Chapter Four: Progress?
"We thought it would be fun," Darius said, staring at the camp fire with a haunted look in his eyes. "We thought we'd be safe. We didn't realize the horror was waiting for us on the island. Claws, teeth. . . screaming." Darius said in agreement. "So much screaming."
"How much screaming?" Ben asked nervously. Maisie shushes him, looking very invested with the story as Ben clings to her arm.
"He's getting to the good part." the young girl whispered.
"The T-Rex stalked closer," Darius continued, spreading his arms. "Her jaws opened wide-" And suddenly he was cut off by the sound of a camera flash. Everyone turned to see Brooklynn with her phone out in her hands.
"For the Vlog," she whispers an explanation before waving at Darius. "Keep telling your story."
Darius sighed, pulling his hood back over his head.
"Oh, here we go." Maisie said eagerly, leaning in.
"The T-Rex stalked-" Darius tried to continue before being interrupted again.
"Dang!" And it was Brooklynn. Again. Darius barely held in an annoyed grunt and tried not to glare. "Out of space," the YouTube Vlogger mutters. "Wait-I'm sorry, I just don't want to delete my selfie on Everest." she shows the photo to Sammy who sat next to her who gave an impressed "Ooh."
Ben looked relieved that the spooky story was interrupted. Maisie shared Darius's annoyance.
"Maybe I should start over." Darius muttered.
Ben shakes his head. "No! In fact, you can stop!"
"Ben, relax! He's not even telling it right now," Maisie said in exasperation before leaning away from the younger boy that was still holding his arm like his life depended on it. "And how in the world is your grip THIS strong?!" It was true, surprisingly. Maisie was finding it difficult to pull out of Ben's grip. "Are you trying to squeeze it off? Let go!"
Ben let go with a whimper. "Sorry."
Darius tried to continue telling his story. "So, the T-Rex stalked-"
And he was interrupted again, by Sammy this time. "Should we ask Yaz to come over?" the Texan girl asked, looking over to the athlete that was standing far from them. "I bet she'd love this story."
Now openly showing his annoyance to all the interruptions, Darius flopped on his bench, looking up to the darkening night sky. Maisie groans, running her hands down her face.
"Maybe she wants to be by herself," Brooklynn shrugged.
Sammy looked to others, confused as if she was just told that one of them was a an alien. "I don't understand."
"You know, how sometimes, people just want to be left alone," Brooklynn tried to lay it down for Sammy gently.
Sammy gave the Superstar teen a blank expression before she began laughing. "Brooklynn, you're hilarious." she looks back to Yaz. "I'm sure she's just shy and doesn't know how to make friends."
And then a very loud thunder clap boomed over the teens, causing most of them to flinch. Sure enough, it began to pour on the campers, heavily. This caused most of them to hold their arms above their heads as Sammy suggested, "We should head back inside."
"Way ahead of you!" Ben said, already booking it indoors. Everyone else but the Dino Nerds ran after the younger blonde boy.
"Well, that was a huge waste of time," Brooklynn muttered, causing Darius to sigh in annoyance and exasperation.
"Thanks, Brooklynn." muttered Darius as he rolled his eyes.
"I thought the story was going to be great," Maisie said to Darius.
Given that it sounded like a retelling of the escape of Rexy in Jurassic Park, it probably would have been a great story.
"Darius, it wasn't that great of a story," Ben said to the African American apologetically. "I wasn't engrossed or anything."
"No, but you were sure terrified," Maisie shot back while rubbing her arm. "So, any board games or anything to play inside?"
Yaz sat down on the sofa and opened up her sketchbook. "Damn, my pages got wet." she muttered before Sammy suddenly sat next to her. "You need a friend!"
"Huh? What?" Yaz looked at Sammy, surprised and confused.
"I'm such a ding dong!" Sammy criticized herself. "You're alone and when I'm alone, having a friend around sure is nice. I could use a friend and you probably could, too."
Yaz stared at her in surprise as the Texan continued to ramble. "So I thought, "Yazmina needs someone to make the first friendship move," so, here I am!"
"Um, I lost you around 'ding-dong," Yaz replied, unsure how to respond without sounding rude.
Sammy looked at Yaz's book and gasped in excitement. "Is that a scrapbook?" she asked. "I love scrapbooking. We can make one together. Pull you out of your shell."
Yaz hugged her book close to herself. "I'm pretty happy in my shell."
"No one likes the shell." Sammy said, shaking her head in amusement. "It stops people from getting to know you."
"Bingo!" Yaz declared, pointing at Sammy before she got up and walked away. Sammy stared before waving after her. "I know you're just shy!"
"Can't hear you in my shell!" Yaz called back.
The next day, Owen came by to pick up Darius and Brooklynn.
"Could we come?" Maisie asked Darius. "Please, watching them on your videos has made me really want to see them." She pleaded.
Darius looked at Owen questionably who thought it over while Roxie tried to say no. "It'll be fine as long as no one climbs into the paddock like that rich kid."
Darius grimaced while Roxie deadpanned at the Raptor Wrangler while Dave shrugged. "It is his call," he said to her. The woman sighed before relenting.
"You kids can ride in the camp jeep," Owen said as he got into his own jeep.
"Uh, just to be clear," Ben looked to Darius nervously. "These dinosaurs haven't really killed anyone, right?"
"I mean, there were only four deaths in Jurassic Park," Darius replied. "And only three of them were from the Raptors."
Ben whimpered in response.
He doesn't know about what had occurred at Site B in 1997. Good thing for Ben, he would have opted to stay at camp.
While driving, Brooklynn looked at her phone and felt a bit better about the comments regarding Darius' Indoraptors. "Hey, Darius," she said to the African American in amusement. "Some people are hoping to buy the babies for pets."
Darius chuckled in response and Maisie sighs as she looks out to the jungle. "That used to be a dream of mine," she said. "Having a dinosaur as a pet."
"Like Ben," Sammy said happily. "I think I'd pick a dinosaur like Bumpy."
Ben smiled a bit, thinking of the baby Ankylosaurus he had grown attached to.
The two jeeps stopped at the Raptor Paddock. "Okay, two of you already know this," Owen said, glancing at Darius and Brooklynn before looking at the other four kids. "But these are dangerous lethal predators. Do not, I repeat, do NOT climb into the paddock for any stupid reason." he said to the kids.
Maisie noticed Darius looking ashamed and guilty as was Brooklynn. "It wasn't that bad, right?" she asked.
"The other kid had his arm ripped off," Brooklynn replied while Darius looked away.
". . . Oh," was all Maisie could say as her eyes widened.
