Author's Notes:

Okay, folks! It looks like I have just created my second parody and now it's going to be better than ever! This plot will get extremely weird and very bizarre and perhaps a bit complicated, so listen carefully: This story is a parody of one of my most favorite films of all time, "The Land Before Time", and it takes place in present day London that has been ravaged by the onset of the nuclear holocaust. With the entire world destroyed and much of the world's population wiped out, there was barely any dinosaur left that was capable of bearing children due to the toxicity of the radiation fallout. Get my drift?

To make matters worse, the environment was also severely polluted and contaminated with a lot of destruction and debris and the only remaining survivors left must journey to this miraculous haven called, duh-duh-duh: America! However, a few select females have managed to give birth to the next generation that would be instrumental in leading the entire herd to the one safe place left.

These young dinosaurs are the following: Rhonda, a female longneck born to Dr. Marlena Evans, who is also a longneck, (I know, weird, but bear with me), Lee, a threehorn born to Julia Sugarbaker, Renee, the daughter of Mary Jo Shively, (who is actually a friend of Julia's in "Designing Women"; I just found out that contrary to belief, she is NOT the mother of Julia and Suzanne, for their mother is actually friends with an old woman named Bernice), Courage The Cowardly Dog, who is a spiketail and strangely enough is the most timid member of the group, (yep, that's a twist on Petrie right there), and Cliff & Buddy, the not-so-scaredy cat flyers of the gang. Rhonda is pretty much my alter ego if you have not noticed by now and Cliff and Buddy are my original characters that I've had for a long time. I think it's about time that I displayed them more because they are such great characters.

To make things more interesting, each of the six dinosaurs have inherited at least one power/ability pertaining to their nature and personality, with Rhonda being a pyrokinetic, Lee most likely an unknown Atlantean with psionic powers, Renee with telekinesis, Cliff with light, Buddy with shadow, and Courage has his shape-shifting powers; this is due to them being exposed to radiation fallout during the nuclear holocaust while they were still young.

However, as in the film, Rhonda suddenly loses her mother Marlena to the ravages of the evil T-Rex Stefano DiMera, (yep, I can almost swear he was born to play this role), after a devastating storm strikes England, and she must follow her last wishes and team up with the other super-powered dinosaurs to get to America while avoiding the evil clutches of Stefano and make sure that they do not become his latest meal.

There will be a lot of changes in this story since we're talking about London here, and I might have to take a look at a map of England just to see where the most important landmarks are and to plot out the direction in which the characters are to take just to make things easier; speaking of which, I must also find the landmarks that are there in England so I can put them into the story because Rhonda is supposed to follow those landmarks to find her way to America.

And also in case you're wondering, this is also some sort of alternate universe in which it presents a scenario of what if Rhonda, Courage, Lee, Cliff, Buddy and Renee were never born until this point; I'll bet you a lot of things would have turned out differently. For example, I think Vivian would have replaced Lee as the villain in the late 70's/early 80's and might have arrived in Salem much earlier than the normal time line. Also there will be mentions in this chapter of The Cold War still occurring to this present day between the U.S., Russia, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, etc., and that was what finally led to the nuclear holocaust.

The two main reasons why I had Rhonda turn into a longneck in this story are actually very interesting: the first reason is, I have never thought of it until now, but when I was a young kid my favorite dinosaur was the brontosaurus, I don't know why, and I was also able to relate and identify with Littlefoot on some level due to our similar personalities and the fact that we both lost our mothers. I can't believe I didn't remember this until now!

I also picked Lee as Cera because she is more of the mean and nasty type as well as devious and you will see just how cruel and sadistic she can be at times in this story; she is also very proud and stubborn and clashes with Rhonda on multiple occasions. Lee is also very headstrong with a very fiery temper and I think she is more of a Cera-type if anything. I mean, Cera was BAD, really BAD in the original film and look how she's turned out now.

As for Courage, I was originally going to have him as Petrie because their personalities are so similar but I couldn't find anybody for Spike so I decided to have Courage as Spike since all he does is talk in gibberish, (he had a lot of lines in the first couple of seasons on the show but people started complaining that he had too many lines so they had to cut them down significantly. I still wonder how his voice actor managed to do it), and Cliff and Buddy filled in the dual role of Petrie. Ironic, huh?

I also decided to have Laverne the gargoyle as Rooter but before that I was considering Alice or Tom Horton and Doug Williams for that role; I also was considering putting Eric and Annie Camden as Rhonda's grandparents/uncle & aunt. But I ultimately decided to have Doug and Julie play Rhonda's uncle and aunt because I couldn't bear to keep him away from Julie and it would be so weird anyway. As for the role of Ducky, it wasn't hard and I chose Renee because she's usually the sweet and kind one.

