Reality Break

[kkhohoho]

I've decided to try writing fan-fiction again.  Please tell me where I need improvement.  Please remember that this is fiction, and that what I am writing didn't actually happen.

Reality Break Prolouge: In The Beginning
By Kkhohoho

In the beginning, there was nothingness. It was a pitch black void, a place where nothing could reside.  Then, out of of this abyss came perhaps the most important part of history: The Big Bang.  From this cosmic event, the universe as we know it would come to be, planets would form, and life would soon reside in what was once complete oblivion.

That's what they say in the text books.

There's something about the universe most poeple don't seem to understand.  Oh, a number of people have theorized about the possibilities, but they can't confirm it, nor it's origins.  However, it is, indeed, reality, if you put it that way.  In the beginning, there was indeed a void.  But this void was not black.  It was white.  At first, nothing was found in this place, other then "blank pages". Then again...no, there was nothing else there. But then, it happened: The Big Bang.  However, it caused more to happen then what history said it did.  The Big Bang divided these areas of white into separate pieces, with cracks.  Each piece contained a reality, created from the Big Bang.  When a reality could go in more then one way, peices of the reality would crack off, and the original reality and the new ones would grow larger.  As all realities constantly exist, new ones popped up with every passing second, and time travel didn't exactly help matters.

And so, that is how all of existence was...what?  What is this? There's something...something else...the lines of trinity...there's someone there!  I can see this person!  Outside of reality!   I have been seen!  I'm sorry friend, but I must end my vision, or else, I will be-AHHHHH!!!

"Amon?  Wake up.  Amon!  AMON!" A man wearing simple robes and a turban, with a fine beard as well, was now lying on the floor, still as can be.  The man beside him wore a white jacket made out of cloth that went down to the waist, and a thick line of the blue was present on the outline.  On the end of each his sleeves, there was an even larger line of blue, going around the wrist.  He had a white hat that a captain of a ship might wear, though not a pirate ship.  He had a thick, white mustache, and his body was kept in shape, for an old man.  His face was usually stern, with hardly a hint of emotion.  The still living man checked for life signs.

No pulse.

"Amon...no...not you too..."  Amon was a man known for his visions, but only recently, in his old age with his power at it's highest level yet, was able to see into the distant future or past. He was an old friend of the man simply known as The Captain, and had wanted to tell him news of the past, but he was now gone.  "Damn...I'm getting too old. Too damn sentimental." He wanted to mourn this loss, but knew he had no time,and that a Captain should not get too emotional.

He had to tell his group of this news.

[kkhohoho]

He was running.  He didn't know why, but he was running, and he couldn't stop himself, and he was scared. He looked back, and saw the house: burning. Someone or something then flew out of the flaming rubble , and without hesitation, that mysterious figure threw a blast of...something...right at him.  And then, there was silence.

"AAAAHHHH!" He sprang out of bed, rather quickly, with a look of sheer terror on his face, as though he has just survived an attempt on his life.  He was wearing a red t-shirt and a grey pair of pants, but he didn't care about what his current presentation was.   ".......It was just a dream.......but it seemed so real.....but it couldn't have been...could it?"  Trying to pass it aside, he looked at his alarm clock.  It was five in the afternoon.  Of course it was.  He had had little sleep the last few days, and today was his 17th birthday celebration, so his mom and dad let him sleep in.  His actual birthday was the next day, but his parents had some business to take of. Like the business they took care of every other day, which was meeting with an important client, or perhaps discussing an important business proposal.  He climbed out of bed and put on a pair of blue jeans, some socks, his white shoes with the thin black stripes, and his black leather jacket.  He proceeded downstairs, into the kitchen,where his older brother Ben was waiting.  Bet he's gonna to give himself an excuse to hit me again.  He always does.  For once I'd like to do the hitting.

"Mark.  Where is the remote?"  Ben had a scary look on his face, as though he was going to strangle someone.

"I don't know, Wes.  Why don't you find it yourself?  You seem smart enough, though not more so."

"You had it last, Mark.

"Ben, I don't know where it is, alright? Pals?"  Mark insincerely smiled.

"No, it's not alright. And we all know what that means."  Ben was 18 years old, and going off to college in 3 days.  But as long as he was living with Mark, he would continue to make his life miserable.

Mark felt like he had been hit with a hammer after being assaulted by Ben's fists.  After being hurt by that giant of a brother, he quickly fled outside.  That is where the celebration was being held, although it seemed rather...dull.  just acouple of tables, some ballons, and that was about it. They left on "business", as usual.  Some parents they are.  He then saw his younger brother Nick, walking towards him.

"Mark!  Mom and Dad left on buisness!"  He just stood there, looking like an idiot.

"That's great Nick.  You've told me for the 100th time that they're gone.  They're almost always gone, off somewhere.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out they're doing something again.  When will you figure this out, and stop telling me the obvious?  I'm going to my room."  Nick had always been a bit dense, and now Mark, with  no one to turn to, no one to count on, went back up to his room.  He decided to sleep some more, since it seemed as though there was nothing better to do.  So he got back into his grey pants, and went back to his slumber.  Little did he know of the grand adventure that lay ahead...

[kkhohoho]

Mark found himself now in a strange new land, and the buildings didn't look particularly modern. Some of the people here looked a bit...odd, as though there was something different about them.  He continued  to wander around aimlessly, until he saw a wall break, and what broke the wall was a woman...and this woman was heading straight towards him like a bullet.Just as he was about to be struck, he saw his bedroom ceiling.

Mark once again shot out of bed, but he quickly noticed something strange.  Yesterday, he thought his knees felt harder...almost like metal, but they didn't feel that different. Today, they didn't feel like they did at all.  He flung the sheet straight off, took off his pants, and what he saw was simply unbelievable.  His legs were now metal, as though he were some kind of cyborg.  This cannot be happening, this CANNOT BE.......my arm feels funny... He quickly looked at his right arm, which now was metal as well.  He went straight to his body sized mirror.  His legs and right arm were now made of metal, and his feet looked like shoes instead of actual feet.  What is going on?!  This...this isn't possible at all!  Am I dreaming?  No, it's not a dream.  I can feel it..and on top of that, my recent dreams have been stranger then this.  He could only think that the  case here was that he had some sort of rare disease, so, he put on his pair of jeans and his jacket and went downstairs to call a doctor.  It was six in the morning, so no one was up except him, but before he could make it to the phone, he heard a loud noise.  He looked towards the wall in front of the front entryway, and saw the door, wrecked and unhinged.  A man then stepped forwards, and looked unlike any man he had ever seen.  He was draped in a black cloak, and he had a grey thick mustache.  It seems as though he wore an orange helmet, but it looked rather tight.  He then turned straight towards Mark.  It was as if his green eyes were piercing straight through him.