Owen saw Darius's expression. "Hey, the kid shouldn't have stuck his hand into the paddock." he said softly. "That's asking the dangerous predators to maime you."
Just look at the people that were maimed by predators in the zoos.
Darius just nodded silently in response. Owen led the six campers up the stairs with Roxie and Dave. "Now, Darius, this is just a demonstration of what you'll be doing with your Raptor hybrids." Owen said to Darius. "So, watch and learn."
Darius nodded again, now smiling eagerly to see the Raptor Wrangler in action as Owen walked to the catwalk. The other campers leaned on the handrails, eager to see some action.
Although, Ben was leaning away from the handrailing with an anxious look.
For about ten minutes, all was quiet in the Raptor Paddock.
Until the pig from two days ago runs through the foliage, squealing in terror.
"I'm going to get it this time!" Blue screeched as she and her sisters ran after the pig with Ripper.
"Hold!" Owen commanded and Blue and Ripper stopped cold. The pig made it to safety in its cage. They were joined by Charlie, Echo and Delta. "Eyes up!" They glanced up to Owen that stood on the metal catwalk above them, holding a clicker in his fist in a military command.
Ripper and Blue hissed up at Owen. "We wanted to eat that pig! It's been three weeks since we had pork chops!"
Another sharp whistle came from their Alpha. "Blue, Ripper, watch it." Owen told the two in a warning tone.
Blue and Ripper stepped back into formation with the other three Raptors. Charlie screeched up to Owen."Alpha Owen, we want some pork chops for lunch!"
"Don't give me that shit, Charlie." Owen told the green and black Raptor. He raises his hand, clicking the clicker. "Eyes on me."
The Raptors lift their heads, Ripper rising to stand on his hindlegs, as they watched Owen. "Good. And we're moving." He said, and he walked to the side. The five Raptors followed after him.
"Move over," Delta shoved Echo with her snout.
"Move over," Echo repeated, pushing Delta back. The two snapped at one another with their jaws. "No, you move over," Delta hissed.
"Quit it, you two," Ripper hissed at the two before turning his attention back up to Owen.
"Hold." he said sternly, holding his fist higher and the five Raptors raised their heads up high as if they were all soldiers standing at attention and not four Velociraptors and a hybrid. "Good. That is good. That is DAMN good."
"Wow," was the general reaction from the six campers, including Ben.
"This is cool," Yaz said.
"So cool," Maisie said in awe.
Brooklynn took a few pictures and started to video the scene before her. Darius was mesmerizing every second of it, knowing he would teach his Indoraptors the same. Hopefully his mother would let him.
The Indoraptor glanced to their direction and his lips curled upwards in a smile. "Oh, hey kids. Long time no see." he rumbled, waving his hand up at them.
Maisie and Darius's eyes widened in surprise and Brooklynn stood straighter as she realized what her phone just recorded. The dinosaur just waved its hand at them.
"Ripper focus. He's standing next to the bucket," Blue sniffed, wrinkling her nose.
"Oh, right. Incoming treats imminent."Ripper hissed, wiggling his hips in an excited manner.
"Rats or lizards?" Charlie asked. She got her answer when Owen reached into the bucket and started tossing dead rats down to the Raptors. "Here you, go. Charlie. That's what you get."
"I wanted pork, but okay," said Charlie as she caught her treat and ate it. "I ain't complaining."
"Echo, here you go." Echo caught her snack without much complaint. She licked her lips. "Tasty."
"Delta!" The mentioned Raptor jumped up high and snatched the rat in the air.
"Show off," Ripper sneered playfully, getting a light tail whip from her to his leg in response.
"Ripper," due to his size, the Indoraptor was given two large rats. "Thanks."
Owen then pulled out a very large rat from the bucket. "Blue, this one's for you."
Blue's eyes lit up. Owen tossed the dead rat down and she caught it in her open jaws. "Hold!" Owen said, raising his hand up again.
"Attention!" Ripper growled and the Raptor Squad held their heads up high.
". . . Go!" Owen dropped his hand and the Raptors ran away, leaving the pig alone and it made its way across the paddock.
The other workers cheered and clapped as did the campers and Barry walked up to Owen, clapping him on the shoulder. "You finally did it, man!" he congratulated the dark blonde man.
"Only 83 dead pigs," Owen laughed. "That ain't bad, right?"
"And this pig will love you for the rest of your life," Barry remarked. They looked at Darius who looked down to the Raptors. "Not bad, huh, Kid?" Owen asked.
"No kidding," Darius said. He sees Ripper looking up at him and tilted his head curiously.
"Owen!" called Vic Hoskins as he made his way past the other handlers. "Helluva job, buddy!"
Maise and the other campers saw the frowns on the faces of Owen, Darius, Barry and Brooklynn. And if they looked down to the Paddock, they would have seen Ripper was frowning and hissing at the sight of the fat man.
They were not excited to see Vic Hoskins.
Gee, I wonder why?
Hoskins smiled. "I was starting to think I'd hired the wrong guy, but damn, you got them eating out of your palm!" He looked at Darius. "Take notes, kid. You're learning from the master."
Darius frowned a bit more at the man's tone.
Owen shrugged. "You came on a good day. It's not usually a happy ending."
Well, now he more or less just jinxed it.
"Is that why you haven't been sending in your reports?" Hoskins asked.
"We've been busy," Barry answered simply.
"Not too busy to cash your paychecks," Vic quipped, shuffling left and right playfully.
Owen wasn't in a joking mood. "What do you want?"
"A field test," Hoskins answered. Owen and Barry looked at each other and back to Hoskins, as if silently asking if this guy was serious.
Even though the Campers and the Counselors weren't dino experts like Darius and Maisie, or that they knew much about the Raptor Training Program, they understood what Hoskins was implying and they were all looking at the man like he was crazy.
"We just learned that they will respond to commands," Hoskins said to Owen as the Navy man walked past him, Barry and the others following him. "Let's put this research on its feet."
"They're wild animals, Hoskins," Owen said as he continued walking. "Trust me- you don't want them in the field."
"I just saw a bond-a real bond-between man and beast," Hoskins said, cutting in front of Owen and blocking his path.
"You're in my way," Owen deadpanned.
Hoskins didn't budge. "Come on, man. We're the same, we're dogs of war." he said to Owen. "You know the military's looking to reduce casualties. Most people will tell you that drones are the future. But drones can't search dark tunnels and they're hackable! When the real war breaks out, all that fancy tech is going to go dark."
"But that tech won't eat anybody if people forget to feed it," Darius pointed out.
