Acknowledgments: All Jurassic Park, Tangled, HTTYD 2, Frozen, Rise of the Guardians contents are all own by the respective owners.
This is part one of a thus far four part collaborative work with Sousuke Tenki of having a Jurassic Park series using the above movies and more, while I will focus more on the first three movies, Sousuke will focus more on Jurassic World and possible sequel films. In this universe dragons fill in the role the dominate form of reptilian life for over 150 million years until 65 million years ago, like dinosaurs did in our own
I am still writing 'The Feeling's Mutual' (TFM) and 'The Tangled Flynn', but I am holding off publishing 'The Tangled Flynn' until after at least Ch. 8 of 'Iron Fury' has been published... as for TFM, sorry for stringing everyone along but my mind has been changing gears and focus on stories... but I do plan to finish TFM this year. Now without farther delay...
Draconic Park
Introduction: The Caged Beast
Approximately 120 miles West of the Costa Rican mainland, on the island of Isla Dreki, a small army of men dressed in blue jumpsuits and hardhats with sticker with a Great Death skeleton in profile with the words 'Draconic Park' on them are waiting in a clearing in the jungle on the island. Many of the man are armed with large tasers meant to subdue raging black rhinos and angry hippos. In the clearing is an enclosure made of concrete, cement, steel with electrified fencing at the top. Among the men one stands apart, he is dressed like the stereotypical game hunter, save for his long dreadlocks extending pass his shoulders. He is clearly of Persian origins, except for his hair, and is armed with a shotgun, it is clear that he is the one in command of the men present. From the tree line, appears a crate of the sort meant to carry something like a Komodo dragon or a Salt Water Crocodile, but one and a half times larger in size is brought towards the area. As the container nears the enclosure while still in the air one person is heard saying "Everyone, heads up! Keep it clear, now." Other directions are given as the container is brought to within a few feet of the enclosure and lowered to the ground by a forklift.
"Moving team, move in." The Persian commands in a deep voice. The men in question comply, but cautiously approach the container. As one is about to take his position the creature inside gives out a screech, most likely indicating that it hates its prison and wants out. All the men back away in fear. "Steady! Go on, step back in there," commands the Persian. Everyone complies reluctantly, and once everyone is at their post. The Persian orders, "And Push." The others comply as the crate is pushed towards the gate of the enclosure. Once it arrives at the gate, the automated locks activate and secure the crate in place... or so everyone believes. "It's locked, moving team step away. Gatekeeper assume your post," the Persian orders. Most of the men step away, but one man climbs the 'ladder' built into the container and goes to the front of it. The gatekeeper squats to takes hold of the handle so he could raise the gate and waits for his order. "Raise the gate," commands the Persian, the gatekeeper begins to lift the gate up. The beast seizes its chance to escape.
Faster than anyone could image, the beast bolts from the back to the front of its prison at high speed, hitting the bottom of the gate and causing the container to break free of its locks. Several things begin to happen; the container rolls back a few feet and the gatekeeper falls off. After a few seconds the beast recovers from it dazes and grabs the gatekeeper's foot, pulling in him. "Block the opening! Don't let her get out!" The Persian orders as he rushes to save the gatekeeper, dropping his shotgun to better aid the gatekeeper. If he loses this tug-of-war, it would surely be the end of the gatekeeper and possibly others. Other men with their Tasers rush in to zap the beast through the holes in the container. The Persian is able to help the gatekeeper get hold of one of the 'steps' of the ladder, but the gatekeeper is in great pain as if something with a bite force of almost twice the force of a crocodile and a grip like a bear-trap is on his leg. The beast screeches and roars as it is tased again and again. One tase causes it to jolt back and causes the gatekeeper to lose his grip on the container. The Persian loses his balance and his hold on his co-worker in that instant. Another tase cause the creature to jolt upwards, this one causes the gatekeeper to be brought to the top of the container. The Persian is able to regain himself and again tries to save his coworker. Now more and more of the men come in tasing the monster, but the only visible affect is that it is even more annoyed. However, it focuses on the tug-of-war with the Persian over the gatekeeper. As far as the creature is concern, it's a fight over a meal, for the Persian, it's about both saving the gatekeeper and a trial of dominance against the creature. "Work her back!" the Persian hoarsely shouts. In one moment the Persian and the creature stare right into each other's eyes, as if testing each other's determination, but the beast is wining. Her deep forest green irises and the narrow cat-like pupils are the only thing that can be seen against her scales as black as a black-hole. The Persian's own pupils constrict to the size of pin heads against his own brown irises, ordering the others, "Shot her! Shot her!" The gatekeeper's arm slowly slips out of the Persian's grip and the man's fate is sealed. The beast pulls the gatekeeper into the container and only now gun shots can be heard. The fight over, the creature won its prize, but for the humans, they lost the gatekeeper.
