Chapter Three
Opening Ceremonies
Three Months Later, Indominus Raptor Paddock..
Sarina sighed as she saw Nick sitting against the railing of the walkway overlooking his raptors, the dinos in question all looking up at him. Sarina looked at her watch and realized it was feeding time for them, and apparently Nick was actually passed out where he sat. Shaking her head, she saw the bucket of rats and the clicker Nick had used when they had still been tiny. Now the seven hybrids were about half the size of Blue, with Ichigo being bigger still than his siblings. Going over to the bucket, she saw Sakura tilt her head and purr at the woman, making her smile that the raptor bonded to her as well as Nick. Ichigo jumped, and actually reached the bottom of the walkway, but went back down to the others when he saw the stern look on Sarina's face.
"Eyes up." She said, and seven heads raised up to look at her. "Good job. Line up and you get your lunch." The seven raptors formed a horizontal line. "You guys are so behaved for killing machines. Alright Sakura, here you go." She tossed a rat to the pink raptor, repeating the process with the others, leaving Ichigo for last, as she had seen Owen do with his raptors. As Ichigo caught the rat, Naruto attempted to snap it from Ichigo. "Naruto! Don't give me that shit." Naruto sensed the warning in her words and relented, albeit reluctantly. "Good boy. Now eyes up." All seven responded by looking at Sarina.
Holding her hand up, she threw it down. "Go!" The dinosaurs scattered except for Ichigo, who looked quizzically at Nick. Sarina giggled. "Go ahead. Wake him up, boy." Ichigo wagged his tail and pounced up, headbutting Nick's dangling feet and causing him to wake up.
"What happened?" He looked and saw Ichigo barking as he ran off. Hearing a laugh next to him, Nick then saw Sarina. "Hey. Did I fall asleep up here again?" Nick had begun falling asleep at the paddock a month earlier, when Naruto became unusually vicious towards Ichigo.
"Yeah. Naruto still being bad with Ichigo?" Sarina asked.
"Occasionally. What brought you out here? Other than to apparently feed these guys for me." He smirked at her.
Sarina rolled her eyes. "I came to get you because the opening ceremonies are about to start, and I know you don't want to miss Alan Grant before he decides to get the hell back off of the island." That got Nick up and walking off. "Don't leave me here though!" Sarina cried, laughing as she caught up to Nick and laced her fingers with his.
Nick smiled as he squeezed her hand. "Listen, Sarina.."
"Don't get all sentimental on me, idiot. I forgave you for back then, and you even said last month you wanted us to take things a little slower this time around."
"I know.." Nick hung his head as they boarded the monorail, which had a new track built up to connect the now Raptor attraction to the rest of the main park. "I just feel like things are going too well right now to stay going well. I'm not hesitating over you. I wouldn't have even wanted to propose to you four years ago if I had."
Sarina smiled. "You never would have had the balls, honey."
"You know I would have. I distinctly remember a certain moaned proclamation from back then."
Sarina gasped, knowing exactly what Nick was talking about. "You're really bringing that up? You had me weak that day."
"I always had you weak. And more than sated."
"Yes, you did. Honestly I wonder if you could even replicate that now. It has been four years." She giggled as the monorail stopped at the Main Street platform. "Now enough bed talk. It's a big day for the park." Nodding, the two made their way to the podium, but only because Claire wanted both raptor handlers there with her and the other guests of honor. Looking out into the crowd, Nick groaned as a face smirked at him from several rows of visitors back.
"What is it, Nick?" Sarina asked, letting out a small squeak as Nick pulled her closer to him.
"Nothing, Rina, just nervous I guess." He smiled at her as Claire, now starting to show in her pregnancy, stepped up to the podium.
"Welcome, everyone, to the grand reopening of Jurassic World. After the circumstances which caused the park to close almost two years ago, Masrani Global and iNGen have taken new measures to ensure absolutely nothing goes wrong. I am Claire Dearing, and I am the one responsible for running the park as well as making sure our genetics labs are in top form for the work needed here. Here with us are several.. Well, survivors of previous disasters involving this island, the park and our sister island Isla Sorna, which is now a preserve for the dinosaurs that freely inhabit it. I'd like to call paleontologist and old family friend Alan Grant to the podium. I believe he has written a little something he'd like to say. Doctor Grant?"
