Uwah! How is it I am so late!
Mira: Calm down, DigiXBot, it can't be that bad-
Not that bad? I wanted this chapter to be published during December, but with my hectic level of life and the fact that I wrote so much I had to split it in two-
Heh, deep breaths, Digi. Deep breaths.
Anyway, let's start. First I want to thank Ushindeshi, TheDistanceBehind, Okami-ou Kylo, sarahlaura95, KelanFarron, Prometo, Death wisperer, Bowser22, Ashclring, Clarent, and Viltsu14 for favoriting Alternate Tail. I also want to thank stephanieeiche10, Shadowwolf199, Ushidenshi, Shiranai Atsune, OneWhoCharms for their reviews. I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter, especially with the reveal about Metalicana and Lisanna's transformation.
Lisanna: … that's nice.
Ah, sorry, Lisanna. I needed an interesting conflict for your part. And you all get to find out how that ends on this episode of Alternate Tail!
Oh, I'm also glad many of you enjoyed the Christmas story I wrote for the series.
Freed: So you were late because you devoted so much time to a measly Christmas special that you were two months late.
Grrr...
Alright then, everyone calm. Then time for the disclaimer.
Elfman: I'll do it! And you better be a real man and turn Lisanna back to normal!
I will, I will. Geez.
Elfman: Hmm... DigiXBot does not own Fairy Tail. But that doesn't make him any less of a man!
Fairies Blown to the Wind, Part 3
The Metis Spiral. A spiral tower that rose several stories from a hidden forest clearing. To the common man, it was a figure of unrecognized architecture, a monument in a seemingly random location.
The tower's true purpose was a library of magic, with scrolls and novels about many spells from Celestial Magic to Takeover to Maker Magic, and was even rumored to hold artifacts beyond mortal comprehension.
But for library attendant Byran Wan, it was just another day of cataloging the collection of old text, this time on the section that focused on the practice of Requip Magic. When he first joined, he hoped for a sense of wonder or excitement but instead found only melancholy as he repeated task after task.
Byran rubbed the side of his bowl-cut hair and sighed as he walked down the hall. "Well, time to get started. Let's start with the report-"
But when he entered the alcove, he found an old woman with her back to him. Normally that wouldn't be a surprise, but spending five years in the Spiral made Byran more than familiar with who frequents here. And he has never seen this woman once in that time.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he spoke up. "This room is restricted today. You can come back tomorrow."
"Hmm," the woman merely hummed as she stroked the spines of the books. "So much information, and yet so little knowledge."
Byran gaped at her statement. "I-I'm sorry? What does that-"
"Tell me, boy, have you heard of Athina?"
"Y-yes, I have." He answered. "It was an ancient city-state that existed centuries ago, one of many wiped out by Acnologia. The Metis Spiral was built where it once stood."
"Athina was valued as a great nation of knowledge and wisdom. A gathering of trade and reason, its text stored in its mighty library, the Grand Papyrus. It's no wonder he asked to be buried here."
"'He?' Ma'am you're not making-"
He stopped when she held up a hand. He waited for a few seconds, awaiting her statement. And then…
"No, we won't kill him."
Oh, so that's what she-
"K-kill?!" he exclaimed, taking a step back. He tried not to turn his eyes away from her as he guessed how far it would take for him to backstep to the hallway. "W-why kill me?! I won't tell anyone you were-"
"It's far too reckless," she continued, with a stony calmness. "And there's no need for early deaths. Suppress your anger."
"Wh-what?" What was she talking about?
The woman then turned around and started to walk towards him. His joints stiffened shut as he struggled to move. But the tension flooded out of him when she casually walked past him.
He racked his brain for a response to this odd (and possibly insane) woman. "Um, have a nice day."
The Chieftain of Clan Garten hid her disgust as she walked out of the alcove, not wanting to spend another moment breathing in the Strainraiser presence.
Previously
"Ah!" Elfman shouted, "what's gotten into-" he came to a stop when he saw her eyes. They were cold, black, and soulless, with nothing of his sweet little sister in them.
He only saw such eyes before in his nightmares from the time his Beast Soul took over him.
"Oh sis…" he muttered, only to raise up his stone arm to block his snarling, hungry sister.
Elfman continued to use his stone arm to shield him from the boar-lizard hybrid that was his sister. "Snap out of it, Lisanna! Those souls are messing with your mind!"
