Merchants of Death

Sage, Storm, Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Emma's daughters Sophie,

Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe Cuckoo had all decided to leave their own

world and search the multiverse for Wolverine, The Phoenix, and Esme

Cuckoo roughly half a year ago. Despite the fact that some of them

had conflicting motivations and goals for doing so, they were all

equally committed to the task.



Unfortunately none of them had the power or technology to travel from

universe to universe. Leaving their group ill equipped to explore

the multiverse, let alone find anything in it.



However, thanks to her experiences at the Hellfire Club, the former

White Queen did know of several people with such ability, or who at

least had access to machines that possessed that type of power. But

due to Emma Frost's ties to the X-Men, as well as Emma's past

affiliation with the Hellfire Club, few of them would do business

with her.



Emma Frost was in the ironic position of being regarded as too much

of a do-gooder vigilant by some, while simultaneously being seen by

others as an untrustworthy villain (who had only pretended to give up

her villainous ways).



Of course if Emma Frost had been working alone then she would

probably have just used her telepathic powers to force one of these

people to help her. But such actions were impractical thanks to the

more idealistic members of the group (including her own daughters).



However the infamous terrorist and shape shifting mutant known as

Mystique was in no position to refuse Emma's offer. She was

currently being blackmailed by Professor Charles Xavier to act as his

covert operative. Undertaking missions that Xavier regarded as too

risky or morally ambiguous for his X-Men and their allies.



The mutant shape shifter had responded positively to Emma Frost.

Offering the former White Queen all sorts of inter-dimensional

technology and devices in exchange for her freedom.



Working with the mutant cyberpath Sage, Emma Frost was able to free

Mystique from Professor Xavier's control. In a bit of irony that

Emma actually appreciated, she and Sage were only able to do so

thanks to things they had learned while working with Professor X and

the Xavier Institute.



Once freed from Xavier's grip, Mystique took Sage and Frost to the

place where she had hidden a device capable of transporting large

groups of people to other universes. Created by the mutant Forge and

stolen shortly afterwards by Mystique, the device could only be

controlled by the thoughts of the person who first activated it,

Mystique.



Almost immediately afterwards, Storm, Sage, Emma Frost, Cyclops,

Mystique, and the Cuckoos had used the device to leave their own

world and universe in search of their quarry. Storm and Cyclops had

only learned of Mystique's involvement at the very last minute, by

then it was too late for them to back out, regardless of how much

they disliked and distrusted the shapeshifter.



However, when the inter-dimensional transporter (IDT) teleported the

group to another world everyone in the group was committed to finding

The Phoenix, Wolverine, and Esme Cuckoo. Unfortunately the IDT's

accuracy was limited by its own sensors and the clarity of Mystique's

thoughts.



*****



The world that they had arrived on this time was apparently quite

primitive.



All the buildings in the nearest settlement were made of wood, stone,

and crude bricks. These structures lacked features of modern

American civilization such as artificial lighting, electricity, and

indoor plumbing. Nevertheless, the structures looked solid, and

surprisingly well crafted given the available materials.



It seemed that all of the residents were human, but none of them

spoke any language that anyone in Emma Frost's group was familiar

with. Fortunately Sage was able to use her telepathy and her

computer like ability to process information to quickly translate the

local language (known as Common) and then telepathically `downloaded'

the knowledge of how to speak the language into the minds of everyone

else in the group.



However, even after they learned to speak the local language, the

group of universal travelers found that the villagers showed little

interest in talking to them. Even the people at the local tavern,

the only business in the village to offer travelers room and board,

were less than friendly.



"I aint serving no damn giants" the heavyset bartender known simply

as Fred said as he glowered at the woman who had asked for a drink.

Doing his best to looking menacing despite the fact that he had to

look up at her.



"I am NOT a giant" She-Hulk said in exasperation. Shifting on her

seat as the barstool creaked dangerously under her heavy form.



The bartender gazed at the woman's 7 foot tall body, which was

muscular while still retaining lush feminine curves. He took in her

light green skin and dark green hair. After gazing at the She-Hulk

for a long moment Fred finally said "well you're not human that's for

damn sure…so get out of my bar…we don't serve your kind here."



"Oh just give her a damn drink Fred…you didn't have a problem serving

those elf girls last week" a rather fat middle aged woman sitting on

the barstool next to She-Hulk said shrilly.



