Chapter 8 – A New Island!
A/N: Hello! it's been a while since I've updated this story. I've been wanting to pick it back up again. I've typed out a bit more but they will be spaced out... Also been thinking of switching the POV to third person but unsure. Enjoy the story
POV: Sarah
Time: 10:30
Location: Helicopter towards Cranial Isle
Since the victories of round two for me, Rex and Pauleen. We decided to celebrate, but in reality, we just really cleaned fossil rocks. Was a really lame party.
But in other news we have a new island, and Dig sites to look at today! Maybe I'll find a good Vivosaur for my team. Having just Raja, and Aeros puts a lot of pressure on them to do well. Right now, I'm flying over with Rex. Todd went ahead of us like usual. It's good, because it gives Rex a chance to struggle through his motion sickness. Pauleen, I have no clue where she wandered off to this time… I'm still curious to see what she looks like under that mask.
"Rex, do you think Pauleen will ever take off that mask?" I ask curious. "If she isn't it'd be hard to find fossils for the next match won't it? I mean we're going into a volcano."
"… Sarah… Do I look like I can answer your questions?" Rex groans out.
I ignore him, my curiosity is overpowering my sisterly care. "She's a jungle girl. Maybe she's embarrassed in how she looks. I mean I'm definitely more beautiful."
"Sarah…" Rex continues to groan.
"Oh, sorry don't mean to talk about your crush like that." I smile at him.
"…" Rex's face turns a bit pale.
"You do like her? Don't you? I mean isn't that why you try to defend her choice of wearing a mask so much?" I continue to pressure him. My little brothers first crush!
"I think I- *Hurls*" Well there goes his breakfast into a vomit bag. Maybe this wasn't the best time to question him about this.
"Hey! Careful back there. I'd rather not want to clean up someone's vomit." The helicopter pilot yells at us.
"Sor-ry!" I yell back at him.
After a few more minutes of Rex's suffering we finally land on the next Island. I cheerily say. "We made it!"
"The trip home will be worse…" Rex says in a foreboding tone
"Don't worry I read somethings a head." As I say that, Rex looks at me with disbelief. "Hey! I can be responsible."
Rex sighs, taking me at my words. "So, what did you find?"
"okay! Apparently once we first land on a new Island and scan at the VMMs, we can use them to move between Islands again." As I say this Rex's face goes a little angry.
"What?! Why the hell can't we just take them between Islands without using a fricking helicopter!" As I thought rex is angry about this. But within the span of a few seconds he calms down.
"Welcome to Cranial Isle, the land where heat and passion swirl!" Both me and Rex look over to look for whoever is calling for us. It's a man with black hair and a hat that looks like the front of a baseball cap, but it doesn't cover his whole head. The man comes over and introduces himself. "Hey! I'm Terry, the Staff Leader here on Cranial Isle. It's nice to meet you!"
Rex as usual pushes me in front, he still pretty skittish in front of new people. so I start an introduction. "Hello, nice to meet you, I'm-."
Terry interrupts me to speak. "The Lucertola Twins, yes? Stella had told me a lot about you two. Mainly your brother."
"M-me?" Rex meekly squeaks out. Pointing at his face surprised.
"Word on the street is that you took down some cheats who were scaring Fighters with a fake monster. But I already heard your name before. You know the perfect score." Terry brings back that point.
"Not many people haven't heard his name for that last part." I sigh out. Why is he getting all of the attention… why not me!
"But, not just him. There's a lot of other fighters talking about your match." Terry points to me. Yay! "Don't forget that declaration you keep making at the end of your matches. Everyone keeps talking about it, you know?"
"Really! Yes, we did it, Rex! The Lucertola twins are making a name for themselves!" I cheer Loudly and proudly!
"Yeah…" Rex loses enthusiasm as he notices people are starting to stare at us.
"Oh, right! I almost forgot! I've got some good news for you…." Terry goes into detail of some sort of banking system, where we can basically have more than one of the same Vivosaur on our teams… it doesn't sound too interesting. But Terry also continues to explain the location of the Fighter Station, where matches will be held, and several other places on the Island. He then runs off.
"…How much of that did you actually listen to?" Rex directs this question at me. He already called me on my bored expression. "This isn't school. I'm not repeating anything that we were just told."
"What?!" He's the smart twin! I'm supposed to be able to copy his notes! "That isn't Fair!"
"Uh…" Before Rex could respond we over hear someone else talking.
