Rivals

A Zeo Love Story


    Kat stormed into the youth center and plunked down in a chair next to Tommy. "What's wrong?" he asked.
    "Everything's wrong! All my girls have deserted me!" she pouted.
    "Huh?"
    "The girls in my ballet class. They've all started taking lessons at the fine arts academy outside of Stone Canyon instead."
    "Isn't that expensive?" Tanya asked.
    "Apparently, they've been offering free Saturday lessons for some time now. My girls just heard about them and they all cancelled on me. Now all I hear about is how wonderful Mademoiselle Collins is, how pretty, how talented, and on and on."
    "Kat, you haven't been dancing long yourself, have you?" Rocky asked her. "Maybe it's better that they're taking lessons somewhere else." Kat glared menacingly at Rocky and stormed out. Rocky shrugged. "What'd I say?"


    Katherine pulled her car into the main parking lot of the Southern California Fine Arts Academy. She had a meeting scheduled with Christina Collins, the ballet instructor who was stealing her students.
    Kat was shown into a small conference room by a secretary who assured her that Ms. Collins would be right there. Sitting anxiously, Kat passed the time by imagining what Ms. Collins probably looked like.
    "Nearing fifty, tight grey bun, leathery skin, and a lined face. Probably a chain smoker and a real hardass," she muttered under her breath.
    The door opened and in came a girl who looked to be about the same age as Kat. Her long chestnut brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail which bounced behind her as she walked and her blue-green eyes radiated friendliness. She smiled at Kat, who, caught off-guard, smiled back. "Katherine Hilliard?" the girl asked warmly.
    "That's me. Are you Ms. Collins's assistant?" Kat asked.
    "No, I'm Christina Collins. You called about an appointment, right? Did you want to schedule lessons?"
    "Uh, no," Katherine murmured. "You're teaching the classes? I was expecting someone more....more...."
    "Someone older?" Christina smiled. "No, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I've been teaching the free classes for about five years now. What did you want to see me about?"
    "Oh," Kat started. She had been so startled by Christina's appearance that she had nearly forgotten her reason for being there. "You see, Ms. Collins..."
    "Please, call me Christina," Christina interrupted. "Go on."
    "Well, I teach a community ballet class in Angel Grove..."
    "That's wonderful!"
    "It was wonderful, until I lost all of my students. They started attending your classes instead."
    Christina thought for a minute. "There were some new students last week. I didn't check their addresses, though. I'm sorry that you lost your students. However, what do you expect I can do?"
    "Well, I was hoping..."
    "That I'd cancel my class? I'm sorry, Miss Hilliard. I can't do that. Teaching that class is one of the requirements of my scholarship. Besides, I love working with the children, and there are so many in the class who aren't from Angel Grove who would be hurt if I cancelled the class, children from communities that don't have a free ballet program." Christina studied Katherine for a few moments. "Miss Hilliard, how long have you been studying ballet?"
    "Well, for about...three years," Kat replied hesitantly.
    "Do you have a license to teach ballet?"
    "Well...no."
    "Miss Hilliard, I don't want to seem like I'm bragging, but I am a licensed dance instructor. I teach tap, ballet, jazz, and modern dance not just for the children's Saturday program, but also at adult lessons and for the elementary level at this school. This is not a passing interest for me, Miss Hilliard. Dance is my life. I've been at the Academy since I was five years old."
    "I'm...I'm sorry, Christina. It's just that I love those girls, and I'm going to miss teaching them."
    "Perhaps you can teach something else. If you're who I think you are, you used to dive for Australia, correct?"
    "Yes, I did."
    "You were a wonderful diver. Most of the Academy's diving team were crushed when you quit. They were looking forward to competing against you at the Pan Globals."
    "I'm sorry, Ms. Collins, but if you're suggesting that I teach diving, I'm afraid I can't. I've given it up for good."
    "It's a shame. I'm sure there are a lot of children in Angel Grove who would love to learn diving, especially from a Pan-Global contender."
    "Thank you for your time, Ms. Collins, but I must be going," Katherine said as she picked up her purse.
    "You're welcome, Miss Hilliard. It was a pleasure to meet you. I really wish I could have been more help," Christina said as Katherine left.
    What hurt Katherine the most is that she believed Christina really meant that.