As for Mr. Threehorn, though, it took some work. I was going to have Doug play Cera's father since he and Lee had such a dynamic relationship as ex-spouses over the years and that would be a bit of irony right there. Again, the aforementioned reason; I then considered Stefano for the role of Cera's father but I quickly dismissed that idea because although Mr. Threehorn was very mean, he did change gradually and slowly and I guess now in recent years he has mellowed down and in Stefano's case he has no redeemable qualities; he is just a cold-blooded, evil bastard, the type of guy I would not mind putting a bullet through his head. I was then racking my brain on who to pick and that was when I randomly recalled Julia Sugarbaker.

The moment I recalled her, I started to remember what I actually knew about her on the show and I fondly recalled that clip from the "Miss Trial" episode on YouTube and I knew she would be just perfect as Mr. Threehorn, (despite of gender discrepancies), so I immediately cast her as Ms. Threehorn and I came up with the back-story that her mate abandoned her with their daughter and she had to raise her alone. However, Julia was never known to be a big time racist, (or so I believe), so therefore I decided I can manipulate some of her personal flaws to create some form of conflict in the story.

I decided to have Julia have some sort of prejudice against certain groups, particularly Salemites, and instill some ideas into Lee's head while telling her lies about them. This could get particularly interesting because Rhonda and Lee befriend each other and Julia might want to oppose that friendship.

So I guess in this case it's the racial/ethnic/regional barrier that is separating everyone from each other. I also realized I had not cast anybody as Ducky's mother so I decided I might as well have Mary Jo since she seems to be the motherly type and I thought it would be interesting to see her and Renee interact, just like with Lee and Julia.

So the important questions are: how will Rhonda and her friends survive the journey? How will they get there? Will they be able to work together and put aside their differences or will they go their separate ways? Will Stefano get the upper hand and hunt them down and kill them? Will dinosaur-kind even survive? These are questions that will be answered timely and as for the final question, I'm not sure. I mean, they certainly cannot reproduce because they are too young and they certainly cannot remain in their universe, so perhaps they can move into another universe and settle there. It depends on what happens in this story.

If they do visit the Team Legacy universe, they will have to be referred to as Prehistoric Rhonda, Prehistoric Lee, etc., and their universe is officially called "The Prehistoric Legacy Universe", despite of the fact that the story takes place in the present and there is technology abound. It depends on how popular this story is, and I hope it does well, because it has a potentially good plot.

Oh yeah, and there will be a lot of cameos throughout this story, and there will be a bunch of people from various fandoms and you might even get to meet some of my original characters and perhaps a couple that has never been seen before. I will tell you that the Wilkersons will be among them. I might even have more people join the gang as they go along their journey to make things more interesting.

So I hope you read and perhaps review and if you have any questions, just ask in my review or send me a private message. I usually reply very quickly, perhaps in a millisecond (:.

And I must also point out that I was inspired to write this story after reading Titanic Disaster's parody of The Land Before Time before I forget.

Read and review!

R.P.

Rhonda Petrie Presents...

A motion picture about six brave young dinosaurs embarking on the journey of a lifetime... as they travel across vast oceans from the depths of England all the way to the land of the free... and escape the evil, dastardly clutches of a sinister Italian mafia man... Stefano DiMera.

From the creator of the Team Legacy series, as well as Maude's Tuckahoe Saga: The Movie, A Day In The Life Of Chopsuey, Shadows Of The Past, A Child In Their Midst, and even The War On America, comes a tale of suspense, adventure, danger, survival, love, and friendship as our heroes learn to trust each other and follow their hearts as they search for the one true place they all call come home.

Rhonda Petrie as Littlefoot

Lee Dumonde Carmichael as Cera

Renee Dumonde as Ducky

Courage The Cowardly Dog as Spike

And Clifford Roscoe Martin, aka "Cliff", and Bernadette Mae Foster, aka "Buddy", as Petrie

(More cast members will be added as the story progresses)

Additional cast members:

Doug Williams as Grandpa Longneck, (in this case an uncle)

Julie Williams as Grandma Longneck (in this case an aunt)

Dr. Marlena Evans as Littlefoot's Mother, (even I wish I knew what her name was)

Julia Sugarbaker as Cera's Mother (would have been father but whatever; this is a parody, not an Oscar-winning movie)

Mary Jo Shively as Ducky's Mother

And featuring Stefano DiMera as the evil Sharptooth...

Rated T for violence, language and suspense. Rating may change depending on the plot of this story; you must be 16 and over to view this.

