Episode IV: The Nosebleed Chapter, or: So What * It About Beaches and Romance, Anyway?
He had to thank that sudden burst of rain last fall- after a movie that burned out halfway through, leaving its entire audience wondering just how superspy Damien Drake was supposed to escape this latest predicament, and picking at a meal at a place Amy described as "the restaurant from Hell," Hugh decided that it might be for the best if they got coffee at Amy's apartment.
Then, mercifully, things started going right. Amy's fridge was stocked with leftovers, enough to make some soup with. Game shows and televised dramas dominated Motavia's networks that night, and the two sat, Amy's fingers slowly lacing around Hugh's, her head leaning ever-so-gently on his shoulder. When the television got to be too intrusive, they talked. They loved it- conversation shared between a well-read and learned young woman, and a man with a broad range of interests.
It was two in the morning, the time flying past in the wink of an eye. They both had short shifts later in the day, Hugh realized, and he excused himself to leave. Amy gave him a warm smile, her first genuine one in weeks, and embraced Hugh as he stood in her door.
Then the whisper he would treasure forever: "Please, Hugh. Just one minute longer..."
Bright blue eyes looked to his, pleading in silence for an answer. He hesitated, his jaw quivering slightly, before a new edge of confidence came over him. There was no verbal answer- Hugh instead leaned towards Amy, bringing his lips to hers. She murmured in surprise for a brief moment, before settling into the motion, feeling a sudden disappointment as she felt Hugh starting to pull away from her.
She persisted. As much as Amy knew she had to let Hugh go, she kept her mouth sealed over his, maintaining their kiss for as long as she could. When he finally managed to break away, he smiled at the redhead, and made a promise to her- "See you again tomorrow night?"
She blushed, but said after a second, "It's a date."
Hugh sighed, feeling Amy's hand tighten around his. What he wanted right now was some privacy with Amy: Privacy enough to share his thoughts with her, perhaps even propose to her right then and there. Unfortunately for the two, the beaches of Oputa just wouldn't afford it- too many people, too much money passing hands, too much damned noise.
"Umm... I don't think we can find a private spot to talk, Amy," he said, dodging around a man toting a stuffed echidna. "There's a lot of people here..."
"There are. We picked a good day, didn't we?" She stopped to look around, then squeezed Hugh's hand as she saw a jetty stretching into the Great Sea, waves lapping at the black rocks. "Oh! There's a spot! Right down there, Hugh!"
Hugh looked over to the jetty, placing his arm around Amy's waist. "Nobody down there," he said. "Looks like a great spot to sit and talk."
"And the ocean's right there," Amy added. "Nobody would hear us over the waves breaking."
"Not even Shir."
Amy giggled, telling Hugh, "I'm sure she'd be finding half a dozen ways to listen to us right now."
As they started towards the jetty, Hugh replied, "Yeah- good thing Rolf's with her right now, isn't it, Amy?"
"Of course. Otherwise, she'd probably be saying something like..." Spinning around Hugh, Amy starting hopping from foot to foot, raising her voice to imitate Shir's as best as she could. "'Amyyyy! Huuuuugh! You two are having a top secret conversation and I wasn't invited!? You have to tell me everything! After all, info's such a valuable thing in this day and age, and nobody knows a good value like me! Shir of the Winds!'"
Hugh laughed, blushing slightly at Amy's imitation of their friend. "Amy, that was Shir spot-on," he said. "Well, minus the bounce, though."
"Huh? Bounce? Shir doesn't have a bounce," Amy replied, confused. "She moves around a bit when she talks, but she doesn't bounce."
"You do, though."
Sensing the redhead's confusion, Hugh pointed at his chest. Amy glanced down at herself, then blushed deep red as she realized what Hugh meant. "Oh! Oh, my!" she stammered, bringing her hands to her mouth, trying to hide her sudden embarrassment. "I didn't think... oh, my..."
"It... it's cute. I'm not complaining or anything, Amy, but..." Now it was Hugh's turn to go bright red, embarrassment and nervousness crossing his face. "You have a very nice bounce."
Still blushing, Amy smiled at Hugh. "Oh... err, thank you, Hugh," she stammered, stopping for a second to let Hugh pass her by. She leaned to her right slightly, then giggled.
"What?" Hugh asked, sweatdropping.
