Kihonne: As promised, here is the second part of today's double update! I hope you guys enjoy it!
Kihonne: Alright folks, let's get straight onto that chapter, shall we?
Kameron: Kihonne doesn't own Mighty Med, Lab Rats, or the Elite Force. She only owns this story, any and all OCs (including me) and anything else you don't recognize from the original shows!
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Kameron's POV
"So, I'm supposed to guess what the card says I am?" Sera asked skeptically, hand hovering above the pile.
"Yes." Noah nodded. She frowned.
"But there are hundreds of words in the English dictionary. That could take forever." She protested. I chuckled.
"Well, you're allowed to ask questions to help you figure it out." I explained. She nodded.
"Oh, that makes sense." She said. She took a card from the pile and raised it to her forehead. "Okay, what am I?"
Noah and I exchanged looks. "You're not allowed to ask that." Noah explained as Naomi walked into the room.
"But you just said-" Sera cut herself off, frustrated. "Naomi, they're messing with me!"
"You can ask any question but that one." Naomi explained, smiling as she walked over. "You guys see Ben? Kira just told me he was looking for me."
"He's down in the cargo bay. Whatever it was, it sounded important." I told her. She nodded.
"Alright, thanks." She smiled at us before ascending down the ladder towards the cargo bay. Sera sighed.
"Why can't we go back to Monopoly?" She asked. I groaned.
"Because we've been playing it for two days and if I have to play it again, I'm going to lock myself in that bathroom again." I threatened. It had been two days since we'd left Caldera, and we were still stuck inside the Davenship. We were hurtling towards Venusia at breakneck speeds, but the trip was still going to take a few days. We'd all done our best to occupy ourselves, but everyone was anxious to arrive. Taking turns piloting the ship - it was Charlotte's shift currently - and assigning a chore wheel had helped to distract everyone, but now we were all just...bored. Hence, the board games.
"C'mon now," Noah encouraged, ask a different question."
"Okay...am I big?" Sera questioned. I shook my head.
"No." I replied. She nodded thoughtfully.
"Am I alive?" She questioned. Noah shook his head. "Am I food?"
"Yes." I confirmed. She frowned.
"Am I an Earth food?" She clarified. When Noah nodded, she scowled and tossed the card down. "This is a dumb game. I don't know enough Earth foods."
"I take it they don't have Headbanz on Caldera?" Noah asked, chuckling a little at her frustration.
"No, they don't." Sera confirmed. "We have better games, like Kulognia or Calderan checkers."
"I've played Kulognia, and I've decided I don't want to learn any more Calderan games. They're violent." Noah declared. Seraphina rolled her eyes.
"You just need to have a spine for them." She assured him. "Their games are some of my favorite parts about home."
"You're really going to miss that place, aren't you?" Noah asked gently. Sera nodded.
"Earth is nice, and I'm going to miss it a lot too, but..." she trailed off, trying to figure out how to phrase her thoughts, "I am glad that my parents sent me to Earth, because I learned a lot and I gained a lot of good friends-"
"Aw." I interjected teasingly. She rolled her eyes and continued.
"I do wish I hadn't had to give up my home to do so." She finished. Noah nodded thoughtfully.
"At least you'll get to see it when this is all over." He offered. She shrugged.
"Provided we somehow end the war, which we haven't figured out how to do yet." She pointed out. I frowned.
"Won't Oliver and Skylar take you home once they're back, regardless? Or do you think they'll just have you stay on Earth?" I asked curiously.
"They were already sending me to Earth, actually." Sera revealed. Noah and I both looked at her in surprise. "I overheard them talking before I left. They don't know I know."
"You never told them?" Noah asked gently. She shrugged, ducking her head a little.
"I was kinda hoping they were just talking." She admitted slowly. Noah gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Well, maybe they won't send you back right away. I'm sure they missed you." He offered. She nodded, then cleared her throat.
"Uh, could someone else go?" She asked, gesturing at the cards. I nodded and grabbed a card, pressing it against my forehead.
"Am I allowed to ask 'what am I'?" I questioned, much to Noah's exasperation and Sera's amusement.
Naomi's POV
"Hey, Ben, the twins said you were looking for me?" I asked, climbing down the ladder. When I reached the bottom, I turned to ask him what was going on, but stopped short. "Ben?"
