Littlefoot couldn't believe this was happening. A week ago, he and all his friends were happily living in the Great Valley per usual until the Rainbow Faces returned. He, Cera, Petrie, Ducky, and Spike saw them come down to the ground in some sort of beam of light. They appeared to be collecting some things before they made their way back. Littlefoot and his friends followed them up into the tractor beam after the Rainbow Faces had been beamed back up. When they exited the beam of light, they had stumbled into some kind of extraterrestrial spaceship. Eventually, the Rainbow Faces had caught them and scolded them for attempting to venture "beyond the Mysterious Beyond". Furious and fearful that primitive dinosaurs were trying to discover space travel or even more, the Rainbow Faces abducted them. They tried to reason with them, but the aliens decided to stick them into a time machine, powered by a wormhole and sent them 66 million years into the future, into the 21st century where dinosaurs, with the exception of birds, were all extinct.
Initially, they wandered for a while. They had landed in present-day Montana, but they hopped a train going southeast. Eventually, the conductors kicked them off. By then, they had arrived in Illinois. After more wandering, a dog catcher had caught them. Realizing they could speak, the dog catcher figured they might be reptiles of some kind so he contacted several foster homes as he assumed they were orphans. Eventually, one home took them in. They consisted of a husband and wife. The husband was a tortoise named Tuck and his wife was a mouse named Mary. Tuck and Mary, being different species of animals, had no biological children but they ran a foster program instead. Seeing as how the young little prehistoric creatures couldn't adjust to modern society after they explained their origins, the couple decided to send them to summer camp where they could meet new kids their age. Conveniently, they had arrived during the middle of May so it wasn't too late to register for a camp. Tuck and Mary lived in Wisconsin. All the well-known summer camps had been booked for the summer until they found two summer camps still accepting campers: Camp Kidney and Acorn Flats. Littlefoot, Petrie, and Spike were sent to Camp Kidney and Cera and Ducky were shipped off to Acorn Flats. Luckily for them they weren't exactly separated as the two camps were only on opposite sides of Leaky Lake.
Ever since they arrived to the 21st century, the five young dinosaurs thought this was a very strange place. For starters, their kind was all but extinct save for the birds but they didn't understand the evolution or biology behind it. They'd seen some reptiles such as alligators, turtles, and lizards, but no dinosaurs like them. Mammals ruled this world with birds in a close second. But, these weren't the small furry mammals like Ducky's friend Tickles from the Land of the Mist. These were large furry creatures and they were anthropomorphic. To top it all off, the technology was beyond their comprehension. The current bus they were riding in, they had no idea how an object with four wheels was moving, let alone the mechanics behind it.
They were on the bus to Camp Kidney. They had arrived at the train station in Prickly Pines roughly half an hour prior. A yellow banana slug named Slinkman in a rundown, yellow school bus had picked up Littlefoot, Petrie, and Spike while Cera and Ducky had to wait for their chaperone.
"Howdy kids!" My name's Mr. Slinkman! I'll be the head counselor for you three boys and I'll probably see you two girls when we visit the squirrel scouts in Acorn Flats! Girls, Miss Doe, should be here shortly. She had to go pick up the limo that she picks up her campers in."
The five prehistoric animals had a very tearful goodbye.
"B-but you can't take the away from us! They're our friends!" cried Littlefoot.
"I cannot be separated from my brother, oh no no" cried Ducky.
"Kids, it's all right, you guys will just be on the opposite ends of the lake" Slinkman said, trying to cheer them up. "Now, get on the bus, you three!" he moaned as he shoved them the males on the bus.
As Slinkman drove away, Littlefoot called out to Cera and Ducky.
"We'll see each other soon! No matter what!" he called after them.
Slinkman turned around and smiled at the two dinosaurs and pteranodon.
"I think you boys are going to really like Camp Kidney!"
"I hope so" sighed Littlefoot. "I miss my friends and grandparents in the Great Valley."
"Petrie miss Cera and Ducky" said Petrie. "Me miss mom and siblings too!"
"Ahhhh" agreed Spike, thinking of Ducky and his surrogate family.
Slinkman pulled into Camp Kidney. Littlefoot, Petrie, and Spike eyed the rundown and smelly camp. There were several large structures for unspecified purposes as well as different animals moving about. Despite the camp looking nearly as desolate as the Mysterious Beyond, there was something about the camp that making it cling to life still.
Slinkman had the boys file out of the bus. As the boys walked through the campground to the scoutmaster's cabin, they caught a glance at some of the campers. Similar to all the other strange people they've seen, they were all anthropomorphic animals. Littlefoot saw a monkey, an elephant, a pygmy rhinoceros, a guinea pig, two very tall birds, two purple creatures surrounded by flies, a walrus, and some animal that looked like some kind of bird crossed with a beaver except he had fur instead of feathers.
