Chapter 22:
This had never been Jake's forte. Charlie had better control over her body, and Viola was far better at flying. Twisting her body to catch the wind just right, the shapechanger steered for the closest empty spot, as the train went rushing over the shattered trestle, carrying over a hundred people to their doom. Closer they got and closer, with Junior all but praying. She was losing it. She was losing her control. The fear–almost panic–she felt over her niece and boyfriend was doing nothing at all to help. Finally, just as they were reaching the clearing, she completely lost it.
Fortunately, Bronwyn was on the job. As they were plummeting, the plush-puppy teleported them the last fifty feet to the ground. "Oof," gasped Finn, as they hit the ground hard, with Bronwyn landing atop his chest. Junior was able to save herself, curling into a ball and rolling with the impact. She came up on all fours and rushed to Finn's side. Finn's eyes popped open, and he smiled up at her. "Could have used you two, when Suadela sabotaged Nadia's plane over the wilderness," he rumbled. Junior threw herself on the pair and cried.
Finn held onto the two, letting them give vent to the storm of emotions that threatened to sweep them away. His keen mind was on survival. He needed to get them clothes to wear. He needed to get them shelter, and then he needed to figure out how they were getting out of here. The mountains were no place to hang out, and the Bandit Kingdoms weren't places to wander. The Suncoast was a hundred miles away. They had a lot of walking to do. Releasing Finn, Jake Junior took a good look around them and announced, "a hundred miles from nowhere. No food, no money, no phones. It's dark, and I'm naked..." "Kinda likin' the bare-ass look, but you'll catch your death," Finn chuckled, as he stripped off his shirt and handed it to her.
The King of Ooo bade the pair stay together. Then he went off and began the hard work of pulling together what they needed to survive. It was tough in the dark, and a part of him feared that the people who'd blown up the bridge might spot a fire or signs that they were here. With Sybil's help, he was able to hack down some pine boughs. Scraping a spot clear, the big man made up a bed of pine-boughs and brush, and the trio huddled up to wait out the rest of the night. It wasn't the worst he'd slept. That was, by far, the trip back from the wastes in the northeast when he, Bonnie, and Emeraude had only E's cloak for warmth and the countryside was full of goo-bro's.
Morning came to Billy's world with the sound of his phone. Ringing off the hook. With a groan, the big man climbed out of bed and schlepped over to the dresser where his phone was wired into the hotel's jerry-rigged power system. Unhooking the phone, he flicked it open and announced, "hello..." Hamest looked up from the pillow, brushing hair from her face, as she did so. As she watched her hubby, his expression changed slowly from bleary-eyed, to wide awake, to profoundly alarmed. "Yeah," he said. "I'll be down at the airfield within the hour."
Hanging up, the Ice-Prince turned to his wife and said, "get dressed. We're leaving." Hamest groaned, "what's happened?" "Dad's missing," Billy replied. "His train didn't arrive in the Suncoast like it was supposed to. They need me back in the Candy Kingdom." Hamest was now wide-awake. That was terrifying news. Finn had been the glue holding the whole empire together. She was vaguely aware of the plot against him that had brought down an airship. Now she found herself staring at those same plots. If Finn was gone, they'd possibly be moving on Billy next.
As Billy headed for the bath to shower, back in the Candy Kingdom, the family was meeting to figure out what to do about their patriarch's disappearance. As the gathering trooped in and the holograms began to appear in place of the absentees, French Toast found her eyes drawn to the two matriarchs of the clan. The pair, seated at the head of the table, couldn't have presented a more different appearance. Simone was... calm. She was dead calm, as if she saw this sort of thing every day. Frenchie imagined she had. Finn had lived a very rough life even before the events that led to him taking the throne. Simone had been with him for thirty years of that life. Roselinen was seeing her first real crisis as Finn's wife, and it was clear that she was starting to buckle under the strain. Still, she was gamely holding back tears as the family came in and sat themselves.
Climbing to her feet, Cherry announced, "yesterday, the Royal Train departed Clusone in the Bandit Kingdoms. It was supposed to be a twenty-four hour journey through the mountains and down into the Suncoast. The train should have arrived in Dondea this morning at eight AM. The train never arrived. That's basically all we know at the moment..." Star took up the thread next, announcing, "agents on the ground in Jungle Kingdom confirmed for me that a nobleman out of the Warrior Kingdom contracted with two local foundries to purchase seven-thousand spear-guns..." "His name," demanded Ingrid? "Hafgrim the Red," Star replied. Nodding, the Warrior Princess rumbled, "he'll soon be Hafgrim the Dead." Frenchie shuddered at the cold way she said that.