"It's nothing, really."
"You can tell me!"
"Well..." Amy started, then giggled again. "Your bottom has a particularly nice wiggle when you walk, Hugh."
"...Did you just say I have a nice butt?"
"I did!" Amy laughed, then took Hugh's hand. "Turnabout's fair play, I believe."
Hugh nodded as they finally reached the jetty. Sitting down in its shadow, he waited as Amy sat beside him, leaning ever-so-slightly towards him.
"Nice and private here," she said. "So... about the future, Hugh..."
"The future... we've been together for a year or so, right?" Hugh asked. Seeing Amy nod, he continued, "And we've known each other through med school and that Dark Force stuff last year."
Amy noticed Hugh shudder involuntarily at the mention of Dark Force. Memories flooded back to her, of Esper Mansion: Rolf, Rudo, Shir, and Hugh- her Hugh- soaked in blood, half dead on the tile floors as she and Lutz fought to stabilize and staunch their wounds.
She remembered feeling Hugh's pulse fade away as she worked to save his life, and her terrified, angry scream: "No! No, you're not going to die, Hugh! You can't die now, not when Algo still needs all of us! Not here, Hugh, not today!"
Something clicked in her mind, telling her to place her hands on Hugh, one on his cheek, her other over his heart. She did.
"REVER!"
There was a flare of light, accompanied by a high-pitched whine. Tissue and bone knitted back together, and Hugh's brain kickstarted, his bioenergy regenerating within seconds.
It was a medical miracle, thought long-gone with the advent of magic: Amy Sage had brought a dead man back to life.
"I almost lost you then..." she whispered, tears working their way to her eyes. Hugh, as if sensing her distress, hugged her closer to him, bringing her head to his chest.
"I know. You hear that, Amy? That's still beating because of you."
The redhead didn't respond with words, instead giving Hugh a satisfied murmur as she closed her eyes, fighting the tears that threatened to form. Hugh gently stroked her back and shoulders in reassurance, then continued, "Amy, I want to be part of your future."
"And I want to be part of yours, Hugh..." she sighed. Opening her eyes, she looked up at Hugh and said, "We should move in together."
"Huh?! M-move in?" Hugh stammered. That's not the M-word I wanted to bandy about! he thought. Composing himself in record time, he continued, "Well, uh... you've seen my place, Amy. It's... it's in a really bad part of town."
"And my apartment's a bit... cozy. There's barely enough room for me in there."
"Let's do it. Tomorrow, let's go apartment searching," Hugh replied, smiling at his girlfriend. "Decent part of town, not too big or small..."
"Sounds fun. One bedroom, or two?"
As far as Amy was concerned, it was an innocent question, but it had an entirely different meaning for Hugh. A thin trickle of blood started to rush from his nose, and he stammered, "Aaah, we'll, uh... we'll see what's available!"
Nodding, Amy replied, "All right. This is going to be so wonderful, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
Giving her ever-adorable laugh, the redhead embraced Hugh, who sighed happily as he felt her arms closing around him.
We made a future for Algo, they thought. Now let's share that future with each other.
-=-=-
"Hey, Rolf! This is your last day before you go off for your Agent training, right?"
The blue-haired man looked up at the mention of his name. "Oh, yeah, it is," he replied. "Two weeks in Piata, then some months in Kueri. We're gonna be getting some on-the-job training all over mainland Motavia, too, Shir."
"Wow. A real globetrotter, aren't we?" Shir replied, smiling sarcastically at her best friend. "So, where else are you goin'? Uzo Island? Sophia? Maybe visiting that native village? Molcum, I think it's called?"
"Yeah, Molcum. Thing is..." Rolf sighed, trying to avert his gaze from Shir's as he continued, "I'm gonna be gone for a long time."
"Months, I know, I know."
"Worse, I think. I might be gone for a couple of years."
Shir's eyes widened in shock. "Years?! Holy crap, that really sucks!"
"I know. That's why I wish we could make this night... you know. Special."
Shir tapped her chin in thought, then gave Rolf a mischievous grin. "Wanna go make out?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at her friend.
"Wh-WHAT!?" Rolf nearly choked, trying to fight off the massive nosebleed that sprouted at Shir's suggestion.
