Mortal Kombat: Lin Kuei Beginnings

By: Miss-DNL

Chapter 6: The Fall

It was years later and the next Mortal Kombat tournament was quickly approaching. The Lin Kuei had already chosen Sub-Zero to attend the tournament to assassinate Shang Tsung. Sub-Zero was honored to be the one chosen for this task. The sorcerer was no mere target; he was the tournament Grandmaster and former champion of it himself. The ice assassin hoped to increase not just his strength and skill, but what he was capable of doing with his power in the meantime. So far he hadn't much success in that, but he had time to work on it, so he trained diligently in order to better prepare himself.

Lately he had been given almost all of the Lin Kuei's biggest missions, ultimately making him his clan's champion in a way. This was something he prided himself in; surely he was doing his Father's soul proud by how he was serving his clan. A while ago he had been sent on a whirlwind of a mission. It had started by stealing an ancient map from a highly secure Shaolin Temple; he'd been surprised how much of a fight the peaceful monks could put up. Soon after he ran into a high ranking warrior from their former rivals, the Shirai Ryu that called himself Scorpion. He finished the ninja quickly enough and retrieved the map. As soon as he returned, however, he was sent back out to use the map to retrieve the amulet it lead to by the same contractor. In that mystic temple he faced more monks and the four elemental guardians. He was slightly disappointed with the challenge the guardians put up, but after entering the amulet's chamber his contractor took the amulet and left.

He had been about to leave when lightning struck out of nowhere in the room. Much to his surprise the God of Thunder and Lighting appeared before him and he was not in the least bit pleased with Sub-Zero's handy work. As much as he was confident in his abilities he did not want to fight with the Protector of Earthrealm, much less so when the god was absolutely furious with him. So he complied when the god demanded that he would go to the NetherRealm and take back the amulet from his contractor. The task had been the toughest by far of the three connecting missions, but he accomplished it.

The missions left a bad taste in his mouth though. Not for the bloodshed he had caused or the trip to hell basically, but something he had found out during it. He looked at his hand, clenching it momentarily before he continued his trek, currently returning from a mission. He had found out that Raiden had not only sent him to the NetherRealm to fix his mistake but that his soul was tainted with enough evil to not further be corrupted by the realm. It had cause increasing worry for the Lin Kuei warrior, if he did not do something about this he'd fall to hell when he died. Sub-Zero didn't want that to happen, especially considering his contractor from those missions lived there and he doubted he was happy after all that. Raiden said he controlled his fate, but Sub-Zero didn't know what he could do to change it.

Sub-Zero came to a stop when he heard footsteps surrounding him. He let out an annoyed grunt to himself; he'd been too focused on his moral issues to notice a group of people maneuvering around him. Looking up he saw a small ragtag band of people surrounding him. Seems he'd have to deal with his dilemma later. From what he heard from their apparent leader, they were aiming to bring down the Lin Kuei. Normally he'd scoff at them for such a suicidal threat but, "I'm not in the mood for this…." He muttered to himself as he froze their leader on the spot.

A short time later, Sub-Zero kneeled before the Grandmaster unharmed from his one-sided fight hours before, "I live to serve the Lin Kuei." He swore with his head respectfully bowed to the elder man he'd served for over a decade.

"I expect your mission went smoothly Sub-Zero." The Grandmaster said expectantly, his fingers intertwined together. As anticipated the Lin Kuei's greatest warrior nodded his head; this brought a pleased smirk to his face.

"I do have something to report, Grandmaster." The elder half Cryomancer said suddenly. This was unexpected, making his master slightly curious.

"And what would that be Sub-Zero?" He inquired to his kneeling warrior.

"I encountered a group on my journey back. They seem to be out to kill our members who return to and leave base. They wish to destroy our clan." Sub-Zero reported dutifully while managing to keep his tone even despite what he humorously futile attempt. Thankfully the Grandmaster found this amusing too and laughed at the thought for him.

"Were these fools any threat at all?" The Grandmaster questioned through his laughter.

"None whatsoever Grandmaster, they had little to no training whatsoever. I don't think they'll pose much of a threat to our clan." Sub-Zero answered honestly; considering he had effortlessly fended off a group of them he didn't doubt a trainee could handle a few of the ragtag ambushers. Considering only trainees at the age of sixteen, at the least, where allowed to leave headquarter grounds, he believed they'd have enough training to handle themselves.

