Vic Hoskins couldn't stop grinning.
Masrani was dead. The Indominus was loose. And his biggest obstacle — the man who kept shooting down his ideas — was now ashes in a crater.
> "No more 'no' from the top," he muttered.
He watched the monitors, each flickering with live feed of chaos spreading across Jurassic World. He turned to his assistant with a gleam in his eyes.
> "Get Owen. Tell him it's time to unleash the raptors."
The assistant hesitated. "But sir, Owen—"
> "I said now. We're going to war."
---
Sector E – Jungle Interior
Claire huffed as she trudged through dense jungle, trailing behind Owen Grady.
They had found it. Or rather, what remained of it.
The shattered gyrosphere, its protective glass blown out. A massive tooth embedded in the metal plating. Nearby, the crushed body of a dead Ankylosaur, its head torn clean off, lay half-covered in ferns.
Claire stared in horror.
> "This… this is my fault," she whispered.
Owen crouched near the gyrosphere, pulling the tooth free.
> "They're alive," he said confidently. "You see this?" He pointed to a shallow path that led away from the scene. "Two sets of small footprints. Headed toward the falls."
Claire followed his line of sight.
> "The boys jumped?"
> "Smart kids. Let's move."
---
Meanwhile – Paddock X
Internal System Interface – Alex Schiller
> Integration Progress: 97%... 98%... 99%...
100% Integration Complete.
Alex's eyes snapped open.
The inside of the chrysalis cracked, thick black resin oozing from the seams. The outer shell trembled before it burst apart with a wet shatter, revealing what now stood within.
And what stood... was no longer a snake.
His transformation was complete.
Towering slightly larger than the Indominus Rex, his deep obsidian scales glistened under the artificial paddock light, edged in hard, razor-like ridges.
Jagged spinal spikes ran from his skull to his tail, which ended in a barbed dagger-like spike, sharp enough to skewer a jeep.
His limbs were thick and muscled, ending in four razor claws, while his long body still retained its sinuous power.
He could still slither, still coil — but now he could also run, climb, rear up like a bear, and strike like a tank.
His face was smooth, more reptilian than serpentine now, with vertical slit pupils and rows of serrated teeth, each longer than a human finger.
And then the urge hit him.
A primal instinct surged through his chest.
He reared his body up, dug his claws into the earth, and let it loose.
> ROOOOAARRRRRRRRRR!!!
It echoed across the island.
The T-Rex on paddock 9 that had been slumbering awoke as it heard the roar of a new beast. And simultaneously the Indominous rex that had been on a killing Spree stopped for a moment as it looked into the direction where the roar had came from, clearly a new contender had been born.
---
Observation Chamber – Behind One-Way Glass
Dr. Henry Wu stood speechless, knuckles white around a clipboard.
The other scientists behind him were either backing away or frozen in awe.
Alex — no, Specimen X — stood like a god reborn, steam rising from his back, power radiating from every muscle.
> "Magnificent…" Wu finally whispered. "Evolution… accelerated."
And deep down, he couldn't help but wonder:
> Did we just create something more dangerous than the Indominus?
.
--
The jungle humidity hung heavy over the assembled team of soldiers and handlers. All eyes were on the man standing before a projection map of Isla Nublar.
Owen Grady stood tall, the only calm presence amid the brewing tension.
> "We know she's in Sector 15," he said, pointing to the glowing red marker. "This is a game we call hide and seek — and I've played it a thousand times with these animals."
He turned back to the gathered men, steel in his voice.
> "Once the raptors get on target — and they will — you wait for my signal. Do not engage. These animals are precise, coordinated, and trained. The last thing we need is a trigger-happy idiot ruining that."
The soldiers murmured acknowledgement.
Owen paused.
> "One last thing, gentlemen…" he said, voice dropping to a more serious tone. "Do. Not. Shoot. My raptors."
His words hung in the air like a silent warning.
Across the clearing, Vic Hoskins watched with a smug grin. His plan was finally in motion. Sure, Owen had protested — but he knew it was just a matter of time. After all, the chain of command was broken. With Masrani gone, Vic was the new authority.
He turned to the tech next to him and muttered:
> "Let's see how this plays out. If these animals really can be weaponized... we'll have our proof today."
---
Paddock X
The massive reinforced paddock was silent, save for the slow, rhythmic sound of breathing.
Alex lay coiled near a patch of artificial jungle, his new body rising and falling with each deep exhale. Every breath rumbled like distant thunder.