He said rather coldly, "Die, abomination."  He then took off his cloak, revealing a body of orange metal underneath.  A sword of energy then appeared straight in his hand.

SHI----! Mark, not knowing anything that was going on, ran straight away, jumping over the chair, dashing past the table, right to the door.  As he ran out of the house, it exploded rather violently, and collapsed.  The man in orange then flew up, out of the flaming rubble, and Mark just kept running even faster.

"If you knew your true power fiend," yelled out the assailent "you might have been able to stand a chance, but as you are now, YOU ARE NOTHING!"  He then threw both arms straight up into the air, and created a giant ball of energy, and threw it straight at Mark.  He turned around, and saw the ball turn into an even bigger blast.

This can't be it.  I'm only 17! THIS CAN'T BE--

"YOU SHALL DISAPPEAR INTO NOTHINGNESS!"

Ohhhhh dren..

The blast then met it's target, and now, Mark no longer existed on planet earth.

Not this earth...

[kkhohoho]

Keep in mind that feedback is accepted. :)

[kkhohoho]

It looks as though I succeeded in my task.  Still, I must ever be cautious.   The old man in orange recreated his cloak, and flew down to the ruined spot.  He landed in front of it, and began sensing for anything...peculiar.  This......this can't be right! Could he have somehow escaped?!  No. His abilities shouldn't have activated yet!  This is not-

"Hello, Exekial."

  Exekial turned around, and unfortunately for him, it was someone he knew.  This 'friend' wore a cloak of blue, which went around the body, and looked almost like flowing water.  The man's blue hair hanged all the way to the ground.  "Sogetsu." said Exekial with a look of contempt on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?"  Sogetsu's voice didn't rise, and his face was cold as always.  "You of all people should know what I am doing here.  To investigate your 'investigation'.  After all, you blew up a piece of land, and destroyed a house,-"

Exekial stopped him mid sentence. "I did what I thought was necessary, like I always do, you cold bas-"

Sogetsu did the same to Exekial. "-which could jeopardize our operations.  Don't worry.  It's not like it's going to make to make the police come over here or, upon further investigation, reveal this incident to America's general public, or perhaps the population of the world.  That wouldn't be dangerous to our efforts, now would it?"

"Sogetsu, I didn't know if he had already achieved great power.  I did what I thought was necessary. I needed to make a sure strike."

"Well it certainly was sure, wasn't it?"

"Sogetsu, is you wish it, I will not make the same mistake again. You see, the boy escaped, so I have another chance.  I will get him next time for sure."  Exekial sounded caring,but his eyes betrayed his voice.

Sogetsu's eyes narrowed just a fraction of an inch.  "You had better get him next time, quietly, or else I'm removing you from more then just this assignment."  He started to turn away, then turned back towards Exekial again.  "This is your last chance, Exekial.   If you fail in any part of the job, contrary to my appearance, there will be hell to pay."  He turned into a puddle,and disappeared as though being absorbed into the ground.

"Damn you, Sogetsu..."

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"Ow...my head..."  Mark awoke in what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse.  There wasn't much in here.  He slowly got up, and, much to his dismay, the metal limbs were still there.  Greeeeaaaat...this is a fine situation you somehow, beyond all possible belief, ended up in.  Yet, it strangely feels as though this must be real...Why I am thinking more like someone who's smart?  Never mind that, I have more important matters to attend to...such as finding a way out of here.  He looked around the place for an entrance, and found a door.  Pushing on it, Mark found that things seemed to not be quite right.  "Todo, this isn't Kansas anymore."

Thebuildingslookedlike they were from the old west,only with each building having at least one additional story. The people were peculiar as well.  They either wore futuristic armor around parts of the body, armor that went around all of the body but the head, or clothing that belonged in the old west.This...this must be some sort of...amusent park...or club...or something, because this certainly isn't the current USA!  Maby it's an oldwest reenactment made by the fringe element.

He decided to try and figure things out here, and asked someone who wore such armor a question.  "Sir, where did you get that armor?"

"Armor?  Are you saying that I'm some suit of armor, punk?"

Mark looked quite confused.  "What are you saying?  Is that your-"

"I'm saying this is my body!  You should know better, since you have some metal limbs, you son of a $$$$$!"

Mark actually felt some relief from this news.  He wasn't alone anymore.  However, things were about to get ugly.

"Now look, you pile of metal, I have no idea where I am or what I'm doing here! Although, if you could help out, it would be far more productive then $$$$$ing around!"

"You think so?! Then have some of this!"  The "sir" attempted to land a punch straight on Mark's face.

Mark barely knew how what happened occured.  One minute, he saw a fist coming right at him, the next, everything slowed down, he went behind the man who kicked him on the back, everything sped up again, and the assaulter was lying on the ground.  Mark was simply stunned.

"What...what did I do?"

[kkhohoho]

Just a notice: My chapters are short.  Also, they may be revised if I feel they need to be modified, but not enough so that it isn't the same chapter at it's core.  Such modifications may make the chapters longer, and/or better.  As such, all of my chapters prior to this post has had an update, though not much of one.

[kkhohoho]

As the crowd oohed and awed at the result of the the split second spectacle, Mark came to his senses.  Have to get out of here, now! So he did.  For now, he chose to use his newfound ability.  Not quite knowing how he did it the first time, he decided to just think about going behind the building across the street, and almost as soon as he had finished his thought, he was out of the crowd's site.  This power...how did I get it?...No use thinking about questions that I probably won't find the answers too anytime soon.  The fact is, I have this power, and there doesn't seem to be any ill effect towards me from using it.  I'll use it when when necessary.  He walked away from the building, away from the crowd, and looked for a hotel, or someplace like that.  He eventually happened across a place called "Ironfist Inn".  How ironic.  He stepped inside, rented a room, and proceeded to 319 on Floor 3.

