It had taken four years, but Dr. Lerna and his team had finally cloned over 70 species of dinosaurs. The experimental creatures were on a previously uninhabited island, each species thriving excellently. However, news had leaked out to the public, and now there were multiple riots across America, saying that it was an "abomination" and "a sin so great that it would surely incur God's wrath." Naturally every investor tied to the project severed all connections. Now Lerna and his fellow scientists were broke, with an island of over 200 dinosaurs to take care of. As they argued about what they would have to do, a man in a black suit stepped into the room.
"Hello. My name is J.C. Clark. I work for the government. We've heard about your little project, and it sparked our interest." the stranger said.
"My name is Dr. Lerna, and I'm the head of this group." Lerna replied with a smile. "You're interested in our project?"
"Yes," J.C. stated, "you see I work on biological weapons. I was trying to make a wonder drug that could make the perfect soldier when I accidentally made a horrible weapon. We want to test it in the field. If we could use your dinosaurs as a test subject, I think that would be enough to get it into the army."
Lerna's smile dropped. "I'm sorry, but our animals are not, under any circumstances, going to be used for such a hideous cause."
"Of course, if you accept, I'll make you rich beyond your wildest dreams." J.C. stated. "Your choice."
The other scientists perked up. They all told Lerna, "This is our only chance. Do NOT blow this!"
Lerna saw he was beaten. "Well, though I do not agree with the decision, I still speak for us all. We accept your proposal."
"Excellent. We'll pay you in two days. Hope you enjoy being rich."
Among the cheerful laughter of his colleagues, Lerna moaned in despair, "What have I done? What have I done?"
The forest of the experimental island was exploding with the screams of agony from over 200 dying animals. One by one, each species was once again scratched out of existence. Even the eggs of several species of dinosaurs were injected with the deadly virus developed by J.C. Clark.
However, in the still developing embryos of certain eggs, the virus did what it was originaly intended to do. Slowly the DNA of the creatures within mutated. The eggs grew and grew, as did the babies inside them.
And three of those eggs belonged to a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Chapter 2: Sea Serpents Sightings
The Fortune, a fishing ship 20,000 meters from the coast of San Francisco. Five years after the destruction of the island of dinosaurs
"I swear, they were larger than this boat!" an old sailor shouted.
"Right. You saw sea serpents bigger than this boat. Are you sure you weren't drunk?" another sailor.
"No, I'm sure I wasn't drunk. There were three of them. One was black and white, the other charcoal gray, and the third was blue. They hissed and roared, churning the very sea in their great battle. Then an enormous flame burst from a nearby island, and they swam away." the old sailor replied.
"Man, you're crazy. There ain't no such things as sea ser...pents...." the other sailor trail off as he saw a great green thing rise out of the water.
It was huge, larger than the boat. It had rows of small, white triangular objects on each side. The sailor soon realized what the object was... a giant head. Its eyes opened, gleaming with fiery intellect, and stared at the ship curiously.
"Uh, Bob," the sailor said to older sailor, "were any of those sea serpents green?"
"No, they were gray, black and white, and blu...." the old sailor was cut off as the monster opened its maw and took a bite out of the ship.
Dozens of shipwrecks had occurred in only four weeks. Each had relatively few survivors, all telling tales about a green sea serpent that attacked the ships. What was worse, the shipwrecks were coming closer and closer to San Francisco. The city had finally finished the repairs to the Golden Gate bridge, it would be disastrous if another attack was made. However, they didn't want to scare away the tourists. An agreement was made to keep the shipwrecks under wraps, while the national guard took care of securing the coast. If a sea serpent was out there, it would be out there for long.
The "sea serpent" was also in trouble. It had been weeks since he had food and good water, and yet he was still able to breath. Barely alive, he kept floating, the current carrying him. He didn't know how he was still alive. Something told him that he should be dead by now. However, he survived. Suddenly he saw prey; a dying whale, falling beneath the waves. With the little energy he had left, the monster plunged down into the depth as and devoured the blue whale. Suddenly energetic, the monster swam upwards and continued to float, waiting for the next creature to cross his path.
When the behemoth was up above the waves, he saw something in the horizon. Land! feeling relieved, the beast attempted to swim, moving instead in a circular motion. However, it was getting him there faster. He felt happy, for in a few minute he'd be safe.
