//------------------------------// // Aftermath: Yhwach's Folly // Story: Dragon Ball Super: Fate of the Multiverse // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// "So, who wants to face me next?" Sombra asked, as he was addressing the remainder of the Sternritter that were watching him, as he tore his way through the elite soldiers that Yhwach had brought with him, no doubt trying to determine what they could do against his power, while at the same time he remained still as he waited for someone to come at him. "That would be me." the next Sternritter said, who revealed that they were actually a petite young girl with short blond hair, which was a little odd considering that most of the other Sternritter had dark colored hair, and while most of her attire was the same as the other foes he had fought Sombra noticed she was wearing a skirt and leggings in place of the pants her comrades wore, "I am Liltotto Lamperd, Sternritter G, the Glutton. Though I have a question for you... are you going to eat any of the bodies behind you?" "No. Why would I do something like that?" Sombra inquired, because that was something he had never even thought about, both when he was the King of Darkness and when he became an Arrancar, which made him wonder what sort of power his foe actually possessed, as 'the Glutton' seemed like a terrible power to have, "And why would you ask me a question like that?" "Because we know nothing about you, I'm starving, and it's bad to let food go to waste." Liltotto replied, which was when the area around her mouth moved forward and expanded into what appeared to be a worm shape, with her mouth at the end of it, allowing Sombra to watch what happened next. Liltotto proceeded to move her 'mouth' towards the few dead bodies that were laying around Sombra, though when she finally reached one the mouth opened wide and devoured the corpse she was targeting, As Nodt by the looks of it, and some of the sand around the body was eaten as well, causing a look of disgust to appear on Liltotto's face. Based on what Sombra saw this was the extent of her ability, as in the Glutton allowed her to use her mouth in such a way that she could eat whatever was in front of her, be it the bodies of her dead comrades or even the surrounding environment, meaning that her power was worthless in the grand scheme of things. He could understand if this Schrift allowed the one that had it to gain some level of power with how much they ate, since that made sense, but Liltotto's reiatsu didn't rise at all and remained at the same level as she munched on the remaining bodies of her fellow Sternritter, all while the look on her face told him that she was in a state of constant hunger because of her ability. Eventually the bodies of the slain Sternritter were consumed and Liltotto pulled her mouth back, letting her face return to normal, all while the look of hunger on her face told him that she was far from satisfied, not that it mattered since there was nothing more for her to eat, since he was sure that she wouldn't like the taste of trees, stones, and water. At the same time, however, he was disappointed, as the Sternritter that had faced him so far had abilities that were more impressive than the Glutton ever was, meaning that this fight would be over in a matter of seconds, and then he could move onto the next foe that was waiting for him. "The Glutton... such a worthless power you have been given." Sombra commented, where he sighed for a moment as he focused on his foe, who was staring at him with confusion written on her face, like she didn't understand why he was calling her power worthless, "It wouldn't be so bad if you gained some sort of power boost from eating the corpses of your slain allies or the enemies you killed, because that would make sense, but all you do is try to feed an insatiable hunger that will never go away, not unless you died, and you don't even gain a power boost from all the corpses you eat. Let me make one thing clear to you, the power you possess is no where near strong enough to do anything to my power, so it would be in our best interests if you just..." "If you say go home or surrender, like you did to the others, I'll eat you whole!" Liltotto snapped, showing that she didn't like Sombra talking about how worthless her power was, meaning that she felt it was a worthwhile power to have, and that she didn't appreciate him trying to spare her, "The Sternritter will never back down, nor will we surrender to the likes of you, so if you don't want to fight me then you might as well die right now!" Sombra stared at Liltotto as she summoned her bow, one that looked like a bear trap with a bowstring attached to it, before he sighed as he flashed through the air, though as he reappeared behind his foe Liltotto dropped her bow and watched as it broke apart before her eyes, only for her to collapse on the ground. In the end Sombra had decided to end the fight before it even began, since there was no reason to make someone like Liltotto suffer against such a superior opponent, and he cut her body diagonally in half, from the right shoulder to the left hip, bringing an end to the latest foe that Yhwach was sending against him. What was interesting this time around was that there was more than one Sternritter coming his way, as there was a male Quincy with red hair that was done up in a mohawk, with a smirk on his face for some odd reason, that was followed by a well endowed girl that had a slender build, with long pink colored hair, a second well endowed girl that was tall and had thin lightning shaped eyebrows, with long light-green hair, and a third girl girl that had long black hair, whose body wasn't as endowed as the other two were. All four of them looked like they were ready for a fight, which made sense considering that Yhwach wanted his Sternritter to wipe him out and destroy Las Noches, but at the same time he would continue to stand in their way until only the enemy leader remained. "Bazzard Black, Sternritter H, also known as the Heat," the male Sternritter declared, though his tone revealed that he didn't care if Sombra knew the name of his Schrift, meaning that he believed that the battle was as good as his, despite the fact that he came with reinforcements, before he grinned as he came to a stop, "though I prefer to be called Bazz-B." "Sternritter P, the Power, Meninas McAllon," the pink haired girl said, though as she said that she flexed her arms a little, like she was trying to show off for someone, likely Yhwach, though at the same time Sombra detected that she and the other ladies were angry at him, no doubt because he defeated some of their comrades, and that they had come forward to fight him at the same time, to get their revenge on him. "Candice Catnipp, Sternritter T, the Thunderbolt!" the green haired girl stated, where the smirk on her face indicated that she believed she was also more than enough to deal with Sombra, even though he had the feeling that his latest foes were going to fail as well, if he took the previous battles into consideration. "And I am Giselle Gewelle, Sternritter Z, the Zombie." the final girl said, while at the same time she seemed to be half focusing on the battle that would be starting in the next few moments, something that her comrades were ignoring in favor of preparing their attacks, indicating that they were planning on making the first move. "Four on one, an interesting tactic," Sombra stated, though as he said that he braced himself, because two of the powers they had brought to this fight seemed to be elemental based, as in fire and lightning, while the other two he would need to observe before determining what their powers meant, "Very well then, come and face the God of Death." Bazz-B was the first one to charge into battle, where the air around him ignited as flames surrounded him, confirming Sombra's thoughts about the fact that his power was related to fire, before he leveled a single finger in Sombra's direction, stating that this was his Burner Finger 1 power and loosed a narrow beam of fire at him. At the same time Candice decided that she was going to take