Pyrrha stood triumphant. The crowd was roaring for her. The three who had stood before her lay beaten. None of them had come close to even touching her. They had been an up and coming team in the Mistrali fighting league for several years, and the exhibition match between they and the mighty champion had been sold as a chance to truly see the "Invincible Girl" go down.
It ended as all of those matches were destined to go down, with her opponent prone before her, completely and utterly beaten. And not a scratch on her.
Pyrrha was a genius. Pyrrha was incredible.
Pyrrha was bored out of her skull.
"Pyrrha, wake up!"
Pyrrha's head rose, and she felt her lips edge upward as the image of her partner in his jogging attire filled her vision. She had almost forgotten that today was one of their jogs out to the edge of the forest. They had slowed down slightly since Izuku had begun his almost daily training with his semblance and aura, but they still tried to do it three times a week to keep their ability to do so together. Izuku fidgeted, almost like a startled rabbit for a second.
"If you want a sleep i-"
He always said that.
"No, Izuku. I want to jog with you."
And she in turn, would always say that.
The usual ritual continued as Pyrrha walked over to her closet, and pulled out her change of clothes. She had taken to changing in the room, which she knew caused Izuku to look away, a blush patched on his face. Poor boy, he tried so hard to be a gentleman. She almost thought he would be over that sort of thing by now.
As she pulled her sleeping shirt off, she thought of the dream she'd had. That fight had been the first time she had truly recognized that the life of a tournament celebrity had bored her. That everything she had been devoted to for the past decade could no longer satisfy her. That her skill with her aura and semblance made even bright stars and good teams nothing more than small bumps in the road. It would be a year before she would leave for Beacon, but that moment had been one of the defining moments of her life, as small as it may have seemed at the time.
A few seconds later, she had switched to her own sweats and her new sneakers, and then they were out the door. Whatever chance they might have been noticed had long ago been dealt with by Weiss's special earmuffs.
Not that Weiss had gotten them for that reason. She'd gotten them to keep out the noise that came from Nora's snoring.
"Man," Izuku laughed through his panting, "It's pretty darn cold this morning."
The leaves were turning. Oh, they'd been for a while, but the emerald forest had become, ironically enough, a collage of red, orange and yellow. The great quilt of the forest stretched out for miles, far into the wilderness. They could not go out too far, not into Grimm country, but they could still appreciate the sights while running.
"No kidding," Pyrrha replied, her breath forming a small mist in front of her face. She was winning today. Not by much, never really by much. Izuku would never allow that. But she was winning, and the best part of all was that she was happy about it.
Izuku could beat her at something. He could beat her, and thus when she won, she felt like she earned it. Like there was some excitement in it, like there was something to overcome. That she had gained this feeling on her first real day of Beacon had immediately endeared her partner deeply to her, and she had enjoyed the friendly rivalry that the two had in their exercise.
They continued to jog for a while, along the path to the right, before they finally returned to their starting point before the dorm, and stopped. The run was over, and while they both panted, smiles were very clear on their faces.
"Beat me again," the green haired boy placed his hands behind his head, back straight in an effort to keep his airways open, "I need to run some more if I'm going to be able to beat you."
At first, Pyrrha wanted to tell him to stop training so much, but she just shook her head. She knew Weiss had had the conversation with Izuku at least a dozen times before, but there would never be a chance he would hold back on his training. He was too determined to catch Toshinori Yagi. He had to become the greatest Hunter the world had ever seen, and there was no way he could stop giving it his all. No matter how many times his bones would break, no matter how many times his muscles and tendons tore, no matter how many times he vomited up his stomach from the pain and nausea, he would never stop.
And she just could not say no to that. For so long she had felt no drive, and yet here she could see someone with it, up close and personal. She couldn't stop him from doing his best, not when he still had that passion. Izuku wanted to be there, to be something. She could barely tell what she wanted on her sandwich in the morning.
"Well," Pyrrha tried to meet him halfway, "Perhaps you could try some more stretching."
"No," Izuku stared at his legs, "I know I can do better. If only..."
If only his body didn't give out so quickly. Izuku's semblance could still tear him up fairly badly. Not terribly, nothing like what happened before, but Izuku was still constantly using the Izuku's Done Som-no she would not use that name, it was stupid to attack Izuku for caring so much about improving himself-and she could tell he wasn't quite where he wanted to be.
