Matrix Dragon Presents....

        Ocarina's Love 4c

***

        Kaji grabbed his pokeballs as the alarm sounded. He ran into
Brock on the way out of the training hall. "What've we got?"

        "Team Rocket's hitting us with everything they've got," Brock
replied. "Ash and Misty are in Vermilion with Surge!"

        "Who have we got on our side?" Kaji asked, as they entered the
elevator. Link ducked in behind him.

        "Sabrina's here, but she's in Ranmas head at the moment. I've
set guards on the room they're in for safety. Several hundred
trainers, and the security forces."

        "In other words," Kaji began as they reached the roof.

        "We're outnumbered!" Link finished, firing a blast at a
strafing Charizard. It replied with a fireball that sent the trio
flying. Brock shook his head to clear it.

        "Robby!" he yelled at a nearby trainer. "Get down to the
control room and tell them to radio the Gyms for backup. The rest of
you, hit the Rockets with everything you've got!" He threw his own
pokeballs to stress the point. "Graveller, Golbat, Vulpix, go!"

        Kaji threw his. "Hitmonchan, Pidgeotto, Wartortle, Voltorb, I
choose you!"

        Link grabbed his Pokeball. "Dratini, go!"

        Pikachu, who had remained in the tower while Ash was in
Vermilion, focused her power. "Let's rock," she whispered.
"Pi....ka..." Electricity built up around her body, begging to be
released. "...CHU!!" she screamed as she let loose with a
Thunderstorm, striking down the bird pokemon before they even reached
the tower.

***

        Akane and Sabrina ran down the streets of a place that seemed
like Nerima, yet wasn't. "Where is everyone?" Akane asked.

        "This is Ranma's memory of Nerima. People are always in
different places, so he wouldn't remember them except where they
often are." She pointed into Ucchan's, where Ukyo worked at her
grill. "See? I don't know who she is, but she must be there a lot."

        "So, where is Ranma? Somewhere where he always is?"

        "In a way, yes. My best guess is, he'd be where he considers
home." Akane nodded.

        "We'll try my house. He's lived there for over a year." Akane
turned a corner, and stopped. "What in the world?" In front of her
was a field of whiteness.

        "Ranma doesn't remember what's down there. He might never have
gone that way. If we go down there, we might end up somewhere else in
his memory, or maybe back in the middle of nowhere again."

        "Speaking of that place, how come the Neko-ken didn't follow us 
here?"

        Sabrina shrugged. "No idea. The Neko-ken is unlike anything
I've ever seen before. Nothing has ever scared me so much." She
sighed. "Except myself."

***

        The people of Indigo City knew what to do when attacked. After
all, they had had it trained into them, for the day the battle came
to the tower. But they had never before been attacked, so they had no
experience with the real thing, and it showed.

        People ran in all directions, fleeing from the attacks of the
airborne pokemon. Trainers who had been in the city at the time
fought back, with differing levels of success.

        Then the flying pokemon began to drop off other pokemon and
their trainers. Squads of Team Rocket members moved through the
streets, heading for the tower.

        Mike's hand raced across the keyboards, sealing off tunnels and 
doors, activating a lot of non-lethal traps. One of the entrances
had been opened. "Eat this assholes," he said as he closed it again
and pumped the corridor full of sleep powder. He heard a noise behind
him, and turned to see Robby run in. "Hey Robby, what're ya doing
here?"

        "Mike, Brock says radio the Gyms for backup."

        "You got it!" He hit a few more buttons, powering up a
satellite dish. "Pokemon Gyms, do you copy? Team Rocket is attacking
Indigo Tower, we're really taking a beating! Don't know how much
longer we can hold out!"

        On the ground below, Butch looked up at the large window that
showed the control room high above them. His radio had picked up the
transmission. "Slash, stop that transmission," he ordered.

        Slash nodded, and grabbed some pokeballs. "Machop, Machoke,
Zubat, Persian go! Operation: Interference." The four balls opened up
to reveal the pokemon. They had enough speed to reach the window.

        "Repeat, we're under attack! Don't know how much longer
wefsbghs!" the signal was cut off as the pokemon tore off the
satellite dish. Mike and Robby looked at the Rocket Pokemon in
surprise. The Machop and Machoke began to punch the glass, which was
supposed to take a rocket without flinching. It shattered after a few
punches, and three of the pokemon dogpiled Robby.

