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It had been about a day since the Camp Fam had made a crash landing in the freezing Italian mountains, and they were tired.
The first day was spent with the group marching through the mountains until they found a road or town or any sign of civilization. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to find a road, but unfortunately finding anything else was out of the question.
But as luck would have it, they found someone driving along the road, willing to take them to a town, hopefully to where Ben’s Girlfriend lived.
If only it were that simple.
“Whoa!”
Another bump in the road. The now 4 hour drive was yet complete without at least one bump in the road every 10 or so minutes, a reminder that all of this was still happening. Darius looked out the window, houses now finally starting to become visible. He took a sigh of relief, knowing that any moment, they’d finally be able to have a moment of rest, no matter how brief it was.
“Uh, G- Grazie, ancora,” Ben said to their black haired and brown eyed driver, Russo. Russo turned around.
“Prego,” Russo replied. It seemed suspicious when he had shown up, but now, he was-
“You have something to say, Dino Nerd?”
Darius looked over to Yaz and Sammy, confused for a moment, until he realized how ultimately suspicious he and Kenji were of him this entire ride.
“Oh,” Darius exclaimed, “Uh, Sor-” Dangit, what was it again? “Scu- Scus-”
“Scusa,” Kenji said, his voice filled with regret. “We- uh, Noy-”
Russo laughed, “No worries! I can speak a little English!” he sighed, still smiling. “And I understand, I cannot imagine what you have been through to end up here.” He turned back to the road, as his expression changed to a far more dire one. “Merda…”
Darius and the Ambassadors turned their attention to the road, seeing 2 trucks block the path into town. 2 men stood by the truck, wielding Tranquilizers, primed and ready.
“DPW,” Darius asked, under a hushed whisper. “But, why here?”
“Non so lo,” Russo answered, keeping his eyes to the road, “They’ve been here for days, hunting something. They have been checking us every time we have to leave for another time.” The car slowed to a stop. Russo rolled up his window, as one of the DPW operatives walked up to the window.
“Nome e professione,” the operative ordered, in a stern yet unhostile tone.
“Russo Giordano,” Russo answered, “Proprietario di un'officina di autonoleggio.”
“Motivi di ingresso,” the operative asked, still stern.
“Sto tornando a casa con le provviste per il mio negozio,” Russo answered.
“C'è qualcun altro nel tuo veicolo,” the operative asked a third time, looking through the window. Darius knew what Russo was about to say, and hoped that this operative wasn’t working for the broker.
“Sì,” Russo answered, hesitantly, “Cinque turisti, avevano bisogno di un passaggio.”
The operative eyed them at that moment, his expression remaining stern. The Camp Fam feared that this would be the moment that they would have to run yet again.
“... Hai capito bene,” the operative said, waving them along.
“Grazie,” Russo said, rolling up the window, before driving on. He turned back to the Camp Fam, “I am sorry, but-”
“Don’t fucking start,” Yaz interrupted, “you didn’t have a choice.” She looked back to Sammy, whose glare at Russo gave a different answer.
“... So,” Ben asked, hesitantly, “What exactly are they hunting?”
Russo paused, as if answering that question would put a bullet in his skull. “Like I said, I do not know. All I know is that whatever they are hunting, they do not want anyone else to know.” He looked into the side mirror for a moment, before continuing to drive. “Not even outsiders are allowed in without the proper paperwork. I assume you will have to sign something.”
Darius looked down, pondering it. It wasn’t unusual for the DPW to put towns on lockdown when a rogue Dinosaur in the area, he even helped in one of those lockdowns in Spokane, Washington, but most of them wouldn’t just let only some in and others not, at most they would’ve evacuated everyone. And even then, a town could only be put on lockdown if the danger to everyone in that area was too great to be ignored, so whatever it was that they were hunting…
He really hoped they would never find out what it is.
By now, the relief of finally standing and walking around had begun to fade, and the unease of the whole situation began to take hold. The amount of DPW operatives in this area was way more numerous than it should be, even for a lockdown. Nevermind the fact that most of them were carrying actual guns, which would require even more paperwork. All Darius could really think about was-
“It’s okay, mama Kenji’s here!”
