Checkmate

“I hope they remember you.”

Tony could barely process the titan’s words through the intense pain that was shooting through his open wound, and he pressed his hand tighter against it, gasping in pain from the pressure. He shifted back slightly, resting his free hand on the rock behind him and coughing wetly, grimacing as he tasted the metallic tinge of blood on his tongue. Gritting his teeth, he managed to force his gaze back upwards, collapsing to his elbow from the disorientation. His eyes darted around the looming titan’s form in front of him. This is it, he thought, his heart pumping wildly in his chest to make up for the blood seeping through his fingers. I’m going to die.

Hearing the soft hum of the infinity gauntlet, Tony flinched, eyes darting away as soon as the stones started to glow on the knuckles. He swallowed harshly, shutting his eyes as the anticipation coursed through his veins. His mind immediately made its way back to the important people in his life, and he felt a pang of guilt as he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to say goodbye. Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, Peter--god, Peter. Tony’s heart gave a tug at the thought of the young boy, and he unconsciously smiled with a bit of fondness. That kid had so many good things coming for him in the future, and although he regretted not be able to be present for it, he knew he had nothing to worry about. He knew the kid would be distraught from his passing, though, and he hated how he wouldn’t be able to tell him it wasn’t his fault. He acted exactly like Tony after all. (For better or for worse, he didn’t know.)

Tony would be lying if he himself hadn’t thought about his own death, and, disregarding the situation, he was surprisingly happy with how his life was now. Dying now wouldn’t be such a bad note to end on, he mused to himself. Though the titan attempting to kill half the universe was, but that’s besides the point. He had faith in the people fighting for their cause. His only regret would be that he wouldn’t be able to properly say goodbye, and a part of him longed to continue to be a part of the fight. However, all good things come to an end, and he’d lived a good life. It would be fine if he--

“Stop.”

Tony’s head immediately whirled towards the source of the voice, stumbling a little from the nausea the action caused. He quickly blinked away the spots forming in his vision, his eyes eventually landing on the injured sorcerer in front of him. He tried to yell out to Strange to ask him what the hell is he trying to do--but nothing came out except for a small grunt of pain. Thanos had shifted his gaze to the man as well, and he brought the gauntlet back down to his side as he waited for an elaboration. Strange panted for a few moments, mulling over his thoughts, before looking up at the titan.

“Spare his life,” he stressed, “and I will give you the stone.” Tony immediately tensed at his words, and tried shifting forwards, gasping loudly at the fiery, throbbing pain the movement caused. Thanos studied the sorcerer in front of him, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“No tricks?” He asked, and Strange shook his head, his gaze falling downwards.

“Don’t,” Tony choked out, and Strange met the billionaire’s pleading gaze, engaging him in a silent exchange of words. I have to, his eyes spoke, and Tony didn’t have the energy, nor the means to tell him otherwise. That man was as stubborn as he was.

The sorcerer then glanced at the sky behind them, holding a hand up as a star in the distance began to glow a pale green, intensifying as soon as Strange’s fingers captured it. With a sharp pulse of light, the stone appeared in front of him.

Strange gazed at the stone in front of him for a few moments, his eyes swimming with a sort of heart-wrenching attachment. Tony found himself pitying the man through his haze, his thoughts quickly cut off by movement in the corner of his eye that he identified as the titan urging Strange on, reminding him of what was at stake. Taking in a labored breath, the hero ripped his gaze from the scene in front of him, unable to bear the scene any further.

Extending his hand, Strange let the stone float away from him and slowly make its way into the Titan’s grip, and Thanos took it, letting his fingers hover around it in the same way Strange had. The titan then took one last glance at Tony before he moved the stone over the slot on the knuckle of his thumb, letting it slip into the gauntlet. A surge of power exploded out of the metal as the stone entered it, and Tony took a shuddering breath as he heard a ring emanate from the titan’s form. He took a moment to look at the almost-full gauntlet, his mind shattering under the weight of an unyielding fear.

“One more to go.” Each word was like another weight piled onto his chest, and the Titan gave a sickening smirk that made Tony want to throw up right then and there. It was disgusting. He couldn’t believe that there was someone sick enough to smile while trying to--

Boom!

