"So you see the problem is simple," Ayesha Ura explained patiently. She really did feel a bit upset for the young man. "So long as Exaltations are available you will lack opportunities to be heroic. To obtain an Exaltation you need a higher destiny than that of a mere mortal."

"And since I sold mine..." Charles Gunn said reluctantly, "...no glowy powers for me."

"Sadly, I'm afraid that's the case," Ayesha said. "We could do an in-depth examination of your thread, but I'm quite certain what we'll find."

"Well...thanks for your time," the demon hunter said. "I just wondered." It really was a regrettable situation. Ayesha patted him on the shoulder gently as she rose.

"You should be getting back to Gem before we move the gate again," she warned him. "We have any number of crises-" She was proven right before she could finish; alarms rang out through the Bureau, a strange three-tone dissonant clamor Ayesha couldn't place.

"Warning. A portion of the Loom has been severed. Reconnecting now." Ayesha leapt to her feet and checked the monitoring glass. To her, the severed portion didn't look so much like a slice cut off by a Wyld incursion or a large shadowland as it did an entirely separate Loom. That was completely impossible, of course. There was only one Loom of Fate; how could there be more? "Loom segment is out of sync. Failsafes are being disengaged to permit reconnection. Warning. Safety locks are interfering with reconnection. Disengaging safety locks."

No sooner had that warning been spoken thsn Jupiter herself dashed into the room, half-clothed and no doubt more exposed than she had been in a thousand years. "No! Maintain the safety locks! Asna, override that response!"

Asna's chittering voice sounded over the speakers. "Ckannot ckomply. My most profound regkrets, Jupiter. That would produce ckatastrophic damage to the Loom."

What the hell was going on? What safety locks? "Nara-O," she prayed, "do you know what is the matter?"

Nara-O responded with a quick vision-a shrug from the eternally-robed god of secrets. At least two people knew what was happening, then, or Nara-O would know.

Jupiter sank down at a vacant desk with a moan. Ayesha considered going back to her own offices elsewhere in the Bureau, then decided against it. If there was a crisis here, she was best-equipped to handle it.

She walked over to Jupiter. "Maiden, how can I help?"

Chapter 89-Ash Nazg

Tepet Ejava just hovered there for a moment. Then she began to laugh. At first it was a slow, dawning recognition of irony, such that Mnemon even hoped for a moment that she was going to apologize for a horrible mistake. But the laughter not only continued, it became a rich, full, laugh of very thorough evil as Ejava replaced her gauntlet.

Mnemon opened fire. A barrage of white crystalline force struck the Roseblack and passed through her as her form dissolved into shifting shadows that continued to laugh. "I thought...I really thought...that you wanted to put this thing on. You never would have done it, not if you knew what it was. Hell, neither would I!" For a moment the laughter approached hysteria before damping back down. Mnemon spun, searching for her enemy as their armies clashed around her. "It hid itself well, Auntie."

Vine whips lashed out at Mnemon, and her defense was sluggish, burning too much energy. The Roseblack's Wood Dragon armor ensured that. Her Anathema allies would be still worse off, their powers less efficient. She'd seen it a thousand times. "What is it?" She might be able to distract Ejava. "I found it in Mother's quarters."

"Ha! No doubt it was meant for you, then," the Roseblack snickered. "It's your mother. The Ebon Dragon fused her soul with one of his and bound them together for eternity. I can hear her screaming. It grants me all his power...and infinite release in the bargain."

Rage overtook Mnemon, and she sliced at the Roseblack's armor with the Weeping Sword of Sorrows, but it clanged harmlessly off. "I'll add your soul to theirs, Ejava! You think you can-"

Ejava hit her with a thorny green burst of energy, and Mnemon's vision went black. Another blow-from who knew what-sent her flying till she slammed into a wall. She could hear battle raging all around her, but with no idea who was friend or foe, she was...not helpless, but definitely in trouble.

"Release!" the Scholar said next to her ear, and the blackness dissipated, leaving Mnemon blinking. "Watch out for that, I've never seen it before." She sent bolts of black lightning arcing through Ejava's Red Piss troops, but the Roseblack's forces were well armored, and few of them took serious hurt.

