Forest of Blight
Right, before we get started, there are a couple of big things I'd like to discuss:
Guest: Not to be… fussy here, but, if it's alright with you, could you please write Edgar, Marissa and Davon's AP bios up as well? Also, BTW, give Byron an animal partner, please. And the stuff about meeting some of the gang's families in Phase Three is going to happen.
For anybody else who'd like to submit a Phase Three OC (the sooner the better, please – seriously, we've had four submitted by just one person…), here's some tips:
I've been watching a lot of MonsterVerse stuff and reading a lot of James Rollins novels lately, so look at those for character inspiration (if you're unfamiliar with those, use Google). Guest's JP-inspired OCs are pretty good, but a bit of a wider range in inspiration would be nice.
I'd also like to see some more keepers for the other divisions – basically, like we've got Aaron, Hugo, Maria and Carmen in the reptile division. In addition, I'd also like to see experts with specific expertise on the research team rather than just "palaeontologist" or "biologist" – maybe something like a herpetologist or a marine biologist. Their APs would have to be themed accordingly of course.
And, more generally a bit more diversity in the nationalities – remember, we want to move away from "Americans and a couple of Brits". (Remember the thing about MonsterVerse and James Rollins when fleshing out these guys).
As for APs…
Aside from mammoth, Spinosaurus and Velociraptor, all of which I mentioned earlier, Microraptor's going to be in Phase Two, completing the OG PP missions, as is Paraceratherium.
We've also got a few missions in Phase Three planned out – in that phase, we're going to go a bit "weirder", since we've had pretty much all the big names for each era of the Phanerozoic. So, in Phase Three, we've got stuff like Megalania, Tylosaurus, Yi qi, Gastornis, Hatzegopteryx, Gigantopithecus… things that we couldn't necessarily go with until a good percentage of the "stars" were out the way.
You are free to PM me or LG for help with an OC if you want a bit of help – we would be more than happy to help you out.
And right, with requests, we're going to need a good idea on what creatures everyone wants to see the most soon. And we don't want to do another poll… so here are the outstanding requests (trimmed in accordance to what LG and I have already planned):
- Tendaguru Formation
- Ankalagon
- Baryonx, Iguanodon
- Giganotosaurus and other fauna of the Candeleros formation like Andesaurus and Ekrixinatosaurus.
- Daoedon
- Siats
- Antarctopelta
- Chenanisaurus
- Gigantophis
- Basilosaurus (Basilosaurus cetoides, not Basilosaurus isis)
- Utahraptor
- Australopithecus
- Megistotherium
- Irritator
Which of these would y'all like to see us to do first? Since we've got two "request" slots in this phase, the top two will be written up.
And with all that out of the way, on to the story!
Jack Denham stood at the droma paddock, a smile on his face. Lifting the remote control, he opened a door and moved the lure into the enclosure at high speed. Seeing it moving, the dromas dived after the lure, following it – with Duke and Cassie leading the chase, as the older female Jane and the four youngsters followed at different angles, surrounding it. Eventually, Jack turned the lure into a wall, allowing the dromas to corner their "prey". One of the younger males took a few steps, jaws open, towards it when, suddenly…
A piercing whistle-blast echoed through the air. The dromas stopped in their tracks and turned to look at him. Jack threw them each a piece of meat; training was going very, very well. The dromas had proven their worth in the Shutdown – even the sceptics had been won over. Jack's training programme was getting a lot of support – particularly from Khatin, who had wanted to research deinonychosaur intelligence, and Jack's training programme (which had proven that they could be trained) had been an important part of it.
His thoughts were interrupted by someone clapping. Jack turned to see Cynthia Knightley standing behind him, a smile on her face. Walking up to stand beside him, "I just wanted to say… sorry about the mission a week ago. Shouldn't have brought my personal life in with me. Wasn't your fault." Jack took a step. "Oookay… thank you for the apology, but it's really not a big deal…"
Suddenly, Jack's walkie-talkie rang and he reached to pick it up. Lifting to his ear, he said, "This is Jack, who is it?" Leon's voice crackled out the other end, "It's Leon. I'm heading for Drew's office and I thought you were going on the mission today." Jack inwardly cringed; he knew he'd forgotten something. Jack sighed. "I'll see you there in five minutes; I'm done with the dromas anyway." Turning to Cynthia, Jack sighed, "Yeah, well, apologies – or whatever else you wanted to say to me are gonna have to wait."
. . . . .
