Chapter Six: Courage's Chance
They were going to the moon.
The moon.
Where Courage's parents were.
Courage stood on the sidewalk, stunned. Remembering his parents, his last time with them before the cruel veterinarian had blasted them to the moon, thinking the dogs would become space dogs, superpowered dogs strengthened by living in space's tough conditions. Didn't consider the families those dogs left behind.
Like Courage's family.
Courage had found new families in Muriel and Eustace and then the Guardians and their cats. But no one could replace his parents, the times he had played ball with them, their teaching him to remain true to himself.
He could see his parents again.
"Courage!"
For the first time since hearing Makoto's joke, Courage saw the Guardians, Luna, and Artemis in front of him. People walked around the group, ignoring them.
Selfish humans. Just like that vet.
"What's wrong?" Rei said.
"Maybe we should take him to a vet," Ami said.
The world sharpened. Another vet?
"He's a human in a dog's body," Minako said. "Will a vet work on him?" She motioned toward Luna and Artemis. "Do vets work on you two?"
Courage told them that he couldn't go to a vet ever again because of that cruel vet who'd taken his parents to the moon because of his crazy assumption about space dogs and—
The Guardians were giving him that slack-jawed stare. He wrote what had happened to his parents, that his memories were distracting him. Luna read his story aloud to the rest of his friends.
Usagi hugged him. "Oh, that's so sad. I'm sorry, Courage." She looked to the reddening sky. "We're going to take you to the moon." She gave a warning look to Luna. "There's nothing keeping us from taking Courage with us, is there, Luna?"
"Not at all. Besides, once we arrive there, I don't think Courage will be concerned about your past lives anyhow." She shuddered. "Dogs on the moon—possibly with powers. I'm glad we were told beforehand, especially Artemis and I."
Courage would be so busy loving and catching up with his parents that they could turn the moon upside-down and he wouldn't notice.
"The next full moon is tomorrow night," Luna said. "It's going to be an eventful day tomorrow. We all need as much rest as possible."
That night in Minako's bedroom, Courage lay awake thinking about his parents and the times he would have with them.
Everything would be perfect.
The next day arrived all too slowly.
Courage hadn't slept, the excitement of seeing his parents keeping him awake. His heart leaped at the first signs of morning arriving, sunlight penetrating the waxing moon. The moon that would be full tonight.
When Courage would see his parents for the first time in years.
This was the one thing that he couldn't believe was happening.
Great things like this didn't happen to him. That's why there was a nagging doubt in the recesses of his mind that told him that his parents and the other captured dogs would've perished but the vet would be alive to mold Courage into a space dog.
Another nightmare in the corner of his mind was that the vet had succeeded in making his army of space dogs, his parents alive but space dogs themselves. They wouldn't recognize or remember Courage; instead of embracing him and playing ball with him, they'd attack Courage and the Guardians.
Courage couldn't worry about that, though. He'd go to the moon and figure everything out once he arrived there.
At night, the transformed Guardians, the cats, and Courage met in the park. Luna summoned some type of circle that seemed to be made of water, and the group stepped inside the circle. They held to one another, a transparent shield forming around them. Light shot upward from the circle, and they flew into the sky.
A shaking Courage latched onto Makoto's face. The only other time he'd been so far up was when he, Muriel and Eustace had journeyed to the sun inside a spaceship. The shield didn't reassure Courage. Out of the corner of his eye, Courage saw Usagi clutching Makoto's arm.
Courage peeked out from Makoto's head. The buildings, rivers, and seas below were shrinking. Then, they entered the atmosphere. Breathing never became difficult.
The Earth, a ball of blue and green, floated below them. Despite their shield and the sun being light years away, the sun's heat reached them. Courage should tell the Guardians about the time the sun's light went out. Ami would have a field day with the fact that a lightbulb lit the sun, not whatever scientific stuff she'd learned in books and school.
When he'd traveled to the sun, he should've gone to the moon to see if his parents were there. Maybe they could've reunited earlier. Or maybe he would've been disappointed earlier. Either way, he would've been set to rest.
Space was vast and silent. He didn't remember the details of being in space. He'd been focused on turning the sun's light back on and saving Earth.
The moon came closer and closer. Courage pried himself off Makoto's face and squinted, searching for any signs of life. He didn't care if his parents were space dogs and were set on destroying Courage. He didn't care if only their remains were left. He wanted to see his parents one more time.
