Yay! 59 reviews! Only one more till 60! Oh, I think I'm turning into a
reviewholic. Is that even a word? Oh well. Anyways, I don't own any
characters in X-Men besides Blaze and the plot, which is 100% original. I
think. You'll see what I meant last chapter about cutting it off so it
wasn't as long. Anyways, here's the chapter!
* * *
"He can't be dead!" Bobby said, shaking his head, "John just doesn't die. Seriously, I've tried a lot." His heart felt heavy and downtrodden, like someone had stomped on it repeatedly.
Rogue gently put John down and put a steel hand over his mouth. "I don't feel any air coming from his nose or mouth!"
"That's because your hands are steel!" Bobby snapped. Rogue winced, and her boyfriend's expression softened.
"Sorry, Rogue, it's just . . ."
"I know, Bobby, I know." Rogue replied. "He was my friend too."
"Why are you all acting like he's dead?" Rogue and Bobby jumped when they heard a familiar voice. Blaze was sitting next to John, looking at them crossly. She had somehow crawled over to them without them noticing.
"What are you talking about? He's not moving, or breathing!" Rogue suddenly burst out sobbing.
"No he isn't." Blaze insisted.
"How do you figure that?" Bobby asked.
"His flame. Every pyro has a flame in his or her heart. I can feel his flame still burning, though it's very weak. Someone's going to have to perform CPR right now!" Blaze instructed.
Rogue and Bobby looked at each other.
"Don't look at me," Rogue said, "John's my friend, but I don't know how to do CPR."
"Ditto." Bobby said sadly. "I guess we'll have to try . . ."
"I know how," Blaze said, "I can do it. Better someone who knows how to do it than someone guessing how." Then Blaze instructed Bobby how to push on his heart. She couldn't do it herself because of her broken arm.
"One, two three . . ." Blaze sucked in air and pressed her lips against John's, giving him air. They repeatedly did it, with a worried Rogue hovering over, until John emitted a choking noise and he spit out water from his mouth.
"Yes!" Rogue cheered.
John, clutching his chest, slowly sat up and looked at the three in confusion. Then seeming to realize where he was, he said angrily,
"What the hell took you guys so long?!"
"Hey, we just saved your life, dude. Be happy you're even alive at all!" Bobby snapped angrily.
"Speaking of which, why am I still alive?" John asked.
"The water was extremely cold, and your body preserved its warmth and kept it operating for maybe about two hours. The cold water actually helped keep you alive." Blaze explained.
John looked at her for a while. "And another thing . . . did I dream that you were kissing me?!"
Blaze nodded. "Well, giving you CPR."
"Oh . . . when I was unconscious? Oh . . . that's really creepy." And John got a slap on the face for that.
"Like I had a choice. It's not like I can let a fellow mutant die without trying to save them." Blaze said stiffly. "Be happy."
"Ok, everybody, let's get out of here before someone else comes attack us!" Rogue said urgently.
"Wait!" John gasped.
"What now?" Bobby asked.
"The disks. They were in my pocket, but they took my lighter, which was in my pocket too, and we have to get those back! The whole reason we got into this mess was because of those disks, and I'm not going to be nearly drowned for nothing! And Blaze was tortured; we need to get those disks!" John exclaimed.
"Wow. John's got a brain. Let's have cake afterwards!" Bobby teased.
"Shut it." John mumbled. He stood up and helped Blaze stand up. "Can you walk?"
Blaze still could not.
"Listen, that Russian guy's strength's going to come in handy when we're confronted by guards. John, since you don't have your lighter. . .can you carry Blaze?" Rogue asked.
John shrugged. "Sure."
So Rogue and Bobby are the cavalry and John and Blaze are the . . . angry mob of villagers? Anyway, using the blue prints, they headed to the main computer system, where the disks most likely are, and where they can destroy the fortress for good.
They suddenly reached a dead end.
"What? I don't get it! The blue prints show a door right here. . ." Bobby said, looking at his map again.
"M.H.U." Blaze said weakly. Suddenly, something sizzled, and a door appeared in front of them.
"M.H.U.?" John asked.
"Mutant Haters United." Blaze explained. "My dad, being the president, started it." Her head felt faint, and the pain wasn't going away.
John glanced at the girl in his arms worriedly. "We'd better hurry. I think she's losing a lot of blood," He stared pointedly at the little splotches of blood along the way they'd run.
