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Post by dorkknight23 on Jun 14, 2020 17:59:34 GMT -5
However many years had actually transpired between when the Guardians had stood alongside the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men against Onslaught and now remained in flux in their memories and their minds, but the dust that settled on many portions of Guardians-Station was very real. Originally the abandoned subway station had been Ghost Train’s primary equipment cache in the city (the bulk of it stored upstate at his familial mansion), but as more and more Guardians business was held there, it gradually turned into the team’s base of operations, if not a home away from home then a full-on one for some of its members.
Checking the kitchenette, unfortunately STAFF had done little to keep it stocked, with three operatives left to watch over it. One of the agents on-guard opens the cupboard to see an especially fat rat screech and go running out with a mouthful of dehydrated nondairy creamer. It goes running off towards the dormitories, but its death screech is audible. Two black spectral tails flick behind Koschei the Nekomata as he proudly carries the dead rat to the table, drops it corpse at Eva’s feet, and proudly marches with puffed out chest back into the darkness as if no time had passed at all since the last time he had seen his owner. It merged into the shadows and seemed to vanish from sight as quickly as it came as if to even raise doubt that it even existed at all.
Golem’s stoic clay expression did little to hide his disgust at the dead rat and the putrid coffee, “As glad as I am to see you all again, Hell, to remember you all again,” Agent Golem cleared the clay that passed for his throat, “The timing on this is all too screwy. The Menace unfolds his scheme after almost a decade of silence after his last activity the same day you all show up? I don’t think it was intentional, yet I simultaneously don’t think it was unintentional either. I’m not prepared to rule out time shenanigans, especially considering the kind of...influential extra-dimensional entities you all have challenged over the years. Onslaught was just a drop in the bucket compared to some of those characters over the years: Mephisto, Shuma-Gorath, Ikonn, Exoid Prime, Morgan Le Faye, and those are just some of the ones I helped you all with… After everything that’s happened since you left, the world needs you, Guardians, now more than ever!”
“I’ll say!” A puff of golden smoke and a gong foretold Sun Wukong’s appearance, and subsequent appearances and he flash-stepped his way in multiple spots all over the room in divine teleportation bursts before balancing on top of one of the lights, swinging it gently.
“I see your debriefing is finished, Agent Wukong. Guardians, this was our man on the inside of The Menace’s so-called Revolution. You, of course, know the Most August Sage Unequaled in Heaven the Great The Monkey King Sun Wukong...”
Wukong produced an apple seemingly from nowhere, “Guardians, of course I remember them. Now, anyway. And it’s ‘Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal,’ more or less depending on the translation. Or ‘Handsome Monkey King.’ Or ‘Victorious Fighting Buddha.’ And now also ‘Senior STAFF Agent.’ Think the last time we fought was back in the 80’s, right? Or was it the 70’s? Namor was there, I remember that much...”
Agent Golem tried his best not to react to his divine cohort perched above and failed to not show a bit of irritation, “If you had given us more advanced warning we could have actually not even needed to be thanking the Guardians right now, Agent Wukong.”
“It was the *ahem* disguise,” Wukong indicated his usual golden headband, changed from the sparking "control band" from earlier, “They just activated me when it was time to go. Don’t exactly tell a weapon when it’ll be triggered, but I do know one thing: this was rushed. Something did set The Menace off to do this when he did, and as far as I know he was still gathering resources so it was very rushed. I don’t know who told him or what they told him, but all I can say for certain is he was in a real hurry. Speaking of real hurries, where did Raijin rush off to? I was hoping to invite him out for a couple drinks; him, me, Hercules, Gilgamesh, maybe Thor (maybe)... You guys could come too if you think you could handle it.”
