A/N:

Get ready for an action packed chapter, hopefully XD I tried to make it suspenseful in hopes of making up for the last segment which I really wasn't that happy with. Hope you like this!

*Jared's POV*

Everything was becoming a blur. I wasn't quite sure what had just happened. The last thing I was sure of was running with Talia and the others towards the exit and then… blank. Help, someone had asked for help. The thought of the word made me shiver. What was it about that word that made me glaze over? R.J. It was him again. He'd done this to me. But what exactly had I done? Where was everyone? Had I hurt them? Had R.J made me do something to them? I didn't know. I hated it. My best bet was to head back to the cell where she'd been kept before. I needed to know that I hadn't done anything that I'd regret too much. Maybe I'd be able to make amends. If I could have a second try and getting everyone out of here, then I'd damn well take it.

All of a sudden, there was a colossal noise from down the corridor. What the hell was that? It sounded like a wall of glass had been shattered. Then it hit me, the mirror. My mind clouded over in confusion. No, I needed to keep myself in control here. It was easier said than done, I was aware of R.J controlling me and I'm sure that no matter how many times I vowed control it was a constant struggle. But now there was no choice. I had to make things right and if I ended up falling under R.J's control again… then at least I could say I tried my best.

I sprinted down the corridor towards the noise and rammed by shoulder against the door, finding that it gave way almost instantly where it had not been closed properly beforehand. Inside, reflective shards crunched under my feet and the gaping hole in the wall answered my question as to what the noise was. Talia stood with another shock strip around her wrist, her siblings and the three toons stood around her. R.J was on the ground where he must have ducked for cover. He looked as disorientated as the others did lost. Were they waiting for something?

Yakko thumbed towards me, "Looks like seven years bad luck starts now."

Talia glared at me, and rightly so, "You stay the hell away from here!"

"What happened?" I breathed, unsure of what to do. Part of me was nudging me towards holding them back while R.J came to his senses; but something else was giving me a shove in a different direction, "Never mind, get out of here now, I'll keep him busy."

"Where've I heard that before?" Flynn snapped.

Poppy looked up at me, "You helped him when he asked, can't you help up now?"

Help… Why didn't that word have such an effect when she said it? Was I only programmed for R.J to use? How did that even work? Poor kid, poor kids. Just what was I forced to do to them? Why were there red marks on their arms? An image of a needle flashed through my mind, and…

"I'm trying to help, I really am, but you need to get moving before -"

"Jared…" R.J groaned, wincing at the stray glass and mirror shards fell from him, "Wouldn't you help me?"

"And this is where we make like the stooge's brain and split." Dot announced.

I stumbled, the word battling with me. The toons and the children slipped past me but just as Talia tried to run, the metal strip had her in place once again. I could help… I could – No! Not again, I couldn't! Not this time. But they were getting away and he needs help… No, they need help. But… Agh, it felt like my skull was about to implode in on itself! Stop it! He doesn't own you! He will never own you! Yet here I was, finding myself edging towards Talia, my hand clamping on her restrained wrists. She tried to force me away, but I had a firm grip on her. No, I couldn't let him do this again. But my mind was already clouding over. Not this time. Not this… No…

"No."

He narrowed his eyes, struggling to get to his feet, "I said, help."

"No." I repeated, my mind screaming at me in protest, "I won't."

"You will do as I say. Now help!"

The word seemed to collide furiously with me, making me struggle to disobey. I could feel something hot leaking from my eyes. I wasn't crying, but I wasn't interested to investigate right now either, "No, you don't tell me what to do. I may be one of your disturbed little tests but I was human before this and I plan to be again; so don't think for a second that you can take away my free will!"

R.J shook his head, "Such a disappointment, just like your first edition. But at least he obeyed."

"You're wrong." Talia growled, pulling with all her might against her restraint, "Mackenzie didn't obey; the second you were out of the way he tried to take your work for himself! He hated what you did to him just as much as everyone else! That's why I'm here now is because I got pulled into the machine again trying to stop him!"

If that was true, it gave me somewhat of a boost, if one could break free, maybe I could too, "See, you don't really have anything over us. There's nowhere you can go from here, just give up."

