Chapter 40: Whisper

(Chapter Theme: Any Final Boss Theme, e.g. 'In the Final' or 'King of Sorrow Battle Theme' from Klonoa 2)

"This isn't good..." I mumbled.

The platform me and Voice had been thrown onto was literally tearing through dimensions as it fell. The rainbow backdrop we were on before was now replaced with an angry, bleeding red and black. Actual tears into other dimensions began opening and passing us by as we hurtled down through space itself.

"This is what it has all built up to." I turned to Voice as they faced me. "This one moment. You and I. Tie."

"Did you know this was going to happen?" I accused.

"No. Even I could not predict this. Just the impending sense that something big was coming. And now it all makes sense. This is the perfect place for it to end."

I sighed in frustration. "Do you honestly want to kill me that bad?"

"Maybe at the beginning. The very beginning. But not anymore." Their namesake grew sombre. "In fact I'd rather not now. Hat made a strong argument for your case, and my time with Moustache has given me an understanding of how important it is for someone to be by your side."

"Then why? Why continue? Let's stop this right now, and focus on fixing this!" I gestured to the damage being caused around us. "We have no idea what this could mean for other dimensions! Julia's, Hoodie's, Crowbar's, and even bad for you! Dimensions with Sand N' Sails, the CEO, everybody you're trying to revive!"

"I cannot stop now, Tie. I do not have that luxury anymore." Voice denied.

At that, I stopped to stare at them. Even in this dire situation, they still aimed to kill me. Even after saying they didn't want to. "What are you, Voice?"

"I suppose you deserve that." Voice agreed, as they reached for the top of their hood. "Allow me to explain, by showing you."

They threw their hood back, and I gasped.

Their body was...more like a silhouette. A pure, white silhouette with no hair, mouth, nose or ears, just an orb for a head and a thin blank neck. In the middle of their 'face' was the black outline of a giant eye covering their entire head, spinning around erratically like a compass needle. Meanwhile, electric green rings were in the middle of it, acting like an iris, as more green rings hung over their head, like a little halo.

"My name is...quite literal." As Voice 'spoke' the rings that made up their eye and halo reverberated, like they were speakers or soundwaves. "When all of those people were erased from time, they let out a final voice. A scream of pain. A cry of betrayal. A sob of despair. All of those last gasps, they all coalesced across time and space itself, weaving together...until they became me."

Voice unravelled the bandages on their arms, revealing their thin ghostly arms, covered in more green rings, wrapping around their arms, fingers like rings, crisscrossing over their hands, and with every word spoken they also vibrated. "Their wills bind me to existence. I am not them, I do not have their feelings or emotions, but I can hear them. Their woes, their anger, their want to be reborn. They are the reason I am alive...and I bear that constant reminder."

Voice turned towards me. "That is why I cannot stop, Tie. The sole purpose I am here is because of them. For the purpose of bringing them back. That is my reason for existence, no matter how much I try to ignore it. You are the only option left. That is why I must fight you."

"Voice..." To be born to only serve the wills of dead people, it was like Knit all over again, except far more crushing.

Voice did their bandages up again and threw their hood back up, before picking up their Time Tuning Fork. "I cannot stop now. I have to do this. So, Tie, if you want to live..." They pointed their weapon at me. "You'd better face me, the emissary of gone voices, and defeat them!"

"...You're really not going to give up are you?" I sighed. "Okay then. If that's what you want." I reached into my Hammerspace and pulled out my yo-yo with one hand, then pulled out the nunchuks I got in Nyakuza Metro with my other hand.

"Despite the grim implications...my 'heart' always races with excitement when I fight you." Voice admitted.

"Is that you saying that, Voice? Or them?" I asked.

Voice chuckled, and I could imagine their soundwaves shakily vibrating. "Even I don't know."

In an instant, with space around us being torn apart, we lunged towards each other.

Voice launched a shockwave at me that I jumped over as I shot my nunchuks at them, but they avoided it, so I shot my yo-yo as well, which grazed their body, but they continued and swung at me, but I ducked underneath it and we rolled to the spots the other was previously in, before quickly recovering.

