Hope you're all ready for a climactic battle because that's what you guys are gonna get! Towards the end of the chapter at least...
"Well, I could definitely go for some grub, how 'bout you boys."
"Yeah, I could definitely eat."
"Ed is hungry!"
Double D remained silent as numerous thoughts circled around in his head. The chat he and his brothers had with Terry and Rachel did convince him to bring up the Ruby flower and he had his notebook full of all the information he had on it thus far with him. For a variety of reasons he couldn't actually bring the plant itself with him, but while there was still a lingering doubt in his mind, he had a feeling that Antonucci would still believe in him and his companions.
The sound of the elevator doors opening brought Double D back to his senses as he found the rest of his group already waiting for them in the lobby.
"Hey there, Oven Mitt!" Marie greeted rushing towards Edd and placing an arm around his shoulder with her usual sly grin.
"H-hello, Marie." Double D greeted sheepishly.
"Relax, kid." Lenore warned.
"Sorry mom..." Marie apologized, removing her limb from the hatted boy.
"If we're done with the sappy romance stuff, can we get dinner already?" Terry groaned.
"Oh, like you don't like to get mushy once in a while." Rachel giggled as she pinched her boyfriend's cheek. As they all entered the dining room, the sheer number of people there caught them off guard. While the room wasn't packed with people, there were certainly more than the group expected. It might have taken a while to find a table for all of them had it not been for the sudden voice calling out to them.
"Hey, there you are!"
The sight of Principal Antonucci brought smiles back to most of the gang, with the only person not exactly pleased at the sight of the man being Terry, who looked a bit embarrassed.
"Glad to see you all here." The older man began. "Come on, I've asked the rest of the staff members that are here to join us."
Antonucci lead everyone to a long table where some other adults were already sitting. The older teens tried looking amongst them for a teacher or faculty member they may recognize but most of them were teachers they didn't recognize or special education teachers.
"Attention everyone, these are the guests I wanted us all to wait for. I know many of you may not recognize these folks but they're also from Peach Creek!" Antonucci began.
"Yes, I've seen them around the school at times." "Oh, the Eds? Everyone knows them!" "Ah, I recognize you all, good to see you!" Were some of the responses given by the other faculty members. It wasn't until they heard someone calling out to Principal Antonucci did the teens hear a voice they did recognize.
"Alright, everyone, I've got the bottles for everyone. Hopefully you've been saving your caps so we can afford-"
The woman who was talking stopped when she noticed the new arrivals.
"Mrs. McMahon?!" Edd called out.
"What are you all doing here?!" Their math teacher gasped before going over to give hugs to some of the kids and adults. "Oh, it's been much too long since I've seen most of you! "Although, I suppose it hasn't been long enough in your case, Terry McGee..."
"Hey Mrs. M, glad to see you haven't forgotten about me." Terry smirked.
"How could I forget you?" The older woman sighed in frustration. "Though I will say that McMahon is my ex-husband's last name, not mine."
"Oh..." Double D replied. "I'm sorry about your loss."
"Oh, don't be." She assured. "He and I were already in the process of divorcing long before this whole situation. But now I'm back to being Miss Shoring."
"Gonna take a while to get used to that." Eddy muttered.
"I see." Edd added. "But, what brought you here? What brought all of you here?"
"That would be me."
The gang of survivors flinched ever so slightly at the sudden appearance of Stacy, who strode her way over to Miss Shoring with a rare grin on her face.
"Joanne here is an old friend of mine, so I pulled a few strings and got her and her coworkers a place here once everything was all set up."
"And we're still grateful for it! Hey, why don't you join us for dinner tonight?"
Double D gave Rachel and his best friends a concerned look, which was met with assurance from Rachel who nodded.
"Sure. In the meantime, if these people are joining us then I can at least get them some bottles too. They're going to need to start saving up on caps." Stacy said as she headed to one of the food servers further away from them.
"You can get caps for free here?" Eddy asked, raising his eyebrow in intrigue.
"Yes and no." Antonucci answered. "You can only get one here every day at dinner. If you want any more you'll have to do a shift watching the gate or in our community garden. There are also people who might trade you some caps if you have something they might want or if you do a favor for them. You could also gamble them in the casinos but we don't recommend doing that."
