Hello, all you happy readers and writers! That's right, I'm back and back at Obsidian Wars 2! I know, it's been over four years since my last posting for this story, for which you have my most sincere apologies! Needless to say, the last four years have been awful for everyone. But things have gotten a bit better for me and I hope to have enough time to write and post without too much delay between chapters. And now, we resume where we left off…
Chapter 13: Escape from Monster High Part 2 or Journey to Dino World
"CLAWD!" exclaimed Clawdeen as she, Chad, Ashlynn and Hunter saw Clawd fall to the ground, bleeding from a vicious stab wound Draculaura inflicted on him with a silver knife.
Yet they were helpless to do anything as the enemy vampires and werewolves kept a tight grip on them.
"Oh, that was almost too easy," said Draculaura as she wiped Clawd's blood off the knife and walked away from him towards Clawdeen and the others, "that mutt was too easy to fool."
"That mutt loves you!" snapped Chad, "thought I don't know why anymore! You're evil!"
"Thank you," said a wickedly smiling Draculaura.
"He's bleeding to death!" shouted Ashlynn.
"I know," said Draculaura coldly, "and I'm going to do the same to you too, little miss Normie from another world."
"You stay away from my woman, you blood sucking freak!" shouted Hunter as he desperately struggled to break free, yet it was Bram who restrained him, and Bram wasn't letting go any time soon.
"I think I'll start with you first," said Draculaura as she walked up to Hunter, holding the knife to his throat, the keen edge just breaking the skin and drawing a spot of blood. Ashlynn flinched at the sight of Hunter wounded, yet he remained defiant as he glared at the vile vampiress.
"On second thought," said Draculaura as she took the knife away from Hunter's throat, "I'll save you and your girl for later. I've never tasted humans from other worlds, I wonder if there's a difference in blood flavor."
But then Draculaura faced Clawdeen, whom was standing still, ignoring the fact that Gory was holding her arms, "But you, my former friend, when I'm done with you, you'll wish I'd gone as easy on you as I did with Clawd. What? Don't you have anything to say, Clawdeen? Or are you just going to stare at me?"
"I'm gonna kill you," growled Clawdeen hatefully,
At that Draculaura laughed cruelly at Clawdeen, "you kill me? Surely you're joking!" she then laughed again, then glared at Bram, Gory and the other vampires and werewolves, "well? Why aren't you laughing? Clawdeen just made a joke and a pretty funny one too! Laugh!"
At that Gory, Bram and the other enemy monsters all gave forced laughs. Even Romulus, with his broken jaw and other wounds, tried to laugh.
"I'm serious," said Clawdeen coldly, "I'm gonna kill you, Draculaura!"
"You are serious," said a genuinely surprised Draculaura. She then glared at the still laughing enemy monsters, "she's serious! So shut up!" at that the enemy monsters abruptly ceased their forced chortling.
"And here I thought we were friends, Clawdeen," said a mockingly pouting Draculaura.
At that Clawdeen spat on Draculaura, "there's our friendship right there, you undead bitch!"
"Clawdeen," said an astonished Ashlynn, while Hunter, Chad looked equally shocked, while even Bram, Gory and the enemy vampires and werewolves looked shocked
"I don't care how long it takes or how I'll do it," said Clawdeen, "cutting your head off, leaving you to be baked by sunlight or a stake through your twisted, black heart; whatever it takes, however long it takes, even if I have to wait a thousand years, I will kill you, Draculaura!"
For a heartbeat, Draculaura looked truly afraid. But then she laughed cruelly again, with the enemy monsters hastily laughing along.
"Oh, you really had me going there for a moment, Clawdeen," said Draculaura as she calmed down, "you, kill me? You'd need more than a thousand years to be able to do that." She then looked at Bram and Gory, "now take the comedian and her friends inside, there's much to do and plenty of time to do it all."
"What about him" asked Gory as she pointed at Clawd.
"Let him bleed," said Draculaura offhandedly.
"You'll never get away with this, Draculaura!" shouted Chad as he and the others were dragged towards Monster High.
"Wait! What's that!" shouted Clawdeen.
"Oh, please!" said an annoyed Draculaura, "do you really think I'm that stupid?"
"No, seriously, listen!" said Clawdeen as her ears perked up.
"I don't hear anything," said Bram.
But then came the sound of a motorcycle revving. From out of the mist rode Avery on his bike, with a rather terrified passenger holding onto dear life.
Avery drove his motorcycle through the ranks of enemy monsters, passing Clawdeen and her group and heading towards Draculaura, forcing the vile vampiress to dodge as Avery stopped his bike next to Clawd.
"It's alright," said Avery as he turned the engine off and took off his helmet, "you can let go."
"Not till we stop!" shouted a terrified Apple as she gripped Avery around his waist even tighter.
"We are stopped," said Avery as he carefully pulled Apples off from him, turned around and took off Apple's helmet, "and you have a patient, Dr. White."
"Huh? Oh, oh!" said Apple as she pulled herself together. She readied her first aid kit as she dismounted the motorcycle, hurrying over to Clawd as Avery hurried alongside her.
"Apple, how? When? How?!" asked Ashlynn.
"What are you doing here, Avery?!" asked Hunter.
"It's a long story," said Avery, "and it can wait," he pointed at Clawd as Apple examined the wound, "he can't," he then looked at Apple, "how is he?"
"Not good," said Apple as she pulled out a pressure bandage and tied it to Clawd's bleeding midsection, "the wound isn't straight and he's bleeding internally."
At that Clawdeen jammed her heel into Gory's foot, then jabbed her elbow into Gory's face, causing the traitorous vampire to release her. Clawdeen then ran over to Clawd, "he's…he's not going to die, is he?"
"Not if I can help it," said Apple, "but there's only so much I can do with what I have; he needs to get to a hospital, now!"
"You heard her," said Chad as he, Hunter and Ashlynn managed to free themselves from Bram and the other enemy monsters, then hurried over to Clawdeen, Apple and Avery, "we're taking Clawd to the hospital."
"Now wait just a damn minute!" snapped Draculaura.
"No, you wait just a moment, you rotten, vermicious kinid!" shouted Apple as she glared at Draculaura, "you've hurt enough to these people, especially this poor young wolf whose heart is still true to yours, despite how far you've fallen into the darkness!"
"It only proves just how stupid that mutt is!" snapped Draculaura.
"'Stupid is as stupid does,'" said Avery.
"Your grandmother?" asked Apple.
"Forrest Gump," said Avery, "long story, but if my grandmother did have something to say, it'd go something like this."
He then pointed towards the sky where the sun would be at the time of day, "'A heart filled with love may do stupid things sometimes, especially when that heart is trying to win another, but love itself is never stupid.'"
"As if that would change my opinion of the mutt," said Draculaura, whom then smiled wickedly, "and a dead mutt at the rate he's bleeding."
"We can't wait any longer!" said Apple as Clawdeen picked Clawd up in her arms, "we've got to get him out of here now!"
"Haven't I made it clear?!" said Draculaura as the ranks of enemy werewolves and vampires reformed and surrounded our heroes, "you're not going anywhere!"
"Looks like we're going to have to fight our way out," said Hunter as he pulled out his Drake Grip, while Chad readied to dial his Faiz Phone.
"Oh please," said Gory contemptuously, "you don't have the guts to fight us, your friends."
"If we have to, we will," said Clawdeen grimly, then glared at Draculaura, "especially you!"
"There's another way," said Apple, "one Maddie had planned."
"Maddie?" asked Ashlynn.
"Huh? Now what?" asked Clawdeen as her ears perked up.
"What are you hearing now?" asked Chad.
Just everyone heard a high-pitched whistling, followed by something falling out of the sky and landing in front of Bram, something that turned out to be a teapot with steam billowing out of its spout.
"What…what is this nonsense?" asked Bram as he picked up the steaming teapot, only for it to explode in his hands, engulfing the traitorous vampire in smoke that blinded several nearby enemy monsters.
Several more steaming teapots fell out of the sky, landing, exploding and spreading smoke among the enemy monsters, leading to utter confusion and panic.
"Stop it!" shouted Draculaura to the disordered and panicked Monsters, "stop running around like headless chickens! Or you will be headless chickens!"
It was then that Irvin appeared next to Draculaura, "I take it your little playdate with Clawdeen hasn't gone so well?" he asked innocently, yet the mockery was plain to hear.
"Oh shut up and help me!" snapped Draculaura.
"Well, since you asked so nicely," said Irvin sarcastically. He then waved his hands and the smoke cleared, as did the fog, spilling sunlight onto the area. The sudden illumination shocked the panicking Monsters out of their disarray, yet caused a different panic among the vampires as their undead flesh began to smoke and boil in the intense sunlight.
"Well, thank you very much!" snapped Draculaura venomously as she summoned a black parasol, "now you've made it worse!"
