Spells and Louds
Chapter 100: Strength together
(Alfea College, Magix)
It has been three days since the event of Hollows sacrifice. Musa is outside with an umbrella as the rain falls.
She stares at the area where the imperial outpost was placed.
The Immortal council has come to an agreement, to cut off all ties to the world of Magix, they couldn't risk another member of their council getting killed.
Gyro had to use a very powerful and dangerous spell to destroy the Great gate in Magix and it took a lot of energy out of him.
All imperial divisions have been withdrawn from every kingdom. Solaria, Arachleon, Domino, Gardenia and every other kingdom.
This was troubling news for the rulers though, the galactic empire was the strongest ally they ever had and now without them, they have no chance in stopping the Trix and their aerial college.
Musa heads back into the college with a saddened face on her.
She heads into the room she shares with her friends. They all watch as Musa enters her room, without any other thing to do.
Tecna enters the room and sees Musa strumming on the electric guitar of Hollow, with the demon hunter glaives by the side of the bed.
Ever since his death Musa was not the same, she was always the musical one in the crew who could bring some positivity. She became an even greater inspiration when she found love in Hollow, but now all she feels is an empty dark void in her heart, all she wanted was to see him again, to be with Hollow again.
Chaos and Harmony.
The rest of the Winx enter the room and all hug Musa, doing their best to comfort her, but then they get called by Griselda, saying that Miss Faragonda has some important news for them.
(Spellman Estate, Royal Woods)
The Spellman's are all getting dressed in black. The day has come for the funeral of their friend, even though he wasn't really their friend when they met. They felt like he was their greatest ally.
Lincoln knocks on the door to Neil's office. Neil opens the door and comes out straitening his black tie.
"It's almost time dad" said Lincoln.
Neil sighs. "I just can't believe it, he's really gone. And to think I never saw him as my friend, it feels like I lost a best friend."
"It's okay dad. I know how you feel, he was pretty much the coolest ally we had in the entire crew and he almost felt like a member of the Royal Defenders" replied Lincoln.
"Yeah, I guess now is the time to get our senses back and look past all of his mistakes and carry on" said Niel.
Lincoln and Neil smile and they head downstairs, there they meet with Gwen, Lily, Loni, Linka, Leni, Luna, Sunset, Timmy, Courage, Leon, Sergei and the Pokémon.
They all know Neil is quite disappointed in all of this. But he tries his best to sport a smile, at least.
They all head out of the house and hop into a medivac Dropship.
They head off to pick up Lori, Lisa and Lucy. Next was Jordan, Dana and Becky, soon they pick up Martin, Victor and Penny and finally Sam and her dad Peter.
Afterwards they make their way to the Battlecruiser Aegis, where they all make their trip through hyperspace and chronowarp towards the Planet of the Jennerit Empire (Dimension of the Battleborn)
This was their first time to be there, in the world where Hollow first saved, where he fought Lothar Rendain and his Varelsi allies and saved the last star Solace.
The planet was colored red, because of its buildings and it's the faction color.
When they arrive they spot other ships above the planet. A fleet of Dominion ships, the Spear of Adune, the Death fleet, the leviathan, Incursean fleet, the World Eater, the Diamonds ship, the Deathstar and Star killer base.
They all make their way to the planet's surface and head towards the large front area of the Jennerit citadel, the once former home of the Jennerit empress which was the former palace of Hollow.
A lot of imperial forces were there and for the first time they see Hollows former apprentice Zim.
Amongst them was Mandie who was wearing a commander's uniform, which means she is currently in control of the empire until they can settle something.
The rest of the guests there were every member of the Battleborn, the protoss, Terrans, Zerg, Wander, Lord Dominator and Sylvia, the crystal gems and the Diamonds, the transformers, Queen Attea and her Incursean forces, Ben Tennyson and Charmcaster, the Archangels of the high heavens, the cult of the damned, Illidan Stormrage and his Illidari.
They were kinda confused how he became allies with the demon hunter himself.
The Royal Defenders found their seats next to the crystal gems. Lincoln could see the sadness in Spinel's eyes. Hollow was dubbed Spinel's first true understanding friend and she lost him, she never even got a chance to meet Hollow's love interest Musa.
They spot a giant Great gate on top of the Palaces roof top and a lot of heavy defenses. 'Man Hollow really did want to defend all things linked to the multiverse' Neil said to his thoughts.
