Chapter VII: Pop Goes the Hylonomus

 "Pinch me—I must be dreaming." Dan had never been so relieved to see fresh water. He stood and observed everything more closely. It looked like he and PPMC crash-landed in an ancient Amazon Rainforest, and Dan loved it.

 "Welcome, Dan," said his gauntlet. "You are now in the Paleozoic Era, Carboniferous Period, 312 Ma."

 "This is sick!" he yelled, hobbling out of the stream. "Look at all the plants, PPMC! Real plants!" It only took Earth a few billion years to look like home, minus the Carboniferous bug infestation, but hopefully, Dan wouldn't have to deal with them. He was more on the hunt for Hylonomus, the first reptile and earliest ancestor of all dinosaurs.

 Dan wandered and scooped up a few stones and tree branches, tapping them together. They were 312 million years old. That was incredible—almost as amazing as Otavia Antiqua.

 Dan continued his trek, but PPMC gasped and cleared her robotic throat. "Um, Dan, what would you do if a ten-foot-long tetrapod stood behind you?"

 "I would probably play dead." Dan didn't think too hard about her words.

 "I-I think you should start playing," PPMC anxiously joked.

 "Oh, PPMC, seriously? There's nothing—" Nevertheless, when Dan turned, he froze, and his big eyes widened.

 The ten-foot-long tetrapod's beady eyes knifed him like a tomato on a giant's cutting board. Its brown skin was moist, and drool dripped onto its sharp teeth.

 "Heh, heh," Dan nervously chuckled. "Nice teeth."

 The tetrapod roared and lunged for him.

 Dan quickly removed his helmet and chucked it. He almost regretted leaving the Precambrian Time. At least there weren't monstrous animals there! What he was looking at was Temnospondyli.

 It caught his helmet and crushed it, tossing it to PPMC.

 "Daniel!" PPMC's hands moved; however, an invisible force threw them back. It was like they malfunctioned.

 Dan hustled for a cluster of overgrown ferns and plants. Next, he removed his sunsuit and threw it as well.

 The tetrapod ripped it up like a dog inflicted with rabies and headed for him again.

 Dan halted at the ferns and smiled snootily. "Tallyho! So long, Temnospondyli!" With that, he dove into them.

 He prepared to turn on his rocket boots, but his foot slipped two steps into the ferns, and he rolled down a steep hill covered in ancient plants.

 The Temnospondyli cried out above and stopped at the hill's top.

 "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Dan attempted to grab something but failed. His left thigh hit the edge of a log in the path, and a horrible pain shot up his leg. "Make it stop!" he begged, tears streaming down his cheeks.

 Eventually, the hill ended, and Dan crashed into a small, foggy coal swamp with logs and bent-over trees. The rocket boots flew off and landed on the other side, sparking.

 Dan whimpered and clutched his thigh, feeling something warm under his hand. "No," he said at the sight of the blood. He tried to stand but fell over. His blood mixed with the mud.

 Everything suddenly became so real.

***

 Not far from Dan, a small, blue, yellow, lizard-like creature jumped up on her log. She left the sun's rays and hopped down, hiding behind it. Her black eyes wiggled, and she carefully studied her unexpected visitor.

 After three tries, he stood and limped through the swamp, crying, "Ow, ow."

 In awe, the creature stepped out. She went low and hurried toward him.

 He sat on another log at the swamp's edge, breathing heavily, and lifted his left arm. "PPMC, help!" he whined into the strange thing he wore on his forearm.

 "Daniel!" a voice suddenly shouted from his arm. "What happened? Are you okay?"

 This was so strange for the reptile. That animal looked nothing like the ones she was used to. He was small, like her.

 "I fell down a hill and injured my leg," he explained.

 Now, the animal did know what a leg was, and she also knew when someone was distressed. She felt strange around the being—as if she'd known him all along, even though he just dropped into her swamp.

 "Injured your leg?" his arm voice asked while she crept closer. "Is it broken?"

 "I'm not sure," the stranger mumbled, "but it hurts like a son of a gun!"

 "Stay put, and I'll see if I can find you. I mean it, Dan. Stay put." Her voice cut out with that, and the stranger and creature were alone.

 "Ugh! This stinks!" Dan groaned and held his head. He stomped his right foot, and mud splashed onto whatever he wore.

 That allowed the reptile to sneak to him in the fog and hop onto his log. She sat back, tail dangling over the edge. What was he? She approached him and sniffed his wound. It smelled like regular blood.

 Dan moved his leg, and the creature leaped back. He unburied his face and checked his surroundings. His big, brown eyes soon landed on the creature.

 Dan blinked, blinked, and blinked again. "Ah!" he finally screamed, falling off the log into the swamp.

 Splash!

 She dodged the water and bounced her body up and down as if laughing or looking for a mate.

 "No way!" Why did Dan look so excited? He crawled to the log and lugged himself out of the swamp.

 A gush of wind blew leaves off the trees. They circled Dan and the creature like spirits.

 "Hylonomus! A real Hylonomus!" Dan chewed his muddy fingertips and held his palms out to her.

 Hylonomus? What on Earth was a Hylonomus? This being turned even more mysterious, and the reptile couldn't wait to learn more. It appeared like unexpected swamp visitors were a good thing after all.