He turned around and grinned at me. Behind him, sitting on top of the largest of the crates in the cargo bay, were two plates filled with what looked like mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and steak, along with two beers. "You did say that a picnic in the cargo bay would be okay with you, so long as it was with me." He pointed out with a smirk. "And it is Valentine's day on Earth, so..."
"Well, I did specify space sludge, but I suppose this will do." I smiled back at him before walking over to the crates. I sat down on one of the smaller crates, in front of one of the plates. "This is lovely Ben, thank you."
"I thought we deserved at least one night for us." He explained, sitting down across from me. He took one of the glass bottles. "Don't tell the kids about these, by the way. The drink synthesizer doesn't make alcohol, and they don't know about the stash."
"I didn't know about the stash." I pointed out. He shrugged.
"Well, it was supposed to be seven adults, most of which with powers, trapped on a ship for 4 months with nothing to do. I thought it might liven things up a little." He admitted with a smirk. I chuckled.
"I'm not complaining." I commented. He laughed back. "Happy Valentine's Day, Ben."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Naomi." He told me, leaning forward to kiss me.
Kira's POV
I balanced a couple of water bottles and a few bags of dried apple chips on one arm before knocking on Emily's door with the other hand.
"Hey, Em!" I called cheerfully. She didn't respond, but her light was on, so I knew she was inside. I slid open the door with my spare hand. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to play cards or watch a movie or something - oh." Emily scrambled to turn off her Davenwatch's screen, quickly ripping a pair of headphones out of her head.
"Kira!" She snapped. I stopped.
"Sorry, I just wanted to see...was that Darius on your screen?" I asked, certain I'd seen her face before Emily had turned off her screen.
"Get out." Emily insisted, pointing at the door. I raised my eyebrows at her bad mood, and placed the food and drinks down on the desk next to the room's empty bunk.
"Don't be cranky. What were you looking at?" I pushed. She scowled, crossing her arms. "Emily."
"It was just some old photos, okay?" She raised her wrist and the Davenwatch activated, a photo of Emily and Darius at some park, both of them dressed up. "Can you leave now?"
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked gently. She scowled again and I raised my hands. "Alright. I was just trying to be nice, cranky pants. You've been up here all morning, I thought someone should bring you some food."
I went to leave, but as expected, Emily crumpled under the minor guilt trip. "It's Valentine's day!" She called after me, stopping me before I could leave. I turned to see an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry I'm crankier than usual. I just..."
"You miss him?" I guessed. She nodded.
"It's stupid. I should be over him." She muttered, dropping onto her bunk. I shrugged and sat down next to her.
"It's only been...what, five, six weeks? And it wasn't exactly the most conventional break up. You get to be upset as much as you need." I told her, bumping my shoulder with hers. She gave me a grateful smile. "Seriously, do you want to talk about it? It hasn't exactly been your best year."
"It's only February." Emily muttered. I nodded.
"I know. But between Darius, and Ava, and your dad..." I trailed off. She shook her head.
"Screw Ava. I have better friends than her. And we're going to get my dad back." Emily insisted stubbornly. She looked at me. "Your mom and dad too. I promise."
"I know. But everyone's kinda worried about you anyway." I told her. She rolled her eyes. "You don't believe me? We can take a poll. It'll probably end up being an intervention if we do though."
"No, no. I get it. I'm okay though, really. I just need...time, I guess." She mumbled. I nodded thoughtfully.
"And you and Calla?" I asked. She sighed, sounding annoyed again. "You were kinda being hard on her. Do you guys just need time?"
"I need a little more than just time there." She grumbled. I sighed.
"Emily." I began, but she shook her head.
"No, I know everyone thinks I'm being too hard on her and I'm not being fair, but it's her fault that Darius is gone." She argued.
"It was his choice to leave, Emmy." I pointed out.
"And he wouldn't have made that choice if he felt he had somewhere to go. And we could have offered him that, should have offered him that, but my mother couldn't get past her own prejudice long enough to see that he wasn't our enemy." She looked at me seriously. "He had nowhere to go, nowhere that was safe anyway, and she didn't care."
"She cares, Emily. She just couldn't take that chance." I tried to reassure the girl, but she shook her head again.