"I was kidding, Rolf! Now, what can we do..." Again, the green-haired woman gave her chin a tap, then said, "We can go grab burgers and shakes at Fast Eddie's."
"We did that yesterday. Hmm... you want to go to the beach over in Oputa one last time?"
She liked the idea, and the two went to the beach. They tried to enjoy themselves as best as they could, in spite of the fact that Rolf would be leaving her the next day. As they got onto the Tilt-O-Whirrrrl, Shir tugged Rolf's hand. "Y'know," she said, "Maybe we can leave some kind of mark here or something."
"Huh?"
"Something that says, 'This is our Special Spot! Hands off!' Something like that!"
Rolf looked at Shir, confused. "We have the tree in front of Four Leaves, remember?" he asked.
"That's our spot in Paseo! How about here?"
Rolf thought for a second, then said, "Yeah. You still have that pocketknife, Shir?"
Shir nodded, then took a small folding knife out of her skirt pocket. Handing it to Rolf, she said, "Make it a good one!"
Withdrawing the blade, Rolf started scratching some letters into the plastic of the ride car. "Let's see..." he mumbled. "R... wow, it's pretty hard to carve into this. Let's just settle for... E... and (he carved a + under his initials) S... G. How about that?"
Shir looked at the letters Rolf engraved into the ride, then said, "Good, but... it's missing something. Lemme see that knife."
The green-haired woman took the knife back from Rolf, then leaned across him, adding to the graffiti. When she sat back down, she gave Rolf the knife again, folding its blade back. "There we go. Like it?"
Shir carved a heart around their initials. As Rolf looked at the graffiti, he sweatdropped and said, "But... we're not..."
"Hey, my last boyfriend was really jealous of you," Shir said. "So, y'know what? When you get back from your training, let's go on a date!"
"We went on one last year, remember?" Rolf replied. "Paseo Pie Factory? You hit me in the face with a lemon pie."
"Stole some nice recipes there, too." Shir crossed her arms and said, "C'mon, Rolf. You're gonna be gone for a while, so when you get back, let's hang out. As friends, all right?"
"Deal."
"-as thinking?" Rolf heard Shir ask, snapping him back to reality. "I think I should get my belly button pierced."
Her damned belly button. He was trying his best to avoid thinking about it ever since they hopped on the rides. Naturally, Shir was doing her best to make Rolf think about it- mostly to get a reaction from him.
"Like one of those charms with the chains that dangle down to your hips or so," she continued, not noticing Rolf's sudden nosebleed. "Or just a simple little stud with a peridot, maybe. What do you think, Rolf?"
There was, unsurprisingly, no answer- Rolf, in an effort to avoid thinking about Shir's belly button, or any other part of her body, started thinking about the most absolutely depressing images he could conjure: The only-imaginable sonic snap when the Positron Bolts mounted onto Gaira drilled through Palma's core; Mother Brain continuing her domain over Algo until its three worlds were charred cinders in space, the Earthmen silently infiltrating Algo's population and propagating through them in a classic "Earth needs women!" scenario; the senseless act of genocide he and the others were forced to perform as they killed every last Earthman on the starship Noah; Dark Force exerting Its influence on the arcologies launched in the wake of Palma's death.
The Paseo Panthers blowing another Algo Bowl to the Kueri Trashmen.
"Rolf, are you even paying attention to me!?"
"Huh?! Oh... sorry, Shir," Rolf replied, pulling himself back to reality with his hasty apology. "What were you talking about?"
Crossing her arms, Shir sighed with irritation. "I was talking about how I was gonna get my belly button pierced and let one of my best friends kiss it to make it feel better-" She shot a glance to Rolf, her green hair obscuring one of her eyes- "But I guess I'll just have to find someone else to do that."
Sweatdropping, Rolf asked, "Um, Shir? Who did y-whoa!"
The green-haired thief reached up to Rolf's head, grabbing a fistful of blue hair. She pulled Rolf's head to her stomach, Rolf blushing bright red as he felt his face making contact with her, his vision dominated by slightly tanned skin, along with a hint of red from Shir's bikini.
As he placed his hands on Shir's shoulders to stabilize himself, she commented, "Just imagine, Rolf, this could have been you-"
What the hell are you talking about!? Rolf thought, trying to fight a nosebleed. This is me! You're doing this to me, Shir!
