Clock Tower: The Struggle Within Yun Kouga manga text translation (U.S. names) The following translation covers both volumes of the Clock Tower: The Struggle Within manga drawn by Yun Kouga and published in the September and October 1998 volumes of G Fantasy, never released in an official compilation. This document contains translations of the dialogue and sound effects only; no descriptions of the on-page action are provided. For more information, see this page: https://www.illusionarytheatre.com/index.php/177-pdfs-of- yun-kouga-s-clock-tower-ghost-head-manga-except-with-my- stupid-fingers-in-the-way If you would like a version of this document using the names from the Japanese version, please see: http://www.sceneryrecalled.com/trans/ctghykmj.txt Formatting Notes: - Line breaks within a character's dialogue indicate the start of a new voice balloon. - The page numbers reflect that of the manga anthology in which the manga was published, which is why Vol. 1 starts on pg. 235 instead of pg. 1. - As is typical of manga magazines, the sides of the pages contain a number of advertisements, solicitations for reader feedback, etc. I've left these out of the translation but have kept any commentary on the actual manga (e.g. the disclaimer about deviation from the game story). Translation by R. Capowski, RACapowski@sceneryrecalled.com, 7/24/23. This translation is unofficial and not affiliated with or authorized by anyone in charge of the Clock Tower series. Also: as of this writing, Clock Tower fan Diario and the Project C.U.T.S. fan team on Twitter have plans to produce a scanlation of this manga, using a translation they produced in-house and some, all, or none of this one, with my blessing. If Twitter still exists when you're reading this, check: https://twitter.com/thefirstfear. (It perhaps should be noted that this manga, which was lost for a very long time, is _not_ the one recommended in YouTuber Nitro Rad's very popular and excellent video on The Struggle Within. The manga Nitro Rad recommends is a full-color comic published in the front of one of the strategy guides and covering only the opening of the game. Yun Kouga's manga is a suprisingly-excellent abridgement of the entire game, though it does deviate from the source story a bit—not by as much as you might expect.) ************************************************************ VOLUME 1 pg. 235 Allen: Alyssa. Listen carefully. This is your amulet. It's a precious good-luck charm. Never-- _ever_ take it off. Little Alyssa [thinking]: My good-luck charm... Allen: No matter what happens. Little Alyssa: But, Papa... what will happen if I do? Alyssa [thinking]: Ohhh... Dad: You will be cursed, Alyssa. And who knows. You might even disappear. Alyssa [thinking]: How could I have forgotten? Caption: Clock Tower: The struggle Within pg. 236 Alyssa [thinking]: How—on that day, of all days!—could I forget my amulet at home... Alyssa [astonished]: I DON'T HAVE IT! MY AMULET...!! Student: HALE—it was YOU, wasn't it?! Playin' teacher's pet— bein' a _snitch!_ Am I _right!?_ SFX: KA-THUMP Student: It's just SMOKING! Everyone DOES it! Alyssa: This is a misunderstanding! I don't know anything-- SFX: KA-THUMP Student: Cut the crap! How you gonna fix this!? Thanks to you, I got SUSPENDED!! How 'bout I make it so YOU can't go to school, EITHER! SFX: flick Alyssa: No... Alyssa [thinking]: I'M SCARED! SFX: KA-THUMP pg. 237 Alyssa [thinking]: WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME? SOMEBODY, PLEASE— HELP ME!! I'M SCARED! SFX: KA-THUMP Student: Wanna make it up to us? Then do what we say. Alyssa [thinking]: I'M SCARED! Student: _Right now_, go to the teachers' lounge-- Student: --Hey! Alyssa [thinking]: I'M SCARED! SFX: KA-THUMP Student: Are you listening? Hale!