"Demons in the Doorway, Monsters Down the Hall"
By Ghost of the Dawn

Chapter Thirteen - Facing Fears

The night went silent once again. Only this time, it seemed far more empty than before. Robyn didn't dare make a sound as she slid off White Blaze's back to stand next to Ryo. The bearer of Wildfire didn't move as he gazed at the dark sky. He said nothing, but the fear was evident on his face.
He stood there, still as a statue in the middle of the street. His eyes resembled that of a lost little boy's as Ryo contemplated the sudden emptiness inside him. It was gone. There was a piece of himself that suddenly felt like it was missing. What happened?
"Ryo?" Robyn asked in a hushed voice. She grasped his arm, suddenly feeling so lonely. Why? Ryo was brought out of his stupor when he felt Robyn clinging to him. "What was that?" Robyn whispered. "Something's happened to Cye, hasn't it?"
Ryo put a hand on her shoulder, but continued to look in the direction he sensed his friend was in. "I don't know," Ryo admitted. He finally turned his face to look at Robyn. He immediately saw the desperate pleading in her fearful eyes.
"Don't worry," Ryo tried to assure her. Though truthfully, he didn't feel all that sure himself. "Cye's going to be okay. And we're going to find him. Come on."
Ryo hopped back on the large tiger and pulled Robyn up with him. At least they had a direction now. "Let's go, White Blaze!"
The great tiger leapt gracefully in the air and ran full speed for their destination.

*****

Kento couldn't help but tremble as the terrible cries he had heard died down. It was Cye, he knew it was. The aching in his chest - that pain and emptiness he felt in his soul - couldn't have been anything else. Kento clenched his fists until they trembled. Something had happened to Cye and he would personally see to it that everyone responsible would pay dearly for it.
But the Warrior of Strength was not able to meditate on the fate of his enemies for long. He never even saw what was coming before a heavy force crashed into him, sending a very stunned Kento flying several yards across the street.

*****

Kortez inspected the limp body still hanging lifelessly from its bonds. The glowing blue orb in his hand flickered impatiently, as if irate that it had been torn from its usual resting place.
"You killed him!" Sheila accused. "Why did you do that? He's no fun if he's dead!"
The old priest just furrowed his brow, ignoring Sheila's whining. "I did not expect him to be so thoroughly connected with his power. It seemed to be a part of his very soul. Interesting. Where did a boy like this possibly get this kind of power?"
"So what do we do with the body?" Sheila then wanted to know.
Kortez closed his fist over the glowing blue orb. "Get rid of it."