A small red ferryboat gently coated on its way to San Francisco. It was all part of a new tourist attraction, where visitors to the city could ride out to the very spot where the giant octopus rose out of the water in 1955 and attacked the first Golden Gate bridge. Nobody expected another attack.
Suddenly, from out of the water, a giant green head rose from the water. It opened its jaws hungrily, then stopped. The beast remembered this prey, and it didn't taste good. The sea serpent of San Francisco was sick of boats. Instead of devouring the boat, the monster simply head butted it.
The ocean floor was finaly close enough for the monster to walk on. The gargantuan creature walked out of the water, bobbing his head. As he reached the shore, people ran screaming. Some escaped, while others were crushed by the oblivious giant.
Mean while, Dr. Lerna was driving home. He had used his money from the government to retire in San Francisco at the age of twenty-five. He was just driving home from the grocery store when he noticed a ruckus on the beach. As he peered out his right car window, he gasped in a combination of fear and amazement. A giant tyrannosaurus rex was wading in up the beach! He was sure it was a tyrannosaurus rex, because he had actually seen one. However, the more he looked at the monster, the more he realized it was different than the rexes he had bred. It had a longer neck and a longer tail, and the bumps over its eyes and nose had formed spikes. The hands of the rex had three fingers, not two, and his arms had triangular fringes. Of course the most obvious different was the size. Therefore Lerna decided that this creature was a new species. But what to name it? Lerna thought about a name. The creature was the largest thing ever to set foot on American soil. Lerna remembered another creature of about the same size. It went by many names, the least used was "Gigantis". A lightbulb went off it Lerna's head. He would name the creature Tyrantis.
Tyrantis walked trotted to the shore. He began his promenade, looking at his surroundings with awe. Never in his life had he seen such large metal structures. The more he saw, the more wonder filled him. However, his belly was empty. As hunger pains struck from within him, a smell caught Tyrantis's nose. It was the smell of carrion. Tyrantis knew the smell instinctively, and by that same instinct he was drawn to it.
The smell was coming from a dead elephant at the zoo. However, to Tyrantis's eyes, it was little more than a mouthful. He ate it anyway, and then left. Tyrantis was horribly disappointed. Surely there was larger game on this new world.
As he continued to search, a loud whirring caught his attention. Dozens of helicopters, jets, and other assorted military vehicles were flying towards him. At first Tyrantis was curious, thinking that they were some sort of food. Somehow he doubted it. However, they were too small to be threats, so Tyrantis decided to ignore them.
That's when the barrage began. Each aircraft fired wave after wave of missiles. But the time they were out of ammo, chunks of Tyrantis's flesh and blood, including his left arm, were on the ground. However, when the smoke cleared, there wasn't a scratch on the monster. Tyrantis was just as surprised as they were. But his astonishment was not as great as his rage. Anger was growing within him, and he could feel it struggling to get free. It crawled up his throat. Tyrantis opened his mouth to roar a warning, when something even stranger happened. Instead of a roar, a huge burst of searing hot flame erupted from his mouth and incinerated the aircrafts.
Now Tyrantis saw a greater threat. Tanks and more jets were coming closer, all firing on him. Tyrantis roared, releasing another flame and melting the tanks, then going after the planes. By the time his foes were destroyed, Tyrantis was in an uncontrollable rage! He burned and smashed everything in his path. eventually he made his way to the sea. There was another boat, which was also shooting at him. Tyrantis charged, kicking up 20-foot waves in his wake. He knocked of the ship and spat a fireball on its belly. He panted, exhausted from a combination of hunger and combat.
However, it was not over yet. As Tyrantis made it to the beach, an orange tentacle rose from the sea and grabbed his leg. Four more lashed out, grabbing Tyrantis's mouth, neck, and tail. Tyrantis struggled, forcing his attacker to surface. It was a giant octopus, nearly Tyrantis's size. Tyrantis was still enraged, and fire was gathering in his throat. Using all his might, Tyrantis opened his jaws, tearing the octopus's tentacle into pieces. Then he grabbed the octopus's other tentacles, holding in place. The orange sea monster tried to escape, but its fate was sealed. Tyrantis finally released his flame, only instead of on his opponent, he let it loose on the water. In a matter of minutes the octopus was nothing more than kalamari.
