A fruity beginning?

The beginning stages of life, are the most fundamental even if you can alter yourself later.

For Onyx, he was adopted aboard a pirate ship, full of selfish and obnoxious pirates; pirates he'd call family as he grew up. A family he'd build his personality and beliefs off of. The group made their living by looting small towns and villages of all their treasures, harming and destroying as they went,

It was no wonder Onyx took on a more prestigious outlook on life, believing he was worth more than others.

For him, luck struck when he met a good man named Havok, a man that caught him completely off guard. They'd both been hunting the same target, wishing to claim the bounty hanging over his head. This particular fiend held the title "Champion" held by someone who defeated over 250 people in the gladiator arena.

A heavenless place, if there ever was one.

The sky was dark, clouded over; barely enough sun to guide Onyx towards the island he was sailing. Less than optimal, he'd describe it as. The waters were rough, rocking his boat side to side. The brunet felt disgusted by the bouncing, his stomach would do flips.

He was headed toward Shells Town, the hot hang out for High Ranking individuals and Low Rankings alike. Onyx found this to be fairly stupid, preferring to find smaller villages with high crime rates that he could kindly reduce.

Rolling against the water, he arrived at a rather large dock - he turned his boat round and backed up against it. An easier way out if he needed it.

Climbing over the rail, Onyx placed his feet on solid ground. His stomach relaxed as a Lady ran up, a shawl bracing her shoulders. She seemed happy to see someone dressed so well having come, probably assuming he was there to help.

Onyx was unimpressed.

People always assumed he was righteous in nature, maybe the fact that he had large white wings that covered his back made them think so. The halo shimmering above his head didn't help much either.

His face was soft, as if he hadn't been the man to obliterate a child and his family without a second thought; his own heart twinged at the memory. The way the child had cried out for his mother who was dead close by.

Onyx brushed the thoughts aside, now wasn't the time.

Swallowing his disdain he smiled, "Hi! I am a traveler, I heard there was something going on here?" The woman smiled widely.

He pulled his robe tighter around himself, the white overshadowed by the sky. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, the idolization brimming off this bottom feeder could be felt miles away. The audaciousness of this ingrate.

"A man, or well several, came to this island. They're always causing havoc and destroying our property. We cannot fight back, our numbers are too small and our combative skills less than none." She was practically crying as she waved towards the hill.

He nodded, bowing slightly as he smiled, "M'lady, I offer my aid." With that he jumped up, walking on air to go up the hill fastest. Taking space on a random roof he began scouting, looking for the figure of this random champion. He sighed, they were probably on the other side of the town. Taking a seat on the roof he let his legs dangle off, stretching his arms over his head and arching his back.

He yawned, this was definitely gonna take a minute to get fixed up. He'd be smart to take his time now to get situated. He watched the sky while he waited, raising his arm to strike out parts of the clouds. Ever so eager to get this over with but too lazy to go across the island.

Surely, they'd come back to this spot eventually.

His eyes fluttered shut, only a minute or so and they'd be here. The sounds of laughter were getting closer and honestly the obnoxiousness of it really made his ears ring an uncomfortable symphony.

When they were close enough, he hopped off the roof. Stumbling to act as if he's drunk, pulling a flask filled with water from inside his robe. He contorted his face, behaving a bit sluggish as he approached the men, taking their appearance in. This so-called champion seemed to use his fists, the roughness to the skin around his knuckles told a story of a violent past.

The man hanging by his side, had a seemingly almost broken sword against his waist. Dangling unused, as if untouched.

Onyx mentally belittled the runt, the man was obviously weaker. To be hanging around a stronger individual? Probably a dick sucker on top of those dirty dishes.

He stumbled forward, watching his footing - he needed this to be perfect.

Onyx bumped into the "Champion"s shoulder, this obsolete form of being. What was his name? Derek.. Daron.. Who gives a fuck.

"Watch it.. You.. you.." He paused, licking his lips and looking up at Derek who was obviously angry at the situation. The man reached forward and grabbed at Onyx's shirt pulling him closer.

Darons breath smelt like he hadn't brushed them in years and it made Onyx's nose hurt. He wrinkled it in disgust. "Do you know who I am? You should watch where you're going." The Champion's voice was grizzly in nature and would probably send shivers up some random twinks' spine. For Onyx, however, it just made his stomach sick.