*****

Kento picked himself up from where he had been thrown. The look on his face told he was not a happy camper. Before him snarled a shaggy, dog-like beast. "Ah, so ya wanna play it rough, huh Fido?" Kento said, undaunted by the monster's appearance. "Well, take this! Armor of Hardr- OOF!"
The creature proved to be faster than Kento could speak and he found himself pinned down by the monster's large claws while it breathed foul, evil air into his face. "Oh, nasty!" Kento complained as he moved his head from side to side in a fruitless attempt to escape the heavy dog breath. "Get OFF me!"
Punching an armored foot as hard as he could into the creature's stomach, Kento punted it into the air. Unfortunately for him, the demon animal had remarkable reflexes. Faster than Kento could get to his feet, the dog-like thing landed on its own claws and launched itself right back at its attacker. There was no way Kento could keep up with the creature's speed as it clamped its jaws tightly on his arm. With the flick of a massive head, Kento was flung into the nearest building. The impact itself was strong enough to leave a rough imprint of the warrior's body when he hit.
The creature stood ready to pounce again, growling as Kento fell to his hands and knees. But not even the demonic animal could hide its surprise when Kento easily picked himself up and dusted off his armor.
"You're going to have to do better than that if you're going to get rid of me," Kento informed it with a confident smile. "You may have been able to get my friend, but now, Scooby-Doo, you face Kento of Hardrock, and you're going to get dusted!"
Directly following his speech, Kento proved to be no slouch himself when it came to speed. Charging the creature, Kento's fist collided solidly with its ribs. It gave a pained yelp as it was knocked a few feet down the sidewalk. Before the monster could recover, Kento was on top of it, wrapping his strong arms around the creature's thick neck. It tried to struggle free but Kento wasn't about to loosen the death grip he had on its throat.
"That's it!" the creature growled.
Kento almost lost his hold in surprise when it spoke. "What did you say?!"
A thick cloud of black smoke came out of nowhere and swallowed them both. The monster in his grasp suddenly disappeared and the next thing Kento knew, he was in some large warehouse with his wrists shackled by thick chains hanging from the ceiling.
"What the...?" was the only thing he could think to say when he found himself in his new position.
"Geeze, tear my head off, why don'cha?!" came an indignant cry. Kento looked down to see an irked young man with shaggy brown hair rubbing his sore neck.
"What are you doing back here?" An old man in strange garments walked up to the youth. "I told you to kill anyone that got in your way."
"I tried!" Derek insisted. "I barely managed to get back here in one piece! That guy's got some kind of super strength or something!"
"Fine," Kortez breathed out heavily in irritation. "You can help Sheila get rid of the other one."
Both young men looked over to where Sheila was unchaining a limp form. Kento's heart jumped up in his throat when the body was freed and it fell lifelessly to the ground with a dull thud. "Cye?" Kento called in a scared voice. "Cye? Can you hear me?"
"I'm afraid he can't," Kortez scoffed with a haughty grin. "Your friend seems to have met an untimely demise. Such a pity."
"No," Kento whispered through clenched teeth. It couldn't be true. Cye wasn't dead. He couldn't be. Not his best friend. "Cye..."
"But don't worry," Kortez continued. "When Nago comes he will make sure you and all your friends will join him."
Kento clenched his fists as his grief was replaced by an intense rage. "YOU BASTARDS!!" Kento screamed at them. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!"
"Yeah, right," Derek snorted calmly. "I'd like to see you try."
Kento growled as he grabbed the chains holding his wrists and tugged on them with all his might. There was a horrible bending sound and whining of metal. Sheila screamed as the frame of the building itself began to bend and beams and large pieces of the roof came crashing down over them. "He's going to bring the building down on top of us!"
But Kortez would have none of that. He stretched forth his hand to the outraged warrior and Kento cried out as he felt a piece of himself being ripped from him. There was a great light as out of his chest came a glowing orange orb. Once it was removed from him, Kento's body went limp and his subarmor vanished, leaving him dressed in his regular clothes.
Kortez smiled to himself as the orange orb floated to his open palm. "Hmm, that was sure easier than the last time," he mused at the new addition to his collection. His expression instantly changed to annoyance when he saw his two minions still standing around stupidly.
"I said to get rid of that body," Kortez ordered. "I don't want to see it here any more!"
Sheila and Derek wordlessly hurried to comply, draping one of Cye's arms around each of their shoulders and then dragging the body away.
Kento, who was barely conscious, fought to regain his strength. But in truth, he now felt as weak as a newborn kitten. He watched helplessly as his friend was toted away to some place where Kento would probably never see him again. A solitary tear ran down the slope of his cheek.
"Cye..."

*****

White Blaze was clipping along through the city at a fast pace when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and sniffed the air. "White Blaze?" Ryo asked. "What is it, boy?"
The tiger's glowing eyes picked up movement in an alley and he growled. Ryo followed his gaze and stared hard to into the darkness, trying to discover what his friend already knew. A figure stepped out into the moonlight. A young man with jet-black hair and piercing ice blue eyes.
At first, Ryo looked at him in confusion while White Blaze continued to growl. When Robyn saw him, she gasped and clutched Ryo's arm so tight he could feel it through his sub armor. "Jason..." Robyn whispered.
The young man grinned evilly. "I've been looking all over the place for you," he told her.
Ryo narrowed his eyes at him. So this was the guy Robyn had told him about. He was a lot bigger than Ryo had expected. His bulk was roughly the size of Kento's with Rowen's height. A deadly combination if Ryo wasn't careful. Nevertheless, Ryo dismounted his tiger and stood to face his new opponent. "Where's my friend?" he demanded.
"If you can beat me, I'll tell you," Jason smirked back. "I know that you possess some kind of power. I want to see it before I kill you."
"Whatever," Ryo shot back. "You're hardly a challenge for me the way I am now. What makes you think you'll beat me?"
The self-confident smirk never left Jason's face. He looked past the red Ronin to the girl sitting on the tiger's back. He stretched out his palm and a ball of black energy shot out towards them. Robyn screamed and hung on tight to White Blaze as the large tiger narrowly jumped out of the way. Ryo looked on with wide eyes at the gaping hole in a nearby building the blast left.
"Now," Jason made a beckoning motion to Ryo. "Show me."
Ryo clenched his fists. This guy was not going to get away with threatening his friends. "You want it, you got it. ARMOR OF WILDFIRE! DAO JIN!" In a burst of light, Ryo's body was covered with a heavy red armor. A helmet appeared in his hand and he slid it on. Jason looked more than a bit surprised at the unexpected display and stepped back as Ryo expertly removed his katanas from his back.
"Now," Ryo said as he crossed the blades in the fighting position. "Take your best shot."
Jason quickly covered from his initial shock and grinned. "Gladly." He looked over at Robyn. "I'll get you as soon as I'm done with him."
Ryo stepped between them defiantly. "White Blaze, get Robyn out of here. Keep her safe."
"But Ryo, I don't - ah!" Robyn couldn't finish her protest as White Blaze bounded away from the scene. She had to cling tightly to the tiger's thick fur to keep from falling off. Feeling completely helpless, all Robyn could do was gaze regretfully behind her as she left her friend to his fate. He was doing this for her. Please stay safe, Ryo...

