Description: It's Street Fighter the movie time in Thailand! It's also a Neo League fight. What it isn't is a good day for Rock Howard. He's been drafted! (Winner: Alex)
It's been a few days since Rock Howard managed to have one of the most atypical infiltrations into the Thailand sector of the world ever. He met this crazy witch girl after managing to hire a privateer to bring him from the coast into the capitol city of Bangkok. Since then, he's been laying relatively low, trying to get an understanding of the society and the city. With Vega's 'rule' looming out across the land like a foul-smelling fog, Howard's been content to enjoy relative anonymity and protection from potential Geese Howard vengeances.
It's a little after sundown now and Rock's venturing out of his really crappy hotel, moving up through the side steets of the city. He's gotten word that there has been some illegal pit fighting going on at a certain warehouse late at night and has decided to check it out. He figures it's one of his best chances for finding the Legendary Wolf. And worst case scenario, he'll see a really brutal fight and maybe make a bet or two.
Hands stuffed into his jacket pockets, official Terry Bogard Replica Hat pulled low over his blond hair and red eyes, Rock traces the steps he was given as directions in silence through the streets. The dull neon glow of the city lights his way.
There's been a lot of civil unrest.
If by 'unrest' you mean Alex has been going around beating the crap out of armed soldiers. He's perhaps not a student of revolutionary philosophy, but he figures beating a guy up can't /hurt/. Right now, Alex is sitting the edges of the warehouse, a cowboy hat low over his eyes, eating something too spicy for normal men to endure. It's an outdoor cafe, mostly abandoned, since people have in the main have decided to avoid a government that might murder you if you break the law. There have been a few, though, and Alex -- always out to keep sharp -- has cleaned out Bangkok's less-than-remarkable population of underground kickboxers. He'd at least hoped that that guy with the red hair would show up. The Emperor of Muay Thai, or whatever he's calling himself lately.
Rock twists around the last side street. He's vaguely concerned with some Shadaloo Dolls jumping down, recognizing him, and trying to make a name for themselves in the eyes of their depostic and slightly pudgy overlord. Luckily, he's avoided that scenario so far. Once he finds Terry Bogard, that's when he can go about cleaning this city up. Terry will know what to do and how to handle it all.
Rock's always been much better at finding trouble than stopping it. th @emit
Rock twists around the last side street. He's vaguely concerned with some Shadaloo Dolls jumping down, recognizing him, and trying to make a name for themselves in the eyes of their depostic and slightly pudgy overlord. Luckily, he's avoided that scenario so far. Once he finds Terry Bogard, that's when he can go about cleaning this city up. Terry will know what to do and how to handle it all.
Rock's always been much better at finding trouble than stopping it. This genetic trait holds true again tonight. Moving up the lonely road towards the unmarked warehouse that happens to be the alleged home of the city's most gruesome pit fighting, Rock sticks near the wall of buildings to stay out of the light. When he's within ear shot, he realizes there's a guy sitting outside the place he was lead to believe houses the fights. Howard assumes that he's the bouncer; the huge, over muscled, guard that he'll need to bribe to get inside.
Stopping near Alex's side, Rock can't recognize him due to the angle and oversized brim of Alex's cowboy hat. Pulling a wad of cash out, he asks. "How much does it cost?"
Alex stops and pushes up that hat of his with one thumb. "Huh," he says. Rock's here. Alex doesn't understand how similar their missions really are, but they're pretty similar. He's here to find Ryu. Rock's here to find Alex.
A moment passes of perhaps awkward recgnition. "Didn't think you'd have the guts to muster out here, kid," Alex says, standing up. "But you've come to the right place. Admission's free--"
He shrugs. "At least it is for me. Maybe there's one guy in this city that's worth my time."
Rock squints down at the guy. He certainly looks like a professional fighter, but then again, most bouncer's are huge monsters of men themselves. They're bears with slightly larger brains. But once Alex tips that hat, gives Rock a glimpse of his face, it all cascades into realization. Howard immediately takes a step back from Alex, fingers of a hand squeezing to a fist.
He sneers at Alex for a few solid seconds before finding his voice. He doesn't exactly dislike Alex, but he wasn't expecting this type of surprise. With all the tension Rock's been dealing with for the last few days, he's already on tilt and the edge. "You're..." He slowly forms the words he's looking for. "You're the /champion/, huh?"
Rock looks over at the warehouse. He squints again. He looks back at Alex. He breaks a thin grin. "If you're the champ," he says. "Then the competition must have been pretty shitty."
