It took a few minutes or so but the squad finally left Japan to find the Shards of Baal and Azmodan.
The humans sat up front while their non-human friends sat in the back, calming down a bit, as soon they stopped...somewhere really colorful.
"Okay, we're here...wherever we are." Arthi grumbled as the car arrived in the area. "Are some of the people here wearing dresses?"
"Togas, Arthi, togas." Sabrina corrected her confused lich girlfriend.
The car stopped as everyone got out.
"You guys go ahead." Zapp remarked as he prepared to drive off. "I got enough madness to last a lifetime."
"Good life!" Troy called as the truck sped away.
"Well, there goes more allies from a movie." Opal said, commenting on Troy and Zapp exiting.
"Awww, they are useless anyway!" Gypsy remarks with a scoff. "We're almost done."
"Well, we do have three more to go." Mystle said as the group went off to find the Shards. "We can only hope they haven't found the Shards first."
"Or what? Send in monsters to keep us busy?" Tom Servo asked with a scoff.
Soon, Crow stood in front of them. "Okay, everyone. We're about to enter a new area of pain. So, rules? Don't drink the water, it may help you forget. Don't take any drinks given by some woman who worked with men from outer space..."
"And if you run into any sandstorms..." Tom Servo said grimly to the others.
"We're screwed!" The robots exclaimed in worry and sadness.
"Other than that, nothing much to worry about." Muty remarked with a shrug.
The sun shined brightly in Giggle Grove as Flutterby Friends flew around chirping, one even landing on Arthi's nose, and residents participate in their usual cheerful activities. Laughter and cheerful conversation echoes through the air. In the midst of it all, eight Yokai were having a peaceful picnic.
"Ah, winter time is here." The dog-like Yokai, DogDay, said, as he sniffed the flowers. "Mmm, can't you just smell it?"
"I think that's the food you're smelling, DogDay." the rabbit-like Yokai, Hoppy Hopscotch, remarked.
"Mmm, it smells so good! I could just eat it all up!" the pig-like Yokai, Picky Piggy, exclaimed.
"Hold on there, Picky Piggy; didn't you say that everyone should have a balanced diet?" the elephant-like Yokai, Bubba Bubbaphant, remarked, as Picky Piggy paused for a moment.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Also, what the ham hock are Ian and Anthony doing now?" The squad soon saw some man with a bowl haircut holding a pink frosted sprinkled doughnut.
"All right, doughnut! I just KNOW that you'll be an AWESOME key!" The man laughed as he tried to cram the doughnut into the keyhole of a nearby castle. Predictably, the doughnut fell apart, and the man threw it to the floor. "DANG IT!" The squad heard a loud buzzing sound and looked around, trying to process where it came from as a small cyborg in a maid outfit walked up and held up a giant X on a sheet of paper.
"...What made you think that was gonna work?" The unicorn-like Yokai, CraftyCorn, asked, causing him to turn to her.
"Well I had to try! Those are the rules of Food Battle! Duh!" He replied with a smile. "I still have more points than Anthony and his stupid double dipped chocolate ice cream cone!"
"All right, Ian, it's my turn now! Let me show you how a REAL food does it!" Another man with a haircut that could only be described as 'emo' walked up with, lo and behold, a double dipped chocolate ice cream cone. He turned the cone side towards the keyhole... and it actually managed to open the door. "ALL RIGHT!" The man turned to grin widely at thin air as he flashed a thumbs up. The little cyborg held up a piece of paper with a green checkmark on it.
"Agh! Dammit!" The bowl cut guy angrily yelled. Then, Arthi ran over and began greedily gobbling up the remains of the donut with feral rat sounds.
"That is ill advised. There are many germs and bacteria on the floor." The little drone warned.
"But you can't just waste good food!" Arthi said, before suddenly beginning to cough due to swallowing the donut wrong.
"Ha! Now whose food is stupid, Ian?!" The emo guy boasted. Suddenly, the now opened door swung open, and...
"May I ask, what's going on?"
The two guys and the drone froze up. Even Arthi stopped choking (no one had any idea how), before the two boys looked in fear at the new arrival.
"Ugh, I should have known it would be you two idiots." A girl groaned. She wore a red long-sleeve dress with a little orange stripe on the end, an orange neckerchief clipped on her chest with a golden skull brooch, black tights and red shoes, with her hair being black and in two large pigtails with a bang swept to the left, and wore an orange tiara, her eyes being red in color.
The two guys gulped.
"Do you have any idea what you're even doing? It isn't even past 7:30, and Red's trying to sleep. And also..." She looked at the ice cream cone jammed into the keyhole. "...can you explain to me just why there's an ice cream cone jammed into my keyhole?"
"Hey! It's a double dipped chocolate ice cream cone! Say it properly!" The emo guy said, before kneeling down and whispering comforting words to the ice cream cone. "It's okay my dear chocolate she didn't mea-OW!" He was interrupted when the girl whacked him in the nose with her staff.
"Well, you better clean this mess up."
*sploch*
The two ice cream scoops fell to the carpeted floor, wetly splattering and staining the gravel in chocolate.
The girl gave the two boys a look so murderous, that even Lyre flinched.
"You have 15 minutes. If by that time that stain isn't gone...you sure you wanna know?"
Ian and Anthony exchanged a glance. "All right, Ian, let's see your stupid doughnut be a sponge!"
"Oh, you're ON, chode knocker!"
"N-No, that's not-!" The girl protested as Ian and Anthony rushed in. Anthony started rubbing his ice cream all over the floor. Predictably, he only succeeded in smearing more of a mess into the carpet. The cat-like Yokai, CatNap, groaned in exasperation and buried his face in his hands.
"You have GOT to be kidding me..."
The drone held up a red X and made a buzzing sound. Ian held up another doughnut. "It's up to you, doughnut. You better clean that stain, or I'm gonna punch you right in your little doughnut hole!" He strutted his way over to a conveniently placed bucket of cleaning supplies, and then stuck the doughnut right inside three times. He aggressively rubbed at the spot where the stain was. The squad watched with a raised eye as the blackette simply glared at him. Miraculously enough, when Ian was finished, while there WERE crumbs from the doughnut all over the floor, the stain was completely gone!