*****

"I don't know if I like this," Sheila said to Derek as they dragged Cye's body by the arms to the edge of the dock. "I mean, throwing him in the bay, isn't that kind of obvious?"
"And what if it is?" Derek countered. "No one's going to care after tonight anyway, right?"
Sheila shrugged. "True."
The two rolled the body into the cold, dark water and then turned without giving it a second thought. If they would have stayed, they might have noticed the lifeless figure only floated on the surface for a moment. After a few seconds, the body strangely started to sink deeper into the murky waters. Various creatures passing by stopped to watch as the figure fell gracefully through their world to at last rest on the sandy bottom. The wide-eyed fish gathering about him could only wonder if this was just another visit to the wet world he so loved, or if this was his final resting place.

*****

Kortez looked up from where he was meditating on his newly acquired armor orbs when his two followers returned. "Back so soon?"
"We just dumped him in the water out back," Sheila explained.
"And now," Derek announced. "You might be interested to know, after that little display earlier, I think that the others know where we are. The rest of them are heading for us and I doubt Jason is going to be able to stop them all at once."
"I realize this," Kortez said as he remained sitting on the floor. "And I think I have just figured out how to use these new powers to our advantage. Observe." He held out the Torrent and Hardrock orbs in his open palms and concentrated. The orbs levitated for a moment, then suddenly took off like a rocket out the nearest window.
"Woa, where are they going?" Derek wondered.
Kortez smiled. "To meet our enemies."

