A Golden Drive Through Equestria

by Psyga315

Dazzling Adagio Arc 2: How Do We Fight A Dragon?

It was the dead of night as Ivan approached the alleyway. He looked at the note he was given.

“If you wish to warm up that cold case, meet me at the alleyway at Somerset & Mills.” He had no idea who sent it to him, but any lead would be a good lead at this point. He went alone, as everyone else had presumed the missing person to be dead.

“Welcome, m’dear.” Ivan turned around to see a man dressed up like an old 1930’s mobster, with the long black trench coat, pinstripe pants, though everything else, like the scarf, hat, waistcoat, and boots looked more like a cowboy’s outfit. “You wish to close this case?”

“… Yes. What do you know of her?” Ivan asked.

“Well, one thing, really. Her last known location.”

“Give it.” Ivan gripped his fists. He knew better than to threaten with his gun.

“It’s not that easy. See, she’s not here. I wish I can explain but simply doing what I say will explain a lot more than lecturing you.” Ivan’s hand neared the gun. He was clearly blackmailing him! “Of course, I could let you just interrogate me. Then I’d just cry out for help and then you’ll have to explain to the police what you were doing in the middle of the night talking to some nobody like me.” Ivan froze. Man had a point.

“Fine. What is it you want me to do?” Ivan asked. The man took out a silver belt from his jacket. It almost looked like the dashboard of a car.

“Simple. Take this. It will bring you to where she is, though finding her and bringing her back… that’s the hard part.” That was it? Just grab the belt? It sounds almost too good to be true…

But…

Three years. She had been gone for three years. Everyone had given up on her. Even her own parents believed her to be dead. Ivan dedicated his life to try and find her or at least her body. His reward for his persistence is to be called a nutcase. A cop who was just one bad day away from becoming a real-life Max Payne. For the first time in his life, this was the first person who believed she was still out there.

So, any chance, regardless of how bizarre… it must be taken.

And so, he grabbed the belt…

---

“Next thing I knew, I was around the area and this belt began to speak to me.” I heard Ivan explain his story to us. A young girl by the name of Kimberly Locksley was Displaced around the summer of 2013. It seems this was just one of a few bizarre cases of disappearing people, including myself.

“So… That Dragon… She’s Kimberly?” Ross asked.

“Yeah. Not sure what the hell happened to her between her disappearance and now, but she’s far from the sweet girl who vanished all those years ago.” Ivan said.

“As far as I know, she works for Roidmude 010.” I said.

“010? You mean Paint?” Krim asked me.

“Yeah… Though I don’t think he passes himself off as that moniker anymore. He calls himself the Roidmude King.” As I said that, Krim crossed his eyes.

“W-what!?” Krim asked.

“Hold on… so… you fought these Roidmudes before?” Ivan asked.

“Yeah.” I decided to leave out the part where I fought them as Gold Drive. As much as I like to say how Banno was under lock and key, Krim’s sordid past with him is just gonna result in a conflict I’d rather avoid for now.

“Hmm… Well, I’m not sure how you managed to do it, but we can use your help in fighting the rest of the Roidmudes, including 010.” Krim said. That’s when Ivan took Krim off his waist.

“You mean you can use her help. I don’t think I’m cut out for this. Find someone else who’s better at this than me.” As Ivan said that, Krim closed his eyes.

“I understand. It was a little much pressuring you into becoming Drive. However, now that I am conscious, I see if I can find anyone who can.” The Tridoron drove up to Krim and opened up the door as he flew into the car and secured himself on the dashboard. “However, it might just be that your gears need to be cleaned. You’ve been stuck in a rut for who knows how long… If your mind’s in top gear and you have changed your mind on being Drive, let me know.” With that, he drove away.

“So now what?” I asked Ivan.

“Well, we definitely need to rest up.” I saw Ross struggle to get up, though he clutched onto his knee.

“Hold on!” Ivan ran to Ross and helped him up. He turned to me and asked, “Do you have any place to rest?”

“Well, if you wanna sleep in a library…” I chuckled. Ivan shook his head.

“H-hey, that guy you got the belt from… Did he give you anything else?” Ross asked. Ivan shook his head.

“No. Not that I think of.” As he said that, I noticed something hanging around his neck. It was a silver necklace, but what threw me off was the design. An encircled R. The R had sharp angles, almost akin to...