Rogue opened the door with her super-strength and the gang proceeded into a . . . big empty cold room? There was a door at the far end of the room, but over wise it was empty.
"This doesn't feel right," Bobby commented.
Rogue had to agree with him. She felt a shiver go down her spine as she cautiously walked onto the cold grey floor.
"Not so fast." A cold feminine voice said. The group huddled together as they looked around franticly. Where was the voice coming from?!
"Up here, fools." They glanced up and saw a teenage girl flying above them. "I've been waiting for you. For a fight. Who will challenge me?" The girl flew down and touched the concrete ground. Her eyes flashed green.
"Who are you?" John asked boldly.
"I am called Miss Marvel, and I can guarantee you that neither of you will stand a chance against me, especially . . ." Miss Marvel's sharp cold eyes flashed to Blaze and John, ". . . especially not you two, that girl looks pathetic, and the boy helping the weak. This is weakness."
"Says who?" Rogue asked, outraged.
"Says the people who rule this country." Miss Marvel said in an almost hypnotic voice.
"That's it! I challenge you! But, my friends get to move on without me first. If I win, you let me go on and let me and my friends go back undisturbed by you." Rogue said.
"And if I win, you and your friends are going to be . . . educated. Agreed?" Miss Marvel set down her own bet.
"Agreed."
"Rogue . . ." Bobby trailed off, "good luck." He gently kissed her on the lips, breaking it off just as the side effects of her power began to surface. Then he and the rest of them walked through the door.
"This should be fun." Miss Marvel said excitedly, rubbing her hands together.
* * *
Bobby, John, and Blaze hurried as fast as they could to the main computer system. Finally they made it. Bobby froze the control panel and destroyed it, causing a scientist to come out and try to address the problem. John punched him in the face hard.
"That's for all the mutants you've wronged." John hissed before stepping on the man and walking in, still carrying Blaze. Bobby followed John.
"Bobby! Freeze!" John barked.
Bobby froze the 5 scientists there by their feet.
John put Blaze in a comfy black swivel chair and approached one. "Where's the disk, old man? And my lighter?"
"Subject #2, don't do this-" The man begged, but he only got John's hands slowly choking him using his own tie. He gasped for air and his face started turning purple.
"I have a name." John snarled. But then, a hand grabbed John's hand away from the scientist. It was Bobby.
Bobby's icy blue eyes stared deeply into John's now fired up red ones. "Calm down dude. We won't get any info out of him if he's dead."
The insane red flame in John's eyes cooled down, and his eyes returned to their usual brown again. "Fine." He closed his eyes and let Bobby take over the interrogating. But John had done his job. The scientist was now scared out of his wits and willing to answer Bobby's questions.
"Do you know of a disk that was taken from my friend there?" Bobby asked.
"And my lighter!" John interrupted.
"That too."
The man nodded vigorously.
"Where is it?"
The man shakily pointed to a steel cabinet. Bobby told John to watch the man while he went to find it. He created us in the edges of the place where it would open. He created more and more ice on that area until it was forced to pop open.
"Just like a pop tart." Bobby smiled.
He found the disks and put it in his pocket. After a moment's hesitation he took John's lighter too. Bobby walked over to the Pyro and the terrified scientist. He threw the lighter at John. His friend caught it graciously.
"Thanks, man." John said.
"No problem." Then he walked over to Blaze, who was busy typing with her one good arm. John followed.
"What are you doing?" John asked.
"I'm sending a virus on the network, so they can't access any of their files after I'm through. Oh, and I'm getting rid of all power in all of their bases, especially this one. They might not have power for years when I'm done." Blaze explained.
"Why not just blow the whole facility up?" John asked, "That way you're rid of them for good."
Blaze was silent for a moment, and then she turned her head and looked at John.
"Because we're not like them, people who love causing pain and watching people go through it. There may be innocent people in here forced to work for the government, we do not know. So instead of taking away many lives, we stop what they do, but not the people themselves, because no matter how evil they are or how wrong their purpose is, they probably have family too, or people who shall mourn for them. So we only kill when it's absolutely necessary, but no more. That's what separates them from us."
After that speech, Blaze blushed and went back to her work, which was slow because of the absence of her over arm.
"I wonder how Rogue is doing." John wondered.