"Well, you should have been more specific," said Irvin smugly.
At that Draculaura snarled venomously at Irvin, then focused her attention on casting a dark spell that created thick, black storm clouds over the area, alleviating the burning vampires.
Valentine then ran into the area, knocking Irvin aside like a piece of litter as he rushed up to and embraced Draculaura, "oh, my dark darling! I saw the break in the fog, are you alright?"
"A little singed, that's all," said Draculaura as she dropped her parasol and hugged Valentine back, kissing him full on the mouth.
"Yeah, we're fine too," said a deeply sunburned Gory, while a soot-covered Bram brushed the soot off his clothes.
"On the contrary," said Irvin as he strode among the enemy Monsters towards Draculaura and Valentine, a look of controlled but seething rage on his face, "you're not fine at all, you're all in deep, deep trouble."
"What'd we do?" asked Valentine as he protectively held Draculaura away from Irvin.
"You two did nothing except being incredible asses!" snapped Irvin, "but I can't discipline you for that." He then looked at Gory, Bram and Romulus, "but you lot, you and yours I can."
"For what?!" demanded Bram, "you can't do anything to us, we have a deal!"
"I can and will punish you for your incompetence!" snapped Irvin, "notice anything missing?"
"Uh…no," said Bram as he and the other vampires and the werewolves looked around.
"Look again, you undead idiot!" said Irvin, "notice anyone missing?"
"Clawdeen and the others!" said Draculaura, "they got away!"
"Correctumundo!" said Irvin, "a word I've never used before and hope to never use again! Now," he then glared at the enemy werewolves and vampires, "I suggest you find and capture the fugitives, if any of you wish to avoid being the first Monster to be experimented upon that is."
At that the enemy vampires and werewolves scrambled about, desperately looking for any trace of where our heroes ran off to.
"We do have an agreement with them, Irvin," said Valentine, "I gave my word that no vampire or werewolf allied with Obsidian would be mistreated."
"Who said anything about mistreating them?" asked Irvin, "they should be honored that one of their own would be the first to experience a jump in evolution. Unless one of you wish to volunteer for the project."
"We'll pass," said Valentine dryly, "regardless, we can't proceed without Neffra's scientist friend to oversee the project."
"That's why I was coming to see you," said Irvin, "to tell you that Neffra heard from her old flame again. He's caught a break with his work and is available to come. Neffra's gone to fetch him and will be back in a matter of hours."
"Well, in that case," said a viciously smiling Draculaura, "we'd better select some test subjects for the experiments. And I've got just the boy in mind."
…The Steam Vault…
"I told you he needs a hospital!" said Apple irately after she, Avery, Clawdeen, Chad, Ashlynn and Hunter hurried through the wormhole and shut the door, placing Clawd on a table.
"It's too great a risk," said Avery, "the enemy could be watching the hospitals."
"We would have walked right into another trap, Apple," said Ashlynn, "I'm sorry, but Avery's right, Obsidian could have eyes and ears anywhere on that world."
"By the time we found doctors we were sure was safe, Clawd would be dead," said Hunter.
"I'm sorry, Apple," said Avery, "but you're going to have to do."
"Please, help my brother," pleaded Clawdeen.
"I…I'll do what I can," said Apple as she examined Clawd's wound again, "but seriously, he needs a doctor, a real, trained doctor, not a well-read princess who isn't even EMT qualified." She then pulled out her first aid kit again and went to work.
"We believe in you, Apple," said Frankie, "you'll save Clawd, I know you will."
"Oh, she'll definitely save him," said Maddie as she served tea to Clawdeen and the others, "at least until help comes, but that won't happen for a bit."
"You and your predictions," muttered Robecca as she copied from one of her father's journals, while nearby Ghoulia was transcribing notes Robecca made into her computer. "No one can know the future; it simply isn't set, 'there is no fate but what we make.'"
"That's what I've been saying all along!" shouted Raven as she too copied from one of Hexiciah Steam's journals.
"Yes, we're all proud that you've been vindicated, Raven," said Hunter. He then looked at Avery and Apple, "but how did you know we were in trouble?"
"Actually, it was Maddie," said Apple as she looked up from working on Clawd's wound.
"Don't ask me how she does it," said Raven, "something about remembering a flashback before it happened or something."
"That's not what happened, Raven," said an annoyed Maddie as she put her hands on her hips, "it was like this. Okay, Mr. AndrewK9000, take us back to the past."
Maddie, I can't just initiate a flashback on command. Besides, you weren't there last chapter when Clawdeen and the others were in trouble.
"Of course I wasn't, you goosy goose!" giggled Maddie, "but my past self is here, and she'll know, because I'll tell her, right, past self?"
FLASHBACK
"Right, future self!" giggled Maddie as she stood in the kitchen area of The Steam Vault.
"Is she talking to those people in her head again?" asked Robecca as she and Raven copied from the journals of Hexiciah Steam.
"If you're thinking Maddie's crazy, yes, she kinda is," said Raven defensively, "but in a good way. She may talk to herself a lot, but more often than not she's right."
"I've seen enough of it to believe," said Avery as he sat nearby, "now, tell me about your father's journals?"
"As I said before," said Robecca, "my father is a genius!"
"The pages of his journals have hidden pages," said Raven as she indicated the split pages.
"I think I've seen this in a movie somewhere," said Avery, "a book hidden within a book. But what do the pages say?"
"They're in code," said Raven, "Hexiciah knew someone would eventually find this, but made sure that only someone with the right cypher would understand it."
"And the cypher is within the code," said Robecca, "unfortunately, there's a lot of journals, with a lot of hidden pages, and my father had terrible penmanship, especially when he was in a hurry," she indicated the nearly illegible writing on the hidden pages, "my father must have done this in a terrible hurry."
"Which is why we're writing it all down," said Raven, "and then Ghoulia's scanning it into her computer to decipher it."
At that Ghoulia moaned and gave the thumbs up as she worked at her laptop.
"And it's all thanks to Raven's insight," said Robecca.
"I was just lucky to look at the page the right way," said Raven.
"As my grandmother once said," said Avery as he pointed at the brightest light in the Steam Vault, "'sometimes luck is all you need, that and a big stick to carry while speaking softly.'"
"Did your grandmother have a saying for everything?" asked Apple as she, Dexter, Jackson, Clair, Elissabat, Lagoona, Gil and Rochelle, walked through the door.
"Welcome back," said Avery as Raven rushed over to embrace a still sore Dexter, whom winced at the tight but loving hug, "and yes."
"We had quite the adventure," said Elissabat, "and another friend rescued."
"Glad you're safe, Rochelle!" said Frankie as she embraced her gargoyle friend.
"I am glad to be safe, mon ami," said Rochelle, "yet, I wish I had been able to do more against the evil ones who stole our school. I cannot help but feel that I failed in my duty as a gargoyle to protect that which needs protecting. I have suffered a grievous dishonor."
"You'll get your chance to avenge your honor," said Avery, "when the time's right, we all will."
'You've dilly dallied long enough, past me! You need to tell them now!'
Okay, that does it! Maddie, you've crossed the line. Messing with the narrator is one thing, but you're trying to alter the course of history by interfering with the past! You're going to create time paradox, and I hate time paradoxes, they give me headaches.
"Oh, don't be such a silly sod, Mr. AndrewK9000!" said Maddie, "this is one of those paradoxes that work themselves out. Ain't that right, future me?"
'Yeah, it's one of those loop de loop things that the future makes the past happen, so the future makes the past happen, so the future makes the past happen, so…'
Okay! I get it! Just…just don't make it even more of a mess, alright? I'm gonna grab an aspirin, so finish the flashback up so we can get on with the story! And no more paradoxes!
"We'll be done in two shakes of the tails of a lion and a unicorn," said Maddie, "one each!" she then giggled, then looked at Raven, "you'd better get to work on those exploding teapots, Raven. Clawdeen and the others need them," she then looked at Apple and Avery, "and you two better get on his bike before Clawd bleeds to death!"
END FLASHBACK
"I don't know how Maddie does it," said Raven, "but she knew exactly where to open the wormhole and where you guys were."
"Well, I'm glad you did," said Chad. He then looked at Maddie, "that was some nice teapot slinging on your part."
"I just threw them," said Maddie, "Raven did all the hard work."
"I was just lucky to find the right spell so fast," said Raven as she held up her spell notebook.
"We're going to need a lot more luck," said Apple as she stepped back from Clawd, her hands and sleeves covered in blood, "I've done everything I can, but it won't be enough. We need a doctor, a real doctor, and a team of nurses and all the necessary equipment."
"He…he's…." said Clawdeen desperately, "okay, so, we'll open the wormhole and take him to a hospital, somewhere."
"We'll take him to Book End General Hospital on our world," said Ashlynn.
"We wrecked it," said Hunter, "well, Raven wrecked it."
"Cuthbert wrecked it trying to wreck us!" said Raven irately.
