The AU name is "The Truth" now that I was thinking about it. Would it be an good idea if I start an ask with the AU?
Have this with more context:
This happens after Lewis confronts Vivi, now remembering her, just has he saw her hurting his best friend to almost dead, freezing him. Lewis has an ancestor in the AU, so, he kinda went hellbent with his fire powers and his machete, cursing and very mad at Vivi, cause now he realized that Vivi hurted him and Arthur in the past, and Arthur was searching so much for her. Mystery and Shiromori also stop her, Shiromori healing the honey-eyed man, and Mystery in his kitsune form. Vivi just went conscious and, seeing that Arthur was shocked by knowing that ice skeleton was her, memories floated back and... she realized. Arthur was possesed.
Now they are going to home, sweet home, Lewis is happy about that his buddy/beloved FINALLY gets some rest, and Shiromori is furious at Vivi, I mean, this woman attacked one of her friends, ONE of the people she protected when she was finally back with her father, Mystery. Who dares she?
Everything is Fine.
By now.
Who knows...
"Finally... he's sleeping..."
"It's down to you, It's down to me... do you ever really think that I'd become... someone you call... y o u r e n e m y?"
Before the Mystery Skulls could begin officially on their new assignment, they swung by headquarters office and met with security. Temporary passes went to each member, even the Mystery hound. Once the park was shut down fully and the cleaning crews made the final rounds, the crew took one assigned golf cart over to the Land that Time Forgot attraction. Arthur was issued the keys, and he was the one grumbling about coming out to do this gig.
“Just pretend we’ve been called off holiday for an emergency exorcism,” Lewis, once again, tried to appeal for optimism.
Arthur held the staff access open for his crew. The corridor extending within dark and though the emergency lamps buzzed active, only afforded so much light for them to navigate by. They had backpacks with essential supplies loaded up, flashlight torches among the essential gear, but for the time the trope worked with the shoddy light and let their eyes acclimate.
“I’m goin’ through with this, right?” Arthur snapped. “You go, I follow. Let me have my bitchin’ gripes, okay.”
Mystery set a paw on his knee and yipped.
Through the corridor Vivi led the way, with Mystery behind her, and Arthur with Lewis trailing. “We have maps,” she stated, “but we’ll take a patrol and get our orientation.” She swung around and pointed to Arthur. “Make sure walkies are on.”
Arthur placed a hand on his chest. “I, turn my walkie-talkie off? Never.” He pinched his thumb and forefinger together, and whispered to Lewis, “I turn it down super-duper, itty-bitty low.”
“Maybe don’t confess that.”
The entirety of the ride was inactive and still, like browsing through the clothing section of a store alone, while the mannequins judged your every move. Though the animatronic dinosaurs were not immediately visible, their watchful gaze was felt by the members of the Mystery crew. No draft skittered through the interior building, and despite the abundance of foliage, there was an unnatural ambiance in the dearth of nocturnal presence. Everything about the attraction became otherworldly, detached from an established norm prevalent in the former active day – wherein lights and sound ran rampant. The isolated world of the ride was by perception boundless, yet sterile and contained like an ordinary jelly jar fitted with twigs and a bit of soil to appease a small insect or lizard.
After making the rounds of the ride, the group placed themselves at the loading dock. The carts sat on their tracks within the suspended dividers, where guests could stand to climb in or out of the carts. The dull gleam of an emergency light draped its light over the collected members. Mystery leapt into one buggy and put his paws on the front handlebars.
Yap!
Arthur pulled out a folded page and slapped it to the hood of the buggy. “Okay, fifteen animatronics. All chillin’, save for one.”
“Allo,” Lewis presumed. “Won’t stop, can’t stop. Any idea where our dino-terror might be off to?” Vivi shifted at his side, digging around in her backpack.
“There’s no tellin’ how much truth there is to Mr. Klayton’s story.” She clicked on a torch, but quickly shut it off. “But he’ll likely respond to light or sound, and movement.”
“Like a real T-Rex,” Arthur groused.
“Precisely,” she whispered. “We’ll trust it responds strongly to light, over sound. So be very quiet. Arthur.”
Arthur glared. “Why’re you picking on me?”
Lewis poked his shoulder. “You scream. Very loud. Alerts our foes. Not good.”
Vivi came around to Arthur’s side and clicked on her light, though she kept a had capped to its side. “Our first order of business is determine how much control can be managed over this mechanical nuisance, wouldn’t you say?”
