Author's Notes
To JP-Ryder, things are about to get real crazy for the Titans, especially as they learn just who was responsible for Raven's frame-up and the subsequent killings of heroes and villains.
To minerbuilder12, the plot is definitely thickening and the next two chapters are primarily plot and revelations building up to three intense action-fueled chapters and then the finale – when this chapter is done, only five chapters will remain. And what did you mean "and then you say THAT?"
To Okinawa Angel, trust me, we've got lots more reveals to come in the next few chapters.
Now, let's continue the story.
Somewhere in a bright facility of an unknown location, it looks something like a headquarters of some sort. This is the headquarters of Task Force X, where it houses the criminals Cadmus handpicks for their not so nice plans. The sound of showers can be heard as the sprinkle noise is shut off. Getting out of the shower stalls was a well build man by the name of Floyd Lawton, who just got out of the shower as he wraps himself around a towel.
As he gets out of the shower he sits on the bench as he wipes his wet hair and face to get the soap out of his eyes. He then heard giggling as his eyes look at the direction to see a locker door open as a long, bare tanned feminine leg extend from inside a locker as the leg playfully culled up seductively as a hand pops out of the locker to motion him to come.
"If you want my attention, you could have just say so." Floyd said as he stands up and head for the locker.
"I just want to impress my man." said the woman as she lightly giggled as she sees Floyd's hand pull her leg to pull her out of the locker to get close to him. As she gets close to him, he pressed his lips on her chin to her neck as his arms wraps around her slim and athletic body as she is only wearing red lace panties.
"Do I impress you?" Floyd asked as he hears his girlfriend moan.
"Yes." she moaned until he stops.
"Let's go change into our clothes." Floyd told her as his girlfriend pout but didn't argue. She would get some later as she follows her boyfriend to the changing room.
The two then head for the changing room as Floyd gets into his Deadshot gear. He heard his girlfriend humming a childish nursery rhyme but the way she sings it sends chills through his spine.
"So, how's killing the old general?" the girlfriend asked.
"Earned a head shot, then Plastique blew up his cabin along with the rest of the old coots." Floyd answered as he wears his shooting gauntlets.
"What did they look like when they exploded?" she asked him.
"From the way the flames did to their bodies, it was more nuclear-like. Their bodies turned to ash and crumbled like paper, like that scene from Terminator II: Judgement Day."
"Ooh, you mean the one where the children turned into skeletons in that dream that Sarah Conner girl had?"
"Yep. Those old bastards are as good as dead."
"Hehehe, I wonder who's next on the list to kill?"
"Who knows, could be either a billionaire or another government worker." Floyd then finished dressing into his Deadshot wardrobe as he gets out of the changing room.
"Well if you ask me..." the girlfriend then steps out of the dressing room as well as she is clad in a red and black bodysuit as she pops her bubblegum. She held onto a bat over her blond head as holds onto a red mask in her hands. "...I'm hoping to kill one of those do gooders like those Titans or those Justice Losers that I love to screw." she said as she wears the mask, revealing it to be a jester's hat.
"I hope so too...Harley." Deadshot said as he and Harley Quinn steps forward to go and receive their next mission.
Over in Titans Tower, the Titans and the Justice League were trying to grasp the disturbing new information they had received about Raven's case - now they knew Raven had been set up for all the crimes that the Joker and Harley had hypnotized her into doing.
On the screen, Hawkgirl asked, "So, if Raven was being framed, why didn't she sense it from the Joker or Harley?"
Nightwing explained, "Raven's an empath, not a telepath. Even if she was the latter, the Joker didn't know about Harley's manipulations and Raven and Harley only crossed paths once, with not enough time for Raven to realize she was being played. She couldn't have seen this coming. None of us could."
Batman then interrupted, "Lamentations about not expecting this aside, now we need to get on track. Nightwing, who would be necessary to send Raven to Belle Reve?"
With that Nightwing threw three photographs on the screen and began, "The three people Cadmus would need were Chief Hogan Grant, the one who arrested Raven and filed the charges of murder, Amanda Musgrave, foreman of the jury that found Raven guilty, and Judge Anton Frollo, the one who sentenced Raven to Belle Reve. Of those, Frollo is the one we need to get first. Raven could have been sentenced to Jump City Supermax or any other prison in the country, but Belle Reve?"
