From: Karnivax <karnivax@my-deja.com> Subject: [PW!] Sins of the Scyther Date: Sunday, September 26, 1999 3:57 PM Sorry to stray from what's really my main story topic right now, but Kyle and Jessica just *have* to be there when Vorge wakes up... --SINS OF THE SCYTHER-- Part 1 by Karnivax With all of his Pokémon fully healed from their long battle against the Elite Four, Kyle finally exited the imposing building that was Pokémon League Headquarters. It was after sunset. Jessica Sullivan, who had been sitting outside waiting for Kyle the whole time, heard the massive doors swing open and was there to greet Kyle. Torrasque, Thanatos, and Espio were all looking healthy again, but Kyle's shirt had numerous bloody slash marks across it. "Jeez, are you all right?" Jessica queried, as she rushed up and gave Kyle a hug. "What happened to you?" "Torrasque happened to me," Kyle grunted. "All I did was take hold of one of his arms, and he very nearly diced me into kibble." "Hey, if I've warned you once about touching me, I've warned you a thousand times," Torrasque shot back. "As long as I'm in fighting shape, no one lays a finger on me unless it's another Scyther, Cathode, or Jessica." Atropos, Jessica's Scyther, came walking up, holding Cathode - Torrasque's pet Pikachu, in her arms. Cathode perked up upon seeing his owner again, and leapt over to Torrasque's right shoulder. "Kachu!" Cathode greeted. He licked Torrasque's face. "Awww...I missed you too, you little flashlight battery," Torrasque responded. "And I missed you most of all, my love." Torrasque and Atropos embraced each other. "Now that I won't have to do any more fighting, the two of us can settle down, maybe start on a family..." Kyle interrupted, "Refresh my memory, Torrasque. Why is *Jessica* on that list of yours? If I recall correctly, Jessica is not the one training you." "As far as I'm concerned, Jessica is just a Scyther with the misfortune of looking human," Torrasque replied matter-of-factly. "Oh. And I suppose that's why you saw fit to mate with her during the brief time she was in Scyther form back in Viridian City," Kyle snapped. Jessica subtly sweatdropped, realizing that even though Kyle was not aware of it, his statement could very well have been true. Atropos then glared at Torrasque. "Torrasque, is Kyle accurate?!" Torrasque scowled. "No, he isn't! And I don't understand *why* he goes on thinking that he is! If I had mated with Jessica, she'd be pregnant by now! Kyle, your dad told me everything about Scyther, and I mean *everything* - even the stuff one would be afraid to ask. And I know for a fact that Scyther pregnancy only lasts for about three months. And it's been more than a month since Viridian! Jessica would be showing signs by now!" At this, Jessica sweatdropped even further. She thought about what she had discovered in her calendar earlier. "Er..." She pulled out her pocket calendar, then showed what she had discovered to Kyle. Naturally, a simple checkmark on a date in a calendar meant nothing to Kyle at first. But Jessica whispered to Kyle the monthly event that the check stood for, and then whispered that the event had not happened that month. Kyle thought back to tenth-grade Health class, and what he had learned about pregnancy. At last he made the connection. His face looked completely calm, but he was not at all smiling. "Torrasque, please come over here," he said monotonously, "so that I may murder you." "What are you -" Torrasque was not given the chance to finish his sentence. Kyle grabbed Torrasque by the neck and started choking the life out of him. Jessica tried to pull Kyle away, but it was no good. Atropos was about to slash off Kyle's hands, but Torrasque gasped, "Don't...do it..." "I know how to deal with male humans," Espio announced. The white Charmeleon gave Kyle a swift kick in the groin. Kyle let go of Torrasque, doubled over in pain, and fell to the ground. "Thanks, Espy," Torrasque said, as he regained his breath. "You're thanking me for being a jerk and turning against the guy who saved me from abandonment," Espio noted, in his usual depressed tone. "I deserve to get kicked too." Just then another person emerged from the Pokémon League Headquarters. This person was wearing a cowboy hat, and riding atop a black Rapidash. Jessica was the first to recognize the rider. "It's Enzo..." Vincenzo Larufa doffed his hat, and his fiery stallion reared on cue and neighed loudly. Enzo saw Kyle's team and shouted in an attempted Wild West accent, "Well, howdy! If it ain't th' Loser Patrol!" He laughed quite a bit as