Chapter 22, Krypter rescues Rosie from the evil Bartholomew.

I'm the one starting.

"Shoni, Torpedo Attack against Amargo!"

My fish vivosaur charges at the sauropod and starts swimming circles around him. He then abruptly stops a few seconds later and jumps on Amargo, hitting his neck. The red vivosaur growls and glare at Shoni. My dino had an advantage; therefore Amargo lost half of his lives!

"Brachio, switch positions with Tarbo, after that Tarbo attack Shoni by using Tarbo Bite!" instructs Bullwort to his vivosaurs.

Brachio takes a few steps back in the EZ while Tarbo moves up to the offensive position. He then runs at Shoni and fiercely bites one of his fins. My vivosaurs lost a third of his health.

"Venator take Shoni's place. Then, bite Tarbo!"

My vivosaurs obey and change positions. Shoni is now in the Escape Zone and Venator is standing in the Attack Zone, ready to pounce. And as I predicted, he jumps on Tarbo and bite his back. The purple vivosaur roars in pain. My vivosaur took about a third of his vitality.

"Tarbo, Tabro Combo on Spinax!" yells the leader of the BB Bandits to his vivosaur.

The carnivorous vivosaur lunges at Spinax and closes his jaws on his tail. He then leaps backwards and while doing so powerfully kicks my vivosaur under the head. Spinax stumbles under the impact; he lost exactly a third of his lives.

"Venator, use your combo against Tarbo!"

My bipedal dino rushes towards Tarbo and bites his neck, then hits him in the stomach with both his feet. That second hit almost killed Tarbo; he now has very little of his health left.

"Amargo, Amargo Combo on Venator!"

Oh, oh… I think to myself. But, I don't let my fear take control of my senses and keep focusing on the battle.

Amargo walks towards my giant vivosaur and crushes his tail with his feet. Then, he whacks his head with his own tail. Venator growls in Amargo's direction while taking a few steps back. He lost more than a third of his lives, because of the opponent's advantage.

"Venator, finish Tarbo!" I order, pointing at the huge purple vivosaur.

My Venator runs at Tarbo and bites his leg. The victim wails before collapsing to the ground. He then disappears.

Amargo advances to the attack position. When Batholomew's turn arrives Brachio moves up to the SZ on top of the red sauropod.

"Brachio go up to the attack and Amargo retreat in the EZ. After that Brachio attack Spinax with Mountain Wave!"

After the vivosaurs exchanged positions Brachio approaches Spinax and whips him with his long tail. There's only a quarter left of my vivosaur's health…

Shoni comes back in the battle and goes to the SZ position below Venator. I decide to switch their positions. When that's done I tell Shoni to use Snapping Jaws on Brachio. The swordfish charges at Brachio and runs into him, injuring the other vivosaur. He then hits Brachio a second time with his tail. Brachio loses around a third of his vitality.

"Brachio, Mountain Waves on Spinax! Eliminate him!" hollers Bullwort.

Brachio obeys and extinguishes Spinax. My vivosaur groans, a sound that hurts my ears, then vanishes in a flash of light. I pick up the medallion.

"No! Shoni, use Torpedo Attack against Brachio!" I shout.

Shoni swims towards the long-necked vivosaur and starts swirling around him. He then stops and lunges full speed at Brachio, head first. Shoni's snout connects with Brachio's head, which makes him stumble a bit. He lost a quarter of his lives.

"Brachio, do the same thing as earlier on Shoni!"

The towering dinosaur slowly walks towards Shoni and slaps him with his tail. He only has a quarter of his health remaining now…

"Shoni, use Torpedo Attack on Brachio again!"

After the assault, the number of lives left to Brachio is reduced to thirty.

Amargo walks to the Support position underneath Brachio when my opponent's turn arrives. The BB Bandit chief then puts Brachio in the Escape Zone and his red vivosaur at the attack.

"Amargo, use your combo on Shoni!"