"Wh-What... That... How the... That... THAT'S A FREAKING DOUGHNUT, IT DOESN'T CLEAN STUFF!" Uzi exclaimed in sheer disbelief.
"All right!" Ian cheered as the drone held up the green check mark. He then proceeded to take a huge bite out of his doughnut. The same one he had just dunked in a big bucket of cleaning chemicals.
The blackette shook her head with a sigh as Ian suddenly began to choke on the donut again, before suddenly getting showered with chemicals and donut as Ian spat out all the stuff in his mouth.
The entire hallway went silent. The two guys looked at the girl, whose eyes were closed and whose face was in an expression of confusion and surprise, mouth wide open, as her hair changed from black to gray-white, and her eyes started glowing red.
"...Uuuuuhhhh..."
"Heheh..."
"...Don't kill my fathers..."
The girl summoned a red imp, made said imp into her broomstick, grabbed both men by the ear and dragged them around the castle, finally stopping when the guys were spitting out smoke as she got off her broom, as it returned to its normal imp form. "Okay, you two are gonna stop this before one of you almost DIES again!" The imp declared.
"But... But Food Baaaattllllle..." Ian whined.
"You can do your stupid 'Food Battle' some other time when it's not a bother to me or Red!"
"But... But..." Anthony protested.
"Did I stutter?!"
The two shook in their boots, nodding that they'll stop.
"They're going to be the death of me, I swear..." She stopped when she noticed the X-Squad. "Oh, hello."
"...What just happened?!" Uzi exclaimed. "He... He OPENED A KEYHOLE with an ICE CREAM CONE and then the other guy CLEANED THE CARPET WITH A DOUGHNUT and... Is she their roommate?" She pointed at Cyn, who looked at the squad with a tilted head.
"They are my fathers!" She said proudly.
"...One of them ate cleaning chemicals." Altair added.
"His insides will be clean!"
"Yeah, clean of everything that's supposed to be inside!" Starscream yelled. "And, uh...y-you still have food on your face."
"Oh, uh...Cyn. Help."
"Here." Cyn handed the blackette a rag she pulled out of...somewhere. The girl gave a "Thanks." before wiping off the batter and cream from her face. "Ah, that's better."
She turned towards the X-Squad with a smile. "Now, I believe introductions are in order." She extended a hand.
"I am the great witch, Ashley, a pleasure to meet you."
"Uh, likewise." Uzi returned the handshake. "So uh, what's a witch doing in this big castle?"
"It's where I live, and these three are my neighbors, unfortunately." Ashley remarked.
While the Critters are chatting with the X-Squad, the sky that was once bright and blue slowly starts to turn dull and grey. The Critters stopped as they suddenly noticed the shift in the atmosphere.
"Huh, that's weird. The weatherman didn't say it would rain today." The bear-like Yokai, Bobby Bearhug, said.
"I've got a feeling this is worse than just rain, Bobby. Now that I think about it, the flowers don't smell as lovely as they should and looked more like ice. Even our food was starting to lose its color and feel like snow!" CatNap realized.
The Smiling Critters exchange concerned glances as the vibrant colors of Giggle Grove fade away, replaced by Ice and snow. The Flutterby Friends flutter around them, their glow diminished as they started turning into icicles.
"This isn't right. Something's freezing Giggle Grove!" Hoppy realized.
"And also the rest of the world." Zap pointed out.
DogDay sniffed the air. "And it's not just the flowers and food. The very scent of the Grove's happiness is getting frozen over!"
"W-We need to find the source of this frozen madness and put an end to it!" CraftyCorn said.
"You're right, CraftyCorn! Come on, everyone. Smiling Critters..." DogDay announced.
"And X-Squad..." Albert continued.
"...To the rescue!" The X-Squad and Smiling Critters cheered.
"I may have an idea, seems the strange aura's deeper in my castle, and I'd rather like it removed, so, you'll have to help me with that." Ashley added.
Elsewhere, the Shadow Hunters were watching the squad arriving on their TV.
"Ugh... not those brats again. I can't let those pesky twerps interfere with our plan. But how can we stop them...?" Dourmind muttered, as she soon paced around in a circle, scheming.
"Hmmm, they're here." Dark Jr. said with a thoughtful look. "So what shall we do?"
"Oooooh, I got an idea. Let's do a Hercules on them." Diamond Spark remarked with a chuckle. "I mean, sending in bad guy after bad guy. How cliché!"
"Yeah...but we may need to do the bad guy thing in one of the tasks." Megafin pointed out.
"Ooooh, and I got a special one." Dr. Dourmind said, giggling maniacally. "Time to show the X-Squad and those lousy critters that we mean business!"
Meanwhile, a female Zeti named Zeena was doing her nails as Zavok walked into the room.
"Why are you still here?" he asked her.
"I'm just getting ready."
"Well, you seem to be taking your time."
"Well, it is my time to take now, isn't it?"
"Well what if I told you that you and Zor were the only ones I trust to be fast enough, smart enough, and pretty enough to beat the half-wyvern nuisance and his friends?"
Staring at a rose in his hand, another member of the Deadly Six, named Zor, let out a sigh.
"Everything seems so pointless..."
"Well, I'd say you have the right girl for the job." Zeena smirked before walking away.
"Man, this day keeps getting lamer and lamer. Whatever. Me and Zeena will go. Wreaking havoc upon the mortal world is actually the one thing I enjoy." Zor huffed, as he followed Zeena out.
"Well, two-for-one, this'll be fun." Zavok laughed to himself.
The group moved on their way.
"Halt!" A figure in armor exclaimed, blocking their way. "None shall pass!"
"What, are we in Monty Python now?" Satsuki asked.
"Spam, spam, spam, wonderful spam!" The robots exclaimed, repeating spam.
"We got to get through, mister." CraftyCorn said, blinking cutely. "So if you don't..."
She then yelped as the figure blocked her with his sword. "None shall pass...unless thou passed the 4 tasks!" He decreed.
"Okay, what are the 4 tasks?" The chicken-like Yokai, KickinChicken, asked the figure, blinking a bit.
"Beat the Moon Fondler!"
"Oh no..." Ian gasped as he heard a familiar voice.
"I'm gonna molest you!" The voice said.
"Oh fuck!" Anthony yelled, immediately pulling a cheese sandwich to use as a sword.