"It doesn't matter," said Apple, "we can't move Clawd, he could die before we get him to a hospital, so we have to bring a doctor here."
"And by the time we find a doctor we can trust," said a gravely sounding Raven, "and get him to trust us enough to come here…"
"Clawd could be dead," finished Lagoona remorsefully, while Jackson, Clair and the others looked on with equal remorse.
"No!" said Clawdeen defiantly, "there's got to be something you can do! A spell or…or something! Anything!"
"Clawdeen," said Apple in an apologetic tone, "magic can't fix everything."
"Even if it could, I don't know any healing magic," said Raven.
"I don't believe that!" said Clawdeen, "my brother isn't going to die!"
"I don't believe it either!" said Clawdia as she walked into the room.
"You sure you should be up and about?" asked Elissabat, "Clawd bashed you up pretty bad."
"I'm fine," insisted Clawdia, "but Clawd doesn't! If he dies, I'll kill him…or…or something."
"He's not going to die, Clawdia," said Clawdeen, "we won't let him!"
"That's right! We won't let our brother die!" said Clawdia, "Wolf's never say die!"
"I…I don't think that's how it works," said Raven.
"Sorry to say it, love," said Lagoona, "but miracles don't pop out on command."
"You might be surprised," giggled Maddie.
DING DONG!
"Who's that at the door?" asked Robecca as she went to the wormhole control panel. She activated the device and the door swung open, revealing Howleen, her clothes slightly worn and ragged, while the young werewolf looked slightly sleep deprived, yet otherwise unharmed.
"Uh…hi, everyone," said Howleen sheepishly as she stepped into The Steam Vault and waved at our heroes, only to be tackled and hugged to the floor by Clawdeen.
"HOWLEEN!" exclaimed a joyfully crying Clawdeen as she hugged her little sister with all her might, "YOU'RE ALIVE!"
"Not for much longer if you don't let go!" said Clawdia as she pulled Clawdia off of a gasping for air Howleen, then helped Howleen up, "you okay?"
"I've been better," said Howleen as her breathing returned to normal, "you ghouls aren't gonna believe what happened to me."
It was then that a fairy flew through the wormhole, just as the door began to close and landed on Howleen's shoulder. She was six inches tall and looked like a girl of about twelve, with flowing strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing a green and orange dress with open toed shoes. "Made it! I almost forgot the thing. Oberon and Titania would've grounded me if I forgot the thing."
"Alicia Starbright?" asked Apple as she and the others from Ever After recognized their friend from The Vale of the Fairies, "what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help," said Alicia, "I'm The Vale's official liaison to the brave, young heroes battling Obsidian." She then saw Clawd, "and it looks like I got here not a moment too soon."
"Oh my ghoul!" said Howleen as she saw how bad Clawd was, "what happened?"
"Draculaura, that's what happened!" snapped Clawdeen, "I'm gonna kill her!"
"She stabbed him with a silver knife," said Ashlynn.
"Ooh…silver," winced Alicia, "not good for werewolves at all. But I think I can help him."
"You can help him?" asked Clawdeen.
"Of course," said Alicia as she pulled out a fairy-sized wand made of ash wood, "all fairies are trained in the healing arts," she then examined the wound more closely and winced again, "yeesh, she twisted the knife when pulling out, that'll make it harder."
"But you can heal the wound, right?" asked Apple.
"Oh, of course," said Alicia, "it'll just take time, that's all," she hovered above Clawd's wound and cast a spell with her wand, illuminating the wound with healing magic, "there's a lot to do; clean the wound of infection, repair the damaged blood vessels and organs, not to mention the sheer psychological trauma of such a grievous wound."
"But…he'll make it, will he?" asked Clawdeen, while Howleen and Clawdia looked on hopefully.
"Without a doubt," said Alicia, "but he's got another wound that I can't help."
"What wound?" asked Howleen, "where else is he hurt?'
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Clawdia, "our brother has a broken heart."
"And Draculaura did the breaking," said Clawdeen irately, "as if I needed another reason to want to kill her."
"You'll get your chance," said Robecca, "but we've got other things to worry about."
"Robecca's dad knew how to find the other Star pieces," said Raven, "that's what we're trying to decode; the plans for a machine that can sense where in the multi-verse the remaining six pieces are."
"And the calculations to program the machine with," said Robecca, "assuming we can ever find the correct cypher for the calculations. We have the blueprints to build the machine, but without my father's calculations, we might as well be searching blind."
"Hexiciah Steam?" asked Alicia, "wait a minute…" she paused in thought, "oh, now I remember!" She then pulled out an almost microscopic scrap of paper from her pocket, flew over to Robecca and placed the paper in Robecca's hand. Alicia then used her wand to enlarge the paper to the size of a sticky note.
"What…is…this is it!" exclaimed Robecca as she read the words on the note, "this is my father's cypher!" she ran over to Ghoulia and showed her the note. The genius zombie girl moaned in triumph as she typed furiously at her laptop.
"How did…?" asked an astonished Raven.
"Apparently," said Alicia as she flew over to and sat on Raven's shoulder, "Hexiciah Steam paid a visit to The Vale a while back, long before I was born, and I'm pretty old, in fairy years that is. Anyway, Hexiciah left that code in the care of Oberon and Titania, with instructions to keep it safe until the time was right, and that time is now, or so I was told."
"Well, I'm glad you remembered," said Robecca, "now that we have both cyphers, we can build my father's machine and use it to find the remaining Star pieces."
"If it was that important," said Raven to Alicia, "why'd you forget?"
"There was something else," said Alicia, "something Oberon said you needed to know, Raven."
"Me?" asked Raven, "what is it?"
"That's the thing, I can't remember," said Alicia as she frowned and closed her eyes in concentration, "I know it was important and you needed to know it urgently, but…wait…oh, now I remember!" she opened her eyes, smiled, took flight and hovered in front of Raven, "'Use Your Wand.'"
"Excuse me?" asked a surprised Raven.
"That's what Oberon told me to tell you," said Alicia, "'Use Your Wand.' Your family wand to be exact."
"You mean the wand Raven's mom left for her in the Legacy Vault?" asked Ashlynn, "that wand?"
"The wand I want nothing to do with?" asked an annoyed Raven, "well, you can go back to The Vale and tell Oberon that he can have the wand."
"I can't do that," said Alicia, "the wand isn't Oberon's, nor can Titania have it. No one can have it but you, Raven."
"I still don't want it," said Raven, "my mom used that wand to hurt so many people. She used it to curse Wonderland for crying out loud! It's evil, plain and simple."
"Your mom is evil, plain and simple," said Alicia, "it's not the wand's fault it was used by a sorceress whose heart is black as night. Anyway, I did what Oberon asked of me. I delivered his message; what you do from now on is your choice, Raven." She then flew over to and checked on Clawd's healing wound.
"What are you going to do, Raven?" asked Apple, "your wand…"
"It's not my wand!" snapped Raven as she walked over to and sat in a chair in a stubborn huff.
"I don't think we should talk to her right now," said Lagoona cautiously to Dexter as he tried to walk over to and comfort Raven.
"She's right," said Apple, "Raven's been under so much stress. I think we should just leave her be for the time being."
"Well, I hope she feels better soon," said Frankie as she saw Robecca, Ghoulia and Jackson begin assembling the new device for finding the Star pieces, "because if you thought things were voltagiously wild before, we haven't seen anything yet."
…Monster High…
"That's Neffra's old boyfriend!?" exclaimed a nauseated Amanita as she, Draculaura, Valentine, Gory, Bram and several of the enemy vampires and werewolves, stood in the corridors, watching Neffra escort a giant, green slug with a humanoid face but with his eyes on stalks, wearing a white lab coat and trailing highly noxious slime behind him as he slid towards Irvin.
"To each their own, I guess," said an uncomfortable Draculaura as she held a perfumed handkerchief to her nose, while the various werewolves looked extremely distressed at the odor rising from the slug's slime trail.
"My ghoul, you're dumb, Draculaura," said Gory, "evil and powerful enough to crush me in an eye blink, but still dumb."
"That's Emory Slugworth III," said Bram, "his family is very, very well connected."
"Aside from poised to inherit one of the largest private fortunes in the world," said Gory, "young Emory is a genius, plain and simple."
"Well," said an ambitiously smiling Amanita, "guess I'm glad I decided to come back and hang out after all."
"Irvin Weis," said Neffra in a slightly congested tone, "may I present Emory Slugworth III."
"It's a pleasure to meet an emissary of Obsidian, Mr. Weis," said Emory Slugworth III as he shook Irvin's hand.
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Slugworth," said Irvin, ignoring the stench of Emory's slime, "I'm told you are an expert on Plasmids."
"I merely began where Dr. Brigid Tanenbaum left off," said Emory, "she's the one who discovered the source of ADAM, I just took her work to the next level."
