CHAPTER 6

SIGHTSEEING AND AN IMPROMPTU RESCUE

The next morning, when everyone was awake, the gang all gathered at Little Foot's place for breakfast and then to embark on the grand tour of The Great Valley Grandpa and Grandma Longneck promised the human visitors and the creature called KITT.

The young dinos were especially curious about how the humans freshened up. They had never seen items like soap, shampoo, face cloths, towels, deodorants, combs and brushes. The dinos thought the scented items had a strange smell to them. The humans said that these sorts of things was what made them "smell good", by human standards.

The dinos didn't seem offended when the human males stripped naked to wash themselves in the fast water, or what they called "the river". Of course, the dinosaurs walked around "naked" all the time; and they weren't that surprised to see the rest of their bodies being the same colour as their faces and hands. They understood the concept of clothing from Myk'l's initial visit to the valley two months prior, and they figured khit would be too big for clothing. He didn't seem to mind going around "naked" to begin with, anyways.

What the dino males found odd, however, was how the human males were incapable of keeping their genitals "on the inside", like they did. None dared ask them, however. They simply figured that humans lacked that ability, while THEY only brought their "organs" out to relieve themselves, or perform the "mating act" with a female. The human males did seem a bit nervous, however, at the curious looks directed at them while they washed themselves in the fast water. Sensing this nervousness, the dinos simply walked off to give them some privacy.

Bonnie, however, was more modest. She went off to bathe at an isolated area of the fast water, and insisted that no dino males be present while she washed. She did allow, however, a few of the female dinos to stay and talk. Ducky, Ruby and Cera were especially curious about this "ritual" Rebecca was performing, which reminded them of the self cleansing they did at the thundering water often enough. They wanted to know how often humans did this, and if they always used the "scented things" Bonnie used on herself. Bonnie smiled at the children's intense curiosity. She figured the dinosaurs would simply "shower" at the "waterfall" the dinos described, and not more than that; and that they would show her this "waterfall" later on that day.

During breakfast, the humans had their own servings of what they called "cereal and milk". Devon fired up the "proh pain grill" to make something he called "coffee" for everyone. But they also sampled some of the local fruits and berries the dinos helped gather for their own breakfast. Many were surprised at seeing them mix the berries in with their "see real". Devon even went as far as slicing up a yellow sweet fruit(what the humans called a "banana") with a strange grey rock he called a "paw kett neyef" into his own "see real". The dinos thought this was a bit odd, but labelled it as something "hyoo mahns liked to do". When the coffee was ready, all of the humans helped themselves to what was inside the strange grey container on the "proh pain grill"(which the dinosaurs thought gave off a strange odour that Devon explained was from the burning gas inside of it). Devon offered some to the dinos, who politely declined.

They knew the hyoo mahns didn't eat tree stars, grass or flowers from Myk'l's initial visit, and that khit only ate "gah sso leen", but he had had his fill of it before he came to The Great Valley; and that Myk'l reassured them by saying that khit wouldn't need to "eat" again until he returned home. This relieved a lot of the dinos, as they wouldn't know where to get the strange smelling "gah sso leen" for khit while he was here.

After breakfast, the gang headed off on the grand tour of The Great Valley. First stop was Saurus Rock, which was described as being an important landmark for the valley. Many outside dinos saw it as the entryway into The Great Valley, and the borderline between it and The Mysterious Beyond.

Many dinos thought the rock had the likeness of Doc, The Lone Dinosaur; and that you can see that resemblance, if you looked at the two side by side together. "It's a shame he was not here today! He would've loved to meet you..." Grandpa Longneck would tell the humans and KITT. He also explained how Doc has always been the kind of dino who never stayed in one place for very long. The Great Valley residents called dinos like him "wanderers". Myk'l would use the term "nomads", while Devon used the more technical term "migratory".

Upon Little Foot's assistance, Grandpa Longneck told the story of how Little Foot himself tried to fix a piece of Saurus Rock that was accidentally broken off by Cera's infant cousins Dinah and Dana, thinking that bad luck would rain down on the valley if the broken piece wasn't put back. It was this "foolishness"(what Devon would call "superstition") that prompted Little Foot to literally risk life and limb to steal a sharp tooth off of a dead sharptooth without realizing the sharptooth wasn't dead, but merely unconscious; and that it was thanks to Doc and Grandpa Longneck that Little Foot was able to escape from the jaws of certain death.

The humans were so impressed by the story that they applauded Little Foot's efforts, who blushed as he took his bows. Even KITT showed his appreciation at the accomplishment by saying that Little Foot was "a big brave longneck", to which Little Foot thanked him.

Bonnie remembered to bring her camera with her, and she took a few pictures of Saurus Rock, as well as the gang standing in front of it, including KITT. She also took a picture of it with KITT at the foot of it just to show how big the monolith was compared to KITT.

