"Oh, so we're just gonna walk into the creepy doorway that appeared out of thin air," I said, following the others without an answer. "Ok, just making sure."
The door closed behind us as we walked through the white, metal hallway, footsteps echoing around us.
Out of nowhere, Brooklynn stopped short and I bumped into her.
She looked back at me with a surprised look on her face
"Shit. My bad." I apologized
Her face turned a little pink but she turned back to the side hallway and looked up at the pipes. "Shhh." She said
The sound of running water sloshed through the pipes on the roof, leading to a door. Brooklynn hurried down the side path, determined to get to the bottom of whatever was going on.
"Guys!" I called. They turned and I gestured with my head to follow us down the other walkway.
We all met in front of the large door. Brooklyn slid her finger along the small screen to the right of the door and to my surprise, it opened to reveal... a whole forest with pines, oaks, and chirping birds.
"What the..." I said
"Guys, do you remember how, like, five seconds ago, we were in a desert?" Brooklynn asked
"What the hell is this place?" Sammy asked
Suddenly the ground shook with all too familiar thudding footsteps.
"No, it can't be," Yaz said
"Come the fuck on!" I groaned
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that feels like a-" Sammy was interrupted by a familiar gurgle.
We all looked into the trees and spotted a scaly foot.
"T. rex." Sammy finished
A grayish-green rex with bright yellow eyes appeared around a tree and gave a mighty roar.
Everyone shouted and spirited away.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Kenji complained
"Oh, no, of course, I forgot that every island has dinosaurs now!" I shouted
We dove behind some rocks which the rex ran by and into the trees, then reappeared a moment later, facing off with... another T. rex. This one was a lighter gray but with the same bright yellow eyes.
"Two. Cus of course there's two." I said as we crouched behind a tree.
"Why the fuck are there more dinos here?" Brooklynn whispered.
"Let's ask her," Ben said pointing
A dark-skinned woman with glasses crouched behind the log, observing the beasts. She looked at something on her iPad before sitting cross-legged and typing in some notes. All the while she had a sandwich logged in her mouth.
"Who's that?" Kenji asked
"A guardian angel finally came to take us somewhere better than this?" I suggested
The woman looked up and the sandwich dropped from her mouth as she saw us. She stood up and hurried over to us.
"Get behind me," I said, standing and putting on a mean face
"You're trespassing." The woman said
"No shit," I replied
"What are you up to?" She gasped, "Are you here to spy?"
"Yeah. We're an elite band of teenage secret agents." Kenji replied in a monotone
"Very highly trained." I added, "Who the fuck are you?"
"Hey, watch you lan-"
"If you tell me to watch my language, I'm gonna lose my shit lady," I said
"Anyway," Brooklynn interrupted, "Are you crazy?" She whisper-yelled at the woman, "You're eating a sandwich in the middle of a T. rex fight?"
"First of all, they're not fighting. They're pla-" The woman started
"Playing." Darius interrupted in realization.
"Oh, great. Now you got him started." I said
"Cranio-facial biting! It's true!" Darius continued.
"Uh, yes. Don't change the subject!" The woman said
"Lady, we don't wanna be here either. We just wanna go home." Yaz said
"Oh, yeah, we'll see about that. Follow me." The woman said
TIMESKIP
"You really expect me to believe that children survived alone on Isla Nublar for six entire months?" The woman asked
"When you think of a better excuse, tell me," I said, flatly
"Mm-hm." She said, taping the tablet against her chin thoughtfully. "I suppose you must be telling the truth, because who would make up such a crazy story if they didn't have to."
"I mean, teenagers," I muttered, earning an elbow from Yaz.
"Not saying that you don't have to, or that you're crazy, but who knows?" The woman continued. "I don't know you, you don't know me for that matter." Her eyes widened, "Am I yammering on? I've been out here for the better part of a month with no one to talk to, and I guess I had more to say than I realized."
"Crazy!" I sing-songed through gritted teeth, making Sammy, Brooklynn, and Yaz roll their eyes.
"You look so familiar," Darius told the woman.
A roar behind us in the distance made us turn around and tense up.
