Meanwhile, across the ocean of time and space, a certain swordsman named Gourry Gabriev was in a state of panic over the disappearance of Sylphiel. Lina had taken him to their favorite coffee shop and was trying to tell him not to worry, but the closest she came to getting her message across was saying the search wasn’t worth their time or effort.
     “Sylphiel can take care of herself,” Lina said, “besides, we don’t know where to start looking or anything like that.”
     “How about at the source of that glass shattering shockwave that tore through the area not all that long ago,” Zelgadis said in an attempt to be the cool and rational person of the group. He was met by a clue less stare from Gourry and the threat of a Dragon Slave from Lina. He sipped at his coffee and added, “On second thought we can just curl up and leave things to go their own way.”
     “Or we can do as Mister Zelgadis says,” Mackenzie Andrews said as he approached. Tagging along with him were Nick Andrews and Celia Chere Briggs. “If we start at the source of the shockwave, we can backtrack and figure out what caused it and hopefully find where Sylphiel vanished to.”
     “Like I was saying,” Lina said as she rose from their table, “Let’s go and find the source of the shockwave.”
     Sweat drops formed on everyone’s heads as they filed out of the coffee shop.

     Back at Balamb Garden close to three hours had passed, and much had happened in those three hours. Alex had fallen asleep in Seifer’s arms, and with the help of Irvine and Laguna he was returned to his room, where Seifer curled up with him, draping both of them with his coat. Irvine and Laguna, in the meantime, tried to learn as much as possible about Alex and his powers through the files on his computer, only to find much of the important stuff encrypted with a complicated password. Alex awoke two hours later, refreshed and rejuvenated, but with an empty feeling inside where his connection with Ridley had been severed. He began the whole wailing and sobbing act again, only to be silenced by Irvine and Seifer kissing him simultaneously. In the heat of the moment he grabbed a handful of their hair, twisting and grasping as he sank into the kisses.
     “I’ll.... leave the three of you alone for a while,” Laguna said as he slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

     Twenty minutes later he knocked on the door, and Irvine silently answered and led him in. The room was strewn with clothes, and from the closet stepped Alex, clad in baggy green cargo pants, black boots, a black silk shirt, and Seifer’s coat.
     “Pretty snazzy, huh?” he asked, admiring himself in the mirror. He made a face and said, “There’s just one problem, and that is the color of the coat.”
     “What’s wrong with it?” Seifer asked, indignation filling his voice.
     “It needs a quick color change.”
     Alex snapped his fingers, golden light flooding over his body and especially the jacket. When the light died away Seifer’s jacket was no longer gray, but jet black, the same color as darkness beyond twilight, with both red crosses in a red more crimson than blood that flows, each outlined with gold that seemed to glow. “That’s much better,” he said, admiring the color choice. When he saw the look on Seifer’s face he said, “Don’t worry. The color shift is temporary if you’re not happy.”
     “Well, at least you’re dressed for the part of savior of the world,” Laguna said, cocking his head and eyeing Alex from head to foot, “but what about a weapon?"
     Alex took a jewel from a nearby box and said, “Easily remedied.” He closed his eyes and muttered an arcane incantation, the jewel glowing a soft violet before extending to form a staff. At the far end a large blade with the image of the grim reaper inscribed upon it formed, and at the end closer to his body a smaller blade formed, this one with a smaller reaper inscribed upon it.
     “Wow,” Irvine said, whistling in amazement, “is there anything that you can’t do?”
     “A few things,” Alex said, “magically, that is. Physically there is a LOT of stuff I can’t do.”
     “And we’ll learn all about this later on,” Seifer said as the alarm system activated again, “the army must be advancing.”
     The entirety of Balamb Garden shook as several more blasts struck the defensive shields and screens, yet the severity was greatly reduced. A blinding light filled the room as the shields returned the energy of the impact in its opposing form, which was the equivalent of 75 HOLY spells.
     “Sylphiel must be doing some heavy duty casting,” Alex said as he stumbled into the hall during one of the attacks, “and that dragon must be quite the fighter as well.”
     An icy stillness filled the air a moment later. Nobody dared to breathe in that moment, and Alex found himself holding his breath as well. The structure of Garden groaned and creaked as it realigned.