this fight seriously, as lightning exploded from the area around her and she emerged with six lightning bolt shaped wings behind her back, showing that she was accessing her Vollstandig right off the back, before some bits of lightning danced around her wrists as she fired burst of lightning at him from another direction. Sombra gripped the handle of his scythe and spun it around, first rapidly spinning it around in a circle in front of him as he caught the flames from Bazz-B's attack, canceling it out in seconds, before he switched his grip and swung at the lightning, slicing it in half and preventing the attack from exploding. As the two of them paused for a second, as they weren't expecting him to move that quickly and stop their attacks in rapid succession, Meninas rushed forward and, instead of using her bow to fight him, raised her fists and launched a series of punches, which struck Sombra's armor in an attempt to knock him backwards, but he didn't move at all as his newest foe attacked him. In that moment Sombra determined that the 'Power' Schrift meant superhuman strength, not that such a thing would work against him since he fought against Jiren in the Tournament of Power and the Pride Trooper's power was far greater than what Meninas' power was, before she jumped backwards and braced herself, even though he could see some sweat rolling down the side of her face. "Damn, he's tough alright. My punches did nothing to him." Meninas stated, where the final member of their group, Giselle, stood near her while still spacing out a little, not that Sombra was worried about someone like her, not when he knew three of the four abilities that were being used against him, "Even four against one we're doing nothing." "Sternritter, it is clear that the time to fight alone is over." Yhwach called out, where the Sternritter near him and the ones that were near Sombra paused, showing that they were listening to their leader and were going to carry out his orders to the letter, even if it meant dying for the sake of weakening Sombra, "Join forces and face our foe as a united front, so that all of your Schrifts and abilities will overcome the obstacle that stands in our path." "Yes, your Majesty!" the Sternritter declared, which was an interesting tactic in Sombra's mind, unleashing the rest of the force when it was clear that none of their powers could do anything against the power of the God of Death, but at the same time he guessed that he might as well cut them all down so he could face his true foe in peace. In that moment Sombra watched as the rest of the Sternritter revealed themselves, going in the same order that his first couple of opponents had gone in before the girls interrupted the sequence, as Sternritter I was a slim man with short black hair, with a small vertical scar on the left side of his mouth, while Sternritter K, as Quilge was J, was a man that was wearing a white helmet over his head and armor plating on his chest and around his waist, almost like he was a robot or something. Following them had to be Sternritters L, M, N, and O, with L belonging to a large man that was using a beige basket to get everywhere, M going to a tall man that looked like a Norse warrior, while N belonged to an older man that seemed wiser than some of his comrades and O went to a broad man that was twice as tall as an ordinary Shinigami, and who also had a wide grin on his face. After them were who Sombra assumed were Sternritters Q, R, and S, where Q went to a slender looking lady that wore eye shadow around her eyes, R belonged to a man that had a few ape-like characteristics, such as pronounced upper-canines and patches of fur on his arms and legs, while S went to a man that had a muscular build, who was wearing a mask over his head and seemed focused on the battle that was about to begin between them and Sombra. That left the Schrifts U, V, W, X, and Y, where he noticed that U belonged to a man that was wearing a reflective mask over his upper face, V went to a young boy that seemed out of place, W seemed to belong to a young man that apparently had two tongues and was walking barefoot at the moment, while X went to another young man, this one having dark skin and a marking over his left eye that looked like a crosshair, leaving Y to go to a pair of men that looked identical to each other. As he considered all that Sombra realized that two letters were missing, those being A and B, and determined that Yhwach himself had to be A, since he was the leader of the army, while the man that stood by his side had to be the one that had the letter B... and, while he made that observation, the man that possessed the letter O loosed a storm of arrows at the Soldat, killing all of them for some odd reason, before he grinned as he fell in with the others as they marched for where Sombra was standing. "Sternritter O, the Overkill, Driscoll Berci," Bazz-B commented, though at the same time the look on his face told Sombra that this sort of thing was common, while also revealing a bit of one of the Sternritter's powers to him, before he turned and faced Sombra once more, "His power increases with every life he takes, be they his own allies or his enemies, and even beasts for that matter, so he's much stronger than he was when we first entered this world." "You know, if you guys want a chance to beat me, then you should stop telling me what your powers are," Sombra said, because he knew that it would take him a bit longer to fight back if he had to stop and consider what each of the Schrifts meant, since he would want a good idea of what each of his foes were capable of when they were using their powers, and being told what they were meant he could kill them all quicker. "As if you'll get the chance to move!" Meninas shouted, where Sombra detected that her voice was coming from above him, which meant that she was trying to attack him while he was distracted by talking to one of the other Sternritter, but at the same time speaking ruined the whole point of a surprise attack. Sombra sighed as he shifted into his Shadow Form, which was him appearing as a wraith that was impossible to even damage, and surged forward as he avoided the incoming attack, where Meninas struck where he had been standing a few seconds ago and created a crater as she hit the ground, where surprise appeared on her face and on Bazz-B's face, as they were shocked he had moved that quickly. Sombra moved quickly, avoiding the various arrows that came flying in his direction as he returned to his solid form, not that it mattered since all these arrows were weak and couldn't compare to the power that he had faced when he fought Jiren, all while seeking out his first target. Based on what he knew it was better to take Driscoll out before he became a nuisance, as Sombra suspected that if he weakened any of the other Sternritter that were charging at him, instead of outright killing them, Driscoll would kill them himself and allow his power to grow even further. He wasn't entirely worried about that power, since he could tell that his target's current level was still far below what he was capable of, but at the same time it best if he removed this Sternritter first, as it would remove one power from the field and might open the defenses of the others. Even if the other Quincy didn't lower their guard, which would be a smart move in the grand scheme of things, he might be able to gleam who his next target should be once Driscoll was taken care of, as he would have to pause for the briefest of seconds and that was the best chance they would have to lash out at him. Driscoll, seeing Sombra coming right towards him, grinned as he raised his fist and threw a punch, though Sombra got into the air above him and lashed out with his left leg, allowing the force of his kick to shatter the bones in Driscoll's arm as he cancelled out the attack, before he swung his scythe and appeared behind his target, splitting him in half before he even knew what hit him... only for a glob of blood to hit the side of his face, which came from Giselle, who had done nothing since she and her allies came to fight him. "There, I