Derp.

Disclaimer: If you think I own Kid Icarus, you might be suffering from mental retardation.


Olympic Bloodshed

~*Chapter IV*~

Monochrome

I munched on dry cereal flakes, sitting on a stone bench in the lobby. There were only a few Light Fighters here at the moment, since the rest were likely having lunch or practicing. I felt more awkward than when in the Dark team, since I literally knew no one here and Queen had run off elsewhere. Way to make a guy feel wanted…

When I ran out of flakes, I got up to head for the practice range. Better than staying there looking all weird. I took my minimized chest and walked down a hallway to old double doors with a sign hanging by their handles that read PRACTICE RANGE. I pushed them open to see the huge, seemingly endless field with a floor that measured distance. There were three other Fighters in the area, unaware of my presence, beating up a big monoeye. The field was magically designed to be private to everyone, making everyone else invisible and intangible. As soon as you register for a practice session, everything around you disappears and the field is left to you.

There was a small notebook on top of a pedestal beside that doors on which you had to register. I sloppily signed my name with the overused pen and walked forward, losing sight of everything but the field and the big monoeye. It just floated there with a frown like the animated dummy it was designed to be. I set down my gold and blue chest and took out my Viridi Palm.

I spent a good five minutes just testing my palm's range. It dealt maximum damage at closest range. The monoeye was magically spawned and given more bulk than the average Fighter. So, it could take a few hits. I liked how fast the heart shaped petals flew at the foe. It also made a cool sound, strangely reminding me of bubbles.

Without being able to finish my practice session, reality was abruptly restored for me. All the other Fighters turned towards a centurion who signaled us it was time to leave. We all packed up and headed for the lobby.

Everyone gathered up quickly. There were a lot of people, probably more than on the Dark team. Most were chatting or doing stuff with their weapons, and I felt out of place, as usual. Then I noticed a Fighter sitting right next to me. She had a pencil and a Black Club on her lap, using it as a flat surface to draw on paper. She was in the middle of making the antlers of what I think was supposed to be a reindeer, only with an asymmetric body with some mechanic parts. But, weirdness aside, it was pretty good.

"Cool," I muttered, apparently breaking her deep concentration and making her draw a curvy line by mistake.

"Oh, um," she gave a slight, awkward laugh. "Thanks!"

"So…what's it supposed to be?" I was bored enough to actually try to make conversation with a stranger.

"Bionic reindeer!" She chirped. "His name is Recon-7." I guess naming your creations is something people do.

"Why does it have a wheel for a hoof?"

So the girl gave me a lot of details about her creation, even its own back-story. She was keeping me entertained even though I wasn't contributing much to the conversation, and it was also kinda interesting. I've always liked stories. She seemed really friendly; she hadn't called me weird yet. Eventually though, the nice conversation died and I picked up my box of Yushis.

"Um…cereal?" I waved the orange box in her face and she held out her cupped hands. Poured the flakes and marshmallows into them. She stared at the white, polka-dot, oval-shaped marshmallows.

"What are these supposed to be?" She asked.

"Eggs," couldn't be simpler than that, actually. Just sugary eggs of goodness. She seemed to like them too.

"…You carry a box of cereal with you?"

I just nodded and munched.

I sat with the girl for about ten more minutes, her having finished her drawing, before the door slammed open loudly, making many people jump. "Okay, everyone," the Light Team angel shouted as he entered. "Break time's over! Get ready for the next fight!" He started swinging around his Upperdash Arm before everyone began preparing.


I was placed in this underground cave with a labyrinth-like layout. The walls seemed like they were made of crystals. There was a small bridge next to where we were, connecting with a blue, icy area with crystals protruding from the ground and forming obstacles. The bridge seemed…not very safe.

I noticed one of my teammates looked strangely familiar…he had a Gaol Blade, and my other teammate wielded a Royal Blade. I had my rented Fairy Orbitars hovering beside me. I thought about which way to take once it was time to head out.

"FIGHT!" The announcer boomed.

I started the match by running across the bridge. The guy who was using the Gaol Blade was taking the same route at the same time, bumping into me a few times.

"Hey! Wait!" I called out.

He slowed down, almost tripping, and turned to me. "Hu- oh! Ethan! I didn't know you were here!"

"Uh…Yeah…I am." Okay…he somehow knew my name…"Who are you, again?" I didn't mean to sound rude, but I'm not sure if he took it that way.