A man dressed as a moon appeared, laughing like mad. The gang looked at the sight, perplexed. They got to beat him to complete the first task?
"How are we going to get past this thing..." Kanade sighed as they looked at the...moon thing.
Drakus glared as the squad went into a fighting stance at the moon. "Bring it..." He said
The Molester Moon just laughed as he grabbed a hammer and club respectively as he started to charge right up at the squad...only for Iris to immediately end the match by sending Molester Moon flying into a fire pit with a blast of ultraviolet light, as the freaky moon burnt to death, his screams echoing into the snow.
"Well, it seems you have beaten your first task... now for the second task..." The figure started.
"Well, go ahead." Mystle said to the figure with a nod.
"Solve my riddle: what...does Napoleon say at the Battle of Waterloo?" The figure asked sternly.
"I give up." Mamika remarked with a shrug.
"Damn. They always get that one right. One more task: a couple of guys with swords charging at you and falling off the cliff!"
The group saw a couple of guys yelling as they charged at them with swords. The squad casually moved out of the way, causing the enemies to fall off the cliff screaming.
"It's hard to get good extras these days." Altair remarked with a sigh.
"Now, for the true final task: Fight me in battle if you wish to pass!" The knight said.
"You're kidding." Mystle snapped in annoyance, yelping as the figure got his sword out.
"Thou shall not pass!'
"Fine. Let's dance!"
Altair pulled out her sword, and cut the knight's arm off.
"There, now stand aside!" Altair said to the figure in satisfaction.
"Nay, naïve knave; 'Tis but a scratch." The figure insisted, much to the group's disbelief.
"A scratch?! Your arm's on the floor!!" Altair snapped to the figure in disbelief.
"No, it isn't!"
Mystle pointed to the arm on the ground. "Then what's that then?"
The figure glanced down. "I've had worse." He responded
"You're a liar!" Kremy exclaimed in disbelief.
"Come on, you pansy!!"
The two fighters clashed swords once again, until the other arm of the figure was chopped. Altair, smirking, laughed. "All right! I kicked ass! Now..." Altair started, but without warning, the figure kicked her in the shin. "WHAT THE HECK!?"
"Come on then!" The figure exclaimed, moving around as he kicked some more. "Have at you!!"
"Are you kidding?" Sora yelled at the figure in disbelief.
"Ooooh, had enough eh?"
"You dummkopf, look at yourself! You got no arms!!" Weiss exclaimed in disbelief. This guy is really driving them up the wall.
"Yes I have!" The figure insisted in denial. The heroes looked on in disbelief. Is this guy stupid or what?
"No, look!" Mera snapped, pointing out the missing arms.
"Just a flesh wound!"
The figure kicked at Altair, making her yelp in annoyance. "Will you stop that?!"
"What is it?" Garie asked, trying to see through the sandstorm.
"If you don't stop that, I will wreck your shit!" Mike yelped as the figure kicked at him again. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!"
The figure yelped as Altair charged up a surge of blue energy, and literally blasted him out of existence, somehow not destroying the walls behind him.
"So, the next shards should be over there." Vader said as he looks at the device to locate the next elements.
"And the next part of this chapter is even further." Zone said with a groan.
"Well, I have to admit, they did alright." Elemental said in observation.
"I agree. Ooooh, I got an idea. Something Steve and I once inflicted on Joel and the robots during "Hercules Vs. The Moon Men"." TV's Frank said with a slight grin. "You're going to love it...or don't! Ha ha ha!"
The group were now in a desert-like area, following the device.
"Okay, we should be getting closer." KickinChicken said, looking at the idea. The wind began to pick up. "Boy, the wind is picking up."
"Yeah, sand is blowing around." Crow commented. Then a hint of horror hit him. "Sand is blowing around?!"
"Oh no, NO! NOT THIS!!!" Tom Servo screamed frantically.
Sand flew around like mad. "Oh, what is this?!" Hothead Blitzwing yelled.
"It's the sandstorm scene from the Hercules film with the moon guys!" Crow yelled frantically. "Also known as..."
"Deep Hurting, Deep Hurting!" The robots exclaimed frantically.
"What is it?" Garie asked, trying to see through the sandstorm.
"It's when people wander around with no action happening!" Tom Servo complained frantically.
"Oh great!" Zap groaned as he moved his hands in front of his face. "As if this isn't screwed up as it is!"
The squad started walking through the desert, somehow walking through sand piles, as they soon reached the Shadow Hunters, Zeena and Zor, as Vader shook the sand off.
"I never did like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere." Vader muttered.
"Oh..." Zor said. "How did you get here so fast?"
Sinking Shadows
Zor
"Uh... power of montage, I guess." Drakus said.
"Uh... see ya!" Zeena grabbed the two Shards and used a smoke bomb to blind the others as the Shadow Hunters got away.
Frozen Heart
Zeena
Starscream groaned as he turned into his jet form. "After them, quick!"
"Yay! Cue the music!" Kanade laughed as she pulled out a radio and turned it on.
BGM: Stronger than You (Royale5)
"Huh?!" The robots asked in disbelief.
"We'll enlighten you soon enough." Hibiki said.
Still, everyone chased the Shadow Hunters all over the place, going over hills, through forests, across the sea, through the desert, even through space, all while doing so surprisingly quickly.
"Does anyone notice we change scenes quickly?" Mystle asked, noticing how some parts of the areas look like they are changing backgrounds.
"Does anyone notice we change scenes quickly?" Laura asked, noting how some parts of the area look like they are changing woods.
"It happened in Gunslinger; it's confusing!" Crow explained. He yelped as Zeena appeared, firing beams of ice at the group. "Hey!"
"Oh, it's the same trick I told you guys about, remember?" Tom Servo asked, with a grin on his face.
"How does it work?" Bubba asked Tom Servo, curiously.
"Well, watch this!"
Tom Servo zipped off...and appeared near Zeena. The Zeti yelped as she ran off.
"How did he get there?" Snatcher asked in shock and confusion.
"Easy!" Zone exclaimed as she disappeared and reappeared near Tom. "Now you try!"
"Forget it, I am keeping my sanity for this!" Mera said.
The group continued chasing the bad guys, heading to an area filled with doors. "Aww, shit. Not this bit with the doors." Uzi groaned.
