"... Pit?" A soft voice echoed around the dark stone hall. It'd been Palutena, standing beside that arched entryway leading into the Temple of Communication. Solemnly, she closed her eyes and lowered her head a little, holding a hand up close against the necklace of precious jewelry straddling her chest.
She'd been pondering everything that'd been said between her and Pit earlier in the morning. All she wanted to do was try to make him understand why he was acting irrational, and even though it devolved into an inevitable argument, hours had passed by now, so she felt ready to try and come make amends with her angel.
"I wanted to apologize for earlier," Palutena began through a sense of admittance. "It really wasn't right of me to just walk in on you like that."
Some time ended up going by while the Goddess stood there, not thinking to peer inside to see if Pit was even still in the hall. Her jewelry clinked softly; long strands of her thick green hair often whisked up in the cool breeze as she waited for a response from her young angel, but that aura of the drifting atmospheric winds became her only answer at first.
"I've been reflecting on what we talked about. This... Bitterness... That you're still feeling from the last tournament?" A quick breath left Palutena's lips as she thought deeply. "Yes, I said what I said, but I know you had reasons to say what you said as well. It's painful to hold feelings in like that for years, trying not to show anything of it to anyone else. I guess I didn't realize just how hard it's been for you until today, so I mean it when I say I shouldn't have barged in. My own choice of words could've been better too, but I digress."
More moments of silence passed, still with no reply coming from Pit.
"... I was wondering, though," the Goddess continued. "Would you feel... Comfortable talking about it some more with me? It's just that the whole morning's gone now, so I'm willing to, but only if you are."
After yet another while of waiting, Palutena figured he was simply ignoring her words like before. Sighing, she quietly looked back over her shoulder instead, observing this heavenly realm surrounding her.
That certain stillness prevailed around Skyworld like always. Its numerous distant stone structures and monuments floated amid the vivid mid-afternoon sunlight, showering across far-reaching banks of curling clouds. Every now and then, one could even spot the tiny specks of some other angelic denizens wandering around outside.
Such a strange and bleak contrast this all appeared, with the horror that was still happening down in Midair Stadium right this very moment. Then there were those burning questions: Did anybody else know it was happening? Did no one else here actually realize the sheer madness which had been going on this whole time?
Not even the Goddess of Light herself was aware, so it seemed.
"... Beautiful, isn't it?" Palutena closed her eyes and faced the sun, soaking up more of Skyworld's tranquil vista. A half-smile formed on the corners of her lips. Warm memories re-awoke from some wonderful times before, when Pit had been that energetic smasher she'd always known.
Indeed, it felt like only days ago when she'd watched him win first place in one of the previous quadrennial tournaments. Pit had earned himself both the title and honor of grand champion! He was so happy, so full of optimism. His beaming smile could've very well outshined the light of their sun.
The Goddess recalled how proud she felt of him too, but this little trail of thought was what ended up bringing the present reality right back. Now she couldn't help but go over everything in her mind yet again.
Truly, what made Pit behave the way he did this morning? What made him distraught to a point where he was acting like an entirely different angel? Could there be something else at play here, other than mere envy or regret like he'd led her to believe?
That was Palutena's reason for returning here after all: To talk about it some more.
"... Pit...?" She finally turned back and faced alongside the archway, gently asking again, "Are you in here, Pit?"
She peered around the opening into the darkness of the hall. Rather to her surprise, though, she came to realize that her angel wasn't in there.
"Hello, Pit?" The Goddess took a few brisk paces inside, wondering if he'd perhaps gone somewhere else in this huge temple. Her shoes pattered on the stone with each stride she took, until she came all the way up to the altar of observation. Some more arched doorways stood not far beyond which led deeper into other chambers.
... Oh dear... Palutena thought to herself, Where oh where did you go, my little angel?
At first she'd been so caught up in trying to figure out where Pit might've gone to, she didn't even notice how the altar lay dark. Soon enough, however, it did strike her that the entire hall felt strangely void.
Palutena glanced down to look, and got overcome with a blank confusion once she saw the altar's watery mirage showing nothing whatsoever. It seemed not even a hint of its usual tranquil ambiance could be heard either.
