Chapter 2: Odd Footprints

Eren felt his watch vibrate, waking him up from his dreamless sleep. He looked at it to see the time, 0300 in the morning.

Eren felt Ai's body next to him. She was dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a long sleeve shirt. Since she was much smaller than him, she got cold easier, so he wore much lighter clothes when they slept. Specifically, his boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

He didn't want to leave the warmth of his bed, but the image of the sun rising over the sea was something he wanted to see again. So Eren began to move carefully out of their bed so he can start getting ready for the day.

Eren felt Ai shift and reach out to him, not wanting him to go, but her back was to him so he was able to get out of bed without waking her.

Eren looked at Ai and was still amazed at how beautiful she looked. Even after ten years, she still looked young, even as young as Ruby. If not for the difference in their hair color, Ai could almost pass for Ruby's twin sister.

Eren bent over the bed and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, making Ai move a bit but didn't wake her up. Eren then put on a pair of workout shorts to get his morning workout in.

Eren got his bag with a change of clothes and his suit that he wore at work. He always had to wear a suit unless they were engaged in a more tactical or espionage mission. Eren primarily was used for tactical missions since he was extremely skilled in fighting and using guns, which was exactly what Gan'an intended when he recruited Eren.

The Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, or Naich, was the intelligence branch of the Japanese Government. Eren was told it was similar to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, which he still didn't understand what that was.

Mostly, Naicho dealt with foreign threats to Japan, such as smuggling, spies, human trafficking, and other such issues. On occasion, agents were expected to serve in Japanese embassies in other countries for tours lasting a few months, which allowed Eren to travel the world basically for free.

It was a good job for Eren, especially since they mostly used him as door kicker and as a fighter. While Eren was intelligent, even with his education, Eren still struggled with modern technologies, so they didn't have him do too much on the technical side of things.

Eren walked into his garage, which was a small one car garage that he used as a makeshift gym for morning exercises. He had a few machines, but mostly just stuff for bodyweight exercises. There was the water heater in the corner taking up space, but it was spacious enough for Eren.

Eren did a quick warm up and and mounted his pullup bar. He started to do his set of pullups and counted each one. When he was in the scouts, he could easily do up to 60 on an off day. The level of physical fitness required to use ODM gear was very high.

However...

"29... 30..." Eren said as he struggled the last few reps.

Eren almost collapsed off the bar. Lately, he's struggled to pass 30 reps in his pullups, and he wasn't sure why. He assumed he just got weaker overtime. Although he kept up with his exercise, Eren didn't have to use ODM anymore, so he progressively got weaker over the years.

It didn't matter though, since he no longer really had to fight. Of course, there were moments he'd have to fight in his job, but by comparison to his time in the Scouts, this was nothing. In the past ten years, only one of his coworkers died and it was due to a disease and not war.

Eren finished a few more things before getting changed into his suit and fixing his tie. He took his modern styled handgun out of the bag and placed it in his holster that was under his shoulder.

Eren went out of the door in his garage that led to his driveway. His car, which was a small black Toyota compact car was in the driveway. He chuckled at the memory of Gan'an complaining that he didn't know how to drive a car and realized he'd have to get Eren a driving permit.

Eren got in and started the car up. His walled in house had a gap that let his car through so he could get onto the road.

Eren fixed his hair a bit as he drove, having it brushed back slightly but overall maintaining the same look he had in his youth. He kept the same general look since Ai preferred his hair longer than shorter. He did cut it to the length he had it when he first joined the Scouts once, but Ai wasn't a fan.

She said it looked too different since she was used to seeing him with long hair, so Eren grew it back out to maintain the look he had when he first came to Japan. He did grow his beard a little bit, mostly just longer than a five-o-clock shadow, which Ai also hated. Mainly because the bristled beard irritated her skin, though Eren liked how she reacted since it was cute to him.

Eren still was not a fan of her idol act. After all these years, she largely maintained it. She was more serious when she was with the children, but still came off as the same idol she was ten years ago. It was endearing, but still annoying to him.

After Eren drove for an hour, he arrived at the location he was supposed to be at. Already, a few law enforcement officers and his coworkers were at the scene and looking around. Eren parked his car and got out, closing the door and making his way over.

