Hey Guardian! Hey Guardian!
A bridge crumbled on to the beach, kicking up plumes of sand in its destructive wake. A stinging cloud of sand washed over the pedestrians as they ran further down the shore line to avoid the debris from the bridge. However, one person and his dinosaur partner stayed behind. He and his partner sat crouched behind the cover of a stone ramp that was used to slide boats into the water. He slowly peeked over the edge of the ramp just as the Dilophosaurus slammed a heavy foot on to the remains of the bridge that now lay strewn across the beach. The Guardian unleashed a satisfied roar at the destruction it had caused.
Darkfire turned to his partner Silvera. "Oh yeah, Daren is definitely paying us overtime for this." The velociraptor nodded in agreement.
XXXXXX
"How do you propose we stop it?" Sam questioned Daren. His constant pacing around the plane with no answers was getting on her nerves.
"I don't know, honestly." He finally responded. "We've never dealt with a Guardian that actually made it into a highly populated area."
"We could just send Cipher in to subdue the Guardian." Jonah suggested.
"But then that still leaves the problem of transporting a two ton dinosaur out of a city." Daren pointed out. "Well, maybe we can rig a-"
'Hey Guardian! Hey Guardian!
Ancient friends to the boys and girls!
Hey Guardian! Hey Guardian!
Champions of the dinosaur world!
Hey Guardian! Hey Guar-'
'BEEP'
Everyone, including the dinosaurs, ceased what they were doing to stare a the culprit.
"What?" Jonah looked to everyone. "It's my ringtone. Don't judge me." He defended as he showed everyone his phone.
"Was that 'Hey Digimon'?" Kevin sat up from his laid back position against a strapped down crate.
"Yeah, I modified it a bit." Jonah stated proudly.
"Oh yeah, I'm definitely judging." Kevin remarked. Jonah waved him off as he immersed himself in his phone conversation.
"Really?...No way, already?...Yeah, we didn't bring that with us, sorry...I told you that you should have went to Komodo...Well, it's not my fault you didn't want to hang around big venomous lizards...Well, apparently you're getting to anyway." The group could only make out what Jonah was saying in the conversation, but it seemed that whoever was on the other line was not happy. There was a long pause for a few minutes before Jonah spoke again. "Well you don't have to scream at me." Jonah held the phone away from his ear. "Alright, alright just hold tight for one more hour and we'll be there." Jonah ended the call.
"Just what was all that about?" Jessica asked what everyone else was thinking.
"Well the call was originally for Daren, but either his phone's off, or not here." Jonah explained.
"Was it actually important, because we have more pressing matters at hand at the moment." Daren tapped his foot impatiently.
"Oh, that was Darkfire. He says you're paying him triple overtime for having to deal with the Dilophosaurus since 7:00 this morning." Jonah stated nonchalantly.
"What!?" Daren shouted. "Why is Darkfire fighting a Guardian by himself!? Why is he in Australia in the first place!?"
"He and Silvera are on vacation." Kevin answered. "I let them have one when they got back from their last mission. It was when you were out cold for the second time."
"I was never informed of this." Daren scowled.
"Maybe if you read the papers that were on your desk before we left..." Jonah hinted.
"Okay, fine." Daren conceded. "But if you knew he and his partner were in Australia, why didn't you let me know to contact him before we arrived here?"
"We didn't know." Kevin shrugged. "It's your and Jonah's policy, remember? When field agents are on vacation, they don't have to reveal their location if they don't want to."
"Remind me to change that later." Daren sighed. "Wait..." Daren froze as what Jonah had said finally suck in entirely. "Did he say TRIPLE OVERTIME!?" Jonah nodded. "He already gets paid a small fortune, geez. What does he-"
"Um, question?" Sam interrupted. "Who's Darkfire and Silvera? Another field team of yours?"
"Yes. Darkfire is one of the two people on the island who's almost as experienced with his partner as Jonah or me." Daren explained. "At first I was pretty against letting an 18-year-old do missions on his own, but he proved otherwise."
"And Silvera is his partner?" Jessica chimed in.
"Indeed." Jonah confirmed. "She's actually quite a rare velociraptor." Vector jumped up to attention from his laying position on Cipher's back at the mention of a female velociraptor.
"Why's that? Isn't a velociraptor the same as any other velociraptor." Jessica inquired.
"Normally, yeah, but Silvera has more than one natural orientation." Jonah continued. "You'll see what I mean when you meet her."
"Which should be pretty soon here. Our jump is coming up." Daren was already putting on his chute.