Immediately, the resident campers took notice of the three reptilian creatures following Slinkman.
"What are they supposed to be?" Edward the platypus whispered to some of his peers. He eyed the two dinosaurs. They were much wider than most of the campers at Camo Kidney and even stranger, they walked on all fours. They looked like they had thick leathery skin. One had a very long neck, longer than the loons', one had weird humps spaced out on his back, and the other was very tiny and flying.
"They look some kind of lizard" suggested Dave, one of the loons.
"One's got wings" observed Dave's brother, Ping Pong.
"Maybe that one's a bird" said one of the purple dung beetles. His name was Chip.
"No, he looks like a plane" said his brother, Skip.
"Well whatever they are, I hope they don't carry a lot of germs!" grumbled Samson the guinea pig. "Ewww the green one with the lumps is drooling! Gross!" Samson had his EpiPen ready.
"Giants" the pygmy rhinoceros said, referring to how massive the young longneck and spiketail looked.
"Well, I think these new kids will be great!" declared the spider monkey. "I'm getting the vibe that they love to fun just like we do!"
"Gee Lazlo, if you make friends with them, keep those scaly freaks away from me" said Edward. "If there's one person at camp who's great at attracting weird people, it's Lazlo."
Slinkman and the prehistoric children entered the scoutmaster's cabin.
Without taking his eyes off of his newspaper, donuts, and coffee, Scoutmaster Algonquin C. Lumpus acknowledged Slinkman as the slug walked in.
"What is it Slinkman? Can't you see I'm busy?" he grunted.
"Sir, these are the three new scouts I picked up at the Prickly Pines train station. Meet Littlefoot, Spike, and Petrie."
Lumpus barely glanced up from his newspaper. Huh, lizard kids, he thought to himself. Wait.
"Slinkman!"
"Yes Sir?"
"These kids are dinosaurs!"
"Yes Sir, they –"
"Last time I checked, dinosaurs were extinct! What are they doing here?! Why are these prehistoric monsters in my cabin?! Are they going to eat me?!"
"No Sir! Sir, cool it, I don't want you to offend our new campers" responded a sheepish and frustrated Slinkman.
"I don't want to be dinosaur chow Slinkman!"
"We won't eat you, Mr. Scoutmaster" Littlefoot interjected. He, Spike, and Petrie still didn't exactly now what as all involved with the title of "scoutmaster" but Littlefoot assumed Lumpus was merely a really important grown-up.
"Listen Sir, they came from a foster home. I guess, long story short, they got lost somehow, ended up in foster care, and then their foster home offered to send them to camp. Give them something to do and so they can meet new kids their age. Their foster home said they'd pay for their camp fees for as long as the boys stay here. Plus, this foster family is pretty loaded and their father went to Camp Kidney and loved it. He said he'd thrown in a few hundred dollars since he enjoyed staying here as a kid."
"Lumpus's eyes lit up with dollar signs. Lumpus tilted his head in shame, embarrassed about being rude. Then, he smiled.
"Well as long as their foster home or whatever's paying for it, I don't really care" Lumpus said.
"And Sir, they had two females traveling with them and they were sent to Acorn Flats. So, I promised the boys we'd see the squirrel scouts so they can see their friends and so Spike can see his sister, I guess."
At the mention of the squirrel scouts, Lumpus's heart skipped a beat as he dreamt of Jane Doe, the scoutmaster at Acorn Flats. Suddenly, he noticed that the two dinosaurs and pterosaur as well as Slinkman all were giving him funny looks.
"D'oh! I mean, Slinkman, go find them a cabin! And for heaven's sakes, give these boys some clothes!" yelled Lumpus as he eyed them with disgust. "You guys are filthy! And please don't eat me! I don't care if you guys eat the campers! As long as you don't eat me!"
"Yes Sir" replied Slinkman. "Follow me boys" he said as he led the three prehistoric animals outside.
"Let's get you guys some uniforms. So as a bean scout, you are expected to wear the scout uniform" Slinkman lectured.
He led the three new scouts to a small storage shed behind of course, the latrines. Slinkman unlocked the door and pulled out two used scout uniforms. "Hmmm these look large enough. 3XL for Littlefoot and Spike and Small for Petrie. Try these on." He glanced down at all their feet. Littlefoot and Spike both had very thick feet while Petrie had very thin, clawed feet. "I won't bother with shoes for you guys."