The Legacy Before Time: Journey To America

Rhonda Petrie

September 13th, 2010

Chapter 1 – Rebirth

The sun was rising on the ancient ruins of dystopian London as its brilliant, luminous, scant rays revealed the decadent and rundown condition of many of the buildings scattered all over the country of England. The buildings were crumbling from its seams with cracks spread all over the walls and some of them even had walls collapsed on the ground altogether with caved in rooftops and missing or shattered windows. The streets were littered with rubble, slabs of concrete, wood, scraps of metal and all kinds of other debris and traces of radiation can be found within the sewers and gutters.

Deep within the sewers and gutters, several mice and rats were scurrying their way through the dark, dank and chilly tunnels searching fervently for materials to rebuild their nests due to the constant flooding of their homes by the surface waters pouring into the underground and they were also looking for some scraps to feed on. Among these residents were a lanky, scrawny, gangling, male mouse named Mortimer, a short, diminutive, slender, female mouse named Minnie, and an equally stunted and tiny male mouse named Mickey, which were now engaged in a bitter squabble.

In the meantime, a lime green male longneck named Shorty was busy chasing around some Tinysauruses with his raspy snarls while a dark brown male mouse wearing a red shirt, a dark blue bandana, and a blue cap named Fievel Mousekiwitz was busy tidying up his small nest with his sister Tanya and his parents. A purple and white shark-like experiment named Sinker was lurking and swimming within the greenish, murky waters and upon surfacing to the outside world, was terrified at the sight of a Croconaw lunging right at him; retreating back underwater, he was then forced to swim for his life as the angular fish from "Finding Nemo" suddenly materialized out of the blue with its eerie, bright lantern hook glowing in the dark and started its mad pursuit of the illegal genetically mutated experiment.

Meanwhile on the surface world, a kangaroo-like experiment named Joey, aka Experiment 618, was leaping in great, wide bounds to catch up with the rest of the herd as an aquamarine male experiment with a horn named Yaarp, aka Experiment 613, was hanging out with a cyan blue female experiment named Belle, aka Experiment 248. Belle then let out a high pitched shriek and glanced up in awe with her male cousin as thousands of ducks took off across the skies and were soon flocking the heavens in one great swoop. Yaarp and Belle then proceeded to race off to catch up with the rest of the herd.

...

The trees were stripped bare of its precious and luscious leaves and many of them were scattered all over the country of England; they were so naked and exposed that it seems that these trees looked like they had just been blown off by a massive hurricane and were very lifeless and dead. The streets were dusty, dry, and rough with no fresh, damp soil in place and the roots were so depleted of the nutrients it desperately needs that it was not enough for them to hold the soil together in place.

Many of London's most famous monuments were also devastated and annihilated, with the Big Ben's hands creaking and falling apart with its glass casing cracked in the middle as the enormous clock lay in a huge pile of rubble; the Buckingham Palace was also severely dismantled and in a ramshackle condition, with huge boulders sitting all over the perimeters and the stairs were worn down and eroded with faults developed along the slope.

The Thames River had a sickly, dark, smoky black violet color to it since it had been heavily polluted and contaminated for seven years, and much of the land was now a toxic wasteland with scraps of radiator and nuclear plants lying around in a chaotic and disorderly mess.

Much of the food was hardly edible and as a result of the nuclear fallout that occurred between the communist and democratic countries, it had shriveled up and wilted into a million pieces and whatever remained was too dry and crisp for the pseudo-human dinosaurs to eat. The skies were dark, cloudy and dreary, with a smoky haze of dust and ash hovering much over the land, blotting out the sun's light rays. Even though the sun was very much alive, its warmth could no longer permeate the atmosphere and the air felt very cold, chilly and dry.

The winds were now blustering and blowing around the city as the gusts glided across the skies and several species of birds, including flamingoes, hornbills, pelicans, boobies, vultures, crows, pigeons, eagles, hawks, and even fingerbirds, were flocking in the heavens together and were doing their best to stay together in this cruel and unforgiving post-apocalyptic world.

...

And so it began the greatest migration of all dinosaur-kind, with several types of species banding together in their own separate groups in a long and perilous journey to the land of the free, the great land of opportunity – the United States of America.

Many of the couples that were embarking together on this quest were in deep grief and sorrow due to the fact that the nuclear holocaust had left them barren and unable to produce offspring, and whatever offspring they were able to create had vanished, for the toxins of the radiation had left the shells of eggs brittle and thin and had completely poisoned the embryos to the point of death. That left the dinosaurs virtually no chance to repopulate their population after such a catastrophic and devastating event like the Apocalypse.

