Chapter Twentyone – Family
The Multiverse – The Greater Cosmos
Deep in the fowl, putrid bowels of R'lyeh, the Great Old One was fuming. His prize, the greatest of them all, the one he'd fought so hard for, was gone, and he was roaring with temper. He wanted the Sorcerer back. But as he sent his enormous hordes of followers, to every corner of the extended Greater Cosmos, searching for him, truthfully, he had no idea where to find that wretched Blue Hedgehog. Their meeting was entirely by chance, a random tear in space time, across the cosmos. He could rip apart the entire extended and greater cosmos, looking for him, but ultimately, that would achieve very little.
But Cthulhu deeply smirked. The Sorcerer still had his Embodiment of Madness. His memories had been fully restored. The potential was there, not matter how much he tried not to remember. The Torment remained, and was spreading drop-by-drop, when he was least expecting it, completely unaware, until it pounced. A permanent link to him.
However, the Great Old One was willing to wait.
For the mighty Sorcerer to come to him.
But Cthulhu laughed, as he let loose his almighty telepathy. He could see the Blue Hedgehog's mind, out there, somewhere, on the distant ether.
Suddenly, Sukko's eyes snapped opened, as he was forcibly pulled from his dreams. Panting hard, he gulped.
I see you.
Dimension – 151105 – All Or Nothing
There were signs that Embodiment of Madness was returning but Sukko had somewhat arrogantly, and very stupidly ignored them. But now he was caught completely off his guard, as one morning, it finally came for him,out of nowhere. Suddenly, he screamed, holding his head, in horrendous pain, his eyes glowed a deep, horrible red, as the bombardment of gruesomeness began. The Madness. It was back. But with the Psychic Link, now fully open, reformed, it charged straight the power telepathic connection and took poor Sonikku by storm. He just didn't have the mental strength to fight back.
Rapidly, it spread, manipulating their memories, into their worse nightmares. Cthulhu, suddenly smirked with pure evil, when he saw a second mind, join the fray. They squealed and cried against the evil terror, until finally, it caught the attention of Stripes.
It had been several months, since he'd awakened. He was fully recovered, and was out and about, and he walked into the family house, having done some chores, to history repeating itself.
No.
Dropping everything, he ran for the twins. Thankfully, all the children were still at school, otherwise there would be utter hell. Both Sonikku and Sukko, were unconscious, collapsed, on the floor, in the lounge, both their eyes wide open, their iris's a deep red, a cold, hollow darkness within.
Stripes growled, immediately feeling it.
What was that?
Regardless, he had no idea, but roaring with anger, he wasn't going to let this evil win. The twins were his, and his alone. Whomever this evil was, he wasn't having them. But Stripes was out of his depth. However, with Sukko involved, it meant only one thing. Magic, and he knew of only one person who could potentially help.
Everglade.
Knowing exactly where to find him, Stripes desperately grabbed both the twins, and growling hard, he pushed his Chaos Control, and suddenly, all three of them vanished. In the Sorcerer's Guild, the Wizard was teaching a class. The students, including Arthur, were chattering, and Blaze was happily observing from the back, as she often did. Nothing prepared them, for what happened next.
Right in the centre of the room, a blinding almighty flash of pale blue light, lit up the whole room, and Stripes landed, on his knees, an unconscious Blue Hedgehog under each arm. On the verge of tears, he whirled around and begged for the Wizard's aid.
"Help me, please." He sniffed, unable to get any response out of the twins. Everglade, immediately halted the class, and forcing the students to back way, as he and Blaze ran for them, joining them on the floor. The Princess examined Sonikku, as the Wizard went for Sukko. Seeing the red eyes again, and the strong feeling of a foreboding darkness, he knew exactly what was wrong. Everglade swore and hard. He screamed.
"Cthulhu's Embodiment of Madness." He announced. "No, no, no." He panicked. But Blaze frowned.
"I thought Sukko was cured of that." She wondered. But Everglade heaved.
"He was, Princess. He told me. The madness was cured when his memories were removed." He heaved, then he looked at the Black Hedgehog. "Stripes, when you brought them back from the dead, their memories were restored, but for Sukko, so too was the Embodiment of Madness. But with the Psychic Link also renewed to where it should be, with Sonikku, it's taken the Blue Blur down with it." He sniffed. But Stripes growled, rounding on the Wizard.