he noticed Kyle lying in a fetal position on the ground. "I jus' whooped th' Elite Four an' Gary Oak! I bet ya bums didn't even make it past th' front gate!" "You're Pokémon League Champion?!" Jessica asked, thunderstruck. "Nah, th' rotten bastards disqualified me at th' last second 'cause my Blastoise was usin' illegal water cannon attachments," Vincenzo casually explained. "But I'm not bitter. Next time, I'll be able to do it without Blastoise!" At that moment, Enzo's cocky Farfetch'd, Halberd, exited the building. Right away, Halberd glanced at Torrasque, then Atropos. Halberd turned his translator up to full volume. "Hey, them damn Scyther're multiplyin'!" Halberd commented in his heavy Brooklyn accent. "I might hafta bust out th' industrial-strength Raid!" Torrasque glared and tried to charge upon Halberd right then and there, but Atropos held Torrasque back. "Chill out, Torrasque, I'll deal with Enzo," Jessica said. "No way," Kyle grunted, the presence of Enzo diverting his attention away from the fact that Jessica was pregnant and restoring his vitality through sheer anger. Kyle got to his feet. "Enzo's mine." "Now, now, kiddies!" Enzo interrupted. "I can school both o' ya at once!" He dismounted from the black Rapidash. "We'll do it like this. I'll choose two Pokémon, an' each of ya will choose one. That way ya can both fight me!" "Works for me," both Kyle and Jessica said at the same time. "Good!" Noticing Halberd getting ready for battle, Enzo then turned to the Farfetch'd and whispered, "Relax, Halberd. I won't need ya to crush these chumps today. For my first Pokémon, I'll choose Nightmare here!" The ebony Rapidash stallion stepped in front of Enzo and prepared for battle. "I'll go first," said Jessica. "Gigawatt, go get him!" She threw a Pokéball at Nightmare's feet, and out came an ape-like electric Pokémon - an Electabuzz. "Electab - b - b - buzz!" Gigawatt bellowed. He hopped around and pounded his chest repeatedly as he let out a savage war cry. "Don't make me laugh!" Enzo scoffed. "Nightmare, squash that striped butterball with yer Stomp attack!" The black Rapidash neighed furiously, leapt at the stout Electabuzz, and tried to trample the primate with its rock-hard hooves. But even though Gigawatt was portly, he was fast. He sidestepped the Stomp easily. "Good job, Gigawatt! Thunder Punch it!" Jessica shouted. "Electab!" The muscles in Gigawatt's forearms bulged as he charged powerful electric currents into both of them. Then he gave Nightmare the old one-two to the snout. Twin currents were arced into the fiery equine. Nightmare whinnied in agony and fell over sideways. Gigawatt responded by doing a brief victory dance and screeching like a baboon. For good measure, Gigawatt lifted Nightmare over his head and threw the Rapidash over to the spot where Enzo stood. Then Gigawatt did another short victory dance. Nightmare clumsily got to its feet. "Give 'im yer Ember," Enzo commanded. Nightmare reared, then swung its burning tail and launched a cluster of fireballs at the tiger-striped creature. Gigawatt took the blast right on the chin, as well as several other places on his body. He was scorched, but far from beaten. Gigawatt taunted Nightmare by waving his rear end in Nightmare's general direction. "Body Slam!" Jessica called out. Gigawatt trundled toward Nightmare at full speed, then jumped into the air, spread out all of his limbs, and flattened Nightmare with an earthshaking bellyflop. Of course, Nightmare was not literally flattened...but Gigawatt had come close to breaking the Rapidash's frail back. Nightmare thrashed and rolled about on the ground until he was able to get out from under Gigawatt's impressive girth. Nightmare regained his footing as quickly as possible and Stomped hard on Gigawatt's back while the Electabuzz still lay on the ground. Gigawatt rolled away from Nightmare, got up, and winced in agony when something in his spine popped painfully. "Elec - c - c..." he groaned. He stood hunched over, trying to lessen the pain by rubbing his own back. Jessica told Gigawatt to use Thunder, but Gigawatt was not in good enough shape to obey. Nightmare was not in much better shape. When Enzo ordered Nightmare to use Fire Spin, the ebony equine was having trouble standing. It was about ready to keel over and faint. But somehow it managed to pull through. Nightmare opened his mouth wide, and unleashed a swirling mini-tornado of fire upon Gigawatt. The tornado raced past the Electabuzz, lit his black and yellow hair aflame, and sent him spinning like a top for several seconds. When