Alan Grant, even in his now mid-fifties or so, surprisingly still had a full head of sandy brown hair and was now sporting a growing beard. He smiled and waved at the crowd. "Good afternoon, everyone. Almost twenty-five years ago now, a man named John Hammond invited me and several colleagues to this beautiful island, showcasing his idea of a biological preserve and semi-theme park full of creatures that may or may not truly have a place in this modern world of ours. Unfortunately, the trip turned into a nightmare as old Rexy broke out of her paddock and killed Hammond's lawyer and injuring my dear albeit annoying friend Ian Malcolm. In addition, the pack of I believe five velociraptors also broke out and would have finally killed all of us still alive after the tropical storm that caused the fences to go down. However, we were saved by Rexy, whose motives for saving us humans from fellow dinosaurs are still unknown to me.
"Despite the hardships that fateful weekend, all of us who came to Isla Nublar enjoyed the stay otherwise. What Hammond did was create a theme park of genetically bred monsters, but it was still such a beautiful place. After surveying the park with Ms. Dearing, I can say that Jurassic World is the realized dream John Hammond had, even if there were some circumstances that hopefully shall not be repeated. I look forward to staying here for the next week or so, as a paleontologist the prospect of safely learning about these creatures as Claire has made possible, and maybe enjoying that little vacation the late John Hammond intended us to have all those years ago. And I hope you all enjoy your own stay here. Thank you." The entire crowd clapped, and Sarina nudged Nick's shoulder as she noticed he was about to start crying, for whatever reason she didn't know.
Claire took the stand again. "Thank you, Dr. Grant. Next, I would like to welcome up John Hammond's grandchildren Lex and Tim Murphy, who will also be staying on the island full-time as our head of system maintenance and Tyrannosaur handler, respectively." As she stepped back away, a man and woman in their mid to late thirties stepped up, the woman motioning for the man to speak.
"Hey, everyone. I'm Tim Murphy, and like Alan, my sister and I also survived the original park's destruction twenty-five years ago. Our grandfather put everything he had into this park, and I for one am proud to be here, even though I have the job of making sure old Rexy and her offspring are well taken care of at the risk of possibly going down the big girl's throat," Time chuckled, causing some of the crowd to join in. "My sister and I have also donated the funds necessary to build a new building that will serve as a better dinosaur vet clinic than the back of the genetics lab. That's all for us, please enjoy your stay and feeding time for Rexy will be explained in detail in the program brochures."
Claire came back up to the stand. "Thank you Tim, Lex. I'm sure your grandfather would be proud. Next we have a man some people would call a condescending jerk, but he is great still. Please welcome Ian Malcolm." There was applause as Malcolm took the stand, sunglasses on his face and his signature black leather jacket.
"Afternoon, everyone. I don't really know what to say, being as how I promised myself never to get involved with these islands again after San Diego in ninety-seven. But, I agree with Dr. Grant about the beauty. They served as the proof, even if it was denied ever happened, that chaos theory is quite real. Life finds a way, and I have come not only as a surveyor, but as a patron. Please, enjoy your stay."
Claire walked back up to podium. "Thank you for the consideration to come here, Dr. Malcolm. Now, I'm sure everyone here would like to actually enjoy however long we have daylight today. In one hour, there will be a lecture about our two newest attractions at their shared paddock by their handlers," Nick's eyes widened. He hadn't heard anything about a lecture. "And maybe theyll put on a show. These animals are pretty flashy." She looked over at Owen, who was holding his hand over his mouth stifling a laugh. "And that will be followed up at the now bigger T-Rex Kingdom where we now have a family of rexes instead of just old Rexy. As operations manager, I welcome you all to Jurassic World!" With that, she held that tacky giant set of scissors and cut the single ribbon barrier put across the stage, cheering heard from the crowd. The redhead turned to Nick and the others.
"Thank god that part is over. Now, you all better head back to the paddock. Both of you are to tell them everything we know about raptors in general, and then everything about the I-raptors. As of yet, Henry doubts the I-raptors will show any abilities as the Rex did. So for now we have what we need to show them off. And Nick's raptors don't mind guests." She smirked at Nick, knowing all of his raptors had a second figure other than him that kept the little devils in line. Sakura and for the most part Ichigo listened to Sarina as well as Claire. Owen didn't count because they gave him the respect he gave them, and because their sister pack listened to him without question.