"Then repeat the process." He demanded. But Everglade blinked.
"What?" He stammered. But Stripes leered, and hard.
"Remove the memories. That's the cure. I will not let 'my' twins fall to the hands of that wretched monstrosity." He hissed. He knew the stories. Sukko had told him everything. But Everglade gulped.
"I can't." He stuttered. Stripes roared at him.
"What? But you have Magic." He gulped. But Everglade just nodded, sweating hard. The Ultimate Lifeform's fury had frightened him.
"I do, but I can't do what your asking of me. To selectively wipe a person's memories is, Magic wise, the realm of a Sorcerer, not a Wizard. In the Order of Eldin, memory wiping could be done, but it was one of the most dangerous casts we did. We couldn't pick or choose which memories to wipe, the cast took everything, right back to childhood. It completely disintegrated them. The person literally remembering nothing, not even their own family. What made it so dangerous, was that if it rebound, or if anyone else got caught in the cast, in would wipe them to. It was utterly ruthless. I saw it cast many a time. It was how the Order of Eldin dealt with it's enemies." He explained. Blaze gulped.
"Is there another way? What about Arthur?" She desperately wondered. But Everglade shook his head. He heaved.
"No. Memory wiping is an extremely-high level cast, for either a Wizard or Sorcerer. Far to advanced for Arthur." He gulped. "The only person who had the real skill of performing such as cast, was Sukko." He sniffed, looking at the Sorcerer, himself, now in serious trouble. But Blaze suddenly, gulped, asking the question she seriously didn't want to.
"But Everglade, you know the Memory Wipe cast?" She stammered. The Wizard's closed his eyes, and nodded, utterly hating himself. Yes, he did.
Quite simply, it was all or nothing.
Stripes grabbed both the twins and cried his heart out. Either way, he was going to loose them. He fought so desperately hard, for them, and how they had to choose. Allow that disgusting monstrosity Cthulhu, take the twins through his Embodiment of Madness, or completely destroy their memories.
But they didn't have long. The Torment and the Madness, had seriously embedded itself deep down inside the twins, and now he was desperately close to finding the Magic, and corrupting it again. If that happened, they could awake, and fight back, them loosing to chance to potentially save them. But Blaze was lost for words, as the what to do.
Suddenly, the twins unconscious bodies began disintegrate, as the Great Old One, began call them to him. But Blaze stared at Stripes. She'd noticed he was wearing two weddings bands, one on each hand, and when he said 'my' twins, it heavily emphasized that he'd been once married to both. She grabbed Stripes, who looked up. She heaved, looking at the twins.
"Stripes. If anyone choose's their fate, it should be the one who loved them the most. What do we do?" She heaved, but Stripes, growling hard, rounded on Everglade.
"Do it." He hissed. But Everglade blinked.
"What?" He stammered. But Stripes gulped.
"You said, that their memories will be wiped and returned back to childhood, never to return." He asked. Everglade nodded. "Now kids are not a problem, I've raised six of them myself, but can they relearn, on top of the old memories that were wiped, replacing them with new ones?" He desperately wondered.
Everglade blinked, and suddenly, he gasped.
"Yes, they can." He cried, and immediately, he scrambled to his feet. "It will be a huge amount of work, but it's possible." He heaved, but as he faced Stripes, as he too got up. "But they will remember nothing. You, me, Blaze." He sighed, indicating the Princess. "Eggman, the Sol Empire, Mobius, the Titans, even their own children. Sukko won't even remember he's a Sorcerer, let alone, a Doctor, or the God Of The Cosmos. Sonikku won't know he's a Hero, or any and all adventures he had will be gone. But because of the Psychic Link, which should remain intact. It's significantly stronger then me, the only thing they should remember are their names and each other." He heaved. But Stripes nodded. Them remembering each other, was a deep drop of comfort, in this horrendous situation. He growled.
"Then do it." He repeated, heaving hard. "I will teach everything to the twins, all over again." He smiled. But Blaze grabbed him. She beamed.
"No, we will." She nodded, Everglade agreeing, but then he took charge, growling hard.
"Right, everyone out." He ordered, shouting at the entire room. Quickly it emptied, as Blaze was leaving, Everglade rounded on Stripes. "You too, please." He asked, finally standing up the Ultimate Lifeform. He growled, refusing, but Blaze grabbed him, nodding hard.