        "Run Mike, save yourself!" he yelled.

        "No way buddy," Mike replied as he kicked the Persian in the
head. he pulled four pokeballs off his belt and threw them. The Zubat
was tackled by a Beedrill, a Sandslash headbutted Machop, a Marrowak
threw it's bone club at Machoke, and Persian fell back before a
Flareon. Mike helped Robby to his feet.

        "Do you think you got through to the Gyms?" he asked.

        "Lets hope so, 'cause if I didn't we're done for," Mike replied as 
he watched the eight pokemon struggle.

***

        The Pokemon advanced towards the group on the roof. Link did
that thing he does so well. The Pokemon retreated from the group on
the roof. Link sent them on their way with a few well aimed shots
from his gun. "Damn they're determined! So, does this happen often?"

        Kaji shook his head. "No, they've never attacked the tower
before. But with battles like this, some more common faces should
appear right about-"

        "Prepare for trouble," a voice said.

        "And make it double," another added.

        "-now," Kaji finished.

        "To protect the world from devastation!"

        "To unite all peoples within our nation!"

        Link nodded to Navi. "Target them for me, could you?"

        "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

        "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

        "Are they always like this?" Link asked. Everyone else nodded.
At the same time, that little sense in the back of his head told him
Navi had locked on.

        "Jessie!"

        "James!"

        Link popped up, fired off two shots, then ducked back down.
"That shut them up," he said.

***

        "Yourself?" Akane said as she walked down a street that Ranma
remembered.

        Sabrina nodded. "Back when I was a child, I became obsessed
with my powers. I drove everyone away and destroyed my home. Because
of that, I became completely emotionless. Without meaning to, I
created a psychic image of me as a child. A little girl just looking
for a friend."

        "How'd you get out of that mess?"

        "Ash caught a Haunter. Sort of. He made me laugh, brought me
back to the real world." She smiled, then looked up. "Is this it?"

        Akane nodded. "Yes, although I though it would take us longer."

        "This isn't the normal world Akane. It can be fairly strange at 
times."

        "So can my life," Akane replied.

        They walked into the kitchen. There, wearing an apron and
cooking a cake, stood Ranma-chan. "Oh, you're here."

        "Is this the real Ranma?" Akane said, disgusted and horrified.
Ranma thought of himself as a girl?

        "Yes and no," Ranma-chan replied. "I'm his female side." She
smiled. "No, it isn't what Ranma thinks a woman is like. You see, as
time goes by, Ranma's girl form is more of a woman, in the body, mind
and soul. I'm that half."

        "Oh my," Akane said.

***

        Link and Kaji fell back as a Rocket Voltorb self-destructed.
The last pokeball on Kaji's belt came loose and rolled away. "Shit!"
Kaji yelled as he ran after it.

        "What's in there?" Link yelled as he knocked out a mankey with
a roundhouse kick.

        "Magikarp," Kaji called back. At the same time, the pokeball
opened to reveal the familar image of the most useless pokemon of all
time. Nearby, a team rocket member aimed a rifle at the fish. "No!"

        The bullet simply bounced off Magikarp's bones. Kaji sighed in
relief, then began to grin wildly as Magikarp began to glow...

        Link watched as the Magikarp began to evolve into the deadly
Gyarados. Without warning, a Beedrill slammed into him, hissing
dangerously. Swearing in a language that had never been heard on
Earth before, Link twisted out of the way of the bugs poisonous
stingers, then punched it in the head. As that one slumped to the
ground, he saw a Rocket trainer throw a pokeball, revealing another
Beedrill. "Beedrill, Hyper beam!" the trainer yelled.

        The Beedrill hovered in place, streams of energy running along
it's body. Link realised what is was. The pokemon knew a ki attack.
Behind his back, his shield began to form. With a cry of "Driiiill!",
the Beedrill threw it's stingers forward, dark yellow energy hurtling
directly towards him. The air around the beam crackled with barely
restained power.

        Link moved. He brought his Hylian shield up in front of him,
bracing himself. The beam hit, the shield ringing like a bell. It
reflected, hitting the rocket trainer and knocking him off the roof.

        As if by an unknown signal, the fighting intensified. Even with the 
might of Gyarados, the defenders were no match for Team Rocket.