Five minutes later, Leon and Drew were sitting in the latter's office, waiting for Jack to arrive. Drew was checking his watch and tutting, whilst Leon was looking absent-mindedly at the ceiling while fiddling around with his recording device, saying monotonously, "He said he'd be here around about now." Suddenly, a voice said, "I'm here." Drew turned to see Jack walking towards him, a small smile on his face. "Where were you?" Drew asked, "You were supposed to be here five minutes ago." In response, Jack rolled his eyes and replied, "I was busy with the dromas; that's why I was late. Anyway, what are we going after?"
Drew smiled and showed them a picture of a large tyrannosaur, distinguished from the three species already at the park by virtue of its shorter, broader skull and more forward-facing eyes. Leon smiled, "Lythronax. This should be interesting."
Jack raised his eyebrow quizzically and said, "Lythronax? The name sounds vaguely familiar…" Leon turned to Jack and said, "Lythronax was one of the earliest large tyrannosaurids – and its discovery was pretty important in establishing how the group evolved. Having living specimens should be an interesting research opportunity…" Drew nodded and said, "Correct as usual, Leon. Anyway, let's get going."
And, so, they headed to the portal site. An employee entered the time period and location and the portal whirred into life. Drew put the remote in his pocket and, after securing it, turned to Leon, who nodded, and Jack, who gave him a wink and a thumbs-up. Drew nodded at them both. As they turned to head towards the portal, Jack suddenly heard Collete shouting from the walkway, "Oh, and Jack? Promise me you'll be careful!" Jack nodded to her, and he, Drew and Leon entered through the portal.
. . . . .
Once the blinding light from the portal had died down, the first thing that hit Drew, Jack and Leon was the heat. Looking around, they noticed that they were in a patchy forest.
Jack looked around and turned to Drew and asked, "So, fearless leader, if you've got a plan, could you tell us what it is?" Drew was about to speak when a low bellowing suddenly alerted the team to the presence of a herd of large ceratopsians. They looked rather like the nasutoceratops back at the park, only slightly smaller and with sandy brown scales instead of slate-black.
Looking at them, Jack said, "I don't know what those are… Leon?" Leon shrugged and said, "I have no idea – a nasutoceratopsin, definitely, but aside from that, I don't know. Having said that, fragmentary remains of a nasutoceratopsin have been found in Wahweap. I think that's what we're looking at… Drew, what are you doing?" Both Jack and Leon noticed that Drew was walking slowly towards the herd. As the realisation hit him, Jack said, "Oh, God." At his teammate's statement, Drew chuckled and lifted the horn, beginning to blare it at the herd's dominant male. The male, his attention turned, bellowed at the new creature, as Drew continued blaring.
As Drew got closer, still blaring the horn, the male pawed the ground like a bull and charged towards Drew. As the male charged, Alice activated the portal remote, causing the portal to whirr into life; Drew dived out of the way, just in time for the male to go through the portal. The rest of the herd followed him. Drew turned to his teammates and smiled, "Ole – no guts, Leon, no glory".
At this, Jack turned to Leon, "When did you realise he uses these semi-inspirational statements to distract you when he does something crazy?" A confused Leon turned to Jack, "He does what now?"
. . . . . .
"Well, this is a surprise."
Cynthia Knightley looked at the new ceratopsians, before turning to Khatin, "Any idea what these things are? Aside from ceratopsians…" Khatin said, "Nasutoceratopsins of some kind, certainly… however, these are most likely a new taxon. Studying them will be an interesting proposition."
Aaron, who was among the holding pen staff for the day, turned to Khatin and said, "Who do you think'd win?" Khatin turned to him, confused, "Win what?" Aaron said, "Who do you think'd win in a fight? Toppsy or one of these guys?" Khatin gave him a look, "Mr. Joseph, that is a very unprofessional question to ask… but, if I were putting money on it, Toppsy, probably." Aaron nodded, "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. The big guy'd definitely win."
Cynthia looked at the two indignantly, "Excuse me, can we get back to the task at hand?" Khatin and Aaron looked at her like she was from Mars, "Yeah – I'm gonna help get these things in a pen… am I forbidden from having a little chat before I do?" Khatin said, "In less confrontational terms, when Drew and the team are gone, we know the drill, so to speak – we generally don't need anybody co-ordinating us. Generally, Drew, Kyle and Nikolai are very hands-off with us."
