[Quick note: the characters' colors are listed in order as fur, mane/tail, and eyes.]
[/hr]
Bayview was an interesting city. It rained, but only at night, and there was never any way of telling how long it would last; sometimes it was for an hour, other times it started and stopped in the space of five seconds. You could by sporty cars, from ones as early as the mid-80s to cars that were never officially sold sold in the country, all from the showrooms in pristine condition and ready to go. It was divided into distinctive areas: Jackson Heights, Beacon Hill, City Core (which the airport branched off of), and the East and West sections of the industrial Coal Harbor.
But although Bayview was a nice scenic city during daytime, there were many that used nighttime to turn it into the ultimate playground. They were the most active residents: the street racers. By day, they blend in all the way, but by night, they come out to play, where the only rule is run-what-ya-brung, where credit is built through winning and rep is built by style, where all newcomers have to start from the bottom and work hard to make a big name for themselves, where, oddly enough, no cops ever showed.
And for one, an experienced racer new to the city, it was his chance to rebuild.
[/hr]
I figured you might wanna change things up to help clear your head. Can't blame you. When you get to Bayview, my gal Pinkamena will hook you up. She's loaned you her ride; it's at the airport waiting. It's her baby, so be gentle. Good luck bro! Be seeing ya.
- Spitfire
[/hr]
With a duffle bag slung over one shoulder, one figure walked out of the terminal, breaking away from the usual flow to head towards a metallic green Nissan 350Z.
[/hr]
Elsewhere in City Core...
A gloss red '92 Nissan 240SX sat in it's own garage stall, across from a white '04 Subaru Impreza WRX STi. On one knee in front of one wheelwell and working on the latter car was a beige, dark brown, and green pegasus stallion wearing a white, oil-stained t-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of black gloves.
"Hey Tommy," a female voice said, "any idea when the new guy is going to get here?"
"Can't say for sure, Pyra." Tommy responded while glancing up at a nearby clock. "His plane should have arrived already, so I'm guessing it won't be too long."
"I sure hope so, because I'm anxious to see some good action with somebody new. Assuming this guy is good."
"From what I heard, he was the top racer in Olympic City, so he should be able to mix it up with the regulars."
"Well, that just makes things better!"
A red and yellow mare wearing a gray t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants walked in, except she sure wasn't ordinary. Her yellow cat-like eyes, tufted ears, small fangs, and dragon-like wings singled the mare out as a bat pony, and the short horn portruding from her forehead indicated she was a natural-born alicorn, a very rare sight.
"I don't know how much credit that'll give him right out of the gate, because from what I've heard, he disappeared from Olympic's racing scene six months ago; haven't heard why, though." Tommy commented as a moderate pink, magenta, and blue earth pony wearing a black tank top and faded blue jeans walked in. "Pinks, you happen to know anything about why this guy vanished?"
"He'll be able to tell you the full story, but from what Spitfire told me, he had a pretty nasty crash. Anyway, he was busy signing the paperwork on a new car when I left, so he should be here pretty soon." Was the earth pony's response as she headed to the recently-renovated empty space of the garage.
"I've been meaning to ask," Pyra said, "how good is this guy?"
"I loaned him my car when he arrived and said he could run in a few races with it." Pinks said with a smirk. "He crushed all of 'em even though he'd never driven my car before."
The lone stallion in the garage cracked a smile.
"Who knows, maybe he'll be able to give you and I a run for our money someday." He said.
"I'd be willing to bet on that." Pyra added. "You can't go from newbie to legend overnight."
It was at this point that the garage door opened, revealing a metallic light purple 240SX that rolled inside, moving to one side and stopping, shutting off as the garage door closed. With a click, the left door opened and the driver stepped out.
"... !"
Pyra was unsure about which surprised her more: either it was that the new guy was a bat pony (colored brown, black, and yellow), or that he stood at 6'1", about a full head taller than her. Regardless, wearing a gray t-shirt and blue jeans with faded knees and carrying a black duffle bag on one shoulder, he didn't look particularly intimidating.
"You make it here without any trouble?" Pinks asked him.
"Yeah." The currently unnamed racer responded. "It at least gave me enough time to get a feel for my new wheels. So where am I going to be staying?"