"Here you go." Stacy said, having returned and handed every member of the gang a glass bottle of soda that they all took a moment to look at. Ed wasted no time in opening it and chugging the fizzy green substance inside. "There's a factory that makes this stuff that we keep running. It won't last forever, but we have more than enough supplies to keep enough caps in circulation for a while. Anyway, the food's just about ready so if we're gonna talk, we might as well eat while we do it."
The next hour was spent with the survivors telling Antonucci and the others a detailed explanation of all of the events and experiences that they had experienced since the start of their tragic adventure. The recounted their escape from Canada, the Oakton compound, losing Rolf, and splitting off from Kevin's group.
Eventually, the topic of Fernando and the flower arrived, Double D was rather hesitant to bring it up, but one last bit of coaxing from Rachel and his companions was enough for him to bring it up. For the entirety of the conversation, Stacy was rather indifferent and just absorbed all that she was hearing until she learned about the plant.
"So you're saying that this plant can kill those things?" She asked, keeping her voice low enough to where only those at their table could hear them.
"Th-That is what I've come to deduce, yes." Edd replied.
"Have you managed to find out anything about pollinating and reproducing it? There should be a Baby Blue Gym Sock in one of the hotels, though I forget which one." The boss said.
"But if you mix the red flower with the blue one, won't you get a purple flower in the end?" Ed tried to wonder.
"Don't strain yourself, big guy." Eddy sighed.
"Haha! Not exactly, Ed." Double D chuckled. "But if I can find one of the Baby Blue Gym Socks that are supposed to be here then I should be able to use the information Jimmy and I already know about it and compare it to it's Ruby Red sibling, then it could be possible to cross-pollinate the two and potentially grow more seeds of the Ruby Red Gym Sock, this would help my research and could put a stop to this plague even sooner! However, it isn't exactly outside the realm of possibility to assume that a Purple Gym Sock could be created, but it isn't likely."
"I bet a Purple Gym Sock would be so beautiful!" Sarah swooned as Jimmy was just as lost in amazement at the thought.
"Well you have my permission to do this. I'll let the others know, though I doubt they'll really care if you do anything as long as you don't completely wreck the place." Stacy shrugged.
"Thank you." Edd sighed. "In truth I, um, believed that you would be rather cold to us."
"Oh, that's just how Stacy can be, don't mind her." Miss Shoring assured with a laugh.
"I used to be the manager of a clothing store over in California. Dealing with a bunch of stupid people takes a toll on you." The woman explained.
"Pfft, trust me I know how that feels." Terry added with a laugh. "Working at an amusement park definitely ain't the same but you end up dealing with similar kinds of people." Rachel's affirmative nod and roll of her eyes made the man's father let out a hearty laugh.
"Is that what you've been doing since graduation?" Antonucci asked. "Who would have thought that the almighty class clown would end up working at an amusement park."
"Hey, gimme some slack!" Terry said, raising his hands up in defense. "Being the co-owner of the place ain't easy!"
"Co-owner?!" Most of the table asked in awe. The collective confusion made Terry break out into hysterical laughter.
"What, you thought I was just some schmuck that did part-time work there? Nah! I met the owner after leaving home, we hit it off and became friends after a couple years. Eventually we signed a few papers and I started making the big bucks!"
"But what about that trailer?!" Eddy snapped. Terry leaned back in his seat with a more morose look on his face.
"I bought that old thing before I became one of the owners. At the time I just got kicked out of my apartment because I was in a rough spot. One of the guys working at the park was selling it for dirt cheap so I used what little I had to buy it. Spent a lot of time fixing it up once I could afford to though and it's been my own little piece of heaven ever since."
"We still have to find it once this is all over." Rachel noted. "Hopefully everything is still there."
As the conversations at the table continued, a large black helicopter landed on a ridge overlooking the ruined city with several military jeeps pulling up near it. General Shirley stepped out of the chopper with a glowering leer at the city.
"General Shirley, what are your orders, sir?" A soldier asked. The commanding officer hummed to himself before addressing the soldier.
"Set up camp for the night." The General began. "We'll strike at o' nine hundred hours. We'll be expecting heavy resistance so do a thorough check on our supplies and resources."
"Yes sir, we're on it!"
The General turned back towards the city with his glare hardening as the thought of Edd and his companions destroying his helicopter flashed through his mind.
"Not this time..." He said to himself in a low growl. "You're mine this time you brat!"
