Hello all those who read this story! Here's the next episode, and it's only been a week this time! I'm breaking records here…okay my own scheduling records at least but hey they still count!
Anyway I don't really have much to say, so without further ado its show time!
}Episode 16: Bonding Over Trash{
As I said before I was beyond confused as to why Yang had brought along Ruby to the Disposery of all places. It was mine and Yang's punishment for the whole warehouse situation, so why would she bring her little sister along?
Are those fan theories of you being a Sis-Con true? I thought randomly before banishing those thoughts on the off chance she could read my mind and kick my ass again.
Nah, that's dumb. I never believed that theory anyway. Besides, anime tropes don't exist in the real world…well aside from getting pulled into another world and all, but that's different.
Sadly for me, I would come to find out that for every non-anime trope that existed, another was right around the corner…
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*Shiver*
Ah sorry, just remembered something…unpleasant and got a bit distracted. So where was I…oh yeah! As I shoved my introspective thoughts aside, another possibility entered my mind.
Wait, did she bring Ruby along because of what I said at the cafeteria?
At this point I had time to go over what I said to the students after my little 'showdown' with Cardin and his goons. And while I still stood by what I had said, I did realize that I could have gone about it a whole lot better.
By that I mean I could have scolded them for not helping Velvet in a much more reasonable way that didn't involve me getting pissed and yelling at a bunch of teens before storming off in a fit. Don't get me wrong, I still felt they were in the wrong, whether directly or indirectly allowing the bullying to go on, and that they needed some tough love to learn, but maybe I shouldn't have implied that the world would end because of it.
With this introspection, I feared that Ruby probably took my words a little too hard to heart since she was younger than all the others. It probably didn't help that her first friend was the one shaming her.
"Uh, hey Ruby, how ya doin?" I asked awkwardly.
"I'm alright…You?" she said apprehensively and my heart sank.
Oh God dang it I really messed up here didn't I?! Damn your personal rage, you made Ruby question herself...probably!
With that in mind, I decided to do damage control
"Uh, hey, why don't people like to talk to garbage men?"
Yang and Ruby gave me a confused look so I dropped the punch-line.
"It's because they mostly talk trash."
There was a few seconds of silence before Yang started to muffle her laughter with her hand and Ruby let out an adorable 'boo' at my joke. Of course I wasn't finished there as I continued,
"Aw come on Red, don't trash my joke like that! It puts me down in the dumps."
Yang's attempts to muffle her laughter failed as my puns broke her and she laughed like a loon.
"Oh God, there's two of them," Ruby groaned and mumbled under her breath.
Okay, so awkward tension has been taken care of! And for once I didn't need to do something crazy to do so, score! Now to just figure out why Ruby is here in the first place.
"Well now that I've got you in a good mood, why are you down here in this smelly trash hole Red?"
And as soon as I had said that the awkward atmosphere returned as Ruby looked nervously between me and the ground while Yang calmed her laughing fit.
What!? Oh come on I just got rid of the awkwardness dang it! What did I sa-
"Oof!"
My thoughts were interrupted suddenly when Ruby tackle-hugged me, which surprised the hell out of me. Don't get me wrong getting hugged by the adorableness that is Ruby Rose was pretty awesome, but she is quick and super powered, so it did feel a bit painful. If it wasn't for the fact that I had grounded myself beforehand to avoid falling into the muck, I probably would have been bowled over into that garbage. Still, despite the pain, I did feel giddy and had to force myself to not have a fan attack.
Gah! Must…resist…urge…to hug…back!
I really didn't want a repeat of Yang's and mine first meeting, especially since she was right there and still sore at me over what I'd said and done to that White Fang woman we'd taken hostage.
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Maybe I was a bit paranoid, but I really didn't want those eyes to go scarlet while looking in my direction, so I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. So instead of giving into my weakness and succumbing to the adorableness, I beat my feelings into the dirt and asked,
"Uh Red, what's with the sudden hug?"
"I'm sorry for not helping out faster in the cafeteria! And for not helping that bunny Faunus faster, and-"
Ruby proceeded to go onto a long tangent of over-apologizing for what had happened in the cafeteria that was muffled via my hazmat suit. Of course despite her apologizing to make me feel less angry at her, it did the exact opposite and made me mad at myself.