A bright spark of energy slammed into the top of the gauntlet, and Thanos’s eyes widened before more pellets of energy rained down towards him. A loud yell echoed from the distance, and the titan pressed down a finger, creating a blue swirling portal behind him. He stepped back as a form jumped out and whirled towards him, closing the portal as the figure zoomed through the spot where the titan once stood. Tony, albeit a bit slower than usual (probably from the pain, he reassured himself, his mind wandering to Peter’s jabs at his age), recognized the man as Peter Quill. Quill’s eyes widened seeing the titan disappear, and he stumbled as he landed on the ground, quickly retracting his helmet.

“Where is he?!” He exclaimed, holding out a gun as his eyes darted around. Strange remained silent, and Tony brought his free hand over to his wound, pressing down on a button and wincing as he started to seal his wound shut. Understanding dawned over the captain’s face, and Quill lowered his gun, his hand trembling slightly as he did so. “Did we lose?”

Tony looked away from the man, not having the heart to respond as his gaze flitted towards the sorcerer. “Why would you do that?” He muttered softly, unable to mask the sorrow in his tone. Strange stayed silent for a moment, leaving nothing but the soft pants of the three heroes filling the air.

The sorcerer eventually lifted his gaze again, staring out in the distance as he took a shuddering breath, “We’re in the endgame now.”

Quill continued to stare at the two hopelessly for a few moments, his mind rearing as he tried to process the current situation. “You gave away the time stone.” He said slowly, staring hopelessly at Strange. “Why the hell would you do that?” There wasn’t any fire behind the accusation, and Tony could only assume the man felt just as drained as he did. Strange said nothing in response, and the billionaire mustered up the strength to sit up.

“You said you wouldn’t,” he whispered, setting a hand on the rock to steady himself. “You promised.”

“What’s going on? What happened?” a higher voice asked softly to his right, and Tony didn’t need to look back to identify the young hero. Peter looked around at the scene as a wounded Mantis and Drax slowly walked up behind him, and his doe eyes were wide and shining with worry. “Where’s Thanos?”

Silence met the teen’s words, and he shifted uncomfortably, gaze unconsciously flitting over to his mentor. “Mr. Stark?” He said nothing.

“I gave away the time stone,” Strange announced softly after a pregnant pause, and various protests and exclamations immediately followed his words. (“What?! Are you serious?” “But that’s the one thing we couldn’t--!” “What kind of warrior surrenders his honor?!”) The sorcerer let out a pained breath, his face twisted in an expression that made him look ten times older, and Tony felt a pang of sympathy. “It was a last resort, I had no choice.”

“Last resort?” Quill scoffed, disbelief working its way onto his face. “Last resort, are you kidding me? You gave that bastard exactly what he wanted!” Huffing out a small laugh, Tony shook his head and muttered under his breath, “Like you’re one to talk.”

“Excuse me, what?” Tony shakily pushed himself to his feet, wincing at the spike of pain as he wound stretched. Meeting Quill’s eyes, the billionaire shrugged. “I don’t know. This is just a thought, but maybe if you hadn’t gone all spastic about your girlfriend, we might have the gauntlet right now.” Peter gave Tony a small look, and he raised his shoulders helplessly.

The guardian stayed silent for a moment and looked down at the ground, nodding a little. Tony could sense the anger bubbling under the man’s skin as he said softly, “Okay. So that’s how we’re going to play this.” Quill walked over to Tony, stopping just in front of his face, and stared him in the eyes.

“Listen here buddy,” he spat, unable to keep the venom from spilling into his voice, “I don’t know if you’re educated about the way emotions work, but that woman that he killed meant everything to me.” He took a shuddering breath, his eyes glossing over lightly at the mention of his late girlfriend. “Gamora was the most important person in my life, and he killed her for a fucking stone. He killed his daughter, and my girlfriend, for a stone. So excuse me if I lost it, Mr. I-Have-Money-Up-The-Ass, because I unlike you, I can’t buy her life back.”

“I know,” Tony answered with a soft sincerity, and Quill blinked, taken aback by the lack of anger. “I know exactly what it’s like to lose someone Quill, and I’m sorry. If I could bring her back I would, but I can’t, and neither can you. And I get it, the anger, the frustration, but that guy? When the entire universe is at stake?” He took a pause to take a small breath. “You’ve gotta keep your head in the game.”