"This CS Sonar is a right finicky device! It has to be practically on top of a Slablet to get a reading!" looking over it was a fat old dude, complaining about something. "I'd have to explore dig site in a slow, painstaking fashion, and I'm far too old for such tomfoolery. Also, I'm too fat to walk around for hours at a time. Perhaps it's time to lay off the pudding, wot wot?"
Before I could ignore this guy, I find Rex walking over to him. "Professor!"
"…eh?" whoever this professor guy is turns to Rex with surprise. "Oh, good heavens! If it isn't Rex! Brilliant! I was hoping you'd make it to Cranial Isle someday."
"Yes, I'm here with my twin sister. Sarah." Rex points to me. and with that I make my way over
"Hello, I'm his sister, Sarah Lucertola." I introduce myself.
"Ah, Nice to meet you. I'm Professor Scatterly, Curator of the Caliosteo Museum." Scatterly introduces himself as well. "So, how does Cranial City find you? Does it's unfamiliar layout confuse and befuddle you?"
"Yes." It doesn't take Rex a second to respond.
"Of course, it does for you! You've gotten lost while using a GPS for F-sake!" I yell at him.
"Yes, well, not to worry. I shall simply squire you about town as one scientific mind to another!" Squire? Wait he's a professor! Ah! I'm stuck with Two Egg heads now! Todd where are you when I need an escape route! The professor shows us around the city for a small bit of time. Until he finally leads us to another building. "And Here is the crown jewel of the Island, if I do say so myself… The Caliosteo Museum!"
"Ah! Nice!" Rex seems to be in a good mood now. "Ooh! Is this where the other Caliosteo Slablets are? Actually, speaking of Caliosteo Slablets, you said that the CS sonar had a small range. Would you mind if I could take a look at it? I might be able to increase its effective range."
"Of course! Not to mention it would be a shame to leave without a tour of the museum, eh?" as he says that I give Scatterly a skeptical look. "Since you're so close and all?"
Getting puppy dog eyes from Rex, I give in. "Okay Fine. But this better not take too much time away from Digging up fossils!"
With that, we head into the museum. Rex is immediately shown the sonar, and starts tinkering away at it. Meanwhile I'm left with the professor, where he starts going on about this museum. "This is Caliosteo museum, a Gallery of rare and wonderful discoveries made on the Caliosteo Islands! Yes, quite."
As he talks, My eyes land on two stone things. Their labeled, "Calio Slablets."
"Do your eyes spy my newest prize? The Calio Slablets, you see, are a curious set of tablets hewn from Dinosaur bones. I discovered one of these tablets a fair while back and found it contained a history of these islands. It claims the history of the long-lost Kingdom of Caliosteo." The professor started to explain it to me. "So far form the Slablets I've determined that this ancient kingdom was led be a mighty ruler named Zongazonga. Now, it seems this Zongazonga fellow was some manner of sorcerer who wielded spells of great power. He even had the power to Resurrect Dinosaurs from Fossils."
"okay?" I'm getting a lot of information in a short amount of time… I think I'm getting dizzy.
"Now this Calio Slablet. I obtained with the help of your brother, and his friend Todd." The professor points to the one on the right. "Now, since I still have yet to find all of them. It is difficult to understand what it means. So, far it said that there were competitions held for the right of a new Majestic Vessel. I am at a loss to explain the meaning of Majestic Vessel. Perhaps it simply means one who has qualities of leadership that befit a king? …Mmm, yes, quite."
"So, there are still more to be discovered?" I ask him.
"Yes," The professor says.
I notice in the corner of my eye that Rex just took off his goggle, meaning he finished. "Ah! It looks like Rex finished with the Sonar!"
"Oh, that is quite good." The Professor and I walk back over to Rex.
"Oh, here you go professor. The way you made it, it's very complex. so, I couldn't add anything too major, but I think I got the range up to ten to fifteen meters." Rex handed the strange sonar to Professor Scatterly.
"Thank you, my boy! As Payment would you like a viewing of the first Tablet that I acquired?"
"Sure!" Rex oddly seemed interested.
"Ugh… do we have to?" I groan, I just want to dig some fossils.
"Here I'll read it." Rex already moved between tables, and I could hear his eyes roll at my question. "*Ahem* 'The Kingdom of Caliosteo was ruled by Zongazonga. He was a sorcerer of overwhelming power and might. Such was his sorcery that when he issued a command, the people had no choice but to obey. He even used strange magics to resurrect ancient beasts from fossils.'"