Drive’s Symbol.

“Hey, Ivan, was that always there?” I asked Ivan as I pointed to his chest. He looked at the necklace and immediately took it off.

“No. The hell is this?” He asked.

“That’s a Token. Or rather, a Token made by Niko.” Ross took out a necklace of his own. It looked like a blooming rose. “They allow a Displaced to return to their home world. All you need to do is utter a phrase.” I looked at the necklace. The hell? How come I wasn’t given one?! I had my own Token, yes, but the way Ross referred to his Token, it seems that I needed Niko’s personal Token to return home.

Well, chances are Ivan’s home world is my home world. So, I’ll be able to try and touch base. In any case, I needed to activate the Token. If I knew how phrases work, there was only one phrase that can fit this Token.

“Maybe it’s all we need is Drive?” I asked. Ivan raised an eyebrow, then spoke to the Token.

“All we need is Drive?” As he said that, the Token glowed. The light that sparked from the Token blinded me.

---

The Rabbit Hole. Flash remembered how an old movie best summed up this place: “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” The fact that it was late, well past his curfew time, was enough to make Flash’s knees buckle.

But he had to go in and ask.

He opened the door and glanced at the people there. The smell of booze overwhelmed his nose, but he had to continue. He took out a photo and looked at it. Earlier in the day, he snuck by the police department and swiped a list of gangs. Most of them were now defunct save for one: The Barons. The picture he had showed about five people, all wearing the same red and black jacket. He looked around to see if there’s anyone who wore that exact same jacket.

“Welcome to the Rabbit Hole! Table for one?” A waitress, appropriately enough wearing a bunny suit.

“Erm… I’m looking for someone.” Flash’s hands quickly went to retrieve his phone. That’s when a big, burly man with brown skin and a full mustache-beard came up to the waitress.

“He’s with me.” The man gruffly said as Flash looked to him just as he looked at his phone and glanced at the text he got.

“You must be Junior.” Flash said. Junior just growled a bit as Flash blushed.

“Come on.” Junior took Flash’s arm and dragged him over to the bar. “This place doesn’t serve minors this late at night, so make it quick. You want some answers, right?” Flash just nodded and took out the picture.

“What can you tell me about these guys. Specifically, this man.” He tapped his finger on the center man. He had red skin and swept up brown, almost blondish, hair.

“Ah, Cloudy Kite. Not sure why you wanna know about him. He’s only the most dangerous gang leader in town.” Junior said.

“I… have some connections with him.” Flash wasn’t even sure if he was his dad or not.

“Mmm… I’m guessing distant. Well, if you hang around the downtown area, you’ll bump into him sooner or later.” A glass of gin was placed before Junior as he downed it.

“Does he come here at a usual time?” Flash asked.

“Nah, he only comes here on occasion, though chances are if he does, expect this place to face some… renovations.” Junior glanced and noticed a guy with messy blonde hair approach them. “Yo, Shay! What took you so long?” Shay just smirked as Flash noticed a low-class Bat Roidmude was next to Shay.

“That’s the guy who messed you up, huh?” Shay asked. Flash noticed a number on the Roidmude’s chest: 091… The same number that floated when the Roidmude he fought was destroyed.

“Yeah… Let’s get some payback, partner.” Roidmude 091 handed a red bat-like toy car to Shay as he grabbed it. He jabbed it into himself as the Roidmude fused with Shay, creating a dark red version of the Roidmude that Flash had faced.

“What the…” Flash muttered.

“Now… you die!” The Shoot Roidmude fired out several darts from its body at Flash. He dodged, as did Junior. Flash took out the Orange Lockseed and put on the Frubask Driver. He plopped the Lockseed on and cut it.

SOIYA! ORANGE SLICE! CUT THROUGH… TWICE!

Flash took out his two orange slices and ran to attack the Shoot Roidmude. He rolled out of the way of the darts, though as he motioned to cut, Shoot darted.

“That won’t work on me this time!” Shoot said. Flash noticed the Roidmude was ready to fire once again. He knew the last time he fought him, he was near death. Rather than risk it again, he ran off.