A smile slowly pulled at his lips, "Actually.." He unsheathed his blade, "I do, i believe.. Your name starts with a few extra zeros."

A quick fist to the face, delivered a great deal of pain on Onyx; unused to his face being pummeled like a child's play toy. Unconventional as it was for a man that has the looks and scent of a cougar's ass to be capable of such speed in a short amount of time. Though it made sense with the fact he was a "Champion".

Clearly these bad habits did not impede his skill.

Onyx made an attempt to get into a practical swordsman position, numerous katas dancing to the rhythm of his cogitated mind. This gave his opponent the advantage. A brawler needed not for a kata.

Thankfully, Onyx was more than competent. As the champion swung with a strong right he was quickly met with a deadly torrent of wind. With Onyx adamant on killing him, his hand coordination and his outstanding swordsmanship left him as a dangerous combatant.

The boastful man was now headless, that's all it took. A small mishap in form, a tinge of error in his movement.Truly the advantages of the sword were significant; Sharp and deadly. While brawlers focus on unique and numerous movements, swordsmen focus on quick and precise movements. It wasn't as if Onyx had an easy time in that short bout, but it's highly doubted he'd admit to struggling.

He swiped his sword, blood splattering against the once clean ground; resheathing it in its rightful place.

The dick sucker had watched the entire scene play out, his face now devoid of colour. Whiter than the laundry sheet he once dirtied with blood belonging to a decrepit father of three.

With no bounty on the dick suckers head, Onyx hadn't felt the need to waste his time on the less than nobody. The grotesque leech that stained the earth with its presence.

Onyx knelt down, lifting his robe as to not dirty it - he grasped Derek's head by the greasy, thinning hair and lifted it. More worried about getting blood on his attire than anything else, though the grease staining his hand was not welcomed.

Turning to the pale man, Onyx asked "You wouldn't happen to have a bag, would you?"

"What a marvelous coincidence, I happen to have a bag." An odd man spoke. Onyx took notice of a scar placating his left eye and a rusty edged katana resting at his side. Signs of a swordsman, or perhaps a fool; That is what Onyx thought.

The odd man's fingers idly and almost playfully tapped at the scabbard of the sword; Eyes gleaming with joy but plagued with a serious demeanor.

Mayhaps the oddest thing about him was that there was in fact no bag.

Onyx eyed him, fairly good at judging character even he couldnt pinpoint much on this specific person. The mysterious man was clad in black, quite the opposite to Onyx it seemed. Raising his head slightly, he smiled. Coy as it was he'd play as a gentleman here.

From what Onyx gathered which was quite little, this man was probably also after the bounty of the Champion. He took a slight step back, "A bag would be very helpful." The brunet squinted slightly, something about this man screamed Champion, a high rank if given one.

Though, he hadn't a clue really. This man could be a pretender similar to him, but as always there was a chance he could be bigger than Onyx himself.

He hadn't a clue how to continue, usually smart with it but right now he felt like a kid.

"To be short with you, I'd rather not hand over the bounty of this man." Onyx stated, calming his outside to appear bigger than he felt. "And I'm not really in the mood to start a fight over it."

"Why it wouldn't be much of a fight." The man seemingly pouted as he calmly approached, hand off his sword, the confidence exuded by the action spoke words themselves. His body posture came off friendly, as if he'd known Onyx his whole life. Careless, reckless and amicable. "I'd recommend simply handing it over, your head isn't worth anything but that doesn't mean I ain't down for some quick entertainment." His eyes now sharpened, the friendly aura gone. A warning, a singular one at that no take backsies.

Onyx bit his lip, hand twitching at his side. He dropped Darons head, yeah, this guy was definitely bigger than him.

He really did not want to hand over the bounty, he jumped back walking on air to get back to the dock as fast as possible. His boat was set, ready to go as he'd left it. The woman was still standing near it.

He didn't have time for the formalities, ignoring her as he jumped into the boat.

From a distance stood the peculiar man, a frown painted on his face as he picked up the lifeless head. His fingers nearly dug into the skull as a sigh escaped his lips.

"Really wish he ignored the warning.."

Onyx was beating himself up as he left the dock, he hadn't backed away from a fight since he was a kid. Forced to fight everyone on the ship. The only person he ran from was his father, knowing full and well he would whoop him if he even came close.