A silence passed over the group and Quill mulled over his words, and Tony waited, his eyebrows furrowing when he heard a uncomfortable shift of weight behind him. Looking back, he noticed Peter biting his lip, and, making the connection, he rolled his eyes, chuckling at the ridiculousness of the thought.

“Pete.” The teen deflated.

After a few moments, Quill let out a soft breath, finally returning to Tony’s gaze. “Look, I’m sorry, okay?” He muttered, voice softening towards the end. “I’m sorry.” Nodding approvingly of the sincerity in his tone, Tony smiled weakly, falling silent soon after.

“What do we do now?” Mantis softly broke the silence, her beady black eyes sparkling with underlying anxiety. “Thanos only has a stone left.”

“We can’t do much,” Drax muttered from her side, his hand loosely clutching onto a gash on his ribs. “He left.” Peter looked helplessly between the two, fiddling with his fingers in a (cute) nervous habit Tony had picked up on a while back.

“But there’s gotta be something, right? We can’t just let him leave like that,” the spiderling urged, turning back to look at the sorcerer for confirmation. “Right Mr. Strange?”

Silence.

The teenaged hero twiched uncomfortably, “Mr. Strange?”

Noticing the teen’s discomfort, Quill took a small step towards Strange, voicing softly, “Doctor, you said we won in a timeline. How’s that looking for us?” The sorcerer shifted, slowly rising to his feet.

“It’s too early to say,” he replied, with quick, meaningful glance at Tony, “but the probabilities are slim.” Tony’s eyebrows furrowed at the doctor’s action, and he glanced down slightly, the gears in his mind starting to turn once more. Am I missing something? He thought to himself, the conversation occurring in the background becoming a mere afterthought as he continued to wrack his brain.

“But they’re still there,” Quill concluded, nodding a little. “We still have a shot.” A soft creaking emanated from his left, and for the first time since the end of the battle, Nebula spoke, “What else can we really do?” The heroes gazes shifted to her, none willing to pipe up with a response.

“Thanos is gone, as is our stone,” she continued, looking over them with a grave expression. “There’s nothing left.”

“Not quite,” Tony answered softly, still looking dowards, his lips pursed in thought. Strange perked up slightly at his side, and Quill furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Taking in a soft breath, Tony picked his eyes back up to the rest of the group. “When Bruce and I were creating Ultron, I had an idea,” he announced. “It was a sort of worst-case-scenario device that seemed redundant at the time, but we worked on it anyways. We didn’t exactly finish it together, since he disappeared after Sokovia, but I was able to manage on my own. It isn’t exactly stable, but it works.”

“What is it?” Peter inquired.

“It’s a cerebral transversion device,” Tony answered with a smile. Noticing the blank looks around him his expression dropped, and he rolled his eyes, sighing heavily, “A time machine.” The group seemed to exhale a collective “Ooooh” while Peter’s eyes glittered with awe. (“Oh my god Mr. Stark, that’s so cool…”)

“Will this actually work?” Quill asking, turning to Strange. “When there’s the option of success, there’s always the possibility of failure,” Strange stated, causing the surrounding heroes’ expressions to deflate. “However,” he continued, and everyone took hopeful breath, “the probability of success will increase if the child is the one to use it.”

Blinking, Peter looked around slightly before pointing to himself, “Me?” The sorcerer sighed softly before nodding, and if Tony wasn’t on the verge of another panic attack he may have teased Strange for the smile he caught creeping onto his face.

“No,” the billionaire stated tensely. Peter’s immediately dropped into a pout as he began to protest, “Mr. Stark--”

“No. Nu-uh. There’s absolutely no way I’m sending my kid alone into an unstable time machine to save the universe.” The teen crossed his arms, his expression tightening into an almost-glare. “But you said it yourself, it’s to save the universe.”

Tony immediately shook his head, ignoring the teen’s outcry of frustration. “There has to be another way,” he stressed, fixating his gaze on the sorcerer next to him. “Strange, back me up here.”

“I’m sorry Tony, but I can’t,” Strange answered apologetically, not blind to the man’s parental tendencies. “Out of all of us here, Peter would be the most discreet and would have the most flexibility with going back in time. The guardians, from what I recall, are busy protecting the stones and protecting the galaxy previous to this, and I don’t think they would listen very well.” Various protests piped up from the guardians and Strange looked at them. “Sorry,” he said unapologetically, turning back to the billionaire before continuing. “And you staying here with Nebula is vital for our success.”