He bolted out of the door as the darts fired once more, though he was able to evade the Roidmude’s projectiles rather easily… At least until one hit the palm of his hand. He winced in pain and pulled the dart out. He applied pressure to the wound to prevent blood from pouring out. He shut his eyes and tried to drown out the pained screams of people who were unfortunate enough to get in his way. That’s when he heard a car pull up.

“HOP IN!” Flash opened his eyes and saw a red car with twin white stripes going from the hood to the back… Wait… wasn’t this Professor Silverbolt’s car? The door opened as Flash immediately hopped in. The car drove off. Flash breathed in. He was safe.

“Thanks, Professor Silverbolt…” Flash muttered.

“Unfortunately, she isn’t here.” Flash looked around and realized that no one else was in the car… Then… Who was driving? Flash looked at the front of the car. There was a device right in the center of the dashboard… And it had a red LED face that smiled right at him. “However, I’m here to help.” The voice said.

“What the…” Flash muttered.

---

My eyes opened and I saw myself in front of a large apartment building. Ross and Ivan were with me as I saw Ivan’s jaw drop slightly, then took out his keys.

“I can’t believe it! It took us to my home!” He adjusted the keychain so that he’d hold onto a fob. He opened the first of two doors, then passed the fob in front of the detector. After a small beep, he opened the second door. He led us in and soon enough, we were in the lobby waiting for the elevator. “Ross, if you don’t mind, I’m going to have my wife take a look at your injury. She’s an elementary teacher, so she knows a little bit about first aid.”

“There’s no need. Just a sprain is all...” As Ross rested his leg on the ground, he jerked it and winced.

“Yeah, she’s looking at it.” The doors opened as we entered the elevator. It was a standard two rows of six buttons layout with an extra button at the bottom. Obviously twelve floors plus a basement. Ivan pressed the twelfth button as the elevator rose up.

“So, if we’re crashing at your place, we should come up with a plan to take on Kim.” I said.

“Yeah. Though I doubt my wife will like me mentioning her.” I slightly nodded. Makes sense with what he said about the case. Though my fists tightened as I thought about Kimberly and more importantly, whoever Displaced her. I had a strong idea who it was. If Niko had anything to do with Kimberly’s Displacement, the first thing I’m going to do upon meeting him is to punch him in the-

DING!

The door opened and took me out of my train of thought. We got out of the elevator and, following five feet, a sharp turn to the left, ten feet, and another sharp turn to the right, we got to Ivan’s unit: 12-3. Ivan put his keys into the lock and jiggled a bit. With a satisfying click, he opened the door.

“Mal, I’m home!” Ivan shouted. A woman in a crimson shower robe waltzed in. I have no idea why Ross’s eyes widened other than how gorgeous she looked. Her body filled in the robe as though she just came out of shooting for a modelling catalog, she had smooth, shiny looking red hair and complimenting it were her emerald green eyes. Kids his age normally go gaga over that kind of stuff.

“Ivan, welcome… Who are you guys?” She asked us.

“Pyrrha?” Ross muttered. Pyrrha… That was what he had shouted when he stopped me from defeating Banno. I made a mental note and introduced myself.

“Hello. My name is Kelly Randall. This is my friend Ross. We’re helping Officer Dorian out with a case and he figured we’d rest up after Ross got himself injured.” I nudged Ross as he snapped out of his pubescent gaze.

“W-What… O-oh, yeah…” Ross limped over as Mal came over to him. Ross immediately blushed as she sat him on the couch.

“Let me take a look…” Mal looked at his knee, then pulled up his pant-leg. “No sign of bruising… Does it hurt when I do this?” Mal touched his knee as Ross flinched. I couldn’t help but let out a snigger at Ross’s predicament. Ivan pulled me aside.

“We should let Mal handle Ross while we work out a plan.” I just sniggered more.

“Handle… Yeah…” I followed Ivan to the kitchen. It seemed rather clean, albeit a generic white tile floor with steel cabinets, a fridge, and a stove. We sat by a dining table.

“So… Kimberly… She’s gonna be a handful.” I said to him.

“She just needs to have an intervention. I have to reach out to her and tell her that she should come home.” Ivan told me.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Not to be a spoilsport or anything, but she’s pretty convinced that following a killer robot is the right path for her.” I said.

“She’s fallen in with the wrong crowd.” That’s when I facepalmed.

“Ivan… she isn’t doing drugs. She’s a fucking assassin that fights for robots bent on dominating mankind. No amount of after school specials is gonna help her.” I sighed.