He lied there on the mattress for hours with his eyes closed.  He thought about taking a nap, but remembered his strange thoughts, and thought it best not to sleep for now, so he closed his eyes in hopes of being rested regardless.  At some point, he got up, proceeded downstairs, and went out the door.  It was nighttime now, with people walking here and there, but there weren't as many people during the night, if you could call all of them that.  He was less disturbed by some of the populace being part machine now, for he was getting more comfortable with being part machine himself, but he was still nervous about it.  He decided to take a walk, and think about things.  Let's see. I went to sleep one afternoon.  I got up in the morning.  My legs and right arm are made out of metal. A possibly insane old man called me an abomination and tired to destroy me. I somehow wounded up here and was attacked. I found that I had a power I never knew had, and am now taking a stroll  This sounds suited for Science Fiction.  I do love the genre, but I never thought this sort of stuff was real.  He chuckled a bit at that.  As he was walking, he noticed a sign that said "Metal Slug Bar".  He didn't care about it though, and continued walking, when, without warning, he saw a woman crash through the front wall!  Mark ran over to the female.  He noticed that she was amazingly unscathed!  An ordinary person would likely be fairly, if not badly, injured.  At least, that is what he thought. He had never actually seen someone get thrown threw a wall, and it wasn't much of a common occurrence .  The women was wearing a brown, short sleeved jacket, a white undershirt, and blue jeans.  Her hair was a dark red.  Lying next to her was a brown cowboy hat.

"Damn thugs.." she cursed.  She got up and and said "You guys are gonna' pay for that!"  She smiled, and cracked her knuckles.  She wore black gloves on her hands.  Then, the middle top of the gloves started to glow a bright red.  She headed back into the bar.

I shouldn't get involved.  That's what Mark thought.  He thought that the should just walk away, and leave that women to herself.  But something inside him told him different.  In fact, he felt it was the same thing that had made him sped up for the first time, back when fought the guy in armor...or rather, the guy with the metal body.  He ran back to the bar, and headed through the hole in the wall. As soon as he got back in, he saw the women with the cowboy hat punch a man dressed in black, from head to toe.  It sounded like multiple walls were being crashed through after the man was sent flying.  However, multiple thugs started surrounding her.  It was then that Mark didn't just feel something.  He heard something.

Go.

Mark went next to the woman, right before the thugs finished their circle.  "Hey! Just who do you think are?!"  She asked.

"I'm the guy who's trying to save your arse!"

"Well what for?!"

"Let's just say something inside told me to do this.  Now don't you think it'd be best to stop asking questions and start fighting before these guys start attacking!"

"...Yeah..."

"Then let's do this!"

As the woman started punching, Mark starting speeding.  And kicking.  He actually had one foot on the ground, and had it spinning, while the other leg was stretched out, and he spun forward, knocking out the thugs with a technique he would afterwards dub 'Hurricane Kick'.  Meanwhile, the woman's fist glowed brighter then before.  She would punch and he would would spin until all the thugs were defeated.  "That was..interesting...now, miss, would you mind telling me why you were fighting against 10 men, with at least one of them being able to punch you through a wall, and how you were unscathed?"

"I supos' I cud' tell ya'.  I wus' jus' mindin' my own bisniss', and drinkin' my whiskey.  After about 10 bottels, I started to feel kinda' woozy.  5 bottels later, I think I called one o' those guys a nigga'.  They was jus' sittin' over there, but after I called one a nigga', I wuz' punched by one of da' thug's buddies.  I supoze' dat's where you found me, lyin' on the ground wit' my hat off."

'So you got drunk.  I've never had a drink myself.  What's your name?"

"Maria, Mari for short.  But you shudn't be so demanding to an adult.  You're jus' some kid!"

"I'm the kid who helped you out back there.  How old are you anyways?"

"22."

"22.  You must be old.  I'm only 17.  That makes you 5 years older then me.  I could count that with my hand.  So what did you plan to do after your little visit to the Pub?"

"I wuz' goin' to my house."

A thought occurred inside his head.  "Listen.  I may have just saved your bacon.  So I think you should lend me a favor."

"And what's that?"

"I'm without a place to stay, and I don't know squat about where I am.  Just let me stay until I get things figured out."

"...You're not gonna mess up the place."

"On no, heaven forbid."

"...Al' right.  Come on"

She walked out of the bar, and Mark followed behind.  He didn't what would come next, but at least he had a place to go.

[kkhohoho]

It was big.  Brown with a triangular roof, it was one of the biggest houses in the place.  Surprisingly, this is where a fiery redhead with a southern accent and a whiskey fetish made her residence.  Mark was simply amazed at how someone like her could own something like this.

"You live here?" asked Mark.

"I sure do!  Pretty amazin',  huh?"

"Almost my thoughts exactly."

"Let's go right in!"

The inside was as amazing, if not more then, the outside.  He could only see the 1st level, but it was quite large.  It looked more like a library then a home, with large rows of books strewn across. A staircase curved around, right to the ceiling.

"Dis," said Mari "is only the first floor. The second floor's where I relax.  Not the first.  Here's where I do my research."

"Research?"

"Yeah."

"What for?"

"Who says I have ta' tell ya?"

"No one this time.  Just how much research do you have?"

"I've found neary all da' dirt I could find on Makina."

Mark was confused.  "Makina?"

Mari was now looking puzzled.  "Did you hit yer' head on a rock or somethin'?  Makina's da' name o' dis' whole planet."

Holy $%!&...  Any ordinary  person would have likely said something like "That's a load of bull."  However, Mark had seen some rather unrealistic events recently, such as his own right hand.  Because of this, Mark found himself thinking one thing.  This isn't Kansas anymore...

"Could I have a look at any book containing information on this history of this planet?" asked Mark.

"Uh, sure." She pointed towards a row of books.  "First book on the bottom row."

"Mark hurried over to the book, took it off the shelf, plopped down on the nearest chair on the nearest table, and began speed-reading.

A portion of the book read as follows: "The general term for someone from Makina is 'Makin", although there are different names for Makin depending on which country they came from.  Every Makin is part machine, or not machine at all.  Some are more machine then others.  Everyone has his or her own special ability(ies), though not everyone is a as strong as each other."  He stopped reading after that, but he had also learned some of the earth's past.  It wasn't that much though. It was stuff about wars and creation, but Mark knew that everyone had their own idea of how things were made, and the last war on this planet happened 51279 years ago.  Still, there were questions on his mind that he still couldn't answer.  How did I get here?  What am I?  Am I a...Makin?