Voice sent their bandages at me, but I jumped away to avoid them, before creating two portals which I sent the other ends of both of my weapons into, as I made more portals appear around the area, causing yo-yos and nunchuks to begins shooting out everywhere wildly and erratically. Voice stabbed their fork into the ground and created a soundwave barrier around them that the weapons banged against repeatedly, picking up speed and energy as they assaulted the wall again and again, until finally there was a burst of soundwaves as the barrier dispelled and Vocie stumbled back in shock, giving me enough time to jump forward and pull my weapons all the way back through the portals, using all of the built up energy to send both of my weapons slamming right into them at full speed, launching them to the other side of the arena where Voice slammed into the wall of red and black aura with such force it tore another hole into an alternate Dead Bird Studios before they fell on one knee.

"Yes...this I find exhilarating." Voice admitted as they stood back up. "Let me show you my own tricks."

Voice's bandages then rose up like they had a mind of their own, as the tuning fork as well as the bandages all caught on fire, the flames on the ends of the bandages formed into the heads of snakes, as they all hissed and spat towards me. I created a portal and threw myself into it, appearing behind Voice, when suddenly they swung their blazing fork at me, forcing me to back away quickly, but the flames still painfully singed my face.

"At this point. I understand all of your moves, Tie." They raised their weapon up. "I have steeled my resolve, to be your ultimate opponent!" They swung straight down, causing a wave of flames to erupt and thunder towards me, so I dived into a portal to avoid it, but this time I appeared high above them, creating two more portal stars which I threw at them like shurikens, but they jumped out of the way to avoid them. As I landed, I turned both of my weapons into a mace and hammer respectively and rushed Voice, who created a soundwave shield in front of them, luckily. I created two portals which I swung my weapons into, and they both re-emerged at their sides to strike them directly, knocking them back.

Voice stuck their tuning fork into the ground to halt their throwback. "...Yet you still come up with new ways to use them. But so can I." They held the Time Tuning Fork out. "I'll have you feel it. Their anger. Their relentlessness. I'll make you endure what I have to!"

Flames began burning around Voice's weapons and outstretched bandages as the air around Voice began to ripple. The fire began growing in intensity, until finally they burst into blazing blue flames forming multiple fire swords on the ends of the bandages and their fork.

"Sugar. You really are aiming to kill me." I hissed as I braced myself for whatever it was they were planning.

"Of course. I don't want to start having regrets or anything in the middle...so I'll throw all of my abilities at you right now!" Voice created a red Forward Tune that attached itself to their hood.

"Oh pe-!" I tried to create a portal.

But in an instant Voice had rushed me, slashing at me with all of their blue flames in half a second. Needless to say, it hurt a lot, and burned a lot, and I was tossed like a ragdoll to the ground, beaten and burned, as the blue flames and Tune instantly vanished from Voice, smoke drifting heavily off of them as they stood there, tired to move.

The same could be said for me. I was bruised very badly, even breathing hurt a little, and I was struggling to get back up.

'This feels familiar.' I couldn't help but think. 'When I fought Snatcher, I gave up, I was ready...but that voice, those words, stopped me. Now that I think about it...I still don't understand why whoever that was said that. I still don't know, why I deserve to live.'

I managed to move my arms. 'But I think...I want to find the answer to that question now. I want to keep fighting. Maybe all of those better people would come back if I died...but even if it's selfish, I want to know if I really am worth it or not!'

I began pushing myself up. Voice made no attempt to stop me, as I, shakily, tried to get back on my feet. 'It hurts. Come on, you've got to do this!'

I managed to push myself up on my knees, but already I was struggling and wobbling.

"You can do it!"

Huh? Who was-?

"Hey! Get up!"

"I don't know who you are, but you're helping us, right? So stand!"

'These voices...are they coming from the other dimensions?'

"Mafia plead for little boy's help!"

"You better pecking fix this, lad! Hurry up!"

"Darling! You've got this!"

"Hey brat! Messing with things is MY job! So you better get back to it now!"

"Lot of folks counting on you here, pup. Best not disappoint."

"Can't believe I'm putting my faith in a child...so you'd better win!"

'...Heh. They're all a little rough about it.' I thought to myself. 'Oh well. I'm not complaining.' Digging deep, I push myself up and onto my feet, resting my hands on my knees and breathing heavily.

"Tie! We believe in you!"

"Go get 'em, Tie!"

"Come on, Tie, win this!"

Giving it all I had, I stood up straight, staggered around for a second, but stayed standing, facing Voice once again.