"So what's the word on the guys we sent out?" Antonucci asked Stacy, who actually managed to smile again.
"We were actually going to announce this when they got back, but it actually looks like it's well and truly safe over there!"
"Over where?" Lee asked, the interest of the survivors now fully piqued.
"We sent a team of twenty with three helicopters over to Puerto Rico to meet up with people we made contact with about two weeks ago. We've confirmed now that the island of Puerto Rico appears to have been completely untouched for quite some time now. The zombies seem to be unable to cross saltwater yet and the denizens of the island have taken out any that have popped up with relative ease."
"So it's really safe over there?" May asked, her eyes widening in wonder.
"It seems so. Unfortunately we only have three helicopters and they currently only have one that they'll be bringing over here. We're trying to get everyone over there for the time being until this plague is dealt with, which should hopefully be sooner rather than later if your friend here can get that flower to shut it all down. But getting hundreds of people over there will take time, especially since we can only bring maybe thirty people there in one go."
"So it'll take a while. That doesn't seem too bad." Marie huffed.
"At first glance it isn't." Antonucci interjected, a stern look of focus in his eyes as he appeared to be connecting the dots in his mind. "I'm guessing the problem is figuring out who gets to go there first. People here may look alright, but they'll jump at the first opportunity to go somewhere they know is truly safe."
"Bingo." Stacy replied. "After you guys left the office we talked it over a bit and we've narrowed down the types of people who get priority in leaving first; pregnant women, those who have a physical or mental disability, and children."
"So my dad could volunteer to go somewhere totally safe?" Eddy asked.
"Hey, I ain't completely helpless now!" The older man laughed.
"I'm just sayin', I worry about you, dad!"
As the table laughed at the interaction, Ed looked over at his younger sister and her best friend as they also joined in on the laughter while they enjoyed some fudge and ice cream for desert.
"Can we have someone in our group go?" The boy blurted out, turning to look Stacy right in the eyes with a look that had a mix of concern and a bit of desperation. The outburst brought the table to a sudden silence as all eyes turned to them.
"Well we have a rather sizeable number of people here that are part of those groups. We might be able to squeeze you in, but for now we might only be able to bring one of you. He joked about it, but Mr. McGee being handicapped means he is considered a priority recipient. The two children you have in your group, and you yourself, Ed, also qualify."
"Only one, eh?" Lenore repeated with a sigh. "So, who're we picking?"
"One of the hotels has a parking lot that we've cleared for the choppers to land. You guys can meet us there at nine in the morning. By then the helicopters should be loading up to take everyone that's going. They'll be back the next week to pick up more people until we get everyone out safely."
"I see." Edd said simply as he absorbed everything. The Peach Creek gang all looked to each other as they silently tried to think about who amongst the four that could go should head to Puerto Rico first...
This results of this choice will not bear fruit for quite a while, but consider it one of the most important choices thus far.
Who will go to Puerto Rico?
Choice A - Eddy's Dad
Choice B - Ed
Choice C - Sarah
Choice D - Jimmy
Before another word could be said, Stacy's cellphone began to buzz audibly. As she took it out to read the message she received, she grimaced and addressed everyone.
"Ugh, one of the stooges back in the office forgot to lock up. I gotta go..." She sighed as she addressed the gang. "Look, whoever ends up going doesn't matter in the long run. We'll all end up there in time. I'll see everyone later."
As the professional woman got up and left, the silence continued to linger.
"Well I suppose you all have an important decision to make." Antonucci said as he gathered the empty plates and stood up. "I was hoping that our little get-together would end on a more positive note, but..."
"Hey, it ain't all negative." Lenore interrupted. "We've got a way out of this. Just gotta figure out who gets out first. We'll figure it out."
As everyone finished up their dinner and headed back to their rooms, many thoughts went through everyone's minds. Double D rummaged through his belongings and took out his pajamas, toothbrush, toothpaste, and spare bath towel. The thought of finally taking a shower after what felt like years made him nearly foam at the mouth in excitement until he noticed Ed sitting at the foot of his bed in deep contemplation.
"Ed? Are... are you all right?"
The dim-witted boy looked over at his friend with a look that shook Edd to his core. He had never really seen Ed look so conflicted and lost before. The closest thing to it was back during their early days in high school, when Ed had first been called "retarded" by some rather rude classmates and he learned what that word meant...