Slinkman inferred that the three Mesozoic creatures had never put on clothes before. He thought it was quite comical as they struggled to comprehend how to put on the items of clothing. Littlefoot muscled his way into his shirt. He pulled his front feet through the shirt sleeves. Slinkman rolled his eyes as he had to button the young Apatasaurus's shirt buttons as well as Spike's. Despite receiving a small shirt, Petrie found his shirt to be too large.
"Here, I have an idea" suggested Slinkman. He pulled out a pair of scissors, cut out one of the sleeves from a 2XL shirt, poked holes in either side and helped the little pterosaur squeeze inside. "That looks perfect" said Slinkman.
Despite being given a 3XL adult size, the camp shirt was still quite tight on Littlefoot. Just as Spike finally squirmed into his, his massive girth caused it to tear in the back.
"Great" muttered Slinkman. "One less handy down for future campers." He opted to throw Littlefoot and Spike each an extra 3XL shirt just in case. He also cut out another sleeve and made another shirt for Petrie.
Slinkman thought the boys looked pretty awkward in their uniforms but not terrible. He gave them each a neck scarf and a hat. For Petrie, he cut out a section of a scarf which he wrapped around Petrie's fragile little neck.
"Petrie, we once had a mouse scout, so I think his little hat will fit you." Slinkman reached into his pocket and pulled out a bean scout hat about the size of a salt shaker. It fit Petrie's head barely. Littlefoot and Spike received normal hats that fit them relatively well.
"You boys are set!" declared Slinkman. "Now, we need to give you guys a cabin."
As Slinkman led the prehistoric campers out to the parade fields, three scouts approached them. Littlefoot recognized the monkey, elephant, and pygmy rhinoceros from earlier but the other campers who had accompanied were nowhere to be seen.
"Well, I'm glad someone around here is welcoming, boys, meet Littlefoot, Petrie, and Spike" Slinkman said to the three current campers.
"Are you guys really dinosaurs?!" cried the monkey with joy.
"Dinosaurs" said the pygmy rhinoceros.
"Lazlo, be mindful, these creatures were here before us" said the elephant.
"My name's Lazlo" said the monkey.
"I am Raj" said the elephant with a think Indian accent.
"Me Clam" declared the little pygmy rhinoceros.
"Lazlo the furry climber, Raj the long nose, and Clam the two-horn" said Littlefoot as he tried to interpret what animal species each boy was. "My name's Littlefoot and I'm a longneck."
"Me Petrie and me a flayer" said Petrie the flyer.
"And that's Spike, he's a spiketail" explained Littlefoot as he pointed to Spike with his tail.
"These boys just arrived today. They're not exactly from around here or during here so I was wondering if you Jellies could them come up with a cabin name" Slinkman told Jelly Cabin.
"Oh, we'd loved to!" replied Lazlo. "Guys, it's simple: just come up with a bean name that Slinkman would approve of!"
"What beans?" Petrie asked.
"They are a kind of food" explained Slinkman. "I imagine you guys eat leaves."
"We like to eat tree stars" said Littlefoot. "Can we name our cabin, "Tree Star Cabin?"
"I'm afraid it's gotta be a kind of bean, Littlefoot" replied Slinkman.
"Co ca" groaned Spike. He was eyeing the leaves up above him in the trees despite them not looking like tree stars.
"Hey, that's a great idea, Spike!" I think Spike thinks you guys should name your cabin, 'Coca', after coca beans" suggested Lazlo.
"What's coca?" asked Littlefoot.
"Chocolate" said Clam with a grin.
"I suppose that'll work boys" said Slinkman. "We haven't had a 'Coca Bean' cabin yet. Very original. He took out a sharpie and stenciled the name 'Coca' on the plaque above the door.
"Spike sure knows his beans" joked Lazlo. "Say, Coca cabin is right next to Jelly cabin!" Lazlo pointed out the cabin to the left of the newly christened Coca cabin that had colorful flags on it. "We can stay up late together and have sleepovers!" he giggled like a girl.
Littlefoot, Petrie, and Spike all exchanged awkward. These animals were strange but friendly at least. Littlefoot, despite feeling truly lost in a strange, future world, couldn't help but feel his spirits being lifted since arriving at Camp Kidney.
"I think we'd really like that Lazlo, thank you" Littlefoot smiled.
Meanwhile at Acorn Flats, unlike her Camp Kidney counterpart, Jane Doe actually acknowledged the fact that her camp had received two new scouts.
"Oh ladies!" sang Miss Jane Doe. "We have two brand-new little campers joining us for the summer!"
Jane Doe's squirrel scouts all huddled in the center of camp where she unveiled the two new campers. "Ladies, please give a warm and happy welcome to Cera and Ducky! Yay!"
