Chapter Thirteen

The raptors continued to close in. Every now and then, a new one would leap from the bushes, and scare the Ornithomimus into turning, and heading for the trap that the raptors had so cleverly devised.

And Calvin and Hobbes were riding the two leading Ornithomimuses.

"What do we do, now?" Hobbes asked.

"Watch!" Calvin grinned.

He took a small spherical yellow object with a red button on top out of his pocket.

"I brought my Time Pauser!" He called. "We're saved!"

"Oh terrific." Hobbes said. "We escaped one danger just to fall victim to another."

Calvin reached into his pocket, and pulled out another object. This object was new. It was a small chrome colored medallion.

"Here Hobbes! Catch!"

Calvin threw the disc at Hobbes, and Hobbes caught it.

"What's this?" He asked.

"It's a prototype for another one of my inventions." Calvin called. "However, it's can't be fully introduced until the Thanksgiving special has aired on our television show."

"That gives us something to look forward to." Hobbes said, rolling his eyes.

Calvin hit the button on the Time Pauser.

BOOM!

The white shockwave that shot out from the Time Pauser traveled out, but didn't hit Hobbes. So Hobbes and his Ornithomimus fell into Time Stop along with Calvin and his Ornithomimus.

The boom panicked the Ornithomimuses, and they ran even faster, unaware that their herd and the raptors had suddenly frozen in mid step.

Calvin steered the Ornithomimus into the woods, past two raptors lying in wait for the herd, and onward into the forest.

Hobbes followed.

After Calvin and Hobbes had gotten a good mile between them and the raptors, Calvin started time back up, bringing him, Hobbes and the two Ornithomimuses back into time.

"Hobbes throw me that prototype!" Calvin called.

Hobbes tossed the disc at Calvin.

Calvin caught it, and put it away into his pack.

"Alright." Calvin said. "We can get off these guys, now."

Calvin climbed off of the Ornithomimus. Hobbes followed suit.

"Alright." Calvin said. "I'm pretty sure the raptor's plans failed."

"How come?" Hobbes asked.

"Well, the shock of two of the Ornithomimuses vanishing. I'm sure that sent them running."

Calvin turned to the two Ornithomimuses.

"They should be able to find their herd. It can't be very far from here." he said.

"Alright." Hobbes said. "Can we go home, now?"

"We haven't gotten any pictures of T. Rex!" Calvin yelled. "We still have to do that ya know!"

"No comment." Hobbes said, turning to the audience.

"Come on!" Calvin yelled. "We have one day to examine the wildlife until the meteorite strikes the Earth and kills everything off!"

Hobbes looked at the sky.

"What time will the meteor hit, tomorrow?" He asked.

"Five o'clock." Calvin said.

"Mmm-hmm." Hobbes said. "What time is it?"

Calvin checked his watch.

"It's eleven in the morning." He said.

"Alright." Hobbes said. "At four forty five, tomorrow, I want to leave here, for good."

"Sounds reasonable." Calvin said. "Very well."

Calvin and Hobbes shook hands on it.

"Alrighty." Calvin said. "Now then, we were originally looking for Triceratops."

"Yup." Hobbes said.

"The only reason they weren't at the edge of the forest is because the raptors were there." Calvin said.

"Uh huh."

"Come on, let's go check out the water hole on the left side of the forest.

Calvin and Hobbes hiked across the dense forests looking for the water hole.

"How do you know where it is?" Hobbes asked suddenly.

Calvin's eyes blanked out.

"I don't." He said.

Hobbes made a grab for the MTM, but Calvin leapt from the way.

"Look, Hobbes, I'll just use the MTM.

Calvin went into the MTM.

Digital Map Activated

...Please Wait...

A light shot out of the MTM, and started scanning the immediate area.

Preparing Map

the light scanned Calvin, Hobbes, the trees around them, and everything else.

Calvin and Hobbes waited.

Then, the hologram changed.

It was color coded. There was a red dot in the middle of a green mass.

Calvin explained that meant that they were in the middle of the forest.

Calvin examined the map, and then spotted a lake two miles due west.

"Alright!" Calvin declared. "Let's go!"

Calvin and Hobbes turned, and started walking in the direction of the lake.

After about five minutes, they ran into more trouble.

What can one expect?


After a while, the thick brush and many trees mysteriously disappeared, after a few minutes of walking, and Calvin and Hobbes found themselves walking in clear, open terrain.

"Hmm," Calvin said. "That's odd. The forest isn't supposed to end for another mile. Where'd it go?"

"It's all over the place." Hobbes squeaked.

Calvin examined the area.

Fallen trees littered the landscape. And for once, we can blame humans.

"That's weird." Calvin observed.

He walked over to a fallen tree, and examined it.

Then he scanned it with the MTM.

Numbers flashed across the MTM's holographic screen. Then a message came up.

This is a tree.

Calvin stared at the message.

Angrily, he retyped the orders.

The numbers flashed across the screen again. Then another message came up

Probably in the "fallen" variety.

Calvin typed in another message.

HOW DID IT FALL, YOU MORON!

Numbers flashed across the screen again. Then another message came up.

Well, why didn't you just say so?

More numbers raced across the screen. Then one more message came on.

The following was caused by a Tyrannosaurus Rex

Hobbes stared at the message.

"Calvin?" He asked, calmly.

"Yes, Hobbes?"

"We're in T. Rex turf aren't we?"

"Yes, Hobbes."

"Mm-hmm."

"Don't worry, Hobbes." Calvin said. "T. Rex's territory has been known to cover a five mile radius. Rexy's probably over on the north side."

At that very moment, there was a loud trumpeting roar.

"Tah." Hobbes said, smacking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Guess who's here?"

Calvin rolled his eyes around.

The sound of loud stomps filled their ears. The ground shook, and several birds sailed out of some trees.

Yep, he was getting closer.

"This trip isn't going at all as I expected it too." Calvin sighed, shaking his head.