"It's me, Regret." He said, as if it were something obvious. Though his voice and hair (by what I could see slipping out of his helmet) were familiar, the name didn't ring a bell. He had a shagy body…and that's what reminded me of this guy. It was the guy Palutena had sent days ago to fetch me, the one I'd dubbed a Shaggy. He was responsible for getting me in L vs D in the first place. This was good, being in a match with him. It meant at least one of my teammates wasn't a complete stranger. I hoped he'd help us win this one. "Oh yeah, I remember you now! But we've wasted a lot of time already. We should get going." The middle of a battlefield was the worst place for chit-chat.

Regret nodded and reached for his power belt. "Times like this is why I have warp." I started running past him right as his warp activated. But I was going a little too fast; I tripped and fell on the bridge. I was okay, but I'd lost my focus, so the orbitars…! They were falling… five seconds… still falling…as if in slow motion…then I heard a heart-stopping thud. "WH- WHAAAAT?!" I'd just broken…a rented…WHY DO THEY MAKE THEM SO FRAGILE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!

My screaming alerted some Dark fighter. And of course, it had to be Chary. Now was not the time to mess with me, but I couldn't do anything! I ran across the bridge to the crystal hill, meeting Chary on top.

He swung a Viper Blade a few times, blasting charged shots at me before he realized what was wrong.

"W-where's your weapon?" He asked in a confused tone.

"It…uh…fell down the bridge…" It was a shameful thing to admit. But, that's what friends were for, right? Surely he'd understand.

A sly smile curled on his lips as he swung the scaly blade, firing another venomous charged shot at me. Though I was surprised, I didn't need any plan to attack, and completely focused on dodging. I successfully evaded all of his new few shots!

I was feeling good, pretty confident about my dodging skills; but then, after a minute or two, another Dark Fighter ran in quite fast with a pair of Beam Claws, and it was Queen. She was sizing up the situation for a second, and then laughed, "Hah, what happened, stole his weapon?" She looked very amused.

"He dropped it. I'm not sure you should even be in the Light vs Dark with that little skill!" My so-called best friend scoffed.

That was it. Making fun of me for a mere accident? Getting double teamed while I had no weapon? Leisurely talking since I was no threat?! I couldn't let them get away with that, so I ran up to Chary. I was quite fast without any weapons. It took him by surprise and I punched him as hard as I could right in his big mouth. Right under the helmet visor.

He flew back and landed on Queen, who also was taken by surprise. I could see his face redden under the broken visor as I passed him. I pat him on the head with a teasing smile, which just made him even madder, then ran away as fast as I could. If anything, I'd served as a long distraction while Regret and my other teammate took care of the other Dark Fighter. I ran to the top of the main area, and then heard a voice behind me.

"Hey, Ethan, where's your weapon?" This question was getting repetitive.

I looked behind me, and saw Regret, as expected. Only, there was a Dark member sneaking behind him, slowly approaching, but I had time to answer. "Uh…I kinda….dropped them. Off a cliff."

"Y-You what?" Regret replied in shock.

Sighing, I ignored his next question to activate my lightweight power and jump in between him and the sneaky Chary; holding his Viper Blade tightly in my grasp. I began bleeding as the fangs dug into my skin and the rough surface scratched me, but he'd have to cut off my hand to get me to let go. He tried his best to shake me off, but to no avail.

"Regret!" I called behind me.

"I know what to do." He leisurely dashed past me and stabbed Chary in the heart with a quick thrust of his Gaol Blade. The hit pierced Chary's armor and knocked him back to be replaced with a tombstone.

"Dark Pit is here!" Mr. Announcer shrieked. The faint music started.

"I'll be fine by myself now," I said, wanting to shake off Regret and do my thing.

"But…but you don't have a weapon," he insisted.

"Trust me; go," I reassured him. After a quick glance, he ran ahead.

I was scared out of my mind, but I needed to look cool. You never knew who was watching these battles, judging your every move.

I slumped against the ground for a moment to breathe. The pain in my hand got worse by the second. Nevertheless, I got up and saw a Dark member with Paw Pad Orbitars fixing his armor; he must've thought he was alone. Since he was helpless, I ran towards him.

The utter shock displayed on his face. "Wh-where'd you come fro…"

I cut him off short by tripping him and then pinning him to the ground. I'd just have to wait for Regret or that other Light Fighter to come. The guy flailed and struggled to get free but I wouldn't give him a break, nor could he attack me while restrained. I contemplated stealing those Orbitars, as much as I hated them, but that was probably forbidden.