... What's this...? Why is-... Then, upon listening closely, the Goddess thought she did in fact hear something. As this new air started to become clearer, her emerald-green eyes slowly widened in utter befuddlement. It wasn't at all what she'd remembered from before. Those ethereal tones of beauty, joy, and excitement which made up the aura's essence were completely gone.
Instead, within the altar's blank and empty waters, there was a sense of desperation in this newfound sound. It could only be described as a distant shrill; a fearful cry which struggled ever so desperately to breach a threshold of some kind in order for itself to be perceived.
Palutena leaned further over the altar, staring straight down into those waters in an attempt to make out this faint ambiance as best she could. But then, it all hit her not long after. Her halo's aurora started glowing behind her head, illuminating the hall around her and even sending an indelible chill down her body from the realization.
The fact that the altar wasn't revealing anything of Midair Stadium, and the only sort of sound being emitted was cold and fearful, could only mean one thing: Something terrible must have happened down there.
... Oh no... No... No... A shaky breath now slipped between the Goddess' lips. She took several steps backward, before swiftly turning about face to hurry through the archway. Once back outside, she scampered across a field of velvety grass without knowing what else to do, other than this sudden burning need to find her hero angel.
Pit? Can you hear me? Palutena had to find him. She just had to. The shade of the vast temple gardens soon came over her; she stumbled up against a tall topiary and frantically kept calling through her mind:
Pit? Pit, WHERE ARE YOU?!
* Midair Stadium *
"... Yeah... Yeah, you guys?" Captain Falcon repeated himself, "I've got an idea."
The other survivors; Mario, Luigi, Red, his Pokémon, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, and Ike didn't offer him much more than blank looks at first. Who could blame them, though. That blonde-haired boy hadn't even heard the F-zero racer regardless, since he'd been so fixated on this bomb's timer which continued its foreboding countdown in front of them all.
"It's gonna be our way outta here," he followed with, yet Meta Knight was quick to question indignantly:
"... What? What idea?"
Captain Falcon struggled to stay focused, explaining, "M-My Falcon Flyer. It's parked in the main contestant hangar."
"... And?" The blue Star Warrior demanded more.
"Don't y'all see?!" Captain Falcon gave a few gestures. "If I go get it, I'll be able to maneuver right up under here next to the platform. Then you guys can all jump on!"
Meta Knight hadn't considered such a prospect, although he immediately realized that this plan might indeed be their sole ticket out of Midair Stadium. The Falcon Flyer could hold over a dozen people total, so it had to work. There weren't any other feasible options at this point.
"... Hey, Red!" Captain Falcon clamored to the trainer, "Listen, I-I gotta get back into the training facility, quick! Charizard can fly me over, right?"
Despite still feeling this sheer confusion from everything that'd transpired, Red seemed to understand somewhat. He glanced at his fire Pokémon, who'd bashed up against the side of the large metallic sphere in a desperate attempt to push it off the platform. Several times he growled loudly, shoving it with all his burly might, but the bomb wouldn't budge.
"A-Alright," Red finally called. "You heard him, Charizard?"
WHAM! The fire Pokémon gave one last strong head-butt against the thick metal casing. He turned soon after though and nodded, acknowledging his trainer's words while a brief flame blew out through his large nostrils.
"Go, now! Take him across!" Red then directed to Captain Falcon, "Get ready, hold up your arms!"
Before he could do so, a hand grabbed the F-zero racer's shoulder from behind. He swung around in surprise, only to realize it'd been an anxious Link trying to tell him something through distinct hand-motions.
"Wait, wait," he stammered a bit, making sense of what the Hero of Time was signifying. "So, ya want me to... Get your Hero's Bow and your arrows? That's what it is? You left 'em in the training facility?"
"Ah," uttered Link, nodding a quick time.
"... Right..." Captain Falcon tried to fit it all into his mental plan. "I sorta remember which bench your stuff was on anyhow..."
With that, he confidently faced the large fire Pokémon again.
"Ok... C'mon, Charizard, let's go!"
Thus, Charizard leaped into the air with wings thrashing. He flew at the F-zero racer who'd braced himself, turning around and raising his hands high. The fire Pokémon swooped down and grabbed him by both arms, hoisting his body high up off the AstroTurf. The sheer speed of this ascent took him off-guard, so he couldn't help flailing a little.