got him." Giselle said, with a strange smirk on her face as she cleaned her mouth, like she had deliberately hurt herself enough to get her blood out into the open, only to spit on him before he could determine who his next target was going to be, though he remained still as he let her talk, "In a few seconds he'll be a zombie, ready to obey my will, and we'll destroy Hueco Mundo and Soul Society with the power he wields... I'm so lucky that he's already...." Before Giselle could finish talking her hands went to her head as she screamed in pain, like something was happening to her this time around, and the other Sternritter paused for a few seconds as she fell to her knees, as this was the first time they had seen something like this happen. "It seems that no matter how many times I say it, none of you understand what I'm telling you." Sombra commented, though as he pulled himself back up into a standing position he raised his left hand and wiped the blood off his face, an act that surprised the Sternritter that were staring at him, before he focused on Giselle, since he now understood her ability and what she had been attempting to do, "Giselle Gewelle, Sternritter Z, or the Zombie. You lure your foes into a false sense of security by acting like someone who spaces out and doesn't care about fighting, so that they'll cut you and spill your blood, which you then use to turn them into unwilling servants, either forcing them to kill themselves or sending them to kill your enemies. You believed that since I'm already dead, and that I'm immune to several of the powers that your allies used against me earlier, that you would meet not opposition if you spat a little bit of your blood on me, like I would be turned into your puppet in seconds, but you forgot one thing... I'm the God of Death and your power turned against you the moment you used it on me, thus the suffering you are now feeling." "Damn... you..." Giselle stated, but before she could say more the pain increased, revealing that Sombra had been right, trying to control a God of Death, an actual god that ruled over the domain of death and wielded that power with frighting grace, with her power had been a foolish mistake, one that was going to cost her everything. "Don't worry, you won't suffer for much longer." Sombra stated, where Giselle's eyes widened as he swung the scythe and split her diagonally in half, killing her in the process, before he sighed and spun the scythe to get the blood off of it as he turned towards the other foes that were around him, "This is your last chance to retreat from Hueco Mundo and save yourselves, because after this point I'm going to kill each and every one of you, and then I'm going to cut down Yhwach and stop his pointless war, since it will endanger the entire world if he kills the Soul King." In that moment the Sternritter, deciding to act like fools, targeted him at the same time, where the first one, who declared that he was Cang Du, bearer of the letter I and the Schrift known as the Iron, lashed out at him with four blades that were attached to a handle that he was holding onto, like he was using claws against him. Sombra, however, used the end of his scythe's hand to break the claws like they were nothing, prompting Cang Du to summon his ability, coating his entire skin in a layer of iron, only for Sombra to spin around and deliver a kick to the side of his right arm, crushing the bone like it was made of crackers or something. Interestingly enough Cang Du actually screamed in pain and revealed that this was the first time someone had actually broken his bones while he was using his Schrift, and that the pain was much worse than he could have imagined, but that lasted for only a few seconds, as Sombra brought a swift end to his pain before he made a fool of himself, especially in front of those that were watching them. At the same time he knew that nothing he did would convince the other Sternritter, who were still rushing towards him, that attacking him was a bad idea, so he sighed as he readied himself for his next attacker and whatever power they had been bestowed, since those were the only things he was remotely worried about. Interesting enough the next foe that came towards him was the one that was wearing the robotic armor, who had been standing back the entire time while his comrades fought him, causing Sombra to turn towards him, since he was sure that he'd be taking out another fool before focusing on the other foes around him. "Sombra, King of Hueco Mundo, I am KG9, Sternritter K, the Knowledge," the Quincy said, though the fact that the other Sternritter were backing off meant that there was something about this power that worried them, or they were preparing their own attacks for when an opening revealed itself, while at the same time his foe moved his right arm and revealed his bow, which was actually a minigun, "Thanks to all the fights you have been in, since we arrived with his Majesty, I have compiled a list of your powers, movements, and weaknesses... you cannot defeat me." "That's what you all say." Sombra replied, where he reappeared behind KG9 before he and the other Sternritter even realized that he had moved from where they had seen him, and when they turned to face him KG9 collapsed on the ground and stopped moving, causing him to turn towards his target before he died, "Sorry, but I've been holding back the entire time I've been fighting you, so there's no way that you would be able to know all of my powers, every movement I could make, and any weaknesses I might possess... and your arrogance revealed a hole in your defenses." As KG9 died, and his soul was added to the collection his scythe was gathering, the Quincy that was sitting on the floating disk, what he had assumed was a basket of some kind, pulled his hands together and formed a heart, just like he had seen Ribrianne do in the tournament, before his foe loosed a heart beam at him. This time around Sombra didn't move as he called his aura up, allowing the beam to collide with it and disappear without doing anything to the area around him, despite his foe stating that his name was PePe Waccabrada, Sternritter L, the Love, and that anyone or anything struck by his heart fell in love with him and would do anything he asked. Unfortunately there was one thing that PePe didn't take into consideration, and that was the fact that his heart beam couldn't touch him, as it slammed into his aura and disappeared like it was nothing, giving Sombra time to consider his options before he cut down PePe. While he did that, however, he noticed that Bazz-B was gathering a decent amount of flames into his right hand, no doubt getting ready to use the full power of his 'Burner Finger' technique, while at the same time Candice, the only one channeling the power of her Vollstandig, was pulling together an impressive amount of lightning in the area around her. In that moment he understood that his foes were trying something new, using one of their powers to keep him trapped in a single area while the others gathered as much power as they could muster, to lash out at him and hopefully defeat him before he cut them down, but he knew that it didn't matter in the end. Sombra revealed that such a thing didn't matter in the long run, as he hurled his scythe through the air and it cut into PePe's chest, causing him to cry out in pain as his heart beam fell apart, prompting Bazz-B to loose his Burning Full Fingers at him, which was a spiraling beam of fire at him, while at the same time Candice loosed her Electrocution at him, in the form of a massive charge of electricity. In that moment he showed the Sternritter that he wasn't to be underestimated as he raised his hands, using his left hand to catch Bazz-B's attack while his right hand caused Candice's to pause, causing the pair to pause for a moment, before he spun around and hurled them through the air, where he electrocuted Bazz-B and incinerated Candice. Before either of them could form another attack, or do anything else, Sombra flashed through the air and cut down PePe, after pulling his scythe free, before dashing towards his