Spark of Genius

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy verse, Girl Genius verse, DC comics or any of the other smatterings of pop culture and literary ideas that I refer to in my story, I just tread through a few other sandboxes. Oh, and several names are made up, some are real, but the facts have been changed to protect the corrupt and innocent equally.

AN: Hey there, a couple of things. Appreciate the thoughts and reviews as they get me thinking on what to do in the story. I'm going to use a few of the ideas that people sent to me. Now with that said, there is one thing I want to repeat, I hate spoilers. There were some valid arguments made about why didn't Xander stop the knife, and I kind of fudged replies, but frankly I have a purpose for it regarding character development. It's great that you have questions about Lex, or why he went after Kasnia, but I'm most likely not going to answer your question in a review or private message and if I do then I'll only do so in partial bits that still leave you guessing or coming to the wrong conclusion. I've said it once and I'll say it again, if I end up giving you a spoiler then I'm going to ruin the story for myself as well, and this story will die an early death due to me getting bored with it. If you see a scene that you think should have been done differently, feel free to send me an omake. If it's decent and well written, I'll post it at the end of my chapter.

'Thought'

"Speech"

Chapter 24: In the News Today

"The only gossip I'm interested in is things from the Weekly World News - 'Woman's bra bursts, 11 injured'. That kind of thing." ~Johnny Depp

All around the world people went about their daily business, most unaware or unconcerned with the happenings in two small countries in Eastern Europe. Out of sight was out of mind and even though it was the year 1999 and information was abundantly available via the internet, television, and radio, the great majority of people in the world could not have pointed out Europe on a map let alone Romania or Kasnia. People generally just went about their lives, content in their semi-selfish natures to deal with the problems that faced them directly while letting those on the other side of the world rot for all they cared. Even so, news filtered in to the masses of the world, in their natural languages people watched the TV, surfed the internet, or listened to the radio as bits and bobs of entertainment and current events were fed to them by their media. In some countries the media was the mouthpiece of the government, while in others there was 'free press' and the media chose which news stories to pass on; generally whatever would sell best. Of the most listened to and watched news stations in the world, the 'Global News Network,' or better known as GNN, was translated into eighty different languages and had broadcasting stations located on six of the seven continents; and the research stations in Antarctica could watch the station through their satellite TV.

"This is the voice of GNN" A polished deep British accented English voice said as the logo for the GNN filtered across the screen. The image changed and then the viewers were presented with a man and a woman dressed in business attire sitting at a news desk smiling at the cameras; the news room was busy behind them in the background with people appearing to be gathering the news from around the world.

"Welcome back, for those of you just tuning in, I'm Dan Humphries." The dark haired man said with a smile, his blue tie and grey suit nicely tailored.

"And I'm Katie Sanderson, and you're live with the news desk." The late twenties something blonde woman said with a sparkling smile while looking quite fetching in her green silk blouse and black blazer.

After introducing herself the cute blonde continued to speak, "Today in the news, the country of Kasnia has fallen to the despotic forces of Romania's Leviathan in a lightning attack; also, Superman in Amsterdam's Red Light District, perhaps a new reason to refer to him as 'the Man of Steel.' But first, we go over to Jane with a recap of the major weather events and catastrophes. Over to you Jane."

The screen switched to picture a longer haired red head with fetching green eyes whom was wearing a conservative pants suit and gesturing before a green screen. "Thanks Katie." Jane the weather woman said.

"Today, horrible fires in Greece that threatened Athens and the famous Parthenon were extinguished quickly when the Justice League member The Flash used his speed to create a waterspout which was then used to hose down the fire. Though the people were happy to have the flames put out, Greek authorities are requesting reimbursements from the hero organization for subsequent flooding and to desalinate the fields around Athens due to the use of salt water to fight the fire. No response from the Justice League thus far on whether assistance or monetary reimbursement will be forthcoming, and The Flash left the scene quickly after extinguishing the fires. Sources at the scene tell of The Flash mentioning that he was in need of caffeine right before he left." Jane stated while the green screen behind her flashed up images of Greece and the fires that had been raging as well as The Flash's actions to save the city.

"In related news, Heroes of the Justice League worked diligently to evacuate Quito Ecuador which was threatened by several volcanic eruptions from the cones surrounding the capital city. The population was saved and the evacuation canceled when heroes Booster Gold, Green Arrow and Star Girl were able to drill side taps for the lava to direct the flow away from the city while at the same time sealing the peaks with debris. The people showed their appreciation by holding a feast in the heroes honor." Jane continued.

In the background behind Jane, pictures of the volcanoes erupting were followed by blurry pictures of the heroes flying through the ash clouds in order to close the volcano. The video images finished with pictures of the banquet. From the video of the feast it was clear that Booster Gold was busy trying to sell autographs and had even opened up a 'Booster Gold' official memorabilia table where he was selling lunchboxes and action figures that held his likeness. The video stopped when the Green Arrow dragged Booster away from the table and forced him to get teleported back to the Watchtower with the rest of the heroes.

"Back to you Dan and Katie." Jane finished with a smile. The camera panned back

The camera image switched back to the smiling news anchors. "Thank you Jane." Dan stated. "Today, forces loyal to Romania's Leviathan stormed over the border into Kasnia for unknown reasons, before successfully seizing the war torn country. We only have scattered reports at this time, but from what we have been able to tell, the military of the country has been totally wiped out, and all resistance was met with deadly brutal force. There is no report on the whereabouts of Princess Audrey or her status. We'll keep you up to date as any new information filters in. Now on to more important news, I think you have an interesting story to tell Katie." The male news anchor finished and then turned to look at Katie.

Smiling a big smile at the camera, the blonde began, "Now for our top story, Superman, the man who is stronger than a locomotive takes a break from the hero business to let off some steam in Amsterdam's famous Red Light District. The big questions on everybody's minds are, is he really faster than a speeding bullet and does he live up to the name 'The Man of Steel.' We now go live to our field correspondent Mathew Donaldson, over to you Mathew." Katie finished with a twinkle in her eye before the cameras cut over to a man in a trench coat standing in front of a brothel.

"Thank you Katie, I'm standing here in front of Yab Yum, Amsterdam's most notorious brothel where sources tell me Superman went on a wild all day sexual rampage with every single one of the thirty five sex workers in attendance." The field correspondent stated, walking backwards so that the camera could have a good look at the brick building with the black and red curtains and lights easily seen in display windows.