"What, because he was the son of a criminal? Grandson of Victor Krane?" She snorted darkly. "Leo is literally the only bionic hero who wasn't created by a super villain. There are plenty of heroes in the world with terrible parents."
"My mother included." I added half-heartedly. Emily looked at me sharply. "Oh yeah, Charlotte and I did a deep dive into our family histories. Turns out, grandma's not dead, just evil."
"...Okay." She clearly wasn't expecting that, but went with it. "And Oliver and Dani are some of the greatest heroes of their generation. And if we're really considering Victor Krane to be father of all those bionic heroes, then Darius is just as much Krane's grandchild as Charlotte is. We don't consider her an enemy. Mom's a hypocrite for not trying to help him."
"That's pushing it a little." A part of me kinda agreed with her - since learning
"Is it, though?" Emily dropped her gaze with a heavy sigh. "We don't even know if he's okay. He could be on the streets somewhere, freezing and starving for all we know."
"Or he's totally fine, holed in a nice, warm, five-star hotel somewhere eating room service." I pointed out. She gave me a look. "Okay, he's probably not doing that, but he is resourceful and as smart as you are. I know that if you were in his position, you'd figure out how to make it work for you, right?"
"I suppose..." She sighed. "I'm just scared for him, Kira. I'm probably never going to know if he turned out okay."
"Then...just picture him safe and happy. If you don't have any proof to the contrary, why can't that be true?" I suggested, putting my arm around her and forcing her into a side hug. She hummed in response and I decided to take the fact that she didn't fight the hug as a win. "As for Calla, what she did was wrong. It was a mistake on her part. But people make mistakes. Even superheroes. Even parents." I told her. I hummed, then added. "Especially parents."
Emily hummed again. After a moment, she spoke. "Are those apple chips?" She questioned, reaching across the tiny room, just managing to grab the edge of one of the bags off the desk.
"Yeah, I found them while going through the cargo storage. We have a lot of dehydrated food." I replied. "I think Calla packed them in case something went wrong with the food synthesizers or something."
"No way these were my mom's idea. Dad was the healthy one, not her." Emily pointed out. She sighed and turned to me. "So, did you come in here for a heart-to-heart, or was there another reason?"
"Oh, I was bored, didn't feel like playing Headbanz with the others. And since Naomi and Ben are having a little date on the first floor, I thought I'd bug you." I replied. She smiled a little.
"You ever play chess?" She asked curiously. I shook my head and she broke out into a grin. "Oh, I'm going to kick your ass."
Kameron's POV
"Well? Am I a person?" Seraphina asked. Noah and I exchanged smirks. By some weird stroke of luck, the card that Sera was holding to her head read 'alien', and neither of us were sure of how to answer without misleading her.
"Not a human one?" Noah replied uncertainly, shrugging. She frowned.
"Am I a Calderan?" She asked, also confused.
"Close enough." I allowed. She turned the card around to look at it and scowled.
"Well, that's awfully vague." She complained. Noah chuckled.
"That's a fair critique." He agreed before getting up. "Well, I'm going to go check in with Charlotte. We should be getting to Venusia soon. I'll catch you guys later."
"Bye." "See ya, man." Sera and I replied. Once he was gone, Sera looked to me.
"Are we going to keep going?" She asked. I shrugged.
"Why not?" I grabbed a card and raised it to my forehead. Sera stared at it, frowning.
"...I don't know what that is." She admitted after a long moment. I frowned and turned the card around. It read 'typewriter' in large block letters.
"Neither do I." I admitted, shrugging. "New game?"
"Nah. I actually wanted to ask you about something." Sera clasped her hands together, planted her elbows on the table, and rested her chin on her hands. "When are you going to make your move on Charlotte?"
I stared at her, caught completely off guard by her question. "I...you...you can't just ask someone that!"
"I can't?" She furrowed her brow in confusion. "I don't know everything about Earthling courting traditions, but I do distinctly remember Kira asking you that question after Christmas. Or are sisters the only ones allowed to inquire?"
"No, that's...I don't even like her like that, anyway." I shook my head. Sera gave me a look.
"Okay, that is definitely a lie. Everyone knows you like her. I'm pretty sure even the adults know you have a thing for her." She told me, point blank. She didn't give me a chance to respond before continuing. "Now, you obviously waited because of the whole Matt-Marcus thing, which was a very honorable thing to do, but I it's fair to say that the cooling down period has passed."