remaining foes, where Bazz-B's eyes went wide as he realized what was happening just as Sombra cut him down, only to reappear behind Candice as the flames scattered and she collapsed on the ground, dead from both his attack and Bazz-B's attack. As soon as the three Sternritter collapsed on the ground in rapid succession, all dead from what he had done to them, the Norse warrior approached him with a sword and a shield in his hands, instead of the bow he knew a Quincy could wield, but Sombra remained still as his next foe prepared for battle. While the Norse warrior declared that he was Gerald Valkyrie, Sternritter M, the Miracle, the older Sternritter with glasses rushed at him from another direction, revealing that he was Robert Accutrone, Sternritter N, the Near, which also sounded like a terrible power to have. The reason he felt that the Near was a terrible power was because it was speed based, something that Sombra could overpower in the blink of an eye thanks to his own abilities, but before he could actually cut Robert down Meninas charged at him and tried to punch him into the ground, where he simply dodged the attack before it even came near him. He then changed course and approached two more Sternritter, Q and R, where Q went to Berenice Gabrielli, who revealed that her Schrift was the Question and that she could make anyone doubt themselves with a series of questions, regardless of who her foe was, while R went to Jerome Guizbatt, who declared that his Schrift was the Roar, allowing him to adapt a more ape-like form and loose sonic screams at his foes. Sombra frowned at that as he moved through the air and cut both Berenice and Jerome down before either of them could do anything at all, as he had overcome his own doubt in the past and that rendered Berenice's power useless in the grand scheme of things, while at the same time it was rather easy for him to avoid the first sonic scream that Jerome fired at him, before he dropped the Quincy to the ground. Robert tried to intercept him as he moved around the area, to prevent him from cutting down his comrades, before Sombra sliced through the gun that his new target had summoned and then sliced him in half, showing Yhwach that nothing his Sternritter did mattered in the grand scheme of things. Gerald decided that the moment to attack him was while he was wiping out the other Sternritter, as he raised his sword and tried to strike him down, but Sombra shifted into his Shadow Form and avoided the attack, before returning to normal as he cut Gerald down. Meninas rushed at him again, this time causing her arms to bulk up to their true potential, before trying to crush him into the ground, but Sombra raised his left hand and blocked the incoming attacks like they were nothing, as they didn't compare to Jiren's attacks, and when she paused for just a second, with a look of confusion on her face, Sombra cut her down as well, eliminating another foe from the decreasing list of enemies that were in the area around him. Interestingly enough Gerald wasn't totally dead, as he managed to piece himself back together before his body enlarged, becoming a giant that was easily the same size that Yammy, an Arrancar that stayed true to Aizen's rule and had been locked away in the Shadowlands as a result, had been when he used the second form of his Resurreccion, before glaring down at the area that Sombra was in. Gerald then revealed that his ability, the Miracle, allowed him to manifest 'miracles' upon himself by giving form to the thoughts and feelings of those around him, and since his comrades were still alive he was focusing on them and their desire for him to remain alive, especially when they were facing someone like Sombra, but at the same time Sombra sighed as he shook his head in annoyance. "You guys are morons, that's all I can say." Sombra stated, causing the remaining Sternritter to pause as the shadows surged forward, wrapping around Gerald's wrists before forming large crystalline bracers that were made out of his signature black crystals, causing his foes to look at him with confusion on their faces. Instead of revealing his hand, like his foes were doing to him, Sombra flashed through the air and sliced Gerald in half once more, but this time, instead of reforming and growing to an even larger size, he remained dead where the halves of his body had fallen, which was away from Las Noches, and transformed the shock the other Sternritter were feeling into absolute horror. Those that knew of his powers, as in his followers and his friends, understood that the black crystals that he could summon had the power to nullify the abilities and powers of whoever he used them on, as they had nullified Gerald's ability to manifest his 'miracles' and allowed Sombra to cut him down with little effort. At the same time his actions caused Sternritter S, the Superstar, Mask De Masculine, to declare that he was the villain and that he needed to be taken out, causing Sombra to growl in frustration, as none of the Quincy seemed to realize that Yhwach was trying to end the world and were content to help him do just that. While Mask tried to hit him, since he was going on the offensive, a second Sternritter, revealing himself to be NaNaNa Najahkoop, Sternritter U, the Underbelly, seemed to be studying him and his reiatsu, as that was part of his ability, before a look of fear appeared on his face as he understood that they had been fools to challenge Sombra, as he couldn't feel Sombra's reiatsu, meaning that he had no idea how strong he was, before a diagonal cut appeared on his chest, showing that Sombra was sparing none of them at this point. He had given them the chance to back down, to retreat with their lives, several times since they invaded Hueco Mundo, and every single time more of them charged at him, so they could fulfill Yhwach's orders, until the point where he stopped trying to reason with them. Mask called him out on his actions, continuing to label him as a villain, before Sombra swung his scythe and cut a diagonal gash into his chest, intending to kill him in one blow, before a little man, like a fanboy or something, started to cheer for his foe, causing Mask to jump back onto his feet and reveal that his wound had been healed in a matter of seconds. That was interesting, as Sombra determined that Mask's power was related to someone cheering him on and could tell the remaining five Sternritter weren't going to help their comrade out if James, as that was the name of the little man, ended up dying, revealing a glaring flaw in Mask's power, one that could easily be taken advantage of in a matter of seconds. He rushed forward and kicked his main foe in the chest, sending Mask backwards with the power of his attack, before flashing over to where James was standing, ready to cheer his partner on, where he gathered his reiatsu and formed a Cero, a ghostly white one that caused James to cry out for a moment as he was consumed by the attack, eliminating Mask's ability entirely. Mask, as he expected, cried out and started calling him the ultimate villain, opening a number of holes in his defenses with little regard for his own safety, so Sombra flashed through the air and cut Mask down, who had a look of shock on his face as he realized that he had screwed up, before the life faded from his body as Sombra turned to the other Sternritter. Sombra then decided to turn his attention towards the Quincy that was a young boy, Sternritter V in his mind, but as he approached his next target one of the remaining Sternritter approached him, revealing that he was Nianzol Weizol, also known as Sternritter W, which was the Wind, but unlike the element that he was used to seeing Sombra determined that this was some sort of field that allowed his foe to push attacks away from him. He only knew that because instead of outright attacking with his scythe, like he had done so far, he loosed an incredibly low powered fireball at him, where his attack was simply pushed to the side, and when he loosed a ring of the same attack the same thing happened, but he did figure something else out from this exchange. Nianzol's