God dang it, its junior high all over again! Haven't I learned anything from that? I mentally kicked myself as I flashbacked to my own little sister crying. I quickly pushed that memory back to the depths of my mind before I could succumb to sadness and let out a sigh.
"Listen Red, what happened back there wasn't your fault okay?" I said as I gently pushed Ruby off of me and got down at eye level with her, "I just…overreacted to the situation like I always do. I just really don't like bullying, so when I saw Cardin picking on Velvet I got a little too heated that's all." She looked at me questioningly and responded,
"But you said that if we're going be protectors of the world we should be able to help our classmate even if they're not making a scene! And I didn't-"
"Yeah I did say that, and I stand by what I said," I cut her off with a shake of my head. "But in the heat of the moment, I forgot that you're all still kids. You'll be the saviors of the world one day, kicking all kinds of Grimm ass, but you're all still learning, and you don't have to grow up so soon."
"But the bullying-"
"Is gonna happen no matter what. It's how teens act, and I can't exactly force all of you to act more mature then your age allows you to." I gave Ruby what I hoped was a gentle smile before I continued, "It's part of growing up, as sucky as that sounds, but that's how the world works, but right now, you guys can still be kids. Adults like me are supposed to guide you along, but I lost my cool and took it out on everyone so don't take my earlier berating too badly" Noticing that Ruby still looked confused and sad I gave another smile before I said,
"The best thing you can do Red is be there for your friends when this stuff does happen. My method doesn't always work, in fact sometimes it makes things worse. So just stand by them, support them, and make sure they know someone is there to help them out. Just that little bit helps fight the bullies, and who knows, maybe Cardin will get it through his thick freaking skull that his actions have consequences." With that said I stood up and pat her on the shoulder.
"Sorry if you thought I was looking down on you kiddo. Don't ever let a nutjob like me make you feel like that again, because you are pretty much the strongest person I know."
I gave a side glance to Yang, figuring she would counter that statement, but she didn't. She had a strange smile of appreciation and…something else I couldn't quite read on her face.
Geeze…I feel like I just gave one of those bullying PSA's. Ugh, it feels so weird considering my solution is always to get revenge. Hah, the things I do to make people happy.
"Okay, that's enough of the sappy stuff. Grab a hazmat suit Blondie we got work to do-oof!"
Seriously!? Again! What is with all the surprise hugs lately!?
"Okay Red I literally just said enough with the sappy stuff," I said with a smirk. "Wait don't tell me, that bunny put a 'hug me' sign on my back without me knowing didn't she!?"
I ignored Ruby's giggling as I tried to look on my back for the alleged sign, but upon not finding any I look back at Ruby, who had let go of me.
"Nope! I'm just giving a sorry hug for not visiting you sooner after Yang got you into trouble. She sure can be a handful sometimes can't she?"
"Oh that is the understatement of the century," I agreed with a chuckle.
"Hey!" Yang shouted in annoyance while Ruby and I giggled.
"Again sorry for her getting you into trouble," she apologized.
"Are you sure you aren't the older sister Red, because you are far more mature than Blondie over there."
"Hey! What's with the tag-teaming teasing, that's supposed to be my job!" Yang pouted with her hands on her hips to which we both laughed at.
Phew…situation avoided skillfully! Now, back to messing around with dangerous tech that could possibly blow up in my face!
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On second thought why can't I just keep telling jokes with these two again?
An image of Goodwitch waving my check in front of me while laughing evilly appeared in my mind at that moment, and I instantly remembered why I just couldn't skip out on my work.
Oh right…
"Well as much fun as this has been, your sister and I have a job to do before Goodwitch can ki-I mean make my punishment worse. So get on back to lunch Ruby, and I'll see you later," I said as I ruffled her head and looked to said older sister.
"As for you Blondie, grab a hazmat suit off my cart and get a recollection bin. I'll be further on in,"
With that said I turned around and jump back into the garbage pit, eventually making my way back over to the recollection bin I had earlier. As I went back to work I heard the Disposery's door loudly close as well as someone landing beside me.
"So uh, what am I supposed to do Chris?" came a muffled female voice through the hazmat's filters.
Is that how I sounded to them? Huh, they just got a feel good lecture from Darth Vader, I chuckled at the image. Not turning around, I continued to work as I answered the question.