Onyx had started out as a brawler, growing used to feeling flesh against his fists. Eventually, his father introduced him to the sword and he was a natural.

Besides the point really. Now was not the time to go down memory lane. Onyx kicked at the side of his ship. Anger pooling in his blood. Maybe, he'd get a bounty and hope the idiot came for his head just to have another chance at having a go.

"That's stupid.." He drawled, dropping down on the boat and laying spread eagle. The boat still going out to sea without its captain steering it. He rolled around, he needed to let off steam before he did something stupid.

Feeling drained he pulled himself up, moving to the back of the boat. Sifting through papers to find a town he hadn't shown himself to. Fortunately, there was one with a ton of crime he hadn't set foot in yet.

His chest lightened as he moved back to the steering wheel, changing the direction of the ship. Onyx now had something to do.

Arriving at the small town Onyx parked the boat, the town seemed run down, unkempt and dirty. The smell was horrendous as well, causing him to cover his nose.

He stepped off the boat, knowing he would be here for a minute he grabbed the piece of rope dangling off his ship, kneeling down to tie it to a post. His ears began ringing, his hands faltered.

"Mochi has spawned."

That voice.

His spiritual energy heightened, fingers tingling as they began turning black. He stood up fast, looking around the area. The ringing felt louder towards the east side of the island. His heart was racing as he began air walking towards it, fast, heavy.

He came here to kill, but now… this would be so much better.

Onyx had to be quick, he knew of the fruit hunters and he knew that this specific fruit was high in value. He had to get it and get the fuck out before anyone saw him.

He dashed toward it, seeing it laying under a tree.

Onyx grabbed it quickly, but once again the bag issue arose. He really had to attach one to his waist. He eyed his surroundings, seeing people coming toward him. He felt panicked. Though outwardly he wasn't. He had to think of something quick.

A small distance away, the man from before fervently ran on air. His blood boiling with the pure essence of adrenaline, panic wrote a neat little story on his face. Sweat poured by the dozen, and the quick gulps of air he took were few in number.

"I'm too fucking broke to miss out on this!"

Onyx moved farther east, air walking away from the group of people who were fast approaching. How could he forget a bag? He stuffed the fruit inside of his robe, tightening it so he could use both hands. An unsteady hand reached for his blade, he knew he had to be calm to be able to do anything about this.

Deep breathes.

He reminded himself of his brother, that little boy he swore to protect. This would help out a lot, he could get the boy a new sword and more with this. He closed his eyes and envisioned it, handing the boy a new sword and watching his face light up.

Without realizing it, he activated his spiritual energy further. He had learned Kenbunshoku from his father, he had not mastered it nor learned how to activate it but for some reason his body reacted by itself.

He could feel everything, he could clearly make out six figures in the distance. They must have realized he picked up the fruit. They were strong, Champion level? Maybe stronger? His fingers twitched over his blade.

"Fancy seeing you here, it's like fate can't have enough of us huh?" The man with the peculiar reputation had his sword drawn, sweat covered his whole body as if he ran a marathon.

Onyx felt his spine tingle, he swung around making eye contact with that black clad man from before. He gritted his teeth, he had been wrong about the guess. He was at minimum Immortal. A migraine began building against his forehead.

"Should've known you're in touch with your spiritual energy,," Onyx felt stupid, of course this man would show up too. The island wasn't far from Shells.

The man needn't waste words, actions spoke louder. A loud metallic noise sprung to life, his arms were clad in black now with a very prominent tint of green. A veiny shape to it all, his sword was affected too. Swirls ran rampant around the blade, green lightning flickering about. Advanced conquerors haki. His eyes were sharper than his own blade.

"My current advice, hand over that mythical fruit you have in your possession. I can tell from your cowardly posture that you are scared shitless for other reasons than my handsome mug being on full display, so cough it up."

Onyx calmed himself, eyeing him, "I don't know what you're talking about." He straightened himself, raising his head as he felt the people get closer. "However, if I were to have it.. I'd.." He swallowed grimly, not believing the words he was about to spit.

"I'd offer to let you have most of the profit from it. As long as I were able to get a better sword." He knew the sword on his waist was one of the best Katanas, top 3, so it was a far shot this man would accept. He felt sweat pooling against his neck.