No.

It was that voice again. The voice heard earlier.  The voice that told him help Mari.

"Who are you?"

I am you.

"Cut the crap.  Who are you?"

I am what you may one day become.

"Become what?"

Me.

"What?"

"Kid, whatcha' talking to yourself for?"  Mari walked over to Mark while saying this.  "It's like you be goin' mad."

"Uh...Just having...personal issues."  He turned to take book and put it back when he saw another book, lying on the table.  "Artifacts of the Ancients?"

Mari quickly snatched  the book right off the table.  "Oh, that's nothin'.  Jus' a little somethin' I found a while back.  It's jus' full of useless gibberish.  No reason to worry."

"Gibberish?'  You know, for a girl with a southern accent who drinks whiskey, you're a tad literate."

"Why don't we go right to bed?  You mus' be tired!" She said with a smile.

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She got the big bed with the golden frame.  What did I get?  I got the couch.  It is large though.  Both of them were on the second floor.  There was a piano, drums with symbols, a guitar and more.  Hardly what your average southern redhead would keep around.  The lights were off, but Mark wasn't' asleep yet.  Mark didn't think Mari was asleep either.  The middle of her blanket looked like a small hill, and there was light under it.  She must be reading under the covers.  Probably at that Artifacts book. I wonder why someone like her would read something like that.  In the end, he decided to put it aside. However, something else would soon get his attention.

At 2:34 AM, something sounded like a large explosion.

What the hell?! Mark sprang out of bed, and so did Mari.

"What wuz' dat'?!" She yelled.

Mark looked out the large window.  In the distance, there were indeed explosions.

[kkhohoho]

People were running in the streets, running for their lives.  They were afraid of the explosions.  They were in panic.

That was one thing the cause of this threat absolutely loved, judging from the twisted look on it's face.

Standing on the ledge of a tall building stood a man clad in mostly red armor.  The outlines were yellow.  He didn't wear a helmet.  His hair was red, shaggy, wide, and went down to his rear, and He wore a yellow cape.His arms were crossed over his chest. His eyes stared at the chaos he had caused, and was still causing.  It was then without warning that a man flew down onto the building.

"This wasn't what I wanted, Panik."

"You should've known I'd do something like this, Exekial."  Exekial only remembered one time Panik didn't smile when he spoke, and that time was the only time he had been beaten.  He certainly was smiling now.

"I suppose I should have.  After all, you go closer to insanity with every passing moment."

"I know.  I can't wait for the day I finally go insane.  I can't wait for the day I can feel more alive then ever."  His eyes were wild, and he was smiling.

"You surprisingly aren't insane yet, but you certainly are indeed sick.  I don't know where you got the idea that insanity would be a good thing.    Anyway,  to business.  Stop the explosions, now."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, old 'pal'.  The field I created this time will last until either an hour is up, or I die before an hour passes."

"You've developed your abilities that far, eh?"

"Indeed.  I suspect your little abomination, as you call him, will be arriving soon, if he is here.

"He will come. I've done research on his host.  Even if it tells him not to, he'll still go, for he will think he has the means to stop this.  However, even I can't stand the possibilities of the death toll, and not just for reasons concerning my job."

"Get over it.  You should be more concerned on reporting this back to your HQ and explaining this whole mess to Sogetsu, before he finds out, thinks it's all your fault, and-"

"I get what you're saying.  However, your little escapade has already started.  The least you can do is what we agreed on."

"I know, I know.  Destroy the one known as Mark."

"Exactly.  However...if he isn't dead, and Sogestu doesn't have my hide, I will be back.  Understand?"

"Completely."  Smiled Panic, rather sinisterly.

With that, Exekial flew away, till he was out of sight.  He was gone now, and Panik was free to once again to treat himself to the screams, death, and panic of the innocents.  Panik's smile grew, as he waited for however long it took for him to achieve true insanity.

*******************************************************************************

This can't be good.

Mark continued to look out the window.  The explosions continued, and so did the screams.

"This is horrible..." said Mark.  "Someone should do something..."

"Den' let's do somethin'!"

Mark turned around to see Mari, still in the clothes she had on before.

"You sleep in those?"

"Yeah," said Mari "but dat aint' important right now.  What is important is stopping those explosions!"  If we could beat up all of those thugs, why can't we stop those explosions?"

Mark thought for a second, then replied.  No voice came to him this time.  "You're right.  We might have the means necessary to stop this.  Let's go.  However, I advise you to grab my hand and hold on to your hat."

"Why's dat?"

"It'll save time."

"I don't know what you've been on, but okay."

As soon as she got a firms grasp of both his hand and her hat, he revved up into high gear, and went after the explosions.

Atop the building, Panik notice two figures coming straight towards him, at high speed, and soon enough , they were on the opposite edge of where he stood.  Mari hurled before regaining her posture.

"Well, well...," said Panik with a smile.  "If it isn't a kid and his girlfriend.  You haven't been raping her, have you?"

"Shut 'yer trap!' said Mari.

"My,  my.  Emotional, aren't we.  So how did you two know it was me?"

"Wasn't hard." said Mark.  "You were the only one on top of a tall building, and I've seen enough movies to know that a number of bombers stand on tall buildings, overseeing what they call their work. Some people do look up, you know."

"Cut the crap.  We both know that you're going to try to stop me,  I'll resist, and the 3 of us will get involved in a classic battle of what you define as good and evil."

"I suppose so."

"Well, I wouldn't call myself evil.  I simply want to go insane.  I want to know what it's like!"

"Trust me," said Mari, "It's not pretty."

"Huh?" questioned Mark.

"Bah," said Panik "You know nothing about insanity.  Let's fight!"  With that said, two giant daggers came out of Panik's armor.  "You want to know how  I created those explosions? I made an atmospheric "field" of the right elements...and it was massive!  However, I do have other ways of ending life, and these blades  are two of them!"  Panik raced straight towards  Mark and Mari.  Mark sped behind Panik, and tried to kick and punch him, but his armor was too hard for him.  Mari tried to punch him, but she didn't even make a dent.  "Is that all you got?"  Panik made a quick slice at Mari.  Mari managed to mostly evade it, but her right arm was left with a small scratch.