The Grandmaster nodded accepting his words, "Tell me. What did you do with the fools?"

"Those who oppose the Lin Kuei die Grandmaster." Sub-Zero answered dutifully bowing his head to his leader. "There are more of them out there; however, the last one I slayed claimed so but I was unable find any indication of where it was on their bodies."

The Lin Kuei leader seemed vaguely annoyed by the words but dismissed it a moment later, "That can't be helped, we'll locate their rat hole soon enough. Otherwise excellent work as always Sub-Zero you may return to your quarters and rest."

Sub-Zero dipped his head respectfully saying his thanks to the Grandmaster before leaving. Honestly he was looking forward to resting; he was usually running ragged from place to place completing missions for the clan. Resting at a secret hidden location run by the Lin Kuei or somewhere in the woods just wasn't the same as resting in one's own bed though. He was also a bit curious to see how Smoke, Cyrax and his brother Tundra were doing. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he remembered the first day he had returned to headquarters and saw his brother in his official Lin Kuei attire. He was, and still felt, proud that his brother had completed his first mission. It had been a bit surprising to see the wound over his eye but hearing he slayed a man who had killed a member of their clan only made him prouder. He was sure their Father would have felt the same. Still thinking of their Father made him wonder about their Mother. Why was it he could never find out anything about her?

Sub-Zero shook off the question once more for the hundredth time in his life as he entered his shared sleeping quarters. Seemed the rest of the group, Cyrax included, was present in the room, as Smoke greeted him, "Well look who's back!"

"Welcome back brother." Tundra said as his entered the room, giving him an acknowledging nod as he sat down on his sleeping mat. By now Kuai Liang's wound had healed into a scar that bared an odd ting of light blue to it. His vision didn't seem to have been affected that much by the ordeal and was perfectly normal much to his luck. "How did your mission go?" Tundra asked despite knowing the answer.

"It went well. I'd suggest being on alert when leaving the ground for now though, a group has cropped up that want to eliminate us." The three others stared for a moment allowing Sub-Zero to continue, "The ones I faced weren't very skilled but we don't know their range in skill or exact size yet."

Smoke rubbed his neck, "We get rid of one group that's out to get us and another takes its place."

"I doubt they'll be as bad as the Shirai Ryu had been to deal with." Cyrax pointed out knowing who the grey warrior was referring to. The Japanese ninja clan was seemingly wiped out shortly after Sub-Zero went on big secret mission; one he wasn't allowed to divulge information to keep info leaking out to their enemies. It had been both a baffling moment but also one that had called for celebration. With their longtime enemies gone and with no remnants appearing so far, the Lin Kuei were left standing as the strongest assassin clan with little to no challengers left.

"Let's just see how this goes for now." Tundra suggested calmly. Many hated their clan, one more group would make no difference. The others in the room seemed to agree and the conversation moved forward.

Months later the hostile group still remained standing, though they had made virtually no progress in bringing down the Lin Kuei. As such they were still not seen as a threat and remained a small nuisance. Their numbers had been larger than expected but their skill was still lacking, though some improvement had been made. The small number of Lin Kuei that fell to the group only served to have greater amount of their numbers to be taken out. What had been catching their attention was a case of brutal killings that seemed to be set around a certain area. Believing that it may be the location of their base the Lin Kuei sent Sub-Zero to assess the situation and if he was able, wipe out their command center, if it was indeed a base.

Sub-Zero looked around the area. It was a rocky one, that was certain, but he didn't see any signs of a base of any sort. Was it hidden? It was possible, so he decided to search more carefully. He examined crevices, nooks, any place that could serve to hide his target. Looking around again after searching some more he began to wonder if this was a trick of such a pitiful group. Deciding to head further into the area Sub-Zero climbed upward being sure to keep his senses sharp for any signs of activity. As he walked deeper into the area he began to smell something awful.

It smelt like something burnt, but fouler. Sub-Zero knitted his brows; it was the only thing he had to go on so he followed the stench. Coming into an area akin to a stone arena he found a badly burned body. Upon further inspection he saw a metal Lin Kuei medallion on what remained of the uniform. It appeared he was on the right track.