"That's all well and good when it's us staff, but strangers? There is no way they'll stay behaved. Ichigo will probably try the fence again, and Naruto will be a hyper little shit."
"Then you can explain each raptor's quirks. Give the people a sense of humor for your animals." Claire smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Fine. Come on, Rina." Sarina snickered as she took his arm and headed into the monorail car, followed by Owen, Grant, Malcolm and Tim. Sarah Harding was also present, but it seemed Lex had something else she wanted to get to before trying to enjoy herself and Claire had to stay for the tour of the new Innovation Center. Before the door could close, however, a woman with dark red hair and green eyes stepped into the car.
Nick noticed her first and cursed. "Fuck, how did you even know I was here, of all places Megan?!"
'Megan' smirked at him. "I always know where you are. We're connected, you and I."
Nick pinched his nose. "It was one night three years ago. I told you it meant nothing, that I was in a bad place and needed to let loose. You're the one who's obsessed with me. And if you haven't noticed, I already have someone." He squeezed Sarina's hand.
"And where did you find her? The junkyard?" Everyone in the monorail car had wide eyes as they looked to Sarina, who tried to tug away from Nick.
"The fuck did you just say?!" Sarina shouted, enraged.
Ian turned to Alan and Sarah. "We aren't even at the dinosaurs yet and there's a fight for dominance." Sarah and Grant rolled their eyes at the chaotician.
"You're not that good looking, if you need me to dumb it down." Nick lost his grip and Sarina lunged at Megan, landing a punch and sending them both to the floor of the train.
Nick grabbed the walkie on his vest. "Control, we have a fight in Monorail sixteen, security to intercept at Raptor Forest." Claire had insisted on the name for the paddock and two square mile plot of jungle the park had laid out for all the Raptors to run in, cameras set up in an observation room close to the paddock for visitors to watch the high-speed dinosaurs in their element. "Repeat, security to intercept at Raptor Forest."
"Security will be there when you arrive. Contain until arrival if possible." Came Lowery's voice.
Then Claire's own voice sounded. "What the hell happened?! Its not been five minutes, Nick!"
"I know. Let's just say my past loves to fuck with me. And tell Ava that Sarina will be fine, just maybe bruised by the looks of it." Nick said before he stepped in, nodding for Owen to help him separate the fighting women.
After bringing both girls away from each other, Nick sighed. "I don't want you like that, Megan. I'm with Sarina, get over it. Security will deal with you when we get to the paddock."
Megan stayed silent as the monorail reached the paddock. Sakura must have known something had happened with Sarina, as she came up to the fence and chirped. Sarina smiled and put her hand on the pink raptor's snout. "I'm alright, girl." She said as Malcolm walked up next to her.
"These are the hybrid raptors, right?" He asked to Sarina nodding. "Very colorful bunch. Are all of them as seemingly tamed as this one?"
"Her name is Sakura, and no. The others are usually more hostile, especially Talion, the dark green with the red pattern. He doesn't like many people, and it's worse if he can't see Talia, the yellow one with purple striping. They hatched together, so they have that bond."
Malcolm nodded. "So they're not all girls like they usually hatch? Strange time to change that. Who's the leader of the pack?" Grant asked, walking up now.
Nick answered him. "That's Ichigo, the black with neon orange. Him and the one he's fighting have a little rivalry, but Naruto never wins. But, Ichigo is just the beta. Nick is what they all see as the alpha. You should be fine to pet Sakura, Dr. Grant. She's very friendly despite being so deadly."
Grant chuckled. "No, I think I've had enough encounters with raptors to know they don't much like me." Sakura chirped sadly.
"Aw, come on, Alan. Both Nick and I can personally guarantee you'll be safe." Owen said, patting Grant's back.
Grant sighed. "There's no way out of this one, is there?" When Owen shook his head, he brought his hand slowly towards Sakura's snout. The raptor let out a purr as she nuzzled against the older man's hand, causing Grant to give a half-smile. "She is kinda cute, in a big cat sort of way."
"They are all still children, too. My Indominus raptors are only about four months old. Same goes with the smaller raptors in Owen's half of the paddock. Hey, Jason! Jace, buddy!"
Jason poked his head out from the upper catwalk. "Yeah, Nick?"
