Ruby's breath was driven out from her lungs as her back collided with a stone slab, dazed and concussed, she took in the battlefield.
Off to the side, Nora was dragging Ren up an evac ramp to a bulhead, the Mistralian boy still laying down rounds from Stormflower despite his ruined legs.
Over in the distance, Yang engaged the enemy in a brutal exchange amidst a sea of flames generated by her semblance keeping him occupied as Blake took a running leap off an overhang. The cat Faunus landed on his shoulders and emptied Gambol Shroud's magazine to little effect, but before the enemy could shake her off, Weiss directed a white Boarbatusk to crash into his leg forcing him to one knee as her Nevermore strafed him with its feathers.
Unfortunately, even with Weiss' efforts, they weren't able to keep the enemy down as he lashed out with his left arm catching the Nevermore off guard and sending it spiraling to a fiery demise. Quickly reorganizing, Blake and Yang began another assault, Blake leading the way as the figure slashed his arm down, his strike going right through as her form dispersed revealing it to be a clone.
And that was when everything started to go horribly wrong.
Covered in the splatter of ichor as Blake drowned in her own blood, Yang gave a wordless scream of rage, charging the figure with renewed ferocity winding up for a vicious uppercut, only to be stopped in her tracks as the figure lashed down with a savage overhead slash, sending her to the ground and keeping her there with his foot.
Weiss tried to speed up her summoning only for her eyes to widen as the enemy shot something from his right arm, a large ice shard all but bifurcating the heiress through the midriff. Slender hands clutched at her organs as she tried to stuff them back into her, but the shredded meat fell between her lifeless fingers instead.
Then with contemptuous ease, he put pressure on his foot, for what felt like an hour, but was only a few moments screams rent the air, before Yang's aura...and her skull were both crushed. Blood and brain matter bursting from blonde hair and onto the concrete. But the figure was not even looking at his most recent victim. Instead, his gaze was locked on the young Silver Eyed huntress.
"I'm sorry it had to come to this Ruby, Just know that no matter what you think of me or my actions, I will always think of you as my dear friends."
Ruby tried to gather her scattered thoughts to give a reply, but as he placed his hand on her shoulder any such thoughts were overruled by the excruciating wave of pain that came over her. First, her legs went numb, with no feeling escaping them as her blood turned to ice in the veins, then her torso followed, her screams unmercifully being cut through as the flesh around her lungs froze, preventing them from inflating.
The frost drifted ever upwards finally reaching her eyes, the face of her first friend being her last sight before her tears froze as the blood vessels inside her silver eyes burst.
Ruby shot awake, panting as she touched a hand to her neck. That hadn't been the first such nightmare she'd had in the last few days, and it wouldn't be the last. Taking her hand off her neck she noticed that it had come away covered in sweat, in fact, the entire room was much hotter than it should have been. Fortunately, -or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it- Ruby already knew the answer to why that was as she glanced across the room to where Pyrrha tossed and turned on a spare mattress.
Even though it had been weeks since the assault on Beacon, they had yet to come to terms with all the aftereffects, especially the more lasting ones such as Pyhrra's new status as the new Fall Maiden. Ruby's thoughts drifted back to the scene on the rooftop, after Jaune had left them they had attempted to follow him down the set of stairs…
Unfortunately, they had proved unable to break through the icy restraints he had set on them. Pyhrra's scroll had been destroyed during the earlier battle and Ruby's own had been lost during her ascent of the tower. After fifteen minutes of fruitless hacking at the ice that was restraining them, they had resolved to wait until backup was able to reach them. On the one hand, they didn't have to wait long, but on the other the aid that did come arrived from an unexpected source.
There wasn't much warning, Ruby and Pyhrra had already resigned themselves to the long wait by this point, and considering the events that had just transpired, neither of them was in much of a mood for conversation. Ruby had been mulling over how long it would take for Weiss to rendezvous with her after they had split up at the base of the tower when she heard Pyhrra give a sharp, almost pained gasp. The next moment a blast of heat exploded across the arena, melting whatever bits of ice had been left behind, including their restraints.
The Silver Eyed girl's gaze snapped over to her companion and widened in shock. The tournament champion stood staring wide-eyed at her own hands, small fires were dancing over her fingers, tongues of flames licked through her hair reminiscent of Yang's semblance but more vibrant. The invincible girl stood there motionless for but a few more moments before some sort of realization took hold of her as she tore off towards the stairwell, Ruby following shortly behind.