The woman looked at her tablet before calming our nerves, "Don't worry. They're almost tuckered out. They won't bother us."
"How could you know that?" Ben asked
"I study dinosaur brains." She said proudly before chuckling and looking back at her tablet. "Behavioral paleoneurobiologist. I'm Mae Turner-"
"Turner! That's it! You're Dr. Mae Turner!" Darius exclaimed, shaking her hand. "It's an honor to meet you. I read your book. A Theoretical Emotional Journey with Theropods."
"Ah, you were the one," Mae said, chuckling.
"Holy shit this is gonna turn into a factoid fest, isn't it?" This comment earned me a slap on the back of the head from the three girls. "Ow! What the hell?"
"Will you stop being negative all the time?" Yaz asked
"Says you?" I replied
Yaz began to chase me around.
"Relax! Relax!" I begged
POV: Brooklynn
I chuckled as Yaz chased (y/n) around then turned back to Mae as Kenji stepped forward.
"If you could just point us to a phone, we'll be on our way," he said
"Yeah. Slight problem with that." Mae said
I groaned. "Of course."
"This island is completely shut off the grid. No communications in or out."
"Are you kidding?" Yaz complained as she joined us again followed by (y/n) who was rubbing the back of his head.
"Wait, you can't use that to call out?" I asked pointing at the tablet
"Sorry. Closed circuit." Mae said. "Mainly I use it to connect to a doodad in their brains- Oh! Can't tell you, actually. Proprietary research.
"So, there's no way home," Yaz stated, solemnly
"Don't lose faith," Mae said. "You can all rest up with me until we figure out how to get you out of here."
"Do we trust her?" Kenji whispered
"Hehehehe... with the way things go for us? No." (y/n) said
"I agree." I said, "I'd trust Kenji's catapult plan more than any adult we meet."
Kenji chuckled at this and we fell in step next to each other as we followed Mae.
POV: Yaz
I watched Brooklynn and Kenji walk away next to each other and a moment of realization hit me. I looked around for Sammy to see if she was thinking what I was thinking but was only met with (y/n) who had a saddened look on his face which hardened into a scowl as he followed Mae. And suddenly, I was conflicted.
Note: Just wanted to say, I know that Brooklynn and Kenji seems like it's gonna be here for the rest of time, but seriously, look at Ben's face in this moment as well as his interactions with Kenji through the entire series and tell me there's not something there. I'm just saying I think Benji is still on the table. Ben was the first one to accept him back into the group in season 5 after all.
POV: (y/n)
I walked with my hands in my hoodie pockets as we walked. I didn't really care about all the sciencey, nerdy whatever Darius and Mae were talking about. At this point, I just wanted to go home and sleep. Suddenly, Keji stopped in front of me and I ran into him.
"Dude, watch it," Kenji complained
"Dude, don't stop in front of me," I replied
"Important announcement time," Mae said, turning to us, her face darkening. "Whatever you do, do not go down there. Super dangerous." She pointed to a darker part of the forest down a slight hill. "All right, off we pop."
We walked down to a waterfall. Crystal water splashed down over the docks and into a small lake. Mae began to walk behind the waterfall.
"We're here." She said before disappearing behind the wall of water
We followed her to another door like the ones we'd seen earlier. She opened it and the group gasped at the basic living room and the small research area in the corner. It'd been a long time since we'd seen civilization.
"Wow. As far as caves go, this one's pretty swank." Sammy said
"Add that to the list of words (y/n) wants to ban," Kenji said, stealing my joke before I could make it.
Brooklynn laughed.
I like her laugh. I thought. But it's not for me anymore.
"You live here?" Darius asked Mae
"Live, work, play surprisingly competitive games of poker with myself. I usually win." Mae said, laughing hard and elbowing Ben. "All right, I'm gonna whip up some sandwiches."
Mae turned the corner to the kitchen and immediately, without hesitation, everyone except Darius began looking through her stuff.