They all see the coffin of Hollow at the front of the palace surrounded by candles that glow red fire.
They were planning on making a statue for him, but there was no time.
Everyone on the planet, from the citizens, the imperial troops, the Thrall race and Jennerit soldiers were devastated that their new and great leader was killed.
Then they all hear a microphone turn on and Gyro stepping onto the pedestal. With the theme song of Darth Vader in the background, they all turn to the left and spot John Williams and his orchestra performing the song.
"How did they get them here?" Sergei whispered to Leon.
"Hollow, was a very …. Villainous man. we first met when he landed his forces onto the dimension, the very same dimension where he proved he was not a bad guy but just trying ti maintain order, even if it meant destroying the hostile world" said Gyro.
"Many of us thought he would be the scourge of the multiverse and show us true evil, but we were all wrong. He was none of those. He may have been trained by Darth Vader himself, but Vader saw something inside him, something that could change the fate of all things living and that's what he did, he changed all of us and showed us the truest of courage to a hero is sacrifice, to preserve life and the meaning of freedom" said Gyro.
Everyone remained silent, he was a great hero, sort of.
"And we all know he cared mostly for his spot on the Villains roster, but he saw something else and looked the other way and that's when he made his choice to become something greater" said Gyro.
All Spinel could do was let her tears flow, while Steven and Connie tried to comfort her.
"Now, ladies and gentleman, I present to you Alarak, High Lord of the Tal'Darim." Gyro steps off and the high lord takes the place.
"I never really understood the meaning to the existence of Terrans, until I met Hollow. He was someone I thought was a threat to my people, to our society and to our way of life. But then I sensed the power and the hatred he contained and what is aw was no mere Terran, but a being who seeks power and true dominance and that was what we had in common. We soon became allies and did whatever we could to bring aid to our people, but alas he did not wish to waste my forces on his final battle. The last thing he spoke to me was that I keep my people on guard and face the true enemy, when the time was right" Alarak looks down with sadness for the first time.
"Since the fall and betrayal from Amon, I swore I would never ever bow to a being above me or equal to me. But this time I wish his spirit to have the best of life in this world or another and I would bow to his greatness and all he has sacrificed, I truly can't believe I am about to say this. But I would call him, my Dark Lord" said Alarak.
He then turns to the empty coffin and activates his blade and raises it into the air. His soldiers do the same thing. "En taro Slain, En Taro Vader, En Taro Cabal!"
Alarak then steps down and they all look at Neil.
'I guess I'm up; Neil says to his thoughts. He stands up and heads to the pedestal.
"You know to be honest. I never really liked the guy, I mean he was a bit of a jerk and looked like a Goth teen who lost his eye liner" said Neil with a smirk. Everyone actually agreed and laughed a little.
"I never really understood why I hated him. Maybe it's because of the darkness we both have which makes us rivals, maybe it's because he knows I harbor Deathwing or maybe it's because we both have complicated lives and want to be greater than we currently are" said Neil.
"But now that I think of it, I really am gonna miss the sick, sadistic, psychopathic man I would've called" Neil looks to the coffin. "My equal. May you find peace with the legends of the Star Wars past."
Neil then steps down and sits next to Gwen and sheds a few tears.
The next one was Mandie.
"He was a master I could follow, a master I could listen to, a master who never gave up on those he found worthy. At first I never thought he would understand, but then he gave me a second chance to redeem myself. He made me who I am today and I wish I could learn more from him, but now he's gone and I will never find a true master to someone who was like him."
Mandie then steps down and Zim takes the stand.
"When he first came to my universe I thought he was some kind of pathetic, no good liar and would want me to betray my people!" said Zim with anger.
Some of them felt uncomfortable with what he just said.
Zim then looks down in sadness. "But then he showed me the truth, that I was the fool, that I was the laughing stock to my people, that I was not meant to have a purpose. Then he showed me that I can have a purpose!"
"Through him I learned so much on how to truly rule! How to conquer, dominate and take my revenge. He was like a father figure, he wanted to see me accomplish my dream and take back what was lost, my dignity! And through him I lay waste to my home planet and took control, but now. Now I wish he could still see me, see how his teachings have made me the most terrifying ruler to my homeworld."
Zim walks to the coffin and places his hand on it.