     ‘What the hell is going on?’ he thought, ‘Sylphiel can only cast the Dragon Slave... or the Sylphiel I knew could. If she has the power of this Ultimecia then...’
     He ran for the nearest window and pressed his face to it. Outside he could see the sky growing blacker than the blackest pitch, energy collecting around one point atop a mountain some distance away, a large globe of pitch black and gold forming. “Shit... she’s casting the Giga Slave. She’ll wipe all of us out with that spell!!”
     “What the hell is a Giga Slave?!” Seifer asked as he, Laguna, and Irvine caught up to him.
     “It’s a very forbidden spell,” Alex said, his voice cold and devoid of emotion, “if cast wrong it could destroy the planet and reduce it to a state of chaos.”
     “Which means we have to stop her at all costs, right?” Laguna asked. Alex simply turned back to the window and pressed his hand to it, the palm glowing. A moment later the glass and part of the wall was blown outward, a cold wind rushing into the hallway.
     “Using a car will take us forever to get to her, and by foot will be impossible with all of the foot soldiers of the army below us. I know a spell that will allow you to fly, but you must repeat the words as I speak them.”
     “O.K.,” Seifer said, “we’re ready.”
     “Spirits of air, come to my aid in my hour of need, and help me to fly to my ambitions. Ray WING!” Alex chanted, a magical aura forming around his body. He dove out the window and was immediately airborne. The other three repeated the arcane incantation, and they too were airborne in a matter of seconds. With Alex in the lead they began their flight towards the mountains and the source of the spell that could end their existence's.
     As they neared the battlefield Alex stopped in mid flight. The other three caught up to him to see what was wrong.
     “Irvine, Seifer, you’re with me,” he said, an air of command in his voice, “Laguna, keep in touch with Garden. If we fail in our mission, radio for backup and get your butt back there pronto!”
     “O.K.,” Laguna said, giving a half salute, “will do. Good luck.”
     ‘Here’s hoping I don’t need to use any of my high power spells,’ Alex thought as he returned the salute before resuming his flight towards Sylphiel. Irvine and Seifer saluted Laguna as well before they took off to catch up with Alex.
     “Balamb Garden, this is Laguna. I’m acting as communication relay for the three who are going into combat,” he said over a small radio, “how do you copy?”
     “We read you five - by - five Mister Laguna,” Selphie replied, “we have that GF Returner under preparation for ya. It should be ready in a little while.”
     “Keep me updated of everything that happens. Laguna out.”
     Once he ended the transmission he said, “Good luck Alex. I have a feeling you may need it.”

     “... Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!” Sylphiel chanted as she summoned the power of the Lord of Nightmares. The globe of blackness increased in size, blotting out the sun above. ‘I will do my new master proud with this new power. Why should Lina and Alex be the only ones allowed to cast this spell on a regular basis? With this much power I can have some real fun.’
     “Hold it right there,” a voice said, interrupting her train of thought. She looked up to see three forms standing in shadow, two back to back, and one to one side with a large pole arm in hand. Light spells blinked into existence, revealing the three in their own colored spotlights.
     “From the silent star Saturn, a warrior to protect the light,” Alex said, launching into his familiar intro. He was interrupted by Seifer whispering in his ear.
     “Can’t we just tell her we’re from Balamb Garden and will stop her evil plans at all costs?”
     A sweat drop formed on Alex’s head as he sighed and said, “Yes, we could do that.”
     “You fools are too late,” Sylphiel said, cackling evilly, “I just need to speak the command words and this little spell will decimate the ground for miles in every direction.”
     “We’ll find some way to stop you,” Irvine said.
     “Good luck. Go get them my lovely army and kill them all dead!”
     The armor clad demi humans began to circle around them, cutting off all means of escape on foot. Dragons and Drakes blinked out of subspace above them, effectively cutting off air escape as well. The three heroes stood back to back, weapons drawn and at the ready.
     “The odds are several thousand to one,” Seifer said as he looked around, “and I just want you guys to know that there is nobody I’d rather die with than the two of you.”
     “Nobody’s going to die except for them,” Alex said, the blade of his glaive glowing as he channeled energy into it. He spoke an arcane incantation, energy crackling before forming a globe of blackness and blood red around the end of his weapon. He swung the blade upwards and shouted, “Giga Flare!”, the energy releasing as a thunderbolt that struck amidst the army of drakes before exploding into a wave of energy and solar intensity heat. When the smoke cleared half the army of drakes was gone, but more soon filled the holes.