R.J finally got to his feet, glaring at us. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Talia's siblings peeking around the doorway, the two younger toons holding back the boy despite the fact that all of them looked eager to charge in. But I understood their caution; this man was frightening to say the least. And he was getting closer. Yakko was muttering something out of the corner of his mouth, which increased his siblings efforts to drag Flynn and Poppy away. Good, that was one less thing to focus on.

I could feel the heated metal of Talia's restraint under my hand; the fog kept trying to seep in around my mind but I refused to let it have me just yet. When R.J had used his control on me earlier, I'd forced myself to take notice of the signs. Those signs, I was fighting with one second at a time. If I could just put some of this energy towards detaching this strap.

"Give up? Now if I did that, then what kind of example would I be setting for the children?" he sneered.

*Yakko's POV*

"Well the lesson of quitting while you're ahead isn't always a bad thing."

What, you thought I was going to scarper? As if! Well I had to make sure the sibs and sub-sibs were safe, right? I mean, any other place and heck I'd be letting loose all the stops and saying have at him but with that rosey-posey stuff everywhere; can't say it's a risk worth taking. Not that I wanted the glory to myself, nah I'd be calling them back in soon enough, they all deserved a moment in this. They're just a little further down the hallway waiting for a signal. But until then, these two train wrecks needed a little boost. I mean the ink trickling down from Jar-Head's eyes must be a real headache. So naturally my assistance was required.

But you would've thought I'd get a better reception. Talia, like R.J, flashed me a warning look, "Leave, Yakko."

Awe, she's worried; come on kiddo, I've seen your old records and files from the last time we left you. I gave her a confident grin, "Not this time, kiddo." Yeah, she's lost without us, hehe…

"Don't get yourself killed." She hissed.

"And disappoint my biggest fan here?" I arched an eyebrow towards R.J, "Wouldn't dream of it."

But back to the matter at hand. The 'matter' being a cranky old guy with one eyebrow and the 'at hand' being that he was gathering enough strength to stand alone. Oh no with my nose, Jar-Head's bloodshot and slightly inky eyes and kiddo's anger; this bull is about to charge! Speaking of which, he didn't seem to like the looks of me showing up.

"You just can't leave well enough alone, can you?"

Jar-Head seemed on the right track with loosening the zapper so maybe I should stall. And he didn't look like he was going to be avoiding the word games for much longer with the amount of stress-ink running away from him; so it was time to work the magic. I stepped away from the two and moved around, keeping his beady eyes on me instead of them. And all this stalling had to be done without toon trickery… Hey get me, more heroic than Robin. I'd say Batman but Robin sets the bar pretty low and I don't want people thinking I've got an ego problem, right ladies? Wink-wink.

I smirked at the big-head and flashed my palms in a 'what can you do' kind of way, "What can I say? I'm like a lucky penny. I know the phrase is bad penny but I'm sure Penny is a great gal deep down. Shall I give her a call for you?"

"Don't get smart with me, mutant!"

"Why, am I talking too fast?"

Hey, another nerve struck! He narrowed his eyes, "Why don't you just run along and let me finish my work? When I'm done I'll be coming for you anyway."

"Then why waste time? Over the years you've been efficient; not successful, but efficient. Go on." I grinned, "Take your best shot."

Wait, he wasn't meant to be smiling at that. Improve time! Oh, I've already been improvising. Uuuuuuhhhhh-Let's see what he's got up his sleeve with this. It's keeping him distracted anyways. I took a step backwards as he took an unsteady shuffle towards me. I have a boundary, pal, you don't want to cross it. Again. For the, what, nine-thousandth-and-sixteenth time? Seriously, the boundary is as much as a ghost story to him as Cher's real nose is to her agent. But still, I wanted his best shot; I wanted to know what I was working with here. Was I worried? Nah! Couldn't be worse than last time, right? Let's go with that! And as he reached into the inside of his tacky jacket and pulled out something shiny with a handle and a barrel; I was still willing to go with that.

*Talia's POV*

My head was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that Jared was actually able to refuse R.J like that. The internal battle must be so much pressure. Horrific images of Mackenzie came flooding back to me. Sure, Jared's eyes were still mostly olive green and the ink seeping over his eyelids was black, but it didn't change a thing in my mind. I just prayed that things wouldn't end the same as last time. As for Yakko; I didn't know what the hell he thought he was doing back in here but it was dangerous! R.J was slowly getting his strength back and who knows what he was going to do next. Just hurry up, Jared, get this thing off of me. It was getting looser, but it wasn't enough to wriggle my hand through just yet. Only a minute or so more, that's all we needed.

