Chapter 29:
Giegue opened the battle by charging towards the four human teens while his Elite Guard supported him by using Offense Up Omega, Defense Up Omega, Speed Up Omega, and PSI Up Omega. Despite his previous boasting, he did not feel confident in his ability to defeat the four teens, even with the assistance of his Elite Guard and Miridhel, at his base power level. In addition, Miridhel supported him by singing a Song of Life in her own native language. The song, would allow Giegue to regenerate and heal from injuries and cure poisoning, paralysis, or any other status condition instantly for as long as the song's power was in effect. With his increased speed, he arrived at the teens. During the initial preparations, however, Paula had secretly used Offense Up Omega and Defense Up Omega on herself and the others, so that they would be able to fight Giegue should he try to engage them in close combat. He raised the two cylinders above his head and pressed a button on the sides of the cylinders. Two energy blades sprung forth from the cylinders and he tried to bring the blades of his beam swords down upon the teens. Despite his speed increase, however, the teens were faster on the draw. Ness raised a Shield Omega over the party, which surprisingly did not cancel out the PSI Shield Sigma that Paula had raised in order to protect against the Starstorm attacks launched by the PSI Aliens. Giegue brought down his blades onto the shield over the party. The shield flared when the two blades made contact, but the shield managed to repulse the blades.
Ness and Poo then drew out their own weapons and took some swings at Giegue. Poo was careful to charge his sword with PSI Thunder so that the beam swords of Giegue did not cut through the metal of his Sword of Kings. Ness also psychically charged his own Legendary Bat so that the same thing would not happen to his bat. Giegue's improved speed and reflexes, which were also improved with Speed Up, allowed him to react to the sword and bat swings of Poo and Ness and intercept them with his blades. Still, both Ness and Poo had superior skills, which they put on display in the following exchange of blows. Giegue quickly pulled his blades in and went to stab both Ness and Poo, who deftly dodged his stabs without having to parry the attacks. They did not go on the offensive, though. They just waited for Giegue to exhaust himself trying to hit them, or to make a mistake and allow them an opening for a safe strike. Ness and Poo juked and jived around the stabs and swipes made by Giegue, until he left himself open to a strike from both of them. Poo quickly stabbed Giegue in the lower right section of his abdomen, in an area that would not have been fatal for humans, but was for a PSI Alien. The electrified sword managed to phase through the armor's shields and strike the armor uncontested. The sword bit through the armor of Giegue, and proceeded on through his flesh. The tip of the blade emerged from the other side of Giegue and he partially slumped forward, just as Ness swung with all of his might at his head. Giegue raised his left arm in order to protect his head from the attack, but Ness's increased strength meant that his swing was powerful enough to break Giegue's arm in multiple places, even through the armor, when the bat struck. The strike of the bat destroyed the energy cannon on Giegue's left arm, the barrel collapsing inward as Ness's bat struck it. Giegue cried out in pain as his arm was broken by the impact. Poo quickly withdrew his blade and went to stab him again.
Giegue teleported away from the stab, and reappeared back near Miridhel and the others. "Where the hell was my support back there?" he cried, in between racking cries of pain. However, the pain was being dulled by the effects of Miridhel's Song of Life that she had sang for him earlier. The wound was slowly closing and his arm was healing slowly. It was too slow for Giegue, though, who screamed, "Miri, sing a Song of Healing now!"
Miridhel sang a Song of Healing for Giegue as the other PSI Aliens quickly went in to attack Ness and the others and to cover Giegue while Miridhel healed him, fearing Giegue's wrath. The PSI Aliens stepped out in front of Giegue and Miridhel powered up a series of PSI Starstorm Omega attacks, not realizing that Jeff had already drawn his Shield Killer. He targeted one of the PSI Aliens and fired a pulse at him, stripping the Alien of his shield. Poo also fired a volley of PSI Thunder at the remaining PSI Aliens in the hopes of depleting their shields as well, while Paula upgraded the PSI Shield Sigma to a PSI Shield Omega. The PSI Aliens were unable to evade Poo's blast of PSI Thunder Omega and each of the PSI Aliens that still had psychic counter shields, save for Giegue, had lost them. Ness stood by, holding a ball of PSI Rockin that he had just powered up in his hand, waiting for the right moment to strike. He did not want to hit the PSI Aliens while they had their shields up, but he did not want to give them any breathing room after Poo and Jeff had stripped them of their shields. He knew that it would likely take more than a PSI Rockin Gamma and a reflected PSI Starstorm Omega to kill the PSI Aliens, though. He merely hoped that the combination of attacks would be enough to defeat them.
The PSI Aliens then unleashed their barrages of PSI Starstorm Omega upon the four heroes. Dozens of green orbs rained down upon them, only to be stopped a few feet away from the heroes. An orange hue covered the heroes with each impact, as the stars were frozen for a few seconds, and then reflected back to the now unprotected PSI Aliens. The PSI Aliens, quickly realizing that their own attack was coming back at them, steeled themselves for the assault, curling their arms over their heads and chests to protect themselves while the rain of stars fell among them and exploded. The explosions created small green spheres of psychic energy, while the direct hits forced the PSI Aliens backwards, sometimes into the blasts of other stars. Ness then unleashed his ball of PSI Rockin Gamma towards the PSI Aliens. Scarlet ball of psychic energy fell among the defending PSI Aliens and exploded, engulfing the entire party in a red sphere of psychic energy. The attack was far from finished, though.
Jeff then added some of his own weaponry to the attack when he drew out one of his Advanced Multi Bottle Rockets and placed it on the ground. After lighting the fuse, he stepped away as the rocket was launched into the air. Each of the warheads then split apart at the apex of its flight and rained down on the PSI Aliens. Since they were busy erecting psychic shields in order to protect themselves from the full brunt of Ness's attack, they were unable to protect themselves from the warheads of the Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket. The warheads fell onto the four PSI Aliens, five warheads for each alien, and exploded, engulfing them in spheres of flame and clouds of smoke. However, that was not all. The attack had disrupted their raising of their psychic shields, so their shields were only at the Alpha level, and only had one layer. As such, they were still vulnerable to psychic attacks, which Paula inflicted on them. She powered a massive tidal wave of PSI Torrent Omega and unleashed it upon the stricken PSI Aliens. The wave crashed down upon the reeling PSI Aliens and sent them into the wall. The force was so great that it managed to collect both Giegue and Miridhel in its wake. The PSI Aliens were eventually deposited into the wall at the end of the corridor.