*****

Rowen and Sage raced and jumped from building top to building top as fast as they were able. Neither could stop the anxiety growing inside them the further they went. They knew where they could find Cye now and in the pit of their stomachs, they also knew that something was very wrong. The blind search had now turned to into a race against time to see if the heroes could get to their friend before they no longer had a friend to save.
Two balls of light, looking very much like shooting stars, crashed in front of the them and blocked their path. Sage and Rowen halted in their tracks as the glowing spheres formed into two very familiar looking armors.
The bearers of Halo and Strata didn't know what to do as the armors of Torrent and Hardrock stood menacingly before them. "Kento? Cye?" Rowen wondered out loud. "Boy are we glad to-" Rowen was cut off as the armor of Torrent took a swipe at them with its staff, causing the Ronins to jump back.
"Watch out," Sage warned. "Look at them Rowen. The armors are empty."
The duo was forced to retreat another step as the armor of Hardrock started for them as well. "But why are they attacking us? Did they forget who we are?"
Rowen and Sage jumped back to the building behind them as the two armors attacked at once. "You forget, Rowen," Sage told him. "The armors are neither good nor evil. They follow the will of whoever owns them."
"Right," Rowen sighed. "So I guess we gotta fight them then. Ready?" Sage nodded. "ARMOR OF STRATA! DAO INOCHI!"
"ARMOR OF HALO! DAO CHI!"
As soon as they had armored up, the enemy armors had joined them on the roof. Torrent wasted no time in trying to skewer Sage while Rowen fired an arrow at the Hardrock armor - which only bounced off and didn't even slow the thing down.
"Man, it's like fighting ourselves," Sage said as he ducked and dodged and blocked Torrent's attacks.
"Yeah, only we don't have to worry about hurting anybody," Rowen reminded him as he nailed Torrent in the side with the point of his bow. "So don't be afraid to turn on the juice if necessary."
"You can bet it's not afraid either," Sage pointed to the Hardrock armor which was now going through the familiar motions of the Iron Rock Crusher.
"Oh, crap," Rowen breathed in the spare second he had before the surekill hit.
The two Ronins braced themselves for the impact. The roof top trembled and shook and ultimately began to crumble beneath their feet. Rowen was flat on his stomach, able to avoid most of the attack. Sage, however, was not so lucky. The mighty quaking caused him to loose his balance and he stumbled off the building with the piece of the roof he was standing on.
"SAGE!" Rowen was on his feet and dove head-first after his friend without a hair of hesitation. He was able to catch up with Sage's falling form and put his arms around his waist. "Don't worry, I got'cha," Rowen informed him.
"Yeah, but who's got you?" Rowen closed his eyes and in a burst of wind a bubble formed around the two which stopped them from plummeting to their deaths. "Woo, neat trick, Rowen. Do you do birthday parties, too?"
Rowen glared at his friend as he released his hold. "You sure pick the worst times to develop a sense of humor, Sage."
"Oh, look. There's Cye's armor again," Sage pointed to a nearby rooftop. "And it looks like it's doing the - oh no."
Rowen hesitated no longer before moving their small bubble out of there fast. Sage had to hold onto Rowen's shoulders or be thrown against the bubble's wall as the two narrowly missed the Super Wave Smasher. Leaving the possessed armors behind, the Ronins continued their search by air.
"You know, Rowen, we probably could have saved a lot of time by traveling around this way in the first place," Sage pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you don't pop my bubble with that stupid sword of yours."

*****

"Okay," Ryo said as he sized up his unarmored, unarmed opponent. "So how do you suppose you're going to beat me now?"
Jason smiled, undaunted by his enemy's display of weaponry. "You'll see." He suddenly bent over and clutched his stomach as his muscles started to bulge. Ryo stepped back as coarse, black fur began to grow all over the human body. The figure changed slowly into a more dog-like creature. And when he was done, his slanted eyes glowed red as he growled.
Ryo readied himself as the demon beast charged and launched himself at him. Ryo proved to be just as fast by sidestepping the attack and slicing at the creature's ear. He growled in outrage and shook his head at the new pain he felt. "You're going to have to do better than that," Ryo challenged, ready again for the next attack.
"Fine," a human voice snarled from the animal's mouth. He howled as he started morphing again; changing into something a bit more humanistic, but still quite beastly. Jason now stood on his hind legs, still covered with the thick black wolves' hair. His muzzle was pushed in a bit - more like a bear's now - and his massive shoulders still rippled with untold strength. The creature drew his claws together and fired a black energy ball twice as large and powerful than the first. Ryo had to dive to get out the of the way, but landed unscathed.
"I've already seen that trick before," Ryo taunted as he got back to his feet. "Now watch mine." He expertly connected the hilts of his swords together and jumped into the air. "FLAAAAARE UUUUUUP NOW!"
Taken by complete surprise at the power his opponent had, the creature caught the brunt of Ryo's attack. Responding with a burst of energy to shield himself, it soon proved to be no match for Wildfire's power. He was sent flying several feet before he collided with the ground, smoke rising from his charred fur.
"And that was just a sample," Ryo continued as he walked up to the downed demon. "I could have killed you if I used my full power, but I'm not going to do that."
Jason glared at him from the ground. "That," he growled. "You will live to regret. I swear it! I was sent here to kill all that stood in my way and I will."
"We'll see about that," Ryo retorted. "Now tell me where you're keeping my friend - or do you want me to toast you some more?"
The Shadow Walker just grinned as a black smoke formed around both of them. Before Ryo knew what was happening, he felt his swords disappear from his hands. Then somehow he ended up with his wrists bound above his head. And when the smoke cleared, he was somewhere else altogether. He appeared to now be in some warehouse. But how? There was a young man Ryo had never seen, standing before him with Ryo's swords in his hands.
"Now these are some fancy weapons," Derek praised as he gave a few practice swings with the Wildfire swords.
"And let me guess, Derek," Sheila said, coming up behind him. "This guy wasn't the one who beat you up either. I'm beginning to think you just made him up and beat the crap out of yourself to get attention."
"Shut up, Sheila!"
"Both of you shut up!" Jason ordered. The larger man was now back in his human form. However, his face, clothes, and skin still bore record over what had transpired during his last battle.
"I see you couldn't beat them either, Jason," Kortez said as he approached. He paused to inspect Ryo's armor. "So this is what happens when you call on your powers. Well, don't worry, you won't have to wear that heavy armor much longer. It will soon be mine."
"You won't get it that easily," Ryo growled back.
"Oh, really?" Kortez shot back. "Ask your friend how easily I took his."
Ryo followed his gaze and finally noticed the other body chained the same as his. "Kento?" Ryo asked, staring at his street clothes. "They CAN take our armors? Where's Cye? Did they get his, too?"
Kento fought to stand up straight, but he was still too weak from losing his armor to move much. "Ryo," Kento said sadly. "Cye's dead."
"WHAT?!"