    "What's so bad about her suggesting you teach diving?" Rocky asked.
    "It's that she sounded so sincere!!" Kat exclaimed.
    Rocky snorted. "Oh, she's evil incarnate. I know I just hate it when someone's being sincere."
    "Shut up, Rocky. It's that the whole time she was being nice, she was implying that I'm not good enough to teach ballet. Just because she's been at the bloody Academy since she was five years old, she thinks she's better than me!!"
    "Uh, Kat, I hate to suggest this, but have you even considered the possibility that she is better qualified than you to teach ballet? You've only danced for three years. You're still learning. She, on the other hand, is a licensed instructor. Besides, she did make a good suggestion in that you start teaching diving. You were really good. Really good. I used to watch your competitions all the time. You were an innovator."
    "Rocky, get to the point." Katherine glared at Rocky.
    "Kat, you're not going to get any sympathy from me. If you want to teach, teach diving. I'm just telling you what you're too stubborn to tell yourself." Rocky got up to leave. "If you want sympathy, go to Tommy. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to let you cry and moan on his shoulder. I'm outta here." He shoved his chair to the table and left.


    "The day: May 17. The place: Angel Grove Flea Market. The mission:" Skull looked around before finishing speaking into the microcassette recorder, "to find a suitable present for Jerome Stone's 35th birthday."
    Once again, it struck Skull how much he and Bulk had changed in the past few years. Up until the beginning of their sophomore year, he and Bulk had been inseparable. However, when Bulk started coming up with the crazy ideas on how to catch the Power Rangers, they started developing separate interests. In other words, Eugene Skullovitch was starting to grow up. No longer did he want to spend his days executing harebrained schemes and tormenting nerds. Now, he'd much rather practice the piano or help Detective Stone crack a case. Or, as he was doing today, comb the flea markets looking for unusual deals and bargain with the vendors.
    Detective Stone had been nice enough to let Skull move into his empty spare room when Skull moved back from France---sans Bulk. Inspector Clousseau had been too weird for Skull, so he'd resigned from Interpol and came back to Angel Grove. Skull wanted to repay Jerome's kindness with a special, unique, and monster-free birthday present. "This time," Skull spoke into the recorder, "I'm not going to screw up."
    Skull wandered around the flea market, every so often recording a few notes on possible ideas into the recorder. He knew Jerome collected stamps, grew roses, and prized his coin collection above everything else. Jerome's living room was filled with beautiful wooden cases with rare and exquisite coins from around the world, all polished to a high sheen. Today, Skull lucked out. At the flea market was a vendor who sold nothing but coins. Some rare, some common, but all beautiful and special in their own way.
    "Oh, man!" Skull groaned, looking at the prices. "Something like this would be perfect for Detective Stone, but it's all so expensive! I never realized spare change cost so much!"
    "Hey," the vendor whispered to Skull, "You say you're looking for a gift for someone?"
    "Yeah. My boss turns thirty-five next week, and he's been so nice to me, I wanted to give him something special."
    "Well, I can't give you a discount on any of these, but over here, I do have some grab bags. Five dollars for one bag, fill it to the top from this barrel. You never know what you might find."
    "Really?" Skull looked into the barrel of dull, dusty coins. "I dunno, they all look kinda plain."
    "Well, yes, but shined up and presented properly, some might actually have value." The vendor, an old man of about seventy, looked at Skull. "I'm getting older, and I don't have the energy to put into cleaning these up. A lot of them come from estates and other collections. The ones in top condition I display, but for the rest of them...." he motioned to the barrel, "I let the young collectors fight over them. Some of them have actually come back and shown me what they found in the bags they buy. Like you said, a lot of them are plain, but there have been some prizes found."
    That convinced Skull. "All right, I'll take a grab bag," he said, fishing his wallet from his jacket pocket. He handed the vendor five crumpled ones and the vendor handed him the paper bag.
    "Good luck," the vendor told him.
    "Thanks."