reaction time was good, and he could figure out where a surprise attack was coming from, but at the same time his speed wasn't the greatest in the world, hence the reason Sombra used his own incredible speed and rushed through the area his foe was standing in, causing a look of surprise to appear on Nianzol's face as he fell to the ground like the rest of his comrades. That left just four enemies, excluding Yhwach and the last Sternritter, and it appeared that the twins decided to approach him this time around, where Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment as their forms shifted until they resembled him, down to the last detail. Of course that was before one of them started screaming, like he was being terrorized by something that only he could see at the moment, while the other one fell to one knee and huffed, like the weight of the entire world was on his shoulders or something, but at the same time it made things easier for Sombra. "Loyd and Royd Lloyd, twins that possess the Schrift Y, the Yourself," the rifle carrying Quincy commented, allowing Sombra to know the names of his foes, and possibly even the ability of their Schrift, before he ended them, as it was clear that they weren't going to last much longer, "Both of them can copy the appearance of anyone, be it his Majesty or an enemy like yourself, but Loyd has the power to copy the powers and techniques of whoever he is copying, while Royd has the power to copy the memories and personality of his target." "Ah, now I see their mistake." Sombra stated, because now that he knew what the Yourself was capable of, as it was an interesting power, he could tell the remaining two Sternritter what their comrades had done wrong, before taking both Loyd and Royd out, "You see, I have over a thousand years of memories, much like Yhwach does, but what Royd is currently experiencing is the terror of the Shadowlands, the realm I had to conquer in order to learn how to wield Dark Magic, and it's clear that his mind can't handle what he's seeing. Loyd, on the other hand, might be able to copy my powers, which is an interesting ability to have, but as you can see he can't handle the sheer power that I could be using against you, meaning that his attempt to copy me and my powers has opened a glaring hole in his defenses." Before either of the two remaining foes could do anything Sombra flashed over to where the Lloyd brothers were resting and freed them from their suffering, allowing them to revert back to their original forms as his scythe gathered their souls, before he turned towards the remaining enemies. "I see, you truly are a monster... worse than the five Special War Powers his Majesty was studying," the young man said, revealing that he believed that Sombra was an unbeatable creature, one that had sliced his way through all the Sternritter that came before him, while at the same time seemed unnaturally calm, "I am Gremmy Thoumeaux, and I am the bearer of the Visionary, making me Sternritter V, though my power allows me to turn fantasy into reality, meaning that if I wanted to imagine that your bones were cookies, easily broken ones, then it will come true." "You guys really need to stop telling me what your powers are," Sombra commented, though at the same time he flashed through the air and appeared behind Gremmy, where a diagonal cut appeared on his foe's chest, showing that his speed and power was greater than whatever his foe had been thinking about, "it gives me an opening to take you out, not that it matters since I'm almost done dealing with you and your leader." "I can also heal any wound that's been dealt to me by imagining that it's already been healed." Gremmy added, where Sombra glanced back and found that his foe was correct, the wound he had left on Gremmy's body had disappeared like it had never been there to begin with, before his reiatsu flared and another Gremmy appeared right next to him, "And by creating another living version of myself, as in a clone and not a shadowy copy like some people use, my powers are doubled, and will continue to do so for each clone I make. You can't kill me, King of Hueco Mundo." "You also keep forgetting the other thing I've been telling you," Sombra said, where he sighed and closed his eyes, as he couldn't believe that all of his foes were this foolish and that they kept telling him what their powers were, though a few seconds later, when he opened his eyes again, his ghostly white aura sprung to life around him, and he found that Gremmy had about nine clones surrounding him, making it ten against one, since the rifle carrying Quincy wasn't involved, "I'm the God of Death, a reaper that has decimated the Sternritter, and you think that I can't kill you? I'm sorry, Gremmy, but that is where you would be wrong." Gremmy growled as he and his clones opened fire, as they conjured a number of guns and missiles that they sent towards Sombra's position, but what they weren't expecting was for them to hit Sombra's aura and break apart like they were nothing, causing the rifle carrying Sternritter to raise an eyebrow. One of the Gremmy's decided to charge at him and lashed out with his fist, though Sombra let that happen as his fist made contact with his aura, allowing the energy to latch onto the clone before his fingers and hand started to age and turn to bone before his eyes. To anyone that was around during the time of Aizen's attack on the World of the Living, which was around the time Sombra took over Hueco Mundo and gained the powers of the Dios Hueco, this power was like the aging power that Baraggan Louisenbairn, the former God-King of Hueco Mundo, used in his Resurreccion, only instead of eroding and obliterating the area Sombra's version of the power brought death to the area around him. The best demonstration of this power was in some of the nearby plants, as they shriveled up and died before their eyes, and any patches of grass that happened to be lingering did the same thing, showing his foes that he wasn't going easy on them and that he was going to end them before long. Once he was done with his demonstration he rushed forward and spun his scythe around, cutting gashes into the clones that were all around him, ones that contained the deathly energy that he was channeling and caused the clones to die before Gremmy's eyes, before Sombra found his real target and cut him vertically in half. What was interesting was that the moment he did that, and ended Gremmy's life, the clones and his body vanished within seconds, leaving behind a brain in a container, showing that something must have happened in Gremmy's life and he was forced to create his own body with his power, before he sighed and used a Cero to wipe out the remains of the Sternritter he had been 'fighting', before turning to his final opponent. "So, you were able to beat Gremmy as well... very well then, I, Lille Barro, Sternritter X, the X-Axis, shall stand between you and his majesty." the rifle carrying Sternritter declared, though at the same time Lille raised his weapon and made sure that it was aimed right at Sombra, showing that he was going to start the battle first, instead of fleeing when he was being given the chance to survive, before he loosed a blast that was silent and didn't leave any smoke from his weapon, while Sombra tilted his head as the attack struck his aura and disappeared in seconds. "Seriously, are you all mentally challenged?" Sombra asked, because at this point he had no idea why the Sternritter were still fighting a clearly superior opponent, especially one that had decimated their entire army with little effort, before deciding that Yhwach had broke each of them and made them obedient towards him, so that they would never question him or his orders, even if it meant fighting someone that was killing them. "What... just happened?" Lille asked, as this was unlike anything that had happened in the past, as his attacks never failed to pierce and kill anyone that stood in his Majesty's way, and yet the first one he fired failed instantly, prompting him to fire at Sombra several times in rapid succession, only to discover that they had failed