Bonnie the Elder asked the obvious question, "could he have been behind the destruction of the airship?" "Not smart enough," Ingrid retorted. "He probably couldn't spell airship." "I have news on that front as well," Star replied. "I took a look at the manifest for the airship and checked with the warehouse in the Suncoast. Every shipper filed for the insurance except one." "The assassins," Cherry rumbled. Star nodded. "The cargo was handed over by agents of a Lady Nicia. It was marked as silverware, worth three-thousand coins." "Not even a rich woman would ignore that kind of money," rumbled Bonnie the Younger. Nodding, Star said, "I have a warrant out for her arrest. I've got her on video asking about the airship, but she never even asked about the insurance settlement." "She just wanted to be sure the ship went down," Nadia growled. She was angry. Several of her people had been murdered to further the scheme.
"W-what're we doing now," Roselinen asked? "If Finn's train... I mean..." She couldn't quite say those words. "It could be nothing," Betty replied. "Trains break down. It happens. There should be a train headed through the mountains probably today..." "Tomorrow," Star replied. "I called and checked the time-table. This time of year, trains go through there once every couple days. I'm on my way there as soon as I get off the phone." Roselinen nodded. One way or another, they'd know in a day or so.
Moving onward, Ingrid asked, "where are these weapons Halfwit ordered up?" "We intercepted the third batch of three-thousand," Fionna replied. "He's got about two-thousand, with another two-thousand on a boat, headed for Engagement Ring Kingdom." "I'll call Marshall," Cherry announced in chill tones. Bonnie the Younger shivered. She had seen the man called Marshall Lee, and she pitied the men on that boat when he met them. Of course, there was a pillow-dragon in the corner just now. Clearing her throat, she reminded them, "formal audience is soon. What... what am I telling them?"
Roselinen muttered curses. Her husband was missing, and she had to deal with that pack of fucking galoshes. "The truth," Simone responded. "Finn's train is overdue and possibly broken down in the mountains. A rescue effort is underway." Bonnie shivered. She was going to tell a fib. She was going to fib without fibbing by telling those people half the truth and leaving out all the business about assassins and the suspicions about why the Royal Train was missing.
Back in the mountains, Finn the Human boosted Jake Junior up onto a ledge. They were climbing steadily up the side of the mountain, though the big man had not yet explained why. JJ rumbled, "you know... I do have stretchy powers." Bronwyn chuckled, "but then he wouldn't get to grab your ass." The shapechanger's face went red hot. She was a little self-conscious about the fact that she was basically wearing her birthday suit. She'd never been a fan of sleeping in underwear and preferred sleeping in the buff. Unfortunately that kind of left her at a disadvantage now when she didn't even have a pair of panties on.
Bronwyn was less concerned about Finn being handsy. He was their boyfriend. She was far more interested in why they were climbing. Patiently, Finn responded, "we have pro'lly a hundred miles to go through the mountains, B. You pro'lly don't realize this because you've been riding in cars and trains all your life, but traveling on foot through mountains is serious hard work. You run into ravines that go for miles in each direction, and you gotta' climb down and back up the other side to get through if there's no bridge." But the railroad had bridges. The railroad had no choice but to build bridges. They flattened the hills and straightened curves where they could because trains didn't like curves and hills.
Making the leap, Bronwyn burbled, "you want to follow the tracks. What if... what if we run into a train?" Finn chuckled, "we want to run into a train, babe. Because then we won't have to walk." Jake Junior smiled. Never down. Never out. Always slugging. He was adorable. Nodding, Finn said, "just about fifty feet to go. Then Jake can pull us the rest of the way with her powers." The shapechanger glued her lips to his in delight then.
Over a hundred miles away, Lady Nicia woke from a restless sleep. She'd gone down hard, spending hours tossing and turning as she worried over the attempt on Finn's life. Truly, she'd only gone down into sleep at two in the morning, and she'd more or less slept through until noon. Climbing out of bed, she moved to the charger on her bureau. Picking up her phone, she found a dozen text messages. Heart beating a mile a minute, she flicked open the first message, finding that her assassin had done the deed. The Royal Train was in the bottom of a four-hundred foot deep canyon. Excitedly, the curvy purple-person began flicking through more messages. Matters went from good to bad in the course of just three texts, though.
