I'M BACK!

Alright, lets get this segment started.

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After taking the afternoon to rest, and acclimate the new residents, the rescue team returns through the portal.

Once again, the surroundings have changed. Barring the odd tree and shrub, the whole environment has become grassland. The air is thick with the scent of numerous flowers, along with the odd insect. Very far in the distance, a sparse forest is visible, with a lake nearby.

"Why are there fewer trees now?" asked Tai.

"We already went over that," answered Michelle, "the ice caps are forming, and as they do, they're trapping enough water to dry out the whole world. Grass needs less water than trees, so forests give way to prairies."

"Alright. Well, then lets go and find some prairie critters!" replies Tai.

After taking a moment to laugh at his enthusiasm, the group begins their search.

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Back at the park, the newer residents are getting settled in. Among the quickest to settle in are the Pelagornis, who have taken up residence within Pterry's exhibit.

Which is the entire coastline.

The observing Bob can only smile as he watches.

"These birds are some of the easiest residents we have to care for: they live the same way pelicans and cormorants do, so all they need is a pool to drink from, oceans to feed in, cliff to nest in and some nest material, and then they do the rest."

The birds, oblivious to this, have already started building nests.

While these birds aren't breeding yet, the nests act as safe havens, helping them calm down in their new homes.

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Meanwhile, in the deep water exhibits, Suzanne is preparing to transfer the parks newest shark into her permanent residence.

"I didn't expect Nigel to bring back a Megalodon, at least not yet. But, that doesn't really matter now. Anyways, we've decided to move her into Jaws exhibit. She isn't too much bigger than he is, so hopefully they'll just stay away from each other. If not, well, we have plans for that. First, though, we need to check her for parasites. If she has any, they'll need to be removed."

The Megalodon, meanwhile, is focused on the chum in her holding tank. As the largest shark ever, she'll need to consume a colossal amount of food each year, rivaling even the rex family. For now, though, the biggest issue is making sure she's parasite free.

"Since Nigel didn't get a chance to name her, I've decided to call her Megan."

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Nearby, an older resident is enjoying his own meal. He, too, is a predator, but of creatures FAR smaller than what MEgan would eat.

HIs appearance is rather interesting: he resembles a plesiosaur, but with a much shorter neck and massive skull, pegging him as a pliosaur. Stranger, though, is his mouth: instead of the shark teeth most pliosaurs use for hunting fish, cephalopods, crustaceans and other sea reptiles, this one has fine bristles in his mouth.

The staff have taken to calling him Bristle-Tooth, and he is a Cetosaurus: the last known pliosaur and the first one discovered to be a filter feeder. He and his mate belong the only known reptilian species of filter feeders, making them spectacular catches for the park.

In the rich, plankton filled waters of the park, Bristle-Tooth and his mate are thriving. In their home time, they were already a dying breed: millions of years before, their predatory relatives had gone extinct, out competed by the mosasaurs. The elasmosaurs had more luck and managed to survive with the sea lizards, but the filter feeding pliosaurs did not have such luck. The increased volcanism had begun to pollute the seas, killing off great clouds of plankton. Five years before Nigel had arrived, they had seen dozens of their own kind in the inland sea, but only a week before Nigel had embarked on his first mission, they were sure they were the last of their kind. The rest had either starved or migrated to find greener seas.

They still remembered the day when Nigel had rescued them: they had been following a small hoard of plankton toward shallow water, desperate for a meal. Swimming with them were the elasmosaurs and spinosaurs, attracted by the fish that were eager to steal the pliosaurs' meal. The mosasaurs, seeing such a great gathering of prey, joined in, hoping to kill one of the reptiles. Before any of the marine reptiles could react, though, a large wave forced them into the shallows.

Water that was too shallow for the great marine reptiles.

Stranded here, the marine reptiles desperately tried to return to the sea, their hunger forgotten. They used their fins, normally meant for maneuvering or swimming, to try and pull themselves back into the water. In the end, though, this was a pointless effort: the sea reptiles were too big to escape.

For a few minutes they lay there, slowly suffocating under their own body wait. Then, when they assumed that they end was upon them, they saw a strange sight: a two legged creature, with fur atop its head and strange skin on its chest and legs. When it approached them, all of the creatures that it was a scavenger, trying to get a quick meal. Even the might spinosaurs were powerless here, as they had injured their legs and could barely walk even without an injury. So, beyond a token growl, the giants did nothing to defend themselves. As far as they were concerned, they were already dead.

Yet the strange creature, the .. human, did not eat them. Instead, it gathered others of its kind and moved the sea giants through a strange light into this world. Others had fed them and brought them back to health, and now, here they were, in a place where they could live in peace.

Although he could not express his thoughts to the humans, Bristle-Tooth was grateful for their actions. Now, though, hunger pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he began to feed on this rich plankton before him.

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AN: The Cetosaurus is a made up species of filter-feeding pliosaur. It was added in months ago on the version of the story that was posted on Spacebattles because I wanted to include a large sea herbivore in the first mission, but did not want to use a fish (which would have suffocated before Nigel could rescue it). Chapter 1 has been revised to include the rescue of the Cetosaurus, as well as another fictional species.

Also, I'm posting a poll immediately after this chapter finishes to determine future mission. You may pm me ideas, but the poll will decide when I visit each setting, based on amounts of votes. The more pms I get, the more options will appear.

So, read, review, send me OC ideas and episode suggestions, and vote.

This is Flameal15k, signing off.