Red and the others watched nonetheless, their attention glued as the two of them soared out over the chasm. Captain Falcon's legs dangled in the air, yet soon enough, they'd disappeared through the giant smoking hole in all that rubble which still blocked the training facility's exit hall.
Finally, Red let out a deep sigh after holding his breath tight. Just about everyone seemed to do so, however it certainly wasn't from any kind of relief. It was because now, they could do nothing else except wait.
Charizard came flying back over to what remained of the smash platform, though once he landed, the survivors were all left standing here in the very center of this grim arena; anxiously hoping that Captain Falcon would follow through with his plan.
Indeed, everything was up to him now, because their collective attention had promptly shifted back to the much greater concern here:
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... The timer on this strange bomb showed no sign whatsoever of ceasing its dreaded countdown. Each second kept falling one by one, while everyone stood helpless to do anything.
Red swallowed hard when he glanced over his shoulder and saw what the numbers read on the display.
Four minutes remained.
Music: "Core Separated"
With sweat rolling down the back of his neck, Captain Falcon ran pell-mell through this labyrinth of large hallways that were half-clouded by dark, pungent smoke. Shrills of frightened voices echoed all around him at the same time, coming from every which direction. None of the stadium's elevator systems worked anymore either, so he didn't know how many flights of stairs he'd both climbed and descended in such a short amount of time.
Still, strapped on his shoulder were Link's Hero's Bow and quiver of arrows, which he'd luckily found right away whilst in the training facility. As for the hundreds of other smashers who were in there, apparently they'd gotten out. The whole place had already been empty when he and Charizard landed.
They were all on their own, though, because Captain Falcon didn't even think about where any of them might've gone to. His heart and mind were racing like never before. The only thing that mattered now was his plan.
He skidded to a halt in the middle of a junction and glanced across a wide corridor. Stadium staff members and security guards alike stood at the corner, trying their best to direct the literal floods of panicked people who were desperately fleeing for any kind of safety.
"Everybody this way! Keep moving! HURRY!" They yelled over one another in utter disunity, "Come on! This way! Out to the arrival piers! Everyone hurry up!"
What? The ARRIVAL PIERS...!? Captain Falcon balked, being the sole person who wasn't going over to follow those crowds. He couldn't help but stand there for a moment, staring. The bow and arrows quivered in his grip, for he'd caught glimpses of some individual people's faces even from this far away.
Truly, it felt nothing short of chilling to witness so many terrified figures rushing by; everyone who had journeyed over from so many different lands and worlds to be here for what was supposed to be this legendary tournament. Bodies ran covered in a ghostly layer of grey ash or concrete dust, with others bloodied from injuries. They just drifted along in this seemingly endless stampede, but then, at the same time, an even louder shrill of fear started to erupt from further back in the corridors.
Massive swarms of weapon-wielding primids were pursuing these crowds of people, attacking anything and anyone in their path. The broad, bluish carpet of the hallways became engulfed by seemingly unstoppable mechanical swathes of green, grey, black, and red.
Beyond everything else, everybody was being directed out to the arrival piers! It may have been logical since there wasn't anywhere else to go, but even so, a meager handful of transport shuttles remained out there from earlier this morning. That was just in case some attendees had to leave Midair Stadium.
Over a hundred-and-fifty thousand panicked people trying desperately to crowd out there all at once and escape, on the other hand? It must have been chaos. Pure chaos. Never in the entire history of these quadrennial tournaments had there existed such an emergency, let alone a need to evacuate everyone from the stadium posthaste.
Captain Falcon blinked just once in response to what all might be going on. A horrifying snippet of the possible scenario flashed across his mind, along with the dreadful truth that there was nothing he could do about it. None of those people could be saved.
He quickly shook his head right after and managed to shut out those grim thoughts, forcing his focus back on the vital matter at hand. Every second that passed now was costing him dearly.
"Urghhh...!" The F-zero racer muttered to himself, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, where the hell is it...?!"
He started running further along and turned the next corner, only to get met with a sight of many more groups of people standing right in the middle of the corridor. They frantically clamored for their friends or families to come join with them from other adjacent hallways.
"... Hey, outta the way! Get outta the way!" Captain Falcon had no choice but to roughly push his way past them since they wouldn't move. At long last, though, after stumbling through to yet another junction of corridors, that's when his eyes caught it: The sign directing him to the main hangar for contestant parking.