"Empty space I had renovated about a month ago." The pink earther responded before motioning to the two other ponies in the room. "And because you're not the only one bunking here, that's Tommy and that's Pyra. Fellows, this is Night Rider."
"Nice to meet you." Night said cordially.
"Hello." Pyra said with a hint of shyness.
"Not every day that another city's legend shows up here." Tommy said with a smile. "Come on, I'll show you where you'll be staying."
[/hr]
Event types:
Circuit - multiple laps around a set route.
Sprint - a Point A to Point B race.
Drag - a much shorter sprint race where precision and timing are the keys to victory.
Drift - a race all about style; score big points by sliding your ride through the corners of these tight courses.
Street X - a race where precision counts; follow the best lines through the tight corners to gain and stretch out the lead position.
(Not encountered yet)
(Not encountered yet)
(Not encountered yet)
Hidden - a Circuit, Sprint, Drag, Drift, or Street X that does not appear on the map; the rules aren't different, but their 1st place prizes are about double that of normal events.
Outrun - challenge other racers cruising around the city; drive wherever it takes to get 1,000 feet ahead and take the winner's prize!
[/hr]
"So, how big of a show do you think the new guy's gonna put on?" Pyra asked as she, Pinks, and Tommy cruised through the city's streets in Tommy's Subaru, heading towards the location of a Circuit race that Night was competing in; his first race in Bayview behind the wheel of his own car, in fact.
"We won't know until it happens, but I bet the biggest show is going to be the gap between him and second place." Pinks replied. "I already told him that being successful here requires you to bury your opponents on the track, so he's probably gonna crush it out there. 'Sides, it's pretty hard to pull some impressive slides in a stock 240SX, at least outside of Drift races."
"That's true, but some of the best racers in Bayview drive those things; 'course they're far from stock." Tommy commented. "But there's still a chance he'll replace it with something else, assuming he creates enough of a buzz."
"It's probably a give-in he'll make a real name for himself." Pinks continued. "If he was able to become the top racer in Olympic City, then he should be able to make it big here."
[/hr]
The four cars rolled up to the starting line; Night's light purple Nissan lined up next to a blue '99 Mazda MX-5, with a pair of 240SXs behind them: one white and the other pink. Expression nearly blank, Night kept the clutch pedal depressed and the shifter in neutral, revving the small truck engine that resided beneath his car's hood to just short of its redline as he waited for the signal to start.
The starter held her arms out sideways, before raising her hands in the air, and getting down on her knees as she brought her hands down. In a flash, Night dumped his car into gear, shooting off the line with a decent-sized burnout along with his opponents. As the road very gently curved left, he only lifted off the accelerator to shift into second gear, before once again slamming the pedal against the floor.
Pulling into the lead, he shifted into third shortly before the road started curving right, never once taking his gaze off of what was in front of him. Mid-curve, Night shifted into fourth as his lead continued to get bigger. A car became clear in both lanes as the curve ended, and after passing the oncoming car, he moved to the left and passed a yellow and black taxi.
As the road began to slope upwards and curve left again, Night passed close by another oncoming vehicle, quickly moving into the oncoming lane to pass another car as the course curved right before ending with an abrupt sharp right. Without hesitation, he braked and quickly picked an "out-in-out" line, passing through smoothly and without a hitch.
Night's expression remained nearly blank, only giving away that he was concentrating.
The silent driver continued beneath a freeway overpass and veered to the left as the road curved in that direction, the speedometer reading 91 mph before the bat pony braked for a sharp right, following another "out-in-out" line, staying on the sidewalk on the corner's exit to avoid colliding with an oncoming SUV that was hidden by the road's brief downwards slope.
Once again going full throttle, Night passed through a three-way intersection before the road made a slight right followed by a blind left, which was in turn succeeded by a sharp right corner that was hidden shortly after a brief hill crest. Unphased, the driver passed close to the wall of the blind left, avoiding a white delivery truck in the same-way lane, before braking and steering hard to the right to clear the final corner, though a taxi in the nearer lane forced him to go wider than he wanted to.
Nonetheless, Night held a roughly 8.5-second lead over his opponents as he charged down the course's longest straight and into the second lap.
The purple sports car's decidedly unsporty engine continued to do its job as the road curved right, the car's driver remaining in the proper lane to avoid two oncoming vehicles. Moving into the oncoming lane to avoid an oncoming car turning left through an intersection, Night glanced at the speedometer and saw that he was going 112 miles per hour and climbing. Smirking slightly, he shifted into fifth, only to brake moments later as the first difficult corner came up again.
