Part II: Gathering the Heroes.

Earth-1. Lian Yu.

On the damned island of Lian Yu, Oliver Queen aka the Green Arrow stood at the makeshift gravesites of Robert Queen, Yao Fei and Shado, with his grown up daughter from the future, Mia Queen. When Mia had first arrived in their time, Oliver had been equally terrified as he was happy to learn that he and Kara would have a daughter in the future.

However with this happiness also came sadness and anger as from what Mia had said, he was dead in her time and had missed her entire life because of whatever Crisis the Monitor told him was coming.

Mia stared sadly at the father she never got to know but had heard plenty of stories about from her mom, her Uncles Barry and Dig and her Aunties Sara, Thea and Laurel. She had even picked up archery as a hobby in his honour - even if her Kryptonian abilities made it more difficult than it would otherwise have been (seriously the number of bows and other weapons she'd broken was ridiculous. Aunt Alex and Aunt Nyssa almost pulled their hair out in frustration because of it, and had given them both more than one grey hair over the years.)

Her dad spoke, and she listened. "For a very long time, I have hated this place." he told her as he stared at the graves of the first in a long list of people he'd lost. "I think about all the people that it took from me. It would just - It would just make me so angry."

"But you're not now." she said quietly. "I'm still a little bit angry." Mia chuckled slightly. "This island taught me to survive. It turned me into someone else. Somebody better than the person I was before. Someone who was worthy of your mother's love. So, despite my feelings there are no stories about the Green Arrow to tell if I don't make my way to Lian Yu. And I'm also not standing, at this moment looking at my daughter." he says as he looks at her proudly. Yes, she was a little rough around the edges - obviously taking more from him in that regard than the living ball of sunshine that was his wife - but her heart and spirit was all Kara.

Tears rolled down the half-Kryptonians cheeks. "Thank you for letting me be a part of your story. Even if its just for a little while."

Oliver smiled sadly at his daughter, sad that he wouldn't see her grow up. "Mia, I think you're going to write your own stories." he told her and she smiled sadly. Trying to lighten the mood - something he wasn't used to doing - Oliver leaned forward and said "But do you think you could say something nice about me to your mother when she finds out about you but I didn't tell her straight away, and she inevitably kills me early." he asked only part jokingly. Kara really was going to kill him when she found out about Mia.

Mia snorted through her tears. "I could help Uncle Barry with your eulogy. He might be late all the time but he does have a way with words." she joked, enjoying the banter with her dad.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Of course Barry's still always late in the future. I would think becoming a father would change that." Seriously, he loved Barry like the annoying little brother he'd never had but he couldn't tell if his chronic lateness was a blessing or a curse at times.

Mia snorted in amusement this time. "Nora's even worse." she said as she thought of her best friend in her future. Father and daughter shared a momentary chuckle as they tried to forget their impending separation when suddenly the sky turned red!

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light forcing Oliver and Mia to shield their eyes. When they looked, they saw Lyla Diggle standing before them in a strange blue outfit. "Lyla?" Oliver said questioningly.

"I'm Harbinger, now." she said in a voice filled with power.

Oliver steeled himself. "Is this it?" he asked, but he already knew the answer.

"Yes. The Crisis has begun." she declared ominously.

Earth-1. Gotham City.

Turning our attention to local news, a series of robberies by the Joker Gang continues with seemingly no end in sight

Alarms rang in the city of Gotham as men in clown masks were robbing an armoured truck. They wielded semi-automatic rifles which were pointed at the security guards. However the guards were saved when they heard a sudden thud on top of the truck.

And what they saw immediately made the thugs wet their pants in fear.

Standing at over 6ft tall in a dark grey body armour, a black cowl over his head with two points on top that looked like the ears with a pair of white eyes clearly visible against the black and a flowing black cape. On the chest was a symbol that the criminals of Gotham were coming to fear in the three short years that it had been active.

A Bat.

"Where's Joker?!" Batman, the Dark Knight of Gotham (and known to a select few as Bruce Wayne), demanded of the criminals who immediately opened fire in his direction. Batman covered his face with his arm, and allowed his armour to take the hits with no harm to himself. Thank you, Lucius. he thought as he jumped down and began to fight.