“Kelly, I chase down runaways for a living. I make sure they don’t make the stupid decisions that leaves them with no homes and no lives. Most of the time, they just run in the heat of the moment. They become vulnerable. Perfect prey for a predator.” I bent over as my forehead touched the table.

“Stop sounding like some narrator on National Geographic.” I moaned.

“Point is, regardless of the circumstances, the scenario is the same: Kimberly ran away, was found by someone who took advantage of her, and is now working for them. The best way to handle this is to get her to understand that she can get away from this.” I pulled my head up and looked at Ivan in the eye.

“We tried that. She responded by nearly blowing Ross’ head off. She’s stubborn. I doubt we can talk her down.” As I said that, I noticed a gleam in Ivan’s eyes.

“Then try again. I’ve stuck to this case for about three years now, even when everyone else quit. If you don’t have the determination to help her, then I’ll step in.” I scoffed.

“Good. Luck.” With that, I patted Ivan on the hand and got up to look at Ross. I saw Ross snoozing on the couch as Mal stroked his head.

“It’s a miracle that his knee wasn’t damaged. He’ll be up and walking in the morning.” Mal adjusted her robe.

“That’s good. Apologies for crashing for the night.” I said to her.

“No worries. If anything, I’m sorry for not being able to accommodate enough blankets for the two of you to rest.” I got a brief smirk before I shook my head.

“It’s alright, I’ve gotten used to sleeping on the floor anyways.” I chuckled. She gave a chuckle of her own as she went into the hall. I laid down on the ground. Come morning, we’ll discuss a plan to handle Kimberly.

---

“Apologies for the sudden appearance.” Flash observed the talking face. He remembered how Silverbolt had a similar device, though that one was colored black, whereas this one was more of a metallic silver. Even the LED is different, red instead of yellow. Flash sighed. He remembered how, with the help of Twilight, Silverbolt, and the others, they destroyed the belt. Perhaps this was a new and improved belt?

“It’s alright. Just a little startled is all. Hey, can you patch a call to the Wonderbolts? That guy I encountered a month or so ago is back.” Flash noticed the face on the belt closed its ‘eyes’.

“Even if I were to call for assistance, they wouldn’t be able to successfully fight the Roidmude, especially a Fusion. This… is going to be risky, but I need you to trust me.” The belt then popped off the dashboard as the car came to a screeching halt.

“Uuuh, what’s going on!?” Flash asked.

“I’m equipped with the ability to separate the Roidmude from its host, but I need someone to use me. Normally this would be a job for…” The belt hesitated a bit. “… He’s not here though. That’s why… you have to be the one to become Drive!”

“… Ooookay?” Flash took the belt off from the dashboard and held him. It took a second before he put him on his waist. He noticed the glove compartment open up.

“You’ll need this as well.” Flash saw a bracelet. It too had the silver metal as well as a red button and what looked to be an outlet for something to plug in.

“Jeez, I know Professor Silverbolt’s weird, but I didn’t know she was into kids’ shows…” As Flash said that, the belt’s face glared.

“Hurry! We don’t have much time!” Flash noticed the road beneath him began to have bullet holes appear. He saw the crimson Roidmude approach him. Suddenly, Flash saw a tiny highway being constructed before him as he saw three cars, a red sports car, a black dune buggy, and a green garbage truck, drive on the highway, each of them honking at Flash. The red car leaped into Flash’s hand. “Rotate the car, place it on the Brace, then start the engine!” The belt instructed. Flash fiddled with the car before he twisted the back, turning it into more of a lever. He placed it on the brace and turned the ignition. The next motion he made felt natural, pushing the car-turned-lever and flicking it.

“DRIVE! TYPE… SPEED!”

A holographic red ring appeared around Flash as a snazzy song played in the background. Clumps of red armor snapped onto his body as he gained a black under suit. The final piece was a tire that spat out from the car and onto the gap where it fit snug in place.

“W-what the hell!? What happened!?" Flash shouted. The Roidmude stopped.

“Kamen Rider!?” He asked.

“Wait, I’m a what!?” Flash looked to the Roidmude.

“Focus! You need to defeat the Roidmude and split him from his host!” The belt said.