If this man hadn't shown up, truthfully he could have taken the men approaching. Sure a six vs one wasn't optimal but they were about the same ranking as him. He would have been able to win, albeit bruised and beaten.

He was aware, painfully so, that he was not very strong. He was mid tier maybe a bit higher at most. Onyx hadn't even figured out how to activate his Busoshoku by himself.

His sword was itching to be drawn, but he knew fair and well he wouldn't stand a chance. That fact alone made him angry. He pretended he was stronger than he was simply because he was able to make villages fall with little effort.

He was AGGRAVATED at the situation.

This was his only chance.

The man almost laughed, his eyes not revealing his true feelings about the offer. But his attention was taken by the new arrival approaching him, he could sense a threatening spiritual energy. He took a deep breath, slowly standing in front of Onyx. He needed that fruit, why not let the poor sod hold it for him?

"Alrighty friend, here is the gist of things. You can run, but you'll die. Some of these motherfuckers can give you a hard time. And frankly? Things aren't looking too good for me here."

Reality check? That sold it for him.

The fact this man even stood in front of him caught Onyx so off guard. Suddenly he felt some sort of attachment forming. He tried to gut it but Onyx already knew he had no control over this. He clenched his teeth. "Right then."

Onyx could understand the situation a bit better with this black clad man here, his senses clearing out enough that he could feel the spiritual energy a bit better. And yeah, he had definitely misjudged his place.

"If I'm going to sit here, I ought to at least tell you my name.. It's Onyx." He steadied his feet, and calmed himself some more. The black that had begun swimming up his fingers growing higher and taking up his arms. "And on top of that, I will have your back. I can take some of these guys. Mid Champion level isnt easy per say but it's fair game."

He didn't like feeling like a damsel in distress, so he had to fight as well.

"My name's Havok, I am an aspiring immortal. With that out of the way I should warn you, they have an immortal on their side. A mid level one, I can handle him but five champions is a stretch for me so I am counting on you to take care of three. At least long enough for me to finish with my fight."

Havok felt grateful at this very moment that years ago, the fruit he sunk his teeth into was Yomi. A fruit with second chances and lots of room for mistakes, he adapted his fighting style around it.

"Yeah, I can do that."

Onyx moved next to Havok, even if they were not equal in strength he was hoping with this new advancement they could view each other as equals. At Least for now.

One of the men stepped forward, laughing lightly. "You chicken scraps have that Mochi on your hands?" His friends laughed as well, a group of what seemed to be bullies. Onyx gritted his teeth again, mentally scoffing.

"Don't know what you're talking about." He tried, but they just laughed. "Hand it over kid, this nobody won't be able to help you here."

Onyx furrowed his eyebrows, steadying his sword as the spiritual energy began flowing through it darkening the once bright blade. Fucking emotional connections, he bit down on his lip. "I don't think you know what you're talking about."

A blonde man behind him stepped forward and Onyx felt an insane amount of spiritual energy hit him. "Well, kid, I don't think you know what you're talking about." This guy must be that mid immortal Havok was talking about.

With a low voice, Onyx pressed "This that high rank you were going on about?"

Instead of responding Havok charged right in, his blade lighting up the entire area.

Thousands of fights coursing through his muscle memory, this was life or death no point in talking about it. His blade clashed harshly against the immortal's black cladded arms, a purple tint roaring in defiance against the green. two other guys jumped into the fight, an assault from two different directions. Havok barely blocked one of them with his knee, but the other one landed, sending him skeeting off into a building. He stabbed his sword into the ground to regain momentum as the three opponents charged at him, he knew that death was a very likely scenario at this moment.

Watching Havok charge in also caught Onyx off guard. But he followed the lead anyways, launching into the three he was meant to at least hold off. His sword slashing into the middle guy, who blocked with his arms. He was quick to launch a punch at Onyx's face but he air walked backwards.

He quickly lunged back in, he hadn't fought more than 2 people at once before so this was new. He was constantly watching everywhere around him. One of the guys threw some sort of web at him which almost stuck him to the ground. The other pulled out a pistol… yeah no.

Onyx switched up, launching at the gun man. Slicing his hands to knock the gun away. This was a low champion at best, he could handle him. He brought his foot up and kicked him in the stomach rapidly. A green aura surrounded him as he knocked him back and away.

This was.. Interesting

.

