Chapter Two: Stegoceratops
Bullheaded
Species: Stegoceratops
Hybrid Genome: Triceratops base, Stegosaurus spliced in.
Size: 37 feet long, 11 feet at the shoulder, 12 tons (bull). 32 feet long, 8 feet at the shoulder, 9 tons (cow).
Diet: Herbivore
Zach pursed his lips nervously as he watched the herd's lead bull with wary eyes. Just a few minutes after he'd arrived in the Jeep with Dr. Gerry and Owen to give the Stegoceratops herd a visual checkup, the Alpha stopped in his place at the edge of the herd and stared at them, his enormous body going still. The behemoth of a dinosaur looked far, far too interested in them for Zach's liking, and not in a good way.
Gerry didn't like the attention they were getting from the Alpha, either. "Let's do this quick. I'll check the herd, you let me know if he starts pawing at the ground."
"Will he charge us?" Owen asked warily from the passenger seat. The Stegoceratops bull was giving him the same, dead-eye stare Blue offered him when she wouldn't take no for an answer. There were four, massive slash-scars across the enormous frill that only added to the beast's intimidation factor.
"Yes."
That did not make either of the younger men feel any better. Nor did the knowledge that this bull was known by his caretakers as "The Godfather."
The Alpha's straight horns were eight feet long, easy, and pointed at them like twin lances. Most of the herd of a dozen or so animals consisted of females and calves with shorter, curved horns, but the bull was one of the few males in the park and the gender difference really showed. He was almost fifty percent larger than the biggest female for sheer muscle mass and the plates on his back dwarfed any other Stegoceratops. All four thagomizers on his tail were four feet long and as thick around as a softball at the base.
Gerry was quick to do his scan, but the Alpha decided he'd had enough of them and flared his nostrils, letting out a deep bellow that was clearly a sign to get lost. The bright orange frill and plates bloomed blood red and Zach could have sworn he saw the bull's eyes flare dangerously.
"Okay, good enough for now," the old vet decided as he hit the gas and started to drive away. As they retreated, the bull reared up on his hind legs for an instant and roared, then charged them.
"He's chasing us," Owen told Gerry as calmly as he could. He'd had his fair share of dangerous situations with dinosaurs, but it was still disconcerting to have that horned titan, four times the size of their Jeep, rushing them with his horns ready to gore.
"I know," Gerry checked his rear-view mirror for a moment before looking at the speedometer. "We're fine. He peaks at thirty miles and hour and can't keep the pace for long. Give it a moment."
Sure enough, the bull gave up after about two hundred yards and roared after them, swinging his massive skull to the side to shatter a small palm tree like a toothpick. As if to express his displeasure even further, he swung his spiked tail into some nearby brush and practically ripped an entire bush out of the ground before flinging it sky high. He pawed at the dirt and snorted angrily until the Jeep was far enough away to satisfy him.
Zach whistled at the damage. "He's not the friendliest dinosaur, is he?"
"El Padre could be worse," Gerry scoffed. "I castrated him when he was a calf. He's mellowed out since then."
"That's mellow?" Owen raised an eyebrow as he watched the bull walk back to his herd from a safe distance away.
"He doesn't charge Gyrospheres anymore," the vet replied. "He probably charged because he smelled your raptors, Owen. You gave him a reason to get pissed off at us."
"You're welcome," the raptor trainer snarked, to which Gerry slapped his shoulder good-naturedly.
"We don't piss the big guy off," Gerry scolded him. "He's probably the only reason the park is still here."
"How's that?" Zach asked with a frown.
"Remember six years ago when the Indominus Rex broke out?" Gerry glanced at them. Both of the men grimaced and nodded. "She made her way to the plains here to hunt the herds and met El Padre."
"Wait, he killed the Indominus?"
"You bet your ass," the vet slowed the Jeep to a stop and pulled out his binoculars to watch the huge bull retreat to his herd. "She didn't know how to fight. It was all instinct. El Padre knew what he was doing—he jousts with our Triceratops and we have a specially padded tractor for him to beat on when he gets too riled up. The Indominus went to claw his frill and got a thagomizer through the ankle for her trouble. She went down and he beat her like a Cherokee drum. It wasn't pretty. I felt sorry for her."
"Me too," Owen agreed. The I. Rex's death would not have been a gentle one, but at least El Padre had stopped her rampage from causing more fatalities. There was some solace in that knowledge, even if the Indominus had been an accident waiting to happen.
Far from the Jeep, El Padre huffed as he lumbered back to his herd, satisfied that the stink of predators was far away from the little ones he protected. His mate greeted him with a snort and he grunted deeply, expressing his annoyance, to which she patiently trudged over and pushed him with her shoulder.
El Padre calmed from the contact, but he'd keep guard until the stench of carnivores was gone from the wind.
El Padre was stubborn like that.
A/N: Okay, let me answer some quick questions; first, these snippets mostly take place about six years after the events of the first movie, and yes, in this universe, El Padre fought and killed the Indominus Rex before she could really do a lot of damage. Zach is learning how to be a handler with Owen and Dr. Gerry Harding, and yes you'll see more characters from the movies as these snippets go on. Hope you enjoyed this one!