"This place? Yeah. Bottom of the barrel," Alex says. He pulls his hat off, setting it onto the box beside him. "I hear you've hit some pretty rough times lately. No sweat. Everybody does. Look at it this way. If I'm the champ of this crappy warehouse--then you can beat me, and take it. Then you'll be champ. Sounds pretty sweet, huh?" Alex shrugs his shoulders and hops off the crate.
"So, what do you say? Or would you rather start slow on the mooks inside? Maybe they're more your style, pal."
Holy crap this dude is laying on the subliminal sarcasm. Rock's neck stings as it plumes red with embarassment. He -- perhaps wrongly -- takes it that Alex is ribbing him for his recent championship to zero to championship to two champions to zero run. It's two more championships than Alex has ever had, he reminds himself, exhaling a breath.
"That what passes for a challenge, Alex?" Rock asks, breaking into a grin. Despite the sense of ribbing he's getting from the other blond dude, he can't fault him. He throws it back just as good as he gets it when he needs to. "You're just sick of punking a bunch of wannabe Sagat kickboxers, aren't you?"
Rock looks at the warehouse doors again. He mentally shrugs. What the hell. He wanted to get in the ring in there anyway. Who cares if it's against one of the best fighters in the world? "I can feel that. You ready to lose?"
"Yeah. C'mon. Tell you what, though. If I win, you owe me a favor. Alright? Sound kosher to you?" Alex cracks the door open to the pit, and steps inside. There's somebody in kickboxing shorts waiting in the middle. "Take a hike, pal," Alex says, hopping down into the shallow pit that's been dug for fighters. "I'll tear you apart tomorrow," he says, throwing his cowboy hat away and pulling his shirt off.
"And if you win... hell, I'll owe you a favor. Or something. You know how this crap goes."
Rock follows Alex in. The crowd isn't what he's used to at most Saturday Night Fight events. They're rough and tumble. Men weened on the hard life in the Bangkok streets. Gamblers, felons, and the type of people Rock often finds himself raging against on the streets of Southtown. They're the type of people his father would use until they were all ground up.
Rock ignores that tingling along his spine as he moves through the crowd and down towards the fighting pit. No doubt some of the people in attendance recognize him and the ripple floats through the group. People start to get excited about the chance to see a real pair of professionals hammer each other to pieces in their backyard.
Hopping down into the ring, Rock gives an apologetic shrug to the kickboxer who's getting run out. He looks back over at Alex when the guy lays his cards on the table and smirks. "So that's what it is, huh? Fine, I'm game for that. With one condition?"
Rock immediately shifts into his Hakyokusaken stance. "This one counts. Neo League, Alex. I want a rematch."
COMBATSYS: Rock has started a fight here.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Alex has joined the fight here.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Alex
Alex shrugs. "If that's what floats your boat," he says, slipping into his own undefinable stance -- that freakish combination of sumo, judo, and a dozen other things. The crowd starts to thicken, recognizing one or both of the fighters, and bets are already being placed on the champ. "It's about goddamn time that number brought in somebody worthwhile," he replies.
"This oughta be better. This time, you've got nothing to lose. And that's the best kind of opponent."
Rock remembers his fight with Alex very well. He remembers every loss. He wouldn't be one of the fastest rising stars in both the SNF and Neo League if he didn't take each defeat personally as a drive to train harder. And train he's been doing. In the line of fire. Stab wounds, championship battles, hospital rumbles with Uncles, it's all gone on in the month and a half since he last tangoed with Alex on a certain Southtown pier.
They have a habit of running into each other in the strangest places.
"Don't worry about /me/," Rock says back to Alex, tone full of meaning, as he starts to take a defensive series of parallel steps to the edge of the ring. He's not going to barrel into that behemoth of a man. Alex is solid as steel thick and all the way through. Rock's got to pick his spots.
COMBATSYS: Rock focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Alex
Alex starts tying off his headband, watching Rock. For a moment, his left foot leads, but he holds his ground when Rock does. Alex is smarter than the average Big Bear; he was going to try to beat his opponent to the start, but this way? He's not going to walk into that trap fully-loaded. He knows too much about Rock Howard as a fighter.
"Clever ," he says, digging his heels in to the dirt of the sleazy pit's floor. "But I know a mousetrap when I see one, kid. Didn't you learn anything from last time? It's not about how fast you are--"
COMBATSYS: Alex focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Alex
"--It's about what fighting cliche you know?" Rock asks back, his footfalls stopping abruptly. He locks his eyes onto Alex; his desire to have Alex lead the fight off having failed, apparently. The guy doesn't want to walk into one of his crack counter's and he can't blame him for that. That's fine. Rock has learned a few things since their last fight.
Like how to punch a shard of tank armor into two.