I suddenly felt something from behind, and realized a Dark Fighter had snuck on me from behind. I was caught in a melee combo from Queen's Beam Claws, which's violent vibrations were worse than the actual pain. Due to my other injuries, I couldn't hang on and died.

I respawned on the stairs going up to the top layer. Still no weapon, it seemed. I ran up the stairs and saw Dark Pit was hiding there! He had a pair of Eyetrack Orbitars - the bane of all Fighters with their amazing homing. Awesome. Just awesome. He smirked, but said nothing and just started blasting me with his deadly, yet thankfully slow charged shots. Left, right, right, backwards, left. I dodged each big shot with precision, but I did get hurt a few times. But that's when the thought hit me; I had the heavenly light power equipped! So I tapped my power belt and I was enveloped with light. I recklessly ran towards Dark Pit, but was too slow. Got smacked in the face with his creepy, floating eyeballs of death. I got back up and could tell my heavenly light was already running out, so I dashed towards him with a bit more caution this time. Alas, once I reached him, the light faded. Great.

I was already so close, so decided to give Dark Pit a kick. Didn't expect him to kick back (and he had some surprising, nasty leg power), but we were soon locked in a melee clash. His orbitars were more durable than I thought, a lot more than mine…I got a little too hasty and got caught in his combo. Then, he got a cheap shot in while I was staggering to my feet. He was already reaching for his power belt by the time I regained my balance and began shooting faster than a guy on drugs. Right, forward, left, left, forward; I dodged again with precision. But, as usual I found a way to mess up. I tripped over my feet and fell. I also made a weird high-pitched cry -good thing nobody else was there to hear it- but Dark Pit was sure to take advantage of this and sent me a side dash charged shot. I died.

"Pit is here!" The announcer actually sounded excited this time -not like it mattered- and the match was almost over.

I was teleported back to the waiting room. I saw Dark Pit's HP gauge was almost all the way down. I noticed the only person I knew that was there was the artist girl, but there were a bunch of people already talking to her, so I decided to claim the back corner. Eyes were glued on me the whole way back. By the time my bottom reached the floor, I started hearing cheers. It seemed we'd won. Yet I hadn't helped the team at all…Not to mention that Fairy Orbitars debt.

The announcer was late in saying "GAME!" and the battle officially ended.

As usual, the Light Fighters were teleported back into the room along with a smiling Pit. It wasn't long before they began talking to the others. The guy who'd used a Royal Blade in the match sent me a glare, went up to me, and lightly kicked my side. "Nice going," he spat before exiting the lobby. The nerve of that guy! I had enough energy in me to get up and teach him a thing or two about manners, but was stopped as a centurion flew in holding a sack.

The centurion handed me the sack. "Your prizes, Mr. Ethan." Then he flew off.

Within the sack were a red power piece and a weapon. Said weapon was a long, classy staff with a green orb at its head. Aside from the Orb Staff, I'd received a level two land mine power piece. It was an underrated power that I thought could be fit into my set.

"Okay guys," Pit clapped to get everyone's attention. "That was a good game! Now, remember! Next match will be the last one for practice. So, it's your last chance to train if you haven't already. We've got a ten minute break, so get ready."

Pit was a nice guy, no doubt about it, but his voice was seriously annoying. Comparing his attitude with that of his twin's, though, it was easy to see why so many people favored the Light Team angel.

I leisurely got up to store my winnings in my treasure chest, not at all excited about the next match, just wanting to get it over with. Maybe I could leave it to some other Fighter and sit back. It sounded like a lovely plan.

Coincidentally, when I reached my chest in the shelf, it appeared that the girl from earlier had her treasure chest right beside mine. She was desperately trying to remove the multicolor tattoo from her arm, groaning and cursing under her breath. It was becoming hard to ignore.

"Let me help you with that," I said, taking out a bucket from my chest and setting it on the ground. As was its purpose, it magically became full of water. I took the girl's arm, catching her by surprise.

"Um, okay?" She just stared.

"You have to wash it off into water," I told her, squeezing her shoulder with one hand in order to signal the Violet Palm that it was time to get off. Slid my hand down a bit slowly, and so the tattoo went back to a liquid state, sliding off her skin and into the bucket. Once in the water, the diverse colors united and solidified into a sphere with yellow zigzags floating around it. I immediately let go of her; physical contact with people always made me nervous. "And there you have it."