Ch. 1 "We were saving that"
Two weeks later at the Mano De Dios Amber Mine in the Dominican Republic a man with bluish pale skin and solid black hair, not unlike the scales of the beast that is the cause of him being here, waits. He is dressed in a solid black lawyer suit and is standing on a wooden float as it is pulled towards the shore. On the shore are four men, one pulling the float, two to assist the lawyer off the float and onto the shore, once he gets to the shore and one whom is waiting for him. The one waiting for him is dress not much differently than an early 1990's version of the stereotypical archaeologist from the 1930's; it's a style of dressing copied by most paleontologist since the late 70's. The others' clothing are more lax and suited for the hot humid environment of this Caribbean island. Once the lawyer reaches the shore and is on the actual land, "What's this I hear at the airport that St. North is not even hear?" His tone while clearly annoyed, barely hints to his ire.
"Buenos días to you too, Mr. Black, but St. North sends his apologies." the person waiting for the lawyers says and leads him from the shore line.
"But he does know we are facing a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit by the family of that worker. That's assuming my colleagues can get the judge to dismiss punitive damages motion of the suit, and Mr. St. North can't even be bothered to see me?" Mr. Black asks in annoyance as the two near the site of the mine.
"He had to leave early. Something to do with his daughter getting a divorce."
"Which one? He has several." Mr. Black asks quickly. The two continue to walk, "Look I sympathize with his familial concerns, but Mr. St. North needs to be advised on the situation yesterday. As you can guess, the insurance company..." Mr. Black then slips on a damp rock, but is caught by his host before he hits the ground.
"Okay?" he asks and Mr. Black nods as he gets back to his feet.
"The underwriters feel that the incident has raised numerous and serious safety questions about the whole park. That makes their investors and ours very, very anxious. I had to give a written promise, notarized and apostatized by the way, that I would conduct an on-site inspection with a molecular-shiv[1] if I have to." Mr. Black explains as they get closer to the mine entrance.
"St. North hates inspections, as do I. They slow everything down." the host replies as the two stop and he turns to actually face Mr. Black. Mr. Black shakes his head.
"Well it's either this, a change in the speed limit for the next 100 miles or coming to a screeching halt will last at best for 10 years, because that's what's going to happen if they pull the funding." Mr. Black argues. He's not wrong, he may have exaggerated a little, but he's not wrong. Just then one of the miners comes up to the two and speaking in the local dialect of Spanish directs them into the mine.
"Watch your head; some of the beams are lower than others." The host advises as he leads Mr. Black into the mine. Mr. Black follows him surprisingly gracefully.
"Now if at least two independent experts sign off on the park, the insurance company will back off. I have the affidavit notarized and on hand. Now I was able to convince Eugene Fitzherbert, whom they have to respect and acknowledge as an expert, albeit reluctantly, but they think he's too... trendy is the word they used. They want Valka Engelstad." Mr. Black says as they arrive at the point Mr. Black's host was taking him. There the host is handed a fairly large piece of amber with what maybe a mosquito inside.
"Engelstad, (laugh), you'll never get her out of Montana. Not even her fiancée Stoick Haddock can get her away from the site longer than a weekend and that's assuming they are still in state," the host says. He uses a machine to sand the piece of amber down so that one can better see what's trapped inside.