"What are you doing?" Darius whispered, angrily
"We're not gonna just take her word for it, there's no phone here," Brooklynn explained
"And last time we trusted an adult, I got shot," I said
"And the time before that, Eddie tried to steal our only way to the docks," Kenji said
"And the time before that, Wu came back and kidnaped me and (y/n). Like, seriously dude. Every adult we've met is selfish and terrible." Said Brooklynn
"Even Dave and Roxie sucked at their jobs," I said
"That's mean," Brooklynn said
"He's not wrong though," Kenji said
"I guess it doesn't hurt to look around," Darius said, hesitantly.
We spread out around Mae's lab, looking through shelves of folders for any clues to where we were or for a goddamn phone.
"Are you guys all right out there?" Mae called from the kitchen
"Yeah. Uh, no problems over here!" Kenji yelled back before we went back to searching
Darius sighed and slumped into Mae's chair. "No phone. I think she's telling the truth."
"What's with the brain scan shit dude," I said looking at some pictures on her desk
"It's cool. She's a brilliant scientist." Darius said
"I know. It's just suspicious to me. Who's funding Dinosaur brain research?" I replied
"We got nothing," Brooklynn said as she and Kenji walked up to us.
"Same," I replied
Sammy suddenly gasped.
"What?" I asked
She held out some papers "Mantah Corp."
Everyone gasped
"Well, son of bitch." I said
"If Mae works for Mantah Corp, then we gotta get out of here," Brooklynn said
"Or," I added. "Alternatively we could jump her."
"Why do you always resort to violence?" Kenji asked
"Because I have trauma from Gyrosphere week," I replied
"Who wants a sandwich?" Mae said behind us, making us jump.
"Sure," I said, grabbing one off the plate she was holding then walked towards the couch in the middle of the room.
Everyone soon followed and as they sat down I whispered, "Don't be super blatant but try and get some info."
They nodded and sat down
"Mmmm," Darius said, a little too strained. "This is really good."
We fell awkwardly silent after that.
"Something wrong?" Mae asked
"Yes. We wanna ask you about-" Yaz started
"Something to drink?" Me and Brooklynn quickly interrupted at the same time then looked over at each other awkwardly.
"Of course! Silly me. You need cocoa." Mae said walking back to the kitchen
"The hell?" Yaz asked
"What did I say about not being blatant?" I said
Yaz rolled her eyes.
"We need to go," Brooklynn said
"Maybe not," Sammy said
"What?" I asked
"But Mae works for the company that blackmailed your family." Said Brooklynn
"Yeah. And I did, too." Sammy replied. "Sometimes, good people can be made to do bad things by bad people."
Brooklynn looked unsure.
"She's got a point," I said
Brooklynn shook her head. "Fine. Let's at least check out that dangerous area at least. What if there's a phone or a way off the island, and she's just trying to keep us away from it?"
"Why would she do that?" Darius asked
I sighed. "I can't with this guy. Someone else explain it to him."
"She'd do that so we can't tell anyone about whatever shady stuff Mantah Corp is doing here," Ben said
"Okay. I'll keep her busy while you check it out." Darius said
"I'll stay too," Sammy added. "Maybe we'll get some answers while we're at it."
"So, it's settled," Yaz said. "Brooklynn and (y/n) will go check it out."
I turned to Yaz and shook my head. "I think I'll stay and see what info we can get out of Mae."
Yaz looked at me with surprise. "O... Okay. Uh, Brooklynn and Kenji then."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kenji give a look of shock to Yaz who kinda just smirked back at him.
"You and Ben should come too. We don't know what's out there." Brooklynn said then cleared her throat. "And... Uh, (y/n), you should come. I don't think your hostile attitude will go well with Mae. You might just make her mad."
I sighed and looked at Yaz.
She shrugged with a forced smile.
"Fine," I muttered, standing and following the others out of the room.
TIMESKIP
We walked through the woods in silence, the sound of birds and bugs making the only noise. It had grown overcast, like my current mood. "Hostile attitude my ass," I muttered to myself.
We walked up to what seemed to be another metal rectangle.
"Another metal rectangle," Ben said
"Good observation," I said flatly
"It's like the one we saw in the desert."
"Bones," Brooklynn said, remembering the bones that lay around the desert's rectangle. "It's a feeding platform."
