【91 - The Last-Ditch Measures! Hero and Villain Showdown!】

"What's up, groovy listeners! You've just caught another wave of StarX-FM, the hottest radio station for tunes and haikus in the water civilization! I'm your friendly radio jockey Komori, Glasses Faerie and man, do we have an electrifying lineup for you tonight! So next up is- oh… hm. Seems like another request from the big wigs, folks! 'Neptune's Serenade'. It's, um, another instrumental ballad…We already played you 'Beyond Neptune's Veil', 'Lost in Neptune's Echo' and 'Chasing Neptune Dreams'. Well jeez, these songs are either way old or never were hits to begin with. Seems like they're doing an experiment based on that word search. The more well-read out there will know that Neptune was a mythological deity and, uh, a planet I think, in another dimension. Thank you to our twenty million listeners that are still switched on! Without further ado, let's get back to the music!"

In cyberspace Jacob hovered in a blue room, waiting. Suddenly, the terminal sucked him inside. He was dragged along before being ejected into that gargantuan room with the white star.

Supernova Neptune Shutrom floated above. Arms crossed, tapping his upper arm, the fury he emanated was felt by both Jacob and Mercury.

"...I could just kill you both, you know? What part of 'the Proof and my existence must remain a secret' do you not understand?"

"Just hold up a minute!" Jacob threw his arms up.

"Please!" Mercury added.

Jacob tried appeasing him, "The lieutenant is gone. In fact, I don't think he ever stepped foot in your world to begin with. It was a trick..."

Neptune relaxed a little. "Good. Now you must go as well."

"We're in the process of leaving, I swear! But first…"

Mercury finished, "First we want to test out an idea that will be of no risk to you, but is a chance for us to gather intel on the Gatekeepers. We might even find a way to beat them."

Neptune stared for a few long seconds. "...How?"

"Through a combination of the Proof, water civ tech, your calculations, and the vortex in Aurellia's dimension."

One hour earlier:

The chosens watched from a tube-tunnel as Charles' submarine was beamed away in blue light, along with his armada of tanks. Drache der'Zen floated just behind the curved glass at fifteen feet tall. A team of his creatures oversaw the monitors.

"So, what exactly is it you wanted to try?" Jacob asked out of habit, rather than digging the answer out of Mercury's brain.

"Nothing too time extensive I hope." They could hear Drache der'Zen through speakers in the upper corners. "I don't want humans lingering in our world."

"We won't stay much longer. At least, I hope I'll get an answer quickly… We need to reach out to Neptune once more."

Jacob recoiled while the other four sucked in breaths through their teeth.

Jacob had done a good job of not pondering his interaction with another phoenix in cyberspace. As such, his team hadn't become aware of Neptune or the Proof in the several days since. Suddenly however, the full exchange became known to them in the space of seconds. They learnt about the timeline splitting, and more importantly The Gable and the race of humanoid beings who, along with the Gatekeepers, were sustained by its power.

"What the…" Kanoa stopped.

"What the HELL!" Sinan shouted.

"How could you not tell us all that!?" Heidi demanded.

Amira narrowed her eyes at the back of Jacob's head.

Jacob didn't look at them. "I… I'd just birthed millions of people, an entire new universe, in one instant. Does that make me a god…?" He stared at his open hands. Being linked to his mind, they could comprehend the weight of his action, so let the silence linger as he searched for words. The water creatures watched too. Jacob's throat had gone dry, he swallowed. "I pushed it out of my head afterwards. It's too much to think about… and, the implications…"

"That you created all those extra lives to throw them to the wolves as needed," Heidi spoke up, "and hope the Gatekeepers don't notice the branch timeline."

Jacob slowly raised his head. "...Now there are two Aurellias."

Sinan was outraged. Amira was scared.

"Which means…" Kanoa spoke slowly, "...one might survive or maybe neither will."

"Or both will!"

Heidi stormed over and shoved Jacob. "Our job has just doubled, you got that? Because now we have to save both worlds! No way are we letting anyone die!"

Jacob stared at her determination. Heidi refused to back down.

When Mercury next broke the silence it was with heavy reluctance. "Unfortunately, there was an unforeseen complication during the splitting. Neptune and I noticed, Jacob didn't…"

"What didn't I notice?" Jacob asked.

"It must've had something to do with the mind-link, or us phoenixes…" Mercury sighed, "Aurellia's timeline split - into five."