"Clearly you have never seen me in the courtroom or in the judge's chambers." Mr. Black deadpans unamused as the sanding machine runs. "But for the sake of the argument; why do you say that?" Mr. Black asks as he looks on at his host sanding down the piece of amber. After a few seconds the host takes it away from the sander and holds it up to catch the light in the mineshaft relieving a fatten female mosquito trapped inside.
"Because Engelstad's like me, she's a digger." the host says as if the statement carried the entirety of his argument.
At that moment in the badlands of Montana, a hand full of people are brushing off the loose dirt and such from the fossilized skeleton of a fairly large reptile by modern standards, a Laedo erinyes more commonly known as a Night Fury, a recently discovered species of dragons about 30 feet long, when it was alive with all its flesh and scales. "Dr. Engelstad, CJ, we're ready to try again," comes the voice of man working at another part of the site. At those words a woman in her mid to late twenties stands up to reveal her wearing a pair of Levi jeans, a tan undershirt with a different shade of light brown over shirt, sunglasses and a fedora. She removes her sunglasses to reveal the forest green eyes hidden behind them. Under the fedora, she has long auburn hair, kept in place by the fedora.
After she gives a puff of annoyance, she softly complains, "I hate computers." Another woman, who appears to be in her early to mid-twenties stands up and brushes some of the dust off the speaker's shirt. The second woman has shorter red-hair that spikes like it was a crown making her face look flatter than it really is, not unlike an owl. She's dressed in looser more relaxed clothing which consist of white undershirt a mostly unbuttoned tan-red over shirt and a pair of tan jeans.
"Well on the bright side, Valka, the feeling's mutual." the younger woman teases and the two head over to the origins of the message.
"If I wanted sympathy, I'd call Stoick. With you I am looking for empathy, CJ" the slightly older woman, Valka Engelstad, says as they enter an area shaded by a camping canopy. The woman identified as CJ just chuckles. Underneath the canopy are a few other people that work with the two women.
At the computer that has been set up is man, about as old as CJ in a wheel chair and his right leg missing. He is dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a blue button shirt that has the top two buttons unbuttoned. "Alright Thump, Gruff, fire away," the man says. At his command, a woman that looks like she's in her late teens or early twenties with her hair in a Mohawk styled to look like a fin. She's dressed in similar, but more worn clothing than the man in the wheel chair, save that the left arm of her shirt is pinned to the shirt because she is missing her left arm. With her only arm, she puts what looks like a shotgun case into a device used to make ground penetrating force for the purpose of something akin to echolocation or radar to see what is in the ground. Also there is a blind man about as old as the man in the wheelchair with his hand on the trigger mechanism, his clothing is much more colorful, most likely because it's clean of the dirt and such from not lying on the ground.
"It's loaded, Gruff." the woman, 'Thump', says to the blind man.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" the blind-man 'Gruff', shouts and he pulls the trigger. The ground is hit with a great amount of force and on the monitor of the computer an image starts to come in. It's fuzzy at first, but after a few seconds it reveals another skeleton of a Night Fury, this one is curled up.
"Now this is just the first generation of this technology, but give it a few five to ten years and we won't have to dig again." the man is the wheelchair says.
"Where's the fun in that, Lump?" Valka asks sarcastic and everyone chuckles. "If only Gruff could see this. But what do you think it is?" Valka asks as she, CJ and Thump look the image over.
"I'd wager it's about 30 feet long, also it only has four legs. I want to say Night Fury." Thump says.
"Well given that the only other dragon remains here that survived to be fossilized that we have found here are Night Furies, I think we assume that this one too is a Night Fury." CJ comments.
"I have to agree, look here at the..." Valka says as she touches the monitor and the image goes fuzzy. She pulls her hand back.
"She touched it." CJ comments holding back a laugh. Valka tries to touch the computer several times and each time the image becomes distorted. "Dr. Engelstad's not machine compatible." CJ continues and everyone laughs. Valka glares at CJ and after another second or two she tries her luck again.