Why America, you ask? How in the world did it survive such devastation and ruin? Well, perhaps it was the jet streams that helped divert the direction of radiation away from the country, preserving plant and animal life. Or perhaps there was an invisibility shield that blocked out the majority of the radiation, although some of it still went through it and killed much of the population. Whatever the reason, the Londoners regard America as a miraculous haven that managed to withstand the cataclysm and remain very much intact.

However, another bizarre phenomenon has occurred; despite of the fact that the entire dinosaur world was left sterile due to the fallout of the radiation, a few members of the next generation have now remained, and what's more was that their exposure to the nuclear holocaust while still in their mother's wombs have caused them to gain new superpowers. There were a few expecting mothers in the city that have chosen to stay behind for the time being and take shelter in one of the abandoned buildings to build their nest and give birth to their offspring by laying their eggs. These mothers held the key to what could ultimately be the last hope for their species.

...

One such expecting mother was none other than Marlena Evans, a young light brown Apatosaurus with silky, long, soft auburn brown hair that had built a temporary nest in one of the old buildings along with Doug and Julie Williams and was now awaiting the birth of her first child.

Just living on the other side two blocks away was a middle-aged Southern woman named Julia Sugarbaker, who was a female dark ebony triceratops and was also lying in her nest all alone in the secluded and quiet dark waiting for her lone egg to hatch.

Also several miles away in the briny, murky, wet swamps on the wild moors of London was a light tan-colored adult Saurolophus that was keeping a close vigil over her small egg, which was sitting around a cluster of broken shells and shards of her deceased young.

The female, who was named Mary Jo, noticed a slight twitch in her egg and peered closely with a slight bent in her back as cracks developed on the shell; then a head popped out, revealing a young woman with milky, porcelain skin and dark brown eyes with overflowing, curling, wavy black hair. "Wow," she breathed in awe as she surveyed the area around her and stuck out her arms, legs and tail for good measure, breaking apart her egg.

"Well, hello there, little one," Mary Jo cooed as she gazed intently at her young one, prompting the young Saurolophus to glance over her shoulder and blink her eyes silently.

"You must be a lovely angel. I'm your mother Mary Jo and I'm going to take good care of you," Mary Jo replied as she noticed that her newborn daughter had black markings on her back, crest and tail as well as a silver underbelly; it was at that moment a dragonfly buzzed around the young dinosaur in a circle and she snarled playfully at it before she started off after it. Mary Jo then panicked and took off after her daughter, fearful that she would lose her to the ravages of nature so soon after birth. "Come back here!"

The little Saurolophus then dashed after the dragonfly as she snapped at its wings while jumping and swiping wildly at the flying insect with her paws. Then the dragonfly landed gently on a dark olive-green formation as the dinosaur crept slowly towards it with her tail raised slightly and her nose to the ground.

She then growled softly and the moment she pounced on the dragonfly, it swiftly flew away as a pair of sharp jaws suddenly opened wide with a rumbling snarl and the Saurolophus shrieked in a loud, terrified voice as she scrambled to get away from the reptilian creature; she skittered all over the snout and continued to scream at the top of her lungs as the jaws snapped at her wildly and the young swimmer jumped away from him with her arms flailing in an effort to escape.

But then Mary Jo rushed in just in time and snatched her new daughter by the tail before making her getaway; the creature then growled irritably before sinking into the brackish waters and disappearing from view. Mary Jo then returned to her nest and bent over to catch her breath as she set her offspring down and the little swimmer breathed a sigh of relief as she peered at her mother quizzically.

Mary Jo then declared with a wry smile, "Well, you are certainly quite a handful, little one; you have a lot of spunk and fire for someone who just hatched out of her shell."

She then narrowed her eyes and an idea came to her as her face lit up with realization. "I'll call you Renee; that's what your name shall be. You're a pretty one at that, and I'm going to make sure you will never get into danger again," she informed her solemnly as Renee slunk over to her mother and nuzzled her lovingly, with the older woman returning the gesture.

"Mama," she purred sweetly and gave Mary Jo a lick, making her smile. "My little Renee," Mary Jo cooed softly in a murmur.

Renee, the beautiful one, born again.

...

"My little Lee, you are finally hatching," Julia announced with glee and pride as the egg was disintegrating before her eyes; the top shell lifted up as a mahogany triceratops emerged from her egg and flipped on her chest as her eyes traveled up to the beaming expression of her mother.

"Well, well, just look at you. You're a rare beauty at that and you also have the most attractive hazel brown eyes with a hint of green. You also have the most beautiful and stunning face I have ever seen and not even I could dream to have a child as stunning as you," Julia complimented Lee's looks as the young triceratops gazed around and nodded proudly.