Arthur nodded. “Yeah. Good start.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’ll depend on what’s bugging Allo, or what’s controlling him. That’ll give us a foundation for what we’re dealing with.”
Lewis whistled, and Mystery gave a soft yip. The dog came over to his group and waltzed around them. “Let’s get a move on then. Get this thing flushed out, and see what it’ll do.”
“I’d rather not,” Arthur whimpered.
Vivi pointed to him. “You and Lewis then. You brave boys, see what you can figure out about the deactivated animatronics.” She turned away, studying the abyss of the ride interior. “You wanna start from the exit or entrance?”
“Exit,” Lewis vouched. “You and Mystery then? What’ll you two get up to?” Arthur was already folding up the page, and began rummaging through his own backpack.
“We’ll see about coercing Allo out.” She adjusted her backpack and moved her hand a little off the flashlight. “Don’t worry about us. We won’t get into any excitement without permission.”
Lewis started after her. “But Vii, that’s dangerous!”
From a considerable distance, she called back, “Turn on your walkie! We’ll meet you back here!”
Lewis sighed, and reached around to his backpack for the volume switch. “En un buen comienzo, no es así.” He clicked the transmitter. “Viiiii….” Arthur grabbed him by the sleeve and began dragging him.
“We’ll meet them middle way on the track. The sooner we start, the quicker we can finish.” He spoke, hushed. “But make too much noise, that dino will zero in on us.”
Once released, Lewis hopped off the end of the loading slab and followed. “You have no escrúpulos about this?”
Arthur grumbled under his breath. “Let’s set the record straight, she saved your butt today. Don’t forget that.”
__
When they moved beyond the range of walls and certified fortifications to guide them toward the world outside, the attraction became more unsettling as the artificial jungle scenery enclosed and thickened around them. High and in the distance, a red sign blazed faithfully above the gloomy fronds towering, but it seemed a mocking landmark, enticing misguided travelers. A lure on an angler fish, while unknown perils lurking like jagged teeth ready to ensnare the gullible.
Trekking within the thicket was monotonous, given that Arthur examined each and all of the inactive puppets dotted throughout the foliage. This task was made possible due to an interesting and terrifying feature of the animatronics; a mirror in the eyes reflected light, similarly to genuine nocturnal animals. By setting the flashlight to their face, it illuminated the eyes and singled out where each machine was if within the appropriate range.
“I’m getting jumpscared trying to find the chill pacifists,” Arthur muttered. He held a clipboard in both hands, while Lewis held a torch. The two sifted among the plastic and cloth replicated plants, working closer to the giant carnotaurus. The animatronic gazed into the endless black, a sentinel. “That thing is a ship with teeth.”
The two stood beneath it, dwarfed.
“Can you imagine if this ONE was running around?” Lewis whispered, but a little too loud. He capped his flashlight. “The damage it’d do.”
Arthur stumbled forward, but Lewis caught him before he could fall. He grumbled about the uneven floor, where fabricated vegetation lay tattered. “Damn. Yeh. Another tally for human interference.” They made the remainder of the way to the column legs. “I haven’t seen all the entrances or exits, but it’d be more practical for them to access a machine with mobility security.” Lewis moved away from him, taking the light with him.
“Here’s another penny for your thoughts.” Lewis aimed the torch down on the carnotaurus feet and prodded the claws with his sneaker. “Allo shredded those fences and bit a poll in two.”
Arthur knelt, the clipboard balanced on his thigh. “Yeah, I was there. Well, sorta. What’re you getting’ at?”
“The wood was reduced to toothpicks. Toothpicks.” Lewis applied more pressure to the claw. “Klayton said the animatronics were made nerfed, so they wouldn’t damage each other if they get into a ‘brawl’.” He did air quotes, momentarily redirecting the slice of light through the canopy. “And to prevent them from tearing up the set. But all the animatronics we’ve looked at, have pliable rubber claws. The toes here, too.”
Arthur wrote onto the notebook pinned to his clipboard. “Good catch. So, our feathered nightmare can’t be a part of this attraction. The question now, where did he come from?”
“Or when he arri—” Arthur leapt up and capped a hand over his mouth.
“Shh!” He went into alert mode, spiked hair standing on end and eyes dissecting the area over-and-over. “The light,” he hissed. Lewis shut the light off. In the blanket of null and sensory deprivation, Arthur uttered, “Yu hear that?”