"You're both right. Look here at the mandible, there's another bone that can go up and down, look at back, the two sets of ball-joints, on for the front legs, one for the wings, and look at how sleek it is... It's no wonder they stick out in our genetic memories..." Valka muses just in awe at the creature. Everyone else laughs a light chuckle. "Well it's true; dragons are unlike any other reptiles that ever lived, even the Synapsids, more commonly known as mammal-like reptiles or Theropods, the ancestors of birds. Look at the skeleton, for many species of dragons there are six limbs, two wings and four legs, almost unheard of among other vertebrates, but they have many traits that are avian and mammalian. Look at the head, the overlay of the eye's vision is very much like a large cat, the size of the orbit in comparison to the rest of the skull, very similar to bird of prey. In fact the very word 'dragon' means ultimately comes from the Greek verb dérkomai, which means 'I see clearly,'" Valka explains.
"That doesn't sound scary." came the voice of boy... most likely 9 or 10. Everyone turns to see the speaker, he's skin is atypically pale his hair white, he's wearing an ice-blue shirt and pants. "It sounds more like a cat-bird."
"Cat-bird..." Valka says softly to herself as she leaves the computer, taking a fossilized tooth out of her pocket. "Cat-bird... hmm" She says as she approaches the lad.
"Here we go." CJ says as everyone looks on.
Valka starts "Lets say you're in the mid-Cretaceous and you happen to see of these... cat-birds... on the ground in a clearing. Maybe it's having a drink or trying to catch a fish. Or he's walking. He moves more akin to cat, keeping focus. Now you freeze thinking that for him to register you visually, you'll have to move like in the case of the Great Death, but not the Night Fury. You see when you look at him, he looks straight back at you, and after staring you down or sizing you up, that's when the attack comes. However it's not from the front, but from the sides or maybe the rear, or if a member of that particular wing [2] is feeling bold; from above. I mention the wing because Night Furies are social creatures, using coordinated attacks to maximize the results and minimize injury. Now back to the one above you, you see unlike most dragons, Night Fury doesn't truly breathe fire. Instead the mineral it gnaws on doesn't get stuck in the spaces in its rear most teeth. Instead it mixes with its saliva, which when it makes contact with the hydrogen gas that is expelled cause a ball of plasma that travels out about 100 feet or until contact, whichever comes first, causing a hot plasma explosion sending you flying into the air. Whether or not the plasma explosion hits you dead on or within ten feet of you, when you land you're stunned. That's when these come out, one row in the upper jaw one in the mandible." Valka says as she calls attention to the Night Fury tooth. The boy follows it with his eyes. "You see unlike almost any other animal, the Night Fury's teeth are retractable; only coming out when the Night Fury is ready to eat or it has no other choice but to fight. Now a Night Fury is not going to bite your neck to cut the jugular like a dog or to compromise the wind pipe like a lion. No due to their jaws, they are going to go for larger parts of your body. Maybe they just grab around one of your limbs, biting down with almost 14,000 PSI, that's pounds per square inch. Now if it's on one of your limbs it could here at the elbow" Valka says as points to an elbow with the tooth, "or here at the knee" Valka continues calling attention to the lad's knee as she hovers the tooth over it, "or maybe here at the shoulder ball" this time she brings the tooth to the shoulder, "or even here at the hip" this time Valka bring the tooth not far the youth's hip. "Then again it may just go for your gut, pulling out your intestines." This time Valka brings the tooth to within an inch of the lad's gut. "The point is, you're still alive when they start to eat you." Valka pause as she and the lad look right into each other's eyes. "In short it would benefit you to be a little respectful." Valka finishes and the lad nods in agreement. "Now I do apologize for making you feel uncomfortable, but my attempt is to establish that you should never disrespect what can kill you."
"I am sorry, Dr. Engelstad, Jack gets it from his father." a woman says to Valka as she comes up to Valka and now identified Jack. Her skin is pinker than her son and her hair less white.
"No, Ms. Frost, I was wrong to overstep your authority as his mother. If we can just use this as a learning experience, I think we all will be fine." Valka says to Ms. Frost.