"The grown ups are talking, kid." Hoskins said to Darius dismissively who deadpanned at his back as he speaks to Owen and Barry. "Nature already gave us the most effective killing machines seventy-five million years ago! And now we know they can take orders!"
"Uh, it's sixty-five, actually," Maisie corrected from her place in line.
Barry looked at Owen in disbelief. "We finally make progress and that's the first thing he says? Make a weapon?"
"Come on, gents," Hoskins said, he gestures down to the Raptors below them. "These guys have millions of years of instinct in their cells. Instinct we can program."
"Four of us are not guys, thank you very kindly!" Charlie hissed up to Hoskins.
"That's it, I'm going to kill that guy when I have the chance," Delta snarled.
"That's it, I'm going to kill that guy when I have the chance," Echo repeated.
"Stop repeating what I say!" Delta snapped. "Stop repeating what I say!"
"Echo, Delta, both of you quit!" Ripper growled as he made his way to the cage holding the pig. "I'm getting us some lunch."
"Their loyalty cannot be bought," Hoskins said, looking at the Raptors. "These guys are going to charge straight into the enemy's teeth and eat 'em, belt buckles and all."
Ben let a few whimpers while everyone else just gagged. Though Sammy strangely looked like she was contemplating her life choices.
Darius and Maisie just stared at Hoskins blankly.
The Dino-Nerds have never heard such bullshit before.
"And what if they decide they want to be in control?" Barry asked Hoskins who shrugged. "Remind 'em whoisin control. Terminate the rogues, and promote only the loyal bloodlines."
Barry begins to laugh as he just heard the most funniest shit ever told.
Not the killing joke, thankfully. That would have been a disaster. Then again, Hoskin's idea would have similar results.
"What's so funny?" Hoskins asked Barry who kept on laughing as he walked away. "What?"
Owen just shakes his head. "You come here." he began. "You don't learn anything about these creatures except what you want to know. You made them and now you think you own them."
Hoskins looked surprised. "We do own them. Extinct animals have no rights."
"They probably don't see it that way," Darius muttered to Maisie and Brooklynn, the two girls nod in agreement and they glance down at the Raptors.
"They're not extinct anymore," Owen countered Hoskins who agreed, just for a different reason.
"Exactly, we're sitting on a gold mine and Masrani's using it to stock a petting zoo." he said as Owen walked down the stairs.
"He's trying to teach people some humility," Owen replied. "He doesn't make weapons."
Hoskins almost laughed. "You think the eighth richest man in the world is only into oil, telecom and family fun parks?" he asked. "Masrani's so diversified, he doesn't know what he owns!"
For some reason, that sounded concerning to Darius in his opinion. "But Raptors as weapons?" he asked out loud.
Owen now realized that his boss wasn't joking anymore. "How long has InGen been planning to sell this shit?"
"Since the day we hired you out of the Navy," Hoskins answered. He grabbed Owen's arm and pulled him close. He whispers, "And you know that's the endgame for the Indos."
Owen stiffened and glared at Hoskins, considering to punch the man in the face before pulling his arm out of his grip.
"Those animals are going to replace thousands of boots on the ground." Hoskins said in a clear voice. "How many lives would that save?"
"More like how many lives that's going to kill," Brooklynn muttered. Hoskins wants to train Raptors to kill enemy soldiers, but could they tell the difference between a soldier and a civilian?
Owen walked into another part of the paddock, letting the campers in with Dave and Roxie before closing the metal gate behind him and locking it. Leaving Hoskins on the other side but the man kept talking.
"Look around you, Owen. Every living thing in this jungle is trying to murder the other."
This made Ben nervous of going into the jungle more than before, but that's not much of an interest.
"It's Nature's way of testing her creations. Builds the pecking order. War is a struggle. Struggle breeds greatness. Without that, we end up with places like this, charging seven bucks for a soda."
Darius finally spoke bluntly. "Do you hear yourself when you talk?"
Owen tilted his head to Darius's direction with an expression that said, I agree.
"This will happen with or without you," Hoskins said. "Progress always wins."
Darius and Brooklynn glanced at each other, both thinking of what they had learned about the Indoraptor and Project War Dinosaur.
"Maybe progress should lose for once," Owen remarked.
"Unleash the pig!"Ripper roared and then there was a sound of metal being torn. The campers glanced out to the Paddock. The Indoraptor had ripped open the pig cage with his claws and it was now-
"Pig loose! Pig loose!" shouted a young man with a beanie as he lowered a loop pole to catch the pig.
"Snatch!"Blue said, grabbing the pig with her jaws and ended up yanking on the loop pole and pulling the young handler off his feet, over the handrailing and he fell into the Paddock with a scream and a THUD!
Like I said, Owen jinxed it.
The five Raptors turned their heads towards the young handler. Owen's eyes widened as Ben screamed, "Man overboard!"
"What is it with you random blue shirt guys falling into our Paddock!" Blue screech as she and her sisters approached the handler.
"He smells like a pig!" Charlie hissed. "It's a pig man!"
"A pig man!" Echo chirped. "That means food!"
"Food!" Delta chirped. The man backs up in fear.
Owen ran forward and pressed a button on the other inner gate and crawled under. "Owen, no!" Barry protested from the outside of the room with Hoskins watching.
"Kids, get back!" Both Dave and Roxie said, ushering the kids away from the gate that was opening a path for the dinosaurs to get in.
"No arguments here!" Ben said fearfully. Up on the catwalks, three handlers stood with stun guns at the ready.
"No! No, hold your fire!" Owen said, running forward and skidding to a stop in front of the young handler, holding a hand out to the Raptors. "Hold your fire! Do not fire!"
Roxie and Dave grab the young man and dragged him into the room as Barry enters.
"Put 12 amps in these animals and they'll never trust me again," Owen said.
Darius stared at the scene in awe as did the others, even though Ben was more fearful than the others.
"Blue, stand down." Owen said to the blue stripped Raptor. "Stand down."
Blue snapped her jaws at him in response. "Hey! Hey! What did I just say?" Owen snapped with a glare.
Blue snarled in response as her sisters triangulated. "Delta, Charlie, I see you." Owen said, moving his hands out to the mentioned Raptors. "Back up!"
Ripper then stepped forward and rose up to stand on his hindlegs, much like how most bears do and snarled at Owen.
"Ripper, stand down." Owen oredered. When the Indoraptor snapped his jaws, Owen's glare hardened. "Stand. Down. Now!"
Ripper's eyes narrowed before he dropped back on all fours and lowered his head to the ground. "As you command, Alpha."
"Good, good," Owen said, smiling a little. Then, to Barry he said, "Close the gate."
Barry and the others looked at him in disbelief. "Are you crazy?" the African Frenchman asked.