"I thought Goodwitch told you alrea-nevermind. You have to look around for any usable tech and put it into the recollection bin for some later staff to grab it and fix whatever we find. I swear Blondie you need to listen more to Goodwitch…if more for your health than anything else."
There was some silence behind me before I heard the voice say,
"Uh Chris? I'm not Yang, it's me Ruby!"
"Yeah yeah, just get to work will ya," I said, not really paying attention.
"Roger that Chris!" she said and dashed away, scattering rose petals around my area.
Whoa, déjà vu much? Also, what!? Ruby?!
So yeah, apparently Ruby saw this as an opportunity to 'hang out' with me since we never did it too often. I tried to explain it to her how this was supposed to be me and Yang's punishment for the whole warehouse debacle, but she wasn't having any of it.
I even tried to explain to her how skipping class and missing important team bonding time just to hang out with some crummy janitor wasn't a good idea, but then she brought up that she was only sacrificing her lunch time and brought out the puppy dog eyes and I blacked out for a good couple of minutes from the adorableness of it all.
So reluctantly, I allowed Ruby to stay. Yang, I might add, was no help at all in trying to dissuade her little sister. When I asked her for help, all she did was shrug nonchalantly and start working.
I also need to mention that, unlike me and Ruby, Yang refused to wear the mask/helmet part of the hazmat suit because she didn't want it messing with her hair.
Really? You'd rather have stinky hair than messed up hair? To quote Ron, you really need to sort out your priorities.
Anyway, that's how I ended up working with both Yang and Ruby to look for unbroken tech in the Disposery. But while I was working I realized something, something that should have occurred to me sooner actually.
Wait a minute…if Ruby is still in here, who the heck closed the door to the Disposery!? Did Emerald come early?
I looked around for my lunch buddy, but could find no signs of her.
Shrugging, I figured either she was probably stuck elsewhere in the slog, or that the door was faulty and went back to work. I found out later though that a certain scary blonde whip enthusiast had been the source.
When Emerald had finally come through, she told me that Goodwitch of all people had been observing us, before she made her leave, which really confused the hell out of me. I don't know why she was there, or why she didn't bother to come in and berate me like normal, but for whatever reason she was watching us like a sneaky hawk.
What I would question is why the next time I saw her, she seemed more pleasant than normal and actually smiled when I entered her office for my paycheck that week. I mean it was strained but it was still a smile, and it was so off-putting! For the next couple of weeks it would be the same scenario, and needless to say, I was severely confused and terrified.
Somehow Goodwitch was a lot scarier when she wasn't taking my paycheck away, if only because I had no idea what was going through her head.
At the time though, I wallowed away in the pit oblivious to my horrifying overseer.
}Line Break{
Nothing really interesting happened at first in that pit. Ruby, Yang, and I each took our own side of the Disposery to help speed up the recollection. As we did me and Yang would make puns back and forth, which would then cause Ruby to groan. We'd also just joke around normally without the puns, for Ruby's sake at least. Couldn't have that adorable munchkin dying from overexposure to puns after all!
It was pretty nice, and it reminded me of my first couple days of living on my own with a few of my friends back home. Just a bunch of jokes, puns, and groans of annoyance as we all went around picking up junk to see if we could still use any of it at the local dump. You would not believe the things we found! I swear we found a half dozen usable game systems and actual working games. It was such a blast, and working in the Disposery with Ruby and Yang reminded me a lot about those times…
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I wonder how those idiots are doing? Probably having a party now that my room is finally vacant. Those jerkwads always wanted to turn it into a gaming center after all…
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Anyway! It was near the end of the lunch hour for Ruby and Yang when something interesting happened. Well, two something's to be more precise.
The first thing was when Yang and I went to get new recollection bins after filling up our originals and leaving them at the drop off point. As we walked to get our fresh bins, Yang turned to me and said
"You know, she really does look up to you right?"
I was a little too into my thoughts when she said that, thinking about potential ways to make Arkos happen faster (because sue me, I wanted that ship to sail before Grimdarkness), so Yang's sudden comment wasn't entirely heard. That said I made the most intelligent of responses to her comment despite the fact that I wasn't listening,
"Huh?"
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Like I said, the most intelligent of responses. Of course Yang didn't really see it that way as she simply rolled her eyes at me and punched my shoulder playfully (which still hurt).