The Shadow Hunters separate and rush into the doors with the others chasing them, going into separate doors. One door opens with Dil and Ichy being chased by Mystle, CatNap, Kanade and Lyre into another door. Another door opened with Weiss, CraftyCorn, Ridley and Roman chasing TV's Frank. A waiter somehow appears with a plate of glasses, walking down...only for Kirby, Bobby, Le Chevre, and Zick to crash into him, causing the waiter to drop his stuff as they pass by.
"Sacre bleu!" The waiter groaned as he got up and went away.
Another door opens...as Altair, DogDay, and some ducks rush through into another door after Zeena. Yet another door opens as Zor was chasing the robots. Soon, Opal rushed down and collided into Erhardt, causing all doors to open, with everyone peeking out in shock. Once the doors were closed yet again, the waiter came back.
"This time, moi won't drop them." The waiter said with a grunt.
However all the doors opened as everyone rushed in and out through them. The waiter yelps as he dodged quickly. When everyone is gone, he sighs...
Only for Cyn to knock him from behind. "Sorry." She exclaimed, as the waiter hit the floor, crashing his stuff anyway.
"I hate moi life." The waiter groaned.
The chase ended in an arena where the heroes are at...but no bad guys.
"Now where did they go off too?" Ian asked, looking around.
"So, looks like they won't give up?" Zor's voice remarked.
"Well, if you wish to beat us, you must go after us in a contest of skills, in a game appropriate for Hercules." Xanatos said.
"In a game we like to call..." Zeena said.
Lights came on as the heroes saw an intense obstacle course, right out of...
"AMERICAN GLADIATORS!!!!" Zeena's voice boomed out.
"American Gladiators?" Some of the squad asked, bewildered and confused. They haven't seen anything like this before.
"How about you let us deal with this?" Crow asked in concern. "You got the fighting so far."
"Uh huh. And how are you going to deal with that?" Lune asked dryly, pointing to the treadmills in one part, the hand bikes on the second part, the wall on the third one, which ends on two platforms where a huge American Gladiator is on, waiting with his big stick.
"Okay, you can work with us."
Mystle then zoomed up as she beat the treadmills, rode the bikes, went over the wall, and then pushed the gladiator off the path as he fell right down. "WHOO!"
Everybody just stared dumbfounded... as TV's Frank coughed, putting the gladiator back. "Well... if she can do it... I suppose the rest of you can."
Everybody else nodded as they started to do the obstacle course, but they were having a bit of trouble as they were bumbling their way over the treadmills.
As Zeena was sitting next to Frank and Erhardt, she turned to them and looked confused. "Say... early on, Erhardt, you were jealous of Frank. What changed your mind?"
"You were jealous?" Frank asked. "Why?"
Erhardt groaned. "Because I thought Forester wouldn't replace me! I guess I was wrong on that part!"
"Oh, come on." Frank sighed. "Look, I was told by Forester you got eaten by a giant spider."
Erhardt frowned. "Where did you get that dumb idea?"
"I don't know, maybe it was one of the movies Joel and the Bots riffed..." Frank said.
"Oh, was it?" Erhardt muttered, as the X-Squad somehow beat the gladiator. "Well, that happened. Do we flee or...?"
"We run for it!" Frank said as he handed Mystle the Shards of Baal and Azmodan, as a girl dressed in a grey and cyan biker outfit and a girl dressed in a military uniform colored red and yellow appeared. "Here you go. Didn't need them anyway. See ya later!"
With that, the Shadow Hunters ran out as Mystle squealed at the delight of getting two shards.
"YAY! We're almost done!" Mystle said as the squad came in. "Diablo, we beat the bad guys! Teleport those bad boys!"
"You got it!" Diablo said as she teleported the shards out of the scene.
"Okay... that leaves just..." Iris started... as Cambot flickered and gave a picture of the Shadow Hunters.
"That's right, the Shard of Memphis!" Megafin shouted.
"You mean the Shard of Manafis?" Dawn blinked.
"Shard of Maphysto?" Birch blinked.
"Shard of Mafister?" Kronos just shrugged.
"Shard of Masculi?" Frank paused.
"Shard of Maphistyr?" Puck blinked.
"It's the Shard of Mephisto." Baal groaned. "Stop butchering my sister's name!"
"Well, whatever, we got it." Zor frowned. "And if you want to come near us... you have to go to the final level..."
"Final level?" Drakus blinked.
"Uh, isn't that...?" Drakus said, seeing Deckard's limp body.
Everybody gasped. "OH SHIT, THEY'RE IN SYNC CITY!"
"Would you believe I found the Shard of Mephisto smack dab in Tom's Diner?" Dawn smiled, holding up the Shard. "I'm telling you; that was incredibly lucky!"
"Well, TTFN, ta ta for now! Push the button, Frank!" Clayton said as Frank obeyed, pushing the button.
"Oh shit..." Mera gasped. "The Shadow Hunters have the other shards in their grip! SHIT!"
"Wait, we have to head back!" Weiss yelped.
"Yes, now, go!" Drakus said, as everyone started panicking.
"Sheesh!" Tom Servo said, worried. "This is going to be big..."
"I know..." Crow groaned. "I have a feeling the next chapter's going to be pretty epic..."
As construction continues on the park to make it suitable for guests Nigel's second in command Chiyo is rehabilitating one of the park's current residents.
Maya stood next to a large building consisting of meter high red bricks, a steel roof forming a triangular prism painted green and two large red metal doors which were open letting out the smell of hay infested with herbivore faeces. Remotely a staff member closed the doors and with a clunk the metal formed an impenetrable barrier to the exhibit's inhabitants. The exhibit was fairly large for the fairly large inhabitants. It had been constructed to be hilly to simulate the animals' natural home of northern Tunisia as well as it being filled with short green grass and the occasional bright green olive tree. It perfectly resembled the warm, Mediterranean swept Sahel region of Tunisia. It even had a little rocky outcrop made of pure white limestone which had been arranged into three triangles to resemble the Djebel Ressas outcrop in Tunisia; although unlike the full sized giant limestone structure this one had a little water flow coming from the top which trickled down the white surface to form a small pool. Two elephants made themselves at home in this picture of the Mediterranean, Kalin and Augustine.