The trip down the stairs was eerily silent, broken only by the sound of their own footsteps. The previous destruction inflicted on the academy leaving only the emergency lighting working. Slowly but surely they reached the end of the steps, coming out from the landing into a spacious room that seemed to have been carved out of the very bedrock of Vale. Across from them, a monolithic gateway took up the length and breadth of the far wall, and at the base of its open doors, in a crimson pool lay a curled-up figure. As they drew close to the crumpled body Ruby noticed a small tinny sound originating from a small rectangle sat at the edge of the pool.
The duo quickly reached the puddle that Ruby suspected consisted of blood, the evidence supporting this conclusion, was the gaping hole in the torso of the figure lying in the pool, whom she could now identify as the woman Jaune had been fighting on the roof. Bile rose in her throat as she tried to find anything else she could focus on to distract herself from the grisly scene.
She frantically glanced around her eyes once again fell on the tiny rectangle-a scroll- that had been at the edge of the pond directly in front of the corpse's face, as she realized the tinny sounds she had been hearing could now be identified as a voice...Pyrrha's voice. "Alright, Jaune, just like we practiced. Follow these instructions.."
Pyhrra had ended up inadvertently activating her semblance, crushing the scroll. It was a little while after this that Goodwitch and Qrow had finally arrived and exhaustion caught up to the two young huntresses.
Ruby lay back on her pillow for a few moments, unable to fully muster the will to crawl out from under the sheets before finally, she let out a groan as she rolled out of bed seeing that it was almost time for breakfast. She haphazardly threw on her outfit for the day -she still hadn't recovered enough to really care about whether her clothing fit together or not- she then reluctantly turned to complete the last part of her morning routine.
Crossing the room she paused in front of the other mattress, reaching out she touched Pyrrha's shoulder and gently shook it.
"Hey Pyrrha, it's time to wake up, I think Ren's making breakfast today so we should probably get down before Nora eats it all." After saying this Ruby activated her semblance, retreating back to the doorway of the room as she watched her friend.
Back at Beacon waking up Pyrrha was a task that often took some time and effort by her team leader as she tended to be a slow riser. Now, none of those traits could be seen as the former champion shot out into a wakeful state grabbing for a weapon that wasn't there before her unfocused gaze honed in on Ruby and she relaxed.
"Sorry Ruby, I didn't lash out again did I?" The younger girl shook her head before she replied,
"Not today, no. But you lost control again last night." She gestured to a few smoking holes in the sheets. "Remind me to ask dad to replace that later." Pyrrha nodded sheepishly before gathering herself together as they headed downstairs.
Ren was indeed putting the finishing touches on breakfast in the kitchen as they entered into the room, Nora was seated quietly at the table having lost much of her enthusiasm since the events of the Attack. Ren motioned for them to join her as he adeptly transferred their food into several bowls as he took a seat at the table.
"Here, it's an old Mistralian noodle dish, it should be fortifying enough to get us through whatever Goodwitch needs us for today. Ruby, I set some aside for Yang if you want to try and take it up to her later, you might have more luck getting her to accept it than I would."
While Pyrrha and Nora had at it, Ruby shot Ren a quick grateful smile before she also turned to her bowl. Breakfast was a quiet affair as none of them were much in the mood for conversation, the only noises breaking the silence being the tapping of dining ware or a few requests for one of the other team members to pass a condiment.
This continued for a few minutes until a tapping was heard at the kitchen window, Pyrrha lazily flicked her arm unlatching the window and letting a crow fly in. it circled the table before it flickered, replaced by the exhausted-looking form of Qrow who collapsed into one of the open chairs causing Ruby to cringe.
"Uncle Qrow you really shouldn't sit there" The older huntsman looked up in surprise only to be met with glares from Nora and Ren, while Pyrrha's gazed remained locked on her bowl, her body eerily still. "That would have been...his seat"
Qrow's eyes widened as he quickly apologized and switched seats "Shit sorry, I know what it feels like to...lose a teammate like this." Ren set a bowl in front of the older huntsman and interjected "it's fine, we're still getting used to Jaune's absence., what's the news?"