"I want Sarah to be safe, Double D. But I don't want to be away from her either..." Ed replied, hanging his head. "What do I do?"
Edd looked down at his life-long friend with empathy as he placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Sarah will be fine, Ed. I know this is a very hard choice to make, but remember, if she goes then you two won't be apart forever. Remember, you're on the list of people who get to go first. This means that once Sarah goes then you might be on the next helicopter ride and you'll get to see her again soon!"
Ed managed to crack a smile as he stood up and hugged Double D. Surprising the young genius, this hug wasn't one of Ed's usual bear hug that nearly crushed his ribs whenever he did it.
"Why don't you do something that I like to do, Ed. Whenever I take a shower, it gives me an opportunity to reflect and think about things that might be bothering me." Edd began, leading his rather foul-smelling companion to their room's bathroom and handing him one of the complimentary towels and a bar of the hotel's soap. "You can go see Sarah when you're finished. I think she'd really like it if you talked to her and told her how you feel and if you made yourself look your best I think she'd like that too."
Ed's tender smile then became the usual goofy one that he had been known for.
"You got it, Double D!" Ed exclaimed as he rushed inside and shut the door behind him. Edd was almost shocked at how eager Ed was to do this, he may have started bathing more once they entered high school, but he still preferred not to. Yet, here he was, eager to get himself cleaned up if it was for a family member.
"Lovable oaf..." He said to nobody in particular as he instead chose to go back to his belongings and pull out a book he had taken from one of their pit stops while he waited for Ed to finish.
With a confident stride, Eddy made his way into the lobby of the hotel and with a flick of his thumb, he watched as the bottle cap he had received flipped through the air before he caught it. Eddy looked at the cap one more time, it was red in color and had the brand name of the soda that it once covered. Everyone knew of the brand, it was one of the most popular in the world after all, though personally it wasn't his first choice for a soft drink.
"Hey." A familiar voice called out to him. As Eddy turned around, he noticed Lee walking to him.
"Uh, hey." The short boy replied, pocketing his cap.
"You're looking eager to get your mind off of what's happening."
"Y'know, you really know how to kill a guy's mood!" Eddy huffed as he glared at the Kanker sister before his look softened. "But... yeah. I got a really tough choice to make."
"Wanna talk about it?" Lee asked, gesturing to some empty seats nearby. Wordlessly, Eddy went over to sit down in one, his gaze immediately going up towards the ceiling and allowing Lee to notice just how tired he looked as she sat down across from him.
"This whole thing with Puerto Rico, or wherever it is. I think it's awesome that we might actually have a way out of this whole mess; we go somewhere safe, call Kevin and the others later and then tell them to get there somehow. Then we can get rid of the zombies and rest easy. But right now we can only get one person out and it feels like we're either playin' favorites or letting someone go through more emotional stuff by separating them from family or a friend in Jimmy's case." Eddy explained.
"I get ya'." Lee sighed. "Not only that, if they're not in a good place mentally and emotionally, it could mess with how they work and deal with trouble."
"Exactly!" Eddy nodded, finally turning to look at the redheaded girl. "For me and the boys its extra hard. I have to basically pick between my dad, my best friend or his sister and I feel like no matter who I pick, I'm letting someone down."
"Hey, don't stress too much about it, alright?" Lee placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a tender smile. "Like they said, we're all going there eventually. Just gotta wait it out."
"Right." Eddy sighed again.
"Hey, Pipsqueak!"
Eddy cringed at the sound of his brother's old nickname for him as he and Lee looked over at Terry, Rachel and Lee's mom all heading to them.
"I thought you were heading to the casino? Don't tell me you got cold feet!" Terry laughed.
"Nah, I was just waiting for you to catch up!" Eddy replied, Lee smiled to herself at the sight of Eddy's confidence coming back, even if it was just a bit.
"You're going too, Ma?" Lee asked.
"Hey, it's been a while since I played Blackjack. Figured it'd be fun."
"Well then what are we waiting for?" The Kanker daughter asked enthusiastically, pulling Eddy up to his feet. "Let's have a fun night then!"
The group of five proceeded to exit the hotel, Terry nudged his younger brother and gave him a side eye about his chat with Lee. Eddy, being who he was, simply grumbled under his breath and turned away from his brother, a light shade of pink forming in his cheeks.
