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« on: September 25, 2020, 03:40:39 AM »
This is something that I think might garner a bit of interest here; this is a (regrettably unfinished - changes to the platform this was being written on prematurely killed it before it could be given a conclusion) roleplay/collaborative story that was being worked on on the Land Before Time Wiki between myself and fellow user nate56mate (though this is the first time I've shared a me/Nate roleplay here, I would like to mention that this isn't the first wiki roleplay that has made its way here; a few of Mr. Clubtail's fanfictions are mirrors of stories he spearheaded). I feel no need to go into further detail as I think the opening paragraphs describe it well enough; barring a few spelling tweaks and how some paragraphs are formatted, the below text is unchanged from how it was originally written (get ready for inconsistencies and questionable pacing, none of this was written with being shared with an audience in mind). Enough stalling, TLG:R:
It is the end of the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, just over 66 million years ago and long after the days of the Gang of Five. Though dinosaurs still continue to plod across the lands, ever-worsening conditions are very slowly beginning to take a toll on their survival. Not even the Great Valley has been spared; the area is now much drier, less floral, and, though still hospitable and free of carnivores, not nearly as friendly to its herbivorous inhabitants as it was in the days of Littlefoot and company.
In the once-Great Valley, there are five children playing: Louis the longneck (Apatosaurus), Harriet the threehorn (Triceratops), Ron the flier (Pteranodon), Liliana the swimmer (Saurolophus) and Kent III - call him Kent - the spikeback (Kentrosaurus - though Spike never bred, his adoptive family's lineage has a knack for taking in orphaned thyreophorans).
The Gang of Five 10.0 Are Playing Kick The Acorn
Lilliana runs along a patch of bracken ferns. She whips around and raises her arms in the air.
"Pass the crunchy to me!" she calls.
Kent Uses His Tail in an Attempt to Swing The Crunchy, But He Ends Up Breaking It
Bits of the acorn fall onto the ground. Kent looks at it sadly, and, like his ancestor, silently.
"It's okay, Kent, we can find another one," Louis says. They are very close to a grove of oak trees, after all.
Harriet Growls "The Closest Crunchies Belong to Aziz, He'll Never Give Them Up"
"Aye'm shor'ell lettuce awva feew," Ron drawls. Harriet looks at him funny.
"Aziz and His Wife Mrs. Bigcrest are Very Grumpy" Liliana Says "They'll Never Hand Them Over"
"What's the harm in trying?" Louis says, before stretching his legs and walking in the direction of Aziz's grove.
Once he reaches the grove, he is swiftly greeted by an Olorotitan, who gets in front of him and blocks his path.
"What Do You Think Your Doing?" Mrs. Bigcrest Asks
"Hi, Mrs. Bigcrest," Louis greets, smiling. "I'd like to ask if I could take a few tree crunchies. My friends and I are playing a game."
The rest of the Gang of Five, having followed their longneck friend, look on from some dry bushes with bated breath.
"Go Get Your Own" Mrs. Bigcrest Yells
Louis glances away and puffs his cheeks, eyes wide. He wasn't expecting that, against all reason.
"Okay," he says, slowly trotting back into the bushes. All of his friends breathe sighs of relief; crisis averted, hopefully.
"HEY" Harriet Shouts "GIVE US THOSE CRUNCHIES, OR I'LL KICK YOUR BUTT" Ron's heart drops into his stomach, passes through his intestines and falls onto the floor.
Mrs. Bigcrest looks over at the bushes; she sees a decidedly pissed-off pink threehorn calf glaring daggers at her, stumbling out off the green. She narrows her eyes threateningly.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY" Bigcrest Growls
"Give me the crunchies," Harriet reiterates, gesturing her tail at her own rear end. "...or I'll kick your butt!"
Mrs. Bigcrest rears up, pupils tiny and teeth gritted. "Insolent girl!" she roars, before charging the much smaller threehorn. Ron, Kent and Lilliana scatter.
Then Louis' Grandparents Put Themselves Between The Threehorn and The Hollowhorn
The bigcrest skids to a halt. She shakes her head to regain her composure.
"What's going on?" Louis' grandfather booms. Both offending parties start loudly talking over each other, giving their own heavily biased sides of the story.