* * *
"Ow! That wasn't fair!" Rogue complained as Miss Marvel circled around her in the air and kicked her head.
"Anything's fair here, hon." Miss Marvel said as she aimed another kick. But Rogue was ready this time. She held out a steel arm and yanked down Miss Marvel by her leg.
"Ah!" Miss Marvel shrieked as she fell down hard onto the concrete floor. Rogue used her super-strength to throw Miss Marvel into the wall. The wall cracked when Miss Marvel impacted with it.
Miss Marvel let out a string of curse words.
"You can talk the bad guy talk all right, but you can't fight like one!" Rogue said as she charged towards what looked like a defenseless fighter. But Miss Marvel counteracted Rogue by throwing her against the wall!
"Whoa . . . how'd you get so strong?!" Rogue demanded.
"You should have done your homework. I can fly AND have super strength. I really should save you for boss, but it'll be so much sweeter if I killed you myself!" With that Miss Marvel grabbed Rogue from behind and started choking her. The steel plates were protecting Rogue for now, but Rogue could feel the power edging away from her.
No! Not now! Rogue pleaded. But the powers of the Russian mutant were slipping out of her grasp.
But Rogue had one more card to play. She took off the steel on her hand, revealing bare skin. She managed to move her arm back just enough to touch Miss Marvel's face.
"Ahhhh!" The girl screamed. She let go instantly of Rogue, holding her head and screaming like no tomorrow. In agony and instinct, Miss Marvel started to rise up into the air, Rogue still holding on. But then Rogue slipped off and un-steeled her other hand, now holding onto Miss Marvel's bare leg for dear life.
Rogue felt her head split in a million pieces. She had never absorbed someone's powers while still using one already! She wanted desperately to let go, but the addicting power surge that went through Rogue's body refused to obey Rogue's screaming mind. The pain surged through her body, and she felt with horror Miss Marvel's mind entering her own. The girl was screaming, shouting in agony, desperately trying to get Rogue to let go.
But Rogue wouldn't. Then, Miss Marvel fell limp and the two fell down onto the hard concrete floor. No! Rogue's mind shouted. She braced herself, waiting for the hard impact. But it never came.
Rogue opened her eyes to see that she was floating inches above the ground! She saw Miss Marvel's limp body lying on the ground, not moving. She stood up, just barely levitating off the ground. Then, she felt her feet gently touch solid ground.
Miss Marvel was still lying limp on the floor. Rogue went over and turned her over.
"Ahhh!" Rogue screamed as she saw what lay before her. Miss Marvel's green eyes had turned pure white, and they were wide, staring up at Rogue.
Suddenly, it felt like Rogue's head had split in two.
~What the hell have you done with my body!!!! ~ A voice screamed inside Rogue's head.
~Wha-? Who are you? ~ Rogue asked, freaked out.
~Idiot, YOU did this to me, didn't you?! I'm Miss Marvel . . . ~
~That's impossible! You're right next to me . . . ~
Miss Marvel suddenly shouted curse words at Rogue, making Rogue clutch her head in pain and wishing that Bobby was there with her.
"Go away . . ." Rogue mumbled.
~I will never go away. As my revenge, I'll make you go so insane that you'll wish I had killed you! ~
With that last shout, Rogue fainted.
* * *
"Done, Blaze?"
"Yup. Let's go." John picked her up, and Blaze wrapped her arms around John's shoulders.
So they walked the way they'd come out, and quickly. Blaze had set the timer for 20 minutes before all the power went out, including the doors.
"Rogue!" Bobby ran over to his girlfriend, who was lying on the ground.
"Wake up!" Bobby shook her. Rogue stirred, and slowly sat up. She rubbed her temples.
"Bobby?"
"Yeah . . ."
"Thank god it's you!" Rogue threw her arms around Bobby.
"Whoa! Stop! Rogue, you're choking me! Is the Russian guy's super-strength still in effect?" Bobby teased.
"Shut up and let's get outta here!" Rogue suggested. She was relieved that Miss Marvel hadn't spoken up yet.
"Marie was smart, sending you two." Blaze commented with a cough.
"Oh . . ." Rogue and Bobby looked at each other guiltily. "We kind of . . . snuck out and got you guys ourselves."
Blaze grinned weakly and said, "Well, then, prepare for the wrath of . . . well . . . yourself."