"Five?" Heidi walked back until she hit the wall. Jacob was stunned. "We now have five worlds full of people to save, to possibly lose… there are five Urobachs now!"

"...I made four copies?" Jacob was better able to grasp the magnitude than the others, and started to lose it. They watched him crouch down, grabbing his head, "Holy shit, are you serious?"

"Guess that was always a risk of messing with something as serious as timelines," Amira dryly commented.

"We couldn't have known. Even Neptune didn't know-"

Heidi slammed her fist back into the wall.

Jacob continued to crumble in place, "It feels like I'm high right now..."

Mercury waited a beat before continuing, "I have a couple more ideas that Neptune can help us test. If I'm right, it would allow us to establish contact with the Gableons…"

In another dimension:

Gaigen stood in a white room, facing a screen. He'd just finished giving Urobach his report.

"In that case, I'll teleport over to personally check the progress."

Gaigen bowed, "Yes, Sir."

The call cut off. Gaigen's heart was pounding, sweaty hand clenching a tiny remote.

In the middle of the room sat a big steel drum. Any moment now his boss would appear beside him. Gaigen waited… but Urobach didn't come.

Then the door behind whooshed open and he heard several automatic weapons take aim. He didn't turn.

"My last lieutenant…" Urobach began, safely outside the room and behind his guards. "Quite a bold move, and a brilliant idea. Scanning my head with water civ tech, then developing a brain wave generator to stop my powers. Drop the remote."

It clattered to the floor and Gaigen turned.

Urobach's amber eyes met frightened reds. "...You hoped I wasn't paying close attention to your thoughts, but I was."

"Tell me, General, both our attempts to usurp our superiors were futile. Why is what I tried to do any different to your escape plan?"

Urobach pretended to think about it. "I think the difference is… I got to live afterwards."

A beat passed and blood painted the floor.

It was a tremendous wave that spilled into the room and outside.

Urobach's uniform was coated in it - his eyes widened.

Gaigen was still alive, and just as shocked. Seven pairs of feet remained on the floor around Urobach. Trails of guts and bone were strung over the dropped guns.

In a blink Gatekeeper Pluto was between them, squeezing Urobach's neck. He turned and hurled him into the room and Urobach skidded to his knees, choking.

"In that case, I'm stepping in - it's time for your punishment."

Urobach stared. Pluto raised a dainty arm, black fire burned around them. Four copies of Urobach lay slumped. They were in pain, slowly raising their heads, looking amongst each other in confusion.

"I destroyed the four other moon bases too." Pluto didn't elucidate further. "You will never escape me, General. You will never be free. And the penalty for your defiance - I will now put your lieutenant in charge of Aurellia, and of you."

The kneeling Urobach was lucid enough to understand. He eyed the floor, processing the grave shame of his demotion. First he'd been followed by a superior to his world, then was forced to share it with another general, and now this… this he just couldn't allow.

Urobach grew calm. "No… kill me, Gatekeeper. Just kill me."

Urobach gazed up, Pluto looked down.

With a fluid rise of his arm, Pluto snapped his fingers.

And Urobach was without his skin.

Screeching, he fell forward, muscles and exposed nerves smearing blood on the metal as he thrashed. Seconds passed. Pluto didn't move, even as Gaigen swooned and fell backwards. Pluto slowly raised his arm again and snapped his fingers.

Urobach's skin was back. He sat panting, staring through the ship into nothing.

Pluto turned to Gaigen who was fighting to keep from passing out.

"Congratulations on your promotion, lieutenant."

"M-My name's Gaigen, Sir…"

"I don't care."

"Sorry, Sir…"

"If you annoy me, I'll make you immortal then hurl you into a star."

"Yes… Sir…"

Gaigen was aquiver, lying back, fighting with the last of his strength to stay conscious. Pluto stared back, unsympathetic. He resembled a timeless being, then suddenly, he vanished. Relieved, Gaigen allowed the protective darkness to rush in, his head hitting the metal. The five Urobachs huddling on the floor whimpered like children.

Back in the water civ's cyberspace:

"If we send a signal out into hyperspace, imbued with the Proof's energy, we might get a response back from the Gableons," Mercury explained.