Cynthia rolled her eyes – typical. On group projects, he'd "supervise", whilst Leon and Adrian did most of the work. And she'd heard of the Shutdown, about seven months prior where things went to shit – that was probably what his methods led to. She'd have to take matters into her own hands – to make sure something actually got done.
. . . . . .
After sending the new ceratopsians back, the team had continued along a clearing and, after a while, come upon a small group of pachycephalosaurs. Each was about four feet tall and covered in sandy brown scales, with black stripes on the side. Regarding them, Drew said, "I don't know what these are… Leon?" Leon shrugged, "Me neither – fragmentary pachycephalosaur bones have been found in the Wahweap, but they're indeterminate."
Suddenly, one of the pachycephalosaurs turned to look at the forest and let out a squeal of alarm, and the herd suddenly turned and began to run towards the team. Drew, not wanting to miss the opportunity that this afforded, turned to his team and yelled, "Now!" Jack hurriedly drew out his portal remote and pointed it in the direction of the running animals before he then pressed the button and the portal whirred into life. Not changing their course, the entire herd stampeded through the portal, into the present.
What had startled them became apparent mere seconds after the last of the pachycephalosaurs had vanished into the portal – some distance away, watching the affair with cold disappointment, was a small pack of tyrannosaurs. They were sandy-brown coloured and roughly about the same size as the Teratophoneus back at the park, but with shorter and broader skulls. At the sight of them, Drew smiled – he knew what these were. "Look sharp, boys – I think we've found our target." Disappointed at losing their kill, the lythronax stormed off. Drew turned to his team, "Let's get trekking – day's a-wasting…"
. . . . .
In the vet offices, Beth and Yolanda were on-break, looking over the notes for the day – it wasn't too bad. Linda was at the portal site, checking over the arrivals from the mission – the most important thing on the notes as that Linda had put a reminder to check on a compy that, even after surgery, was still limping.
Suddenly, their thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat, and both turned to see Cynthia standing behind them. Smiling, she said, "Hello, girls – could I just see your notes for the day, please? I need to know how the situation is down here."
At this, Yolanda turned to her and said, confusedly, "Oh, have Kyle and Nikolai asked for something?" Cynthia laughed and said, "Well, no, I've asked you for those notes. Drew said I was in charge until he got back from the mission…"
To this, Beth said, "Well, see, there's the problem – we don't really have an 'in charge' person when Drew's gone. Yeah, there's Kyle and Nikolai, but for the most part, we all handle ourselves." Yolanda nodded, "Yeah – we all know the drill, so we just do what we do. We know what we have to do for the day and we just do it." At this, Cynthia rolled her eyes exasperatedly and walked out.
As she left, Beth said, "Bossy or what?" But Yolanda was quiet. I can see why Leon doesn't like you, she thought.
. . . . .
"Have we lost them?"
Drew sighed at Jack's question – principally because the answer was "Yes".
The team had been carefully following the Lythronax pack as the large theropods slowly trekked around the lake and towards the nearby forest, but had lost them. As they had been walking through the forest, they had noticed that the sound of rustling began to rise from the bushes around the team as they continued making their way through the woods. "What should we do?" Jack asked. "Keep scanning the undergrowth," said Drew, "This is the perfect environment for an ambush. If necessary, we might have to..."
Suddenly, the bushes around them started rustling considerably more loudly than before, and a familiar harsh barking cough burst out from within the rustling foliage. Everyone tensed as the rustling and barking got louder, and then nine medium-sized theropods burst out from the undergrowth to surround the trio, snarling and hissing. Each theropod was about six feet long and tall enough to come up to the five humans' thighs, and their bodies were covered in reddish feathers with white feathered plumes on the tops of their heads, except for their faces, fingers, and feet, which were covered in yellow scales. They had long snouts, their mouths filled with sharp teeth, and large intelligent looking amber eyes outlined with red scales. They all stood on two powerful hind legs each, all of them with three-toed taloned feet; the second toe on each foot was larger than the others and held aloft, tipped in vicious sickle-shaped claws. In that moment, all nine of them cocked their heads curiously at the five humans.