"Let them out into the track. They should all be playing when their first visitors show up." Giving Nick a thumbs up, Jason disappeared over the catwalk and a horn sounded as two gates on either side of the track opened, letting the raptors all gather together.
Once on the track, Ichigo hissed at Blue, throwing his head towards the stretch of running space. Blue gave a cough of agreement, wandering over to what would mark the start line. Suddenly, Naruto and Zeta lined up next to the two betas, nodding with twin cough-like barks. Nick laughed. "Looks like those four want to race." Hearing a beep from his pocket, Nick took his phone out and sighed. "They're done early. Visitors inbound, ETA five minutes.. Where's Dune?" He said, realizing one of his own raptors wasn't anywhere in the shared playground or I-raptor enclosure.
"Jason, do a thermal scan for Dune, please. Or count off how many raptors you see with it." Confirming over the radio, Jason was quiet for several moments.
"They're all accounted for. Looks like Dune is sunbathing not two feet away from where you're standing inside the fence."
Nick looked through the links in the face next to him, but couldn't see the sand-yellow hybrid at all. "Jace? Turn off thermal and tell me if you see him."
A few moments later, Jason replied. "That's fucking weird. He isn't there on satellite view."
Nick chuckled at the military reference, even if it wasn't really used too often anymore. "Alright. Thanks, Jace." He turned to Sarina, who also shook her head to confirm Dune really wasn't present by the fence. "Hear that, Claire? One of them has visual camouflage from anything short of thermal vision. At least, but the others are just all playing. See you shortly."
Not two minutes later, Claire walked up, the several other corporate bigwigs following behind her along with another couple of guards to remove Megan from the park. "Show me. We need to assess how dangerous this could be, even though none of the others have shown abilities as of yet."
Nick sighed, nodding. "Of course, Claire. Come to the overwatch." He said, motioning for them to follow him, Sarina, Grant and Owen up to the control room. Once inside, Nick tapped Jason's shoulder. "Center on the area again. Thermal first."
Nodding, Jason turned the camera's view to thermal, and then switching back to daylight vision after showing them where Dune was still sleeping. Claire frowned. "Well, it can't be seen by our eyes but you can still see the heat signature." Nick nodded. "So how dangerous could he be, if he's the only one who can do it?"
Nick outright laughed, causing Claire to look at him in surprise and shock before Sarina kicked him and shut him up. "Agh! Fuck, woman! Sorry, I found it funny. Dune is the laziest of my clutch. All he really does is sleep. Seriously, unless it's feeding time, all anyone working at this paddock see Dune doing is sleeping. Unlike Naruto. But, let's go out on the catwalk and you can see the others as they play. But don't stand too close to the rails. We aren't sure how they'll react to people they don't already know. Or they can just be outright jerks." Sarina sighed.
The group moved outside, where the four raptors were still all racing each other around the track. "These four are both pack's Beta raptors Blue and Ichigo, the black and orange one, along with Zeta from Owen's pack and Naruto, the orange with yellow spots. We keep all of them in here during most of the day. See, they trust each other and by extension, us raptor handlers, so we keep them together so they keep each other in check and they can interact as if they're in the wild."
"But don't they already think that?" Asked one of the bigwigs. "They aren't that smart."
"And I'd love to beat the crap out of whoever taught you that. Velociraptors, pure Velociraptors, are known as the smartest species of dinosauria, able to coordinate attacks, lay traps and their communication between pack members is better than anything I saw in the army. These guys and girls? They all know they're in a giant cage. They just don't mind it because we make sure their needs are taken care of. Now, for a demonstration of their ability to cooperate. At least, with me and Owen. Ichigo, Blue, form up!"
Instantly, the two Beta raptors stood next to each other, the other Velociraptors lining next to Blue while the Hybrids went next to Ichigo. "Good job, guys. Naruto, cut it out! Ichigo, down! Jeez, you are so ridiculous." Ichigo, who was now hanging onto the dge of the catwalk, made the investors take a step back as he hissed at Nick. "Don't give me that shit, this is important. Now, back down to the others." Nick said sternly, Ichigo growling before dropping down back into the line.
"Sorry about that, he likes jumping onto things he shouldn't. Now, Owen's raptor squad is all uniform for the most part, but as you can see the hybridization done with my Indominus raptors left them all a myriad of color. It helps us determine who is who within my pack, and as you can see Dune is now visible to everyone." He motioned to the sandy colored raptor swinging his tail lazily from side to side. "Are there any questions about either raptor?"