"Oh," she said. "Thanks." She took the Violet Pam from the water and put it away in her chest. "I just got that thing today and was testing because I've never used palms before so…yeah."

It wasn't hard to tell this girl wasn't a very skilled Fighter, but she didn't have the looks of a noob. She was huge, a lot taller than me and likely Queen, probably with a height of around 5'11. She had a rather robust physique, but nothing out of the ordinary. An intimidating appearance, indeed, but she was friendly. She awkwardly put her hand out to me. "The name's Brawlimar, but call me CO!"

I was hesitant to take her hand and was met with a rough shake when I did. "I'm Ethan," I said that lower than I intended. She didn't seem to mind. Then she let go and went back to her treasure chest.

"So…why's your armor orange?" She asked. I guessed it was about time someone asked that.

"I haven't picked a team yet," I replied. "So I don't have the right color."

"You must be new here then…which is great. That means I'm not the newbie anymore!" She cheered, organizing some papers. Well, good to know I was relieving someone of noob status.

I spent the remaining five minutes gawking at a drawing Brawlimar had finished the other day. She was very enthusiastic when telling me about it, but outside of that, she just made small talk. Good. I like small things.

Pretty soon it was time to get started, so I equipped my weapon and readied for another round of violence. Yay!


The oak gates slammed behind us; it was time for our next battle.

I glanced around at my teammates. I noticed that Brawlimar was using a pair of Arlon Orbitars, and that Queen was here as well, with Centurion Orbitars floating by her side. Including my Aurum Palm, we all had ranged weapons.

We were at an old, abandoned town. There was a dried-up well and a half destroyed building next to it, with several other aged structures around. If my memory is correct then we were at the Forgotten City.

"FIGHT!"

Oh man, the match had already started and the other two ran ahead of me! "You're not getting any kills without me!" I called after them. Not like they'd be able to hear me at this distance anyway.

I decided to stay away from the building, but got met by a Fighter with a pair of Hedgehog Claws. He was fast, but couldn't hit me after I activated my Heavenly Light unless he wanted to take some serious damage. He sneered and ran off to look for an easier kill.

"Yeah, that's right, RUN!" I shouldn't have said that. He turned around and I basically just got smacked in the face with hundreds of needles before I could move a muscle.

Only then did I notice it was Andres. That traitor…I thought, but I guess I was on the Light team this time…

We exchanged some continuous fire, but finally he decided to lunge straight at me, and managed to successfully perform a melee combo. I could feel the thin spines tearing through my armor, but I hung on.

Before Andres could land a fourth blow, I ducked and slipped behind him as fast as I could. Distanced myself no more than five feet, then dashed straight at him and sent big charged shot. The impact sent him flying, landing right next to the well and missing the abyss by mere inches. Why wouldn't he die!? Instantly getting back up, he did a crazy ninja move and shot me, but I ducked again. Had it connected, it would've killed me. But my body seemed to move on its own! I'd totally forgotten about the in-peril auto dodge attribute my palm had.

I took the opportunity to jump backwards and send another charged shot at Andres. It flashed through the air, and got a clean shot. I smirked. I could see him in pain, but he staggered back up, and hit me with a single charged shot. Surprisingly enough, I didn't have enough health points to survive it.

I respawned inside the building on a ledge. On said ledge, Brawlimar was locked in a melee clash against a Dark Fighter who had an Aquarius Blade, trying to defend herself with the moonlike weapons as the enemy circled around her, trying to get a hit in. I decided to help her and carefully took aim for the Dark Fighter...

But my aim simply sucked. So much for 'carefully'. I accidentally hit both of them, but only killed the Dark member. I jumped down the ledge and helped Brawlimar up. "Ah… sorry about that…"

"Don't worry; it's no problem with this!" She reached for her power belt and pressed a Health Recovery power.

"All bett…" She stopped short, a look of fear crossing her face, pointed behind me with one hand, and started lifting her orbitars with the other.

I turned around only to be met with a Knuckle Staff's solid, spiked charged shot, which had me flying up higher and higher until I was no more. FULL HEALTH AND I DIED.

Now I was really annoyed. How the heck was I supposed to beat people that can kill me in one hit?

I respawned on a ledge outside of the building. It was really high and you needed a jump pad to reach this area.