Lisanna snarled viciously as she tried to breakthrough. There was no reason or logic in her cry, only primal fury.
Meanwhile, Mira's path to her siblings was constantly blocked by Murray. "Get out of my way!" Mira yelled as her attacks were blocked by Murray's magic shield.
"Just hand over the Key Piece and I'll do that!" Murray argued back. Her glyphs glowed as she summoned a twister
"Like hell, I will!" the She-Demon snarled, using her Kitsune's form fire to break down the twister. "I'll never negotiate with my enemies, not when I can save my family by myself!"
"I understand. I know what devotion it takes to protect your loved ones," the Garten elite narrowed her eyes. "That's why I'll do what it takes to secure Brigid, so my family can survive."
"Survive? What are you-"
"Fire, Beetle: Bomb Beetle!" from a knot-like magic circle came a swarm of beetles that were glowing brighter and brighter, before blowing up and sending Mira back.
Meanwhile, Elfman was gritting his teeth as Lisanna started to bite down on his Stone Arm. "I know you're still in there, sis. Just listen to my voice."
Lisanna pulled her jaw off of his arm and stared at him. "Okay, that's a start," he said cautiously, looking at her black void eyes. "Just take it easy and try to get them ou-"
HISS!
"Gaah!" Elfman quickly closed his eyes to block out the spit hitting his eyes. "That's not what Lisanna would do!" he yelled, choking on the scent of boar musk.
"CRAAHHH!" the boar-lizard as she charged forward to finish him off-
Only for her claws to be blocked by Archenemy's hilt.
"Are… you… okay… Elfman-san…" Kagura wheezed out as she tried to hold back against the out of control Takeover.
"I'm fine," Elfman muttered as a handkerchief fell on his face. "Thanks, Carla,"
"What can we even do?" Carla asked. "Lisanna's out of control thanks to those two automatons. If she's gone too far-"
"She isn't," Elfman interrupted sternly.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because twice before Lisanna always believed in me, even when she shouldn't have too," he gripped his hand into a tight fist. "So I'll keep believing in her till the end!"
"Maybe Elfman-san has the right idea," Kagura wondered, her heel pushed against the gray soil. "But maybe what Lisanna needs," her gaze fell onto Mira. "is another familiar voice."
"Carla, E-Elfman-san, I have an idea… to help Lisanna-san…"
"Really?" Elfman asked, hope penetrating his voice. "What do I need to do?"
"Hold on… to her… once I get out of the way…"
He nodded as he turned to his full Takeover form. "Leave it to me."
"Carla, get me… away…"
"You don't have to ask!" the Exceed yelled as she flew and pulled Kagura away from the boar-lizard, who charged forward into Elfman's grasp.
"Keep calm, sis," Elfman grunted as Lisanna struggled in his bear hug. "We'll get you back to normal soon!"
"So what's the next part of the plan?" Carla asked her partner, who was watching the fight between Mira and Murray.
"This," she thrust her hands towards Murray, who felt an elephant was pushing her flat to the ground.
"What the devil… is this?" Murray gritted as she scrambled to push herself from the ground.
"Don't ask me?" Mira quipped, before turning to Kagura. "What are you do-?"
"You can go help Lisanna-san. I'll keep her down as long as I can."
Mira was silent for a moment before nodding. "Thanks… and be careful!" she shouted before running towards her siblings.
"What are you doing?" Murray questioned, barely able to lift her face from the Earth. "Why help them? You're not their family..."
"All of us are from Fairy Tail," Kagura firmly said. "And that makes us family."
Mira stopped before Elfman, who was enduring Lisanna's attempt to break free. "How is she?"
"She's a bit calmer, so I might be getting through to her," Elfman replied with strain from the struggle. "But it might not be enough."
Mira stepped forward, turning back to her human form and gently placed her hand on the side of Lisanna's face. "It's okay, I'm here. I know those two souls are fighting against you. It was the same with me and Beelzea. But I know you're trying to save them. Reach out to them… and work together."
The Boar-Lizard stopped her struggles, looking straight at Mira with confused eyes.
"That's it Lisanna, just listen to my voice."
"You got this, Lisanna," Elfman encouraged as he let go of his younger sister. "You're more than manly enough to break free.