the blackened Gigawatt stopped whirling, he wavered quite a bit and then fell over backwards. "Buzzuzzuzzuzz," he dizzily murmured as he lay flat. He blacked out shortly thereafter. "So much for that fat blob o' voltage," Enzo grunted, as Jessica sadly withdrew the fainted Gigawatt. Enzo then admitted, "Actually, ya didn't do too bad this time, girlfriend. But don't let it go to yer head...that was my weakest Pokémon!" Enzo recalled Nightmare mere seconds after the half-conscious Rapidash collapsed. Kyle then took his position in the unmarked battleground opposite from Enzo. "This battle isn't over yet," Kyle snorted. "Well, I know how much ya like Scyther, kid! So go ahead an' use 'im! Or not...it doesn't matter. This next Pokémon's gonna give a round o' stomp-ass to *whatever* Pokémon ya puke up!" Enzo tossed out a Pokéball and shouted, "Hirudegarn, go!" From Enzo's Pokéball came a gigantic brown insect, a bug even bigger than Torrasque. Its mouth opened horizontally instead of vertically. Sticking up from its head were two huge spiked horns that were each as long as the beast's body. _Now *that* I've never seen before..._ Kyle admitted. He pulled out his Pokédex and activated it. "Pinsir," the Pokédex explained. "A stag beetle Pokémon. Since its arms and legs are very frail, this belligerent beast attacks primarily by crushing opponents with its tremendous horns. The horns of an adult Pinsir can exert pressure of up to five hundred pounds per square inch. If Pinsir is unable to crush an enemy in its horns, it will instead use its horns to throw, slam, or slash foes. Pinsir have terrible temperaments and can take years to tame. Many an unwary nature photographer has fallen prey to the terrifying blades of wild Pinsir. It is commonly believed that Scyther and Pinsir are natural enemies." "Pinnn, pinnn..." Hirudegarn grunted in a deep voice. His horns made a loud CLACK as he clapped them together. He gave Torrasque the evil eye. "Do the Scyther ever win?" Kyle wondered. "Scyther has a tremendous speed advantage over Pinsir," the Pokédex continued. "But Pinsir has the edge in sheer physical strength. The battles between the two species most often end in stalemate." Torrasque was about to ask Kyle permission to take on Hirudegarn, but then he figured that Kyle was probably never going to speak to him again for having impregnated Jessica. So Torrasque kept his mouth shut and sauntered over to a nearby rock. He took a seat atop the rock and sulked. Atropos sat down next to him and went about trying to discover what the problem was. "Espio, you think you can take him?" Kyle asked. He pointed at Hirudegarn. "Oh, does it really matter what I think?" Espio sighed. He stepped into the unmarked battlefield. --SINS OF THE SCYTHER-- Part 2 by Karnivax "I'll choose Charmeleon," Kyle announced to Enzo. Enzo merely laughed, "That measly li'l matchstick's not gonna knock out Hirudegarn! Yer Charmeleon might have th' type advantage, but when ya get to be an expert trainer like me, ya learn that types don't mean jack! Th' only thing that matters is experience level!" At the very second Espio took his position, Enzo commanded, "Hirudegarn, Vicegrip!" "Pinnnsssir!" Hirudegarn bounced over to Espio and ensnared him in his spiked horns. He proceeded to slowly squeeze the Charmeleon between the two blades until Espio made an audible indication of his pain. Then Hirudegarn slammed Espio to the ground. After that Hirudegarn made an attempt to smash his blades down on top of Espio, but Espio rolled out of the way. The Pinsir's horns became stuck in the ground. "Flamethrower, quickly!" came Kyle's order. Espio gathered power, then torched Hirudegarn with a Flamethrower blast fired from both index talons. Hirudegarn pulled his blades out of the dirt and rolled around wildly, trying to douse the fire. As soon as Hirudegarn stopped burning, Enzo called for Seismic Toss. Hirudegarn lowered his head, opened his blades wide, and charged toward Espio like a mad bull. Espio made an attempt to dodge, but the horns gave the Pinsir quite a range. Hirudegarn caught Espio in his horns then gave him a quick German suplex, driving the Charmeleon's crest into the dirt and giving him a nasty concussion. "Fire Spin!" Kyle commanded. With his crest still stuck in the ground, Espio stretched his arms straight out then started shooting small jets of flame from his palms. The jets of flame acted like booster engines, and before long Espio was spinning like a turbine on his head. A small whirlwind appeared around him, and eventually Espio turned the whirlwind