"Just trust me." Owen said.
"Close the gate!" begged the young handler.
Barry looked back and forth, conflicted before he gave in and pressed the close button. An alarm rang twice as the gate lowered.
Owen held his gaze with Ripper. "Staring contest, go!" And then in a split second he turned and tuck-and-rolled to the gate.
"Ha! I win!"Ripper said victoriously.
"Dog pile!"Blue and her sisters screeched as they charged Owen, only to hit their heads on the gate. Owen was inside, safe and sound, if a little shaken. A Raptor dog pile was not fun when they were adults.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
". . . Ow," Blue and Delta said.
"Ouch, ouch," Charlie and Echo whined.
"That was intense," Sammy stated.
"You're telling me," Ben said.
"You are out of your mind," Barry said bluntly.
Owen chuckled in response before looking at the campers. "Yeah, stuff like that happens three times a week," he remarked dryly.
"Yikes," Yaz drawled. She looks to Darius. "Good luck with your Raptors."
"'Preciate it." Darius replied.
"Unless this changes your mind," Brooklynn quipped. Darius shook his head. "On the contrary, it sounds more exciting than my video games."
"More than the mini muesem at my home," Maisie said in agreement.
Owen looked down at the young handler. "Hey, you're the new guy right?" he asked.
The young man with a beanie nodded slightly.
"Ever wonder why there was a job opening?" When the young man's eyes widened, and Ben whimpers, Owen glanced at the gate before going back to the young man. "Don't ever turn your back to the cage."
When he walked away, the young man looked behind him and saw the snarling face of Delta. "I got my eye on you, Pig Man."
"Okay, come on kids," Roxie said. "Back to the jeep."
As the campers file out, both Darius and Owen see Hoskins and his expression hadn't changed one bit, as if the whole event had proven his point.
After that, Owen would take the campers to the Indoraptor's enclosure and begin a basic lesson in handling the Raptor hybrids.
Diego and Meg were playing tag, running around Darius while Brooklynn recorded on her phone, Yaz, Sammy and Ben watched Toothless play with a baseball and Maisie held Ruby in her hands.
"Sanctuary!" Meg chirped as she jumped in Sammy's hands.
"Dang it, I almost had you." Diego said before walking over to Yaz. "Pick me up and hold me."
Yaz reached down and petted the orange Indoraptor before he climbed onto her arm and wrapped his limbs around her. "Ah, this is more I like it." Diego purred.
"Oh you're an annoying bugger, aren't you?" Yaz asked in amusement and petted Diego with her free hand.
"Did someone give Diego and Meg sugar?" Darius asked Owen sarcastically. "They seem to have much more energy than last time."
"Hey, Toothless," Ruby called to her brother. "Who are these other people?"
"I have thought of that," Toothless replied as he tossed his ball in front of him. "I think. . . this is my momma," he chirped at Brooklynn and then he points to Maisie. "Ruby, that's your momma." He points to Yaz. "That's Diego's momma." And he points to Sammy. "That's Meg's momma."
"What about him?" Meg asked, gesturing to Ben who stood away from the other campers.
"That is our uncle." Toothless answered as Darius picked him up. "He's standing that far away because he knows our mothers are very protective over each of us and he doesn't want to challenge our Alpha's authority."
"That sounds about right." Diego said.
For being a couple of days old, they sure seem to jump to conclusions and make it sound logical.
Later that afternoon, the campers went to an open grass field with the camp counselors. It wasn't explained what they were doing, but the Gyospheres and the grazing dinosaurs nearby gave a pretty good idea.
"Yes!" Maisie and Darius cheered in excitement.
"This is going to be cool!" Sammy exclaimed.
"We get to drive Gyrospheres? Cool!" Darius shouted.
"Saddle up, dudes and dudettes," Dave called out from the jeep. "We're going on a cattle drive, but with dinosaurs! It's a Dino Drive!"
Since the Raptor Paddock, Ben looked nervous as ever, but that wasn't really abnormal anymore. "Just to be clear, these dinosaurs are herbivores, right?"
Roxie smiled, clearly deciding to joke around. "Well, they only chewed on the last kid a little, so we're like 99% sure."
Based on the whimper and shudder in response, Ben didn't take that lightly.
The Nublar Six looked over to the dinosaurs while hearing Roxie explain where the herd was going and that they were going to be following close behind them.
"Are you kidding?" Darius asked in excitement. "Dinosaur migration patterns are my jam!"
"Same!" Maisie said and high fived the African American with matching excited grins.
"The Gyrospheres are made for two passengers each," Roxie explained. "So who wants to ride with Ben?"
The five campers looked over to the younger boy who was already in a Gyropshere and apparently did not know that seat belts were meant to be used in these giant hamster balls and was sent flying into the glass after tapping the toggle.
Maisie stared before suddenly everyone declared, "Not it!" Her eyes widened as she looked at the other campers before slumping.
She approaches the two counselors. "You sure about that? Ben doesn't look like he knows what he's doing in that."
For a kid who seems to be cautious over everything, (A bit too much cautious that borders on fear at this point in time) he forgot about putting on the seat belt.
"There's a tutorial video," Roxie replied. "Ben seems to be a fast learner."
"He's also the teen that gets car sick on windy and bumpy roads," the young brunnette pointed out before shrugging. "But you're the adults and in charge." She walks away and gets into the Gyrosphere with Ben.
Yaz buckled herself in with some Air pods in her ears. "This is going to be so sick-" she says to herself before Sammy sits next to her. "Right? Now we're in a shell together. A shell for two!"
Like a cockroach, this one is.
"Yay," Yaz said, forcing a smile.
"Everyone, seatbelts at all times," Dave told the campers before looking to Darius.
"Right. Um, is there a Gyrosphere I could drive solo or-?" Darius asked.
Apparently, being a Raptor Wrangler in training has not given this kid a boost of confidence.
"Darius, you need to ride with your fellow campers." Dave said with a chuckle, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Bond, live the Camp Life, share your story, man."
"Yeah, I tried last night, but, um. . ." Darius trailed off and glanced at Brooklynn who was on her phone and the only Gyrosphere with an open seat. "Not everyone was on board."
"Buddy, you can't give up." Dave said encouragingly. "You need to get out there and you show those other kids what you got."
Roxie walks to stand next to her fellow counselor. "Be yourself, Darius." she said softly and pushed Darius towards the Gyrosphere. "Teenagers can be very accepting if you just give them half a chance."
Dave turns to give Roxie a look. "Do they not have teenagers in England?" Roxie just gives her a sly smile.