Steering into the corner while braking, he got the light purple Nissan into a shallow slide while neatly clipping the corner's apex, getting back on the throttle to straighten it out while again moving to the outer edge of the road after clearing the corner. Passing a blue van in the same-way lane, Night calmly moved to the inner edge of the road as it curved left, driving onto the sidewalk to avoid an oncoming vehicle.
When the second sharp right turn approached, the bat pony followed an out-in-out line similar to the one he took back in the first lap, this time straightening out in the outer of the two oncoming lanes and passing close by an oncoming car. Staying to the left to avoid an SUV traveling in one of the right lanes, Night took the braver route and again hugged the wall of the blind left, thankfully not encountering any oncoming traffic. At the short uphill slope, he moved left to avoid rear-ending a same-way taxi, quickly cutting across to clear the sharp right-hander.
By the time he barreled into the third and final lap, Night's smirk had disappeared, but his concentration remained strong, and his lead had almost doubled to 16.8 seconds. Then it began to rain.
Remaining steadfast, Night switched on his car's wipers as he entered the long right-hand turn at full speed. About halfway through, a delivery truck became visible in the right lane, with a pair of headlights in the left one.
No matter. The bat pony thought to himself as he steered onto the sidewalk on the right side of the road, easily avoiding both vehicles before moving back onto the asphalt. Topping 110 miles per hour at the start of the short hill, the still silent driver avoided an oncoming vehicle before braking hard and steering into the hard right, running wide but still clearing the corner without any problems, executing a triple downshift in the process.
Before the gentle left that followed, Night again moved to the left and drove onto the sidewalk, this time avoiding a delivery truck in the oncoming lane. This time, however, a blue minivan was idling along in the right lane. Taking a gamble, the bat pony cut in front of his to ride close the corner's apex, smoothing out in the outer oncoming lane afterwards. Rapidly approaching a pair of taillights up ahead, the driver moved to the right and passed a taxi, before traveling almost perfectly straight to hug the blind corner's wall. Speeding past another taxi in the same-way lane, Night passed a third taxi before darting for the final corner's inside line and entering another shallow slide, with the back end of the car lightly clipping the outside wall on the way out. Not the slightest bit bothered, the brown bat pony straightened himself out, passed a same-way vehicle, and crossed the finish line with an impressive 25.5-second lead over 2nd place.
Smirking again, he did a couple 360s to show off for the crowd that regathered after the other racers finished.
[/hr]
After the surprising finish (surprising to his opponents, at least), the quartet went back to the garage to take a breather, though mainly because Night wanted to check out a detailed catalog of all the vehicles that Bayview racers used.
"You guys and girls actually race SUVs?" The brown bat pony remarked when he came across three big surprises in the catalog that Tommy provided him with.
"Dang right we do." Pinks replied with a smile. "It only started about a year ago, but it's a real test of how good you are. Those things make normal cars seem almost like actual race cars by comparison; they take longer to get going, longer to slow down, and aren't fans of corners. But even if you're still pretty new to the city, you get a good amount of respect if you prove that you can handle one of those hulks."
"Huh... guess I know what my first new ride will be; only question is if I'll have enough money to buy one." Night said.
"If you do good enough, you can actually get a new set of wheels for free." Tommy spoke up.
"For real?"
"Yeah." The beige pegasus continued. "If you get a big enough reputation, you can land yourself a sponsorship, which gets you into an invitation-only series called the Underground Racing League, where only the best racers compete. If you win enough of those on top of completing your sponsor's contract terms, then they provide you with a free ride of your choosing."
"Guess it's a good thing I'm figuring that out now." Night said with a chuckle before he resumed looking over the various pictures and descriptions. "I definitely don't want it to be front-wheel-drive; nothing against cars like that, just to me it seems like a huge handicap from a performance standpoint."
"That's exactly why I drive an Impreza." Tommy said, before noticing that the brown bat pony had gone unusually silent.
"... You race R34 Skylines here?" He said after a pause.
"Yeah." The beige pegasus replied. "Why?"
"... I owned one back in Olympic City."
This revelation caught the attention of Pyra, who had just entered.