into a spinning column of flame. The fiery whirlwind rumbled toward Hirudegarn, and he found himself pulled into it. The tornado not only lit Hirudegarn on fire, but it also lifted him off his feet and carried him around for a bit before it dissipated. When Hirudegarn got his footing back, he was almost too dizzy to try to put out the flames. In time he was able to roll around and extinguished the fire, but not before his whole exoskeleton was charred black. Hirudegarn got up from the ground once the fire was out. "Pinnn pinnn pinnnsssir!" he boomed triumphantly, showing that he was still going strong. "Don't jus' stand there! Slash 'im!" Enzo exclaimed. Hirudegarn hopped over to Espio, then swung both his horns at the Charmeleon, leaving a long gash across Espio's chest. Espio winced and then backed off. "Again!" Hirudegarn hopped after Espio and Slashed at him a second time, this time slicing into the arm that Espio used to try and block. Espio fell to his knees. "Hey, isn't this kinda what happened to yer Scyther when I had Halberd kick th' crap outta it?" Enzo pointed out to Kyle. "Hirudegarn, keep Slashin' it!" Hirudegarn's third Slash cut right into Espio's face. Hirudegarn was about ready for the fourth when suddenly Kyle jumped in between the Pinsir and Espio. Hirudegarn's fourth Slash hit Kyle in the chest, knocking him back. "Whoa, hold everythin'!" Enzo shouted at Hirudegarn, as he prepared for the fifth Slash. "Give that loser trainer a little time to drag his sorry ass outta th' battlefield." Hirudegarn took a brief respite. "That's right, kid," Enzo said to Kyle. "I'm a nice guy, really, so I'll overlook th' fact that ya interrupted th' match." Espio hobbled over to where Kyle lay bleeding. "You took a Slash for me...even after I've basically done nothing for you all this time...even after I got clobbered by Sabrina and Lorelei...even after I kicked you in the cajones just a few minutes ago!" Being the pessimist that he was, Espio seemed to be ignoring the facts that he had won against Lieutenant Surge single-handedly, and that he had saved Kyle's whole team from Proteus on Pokémon Island the first time the crew had met up with the black Ditto. Kyle smiled and responded, "Sure...what are trainers for?" A tear formed in Espio's eye. "It's about time I started repaying my debts..." With that, Espio's entire body lit up like a Christmas tree. Kyle queried, "Espio...what are you doing?" Espio responded, "Something I should've done a long time ago." As his body glowed, Espio's size tripled. The crest on his head divided and became two long horns. His reptilian muzzle lengthened, as did his neck. His tail's length increased by at least three feet, and his blue tail-flame became as large as a campfire. The muscles in his arms and legs drastically increased in mass. His talons became like sickles. Two large majestic wings sprouted from his upper back. Then he stopped glowing. He spread his wings to their full, twelve-foot wingspan. "All right, round two," Espio snorted at Hirudegarn. "Beetle, you're about to have a hard day's night!" "Espio finally evolved into Charizard!" Kyle noted happily, as Jessica helped him to his feet. "Espio, Slash attack!" Espio nodded, then Slashed at Hirudegarn so quickly that the attack was almost invisible. Hirudegarn felt nothing...but seconds after the attack, Hirudegarn reached up and noticed that the horns on his head had been reduced to stumps. There were two large pieces of horn sitting on the ground in front of him. "Pinnn?!" he cried, knowing he was basically helpless without his horns intact. In desperation, Hirudegarn picked up the two heavy pieces that had been Slashed off from his horns and tried to fustigate Espio with them. Espio blocked the strike easily. Enzo was shocked. He could not give any more orders. All of Hirudegarn's attacks relied on both of his horns being in one piece. "Hirudegarn, uh...ummm..." "Finish him off with Flamethrower!" Kyle shouted victoriously, knowing Espio could not lose at that point. Espio took a deep breath, then expectorated a cohesive ball of flame that hit Hirudegarn in the chest and detonated like an incendiary. The Pinsir, still holding on to the pieces of his precious horns, was blown sky-high. He remained airborne for a full five seconds before landing nearly thirty feet from Espio. Even from thirty feet away, Espio could feel the earth shake as Hirudegarn crashed back to earth and bounced once before coming to a stop. Enzo sprinted over to where Hirudegarn lay, hoping the Pinsir was still conscious, praying that