Animal Man said, "But where is he? Chase said that Frollo retired shortly after the trial and didn't have a forwarding address."
Starfire guessed, "A bribe?"
"Explains why he retired. Cyborg, look for Frollo's last known home address. Perhaps it can lead us to where he currently is. Animal Man, Starfire, keep an eye on Chief Grant. Batman, we're going to need you to run down the members of the jury."
Heading towards the door out of the ops room, Cyborg came up to him and said, "Got Frollo's last known address. A one-story house in the suburbs. Currently owned by a single mother of one."
With that, Nightwing and Cyborg headed towards the garage in order to venture out and see if the new owner could offer any information as to where Frollo went.
Entering the T-Car, the two drove off to Frollo's old address, the small house in Grave Corners, a suburb of Jump City. After a twenty minute drive, the two parked the T-Car in front of the house and walked up to the door. Nightwing lightly knocked on the door, and coming up was a thirty-something woman with light blonde hair and fair skin.
The woman asked, "Can I help you? Nightwing? Cyborg? Why are you at my house? I didn't do anything!"
Nightwing reassured her, "Relax, Mrs. Parry. We're not here for you. We came to talk about the house's former owner, Judge Anton Frollo."
"The judge that presided over Raven's trial? Why are you looking for him?"
Cyborg began, "We believe he took a bribe to influence Raven's sentence. Do you have his forwarding address?"
Mrs. Parry then said, "Come in, please." With that, Nightwing and Cyborg followed the single mother inside, watching as she grabbed a bunch of letters. The woman explained, "Judge Frollo asked me to forward his mail to this address. However, every letter I forward to him gets sent back because of an invalid address."
Nightwing looked at one of the sent-back letters and took a look at the address Mrs. Parry was supposedly given and quickly realized why it wasn't accurate. "Mrs. Parry, Frollo gave you an incorrect address. This address would have him living in the Gotham River. Are you sure that's the address he gave you?"
"I'm certain of it. He told me at the time his house wasn't quite finished yet, so I wouldn't find it on any map searches."
"When exactly did you buy the house from Frollo?"
"I bought the house a few days after Raven was sent to Belle Reve. Mr. Frollo certainly was wanting to get rid of the house as soon as possible - he took a considerably lower offer than the house's worth."
Cyborg noted to Nightwing, "Chase noted that Frollo didn't leave a forwarding address. I don't think that Mrs. Parry bought the house from Frollo."
Nightwing nodded and then asked Mrs. Parry, "May we check the backyard?"
Mrs. Parry shrugged, "Go ahead. I don't want to intrude on your business." With her approval, Nightwing and Cyborg began to look at the backyard to see if they could find what they were looking for.
Setting his eye for X-ray and carbon dating, Cyborg inspected the backyard before finding something. Heading over there, Nightwing followed with a shovel from his utility belt (he's the Dark Knight's prodigy, so being crazy prepared is part of the job).
Nightwing and Cyborg proceeded to dig up the area Cyborg had singled out, almost certain of what they were going to find. After a few minutes of digging, the two Titans found what they were looking for - a body, so decomposed already that no skin remained, just bones.
Taking a look at the skeleton's teeth, Cyborg quickly determined, "It's Frollo. Looks like he was suffocated, just like Jim Grant and Steel."
Nightwing wondered, "How long do you think he's been dead?"
Cyborg answered, "Since a month before the whole Demon's Hand incident started."
"That means Frollo wasn't the judge at the trial. Someone impersonated him, just like they impersonated Lieutenant Grant. And we're dealing with a very experienced one at that."
As Nightwing and Cyborg are still at Frollo's house, Animal Man and Starfire work on researching on the twelve jurors along with the Justice League. The two Titans and League members are now researching through the twelve jurors starting with Amanda Musgrave.
"I hope Night and Cy have some luck at Frollo's place." Animal Man said as he taps into the computer.
"I agree, but now we have to focus on the jurors." Starfire said as she looks over the jurors files.
"Just who were the other eleven jurors from Raven's case?" Animal Man asked.
Batman pulls up a document as it shows the twelve jurors names including Amanda Musgrave. "These are the names of the jurors during Raven's trial. Along with Musgrave are Steven Anvil, George Cade, Kate Miller, Gregory Simmons, Rick Hoss, Jeremy Spinner, Manny Hovez, John Delgato III, Tiffany Willis, Rosalyn O'Malley, and Howard Copperfield. Look for these names and see what can you find."
