Kai: *whispers to Tyson* did you hide the sugar in a high place?
Tyson: I hid it under her pillow. She'll never find it there!
Ray: TYSON! You dumbass!
Max: *giggles* sugar . . .Max likes sugar!
Kai: Speaking of dumbasses . . .
Linky: Hey I'm back! Teehee How is everyone? Are all my reviewers happy today? Linky is happy today! Very happy indeed There's only one thing wrong with today, but that's yesterday's fault! You see I dyed my fringe blue yesterday and it said washes out on the packet and . . .it won't come out. So I'm gonna have a blue fringe for a while. *Shrugs*
Ozuma and Joseph: *hits everyone over the head with a big monkey wrench* Linky doesn't own anyone from Beyblade. She only owns Suzuka Li, Mara Balcov, Jade Kon, Maxine Tate and Lynx Lucifer.
Linky: Teehee enjoy!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter Nine: Not another Punk-ass Rockstar?!
The Next Day
Kai dropped a thick yellow book onto the desk. The dust erupted from it, causing the Bladebreakers to cough and splutter. Kai shooed the dust away with his hand and opened the thick, old book. He flicked through the pages; his grey eyes scanned the letters flawlessly, however the others were NOT amused.
"What are you doing Kai?" whined Ray, "That's the yellow pages from 1992!"
"I know Ray," said Kai still flicking furiously through the pages,
"What are you trying to achieve? Tyson and Wyatt are out cold, Dranzer and Dragoon have been taken, Max is having a nervous breakdown and in case you haven't noticed I have wounds that need medical treatment and what are you doing? You're flicking through a twelve year old Yellow Pages? Come on Kai!" said Ray running a hand stressfully through his raven hair, Kai growled, he slammed his fist onto the table.
"I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING RAY! SO DON'T YOU SNAP AT ME AS IF ALL THIS IS MY FAULT!" Kai bawled, Ray shook his head and turned his back on Kai,
"I've found it! Hey Ray! Max come here!" said Kai with a grin on his face. Max and Ray approached Kai. Curious to know what he had found, Kai picked up his mobile and placed his index finger on the number he had found. 'Gray Moon's Exorcisms and Witchcraft: Ghosts and unholy spirits be gone!' Kai dialled the number, it rang a few times and then picked up.
"Gray Moons here, how may I be of your service?" asked a female Scottish voice, Kai could hear wind chimes and the gentle strum of an acoustic guitar in the background,
"Hey, um . . .we're in need of an exorcism," said Kai,
"No shit Sherlock," said the girl on the other line, "What kind of exorcism? A possessive demon? A spiritual host? Haunted building? Well? Come on kid?" the girl asked,
"Demonic. But not a possessive demon. You see my friend's separate 'Yang' is back to kill him; we need you to take care of her for us. Possibly put my friend back together again?" asked Kai, he could hear the girl scribble something on a piece of paper,
"Ah yes, a separate 'Yin Yang' No problem, just give me your name and address and I'll be over . . ."
"At three o'clock? At the All Boys' Kaizen Academy room number seven, Kai Hiwatari."
"Three o'clock. Kai Hiwatari. Kaizen Academy. Got it. Just until I get there, keep the Yin and the Yang away from each other, okay?"
"Right,"
"See ya!"
"Bye."
They both hung up. Ray and Max both looked equally confused. Kai turned to Max; he rested his hands on the younger blond teen's shoulders. He smiled warmly at Max,
"I'm doing this for you Maxie," said Kai calmly,
"What-I don't understand," said Max in confusion,
"I called an Exorcist to get your 'Yin and Yang' thing sorted out. So we don't need to worry about Maxine once this girl's done," Max smiled and looked at Kai, tears of happiness brimming in his baby blue eyes,
"Thanks Kai . . .you're the best!" Max hugged Kai tightly sobbing on his strong chest,
"It's all good Max, it's all good," said Kai with a smile.
The autumn leaves painted the land surrounding the Kaizen All Boys' Academy in all the plentiful oranges and browns. A black motorcycle purred up towards the Academy. It was half past three and all the classes had finished. The motorcycle was a black Yamaha Genesis it tore up the road as it sped along. The driver was dressed in a long black leather jacket with a black helmet placed firmly on his or her head, two ends of a red and black striped scarf trailed like a flag from the driver's neck.
