Everyone came running over with smiles to our return from the rift.
Vonica lunged straight into the arms of Xaven, practically knocking him over! Tiny me and Roombi seemed almost magnetized the way they went right to each other.
I myself was instantly trapped between Bow and T-Timmy. Hugs! I'm receiving so many hugs today! Blegh. That's the good kind of blegh haha.
Meows of Rough Patch were the loudest I've ever heard as he lept his way to Mustache Girl's embrace. She seemed even happier to see him than she did me.
"Rough Patch! I'm so happy everyone I care about is defyin' death! How did this happen, Hattie?"
"Consider it a gift from the void."
"Don't got the slightest clue what that means but I'll take it!" she squealed, snuggling her bush cat some more.
A loud crack of metal screeched our ears following the rapid spray of water from above. Seems like a pipe burst. Jeez this place is falling apart. The water came down near us like rainfall while also creating shallow puddles. It almost wet Roombi but luckily tiny me carried them to safety.
Vonica mischiefly stepped in a puddle and kicked the water off her boot onto Xaven who responded with a tiny hiss. Of course tiny me had to join in. Together they splish splashed water at Xaven as it continued to gently fell around them.
Huh... Seeing this moment in time, reminds me of another moment in time. One lost to time. One of bitter sweetness that can never occur again. One that could make me shed a tear and did. If it sounds dramatic that's because it is for me! Peck! My emotions are so easily broken when I think about this kind of thing.
I had a flashback watching them play in the broken spray of water. Xaven replaced by my dad. Vonica replaced by my mom. And tiny me; well, replaced by... Me? You know what I mean, haha... Only difference was my outfit. I was without the purple hat and with my child sized raincoat.
The memory was an impure mimic of me and my mother blissfully splashing my dad in the rain. To remember my mom so happy is delightful. Without the goggles on I could see her bright cyan eyes like mine; Though they were always shadowed by her red and purple scleras... And my poor mom's bruised outline around her eyes from almost unending wear of those stupid goggles.
Speaking of which. Time froze and Cavus teleported in from behind me. Doesn't faze me anymore. He took my hat and attached the red lensed goggles back to its brim. Either this guy can read minds or he's just smart on his timing. But of course without a word he disappeared in a portal with time resuming.
My gloomy stare continued at the happy group playing in the water till I was tapped on the shoulder and turned to see Timmy with kind words. "Hey... Just... keep looking at me." :)
"Oh- okayy." XwÒ
His eyes... them shiny purple eyes. They bring my soul some peace for as long as I keep looking into them.
Timmy's hand glowed pink and with the swipe of it I was splashed by water! "Aaaa! You peck neck! How could you do this to me?!"
"Because it's nicer to see you like so; then sad," he chuckled.
"You owe me a hug!" 3:<
He rolled his eyes and brought me in close and cradled me like I was the only person in the universe he liked. Mmmm, that was nice... <3
(Swear she's exaggerating -tiny hat kid)
Vonica and Xaven needed to head out the same as us so we gathered to say our goodbyes. Vonica came to me directly first. "Now that both our leaders are gone, Xaven and I can freely be together! So come on. Tell me that farewell line of yours, Hat Kid."
Together she said? That's nice... Xaven was snuggling Vonica. Ugh. Love. Who needs that, am I right? Haha... ;(
Ah forget those words of mine for now, Vonica wanted my farewell of, "See you... in another time?" I said.
Vonica squeezed me in a hug with a big fanged smile. "Exactly!"
Then they left to Xaven's ship with the assurance of my goodbye that we'd see them again.
My friends and I made it back to my ship and went about casual activities.
It seems I was the leader to figure out our next move. Not like they understood the importance of stopping Moonjumper.
Truth is I don't know how to find Moonjumper. He'll find us eventually but we can't wait or he'll kill more time travelers!
Sigh... Who am I to take on the keeper of the cosmos?
"You're Hat Kid." Cavus appeared to proclaim in startling me!
"Dude! Stop doing that! At least make some sound of your presence before you say something 'out of the blue!' And you read my mind didn't you?"
"No. You said your question out loud."
He's lying or I'm in denial! (Turns out the timewatch picked it up. I do talk out loud without realizing it...) "Whatever, Cavus. What do you want this time?" I grumbled.
