Author's Note: Let's go and resolve the cliffhanger from last chapter, shall we? Though you might have to wait a LITTLE bit longer, as we start off going back before the collapse of Mask's Square for the last time. I hope you enjoy the chapter!
JP found himself snarling as Lucemon kept dancing between his claws, only to strike him in the face with a barrage of punches and kicks. While the act was frustrating enough in and of itself, the emotion didn't come from himself so much as it came from AncientBeetlemon's spirit. Now that he was able to access the original form of the spirit, JP could see that this was very much how the first fight against Lucemon had gone for the Spirit of Thunder. The one consolation was out of all of the Legendary Warriors, he was best able to withstand Lucemon's hits- his shell protected him better than the armor incorporated into the bodies of the other five.
Still, just because he could withstand Lucemon's hits didn't mean he didn't feel each and every blow. The one consolation was Lucemon hadn't even bothered to use any special abilities against them. His punches and kicks were still infused with light, but beyond that and whatever ability he was using to heal himself he had refrained from any of his more devastating arsenal of attacks. He had seen what the Demon Lord's Grand Cross attack could do firsthand, and he wasn't confident that he could withstand a hit that could destroy a moon. Given that the only possible reason Lucemon wasn't attacking was he still didn't view the Legendary Warriors as a threat, that consolation was a lot smaller than it sounded.
After another punch to the face, Lucemon was suddenly knocked away by a rainbow flash of light. JP immediately took advantage of the opening to fly backwards, putting some distance between himself and the angel. As soon as he saw Zoe clear away, he sent a blast of lightning at Lucemon to knock him further away. He knew the blast wouldn't accomplish anything in the long run since he had been forced to hold back and Lucemon could heal anyway, but any little bit of breathing room was appreciated. "Thanks for the save, Zoe. We need a plan to keep this from happening, though. We can't win if we have to hold back to stop from hitting each other."
"Koichi's got an idea- we'll just need—" Whatever Zoe was about to say was cut off as she was forced to use her rapier to block Lucemon's latest punch. The Legendary Warrior of Wind then flew off, letting AncientGreymon fly up and take her place. While she was by far the fastest of the ancient warriors, Zoe was also the least durable. She was the only one who was small enough and fast enough to dart in and rescue slower fighters like Tommy and JP whenever Lucemon got so close that they couldn't use their long-range attacks, so she needed to keep herself in the fight as long as possible in order to keep her friends in the battle as well. With Takuya now keeping Lucemon busy dancing around pillars of flame, Zoe took the opportunity to fly back down to where Koichi, Koji, and Tommy were working out the details of their new plan of attack.
While Zoe was returning to the huddle, Takuya was focused on keeping Lucemon distracted. After their initial rush of attacks proved ineffective, the Legendary Warriors knew they would have to fight a little more strategically. While none of them had yet used their strongest attacks, that came with good reason- as forces of nature, unleashing their full power was a lot harder to focus on one target. Lucemon would likely be able to withstand an Omega Corona attack, but Takuya was less confident in his friends' durability. As such, it would take careful planning to line up all their attacks- and that meant somebody always keeping Lucemon distracted so the others could actually work on a plan. It was a role Takuya was glad to volunteer for: while he was the leader of the team, he knew he wasn't the best strategist. He could easily hold off Lucemon while the others worked out a more advantageous plan, though, so he took as many turns of the duty as possible, only stopping when he needed to be healed.
However, while Takuya was happy to serve as Lucemon's punching bag for the sake of his friends, the Demon Lord wasn't quite as pleased with the arrangement. After dodging around a few more pillars of flame, he backed off and waited for Takuya to stop attacking with his arms crossed. Takuya sensed a trap, but he also knew he couldn't afford to just waste energy when he had a chance to recover for a bit. Seeing the Warrior of Flame let off on his attack, Lucemon let out an overdramatized yawn. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm getting bored of using you as a punching bag. I can't decide what to do, though… should I start using my attacks and end this pathetic show, or should I start holding back even more to make things a little more interesting…" The angel then smirked, and Takuya started readying some more fire for what was about to happen… only for Lucemon to fold his arms behind his back.