Shir pulled Rolf's head up her torso, bringing him to a halt just under her chest. "And if you did a good enough job, I'd probably let you work..."
Again, Shir lifted Rolf up by his hair, letting his head press into her chest this time. Any effort Rolf was making in controlling his nosebleed failed miserably, and he could feel the first trickle of blood work its way forth just as Shir guided his face into her cleavage. Gyaaaaaaah! Shir, you're crazy- ignore it, Rolf! he desperately willed himself. Blank your mind! Blank your mind... so... soft!?
Not noticing (or caring) about Rolf's obvious discomfort, Shir once again moved Rolf's head, letting him settle just under her chin as she continued, "Your... way..."
Finally, one last yank, and he and Shir were eye-to-eye, their faces centimeters apart. While Rolf's eyes were filled with horror, surprise, and confusion, Shir had an intense, confident gaze, her blue eyes seeming to spark with inner light. She lowered her voice to a whisper as she finished her diatribe with one word: "Up."
Then, Rolf felt the very tip of Shir's tongue brush his lips for a brief moment. She released his hair, then stepped back, a slight blush crossing her face, along with an idiotic grin- an innocent counterpoint to Rolf's nosebleed and absolute shock. Standing up, he looked at his friend and stammered, "What the hell, Shir!?"
"But no, you have to be all oblivious." Turning her back to Rolf, she crossed her arms again. "So, no kissing goodness for you."
"Look, Shir, I-"
Turning back around to face Rolf, Shir continued, "So, Rolf! What did you mean before, 'I wish my last two girlfriends looked like you?' Sounds like someone has something on his mind!"
"Umm..."
Once again, she was right. Rolf's thoughts were returning to the night before he left for his training- burgers and fries as usual, a day at Oputa's boardwalk, the walk back to Four Leaves Orphanage-
The kiss. His lips on Shir's, ten seconds, maybe longer. Shir's surprised, breathless glance, coupled with an awkward goodbye.
"Shir, you remember four years ago?" he finally asked.
"Yep! That was a fun day, wasn't it?!" Shir laughed, then said, "I mean, we used to hang all the time, but it just seemed a little more... fun than usual."
"I was talking about when we kissed, Shir. Remember?"
Shir sweatdropped. "Oh," she replied, looking down. "That."
"You looked so uncomfortable, but now... you're flirting with me, and teasing me so much."
"Because I'm testing you!" Shir said, her grin returning. "Seeing if I can get that old reaction out of you that you had around me back then. Aaaaand..." She touched the tip of Rolf's nose. "Looks like I won. ^_^"
"Wh... 'won?' 'Won?!'" Rolf stammered, his eye twitched. "Testing... you... you..."
"Hehe."
"I'll show you testing!" Rolf blurted. "I'm gonna show you the Megid of testing, Shir Gold!"
He took Shir's wrists, pulling him closer to him. Once she was near enough, he released her wrists, sliding his arms around her waist. Before Shir could think of a suitable means of escape, Rolf growled, "I'm gonna do it."
"Ambushed?! Not cool, Rolf! Not co-ooh! Oooh..."
Her protest was cut short as Rolf kissed Shir's lips, relaxing his embrace slightly. Unlike their kiss from four years ago, this time Shir wasn't nervous- no anxiety, no mixed feelings about kissing her friend.
Bliss.
Once Rolf pulled his lips from Shir's, he said, "Oh, Shir? If you're gonna get a belly button piercing, get one with those dangly bits on it. Those are hotter."
"Wh... you... you...!"
Rolf released Shir, then laughed as he ran down the boardwalk. Shir's eye twitched as she screamed at him, "You tricked me!? I'm gonna get you for this, Rolf Eushys!"
"Gotta catch me first!" Rolf cried, already several paces ahead of Shir as she took off into a run.
"Oh, I will!" Shir called. "I'm Shir of the Winds- ain't a man alive who can outrun me! And when I get you-" Rolf hopped the railing separating the boardwalk from the beach, knowing the sand would slow Shir down a bit. "When I get you, Rolf, you're getting the Na Zan of kisses from me! Do you hear me!?"
Pausing to watch Shir dive and roll under the railing onto the beach, Rolf laughed again and said, "Lookin' forward to it, Shir of the Winds! Now hurry up and catch me!"