Qrow took a few moments to help himself to the food before answering "The situation back in Vale is stabilizing. Glynda wiped out the Grimm left around Beacon although a large portion of the horde fled into the forest. Thanks to Pyrrha we've mostly gotten Vale back under control as well, although there's still a goliath herd wandering the industrial district and a few packs of Beowulf have been spotted around the docks."
He turned to address the maiden directly "We're gonna need you to go in there at some point and burn them out, we don't know exactly where they're holed up and Glynda can't divert the teams from the other zones to do a search. Ironwood would send some men but his fleet is tied up defending the minor settlements, last I heard they were down in Sumire prepping for an assault."
"I'll catch a bullhead to the docks later, I'll try and keep structural damage to a minimum since it's just Beowolves this time and not Creeps like in the Economic district." Qrow nodded in approval before the Maiden continued "what about the others? Has the approval gone through?"
"Yeah, I was going to go over that next." the older huntsman replied, a slightly hesitant tone in his words "I don't fully agree with the decision, but Glynda -and Ironwood surprisingly- authorized it, it's rare that Maidens choose to stay with their old teams, especially so in a non-leadership position. But it's out of my hands. Ren, you're now the leader of team RPRN (Rapier). However, Ruby I still don't think that it's a good idea to sign onto a new team like this, Yang is getting better and once the prosthetic arrives she'll-"
"Yang won't be coming." his niece cut in "You haven't spent as much with her as I have, she barely even eats. Blake deserting was bad enough and that was before she heard about Jaune. Even if a prosthetic arrives tomorrow it'll be a while before she's back in shape physically... to say nothing about mentally."
"We need to find Ozpin soon, from what you've told us Salem isn't going to react well to the news about Vale and if we want to stand any chance against her we can't just rely on Pyrrha's maiden powers. If my eyes do have some kind of 'magical power' in them then I want to unlock it...I never again want to be as helpless as I was back on the tower. And if we find Ozpin he might know more about Jaune"
Qrow frowned before pulling out a scroll and thumbed through it quickly before setting it on the table "I've actually been doing some digging of my own." he tapped the screen calling up a hologram swiping down a bit to reveal Jaune's details from Beacon "we weren't able to devote too much time at first but after we purged Beacon we were able to get into some of Ozpin's archives" another hologram joined the first, this time it was a list of information.
"First things first, his hometown is listed as Lutetia, but according to census data no Arc family living there, there are families with the Arc surname in Vale but they're spread out over several villages, Domremy, Patay, and Orleans to name a few. The second is that he didn't just send in a transcript, instead, he was seconded by an independent huntsman that he aided during a minor Ursa attack on Lutetia, adding this with what you told us suggests that his behavior during the incidents with Cardin may have been a way to further deepen his cover."
Qrow then swiped up another hologram showing a view of Beacon's bullhead docs and outer edge "the last point of interest is that he seems to have dropped off the face of Remnant, the cameras on the rooftop were disabled during the fighting but to exit the Vault chamber by that route he would have had to go right past Ruby and Pyrrha, the only other exit would have taken him out through a trapdoor by the landing platform but as you can see this was not the case. Hopefully, when we find Ozpin he'll be able to shed some light on this since I believed that I was the only man aside from him that could use magic. Additionally, Oz might know who this Tsaritsa Jaune mentioned is, besides the similarities to old Atlesian I haven't found any information regarding them, and that worries me. Jaune was able to take down one of Salem's agents armed with maiden powers and an ancient Grimm without breaking a sweat, and he's apparently under the command of an unknown. At least we know about Salem."
Ruby shivered as she remembered what Jaune had done to the dragon and Cinder. Having said his piece Qrow dispersed the hologram before pocketing his Scroll as he turned back to his meal. They continued to eat in silence although none of them had much appetite left after the conversation. Afterward, Ren and Nora stayed in the living room, Nora running quick maintenance of Magnhild while Ren sorted through ammo on their shared sofa bed while reading up on dispatches from the Vale front. Pyrrha retired to Ruby's room to do checkups on Milo and Akouo, having not used them much since getting her magic, despite having them repaired. Meanwhile Ruby convinced Qrow to give her some pointers outside the two currently sparring as Qrow demonstrated a new scythe form to his young niece.