"Wow, a little jumpy, aren't we? To make things a bit more interesting, for the rest of the time I'm fighting you, I won't use my arms." At one point, Takuya might have been provoked into charging by that statement. However, he liked to think that his experiences in the Digital World had made him wiser than the boy he once was, and he didn't rise to Lucemon's bait. Just as well, since Lucemon chose that moment to call out, "Divine Feat!" At first, Takuya wasn't sure what was so special about the incoming kick that caused it to earn its own name compared to Lucemon's previous blows- and then a spear of light suddenly erupted from Lucemon's heel and pierced AncientGreymon's left foreleg. Takuya barely had time to grunt in pain before a great sword formed on Lucemon's other heel. The Rookie level then proceeded to go into a strange midair dance, making it very difficult for Takuya to judge the trajectory of the various incoming slashes and stabs from the blades coming from the angel's feet.
Takuya wasn't able to get away from the attacks until Koji flew up and placed himself between the Warrior of Flame and the Demon Lord. Lucemon's attack hit AncientGarurumon- only to have no effect. The Warrior of Light just smirked at Lucemon. "Sorry, but you'll have to try a bit harder than that if you want to hurt me with light. Sharpness Claymore!" As the lupine warrior started trading blows with the angel, Takuya landed near the others and received a welcome relief as one of the healing squad- he wasn't sure who- mended his injuries. He then noticed Tommy, JP, and Koichi were all moving behind him, and curiosity won out. "So, I take it we have a plan then?" Koichi didn't seem to hear him, but the others nodded. "We've got it lined up as best as we can. Zoe's going to drive Lucemon into position- and then you'll have to blast him. We'll jump in from there."
Takuya nodded and started preparing for his attack as the others explained the full details of the plan. It relied on a couple of unknowns in terms of how greatly Lucemon would be affected by some of their attacks, but so far the angel had let attacks hit him only to heal off the damage. If he kept up that attitude, he might try to tank all of their attacks without realize the real danger until it was too late. Takuya started glowing orange as he built up heat for his ultimate attack, making sure to position his wings to act as a reflector for any excess heat that would leak out to his friends. Behind him, he felt a slight chill as Tommy created numerous icebergs to act as heat sinks for any other spillover. Takuya hoped between that and the fact that most physics wasn't the same within Mask's Square as it would be on Earth he could cut loose without accidentally frying his friends.
As soon as he was ready, Takuya gave a brief nod and the other Legendary Warriors sprang into action. Zoe created a gust of wind that blew between Lucemon and AncientGarurumon, allowing the Warrior of Light to start flying away. As soon as Koji was clear, JP cut loose with his Tera Blaster. The massive lightning bolt was the strongest electrical attack in the history of the Digital World- and it knocked Lucemon to the ground right in Takuya's path. Before even bothering to see how much damage the attack might have done, the Warrior of Flame called out, "Omega Corona!" The attack unleashed a burst of plasma equivalent to a solar prominence that engulfed the angel before he had a chance to escape. When the attack finally ended, Lucemon was clearly still alive, but badly damaged sitting in a trail of molten rock. He flew towards the Legendary Warriors in anger, only to be slammed back to the ground when Zoe summoned a maelstrom with her Storm Gazer attack.
The wind kept Lucemon pinned to the ground just long enough for the next stage of the attack to begin. Tommy unleashed the furry of the Warrior of Ice using his Freezing Blizzard attack. While the attack normally brought the temperature down to absolute zero, in the wake of Takuya's attack it was impossible to maintain that temperature. The massive temperature shifts caused the ground to shatter, but Tommy had just been preparing the way for Koji to step in. The Warrior of Light used his own Absolute Zero attack to finish the job the Warrior of Ice started- the superlaser froze Lucemon solid. This guaranteed that the final attack of the combination could hit, as Koichi trapped Lucemon in the black sphere of his Necro Eclipse. The attack was composed of the purest darkness, and was supposed to guarantee the annihilation of any living being, peacefully granting them death. Against someone as powerful as Lucemon, Koichi wasn't quite so confident- and his doubts proved accurate as a set of white wings erupted from one side of the sphere while a set of black wings erupted from the other.