He only walked a few feet away when he heard an oddly familiar sound, a metal chain and it was getting closer. Instinctively Sub-Zero jumped out of the way, he turned his head quick enough to see what looked almost like a Kunai on a chain. He'd only known one assassin that could use that weapon effectively and he was supposed to be dead. Turning to where the chain was being pulled back to, Sub-Zero saw the yellow clad figure that had tossed the deadly weapon at him. He was nearly speechless; it was Scorpion! He shook his head slightly, that wasn't possible, he'd torn his head clean off and yet there he was! Looking closely he saw something was very off with the man.

"You…You're supposed to be dead!" Sub-Zero yelled, still shocked by the former man's appearance. His eyes were a pure burning white and his presence was far more imposing than when he last met. No doubt whatever he had become he was stronger than when they'd last met.

"Yes, you're correct. I am dead." Scorpion growled heatedly, briefly he seemed to glance at the burnt body but it was hard to tell with his lack of pupils. It was easy to piece together that Scorpion had been the one that had been killing the Lin Kuei agents that wandered into the area. Growling darkly he pointed sharply at Sub-Zero, "You will be joining me in hell! You and you're wretched clan! Not just for my death but for the death of my clan and my family!"

Sub-Zero stalled a moment; he had killed him yes, but he had nothing to do with the death of his clan or family. He didn't even know the man had one! As for his clan as far as he knew they had nothing to do with it either. The news had been sudden and new to him. "I had nothing to do with the death of your family or clan!" He protested.

"Liar!" Scorpion roared furiously as he charged, Sub-Zero readied to defend himself when the specter suddenly vanished in a burst of flame. Confused he looked around trying to figure out where Scorpion would appear. A crushing blow to the side of his head told him where.

Pulling his arms up he blocked another heavy blow before swinging his legs out to knock the vengeful man back. Shaking his head he fought off the buzzing sensation caused by the first blow. Quickly he jumped back when the specter tried to trip him, tensing he created an icy shell over his body then pulled out from the ice creating a copy. He hadn't pulled this trick on Scorpion when he last met him, so Sub-Zero felt he should fall for it.

"Don't hide you coward!" Scorpion barked as he struck the ice clone with one of his ninja blades. When the clone was struck it shattered, the ice then clinging onto Scorpion before spreading and encasing the undead ninja in ice. The action was almost instantaneous leaving the attacker with hardly any time to react.

Taking the opportunity, Sub-Zero hit him hard with an uppercut, shattering the ice encasing him and sending him flying back. The specter landed hard on the rock ground, but it didn't seem to bother him much as he pulled himself up, growling in seething rage. Not letting up, Sub-Zero propelled himself forward on ice, crashing right into Scorpion. The specter let out a yell as he flew backwards but this time he caught himself, landing on his feet before vanishing into flames once again.

Putting his guard up, Sub-Zero carefully looked about for any signs of where his opponent would appear. As the moments passed the situation only grew tenser as he inched about waiting for Scorpion to show himself. He heard a whoosh of flame erupt behind him, along with a surge of heat to be felt on his cold skin. Quickly he turned, blocking the specter's blade with an ice covered arm. Countering he struck Scorpion's face cracking his mask. Sub-Zero attempted to continue with another hit but the yellow clad specter blocked and slashed his ninja blade into his shoulder. In a flash, another slash followed, cutting deep into his upper arm.

Blood was welling from Sub-Zero's wounds but he bit back the pain, the Lin Kuei showed no weakness and he especially wouldn't show it to a man he had already killed. Using his ice slide he quickly gained distance from Scorpion and fired an ice blast freezing the specter again. Quickly he used his powers to seal his wounds with ice. Now he was ready to fight again. Or so he thought.

With loud booming roar Scorpion erupted from his icy prison with a blast of hellfire coming from his very being. The flames were wrapped around him quickly evaporating any ice that had managed to stay stuck to him. Eyes ablaze with rage, body still wrapped in flames, Scorpion charged at Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero attempted to block the attack but Scorpion broke through it with a powerful strike to the gut. Bi-Han groaned, crumpling backwards just before the specter struck his jaw with a hellfire engulfed fist sending Sub-Zero across the field.