        First blood in this war had gone to the league, and more would
soon follow.

***

        New York...

        Bast looked behind her. "Who's there"

        <Little Bast. Once, you were like a Goddess. Now your power is
gone, no more.>

        Bast narrowed her eyes. Someone who knew who she really was.
Someone trying to take her place in Hell perhaps? If it was, she
would enjoy it. It had been a long time since someone had been so
foolish.

        <I do not seek anything like that child. I have no wish for
anything of yours.>

        "Child!" She exclaimed, anger hiding her fear. He could read
her mind?

        <I was alive long before you were born. And yes, I can read
your mind.>

        "I'm not afraid of you, whoever you are," Bast replied.

        <But you are afraid of me. And with good reason.>

***

        Giovanni stepped forward. He was wearing some sort of strange
armor, its purple metal gleaming in the sunlight. His pokemon stood
in front of him, ready to charge. "Surrender, and we'll let you
live," he told the trainers crouched behind the rubble.

        Link considered their options. "Here, take my blaster," he
said to Kaji as he pulled his bow out of nowhere, along with an ice
arrow. "All your pokemon are ground based, right?" he yelled out.

        "Yes. Why?"

        Link, Kaji, Gyarados, Dratini and Wartortle jumped up, and hit
Giovanni's pokemon with everything they had. Explosions, streams of
water and blocks of ice appearing out of nowhere covered the rock
creatures, and when the trio ducked back down, they were all out
cold. "Just checking," Link said.

        A second later, a laser blew off a good piece of the rubble.
Link remembered the large cannon on Giovanni's arm. <So that's what
that was,> one part of his mind thought. <Oh really, ya think?>
another part replied.

***

        Ranma-chan grinned as she munched on a slice of cake. "The way
I see it, it's simple. Over time, I gained awareness. I became a
female version of Ranma, but hopefully with enough differences to
make me a unique person. I made the cake simply because I like
cooking. So does Ranma, but he won't admit it."

        Sabrina nodded. "That makes sense. You must have had a while to 
figure all this out."

        "Not really. I've only known I was separate from Ranma since
you put us in that trance. We woke up here. He's in the Dojo,
training."

        Ranma walked in, smiling. "So, Ranoka was right. Sabrina did
bring you along."

        "Ranoka?" Sabrina and Akane said.

        "It's the name we came up with," Ranoka said. "The name Ranko
brings back too many bad memories of lying to mum, but this name-"
she shrugged. "-I like it."

        "Wild breeze," Sabrina said. "It suits you."

        Then, once again there was a flash of light, and they were in
the darkness once more.

        <None of you must live,> the voice said. Ranma and Ranoka were
frozen in fear, unable to move.

        "Cccaaatttsss," Ranma stuttered, managing to take a step back.

        "Daddy?" Ranoka asked. Then without warning she fell to her
knees, sobbing lightly. "Make it stop, please daddy, make it stop!"

        Akane charged the darker darkness. "Leave them alone, damn
you!" The darkness seemed to move, and Akane staggered as if she had
run into a brick wall.

        "G-get away from her," Ranma said.

        <And what will you do child? No are no match for me.>

***

        In the Physical world, in the city of New York, the demon that
created the Neko-ken died.

***

        Kal looked at the scrolls. "And you think this legend is taking 
place now?" he asked Colonge.

        "Indeed Grandson. Link is the Hero of Time, of that I am
certain. He has returned. I suspect some of this has already taken
place."

        "And you called me in because of my experience." Suddenly, both of 
them stopped. In the distance, a huge burst of magic could be
sensed. "Helmaur's Rump, that burst was huge! And a long distance
from here. I'd place it somewhere... somewhere in America!" He stood
up and grabbed his jacket. "There's a good chance these are
connected. I'll be back in a few days."

        Colonge watched him leave. "Good luck Kal Jerico. I have a
feeling you'll need it."

***

        Link followed the battle plan that had saved his life dozens of 
times in the past. Attack, then move before they have a chance to hit back.

        And for now, it was working. No one else had been able to hit
Giovanni, and he was staying staying one step ahead of that arm
cannon. Mind you though, that arm cannon was a hell of a lot faster
then a bow or crossbow. But what Giovanni didn't know would cost
him... "Dratini, now!" Dratini leapt up and headbutted the arm
cannon, tearing it loose. Giovanni turned to attack the young dragon,
but Link recalled him before the criminal had a chance.