"And you believe your work can improve on a Monster's already considerable power?" asked Valentine.
"Depends on the Monster in question," said Emory, "and their powers. I can make a Fire Elemental Monster burn hotter, I can make a flying Monster fly faster," he then looked at Draculaura, whom shuddered with revulsion, "I can even make a Vampire's already awesome abilities twice as awesome."
"Not my Draculaura, you won't!" snapped Valentine, while Gory, Bram and the other vampires backed way.
"Suit yourselves," said Emory. He then looked at Irvin, "but I assume suitable 'volunteers' have been gathered?"
"Indeed," said Irvin, "a workspace has been prepared, but am I correct to assume you wish to modify it to your needs?"
"Indeed," said Emory as he and Irvin went down the corridor.
"And I thought the Creepateria food stunk!" said Bram as he held his nose, while several enthralled Monsters began cleaning up the slime trail.
"How can you stand the stench, Neffra?!" demanded Gory.
"Simple," said Neffra, only to sneeze a few times, then wiped her nose with a handkerchief, "I gave myself a slight cold."
"You actually made yourself sick so you wouldn't smell that crap!" exclaimed Draculaura, "and I thought I was evil."
"It's not that serious," sniffed Neffra, "just a minor bug caused by Egyptian magic. It should wear off soon. I brought Emory here, so now I can go about my business elsewhere." She then sneezed several more times, forcing the Valentine, Draculaura and the others to back away while covering their noses and mouths, "though sometimes I wish I wasn't so evil. I'm going home to sleep this bug off. TTFN!" With that she walked towards the front door, just as two women wearing the familiar white lab coat-like business suits of Foundation X walked in.
"Pardon our intrusion," said the first of the two, a woman in her early 30's with short, brown hair and gray eyes, "but is Irvin in?"
"You just missed him," said Valentine cautiously, "can we help you?"
"You certainly can," said the woman, "I am Dr. Flamberge," she then indicated the other woman, who in her mid-20's with long black hair and hazel eyes, "this is my associate, Dr. Ulfberht."
"Charmed," said Dr. Ulfberht as she checked her left wrist, which was handcuffed to a metal briefcase she carried, "now where's Irvin? The Obsidian Council isn't happy with him, not happy with him at all."
"And by relationship, they're not happy with you lot either," said Dr. Flamberge, "and not surprising; only two Star pieces captured, several valuable Kaijin destroyed, while many potentially valuable Monster teenagers are running free with the third Star Piece."
"Not to mention that these fugitive teenagers are allied with several Riders," said Dr. Ulfberht, "and those impudent brats from Ever After."
"It's not our fault!" whined Draculaura, tears welling in her eyes as Valentine placed a comforting arm around her shoulders, "I tried to get Frankie and the others to submit, to hand over the third Star piece, but they wouldn't, and they keep getting in the way and now they're who knows where, where they can cause all sorts of trouble!" she then began bawling into Valentine's shoulder.
"Still a crybaby," muttered Gory to Bram, whom nodded in agreement.
"It's alright, Draculaura, darling," said Valentine in a comforting manner, "we'll get those runaway brats if it's the last thing we do."
"It may just be that," said Dr. Flamberge, "Obsidian is growing impatient with the lack of progress."
"Lack of progress!?" snapped Valentine, "we've made plenty of progress! We've conquered Monster High and subdued its headmistress! We've enslaved hundreds of students and cowed their families into ignoring the situation! We've enlisted many more into joining Obsidian."
"Yo!" said one of the enemy werewolves.
"And yet plenty more are free to cause mischief," said Dr. Flamberge.
"Don't forget the scores of renegade Kaijin," said Dr. Ulfberht, "they still haven't been dealt with."
"I…uh…we…" said Draculaura nervously, "talk to Irvin! He's the one in charge!"
"I'm just here for a good time," said Amanita. She then looked at Dr. Ulfberht, "say, that is a really nice briefcase. I'm just gonna borrow it, hope you don't mind." She then reached for the briefcase.
Quick as lightning, Dr. Ulfberht grabbed Amanita's arm and threw the kleptomaniac Monster over her shoulder, slamming her hard onto the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention," said Dr. Flamberge, "Dr. Ulfberht is quite adept in the martial arts, that and having a PhD in nanotechnology."
"Gee, I never realized," said Amanita.
"What's your specialty?" asked Valentine to Dr. Flamberge.
"Trans-dimensional quantum physics," said Dr. Flamberge, who then pulled out a .500 Magnum revolver and waved it in Valentine's face, "and I pack a big gun."
"I see," said a nervous Valentine, "but what is it you do?"
"He means what are you here for?" asked Draculaura as Gory and Bram helped Amanita up.
"I'm here to find the other Star pieces," said Dr. Flamberge as she holstered her gun, "since you botched the job of finding the third piece, we'll have to make do without for the time being."
"But we need the three pieces on Earth in order to find the remaining Six," said Draculaura.
"Not with what I've got coming, you won't," said Dr. Flamberge as several Foundation X technicians walked in, carrying large crates of equipment, "I've got a little gadget that'll use the two pieces we have to find the others."
"You call this a little gadget?" asked Bram as more technicians walked in with more equipment.
"Well, I'd like to see you try tracking down incredibly powerful artifacts from an ancient civilization," said Dr. Flamberge, "oh wait, you can't, you didn't go to grad school!"
"I'm over a thousand years old, lady!" snapped Valentine, "I've been through college so many times, I've lost count!"
"On your world, maybe," said Dr. Ulfberht, "but we've acquired knowledge from dimensions you wouldn't believe."
"In short, we're way smarter than you," said Dr. Flamberge.
"Is that so?" asked Draculaura daringly, "well, then, how will your big brains solve the problems at hand?"
"Like how you're gonna get rid of those meddling Riders?" asked Valentine, "or how you'll deal with the renegade Kaijin."
"That's what I'm here to do," said Dr. Ulfberht as she held up the metal briefcase, "within this is the means to create a Dark Rider. I have everything I need, except a human with the right dark qualities."
"And where are you gonna find a Normie evil enough to be a Dark Rider?" asked Gory, "and what is a Dark Rider anyway?"
"Stick around and you'll find out," said Dr. Ulfberht.
"As for where we'll find him or her," said Dr. Flamberge, "where else will you find and recruit someone evil enough to be a Dark Rider? I put an ad online."
"Oh, that makes sense, I guess," said Gory.
…The Steam Vault…
"That's your dad's gadget?" asked Dexter as he and the others looked at a metal device about the size and shape of a football that Robecca was attaching to the wormhole control machine.
"This little gizmo will search the multiverse for the remaining Star pieces," said Robecca, "all I have to do is input my father's calculations into the control terminal and wait."
"For how long?" asked Clawdeen.
"As long as it takes," said Jackson as he held up the decoded pages of Hexiciah Steam's journals, "it's a big multiverse. Robecca's dad charted hundreds of parallel dimensions that he suspected the Star pieces may be on, but never got around to searching for them."
"My father disappeared before he could finish the scanner," said Robecca as she manipulated the controls of the wormhole device, "but hopefully, we'll all be able to complete his work and lay this rotten mess to rest."
"Well, wherever we have to look," said Frankie, "no matter how long it takes, we'll find those Star pieces before Obsidian does."
"Darn right!" said Howleen confidently.
"Uh, excuse me," said Clawdeen in an annoyed tone, "but you're not going anywhere."
"Why not?" asked Howleen.
"Well, for starters," said Clawdeen, "I just got you back, and now you want to risk your life on some out-of-this-world world where you could get yourself killed? I think not!"
"Well, you're fighting Obsidian!" said Howleen irately, "so's Frankie and the others. What, I can't fight because I'm the youngest in the room? I'll be old enough to drive soon."
"That's not the point!" said Clawdeen.
"Then what is?" asked Howleen.
"If she wants to help, let her," said Hunter, "we could use all the help we can get."
"You stay out of this!" snapped Clawdeen, "she's not your sister!"
"I have to help, Clawdeen!" said Howleen, "Twyla's still missing. I wound up in Ever After, but Twyla could be anywhere. I have to find her. You'd go all out if your best ghoulfriend was missing. And let's not forget how messed up Clawd is over Draculaura."
"And look what it got him!" snapped Clawdeen, "a belly full of silver and a broken heart! You're staying here and that's final!"
"Clawdia!" pleaded Howleen.
"I'm sorry, Howleen," said Clawdia, "but Clawdeen's right. You shouldn't risk your life like this."
At that Howleen looked pleading at Frankie and the others, yet their faces remained resolved, determined to side with Clawdeen. Even Hunter and the few who were initially on Howleen's side had changed their minds.
"You're staying, little sister," said Clawdeen as she crossed her arms.
"I…you…SCREW YOU! I WISH I WAS AN ONLY CHILD!" shouted Howleen as she stormed out of the room towards the bedroom assigned to her.