"Geeze Boxman, I try to say something important and you're off in your own little world again."
"What can I say, I have a lot on my mind all the time," I snarked and rubbed my shoulder. "So what'd ya want?" Yang rolled her eyes again before she said,
"I said, you know Ruby really looks up to you right?"
Now that caught me off guard and I couldn't keep the dumbfounded look off my face, which caused Yang to of course laugh as she is want to do.
"What is with that face Boxman? You look like you were just told where the Grimm come from hahahaha!"
Oh I have a few ideas on that, but if I told you Ozpin would have me locked up in his basement before I could even blink, I thought with an eye twitch.
"Can you blame me? I mean look at me. Why would anyone in their right mind look up to me? Sure I'm her friend, but even I had friends that I wouldn't be caught dead emulating."
Yang's laughter had subsided at my question as she gave me a serious look.
"Honestly Boxman, I have no idea as well, but my little sis is always going on and on about how cool you are, and she practically fan-girled after I told her what you did at that Fang warehouse yesterday."
"Huh…I honestly don't know how to respond to that."
"Yeah, though I'm sure Ice Queen would know how to respond. Ruby's constantly bugging her about your formulas and teachings and whether they actually work like how you said," she chuckled. "So at least she's being smart about it, because otherwise I would be a little worried, especially after what happened to the warehouse."
And while an image of chibi Ruby bugging a chibi Weiss about dust entered my mind, I continued to evaluate the pedestal Ruby had put me on. Aside from the usual freak outs of how non-canon this all was, I felt both awkward and elated. I mean it was like being told your favorite celebrity came all the way to visit you just to be your best friend or something like that. It was unbelievable, and jarring at the same time.
It looked like Yang wanted to say something else to me as I had my introspection, but before she could that second interesting thing I mentioned happened. What was that thing you ask?
"YANG! CHRIS! CHECK OUT WHAT I FOUND!"
Looking behind us to see what got Ruby so hyped-up, we saw her running (non-semblance obviously) carrying what I believed to be one of the greatest things ever. What was she carrying you ask? Well simply put it was an axe, but it was no ordinary axe.
Ohohoho. It was far, far better than an ordinary axe!
For one it was entirely mechanical like most of the weapons on Remnant were, even if it was the same size and length of your average fire axe. It was mostly silver in color, with the bottom of the hilt and outline of the head being black. But that's not what stood out the most.
The thing that stood out the most was the large, circle thing that connected the blade of the axe to the handle. It looked like one of those Game of Life spinners, but with a lot more colors and even some spaces cut into two different colors. It was built inside the handle and a glass casing was blocked anyone from touching it. There were a total of fifteen color slots, but the slot the pointer was on was blank.
Yang and I could see the stars in Ruby's eyes as she reacted like normal over encountering a new weapon, but this time she seemed more intense.
"Whoa sis, where's the fire? I know the axe looks cool and all but what's with all the excitement?"
"Yang! Can't you tell from dial!?" she pouted. "I mean Chris should know for sure, right Chris!?"
Both Yang and Ruby looked over to me expectedly, giving me a better view of the axe, and sure enough I realized what got Ruby so hyped.
"Holly hell this is awesome! Ruby where did you find this thing!?" I yelped and grabbed the axe from her, my own hype escaping into the atmosphere.
"It was under a bunch of broken training mechs! I thought it was just another arm but once I saw the dial and the blade I knew it was a weapon!"
Nodding my head at that, I took a few steps back from the two girls and gave the axe a few test swings. I had to use two hands for it since I wasn't exactly back to my original weight yet, but that didn't seem to matter since the axe made some pretty clean swipes.
"Oh man Red you hit the jackpot!" I smiled wider, "I'm soooo keeping this thing! I might have to train with it a few times, but I'll get the hang of it!"
"For sure Chris! I can give you a few pointers if you want! It may not be a scythe, but I'm sure I can help you at least get a good frame of balance!" she agreed, nodding her head up and down rapidly.
From here onward Ruby and I started to go into a borderline ramble on training methods and stuff like that. It wasn't until Yang, who we had both forgotten was there, shouted that we snapped out of it.
"ENOUGH! What is so special about this freaking axe!?"
Me and Ruby shared an awkward chuckle at that before I decided to show off to Yang what got us all excited.
