DISCLAIMER - I'm broke, which probably means I can't claim any money made by the TMNT's. Sad, huh? Anyway, I do promise that the characters from POTC will make an appearance, just not now. Or in the next chapter, or the next one after that. Maybe by chapter 6 we'll have the anticipated introduction of Jack Sparrow and the turtles. Maybe, but I don't promise it. Depends on what my muses tell me to write. I'm a prisoner, don'cha know? LOL

This isn't an especially exciting chapter, folks, but it is informative - I hope, anyway - and looooong. I thought of brekaing it up, but decided it had to all go together, otherwise, it just wouldn't work well.

Thanks to the great Askre and Cynlee for beta reading my story (and for Lunar Ninja with her review when she pointed out that I named Jack Sparrow as Jack Swallow! Well, at least I kept with the bird theme, eh? Yes, this is a re-write, if only because I corrected Jack's last name in the disclaimer) Anyway,without their help, questions, and encouragement, I'd be flying blind, more so than normal. :0)

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Chapter 3 - The Cliff

"This…is impossible," Donnie remarked softly. With an expression wide and - well - confused, he next uttered, "How can this be. How?"

Raph chuckled and slapped his brainiac brother on the back, "Well, once again, folks, Mr. Know-it-all is stumped."

Don turned a baleful glare at his brother in red but then sighed, and resigned himself to the obvious, "Well, yeah, guess I am…but…you certainly can't explain this!" he challenged.

Knowing that they were, once again, on another unplanned adventure, Raph grinned as he said, "Yer right about that, Donnie-boy, but one thing's fer sure, guys."

"And what's that?" Leo asked as he stared in amazement at the scenery before him, trying to make sense of things.

"No hurricane, no flooding, and most importantly - no FOOT!"

"And no Splinter," came a soft, subdued voice behind them.

They turned and saw Mikey hang back a little. A mixture of confusion and sadness seemed to have replaced his previously anxious expression. Oh, he easily saw the towering palm trees, ferns, and wild orchids just outside the tunnel opening. How could he not? Oh, and the fragrance on the breeze as it brushed by them, drawn into the tunnel and towards the cave! It was so sweet and intoxicating. Yet, the uncertain look Michelangelo gave his three brothers was anything but happy.

"Dudes, we can't forget that Master Splinter's still in New York," he lamented, "I don't know where we are, but he has to deal with the hurricane by himself. I dunno how we all got here, but - I'd feel better if we had Sensei with us." He slumped against the tunnel wall, now, "I don't feel right about this at all."

Raphael suddenly grabbed his brother by the shoulders and pointedly looked him in the eye. "Mikey, Masteh Splinteh can take care of himself, has been fer longer than we've been able to. And, fer all we know, Mike, we might be dreamin', or been knocked unconscious by the fallin' rock in the cave back in New York. Hey, maybe we're even dead and this is heaven!"

"And your point?" Mike asked dryly, "'cause that still means Sensei's alone."

"My point is, we should enjoy this while we can. Good things for us never last, Mikey. Gotta take what ya can get." Raph jerked a thumb towards the tempting scenery beyond, "This here's like paradise. It even smells like paradise. Ya think Splinter would want us to not take advantage of it?"

Mike, his eyes brimming just a little, replied softly, "I think he'd want us to find a way home, Raph,"

"What is it with you, I thought you liked adventure?" Raph grumped, taking a step back to analyze his brother better.

"I do…when I can understand it," Mike admitted, "but this…this is weird. First, we find that cave with the skeletons and - how did they get in there, anyway? Don doesn't even know! Did they get in there the same way we got here? And, if they did, why didn't their bones end up here with us, too? Why didn't they get caught in that tractor-beam-thingy that brought us here, huh?"

"Trans-dimensional portal." Don murmured.

"What?"

"What you call a tractor-beam was a trans-dimensional portal," Don repeated, "I'm sure of it."

"Whatever…" Mike rolled his eyes, "We're still in a volcano, Don - and how do you know it's extinct, anyway?" He looked beseechingly at his brainy brother, "I mean...maybe it's just sleeping. They call volcanoes something that means they're still active but not, what is it…?" Mike looked away, his brow pinching together in thought.

Don swallowed and answered, "Dormant."

