Backdated to the Jurassic Period

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Danielle had stopped by the library, keys in hand, and had practically ordered Tabitha out shopping with her, which was very uncharacteristic of her; however, she had been the victim in other peoples shopping expeditions before and felt that saving the new girl might be in order. "Lunch, shopping and sanity?" she offered, jingling the keys invitingly. Clad in a simple pair of jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt, a worn beige jacket over one arm, and her hair in two long braids, she was ready to get out.

Danielle had stopped by the library, keys in hand, and had practically ordered Tabitha out shopping with her, which was very uncharacteristic of her; however, she had been the victim in other peoples shopping expeditions before and felt that saving the new girl might be in order. "Lunch, shopping and sanity?" she offered, jingling the keys invitingly. Clad in a simple pair of jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt, a worn beige jacket over one arm, and her hair in two long braids, she was ready to get out.



Tabitha stared down at her khaki slacks and polo shirt, and felt incredibly stuffy. She yanked out the two pins holding her hair into a twist and shook her head vigorously. After a deep, freeing breath, she smiled at Dani.

"Rescue me!"



Shaking her head like that made Tabitha look like she was in a hair coloring commercial. "Anytime," Dani smiled, "Although ....I should mention that sanity is not my strongest point. I live here after all." With that, Dani led her to a beat up old pick up in the garage, "Unless...do you want to drive?" she asked. She was a firm believer in keeping at least two wheels on the ground at any given time.



Tabitha grinned. "That's all right, it was the lunch and shopping that got me. Especially after today." She eyed the truck warily. It stood significantly higher off the ground than her van. And being in California, she honestly hadn't DRIVEN that much in the last few years.

"As long as you promise not to kill me, I think you should drive."



"I promise to keep two wheels on the ground at all times," she promised solemnly before climbing in. Dani was not a large girl per se, but at nearly 6ft tall she was able to hold her own with most guys. The truck posed no problems. "They mean well....but I could care less about most fashion trends. I think I'm the poster child for 'what not to wear'."



Tabs grinned at the two wheels comment. She was really starting to like Dani, even if she was god-awful tall. With monkey-like moves she no longer knew she was capable of doing, Tabitha landed in the cab. She grinned at Dani, probably looking like an idiot.

"I'm just looking for something that doesn't scream 'recent California transplant, mock at will,'" she commented ruefully. "High fashion can come AFTER my first paycheck."



"Wear a lot of black then," Dani advised, although she was really the last person who should be giving fashion advice, "I think New Yorkers only wear black, with one other color. Usually red or white." Dani liked red, but not the bright fire-truck red so much as more earthy variations.



Tabs grinned. "So the flower power peasant blouses and skirts are out?" She shivered and pulled her legs up on the bench. "Then again, being barefoot in Westchester isn't the same as being barefoot in Monterey."

"I'm going to miss the beach, but everything else can go rot."



Shrugging, Dani gunned the accelerator so they flew through a yellow light, "I've never been to the beach. Not too many in Oklahoma. But I like the peasant blouses I've seen around."



Tabs felt her blood start to race as the old truck picked up speed. A grin pulled at the corners of her mouth and she stifled the urge to laugh. She liked the speed, a lot.



"I don't know what I'd do without a beach close by. You can't swim on them very often here in New York, but it's pretty awesome to watch the ice break on the shore with the waves."



As they reached the city, Dani was forced to slow down to something resembling a normal speed. "What's with the people?" Dani asked as they cruised down the street looking for a spot. She couldn't quite tell what was going on other than they were afraid and headed the other way.



Tabitha rolled down the window on her side as she unbuckled her seatbelt. She knelt up on the seat and wiggled out the window to get a higher perspective. "I don't see anything, but-” She pushed to her feet, using the side-view mirror to balance.



"Uh-oh...."



"Hold on," Dani pulled over, parking the truck haphazardly in a parallel space. Normally, she wouldn't bother to check something out, but something was itching the back of her brain. Jumping out, she cornered the first passerby she found, a middle-aged woman that hadn't seen the inside of a gym since grade school from the way she was huffing and puffing, "What's going on?"

"Dinosaurs!" the woman gasped before continuing down the street as fast as she could.

What was it she had promised Tabitha? Sanity? Apparently that was on backorder.



Tabitha released her white-knuckle grip on the truck door and mirror and squirmed back into the truck. She immediately opened the door and rushed out to follow Dani.

You wouldn't think it possible with all the screaming and running and people going crazy, but Tabitha felt the ground rumble. She froze in a terror, pulled right out of a movie. Then it happened again, spurring Tabs into motion. "Daniiiiii!" Her voice broke on a squeak.

She wasn't ready for this!



There was no mistaking the rumbling. Cities did not rumble like this, or at all except in the movies to signal something ominous. Turning around, Dani stood there open mouthed as what could only be described as a dinosaur lumbered down the street. "Oh shit," she muttered. She did not normally curse, but this was not a normal time.



Tabitha tripped backward, scuttling frantically toward Dani. "Is that what I think it is? Should I blow it up?" Her fingers itched to make a bomb or three thousand, but there were SO many people around.



Part of Dani's brain screamed the impossibilities of everything freezing her to the spot, but the other parts realized that killing it could be a bad thing despite it's lumbering down 97th Ave and that they should move. Quickly.



Pulling Tabitha off the main street slightly into a store alcove she continued to stare at it. "I've never killed a dinosaur," she began. Admitting there was a dinosaur was the first step. "That is a dinosaur, ain't it? I'm not seeing things?" it wouldn't be the first time.