Neptune snarled, "As a fractal, the Proof's energy would have the same signature as The Gable. Still, your plan is riddled with flaws! Problem one!" He raised a needle-thin finger. "How can you send a signal if you don't know where they are? You can't just send it out into hyperspace and hope."

"The Gableons are sustained by The Gable. They're most likely near it. If it's hypermassive like you said, it will have a gravitational effect on the movement of nearby dimensions. You know its mass, which means by calculating we can compute where The Gable is and where to send the signal. It's still a gamble, but not an absolute shot in the dark."

"A shot in the dark is exactly what it is!"

"Still, gravity affects time. The stable repetition of the time fluctuation between Aurellia and the creature world implies some kind of orbit, which implies gravity behaves similarly in hyperspace."

"Problem two!" Neptune raised two fingers, no less angry. "How can you expect- uhhh…" he faltered.

"That's right," Mercury sounded encouraging. "If the Gableons exist outside our timelines, it doesn't matter how long it takes for our signal to reach them, or how long it takes for them to travel to us. They'll identify when the signal was sent relative to our timeline and choose to interact with us then. So if this works, their response should be immediate."

"Problem three! What incentive do they have to help us!?"

"I'm banking on faith."

Neptune's head tilted. He recrossed his arms and sighed, his great peacock wings wilting. "The cherry on top, problem four, I'm not entirely sure the Gableons even exist. They're just a rumour."

"Faith. Will you help us?"

"On the condition that you finally leave... Fine."

Jacob felt relief flood through him.

Mercury made a throat-clearing sound, "Actually, I have one other last-ditch idea. And then we'll go."

Drache der' Zen teleported the new flying saucer. It appeared in the space above Aurellia, fifty metres from the vortex. This spaceship was larger than the others they'd owned, name pending. On board were four chosens, floating in zero Gs, huddling together over a screen.

Kanoa sent a message across and got a response from Jacob immediately.

"Fast," Sinan commented.

"Time in the creature world is still moving slightly faster," Kanoa said. "Any response we get from these other aliens should also be fast."

Heidi looked out the window at their planet, "Aurellia's still here… well, this one is."

Kanoa carefully tilted the steering console and they approached the broken space. White energy raced through the ship's gaps and tubes. Once they were close, an antenna extended, inching itself precisely. Kanoa mentally crossed his fingers before squeezing the right nozzle. They fired a message through…

"...So did it work?" Sinan asked.

Kanoa looked over the screen, eyes brightening at Jacob's messages.

"It worked. We got a reply."

Wonder overtook them for a moment.

"Alright, now for Mercury's other last-ditch idea." Heidi said and they tapered down their enthusiasm. "You guys ready for this?"

"Hell no," Amira answered.

Kanoa flicked Jacob another message, giving him the go ahead.

"This response is bizarre," Jacob commented. The complex hieroglyphs might've come from a species with an IQ in the thousands.

"Pay attention, child. This is the important part," Neptune scolded, drawing Jacob's eyes from that particular screen. "After we do this I want you both gone not a second later. Drache der'Zen has transported your friends to the coordinates I chose. It's an empty timeline, one that has already succumbed to doom. Now for your part."

Jacob felt that same sick euphoria as he drifted to the panel. He still wasn't fully together after the revelation of the fiveway split and this was helping him none.

"Since your link connects you five, this should work. Time to find out." Blue electricity danced over the equipment then leapt at Jacob. He grit his teeth and watched the hyperdimensional map presented on the largest screen.

Then it happened again.

"Seems like it worked…" Mercury said.

"That wasn't nearly as tiring as before. Do we keep going?" Jacob panted. "The Proof's power is limitless, right? When do we stop?"

"The Gableons want us to stop now."

"We got another message?"

"Yes, and this time I can read it. They said we're going to draw unwanted attention if we artificially split timelines any more."

"On that note, farewell! Be gone! Never return!" Neptune waved his arm and Jacob abruptly pixelated away.

Next thing he knew, he was leaning back in a teleporting pod. Drache der'Zen knocked playfully on the glass.

"This was a weird experiment, but I found all your friends and put them together. Cloning universes simply to clone people is like building a supercomputer to make toast. Only infinitely more ludicrous."

"It saved time, right?" Jacob said.

"True, and you now have your miniature phoenix army. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"Bon voyage!"

Jacob was next spat out on the new ship. Hands steadied him. He was floating, now face-to-face with the other chosens.