The battle cry went up again-"Vermillion blood!"-and a lightning-shot arrow crackled toward the Scholar. She could defend herself, of course, but it'd burn her reserves. Mnemon seized her, spinning herself in between the Scholar and the arrow as her skin turned blue. The arrow ricocheted off and clattered to the deck.

"Thanks," the Scholar said, frowning quizzically. "You saved my butt."

"One good turn," Mnemon said. "Focus your fire on their leader. My soldiers will defend you from hers, and hers will be easier to break if she falls."

"I'll spread the word," the Scholar said.

Good, good. Now where had Ejava gotten to?

Buffy was not a killer.

She had burned those words into her heart with a hot iron. Buffy slayed demons; she did not kill people.

Trouble is...Buffy could heal. She did that without even thinking. Angel had been the first slender patch of healthy flesh to cover over the scab, and though she tore him away in the end, he just kept growing back.

She had, inevitably, made more friends on the other side of the war. She had, inevitably, seen others get pulled from her side and still treat her as a friend herself. Not all, of course. But some. The old brand had become little more than a dimpled scar. When she wanted to, Buffy spared demons.

And when she had to, Buffy had learned to kill humans.

Tepet Ejava didn't even prick the old wound. Buffy knew at once where her powers came from, and guessed in moments what had happened to the old Roseblack. She was hit by a burst of energy fire from Ejava's soldiers and sent flying, but she came up in time to see the Roseblack lash out at Mnemon. Buffy leapt into the air, wings outspread...

The world went black. Buffy blinked, and her vision cleared, shadow on shadow. Most of the people nearby were stumbling in the dark. Not the Roseblack, though. She still hovered in midair. Mnemon struggled beside her, caught in a tendril of shadow. As another tentacle gathered up Fred, though, Mnemon spoke one harsh syllable and the darkness evaporated, leaving the Roseblack looking baffled. She had power, but it was power she didn't fully understand.

Still constrained by Ejava's armor, Buffy fell back on what she knew best: the simple techniques of Adorjani speed, which cost her little energy or none at all. She dropped onto the Roseblack like a striking hawk, pounding on her armor, searching for panels and releases.

They weren't there to be found. The Roseblack punched her in the face, and she toppled free, eyes leaking green flame and black shadow. But she could still see Willow strike out again with her black lightnings. Tepet Ejava laughed raggedly and lashed Willow with thorns. This wasn't like with Ragara Myrrun, who could still be hit if she could get a blow in. That armor made the Roseblack all but invulnerable.

Buffy caught a glimpse of Xander coming up behind the Roseblack, energy pistol drawn. He needed an opening. She leapt back into the air, nearly getting hit by a crossfire of elemental beams, and latched onto the Roseblack again. There had to be a catch on that helmet. "I already know how to take you down, Ejava," she quipped. There it was! The helmet released. "'Cause you're the Juggernaut, bitch." She ripped the headgear off as Xander came up with the energy weapon and fired off a burst at the back of Ejava's head.

The blast struck the base of her neck. It didn't decapitate her. It didn't even muss her hair. The Roseblack threw her head back and laughed. Was there anything that could hurt her now?

Not for the first time, Alexander wished he could fly. "Up, up, and away," he murmured to himself, but nothing happened. Faith could fly; why not him?

The black beam from the blaster that Ebon Siaka had called Coffin Nailer looked as if it had just been soaked up and absorbed by Tepet Ejava. Or the Roseblack, as Mnemon had called her a couple of times since the fight started. Instead, Alexander unlimbered Wavecleaver and began to slice methodically at Ejava's legs. He'd rather have gone for her head, but this was all he could reach. It didn't look very effective, and then she got annoyed and mule-kicked him into the Terrestrial melee.

He rolled over and was just getting to his feet when Megara grabbed him by the shoulder. "We have company," she warned. "Skullstone fleet's approaching at high speed. No sign of ours."

"Did we lose the whole fleet?" he wondered. "Or did they?" Luthe was in deep trouble either way; they had to take down the Roseblack before the ship was dome-deep in zombies.

Anya came flying past him, propelled by a burst of thorny vines. She had her arms up as if she were trying some kind of block, but it clearly wasn't working; she was covered in scratches. "Crap!" she grumbled. "Female principle my ass!"

"I've seen worse examples," Megara said, and raced off.

"Sidereal martial arts are hard," Anya complained bitterly. "Does anything hurt that woman?"