As the driver came closer the boys from the academy came from wherever they were out to see whom the driver was. The driver saw the spectators and pulled the handles back causing the bike to rear up onto its hind wheel. The driver rode into the courtyard of the Academy still only on one wheel the bike came to a stop in front of the main door. Right in the middle of the crowd of boys, they applauded and whistled. The driver came off the black Yamaha genesis and took off the shining black helmet.
There stood a girl, she had shoulder length white hair with black tips. She had glistening crimson eyes her pupils thinned to cat slits due to the sunlight. She was very pale, she wore a t-shirt that said '0% Angel' along with a pair of baggy black jeans with a few chains on them. She also wore an ankle-length black leather jacket. Her black and red scarf blew gently in the wind it trailed to her black biker boots. She took a swig out of a flask, and propped up the black bike. She turned to the crowd of boys, some of which hadn't seen an actual girl and not cut outs from porno magazines. One boy stared in shock,
"Oh my god! It's Lynx!"
"What no way!? It can't be!"
"It is look!"
"Holy shit! The rockstar is in the building!"
The boys crowded around the girl waving bits of paper and pens yelling and wolf whistling, she just stood there downing the liquid from the flask, which suspiciously smelt of Jack Daniels whiskey, she just shook her head and listened to the comments that were coming from the boys.
"Can I have your autograph?"
"Can you sign my nipple?"
"Are your eyes really red?"
"Have you ever met Ozzy Osbourne?"
"Could you write your next song about me please?"
"You looked a lot taller on TV."
"Will you sleep with me?"
She laughed at the last comment, which came from a tall boy with black spiked hair and blue eyes, he had a skull earring in his right ear and a thick layer of eyeliner around his eyes. She shook her head yet again.
"Maybe later kid. Hey boys, I'm looking for a Kai Hiwatari, why don't one of you cuties tell me where I'm goin' eh?" she asked placing her hands on her hips,
"Who Kai, as in the Captain of the Bladebreakers Kai?" asked a ginger haired boy, the boys all broke out into whisper and talk. The girl just shrugged and slung a black leather bag over her shoulder,
"Follow me," said the blue-eyed boy taking her hand and leading the girl away.
She looked around the school, it was huge and she hadn't consulted the headmaster about her stay. She would just pay him a ridiculous amount of money and leave it there. And besides this boy seemed willing enough to share his bed with her. She grinned, the two stopped outside the room.
"This is the room you are looking for yeah?" asked the boy,
"Yup. Thanks . . .Damien."
"How'd you know my name?"
"I'm psychic, I'll see you when I'm done here. I hope you don't mind me sharing your room with you. I promise I'll be good,"
"You don't need to be. You can be as bad as you want."
The girl grinned as Damien walked away. She knocked on the door, and fumbling about was heard. The door opened a creak and Kai peered out at her before dragging her in the room and locking the door quickly.
"You're late,"
"I know, this place is pretty isolated. Took me a while to find. Did you not see the crowd outside?"
"That biker was amazing!" said Ray.
The girl looked around the room. Hilary was sitting next to a rather depressed Tyson; Ray was having his bandages changed by Kenny. Max was sitting quietly by window and Wyatt lay on the double bed, blood-soaked bandages wrapped around the top of his head. Kai stood behind her. The whole room was a mess, there was blood on the sheets and carpets even beside the window there was a bloody handprint.that belonged to Ray. The curtains were torn and the cupboards and drawers had been pulled apart.
"I know you . . ." began Hilary she dug about in her bag to find something,
"Yeah you look familiar, very familiar," said Kenny scratching his chin, the girl laughed silently to herself,
"Oh my god! It's Lynx. Lynx Lucifer!" Hilary cried staring at the CD, which had a picture of the girl on it.
"The rockstar?" asked Ray,
"Yeah, she sings that rubbish that Hilary listens to," said Kenny,
"It may be rubbish, but it's fucking good rubbish man," said Hilary TRYING to act tough. Lynx shook her head and walked over to Max.