Swallowing a breath of air, Rock drops his defenses and suddenly rockets forward into a full run. His booted heels grind into the soil of the ground -- the fighting pit is really nothing but a square hole in the cement foundation that they've covered with some sandy dirt -- digging into it with each hammering twist of his toes. Howard comes right at Alex, with no attempted masking of his intention, and jumps the last two strides to hit the air.
Body contorting, Rock's body slices through the air as he scissors his legs around with his forward leap -- generating sizable force behind them as he sends one spinning around and down in a bicycle kick towards Alex's shoulder. It looks like something Jet Li would do.
COMBATSYS: Alex fails to interrupt Medium Kick from Rock with Hand Stamp.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Alex
Alex leans forward and into the straight kick. Rock might be flashy; Alex, on the other hand, only seems to exist in a stationary universe. He waits and tries to drive the heel of his palm into Rock's chest, but Howard is a little quicker; he gets hit in the torso, and recoils, rubbing his injury. "Ow," he says, stepping back and aside.
"You've gotten better. Just a little."
Satisfaction hums on the impact crack of Rock's leg to Alex's torso. Bouncing off the impact point, Rock lands the jumping kick in a three-pointed crouch -- like a defensive end preparing for a blitz. His red eyes align onto Alex's chest and he doesn't wait for the banter to strike home. He keeps the offensive. If Alex is afraid of Rock's defense, he's going to make him fear his offense just as much.
Rock takes two hard steps forward, tearing a black steel-toed boot footprint in the dirt, as he sweeps his momentum forward and through his hips. Coming up to his arms, the force of his steps is shot through the length of his arm as he sends a whistling roundhouse punch forward for Alex's jaw.
The crowd approves of the furious pace. Bets increase twenty percent.
COMBATSYS: Alex interrupts Medium Punch from Rock with Slash Elbow.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Alex
Alex lowers onto his knees and fingers, like a runner about to take off. Here he comes again. Alex waits and watches, seemingly biding his time -- studying. You've changed, Howard. But where? And how? Alex, the turtle to Rock's hare, waits--and then moves. Alex rushes in like lightning, his elbow swinging around, flashing with chi. He swipes Rock's arm out of the air, attempting to turn his opponent around with the force of the blow.
Bets pick up again.
Once it's over, Alex steps back, thumbing his nose a little bit. Now they're about even. Give or take. "Get ready," he says.
Rock is launched back by the impact of Alex's elbow. Rock is a big fan of using his elbows in precision strikes. Alex is better at it than him. He's jut got the raw power to really make you regret ever coming near the man. After a full rotation, Rock finally regains control of himself, falling down to a knee and bracing a gloved palm flat against the ground.
He breathes in and out, winded from the blow. In and out, his eyes dancing of Alex. He's not sure where that speed came from. He always knew Alex was strong, but was he always that /fast/? He'll need to be more cautious.
"For what?" he asks, between steeling breathes. "Ryu teach you how to lose?" Low blow. Mr. Big just beat Ryu in the World Warrior. With one of those grins you want to plow off his face, he rises back to his full height, stance back in place.
COMBATSYS: Rock focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Alex
"Ryu hasn't taught me anything. Not if you're talking about holds and techniques and locks--" Alex takes a couple of steps back, and takes a single deep breath. He doesn't grin, but something about his voice suggests that he feels he ought to. "--but those aren't the things that matter in a fight anyways. You oughta know that. Maybe you still need to be taught," he says.
And then he unties his headband and starts re-tying it, as though to taut his foe into coming his way. "Maybe you still need to be taught what it means to be in this moment--and if you flinch, you're gonna miss it."
COMBATSYS: Alex gains composure.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Alex
"Maybe," Rock says, not sounding like he's drinking Alex's medicine. He'll admit that the guy is a great fighter and a highly worthy opponent, but he won't necessarily buy into his philosophy. Which, to Rock, seems to mostly consist of come fight me so I can crush you. But the headband? That draws a red eyed squinting glare. Is Alex testing him?
Rock can play the same game. He adjusts his gloves, pulling the left tight and then the right. "Or maybe you need to stop girling it up over there. They're all betting," Rock chin motions at the crowd, who is now starting to sound a little jaded at the sudden lull in the mayhem. "Against you now."
COMBATSYS: Rock gains composure.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Alex
"Let 'em bet," Alex says, coldly. "They don't matter. See?" Alex jerks a thumb at the crowd. Nothing happens. "They're nothing. Background noise. You get too caught up in them... and you'll pay for it. Don't forget it." Alex levels out, again, watching his opponent. There. He seems satisfied. Alex straightens out and begins to tighten his gloves, looking disinterested in Rock entirely. "Only got one trick, huh? You better find a new way to use it, otherwise you've got a real problem when you come against a guy who isn't buying what you're selling. I told you before, didn't I?"