Lewis wouldn’t dare move, aside from rove through the daunting gloom with his limited visual capacity. However, he trusted Arthur’s perception, there was good reason to be alarmed. Also, Arthur was rarely wrong. For a short time, nothing trickled through to suggest a presence or any direct threat. Then, a faint but ambiguous rustling – it was impossible to determine the direction. He tugged Arthur’s hand down.
“Vivi? Mystery?” he squeaked. The sounds ceased. Not good. “Let’s go this way.” He pushed Arthur sideways. “I hope that thing doesn’t see in infrared.”
“Don’t jinx it— ARGH!” Arthur twisted around, his legs became tangled with Lewis’ ankles and the two collapsed. This incident was to their benefit, when the allosaur launched its snout through the shrubbery and snapped on empty air. “RETREAT!” He took off running, but more shredded, decorative texture in the terrain sent Arthur crashing in a stringy-bean heap.
Lewis rolled aside and plucked up a rock. “You stop that right now!” He brought the suspiciously light rock down on Allo’s head, which succeeded in destroying the fake plaster prop between his palms. The Allosaur seemed to blink off the assault. “I pictured that going a lot differently in my head….”
The allosaur swung its head back and screamed a prehistoric yowl. Lewis grabbed the flashlight he dropped and staggered backwards, mind churning through the benefits of turning tail and running versus trying to face the machine. Bottom line, he needed something to slow it down with. The team studied the machine, it’s many malfunctions, and how to locate the thing….
But forgot to devise the certified way to incapacitate it! And it was going to require more than dropping an anvil on its head.
With a piercing snarl the allosaur thrust its jaws out, cutting the distance between it and Lewis in mere seconds. Its teeth clamped down on soft material and it began thrashing, hissing, and snorting.
Arthur released the chunk of fake palm trunk he swung into Allo’s teeth and back peddled. “I’m all for solving this case lickety-split, but we won’t do much of that in traction.” He snatched away Lewis’ flashlight and searched the ground, until he spied the notebook with the clipboard.
“Valid point.” Lewis began after Arthur, springing over a cracked log. “Vivi!”
“Viv-vi!” Arthur hollered. “Where’s the road?” He jammed the notebook in the backpack and fitted it safely to his spine. One more shield between him and teeth!
Lewis bolted between two close standing trees. “Keep running, the track winds around here. We’ll intercept with them, we gotta! Vivi!”
A fearsome wail shot through the once silent theme ride. Despite the ground Arthur and Lewis covered, the noises of cracking timber and thumping footsteps propelled after them from the oppressive gloom. The thunder and rumble gained, growing intense and closing fast.
Arthur barely dodged a set of small standing dinosaurs, emotionless and motionless in the dark. “Help us, we’re gunna DAI!”
__
There was absolutely no way some hulking, mechanical nightmare could navigate the staged scenery without alerting her or her companion. The slightest movement issued rustling or crinkling, from the material used to fabricate soil and lush greenery, to the low hanging branches lumped by carefully sculpted cloth, and the canopy high above. Everything smelled artificial and tinged with dust, it reminded her of offices with the fake plants that hung around forever. Not the nice ones that looked real, but the very fake, obvious fake plants with plastic stems and ratty cloth soil with the green Styrofoam base. It was likely more impressive with the lights and sound ambiance of living things, even if artificial. She wished they had a chance to go through the ride and see what it was like.
“Hello!” Vivi called. “Rawr! Rawr-rawr!” Then, she paused and listened. Not an echo nor a snort. Would the animatronic snort? In all the excitement that day she didn’t see much of it in action, aside from its retreating tail end. “That’s ‘I love you’ in dinosaur!”
Bark. Mystery kept his tone low, while he slunk beneath some fern leaves.
“Machines need love too.” She swung her flashlight through the faux grove, a thick haze of dust swirled through the blue beam. “Echo!”
Mystery’s eyes glint as he rolled them. He trotted ahead, sniffing at the ground. It was spongy and soft, a layer of plant fiber set above sand or wood chips.
“Any leads?”
Woof. He toed at a fake collection of rocks – them being fake because they were glued together.
“Maybe the therma frost broke it for good.” She snuck around a tree trunk, the structure made of cement and rock hard. A lush green, petrified tree. “I hope not, I was looking forward to cracking this case.” The light she flashed through the depths of interwoven branches, and wiggled it swiftly like a strobe.
Mystery yipped.