He took a second to look at the sun as it rose over the sea, creating a beautiful image of gold and orange colors as it reflected off of the morning sea. The sea was calm since it was morning and looked like molten glass with just small waves of white foamon the beach itself.

"Morning Senpai." Eren heard someone call over to him.

"Miyuki." Eren greeted. "Please stop calling me that."

"I mean, it is the proper greeting to someone who's been at the job longer." Miyuki chuckled.

"My first experience with that term was with my wife, so it feels weird to me." Eren said.

Ai tried some of the advice Meimei gave her a few times, such as calling Eren names that westerners were supposed to love in a relationship. It was odd to Eren, but he never questioned it. However, considering his experience with it was in a sexual nature, hearing it in its actual context still felt uncomfortable to him.

"I guess that's the issue with being a westerner." Miyuki chuckled.

Shirogane Miyuki, one of the newest members of Naicho and freshly graduated from university, with a Master's Degree in criminal science. He was also a friend of Eren, who put in a good word so Miyuki could join Naicho. Plus, the director was friends with Gan'an Shinomiya, who was Miyuki's father in law.

Miyuki originally planned to study overseas in Stanford university in the United States, but he changed his mind after the events ten years ago with Kaguya's kidnapping. Miyuki felt like he could do a lot better in the world instead of just going to business or something along those lines.

After saving Kaguya, he wanted to get into a job that focused on protecting Japan and combatting crime and human trafficking. While the Public Security Intelligence Agency was a possibility, he had better luck with Naicho since Eren was one of the more senior members by the time he joined.

Miyuki had been in Naicho for a few weeks now, and Eren was helping him learn.

"So, possible smuggling into Japan?" Miyuki asked.

"Possibly." Eren shrugged. "Likely also just some pranks."

Eren walked up to the beach which had the weird foot prints in the sand.

Eren raised his eyebrow as he looked at them. It looked like something walked out of the ocean, something big. The prints were hard to tell since the sand is loose, but it looked like a giant four-legged person walked onto the beach, collapsed, and then one set of footprints walked away from the beach.

"You ok Senpai?" Miyuki asked, noticing Eren was transfixed on the sight.

Miyuki assumed it was a prank. After all, there's no way these footprints could be mistaken for a boat landing on the shore. It was most definitly a prank.

Eren though, he was completely absorbed at what he was looking at. His face was neutral, but Miyuki could tell he was bothered by something. His eyebrows narrowed, as if he recognized it.

"Hey, Senpai, are you ok?" He tried again.

"Yes." Eren lied, though Miyuki elected not to bring it up.

Eren's mind was racing. There was no way this was what he thought it was. There was no possible way this was the result of a Titan Shifter. There was no way a shifter was here. Titan power didn't work in this world, or at least, Eren's own powers didn't work. Considering he was the founder and the source of life was killed, the power has to be gone.

Additionally, Eren lived past the age of twenty three. The curse of Ymir didn't kill him. So how was it possible for him to be alive if he still had his powers? The answer was that he didn't. The powers were gone.

It had to be a prank by some students who watched a... what did Mikasa call it? One of her kaiju movies? It had to be.

"I guess it is a prank." Miyuki said.

"Hey, Eren." Another agent said. "We have a report come in."

"What is it?" Eren asked.

"Apparently, a cargo ship had a man overboard situation about 50 kilometers from the coast. The man wasn't on the roster and probably a stowaway." He said.

"Do you think he could have swam here?" Miyuki asked.

"It would be a hell of a swim." The agent said.

What are the odds that it's a coincidence? Eren thought to himself.

Eren looked at the prints. The feet and hands were large... maybe a ten to fifteen meter Titan? But the Jaws and Cart Titans had large feet and hands compared to their bodies, so it could be mistaken for fifteen meters. The only four Titans ruled out are the Attack and Warhammer, since Eren had those. And of course, the Colossal and Founder, since Eren had the Founder and the Colossal is too large.

Could someone else have arrived? Even if they did, they had to have lost their Titan forms. Eren can't call upon the power anymore. Not since his death.

Was it possible Titans existed in this world? No, there's no way. At least, not in their history. Unless Earth had a source of all life that recently attached to someone, there's no way there could have been Titans born here.

"Eren, we'll just report this as a possible illegal entry into the country." His coworker said. "Draft up the report and get it to me tomorrow. You can have the rest of the day off."

