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Post By by Visionary, Hatman, Donar and CSFB! Sun Sep 17, 2006 at 09:21:55 pm EDT |
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Welcome Home, part three of what might top out as a four part series! | |
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“Uh-oh” Hallie noted, biting her lip. “Incoming.” “Uh-oh?” Visionary echoed, looking around the mansion’s great room in concern. “Incoming what? Missiles? Meteor storm? Gromm the Living Flatulence after a Taco Bell run?” “Dragons?” Maggie suggested uneasily. “Actually, there aren’t really dragons in this world…” Visionary assured her. “Well, except for the one on the Lair Legion. But he’s a… nice? hmmmm… Let’s go with “good” dragon. I think he mostly eats pasta. And maybe Fritos for a snack. That incident with the Mountie’s horse was never proven…” “We’ve got a Lairjet requesting clearance to land” Hallie informed them, answering the original question. “So?” Visionary asked. “What’s so bad about tha…” The Regular blinked out of sight mid-sentence. “Dad?” Griffin asked, waving his hands in the space Visionary had just occupied. “Whoa… He can go imaginary too?!” “Actually, I’m pretty sure Vizh just got served one of Lisa’s Summons” Hallie informed them. “She’s another Legionnaire… one of your father’s oldest friends. I think she was eager to, er… discuss our quest to retrieve you two. They’re in the hangar bay now.” “Can we go meet her?” Magweed asked eagerly. “Um… How about you two run off and have a look around, and we'll give them some time to say hello, okay?” Hallie suggested diplomatically. “It might not be the warmest greeting for little ears to hear...” Maggie and Griffin found the Lair Mansion to be a very, very large house. Much larger than Auntie’s cabin, to be sure. And it was strange. Strange to children who grew up in the Many Coloured Lands at least. Clearly the math added up to exploration. Griffin led his sister through the halls, twisting through the crowd as only a child can. At times he wanted to return to his intangible state, but that would leave Maggie to bump through on her own and there wasn’t a power on the planet that would cause him to abandon his sister like that. “Let’s try that one,” she suggested, pointing at a door with a colourful sign on it. “What’s it say?” she asked her brother. “I think it says ‘Hall of Justice’,” he read slowly. He hadn’t had occasion to read such bright letters before. Griff agreed with his sister’s assessment. “Let’s try that one.” They quietly opened the door and crept inside. There were two desks in the room, one larger towards the center and a smaller one shoved in a corner. Both were covered in books. Thin and slender books with bright and vibrant covers to them, but books. They weren’t stacked neatly, but were strewn across the room. Tapestries lined the walls with garishly garbed people on them, some in physically impossible poses. “Can I help you?” asked the man that had escaped the children’s notice until now. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and he held a razor in his hand. “Gah! We’re sorry!” said Griff hurriedly. “We didn’t know anyone was in here.” “It’s okay,” he assured them as he pulled on his shirt. “Naari and Griffin?” “People usually call me Maggie,” said Visionary’s daughter. “Short for Magweed,” chipped in Griffin. The man took on a thoughtful look, as if lost in thought for a moment. “Seeker of Knowledge in the Wilds?” Maggie was clearly excited that he knew what her name meant. “Yes! How did you know that?” He smiled at her. “An old girlfriend of mine had an…interest in that sort of thing.” It was then Maggie realized that they didn’t know the stranger’s name. “What’s your name?” “Oh, I’m sorry! My name’s Jay, but I also go by Hatman,” he explained. “You have two names too? Like me?” Maggie liked the idea that the nice man they were talking to had two names just like her. “Sort of,” he admitted. “My friends like to call me Hatty. You can call me that if you like.” “What’s that in your hand?” asked Griff, taking note of the blade in Hatman’s hand. “This? Oh, this is a razor. I was shaving my head,” Jay explained. He set it down next to another device connected to the wall by a black cord. He ran a hand over his now smooth scalp. Griff’s natural curiousity compelled him to continue questioning Hatman in a time-honoured tradition amongst children. “Why?” “Maybe it’s best if I show you,” Hat suggested. He reached over to a hat stand in the corner and selected a cap from it, placing it on his head. He got bigger, his skin turned grey, and he took on a reflective sheen. “Whoa!” exclaimed Griff in awe. His sister was also pleasantly surprised by the transformation. “Neat!” Hatman