*********
In Takamagahara, the overworld of the Japanese pantheon, Raijin had just returned in search of answers, finding himself greeted by the powerful fox god/dess Inari. After being disrespected (and overly thoroughly apologized to) by Inari’s kitsune attendants, they asked the itinerant god in the native language of the court, “<Why is it your return always heralds disaster, Stormcrow?>”
Amaterasu’s realm hung like a shining jewel in the heavens below the waters of Earth (focused eternally above the islands of Japan themselves) and higher still than the land of Yomi. The garden was idyllic and perfectly manicured, every ray of light, every atom of oxygen, every molecule of every object was considered and chosen and intentionally arranged by the Sun Goddess Herself. Raijin could sense Her radiance in Her personal wing of the palace, where only She and Her attendants could go.
“<This one has always been impressed at your great skill, Lord Raijin, if it can be said so. Our Lady does not always appreciate the necessity for cunning and guile that must be displayed over blunt displays of force. Still, even I am surprised at your boldness to return here now, unannounced, so soon after your last departure...>” Raijin wasn’t clear if this meant the “few years” (a drop in the bucket among immortals) he and The Guardians had been off-dimension or if something else was afoot here.
“<Still, despite the rumblings overhead it is most auspicious to see you in person, Lord. Has something changed in your mission?>” He did not remember telling Inari about any of his missions, he usually made a point of keeping them out of such affairs (despite their desire to typically get involved and profit from them).
Just then, Raijin’s own spitting image crosses through the courtyard, pauses at the sight of the two of them. Inari’s whiteness turned to pallor, “<What?! It seems perhaps the mission’s changed more than I thought has it?!>”
The imposter-Raijin curled his fangs and overplayed the “ogre” part of Raijin’s oni-ness, scratching behind the ear with his thunderstick, “<Clearly he’s the imposter, Inari-sama. Just use that foxy little nose of yers! I’m the one who was here earlier, ain’t I?>” He overplayed the part of an idiot to the point of it being nearly farcical.
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Post by Gris on Jun 15, 2020 5:46:16 GMT -5
Eira could feel her team close, though it was a dull sensation. Voices, touches... everything seemed distant. What control and discipline she had left was used to keep herself moving without making a scene, so she felt like someone else was moving her body. Her movements mechanical, her gaze lost, it took a while for her to really register the Guardians-Station and even then most of Golem's words fell in deaf ears. Sun Wukong's colorful and sudden appearance made Eira snap out of it, at least a bit, and it was then and only then that they were a Guardian short, more or less at the same time as the Monkey King.
"Stormcrow?" she wondered out loud, the first thing she had said in a while, looking around for no good reason. Eira closed her eyes and sighed heavily, opening them back. Pain, frustration and guilt still weighted her gaze, but the strange events unfolding required her top form so she pushed her feelings to the bottom of her thoughts. "With everything that's going on I don't think we can afford the luxury of catching up, not yet" she said, sounding almost as firm as usual. Wherever she looked in that abandoned base nostalgia threatened to hit her, but she just couldn't dwell on it. "The Guardians have to act, licking wounds comes later" she added, more for her own sake than anything else.
"Wildfire" Eira called for him, sounding loud and clear. "What now? Any idea where Stormcrow has gone this time?" she wondered. He was their leader now, and even if he wasn't Eira trusted the veteran hero to make a level headed call in a moment when such a thing was almost impossible.