there was some way he could still win. But it was hopeless. The battle was over. "I've never seen such ridiculous luck in all my life!" Enzo shouted angrily, as he recalled all of the pieces of Hirudegarn. Enzo protested to Kyle, "Ya only won 'cause that stinkin' lizard jus' happened to evolve!" "Jeez! Take your defeat like a man, you pathetic whiner!" Kyle shouted back at Enzo. Kyle was rarely a sore loser, but he compensated by being a sore winner. "Don't think I'm done with ya, kiddies," Vincenzo growled under his breath at Kyle and Jessica. "Ya still haven't seen th' best Pokémon that I have to offer! Catch ya later!" And so Vincenzo ran off. "Well, that was fun," Espio commented. "You were amazing, Espio!" Kyle remarked. He reached into his backpack. "I was thinking of saving this for Fenris, but...well..." He quickly removed that thought from his head. He pulled out the T.M. he had received from Blaine and then gave it to Espio. "Here." "Awww...and I didn't even get you anything..." Espio turned on the black mini-computer and worked his way through the T.M.'s very user- friendly interface ("It's so simple, even a Pokémon can use it!"). By the time the T.M. shut down, Espio's Fire Spin had been replaced with the ultimate flame attack, Fire Blast. "All right. Now, back to the Pokécenter. There's more healing to do..." Kyle then approached Jessica. "If you give me Gigawatt, I'll only have to make one trip." So Jessica handed Kyle the Pokéball containing Gigawatt. Then Kyle beamed Espio into his Pokéball and headed back into the Pokémon League Headquarters. Thanatos obediently followed Kyle. Torrasque and Cathode remained outside with Jessica and Atropos. By this time Torrasque had told Atropos the whole story about that fateful night in Viridian, and explained to her that apparently Kyle had been accurate after all. Atropos was not pleased that Torrasque had mated with another Scyther, particularly one who was only a Scyther for relatively short amounts of time. But Atropos understood that alcohol had impaired Torrasque's judgment, and decided that since neither Torrasque nor Jessica had been in their right mind during the mating process, it could not be considered an "official" relationship. Atropos therefore forgave Torrasque and did not call off her engagement to him. "Well, that takes care of one problem," Torrasque noted. "But there are still a few others. For one thing, both Kyle and Jessica no doubt loathe every fiber of my being now." Jessica, who could not help eavesdropping, replied, "I don't hate you, Torrasque. That whole mating thing was definitely not something we could've foreseen and prevented. It wasn't your fault." "But...you know we can't support a human-type family!" Torrasque protested. "Neither of us have any income!" "Well, Torrasque, after I give birth, we're going to do the only thing we can do: put the child - or children - up for adoption," Jessica answered. "And we don't even know how the kid is going to turn out!" Torrasque added. "It could be human, Scyther, or even both!" "It can be put up for adoption whether it's human or Scyther," Jessica responded. "And we'll just have to pray that it isn't both." "Alasss, the massster hasss already confirmed that sssuch prayersss will not be anssswered," came a familiar voice from the bushes behind where Jessica was sitting. The bushes rustled, and suddenly the fearsome Panopticon emerged. Proteus, disguised as a green and purple Charmeleon, was sitting on Panopticon's back. "If you come with usss, young Sssullivan, we will put your were-Ssscyther offssspring to better ussse...by raisssing them asss sssoldiersss." "It's Panopticon!!!" Jessica shouted, as she got up from where she was sitting. "Atropos, Slash him, quickly!" Atropos flew from her seat and tried to slice Panopticon's head off. But Panopticon blocked the attack. He struck Atropos directly in the thorax with a plasma blast, knocking her out. "Atropos!" Torrasque cried. He shouted at Panopticon, "You... miserable...scaly...