reached up and removed the cap from his head, shrinking down to his natural form. “I have a gift. I can put on one of these hats,” Hatman indicated the ballcap in his hand, for he was fairly sure they didn’t have that style of head gear in Faerie, “and take on whatever properties I associate with it. This hat is a Steelers hat, so I get strong like steel and hard to hurt.” Hatman pulled out his Blue Jays cap and placed it on his head, sprouting blue wings from his back. “This one I associate with a type of bird, so I grow wings to fly.” “Is it magic?” asked Maggie as Hatman removed the hat and the wings disappeared. “Almost. There’s this…stuff, in my head, that lets me do the things I do. I guess you could call it magic.” Hatman figured that was a good an explanation of the Serious Matter in his head as any. “So why did you have to get rid of your hair?” asked Griff, still looking for an answer to his original question. Hatman perched on the edge of the desk and motioned for the kids to grab a seat on the small sofa against the wall. “Well, I have a theory, that the closer my skin is to the hat I’m wearing, the more powerful I’ll be. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I don’t see why it isn’t worth trying.” “Why do you need to be more powerful?” asked Maggie. “Well, there’s this…man, I guess, that’s trying to take over the planet. My job is to stop him.” Maggie noticed that Jay’s face grew grim at the mention of his job. “You mean the Parody Master?” asked Griff. “Umm, yeah,” said Hatman, surprised. “How do you know about him?” “Everyone in Faerie has heard of him,” said Griff. “He’s got an army of orcs and gothenmanders and trolls.” “Oh my,” said Maggie. She had found a Catwoman comic drawn by Jim Balent in the couch cushions. Hatman frowned at the news, but before he could comment Griff continued. “It’s too bad we won’t be there when the Sleeping Hero wakes up and puts him down!” “The who?” asked Hatman in surprise. “The Sleeping Hero,” explained Maggie. “There’s a story of a great hero frozen in the icy wastelands to the north. The legends say that in a time of great need the hero will awaken and save the day.” “It’s one of my favourite stories,” admitted Griff. He remembered the times Myrna had told the story to Maggie while he sat and listened. “Sounds like a good story,” said Hatman in agreement. He wished that the Sleeping Hero could stop the Parody Master, but the children didn’t realize that the legend they spoke of was sitting right in front of them. Hatman glanced at the clock on the wall. “I hate to rush you kids out of here, but I’m afraid that my few minutes of free time are up. But before you go…” he trailed off as he rummaged through the hats on the stand. “Here it is!” Hatman held a green cap in his hand with a yellow diamond on the front. “I see that your sister has a shirt from Visionary, so I’d like you to have this.” He handed the cap to Griff. Griffin excitedly accepted the cap. “Wow, thanks!” He slapped it on his head, the peak turned slightly to the side, his long hair poking out from the front. “I got it hoping to be able to walk through walls, but unfortunately all it did was throw off my coordination and make me crave crullers,” he said with a grin. “It looks good.” “Can we come and visit you again sometime?” asked Maggie as the kids got up from the couch. “Of course you can,” Hatman told them. “You’re always welcome.” He looked at the clock again. “But I really do have to go.” “Bye Hatty!” the kids chorused as he left the room and headed down the hall. “Later guys,” said Hatman as hurried off to his next meeting. “Explain to me again how you needed to run off, alone, in the middle of the night to storm the Many Colored Lands and defeat a monstrously powerful faerie witch on her home turf” Lisa growled from her seat behind the yoke of the landed Lairjet. The rest of the passengers had wisely disembarked as soon as they had touched down. “I’d ask you to use small words in your explanation, but then you don’t know any other kind.” “It’s not like Hallie, Miiri and I went alone…” Visionary argued from the co-pilot’s chair, where a rather tight seatbelt was preventing him from bolting. “I mean, we took Asil… and Fleabot… Isn’t he usually the one you send to keep an eye on me?” “When you’re rambling aimlessly through corn, yes.” She growled. “Unless the corn was crawling with orcs and goblins and dragon and giants and, oh yeah, psychotic faerie witches, I trust even you might see some differences here?” “To be fair, the Mythlands were much less creepy. Except for maybe that lady with the chicken-legged house. But we did take some muscle! Ruby’s boyfriend Tanner… well, I think he might have been her boyfriend… I mean, they