"It's working," Kagura said as she watched the scene. "Lisanna-san might turn back to normal…"
"Kagura, focus!" Carla chided. For in her admiring, she lost focus on Murray and the gravity on her came down.
"Wind…" the Garten woman chanted. "All Glyphs!" a blast of wind sent Kagura and Carla tumbling down to Earth, freeing Murray from the increased weight.
"Kagura!" Mira and Elfman shouted as they ran to save her, unaware of a third figure rushing past them.
"I had enough of you, child," Murray said coldly as she marched forward, pulling out a white runestone. "If I am to get the Key Piece, then all of you will-"
SPLAT!
"Gah!" she screamed as she tried to rip off a thick mucus clogging over her eyes. "What is this- this horrible thing- gah!" she was knocked off her feet by a long tail.
"L-Lisanna-san?" Kagura gasped as she and Carla got back onto their feet.
"Her mind's back to normal," Carla reasoned. "She's…"
"Help," a raspy voice interrupted them. Lisanna fell onto her knees and spoke once more. "I… help… them…" a white light formed a cocoon around her body, blinding everyone before it faded away to reveal Lisanna back to her human self, though with her clothes torn from the transformation.
Surrounding her were two blue orbs of fire, which circled her before floating up to the sky above, growing dimmer as the distance grew.
"What was that?"
"Those were the souls of the two automatons," Mira said as she and Elfman arrived. "Lisanna reached out and pulled them out.
"They're free now," Lisanna said tiredly. "They can rest now… after so many centuries..." And with that said, she silently fell into Mira's arm.
Murray heard the scene nearby as she finally managed to wipe the musk off her eyes. "That girl managed to remove the souls from our automatons," she muttered in shocked amazement. "Something only Relbeo-san should be able to do. And even in that madden state, she rushed to protect that girl. Why?"
"It's over, Murray," she looked forward and saw Mira glaring forward while holding tightly on her younger sister. "Just leave us."
Murray glared back before turning to her unconscious men, "I'll leave for now," she gripped the runestone, and all of Clan Garten broke down into white runes. "But we won't forget the Key Piece so easily." And with those final warnings, she and her men disappeared.
"Well, we won," Elfman sighed. "Barely."
"We faced both fortune and misfortune at the same time," Carla added.
"In any case, we have this," Mira pulled out the Key Piece that caused them so much trouble. "So now all that's left is-"
A series of beeps interrupted her, causing Elfman to pull out the Communication Lacrima from his pants pocket. "Huh, it's Warren's little invention. And it's from Gajeel's group… they're fighting Mercator and Alexis!"
"That's the strong one that can transform like Levy-san and Freed-san!" Kagura exclaimed.
"And the one with the odd enchantment magic," Carla added, her body shivering. "If they get both the piece and Levy…"
"Dammit," Mira muttered. "We have to help them, but Lisanna… and our piece."
"Leave it to me," Elfman volunteered, earning a shocked look from his older sister. "We all want to be there for Lisanna, but your teammates need you. And we can't do that if we're too busy keeping Lisanna safe." he huffed his chest in reassurance. "Let me take her and the key piece back to the guild, while you three back up the others."
Mira frowned, her forehead crinkling in worry before she smiled. "This might be our riskiest idea, but thankfully you know what you're doing." She stared straight at her younger brother. "Okay, we'll walk you two to the train station and you can be careful. But be careful."
"Right!" and with their plan set, the four rushed off from the graveyard to begin their plan of protection.
Previously
"Never say that Braille the Automaton Tamer was not unreasonable," the young girl turned her head to Erza. "So what say you, Strainseir?"
Erza grinned in response and spoke dramatically. "If we are in a play, then the show must go on!"
"Oh~" the air above the grassy hillsides of the illusion was filled with a melody from a lyre and Chekov's singing. "Adventuring we go. From the stage, we flow. From a trio of strangers, more different than true, where the princess be, we have no clue~"
"You're singing is an annoyance," Braille muttered. "How long till we reach this castle, Strainseir."
"Until the bard is finished," Chekhov explained, taking a pause from his lyre. "This point is a mere montage of travel, so it doesn't end until the score does.
"Fine with me," Erza happily replied. "The music goes well with the scenery. Now if only I brought a picnic basket with me…"
"Hmm, that doesn't sound like it fits with the play…"
"Excuse me?" she darkly questioned the playwright."