"Yeah," Mike nodded eagerly as he looked back at Don, his eyes wider, "dormant!" Pointing back the way they had come, "Maybe underneath the cave floor back there is another eruption, just waiting for an excuse to blow."

Don shook his head as he stepped towards his brother, "Mike, no…for one thing, that floor was cold. If there was magma underneath it, not only would it be too hot for us to stand on, the room would be like an oven and smell like sulfur, it'd be pretty awful, believe me! And that engraving has been there for decades, maybe even centuries." He then pointed towards the edges of the tunnel opening, "Plus, there's moss and ferns and orchids growing along these rocks here, as well as in the ceiling where the openings are in the tunnel. The vegetation outside is very dense, Mike. That means it's been a long time since this place saw any volcanic activity. I know what I'm talking about, we're safe."

"For now! But what if we can't find our way back home, then? We can't explain how we got here, not like when Renet sent us back to the dinosaur age. And who knows, maybe she was the one who sent us here!"

Leo suddenly interrupted then, "No, Mikey, I know what it feels like when Renet's involved," he gave a small laugh, "This was way too smooth. Although, I sure wish she did do it, it would mean she could send us back home."

"Might send us home, ya know that girl's crazy unpredictable, Leo," Raph snorted.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…but still…" Leo shrugged.

"Anyway," Mike continued, bringing the topic back again to his more immediate concern, "I know we've been in stranger places before and maybe it was fun, but - I dunno, maybe I'm tired of all the adventures." He sighed, almost whining, "I just wanna be normal for once, have normal things happen to us."

"Earth to Mike," Raph lightly rapped the top of his brother's head with his knuckles, "In case ya haven't noticed, we're not normal. But what happened to us in that cave and what's happenin' now, is normal. Life can neveh be normal fer us, not the way you want it t'be."

Don smiled in understanding and applied a gentle hand to Michelangelo's arm, "You're just having an anxiety attack about being in a volcano, Mikey, that's all. Everything'll be okay."

"Maybe, but personally, guys," Mikey sighed deeply, "I'd rather deal with the Foot or intergalactic wars - or even dinosaurs - than mess with volcanoes. At least…well…at least I know how to fight 'em."

Leo unsheathed his katana, "Guys, we're going to have to talk about this later." He turned towards the opening again and took a breath as he stared out, "Since we don't know where we are, we have some exploring to do, " Leonardo then stepped hesitantly through the opening in the lava tube and into the great outdoors. He went slowly at first, carefully inspecting the general area, looking in all directions to make sure they weren't walking into a trap. He listened for anything unusual, but found only the normal buzz, chirp, and click sounds indigenous to jungle life. Confident that they were safe for the moment, he motioned to his brothers. As Mike, Don, and Raph filed out of the tunnel entrance Leonardo led the way. Then, he began hacking through the dense undergrowth with his swords.

A while later…

"Hey, Raph, how long are you going to be? We have to get going." Leo called out, tapping his foot against the leaf-strewn ground.

Arms crossed in front of him, he currently leaned against a tree as he waited for his brother's return. He had just finished cleaning his katana of sap build-up and had returned them to their sheaths, confident that at least, here, his swords' only job would be to blaze a trail. Cutting through dense jungle undergrowth for thirty minutes and not finding anything remotely dangerous had convinced Leonardo - for now anyway - that, wherever the heck they were, it seemed safe. Other than crossing paths with an occasional gecko, the area seemed absent of predators. There was the occasional squawk of parrots and other birds as well as the hum of insects, but that was about it. In short, there wasn't any real need for Leo's katana - other than using them as machetes.

As he glanced over towards Mike, Leonardo noticed his orange-wearing brother seemed as gloomy as he was when they first came out of the lava tube. Leo couldn't blame Michelangelo for worrying about their father, Master Splinter. The truth was, all of them had concerns about their sensei, but their respective duties had allowed some distraction. Don had his drawings to study and Leo had to play leader. And Raph - well, Leo chuckled lightly - his brother had the job of being a pain in the butt. Yeah, that was exactly how Raph described him, too, but it seemed that Raphael tried his best to exemplify the same trait.

As for Mike, he really didn't have a job, other than fighting when it became necessary and acting as the comic relief. And there really wasn't anything funny about their sensei having to deal with the New York hurricane by himself, either. No, Leo thought, Mikey had every good reason to be glum.