"It seems you've got your own voices supporting you." Voice mumbled sadly. "I used to think that you were desperately calling out to them. Maybe though, they're reaching out to you. Because for whatever reason, they want to help you. I must admit...I'm jealous."

They pointed their weapon at me. "But you can barely stay standing like that. Let alone move. All I need to do is hit you with a soundwave and you'll fall right over. It will end."

'That's true...my strength is gone. But my magic isn't!' I put on my best poker face. 'Right now, I have only one Neckwear that can turn the tables. I should have enough strength to switch to it. But if I do it too early, Voice will suspect something, and if I do it too late, I'm finished. I have to switch the moment they attack.'

We stood there, facing off against each other like in a western stand off. The platform kept drilling downward through dimensions, more worlds tearing up past us. Until Voice fired.

'Now!' In an instant I switched to the Bat Bow, and flew above the attack, before instantly firing the two missiles on it at them. Voice had no time to react as they exploded into them and knocked them back.

'Give it all you've got, Tie!' I told myself as I switched again to the Spark Scarf, and let loose a bolt of lightning that struck Voice head on, shocking them full of electricity to the point that their white hood tore clean off, flying through a portal into a different dimension as their face was revealed, their rings spiking erratically in pain as I halted, and they collapsed to the ground.

"Even at the end of your rope, you managed to turn the tables on me." Voice's eye and halo pulsed as they painfully pulled themselves up. "You never cease to prove me wrong, Tie."

Both of us injured now stood facing each other.

"But I can always beat you...in this regard at least." Voice's grip tightened on the tuning fork. "It's unfair, even rotten, but I have to!" They raised their weapon up as they created a green Rewind Tune.

That promptly flew away from them.

"What!?" Voice gasped as I vacuumed the Tune over to me using my Cleaner Cape.

"I realised when you used this Tune on Moustache, that it's not a soundwave like the rest of your moves. It's physical." I grabbed the Rewind Tune, and stuck it to my forhead. Almost instantly, I felt all of my wounds heal themselves, as I now faced Voice, perfectly fine.

Voice's eye widened as we gazed at each other.

"..Ha..haha...hahahahahahaha!" Voice burst out laughing, their rings growing incredibly wide from it. "You got me. You really got me, Tie. I doubt I have the time or strength to create another Rewind before you attack me."

They fell to their knees. "I lose. In the end...I truly am a failure."

We were silent for a moment.

"Hey." I spoke up. "Hurry up and use Rewind on yourself, will you?"

Voice looked up at me. "What?"

"You heard me."

"...Why?"

"Well..." I sighed. "Voice, you said that you enjoyed fighting me. That's the part of you that is...truly YOU, isn't it? And not them. I'd feel bad ending you on such a sour note."

"Why?" Voice echoed as they clenched their fists. The rings wobbling, their speech shaky. "Why are you helping me? After everything...knowing what I am...how much they HATE you...!"

"Voice. If you really do hear them, and all they do is yell at you like that, then they don't deserve to be brought back." I spoke sternly. "They don't just want to destroy my life, they're destroying yours too."

"My life is-!" Voice snapped.

"Don't you dare say it's inconsequential!" I cut them off. "I know what that's like...and I choose to believe its not." I looked at them kindly. "Voice...no matter how many people are connected to us, dead or otherwise, right now, it's just you and me standing here. We are equal. Because we're both here thanks to our own one special person. Right?"

I smiled. "Besides. I think it's going to take the both of us to fix this mess."

Voice's eye stopped turning, slowing down, then closing for a moment. "Tie...I could never hate you."

They stood up, created a Rewind Tune that they stuck to their body, and healed themselves. "I will fight you. Not out of hate, but out of MY OWN respect. I will throw everything I have at you, I will enjoy every second of it, and we will fix this, together!"

"That's the spirit." I smiled as I readied my yo-yo and nunchuks, whilst switching back to my Spark Scarf. "I'm looking forward to it, Voice. Let's do this!"

Our fire and lightning flared up, and we clashed.

The platform we were on shuddered violently as our weapons clashed with everything we had, sparks flying and flames dancing as the energy pooled and erupted, before wer were both thrown back by an explosion.

I fell through a portal and into another Alpine Skylines, where I quickly picked myself up, only to see my nunchuks had broken in half.