He dropped a smoke pellet to obscure their vision while his own was unimpeded. He used this to slip in and out of their line of sight, allowing him to pick off the thugs one by one with little time for them to get a shot. It was over in less than 30 seconds and by the end only one thug was still conscious.

As he towered over the criminal, Batman heard a familiarly seductive female voice to his left. "Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy watching you work?" she asked flirtatiously.

The Dark Knight looked to the truck to see his oldest friend and ally, Selina Kyle aka Catwoman crouched on the top of it, watching with a smile on her masked face. She wore a skin-tight black and grey armoured suit, with her own utility belt for her gadgets and a whip on her left hip. Her head was clad in a cat cowl with dark lenses.

"Not now, Cat. I don't know if you've heard, but Joker is out of Arkham again, I need to find him." Batman growled about one of his worst enemies.

Catwoman rolled her eyes as she jumped down to join him. "Of course he's out again. Arkham could barley hold a plague of rats from escaping, never mind a psychopathic freak like Valeska." she said with an unsurprised snort. Her green eyes flickered to her right for a moment before she said "Well, if we want to catch him you're gonna have to catch the currently escaping clown." she pointed to the right where he saw the thug trying to run away from the vigilante and the thief.

Batman quickly fired his Batclaw which gripped the thugs shoulder and threw him into a parked car, smashing the window and sending the man to the floor. As they walked over, Bruce looked at Selina and asked in his modified voice "We?"

Selina shrugged. "Well, yeah. I'm not letting you go after him alone now am I!" she told him in a tone that wasn't to be questioned. "You know how you get when Valeska is involved. I want to be there to pull you back from the edge before you cross it!"

Bruce nodded with an understanding sigh. He did have a habit of losing himself somewhat when Joker was causing trouble. It was just that he hated the man so much that it was difficult to think clearly.

When the thug came to them, Batman focused. He grabbed the man by his jacket and pulled him up so that his feet dangling in the air. "Where's Joker?!" he demanded again.

But the thug was either brave or stupid. "Go to Hell, Freak!" he told the vigilante and tried to punch him only for Batman to grab his arm and swing him to the ground. He lay on his front as the Dark Knight held onto his wrist while his boot was on the man's shoulder painfully.

"Just a little more pressure and I could dislocate your shoulder!" Batman growled and his boot pressed down harder on the thugs shoulder. "That is unless you tell me WHERE I CAN FIND JOKER!!" Catwoman placed her hand on her partners shoulder to pull him back like she'd said she would.

The thug relented in his fear. "Ok, ok I'll talk just don't dislocate my arm!" he begged. "He's in the old Toy Factory, West of Bale and Affleck! I swear that's all I know!"

Bruce nodded. "If I find out your lying, I'll find you and I'll break the other one." he promised as he lifted his foot off of the man's shoulder.

The man began to ask "The other w-AHHH!" but was interrupted by a sickening crack as the Bat twisted his arm in the wrong direction.

Bruce began to walk away from the whimpering man when he caught the look in Selina's eyes. "What?" he asked her.

Selina shook her head. "I don't know whether your methods terrify me or turn me on." she admitted. The duo turned to get the Batmobile when the sky suddenly turned red. Just as they began to worry, they saw a woman standing not too far from them. She had short brown hair and wore a strange blue outfit.

"Batman. Catwoman. You are both needed. The Multiverse is in danger." she told them in an ominous tone. The vigilante and the thief looked at each other.

"Yeah we'll be sure to get on that." Selina began in a 'your a crazy person' voice. "Right after we take you to Arkham."

The woman shook her head. "I'm afraid there's no time." she said and, before the duo could do anything, there was a bright flash of light.

The Waverider. The Temporal Zone.

Giggling was a sound that shouldn't really be heard on a Time Ship, but it was one that had quickly become common on the Waverider. Particularly when the Legends had their youngest member on board.

11 month old Nora Laurel Allen had certainly brightened up the atmosphere of the whole ship and its crew. And sat on the Bridge of her ship as she played with the light of her life, Sara Allen-Lance also known as the White Canary, Captain of the Waverider, thanked any god listening for bringing not only Nora but her husband into her life.

It had been just after they'd killed Vandal Savage and had parted ways with the two Hawks, that Gideon had told them of a pre-recorded message to the Legends from her creator, Barry Allen aka The Flash, dated in 2024. In the message he'd asked the Legends to go Central City in 2016 to stop his past self from making a big mistake.