Somewhere in there was his Falcon Flyer. Captain Falcon remembered for the most part where he'd parked, but he didn't even want to be reminded of the time factor. He knew that his surviving acquaintances out in the arena were counting on him, and him alone.
"... Meta Knight?" Red finally asked the question which must've been lingering at least somewhat in everyone's minds, "Y-You said your ship got... Hijacked?! What happened?"
Of all the inquiries to throw out right now, however, this may well have been the worst one given their dire situation. Moreover, Meta Knight just struggled to recall anything, much less how he'd ended up here in this present moment.
Still, the need to know proved almost painful, so the trainer demanded again, "Who? Who was it? Who could've hijacked you?!"
The blue Star Warrior shook his head bleakly. "I... I'm not certain..."
"Whaddya mean?" Red exclaimed, "You said 'they' hijacked your ship! Didn't you at least see somebody who-"
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED," Meta Knight suddenly snapped with rage. "Those... Those primids just kept multiplying until the entire Halberd was overrun! I don't even know what they did to my crew!"
The trainer gulped in face of the usually-stoic Meta Knight's outburst. Then he wondered, "But... How'd you know those things were called Primids?"
"PRIMIDS?! I... I just-..." The blue Star Warrior froze mid-sentence, straining to align the order of events in his mind. He mellowed down all of a sudden; his weary yellow eyes fell to look at his steel-tipped boots and he exhaled deeply, sharing the extent of what he truthfully remembered:
"... Just as I got overwhelmed, there was someone, or something else. I'd fought for as long as I could, as hard as I could. They pried Galaxia right from my hands... Then they took my cloak, my mask, and all of my honor. Everything was just a dizzying blur after they blindfolded me. I saw nothing, but soon I heard a voice with this powerful presence mention 'Primids' and the phrase 'Convert the stadium', as if it were a command of some sort. I swear that's all I can recount, before... Before I was falling..."
Red pursed his lips, completely at a loss of words as to what more he could ask. He believed Meta Knight, but that phrase... Convert the stadium? What did that mean?
At this point maybe anything could've resembled the truth, though the one thing Meta Knight knew for certain was the fact that the whole hijacking happened so quick. The air between the two of them fell cold, until a devastated Mario broke the silence next:
"They... They got taken..." His eyes remained lined with tears. The others now turned to the mustached man, giving him strange stares and wondering darkly what he was attempting to get at.
"... Peach, Daisy, Zelda," he uttered. "They were-a-taken up into the Halberd. Didn't any of-a-you see...?!"
Nobody offered Mario any kind of initial response, not even Luigi or Link. They'd heard him mention the names of their Princesses, but both of them still felt so utterly shell-shocked. To try and comprehend this as well just added that much more to bear.
After a beat, however, Link did take an inevitable glum look at the back of his left palm. His Triforce of Courage had fallen dark, suddenly emitting no luminance whatsoever which also hinted at something bleaker: That indefinite connection he held with Zelda's Triforce of Wisdom was severed. None of the energy flowed between them anymore, so Zelda must have fallen out of consciousness, or possibly worse...
Then there was Ike who also stood rigidly, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. His blue eyes trembled with that bewildered sorrow over losing Lucina in the way that he did. He never even saw what'd happened to his other close companions Marth and Roy; only that they too were suddenly gone now.
All the while, stark shadows from those towering smoke columns often blotched out the re-emerged sun upon everyone.
"But I... I-I saw them being taken...?" Mario lowered his head into his hands. He desperately sought any kind of answer or a shred of sense in this harrowing aftermath.
Was he losing his mind? What if his eyes had deceived him in the midst of all the chaos? Could he have really just imagined spotting those shadowy figures carrying that body bundle high above?
No, he couldn't have imagined it. Mario had surely seen them. With his own two eyes he'd observed those taut cables extending all the way down from the Halberd, but again, the bitter truth was he just didn't know for sure. He couldn't know if it'd been those three particular Princesses, yet every one of his instincts burned with the most dreaded kind of intuition that it was in fact them who'd been taken.
"Wait..." Red was the one who finally said, "You mean... Someone actually came down and took them?"
This at least gave the mustached man something to go on. He tried explaining, "I saw these figures-a-wearing all black... They were-a-holding a huge bundle of some sort. There had to be at least-a-three people in that bundle...!"