"You're approaching the end of your current story, Hat Kid. Now go and save the day! And the days that should be allowed to come."
"End of my story? Am I gonna die? Do you know if I die?"
"I know nothing until it happens. So go make things happen, icy sun."
"Excuse me...? WHY would you call me that?! I snapped agitated. My eye was on the verge of a tear at the remanence of the name.
Cavus spoke his cryptic owlshit. "A different elaboration will come by truth. And the truth shall come by story shown to scion," he said.
That's so poetic that I don't even know what it meant. Always a mystery with this guy isn't it?
Cavus opened and closed his hand a few times, generating a low yellow aura.
"The story is too long to show you everything at a normal pace right now. So I shall show you with a quick memory flash. Never tried this on someone. You'll be the first, and it may... spike... your senses." He pressed his dark palm against my head and zap! Jolts shot throughout my body as my face discombobulated itself! And then... the flashes of a past flew past me.
I screeched out with my brain overloaded as my sight and mind flashed back to reality, my heart racing faster than light space! "Everything! I saw everything! I saw it all so fast...! And yet... I remember EVERY splitting detail..."
(Perhaps... I'll write it all down some time... to remember her more)
Shifting my view toward Cavus; his expression had not changed seeing the shock of mine. "Cavus..." I almost cried.
I lifted my hand with the timestrings glowing in them. "Cavus... My father is innocent to my mother's murder! Th-the timestrings! I can... I can... I can bring them back to life... Yes! Yes! I can do exactly that!"
"If you do. I will kill them myself," he monotoned with a dead face.
"Wha- Ee- WHAT!? WHY!?" I cried out.
"They are a threat, Hailey! Didn't you see what their selfishness caused!" he yelled at me.
"Shut up! SHUT UP!!!" I screamed, witlessly whipping at him with the timestrings!
The strings slashed my ship's interior as Cavus vanished before they could graze him.
I fell from my pilot's chair and sprang up in a frantic state of tears. "C-Come back here, Cavus, you coward!"
In my head I could only think about the possibility of seeing my parents again, with all the horror I thought was true; gone. Jumping back into the pilot's seat, I smashed in the coordinates to my home planet and pushed the lever to begin matter jumping.
Bow rushed in to check out the sudden ruckus.
"Woah, Hattie! Where are we off to in such a rush?! You made Timmy spill his drink on- Hey... Hattie, what's wrong?" she asked, resting her arm on my shoulder facing space.
I did my best not to turn a teary face to her, showing composure through my voice. "I... I can't tell you right now. Please, just leave me alone for the moment."
"I hate that you always push away those who have a kind heart toward you. But I respect your decision and as such, it just means I'll have to make sure you're okay from a distance," she stated, leaving the room to another with a friendly fierce smile.
Alone at last. Waiting till space stopped moving and I could see my parents again; when all of a sudden- "Heyy!" a squeaky voice shouted in my ear.
"Yes?! Yes?!" I shouted back.
"Yo, no need to yell, me. I just wanted to ask you about'a... this," she held up the doll that resembled... well her. Tiny child Hat Kid! "Why do you have a doll of your child self?" she asked her olderself
"Not much too it. Given to me by someone who I thought wasn't my enemy," I told her.
"Why would your 'not enemy' do something so nice? The doll is so cool! You agree don't you?"
My somber self could only lightly nod at her question with, "I'm not even sure of the reason. Not like you'd understand, you're just a kid."
"You need to understand that I am you! And that you are me!" tiny me smiled with her vigorous eyes. "So be a little more like yourself and lighten up!"
"How are you so lively?" I poked. <:)
"Like you said. I'm a kid. Hat Kid!" she squeezed me with all her might. I snuggled her youthful spirit and took her words to heart. We're Hat Kid...
Day, 2244, still A.O?
I had sat pretty much alone for a while till the shadowy peck neck Cavus came back out of nowhere asking, "Are you calmed down now?"
"No!" I stiffly replied without even looking his way.
"Didn't matter anyway. Listen, I've devised a plan to take care of Moonjumper."
Cavus flicked a cookie to my lap. "This delectable has void infused with it. Feed it to Moonjumper and he's as good as dead. I'm positive he'll accept it without question. He is quite insanely open as you've noticed."
Placing the death food in my coat, I had something new to say. "What if... he didn't have to die?"