Tabitha's eyes rolled around, trying to take everything in. "Big, green, making the ground rumble and people run away and scream. That's a dinosaur. Or a dragon, but there's no flying, so I think dinosaur. Did I just say dinosaur?"

She flexed her hands again. "I admit it's been a while, but I could bomb it?"



Was Tabs an X-Man? Dani didn't know, but she did know that she was Not. Quickly, she tried to dial the school but couldn't get her cell phone to connect. It was time to make a decision. "No killing it!" she finally decided. She had seniority. Or maybe she wasn't the one asking questions. Either way, she made the call. "Maybe we can convince it to rampage and pillage somewhere else!"

This was just like the old Godzilla movies that used to be shown on the rez on Saturday afternoons in the community center! Unfortunately, she was in Tokyo, er...New York City.



As much as Tabs' instincts screamed to squash the dino like a bug, the thought of dino bits falling all over this portion of the city was decidedly squicky. "I don't think we can get it to chase us. We're just another appetizer as far as he's concerned."

Then she really LOOKED at Dani, and a small memory tickled her brain. "Hey, don't you do illusions?"



"I do..." Dani had spent most of her time learning how not to broadcast peoples fears (and generally ignore/block their fears) that she wasn't used to using her powers proactively. She could only project fears, which right now was the dinosaur. "You want me to make another dinosaur?" she asked, not sure where this was going.



Tabitha waved her hands around uselessly. "Can't you, y'know, make another one to distract it? Lead it away from all the tasty snacks?" Tabitha really had NO idea how Dani's powers worked. " I mean, I can make little bomb to try and scare it, but I have to watch out for people and falling buildings and stuff. If we can convince it that it has a tastier something or maybe a buddy, or an even BIGGER dino, that might be better?"



Dani shrugged, thinking about it. She wasn't much more versed in that aspect of her powers either. Usually the images began and ended without much control from her regarding what happened in between. "I can try?" she ventured, stepping out to the main road again. Finding someone in fear of the dino was easy, controlling the image to do what she wanted would be harder. Concentrating, she created another one, pleased when the dino reared back from it. It made the humans scream and run even more, but that couldn't be helped.

"I'll lead it away, you make sure he doesn't get any smart ideas?" Dani asked. The bombs could maybe be used to keep him on the path they wanted like herding cows.



Tabitha could only stand speechless for several long heartbeats. When the original dinosaur started to turn in a bad direction, she remembered her part in this fiasco. She sprinted forward, pushing a bit of her power to the surface as she went. The bomb flew forward as Tabs began her countdown.



"Five, four, three, two, one-" Boom! The bomb made a lot of noise, but little other damage.



The second dinosaur, momentarily controlled by Dani, appeared sending more people running and lumbering away from the city towards the river. Thank goodness that Manhattan was on an island. This was just like godzilla. Completely.



Tabitha stopped a moment to pant for air, her face bright red from exertion. "I am so out of shape. And I want my giant silkworms, damn it." She sucked in a huge breath before running to deposit more encouraging bombs.



Dani was not a small girl, but she was in shape. Running relaxed her and she'd been on a track team once upon a time. Slowing from an outright run to a jog, she asked, "Can you do this?" it was a concern. Her dino was only doing so much, without Tabitha's bombs to help, she wasn't sure they could herd the real dino away.



Tabitha sucked in a big gulp of air. "Not for much longer. We need to herd our boy some place safe." She fanned her face to cool it. "Any ideas?"

She lobbed a bomb to keep the dino distracted while they decided. "Something quick."



It worked in Godzilla, "Towards the water," and there was a coastguard or harbor something there, right? Could dinosaurs swim? Did it even matter? Now was not the time to be asking these questions. "It's only a few blocks away. You can do it!"



Tabitha looked back and forth between the dinosaur and their goal, mentally judging the distance. "You watch too many bad Japanese flicks, but I think it'll work."



She sucked down another gulp of air. Then she trotted after the beast, herding it toward the water.



"What else you gonna watch on a rez in rural Oklahoma?" Dani asked. They only had two TV stations (three if the planets were in alignment and the signal would come through). "Oh crap!" she muttered as her mirage decided to take a wrong turn. Controlling these were going to be next on her to-study agenda. Right after she survived Godzilla.



Tabs briefly wondered if a bomb would ruin the integrity of Dani's illusion. They were SO close to the water, only a few more meters would reach their goal. She bit her lip and decided not to take the risk. Instead she sprinted ahead, ducked under a swipe of the giant's tail, and planted a bomb under one if its feet.

She dove to the side, bits of concrete and debris dug into her shoulder as she shouted. "TWO ONE!"



The dino practically fell into the water where coast guard, or someone official in boats anyways, were racing towards them. As far as Dani was concerned, the dino was now their problem and she killed the illusion, sweat dripping down her face. She hadn't realized how hard it was to control the illusion until she had destroyed it. Well, that was an unexpected detour from Lane Bryant.

"Let's get out of here," Dani suggested, panting hard. She'd been fine until she stopped. "Before someone asks any questions."



Dani was saved from Tabitha's impromptu school cheer by a side stitch. Dani would never know just how lucky she was to escape that day. Tabitha was NEVER meant to be a cheerleader.

Instead Tabitha wheezed for air, hands on knees and tears streaming from her eyes. "Yeah, lemme just remember where I left my lungs." She stood to stagger down the street. "I really hate shopping."