"Hey Max, I'm here to help you. My name's Lynx, you must be the 'yin'." Said Lynx with a smile, Max looked at her with wide eyes staring at her like a lost child,
"Are you an a . . ."
"Call me an albino and I'll-"
". . .Are you an angel?" he asked like a possessed child, Lynx's gaze softened and she sat down on the floor.
"He's out of it. In a state of shock,"
"I'll answer your questions," said Kai, Lynx nodded and got out a notebook,
"Is Max's yang a human or a demon?"
"Demon,"
"Right. Are they the same age?"
"Yes,"
"Okay. Is she armed?"
"With some kind of light sabre,"
"Okay a Dark Ki Sword. How old is Max?"
"He's fourteen."
"Fourteen, when were the yin and yang separated?"
"Before birth."
"Okay. That's about all I need to know. I need to exorcise the demon and get the yang back to the yin. However, it's too late for me to make the Yang's physical body disappear, there will be two bodies both will have a full yin-yang. Okay normally I'd charge a thousand dollars for this, however I feel sorry for Max so I'll do it for free."
"You're too kind, you really shouldn't-"
"It's alright, now . . ." Lynx began to look an ancient book, "Let's get this party started!"
Suzuka and Maxine sat out with Jade they stared up at the autumn sky watching the clouds, it was drawing into December and even the trees were beginning to metamorphosis into their winter jackets. They all had on jackets. They were plotting silently to themselves, Maxine, Suzuka and Jade spent quite a bit of time together however Mara was never with them. She was a loner- always by herself. Not that they were complaining. Maxine lifted her hand and swirled it about in the air, the clouds in the sky then swirled and turned a chalky yet menacing grey within seconds the huddled clouds began to weep rain, it poured down heavily.
"We'd better go . . .it's going to get a lot worse. A hell of a lot worse," said Maxine getting to her feet,
"Yeah I suppose," said Suzuka. Jade nodded and got to her feet, they walked slowly back towards the small farmer's barn in which they were taking refuge. They had to walk through the forest it was damp and stank. Jade hissed in pain and bent over to clutch the pain that throbbed in her left ankle.
"Huh? Jade are you alright?" asked Suzuka curiously to the Chinese girl, Jade nodded,
"Yeah I'm okay, I just brushed against something," Jade smiled, they continued walking onwards.
Lightning illuminated the forest and the rain got heavier. The girls tried to run faster but Jade was beginning to feel faint. She fell to the ground with a thud groaning through her clenched teeth. Unbearable pain surging up her legs. She felt sick to the stomach and strangely felt uncannily freezing however she was burning up and her temperature was hitting the roof. Suzuka picked Jade up and slung her around her shoulders they trekked on. Maxine ran ahead, ignoring the mortals trailing behind her. Her temples were beginning to ache she clutched her head, her vision blurring, within seconds she felt her a witch's presence. It stung her senses . . . she collapsed. Suzuka ran as fast as she could whilst she had Jade slung over her shoulders in a fireman's carry. She failed to notice Maxine's unconscious body through the pelting rain.
"Ah ha! Well that should do it. Now the demon is gone, and all I have to do is this.I need to give Max this water mixed with my blood to be sure that the deed is done. When I give him my blood the Yang will return to him, and Maxine will be a totally different person with no memory of her past!" said Lynx with a grin, she got a glass of water and a blade, she took the blade to her hand and quickly put a gash in her hand she squeezed her hand tight forcing the blood to drip out faster. The crimson swirled against the water, swimming in its purity. She tipped Max's head back and poured the liquid into his mouth, he didn't struggle however he fell asleep afterwards.into a dreamless slumber. Kai let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm going for a walk."
"Can I come?" Lynx asked curiously, Kai smiled normally he'd say no, but Lynx had just saved Max - for free.
"Sure."
Suzuka sat Jade down on the hay. She looked awful; she was coming down with some kind of fever. Suzuka dabbed her head with a damp towel. Jade's breathing was frantic as Suzuka desperately tried to calm her illness down. However she didn't have a clue what was wrong with Jade.
"It'd gonna be alright Jade! So calm down, that's right take deep breaths! Come on, just chill 'k girl?" Suzuka was beginning to panic, she could see Jade's condition was getting worse and Suzuka didn't know if the illness was contagious or not.