certainly bickered like it, and Tanner acted like he would rip Con’s arms off if he even thought about…” “Ruby?” Lisa interrupted in a calm voice. “Would this be Ruby Weaver, and Con Johnstantine?” “Er…” Visionary replied, noting some dangerous ground ahead. He casually strained his far arm to reach the handle on the side of his seat and yanked. Lisa looked at him levelly as his seat suddenly reclined. “The emergency ejection handle’s on the other side.” “Oh. Right. A-heh.” He smiled sheepishly, returning to his upright position. “Well, it’s just that I thought that Donar would be more help to…” Visionary paused as a thought occurred to him. “Wait a minute… You’re not upset that I’ve done something stupid! Well, any more than usual…” he realized. “You’re upset that I didn’t ask you personally to be stupid with me!” “Don’t be ridiculous” she sniffed. “What do I care if my oldest friend in the Legion would rather take his harem and random people off the street with him to rescue his first born?” Visionary blinked in surprise. “You’re actually hurt?” “Well, duh!” she answered bitterly. “What? Do I have to join the “secret lovers of Visionary club”…” she shuddered, “…to rate an invite any more? I hear even Dancer got to show up… twice! And what’s this about her being Naari’s godmother?” “She’s just one of them…” he assured her before thinking. “Er… I mean… uh, well there’s also, um… Whitney… and Cleone.” “I didn’t even come in third? Even with Hallie and Miiri both getting the regular mother roles, and Sarah and Kerry getting to be aunts?!” She crossed her arms and sulked. “That makes me… what? Eighth? Or did you want to work HuntingJusticeDeathMarrow in somewhere before me too?” “Hey… it’s not like I didn’t want to take you along” Visionary told her. “My first instinct when there’s trouble is to gather up the Regulars… and you’re #1 there. Hell, whenever I would get in over my head as leader, you’re the one I’d always look to for help in bailing me back out.” He wisely decided to keep her role on getting him into the leadership mess out of it for now. “But you’re bigger than the Regulars. You’re the first lady of the Legion. They need you too, and I couldn’t selfishly take you away during a crisis.” “Hmmph. You’re still a… a… doodyhead” she argued. “Did I forget to mention that you’re number one on the list to be Griffin’s godmother?” She paused her sulking to glance sideways at him. “His only godmother?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I was going to ask Yo too, but then I suppose we could think of him as a godfather. Well, at least most of the time.” She considered that. “All right… your terms are acceptable. I’ll let you live for now.” He smiled. “You big softy… I love you too” he teased. Not only was she moved enough to show him where the ejector lever actually was, she left the hanger ceiling doors open as a considerate bonus. “Reporting in, fearless leader!” A voice called out from outside the “Halls of Justice” office door. “The small group of Avawarriors in Uganda went down faster than Ashley Blue on a pizza delivery man, but the reports out of Mumbai turned out to just be shooting for a Bollywood production of War of the Worlds, which, while lacking slightly in the visual FX department, was looking to be a hell of a lot better than Tom Cruise vehicle Spielberg churned out in his spare time from all the notes he had left over from every other movie he had ever made about father/child abandonment issues, which would be just about every movie he’s ever made… Plus this new one had way catchier production numbers with scores of dancing girls and…” A fluorescent man with day-glow yellow skin burst into the room, causing the siblings to freeze together. The orange haired man cut off his rapid-fire delivery to blink the young twins, standing side by side clutching hands. "Okay…” he noted to no one in particular. “I've apparently reached the point in my sleep deprivation where I've started hallucinating The Shining." The children stared at the wired wonder like deer caught in headlights. “Just checking…” he finally asked. “You two are kids, right? You’re not Jay trying out some especially obscure and disturbing new hat?” “I’m… Magweed, sir” Maggie answered carefully, as if the wrong move might trigger another baffling stream of consciousness that could swallow them whole. “This is my brother, Griffin.” “Okay then… Oh, and I’m CrazySugarFreakBoy!” the man answered, rummaging around in his pouches. He produced some thin paper tubes and held them out to the children. “Pixie stick?” Griffin accepted one warily and shook it next to his ear, listening to the powder inside. “What part of the pixie do they use?” “You kids are really weird…” CSFB replied happily, ripping