Then, he saw them.
Not his parents, specifically, but silhouettes coming to the surface. As though they had seen the group and were coming to see if they would be rescued.
Courage's breath hitched. They all had shapes of dogs.
They were alive.
The only other parts were whether his parents were among them and whether the vet's plans had succeeded.
Courage was going to face them head-on, regardless of whether they were good or evil. He wanted to see every bit of his parents that he could, never taking them for granted again.
Then there was something else right beside Courage and his friends.
The Guardians looked at the figure, their flight stopping. As soon as they were near the moon. As soon as Courage was going to see if his parents were alive.
Floating in space alongside them was a man clad in an army general's uniform. Silver hair reached his upper back. Piercing, crystal gray eyes.
He smirked. "Hello."
"One of our enemies," Ami muttered. Courage whipped his head toward her.
Not when he was so close to seeing his parents again.
"Sailor Guardians, I am Kunzite, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, three of whom you've already defeated so mercilessly." Inside his cape, an outline of a sword was etched into the air and then solidified. He withdrew it, its blade scraping against the scabbard, making a screeching noise that made Courage want to cover his ears.
"I'm afraid I can't let you go to the moon. Regaining your past memories would be too risky for myself, Queen Beryl, and the Dark Kingdom."
Courage growled at Kunzite, who cast a raised eyebrow at him. "So, you're that mutt who's been helping to foil my plans. All those monsters I recruited couldn't stop squawking about you." He looked Courage up and down. "You look like an ordinary dog, but I won't underestimate you." He ran a finger across his sword's blade. "They had trouble with you for a reason, and I'd like to discover what that reason was."
Usagi stepped in front of Courage. "You'll have to get through us if you want him."
"My pleasure. Tell me, Sailor Guardians, do your powers work in space? Mine do." Kunzite slashed. A blue beam emerged from the blade, shot toward the Guardians, their shield. The blue beam sliced through space, making a sound like a chainsaw. Around the beam, space broke in half; Kunzite's beam was slicing space.
Luna gulped. "If the shield breaks, we'll all be done for. We'll float in space forever."
"Unless you all can get control of your powers and learn to fly very quickly," Artemis said.
"And since we're clustered in this shield," Minako said, "we're easy targets. But if we attack to stop Kunzite's attack, then we'll either break the shield ourselves, or our attacks will bounce off the shield and hurt us."
Usually, Courage would run from the impending doom, but the desire to see his parents was so strong that he couldn't run. (It wasn't like he could go anywhere anyhow.)
The Silver Crystal around Usagi's neck brightened, its light blinding. A blue light combined with the Crystal's white light. The Guardians cried Usagi's name, but Usagi said nothing.
The shield shattered. A hand wrapped around Courage's neck and snatched him from the light. Courage parted his eyes, red bleeding into his vision. The Guardians were floating in space, Kunzite's beam gone.
Kunzite glanced from Courage, to the Guardians, to the moon.
Barking came from the moon. There were two familiar voices. Calling his name.
They recognized their son.
If Courage wasn't being suffocated, he would have howled for joy. In that moment, he had the strength to grab his parents and jump back to Earth. But Kunzite was too strong for him.
"You're outnumbered, Kunzite," Usagi said. "Give Courage back now." She pointed her Moon Stick toward him but didn't shoot.
"I don't expect you to hit me while I'm holding your precious pet. In fact, Sailor Mars, I believe you need to do something that's been long overdue."
"What are you talking about?" Rei said.
"This." Kunzite jabbed a finger toward Rei. Her eyes blanked. Fur covered her body, and her nails elongated into claws. Her eyes reddened, and she slobbered.
Kunzite had tapped into the power of the weremole's bite and transformed her into a weremole.
He pointed near the moon. A cloud puffed and then faded. Shingo, also transformed into a weremole, floated in space.
Kunzite had been biding his time until he used them.
The weremoles flew toward the Guardians, snapping and clawing at them, the Guardians trying to hold them off and move closer to Courage but struggling with flying.
"I'm not finished forming my army yet." Kunzite held the palm of his free hand to the dogs. To transform the dogs and his parents. To hurt his parents again.
Courage couldn't let that happen.