One of the bigwigs coughed. "They are all social animals, correct? Doesn't that mean that if anyone was around them long enough, they could learn to trust them as well as they do say with you and Mr. Grady?"
"Technically, yes. But, they are also highly intelligent and sometimes volatile animals. There are times when both Owen and I know not to go waltzing into their territory, though few as they might be. In addition, as anyone who has seen anything pertaining to the incident two years ago, the Indominus Rex was able to gain the velociraptors trust using the DNA they both shared. With my I-raptors, there's no need for gaining trust since both packs were raised together. And with their unwavering loyalty to both myself and Owen, there will be no new incidents such as that. Anyone else?"
"You said that Dune, the one who pulled the disappearing act, is very lazy. Do the other members of your hybrid pack have qualities as such?"
Nick sighed. "Here's the quirk talk. Well, Ichigo as you already know will jump up to anything he can grab hold of, mostly for attention. Naruto is very hyper, and tends to rush into their training and wind up pulling a George of the Jungle, if you know what I mean. Sakura, the pretty pink one is like mine and Sarina's baby. She's highly affectionate towards anyone with no ill will towards her. Talia and Talion, the two who have their tails wrapped around each other, are basically twins, and hardly leave each other out of either of their sights. And then finally we have Jade, the jade green one. She's actually the most levelheaded of the bunch, and I'm pretty sure Ichigo consults her about whatever schemes he may have in that head of his. As far as abilities go, the only one as you know to show anything is.. Wait, why are there two Talia's?" Nick asked, looking over the line of raptors.
"I think Talion has the ability to change his colors. Him and Talia are still huddled next to each other, but one is slightly bigger than the other, so Talion is the bigger Talia right now." Sarina said, counting off the raptors as well.
"Well, that's just peachy. Anyone else want to show us a new ability?" He asked the Indominus raptors rhetorically.
Suddenly, Ichigo was gone in a flash, reappearing thirty feet away from the others, and doing it again to be on the opposite side of the walkway. Nick couldn't help but be proud. "Flash step, just like your namesake. Now if only Naruto can get a Rasengan going." Only the few present who even had a clue what he was talking about looked at Nick like he was insane, a look he noticed and acknowledged. "Yes, I am in some ways insane. Anime will really jumpstart your imagination like that. Claire, maybe the investors have seen enough, before something happens that even I can't explain."
Claire nodded, unsure of what else to say. "Yes, that seems like a good idea. Just.. Keep them in line, abilities notwithstanding."
"Of course, Claire. Always a pleasure." Nick turned to Sarina. "They're so varied. And what Ichigo can do defies all laws of the fourth wall."
Sarina rolled her eyes. "At least they showed abilities. Seriously though, if Naruto or Sakura start using jutsu, they could be considered way too dangerous."
"I know, that's what worries me. Only time will tell, though.. Ichigo, you stubborn bastard get. Down." Ichigo, now hanging onto the fence once again, hissed in defiance before jumping down with Nick giving him a deathly glare.
Sarina sighed. "Let's go get something to eat, yeah? Take your mind off of your apparently anime-powered extended family."
"Yeah. Yeah, alright. Jason, watch them. And I swear if Naruto starts forming a Rasengan, you have full authority to tranq him. I'm not dealing with a hole in the fence because my raptors are breaking the fourth wall of Japanese culture."
"Will do. You sure tranquilizing Naruto will still have him trust you, though?"
"He fucking better. Otherwise I'll make sure he never gets to go play with the others again. Hear that, Naruto?!" Nick shouted to the raptor, who chirped and bobbed his head in a nod, allowing Nick and Sarina to leave the paddock, getting into the Jurassic World Jeep nearby to drive into the main park.
Jurassic Toddlers Petting Zoo..
Gray Mitchell sighed as he attempted to feed one of the infant Stegosaurs a frond of ferns unsuccessfully, the little guy refusing to eat. "You know, squirt, maybe you should go ask someone at the vet building about it." Came the voice of his older brother Zach, who stood behind the low fence watching Gray. "Sarina is always willing to help."
"I know. I just don't want to bother her, what with the opening ceremonies and the behind the scenes look at Owen and Nick's raptors."
