Much like a grumpy grandma, the amazon's shoulders slumped when she realized she startled the young girl. One thing no one knew about Venilia was that she had a soft spot for children, especially those who have been shunned by society or their families. Maybe it was because she felt abandoned by the Ancient One, or maybe it was a weakness she had to overcome. She would never betrayal her creator, but she still felt hurt that he never came for her after the accident. "Apologies are for the weak," She groaned, smacking the girl's apology aside.
She wanted to tell her she wasn't weak, but she was too afraid of becoming sentimental with everyone. Juno already infiltrated her heart, the last thing she needed was to view So-so as a little sister. The assassin began to walk toward the stairs leading down to the second floor, beckoning her to follow her to the infirmary. With her eyes still narrowed with suspicion, she limped behind her. She made certain to keep a good distance, "sensing" something was off.
"So do you feel guilty for watching me get raped by darkness, or not reacting on time?" She chose her words precisely, noticing the girl was too calm for someone who just witnessed and learned her fellow schoolmate had been attacked. The two strode down the stairs, entering the second floor. "Why aren't you with Mari?" She poked at her with another question of suspicion. From what she witnessed and heard, So-so was like Mari's bodyguard. If the school was being invaded by whatever that was, the assassin would be guarding her.
Then there was Juno; So-so had entered her room. A few moments later, the dark angelic beauty rushed out of her dorm with no sign of the assassin behind her. To be fair she was busy suffocating to death, and vomiting rainbows and smoke? She really wanted to pull off a Robert at the thought. The two were now walking down the halls of the second floor, almost near the stairs leading down to the first. If So-so did not ease her suspicions, she was going to take off to find Juno. "So how about we stop here and answer those questions?" Venilia's expression and body posture showed she was not taking no for an answer. She made certain to keep a distance in case her suspicions were true.
The dealer didn't even bat an eye at Will as the two kept on walking, weird, something was wrong. "Juno Fei got it, names Wi- wait, how do you know my name?" Will asked as the two were now rushing down the first flight of stairs. The merchant seemed pretty shaken when she began talking about So-so, "Right, I believe you, cause why would the schools popular dealer be scared of a gem?" A hint of sarcasm could be heard from Will's voice, but under his jokes he actually did believe Juno, because he also felt an aura come off of So-so when he was near. As the Diamond and Ruby made their way to the parking lot of the School, Will notices Juno's van walking towards it.
Just a few moments after reaching the van Will turns around once again towards Juno giving her a slightly raised eyebrow, "So we're here, now-" not even before he could finish his sentence, another students arrives to the scene, panting like a dog. How many students has Will not met yet? Cause it would seem Will hasn't been as socially active as the others despite the occasional parties he throws, "Yeah what the kid said, what're we doing here?" Will simply asked as he took out a pack of cigarettes from his suit. He pops one out as he leans on Juno's prized van as he lit it and set it on his lips, looking down at Reed with a raised eyebrow and slight smirk of amusement.
Some of my own was a singing competition or going a week without using our powers in order to see how long each of us last without using them."
Lmaooo if we have a singing contest are you guys gonna hate me if I break out my guitar? XD
Idk when Kid Superion said this, but that sounds like a fun idea. Venilia could low key sing and dance, she got it from her daddy(third clone source)....Oops spoilers.
Juno was already too busy swinging her van doors open, lunging at the crates inside like a madwoman. "Reed, meet Will. Will, meet my good friend Reed." She called out from the back, her legs dangling out as she shuffled through her gear. "We have a serious problem, guys. I can't really get into the fine details of it, but I'm 89% sure So-so is possessed by some kind of magic. And my some kind of magic, I mean the evil kind." The goth elaborated. Juno didn't feel like explaining to them about her theory on how some demon is haunting her, and gave her the painful hint that another entity is causing grief.
Finally crawling out of the van, she had a satchel in hand, filled with all of the gadgets she used to take on her smuggling runs. "That being said, I got a serious "Bodysnatchers" vibe from So-so. Like, she was trying to get my into a secluded spot and do the same thing to me as to what's happened to her... Whatever that is..." The merchant slung the satchel over her dress, now crossing her arms and looking at the two boys.