I grinned slightly. "Great, a perfec-"

"SHH! This is my spot!" I was hushed. Looked around but didn't find anyone. A few seconds later I saw Queen suddenly materialize in front of me.

"H-how did yo-"

"Transparency." She interrupted in an angered tone, then proceeded to PUSH ME OFF THE EDGE.

And to make things better...I fell right on top of a Dark Fighter, denting our armors with the impact. Well, since I had them pinned down, I could get a free kill…

I pressed my blue palm to their forehead as they flailed. Let's just say that they died and I almost got crushed with a gravestone.

I heard laughter from above, and it wasn't hard to identify it as Queen's. Unfortunately, that gave away her position. Served her right. The Knuckle Staff user sneaked around the well, careful not to get hurt, and ran for the pink jump pad. I tried my best to stop him midair, but he dodged every attack that went his way. Queen barely had time to gasp. Sniped. One hit KO.

"Pit is here!" The announcer bellowed.

Oh man, I'd have to cut off the slack now! I slunk around the outside of the edifice and met the sniper once again.

"You…." I whispered under my breath.

He scoffed. "Heh…we meet again, but you're not worth my time," then he reached for his power belt and suddenly disappeared.

That cocky jerk warped away! My new mission became to defeat that guy, no matter what. Disregard angel, acquire jerk's blood.

I activated my Lightweight power, becoming no heavier than a feather, and ran around to the side of the well. There he was.

That little jerk was aiming for Pit. "Taking your time, I see," a huge sphere of energy was shot his way from the palm of my hand. He quickly turned around and fired, managing to cancel out my shot with a spiked ball of doom. We exchanged some more charged shots, uninterrupted, yet no hits; he suddenly seemed really close, and I was falling into his trap! I tried running to create some distance, but got wacked by the burly head of the staff and trapped in a melee combo. The hits were hard, and slow, for a weapon of its kind, and I felt like I'd collapse any minute. I slowly got back to my feet and instantly dashed straight at him with a charged shot, leaving him on the ground breathing heavily. I sent him fast shots while he was still lying there, and… KILL! I'd finally gotten another!

"Dark Pit is here!" The announcer seemed disinterested by now, which annoyed me. How dare he not find my skills interesting? I joked with myself.

Right as Dark Pit came, I remembered about our own angel. I looked for Pit and saw him holding off the two remaining Dark Fighters on top of the hill. I darted towards him to help right as he got struck with a flurry of slashes by a familiar pair of Hedgehog claws. Pit yelped and fell to the ground. The announcer declared the fight over, and Andres helped Pit get back up as he was supposed to. The match had ended in a loss for the Light Team.


Back at the lobby, I was glad to see no one was upset about the results. Everyone looked like they just wanted to go home. Pit, however, had a deep frown as he complained about the rips and tears on his now-ruined tunic, courtesy of 'that Dual Wielder jerk'.

As the Fighters began to remove their ivory armor, the stench of sweat took over the room, as well as the whining from numerous women, and a guy, about said smell. About twenty-three people stormed out of the room and raced across the hallway in hopes of getting the first turns in the showers.

Meanwhile, I calmly discarded my orange armor, which was darkened from the filth during all those matches, into my treasure chest. Then I washed off my palm and put it away too. I pondered taking a shower, but the thought of the open shower stalls in the men's bathroom and the single bar of soap that had to be shared was simply horrifying. Traumatic, even. Only butt I wanted to ever look at was my own.

After I slipped on my still unwashed backup clothes, Regret came up to me as I got ready to leave. He told me I was a good Fighter and that he looked forward to being my ally again. We only had some slight chit-chat before I went on my way. I mentally cheered because everyone had forgotten about the rental Fairy Orbitars I'd broken, and hopefully wouldn't have to pay.

It'd been a tiring day, and the battles had me exhausted. It was almost lucky how I got to participate in all five, considering the many other Fighters who could've done so instead. In a matter of a few hours, I'd met some new people and gotten a stronger desire to beat up my best friend. The Dark Team surely had very strong Fighters, but so did the Light Team. The two angels were cool too (excluding Pit's annoying voice).

I suddenly came to a stop when the thought hit me. I was supposed to pick a team. But frankly, I simply couldn't choose. The decision was permanent; there would be no switching sides afterwards. And really, both teams were good! Not much different, but good.