"GET OVER HERE!" Scorpion bellowed throwing his chained Kunai at Sub-Zero, harpooning him in the chest. Sub-Zero let out a pained cry when the specter yanked back pulling his body like a ragdoll towards him. Once he was near enough Scorpion stabbed his blade into Sub-Zero's body puncturing a lung. Yanking his Kunai from his chest the vengeful specter kicked him unceremoniously to the ground.

Coughing up blood in his mask Sub-Zero attempted to get up from the ground only to have Scorpion slam his foot down on his spine. He bit down hard on his tongue to keep himself form uttering a cry of pain. A kick to the side sent him tumbling onto his back were Scorpion pinned him down again with his foot. The specter snarled, "With your death I shall have my revenge for my life, family and my clan being taken from me."

Sub-Zero shot a defiant glare at him, "You will avenge your death…but I had…nothing to do with the rest of your suffering…" He wheezed between gasps for air.

"Silence!" Scorpion demanded with a seething growl. Then, for whatever reason he pulled back, seeming to contemplate how to fittingly end Sub-Zero's life.

With this brief moment given, Sub-Zero lay on the stone floor of the area staring out at seemingly nothing. His breathing was weak; most of the ice he'd used to seal his wounds had been busted open by Scorpion's assault. If he was left be he'd die from blood loss or internal injury alone, but he knew the vengeful specter would not allow that. Sub-Zero knew he just wanted to him to suffer for his apparent crimes, but he had only killed him and nothing else. He was being punished for greater crime he had not committed.

So Sub-Zero used the moment to contemplate what was going to happen. He was going to fall into the clutches of the NetherRealm. He knew this; there was no way he'd cleansed his soul enough to save himself. Sub-Zero wondered what would become of him when he fell though. There was no way of telling he supposed. His mind then drifted to his brother Kuai Liang, he gripped the ground feeling the pain he knew Tundra would be feeling soon enough. 'Brother…please forgive me. I've failed.'

Scorpion took a step back pulling off his mask revealing a pale skull underneath, "Burn in hell!" The specter's skull hissed somehow before it lite ablaze with the fires of the NetherRealm. Opening his bone jaws Scorpion breathed out a sea of flames that engulfed Sub-Zero's body. Not once did the Lin Kuei warrior scream, he wouldn't give the specter the pleasure of hearing his cries as he died.

Pulling his mask back on, once again his face having the appearance of flesh, Scorpion looked the burnt corpse over. Somehow his soul did not feel quelled of its' tormenting pain. Did the wretched Lin Kuei speak the truth? No… that wasn't possible. With a blunt grunt Scorpion abolished the thought and vanished back into the NetherRealm, leaving the two corpses for the clan to find.

After Sub-Zero failed to return, things at the Lin Kuei grew tense. Tundra made several requests to personally search for his sibling but all of them had been denied by the Grandmaster. It was over a month later that a search party had been sent to find the Lin Kuei's champion, Tundra again denied his right to help search for Sub-Zero, but eventually the party discovered the charred remains of Sub-Zero and the other Lin Kuei warrior. The find left the group in sheer shock; they stared at the badly damaged body of Bi-Han in disbelief. What kind of being could possibly defeat their greatest warrior? It left the group on edge that was for sure. They quickly gathered the remains to avoid any of their secrets from being found out and so they could bury their dead comrades.

The Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei was outraged by the find, though he initially had been just as shocked as the rest. He demanded to know who had slayed his greatest fighter but the search party was unable to give him an answer. The Grandmaster paced about fuming at what had been done, someone needed to pay for this but he had no one he could punish. Nothing had been left behind to point them in the right direction. Then he stopped, they still had his brother. Yes, he had the great potential his brother had possessed. They could bounce back from this, and no doubt once he found out he'd want to take up the mantle of his brother to honor his death. He'd also want to avenge him, something the Grandmaster would allow once they found out who had killed Sub-Zero. Yes, Tundra would take his brother's place and all would be well. Now all that was left, was to tell Tundra….

The Grandmaster looked to one of the warriors of the search party, "Go tell him…."

The warrior bowed his head and then left to find the young Tundra….