"Talk Slowly" Grandma Longneck Tells
"We were coming to ask if we could get some tree crunchies for a game we were playing," Harriet explains. "but she won't let us have any."
"They're my husband's crunchies, you little--" Mrs. Bigcrest snarls, being stopped by a gentle, scolding smack from Louis's grandfather's tail.
"They Can Have 'Em" Aziz Says As He Walks Up
"We can?" Lilliana gasps.
"They can?" Mrs. Bigcrest does much the same.
Aziz walks over to a low-hanging branch and plucks a few acorns with his beak. He takes the nuts with his claws and wraps his arms around them before proceeding towards the kids.
"YOU CAN'T GIVE THEM TO THEM" Mrs. Bigcrest Shouts
To his mate's chagrin, Aziz pours the acorns on the ground in front of the kids.
"Go crazy," he says. He turns his attention to his fuming wife. "What?" He Asks
"They're our nuts! No one else's; why did you give the crunchies to them!?" she blares, as the kids and their grandparents walk back to where they were playing.
"Sharing is Caring" Aziz Tells His Wife
As the couple argue over Aziz's nuts, Louis and the others return to their neck of the woods. The sun is a substantially lower in the sky than it was earlier. Suddenly...
"Burp ba-durp-durp ba-durp burp-burp" Kent scats, robotically.
"Good Times, Good Friends" Sings The Gang "Take a look at what we've found
Good times, good friends"
Lilliana tosses the acorns into the air. They shower all around her and the rest of the gang before harmlessly falling onto the soft ground.
"All these crunchies all around!"
"Think They Look Good to Eat"
"Say it Lily"
Lily pops an acorn into her mouth, chews and swallows.
"Heck yeah, dawg!" she hollers.
"Look at Those Children, Their Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandparents Would Be Proud" Grandpa Longneck Says
"Whatever Happened to The Descendants of The Sharptooth and The Fast Runner" Grandma Asks
Grandpa furrows his brows, thinking.
"I'm not sure, dear," he says.
The kids are capping off their little song. "Good times, good friends
Glad we've had this time to spend
Good times, good friends
We hope today will never end!" they sing, before rolling onto the floor and laughing.
Meanwhile in The Mysterious Beyond, A Small Tyrannosaur and an Oviraptor are Roaming Around
The Oviraptor scratches at the sandy ground with one of her legs; she finds a tuber. She thrusts her head down and grabs it with her beak, eating it very quickly.
"Did you find anything?" the tyrannosaur asks.
"Nothing you would have eaten."
"Opal, I Want to Live Up to My Many Times Great Uncle's Legacy of Being a Fierce Monster" Stinger Says
"Those are some pretty big footmarks to fill," Opal remarks.
Stinger Growls at His Partner in Crime
A Trio of Flyers Located on a Near-By Tree are Looking On, Their Leader is Butch, a Harpactognathus Who Likes to Draw pictures in The Ground With Sticks
One of the flyers, a Scaphognathus named Twigg, perches next to his Eudimorphodon compadre, Koehler.
"Oy, whadd'a you wanna do today?" he asks, bored. They've just eaten, and today's been a slow one.
"Well Guv'na, We Could Eat Flies" Koehler Says
"Maybe w'could try 'at," Twigg grunts. He and Koehler launch off of the branch and start flying around and chasing flies as their crested leader tends to his own affairs.
Butch Rubs His Chin "I Can Make My Drawings Come True, If i Try" He Thinks to Himself
Butch flits down from the tree, takes a stick and scribbles in the dirt; he draws a bigbiter chick, circled by two Sordes with gemstones floating above their heads. He Then Draws a Picture of a Ghostly Longneck Kid Flying Around Trees While Chasing a Ghostly Deinonychus, followed by a few ticklyfuzzies posing dramatically, ready for action.
Unfortunately, the wind starts to pick up, and his drawings slowly fade. Butch sighs.
Butch Then Looks Up and Notices Stinger and Opal
"Ohh!" he frets, before he launches up and flies off to reconvene with Koehler and Twigg; he'd rather not end up in the jaws of a T. rex, no matter how young it is. As he flies off, a few tiny streaks of light race across the sky, illuminating the reds, purples and oranges of the dusk sky.