"Sure." Eren said, barely paying attention.

"Need help Senp-" Miyuki was cut off as Eren ignored him. "Senpai, are you ok?"

Eren just went back to his car, his mind completely occupied by what he saw. A part of him was completely sure this has to be overthinking things, but there's no way he can just ignore these signs.

Every Titan Shifter at some point in time has tried to kill him. Even Armin towards the end during the Rumbling. What were the chances that he'd be targeted? And without his powers... Eren was helpless.

He needed to get home.

"Good morning Darin!" Ai greeted Eren cheerfully as Eren walked into the house. "Are you home early tod-"

Eren walked right by Ai and went straight to his office. Ai was shocked that Eren would rush right by her without even a kiss good morning. He seemed like he didn't even realize she was there.

Ai thought about going up to see if he was ok but decided that maybe there was an emergency with work that was bothering him. It wasn't unusual for Eren to be preoccupied with work, so she figured she should leave him alone for now.

Either way, she needed to finish up her preparations for Ruby's possible idol career. Ai figured out most of what she needed to do, at least in terms of what needed to be done. She knew she'd have to learn as she went, but all she really needs is to figure out how to convince President Saitou.

Ai sat down on the couch and took her laptop and double checked her notes. She had a lot of information on how she was going to approach this.

She had two possibilities on how she wanted to go about getting a contract with Saitou. The first would be attending a business major in college, but that would take too long and would take years. The other plan would be hiring a lawyer to help her go over the contract.

It would be expensive, and she knew it might take away from their vacation funds, but it'll be worth it. As much as she trusted her old boss and saw him as a father, she knew you needed to protect yourself in the business world. Especially when her daughter was on the line.

"Morning okaasan." Aqua said as he came in through the door.

"Oh, everyone's here early today." She giggled.

"Entrance exams are over, so we were allowed to come home." He said. "Who else is here?"

"Well, Eren is home, but he seemed preoccupied." Ai said.

Although Aqua grew out of calling her mama and started using proper Japanese terms, he never called Eren anything other than his name. She figured it was because he didn't fully see Eren as a father, but Ai could tell he respected Eren very much. Especially after Eren taught him how to defend himself.

Something Ai assumed was because of his experience when he was four. She noticed a general change in Aqua's personality after he went to therapy. He seemed happier than before, though he still kept a serious attitude and had a tendency to brood sometimes. He sometimes seemed emotionless, but he'd break that look when he was around family or people he cared about.

"How's the idol stuff going?" He asked.

"I'm getting ready to propose my idea to President Saitou." She said. "Although, I am a bit worried."

"Do you think he'll go with it?" Aqua asked.

"I think so, especially since someone else will lead it." Ai said. "It'll take a lot of studying on my part, but I'm confident we'll get this done."

"We're home." Kawachi said as he also walked through the door. "What's up with otosan? He kept calling me and Mikasa?"

Kawachi and his twin sister both placed their shoes on the shoe rack and their book bags near the door. With their entrance exams, they would soon be ready to start the next grade in their elementary schools.

"Was he?" Ai asked.

"Yea, he said come home immediately." Mikasa said.

They heard Eren walk down the stairs when he heard his children get home. He looked calm but his movements were quick and calculated, like he was preparing for something.

"Where's Ruby?" Eren asked.

"She should be on her way from the entrance exams." Aqua said.

"Who needed me?" Ruby asked as she opened the front door as well, stepping into the house.

"Papa was asking for you." Mikasa said.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Just wondering where you were." Eren said quickly, though his voice was calm.

"Darin, what's wrong?" Ai asked. "You look worried about something."

Did he? Eren was tense after dealing with the possibility that a Titan Shifter was here. If it was someone who personally knew him, they could attack his family to get at him. There are no shortage of people from his world that would want him dead, and fewer with the capabilities to do so. But a Shifter would be able to kill him without his own powers.

"It's nothing." Eren waved off.

"Eren, please take a deep breath." Ai said gently.

As calm as Eren seemed, Ai could tell he was very tense. His breathing seemed normal, but she knew he was fighting from hyperventilating. He seemed like an animal in the corner, ready to pounce and strike if anything got too close.

Eren listened to his wife and took a deep breath, holding it before exhaling and forcing his racing heart to slow down.