"Quite nice, yes?" Scatterly said after Rex finished reading from the strange Slablet. "Of course, I'd give a kipper dinner if I could somehow find the full set of Slablets. They would give us an invaluable look at the full history of the islands, you see."
"I know, its curious of what these islands have to say. What amazing events that they've seen." Rex smiles brightly at this.
"I say, just the thought of it is enough to make my heart go pitty-pat!" Scatterly laughs
"But I think we should focus on the present competition. Our opponents will just keep getting tougher, so should we." I say, we are wasting perfectly good sunlight.
"Yes, well. The Caliosteo Museum is always open. Science never sleeps, wot wot?" it seems that we can finally leave now. "If you wish to know the history of these Islands, feel free to pop in for a spot of tea and a lecture."
"Yes, but we really need to get going." At hearing the word lecture, I start pushing Rex out the door. "Nice meeting you again."
Once out the door Rex says to me, "You really don't like science, don't you?"
"Shut up." I say as I head over to the volcano area. "You coming or what?"
Time: 12:30
Location: Mount Krakanak
After going through events that seemed like forever, me and Rex finally made it to the dig site. Through Rex's complaints of the heat due to the lava, we also met back up with Todd. So far, we've found many rocks that we haven't seen before. With those special skills I got earlier, I could tell that they are fire elementals.
"Ooh! I found a new one! I wonder if it's T-Rex!" I squeal as I find another fire type, Fire is my favorite element. And I know it likes me, why else would most of my cooking become a fiery mess?
"There's probably one round here somewhere. Go head! Throw it down anywhere. Let's see what we can find!" Todd cheers.
"… I knew you were her by the way the air suddenly filled with high-pitched squeals of delight." We all look over to find Rupert. He's accompanied by a robot…
"Rupert! Are you looking for fossil rocks for Round Three?" Todd quickly questions.
"What's the robot for?" Rex ignores a greeting and is immediately interested with the robot.
"Please. Don't sully me with such accusations." Rupert says with a disgusted expression.
"Excuse me! What did we accuse you of?" I say to him. Ugh, why does he think he can act so stuck up.
"My Vivosaurs are already skilled enough to win Round Three with little trouble." Ugh… I wish I could wipe that smug expression of his cu-, dumb face. "No, I simply came here to run some field tests on a new product."
"Ooh! Is this robot, something new for Fossil Fighting?" Rex's eyes are full of sparkles.
"Yes, this is Di66-R, an automated excavation tool recently developed by FossilDig, Inc." Rupert moved to the side.
The Robot moved forward and spun around. "Good day, sir or madam. I am Di66-R."
"This robot contains built-in sonar and has the ability to locate and excavate fossil rocks automatically." Rupert starts to explain the function. Before looking to me and Todd. "Don't give me that expression. This is a new product, never seen before."
"eh… knowing your company, I could have kind have guessed." Wow, even Rex is sore that he couldn't explain it. "… but it is your company."
Rupert seemed to sigh. "moving on. It is an important product for our company, which is why my father asked me to perform the field tests. The sales potential of Di66-R is almost limitless. When Fighters see what it can do…"
Kaboom
A slight explosion went off inside of the robot. "Di66-R will b-b-be release-s-s-sed! W-w-welcome, sir! Go, madam! I am… I am-m-m-m-m… PLEASE INSTER TOKEN! YOUR CALL IS IMPORTANT TO US! I AM ERROR!"
All of a sudden it falls to the ground unmoving. "…"
"Oh, what now?" Rupert starts to move closer to it.
"Rupert wait!" as Rex yells this. I try to grab Rupert and move him back.
"404 PAGE NOT FOUND! BAD COMAND OR FILE NAME! ABORT RETRY FAIL!" I was too late the robot had already jumbed up, knocking Rupert to the ground.
"No…. No! No, no, no, no, no!" Rupert cries form the ground. "That idiot robot just ran off with my Dino Medals! And it's programed with an automatic Fossil Battle System! I must stop it!"
As Rupert tries to get up, he falls back to the ground. Todd and Rex run over to help him. "Don't try to move you took a real pounding there."
"That's a sprained ankle if I ever seen one." Rex comments, "And I've had one."
"Don't you see? If Di66-R starts randomly battling strangers with my Vivosaurs, there will be chaos!" Rupert is right… If it attacks random people things will go bad. "The reputation of my father's company would be stained forever! I have to… I must… Gnnnh!"
As I look at Rupert falling down, I see a past memory. I hesitate at first, but I start chasing after the robot.
"Sarah!" I get a call from Rex.
"I know!" I shout back. This is incredibly stupid, and not to mention dangerous. But I am doing this!