“Therma, perma. What’s the differ—ENCE!” She froze, her light caught the burning glare of twin orbs suspended three meters above the floor. “Mystery….”
Mystery gave a noisy snort and inched forward, but wiht caution. His ears straight, eyes intense.
Vivi let the light trail down. “Hmm?” She swung the light down and up. “Oh, that one’s way too big.”
Borf. Mystery trotted the remainder of the way, with Vivi in tow.
“That looks like a mini-Rex. Baby T-Rex?” she posed. She went up and touched the underside of the belly. “The eyes glow. That’s nice to know.” She continued prodding the mini-Rex. “Squishy.”
Mystery yapped. When she turned a light on him, the hound nodded aside and resumed his trek.
“You gotta admit, they are cool. For cheesy attractions.” Vivi whistled, as loudly as she could muster. Sometimes she would give a hoop, or a holler. “Aside from the technicians, no one else is probably allowed this close to them. Except for Allo nuisance, he does his own thing.” She took a deep breath and gave her loudest yell yet.
Mystery stopped in his tracks and gave her the widest-eyed stare.
Vivi aimed the torch through the brush, listening. “Where could it be? We don’t have the time to search half the park this night.”
A few yards away, Mystery padded up a decorative slanted log and perched at the peak. Nothing to the right, nothing to the left. Yip! He leapt off and landed beside Vivi. He grumbled under his breath and barked.
“Let’s wait ‘til we meet up with them. We might cross paths on the way there.” It would be a while before they returned to the entrance of the ride, but somewhere they had to cross paths with the Allosaur. That is, if the machine was still within the attraction, or within sensory range to her dino-summons. She was beginning to doubt it remained inside the attraction, if like Mr. Klayton indicated, it was becoming more mobile. That was going to be a problem.
“If we can’t draw it out,” she began, “we can’t devise a way to coax it, or restrain it. It shredded a fence just fine, but maybe we can tangle it up in a good net?”
Yarf.
“Cliché. But effective.” A sound from the rear startled her. She whipped around with the flashlight, holding steady and listening. It wasn’t a sound, was it? The fake foliage settling as they passed, nothing ominous or pursuing. “A snare?” She flashed the light over the tree branches. “Hmm. But what sort of cable and how much tension?”
Mystery whined.
“I want to get with Arthur on that.” She turned her light and recoiled! An ominous and hulking shape crouched behind a flowering palm plant. A stegosaur, or something. It stood on four short, but column legs. “I don’t trust the owner, or Ms. Attorney Lady. But I wanna catch him in a lie, and try getting a read if he’s into something shady or….”
The walkie-talkie crackled against her backpack, squealing with a surge of static and muffled yammering, all of what might’ve been voices.
“Or if he’s not very bright,” she ended, in sigh. She unclipped the communicator and snapped the send button. “Lewis! That you?”
“AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
“Lewis.” She snapped the device away when a roar ripped through.
Mystery sat down and gave his ear a well-deserved scratch.
“Talk to me, boys! What’s happened?” She picked up with a run, the beam of her torch bounded across the uneven terrain and across elephant ear leaves. “I think I know what’s going on, but are you okay?” Mystery caught up at her side, his collar rattling in rapid succession with his zipping stride.
In the background and distant, Arthur came through chattering up a panicked storm, “It found us! We’re bein’ chased— WeWereSoFuckingCarefulThisIsUtterBullShit!”
“Language Arthur!”
“My gods, Lewis! We’re gunna DAI!” The communicator gave a dramatic, electrical wail as Vivi toggled the relay switch.
“Okay! Okay! We’re on our way, don’t panic!”
Bark!
“Who’s panicking?” Arthur wailed. “We’re being chased! We’re so lost, and we’re being chased!”
Lewis hollered through, loud and clear, “Where are you!”
“Not at the entrance.” One of the animatronics was in her path, once again freaking her out – what with all the noises churning through the communicator. “Find your way to the backside! I don’t know where we are! Can you make it to the back? This place is a box, we can follow along the wall—”
A response was not forthcoming, not for her. Lewis gasped, speech labored, “Watch out!” Following came snippets of silence, with patches of Arthur screaming and the Allosaur shrieking. Some sort of distinctive weight thumped, almost vibrating the walkie-talkie in her palm. There was some cussing in there and harsh scuffling. The screech of the Dinosaur became intense, until it was right there in the communicator.
“What’s happening?” Vivi halted in her tracks and listened through the device, terse and powerless.