"Maybe," Izuku looked at her, "Maybe we could try and double the kit."
"It does cost a lo-"
"Izuku, the mon-"
"But what about upgrades to our weapons, or dust," Izuku threw out, "And we need to be able to pull money together for things like going out, or transportation. I can't just waste more of our money because I keep making us use the kit on me more than once."
Pyrrha sighed. They'd had the conversation before. Even Weiss had been open to getting a second, or possibly better, kit. But Izuku had been firm on not using too much of the money on himself.
'Certainly has the selflessness of the Symbol of Peace down,' she thought.
"Okay then," Pyrrha, leaning against the wall of the building, offered, "What if I got us mor-"
"Pyrrha," Izuku began to wave his arms back and forth, "Remember what happened last time."
Pyrrha stood there for a second. She remembered...she remembered. The stupid tight pants and the clinging shirt and the drunken jeering and the bad smelling patrons and the dank rooms and the bad tasting beer andthedroningmusicandthearroganttwinsandthetouchycustomersandthestupidfu-
SNAP
"Pyrrha," Izuku was before her, a clear look of trepidation on his face, "You were doing a me."
"Right," Pyrrha stopped, nodded, "but still, I think I could increase our income somewhat. I'll be more discerning about this next job," she brought up a smile, "less revealing outfit this time."
"Pyrrha," Izuku groaned, rubbing his eyes, "You really don't have to do-"
"Izuku," she placed her hand on his shoulder. She felt him seize up for a second, but then relax, and they looked each other in the eye. Green met green, and they nodded, "I will help us out."
"Okay."
"Why can't I find myself a job?"
It had been two weeks since then, and she had found nothing right. As she stood on a corner one of the Industrial District's main roads, she groaned to herself. In truth, it would actually be easy for her to get a job. And that job would be as "Pyrrha Nikos" sponsoring "her favorite store in Vale".
For all of her martial prowess, her quick mind, and her great athleticism, she just didn't have much in the way of white collar jobs. And due to an influx of recent workers arriving from the other kingdoms, there was almost no one hiring for manual labor. She had thought about allowing Nora to bring her on to her job, but there remembered who her teammate is.
"Hi! This is my teammate PYRRHA NIKOS. She's a super strong fighter, and world famous! We can totally have her sponsor us!"
Yeah, no.
She didn't want to be known as a celebrity. She just wanted to be seen as another worker. And unfortunately, after Junior was arrested, she was persona non grata in the food service industry due to a desire for restaurant patrons and store managers to not be shot.
"Hey," she stopped, and looked back toward the alley way, a low whisper coming out, "Did ya hear, they found a new venue for the Pit Fights."
It was two Faunus. One with whiskers and buck teeth, and the other with small goat horns. Neither were particularly big, and they were nowhere as stealthy as they thought they were, but she didn't feel like letting them know she could hear them.
"Yup," the goat continued, "I heard that they found it at that small bar on 39th and Taylor. Basement two floors down. New fighters are coming in from Atlas."
She had heard of these Pit Fights. They were more "natural" no semblances or aura, nothing more than the goddess granted strength you were born with. To some, it was a noble connection to the past. To others it was a great populist revolt against the empowered huntsman and Mistrali Tournament scene.
To most, it was nothing but a bunch of drunken idiots betting on whether Billy Bob would bet Jimmy John. The rules were there, and while technically not illegal, they were highly suspect, because they often involved illegal gambling, black market trading, and were a frequent source of criminal muscle. Pyrrha, as both a former champion of the arena and a huntsman in training, felt a deep personal disgust. She would go inform the police of said upcoming event right away, an-
"Did ya hear, as a prize for the new grand opening," The Rat Faunus continued, "They have over a thousand lien on the table. Apparently the benefactor wanted these things moved out of his bar, and he thought a big prize might be enough to make the new location more...permanent."
'…'
'So 39th and Taylor, huh?'
'I really shouldn't be doing this. I really shouldn't.'
She had went and acquired a bargain bin costume from one of the discount racks at and after holiday clearance sale. Nothing more than a standard grey cloak and a wig of deep black hair. If anyone knew she was participating, well the whole crowd would scatter. Either from her time as a tournament fighter, or from the time she set Junior place on fire.
"So, signing up to take on the champ, huh?"