After the wave had subsided, Giegue groaned and slowly rose. He pushed one of the PSI Aliens that had managed to land on top of him off of him as he rose. The PSI Alien tumbled to the floor and ceased to move. He was dead. Giegue then looked around and found that the other PSI Aliens had ceased their movements. He telepathically scanned them, only to find that they, too, were dead. He swore. "Well this sucks," he said, grumbling about the uselessness of his Elite Guard. "Ah well, I should have expected as much. With all the strong ones having been put into the Universal Cosmic Destroyer, I should've figured that we'd be stuck with the weaklings." He then kicked the corpse of one of the dead PSI Aliens out of his path as he went over to check on Miridhel. He then looked over at Miridhel and found that she was struggling to rise as well, but eventually, rise she did. "Figures that she'd survive," he muttered. He then turned to face the Chosen Four.
"Well, it seems as if you're definitely powerful," he proclaimed. "But your luck has run out." He then looked back at Miridhel and boomed, "Hey Miri, come over and assist me here, witch."
Miridhel did as she was told and hurried over to Giegue. It was then that Paula called out to her, asking, "Why do you put up with him? Let us help you," she offered, extending her hand. "We can beat Giegue and save you."
Much to Paula's surprise, Miridhel burst out into a grin. She began to giggle for a few seconds before throwing her head back and cackling maniacally, her face a mask of what looked to be insanity. "Help me? HELP ME? What sort of fool are you?" Miridhel cackled. "I'm with Giegue of my own free will. I'd never join idiots like you!"
"Idiots?" Poo blurted. "Who's the pleasure slave here? Who's the one suffering constant abuse at the hands of Giegue?" Poo asked harshly. "No one wears a cocktail dress into the middle of a battle if they want to live! Accept Paula's offer of help. Please!"
Miridhel merely continued to laugh. "Why? I like what I am. On my world, I was a companion, a fancy prostitute, thief, murderess, and had a death sentence for my crimes. I lied, cheated, stole, blackmailed, and murdered for a living. I was sentenced to die on my world. But when the PSI Lords came, they offered me a place on the Flagship as Giegue's servant if I did as they requested during the invasion. All they asked from me was information on my world's defenses, which I provided, and in return they made me a personal servant of Giegue, and gave me a position where I would not be killed. With the PSI Lords, I can live as I wish, and all it cost me was the rest of my species, those that did not join with the PSI Lords, that is."
"As Giegue's personal slave?" Ness asked in a low, cold voice. His compassion for the young woman was quickly replaced with disgust, as was Poo's. Even Paula, who was normally quite compassionate, felt all compassion and sympathy for the High Star Elf leave her. "You are a fool." And that was all Ness had to say on the subject.
Miridhel then attempted to kill the heroes quickly by singing a Song of Death in her own language and projecting its power onto the heroes. However, since her Song of Death was magical, it was easy to confuse. When Paula heard the song being sung she immediately telepathically invaded Miridhel's mind, identified the purpose of the song and its words, translating them into English, and used her as the focus, rather than the Chosen Four. When Miridhel stopped singing, the spell was complete, only she had cast it on herself rather than the Chosen Four. She emitted a piercing cry of utter agony as she felt unbelievable pain as the effects of the song tore at her mind and soul. Paula and Poo quickly finished off the High Star Elf with a blast of PSI Thunder Gamma, each. Lightning erupted from the fingers of the human psychics and lashed out at Miridhel. Miridhel continued to cry out as lightning arced across her body, leaving massive scars and burn lines across her arms, legs, chest, and face. She fell to the floor, weakly turning to Giegue, begging, "Help me, my lord. Please!" in between cries as she struggled to reach him.
"Why?" Giegue asked nonchalantly as he telekinetically picked her up and propelled her towards Ness and the others. She flew through the air towards the heroes, causing them to scatter to avoid her incoming body. She then landed on the floor and skidded to a halt, the sickening crack of bones was heard as she hit her head on the floor. After she came to a stop, twitching, though the heroes did not know if she was still alive, or her twitching was merely a result of her death throes. Paula made certain that the High Star Elf would never rise again by blasting her with a ball of PSI Fire. The ball of PSI Fire struck the body and exploded, engulfing it in flames. After a few seconds, Miridhel had been reduced to ashes. Now, the teens focused on Giegue, who looked a little winded from the hit he sustained from the tidal wave of PSI Torrent Omega that Paula had unleashed his party. Giegue took one look at the teens and laughed. "So, it looks like it's just me, now," he shrugged. "Oh well, I knew it would turn out like this." With that, he began to power a psychic attack. The battle against Giegue in earnest had begun.
In the burned out husk of a room that was Goog's Sanctum, father and son battled each other for the fate of an alien race that both had known for decades. Goog flew through the air across the room and into the wall, knocking down and breaking a magnificent picture of Giegue as he collided with the wall, and fell to the floor. Giygas ran towards his father, but Goog stretched out his arms and a wave of telekinetic energy sent Giygas hurtling through the air. Giygas used his own telekinesis to brace himself and land on his feet, skidding only a few feet before coming to a stop. A bolt of lightning then came directly at Giygas from his father, but splashed harmlessly against his shield. Goog gritted his teeth. Nothing was working against his son. He had tried his PSI Death, PSI Thunder, and every other elemental psychic attack that he had known against his son. He had yet to try any combination PSI, though. Still, he doubted that it would work. Still, it was better than nothing.
He powered a blast of PSI Death Omega in his right hand, while using his armored suit's ability to power a blast of PSI Thunder in his left. Goog's PSI Death was a violet and black ball of psychic energy similar to Giygas's PSI Special and Ness's PSI Rockin, though it was not as powerful as either of the aforementioned attacks, merely rivaling Starstorm in power, which made it impractical save for its shield-penetrating properties. He unleashed the attacks simultaneously against his son, who was running forward towards him. Both the lightning and the globe of PSI Death struck Giygas simultaneously. The lightning splashed against his shield, and the globe of Death hit his shields, causing them to flare, before exploding and engulfing Giygas in a black sphere of psychic energy. Goog looked into the globe of Death and said in a sad and bitter tone, "You left me no choice, my son."
After a couple of seconds, a reply came from the center of the vanishing sphere, "There is always a choice, Father." The sphere of Death vanished and there stood Giygas, completely unharmed. Goog could not hide his shock as his eyes went wide and his mouth hung open.