Red let out a shaky breath. "... But, but how? H-How's that even possible?"
Mario had to take another moment, figuring how best to describe what he saw. "There were-a-two of them... They were-a-going up on these-a-long cables to the Halberd...!"
The astonished trainer glanced up and around. "But, I mean, three of the representing royalties? Why them? Why take just those three?!"
Mario said nothing more. No one knew what else to add for that matter; at least, not until Meta Knight protested:
"... You're worrying about that? What about this... BOMB right here in front of us?" He rushed up to the metal sphere's case and tried pushing with what remained of his strength. Then he glanced back, seeing that nobody else was coming to his aid.
"You saw Charizard try his best to shove it off." Red shook his head.
"Poyo," agreed Kirby. He waved his appendages in saying they had no choice but to wait for Captain Falcon.
"But, what if we all try pushing together, at the same time?" Meta Knight ushered, only to have Red's response come quick:
"It's way too heavy. If Charizard couldn't manage to do it himself, more of us would make a token difference at best."
"Pika-pika!" Pikachu seconded his trainer's stance.
Unable to argue further, the blue Star Warrior shut his eyes. His urge to try and do something, anything to help save themselves just couldn't eclipse this reality of their dangerous predicament right now. They were all stranded here and had to wait. That was that.
"You're right... We can't..." Meta Knight finally uttered through an empty sigh, amid those foreboding low-toned beeps coming from the bomb's timer.
Again, Red glanced over at that little display, but nearly choked on the breath he'd taken once he saw what the numbers read now.
Two minutes remained.
Heavy footsteps running across the concrete floor emanated throughout this vast hangar. Captain Falcon panted hard, dashing past row after row of both personal craft and larger shuttles. He couldn't help but note the exteriors of each ship which were almost all unique in their design, giving some insight on what land or world many of the other contestants hailed from.
"C'mon, c'mon... Nassazar... Lylat... Aminuss... C'mon, c'mon...!" He darted his gaze around the digital signs that hung above, hastily reading them aloud, "Parking sections by planets... Planets... Ah, Aardas!"
Finally, there it was. Captain Falcon caught sight of his prized personal spacecraft: The Falcon Flyer, with its golden fuselage and broad blue wings. It was parked in the fourth aisle over, standing out amid at least a dozen other ships.
"That's right, there ya are..." He wheezed, pulling a tiny remote-like device from his pocket and clicking a button on it. The Falcon Flyer's main side-hatch hissed open, so he wasted no time in hurrying over. Once inside the cockpit, Captain Falcon tossed Link's bow and arrows on one of the other front passenger seats.
"Ok, ok..." He then sat down himself, initiating his ship's startup sequence by pressing a few different modules. Unfortunately, the only noise that reached his ears at first was a dreaded sputter from the engines.
"... Uh oh..." His whole face dropped. Nothing else appeared to happen; no indicator lights blinked across the dashboard, nor did the thrusters make any ignition whatsoever. He tried hitting the startup sequence again, which prompted the engines to sputter a second time.
Captain Falcon leaned his head way back, utterly baffled.
SERIOUSLY? He was yelling to himself, Now of all times is when the Falcon Flyer WON'T START?!
His mind kept racing. What else could he do? How could the ship even get airborne now? Maybe one more try...
The seconds mounted, so after a hoarse breath, Captain Falcon made the third attempt. This time, though, that sputtering lingered. The engines sounded like they were right on the verge of starting.
"No, no, don't you DARE...!" He banged his fist against the cockpit wall, and through what could only be described as a sheer cosmic coincidence, it did the trick. The whole ship immediately came to life with its thrusters firing beneath. All panels on the dashboard lit up simultaneously as well.
"HA! Oh, baby!" After letting out a deep sigh of relief, the F-zero racer pretended to wince. "Please oh please don't fail me yet..."
The Falcon Flyer's engines revved up, lifting the craft off the hangar floor before it turned to face a wall of light which was the open sky ahead. Vivid white sunlight began pouring into the cockpit as the ship drifted out of the hangar, prompting the glass's automated polarizer to activate.