"Well shit," I said
"Which means we should probably get outta here before mealtime," Kenji whispered
We made our way up a hill and I watched as Brooklynn was helped up by Kenji. That little pain struck inside me again like a little fire. Then as they continued walking I saw Kenji put his hand on her back. "What the hell is happening?" I muttered and began to walk towards them before I was cut off by Yaz.
"Hey, (y/n), come listen to this awesome story Ben has to tell about grubs." She said
I deadpanned. "Please don't make me listen to-"
TIMESKIP
"So, I said, 'That's what you get for walking with your mouth open, Bumpster.'" Ben said
"Hilarious," I said with little to no enthusiasm.
Yaz wasn't listening to the story, she was too busy watching Brooklynn and Kenji talk with a big smile.
"Wow. No one has ever smiled at the end of that story." Ben said
"With good reason, Ben. Now go walk ahead." I said, pushing the boy in front of us.
"Hey!" He complained before I turned to Yaz
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked
"Just remembering how you and Brooklynn used to talk like that." She said, pointing.
"Asshole," I said. "What game are you playing?"
"I don't know what you're ta-"
"Don't bullshit me, Yaz. Back in the cave with the 'You and Brooklynn should go' thing and now with keeping those two separate? What are you doing?"
"Well, it seems pretty obvious what's going on."
"Bullshit. No one knows what's going on. I don't. You don't. Anokwriter doesn't even know what's going on in his own story because he stopped giving a shit about it. After all, that's how the writers of this show acted during season four."
If you can't tell, I wrote this right after watching Deadpool.
"Look, Brooklynn still definitely likes you, she insisted you come along, and you still definitely like her."
"I'm not so sure she likes me... not anymore."
"Dude, I've seen this before. Some girls, when something has gone wrong in a relationship like to distract themselves with other things or other people."
"Okay, and?"
"You're jealous she's spending time with Kenji."
I stayed silent for a moment. "So, for the last hour, you've been running emotional tests on us to see where we stand romantically?" I asked
She nodded with an evil smile
"You're a psychopath."
"A psychopath who is very correct." She corrected
"Fuck you."
"Just stay with it and try to win her over. She'll come around. In the meantime. I'll run some more tests."
Some leaves rustled and everyone looked around for signs of danger.
"Did you hear that?" Brooklynn asked
"No. That's why we're all looking around like we heard something, B." I said, "Behind the rock everyone."
We quickly huddled behind said rock and peeked over in curiosity. Then, a little Compy jumped out of the bushes.
"Little bastard," I growled
"Relax," Brooklynn said. "I think... Oh my god. Did he seriously follow us all the way from the boat?"
Suddenly a green light shone through the bushes over the Compy and we all ducked down as a green beam that looked like a heat signature scanner shone over the rock. Once it passed I looked over the rock and saw one of those dog-like robots from Facebook your mom likes to show you.
"The metal claw from the desert," Brooklynn whispered.
I looked down at the machine's feet and sure enough. "It was from one of these things?"
The robot scanned the Compy once more before its eyes turned red. "Unauthorized life form detected." It said in a robotic voice. It opened its mouth and began charging something up. Small bolts of electricity crackled in its mouth before it fired a charged blast at the Compy. Everyone ducked down as a sizzling sound reached my ears and I gulped.
Brooklynn peaked over the rock again but I quickly pulled her back as the robot's green scanner passed over the rock again.
The robot stalked closer to the rock until it stood right next to us.
I slowed my breathing and tried to stay as quiet as possible. Brooklynn pressed closer to me as the robot began to walk around the corner.
"Oi!" We suddenly heard Mae shout in the distance.
The robot turned away from us as I heard Mae's footsteps approach.
"Dr. Mae Turner, authorized life from." The robot said. "What can I do to assist you?"
"Never do that again for starters." She said angrily. "You killed a Compsognathus I could have studied! We don't have any here on the island. Why would you do that?"
"Primary directive is to protect biome ecostasis." The robot replied.
I peeked over the rock and made eye contact with Mae. "What the fuck is that thing?" I mouthed
She ignored that question and gestured for us to get out of there.
"Unrecognized lifeforms pose a threat to ecostasis." The robot continued. "Finishing patrol." The robot went to turn back to us.