Yakko was doing a good job at stalling, but then he went and opened his mouth a little too wide, "Take your best shot."

Why the hell did he say that? After everything that's happened, why? Well it's Yakko Warner, who else would say something like that at a time like this? I didn't like the way R.J smiled at that challenge, like he was expecting it. Slowly, he reached into his jacket and pulled out an object that I'd never seen up close; only ever on TV and in movies. Gleaming from lack of use, steady in his hand, he aimed it. Yakko, swallowed thickly, but managed to keep a casual demeanour as best he could, eyes locked on it. Locked on the gun.

"Very well, all you had to do was ask." R.J sneered, unfastening the safety and adding pressure to the trigger.

Acting purely on instinct, I ignored the fact that Jared still hadn't detached the metal strip and shoved him away from me. I turned around and lunged towards the psycho, my left fists grabbing a handful of his collar and yanking him backwards. My arm with the strip circled in the air, the attached wires forming a loop around his neck. I tugged harshly and made him stumble backwards. A dark feeling came over me and it only made me pull harder. It wasn't until I noticed that his mouth was forming angered and threatening words which I couldn't hear that I'd suddenly fallen deaf. My ears were ringing and it hit me that he must have pulled the trigger. The gunfire booming around us.

My arm fell slack as the bullet had sliced through the wires while finding its target. Looking up, I caught sight on Yakko slumping to the ground. Horror pulsated through me. My hearing was starting to return and I could hear a child-like shriek of terror. I turned my head to see Wakko in the doorway, paused in shock were he'd been trying to pull Poppy out of the way. Her jaw was slack and eyes wide, unsure if she was going to scream again. In my grasp, I felt R.J move his hand, taking another aim at them. The horror turned to rage. I struggled with him, but he elbowed me in the chin, taking his shot. Jared pounced, slamming the two to the ground, the bullet denting the wall and missing them by inches.

The rage was growing. Ink bubbling in my system. Vision turning darker. A sickening cross between a guttural snarl and a hysterical cackle escaping me. The imprint burned as if fire was stroking it menacingly. For a split second, I locked eyes with R.J. I don't know why, but it made me smile. And then, blackness poured into my vision. Trickling into the crevices… like ink. Come on then, you wanted this. Come out to play…

A/N: For the next paragraph I couldn't pick if 'Mercy' or 'Limp', both my Sumo Cyco, worked better here. Give a listen and judge for yourself XD

Yes, Talia, I did want this! Oh I knew you'd give in sooner or later! This is going to be so much fun, come and play with me secrets! I've waited so long for a game. Wait, what's this? Secret is hurt? Oh that's the one who thinks he can own us, right Talia? No? Oh, well where's our brother and sister I've waited to see? Awe, one's crying, that's no fun! Who's ruining our fun, Talia? Not the nice boss-man! Oh, well that is a shame… I had such high hopes for him. Well, if he was the boss-man… didn't that mean he was trying to own us too, Talia? Is that what you're trying to say? Oh so this is my new secret to play with! You do come up with good games Talia, you should let me out more often. Where do I start the game? Oh let me see… It would be fun to give him a few zzzzzzzaps of his own, see how he likes it! But what about that little gun, not really my style, but I've always wanted to see if I could hit an apple on someone's head. No apples? I'll fix that! Oh, hehe, what about all this glass, I bed he'd love to watch his little creation from all angles as she finishes her fun! Closer maybe? Watch it, boss-man, they're sharp… Oh so much choice! Hehe! Oh but that's so silly… Why am I thinking of what game to play like this? The real question is: which game do I play first? Thanks for the games Talia, we should do this more often…Oh here I am saying you, me, we… I almost forget that I'm you, or you're me, that we are we! Oh this has been so much FUN! Let me out again soon Talia, the secrets and our siblings will be next to play…

"Talia!"

The sound of my name was like a force shaking me from a horrific nightmare. My eyes were stinging and my wrist felt numb as if an agonising pain had just since stopped. Something felt damp on my face and I reached up to dab my cheeks cautiously. Black, watery residue remained on my fingertips like watered down ink. Some was stained on my clothes and spattered on my arms. The metal strip was gone, the imprint beneath jet and prominent. What had happened? Did I finish the game? Wait, game? Oh that's right, I gave in to her. That nightmare self image that terrified me. The one I promised I'd never become. Did I-she go too far?