"Here's what we're all going to do. Reed, I want you to get that handy Micro-lab out and ready to shrink us all down. The longer we're out here in the open, the longer we're exposed to whatever the hell is going on. Will? You should go gear up, and don't tell anyone what you're up to on the way. I'm going back for Ven... Venilia..." Juno stuttered and corrected herself, realizing just how affectionately she said her crush's shortened name at first. She only realized on the way here that, in her frail panic, she left Ven in the dorm with So-so. The goth would have to feel terrible after she saved the girl of her dreams. "Once all that is said and done, we meet back here and shrink down in the lab. Then we can figure out how we're going to capture So-so and get some answers." The dealer looked back and forth between them, not with a look of authority, but a mutual nod of respect, knowing that she was asking a lot from the two.
@juno_fei: but.... so-so wasn’t trying to isolate you at all...? She was just asking about buying something.... you’re the one who ran off suspiciously xP
@feral_nova: I (Juno by extension) took it as So-so wanting to buy something, which would lead to them heading to the parking lot. Sorry misunderstanding >_<)
"So how about we stop here and answer those questions?"
So-so stopped in her tracks as her back was still towards Ven. She paused for a moment, her face blank with expression as she suddenly lowered her head. Her hair covering her eyes and casting a shadow over her face, as she finally turned around to face Ven, an expression of shame on her face as she let out a sign.
“I feel guilty for both.” she began, her voice soft. “Venilia… I just got out of the medical ward today, and that was because I left against medical advice. I’m still healing.” She pulled her pants up as she turned her leg, a long sutured laceration going from the base of her calf up to behind her knee was seen. She then turned back as she pulled on her shirt till her shoulder was exposed, another large sutured laceration seen. Neither of the wounds looked superficial and they still looked rather fresh. “Those are only some of my wounds. I lost a lot of blood… Doctor Knightfall didn’t know how I survived. My muscles, my tendons, my ligaments, they’re still healing. I didn’t help because I’m still weak. I’m-” She paused looking down at the ground, looking as if she was ashamed of herself. “I’m only human. I don’t have super strength, super speed, super healing, super durability, or super intelligence. I’m not a God, or even a Demi-god or a vampire or some other mythical creature. I only have… this.” She looked down at her hands. “So yes, I do feel guilty for just watching and I do feel guilty for not reacting because I couldn’t, because my body is still healing and I can’t do much of anything. As for Mari. The entire reason I left the medical ward was to check on Mari.” Truth, it was nothing but truth she was speaking in this moment. All of this would explain why So-so was looking so pale and sickly. It would explain why So-so hadn’t been at Mari’s side this entire time and it would explain why she didn’t jump into the attack at seeing Ven get hurt.
“She was in her room when I checked her, and she still wasn’t feeling well. Shawn was there visiting her as well. But she told me to go, so I did. But I thought before I went back to the medical ward, I would at least say thank you to all those who risked their life to help me.” She would take a small, non-hostile step forward. “You don’t know me, and you didn’t have to help me but you did and I'm grateful. So… thank you Venilia, if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know.” She looked up at Ven as she spoke with a sincere voice as she extended her hand to her. A shake to show her graduated to the Amazon was all she could give her right now.
"How long did it take for you to figure out your powers, Ms. P?" Jeremiah carefully picked up the scattered kitchenware cognizant of activating his powers again thru residual static still radiating his body. He survived the manifestation of his powers this long, but it felt like it was growing, pushing to break out of him the more he tried to suppress it. His Mom & Dad agreed to send him to Connecticut for his own safety with an odd fervor. His older brother, Malikai was skeptical of the school but had to respect his parent's decision. Malikai dedicated the most time to getting Jeremiah comfortable with his powers. But Elegua's Entrepreneurwas busy running a brand and based in California with conflicting timezones.
Alex was sitting in his room doing schoolwork when something caught his attention, the air smelled different...it reaked of death. Rising out of his chair Alex began walking around his large room searching for anything out of the ordinary, he didn't believe he left anything rotting in his room...Alex was very cleansly; he liked everything to be neat and tidy in case he needed to find something. But he felt as if his mind screaming at him telling him to run as fast as possible, he felt a bad omen and not much could rattle the speedster but this did....In the corner of his eyes he saw something...a figure cloaked in darkness, Alex could barely see it and when he turned to look at it with his full range of sight the figure was gone...Alex's eyebrows raised in surprise..."There's no way..."