"Um, question...again." Sam pointed. "What about her?"
"Huh, me?" Sarah was caught off guard. She had just been listening to everyone without any clue to what was going on. "I-I um..."
"She'll be jumping with us!" Jonah shouted as he sprinted from the back of the plane past everyone, and dove out the back bay door. Sarah could have sworn she heard him yelling something along the lines 'I love this job' as spun through the sky.
"Umm, can I not?" Sarah gritted her teeth.
"Sorry, not optional." Daren shrugged. "You'll be safer with us and the dinosaurs. Speaking of which," Daren turned to the four dinosaurs, "you guys head out next."
Vector perked up at hearing this. He, unlike his partner, loved being completely weightless. Vector proceeded to nudge a reluctant Pod and Pach to the bay door's edge. He tried to force them off, but they weren't budging, and it didn't help Vector any that he was the smallest of the group. Frustrated, Vector turned to the lounging Tyrannosaur in the back of the plane that had been amusedly watching the events. By recruiting a helpful shove from Cipher's tail, Pod and Pach were sent panicking into the sky. Vector relinquished a few high-pitched chirps of success. He quickly dove out of the plane in the form of a miniature tornado, followed closely behind by Cipher.
After watching all of this Daren could only shake his head and smile. Sarah, on the other hand, had burst out into full-blown laughter from the antics. She was laughing so hard tears were coming to her eyes.
"That was absolutely hilarious." Sarah said wiping her face. "No wonder you enjoy their company so much."
"I'm going to go make sure Vector doesn't give them too much of a scare." Daren waved as he stepped backwards out the door. "See you on the ground!"
"Alright love birds, you're next." Sam smiled.
"Quit calling us that." Jessica grumbled with a furious blush. She and Kevin stood next to each other at the door's edge, neither wanting to jump first.
"Oh for the love of- Argh! Just jump!" Sam shoved the two out of the plane. Their unified scream was pretty comedic. "That leaves just you and I." Sam turned to Sarah. "You ready?" Samantha raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah...but can I ask you something first." Sarah twiddled her thumbs.
"We only have a few more minutes. What is it?" Sam scowled.
"Do you know why Daren looks at me the way he does?"
This took Sam by surprise. "Come again?"
"You know, that far off look he gives me like he's seeing someone there that's returning the same look." Sarah noticed Samantha's body tense up slightly. "Sorry if I struck a nerve. You don't have to answer. It's just that I noticed only you and Jonah really seem to realize he does it."
Sam released a heavy sigh before speaking. "Just know that he loves you...a lot."
Sarah wasn't terribly surprised by that bit of information, but it was hard to ignore the shift in Sam's demeanor towards her. "Do you love him?" Sam visibly twitched.
"Let's go, time to jump." The blonde paleontologist offered her hand to Sarah while facing the bay door. Sarah didn't push the question any further.
Noon- Sydney Australia. (5 hours since Guardian Dilophosaurus arrived on the beach, and 10 minutes after everyone landed)
The echoing roar of a Tyrannosaurus rex dominated the landscape as it slammed its head into the side of a Dilophosaurus. The dilophosaurus was knocked clean off its feet from the reeling blow, rolling on to its side into a nearby building, completely crushing the wall. The remaining building left standing fell on top of the dinosaur, burying it. Cipher roared triumphant, despite the knowing fight was far from over. It played to more of taunt than anything else.
The Guardian burst forth from the rocky shambles of the toppled building with a roar in return as it approached the T-rex. It wasn't going to back down, despite being outclassed by sheer size alone. Its eyes flashed a brilliant blue as it glared intensely at its opposition. The Tyrannosaurus Rex slowly began to become encased in stone like the humans who had opposed the Guardian before. The Guardian Dilophosaurus poured more effort into the power knowing that it was dealing with another Guardian.
The rex roared defiantly as the last of its body became encased entirely in stone. Satisfied the dilophosaurus ceased its intense glare, and started to charge at the huge statue to break it to pieces. Ramming crests first, the Guardian Dilophosaurus received a nasty headache when the stone did not crumble under its power. It recoiled in pain, shaking its head vigorously.
"Daren we got problems!" Kevin yelled as he watched the dilophosaurus ram Cipher's statuesque body a second time with the same result as the first attempt.
"Not now Kevin, me and Michael are trying to do something." Daren growled.
"How many times do I have to tell you call me Darkfire?!" Darkfire and Daren both had their backs turned to the battle. Daren was digging and tossing sand everywhere while Darkfire was building sand into cones of various shape and size.