"No...," said Mari, "Far from it."  Both her fists then glowed up like the the nose of Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer.  She punched as fast as she could.  The armor was left in pieces.  Mark quickly did a technique he would afterwards refer to as 'Swift Barrage'.  He assaulted his foe with a barrage of bunches and kicks.  In the end, Panik was lying on the floor.

"No good... " Said Panik.  "You... have to either...wait an hour for...the explosions... to stop or...kill me...and they'll stop...right away...well, get it over with already!  That's what you're going to do, isn't it?!"

Both Mari and Mark wanted to end it.  They wanted to kill him, but neither could deliver the final blow.  "I..can't do it." said Mark.

"Neither can I." said Mari.

"But I can."  A sharp pillar of stone then sprang up from the ground, and impaled Panik through the stomach.

"What?!" shouted both Mark and Mari.  They turned around to see a man in black armor, with white outlines.  He wore a helmet with a flat top, but not like a square.  His mouth and eyes could be seen and his arms were crossed over his chest.  His mouth was emotionless, and his red eyes were cold.

Mark was scared.

"Who are you?"

"The man in black answered.  "I...am Gia!'

[kkhohoho]

A word from the author: Feedback and criticism would certainly be appreciated now, so feel free to post some feedback and criticism if you have some.

[kkhohoho]

There was a sudden silence.  As though nothing existed.  A male and a female were staring at a monstrosity, who had just given a man the cold embrace of death.  The man known as Gia stared, right at Mark and Mari, until he started to smile, and then chuckle, and the silence was broken.  It continued to break further, as the man who called himself Gia's chuckle turned into an uproar of laughter, and Mark and Mari looked at each other, wondering what the hell was going on. 

"You blokes must have thought I was some sort of die-hard vigilante!  What a laugh!"  Gia's formerly blank tone of voice now had a decent British accent,  starting from 'You blokes'. "You all thought I killed him!"

"But you did kill him." said Mark.

"Naw, he isn't dead yet.  But instead of me explaining it to ya', why don't I let the dead man himself do the honors?"  The stone pillar then came down, and Panik's wounds began to heal completely.

"Oof!" said Panik to himself, with a smile as always.  "Every time I come back from the dead, it's one hell of a trip!  The panic that heals my body does feel mighty good though, each and every time!"  He then noticed the 3 other individuals on the rooftop.  "Oh, it's the 2 heroes and my onetime, personal...grim reaper.  If you haven't noticed, the explosions stopped because I died, and my armors broken.  So...I'll just be seeing you!"  He jumped of the roof, into a cart full of sheets.  From that landing, he jumped out of the cart, and ran straight down the street.

"I think we can leave him alone for now." said Mark.  "It might take him a while to get armor like that again, and without it, he can't put up a good fight.  Now, onto more pressing matters." He turned to face Gia.  "Mr.Gia, why did you kill him?" Asked Mark with a stern face.

"Because I knew he wouldn't die." Responded Gia with a slight smile.

"And what if what you thought was wrong?" Asked Mari angrily.

"Then there'd be one less mass murderer in the world." He responded.

"Okay, I just have one question." asked Mari. "Who the hell do you think you are?!

"I'm a person who just wants to beat up killers." responded Gia with a slight smile.

"Look," said Mark. "why don't we all head over to Mari's place, and we can discuss all of this over some food and drinks.  Deal?"

"...Deal." Responded Gia, once again with a slight smile.

*******************************************************************************

Gia drank down his whiskey like there was no tomorrow.  After chugging it down, he slammed it on the table.  "All right.  What do you blokes want to talk about?"

"How did you create that stone pillar?" asked Mark.

"It's a part of my ability." responded Gia.  "Let's just say I can create and control things that stem from nature and the Earth."

"Right.  So, I'm just curious.  Why are you here and where are you going next?"

"I found out that Panik, the man you fought, was here.  I've heard of him through various sources, and these sources was also the means how I found out he was here.  As of where I'm going next, I was thinking of the nearby town of Elementa.  Why do you ask?"

"I just want to see more of this world.  That's all."

"Ya' know," said Mari. "it just so happens dat I was about to make a trip, and Elementa is on the way."

"Well then," said Mark. "I propose we all, for the time being, travel together.  It's easier to travel with more then one person, right?"

"Hmm...you've got me there." said Gia.  "All right, you blokes.  Let's get packin', and when we're ready, we'll head out North to Elementa.

Gia then walked out of the room, but as Mari started to walk out as well, Mark said "Mari."  Mari turned around to face Mark.

"What is it?" asked Mari.

"Back there, when we fought Panik, you something about insanity.  That isn't pretty.  Any idea why that would be?"

"Why are you askin'?"

"What are you hidin'?"

"Nothin', okay?  It wuz' just a response.  Dat's all."  She started to walk out of the room, but then fell to her knees.

"Mari? What's wrong."

"N-Nothin', I can...deal with it."  She was on the floor for ten second with her eyes closed, as though she were concentrating then got up.  "See?  I'm just fine."  She smiled reassuringly.

"Riiiiight.  You keep telling that to yourself.  When you want to talk about it, I'll be listening."

With that, Mark walked out of the room.  When we was far enough away, Mari said something to herself, though it wasn't meant for her.  "You mustn't know.  No one must know." Gone from that sentence was the southern accent. She went upstairs to pack, and looked at her wardrobe.  One the right side were her public clothes, and they all looked just like what she was currently wearing.  On the left side were a number of dresses of beautiful dresses, each of different color and design.  She took off her hat, united the knot on her hair, and unfastened her pony tail.  She looked at herself in the mirror, and her hair went down to her rear.  Sighing, she tied her her hair back into a ponytail, put her hat back on, and packed several pieces of garment from the right side of her wardrobe into her suitcase.  She packed one dress, but it was just for sentimental reasons. She didn't intend to actually wear it.  Packing various trinkets and baubles, she walked back down the stairs, and would have to, once more, hide her true self.