"Hi Cera and Ducky!" all the squirrel scouts said.
"Greetings! I am ready for this camp, I am I am!" said Ducky with glee.
"As long as we can find a way home eventually" said Cera. "Place does look nice though."
In the crowd, Patsy the mongoose, Nina the giraffe, and Gretchen the alligator stared down the two new faces.
"Gretchen, they kind of look like you" Patsy whispered to her reptilian friend.
"Humph I'm prettier than they are, especially the one with the horn" scoffed Gretchen.
"Oh my! Do you know what those are?!" squealed Nina.
"What?" asked Patsy.
"They're dinosaurs!" Nina whispered. "They are related to Gretchen, technically speaking."
"They're like your cousins, Gretchen" said Patsy.
"Pretty ugly cousins" muttered Gretchen.
"So, Cera and Ducky, will be staying in the same cabin as Patsy, Nina, and Gretchen! Yay!" announced Miss Doe.
The three squirrel scouts looked up.
"Ladies, show them to their new home" ordered Miss Doe.
"Y-Yes Miss Doe!" stammered Patsy.
As they led their new bunkmates to the cabin, the three squirrel scouts introduce themselves to the two dinosaurs.
"So, I'm Patsy".
"Nina" said the giraffe. "It is an honor to meet real dinosaurs!"
"Sure, whatever" said Cera.
"My name's Gretchen" said the young alligator as she eyed the two dinosaurs, mainly Cera, with suspicion.
They reached the cabin and Patsy brought them all inside. Right as she was about to explain the house rules, Gretchen butted in.
"Listen up scaly freaks! I'm in charge here! I don't want to see either of you touching my stuff, Patsy's stuff, or Nina's stuff! Got it?! Also, in the morning, I got first dibs on the shower!"
"Please" muttered Cera. "I've seen sharpteeth scarier than your attitude!"
"What did you say?!" bellowed Gretchen as she gnarred her teeth at the triceratops.
"I've also seen sharpteeth with teeth bigger and sharper than yours" retorted Cera. Gretchen's eyes burned red with anger.
"You and are going to have some issues" she said, glaring at the female triceratops.
"Us threehorns aren't afraid of a little sharptooth like you" replied Cera. Hmmph!"
"You only got one horn currently genius!" Gretchen countered with a chuckle. "How'd you end up here? You and your little friend fail math camp?! Hahahaha!"
"Oh boy" muttered Cera. "And I don't even know what math camp is." This merely caused Gretchen to laugh even harder.
Elsewhere, Ducky retreated outside with Patsy and Nina.
"Patsy why do you stare so much at the big water? Do you like swimming? Because I love swimming!" piped Ducky.
"Oh, it's nothing Ducky" Patsy replied in a dreamy voice.
"Her boy is on the other side of the lake" Nina whispered to Ducky.
"Shhhh!" Patsy whispered back as she nudged Nina.
"There are boys on the other side?"
"Yeah, they're in this filthy and disgusting camp called Camp Kidney" replied Nina. "We have the misfortune of having to interact with those degenerates on occasion."
Patsy ignored Nina's insults towards the bean scouts.
"Camp Kidney! Miss Jane said my friends and brother got sent there because they were boys!" Ducky said. "Does that mean I could see them?"
"You'll probably see them soon enough" answered Nina. "I think we're doing a sports and picnic day with them next week."
"Yay! I can see Spike, Littlefoot, and Petrie!"
"So your friends are, um dinosaurs too?" asked Nina. She kept forgetting that Ducky was from a time that the name "dinosaur" had yet to be coined.
"They came from the Great Valley just as I did!" replied Ducky. "Petrie is a flyer, my brother Spike is a spiketail, and Littlefoot is a longneck!"
"I take that as a yes" said Nina. She figured "flyer" meant pterosaur so technically not a dinosaur, "longneck" probably meant some kind of sauropod, and "spiketail" probably referred to Stegosaurus.
Patsy listened in on the conversation. So, Lazlo met some dinosaurs too. That's another thing we have in common now she said to herself.
"Oh Lazlo, what do you think of dinosaurs…" Patsy trailed off.
Inside, Nina helped Ducky and Cera change into their squirrel scout uniforms while Gretchen pulled out a piece of chalk that she used to draw a circle around her bed and dresser, denoting her territory.
Despite being merely less than a mile apart from each other on opposite ends of Leaky Lake, the young male dinosaurs and young female dinosaurs could not help but feel separated and deprived of their complete friend group. Word would get out, in both Camp Kidney and Acorn Flats that there were now dinosaur campers. This was going to be a very interesting summer.