-- Bates: ...Don't......worry, Alyssa [thinking]: ............ Bates: Alyssa. I'LL PROTECT YOU. pg. 238 Caption: YUN KOUGA Alyssa [thinking]: And that day, the curse began-- Caption: THE HOT NEW GAME-- NOW A MANGA FROM YUN KOUGA!! CLOCK TOWER THE STRUGGLE WITHIN CURSE OF THE MAXWELL CLAN VOL. 1 pg. 239 Caption: Monterey County Police Dept. Captions on Building: Monterey County Police Dept., Administrative Division SFX: fuuu Cop: Hey, Det. Corey. You're on that weird case at Memorial Hospital, right? Corey: Yeah... 13 patient disappearances this year. Out of the ordinary, wouldn't ya say? pg. 240 Corey: Treatment mishaps... organ dealing...... Living test subjects for a new drug? (Thanks.) In any case, it's not just the hospital. Memorial Pharma seems to be involved, too. Cop: Memorial Pharma, huh?~~ Rumor has it they're cookin' up some weird drugs over there! _And:_ that there's some _mad killer_ in a devil mask-- poppin' up in the research lab! Corey: Enjoy your urban legends. But my man's Tate, the head of the lab. My gut tells me Tate's dirty. But without proof-- SFX: BEEEEP Voice on Comm: Outside line for you, Det. Corey. SFX: click Corey: Put it through. Voice on Phone: Corey! I've been staking out the Tate residence, and something's wrong. Some young girl's screaming her head off in there. I think it's this girl who went in there a little while ago. High school student, looked like. pg. 241 Corey: I'm headed over right now. SFX: CLATTER Corey: Stand by! Voice: Yes, sir. Corey: Check for me— today was Philip Tate's day off, right? Cop: It should be! Corey: Dammit! Is he in the house?! SFX: DASH DASH Caption: CHAPTER 1: THE ACCURSED HOUSE Yellow Cursed Doll pg. 242 SFX: SLAM Alyssa: Um. Hello-- SFX: *crickets* Alyssa: I'm here! It's Alyssa Hale... SFX: *crickets* Alyssa: Is everyone gone...? Alyssa [thinking]: This is so strange...... pg. 243 Alyssa [thinking]: They didn't meet me at the station, either. Did something happen? Alyssa: Uncle Philip... Aunt Kathryn... Michael! Ashley! Stephanie! ......Anyone? Allen in Flashback: Alyssa. Go to Salinas. It'll be fine. You remember Uncle Philip, don't you? From your dad's friends, the Tates? Alyssa in Flashback: Father!! I can't go to school anymore!! Allen in Flashback: It'll be all right. No one in Salinas will know about what happened. The Tates say they'll let you stay with them for a while. Don't worry. Alyssa in Flashback: But!! pg. 244 Alyssa in Flashback [thinking]: I'm scared—of Bates!! SFX: KA-THUMP Alyssa [thinking]: It'll be all right!...... As long as I have my amulet... Bates shouldn't be able to surface......... Alyssa: Excuse me! Is anyone here?...... Alyssa [thinking]: But... SFX: clack Alyssa [thinking]: Why isn't anyone here? ...I've got a bad feeling about this......... That's ridiculous. What am I thinking-- pg. 245 Alyssa: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! SFX: DASH DASH DASH Alyssa: AAH! IT WON'T OPEN!? SFX: rattle Alyssa: Why!? I just came in! SFX: rattle rattle Alyssa: How could-- SFX: CREEEAK pg. 246 Alyssa: Ste...Stephanie? So you WERE here! SFX: CREAK Stephanie: Hee hee hee... Hee hee hee hee.. SFX: STOMP STOMP pg. 247 SFX: WHAM SLAM Stephanie: Hee hee hee... SFX: BAM BAM BAM BAM Stephanie: Hee hee hee... Hee hee! Alyssa: What... SFX: STAGGER... Alyssa: What's going on!?... Alyssa [thinking]: This can't be happening! Was everyone... Alyssa: I've got to get out of here...... SFX: WOBBLE Alyssa [thinking]: by _Stephanie!?