Shir rolled her eyes as she chased Rolf down the beach. So, who's the tease now? she thought. I bet you're enjoying this, you tease!
-=-=-
"Daddy! Daddy! How's I do?!"
The voice was a girl's, about four years old, looking up to her giant of a father with sparkling green eyes. She tugged at one of her overall straps as she clutched a child-sized golf putter. "Daddy!"
"Hang on, sweetie..."
Rudo's brow furrowed as he looked at the lines of numbers written on the scorecard. As he added a row up, he compared it to the other two below it, then sighed as he lost track of his addition. After a few minutes, he sighed. "Now, Louise, honey, you know this isn't really a competition..."
"Whas' kahn-pet-ish-un?" the young girl asked. "Is it candy?"
"It's... well..." Rudo sighed again. Linguistics, he decided, was never one of his strong suits. Looking over to a dark-haired woman, he asked, "Lisa, honey, help me out here?"
Chuckling, she gave Rudo a sarcastic, scarlet-lipped smile, then knelt down to the girl, locking eyes with her. "All right, Rudy. Louise, a competition is a contest. Like a race."
"My lucky bwue bawl went into the hole before Daddy's did! ^_^"
"Yes, it did! Didn't it, Rudy?" Lisa asked, her voice teasing.
"Mm..." Rudo mused, finally resorting to drawing brackets on the scorecard, dividing the numbers into counts of ten. After a few seconds, he said, "Louise, you got 29... Elizabeth, you got your age- thirty."
"Rudy!" Lisa chided, gently swatting her husband's arm. "You don't say a woman's age out loud! Besides, you know I'm 27!"
"Mommy, you were twenny-seven when I was one..."
"And as for me... hoo, dear. Six, six, six, six..." Rudo raised an eyebrow, grateful for the golf course's six-stroke limit per hole. "...I don't wanna talk about it, actually," he grumbled.
"C'mon, Daddy! Tell us!"
"You didn't do so bad, Rudy."
"I got a 54." Hanging his head, Rudo gently offered the scorecard to Lisa. "I read it, I'm weeping."
"Fiffy-four! Daddy got the big number!" Louise said. "Daddy won!"
"Uh... honey, I-"
"That's right," Lisa told Louise, picking her up and setting her on Rudo's shoulders. "Daddy won today."
"Yayay Daddy!"
Rudo sighed, looking up at his daughter, watching her wave her golf club energetically. You won, Louise, he thought. But, if it makes you happy...
"All right! And to celebrate, I'm taking us out for ice cream!"
"Yayay ice cream! Daddy, can I have stwawbewwy? Or chocowate? Mint chocy chip pleaaase Daddy pleaaaaaaaaaase?" Louise's voice reached that general pitch reserved for children begging- her secret weapon.
Rudo knew it all too well- he had no choice but to give in to his daughter. "All righty, Louise," he replied. "We'll go and get some mint chocolate chip ice cream- three scoops!"
"Two, Rudy," Lisa added. "We don't want to spoil someone's dinner."
Rudo Steiner treasured these moments- taking his wife and daughter to the beach was far better than spending time in a military barracks. As his daughter laughed and giggled, and talked to Lisa and himself, images of what he thought was the future danced in his head- Louise getting older, growing up, interest in boys, graduation, moving out to college and, God forbid, the dreaded G-word, but one thing remained the same: He, Lisa, and Louise would always have time for the beach.
Then the Locusta swarm flew into Arima that day...
Rudo blinked as he and Anna pushed their way past the beachgoers, trying to shake off the memory. As if sensing his discomfort, Anna paused and asked him, "You all right?"
"Yeah, it's just... It's been a while since I went mini-golfing."
The blonde nodded. "With your family?"
"Mm. Louise loved coming here- I've got a picture right here..."
Rudo dug through his shirt's pocket, eventually digging out an old photo of a small blonde-haired girl, smiling for the camera as she hugged a giant plastic cheeseburger. A small golf club rested against a sign that read "HAMBURGER HOLE- PAR 2."
"Louise Marta Steiner, on her fourth birthday, July 8, 1280," Rudo said, his voice taking a sudden, faraway tone. "She wanted to take that giant cheeseburger home, but was willing to settle for the smaller, more edible version."