the ends off of eight of the treats and downing the contents. “Cool.” Magweed was examining the man’s painfully bright costume and unusual skin colors. “Are you… some kind of faerie?” she asked curiously. The man grinned. "Heh. I don't think anyone's asked me that since that college screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show I put together got out the same time as the Alpha Beta jocks’ frat party." He retrieved a two liter bottle of Cherry-Bomb Jolt Cola from the small office refrigerator and downed it in one long pull. “Hey!” he exclaimed as he wiped his lips on his sleeve, “I just got who you must be! You’re Naari, Visionary’s daughter that was stolen by that cast-iron witch Camellia of the Fey, only, because you were spirited away to the Mythlands, time distortions kept Visionary and company from finding you until you had grown into a little princess, while you must be her heretofore secret brother who was undetectable by science or magic, making you just like the twins in Vision and the Scarlet Witch volume 2 number 12, only without the cruddy Wonder Man/Magneto team up and skipping over any possibility of some crappy Byrne retcon!” He slapped his forehead. “I don’t know why I didn’t see that before… it’s so obvious!” “It is?” Griffin asked dubiously. “Of course! But I might not be as sharp as a tack right now, on account of running on pure sugar and caffeine for more days than I can count… which is usually the case, I admit, only then I get more downtime to unwind, sleep, have sex, watch TV and read the comics which is the best way to keep one’s powers of deduction sharp.... Hey! Have you met April yet? She’d love you! And Mom was bringing Iris and Ollie, along with Pelopia, for visit too! Ever since the whole SR 1066 drama started, I’ve usually been the one to go visit them, but with the schedule I’ve been on Mom… you can call her Meg, by the way… Mom thought it was time for them to return the favor and talked Pelopia into it, even though she considers it unwise for children to be at the mansion, what with it being such a target and all… But I wouldn’t worry, because as I explained to her more than once that if she’d only read enough comics she’d see that…” There was an alert tone, and Hallie materialized in the room. “Heya Dream…” she interrupted. “Hatty’s waiting down in the briefing room to hear how things went… you should probably go fill him in.” “Right, okay…” the wired wonder responded. “Hey, be sure to send Maggie and Griffin on up to meet Ollie and Iris when you get a chance, and I’ll join them all in a bit. Stay weird, kids…” he advised the twins before bounding out the door, “It makes life far more intersesting!” Maggie and Griffin blinked as they tried to adjust to the force of nature that had just blown through their lives. The baffled boy gave the holographic woman a glance of thanks. “He’s kind of in concentrated formula right now” Hallie explained with a smirk. “We’ll let him decompress a bit, and then try easing into meeting him.” She tilted her head as a thought occurred to her. “Only, don’t mention the word “decompression” around him…” she advised as an afterthought. “We’ll save that diatribe for another day.” Magweed and Griffin continued to explore this big new place, as children are wont to do, and eventually found themselves in a long hallway with several doors. One of the doors was much larger and heavier looking than its brethren, so of course that was the door that caught their attention. The fact that it was slightly ajar only added to the mystery. They approached it carefully, noting the faint flickering light within. “There’s a fireplace? “Maggie whispered to her brother, who had taken the lead to protect her from whatever lay within. “They have lightning in the walls. Why would they need a fireplace?” “Maybe they keep the monsters in here? And the fire stops them running away?” Griffin deduced. “It has to be something big, look at the size of the door. ”. A shadow moved through the sliver of light coming from the foreboding room before them, stopping them in their tracks. “Maybe we should go and get Vi..Dad?” Maggie suggested. “..we shouldn’t have wandered off, he might be worried again.” “Don’t worry Magweed. I’ll protect you.” Griffin stated boldly, puffing out his chest. “I’ll always protect you.” “Thou art indeed brave little one.” A voice boomed from within the room. The children stared as a large hand gripped the edge of the door and swung it suddenly inwards. A looming shadowy figure filled the massive doorway, pausing to assess these interlopers. “My name is Griffin.” Griffin stated. “And I can become a monster..I think…so don’t even think about hurting me or my sister Magweed.” “Fear not child. I am