"Jade . . .don't die on me, please."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tyson: I hid it under her pillow. She'll never find it there!
Ray: TYSON! You dumbass!
Max: *giggles* sugar . . .Max likes sugar!
Kai: Speaking of dumbasses . . .
Linky: Hey I'm back! Teehee How is everyone? Are all my reviewers happy today? Linky is happy today! Very happy indeed There's only one thing wrong with today, but that's yesterday's fault! You see I dyed my fringe blue yesterday and it said washes out on the packet and . . .it won't come out. So I'm gonna have a blue fringe for a while. *Shrugs*
Ozuma and Joseph: *hits everyone over the head with a big monkey wrench* Linky doesn't own anyone from Beyblade. She only owns Suzuka Li, Mara Balcov, Jade Kon, Maxine Tate and Lynx Lucifer.
Linky: Teehee enjoy!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter Nine: Not another Punk-ass Rockstar?!
The Next Day
Kai dropped a thick yellow book onto the desk. The dust erupted from it, causing the Bladebreakers to cough and splutter. Kai shooed the dust away with his hand and opened the thick, old book. He flicked through the pages; his grey eyes scanned the letters flawlessly, however the others were NOT amused.
"What are you doing Kai?" whined Ray, "That's the yellow pages from 1992!"
"I know Ray," said Kai still flicking furiously through the pages,
"What are you trying to achieve? Tyson and Wyatt are out cold, Dranzer and Dragoon have been taken, Max is having a nervous breakdown and in case you haven't noticed I have wounds that need medical treatment and what are you doing? You're flicking through a twelve year old Yellow Pages? Come on Kai!" said Ray running a hand stressfully through his raven hair, Kai growled, he slammed his fist onto the table.
"I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING RAY! SO DON'T YOU SNAP AT ME AS IF ALL THIS IS MY FAULT!" Kai bawled, Ray shook his head and turned his back on Kai,
"I've found it! Hey Ray! Max come here!" said Kai with a grin on his face. Max and Ray approached Kai. Curious to know what he had found, Kai picked up his mobile and placed his index finger on the number he had found. 'Gray Moon's Exorcisms and Witchcraft: Ghosts and unholy spirits be gone!' Kai dialled the number, it rang a few times and then picked up.
"Gray Moons here, how may I be of your service?" asked a female Scottish voice, Kai could hear wind chimes and the gentle strum of an acoustic guitar in the background,
"Hey, um . . .we're in need of an exorcism," said Kai,
"No shit Sherlock," said the girl on the other line, "What kind of exorcism? A possessive demon? A spiritual host? Haunted building? Well? Come on kid?" the girl asked,
"Demonic. But not a possessive demon. You see my friend's separate 'Yang' is back to kill him; we need you to take care of her for us. Possibly put my friend back together again?" asked Kai, he could hear the girl scribble something on a piece of paper,
"Ah yes, a separate 'Yin Yang' No problem, just give me your name and address and I'll be over . . ."
"At three o'clock? At the All Boys' Kaizen Academy room number seven, Kai Hiwatari."
"Three o'clock. Kai Hiwatari. Kaizen Academy. Got it. Just until I get there, keep the Yin and the Yang away from each other, okay?"
"Right,"
"See ya!"
"Bye."
They both hung up. Ray and Max both looked equally confused. Kai turned to Max; he rested his hands on the younger blond teen's shoulders. He smiled warmly at Max,
"I'm doing this for you Maxie," said Kai calmly,
"What-I don't understand," said Max in confusion,
"I called an Exorcist to get your 'Yin and Yang' thing sorted out. So we don't need to worry about Maxine once this girl's done," Max smiled and looked at Kai, tears of happiness brimming in his baby blue eyes,
"Thanks Kai . . .you're the best!" Max hugged Kai tightly sobbing on his strong chest,
"It's all good Max, it's all good," said Kai with a smile.
The autumn leaves painted the land surrounding the Kaizen All Boys' Academy in all the plentiful oranges and browns. A black motorcycle purred up towards the Academy. It was half past three and all the classes had finished. The motorcycle was a black Yamaha Genesis it tore up the road as it sped along. The driver was dressed in a long black leather jacket with a black helmet placed firmly on his or her head, two ends of a red and black striped scarf trailed like a flag from the driver's neck.