"Trust us, please." She smiled, as Stripes sniffed, as he finally allowed himself, in tears, to be steered out of the room. Finally, alone with the twins, Everglade heaved and hard. This cast was incredibly high level, extremely dangerous, and if that wasn't bad enough, it was now about to do it, on two of the most beloved people he knew.
Sonikku and Sukko.
But as their bodies disintegrated still further, as Cthulhu increased his grasp of them, the Wizard couldn't let that monstrosity win. The Great Old One telepathic link to the twins, was through the manipulation of their memories. But without them, he would have nothing to cling on to, and the line would be permanently cut, forever.
But price tag was a high one.
Everglade closed his eyes, and begged for forgiveness, as he laid the twins together on the floor, side by side, and concentrated hard. Hating himself with every ounce of his being, he muttering an extremely deep, dark incarnation under his breath, and from the power ring, powerful streams of beautiful sun yellow Magic exploded from his hand, and immediately swirled around the twin's heads, forming a tornado just above them. Everglade pushed the Magic harder, grinding through the drain, to increase the speed of the tornado, and as he screamed in pain, it happened. Inside the tornado, it physically pulled the memories out of the twins. Two lines of illusionary images, exploded upwards from the forehead of each of the Blue Hedgehogs.
Immediately, deep red images of horrendous evil could be seen, and suddenly, Cthulhu's roar of pure anger was heard, as he finally lost complete sight of the twins, loosing them in the cosmos, never to find them again.
They had won.
Unfortunately, the tornado didn't stop there, as now it couldn't be, as it forcibly yanked the Magic from Everglade. Everything was being pulled from the twins.
The Titans, inter-dimensional traveling, meeting all their friends, and finding and falling in love with Stripes, as they are both returned to the pure innocence of childhood. Despite being in horrendous pain, seeing all the memories go, reduced Everglade to tears, as he desperately tried to control the wild tornado so it didn't engulf the entire Sorcerer's Guild and the school, ripping his hands to pieces in the process.
After several agonizing minutes, it was done, as Everglade fell to his knees, and cried his heart out, into his badly bleeding hands.
Blaze had been hugging Stripes the whole time, as he just couldn't look. But in amongst all the despair, no one noticed two Blue Hedgehogs, suddenly, come too on the floor. They awoke with a fright, having no idea where they were, but as soon as they saw each other, all the fear just disappeared. Exploding with pure delight, Sonikku and Sukko, knowing exactly whom the other was, just clashed. They rubbed noses, foreheads, licked all over, and suddenly, they began playing, rather roughly.
Sukko's long black coat, got quickly ditched, as the two Blue Hedgehog began play fighting, pulling ears, and biting fingers. Their giggling and squealing, immediately got everyone's attention, as Everglade just looked up.
What?
Immediately, Blaze and Stripes bust into the room, and slide to the floor either side of him. The Ultimate Lifeform beamed, wiping away the tears. He gulped.
"You did it." He stammered. But Blaze frowned, as did Everglade. He gasped.
"Are you sure?" He wondered, unsure what to make of the situation. But Stripes smirked.
"That." He heaved, indicating the twins playing. "Is very normal and classic toddler behaviour, from three year old Hedgehog twins. I raised three sets. I've seen it, a lot." He suddenly growled, and immediately, he got up, and charged in, between the twins, and pulled them apart. He roared as his anger flared.
"That's enough." He spat, asserting his authority. Perfectly responding, immediately, he got both the Blue Hedgehog twins whimpering at his feet, crouching on the floor. Striped knelt down to them, and smiled. In the warmest voice he could muster, he sighed, holding his hands out. "Hey, it's alright. I won't hurt you, but if you keep play fighting like that, you could easily hurt each other, and we don't want that, do we?" He asked.
He instantly got two pairs of large beautiful green eyes, looking at him. They blinked, with no recollection of him whatsoever. It pained Stripes hugely, but heaving hard, he had to push past it, for the their sakes.
Finally he got an answer, as twins both shook their heads. At least, they understood him. Suddenly, they both snuggled up to him, accepting his authority as an adult, and fellow Hedgehog. They instinctively seemed to remember. Even though, the cast had reduced them back to early childhood, Stripes had actually met the twins, in infancy, when he traveled back in time. Even after everything, they still knew him. He grabbed the twins and cuddled them in close. He'd got to keep them, but Stripes knew it was never going to be the same again. They were not going to be raised now, in the exact same way they were originally.