"Farewell master, I will continue your teachings to future generations of conquerors."
Zim then steps down and heads back to his seat. Some of the audience was scared at what he just said and had no clue how to respond to him.
They all knew there was one last person who was dubbed Hollow's friend. All eyes looked towards the one who became number two on the roster, Spinel.
She didn't want to, but she knew she had something to say.
Spinel went up to the pedestal.
"I … I just don't know what else to tell you all. I never really thought I would make a friend from the person I almost made an enemy" said Spinel.
"We've all been down that enemy road with him" yelled Gyro. Everyone else agreed and chuckled a bit, and so did Spinel.
"I just never knew that someone as cold hearted as Hollow could find friendliness in me, I wasn't much of a good person. I knocked him off to number three in the roster, I destroyed one of his ships and I almost became an even greater threat than him! But I guess he saw a lot of himself in me and felt my pain"
"I just wish I could talk to him one last time. Ask him what his favorite game was, what's his favorite color, does he have any other friends, will he always be my friend and ….. Ask him, what was his story, what was he like and why did he see himself in me."
Everyone remained silent.
"So long buddy, I hope one day we can meet again and-." Spinel stops and looks at something outside of the audience.
Everyone was looking at her confused. So they all looked behind them and their eyes are shocked at what they were seeing.
A dark figure who looks all too familiar.
(Alfea College, Magix)
The Winx report to Miss Faragonda, who is talking to Silena.
Musa sees the witch, the same witch who brought the ancient maw, the same witch who opened the legendarium, the same witch who aided the Trix, the same witch who helped kill her boyfriend.
Without a second thought, Musa actually summoned the demon hunter glaives and lunged forward, pinning Silena to the wall and with green fire in Musa's eyes. "You murderer!"
Silena struggles to break free from Musa's grasp. Then Bloom and the others stop her.
"Musa stop! Maybe she has a reason to be here" said Tecna.
"Yeah, to confess her sins and get what she deserves!" yelled Musa.
"Musa, stand down! She explained something important about the legendarium!" said Faragonda.
"She has nothing to say to me that can make me change my mind!" said Musa.
Silena was able to say something. "I know where the location of Cloud Tower is, and the Trix!"
Hearing that, Musa let's her go and the glaives disappear. "Alright, talk!"
"The Trix heard me talking to Acheron and double-crossed me, then Acheron made a new deal with the Trix and now he's free and siding with them. With their powers combined they can easily bring ruin to Magix and all worlds in it" said Silena.
They couldn't believe it, a new enemy has risen and he came from the very book that they were supposed to destroy.
"Where is Cloud Tower?" asked Bloom. Silena looked down with guilt. Musa knew what that meant.
"The very same mountain pass, where Hollow died" said Musa. They all gasped hearing that.
"They're planning on summoning an army from the Legendarium and conquering everything" replied Silena.
"Wait a minute. Why are you really doing this?" asked Stella.
Silena looked down with some tears. Musa understood her. "You felt sorry for what happened to Hollow and you didn't want it or any part of it. All you wanted was to spread a little chaos, but that little chaos grew into something more dangerous and that was all on you!"
They all looked to the young witch who nodded. Musa then hugged her. Which was surprising.
"I know Hollow would give you a second chance and he would forgive you" said Musa. She then looks at Silena. "And I forgive you too."
"Thank you" said Silena.
"Now, we're wasting time. We have to go to Cloud Tower, stop the Trix and Acheron and close the Legendarium for good!" said Bloom.
"I'm coming with you" said Silena. "I know how the Legendarium works."
"Good, we have a plan. Winx, let's go!" said Bloom.
(Mountain pass, the maw valley)
The Winx, Silena and the Specialists finally arrive to their destination. But what they see is truly shocking.
Underneath the school are three dragon like heads and each one was breathing out fire.
Silena spots some trolls, undead pirates and treants being summoned and Acheron with the Legendarium.
"We're too late, he already has his army!" said Silena.
Acheron turns around and spots them. "It appears we have unwanted guests!"
The Trix fly out of Cloud Tower. "Then let's show them how hospitable we can be!" said Icy.
They then fly forward and unleash their powers.
The Specialists head to ground level and try to fight off the enemy, Silena flies to Acheron and battles him and the Winx engage against the Trix.