Lucemon's Ultimate form dispelled the attack, but it was clear it had left him shaken. He hunched over panting, but started weakly laughing despite all this. "You know, I really am impressed. You're all a lot stronger than last time around. That last attack was strong enough to eliminate my Ulforce- if I didn't have access to my Chaos Mode, that would have actually killed me." He paused to take a breath, and then straightened himself up. "It looks like I underestimated you. But let's see how you fare when I unleash more of my power—" As if on cue, Mask's Square shattered at Lucemon's last word. However, the Demon Lord seemed just as surprised as the Legendary Warriors at first, though he quickly resumed laughing. "As much as I would love for that to have been caused by me, it seems one of my Knights has managed to attack your human friends. And I must say, for such a seemingly weak species you certainly are hard to kill. All of Alphamon's power, and he only managed one fatality… seems like I'm not the only one holding back."
As Lucemon expected, this announcement caused the Legendary Warriors to flinch back. "Oh, don't worry; you won't be joining your dearly departed friend too soon. I want to save you for last. Of course, I can't just let you run around free, so I'll borrow some power from my Shadowlord Mode. Gehenna Spheres!" An image of the seven Code Keys appeared behind him before he launched six orbs of darkness, one for each Legendary Warrior. Lucemon wasn't sure if it was shock over his announcement that prevented them from fighting back or if they had been too tired to dodge, but the whole thing was over with minimal fuss. Lucemon turned away disappointed at how easy it had been to trap them, until a burst of fire hit him in the back. Turning back, he saw AncientGreymon facing him down, and a scowl crossed his face at how the Warrior of Flame could escape his prison. However, it all clicked into place as he saw AncientSphinxmon pull AncientGarurumon out of another sphere. He should have realized an orb of darkness wouldn't hold the Warrior of Darkness, but at least this allowed him to have a little more fun in his victory…
Jeri groaned as she pulled herself off of the ground. She was dimly aware of her hair sticking to the side of her face due to what could only have been blood and a faint buzzing in her ears, but the warmth of the egg cradled against her was the focus of her attention. Once she was certain that Guilmon would be okay, she turned her attention to the others around her. Mask's Square was completely shattered, which meant everyone was now strewn about haphazardly. Only a few of the Digimon were starting to recover, and so far it appeared she was the only human still conscious. She was trying to keep track of who was where when she turned and saw Sigma's bat-like partner launch syringes at the towering form of Alphamon- only for the Royal Knight to ignore them and lash out with his golden blade. The Rookie level burst into data in an instant upon contact with the giant sword, apparently not even having time to cry out.
Seeing this instantly snapped Jeri into action. The last time she had witnessed a Digimon die, she had shut down, and made herself vulnerable to the D-Reaper. She wasn't sure if she'd ever recover from that experience, but she was certain she didn't want to repeat it. She didn't have Takato and the others here to fight for her sake this time around. She reached for her D-Power only to stop when her hand bumped against her card case and sent her cards spilling across the ground. Only now did she realize how badly her hands were shaking as the terror started breaking through her resolve. Mentally, she berated herself for being so weak- her friends needed her, and if she didn't do anything, more would die. It would be the D-Reaper all over again- everyone suffering because she wasn't able to fight back. So why couldn't she stop her hands from shaking? Leomon said she had a lion's heart, but why could she never seem to show it when it mattered? At this rate, she—
A small tugging at her leg snapped Jeri out of her self-loathing. Looking down, she saw a badly-battered Calumon looking at her with worry in his eyes. He was also trying to talk with her, which was the first time Jeri realized she hadn't heard anything beyond the buzzing since the giant green flash knocked her to the ground. However, despite the lack of words, Jeri felt as though she knew he was asking her if everything would be okay. Somehow, the personification of Digivolution always seemed to say the right things, even if she couldn't hear them. Jeri managed to calm her shaking hands down enough for a sad smile. "No, Calumon, everything isn't okay- but things will get better." Almost as if fate was punishing her for her optimism, a shadow fell across her and she glanced up to see Alphamon preparing to swing his giant blade at her. Without time to formulate a plan, she grabbed a random card from the pile on the ground and swiped it through her D-Power, silently praying that she could even Digi-Modify with Leomon gone, and that the card she grabbed would be something helpful.