"She's all armored up and has the powers of a titan," Alexander reminded her. "I'm leaning toward 'No.'"

"She isn't missing the things a lot of Infernals miss," Shadow said as she shoved her way into the crowd and grabbed hold of both of them. "We...um, they...pick and choose. Sometimes they overlook important stuff."

"The Ebon Dragon's supposed to be vulnerable to holy things," Anya said, "but I haven't had so much as a vial of holy water since I got here."

In the background Fred was slipping up on the Roseblack in a fog of shimmering light. She made it as far as launching her attack, but was sent crashing into a wall for her troubles, black ooze trickling from a gash in her forehead. This was extremely not good.

"Roseblack," Alexander thundered, thinking quickly, "I'm disappointed. I thought you were a good woman. Is this really what the Immaculate Faith teaches? Take off that ring. Don't make us save the world from you."

To his surprise, Ejava actually looked faintly troubled and removed her gauntlet. She made an effort to remove the ring, too, but it was stuck. "Drat," Shadow grumbled. "It's gone all glove-of-Mynhegon."

Alexander sighed, the voice of a thousand thunders. He had a shot. "This isn't you, Roseblack. I can show you some mercy, at least." A golden image of Buffy slashed the Scythe at Ejava's wrist.

The Roseblack's eyes went wide in alarm for an instant. Then her body dissipated into swirling leaves before the blade could sever her ring hand. She reassembled herself, then smiled coldly, not just at him but at all of them. "Do you save the world a lot, then?"

Memory kicked him in the guts. He'd walked away to get the doughnuts, Cordelia's comment ringing in his ears, hollowing him out with jealousy. It was eating him, keeping Jack O'Toole's "cake" to himself. But by keeping silent he could hold himself above the others. He didn't need their validation. He'd saved the world, and that was all that mattered. He didn't...need... His lips twisted into a sneer. What jerks.

That wasn't...that wasn't right. Buffy's eyes were far away as she murmured, "Angel..." Anya was staring in horror at nothing. Willow glared at him! What was she remembering? What...

"She's screwing with our heads!" he shouted. "I don't know what she's making you remember, but it's a lie!"

"Yes," Mnemon said through gritted teeth. "She deceives. I did not...I..."

"Such strong wills," the Roseblack sighed. "A pity they're not strong enough to dedeat me."

"Why not?" Buffy snapped. She started to lunge forward, and burning vines lashed across the battlefield in front of her.

"Well, the involvement of my troops, for one," Ejava chuckled. "But let's be serious for a moment." Buffy leapt onto the vines and charged at her. "You can't even scratch me." An explosion of tangled thorns leapt from the mess and tore into Buffy. "But I can and will cut you to ribbons."

"Buffy!" Fred shot out a tentacle and yanked the Slayer free of the cluster. "Are you-?"

"I'm good," she grumbled. "I didn't see anything happen to you."

"Never had a chance to save the world," Fred said evenly. "Didn't affect me."

"Buffy, Mnemon," Anya called. "I have a plan! Get your butts over here!"

Mnemon's eyebrows climbed into her hair, but she strode over, batting aside a volley of greenish-blue arrows with her sword. "We're in dire need of one. What do you suggest?"

"Buffy needs buffing," Anya said, and grinned. "It won't hurt if the rest of us get some help in the process, but we need to build up our tank so she deals enough damage to hurt the enemy. First step: Mnemon, do you take this woman to be your lawfully-wedded consort?"

"What? Are you seriously-?" Alexander rolled his eyes and took a moment to fire off a series of bursts from Coffin Nailer at the Roseblack.

"Yes! Roll with it!"

"All right, yes," Mnemon said irritably. "I do."

"Buffy! Do you take Mnemon to be your lawfully-wedded consort?" Shadow joined in with the cover fire, shooting flaming crossbow bolts.

"Isn't the day kind of ruined for this?" Buffy asked. If anything, she was crankier than Mnemon.

"What kind of day would be more appropriate?" Anya asked. "You're two warriors locked in combat even on your special day, because this is your destiny."

Buffy made a frumpy pouting "Humph," then said, "Okay, I do. Yes."