Leo then heard Donnie mumble under his breath from where he sat on a low rock. The purple-banded turtle was currently studying the drawings he had made of the hieroglyphics in the cave and a few of the leaves and flowers he had collected while they walked. Just the same Leo knew that Don's murmurings were his way of working through a problem, of trying to find a solution. Leo couldn't help but smile.

No matter where we are or what kind of trouble we're in, Don's always trying to think it through, to find aremedy or a way out, he mused to himself.

Earlier, right after leaving the lava tube, Leo found the tangle of tropical plants and trees quite formidable. He was glad that he had recently sharpened his swords, too as they cut quite readily through the brush. He could tell by the absence of any natural trails that whatever wildlife lived here, it wasn't big enough to make one. It was rather weird and he wondered if the entire area was as tightly packed with trees as what he'd seen so far. The ground itself was uneven, sometimes leading them downhill, but more often going up. And always there was volcanic rock. Yet, he could tell that he and his brothers were descending in altitude, if only a little.

As for Raph, he hadn't been the least bit patient about the nearly claustrophobic conditions of the jungle. And it had become increasingly apparent to everyone that he was rather desperate to take care of 'business', too.

"Phew, Raph! What'd ya eat last night?" Mikey complained, holding his snout closed and wrinkling his face. Both he and Donnie had found themselves walking upwind from their brother in red, who seemed to be adding to the methane problem of global warming. With a breeze blowing at their back, they were getting a rather smelly preview of his business.

"Look, we find a suitable spot, the problem's solved."

"Can't you just ease off the path and do it somewhere along here and then play catch up with us? I mean, how long will it take, anyway?" Donnie asked, his hand also covering his snout.

Raph looked around at the vegetation untouched by Leo's katana. The brush and trees were still thick and overlapping, dense with an almost solid mass of leaves and other growing things. There were buzzing and clicking sounds loudly proclaiming that creepy crawly, multiple-legged creatures resided deep within the shadows, too.

As Raph shook his head - and rather desperately, in fact, he muttered, "Nope, not goin' 'n there, no way no how."

"Hey, the big bad turtle's afraid of - what? Lizards, birdies, mangos?" Mike sniggered.

"Bugs," Donnie replied casually, grabbing a handful of leaves from a bush, as he walked next to Mikey.

Raph's eyes went to slits as he glared at them, "Don't go there, Don-san, unless ya want a sai where the sun don't shine!"

"Ooo, Raphy's threatening Donnie with a ninja enema!" Mike proclaimed in sing-song fashion.

"Knock it off, guys," Leo called back, "We'll find a suitable spot, Raphael, just keep your eyes and ears peeled for trouble, 'kay."

"Like the way I'll peel Mikey's head off if he doesn't quit the ribbing," Raph growled.

"Hey, stop competing with Jungle Bouquet and I'll call it a truce!"

Raph just growled in reply, but went silent as he continued to trudge along, sullen and quite uncomfortable.

With the tight growth of brush, trees, and other jungle-indigenous flora, as dense as it was, it didn't look as if it would thin out for quite some time. As Leo used his katana to cut their way through, Raph would take his sai to stab and swing the dismembered branches up and out of the way, allowing Don and Mike to take advantage of their trailblazing. It was a great system and, so far, they were doing well in creating a walk-able path, although Raph would be the first to say it wasn't going quite fast enough.

Nevertheless, the rainforest grew so tightly together that it obscured even the sky above. The trees grew close and overlapping, in graduating heights, where they created a virtual solid canopy of green. It was hard to tell where one tree ended and the other began. Worse still, the four brothers didn't have a clue as to where they were, other than the obvious fact that they were somewhere balmy and tropical. The high humidity, the fresh air, and the strong scent of 'fruit' proved as much. With the samples Donnie had taken from the various bushes and flowers they had passed, he had pocketed them for later evaluation. Yet, one thing he did tell his brothers and that was, they weren't in New York or even on the mainland of the United States anymore.

"Leave it t'brainiac to state the obvious! Could'a told ya that, Don-san!" Raph grumped, sounding more uncomfortable than before.

Still, hearing Donnie's assessment with where they were depressed Mike even more. "I wonder how Sensei is doing?"