Tyrantis took his opponent’s steamed corpse and threw it against the Golden Gate Bridge, smashing it into pieces. That was the second time a giant octopus and taken down the bridge. Tyrantis roared in triumpth, and completely devoured his opponent in a matter of hours.
Tyrantis had taken over San Fransisco. The amount of casualties was still unknown, but estimates were in the thousands. The dinosaur had certainly made its mark.
Dr. Lerna received a call from the military two days after the attack. They wanted him to help stop the monster. Lerna agreed.
By the time Lerna made his way into the meeting room, a general was choking J.C. Clark. The generally handsome man was looking very grim.
"Ah, Dr. Lerna. Finnaly somebody who knows what they're talking about. Perhaps you can help us with our lizard problem." the general grunted cooly, with J.C.'s neck still clenched in his hand.
"Well, sir, it's not a lizard. Far from it. This looks like some new breed of Tyrannosaurus Rex. How it was able to swim is beyond me, or how it survived that barrage. However, it is definitely a tyrannosaurid. I nicknamed him Tyrantis." Lerna replied.
"Mr. Clatrk has an answer for your question. Don't you, Mr. Clark?" The general growled.
"Er... cough... yes." J.C. wheezed as he caught his breath. "The biological weapon that I tested on your dinosaurs. It was a virus, originally designed to make a breed of super men. They were going to be smarter, faster, bigger, stronger, and most importantly, able to regenerate any and all body parts in less than a second as long as they're brains were completely intact. However, the test subjects didn't react to it too well. Apparently the body can survive having its DNA being ripped apart and put back together. It worked on single celled organisms, and a few multicellular, but vertebrates completely died when it was injected into their systems."
"Any explanation for why the dinosaurs survived it?" the general asked Lerna.
"I have a theory. It couldn't be an adult dinosaur that was mutated by your virus. However, it might have been a premature embryo within an egg. Twenty of the seventy species on the island were breeding when you released your virus. Maybe some of the eggs were so young that they were still only a few cells, thus able to mutate effectively."
"Well, how do we stop it, doctor?" the general questioned.
"I have no clue. We didn't get to study the animals in depth." Lerna replied.
"May I make a suggestion?" Clark croaked, still sore from when he was being choked. "The Omega Virus G."
"No Clark. No. Not another one of your viruses. Look what they've done so far!" Lerna shouted.
"Now wait just a minute, Lerna. this may be Clark's chance to redeem himself." the general said.
"Well, you see, the OVG is stronger than the OVD, which we tested on your dinosaurs. It was designed after the most efficient virus known to man. It will kill Tyrantis."
"Tyrantis should not be destroyed! he should be studied!" Lerna pleaded.
"I'm sorry Lerna, but this is the way it has to be. Tommorrow we'll load up as much OVG as we can and inject it into the monster. Good job men." the general barked.
Lerna lingered in the room for a while, horrified at the sin he was about to do.
Tyrantis was sleeping with his new kill, another giant octopus. He felt pleased, for he had found a new land with plenty of prey. In a few days he'd find his family and bring them back. He enjoyed the idea of seeing his brothers and sisters again.
Suddenly a loud buzzing sound filled Tyrantis's ears. He peeked over a destroyed building to see what was wrong. The helicopters had returned, one of which had a large stinger, which was filled with a very potent venom.
Tyrantis roared in challenge, and then let loose his fire breath. Many helicopters melted in mid air, but the one with the stinger remained. It shot its primary weapon into the neck of Tyrantis. The tyrannosaur roared, then choked. His body went into convulsions as the violent seizure began. He coughed up both blood and saliva, no longer able to spit flame. He finally stopped, comatose, lying nearly lifeless on the ground.
Inside the helicopter, Lerna and J.C. Clark watched the spectacle.
"Excelent. The virus worked like a charm. Now for some human test subjects...." Clark whispered.
"What was that?" Lerna questioned.
"Nothing. Just saying how glad I was that this is all over." Clark replied.
"Over? It's not over." Lerna scoffed. "Twenty animals were breeding on that fateful day. That means twenty possible breeds of monsters, with a high possibility of their being more than one of each. Our days with Tyrantis aren't over. The way I see it, they've only just begun."