[TokerTheKid]

Very cool! Keep up the good work  :)

[kkhohoho]

Very cool! Keep up the good work  :)

That's just what I wanted, criticism, be it good or bad.  I orginally quit because I thought that people were just glancing at it, and thought I was waisting my time, but now I know that there's people actually reading this. Thanks Toker.  You've just garenteed some more Reality Break. :)

[kkhohoho]

Usually, one would imagine a  morning stroll to be quite lovely.  Unfortunately, when you have to walk for miles, this isn't the case.  Mark and his compadres, Mari and Gia, were heading over  to the town of Elementa, which is part of a world that doesn't have cars, airplanes, or trains.  Apparently, certain technological aspects of this world were developed more compared to Mark's  world, while others weren't as advanced.  Thus, the concept of mobility by machine wasn't well thought on.  Because of that fact, the trio went ahead and trudged by foot, each for their own reasons.  Mark did tell the truth in saying that he wanted to see more of the world, but he didn't say why.  He was hoping that there was actually a reason he was brought to that world, and wanted to find out what it was.  As for Mari, Mark suspected she held some deep, dark secret, but didn't want to invade her privacy.  For now, he would leave it  alone, but if anything dangerous came of this...well, he would just have to deal with it when the time came.  Then there was Gia.  Was that even his real name? Was what he said his real agenda?  Mark could feel something ominous about him, but couldn't feel what.  He was wondering whether he should trust him, but the voice said he should, so he did, regardless of what he felt.

When it became night, the crew made camp, unpacked their rations, made a fire, and sat around it.  Mark usually read or book, or watched TV, or did something while eating.  Now, he was bored, like a cat without it's ball of yarn...or bird stranded, alone from it's nest.  A puppy without it's fellow pups...with the other pups being dead...or obliterated.  Mark was indeed longing for home, and was sad at the loss of his siblings who were in the house when it exploded,  but figured that he couldn't change the past, and that he couldn't go back home anyways.  Then again, how did he get to Makina in the first place?  He decided to spark up some conversation.

"So, Gia."

"Hm?"  Gia looked up from his meal.

"Just what's going on in your life?  I'm just wondering."

"What business is it of yours?"

"I'm just wondering."

"...Let's just say I've done things I regret.  I'm sure we all have things we'd like to do differently."

"Sorry.  If you don't want to share, then okay.  Me...I don't know."

"You don't know?" said Mari.  "Shouldn't you know?"

"I don't know." Replied Mark.  "It just seems like my life's gone crazy.  Like I've been cursed, although I know that's not possible.

"The world's a curse." replied Gia.   "There may not be any wars anymore, but the governments of major civilizations are corrupt.  On the surface, they may seem alright, but did deeper, and you'll find  they're either power-hungry or just idiots."  Gia took another bite, then noticed he had eaten all of his meal.  He noticed that the others had also finished up.  "Well," he said as he got up, "no sense in wasting our energy staying up late, since we still have to reach Elementa.  Let's get some sleep."
The trio put away their plates in their packs, then set up their tents, and went sound to sleep. But that didn't mean there was nothing going on.

*************************************************************************************
Far away, further then a simple morning cruise, farther then a trip to the moon, farther then a trip to a new galaxy, there was a cave.  A large cave, with a very high roof.  There was a wooden plank going all around the second floor-which isn't a floor, since there's nothing there except the plank-  of the cave in height, with multiple entrances on the cave's walls, on both the second half, and the ground level.  Standing in the center of the ground level of the cave was a man. He looked up, and there were six other people, the first five each being a good distance apart from each other, while the sixth person  was standing next to the fifth.

"Greetings, everyone." announced the man in the center. "Before we begin this meeting, I must do the usual calling of names.  We don't want another intruder disguised as one of us like last time, now do we?  First off: The Captain!  Obviously, I am here, since I'm currently talking.  Next up, Razor!"

"Here, as always.  Let's continue."   Razor's face was that of a typical Japanese man.  His expression, on the other hand, was cold as can be.  He was wearing a suit that looked to be plastic armor, black with red lines in the shape of electricity going all over.

"Next: Lawrence!"

"Here boss."  He was an overweight man, packing on some pounds, but there were a great number of people in existence fatter then him.  He had glasses on his face, a green short sleeved t-shirt, and blue jeans.  He had his arms crossed, and was leaning on his back against the cave, and his eyes were closed.

"Next:  Lilixandra!"
"Here, Captain." Her legs and feet were that of a giant birds.    Her arms and hands were the same way except that they were skinnier then the legs.  She had no clothes on, but there were feathers covering her, going all the way up to her breasts, though the upper portion of her breasts, and everything else up from that, was uncovered.  The feathers had  colors of purple and red, and there were enough feathers so that she wasn't nude.  Her skin was pale, and her blond hair was very long and thick, and went down to the ground.  She was smiling, and her eyes were vexing.

"Next:  Decimal!"

"Here."  Only his face and head looked human.  He had golden metal for his body, and his feet were boots.  He had blue, circular lines going around his whole body.  His face was emotionless.

"Finally: Marcius!

"Right here!" He wore black sweats, a white undershirt, and a white bandanna.  He had a thin, brown beard, and he had a smirk on his face.

"Marcus, who is that with you?"
Standing next to Marcus was a male who looked to be 18 years of age, with brown hair that went over his right eye.  He had metal legs, and his left arm was also metal.  He had a brown jacket, white undershirt, and blue jeans.

"He's with me." Said Marcus.  "Found him 2months ago.  Can't remember who he is, but is great in a pinch.  He had no place to go, so I figured I'd look after him 'till he figures what he's gonna' do, for a favor.  He's gonna' be with us for while till he remembers more, since I figured we could use an extra hand."

"Hmmm...I suppose if you keep an eye on him, it'll be all right.  What's your name, boy?"

"My name's Ben. " he replied. "It's about the only thing I can remember.  That, and a big explosion."

"Very well.  We need a replacement  anyways.  Friends, I have called you here to announce...that Amon is dead."

"I was wondering why he wasn't on the roll call." Said Razor.

The Captain went on to explain Amon's description of the beginning of the universe and how it cracked,  and that it had something to do with the Lines of Trinity, and that someone had looked in on Amon's vision, and killed him.

"Something," The Captain went on, "must be done."

*******************************************************************************

A Word From the Author: More to Come Soon!

[kkhohoho]

It was one in the morning.  The trio of Mark, Mari, and Gia had been asleep for a few hours now.  However, if they were awake, they might get the feeling they were being watched.  Hovering over the trees on a disk of liquid metal, looking at the campgrounds, was a male, who seemed to be 16 years of age.  Only his face was shown.  His legs, on the other hand, were golden, and got bigger as they went down.  His feet were metal boots, golden too, and quite big.  The rest of his body was indeed flesh, but was covered in gold armor.  The armors on his arms got bigger as is got to the hands, which were normal size.  He wore a headpiece which covered the side of his head , got wider as it went up, and ended 2 inches above the top of his head.  He wore goggles with no strap and yellow lens.  He wore a cloak of green, with yellow lines like a grid upon it.  He lifted his right arm in front of his chest.  A piece of the armor came off, revealing a small microphone, which he spoke into.  "Subjects, A, B, and C accounted for.  What should I do now?"