He would walk into his bathroom and he'd turn on the sink and begin splashing his face with water and drying it with one of the towels that was hanging on the rack on his wall. Shutting off the light he would walk back into his room and his eyes would widen in pure horror at the sight that lied before him. Three bodies hung from his ceiling and blood was thrown all around his walls...Shaking his head furiously back and forth he would walk towards the first body and slowly unwrap his head to reveal...Alex's younger brother...Alex would stumble backwards in surprise with a gasp"Jairus?...No no no..this isn't possible.." His little brother had been around 3 when he was killed. This body was at least in his mid to late teens, but Alex could easily tell that this was his brother; the facial features were the exact same just older.
Alex would cringe as he felt his brothers sticky blood touch his fingers and he felt vomit rise in the back of his throat. The feeling of death that Alex had felt before was intensified to insane levels and Alex started breathing heavily. Backing up slowly he would bump into one of the other bodies hanging upside down, there was not much that could genuinely horrify Alex, but this made him shake with terror. He then began unwrapping the next face of the victim hanging on his ceiling and his face would tear up as he saw his little sister staring back at him with lifeless eyes.
Alex could feel a guttural scream building up in his throat threatening to burst out of his lungs. Irene had wanted to be just like their father, the three year old girl had wanted to be the hero "Butterfly" She always insisted on that name...looking at her now made Alex feel incredibly hopeless, she was supossed to be a great hero...instead she got killed for no reason. All of this piled together began making Alex think irrationally. He was obviously seeing things, that was the best explanation he could think of...something was causing him to see things that were NOT there...So holding back his scream he would push on to the next body, which happened to be his mother...looking at her body made Alex throw up all over his floor. Her body looked exactly the same as it had the night she had died, her neck was twisted at a horribly unnatural angle and her tongue was hanging out of her mouth black with rot her death had been the breaking point for Alex...seeing her die turned Alex into something that the League Of Darkness could manipulate and control.
Closing his eyes tightly he would try and force all of this out of his mind and when he opened them he would see writing on the walls...in cryptic font. Not Even You Can Outrun Death.
With a furious and urgent turn of his hips Alex would run out of his room at human speed and he'd race towards the library, one of the janitors had gotten mad at Alex when he used his superspeed in the hallways because he had accidentally knocked him though a wall. So Alex kept it to a human sprint. He would crash through the library doors and he'd rush to the librarian with a feral look in his eyes "Where are the books about Death?!" He would shout at her as his voice began to quiver, and she began walking WAY to slow for Alex giving him worried looks like he turned into a f*cking nutcase "Hurry up please!" Alex would normally shout at her to hurry the F*CK up but he was to scared to speak harshly to her...he was beginning to think this was a form of Karma.
After several long minutes of waiting for her to show him the section in the library designated to "Death" Which Alex really didn't think would be a thing he would begin pouring through books trying to find anything that could help him rationalize what he was going thorugh. He went through EVERYTHING. Tearing through every known religion and their personifacation of Death...Slavic, Greeks with Thanatos, Yama for the Hindus, ALL of them...but nothing was adding up to what Alex was seeing...and it was only getting worse. He felt as if the whole library was flickering in and out of color; turning from black to white to red each time he blinked. He was sweating hard and lightning began flickering from his fingers...even though he hadn't activated his powers...
Looking up from his book he would notice that all of the students in the Library were gone (Though they weren't really) and that the whole room had turned pitch black. Standing up with a quickness Alex would thrust his chair behind him, he looked around the room furiously for anything out of the ordinary...and that's when he saw it...The being that was haunting him...it was disgusting....but the aura field it gave off made Alex tremor with shock and fear..it reaked of millions of dead bodies...it's face made Alex want to rip his hair out and pound his head against the wall. It flickered in and out of Alex's view and red lightning sparked around his body it was wearing a black version of his fathers uniform with a red emblem and earpieces. It tried speaking to Alex but all that he heard was a clicking and clacking of teeth, then it made a horrendous noise that sounded like laughing...as it slowly crept towards Alex
Then it let out a monstrous scream...and in that ONE moment Alex lost his sh*t completely. His norepinephrine and cortisol hormones filled his body at lightspeed and his Adrenaline spiked so hard and fast that Alex felt like he might have a heart attack. Alex's Fight Or Flight sequence was ennacted and there wasn't even a CHOICE in Alex's mind as he Ran...the...f*ck...away...not giving a f*ck about any janitor's feelings. He shot throughout the school so fast that he was pretty sure that he broke the sound barrier the moment he turned away and took his first step.