I couldn't see my siblings or Dot and Wakko. But what I did see gave me a shared sense of satisfaction, and fear. R.J was very much alive, his threats and angered protests muffled by a set of wires coating his mouth. The very wires that had given me so much discomfort, so much torture, were not coiled around his body like a viper ready for the kill. Steam emitted from them where they were hot from recent use. R.J looked enraged, wishing me death with his useless struggles. A look of pain in his eyes. I felt something in my hand. Upon looking, it was a remote. No, the remote. Stealing a look at R.J, I kind of wanted to press it again, just one more time.

"Talia, that's enough, okay?"

Jared's voice again made me jump. The remote fell from my hand and I looked to see him putting all his weight against the door to keep it shut, "Did… Did they see me?" I asked quietly.

He shook his head, "No, they're safe outside."

Did he mean from R.J or from me? Suddenly, I was reminded of the gun. Now it was tossed aside and out of reach. But where was the victim of its first fire? Something shifted in the corner of my vision. Yakko was sitting against the wall looking half asleep but forcing his brow to arch. I rushed over and dropped to my knees. He became a dead weight in my arms, one hand clutching my shoulder desperately. His eyelids were heavy and couldn't open properly, voice thick with effort,

"Hey kiddo, you know you told me not to get myself killed?"

Please don't do this again. Not now. I struggled to keep my voice steady, "Yeah, I remember…"

Suddenly his eyes lit up and he flashed a wicked grin, his free arm snaking over my shoulders, planting a quick Warner kiss on my forehead and his familiar confident voice returning, "What'd ya know? I'm actually listening to you for once!"

Not sure if I should hug or hurt him I simply smacked him upside the head, "Don't you ever do that to me again!"

"What's in it for me?"

Ignoring the 'catch' trap, I leant away to get a better look at him, "Wait, how?"

He rolled his eyes, "I'm a toon remember kiddo? Guns are a common prop, we know how to avoid them!"

"But blades can kill because…?"

"You see cartoons who get shot for comedic value, right? How many cartoons have you seen stabbed for entertainment?" When I didn't answer and gave a slight shudder, he flicked away from leftover ink from my cheek and grinned, "Exactly; relax kiddo, that's not happening to anyone anytime soon, trust me."

I prayed that he was telling the truth. Without even realising it, I'd pulled the sarcastic little moron into a hug and came close to not letting him go. Although in the end it turned out he was the one not to let go and tried t turn it into a comedy skit by clamping himself to me smugly. But here, he was weaker from the oil so it didn't last that long. Our attention turned back to Jared who was still leaning against the door.

"We're leaving now." I stated, "Before anything else can go wrong."

He looked uneasy, "Are you alright for that? You know, after what just happened…"

How dare he. "If anyone's meant to be questioning anyone about their mental state, we should be asking you."

"I am still me, always was. But I can still feel a little part of him just at the back of my head every now and again…"

"So who am I talking to? Mackenzie or Jared?"

"Who do you want?" he asked, eyes puffy and sore.

It hurt so much. What did that even mean? Who did I want, it wasn't my choice to make, "That's not an answer."

"But I'm not either." He insisted, "I'm carrying too much of Mackenzie to be Jared and I've been out of my own life too long. It's like I've got three timelines forced into me at once, Mackenzie's, the one I had, and the one that R.J told me was real. I'm not me anymore."

"Then who are you?" I demanded, flashing a warning glare at the bound R.J for a second before moving my gaze back to the confused figure before me, "It's your choice now."

He sighed and glared at R.J, hatred radiating off of him. He turned back to me and sighed, stepping away and opening the door, "Then I'll get back to you when I make it."