“… Right.” Flash had images of what sorts of damage a Kamen Rider could do play out in his head. Terrorists, extremists, those who would be willing to kill a teenager just like him to get what they want.

And now he’s one of them.

The Roidmude fired a dart towards Flash, who managed to dodge out of the way.

“Interesting… Despite this being the same Roidmude…” Flash heard the belt talk.

“Huh?” Flash looked at it.

“His darts aren’t as fast as they used to be. Before, they were faster than we could perceive them, but now, they can be dodged!” As the belt said that, the Roidmude chuckled.

“See if you can dodge THIS!” The four silos opened up as four large missiles launched out.

“Quick! Use the lever!” As the belt instructed, Flash flicked the car a few times.

SPE-SPE-SPEED!

Suddenly, the wheel on Flash’s body spun as he became twice, if not thrice as fast. He rolled away from the four missiles and noticed the missiles turned to him. Flash looked ahead and nodded. He ran right at the Roidmude, sidestepping as he noticed the darts firing out of his torso. With one last side-step, Flash was at point blank range. He took a dart to the gut, gave the Roidmude a few quick jabs, then slid between his legs as the four missiles flew right at him.

“W-what!?” The Roidmude’s face met the missiles and knocked him across the street. He landed on the hard concrete. Flash took a moment to pull the dart out of his gut. He was lucky that the armor that was adorned on him blocked the attack. For a brief moment, he thought that being a Kamen Rider wasn’t so bad compared to just using the Orange Slices.

“Die for me, Kisaragi!”

That’s when he remembered… If he were to be a heroic Kamen Rider, then chances are he’d meet his end sooner rather than later.

“Turn the key, press the button, and finish him off!” The belt snapped him out of his thinking.

“R-right!” Flash did just that and pressed the button on the Shift Brace. As he did, the belt announced:

THE FINISHER!

Followed by a flick of the Speed Shift Car.

FULL THROTTLE! SPEED!

The Tridoron drove off and drove towards the Roidmude, only to steer out of the way. Before Flash could say anything, the Tridoron began to do donuts around the Roidmude and soon create a barrier around him. Flash remembered this from the Fall Formal. He ran towards the barrier and leaped. As his legs touched the Tridoron, he sprung off and kicked the Roidmude, then again… and again… and again… On the fifth kick, the Roidmude turned into a blob of digital data before reverting to the Bat-Class Roidmude. The man he fused with fell onto the ground unconscious.

“No! I can’t have lost that power…” The Roidmude scrambled, but realized he was stuck. With one last kick to the back, the Roidmude’s body couldn’t take it and after blue bolts of lightning sprang out from him, the Roidmude exploded, its number, 091, exploded seconds later. The Tridoron stopped as Flash landed on his feet. With only a few moments of silence, Flash pressed the red button on his Shift Brace again and his armor came apart.

“Nice dri-”

“Zip it. You didn’t tell me I’d become…” Flash remembered the images he was shown back at Everton.

“I’m not sure why you’re upset, but time was of the essence. That Roidmude needed to be stopped.” Flash thought back to his failed attempt to defeat the Roidmude. He took a bit before he nodded.

“I understand, but…” Flash took off the belt, walked over to the Tridoron, and placed the belt back where he found it. “I don’t want to become a monster.”

“W-what? What are you talking about?!” He could see the belt’s face change, now with an, admittedly cute, angry look with frowled eyebrows. Flash went over to Shay and picked him up, only to toss him into the Tridoron.

“Take him to the cops.” Flash sighed and closed the door. He walked away as the Tridoron got started and drove off. He took out the picture of the Barons and looked dead center at Cloudy Kite.

“… Dad…” Flash muttered. That’s when he noticed something on his hand…

---

From afar, the Dragon looked at Flash from atop a building. She stood next to 050 and Svengallop.

“Even with the powers of Fusion, Shoot failed to kill a Kamen Rider, let alone just a boy. What a waste of potential.” She said.

“Not a complete waste.” 050 chuckled. The Dragon turned around, eyes blood red.

“What was the point of sending Shoot if all he’d accomplish is squat!?” She glared.

“A simple one, really.” 050 held up a dart, the very same kind of darts that 091 used, though instead of pink like his originals, it was dark red. The Dragon smirked.

“Clever. Let’s hope this gamble pays off.” The Dragon looked back to Flash, as he began to scratch the area where he was shot.