The correspondent continued to speak into his microphone about the situation, "A large man in black, who requested that his name not be given out, stated that Superman entered this facility last night around nine o'clock but was noted as being naked and sleeping off his sexual escapades in one of the brothel's display windows. Police were dispatched when they heard about a man sleeping naked in the window with a superman cape for some cover while a superman costume was being used as a pillow. However it appears that Superman had fled the scene before the police could respond to the public nudity complaint." The reporter continued. Just as he was about to open his mouth to add more details, the connection was lost and the screen started to go to static.

All across the world, on every TV and every radio, the sound of static was heard as on the TV's a blurry image hijacked the screen. As the blur faded away, and the image of The Leviathan appeared as Xander's AI computers and miniature-clanks in space took over the screens, airwaves, and signals of the world's news and entertainment electronic media.

The image of the Leviathan seated at a simple wooden desk with his banner behind him was beamed to the people of the world, at the same time that his voice was going out to those who weren't currently watching television but had a radio turned on. His image was of him in a black suit, and only the fact that the large gold three headed dragon was behind him distinguished where he was sitting in his black suit as compared to the black flag.

When he spoke, his voice was deep. It resonated not with an unnaturally sound of speakers changing his voice but it was a deepness that communicated the pain that he felt for the loss of his citizens. The systems in his computers and clanks translated his voice to that of the people in the region where they hijacked the signal.

"People of the world, I am the Leviathan, and I come to you with a message of truth. Unfortunately sometimes the truth hurts, but I bring this to you as the leaders of the world refuse to listen to the cries of the innocent, to the cries of the downtrodden, to the cries of those who are in pain." Xander started, and the power of the 'Spark' was in his voice; Xander's voice immediately captivating the minds and attentions of the world viewers.

Everywhere around the world people stopped and focused on their screens or turned up the volume on their radios, as something seemed to tug upon their hearts, their minds, their very souls and pull them into the words of The Leviathan.

"I have seen evil ladies and gentlemen, and it did not come in the form of an Alien invasion from outside this world. I have seen the face of evil, and it did not wield super powers, it did not march on the powers of famine or pestilence or some mystical power. No, I speak the truth, I have seen the face of evil, and it is that which looks back at us in the mirror." Xander's continued, spitting out the last line, and all around the world people reacted as if they had been slapped by his words; as they heard The Leviathan's words and truly listened.

"A wise man once said, 'All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.' So I ask you people of the world, what have you been doing while the people of Kasnia have been slaughtering each other for the past several decades? What have you been doing when arms companies have been fueling the slaughter by shipping arms into a war zone against international law, when you and your leaders have ignored the cries of the innocent for help?" Xander asked to the camera, and his voice was such that the people of the world cringed.

Xander did not give them a respite, instead he continued questioning them, "Where were you when the tanks rolled over the children, when the soldiers slit the throats of the old women, and blew off the heads of the old men? I tell you, look in the mirror and ask who is evil: he who kills without cause or mercy, or the one who knows about it, ignores it, and does nothing to stop it? I suggest that apathy is the worse evil. If not your apathy, then the apathy of your leaders to the killing that they knew of and did nothing to stop, all because they didn't see anything of worth in Kasnia." Xander stated before pausing for a moment.

"Your leaders looked upon Kasnia and wrote off the lives of the innocent. If there is blood on the hands of the killers, how much more so on the hands of the world leaders who looked at their check books and said, no, stopping the death of a baby isn't worth the money. Stopping the death of a child, of a teen, of a grown woman or man isn't worth the money and time it would take to get involved. These are your leaders, the ones who said the money wasn't worth it to save one life, to save ten, to save a hundred or even a thousand lives." Xander spat, anger coming through his voice, and the world paled as his words cut them to the quick.

Xander's anger started to come through his voice, along with the pain of the loss of his own people. "The blood of thousands is on your and your leader's hands. The blood of tens of thousands is your fault, because you knew and yet you did nothing. Today, that flow of blood just got larger, as the forces of Kasnia breached the Romanian border and slaughtered innocent families in my country." Xander's voice shook with anger, and around the world people found themselves falling to their knees at the onslaught of Xander's words hit them with the power of the Spark.

The image of the Leviathan stopped, and a screen flashed to images of tanks rolling up to a hill. Xander's voice carried over the sound of the clanking tanks that was part of the film, and he said, "See what your actions, what your evil has reaped. I tear off the blinders of your innocent ignorance and show you the bloodshed that is on your hands because you failed to do anything. These deaths are yours; they are on your head just as the blood of these innocents is on your hands." With that, the tanks on the hill opened fire.

The image of the slaughter was beamed out to the world. First the tanks and howitzers firing on the border, and then that was compared to images of the Gypsy camp where people were going about their morning business happily greeting each other as they exited their campers and trailers. A woman played with a child by the camp fire before handing the child over to a grandfather who bounced the little boy on his knee happily while the mother went to work on a meal over the fire. The camp was bustling with happy people going about their lives, but all of that changed when the tanks opened fire on the border. The sounds of explosions came in the distance and you could see on the camera as the families of dark haired happy gypsies stopped and looked up at the horizon. People awoke in the campers and stumbled out of their trailers to see what the sound of explosions was.

Then the camera panned to watch a high speed helicopter fly over the border. In the gypsy camp the Grandfather's eyes got large and he yelled for the woman to take the boy and run, quickly handing over the boy and starting to move just as helicopter pulled in overhead and explosions rocked the camp. The mother was almost about to escape between two campers when a line of bullet impacted on the building next to her. A foot in diameter line of bullet impacts traced down the side of the camper next to her and cut the young mother in half; leaving a crying bleeding child on the ground next to the now dead unblinking woman.

Around the world, people puked at the carnage, other's cried, and others stood with stone cold angry faces as they watched the senseless death of the people in that Romanian camp. Still, they were captured by the images, absolutely unable to look away as the pictures and sounds of the bloodshed were forever burnt into their memories.

The camera's showed in detail the old man's brave but futile charge at the killers. The old man used the chopping knife the woman had been cooking with to charge one of the killers, only to have his head explode in a mist of blood and brains as a sniper round hit him. And still the world watched, unable to turn away as the results of their ambivalence to the situation in Kasnia. They watched the deaths of the innocent and saw the blood on their hands as it was brought home to them in a very real and visceral manner.

