Hybrids: An Indoraptor Story ✓

Rude Awakenings

||𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏8𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎||

~ THREE DAYS EARLIER ~

Ripper was in a cold sweat.

    Twitching like the tail of a rodent stuck in a trap, the older indoraptor couldn't fight the growing nightmares that now condemned his mind to madness. Sure, he had gone through several since he broke free of the humans, but these weren't easing up. And it wasn't just adhering to the past or to the withdrawals of the device that turned him.

    But to what happened outside his perspective. To a specific sound far too great to ignore.

Three houses down, a group of construction workers were beginning to restart their weekly building routine on an older house on the market. Alongside many tools, vehicles, and supplies, they had a small yellow excavator with them, an older edition no doubt, but functional. The annoying thing about it was the idle noise it would make when turned on, one that made the neighborhood a bit fussy overnight. But they had nothing to worry for, nothing to care for.

It was their job to make noise.

But for the hybrid, this noise was making memories real.

"Now Ladies and Gentlemen," A distorted voice boomed in his head, rattling the earth with a quiet tremor, "that we are halfway through the evening, I'd like to offer a special treat to our...discriminated buyers."

The humans afar turned a dial on the excavator, trying for a jumpstart to the rinky old monster. It remained a rumble for a given time, and, to some, it echoed that of a rolling storm.

"This evening we will preview a new asset that we have been developing. A creature of the future..."

Two more twists later, the monster roared to life, a soft squeaking groan starting to grow from within. It wasn't too awful for the humans to acknowledge.

"...made from creatures of the past."

But it rang Ripper's skull like a bell.

The hybrid gasped and groaned, starting to shift around under the frequency. Already was his mind beginning to reform the liquid chamber that held him captive, and the terrible device that slowly pushed into his skull.

"N-No..." Ripper whimpered, curling his claws into the ground, body shaking violently now. He squirmed over and over to the apparent sound of its might, not even realizing it was tied to the machine hiding just meters ahead of himself.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the voice returned, the sound growing a pitch higher as the heat of the engine skyrocketed to its max. "Please be warned. This is the perfect blend of the two most dangerous creatures that have ever walked the earth."

One of the humans entered the yellow machine, slowly turning the gears; the echo grew louder. Ripper's spikes began to raise, his lips unraveling without any control, tail lashing back and forth against the sleeping female next to him.

"We call it-"

Then the machine clicked into gear. Its famous bone-shattering cry was like a shockwave to the hybrid's fragile body. It shut off his former self.

And Death's eyes snapped open.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

I awoke by my lonesome. Which was odd, usually it'd be next to the warmth of the black indoraptor, but not today. Where he once was now remains a cold spot near my flank, and a dry scratch that one of his talons possibly marked. Typical, I mused, slowly stretching my body in a downward-dog position. Any predator cannot deny the need to hunt. And- I flex my claws and neck, grunting in conjunction to the soft pops of my bone, Rrr... he's been hunting on the regular now.