Havok was getting absolutely handed a fat ass amount of losses right now, every attack he blocked was met with two more wounds added into a collection of pain. He really was trying for once, his aura roaring a blazing green was literally eating the atmosphere but fate did not care. He perfectly blocked one of the champions, sweat dripping onto the floor; a romantic mixture between blood as well. He tried to capitalize every single flaw, every movement done by any human or living thing. The devil fruit he worked on for years was his biggest crutch at the moment right next to his skill and experience. He used a move named; chilling soul as quick as possible, a technique that freezes nearby opponents.

The opportunity was abused by Havok to its fullest, he slashed off the head belonging to one of the champions. He tried to redirect his blade smoothly but the immortal reacted fast enough to slam his fists into his abdomen, he nearly puked his breakfast. "Fucking fishman karate, thank god it's a human using it". It's highly weakened when it's used by a race outside of fishmen. It didn't stop his body from retaliating with phantom pains, he broke something. The remaining champion used black leg, he took the opportunity to slam super sonic kicks into Havok. Blood painted the ground as the outnumbered Yomi user clung to the realm of the living.

"Fuck it, I need to seriously go all out here" He threw his sword at the champion whom had to dodge it, leaving a window of opportunity opened. Havok slammed claw like fists into him; chest, throat and nose. The immortal attempted to use his fishman karate on him but it is reliant on water, which the man ran out of. Quickly the bloodied yomi user spun around incorporating some black leg into his attacks. A high kick to the chin, he slammed his hands down lifting himself up. The stunned fruit hunter couldn't do anything as he ate a flurry of spinning kicks to the face, Havok didn't stop there as he flipped over the man and froze his feet with his devil fruit.

He immediately resorted to pushing his devil fruit to the limits, a large corporeal being manifested behind him letting out an almighty roar that made the ironically named immortal's eyes roll back into his head. Going unconscious from the assaulting pain.

The last champion recovered from the near fatal wounds, pushing his body to the limits just to move. But Havok stomped on his sword, flipping it up into the air; grabbing it. A sword stance was taken by him, as he disappeared from his spot and reappeared right behind his last victim.

"S̶h̶i̶s̶h̶i̶ ̶S̶o̶n̶s̶o̶n̶"

Blood sprayed all over the floor as the remaining champion was cut in half, his guts painting a grotesque image on the floor. Havok sheathed his sword once again, blood dripping from his body. He walked over to the unconscious blonde immortal.

"Good fight, easy." His body laughed in mockery at his words, knowing damn well nothing about that bout was easy. Ignoring his humorous statement, the skull of the blonde was caved into itself by a stomp from Havok. Always make sure the job is done, he almost chuckled at himself for thinking that since it comes bearing unwelcome memories. Stretching his body, he eyed Onyx's fight, raising an eyebrow. He was rather unimpressed with the brutality of it all...

Onyx felt the air swish against the back of his head, his hair floating around him with the force. He was knocked to his knees by the blow. The pain not fully registering as he jumped into the air and sent a violent blast of blue into the people behind him. Roasting them like a piece of toast left too long in the toaster.

It gave him enough time to bounce back into the fight. Launching his soul into the closest opponent. Freezing them for a moment, he watched them shiver before throwing more webs at him. Ew. He dodged fast enough, his reflexes carrying him. He turned back to the gunman quickly, watching him try and pick up his discarded gun.

With a quick slice his head fell from his body, rolling in the grass, bigger ew.

He danced around the String user, what a gross fruit to have ingested. Moving to the brawler. He threw out a short green blast, knocking him back. Quickly he dashed into him, slicing his abdomen open.

"That must hurt."

The String user was quick to string him down while he wasn't paying attention. Oh shit. The brawler sent a volley of attacks into him, sending him flying back when the string user let him go. He was surely to be bruised now, his ribs hurt.

Onyx used his sword to help himself back to his feet, fighting to breathe air. Though he never felt more alive, he smiled wide at the pain.

Standing awkwardly on his two feet, he felt his spiritual energy heighten further a spark of white itching at his wrists. He sent himself flying into the brawler, rapidly losing himself to the fight. Acting on primal instinct alone. He knocked him back far enough to stomp the ground. Freezing him in place.

"You're gonna love this next part."