The soldiers slaughtered the people without mercy or reason, the cameras and microphones present picking up the sound of their laughter as they enjoyed their gristly work. The killing only stopped after one of the soldiers tore a young woman from the arms of an old woman, kidnapping the girl. The world watched angrily as the helicopter escaped, even as the now infamous Dark Troopers stormed the clearing, and then the image parted to show the final scene in the girl's life.

As the world watched, they saw from Xander's view as the Leviathan's voice demanded, "Give…Me…The…Girl." Only to watch one of the mercenaries brutally drag the now naked girl up by the hair and basically tell The Leviathan to 'go fetch' while burying a vicious looking serrated combat knife in the scared girl's chest. The young woman's bloody scream as she was tossed from the flying helicopter was the last image burned into their minds.

The world was stunned. Never had the senseless loss and bloody brutal killing of the far away war been brought home to them in such a way. They watched and listened to the screams, the laughter, the gunshots, and those watching the screens saw the glee that the killers had while going about their work. All the while the images were being drilled into their minds, the words of The Leviathan repeated in their heads: 'These deaths are yours. They are on your head just as the blood is on your hands.'

The image cut back to that of the Leviathan, and the people of the world wept along with The Leviathan as he spoke his next words, "Do you see now what you have done, the evil that you have fostered and allowed to grow and spread? Innocent people died, because you did nothing." The figure of the Leviathan visibly shivered as he brought his emotions under control. By this point, the people of the world were Xander's audience to command; such was the ethos that had been translated to them through the power of the Major Spark. Such was a part of Xander's power that he had inherited from his joining with the character of Xander Heterodyne.

Taking a deep breath, the Leviathan continued in a quiet voice that seemed to carry and niggle in the ears of the world as people stopped making sounds and even held their breath to hear what would be said next. "You made me kill today. You made me clean up the evil that you let foster and grow like a poisonous canker. The souls of the dead innocents cried out to me, and I had to act." Xander said as he leaned forward towards the camera.

A moment passed before he continued, and then The Leviathan spoke again. "My forces have stopped the bloodshed in Kasnia. Due to the nature of the attack, I responded as I promised I would, and the unthinking slaughter of my people was treated as an act of war against Romania. The video you watched happened three hours ago. In the time since then I, and my forces, have fully taken over the country of Kasnia as is our right to respond under international law." Xander explained, as the world regained breathing and nodded in understanding without realizing they were doing so.

"In the ensuing battle, the military forces of both northern and southern Kasnia were completely destroyed and the civil war was ended. Kasnia will now be a protectorate of the Leviathan and a country under my rule." Xander stated, and the leaders of the world were stunned by what they heard.

"Princess Audrey of Kasnia's Royal family and rightful heir to the throne of Kasnia has been liberated from the guards who had kept her detained in her palace over the last few years. The southern Kasnian Generals who had usurped her power and name in order to rule the country are no more. I do not seek to erase boarders or hoard power. I do not seek increased riches or gains in power. I seek peace and prosperity for all of the people who I oversee and protect. Kasnia is now such a protectorate as within the last hour the Princess has signed control of her family's monarchical holdings to the Empire of the Leviathan. The Princess shall remain my regent in Kasnia while the country is brought up to the level of prosperity and production that Romania now exhibits." The Leviathan stated with a slight nodding of his head.

"With all of this said, I bring a request to you people of the world. Your leaders have been content to save face and continue to embargo my countries at the price of me giving gifts to you all. These same leaders, who ignored and helped cause the very bloodshed you witnessed, would now keep you from the gifts that I wish to give you so that they could remain in power a little longer." The Leviathan stated with a gesture towards the cameras, his voice calling to something within his audience, making them want to give Xander anything he asked for.

"I ask you to give up your ignorance, your complacency, and to not let evil continue to grow. I wish to give you gifts to heal your ill, to feed your famished, to cleanse your skies, earth and water, and to fuel the world's homes." The Leviathan offered with a reasonableness about his voice, before pausing once more.

"All I ask in return is that you confront your leaders, these same leaders with blood on their hands, these same leaders who ignored the outcries of the dying innocents. I ask that you confront them and either replace them or get them to see reason." The Leviathan spoke in what sounded like such a reasonable request that how could anybody deny it. In response, all around the world the peoples' eyes began to gleam as thoughts of grabbing pitchforks and torches came to mind. But before the world could devolve into a series of Revolutions against their current leadership, the Leviathan spoke again.

"However instead of replacing your governments, I ask that you urge them to drop all embargos on my countries." The Leviathan's voice caught the world off guard, yet the request sounded infinitely more reasonable than world anarchy.

Slowly, Xander's voice rose, and the power of his spark hummed through his voice, "I come to help you, to help the innocent, and to save the dying." The Leviathan's voice rumbled as he stood from his chair and gestured towards the camera.

"Remember the truth that I have told you. Remember the face of evil and what it has reaped this day, your ignorance has caused blood to be poured over your hands, but that can change." The Leviathan stood, and his voice became more commanding, more royal.

"Remember this day and the faces of the deaths that you witnessed. Release your ignorance and change, and together we can do great things!" The Leviathan demanded, and across the world a chill of energy shot up the spine of the listeners.

"Great sorrow has come this day, and you witnessed the death of the mother, of the girls, of the children and old men." With each death mentioned, the images of the dead innocents racked the brains' of the people of the world.

"I ask you now for your help. Please don't make me kill again, please don't make me bury more innocent. I have brought you the truth, and I ask only that you help yourselves and those who are powerless to protect themselves. I have the power to help save your lives, don't make me stand by and watch more of you die. Allow me to reach the world, convince your leaders to drop the embargo and join me in helping save the innocent." The Leviathan stated, standing with his arms out as if welcoming the world to help him help them.

Then there was silence as The Leviathan held his pose, and then he felt exhausted from his speech and the day and slowly sat down facing the screen. Quietly Xander finished, "I thank you for your time and ask you not to forget. Whatever you do, do not forget the truth, do not let evil flourish. Thank you, and goodbye." With that, the image of The Leviathan winked out.

The screen came back to show the stunned faces of Dan and Katie. The two news anchors looked at each other; Katie clearly had tear tracks in her makeup.

Dan turned and faced the camera and was silent as it was clear he was struggling to come up with the right words.

