened next.
A sudden burst of bright blue lighting rushed past, followed by harsh whipping winds that made the cell shake. The gunmetal grey door crackled with blue sparks for a few moments before the locks failed and it swung open, smoking. The old raccoon just sat there his mouth agape. Cautiously, he walked forward towards the now open cell door. What just happened? Did a guardian angel come to his and the others' aid?
Confusedly, he swiveled his head around the hall. His gaze froze on something, that shouldn't have been there. Neavel crept forward and reached down. He plucked from the floor a long blue quill.
His eyes widened with recognition. After all this time, could it be?
A/N:
Well, here's the next Chapter of this story! A bit of warning, the Next Chapter isn't going to have events too important to the current plot, but will include a lot of references and foreshadowing. SO, study that one closely.
Anyway, Life has started up again, so it might take updates a little longer to come out. I'm also preparing to get a new pet soon so that's also another reason.
Read and review! See y'all!