"But how?" Goog stammered. "How could you survive that? Even if the lightning couldn't phase through your shields, it should have at least damaged them. And the Death…you should have at least taken some damage."
"You underestimate me, Father," Giygas chastised. "I have learned some new techniques during my stays on Earth."
Giygas quickly demonstrated one of his new powers when he cried, "Shield Off!" Immediately, the psychic counter shield that Goog had raised while Giygas was talking vanished. He sensed the shield vanish, and then Giygas cried, "PSI Block!"
Goog sneered at Giygas. "You think that a weak technique like that will have any effect on me?" Goog then went to show Giygas that now he was the one who was underestimating his opponent when he tried to use PSI Thunderbomb Omega on Giygas. He attempted to focus his psychic power into his hands and propel the resultant bomb of electricity towards Giygas. The bomb would have exploded and engulfed Giygas in a sphere of electricity that should have collapsed Giygas's weakened shields. However, nothing happened. No lightning formed in Goog's hands at all. Goog tried to use the attack again. Again, nothing happened. Seeing that he was getting nowhere using Thunderbomb, he decided to use a basic PSI Fire Omega on Giygas. Again, nothing happened. His eyes widened in fear as he realized that he could no longer use his psychic attacks. He backed away from Giygas, who stood stock still, and extended his arms towards Giygas, attempting to push him back with a wave of telekinetic energy. Giygas did not move, and his shields did not flare either. Not only that, but Goog could sense nothing at all. What had happened to him? "What have you done to me?" Goog asked, his eyes wide in both terror and hate.
"I have blocked the use of your psychic powers," Giygas responded. "With your powers blocked and your armor's shield gone, this fight is over."
Goog then growled. "This fight is not over yet!" he cried. "This fight won't end until you're dead!" Goog then drew out a cylindrical hilt from his armor's waist. He ignited the blade and a green blade of energy sprang forth. "I'm not out of this yet, my son!"
Giygas merely shrugged. "Yes, Father. You are." Goog paid no attention to Giygas's statement as he charged straight for his son. He held his blade high in the air. Giygas made no attempt to avoid the blade's swing. The blade came down on Giygas's shield and the shield flared as it resisted Goog's energy blade. Giygas's eyes flashed green for an instant and the hilt of the blade disintegrated. The energy blade disappeared and Goog was now left without a weapon. Afterwards, Goog was sent flying through the air. He crashed into the wall relatively softly and then slid down to the floor. Giygas neared Goog as he attempted to use his psychic powers, hoping that the blocks had worn off. Unfortunately, for him, they had not. Things were getting desperate for him, for he did not have anything in his current arsenal that could hurt Giygas as long as Giygas kept his shield up. Still, he would not surrender to his son. He was still alive, and he would not give up until he was killed. To that end, he rose from the floor and charged Giygas once more.
Meanwhile, back in the corridor that led to the Secret Core, Giegue did his best to fend off the Chosen Four. So far, however, he was having little success. His first psychic attack, a PSI Firebomb Omega, had struck a psychic counter shield that had been erected by Paula and was reflected right back at him. The PSI Firebomb Omega hit him and detonated, engulfing him in a sphere of flames. This served to collapse the already weakened psychic shield that Giegue had erected over himself during the fight. Next, Ness, Poo, and Jeff launched a combination attack on Giegue. First, Ness powered a ball of PSI Rockin while Poo formed dozens of blue orbs around him and Jeff placed an Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket on the ground. Jeff lit the fuse and backed away as he identified Giegue as the only target for the rocket and programmed the information into his Counter PSI Helmet, which was then transmitted to the Rocket. While they had set up their attacks, Giegue, knowing that he had no chance of repulsing all four of their attacks, raised a psychic counter shield over himself, hoping to reflect Ness and Poo's attacks. He figured that he could survive the Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket of Jeff. Paula, however, had other plans.
Paula stepped out in front of the group and fired a stream of PSI Thunder Omega at Giegue from her fingertips. Lightning erupted from her fingers and streaked towards Giegue. Giegue knew the instant she powered the PSI Thunder that his plans were about to come crashing down. He could not hold against all four enemies, and his own normal psychic shielding and countering was not like his older brother, Giygas's. His was similar to a Starman's. It was unable to block PSI Thunder. Paula's stream of lightning phased right through the shield, collapsing it in the process, and struck Giegue directly. The one good thing for Giegue was the fact that he was strong against elemental PSI. That was of little comfort as the rest of the Chosen Four's attacks were either not PSI, or were non-elemental PSI, which he had no real resistance to. While electricity from Paula's attack was still arcing across his body, Giegue was hit by the first of many stars from Poo's PSI Starstorm Omega. Just as Poo's barrage was beginning, Jeff's Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket rocketed into the air and split apart into twenty separate warheads, which rained down upon Giegue, detonating upon impact with Giegue's suit of armor, and even his head on occasion. The devastating barrage of warheads exploded with each hit and the smoke generated from the explosions covered the PSI Alien in a cloud of smoke. The smoke was of no consequence for Ness, though. Ness was able to keep his focus on Giegue and he soon unleashed his PSI Rockin on the PSI Alien. Ness launched the red sphere of psychic energy towards the reeling PSI Alien. The ball of psychic energy rocketed towards the alien and, even with his enhanced reflexes and speed, Giegue was unable to evade the ball. The ball of energy struck him squarely in the chest and detonated, engulfing him in a sphere of scarlet psychic energy. Giegue cried out as the red globe of psychic energy engulfed him. The globe remained for a few seconds before dissipating. Upon dissipating, Giegue emerged from the sphere, battered and bloodied with numerous cuts and burns on his entire body, his suit of armor missing, but alive. Still, smoke was rising from several places on his body. He was on his last legs.