“Okay,” Tony responded quickly, briefly acknowledging his words as he rolled through his options. “Then why can’t you go?”

“Because I’m the only one who can transport someone to Earth from here, and creating such a portal will kill me.”

A pregnant moment of silence passed over the group as they stared incredulously at the man, before Tony broke the silence with a loud, “What?”

“Kill you?!” Peter exclaimed, his eyes wide and darting with fear and guilt. Tony nearly rolled his eyes in mild amusement at the observation. (Jesus, this kid, it didn’t even happen--) The teen continued to stammer and splutter hopelessly, unable to process the man’s words, “Mr. Strange, you can’t--you don’t need--we can--”

“Look, I’m sorry,” Strange quickly cut Peter off, “but there is no choice, and, spoiler alert, half the universe is going to die in about five minutes. That’s our reality, and there’s no changing it now.”

“Unless we do this,” Tony added, and Strange nodded, responding with a strong, “Exactly.”

The hero’s gaze fell as he slipped into thought, biting his lip as he thought about letting Peter leave. He knew there was no choice, and he knew they had to, but a part of him was still begging to keep him somewhere he can see him, somewhere safe. Mentoring a superpowered teen was one thing, but sending a child on a lone mission to save the universe was something he certainly did not sign up for. (And he didn’t sign up for getting attached to said child either.) In truth, Tony wanted to do nothing more than tell Strange to fuck off and hug the teen until he was sure that Thanos was long gone. Looking back at the teen, he met those shining doe eyes, and he felt his heart clench with unidentified emotion. God, he was so young.

But you have no choice, his mind whispered, you have to. You have to let him go.

You have to let go.

Swallowing harshly, Tony slowly made his way over to the teen (kid), placing his hands gently on his shoulders. “Pete,” he began softly, forcing his voice to remain steady, “you know the panel I always tell you not to mess with? The one in my room?” Peter nodded. “I want you to open it up and enter the code 2E348.” He said the code slowly, studying the spiderling’s expression and waiting until he saw it relax to continue. “Then, tell FRIDAY to activate Protocol: MARIA. A door will open up in my lab and the machine will be in there. You with me so far?”

“Yeah,” Peter responded, his voice small. Tony’s heart gave a painful tug.

“On the front will be a panel that will tell you to enter a day, month, and a year,” he trailed off at the end, tearing his eyes away from the teen’s to think. After a brief moment, he continued, “Enter in October 2015. Any day that’s late in the month is fine.”

“2015?” Peter asked incredulously, his eyes growing wide. “B-But that’s so far back!”

“Yes, and it’s also before the accords.” Peter’s mouth snapped shut as his words, all thoughts of protest dying on his tongue. Tony knew the teen hadn’t thought of the complications the accords would cause, and he honestly didn’t want Peter to see such a dark version of himself at face value. October was a decent amount of time after Ultron, and he remembered things being peaceful. Peter’s eyes fell as he nodded, muttering softly, “Right.”

The thoughts whirling around in Peter’s head were almost visible because of how quick they were moving, and Tony clenched his teeth, sensing the anxiety wafting off of the teen. Eyes shining with unshed emotion, the billionaire spoke softly, “Pete...you shouldn’t have to do something as big as this, let alone on your own. I’m so sorry.”

The teen’s head snapped up at his words, and he quickly reassured, “Don’t apologize, Mr. Stark. I...I am a little scared, but we don’t have a choice. We need to stop Thanos.” Tony’s heart ached from the teen’s words, and he pulled the small form into his arms, hugging him close. Those words shouldn’t have to come from a sixteen-year-old’s mouth, he thought darkly. Peter let out a muffled yelp from the suddenness of the hug, body tensing and eyes widening from the intimacy of the action. Tony half expecting him to pull away, but much to his relief, the teen melted into arms soon after, wrapping his arms around Tony’s chest.

“I believe in you kid,” the billionaire whispered into Peter’s soft curls. The teen tightened his grip around his mentor and he rested his forehead gently on his sternum. “Thank you, Tony.” Tony chuckled at the spiderling’s words, and Peter picked his head up in surprise.