"Oh, nothing!" he quickly said, before starting to play his lyre. "And from dawn to dusk we march until we are hungry and parched…"
"All are you Strainseir this mad?" Braille commented. "What strange curse warp your minds? Alas, my own secret gift shall protect me, but still.."
"You don't hold us in high opinion, do you?" Erza asked.
"Of course not," Braille huffed. "I have heard many stories of you outsiders. The people outside of our lustrous clan are wild and chaotic. Divided by infighting like a wolf automaton with a missing screw."
"Hmm, interesting metaphor," Erza hummed. "But tell me, have you met a 'Strainseir' outside of fighting."
Braille paused in her step, tilting her head in confusion. "No. But why would an Automaton Tamer like myself need to do such a thing? My only concern is the welfare of my army and the salvation of my clan."
"Well, there's a lot you have to learn there." The Titania checked if Chekhov was listening, but he was in the midst of a chorus for his bard. She then spoke in a soft tone. "You know our guild is full of a mix of people from different origins. Some like Laki and Lyon are from other countries, while our Exceeds come from another world entirely. I'm in the middle, born and raised in the Alvarez Empire, in Alakitasia. I'm not the only one from the continent, of course. Many have crossed the sea for a better life here."
"That far away," Braille failed to keep herself from marvelling at the fact. "But what does that have to do with me?"
"Alvarez has its own stories and stereotypes about Ishgar. Though since my mother was Ishgar-born, most of that was suppressed. However, the stories that did persist were of dragons… and dragon slayer.
"In Ishgar, dragons are seen as the founder of civilizations. But in Alvarez, we knew dragons as creatures of destruction and death. And dragon slayers, we called them dragon-children and saw them as equally destructive and savage.
"The first time I met a dragon slayer, I didn't think of him as a comrade. Instead, I," she sighed, her eyes heavy with regret. "Tried to skewer him. Master had to hold me back to prevent any injuries."
Braille hummed in confusion. "What does that have to do with my ideals? All you have done is strengthened my point."
"Well, if the story ends there it might. But after speaking with Master and some of the other kids, I decided to get to know the Dragon Slayer not as a bedtime terror but as a person. I learned that while the Dragon Slayer was rude and callous, he was also brave and had his own code of honor. He enjoyed eating iron and starting fights, but he also had… a terrible sense of music. In fact," she smiled with grand pride. "I was the one who taught him how to read and write. It is something I take great pride in. And that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't learned to understand him as a comrade."
"Why, why inform Braille of this?" the blind girl asked. "We are enemies, aren't we?"
"True," Erza admitted. "But just because we are foes, doesn't mean we can't learn from each other."
"And once the knight saves her, and carries her back home, we all come together, and find another adventure to rome~!" Chekhov had finished his bard and gasped in surprise as he pointed ahead of them. "There it is!
"Is our goal of conquest there?" Braille asked.
"Indeed it is," Erza answered, looking at a tall stone tower, with a grayed out roof and gray bricks covered in ivy. "Though it seems drabber than I expected." Her eyes went from the top of the tower to the ground, where she saw three familiar figures. "Hmm, now that's concerning."
"Great, just great," Max muttered to himself as he leaned against the tower. The moment the strange light that blinded them vanished, it left him, Laki, and the Garten girl with the fiddle by a stone tower, all of them wearing brown tunics and carry curved swords (Laki called them scimitars, but that doesn't really matter right now) on their sides. It didn't take them long to grab Mairi and place her into stocks, with their enemy just staring at them in silence while her fiddle was kept far away.
However, they couldn't really move. Every time they try to leave the tower behind, they keep ending up back where they started. Heck, Max even left a trail of sand during one attempt to leave, and somehow that ended up looping back.
"We have no way of getting out, and we don't know where Erza or Cana is. They could be anywhere, and we don't know if that Key Piece is safe."
"Max, I don't think stomping around is going to repair things," Laki deadpanned.
He sighed. "I know. It's just, thought it would be easier after they got back."
A wry smirk crossed the Wood Mage's face. "Was it ever easy when they were here, stomping and erupting everywhere?"
Max failed to hold back a laugh. "Okay, that's true. Still, it would be nice to get some answers." He turned to the captive Mairi. "You have any answers for us?"
Mairi gave him a deadpanned look as she signed a response
"Yeah, we have no idea what you're gabbering about," Laki said. "Or rather signing about."