He opened his mouth to bite, but Kunzite swiped down his free hand, and Courage's mouth snapped shut. He couldn't open it.
"You're not going to distract me." He swiped two of his fingers upward, and Courage's parents floated above the rest of the dogs. Kunzite snapped his fingers, and the other dogs floated, their fangs and claws growing, muscles bulging. Could they fly, too?
"Outnumbered no more." Kunzite tightened his grip on the Courage's neck. "While your friends take care of my small army, I'm going to deal with you personally." He sneered at his parents. "Well, not quite personally. In the company of your parents."
As quickly as Courage had been reunited with them, he'd be torn away from them again.
But why had Kunzite spared his parents?
Kunzite transported himself, Courage, and his parents from space, taking them to a dank cave, only one torch dimly lighting the area. Stone surrounded Courage, Kunzite, and his parents, both of whom shook near the wall.
Courage desperately wanted to hug them. Instead of being suffocated, Courage stood beside Kunzite. He didn't want to risk moving and making Kunzite angry enough to hurt his parents.
"English is your first language, correct?" Kunzite said in English. "I want to make it easy for you to understand me." He grinned, his teeth fanglike. "Welcome to the Dark Kingdom." He bowed. "I am Kunzite, your host." He put a finger to his chin. "Should I let you at least hug your parents?" Tapped his chin for a few moments, as if considering it. Courage wished that Kunzite had the heart to give him a few moments alone with his parents. "I think not," he hissed into Courage's face.
Kunzite rushed to his parents and then snatched them by their ears. They cried out. "These dogs, your parents, they're precious to you."
Courage bared his fangs. He was alone with Kunzite. No Guardians to protect him. But he'd faced things alone before. He wouldn't fail his parents again.
"It'll be better to deal with each of you one-on-one instead of all at once," Kunzite said. "Too much chaos with a bunch of dogs and Sailor Guardians. Hence, why I brought you here; you'll be the first to die." He chuckled. "Unless my little army has killed a few of the Guardians already."
Courage kept baring his fangs. Wouldn't give Kunzite any satisfaction.
"I chose incompetent monsters to deal with you and the Guardians. Some of their powers didn't work as well as I'd hoped, like the weremole's, although I'm hoping that with the space dogs' help, the weremoles will kill the Guardians this time. Other monsters acted upon their own desires instead of following my carefully concocted plans, like that fox."
Kunzite's plans weren't good if none of them had worked. Maybe he wouldn't be that difficult to defeat.
Kunzite looked to the ceiling. "The failures have angered my queen. She wanted the Guardians killed before they became more powerful. She's been watching them here, in the Dark Kingdom, and saw their plans to go to the moon. She sent me to stop them. She believed in me." He looked at Courage. "She watched me choose each of your enemies based on the potential I saw. I thought that red cat's and the duck's persistence would make them the hardest to defeat. But I was sorely mistaken in all of the enemies I chose, and that reflects badly on me and my reputation as the best of the Kings.
"I have one final plan to rid you and the Guardians once and for all, starting with you and your parents. And it will work because, as they say, if you want something done right, you must do it yourself."
Kunzite threw his parents toward the wall. Courage shrieked, threw himself in their paths, and his parents crashed into him. They barreled into the wall and then fell on top of one another. Hopefully, Courage had cushioned his parents' fall.
"Teamwork." Kunzite smiled ruefully. "No, love," he spat. "How touching. I've heard of the parent-child relationship, how the roles are reversed as the child and parents grow older. Perhaps that will work to my advantage today."
Kunzite spoke of the parent-child relationship as though he'd read about it instead of experiencing it. Was that why Kunzite didn't care about harming Courage's parents or letting Courage and his parents at least hug?
Of course. No parent could raise a child this black-hearted.
Courage found himself pitying Kunzite. The King didn't have a relationship with his parents.
The dog caught himself. Kunzite didn't have to be this way because he'd never had parents. Courage hadn't let himself distrust others because of one human.
He stood in front of his parents. He'd find the strength to protect them, no matter how powerful Kunzite was.
"You believe that you can defeat me." Kunzite unsheathed his sword, that awful screeching noise echoing. "How interesting."
Kunzite swung his sword, curved blue light shooting from the sword with each swing. Courage tackled his parents, and the lights exploded against the cave wall in a flurry of blue sparks. When the smoke cleared, a chunk of the wall was gone. That could've been Courage and his parents.