"Got it." Animal Man respond.
"We shall find the news about the jurors if they've taken the bribe." Starfire said as they all research through the internet to google the names of those who were the jurors in Raven's trial.
A few minutes have past as they've manage to find some information. Starfire finds a link to an old news article follow by Animal Man finding something about one of the jurors. They both click on the links as they find two articles, The Daily Squire and Oklahoma Newsletter. They've researched more and more as they all have shocked faces.
"Did you guys find something?" Flash asked them.
"We found out something about the jurors alright." Animal Man said as he wipes the sweat from his forehead.
"Well, don't keep us waiting." Wonder Woman told as she can't keep up with the suspense.
"All of the twelve jurors of Raven's trial four years ago...they all died." Starfire states.
"Died?" Flash asked as Animal Man opens up an article from Topeka, Kansas.
"Amanda Musgrave, the foreman, was killed in a home invasion." the changeling said as the picture shows Amanda Musgrave in the memorials.
"And the others, Steven Anvil, Jeremy Spinner, George Cade, Kate Miller, and Tiffany Willis have died in vehicle accidents and the rest died of natural causes." Starfire said as she and Animal Man have read the articles and news reports.
"Natural causes?" Hawkgirl asked as Batman breaks his silence.
"Those "natural causes" could meant only one thing: CADMUS has inserted toxins in them to silence them, just like how they did it to the Riddler." Batman states.
"The same toxin that killed Control Freak." Animal Man speculated. "So with Amanda Musgrave and the jurors dead then that can lead to two suspects left."
Starfire then hears the T-com ring as she looks up and see Nightwing is making contact. Star answers and puts Nightwing in video chat.
"Me and Cyborg have confirmed that Anton Frollo is dead. Suffocated before the Demon's Hand incident." Nightwing concludes.
"And we have confirmed that Amanda Musgrave and all of the jurors are dead." Starfire respond to her lover.
"But with Frollo dead, that means someone has to take his place. A shapeshifter."
"But there are a lot of shapeshifters other than Madame Rouge who's in Belle Reve. Clayface, Everyman, anybody." Flash states.
Another files has been decrypted as Animal Man reads the file. "Well, we can confirm the shapeshifter theory. According to this file decrypted, CADMUS does have a shifter in their ranks." his eyes widen as he is shocked by who it is. "Gemini."
"Who's Gemini?" Cyborg asked.
"Madame Rouge's daughter."
With all of the information in hand, Nightwing knew that now was the time to interrogate Chief Grant for what he knew about the Cadmus conspiracy and the set-up that put Raven in Belle Reve.
Cyborg brought Nightwing over to the police station before parking his car at a nearby lot. Walking into the police station, Nightwing went up to the secretary present, who asked, "What is it, Nightwing?"
"I need to speak with Chief Grant now."
"I'm sorry, Nightwing, but he's requested nobody disturb him for the time being. He says it's important."
"Well, we both know that's a lie, isn't it? Have him meet me in the interrogation room." As the secretary began to call for Chief Grant, Nightwing headed to the interrogation room, waiting for the chief to meet him there for interrogation.
Several minutes later, the door to the interrogation room opened and Chief Hogan Grant went inside, thinking he had someone to interrogate. As he went for the seat with its back to the mirror, Nightwing demanded, "Other chair." Stepping out of the shadows, Nightwing took a seat at the front of the table. A rather nervous Grant quickly took his seat at the other end.
Hogan Grant asked, "What is this about?"
Nightwing explained as he pulled out several folders, "Raven's case. We've got new evidence indicating that she was framed for all the crimes, and that you were responsible."
"WHAT? Raven killed all those people."
"Under the Joker's control. We both know that Raven wouldn't kill intentionally, even someone like the Joker. The only reason she went to trial was because you filed all those ludicrous charges against her. And then, at the trial, which was all a sham, Raven was sentenced to Belle Reve. You put an innocent person away."
"She was hardly innocent. She ended the fucking world for Christ's sake. She's a half-demon. She deserved to go away."
