Chapter 9: Gyroball Trouble Part 1

The subway train arrived at the next attraction: The Gyroball Ride. People could sit inside it and ride them all over the field, admiring the dinosaurs. Knuckles and Tails were in the front of the line, waiting. Tails was going on and on about things that Knuckles could care less about. "Did you know that the soft tissue is preserved because the iron in the dinosaur's blood generates free radicals, and those are highly reactive." he pointed out, "So, the proteins and the cell membranes get all mixed up, and act as a natural preservative." Knuckles was admiring an orange echidna girl and her friends. She turned her head towards him and smiled, making his cheeks redden. "DNA can survive for millennia that way. See, now, even if the amber mines dry up, they'll still have bones-" Knuckles cut him off. "Shut up." he kept his purple eyes fixated on the girl and her friends. Tails looked where he was looking and saw the girls. He looked back up to his brother with a smirk. "What do you think's gonna happen from you just staring at them?" he asked in a taunting voice loud enough for them to hear. The orange echidna girl and her friends giggled and stepped into the Gyroball. "Thanks, man." Knuckles said in a sarcastic voice. "You're welcome." Tails replied. The girls' Gyroball rode away.

"Enjoy the ride," the worker said in a flat tone. Knuckles and Tails stepped through the gate and into the ball. They buckled their seat belts as the door to the ball closed. It rode slowly away into the field.

Just then, the phone rang. The ride attendant picked it up and said, "Hello?" He listened for a moment, then his orange eyes shrunk. "Seriously?" he asked in shock. he listened for another moment, then looked at the massive crowd. "Uh, sorry folks; the ride is closed." he announced, hanging up the phone. Everyone in the crowd clamored and groaned. "Everyone needs to proceed to the monorail and exit towards the…" his voice trailed off as everyone protested and spoke indistinctly at this. "Come one guys, I just work here." he groaned.

In the Lab…

"Due to technical difficulties, all our exhibits are now closed." a woman over the PA said. Gerald came out of a room and pressed the keypad and scanned his thumbprint to close it. He looked around to make sure no one was watching. Everyone was now leaving the lab.

Gerald saw Antoine heading through the crowd towards him. He did not look happy!

Soon…

Antoine was now in Gerald's office, talking with him. "You know I'm not at liberty to reveal the asset's genetic makeup." Gerald pointed out, pouring himself some Brandy. "Modified animals are known to be unpredictable." he added. "It's killed people, Gerald." The elder man paused and looked up at the coyote. "That's unfortunate," he whispered in response. "What purpose would we have for a dinosaur that can camouflage?" Antoine inquired. "Cuttlefish genes were added to help her withstand an accelerated growth rate." Gerald answered. "Cuttlefish have chromatophores that allow the skin to change colour." Antoine sat down, keeping his focus on the older man. "It hid from thermal technology." Antoine pointed out. Gerald paused from sipping his drink. "Really?" he asked. "How is that possible?" Antoine pressed further. Gerald stood up and walked away. "Tree frogs can modulate their infrared output," he explained. "We used strands from their DNA to help her adapt to a tropical climate. But, I never imagined..." Antoine cut him off as he rubbed his temples. "Who authorized you to do this?" Gerald turned to him and said, "You did," Antoine jolted and looked up at him with a gaped mouth. "Bigger." "Scarier." Um… "Cooler" I believe was the word that you used in your memo." Gerald pointed out, chuckling. "You cannot have an animal with exaggerated predator features without the corresponding behavioral traits." he added seriously. "What you're doing here… What you have done…" Antoine shaked, standing up, "The Board will shut down this park, seize your work, everything you've built. And Hammond won't be there to protect you this time." he added in a serious tone, gripping his jacket. "All of this exists because of me." Gerald said. "If I don't innovate, somebody else will." Antoine didn't respond, he just flickered his eyes to left. "You are to cease all activities here immediately." he ordered. The professor looked over at his workers then back at Antoine. "You are acting like we are engaged in some kind of mad science." the elder man said, "But we are doing what we have been doing from the very beginning. Nothing in Jurassic World is natural." he added in a slight chuckle at the end. "We have always filled gaps in the genome with the DNA of other animals." he explained, "And, if their genetic code was pure, many of them would look quite different. But you didn't ask for reality. You asked for more teeth." Antoine clenched his fists in anger.

"I never asked for a monster!"

"Monster" is a relative term," Gerald responded. "To a canary, a cat is a monster." Antoine's mouth was gaped. "We're just used to being the cat."