News that the little nymph-bitch had put out a warrant for her sent a thrill of stark terror down her spine, and the plump woman nearly sat down right there in the middle of her bedroom. She'd been so careful. How did they trace the bomb to her? One thing was certain, she couldn't stay here. She had contacts in the Suncoast's guard. They were likely the senders of the text. They couldn't prevent her from being arrested and handed over though. Rising, the curvy woman began throwing clothing into a suitcase, praying that she had enough time to get to the dock and her private yacht.
Snatching up the suitcase, the plump woman rushed out of her bedroom, stopping only long enough to ransack the safe for her jewels and a little traveling money. Then, she rushed down to the rear door, finding her staff in the process of making up lunch there in the kitchen. "Milady," announced her maid? "We've made lun... w-where're you...?" She didn't stop. Instead, she went straight on across the boardwalk to her private dock, leaving the servants staring at her back. She tried not to hurry–at least to be seen hurrying. That would attract attention to the fact that she was leaving.
The crew was lazing in the sun. She hadn't really been planning on going anywhere after all. Climbing up the gangplank, the terrified noble shouted for them to get to work. The startled captain stared at her in puzzlement. They'd only been here a couple of days. Still, seeing the expression on her face, the sailor realized that she wasn't interested in extended conversation. Barking orders, he sent his crew scrambling to cast off the lines and unfurl the sales. Meanwhile Nicia went below, praying to Glob they could get out of here before anyone saw her leaving.
Hundreds of miles to the east, Marysia Okonski stepped out of the swirling dust in Odessa's fireplace wearing a natty evening gown in charcoal grey. "Wasn't expecting to see you today," the Dowager Princess remarked. "News," Masia replied. "They're leaving." Odessa shot to her feet. Nodding, the young elemental said, "something's going on with Finn. They were trying to be coy about it, but I think he's dead. He was due in some place called the Suncoast, but he never arrived." "And William," Odessa rumbled? "He's being called back from the west," Masia replied. "I did get that much. Ragnhild plans to get back to the Candy Kingdom to meet him." Nodding, Odessa said, "this could be our chance. Pack your bags, dear. We're taking the train."
Late that night, an airship dropped out of the sky over the Candy Kingdom bearing the Ice-Prince. A full team of Banana Guards were waiting on him when the airship rolled to a stop at the edge of the landing field, and they swiftly bundled the Heir into a heavily armored limo for the ride to the palace. The limo sped out of the airfield with a half-dozen armed and armored trucks in attendance. The family was taking no chances, though it had Hamest in a state of terror. Her mind went to her friends. The threat against them had just ratcheted up quite a bit. Her hand clutched at her tummy, and she thought of what this might mean for her son. Apkar was now one step closer to the throne, and that made him a target too.
Far to the southeast, out on the sea near Engagement Ring Kingdom, a lone ship approached the coast under cover of darkness. It was a truism of the maritime trade that ships rarely made a night approach if they were operating on the up-and-up. There was a lot of risk sailing around in the dark. You couldn't see as far. You couldn't pick out landmarks as easily. Though the harbor at their destination had a light, there was still the risk of running aground. It was a lot of risk when you could slow your approach, bide your time, and sail in with the morning tide.
"Quiet on shore," remarked the First-Mate. It was meant as a means of filling the empty air. The Skipper was in one of his moods, and the crew had been walking small around him. The Captain grunted. He had been a smuggler a lot of years. Grabbing the cargo was always the easy part. It was making the delivery that worried at his gut. Show up to make a pickup and find a gaggle of soldiers swarming the dock? Easy-peasy. You're there to pickup a cargo. Don't know what's in it. Don't care. Let them try to prove that you knew the goods were tainted. Show up at a hostile port with a hold full of contraband? That was a lot harder to explain away. You're the captain, after all. Shouldn't you know what's in the box?
The pickup was always easy, and the Captain never much worried about it. As the ship sailed across the ocean, he became more and more taciturn as the weight of what he was doing slowly came piling down. His skin was in the game. His crew's skins were too. He stood to lose boat, crew, and cargo, even unto losing his life, and it got worse when he had to go into places like this.