"Oh, Mike," Donnie assured him, "You and I both know he'll end up at April's place if things get bad."

"But maybe he'll go looking for us, though?" his youngest brother worried.

"Well, he's a wise rat, Michelangelo. Sensei would never put himself in danger unless he knew for certain where we are and - I highly doubt he knows." Don sighed then and placed an arm around Mikey's shoulders, "He taught us how to live, only because he knows how to survive!"

That seemed to lift Michelangelo's fears some. Still, he could not help but worry a little.

Where the sun had better things to worry about than cutting through the impenetrable leafy umbrella of the jungle, none of them had a clue as to the time of day. Along the way, they discovered a few wild mango trees, too. In fact, it seemed to answer the question each had asked about the strange, sweet scent they had smelled back in the cave.

Just the same and much to their delight, each tree bore dozens of fully ripened mangos hanging from branches, ready for harvesting. The aroma was strong and therefore far too tempting to ignore. The boys didn't waste a moment.

Grabbing a few of the delicious orbs, they eagerly began devouring the orange, fleshy fruit with ravenous bites. There were contented sounds all around, too, but none more enthusiastic than Mikey's.

"Well, one thing's for certain, bros!" Mike remarked, his mouth full of the fruity pulp, as a sticky smile graced his mouth, "we're sure not gonna starve here."

Three heads nodded in agreement, but then Don eyed Raph as his brother in red began his third helping of mango. "Um, Raph?"

"Yeah," Raph replied happily, as he took a large bit of his fruit and began chewing.

"You do know that mangos are a natural laxative, right?"

Raph stopped in mid chew. His eyes went slightly wide when he realized just what his brother had meant. In the next moment, Raph had flung his mango to the ground, "Thanks for tellin' me!" he complained.

Donnie chuckled, "Heh, no problem, bro."

They pocketed some of the mangos and continued their march through the forest. Yet, as lost as they were, Leo knew that wherever they seemed to be, at least they wouldn't go hungry.

Thirty minutes later, they had found the clearing, where three of them currently waited for Raph to finish his business.

How much longer is he going to be? Leo thought irritably,we still haven't even found a place to spend the night,yet, and there's no telling what time it is, not with the cloud cover and all!

He continued to stare across the way from where he leaned against a tree, waiting for Raphael to reappear from that side. His brother didn't waste a moment when Leo decided they would rest there. The vegetation at that point in their trailblazing had thinned out enough to where Raph could skirt in-between bushes and trees without any encounters with the resident insects. After he had disappeared behind a clump of bushes, he just sort of disappeared. Then again, Leo couldn't blame him, not with the preview he was giving everyone along their walk. Now, Raph had been gone for about twenty minutes and Leo was beginning to get impatient, if not concerned.

Suddenly and without any warning, something came charging through the bushes right behind Leo.

The poor turtle in blue nearly jump right out of his utility belt, as he whipped around, reaching for the hilt of his katana, "AHHH!" he screamed, his eyes wide with surprise, only to see his brother instead of something else entirely. Leonardo nearly shrieked, "Give me a heart attack why don'cha?"

Raph chuckled, grinning like the Cheshire cat, "Hey, you scream just like Mikey."

Leo's face narrowed at Raph, and more so, when he heard his brother in orange giggle, but before Leonardo could say anything in reply, Raph held a hand up, "Ah, keep yer shirt on, Leo. Had to find a suitable spot."

"Com'on, Raph," Leo complained, still peeved for his brother comparing him to Mikey. He waved an arm towards the side of the path where Raph had initially gone, "Couldn't you have found a spot over there?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Cliff."

"Cliff?"

"Yeah, that's what I said, cliff."

"What cliff?"

"The cliff's that's over there."

"Where over there?"

"Over there, where you pointed."

"Where exactly?"

"It's exACTly over THERE, dummy," Raph jabbed a finger towards the spot in question.

"Well how far is exACTly THERE, Raphael? Feet, yards, miles?"

"Exactly close enough ta drop kick you from HERE to THERE. Now, I'm done, so let's go." And he began walking towards the area in question.

"Hey, Raph, wait, how come you're heading for the cliff?" Leo protested, catching up with his brother.