But they still Sonikku and Sukko.
Now, however, there was now on a different planet, a new dimension, other friends and it was peace time. Entirely new environmental factors. They were going to become completely different versions of themselves, and truthfully, it got Stripes seriously intrigued.
As the twins settled, Sonikku began sucking his thumb, as he buried himself into Stripes's chest fur, purring, as he fell fast asleep. Sukko, curiously, started looking around again. As soon as he spotted Blaze and Everglade watching them, he squealed, frightened, desperately hiding behind the Ultimate Lifeform. Stripes smirked.
"Hey. It's just some friends." He hissed, indicating for Princess and the Wizard to join them. "They won't hurt you." He repeated. Extremely nervous, they moved closer, as Sukko cuddled in tight to Stripes. But Blaze smiled.
"Hello, I'm Blaze and this is Everglade." She beamed, introducing themselves. But Blaze smiled, right at the Blue Hedgehog.
"Hi, you and your brother look the same. Who's who?" She wondered. Sukko peered out from behind Stripes. He gulped, looking at his twin. He pointed at himself.
"I'm Zuko." He squeaked, and then pointing at his twin. "And that's Son-knee-coo."
He fumbled but Sukko stared at the Wizard. He had no idea who he was, but that didn't matter. The Skunk had waved at him, but he was cradling his still bleeding hands. The Blue Hedgehog blinked, pointing at them.
"Your hurt." He stammered, his voice quiet, but extremely high pitched. Very child-like. Everyone stared, at the fact that he could talk. Everglade nodded. He sighed.
"I'll be alright." He nodded. But Sukko growled, scrambling from Stripes's arms, across the floor, towards the Wizard. He giggled.
"No. I fix it." He beamed, and immediately grabbed the hands. Bright blue light suddenly emanated from Sukko's hands, and he perfectly healed the Wizard's injuries, in seconds. Everglade gasped, as he, Blaze and Stripes just stared at one other. Sukko still had his Magic, which meant that both the twins did. They were explosions of joy all around. It was going to take years, but they could bring the mighty Sorcerer back. But Sukko grinned inanely. "See." He added, moving away. Everglade gulped, now extremely curious. What exactly did Sukko know? Time to test him. He smiled.
"Thank you, but how did you do that?" He wondered. But Sukko just frowned, shrugging hard. He just pointed to his hand.
"Blue." He answered simply. Everglade just heaved, smiling hard. As expected for a three year old. With a nod from Stripes, the Wizard held up his own hand, now healed, the one bearing the power ring, and with a quick incarnation, made it glow. He beamed.
"Yellow." He responded. Immediately, Sukko's jaw dropped, as he immediately grabbed the hand, and began sniffing it all over, intensely curious. Blaze beamed straight at Everglade. She smiled.
"He knows." She giggled as Everglade just bounced. Sukko just grabbed him and cuddled him. But as they embraced, their foreheads touched, and immediately, Sukko exploded in streams bright blue Magic. His eyes deeply glowed as his telepathy just expanded and grabbed Everglade, in earnest. Their heads joined together, a bright white light glowing between them.
The Wizard began violently shaking as Sukko grabbed him, as his eyes rolled up inside his head, and the Blue Hedgehog just downloaded his mind. Literally. He absorbed his memories, his wisdom and his knowledge. Blaze squealed, but Stripes, having gently put Sonikku down on the floor, came over and quietened her. He stared, between the twins. Sonikku eyes were open, despite him still being asleep, but they also was glowing bright blue. He gasped.
"The twins! With their memories gone, they are lashing out, grasping for whatever they can, to fill in the gaps. They are assimilating Everglade. He won't be harmed." He stammered. But Blaze gulped.
"But what about the madness?" She panicked, but Stripes shook his head.