He was running in the dark; barely lit hallways as fast as he could and was slowly calming down positive that whatever that thing was it was not following him anymore. Then he heard the sickening laughter...and the scream...and he had no time to react as that THING slammed into his body and began clawing at him. With a scream of panic Alex would push it away and resume running again, but this time Death was not lagging behind. It grabbed Alex by his hair and threw him against the wall and began pounding at him.
Gathering an ounce of his sanity he would begin hitting the monster and keeping it away from him, and with one final push Alex would grab and punch it all the way back down the hallway and Alex would shoot toward Connors room, he could still hear th clicking and clacking and the damned LAUGH of the being that Alex was beginning to personify as Death himself. Once he reached his door Alex would begin pounding on it loudly with extreme urgency "Connor! CONNOR OPEN THE DOOR NOW! HOLY SH*T!" Alex was depending on Connor now. He wasn't wearing EITHER of his suits and Alex looked a bit unhinged bordering on insane. But he was also pretty sure he was beginning to have a heart attack...Or he was going into Cardiac Arrest...but he needed help from SOMEONE now.
Reed would take a step inside of Juno's van as he made himself comfortable, as to allow himself to catch his breath. After he took a seat and was able to rest momentarily, he was able to truly appreciate being back there once again. It had been quite a while since the last time that he was in Juno's van, and he felt more than welcomed in the environment. The fond memories that he shared with his friend would cause him to let off a small smile that was exactly the same as the one that he had when he met Juno face to face back inside of the academy. But now was not the time for him to be reminiscing, whatever Juno called him for must have been serious.
As he turned his attention back to the dealer, Reed saw in the corner of his eye an image of the other boy sticking a cigarette into his mouth, before lighting it and releasing a couple of fumes into the vehicle. As the smuggler would explain the events surrounding the mysterious nature of some of the other students that the Pocket Sized Scientist had yet to meet, he would do his best to pay attention as he swatted away the puffs of smoke from the cigarette as he choked a few times. His eyebrows would heighten as she went on about magic and possession his look of intrigue only lessening at the mention of his lab. He would however give a look of interest at the mention of someone named Ven was corrected to the being "Venilia".
Placing a finger to his lips, he boy would tap into the logistics of her proposal to see if that was the best way of proceeding. "That plan should work, for the time being at the least. I can go back to my dorm room for the lab while Will gets his equipment and you get...Venilia." He would glance at Will before looking back at Juno.
He smiled as the two were talking, hiding his true feelings of confusion. 'Why did they have to talk s much before she left. Doesn't she know she needs to prepare herself for the day. She, out of all people, need to stop talking.' However, his youthful smile and childish eyes continued to act as a shield for his true thoughts. After the two were finished talking Connor would catchup with the Kid of Wonder, telling him how he received his emblem.
From what he was told, it seemed that it was passed down from his father. Albert understood and respected family traditions. Then Connor asked him the same question. "Well, from where I'm from, it's a sign of royalty and honor. It acts as a beacon of hope for those who didn't quite find it" He realized that's he's acting out of his usual and returned to his childish ways; "So, yea, that's basically it."
They soon arrived at the Battle Focus Training Room, Albert only used it once before and almost scarred himself, but now, he has someone more experienced to handle it with him. He entered into the large silver room and spoke a few words. "Sahara Desert incident" The metallic walls would soon crumble as sand replaced it. The room that was over their heads began to fade out as the hot sun appeared in its place.
The two were there, in the middle of the desert, alone. No, casualties, and no students. Albert sat on the ground,drawing something in the hot sand. "A girl told me that I may not be strong enough to harness my innate abilities" He shook his head in disb "I just think she was confused, seeing how she isn't like me. I honestly can't blame her." X was a kind person, at least to him. He understood her advice, but took it with a grain of salt. He saidsaw the massive similarities between him and Connor and believed that it was possible for him to teach him. If not, than taking on the strongest kid in the school and winning proves to himself that he's strong enough to harness it, but it may be something mental.