Kunzite smashed his sword's blade into the ground, a blue light covering the area in which his blade was embedded. The light traveled through the ground, toward Courage and his parents. They gaped.
"I suggest you run," Kunzite said.
Courage tackled his parents out of the light's path, but the light pursued. Courage scrambled upright, quickly helped his parents onto their feet and guided them away from the light, staying behind them while they ran ahead.
"We can protect ourselves, Courage," his mom said. "Don't worry about us."
Courage wouldn't take a chance on them in the face of danger ever again.
The light was gaining ground. Stalactites hung on the ceiling. If Courage could help his parents onto one of those stalactites, they might be able to avoid the light.
Courage grabbed his parents and jumped, hugging the stalactite with his legs. The light stayed below them. If Courage became too weak to hang on, then they'd drop onto the light.
Kunzite cocked his head. "How long can you stay like that?"
Courage couldn't hang onto the stalactite forever. He had to get off somehow and return to the Guardians.
If he defeated Kunzite, then how would he return to Earth?
It was a question he'd worry about later. Too much was happening for him to think straight.
Courage's legs and arms began to shake. His muscles weakened with each passing second. Sweat poured down his head, dripping onto the light, as much from nervousness and fear as from the physical exertion of holding his parents in each arm and gripping the stalactite. He wasn't built for this sort of thing.
Then again, he wasn't built for a lot of things, but he always made things work.
"Let go of us, son," his dad said.
Courage shook his head, gritting his teeth. He'd hold on to the stalactite for however long it took him to figure out a plan.
"We can jump to other stalactites. Trust us."
Courage wasn't sure if he could let them go.
"You may have gotten older," his mom said, "but it's still our responsibility to take care of you."
The other stalactites were close. Maybe his parents could make it.
He couldn't be responsible for their deaths. Not like he thought he was before.
Courage had to move on. They'd survived on the moon for years. Maybe…
"We don't blame you for what happened, my son," his mom said. "We never have. We never will. Believe in us."
Courage let out a breath as he let go of his parents.
They jumped toward the other stalactites. His dad latched on right away, but his mom scrabbled along the wall before she got a hold.
Courage let out a sigh of relief.
They'd done it.
"This isn't quite as climatic as I would like it to be," Kunzite said. "I'm going to make things a bit more exciting." He pointed at the light and then pointed upward. The light moved up the wall.
Toward Courage's mom.
Roaring, Courage leaped, grabbed his mom and tore her from the stalactite. They landed on the ground.
Kunzite flicked his finger toward his dad, and the light traveled through the wall, toward him. His dad dropped from the stalactite.
"Ha!" his dad said. "You'll have to do better than that."
"As you wish." Kunzite jabbed a finger at his dad, and the light shot down from the ceiling, not traveling through anything but the air, and electrocuted his dad. Kunzite laughed, keeping his finger pointed at Courage's dad as he writhed and screamed, his scream as loud as Courage's.
Not again.
Courage tackled Kunzite, bit his finger that controlled the light and electricity. The sparks around his dad disappeared, and his dad collapsed onto the ground, heaving. Kunzite lifted his sword. Courage jumped from Kunzite, letting go of his finger but also trying to tear Kunzite's finger off to no avail, the blade slashing Courage's side. Courage and his parents let out cries. Courage landed on his gashed side and then rolled onto his uninjured side. Tears fell from his eyes, the pain was so great.
Kunzite scowled. "I won't miss next time."
Courage hardly heard Kunzite over the pain. He dared a look at his side.
He was bleeding.
He'd never bled before.
He looked away. Couldn't bear the sight of how much blood was flowing out. His parents came to him, his mom saying, "Oh, honey," his dad silent.
Courage tried to stand. More pain shot through him. He whimpered. There was no way that he could fight at his full strength like this.
But he couldn't fail again.
Kunzite walked toward him and his parents. "An ordinary dog like you can't do anything to someone like myself. The only thing you're good at is screaming. And I assure you, screaming won't work on me."
Courage's parents stood in front of their son.
"We won't let you hurt him," his dad said. His mom shook her head.
"No…" Courage managed to say. He was supposed to be protecting them, like he was supposed to protect them from the vet.
Everything that was going to happen would be a repeat of what had happened when he was a pup.