Inside down the hallway from Ruby's room was a locked door behind which faint sobbing could be heard as a noodle bowl slowly grew cold on a small table outside, a scroll lay beside it, and for a moment its screen flickered on showing a picture from the Beacon with Ruby and Jaune smiling at the camera.
Teyvat
It was a beautiful day in Liyue, the sun shining on the Guili Plains, foxes played in the grass while droves of Boar passed through the landscape unmolested by the hulking Automatons that roamed the area. However, this serenity belied a tragic past and the Guili Plains was not always the natural landscape that it appeared. In the southeast portion of the pains lay the ruins of the ancient civilization that had been founded there through the alliance of the Geo Archon Morax and the Goddess of Salt Guizhong before her untimely demise and the city's destruction. As the grief-stricken Morax led their people away to find a new home many valuable items had been left behind which made the ruins attractive targets for Treasure Hoarders and others with similar interests.
In fact, a detachment of Treasure Hoarders had set up shop at a small ruin within the plain, groups of them going down into the old domains in hopes of finding powerful relics or valuable treasures. Even among these groups, however, there were differences, some members were more interested in how the history of an artifact would impact its price, for example, a ceremonial sword forged for a noble during the height of the Guili civilization would fetch quite a price from a collector with a discerning eye. Others searched for more impactful discoveries, such as the forms of currency used during the Guili era and its evolution into the Mora that was used today. Any of these finds were in extreme demand by employees of the Tianheng and any enterprising researchers from Sumeru. And others within these groups were more interested in the mystical artifacts that may have been left by the ancient gods and Adepti during the Archon War.
A team of these Treasure Hunters was currently engaged in a field survey around the Forsaken Ruins, the once beating heart of the civilization that had dominated the plains before the devastation of the Archon War. For millennia many of the ruins had been left untouched due to the seals left by the original inhabitant. But, as with all things, the seals degraded over time, and over the ages several of these locations had their seals break entirely, leaving their contents open for any enterprising adventurer who had the courage to dare the traps that had been set within.
It was around one of these recently bared domains that this detachment of Treasure Hunters gathered, the domain's seals had held strong since the peak of the Archon War and would have been sustained for another 3000 years. But the recent awakening of the ancient god Osial had had far-reaching consequences, although an alliance between Adepti and mortals had been able to defeat him it had taken time and in that time the god's rampage had inflicted severe ramifications upon the countryside. One of these ramifications was the severe weakening or outright destruction of many ancient seals and ruins.
However, due to the unknown nature of these ruins, the Treasure had elected to exercise a significantly higher amount of caution when delving into this newly uncovered Domain and sent their number down in teams of two, one such team was currently plumbing the depths of a side passage that had split off from the main section of the Domain, conversing as they went.
"I'm beginning to think going this way was a waste of time, there's nothing but dust…" a brief pause as the speaker stomped on something "and cobwebs down this route, we should have gone down the main tunnel with the others"
"And I told you Liao, this type of tunnel layout isn't consistent with how domains in the Guili period were constructed, I was hired by a researcher from Sumeru once and he mentioned that this type of domain only started appearing around the early periods of the Archon warm which means that it could have been made by one of the Adepti or even Rex Lapis himself. If we can find something crafted by the Archon himself then we'll be set for life. Now shine your lamp over here my eyes are a bit fuzzy. Hmm, definitely late Guili period elemental puzzle, hand me your lighter and flask. I think this is a simple two pyro, one hydro setup."
"I don't know about this Meng, if this was really constructed by Rex Lapis would it really be protected by such a simple puzzle?"
"If you had listened to what I was saying you would have heard me say that these were constructed in wartime, they would have used this tunnel in an emergency to arm themselves so they put a simple lock on the door so that it had some security without sacrificing speed."
After a moment's hesitation Liao handed over his lighter and a moment later a small flame flickered in the dim lighting of the tunnel as Meng gently touched the flame to two small pillars while pouring a few drops from a flask on the third. For a few moments, nothing happened before the pillars suddenly lit up and ancient gears began to turn pulling away the wall of the tunnel.
"See Meng, I was right, now come on I think today's our lucky day if we find anything, dinner is on me at Third Round Knockout. Meng, get a move on- what're you even looking at?"
Liao's companion had turned away from the newly opened path and was instead staring back down the tunnel from whence they came.
"I thought I saw something..."