Next stop on the tour was Threehorn Peak, or what was left of it. The shape of a threehorn's head was still distinguishable despite the tragedy that befell it after a "stone of cold fire" crashed into it, and subsequently exploded. Grandpa Longneck told the story of how an evil flyer named Pterano(who happened to be Petrie's estranged uncle) tried to somehow harness the power of the stone of cold fire to make himself invincible, but was thwarted by Little Foot and his friend, and two very strange rainbow face visitors to the valley.

The humans and KITT understood that the stone of cold fire was what they called a "meteor" or "meteorite", and that the stone was destroyed by the term they used as "volcanic explosion" to describe the "red fire". It was here that Little Foot insisted that the stone of cold fire was more than a mere "meetur right", and that the rainbow faces were more than just ordinary flatteeth. Grandpa Longneck chuckled and said that without sufficient proof of this, there was no way to really pass judgment and say that it was true or not. Given the time lapse described by the dinos, the humans and KITT placed the sequence of events to be at about six months ago. Grandpa Longneck also mentioned that Pterano, the main culprit of all this, was sentenced to spend five cold times in The Mysterious Beyond. Myk'l mentioned that it seemed a bit light of a sentence for "multiple counts of attempted murder". Grandpa Longneck said he decided to show mercy to Pterano after he redeemed himself in the end by helping to save the dino children's lives.

Bonnie took out her camera to take pictures of the landmark by itself, and with the entire visiting gang in front of it.

The next stop on the tour was the impressive Thundering Falls where the dinos often come to take their own "showers". Michael commented that the waterfall was "nothing compared to what Niagara Falls was like". The puzzled look on the dinos faces compelled the humans to describe what Niagara Falls was.

"You're right, Myk'l! Your ny-ah-ger-ah falls could certainly put the Thundering Falls to shame..." Grandpa Longneck said after hearing the humans' description.

"And it's quite a beautiful place, too!" A smiling Devon said.

"I'm sure it is!" Topsy said. "But I don't believe it could be bigger than Thundering Falls..."

"But if you saw it, you'd change your mind..." Michael told the big threehorn.

"Maybe..." Topsy simply said.

"MR. LONGNECK! MR. LONGNECK!" came the sound of a frantic voice from a short ways away. It was the male swimmer dinos again running up as fast as they could to the group with his female partner not far behind.

They stopped in front on Grandpa Longneck panting from exhaustion.

"What is it?" Grandpa Longneck asked calmly.

When the female dino finally caught her breath, she was frantic. "It's Mr. Thinknose!! He was in The Mysterious Beyond looking for healing herbs when he was surprised by Red Claw and his fast biters!!"

All of the dinos gasped in horror. They knew that Mr. Thicknose couldn't stand a chance alone against three sharptooth like Red Claw, Screech and Thud.

"Oh, no..." Michael groaned.

WHOO WHOO. "Oh, no!" KITT cried out in turn.

"We were helping him collect the herbs when they came out of nowhere and surprised us... Please! You must SAVE HIM!!" the male swimmer frantically said.

"We'll do what we can, but I fear it may already be too late..." Grandpa Longneck announced, prompting groans and cries from the assembled dinos.

"NO!" Michael shouted. "Everyone stay here! Let me and KITT handle this. We've dealt with them before..."

"Can you really do that???" the female swimmer asked as she approached Michael and KITT. "You're gonna have to be pretty fast, though..."

"We'll certainly try..." Michael said. "As far being fast, don't worry! KITT'll be there in no time..."

The swimmer pair looked relived. "Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" the male swimmer said.

"Just point to me which way to go..." Michael asked.

Both swimmer pointed in a direction due East.

Michael nodded than ran over to KITT. "OK, buddy! Let's MOTOR!!"

"Please be careful!!" Bonnie cried out.

"Don't worry, Bonnie! I will!!" Michael said.

"I was talking to KITT..."

Michael rolled his eyes as he got into KITT's driver seat. "I'm telling you that woman's gonna drive me BATTY..." Michael muttered as he pressed a few buttons on KITT's console, and KITT's engine roared to life. "Okay, KITT! Let's burn RUBBER!!"

He then pressed on the accelerator that prompted KITT to do a quick U-turn. His tires spinned as he sped off towards the East, kicking up dirt and small rocks as he went. The two swimmers had to shield themselves with their forelimbs as the pebbles flew up to hit them.

"All right, KITT! Let's go to SUPER PURSUIT MODE!" Michael shouted just as they cleared a hill, then he pressed the green button to activate the outer body transformation. Once the metamorphosis was completed, KITT took off like a bullet speeding towards the area where Mr. Thicknose was last seen fighting off the sharptooth attack.

It took mere minutes for KITT to reach the ravine where Mr. Thicknose was located.

"Okay, KITT. Back to normal mode!" Michael said as he pressed the green button again, thus deactivating KITT's Super Pursuit Mode, and changing KITT's outer shell back to it's regular form. Given the rocky terrain, Super Pursuit Mode would not be very effective in the ravine they were now in.

It didn't take long before they were able to locate Mr. Thicknose. Red Claw and his fast biters had him cornered against a rock wall, and were slowly moving in for the kill. Mr. Thicknose, however, was adopting a defensive posture, and meanly grinding his teeth. He wasn't gonna do down without a fight!