"You want to spare the Moonjumper? Talk him... out of his genocide? I'd laugh if I felt like it. It's only the universe at stake here."
Cavus pulled out my lost purple hat from behind himself, then knocked my black top hat off with it. "Here then. Put on what was meant to be a sign of change."
Before I accepted the purple hat back to my head, I retrieved my rift device from the black one. By the brim of my original top hat; I placed it on my head, fitting snug as ever. Cavus vanished. As simple as it sounds.
*Wooshp*
The ship made its stop into the orbit of my planet, knocking ill-prepared me to the floor! But I picked my purple hat back up and looked out the windshield. Prepared for greatness.
My old home sat dormant inside the high trees. Oh the anxious excitement I was getting! Overwhelming! "Purple hat and black clothes? Mmmm no time to change! I've got a family to revive!"
No time to tell my friends what was happening! I'd be back soon enough; I couldn't wait any longer so I leapt out the windshield door without a second thought; Falling through the chilly sky till I popped my parasol open before my legs hit the ground and floated the rest down.
Can you imagine what it's like to have a lifelong truth be revealed to you in the slip of a thought?! And then realize you now have the power to change it all!?
Should've taken Hat Kid's sprint hat! I feel slow now having seen her with it!
Crunchy leaves, soft dirt, tree critters, and howling winds were all I heard as I ran toward my old home. Once making it... the only thing I could see... was Moonjumper... faced to the horizon as clouds rolled in, floating just over my mother's grave.
He didn't turn around but he was aware of my presence. "Can't say I'm happy to hear you are still alive, Hat Kid. But I forgive you about the whole knife incident," he spoke with a wave off. "Still... I see your ship in the sky. Nothing is stopping me from cutting it in half and sending everyone on it down to, as they say on earth; 'HELL.'" He took a hollow breath. "Why are you here, child?"
"Could ask you the same thing." >:|
"You can- Errrr nevermind. Tell me. Why have you returned to your past residence? Not simply to grieve. Noo, you have a reason to return here again. Maybe you are here to attempt another assassination? Mmmm... You couldn't have known I was here..." he trailed off.
Moonjumper could make a move any moment and it put me on edge; Hence my flinching when a drop of water hit the exposed skin on the back of my hand. Water came down in a much larger number now. Beautiful. "M-moonjumper. Did... Did you make it rain?"
"No. I didn't," he growled.
Heh. Rain... It should make this moment more intense. But I get a nice sense of calm from it.
"Doesn't matter anyway because you should be dead..." Moonjumper reviled.
"Put it to rest! There's been enough death!" I cried out.
His hand began to lift, with a faint blue glow hanging from them. "You're right... So what's one more!" he spun around with a powerful lash of his cosmic strings at me! In a split second I ripped the timestrings from my coat and spread them in front of me as they blocked Moonjumper's with a heavy collision, knocking me on my ass!
The Moonjumper retracted his strings back to a shorter length. "Ahh! I see how you're sTiL alive! And... how your parents will be soon... Hmm. Mind if I lecture you on that?!" he asked.
"Yes, I do! I've been lectured by multiple higherbings at this point and I'm sick of it! I have so much annoyance at you guys that I could become assassin of higherbeings!"
"Aye, don't over exaggerate," he nervously laughed.
In a snap Moonjumper sent his hand of strings at me. I spread both of mine to guard, gripping tight as they were hit by multiple spacial strikes!
My ability to use these strings effectively under stress is not very high! Peck I'm gonna die! Best I could do was keep blocking; eventually he'll come at me even harder though when he's fed up.
All he's really doing is swinging at me when I know he's capable of more.
When next I sent Moonjumper's strings back to him from a block, I took my shot and swung my hand! With the strings glowing green they managed to stretch and cut Moonjumper's arm! "Ow! Pain, once again given to me by you. Now you're really playing with yarn, kid! My moonpiece is fully restored and I've only one phantom chain on my wrist to hinder me! But I'll STILL have your flesh pull itself apart!"
The sky growing way too dark with every new cloud. Yet no thunder or lightning as we stared at each other in stand off.
The ghostly chain jingled in silence with the pouring rain.
He's underpowered still! He needs the second phantom key! And I know exactly where it is thanks to Cavus. My mother had it hidden...