Captain Falcon narrowed his eyes, in part from the light's intensity. More than anything, it was because he knew that the real piece to his plan began now. Maneuvering the Falcon Flyer right up underneath the smash platform wouldn't be easy, but it was the only chance he had.
It was the only chance for him and the others to escape.
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Those red digits on the timer kept falling and falling, numbing everyone to their core.
"C'mon," muttered Red, grinding his teeth together. "C'mon, Cap... C'MON...!"
Then his concentration promptly shifted over to the blonde-haired boy, who he'd almost forgotten was even here at all.
"... Uh, hey...?" The trainer tried calling to him, although not surprisingly, nothing came in response.
The boy's gaze remained frozen this whole time, locked on that blackish-violet orb floating there in the center of the bomb's giant glass tube. Those bright, sparking arcs of electricity which held the orb in place reflected in his glossy blue eyes somewhat. It was almost as if, through the most foreboding way, the boy had witnessed something like this before.
Could he have known what this orb was, in fact? That petrified look upon his face certainly appeared telling.
"... Hey?" Red amped his voice up to a fretful holler, "Who are you?"
Finally, the boy gasped, blinking and breaking his focus from the bomb. He slowly turned around to see who'd shouted those words at him, until his gaze settled upon the nervous trainer with the other surviving smashers standing behind him. Now the two of them were making direct eye contact, so Red demanded a third time:
"Can you answer me? Wh-Who are you?!"
No matter how he tried to approach it, the blonde boy kept staring right back at him. That glint of silent confusion and dread still shown coldly in his blue eyes. His lips even parted a few times and it really looked like he was trying to utter something between breaths, but just couldn't manage to do so.
"... He saved-a-me...!" Surprisingly, it was Luigi who said something next regarding this strange boy, "He saved-a-my life...!"
Reaching over, he tugged on his brother's arm. "M-Mario... You saw, right...?! Didn't-a-you see when he came and-"
A roar of jet engines promptly filled the air and overpowered Luigi's voice, drowning out whatever he was trying to say. Sure enough, though, the gold and blue Falcon Flyer maneuvered along the stadium's vast underside, before emerging out in the chasms that surrounded the smash platform.
"Could we have cut it any closer," mumbled Meta Knight. He and the others watched the Falcon Flyer ascend unto a point next to the platform on their side where it started hovering, the rim of its broad wing barely grazing beneath the ledge.
Then that main side-hatch to the craft's fuselage hissed open and Captain Falcon poked his head out, ushering in haste, "Right, let's get outta here! Everybody inside! C'mon!"
One by one, the survivors hopped down onto the Falcon Flyer's wing. Meta Knight eagerly went through the opened hatch first, with Kirby going after his mentor. Mario, Luigi, Link, and Ike followed right behind.
"Just find somewhere to hold onto," Captain Falcon said to them as they filed in. Then he remembered, "Oh, Link! Don't worry, I got your bow and arrows. They're up in the cockpit."
While passing by, the Hero of Time gave him a quick pat of gratitude on his shoulder.
Next came Red's Pokémon; Charizard ducked his large head and lumbered in, followed by Squirtle, Greninja, Jigglypuff, and lastly Pikachu who stopped to look back.
"... Pikaaa!" The yellow-furred Pokémon beckoned worriedly to his trainer, now that he and the blonde boy were the only ones left up there on the desolate smash platform.
Yet again, the boy focused on the bomb like he'd been paralyzed in some sort of dark trance. Red was about to hop down onto the wing, when he noticed him still standing behind.
"HEY," yelled the trainer, his eyes wide with fright. "Whaddya doing?! Let's go!"
The boy glanced back at him, his stiff lips slowly parting once more. This time, however, the unexpected finally happened. A single, frail word ended up slipping out:
"... Apua...!"
Red froze where he stood and stared, confounded to hear an actual word come from this strange boy. Suddenly, CRASH! A balcony collapsed somewhere high above, tearing down the horizontal banner screens before crushing several entire seating sections beneath it.
"Wha-? D'AAGHH!" The trainer bolted over and grabbed the blonde boy by his charred sweater hood. He pulled him all the way back to the ledge, but while helping him down onto the Falcon Flyer's wing, Red caught one last glimpse of the bomb's timer.
His heart skipped a beat. Less than thirty seconds remained for them to escape; for them to get as far away from Midair Stadium as possible.
It truly was now or never.