But something was wrong, the Trix were stronger. "Like our new powers?!" said Darcy. "Acheron gave us some more juice for the job!" said Stormy. "And we'll be using it to destroy all of you!" said Icy.
But before anything else was said, Musa already charges towards Icy with her glaives, Icy flies off hoping to lose the angry fairy.
The rest of the Winx were tied to fighting Stormy and Darcy, then they get reinforcements from the other witches of the school.
"Well, this is not gonna be easy" said Aisha.
"This is cheating!" said Stella.
Musa blasts Icy with her harmonic attack. Icy hits the ground but she lands on her own ice platform safely and the two of them duel.
"What's wrong musical fairy? Miss your boyfriend? Don't worry, you'll be joining him soon!" Icy lunges forward with an ice sword.
Musa dodges and counters. Both are now equal and are trying their hardest to fight each other.
Then Icy tries the same thing she did with Hollow. But Musa dodges it and almost slashes off Icy's hair.
"You're going to pay you witch!" yelled Musa.
But then she gets grabbed by the hair from a troll. The troll then throws her to the ground, Musa gets up and gets hit by an ice blast and knocked onto a tree.
"Good job, now go and fight off the rest of those Specialists" Icy said to the Troll.
Icy walks forward towards Musa. She gets up and tries to reach for the glaives, she then sees her friends being pushed back by the witches and the army of monsters, the she sees Silena knocked onto a pile of rubble by Acheron.
Then she spots Icy walking towards her. Musa gets up and wipes some of the blood from her mouth.
"You really are the most annoying fairy aren't you?" said icy. Musa charges forward. Icy dodges and hits Musa with an ice blast.
Icy then grabs the glaives and tosses them away. She then punches Musa in the gut and throws her away from Cloud Tower. Musa lands hard onto the ground.
"Oh give up fairy, there's no need to fight anymore. You and you're friends lost! We win!" said Icy.
The rest of the fairies and Specialists are also knocked away from the College.
Musa sees all of them battered and try to get up.
"You're all alone now" said Darcy. "No more friends to help you" said Stormy.
I must continue summoning our army. Finish them off" said Acheron.
"With pleasure" said the Trix. They hover near the Winx with energy from their hands.
"All alone with no on else here to save you all!" said Icy.
"Is that what you think?" said another voice. It sounded all too familiar.
The Trix, witches and army are sent flying back to the college and they all hit the three headed serpent, which roars at the one who did it.
Musa knows the voice and turns around. Same with the Winx and Specialists, even Silena.
The Trix get up and see a Portal is open and coming out was. "H-Hollow?!" said Musa with tears.
And it was him. He turns off his mask and walks towards Musa and helps her up.
Musa looks at him and places both her hands to his face and they kiss.
They soon break the kiss and look at each other. "Hi" said Hollow. "Hi" replied Musa.
"I told you, we would meet again" said Hollow. Musa smiles and has tears. "You did!" they then hug each other.
The Winx walk towards him and the specialists as well. "Welcome back, but how?!" asked Bloom.
"That is a story for another time" replied Hollow. Then he sees Silena. "I know you feel bad and I forgive you."
"Thanks" replied Silena.
"Right now, we have a battle to win" said Hollow. "But the Trix are stringer now and they have Acheron!" said Stella.
"Then it's a good thing I brought back up. As they said through many journey's you mustn't fight alone!" said Hollow.
More portals open and coming out was an army.
(Cue Avengers Endgame final battle theme song!)
The Royal Defenders, the Crystal Gems, the Galactic Empire, Protoss Warriors, Terran soldiers, Zerg Swarm, Incursean army, the Plumbers, Zim's armies, Dom-bots, The Battleborn, Autobots and Decepticons, the undead army, the Brotherhood of Nod, FutureTech military, the armies of the High Heavens and the Illidari!
Musa and the Winx are shocked to see that everyone came. "Well, not really everyone, Azeroth is currently busy" said Gyro.
Then another portal opens and coming out was Doctor Strange and his sorcerers and Thor.
"Okay, looks like we got some Marvel help" said Timmy.
Musa picks up her glaives, the Winx get healed and empowered by Gyro and Hollow summons forth two light sabers, one belonging to Darth Maul and the other from Darth Vader.
Neil and Lincoln look at Hollow and so does everyone else. "Make the call Sith Lord."