"Nuts." I cursed as I discarded them, then took a running leap back into the scar in space.

Voice meanwhile landed on the Conductor's Train, stabbing their weapon into the roof to bring themselves to a screeching halt.

"Funny...I can't hear them, over this excitement!" Voice declared as they also leapt back in.

As we dropped back in, Voice immediately fired a shockwave at me, but I switched to the Necro Necklace and faded right through it, before flinging my yo-yo at them which they leaned their head away to avoid. They shot more bandages at me, but I flew up with the Bat Bow and swerved around them as they lashed at me, before switching my weapon into a hammer and clashing with Voice again, both of us leaping away from each other.

"So, how do you propose we fix this?" I asked.

"I have an idea." Voice tapped their tuning fork against the ground. "What do you think?"

"I'm all up for it." I put on my tie, the one that I had had through everything, straightened it, and played with my yo-yo for a moment. "Let's do this, Voice!"

"Let's, Tie!" Voice declared.

I jumped and threw my yo-yo down at them, Voice dodging out of the way, causing it to slam into the platform hard. As I landed, Voice jumped up and swung downwards towards me, making me dodge as the fork stabbed itself into the ground, and they quickly pulled it out, leaving holes behind. I turned my yo-yo into a hammer and swung at them, making them dodge as my weapon left a crack in the platform. We threw our weapons at each other again and again, each miss damaging the ground further. Yet as we began to tire, we hit each other more and more, wearing each other down, but not giving up. My yo-yo tore up the ground as their fork broke it with its soundwaves.

I grabbed them with my yo-yo turned into a flytrap and flung them around, slamming them into the floor again and again, before they tore it off then stabbed their weapon into the ground and created a miniature earthquake, making me fall to the ground and convulse as the platform suffered. Again and again we clashed.

"It's beginning to slow down..." Voice panted, their rings shivering. "And so am I..."

"Same." I admitted. "Do you want another Rewind?"

"I fear we don't have time for that." Voice admitted. "Besides. This fight, I have enjoyed, it must come to an end, like all things."

Voice's eye closed once again. "Tie. I am going to attack you, with everything that I have. With all of it...I will show you my resolve, and stop the platform by freezing it in time." Their eye opened and looked at me. "I will not hold back."

I stared at them, then nodded. "Give it your all. Voice. I'll definitely endure it."

Voice nodded, as they gripped the handle of their Time Tuning Fork, and held it skyward. "All my experiences, my pain, my joy...I'll put it all into this." The Forward, Pause and Rewind Tunes all appeared on the Time Tuning Fork, spinning around it slowly like clocks, as energy fed into it.

'This is what Voice needs.' I thought as I properly braced myself. 'For them, and for everyone, I'll face it head on!'

Voice slowly lowered their weapon, then began pulling it back. "Take it, Tie! My life!"

Voice fired a giant, golden soundwave, and I covered my ears as a tremendous force slammed into me, causing the entire space we were inside of to shake from the force of it.

'This is everything from Voice.' I somehow thought as I stood my ground. 'All of the pain they felt from all those voices demanding so much of them, but also the life they've lived independently. All of it. Their life. It's so powerful, yet sad, yet happy too.'

In that void I was enduring, everything seemed to be turning white. Was I falling unconscious? Was this another dreamscape? Was it magic? I couldn't tell.

And yet, I saw something in that void. It was Hat. Blurred, but definitely her, turned away from me.

"Heh...you know. I've never really thought about it before." I found myself speaking to that mirage of her. "I've always tried to be a better person, braver, more reliable, because I was secretly scared that you wouldn't want to keep me around anymore. But...I never thought about why you wanted me to come with you in the first place."

I smiled sadly. "What you told me when you took me with you didn't make a lot of sense to me, even now. So I've always wondered...why me? Why...do you like me at all?"

It all seemed to turn dark, and Hat faded away. And in her place, was my soul. Still red, still covered in scars to the point of falling apart.

"I was sad, lonely, pathetic, self-loathing..." I sighed. "Why would you want me? Stupid little me..." I blinked back tears. "I tried to bury my old self by creating a new self, stronger...snarkier, admittedly. But it didn't work out well. Everything I am, is flimsy, and weak. Because..."

"I'm just, broken..."