Emma Frost and her daughters sat at a rough wooden table a few feet

away. Observing the drama with jaded eyes.



~How pathetic…he dislikes her not because she doesn't look human but

because her size intimidates him…what a vile little man~ Emma Frost

mentally stated at she telepathically scanned the bartender's mind.

Unconsciously sharing her thoughts with her daughters as she did so.



Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe Cuckoo automatically looked around as

they felt their mother's contempt for the natives.

Most of the people in the bar were dirty, wearing rough homespun

clothes, and seemed generally closed minded and xenophobic. They

were not the sophisticated and well bred Emma Frost's kind of people.



The shapeshifter Mystique on the other hand, could make herself at

home in virtually any setting. She had quickly realized that the

natives were disturbed by the exotic appearance, strange clothing,

and odd manner of her group. So the shapeshifter had assumed a form

similar to most of the local women. Though considerably more

attractive in order to elicit positive reactions from the native men.



She told the locals that she was the long lost relative of a family

that had been wiped out in a recent orc raid. Claiming that a head

wound had left large gaps in her memory. Now Mystique was in a dark

corner of the tavern, talking to a man who said he was a `friend of

the family.'



"So this is Toril?" the currently green eyed and brown haired

Mystique asked. Making sure that her voice seemed innocent and

childlike.



"Nah girl…Toril's the name for the world…this town's Green Haven and

the only real city nearby is Silverymoon" the man replied with a

laugh. His gaze lingering on the large bosom of the apparently

ignorant and stupid girl before him.



"But I thought that that was the name of the continent Jake?"

Mystique replied in that same childlike voice.



"No honey…everything on this side of the sea is Faerun" Jake replied

patiently. Showing the green eyed woman the kind of understanding

and patience he only gave to pretty girls he hoped to trick into bed.



Mystique sighed girlishly and said "let's not talk about the boring

old continent anymore…Silverymoon sounds like a wonderful place…I bet

its ruled by a mighty king" in a dreamy voice.



"No…its ruled by a woman…an immortal sorceress" Jake replied with a

hint of distaste in his voice.



"A city where women can rule…I would love to see such a place"

Mystique said in a wondering voice. A hopeful look in her green eyes.



Seeing an apparent opening Jake said brightly "I'm going there next…I

think I could take you Honey…why don't we discuss it in my room?"



The cunning and experienced Mystique had no trouble figuring out

Jake's less than honorable intentions, and she spent a moment

debating whether she wanted to follow him to his room or not.



~He's muscular and sort of handsome in a rough kind of way…and I have

a feeling we will be on this planet for a while…I should probably

find out if the natives look as human without their clothes on~

Mystique thought.



"Of course…I would love to" Mystique said as she let herself be

guided out of her seat. Meekly taking Jake's hand as he led her to

the tavern room he had rented for the night.



~Slut~ Emma Frost thought as she watched the pair leave the main

tavern room. But in truth she was jealous of the shapeshifter's

ability to make her body do virtually anything she wanted. Emma

sometimes felt as though her body hadn't acted the way she wanted it

to in ages.



~I'm sorry mother~ Sophie telepathically said from the depths of

Emma's womb. Feeling guilty over all the discomfort that her

presence caused the older female.



~Don't feel guilty Sophie…its not your fault~ Emma mentally replied

as she softly stroked her pregnant belly.



Sophie was the daughter Emma felt closest to and most protective of.

There was perhaps no one she would have felt happier sharing her body

with. But the truth was Emma sometimes felt as though she would give

almost anything to have her mind and body to herself again.



*****



Storm, Cyclops, and Sage were waiting outside the Green Haven tavern

while their companions searched for information regarding this world

and region, inside the building.



Scott Summers and Ororo Munroe were standing guard outside because

they had little talent or taste for the type of intelligence

gathering that Mystique, as well as Frost and her daughters were

engaged in. While Sage was preoccupied by other concerns.



~The flesh appears to be re-growing nicely…it can pass for human

again~ Sage thought as she examined the head of one of the two

muscular males before her. Both of whom regarded Sage with blank

expressions.



"I still don't like those things Scott…they are an unnatural

perversion of flesh and machine…created for no reason other than to

kill humans" Ororo whispered to Cyclops as she stared at Sage and the

two cyborgs before her.