I stared at her. "Could you please keep your voice down?" I hissed. She rolled her eyes.
"She's all the way in the main deck. She can't hear us from here unless we shout." She assured me. I sighed.
"You know, I really hate how everyone seems to know about my feelings for her." I grumbled. She shrugged.
"Be less obvious then." She advised. I gave her a look.
"You've been spending too much time with Emily." I accused. She shrugged, not disputing the accusation. "Look, I've just been waiting for the right time, okay? Right now, with our parents in trouble, us on a dangerous mission, it just doesn't feel right."
"That makes sense." Sera nodded in understanding. "But you might not want to wait too long though."
"Why?" I frowned, confused. "Who else is she going to go out with up here?"
"That's not what I mean. When we get back, don't you think your parents are going to take you and Kira back to New York?" She pointed out. "That's an awful long way from Centium City."
I leaned back in my seat. "Shit." I muttered. "I hadn't even thought about that."
"Really? That's all I've been thinking about, the fact that they're probably going to break up the team when we get back to Earth." Sera sighed. I shook my head.
"We're still going to be a team." I insisted. She shrugged. "We are, Sera."
"That's what Noah thinks too, and I know we'll try, but..." She trailed off before shrugging dejectedly again. "Distance has a way of ruining good things."
"We'll make it work." I told her, though I wasn't too certain myself. After all, the original Elite Force was a prime example of what Sera was worrying about: they used to be thick as thieves, and now, they needed a planet-saving mission to get together. They tried their best to stay close, and it wasn't like they never talked to each other, but Sera did make an excellent point. "You think I should ask her out now? Before it's too late."
"I just think you'll regret it if you don't." Seraphina told me, tone gentle. "Because I don't think this is just some silly little crush anymore."
I chuckled darkly. "It hasn't been 'just some silly little crush' in a long time." I admitted. She gave me a sympathetic smile. I cleared my throat, wanting to change the topic before someone walked in. Besides, my cousin had given me a lot to think about. "What about you? Do you have any 'silly little crushes'?"
Sera just smiled and stood up. "I'm gonna go see if we have any other games up here." She announced, starting to walk away. I scowled good naturedly at her.
"That's not fair!" I protested. She laughed.
"Fair is for humans!" She joked before slipping into her room.
Kira's POV
"I think I'm getting the hang of this." I said cheerfully, moving one of my pieces.
"You can't move that there. The knight can only go in L's, not diagonals." Emily corrected me.
"Oh. Right." I moved the piece back and moved another. "Your turn."
Emily looked over the pieces, then took her bishop in her hand, contemplating her move before making it. "So, you and Charlie did some family history research? You learn anything we need to know?"
"Oh, plenty. My parents told us a lot, but damn, your family has secrets." I whistled. Emily looked at me, brow furrowed. "Did you know your uncle Douglas used to work with Victor Krane?"
"I did, actually. His lab is where he and Mom gave Leo his bionics." She replied. I nodded.
"Did you know Douglas kidnapped the original bionic team? And Leo, and Calla and Jaden?" Judging by her expression, she did not. "Held them at gunpoint even."
"But we like Great Uncle Douglas." Emily protested, grabbing an apple chip from her bag. I nodded.
"I know. He sounds fun." I agreed. She chuckled.
"Okay, so one evil grandparent / great-uncle. What's up with your grandmother?" She asked. I popped a chip in my mouth.
"You heard of Mr. Terror?" I asked. Emily's eyes widened.
"No." She gasped. I nodded. "Seriously? I thought he was a 'he'. It's 'Mr' Terror."
"She took the name after the original." I explained. "But yeah, grandma's basically the supervillain world's godfather."
"Godmother." Emily corrected. She smirked. "Okay, that makes you so much cooler."
"Cooler than Nyssa?" I asked. She laughed.
"I don't know, Nyssa can do magic." She pointed out. I scowled at her and smacked her in the arm. "Okay, okay. You're cooler than Nyssa."
"Thank you." I told her, moving my knight again, this time in the right way.
"So, what about Venusia? What did you learn about it?" Emily questioned, moving one of her pawns. I glanced at the miniature chess board, considering my next move.