"You sure you want to drive?" Maisie asked Ben with uncertainty.
"I can do this," Ben said, trying and failing to sound confident.
Roxie and Dave did a headcount of the campers, "Shorty's with Vomit Boy. Cow girl's with Track Star and Dino Nerd is with Superstar," Dave said, just before Ben caused the Gyrosphere to bump into their jeep and he caused it to drive in circles.
The two camp counselors see Maisie giving them a facial expression that translated to 'See what I mean?' and 'If something happens, I'm blaming you' while Ben was muttering about "Slow and steady" like a mantra. "Ha! I think I'm getting the hang of this!"
With some hesitation Darius went to the Gyrosphere that was occupied with Brooklynn.
"Okay then!" Darius exclaimed, grinning to Brooklynn. "How stoked are you for a awesome Gyrosphere adventure? I'm really stoked!"
The pink haired girl looked up from her phone and then looked back down to her phone. "Sure. Whateves," she said dismissively.
The young African American boy stared at her before shrugging. Then he heard Dave and Roxie speaking on the headsets that were given to them for contacting the counselors for emergencies and the campers can reach them on Channel Six.
"Let the herding begin!" Dave said before they all began driving.
Smiling, Darius looked around at the dinosaurs in awe for the majority of the ride in the Gyrosphere in silence, while making some comments about their size and how each individual looked different.
Meanwhile, Sammy was talking Yaz's ear off who tried to ignore her. "What's your favorite color? Favorite food? Favorite color of food?"
"Orange, orange and orange," Yaz said sarcastically.
Sammy snorts. "Jokes. I love jokes." she elbows Yaz playfully. "Ooh, what do you and your friends do for fun?"
"I train, alone, quietly," Yaz replied, hoping Sammy would take the hint that she desired silence.
"Really? Dang, I'm used to people all around 24/7." Sammy said happily. "My sisters, Daddy, Mama, Abuela, the cattle."
Yaz deadpans as she looks ahead and Sammy continues, "My mom says I have a knack for dealing with critters and that in-Whoa!" Sammy yelped as Yaz drives the Gyrosphere faster and made it drive over a bump.
Sammy felt a little dizzy from that while Yaz grinned.
Rude? Probably. Amusing? Definitely.
"This is amazing!" Darius said excitedly, not caring that he sounded six years younger than he is. "We're like so close! You seeing this, Brooklynn? . . . Brook?" he looked to his right and saw that the 'Superstar' was still looking at her phone. And from the sounds of it, reading some negative comments left on her channel.
"'Used to be cool.' 'You made Jurassic World boring?'" she said out loud. "'Lame.' 'Lame.' 'Nobody likes you anymore.'"
. . . Okay, that's it. Darius made the Gyrosphere come to a complete stop, making Brooklynn jerk forward for a second and yelp as she almost dropped her phone. "Okay, Brooklynn, don't listen to what those random trolls are saying." he said sternly, inwardly he was unsure if that's what those kinds of people are called. "They don't know the real you, it should NOT matter what they say if they're trying to be hurtful. They're probably just jealous that you travel to places like this and they can't. Block them out, or delete those kinds of comments."
Huh, I guess being a Junior Indoraptor Trainer made some improvements.
Brooklynn stared at him in surprise. She slowly began to smile at him in appreciation before they were pushed by the Gyrosphere driven by Ben and Maisie. "Sorry!" Maisie said on the headset.
". . . You should keep driving," Brooklynn said after a moment. ". . . Thanks, Darius."
"No problem, Superstar." The younger boy nodded and started driving forward to keep up with the others and drive past Vomit Boy and Maisie.
Watching the dinosaur herd move faster than them, even the Sauropods, Maisie started to get a little impatient. "Okay, Ben, you may be the driver, but could you please, at the very least, increase your speed a little so we aren't left behind?" she asked Ben.
Ben looked a little hesitant before he began to drive a bit more faster.
That did not last as soon both Dave and Roxie stopped them from driving further. "Hey, gang! New plan!" Dave declared to them, getting out of the jeep. "Storm's getting worse, so we have to head back to camp! Fun, right?"
He got groans of disappointment and complaints from the assembled campers. "Don't blame me, blame the storm."
"I blame them both," Roxie grinned from her seat in the jeep.
"I agree with the Aussie." Darius muttered to his fellow campers.
"I think she's British," Maisie replied thoughtfully. Her accent sure sounded like Iris's.
Darius tried to protest and sweet-talk the two adults into keeping driving with the herd. "We're not gonna let a little rain stop us, are we?" he asked. "When else will we get the chance to ride alongside a herd of dinosaurs?"
"Sorry, can't risk it." Dave replied. "But, Dave, I'm sure under you and Roxie's capable leadership, we'll-"
But Roxie wasn't having it. "This is not up for discussion." She then tried to contact the other staff members up ahead, but apparently the storm was interfering with their radio and Dave said, "New-new plan! Roxie and I will have to speak to the others ourselves. Stay here and don't go anywhere."
The campers all went back to their Gyrospheres and sat down. After a couple of flashes of lightning before Darius saw a Sinoceratops running away from the herd and spoke up on the Comms headset. "That Sinoceratops is going to get lost!" he said. "We have to go after her!"
Looking reluctant, Brooklynn states, "You heard Dave. Let's just stay put."
"Come on. I study dinosaur behavior. We can get her." When she doesn't go on board, he gets another idea and says, "Plus, your followers might love a thrilling dino chase." He can tell by her expression that she is thinking about it. When she looks at him with a smile, Darius drives the Gyrosphere forward.
Seeing them leave, Sammy voices her concern over the radio. "Wait, are you guys going after her? I really don't think that's a good idea. I've seen cattle spook before and-"
"Uh-huh," Yaz cuts her off by driving with them. "Let's go!" she exclaimed.
"Wait, why are we following them?" Sammy asked.
Ben and Maisie were the last to leave after them, with Ben trying to protest. "No. There's no way I'm-"
"Don't worry, I'll drive," said Maisie and she took the joystick and began driving before Ben could protest further.
Darius and Brooklynn are getting closer to the Sinoceratops. "Almost got her." Darius muttered.
Suddenly, she makes a sharp turn, and they bump into a rock, throwing them off balance. Darius does his best to regain control as Brooklynn fumbles with her phone. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she catches it. "Whew."
"Sorry. That was close." He apologizes sheepishly. She gives him an expression that seems to say 'Prepare to be amazed' and then she takes her chewing gum and stick it to the back of her phone. She then presses the phone onto the little screen that showed them a Jimmy Fallon tutorial.
"Viola. Instant phone mount." Brooklynn states proudly.