_ SFX: twitch pg. 248 SFX: twitch Alyssa [thinking]: No... Alyssa: D... SFX: SLUMP Alyssa: Don't...... Alyssa [thinking]: Don't come out, Bates!! Voice: It'll be all right... My amulet's with me......!! pg. 249 Alyssa: This arm-- SFX: twitch Alyssa: It's moving! ......Is it alive!? It's got green skin—yellow blood! Whose arm could this possibly be? And what about that leg!? Is this......a human arm!? Alyssa [thinking]: The Tates couldn't be caught up in this, could they? SFX: shudder tremble Alyssa: I...I have to... I have to find everyone!! SFX: uhhhh Alyssa [thinking]: I'M SCARED!! pg. 250 Voice: STOOOP!! SFX: CRASH Voice: STOP IT, _PLEASE_, Stephanie!! Alyssa [thinking]: Was that-- Aunt Kathryn!? Alyssa: So-- they are in the house! I have to go find them! They're calling for help. Alyssa [thinking]: Where are they--!? SFX: ROLL pg. 251 SFX: ROLL ROLL... ROLL poff STAGGER Alyssa: Ashley... SFX: CREEP pg. 252 Stephanie: Hee hee!... Hee hee hee hee hee hee! SFX: WHOOSH GLARE! Bates: ...Don't be so scared, Alyssa-- pg. 253 SFX: WHUMP Stephanie: BLAGH Bates: Hey, you little shit. What's the big idea with you tearin' up the place? Stephanie: cackle cackle Bates: Do it again, and I'll kill you. Bates [thinking]: Killer kids? What the fuck's happening in this house? Stephanie: Hee hee!... Hee hee hee! pg. 254 Bates: Didn't you sense it, Alyssa? This place has reeked from the moment we stepped in the door. Made me wanna puke. SFX: WHAM Kathryn: Eek! Michael: Stop! Bates: Hmmm? You're still alive? Kathryn: Alyssa!? Are you all right!? Hurry! Lock the door! SFX: slam Bates: What's with the little shit? pg. 255 Kathryn: A...Alyssa...? Bates: Name's not Alyssa. It's Bates. SFX: EEEK! Kathryn: ...IT'S THE CURSE!! Ashley's horrible death-- Stephanie going crazy-- It's all the curse of the golden statue!! And now even Alyssa has......! Bates: _You're_ the crazy fuckers. There's nothin' wrong with Alyssa!... SFX: BOP Kathryn: Eek! Please, stop! Bates: SHUT UP!! KEEP TALKIN', AND I KILL ALL OF YOU FUCKERS! pg. 256 Kathryn: Dear... Philip: I'm sorry, Alyssa! It's our fault that you've been possessed by this strange personality. Bates: ..._Fuck_ this. I suppose you mean _me?_ You fuckers are REALLY-- Alyssa: STOP, BATES!! Bates: Alyssa!? SFX: FLASH... pg. 257 Alyssa: (*phew*...) Uncle Philip, you're all right?... I'm so glad! Philip: Alyssa? Is it you?! Stephanie: HEEEEEE HEE HEE! SFX: gulp Stephanie: HEEEEE HEE HEE HEE! Alyssa: That's Stephanie! What on earth happened to her? Stephanie: HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE! Philip: It's all due to the curse...... of this golden statue... pg. 258 Alyssa: The "curse"...what do you mean? Philip: Stephanie found this golden statue—took it out of the storeroom. Even since then... everything's gone mad. And it's all due to the curse on this statue. 16 years ago, Allan Hale and I happened to steal this statue— for research. However-- we never should have done it, of course. Alyssa: Uncle Philip...you and my father STOLE it......? From where...... Philip: The Maxwell clan. I knew we never should have gotten involved with the Maxwells...... pg. 259 SFX: KA-THUMP Alyssa [thinking]: The Maxwells... ...What was that feeling? I've never even heard that name before, but my heart-- just _jumped_ in my chest... Philip: Forgive me, Stephanie...Ashley! SFX: Ah! SFX: WAAAAAA Kathryn: _Dear!_ Stephanie: HEE HEE HEE! Alyssa: Isn't there anything we can do!? We can't just let it all end like this! Philip: Something we can do...? Perhaps...if we could burn that statue... Alyssa [I think]: Burn the statue?! Let's try it! pg. 260 Philip: There's kerosene and a lighter by the fireplace in the living room-- Alyssa: The living room...... Stephanie: HEE HEE HEE HEEEEE HEE HEE HEE HEE! Philip: I......I'll go. Kathryn: Dear! You're injured! You can't possibly! SFX: SHUDDER SHUDDER SHUDDER Alyssa [thinking]: I'm scared...... --But!! Alyssa: I'll go. Give me the statue. pg. 261 