"Good girl, Kalin, over here," Maya said, softly. She held out an apple for the female who took it in her trunk with as much ease as a human grabbing something with their hand. The elephant gave a soft trumpet in thanks.
Kalin and Augustine were two Atlas Elephants rescued from Roman poachers. They were going to be used in Rome's blood sports where they would fight and kill other animals. Augustine, however, still has memories of what the Romans did to him…
A cameraperson managed to get into the exhibit when Kalin was gently fondling Maya's hair. They managed to zoom in on the male elephant, clearly showing the long, white line of a scar which stretched from his left ear down past his neck and onto his chest. Unfortunately, Augustine saw the cameraperson as well and gave a roar equivalent of a bassoon player. Flapping his flag-like ears, he t-posed as much as he could at the cameraperson, who wisely chose their self-preservation over their camera and dropped the still recording device. Seeing the cameraperson flee in terror, Augustine shuffled back and started cuddling a large silver security blanket.
"Augustine may no longer hate humans, no thanks to Drakus giving him affection and the X-Squad, Emily, Kelsey, Lily, April and Chloe group hugging him, but he is still a...special...case," Maya sighed. "He refuses to go near any keepers without his comfort blankie. The Romans must have done some despicable stuff to him, so I'll need to stay behind and help him."
She left the Atlas Elephants for now to meet up with the new staff member. Today two people had arrived on the island chain, (one permanent and one visitor), and she was excited to meet the permanent resident. She was a former student of the famous palaeontologist Robert Bakker. Maya met her at Yixian Formation Zero, creatures from the Yixian Formation on Isla Sorna, where she was avidly looking at the park's resident Crichtonsaurus, Michael. The new palaeontologist turned and immediately shook hands with Maya. She was aged about 29 with short, dyed white hair and around 5'8'' in height. It seems that she was already prepared for dinosaur hunting wearing hiking boots, khaki shorts and a blue and red checkered shirt which was tied in a knot faintly revealing her midriff.
"Professor Ashley Quintain," Maya said faintly. "I'm a fan of your work."
"Thank you. Maya Aida? Yeah. I'm a fan of yours as well," she gestured at Michael who was snorting as he ate a fern. "He's magnificent. Do you know what this 'X-Squad' you're talking about is rescuing today?"
"Yeah. I think you're going on the first two trips. It's best that I leave it as a surprise."
Blackheart plans to specifically rescue four species on this next mission. The first part will involve using the park's yacht…
Ashley, Maya, the captain, Pete Kahn, and the squad sat with different papers scattered across a desk. The yacht cabin was full of different monitors that currently displayed a blackened screen, maps of the Earth's ever changing landmasses over the millions of years as well as photos of the park's aquatic residents ranging from Steller's Sea Cows to the mighty mosasaur Tylosaurus. Pete was an avid photographer and loved taking photos of the animals.
"I'm glad you two are getting along," Blackheart said, smiling at Ashley and Maya. "Anyway, lemme explain! I've been pestering Hammond to do this for a long time and, well, he's finally relented."
"Eventually, Muldoon will relent and let you bring back unexpected carnivores!" Hussein laughed, causing Blackheart to pull a boyish smirk of innocence.
"In 1842, the future curator of the London Natural History Museum, Richard Owen, coined a word to describe the growing number of giant bones discovered over the last twenty years. Latin for meaning 'Terrible Reptile', he coined the word... dinosaur. Today I plan for you to rescue the three dinosaurs which he used to classify the new group: Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus!"
"It's funny, but he also put back paleontology," Ashley laughed. "Gideon Mantell portrayed Iguanodon more like it is known to have walked, but Owen overrode him and made it a hulking, rhino-like monster."
Although Richard Owen made dinosaurs well known he was very cantankerous and tried to even take credit for discovering Iguanodon!
"First though, I also plan to rescue an ichthyosaur which helped spark off paleontology! Discovered in England by Mary Anning, you'll have to rescue the Temnodontosaurus. You have to feel sorry for Mary though, the scientific community took credit away from her because she was a woman and men were scared of letting go of their control over science. Luckily, we can immortalise her memory with a Temnodontosaurus in the park."
The X-Squad will go with Ashley to save Mary Anning's discovery, to the Toarcian epoch of the early Jurassic. Temnodontosaurus was king of the seas and was one of the larger ichthyosaur species. Climate change and the arrival of giant sea predators, such as Liopleurodon, ensured that Temnodontosaurus had a sticky end.
Jurassic waves kissed the hull of the yacht. Untarred by the years of chemical pollution that would scar the seas of Britain millions of years in the future, the ocean perfectly reflected the cloud free blue sky. In the distance, it was impossible to tell where the sky began and the water ended. It also helped that Jurassic Britain rested on the Caribbean-like Tethys Ocean, which allowed the climate to be much different. Where the yacht bobbed up and down would later be the tip of Cornwall miles inland; the only part of Jurassic Britain not swallowed by the omnipotence of the Tethys Ocean were small areas of Wales and Scotland. Mystle started to put on her wetsuit as Quint, Ashley's preferred nickname, tossed a sardine overboard for a seagull-like Rhamphorhynchus to scoop it up.
"Temnodontosaurus was a giant ichthyosaur," Drakus explained, casually fishing for things to send to the park. "About the size of a modern day orca. Although, they are very much different from orcas. For one, they're reptiles, obviously, and they keep their eggs inside their body; the babies hatch inside the mother and then are 'given birth'. Mary Anning unearthed the body of a Temnodontosaurus of the platyodon persuasion, her brother, Richard, found the head, although there was a small issue. They called it Ichthyosaurus, believing it was a member of that species. Took over a hundred years to discover that Mary's ichthyosaur was actually Temnodontosaurus platyodon. Although I'm glad Blackheart wanted us to get the squid eating one; the eurycephalus ate other ichthyosaurs!"
Not wanting to wait, Mystle and Quint jumped into the water. From the warm Tethys current and the heat of the sun, the warmth of the water made it feel like a bath. They were in deep water, as Temnodontosaurus had big eyes suited for deep sea life, and down below all that they could see was a dark blue murkiness where the beams of light could not reach. Quint was like a small child with it being her first trip into the world that she had so intensely studied. She quickly discovered some marine life although nowhere near the size of even a Temnodontosaurus embryo! A few ammonites the size of your thumb bobbed up and down in the warm current. Bright pink tentacles swept for miniscule plankton with the coiled orange and white speckled shell bobbing gently.