"Those are dromaeosaurids," said Jack, breathless, "Must be a new species." "Yep," said Drew. "Had a feeling we'd bump into them. They've probably been following us for some time – we must have walked into their territory." The dromaeosaurids snarled, but stood still, as if wondering whether to attack. The rescue team remained utterly rigid, not wanting to risk an attack, whilst Leon eventually looked to Drew and whispered, "If you've got a plan, now might be a good time…"
Jack, however, looked carefully to Leon. "Pass me the bait bag," he whispered. Leon looked to Jack and whispered, "Why?" "There's meat in there remember?" Jack responded, pointing at the bait bag he wanted Leon to pass to him. "We can use it to distract them from us long enough to get the portal ready." This was all Leon needed to hear, and he quietly passed the bag to Jack, careful to avoid potentially angering the raptors into attacking. Upon receiving the bag, Jack drew out a slab of raw steak and threw it away from him and the rest of the team. Snarling gleefully, the raptors bolted after the steak, eventually starting to eagerly fight each other over it. Taking advantage of the chaos, Jack drew out a portal grenade, primed it, and then tossed it amongst the pack; at which point it then exploded into a vortex of light, the raptors vanishing into it. Once the impromptu portal had finally closed, Drew and Leon looked to Jack, who smiled and flashed Drew a thumbs-up. "Same plan we did with the saurornitholestes, so…" Drew nodded, a smile on his face. "Sticking with the old plans – I like it." He looked up to the sky, noticing that the sun was now just inches above the horizon. "Let's start heading back to the Jeep," he said. "We don't want to be out here at night." Jack and Leon agreed.
. . . . .
After leaving the vet offices, Cynthia had met up with Alice at La Brea Grand Vista – to do some routine observations on the animals. As they walked towards the paddocks, the two women were quiet – neither knew each other and they didn't have any worthwhile topics for conversation.
After a few minutes of quiet, Alice offhandedly went, "So the research department have been having a field day with all these new species…" Suddenly, a commotion came from the dire wolf paddock. Cynthia looked at Alice confusedly, "What was that?" Alice groaned, "I think I can guess."
Running over to the dire wolf paddock, they saw Nero and Dag having a standoff at the boundary wall, snarling and snapping at each other. It seemed that Dag's pride had recovered from the Shutdown – he was making another challenge at Nero.
"Well, it seems Nero kicking the crap out of him didn't get the message across." Alice muttered – to challenge Nero again after that meant that either the coyote was overconfident or just plain stupid. Cynthia turned to her, "They do this a lot?" Alice shrugged, "They used to – even for natural enemies, they don't like each other. Stopped for a while after Nero beat him up in the Shutdown – doesn't seem like Dag learned his lesson."
Cynthia looked at Alice and said, "We need to break this little skirmish up." Alice shrugged and said, "Well, we don't really have a strategy for it – they generally fizzle out after a while…" Cynthia stared at Alice intently, "Yeah, well, pass me the horn and let me show you." Alice reluctantly conceded.
Smirking, she lifted the horn and blared it at the two canids, who went quiet almost immediately. As they turned to look at her, she said, "Yeah, you heard it. Alrighty boys, time to break it up." At her statement, Nero and Dag turned to look at each other, almost amused, before the two walked off in opposite directions, animosity almost forgotten, as if mockingly obeying her command.
Cynthia turned to Alice, smiling smugly, and said, "See? And that, Miss Denham is how you do it." Looking at her with an expression of annoyance on her face, Alice said, "You know you basically did bugger-all to stop it, right?"
. . . . .
The sun had halfway sunk beneath the horizon by the time the trio exited the forest, enough for them to see where they'd left the Jeep. At the same time, they also caught sight of a combined herd of three different species of ceratopsian gathered around the shore of the lake. One group had dark brown scales, two large brow horns and two horns on the frill. Another group were tan-coloured, grading to white on the underbelly and had a single nose horn, but four large spikes along their neck frills. The third group was reddish brown and had two long brow horns and a bony ridge over its nose.
Leon looked curiously, "I know the four-horned ones are Diabloceratops, but the other two I think are something new." "Perfect," Drew chuckled, his trademark grin on his face before he then looked to Leon. "Alright Leon. You move over to the other side of the herd and see if you can spook them into stampeding towards us with some tyrannosaur recordings while Jack and I summon the portal in time to send them to the park when they come running at us away from you…"
A low, rumbling snarl caught the trio's attention, and they looked towards the ceratopsians to see the lythronax pack approaching them. At this point, Drew looked to Leon, nodding his head apologetically. "Sorry," he said, "Change of plan." "If you say so," said Leon. Jack nodded in agreement. And minutes later, as the stampeding ceratopsians got closer and closer to the rescue team, Drew swiped out his portal remote and pressed the button in time to summon the portal. Moving too fast to stop, all three of the ceratopsian species went barrelling through to the safety of the present. Once the last had gone through, the portal closed. Drew turned to see the tyrannosaurs had given up on the chase and retreated into the forest. Drew sighed, and looked back at his team. "Alright everyone. Let's get over to the jeep and start setting up camp. We'll probably have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. Still need to find the lythronax… Jack, what are you doing?"