The dandies in Engagement Ring Kingdom had never cared much about a little licorice or dust. At least, they hadn't in the past. The new regime running the place had subtly changed things, however. Where before you could slide some silver into the right palms and the men at the docks would go look elsewhere for trouble, now you could find yourself facing something you didn't want to be handling. Rumors abounded that sometimes the dead walked the docks in the capitol. The Captain knew those rumors to be very true. He'd seen them swarm a boat on the next quay. The boat had been smuggling the new hot thing–coca-extract. The men aboard had been horribly massacred–torn limb from limb by restless, shuffling dead. It had almost been enough to put him off the contraband game. Almost.
"I want the cargo off as soon as we're docked," the Captain muttered. He was taking no chances. He wanted those crates off his ship. "Don't know where this Hafgrim is," the First-Mate responded. "Don't care," the Captain retorted. "I want those crates gone. I'll not tell ye again. Soon as we're docked, the crates go on the pier. Hafgrim can hang if he doesn't like it..." "He already did," announced a soft voice.
The two men spun about, their faces whipping this way and that. A pale figure materialized out of thin air, looking achingly beautiful in transparent silk. Her heavy, pear-shaped knockers jutting out firm and high. Long, blonde hair hanging to her waist completed the look. It would have made both men drool, if they'd been capable of any movement at all. Calmly, the Moon strode past, stepping up to the ship's wheel. Brushing the terrified helmsman's face, she said, "you'll die last, sweetie. Steer for the rocks, please."
Below, on the deck, a swarm of rotting corpses, dripping seawater, came clawing their way up the ship's sides from the deep. As the Captain and First-Mate stared, the dead swarmed their crew. Some of the men fought back with swords. Not that the dead cared. Lop an arm off, they kept coming. Some of the brighter souls got the idea to chop the legs from under them, leaving many of the dead crawling and flopping about. A bored voice remarked, "aw... That's not fun..."
A second figure appeared, this one thick and curvy, with even heavier breasts and long, flowing, midnight hair–at least until she changed. The figure grew in stature before their eyes, her nails turning into claws the size of scimitars. Wading into the fray, she went right for the bosun and the few officers, tearing them apart, one by one, as the undead redoubled their efforts. "You'll report this to your friends," the Moon whispered, in a chill voice. "Guns aren't welcome in this kingdom." With that, she tore the First-Mate's heart from his chest, tossing it aside casually. As he collapsed, the Moon whispered words to his immortal soul, barring him from the afterlife. The hapless ghost stood there, staring at her. "Go on," she said. "The water means nothing to you now. Go and tell your friends what I said."
The rocks were fast approaching. "Feel the moment," the Moon murmured. Down below, the Hierophant was toying with the crew. Her mother had been bored to tears and anxious to take this task. One by one, she killed them, cornering them and terrorizing them before finally ending their lives. As the Captain helplessly watched, she chased a few over the side to die in the icy waters. Meanwhile, the rocks were fast approaching. "Your ship is doomed," the Moon announced in sardonic tones. She was cleaning her nails of the First-Mate's blood. "You'll be telling all your friends over the next few months... My curse will bar you from the afterlife until then. No guns in Engagement Ring Kingdom. No cocaine. It's worth your immortal soul..."
The last thing the Captain saw/felt was the terrible impact as the ship rushed up onto the rocks, hurling the remaining crew violently over the side. Those not killed by the violence of the collision were left to drown in the icy sea. Staring down at the carnage, the Hierophant sighed, "well... Back to the salt-mine." "Momma, really," growled the Moon? "You're eternally young and beautiful, and that's the best you can do?" Chagrined, Davina Abadeer responded, "I'm not good with this like you. I need stuff to do..."
Morning found Billy sitting in the small room next door to his dad's office. He wasn't keen on the idea of having an office as that tended to edge much too close to his wife's words. Katsumi had said it. When Finn was gone, they'd be looking at him. Of course, there was an alternative that was both more risky and at the same time comforting for a man who wanted nothing to do with the job. He could give it away. He had the option now because he was no longer the first-born son of the King.