"Jacob, we're back! There's four other ships outside just like ours! It worked!" Heidi cried.

"...Why do you guys look weird?"

They looked at each other, perplexed by their reversed features.

"Wait, someone pass me their deck. Hurry." He kept snapping his fingers until Amira rifled through her pockets and handed over her cards, with her left hand. Jacob fanned them out.

"What the fuck?" Sinan said. "They're back-to-front."

"You guys are back-to-front." Jacob said. "Mercury?"

"This group wasn't oriented correctly in the fourth dimension before they were sent back…"

Jacob stared out at the other ships and searched their minds. Four other groups without a Jacob of their own stared back from behind glass. One other group was also mirrored, the other three looked the same as normal. The groups weren't mind linked to each other but everyone was connected to Jacob. He'd become the server computer in the web that connected their minds.

They'd gone from being a group of five chosens to twenty-one.

Then suddenly, before they could get a grasp on this new phenomenon, the ship veered. It'd overridden manual controls to dodge laserfire.

The screen zoomed and focused - there was Urobach, suited up in space.

The five saucers were suspended in a wide circle above the planet, each one facing inwards. Far out to the left was the vortex. Forward and above was a satellite, floating in front of it was Urobach.

"Let me at him," Heidi murmured. "I'm ready…"

"Me too," Sinan said.

"Everyone just… shut up for a second!" Jacob clutched his head. The groups discussing in the other ships went quiet too. "I just need a second here to think…"

A single Heidi and Sinan were beamed out and, suited up, they flew out to meet Urobach. Jacob and the others watched the distant red and yellow glows as the pair traversed the void. They moved via air canisters fixed to their arms.

Once close they were swallowed up by a familiar brown sphere, black electricity surging around it. Dormageddon's Forbidden Star. Even so, those outside could still perceive what was happening.

"Urobach's duelling Heidi and took the first turn," Jacob uttered. "Sinan's staying out of it. Good, they intend to stick to the plan."

"They might tip Urobach off though," Amira replied.

"He's still sticking around. It looks like he does intend to duel and that's what matters."

Outside the ship, hidden behind a saucer's disc, another Sinan and two Heidis floated, waiting…

"I expand Forbidden Sunrise, Dawn of Forbidden!" Urobach declared on his second turn. The beachball-sized star spun, emitting small solar flares. Gold tablets swung up on four sides. Urobach grinned at Heidi's glower. "I suppose this card reminds you of my duels against that blonde twerp and the old man?"

Heidi's eyes widened before she forced herself to cool down. Jacob's mental begging helped.

Urobach maintained his sneer. "This is different, of course, because I finally have my Dormageddon back!" He waved his arm at the maroon backdrop hiding the stars. Then he turned his attention to Sinan, "Lucky one of your friends came along, just in case I manage to kill you with the field still up."

"I'm here as support," Sinan lied. "I've already duelled you while you had Dormageddon!"

"Hmph."

"This'll also be different to your other duels because I won't die," Heidi remarked. The crucified Dokindam hung above her head. "You will."

In her head, Jacob cautioned her to not give too much away. Urobach threw his head back and cackled. The moment he wasn't looking Heidi resisted a fearsome urge - could she kill him now? Explode into Mars or try blasting him with fire? He might be too surprised to get away. Sinan struggled with the idea too.

Jacob's voice was quiet, as if he were speaking the words right into her ear, 'We need to stick to the plan. We've got one shot at this.'

Heidi drew, charged and passed her turn. She waited for Urobach to settle down.

"I came here… wanting to die," he said.

The confession threw them for a loop. On the sidelines, Sinan blinked before narrowing his eyes.

Heidi's composure vanished, revealing her desperation. "Then just die!" she screamed. "Let me kill you! Then all of this can be over!"

"Facing you now in a kaijudo duel, finally, made me change my mind." Urobach smiled, Heidi stared helplessly. "All the times we faced each other before now… The warehouse where we met and I killed your redhaired friend. The rundown mall where I offered you a lifeline, only for you to spit in my face. Later, glimpsing you in a jet and taking you away to die in the nuke." Memories flashed across Heidi's mind. "Seeing you on the island from atop the helicopter. Watching you duel Amira and having to intervene before Dormageddon killed you both. Then of course, on the rocket you failed to stop…" His gloved hand swiped at the space in front of him. "Though you managed to slip away..."

Heidi went back to glaring.