*****

"It seems Ryo didn't get any farther than we did," Sage observed as he noticed the familiar glare of Ryo's sure kill a few blocks over.
"I'll get us down there and see if he needs our help," Rowen nodded. Rowen brought down the large Strata bubble and steered it towards the place they supposed Ryo to be.
"Wait a minute, hold on," Sage said, noticing something on the street about twenty feet below them.
"What do you see-"
POP!
Rowen gave a startled cry when Sage popped the bubble with his no-datchi and the two were no longer suspended in the air. Sage landed neatly on his feet, but his surprised companion wasn't as lucky. Rowen managed to land feet first, but then fell over on his face. He looked up just in time to see a large, white creature come charging straight for him only to stop inches from his nose. "White Blaze?" Rowen wondered.
White Blaze screamed. No wait, it was the person riding White Blaze that had screamed. "What are they?" Robyn cried. "Quick White Blaze! Run!"
"It's okay Robyn, it's us," Sage said, putting a hand on the tiger's thick neck.
Robyn blinked in surprise at the green-clad warrior. "Sage?" She looked down at the figure in dark blue on the ground. "Rowen?"
"More or less," Rowen grumbled as he got up. He was already making secret plans to bury Sage's sword out in the woods when this battle was over.
"Oh, am I glad to see you guys," Robyn breathed, putting a hand on Sage's arm. "We ran into Jason. Ryo's back there fighting him."
Both Ronins were at attention then. Sage looked her in the face. "Show us where they are."