As the driver came closer the boys from the academy came from wherever they were out to see whom the driver was. The driver saw the spectators and pulled the handles back causing the bike to rear up onto its hind wheel. The driver rode into the courtyard of the Academy still only on one wheel the bike came to a stop in front of the main door. Right in the middle of the crowd of boys, they applauded and whistled. The driver came off the black Yamaha genesis and took off the shining black helmet.
There stood a girl, she had shoulder length white hair with black tips. She had glistening crimson eyes her pupils thinned to cat slits due to the sunlight. She was very pale, she wore a t-shirt that said '0% Angel' along with a pair of baggy black jeans with a few chains on them. She also wore an ankle-length black leather jacket. Her black and red scarf blew gently in the wind it trailed to her black biker boots. She took a swig out of a flask, and propped up the black bike. She turned to the crowd of boys, some of which hadn't seen an actual girl and not cut outs from porno magazines. One boy stared in shock,
"Oh my god! It's Lynx!"
"What no way!? It can't be!"
"It is look!"
"Holy shit! The rockstar is in the building!"
The boys crowded around the girl waving bits of paper and pens yelling and wolf whistling, she just stood there downing the liquid from the flask, which suspiciously smelt of Jack Daniels whiskey, she just shook her head and listened to the comments that were coming from the boys.
"Can I have your autograph?"
"Can you sign my nipple?"
"Are your eyes really red?"
"Have you ever met Ozzy Osbourne?"
"Could you write your next song about me please?"
"You looked a lot taller on TV."
"Will you sleep with me?"
She laughed at the last comment, which came from a tall boy with black spiked hair and blue eyes, he had a skull earring in his right ear and a thick layer of eyeliner around his eyes. She shook her head yet again.
"Maybe later kid. Hey boys, I'm looking for a Kai Hiwatari, why don't one of you cuties tell me where I'm goin' eh?" she asked placing her hands on her hips,
"Who Kai, as in the Captain of the Bladebreakers Kai?" asked a ginger haired boy, the boys all broke out into whisper and talk. The girl just shrugged and slung a black leather bag over her shoulder,
"Follow me," said the blue-eyed boy taking her hand and leading the girl away.
She looked around the school, it was huge and she hadn't consulted the headmaster about her stay. She would just pay him a ridiculous amount of money and leave it there. And besides this boy seemed willing enough to share his bed with her. She grinned, the two stopped outside the room.
"This is the room you are looking for yeah?" asked the boy,
"Yup. Thanks . . .Damien."
"How'd you know my name?"
"I'm psychic, I'll see you when I'm done here. I hope you don't mind me sharing your room with you. I promise I'll be good,"
"You don't need to be. You can be as bad as you want."
The girl grinned as Damien walked away. She knocked on the door, and fumbling about was heard. The door opened a creak and Kai peered out at her before dragging her in the room and locking the door quickly.
"You're late,"
"I know, this place is pretty isolated. Took me a while to find. Did you not see the crowd outside?"
"That biker was amazing!" said Ray.
The girl looked around the room. Hilary was sitting next to a rather depressed Tyson; Ray was having his bandages changed by Kenny. Max was sitting quietly by window and Wyatt lay on the double bed, blood-soaked bandages wrapped around the top of his head. Kai stood behind her. The whole room was a mess, there was blood on the sheets and carpets even beside the window there was a bloody handprint.that belonged to Ray. The curtains were torn and the cupboards and drawers had been pulled apart.
"I know you . . ." began Hilary she dug about in her bag to find something,
"Yeah you look familiar, very familiar," said Kenny scratching his chin, the girl laughed silently to herself,
"Oh my god! It's Lynx. Lynx Lucifer!" Hilary cried staring at the CD, which had a picture of the girl on it.
"The rockstar?" asked Ray,
"Yeah, she sings that rubbish that Hilary listens to," said Kenny,
"It may be rubbish, but it's fucking good rubbish man," said Hilary TRYING to act tough. Lynx shook her head and walked over to Max.
"Hey Max, I'm here to help you. My name's Lynx, you must be the 'yin'." Said Lynx with a smile, Max looked at her with wide eyes staring at her like a lost child,
"Are you an a . . ."