Well, aside from Kenji keeping Bumpy’s egg safe, of course. Kenji walked into the restaurant, all while cooing at it and protecting it as if his life depended on it. He wasn’t quite sure if would even be able to hatch, much less what would happen if it didn’t, but Darius didn’t care. After everything Kenji had been doing, it was nice to finally see him smile, even if for only a moment.
“It’s good to see him smile,” Sammy remarked, “after… ya know.”
“Yeah,” Darius replied, as he turned to look at Sammy.
She seemed… tired. Almost solemn. It wasn’t like Sammy usually was, and had only really gotten worse after…
Brooklynn.
Yaz was still busy inside the restaurant ordering food for everyone, and Ben was inside, rightfully paranoid given who was around them, so Darius was probably the only one who could talk to her. It wasn't his particular skill, but he had to try
Darius reached out, “you wanna talk about it-”
“Hate to interrupt, Mr. Bowman.”
Darius turned around, initially spooked by the voice, to find a man standing in front of him. A DPW operative, no doubt, with brown hair and green eyes, holding a clipboard in his hand. He looked sternly at him, as he reached out his hand.
“Eric Coleston,” he said, “Captain of this detachment of the Department of Prehistoric Wildlife.” Darius nodded to Sammy, who went inside the restaurant, as he reached out and shook his hand. “It’s an honor to finally meet you, everyone loved you back when I still worked in the U.S. Branch.”
“Yeah,” Darius replied hesitantly, as he ended the shake, and turned back to the restaurant. Sammy was inside, telling Yaz what was happening, as was Kenji. Darius went to join them-
“Before you head off,” Eric asked, “could you sign this?” Darius watched the man hand him his clipboard. He looked at it, seeing a place to sign and a whole bunch of legal mumbo jumbo… as well as a title.
Non-Disclosure-Agreement.
“Just a precaution,” Eric replied, “We can’t exactly trust the media to handle this situation delicately.”
NDAs weren’t out of the question in the Lockdown rulebook, Darius knew that for a fact, but after everything they had been through, he couldn’t exactly trust this document, especially given how little the man was telling them about what, exactly, was going on.
“What’s happening here,” Darius asked, hesitantly, Eric’s expression barely even changing.
“It’s on a need to know basis,” Eric answered. “Like I said, just a precaution.”
Darius had a feeling that signing this document was gonna put a target on him and everyone else’s backs, and that he should just get the others and run, but where exactly could they run to? Besides, what if it wasn’t anything suspicious? What if it was a dinosaur going rogue and that Eric and this team were taking a unique take on the standard DPW rulebook for Lockdowns?
“Take your time,” Eric said again, tapping his foot. “I know such a document can be intimidating for even the most seasoned of DPW operatives-”
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
Eric turned to the source of the beeping: A beat up DPW Truck, having just pulled into town.
“Christ,” Eric muttered, rushing over to the truck. Darius followed behind, as did several operatives and even a few locals. He finally got a better look at the truck: It’s exterior was adorned with claw marks and slashes, as if it was attacked. The windshield was sliced open, and in one of the headlights was a Black Shard of some kind. Eric opened one of the beat up doors, shouting “What the hell happened out there-”
“DEMONE!”
A hand grabbed Eric’s face, staining it blood red. “UN DEMONE DELL'OSCURITÀ! UN DEMONE PIÙ OSCURO DELL'OSCURITÀ!”
Eric ripped off the man’s hand, and shouted out, “GET THE MEDICS HERE NOW!”
In a moment, several medics ran up to the truck, assisting in removing the operatives from the truck. Darius watched as a stretcher carried one of them away, with something sticking out of his abdomen.
Quills.
Darius froze, his whole world freezing. He thought they were all gone, destroyed, how was one of them here, how-
“You need to leave the area!”
Darius felt a hand on him, as one of the operatives shuffled him away from the scene of the incident. He returned to his senses, just as the rest of the Camp Fam came to him.
“You okay, bud,” Ben asked, as Darius gave a thumbs up in reply. The others took a small sigh of relief, before turning over to the now quickly closed off section.
“What the hell happened,” Kenji asked, holding the egg in his arms like it was a precious artifact.
“I,” Darius paused, looking over to the operatives, one of them pulling out the shard from the headlight. “I’ll explain inside.”
It was very clear that Yaz’s therapy was working, considering how well she took the fact that the very thing responsible for nearly killing her and her Girlfriend was somehow alive. It didn’t stop Sammy from being concerned for her, of course, but as far as everyone else was concerned, that dread was very present.