"Understandable." Anna waited for Rudo to put the picture away before asking, "How old-"
"She'd be about nine today."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds between Rudo and Anna, before she finally said, "I'm sorry."
"Not your fault- you didn't create the Locustas. It's cool, Anna." He placed a reassuring hand on Anna's shoulder. "It's okay, really."
"...Thanks."
Again, uncomfortable silence hung between the two. This time, it was broken by a loud, familiar voice, shouting "Craaaaaaaaap!" Anna locked eyes with Rudo, her mouth making the same word his was.
"Kain."
Pushing more forcefully through the crowd, they soon arrived at the arcade Kain had spent the entire morning at. The only sign that he had moved more than five feet from Dynamite Duke's Fisticuffsmanship!! was the large cooler parked at his feet, filled with ice and at least twenty indigo-hued bottles, of which several more empties were scattered around.
Anna picked one up and read the words etched into the glass. "'Dark Star Premium Lager, 12 ounces. Bottled in Piata. Alcohol by volume: 14%. Please drink responsibly.' Kain, how many of these have you had?"
"Since Ah fought the Billion Meseta Boxer?" Kain asked, swaying slightly as he gripped the arcade cabinet's joystick. "Two 'r three."
"And the other four?" Rudo asked.
"Well, since Ah started 'gainst Don Gangsterelli, Ah had one beer everytime Ah lost'a fight. Called the local bar on m'Visiphone, had 'em ship it out right here, and I'se happy." Again, Kain swayed, and he had to rest his hand on the cabinet for support. "Here, you'll see fer yerselves what's happenin'."
On-screen against Kain's boxer was a very tall boxer, wearing a fedora and carrying a violin case. Once Sonic called for the fight to start and rolled out of the ring, the other boxer opened the violin case.
"A Tommy gun?" Anna asked, looking over her sunglasses to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.
"Ah gotta block or duck all 36'a these, too," Kain continued.
Buddow! Buddow! Buddow! Don Gangsterelli's Tommy gun erupted into ballistic cracks, crimson rosettes of blood exploding from the back of Kain's boxer. He reeled as the gunfire tore through him.
"Did... did he just whack you?" Rudo asked as the scene shifted to Don Gangsterelli throwing the body into a cement pit, then dropping an office building on top of it.
"Yep. There's only one explanation fer this, Rudo." Kain popped open a fresh bottle of beer, then took a long sip as Sonic rolled up to the office building to count Small Rob out. "Th' programmin's gettin' better."
"...The programming's getting better," Anna repeated skeptically.
"Yup, Miss Anna. Th' more beers Ah drink, th' better th' game gets. An' after this, Ah've got five more boxers before Ah get to th' end guy." He took another sip of beer, then continued, "Dlagon Ree's got th' ancient martial art of Cheatalotto, Ah think Murderin' Moatoob's a Motavian, an' I'se tremblin' t'see Ultra Macho Man's gimmick."
"Gimmicks?" Rudo asked. "This is boxing, Kain, not wrestling."
"Tell that to Sega, Rudo." Once again, Kain started to sway as he put more money into the machine. "An' tell poor..." He tapped stacks of 25-Meseta pieces lined up on the cabinet. "Tell poor Serena, Amira, Annet, and Karen that Ah won't be able to tip'em this week if I'se keep boxin' like this."
"...Friends of yours, Kain?" Anna asked.
"Y'could say that." An idiotic grin crossed Kain's face as he started boxing Don Gangsterelli again. "With benefits, even, Miss Anna."
"Don't you have better things to spend money on besides booze and strippers?"
"Not really."
Tapping Anna on her shoulder, Rudo said, "C'mon, Anna. Let's leave him be. He might be here all day."
"...Programmin's gettin' better..."
"I don't know," Anna said, as she gave Rudo a slow smile. "Watching Kain get drunk and play video games might be fun."
"So is mini-golf."
With a nod, Anna left with Rudo. Kain adjusted himself at the arcade machine, then said to himself, "Ah'm not drunk."
-=-=-
Next Episode Preview: Rudo and Anna take on Wilner's Zany Golf, Amy and Hugh building castles on the sand, Shir takes on Rolf in the hundred yard beach dash, and Kain realizes his alcohol tolerance is dismally low!
Rolf: Can't every summer be like this one?
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