"Well, we have the other skeleton that's already exposed to finish unearthing. The sooner we get it out of the ground intact, the better our donors will feel about donating more." CJ calls out and everyone hides back to work.
As Valka is about to leave. "I accept your apology, and I am sorry that I came off..." the youth starts.
"I forgive you, you're a boy soon to start biological become a man. You're likely not going to make the best decisions. Just try to think each one as thoroughly as you can, Jack." Valka leaves and meets up with CJ.
"You know, Val, if you just wanted to scare him, pulling a gun would have been faster." CJ teases as the walk to the dig they were at before the radar scan.
"I know. But, kids. I can't believe Stoick wants one of those." Valka comments.
"I doubt Stoick wants that one, but you have to admit a breed of Haddocks like you can be interesting? I mean what's so wrong with kids?" CJ asks. It's a question that has been on her mind for a while. She knows it's one of things the two friends have never talked about.
After a pause. "They're noisy, they're messy and they're expensive." Valka lists.
"Stoick will most like be happy as a clam to raise your kids with him on his own and once he finishes his tour of duty, Old Squidface has nice job just waiting for him. So try again, Ms. Cheap-Cheap." CJ counters as they continue their walk.
Almost at a loss Valka pulls one more reason. "They smell."
"They don't smell!" CJ protests calling out Valka's argument.
"Some of them smell, babies smell!" Valka says trying to win this debate.
"Oh give me a break, girlfriend." CJ says more in frustration than defeat. Just then a helicopter arrives at the site, its hovering causing the loose dirt around on the exposed Night Fury skeletons to be brushed against it, and unless the fossil is covered soon or the helicopter kills its engines, the fossil could be compromised. Valka and CJ rush down as fast as they can. CJ shouting "Cover the site!" at the top of her lungs.
Valka orders, "Tell them to shut it down." CJ goes to help protect the dig, Valka goes to confront the pilot. "Just cut it, will you! Shut it down!" Valka orders the pilot when she reaches the helicopter. The pilot says something but Valka can't hear him, so he points to the main trailer of the dig team. Valka rushes over there and upon opening it sees a man, about as big as Stoick at the refrigerator trying to get something out. "What in the name of Hel do you think you're doing?" She asks flustered at everything going on. The man turns around to reveal him wearing a Christmas red shirt, with Christmas red pants. It's as if he plays the role of Santa Claus starting after Thanksgiving every year and to boot he also has a long white beard. The man pops opens a bottle of champagne. "Hey, we were saving that!" Valka shouts.
The man finally speaks, "For today, I guarantee it," he says in a thick Russian accent.
Valka is so, so very not amused and as she approaches the man "Who's in Odin's name do you think you are?" She asks pointing her right index finger at the intruder.
"Nicholas St. North." the man says, and taking her right hand in his, "and I'm delighted to finally meet you in person, Dr. Engelstad" and shakes her hand. After that he blows the dirt that got on to his hand. "I am glad to see that my $50,000 a year is being well spent," he says as he goes over to sink, looking for glasses to use.
At that moment, "Okay who's the lout?" CJ asks as she enters, clearly not happy at what just happened with the helicopter.
Valka runs interference and stopping CJ from doing something stupid, "This is our paleobotonist Dr. Claudia José, her name in her mother's tribe is Cloud Jumper, but we call her...
"CJ..." CJ says a little calmer but still ticked. The man, St. North turns and walks with towards the two to greet CJ, in his left hand is the bottle of champagne with a cloth wrapped around it.
"CJ, this is one of our major donors, Mr. St. North." Valka say formally introducing CJ to St. North.
"Nicholas, please. I am sorry about the... dramatic entrance... CJ, if I may, but..."
"Well I did say 'lout'." CJ says as the two shake hands as Valka walks around CJ so that CJ is on Valka's left.