Knocking on the door announced that his unhappy showdown had arrived. Rising, he announced, "come in." Jay Mertens strode through the door, wearing an expression sour enough to curdle milk. Strangely enough, his mother and sister had been getting on with these people–his dad's other family. Jay had been struggling with his anger and a healthy dollop of survivor's guilt. Those negative emotions had combined to the point where he was on the edge of hot anger at having been summoned by this man.
Coming around the desk, Bill strode straight up to his older brother and offered Jay his hand. "Jay," he said. "Not sure if you'd heard. Dad's missing." Jay frowned at him in puzzlement. What did that mean? It was clear to Billy that his older brother hadn't been told, but then Jay had been pushing away contacts with the rest of the family. "I'd... I'd like you to sit down, but I understand if you don't want to," Billy rumbled, as he gestured at the couch. "What's this about, William," Jay responded? "It's Bill," Billy replied. "You're my brother, Jay. It's Bill."
Jay flushed to his hair and glanced away. Far from treating him like a rival or threat, this man treated him like family. "What's going on with father," Jay rumbled? "His train didn't arrive at the destination," Billy replied. "He's missing. They were supposed to reach the Suncoast yesterday morning, but didn't. Nobody's seen them." Jay's face snapped up. Billy could see the calculation in his eyes. He understood the significance.
"What do you want to do," Billy asked? Jay frowned at him. "You're now first-born child, Jay," Billy declared. "You're now our leader until dad's found... or..." "No," Jay retorted, "I'm not of this place." He turned to go, but Billy stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Nobody's going to see it that way, Jay," Billy replied. "I don't want anything to do with this, Bill," the older man responded. "As far as I'm concerned, this is your problem. Understand? I don't want your place." "Had to try," Billy responded. Jay whipped around fast enough that it made Billy's neck stiff. The older man stared at him. Chuckling, the Ice-Prince said, "I don't want it either... I guess... I guess there was never any hope."
Jay got on his way, leaving his half-brother behind. His mind was in a state of turmoil as he took in the emotions he'd seen on the younger man's face. It seemed mad on its face. He'd always been taught to believe that men grasped at power–that the hunger for power was there in every man. Evil was just itching to get out. All you needed was to apply a little money in the right places. The man he'd seen in that room was horrified of the very power in his hands, and he'd have done anything to get rid of it. And Jay? A part of him hungered for that power because he would have used it to find another Wishmaster. He would have tried again to gain his vengeance on the Wizard Sheetz.
And many might well have died for his rage.
With strengthened resolve, the older man strode away from that place. William was the sort of man who should wield power. He was clearly that rarity–the man who didn't want it. Jay wanted power, and he knew he should never touch it because he would do all the wrong things in the world. I'm sorry, William, he thought. It has to be this way. I can't help you. I'd just make things worse.
Hundreds of miles to the south and east, Star Mertens looked up from fiddling with her phone as the fireman shoveled burning rock at the maw of the steam engine. Around her, the construct shook and shuddered as the drive-wheels dragged it up the slope. The shaking was counterpointed by the steady chuff-chuff of the smokestack.
She'd made them start out early, dragging the crew out of their bunks and using the weight of her office to get the train crewed and ready to go. There had been a bit of a dance as they had a few more cars to couple up before leaving, but now they were on their way. A company of the Guard rode in a pair of empty boxcars further back along the train. Their job was to secure the site if they came across a wreck or remnant of the Royal Train. And Star? She was doing her best to sit still, stay out of the way, and remain patient.
Star had been fascinated in the early years of her life by her stepmother's ability to fly. It was a trick Simone had only ever showed off once. Tapping the power of one of her co-spouse's arrows, Simone had showed off for the kids, entertaining them while Finn and Emeraude were away at work. It was one of the defining moments of Star's life, and she'd had her mind set on being a wizard from that moment forward. She'd wanted to fly–to soar through the skies like her stepmother–when she was a child. Now, she was finding the hunger had come back in spades. She'd never wanted to be able to fly more than she did right now.