as well, "The X-Axis allows me to pierce anything that I'm firing at with perfect accuracy, regardless of how many barriers are put in place, and yet none of them see to be wor...." Sombra decided to just end it quickly and cut Lille down, where he noticed a shocked expression on the Sternritter's face as he collapsed on the ground, before he turned towards his last two foes, Yhwach and the Sternritter that was standing next to him, who stepped away from Yhwach and approached him, only to draw an elegant broadsword out from under his cloak and held an elegant shield in his left hand, one with the Quincy cross engraved into the metal. "I am Jugram Haschwalth, Sternritter B, the Balance, and Grandmaster of the Sternritter," the Sternritter stated, which told Sombra that his power had to be far greater than the Sternritter he had fought so far, especially since it appeared that his foe wasn't going to share what his own Schrift did, which was the smartest move he could make right now, "It now falls to me to remove you from his Majesty's path." "Come and try." Sombra replied, because so far every time one of his enemies said something like that, even if it was worded differently, he proved them wrong and cut them down where they stood, though this time around he suspected that Jugram would be different and switched his aura off, as he had the feeling that the Balance didn't require him using his deathly aura to take his foe out. Sombra and Jugram charged at each other, allowing their weapons to come into contact with each other, though it became clear right away that Sombra had an advantage, as it appeared that Jugram had no experience fighting someone that was using a scythe, and he wasn't trying to lure Sombra into a false sense of security by pretending to act that way, meaning that he was already having trouble keeping up with all the attacks coming his way. Despite Jugram's best efforts he couldn't stop Sombra from overpowering him, allowing the head of the scythe to slip through his defenses on more than one occasion, which resulted in his attire being cut open as blood followed Sombra's attack, even though he was holding back a bit to see what sort of power the Balance really was. Of course a few of his lesser attacks were blocked by his foe's shield, which didn't bother him one bit, but for the most part Sombra was starting to believe that the Balance was nothing, as it didn't appear that Jugram was doing anything to turn the tide in his favor, except stall Sombra so Yhwach could either flee or come up with an idea on how to defeat him. After coming to that decision, and waiting a few more moments to see if he was wrong, Sombra opened Jugram's defenses and swung his scythe, cutting two diagonal gashes into his foe's chest, one going from his left side to his right shoulder while the other went from his left shoulder to his right side, though the interesting part was that his foe didn't fall over, not like the others did. He was impressed, because everyone else that faced this power ended up falling over once he struck them, usually dead, but this time Jugram was standing and huffing over the damage he had been dealt, and while his defenses were up, in case his foe activated his Schrift, he knew the battle was over. "You are fortunate to experience all of this good fortune, in dealing this much misfortune to me," Jugram stated, which caused Sombra to raise his eyebrow for a moment, because sometimes what his enemies said didn't make sense and he had the feeling that the Balance was about to take effect, especially since his current foe seemed to be talking in a manner that could be connected to his power, "misfortune that I can redirect to my Freund Schild, before using the Balance to turn this misfortune on the one I'm fighting, which means you." Sombra watched as Jugram's wounds seemed to heal, showing him that he had redirected all the 'misfortune' he had suffered to his shield and that he was about to use his Schrift to do damage to his body with his powers, before the pair of diagonal cuts reappeared and several more cuts appeared on his chest, causing him to stagger and fall to a knee as he looked up with a look of shock on his face. "So, you can see the scales of one's life and measure which side they fall on, along with taking into account anything that happened recently," Sombra commented, though he wasn't surprised by this, not when he considered all the other powers that the Sternritters were in possession of, even if they failed to do anything to him, "Sure, your ability would have allowed you to directly damage me, something that none of the other Sternritter have been able to do since I started fighting them, but even your Schrift realizes that all 'fortune' I experience offsets the 'misfortune' I have, as in all the good I've done since coming to this world is balancing out the evil I did in my home world. The Balance realized this and, despite what you all have been doing, even realized that I'm trying to save the world, as opposed to destroying it like you and Yhwach are doing, so it turned everything you were about to do to me back on you, allowing me to take you out rather quickly so I can finish off your leader." "I see." Jugram said, as it took him a moment to see the scales that Sombra was talking about, where he found exactly what his foe was talking about, before he sighed and lowered both his sword and his shield, because he now understood why the Sternritter couldn't beat their foe, "Very well then, end it." If Jugram had tossed his weapons aside Sombra might have let him go, since the gesture would have shown him that the Grandmaster wasn't planning on getting in the way, but keeping his broadsword and his shield meant that if he was left alive he could come at him from behind while he was dealing with Yhwach, and he understood that Sombra was going to remain true to his word by making sure none of Yhwach's followers left Hueco Mundo alive. As such there was only one path for him to take, which was why Sombra moved through the space between them in a matter of seconds and cut down Jugram, who seemed to have a slight smile on his face, or maybe not, before he collapsed on the ground and his weapons fell from his hands. That put an end to the Sternritter, the force of warriors that Yhwach had trained for the sole purpose of bringing an end to Soul Society and the Shinigami that were protecting the Soul King, though with that task done he turned around and stared at the leader of the army that had invaded Hueco Mundo, because it was time they ended this invasion and got on with their lives. "You truly are a monster, to be able to wipe out the Sternritter... something I did not see happening, at least not in this manner and not at this moment." Yhwach commented, though at the same time he closed his eyes for a moment, as if he was focusing his reiatsu, and when he opened them a few moments later Sombra noticed that he had two pupils in each of his eyes, just like Pernida did, meaning his power was going to be troublesome. "You saw them being wiped out, but at a different time and by different methods?" Sombra inquired, because if that was the power that his foe was using, the ability to see the future, then it wasn't very good, espeically if what he had seen happened to be vastly different from what actually occurred. "Indeed. My ability is known as the Almighty, and I can see anything that happens in the future, from this moment in time to the far flung future." Yhwach stated, where Sombra felt his eyebrow twitch again, because it was like none of his latest foes could help but reveal their tricks to him, allowing him to plan around their abilities and overcome them with his own powers, but he said nothing as he waited for his foe to finish, "I also have the ability to modify the future I see, in whatever manner I desire, so please, do despair, because your power is nothing compared to the power that I wield." "And yet, you just admitted that you didn't see this happening." Sombra remarked, because it made sense when someone thought about it, that Yhwach had seen his invasion of Soul Society, and the death of