    Skull looked around before carefully opening the lock on the old workshop he and Bulk had used for numerous schemes. Looking around the inside, he could still see remnants of the past: the one-man band he used during Bulk's student body president campaign, the motorcycle and sidecar they had tried to fix up when they were on the Junior Police Force, not to mention all the wacky devices to find out "the true identities of the Power Rangers". He picked up one such device, the Smell-O-Meter, and laughed. "Those were the days," he snorted as he put the ridiculous device back on the shelf.
    Clearing the workbench of its blanket of tools and giving it a quick scrub-down to remove most of the motorcycle grease, Skull laid out the equipment he had brought: silver polish, jewelry cleaner, some old toothbrushes, and a few soft white cloths. Carefully, he spread out one cloth and emptied some of the coins from the bag on it. Separating the coins by metal appearance, he started working.
    A few hours later, Skull had polished up most of the coins in the bag. Only a handful remained to be cleaned. He took the last few and spread them on his last clean cloth. One of the coins caught his eye. It was a bronzy color in appearance, a little larger in diameter than a fifty-cent-piece, about half an inch thick, and rather heavy. The edge of the coin was serrated, and one side was smooth, with no design of any kind. The other side had a raised fleur-de-lis that struck Skull as familiar. He turned the coin in the light and it seemed to have a greenish sheen to it. He set the oddly familiar coin down and polished up the others. His attention, however, kept getting drawn back to the odd one-sided coin.
    He picked it up again, enjoying its cool weight in his palm. It was then that a remnant of the past caught his eye: the timeline he and Bulk had started working out to figure out who the Power Rangers were. The enlarged photos, in particular, grabbed his attention.
    Skull wandered over to one of the better enlargements. It was of the Red Ranger facing front, holding his sword. Skull looked closer at the picture, trying to figure out why it had caught his attention. Then it hit him. Embedded in the Red Ranger's belt buckle was a coin similar to the one Skull now held in his hand.
    "Could it be?" Skull wondered. "Could I have found a Power Ranger's coin?"


    Christina was walking in the woods behind the Academy after her meeting with Katherine, fueled by mixed emotions. She wanted to help the girl out, but couldn't stop teaching her class. She sighed and sank down at the base of her favorite tree. A cool breeze blew through the woods, helping to clear Christina's mind of her worries. She always seemed to think best out here, away from the bustling activity of the Academy. The school had been Christina's home since she was five, but she hadn't really gone anywhere around the school. She knew about where Stone Canyon and Angel Grove were, but she had never seen them, except passing through on her way back to Los Angeles for breaks with her parents. Oh, and she had seen bits of Angel Grove on the news. It seemed to be a pleasant city, if a bit over-populated by super heroes. She giggled.
    "Too bad they don't need another Power Ranger," she laughed to herself. "Goodness knows I have enough Spandex!" She giggled again, thinking of her dorm's Halloween party. She had combined her most flamboyant multi-colored tights and leotard with her tie-dyed toe shoes, a colorful scarf, her Swan Princess tiara, and a feathered mask and had called herself "The Rainbow Ranger". Her costume had been a hit.
    As Christina mused, something glittery caught her attention. Under a layer of leaves, she found, encased in an intricate silver setting, a crystal pendant. Holding it up to the light, it reflected a spectrum of colors back to her. "How beautiful," she murmured in awe.
    Something moved her to fasten the silver chain around her neck. The crystal and chain felt oddly warm against her skin and the pendant's weight felt natural to Christina, even somehow familiar. This was odd, because Christina rarely wore jewelry, but somehow, the pendant felt right. She tucked it under her blouse and ran towards the school, as a quick glance at her watch told her she had ten minutes before rehearsal.


    Later that night, Christina removed the pendant and studied it closely. She had taken a few jewelry classes as her outside arts classes and knew that the setting was not a common one. The crystal itself was a mystery. It was clear like quartz, but didn't have the right shape to be a natural crystal. Quartz was hexagonal. This crystal was decahedral. Shrugging, Christina placed the pendant back around her neck and turned on the six o'clock news. Once again, featured in the top news slot, the Power Rangers battled another monster.
    "I wonder why they keep changing costumes," she mused aloud. "Maybe it's not the same team. I don't know enough about fighting styles to judge." Christina had a friend back in Los Angeles, though, who did. Her friend Jamie swore up and down that she could tell every time a Ranger was replaced.
    "I'm telling you, Chris," Jamie said every time they were together, "the old Green Ranger is the same person as the White Ranger and Zeo Ranger V. Around when they got the Thunder Zords, after the White Ranger showed up, they got a new Yellow, a new Black, and a new Red. Pink changed not too long after they got the Shogun Zords, and when they switched to Zeo, they lost the old Blue Ranger. Red became Zeo III, Black became Zeo IV, they got a new girl for Zeo II, and the new Pink became Zeo I."
    Christina wasn't too sure about her friend's theories. She was just content to know that there were people like the Power Rangers out there, real honest-to-God superheroes ready to defend Earth.


