AN: Sorry for the wait - I had things to do with my family, plus work. Still, here you go!

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As the Ice Age sun made its way up the sky, the team advanced onwards, looking for more creatures to rescue. In the distance, large shapes moved about. At this distance, the team couldn't make out what they were: bison? Mammoths? Camels? All were possibilities. For the team, the only concern was whether or not they could bring these mighty beasts back into the present.

As they advanced onwards, though, a curved white object in the dirt caught their attention. It was long and pointed at one end, though some wear and tear from the elements was evident. Curiosity getting the better of them, the younger members of the team began to dig it up.

Soon, they found themselves staring at a mammoth tusk...or rather, one broken tusk and an intact skull with two complete tusks.

"Look's like this one..er, maybe two, have been dead for a while. Nothing's trying to get at the rest of the corpse, so it must have died long ago."

"...Can we dig this up and take it back to the park?" questioned Tai. "It'd look really nice."

"Don't see why not," responded Nigel. "I'll send in a request for some help with the excavation."

"Can we take the broken tusk back too?" asked Tristan.

"...Sure, but why?" inquired Nigel. "It's not exactly good for display."

"True, but it is made of ivory."

"...Point taken. I do believe your father would like to have a word about it, though."

"Fine with me."

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Back at the park, Terence is busy bonding with his new girlfriend.

In the cover of several nearby trees, Terence rubbed necks with his new mate. Such a behavior was crucial to tyrannosaur nuptial bonding, and helped be cement the pair's unity. More mundanely, it also felt really nice.

A sudden hiss from nearby, though, alerted the pair to one of the other recently rescued tyrannosaurs. This one, which the staff had taken to naming Junior, was the son of the one called Stumpy, after his partially amputated arm. Right now, the sub-adult was standing in-front of Matilda...and offering her a piece of meat.

Instantly, Terence was on the alert. His sister, however, seemed more lax, apparently ignoring the newly arrived male...at least at first. After she had noticed the meal before her, she ambled up to the predator and began sniffing both the morsel and Junior. For his part, Junior held his ground, but when Matilda let out a low growl at him, he became submissive. Though partially motivated by fear, this was also an instinctual response - it indicated the male would not be aggressive to both his mate and his offspring, unless the female endangered said offspring. He followed this up with a low hiss when Matilda drew too close, though - there were limits for both individuals, and just as Matilda would not allow any male to approach her unless she was ready to mate, Junior would not allow her to approach him unless he was sure she wouldn't try to eat him.

For a moment, Matilda's expression was inscrutable, but then she softened, and wolfed down the morsel before her. Junior let out a breath none had known he was holding - relief flooded through his body, as he realized he was safe...at least, for now.

Unnoticed by either of the two courting tyrants, Terence let out a low rumble, before nuzzling Jane. It appeared his sister had found a good potential mate. Perhaps she would have own clutch soon enough.

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Some distance away, in the park's Jurassic Forests, residents from across the Mesozoic were interacting.

A small group of Stegosaurus were browsing on some ferns. Joining them were a group of Camptosaurus, who used the plated herbivores as living shields. It did not matter which species they were congregating with - the early ornithopods enjoyed the spike tails' protection, though they were wary of the shoulder spiked species, S. sulcatus. This time, though, the Jurassic bird hips were meeting a challenge that couldn't be so easily dissuaded by spikes and plates: the park's Hell Creek residents. Theo and his kind had reached the edge of their home, and were joined by a group of Edmontosaurus, which resembled the camptosaurs, but were far, far larger. Already, tensions were starting to run high within the group, as the choicest morsels were too few in number to share.

Before conflict could consume the herd, however, a quintet of new arrivals brought the feud to a halt. At first, one could mistake them for Triceratops, but as they moved closer, it became obvious they were something else entirely. Though their heads were unambiguously those of Triceratops, one look at their tails could lead them to be easily mistaken for a stegosaur.

As the other dinosaurs stared on at them in confusion, the strange chimeras moved to a nearby gully and began to drink, oblivious to the shock their appearances caused.

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Back in the past, the team was still searching for new rescues. Already, the recovery crew had arrived and begun excavating the mammoth skeleton. Now, the team needed to continue on toward the tar pits.

Movement ahead of them, however, brought another halt to their adventures. Before them, a group of pronghorns moved about, alternating between grazing and watching for predators. Despite their vigilance, however, none had noticed the roughly two dozen cats approaching them. Though as large as a lion, these beasts were an entirely different breed of cat - their appearance was that of a cheetah.

These predators were unmistakably Miracinonyx inexpectatus - the American Cheetah. And it seemed they were on the hunt.

Seeing a rapidly fleeting chance, the team began setting up the portal. It was not just the cheetahs the team wished to rescue, though. The pronghorns before them belonged to the genus Capromeryx, which were ultimately doomed to vanish when the Ice Age came to an end. They, too, were worthy of salvation.

The team managed to activate the portal just as the cats moved to attack, sending both predator and prey into the present. Satisifed with their rescue, the team sealed up the portal and continued toward the tar pits.

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AN: For the record, people in Siberia sell mammoth tusks for the ivory trade. It is completely legal. Nigel knows this, he's just unsure if Mr. Saurus would approve of using the portal this way.

So, Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!