     “That was some attack,” Seifer said, whistling in amazement, “too bad it didn’t work as well as you had hoped.”
     “Oh, just shut up and start kicking some ass,” Alex grumbled as he leapt into the fray, the blades of his glaive glowing as he swung, parried, blocked, and attacked, dropping demi humans left and right.
     “We might as well do as he says and does,” Irvine said, changing the ammo in his shotgun to pulse ammo before taking aim at some dragons. He pulled the trigger, the force of the blast nearly knocking him onto his ass. Seifer caught him and helped him to his feet, kissing him on the back of the neck before leaping into the fray, his gun blade flashing as he hacked and slashed away at the advancing army.

<music: Take Your Courage from Slayers TRY>
     Time seemed to slow down as the three fought, Irvine with shotgun shells flying for every reload, Seifer with flames coming from his gun blade as his limit break too effect, and a tornado sweeping through the area as Alex unleashed the power of one of his super arts. Sylphiel continued to gather dark energy, waiting until the globe was the size of a small moon or planet before she even thought of speaking the words to unleash the spell.
     “Giga....” she shouted, alerting the three to an incoming spell that could spell the end of their lives.
     ‘Gotta do something fast,’ Alex thought as he leapt through the air, knocking many of the demi humans out of his path with an enhanced Burst Rondo, ‘no time to transform or summon my sword. I’m gonna need to use my glaive as a weapon of light.’
     The blades on either end of his pole arm vanished, surprising not only the army, but Sylphiel as well. He leapt into the air, a tornado forming around his body to keep the drakes and dragons from getting too close. “Light come forth!”
     Blades of light formed from either end of the staff he held, creating a pole arm of light. The blades glowed a blinding white as he summoned energy for the counteracting spell of the Giga Slave. ‘This had better work. Seifer, Irvine, if I fail, I just hope you know how much I love you guys.’ “Light beyond the whitest dawn, brighter than the brightest sun. One shining silver goddess sitting and watching amid a sea of stars. I call upon thee and pledge allegiance to thee. Let the fools who stand before me be punished by your pure light of judgment. Great goddess, come forth and imbue my weapon with your power. Goddess....”
     Irvine and Seifer stopped what they were doing, as did much of the army, which fled for the hills when they realized they were in the blasting zone. The few stragglers were easily picked off by Seifer’s gun blade and Irvine’s pulse ammo. Once the army was out of the way they cast Ray Wing and retreated to a safe distance with Laguna.
     “....SLAVE!”
     “....SLASH!”
     The two spells met in a battle of light and dark, each caster pouring their power into their attack. Energy crackled and sparked as chaos and creation fought for dominance. The fabric of time and space bent and warped, tearing and righting itself as the two battled it out for stronger spell caster in the fight that would determine the fate of the world.
     ‘I.... I can feel my strength giving out,’ ran through Alex’s mind as he poured much of his remaining energy into the spell at hand, ‘Seifer, Irvine, I need you. I need your strength so that I might win this battle.’

     A couple of miles away Irvine and Seifer felt a surge in the cosmic balance and they could have sworn they heard Alex cry their names and ask for help. They told Laguna to head back for Garden since they were needed elsewhere. Pouring some of their remaining strength into their flight spells they sailed for where Alex was battling Sylphiel.
     When they arrived they noticed the destruction to the landscape around the two and felt the warps and bends in time and space from the ongoing battle. They descended, releasing themselves from the flight spell before running to their friend’s aid.
     “So, the red cross knight and the annoying cowboy come to the aid of the all mighty sorcerer supreme,” Sylphiel said, cackling evilly as she unleashed more power into her spell. Alex dropped to one knee due to the sheer power of the black magic spell. “You can all perish together!” she added, cackling louder, her laughter echoing across the land.
     “Nobody’s going to perish today,” Seifer said, helping Alex to his feet, “lean on me for support. Use my strength if you need it.”
     “Mine too,” Irvine said, looping an arm around Alex’s waist, “use our strength to save the world.”