"Cipher is a giant statue!" Sam threw in her five cents to the conversation.
"I. Am. Aware." Daren continued to ignore the panic.
"So do something!" Jessica panicked as the dilophosaur went for a third blow, but this time with its claws. "Why won't you let Vector or Pod help? And where is Pach and Jonah?"
"Because they'll interfere with the plan right now." Darkfire answered. "And Jonah is with Pach aiding the plan."
"But Cipher-" Sam began.
"Is completely capable and competent of fighting another Guardian." Daren grinned at everyone. "I have faith in his abilities. So should the rest of you." Daren nodded over to the where the battle was taking place. The group turned their attention back to the battle.
The stone Cipher's eyes flashed the same brilliant blue as the Guardian Dilophosaurus. The stone surrounding him fell away to expose the T-rex underneath was now encased in pure diamond. With a turbulent shake, Cipher broke the thin layer of diamond coating his body. The Tyrannosaur stomped towards the Guardian with a mighty bellow. The dilophosaurus screeched in protest as it took a step back from Cipher. It was officially intimidated by the rex.
"I see Cipher has the upper hand." Jonah appeared from a tunnel behind the group on the beach.
"Holy!...When the hell did you get here!?" Sarah jumped back a few feet. She was the first to notice his appearance.
"Yeah, he does that. You'll get used to it." Daren said.
"Pretty impressive how he compressed the carbon in the stone surrounding his body to the point of becoming diamond." Jonah complimented with a nod. "Good stall tactic."
"He let himself get statue-fied on purpose? No way." Jessica blinked.
"That's why the Guardian seemed so upset. It wasn't expecting the stone to be that hard in the first place." Sam concluded.
"You guys finished yet? Pach's in position." Jonah inquired.
"Last one." Darkfire shaped the cone of sand. He quickly applied an oven like heat through his hands to solidify it to keep its shape. "Done. That makes 25."
"Perfect. That's more than enough." Jonah said. "Kevin, we're going to need you and Vector to transport these to the Sydney Opera House."
"How far is that?" Kevin and Vector started to have swirling wind around their feet.
"Nearly four miles in a straight shot." Darkfire stood up, cracking his neck and knuckles in the process. "We're on Balmoral Beach so you'll have to deal with traffic getting there."
"That would endanger too many people." Jessica shook her head.
"Agreed." Kevin nodded. "We'll have to take the long way." Vector tilted his head in confusion. "We are going to have to travel over the water." Kevin clarified for his partner. Vector barked a gnarly honking noise in protest. "I know, but we risk hurting people." The velociraptor hissed his dissatisfied agreement.
"Alright, then be prepared for at least three extra miles." Darkfire warned.
"Don't worry." Kevin reassured. The makings of a swirling tornado formed around him and his partner. "We got this." The tornado engulfed their forms, and sucked in the solid cone sand Darkfire and Daren had made. The swirling twister kicked up granules of sand and debris as it headed out over the water at a breakneck speed.
Darkfire turned to Daren. "Think we should have told them to watch out for boats?" A small speed boat crashed onto the beach at that very moment. Sarah ducked as the engine and rudder went flying over her head.
"Nah, they should be fine." Daren waved it off. "Now we just need Cipher to force that Guardian to dig again. Jonah you know what to do when that happens."
"Yep, you guys can start making your way to the opera house. I'm all good here." Jonah gave a thumbs up. "You can use the tunnel I used to get here," He pointed to the ground behind his self. "but you'll have to go one by one. It should still be quicker than over land though."
"You heard the man, let's move." Darkfire jumped into the hole followed closely by Silvera.
"Ladies first." Daren performed a bow with exaggerated movements. Jessica jumped in with surprisingly little complaint. Sam jumped in next. She was eager to see what the tunnels looked like on the inside that Pach always made.
"Great, more dirt." Sarah groaned as she looked down the hole. She gazed up at Daren with a quirked eyebrow. "Didn't I just leave this environment?"
"I have a better question." Daren proposed. "Why am I the only one who can't do that thing with their eyebrows!" He tried to raise an eyebrow, but only succeeded In making ridiculous funny faces, and making Sarah laugh. "What are you laughing at? Aren't you suppose to be in the hole already?"
"I'm going, I'm going." Sarah's laughter echoed through the tunnel as she continued the descent.
"See you at the opera house." Daren jumped in and waved to Jonah. Jonah nodded and returned to watching the fight.