"Hey Flyers" Calls Stinger "Do You Want to Join my Crusade"
Butch's two companions start to circle. None of the flyers are willing to land with Stinger and Opal right there.
"Wot crusade?" the Scaphognathus inquires.
"To Kill The Leafeaters and Take Back What is Rightfully The Sharpteeth's" Stinger Preaches
Koehler and Twigg are immediately swayed. They swoop down and stand beside Stinger.
"Yeah, mate!" they say in unison. Butch starts to fly lower; he isn't sold just yet, but he's getting there.
"Listen Mr. Bigbiter, Let's Strike a Deal, I Get a Cave, Where i Can Draw in The Ground Without The Drawings Fading Away and I Will Help You" Butch Says
"Deal."
Butch comes down from the air and lands; he shakes forelimbs with the young tyrannosaur.
Back at The Great Valley, Doctor Moonhorn and His Assistant, Mr. Spikecrown, are Collecting Treestars
A not-particularly-happy threehorn; Harriet's father, Papa Cusp; storms into view.
"What are you doing with me and my family's treestars?" he barks.
"Collecting Them for Scientific Purposes" Moonhorn Explains
The threehorn sulks.
"Don't take many, and don't dawdle," he growls.
After Cusp Walks Away, Mr Spikecrown Growls "That Threehorn is Awful, I Hate Him"
"Just respect his orders, friend," Dr. Moonhorn says.
Both of the dinosaurs take a few treestars and take them to a shady spot on the side of a hill to analyze them. Mr. Spikecrown raises one up and eyes it intensely.
"Moonhorn, This Treestar is 10 Days Old, Way Past The Usual Lifepsan of a Treestar" Spikecrown Says
"Hmm..." Moonhorn looks over the rest of the treestars he and Spikecrown have collected.
"All of the others in the batch appear to be of typical treestar age, though this one" Moonhorn replies, drawing attention to a specific one; "is substantially drier than the others."
"Hi, Dr. Moonhorn, Hi Mr. Spikecrown" Calls Louis
"Why, hello Louis," Dr. Moonhorn greets. He briefly shoots a glance at Mr. Spikecrown, who doesn't particularly like Louis; don't say anything!
Louis trots over and drops an acorn at the Einiosaurus's forefeet. "We were playing, and we had a few crunchies left over, I thought I'd give this to you."
"Seems to Be At Least 20 Days Old" Moonhorn Enquires
Moonhorn sniffs the acorn; it smells fine, even though it's pretty old. He picks it up with his beak and puts it on a rock slab with the treestars for further investigation.
The Kids Decide to Pay a Visit to Old Man Erik, The Wisest Man in The Valley
Erik is perched atop a smooth, shiny rock, on a hill at the very edge of the Great Valley. Louis and the others look at him; he's in the middle of one of his stargazing sessions again.
The Erlikosaurus can tell that, though the night is clear and the small streaks of light are beautiful, something isn't quite right - especially worrisome is that it isn't near time for the Flying Rocks of Many Nights.
"Man-Old Erik? You there?" Ron asks, slowly flitting towards him.
"It's Time" Erik Says
"For what?" Harriet grunts. "A few flying stars?"
"It's Time for Dinner" Erik Says as He Serves The Kids Treestars with Sap
The faces of all of the kids light up; they start cheering and jumping up and down.
Not long after, everyone has settled down on a flat section of cliff, eating their supper. Louis is telling Erik what happened earlier today.
"...so we went to Aziz's crunchy grove for a few more, but Mrs. Bigcrest wouldn't let us have any..." he said, before taking another bite out of his treestar.
"And Then Harriet Yelled at Mrs Bigcrest" Louis Adds
"I didn't yell," Harriet says defensively. "I just asked her if we could have some and she got all huffy for no reason." She promptly "hmph"s; like ancestor like descendant.
"No, you yelled-ed very loud, you did," Lily recalls.
"And Then My Grandparents Intervened and Told Off Mrs. Bigcrest" Louis Says. He takes another bite out of his treestar. "...and then Aziz came out and said that we could have some crunchies," he continues, mouth full. "I don't think Mrs. Bigcrest was very happy about that."
"And Then We Went to Dr Moonhorn and Mr. Spikecrown" Harriet Says
"Yeah, we did," Ron affirms. "They be look at tree stars and say Louis' crunchety was real old. Then we come to you."