     “Thank you guys,” Alex said, feeling a sudden surge of strength as his limit skill unlocked. He grinned evilly at Sylphiel as he channeled his limit’s energy into his spell, increasing the output through his weapon hundred fold. Light fought back darkness, creation fought back chaos, and Alex fought back against Sylphiel, saving the world.... for the time being. When the dust cleared Sylphiel was nowhere to be seen, but in the distance the dragon’s eyes glistened in the darkening sky as it sailed off for home.
     As for Alex, he collapsed from extreme exhaustion into Seifer’s and Irvine’s awaiting arms. A car pulled up a moment later, Squall, Quistis, and Laguna stepping out with emergency supplies in hand. Squall and Seifer carried Alex to the car and stretched him out on one of the seats, strapping his weapon to the roof rack.
     “He did it,” Irvine said, whistling at the destruction to the landscape, “he may have held a part in the destruction of this area, but he really did it.”
     “No, we did it,” Seifer said, wrapping an arm around Irvine’s shoulders. Irvine cocked his head and set it on Seifer’s shoulder, and Seifer took Irvine’s hat and set it on his own head. The pair stood and watched the sun set, pinks and purples and oranges dotting the sky and clouds above, hiding the destruction in beautiful darkness.

     Later that night, around the early hours of the morning to be exact, the sound of running water filled the air in one particular hallway. The sounds of someone singing in the shower joined the sound of running water a moment later, the melodic voice singing a tale of someone’s letdown when a friend fell in love with another friend. At a closer listening the singer was none other than Alex, and he switched his tune to something more upbeat and catchy as he showered off a day’s worth of dirt, grime, and exhaustion.
     “Mmmm.... lavender,” he said as he took a whiff of his body wash, suds dotting his nose. He sneezed and giggled a little before he resumed soaping up of his body, water running down his legs. He was blissfully unaware of the person who slipped into the bathroom, silent bare feet gliding over the tiles of the bathroom floor. Clothing was quickly shed, and the person silently slipped into the shower while Alex’s back was turned and under the water.
     At the most opportune moment the person slipped their arms around Alex’s chest, resting their chin on his shoulder. Alex blushed furiously, unsure of the person’s intentions until he felt a wet tongue riding its way against his ear lobe. A liquid male voice said into his ear, “Well sweetie, did you miss me?”
     Alex froze, since the voice belonged to Seifer. Water continued to run, steam continued to rise, and blood continued to pound through his head as he and Seifer enjoyed a shower together. And yet.... and yet how could he comprehend anything that was happening to him when he wasn’t even sure of what was happening. Before he knew what was happening he had lost himself in the moment, moaning in pleasure as Seifer’s tongue slowly traced its way down his chest and stomach.
     Something in the back of his mind kept screaming about how wrong this was, that Seifer was Irvine’s for now and forever. Yet he told the voice to shut the hell up, threatened it with a long string of black and zodiac magic spells, and gave in to his animal influences. Water ran, steam clouded the air, which grew hotter and hotter by the moment, as two people became lost in animal urges, influences, and attractions.

     The following day brought training sessions of an intensity unheard of by many of the occupants of Balamb Garden. The quad was turned into a makeshift gymnasium, and equipment of all sorts and descriptions was set up. Students were instructed on use and safety before they were allowed to begin use of it.
     From a perch high atop one of the surrounding towers sat Alex, a container of Cup of Noodles in one hand, a bottle of water next to him, and a fork in his other hand. He slurped on the noodles as he observed the training below him, giggling at some points, having sympathy pains at others, and all the while wondering if all of it would really help them to defeat the sorceress, restore Sylphiel to her senses, and make a happy ending for all. But the predominant thing on his mind was Seifer and the whole shower incident.
     “Hey mister high and mighty, how about coming down to show these wimps how it’s done?!”
     The sheer irritating tone of the voice snapped him from his thoughts and daydreams. He looked down to see Zell staring back up at him, a mischievous expression on his face. “Come down, unless you’re chicken.”
     “I’m not chicken,” Alex replied, slurping up the last of his noodles, “I’ll be glad to give you a rematch if that’s what you’re looking for.”
     “Come down here and say that!”
     Alex dumped the remainder of his lunch into subspace before leaping from his perch, his jacket billowing out around him. A quick casting of Levitation kept him from splattering on the pavement, and he quickly slipped his jacket off to give him maximum range of motion.