Drew and Leon noticed that Jack was not entirely listening. As if noticing his teammates' slightly confused expressions, Jack smiled and said, "Look". Following his gaze, Drew and Leon noticed that Jack was looking at a group of large turtles basking on the shore – whilst looking vaguely like alligator snapping turtles, they had flattened, wart-like lumps on their shells. Leon looked at them and said, "Compsemys, I think – very long-lasting genus. Went up to the Eocene, although some of that might be wastebasket taxonomy…" Drew waved his hand and said, "Thank you Leon, but we need to get these guys through the portal…" Jack smiled, "Already taken care of." Getting the meat bag, he left a trail of meat, which the turtles followed – once they were close enough, he opened the portal and the turtles went through into the present.
Once the last had gone through, Drew turned to Jack and nodded, "Very clever of you." Jack said, mock-coyly, "Oh, fearless leader, I'll bet you say that to everyone. Didn't know you swung that way, but you've got to buy me dinner first." At this statement, Drew, Jack and Leon burst out laughing for a solid five minutes before Drew, still giggling, said "Okay, how about we make camp?"
. . . . .
After leaving the dire wolf paddock, Cynthia couldn't help but notice the glances Alice gave her, as if Cynthia had broken something. Okay, what had happened at the paddock had been a misstep, but still…
As they walked into the centre of La Brea Grand Vista, they were met by Yolanda. Turning to look at them, Yolanda said, "Hi Alice! Fancy seeing you here!", before she stared at Cynthia stiffly, "Hey." Cynthia nodded and said, "Hey." Ignoring her, Yolanda said, "I was just popping down to see Diego and the cubs for a bit – I'm on a break anyway and I promised Leon that I'd check on them. Alice nodded and offhandedly went, "So, any more new species for the research department? They seem pretty enthusiastic about the three they've got so far…" Yolanda nodded, "Yeah, two more new ceratopsians just a couple of hours ago – with the nasutoceratopsins, that makes three new ones…"
Yolanda was interrupted mid-sentence by a commotion came from the Smilodon paddock – Alice and Yolanda looked at each other, aggravated expressions on their faces as Cynthia looked at Alice confusedly, "What set the sabre-tooths off?" Yolanda groaned, "I think I can guess."
Running over to the smilodon paddock, they saw Diego and Smokey having a standoff at the boundary wall, snarling and snapping at each other. Placing himself between Shira and the cubs, Diego snarled and swiped his paw at the short-faced bear, as the hulking Smokey roared in reply, his eyes narrowed in rage. Apparently, Smokey had taken Diego taking him down in the shutdown as a wound to his pride – rather than coming to a mutual respect, it seemed that they hated each other more than ever.
"Well, it seems Smokey holds a grudge." Alice muttered, to which Cynthia turned to her, "They do this a lot too?" Alice shrugged, "Yeah – you know I said Nero and Dag hate each other? Well, Diego and Smokey, even for natural enemies, just despise each other. When we found Diego, Smokey had beaten him half to death. They had a rematch in the Shutdown and Diego won a rematch – guess Smokey has a bit of a fragile ego." Yolanda shrugged, "I mean being beaten by something a third your size is pretty humiliating…"
Cynthia looked at Alice and said, "We need to break this little skirmish up." Alice shrugged and said, "Well, again, we don't really have a strategy for it – it's just posturing and it generally fizzles out after a while when they realise they're not going to have a rematch today…" Cynthia stared at Alice intently, "Give me the damn horn." Alice reluctantly conceded.
Smirking, she lifted the horn and blared it at the bear and big cat, who went quiet almost immediately. As they turned to look at her, she said, "Alrighty boys, time to break it up."
At her statement, Diego and Smokey stared at her, almost befuddled, before they began moving towards her, snarling. Moving almost in unison, they got closer and closer to Cynthia until, when they were close enough, they both charged at her through the wire, to the point where she could smell the meat on their breath. In surprise, Cynthia took three steps back and was caught by Alice before she could fall over. At this, Diego turned to Smokey, narrowed his eyes and snarled, as if to clarify that this was not over, a gesture to which Smokey replied as the two Pleistocene predators walked off in opposite directions.