        Giovanni growled, and drew a broadsword from the scabbard on
his back. "I'll just have to kill you the old-fashioned way," he
said.

        In a heartbeat Link sent his blaster back into nowhere and
unhooked his sword. With a movement of his thumb a beam of gold
energy lanced out of the hilt. The lightsword hummed steadily in his
hands as he assumed his battle stance.

        "What the hell is that?" Giovanni asked.

        "Why don't you come a bit closer and I'll show you," Link said, 
smiling and motioning with his sword.

        With new found caution, Giovanni slowly edged forward, sliding
his feet through the rubble.

        Link stood his ground, moving just enough to deflect Giovanni's 
thrusts, which were coming at an increasing speed. In the distance, he 
sensed a huge burst of magic, but dismissed it for the time being.

***

        The Neko-ken stopped suddenly, sensing the death of it's
creator. A second later, it turned back to the Saotome twins, who
were now walking towards him. <What?> It got no further as they hit
it with a volley of Mouko Takabisha's.

        "You stopped making us afraid of you for a second there," Ranma 
said, "and we took full advantage of it!" He hit the darkness, and it fell 
back. Ranoka flanked it, her fist blazing with ki. Together they forced it 
back, until it could flee no more.

        "Now DIE!" Ranoka screamed, hitting the Neko-ken thousands of
times, her attacks as fast as thought. Ranma did the same thing. The
darkness gave a brief scream,  that shattered into millions of
pieces.

        Akane looked around her. She was back in her own body, and
Sabrina and Ranma were just waking up. "Ranma?" she said.

        "Yes and no," Ranma said. "I'm Ranma at the moment, and
Ranoka's still in my head. I think that when I change forms Ranoka
will be in charge."

        <I should hope so!> Ranoka's mental voice said inside Ranma's
head. At that moment, a massive explosion rocked the tower.

        "What was that?" Akanke said.

        "We're under attack," Sabrina replied. "I'll teleport us to the 
roof. They could use our help."

        "You two go," Ranma said. "We'll catch up to you." Sabrina
nodded, and she and Akane flashed out of reality.

***

        With a thunderclap of displaced air, Ash, Misty, the Elite four and 
the Gym Leaders appeared. Instantly their pokemon joined the
battle, the electric attacks of Surge's pokemon acting in a fashion
similar to anti-aircraft weapons.

        Link didn't notice this change in the battle, being too busy
fighting Giovanni. He did notice it when Bruno kicked Giovanni in the
head, sending the criminal reeling. "Hey, do you mind? I was fighting
him!"

        "Sorry, but we all owe this guy big time," Bruno said.

        Giovanni rose to his feet. "So, you are all here now. No
matter. You will all die!" It was at this point in time that Ranma
and Ranoka burst up from under Giovanni's feet, knocking him towards
the edge of the tower.

        Link's eyes widened. "What the HELL?!"

        Ranoka grinned. "I'll explain later," she said.

        "You better. Do both of you all have your original skills?"
When they both nodded, he grinned. "Then let's give Giovanni a triple
whammy!" Ranma and Ranoka understood, and stood beside him. All three
of them focused their ki, building it up until....

        "Mouko Takabisha!" they yelled, hitting the ruler of Team
Rocket with three ki-sphere's at once, tearing off his chest plate,
and sending him off the edge of the tower. He fell several hundred
metres to the ground, landing with a sickening crack. Then he stood
up, the armour having broken his fall.

        "I still live, heroes! And while I may flee today, the time
will come when you will die... huh?"

        "Diglett dig, diglett dig."

        "Trio trio trio."

        "Diglett dig, diglett dig."

        "Trio trio trio."

        "Diglett dig, diglett dig."

        "Trio trio trio."

        Giovanni's eyes widened. "Oh shi-" he got no further before the 
ground under his feet gave way and he was pulled into the darkness
below. The sounds of his screams could be heard by all, and Team
Rocket decided that now would be a good time to leave. Brock's Vulpix
convinced some of them to stay by catching one of their helicopters
in a fire spin.