Pyrrha nodded at the twenty something woman in front of her. She had piercing along her nose, and purple dyed hair. Her eyes were tired, though Pyrrha guessed it wasn't just a lack of sleep. The Woman just shrugged, and took the small entrance fee.
"You got a big match today. Porker King is here."
"Who?"
"Boar Faunus," the woman just nodded, "Strong as one too. Wild guy. Can tear cinder block apart with his bare hands," she stopped, and looked over Pyrrha, "You don't think you're going to use aura here, today, do you?"
"No."
"Good," she shrugged, "We have two aura checkers They can sense whenever anyone uses aura. Try anything, and the match will be immediately called. And believe me hun," she pointed behind her two three tall men in suits, sunglasses, and with what looked like massive stun batons on their backs, "It won't be pretty.
"Fine," she hadn't been expecting on using it either, she knew the rules of this place, and was more than sure that she had enough strength to deal with anything the ring could throw at her. She walked over to the edge of the ring, a hastily constructed box of cheap wood and some old foam mats rolled over the top. It was clearly a slap dash attempt at rebuilding the whole thing after Junior's establishment had been taken down. A half dozen other fighters were on her side of the ring, and she could tell up another floor were dozens of patrons, many of them hollering and shouting and drinking.
"Alright Folks!" and then, standing in the middle of the ring, was a small little white haired man with a hunched back and a deep orange jacket, "The first round of the Pit Fights is about to begin," his voice was like sandpaper, though he was animated in his movement, his hands moving wildly, "Now I want this clean. Now weapons, no Aura, nothing but your hands and wits. Five of you will enter, and the one left standing will face their opponent in the next round for the prize money."
Pyrrha nodded. She looked over at her entry, the "Gray Cloak" and then saw that she was not in the same match as the Porker King. So apparently she would be able to avoid any match up with him. The rest of her group began to get on the stage, and she soon pushed herself up there as well.
"Oh, looks like we have a lady in here," the announcer added to his mic as he jumped off the stage, "Let's all give her a round of applause gents."
They made several drunken jeers at her, but Pyrrha had long ago learned to ignore crowds. As her opponents, four generally average looking men in their mid twenties looked over and tried to hype themselves up, she began evaluating everything. She bounced lightly on her feet, and felt a lack of bounce from the mat. Meant the footing for the match would be more stable. It meant she could fight normally. She looked and saw that the length of the stage was about six meters on all sides, more than enough room for her to maneuver, and force a battle of medium distance positioning.
"And, begin!"
Two of the four rushed at her, both with their eyes directly focused on her. They probably thought it would be an easy win if they could take her out. But in rushing towards her, they failed to notice each other, and suddenly they almost collided, they stopped, and readjusted themselves, but that had been enough to allow Pyrrha to have her window.
She had rushed forward, no aura obviously, but clearly faster than almost anyone normally could, and aimed at both of them, one with and upper cut to the chin, and the other with a kick just above the knee, within a second, she heard barks of pain, as the one she hit in the knee fell forward. She had refrained from causing any breaking, but she had managed to give him a Charlie Horse, and left her laid out on the mat.
The one she had hit with the uppercut was falling backward, and Pyrrha took her chance to finish this one off quickly as the other one fell to the ground. She grabbed his shirt, and then pushed with all her might downward, slamming him down into the mat, causing him to cough as she knocked the wind from him. She then grabbed him, pulled him up and over her, and then slammed him downward again, on top of the other fighter she had previously sent to the ground. She stopped and looked at them both, noticing that both of them were slowly moving, but both were clearly not getting up for the rest of the fight. She turned, and saw the two other fighters grappling with one another, both clearly trying to catch the other in a throw.
Pyrrha sighed, and walked up calmly to the two. They were both so focused on beating the other that they completely failed to notice her. At least until she grabbed them both by the back of the head, pulled back, and then slammed their heads into each other, sending both to the ground, moaning.
It had taken approximately twelve seconds, and in that time, with no aura, she had dealt with four fighters with little to no problem. She sighed to herself, looking at the four fallen opponents, and came to the same conclusion she had had for so long about fighting.
'This is really boring.'
It was only now that she heard the crowd. They were booing. She could see out of the corner of her eye the announcer speaking with two people on a nearby table, both of whom were looking at her in shock while shaking their heads. The announcer turned back, completely in disbelief, and got back on the stadium.