"Not much. There weren't many heroes from the planet, but Rodisseus and his family had ancestry there."
"As in Ava, Aaron, and Reese." Emily confirmed. I nodded. "So, they're a planet of shapeshifters?"
"No, actually. The shapeshifting gene was only passed down in a few. Less than 2% of the planet's population. Everyone has powers though - the kinds and numbers of abilities vary between the people, kinda like with Calderans. I told Naomi we won't know what to expect from them when we get there." I sighed. "As for the planet itself, we didn't have much on it aside from some info Venusian Beetles, which are deadly."
"Fun. I didn't love bugs to begin with." Emily sighed. She pressed her lips together tightly. "Hopefully, we'll find our parents and get off the planet really quickly."
"Hopefully. Though I wouldn't mind keeping one of those beetles as a pet." I replied. She rolled her eyes as I moved my rook forwards. I hummed, looking at the board. "Uh, I think I just won."
"No, you didn't...what?" Emily looked at the board, really seeing where our pieces were for the first time. "How did you...that's checkmate!"
"That means I won, right?" I asked again. She nodded, still staring at the board.
"How did you get me in checkmate? You've never played before!" She protested. She looked up at me, eyes wide, and I smiled brightly at her in response.
Naomi's POV
"This is good. I'm surprised the food synthesizers make such good food." Ben commented. "Calla really needs to get into the food business."
"Um, Calla should?" I questioned. "I don't think she was the one who designed this."
Ben chewed once, thinking about it, then his eyes widened. "You are definitely right about that."
"I can ask Leo who designed it when we get back, maybe see about getting one for your apartment." I offered.
"I would never eat out again." Ben told me, dead serious. I giggled a little bit as I placed my utensils on the plate.
"It was a nice meal. Thank you." I said again. I furrowed my brow. "But do you want to know what really surprises me?"
"What?" Ben leaned in, as if about to hear some great secret. I smiled and leaned in as well.
"It's been nearly an hour, and none of the kids have bothered us." I whispered. He reared back with a deep laugh. "I'm serious. I wasn't expecting to get more than five minutes of alone time this entire trip."
"Yeah, well, I may have threatened to throw every single one of them out of the airlock if even one of them bothered us." He admitted.
"Ben!" I exclaimed, even as I laughed.
"I wasn't serious...well, maybe I was." He admitted. "But hey, it worked. That's all I care about."
I smiled, then leaned back in my seat. I sighed. "What's wrong?" Ben asked immediately. I shook my head.
"Nothing. This is perfect." I assured him. "It just hit me that we're not going to get another chance for something like this until we get home. Keeping six kids out of here is one thing, but thirteen other people? It's not gonna happen."
"We'll make it work." Ben promised me, taking my hand. I smiled back at him as he brushed his thumb over my knuckles. "I do have to ask, how exactly are we going to pull this off? Because we haven't really planned on how we're going to pull this off."
"I know." I agreed, letting out a slow breath. Ben looked at me, patiently.
"Is there a plan?" He asked after a long moment. I nodded.
"The plan is...to land, find the team, break them out, get back to the ship, and get off the planet, ideally without the Venusians being the wiser." I decided. He looked at me. "We can work out the specifics once we land, but that's all I've got for now. Unless you've got something better?"
"No, no." He raised both his hands in surrender. "You're the boss, you make the plans. I'm just worried."
"It's not a great plan." I admitted. He didn't respond to that, though I could tell he agreed. "But we won't know what we're dealing with until we're actually standing on the planet. I'd like to at least have a plan we can deviate from, than go there without a plan at all."
"That's fair. Besides, since when does anything go according to plan?" He asked. I nodded.
"Exactly." I agreed. He nodded and took a sip of his beer. "Besides, saving the team isn't actually what I'm most worried about."
"Then what is?" Ben asked, confused. I smirked.
"Explaining to them why they're being rescued by a bunch of teenagers instead of a trained task force." I reminded him. He rolled his eyes. "They're not going to be thrilled with that."
"No, they are not." Ben agreed, seeming almost amused. I cocked my head to the side. "But don't worry about explaining it to them."
"Are you going to do it?" I questioned. He shook his head.
"The kids are." He decided. I opened my mouth to object - he seemed to get some sort of enjoyment from the idea of it - but he cut me off, shaking his head. "No, no, Naomi. Those kids orchestrated all of this, they're on their own for the explanation to their parents. I'm putting my foot down on this."
