The Jeep drove through the mud in Theropod Kingdom, with the three Allosaurus running alongside. The Jeep stopped to near a forest clearing, and Drew, Leon and Cynthia looked at each other; they, with the allosaurs' help, had tracked the Giganotosaurus to approximately this area.
Getting out of the Jeep, with Leon gesturing to the allosaurs to stay back, they entered the clearing. They went quiet as, one by one, the gigas entered the clearing; the alpha sniffed the air and scanned the clearing. Squinting, Drew, Cynthia and Leon saw Terry and Gigas, the two juvenile T-rex, trying to stay hidden, as the alpha Giganotosaurus caught the scent and began to advance remorselessly towards to where the two juveniles were. The three humans looked at each other, terrified; they couldn't call the allosaurs in for fear of injuring the juveniles and they didn't have any tranqs…
Suddenly, the two male albertosaurs burst out of the clearing and began snapping at the large Giganotosaurus. The two males stood in front of the juvenile T-rexes, shielding them with their own bodies. The Giganotosaurus lunged at one of the smaller theropods, who quickly dodged out of the way; the other used the distraction to bite the end of the alpha Giganotosaurus' tail, inflicting an injury. Eventually, with a series of snaps and hisses, the two male tyrannosaurs drove the Giganotosaurus off. The Giganotosaurus hissed in displeasure and stalked out of the clearing. Leon's eyes widened, "They're headed to Mesozoic Safaris."
Drew turned to Leon and Cynthia, "You guys mop things up in this section; I'll go after the gigas myself. The herbivores might freak out seeing the allosaurs; also, there's a risk the gigas' smell the allosaurs coming. I'll go on foot; I don't want them hearing the Jeep. Once you guys are done, come to Mesozoic Safaris; I'll send you my location."
Drew jumped out of the Jeep and began following the tracks of the giant theropods. After about ten minutes of tracking, he blundered into a clearing… and immediately regretted it. Looking around, he realised that he had almost bumped into the entire Giganotosaurus pack. The giant theropods stood in the clearing alpha raised its head and turned to look at Drew, who gulped; perhaps this hadn't been a good idea after all…
Drew stood, rooted to the spot as the alpha Giganotosaurus before him scanned the clearing; he did not want the packs to notice him. He breathed a sigh of relief when the theropods ignored him. Now, he could get a look at it in greater detail. It looked an intimidating sight and, before it, Drew felt as insignificant as a mouse. Drew began to slowly back away from the giant, in the hope that it, occupied with its current kill, wouldn't notice him. Suddenly, the theropod paused and sniffed the air, before turning its head to look at him. Drew went rigid; he'd been found.
The alpha let out a low roar, before turning towards Drew, regarding him with a vicious coldness. The gigas moved, slowly and surely, toward him, its massive strides meaning that it was quickly covering the distance towards him. There was only one sensible thing to do. Run.
He turned and sprinted out of the clearing. The pack, their prey drive activated, took off after him. Suddenly, Drew's foot hit a rock and he fell, landing on the walkie-talkie. Drew, tired and bruised, turned back to look at his pursuers, now advancing towards him; whilst their average top speed was slower than his, they had a longer stride length. He stood no chance,
He couldn't help but chuckle at the irony. After surviving a mass extinction, this would be how it ended for him, eaten by Giganotosaurus; a death he'd so narrowly avoided once before. The Giganotosaurus hissed and snapped at him periodically and was beginning to get closer and closer to them. Drew sat down, almost in defeat and hung his head; at least the end would come soon.
However, he noticed that something was wrong; the Giganotosaurus, despite having their prey surrounded, were acting hesitant and nervous, as if attacking further would invoke the wrath of something…
Suddenly, a loud, hooting bellow echoed through the air, to which the entire Giganotosaurus pack went silent. All creatures turned to see Lightning came charging down the hill, eventually standing between Drew and the entire theropod pack, who snapped and hissed at him in response. Suddenly, the sauropod bellowed again, to which a crescendo of bellows echoes in response.
A phalanx of Triceratops, Torosaurus, Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus came heading down the hill and circled Drew protectively, presenting the Giganotosaurus with a barricade of horns, armour and tail spikes to get through. Not wanting to give up their kill, the Giganotosaurus hissed at this scene. However, Lightning reared up on his hind legs and brought them down with such force that the ground around it shook. Four of the Giganotosaurus turned tail and ran; this was not worth the challenge.