Urobach sounded nostalgic, "You kept pissing me off by always surviving everything like a cockroach. But everytime I killed one of your friends, or millions of people, I felt happy thinking about how much it must torment you to keep failing at being a hero." His amber eyes searched hers. "So before we both die, let's have all the fun we can. I want to see you fail just one more time."

"Bring. It. On." Heidi was heaving like a beast, her red aura swelling to ten times its usual size.

"I summon Ningyo, Floating in the Starry Sky!" A weak creature appeared, a purple octopus lady. "You can't add mana from anywhere other than your hand. Then, I'll discard this and summon Final Forbidden Redtron for four mana less, thanks to Forbidden Sunrise. Armageddon loses its first seal." A corner slab exploded into rubble. A sonic command raised blazingly electric fists.

Heidi drew slowly. She could no longer ramp with Glory Lupia. She only had two mana, she needed more!

"This is like when we duelled," Sinan said, recalling how Urobach similarly thwarted his deck's strategy with a card effect.

"I'm not trapped!" Heidi yelled at Urobach's smirk. "I cast Allin Charger!" It was the twinpact spell-side of Royal Flush Kaiser. "We play Gachinko Judge, if I win it still gets added to mana because spells don't enter the battlezone, they come from the hand!" A card floated off each of their decks. Urobach's frown deepened. Vol-Val-8 cost nine while Borof cost seven - Heidi won and gained extra mana. "You won't slow me down!"

Sinan grinned.

Urobach drew his only card. The corner of his lip raised.

"Thanks to Forbidden Sunrise this card's cost is reduced by two. I summon Dorbro, Final Forbidden Gamma. I remove the second seal from Dormageddon and give Redtron slayer." Colourful crystals sprouted off its body, orbiting it were Forbidden symbols. A blocker. "Redtron go, break her shield!" It punched its fists together then flew, winding back its arm then spraying glass.

Urobach smiled as his creature jumped back. 'Heidi doesn't really play defence, so it's safe to attack her shields,' he thought.

Heidi was thinking too, 'I can sense that his other creature can't attack… because of Dormageddon's field?' Heidi looked at the octopus lady. 'That also must be why none of Forbidden Sunrise's seals have gone to the graveyard, even though he's used its cost reduction twice now… Dormageddon is only letting him remove one seal a turn… Can I use this info?'

"Your turn, you failure hero."

"I have five mana now! I cast "Help me! Malt!" and summon MaltNEXT, Battle Dragon Ruler!" It emerged heroically in an inferno of bi-coloured fire. The first of Dokindam's seals vanished.

"Predictable." Urobach shook his head. "You've had that card forever."

"I bring out Batogaiheart, Deluxe King Sword!" That surprised him, seeing the blue sword descend instead of Heart Burn. "MaltNEXT attacks you, and if the card on top of my deck is a dragon…!" It shot upwards. Heidi's card flipped over - whumph, "MaltSAGA, Flame Dragon Ruler!" Her newest dragon lowered, a stronger version of the original. "It too brings out from hyperspace Little Big Horn, Passion Dragon!" Not a weapon but a creature, another two crowning Xes faded from Dokindam. MaltNEXT soared down from above, "Double break!"

BAM!

Glass smashed into a tinkling chorus before the pieces shrank back together.

"Two triggers! Glenislay and Borof! I remove the third seal from Dormageddon!" Urobach scowled, regretting not saving the second seal to make one of his creature's a slayer. "I equip Borof with Gaiheart, Galaxy Sword!"

"Gaiheart!" Sinan yelled. "So he's using Gaiginga!?"

"Glenislay too…" Heidi murmured.

"You won't escape a dramatic end crafted by me! I plan to kill you with one of your own creatures, failure hero! I mill one and return Oniyose's Jutsu to my hand. Next turn I'll Big Bang Liberate!"

Heidi solemnly raised her arm overhead, "Dragsolution! Batogaiginga!" The sword transformed into the goblin dragon with the volcanic purple skin. "I attack! I draw, then summon Infelstarge! I remove two more seals from Dokindam!"

Urobach felt a shiver. "...We both have one seal left. However, if Dokindam liberates first, Dormageddon will seal him after. If Dormageddon liberates first, no other player can undo seals! You're outmatched!"

"But I have this turn, and you can only remove one seal per turn, can't you?"