Smoke raced through the halls of the Lin Kuei trying desperately to get to his friend before he found out. Once the news of Sub-Zero's death had been found out…it spread like a wildfire throughout the headquarters. He knew his attempt to soften the blow for Tundra was likely in vain but he had to try. The two brothers had never been extremely close but there was still that blood bond that kept them together. Despite being bitter about being in Sub-Zero's shadow Tundra still looked up to him, he was still proud to be his brother and now the only true family he had left was dead…

Smoke knew he wouldn't take it easily. No matter how much he was going to try and deny his emotions Smoke knew his friend too well. He wasn't going to fall for it for a single second.

It was already evident that the whole clan was shaken up by the news. Most were still in shock or in sheer disbelief by the news. Many wondered what was going to happen, and who was possibly powerful enough to take down the one who had been the strongest among them. There were some that wanted to take action immediately; a few suspected the new group had killed Sub-Zero somehow. Others didn't even know what to think, they couldn't wrap their mind around it. Everything seemed to be standing still in the headquarters while the clan processed the disconcerting news.

Reaching their room Smoke stopped; he couldn't just rush in. He had to take this slowly. Carefully he slid open the door, peeking in Smoke grit his teeth seeing his friend sitting in the dark gripping his legs tensely as possible… Tundra already knew the fate of his brother. Pushing the door aside, he walks in wondering what he could possibly say to ease his pain.

"He's dead…." Tundra said already knowing who was behind him; Smoke winced at his clearly pained voice.

"I know." Smoke said back in a quiet tone as he moved closer to his friend.

"How…" Tundra whispered to himself before he suddenly shot to his feet and whipped around, fast enough that he startled Smoke momentarily, "How could this have happened!? How!?" He demanded, barking his confused, pain induced rage at his friend. His whole body was shaking, everything in his mind was screaming at him; he couldn't think straight. Tundra had never dealt with such an emotion before, he was in pain but he wasn't physically hurt. It confused him he just wanted to scream until he couldn't scream anymore.

"I don't know. No one does." Smoke answered calmly as he reached his hand out to his friend, "Kuai…" He stopped when his friend whipped away and began pacing like a caged animal. It was painful to see him like this, the Lin Kuei had not taught him to deal with such a distressing emotion.

"Why wasn't I allowed to search for him? I could have done something!" Tundra yelled has his mind continued to scream thoughts at him, frustrating him further and further. Smoke watched him pace back and forth, feeling helpless to sooth his frantic clan mate. He shivered; the temperature always dropped when Tundra got upset due to his already frigid nature. Gripping his head Tundra stopped pacing, "I should have gone with him, I could have done something…I could have saved him." The screaming wouldn't stop; Tundra felt like it was pulling him apart, he kept gripping his head tighter and tighter. It felt like the room was spinning around him, everything spiraling out of his control.

Smoke couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Kuai Liang and forced him to face him, "Kuai Liang, calm down. There's nothing you could have done, what's done is done. We don't even…." His voice drifted off when a strange look came onto his friend's face, "Tundra?"

"What do you mean there's nothing I could have done?" Tundra snarled. Smoked stood looking at him bewildered by the sudden anger directed at him. The half Cryomancer's stance turned defensive as he bared his teeth at his friend, "Are you saying I'm too weak to have defended my own brother!?"

Smoke was taken back; that wasn't what he meant at all! He shook his head, "No Kuai Liang listen to me! Bi-Han is dead! We can't change that! You need to calm down; you're only making yourself feel worse!"

Tundra looked at him, his body still shaking beyond his control; his eyes were wild like part of him didn't recognize the one standing in front of him. Breath heavy, he looked at the floor. He tried calming himself to steady his breathing, but he kept picturing his brother's dead body in his mind. It wouldn't stop. The more he tried to calm himself, the worse it seemed to get. He gripped the sides of his head and began shaking it, "I-I can't.. it won't stop….everything won't stop!" Tundra collapsed to his knees. He didn't know what to do, he'd never had to deal with or felt like this before.

The sight make Smoke wince, Tundra was typically the most collected person he knew in the Lin Kuei. To see him like this was painful; then a thought occurred to him. Quietly he slid the door shut then knelt in front of his friend. Tundra looked at him, clearly frightened and unsure of what was happening to him. Smoke looked at him before simply hugging him, "Ty idiote, just cry already." Tundra, having no words, stared over his friend's shoulder, "Don't bullshit me about showing no weakness. Just do it. Or I'll MAKE you cry." He paused a moment to let that sink in, "And you can't get in trouble if no on catches you, so hurry up. You're making the room feel like I'm sitting in a damn freezer."