Bates [thinking]: Alyssa! Burning that won't do anything!...... Alyssa: YES, IT WILL!! Alyssa [thinking]: I have to burn the statue immediately-- and free everyone from the curse!! SFX: CLANG Cop: Ah! Corey! SFX: CLANG OOOoooOOO... OOOoooOOO OOOoooOOO... HONK HONK Corey: What's going on here!? Is that from the Tates'!? SFX: HONK CLANG CLANG OOOO... OOooOO..... Cop: The fire started from inside! SFX: CLANG OOOoooOOO... Corey: ARE THERE ANY SURVIVORS!? I'M GOING IN!! SFX: BAM! Caption: WAIT FOR THE CONCLUSION NEXT ISSUE!! ------ VOLUME 2 pg. 99 PART TWO YUN KOUGA ALYSSA AND BATES-- WHAT MACHINATIONS LIE BEHIND THEIR STRANGE SITUATION...... CLOCK TOWER THE STRUGGLE WITHIN CLOCK TOWER: THE STRUGGLE WITHIN: CURSE OF THE MAXWELL CLAN pg. 100 Alyssa [thinking]: Where... Where am I.........? Corey: Hey! Looks like you're awake, huh? SFX: CREAK Alyssa: Where am I...? .........Is this--a hospital? SFX: blink Alyssa: Who are you? pg. 101 SFX: SLAM Corey: I'm a detective from the Monterey County PD. Call me Corey. Pleased to meet you, Ms. Hale. I'm handling the incidents here at Memorial Hospital and Memorial Labs. Alyssa: Incidents...... Corey: I responded to a report of a fire at the Tate house. I rushed on the scene...and encountered some bizarre human remains there. SFX: GULP Alyssa: !! The fire...... It was my doing......!! Stephanie [in flashback]: HAND OVER...... THE STATUE... Alyssa [in flashback]: Stephanie, snap out of it! pg. 102 Alyssa [in flashback]: Stop this!! Alyssa: Is Stephanie all right!? Alyssa [thinking]: If I can just burn the statue... Corey: Stephanie Tate is unconscious. Drug poisoning's suspected. Alyssa [thinking]: Drugs!? SFX: HAH HAH Alyssa [thinking]: So it wasn't a curse!? SFX: HAH HAH HAH HAH Bates: What did I tell you? Like I said: it was useless... Alyssa. Alyssa [thinking]: Bates!! You _knew_, didn't you!! Caption at Bottom of Page: *This work is based on the PS game Clock Tower: The Struggle Within, with some original elements added to the story. pg. 103 Alyssa [thinking]: You knew - and were just _laughing_ at everything I did! Bates [thinking]: Hey. It's not like I'm _laughing,_ exactly...... SFX: CLENCH Alyssa [thinking]: Bates, you liar!! Corey: There have been too many disappearances here at Memorial Hospital. Over the past several months, I've had my eye on Philip Tate. Let me ask you: What did you see in that house? Alyssa: I don't know anything...... When I got to my uncle's house-- SFX: SMASH SFX: GASP! SFX: Ah! Voice: EEEK! NOOOOOO!!! STOP! pg. 104 Corey: Gotta check that out. Be back. SFX: WHAP Alyssa: Wait, Detective!! Don't leave me alone! Please! Don't go! SFX: RUSTLE Alyssa: I'm so scared! I...I just can't STAND it!...... Corey: Ms. Hale...... Alyssa: PLEASE! HELP ME......!! SFX: SLAM Alyssa: I'M SCARED! Bates [thinking]: Alyssa! How could you?! Corey: I know. You've seen horrible things...... Poor girl. pg. 105 Corey: It'll be all right. I'll be right back. I have to go. Alyssa: Detective Corey!! Corey: Someone needs help. It's all right. No matter how scared you are, people don't die from fear. Wait here. Alyssa: Please be careful...!! Corey: Don't worry. I'm better with a gun than I look. SFX: SLAM pg. 106 Caption on Hospital: Memorial Hospital Bates [in mind]: Something's wrong. Shit's goin' down at this hospital. ...But what, exactly? SFX: GULP Bates: Alyssa? Alyssa: People... SFX: TREMBLE TREMBLE Alyssa: People don't die from fear...... pg. 107 SFX: hueeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeeee... SFX: RATTLE RATTLE Alyssa: !! SFX: gulp SFX: GRAB! Alyssa: J- Just in case! Alyssa [thinking]: I have to go help. SFX: STAGGER STAGGER Bates [in mind]: Stop, Alyssa. Get back, now! Alyssa: LEAVE ME ALONE, BATES!! I CAN'T