"Are you ok papa?" Mikasa asked, her voice full of worry.

"Yea... papa's fine." Eren said as he calmed down.

"What is it?" Ai asked.

"Just... something weird today at work." He said.

"What happened?" Ai asked.

Eren realized he needed to slow down. He was being rash again, just like in his youth. He had to calm down and focus on what he knows, which is next to nothing. If he starts to react without thinking, he'll get into the same issue he did when he came to Japan.

Remember, control your emotions. React through planning, not through anger.

"I can't talk about it right now." Eren said as he calmed himself down. "I was just worried about the exams." He lied.

Ai knew it was a poor lie, but he said it so as not to worry the children.

"Come on papa." Mikasa pouted. "Are you really that worried I'd fail?"

"More worried about Kawachi." Eren said in a joking tone, letting himself forget about the event momentarily.

"I passed!" Kawachi yelled out.

"Really?" Ai asked with a giggle.

"I mean... yea." He looked away.

"You got the minimum, didn't you." Ai said, calling him out.

"It's still a pass!" He said.

"After all the times we studied together?" Ai asked.

"I mean, the exam I did fine on. I just have a lot of missed homework." He said.

"Kawachi." Ai glared at him. "What did I tell you about missing homework? Am I going to have to go see your sensei again?"

This child sometimes. He was smart but he almost always was tardy or didn't turn in his homework.

"I got a high score!" Mikasa took out her graded sheet. "See mama!"

"Good job!" Ai beamed at her daughter. "So much smarter than my delinquent of a son." Ai cried in a mocking fashion.

"Homework is stupid." Kawachi crossed his arms and huffed.

"Well, I'm going to go upstairs." Ruby said, still sad from last night.

"Ok Ruby-Chan." Ai said sadly.

She really hoped she could get the idol job for her, for no other reason than to make her baby girl happy. Ruby deserved this chance because of how passionate she was. Ai knew it would be a hard career, but Ruby was so passionate.

Besides, she's rather have Ruby learn to hate being an idol than to live with the doubts of becoming one.

After the kids cleared out of the main room and went to their own rooms, Eren and Ai were left alone.

"Are you sure you're ok Darin?" Ai asked gently.

"I'm fine, really." Eren said. "What are you up to?" Eren changed the subject.

"I'm calling President Saitou now, about the manager job." Ai said.

Ai noticed how Eren changed the subject but didn't comment on it. She assumed he just wanted to get his mind off of whatever was going on. Though he did seem like he calmed down a bit.

Ai took her phone and dialed her old boss. She saw him a week or two ago when she had a lunch date with Miyako and their young daughter, so she still maintained a relationship with the Saitou family. Ai really did see him as a father, especially after what happened with the Ryosuke and Yakuza incidents.

Did he overstep his boundaries? Yes. Did he get overprotective? Yes. But he not only helped protect Ai and her children, but he helped to care for and raise Ai.

"Ai?" Saitou asked as he picked up his phone.

Ai used video call because she knew she might have to plead a little bit. She did understand that this was his business and that he would be hesitant to let her become a manager, but if logic failed she needed to rely on begging if it came down to it.

"Hi President Saitou, good to see you." Ai said in her idol voice.

"Everything ok?" Saitou asked. "Miyako told me that Ruby got rejected. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yea, unfortunately Eren and my reputations aren't the best for a career for Ruby." Ai said.

"I am sorry to hear that, she looked excited." Saitou said honestly.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could help with that." Ai said.

"Really?" Saitou asked unsure. "I may have some old contacts I could call, but I no longer deal with idols. Especially after B-Komachi fell apart."

"I know." Ai said. "But, considering there's no one who would manage Ruby, I figured I'd get into being a manager." Ai said.

"Really?" Saitou asked. "Well, I wish you the best. If you need any advice I'd be happy to help." He said.

"Well, that's the thing. I need more than advice." Ai said.

There was a slight pause. The entire conversation, Saitou was unsure of where the conversation was leading, and now he was finally aware. By this point, he fully understood Ai's intentions.

"No." Saitou said firmly.

"I just need a producer to help with money and-"

"I said no." Saitou said. "I finally got my agency in the positives again and if I try to get back into idol management, everyone will bring up your controversies. I'll have to fight to stay afloat."