Tundra stopped only a second, and in that second his mind stopped trying to wall off the emotion he'd been so frightened off. A wave of sadness took him over and he buried his face on his friend's shoulder. He'd never cried before as far as he could remember, Tundra had never seen his brother cry either, so he followed his example. Now here he was crying onto Smoke's shoulder, who said nothing to him. Smoke just sat there letting his friend cry for once in his life when he needed to most. Tundra cried silently as his tears turned to frost as they fell onto Smoke's ashen grey uniform.

His brother was gone. He'd never see him again. He had no family left….Sub-Zero, Bi-Han, his brother was dead.

Outside the room stood Cyrax; he'd heard Tundra's yelling, but when he arrived he felt it was best to let Smoke calm him down. Sure enough he had been right; Tomas had gotten Tundra to mourn. Now he stood vigil to keep anyone one from seeing or interrupting the moment, it wasn't right to let such an emotion go unrecognized or untended to.

The silence continued when Tundra finished his mourning; still he leaned against his friend needing the support for the moment. Sighing faintly, he realized he did feel better; he waited another moment before sitting up on his own. Still he said nothing and sat there while he organized what was going through his mind. Finally processing it all he gripped his pants, "I will avenge him Smoke. I'll…somehow find out who did this and he'll pay dearly for killing my brother. I don't care how long it'll take."

"I know." Smoke said before placing his hand on his shoulder, "And I'll help you. Sub-Zero was my friend; I want to avenge him too." He looked up at the door seeing Cyrax's shadow through the sheet, "I'm sure Cyrax will help too."

Tundra looked over his shoulder and saw Cyrax was standing outside. He smiled slightly; it was reassuring to see his friends where standing by him like this. He looked to Smoke and furrowed his brows sadly, "I…apologize for snapping at you like that before…." He felt ashamed for yelling at Tomas when he had been trying to help calm the storm in his mind.

"Eh, don't worry about it Tundra. No harm done." Smoke said casually as he waved the subject away. He blinked as Tundra got to his feet, wiping the frost that had formed from his tears off his face.

"I have to go; the Grandmaster is waiting for me." Tundra said, exhaling to further calm himself. He didn't want his master to see him in such a state.

Getting to his feet, Smoke furrowed his brows a bit, "What for?"

Tundra shook his head slightly, "I don't know for sure. It likely has something to do with my brother though." He headed to the hall, opening the door before looking back to where Cyrax was, "Thank Cyrax for me." As Tomas nodded, Tundra glanced at what was once his brother's section of room. He felt his heart wince in pain making him flinch. Shaking it off he shut the door and headed to the Grandmaster's hall.

"Will you take up your brother, Sub-Zero's mantle? Take his codename and the mission he was to carry out; the assassination of Shang Tsung during the coming Mortal Kombat tournament. Will you take his place as the Lin Kuei's greatest warrior, and when the time comes hunt down and kill the one that murdered him?"

"Yes, I will take my brother's mantle to honor him." Tundra said to the Grandmaster with his head bowed respectfully, "I fully accept the task of killing Shang Tsung by taking part in the Mortal Kombat tournament, and I will train harder to prepare for it." For a moment he gritted his teeth, "Once we find out who killed him, I won't rest until he is killed for his death and for the honor of the Lin Kuei."

The Grandmaster knitted his long fingers together pleased with hearing that, "Excellent. Then you are no longer Tundra you are now Sub-Zero. I expect you will follow in your brother's footsteps and bring nothing but honor to our clan."

Tundra, now Sub-Zero bowed his head again, "Of course Grandmaster. I live to serve the Lin Kuei."


Yes. One of the changes I've made is the point where Bi-Han dies. Naturally Scorpion is still the one to do it, I wouldn't change that. I did this because I wanted Kuai Ling to be the Sub-Zero in the first tournament. This doesn't really change much because either way Sub-Zero does not kill or fight Shang Tsung. I wasn't sure how to go about this chapter really, I didn't know if I wanted to write out the fight because everyone knows the result but I didn't really want to disappoint those who'd love a Sub-Zero vs Scorpion fight. Also it helped lengthen the chapter out.

Proof Reading: RenagadeRexRider

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