"Aww, c'mon Double D! I won us, like, a gazillion caps last night!" Eddy whined as he and his fellow Eds had changed their clothes to the type of clothes they wore during their time helping Rolf on his farm.
"I only counted one-hundred and seventy-nine bottle caps, Eddy. While that is quite impressive, working to earn more will not only help us procure more of this unorthodox currency, but it also gives us the opportunity to interact with the other people. We can't just act like shut-ins during out time here!" Edd explained.
"Yeah, Eddy!" Ed added. "If you stay inside all day then everyone might think you're a vampire! Just like the vampire in 'My Best Friend is a Cotton Swab'!"
"Alright, alright! Let's do this stupid gardening crap then..." Eddy moaned. The three boys followed some of the other people taking refuge in the city over to a local park. A large space had been cleared out in order to use the land to grow crops. Most of them seemed to be growing rather slowly as a result fo the arid environment but there was clear progress being made, especially for the tropical fruits.
"'Bout time you made it, Honey Bunch!" Marie called out. Just like the Eds, she and her sisters had changed as well, with Marie keeping her black tank top and opting to wear a pair of blue jean shorts and sneakers along with a green baseball cap. May kept her grey shirt but now had blue jeans on and had her hair in a ponytail. Lee looked almost the same, though changing her polka-dotted top for a plain white t-shirt. The biggest change was in her hair though, as it was styled in a manner that clearly revealed both her eyes.
"H-Hello, ladies." Double D greeted sheepishly. Ed looked at the girls, specifically May, rather curiously. Lastly, Eddy looked at Lee with his eyes widened in shock. With a quick rub of his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly, he returned his gaze to the redhead and saw her giving him a confused look.
"What?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"N-Nothin'!" Eddy asserted. "I just... never really seen you without your eyes covered, is all."
"My, Eddy, I see those lessons in grammar were helpful." Edd sighed.
"You don't like my eyes?"
"That's not what I said! I think your eyes look nice..." Eddy said, mumbling with his last few words but still being loud enough for Lee to hear.
"Bleh, this guy can't act cute to save his life!" Marie gagged before turning to the hat-wearing boy. "Anyway, what's up, hun?"
"Ah yes, I simply thought it would be good to help out and talk to some of the others in the area."
"Well you're in the right place!" May chimed in. "These people have been nice to us so far and the work's pretty easy."
"Yeah, our mom's doing a shift for security by the front gate and she said she'll be done by four o' clock." Lee explained. "Speaking of the time, I'm guessing Ed here ain't going to that island?"
"Nuh-uh." Ed shook his head. "I want my baby sister to go. I'll miss her, but if her going means she's going to be safe, then it's for the best."
"Aww, he's such a sweetheart!" May swooned, Lee gave the tall boy an impressed grin and a nod.
"We have just over an hour before the helicopters are set to arrive." Double D began. "I was able to find the hotel that Ms. Stacy had mentioned last night and found the Baby Blue Gym Socks they have in their garden. It took a bit of work and was shockingly fast, but with a bit of tinkering I was actually able to coax the Ruby Red Gym Sock to create seeds. Hopefully I can give Sarah the flower and seeds before she goes, if all of them are safe alongside her then we can just wait until we arrive in Puerto Rico and I can continue my research without needing to worry about the undead or psychotic people."
"Here's hoping." Lee said as she tossed a backhoe to the brainiac. "Now let's quit flapping our gums and get to work until then."
Over by the front gate, Lenore stretched before taking a seat in one of the guard towers set up. Shades occasionally entered and exited the tower to move some paperwork or check in on her and the woman with the shotgun, who had been part of the group stationed with her. Shades himself didn't say much after greeting her upon arriving and pretty much only asked how she was holding up every so often.
The silence between the mother and the shotgunner was surprisingly comfortable, as the two watched the empty deserted roads in silence.
"Yo, brought some water."
Terry, the fourth member of their group arrived with a small drink cooler full of ice and bottled water for the women before taking a seat and joining them by the window. The silence continued for another minute before the man spoke again.
"Didn't ever think that this would be how I went to Vegas." He said, taking a sip of his drink.