"Cuz it has a nice view and I think you'll like it - well, maybe not like it, so much, but…" Raph glanced over at his brainy brother, still engrossed with his notes and field collections, and seemingly unconcerned about anything else, "but I know Donatello might get a buzz from it."

At the mention of his name, Donnie lifted his face from studying his hieroglyphic pictures and asked, "They have bees here?

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Five minutes later and with the wind whipping at their bandanna tails, four brothers stood atop a cliff, the very cliff that Raphael had found. It was barren of all vegetation and they had to look back towards the jungle again to make certain there really were trees in this place. Then, as they turned their attention back to the cliff and the area beyond it, all four stood there, mesmerized with what they saw.

Dropping a thousand or more feet below from where they stood, the cliff-face seemed to grow right up out of an ocean. Far beneath them, frothy waves crashed against the rocky base as its thunderous roar reverberated incessantly. Left to right along the shoreline, breaker after breaker slammed into the mass of rock lining the coast, their energy vibrating the very cliff they stood on. Further out, numerous craggy stacks of basaltic rock rose abruptly from the turbulent surf, causing an angry froth to boil around the base of the edifices.

Yet, what set the scene even further apart from normal was the fogbank and cloud cover that virtually obscured anything else beyond the shallows, including the sun above them.

"Dude, where are we?" Mike whispered as he gazed worriedly at the scene before him.

"Don't know, Mikey, but I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Raph replied, his own voice lost within renewed surprise and shock. Yes, he had seen it earlier, when he was trying to find a suitable place to do business, but now that he took the opportunity to really look at it, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"Nuh huh, not even ' Jersey. This place's too hot and humid - and it smells better, too." Mike then swallowed and pointed downwards, "Hey, look at that. Are - those boats?"

Beginning an eighth of a mile out and branching further into the ocean, scores of sunken sailing ships lined the coast. Like a barrier against an unfriendly approach, they seemed to guard the coastline, unmoved by the current despite the turbulent motion of the waters. Although all were underwater, a few had masts jutting up from the violent waves, some showing strange flags ripped to shreds by the wind. The rest, however, remained silhouetted between the raging ocean above them and the rocky bed of the seafloor below.

"What is this place, a graveyard for boats?" Mike asked as he scanned the waters below.

"Looks like it," Don replied, quirking an eye ridge.

"What's with the fog and cloud-cover, though? It's almost like the entire area is surrounded by it." Leo remarked.

"Don't know, Leo," Raph said, "maybe a storm's comin'? But it still doesn't give me a very good feeling, it's almost - otherworldly."

"Yeah, dude, it's like - a heavy, doomsday sort of thing," Mikey agreed and then asked, "Hey, any of you guys see sand, like in 'beach'?"

From where they stood on the outcropping, the quartet of mutants first gazed to their right, visually following the contour of the rocky coast. In that direction, they could see that the landscape, like the cliff they were on, shot straight up from the raging sea. It then stretched away from them for a mile or more before abruptly turning behind them and out of their line of sight. It looked as if it just stopped right there. In-between them and the land's end, they tried to find anything beach-like, but all they saw was the hard and inhospitable pile of volcanic rock lining the shore, as giant waves battered against them.

It was the same to their left, too, except not more than a mile from where they stood, a large headland interrupted the shoreline. It jutted out like a tumbling mountainous mass of black rock and spilled into the ocean by several hundred yards. In a staggered line beyond it and into the sea, smaller pinnacles made of the same material rose like sentries from the wild surf.

"Volcanic, again," Don explained. "Probably how this place formed, in fact."

As for the imposing bluff, it appeared to be made of the same material as the cave they had found themselves in earlier, as well as the very cliff they stood upon. The way the surf moved about at that point, though, seemed to imply that the far side, where they couldn't see, turned inland. The ocean was calmer there, the way an inlet would behave.

Don remarked, pointing, "Fewer waves might mean a beach just beyond that bluff." Then, Don sighed, "Don't know how we're going to get over there, though." He looked at Leo and remarked, "The volcano and vent we were in earlier is in the way; we'd have to climb over the top…" However, Donnie noticed Mike's eyes round with that thought, so he shrugged, "Or, go around."

Mikey sighed with obvious relief.

"What d'ya make of the ships, though, Don-san?" Raph asked as he jabbed a finger in the air at the derelict boats below.