At least in the first phase, her prayer seemed to be answered- Calumon was engulfed in a flaming aura, and the surge of power forced her to flinch back. Jeri was briefly able to make out a figure wearing a black coat, and knew she had managed to pull her deck's central card- the card she had added in memory of her fallen partner and what he eventually might have been. Calumon was now within the aura of the Mega level BanchoLeomon, and he swung up his Otokodama to block Alphamon's slash. Unfortunately, for as powerful as BanchoLeomon could be, he wasn't on the same level as a Royal Knight. Between using his sword to block and the protection afforded by the GAKU-RAN coat, Calumon was able to survive the blow, but with his sword now shattered it didn't seem like he'd be able to repeat the maneuver. Seeing the leonine form driven into the ground in defeat, Jeri started regretting trying to fight back- until Alphamon stepped backwards, holding his head in apparent confusion.
Jeri wasn't sure of the cause, but it looked like seeing BanchoLeomon was affecting Alphamon as much as it was affecting her. Unfortunately, due to the very nature of Digi-Modification, Calumon only temporarily had BanchoLeomon's power, and the form quickly faded away. As the leonine form was no longer in Alphamon's sight, it seemed his hesitation disappeared as well. However, for as small of a delay as it had provided, Jeri's maneuver hadn't been pointless- it bought enough time for other Digimon to recover and join the fight. Angemon came flying in and landed a punch charged with holy energy on Alphamon's face, while Lalamon shot exploding seeds at the Royal Knight's chest. Alphamon responded by head-butting the angel away from him and completely ignoring the plant's efforts.
However, no sooner had the angel hit the ground than Jeri felt a strange popping in her ears and all the sounds of battle came crashing back- including the painfully loud snores of Belphemon. She turned to see Angewomon with her arms held in the air, extending her Heaven's Charge attack to its limit in order to heal as many in the area as possible. It wasn't nearly as effective as it would have been had Angewomon been able to Digivolve- Jeri still had a massive headache for one- but between Angewomon and MarineAngemon, everyone was at least getting the worst of their injuries healed. Angemon took advantage of this by Digivolving to MagnaAngemon as he pulled himself off the ground and immediately threw a Soul Banisher in Alphamon's face. The attack washed over the Royal Knight without any effect- but the Ultimate level hadn't expected to be able to override Lucemon's influence on a being the Demon Lord had created himself. Instead, he used the attack as a cover as he darted behind Alphamon and created a massive Gate of Destiny.
However, before MagnaAngemon could as much as open the gate, Alphamon turned around and fired another green blast. The attack impacted on the closed gate and shattered it immediately, leaving the angel unprepared for Alphamon's next move. Luckily it didn't come in the form of an attack, but MagnaAngemon wasn't too fond of being crushed in Alphamon's hand like a bug. The Royal Knight then threw the archangel back towards the others, where Angewomon was forced to catch him before he hit the ground. His place was quickly filled by MarineAngemon, who used his Kahuna Waves attack trying to slow the Royal Knight down.
While the sea angel tried to keep Alphamon busy, the DigiDestined started hobbling together as best as they could given their injuries. Joe was busy trying to make sure everyone else was in a position where they wouldn't worsen their injuries, seemingly ignoring the fact that his own right arm was hanging limply by his side. Normally Joe would be advising that nobody move considering their injuries, but as they weren't safe regardless of their position it made more sense for everybody to gather together where they had a slight chance of coming up with a plan to win the battle that put them in this situation. Of course, making a plan was difficult when Belphemon's snores were destabilizing the ground and almost made Jeri miss her temporary deafness.
Almost as soon as she thought this, Belphemon's snores dropped to around a tenth of their level. Jeri turned to see the Demon Lord of Sloth encased in a blue pyramid before a new figure appeared alongside the sleeping Mega level. It looked similar to the battered Leviamon who had just settled back down to sleep, not content to let her brother be the only one who got to ignore everything going on. The only difference was this new creature was green in color, and instead of having reptilian legs it had the legs of a SaberLeomon. The new figure roared before pouncing towards Alphamon, giving MarineAngemon and Lalamon a much-needed reprieve from the fight. Jeri tried to use her D-Power's still-functional Digimon Analyzer program to identify the new arrival, but it was as if the creature wasn't even a Digimon. The mystery quickly revealed itself, however, as a haggard-looking Anubismon flew down and landed beside her with four DigiEggs floating in the air around him.