Biting my lip, I looked up, having apparently stopped at the entrance lobby. The fat secretary was giving me a bored look, probably wondering why I was so weird. But beside the desk came girly laughter; Queen was talking to Brawlimar, who I only recognized by her brunette hair. It was worth noting that Brawlimar seemed to have freshly taken a shower, dressed casually for the rest of the day, while Queen still had sweat on her forehead and had changed into her crimson armor.

Just what the heck is wrong with her? I thought. But apparently I'd said that out loud.

"Well pardon if I'm disturbing your precious silence by being social!" Queen said to me. "Would you like me to press mute so that you may frolic in your complex imagination, your highness?"

"S-sorry, I didn't mean…"

Then Queen burst into laughter again, joined by Brawlimar. "Taking me seriously? Why, Ethan, we need to schedule a day to get to know each other more, in that case." She slapped my shoulder. Thinking about it, it was hard to detect her sarcasm, but the joke had been more or less humorous. The your highness part was ridiculous though.

I waited for her to pipe it down. "Hey, Queen," I began. "I don't know what to do."

"What do ya mean?"

"I can't choose," and I had to register myself into a team today, or else I wouldn't be able to participate in the LVD for a while and would be fined for sneaking into the practice matches without being an LVD Fighter. "I like them both…the Dark and Light teams. How'd you do it?" Maybe she could help me decide.

Queen tapped her chin in thought. "Well…it was around three years ago, when I couldn't pick a side. At the time, Pit was my instructor, so it felt bad to fight against him, but I had more friends on Dark. So I did what anyone else would've done," oh, okay. That helped me so much.

"Which was!?" I was getting a bit impatient. I had a shower and a cereal bowl waiting for me at home!

"She went neutral," Brawlimar piped in. "Not everyone does it, though."

"Neutral?" It was the first I heard about it. To my knowledge, there wasn't a side by the name Neutral Team. Which also sounded like an awful name.

"Yeah," Queen said. "Neutrality is when you can switch sides between battles and fight for both teams. However, Neutral Fighter is identified with the team they're currently playing for, and score you receive is slightly lower than average, to make it fair."

Now it made sense. Queen was one of those Neutral Fighters, hence she'd been my ally on the Dark Team and then suddenly my foe on Light, and vice-versa. She'd been switching sides all along for no apparent reason. The idea was appealing to me, and I thought I'd be better off switching from time to time. Mainly because fighting alongside Chary was cool, but I really needed to kick his smug butt once in a while.

"You should go neutral, Ethan," Brawlimar suggested lowly. "You're strong enough."

Why, I didn't know about the strength part, but she was right. Neutrality suited me. And that's what I told Queen. She clapped once in delight and pushed me to the front of the desk. The hippo of a secretary wouldn't look up from her pile of paperwork, so Queen stabbed it with her Royal Blade (which she took out from nowhere). The lady almost fell off her chair in shock.

Queen did the talking for me, which was great. I wasn't good with words anyway. The secretary took out a scroll and handed it to me. "By signing this contract you will be officially enlisted as a Neutral Fighter to participate in the Light versus Dark, yadha yadha yadha read the fine print, your decicion is permanent, yadha yadha, this will be stored in the stupid godly vault, yadha, and you don't you dare steal that pen." The secretary said, handing the scroll and a pen to me.

The contract unfolded itself magically. It was surprisingly short, with only a single paragraph above the blank space inviting my signature.

By signing your name on this sacred scroll, you are handing your strength, your dedication, your trust, and your loyalty to the battlefield of the Light versus Dark sport. From then on you will neither be on Light nor Dark, but neutral in the eyes of competition. You must swear to never violate the Fighter's code and to serve the gods, to serve the great Lady Palutena, as they need. You will work with your allies and protect your angels with your life. You will be one of the colorless, the unique, the monochrome.

X_

Without any hesitation whatsoever, I signed my full name.


AN: Sorry for the delay...again...ANYWAY, I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far and as well as my good friends who pressured me to finish this up!

I'd just like to mention that I now have a co-writer/student (lol) helping me out with this. He's the one who wrote both battle scenes in this chapter. GIVE HIM SOME LOVE. You may address my co-writer as the Yushi (thine lord and savior).

That's it for this author's note...I have a...non-specific drawing to take care of and some mayor Zs to catch. Don't expect the next chapter within the next week ;_; I'll try to be quick...it's just...SCCCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!

Reviews will brighten up the author's day, and flames will be used to light a torch with which you may search the cave where I keep all the fucks I don't give!

-ALL HAIL DA QUEEN!