Mystery shot by, his barks fading as he tore through the pseudo jungle. Vivi resumed in a job, leaping logs and some sort of small animal puppet. The whole time, the communicator was treacherous and silent.
“Hang in there! Mystery and I got your trail!” When she snapped her finger off the transmitter, Arthur’s voice punched through:
“This was a bad idea! I told you guys, didn’t I say? I called it! One Hundred Percent CALLED IT! I’m a fucking seer! AYYYEEEEEE!”
RAAARRR!
“Just shut up and run!” Lewis snarled.
__
How far the Allosaur was behind them, this was hard to say. It followed with intense, single-minded focus, pronouncing the diminishing stretch by cavernous bellows. The duo was in some horrendous video game level with an instant game over, snapping at their heels.
The jittering beams of their flashlight flickered across the thick fibrous carpet, revealing snags and gleaming across sinister disasters hidden among the shadows. Though, neither Arthur or Lewis paid much mind to the ground beneath them – except to save them from colliding with a low branch – focus was averted high above, to the bright mocking glare of the EXIT sign. It was a beacon in the night, the easiest recognizable landmark in the abyss of the hellish attraction.
“Hang in there! Mystery and I got your trail!” crackled through the radio Lewis gripped, the plastic creaked under intense pressure.
He toggled the transmitter, “THANK YOU!” He was having a hard time keeping up with Arthur, despite inspiration being super motivating.
The Allosaur gave a peeling shriek, the noise of it vibrating in Lewis’ ears, growing louder and more deafening. It was right at his backside.
Lewis scrapped between two narrow trees, nearly getting wedged in the narrow space. A rebounding Thunk! echoed, and the Allosaur hissed. But the sound of it did drift away. However, he did not stop to look or spare a thought, he recovered his speed and tried to catch up with Arthur. He pinpointed him by the sporadic patches of yellow light flittering through the shrubs, and managed to catch his stride.
“Pepper!” he panted.
“Kingsman!” Lewis vaulted over a rock.
“Nice day at the office!”
“Marvelous! Absolutamente asombroso!”
“Technically, it’s nighttime.”
Lewis exhaled, “True!”
A thundering screech crashed through the plastic flora somewhere to the left. The Allosaur was gaining, due to the fact it was not a living animal. On the other hand, Lewis and Arthur ran on fumes.
“The Exit, there should be a door!” Lewis huffed. The red beacon was neigh ninety degrees airborne, a few more meters they should come to the boarders of the building.
The line of his light did hit a sheer and solid surface, which by the explanation of his light revealed a rugged boarder of stone standing at about ten or eleven feet. Well above his height clearance. But there was no clean cut wall, no slate, and no irrefutable explanation of exit. Nothing but a cliff face.
Being more spry and agile, Arthur flew up the wall like a squirrel. He chucked his light up, his hands caught grips with practiced ease and with a small bit of leverage propelled himself skyward.
That looked easy! Lewis jammed the flashlight between his teeth and felt for a handhold. His fingers easily found a knot, he braced his foot and—
Fell backwards. With a hunk of cheap plaster gripped in his hands.
“Lewis!” Arthur set his light down on his teammate, and hissed, “What the FACK?! Get up here!”
Lewis bit down on his flashlight and scrambled to his feet. From his safe perch, Arthur held the light steady while Lewis took another fixture of the coarse wall and shoved his toes into niche. He managed to ease himself up a foot or so, but applying too much weight and the crappy Styrofoam snapped. The outer layer was stiff and scrapped his knuckles when he came down. Lewis looked up at Arthur and they locked eyes.
“AAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
The Allosaur shrieked. Arthur turned his light up, catching the eye sheen of the animatronic as it barreled through the fake jungle. “Oh my god! Um, Don’t move! I’ll get help!”
Lewis spat out the flashlight. “Arthur?” The Allosaur expelled another echoing howl. He turned, angling his light through the thicket. “Arthur!” The soft yellow light that drenched him, was now gone. Lewis had never felt so alone, so utterly betrayed. “ARTHUR!”
The thundering parade of the Allosaur hurtled toward his focal point, everywhere it went the plants rustled and crashed. It snarled, the sounds of its violent procession closing in on him. It must have infrared vision!
Lewis pressed his back against the cold fake rock. The Allosaur bounded through the thicket, the frayed ends of his light brushed against its snout. It closed in with terrible swiftness, weaving around artificial plants, but never once detracting for more than a millisecond. Lewis began inching away, if he timed it right, it might just shatter its CPU. But his timing had to be impeccable.