* * *
Wow! Whew! *wipes sweat off forehead* that was long! Well, hope you liked it and review!!! See what I meant about cutting it off?
* * *
"He can't be dead!" Bobby said, shaking his head, "John just doesn't die. Seriously, I've tried a lot." His heart felt heavy and downtrodden, like someone had stomped on it repeatedly.
Rogue gently put John down and put a steel hand over his mouth. "I don't feel any air coming from his nose or mouth!"
"That's because your hands are steel!" Bobby snapped. Rogue winced, and her boyfriend's expression softened.
"Sorry, Rogue, it's just . . ."
"I know, Bobby, I know." Rogue replied. "He was my friend too."
"Why are you all acting like he's dead?" Rogue and Bobby jumped when they heard a familiar voice. Blaze was sitting next to John, looking at them crossly. She had somehow crawled over to them without them noticing.
"What are you talking about? He's not moving, or breathing!" Rogue suddenly burst out sobbing.
"No he isn't." Blaze insisted.
"How do you figure that?" Bobby asked.
"His flame. Every pyro has a flame in his or her heart. I can feel his flame still burning, though it's very weak. Someone's going to have to perform CPR right now!" Blaze instructed.
Rogue and Bobby looked at each other.
"Don't look at me," Rogue said, "John's my friend, but I don't know how to do CPR."
"Ditto." Bobby said sadly. "I guess we'll have to try . . ."
"I know how," Blaze said, "I can do it. Better someone who knows how to do it than someone guessing how." Then Blaze instructed Bobby how to push on his heart. She couldn't do it herself because of her broken arm.
"One, two three . . ." Blaze sucked in air and pressed her lips against John's, giving him air. They repeatedly did it, with a worried Rogue hovering over, until John emitted a choking noise and he spit out water from his mouth.
"Yes!" Rogue cheered.
John, clutching his chest, slowly sat up and looked at the three in confusion. Then seeming to realize where he was, he said angrily,
"What the hell took you guys so long?!"
"Hey, we just saved your life, dude. Be happy you're even alive at all!" Bobby snapped angrily.
"Speaking of which, why am I still alive?" John asked.
"The water was extremely cold, and your body preserved its warmth and kept it operating for maybe about two hours. The cold water actually helped keep you alive." Blaze explained.
John looked at her for a while. "And another thing . . . did I dream that you were kissing me?!"
Blaze nodded. "Well, giving you CPR."
"Oh . . . when I was unconscious? Oh . . . that's really creepy." And John got a slap on the face for that.
"Like I had a choice. It's not like I can let a fellow mutant die without trying to save them." Blaze said stiffly. "Be happy."
"Ok, everybody, let's get out of here before someone else comes attack us!" Rogue said urgently.
"Wait!" John gasped.
"What now?" Bobby asked.
"The disks. They were in my pocket, but they took my lighter, which was in my pocket too, and we have to get those back! The whole reason we got into this mess was because of those disks, and I'm not going to be nearly drowned for nothing! And Blaze was tortured; we need to get those disks!" John exclaimed.
"Wow. John's got a brain. Let's have cake afterwards!" Bobby teased.
"Shut it." John mumbled. He stood up and helped Blaze stand up. "Can you walk?"
Blaze still could not.
"Listen, that Russian guy's strength's going to come in handy when we're confronted by guards. John, since you don't have your lighter. . .can you carry Blaze?" Rogue asked.
John shrugged. "Sure."
So Rogue and Bobby are the cavalry and John and Blaze are the . . . angry mob of villagers? Anyway, using the blue prints, they headed to the main computer system, where the disks most likely are, and where they can destroy the fortress for good.
They suddenly reached a dead end.
"What? I don't get it! The blue prints show a door right here. . ." Bobby said, looking at his map again.
"M.H.U." Blaze said weakly. Suddenly, something sizzled, and a door appeared in front of them.
"M.H.U.?" John asked.
"Mutant Haters United." Blaze explained. "My dad, being the president, started it." Her head felt faint, and the pain wasn't going away.
John glanced at the girl in his arms worriedly. "We'd better hurry. I think she's losing a lot of blood," He stared pointedly at the little splotches of blood along the way they'd run.
Rogue opened the door with her super-strength and the gang proceeded into a . . . big empty cold room? There was a door at the far end of the room, but over wise it was empty.