It takes some time following after it. Damn that thing is fast. But I finally catch back up to it. "Hey are you as good at battles as Rupert, or just as you are able to run away."
The robot turned and looked at me. "Green alert! Fighter located-ed-ed! Battle system i-i-i-initiated."
Three medals get launched from the bot: A Krypto, a Tophis, and a Brachio. So, I toss out three of my own: Aeros, Raja, and my new addition Spino. Rex was very kind in donating me some DP to get the fossils for it, though he refused to clean it for me… But even so, it's my time to shine, and I have the speed on my side! My FP charges up to Ninety. "Spino! Spino Blow!"
As my FP falls to twenty the life on the Krypto also fall to below half! But also ends my turns as it goes to the robot… Funny, the robot has a lower level than me… And the team is different from Rupert's normal team. So, these must be some fossils he recently revived. Well that makes this easier. But the robot continues. "ERROR! ERROR! Krypto Fang!"
Ah! Again Spino! Though Spino didn't lose much health it was still a good hit. But the turn falls back to me and the Recharge sets me at One hundred ten FP. "Grr… Spino Blow again!"
With that the Krypto fell, giving the robot one-sixty FP and the turn. With it reaching the max of Two-twenty. "ERROR! ERROR! Mountain Wave!"
With that one hit it was able to finish off Spino… damn it, now I get a lot more FP, I should be able to get two attacks of now. "Raja Rage! Aeros Fang attack! Both on Brachio!"
With those two attacks the Brachio Fell. Giving the robot another Max of Two-twenty. "ERROR! ERROR! Snake bite!"
What? I'm sure it has more powerful moves! But fine with me my Vivosaurs barely took any damage. Now I was at one thirty FP, only one attack. "Aeros Wind Blast!"
With that the Tophis also fell. "ERROR! ERROR! SYSTEM FAILURE DETECTED! A WINNER IS YOU! REBOOT! REBOOT! REBOOT!"
CLANG!
The robot then fell to the floor. Then I heard cheering from behind me. "Woo, Sarah! Way to go!"
"Never doubted you for a second, sis." I see Rex, Todd, and Rupert coming towards me.
"You… did it? You stopped the robot?" Rupert looked at me surprised.
"What didn't think that I could handle it?" I give him a smug expression.
"Err, yes, well… I mean to say…" Rupert then clears his throat. "You should not have taken matters into your own hands! As you most definitely saw, Di66-R didn't have my usual team. I'm sure I could have dealt with it myself."
"What?!" As I start to get angry Rex and Todd grab on to me.
"Still, I suppose you… did save my father's company from complete financial ruin." Rupert expression slightly changed. "I thank you for that. When we launch Di66-R, I shall see to it that you receive the very first one."
"Nah, I'll decline on that." Knowing that he's thankful is enough for me.
"Come now. There is no reason for hesitation." Rupert now was confused by me. "This is what field test are for. With proper modifications, it will never do such a thing again."
"Ooh! Rupert, can I look and see what went wrong?" Rex quickly digs out his tool kit.
"Um, sure…" Rupert seemed slightly worried about rex breaking it… "But, you… you will accept one, won't you?"
"No." I once again shake my head.
"I… I don't understand." Rupert now looked incredibly confused.
"For a smart guy, you're really kind of dumb. You know that?" Todd started to smile. I think he understands why I declined. "We don't want a robot because it would take all the fun out of it! No Fighter wants someone sales to dig up fossil rocks. They want to do it themselves! Right?"
Not exactly what I was hoping for, but that is another good reason. "Sure."
"… unscrew here… check wiring here…." Rex was no longer paying attention.
"…It's… fun? …Fun. Hmm…" Rupert was now taking a thinking pose.
"Eureka! I found the problem!" I heard Rex cheer off to the side. "small coding mistake, it just couldn't regulate the inside temperature correctly. If it was any other place, I doubt it would malfunction the way it did."
"Is that so…" Rupert said with a new thinking face. "Rex May I ask for your help in fixing Di66-R?"
"Sure!" I saw an excited smile on Rex's face
"Wait what about preparing for the competition?!" Todd exclaimed as Rex got ready to move.
"All I really wanted was a good Neutral type. And I found some fossil parts earlier for one." Rex said, "So I'll clean them later."
"But!" Todd tried to stop them once more.
"Todd let him go." I place my hand on his shoulder. "Because it gives me a chance to catch up, to Rex. So, let's hunt until night!"
"Alright!" That got Todd fired up even more.