"Well my dear Blondie, if you must know I shall show you! Just…hold on a second."
I made my way over to my modified janitor's cart and after a few seconds came back with what I needed. When they saw what I had Ruby grew excited while Yang grew apprehensive.
"Uh…why do you have fire dust on your cart?" Yang stammered.
"Oh you know, this and that," I said dismissively.
I had created a small little stockpile of dust in my cart after the lab incident, mostly as insurance to keep students off my back, but also for a little pet project I had going on at the time. You see I was still messing around with dust like the chemist hobbyist I was, and I never knew when inspiration would strike, so I had a ready source available to me.
Now that may sound like a bad idea, and the amount of burned/frozen/electrified parts of the school I had to clean up before Goodwitch noticed could be proof of that, but like I've told people time and time again, it's all in the name of science!
"But anyway, here's why this axe is so badass!"
Not giving Yang any time to comment I quickly inserted the fire dust crystal into the empty slot of the axe, closed it, and clicked the button underneath it. What happened next was just pure badass incarnate.
First off, the dial thing of the axe started to spin around in circles as a deep, robotic voice said,
[Dust Crystal Inserted. Identifying…Identifying…]
Then suddenly the dial stopped on the red part of the circle pad and the entire circle started to glow red till you couldn't see the dial anymore as the robotic voice spoke again,
[Flame Dust Identified, Commencing Operations]
And then, oh man, then the entire blade of the axe lit on fire!
Ruby, Yang and I all 'oohed' in awe at the sudden display of dust power. Clicking the button again, the flame immediately snuffed out as the robot voice spoke again.
[Ceasing Operations]
I then looked over to Yang and said,
"And that is why this axe is so awesome! It runs on dust crystals and creates a coating of whatever type of dust is being used around the blade. In this case, a fire axe." Ruby groaned at the pun while Yang and I shared a quick laugh before she asked,
"Okay, this is cool and all but why would someone throw this away? From what I just saw it works pretty well doesn't it?"
That…is a good point actually. Who in their right mind would want to throw out such a perfectly good weapon!?
Before I could come up with any conspiracy theories as to why, Ruby answered.
"Oh, it's probably because its morphing function isn't working. I tried to see what type of second form it had, and all it did was spark like crazy."
"So you're telling me someone threw away a badass weapon like this just because they were too lazy to get the morphing function working again!? That's so stupid!"
"It's sad but true Chris," she nodded sadly. "It costs a lot of lein to repair weapons, even more to repair morphing functions with dust focused weaponry. Whoever threw it away probably figured it was a lost cause and just got a new weapon."
"I may not be as passionate about weapons or dust like you two are, but even I find that to be incredibly dumb," Yang said with a snort.
I couldn't help but nod my head at that before I went over to my cart and put the axe away. Specifically where no one could see since I didn't need passing students in the hall thinking I was an axe murderer on top of my already crazed antics. But as I was putting it away I made a promise to the weapon, and to myself.
I swear I'll fix your morphing option, and then kick your last owner's ass for not realizing your awesomeness!
And while it took a while, I did eventually manage to fix the axe's morphing function. As for kicking its last owner's ass…well let's just say things got complicated and leave it at that.
Anyway, nothing of interest really happened after that besides Emerald finally showing up, letting me know about Goodwitch, and tag-teaming with Yang to tease me and Ruby.
I swear I preferred it when those two were out to kill each other like in canon sometimes, especially when they worked together to jape.
Anyway, the next couple of days were pretty much a repeat of what that first day of the punishment was. Yang and I looking for usable tech while Emerald helped along with some teasing and puns.
Sometimes Ruby would come by and help, and she even talked about trying to convince Blake and Weiss to help. Considering how Weiss wasn't partially interested in helping me and Blake…well Blake was an enigma at the time, but still I was glad they weren't there to help.
I don't think I would have been able to handle so many main characters in one room after the couple weeks I had been having.
In my off time, I would practice with my axe to build up strength in my arms by swinging it downward in the air and stopping it midway, before repeating. Let's just say, I felt the burn alright.
Aside from strength building, it wasn't until two weeks later, a day before the final day of our punishment and the Forever Fall trip when something…unique happened.
}Line Break{
I woke up that day prepared to face the smell that was the Disposery, and yet on my way there I was knocked out from behind. I woke up some time later with a bag over my head and tied to a chair.