Cynthia stood up to see Alice and Yolanda looking at her with expressions of anger on their faces. Alice said, "Right, that's it. I'm telling Kyle and Nikolai – you've been like this all day."
. . . . .
In Cretaceous Utah, Drew, Jack and Leon woke up from their sleep the next morning to note that they had visitors. Gathered around the boundary of the camp was a small herd of ankylosaurs sniffing around as if looking for food. Tough and robust, each of them had blueish grey scales on their backs and tops of their heads, reddish brown scales on their tails, legs, and middles of their bodies, tannish gold underbellies, and dark charcoal grey scales on their feet. They were accompanied by a small flock of pterosaurs that looked rather like the najavodactylus. Leon said, under his breath, "Two new species."
Drew grinned. "Perfect way to start the day." He looked to his team. "I'll handle the ankylosaurs myself. You and Jack use what's left of the bait bag to get the pterosaurs through the portal – there's enough for these guys." The team split off to get to work, and within minutes, Jack and Leon had used bait to attract the pterosaurs through the portal while Drew got the ankylosaurs and nodosaurs through the portal to the present using offerings of plants for them to eat.
Once all the animals were sent through, Drew turned to his team, and said, "Right, we'll spend today searching for the lythronax – we saw them around here yesterday, so odds on, we're still in their territory. That'll make finding them easier…"
Suddenly, a loud, booming squawk echoed through the air. Following the sound, Drew, Jack and Leon saw a small group of ostrich-sized dinosaurs standing in a clearing, resembling a cross between a cassowary and a chicken – their prominent crest and shortened beak gave them a strangely goofy look. Some were larger than the others, and with large throat wattles.
"An oviraptorid", Leon said, "Another new species – some kind of caegnathid, clearly, but aside from that…" Drew nodded his head. "I think this is a lek." He smirked, before saying, "The males are gathering to display to the females…." Jack interrupted him, "Both Leon and I know what a lek is… do you have a plan to get them through the portal?" At this, Drew smirked, "When have you ever known me not to?"
And so, Drew walked into the clearing and began blaring his horn at the assembled dinosaurs, causing them all to look his way. The males' grudges promptly forgotten at the sight of this new competitor, they charged at him and, when they had gotten close enough, Drew opened the portal and they barrelled through, into the present. The females, confused, followed close behind. Turning to his team, Drew asked, "Anybody up for travelling a bit further?" Jack and Leon looked at each other, before Jack said, "Yeah, fearless leader, we are. Let's find those lythronax."
Jack's statement was immediately punctuated by the lythronax hurriedly moving out of the forest towards them. As the team silently watched, Drew noted something odd about their body language – they were twitchy, nervous, as if they were nervous about something. Drew, Jack and Leon looked at each other, equal measures confused and nervous: what could scare a pack of tyrannosaurs like that… and, whatever it was, it had to be nasty. Suddenly, one of the lythronax sniffed the air and snarled in alarm… before the whole pack took off and ran through the forest, back to the lake.
"Wonder why they're headed back to the lake", Drew stated, without missing a beat. Smiling confidently, he pointed his finger in the direction the tyrannosaurs had headed. "Let's get a move on!"
Jack and Leon promptly gulped, grimacing nervously as they realized that they'd now have to go back the where they came.
"This ought to be fun," Leon growled.
"You said it," Jack hissed, "This had better be worth it."
After about twenty minutes of running, they had eventually reached where the Lythronax had headed – to the lake, where the Jeep was. And they weren't alone.
A herd consisting of four species of herbivorous dinosaur were standing by the lake, all nervously bunched together. The largest animals in the herd were a group of ceratopsians that looked rather like the diabloceratops, only slightly larger, but with longer horns, accompanied by two species of hadrosaur, one of which resembled the Parasaurolophus back at the park, only slightly smaller and lighter-coloured and the other crestless, but with large nasal sacs, and reddish-brown and. The team turned to Leon, who knew what they were immediately.
They were accompanied by a flock of ornithomimids roughly similar to the ornithomimus at the park, but slightly shorter, covered in brown feathers with black streaks, grading to white on the belly, with a crest of brown feathers on their heads.
Leon looked at the herbivores and quietly said, "The ceratopsians are macharioceratops and the hadrosaurs are adelolophus and acristavus… but the ornithomimids must be something new."