"Then by the power vested in me by the Maidens," Anya intoned, "I pronounce the two of you married." She ducked under Ejava's sword. "Kiss already," she said, and drove a fist covered in red and yellow streamers of energy into the Roseblack's armored midsection. Fire surged up from Tepet Ejava as her essence burned, and against that background Alexander saw Buffy lock lips with Mnemon. "Awesome-sauce," Anya said. "Ceremony complete and heaven's blessing on your new life together should kick in. Start it by kicking this woman's hinie!" She leapt up as Ejava tried to sweep her feet from beneath her. "Who's next?"

Mnemon laid hands on Buffy to enhance her combat skills further while Shadow had to yank Fred out of the line of fire; the clashing armies had shifted and were shredding the pavilion.

"There you are!" an unfamiliar Terrestrial called out. Alexander was about to shoot him when he suddenly shimmered and became Manosque Cyan. "They came up the aisle between us. Cearr, Sulumor, this way!" He still considered shooting her; of all Buffy's Infernal friends, she seemed the least trustworthy.

Anya was finishing some sort of pep talk with Mnemon while the two of them batted aside energy bursts. "You three! Over here! We're trying to crank Buffy up to fight the Roseblack. You got anything?"

Cyan raised an eyebrow, Cearr muttered something coarse, and Sulumor...snickered, which didn't seem like her. "Of course," Sulumor said. "Make a wish."

Anya bristled immediately, of course. "You're crazy."

"I'm on your side. I can set a price for whatever you wish for, but really...what price is too high to stop this?"

"Anh," Alexander said, "she doesn't know, and I think she's got limits you didn't. Sulumor, trust me, she has reasons."

The albino priestess nodded. "Watch, then, Anya, and learn."

"Do you serve the Yozis?" Shadow asked, and cocked her head slightly.

"Not as they are," Sulumor said with a frown. "I did. I owe Cecelyne a debt, but freedom in her broken state is no fit payment. I must find another way."

The Roseblack was caught in a hand-to-hand fight with Son of Crows. They had a moment, at least. "Ok," Alexander said. "Show us what you've got."

Quiet at last.

The Dowager studied the blue-white portal that had formed atop the Well. Beyond was unreachable, now, but here was a specific universe at her fingertips. "You have done well, Drusilla. Your reward is at hand. One last question: how do I realign the portal to another universe?"

"Hmm," Drusilla mused, tapping her lips. "You'll need the numbers."

It was always best to be patient with the madwoman. A vibration thrummed through the floor, and the Dowager asked, "Ah. Well, how shall I obtain them?"

"Umm. You would need to travel there to feel them out." More tapping. The Shoat peered curiously at her.

"And how do I reach one?" She wondered if Drusilla were being deliberately obtuse. But she seemed to lack the capacity for that.

"I suppose you'd have to go through the Well," Drusilla sighed.

All right. This had gone far enough. The Dowager felt her fist strike the table, its reverberation joining a new rippling thrum. "How do I restore the Well to its previous state?"

"I don't know," Drusilla said. "How would I go about it, I wonder? Numbers for the Beyond, beyond numbers? Perhaps one would have to go there and taste them."

Insolence. Drusilla croaked as the Dowager seized her by the neck. "What have you done?"

"Stopped it," the Sidereal mouthed silently. "Closed...the maw..."

The Dowager gritted her teeth. She'd been played. By this slip of a girl who didn't even look twenty. She was an Exalt, certainly, but...That vibration came again. "What is that?" She dropped Drusilla to the floor in a heap.

"Resonance," Drusilla wheezed. "It builds...builds up and..."

No! But the manse could be repaired. She was certain of it. With the Neverborn's help, and her nigh-infinite expertise... "Why? What would make it stable?"

Drusilla rasped out giggles. "A child...singing."

The vibration became a rumble. The Dowager wheeled on the Shoat of the Mire. "Sing!" The Shoat ran a pair of fingers across her lips and shook her head. "Sing, you brat!"

"Uh-uh."

The vibration had become continuous. Without the Shoat stabilizing them, the manse's mystical forces were building toward a catastrophic release. The Dowager tried singing a few bars herself, but to no effect. With a snarl she turned and raced for the children's quarters. She could not die, and she might yet save the Well with them.

Drusilla tangled herself around the Dowager's legs. "Shoat!" she cried. "Bring your friends here! Scurry fast!"

The Sidereal meant them to escape through the portal. She was willing to risk them passing by the Dowager herself.

Therefore time must be very short.