*****

"I don't believe it," Ryo whispered, incredulous. "It's not true Kento.You don't know for sure-"
"Yes, I do Ryo," Kento responded. This time with a bit more energy. "I saw him. He - he's gone."
Ryo closed his eyes and clenched his fists as grief overtook him. Deep inside, he knew from the beginning Cye was gone. That sudden emptiness inside him told him right off and he had refused to believe it. But now he couldn't deny the truth any longer.
"You know, these powers of yours are really quite interesting," Kortez said, inspecting the light blue armor orb between his fingers. "I've never come across anything like it before. Usually the force behind a power is either from the light or the dark side of magic. But this - a power that is neither good nor evil - is quite extraordinary. It makes one wonder how boys such as yourselves got a hold of them. No matter, we'll see what His Majesty, Lord Nago can do with them once he comes."
"That's not going to happen!" Ryo announced with confidence. "We were given those powers to protect this world and we will! You can never possess what they are!"
"Well, I've got two of them already," Kortez begged to differ. "And now I have a third."
He put out his hand and Ryo's orb pulled easily from his body. Much easier than it had been for Kento. And also unlike Kento, Ryo didn't feel any loss of strength when his powers were removed. Though it suddenly felt like all his body heat was sucked from him and Ryo shivered as his clothes replaced his armor.
"Hmm, I'm getting better at this," Kortez mused. "So unfortunate for your friend - he had to be the guinea pig."
So that's what happened. Ryo quietly promised himself they wouldn't get away with what they had done.
"I think you're forgetting that we're still short a fourth person," Jason announced to the old priest.
"Yeah," Derek added. "Losing my soul prematurely isn't exactly on my 'to do' list, ya know?"
"I doubt Nago's going to be real happy about it either," Sheila added sarcastically.
"There's still two more of those guys out there," Jason continued. "At the rate we're going, we'll be lucky to get her before sunrise."
"Yes, we are limited on time," the old priest nodded. "I will see what I can do." No one followed him as he moved into a smaller room and shut the door behind him. The secluded place was dark; save for the few burning candles situated in a circle at the middle of the room. They were surrounding a black, hideous statue - gargoylesque in form with wild eyes and sharp fangs.
Kortez knelt before the two-foot statue and bowed low. "Lord Nago, Prince of Demons, master of the dark magics; your loyal servant needs your help. I have traveled long distances, across oceans to do your bidding. I have done all that I can with this mortal body and I fear it is not enough. There are still two out there who possess great powers. I cannot defeat them alone. Please aid me that we might be victorious and that you may, at last, come back to this world to conquer."
The flames of the many candles flickered as a sudden breeze sprung up in the enclosed room. The eyes of the ghastly statue glowed red as a deep, unearthly voice made itself known. "You have done well, Kortez," the spirit of Nago spoke. "But do not concern yourself with the warriors' power. I have seen who and what they are. They serve no use for us. Get rid of them."
"But Lord Nago, their power is immeasurable," Kortez argued. "We can-"
"These powers will not help us. You do not understand. Their purpose is not ours. Again, get rid of them."
"Yes, Lord," Nago bowed, but inwardly had no intention of fulfilling the order.
"As for the girl," Nago continued. "I will bring her to you." With that, the eyes of the statue went dull and the dark object started smoking. A thick, black cloud filled the room and started seeping out through the cracks in the wall. Like a great, dark hand, it gathered outside and began its journey towards the city.

*****

"Without a doubt, Ryo was definitely here and fighting somebody," Rowen said as he observed the burn marks covering that section of the city.

"Yes," Sage added. "But the question is, who won? And where are they now?"
Robyn was still sitting on White Blaze's back as she looked the city over. She didn't have a clue what happened. But the sinking feeling in her stomach told her it wasn't anything good. White Blaze's muscles tensed beneath her and he roared at the sky. This brought the attention of both Ronins.
"What is it White Blaze?" Sage wondered.
His answer came as a most sickeningly, frighteningly familiar feeling filled his soul. Rowen looked up when Sage's sword fell from his fingers and clanked noisily on the ground.
"No."
The whispered plea barely escaped his mouth before Sage found his world swallowed by the same darkness that had haunted his nightmares for so long. Just when he thought he had gotten rid of it; just when he was starting to think it was over. He should have known it would never stay away for long. Now it was coming back for him - to finish what it had started.
"Sage, snap out of it," Rowen ordered as he shook him.
Sage blinked as the city and his friends returned around him. "It's coming," he whispered fearfully. "It's coming back to get me."
Rowen looked confused. "What is?"
White Blaze roared again and everyone looked to the sky. A thick, gluttonous mass was headed straight for them. Sage could feel his heart race in his chest as his breathing began to grow panicked. He only managed to retreat a few measly steps backward before he was completely frozen in fear. This was it.
"Sage," Robyn called to him as she dismounted the tiger. "Sage, listen to me. It feeds off fear. It can't hurt you if you're not afraid of it."
But Sage was hardly listening as the dark cloud seemed to posses predatory red eyes. It floated right over to him until it was so close Sage could see all his months of torturous nightmares reflected in those eyes. This was the end. The demon would have him and all the light in his soul would soon be taken away.
A figure stepped in between the terrified warrior and the black mass. Robyn stared the thing down without a hint of fear in her face. "If you want me, take me then. Leave my friends alone. I'm sick of playing these games with you." One could almost hear a sinister chuckle as the cloud moved to envelop the young girl.
"Robyn! No!" Rowen cried. Without thinking, the warrior of Strata dove into the smoke after her. White Blaze was quick to follow. The cloud seemed to regard Sage, who was still frozen in fear, one last time. But in the end, decided not to bother before it dissipated into thin air.
Some might have thought Sage the lucky one for being spared. But Sage didn't think so. Separated from his friends, right now he was in the place he ever wanted to be. Lost in the dark, completely and utterly alone.