Hollow smiles. "Immortals!" his mask activates. "To war!"
They all charge and war cry towards the enemies. All of them at their strongest, together, united!
The Trix look to the other witches who all retreat back to Cloud Tower. "Cowards!" yelled Darcy.
Acheron hovers and looks to his army. "Then we must fight!"
The Trix agree and they also charge forward.
Both armies are now charging, with epic theme music in the background and they clash!
Thor, Sam and Victor strike with Lightning, Electricity and Tesla bolts.
Luna, Lincoln and Dana freeze them.
Lori and Dana send light them up.
Neil takes to the skies and slams his mace to the ground.
Linka unleashes the might of the Odin.
Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven fuse to form Obsidian and summon their volcanic sword.
Alarak charges forward blades ready and hungry.
Zim blasts with a giant laser blaster.
Mandie uses her fire sword to destroy a large group.
Musa and the Winx use convergence to wipe out a massive enemy crowd.
Hollow throws out an all-out force push.
I'm pretty sure you all get the idea on what is going on.
Spinel grabs a treant and throws it to Musa who splits it in half.
"So, your Hollow's fried?" asked Musa.
"Yeah, and you must be his lover?" asked Spinel.
"Yeah, it's actually nice to finally meet you" replied Musa. "Same here" said Spinel.
Then they go back to back and stretch punch and harmonic blast surrounding foes.
In the middle of the fight. Sam gets outnumbered but then all of her surrounding enemies are burned by a skeleton with fire on its skull and its wearing cowboy attire that looks familiar.
"Hey there darlin'" said the ghost rider.
"D-Dad?!" said Sam. "What happened to you?!"
The ghost rider reverts to Peter Sharp. "That's a story for another time." he then turns back into ghost rider and uses his demon powered shotgun.
Neil and the others were shocked. "And I thought we had weird and unexplained powers" said Neil.
Icy spots Hollow completely distracted and lunges at him with her ice sword and she pierces him. Musa and the others gasp.
"Now stay dead!" yelled Icy.
Hollow turns around and removes the ice sword from his body and breaks it. Icy backs up in fear.
"W-What? H-How?!" said Icy with fear.
Hollow levitates her in the air. "I can't die anymore bitch!" he then tosses her back to the College where she hits the doors.
Hollow sees all of their shocked reactions. "What?"
"You have a lot to explain later" said Gyro.
They all pave their way through and make a strong push towards the Cloud Tower College.
Seeing this as an opportunity. Doctor Strange and gyro takes to the skies and cast a Distortion and Dispel Magic spell on the College, removing all of the stolen magic and sending it all back to its respective schools.
Then Thor flies to the skies and gathers Lighting. Sam and Victor also offer him some of their electric powers and his slams down onto the three headed serpent and destroys them.
Leni uses his plant powers to subdue all of the Treants and force them to fight for the winning team.
Kel'Thuzad sucks the souls of the undead pirates and control their minds to serve the undead army.
Acheron and the Trix have no idea what to do now. "This isn't working!" said Darcy. "How are they winning?!" said Stormy.
Acheron opens the book to find an answer, but he doesn't know that someone is right behind him.
Acheron turns around and sees Leon Davion Spellman looking at him. "What are you going to do mortal?!"
Neil and the rest of the family sees this. "What is he doing over there?!" asked Neil.
"Better yet, how did he get over there?" asked Sunset.
Leon's eyelids blink sideways, freaking everyone out. Then he smiles.
"Papakain ng iyong dugo and aking gutom!" said Leon (translate: You're blood will feed my hunger!)
Neil, Sergei and Gyro's eyes go wide. "Oh shit!"
Leon starts to feel pain as his body changes. His eyes now glow yellow, his claws extend, his teeth increase in length, his skin changes to dark brown and he grows in size and hunches like a beast.
"W-What is happening to him?!" asked Leni. Some of them were a bit scared.
"Aswang!" yelled Neil. Leon roars and lunges at Acheron, biting him in the neck and tearing him apart.
The Trix just watch in horror as Acheron ripped into shred. Acheron tries to blast Leon off with magic, but it does work.
Acheron screams in horror and finally with one final bloody cry, Acheron is killed.
The Aswang gets up and licks its fingers and looks at everyone. "What? Is there something in my teeth?" asked the monster.