"Don't know, but I'm certain there's a reef just below the surface. With all the wrecks we're looking at, it would explain why there's so many. Considering the fogbank, this area would be a death trap to navigate." Then, he smiled slightly, "I bet this would be a great scavenger's paradise, though,"

"Well, there has to be a beach somewhere 'round here," Raph said. "Maybe up there past that large black cliff, like you said."

"You both might be right," Leo agreed, "Let's see if we can find a way over there. Maybe we'll discover some more clues as to where we are, too." He hoped so, anyway. As much as he was starting to enjoy the change in scenery, Leo truly wanted to get back to New York, at the very least, to make sure that Sensei was all right.

So, determined to find a way home, Leonardo led his brothers back towards the jungle again. Once they found the spot where they had taken a break, Leo headed inland. However, Raph quickly grabbed his brother's arm.

"Ya don't wanna go in that direction - directly," he warned.

"Why?"

"Why d'ya think, bonehead?"

It only took a second and then Leo smiled, "Ah, yes, business. Okay…" he turned slightly to the left to augment his route, "we'll go this way, then!"

Chuckling, Raph concurred, "Good idea!"

Leading them further away from the cliff and coastline, Leo was glad that the trees had started to thin out. He really didn't like using his beloved katana as machetes. With the terrain now heading downhill, too, the walk was easier. It was steep at first, as if they were coming off a rather tall hillside or small mountain. Yet, they managed well enough. They were silent, too, with the only sounds breaking the quiet coming from the various insects and birds above them.

Parrots and macaws flew in abundance, their vibrant feathers adding a bright flash of color against the monotonous green. The birds seemed to be unbothered by the newcomers, too, as if they didn't have any predator-related fear.

"Strange that they don't seem afraid of us," Leo remarked, "and there's so many of them."

"Yeah, I noticed that, too," Raph agreed. "Say, Don, anything in that noggin of yours that can tell us why that might be?"

"Probably because they've never seen mutant turtles before?" Mike stated the obvious.

"Cute, Mike, but - seriously, they seem to be following us. Considering how endangered they are…"

Don finally replied, "Well, most likely we are the first 'anything' bi-pedal they've seen. It's been said that when explorers reach a new, undiscovered land, the animals there don't know enough to be afraid of them. From the way these birds - and even the lizards and geckos are behaving - I think that's truer than not here. Very strange…"

Nevertheless, a while later they found the flora changing, as well. The trees and bushes were spaced farther apart, now than before, even more so than where they had stopped to rest. Bushes and trees still clumped here and there, of course, but not as densely as before. Now, instead of mango trees, the turtles found banana trees, and they took advantage of them, too. After eating their fill, they did as they had done with the mangos and kept a few bananas for their trip.

Soon, the hill's decline steepened even more and it heartened them, believing that it would eventually lead them to a beach. Consequently, their dreary mood lightened.

After a while, they heard the distant sound of rushing water and Mikey wondered aloud, "A river?"

Leo shrugged as he walked up ahead of Mike, "Might be…won't know 'til we're there."

Don's expression darkened a little in concern, however. Suddenly, he abruptly moved ahead of his baby brother to catch up with Leo. With a hushed voice, he remarked, as they walked side by side, "You know, Leo, I half expected to see more of a coastline back there at the cliff, longer even, but there wasn't. It's almost as if - that was all there was."

"Yeah, I thought so too," his brother replied softly, "Strange, huh?"

"Yeah…strange," Donnie murmured quietly. As he continued to walk beside his brother in blue, Don tried to reason it out, but no matter how he tried, only one conclusion came to him. It was almost as if…

"Hey, guys," he declared suddenly as he stopped, "I think I've figured out where we are…or, at least what we're on,"

Leo halted his march and turned to face his brother, as Mike and Raph did the same, "Okay, so…where are we, Don?"

Donnie replied, "Well, I'm not one hundred percent sure, but…" he looked at each of his siblings and swallowed, before declaring, "I think we're on…an island."

It only took a moment for someone to ask the obvious, "So, any chance we can make one of those sunken boats back there sea-worthy?"

Groaning and shaking their heads, both Leo and Don turned to continue their descent off the mountain, while Raph rapped Mike upside the head for the third time that day.

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TBC