Meanwhile…

In the field, Knuckles and Tails were still in their Gyrosphere. (A/N: Because the plot demands it…) They were watching a man on a little screen explain how the ride works. He was a falcon wearing science clothing in a science-y background. "Hey there, I'm Jimmy Falcon." he greeted. (A/N: Get it? Jimmy Fallon? Jimmy Falcon?) "Welcome aboard the Gyrosphere, an amazing machine made possible by science. Your safety is our main concern. Which is why you're behind our invisible barrier system, which protects you from things like Dilophosaurus venom." in the video, there was a small explosion and this green, gooey, stuff splattered all over the falcon. "One drop if this can paralyze you, so watch out." he warned. "Is this real?" he asked, looking away. "It is?" he fell over. "And for added protection, each vehicle is surrounded by aluminum oxynitride glass." Jimmy explained. "So touch, it can stop a .50 caliber bullet." he held up a gun and shot it at the glass. The glass frame fell and broke some more glass and Jimmy Falcon fliched. "The Gyroscopic technology will keep you upright at all times, so, you've got nothing to worry about." he assured them.

Tails looked around, but there were no dinosaurs in sight. "Where are they?!" he asked eagerly. "Woah," he heard Knuckles say. They both looked ahead in amazement as they saw herds of Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Parasaurolophus, and Diplodocus. They were minding their own business without care. They were so amazing and majestic. To see them upclose and witness it, made it so amazing. They were right beside a Diplodocus and smiling at each other; all giddy and stuff. The dino's growled loudly and took giant steps, and Tails and Knuckles were amazed. The dinosaurs barely cared about the Gyrosphere around them, they saw it as a normal thing.

Suddenly, the monitor beeped. Both siblings looked at it.

"Due to technical difficulties, all our exhibits are now closed." a woman announced. "Please disembark all rides and return to the resort." Tails looked at Knuckles, he looked back. Tails looked down, disappointed, and sighed. "Come on," Knuckles said, "we can stay out a couple more minutes." Tail looked at his brother. Something about this had the words "bad idea" written all over it like graffiti. "But… they said it was closed." he replied. "Aunt Rouge gave us special wristbands right?" he pointed out. "We're VIP, dude" Tails looked at his brother. He hesitantly agreed to stay a few more minutes. "Come on. It'll be fun."

With that, Knuckles shifted the gear so the Gyrosphere was going faster. The dinosaurs around them immediately got excited and ran with them. It felt amazing! Like they were part of the herd.

Meanwhile…

In Control, people, including Rouge, were looking at the security camera to make sure everyone got back to their friends and families safely. A little girl ran to her mom and they embraced. Rouge eyed them and felt an indescribable emotion. Then, she remembered! Her nephews! Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped. She walked away and dialed her phone. She put it up to her ear and waited as it started ringing. "Hello?" Nicole said over the phone. "Nicole. I need you to bring the boys back to the hotel right away." Rouge commanded. "I don't know… I've been looking everywhere for them. It's just been quite a while." Nicole spoke rapidly over the phone. "W-Wait. Slow down, I can't hear you." Rouge said calmly. "Knuckles and Tails, they've run off!" Nicole said. "What?!" Rouge exclaimed.

Meanwhile…

Knuckles and Tails were still in the field, admiring the scenery and dinosaurs. Suddenly, Knuckles' phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and saw it was his aunt Rouge calling. He pressed the green answer button and put the phone up to his ear. "Hello?" he spoke. "Knuckles, thank God. Is Tails with you?" Rouge answered, sighing out in relief. "I can't really hear you. We're in the hamster ball." Knuckles said. "Okay, Knuckles, listen to me." Rouge said seriously. "I need you to…" Just then, her voice started distorting. Knuckles shifted his purple eyes at the phone in curiousity.

"Hello?"

"Knuckles?"

Knuckles looked at his phone and hung up. He put it back in his pocket and shrugged his shoulders.

Meanwhile…

Rouge was now panicking! She rushed over to Silver's desk. "Are there any Gyrospheres left in the Valley?" the ivory bat asked in worry. "No, they're all accounted for, it's my job." Silver said. But then he saw on the screen that he was wrong. "What? There's one in the field." he corrected himself. Rouge gasped. This was bad! She ran over Amy's desk. "Send a team of rangers, bring them in." she commanded to the pink hedgehog. Amy nodded and patched into that network. "Security, we need a search and rescue in the Valley." she said. "It's gonna be a while. We've got our hands full out here." the man over the radio said. Rouge picked up the phone angrily. "No, no, no, no, no! There are two guests who happened to be nephews that are missing. You need to make this your top priority!" she snapped. "Just do it man," Silver muttered. "Hey, there's a lot of guests missing. We're doing the best we can." Upon hearing this, Rouge got fed up and slammed the phone down. "Okay, fine! I'll fuckin' do it myself!" she snapped.

But just as she was about to leave, she saw Shadow arguing with someone on the monitor. "Do you think I'm the one you need to be worried about right now?" he snapped angrily. "Back off!" Rouge stared up at him. As much as she wanted to avoid him, she couldn't deny that she needed his help. She then sighed and ran off.

Done! I know it's been a while on this story, but I'm now back for a bit.

Shadow: I'm a badass.

And you're gonna be even more of a badass as the story goes on.

Shadow: Sweetness…

R&R!