"And while you debate over how bothersome it could be, your little Stego over here could very well be dying." Zach stated, making Gray's eyes widen.
"I.. I know that, Zach! Don't tease me."
"I have to, I'm your older brother. It's what we do. Oh, here comes Nick and Sarina now, what timing." Gray looked where Zach was looking to indeed see the mentioned couple walking towards the boys.
"Hey, boys. Let's all go get something to eat. You're gonna want to hear about our introductory lecture at the raptor paddock." Sarina nudged Nick's shoulder when neither boy moved. "Oh, and we already spoke to your bosses, you're good. Gray's even said something about him being a bit depressed and Claire asked us to help her and Owen look after you both."
That got both boys moving, Gray vaulting himself over the low fence in an effort to not get left behind. "Wait, Sarina?"
The group stopped, the woman turning to the young teen. "Yeah, Gray?"
"I have a Stegosaurus in the petting zoo who isn't looking too good. You think you could take a look at her later?"
Sarina smiled at the obvious worry in the boy's voice. "Of course, sweetie. After we get something to eat I'll come back around and take a look." Nodding, Gray and the rest of the group made their way towards Main Street.
Main Street, Minutes Later..
The group walked onto Main Street and had to marvel at just how packed the park was already. Moving through the crowd seemed like getting nowhere fast, so Nick and Sarina brought the teens through the back path behind most of the stores lining the avenue. The back paths were put in for the staff to get where they needed to fast without hassling the trip through the crowds. Just another small thing Claire thought would make everyone's jobs more tolerable.
Entering the small restaurant, the four sat at a table near the back. Nick leaned back and sighed. "You two are lucky." He said to the kids. "Being bureaucratic for bigwigs is a whole other world than dealing with baby dinosaurs or the gift shop."
"Were the raptors misbehaving?" Zach asked, signalling the nearest waitress.
"No, at least not more than usual. No, they started showing abilities, and with only a few minutes of prior intelligence, I had to explain what they could do."
"What can they do?" Gray inquired next, having been curious about whether or not Nick's raptors would show any kind of abilities as the Indominus Rex had.
Nick chuckled at the younger brothers' enthusiasm, especially knowing the two's shared past with the park. "Well, Dune can camouflage from sight but not thermal imaging. Talion can change his colors as he proved by imitating Talia. I almost couldn't tell them apart. And Ichigo was the last and perhaps the most dangerous to show any abilities. He can practically teleport, or at least run fast enough for it to seem like teleporting."
"You mean Flash Step?" Zach asked as Nick looked at him incredulously. "I identify with Ichigo." He said simply as he shrugged.
"Yeah, well, that's right. And now we have to keep a close eye on them all just in case. Don't want them to be deemed too dangerous. Actually, I should probably check in with Jason." He reached for his walkie. "Jace, you there? How's everything back at the paddock?"
It took a second for a response. "Everything's fine. Better, even. Sakura, Naruto and Ichigo all have fan clubs from the visitors who have come around so far. Ichigo is proud I think, he's flashing everywhere and chirping in a happy-sounding way."
"Thank God. Okay, keep me posted if anything else comes up. Nick out." He sighed. "That's one thing less to really worry about. Alright, here comes the food. Let's eat and keep the heavy stuff off our minds for a bit, shall we?" He received nods from the other three, Sarina smiling at him reassuringly as the waitress dropped off their food.
Wu's Office, Later that Night..
Henry Wu sighed as he picked up the phone on his desk, knowing who was calling. "Evening, Kieran. Have you heard about how Opening day went?"
There was a chuckle on the other side of the line. "Yes, I hear it went as scheduled and the Hybrid raptors are an instant favorite. That, however, is not why I called. I called to ask you how our other issue is going."
Just as Henry was about to answer, the entire lab shook semi-violently. Cursing under his breath, he replied. "It seems the initial timetable has turned against us. Judging by the tremor that just shook my lab, I would give Sibo about a month, two at best before it goes sky high and takes the island with it. How are the relocation plans coming?"
"Well within schedule. By the end of next week Site C will be ready to transport all dinosaurs, staff and guests. A notice will be going out in the next few days."
"Very good, sir. Was there anything else?"
"No. I shall leave you to your work. Have a good night, doctor." Without a reply, Kieran Knight hung the phone up.