    "All right, let's hit the beach! Whooo!" Rocky yelled, leaping out of his Jeep, picnic basket in each hand. Tanya and Adam followed at a slower pace, laughing at Rocky's antics.
    Katherine and Tommy got the blankets and umbrellas out of the back of Tommy's Land Rover as David watched, wistfully. "Hey, Dave, what's wrong?" Rocky asked. "It's too beautiful a day for such a long face. Look around! We're at the ocean, the surf is rising, there are gorgeous women everywhere...."
    "You've hit my problem," David sighed.
    "Women?"
    "Woman, singular. Only she's not."
    "What, she's married? Dave, that's not like you."
    "Rocky, get a grip. She's not married, but she might as well be. It's Kat. I'm in love with her."
    Rocky did a double take. "Kat? Are you serious?"
    "As serious as ever. Look at her, Rocky. She's smart, funny, beautiful, athletic, all around great...and she's in love with my brother. I'd never stand a chance."
    "Wow, that's rough. What're you gonna do?"
    "What can I do? The most I can do is smile and look happy for them. The only time I'll ever get near Kat is when we're surfing. Tommy prefers scuba diving, so when she and I are surfing, it's like we're the only two people in the world. I look for any excuse to surf with her. It's the only time where I can be near her and not feel guilty."
    "Wow, that's rough. I'm glad my older brother and I never fell for the same girl."
    Down on the sand, Kat and Tommy were spreading out the blankets and staking in the umbrellas. Tommy was also listing to Kat's continuing gripes about the ballet class. He was tempted to tell her to give it a rest, but he knew he couldn't. Kat would get upset and storm away.
    Tommy looked up from the umbrella he was staking in and saw Adam waving him over to the grill. "Kat, can you finish here? Adam wants help."
    "Sure, Tommy, I'll be fine," Kat sighed as she brushed sand off the corner of a blanket. Tommy ran over to Adam.
    "It looked like you needed an escape," Adam told him. "She still upset over that ballet thing?"
    "Yeah, I never thought it would hit her that hard. We've all lost students before to professional dojos and none of us have gone into week-long funks over it."
    "Maybe she's just worried about losing more than her class."
    "Huh?"
    "Tanya says that Kat's always afraid that she's going to lose you. I guess when Kat was in Australia, she had a boyfriend down there who started dating one of Kat's teammates behind her back. Because of that, she's afraid that you'll leave."
    "That's ridiculous! Kat knows I care about her, and I would never do anything to hurt her like that!" Tommy stared at the glowing coals in the grill. "I'm going to walk along the beach for a while, Adam. Kat's probably going to break out her surfboard soon if I know her, and she'll be in the waves for hours." As he said that, he looked over to Kat's blanket where sure enough, she was already in her wetsuit and polishing up her board. "See?"
    "Okay, have fun," Adam said.