"Do you have any particular feelings associated with that car?" Tommy asked.
"... Yeah... good feelings." Night said before pausing. "Thing is the last time I drove one was the last time I ever raced back in Olympic."
"Care to tell us the story?" Pyra asked while sitting down. "All Pinks has told us was that you were in a bad crash."
"I suppose I should start from the beginning." Night said while leaning back in his chair. "My family has a long history of racing, heck, even before cars existed. Sure, not all of us choose that as our life's career, but a lot of us have; weekend, off-road, professional, you name it, chances are at least one of us decided on that type of going fast. Biggest reasons I chose the streets was because I don't have any interest in turning pro and here I can drive whatever I want modified and tuned however I like it."
Pyra and Tommy listened intently.
"I heard that the scene in Olympic City was red hot, so it only made sense that I try to make it over there. I started from the very bottom, and near the top, I bought an R34 Skyline GT-R and did it up in my own way."
Night smiled.
"When it was down to a simple matter of making minor changes to my technique to get the most out of the car, that monster never saw a set of taillights. Ever. That is, until I went up against the top racer and his crew. They sure didn't get to their positions without serious work, and they were by far the fastest opponents I'd ever faced. But I was faster. After that, I was regarded as the city's best racer, though I naturally didn't retire; I just kept working to get even faster."
He paused.
"Then after one race, I received a call; apparently, I had impressed one guy so much that he offered me a spot on his crew."
[/hr]
"I like what we see... There's room on my posse for ya and I ain't takin' no for an answer. ... What's it gonna be?"
[/hr]
"You can guess what my decision was." Night continued. "Anyway, on the way there, Spitfire called me and said that everything was set up... then it happened."
He paused again.
"A Hummer came out an alleyway and startled me with its lights. I tried to dodge, it clipped me, and I slammed front end-first into a wall while doing about sixty. *sigh* The crash totaled my car, and it was six months before I ever raced again. Until I arrived here."
"Well, I guess the upside to all of this is that you can say you walked away from a wreck." Tommy said, breaking the silence. "'Sides, there's still a lot of time left before the sun starts coming up, so you should be able to run at least a few more races."
"Anything else that has conventional rules?" The brown bat pony asked.
"There's a Sprint being held soon, they've got room for one more driver."
[/hr]
Four cars rolled up to the start line: a silver Peugeot 206 GTi and a green E80-generation Toyota Corolla GT-S in front, with a light metallic purple Nissan 240SX and a pink Corolla behind them. 2.762 miles away, the finish line waited.
This time, Night banged his car's motor against its rev limiter, releasing the brakes and dumping it into gear on the signal to start, performing a decent burnout in the process. Moving to the left for a clear path, the driver only glanced at the tachometer as the burnout start caused the needle to swing towards the red zone with surprising speed. Shifting and driving onto the sidewalk, he continued to gain speed as the entire pack merged into the oncoming lanes, sliding into first place before turning into a wide right corner and shifting into third.
Keeping the accelerator floored and taking a wide line to avoid getting tangled up with the other three cars, the driver smoothed out in the oncoming lanes, easily avoiding a car traveling in the outer lane, before moving into the same-way lane when the median separating the two directions temporarily vanished for an intersection. By now, he was going 83 miles per hour.
When the route turned left to form another wide turn, the brown bat pony cut to the inside, briefly driving on the sidewalk, before noticing an oncoming pickup truck approaching the intersection ahead. Rather than risk colliding with it by going in the oncoming lane, Night chose to stay in the same-way lane, speeding by it as a wide right turn approached while he topped 90 miles per hour. Taking a tighter line than in the very first corner, he briefly eased off the throttle to get the car to turn sharper, managing a brief power slide.
Ahead, another left corner loomed, this one noticeably narrower than the previous ones. The driver charged through at full speed, only downshifting to third to keep the engine pushing with as much as it had. It was shortly after this that the route split into two ways: one going to the right around a parking garage, the other going almost straight across the cobblestone that sat between the garage and the stadium. Naturally, he took the straight, shorter route.
After passing by the parking garage, it briefly connected with the asphalt again before branching off into its own path, once again offering a shorter, faster alternative to a sharp corner. Again, Night took it, only to narrowly avoid blindsiding a brown SUV when getting back onto the asphalt. After moving to the outer edge of the road, the brown bat pony aimed for the inside line of a sharp left-hander, getting alarmingly close to an oncoming car just before the corner.