     “Now you’re going to see a real treat,” Selphie said to the other students, who had formed a ring around the two combatants, “two martial artists will demonstrate their art for your enjoyment.”
     “Any last words? Or shall I hand your ass to you now?” Zell asked, striking a battle stance.
     “One word,” Alex said, striking a similar stance, “Visfarenk.”
     “Visfarenk? What the hell does that mean?!”
     Kick boxing gloves made of astral energy formed around Alex’s hands seconds before he swung, catching Zell off guard and in the chin. Zell stumbled backwards before unloading a burning rave combo, which Alex blocked with his crossed arms, the protection spell surrounding his forearms taking the brunt of the attack. He retaliated with a string of kicks and punches, striking his opponent every fourth or fifth punch or kick.
     ‘Stupid!’ his inner voice screamed as Zell executed a meteor strike that knocked him backwards. He managed to regain his footing and unleash a burning dragon uppercut, which Zell barely managed to avoid by flipping backwards.
     ‘Idiot!’ his inner voice shouted as he met Zell in mid punch, his knuckles smarting through the spiritual gloves, ‘How could you get so distracted by anything like Seifer?!’
     “You’re holding back,” Zell hissed as he kicked Alex in the gut, causing him to drop to his knees, “What happened to the fighting spirit you demonstrated in the classroom the other day?”
     “Don’t you know you should take it easy on people weaker than you?!" Alex coughed as he got to his feet. ‘I know I have a couple of bruised ribs, but I can’t think about them right now,’ he thought as he went on the offensive, lashing out with everything in his martial arts arsenal.
     “What’s going on here?!” Squall asked as he and Laguna wove their ways through the crowd. When he saw what was happening he sighed, “Those two again.”
     “I think we should see what happens,” Laguna said, “it might be interesting to see who the winner is.”
     Alex was beginning to lose faith in himself when Zell turned one of his own attacks against him, sending him into the dust. To add insult to injury Zell pointed and laughed, causing Alex’s anger to increase.
     “Time to finish this,” he said, slowly stumbling to his feet, “nobody reverses one of my best moves, makes me look bad, laughs at me, and lives to tell about it,” he growled, his fists glowing brighter. He cart wheeled at his opponent, performing a back flip to wrap his ankles around Zell’s neck. He flipped backwards a moment later, driving Zell’s head into the ground.
     “What the hell hit me?” Zell asked as he stumbled around, holding the growing lump atop his head.
     “Oh, nothing much,” Alex said in a sweet and innocent voice, “just the pavement. Nothing more.”
     “I can’t go on with this fight,” Zell said as he began to stumble off.
     “What’s the matter? Can’t deal with the competition? Or are you chicken?!”
     Zell whipped around, anger flaring in his eyes. How dare somebody call him a chicken. “You’re going to get yours!”
     Zell dove at Alex, both fists glowing as his limit unlocked. Alex blinked and took on a defensive stance. The barrage of punches and kicks came fast and furious and the challengee had to do everything in his abilities to keep from getting his head knocked from his shoulders.
     “I like my nose where it is,” he commented as he flipped backwards to avoid one of Zell’s powerful high swipe kicks.
     Zell’s limit string ended with his Heaven’s Strike punch, which was energy concentrated into his fists. This punch caught Alex in the left shoulder, propelling him across the quad and into a wall, hard enough to leave an impression of his body. He slumped to his knees, struggling to clear his vision.
     “Nobody calls me a chicken,” Zell said as he approached his victim, “so just give up.”
     Alex muttered a couple of curses in high Elven as he stumbled to his feet, a ghostly aura forming around his body as his limit break unlocked itself. Selphie noticed this and began to say something, which Zell promptly ignored. Zell stopped a couple of feet from Alex, rearing a hand back to deliver his fateful last blow. “Any final words or requests?”
     “Two final words,” Alex said, the energy from his limit moving to his hands, “Giga CRISIS!”
     He punched forward, unloading the full power of his limit break into Zell’s chest and stomach. Zell sailed across the quad and through a wall before Alex had used up the energy from his limit. When he saw what he had done and the stunned looks on people’s faces he turned white as a ghost, turned to the side, and was violently ill in a nearby bush.

     “What exactly are we looking for Miss Lina?”
     “You’ll know it when you find it.”
