Ellie wandered through the streets of Vietnam for a few hours after Elkay left. She wasn't quite sure what to do while she waited for her grandmother to return, but she ended up thinking. Truth be told, she was a little worried that Elkay wasn't strong enough to fight by her side. The dragon had quite the flair for the dramatic, but even if she showed up when all hope was lost, adorned with golden armor, roaring victoriously, probably smashing through some sort of symbolic object, and wielding two ridiculous weapons of Japanese origin, Neithhotep would probably swat her like a fly. Ellie thought back to the way she had torn Zebil in half, and shuddered in fear. Zebil had been weak, but only by Asterparan standards. He probably could have been a fierce opponent of Elkay . . . In fact, he had been a fierce opponent of Elkay more than once in the past three years alone. What chance did the yellow dragon have against someone who could utterly destroy her greatest contender? Mathematically, it made no sense.

It was then that another thought occurred to her. What if they were unable to stop Neithhotep? Ellie had been greatly exaggerating her ability to create plotholes when she spoke with Elkay about the matter, mostly because she wanted the dragon to cut her some slack. Truth be told, it was hard to find limits in a world that, by design, had none. The whole situation was a double-edged sword. Logic and far-fetched explanations could tilt the scales either way, and right now, the odds were not in Ellie's favor.

Ellie had purposefully avoided making the assumption that she was in complete control, but she never could have foreseen the veritable shitstorm that engulfed her story. Of course, things could always get worse. If they did, Ellie would have no choice but to initiate DEFCON 1.

Or, wait. Did one initiate DEFCONs or go into them? Maybe the correct verb was to enter a DEFCON. That sounded about right.

Ellie sighed in defeat and used her remaining magic to transport herself to a land of stars and darkness. She felt the presence of three beings near her, and called them over to where she was floating.

"I need your help."

"Ellie, you're doing fine," a deep voice said gently, "You don't need us. Why have you called us here?"

Ellie looked away guiltily.

"I just need reassurance. I've made this space between your world and mine. I only have a few minutes before it fades away. Please, tell me what to do."

"Ellie, you already know what you must do," one of the shadows said kindly, "All you need is a little faith in yourself."

Ellie shook her head.

"No, John, I can't unblock my power. What if I lose control?"

"You never had control, my dear. The sooner you accept that, the happier you'll be."

Ellie sighed and turned to the other specters.

"And you? What do you have to say?"

A nonhuman shape stepped forward.

"I trust you, Ellie. You've never led the pack astray."

Ellie shook her head.

"I have. People have died because of me."

"You're too hard on yourself, sweetie," another shape laughed, "Everyone who's ever died for you was glad to do it. You earned their loyalty. No one's death has ever been your fault."

Ellie frowned.

"That's an exaggeration, Dad, and I think we're all missing the point. What if I turn bad? It's happened before. Not just in my immediate bloodline, but . . . Well, you probably know what I did to Elkay."

The shadows all spoke at once.

"It wasn't your fault. You had no control over your actions."

"Plenty of people have hurt others by accident. You're not alone."

"You're just stressed out because you want to be a good queen."

Ellie plugged her ears and thrashed around in distress, turning herself upside-down in the void.

"Hurting others by accident is the same as hurting them on purpose!" she cried, "Feeling remorseful doesn't heal wounds!"

The nonhuman stepped forward and put her paw on Ellie's shoulder, pulling her right-side-up.

"No, it doesn't. But if there's anyone who can find a way to settle this peacefully, it's you."

She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

"I guess I could try . . ."

Ellie felt the world fading away. The shadow-beings gave her deep bows before evaporating.

"Try, Ellie. Try. That's all we ever asked of you, and you amazed us every time. If you try, you will find that you had the ability to succeed all along."

And with that, Ellie found herself in the Jurassic World once more. She took a deep breath and exhaled.

"I sure hope you're right . . ."