Aside from a couple of occasional snaps from the lythronax, there was an air of unease: natural enemies forced by some extenuating circumstances into an uneasy ceasefire. What had forced the animals into this uneasy truce?
"Umm… Drew?"
At Jack's statement, Drew turned to him and said, confusedly, "What…" before the words were taken out of his mouth – the forest they had just exited was a towering inferno, getting closer and closer to the lakeside. The animals snapped and quaked nervously, cowering away from the fire as it roared closer.
"Oh crap."
. . . . .
Cynthia was sitting in Drew's office as Kyle and Nikolai stood over her, glowers on their faces. Cynthia rolled her eyes, "Let me guess, you're going to give me some lecture about how I need to be nicer to people…"
At this, Nikolai scowled and said, "If that is what you want to call it. And it's more than being nice to people… you need to learn that this is a group effort – you can't boss everyone around and expect everyone to do what you say. Drew may have been… flawed, but he gave us space – he delegated tasks to talented people. Yes, part of it was slacking off, but he understood that we knew what we were doing – he didn't need to be bossy with us because he respected our talents." Cynthia rolled her eyes, "Well, I am sorry…"
Glowering, Kyle said, "Sorry doesn't cut it – you need to listen to other people. You have proven that you can't – and that's going to be an issue in the future." Weakly, Cynthia said, "I just wanted to prove myself." Kyle rolled his eyes, "Give me a break – if you want to prove yourself, that's not how you do it. To put it nicely, you have two options – Option A: you get with the programme or Option B: you're not in the programme. Which one is it to be?". Cynthia sighed, now utterly deflated, and said, "Option A, please. I'll pick Option A", and got up and walked out, utterly deflated.
As she left, Nikolai turned to Kyle and said, "Would you say we were too harsh on her?" Kyle snorted, "Not harsh enough – but maybe that's a learning experience for her. We gave her a bollocking because Drew wouldn't."
. . . . .
The fire roared through the forest, burning the dried trees like cardboard, as the dinosaurs attempted to move closer to the shore of the lake, in efforts to escape the towering inferno. At the sight, Drew spoke quickly, "Jack," he stated calmly, but authoritatively, " you and Leon handle the tyrannosaurs – I'll get the herbivores through the portal myself. Whatever you're doing, do it fast." His two companions nodded and rushed into action.
Approaching the lythronax, Jack, accompanied by Leon, drew out the airhorn and blew into it, emitting an ear-splitting noise. The tyrannosaurs, panicked from the fire, turned their heads and began to snap and hiss at him. As they moved closer and closer, Jack and Leon slowly took several steps back, keeping themselves and the tyrannosaurs as far away from the flames as possible. Once the birds had gotten close enough, Leon lifted up his portal remote, summoned the portal, and dived out of the way, as the tyrannosaurs, their chase instincts activated, tore after them, all of them running through the portal.
Once the last one had gone through, Drew looked at the herbivores, before looking back at Jac and Leon. "Go through the portal" he said with a deceptive calm. "I've got this." Jack and Leon looked at each other, before Jack said, "Yeah, fearless leader", and they both headed through the portal.
Drew watched her leave and looked back at the herbivores. Staring determinedly, he got into the Jeep, lowered the window and leaned his head out, moved his left arm, holding the portal remote, into position, before slamming his right hand repeatedly upon the horn function in the steering wheel. The sound of the blaring horn from the jeep attracted the attention of the herbivores, who all turned to the source of the sudden noise was coming from, just in time to see the portal burst into life. "Hey!" Drew yelled, honking the horn repeatedly, "Follow me!"
The fear of the fire quickly overrode any fear of the portal. With an ear-splitting bellow from the matriarch, the entire machairoceratops herd started charging towards the portal. Shortly after, all the other herbivores moved in quick succession, following Drew through the portal in the Jeep.
Immediately after making it through the portal and into the park, he brought the jeep to a stop near the ladder. He then hurriedly got out of the jeep, rushed to the ladder, and climbed up while all the animals were still disoriented from the change in scenery. Reaching the top, he had just enough time to catch his breath before he heard someone clearing their throat. He turned his head to see Jack and Leon standing nearby. Gathered behind them were Cynthia, Kyle, Linda, Yolanda, Nikolai, and Colette, all of whom were staring at him in surprise.
As Drew found himself gaping right back at the group, with a sheepish look, Kyle's eyes narrowed, "What the hell happened?"
Drew nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with his fingers. "Long story." To this, Collete gave Jack a perplexed look and Jack shrugged in reply.