I gave him a look. "You're not still mad about the whole kidnapping thing, are you?" I asked, exasperated. I understood why he'd been upset - we'd literally been kidnapped, after all - but the kids had meant well and after Ben had told me that Emily had taken responsibility for it and apologized, I'd assumed that would be the end of it.
To my relief, Ben shook his head. "No, I'm not mad anymore." He assured me. "But that does not mean I'm letting them get out of dealing with the consequences for their actions. They made their beds, they can lie in them."
I chuckled. "If you say so." I agreed. He did have a point. I glanced at my drink, then smiled. "Alright, since we're probably not going to get this kind of peace and quiet until we get back to Earth, I propose a toast." I announced, raising my bottle.
"Alright." Ben raised his beer alongside mine.
"To taking advantage of our alone time while we can." I declared. He chuckled.
"Cheers." He agreed, clinking his drink against mine before taking a long drink. When he was done, he fixed with a confident smirk. "So, speaking of 'taking advantage of our alone time', what do you say we-"
"Hey everyone?" Noah's voice came over the comm. "I need everyone on the main deck. We've arrived."
"You've got to be kidding me." Ben muttered. I laughed at his response.
"Next time." I promised him, leaning in to kiss him before breaking away. I grabbed his hand. "C'mon. Venusia awaits."
Kameron's POV
"Whoa." Naomi exclaimed as she and Ben joined the rest of us on the main deck. I had to agree; the view of the large, pale purple planet before us was breathtaking. Caldera had been cool, sure, but in truth it didn't look too much different than images of Mars. But Venusia was so different, so...alien.
"Uh, what are we going to do about that?" Kira questioned, gesturing at the planet. It took a moment, but then I saw what she was talking about - a thin, translucent, bluish barrier surrounding the planet and coming up fast.
"You in range? It's getting pretty close." Charlotte commented, glancing at Emily from her pilot's seat. Emily nodded and raised one hand towards the planet, the other resting on the back of Charlotte's chair.
"What is she doing?" Sera whispered.
"I'm trying to deactivate one of the satellites projecting the force field." Emily ground out between clenched teeth, forehead wrinkled in concentration. However, as we got closer and closer to the barrier, it didn't move.
"You don't have much experience with non-Earth tech, Em. Are you sure-" "Shut up, Noah!" Emily snapped, cutting her cousin off mid-sentence. She was clearly trying her hardest to get this to work, but it was true that she didn't have the same talent with alien tech that she did earth tech.
"Focus, Emily." Ben advised.
"When you tell me to focus, it makes it harder to focus!" Emily snapped at him. Ben opened his mouth to argue, but Naomi grabbed his hand and silently shook her head at him. Emily, meanwhile, let out a frustrated sigh and raised her left hand from Charlotte's chair to her own head, two fingers pressed against her temple as if to help her concentrate.
I was about to suggest we stop before we hit the barrier - it was no more than a dozen feet in front of us by now, when Emily suddenly laughed in delight. We all looked just in time to see a large, triangular section of the planet's force field flicker and disappear. "Punch it, Char!" Emily insisted, keeping her eyes shut as she concentrated.
Charlotte did as she was told, pushing the ship forward faster. As soon as we were past it, safely inside the barrier, Emily dropped her hands with a relieved sigh. "Thank God that worked."
"Don't look too relieved." Naomi advised as Charlotte began piloting the ship down towards the planet's surface. "Getting here was the easy part. Trust me, this mission has only just begun."
Xxx
Kihonne: Alright guys, what did you think? I thought it was a nice heart-to-heart chapter. I want to know what you all thought though! Let me know in a review!
Anyway, the adventure is just beginning. I've got a good line up for the next few chapters! I think you're really going to like them! Here's the new schedule:
February 27th – Venusia
March 5th – Evil Bugs
March 12th – Meet the Villagers
March 17th – Capital City
Until next week guys! Oh, and as insurance that I will definitely update on time – if I'm late with the update, then I'll have a special surprise for any user who reviews on this chapter or the last (must be logged in to receive, as I will be PMing this surprise to people). But hopefully, I'll update on time and will be able to save that surprise for a later date.
I hope you guys have a great week!