"Alright" Erik Said "Anyways, Have I Ever Told You About Your Many Times Great Grandparents"
"A long time ago, I think," Louis replies. "What about them?"
"Gahh," Kent vocalizes.
"Well, The First Thing They Did Together, Was Fight Against The Sinister Sharptooth" Erik Tells
"Yeah, I think my dad told me about that," Harriet says, sitting up. "They used teamwork to get to the Great Valley and fight off the sharptooth, right?"
Erik Then Tells The Kids Of The Rest of The OG Gang of Five's Adventures
"...and after that, they stayed together," he concludes; he has just finished describing the Gang of Five's last escapade, which climaxed with a rogue Chomper infiltrating the Great Valley - alongside his mate, Ruby, and several individuals of many other breeds of sharptooth - and being sent back to the Mysterious Beyond by Littlefoot, his mate Ali and all of their friends. "Generation after generation, each passing on to the next... the tales of the Five's great adventures, long ago."
A couple hours have passed; the sky is a deep, dark blue. The only lights are the Night Circle and a surplus of stars. The flying rock showers have ceased, for the time being.
Stinger, Opal, Butch and His British Henchmen are Sleeping At a Dead Tree
Twigg is awoken by Koehler accidentally rolling over onto his foot; the Scaphognathus jolts up and winces, barely surpressing a call that would wake up the whole group. Thankfully, everyone else is asleep... the problem is that, now, he isn't.
Twigg leans against the tree and sighs. He looks up at the night sky, scowling. Bugger, he thinks.
Suddenly, he notices something in the vast sea of blue, black and purple. His eyes widen and his jaw goes agape. "Koehler Wake Up" Twigg Motions His Buddie to Wake Up
"Wot's th' mattah?" Koehler quietly groans, raising up and rubbing his eyes.
The Two Pterosaurs Proceed to Witness The Most Terrifying Thing They've Ever Seen
A truly humungous, flaming rock - it must be the size of great big mountain - whizzes a mile or two overhead, making an indescribable sound; it is out of sight as soon as it first appeared, disappearing over the horizon. It leaves a trail of thick, gray smoke in its wake.
The flyers exchange utterly flabbergasted and terrified looks with each other as the rest of the posse wake up, having been disturbed by the noise.
"What was That?" Butch Wonders
"T' world's biggest threehorn jus' tossed a smoking mountain," Twigg explains, trying to articulate what just happened to his best ability.
"It's Could've Been a Flying Rock" Opal Says
"Whatever it is, it turned on the bright circle," Stinger points out; he and the others look over the mountains. A light, slowly intensifying in brightness, is starting to peer over the horizon.
Back in The Great Valley, The Kids are Drinking from The Waterhole, when a brash call greets their collective ears.
"Harriet! Kids!"
The fact they're up awfully late has caught up to them. The Kids Start to Head Back Home
Louis eventually makes it back to his grandparents and his little nest. Per usual, the elder longnecks are not angry with him, though they aren't happy either.
"It's quite late, little one," Grandpa gently scolds. "You should be asleep."
"Me and My Friends Were Out Drinking from The Waterhole" Louis Explains
Grandpa nods his head.
"I see;" he says. "Where did you and your friends go off to after you had finished your crunchy game?"
"We visited Dr. Moonhorn and Mr. Spikecrown; they were looking at food to see how old it was," the boy explains. "After that, Old Man Erik told us a long story."
"About Your Ancestors?" Grandpa Asks. Louis nods.
"Littlefoot, yeah."
"He Was a Great Man Littlefoot, Helped Defeat The Sharpteeth and Make Sure Leaf Eaters Could Live On" Grandpa Said
Louis nods his head sleepily and yawns. He smiles, before curling up in his little nest.
"Good night, Grandma; good night, Grandpa," he says, before lowering his head.
...before raising it back up when he notices that, apparently, the bright circle is coming up while the night circle is still high in the sky; it isn't even midnight yet.
"What The Hell is That?" Louis Yells
"Louis, language!" Grandma Longneck scolds, before she looks up over the mountain range surrounding the Great Valley herself; there's a bright glow starting to peer over the horizon. She squints her eyes, confused...