Darius raised an eyebrow before he responded, "Great idea. And also, ew."
Brooklynn just shakes her head. "Well, just keep driving, Raptor Boy."
Darius smiles at the nickname. "Sure thing, Superstar." he replied getting a giggle in response.
Sammy continues to try to tell them why they shouldn't do it the way they are trying to. "Uh, let's just everybody settle down a bit." she said. "We don't wanna get too close or-"
"Maisie, flank her on the left, I'll cut her on the right." Darius orders.
"No. You're gonna scare her!" Sammy tries again.
Maisie and Darius get on the left and right of the Sinoceratops. "I'll cut her off in the front," Darius said.
"No, he's going to make her bolt!" Sammy protests. "This isn't the way to do this. We gotta calm her down."
Darius doesn't listen and stops before the herbivovre. But that doesn't stop the Sinoceratops. She starts to head back to the herd like they planned, but she's gonna scare them if they don't get to her in time. "Listen up y'all. We gotta get her before she spooks the herd." Sammy declared. "Stay to the outside or-"
"We got this!" Maisie said with a laugh, Darius and Brooklynn following her.
"Relax, both Darius and Maisie know dinosaurs." Yaz said to the Texan before driving after the others.
Darius and Brooklynn try to get in front of the animal this time. But instead of calming her down, she rams her head into the Gyro, sending them rolling out of control to the herd and causing them to become pin balls in the herd.
That's when chaos ensues.
The herd panics, and everyone gets caught up in the herd. Sammy and Yaz, Maisie and Ben all drove into the herd as the panic was beginning. Darius was pretty sure he saw an argument between a Stegosaurus and a Sinoceratops, or was that an Ankylosaurus?
"Around the front," Maisie said to herself as she goes around the front of a Parasaurophlous. "Around the back." She goes around the back of a Triceratops. "And through the bottom." She then drives through the legs of a Brachiosaurus and then bounces off a boulder, soars through the air-
-while Ben is screaming his head off next to her, "I want to go home!"-
-And then landing in the jungle. They spin like a top before coming to a stop. Upside down. ". . . And suddenly, this is not as fun as I thought it would be." she deadpans to Ben.
Meanwhile Darius and Brooklynn were still playing Pin Ball Stampeding Dinosaur edition, with Brooklynn screaming her head off as does Darius even if screaming doesn't help in a situation like this.
Finally, the spinning stopped. The two teens were about to calm down, when they see the herd coming right for them at high speeds!
"I kinda wish my parents didn't raise me the best they could," Darius suddenly mutters, "because this deserves a much better curse word than fiddlesticks."
. . . Gumball Waterson? Is that you?
"Go, go, go, go, go!" Brooklynn says frantically to him.
The young African American pushes the joystick full throttle races into the forest, the herd right behind them. He was slowly starting to get distance between them.
"Low branch!" Sammy said to Yaz as they also race through the jungle.
"I see it! Let me concentrate." Yaz said before a large tree falls in front of them and they bounce off it and bounced off the tree that fell behind them.
"Are we. . . alive?" Sammy asked before sighing in relief.
After what felt like an hour of driving, Darius brings the gyro to a halt. "Whew. I think we lost them." he said, panting.
"Uh, I think we lost EVERYONE." Brooklynn said looking around and she puts her knees up to her chest with a nervous expression. Darius looks at her and looks around, thinking of a way to get out of the jungle.
The bright side is they're not lost as Blu and Mac from Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends.
And then he saw the stray Sinoceratops. "Hey, Brooklynn, look." He turns the gyro to face the animal. "Okay, think. Sinoceratops are fast on open ground," he noted as the Sinoceratops walks in front of them. "So we just need to corner her then we can get her back to the herd."
Brooklynn perks up instantly. "Great. Here we go! Another Brooklynn exclusive! " The pink haired girl noticed that her phone miraculously stayed attached the entire game of Dino Soccer, so Brooklynn she leans into view of the camera and says, "Get ready Brooklanders! Cause it's about to get real!"
She opens the door and then starts to run towards the Sinoceratops while Darius protests and runs after her. "Wait, wait! Brooklynn, wait!"
"Relax, it's a herbivore, right?" Brooklynn asked as she approaches the Sinoceratops.
"Well, yeah." Darius stops running and shrugs. He shakes his head. "But you don't get out of the vehicle and say hi to a wild Moose!"
As if to prove his point, the Sino gives out a roar to the two teens, and then it stomps its front foot. Dinosaur or not, the two teens knew an animal getting ready to charge and they instantly run back to the gyro.
"Too real! TOO REAL!" Brooklynn said fearfully as she got inside.
"I told you," Darius said as he too got in and was putting on the buckle as fast as he could. He glanced forward and saw the Sino charging towards them, and finally got his buckle on, but it was too late.
The animal rammed her horn into the gyro, and actually PENETRATES the glass! The teens start screaming in fear as the Sinoceratops shakes her head and then flings them off her horn and sends them spinning again.
The two teens finally stop spinning and they take a second to catch their breath. But after a few minutes, both Darius and Brooklynn start laughing with each other. They have to be the luckiest kids in the world to be able to walk away from something like that!
But they quickly stop laughing as they feel the gyro start to sink. "What the-?" Darius mutters to himself before he sees that they are in a mud hole! Darius tries to drive out of the hole, but that only seems to sink them deeper! "Not good," he declared.
Meanwhile, Sammy and Yaz were trying to clear a path for their Gyrosphere. "Good news-this gives a lot more time to get to know each other." Sammy said with a nervous chuckle, trying to look on the bright side.
"Great, we should totally do that," Yaz, not really wanting to do that. "Later. Much, much later. First we need to-"
"Help!" cried Brooklynn's voice on the headset. "Can you hear us? We're stuck. . . mudhole and we're sinking! Help!"
Both Sammy and Yaz tried to listen better when they picked up the earpieces. "Brooklynn? Brooklynn, can you hear me? Where are you?" The two girls looked at each other before the Texan declared. "We gotta find them."
They climb out and call out for the other campers to see if they're nearby. "Brooklynn? Darius? Guys! Can you hear us?"
Yaz then picks up a branch from the ground. "Keep clearing away the br-No, wait." she gets an idea. "Pile it up. Pile it up. All of it. Just keep piling. Come on."
"Okay," Confused, Sammy complies and they pile all of the branches in front of their Gyrosphere. Building momentum, Yaz drives the Gyro forward and used the pile as a ramp.
"We're coming, Brooklynn!" Sammy shouted.
"Hello? Hello? Can anybody hear me?" Yaz said to her earpiece frantically.