"Do you know which one these things are?" Mystle asked through her wetsuits headset.
"Stephanoceras microconch," she replied through hers "I think these guys are going extinct with current changes."
Climate change can have devastating effects on all flora and fauna. Plankton often move with currents shifting with the climate which means the little ammonites will suffer.
Bob loved ammonites and had set up a tank in the aquarium ready in case the squad rescued a few. The increasingly rare Stephanoceras would be perfect editions to the park. Mystle and Ashley's wetsuits had a series of small nets on the hip enabling a diver to scoop up a small fish or other aquatic animal. It turned out that the nets had a secondary purpose of bagging ammonites enabling them to have a few ammonites ready for the park. Over her headset, Mystle messaged Pete to get the transport tank ready for some ammonites. Quickly, they were back on the yacht with a small horde of ammonites gently bobbing up and down.
"They're beauties!" Pete laughed, looking into the clear water of the tank at the ammonites. "Drakus, we've picked up something deep below us on the radar which could be a Temnodontosaurus. Although, it could be something else."
Jurassic seas were full of large animals, including sharks. Judging by the time period, the first pliosaurs could just as likely be down there…
As a way to tempt a possible ichthyosaur, the crew threw a net full of squid and other cephalopod guts into the ocean. Quickly the warm water around the net turned black from the blood of the cephalopods; the current starting to make the guts be swept across the water. In the cabin, the dark green radar had a smaller light green bleep with an accompanying high pitched bleep. The crew eagerly ran to the side to hopefully get a look at the mystery sea monster.
"Get away from the side!" Pete yelled. "It could take your head off, where is my camera?!"
As Pete was rooting through the cabin for his camera, the sea burst as an ichthyosaur jumped from the water. It had a great yellow eye the size of a beach ball, with a blood red top and a light blue bottom. Everyone caught a good glimpse at the 12 meter giant before it dived back down below; Pete though failed to find his camera.
"It had peg-like teeth!" Drakus yelled. "It's the platyodon."
Before Quint could advise him not to, Drakus jumped into the water. Below the surface, he saw multiple Temnodontosaurus frolicking in the water, although, he still had a shocker out to deter one if they decided to go for a bite. A female swam close by and before she swam off, he managed to grab a hold of the pebbly skin. With no effort she wafted her tail and the water parted with ease.
"They are magnificent!" Drakus cried. "I think I'll call that female Mary. We don't know whether they are sociable animals, so they might just be here for the squid, but we would be able to safely have them in one tank. Let's open the portal and catch a few!"
Pete opened the portal just next to the squid net. As one ichthyosaur swam to take a bite out of the cephalopods, it vanished in the faintly visible blue whirl that made up the portal. Soon, all the Temnodontosaurus were through, with the yacht following. In a few minutes, Bob had managed to sort them into holding tanks situated next to the docks, where the Temnodontosaurus were swimming through clouds of fish guts. Bob was looking very pleased.
"My goodness, they are fantastic!" he said, slapping the railing at the side of the tank. "I have a nice deep sea tank for them near the Opthalmosaurus. Maya's made real progress with Tantor as well."
"That's good. We'll just get changed for our trip to rescue an Iguanodon, and then I'll see if he's any better. Also check the yacht's tank; we have a few ammonites for you."
At the Atlas Elephant enclosure, Maya has had a good idea to slowly build Augustine's trust in his human companions.
Gently, she placed a singular red apple in the grass. Augustine soon spotted the apple poking out from the green grass and walked towards it. He stared at Maya, but instead of attacking, he slowly walked up to her and gently picked up the apple with his trunk. Maya stood motionless; partially through fear and partially through trying not to scare Augustine. She pulled the final apple from her coat and he scooped it from her hand. For the last six hours, she had been doing this. Augustine loved apples and she had been placing one on the floor for him, before backing off in order to gain his trust. He seemed to be far more intelligent than other elephants or otherwise she doubted that she would have been able to stand right next to him after six hours of work. Augustine gently reached out his long, finger-like trunk and fondled her pink hair.
"Good boy," she whispered tentatively placing her hand on his trunk. He flinched slightly but kept it there. Then she noticed something. On his leg was a little black burn mark from where a red hot iron had been placed against his rocky, grey skin. It was an insignia.
"You were once domesticated," she whispered in shock. "That's why you've taken to me so quickly."
Roman and Carthaginian animal trainers quite often bonded with their animals. There have even been stories of Roman trainers found guilty of crimes being thrown to the lions only to have the lions nuzzle them. It is not unlikely that Augustine had a trainer who bonded with him and let him go during the Roman siege of Carthage to spare his friend.
"Don't worry, Augustine, I'm here," she whispered. "Don't worry, I'll help you get through it."
Suddenly he made an angry trumpet. Maya froze with fear; she had no way to escape the angry elephant. However, he stood between her and the fence; a man was standing there. She quickly waved for him to leave and, after petting Augustine, she went to go meet him. He was in his early fifties, balding and in all black with a leather jacket although he looked like an older Jeff Goldblum.
"Chaostician Ian Malcolm," he introduced. "You've worked wonders with that elephant. Although, he proves my theory about the park. The way he flipped out shows how untameable these animals are and that the park could fail."
"He flipped out because Roman Centurions were male and you are, well, a man. I'm assuming Ludlow hired you to discredit the park?"
"No, Hammond actually. I loathe Ludlow. His idea was to stand on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as he could, and before he even knew what he had, he wanted to patent it, and package it, and slap it on a plastic lunchbox, and then sell it. His plan was doomed to fail, but this new idea could fail."
"Why?" she asked. Apparently, Ian Malcolm was a very confusing person. Well, she didn't fully understand the chaos theory.
"You're opening to the public. Originally, you understood that this place was unpredictable and that escapes would happen so you could sort them easily. You did research and knew how to handle the animals but, well…As you've seen with the workers, people offer a new conundrum. I'll prove that over the next day."
"You're not staying?" she asked.
"No. I love kids and hate to be away from mine for too long. Also, I'm getting a divorce."