"She was innocent for what the Joker hypnotized her into doing. And then the next day came G. Gordon Godfrey's show that proceeded to attack Raven's reputation, revealing her heritage to the world. Knowing him, he would have had to planned the show at least a week in advance. Which meant by the time you booked her, he was already prepared for his show."
"Are you implying I already knew Raven was a half-demon before her arrest?"
"Yes, and a while in advance too."
Grant chuckled as he added, "What evidence do you have that even comes close to suggesting your half-baked theory is even plausible?"
Nightwing smirked before beginning, "We traced the call that gave Godfrey the tip. A payphone that is convienently located three blocks away from your house, and", pulling out an incriminating photograph, "we have video evidence that you were the caller at the exact time said. You knew demons were real, you knew the potential effects of the Demon's Hand."
Instantly, Grant became a lot more nervous. Nightwing then continued, "I've also been looking at the list of the Joker's victims and there are two that come to mind that stand out. Captain Leslie McCullen and Chief Malcolm Hodgkins. The rest of the Joker's victims were criminal elements that he would have wanted out of his way. But those two did not match the common elements of the other victims. Hodgkins, however, is the more obvious of the two. He was the chief of police, and one that was considerably more accepting of metahumans. With him dead, the JCPD needed a new chief, and that is where you came in. You interrogated Raven, forced her to reveal her heritage, and then arrested her. But McCullen, why would the Joker kill him?"
"I don't know what to tell you, Nightwing. Maybe he rubbed the Joker the wrong way?"
"Maybe. But I have another theory. Captain McCullen was using the police database to look at Cadmus Resarch Labs, who were responsible for the ARGUS debacle. Officially, Cadmus has been defunct for years, but he was rapidly finding evidence of the contrary and would have exposed their operations so he had to be taken out."
"What makes you so sure of that? What the fuck would Cadmus be doing now?"
"Killing off metahumans, heroes and villains, anybody that would get in their way. They started years ago and are still continuing. We know that Raven was framed because we also found a massive bank transfer from a Cadmus account to that of Harley Quinn. She brought the Joker here, she was responsible for having McCullen and Hodgkins killed, she was responsible for Raven being framed. And by that link, you're connected to Cadmus. I spoke to Adrian Chase, the former district attorney, and he said that we had dozens of counts of accessory to murder on you. That's easily a life sentence if not more. If you cooperate, maybe we'll be able to work out a lighter sentence."
"I did absolutely nothing wrong. If there's some sort of conspiracy, wouldn't it be better to interrogate Judge Frollo or the jurors?"
"We would, but they're all dead. Murdered." Pulling out photos of each of the jurors, Nightwing revealed, "Amanda Musgrave, killed in a home invasion in Topeka, Kansas, Steven Anvil, 'boating accident', Manny Hovez, stroke caused by poisoning, Tiffany Willis, 'car crash', Gregory Simmons, died of a supposed heart attack after his food was poisoned, so on and so forth, they're all dead. That leaves the last link to Cadmus with you."
"What about Judge Frollo? From what I've heard, he is just too stubborn to die."
"Well, maybe from age, but not if he was suffocated. The exact same way your brother was killed." Judging by the look on Chief Grant's face, Nightwing knew he had hit the mark with that last remark.
"Jim's dead? I just saw him a few weeks ago. How can he be dead already?"
"The truth is that your brother, Lieutenant Jim Grant, has been dead for over four years, having died shortly after Judge Frollo and months before he could have possibly stolen the Demon's Hand from lockup. Now, care to revise your story?"
"Yes. About a week before the Joker's death, I received a video from an anonymous source of my brother being abducted and held hostage by unknown gunmen."
"The Coalettas, you suppose?"
"No. I saw electric wire strapped along Jim's arm. I couldn't see the face, but I had the theory it was..."
Nightwing finished the sentence, "Electrocutioner. And David Cain. They abducted your brother."
"Probably. Anyway, they threatened to kill him unless I went along with their plans. They told me that Raven was half-demon and that she was going to commit a number of high-profile crimes over the next few days, and that I was to arrest and charge her for all of them."
"Why didn't you tell anybody?"
"They said they were everywhere. They would know if I tried to warn anybody, and I still had no clue where he was being held, supposedly."
"Then how about when 'your brother' stole the Demon's Hand? And all of those communications between you two?"