“So that’s what it took for you to call me by my name, huh?” He mused. A soft pink rose to the teen’s cheeks, and he gently pushed at Tony’s chest, pulling away from the hug with a smile. “Shut up.”

“You know I won’t.” Tony smiled back warmly, ruffling Peter’s hair. The spiderling puffed up his cheeks and looked down in an attempt to hide the smile rising to his lips.

Quill smiled at the interaction warmly, watching with a sad admiration at the closeness of the pair. His attention was drawn from the two when he felt Mantis tense behind him, and he turned to look at her, eyebrows furrowing.

“Mantis? What’s up?” He asked. The alien looked up at him, beady eyes shining with a tense fear, and he noticed the rest of the group turn towards them with curiosity.

“Something’s happening,” she whispered, and Quill felt her skin turn rough and patchy underneath his fingers, before crumbling under the weight of his hand. He felt the blood drain from his face in horror as his companion started to flake away into ashy dust in front of him, disintegrating and being swept away into the wind. Tony’s hand automatically went to grip Peter’s shoulder tightly, and he looked at Strange, expecting an answer.

“He did it,” Strange said shakily, and he almost immediately held out his hands, quickly swirling them around, creating an orange spark in front of him. “Kid, get over here.” Peter didn’t respond to his words, and he stared at the spot were Mantis stood, a haunted look on his face.

“Hurry!” The sorcerer hissed, gritting his teeth as the orange spark arced and connected, creating a circle in front of him. The teen immediately started moving at the change of tone, pausing slightly when he felt Tony’s grip loosen on his shoulder. He turned back to face his mentor, biting his lip, before rushing over to Strange.

“Quill,” a soft voice spoke from behind the captain, and Quill quickly turned around to meet eyes with a disintegrating Drax. He watched in a stunned silence as another one of his teammates vanished in front of his eyes, and he felt his hands start to shake with building grief.

Drawing back the group’s attention, Strange let out a short cry of pain, opening the portal, and the familiar light of the tower’s living room shined brightly on the other side. The sorcerer’s eyes bulged with an orange light, his veins pulsing with so much strain Tony thought they were going to pop. His hands shook as he choked out a soft, “G-Go.” The teen swallowed harshly and turned back to Tony helplessly, tears shining in his eyes.

Swallowing back tears of his own, Tony cried, “Peter, go!” Hearing a breath hitch to his right, Tony’s attention was brought to Quill, and he immediately tensed seeing the man’s arms start to crumble.

“Be steady, Quill,” he spoke softly, his voice trembling slightly. Quill met his eyes with a pained expression as the dust crawled up to his neck. “Oh man,” he whispered, before crumbling into the wind. And with that, Peter bit his lip and forced himself into the portal.

As soon as the teen’s body disappeared into the portal, Strange fell to a knee, coughing harshly and bringing a hand to his mouth as the portal closed. His veins continued to bulge and pulse, and he shakily brought his hand away from his mouth, now covered with crimson. Tony stared blankly at the portal for a few moments, a dull ache in his heart and he realized that Peter was now officially out of his reach. His eyes started to fill with liquid, and he went to wipe them before pausing to notice Strange’s legs starting to dry and crumble. Tony froze, coming to a sickening realization as to why Strange was so ready to give up his life for the portal.

He knew was going to die anyway.

“Tony,” Strange gasped, breaking the billionaire out of his thoughts. He looked up at him, meeting Tony’s grief-stricken eyes and said softly, “There was no other way.”

And he was gone.

Tony stared at the spot the sorcerer had once stood for a few long moments, his brain desperately trying to process what had just happened. He swallowed harshly, staggering back slightly, and sat himself down on a rock, folding his hands in front of him and resting his head against them. Taking a few moments to control his breathing, he bit his lip, briefly wiping at his wet eyes with his wrist.

This is it, he thought to himself, closing his eyes. After this, we really have nothing. Shoulders tensing at the realization, Tony curled in a little, scrunching his eyes shut a little tighter as he felt the familiar tightness in his chest, and a tear fell down his cheek as he finally allowed himself some vulnerability.

Please be safe, kid.