"I...I can't believe it folks, but according to our refs...The Gray Cloak did not use any aura."
"THAT's BULLSHIT!"
"YOU'RE USING HER TO CHEAT ON OUR BETS!"
"I WANT MY MONE-"
Pyrrha got off the stage, and looked over at the remaining contestants. There were four of them, all terrified, and they stepped back in an attempt to try and stay away from her...wait four?
And then she heard the footsteps. They rumbled down a nearby hallway, and the crowd grew silent. With a kick, the door opened. There stood a giant of a man, well over seven feet tall. He was clearly overweight, though she could tell from the way he moved it was not from a lack of muscle. If anything, it seemed as though the fat upon him was simply a disguise for the muscle underneath. On the sides of his mouth were two giant tusks, both two inches long, and pointing upward. He was completely bald and he had a look of pure glee on his face.
"And without further ado!" the announcer was back, "Let me introduce you all to our two year reigning champion of the Vale Pit Fights, rater as the fifth strongest fighter in this great sport! THE PORKER KING!"
'That's such a stupid name," Pyrrha concluded, as the hulking mass grabbed the side of the stage, and threw himself onto the platform. She looked over to the remaining contestants. There were none. They had all ran at the first sight of the behemoth, and had already forfeited the match.
"Now weight just a minute there," his voice was loud and stupid. It was cocky and cocksure, full of a confidence that could only ever really belong to someone who had always been and always would be a bully. She had heard it more than a few times in Mistral, so she knew the sign. The Porker King had grabbed the mic from the announcer, and looked up to the crowd, "What's this I hear about the fifth strongest, "In this sport." I'm not the fifth strongest in this sport."
His smile grew bigger and stupider than before.
"I'M THE STRONGEST IN THE F**KING WORLD!"
The crowd began cheering, and Pyrrha felt a small tick at the back of her mind. Like this guy had finally actually managed to piss her off.
"See, here's the thing," the champ continued, walking around the arena, "So many of those idiots out there think that the strongest people out there are some Mistrali Tournament Fighters, or some Atlesian Military dope, or some stupid self absorbed huntsman!"
"Those idiots out there this that Toshinori Yagi is something more than some sissy with steroid induced muscles. That his whole "Symbol of Peace" Shtick is something more than a con for some many spineless little soft heads to make themselves feel better about themselves. All people like him are a bunch of little magicians using party tricks to push past human achievement," he flexed his arms, and muscles became clearly visible, "Those pieces of just hide behind their little magic fields. They aren't anything compared to the muscles of the people!"
"..."
The crowd was cheering. Pyrrha looked over at the announcer, and nudged her head back towards where the four others had fled. The announcer shrugged.
"Well Folks," he had retrieved the mic, "Looks like the Champ wins the first round by default. Now just one more match before we award this prize."
The crowd was a mix of cheers and boos. Pyrrha noted that she heard sounds of people beginning to make bets, though she simply ignored who or what they were for. She walked up onto the stage, and out into the ring, where she stood beneath the Goliath of a Faunus standing above her.
"Wow," Porker laughed, "This is all that made it this far. What kind of losers did you find for our reopening Vic?"
"Now Champ," "Vic" was cautious, looking directly at her, "She's a better fighter than you might believe. Don't underestimate her."
"HA!" Porker looked back down at her, "Looks like she'd be better serving drinks up stairs."
...
"Can we start the match please?"
"..." Vic was sweating while looking at her. He could tell this was not going to well, but he knew what he had to do, "Begin!"
"Ya," Porker King lunged his right arm forward, trying to rip into the smaller fighter. In response, Pyrrha sidestepped to the right, and allowed herself to roll up along his arm until she was to his elbow. She stopped for a second, and then aimed her knee directly to his groin.
"Oooff!"
She connected, and then followed it up with a solid uppercut to his belly button, the wind was knocked out of him, and within a tenth of a second, the champ fell backwards. However, this was a man with some years of fighting underneath him, and he was not going down as easily as the previous fighters. He caught himself and stood up about a yard and a half away, shock and then anger glowing from his eyes.
"Why you little," He charged again, keeping himself tighter and better protected against her attacks. So she simply fell to the ground and swept her feet underneath his. He jumped, but because of his trajectory, he sailed over her, and came to rest on his knees. While still low to the ground, he turned around...and found a knee colliding with his face.