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Yeah you heard me, I was kidnapped again for the second time that month! You can understand my frustration about it since, I repeat, this was the second kidnapping that month.
So needless to say when I woke up I let my captors have it.
"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! AGAIN!? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!? I SWEAR TO GOD IF I FIND OUT THIS WAS YOU AGAIN YANG I WIL-"
My shouts of understandable rage died in my throat when the bag was lifted off my head to reveal my captor.
"Hi Mister Explosion, nice to meetcha! Sorry about the knocked out and kidnapping thing, but if it's good enough for Yang, its good enough for me! I'm Nora by the way!"
The crazed read headed girl held out her hand with the biggest smile on her face I had ever seen.
"Wha?" I stammered to which she giggled.
"Oh right, you're still tied up and all, we'll shake hands later," she said pulling her hand back. "But before that, let's talk business before Pyrrha and Ren figure out what I've done and get upset at me."
"Wha?" My mind still refused to cooperate with the insane scenario.
"You see, Jauny Boy has been in a funk lately, and since its kinda your fault, I want you to fix it! If you don't I'll break your legs, okay?" she punctuated with a closed eye smile.
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"Wha?"
Yeah, my mind pretty much exploded and stopped working after that. Would you believe me if I said this was the first time that happened?
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No? Yeah I wouldn't believe me either.
}Episode End{
It seems the first of Chris's changes has come to bite him in the ass at last! And of all people it's Nora who confronts him…in a very Noraish manner at that. Also Chris has a knack for getting kidnapped doesn't he…*sinister laugh*
Also RWBY Chibi volume 3 is this month! Hooray for new adorable randomness!
Anyway, no need to rant on how excited I am for new material-I mean laughs from RWBY Chibi, time to call you guys out like usual!
Amvmaster: Honestly I'm holding off on a part two until I know Le MAO XXIV won't sue me for character theft hehehe….
CAD D CHATTERBOX: I wonder too….*sinister laugh*
Bomberguy789: Well that Omake was awesome…and a bit dark. But I like the idea for sure! Making comedic characters question their own mortality is always fun after all! Thanks for the kind words and, while I don't think 100 reviews are really that big a deal, I hope you continue to read and enjoy the story! And write enough omakes and you'll bound to be to keep that creativity going I'm sure!
ShivanSlayer: I hope your still enjoying the story even now! I'll admit my style of writing, what with the humor and all, but I'm glad you still like it despite that! I love these kinds of stories too, and I have the same annoyances as you when it comes to these type of stories. I'm glad I've managed to avoid that trope through!
DarkFox17: Yeah…that's one of my favorite moments too. A kick to the balls joke can be funny if done write after all. Also love the Zwei idea, and Pinkie and the Brain theme started to play in my head when you mentioned it. But with Chris and Zwei instead, and I admit I laughed a bit to long at the idea. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!
Engineer455: Yes what you maniac!? Yes to what!?
ThatOneRandomDude: Sorry you didn't enjoy it, but I guess running gags aren't for everyone. That twist does sound like something M. Night Shyamalan would write…
TM Calypso: You can thank one of my friends for the detention idea, I had a similar reaction when they suggested it. I hope to continue making adorable moments as we continue on with the story! Thanks again for the yandere info, and I hope you liked this episode as well!
GammaTron: You've given me ideas for a future gag! So many ideas *sinister laugh*
bwburke94: Yes! Now the title of the story now has glorious purpose!
And…done! Geeze there were a lot of you guys this time around, that's like two hundred words for these responses…but that's probably cause I like ranting and communicating with people who read my stories. Ah well, sorry for all the words anyway!
Oh! I almost forgot next episode shall have a non-canon omake! I won't spoil much, but I will say we shall be divining into messing with canon antics! So look forward to that!
As usual don't be afraid to leave any ideas for the fic or Omakes, I always appreciate the extra inspiration and jokes! Plus feedback is always welcomed to help me make this story better!
All logic used in this fic is completely head-canon. If you don't agree that's okay, it's just how I see things.
Our follow count has reached 335! And the favorites has made a massive jump to 231 as well! Thank you guys so much for the continued support, and I hope you all continue to enjoy this fic!
This has been LightDusk16 signing off!