Finally the male news anchor spoke. "Wow, I don't exactly know what to say besides I'm sorry for what I said before about the Kasnian situation and for breezing over it. Folks, it doesn't happen often, but I have to apologize to you the listeners for not giving you the whole truth. I think we all agree that our hearts, minds, and prayers go out to the people of Romania who suffered such a horrible massacre and unwarranted attack. I also want to congratulate the people of Kasnia on being freed from the military rule in their country, and we are happy that your civil war has finally ended."

Dan looked at Katie, the co-anchor continued to cry and sniffle, so Dan continued to talk. "We are deeply sorry that we didn't cover the situation in Kasnia better in the past. It is true what The Leviathan said, 'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.' It appears that all of us have been guilty of doing nothing in this case and I feel saddened that lives were lost because of it. I think I speak for all of us here at GNN when I echo the Leviathan's statement. Talk to your leaders, your presidents, prime ministers, and legislators. Ask that they do something to end the injustice that is happening in Eastern Europe, ask that they drop the embargo on Romania and Kasnia, for it looks like with the end of the embargo we can help stop evil from triumphing." The anchor finished before taking a deep breath and looking straight into the camera.

"From all of us here at the GNN news room. Goodnight." Dan finished.

"Well, that's that." Xander said solemnly as he made sure the cameras were off before removing his helmet. Xander's Leviathan suit rippled and changed as it molded itself into a pair of doctor's scrubs and a white medical coat. Xander closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as he turned to look at Igor who had been standing back beside the cameras.

"Igor, let's add a bit more pressure to the world leaders. How much of the world coffee market would you say Sparkbucks has right now?" Xander questioned.

Igor looked over his data pad before responding, "We are currently in control of ninety five percent of the world's coffee drinking customers, and our secret holding companies have been busy buying up all the coffee beans available on the world market." Igor looked up from his data pad with a bloodthirsty grin. "The price of the remaining coffee beans is such that our competitors can't afford to continue buying supplies, and our largest competitors have gone out of business. Only a few rival coffee shops can be found in larger cities, and we are quickly pressuring them out of business." Igor said with a grin.

"Add to that the 'Charitable' giving that your companies have been doing, all tax deductible, and the world production of coffee beans is down as our agricultural improvement charities have moved the traditional coffee farmers into the more profitable spice growing trades." Igor's grin threatened to split his face with its bloodthirsty look.

Xander's eyebrows rose as the information was given to him. "Um, Igor, why did you wipe out the competition and buy up the world's coffee supplies?" Xander questioned, trying to be calm in his questioning.

Igor responded, "I merely did what you asked me to do Sir, you told me that you trusted me to run your company and to increase your market share. I'm only using the tried and true methods that have been passed down through ages by the Heterodynes and their minions. Did I not do exactly as you said Sir?" Igor questioned with a hint of confusion, he was always so good at anticipating the Heterodyne's wishes, that this startled him that he might have done something improper.

"No. No, not at all Igor." Xander was quick to ease his chief minion's concern while pinching the bridge of his nose to hold off the headache that was threatening to come on. "I'll just have to make sure to be as specific in my requests as possible. That said; please initiate operation 'Cold Turkey.'" Xander stated.

Igor's face actually paled, "Sir, are you really asking me to close the doors on all of our stores and stop sales of all coffee worldwide? Surely you wouldn't deprive your minions of their coffee?"

Xander waved his hands in negation and quickly assured his minion, "No no, keep us fueled with coffee. Just put out an announcement that Sparkbucks coffee is going to be halting business in a show of brotherhood to the Romanian and Kasnian people. Something about that the world would have to suffer as long as the Romanian people continue to suffer under the embargo. I trust you to come up with the proper wording so that it doesn't sound like I'm holding the world's coffee supply hostage when in fact that's exactly what I'm doing." Xander smiled, to which Igor matched his smile with an evil grin of his own.

"Right away Sir, the news release will be out in two hours, and Operation Cold Turkey will be completely in effect before then." Igor smiled back with a bloodthirsty smirk.

Xander's smile faded as he thought about what he had to do next.

"Igor, what is the death toll on our side thus far?" Xander questioned resolutely while dreading to hear the news.

"Sir, the civilian death toll of Romanians is up to thirty eight men, woman, and children. Of those, twelve are beyond our help as the brain or body was destroyed to such an extent that it would be impossible to repair them to a revivable state." Igor stated stoically as he reviewed figures on his data pad.

"The death toll in Kasnia is worse, though the civilian deaths were mostly located in governmental buildings where the fighting was the harshest. Additional deaths were caused by heart attacks or accidents associated with the civilians being frightened by the sudden attack. Altogether we suffered five hundred and forty seven civilian deaths in Kasnia, but only one of those was permanent as the civilian was standing at a guard station when a gauss round erased it from existence. I'm not counting the deaths of the northern separatist cells which you destroyed." Igor continued to read descriptions from his list of the dead.

Xander took a deep breath to calm his stomach. It didn't sit well with him that his orders had been the root of so many civilian deaths. Xander also didn't like that he had personally killed so many military personnel, though he was starting to grow colder to the deaths of enemy combatants who fought against him. 'I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, though I'm pretty sure that Willow and Buffy wouldn't approve.' Xander thought to himself.

'Pack is everything; there are only us and them. If they hurt the pack, they die; such is the nature of things.' The gravelly voice of the Primal spirit issued in the back of Xander's head.

'I'm not sure if I would go as far as the Primal, but what he says is the truth.' The cultured voice of Xander Heterodyne said in Xander's mind. 'You are a leader, and with that said, decisions you make will have life or death consequences for your people and the lives of others. Whatever path you choose, you will deal with consequences and the responsibilities that come with it. One way or the other, they are your responsibility.' The Heterodyne personas' voice said solemnly in Xander's head.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Xander closed his eyes and thought about the deaths and what he wanted to do about them. Finally after a few moments of quiet thinking, he opened his eyes to look at Igor.

"Igor, please see that all Kasnian civilians are revived via the new nano-clank repair and mental rebalancing process that we made to work with the Lazarus Pits revival process. You know the one we used to increase the success rate of survival with the Jägers brew and its transformation? Transfer them to the former public hospital after revival. Please monitor them for a day and notify their families that the extent of the injuries was not as extreme as they originally guessed. I don't want it getting out to the general populace that we can bring back the dead." Xander commanded, and Igor acknowledge with a head bow.