"AACKK!"
He fell backwards again, and Pyrrha could tell from the blood flowing down his face that she had broken his nose. He was quickly up again however, and even Pyrrha had to give him credit for his persistence. He pulled back his arm, and threw a haymaker towards her head. She ducked down a few inches, smirked as his side opened up, and she threw a punch with her middle finger slightly extended.
"YIIHHHHAAAAAA!"
She'd broken a rib. A smaller one and weaker one, but probably the best she could do without aura. She stood tall once more, as the Porker King suddenly fell against the side of the arena. He was breathing heavily through his mouth, and Pyrrha decided it would be best to end this now.
"Toshinori Yagi could have taken that punch," she said aloud, and she could tell that the silence around her was deafening, "Even without aura, he would have laughed everything I've done to you off," he threw a wild swing, and missed her by three heads. She caught his arm, and threw up her knee into his chest, causing him to cough badly, "He certainly wouldn't be falling over himself after a few minor injuries like this."
"Because ya see," she grabbed him by the tusk, and pulled him to her eye level, "He's just better than you."
She then pulled his tusk, and tossed him to the other side of the stage, where he collided with the side. He coughed, blood from his nose and face being spat out beneath him as he tried to get up. She began to walk towards him, nowhere near the speed that Izuku forced her to race against in the morning.
"Not only is Toshinori better than you, but so are all the Huntsman I've ever met," she continued, the image of many huntsman dominating her sight. Ruby working in the weight room. Nora and Weiss studying aura. ...Izuku tearing himself apart so often, but being so filled with joy every time he gained better control of his semblance, "They are always seeking self improvement. Always trying to grow stronger. Always seeking to do the best they can for the people of Remnant," she then grabbed him by the back of his head, her mind not on him but of a young man with green hair and worthy drive, "So they will always be better than some big fat pig lording over some rat ridden sty."
And she slammed his face into the stage. He let out a low moan, and then she looked back at the announcer.
"I'd like my prize money please."
"Never going back there again," Pyrrha sighed as she got off of the train. She'd had to push back any offer for either more fights, or any call to call the police on her. She had been given around twelve hundred lien to do with as she pleased, and while she was glad to have it, she still felt grossed out by the whole thing. She looked over at her wig and cloak, glad that no one knew it was her.
"Welcome to Beacon Academy," the voice said over the intercom. Pyrrha sighed in relief. She was finally home.
She got off the airship, and was surprised when she finally spotted her teammates standing there.
"Pyrrha!" Nora shouted, running over to the champion and jumping on top of her, enveloping the taller girl in a hug, "We thought we'd lost you forever. Never to come back, lost to the sea of time."
"Nora, she was gone for half a day."
"That's twelve whole hours without Pyrrha Weiss! Twelve whole hours! Do you know how insane I was being driven by your antics over that time!?"
"My wh-Now listen hear you-"
As Weiss and Nora began their customary argument, Weiss having yet again bit at Nora's bait, Izuku walked up to Pyrrha, and looked at her worriedly.
"Are you okay," he asked, his eyes deadly serious.
"Of course."
"Oh thank goddesses," he collapsed on himself, holding his chest, tears beginning to appear around his eyes, "I was really worried you'd be-"
"I'm fine," she then stopped, and opened her bag, "Also, I think I solved our money issue."
"Wha-Pyrrha, where did you get this much money!?"
"An old fight had yet to fully come through, and the contract had a lot of money that was meant for me locked away till now. So, ya know, thought we could use this as a backup fund, so we can reload the kit faster if you want to train more."
"Pyrrha," Izuku looked up at her, a little worried, "You didn't have to speak with that ma-"
"Oh goddesses no," she waved her hand, at least this being a complete truth, "Not a single word with him."
"That's good," Izuku then looked back up at her, "I think you should keep it."
"Izuku, I want you to have it," Pyrrha pushed the money towards him. He looked down at it, before shaking his head.
"How about...we agree to save it as a backup fund in case the team needs something big?"
Pyrrha groaned. She'd gone through all this to get the money, but she sighed and nodded, "That sounds fair."
"All right!"
The money was suddenly out of Izuku's hands, and in Nora's.
"Let's go have a celebratory dinner!" she was running towards a nearby blimp, "Pancakes for everybody!"