Venilia glanced away from the young assassin, pursing her lips with frustration and humiliation. So-so managed to pierce her pride, answering her questions with ease. Being wrong was one of the things that irked her, hurting the reality she concocted in her head. Unlike Shield-Maiden, she did not have a Lasso of Apollo. She could not compel anyone to speak the truth, or heal the sick. Her lasso could not repel darkness through nuclear fusion.
While she would never admit defeat, she accepted the reality of the situation. The fresh scars on the assassin's body were enough proof to convince the goddess she was telling the truth. She wasn't moved by her words of sentiment, just the evidence in front of her. Venilia's heart remained frozen, unaffected by the girl's battle wounds. "Fine," She grumbled, clearly still salty. "Now stop trying to make me feel sorry for you. You're mortal, so the f*ck what. I am willing to bet you could murder Alex in hand to hand. Don't take that as a compliment either." The stubborn amazon warned, irritated she kept apologizing to her.
The Battle Axe of the Rubies was a contemptible individual, yet she tried to be less of a revolting person when around children. Maybe So-so was another student she could socialize with. Unlike Juno, she was willing to manipulate her into thinking they were friends. She just hoped her adopted-father's plan did not backfire. Despite the fact the assassin was able to answer her questions correctly, there was still an unsettling feeling she couldn't shake.
So-so explained why she had left Mari's side, but that did not explain why she was in no rush to alert the campus. She found it suspicious that she did not seem bothered that her fellow student was just attacked. Everything made sense to the goddess with the exception of those two observations. The little warrior stepped forward, causing her to cautiously step back. Her eyes darted downwards, staring suspiciously at the girl's extended hand.
Her brain sent a warning to her heart, to run and find Juno. She was not concerned about her classmates, just the woman that brought life to her still heart. The amazon didn't know what to think of So-so's suspicious behavior, but if she was not going to warn those she cared about, Venilia was going to warn the only person she wanted to be around. "I didn't do it for you," She took a spear and pierced her with sharp words. "I did it for me." The goddess confessed, walking around the assassin.
The Battle Axe of the Rubies bit down on her lip and closed her eyes as she walked away, holding back the truth. The truth was that a part of her did feel a connection with the girl. She did it for herself, but she also did it to free the girl from her imprisonment. Just like Ares freed her from her container when she was a little girl, Venilia felt the need to free So-so as well. Stopping at the stairway leading down to the first floor, the blond amazon gave the little warrior one last look of suspicion. "I am going to find Juno and the other a**holes. Once that's done, we'll meet you at the infirmary," With that said, Venilia rushed down the steps to find the dark angel dealer.
Watching Reed swipe away the smoke made Will grin even more, Reed was more polished than Will. He leaned on the now open door of Juno's van as he took another puff of the cigarette as Juno began giving out orders to both Reed and Will. Her voice serious, her body language shaky, this must've been serious. Will set off back to the institution not saying another Word, he just gave a simple nod. As he walked towards the entrance of the school, some spoke to him, while others just stared, as if he was a celebrity walking the streets of Los Angeles. Most of the kids were asking Will if he was throwing another party, which he wasn't anymore since he had more intense matters to attend to.
He dismissed them all as he pushed open the large wooden doors that led to his home, the Diamond hall. There, more kids began talking to Will, like he was the most popular kid there, which he probably was. He walked the halls like he ran the place, despite him not being Top Diamond. Will shut the door behind him as he was now in his room, the place was littered with comics, dirty clothes, opened bags of chips that weren't even finished with yet. Will set down the bag he had onto his bed as he opened his wooden closet. It let out a small creak as he began rummaging through the dozens of suits Will had stored in there. Reaching his hand to the far back end of the closet, Will pulled a small lever, in a couple seconds, both his uniform, and all of his gadgets would fall from a small loose panel on the roof of his room onto his bed.
Without a second thought, Will began taking off his jacket along with the white buttoned shirt he had underneath. And only in a few minutes, Will had everything on and ready to go. He once again, threw all of his casual cloths back onto himself, with his uniform hiding underneath, and his utility belt and the rest of his gadgets in his bag. Will then walked out of his room as if he never changed out at all and began striding down the Diamond hallway. A few long moments has pasted before Will actually got back to the van. It would seem he was the first one back, he was fine with that. Will hopped onto the roof of Juno's prized van, sitting on top of it with his legs dangling down from it as he scanned the area for the others.