His limbs, still somewhat foreign to him, were tucked beneath his bulk. His obsidian-scaled body gleamed in the artificial lighting of the dome, spinal blades glinting faintly.
He had already tried to break out once — slamming his body full-force against the transparent wall — but the paddock was well-fortified. Clearly, they had expected something monstrous.
And so, he had decided to wait.
> Sooner or later, this place is going to fall apart, he mused internally. When it does, every one of these scaly bastards will be free... and I'm not going to be trapped behind glass when it happens.
From the CCTV footage, Vic Hoskins watched, now finally cleared to see what was once hidden from him. The sight of Specimen X left him speechless — if only for a second.
The monstrous hybrid creature let out a slow, guttural exhale in his sleep, the low rumble vibrating the glass.
> "Jesus…" one of the handlers whispered.
Vic grinned.
> "Too bad Owen's already out in the field. Otherwise… I'd have sent this big bad boy after the Indominus."
He lingered for a moment longer, watching the beast slumber. Its sheer size, the armor plating, the raw presence… it was terrifying and majestic all at once.
> "Not a failed experiment," he muttered to himself. "A goddamn weapon."
--
-
The jungle was silent—too silent.
Owen knelt in the brush, eyes trained forward. The strike team stood behind him in a tight formation, weapons raised and fingers twitching on triggers.
The raptors—Blue, Charlie, Delta, and Echo—stood ahead of them, alert and stiff. Their eyes scanned the foliage, breath misting in the humid air, heads tilted with recognition.
Then—
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Each footstep thundered like a drumbeat.
Trees swayed. Branches snapped. Leaves scattered.
From the foliage, the Indominus Rex emerged.
Its white, scaled hide shimmered under patches of sunlight bleeding through the canopy. It stopped—just shy of the raptors—and lowered its massive head.
What happened next chilled Owen to his core.
The Indominus chirped.
Not a roar.
Not a growl.
A raptor communication click.
And the raptors… responded.
> "No… no, no, no…" Owen whispered, lowering his rifle slightly, eyes wide. "Now I know why they wouldn't tell us what it's made of… the damn thing is part raptor."
He turned to Vic's mercenaries. "Stand down—don't engage!"
But back at the control tent, Vic Hoskins was watching the live drone footage with clenched fists. He saw Owen hesitate—saw the raptors falter—and he wasn't having any of it.
He grabbed the comm headset and barked into it:
> "Light it up! Take the shot!"
The lead gunman on the team flinched as the order came through.
> "Open fire!" he shouted.
Ratatatat!
BOOM!
BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
Gunfire erupted.
The Indominus let out a guttural roar and lunged backward into the trees, disappearing into the jungle as explosions from grenades followed behind it.
Then came the second betrayal.
Delta pounced on the nearest soldier, shredding through armor and flesh with terrifying ease. The rest of the raptors followed, attacking in unison.
> "Fall back!" one soldier screamed.
But it was too late. Chaos had broken loose.
Through the gunfire and screams, Owen ducked behind a fallen log, heart pounding. He locked eyes with Blue, just for a second, and in that fleeting moment, he saw hesitation—conflict.
And then she turned, disappearing after her sisters into the green.
---
Screams tore through the jungle.
Followed by the sharp staccato of gunfire and the concussive boom of grenades.
But it wasn't enough.
The raptors—fast, agile, and deadly—struck with terrifying precision. Delta flanked from the left, Echo from the right, while Charlie dove in from above the ridge. The men stood no chance. These weren't just wild animals—they were coordinated, efficient killers who knew the terrain better than any of Hoskins' soldiers.
> "Hold the line!" one mercenary shouted.
His voice was cut short by Echo, who lunged from the canopy and tore into him.
Bodies fell.
Ammo ran dry.
Panic spread like wildfire.
They fired into the trees, into the shadows—but they were fighting ghosts.
Even Vic Hoskins, watching the feed back at base, was silent as his hand trembled on the comms. Reality was setting in—he had just unleashed a disaster.
And then the missile hit.
A brief flash of orange light, and Charlie was gone—her charred body thrown back by the explosion, smoke rising into the jungle canopy.
Owen's heart sank. He had raised her from a hatchling.
But there was no time to grieve.
He kicked the starter on the nearest motorbike and whistled loud and sharp. The remaining raptors—bloodied but alive—turned at once. Their eyes locked on him.
> "Come on, girl," he muttered.
With a guttural roar from Delta, they took off—Owen leading on the bike, the raptors sprinting alongside him through the jungle brush.
The hunt wasn't over.
It had just changed.
---
End of Chapter