It was now that Giegue regretted not learning PSI Lifeup in any of its forms. He had always been so confident in his own abilities that he had never learned any healing techniques. It was a mistake that Giygas had scolded him for several times before, but he had always shrugged off, saying that he knew better than his older brother, saying that he would not learn an attack that inferior races relied on to try to defeat stronger opponents. Now Giygas was getting the last laugh. The battle was coming to an end. He knew it. That meant that he had nothing left to lose. He focused all of his energy into a final psychic attack that he hoped would inflict damage to the psychic teens. He quickly powered his ball of PSI Murder and unleashed it against the Chosen Four. He knew that his own elemental PSI would not be sufficient to deal much damage to the Chosen Four. He made sure to land the PSI Murder attack among the heroes, rather than strike at them directly, since their psychic counter shields would merely reflect the attack right back at him. He launched his yellow blast of psychic energy at the teens and caused them to scatter. The ball struck the ground and detonated into an expanding yellow sphere that eventually managed to engulf the teens. Still, the shields managed to absorb most of the blast so that they only sustained minimal damage. It was still enough, though, to make Ness use Lifeup Beta on the others so that they would be able to survive the next exchange. He did not want to use up any more energy since he feared the potential of Giegue using a final death attack against them. One thing that had surprised the team was the fact that Giegue had not used PSI Beam Gamma on them once. It was one of Giygas's favorite moves against them, and being Giygas's younger brother, they doubted that Giegue did not know it. It was now that they decided to finish off Giegue once and for all. Giegue was eager to get this last exchange of attacks over with as well. If he were lucky, he figured that he might be able to take down one or two of the Chosen Four in the process. After all, they were all going to be in for a big surprise when they reached the Secret Core.
Giegue began the final exchange by powering a large ball of PSI Murder in his hands after simultaneously powering a PSI Shield Beta over himself. The sphere of yellow psychic energy formed in his hands and he held it out in front of his body, pointing it towards the heroes. Ness and the others responded with attacks of their own. Not wanting to waste weapons or power, Ness powered up a ball PSI Rockin Gamma while Paula powered a blast of PSI Freeze Omega, and Poo powered a barrage of PSI Thunder Omega in order to take down the shield. It was not necessary, though, as Jeff took aim with his Shield Killer and fired a beam that instantly collapsed Giegue's shield. Giegue then launched his PSI Murder Omega at the heroes, who were free to counter with everything they had. Ness countered with his ball of PSI Rockin Gamma and the two attacks sped towards each other. The two balls collided in midair, but it was obvious at impact that Ness's ball of Rockin was stronger. Ness's ball of Rockin pushed against Giegue's ball of Murder and sent it flying back towards Giegue. With the assistance of Poo's PSI Thunder and Paula's PSI Freeze, Giegue never had a chance. Ness's ball of Rockin was the first attack to strike, hitting Giegue in the chest shortly after his PSI Murder Omega had been returned to its sender and exploded. The orange sphere of mixed psychic energy inflicted obscene damage onto Giegue. Poo's PSI Thunder came next, striking Giegue in the chest, burning a hole in his body, all the while causing electricity to arc all over his body, inflicting a series of long and horrible burns on his body. Jeff added a volley of shots from his Gaia Beam pistol, which burned a few small furrows and holes into Giegue's body. The final attack that hit him was Paula's PSI Freeze Omega. The snowflake of psychic energy hit Giegue's body directly as he was staggering from the combined damage inflicted on him by the others and exploded in a shower of snowflakes and ice. The explosion encased Giegue in a block of ice, leaving him completely frozen. The attack, itself, would have been fatal alone combined with the damage dealt by the other psychic attacks, but Ness wanted to make sure that Giegue would never come back. Ness walked up to Giegue's frozen form and held his bat over his head. With a massive swing, Ness brought the bat down on Giegue's head. The strike shattered Giegue into a thousand pieces. The leader of the PSI Aliens was finally dead.
When the battle was over, the quartet took the time to heal themselves before going into the Secret Core, just in case there were some surprises in there. Poo ate some Life Up Cream and a Special Cake in order to restore his physical and mental health. Paula gave Ness a Life Up Cream so that he could recover his strength, too. Ness also ate a Special Cake so that he would restore his full psychic strength as well. Jeff also ate a jar of Life Up Cream in order to heal from the damage dealt by that PSI Murder attack. Once the group had finished healing and readying themselves for the next part of the mission, they made their way into the Secret Core.
Meanwhile, back in Goog's Sanctum, Goog made every attempt to strike Giygas with a punch or a kick, failing with each attempt. Giygas retaliated by merely shoving out an open palm and striking his father in the chest. The attack was not particularly strong, but he managed to force Goog back a few feet. Goog gave a grunt as Giygas struck him. After he halted his skid, he paused for a moment to shake off the effects of the strike before returning to the fight. Goog attempted to use a variation of PSI Thunder on Giygas, but again, he was unable to call upon any of his psychic power. Giygas's block was still holding strong. Goog expected to see Giygas charging him once again, but much to his surprise, the younger PSI Alien merely stood in front of Goog, staring into his eyes. "It doesn't have to end like this, Father," Giygas said in almost a pleading tone.
Goog would hear nothing of it. "Yes, it does, my son!" he roared as he charged Giygas once again. Goog curled his hand into a fist and drew back his arm as he charged Giygas. He gave an animalistic cry as he propelled his fist forward as if it were launched from a spring, aiming directly for Giygas's head. Giygas merely moved his head to his side as the fist came in, causing Goog to strike nothing but air. Goog gritted his teeth and attempted to punch Giygas once again. Giygas swayed out of the way of his next strike as well. Goog now roared and this time, he aimed his punch for Giygas's chest. Giygas did not move, letting Goog score a hit. His fist, however, merely struck Giygas's perfect counter shield, causing the shield to flare before the shield's effects forced Goog backwards, as if he had been hit by his own attack. "Damn you, Giygas," Goog cursed.
Giygas made no response. Instead, he merely stood still. Goog was slow to rise, but when he did, he attempted to focus his energy into a psychic attack. This time, he intended to use PSI Death on Giygas once more. He cupped his hands and stretched out his arms in order to launch the attack the moment the ball formed in his hands, hoping to take Giygas off guard. Much to his chagrin, no energy formed in his hands. He scowled and then decided to try a different tactic. He knew that he could not beat Giygas on offense if he could not launch any psychic attacks, but he was far from defeated. He decided that his best bet at the moment would be to raise a psychic counter shield over himself. He attempted to raise the shield over himself, but he felt no energy emerge from his body and form the necessary protective barrier around him. He then decided that he had nothing left to lose, so he focused on Giygas and decided to charge in for another flurry of punches. Just as he was about to make his move, a green field of energy began to surround his armor. Piece by piece, his armor began to evaporate into thin air. Within a few seconds, Goog was completely naked in front of Giygas. Knowing that it was going to be futile, but seeing little choice, Goog charged his son once more. However, instead of surging forward, he was hurled backwards into the wall once more. He crashed into the wall, leaving another indent and more cracks, and fell to the floor. He looked up and saw his son's outstretched arm. Giygas soon lowered his arm and looked at his father, a sad expression coming over his face. Goog merely focused on his son, rage and anger boiling over. Giygas could feel his father's hate. Still, he gazed at his father with compassion.