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Post by Black Sam on Jun 15, 2020 11:48:52 GMT -5
Jim reached up above the kitchen cabinet the rat had just vacated and felt around the dusty mess. He pulled down the pack of Marlborough's he'd stashed there – years ago, now – and tapped one out, lighting it with a flicker of spontaneous fire. His face contorted in a silent snarl at the staleness of it, but he took a long drag anyway, letting the smoke calm his artificial nerves. His only reaction to the Monkey King's appearance was to wipe his hand on a dirty kitchen towel as he stared blankly at the wall. He looked to Eira when she spoke his name, then back to Agent Golem. "We can coordinate efforts to get to the bottom of all this," he said, flicking the cigarette into the sink. "But not now. My team needs time to recover; we're no good to anyone until we've settled personal business and regrouped. Raijin does as he pleases; he'll rejoin us when he's ready. Like Ghost Train always says...like he used to say...you can't expect more from volunteers than they've got to give...'" Wildfire stepped over to Shimmer, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "You have other obligations, so see to them. We can handle the debrief without you – just check in soon, okay? If there is a plot afoot we don't want to be caught off guard.""We need a plan of action," he said, pulling his hand from Shimmer to clench his jaw between forefinger and thumb. "Jack, how are you? Why don't you take the night off as well, come back tomorrow ready to work. I want the workshop inventoried and organized; we may need your technical expertise sooner than we think. Zzzrx, Evka and I can take care of domestic chores between now and then..."He gestured to the messy headquarters. "Agent Golem, I know your team will need time to sort out who's behind all this – you'll let us know when it's time for the Guardians to act and we will be ready. I'd like you to secure some updated training manuals, whatever materials you use to train agents. Our knowledge is out of the loop; technology, computers, politics, that sort of thing. Whatever else we need to know – please have your team put together some kind of briefing. We'll provide you with the details of our misadventures since Onslaught later – right now things are a bit muddled. And Senior Staff Agent Sun Wukong," Jim repeated the perfectly-intoned Chinese greeting Raijin had offered the Monkey King when the Guardians first reappeared over Manhattan.* "We're honored by the invitation, but we have much to do. Invite us next time and the Guardians will buy rounds for your entire pantheon."He realized at that point that he'd been handing out orders, but he mentally shrugged. Someone had to keep the Guardian train rolling... "What do you need from us right now, Agent Golem?"*Photographic Memory Modifier |
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Post by Janus on Jun 21, 2020 18:53:02 GMT -5
"Koschei!!" Gasped Evka in delight and in a blur she was gone.
She returned moments later with shopping bags full of food and drink. Shops in the eighties had gotten used to produce vanishing and money simply turning up.
The fact that in their perception of time this had happened in 2016 didn't hurt matters. She always wrote down what she took and left a generous tip.
In this case it was food and drink for the evening, and in pride of place was a whole roast chicken from the deli counter. This was swiftly disected and whole breast put onto the cleanest plate she could find.
Once that was down on the floor for Koschei she busied herself with cleaning and tidying whilst 'Agent' Sun Wukong explained what was going on.
She stopped briefly to add to what Wildfire had said.
"Guardians need to rest and regroup. Good meal would help also. Last good meal was in dimension of Lizard people. Borscht was not bad but wine was terrible."
The kitchen seemed to almost magically clean itself. Food and drink seemed to simply materialise on the table as Evka worked at her usual terrifying speed before she once again materialised.
"We all should sit down and have meal together. We must recharge and plan, food and drink will help. Raijin vanished off doing his lightning lotus thing, if he need help he will call."
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Post by RidiculousNinja on Jun 22, 2020 7:33:49 GMT -5
Jake for one was still processing the gaps in their memories.. it presented a troubling problem the more he dwelled on it... they could themselves be creating some kind of anomaly, or possibly at some point tampered with... or more troubling... what if there was something extremely important they cant remember.... he can't remember. Jim snapped him out of his thoughts as he nodded in reflex. He wasn't sure what Jim said but he knew he needed access to information.. he needed to learn about whatever technological advances had griped the world.... did they have time traveling DeLoreans? Even more important would he finally be able to watch Back to the Future?
He meekly uttered out a thank you to the Russian hero as he grabbed a few food items and disappeared to explore the ancient station. Acknowledging what clearly needed to be fixed and what just plain needed to be cleaned, the inventor couldn't help but make his way to the lab.. and to the old supply closet that served as his home.. he would rejoin the other Guardians, but needed to have a conversation with his darker self...
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Post by Black Sam on Jun 24, 2020 13:43:39 GMT -5
No sooner had Jim mentioned shopping and chores than they'd already been done. He'd never given thought to the domestic uses of Evka's abilities before, so it took him a moment to recover.
"Evka...you're killing my feminist cred...but spasiba!" Jim was more of a whiskey man, but the one shot he tried in the lizard dimension – a horrific, meaty concoction they'd claimed to be bourbon – made him thirsty for Evka's offering. He began to pour glasses.