"Oh, cram," said Clawdeen as she sat down in a depressed heap, "I think I went too far."
"You did what you had to do," said Clawdia, "we all did."
"Yeah, but I shouldn't have been so hard on her," said Clawdeen, "I should have told her that I just wanted her to be safe, that if she were out there helping us, I'd be worrying so much about her I wouldn't be able to do what I needed to do."
"We all screwed up," said Frankie as she looked at her friends with admonishing eyes, "someone could have said that we'd all look for Twyla, or that Howleen could help out here in The Steam Vault somehow."
"You're right, Frankie," said Lagoona, "we really bottomed out here."
"Since we're all admitting our failures," said Raven as she stood up from her chair, "I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for my recent behavior. There's no excuse for my being so…so…?"
"Bitchy?" suggested Clair.
"Yeah," admitted Raven, "I've just been so frustrated and anxious by everything, I feel like I'm wound up like a clock so tight, I'm ready to burst."
"I think I may know why," said Apple, "you've been under so much stress and cooped up here in The Steam Vault. I told you to relax but only made it worse. Raven, I believe you've got a case of cabin fever."
"Cabin fever?!" asked a worried Dexter, "is it serious!?"
"Is it contagious?!" exclaimed Hunter, while Ashlynn looked equally frightened.
At that Apple and Raven could barely contain their laughter, while Frankie and the others from Monster High looked equally amused.
"Oh, Cabin Fever is a very serious sickness," teased Clair, causing Dexter and the others from Ever After to back away from Raven and Apple.
"And the cure is almost as bad as the disease," teased Clawdeen.
"What…what is it?" asked Ashlynn.
"And will it hurt?" asked Dexter fearfully for Raven's life.
"She has to go outside," said Apple as she smiled warmly.
"And?" asked Hunter anxiously.
"And that's it!" laughed Raven, "honestly, you've never heard of cabin fever?"
"Oh…oh! That's cabin fever!" said Hunter as he, Ashlynn and Dexter relaxed, "well, of course I've heard of it."
"Me too," said Ashlynn.
"I get cabin fever all the time," bragged Dexter, "nothing to worry about."
"Looks like you're coming with us on a mission, Raven," said Chad.
It was then that the scanning device emitted a loud ringing sound.
"And sooner than we all thought!" said Robecca as she, Jackson and Ghoulia looked at the data on the zombie genius' laptop, "we've found the fourth Star piece!"
"Really!? Where is it?!" exclaimed Raven as she and the others crowded around Ghoulia's laptop.
"Well, we know which world it's on," said Jackson as he, Robecca and Ghoulia shoved our heroes away, "Earth, Dimension K-431."
"My father had a catalog of the worlds he charted," said Robecca, "we're just lucky the next Star piece is on one of my father's discoveries."
"Do we know anything about this world?" asked Lagoona as Ghoulia's laptop showed a parallel Earth that looked somewhat off to some of our heroes.
"That's not Earth," said Frankie, "the continents are all wrong."
"No, they're right where they're supposed to be," said Jackson, "65 million years ago, that is, give or take a few hundred millennium or so."
"You mean…the star piece is on a world in the time of the dinosaurs?" asked Chad, "that is so cool! I love dinosaurs!"
"Maybe so," said Robecca, "but this world may not have the dinosaurs we all know from fossils. According to my father's research to Earth K-431, the asteroid that hit off the coast of Hexiciah and wiped out the dinosaurs, it never hit the planet."
"The asteroid was caught in Earth's gravity just right to go into orbit," said Frankie, while Blondie read the data on the laptop, then copied it into her mirror tablet, "that Earth now has two moons! That's so voltagious!" at that Frankie's neck bolts sparked with amazed delight.
"Oh, yeah, it'll be great," said Clair sarcastically, "a world where humans and Monsters never evolved, populated by dumb lizards and vicious carnivores. Lovely place for a vacation, we should take pictures for a slideshow."
"I had to say that this may not be a good idea," said Jackson, "we'll be going to a virtually alien world, untouched by the hands, claws or tentacles of man or Monster. We might end up bringing something there that could contaminate the natural evolution of that world. Worse still, we could bring something back that could contaminate our world."
"You mean swapping germs or something like that?" asked Chad.
"Yeah," said Jackson, "one wrong sneeze from us could cause a global extinction event, and vice versa."
"So, we just won't sneeze on any dinosaurs," said Chad, "and we won't let them sneeze on us."
"And that world's natural evolution is already contaminated," said Robecca, "no asteroid impact, no end of the Mesozoic Era."
At that Ghoulia moaned something.
"If anyone can come up with a way to prevent contaminating Dino World, it's you, Ghoulia," said Frankie.
"Dino World, I like it," said Raven, "it's better than calling it Earth K-431. So, who's going?"
"I'll go!" said Chad excitedly, "I'll go!"
"Count us in too," said Hunter, "we barely did anything when we chased after Clawd."
"And I can ask the local fauna if they've seen anything resembling the Star piece," said Ashlynn.
"You can talk to dinosaurs?" asked Raven.
"You know I can talk to animals," said Ashlynn, who then frowned slightly in thought, "though my reptilian is a bit rusty, and I've only talked to common newts and salamanders."
At that Raven pulled out her spell notebook, "let me see if I've got an animal communication spell. If I don't, I'll make one up."
"You're certainly in a better mood," said Apple.
"I'm going on a field trip," said Raven as she eagerly flipped the pages in her notebook, "of course I'm happy."
It was eventually decided that Apple, Avery, Raven, Dexter, Hunter, Ashlynn, Chad and Clawdeen would go to Dino World. Ghoulia, having come up with not only a means of altering the wormhole so it filtered out contaminants, announced that our heroes were as ready to go as they would be.
"What about the germs already inside us?" asked Jackson as he and the others on the mission packed supplies for the journey, "and there could be unknown allergens on Dino World."
"This is a time when flowering plants were just getting started," said Robecca, "Then again I'm no expert on plants."
"But I am," said Venus, "I'd like to join this little expedition of ours."
"You sure?" asked Frankie, "it'll be dangerous; you could get eaten by a brontosaur or something."
"Oh, I'll be fine," said Venus as she hefted a backpack onto her shoulder, "I've got you guys and ghouls to keep me safe."
"In that case, good luck, everyone!" said Jackson as Robecca activated the wormhole device. The door creaked open, revealing a lush, green landscape. Steam wafted through the door, revealing intense humidity and the keening sound of insects and strange animals on the other side.
"Oh darn! We can't go through there!" exclaimed Ashlynn.
"Why not?" asked Hunter as he and the others looked at her.
"All that humidity, it'll be murder on my hair," said Ashlynn.
"Seriously?" asked an irate Raven, "That's what you're worried about?" With that she, Dexter, Chad, Clawdeen and Venus walked through the wormhole.
"Ashlynn, there's things far more important than keeping your hair looking great," said Apple.
"You're right," said Ashlynn as she pulled out and slipped on a pair of glass boots, "just because we're going on an adventure, doesn't mean we should look fabulous."
Hunter gave Frankie and the others an apologetic look as he followed Ashlynn through the wormhole, the door closing after them.
"That's that then," said Jackson, "they're on their own for now. Nothing to do until they call to open the wormhole again."
"Oh, we've got plenty to do," said Lagoona as she looked over to Skelita and Jinafire, who were still sitting catatonically, "we can't let them stay like this forever after."
"But we don't know how they got this way," said Frankie, "how that enslaving gas works on them."
"Which is why we need a plan to get some of that gas," said Robecca.
"You're right," said Frankie, "the gas did this to so many of our friends, and it's going to help us figure out how to stop it."
"Try saying that ten times slow," said Maddie as she sipped some tea.
…Dino World…
"Where are all the dinosaurs?" asked Chad as he and the others trekked up a hill in the lush jungle they found themselves in.
"We've barely been here five minutes," said Avery, "you'll get all the dinosaurs you can eat soon enough."
"Betcha dinosaurs taste terrible," said Raven.
"Have you ever tasted a dinosaur before?" asked Chad.
"I've kissed a dragon," said Raven, "they can be really nice, but not their scales."
"I think we should be a bit worried by the lack of dinosaurs," said Ashlynn in a worried tone, "or any animals. This whole world should be teeming with life, but as far as I can tell," she paused in her steps, closing her eyes in concentration, listening to the animal voices on the wind, "as far as I can tell, we're the only higher lifeforms within earshot."
"Well, what about the bugs?" asked Chad, "can't you talk to the bugs?"
"No, I can't," said Ashlynn, "I never learned to talk to bugs, and I really don't want to. Bugs aren't the nicest of people to talk to."
"Then what's scarring the animals away?" asked Dexter, "it can't be us, can it?"
"Maybe us," said Hunter, "we're the first humanoids this world has ever seen, we could be freaking out the entire planet."