JUST RUN AWAY AND _ABANDON_ EVERYONE! pg. 108 Alyssa: AHH! NO!... NOOOOO!! Stop!! Get away!! GET AWAAAAAY--!! Bates: Alyssa!! Let me take over!! pg. 109 Alyssa: NOOOO!!!! SFX: CLANG Alyssa: GET AWAY! Bates: If she would just faint... SFX: SHING splat splat pg. 110 Alyssa [thinking]: W...what? That person...he saved me......? Bates [in mind]: NO. pg. 111 Bates [in mind]: The hell he did! RUN, ALYSSA!! SFX: WHOOSH Alyssa: Eeeek! Alyssa [thinking]: That man doesn't care who you are-- he just wants to kill!! Alyssa: NO! SFX: dash dash dash dash dash Alyssa [thinking]: He couldn't have... Did he kill the others—and Det. Corey, too!? pg. 112 Nurse: You there! Over here! SFX: WHAM Quickly!! SFX: SLAM! Alyssa: What are they!? Are they human!? Nurse: You can't call them human!...... They're living corpses. I'm the head nurse. I've worked in this hospital a long time, but...that's all over now. Alyssa: What happened here—to everyone?...... Those monsters roaming around-- pg. 113 Nurse: They're all dead. And so are we. No one's going to escape this alive. Alyssa: That's not true! A police detective came to save us! SFX: BANG! BANG! Alyssa [thinking]: Is that--gunfire!? What happened to Det. Corey!? SFX: SHAKE SHAKE Alyssa: Get a hold of yourself, ma'am! Nurse: It doesn't matter. It's too late! Alyssa: We have to get out of here! We can't just stay here and let ourselves be senselessly butchered! pg. 114 Nurse: I'M SCARED! OF THOSE......CREATURES!! Alyssa: But... there might still be somebody alive out there. Besides... We can't just give up......wait for ourselves to be killed. That's......no way to act. So please. Be brave! Bates: Who cares if they're killed—or if they're dead already? pg. 115 Bates: Doesn't matter to me. She wants death? Be my guest! I'm even willing to help her along! But, you know—I'M not gonna die. Not me. And not Alyssa, either. Corey, too! Let 'im rot!! Never liked 'im anyway! Alyssa: Please, tell me! Those creatures—what are they? Their green skin—their yellow blood... what could they be!? pg. 116 Alyssa: PLEASE, MA'AM! Nurse: They're-- it's the HU599 bacterium. Once administered, it multiplies within the human body. The host's brain is destroyed, and its body undergoes a transformation—the green skin, the yellow blood. After brain death, HU599 forms a parasitic brain within the host— controlling and sustaining the functions of its dead flesh. pg. 117 Alyssa: So they're dead, but-- SFX: gulp Nurse: Yes. Still moving. Not of their own will, I imagine-- I happened to read one of the director's files. Alyssa: I can't believe this! Who would do this?! And _why?!_ Nurse: I don't know! By the time I realized what was happening, it was already too late. THAT MAN WITH THE DEVIL MASK--- SFX: SMASH! pg. 118 Alyssa: ......!! NOOOOOO!! SFX: WHAM! Alyssa: RUN, MA'AM! Call for help! Get out of here!... pg. 119 Alyssa: Hurry!! SFX: STAGGER Alyssa: You-- You're not getting through here! I won't give in!! Not to YOU......!! SFX: PSST Alyssa: AAAaaAAAAHH!! pg. 120 SFX: psssst Corey: STOP! Hands up! Back away from the girl! Alyssa: DETECTIVE!! SFX: DRAG DRAG... pssst Corey: Are you all right, Ms. Hale? Alyssa: Ah-- yes. Corey: It's incredible-- the entire hospital's like this. pg. 121 Alyssa: So, we're the only ones--... Corey: First things first. We have to get ourselves out of here. C'mon! SFX: DASH! Alyssa: The nurse...... I wonder if she's all right. Corey: Sorry I got held up. SFX: CLACK... Alyssa: HUH? SFX: GRAB! Corey: !! pg. 122 Alyssa: DETECTIVE!! SFX: LUNGE!! Corey: Dammit... Run! Save yourself... SFX: SHUFFLE SHUFFLE Alyssa [thinking]: No! Not Det. Corey! What do I do! Help me!! Someone!!... SFX: grab! Alyssa [thinking]: HELP ME, BATES!! pg. 123 SFX: WHOOSH! Bates: YOU FUCKERS _GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM!!!