Suddenly, pterosaurs overhead are blasted out of the sky by a powerful burst of air, and the mountain walls in the direction of the light start to collapse. The stars in the sky slowly fade.
"What's Going On?" Screams Aziz
Mrs. Bigcrest stumbles out from the cover of the trees around her and her mate's territory.
"Why should I know?" she honks. A very strong gust of wind suddenly knocks Aziz off his feet and nearly does the same to the Olorotitan.
"AZIZ NOOOOOOOO" She Screams
Aziz immediately rolls over and gets back on his feet. "I'm fine," he assures. However, screams of panicked valleydwellers start to fill the air; whatever is going on, they don't like it one bit, and the ever-brightening glow over the hills isn't helping matters.
Of similar alarm is the fact that it's starting to heat up.
Dr. Moonhorn and Mr. Spikecrown Look On
"Well, There Goes The Neighborhood" Spikecrown Groans
Louis, already on his feet, runs over to Dr. Moonhorn and Mr. Spikecrown's neck of the valley as fast as he can. By the time he is at their hill, he is panting.
"What's happening to the valley!?" he yelps.
"I Dunno" Says Moonhorn
Louis looks at Moonhorn funny; of all of the times for him to not know something...
Suddenly, at the far end of the valley, opposite to where Louis, his friends, his family and the two "scientists" live, something starts to rise over the mountain walls; a dark, cloudy wave starts to spill over the ridges and into the valley. The "bright circle"'s brightness has plateaued. Some of the dinosaurs at that end look at the wave exasperatedly, not knowing the Hell they're about to be in for.
"Great, now what!?" a threehorn snaps.
"I Think The Great Eclipse is Happening Again" Says a Longneck
"Alright, we know the drill, just stick our heads towards the bright circle and..." another longneck says, before it realizes...
"Wait, I haven't had any sleep stories--"
No one at that edge of the valley knew that wind could feel so much like fire before now. The shrapnel and debris don't help.
"MY BUTT, IT'S BURNING" Yells a Hypsilophodon as He Dives Into a Lake
The fastrunner doesn't stay underwater for long before it needs to resurface for air.
"AGHHHHHHH! MY FAAAAAAACCCCEEEEEE--" it shrieks, before succumbing.
The screams from all of the dinosaurs being burned spread throughout the valley; a cacophony of "run!"s reach the opposite end, where Louis and the others are, in very little time.
"What's Going On" Yells Cusp
"THE END IS NEAR" Erik Yells. Given everything that's happening, for once, Cusp is inclined to believe the crazy old man.
"Is there anywhere we can hide?" a Parasaurolophus asks, cradling her two calves in her arms.
"We Must Flee to The Mysterious Beyond" Erik Says
Lily and Kent's mother gasps, shocked. "The Mysterious Beyond! But out there, th-there are sharpteeth, and smoking mountains, and--"
Suddenly, the trees in nearby groves start spontaneously combusting.
"But Even Those Pale in Comparison To The Apocalypse Around Us" Harriet Says
The adults all look at each other, and nod their heads. It's time to leave.
"Come, everyone!" Louis's grandfather calls, getting everyone in the vicinity's attention. The enroaching wall of destruction is a little less than halfway across the Great Valley, and tiny streaks of fire slowly fall down from the dark red and black sky.
The Valley's Remaining Population Leaves The Borders and Heads Into The Beyond
"Is There Any Specific Place We Should Go?" Ron's Mother Asks
"We'll think about where we should go once all of this subsides," Cusp says as low rumbling sound - accompanied by the sound of something the dinosaurs can't quite describe - starts to become audible.
"Now where we hide!?" Ron squeaks.
"I Heard There's a Large Cave Home Near The Top of a Mountain, Populated by a Wise Man" Erik Says
"And where is that?" Cusp asks, before Erik points to a mountain a decent distance away. They're probably not going to make it there before the doom wall spills over the valley walls. Louis looks at the mountains around the valley, which they're right next to; though it isn't quite a cave, there is a hemisphere-shaped depression in the border that everyone could potentially squeeze into.
The Valleydwellers Sneak Into The Depression
While In The Cave, They See a Sharptooth Skeleton Laying on The Ground
"What happened to it?" one of the valleydwellers' kids says, hiding behind one of their parents' legs.