"No. Only Sukko himself was exposed to that directly. No one else was, the Sorcerer told me. Manic successful blocked it, and Shads didn't get that far. But with the memories of it, permanently gone, the madness won't come back, unless he faces Cthulhu again, no matter whose mind he absorbs." He heaved, relieved, then he had a brainwave, rounding in the Princess. "Blaze, there are five of us, in total, who have heavily influenced the twins throughout their lives. You, me, Everglade, Frank and Manikkos, the twin's younger brother. Your'll find him on the Chi home world. He survived the Genesis Wave of our home dimension, and made something new. Sukko moved the planet to next door to the Sol Empire. If we allow the twins to download and absorb all our minds..." He breathed, but he immediately got cut across by Blaze. She squealed.
"Then we can bring them back." She beamed. Stripes nodded.
"Yes, but it won't be exact. There will still be holes." He heaved, but Blaze grabbed him. She growled.
"But it will be dam close." She hissed. Stripes nodded. Immediately, she got to her feet, pointing at the twins. "Watch them." She ordered, grabbing the Sol Emeralds. "I'll be back, I promise." She added, and immediately left. She ran outside, she activated her Fire Tornado, and immediately ran into it, aiming for the main timeline, she vanished.
Stripes held both Everglade and Sukko steady, until the process finished, and finally broke apart. The Wizard collapsed backwards, but the Ultimate Lifeform caught him. He was smirking hard. Looking around the Skunk, he saw his beloved. He was still on his knees, swaying hard. Magic was surrounding him, and his eyes was glowing a deep vivid blue. With the huge voids in his memories, the Sorcerer was desperately feeling around for more.
Everglade sat up, thanking Stripes, he gulped. He was fine.
"That was incredible. They took everything from me, my mind had to offer." He gasped, as he looked at himself. He sighed with relief. "I'm alright." He stammered, but then he rounded on Stripes. "I saw the Psychic Link, in it's full glory. It's beautiful." He praised, in full awe. "I understand why you fight so hard for it." He added. But Stripes nodded.
"We can bring them back, the twins. Blaze had gone to get the others." He hissed, as he gently knelt opposite Sukko. The Sorcerer looked at him. He didn't know him. But the Ultimate Lifeform smirked. Not yet, as he grabbed the Blue Hedgehog, put his forehead to his, and closed his eyes. Immediately, Sukko's Magic was on him, telepathically connecting with him, and downloading everything. Stripes stayed perfectly strong and let him.
Suddenly, Stripes's eyes snapped open as they glowed a deep scarlet and the red aura began to glow around his hands, from his own Telekinesis. It mixed with blue Magic, into a stunningly beautiful deep purple, that swirled all around them. Soon, it died down and they broke apart just as Blaze returned with Frank, as the Doctor immediately came running into the Sorcerer's Guild. Stripes was smirking hard, just as Frank collared him.
"Is he in there?" He asked, as he slide to the floor next to him, as Blaze had filled him in on what happened. Stripes nodded, holding Sukko, who was still swaying, in full cast, Sonikku still sleeping, but smiling hard. He beamed.
"Yes, but he needs you. Your next." He added.
Without even flinching, Frank grabbed the Blue Hedgehog, and put their foreheads together, the telepathic download beginning. Blaze ran back outside again, but suddenly stopped.
She'd never traveled to the Chi home world. She knew where it was, but had no idea if she could even land there. But she had to try. For the twins, not have the memories from their younger brother, it wouldn't make them whole again.
Thinking hard, she aimed for the planet, and preying hard, she landed. Suddenly, her ears were filled with screams, as Blaze had accidentally landed out in the open, and her Fire Tornado had caused panic. She looked around, as he jaw dropped. It looked like Mobius, but it didn't feel like it. There was no Chaos, and the planet was super rich in Chi, the feeling of which she'd learned off the Titan. But she was rounded open upon by a huge Green Hedgehog, growling hard.
"Hey, we don't like intruders on our planet." He hissed. Blaze whirled around, and came face-to-face with Manic The Hedgehog. He looked identical to the Titan, but slightly smaller, but his scent was odd. He was pureblood Chi. It was familiar, as it was carried by his family. He didn't know her, as they had yet to formally meet, but she knew of him. She gasped.
"Manikkos?" She stammered. But the Earth Bender stopped, frowning hard.
"Whoa, where do you learn that name?" He gasped. "Only my brothers ever call me that." He stammered. But the Princess nodded.