I scrambled for my old home and climbed up the outside whilst taking advantage of my double jump. Perhaps it was stupid to expose the location of the phantom key but not too worry, there was a plan! Moonjumper just kinda watched as I ripped tiles off the roof. The awkward ceasefire from him made me doubly anxious but I kept an eye on his diamond and spiral ones. At one point throughout the tearing I found the key hidden under one of the tiles and snatched it! My attempt to shove it in my hat for safety was interrupted by a cosmic string snapping around the key! "Ha! Idiot! I'll be taking that!" Moonjumper yanked and I went with the key, tumbling as I hit the dirt, still holding on!
Great. Now my outfit was slapped in dirt. I hate doing laundry.
Moonjumper wasted no time as I recovered; His strings already in a particular pattern glowed as pixel portals formed. I held the phantom key close as we warped to the sky! Holy peck, I was stepping on air! Even the pouring rain splashed the sky I stood on.
In my awe, Moonjumper snatched my hat right off my head with a string! He plucked the teleport device right out and crushed it to pieces in his teeth! "That key is going nowhere but my wrist, HAT Kid!" he yelled, tossing the hat right back to me!
Instinctively I jumped for my hat; Moonjumper striking as he probably planned.
I gripped both ends of my strings in the time I had from retrieving my hat; With little resistance to offer in the moment, the impact shoved my own strings back at me, tearing my nose and eyepatch with a sharp burn! Well there was nothing behind the eyepatch, haha.
Relentlessly Moonjumper struck again, this time a string slashed the back of my hand, with me releasing grip of the key in shock! It flew away from me and I dove for it but Moonjumper was already snagging it toward him with a string!
Without a moment of being bombarded myself, I retaliated with a single hand to continuously whipping at his attempt to fully latch onto the key with his; All the while taking a spare string and wrapping it around my other hand horizontally with my mouth, and knotting. Dormant timestrings taste like sand and silk.
The phantom key was anybody's game to snatch and Moonjumper was quick to agitate from me blocking his snag attempts. "Screw it! Guess you need to lose your life for this squabble to end!"
Moonjumper tightened his clawed fingers to a fist; Pixel portals spawned all around me with his strings shooting out of them in a frenzy! I outmaneuvered and blocked the ones I could, taking light lacerations through the adrenaline sprint for the key! As I closed in on it, Moonjumper made a desperate straightforward lash at me! With my spare hand wrapped in timestring I seized hold of his string in my palm and resisted against him with all my might; the constant rubbing of the strings sparked cosmic flashes in the dark rain whistle searing my hand in exposed spots!
Fighting through the burns, I rapidly whipped at him! Swinging and slashing as my life literally depended on it! And I suppose the universe's too. Moonjumper endured the assault as he tried to pull his strings back from my grasp!
I'm sure he was feeling the pain as his lime green blood started to trickle as he failed to dodged most hits while I kept him leashed.
The Moonjumper ceased his struggle and released the cosmic strings he wielded, allowing me to take control of them. With slow heavy breaths I anxiously composed myself as he spoke in dread. "Alright... Alright... It's clear you've bested me..."
Silence was all I gave him as I stepped toward the phantom key. My eye focused on him the entire time as I walked with caution. Moonjumper put his hands over his eyes, gently clawing at them even; as he rambled dejected in anger. "I was trapped in this Horizon for centuries with the world I was tasked to keep safe always beyond an invisible wall. Betrayed by Tim to stop Time's End. Paranoia is what I say. I even gave him a friend of void... Oh how he was so appreciative of that, haha. How you've lasted so long against me is beyond my eon's of knowledge. You're no higherbeing! Who are you to oppose me?!"
The key was back in my possession and I broke the silence to answer back, "Truthfully, the info you seek is irrelevant... But speaking honestly from my soul... I'm just 'some girl;' who's gone with the flow of fate. Doing my best just to see the next day... And those future days are always worth fighting for!"
"Those future days; your TTA folk have tainted, they don't mean a thing when they're being altered for others. So I just want to cut theirs out from this timeline!"
I wasn't going to let Moonjumper collateral the universe overtime in his hunt for every single ex-TTA member. But did it have to end like this?