"Get ready."
COMBATSYS: Alex focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Alex
"Stop saying that," Rock says, looking suddenly annoyed at Alex. Maybe it's the dialogue. Maybe it's that Thailandian Fisherman near his right shoulder who keeps trying to touch is sleeve. The man smells like whiskey and cod. What a terrible combination. He'd rather be rolling around in the Pot-o-Potties Makoto punched him through that be near that guy another second.
Rock makes his decision. He breaks into a sprint forward again. This time, his body starts to blur. Eclipsed in a sudden halo of golden energy, chi bristles across his arm as he stampedes forward. His right arm rears back, he plants a foot, and then he leaps into the air. Skimming a foot off the ground, he crashes into Alex's radius and his right arm rockets forward. Chi explodes along it's length as he reaches it's full extension, exploding outward into a swirling flash of power.
COMBATSYS: Alex endures Rock's Rage Run Dunk.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Alex
Alex is standing still. He even takes a step back towards the crowd. Their hands reach out for him, they call out. Jeering. Why aren't they fightign? What's with all the waiting? What the hell are they doing? Get off your asses and fight, they call. Alex doesn't notice them. They barely exist. "There you go--" Alex roars, lurching forward to meet the golden chi. He raises one hand into the oncoming comet, catching it in his hand and jerking it back, taking all of that power and fury on the brunt of it.
And then he pulls, bringing Rock around like a whip and turning his own motion slightly. Rock's careening down from above. Why doesn't Alex just... help him along? Angling to seize Rock entirely, Alex starts rotating and whirling, attempting to drive his opponent into the dirt.
COMBATSYS: Alex successfully hits Rock with Spiral DDT.
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Rock 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Alex
Rock face dents the ground. Dirt puffs up around him as his head is driven straight into the cement foundation of the warehouse. It chips and cracks some from the force of that impact. Any normal person would be dead or worse; decapitated. Rock's just going to have a migraine for the next few days. His ears already have that telltale ringing sound.
But he has to ignore it. This fight isn't over yet. Alex is a monster of a man but Rock can still pull a few tricks out. Slamming his palms down to the ground at his side, he pushes out of the ground, twists onto his back, and then rolls out of Alex's embrace. Coming out of it a few yards away from the much larger man, Rock's eyes widen.
He takes an aggressive step forward and then his arms pulse as he cuts them up through the air, one after the other. "DOUBLE!" he yells, shears of flowing chi slicing off his body like tearing geysers of power. "REPPUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Alex interrupts Double Reppuken from Rock with Slash Elbow.
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Rock 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Alex
Alex thumbs his nose, taking a few steps back before Rock has time to regroup and launch the Double Reppuken straight for him. Crap like that's the thing that Alex doesn't have in his playback. It's hard to think of how he plans on doing away with something like that -- something that you can't just tough-through.
For a moment, Alex is obscured behind the glow of the Reppuken, its wave of energy competely consuming him. And then he /bursts/ through it like a submarine through waves, his elbow burning with his own chi to deliver all of that injury into Rock's chin. The crowd goes crazy. He didn't try to throw anything or dodge it. He just started /going/, and burst right through as though it were a minor obstacle.
Rock eats that elbow again. He's going to remember the technique for a long time to come. Alex can be sure that the next time they fight he's not going to let it victimize him like this. Then again, he might also remember -- now that two people have done it in less than a week -- that the Double Reppuken isn't as fearsome as it once was. People are charging through it like madmen right and left. Something in the water here in THAILANDIA.
Rock is launched back, feet pedaling to keep his balance, until he is forced to twist with the momentum to brace himself against the pit's walls. He breathes heavily there for a second, back half exposed across the pit towards Alex. He's getting irriated now. This isn't how Alex fought last time. He shouldn't be able to do this kind of thing. Determination lining his eyes, Rock pushes off the wall and turns back to face Alex. "Come on," he says. "Don't stop now."
COMBATSYS: Rock focuses on his next action.
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Rock 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1 Alex
"Heh," Alex says, watching Rock stagger backwards and away. And he simply waits, cracking his knuckles. Every videotape of Alex looks the same -- he's all-out, straight in, going for broke and breaking men like twigs and walking away just by virtue of being made of sterner stuff than the next best thing. And just with the flick of a switch, he's become something different. A wolf. Or a spider, waiting, and watching. Rock might have the unnerving feeling that he's being stalked by an animal.