"How about our military forces, did we suffer any casualties?" Xander questioned, trying to get a grip on all the bad news first before moving on to work out solutions.

"Only one actually died Sir, but he got better. I believe you know the Jägers Sir, the one who lost an arm which you reattached personally? Apparently the brew you gave him previously stuck with him long enough to restart his heart when it stopped. He has lost both of his legs, but that's equivalent to a splinter for a Jäger, and I'm sure we can fix that." Igor stated with a bit of a gleam in his eye.

Xander blew out the breath he didn't know he had been holding before asking the question he dreaded, "How's Janna; the Gypsy girl who was originally taken hostage by the soldiers?" Xander closed his eyes while asking, not wanting to look around while concentrating on the answer.

"She is only mostly dead sir. I believe you would call her slightly alive, meaning that she is a candidate for the revival treatment." Igor announced.

A smile slowly crept over Xander's face and his eyes opened up beaming. "Whew, well that's good. How about I attend to the revival of the gypsies personally." Xander finished, smiling now.

"Of course sir, but you may want to speak with Mrs. Kalderish first, the girl's grandmother has been mostly healed and is in vigil with the remaining members of her family down in our medical facilities." Igor responded.

Xander's smile faded a bit, as he realized the sorrow that his people had at the loss of their loved ones. In truth, he blamed himself for the entire situation, 'If not for me and my technological gifts to the Romanian' people, they never would have been targeted as they were.' Xander thought to himself. Stroking his hand back through his dark hair, Xander blew out another deep breath before pulling his shoulders back and standing up.

"Thank you Igor, I'll go speak with the survivors first before I start with the revivals." Xander stated as he walked for the door.

"Of course Sir." Igor stated with a bow, and followed Xander out the door.

As they walked, Igor bridged a subject with Xander that had been troubling the old minion. It wasn't natural for a Heterodyne not seek out immediate vengeance, so something about the current situation was troubling him.

"Sir, are you sure it is wise keeping your knowledge of the perpetrator of the attack secret? Surely the eyes of the world would turn on Lex Luthor if they knew the truth." Igor offered as they walked together through the metal hallways of the castle.

"No Igor, though you and I have heard the tapes of the intercepted communications, it's not even close enough to the amount of evidence that it would take to pin Lex Luthor down as the root cause of the killings. What's left of the recovered modern weapons are such twisted wrecks that they could have come from anywhere. Luthor would simply be able to walk away by saying that somebody else had usurped his name and supplied the weapons, or that the film had been doctored to portray him in a bad light. That smug bastard has already started to make inroads towards running for the position of President of the United States; there is no way they would extradite the man to certain death at our hands." Xander answered as he walked through the halls with Igor.

"No Igor. You and I know that Luthor was behind the attack. All of our people know that he was behind the attack, and you should also know that I will get him eventually. But before I do that, I want to ruin him." Xander snarled out the last part while making a crushing motion with his fist.

"Before I take his head and add his brain to my 'think tanks,' before I harvest his mind to make ideas for us and to be a slave to our people forever, I want him to know that I took everything he had, just as he took everything that those gypsies had. If there is one thing that my computer teacher taught me when she told me the truth about why she was in Sunnydale and the curse on Angel, it's that vengeance is sweeter when it's longer lasting and drawn out agony." Xander turned to give Igor a bloodthirsty grin, a dark look taking over his face.

"By the time I'm done with Lex Luthor, I want him to welcome death. That's when I'll harvest his brain and keep it alive only to give me new inventions that I will use to further our goals. Death is too good for that bastard. I want him to suffer, and know that it is I who is causing his suffering as I juice his brain for ideas. Juice his brain so much that every thought is buried in agony." Xander snarled as his eyes briefly flashed.

Igor's eyes gleamed and he nodded in understanding; this was the bloodthirsty Heterodyne master that he so loved to serve. Igor had been a bit concerned that the Mater was getting a bit too soft and caring for a while there, but here was an example that the Heterodyne bloodline was still strong and hearty.

Turning a corner, the two came up on a larger waiting room that was outside the main medical clinic in the castle. In truth it was more of a large multi-floored hospital than a simple clinic, but Xander wasn't focusing on that now as the look of anger left his face when he saw the band of surviving Gypsies gathered in a corner of the large waiting room; the grandmother in the middle looking as if she was holding court.

Xander took a deep breath before walking over towards the Gypsies. Walking closer to the crowd of gypsies, he saw them drawback to allow him entrance as the old woman made a gesture with her hand before looking up at Xander with milky white irises.

Xander looked at her, and then scowled as the medical knowledge in his head told him that the milky white color of the old woman's irises and pupils meant she was blind. Wheeling on Igor, Xander snapped, "I thought it was commanded that the survivors be fully healed? The nano-clanks should have been able to cure any blindness Igor." Xander growled.

Before Igor could answer, the woman interrupted Xander's rant, "There is no need to heal that which is already well. Just because my eyes are blind does not mean I cannot see." The old woman stated, causing Xander to turn back to look at the old woman with confusion.

"Come now Xander Harris, you of all people should know that there are ways of seeing beyond the physical eyes." The old woman said, a hint of a smile playing over her face.

Xander was taken aback; there is no way this woman should have known Xander's real name. "What the…? What? How do you know my name?" He sputtered.

"Come now Xander, did you really think that our old magic could be used to find you in this dimension and we would not know? Just because you have tampered with the nature of your body and made yourself immune to magical attack does not mean that magic still can't find you. You may be a hole in the water that is the fabric of this world, but your presence is all the more glaring because of it. But come now, sit and speak with me." The old woman stated before patting the open seat next to her.

Xander was so shocked that he didn't even argue, he merely followed her directions and sat looking at the old woman, a loss at what to say. The old gypsy woman looked as if she could be in her eighties, but given the power of Xander's standard nano-clanks that were used in the healing, looks could be deceiving. Still, the old woman was much more vivacious than Xander could have expected.

'Didn't see this coming.' Xander thought to himself.

"Do you really think that you can prepare for every contingency when all you do is react to the latest crisis? Is that what our daughter taught you back in your own universe?" The old woman asked with a frown as if she had read Xander's thoughts and answered his question before he asked it.