"I know, but I have a plan." Ai said. "We can use the past controversy to build Ruby up, to make it seem like I'm using her to recapture the glory of my career. It would create sympathy and make a classic rise from nothing story."

Saitou was impressed by the logic, it made a lot of sense, but he was still hesitant.

"That's a gamble though Ai." Saitou said. "We don't know if they'll actually go with that. It can just as easily go the other way and they hate her regardless."

"I think it's a good gamble." Ai said. "She shares so much of my beauty, and she is unique with her hair and eyes. I really think we can use this angle and that it'll work."

"And if it doesn't, Ruby won't even get a chance to prove how well she can perform." Saitou argued.

"And if we don't try, she won't even get the chance." Ai countered.

Saitou was running out of arguments. He saw Ai's logic and for the most part agreed, but it doesn't change the fact that it's a gamble.

"And what if Ruby gets stalked or attacked?" Saitou asked.

"Do you really think anyone would be stupid enough to attack the daughter of Eren Yeager?" Ai asked.

It was a very fair point. Although officially not the Akuma no Ko, Eren was feared in the public eye by most people. Even if someone did attack Ruby, they'd have to deal with Eren.

The image of the Yakuza guy that Eren tortured flashed in his mind, reminding him that Eren had no sympathy towards anyone who threatened his family. A thought that made Saitou happy that Ai and the children would always be safe, but always feared in case Eren and Ai ever broke down in their relationship.

"While I understand that, we can't risk her safety and my studio." He said.

"If anything happens, it'll all fall on me. I'll be in charge of managing Ruby and the new B-Komachi."

"You want to keep the name?" Saitou asked.

"Of course, it'll be perfect for our whole redemption narrative that we're building." Ai said. "All I need is funding. You don't even have to be involved."

"Ai..." Saitou began.

"Please President." Ai practically begged, looking down to make herself even more sad. "It would mean a lot to Ruby and I. It is Ruby's dream. She's been so sad lately. I just want to see a smile on her face."

Eren raised his eyebrow as he watched the interaction. Did Ai really believe that being sad would-

"Fine." Saitou relented.

Seriously? He gave in that easily?

"I can give some funding and open up an idol branch again. But outside of some advice, I am keeping my distance from it." He said.

"Thank you, President!" Ai exclaimed happily.

"I'll give you enough for three, maybe four idols. But no more." He said. "I can't put as many resources into this new B-Komachi as the old one. And regardless of what happens, if you cost me more money than is acceptable, I will terminate it."

"Of course." Ai said.

"I'll draft up a contract for you and Ruby." He said. "Finding additional idols will be up to you."

"Thank you so much President." Ai smiled. "Please say hi to Miyako-San and Ayane-Chan."

Ai hung up the phone and smiled to herself. She needed to give the good news to Ruby that she now had a shot to become an idol. However, Ai would also need to get a lawyer if she was going over the contract, which would also get expensive, so she'd need to ask her husband for some money.

"I can't believe he agreed like that." Eren shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Ai asked.

"He knows it's a terrible idea, yet you barely convinced him." Eren said.

"Well, like many fathers, a bit of sad eyes and making their daughters happy is enough." Ai giggled.

"You won't see me making a mistake like that." Eren said.

Seriously!?

Did he really not realize how easy it was for Mikasa to completely manipulate him? Was he being a hypocrite, or did he truly not realize he was arguably worse than Saitou when it came to his daughter?

Ai just started to giggle though, making Eren raise his eyebrow at her. It was so cute that he didn't realize just how much Mikasa was able to manipulate him. She truly was papa's little princess.

"I was actually wondering." Ai said, deciding to switch back to the earlier topic.

"What?" Eren asked.

"Earlier, when you seemed worried." Ai began. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Eren sighed and sat down on the couch, leaning back a bit so he can try to relax and not think about what happened.

Ai walked over to her husband, straddled on top of him, and rested her head on his chest. Eren instinctively wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. Eren just held Ai, letting himself relax from the terrified feeling he had of potentially seeing a shifter in this world.

But he needed to relax. Odds are, he was overthinking it. Teens did similar pranks before and there were no other signs. No reports of lightning striking that would indicate a transformation and no reports of giant monsters. A man overboard, while sad, wasn't an indicator of a Titan shifter.