He began rapidly slashing at the brawler who couldn't do anything, slicing open his abdomen. He watched as blood splattered all around them, dirtying his white robe with its disgusting colour. At the moment, Onyx didn't care.

The brawler fell to his knees when Onyx finished, coughing up blood. "What the hell?" He spluttered.

Onyx tried to laugh, but in seconds he was stuck in place again. Wary and confused.

"Now's your chance! Get his ass!" The String user yelled from behind Onyx, who was now in the position he'd put the brawler in seconds ago.

The rather large man stood up, wobbly but strong. He raised his fists and Onyx braced for impact - it did not prepare him for the onslaught of pain that came after that. The brawler's bloody fists slamming hard into his face and stomach, hard fast punches leaving him breathless.

A right hook to the side of his face made him light headed, an unwanted tear slipping down his soft face. He was sure of what the tank was thinking now, that Onyx was only a child pretending.

Punch after punch that Onyx tried and failed to block were forcing him back. Back towards the edge of the island. The brunet shut his eyes tight as he tried to think, sword doing nothing to protect him; even he thought it might break.

Onyx gasped as a punch sent him flying back onto his ass, but it gave him enough time to get into a proper position. He shouldn't have played this as not a big deal during the start.

Preparing his sword for the damage it was about to take, he put himself into a lunge position. Taking a deep breath he focused his eyes on the brawler, the heavy set man that was forcing him into such a bad position.

Come closer.

That's it, come closer.

Thankful, he was now, for all that patience training his father had put him through. The brawler was close enough now, close enough that with a thought he could-

Onyx took himself by surprise, standing in front of the confused brawler; a large cut decorated his already bloody chest. He shouldn't waste this moment. Putting all his effort into these next attacks, Onyx found himself on the winning side again.

Painting the brown grass red with every hit, he could feel his chest tightening and his eyes stinging from tears threatening to spill from the total exertion.

He was begging not only the brawler but himself, to let him win. Gritting his teeth he pushed hard, knocking the tank back. He skitted against the grass, his arms crossed like an X to take most of the blow. Though, Onyx was on him again slamming his sword against his steel like body.

Mentally, Onyx was crying out.

Something he was not used to.

The world granted him mercy, the tank stumbled and Onyx acted fast. Knocking his feet out from under him and angrily.. Or maybe melancholically slicing off the head of the brawler.

His arms were sore, and his chest heavy from the fight. He almost dropped his sword as he mumbled, "Thank you." To any spirit that could have listened to his pleas.

Havok, while happy that he wouldn't have to spend more energy still glanced warily at the remaining enemy, would Onyx be able to handle him? From his small display it wasn't a stretch to say he had potential, but he definitely was not well trained. His spiritual energy was pathetic and his skill was backed up by his swordsmanship. He simply nodded as he drummed his fingers against his sword, hoping that Onyx would be able to dispatch the weakling Ito user.

Straining, Onyx lifted his head to look at the remaining member. The crusty looking white man who seemed to understand Onyx was not properly able to fight anymore.

His brown hair was stuck to his forehead from sweat and blood, maybe some tears too. He really didn't think he could take on this ass wipe.

Sun bathing sounds nice right now.

Fast approaching, the String user clawed at him, sending him backwards. His feet dragging in the dirt. Onyx felt his knees buckle as he hit the ground for the millionth time now.

Why couldn't he do this?

The string user stuck him in place, as if he was going to move any time soon anyway. His bones hurt and his body felt tight.

It would be pathetic to not even attempt to fight back, the string disintegrated and he took his chance to throw an attack at this overbearing dickwipe. His sword barely grazed him though, leaving nothing but what would be assumed as a papercut.

Being bashed over and over again, hurt, but he was eating the attacks and staying tall. He wished he could just lay down though, maybe go out and eat some ramen with his brother.

He felt tears prick his eyes again, his brother, what would he think if Onyx died here.

The spirit that helped him earlier didn't seem to care though. Onyx was back on his ass, his sword having been sent flying away from him. "You think you're hot shit, huh kid? Let this be a lesson."

He raised his hands, tightening them into a large fist. Said fist was quickly separated from his arm, his head soon followed. Quick, too quick for Onyx to properly follow with his exhausted body.

"Well, to be fair you do look like hot shit right now." Havok offered his hand to Onyx, perhaps these two could after all come to an understanding?

Two hands clasped in agreement.