"It's not too late, Father," he told him. "You can still change. You can join me."
"Join you?" Goog asked, not believing his ears. "You must be insane! Why would I join you and those worthless human children? You're weak and those children are fools. No one can stop our people."
"Because you don't want to die?" Giygas said, pleading for his father to listen to reason. "You know why I am doing what I am doing. I'm giving you the chance that was given to me by Maria and later by the Chosen Four."
Goog laughed. "Well then let's not beat around the bush. No! Now die!"
With that, Goog managed to finally break through Giygas's block, or so he thought. In reality, Giygas had unblocked his father so that he would know his true response. Giygas then turned his back to his father, who wasted no time powering a ball of PSI Death, only this time with an electrical field surrounding it. This PSI Death was designed to breach any shield. Goog cried as he unleashed the ball of Death on Giygas, "I officially disown you from myself and our people! You are no longer my son, and you are also no longer a PSI Lord!"
"Fine," Giygas shrugged. "Have it your way."
Goog then launched the ball of Death on Giygas, not realizing that Giygas had not only raised his perfect counter shield, but that his shield could protect against any psychic attack, even ones that were specifically designed to phase through shields and/or drain them. Goog's ball of violet and black psychic energy struck Giygas's shield, causing an opaque field of green energy to form as it rebounded the ball of psychic energy back at Goog at twice the previous power. The ball of psychic energy struck him in the chest and detonated. The older PSI Alien screamed as he was engulfed by the resulting sphere of purple and black energy as skin was flayed from his body, and a crater was blasted into the floor. Giygas then powered a blast of PSI Special to finish off his father as his father's sphere of PSI Death dissipated, revealing a smoking PSI Alien that was covered in burns and cuts. Goog's fell to the ground still screaming, writhing and smoking, but still alive. How long Goog would remain alive was another question, though, given that Goog did not know Lifeup. Giygas put an end to his father's physical suffering when he launched his emerald green ball of PSI Special. The ball of Special instantly hit the fallen Goog and detonated. Giygas turned away and did not watch as his psychic attack destroyed his dying father. He could feel his father's presence fade away as he was disintegrated by Giygas's ball of emerald green psychic energy.
Once Giygas felt his father's presence vanish entirely, he knelt down and breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. His father was defeated. Before proceeding, though, he knelt down and said a prayer for his father's soul, that at the end, his father repented of his crimes and was granted entry into Heaven. Once the prayer was finished, he proceeded to scan the rest of the ship for Ness and the others. He quickly found them in the Secret Core. Before he could scan them further to see if they were in the midst of a battle, he heard the Security Alert sirens sounding. He also sensed a large group of PSI Lords, Final Starmen, and other aliens headed towards the bridge so that they could make their way down to the Secret Core. Giygas vowed to not let that happen. He then vanished from his father's inner sanctum and reappeared on the bridge, ready to take on the rush of PSI Lords and other enemies.
Ness was the first to go through the open doors into the dark Secret Core, followed by Paula, who still kept her telepathic senses open for any signs of change or any presence in the room. She focused her gaze forward and telepathically alerted the others, There's someone in here with us, someone powerful.
Ness nodded. After Paula came Jeff, who already activated his Counter PSI Helmet, and finally Poo came up behind, keeping watch behind the others. So far, there were no enemies coming up from behind. With no threat coming from the rear, he focused his attention on the room. He scanned the interior of the room and sensed the presence that Paula had warned them about. As the group filed into the room, the first thing that they noticed was how faint the light in the room was, only a single light shined down upon the heroes. They scanned the room, searching for the other presence that Paula had warned them about. As the group moved forward they stepped onto a switch and the light flooded the room. It took a moment for the four to acclimate to the light but once they did, they looked forward, and what they saw astounded them. In front of the heroes was a machine with what looked to be tank in the center. Pipes connected the pod to machines on the ceiling. Inside the tank, a figure floated in what looked to be water. The teens thought that they could see tubes connected to the figure inside. Tubes seemed to be connected to his arms, back, legs, and even head. Upon focusing in on the figure, they saw that it was a PSI Alien. Not only was it a PSI Alien, though, the figure looked frighteningly similar to Giygas. The only difference was that Giygas had milky white skin while this figure had grayer skin. The figure's eyes opened and its voice echoed throughout the room as he said, "Welcome to my lair, Chosen Four. This is the Secret Core of my people. Indeed, the Apple of Enlightenment foretold your arrival on the ship."
The teens recognized the identifying of the Apple of Enlightenment that Porky Minch had spoken of during their battle against him three years ago. Still, it was what the figure said next that worried them the most, "Yes Paula, your guess is correct. I am Dark Giygas, the evil that was cast out of Light Giygas, the Giygas you all know. Once I was cast out of him, in his first foolish attempt to become good, I rejoined the fleet and became the true core of this ship. I am the reason this ship is the way it is. This ship is far more powerful than the other ships in the fleet. Even if the rest of the fleet was lost, this ship would still be able to survive any assault brought to bear against it due to my power." Dark Giygas then gave a menacing laugh. "And it gets even worse for you. The Apple of Enlightenment also predicts your deaths in this fight."
"What about our friends and families?" Ness blurted.
That question took Dark Giygas off guard. "Your families? Oh yes," he said with an eerie grin. "Your friends and family members are all dead, too! They were wiped out in the first battle that opened up your current adventure!" Dark Giygas then proceeded to laugh. His laugh continued to echo throughout the room as the teens congregated together to discuss the current situation.
Any other time, the teens would be devastated and heartbroken at hearing the news about their parents' and families' deaths. However, they could hear a note of falsity in his voice. "I don't believe him for an instant," Ness told the others.
The others nodded in agreement.
"He was lying about the deaths of our families, and I think he suspects that we know it," Paula stated. "However, I think that he did tell the truth about the Apple of Enlightenment predicting our deaths," she added ominously.
That was something the others also agreed on. "No use worrying about it now," Ness stated calmly. "Whatever happens; happens."