the Soul King, a long time ago, hence why he went into hiding, but his plans had been interrupted by a simple soul he hadn't seen, which was the one that went on to become the Dios Hueco, altering the history that Yhwach had seen and changing it into something entirely different, "When you looked into the future you saw a war against Soul Society, one where you killed the Soul King and fought with Ichigo and the others to determine the fate of this world, but I know that the moment you stepped into Hueco Mundo, to start your invasion of my domain, you were confused by how this was possible. You claim that your power is to see the future, but you never saw my arrival in Hueco Mundo, you never witnessed me become a Vasto Lorde and induce a level of fear in Soul Society that they haven't felt for many years, you didn't see me claim the position as the strongest Hollow of them all, the Dios Hueco, and take this world as my domain, while silencing Aizen and his attempts to destroy the world by killing the Soul King, and you definitely didn't see Hueco Mundo returning to it's former glory, which is what rests all around us. You can't see me, Yhwach, just like you couldn't see the changes I made to this realm, so that means that part of your power is already useless in this battle, and yet you still want to battle something that you can't predict, something that you can't see, and something that decimated your army... a foolish mistake if you ask me." "You are correct, I cannot see you, even after meeting you and watching you fight," Yhwach admitted, because he knew that there were one or two beings that even his eyes couldn't see, making it hard to predict what they were going to do, but despite that fact he grinned as he faced Sombra, where he summoned his weapon, a sword that resembled a dadao, and held it out as he assumed his own battle stance, "but that doesn't mean you can beat me, since I've seen all your tricks and you haven't seen anything I can do!" That was a true statement and Sombra knew it, but at the same time he had a habit of mowing down foes after just seeing what they were capable of, especially incredibly foolish ones like the Sternritter, which was why he gripped the handle of his scythe and charged at Yhwach, who grinned as he rushed forward to meet him. The instant their weapons came into contact with each other the air around them shook, showing the observers that Yhwach was as strong as Sombra had heard he was, since he was able to fight on par with Captain-Commander Yamamoto and the first Dios Hueco a thousand years ago, a battle that he ended up losing and was forced to go into hiding so he could survive and heal the wounds he had been dealt. Instead of lashing out with the head of his scythe immediately, like he did against the other foes he had faced so far, Sombra used the base of the handle and jabbed at his opponent in rapid succession, where he forced Yhwach to parry the attacks with his sword, while at the same time keeping an eye out for any attacks that his foe might be sending his way. After a moment or two Yhwach jumped backwards and put some distance between them, where he swung his left hand and a massive bow formed out of his reiatsu, with seven massive arrows forming not a few seconds later, which he then fired in Sombra's direction, only for Sombra to flash through the air in rapid succession as he cut down all of the arrows, allowing him to land close to his foe as the arrows detonated short of their target. Yhwach, seeing Sombra approach him after wrecking the arrows, swung his arms and a black circle surrounded him, where a dome of energy formed around him as a smile appeared on his face, as if he believed that such a power could protect him, which was the moment that Sombra proved him wrong by swinging his scythe down on the barrier and cut in it half, before leaving a diagonal slash on his foe's chest... but, interestingly enough, the wound disappeared a few seconds later as his foe straightened himself, though at the same time Sombra backed off for now. "Interesting, you cut through my Blut Vene Anhaben like it was nothing," Yhwach commented, revealing the name of his technique to Sombra, while at the same time it was easy for Sombra to determine that the barrier was supposed to stop living things from hurting Yhwach, but dead things, like him and his deathly powers, seemed to work just fine against this power, "You also cut me down as well, but it's nothing I can't fix." Sombra understood what his foe was talking about, since he already explained that his abilities including the power to manipulate the future in some manner, meaning that it wasn't hard for Yhwach to switch his wounded or dead body with one that hadn't been hurt, which meant that he had two options at the moment. The first was to continue fighting so he could get a better understanding of Yhwach's powers, until he used his black crystals to nullify as much of his powers as he could, while the second was the same as the first, except for the part where he'd open a open a hole in Yhwach's defenses and let Uryu fire his Still Silver arrow into his foe's chest. There was always the third option, keep killing him until he ran out of futures to switch with the reality that he was in, but that was time consuming and he didn't want to give his foe the chance to finally see him with his sight, because he had the feeling that if Yhwach 'saw' him with his sight it would weaken his chances of beating him. At the very least it appeared that his foe was standing still and was staring at him, no doubt studying him so he could attempt to understand him and his powers, which allowed him to come to a decision on what he was going to do, hence the reason he glanced at Las Noches for a moment and stared at Uryu, who nodded his head in understanding, before facing Yhwach again. Not a moment later Sombra rushed forward and went on the offensive, this time using the head of his scythe instead of the end of the handle, and while Yhwach was able to parry some of his incoming attacks, while making sure to avoid being stabbed by the end of the blade in the process, Sombra was faster and slashed through his foe's attire, prompting Yhwach to use his power to avoid being killed. While all that happened Sombra felt the shadows stir around him, like his foe was doing something, causing him to grin as he activated his own shadowy power, causing whatever Yhwach was doing to the area to fail immediately, though if his foe was worried he didn't show it. In fact it appeared that his foe might have been planning that, as he gathered his reiatsu and formed a massive arrow that went flying in his direction, but this time Sombra remained still as his aura flared to life, where the arrow slammed into it and disappeared, just like he had done to some of the Sternritter earlier, showing Yhwach that he was going to have to try harder to beat him. The instant the arrow was taken care of, and nothing else was coming his way, Sombra flashed over to his foe and resumed the series of attacks that had been interrupted, slashing through his attire and body several times in rapid succession, yet after each swing Yhwach used his power to nullify the damage. It was both an interesting power and an annoying one, because while he had taken care of the part where Yhwach could see the future, and see his movements before he even made them, there was the part that allowed him to cheat death over and over, regardless of how much damage he took, but he hadn't found the opening that would allow Uryu to fire the Still Silver arrow and end this in an instant... and, as he thought about that, Sombra noticed five orbs of energy that rested in the air around him as Yhwach backed off, indicating that his foe was going to attack him again. "Your power is impressive, so much so that it must be mine," Yhwach stated, which was the moment that the orbs glowed and five concentrated beams of energy rushed at where Sombra was standing, engulfing him in a matter of seconds while Yhwach stood there and grinned, feeling like he had just won the battle, "This is another power that I have access to, Sankt