Scott turned to his teammate and lover and whispered back "I don't

like them either Ororo…but you have admit the Terminators have been

useful…and they have been nothing but loyal since Sage activated

them."



They had acquired the Terminators on the third world they had visited

after leaving their own. A devastated Earth where the few remaining

humans were being hunted down by bloodthirsty robots, who were led by

a human hating artificial intelligence known as Skynet.

The universal travelers couldn't just stand by and watch such

slaughter, so they had decided to hunt down Skynet itself. The A.I.

and his war machines were immune to the mental powers of Sage and the

Frost family, but they were quite vulnerable to the more physical

powers of Cyclops, Storm, and Emma Frost. Storm had been

particularly effective, for in a world practically devoid of people

the weather witch felt free to unleash the full force of her power.

Hitting the mechanical armies of Skynet with tornadoes, violent

thunderstorms, and even hurricanes.



Once Skynet had been defeated Sage had used her enhanced ability to

interface with computer systems to reprogram a large number of Skynet

robots that were in the late stages of production. Most of these

Sage had programmed to assist the human survivors in rebuilding, but

the mutant cyberpath had programmed ten of them to protect and serve

herself. Unfortunately they had visited many dangerous places since

then, and all but two of these model T-800 Terminators had been

destroyed or left behind.



After Sage finished examining the two Terminators Storm and Cyclops

walked over to her. They did not say anything at first, so after a

tense moment of silence Sage stated calmly "just say whatever is

bothering you…silently brooding will accomplish nothing."



"Sage how do we know that Mystique is even trying to take us to

wherever Jean, Wolverine, and Esme are?…we've gone to at least twelve

other worlds before this and they weren't on any of them" Scott

replied doubtfully.



Sage repressed a groan. They had had this conversation many times

before.



"I have been watching Mystique and monitoring the inter-dimensional

transporter frequently since we began this journey…based on my

analysis of all available data it seems clear that Raven Darkholme

has been making a genuine effort to take us to wherever Logan, Jean

Grey, and Esme Cuckoo are located…unfortunately the bio signature of

even powerful mutants like Logan and Esme is extremely faint from the

vantage point of another universe…only The Phoenix has a bio

signature powerful enough for the device's sensors to detect…and so

far the IDT has been unable to get a secure lock on that signature."

Sage replied in a monotone. Not adding that she thought Mystique's

own psychological issues were also impairing the efficiency of the

device. For she knew that it would merely lead to another pointless

argument.



"I know Sage…but how long can we keep going from world to world

searching for her…its been almost half a year…oh goddess anything

could have happened to Jean by now" Ororo replied mournfully. Her

anguish and approaching despair clearly visible upon her dark

features.



Sage had to work to keep a grimace off her normally expressionless

face. She hated being reminded of how The Phoenix had violated

Storm's mind to make the beautiful black mutant utterly devoted to

and in love with her. Taking by force what Sage had refused to go

after because she knew her advances would have been unwanted.



~That is not the issue now~ the dark haired telepath told herself

before answering coolly "As the host of the Phoenix Force there are

few things that could threaten her…while Logan and Esme are

formidable in their own right…moreover the situation has recently

changed."



"What do you mean?" Cyclops asked. His ruby red visor doing little

to hide his hopeful expression.



Sage allowed herself a small smile as she answered "since coming to

this world I have felt the distinctive psychic signature of The

Phoenix…though it seems faint her energy waves are unmistakable…I can

say with a high probability that the host of the Phoenix Force is or

recently was on this planet."



*****



Jake Hopper was amazed at how easy it was to get the woman he knew

only as Honey into bed.



After taking her to the cramped little tavern room he had rented for

the night, Hopper had planned to give large amounts of the wine he

had hidden away there to Honey in order to put her in the right mood.



But Hopper was flattered by how the girl appeared absorbed by his

every word. Seemingly ignorant of everything in the world that a

traveling merchant like Jake Hopper took for granted. Jake was so

gratified by the flattering attention from a pretty woman that he

found himself speaking far more honestly than he normally would.

Telling honey intimate details of his personal life and business

dealings.



Hopper also found himself drinking far more of the potent liquor he

had planned to use to get Honey drunk than he had intended.