My soul stared at me, and I stared back. I stared at all of those scars covering it, from all that I had endured in my life. Everything I had done, worn on its sleeve.

"That's just it, isn't it? I'm broken." As I spoke, the scars on my soul grew, until it finally ripped apart into pieces. "But...that's because so much has happened to me. So much bad...yet so much good too. The personality I tried to cover up with a new one...both of them are me. ALL of them are me. Because they're all part of me, like my life."

As my mind began working, my soul was reforming, the pieces were all changing into puzzle pieces. "I'm sensitive, and protective, and nervous, and sarcastic, and lonely, and loved, and sorrowful, and determined, and scarred, and happy."

The pieces changed into dark pink, as they pieced themselves back together, and reformed my soul, whole once again, and its eyes turned up in a smile at me.

"It's all me." I spoke softly. "Maybe that's why..."

My soul faded, as the darkness turned light again, and I saw wavering images of everyone I had met and connected with: Knit, Bow, CC, Boss, Conductor, DJ Grooves, Snatcher, The Leviathan, Walrus, Felin, Sweetie, Seller, Mega, Julia...

"Because you all had a piece you could connect to." I found myself smiling, as in the middle, her image still faced away from me. "And it's all thanks to you."

Hat turned towards me and smiled that genuine, warm smile of hers, before they all faded away.

And I was back on the platform, covering my ears, facing Voice, only everything had stopped. There was a giant Pause Tune covering the entire platform beneath us. Everything around us was frozen in time.

"You did it...Tie." Voice lowered their weapon. "I threw everything I had at you. And it allowed me to Pause the platform."

"You gave me a serious wake up call, Voice." I spoke. "Feeling your life envelop me, allowed me to reflect on my own life too."

I stared down at my yo-yo. "It started off...really terrible. But on this journey with Hat, my life has developed into much more, to the point I wanted to bury my past. That is a part of me too, though. No matter how much I want to forget it."

I held my faithful toy and weapon in both hands. "I've been completely alone, and now I have so many people with me. I've felt both miserable and overjoyed. It feels like I've faced both the worst and best in life...and I appreciate it much more because of it. All of that pain is a part of my life, I accept it. Because all the happiness has been more then worth it."

"Voice...this life of mine..." I looked at them with tears in my eyes. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Tie..." Voice whispered softly.

Then they spread their arms out. "Show me. It is now my turn. Your life. Your pain. Your joy. I will take it! Gladly!"

"...Right." I gripped my yo-yo, then, I took off the K-O Yo-Yo and Venus Flytoy Badges, then began readying a Charge Shot.

Instead of throwing it forward, I threw it backward, into a portal, as my yo-yo shot through multiple dimensions, gathering more and more magic and power.

"I'm so thankful to everyone." I admitted. "Even you, Voice."

I pulled, and my yo-yo came rocketing back, gathering even more power, as I shot it into the ground directly at Voice's feet.

There was a giant cracking and shattering sound as light erupted up towards Voice, and they were sent flying back as the ground beneath me broke, and we both fell into the enveloping light.

I was staring at a starry sky, as a red comet streaked across it.

I blinked, then sat up, and looked around. I was in a field of grass, which felt familiar, under this starlit night.

"Wait...is this-?" I looked closer. That red comet wasn't a comet, it was a giant scar in space and time, and those stars were dimensions. "This is one of those spots inbetween time and space. Did me and Voice end up here?"

I then jolted. "Voice!" I looked around, then spotted something. I jumped up and ran over to find Voice's Time Tuning Fork and their two Badges lying in the grass.

Then I looked further, and there they were, lying in the grass, staring up at the sky. Their bandages and their poncho were lost to other dimensions, revealing their thin, pale body bound in green rings, crossing over their chest, rings on their ankles, wrists and fingers, making stripes along their limbs.

"It's so pretty..." Voice's rings all reverberated weakly as they spoke. "So many stars. The scar is beginning to rewind, fixing itself." They turned their head towards me. "You win, Tie."

I sat next to them. "Did you enjoy it in the end?"

"Yes. Yes I did." Voice nodded. "In the end..." Then, Voice's body...fizzled, or rippled, like it was a glitch.

"Wha-?" I gasped.

"Tie...I endured your attack." Voice told me. "But the thing is...no matter how loud a voice is, it quickly fades away into nothing. My life was destined to be all too short. It was all for one reason after all. And my time is now running out."