There was a voice coming from the microphone.  "Very good, Nick.  Keep watch from afar.  Never let them know you're following them.  If you're seen...well, you're pretty smart. I'll let you think of it.  If it ever comes to that, you'll tell me, or I'll get back to you."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, this is just a spur of the moment, but do you remember anything yet?"

"Apart from my name and the explosion, no sir.

"Please, call me Sogetsu.  I shouldn't have to keep telling you this.  However, there is something I should tell you."

"What, si-Sogetsu?"

"A member of ours, Ezekial, disobeyed my direct orders.  I told him to kill Target A, but he failed.  What's worse, he failed because he hired a renegade, by the name of Panic, and Panic couldn't do the job, and the botched  operation wasn't even done quietly.  Ezekial came back, but...let's just say he found out he wasn't welcome anymore.  Most would have been captured or killed upon intruding us, but Ezekia'l not an ordinary man, and managed to escape.  We've decided to leave him alone for now, as we have more important matters to attend to.  That doesn't mean he's gone.  Watch out for him.  He'strong, with a lot more experience then you, though with your power and knowledge, you just might be able to survive.

"Thanks, Sogetsu, but, why aren't we killing them Target A now?"

"Because I've found an alternative.  One that does not involve killing him."

"Very well, Sogetsu.  Signing off."

Nick turned his face armor back on and flew a bit away, while looking back on his past life.  One year ago, he was stranded on an island.  Had amnesia.  Practically begging for help.  Then, Sogetsu came to him.  Freed him from his lonely fate.  Taught him all he knew.  He became something of a father figure to Nick.  And all Sogetsu asked was that Nick work for him, in a top rank.  However, something about Subject A was nagging him, at the back of his mind.  He hadn't seen him yet, but...well, he decided to hold off of those thoughts for now, and get back to his duty.  His duty he had to Sogetsu.


*************************************************************************************

It was morning now.  The sunlight shown in on the trio's tent, and Mark, Mari, and Gia each got up.  They packed up their tent and supplies, and headed off. Several minutes later, something seemed...wrong.  "Hey, Mari."

"What is it, Mark?"

"You ever get the feeling you're being...watched?

"Now that you think of it, somethin' seems off, but I thought it was just a hangover or somethin'."

"Hm...," mumbled Gia, who proceed to speak yell.  "Anyone there?!"  No answer.  "SHOW YOURSELF!"  Still no answer.  "Hm.  Could be nothing, could be something.  Either way, there isn't much we can do other then hurry onward to Elementia.  Just in case, be prepared for anything."
The 3 continued onward on the plains, going on for a while. However, a ways away, there a big swoosh of air, and a sound of collision followed by it.

"What wuz' dat'?!" Said Mari alarmingly.

"Why don't we find out?" Said Mark, curious of what went on.

"Come on," said Gai.  "If there was somebody following us, it could have been what we just heard."

"I'll stay over here to keep an eye out." Said Mark.

They headed over to the nearby forest  There, saw two people lying on the ground.  The first a women with blue skin and hair.  The hair was long and flowing, like running water.  "She wore a white tanktop, and blue jeans.  Her shoes were actually of notice and not plain like Mari's or in one color like Panic's.  They had the colors of the rainbow swirling around on them.  Next to her was a male who looked to be 16 years of age in gold armor. They both started to get up.  The male's face had gold armor over his mouth and nose.  Only his eyes could be seen.

"Let's get this over with." said Gia. "Just who are you blokes?"

"My name is Ni...kal.  Nikal."  The man in gold's voice sounded robotic, which may have been due to his armor on his face. "
"Right." He looked toward the blue girl.  "And you are?"
"Uh, hello. I'm Nia, and I'm 16."  She looked around, then looked back toward Gia, and put up a weak smile. "You see, I was just minding my own business, flying around 'cause I had nothing to do, when all of a sudden, this ***** takes a U-turn, and lands smack-dab straight into me!  He should be sued!" She kept on rambling for a minute and  a half until she finally ceased.
"...Oooookaaaay...How about trying it plain and simple?"

"That was plain and simple!  Everyone who's everyone knows those phrases! " She looked rather mad at this point.

"Look lady, if you don't stop saying things that no one can understand-"

"But everyone CAN understa-"

"That's it!  You're coming with us right now to see Mark!"  He turned to look at Nikal. "Boy, you don't mess with us, we won't mess with you."

Gia created 4 floating daggers of stone behind Nia as an incentive for her to get going.  Nearby in the ground, there were now 4 small holes.  Gia, Mari, and Nia started to get back to Mark, with Nia looking rather worried.  The male in gold just stood there.  He had been in the same position since Gia uttered the name Mark.  Finally, he flew away, to get out of the vicinity. He uttered one last word before ramping up the speed. "Mark?"  With that said, he flew up away, thinking that he'd return later.

************************************************************************************

Mark was on the ground, looking up at the clouds.  He wondered if they were made of the same material's that his Earth's clouds were made of. The voice spoke up again, saying that the chemicals of Makina's clouds are a bit different then that of Earth's which is why the clouds never became different shapes, They only got bigger.  As he gazed upon the blue dome and it's white ornaments, he heard footsteps coming his way. Getting up, he noticed Gia, Mari, and a girl with blue skin walk towards him.  "What happened, and who's she?"

"We were hopin' you could answer dat'." Replied Mari.  "She keeps on saying things we don't understand.  Seein' as how you're not quite an average guy, we thought you'd know."

Mark turned to the blue girl. "Okay, Missy.  What's your name?"


"Nia." She answered back.

"All right Nia.  Tell me what you told them."  "Nia did indeed tell Mark exactly what she told them, and even more.  Mark then looked towards Mari and Gia."All right.  What could have been said in less then half a minute is that she was flying, and that-who was that kid?"

"Nikal." Replied Gia."

"Anyways, she's flying,  Nikal flies into her, and they both fall down to the ground.  It seems to me that Nikal flew into her by accident." He then turned back towards Nia. "Now, Nia, I'd like to know where you come from, and what you've been doing."