The train worked its way back and forth over the switchbacks for hours, going up and up into the mountains, the engine chuffing away. Star zoned out, her mind on ways to find her father, and when that failed her, she focused on how she'd have to support and protect her brother. The target would move if Finn the Human was gone. It would move to his kids. It was more important than ever that they stick together because they were about to have lots of enemies.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the driver began tugging on the cord above his head, sounding the whistle. Star looked up, asking, "what's going on?" "People on the track," the driver shouted back! The nymph sprang to the window and threw it open. Sticking her head out, she stared down the track and found an unlikely trio standing there by the side of the rails. "Stop," she shouted! The driver frowned at her. "Stop the train," she shouted! "That's them!" Reluctantly, the driver threw the brake and threw the train into reverse. In a shower of sparks, the train blew past the three survivors and ground to a halt a few hundred feet up the track.
Jumping down from the locomotive, Star Mertens went tearing back down the track to her father. The big man caught the little nymph on the run and hugged her. Breaking that embrace, Star took a good look at the trio. "What the junk, dad," she demanded?! "What're you doing out here half-naked?!" "That would be down to the fact that we had to jump off the train before it went into a canyon," Bronwyn retorted. Star's face snapped around to her irritating second cousin. With a sigh, Finn said, "somebody blew up the bridge. If JJ hadn't had a vision, we'd have been on the train when it crashed." It didn't matter in the moment what the how's or why's were. Star was happy. She had her daddy back.
Lady Nicia awoke from a fitful sleep to hear waves slapping against the side of her yacht. Climbing out on deck, she found the sun headed down in the sky and the mountainous terrain of the Bandit Lands looming on the horizon. Seeing her there at the entry to the cabin, the captain stepped forward with a scrap of parchment in his hands. "A message from the wireless," he said, as he handed it over. It was from Othman.
Lady Nicia's hands began to shake as she read the contents of that scrap of paper. Hafgrim was dead. He'd gotten summoned to the Royal Palace in Warrior Kingdom, and he'd gone in expecting some routine bit of business regarding his job watching over the border guard. What he'd gotten instead was drawn and quartered. The princess's ruthless secret police had then chopped off his head and hung it on a pike outside the swanky downtown castle that Hafgrim had called home. More to the point, the ship carrying their illicit weapons had gone down with all hands after sailing onto the rocks just outside the harbor in Engagement Ring Kingdom.
The rebellious noble crumpled the note and wept as she took in the enormity of their failure. She'd hoped to slip back into the Bandit Kingdoms and go to ground in her own tiny domain until Hafgrim could launch his campaign. Now she feared that wouldn't be enough. Somehow their plotting had been revealed. Her mind conjured the image of her fragile body being yanked apart by horses. The idea was just too ugly to contemplate. She couldn't go home. She would have to sail further east and find somewhere to hide in the wastelands there.
As the sun was setting, the freight train carrying the King and his family finally rumbled and clattered back into the yard in the Suncoast. Backing the train down out of the mountains took longer than going up had. Forced to rely on signals from the rear of the train, the locomotive driver had slowly eased the train back down the grade until he was finally able to reach a siding and run around his train. Star spent the time planning what they were going to do about the wrecked train and limo and the dead guards and crew. They'd given their lives, and it didn't seem right to leave them there.
Rumor of the King's survival was already making the rounds, brought by the radio signals of the train's crew. As the train clattered to a halt on a siding, the Guard was on hand to bundle Finn and his companions into a car, hauling them off to a hotel. Bronwyn and Jake Junior headed for the showers as soon as they were in the King's suite. Finn had more important matters on his mind. Someone had tried to murder him, and he wanted to quiz his daughter on just what had been going on while he was out of pocket.
Star put him off. There were far more important matters in the offing. Dialing up the palace in the Candy Kingdom, she shoved her phone in his face, and walked away. "Hello," announced Simone's soft, pleasant voice. "Hey," he greeted her. There was a momentary pause, and Finn tried to fill it with humor, declaring, "had a little problem with the train..." "Finn," announced Roselinen's voice. The big man's hand went to his neck in unconscious habit. He'd been grabbing for the tie he wasn't wearing, and it made his daughter chuckle. "I'm ok," he said. "Get home as soon as you can, honey," Roselinen said. "We're anxious to see you. All of us." Finn barely halted himself from groaning. That usually meant a beating. "I uh... I was being careful," he said. "We know," Simone responded. "We'll see you when you're home. Good night, honey.
Well, the nobles' plan has gone aground on the rocks. Literally. Hafgrim is dead. His pals are on the run. Meanwhile, Odessa's rushing back to the capitol to try and stake her claim to power. Should be some interesting fireworks ahead.