That dread, however, was mostly soothed by a hearty lunch, and a distraction courtesy of Russo checking up to make sure they were okay. He presented an opportunity of his own, however…
One that didn’t prove all that useful.
“You sure you don’t know anything else,” Kenji asked, all while sipping on an espresso.
“Sì,” Russo answered, looking out the window. “Even those who have seen what’s out there do not say much. When the DPW came in, no one was allowed to tell anyone else what was going on here, just that they were hunting something.” Russo sighed. “It is like everything you do here is being watched like hawks.”
Darius thought for a moment. None of this lined up. Something hiding in the forest, hunting people down, and the DPW struggling even with weapons. Nevermind how the truck came in with slashes that are very clearly not dinosaur slashes. And that shard. There was something more going on here, and they must know what it is.
Of course, asking Eric would only seem to provide more “need to know basis”s, so they couldn’t just ask him directly. That meant the only course of action would be to…
Darius looked over towards Ben, smirking. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Oh yeah,” Ben answered, smiling back.
Yaz realized what the two were about to do and spoke up. “They have real guns, don’t go breaking into their camp.”
Darius and Ben proceeded to break into Eric’s temporary office.
The entire camp was alive with movement, making it hard to sneak in, but it worked out for them, as it always did. The tent was messy, with lots of paperwork scattered across the desk, as well as some equipment for communication and documenting. Aside from that, nothing they could glean from the surface.
“Shoot,” Darius murmured, “did we waste our time?”
“There’s gotta be something here,” Ben insisted, as he looked on the desk, pushing away the paperwork before noticing drawers underneath it. He went to open one of them-
Footsteps.
Someone was coming.
Ben shut the drawer shut again, as the two rushed for a place to hide, ultimately defaulting to a closet. It was certainly a tight fit for both of them, but it had to do, with nowhere else to hide.
For a minute, Darius reflected. Ben’s beautiful, disturbed, beautiful eyes, seemed to look like oceans. For a minute, he thought about how close they used to be, how they used to feel around each other. Maybe, just maybe, in another time…
The tent opened up, snapping Darius out of his reflection. Him and Ben leaned up to the edge of the closet, Eric stepping in. He had his ear up to the phone, and snapped his fingers in frustration. They couldn’t hear who was on the other side, but they could hear Eric’s response.
“Yes, they’re in the town,” Eric answered, causing Darius and Ben to look at each other. “They pulled in a couple hours ago.” He paused, pacing to the edge of his tent. “... I’ll deal with them, I just need more help with-” He paused, and slammed his hand on the desk, causing Darius and Ben to flich. “I am telling you to bring your Handler down here because we can’t handle what’s going on! There’s something in the…” Eric brought the phone to his eyes. “DAMMIT!” He almost threw the phone to the ground, before stopping himself, and sighing. “Of course she doesn’t give a shit.”
She… The Broker. He was involved, clearly. Ben and Darius looked at each other nervously. They had to leave as soon as possible.
He leaned over, looking into one of the drawers, opening it. Within were various documents and, completely out of place, that same black shard that was removed from the truck. He pulled it out, and looked into the shard. It almost seemed to absorb all the light around it. “Un demone più oscuro dell'oscurità…”
Eric put the shard away, and sighed. He walked up to the edge of the tent, opened it up, and left.
“Now what,” Ben asked Darius, under a whisper.
Darius looked down. There was so much he had no idea about, but… They were in danger, the longer they stayed here.
“We need to leave,” Darius said, as they got out of the closet. They made their way towards one of the entrances, ready to make a break for it. All the while, Ben rolled over that one phrase in his mind:
“Un demone più oscuro dell'oscurità...”
As much as the mystery of what was going on here was perplexing the Camp Fam, they ultimately decided to get out before they were hunted again. Russo was more than happy to oblige, and took them to his Rental Shop. By now, Nightfall had taken hold on the town, the moon covered by clouds.
“This one should do,” Russo said, pointing towards an old truck, with a back more suited for carrying fruit than transporting them. “It just needs to be filled up, and it will be ready to go.”
“Grazie,” Ben said, as he touched it. “I- If we had money to repay you-”
“Do not worry about it,” Russo interrupted, “I have more than enough, and you need it more than I do.”