Sammy huffed as she looks around. "Still no sign of-Ben and Maisie?" she looked ahead in confusion. Why were they walking alone? Especially since Ben's afraid to walk into the jungle.
For now.
Seeing the two kids in front of her, Yaz slammed on the brakes but not fast enough and both Maisie and Ben were sent flying from being hit by the Gyrosphere.
"Sorry!" Yaz shouted.
Maisie stood up with Ben hugging her tightly. "Ben, let go." she grunted, trying to push the boy away. "You're hugging me too tight."
"No!" Ben said in fear. Maisie deadpanned at the other girls before she kneed Ben in the stomach.
Five minutes later, the three girls and Ben were crammed into the Gyrosphere like sardines. "I'm pretty sure we're exceeding the maximum occupancy here." Ben said.
"You think?" Maisie drawled.
"I lost them," Sammy reported. "It's just static."
Yaz slows the Gyrosphere to a stop. Thunder crashes above them.
"Help!" Darius's voice is heard faintly. Maisie strained to hear for more.
"Somebody, please!" Brooklynn called out. "I hear them! Over there! 3 o'clock! " Maisie pointed to the right. Yaz turns the Gyrosphere to the right and drives forward.
"We are in a sinkhole!" Darius shouted before he and Brooklynn tried to push and kick the Gyro's doors open.
After a few minutes of not budging, Darius sighs in frustration. "It won't budge. The mud is jamming the door shut!"
"Try driving out again!" Brooklynn suggests frantically.
"We'll only sink deeper!" he protests.
Brooklynn groans. "Then YOU think of something, Mr. Let's-go-corner-the-dinosaur!"
Darius shoots back, "YOU'RE the idiot! You LISTENED to my plan!" Brooklynn tried to grab the joystick. The movement of the trapped teens causes the gyro to tip over and they almost lose their footing. They resort to making noise loud as possible! "Anybody, help! Help!" But they quickly give up.
Brooklynn looks to Darius with a desperate look. Darius tries to think of a solution. Reach up and try to force the big hole to open wider? Keep calling for help? Try to force the doors open?
"Darius? Brooklynn?" The two suddenly hear a voice in their ear pieces.
Darius pauses and reaches his ear piece. "Hello? Sammy?!"
Brooklynn perk up, started to get hope again.
"Do you read me? We're coming to help!" Sammy's voice says again.
The two trapped campers soon see a Gyrospheres coming towards them. That gets the trapped kids to start banging on the glass again! "Help! Get us out of here!"
Maisie, Sammy and Yaz run towards them, and Ben tries to radio for help. "Dave, Roxie! We got a real emergency here!"
Maisie and Yaz try to push it out with their hands. But it's too heavy for the two girls to move. Not to mention, too deep for them as well.
"Get back you guys! It'll pull you under!" Ben tells them after three minutes, noticing that they were starting to sink with them.
"Think, guys!" Maisie said to the other campers frantically as they backed up away from the sinking Gyrosphere. "We need to think of something quick before they sink! What haven't we tried?"
"Uh, guys?" Ben said, alerting the others of the Sinoceratops coming in view. "We got company."
As the Sinoceratops roared at them, looking ready to charge again, "You kids were chasing me with hamster balls!"
Ben whimpers and walks away backwards before tripping over a branch.
Sammy suddenly gets an idea. "What if. . ." she muttered before rising to her feet and declared, "I got an idea." Sammy then starts walking towards the Sino with a branch full of leaves.
Yaz crawled forward. "What are you doing?"
"What? Wait!" Ben protested.
"Hey." Sammy says calmly to the dinosaur, offering the branch. "Stay back."
Everyone else just does their best to be as quiet as possible.
Sammy continues to speak softly to the dinosaur. "It's hard to trust strangers. I get it. The world's a scary place. But, I'll trust you if you trust me." Yaz watches this in awe. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
Finally, the Sinoceratops takes a bite of the branch Sammy has, showing her trust in the human.
"Whoa," Yaz muttered in shock.
It was pretty cool, except for one thing that's kind of important. And morbid.
"Uh, guys?!" Darius gets their attention.
"Real touching and all, but we are STILL gonna die!" Brooklynn reminds them. The mud was already covering almost all of they gyro, showing just how deep they were.
The teens above the mud quickly take some of the vines they could see, Maisie cuts the vines with her teeth (Not fun but it's worth it.) and Yaz makes some rope out of it. Sammy and Ben both climb up to the tree as they decide to use the Sinoceratops to pull out the gyrosphere. In the nick of time, Brooklynn and Darius tie the rope securely on their seats. Darius gives them a thumbs up, telling them to pull them up. Or trying to make a reference to Terminator 2.
But the mud covers the gyro, and starts to fill up fast! The two trapped campers don't realize that they were out of the mud and hold their breath until Yaz opens the door with a stick. Brooklynn and Darius just look at them, as they both realize they weren't dead.
"Oh. Hey..." Darius says awkwardly. Like what can one say after an experience like that?
Yaz just laughs at the sight, and everyone else laughs as they help the teens out of the gyrosphere. They helped their friends get out and cheat death.
"It worked!" Ben cries.
"Whoo-Hoo!" Sammy cheered.
"Cowgirl for the win!" Maisie cheered, offering Sammy a fist bump.
"Are you guys alright?" Yaz asked in concern.
"Yeah, I mean, besides the mud in my hair and on my clothes." Brooklynn replied, running her hand through her hair and tugging on her jacket for emphasis. "Other than that, I am A-OK."
"Noted," the track star said dryly.
Soon, the six campers hear a vehicle approach. When the passengers get out, Sammy sees who it is and says to the others, "Look! It's Dave and Roxie! Hey!" The Texan waves at the stunned counselors.
Everyone else waves at the two councilors with smiles. Dave gets back into the jeep, and everyone just waits for what comes next as they drive back to camp.
When they all got back to camp, it was dark, but not yet time for bed.
"You could have been killed! What were you all thinking?" Roxie asks.
"That we found a lost dinosaur!" Sammy states simply. "And saved our friends Brooklynn and Darius."
"It may have been more heart racing than the jumpscares I give to my butler," Maisie admitted before speaking dramatically, her accent showing the more she spoke. "but in the end we had triumphed over our obstacles and returned, alive and victorious!"
"That's the funniest thing I've heard all day." Brooklynn says with a laugh.
Roxie apparently does NOT share their amusement whatsoever. "Stay in your bunks. You are not to leave, you got it?" she ordered.
As they entered the elevator, Maisie continued, "Mudhole zero, Campers two!"