Cearr had to admit it: the Roseblack was all he'd heard about and more. She was disciplined, tough, and very, very powerful-and only some of that was the huge dose of Yozi power she was running on. He stabbed at her with a spear of green fire, but her daiklaive countered his every blow. Shuriken arced down from Cyan's position, but they passed through Tepet Ejava's form or were stopped by her armor.

Then he heard a sound Buffy had mentioned to him, but not explained. She was like that, blabbing about her strange other world. He'd like to see it one day. Oh, right-the sound.

Snikt.

By the time Buffy mentioned the girl who'd survived five years in an alien forest, Cearr had almost sort of expected a tiny thing like her. Instead, Fred was worse, a skinny beanpole with all the apparent muscle of a songbird. All right, she wasn't a warrior caste, but he'd never known a time when an Exalt could get by without fighting.

Exxept right now she was coated from neck to toe in bone-white and grey armor, silver claws jutting from the backs of her hands and feet, anima light fluttering around her in a broken rainbow.

The Roseblack couldn't track her. Didn't stop her from fighting back. Tangled vine-webs coated the deck and lashed out. Fred leapt into the air, somersaulted, and came down with hand-claws arcing for the Roseblack's throat. They passed through harmlessly as Ejava went shadowy, but Fred didn't finish coming down. Her foot claws were lodged in the knee joints of Ejava's armor. She opened her mouth and spat out a clotted tangle of spiderweb into the Roseblack's face. "Eat your heart out, Spidey," the girl said with a laugh as Ejava tried to rip the mass off her eyes and nose. Spidey?

The Roseblack was still struggling with the web, and Fred still slashing at her throat-more or less ineffectively-when the Dread Pirate Roberts came up behind and began slicing and dicing with that fancy cutlass daiklaive of his. It did about the same damage-namely none-but Ejava was lighting up with a greenish-black glow as she burned through her essence. Of course! She might be using all these fancy Yozi powers, but at the base of it she was just a jumped-up Dragon-Blood. If they could burn her out-

Buffy came charging out of a scrum of Terrestrials tossing more attacks at her than he could shake a stick at. A burst of flame hit her, and she lit up with her own green fire, turning to solid teakwood as she did. Then she charged past him, slamming into Ejava and knocking Fred loose. The Roseblack lashed out with her thornburst, but Buffy flared up again, showing her inner demon, and her body sprouted up to about seven feet, losing her thorn-fingers in the process. She was sponging off their energy attacks, and swapping out transformations in the process! Now that was a trick he was gonna have to learn!

The Scholar-Cearr hated those damn title-names Abyssals all used-came up firing lightning bolts at the Roseblack from her eyes, because of course she didn't have to worry about hurting her friend. Why she growled "Crucio," he had no idea, but Ejava howled when the bolts struck her.

And then she got an assessing look in her eyes. Cearr did not like that look. Her face melted over with shadow and suddenly it was Buffy standing there in the damn armor. Not an illusion, she'd Black-Mirrored her.

This was about to turn into a real clusterfuck.

Karal Linwei ran.

She was the leader, and she was the last of them. That...thing had carved through her army like a machete, systematically burning every detachment she sent against it to ash. Even the artillery squads. With every soldier it slew, it only grew stronger. Not even Fire aspects could stand against it now. It transmuted the very virtue in your heart into living flame.

All that she could do had been done, save one thing: she had to survive and bring warning. Otherwise the monstrosity would char its way through Lookshy, reducing the entire nation to a field of ash and shrieking ghosts.

Power lent wings to her feet, and she dashed on. It moved slowly but inexorably. It could never catch her...until she stopped.

She could not be sure how far she had gone, how fast she had run, but she knew that one of the Dragon-Blooded ought not to be as winded as she was after any slight exertion. Now she was stumbling up a hill, only staying on her feet by burning her essence. When she ran out, she would...

She fell.

A hand caught her by the arm. A voice said, "Mother." Not one of her sons. Her daughter. The Anathema. Karal Fire Orchid pulled her gently to her feet. "If you've come so far to kill me, I think it's safe to say you'll fail."

"Troops," Linwei gasped. "We have to bring in specialist troops. With...with resistance to reality shaping. The Judge...is free. And near full power."

"I'll take you home, Mother. If they execute me, they'll know I died loyal."