"Gentlemen," he motioned for Golem and the Monkey King to sit, "Please join us, or you risk offending Infra-Red. Looks like we have time to debrief after all..."
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Post by Gris on Jun 25, 2020 7:59:38 GMT -5
Eira didn't had any doubts about her performance under pressure, perhaps it was the Asgardian part of her nature. Even in distress she seemed to do what she intended, without distractions, like fate guided her. That's why she ached for action, for something to do. Anything that would take her away from the pain that weighted her down. Jim had other plans, in his concern over her Wildfire made Shimmer almost felt betrayed. She needed him to be a man of action, to make a call to arms and instead Jim gave her time to process.
She stood there, not knowing what to do. Jake was oddly silent, Evka was keeping herself busy and Jim seemed to want to make sense of it all. If she stood there, in that old relic of a place, if she started to drink... she was going to break down and she knew it. Eira wasn't one to reject help, but pride had also misguided her more than once. She downed her glass in one gulp, a fitting excuse for the tears that were threatening to break from her eyes. "I'll be back soon, if you go away leave a note or something so I can catch up and-" Eira tried to explain to the team, her voice getting unsteady and breaking as she talked. Even before she could finish, Shimmer just vanished into a rainbow jump of her own, away to the only clue she had.
Away to cry for her father.
Without action to distract herself, she has to go and vent. The mourning scene in question can be found here:
She'll be back as soon as that scene ends and grumpy about everything, specially Asgard, when dorkknight23 deems it reasonable. |
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Post by Dhark on Jun 30, 2020 19:38:04 GMT -5
Raijin was visibly relieved at seeing his home intact, and even more so upon encountering Inari... and her... entourage. His returned greeting was especially formal, and the smile on his face unbreakable.
When finally he spoke, it was in their shared language... a language he had not heard or spoken in far too long. It was as music to his ears, and Inari a bastion of beauty and warmth despite the disrespect of her kitsune. ”<No disaster is heralded this day it would seem, thankfully.
“For so long as I have been gone, I feared the worst had transpired in my inexcusably extended absence. Especially so, when upon finally returning to this reality, the mortals spoke of...>” He trailed off suddenly, the shock of seeing himself colliding with the confusing questions, insinuations, and now potential ramifications.
”<Bakemono?!>” He exclaimed warily, shifting to place himself between the mysterious apparition and Inari, his attention wholly on this caricature of himself. ”<Are you a spirit of malevolence, mischief, or good fortune this day, Yōkai?!>” For all his caution, his hands remained open and at his sides. Though alarming, such creatures were not always ill tidings. Perhaps one had been contracted to keep up appearances in his absence?
”<And for how long have you made a mockery of my name and face?>” The last is uttered quieter, for Inari’s ears alone.
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Post by andyman on Aug 14, 2020 21:44:26 GMT -5
"So...with the place cleaned up already... Can I go drink mead with the gods?" Flypaper asks the team leaders. "It's fermented honey! Please?"
Actions: 3 stones in Social Skills to get permission to go drinking with Herc, Gilgamesh, the Monkey Sun God and maybe Thor.
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Post by dorkknight23 on Aug 30, 2020 4:20:50 GMT -5
"<What is time in a timeless realm> desu ne ka?" the impostor cackled, and his disguise faded quickly. Raijin was simultaneously enraged and confounded at the sight of a teenaged Loki in front of him. Loki had taken on many forms in his tricks besides his own Jotunn splendor: a horse, even a beautiful lady for a time, but he had not expected to see him as a teenager more than once. His Japanese suddenly became modern and disproportionately casual, as if he was some Tokyo street teenager: "<Anyway, more than enough for what I need. See ya.>" He lifted his knee and high-stepped behind a column like a showgirl, but as Inari charged towards the other side they found it curiously... "<Gone?! Yet he was just here!>"
There's a rumble from the other wing of the Palace: "<Gone?>" The Radiant Empress Amaterasu shines so brightly that even her faintest whisper could be heard from across the sacred realm even if she was physically on the other side of her palace. "<Where?>" While her fury was as palpable as the sun's gaze beneath the surface she did not need to say much at all to convey it. Seeing Loki sneak out, and hearing that, Raijin had to guess part of the Empress' Imperial Raiment had just been stolen, most likely her most treasured mirror.