Upon arriving at the West house, they found Barry - traumatised from seeing Zoom murder his father in the same spot his mother had been killed years earlier - about to run back in time to save his Mom. Knowing the pain of losing family in such away by the recent death of her sister, Laurel, Sara had brought Barry onto the Waverider.

Team Flash had understood Barry's need to get away and get his head on straight, and with Wally West - recently having gained speed of his own from the experiment to restore Barry's, and been trained by Barry in that time - under the guidance and training of Cisco and Caitlin, Central City was in safe hands.

Over many adventures through time, Barry and Sara bonded over their losses. But when they encountered Damien Darhk in 1942, they'd gotten into an argument over their shared guilt over their inability to save their families and became closer than before. Barry had planned on returning to Central City and Team Flash once he felt better, but when they learned that Darhk was working with Eobard Thawne aka the Reverse-Flash, Barry was resolved to take down Thawne and his so-called Legion of Doom (which consisted of Thawne, Darhk, Malcolm Merlyn and a Time Displaced Leonard Snart) before returning home.

However they hadn't revealed their feelings for each other until a trip to visit Central City also coincided with their Earth-38 friend Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl being attacked by a being called the Music Meister (who was apparently, oddly familiar to both Barry and Kara though they didn't know why). When Barry was attacked also and trapped in a Musical with Kara, it had forced both Barry and Sara to admit to their feelings and afterwards they began dating.

The birth of their daughter Nora just a few months after the Elseworlds incident had without a doubt been the happiest time of their lives.

Sara paused from playing with Nora, and frowned when she thought of how she hadn't heard from Barry - or anyone but her team and the Time Bureau - for months. And any time they tried to go to the present day, they were always knocked off course. Sara was worried and she wasn't the only one.

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden and powerful Time Quake which caused alarms to go haywire. "What the hell?!" Sara shouted as she rocked the scared and crying Nora to try to calm her down.

"Took the words right out of our mouths Cap'n!" said her friend and teammate Nate Heywood aka Steel, the teams Historian.

"What the Hell was that?!" another voice growled. This one was Mick Rory aka Heatwave, a former Arsonist and criminal yet now one Sara's most trusted friends. He also seemed to be Nora's favourite uncle.

"Another Time Quake?" A third voice asked in an equally worried and excited tone. This was Ray Palmer aka the Atom, the teams resident genius.

Sara had finally managed to calm Nora down. "If it was one, I've never known one so big." she turned to the ships AI, Gideon for answers "Gideon, what the hell was that?"

"That Captain Lance, was a Time Quake caused by an Aberration of unprecedented proportions." Gideon replied bluntly.

The Legends looked at each other with worry (well, Sara, Ray and Nate did. Mick just took a long gulp of his beer). "What's the Aberration?" Ray asked the AI. Sara felt her heart tighten with fear at what they were about to hear.

Gideon didn't disappoint. "On December 10th 2019, the entire Universe was completely obliterated by a wave of Antimatter." she told them making their eyes widen in horror - even Mick stopped drinking.

Sara was at a loss for words. What happened to Barry? To Oliver? To all her friends back home? "How is that possible?!" she demanded. Nora whimpered in her mother's arms, as though she understood what was going on and was worried about her daddy.

"Unknown, Captain." Gideon told her apologetically. "I am having difficulty scanning the Time stream due to the Antimatter."

The White Canary tried to focus. "Okay we need to get to 2019, now!" she said, just as a white portal opened in the Waverider. It was their friend and ally, Ava Sharpe Director of the Time Bureau. And from the looks of they could see of the Bureau, it was chaos. In fact Ava looked absolutely terrified.

"It wasn't us this time!" Nate told her before Ava could blame the Legends.

Even in her panic, Ava rolled her eyes. "Even you idiots couldn't cause a disaster of this magnitude." she told them definitively. "The whole future has just been completely erased. There isn't even any alternate timelines, they're all just... gone!"

Sara wallowed down her fear as she asked "What about us? Are we safe in the Time Stream?" she held tighter to her little girl as though she'd vanish any moment.