Wu pursed his lips as his eyes looked at the list of speed dial contacts on his phone. Resting on the one name he never thought he would actually need to use. Pressing the button, he waited for an answer.
"Lockwood Manor, who may I ask is calling?"
Nick's Bungalow, Eastern Park Boundary..
Nick shot up as he felt the latest tremor in the earth below Isla Nublar. "Again? These tremors are getting worse and more frequent."
"You okay, Nicky?" Came Sarina's voice as she came into the bedroom, her long hair damp from the shower she must have just taken. "Did you feel that?"
Nick nodded. "Yeah. Something isn't right about these tremors. It's been almost six weeks since the first ones. You don't think.."
"That the huge volcano looming behind the Innovation Center is about to blow? Maybe. It would explain why Ichigo and the others are becoming more rowdy these days."
"You're right about that. By the way, why are you in my bungalow? Don't you have a suite at the hotel like the rest of the staff?"
"You mean other than you, Owen and Claire? Yes, I do. But, you have a better shower. I can't stand the rainforest shower head, it doesn't have the pressure to really take a good shower." She giggled as she wrung her hair out in the towel she held, the more dryer strands curling lightly.
"Well, I'm glad to accomodate you. It really better not be Sibo. The park opened today. That volcano goes off, this island is pretty much wiped off the map."
"Agreed. Maybe there's a contingency plan. The new head of InGen and Masrani seems to be covering all the bases well enough. Have you heard the sounds coming from the tunnels?" Sarina was referring to the growls and roars sounding from the underground tunnels that spanned much of the island.
"Yeah. Heard them yesterday, actually. Asked Claire about them, and her best guess is a roaming dino is living down there. From the roars, I'd say it isn't friendly either. Might get in on the team going to check it out in a few days."
Sarina looked at her boyfriend worriedly. "Just be careful. Ava has told me that there are dinosaurs that never got released into the park around. Like those damn Troodon."
"Yeah, Owen said the same thing. Told me a Carnotaur was somewhere in the northern side, it's lucky that Zach and Gray didn't meet it when the Indominus was after them."
Sarina nodded as she finished wringing out her hair, coming to position herself on Nick's lap, one leg bent back and the other off the side of the bed. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she smiled. "I'm glad things are working out."
Nick knew what she meant and chuckled. "Yeah, me too. It's true what they say: you don't know what you have until it's gone. And now? Everything's better, even though our kids are killing machines."
That made Sarina lean back as she laughed. "Only the ones who should be extinct according to nature. We don't know how actual kids would act with us as parents."
"Our daughter would hopefully look just like you. I have a ridiculous forehead for my daughter to inherit."
"I want her to have your sister's eyes. Senna's blue-grey. I think those eyes are absolutely adorable."
"You think so? Maybe if she had your hair to go with it. Nice if not slightly extreme contrast."
Nick and Sarina continued talking for almost another hour before letting sleep overtake them.
A/N: Finally, the next chapter is complete. Now, as many fans of the Jurassic series already know, it is already counting down to Fallen Kingdom and I can't wait. Seeing tje movies take the rpute the original novel did, albeit almost 40 years later, got me thinking about how to move THIS story forward while bringing in ideas and plot points seen in those moments of the first half of JWFK. And yea, for those who didn't know the trailer only showed first half or even just first act of the movie itself. Only time will tell. Pay no mind to indentations as they will most likely not show up anymore. They re there in this chapter because my tablet stopped functioning well enough to type and it auto-indented while my phone doesn't have an option for it.
So the Indoraptors (probably going to work that in as it does sound cooler than I-raptor) are showing abilities that break laws of physics but hey what's the point of making smaller hybrids without unforeseen effects right? Nick and Sarina are dealing with their own issues and trying to look ahead and the park has been opened on the precipice of destruction. Obviously, I mentioned a Site C which will be another of the Cincos Muertos island chain, which I am not yet sure. Also and most likely next chapter, our barely shown friend the Baryonyx will appear and yes I need to have some macho guy now do the scream of hysterics (part of the BtS video released days prior to the trailer) because that made me cry enough to want to work it in. As for the Carnotaurus? No idea when or how I will bring him in. Next chapter will be slow to get out as I only have so much inspiration for this story as well as the other three to five I am currently working on. Until next time, Flurry of Freezing Flames, signing off.