     Lina and crew were standing in the circle near the six mini dorms belonging to the university. Zelgadis, Amelia, and herself were outfitted with magical Geiger counters that could tell the strength of a particular magical energy, its location, and its user if applicable. So far they hadn’t had much luck except with residual powers, and those were fading far too fast to be of much use.
     “Bah, this is a waste of our time,” Zelgadis said, “if we used a crystal ball it would be faster than this!”
     He turned his counter towards Alex’s dorm, and the meter promptly registered off of the scale. Lina leapt over to his location and pointed hers in the same direction with the same results.
     “Do you know what this means?” she asked, a little stunned by the discovery.
     “All too well,” Zel replied, “we’ve lost Sylphiel in time and space and now we have to find a way to go in and extract her and find Alex at the same time.”
     “Bingo. Know any other dimensional shifters or realm dancers?”
     “Nope.”
     “Damn! Neither do I.”
     “Next question: How do we break it to Gourry?”
     “We don’t until we absolutely need to, and anybody who does before the time comes gets a Mega Brand special.”
     “Even you?”
     Lina arched an eyebrow. “Umm... yeah, even me. But don’t get any ideas. We tell him only when we have no other options left. Got it?!” Zelgadis nodded .”Good. Now let’s see if we can find us a realm dancer.”

     “Did you hear what the new student did to Zell Dincht?”
     “No. What?”
     “Rumor has it the two were competing in a martial arts demonstration that went horribly wrong when the new guy unleashed his limit break. Now Zell’s in the ICU and in really bad shape?”
     “Anything happen to the new guy?”
     “A couple of cracked ribs and stuff like that. He’s really shaken up about this whole thing.”
     The two girls continued on their way past the intersection where they had stopped, and from around the corner stepped Seifer and Irvine, both of whom had stopped by the ICU to check up on Zell before heading for Alex’s room.
     “Can you believe this?!” Seifer said, “Zell’s in really bad shape and may not make it, and Alex is ready to beat himself up over this.”
     “Well, what can we do? There aren’t any spells that I can think of that will heal that massive amount of damage.”
     They continued their discussion as they walked down the hallway towards Alex’s room, noting that the weather outside was taking a turn for the worse. Lightning crackled through the sky as they knocked at Alex’s door, and a cold wind greeted them as they turned the knob to find it locked.
     “Alex, open up,” Seifer said, turning the knob a couple more times, “Alex, it’s us. Please open the door.”
     “We might have to knock it off of the hinges somehow,” Irvine said, “you know any explosion spells?”
     “A couple, but I want to use them only as a last resort.”
     “That leaves brute strength, doesn’t it?”
     Seifer nodded. “Shoulder ram it?” Seifer nodded again. “On three.”
     The pair leaned into a ramming stance, mentally counting down three seconds. In unison they charged forward, colliding with the door with the force of an elephant. The door considered holding its own ground, but realized it would be better to just go with the flow in the interest of self preservation. The concussion of the door slamming open echoed through the hallway as Seifer and Irvine stumbled in, both nearly colliding with the desk just inside the door.
     The window stood open, rain pouring in through the curtains and onto the bed. In the shadow by the window stood a figure with its jacket billowing out behind it. A bolt of lightning lit the room brilliantly for a minute, illuminating the figure’s face.
     “Alex? Where are you going?” Seifer asked, advancing towards the window.
     “I’m going to find a new summons,” Alex said, tossing the necklace with the dull red materia and a book onto his bed near Seifer. He gave one final wave and leapt from his window, a magical aura forming around his body as he dropped, a Ray Wing having been cast.
     “Bloody hell!” Irvine said as he closed the window, “We should have used that GF Returner of Laguna’s sooner.”
     “Well, he left his spell book,” Seifer said, thumbing through the well worn pages, “Maybe he left a spell that will help Zell.”
     “You really think so?"
     “I sure hope so.”
     One particular spell on a dog-eared page caught their attention. This one was marked in high lighter with stars around the name.
     “Resurrection,” Seifer and Irvine said in unison.
     “It draws upon the surroundings for the energy to heal massive amounts of damage,” Seifer read, “but it’s a high level white magic spell.”
     “I bet Rinoa can cast it,” Irvine said as he stood, scooping up Alex’s materia, “and at the same time we can use the GF returner on the materia to see what happens.”

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