As soon as the door opened a slither, my siblings burst through and only hesitated to take in the sight for a second before latching onto me. I dropped to my knees and caged them in close to me. Poppy was trembling and Flynn was clenching his jaw from a mixture of anger, relief and leftover adrenalin. This time, I was just as sure that I was not going to let them go. Tears poured down my face and I was just so glad that they were okay. They were alive, they were with me and they were mine. No one was taking them away from me. Something that Yakko had said once, something that was written in that file under the photo of when they were first animated. My Sibs, don't touch…

Just then, Dot and Wakko sprinted in too, charging at their brother. No one else seemed to notice that Jared had long since left. He saved Poppy's life back there. R.J shot at her, and he got her out of the way. How did I repay someone for that? I didn't like being in dept to someone but… It didn't feel like a debt. And now he was gone. I wondered what he was going to do now. He was still technically the CEO of the studio so he'd have to come back. Or, maybe he didn't. It really was his life now. He could go and do with it what he wanted.

"You idiot, I'm the only one allowed to pull theatrical stunts like that, got it?" Dot snapped.

"And how come you get two dramatic skits?"

We looked up to see Wakko and Dot, still unable to use their toon abilities, swatting like a storm over their brothers head. Yakko ducked and looped his arms around them, "Because if I didn't get moments like that then I'd never know how much you guys can't go on without me."

"Ego-maniac much?" Dot rolled her eyes, but leant into him all the same.

Wakko, grinning goofily, suddenly noticed the dropped remote. "Hey, what's this do?" He picked it up and brushed his fingertip against the largest button. R.J grunted in discomfort as voltage pulsed through him, making us jump in surprise, Wakko widened his eyes, "Ooooooh, that's what it does…"

I hated that remote. I never wanted to see it again. Dot however, wanted to see it closer, "Let me take a look!" she snatched it from her brother and pressed the button, giving R.J another shock, "Finger slipped." She smirked.

Yakko leant over her shoulder and pressed the button again, "Hey, mine slipped too…"

I flinched at the sound of the electricity. Flynn reached over, but I stopped him. I wasn't letting my brother hurt someone just because he could, even if the guy did deserve it, "Lets just go home, please?"

"And leave him here?" Dot exclaimed.

Flynn pulled out of the embrace and revealed his mobile, "I called the police when we were forced outside. There wasn't any bars in here." He explained when I was about to ask why that wasn't done earlier. I was given a look, "When they show up, don't let him out again."

It hurt, but he had a point. Poppy looked up at me, "I don't want to be here when they show up."

I kissed the top of her head, "You don't have to be." Looking at the toons pleadingly, I swallowed, "Can we leave now?"

"Like you even need to ask, kiddo."

R.J convulsed violently, and gave a muffled groan of discomfort. He'd been shocked again, but I didn't do anything. I turned and saw Poppy with her hands behind her back looking coy, "Poppy!"

"What?" she held out her blistered fingers, "He did it to me first!"

"Right he did, Red, and good job." Yakko winked, "But don't overdo it or it won't be much fun next time."

"Next time?" I questioned.

"Come on, kiddo, you think that the second we get out of this rosehip slipup we're not going to have some more fun with him?" he mocked a bow, "Or do we need ladies permission?"

I glanced at my siblings and felt that I should make a good example for them, but my anger at R.J was also playing a big part in this. So instead I moved around so that my back was to the Warner's and I was facing my siblings

I kept a straight face, "I think there's been enough revenge in here." All the while secretively giving the toons an encouraging thumbs up behind my back.

At the look of Flynn's sceptical look, he clearly picked up on what I was doing, but chose to keep quiet for Poppy's sake. Thanks guys; but please don't do another 'finger slipped' gag… If the police really were coming, then we needed to get out of here. It didn't take much convincing. Flynn led the way with the rest of us following behind. I lingered in the doorway for a second, a horrible pang of fear hitting me in the chest. It made me freeze. My skin crawling.

"That was quite the show, Miss. Nolan." I turned to see that R.J was still bound tight, but he had loosened the wires around his mouth. He smirked, "And to think, all of that could have been mine. It still could you know."

Shaking with resentment, I shook my head at him, "You don't have Jared, you don't have me, you've got nothing."

"It would seem that way… But how amazing it was to watch my little creation at full power. And such power it was; such anger, malice… I must admit I was quite envious of it."

"Shut up." I breathed, "That was not your creation, it was mine. All of your creations, if you haven't noticed, usually obey you for at least a few minutes before going against you. I skipped that part."

He sniggered, "You may think you've won, Miss. Nolan, but how long does victory really last with you? You'll be coming back for me soon enough. Maybe this time to help yourself, or," he gave a knowing leer, "for someone close to you."