"Nora!" Weiss ran after her partner, soon followed by Izuku and Pyrrha. But while Weiss was red with anger, both Izuku and Pyrrha smiled at one another.
Sure, it may have not gone how she thought, but today was a good one.
And hopefully, with more work and dedication, tomorrow would be even better.
E/N: Once again Wind might have something to say.
-Shovern
So...you all notice how Shovern has been talking about shipping in these notes, well this whole idea originally was born about a discussion about shipping in the thread.
If you look back at the history of this story, and recognize that a lot of the events were chosen by different groups in the thread, you can tell that in the shipping war, there were two main contestants at this point. First was Yang, who was widely popular for her nights on the town with Izuku and being Yang. Then, as you can see with how fast her whole story happened, Blake also had an extremely devoted fanbase, one that was pushing for her every chance they had. Both had actually earned several flags in the story, special events that explicitly , meaning that there had some level of attraction had been built up between them and Izuku.
And I didn't like either of them. Believe it or not, I originally wanted to do something with Ruby, but that never took off. So, by this point in the story, I looked at the two leading candidates, said no, and then turned to the only other girl with a single flag, Pyrrha. I looked her over, and basically said, "I'm going to write something with this character, to see if I can actually back her for the whole shipping thing." But that meant having to deal with the problem of Pyrrha.
The problem of Pyrrha, as demonstrated by a great deal of fanfiction, is that she is one of the least explored characters in RWBY, and because of that she tends to be written rather...shallow. I mean, she's utterly likable, but there is not much on screen depth beyond the small bits beyond her whole destiny thing. This can lead her to often be classified as a simple plot device than an actual character, and that can be hard to write for. Which is why so many writers, even good ones, just shunt her off quickly and inevitably pair Jaune with whichever girl they find more interesting.
So, I took a little bit looking over Pyrrha, and asked what would actually drive Pyrrha to push quit being a Tournament Fighter, cause I found the whole hates fame thing to be trite. I then pursued the idea that, while she does hate fame on some level, she was much more trapped because being a tournament fighter bored her. She became a fighter in her very young years, yet she's already the best. At 17. To enter a profession as a professional athlete, you are always seeking your next great challenge, your next obstacle to push yourself. But no one can even touch her, and she's basically smacking around the best of the best without breaking a sweat. She was "The Invincible Girl" and she got all the fame, the money, and other privileges that came with that.
And she got bored. She got bored and it grated on her that while she was bored, she kept getting pushed into more and more of the stupid celebrity parts of being a tournament fighter, but now even the fighting was no longer engaging, making the less fun parts of her job just less worth it in all but a financial sense. She wanted to be challenged, wanted to keep feeling like she was growing. So she did what Michael Jordan did after his first three championships, and switched careers. Where Mike went to go play baseball, she went to go hunt Grimm. Finally, something new to conquer. She had an outlet for her skill, a way to alleviate her ennui, and to rediscover her drive.
That drive is what she is looking to find again, this time while saving people. And along the way, she runs into a small, mousy guy who has so much passion for this whole thing that it LITERALLY TEARS HIM APART. Her conflicted feelings about Izuku's passion, his goals, and his idol seemed to be a rich backdrop to explore. Thus, I became a sailor on the SS Autumn Bell.
Wind-Waker
Told you he'd have something to say. Also sorry for the delay on this chapter, Went to visit family, and the laptop I brought couldn't even handle Google docs.
-Shovern
a/n:
In addition, I hit some troubled times myself. I've been involved in a shit-flinging match with my University's Financial Aid Department that has consumed the better part of the past several weeks for me. It's the Fourth Week of school as of me writing this note and my loans have only just arrived in full today.
I have been in a difficult space these past several weeks with bills and rent and, had things gone a different way, I would've been having to choose between letting some utilities go and eating.
Thankfully that wasn't the case; my Patrons at the beginning of the month came through and I've managed to eat so far for the entirety of this month off of the . Thanks to them I didn't have to make a hard choice between eating and utilities (instead on just pushing off my utilities as long as I reasonably could) and for that I can never thank them enough. However little they or others might think of what they contribute, it can't be doubted that this month they were my heroes.
Updates should resume normal schedule unless other stuff with the editors come up, as my financial situation has, at the very least, stabilized for the moment.
-gorilla_fingers