Before he could open his mouth and ask how the hell she was answering his questions before he asked, she interrupted his thoughts, "Really, don't look so stunned, I'm a seer dear, and even I didn't see the attack coming. That's still no excuse for you to always be dealing with things on a reactionary basis, but we will have to talk about that later. This lack of planning is a problem that we will need to fix. But first, I know there is something you wanted to say, and if you don't get it out it will continue to eat at you."

Xander was still knocked back off his mental legs as this old woman obviously had him at a disadvantage. "Who the hell are you?" Xander finally found himself spitting out.

The old woman smirked before replying, "I am Magda Kalderish, Elder Woman of Clan Kalderish, but you can call me Bunică, or Grandmother, everybody does." She said with a negligent wave.

Thinking about the old woman as a grandmother figure flipped Xander's thoughts to the image he had seen when Jenny was stolen out of the old woman's arms.

Xander took a deep breath before speaking, "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough and didn't save the lives of your family. I feel like it's all my fault, your people would still be alive if I hadn't distributed the healing technology. If I had only gotten there faster…" Xander continued, sadness clearly coming through his voice.

"You're right, you are at fault." Magda stated with a frown that caught Xander completely off guard as he saw the hurt shine in her eyes.

Magda's eyes softened, "But we do not blame you." She said as she patted Xander's knee. "I can see it clearly now, even though it was hidden from me before. You could have stopped the death, intercepted the helicopter, even destroyed the tanks before their rounds impacted on the border." She said softly, but her words still hit Xander like body blows from a heavy weight boxer.

Xander started to look down, stunned as he realized that he had been so reliant on the border's defenses that he didn't use his own powers or his other technology to stop the attack from the beginning. Xander's mind taunted him, and the voice of Tony Harris yelled in the background.

'That's right boy, you're still a loser and a wimp. Even with everything you've gained, you'll always be a loser.' That little voice of doubt attacked him.

Xander was stunned as he realized that he should have transported immediately to the border rather than sitting there watching the massacre. He should have used the transporter to open up portals that would have intercepted the shells and bullets. He should have used his speed to catch the bullets. If he had, the gypsy's would be alive. I have failed… it's all my fault. Xander thought, the words of failure spinning around in his mind as he finally sat down and realized what he should have done differently.

Magda cupped Xander's face and pulled it to look at her, breaking his introspection and self doubt, "There, that is your problem. For all your genius, your gifts and your powers, inside your mind you are still that Xander Harris from your old world. I don't know what happened to you back then, but you are holding yourself back with your past thinking. Know that we do not blame you." She said as she patted his cheek as a grandmother would a child.

"Now go. Go be The Leviathan and bring what is left of my people back to me. We will speak again about this later." She stated commandingly, sitting back and fixing him with steady white eyes that stared unblinking into Xander's own eyes.

Xander blinked, wiped a few tears he didn't know he had before nodding and standing up. In his mind Xander was still haunted by his own words that he had told to the world, about how much worse is it for those who have the ability to save the lives of the innocent yet don't do it. At the same time another voice in his head argued that he couldn't save everybody.

His inner voice of Ben Parker relayed, 'With great power comes great responsibility.'

Another voice quickly interjected after that. 'What, you think Batman, Superman, The Flash and all the heroes just woke up one day and knew how to use all their powers to save the day?' The voice of reason said in the back of Xander's head, speaking with a voice that sounded very similar to Giles's voice. 'If you don't take the time to get a handle on what you can do and what you have available to use, then you can't be expected to save the day every time.' Reason continued before stopping to sip some tea.

'Yeah man, like totally chill dude. You tried your hardest. Sure you failed man, but you just got to get back on that board and catch the next wave dude. No reason to get washed up on shore and get sand in your shorts; that stuff really chafes the kibbles and bits.' Xander's inner Californian said before giving him a bit of advice. 'Just next time man, try to plan ahead what you want to do. You know the waves are going to come, you need to become one with yourself or you'll never be able to deal with what the ocean sends your way.'

'That was very eloquent, if a little abstract Mr. So-Cal. So I believe we are agreed then, after this we take a break to get to know ourselves a bit better.' The voice of reason said; Xander had the mental image that his inner voice of reason was polishing a pair of glasses.

'Agreed.' Many of the voices said except for one who said, 'No.' But nobody was really paying attention to the Devil's advocate, he was always saying the opposite of what everybody else thought.

'Like the other's said, only you need to make sure your future plans include a harem.' The little voice said, 'It's been far too long since you've gotten any.'

"Here Here!' Several little voices called out in the back of Xander's head. Causing Xander to internally smile and breaking him out of his funk.

Xander hopped up, nodded, and then headed into the back medical labs with Igor following.

Xander exited through the doors of the sterile looking waiting room halls and entered a cavernous multilevel medical facility that was lit by the blue lights of the operating tables and the green hue of the glowing Lazarus Pit Vats that lined the walls and were full of floating bodies. Floating robotic auto-docs floated between the levels checking on the patients in the Vats as doctors, nurses and techs walked pathways that spanned the isles of tanks.

Now Xander was all about efficiency when dealing with inventions, the idea of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' being one of the keys of efficiency unless you were one of those evil mad geniuses who liked overly elaborate machines or death traps. Given that Xander was merely a 'mad genius' and not an evil mad genius,' he decided to stick with what worked.

The idea of the Lazarus Pit was sort of in this category of 'if it's not broke,' however the method as used by Ra's al Ghul had a few flaws. Yes, it revived the dead, rejuvenated the old, and gave individuals almost limitless life, but it had this small problem where those who used it went insane and gained megalomaniac urges. Though it could be argued that Xander was already insane and the evidence was pointing towards megalomaniac urges, he still wasn't in the same ball park as Ra's al Ghul, whose life goal was to kill all humans so that the Earth could be cleaned. That said, the vats that lined the facility were the new and improved Lazarus systems.

Borrowing heavily from the ideas of Star Wars and bacta tanks, Xander had created a system that not only used the Lazarus Pit fluid, but also highly oxygenated the solution to reduce strain on the body while swarms of nano-clanks made repairs to the body and dealt with that nasty little problem that the Lazarus Pits did to brain chemistry. After a few trial and error periods almost all of the people who used the vats came out quiet sane and didn't want to kill all humans; though there was the one guy who still thought he was a duck.