"Wait!" Mae said, stopping the robot as we scurried out of there.
The robot paused and waited for instruction.
"Uh. No, never mind." Mae said
The robot turned and continued walking as we met back up with Sammy and Darius who had been hiding as well.
"Thank goodness you're all okay," Mae said, joining us.
"What was that thing?" Ben asked
"One of the BRADs," Mae said
"The fuck?" I asked
"Bio Robotic Assistance Droids," she explained
"Star Wars up in this bitch." I replied
"They care for the island, but I had no idea they did that!" She whispered angrily
"You mean killing?" Brooklynn asked.
"Back to the cave," Mae said. "The BRADs aren't authorized to go in there, you'll be safe inside. And then, you can explain why you lied to me, and why you were out here in the first place!"
We all looked at each other awkwardly before following Mae.
"To the Batcave," I whispered, getting a chuckle out of everyone.
"After everything Mantah Corp said they'd do to my family, can you blame us for not trusting you?" Sammy asked
"No, I suppose not," Mae replied from her chair to us who were gathered around the couch. "But the work I'm doing is good. How could understanding dinosaurs be bad?"
"Yeah, well, until five minutes ago, you thought those BRADs were just friendly assistants," Brooklynn said
"Okay, the BRADs were programmed to protect the biomes. I don't think anyone anticipated seven kids and a Compy showing up unannounced." Mae retorted
"I like how we haven't discussed that there's multiple of these things we have to worry about," I said.
Mae's tablet made a small beep and she looked down at it. "Drat. It's almost dinner time," she said, standing.
"What, you getting takeout?" Kenji asked
"Dinner time for the T. rexes," Mae explained. "I get the rare opportunity to observe mother-daughter eating habits. It's actually... surprisingly sweet. Until I can figure out how to ensure your safety, you all remain here."
"Stay away from killer robots and dinosaurs? Yeah, no problem." Yaz said, putting her feet up.
Mae nodded and walked out the door, pleased and within seconds, Sammy and Darius were on their feet and following.
"Don't do it," I warned, without any intent to stop them.
They quickly ignored me and slipped out of the cave.
"Whatever." Slumping against the wall and sliding to the floor with a stress ball I found on Mae's desk and began tossing it up in the air and catching it.
I noticed out of the corner of my eye as Kenji, who was on the couch, tried to scooch towards Brooklynn before Ben came and absentmindedly sat between them, much to Kenji's annoyance.
This may have made me smirk a little.
"Hey, Ben, how bout a game?" Yaz asked, holding up a deck of cards, much to my annoyance.
"Not much of a card person," Ben said
"Cool. Yeah, cool. Uh... Then, uh, wanna help me make some snacks in the kitchen?" Yaz asked, very obviously trying to signal to him to move. She even went as far as to push the two lamps behind the couch closer together.
Little pause here. Can we just give a round of applause to Wingman Yaz, the only good part of this season?
"Uh..." Ben said, confused.
"I do, Yaz," Kenji said, standing up stiffly and walking towards the.
"What the fuck?" I mouthed to her as she passed me.
"Tests." She whispered
I shook my head. "Jesus Christ," I muttered.
POV: Yaz
"Dude! What's up with you?" Kenji whispered as we entered the kitchen.
"Nothing. Just testing a few theories." I replied with a smile
"What theories?"
"You totally have a crush on Brooklynn."
"No, I don't." He replied, admittedly smoothly for a lier.
I smirked and raised my eyebrow.
"Okay, fine. But even if I do, you're being super weird. She's gonna know that something's up. Don't mention this to her, please. Be chill."
"Boys." I chuckled and we began to walk back to the living room.
POV: (y/n)
Yaz and Kenji returned and one of them, I'll give you one guess which one, had a huge smirk on her face.
Suddenly the door opened and everyone turned, expecting Mae, Darius, and Sammy. But, to our shock, the sound of moving mechanical parts reached our ears and the shadow of a BRAD began to grow on the wall.
"Fuck." I said
"She said they weren't allowed in here!" Ben said
"She said a lot of things, Ben. Most of which we know to be untrue." I replied
"Hide!" Kenji whispered, grabbing Brooklynn by the arm and pulling her behind Mae's science desk while Yaz and Ben hid under another desk.