"I should at least be smelling something," said Clawdeen as she sniffed the air, "the wind is coming up behind us, but the only I'm smelling is us and the plants."
"What do the plants tell you, Venus?" asked Raven.
"I don't know," said Venus as she touched a tree, then some shrubs, "it's like being in a foreign city and you don't speak the language. I'll try to pick it up as we go along, but so far all I'm getting from the local flora is gibberish."
"Well, this fieldtrip is off to a great start," said an annoyed Raven, "no dinosaurs, we can't ask the plants for help, we don't even know where to start looking for the Star piece!"
At that Avery looked around and pointed to a ridge a few miles away, "there, we'll start at the high ground. At the very least, we'll have a clearer view of the area."
"Sounds like a plan to me," said Apple.
The next few hours found our heroes walking uphill, occasionally pausing to allow Clawdeen to sample the scents on the wind and for Venus to attempt conversation with the local plants, yet neither ghoul had luck in their efforts.
Eventually they reached the summit of the ridge and emerged in a large clearing, granting our heroes an unobstructed view of the area.
Clawdeen sniffed the air again and turned around, pointing several miles back the way they came to several, large moving objects in the distance.
"Those are sauropods," said an eager Chad as he pulled out a pair of high-powered binoculars and looked at the animals, "I think…I think, they could be a herd of Titanosaurus! They're the largest dinosaurs ever discovered!"
"Look!" shouted Raven as she pointed up at several dots gliding through the air in the distance.
"Those could be pterosaurs!" said Chad, "or maybe Archaeopteryx, the first birds ever!"
But then the wind shifted, and with it came a scent that made Clawdeen frown, "uh, people? I think we have a problem!"
"We have several problems," said Avery as he turned around to the other side the other side of the ridge, looking down at a wooded valley with a river running through it.
The others looked and saw what made Avery frown. "Is that…smoke?" asked Apple.
"Those are campfires," said Clawdeen as she sniffed the wind again.
"There…there can't be…it's too soon…there just can't be…" said Chad.
"It can," said Avery, "there's people here."
"And where there's people, there's accessories," said Ashlynn, "and where there's accessories…"
"They could have made the Star piece into jewelry," said Hunter, "no harm in asking, I guess."
"Darn right there could be harm!" said Chad, "we have no idea what kind of people they are or what stage of development they're at."
"Which is why we're going to be very careful about this," said Avery, "the last thing we want is a repeat of when the white man first met Native Americans."
"No contamination of their natural development," agreed Chad, "'Prime Directive' all the way."
"Oh, yeah, sure," said Clawdeen as she and the others made their way down the valley, "we'll just waltz right in, ask if they've seen the Star piece, somehow get it and leave, all without leaving a lasting impression. No problem."
"We'll think of something," said Avery, "but first we need to know who or what we're about to encounter."
Avery soon got his wish as our heroes continued down the valley, with Clawdeen guiding them as the scent of smoke grew stronger.
They eventually reached an elevation in the valley slope, allowing them to look down at a crude collection of wood huts and lean-to's, with people working on building more huts, cooking and drying meat, crafting tools and primitive decorative items. There were even signs of the beginnings of organized religion. Yet it was the species of the people that left our heroes stunned the most.
"Velociraptors," said a stunned Chad, "Allan Grant was right; given the chance velociraptors would've become the dominant species."
"It's incredible," said Raven as she and the others watched the tribe of velociraptors go through the motions of primitive yet civilized society. "I guess people are alike all over."
"But how'd they get this far advanced?" asked Chad, "we can't be more than a few hundred thousand years after when the asteroid was supposed to hit. How did velociraptors, albeit already intelligent animals, how did they harness fire?"
"Same way man first harnessed fire," said Avery, "by capturing natural fire from lightning strikes and keeping the fire burning at their settlements for generations."
"But can they make fire with tools?" asked Dexter, "with flint and steel? Or maybe by friction? It doesn't take a lot to figure out that rubbing two sticks together makes heat. I can't wait to meet them to find out."
"I want to find out a lot about them," said Chad.
"Easy there, man," said Hunter, "for all we know, we're walking right into their stomachs."
"You're right," said Chad, "velociraptors fed on the small mammals of the late Cretaceous period. They'll smell our warm blood and think a feast has arrived."
"They've never seen anything like us before," said Ashlynn, "we could scare them out of their scaly skins, or worse, they could mistake us for gods."
"It's bad enough Obsidian thinks I'm some kind of dark messiah or something," said Raven, "I don't want an entire species thinking I'm a goddess."
"Or they could kill us for the heck of it," said Clawdeen.
"No they won't!" insisted an annoyed Ashlynn, "animals don't kill each other for killing's sake, not like man does."
"But these aren't mere animals," said Dexter, "They're people, like us, just different."
"Which is why we're going to give these people the benefit of the doubt and approach them with open hands and welcoming hearts," said Ashlynn, "I'm sure that with time, patience and reason, we'll come to an understanding with these people and…"
That's as far as Ashlynn got before she was caught in a snare and hoisted upside down into the trees, screaming with terror.
"Ashlynn!" shouted Hunter, only for him to step into a snare and was hoisted upside down. Before our heroes knew it, they were all caught in traps; Raven and Dexter were ensnared with a weighted net made from vines, Apple and Avery were caught in a weighted cage made from bamboo, while Chad and Clawdeen fell into a concealed pit.
"You were saying they were reasonable people, Ashlynn?!" asked an irate Raven as she and Dexter tried to free themselves from the net.
"Even reasonable people can make mistakes," said Ashlynn as she tried to free her foot from the snare.
"How is this a mistake?!" asked Hunter as he too struggled to free himself.
"They put too many traps in one spot, obviously," said Ashlynn, "they'll scare off all the animals in the area."
"I don't think these were meant to catch prey," said Avery as he and Apple tried to free themselves from the bamboo cage, "if I didn't know better, I'd say all this was for security."
"Why would velociraptors need security?" asked Chad, then yelped in fright as Clawdeen growled angrily.
"Who cares?!" demanded Clawdeen through gritted teeth, "just get me out of this hole!"
"I don't think she likes being in a confined space," said Apple.
"Who does?" asked Avery, "let's just get out of here before someone checks on these traps."
"Too late, man," said a nervous Hunter as he pointed at several velociraptors, each decorated with blue and green paint markings, some bone and stone jewelry and carrying sharpened spears in their foreclaws, approached our ensnared heroes.
"Uh…take us to your leaders!" said Dexter hopefully.
"That won't work!" said Chad, "try the 'Universal Greeting!'"
"Okay, I will," said Dexter, "uh…what's the Universal Greeting?"
"You know, the Universal Greeting," said Chad, "Bah-weep-graaaaagnah wheep nini bong."
"I sincerely doubt that'll work," said Raven, "Ashlynn, you're up."
"I can't talk to them like this!" shouted Ashlynn irately as she swung back and forth upside down.
"Try! I think they look hungry!" said Hunter.
"Uh…okay," sighed a nervous Ashlynn, "uh…" she looked at the approaching velociraptors and made several hissing and soft grunting sounds, causing the velociraptors to pause in confusion.
"I think you've got their attention," said Raven as the velociraptors began hissing and grunting among themselves.
"I hope so," said Ashlynn, "I said 'we come in peace' in common Salamander, I just hope they understood me."
"I hope so too," said Raven. She then blinked in surprise and laughed, "wait, what am I doing? We don't have to be stuck like this?" She waved her hands as they glowed with magic. With a flash, the net vanished, as did the cage, while Ashlynn and Hunter were freed and lowered to the ground, at the same time as Chad and Clawdeen were raised out of the pit.
The display of magic caused the velociraptors to hiss and cry out in surprise, yet they didn't back away in fear, nor did they attack.
"I think you made a mistake, Raven," said Apple as the Velociraptors talked among themselves. Two of the dinosaurs ran back towards the settlement, while the rest took positions around our heroes with their spears at the ready. "They may see us now as a threat."
"Then why aren't they attacking?" asked Avery, "unless they don't know what to do with us. We may be able to convince them we're friendly."
But then our heroes heard several angry growls and hisses as more Velociraptors appeared, two of them dragging Howleen along and shoving her through the circle with Raven and the others.
"HOWLEEN!?" exclaimed Clawdeen.
"Uh…hey, sis," said Howleen nervously, "uh…nice day we're having?"
"How in the name of Ever After did you get here?" asked Ashlynn.
"I followed you, duh!" said Howleen.
"Obviously," said Raven, "but how'd you do it without our seeing you?"
"I used a cloaking technique," said Howleen, "Twyla taught me a few tricks on how to go unnoticed, especially how to disguise my scent from other werewolves," she looked at Clawdeen apologetically, "so…I just went through the wormhole after you ghouls and guys and stayed downwind of you all.