His mom raised her change purse. "Keep back."
Kunzite laughed. "Or what? You'll beat me to death with your little purse?"
"I sure will."
His dad cracked his knuckles. "And I'll rip you apart with my bare paws."
Kunzite ran his sword's blade against his thumb. "I'm sure." He charged toward the dogs. His parents didn't waver. Courage couldn't let them be hurt again. Not after all this time, all the suffering they must have endured on the moon, their hearts aching for their son like his own heart had ached for them. Their suffering must have been worse than anything physical that could happen to them.
Maybe that was why they were protecting Courage now.
Everything slowed down. Even though Kunzite must have been running quickly, resolute in ending the dogs' lives in a moment, he was running in slow motion.
An opportunity.
Courage did the one thing he did best.
He opened his mouth. And screamed.
Kunzite didn't flinch.
The cave shook. The stalactites broke from the ceiling, crashed onto Kunzite, crushing him to the ground. Stopped him from reaching his parents.
Courage gasped from the effort, the pain that had shot through him as he screamed.
His parents looked back at him, glowing with pride.
His dad pounded a paw on his chest. "You've inherited the screaming trait from my side of the family." He grinned at Courage's mom. "I told you that it would come in handy someday, dear."
Kunzite let out a primal noise. "You stupid, wretched mongrel. You just won't die. I'm out of your league. I can kill you in a split second."
"Why haven't you, then?" his dad said.
"Because I've underestimated you." Kunzite pushed the stalactites off and stood. "I can understand why you've given the rest of my partners so much trouble."
Courage wished that that cruel veterinarian's plan to make superpowered space dogs had worked. He could use superpowers at a time like this.
The fact that Kunzite had pushed those heavy stalactites off without trouble bothered Courage. Not that Kunzite hadn't already proved his power.
"Now I'll end this." Kunzite slashed, and three blue arcs of light shot off from his sword. Courage and his parents jumped out of the way, and the slashes collided with the stone wall, shattering it and revealing the empty darkness outside.
Was the Dark Kingdom in space?
"Where exactly are we?" his dad said.
"Does it matter?" Kunzite slashed again, and the dogs dodged. Kunzite slashed where he predicted Courage would jump, and Courage collided with the arc of light. The light exploded, covering Courage in smoke. Courage wailed, the pain all over him, flashes of blue blinding him.
The smoke cleared, Courage on the ground, his gash burning, his body covered in spikes of pain.
Kunzite snarled. "Why aren't you dead yet? Is this another reason my partners had so much trouble killing you?" His knuckles whitened against his sword's hilt. "I'm going to do this the old-fashioned way, then." He dashed to Courage, lifted his sword overhead, and swung. Courage rolled out of the way, cringing from his gash, the sword's blade clanging against the stone ground.
Kunzite's eyes knifed, and he slashed again. Courage rolled again. Kunzite stomped his foot on the other side of Courage and then slashed. Courage flattened himself so that he was box-shaped and two-dimensional, slid under Kunzite. The blade missed. Kunzite's eyes widened.
"Why is a mere dog giving you so much trouble, Kunzite?" The female voice came from above. Courage looked. Only the ceiling was above them.
Kunzite froze, keeping his blade on the ground. "Queen Beryl?"
"I thought you were my most skilled King. Was I wrong?"
"No, my queen."
"Then why have all your plans failed? And why can't you defeat three plain dogs?"
Kunzite flushed deeply. Courage had shuffled away from Kunzite, near his parents who were in front of the second hole in the wall. Kunzite roared and then slashed, setting off three red beams of light from his blade. The dogs dodged. The beams passed through the opening and then tore space open, revealing the Guardians fighting against Rei, Shingo, and the space dogs.
"Kunzite…!" Queen Beryl said, her voice rocking the area.
Kunzite stepped back. Surprised by his own outburst and mistake.
Courage took his parents' paws, ignored the pain to make one leap through the opening. The air swirled, and he and his parents landed on the moon, the opening still there. Courage didn't know how to close it, but he was sure the Guardians could defeat Kunzite.
Even though they weren't doing so well against Kunzite's army.
Rei and Shingo had eaten Ami and Makoto, respectively, and shook them in midspace, floating near the moon. Luna and Artemis were on the moon being chased by the superdogs, all of them quadruple the cats' size. Other superdogs fought against Usagi and Minako, trading blows.