Peter bolted into the tower, running through the living room and down the stairs, rushing through hallways and corridors, his legs moving faster than they ever had before. His mind was pulsing with adrenaline, and his chest was tight, his body responding to nothing but hurry, hurry, move--

“2E348, 2E348,” he whispered breathily to himself, turning a sharp corner and rushing to his mentor’s room. “2E348, 2E384, 2E…” Reaching the panel, Peter paused, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to remember the code through his frenzied panic. Hands trembling, he quickly typed in the digits 2E384, hoping that it was--

“Access denied,” FRIDAY’s voice filtered through the ceiling, and Peter felt a sharp sting of panic hit his chest. The teen bit his lip, his breathing picking up slightly as his eyes bolted across the keyboard. He quickly typed in another version of the code, scrunching his eyes shut when he hit enter.

“Access denied.”

No!

“Access denied.”

Come on, please, god--

“Access denied.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! I don’t have time for this!” Peter yelled in a mixture of anxiety and anger, hitting the edge of the console. The mental dented slightly and he froze, feeling a sweat creep up his back. (Mr. Stark probably won’t see that.)

Taking in a shaky breath, Peter took a moment to breathe, briefly closing his eyes as he tried to recall the access code. Think Peter, think, he tried to urge himself, and he opened his eyes again, tensing as he slowly typed in another version of the digits.

2E348…?

“Access granted.”

Letting out a loud sigh of relief, Peter’s shoulders sagged, and he laughed softly. “Thank god,” he muttered to himself, and he momentarily rested his hands on the edges of the panel, looking up as he spoke, “FRIDAY, activate Protocol: MARIA.”

“Protocol: MARIA, Maybe A Really Important Asset, activated. Granting access.”

Peter forced himself back upwards and he quickly rushed into his mentor’s lab, his moment of relaxation slowly fading into a memory. Jogging inside, Peter caught sight of a door opening itself towards the back of the space, and he made his way over, stepping inside the newly opened room. The room was fairly small and empty, the only object filling the space being a pod-like machine towards the back, with large tubes connected to the top of the machine. On the front was a holographic panel with the words day, month, and year on it, just as Tony had said it would. In a normal circumstance Peter would’ve gaped a bit more and maybe freaked out because of how cool this thing is, oh my god, but right now he didn’t have the time.

Walking up to the panel, the teen quickly entered in what the billionaire had told him to, speaking softly as he did so. “2015, October,” he muttered softly, and paused looking at the empty slot for the day. He thought for a moment, trying to figure out a date to enter.

“21st?” He thought aloud, pausing for a moment before shrugging. “21st seems fine.”

The spiderling lifted a hand to resume typing, and he started to move his fingers, but paused when he didn’t see anything appear on the screen. Eyebrows furrowing, he looked down at the keyboard and he completely froze when his eyes met nothing but empty space. Vision quickly darting to his arm, he saw that it was slowly disintegrating, fading into the same ashy dust that the guardians had on Titan. Expression shifting into a mixture of horror and panic, Peter quickly tore his eyes from his arm, and he typed in the date with his other hand, pressing enter just as that hand disappeared into dust. Peter choked out a slightly hysterical sob as he mind retreated into nothing but panic, panic, panic--

“Please, please, open, please,” the words spilled out of his mouth uncontrollably as the door finally opened with a soft clink. Peter went to move forwards and stumbled as his foot disintegrated underneath him, and he fell halfway into the pod. He gasped softly as his lungs met the hard metal underneath him, coughing lightly and panting. Grunting, he started trying to push himself into the machine with his other foot, letting out a sob as it faded after the action.

“Oh god,” he whimpered, tears starting to slowly roll down his cheeks. “I-I’m going to die.”

He barely registered the low hum of the machine as it powered up, and he continued trying to push himself, trying to utilize his knees and shoulders, his sobs growing louder as he felt them disappear after a few attempts. (I don’t want to go, I can’t go, not yet, Mr. Stark, help--)

Panting heavily, Peter lay limp, his vision blurred by tears as he started to pray to himself that he would make it in time, telling himself to hang on, just a little longer, please hang on. The machine’s buzz started to grow lighter and the world around him started to light up and he felt his consciousness slowly start to fade, his lungs desperately trying to work despite his body disappearing. With a shuddering sigh, his eyes slowly started to close, his body no longer able to keep himself conscious.

I’m sorry, he thought weakly, and the world around him faded to black.