"Well, I was just living with my parents.  in New York when I was 9.  "I'm just walking to my friend's house with my Mom when all of a sudden, there's this big scream.  Then, before anyone could run away, this big green ball of goo show up out of nowhere.  Next thing I know, I have amnesia-which I did recover from completely from within 3 years-, my skin's blue, and I'm in the middle of nowhere."

Mark turned back towards Mari and Gia. "All right.  Whether you believe it or not, this girls' from another world, and I think I'm from the same one."

"So," said Gia, "you're not from here. Either you're loony, or-"

Suddenly, there was a noise, and the four looked straight left. On the plains, there was a man.  He had packed on a few pounds, but there were certainly people fatter then him. He had on a green short sleeved t-shirt, and blue jeans.  He was bent over, his head was down, and his eyes were closed. His left arm was in his left pocket, and his right arm was hanging down.  He then got his body straight, and, at the same time, took a pair of glasses from his right pocket with his right hand, titled his head upwards, put his glasses on his face, tilted his head so that he could look straight forward, and opened his eyes.  They were cold and steely.

"Greetins', folks." He said. "Name's Steve.  I reckon that you've got something' of great importance.
*******************************************************************************

A Word From the Author: More to Come Soon!

[Previsionary]

Very cool! Keep up the good work  :)

That's just what I wanted, criticism, be it good or bad.  I orginally quit because I thought that people were just glancing at it, and thought I was waisting my time, but now I know that there's people actually reading this. Thanks Toker.  You've just garenteed some more Reality Break. :)

To be clear, that was just some type of feedback and not criticism, but that's just me being technical. Since you kept asking, I'll provide you with some. Let's see how you take it.

I will admit right off the back that I didn't read the whole story so keep that in mind. To be completely honest, I didn't get pass 2.5 posts and I'll tell you exactly why. Nothing really progressed and I felt like I was trapped in redundancy land for most of the story [That I read]. And even though it was redundant...I don't really remember anything that happened. Looking back now, I completely forgot about the prologue entirely. I don't think you were shooting for that. The problem there is probably because the prologue didn't immediately connect with anything and I subconsciously pushed it out of my mind until something referenced it. Perhaps I didn't get far enough in the story to see the connection. Oh, the redundancy issue was mostly prominent in your dream scenes (since they read  very similar with little to differentiate them) and sentences such as this:

He was running.  He didn't know why, but he was running...and he was scared.  He didn't know why he was scared either, let alone running, but he couldn't stop himself.  He looked back, and saw the house: burning.  Why was it burning?  It shouldn't be burning.  Someone or something then flew out of the flaming rubble , and without hesitation, that mystirious figure threw a blast of...something...right at him.  He was running.  He was scared.  He didn't know why, and now, he would be-

Yes, he was running. Ok. He doesn't know why. Alright. He was scared. Great. House on fire. Fine. He was running again, and he's still scared? He still doesn't know why? So...what have I learned? OH! He was running, scared, house on fire, and he doesn't know why.

Another glaring issue is your problem with punctuation. You're comma happy in the wrong places and then you completely ignore them in places where they (or semicolons) should be used. You're also in love with ellipses (and you use them incorrectly in some places), so you really need to pay attention to how you set up your sentences. Since I'm on punctuation, I'll also point out that there were many misspellings in the overall story. Proofread your posts before submitting or at least run some sort of spell check. It'll really help you out in the future.

Moving on, some of your sentences are set up oddly and you feel the need to overload the reader with a bunch of details right away. That's not necessary and you want to spread some stuff out throughout the story. I don't need to know everyone's exact age when they're introduced and sometimes, leaving something to the imagination is a more effective tool. Basically, you need to figure out when to be wordy  when you're describing something and when to cut back.

You also have several reference issues. It's easier to give you an example than to go through a definition so:

He had had little sleep the last few days, and today was his 17th birthday celebration, so they let him sleep in.  His actual birthday was the next day, but his parents had some buisness to take of.

What exactly is they referring to? His parents? His grandparents? His siblings? His family? I'm assuming his parents, but you need to clarify. Also, though it's not a major problem, try not to end in with a preposition.

You definitely have some trouble with your internal thoughts/quotations in general. You might want to check on the rules for setting those up a little better than you currently have. Also, things like this:

I knew it.  "That's great Nick.  You've told me for the 100th time that the're gone.  The're almost always gone, off somewhere. 

are confusing. Either go with the dialog and add the general thought in a description somewhere, or go with the thought and imply that the dialog was given or exchanged at some point.

Finally, I know I already commented on your sentence structure a bit already, but I'll expand. Firstly, you have quite a few sentence fragments in your story. I don't know if that's intended, but you should definitely try to fix them.

A pitch black void.  A place where nothing could reside.

Also, you may want to cut down on overly wordy/confusing sentences as this sentence tossed me all over the place before I simply just moved on:

He found himself now in a strange new land.  It was as if he got shipwrecked in the days before most places in the world looked the same and ended up in a different place, but he couldn't make it out completly quite yet.

Oddly enough, that's also around the same spot where I stopped reading.

So in closing, this is probably a good story (I can't say that for sure since I didn't get all that far), but the problems currently outweigh the good and it really pushes potential readers away. If you were to clean it up a bit, I'm sure you'd get more readers and probably even more feedback.

[kkhohoho]

I don't have a spell check, so I have to correct everything manually. As for the ellipses, it'd take a bit of work, but I can fix that.  As for "they let him sleep him", I'll fix it.  As for too much description, I do have a problem with you there.  I have these images in my head, and I want the readers to know them.  Otherwise, the character(s) they may be thinking of may not be the one used correctly in the story.  Also,  I can't explain in words why I use fraction sentences, but I know I have a reason for using them.  To me, it just makes the story feel better.

A problem I find with some books is that they don't give the characters a good enough description, so I just make up my own image.  But I think it'd be better if the author gave a concrete description of the characters at first glance.   Another problem I find is that some people don't read some of the books out there because they use complicated sentences.  Sometimes, I just disregard those people on that, because they might want to look at the sentence, and decipher what it means. Some good pieces of literature (though not all) are hard to read.

Sometimes though, I add content because I felt like I didn't add enough.  But, there might be people who don't like my writing, so, I'll reread the whole thing, and see what I can do.

[kkhohoho]

All chapters except for the latest one have been updated.