Encouraged by the steady hand and promising smile of his pretty

companion. Who kept refilling his wine cup and putting it back in

his hand.



Then with a suddenness that startled him, Honey took the initiative.



*****



Mystique was getting bored playing Honey.



Though the merchant Jake Hopper had thought he was seducing her,

Mystique found it all too easy to gain the upper hand in their

interactions. If there was a creature more gullible and easy to

manipulate than a horny male the shapeshifter had yet to find it.



By employing her guise as the buxom yet innocent and naïve peasant

girl Honey she was able to get all sorts of interesting information

out of Jake Hopper regarding the world she found herself in. But

Mystique was finding the whole charade rather wearying.



She was getting tired of acting stupid and naïve in order stay in

character. There wasn't anything about the Honey persona that

appealed to the shapeshifter.



~I should probably just dispose of the fool and take anything of his

that might be useful before leaving~ Mystique thought. But then she

looked at Jake's muscular physique again and reconsidered.



It had been too long since she had had a lover, and perhaps

uncomplicated male lust was what she needed right now.



The shapeshifter stepped out of Jake's sight for a moment and then

simply made the `clothes' that were extensions of her body

disappear. When the muscular merchant turned around to look at her,

he saw the buxom woman he had been lusting over all day completely

naked.



The sight spurred the half drunken man into action. He practically

ripped his own clothes off before grasping Honey around the hips and

carrying her to the tiny bed. Jake laid down on top of her, feeling

her large soft breasts rub against his hairy chest. Kissing her

voluptuous lips fiercely as his tongue invaded her mouth.



~What an enthusiastic little brute~ the shapeshifter thought with

carnal amusement as Jake Hopper roughly bit and suckled her tiny pink

nipples, savagely squeezing her large breasts as he did so.



Then the young man got on his hands and knees above his lover and

placed his cock at her feminine portal. Feeling an inviting wetness

as his dick brushed against her slit.



"Wait I'm not ready yet the…" Honey started to say, but Jake ignored

her and thrust inside. Paying no attention to her groan of

discomfort as he began to shove his way into her throbbing cunt.



Although Mystique would have preferred a little more foreplay, Jake

Hopper was hardly the roughest lover she had ever had and the

shapeshifter soon got into the experience. Wrapping her slender legs

around his waist and encouraging him with breathy moans and gasps of

his name.



But Jake Hopper didn't have the stamina of Mystique, and he was

already somewhat drunk. After thrusting inside of his lover's

clenching vagina for less than five minutes Jake lost control and

erupted within her.



As he pulled out the fair skinned beauty he had just been fucking

said archly "I hope you aren't finished yet."



"Just catching my breathe" Jake Hopper panted.



The woman known as Honey sighed and got up. Then she shifted

Hopper's body so that the man was sitting down on the bed with his

feet on the floor. His muscular and hairy body glistening with

sweat, his penis flaccid between his parted legs.



To Jake's surprise the woman kneeled before him and took his penis

into her warm soft mouth. Her lips and tongue gently stroking the

most sensitive part of his body.



Hopper moaned as he felt himself getting stiff again. But to his

disappointment the woman almost immediately stopped.



"Here's something I know you'll enjoy" Honey purred.





Then she cupped her own large breasts and pressed Jake's stiffening

cock between them. The sight of his own dick squeezed between

Honey's massive cleavage aroused Jake as much as the wonderful

feeling of all that soft flesh brushing against his cock did, and he

was soon as stiff and erect as he had ever been.



Jake asked Honey to stop and get on her hands and knees. As the

secret mutant moved to comply she thought ~men are so easy.~



Mystique saw Jake position himself behind her on the floor. Then she

simply moaned in pleasure as he thrust into her once more.



Though Jake Hopper's cock was far from the largest of all Mystique's

male lovers, it was still quite large for a normal human, and the

female shapeshifter enjoyed feeling it touch her sensitive inner

walls as Jake grasped her hips and began to savagely thrust in and

out of her. But then he stopped without warning and completely

withdrew from her body.



"Wait…not there…I don't like that" the woman protested as she felt

his cock pressing against her anus. But Jake simply ignored her,

grasping her hips firmly as he thrust inside her asshole.



The woman screeched in pain, which if anything, only aroused Jake

Hopper all the more. Then something that utterly shocked the

muscular merchant happened.