The others nodded. With that, they turned to face down Dark Giygas. Dark Giygas gave off a laugh. "I know you managed to defeat my Light counterpart and kill a lot of PSI Aliens in coming here. Don't underestimate me. Those PSI Aliens you fought were only the stragglers that were either too young at the time of the creation of the Universal Cosmic Destroyer to be joined to the Universal Cosmic Destroyer, or too weak to be able to add anything to it, and whose presence would only detract from the perfection that was Giygas. You fought the dregs of our people, the weakest of the weak, those who didn't really deserve the title of PSI Lord. Save for Giygas, and maybe a few others like Giegue or his Elite Guard, you beat up on a bunch of nobodies that weren't that much stronger than a Final Starman."
Ness and the others grinned at Dark Giygas's statement. They knew that a great part of Giygas's strength and power in their fight against him was his ability to use Lifeup, a power that seemingly was not used by any of the PSI Aliens other than Giygas, which means that Giygas must have learned it while studying humans. There was still a chance that Dark Giygas did not know the technique. Still, the teens did not dare to lower their guard. Dark Giygas, since he was suspended in a tank, did not move as his voice cried out, "Now you will know the true power of a PSI Lord!"
An orb of blue psychic energy formed in front of the tank, which prompted Ness to raise his own hands and form a ball of PSI Rockin and take it all the way up to its Omega level. Dark Giygas's ball of psychic energy expanded until it was the size of a small boulder. He then cried out, "PSI Rockin Omega!" That cry took Ness and the others by surprise for a bit. But somehow, Ness was not all that surprised that Dark Giygas knew PSI Rockin Omega, especially if he was cast out of Giygas and Giygas had retained at least some of the knowledge of the Universal Cosmic Destroyer Giygas. Ness merely echoed Giygas's cry with his own, "PSI Rockin Omega!" as his energy ball became the size of a grapefruit.
Dark Giygas then unleashed the ball of psychic energy towards Ness and the others. Poo could feel that the energy emanating from Dark Giygas's ball of Rockin Omega was strong enough to destroy the moon. But he could also feel that Ness's attack was stronger. Ness then unleashed his ball of Rockin and the two balls collided in the air midway between the two combatants. Paula raised a PSI Shield Omega over the party and Jeff focused the abilities of his Counter PSI Helmet on Dark Giygas. The force of the impact created a wave of wind that pushed back Ness and the others. Still, they steeled their resolve and held their ground against Dark Giygas. Seeing that the psychic battle was currently a stalemate, Dark Giygas pushed more energy into his ball. Ness did the same with his ball of Rockin. Ness's ball of Rockin now pushed against Dark Giygas's ball and began to push it back towards the PSI Alien. Dark Giygas's eyes widened as the blast was beginning to head back his way. "No way," he cried out loud, his mouth agape. Nevertheless, his attack was not heading straight back towards him. He tried to raise a psychic shield over himself to intercept the attack, but it was too late. The two attacks collided with his holding tank and detonated, vaporizing the tank. The red and blue spheres of psychic energy detonated and combined to form an indigo sphere. Dark Giygas cried out in rage and pain as the tank was destroyed by the attacks and the fluid that he was submerged in boiled away. After the tank was nothing but subatomic particles, Dark Giygas fell to the floor into a heap. There, he remained, motionless.
The Chosen Four looked at each other in disbelief. "There's no way that this is over," Poo stated quietly as he drew his sword and inched his way closer to Dark Giygas. Ness quickly joined him, as did Paula and Jeff, all of them pointing their weapons a the fallen Dark Giygas. As they began to near the fallen PSI Alien, a squadron of four Elite Mooks appeared before them and grinned, glaring at the teens. Dark Giygas then rose from where he lay and cackled, "You fools! Did you really think that I could be so easily defeated?" He then focused on Poo and cried, "PSI Block!"
Poo and the others grimaced. He was now blocked from using any PSI. Not only that, but the Elite Mooks now glared with their eerie eyes while Ness was going over to help Poo and managed to diamondize Paula and Jeff. Ness quickly used PSI Healing Gamma on Poo to unblock Poo. Before focusing on reviving Paula and Jeff, Ness quickly pulled out two Bags of Dragonite and, giving one to Poo, sprinkled the powder contained in the bag on himself. Poo did likewise. Instantly, the duo transformed into two monstrous dragons with large wings and golden scales. The two then breathed fire on Dark Giygas as well as the four Elite Mooks that he had summoned. The Elite Mooks were instantly incinerated by the blasts of fire, not even leaving any ashes for remains. The ground the Elite Mooks had just been standing on was also transformed into a steaming liquid lake of melted metal, which was slowly cooling back into a solid state. Just as suddenly as the two psychics had transformed into dragons, they returned back to their normal selves. They surveyed the carnage in front of them and found that they only faced Dark Giygas. They took this opportunity use PSI Healing Omega to cure Paula and Jeff of their diamondization. The two diamondized heroes returned to normal and were ready to fight and once again, it was four-on-one.
Dark Giygas then decided that it would be best to summon some more help, since he was uncertain of his ability to defeat the heroes without revealing his true secret. Besides, he did not care for anyone onboard the ship. Dark Giygas opened his hands and slammed them to the ground. A wave of energy emerged from the ground and traveled outwards a few feet. Suddenly, four PSI Aliens appeared before the heroes. As soon as the PSI Aliens appeared, Ness drew two Super Bombs and activated them. Jeff also grabbed one of his Ultra Bombs, as did Poo. While they drew out the weapons, the PSI Aliens fired blasts of PSI Fire, PSI Thunder, and PSI Freeze at the teens. Paula quickly raised a PSI Shield Sigma over the party to protect them, since she had a feeling that Dark Giygas was strong against elemental PSI and felt that the PSI Aliens had the same strengths as well and she wanted to save energy so she could launch more attacks. The psychic attacks splashed against the shield and caused it to strain with each impact. However, her shield managed to hold firm. Dark Giygas, however, fired a blast of PSI Thunderbomb Omega at the teens in addition to the attacks launched by his summoned allies. The PSI Thunderbomb Omega was too much for the shield. It flickered as it was hit and eventually collapsed, allowing some of the electricity to strike the teens. Jeff, not being psychic, suffered the greatest of the damage, but he was still able to throw his Ultra Bomb at the PSI Aliens. Poo also tossed his Ultra Bomb at the PSI Aliens, along with Ness tossing his Super Bomb.