Despite the activity, Courage noticed a pile of human bones to his right.
Before Courage could ask his parents about them, a beam shot through the portal. Courage tackled his parents out the way. The beam exploded on the other side of the moon, several yards away from Luna, Artemis, and the chasing superdogs. Kunzite stepped through the portal, his sword raised.
"I won't let you get away this time."
"Courage!" Usagi shoved away the superdog she fought against, sending the superdog backward. She flew in front of Courage, landing before him and his parents. She glared at Kunzite.
"Sailor Moon. We meet again. Having a bit of trouble?"
The superdog barreled into Usagi. They tumbled on the ground, down and up several craters.
There had to be something Courage could do.
Everyone had weaknesses. What were Kunzite's?
"While you're rolling in the mud with my superdog," Kunzite said, stalking toward Courage and his parents, "I'll finish taking care of your pets."
"Courage!" Usagi reached toward Courage, and the superdog punched her arm down. "No!"
Courage had survived against Kunzite for a long time. He'd do it again.
He couldn't figure out what Kunzite's weaknesses were, so he charged forward. The only thing he could do.
Kunzite slashed. Courage jumped onto the blade and snapped at Kunzite's face. Kunzite grabbed Courage's neck.
"A grave mistake." Kunzite slashed. Courage saw the blade coming toward him in slow motion, and he remembered his parents, how little time he'd spent with them. How badly he'd wanted to save his parents from the vet. And he remembered his friends in Japan, who'd helped him try to find the cure. He remembered Muriel and Eustace. The little sympathy he'd garnered for Eustace after finding out about the reason behind the farmer's cruelty. Muriel's unconditional love.
Courage remembered everything as the blade nicked his neck. Began to slice. He didn't feel anything. Needed to hang on because he had to save Muriel and Eustace, properly reunite with his parents.
A superdog crashed into Kunzite; at the same time, Usagi grabbed Courage and hugged him to her. Looked at him, eyebrows raised.
Courage put his paw to his neck. Bleeding again. He nodded at Usagi to let her know that he was all right.
The rest of the Guardians, Luna, and Artemis joined Courage and Usagi.
"Huh?" Usagi said, Kunzite and the superdog rolling in a crater, Kunzite yelling for the superdog to be smart enough to figure out how to get off him. "Rei-chan, you're back to normal. How?" She looked around. The other superdogs were in a pile, unconscious. "And where's Shingo?"
"We finally got used to fighting up here." Minako gestured toward the pile of superdogs. "Enough to take care of them and pry Ami-chan and Mako-chan out of Rei's and Shingo's mouths."
"I managed to quickly get back down to Earth," Ami said, "find the weremole and take its hair, and give it to Rei and Shingo. Shingo's back in at your house, Usagi. In other words, we're ready to help."
Usagi smiled at the Guardians and then at Courage. "Don't worry, Courage. We'll defeat him together."
Courage's parents stood behind the Guardians. Courage jumped from Usagi's arms, landing on his feet as Kunzite shoved the superdog into space. Kunzite assessed the unconscious superdogs silently.
"Not much to say now, bigshot?" Makoto said.
Kunzite remained silent.
"You must defeat them, Kunzite," Beryl said, the voice from above. "That's your mission. If you can't, then I'll gladly kill you myself." The Guardians, the cats, and the dogs looked around.
"Yes, my queen," Kunzite said quietly, raising his sword. He rushed toward the Guardians.
"Mercury Aqua Mist!"
The mist descended, and the Guardians dashed forward, Courage with them. Kunzite sliced through the fog but, by then, the Guardians and Courage had surrounded him.
Usagi jabbed her Moon Stick toward Kunzite. "Tell me where Mamoru is," she shouted.
"No." Kunzite set his jaw. "If I can't win today, I'll go to my grave with the satisfaction of seeing how tortured you are about your beloved Endymion."
Usagi's eyes welled with tears. "Moon Healing Escalation!" The beautiful light brightened space, made it not so impersonal and cold.
Her light filled space with life.
Courage was mesmerized by the light, a light that he wished Muriel and Eustace could behold. A gorgeous, healing light...
His mouth dropped.
The cure had been with him the whole time.
Only, the cure wasn't a thing. It was a person.
Usagi—Sailor Moon—was the cure.