**********
"Don't exactly eat a whole lot, just had the cup of coffee to be polite, but I'm sure Wukong would eat my portion."
"And then some," the Handsome Monkey King agreed and laughed at Flypaper's suggestion, "See, this guy gets it! Work hard, play hard! Very good for a... fly-demon?"
"Alien," Golem corrected him quickly, "Cosmic-ray-enhanced alien."
Wukong huffed, "Back in my day it was simpler: gods, heroes, monsters. Unless you were like me and all three." He bared a mouth full of fangs and chuckled, "Nowadays it's not so simple, is it? Cloaks, daggers, secret societies, Skrulls in disguise..." He huffed, "Hard to keep all of it straight. Sorry."
"You should be, calling people demons..."
"And what's wrong with being a demon? I was one once..."
The Guardian-Computer's klaxxons flared to life for the first time in decades, to the surprise of the STAFF agent dusting it. Readouts displayed security perimeter alerts of a break-in in-progress at the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art. A display on ancient Egyptian relics had one of the items earmarked of being of particular occult value: a scroll purportedly not just written by the Egyptian God Thoth but a copy made by him directly. The Scroll of Thoth had previously been in part of an evil plot by the god Set to transform the entire world into a version of Egypt under his rule that the Guardians foiled in a classic team-up with Hercules and the Mighty Thor (the now-classic back issue "Death Stalks the River Nile.") Outside of a couple failed attempts to study it, little had come from the scroll that you knew of, now though it was being stolen.
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Post by andyman on Aug 30, 2020 12:31:41 GMT -5
"Mead will have to wait! Ancient Egyptian Scarabs may be in danger! Let's Go, Guardians!" Flypaper then heroically flies out the door toward the museum. Action 1: 3 stones flight to fly at Flight Speed 5. Action 2: 3 stones Hunting/Tracking to remember how to get to the museum. Health: 6/6 Energy: 12/18
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Post by Black Sam on Sept 2, 2020 12:27:59 GMT -5
Jim stood with the others, staring over at the display on the moitors.
"That thing is still on display?" He shook his head in dismay, even as he began to move toward the exit. "It looks like our reunion will have to wait, gentlemen. Infra-red, could you make sure that alert goes out on our communicators? Don't want the others to get lost..."
Wildfire erupted in glowing red plasma as he took off after Flypaper.
********************
HEALTH: 4/4
ENERGY: 18/18
ACTION ONE: 5 stones into Flight to get to the museum
ACTION TWO: none
ATTACK: none
DEFENSE: 3 (+1 Uniform; Mental 1; Energy 3; Physical destroyed if Hardness < MN 6*)
MODIFIERS: Cybernetic Senses 2; Energy Defense 3; Healing Factor; Immolation 6 (Touch range; instant damage - compare Hardness of attack before defense - object/attack is destroyed if MN is higher*; attack stones = MN if defense is overcome but doesn't combine with CC); Mental Defense 1; Photographic Memory
HEALTH: 4/4
ENERGY: 13/18
REGENERATION: 7
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Post by Janus on Sept 4, 2020 19:48:28 GMT -5
Evka looked over to where agent Golem was sitting with the same look of exasperation on her face Wildfire had displayed.
"Please tell me you replace ancient Egyptian god relic with fake. I only ask because if not I will have to explain to someone meaning of 'Guardians need rest' and they will not enjoy experience."
There was a blur and Evka was over by the Guardian computer, directing the incoming alert to the Guardians G. O. D. Comm.
One of Ghost Train and Fallout Boy's proudest achievements whilst foraying into multi-dimensional physics had been the Guardians Omni-Dimensional communicator.