Because of all the mud, they all shower and one by one make their way to the main room. Yaz approached Sammy who was watching the rain from the balcony. She clears her throat, getting the Texan's attention. "Uh, I. . . " she said nervously to Sammy. "If everyone had listened to you. . . if I had listened, then we wouldn't have any problems."
"I'm not so great at trusting new people," Yaz went on, shuffling nervously. "So, my favorite color is black, my favorite food is pizza, and. . ." After tapping it on her forehead, as if to beat the nervousness out of her, she holds out her sketchbook. "This is what I was doing before."
Sammy opens it to three drawings. One of a T-Rex with someone's legs sticking out of its jaws with another snarling Rex and a Velociraptor as well as a perfect drawing of Diego the Indoraptor.
"I started drawing to kill time during track meets," Yaz explained sheepishly. "I'm not very good, so you probably. . . probably won't even like them." She looks away, not seeing the look of wonder in Sammy's eyes.
Sammy stares at the pictures. "I don't like them. . . I love them!" she declared before hugging Yaz tightly. "I knew we were going to be best friends!"
"Not much of a-a hugger," Yaz grunted. "You are now~!" Yaz sighed and gave Sammy a one arm hug.
It looks like Sammy and Yaz were now becoming friends. And we know how it ends. In most timelines.
Darius sat down at the couch and glanced at the Tyrannosaur skeleton display in the room.
"I managed to get all the mud off." he hears Brooklynn's voice, and sees she is talking about her phone, evident by holding her phone up as she approaches. "Which is more than I can say about these fingernails. Never a dull day at Camp Cretaceous, right?" she sits down next to him.
Darius smiles and chuckles a little. The sound turns hollow before he stops. "Hey, what's up?" Brooklynn sits down next him, hoping he's not bothered by what happened.
Sighing, Darius starts. "I thought I knew everything about dinosaurs, but. . . all I did was screw up today." he sighs. "We should have listened to Sammy. I guess I was thinking that since no one else really knew me other than the kid that has dinosaur hybrids imprinted on him, it was an opportunity to . . ."
"Get people to like you?" Brooklynn finishes. She recalls what he also said in the Gyrosphere. "To know you better?" Darius turns to look at her. "Yeah. . . I guess we have that in common."
"Yeah. . . " Brooklynn agreed. "Well, tomorrow's a new day." Then she holds up her phone. "And, thanks to you, I've got a new video to show the Brooklanders, so, um, I'm gonna go edit it and post."
Just then a loud roar sounded off behind them. Both Darius and Brooklyn jump away from the sofa in fear only to see a laughing Maisie Lockwood standing behind the sofa.
"Maisie! You gave us a heart attack!" Darius scolded.
"Don't worry, I got defibelators!" Maisie said, crouching out of view. She stood up with two pillows in hand. "Clear!" she shouted and threw the pillows at Darius and Brooklynn.
"Hey!" Brooklynn laughed before gasping as her phone almost dropped.
"I'll cover you! Go!" Darius said playfully as he picks up his pillow and ran to Maisie who was armed with another pillow.
Brooklynn laughed as she jogged away. "Later Shorty, Raptor Boy!"
Later that night, Brooklynn edited Darius's video for his Indoraptors after he did his second entry.
"Day Two Entry for the Indoraptor Files," Darius said in the video. "We did a basic lesson in studying the hybrids' behavior and interaction with me."
Darius was shown on the screen, crouching down before Meg. "Meg seems to show no interest when I show a sign of weakness or vulnerability." Darius narrates as he begins to fake cry in front of Meg who just blinked at him owlishly.
"Her sister Ruby seems intelligent to know when I'm faking it and would ignore me." Ruby approached Darius as he 'whimpered' in front of her. She tilts her head before stepping away.
"As for Diego," The orange Indoraptor hissing and pouncing only to bite down on Darius's gloved forearm said enough.
"And then there's Toothless." Darius begins to whimper before covering his eyes and 'bawled' his eyes out.
Toothless tilted his head and walked forward before nuzzling Darius's hand before licking at him like a dog while cooing and purring to offer comfort.
Darius looks up at the black Indoraptor in surprise. "Hey, I'm okay." he said.
Toothless smiled as if he was proud that he made his Alpha feel better.
Brooklynn couldn't help but coo at the scene. That was so adorable. Then she played the footage of campers holding each of the Indoraptors in their hands. But then she saw something that confused her.
Sammy looked like she was taking skin samples from Meg and hid it in her pocket.
"What the. . .?" Brooklynn mutters in surprise and confusion. Behind her, Sammy saw what she saw on the screen and bore a fearful expression.
Meanwhile, in the Raptor Paddock, Ripper propped the loop pole along with three other poles he had taken from the handlers and began to climb to the top of the paddock. "Hehehe." he snickered.
"What are you doing?" Delta asked and Echo repeated her. "What are you doing?" Delta deadpanned at her sister.
"Escaping," Ripper answered.
"Why?" Charlie asked.
"They're just going to catch you and bring you back." Blue shook her head as Ripper reached to the top.
"Yeah, that's why it's fun," Ripper replied. "Besides, I need to investigate something." With that he left.
". . . Should we go after him this time or. . . ?" Echo asked.
"You kidding, right?" Delta asked. "Remember the last time we did that? We were grounded for three weeks in our cages."
Ripper traveled down a road before he came across the paddock meant for the Indoraptors. He walked around the building, sniffing before he came to an air vent. Using his claws he pulled it open. It was too small for him, but just the right size for whoever's in here. He leaned down, and began letting out summoning vocalizations.
In the play pen, the Indoraptor siblings heard Ripper's calls as they slept in their nest. They all lifted their heads up.
Toothless walked over to an air nearby. "The noise is coming from here." he said.
"What are we going to do?" Meg asked.
Diego grinned. "We'll use your head!"
Three seconds later, Meg was held up by Ruby and Diego like a battering ram. "But I don't want to use my head!" she protested.
Diego and Ruby let out battle cries while Meg screamed.
CLANG!
". . . Ow. . ." Meg whined.
Toothless rubbed his chin as he looked around. Then he remembered how the door to the room was opened. It pushed and pulled inwards. Not outward. He walked to the vent and used his claws to pull it open. When it was pulled far enough, he used his teeth to pull it apart further.
"You had the right concept, Diego," Toothless said as he pulled the vent covering open. "Just the wrong execution. Come on."
Ripper waited outside patiently and saw the four Indoraptors climbing out. The hybrids all stared at one another before Toothless approached and placed his hands on Ripper's snout. Bright crimson eyes held contact with bright emerald before Toothless screeched, "Big brother!"
"Little brothers and sisters!" Ripper declared.