        As the battle died down the Neriman's, Ash, Brock, Misty and
Pikachu turned to the Saotome twins. "Start talking," Kaji said.
Ranoka went through the whole story about how she was Ranma's female
side, and how she'd managed to awaken.

        "But that doesn't explain how you and Ranma are in separate
bodies," Akane said.

        "I'm not sure how we did it myself," Ranoka replied. "But it
seemed natural. It's kinda tiring though, so..." With that, she
simply vanished, returning to Ranma's body.

        Surge walked over. "We've found all the prisoners boss. And
one of them is Jessie."

        "Keep her apart from the others," Ash said. "We'll question
them later."

***

        The next few hours were spent digging people and pokemon out of the 
rubble, and identifying the dead. Link had gone to
investigate the hole, only to find that it had been completely covered
over.

        Kaji walked up behind him. "Don't even bother," he said.
"The Digletts are good at digging. They never leave any traces behind
if they can help it." Link pulled out his pokedex.

        "Diglett, a mole pokemon. Lives underground, and sometimes
brings it's head above the surface. They are responsible for the
Diglett's Tunnel, where they can often be seen."

        "Cool. Where's the twins?"

        "They got splashed, so Ranoka's in charge now. She's sorting
through all the Rocket's pokeballs."

        "Akane?"

        "Putting her strength to use. I swear, she's stronger then a
Onix."

        "What about the Leaguers?"

        "Misty and Brock are searching for wounded. Ash has to play the role 
of the mighty League Champion and question the prisoners."

***

        Ash slammed the door behind him. "Useless! All those idiots are 
useless!"

        "Didn't work out too well, eh?" Agatha said.

        "Not a bit. Even the fact I'm a Pokemon Master," he said,
adding sarcasm to the last two words, "scared them. They all believed
their master would save them." He collapsed onto a chair. "Why didn't
you warn me being the League Champ would be this bad?"

        "It was either you or Gary Oak," Agatha said. "I think we made
the right choice."

        "Thanks Agatha." Behind him, the videophone began to ring, it's 
beeping stopping the conversation. "Ash here."

        Mikes face appeared on the screen. "You'd better come down here Ash, 
we have a problem."

***

        Ash looked through the one-way window. In the room on the other side 
was a young woman in her mid-twenties. She had long red hair pulled back in 
a ponytail. She wore a white Team Rocket uniform, and normally there would 
be a pokeball containing an Arbok on her belt.

        Her name was Jessie, and Ash knew her well from all the times
she tried to kidnap Pikachu back when he was battling to enter the
Pokemon League.

        "And she doesn't remember anything?" Misty said.

        "Zilch," Sabrina replied. "As near as we can tell, when Link
hit her with a stun blast, she knocked her head as she fell to the
ground."

        "I'm going to talk to her," Misty said.

        "WHAT?!" Kaji, Link, Ranoka, Ash, Pikachu, Akane and Brock
exclaimed. Sabrina said nothing.

        "Are you nuts?" Pikachu said. "This is Jessie, remember? The
girl who kept on trying to kidnap me, again and again and again. hat
makes you think it's safe to be near her? How do me know she won't
try to kill you or something?"

        "Sabrina said she doesn't remember anything. Right now she's
scared. She doesn't remember anything. We have to help her."

        Ash sighed. When Misty got like this, there was no stopping
her. "Fine, go ahead."

        "Like I wanted your permission."

        Kaji turned to the others. "I guess we should head back to
Nerima."

        "Right, I'll have Bill teleport you back."

***

        The Nerimans, plus a League Champ and a Pikachu, appeared in
the Tendo backyard... over the pond. "AAARRGH!" They hit the water
with a familiar splash. A few seconds later, they dragged themselves
out.

        "The teleporter still needs a bit of work," Kaji said.

        "Really, you think?" Akane replied.

        "I hate my life," Ash-chan said, pulling off her shirt and
jacket, completely forgetting she was female at the moment. Kaji and
Link reacted as expected.

        "Yargh!"

        "Erk!"

        "Ash, show a little modesty," Ranoka scolded. Pikachu simply
collasped laughing. Akane couldn't get over the fact that part of
Ranma's soul was talking about feminine decency.

        "Huh?" Ash-chan looked down at herself. "Yikes!" Instantly the
shirt was back on. "Uh, sorry."

        Ranoka shook her head. "Come on, I have to go and introduce
myself to mum."