"L-Leon?" asked Sergei. Leon looks at himself. "Yeesh! Man am I ugly!" replied Leon.
"Well, at least he's still the same. But we are having a long talk after this mister!" yelled Neil.
"You're not my dad!" said Leon. "I am your brother!" said Neil. Leon grumbles while crossing his arms and kicking Acherons head.
"Well, he still has his personality" replied Gyro.
Then Leon looks at the Trix who flinch from his menacing eyes.
But then someone slashes the back of Icy and she falls to the ground.
Stormy and Darcy are punched in the face by Spinel and hit the wall.
Icy gets up and feels a lot of pain from her back. "W-Whoa did that?!" she yells in anger and summons her ice powers.
But then she feels a large amount of pain from her body, she looks down to see a green blade has pierced her and the one wielding the blade from the glaive is Musa.
"Now it's your turn to die!" said Musa.
Hollow throws his light sabre. Musa gets out of the way and the light saber slices through Icy's torso.
Icy looks in horror and closes her eyes as her upper half falls to the ground and her lower half drops.
Stormy and Darcy cry in horror at what just happened to their witch sister.
But Alarak grabs Stormy's face. Red electricity surges inside of Alarak and starts to surrounds Stormy.
"Look into my eyes witch. I want to see your life burnout" said Alarak.
He then engulfs her entire face with red electricity and she screams in pain until she remains silent.
Alarak drops the lifeless witch of the storm to the ground. "Pathetic creature" said Alarak.
Darcy realizes she was now alone. She had no one left, she then feels rage and summons all of her energy and yells in anger, but its cut short when she's beheaded by an energy scythe.
Her head and body fall to the ground and they all look at Spinel and her newly rebuilt Scythe (Formerly the Rejuvenator)
The Crystal Gems and the Diamonds are shocked at the weapon they once saw. Spinel sees the looks on their faces.
"Hollow fixed it and don't worry it won't reset your memories, it just slices and blasts energy" replied Spinel. "She's not lying" said Hollow.
All the witches inside the school surrender. Silena picks up the Legendarium and they proceed to freeing all of their missing friends from the book and they use the key to lock it away. All they had to do was get the key from Rumplestiltskin, by trading him the now contained powers of Acheron which were placed inside of a bottle.
Musa runs to Hollow and hugs him and they proceed to kiss. Spinel also joins in on the hug and starts humming the Cuphead rap.
All of the armies start falling back to their world, but at the same time they greet Hollow for his return to the Council. They still want to know how he came back. But as he said, it was a story for another time.
Hollow returns to be the emperor of the Empire and dispatches his outposts back to Magix. Gyro rebuilds the Great gate and some of the fairies were glad the Royal Defenders came to help, Stella even wanted to apologize for her actions at the Royal Woods Mall and hoped she can be forgiven, one day.
They eventually make an arrangement with the earth fairy god mother and she accepts to let the Guardian take the Legendarium and lock it away.
Miss Griffin has been returned to be the headmistress of Cloud Tower once more and punish her traitorous students.
Neil goes to Hollow before he leaves. "It's good to see you again" said Neil.
"Yeah, it sucked dying" said Hollow. The two of them proceed to shake hands and hug.
They then depart from the hug and fist bump. "You still have some explaining to do you son of a bitch" said Neil.
"Soon you ass hole, soon" replied Hollow.
Neil then leaves through the portal to deal with Leon and why he was like that.
Hollow looks to the closed Great Gate and smiles. Then Musa flies down and they kiss.
"You came back" said Musa. "I would never leave you and I will always be here, forever" replied Hollow.
And the sun sets on Magix as the flag of a new immortal Empire flies through the wind.
To be continued …..
He's back people! Hollow is back! The Trix are dead and so is Acheron! But what about the Ghost rider powers of Peter and how did Hollow came back from death! Tune in for next time folks!
I would like to thank all of you, my readers for supporting me with this story. This is my 100th Chapter and I am damn proud of making this and I couldn't believe that this all started when I made the story Spell Luck. Though every step of this story was nothing without the help of all of the great authors, I would love to name them, but there are so many. Their names are found on the Evil Lincoln chapter, I do hope I can continue this story and thanks again guys!
This story was also inspired after I watched Avengers Endgame, again.
As of always, Leave a review and tell me what you all think.