"Now, I know what you're all thinking; how could I be so stupid and childish? Look, I know you all agreed that I should stay in The Steam Vault, but I know I can help fight Obsidian, I know it in every cell of my body. Besides, I had this really bad feeling you'd all need my help," she looked around at the angry velociraptors, "well, it looks like you do, and it's not like you can send me back, right?"
"Oh, I'm gonna send you back, alright!" said Clawdeen irately, "the second we get out of this mess, I'm dragging you back through the wormhole and tie you down in The Steam Vault! And then I'm…"
It was then that one of the velociraptors jabbed its spear at Clawdeen, as if telling her to shut up, while the other dinosaurs seemed to be arguing among themselves.
"What do you think they're talking about?" asked Chad.
"Whether to cook us or eat us raw?" asked Ashlynn anxiously, "whether to skin us with their claws, rip us apart with their teeth or just stab us in the heart? I don't know!" she fell to her knees and held her head in her hands, "I don't know! I just don't know!"
Hunter knelt to comfort Ashlynn, but he was shoved onto his back and held at spearpoint by a velociraptor, while another shoved Ashlynn on her back and a third screeched loudly at our heroes, again telling our heroes to be quiet.
"Or what?!" demanded Avery as he flexed his fingers, as did Dexter as they prepared to call their Zecters, "you'll eat us?! I hope I give you indigestion!"
But then the ranks of irate velociraptors parted as another velociraptor, this one apparently much older and wearing more elaborate decorative marks and jewelry. Instead of a spear, this one carried a long wooden staff with bones and feathers tied to the tip.
"Reckon he's the chief?" asked Dexter.
"More like a shaman," said Raven as the older velociraptor looked at her, "makes sense, kinda of. I used magic, so their magic user is here to check me out."
"Do they have magic?" asked Chad amazingly as the shaman velociraptor approached Raven, "can dinosaurs use magic?"
"We're about to find out," said Raven as the shaman velociraptor stopped a few paces in front of her. The shaman's nictating membranes blinked as he looked Raven over, walking around her in an apprising manner. It stopped again in front of Raven and began waving its staff, hissing and growling in a more complex manner than its compatriots.
The staff glowed with blue and green magic as the shaman pointed it at Raven; shooting a beam right between her eyes. Raven cried out in shock as the beam of magic penetrated into her mind.
"Stop it!" shouted Dexter, "you're hurting her!" He tried to rush at the shaman, only to be knocked down by a swipe of a velociraptors tail. Dexter tried to get back up but found a spear tickling his throat.
The beam stopped as the shaman lowered its staff, while Raven gasped in relief and fell to her knees.
"Raven!" shouted Apple, yet remained still.
"I…I'm alright…" said Raven in an exhausted tone as she struggled to get up, "he didn't hurt me."
"Well, what did he do?" asked Howleen.
"And if he tried to take over your mind, I'll rip him apart!" shouted Dexter, then winced as the spear pressed a little harder on his neck.
At that Raven looked at the shaman, whom looked back, "he…the shaman, I can hear his thoughts and he can hear mine."
"Of course, a psychic rapport!" said Chad, "we could study these people for years and vice versa and couldn't begin to understand each other. But a joining of minds would definitely simplify things."
"Tell them we're not their enemies, Raven!" shouted Hunter.
"What do you think I've been doing?" asked Raven, "I've told their shaman we come in peace, but he's not so easily convinced. We're not the first humans from another world to visit this one."
"Someone else is here?" asked Ashlynn, "who? Why?"
"I don't know yet," said Raven, "but...the shaman…okay, this is getting a little annoying. Mind if I call you Merle?"
"'Merle?' Who's Merle?" asked Apple.
"The shaman," said Raven, while said shaman nodded in acknowledgement, whom then hissed and growled at his compatriots. The spear wielding velociraptors hissed and nodded, then backed away from our heroes.
"I don't know what you told him, Raven," said Hunter ash he helped Ashlynn up, while Dexter stood up, rubbing a sore spot on his neck, "but you're definitely getting something big and expensive for your birthday."
"I just told Merle the truth," said Raven, "and he accepted it." She then looked at the shaman, Merle, "he says we need to get back to the village before sunset, it's not safe in the forest after dark."
"I'm sorry if seem a little out of it," said Clawdeen as Merle and most of the velociraptors escorted our heroes to the village, while the rest of the spear wielders reset the traps, "but what just happened?"
"I think we're invited to dinner," said Howleen, "I just hope we're not the main course."
"Me too," said Clawdeen. She then glared at Howleen, "and you're still in trouble, little sister!"
"I figured as much," said Howleen gloomily.
Our heroes were shown into the settlement as night fell and were invited to sit beside a communal fire. The velociraptors roasted and offered to share some form of meat that, after a cautious sniff from Clawdeen, our heroes graciously ate.
"Let me guess," said Dexter as he held up his share of meat, "'tastes like chicken?'"
"More like lamb," said Avery after taking a bite, "all it needs is some mint jelly." He then let out a modest belch, to which the assembled velociraptors growled in approval.
"Just don't tell me what it really is and I'll be happy," said Hunter as he and Ashlynn shared their meat, despite being vegetarians themselves.
"Well, I'd say this was a successful day," said Chad, "we've made contact and established relations with an alien species and didn't die. That's a success in my book."
"Don't write it in your diary yet," said Raven after mentally conversing with Merle, "we're still in trouble. A lot of damage has been done to this world and we may be blamed for it out of sheer prejudice."
"Why?" asked Apple, "What harm could humans have done to these people to make them want to kill us out of spite?"
"It's complicated," said Raven, "we've arrived right smack in the middle of a religious war."
"How'd that happen?" asked Clawdeen.
"We walked through the wormhole and found the velociraptors," said Howleen, "and…"
"I know that part!" said an annoyed Clawdeen, "I mean the religious war, how'd that happen?"
"That's the complicated part," said Raven as she listened to Merle's mental story, "'A long time ago, two stars collided in the heavens. One star became the second moon, the other fell to The Land. There was wind and fire for many days and many of those before died.'"
"The Star piece," said Avery, "instead of causing the extinction-level-event, it just caused a lot of damage, but the dinosaurs survived."
"'The Land did recover,'" continued Raven, "'and for a time, life went on as before. But one day, one herd, our ancestors, found the fallen star and everything changed.'"
"Ask him what the fallen star looked like," said Ashlynn, "did it look like the other Star pieces?"
"Let me tell the story," said Raven, "I'm doing my best to translate," she looked at Merle, "sorry, go on," she looked back at our heroes, "'the fallen star was beautiful, glowing with a light that touched the ancestors in mind and heart. Soon, the ancestors began to change. Knowledge and wisdom became ours. We began to understand The Land and ourselves.'"
"The Star piece, it must have altered their brains," said Apple, "making them more intelligent."
"'The people learned to make fire and tools,'" continued Apple, "'to make shelter from the rain, how to hunt better, to cook meat, to be more. The people learned of The Light of the Star and worshiped it, and for a time, all was good.
"'But some of the people began to covet The Light, saying it was for them and them alone. Others said The Light was for all. Words were exchanged, then threats, then violence. Where there was one, there was now many, each fighting for possession of The Light, and it has been that way for many years.'"
"I see," said Avery as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes in disapproval, "The velociraptors became a great nation, all worshiping the Star piece. But they began fighting over it and fractured into many groups, each vying for control of the Star piece." He sighed, "once again, misguided faith has divided a race and lead to pain and violence. It's sad that what once brought these people so much joy and happiness is now the cause of so much strife."
"What happened to the Star piece?" asked Dexter.
"Another tribe has it," said Raven in a serious tone as she mentally listened to Merle, "and if we don't get it back by dawn, the world will die."
"Oh, no worries then," said Ashlynn, whom then did a double take, "Say What?!"
"Again, it's complicated," said Raven as she frowned in confusion, "something about a prophecy that whoever has The Light of The Star at the right celestial alignment will unlock its full power and become like The Light. That alignment is happening in a few hours and if we don't get the Star piece away from this world, it'll turn that tribe of velociraptors into insane god-like beings that'll wreck chaos across this and other universes."
"And Merle told you all this?" asked Chad.
"Well, I paraphrased a lot," said Raven, "point is, Merle and his tribe are gonna help us find and get The Star piece off this world." At that Merle growled and nodded in acknowledgement, as did his people.
"But why?" asked Hunter, "don't they want The Light for themselves?"
"Not really," said Raven, "Merle's tribe is descended from the velociraptors who believed The Light of The Star was for all. I don't know what made them so, but Merle's people are more reasonable than the other velociraptor tribes, I don't know how else to describe it."
"Kinda like the difference in brain power between Neanderthals and Cro Magnums," said Chad, "the smarter ones survived and thrived."
"Well, no one will survive if we don't know where the Star piece is," said Clawdeen.
"Merle does," said Raven, "at least he believes he knows. The other tribe has prepared a temple to The Light atop a mountain a few hours from here."