"Oh, sorry for your loss."
"Oh, don't be. I'm always looking for a future ex-Mrs Malcolm."
Meanwhile, the X-Squad and Quint are going back to early Cretaceous England to rescue the Hylaeosaurus and Iguanodon. They were two herbivores that lived in the forests and plains of England until climate change replaced their forests, and their food source with it.
A twig snapped under Neo's foot as the squad stepped out of the portal. Quint stepped out shortly behind them and gazed in amazement. A gust of wind ran through the giant redwood trees forcing her to move a few strands of hair from her eyes. In the distance they could hear the babble of a brook as it flowed through the forest. Golden beams of light managed to weave its way through leaves of the trees casting spotlights onto lush spots of green ferns. They were not alone though. A collapsed tree blocked their view of the creature from where the sounds originated from. Luckily the sound was a low grunting similar to that of a rhino instead of a shrill roar. It was easier to climb up the tree than to get around up and using the natural holes in the trunk they managed to sit on a mossy patch looking down on the dinosaur's below. There were three dinosaurs, one was a young one, and were clearly ankylosaurids. Unlike Ankylosaurus and Crichtonsaurus, though, they lacked a bony club at the end of their tails, instead their tails tapering off into a traditional slightly pointed end. Their bony plates were pink and their normal pebbly skin was green. Each lump that created their armour was white, although, running from the centre of the back to the tail and on the sides were white spikes.
"Well, this is a first!" Drakus exclaimed. "We've already found one of our dinosaurs: Hylaeosaurus armatus."
"They're nodosaurs so they don't have a club. That must be why they have those large spikes."
Nigel noticed that with their bony mouth they snapped off horsetails. Unlike the hadrosaurs they swallowed the foliage immediately instead of chewing the meal. Dinosaurs like Hylaeosaurus were not very intelligent which suited Nigel's plan. Jumping down from the trunk he and Quint grabbed some horsetails and waved them around. Soon the nodosaurs noticed and started ambling towards them which enabled Nigel to open the portal and send them through.
"We have one of them," Nigel said "Iguanodon lived in more open areas so we best get out of the forest."
The best bet was to go to the brook and follow from there. Soon they stumbled through the ferns onto a riverbank covered in shells, it turns out it was more than just a brook! Farther down the trees seemed to get thinner so they opted to follow the stream down there. Iguanodon was much larger than Hylaeosaurus so would struggle to safely transfer through forest. Although the current of the river could easily topple over an Iguanodon.
Drakus stopped in his tracks though and Quint turned pale when she saw why. Standing in the river were some spinosaurids, but unlike Spinosaurus, they lacked humps. They were also much smaller, although it was still 2 meters, high at the shoulder. The spinosaurids were all a white colour with red stripes running down the body with black cheeks and light blue dagger shaped feathers running across the neck, long arms and head.
"Baryonyx walkeri," Drakus whispered. "The English cousin of Spinosaurus. Look how it's resting its nose in the water. If it's anything like Spinosaurus, that nose should be covered in sensors to snap at a fish."
The Baryonyx briefly took its snout from the bubbling water and stared at them. It took little interest in them and dipped its snout once again in the water. An animal evolved to eat fish will go for fish over a less piscine meal whenever the opportunity arises.
"Pterosaurs and Iguanodon bones have been found in their stomach," Quint whispered. "Although they only hunt them when droughts happen. Do you want to try and rescue them?"
"Uh, duh!" Drakus said, pulling out a fish, as the Baryonyx showed interest, and slowly got closer, as Drakus opened the portal, sending the beast through, and repeated it until the herd was all through the portal.
Meanwhile, Maya and Ian Malcolm are having a little discussion on Isla Sorna.
Peeking out from some trees was the Devonian House with its large red walls. Inside were Prehistoric Park's resident Tiktaalik and Ichtyostega from the Devonian Newfoundland where oxygen levels were at a fraction of today's oxygen level. Leading from a door at the back of the house was a wooden bridge which stretched across a large lake. Pond weed and reeds shot out from the murky black water which blocked the view of the lake's resident.
"Give this lake for example," Ian Malcolm explained "We know what's inside and to be respectful of the resident. A guest doesn't know that. You can put up signs saying not to do anything stupid but human nature is chaotic. What I am going to show you is a perfectly realistic scenario."
He happened to be eating a sandwich which he broke in half. Inside the bread was a huge chunk of cooked meat. Malcolm threw the sandwich into the lake and in a flash the surface exploded in a wave of white foam and silver fish scales. The lake happened to house the giant predatory fish, Hayaka the Hyneria.
"Uh, duh!" Drakus said, pulling out a fish, as the Baryonyx showed interest, and slowly got closer, as Drakus opened the portal, sending the beast through, and repeated it until the herd was all through the portal.
Meanwhile, Maya and Ian Malcolm are having a little discussion on Isla Sorna.
He was right. Guests could easily mess up the park's order and what if they threw something like a crisp packet or a drink can? Hayaka could swallow it and get ill. She noticed what time it was.
"Sorry I've got to go. The Sorna Holding Pens have been damaged by one of Ludlow's workers, so I have to oversee Augustine having his first treatment on Nublar."
As she ran off, Malcolm sighed. "That isn't chaos. That is an angry chairperson and worker leader who can't get a clue."
In Cretaceous England, Quint and the X-Squad have finally managed to stumble across the second dinosaur ever known to science.
The forest had parted to reveal a wide open plain full of the curved, spindly leaves of ferns and tall fibrous horsetails. Scattered about were the occasional tree which stood oddly in a sea of ferns. A herd of great Iguanodon stood before them with the adults browsing around the outskirts and the juveniles to the centre. They resembled hadrosaurs but minus the famous duck bill but also on each hand they had a thumb spike; a potent weapon against a possible predator. Each Iguanodon had a white head which highlighted their cow like eyes and a light green-blue body. The adults would periodically change from walking on all fours to going bipedal in order to browse from the scattered trees. Curiously though another dinosaur was with them. They resembled Dryosaurus but were a fraction of the size. They had a red head an olive green body with cream stripes. Looking carefully it was possible to see a finger slightly curve around ferns so its back teeth could shear the vegetation.