The God Man Digimon gently lowered the eggs towards Kazu, Kenta, Ai, and Mako, who had been the first people to join Jeri's group. He then promptly collapsed to the ground, where he lay panting for a bit as the twins started asking him if he was okay. Anubismon just waved off their concerns. "I'm not used to summoning Ammit- it took more out of me than I expected. You should be worrying about the ones we've lost- with Alphamon's attack, I lost my grip on Gomamon's data for a little bit, and I was late to grabbing Chaosdramon, Renamon, and DemiDevimon. They may not be everything the once were when they hatch… and I wasn't able to do anything with Rika's soul…"
Hearing this, Jeri immediately whipped her head around, not believing what she had just heard. Rika was the toughest of all of them- she had to be okay. Any second now, she'd be dragging herself- or more likely someone else- to the rest of the group. However, as she scanned around, Rika remained conspicuously absent. Angewomon, MarineAngemon, Lalamon, and this Ammit were currently keeping Alphamon busy, but there weren't any humans in the direct vicinity. The group around her now had most of the DigiDestined gathered together, and in the distance TK and Kari were helping each other make it to join their partners. From another angle, Neo was carrying Rei in his arms, and if it weren't for the wisps of darkness emanating from her Jeri might have assumed the worst for her as well. Neo obviously wasn't in the best shape either, but every time he stumbled the members of Alias III were there to catch him- and each other.
However, it was the last group of DigiDestined who confirmed the worst for Jeri. Tai was carrying Davis in a fireman's carry, but despite his position there were still some signs of life from the DigiDestined of Miracles. The same couldn't be said of Rika, who hung limply in Cody's arms. Jeri started taking deep breaths, just trying to keep herself calm. It seemed like even after all this time, the world was still targeting her. She knew that a lot of her growth came from her time with Digimon- and now all those connections were being taken away. Takato had introduced her to the Digital World when he introduced her to Guilmon, Leomon had seen the lion's heart within her and helped her overcome some of the issues that had been holding her back in life, and Rika had taken her under her wing to teach her how to most effectively use her cards. Now Takato was critically injured, and Leomon and Rika had both been killed in action.
It only took a brief examination from Joe to prove Jeri's worst fears. She felt another panic attack coming on, but where everyone else was shaken the aspiring doctor tried to take control of the situation. "Listen, we can't give up now. Koichi died once in the Digital World, and he's still here fighting. This might not be the end for Rika. We can regroup with the others, beat Lucemon, and still come out of this okay." Mari took this opportunity to cut in. "You know, I'm done with the whole 'waiting for the best to happen' thing. Talk is one thing, but let's take action!" She held out her Digivice, and Lalamon Digivolved to Sunflowmon. After a brief delay, her Crest flared to life and Lilamon joined the others trying to keep Alphamon distracted. However, before Mari could Digivolve to Mega, her Digivice and Crest both suddenly died, and she collapsed to the ground.
Joe quickly rushed to her side, giving her a quick examination. Mari quickly woke up, but Joe recognized the symptoms from Dr. Wataru's notes. However, just because Mari was re-experiencing her negative reaction to Digivolution didn't mean that was the extent of the symptoms. Acting on a hunch, Joe started activating his own Crest. Gomamon might have been in a DigiEgg, but Joe wasn't expecting a Digivolution out of this. Instead this was a test of if he could activate his Crest without any negative effects- and when the Crest of Reliability shorted out and Joe collapsed, his hunch was proven correct. The effects of such a brief test were luckily short-lasting, but it confirmed that Mari wasn't the only one dealing with adverse problems related to the mechanics of Digivolution.
With this added limitation on top of everything else that had gone wrong so far, Joe really wasn't sure what the best course of action would be. "Okay everyone, not to cause a panic but I think we might have more cases of Mari's Digivolution problem. Medically I'd say we shouldn't Digivolve at all like this, but that really isn't an option. In light of that, we really need to regroup with the others. MagnaAngemon, Angewomon- would one of you be able to bring me to Takato? I could use your help taking care of him. Then we can grab the others and hopefully they'll be enough to beat Alphamon so we can focus on Lucemon. Until then, don't Digivolve unless you need to."
MagnaAngemon volunteered to go with Joe, as he felt Angewomon had a better chance of keeping Alphamon busy since the Royal Knight had already shrugged off everything he could throw at him. The Archangel took a second to promise TK he would be back before he grabbed the aspiring doctor and flew off. Tai couldn't help but be reminded of the fight with Piedmon where he and WarGreymon had held off the final Dark Master while sending TK and Sora out to get reinforcements. Hopefully this time around would end a little better than all but three of them being turned to keychains and being saved by a last second Digivolution.