Ben nodded, as the rest began to pack up the truck. Darius had some stray thoughts that he may have planned to harm them, but it seems now that he’s on their side for good…
Of course, that wasn’t the only thought that was in Darius’ mind.
That Shard, black as night, what that operative said, all of what was happening in this town, it still perplexed him, but they couldn’t do anything now. Maybe once they got to Ben’s Girlfriend, they could-
The roar seemed to pierce the sky like a dagger, just like it did on Nublar.
Yaz was the first to freeze up at the sound, but the others followed soon after, as they turned their attention towards the town. And as they did so…
Gunshots.
Whatever the DPW did, they pissed it off, and now people were in trouble because they had no idea what they were doing. They needed help, now!
“Get the car ready,” Darius barked, as he rushed towards the town.
“Wha-” Ben tried to say, before sprinting after him, “Hey, wait up!”
The town surrounding him was in complete and utter chaos. DPW operatives ran around as if standing still would bring them crashing down. Civilians were panicked, ushered out like cattle, and screaming towards the very operatives helping them.
“Mio figlio è ancora lì dentro,” one of the residents, a mother, cried out, being dragged by an operative. “Non posso lasciarlo!”
“Mi dispiace,” the operative tried to reply, “ma devi andartene-” then he noticed Darius, for only a brief moment before he ran right back into town, and called out, “HEY, GET BACK HERE…”
Darius didn’t care what he had to say, he was going to help them.
By the time he had made it to the town square, he was almost completely alone. The entire area was almost abandoned, clearly done so in a rush. Across the ground laid abandoned equipment for the DPW operatives, more than likely spent on keeping the Scorpios at bay…
But it wasn’t all that was there.
In one of the buildings, sliced open just like the windshield of the truck, was something Darius had never quite seen before. It seemed like flames, but it didn’t illuminate any of the surfaces. Lightless Fire, burning in the night, burning this whole town to the ground.
“Aiuto!”
Darius looked up, and turned to where the voice came from. Trapped under rubble was a young boy, his clothes dirtied. The son the mother was begging for help to find. Darius rushed over to them.
“Hey,” Darius said, in a calm voice, trying to distress the child. “Va bene, ti ho preso.” Darius tried to lift the beam off the child, but it was heavy. He tried again, using all the strength he had, but it just wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t-
“Darius!”
Darius turned around, finding a panting, exhausted Ben, rushing over to help. “B- Ben,” Darius called out. “What the heck are you doing here?!”
“Helping you,” Ben answered, getting his hands under the rubble. “On three!”
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
And with all of their might, the beam was moved. The kid scrambled out of the rubble, reaching out to both of them.
Both Ben and Darius helped the child out.
“G- Grazie,” the kid said, tears in his eyes.
“Ovviamente,” Ben replied. “Ora, tiriamo fuori di qui prima-”
*THUD*
It was coming.
With only a single second of recognition, Ben grabbed the child, moving to cover to hide from the Scorpios Rex. Darius, meanwhile, searched in the equipment for anything that could prove useful in distracting it, anything that could-
*THUD*
And the rex made its appearance.
Blood stained its mouth as it hungrily searched the area. It sniffed the air, knocking over the support beam that had previously trapped the kid, before turning it’s attention to where Ben and the kid hid. Ben held his hand over the kid’s mouth, hiding within one of the shops, as the rex inched ever closer to where they were hiding-
“HEY, OVER HERE!”
The rex looked up, turning its attention to Darius, now on the roof of one of the buildings, holding a lit flare. Darius swung the flare in his hands, making sure its attention was firmly on the flare and the flare alone. Then, with one swift motion, he chucked the flare across the town, to an area he was sure had no one in it.
The Scorpios roared at the flare, and took off, leaving Ben and the kid safe.
“Good thinking, bud,” Ben called out, as the kid ran off towards safety.
“6 years of experience,” Darius replied, as he made his way to join Ben back at the bottom-
*CLASH*
In a moment, the roof gave way, leaving Darius hanging on for dear life. Ben gasped, rushing to where Darius was expected to land, as his hands gave way and he fell crashing to the ground.