In the light darkness, Moonjumper's monocle grew bright. Brighter than a star it shot out a beam of white directly at me! I held both powerful strings in front of me, flashbanging my vision to white from the clash of energy! When the world came back to me the Moonjumper was gone. In a panic I searched the empty Horizon till my ankle was gripped from below! Moonjumper ripped me out of the Horizon and I desperately slashed below me, releasing Moonjumper's grip but still transported high above the clouds with nothing but chill air in almost orbit! I began falling from the sky and Moonjumper darted across, snatching a timestring off my finger as I gained balance in the air!
Moonjumper slashed at me as we descended swiftly through the clouds; the dark rain returning with the bright string collisions as I defended in free fall!
The ground getting closer, I popped my parasol open from my back to float.
I wasn't spared a moment when Moonjumper sliced the handle; Gravity taking me hard once again as I tumbled through the trees, smacking into the dirt ground, scraping myself against all nature!
My bloodstained recovery was short-lived when I tried to block Moonjumper's next monocle moonbeam with my stringed hand as it pushed it away like nothing to land right in my face! I thought I'd disintegrated but it was just a sharp burn for a few seconds.
Moonjumper spat blood out in excitement. "That's the moment!" He took his single timestring and twisted it around between his hands for a special pattern.
I saw a faint green aura form between my blurry eyes; And I felt it... the burn of the recent attack, repeating constantly. He froze that moment in present time to have my face endlessly scorching, feeling the height of the burn every splitting nano-second as I screamed death; Slapping my face in hopes of stopping the torture.
Moonjumper had me at his mercy as I could focus on nothing but being curled up and spazzing as I endured the never ending attack he managed to land.
After what felt like minutes of brutal agony... it stopped...
Exhausted with tears of pain, I lifted my face to helplessly watch Moonjumper strip me of all the strings I possessed. He lifted me into the air by a flimsy arm. "Look at... look at-..." he spat out his lime green blood, trying to suck it back up. "L-Look at what manipulating fate has done!"
He took me with him over to my mother's grave. "An almost hypocrite. She learns to change fate; only to eventually deem it bad. Like mother, like daughter..."
"Sh... S-S-Shut up..." I muttered under blood and exhaustion.
"Sure thing. Time to put you out of your misery. It's the least I can do for you putting up a worthy fight."
The cookie in my coat. The cookie that would save the universe should he take a bite.
I weakly reached for the inside of my coat, Moonjumper grabbing my wrist in a screaming panic, "NO SHARP VOIDS AGAIN!" twisting and breaking my wrist! Pain. So much pain was inside me already I could barely yell as the cookie I pulled out fell to the dirt. Moonjumper dropped me and picked up the baked good. He scoffed, "Oh... A last meal huh? Why not? Here," he placed it in my good hand on the ground.
I lifted my hand in shaking strength, and with a dying breath told him, "It's... for y-you..." My hand collapsed back to the dirt. And my eye softly shut one last time...
But...
It seems as fate would have it; My eye opened once more in a flash of panicked breathing; my body feeling of slight rejuvenation. But I was still in too much exhaughting pain to move or speak much. I was sat up against a tree, outfit damp with blood. The haze of my vision became clear enough to where I could see Moonjumper floating with my cookie in hand. "You're alive... but don't get your hopes up. I only rewound you enough with the timestrings for your heart to keep pumping your cursed lifeblood. I'm... I'm pondering why you would offer me this as a final act of your life."
"Moonjumper... why- why are you really doing all this? Hunting down the time travelers?" I asked.
"You see... I may have killed Tim, but all he built and all the people he brought into it meant something to him. To hurt him beyond death, all time travelers must die."
I whispered, deprived of energy, "Moonjumper... I know Tim really took pride in what the TTA stood for. 'We don't leave things up to fate' was the TTA motto he enforced. Suppose he was trying to atone for the genocide of the sun people and what they kept sacred... Fate. Sand forever flowing as it does without stopping or changing course."
"That was mostly mumble coming out of you," he snickered.
Gotta admit, I was extremely delirious during my monologue.
The Moonjumper sighed, "Yeah it does kinda hurt to see someone of your potential perish, Hat Kid." He chomped the cookie whole in one bite! "Hm... tastes... stale."
He's fine... WHY IS HE FINE!? Die! Please?
Nope. He seemed fine as he floated. "Tell you what, Hat Kid. I'm going to leave the rest of your life up to fate. Sound fair? I'll go about MY life, doing my job. And you... can live or bleed out where you sit. Thanks for the stale cookie I guess, you open hearted fool. See you in another time, is it you like to say? Hehe, ahh, yes it is," he smiled. And with that he took off to space I assume.