Liao sighed before shoving his friend, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"You're too paranoid man, I know things have been hard recently with the Knights and the Tianheng cracking down but we can't start jumping at every shadow."
Meng shook his head before shoving his friend back as they continued onwards "you're probably right, I just need to take my mind off some of these things… speaking of which you heard about The Raptor?"
"Ha, that idiot finally got what was coming to him, a friend from Mondstadt told me he got taken out by a bunch of kids."
"Don't let him catch you talking like that, last I heard he escaped from the Favonius jail, apparently Big Sis wanted him for some job so she busted him out."
"Big Sis? Figures she'd try something now that Huang's out of the way."
"..."
"Seriously though, what's the world coming tom a few months ago all we needed about was the occasional Millelith patrol, now there're dragons flying around attacking Mondstadt and Fatui resurrecting gods, seems like everyone is just going insane."
"..."
"Hey Meng, you've been pretty quiet, what's up?" the confused Treasure Hoarder turned around only to be met with a long empty corridor with his friend nowhere to be seen.
"Meng? MENG YOU THERE? I SWEAR TO THE ARCHONS IF YOU DITCHED ME I'M MAKING YOU PAY THE NEXT TIME WE GO TO DEGUI'S"
Liao waited for a few moments before walking back down the tunnel to retrieve his wayward companion. "Jackass always leaving me behind, fucking sick of his shit" as he walked he felt a slight breeze path over his neck, he thought nothing of it as he continued on but after a few moments, he began to feel sweat dripping down his neck as his steps slowed, his legs suddenly feeling heavier and heavier.
Absent-mindedly, he brought a hand up to wipe off the sweat from his increasingly drenched shirt only for it to come away red. For a moment, he puzzled over the strange color his sweat had taken before he collapsed on the floor, in his last moments he beheld an ornate leather boot appearing out of thin air in front of him before darkness overtook his vision.
He nodded to the guards as he entered the pristine campsite, the orderly arranged tents always reminded him of home, somewhat mitigating the negative feelings that often sprung up when they were stationed so far from the motherland. Sometimes, he regretted joining the Fatui due to the long periods when he would be stuck abroad and away from his family, but when those thoughts sprang up he would quickly quash them. After all, it was due to his service that his family could enjoy a comfortable living amongst the constant blizzards of his homeland.
He stopped over at the mess tent, he had missed dinner the night before and had come in too late for breakfast but there was always the possibility that Sava had set aside some leftovers for him and the other field agents. Pulling back the flap as he entered he was met with a near-empty room, most members of their division having gone out on their assignments either earlier that day or the night before. Luckily his assumption was correct and there was indeed some food left aside, he quickly grabbed a bowl and helped himself, pausing for a moment before grabbing another bowl and filling it as well before placing both on a tray as he made his way towards the command tent.
The guards around the tent were mostly too invested in their game of cards to give more than a cursory look over as he approached, one of them sent him a greeting as he neared and to which he responded to in kind, idly noting that while he did so another of the guards had taken the moment of distraction as an opportunity to sneak a peek at his comrade's hand.
Stepping into the command tent he took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the difference in lighting from the outside. A few moments later his vision cleared and he was able to take in the layout of the room, knickknacks dotted the wall accompanied by various maps and tapestries, on the far end of the tent was a mounted head of one of those 'Geovishap' creatures that had given them so much trouble when they were first setting up here. And below the mount was an ornate wooden desk covered with various papers and manuals, seated at which was!... He sighed. before crossing to the desk and slamming the tray on top of a small pile of maps.
The sudden burst of noise awakened the man sleeping at the desk "Wha- Nora don't eat that! Oh, Iosef, you're back from your assignment, how'd it go?"
The long-suffering Iosef let out another sigh shaking his head as he pulled out a chair.
"Lord Burattino, before I give my reply, might I direct your attention to the two bowls of shchi I brought in, I haven't eaten since yesterday, and judging by the state of your desk -and the lack of dishes- neither have you."
The Harbinger blushed a bit in embarrassment as he accepted the bowl from Iosef with a whispered "thank you", he had indeed skipped the last few meals and so quickly became lost in his bowl gorging himself upon the contents. After a few minutes, a polite cough interrupted his attempts to suck up a particular long cabbage leaf, causing him to shoot a glare towards Iosef who was eating from his own bowl with impeccable manners.