Ava shrugged. "I honestly don't know for certain." she admitted. "I think as long as we don't try to go further than December 2019, you'll be okay but I have entire squads of Agents evacuating into the timeline to escape this... Crisis for lack of a better word."

Sara blinked as a memory flickered in her mind. "Say that again." she told Ava. "The last part specifically." the former assassin amended.

The Clone Director blinked before repeating her words. "I said 'to escape this Crisis for lack of a better word."

Sara went as white as her name. "Last year while I was pregnant with Nora, a crazy doctor used a Reality rewriting book to swap Barry and Oliver's lives, so that Oliver was the Flash and Barry was the Green Arrow." she revealed. "We learned that he got the book from some being that called himself 'The Monitor' who told us that he was preparing our Earth for a 'Crisis' that was coming."

They all looked at each other with worry as Nora whimpered. "So you think that this is the Crisis he spoke of?" Ray asked, fearful of the answer.

Sara nodded and shrugged at the same time but before she could speak, Gideon interrupted. "I would have to say yes, Dr Palmer, as in my search for more information on this event I have found a newspaper article from another such event from an alternate timeline that mentions a 'Crisis' of this level." The AI revealed to her crew, even her voice was filled with worry.

This drew attention from everyone. As they gathered around Sara - thinking that any info they had on this thing would help - said "Show us Gideon."

Instantly above the centre console, a hologram of a newspaper appeared and instantly, Sara was filled with dread at the headline.

Flash Missing!

Vanishes in Crisis!

by Iris West-Allen

April 25th 2024.

And under the headline was a photo of Sara's husband, in his bright red suit. She ignored the name on the by-line - she knew that Barry had once had a crush on Iris before he realised that he loved he like a sister, so it wasn't surprising that in some timeline they'd actually gotten together - and focused more on the headline and date. "'Vanishes in Crisis.'" Sara read before exclaiming "What the hell happened?!"

"Unknown, Captain." Gideon admitted, worried for both her creator and captain. "This is the only record I can find of this event ever actually happening."

Sara swallowed before mentally putting on her Captain's hat. "Okay I need to talk to my husband, since I get the feeling he'll know about this." she turned to Ava and asked the other blond bad-ass "Since it's probably a bad idea to take the Waverider out of the Temporal Zone, can you open a Time Portal to Central City, December 8th 2019 for me?"

Ava nodded, worried for her friend. "I can, but I strongly recommend that you don't go alone." she told the Captain of the Legends.

Before Sara could speak, Ray stepped up. "And she wont be, because I'll be going with her." he volunteered. Sara looked at him with surprise and the Atom shrugged. "Barry's my friend. You're my Captain. I'll be damned if I let you guys face this thing without me at your backs." he told her in a tone that said he wasn't going to be dissuaded.

Recognising this, Sara smiled thankfully. "Thank you, Ray." she said gladly. "Well if your coming then get your suit." Ray nodded and left, but not before sharing nods of respect with Mick and Nate.

As he left the bridge, Sara turned to the other two men. "Before you guys can volunteer to join us, I have a far more important job for you." she told the Arsonist and the Historian.

"Which is?" Mick asked, trying his best to look bored and indifferent but Sara saw through it. They were therefore shocked when Sara placed Nora into her Uncle Mick's arms. Instantly the girl smiled, before curling up in her Uncle Mick's warm arms and fell asleep. Mick smiled at her.

Sara smiled at Nora's usual reaction to Mick. She then got serious. "I need you two to look after Nora, no matter what happens, okay? You keep her safe!" she told them.

Nate nodded understanding the importance of what Sara was asking of them. "Don't worry, Sara." he said confidently.

"Yeah, little Sparky is gonna be just fine with us." he told her as he smiled at the snoozing baby.

Sara smiled with tears in her eyes, glad she had such good friends.

Earth-1. Central City.

As Red Skies descended over Central City, a red blur shot through the city with a trail of pale blue and yellow lightning in its wake. If one could listen at Super Speed they'd be able to hear the voice of Barry Allen aka The Flash trying to contact his team. "Cisco, what have you got? Is this an isolated event? Is it everywhere?" he asked rapidly before coming to a stop, revealing the flash in his red suit with pale blue piping on it (basically the season 6 suit except the piping on the sides is blue instead of yellow. It's still yellow on the bits on the arms and on the sides of the cowl) and a dual coloured lightning bolt of blue and yellow was on the chest against a backdrop of a white circle.