The sauropod charges at my aquatic vivosaur and smacks him on the back with his tail. He then transfers all his weight to his ribs, which he uses to hit Shoni a second time. But Amargo had a disadvantage, so as a result Shoni still has a quarter of his vitality remaining.

"Shoni, do the same thing as earlier, but on Amargo this time. Crush him!"

He obeys me and manages to get rid of the red vivosaur. Amargo falls to the ground and transforms back into a medal. Ok, now there's only Brachio left, who moves up to the attack as soon as Amargo's out of combat.

I can tell that Bullwort is getting worried; sweat is staring to drip down his forehead, and he keeps clenching and unclenching his hands. He probably didn't think I was that good; he's probably having second thoughts about his plan.

"Brachio, use Mountain Wave on Shoni. KILL HIM!" yells Bartholomew.

Brachio lunges at my vivosaur and knocks him out with his powerful tail. Shoni closes his eyes before disappearing. S-Raptor is now the offensive vivosaur. The only vivosaurs left in the battle are him and Brachio.

"S-Raptor, S-Fury on Brachio!" I shout. "You can't miss this shot!"

Rosie's faith is depending on you S-Raptor…

My small red dino runs at the giant purple vivosaur and bites his leg. After that he jumps backwards and kicks Brachio's stomach. Then, for the grand finale, S-Raptors takes a few steps back and opens his mouth. A blinding flame escapes his jaws and roasts Brachio's head. He yells in agony, and then vanishes in a flash of light. I won!

"I-I lost…" says Bullwort after picking up his medal off the ground, astonished. He looks up to me. "Some kid… Beat me? How is this even possible?! No one ever won against me before! Well," he then says, shrugging his shoulders. "Doesn't matter; because I'm not giving you Rosie back!"

He quickly grabs Rosie and throws her over his shoulder. The man then starts running towards the entrance I came from earlier. Rosie dangles from side to side like a lifeless rag doll as she hits Bullwort with her fists to make him stop. I'm about to chase after them when the door suddenly swings open. Multiple armed police officers enter the room, surrounding the kidnapper. One of them yells at him to let Rosie go. The leader of the BB Bandits glares at him during several seconds, (I don't know how the cop does to endure that stare; I would've looked away by now) before dropping her, a dull thump! following as my friend's body falls on the ground. I run to her to see if she's ok, untie her hands and rip off the tape from her mouth, and then help her get up. Two officers practically jump on the man as soon as he lets Rosie go, putting his hands behind his back and handcuffing him. Our rescuers lower their guns when Bullwort is safely immobilized, the two cops holding him so we doesn't run away (which would be kind of dumb, he is surrounded by police officers carrying weapons). The BB Bandit stops struggling and looks at the cop walking toward him.

"Mister Bartholomew Bullwort, you are under arrest for kidnapping and breaking and entry!" says the officer.

"Wh-what…?!" exclaims the handcuffed man. "But, that's not fair!"

"Oh yes it is. You will be able to complain as much as you want… in prison."

They then leave while dragging behind them a chained, furious and wriggling Bullwort. One of the cops stays behind and approaches Rosie and I. Both of us hadn't said a word while Bullwort was being carried away from the room.

"M'am, are you alright?" he asks, concerned. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No, I'm fine," she shrugs, one of her hands on my shoulder to stabilize herself.

"Are you sure? Because I'm sure I could-"

"Yeah, I said I'm fine," she cuts him off. "I'm not going to die or anything, if that's what you're asking. Thank you for your help and concern."

"You're welcome. We arrested the rest of the bandits. They're going to come with us to Vivosaur Island. I think this place is going to be a lot more peaceful now. Do you need anything else?"

"No, thanks, I'm ok," Rosie answers, starting to get annoyed. "You can leave now."

"Alright then, have a good day, or should I say night; it's four o'clock in the morning."

He then exits the room, leaving Rosie and I alone.

"Wait, where's Doctor Diggins?" I ask. "He was with me earlier!"