As The Battle Axe of the Ruby passed The Sword of the Gems, So-so lowered her hand. Her muscles tensed with frustration as she turned to watch the Amazon begin to descend down the stairs, saying that the group would meet up with So-so in the infirmary. She gave a nod, showing she understood but as Ven went out of her vision, So-so’s face twisted with anger.
There were still two more people So-so needed to try and get and she wouldn’t be able to take ‘no’ for an answer anymore. The next person she would try to track down, was Will. Well… try wasn’t the word, it was more, figure out where his tracks ended. It wasn’t difficult to find him with her training, not to mention, there was only so many places students could hide. She spotted in the far distance, Will sitting on top of Juno’s van. It caught her interests, that he found him where Juno’s van was… was Juno here as well? By the way she reacted to her, she had a feeling Juno knew there was something going on with her, which means she could have very well alerted the others. She needed to just continue to appear as non-threatning as possible.
She made her way out in the open, making a point to limp on her injured leg, even though she was unable to feel pain (though the others didn’t know that). Her midnight blue eyes looking up at Will as she stood, keeping a safe distance and doing her best to appear non-threatening. “Hey Will.” She spoke up, not moving from her place as her eyes began to look up at him with curiosity. “What are you doing sitting on Juno’s van?”
Juno had left her two comrades to prepare for whatever this was, rushing back to the Dorms with a panicked walk. The Goth would maybe feel some pride in uniting students from other Houses if she wasn't wracked with worry and fear. Not for Will, Reed or even herself. No, Juno was terrified from the thought of Ven being at risk of being exposed to the same dark energies. She couldn't believe that she just left the Amazon in the building after becoming aware of So-so's corrupted aura, her eyes welled up with remorseful tears at the thought.
"Stupid stupid! How could I just leave her like that!? We've been partners for all of two hours and I didn't even tell her!? What if she's messed up too? That's on ME! God, I don't deserve her... Focus, Fei! Focus!" Juno steeled her nerves, swinging the Dorm's main doors open with a tight grip on her satchel, already feeling nervous bringing a concealed gun into the building.
It was a small relief as she reached the stairs, the mysterious ringing from before wasn't tolling in her mind this time, does that mean that So-so was't near? There wasn't exactly a guidebook on this strange new sense of she possessed, still completely unaware it was Blodam's hissing at other demonic energies.
The gothic merchant was so focused on staying calm, that she turned the corner of the stairs and almost ran right into Venilia. Instead of colliding, Juno gently grabbed the beautiful Amazon's arms and stared into her eyes. An almost sickening wave of euphoria and concern washed over Juno, happy to see her crush once more, but terrified at the thought of her being corrupted. The dealer's dark eyes darted back and forth between Ven's icy blue eyes, focusing her mind to listen for that ringing...
Nothing, not even a chime. Ven was okay, causing Juno to let out a drawn out sigh of relief. "Oh my god, Ven, you're okay!" She spoke in a loud whisper, her face lighting up with a huge smile.
Will sat in the metal van for a good ten minutes, he felt as if he got stood up, did he? He was on his phone for a while before laying down on the roof of the van as if he was star gazing at the beaming sunlight. His sleek black Ray-Ban sunglasses shielded his eyes from the compelling rays of the sun, as he placed an arm on his forehead as he just layed there. Everything was silent, the only things he could hear was the distant sound of chirping birds and students murmuring, about Will? He was still pretty skeptical on the whole So-so and Juno situation, since he didn't have much to go off on, but she made it sound pretty serious.
He still wondered why someone like So-so would try to hurt another student, especially if she didn't have any vendetta on another, but then again Juno did say something about So-so turning evil. Just a few moments later, speak of the devil, So-so appeared a few feet from him and caught of guard. She wasn't that far but her voice was still low and creepy enough to startle the Diamond. "Jesus! Don't sneak up on someone like that!" Will got up abruptly as he eyed the small cardinal looking at her through his glasses. “What are you doing sitting on Juno’s van?” He had to make up some type of lie, or a distraction. Will gave her a slight cold stare looking over his sunglasses straight at her. "I'm just chilling. Since the dealer isn't here, I can do whatever the hell I want" Will answered the assassins question as confidently as possible, hopefully deceiving her.
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