Like the Amazons and their purple ray that healed almost anything from injuries to unnatural diseases, the Nano-Lazarus Vats were used to pretty much fix every problem. Get killed in one of the laboratory accidents or in the service of the Leviathan, you went in a Nano-Lazarus Vat. Shoot your eye out with a BB gun, you went in a Nano-Lazarus Vat. Cut off a limb, go in the vats. Cancer or the common cold, you could go in the vats; though the nano-clank injection was just as good. Get a splinter, you could go in the Nano-Lazarus Vat, but you would be teased mercilessly by the other minions. Right now those vats were filled with the more serious cases of people who were 'mostly dead.'

In the famous words of Miracle Max from the Princess Bride, "There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive." For the gypsies that had their brains splattered or who were reduced to a red mist, they were all dead and there wasn't anything Xander could do to help them; all the Leviathan's nano-clanks and all the Leviathan's minions couldn't put them back together again. For those who had simply died, well death was far from being the next great adventure; it was more like a rest stop until the other minions could pick them up, dump them in a Nano-Lazarus Vat, and then decant the now living body.

Xander walked into the room and took a look at the multiple layers of vats, all pretty much full at the moment with the hundreds of dead civilians and the one injured Jäger who saluted Xander as Xander walked by. Xander glared at the Jäger for messing up and saluting him when he wasn't dressed up as the Leviathan and he was in front of the Romanian medical staff, but nobody was really paying attention to the Jäger whose skeletal leg bones were exposed as his lower half was fleshed out. The Jäger quickly dropped the salute and Xander continued to silently march into the room.

Clapping his hands twice, all of the medical techs and doctors in the room turned to look at Xander.

"Ok people, I want the revived Kasnians kept sedated and moved to the old hospital building until they can be reunited with their families. The formerly dead Romanians I want decanted now and brought down here to the first row of tables. You know the drill people, have the systems double check the brain chemistry and then we will bring them awake. Chop chop people, let's get moving!" Xander commanded, and all the medical techs rushed to follow his orders, recognizing him as the chief doctor of the medical facilities.

Like a great ballet or a synchronized swimming team on dry land, the techs and doctors moved as one to stations around the room and started pressing buttons. Large service bays opened up around the room and disgorged swarms of metal tentacles that systematically reached towards the Vat's and plucked the floating humans out of them as the lids on the vats opened up.

In waves, the tentacles unloaded the Kasnian humans onto tables where doctors scanned holographic consoles to ascertain the patient had the proper brain chemistry balance and that no gene degradation had taken place due to the healing process. Then and only then did the tentacles release their patients to be transported, still unconscious, to a waiting hospital in Bucharest where they would be awakened and reunited with their families.

Most of the Jägers who had been injured were being healed in a facility hidden in the mountain under the castle, a modern day Mama Gkika's where the millions of Jägermonsters could go to relax and just enjoy others of their kind while in between battles or being on duty; meaning they drank with and fought each other more often than not. The main Jäger medical facilities were there and several of the Jägers had sustained injuries when their Dark Trooper armor had been breached by some of the weapons that the Kasnian Generals' had illegally imported for their bodyguards. The most serious injury had been to the Jäger who was currently having his legs regrown in the room with Xander. Apparently even Jägers could get pretty badly injured when they jump on the muzzle of an anti-tank cannon in order to protect their comrades. The Jäger was lucky to be alive after catching the round in the plating armor of his stomach, but in classic Jäger style all he had said was, "Godz, dat schmartz" before his heart stopped.

Fortunately for said Jäger, he had Xander's extra-strength Battle-Draught still in his system and his heart started right up after he received a few thumps on the chest. Thus he was the only Jäger present at the Nano-Lazarus Vat clinic, and the only remaining patient left in the first row of Vats after the deceased Kasnian civilians were decanted and transported out of the facility.

Soon the unconscious, but healthy, bodies of the Kasnians were transported off of the tables after they had been checked out. When they awoke they would find counselors present who would be there to talk to them if they needed to discuss their traumatic 'near-deaths.'

"Alright people, let's get our citizens out of their bubble baths and woken up." Xander stated before moving over to a table consol on the end and addressing the tech and doctor that were manning that table. "I'll take this one gentlemen," Xander directed, receiving nods from the two before touching the control panel with his hand and mentally controlling the device to begin the decanting process on the body of Janna Kalderish.

The tentacles dipped into the green fluidic mess that was the Lazarus Pit chemicals and nano-clank soup and carefully wrapped around Janna's waist and chest while others carefully but securely grabbed her wrists and legs. Xander quickly quieted the little voice in the back of his head that said she was hot naked, he was more interested in making sure she was alive and well at the moment rather than ogling the body double of his teacher.

The metal limbs placed the body double of his computer teacher on the table before him and Xander brought up the holographic image of her brain while the brain wave and chemical analysis graphs showed Xander that her mind was functioning normally. She was breathing, her heart was beating, and the nano-clanks slowly but surely removed any of the sedative that they used to keep her asleep. All Xander had to do was wake her up and make sure she was ok.

Xander pressed a button and the tentacles retracted from the patient as two arms moved out of the table to drape a sheet over Janna; just as they did with every patient that awoke in the lab. The sheet shimmered for a second as the nano-clanks it was comprised of form fitted to the patient and then became a jumpsuit with a zipper down the front; which on Jana meant that Xander gulped as her beauty was still pretty much on display. The nano-clank clothing went inert and would be removed in the changing room before the patient fully left the facility.

Finally it was time to wake Janna up. It wasn't how Prince Charming would have done it, but then again a slight stimulus to the nano-clanks in her body that brought about the human body's chemical and neurological effects of waking up worked the best.

Janna's eyes slowly fluttered as she awoke to look around. The muted blue and green lights backlit Xander's caring smiling face looking down at her. The chiseled good looks Xander had gained as he lost all of his Sunnydale Twinkie fat and gained a figure that was superior to regular humans made him quite handsome and perhaps even Adonis-like in Janna Kalderish's eyes. The blurriness in her vision added to the fact that Xander looked somewhat godlike made it understandable that she was confused when she woke up.

"Are you an angel?" Janna questioned in an accented English that was very attractive.

"Me? Angel? Mrph… HA!" Xander was startled by her words and it forced a laugh out of him; especially since the words brought to mind images of Deadboy.

"Sorry Ms. Kalderish, I'm not an angel, and the Angel I do know wouldn't be in heaven; the old pedo…" Xander finished the last part muttering under his breath but he continued to smile down at Janna as she looked up at him from her place lying down on the medical table.