"Eh, you hear that once, you hear it a thousand times." The shotgunner replied, Terry and Lenore weren't sure why but they couldn't help but notice the tone of her voice. It was the kind where you could tell that this person had seen some rough shit in their day, even before this apocalypse. During their shift the two Canadians were able to get a better look at her; she had a darker tan and ginger hair. She wore a dark blue security uniform that somehow accentuated her fit figure and long legs, her security jacket was open, revealing a white t-shirt that was torn at her midriff, allowing her toned abs to be visible. "Eventually you get used to it."
"Heh, that sounds like one of those cliche movie one-liners." The man chuckled. "What's your name by the way, don't think we ever caught it when we got here."
"Roseanna, but just call me Rosie."
"Rosie, eh? Riveting name." Lenore joked.
"Funny." Rosie chuckled, gently punching the woman's arm as she rolled her eyes. "Never heard that one before." As her eyes returned to the desert in front of them, her coy smile turned into a focused frown as her eyes narrowed at something. "The hell is that?" She wondered aloud. Lenore and Terry soon looked in the same direction with the latter quickly scrambling for a pair of binoculars.
"Those birds?" Lenore squinted. With his binoculars now on, Terry was able to see a fleet of five armed helicopters heading right for them.
"Those aren't birds!" The man shouted as he saw the lead chopper launch a missile. "OH SHIT! BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
The three scrambled out of the tower, grabbing whatever weapons they could before the missile crashed into the room they had just left. The explosion rattled the gate and made all the guards scramble to figure out what had just happened as the sounds of the choppers finally entered their ears. An army of jeeps followed under the choppers...
The initial explosion from the tower resonated deep into the city, putting a halt to the farm work the Eds and Kankers were doing.
"What the heck was that?!" Marie blurted out. Before anyone could answer, the sound of screaming and gunfire soon grew in the direction of the explosion. The teens weren't even able to move when they saw a military jeep drift to a halt on the road close to the park. All six of them could almost feel their blood run cold when they saw it.
"That... that's the same kind of vehicle that chased us before!" Double D cried out.
"The military has found us!" Ed yelled. Almost as if on cue, the six of them and all the people working within the park began to scream at the top of their lungs. Some who had weapons on them tried to fight the soldiers and a few were able to find some cover while others were unfortunately not as lucky.
The Peach Creek teens bolted as fast as their legs could carry them to any form of cover that they could find as more jeeps began to pull up.
"Fucking hell, what do we do now?!" Eddy cursed.
"It's like any time we think we're safe, the universe just has to shovel shit in our faces!" Marie added.
"Safe... Oh... OH DEAR LORD, NO!" Double D cried out.
"Come on, Edd, we can't have you losing hope now!" Eddy whined, shaking his intelligent friend. "You gotta think of something to get us out of this!"
"With the military attacking us now, the helicopters meant to bring people to safety may not come at all! Or, in the worst case scenario, may be destroyed with people still inside them!"
"Don't speak that into existence!" Lee warned.
"Helicopters?!" Ed repeated, his face becoming as white as a ghost. "Sarah and Jimmy are over there waiting for those helicopters! Oh no, oh no! SARAHHHH!" Ed shouted, sprinting out of their hiding spot and towards the direction of the landing zone.
"Big Ed!" May cried out as she ran after the man of her dreams, her sisters did not hesitate for a moment in following her. Eddy was about to follow them when he noticed Double D still sitting and looking in the direction of the hotel.
"Sockhead! What are you doing?! We gotta move!"
"But Eddy-!"
"But nothing!"
"The flower and seeds are still in the hotel, Eddy! If we lose that, all hope for humanity may be lost!"
The two boys stood in silence as they look at each other in panic, both knowing that a drastic decision had to be made...
Just as the choice earlier in this chapter, the weight of this choice is immeasurable, but nonetheless you must
MAKE YOUR CHOICE
Choice A: Double D should go back for the plant
Choice B: Double D should go after Ed
For now though, that is the end of this chapter! I know the first choice kind of heavily leads towards Sarah, but you don't have to choose her if you don't want to and there is a plan in place regardless of who is chosen.
Since there are 2 choices for this chapter, if you want to answer both then I would appreciate it if your responses were separated by Choice #1 and #2 for simplicity's sake. I'd also like to hear your reasoning as to why you made this choice but you don't have to if you don't want to.
Anyway, next chapter, the climactic battle truly begins! I don't think it'll be long enough to be split into 2 parts but just it MIGHT be. Until then, I wish you all a happy holidays and happy new year!