    "Christina, we're going to get sand for the castle!!" the little girl with blond ponytails called out.
    "All right, Serina, but be careful by the shoreline! Remember the buddy system!" Christina called back.
    "I will! C'mon, Mina, let's go!" Serina took the hand of another blond little girl and the two ran to fill their buckets with the damp sand near the waves.
    Christina stretched out on her blanket, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin. Her pendant rested on the top of her halter-style bikini top, the silver gleaming brightly against the black material. She pulled her oval sunglasses out of her black straw bag and rested them on her face, every so often sitting up to check on her two charges. It was a good day to go to the beach.
    Serina and Mina happily filled their buckets and carried them to and from their castle building site. The six-year old girls made up stories about the castle while they worked.
    "It's a castle on the moon, and a beautiful princess lives in it," Serina sighed.
    "You silly," Mina laughed. "If a princess had a castle on the moon, she'd have to be bad. The moon is where all the bad people who attack Angel Grove come from."
    "But my cousin lives in Japan, and he says that there is a beautiful warrior in Tokyo who fights evil in the name of the moon. He also says that according to legend, there is a princess of the moon." Serina stubbornly stuck to her story as she dug a moat around the castle. "Mina, we built the castle too far up. The moat won't fill with water. I'm gonna go get a bucket of water for the moat." Serina picked up her bucket and ran to the ocean.
    Christina was broken from her peaceful rest by Mina shrieking "Serina! Serina!" Sitting up, she saw Serina being pulled toward the ocean. In a flash, Christina had torn off her sunglasses and was racing towards the waves.
    "I told her to be careful!" Christina thought wildly. "Oh, Serina!!" Christina dove into the waves and started swimming furiously towards the flailing, helpless little girl. A dark streak shot past Christina, reaching Serina and bringing her to shore. Christina went to thank the stranger for his help.
    "I...I want to thank you," Christina said, taking the terrified Serina into her arms. "I warned her to be careful, but sometimes, sometimes,"
    "It's all right, I have a little brother. I know how children can be sometimes," the stranger said, looking at her with warm, dark eyes. "I'm Tommy Oliver."
    "Oh! I'm Christina, and this is Serina." Serina looked at Tommy with her big blue eyes.
    "Thank you, Tommy," she whispered. "Christina, can I finish my castle? I promise to stay away from the waves."
    "Of course, honey, of course," Christina murmured, setting the calmed little girl down. Serina ran off to tell Mina about the handsome prince who had rescued her. "I want to thank you again, Tommy. I closed my eyes for one minute, and the next thing I knew she was out there." Impulsively, she hugged him.
    Kat and David had heard the little girl's screams and headed to where she was. As they reached that point, Kat saw Christina hugging Tommy. Outwardly, she didn't let her emotions show, but inwardly, she was seething. How dare she! Kat thought. First, she steals my students, and now, she's trying to steal my boyfriend!
   