"So… I'm not dead? Was it all a dream?" She questioned Xander as he helped her to sit up and look around to see several of her other family members also getting woken up and helped down from their medical tables.

Xander smiled sadly at Janna, "No Janna, I'm sorry but it wasn't a dream. What do you remember?" Xander questioned softly.

Janna's eyes looked like she was focusing on something far away as she went back over her memories. "I was on vacation from MIT when I was called home to visit the family. Everything was normal… Oh my God, the helicopter! The knife, falling!" She stated frightened as she recalled what had happened.

Janna swooned under the weight of her returning memories, but Xander caught her and wrapped his arms around her as this woman who was so familiar yet still a stranger broke down crying in his arms.

"Come now, let's get you to your family." Xander said, sliding an arm under Janna's knees to lift her into a bridal carry that easily allowed Xander to carry her towards the door of the clinic. Normally Xander would have tried to insert humor to try and relieve some of the pain, but the situation was such that even the class clown of Sunnydale High couldn't come up with a joke at the moment.

Xander led the way out door of the medical facilities and into the waiting room, as the other stunned family members were transported via hovering wheelchairs.

The greeting of the reunited family members was one of tears and joy, as family members who thought they would never see each other again reunited. The trauma of the death, and the bloody nature of it, tore at the psyche of the people as one instant they were under attack and dying and the next they were healthy and meeting the healed remnants of their family; only to learn of who had been lost. The human body was not meant to go through the shock of bloody catastrophic death and then complete rebirth, it went against the laws of nature and left mental scars even as the physical ones were healed. As Xander helped Janna into the arms of her grandmother, he was thankful that he had the foresight to have the nano-clanks in the revivees continue to modify and control the mental chemistry such that none of the patients would go into shock or suffer a panic attack.

A little niggling in the back of his brain told Xander, 'See, you can think ahead when you try. If you can just get away for a while and get to know just what you can do, what you know and what your abilities are, then maybe you won't have to witness something like this again.' Xander contemplated that message and the advice Magda had given him earlier, even as he watched Magda be the pillar of strength that her people needed at the moment.

The tears and talking of the families continued, and Xander stood there silently along with a few doctors to monitor the situation and make sure that everybody remained relatively stable. Still, Xander and his medical staff were strangers and outsiders to the Clan's grief; touched by the death of their countrymen but separated from the proceedings by the lack of familial bonds that existed among the family members who cried together and shared embraces.

The greetings, tears and tales told by the group seemed to slow down to a trickle before it was stopped with a simple rising of Magda's hand for attention. "We have suffered a great loss." The old woman spoke in Romanian, the full depth of her feelings coming through the timber of her voice yet her eyes were dry of tears. "We have regained some of our family, but we shall grieve those lost to us. We shall remember them, and in remembering them we shall grow stronger, and we shall use their loss to survive." She stated resolutely, and her clan took strength from her; even Janna who had been crying in her grandmother's arms sat up and was able to wipe the tears from her eyes and nod in agreement.

Then a gleam came to Magda's eyes, and she turned to look at Xander. "Now we will speak of vengeance." The Elder Woman of Clan Kalderish stated firmly, focusing on Xander. The same gleam now shown from the eyes of the rest of her remaining clan as they all turned to look at Xander.

"Come Xander, give me your arm and walk with me. Tell me what you know about those who were responsible for my Clan's loss. Tell me who is responsible and what plans you have to make them suffer before we destroy them." Magda stated, and the bloodthirsty grin she shown towards Xander was mirrored on the faces of the other gypsies surrounding the old woman.

Xander walked over to the old woman and smiled the same evil smile back at her; he was just as thirsty for vengeance to be turned on the bastard that was responsible for his country's recent suffering.

Magda looped her hand through Xander's offered elbow and Janna took the other as they slowly got up and wandered towards the exit to the medical facilities. The remaining Clan members, and Igor who had appeared out of the woodwork as usual, followed along closely so they could hear what their plans were to be.

Xander thought for a moment as he guided the two ladies towards the exit to the hospital. As they exited out the door, Xander asked, "Well, first I have to ask, what do you know about Lex Luthor, LexCorp, and the international law surrounding Embassy property?" The increased gleam in Xander's audience's eye suggested that they had an inkling where this was going. They continued their discussion as they walked towards the Castle's transportation center.

Meanwhile in Metropolis, Lex Luthor shivered and cursed before pressing a button on his desk. "Damn-it Mercy, get that stupid secretary to turn the heat up in here. For some stupid reason it just got cold in here." Lex cursed before reviewing the data he had received regarding his Kasnia/Romania endeavor.

Sure it hadn't gone exactly as planned, but that is why he had made sure that there wasn't any evidence that could 'legally' be used against him. Add that to the fact that the Leviathan hadn't said anything about Lex being involved in the attack on the Leviathan's people, and it looked like Luthor had gotten away with it scott free. All he had lost were a few weapons, but he could write those off as a business expense and claim it on his taxes.

Swiveling his chair around so that he could look out the window of his office, staring down at the lights of Metropolis, Lex smiled to himself as he leaned back in his chair. Lex Luthor kicked out his feet, put his arms behind his head and smirked an even larger grin. "Damn it's good to be me." Lex stated, right before another chill went down his spine.

"Damn-it Mercy! Get some heat in here!" Lex yelled before going back to enjoying the sights of the city.

AN: Wow, longer chapter than I expected; and I thought I would get to the Justice League and their response in this chapter also. Oh well, will just get to it next time. To those who mentioned the whole stopping bullets and knives thing, this falls under one of those times where I hate to do spoilers and so will try to do obfuscation if I respond. I stated Xander was not a seer, and frankly given his level of experience with villains and the fact that he hasn't fully explored his skills, he's going to need to do some self discovery before he can always catch the bullet and save the day. Superman had to grow into his powers, The Flash had to take time to learn what he could do, and Xander has smarts and powers that he has to get used to having rather than falling back on old mental habits from Sunnydale. More character development. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy this, and please let me know your thoughts via a review or private message.

Poll: Xander is going to go around the world to grow a bit. I already have a few ideas on places to go for growth and adventure, but I'd like to hear some ideas from you all. If you know places in the DC universe or our world that you think Xander should visit, then by all means please send me a private message or put it in a review. Also, if you send me a private message and you want me to respond, please make sure you have private messaging enabled. Cheers.