Alex holds completely still, staring at Rock with unblinking eyes. "Remember last time? I do. Show me you've got more... more than a fancy technique you stole from your old man."
COMBATSYS: Alex gains composure.
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Rock 1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0 Alex
It is unnerving to see what Alex is doing. The fact that he's able to so seemlessly shift his style is not something Rock was prepared for. He expected that the guy would be a one trick pony. He would punch Rock as hard as he could and if Howard could endure through the barrage, he could come out victorious. This is something completely different. He's not sure if Alex is trying to speak to him in that language of combat or not, but what he is doing is pissing Rock Howard off.
"Aren't you going to /fight/!?" Rock yells, frustration evident in every breath of his voice and twitch of his face. The determination on his face melts away, replaced by anger, his red eyes seeming to grow in color and intensity. "Fine!" he flourishes, a self-affirmation more than anything. Alex says the magic word and Rock is ready to act.
His father. Rage boils through his evil blood as Rock, son of Geese, embraces that dark power. Charging forward at the immovable monster across the pit, Rock screams right into that point just outside of Alex's wing-span. Abruptly, his body melts into a blinding light. "RAGGGGIIINNNGG!" he yells, his arms twisting at his sides and slamming towards the ground. Power spikes off him, immpossible energy shooting out in every direction in a blinding wash of light. "STOOOOORRRM!"
Alex will remember this one.
COMBATSYS: Alex endures Rock's Raging Storm'.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1 Alex
Alex finally seems satisfied with his gloves when the fireball of fury and speed comes straight at him. Rock's smart; he stays just out of reach, just our of range of Alex's grasp. A safe place for someone to linger when the storm comes, and come it does. But at that last moment -- that desperate interval -- Alex takes a step into the storm, digging his heels in and doing to the impossible: Clawing his way, brutally, savagely, unyielding, to the eye of the tornado.
As Alex pushes through the twisting winds of chi, he reaches as far as he can, his hand searching for the collar of Rock's shirt.
COMBATSYS: Rock fails to counter Hyper Bomb from Alex with Joudan Crack Counter.
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Alex 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rock can no longer fight.
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Alex 0/-------/-------|
There's no way you can beat a man that will sacrifice everything to get his hands on you. If they can barrel through Reppukkens and Raging Storms, you can't win. Not even Geese would know how to react to the ridiculousness of Alex's strategy. The guy is going to be in a coma by age thirty but it might be worth it to ride the top of the fighting world for a few years.
Rock is lifted. Familiar. This happened before. And he's slammed into the ground. He craters some and then doesn't move. There's a slight twitch in his leg. It's a good two minutes before his eyes flutter back open. He has no idea what just happened. One minute he felt victory, the next minute, he's on his back looking at the lights.
The Raging Storm burns and scorches Alex, inside and out, but he grits his teeth -- and pushes through the pain. Nothing's off-limits. There's nothing to hold back. There's just a line in the sand, and the means to cross it. Once he makes contact, Alex knows.
This fight's over.
The crowd is sileced by what just happened. Rock's performance made him far and away the favorite to win. And so suddenly--it was finished. There's a bit of silence and rage, and then cheers. A few people made a great deal of money.
Last time this happened, Alex walked away. This time? He heads for Rock's clumped form, and reaches a hand out.
Rock eyes the hand dubiously for a few seconds. He's not sure how to react to that. He's irritated that Alex was able to so suddenly shift his style to adadpt to his techniques. But he finally has to relent that he just got out-fought. Alex was the better fighter. AGAIN. Rock is going to have to go on a mountain quest to gain a new ultimate technique before he can come back and fight Alex again. He feels like Andy Bogard.
Reaching out, Rock lets Alex help him to his feet. Once there, he wipes his jacket sleeves off. "Guess I owe you that favor."
"Yeah, you do," Alex says, helping Rock up. "I don't know why you came here. I can think of more reasons than I can count, and maybe it's this one anyways. I don't care. I'd have fought you either way," Alex says. "Take a look around you, kid. Step outside this cruddy warehouse and look. This town's falling apart, and if it goes, it's just the first domino. Shadaloo's bad business. You're probably the kind of guy who thinks that Geese Howard's the only thing that exists--"
"--but this guy? Vega? I met him. He's not human. And I can't stop him by myself. Nobody can. This guy'll eat this city alive, and unlike your old man, he won't stop there. I've seen him hollow people's brains out like a VCR eating tape. So I'm looking for a few hands. Maybe you didn't win, but nobody'd ever say your mettle wasn't tested. So, guess what?"
"You've just been drafted."
Log created on 20:31:35 06/13/2007 by Rock, and last modified on 14:04:31 06/17/2007.