"They were almost ready to attack when we showed up on their doorstop," said Raven to her fellow travelers, looking at the velociraptor warriors and shaman, "Merle and the others, they were prepared to fight to the death in order to get The Star piece away from the other tribe. But with us here to help, our chances are much better."
"And how many enemy velociraptors are we expecting?" asked Avery.
"At least two hundred and fifty warriors," said Raven, "but there could be much more by the time we get there. The other tribes have called a truce of sorts in order to travel to the temple to worship The Star Piece and witness the 'ascension,' and these velociraptors won't be happy when they find out we're there to take away their Light."
"And Merle's people were ready to march into a ritual full of hundreds of fanatics?" asked Howleen, "I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted."
"They're desperate to save their world," said Raven, "out of all the velociraptor tribes, they're the only ones who've realized that the power of The Star Piece is dangerous. They've tried to reason with the other tribes but they're all blinded by faith and ambition, especially the tribe that has the Star piece. Just imagine; knowing the apocalypse is coming and only you and a few others are trying to stop it, while everyone else is hell-bent on bringing it about without knowing the real evil they're committing. Wouldn't you risk it all to save the world and those you love? Yes, Merle's tribe, they know what love is."
At that our heroes were left speechless as they pondered Raven's words, yet their resolve to do the right thing, to save this world and the people whom were embracing reason and sanity in the face of ignorance, superstition and fanaticism.
It wasn't long before our heroes and allies were ready to leave. Merle stood at the head of fifty velociraptor warriors. He raised his staff and chanted in his reptilian language, casting a spell that caused our heroes to glow briefly with green and blue magic. Merle then let out a shrilling screech that was repeated by his warriors and they dashed up the slope of the valley.
"What did he just do?" asked Ashlynn as she and the others hurried after the velociraptors, "and…wait…how are we running this fast?" Indeed, Ashlynn and her fellow travelers were easily keeping pace with the dashing velociraptors.
"We must be going well over 60mph," said Clawdeen, "even under a full moon I can barely keep this up for a few minutes!"
"How come we're not even sweating?" asked Hunter.
"Magic, duh!" said Howleen as she easily outpaced Clawdeen and ran among the velociraptors.
"Merle was kind enough to help us keep up," said Raven. She then looked at Merle, sending a telepathic 'thank you,' to which the reptilian shaman sent back a 'you're welcome.'"
"Uh…Raven?" asked Dexter our heroes and allies dashed up the valley, "we…we were wondering…"
"Why'd you call the shaman Merle?" asked Apple.
"You don't know?" asked Raven, "I thought it was obvious."
"Enlighten us then," said Clawdeen.
"You really don't get it?" asked Raven, "Merle…Merlin…get it now?"
Before our heroes knew it, they were out of the valley and racing towards a singular peak in the distance, a distance that our heroes and allies covered within an hour. To the astonishment of Raven and the others, they saw an intense illumination at the summit of the mountain.
"Those are torches," said Raven, translating for Merle, "hundreds of fanatics waiting at the temple for the celestial alignment."
"Well then," said Hunter, "let's go ruin their stargazing party."
"Not so fast!" said Dexter, "there could be traps."
"You're right," said Raven, "Merle's people and the other tribes have gotten really good at making traps to protect their territories. Fortunately, Merle knows how to identify and disarm the traps."
"That whole mountain could be booby trapped," said Apple, "we'll never get up there in time."
"We'll have to try," said Avery.
"I know that," said a slightly annoyed Apple, "but we just don't have time. And there could be other things on the mountain."
"There could be enemy warriors keeping watch for just this sort of thing," said Dexter.
"In that case, we'll need a distraction," said Hunter as he smiled mischievously, "someone's gotta get the enemy guards to chase them."
"Might as well be me," said Dexter in a slightly depressed tone, "I just know you'll all try to convince me."
"You can't do that, not alone!" said Raven, "you'll…"
"Raven," said Dexter as he held out his hand, summoning and catching Gatack Zecter as his Rider Belt appeared around his waist, "I'll be alright, trust me. Henshin!" with that he clicked his Zecter into place.
HENSHIN
Energy Hexagons flowed out from the Zecter, materializing across Dexter's body as the Masked form of Gatack.
From out of nowhere appeared Gatack's motorcycle, which he mounted and drove off towards the mountain.
"How do you guys do that?" asked Ashlynn as she and the others watched Gatack ride off, "call your bikes out of nowhere?"
"There are some mysteries of being a Rider that are best left unsolved," said Avery as he pointed at the brightest star in the night sky, "and you can quote me on that."
"Merle and the others took that well," said Apple as she and the others headed up the slope of the mountain, "seeing a motorcycle for the first time."
"They've seen machines before," said Raven, "remember, we're not the first humans to visit this world from another. Merle and his people aren't sure what those other humans are up to, but they think it has something to do with the Star piece."
"You don't suppose Irvin has anything to do with this, do you?" asked Ashlynn.
"No," said Raven, "if he did, he'd just grab the Star piece and run. No, something else is going on here."
They made their way up the mountain with no resistance from enemy warriors, occasionally pausing as Merle disarmed a trap. Every now and then our heroes heard the sound of a motorcycle engine and the irate screeches of enemy velociraptors.
"Dexter's certainly leading them on a snipe hunt," said Howleen.
"I just hope he doesn't overdo it," said a worried Raven.
"I just hope he doesn't hurt any of the velociraptors," said Ashlynn.
"Now why would you say a dumb thing like that?" asked Clawdeen, "they wouldn't think twice about hurting Dexter, or any of us for that matter."
"Just because they're under false beliefs doesn't make them evil," said Ashlynn, "if given the chance, these velociraptors would see and accept reason. And at any rate…"
That's as far as Ashlynn got before something exploded in front of our heroes and allies, startling and scattering the velociraptors as more explosions went off. Merle let out several high-pitch screams and screeches.
"'Run away! Run Away!'" translated Raven as she and the others dashed back down the mountain.
A few minutes later found Raven and the others well away from the mountain, breathless with fear and exhaustion after running harder than before.
"Can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?!" demanded Hunter, "I thought these people were using spears! How'd they know how to use bombs?!"
"I don't know," said Raven, "and Merle doesn't know either." She looked at the velociraptor shaman, whom was tending to the wounded among his warriors. At least ten of the warriors suffered severe burns, while a few were missing.
Just then Gatack rode up on his motorcycle. He dismounted, powering down as he ran up to Raven. "I heard the blasts!" he said as he embraced Raven, "Are you alright?"
"A little cooked, but I'm okay," said Raven as she hugged Dexter back, "and angry. How'd they get the drop on us like that?"
"And where's Howleen?" asked Clawdeen as she looked around, "she was with us when the bombs went off, but…"
"And where's Chad?" asked Hunter.
"Oh no, Apple and Avery! They're not here!" said Ashlynn.
"We must have gotten separated in the blasts," said Raven, "we've got to go back now!"
"They wouldn't still be back there," said Dexter, "they're probably on their way here as we speak."
"I hope so," said Venus, "I sincerely hope so."
"Well, this stinks!" shouted Chad as he and Avery were tied to bamboo poles carries by enemy velociraptors, while Apple and Howleen were tied up in bamboo cages pushed on primitive wheels. Howleen, bound by all four paws, thrashed about violently in an attempt to break free, yet only succeeded tightening the ropes. Apple lay unconscious in her cage.
"Can you see her!?" asked Avery as he was carried in front of Apple's cage, unable to look behind, "is she alright!?" he glared wrathfully at the enemy velociraptors as they carried him and the others up the mountain, "if you slimy scumbags have hurt her in any way, then I swear on my grandmother's soul, I'll kill you all!"
"Oh, I wouldn't be so hasty to make such vows, Mr. Manning," said a woman in her late 20's as she walked up to Avery. The woman had shoulder-length dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, gray eyes and wore a black safari outfit, leather hiking boots and a black pit helmet, "not when you're about to meet your destiny."
"Do I know you?" asked Avery.
"No, but you knew my colleagues in darkness," said the woman as she smiled while taking out a business card from her pocket and handing it to Avery, "Sharon A. Rossburg, at your service."
"You're an Obsidian proxy!" said Avery wrathfully, "What the hell are you doing on this world?!"
"Hastening its doom, obviously," said Sharon A. Rossburg, "these fanatical dinosaurs are so willing to gamble their lives and souls on a false hope of ascension, unaware that they'll destroy the planet and become chaotic demigods in the process, and I intend to make sure the new demigods are under Obsidian's thumb."
Sharon then looked back at the still unconscious Apple, "and imagine my surprise when 'Cuthbert's Folly' showed up at my doorstop. Not only will I succeed in my mission, but Cuthbert's mission as well." She then pulled out a PDA and began writing a message to her superiors, "Promotion, here I come!"
…The End Is Just The Beginning…