The Scarlet Speedster tried to contact his friends but only got static on his Com. "Cisco? Caitlin?" suddenly their was a flash of light and a large doorway of light opened before him. He recognised it as a Time Portal used by the Time Bureau. And sure enough his wife, Sara Allen-Lance aka the White Canary, and his good friend, Ray Palmer aka the Atom, stepped out of the portal in full uniform.

"Sara? Ray? Where the hell have you been?! I've been trying to contact you guys for months!" The Flash demanded, as he'd been extremely worried about both his wife and daughter, ever since the Monitor had showed up and told him that he was to die in this Crisis.

Sara blinked in surprise. "You have? I've been trying to call you for months but every time it was like there was some sort of interference blocking the call, and when we tried to visit we were knocked off course." she told him.

Not wanting to argue about this any more, Barry ran over and held his wife for the first time in months and gave her a loving kiss. When they pulled apart Barry said "I'm just glad your okay. Where's Nora?" he asks her.

Sara smiled, happy to be back in her husbands arms. "She's back on the Waverider, with Mick and Nate watching her." she told him. "The entire future was just completely erased, so I think as long they stay behind December 10th they'll be fine."

Barry nodded glad his daughter would be safe. He then asked "What do you know about what's going on?"

Sara blinked before focusing on the matter at hand. "Just what we learned from a future newspaper article. That it's a Crisis of some sort and it's happening sooner than it was supposed to." she told him, not mentioning the details in case Barry didn't know.

But when he just sighed sadly, Sara got worried. "Let me guess," he began "the article is dated April 25th 2024 and reads 'Flash Missing, Vanishes in Crisis.'"

Ray and Sara's eyes widened in shock at Barry's words. "You know?" Sara asked in her shock. "How? When did you find out?" she wondered.

Barry sighed. "I found the article in Thawne's Time Vault during my first year as the Flash." he revealed, making them gasp in shock. "I thought we'd have more time to prepare, but then the Monitor showed up months ago and told me that the Crisis was happening 5 years early. As in right now!" he told them.

Sara narrowed her eyes at the fact that Barry had known about this Crisis years in advance. But before she could blow up at him, Ray asked worriedly "What about the whole you vanishing in crisis thing?"

The Scarlet Speedster closed his eyes to prepare himself, and Sara knew she wasn't going to like his response. "The Monitor told me that on December 10th 2019, I would answer the call. And for billions to live, The Flash must die in this Crisis!" he revealed making them gasp in horror. "It's why I was trying to get in touch you ever since I heard. I hoped we'd be able to figure something out and if not we could spend as much time as possible before it was too late."

Sara was silent for a moment before gasping and holding tightly to Barry, as though he would vanish any second. She'd lost her sister and then her dad, she couldn't lose her husband too.

Ray tried to be hopeful, but he too was worried for his friend. "I-Is there any way to stop it?" he asked hopefully. His hopes were dashed when Barry shook his head.

"I thought that there could be so I went to Earth-3 to talk to Jay Garrick." he said, as this was his last ditch attempt after being unable to call the Legends. "He helped me to see the future and I saw billions of possible futures. I watched my friends and family die again and again." Barry took Sara's hands in his and looked her in the eye. "Sara, the only one I saw where you all live, is the one where I died."

At his words Sara whimpered as if she was about to cry and held to him tighter. Ray bowed his head as he realised that his friends days were literally numbered.

They were all startled by a sudden flash of light. Turning they saw Lyla standing in a strange blue suit.

"Lyla?" Sara asked in confusion as she took in her friends outfit, even as she wiped her teary eyes. "What's with the suit?"

When Lyla spoke, it was in a voice filled with power. "I'm Harbinger now. I'm working with the Monitor."

"He sent you to get me?" Barry asked as Sara tightened her hold on his hands. "Because the Crisis is here?"

"That is correct."

Barry breathed in deeply and touched Sara's forehead with his own to prepare himself. Sara steeled herself so that she no longer a wife worried for her husband, but the White Canary, Captain of the Waverider. "We're ready." Sara told Harbinger, who nodded and they were taken by a flash of light.

Earth-38. The DEO.

