Heads up, I'm going to try and finish this chapter today, so expect two more updates with the next 12 hours.

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In Prehistoric Arizona, the team is once again on the trail of a giant tortoise. However, the heat is still a problem.

The team has closed a lot of ground with the tortoises, and now only a small valley separates them from their quarry. Still, they have to take this rather carefully: if spooked, the tortoise will hide in its shell, and carrying that back through the portal would be rather difficult.

And that's just the turtle: the heat is just making things worse: everyone is covered in sweat, and while the team doesn't really mind this, the debilitating affects of it are still obvious: everyone needs to stop and take a drink of water every few minutes: while the world may be cooler than it is today, and definitely cooler than modern Arizona, the heat is still very high.

The thought of rescuing the tortoise, however, is motivating enough to get the team to power through the pain.

Just then, they hear a loud crashing sound. Turning toward it, they are surprised to see what appear to be small, furry hills... at least until they notice that one of the hills has a trunk and tusks on it.

"Is that a mammoth?" asks Aiden.

"No, mammoths aren't known from this area, at least not from this time," remarks Sean. "Those must be gomphotheres. Cuvieronius, if I remember right."

The herd of gomphotheres continues to march on, with one member briefly staring at the team, before rejoining its companions, trudging on toward some unknown destination. The tortoise, after staring for a moment, moves to join them, with the team giving chase.

Following all of them are the strange carnivores from earlier, eager to snatch a meal...

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Back at the park, Suzanne is still dealing with her problem temnospondyl. With the storm worsening, this is really becoming a problem for her.

The Slaugenhopia is once again in its little pond, which, in spite of the storm raging all around it, doesn't seem interested in leaving it anytime soon.

Needless to say, Suzanne isn't happy about this at all: she's already rounded up all of the other amphibians to move them to a safer, indoor enclosure, but this one still refuses to budge. Apart from a female she's just caught, its the only one that needs to be moved, but it clearly does not agree with her. Whenever she tries to coax it to leave, it merely retreats into the pond and begin digging into the mud or setting up bubbles in the water. Suzanne is at a loss to its behavior.

"I really don't know what to do now: if we can get him to move, he might not survive the storm."

Just then, the amphibian returns from the depths of its pool and, to her surprise, howls at her, causing Suzanne to jump back in surprise, accidentally freeing the female she's caught from a carrying cage.

Too her surprise, the male instantly calms down at the sight of the female and begins making rumbling noises at the female, who responds with similar ones before advancing toward the pool. Puzzled, Suzanne continues to watch on, eager to figure out what's happening.

In the water, the female begins inspecting the bubbles, looking for any flaws in them. Though Suzanne can't really understand her thoughts, she quickly realizes what's going on.

"That's why he was so determined to guard this pond: he's making a nest. He must be getting ready to mate."

And by the looks of it, he's won the female's affection.

Just then, thunder rumbles through the sky. The female beats a hasty retreat and, reluctantly, the male follows her. Suzanne is quick to get them contained, before moving to put a tarp of the small pond.

"Best not to let his hard work go to waste."

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At the Acrocanthosaur exhibit, the only resident is being moved to shelter, but someone else is watching this.

Vera throws some meat into a small little shelter of wood at the western end of the acro's exhibit. The male carnosaur eagerly follows, both to get the meat and to weather out the storm. This brings a smile to her face, as the carnivore is now safely out of harm's way.

OF course, there is the matter of they watcher...

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On a hill just overlooking Vera and the Acro, Terence watches as human and dinosaur seek shelter from the storm. The sight is hardly that interesting to the giant predator, though he becomes more cautious at the sight of the Acro: another large predator is dangerous competition for the tyrannosaur.

His interest soon returns, however, to the humans he was following. The all seems to be heading toward a small set of strange objects made from mud, wood, grass, and thatch, along with a small pit with a fire blazing within it. The humans settle down for a moment, before finally noticing the tyrannosaur following him.

The two sides stare for a moment.

Then the humans go back to their daily lives, puzzling the tyrant dinosaur. Are they not scared of him? Why do they seem to ignore him?... Are there more of his kind here that he hasn't seen yet?

Just then, he notices another group of humans leaving the strange gathering zone and heading toward a hole in the strange metal wall that surrounds this area. Curious, Terence is quick to join them.

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Back in Prehistoric Arizona, the team is still on the trail of the tortoise, though with it following the gomphotheres, this isn't too hard.

The slow pace of the gomphotheres, combined with the fact that they are passing through a forest, makes the trek more bearable for the team, though they are still soaked in sweat.

"Um, where are these guys heading?" asks Tristan.

"No clue, but it must be important to them," responds Nigel, "so don't slow down yet."

Needless to say, the team has no intention of doing this.

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On a nearby plateau, five pairs of eyes stares down at the team. In front of them are not toothy snouts, but razor sharp beaks that are attached to bodies standing tall on talon-tipped feet.

The feathery carnivores know not what the humans are, but that doesn't matter to them: strange though they may be, they are still prey.

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AN: Well that can't be good.

Any ways, Read, Review, Vote on the Poll, and Look Forward to the next few chapters. This is Flameal15k, signing off.