Ai felt Eren relax and was glad that he was calming down. He never really told her anything that worried him, something that made her a bit upset, but she understood. Given his history, there were still things he was either vague about in his past or outright lied about. While she could tell when he lied, she never held it against him.

Ai traced her finger over his chest, letting him relax as he held her.

Suddenly, Ai had an idea to help him feel better. She blushed as she thought of it, but it would be a decent opportunity for them to both feel good.

Ai got up and grabbed Eren's hand, pulling him off the couch and leading him to the stairs.

"What's wrong?" Eren asked.

"You need to relax more." Ai said cryptically. "Just follow me." She said.

Ai pulled him into their bedroom before closing the door. Unlike before, where they had a Futon, Ai decided to get an actual bed since Eren was used to beds instead of Futons.

Ai moved to the bed and sat down, cross legged, and leaned back a bit, supported on her hands. She smiled at Eren knowingly, trying to see if he could figure out her plan.

Eren chuckled to himself. She was inviting him, giving him a clear invitation that he could do whatever he wanted to her and that this was how he could relax. Eren got excited and did feel like his previous worries were starting to go away.

Eren leaned over to Ai, pushing her back gently so she fell onto the bed and got over her, ready to start kissing her-

"Mama." Mikasa opened the door.

"Eek!" Ai screamed.

Eren was not prepared for the deceptively strong and panicked Ai to push him back, causing him to lose his balance and smack the back of his head on the wooden floor.

"Hi Mika-Chan." Ai waved at her daughter while still sitting on the bed, adjusting her clothes.

"What were you two doing?" Mikasa asked in genuine curiosity, still not old enough to realize what her parents were doing.

"Eto... papa was teaching me self-defense. Right?" She asked Eren, who was still on the ground.

"Yup." Eren said in an annoyed tone. "Mama has gotten better."

"Ok." Mikasa said, not at all interested in fighting. "Can you come help me with my studies mama? I want to get prepared for the new year."

"Mika-Chan, mama is busy." Eren said as he sat up.

"No, no, it's ok." Ai said. "You need to make sure you get all your studies done first."

Eren looked at Ai for a moment.

"Don't be so greedy darin." Ai giggled.

Greedy? This whole thing was her idea.

"Right." Eren grumbled, making Ai giggle at how cute he was being. "Well, I got back from work so I'm going to bathe." He said as he stood up.

"Let's go to your room Mika-Chan." Ai said as she escorted her daughter out of the room.

It was cute that Eren seemed frustrated, and a bit upset. It reminded her of a kid who didn't get his way, though Ai knew she'd have to find a way to make it up to him. She was the one who offered to begin with, so she was being a little unfair.

As she helped Mika-Chan, Ai started to think back to her new manager job. In order to protect Ruby legally, she knew she'd need to pay for a lawyer to help them look over the contract. As much as she trusted President Saitou, she wasn't taking any risks when it came to her daughter's legal protections.

Ai heard too many horror stories of idols losing everything because they didn't have the resources or knowhow to navigate the legalities of contracts and end up walking away with nothing. She knew Saitou would never do that, but it was still a precaution.

She would also need to look for talent. Ai had a good grasp of what it takes to be an idol since she used to be one of the top performers, but it would be difficult to find that kind of talent. She knew it would be best to hire someone who is at least somewhat known that way the new B-Komachi would have an initial idol to stand on.

Lastly, she'll need to find someone to help the idols get into shape. While Ruby was physically fit for her age, Ai knew that she'd need to increase her level of physical fitness in order to handle the dancing. She already researched a few people, so she debated about contacting them.

Overall, she was confident in their plan to see some success. She doubted Ruby would ever get to the level she was at since it was such a perfect storm of coincidences that made Ai so popular, but she was confident Ruby would be able to at least live out her dre-.

"Mama, pay attention!" Mikasa whined.

"Oh, right, sorry Mika-Chan." Ai smiled at her daughter as she sat on Mikasa's bed and helped her with upcoming lessons she'd see in the new year of school.

Chapter 2 up.

It's amazing the kind of consistent feedback I'm getting in the sequel. I was worried interest would drop off. Now I know if interest does drop off, it's due to my mistakes and not the switch to a sequel. Thank you everyone for your interest, criticisms, praises, and general thoughts.

Hope you guys enjoy.