"Laki! Max!" the two fairies turned and saw Erza, Braille, and Chekhov arriving.
"Erza, there you are- huh?" Laki's jaw dropped when she saw Braille approaching. "What's she doing here?"
"Let's just call it a temporary alliance," Erza responded.
"You tied up one of your own?" Chekhov gasped, staring at Mairi in shock.
"She's not one of our own, remember," Max replied dryly.
"I thought your guild was supposed to be close, so why tie up your booze-smelling associate?" Braille asked. "And where is Mairi-"
"*Keh!*" Mairi let out a raspy bark to grab her cousin's attention.
"Eh, Mairi?" Braille turned her head to where she heard the sound, then to Max to glare furiously (or as furiously as she can with her goggles on). "What have you done with her fiddle, fiend?!"
"We'll deal with that later," Erza interrupted, before turning to Max and Laki. "Based on who's left, Cana must be the princess that's inside the castle.
"Wait, Cana's the princess," Laki deadpanned. "Of the girls this crazy spell picked, it choose Cana?"
"Never mind that. What matters is that we must go and wake her up."
"Oh, well in that case just go pass us," Max said, stepping aside.
"W-wait a moment," Chekhov stuttered nervously, frantically moving his eyes from Max to the sky and back. "You can't just let us pass! The three of you are the bandits and we're the heroes! You must try to stop us!"
"While I do respect the dedication of acting, we still need to escape," Erza argued. "I'm sure your actors can do the play properly afterward."
"No, you don't understand, the conflict will occu-"
*CLICK*
Erza and the others turned to see that the stocks on Mairi have unlocked, allowing her to free herself.
"Um, Laki," Max began cautiously, not noticing his hand was reaching to the scimitar on his sand. "Why did you free her?"
"I… didn't…" Laki replied weakly.
"What's going on?"
"Oh dear," Chekhov paled considerably as he stepped behind Braille. "I knew this would happen. You're welcome…"
"Welcome for what-" she stopped when she heard the sound of swords being pulled from their sheats. She turned around and saw Max, Laki, and Mairi with scimitars in their hands, their expressions horrified and confused. "What in the world?"
"Erza, run!" Laki shouted, before her body charged towards the knight, forcing her to block her scimitar with a prop sword.
"Laki, what's gotten into you?!" she demanded,
"I don't know! My body has a soul of its own!" the wood mage shouted as her body moved erratically and swung her curved blade around.
"Behind you!" Erza moved out of the way before Max's scimitar could cut her back.
"Sorry!" the sand mage said frantically as Erza tried to avoid both of her puppeteered guildmates.
"This is not your fault, Max! Something is going on-"
"What's all this madness about?!" Braille shouted. "What sort of curse is making you act strange?" In her confusion, she did not notice her cousin's body marching towards her, Mairi whimpering in terror as her arm brought up her blade.
"Braille, behind you!" Erza shouted. "Roll to the side!"
Braille, while confused, complied with the Fairy's shout, and could hear the sound of sword slashing the air where she was before
"What in the name of Relbeo-"
"No time!" Erza grabbed Braille and pulled her away from the three puppets.
"T-thank you," Braille stuttered out. "But what spell or enchantment is behind this?!"
"Forgive me," Erza turned and saw Chekhov hiding behind a boulder. "But that is the full effect of the spell. It'll make sure that the play will continue, no matter what, you're welcome!"
"There is no need for that," Erza stated coldly. "An actor may give his body and mind to a performance, but he does not surrender them under dire force! This spell is a mockery of the stage!"
"We're not actors, remember!" Max shouted as his body made another attempt to attack her.
Erza looked straight into the younger girl's goggles. "Braille, our only option is to work together to save our comrades,"
"Hmm, while I do not understand much of Strainseir art, my sacred eye lets me seen on truth," Braille smirked. "We don't have to kill our opponent on the stage, only make it convincing."
A grin crossed the Titania's face. "That's correct. Now, try to summon an Automaton to aid us," she gently dropped Braille to the ground and pulled out her blade. "While I fight my comrades to save them!'
"Bravo!" Chekhov cheered. "Such dedication! Your welcome!"
The puppeteered trio did not share his enthusiasm as they charged towards Erza, but she merely smiled as she used her blade to block each attack, not even their numbers enough to overpower her. Still, the Stagehand magic was certainly making their bodies difficult to fight.