I ran to the kitchen and started quietly digging through shelves.
"Come on. Come on." I muttered. "Ah, ha!" I said, picking up a frying pan.
"Unauthorized life form detected." I heard from the other room.
"Shit!" I swore and hurried back.
I ran in to see the BRAD charging up an electric shock toward Yaz and Ben who were under the desk. I saw Kenji and Brooklynn running towards it to try and stop it.
"Kenji!" I yelled and tossed the pan.
He caught it, turned, and swung and the BRAD, taking its head right off its shoulders. The BRAD's body stumbled and then collapsed with a clang.
"You guys okay?" Kenji asked
Yaz and Ben nodded as they were helped to their feet.
"Oh, did you see that swing?" Brooklynn complimented. "Oh, it was perfect!"
"Oh, (y/n), great throw too," I muttered. "Fantastic job for a guy who can only really use one arm thanks to a previous dislocation."
Yaz and Ben walked over to me as Brooklynn and Kenji continued talking.
"Looks like you got some competition, stud," Yaz whispered to me.
"What?" I asked. "Ok, wait actually, stud? Whatever, what are you talking about?"
Let's just marvel at the fact that Yaz will be the only kids' TV show character ever that is allowed to use the word "Stud" in that way.
"This is the push you need. Kenji's making moves so you better step up your game." She said
I was stunned for a moment. First off, I couldn't believe this. Kenji was pulling Brooklynn. Mr. "Rich and famous? Oh, meant to be." The guy who dropped her phone in a raptor cage. The guy who put me in giant hamster balls for a whole week. This guy?
And two, I couldn't believe that Yaz was trying to make me play The Bachelorette in an attempt to help me ask out Brooklynn. I hate my life.
"What the fuck dude?" I asked.
She shrugged and put her arm around Ben. "Just helping you bro"
"I miss when this was Sammy's thing," I muttered. I looked at Kenji and glared at the back of his head. Why am I so mad? I thought. He doesn't deserve my anger... Okay, maybe he deserves my anger but not over this. Guess I'll have to try harder.
"Hey, guys. Could you give me and Yaz a second?" Ben asked, suddenly.
"Uh... sure," Brooklynn said.
We followed her into the kitchen and peeked around the corner.
"Yaz, listen. Um..." Ben started. "You're a great girl, and I like you. But I just don't like like you."
"What?" Yaz asked, confused.
"Pfffffffffffff!" I courpsed.
Kenji caught on a second later and we began suppressing our laughter.
"No fucking way," I whispered.
"Don't be upset." Ben continued. "It's just that I'm just now starting to find myself, and I gotta work on me before I can think about someone else."
"Ben!" Yaz said, incredibly uncomfortable.
Brooklynn had joined in laughing at the obvious misunderstanding.
She glared at us over Ben's shoulder.
We all gave her thumbs-ups.
"I totally understand. Thanks." She said with a forced smile.
Ben patted her on the shoulder and then walked to the couch.
Yaz shot daggers over at us.
"She so deserves that," I said.
The other two nodded.
Suddenly the door opened again and Mae walked in, followed by Sammy and Darius, and saw the destroyed BRAD.
"What happened here?" Mae asked
"Remember when you told us those things wouldn't come in here?" I asked, rhetorically, exiting the kitchen with the others. "Well, turns out that was bullshit."
"It came in a few minutes after you left. It was scanning all over the place." Kenji said
"There goes the one place we were supposed to be safe," Sammy said dejectedly.
"Apologies, Sammy," Mae said. "Seems you were right to be suspicious of Mantah Corp." Mae walked to her desk holding a small white cube of some kind.
"Oh, perfect, cocaine. Just what I needed." I said
Mae shook her head. "Time to figure out what they're doing to my dinosaurs."
Time for my wheel of excuses for why this one was late. My power went out over the weekend. Anyway, I hope you liked this. Did anyone see the interactive episode trailer? Looks interesting. Depending on what's in it I'll probably add something to season 2.5 on it. Eat some waffles. Tell your mom you love her. Bye!