A blissful light drenched his shoulders, along with a stringy long rope thing. Likely a vine prop. The tale end of Arthur’s hoot, “—Tight!” Came through, and Lewis had enough foresight to piece together the full phrase. Without delay he dropped his flashlight and grabbed the rope.
The Allosaur barreled forward, chewing through the remaining few feet, teeth glittering in the spotlight Arthur cast. Lewis braced himself, he wasn’t sure what for. A Tarzan themed holler peeled from above high, and Lewis shot up at rocket speed. The angle of the line zipped him across the upper edge of the plaster cliff face. He cleared it but barely, his jeans scrapped eliciting a sharp yelp. Out somewhere across the open air, the Tarzan yowl waned in its descent.
Then Arthur really started screaming.
Lewis had to release the vine thing, or he would have gotten skinned on the concrete surface of the floor he was on. He crawled to the edge, and peering down tried to make sense of the swaying murk below. A succession of snarling poured forth of the large, black heap; it thrashed and swept into a stray flash of the yellow beam Arthur held. He thought this was clear indication where Arthur wound up, but the light cut off. He heaved off his backpack and dug through the folders and tools, until his palms clasped the large cylinder camping lamp.
“I did NOT THINK THIS THROUGH!”
He clicked the light on and turned it down. There was Arthur, running around the erratic animatronic. The dinosaur roved in circles, shaking and snapping, not fully invested in chasing the yellow blur. After affording a brief examination, he recognized the actual issue. The other end of the rope was snagged between its teeth, and the animatronic was fighting to cut it free. The line was tangled somewhere, this provided by how every time the Allosaur went to turn on Arthur, it’s head snapped sideways.
“Arthur!” he hooted. “ArthurArthurArthurArthur!” He dashed along the edge of the cliff flailing the flashlight around. “Get over here ya dweeb!”
The rope at last snapped with a grueling CRACK! and the Allosaur swept its snout towards the tiptoeing figure. A peeling shriek, something like an EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE shot out of Arthur as he did a one-eighty and charged out into the jungle thicket.
A rumbling snarl thundered out as the Allosaur resumed its chase, it’s tail flashing out of sight within the shrubbery.
Lewis stamped his foot. “Damnit!”
__
Meanwhile, Arthur was running for his life. Several times he nearly stumbled or lost his footing. Though he had the advantage of choosing a tight pathway difficult for Allo to pursue, the animatronic was not distracted by a second target. It was able to lay full focus on him, and track him with crazed efficiency. Or frenzy. He managed to catch his second wind in the meager intermission, but his muscles were giving out. Running on the spongey floor was strenuous, and the Allosaur’s grating call was closing in. If it got a clean opening, it would have its jaws on his neck.
There! He took a sharp right, in the line of sight of Allo. The dinosaur lunged, but Arthur already tucked into a stunt roll. Its feet trounced the earth right behind his shoulders, but he kept going until he was back on his feet. At no more than two meters there was some shadow, and bent – what he guessed would be roots – the trees weren’t real. But that black, unmistakable, hollowed space – there was no mistake on what that was. He’d stake his life on it, as he was about to.
The roots were concrete, hard as stone, bent and arched around a gouged hollow beneath the fake tree. Arthur clambered through the wedge, with the Allosaur not more than a breath behind his feet. His immediate thought was, ‘How deep is this!’ He smacked his flashlight against the wall and the light doused, the space around him blacked out. His hands prodded the walls seeking space or drafts, he jammed his elbows and shoulders at every inch, pushing further away from the hissing hydraulics of the Allosaur as it snapped and worked its way after him.
He felt the walls and ceiling, using his legs to kick for any missed crease that might afford an exit. There was nothing but concrete on all sides – left, right, up, and down – solid, unyielding.
“SHIT!”
The Allosaur snapped its jaws inches from his knee. “Fuck you!” Arthur tried kicking its snout, however ineffective it was. The machine twisted its neck and squeezed in further, the servos in its jaws whirling. It wouldn’t help, even if he wasn’t exhausted. He had nowhere to go—
Something snagged his collar and yanked him upward. He gave a little sob.
“Gotcha! I got ya Artie!” Lewis heaved him out of the hollow between the knotted roots, and dropped him on the ground. “You okay?” He adjusted the camping light, checking Arthur over, making sure he was in one piece.