*bastard*!!!" Overcome by anger at seeing his fiancée get struck down, Torrasque put Cathode down, then charged and started Slashing at Panopticon furiously. The headstrong Scyther's blades could not penetrate Panopticon's heavy armor. Panopticon slowed Torrasque down by hammer-punching him on the head, and Proteus blew Torrasque away with a massive Psybeam attack. His head feeling ready to explode from the powerful Psybeam attacking his mind, Torrasque was still conscious, but was too weak to continue fighting. "We've taken care of your bodyguards, Jessica," Proteus noted. "Recall your Scyther and come with us peacefully, and we promise that no harm will come to you. We both are forced to stringently adhere to our master's code of honor...we are incapable of lying to you." "What good is the code of honor of a megalomaniacal despot?" Jessica snapped. As Panopticon approached, Jessica quickly reached for one of her Pokéballs and spiked it on the ground. "Magus, we're in deep crap! Go straight to your Psychic attack!" When Magus, the level one hundred Magmar, emerged from his Pokéball, he did not even have time to charge up for a Psychic attack before Proteus attacked him. So Magus went with a Fire Punch. Proteus, however, effortlessly blocked the punch with one open hand. "Mag mar?!" Magus wondered, shocked that such a powerful attack had been so easily blunted. Magus tried again and again to land a Fire Punch on Proteus's muzzle, but to no avail. While this was happening, Panopticon grabbed hold of Jessica's left wrist and coiled his tail tightly around her legs. "We will ask of you again," said Proteus, as he knocked out the angry Magus with a wide Slash attack that sent the Magmar flying. "Withdraw your Pokémon and come with us peacefully, or we will have no choice but to utilize force upon you." By this time Jessica's forearms had turned fully into Scyther blades. Jessica was about to refuse Proteus's request again - after all, Jessica now had a weapon - but Panopticon threatened her by putting one razor-sharp wrist-blade against her midriff. Knowing her unborn children's lives were at stake in addition to her own life, Jessica finally submitted. She beamed Atropos and Magus back into their Pokéballs, and admitted, "All right...you win." True to their word, Panopticon and Proteus did not harm Jessica. Jessica was told to lay flat on Panopticon's back, and she did so. Proteus turned into a long metallic cable and wrapped himself around Jessica several times, tying her tightly to Panopticon's back. Then Panopticon retreated to the secret passage from whence he had come, and no sooner was he back in the hidden subterranean tunnel than he activated the rocket-powered rollerblades on the sides of his feet and starting blasting at full speed through the tunnel that led back to his master's base of operations. About ten minutes later, Kyle, Thanatos, and Espio emerged from the building and found Torrasque sitting on the ground and rubbing his aching head with the dull side of one scythe. Cathode was sitting on one of Torrasque's shoulders and whimpering like a puppy who knew that something was not right, but could not tell what. "Torrasque, what happened?" Kyle cried, forgetting the malice he had felt toward the Scyther as he helped Torrasque to his feet. "Where are Jessica and Atropos?!" "That cyber-dinosaur Panopticon...and that Ditto we met on Pokémon Island..." Torrasque began. "They abducted Jessica and all of her Pokémon...then they ran over there...and just sort of vanished..." Torrasque pointed at the bushes where Panopticon had disappeared. "No...this can't be happening!" Kyle started inspecting the bushes frantically, wondering if Panopticon had left a trail. There were footprints leading to a patch of grass...but the footprints ended there. He fell to his knees in desperation. "Jessica...I...I'm so sorry," he then said softly, as a tear rolled down his face. "I should've been there for you...I should've been protecting you..." Just then he accidentally knelt on a small rock that was embedded in the dirt. The rock sunk into the ground, and suddenly a secret door opened up in the patch of grass. "They...they must have gone in here!" Kyle announced, a bit of hope suddenly restored. "Come on!" Kyle jumped down into the subterreanean tunnel, and was followed by Espio, then Thanatos, and finally a weary Torrasque with Cathode. With Espio's tail-flame lighting up the tunnel, Kyle could see Panopticon's rollerblade tracks on the tunnel's dirt floor. "Yes! In Cerulean City, that cyber-saur left tracks just like these!" he remembered. "And these tracks are fresh! They couldn't have gotten far..." He looked down the tunnel as far as he could, and no end to the trail was in sight. "Hang in there, Jessica," he then said, again ignoring the fact that Jessica could not hear him. "We're on our way!" Y'see, the problem there was that I tried to cram three stories' worth of stuff into one story... ^^;;; --K * A * R * N * I * V * A * X-- "Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the former." --Albert Einstein Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.