---

As morning came, I woke up only to find that Ross had a laptop set up on the table. Ivan was on the couch.

“Ah, Kelly, you’re awake! Good. I can now teach you guys about our opponent.” Ross said. The way he set up the computer brought to mind Kyu Saijou, the tech genius who would assist Shinnosuke and the police department.

“Huh, you have a plan?” I asked him.

“Somewhat. I took a moment to binge the rest of RWBY just to get an idea of how Kim fights.” I was about to ask why RWBY had to do with Kim, but as I looked at the screen, I looked at the show in action. Particularly, a fight between a girl who looked all too much like Kim and some… tiny girl who held an umbrella and had a color scheme that greatly resembled ice cream?

And I thought Super Sentai had weird villains.

“Assuming that Kim is a Displaced of Yang, her powers would also be the same. As such, her Semblance relies on damage. The creator likened it to a super meter in a fighting game. The more damage she gets…” He clicked on the seek bar on the video as it cut to a different fight between Yang and a man with silver hair and a gray and black jump suit. After he had shot dozens of wind bullets at Yang, she managed to get up and defeat him in the matter of seconds.

“The stronger she gets.” I said.

“Yeah! So, we’re left with some options. One,” he skipped the video back a bit to when the two were evenly matched. Despite that, though, I could see moments where the man’s kicks connected, “we can overwhelm her with kicks. From the bit of research I did, Kamen Riders are known for their kicks. The second,” he played the fight with the ice-cream lady again. She, like the kicking dude, clearly overwhelmed Yang, but the core difference was… “We use Yang’s power against her. Use only weak moves, and she won’t be able to dish it out in kind.”

“I like the idea, Ross, but you forget one thing. The Kamen Riders are known for kicks, yes, but a Rider Kick is about as hard as ten tons. Even more. Same goes for punches. We’re better off punching her without the Rider powers, but her gauntlets are literally shotguns. One hit from her and we’re chunky salsa!” I said. Ross frowned and sighed.

“Well, if kicks and held-back punches aren’t enough… We could always…” Ross hesitated to click near the very end of the video’s bar. With a sharp wince, he played a third clip. I was unaware of the context, but I was too scared to ask why the hell Yang exploded into a fire ball, had the scream of a banshee, and leaped towards her opponent with such ferocity. And also, I had no time to ask before Ivan and I saw what Ross was getting to as her third opponent merely unsheathed a katana and sliced her. “Overpower her.”

Within a few seconds, we saw as one of Yang’s arms was severed in the slash and knocked her out in the process. Ivan and I looked to each other. The dropped jaw he had, the widened eyes, his complete lack of speech? They all grew the moment he saw my grin. By the time I noticed the feeling of my muscles stuck into “smile mode”, I forced my lips back to normal. The image of the severed arm brought back memories of one of my fights as Gold Drive, where I had Banno take over to try and get Rainbow Dash’s arm free from a bracelet.

“Great minds think alike!”

“If you could find the will to be ruthless, then you'd be freed from all your stress in an instant.”

I’m becoming just like Ryoma and Banno… The image of Yang losing an arm played out in my head, the ultimate question for the fight wasn’t how to beat Kim, but rather how much longer until I end up actually cutting off a limb?

---

Flash looked at a strange mark that appeared on his hand:

It was a tattoo… Red lines forming what looked to be a crescent, with the center top line breaking apart and forming devil horns. In the middle was a cyan eye that was above a smaller crimson crescent.

Comments

[Who cares]

It was a tattoo… Red lines forming what looked to be a crescent, with the center top line breaking apart and forming devil horns. In the middle was a cyan eye that was above a smaller crimson crescent.

Does anyone know what the hell that symbol is?

“A simple one, really.” 050 held up a dart, the very same kind of darts that 091 used, though instead of pink like his originals, it was dark red. The Dragon smirked.

That dart was definitely either poisoned or had a some kind of virus in it.

[blazikenking]

9414503 For all my Kamen Rider knowledge (and I know a lot), nothing's coming to mind. I want to know what it is too. Or at least have a picture of it.

[Psyga315]

9479551
9414503
The most i can do for now is show you guys: images2.imgbox.com/24/8b/uxPCzulE_o.png

[Who cares]

9481069
Thanks. And that looks nothing like I imagined it.