"We're in a bit of a hurry, now will you have a drink? We don't want this to get warm." St. North finishes and heads back into the kitchen area. "Sit down, sit down." he orders as he looks over the glasses there once more. "Let me have this. I'll get a few glasses. I can do it." He says and see CJ right next to him. "No, no, no. I know my way around a kitchen." He says as he directs her around him. As CJ walks to the side of the table that Valka is one. "Now, I'll get right to the point." He turns to look over his right shoulder. "I like you, both of you. You see I have this gift of sorts, I can tell almost instantly about people." He pauses as he turns to face the two as they sit down on two of the stools. "I am renting an island off the coast of Costa Rica. I am leasing it from the government with the option to purchase it in ten- fifteen years' time. During the last five years, I've been setting up a... biological preserve as it were. Really spectacular, I spared no expense. It makes the one I have in Kenya, and the ones almost finished in Nepal and Brazil look like petting zoos. And I have no doubts that our attractions will drive kids out of their minds." St. North narrates as he finishes cleaning the glasses
"What are those?" Valka asks intrigued at this.
Teasingly CJ answers, "small versions of adults, girlfriend." Valka is not amused, but before she can say anything.
"And not just the little ones, everyone. We're going to open this time next year. Assuming the lawyers don't kill me first." St. North continues as he dries the glasses and turns to face the two as he's about to pour one of the glasses. "I don't care for lawyers myself, do you?" he asks the two.
"We don't really know any." Valka answers for herself and CJ, as St. North continues to pour the glasses.
"Well I do, I am afraid. Now this particular rock in my shoe represents my investors, well to me anyway, outside of that circle he and his partners represents all of InGen. He says that they insist on outside opinions." St. North carries on, not far from complaining about Mr. Black.
"What kind of opinion?" CJ asks, neither she nor Valka fully understand what their benefactor is getting at with all that he is saying.
"Well your kind, to be blunt. Truth be told you're both at the top minds in your respective fields. Now if I can just persuade you to sign off on the park, give it your endorsement, and maybe even write a testimonial; I can get back on schedule." St. North finishes as his finishes pouring the glasses.
"Why would they care what we think?" CJ asks, bewildered as to why an insurance company wants the expert opinions of a paleontologist for a nature reserve, or a paleobotonist's opinion.
"What kind of a park is it?" Valka asks as well, she too is still confused at all this.
"It's right up your ally," St. North says handing Valka a glass with champagne. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you come down, just the pair of you, for the weekend? I'd love to have a paleobotonist's opinion as well," St. North says as he hands another glass to CJ. "I got a jet standing by at Chateau."
As Valka stands back up, "I'm sorry, but this isn't possible." CJ too stands up, "We just dug up a new skeleton and found another one via radar..." Valka starts.
"I would gladly compensate you for your time by funding the site fully..." St. North starts as he pours his own glass.
"This is a very unusual time, two skeletons found so close together timing wise. The timing is..." Valka interrupts trying to say 'no'.
"For a further three years, in addition to my already established five year pledge." St. North finishes, a small smirk on his face.
For a few seconds Valka and CJ are at a loss for words, three more years of funding, while paleontologist aren't in the field for the money, but what can be learned, until finally, "Where's the plane?" Valka asks.
"To three more years, Cheers." St. North says as CJ and Valka turn and embrace each other as people who have received good news are known to do.
Author's notes:
Alright first some facts about the cast thus far, Nicholas St. North fills in the role of John Hammond, Valka is Dr. Allan Grant, a gender-bent humanized Cloud Jumper is Dr. Ellie Sattler, Pitch Black is the lawyer Donald Gennaro, Jack Frost is the boy that Dr. Grant does the raptor lecture on and for the Persian... I'll let you guess who he is for now but he fills the role of Robert Muldoon...
Night Furies in this universe takes on the role of Jurassic Park raptors... with a possible twist, the Great Death (Red Death from HTTYD movie and Green Death from the game Rise of Berk) fill in the role of the T-Rex, so I am going out on a limb with the hunting style of the Night Furies... no flaming please
Please note the setting is like the first Jurassic Park movie, the early 1990's
[1] a molecular-shiv is an engineering device to made to strain things on a molecular level, here Mr. Black is using it in replacement of the term 'a fine toothed comb' when it comes to looking thing over
[2] there is a reason people whom fly together call each other wing-men, that's because the group they form in while in flight is call a 'wing'