Honey's brown hair became a vivid red in color, and her pale skin

darkened to a deep blue. The transformation was almost instantaneous

and Jake was still in a state of surprise and shock when one of the

blue woman's legs raised off the ground and kicked straight back,

knocking him a few feet away from the woman he had just been

sodomizing.



The female Jake Hopper had known as Honey got to her feet and turned

around in one smooth, graceful movement. Her limbs bending at

seemingly impossible angles.



Her eyes were a frightening yellow and her nipples an exotic purple,

but the form was still that of a woman, and the frightened and

confused human merchant hoped that he could reason with her as such.



"Now Honey there's no reason to go all demonic on me…I just got a

little carried away and…" Jake Hopper said fearfully as he stood up

and backed away slowly.



"I SAID NO ANAL" Mystique shouted in her true voice before knocking

Jake Hopper out with a savage blow to the head.



*****



She-Hulk was feeling depressed, bored, and lonely.

She didn't like this place at all.



The people in the tavern kept calling her a `giant.' The tall green

skinned woman wasn't exactly sure what they meant by giant. But she

could tell from the tone alone that it was anything but a compliment.



The She-Hulk was not used to this type of rejection. On her own

world she had generally been popular (or at least accepted) thanks to

her good looks, charm, and willingness to party. But these

xenophobic peasants took one look at her and thought monster.



It didn't help her state of mind that she was beginning to think that

this whole journey was pointless.



When Sage, Cyclops, and the other universal travelers had come to her

world Earth was in crisis. Its true that it always seemed to be in

crisis ever since the emergence of the mutants and other super

humans, nevertheless, this possible catastrophe was serious like all

the others.



After helping the various super powered vigilantes solve the current

crisis, Sage and Emma Frost, who had met this She-Hulk over the

course of that potential disaster, offered to use their telepathy to

cure the green woman of the psychological problems she had developed

since becoming the She-Hulk if she would join them on their quest to

rescue their comrades Logan, The Phoenix, and Esme Cuckoo. Due to

the fact that her personal life was in shambles more than anything

else, She-Hulk had agreed.



Since then they had traveled to seven other worlds and had seen no

sign of the three people they were searching for. Moreover, despite

the best efforts of Emma Frost, the Cuckoos, and Sage the nightmares

that plagued the She-Hulk had only gotten worse.



It might have helped if She-Hulk could have found companionship with

someone inside the group, but except for Mystique and the

Terminators, everybody already seemed to be paired off with someone

else. And She-Hulk found Mystique creepy, as for the

Terminators ,despite the fact that they were human on the outside,

they had all the warmth, sex drive, and empathy of a rock.



~Of course there's always Sage…despite that weird thing she seems to

have with Storm~ She-Hulk thought as she drank another beer. Trying

to get drunk even though she knew it would probably take more alcohol

than the bar had to affect her super resilient physiology.



The other people in the tavern tried to ignore the tall green woman.

Though a few of them would always glance at She-Hulk when they

thought she was not looking.



One of them who looked like an old woman in a dirty brown robe walked

up to She-Hulk and quietly said to her "we need to leave…come on…Sage

wants to meets us outside."



"Mystique?" the green woman guessed as she looked at the apparently

ancient woman.



The heavily wrinkled face twisted into an expression of annoyance as

the woman replied waspishly "what do you think?"



"Now let's go…Sage said it was urgent…and I think these country

bumpkins are going to get dangerously excited in a little while"

Mystique said impatiently as she reached into her robe and pulled out

enough coins to cover She-Hulk's drinks. Dropping the money on the

counter with an audible clink.



She-Hulk shifted her weight on the barstool, and then got up just as

the overburdened stool finally collapsed. Not bothering to even

glance at the broken furniture and angry bartender as she followed

the shapeshifter.



"Hey Blue…where did you get that money anyway?"



*****



Jake Hopper slowly regained consciousness on the dirty floor of his

little room for the night. As soon as the human merchant did, he

wished that he hadn't, for he had a throbbing headache.



Then he used his arms to try to pull himself to a sitting position on

the floor. Muttering darkly to himself as he did so.



"Stupid fucking blue demon…what the hell did she hit me

with….arrrrhhhhhh….WHAT IN THE NINE HELLS" Hopper screamed as he

suddenly felt a sharp pain between his legs.