"Iguanodon and Hypsilophodon!" Drakus cried, which made a few Hypsilophodon look up. "The smaller Hypsilophodon must act as look outs while the Iguanodon acts as the defence. Those thumb spikes must be a deadly weapon for a carnivore. You can tell how they dominated the late Jurassic to the early Cretaceous. Being able to change their stance allowed them to eat a wide range of food."
Time to enact his plan. At the park, he had recorded the distress sounds of Dryosaurus and the roar of different therapods. Mystle stood at the edge of the herd while Quint and the squad stood at different sides. Quint then played a Dryosaurus distress sound. A loud honk echoed across the field causing Hypsilophodon to raise their tiny heads. Immediately, they started letting out a piercing high pitched honk, which made the Iguanodon to release a low grumble. The crew then started to play the fierce roars of different carnivores: the snarl of a Fukuiraptor, the below of a Carcharodontosaurus, the shriek of a Yutyrannus and the deafening roar of a T-Rex. The Iguanodon reared onto two legs looking for the invisible carnivores.
"If they could see a carnivore, they would form a defensive ring!" Drakus shouted over the deafening honks of Hypsilophodon and the roars of therapods. "They must run towards the only direction where they aren't coming from, Which meant towards me."
It worked and the herd ran towards Drakus. Soon, they vanished through the portal with the crew following after. Soon, Rob and Maya were with them looking down at the herd.
"They are amazing!" Maya gasped "It's hard to imagine them as sluggish rhinos like Richard Owen wanted them to be."
"I need to get going," Drakus said. "Time to rescue the first dinosaur known to science: Megalosaurus!"
Megalosaurus was the largest carnivore in mid Jurassic England. It was too much like the therapods of the early Jurassic so when larger carnivores like the allosaurids came along, it was outcompeted.
The setting sun casted an amber glow across the beach. Ironically, it was soon the setting sun as well for Megalosaurus. Up ahead, stranded on the beach, was the rotting corpse of a stranded plesiosaur. Pterosaurs had already started to nibble at chunks of plesiosaur flesh, which was now infested by flies.
"Many Megalosaurus fossils have been found in coastal areas," Drakus explained. "It is thought that young ones go to the beach looking for carrion away from adults. Hopefully, we can find a young one…Look!"
A therapod emerged from some nearby trees and with its massive jaws stripped the plesiosaur of its flesh. It had a less robust head than Tyrannosaurus but was more rectangular in shape. The dinosaur was covered in silver proto-feathers; dagger shaped and millions of years of evolution away from true feathers. Judging by the size, it was not fully grown.
"A young female," Drakus cried. The dinosaur heard him and roared. It seemed to be starving and unwilling to relinquish its meal. It ran at Drakus, who used the Moefy spell on instinct, causing the dino to turn into a girl clad in silver biker gear and a black shirt, with white pants and boots, and then he opened the portal and sent her through. "Let's find some more."
The sauad made their way into the forest near the beach, and soon found out why the female had chosen the beach for a meal. A group of male and female Megalosauruses were tearing apart the corpse of a young Cetiosaurus, but they kept snapping at each other. One lonely male and one lonely female stood aside from the rest.
"Unlike lions or raptors, dinosaurs like Megalosaurus only formed packs out of convenience. They would quickly turn on each other, literally the survival of the cruelest."
The young male and young female were about to walk away, until Mystle stepped in and opened the portal. The squad now had two Megalosauruses and one Megalosaurus waifu at Prehistoric Park. However, before they could go home, there was another giant roar. A fully grown male, 7 meters long, burst from the forest. The smaller pack backed off, allowing the adult to tear strips from the sauropod corpse and swallow them whole.
When you're the largest carnivore around, an adult Megalosaurus has no need to hunt.
The youngsters, however, weren't taking any of it and ganged up on him. Despite his superior size, the adult male couldn't successfully take on an entire pack and started to retreat. Drakus quickly snuck up behind the distracted giant and opened the portal, making the male vanish in a sea of swirling light, as the packed followed through. In a matter of minutes, the Megalosaurus was roaring in a holding pen.
"He's a cranky fellow," Rob laughed. "Let's call him Richard Owen."
As they were laughing, Ludlow's crony, Nick Grilsby, went onto the walkway to observe the new dinosaur. He shrugged. He had seen big dinosaurs throughout the park, and anyways, a T-Rex girl was in a nearby pen. Tempo or something like that. Being checked up for scrapping with a female who beat her badly. Wuss. Wasn't T-Rex supposed to be tough? He smiled and leaned back. BEEP! He turned to see that he had leaned on the control panel where a big red button was. Suddenly all the pen doors opened…
"Oops," he gulped retreating, before Drakus grabbed him and tossed him into the Megalosaurus pen.
Richard immediately left his pen, and started eating Nick alive, all the while making what could only be described as 'bloodthirsty Megalosaurus noises'. The younger Megalosauruses stayed inside their pens, in fear and respect of the larger dinosaur. Augustine left his pen though as well! When the elephant saw the dinosaur, he trumpeted in greeting, earning a roar of confusion that could break eardrums from Richard. Augustine started to retreat, not used to such a giant carnivore. Richard approached Augustine, his jaws agape, ready to tear chunks out of the large mammal. Suddenly, a rock came from nowhere and hit the dinosaur in the face.
"Over here!" Drakus yelled.
The Megalosaurus went to attack the new annoyance until...
"Welcome to the Playpen, new kid!" A spry and cocky voice said.
Richard turned around to see a small human, Tempus, walking up to him. Her cuts from Kayna's sparring match made her cocky grin ever so more terrifying. Although not fully a dinosaur, Tempus was still meaner and deadlier than Richard. Richard roared and arched his back, which caused Tempus to let out a bigger roar. Richard let out a whelp of respect, and ran into his holding pen. Satisfied that a contender for rule over the holding pens had been vanquished, Tempus returned to sleep in her own.
"So, where's this Augustine guy I heard about?" CatNap asked, as Rob went to call the cleaners to clean up the Nick gore Richard left behind.
Suddenly a grey trunk rested on his shoulder. Augustine had learned that the new friends the X-Squad made are legally considered friends.
Although far from rehabilitated, Augustine seems to have made massive progress allowing the park to settle down after housing the last of science's first known dinosaurs.