I had a hint at what he was getting at, the tests he had mentioned before, but I was too revolted to think about it right now, "I will never help you again. You can rot for all I care. I may not be able to do anything else to you but I'm not stopping them. And now you've given their memories back, well I'm almost tempted to wish you luck." I balls my fists, "But as far as I'm concerned, you don't exist."

Turning on my feel, I was ready to exit the room for good. But no, he just had the keep talking, "Oh, Miss. Nolan, I do admire your optimism. Are you really sure that we're done here?"

That was it! "Well, there is just one more thing." I snarled,, taking the remote and slamming my thumb on the button. The surge of electric devoured him. I took great pleasure in watching him writhing in pain, gritting his teeth to stop the muffled cries from escaping. And then, when I started to taste the burning smell of cooking flesh did I stop.

He gasped for air, looking up at me both with intrigue and hatred, "Why not press it again? Finish me off and erase me?"

"I would, but I've gotten what I wanted. My life back, my family, my friends, and you going back to where you belong only to have further punishment. You are just a sick, twisted, sadistic, disturbed little fuck! And here's the best part, I'm not like you, R.J…" I leant in close and glared at him, making sure that he took in every word and didn't forget them, "When I get what I want from someone, I don't kill them for the sake of it."

Leaving him to catch his breath, I stormed from the room and vowed that I'd never see that man again. No, not man; monster.

*Yakko's POV*

I'll give it another minute before I go back in there and drag that girl out by her keister. Well I have been meaning to get my hands on it, hehe… Goodnight everybody! Jeez that was some mind flip she pulled back there. It was like watching Charlie Sheen on one of his winning days with a Tom and Jerry skit. Scary yet pretty impressive. Seems like my teaching has made a breakthrough! As long as she never does that again! Yikes.

"Ouch!" Red hissed, pulling away from the wall she was leaning against.

"What's up, Pops?" Wakko asked.

Slugger crouched down to her eyelevel, "You okay?"

She nodded at first, but then brought her hand up to her face and froze, "Ouch…" she repeated, slower.

"Okay, E.T, lets take a look-see." I chuckled, taking her hand to, well, have a look-see. Oh this was nothing to worry about! Just a tinsy bit of glass leftover, "Sister-Nurse; tweezers if you please!"

"Coming up, Doc." She replied, handing me a pair.

In no time, patient was cured, "There you go-oh…" I paused, seeing that the removal had left a little cut and was now bleeding. But if I wasn't mistaken, that wasn't all red there. There were little fragments of black? And then just like that, it healed, skin sealing up on itself like it was never broken, "Well… That's a handy trick, Red…"

Red looked worried, clutching her hand like she was scared it was going to fall off. She glanced at the bump on her arm, "Flynn…?"

She looked at Slugger for help. Yikes he didn't look so good either. His hand smoothed over a lump of his own and if it wasn't for the angry breathing I would have thought him doing a Lincoln monument impression. R.J had said he'd been doing tests… I looked at my sibs, "What did he do to you?"

"I didn't see anything injected into us." Wakko shrugged.

"More like he took something out." Dot added, and then looked at the sub-sibs, putting the pieces together, "Well, go fig…"

"Wow, kiddo's in for a surprise!"

"We say nothing." Slugger demanded, "We didn't go into any machine or anything like that. It was just an injection. It'll be out of out system in a few days. There's no need to say anything."

The sibs and Pops looked confused, "But -"

"No." he insisted. But he slumped which must mean he was picking up of the little hypocrisy he was committing, "Okay… Give us a week. If it's not out of our systems then… We'll tell her."

Please, like it worked like that! But still, your choice Slugger. Boy this was going to be fun to watch. "Welcome to the club, kids."

A/N:

Oh well then, I hope you guys liked this one! Sorry if the ending's a little cliché, please let me know what you think of it. That's my I left a time slot of a week. If readers don't like it then it has a chance of being out of their systems and all good. But if people like the idea of the kids being stuck at their characteristic ages and being able to stay with the toons and the non-aging Talia then let me know.

Thanks to 'Fumouttamimind' for giving me so many ideas for this plot point and many others!

So R.J had what was coming to him without taking away anyone's humanity, but Talia did lose it a little to her dark toon side, yikes. And where's Jared gone to find himself? Until the next, and last chapter folks. XD