The bombs each landed among the PSI Aliens and exploded, inflicting a great deal of damage to the alien party, scattering them with the explosions. The teens had specifically targeted one of the aliens with their bombs and he was immediately blown to pieces when the bombs exploded. Still, the others had not escaped without injury. One of the other PSI Aliens that had been too close to him also died due to his injuries. The other two PSI Aliens, while they had sustained some moderate injuries, were still able to fight. Ness and Poo changed that, however, when Ness launched a blast of PSI Rockin Gamma at one of the two remaining PSI Aliens, and Poo tossed a Super Bomb at the other. The scarlet orb of energy scored a direct hit on its target and detonated, engulfing the PSI Alien in a sphere of psychic energy that vaporized him. By the time the blast had dissipated, there was nothing left of the PSI Alien. As for Poo's unfortunate victim, he was already the more grievously injured of the two, so when Poo tossed the Super Bomb his way, he was unable to toss it back before it detonated, flinging his now shredded and lifeless body through the air.
Dark Giygas grimaced at the ease of which the PSI Aliens that he had summoned had been disposed of. The Elite Mooks had been more effective against the Chosen Four than these supposedly vastly superior PSI Aliens. He began to wonder if they should have merely been called PSI Aliens, rather than PSI Lords. Dark Giygas shrugged. He figured that he would just have to deal with the heroes himself, now. Dark Giygas began his new assault by stretching out his fingers towards the group. Lightning arced around his fingers for a second before he unleashed a massive stream of PSI Thunder towards the heroes. The lightning managed to strike the heroes directly and inflicted fatal damage to each of them, save for Ness, who was protected by his Franklin Badge, as lightning arced around their bodies. The bolt of lightning that struck Jeff, however, drilled a hole in his torso and he collapsed onto the ground, either unconscious or dead. However, save for Jeff, there were no fatalities as of yet for the heroes. And Jeff would not remain dead for long. As for Ness, Dark Giygas's lightning had been reflected back at him by Ness's Franklin Badge. His own lightning bolt struck him and knocked him backwards and onto the ground. While Dark Giygas was down Ness used Lifeup Omega to heal the rest of the party before they succumbed to their injuries while Poo simultaneously used PSI Healing Omega to revive Jeff. The hole in Jeff's torso closed and his clothes mended. When Jeff rose, it was as if he had never been hit by the attack. However, Dark Giygas was far from finished.
Dark Giygas quickly rose and cried, "PSI Block!" Immediately, Ness felt his psychic powers being blocked. Before Poo could use PSI Healing to heal him, Dark Giygas used PSI Block on him. Now, the only to healers on the team had their psychic powers blocked, and there was no way to restore their powers without using a revival item. While Poo got out his Cup of Lifenoodles, an item that was usually reserved for reviving unconscious or dead people, but could heal status ailments in a pinch as well, Paula and Jeff covered him by drawing out three Ultra Bombs. Paula held two Ultra Bombs in her hand, while Jeff held his only remaining Ultra Bomb. The teens tossed the bombs over to Dark Giygas, while Paula focused on attacking Dark Giygas's mind telepathically. She had, at first, expected to face resistance, but Dark Giygas offered no telepathic resistance to her mental assault. The three bombs landed right next to him and exploded. The explosions tossed him backwards through the air. He landed several yards away, but seemed to suffer little damage. He retaliated with a blast of PSI Rockin Beta. The blue orb of energy rocketed towards Paula and Jeff. Paula pushed Jeff out of the way and took the attack directly, using her psychic abilities to try to absorb the entire attack so that Jeff and the others would not suffer harm. She managed to take the most of the attack, but due to her psychic power, the attack was not fatal. Jeff also only suffered heavy, but non-life threatening injuries. However, that was little comfort as she fell to her knees, her body smoking and her uniform burnt to cinders. The remains of the uniform fell off, revealing her usual attire underneath. Paula took out two one of her remaining cups of Life Up Cream and devoured its contents. Jeff, who had also lost his PSI Alien uniform also took out his last cup of Life Up Cream and ate it, restoring his strength.
As for Ness and Poo, Poo used his Cup of Lifenoodles on himself to unblock himself and restore the use of his psychic powers. He did not like having to use his Cup of Lifenoodles only to unblock himself, but given that Ness was also blocked, it was the only way to free both himself and Ness since Paula did not know PSI Healing. He then proceeded to use PSI Healing on Ness to cure him of being blocked. Ness felt a refreshing sensation come over him. After he was unblocked, Ness drew out a Special Cake and ate it. Poo also decided to heal himself by eating a cup of Life Up Cream. The four then immediately refocused their attention of Dark Giygas.
Ness immediately powered a blast of PSI Rockin Omega, while Paula powered a blast of PSI Freeze Omega, Jeff pulled out an Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket and Poo powered a blast of PSI Starstorm Omega. The group then proceeded to unleash their psychic attacks on Dark Giygas. Dark Giygas made no attempt to evade or block their attacks. He merely stood there, waiting, knowing that there was nothing that they could do to him. All of the attacks converged on him and he was engulfed by a scarlet sphere of psychic energy as a snowflake entered the sphere and detonated, covering him in ice and snow. This was followed by a barrage of rockets from Jeff's Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket and then by Poo's Starstorm Omega barrage. For over twenty seconds, Dark Giygas was relentlessly assaulted by the most powerful attacks that could be unleashed against him. However, once the smoke cleared, he was still standing. Not only was he standing, he was smiling. The teens recoiled in shock.
"My turn," he said, grinning evilly.