I turn around to look at the room. He's not here! It's like he disappeared! Then again I don't remember him following me into the dark corridor…

"I didn't see him walk here with you," Rosie replies. "Maybe he chickened out and left before you entered the room."

"Maybe…" I answer, though not as sure about that as Rosie. Why would he leave? He said he wanted to rescue Rosie too. That doesn't explain him ditching me. This is just too weird… I wonder where he is right now.

Rosie's voice snaps me back to reality.

"So…" she trails off, shuffling uncomfortably on her feet. "I guess I should thank you for rescuing me."

"Yeah, that'd be nice," I reply, grinning.

"But I won't, because I knew you'd come rescue me eventually," she smiles, looking up at me.

"I knew it," I laugh. "So," I put my hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're ok? No concussions? Any injuries?"

"Well…" she answers, staring at the floor. "Actually, there is something. As you know, granddad's in prison. And, and…"

That's when she bursts into tears, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably as she cries. I take a step toward her and wrap my arms around her. Rosie's head rests on my shoulder as her tears wet my shirt, not stopping flowing. But I don't care; all I can think about right now is comforting her.

"Rosie…" I gently say while caressing her soft hair. "Everything will be alright, don't worry. We know your grandfather's innocent; we just need to prove it. We could find the one who wrote the damned book. Then we'll be able to get your granddad outta there!"

"Good idea," she sniffles.

"I'm full of them," I smile while holding her chin up, her eyes staring into mine.

We stay like that for a few seconds before I let my hand fall to my side. I clear my throat before continuing.

"Ok, we need to find a way to get out of here. If you want to, you can explain to me how you got captured later."

"Ok," she answers, whipping the last remaining tears off of her face. "But wait, when we get out of here, where am I going to sleep? I can't exactly go back to my room."

I didn't think about that, since we have other issues right now. I rub my chin with my fingers while trying to find a solution.

"You could sleep with me in my hotel room…" I finally say after a few seconds.

"Wow Krypter, slow down there! I know we're friends and all, but I don't wanna go that far!" she laughs while pushing me away.

I'm happy to know that she got her sense of humor back! That means she's feeling a little better.

"Rosie, you know what I mean," I answer, a smile at the corner of my lips. "Later we'll go to your grandfather's place to try and get your stuff. Then you'll sleep with me at the hotel. But no one would be able to know though."

"Why would it matter if someone knew?"

"Well," I answer, trying to find the right words. "Earlier I went to your grandfather's house to see you. But you weren't there, and the guard said he didn't know any Rosie. So, I think that if someone knew that you're still here he'd try to hurt you or question you about your granddad. I think it's better if we keep it a secret."

"Oh, I understand. No one's gonna know then. Can we go back now? I'm starting to get tired."

"Yeah, sure."

When I'm about to turn around and leave through the door the police officers left from Rosie puts a hand on my shoulder to stop me; she points to another door further in room, to the right.

"Krypter, this is a shortcut," she tells me, her tone similar to the one I'd use if I was talking to the dumbest person in the world; as if it was the most obvious thing. "It's a secret tunnel that leads directly to the island!"

"Really, how do you know?" I ask, spinning toward her.

"Earlier, Bullwort took that passage to take me here. When he kidnapped me he knocked me out and stuffed me in a bag with holes allowing me to breathe; although I was still suffocating in there. Anyways, when I woke up we were in Greenhorn Plains. I could see where he was going by looking through the tiny holes. The BB Bandits leader opened a door with a key, which was well hidden behind a tree. He then dragged me through a dark long corridor during at least thirty minutes. When he got to the end there was another door which was the one separating this room from the tunnel! I don't understand though how the passage can go from here to Vivosaurs Island… Isn't there water between the two?"

So… The other day… When Vivian, Rex and Snivels were blocking me the way in Greenhorn Plains… It was because they didn't want me to find the secret tunnel! It all makes sense now!