. . . . .
Once the dust had settled, all the newly rescued animals from the Cretaceous period Wahweap formation had been transferred to their new homes in the appropriately titled Wahweap Formation exhibit zone. In the very centre of the zone was a massive appropriately themed paddock that now currently served as home for all the Wahweap ceratopsians, ankylosaurs, hadrosaurs, pachycephalosaurs and ornithomimids, all of which were currently either browsing from the trees and bushes, drinking or bathing in the provided lake, or basking in the sun. Directly to the right of the massive herbivore paddock was a smaller paddock that now served as home for the newly discovered caenagnathids, which Khatin had now dubbed gerakiraptor rufus, and all of them were currently in the midst of either foraging for food or acting on guard duty. To the left of the massive herbivore paddock, on the other hand, was an even smaller paddock with a large pond that currently served as home for the compsemys bale, with the turtles all swimming.
At the very back, there were two large paddocks themed after the Cretaceous Wahweap formation forests and mountains that currently served as home for the two carnivorous dinosaurs, with the scorpioraptor pack feasting upon a freshly provided cow carcass in their paddock while the lythronax all scouted their new territory within their larger paddock directly next door. A large aviary nearby housed the utedactylus flock.
Things were getting back to normal at Prehistoric Park… however, Drew and Cynthia had met in Drew's office, Drew was looking at the files for the next mission. Drew said, smiling wryly, "So, I take it the park understands why we split up now? Apparently, you tried to do to them what you did to me – boss everybody around…"
At this, Cynthia glowered, "Well, no, that's not what happened – and I only tried to keep you in line for your own good. You're a self-destructive person, Drew – and, after eighteen months working with you, they know that as well as I do. And if you're just going to criticise me, bye", before she turned to leave. "Cynthia!", Drew said, stopping her in her tracks before she turned to him and said "What did you want to talk about?".
At this, Drew looked around sheepishly and said "Look, maybe we should start working together a little bit more. For the sake of the mission. We might both be in the wrong, mostly you – however, as I'm the forgiving type… maybe a gesture of apology."
Cynthia sighed, "Fine. For the sake of the mission."
Rescue Tally:
* Acristavus gagslarsoni (13; 7 adults, 6 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)
* Adelolophus hutchisoni (10; 6 adults, 4 youngsters; 5 male, 5 female)
* Armigravisaurus taymori (9; 5 adults, 4 youngsters; 5 male, 4 female) - Edmontonia-like ankylosaur
* Compsemys victa (5; all adults; 2 male, 3 female)
* Diabloceratops eatoni (15; 7 adults, 8 youngsters; 8 male, 7 female)
* Gaeaceratops stratos (14; 8 adults, 6 youngsters; 7 male, 7 female) – Albertaceratops-like ceratopsian
* Geococcxymimus utahensis (12; all adults; 6 male, 6 female) - Wahweap ornithomimid
* Gerakiraptor rufus (11; all adults; 5 male, 6 female) - Wahweap caegnathid
* Lythronax argestes (9; 6 adults, 3 youngsters; 4 male, 5 female) – y
* Machairoceratops cronusi (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)
* Malleusaurus wahweapi (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female) – Wahweap ankylosaur
* Mjolnirhinus luczynskiyi (10; 6 adults, 4 youngsters; 5 male, 5 female) - Styracosaurus-like ceratopsians
* Scorpioraptor diablos (9; all adults; 4 male, 5 female) - dromaeosaurids
* Scutoceratops gravis (13; 8 adults, 5 youngsters; 7 male, 6 female) - Nasutoceratops-like ceratopsians
* Utedactylus wahweapensis (8: all adults; 4 male, 4 female) - Wahweap azhdarchids
* Utahcephale gilbertsoni (16; 12 adults, 4 youngsters; 4 male, 12 female) (Wahweap pachycephalosaurs)
Next time on Prehistoric Park Reimagined:
It's back to the Permian period.
(A large herd of horned and vaguely hippo-like therapsids lounge peacefully near a large watering hole.)
Where all hands will need to be on deck.
(A large carnivorous therapsid snarls in outrage at the rescue team.)
But will that be enough to prevent a terrible loss?
(All but Cynthia huddle inside a makeshift sandstorm shelter, with Leon and Jack holding back a visibly worried Drew to prevent him from running out into a vicious sandstorm.)
All next time on Prehistoric Park Reimagined: Passport to Hell!