"Panic is rising out there." Alex said as she walked towards her sister and their friends. She then spoke loudly to her agents. "I want every available agent in the field until we get a handle on whatever this thing is." she ordered them all. She looked at her grieving sister and placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

Kara nodded that she was alright and they all moved to help the people when there was a blinding flash of light. Suddenly standing before them was a woman in a blue suit.

Instantly guns were pointed towards her, but the woman didn't seem the least bit concerned. "Hands where we can see them now!" Alex ordered her.

"Did you do this?" Kara demanded of the woman. "Did you destroy Argo?!" But before anyone could attack, there was another flash of light. And when it faded there was four new people standing before them.

The first person Kara recognised was her husband Oliver Queen, in his Green Arrow suit, standing next to a blond woman who looked vaguely familiar to Kara.

The only other person Kara knew was the man dressed like a bat, the infamous Batman of Earth-1's Gotham City (though Kara knew who he really was) and he was next to a woman dressed like a cat.

Instantly Kara ran to Oliver and kissed him. As they pulled away Oliver noticed that Kara was trembling, like she was seconds from breaking down in tears. "What's wrong, Angel?" he asked, using his pet name for her.

Kara sniffled. "That wave destroyed Argo." she revealed to his shock. "Kal, Lois, their baby and my Mom were all there." As Oliver held her close to comfort her, Kara noticed the other blond looking as heartbroken as she was.

Before anyone else could say or do anything, Batman spoke in his modulated voice. "Kara, Oliver. I'm sorry to interrupt but can someone tell us what the hell is going on? Or where we are?" The Dark Knight demanded to know.

They were about to respond when Lyla spoke. "You're on Earth-38." she revealed. She would've said more, had Catwoman not just punched her in the face.

"We were just getting that clown to talk!" she growled, sounding remarkably like Bruce. Unnoticed, Brainy turned to J'onn and asked confusedly "Why would any one want a clown to talk?"

"It's okay." Kara tried to play peacemaker from her place next to Oliver and the, as yet, unknown woman. "Because we're all on the same side."

"Are we?" Batman asked as he walked up to the Girl of Steel and the Emerald Archer. "Because, apart from you and Queen, we don't know any one here."

"But you know us, like you said." Kara reminded him with a kind smile. "And if the two of you were brought here with Oliver, then its probably because we need you both. I trust everyone here with my life, including you."

Batman looked at his companion who nodded at him. He sighed. "Fine." he said before they both removed their cowls, revealing a 28 year old Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. "Then I guess you can call me Bruce and this is Selina." he told them, nodding to the curly haired woman beside him.

Kara had to smirk when she heard Oliver grumble "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense."

The blond girl raised her hand to introduce herself. "I'm Mia. I'm Oliver and Kara's daughter from the future." she told them all, making them all look at her in shock. Kara stared at her future daughter, now understanding why she seemed so familiar to her. Mia smirked Oliver's smirk and said with a small wave "Hi, Mom."

Kara was almost speechless. "H-Hi... Mia." she said with a stutter before noticing Oliver's lack of a reaction. "You knew!" she guessed quietly. "And you were going to tell me when?!" she asked her husband as he cringed.

He was about to respond when Alex interrupted "Unfortunately while I'd like to see how Oliver digs himself out this one and get to know my niece," she smiled at Mia, before pointing at Harbinger. "You, start Talking!" she commanded.

Bloody hell. this one was a bitch to get right.

also I forgot to mention that in the Gotham timeline, Joker is Jerome Valeska not Jeremiah. After escaping Arkham with Scarecrow and Mad Hatter, Jerome - not having a twin brother - wanted to drive Gotham insane with Laughing Gas. They took over ACE chemicals where Bruce, in his pre-Batman vigilante outfit fought Jerome and he fell into chemicals bleaching his skin and turning his hair green. Bruce leaves afterwards for further training and returns 7 years later in 2016 as Batman.

His and Selina's relationship is not as strained as in the Season 5 finale, so they are partners and occasionally lovers.

Also Selina's suit is similar to the one worn by Black Cat in the Spider-Man PS4 game, except the white bits are dark grey, and the goggles are part of a full head cat-cowl. Bruce's suit is similar to the Nightwing suit in the finale of Titans season 2 but with a bat-cowl and similar cape to the DKR trilogy.