All of this and he hadn't flinched the slightest bit.
Concentrating silently, Night smoothly shifted between the same-way and oncoming traffic lanes to try and keep his line as straight as possible while the road went beneath the freeway before shifting right to make room for an off ramp. Speeding past the exact same car lot where he got his new car at over 100 miles per hour, he dove for the inside of the next left, thankfully not encountering any surprise traffic. Passing a taxi, the driver moved to the right to take a better line through the right-hand corner and avoid a lime green sedan, only to clip the iron railing on the inside of the corner and subsequently on the other side of the road coming out of the corner.
But it didn't slow him down much.
Recovering, Night entered the following right turn with a quick tap of the brakes, getting the purple Nissan to slide slightly, before staying in the oncoming lane as the road curved left before straightening out. At the end of the straight, however, a delivery truck was coming up in the oncoming lane. To the driver's relief, it turned right into the street the race route went along, allowing him to enter the left-hander with high speed and clip the apex.
After passing through an intersection, the road curved right, though the brown bat pony moved into the oncoming lane to avoid rear-ending a greenish-yellow hatchback. After moving back into the safer lane, the road curved left before going straight again. The finish line was getting close. Moving with the road's subtle left curve, the driver stamped on the brakes shortly after he passed a yellow van in the oncoming lane, banging off a quick downshift as he charged through the sharp right before the finish line. It began raining again as he straightened out, and Night crossed the finish line with a 19.8-second lead over second place.
It felt good to be racing again.
[/hr]
It was time for Night to use this 240SX, now with its top speed limiter removed and equipped with an upgraded fuel system, a few suspension upgrades, and a basic nitrous oxide system (currently emptied due to the event rules), for what so many used it for: drifting. The rectangular track was extremely short, less than a quarter of a mile long, but that would make getting a high score that much tougher. Not that it bothered him.
Sitting in the second row behind a green MX-5, with a yellow 240SX next to the Mazda and a silver fourth-gen VW Golf GTI next to him, Night again banged his car's motor against the rev limiter. The starter, wielding two flares, gave them the signal, and in a flash, all four cars leapt forwards.
Entering from the outside of the pack, he yanked the handbrake and steered left, sliding across the blue and white striped edge of the road, only to lose a lot of speed when he had to avoid running into the wall. Nonetheless, when he finally exited the corner, he was in the points lead.
In the second bend, the driver entered at a higher speed and again started by sliding across the striped edge for bonus points; he managed to score a little over 2,500 points in that one slide, enough to give him a big lead over second place, though he still lost a fair amount of speed during the drift.
Lap two. Enter the first corner with good speed and slide across the bonus zone, but this time keep the car's speed up. Finally running neck-and-neck with the MX-5 and very close to the Golf's rear bumper, he managed to score high in the second turn, with an accidental bump from the little green Mazda sending the score over 5,000, bolstered by scoring about 3,000 additional points by sliding on the bonus zone on the outer edge of the track.
Final lap. The purple Nissan performed another respectable drift, and though its driver accidentally bumped the MX-5, by now his score was high enough for it to not make a difference. Taking the inner line, Night pulled a decent slide made better by bonus points, before crossing the finish line along with the Mazda.
He had crushed it with a final score of 22,320 points.
[/hr]
After stopping by the performance parts superstore and installing a short throw shift kit, lightweight flywheel, and stronger differential on his car and changing the final drive ratio for quicker acceleration, Night headed to the industrial park for a Street X race. It was certainly going to be tricky, but for him, that only made it more exciting.
He lined up next to an orange 240SX, both behind a pair of three-door Ford Focuses, one yellow, the other orange or pink; the lighting made it difficult to tell. At the signal, the brown bat pony dropped his car into gear and charged off the line, nudging the yellow Focus in front of him.
As the pack inched away, Night took aim at the inside of the first turn, a left. When the bunched-together cars went wide, he carved along the inside line and slipped into the lead. On the second turn, also a left, he hugged the wall and increased his lead, crossing the finish line and entering lap two.