“Darius,” Ben cried out, as he grabbed him and immediately rushed inside one of the buildings, a restaurant. Darius sat on the ground, holding his ankle. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Darius replied. “I’ve been through worse.” He groaned as he tried to stand up. “It should heal in a day or two-”
Footsteps.
And shouting.
And-
*BANG*
Someone was coming. Darius and Ben braced themselves, as the door suddenly flung open, a DPW operative being carried by a medic going in first, followed by yet another operative, as Eric came in last, shutting it.
“Get that door blocked up,” Eric barked out, the uninjured operative quickly getting to work. Eric turned his attention away from the door and towards the rest of the room, quickly noticing Darius and Ben. His expression quickly changed, and he called out in confusion: “What hell are you still doing here?!”
“Cut the act,” Darius called out, as he stood up, ready to fight for his life. “We know you’re working for the Broker! And we won’t stand for-”
“WHO FUCKING CARES, LOOK AROUND YOU!”
Darius was taken aback. The way Eric shouted seemed less out of frustration and more out of fear. It was as if whatever was happening here was so much worse than they knew.
“We have,” Ben retorted, “and you are only making things worse! What you’re doing is only making the Scorpios Rex angrier-”
“FORGET THE SCORPIOS REX,” Eric shouted, “THERE’S SOMETHING ELSE HERE-”
*SWOON*
“Agh!”
Eric turned around, as did the others. The operative that was blocking up the door was now frozen in place, blood dripping out of his mouth…
As a pure black blade pierced his chest.
*SWIPE*
In one swift motion, the blade sliced through the man, as he fell to the ground. The door now had a gash in its frame, something waiting on the other side…
And it wasn’t just the Scorpios Rex.
“Go,” Eric ordered, “there’s a back entrance, escape through there!” Darius and Ben looked at him in shock. They were expecting him to try and kill them, not try and save them-
“Are you deaf, RUN!”
He didn’t have to say it a third time. Darius and Ben made their way to the back, Ben holding Darius under their arms. They made it to the back entrance, all while Darius struggled to keep standing. They had to keep moving, they had to-
“ IT’S BREAKING THROUGH THE WALLS!”
*BASH*
They didn’t look back. Ben went to the door, opening it, and went to grab Darius. The two made their way towards the door-
“MOVE YOUR ASSES, NOW!”
And with one shove, the three were out the door and on the street. Darius groaned in pain, as Ben lifted them up. “What the hell was that for,” Ben shouted, as Darius was finally back on his feet.
“Stop asking questions and run,” Eric shouted back, as he raised his pistol, ready for-
*BASH*
The Scorpios Rex crashed through the walls of the building, quickly turning its attention to the three. Ben and Darius limped away, as Eric opened fire. Each shot seemed to do nothing against the Rex, as Eric continued to shoot, aiming for anywhere that could be a weak point, anywhere that could-
*SWOON*
Eric screamed in pain as he fell to his knees, his leg sliced open. He reached for his leg, dropping his pistol-
*CHOMP*
And it was only then, as Eric was ripped apart in the jaws of the Scorpios Rex, that they saw it.
A figure clad in Pure black armor, floating just above the ground. In its left hand was the very blade that killed one of the operatives, and on its helmet were Antler-like horns, making it appear taller than it already was. It turned to them, revealing the only source of light on its body: a white, blinding visor. Darius and Ben looked on in horror as its visor morphed into a wicked smile.
And then, with one swift motion, it and the Scorpios Rex moved on.
Darius and Ben could only stand there in awe-stricken horror. It seemed too unreal, and yet with their own eyes, they saw it-
“DARIUS, BEN!”
Ben and Darius turned their attention, the rest of the Camp Fam had come, now driving the truck that Russo had graciously given them. They got in, as Ben took the driver seat and drove off. For the first few minutes, they said nothing. Then, with apprehension, one of them spoke.
“What happened,” Sammy asked, looking at Darius with concern, Yaz leaning on her shoulder. Darius didn’t even know how to explain it. For once, he was at a loss of words for what he saw.
“I… I don’t know.”
The Scorpios Rex had its fill, and made its way from the town. By now, there was nothing more that could be gained from the town. There was no reason to stay at this pointless place, it was time to return to Hometown.
The Roaring Knight smirked, and was content, knowing that now with some practice, they were ready to finish the Heroes of both worlds off once and for all…
And ensure all of the worlds are covered in darkness.