"I'm Blaze, and your family are in my kingdom, the Sol Empire." She smiled. "But the twins are in trouble, they need your help." She asked. As soon as she explained the situation, Manikkos immediately followed her home. Frank was done with Sukko, as Blaze ran into the Sorcerer's Guild with the Earth Bender. Stripes immediately ran to his feet, and grabbed the Green Hedgehog for an almighty hug. Since Stripes's marriage into the family, he'd become very close to all the brothers and this included Manikkos. Leaving him behind, was dire, but seeing him safe and well, was incredible, as there were tears all around.
Everglade grabbed Blaze, as steered her, in front of Sukko. He smiled.
"Your turn, Princess." He nodded, as she placed her forehead on his. The Magic exploded, as the mind was telepathic connected to the twins, and the contents downloaded, including her memories. She saw the twins, happy, but somewhat bewildered, innocently curious, and desperate to learn. But they slowly were coming back. She saw Stripes's, Frank's and Everglade's memories there, and as her experiences and knowledge were added to it, there was a large hole in their childhood.
Manikkos.
He was there, and the final key to finish it off. As Blaze broke apart from Sukko, the Sorcerer was grabbed by Manikkos. He rolled his eyes, smirking hard.
"Oh, Bro. What have you gotten yourself into?" He heaved, but Everglade whimpered.
"I'm sorry, I didn't have a choice." He apologised, but Manikkos just shrugged. He already knew, the Princess had told him. But he smiled.
"Hey, it's fine. You didn't let the bad guy win, and we can fix this, so no problem." He smiled, as he literally picked Sukko up of the floor, and cradled him in one arm, the Sorcerer somewhat numb. But Everglade blinked.
"Er, will this work? Your pureblood Chi. Magic won't cast on you." He stammered. But Manikkos just smirked, as he picked up Sonikku, cradling him in his the other arm. He smiled, nodding.
"True, but this isn't about Magic. It's about family." He grinned, as he cuddled the twins, and suddenly, the entire room was filled with bright white light, as he exploded from the Earth Bender's chest, as the three brothers, all from the same dimension, were reunited again.
Finally they were free. No monsters, no madness, perfectly cured, and now finally, as Manikkos filled in the gaps, bringing them back to normal. Their Magic, superpowers, experiences and all their knowledge. After several minutes, the light died down, and the Earth Bender was left still holding the twins.
Immediately, the Sorcerer's came too, extremely dizzy, as Manikkos put onto his feet, in front of him. He stood there, rubbing his face, completely confused. Suddenly, Sonikku also woke up, also swaying hard, as Manikkos also stands him up. Everyone silently watches as the twins look at each other and heave. Sonikku frowned.
"What happened?" He wondered. "I can't see, everything's all blurry." He asked, rubbing his eyes. But Sukko frowned.
"I have no idea, but my brain feels like swiss cheese. Something's happened, and I think it needed too, but I don't know what." He admitted. The Sorcerer held his head. It was badly spinning. Suddenly, there was an extremely familiar whistle come from behind them. The twins both swirled around. Their eyes widened as they squealed, extremely hard.
"Manikkos!"
They both jump on their younger brother, and just cuddled him to death. Sukko exploded with delight.
"Oh my Chaos, your alright. I was gutted to leave you behind during the Genesis Wave, but what are you doing here?" He asked, but then he looked towards Sonikku, as they both shook their heads. "But beyond that, we can't really remember anything." He added. Immediately, there were smiles all around.
The mighty Sorcerer was back.
It worked, but Manikkos growled, rounded hard on his brother.
"Sukko, don't." He hissed, rather coldly. "You don't remember for a very good reason, so don't chase after those memories. Promise me, Bro." He demanded. "Please." He desperately added. Sukko gulping. What happened? But he nodded, hard. If Manikkos was willing to come all the way to the Sol Empire for him, then how could he argue.
As Manikkos let them go, the twin got immediately cuddled by Blaze, Everglade, Frank, and Stripes, whom Sukko promptly kissed. He was still confused as to why everyone was here. But it was decided to not tell the twins about Cthulhu, the Embodiment of Madness, it's consequences, or aftermath. Neither of them remembered anything, all the memories were gone. None of their experiences of him were transferred across, and it was decided it should stay that way.
Sukko heaved, grateful. His friends and family must have gone to some lengths, for him to not remember something, so he decided to not pursue it. He recalled everything else. His children, the Titan Headquarters, and the Sol Empire. All was well.
Now finally Manikkos was visiting, time to take him to see the kids.