It was painfully obvious that his chain had disappeared, and I'd failed. For the most part.
Piece of owlshit took all the strings! My timestrings... The whole reason I came back here was to revive my parents and yet I'm contemplating lame ideas as I die. Let fate do its thing. Protect it even. And of course, try not to change it when given the opportunity. This is what happens when you're dying...
If anyone should be dead at this point in the adventure it should be me. Sigh... why am I still here? Suffering.
Regardless of the answer, I'm just gonna rest in the rain under this tree for a while... hehe... that choice was a joke... I can't move my bones.
So there I sat dying against a tree, unable to do pretty much anything. That is until Cavus showed up to be Cavus. "Hey, Hat Kid. You did pretty well honestly. Don't say anything, save your strength. I'll check in with you later if you're not in such a sorry state by then. For your information; You do realize you gave Moonjumper the wrong cookie right?" Cavus plucked the void infused cookie out of my coat. "Either way you needn't worry about the Moonjumper. I'm going to be watching over him and get my strings back when he's not looking. Or maybe a hello is in order to my old universe acquaintance. Clearly you're tired of me talking so I hope fate keeps you alive, kid. See you soon."
I wasn't conscious for much longer. Only thing I remember after that was my blurry friends running at me, and then getting picked up... Hopefully by Timmy <3
Thank the stars I woke up in a small matter of time in bed, still hurting and exhausted though.
A voice came through to me. "You got really slashed up to hell by Moonjumper, girl, but not to worry. Medic Mu is here for you!"
Sharp was the jab that hit my arm. Like a tiny ow compared to everything else.
The overall pain was subduing shortly after and I shut my eye to rest some more till- "Yesh! Will you ever leave her side!?" A voice deep complained.
"Oy! Who the fuck are you!?" Mu shouted.
"Cavus. That is who I am." He's back already? Dude just left.
"Uh huh, and how'd you get in here?" Mu ask on guard.
"Magic, dear Mu," he said, stepping closer toward me.
Mu spread her arms out in defense. "I'm trying to heal my friend here so stay back!"
"Time heals all wounds though."
Don't give me that owlshit! Time is what's given me wounds!
Mustache Girl couldn't help but give a laugh from her brain. "Yeah, that's cheesy as fuck, mate."
Cavus eagerly lifted timetrings in his hand. "I meant it literally."
I just groaned as Mu let him past her. It was obvious now what he was doing as strings were wrapped all around me. Cavus ran his burning pinched fingers across his strings and *snap* they shot all around me and back to him!
Mu gasped at the astounding scene.
I sprung up fresher and more agitated than when I was in pain. "Hey! Why do you get to manipulate time stuff!?" I yelled at Cavus for all he was lecturing me for.
"In case you've forgotten, I'm the true keeper of time, and do what I want. Now then, last of the sun people, any more complaints?"
I rolled my eye at him and lay back down.
"So she's what you'd call a 'chosen one' ey, Cavus?" Mustache Girl bantered.
"Hm! Not at all. She's just plain ol Hat Kid, as she has always been."
"Ah but come on! Last of her people? That's gotta be worth something!"
"Whatever you say. And I'm telling you now mustached girl that you are not allowed to speak of my existence to anyone but your hatted friend here."
Mustache Girl crashed in the pillow pool. "You got it, shadow man."
Cavus creeped up close to me. "Now that Mu is... a farther distance, I can discuss important matters with you. So listen well. While I am the keeper of time, I am not as powerful as an individual as I was many centuries ago. Tim is dead and the time travelers are scattered about while timepieces still remain across the universe as a threat to the common species. Time needs a new CEO... Would you care to take the role?"
I huffed at him, "Are you kidding me? After everything I just went through in the last few weeks? ...I'm tired... and hungry dammit."
"Never did I say you had to take on the role this nano seconded. Rest up. Think about it. All you have is time..."
He went on to say a few details of the new role I would take and I'll admit it sounded pretty benevolent.
He's not one to lie... Just leaves out the details; like me right now :)
Concluded in Epilogue. Plus two bonus parts.
Arts by: gothiccprince on insta
Flashback:
Impure mimic:
Other art (Will be completed at some point)