The confused merchant looked down and realized that something had

pushed the head of his wine bottle into his rectum. He frantically

tried to pull it out but only hurt himself further in the process.



It wasn't until much later that Jake Hopper realized that somebody

had taken his bag of coins as well.



*****



Sage was impressed by how quickly and efficiently Mystique gathered

together and led the other members of their team to the forested area

just outside of the village that she had designated as a meeting

point.



~Whatever her psychological issues and moral failings Raven Darkholme

is more than competent in many fields~ the cyberpath thought. More

convinced than ever that bringing Mystique along had been the right

choice, and that the shapeshifter would prove useful when they

finally had to confront The Phoenix.



As usual Storm and Cyclops stood together while Emma Frost and her

daughters huddled around each other. Mystique had resumed her true

form and was touching the Terminators faces in an absent minded kind

of way, trying to see if she could provoke a reaction from the killer

cyborgs. But She-Hulk was simply standing by Sage, impatiently

waiting for the cyberpath to tell them whatever the reason was for

summoning them all here.



"Mystique dear…stop teasing the Terminators" Emma said wearily.



"Why…they don't mind" the shapeshifter answered irritably.



"I know but its…tacky" Frost replied.



Sage audibly coughed in order to stop the oncoming argument she could

see developing between the telepath and the shapeshifter, and to

direct everyone's attention to her.



"I called you all here to tell you something I could not risk any of

the natives overhearing…I have detected the psychic presence of The

Phoenix since we came to this planet…its faint but I believe I can

pinpoint it to somewhere on this continent."



"We have felt it too" Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe all replied in

unison.



"What…why didn't you tell me?" an offended Emma Frost demanded of her

daughters.

.

The three Cuckoos all gazed back at her with sincerely surprised

expressions.



"We thought…" Celeste began.

"…you knew" her sister Phoebe finished.



Emma sighed.

Though the psychic link between her and her daughters was strong, it

was not equally strong between all members. Thanks to Sophie's

presence inside her the four Cuckoos were privy to virtually all her

thoughts and feelings, but it seemed Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe

could still unintentionally keep things from her.



"Regardless of when or how we found out the fact remains that Jean

Grey almost certainly is or was on this planet and in this region…but

we know too little of this place to begin a proper search…moreover

this region seems to lack any sort of comprehensive communications or

data networks we could access to quickly learn more" Sage calmly

stated.



"So what should we do then?…just ask around to see if anyone has seen

a redhead with a giant flaming bird aura" Mystique said bitchily.



Storm, Cyclops, and the Frost family all glared at the shapeshifter.

Unlike her they were on this mission to recover friends and family,

and didn't appreciate her dismissing the first real lead that they

had gotten in over half a year. But Sage recognized that Mystique

had a valid point and simply replied "Yes…until we have enough data

to do a more specialized search…unfortunately we are unlikely to

discover anything useful in a small and isolated community like Green

Haven…we need to go to a center of learning and trade…a place where

we can meet scholars and well informed travelers to get the answers

we seek."



"Silverymoon" Mystique immediately replied. Recalling her

conversation with the human merchant and poor lover Jake Hopper.



"Yes I believe that city would be ideal" Sage answered. Having

already learned of the city-state thanks to her telepathic probes of

the villagers.



"But there is one other matter we need to address before heading

there" Sage said as she studied her companions.



Storm and Cyclops were wearing black tank tops and blue jeans, Emma

Frost and her grown up daughters were wearing silky white dresses

that showed a shocking amount of cleavage and thigh (by local

standards) and in Emma's case prominently displayed her pregnant

belly. The She-Hulk was wearing a purple sports bra and shorts,

which strained to contain and cover her large green breasts and

buttocks, while the Terminators simply wore black swim trunks, more

out of their companions sense of decency and belief that genitalia

should be covered than any modesty or need to stay warm that the

cyborgs had.



Only Mystique was dressed like a native, having transformed some of

her body into what appeared to be a ratty brown robe. Everyone else,

including Sage herself, was dressed in clothing that made them stand

out among the locals.



The cyberpath opened her mouth to speak and all of her companions

watched her closely. Wondering what grave issue or problem the

intelligent and ever serious Sage was about to bring to their

attention.



"We need new clothes."