"Hum, Krypter…?" asks Rosie while shaking my shoulder.

"Uh? What?" I respond, distracted. "Oh, sorry, I was thinking of something. Anyhow, to answer your question, I think it's probably an underwater tunnel. But, Rosie, we can't take that passage. How would we get to town? We'd be in greenhorn Plains! I don't exactly think Captain Travers is still driving his boat at four o'clock in the morning!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that… How did you get here?"

"With the boat of some BB Bandit. Long story, I'll explain everything later. Let's see if it's still there! But first, we need to get the key and gun."

We walk to the spot where they're disposed. I try to lift the top but it's too heavy; it feels like it weights a ton! Suddenly, I have an idea. I take my fossil fighter kit out of my bag and take the hammer I use to clean fossils. I smash as hard as I can the glass protection. It shatters before exploding into tiny pieces. I reach out my hand through the broken fragments to grab the gun and key. I get them out then put them safely in my bag.

"Ok, we can go now," I tell Rosie while turning towards her.

"You're smarter than you look like!" she teases me.

I roll my eyes and head to the door behind us. We start going down the stairs and floor separating us from the ground. The police officer was right; they did take all the BB Bandits to the island with them. We're the only ones left in this building, all the floors are empty. We finally reach the entrance after a few minutes. We exit the base and make our way toward the spot where Diggins last parked the boat. Let's hope that's not what he used to leave the island… Wow, what a coincidence, it's still there!

But wait, if he didn't take the boat to leave the island, how did he manage to get away…? Is he still here then?

I turn around to look at the building. I don't see anything suspicious; it's as silent as if it were empty (which is probably the case). I shrug it off and focus my attention back on the boat.

"So, here's the boat I was talking to you about," I say as I point in the ship's direction. "Do you want to go inside?"

"Yeah!"

We walk toward the boat and board it. Rosie doesn't look amazed by how fancy it is; she probably already saw better and bigger. I suddenly notice a problem.

"Wait, Rosie, how are we going to get back to the island? Earlier I pressed some button, to get here, we got lucky. I don't think it's going to be very useful this time!"

"I know how to drive a boat," she answers me as if it was normal, glancing up at me then looking back down at the seat she was stroking. "Do you think this is real leather?" she then asks, changing the subject.

"I don't know; I'm not some leather expert! Let's get back to the driving thing. Are you kidding about you knowing how to control a boat?"

"No, I'm not," she sighs. "My dad taught me! It's not exactly something you randomly say in a conversation. 'Hey, I bought some new shoes yesterday, I can drive a boat! They're pink and have stars on them.' Anyways, find me a map of the area and we'll be back in about thirty minutes or less!"

I start searching while Rosie starts the boat and gets the commands ready. I finally find one and hand it to her. She looks at it for a few seconds before putting it beside her. The boat begins sailing through the waves as Rosie starts piloting it, her brows furrowed in concentration. She impresses me more every day!

During the short trip my friend tells me exactly how Bullwort managed to kidnap her.

It was around noon. I was at the stadium for the tournament while Rosie and M. Richmond were eating lunch. Suddenly police officers entered the building and came into the dinning room. They arrested M. Richmond, listing his crimes and blablabla. While he was bickering with the cops, saying he didn't do anything and that he was innocent, Rosie snuck out of the room and left the building. She wanted to find me to explain to me what was happening. But then, when she was walking in the park, trying to put her thoughts together, someone grabbed her from behind and knocked her out. And I know the rest already, since she told me back at the BB Base.

I then explain to her how MY day went. I start with the dream and finish with how professor Diggins and I managed to get to the BB Base. Suddenly, something clicks in my head. Rosie's and Diggins' version of the kidnapping aren't the same. Someone is lying, and it's most likely not Rosie, since she obviously knows how she got captured. The professor is definitely hiding something, because not only did he lie, he also left for no apparent reason, without even telling me…

Next chapter coming soon. A few more chapters then I'll stop spamming you and the updates will come back to normal.