"The kidnappers used burn phones and they kept moving him. Even if I could track them, I'd be too late and most likely overpowered. I saw the log two days after it was stolen. When I spoke to him, he said that his kidnappers needed it."
"Then why was he the one to get it?"
"Even with my position, I would never be able to get away with the Demon's Hand."
"So, they sent a shapeshifter. Gemini, the same person who's been impersonating your brother for years."
"I'm not saying any more unless I get to speak to a lawyer." With that, Nightwing got up, collecting his papers and proceeding towards the door as he noted, "That's all I needed to ask. And you're going to need that lawyer." Opening the door, he revealed two state troopers that proceeded to arrest Chief Hogan Grant on dozens of counts of accessory to murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder.
Walking out of the room, Nightwing soon began to realize that if Cadmus now has the Demon's Hand, they may have a motive for them setting up Raven. But, was it accurate? That's what he feared most.
At Belle Reve, Raven and Ravager are relaxing at the lounge enjoying each others company while the other villains were occupying themselves. Most of the female villains are more occupied in watching the newly installed monitor television set on the higher wall as its on the wall above the bullet proof glass where the male villains are at the other side. It only has one channel on right now and it is the news channel starring Cat Grant.
Raven was reading one of the magazines on the table as she receives a foot massage from Ravager. Raven didn't pay attention to the television as only Ravager was watching it as it only shows news reporter Cat Grant explaining about some latest wardrobe malfunction by some hot shot celebrity at some award ceremony.
But then the blonde reporter moves on to Snapper Carr as he gives in the breaking news as Ravager stares at the bulletin. She taps Raven's foot as the empath looks at her lover.
"What?" she asked.
"Check out the news, they're talking about your home town." Ravager replied as Raven looks at the television.
"On the latest report, it seems that Jump City's own chief of police, Hogan Grant, was arrested for corruption on behalf of Jump City." Snapper Carr reported as he looks at his news report. Though doesn't know the details, he is only informed the corruption. "Chief Hogan Grant was the chief of Jump City PD for four years after the former Chief of Police Malcolm Hodgkins died. Though the charges are unknown, but it seems that there are some evidence to put Mr. Grant away for a really long time." As Carr continued, Raven was shocked and surprised that it was the same Hogan Grant who arrested her for the crimes she didn't mean to commit.
"Four years." she whispered.
"Raven?" Ravager asked in concern for her inmate/lover.
"Four and a half years I've suffered because of this man who judged me without reason." Raven lets out a ghost of a smile as she felt for the first time joy as she brushed her hair. "He's finally getting put away."
"You okay, Raven?"
"Yeah, just glad that Grant turns out to be corrupt. He was an awful man who arrested me while judging me because I was half-demon."
"Really? This guy must be a pagan."
"Close, he's Catholic. I still remember when he interrogated me he had this cross in front of me. That guy was so intimidating, he could pass off as your dad. No offense."
"None taken." Ravager said as she continues to give Raven a massage as they listen to the news about Hogan Grant's trial date as the empath is left with bliss, something she has never experience before since defeating her father.
Back at Titans Tower, the team was still working on identifying everybody involved with the Cadmus plot. Already, they had determined who comprised the "suicide squad" known as Task Force X. In addition to the already known members of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Plastique, and Javelin, they also found that the Electrocutioner, Black Spider, and the Clock King had all been recruited.
And all three made sense - the Clock King was a master of efficiency and timing and thus he coordinated all of the missions from wherever they set up base; the Electrocutioner was a master of electricity, which explained the coil around Lt. Grant's arm in the photo sent to the now-arrested Hogan Grant; and Black Spider was a sort of anti-Batman.
Plus, they knew about the involvment of David Cain and his daughter Cassandra, though the whereabouts of Lady Shiva were unknown (in addition to whether or not she was actually involved with Cadmus). But, the big thing was finding out the identity of the ringmaster, the one setting up the entire plot, from the murders to Raven's frame-up. Their suspicions laid on Florence Crawley, the current head of Cadmus Research Labs, but they soon learned that she had only been involved with Cadmus for a few years, well after the anti-League contingency plans had already been formed.