Cipher bit down into the Guardian Dilophosaur's tail. The tyrannosaurs' neck muscles flexed as he lifted and spun his head to throw the dilophosaur into a three-story building. The dinosaur crashed through the structure, and into the bottom floor of the building behind it. The building came tumbling down into the buildings next to it, causing a domino effect of destruction to the immediate area. Cipher opened his maw to reveal an inferno of fire deep within his throat. He unleashed a torrent of hellfire over the collapsed structures the dilophosaurus now lay under.
The Guardian Dilophosaurus wailed in pain which it used as incentive to unbury itself. Chunks of building were sent flying at Cipher forcing him to cut off his flames and dodge debris. The Guardian came out screeching with its frill on full display and rattling to make itself seem more powerful and lager. It was a last-ditch effort for it to avoid a losing confrontation by using intimidation. It didn't work, for Cipher was already igniting his inferno of flames from deep within. Noticing the action, The Guardian slammed its crest into the ground at its feet, making a huge crater. It hastily dug its way to a retreat.
"Bingo." Jonah smiled as he placed his two fingers between his lips. The inhuman sound of his whistle traveled to the waiting ears of his pachycephalosaurus. Jonah knew that at the moment the Guardian would take the easiest and fastest escape route, which would be the path of least resistance. Its instincts would guide it to dig where the ground was loosest, so Jonah had Pach stir up the dirt underground to lead it to the Sydney Opera House. But just in case the Guardian was tempted to stray, Jonah currently had Pach drilling a fresh tunneling directly in front of the Guardian.
"Hey Guardian! Hey Guardian! Champion of the dinosaur world!" Jonah sang out to Cipher, and waved his hands to grab the rex's attention. "Mind giving me a lift to the Sydney Opera House?"
XXXXXX
Sydney Australia (Sydney Opera House)
"Those cones set up?" Daren asked Kevin.
"That was easy. The hard part was getting everyone to evacuate. But it didn't take long once they got a good look at Vector." Kevin cheesed.
"Excellent. Now that everyone knows their parts, we just have to play the waiting game."
After hearing Kevin, a thought occurred to Sarah. "Hey, Daren, what are you going to do when the news shows up? We are in a very public spot, and we sent a lot of people away."
"...fuck."
"Really, you didn't consider this part of your plan!?" Kevin yelled.
"Honestly, no." Daren burst out laughing. "It's actually kind of funny when you think about it."
"No! It's not!" Kevin's retort was completely drowned out by Daren's hysterical laughter. "Daren are you even listening! Daren! DAREN!"
"He's always doing stuff like this, I swear." Darkfire shook his head. Silvera nodded her agreement.
Samantha sighed, "Why are guys so loud?" She looked to her deinonychus for answesrs. He only tilted his head in return.
"It does get annoying." Jessica plugged her ears with her fingers.
"I don't know." Sarah titled her head. "Their silliness is kind of cute and funny." She started to chuckle. "Reminds me of- AAAAHHH!" Sarah dropped to her knees in mid sentence while grasping her head. Her body racking migraine was relentlessly piercing her mind. She could feel the familiar sensation of those fiery spikes shooting through her body.
"Sarah!" Sam and Jessica restrained the lost founder before she could start slamming her head against the concrete. Daren, Kevin, and Darkfire rushed to the girls' side.
Kevin knelt felt face level with the thrashing woman to examine her better. "Sarah?! Sarah talk to me, what's going on?"
"My...my head..." She cringed through tears. "...pain...can't...take it."
"Kevin, what the hell is happening?" Daren was on the verge of panic.
"Severe migraine. What caused this to happen?" Kevin's directed his question towards Sam and Jessica.
"I don't know, she was just saying something about how she remembered something from watching you two goof off!" Jessica responded. "Then she just started yelling."
"Make it stop...please..." Sarah's agony was only increasing. Her vision blurred and she verged on blacking out.
"Her mind might be fighting off repressed memories, and the trauma that goes with them." Kevin deduced.
"Let me try something." Daren placed his hands on Sarah's shoulders. "Sarah, look at me." She shook her head, refusing to do as asked. "Sarah Farroheat, look at me and I promise everything is going to be okay." Sarah's reluctant eyes turned to Daren's hazy form. However, her vision's blur soon lessened, and her mind began to center focus on the man in front of her. He was a source of calm in the storm of her mind. Slowly, the migraine started to subside.
"Daren?" Sarah began to remember, in part, who she once was. "Daren Phoenix."
"Yes, I'm right here." Daren gleaned normalcy returning to Sarah's sapphire irises. He released a breath he hadn't realized he had held. "You scared the shit out of us."