With people on the team who treated dimensional barriers with technically less respect than most people treat ticket barriers (which was to say an occasional inconvenience) it had been a vitally necessary part of team life. They had also upgraded the Guardian computer to work at the sort of speeds Evka found comfortable so the message;
'Guardians. Very sorry to disturb your break. Wildfire wanted cigarette so bad buys chose now to steal ancient Egyptian God Scroll that 'someone' left in Manhatten Museum of Modern Art after we rescued it from Set. All Guardians please attend.
Time/Date/Dimension code attached.
PS. Yes Raijin, that means you too.'
Was written and sent in less time than it took to blink.
The relationship between bad guys attacking and Wildfire lighting up a cigarette was, according to Ghost Train, both statistically significant and the butt of much Guardians related humour. It was even rumoured that the Onslaught crisis was a direct result of a very fine Cuban cigar that had been a gift from the Wakandan Ambassador to Wildfire for the rescue his daughter some weeks earlier.
With that complete however Evka was in no mood to wait for STAFF's finest to catch up.
"Actually, nevermind, you can tell us later..." She said. Her words disappearing slightly slower than she did as she raced the others to the scene of the crime.
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Post by Gris on Sept 5, 2020 5:18:46 GMT -5
Eira was teleporting around the world, unsure of what to do, where to go. She had been able to vent, to express her grief, and yet Asgard had found a way into her life as soon as possible. Anger was starting to replace sadness, but none of those were helpful in her situation. The Guardians were back home, but what home it was when things were so changed? What home it was with their loved ones dead? "What's the difference? Why did Ghost Train had to die if this feels like another weird dimension?" Eira stopped to lament, sitting down in a park somewhere she quite didn't know where, feeling responsible once more. Several people around the globe would post pictures of fleeting rainbows and a strange woman to Instagram that day, but Eira wasn't stopping for long, just catching up her breath.
And then it was Asgard. Why did Odin send Brunnhilda? Why send her friend? The horrible god always did the same, only cared about people's feelings when he could exploit them. "Damned old goat, always with your schemes. Loki did not fall far from your tree, but at least Thor is more like Frigga..." she considered, whining to the skies about the whole situation. That didn't mean it wasn't important though, Odin could be a piece of work, but didn't summon you without a reason. Whatever was going on in Asgard, Eira and perhaps the Guardians would look into it in their terms, not the All-Father's.
[Guardians. Very sorry to disturb your break. Wildfire wanted cigarette...]
"Oh Hel no" Eira just blurted, paying attention to the message that came from the communicator. "He won't quit the habit, he can't" she said, a small smile parting through fury and grief. She still had a family there, she always had the Guardians by her side. And be it another dimension or her own world, she had people to protect. Eira didn't like how things felt, Raijin's disappearance, Asgard getting nosy when she was just back, and now that. With the surprising presence of Menace there and the weirdness that was going on with the mutants, there were many things she didn't understand. For starters, now everyone seemed to have portable Stark phones that could even snap pictures, judging by the curious people that were looking at her sudden appearance. The world had really changed, but then again, she still had to do the work.
Feeling her connection to Midgard once more, Shimmer felt herself grounded, aware of where she was. Her aimless teleporting had finally taken her back close to New York, close to being back home. "Home" she sighed, smiling a bit more. She wasn't over what had happened yet, no way she could, but at least now she was aware once more than she had the Guardians with her. She had family with her.
A shimmering rainbow delighted onlookers for a moment, as she teleported towards the trouble.
Health: 6/6 ; Energy: 18/18
Action: Teleport 6, to the museum!
Health: 6/6 ; Energy: 12/18
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Post by Dhark on Sept 5, 2020 8:21:53 GMT -5
Raijin’s shoulders slumped, recognizing that his absence had made his contemporary’s trick possible. ”By the count of the Imperial Calendar...” He said distantly, doing the math and providing the number of days he’d been absent from this universe. ”... banished by the entity calling itself Onslaught, we only just returned. It would seem that my absence has been exploited... and I fear this may not have been the first time; though from the sound of things— It may be the most immediately dire.” He began slowly moving towards the commotion. His face had been worn. It was on him to face, explain, and atone for.
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