"Lord Burattino, perhaps you might want to pace yourself a bit? I would not wish to be the one who has to report to the Tsaritsa that one of her Harbingers choked to death. Also, I think you will want to pay full attention to my report" as he said this he withdrew a small bundle from his coat and placed it on the desk before unwrapping it revealing an ornate teal mask.
Burattino gently took the mask into his hands, turning it around as he examined it. "..a Yaksha mask? Interesting that one would be left behind here so far from Jueyun Karst. Also, I thought I told you to drop the 'Lord Burattino' schtick, you've been working under me for months already just call me Jaune I'm not one to stand on ceremony like Sandrone," he added as an aside
Iosef hummed for a moment "If I would hazard a guess it could have been meant for the Yaksha Perveses after he completed his training. Of course, he died in battle before he completed his training and in the carnage of the Archon war, the mask was forgotten. After all, it was tucked away down an old side tunnel when I found it...Lord Burattino.."
Jaune groaned "I suppose it's too much to hope that you'll stop if I bribe you with some Dandelion Wine?" Iosef shook his head "I thought not, well I'll send this mask on to Pedrolino he might find it useful in his research." he snagged a piece of paper from the sizable pile on his desk
"As for your next assignment...there was a researcher from Sumeru named Hosseini who passed through Liyue recently. Apparently, he ran into a bit of trouble up near the Stone Gate but was bailed out by that Traveller who's been making waves recently. But that's not the important thing. This Hosseini had an item of great interest on his person, a viable fruit from an Irminsul tree. You are to track him down and retrieve it, preferably with him unharmed. Dottore has deemed him valuable enough to spare him the Tsaritsa's mercy." he held out the paper
Iosef stood up, taking the paper from Jaune's hands with a bow, but as he straightened up again he couldn't help but ask a question "What about the Traveller? I do not believe I will be able to defeat someone who defeated an ancient god."
Jaune waved off his concern "The Traveller has moved on from Liyue, last I heard he was searching for passage to Inazuma. And since we scaled back our operations in the region after Tartaglia botched his entire operation, they'll be too busy trying to figure out ways around the Sakoku Decree to pay attention to your movements."
The agent nodded and turned to leave, but just before exiting he hesitated to ask one more question "What of lord Tartaglia?"
"Pulcinella was lenient on him since Signora neglected to include him in her plans so naturally, she carries some of the blame for how events turned out. However, it has been agreed that he deserved a punishment for escalating the situation to that extent. And since he missed the cold of the homeland so much I knew just the place to send him."
Schnee Manor, Atlas, Remnant
Weiss panted, caught between clashing emotions. Anger, at the woman in front of her and what she had said about Vale. Horror and embarrassment at having lost her temper in such a public manner. Fear of repercussions, excitement at having finally performed a full summon, but the most dominating emotion was shock as she stared at the watery boar standing over the fallen woman keeping her Boarbatusk from reaching her….
"You know, I heard that arriving fashionably late was the expected thing in Atlesian society...but if I had known that you guys would start all the fun without me I would have set up a tent at the door."
And confusion at the unfamiliar orange-haired youth who was making his way across the ballroom floor as if he owned it. And considering the crowd parting before him one might be forgiven for giving some credence to the claim.
The man came to a stop in front of her just as the watery boar finished dispatching her own summon, eliciting a sharp feeling of disappointment before the stranger opened his mouth again.
"Something tells me you like to cause quite a stir, don't you...we're gonna get along splendidly. Childe, head of the new Atlesian Northland Bank, and you?"
As she stared at the hand reaching out towards her Weiss could somehow feel that her days of relative normalcy had come to an end.
Authors Note: Sorry this took so long, right after I finished the first chapter my dad went into the hospital with some heart problems and he only got out a few days ago. Due to this, I had a hard time finding the inspiration to finish this chapter. The next chapter will probably take place entirely in Atlas so I'll see you then.
A big thank you to all the people who reviewed, I read every single one even if I didn't reply to them.
Shoutout to Space and Kaeveal on the Omniverse Discord who helped me get through this. Space has a kickass Pokemon fic he published called "The Scuttling Mob" and Kaeveal writes the masterpiece known as "Giorno's Digiorno Adventure" I guess he also has a LoL fic and a BNHA one but they don't come close to it.
Peace.