"This doesn't feel right," Bobby commented.
Rogue had to agree with him. She felt a shiver go down her spine as she cautiously walked onto the cold grey floor.
"Not so fast." A cold feminine voice said. The group huddled together as they looked around franticly. Where was the voice coming from?!
"Up here, fools." They glanced up and saw a teenage girl flying above them. "I've been waiting for you. For a fight. Who will challenge me?" The girl flew down and touched the concrete ground. Her eyes flashed green.
"Who are you?" John asked boldly.
"I am called Miss Marvel, and I can guarantee you that neither of you will stand a chance against me, especially . . ." Miss Marvel's sharp cold eyes flashed to Blaze and John, ". . . especially not you two, that girl looks pathetic, and the boy helping the weak. This is weakness."
"Says who?" Rogue asked, outraged.
"Says the people who rule this country." Miss Marvel said in an almost hypnotic voice.
"That's it! I challenge you! But, my friends get to move on without me first. If I win, you let me go on and let me and my friends go back undisturbed by you." Rogue said.
"And if I win, you and your friends are going to be . . . educated. Agreed?" Miss Marvel set down her own bet.
"Agreed."
"Rogue . . ." Bobby trailed off, "good luck." He gently kissed her on the lips, breaking it off just as the side effects of her power began to surface. Then he and the rest of them walked through the door.
"This should be fun." Miss Marvel said excitedly, rubbing her hands together.
* * *
Bobby, John, and Blaze hurried as fast as they could to the main computer system. Finally they made it. Bobby froze the control panel and destroyed it, causing a scientist to come out and try to address the problem. John punched him in the face hard.
"That's for all the mutants you've wronged." John hissed before stepping on the man and walking in, still carrying Blaze. Bobby followed John.
"Bobby! Freeze!" John barked.
Bobby froze the 5 scientists there by their feet.
John put Blaze in a comfy black swivel chair and approached one. "Where's the disk, old man? And my lighter?"
"Subject #2, don't do this-" The man begged, but he only got John's hands slowly choking him using his own tie. He gasped for air and his face started turning purple.
"I have a name." John snarled. But then, a hand grabbed John's hand away from the scientist. It was Bobby.
Bobby's icy blue eyes stared deeply into John's now fired up red ones. "Calm down dude. We won't get any info out of him if he's dead."
The insane red flame in John's eyes cooled down, and his eyes returned to their usual brown again. "Fine." He closed his eyes and let Bobby take over the interrogating. But John had done his job. The scientist was now scared out of his wits and willing to answer Bobby's questions.
"Do you know of a disk that was taken from my friend there?" Bobby asked.
"And my lighter!" John interrupted.
"That too."
The man nodded vigorously.
"Where is it?"
The man shakily pointed to a steel cabinet. Bobby told John to watch the man while he went to find it. He created us in the edges of the place where it would open. He created more and more ice on that area until it was forced to pop open.
"Just like a pop tart." Bobby smiled.
He found the disks and put it in his pocket. After a moment's hesitation he took John's lighter too. Bobby walked over to the Pyro and the terrified scientist. He threw the lighter at John. His friend caught it graciously.
"Thanks, man." John said.
"No problem." Then he walked over to Blaze, who was busy typing with her one good arm. John followed.
"What are you doing?" John asked.
"I'm sending a virus on the network, so they can't access any of their files after I'm through. Oh, and I'm getting rid of all power in all of their bases, especially this one. They might not have power for years when I'm done." Blaze explained.
"Why not just blow the whole facility up?" John asked, "That way you're rid of them for good."
Blaze was silent for a moment, and then she turned her head and looked at John.
"Because we're not like them, people who love causing pain and watching people go through it. There may be innocent people in here forced to work for the government, we do not know. So instead of taking away many lives, we stop what they do, but not the people themselves, because no matter how evil they are or how wrong their purpose is, they probably have family too, or people who shall mourn for them. So we only kill when it's absolutely necessary, but no more. That's what separates them from us."
After that speech, Blaze blushed and went back to her work, which was slow because of the absence of her over arm.
"I wonder how Rogue is doing." John wondered.
* * *
"Ow! That wasn't fair!" Rogue complained as Miss Marvel circled around her in the air and kicked her head.