Dark Giygas then used his telekinesis to lift the heroes into the air. He cried, "PSI Block!" and blocked Poo's ability to use his psychic power. Ness proceeded to use PSI Healing to unblock Poo. Dark Giygas then used his telekinesis to open the backpacks of the others. He then armed Poo's two Ultra Bombs. Poo used Shield Sigma to protect himself and his friends from the ensuing blast as he pulled off his bombs and tossed them into the air. The bombs exploded in midair. Most of the blast was directed towards Poo, who sustained the most damage. Dark Giygas then fired a blast of PSI Thunder at Poo, which struck him in the chest. Ness had tried to intercept the blast, but was too late. Poo flew through the air, lightning arcing across his body, leaving a number of scars. Before he died, though, Poo drew out one of his two remaining Life Up Creams and ate it. He immediately felt himself being restored to full strength. Dark Giygas was not finished, though. He quickly activated Poo's remaining Super Bomb. Poo was ready for a trick like this, though, and he quickly grabbed the device and tossed it over to Dark Giygas where it exploded, engulfing Dark Giygas in the blast. The teens figured that the attacks had to be taking their toll, especially since they had not sensed him using Lifeup of any level. However, Dark Giygas emerged from the blast, completely unscathed. Poo was incredulous. He had not sensed any sort of shielding over Dark Giygas, so how was Dark Giygas able to escape that explosion completely unscathed? He then sensed Dark Giygas raise a PSI Shield Beta over himself. That told the others that it was time to use physical attacks on him. Ness drew out his two remaining Super Bombs, with Paula drawing one of her two remaining Super Bombs as well. Jeff placed an Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket on the ground, and Poo merely raised a shield over the rest of the party. Ness and Paula tossed their bombs over to Dark Giygas, while Jeff targeted the PSI Alien with his Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket. The rocket flew into the air and separated, raining down warheads onto Dark Giygas. The warheads promptly exploded, along with the bombs, and Dark Giygas was engulfed in flames. Shockingly, when the smoke cleared, Dark Giygas was still standing none the worse for wear.
Dark Giygas retaliated by unleashing a large ball of fire into the air. He cried out, "Fire Rain!" The ball of fire streaked towards the heroes and came to rest over them, where it rained down electricity on them. Before it arrived, though, Dark Giygas cried, "PSI Block!" and blocked Paula's psychic abilities. The large ball of fire formed what looked like a black ash cloud and then proceeded to rain down fire on the teens. Ness and Poo suffered the least damage, while Jeff suffered the most, due to not being psychic. Despite the lack of damage, Ness and Poo's uniforms had burned off by the attack, revealing their usual attire underneath. While the attack had inflicted damage, the streams of flame did not manage to inflict fatal damage to the heroes. Still, Ness and the others took no chances. Paula quickly raised a PSI Shield Omega over the party while Poo raised a Shield Omega to cover them against physical attacks. Poo also gave Jeff his remaining Life Up Cream so that his friend could recover. Paula also used her sole remaining Life Up Cream to heal herself. She considered using a Special Cake to replenish her psychic power, but she decided against it. She was not that low on psychic power, yet, so she did not want to waste a Special Cake too early in the fight. Besides, she could feel that the others were low on psychic energy. One of them might need her Special Cake more than she did. Poo then used PSI Healing to unblock Paula's psychic powers, while Ness drew out an Ultra Bomb and tossed it at Dark Giygas. Dark Giygas merely laughed as he caught the bomb and brought it to his face, where it exploded. Dark Giygas escaped the blast without a scratch and laughed. He then retaliated by crying, "Shield Off" and then firing a PSI Thunderbomb Omega that exploded among the heroes. The attack managed inflicted only light damage to the heroes, save for Ness, who suffered no damage at all, and Jeff. But even Jeff did not suffer fatal damage from the attack. Still, that did not stop Paula from healing him with her last Life Up Cream. Jeff merely growled while reluctantly accepting Paula's Life Up Cream, angry about how much of a burden he seemed to be in this battle.
"Darn it," he complained in anger. "I'm nothing but a burden for the rest of you in this fight!"
"That's nonsense," Paula replied, trying to comfort him. "You're one of the most important allies we have."
"Then why have you already wasted two Life Up Creams on me? You didn't have much problems dealing with those psychic attacks."
"We didn't waste them at all," was Paula's response. "We used them to help you, our friend. Besides," Paula chuckled, "it's not like Ness, Poo, or I have done any better against Dark Giygas."
Jeff returned Paula's chuckle. That much was true. "Thanks, Paula," he said sincerely. "Now, let's take down this jerk," he said with renewed confidence and intensity. The two then went to rejoin Ness and Poo.
While Paula was helping Jeff, Ness and Poo unleashed another volley of psychic attacks on Dark Giygas, who emerged from the psychic assault unscathed once again.
"Don't you fools get it? It doesn't matter what you do or what attacks you use; I can't be killed. I'm immortal. You can attack me as much as you want. It won't matter. I'll always survive. No one can kill me!"
"We'll see about that," Ness retorted.
The group then powered their most powerful attacks once more. Ness powered his PSI Rockin Omega while Paula powered another snowflake of PSI Freeze Omega. Jeff drew out his PSI Disruptor and placed another Advanced Multi Bottle Rocket on the ground and prepared to launch it while Poo powered another barrage of PSI Starstorm Omega. Once the attacks were ready, they unleashed them upon Dark Giygas, who made no attempt to defend himself or deflect the attacks. The attacks came crashing down on Dark Giygas and detonated upon striking him, engulfing him in a red sphere of psychic energy once again. The teens watched as the sphere of Rockin burned Dark Giygas and the warheads, snowflake of Freeze Omega, and the stars of Starstorm Omega battered him. The teens hoped and prayed that this would be enough to defeat him. However, they feared that it would not be sufficient to beat him. Indeed, their fears came to pass as the sphere of Rockin dissipated and Dark Giygas stood at the epicenter of the attacks without so much as a scratch.
But the group was not out of options yet. They still had yet to try one weapon. Paula drew out her Bags of Dragonite and tossed one of them to Ness. Everything else that they had tried had failed, but the flames from the dragons that they transformed into when they used the Bags of Dragonite were magical, rather than psychic, in nature, so they hoped that this would work. If this did not work, though, then there would be merit to Dark Giygas's boast. Ness sprinkled some the powder on him, as did Paula. They both turned into massive dragons and they sprayed magical fire at Dark Giygas. The flames engulfed the evil alien, but the being did not seem to be injured by the flames at all. He was merely laughing as the dragons quickly transformed back into teenaged children. For all intents and purposes, the attack was a dud.
"Now do you four understand?" he asked with an evil grin. "There's nothing you can do to me. I am a product of Giygas. I can't be defeated by you. I don't have Lifeup or Healing. I don't need them. No one can kill me!"
"That's not true," a familiar voice rang out in response from behind the heroes. The heroes turned and found Giygas, or Light Giygas, as Dark Giygas had called him, standing behind them. He then walked forward towards his dark counterpart. Dark Giygas's face widened in fear as Giygas approached. Giygas walked towards him with a confident smile. "I can kill you."