"No, my daughter. In this crisis Lookshy needs your strength. I'll speak to the General Staff. They'll...cut you a special deal. I'll make certain of it."

"With an Anathema? Don't be a fool, mother." Fire Orchid shook her head at the absurdity of it.

"In times of greatest need, these things have been done," Linwei insisted. "The undead defended him from artillery fire. From all else he seems immune. He destroyed my field force with ease. You must-" She fell to gasping and coughing, exhaustion overtaking her at last.

"If I must," Fire Orchid said, "then I shall."

Tepet Ejava wasn't tiny and blonde any more, but she was still Buffy. Now she was twenty feet high, a wicker construct full of green flame. Some of her own forces had turned on her, but their weapons fire fueled her and left her unscathed.

The real Buffy was the same, locked in a wrestling hold with her. The Roseblack seemed uncertain about being shoved into the water in this state, so Buffy was exploiting her unwarranted fear. That wouldn't last long, though.

"Cover me," Mnemon told Anya. "I'm going to try a spell." The other woman nodded and assumed some sort of blocking stance. Good enough.

Mnemon chanted the Invocation of the Titan, massively amplifying her strength, and when she was finished, slammed herself into the lower leg of the Buffy without wings-to her pleased surprise, the hearthstone mutations hadn't carried over. Tepet Ejava stumbled, and in that moment Buffy shoved her off the deck into the water. The Roseblack flailed in momentary panic, and Mnemon conjured a crystal sword in her off hand. The blade, holy to the Dragons, pierced through Ejava's leg. Sap oozed copiously from the wound. Finally, some genuine harm done.

Just then a Brilliant Raptor slammed into Anya's guard. Even Mnemon started a little at that. No one could-

But the Raptor vanished into a swirl of black ribbons that emerged from Anya's aura, and Anya gave a little whoop. "First time, yeah!"

Mnemon could spare her only a little attention. Vast amounts of steam boiled from the water around her, just as searing as the actual flames in the Roseblack's aura, as the Roseblack slowly realized she was in no additional danger and quit thrashing. Mnemon drove the blade in again, slicing up through Ejava's leg as Mnemon ran forward through the flames.

Halfway up the Roseblack's torso, Mnemon came to a halt. The flames were trivial. No, the problem was the soulsteel ships that were surrounding Luthe as they drew the circle tight. While they fought like fools, the Silver Prince had come upon them unawares.

Dead black hatches opened and disgorged zombies, specters, and all manner of undead war machines. The deathknight who had been Moray Darktide stood upon one approaching deck, Swims-In-Shadow on another, and between them an arc of Abyssals raising all manner of weapons.

Moray signaled to Tepet Ejava, a gesture of solidarity in hate, and the wicker Terrestrial returned the signal with one gnarled, immense hand.

If there was any way matters could get worse, Mnemon couldn't think of it.

Deep in the utmost East, the Mound of Forsaken Seeds trembled, shaking with unearthly violence. Once, twice, three times the ground rang dully like a broken bell, and the third time the buried ziggurat exploded, hurling great chunks of dirt, wood, and stone in every direction.

In the Scavenger Lands, a great shroud of grey mist and blood rain stretched out across a battlefield now strewn only with ash, and at the leading edge marched the Judge, trailed by a vast bodyguard of undead warriors and siege weapons.

On the banks of the Potomac rested a strange enclosed craft of silvery metal, half buried in the trench formed by its barely-controlled landing. President Lilah Morgan stood back reluctantly, awaiting the signal of her bodyguard that it was safe to approach.

The hatch opened to screams, and skeletal machines of death strode out, firing.

Beneath the burning sands of Gem, beneath the slopes of dead or dormant volcanoes, twisted lava tubes echoed with the raucous laughter of twisted creatures made from coal. The city lay all but undefended. By the time its true queen returned, only rubble would remain.

In the depths of the nether realms, a woman screamed for release in a cube of solid ice, and finally, after untold eons, a voice answered her. "Are you ready to accept my gift, and live?"

In the tiny space of the ice melt created by her body heat, Catherine Madison nodded to the demon.

All this spread across the screen of the bunker beneath the Blessed Isle, even realms undreamed of till this day. With the heart of Typhon clutched in one hand and the hearthstone of the Imperial Manse in the other, Tepet Fokuf threw back his head and howled with laughter.

The time had come at last.