no savage Grimpenbjeasten or Oakengoat. I am Lord Donar, King of Ausgard.” He said before crouching down before them. Griffin and Magweed recalled their father mentioning this King and Magweed promptly bowed. “No, remember the contact lenses? We do this.” Griffin corrected her, presenting his hand to him instead. “It’s a pleasure to greet you, your Majesty.” “As it is to meeteth thee, Magweed andst Griffin. Come, let me see thee.” “It’s ok. He’s a knight.” Magweed advised. “A King knight.” The children followed Donar into his warm room and sat upon lush animal pelts. His room made them feel like they were back in the Faerielands again. “So. Thou art Visionary’s son?” Donar addressed Griffin. “Thou art indeed noble, valiant and brave, despite thy stature. I have seen men many times thy size turn tail and flee when faced with mine countenance.” “Thank you your majesty...” Griffin answered politely, resisting the urge to bow. “Please, formalities art not mine way. Thy father is like unto mine brother. Thou canst calleth me Donar.” “Wouldn’t that make you our Uncle Donar?” Magweed queried with a hint of cheekiness. “Indeed.” Donar laughed. “Twould seem so, milady Magweed.” She giggled, but kept the left side of her face hidden from Donar. “Milady?” Donar continued. “I wish thee to see something.” He reached out his arm and showed her a large jagged scar in his side. “This is a bite from an Ogjre, and it will never heal, not e’en with sap from Yggcalyptus itself. But it matters not, for it does not change who I am and it changes not what I believe in.” He then took her tiny chin gently between his finger and thumb and turned her head towards him. “Thou art a vision of grace and beauty. Verily.” She smiled as he continued. “And let any man who says otherwise face the mighty wrath of thy Mjalcolm wielding uncle.” “KIDS? WHERE ARE YOU?” A ‘slightly’ distressed Visz yelled from the other end of the cavernous hallway. “Visionary! Thy offspring art safeth here in mine presence! Fear not, old friend.” Donar boomed back. Visz hurried down the hall looking a little paler and shorter of breath than when the children had left him, not to mention noticeably drenched in water. “Oh thank God..er..literally. Kids, what made you wander off like that? I was worried sick that you were lying in a dit…” “They art children.” Donar answered for them. “In a new world. Seems only right to set forth and conquer it as soon as possible.” Donar mussed up Griffin’s hair with a laugh. “Well.” Visionary said, his heartbeat approaching normal “I guess now you’ve met Donar, and you’ll stop freaking your father out?” “Sorry Dad.” Magweed and Griffin chimed in unison. “Come on, we have to go find Hallie again. Donar, thank you so much for keeping them safe.” “You mean there are monsters here?” Magweed cried. “I knew it!” “Well, we still find the occasional discarded Enty project lying around waiting to explode, but as long as you don’t go near the TV cabinet..” “TV?” the children pondered. “He dost referreth to the magical viewing portal wherein the valiant exploits of Buffy andst Xena canst be admired. Or, at least thou couldest have, had mine own son not snapped in twain the tapes of Xena seeking a way to release her from her prison…” “Donar, I’ll get you the DVDs to say thanks.” Visionary offered “Uh..I mean the mystical..magical discs of..digital..Xena.” “Mindeth not, mine brother. Tis karmic loss for my failing to aide thee in thy quest to the Landes of Fjaerie.. Alas, twas up to me to remain here and defend thy new home, lest thou found thyselves with no homeland to returneth to. I hopeth thou willst never experience that loss..” Donar trailed off. “Your Queen loves you. You’ll find her again.” Griff offered, placing a reassuring hand on the hemigod’s arm. “Hey kiddos.” Hallie said from the commcard around Griff’s and Maggie’s necks. “Do you want to come down the hall and meet the other kids now? Oh, and Vizh, Fleabot’s looking for you.” Visionary watched sheepishly as the twins waved goodbye to the both of them and took off down the hall. “I, um, forgot they had those.” Visz confessed, dripping on the rugs. Donar eyed the puddle forming on his floor and raised a bushy black eyebrow. “Windy night” the Regular explained with a cough. “You’d really be surprised how far a chair on a parachute can drift over the bay.” Meggan Foxxx sat back in the padded rocking chair with her infant son, Oliver Hastings, sleeping in the baby-sling around her shoulder and waist, and with Visionary's children, Naari Magweed and Griffin, perched on her legs and nestled in the crooks of her arms, as she flipped through the photo album, showing the preteen siblings what her adult son, Dreamcatcher Kokopelli Foxglove, looked like