“Yes, fuck! That was too close!” Arthur gave his own body a full pat down. All there, except for the gash in his vest where he fell earlier. All the stuffing on that side fell out. “It almost turned me into bubblegum!” He got onto his feet and paced a bit, before stopping to hunch over and set his palms to his knees. He just needed to breathe a moment.
“Take it easy now, you’re fine.” Arthur took a noisy breath and gargled. “Smooth, climbing into that… what is this? A burrow?” Lewis turned his light onto the opening, where he hauled Arthur out.
“I don’t give a toot what it is.” Arthur rounded the side of the tree, but cautiously. The Allosaur was still being raucous, snarling and grunting. It sounded like they had some time to catch their breath. “Probably for those lil dinosaur thingies. Are they chickens? The small nuggets.”
Lewis quirked his brow and shined the light across his face. “Raptors?”
“Chicken tenders,” Arthur insisted. Lewis came over with the light and stood beside him, observing as the Allosaur persisted with its struggles. And failed to free itself.
“It’s… not getting loose, huh? It’s stuck.” He shined the light lower, against the backside and shoulders of the unruly thing. It was surreal, watching the rubber suit cover on the dinos backside jiggle, but not ripple like the way muscles should. As muscles would, if on a real animal. For most of the night they were running from this thing, and it felt very real, like a hunting predator. Not some deranged AI, or whatever went off with it. Nonetheless dangerous, but creepy and sinister.
“Y’know what,” Lewis went on, stunned, “I think you caught it!”
Arthur gasped. “NO!” He leaned a little closer, but wouldn’t get too close. “No! Really? I did it? I did it! The case is over!” He throws his arms up. “WHOO! I am a mastermind!”
“Don’t get too hyped,” Lewis warned. “We caught it, but we still don’t know what’s up with it, or if someone is controlling it.”
“CASE CLOSED!” Arthur hooted. “Our contract said we have only gotta catch it! Done deal!”
Lewis chuckled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Por el amor de…” he sighed. “Y’know, lemme be honest, I thought you bailed back there. On that cliff.”
Arthur dropped his arms and gave Lewis a befuddled stare. He winced when Lewis shined the light his way. “What! What kind of loser do you take me for? Abandoning my best bro. Get outta here.” Lewis laughed.
“It was pretty stupid.” He turned the light back onto the Allo. “I have a habit of overestimating myself, getting in over my head. You guys… always come back, and keep me outta trouble.”
Arthur shrugged. “Eh, we’re even now. Right?”
“Right.” He held up his fist. Arthur smirked, and returned the fist bump.
The Allosaur gave a grating wail, gears grind in its neck as the body twisted, the rear legs shoved at the padded terrain. At the cement roots, they crackled and squealed. With another shriek, the Allosaur ripped its shoulders free – a flint of light ignited off the Allosaur’s neck.
“Shit!” Lewis backed up, and pulled Arthur with him.
“Fuck a balloon!”
The Allosaur hauled its arms and neck free, the cement barrier that once caged it snapped apart. Lewis swung his light on the dinosaur, the beam momentarily illuminated a space on its arm torn open, revealing foam and inner padding. It was fleeting, and before Arthur or Lewis could react to what would happen next, the dinosaur veered aside and charged off. Disappearing into the fake foliage of the eerily silent jungle. The thundering footfalls and rustling shrubbery diluted after seconds, until once more silence tormented the fabricated fauna sprawling abundant.
Arthur dropped, but Lewis caught him before he collapsed entirely. The taller figure held onto his friend, and used his other arm to pat his back. Arthur sniffled and shuddered.
“There-there. We knew it was way too easy.”
“We never get a freebee!”
Off somewhere, echoing yaps rebounded through the area. Lewis gave a holler, and reached down to take up the camping lamp. “Over here!” He swung the light around, flashing the vibrant rosy beam through the clutter of petri-timber. “We’re okay!”
“No we’re not!”
Lewis sighed. “We’re in one piece!”
“Yeah!”
Soon, the panting rasp of a dog threaded its way towards the two. Once Lewis was able to interpret the direction, he hauled Arthur with him toward his teammates. “Vivi?”
“Yeppers!” she called. She was not far from the dogy gasping. “You got away from it?” The swaying blue beam preceded the clopping footfalls as she raced to them, out of breath and hair frazzled. “What happened? You’re both okay?” Upon seeing Arthur hanging off Lewis, she handed her flashlight off to Mystery and knelt before him.