"I'm...I'm fine." Sarah wiped the tears from her face with a smile. "Just all little dizzy is all."
"Phew." Kevin fell onto his back. "That could have been much worse."
"I thought I might have lost you a second time." Daren sighed.
"Are you kidding. I'm not going anywhere, Buddy." Sarah patted Daren's still perched hands on her shoulders. "That's why you can let go of me now." She laughed. However, Daren's slack-jawed expression puzzled her.
"What did you just call me?" Daren blinked.
"I said-"
Fracturing the ground beneath the opera house, The dilophosaurus erupted from beneath the earth with an ear-splitting shrill cry not 30 yards from the group. Stone and rubble ruptured forth from the dinosaur's immediate hole as it slammed its claws into the ground above. Anchoring itself, the Guardian hoisted its mass with a hefty pull, shaking the residual dirt from his form.
Before surveying its surroundings, the Guardian's nose huffed and inhaled familiar scents. The dilophosaurus craned its neck to its left to spot the humans that dared have the audacity to bring other dinosaurs, as well as, another Guardian to challenge its authority. With brilliant colors of red and yellow the frill of the Guardian shot open in a threatening display. Coupled with the shockwave of a screech that kicked up nearby loose stones, and its quaking advance, it was clear the Guardian Dilophosaurus was pissed.
"Never a dull moment with you guys." Sarah laughed half-heartedly.
"You could say that." Daren grinned. "Kevin, you know what to do."
"I'm on it." Kevin ran straight towards the Guardian. "Vector, jump!" He shouted at the top of the building. A miniature tornado came spiraling down behind the dilophosaur, and circled it. Kevin joined his partner in the whirlwind frenzy making a second tornado, and disorienting the Guardian.
"Sam, Michael, you two are up." Daren pointed.
"Already a step ahead of you." Darkfire, Sam, Silvera, and Pod were all angled off to either side of the Guardian. Inhaling as much air as possible both humans and raptors unleashed a stream of flame into the whirlwind. Darkfire's, remaining true to his moniker, was tinted black and orange. The result was a rising black twister of fire fed by the oxygen heavy whirlwind. Angered and confused, the Guardian roared out in protest.
"That won't hold it for long. Let's move to our positions." Daren, Sarah, and Jessica ran through the entrance and into the opera house.
The Guardian only remained befuddled for a short period. Gathering toxins in its throat to counteract the fire, the dilophosaurus aimed at the four fire producing sources outside the twister. With a stream concentrated and equal in strength to a fire hose, the Guardian spun and unleashed a fire-retardant fluid that knocked the humans and raptors away from the whirlwind. And with a well placed stomp, the earth affiliated dinosaur shook the ground surrounding it enough to cause both human and raptor tornados to trip and tumble away at high speed.
"Well, that was pretty dickish of you!" Darkfire shouted at the Guardian as he rubbed his sore butt.
"Please tell me whatever it is you spit on me will wash out of my hair!?" Sam groaned. The clear thick viscous substance prevented her from igniting fire. The dilophosaurus growled in disapproval at the humans' comments. It moved towards Samantha, since she was the closest. "Don't get mad at us. We're just the distraction." Sam shrugged away from the creatures fast reaching teeth, but watched as the dilophosaurus was instead suddenly dragged back by its tail.
"That's right." Jonah stood next to Cipher, and pat him on the leg. "That's because this guy is the main attraction." Whipping his head forward, Cipherdias tossed the dangling dilophosaurus over Sam's head, and through the side of the Sydney Opera House, effectively demolishing a wall. Cipher held his posture high and reared back on one leg to increase his intake of air. Coming down in a forceful quaking stomp, Cipher relinquished a roar so deafening the initial percussion was felt before the sound was even heard. The sound itself shook everyone to their core while blurring their vision, and left them with ringing ears afterwards.
"THE FUCK WAS THAT!" Darkfire bellowed out while twisting fingers in his ears. He wasn't sure if he was yelling because he was upset, or because he believed his hearing was gone...maybe a little of both.
"That was an Ancient's Contention." Daren smirked.
AN: This story has been long overdue for a new chapter. Going on two years and approaching three now. That's ridiculous. I'm not sure if anyone even reads this one, but that's perfectly fine. I love writing its craziness anyways. For those who do read this, please let me know where I can better develop romance for that seems to be my weak point in a lot of writings. Any constructive criticism is always appreciated. Thanks and please don't stab me with pitchforks.