But, what they did learn from the date of which Crawley took over Cadmus was that she didn't join until after the ARGUS incident, when Cadmus was left defunct and operating on a supposed skeleton crew. They also found out that Crawley was hand-appointed by the prior head of Cadmus, information that was classified. Still, they had a new lead - whoever was the original leader of Cadmus was the leader of the overall operation.
And what was Raven's place in this? That's what had them most at edge, as Cadmus was not only responsible for framing Raven for multiple murders she didn't willingly commit but also had possession of the Demon's Hand, the artifact used that caused Raven to be set up in the first place. They needed to get the Demon's Hand back, as not only was it dangerous in the hands of the enemy, but it was still the key piece of evidence in Raven's trial, and with it, they may finally be able to get Raven released, especially with the revelation that Grant was dirty.
As the Titans were unwinding and getting ready for some much-needed rest, Cyborg was still working on the decryption, searching for any linked pages to what they already had decrypted regarding Raven, the Demon's Hand, or Cadmus history. Anything that would be able to help them learn just where their incarcerated teammate fit in Cadmus's master plan.
Delving deep into the files, trying every single codeword he could think of relating to Raven, the Demon's Hand, and the such, Cyborg struggled to find the right file for them.
It was already eleven at night, and Cyborg was already feeling fatigued from the day and needed to get to sleep and recharge. However, he decided to try one last decryption key. Typing BELLE REVE into the decryption program, he got a result and it was just what he was looking for.
Cyborg uttered, "Holy shit!" With that, he quickly signaled the other Titans back to the main ops room immediately to discuss just what he had learned.
Nightwing asked, "What did you find?"
The half-robot pulled the file up on the Titans' screen and revealed a picture of an inhibitor collar. "This is why Raven was set up."
A skeptical Animal Man commented, "To put her in a power inhibitor?"
Cyborg continued, "It's more than a standard inhibitor collar." Zooming into the inside of the collar, he revealed, "This collar was designed to inject Raven with a liquid concentrate of the Demon's Hand."
"What does that mean, Cyborg? Wouldn't they just use the Demon's Hand to control her?"
"It's more than that. Once the concentrate fully gets into Raven's bloodstream, she will be under complete control of the Demon's Hand permanently, erasing her mind and only leaving her subconsciously obeying orders. Whoever has the Demon's Hand would be able to force Raven to do their bidding mentally, even be able to physically manipulate Raven."
Starfire asked, "So, does this mean the Warden of Belle Reve is in on the plan?"
Cyborg explained, "Probably. The decryption program just pulled this up as to who the Warden of Belle Reve is. Amanda Waller." Nightwing was shocked and began, "Batman mentioned that she was on the ARGUS project and was considerably disappointed, moreso than any individual should be. According to him, she always mentioned being a subordinate to someone known as Big One, but he was always believed that she was the Big One, the one in charge of Cadmus. Waller must have been let go after the ARGUS failure. But how is she now the Warden of Belle Reve?"
"Belle Reve is of Cadmus origin. Amanda Waller was reassigned there after ARGUS, but she still got to choose her successor, Florence Crawley." Examining Waller's family tree, Nightwing immediately realized, "Crawley is Waller's cousin. Amanda Waller is running everything, she's the one behind Cadmus and the killings. She's behind Task Force X, Raven's set-up, and the contingency plans. Crawley is just a puppet, an underling for Waller. That means Raven is right in Waller's hand."
Now, the Titans wouldn't be able to sleep as they realized the true circumstances of Raven's frame-up and now they desperately needed to come up with a plan to get her out.
Back to Belle Reve again, in the Warden's Office, Amanda Waller sits by her desk. She is seemingly talking to someone in the computer as she looks neutral.
"So, what's the next logical step to our plan?" Waller asked.
"The Titans", the person in the computer spoke in a robotic monotone tone. "They are one step closer to knowing everything we do shortly, and they must be eliminated."
Waller smirked as she likes the idea in killing the Titans shortly. "That is a good plan. An excellent opportunity to kill those meddling children shortly." she said without remorse.
Okay, this was the big chapter of reveals! Amanda Waller is the head of the Cadmus operation! Raven is being injected with Demon's Hand concentrate! Chief Grant was a dirty cop! Madame Rouge's daughter is working for Cadmus! Harley Quinn is dating Deadshot!
We've still got five chapters to go - next chapter will be more shocking revelations and then comes several chapters of action as we head closer towards a massive finale.
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