"Any moment would be fine, Braille," Erza muttered.
"Come forth, Titanoboa!" she heard Braille chanted, and Erza could see a magic circle appearing beneath her. She leaped away in time as a giant mechanical snake appeared and wrapped itself around Max, Laki, and Mairir.
"What the-" Max yelled. "What is this?"
"Behold the mighty Titanoboa!" Braille cackled. "This fearsome automaton has the strength of ten mortal men. Two bison were crushed to oblivion at once by its immense power. Hahaha!"
"That won't kill them, right?" she heard Erza sternly questioned.
Braille scoffed. "Of course not. What sort of Automaton Master would I be if I let one of my servants hurt my flesh and blood? They exist to serve me and protect them."
For a brief moment, a smile of respect crossed Erza's face, before she turned to the stone tower. "Now's our chance." She grabbed Braille by the arm and dragged her along as she ran to the tower and through its front door. Traversing the series of steps, they arrived in a small chamber, where they found Cana lying completely still on a silk bed while wearing a blue gown with ruffles on the skirt and shoulder. And in between her hands was Chekhov's Key Piece.
"There you are," Erza walked over to the sleeping Cana, grabbed her by the shoulders, leaned her head towards hers, and…
"Wake up, Cana!" she shouted as she furiously shook the brunette drunk. "This is no time to sleep!"
"Gah!" miraculously, all that shaking was enough to snap Cana out of her sleeping spell. "What the hell was that for Erza?!" She then looked down at her clothes. "And what am I even wearing?!"
"It's a long story," Erza happily said, looking around and seeing a white light swallowing the world around them. "One that is coming to its happily ever after…"
The bright light vanished, and Erza and her team found themselves back backstage, and in their normal clothes as well.
"Few, that's over," Cana said, playing with the Key Piece in her hand. "Not sure how long I would have lasted in that frilly dress."
"Bravo!" the four fairies were caught off guard when they heard a series of loud clapping. Turning around, they saw an assorted group of stagehands and actors in applause.
"What a performance! Brave! Encore, encore."
"You were there the whole time and you couldn't get us free!" Cana shouted.
"Well, no one can break the Stagehand Magic that easily," Chekhov happily inputted. "You're welcome."
The sight of the audience caused Erza to suddenly stiffened like a wooden board, her mouth only capable of stuttering. "We, we- we had an aud-i-ence… when did-"
"Really, stage-terror," Laki deadpanned. "How cliche."
"Haha!" turning forward again, they saw Braille and Mairi, now with her fiddle in her hands again. "I thank you for cooperating, red-haired Valkyrie. But now, we will be taking that Key Piece and-"
"Sand Magic," Max deadpanned, holding his hand forward and causing the sand below the two Garten girls to trip them over to the floor.
"Ow!" Braille shouted. "You dare strike-"
"And sleep!" a glowing card releasing smoke was tossed towards them, putting both the blind and mute girls to slumber.
"Well, this might be the weirdest quest I ever did," Cana muttered as she picked up her card and put it back into the bag. "Of all time." She paused when she noticed one of her cards was glowing inside.
"At least we got the Key Piece," Laki reminded. "And now-"
*Beep-Beep* A series of beeps interrupted her, causing her to pull out the communication lacrima.
"It's a letter from Gajeel's team, and it's said… their fighting Mercator and Alexis?!' the wood mage exclaimed in horror, snapping Erza out of her shock.
"Two of Clan Garten's strongest, this can't be good," Erza stated, before eyeing at her guildmates. "We need to go after them. You all remember where they are?"
"An archeologist sight," Max answered. "But what about the Key Piece?"
"We'll just take it with us, right," Cana said, causing everyone to look at her. "We don't have time to head back to the guild, and we might need all hands on deck."
Erza frowned but nodded. "You're right. Everyone, let's get moving. It's time Clan Garten knows what happens when they attack one of our own.
"Right!"
Well, that doesn't sound good.
Levy: Aren't you going to explain what's happening to us?
I will… in two weeks… hopefully..
Gajeel: That's what they all say.
GARGH!
Heh… you know what, it's not worth getting angry about
Anyway, folks. Leave your reviews, and stay tuned. I can assure you there will be a chapter next week.
Also, don't forget the check out the series's TV Trope page under "Alternate Tail Series".