Altar, which allows me to take the powers of whoever I am fighting and make them my own, so I shall take the power you are wielding and add it to my own, making me far stronger than ever before!" "Good to know you have another dangerous move to look out for," Sombra replied, where he appeared in the space behind his opponent, who looked back at him with a look of surprise on his face, showing that he had assumed that he had moved too fast for Sombra to react, when the reality was different than what Yhwach was thinking, "Seriously, you need to stop talking about your powers and just fight, otherwise I'll find a way around your defenses and cut you down where you stand, permanently." Yhwach, despite everything that he had seen so far, couldn't help but be surprised by the fact that Sombra had avoided his Sankt Altar, that his speed was so great that he had gotten out of the area before his technique had gone off, and that he was dominating the fight, without his Almighty being able to do anything. He won't be in this situation if he could at least 'see' what his opponent was doing in the future, so he could plan ahead and turn the tide, but his sight was still blind to the reality that rested in front of him, even though he refused to believe that a single Hollow could wield this much power, so much so that it messed with his abilities and rendered them useless. Still, his plan was to decimate the Soul Society, make his way to the Soul King's Palace, kill the Zero Division that guarded the Soul King, and then kill the being that kept the world in the state that it was currently in, allowing him to destroy this cursed world and transform it into something better, even if thousands had to die for his dream to become a reality. Once he remembered what his goal was, and stopped worrying about his foe, he held his left hand out and called a broadsword from his reiatsu, giving him two weapons that would allow him to overpower the single weapon that his foe was using, before he charged through the air and rushed at where Sombra was standing. Interestingly enough Sombra let the scythe float in the air for a moment as he drew two katanas from the shadows, just like he would have done if he had his sealed Zanpakuto, before charging at his foe as he disappeared, only to reappear a few seconds later behind Yhwach, where six diagonal cuts appeared on his chest, three going left to right and the others going right to left. This was a technique he developed shortly after gaining control of his Arrancar Zanpakuto, one that he called Kaiten Kenbu, meaning Revolving Heaven Sword Dance, and it was powerful enough to topple some of his greatest foes with ease, but with Yhwach, and his Almighty, the wounds vanished after a few seconds, allowing him to stand and continue the fight. Wielding a pair of blades, even ones made from the shadows, allowed him to block both of Yhwach's weapons with ease and actually pushed him back a few steps, showing him that his foe wasn't trained in the art of using two weapons, something that Sombra perfected after regaining his Arrancar Zanpakuto, and that it translated into his foe making a misstep that caused him to fall backwards for a second. It was the opening that Sombra had been waiting for, the one that would spell Yhwach's doom, which was why he banished his shadowy katanas and called his scythe back over to him, but even as his foe noticed that movement he disappeared a second later, and since Yhwach's focus was on him he wasn't expecting what happened next. A silver arrow flew through the air and struck Yhwach in his chest, right where his heart was located, and it was in that moment that Yhwach's veins bulged outwards, causing him to stagger for a moment as he looked down at the arrow that had pierced his heart, before the wind kicked up and Sombra appeared some distance in front of him... only this time around the wind seemed to be spinning around him as he pushed his power to the max, and an alarming amount of ghostly white energy was wrapping around the head of his scythe. "Your only weakness, Still Silver, fired by an excellent archer," Sombra commented, though at the same time the shadows got excited and wrapped around Yhwach's arms and legs, forming black crystalline chains once more, which would keep him from moving, before he took up his battle stance and gazed at his foe, "Tell me, Yhwach, can you hear the voices of the dead? Can you hear the voices of your angry subordinates, who you sent to die?" Yhwach, despite having lost his powers, as he knew this method well, paused as he heard what seemed like the screams of the dead, the voices of the Sternritter that had fallen during the battle with Sombra, meaning that his foe was going to combine the power he wielded with the power of the souls he had collected. "I see, you do hear them... and, for a brief moment, you feel fear," Sombra continued, because that was a bonus that he wasn't expecting, that Yhwach would feel fear the instant he let the area around him shudder after revealing the true height of his power to everyone, even if he was more worried about his next attack, "Soul Burst." His attack was similar to a wave of energy, like Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou, but it was larger than any wave type attack he had used in the past and it was much faster as well, where all Yhwach could do was widen his eyes as Sombra swung his scythe at him and loosed the attack. A moment later the area around him detonated and collapsed due to the power that Sombra had poured into the technique that would end this madness, where Sombra stood there and watched as the smoke formed a cloud above him, before focusing on the area in front of him. When the smoke cleared he found Yhwach floating in the air for a few seconds, only for his body to be split in half and fall out of the air, landing in the massive hole that had been blasted into the ground of Hueco Mundo, to which he sighed and dismissed his aura, before shifting his weapon onto his back as the barrier that protected Las Noches fell. The pointless war that Yhwach had attempted to start, between him and Soul Society, was over and he had saved the entire world from a level of destruction that they hadn't seen in years, and now that it was over he walked forward and glared down at the corpse of his foe. "Rainbow, would you take care of his body?" Sombra asked, as he knew that Rainbow and the other gods were coming to see what had happened, though as he turned around he found that Sunset had a smile on her face, because while she knew that he wanted to save some of them he also knew that he had done the right thing, while at the same time Rainbow jumped into the massive crater and loosed a Hakai on Yhwach's corpse, as Sombra was just being careful in case even this death could be reversed. "It's done. Yhwach is dead and his army destroyed." Sunset said, where she turned towards Sombra for a moment, who didn't even seem exhausted from the ordeal, while considering what else his scythe could do, if he was given the chance to use it's power again, but that was unlikely at this point in time, "So, what will you do now?" "Bury the dead and return to ruling my kingdom," Sombra replied, as that was what he had been planning on doing once he returned to Hueco Mundo, before finding out that Yhwach was coming, before he faced Sunset, "This Earth is safe from Yhwach's plan, to kill the Soul King and destroy everything, so you don't have to worry about this world for the foreseeable future." "Well, I'll leave it in your hands," Sunset stated, where Rainbow and the others from Equus gathered near her, and that included the Grand Priest, before they left Hueco Mundo, waving good-bye to the Holllows and Arrancar that called it home, knowing that they and the Shinigami would be celebrating Yhwach's defeat. Sunset knew that this world was in safe hands, with Sombra and his allies watching over it, and it appeared that the rest of her group felt the same way, which was why they returned to the World of the Living before using Discord's portal to head back to Equus, so they could rest before seeing what happened next.