Another flicker of fear crossed Urobach's face. 'Bingo.' Heidi thought she saw the beginnings of black embers, the man's fear already urging him to teleport. Heidi briefly closed her eyes. 'Breathe,' she told herself, then opened them again.

"Triple break, Batogaiginga!"

"Dorbro blocks!"

The streaming fire made Urobach shield his face. It might have been the perfect moment for Heidi to become Mars and crush him.

'Patience,' Jacob thought to her and Sinan. 'Stick to the plan...'

"MaltNEXT untaps and attacks again! Double break!"

"More shield triggers! Two more!" Urobach's eyes bulged.

"For real!?" Sinan shouted.

"It's a sign! Heh, a moronic sign, but a sign that I was meant to kill you if nothing else, Heidi!"

Heidi's brow twitched, her old nervous tick.

Jacob agreed with her thoughts, 'He's talking like he's not winning the war? Has something changed?'

What couldn't change was Heidi's determination to end him and finally get justice.

Glenislay and Dorbro leapt out into Urobach's battle zone.

With great effort Heidi spoke calmly, "If you can summon a dark or fire command then you will unseal Dormageddon. You have Oniyose's Jutsu in your hand, so you could summon one even if you draw a costly creature. So draw…"

Urobach drew and stared at the card in horror. He looked at his field, realising his mistake.

Heidi continued, "Four out of four triggers is a sign - of your arrogance! Shield triggers are optional, you know, and you can only undo seals once a turn. If you'd just held onto Glenislay you could've played her this turn to unseal Dormageddon."

"SHUT UP!" Urobach screamed. "I may have been humiliated by my boss, an equal, a subordinate! Not by you! I WON'T LET YOU!"

He slammed down a card. It was another Ningyo, appearing beside the first. He'd strained his voice by freaking out, "Dorbro attacks and parralel invasion! Redzone X, Temporal Awakened!"

"Him again…" Heidi looked up at the huge robot coursing with blue and violet lightning.

"MaltNEXT gets -9000 power and double break!" The glass flung far without air or gravity to slow the pieces down. "Borof, shield break!" The snickering plushie swung down Gaiheart which began to glow. "Dragsolution! Gaiginga, Strongest Passion! I don't need Dormageddon to kill you, Heidi! This will be enough!" The huge dragon rose up beside Redzone, gold and blue.

"Not good," Jacob growled. "Gaiginga grants him an extra turn if it's chosen, and even if he doesn't draw a card that can break the last seal, Redzone will psychic awaken at the start of his next turn!"

The others had no words. Kanoa put a hand on Jacob's shoulder.

"Now first Glenislay, ike! Second, ike!" The pink-haired samurai twins flew, mirroring each other as they cut up the last of her defences in turn. "This was a sign! Your hero's journey ends here. Such a fallacy. My only regret is I never broke your spirit. Gaiginga-!"

"Rev Zero Trigger!" Heidi flamed red all the more fiercely. "Since I have no shields I activate Master of Revolution!" Her top card flipped over. "Katta Kirifuda & Katsuking! I look at my top five cards and take this. Then I can bounce one of your creatures, but I choose not to!" For the first time that duel, Heidi grinned. "You know what that means? I play the last command I need, Forbidden Liberate!" The final X broke and Dokindam prized himself free.

Red muted everything, even outside the field. Stars, the ships, the creatures, all became pitch-black silhouettes. It was like an abstract painting, or a panel in a coloured manga. Gravity trembled their atoms until their vision returned - there was Dokindam floating above, hauntingly.

Heidi clenched a fist with satisfaction.

Shrine gates raced in, and because they were in space there were additional gates, all converging from three directions. The posts stuck out at sharp angles, squeezing together Urobach's small army of creatures. They squirmed like bugs.

"So, you done with your turn?" Heidi asked.

『AN: Wowowow. Okay, so my plan had been to finish this story by Christmas, not gonna happen. I was sick for like a month and that was very demotivating. Still, I have completed the bulk of chapters 92 to 94. Since it's been so long I'm putting this up, but maybe I'll go back and find ways to nicen this up more. Turns out writing multiple chapters simultaneously failed to motivate me in the same way writing one at a time does. Anyway, I had to cut this duel off here, but I'm happy and excited with the stuff that's to come in this penultimate quarter and hopefully you are too! Thank you, treasured readers. Jaa ne ~』

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