“He’s in a little shock.”
Arthur whimpered, “It got away.” Vivi scrunched up her face.
“That’s… not something I expected to hear from you.”
Arthur brought his hands to his head. “No! We managed to trap it—”
Vivi turned her eyes up to Lewis. “You caught it!”
“Eh,” Lewis shrugged. “Isn’t that past-tense?” He moved down the slope, guiding the path with his lamp. “Temporarily snared.”
Vivi groaned, “I miss all the fun stuff!” Arthur balked.
The group examined over the area, inside the warren and the arched cement tree roots, decorative fantasy décor for the ride-goers. Vivi took interest in the snapped root ends, where the rebar stuck out, warped and shattered.
Vivi poked the corrupt end of rebar. “Can we decide how much gauge of cable to use, when we need to catch it?”
Arthur stood nearby, gazing off into the thicket with Lewis’ lamp flittering through the grove. “Sure. I don’t think it’ll have that much tensile strength in its hydraulics.” He perked his lips and nodded his head. “But we’ll work on how to keep it from tearing loose later. We kinda fucked up figurin’ how we’ll get it into the trap, though.”
Lewis was crouched, giving Mystery’s shoulders a rub while the dog laid on the floor resting. “True. But we can vouch that Mr. Allo is on someone’s payroll.” He perked, and stood. “Did you see, Art? It did rip its skin cover, on its arm.”
Arthur didn’t answer immediately, vouching to listen and study the perimeter. “We can try shorting it, given if the interior wiring isn’t insulated. That’s no guarantee.” He patted his own arm. “Insulation takes time to incorporate, and costs extra. It would also bulk out the equipment. So, we can think of that as an alternative, if getting it to behave doesn’t work.”
Vivi stretched and gave a yawn. “Okay, we have some intel to work with. It seems like time to call it a night, sound good?”
“You won’t hear a complaint from me,” Arthur chimed. “Stick a fork in me.” He was already walking away, with Mystery hurrying after. Lewis grabbed up his backpack and followed.
“The Allo might need to recharge,” Lewis mentioned. He took Vivi’s hand, and helped her up a loose fitted slope. “Each animatronic has a battery life for a few days, but we don’t know how long our friend has been running amuck. That might be the reason it took off.”
Vivi adjusted the light between her hands. “We’ll snoop around the park in the morning, try and find where it went and build our game plan. Did you guys hear me, I was making a lot of noise. That thing didn’t give a truck about Mystery or me.”
Ruff!
“I didn’t hear ya, but I’ll take your word for it” Lewis affirmed. “Someone has access to the Allo controls.”
Vivi stroked her chin. “Someone that knows we’re investigating the park.”
Together, Lewis and Vivi did a dramatic, “Hmm….” Simultaneously.
Arthur yawned and rubbed his face. “Can you guys draw up accusations tomorrow? After we’ve slept on it.”
Woof.
Together, the Mystery Skulls navigated their way through the fabricated jungle, trading stories on the encounter with the Allosaur and their escape. At one point Arthur stopped midsentence and in his tracks, then turned the camping lamp around the area they were currently within.
Behind the wheel of the van, Lewis felt like they were hot on the trail of something big. Sure, he wasn’t the biggest enthusiast of ghosts, or other supernatural beings... But recently, the gang had gotten a pretty good lead... Though Mystery seemed rather apprehensive about going to this place... And Arthur too, but that was just Arthur.
He figured that he’d scope the place out first before bringing the others there, though he had to basically beg to get the keys from Arthur. “Back in one piece!” he’d promised... Arthur really cared about this thing, he wasn’t going to throw that trust out the window. Though thinking about what he’d heard really gave him one heck of a headache... hopefully it’d pass.
It didn’t take too long navigating throughout the forest, but then he noticed that mansion... Cold, broken, with blue hues... Definitely one of the stranger pieces of architecture that he’d seen, but as he pulled the van to a stop, he felt a small shiver run down his spine. Weird...
Stepping out and grabbing a flashlight, he walked to the door, knocking on it gently... Expecting some form of response... But nothing...? Strange. The place looked abandoned, so hopefully there’d be no creepy cultists waiting inside... With some effort, he pushed the door open, clicking on the light and stepping inside.
“... Hello? Is there anyone there...?”
As unlikely as he was to receive a response, it was basically a habit that had been formed over investigations.