_ Corey: M... Ms....Hale...!! Bates: Thought I wouldn't *mind* if you died. But it'd make Alyssa cry, so. Don't look at me like that. SFX: clack Bates: I'm not Alyssa. pg. 124 Bates: Looks like to take care of our zombie friends you gotta aim for their weak point - their "parasitic brain." Alyssa [in mind - flashback]: Don't come out, Bates. I'm scared of you--- ......of myself. Bates [in mind]: I don't know how long I've been with Alyssa—or why. Bates [in mind - flashback]: I'll protect you. pg. 125 Bates [in mind]: But you've never lied to me, Alyssa. I've always been watching you—from inside this heart of yours. Watching you for so long, Alyssa. And I've looked and looked, but your heart— it doesn't have a single stain. It's beautiful. SFX: heh heh Man: Bates has arrived, it seems. Look, Maxwell...... It's the very curse that destroyed you! pg. 126 Man: A fine fate for George Maxwell, the scientific genius who developed HU599! I can barely contain my ecstasy! SFX: heh heh Man: Maxwell......are you listening? What am I saying? *Tuh*. I suppose you can't hear anything anymore. SFX: CLACK Bates: So this is all your doing? ALLEN HALE!! THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! YOU'RE _ALYSSA'S OLD MAN!!!_ pg. 127 Allen: I suppose this is where I say "Pleased to meet you," Bates. And Alyssa isn't anything _close_ to my daughter. Her real name is Lynn Maxwell. That monster at your feet is George, her father. If only he hadn't broken out of his sickroom for his little murder spree I could have kept everyone alive a bit longer—had some fun. ...Oh, well. I know we just met, but this is farewell to you, too. SFX: clack Bates: You're gonna kill Alyssa? pg. 128 Allen: A strange comment given that _you're_ the reason Alyssa was doomed from the start. Properly speaking...YOU'RE the curse. The accursed personality passed down through the Maxwell clan--... a second, savage soul in the body of another. That's why 16 years ago, shortly after her birth, Lynn Maxwell was buried alive with the golden statue. I resented George's genius. In order to engineer his downfall, I dug up the infant. But in the end, you know, it wasn't necessary! Around that time... pg. 129 Allen: George began to go mad of his own accord. Perhaps his conscience got to him. Bates: Then looks like that monster made it out one step ahead of YOU. Allen: George's dead. Once Alyssa dies, so will the Maxwell bloodline. Bates: But I'm *not* gonna die. YOU ARE. SFX: heh heh Bates [thinking]: Alyssa...... I'll protect you-- pg. 130 SFX: THWACK SPLUT Allen: Wha... SFX: SPURT Allen: I...impossible... Maxwell...... SFX: SLIP Allen: Max......well...... SFX: SLUMP Bates: This is bad... SFX: crackle! crackle Bates: This is gonna spread. Bates [thinking]: Gotta get Corey and get outta here-- pg. 131 Bates: Hey. You dead? ...Well. See ya. Bates [thinking]: A "savage soul"? A "curse"? So what if I am? You're welcome to your opinion. SFX: ROAAARRRRR pg. 132 SFX: oooOOOOOoooo... RROOOAAAARRRRR oooOOOooo... oooOOOooo ooOOoo Corey: Uhh.... Mm. Bates: Hey! Mr. Detective. Corey: You're... Bates: Give this to Alyssa. Caption: amulet Bates: Tell her not to take it off again. Corey: Sure... (An amulet?) Bates: Hey. Ever get to like a woman? pg. 133 Bates: ...Ever get to wondering what that woman's really like? Corey: ...Have you? --Gotten to know what she's really like? Bates: Yeah. I know Alyssa's true self. That's why I look out for her. Corey: Who ARE you?... Alyssa: ---Huh? pg. 134 Alyssa: Detective? --Did someone save us? I just... Corey: ...... Yeah. SFX: HOWL Corey: Someone saved us. Let's go. Bates [in mind]: Don't be so scared. I'll be protecting you. END