With no other cars to potentially mess up his trajectory, the silent driver gave a quick tap of the brakes before taking a very effective line through the corner and further stretching out his lead. Hurtling down the second straight, pedal to the metal, he gave the brakes another quick tap while steering as hard to the left as possible, the purple Nissan tracking through the corner smoothly and close to perfectly before crossing a black and white checkered line on the ground.
Final lap; rinse and repeat. Night thought as the first corner rapidly approached. Taking a slightly different line, the brown bat pony clipped both apexes and followed a neat path on exit. Just one more corner to go. Carving through with ease, the driver crossed the finish line a 47.16 seconds after the race started, with an 8.53-second gap between him and second place.
That meant there was just one more race left: a Drag.
[/hr]
This one was slightly over a mile long, but the traffic to contend with would make it harder. It was a good thing, then, that Night had already removed his car's top speed limiter, added power, and further reduced 0-60 and 0-100 times by shortening the final drive.
As per Drag race rules, all four cars lined up side-by-side to ensure an even start, and though the brown bat pony could clearly see the pinkish-purple 2000 Honda Civic Si on his left, it blocked his view of all the other cars.
Meh. It's not like I'll hang back just to see what my opponents are driving.
As the starter held her arms out, Night revved his car's engine to its perfect launch point; when the go signal was given, he put it into gear and floored it, only to realize that he had revved a bit too high. Despite this, he sprinted off the line faster than his opponents, and still perfectly timed his 1-2 upshift. The driver had topped 70 miles per hour when he approached a traffic vehicle on his left.
Shift. It was too early, but not early enough to harm his speed. He was soon traveling north of 100 miles per hour, moving one lane to the left to avoid a traffic vehicle he spotted up ahead.
Shift, this one perfectly timed.
Don't look back, just keep the accelerator mashed against the floorboard.
He moved back into the right lane to avoid another traffic vehicle.
Shift. Use some nitrous to widen the gap a bit, but watched the tachometer; he couldn't win if he blew his engine. Night moved to the left to avoid another traffic vehicle, then used a little more nitrous when the road sloped upwards. He kept going at full tilt until he crossed the finish line.
The gap between him and the second place car, a Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V, ended up being a click less than two seconds, while a Mazda MX-5 finished third, and the Civic didn't finish at all because its driver blew the motor. The brown bat pony had hoped the gap would've been bigger, but a win was still a win.
And the best news came shortly after.
[/hr]
"Hey man, you've been generating a pretty good buzz out there!" Pinks said after the crowd departed. "Looks like a few companies want to represent you. This qualifies you for the Underground Racing League Tommy told you about."
Night raised an eyebrow in interest.
"No streets, no traffic, just pure racing." The pink earther continued. "All of it takes place on a controlled private course. And since you've set up shop with me, I'm gonna be your agent; I'll take a cut off the top in exchange for letting you know where the best action is. Deal?"
"Deal." Night replied with a grin and a handshake.
"And before I forget, the roads to Beacon Hill just got cleared. You should check it out."
[/hr]
Six months ago...
A metallic blue Nissan Skyline charged through the streets of Olympic City, its twin-turbo straight-six sending out a howl that echoed off the buildings.
"Hey, the party's kicking! They're waiting for their star!"
A set of blindingly bright headlights belonging to a black Hummer H2 suddenly showed out of the darkness.
"Hello... ? Hello... ?"
The Skyline driver slammed on the brakes. Buildings went flying past the view through the windshield as the car began to spin, emitting a loud squealing from the tires.
SMASH
In the Hummer, the lone occupant looked in his rearview mirror at the now wrecked Skyline.
"Yeah yeah, everything's cool. I just had to take care of a... little problem."
[/hr]
Author's Note: First thing's first: I apologize for the subpar quality of the image linked early on in the chapter, but it was the only image of that car I could find on the Need for Speed wiki. Anyway, this story is finally up and running again, and I think it's better written than the previous incarnations. I don't have much else to say, but here are a couple facts about this story:
Fun fact: Night Rider's height comes from real life: I am actually 6'1" tall.
Fun fact: the mention of Night's car having a truck engine is no joke; the Nissan 240SX's KA24 four-cylinder engine was in fact the exact same engine used in Nissan's contemporary compact trucks. The Japanese-equivalent 180SX started with an engine designed for performance applications, the CA18, that was soon replaced by the more powerful SR20 motor, which is the most common engine used for 240SX motor swaps.