"I Think It Died of Starvation" Spikecrown Says
As they look at the skeleton, the wave clears the valley wall and goes off into the Mysterious Beyond. The cries of all sorts of creatures echo are muffled by the sound of the destructive force itself. After glancing outside for a bit, they turn their attention back to the skeleton.
"Whatever happened to it, we'd have met it in person if we stayed outside any longer," Harriet thinks out loud.
"There's About 50 of Us and Only One of Him" Cusp Says
"No, as in he's dead, and we'd have been dead too," Harriet explains.
After what feels like an eternity, the conditions start to die down outside, though it's still on the hot side. The former valley residents step out into a dark, dusky, ash-dusted world.
"If Only Aziz Was Still Alive" Mrs Bigcrest Cries
"I'M STILL ALIVE WOMAN!" Aziz Shouts, He was In The Cave Along With The Others, But Since He Is One of The Smaller Adults There, She Didn't Notice Him
"Sometimes, I can still hear his voice."
"Well... this is better than facing the inferno, I suppose," Spikecrown grumbles, leaving deep footmarks in the ash as he surveys the area.
Spikecrown Looks Up and Notices a Large Giganotosaurus (Imagine a 2D Animated Version of The One from JWE), Spikecrown Runs Back To The Cave
"I guess somethings will never change," one of the former valley residents says, looking outside at the sharptooth. The predator looks at them spitefully.
Come Out Here So I Can Eat You The Sharptooth Says in His Language
"Sometimes I Wish We Could Understand Their Language" Louis Says
I haven't eaten anything in days, I need to eat you! the sharptooth begs. The leaf-eaters stay in their hole.
While this happens, they neglect to notice that dark clouds are creeping in from the direction the "bright circle" was coming from; this is especially hard to notice given that the sun hasn't risen yet.
"I Think I Can Speak a Little Bit of Their Language" Erik Says
I'm Sorry, We Can't Let You Eat Us Erik Says in Sharptooth
The giganotosaur flares his lip. That figures, he mutters.
The Giganotosaurus Leaves, However He Notices The Sky Turning Dark
Good, we could use some sky water after all of that, the sharptooth mutters to himself, naively.
The Sharptooth Smells Something Burning
Before he can make some quip about especially needing sky water now that he smells something burning, he turns his head to see that his tail is on fire!
Cue the rest of the Giganotosaurus spontaneously combusting while the valleydwellers look on from their hollow, bewildered and horrified.
"So much for heading to that mountain," Cusp grumbles.
-
Meanwhile, Stinger and Butch's posse are taking shelter in the shade of a rocky overhang. Shrubs exposed to the sky act as natural lamps.
"I'm Hungry" Opal Says
"I hate to say it, but I'm hungry too," Stinger says. Butch, Koehler and Twigg slowly step away from the two.
Opal looks outside and notices a high and dry snapping shell, displaced from the (now-boiling) water after the asteroid hit. It's cooking in the heat.
Opal Sticks Her Arm Out
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH" She Screams in Pain
Opal jerks her arm back into the shade and starts blowing on it. No serious damage has been dealt, thankfully, but she's not going to get any food just by shoving her arm in the oven like that.
"We Could a Use a Stick to Grab It" Butch Says
Stinger shrugs. Why not?
Opal takes a stick with a bunch of little branchy things on it and sticks it outside, to try and drag the shell inside.
Then The Stick Catches on Fire
"Drag it in! DRAG IT IN!" Stinger cries, as Opal desperately tries to get the shell into the shade before the whole stick burns up.
With enough effort, Opal manages to drag the shell into the shade. After discarding the now-flaming stick, she opens up the smoked shell to find that the inside is hot and a little brown, but not burnt like she feared. The oviraptor takes a whiff of the shellfish; to her surprise, it actually smells quite pleasant.
The Three Pterosaurs Then Eat All of It
"Hey!" Opal squawks, as she grabs the mollusk from Koehler and tries to lick out what little they could possibly have missed.
"This'll have to stop sooner or later," Stinger says, looking out from under the rock and at the toasting world outside.
Well, it stopped, but not in the way that I had in my head when writing that last line; that was the last full scene that was done in the roleplay, the last few posts after that were the herbivores complaining in their little hollow.
I could continue this in the future to make this something more than an ending-less oneshot, but the chances for that are slim.
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