"Anything's fair here, hon." Miss Marvel said as she aimed another kick. But Rogue was ready this time. She held out a steel arm and yanked down Miss Marvel by her leg.
"Ah!" Miss Marvel shrieked as she fell down hard onto the concrete floor. Rogue used her super-strength to throw Miss Marvel into the wall. The wall cracked when Miss Marvel impacted with it.
Miss Marvel let out a string of curse words.
"You can talk the bad guy talk all right, but you can't fight like one!" Rogue said as she charged towards what looked like a defenseless fighter. But Miss Marvel counteracted Rogue by throwing her against the wall!
"Whoa . . . how'd you get so strong?!" Rogue demanded.
"You should have done your homework. I can fly AND have super strength. I really should save you for boss, but it'll be so much sweeter if I killed you myself!" With that Miss Marvel grabbed Rogue from behind and started choking her. The steel plates were protecting Rogue for now, but Rogue could feel the power edging away from her.
No! Not now! Rogue pleaded. But the powers of the Russian mutant were slipping out of her grasp.
But Rogue had one more card to play. She took off the steel on her hand, revealing bare skin. She managed to move her arm back just enough to touch Miss Marvel's face.
"Ahhhh!" The girl screamed. She let go instantly of Rogue, holding her head and screaming like no tomorrow. In agony and instinct, Miss Marvel started to rise up into the air, Rogue still holding on. But then Rogue slipped off and un-steeled her other hand, now holding onto Miss Marvel's bare leg for dear life.
Rogue felt her head split in a million pieces. She had never absorbed someone's powers while still using one already! She wanted desperately to let go, but the addicting power surge that went through Rogue's body refused to obey Rogue's screaming mind. The pain surged through her body, and she felt with horror Miss Marvel's mind entering her own. The girl was screaming, shouting in agony, desperately trying to get Rogue to let go.
But Rogue wouldn't. Then, Miss Marvel fell limp and the two fell down onto the hard concrete floor. No! Rogue's mind shouted. She braced herself, waiting for the hard impact. But it never came.
Rogue opened her eyes to see that she was floating inches above the ground! She saw Miss Marvel's limp body lying on the ground, not moving. She stood up, just barely levitating off the ground. Then, she felt her feet gently touch solid ground.
Miss Marvel was still lying limp on the floor. Rogue went over and turned her over.
"Ahhh!" Rogue screamed as she saw what lay before her. Miss Marvel's green eyes had turned pure white, and they were wide, staring up at Rogue.
Suddenly, it felt like Rogue's head had split in two.
~What the hell have you done with my body!!!! ~ A voice screamed inside Rogue's head.
~Wha-? Who are you? ~ Rogue asked, freaked out.
~Idiot, YOU did this to me, didn't you?! I'm Miss Marvel . . . ~
~That's impossible! You're right next to me . . . ~
Miss Marvel suddenly shouted curse words at Rogue, making Rogue clutch her head in pain and wishing that Bobby was there with her.
"Go away . . ." Rogue mumbled.
~I will never go away. As my revenge, I'll make you go so insane that you'll wish I had killed you! ~
With that last shout, Rogue fainted.
* * *
"Done, Blaze?"
"Yup. Let's go." John picked her up, and Blaze wrapped her arms around John's shoulders.
So they walked the way they'd come out, and quickly. Blaze had set the timer for 20 minutes before all the power went out, including the doors.
"Rogue!" Bobby ran over to his girlfriend, who was lying on the ground.
"Wake up!" Bobby shook her. Rogue stirred, and slowly sat up. She rubbed her temples.
"Bobby?"
"Yeah . . ."
"Thank god it's you!" Rogue threw her arms around Bobby.
"Whoa! Stop! Rogue, you're choking me! Is the Russian guy's super-strength still in effect?" Bobby teased.
"Shut up and let's get outta here!" Rogue suggested. She was relieved that Miss Marvel hadn't spoken up yet.
"Marie was smart, sending you two." Blaze commented with a cough.
"Oh . . ." Rogue and Bobby looked at each other guiltily. "We kind of . . . snuck out and got you guys ourselves."
Blaze grinned weakly and said, "Well, then, prepare for the wrath of . . . well . . . yourself."
* * *
Wow! Whew! *wipes sweat off forehead* that was long! Well, hope you liked it and review!!! See what I meant about cutting it off?