The alpha Giganotosaurus, had remained, stubbornly refusing to give up on its meal. It hissed and snapped defiantly at the intimidating phalanx; an attempt to voice resistance to what lay before it. Lightning replied with a bellow so loud it almost deafened everything around it; the other herbivores responded in kind. Quietened by this display, the Giganotosaurus slunk off in defeat. Once he was sure that the last giga was gone, Lightning lowered his head, as if to check if Drew was OK. Drew sighed and said, "Yeah, I am, big guy." Lifting his walkie-talkie, he said, "Cynthia, Leon, I'm sending you my co-ordinates now; found the gigas, had a bit of trouble… I'll tell you when you get there."
Meanwhile, Sharptooth was roaming through Theropod Kingdom, following an interesting scent that had taken his attention. Sniffing through a forest clearing, he had noticed the scent of other theropods in the area. Sniffing through the clearing further, he noticed the smell of three animals; one adult and two youngsters. These were not tyrannosaurs, but they were some kind of large theropod. His strategic mind decided that they should be dealt with in that moment. Killing them was not a senseless act of violence, like a human serial killer; rather, it was pragmatism.
When large predators existed in the same environments, food, space and water were at a premium. This led to relentless and vicious competition, with each trying to get a step ahead of the competitors. Anyone who thought war was unique to humans would have been proven horribly wrong.
Sharptooth knew this well. If a tyrannosaur came upon a lone dromaeosaur, it would be killed. In a similar vein, if a dromaeosaur happened upon tyrannosaur eggs or chicks, they would be destroyed; the bodies would be left where they lay. This even extended to their own kind; if Sharptooth came upon an unrelated nest of tyrannosaur chicks, he would kill them. It was a way of eliminating future competition. Scanning the clearing, he worked out their location; he caught a glimpse of two, tiny cowering shapes in a large log. He advanced towards the log, his jaws open in an anticipatory hiss…
Suddenly, a shape ran out from the trees and slammed into him, knocking the wind out of him. Recovering quickly, Sharptooth turned and snarled at the new arrival. It was a theropod, about half his size. There was a vague resemblance to a tyrannosaur, only with longer legs and arms, with three-fingered hands. The build was thinner, like some kind of oversized dromaeosaur. The muzzle was narrower and there were two horns above the eyebrows. She stood in front of the log and hissed defiantly at him.
Balerion did not know what this strange new, giant creature was. All she knew was that it was threatening her offspring… and she had to drive it off. The giant roared at her, to which Balerion roared back. Diving forward, Balerion lunged for Sharptooth's neck; however, she miscalculated and he dodged the blow, and with a speed that belied his massive bulk, sent his massive head swinging into her chest, sending her flying to the ground. Getting to her feet, she batted the larger theropod across the flank, leaving three long gashes.
Quickly recovering from the injury, Sharptooth roared indignantly, to which Balerion roared in response. The two theropods charged each other head-on and began a violent shoving match; after a few seconds, Sharptooth won, pushing her forward. He then lowered his head and headbutted her in her centre of gravity, sending her tumbling to the floor. Getting to the ground, Balerion sank her teeth into Sharptooth's tail, causing him to roar in pain. However, he managed to struggle free from the allosaur's teeth and, with a kick to the torso, sent her flying to the ground, leaving her with three scars on her flank.
After recovering from the kick, Balerion, whilst outsized, dodged an attempted bite, and lunged for Sharptooth's leg, preparing to bite him. However, Sharptooth anticipated the ambush and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying to the floor. Downed, but not out, Balerion stood to her feet weakly, stood in front of the log containing her offspring and hissed defiantly; she would defend her offspring to the death.
Looking at the injured allosaur, a strange feeling came over Sharptooth; a feeling of… boredom. Somehow, there was just no challenge in this fight; it felt like a bit of a waste of time. Hunger was the greater priority at the moment; this had simply been a detour. A detour that simply was not worth the trouble; he decided to concede this victory to her. He snarled irritably and loped off.
Balerion, watching the giant theropod leave, panted, injured but alive. She had, somehow, managed to survive against this, much larger, opponent. She looked at the log where her offspring were; they were safe, at least. She decided to stick by them; they needed all the protection they could get tonight.