        "Introduce yourself Ranma?" a familiar old voice called out.
Cologne pogoed out to the house, coming to a stop in front of them.

        "That's not Ranma Cologne," Link said.

        "Oh?"

        The next half hour was spent explaining Ranoka to everyone else in 
the Tendo household. When they demonstrated their ability to split into two 
seperate people, Nodoka smiled. "It seems I have a daughter now, as well as 
a son. And even better is the news that my ex-husbands damage has been dealt 
with."

        "No, there's still Ukyou," Ranoka said.

        "That reminds me," Kasumi said. "Ukyou called about an hour
ago. She said she needed to talk to you." The twins nodded, with
Ranma disappearing back into Ranoka, who grabbed some hot water as
she left. Ranma stuck his head back in.

        "Mom, Ranoka says thanks."

        "You're welcome, my children." Ranma smiled, and ran out into
the street. Everyone else left to other parts of the house. Cologne
tapped Links shoulder with her staff.

        "Link, I need to talk to you in private. Could you come with me to 
the Nekohanten?"

        "I assume it has something to do with the burst of magic a few
hours ago?" Nodoka said. The pair stared at her.

        "If you sensed it, then perhaps you should come with us," the
Amazon elder said. "Where is Navi?"

        "Off with Pikachu and Dratini," Link replied. Cologne nodded,
and the trio left the Tendo house.

***

        Cologne sent Shampoo and Mousse out on deliveries, making sure
Mousse was nowhere near Shampoo. Then she sat down next to Nodoka and
Link. "Perhaps you could start by explaining how you sensed the blast
and knew what it was Nodoka."

        Nodoka sighed. "Very well." Then she unshielded her aura. Link
and Cologne fell off their chairs.

        "What in hell?!" Cologne exclaimed. Links simply had a lot of
swear words in several different languages.

        "I take it you have seen an aura like this before," Nodoka
said.

        "Yeah, I have," Link said, "you're a dragon!"

        "I am an Ultima Dragon, Link of the Kokiri, Hero of Time, and
companion of the Avatar," Nodoka said in fluent Britannian. Or
English, depending on who you ask.

        "Ultima Dragon?" Cologne said.

        "An ancient Britannian legend. A group of dragons who, unlike
the dragons in the eight dungeons, often help humanity. Their
Weyrmount is somewhere in the Serpent's Spine. Few people have ever
met them though, as they are often mistaken for the dungeon dragons
and attacked. I'm one of the lucky ones," Link explained.

        "Would you mind explaining to me how you came to this world,
and how you remained hidden from me? And Ranma for that matter, for
he is a half-dragon."

        Nodoka smirked. "You may think you know magic, Amazon, but I
have spent almost two thousand years studying it. As for my children,
I cast a spell on them when they were born. It was for their own
protection."

        "Are they half-dragon?" Link asked. He had seen a half-dragon
on Britannia once. The guy had looked human, but when orcs attacked
the convoy, he had punched so hard their heads came off. The guy was
an asshole.

        "They would have been, when their dragon half matured in a few
years, but now, with Jusenkyo's magic... I do not know."

        "It does not matter. By Amazon law, Ranma is a dragon, and he
can not marry Shampoo. Anyway, we'll talk more about that later. That
blast is what had me worried."

        "I've never felt anything like it," Link said. "The only thing
that even comes close is the Triforce."

        "It was a demon," Nodoka said, "and a strong one at that. I can
still sense shockwaves of Chaos magic."

        "It was uncontrolled," Link said. "If what Cologne here said
about magic is true, then wherever our mystery demon died, things are
going to get freaky."

        "Perhaps it was the demon that attacked you," Nodoka said.

        "Maybe, but I'm going to go by the assumption it wasn't."

        "My Grandson Kal is on his way to investigate. Do not worry, he is 
experienced in this sort of thing."

        Nodoka stood up. "I will consult the Weyrmount's archives.
Perhaps they will help us." She pulled a small black orb from out of
her pocket. Link's eyes widened. An Orb of the Moons! She threw it to
the ground, a red moongate appearing. She turned to Link. "I would
appreciate it if you would not tell my children about this," she
said. Link nodded. Nodoka smiled, and stepped through the moongate,
which descended into the ground a second later.

***

End Part 4c

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