Smashing Appeal

This place was unnatural. A crime against nature, a prison to all those who lived within it. Thats what the twins thought, and their tapejara companion couldn't help but agree with them. Just to get down they had to slink through miles of worn down tunnels, making their way through the ocean in what was basically a narrow tube that could collapse at any moment. The two acrocanthosaurus had been almost too big to make their way through, the tunnels unhappily creaking under their weight. Still they made it.

Whiteout stared across the haze of green with his eyes narrow. The trio stood at the lip of the biosphere, in a position raised about the rest so they were able to gaze across the whole area. The whole place smelled wrong- the air was stale and tasted toxic, the plants smelled both like sweet nectar and the long dead. Hissing lowly, the acrocanthosaurus shot a look towards his brother.

Blackout seemed just as unsettled, but better at concealing it. He gazed over the jungle with a quiet thoughtfulness. The jungle was huge and tangled, nothing like what they had expected or had encountered before. They would stick out like a sore thumb- but then again, surely nothing here had the power to stop them.

Oboe flew above the heads of the twins, beating her wings. She had little love for this place either- but she had a job to do. The tapejara dove, ducking down and landing on the back of Whiteout. The large theropod grumbled, shaking himself, but made no other protest. “Ahead is some kind of path through the jungle.” The flyer reported, raising a single wing to preen. “Not man made- made by the stomping of creatures for a long period of time. It is not a big path, but it should be big enough for us if you go single file. I will not be able to fly through it, however.” 

Blackout grumbled. “What use are you going to be for this part, then?” Oboe hissed lowly, but chose not to respond. They were on a mission after all. No time for bickering. The trio padded towards the jungle, passed several rivers of water. Curious, Whiteout stuck his nose into it. Salty, but drinkable- water from the sea, somehow made drinkable for the plants? Curious. What funny creatures those humans must have been. 

Several strange rocks lay across the entrance of the jungle path, half hidden in the dense undergrowth. Blackout ignored them, walking past. A sudden shift and the grinding of rocks was his only warning before a clubbed tail was lashing out right for his legs. With grace unbecoming his size the acrocathosaurus dodged, stepped back and letting out a loud roar of alarm. As Whiteout tensed and Oboe took to the air, the three watched in pure confusion as the rocks pulled themselves out of the ground. 

There were two of them- one a pale greenish color with yellow points and spikes, and the other a mix of orange and brown horizontal stripes. The strangest part was what they were covered in. The green rock creature was draped in bronze, human made armor which seemed to have several small wheels on the side. A bridle was draped across its mouth, a bit between its beak. The other had some kind of armor just around its neck and front legs- red and spikey, padding on its limbs and strapped to its spikes. 

“Halt! The guard of Alantis, Nigel, commands you to stop!” The orange and brown rock (Nigel) barked, stepping forward and smacking its tail on the ground. The green one mimicked it, loudly bleating. 

“And what if-we do not?” Whiteout snarled, Blackout moving to finish his sentence as their voices blended together. The two bared their teeth, grinning down at the much smaller dinosaurs. Oboe circled above their heads, silent. She had realized what they were fairly fast- Euoplocephalus, armored herbivores. But they usually didn't have this much of it.

“Then you will face the whole force of our blows! Pumpkinseed, go!” With an angry bellow the orange Euoplocephalus burst forward, aiming for a deadly tackle. And like that, the clearing exploded into combat.

Whiteout dodged, dancing out of the way of Nigel. While small and slow, they were very defensive. Hard rocks across much of their body made it near impossible for Whiteout to find a soft spot he could sink his teeth into. Trying anyway, the acrocanthosaurus snapped forward towards a front leg only to recoil as the armor absolved his blow. Damn these things!

Blackout was having trouble with Pumpkinseed, her armor being even more protective than Nigels. Hissing he snapped at one side, before feinting to the other. The tail barely missed him- grimacing, he backed off. This was not going well.

Oboe circled from above, occasionally diving in and shrieking to distract the herbivores. She needed to find a weak spot- and fast. One blow from those tails would ruin their whole mission. But as always, Oboe found it.

“Their tails!” She shrieked, diving down to land on Blackouts back. “Aim for the tails!”

“You mean right where the clubs are? Great way to get broken teeth!” Blackout hissed. Oboe hissed back.

“No! Before the club! They have no armor!” Thankfully, Whiteout was quick to get the memo as she took off into the air. The large carnivore lunged, sinking his teeth into the green scales above Pumpkinseeds club. The herbivore bellowed and struggled, but his grip was form- she could not move to free herself, and he was too close to the tail to get hit.

“No!” Nigel roared, only to shriek as Blackout sunk his own teeth into the tail. The acrocanthosaurus twins groaned with the effort, but they had them trapped. 

“To the side!” Oboe urged, flapping above a slight slope in that ground that led to the waterway they had just passed. The twins dragged their struggling passengers over, pulling them over the edge of the incline as they finally let out. With loud yells the herbivores slid down the hill, splashing into the water with a burst of water.

“Lets hurry.” Whiteout groaned at the pain in his jaw, before facing the path again. “I don’t want to know how many more of those there are.” A shame they didn’t get dinner… but there was always next time!