AN: I'm on a role!
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In Prehistoric Arizona, the team has found another shark. Unfortunately, its lodged itself between several hard to move clams. And unlike the team, it can stay down here forever: even with the scuba gear, the team can only stay submerged for a most 45 minutes, and that time is growing shorter by the minute.
The team shares a look of confusion, unable to decide what to do: trying to coax out the shark by hand runs the risk of injury, but prodding it with a tool runs the risk of harming the shark. Add to this a lack of knowledge over how the shark will react to modern bait, and the team is at a loss to how to deal with this problem.
Except for one.
While the others stare at the shark, Sean slowly rises back toward the boat, stopping only to allow the air in his blood to equalize. During this break, he takes the opportunity to examine his air, then watch the team begin to cruise around the reef, looking for the remnants of prior residents of this sea: perhaps a prehistoric prize will win the predator's trust. In their haste, the team has yet to notice they are missing one of their own.
Sighing, Sean finally surfaces, then talks to the crew. After a moment, they had him a large fish, one far larger than the shark would be able to eat. Still, the deck crew trusts Sean in this situation and is willing to let him enact his plan. Thanking them, he dives back beneath the waves, eventually reaching his team, who have been unsuccessful in their attempts to locate bait. They can only stare on in surprise as they notice their protégé/brother return, stunned and slightly ashamed that they failed to notice his departure. Ignoring this, Sean quickly retrieves the portal device before approaching the shark's hiding place.
Activating the portal, Sean quickly pulls out a dagger, of all things, from his belt. Before the group can react, he quickly makes a gash through the left gills of his fish carcass, releasing crimson blood into the water. After letting the blood filter out for a moment, he chucks the corpse into the portal, blood still pouring into the ocean.
A moment later, the shark darts out of hiding and disappears into the portal, soon followed by a horde of others. As the last one sneaks through, bits of fish scales begin to filter through from the present to the past, only for Sean to force them back through before closing the portal.
It appears Sean has solved the problem.
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Unnoticed by the team, a larger predator watches on. It resembles a shark, but at the same time, there are differences: namely, its jaws are more akin to shears, with only a single row of teeth on each jaw. Such a bite would be rather messy, and leave the prey bleeding profusely, assuming the attack was successful, of course.
The giant carnivore was not alone: a small mob of its kind had been attracted to the sight of the humans. The humans had initially surprised the predators, but fear and surprise had soon been replaced with hunger. For some time, they had been following the humans, waiting for an opportunity to present itself, nut none had come. Even the male heading for the surface had been safe from attack, for the predators had been distracted by a smaller fish when he had surfaced, giving him all the time he needed to find shelter. Now, they were back to square one.
Still, they could wait. Opportunities were fleeting, but they were also common. Only one slip up and a meal would be theirs.
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Back at the park, the staff are busy examining their new charges.
In the aquatic pens, Ted is watching the new set of sharks finish off the last of the snapper. With nothing left to eat, the predators rapidly disperse, leaving only a few bones, scales, and a blood cloud as remains of their meal. Nearby, the first set of sharks is lounging in their holding pens, bellies full of the park's room service.
"So, what came through this time?" asks one of the staff.
"Glikmanius," replies Ted, "one of the more 'normal' looking sharks from the Carboniferous, in contrast to our first arrivals of the day, Orodus. So far, only two types of sharks, but more are coming, I can feel it."
"Well, they can't be worse the Megalodon, can they?"
The duo share a laugh at this, preventing them from motcing the shape of Terence staring at them in the distance. After a fair amount of walking, he's arrived at the docks. Their lack of awareness is all that keeps the rex from being noticed as he quickly takes shelter behind some trees, careful to avoid being noticed. The docks my smell of fish, but Terence is unwilling to search for food so close to where there are keepers who might return him to his exhibit: the risk does not match the reward. Soon, he begins to move further down the shoreline, eager to seek an easy meal.
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Back in the past, the team is once again on the move.
While they may have had some luck searching for sharks, it's becoming more and more obvious that the only way to find the sharks is going farther into the sea. No one bothers to offer a counterargument, for the simple fact is that they have none. It isn't long before the Mariner is on the move again, this time toward the open ocean. Maybe their they will find more sharks.
And as the team exits advances further into the sea, they fail to notice the rising number of fins breaking the surface behind them, which are advancing toward them yet still keeping their distance, almost as if they are waiting for something to go wrong...
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AN: Read, Review and Vote on the poll! This is Flameal15k, signing off!