when he was their age. Neither of the twins had been embraced for so long, or with such genuine affection, before discovering their true parentage, but Griffin had never even been seen or touched by another person before becoming tangible in front of Vizh and Hallie, so when Dream ducked his head into the room and asked if the kids wanted to go with him for a while, Griffin was considerably more reluctant than Maggie to leave Meg's company, however hesitant he was to admit it. Meg had enough experience as a mother of small boys to pick up on the vulnerabilities that they try to hide, though, so she wisely suggested to Dream, "Could I keep Griffin with me for just a bit longer? After all, you'll be there to watch over his sister, but I think I still need a fearsome beast of beak and claw, to stand by me and Ollie both." Dream blinked as he caught on, betraying a slight smirk before he cautioned Griffin, with a mock-stern tone, "I'm trusting you to guard my mom and my baby brother with your life." Griffin immediately straightened his spine and nodded solemnly, "You can count on me." "Before you go, could you fetch me the novel I read to you, back when you were sick and stayed home from middle school?" Meg asked Dream, as she gently hugged Griffin closer. Without making a fuss about it, or drawing any attention to her intentions, Meg was able to coax Griffin into cuddling with her, as they wrapped their arms tightly around each other and rocked slowly in the comfy chair together, even after Dream returned with the tattered paperback that Meg had requested. As Meg curled her fingers through Griffin's hair, she read to him of Valentine Michael Smith, another young man who had been born and raised on another world before coming to live on this one. Meg might not have been a sci-fi buff, but she guessed Griffin could relate to being a Stranger in a Strange Land … Iris Paintbrush Sunrise squirmed within the arms of Naari Magweed, yawning herself awake and squinting against the light. Once Iris had finished rubbing at her eyelids with her tiny, balled-up fists, she fixed Maggie with a skeptically speculative, froglike stare. "She's beautiful," Maggie breathed, caressing Iris' cheeks with her fingers, even as she struggled to support the infant's weight with her stronger arm. "She's heavy, though." "She's my daughter," Dreamcatcher Kokopelli Foxglove smiled softly, reaching under Iris to help Maggie bear her body. "Just like you're Visionary's daughter. We both love our children very much. Even when they grab the noses of everyone they meet, for no reason." Maggie went cross-eyed as Iris' small, squat hand gripped firmly onto the tip of her nose. Dream smirked at Maggie's expressions of surprise and helplessness before explaining, "She's fascinated with people's noses, probably because those are the one part of their faces that she can get a good handle on. Babies experience life with all their senses. They learn by looking at, listening to, smelling, tasting and touching everything. To get her to let go, just talk to her in a funny voice, then tickle her under her arms." "Youu arr grabbig myee node," Maggie informed Iris with comic seriousness, exaggerating the nasal inflection that came from breathing through her mouth. Iris' mouth, which was already open in a curiously cooing circle, turned into a toothless, noiseless laugh, before the sensation of Maggie teasing the exposed tickle-spot under Iris' chubby arm caused her to burst into a brief squeal, as she wriggled away and released Maggie's nose. Maggie giggled, but felt suddenly sad when she saw how Dream frowned, with moist eyes, as he stroked the peach-fuzz hair on Iris' head. "I love her," he confessed quietly, with a catch in his voice, "but I can't protect her from all the bad stuff in the world, all by myself. I need help, from people who are brave and caring, to make sure she'll be safe." Maggie leaned forward to kiss Iris' forehead, then swore earnestly, "I won't let any mean aunties or wicked godmothers at her, I promise," drawing a grin of gratitude from Dream. Hallie watched over the touching displays of affection through the children’s communication cards and sighed, trying hard not to notice how large and empty the virtual space felt around her. “Come home soon, Miiri” she murmered softly to herself. “Please.” Turning to her work, she accessed her core system code and took a deep breath. “Erase program: hallie/womb.recovery” she metally ordered, removing the files forever. “Begin write program: hallie/internment.security…” To be concluded! I really think so… So be here next time for more from CSFB!, HH, MS, and any other initials that want to offer a scene! |
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