"You-"

"Don't worry. This is my choice. And I'm glad that we both gave it our all."

I clenched my fist, then looked down at them. "All this time, your life was short, and they still demanded you to bring them back...!"

"It was the reason I was born." Voice said. "But...it was all quite in vain, wasn't it?"

From the way they said that, I looked at them in shock. "Voice...don't tell me-!"

"Yes...it is impossible." Voice admitted. "Even I could not bring them back, when they were erased from time itself. But I still had to try, knowing it was pointless, because that was my one purpose, my one reason for existence. I had to fight a lost battle, because I had no other choice."

Their eye stopped, as a large tear began pooling in it. "Can you imagine that, Tie? To be born to do one, single, solitary thing...which you are unable to do?" They gave a pained chuckle. "What a waste of a life. My existence...was pointless."

"That's not true!" I yelled strongly. "Even if you didn't bring them back, you brought back the memory of them! Everyone you met and influenced, they remembered all those that have gone! The feelings you worked so hard to restore impacted them and changed them! You rebuilt everything good and bad they did for so many people! The most important part of them even when they're gone; the memory."

I looked down at them. "You did make a change, Voice. Especially in Moustache. Your impact is valued. Your life caused good. And if all of the voices who made you do not accept that, then you are better then them!"

At that moment, a light popped out of Voice, and faded away, before being followed by more, and more, all vanishing until they were all gone.

"...They're quiet." Voice spoke as if they couldn't believe it. "Finally...finally they are content. They accepted our existences, Tie. Mine and yours."

"And you, Voice?" I asked. "What do you feel?"

"I feel..." Voice's eye closed, then opened and spun. "I feel like, I want to be with Moustache. Eating fish, around our campfire, in our cave, together..."

Their eye began to well up again. "And scared. I hate to admit it, but I'm scared of dying, Tie."

"It's okay to be scared." I took their hand in both of my own. "Just know you're not alone. I'll be here with you, until the end."

Voice's eye widened, then, it turned up in a smile as giant tears ran down their face. "You know, Tie...I think I figured it out. I think I've found the reason why people come to help you, the reason they become your friends...the reason, that you deserve to love yourself."

Voice's body wavered again, and they clutched their chest, making me flinch, but Voice endured, as they looked at me.

"You care, Tie. You care so much, about so many. That's why you deserve to live."

Once again, their body flitted in and out of existence. "My time...is almost up...I admit, I do have some regrets...but I wish, one last time, I could have seen her..."

Just then, the sky lit up, and we looked up. The red scar had turned a soft blue and was shining brightly, as stars began shooting across the sky.

"The damage is rewinding...time is moving...the dimensions are widening, before they are fixed." Voice spoke as they stared up. "I suppose...this is my chance." They seemed to steel themselves before speaking.

"Moustache! If even one of you can hear me, that will be enough!" Voice yelled to the stars. "I want you to know, that even if you feel alone, even if you make mistakes, you will come out alright in the end! I know, because of all you did for me! How you changed my short life that you made worth living!"

"Because you are my Hero! And I am your Rookie!"

Voice's eye, slowly, closed.

"...Thank you...for my life..."

Voice's pale body slowly vanished, in a shimmer of light and sparkles, that flew up into the sky like fireworks, towards the stars, leaving only their Time Tuning Fork and Badges behind. The light faded, leaving behind an unharmed starlit heaven.

"...Voice..." I sobbed, as it fell silent.

This is it, this is the chapter that I've been waiting to write all this time. And yes, I cried whilst writing this.

Happy New Year everybody! Here's hoping that things go a bit better this time around. With this, the rivalry between Tie and Voice comes to a conclusion, ending with Voice's death. In this final chapter, I wanted to bring both Tie's and Voice's turmoil to an end, both between them and within themselves.

When I first started writing this story, Voice was not even a concept, Knit was meant to be the final boss. But as I discovered more cut content from AHiT, I decided to create a character that represented all of that lost media, and I'm happy how they turned out.

On that note, this story has now reached 100 followers! Thank you all so much! I hope this chapter was a good enough thank you for that!

So, in honour of Voice, this chapters question is:

What is your favourite aspect of Voice's character?

Next time: The second to last chapter will feature Tie travelling across time, space and dimensions to find his way home. See you then!