The three sharptooth were oblivious to KITT approaching them from behind. "There's Red Claw, KITT! RAM HIM!!" Michael cried as he pressed harder on the accelerator to bring KITT to full speed.

The sound of KITT's tires grinding through the rocky dirt caused Red Claw to turn around. He let out a fearful cry as he saw what was heading right for him, but was unable to avoid KITT plowing right into him! KITT took out Red Claw's legs right from under him, causing Red Claw to fall flat on his face on the ground and getting knocked unconscious.

KITT then screeched to a halt just inches short of the stone wall in between Mr. Thicknose and the fast biters. Mr. Thicknose still bore the look of surprise on his facial features upon seeing Myk'l and khit come out of nowhere to take out Red Claw like he was nothing.

"Switch on your external speakers!" Michael ordered as he pressed the appropriate button on KITT's console. "MR. THICKNOSE!" Michael cried from inside KITT. Thanks to the external speakers, Michael's voice resounded all throughout the ravine. "Get out of there! Me and KITT'll take care of the fast biters!!"

Mr. Thicknose nodded and began running back towards The Great Valley.

Meanwhile, Screech the Thud, the two fast biters, focused their attention on KITT and Michael. They had mean looking snarls on their facial features, and they were drooling at the mouth as they growled in their direction. They slowly approached them, intending to have them as a fresh kill.

"All right, KITT! Let's give 'em a little taste of ultra sound!" Michael said boldly as he pressed the appropriate button on KITT's console. The intense high pitched whining sound reverberated all throughout the ravine, which caused Screech and Thus to cover their earholes with their forelimbs. They both had expressions of intense pain on their facial features.

"Ok, KITT! Hit TURBO BOOST!!" Michael ordered.

"With pleasure, Michael!" KITT replied.

Michael pressed the button on KITT's console which prompted KITT to blast out from his spot towards Screech and Thud. KITT then opened his driver and passenger side doors as he flew between the two fast biters, stricking them both square in the jaw with his opened doors. KITT then sped off back towards The Great Valley as Screech and Thud both fell to the ground unconscious.

A short time later, KITT and Michael caught up with Mr. Thicknose as he trotted back towards The Great Valley. The waiting dinos cheered as they arrived back at the Thundering Falls. The two swimmers were especially relieved to see that Mr. Thicknose was safe and sound.

Little Foot's gang happily greeted Michael and KITT upon their triumphant return. Chomper couldn't help but hug KITT's left front tire. "Be careful where you lay those sharp claws, my young tyrannosaur friend! Although by outer shell is well protected, my tires are not..." This cause Chomper to step back, looked at the claws on his hands, and laugh.

"We're so glad to see you're okay, Mr. Thicknose!" Grandpa Longneck said.

"I AM okay!" Mr. Thicknose said. "Thanks to Myk'l and Khit here... If it weren't for them, I'm afraid I'd've been done for..."

"Oh, Michael! You've scratched KITT!!" Bonnie called.

"What!!?" Michael cried out in disbelief. "Where!?" Michael asked as she approached Bonnie, who was kneeling down next to KITT's driver's side door.

"Right... THERE!" Bonnie said as she pointed towards a tiny scratch, no more than a few millimeters long, just below KITT's door handle.

Michael was stunned that Bonnie would fuss over so tiny a scratch as that. "I don't believe this..." he cried out.

WHOO WHOO. "It's nothing that an extra coating of molecular bonding formula can't fix. REALLY!" KITT said in reassurance to Bonnie.

Bonnie sighed as she got up. "I tell you, Michael! You're going to be the end of me!!" Then she just walked away, still fuming.

"Feeling's mutual, Bonnie. Believe me!" Michael said quietly as he watched her leave.

"You know, Michael. I think she really likes you!" RC teased.

"Yes! She's quite an extraordinary woman! I think you two would make the ideal couple!" Devon said in his own brand of teasing. Michael simply glared at them both.

For the rest of the day, the dinos couldn't stop talking about Myk'l and Khit's exploits that literally saved Mr. Thicknose's life. To them, he was an honoured elder, full of knowledge. His death would've been irrecoverable! Many dinos felt that with Myk'l and Khit around, they could all feel safe, and never have to worry about sharptooth again! Michael sensed this, and told some of them that they didn't belong here. He told them that their real place was back in the future where they could help their own kind. Human kind. Besides, KITT wouldn't be able to go far once he ran out of "gah sso leen". Some dinos understood this; while others, mostly the younger dinos, were immensely dissapointed.

The humans and KITT did get to see some more of The Great Valley, though. Bonnie took a fair amount of pictures of all the beautiful scenery of The Great Valley. She also took pictures of some of the dinos of the valley, as well as of her human friends and KITT standing together in a group next to some of the landmarks, in front of the breathtaking scenery, and together with some of the dinos of the valley.

As eventful as this day was, they still had another two full days to spend in the valley. Though they may not be as eventful as their first full day was, they would still find ways to have fun with their dinosaur friends.