"Excuse me," Kat said as she walked up to them. "I see you've met my boyfriend, Ms. Collins."
    "Oh, hello, Ms. Hilliard. Yes, he just saved one of my charges from drowning," Christina replied warmly. She saw Kat's outfit and smiled. "You surf, Ms. Hilliard?"
    "Yes, some. I just started a few years ago." Her ice-cold blue eyes dared Christina to say something about that.
    "That's wonderful. My brother surfs, but I've never had the time to learn. I enjoy watching surfers, though. It's as beautiful as dancing."
    "I feel the same way," David agreed. "Kat's really good at surfing, too. She nearly won the Angel Grove Invitational, but an emergency came up and she couldn't attend the final round. Oh, I'm David Trueheart, by the way, Tommy's brother."
    "Christina Collins. The two little girls I'm with are Serina Moon, the accident-prone one, and Mina Lovelace, her best friend and soul sister."
    "Are you babysitting them?" David asked.
    "Well, in a way. They're students at the Academy, and the older students look out for the younger ones. I'm kinda their big sister." Christina noticed someone cartwheeling down the beach towards them, yelling for Tommy, Kat, and David. "Do you know him?"
    Tommy laughed. "That's Rocky DeSantos, our resident comedian. He's probably coming to tell us lunch is ready and we'd better hurry if we want him to leave us anything." An idea hit Tommy. "Hey, do you and the girls want to join us for lunch?"
    Christina smiled. "I'd love to, and if I know Serina, you've just become her idol and she'll follow you anywhere. I'll go ask the girls."
    As Christina walked away from the three, Rocky caught up just in time to hear Kat say "Tommy, what were you thinking?"
    "'Bout what?" Rocky asked.
    "Tommy just asked Christina Collins to join us for lunch," Katherine said, her eyes shooting daggers.
    "I was thinking that she's a really nice girl and she might like to join us for lunch. That's all," Tommy said.
    Rocky looked in the direction Kat was pointing. "That's her? Wow, she's outta this world! From the way you talked about her, Kat, I was expecting someone with snakes for hair, fangs, and long green nails."
    Christina and the two girls joined the group. "Serina and Mina would be happy to join you, and so would I," she said.
    "See, Mina? I told you he was a prince," Serina whispered to her friend as the small group walked back to where Adam and Tanya were. Rocky heard this and laughed.
    "So, Your Highness, what happened?" he asked.
    "Cut it out, Rocky," Tommy laughed. "Serina had some water trouble and I saved her. That's all. You know how little kids get. There's enough of them around your house."
    "Got that right."
    David and Christina chatted easily about surfing on the walk, and the two little girls ran and giggled in front, Serina being careful to stay far back from the waves crashing on the shore. Only Kat walked alone, a feeling of trepidation coming over her.
    At the grill, Adam and Tanya hit it off with Christina right away. Serina and Mina played around with Rocky, who was all too eager to goof off with them, chasing the little girls and swinging them in the air. Christina watched them with a smile. "You might have to fight for your crown, Tommy. I think the girls may just have found another prince," she smiled.
    "It's okay. I think Rocky and I can share the crown," Tommy joked back. He was surprised at how easily he was getting along with her.
    Kat also noticed Tommy's ease with Christina. What is going on?? she wondered. Usually Tommy is so reserved around new people, but with Christina he acts like he's known her forever. I don't like this. "Tommy," Kat said. "I'm not feeling very well. I think I've been out in the sun too long. Could you take me home?"
    Tommy looked up at Kat. "Oh, sure, Kat. It was nice meeting you, Christina," he said.
    "It was nice meeting you, too, Tommy. I just wish it could have been under better circumstances," she smiled as Serina ran up.
    "Are you leaving?" she asked forlornly, gazing up at Tommy, her eyes turning liquid.
    Tommy swung the little girl up. "Yeah, Kat's not feeling too good, so I'm gonna take her home." He set Serina down and she climbed into Rocky's lap. "I'll see you guys later." Tommy and Kat walked to the Land Rover, taking their blankets and Kat's surfboard with them.
    Christina and David both watched them go. David then noticed Christina's pendant. "That's an unusual crystal," he stated.
    "Yes, it is. Do you know much about crystals?" Christina asked him.
    "Some. My adoptive father works with silver and some gemstones making Native American jewelry. Could I see your pendant?"
    "Sure." Christina unfastened the chain and handed the necklace to David. "I'm afraid I don't know what the crystal is."
    "Didn't the dealer tell you when you bought it?"
    "Actually, I found the necklace outside of my school. I've been asking around, trying to find out who the owner is, but so far, nobody's recognized it."
    "That's odd. I don't recognize the shape of the crystal. Decahedral is rare in nature. Maybe it was cut that way."
    "Maybe." Christina checked her watch and looked over at the little girls. "I'm afraid it's getting late, and Serina, Mina and I should get back to the Academy."
    "Awwww," the two girls moaned from Rocky's area. "Christina, do we have to go already?"
    "'Fraid so, girls. You know how Madam Anderson is if we're late."
    David handed the pendant back to Christina. "Here. Good luck searching for its origins," he told her.
    "Thank you," she replied, catching Serina and Mina. "Maybe we'll meet again."
    "I think we'd all like that," Tanya said.


    Kat paced the length of her room, furious. She had managed to get Tommy away from Christina, but when she'd invited him in for a snack, he'd declined, saying he should make sure David got back to the reservation all right.
    Now David was another mystery to Kat. She'd tried everything she could to be friendly to him, especially since he was Tommy's brother, but through it all, he stayed distant. He did seem to be warm to Christina, though. Now there's a thought, Kat mused. Maybe I could push David towards Christina. Then, I wouldn't have to worry about Tommy all the time. A slow smile spread across her face, a smile worthy of her name.


    Skull was getting annoyed. He'd searched through all the material he and Bulk had gathered on the Power Rangers and none of the coins matched the one he now held. Finally, he tossed all the photos into the air. One floated down and landed in his lap.
    "Hmm, the Green Ranger. I always liked him," Skull muttered, turning the coin over in his hand. "I wonder what ever happened to him. That DragonZord was pretty cool, too." At the word "DragonZord," Skull found himself encased in shimmering green light.
    As the light faded, Skull looked down at himself. "Green spandex? What's going on?" he murmured, looking at his gloved hands. He found a mirror in the back of the workshop. "Ack! I'm the Green Ranger! How'd this happen?" The coin was now securely attached to a belt buckle which held up an odd holster holding the Dragon Dagger. Skull pulled on the buckle and it came off in his hand. The morphing faded away, leaving him holding the coin in a setting.
    "This is weird," Skull breathed. "Even for Angel Grove, this is weird."


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