"Call me an albino and I'll-"
". . .Are you an angel?" he asked like a possessed child, Lynx's gaze softened and she sat down on the floor.
"He's out of it. In a state of shock,"
"I'll answer your questions," said Kai, Lynx nodded and got out a notebook,
"Is Max's yang a human or a demon?"
"Demon,"
"Right. Are they the same age?"
"Yes,"
"Okay. Is she armed?"
"With some kind of light sabre,"
"Okay a Dark Ki Sword. How old is Max?"
"He's fourteen."
"Fourteen, when were the yin and yang separated?"
"Before birth."
"Okay. That's about all I need to know. I need to exorcise the demon and get the yang back to the yin. However, it's too late for me to make the Yang's physical body disappear, there will be two bodies both will have a full yin-yang. Okay normally I'd charge a thousand dollars for this, however I feel sorry for Max so I'll do it for free."
"You're too kind, you really shouldn't-"
"It's alright, now . . ." Lynx began to look an ancient book, "Let's get this party started!"
Suzuka and Maxine sat out with Jade they stared up at the autumn sky watching the clouds, it was drawing into December and even the trees were beginning to metamorphosis into their winter jackets. They all had on jackets. They were plotting silently to themselves, Maxine, Suzuka and Jade spent quite a bit of time together however Mara was never with them. She was a loner- always by herself. Not that they were complaining. Maxine lifted her hand and swirled it about in the air, the clouds in the sky then swirled and turned a chalky yet menacing grey within seconds the huddled clouds began to weep rain, it poured down heavily.
"We'd better go . . .it's going to get a lot worse. A hell of a lot worse," said Maxine getting to her feet,
"Yeah I suppose," said Suzuka. Jade nodded and got to her feet, they walked slowly back towards the small farmer's barn in which they were taking refuge. They had to walk through the forest it was damp and stank. Jade hissed in pain and bent over to clutch the pain that throbbed in her left ankle.
"Huh? Jade are you alright?" asked Suzuka curiously to the Chinese girl, Jade nodded,
"Yeah I'm okay, I just brushed against something," Jade smiled, they continued walking onwards.
Lightning illuminated the forest and the rain got heavier. The girls tried to run faster but Jade was beginning to feel faint. She fell to the ground with a thud groaning through her clenched teeth. Unbearable pain surging up her legs. She felt sick to the stomach and strangely felt uncannily freezing however she was burning up and her temperature was hitting the roof. Suzuka picked Jade up and slung her around her shoulders they trekked on. Maxine ran ahead, ignoring the mortals trailing behind her. Her temples were beginning to ache she clutched her head, her vision blurring, within seconds she felt her a witch's presence. It stung her senses . . . she collapsed. Suzuka ran as fast as she could whilst she had Jade slung over her shoulders in a fireman's carry. She failed to notice Maxine's unconscious body through the pelting rain.
"Ah ha! Well that should do it. Now the demon is gone, and all I have to do is this.I need to give Max this water mixed with my blood to be sure that the deed is done. When I give him my blood the Yang will return to him, and Maxine will be a totally different person with no memory of her past!" said Lynx with a grin, she got a glass of water and a blade, she took the blade to her hand and quickly put a gash in her hand she squeezed her hand tight forcing the blood to drip out faster. The crimson swirled against the water, swimming in its purity. She tipped Max's head back and poured the liquid into his mouth, he didn't struggle however he fell asleep afterwards.into a dreamless slumber. Kai let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm going for a walk."
"Can I come?" Lynx asked curiously, Kai smiled normally he'd say no, but Lynx had just saved Max - for free.
"Sure."
Suzuka sat Jade down on the hay. She looked awful; she was coming down with some kind of fever. Suzuka dabbed her head with a damp towel. Jade's breathing was frantic as Suzuka desperately tried to calm her illness down. However she didn't have a clue what was wrong with Jade.
"It'd gonna be alright Jade! So calm down, that's right take deep breaths! Come on, just chill 'k girl?" Suzuka was beginning to panic, she could see Jade's condition was getting worse and Suzuka didn't know if the illness was contagious or not.
"Jade . . .don't die on me, please."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*