Tai was snapped out of his musings when Davis tapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks for the lift, Tai, but I'm good now. You can put me down." Tai complied, glad to see something turning around. "Nice to have you back, Davis. Still, you should probably take it easy for a—" Tai's advice was interrupted when the DigiDestined of Miracles called out, "Golden Armor Energize!" Tai clenched his teeth at having his advice so quickly ignored, but then he realized the implications of this simple action. "Wait, Veemon can use that? What happened to UlforceVeedramon?" Davis just shrugged, but seemed more energetic than he had a short while ago. "Not sure, but the energy drain is gone so I know he reverted at least as far as Champion. Odds are he still needed my help. And if Armor Digivolution can get around a Control Spire, I figured it could get around whatever medical thing is going on."
Tai couldn't help smiling at the younger leader's nonchalant attitude. He knew Davis was taking this more seriously, but it still helped to have a leader who could make things seem more manageable than they were. However, despite Davis's attempt at levity, Alphamon quickly returned things to their previous situation when a blast of green energy sent all the Digimon fighting him flying back. The Digimon held on to their higher forms, but from the lack of movement after they landed it was clear they wouldn't be getting up for a while. Sending Joe to get reinforcements was good in theory, but it relied on being able to last until reinforcements arrived. And with no Digimon standing between them and Alphamon, suddenly time felt like a luxury they might not have.
As much as the DigiDestined of Courage tried to keep his fear in check, Tai couldn't help but keep his eyes locked on Alphamon's golden sword, wondering when it would be used against him. He only snapped out of this when the relieving sight of a giant fireball crashed into Alphamon. The Royal Knight wasn't particularly affected by the attack, but just seeing his partner's Terra Force let Tai know he wasn't out of the fight just yet. A few seconds later, a barrage of missiles flew in, exploding and leaving Alphamon in a miniature glacier.
Matt was just as relieved to see his own partner join the fray, but he didn't expect MetalGarurumon's attack to hold the Royal Knight at bay for long. "Tai, we need Omnimon!" Tai just nodded and readied his Digivice. He supposed following Davis's logic, he and Matt should be fine with DNA Digivolving- but just to be safe, he decided to take a leaf out of Neo's book and call it Jogress. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon turned into two streams of orange and blue energy that combined to form Omnimon just as Alphamon broke free from his icy cage. The black knight and white knight stared each other down for a second before they sprang forward, crossing blades with a shockwave of energy that sent Tai skidding back until Matt grabbed his arm.
Author's Note: I still feel really bad about killing Rika off. I ended up picking her because out of all the DigiDestined of the first four seasons, I feel like Rika and Koichi would be the toughest to beat in a fight just as a human. Koji already lost an arm though, so Rika become the person I thought would be most likely to survive- and thus the one that would be the most unexpected to die. That's the problem with becoming a Digimon- we saw with Koichi that if a human becomes a Digimon and dies in Digimon form, they die as a human as well. Rika essentially did what Angemon did against Devimon- she used up all of her power in one attack. It's the only reason any of the other DigiDestined are even alive right now (barring the Tamers and Legendary Warriors who weren't caught up in Alphamon's attack).
As for other things in this chapter, I wanted Jeri to still be able to contribute to a fight even without a Digimon partner. From Digimon like IceDevimon wanting to recruit Rika even after she had Renamon, I figured the Tamers were capable of working with Digimon other than their own partners (since unlike in Adventure, the partner Digimon in Tamers weren't created specifically for the kids). It just made sense that Calumon would step in to serve as her Digimon since he doesn't have a Tamer and they seem to spend a lot of time hanging out together. I chose BanchoLeomon as the Mega form for Jeri's Leomon based on the fact that we already had seen a SaberLeomon and a Regulumon, so I may as well get the trifecta.
The last bit with Tai and Matt's partners coming in against Alphamon is shamelessly ripped from Reunion. I just loved that fight on first viewing (and it's still enjoyable now) so I had to include it somehow.
There are now only two chapters and an epilogue to go for this story- thanks to everyone who's stuck with it for this long, and hopefully you won't be waiting too much longer until the end!