Then she charged right for her mother and fell back with a thud as she picked herself back up and prepared to lunge at her again with her tiny feet scraping against the ground. But just as Lee was about to slam her head into her mother's leg again, a crash of thunder rang in the air and Lee yelped in surprise as she ducked under her mother and gazed up at the sky in wonder.

The rain was now pouring down on the gloomy and dreary sky as Julia stared at the sky with a soft smile on her lips and upon turning her attention to her daughter, she then nuzzled her on her frilly head and purred lovingly. Lee returned the gesture with a slight rubbing on the head and Julia drew the young triceratops close to her as she enfolded her in her arms and started to hum a lullaby.

"Mama, what's a Threehorn?" Lee inquired her mother curiously as Julia knitted her eyebrows quizzically and she nudged her daughter on her chest while laying her down to sleep. "A Threehorn is just another word for a triceratops, my dear. We all come from different species and backgrounds."

"You, for example, are of Southern heritage and that mighty blood runs through your veins. You should be glad to be a Southern woman because we are a very proud and sophisticated people rooted in old traditions and customs and as such are very distinguished from other groups," was Julia's answer as she proceeded to stroke Lee on the back of her neck, making her sleepy.

"Why are we isolated from everyone else? Why can't we mingle with the rest of the people?" Lee persisted with her questioning as she shifted around restlessly. "Well, it's just the way things are, my darling. We just keep to ourselves and we only rely on each other whenever necessarily. Besides, we don't need the likes of them, especially those damn Salemites. They are so licentious and immoral that it's a wonder that their next generation is hanging on, just barely," Julia continued to explain with a bitter and cynical tone in her voice.

She purred softly as she blew a hair off her face and peered down at her young one with a smile. "Then again, your father wasn't so great either. He was a coward and scum and he did not know how to treat women properly as he should have. And when I informed him that I was pregnant with you he just took off and never looked back. Women have accomplished so much and yet are still treated like second class citizens."

Lee glanced downward at the ground sadly as she snorted to herself and traced the outline of the gravel floor lightly before meeting her mother's eyes again. "Why are the Salemites here, Mama?" she asked innocently.

"It's because Salem has gone to hell; too much corruption, violence, and fighting going on in the town. And it wasn't just that town, but the rest of America as we know it. Everyone moved out of the country altogether and headed out to Europe to live in a better place and before they abandoned America for good, the president activated an invisible shield to block out any trace of radiation in a event of the nuclear holocaust so that plant and animal life can at least be preserved."

"Much of our dinosaur population has been wiped out and our capability to reproduce has diminished significantly, which is why I'm so happy and fortunate to have you," Julia murmured as she held Lee close and nuzzled her tenderly.

"Mama, were there ever humans on Earth?" Lee persisted with her questioning as she rolled over on her side and curled up in her mother's cradle before she closed her eyes to go to sleep. "We have human-like qualities but we are naturally dinosaurs, so therefore we are a unique kind of hybrid," was Julia's answer as she huddled Lee close to her and rocked her softly in her arms while licking her on her back to lull her to sleep. "Now go to sleep."

Lee nodded as she cradled her head to rest but then she saw a flash of lightning from the corner of her eye and perked up her head in surprise. Lee then heard a loud, ear-splitting roar of thunder crash across the sky and she started to quiver in terror as her ears were folded back apprehensively.

"Don't worry, darling. There's nothing to be afraid of; it's just thunder and lightning. It's nature's way of releasing its tension. Just stay close to me and you'll be safe," Julia reassured her calmly as she started to nuzzle her on the head to soothe her frightened child and after a few moments Lee stopped shuddering as she inched closer to her mother's neck to keep herself warm.

Julia then started to hum a lullaby as she tucked her head in to sleep and as the lightning and thunder continued to clash and rebound together, a song began to play over the old overhead PA speaker and the lyrics began to stream over in the quiet, still air as a voice began to sing.

"I am looking for the original sin, one with a twist and a bit of a spin, and since I've done all the old ones till they have been done in, now I'm just looking and for the gone with the wind; endlessly searching for an original sin…"

Lee, the most beautiful of all clearings and meadows in the world…

...

Rhonda, the most beautiful rose in the world, a rose that flourishes and thrives in adversity; the strongest and robust spear in all of London.

Marlena's eyes popped open the moment she heard a distinct cracking sound near her; she quickly picked up her elongated, slender neck as she slowly got to her feet and smiled upon seeing more cracks appear on the small egg. "Doug, Julie, come here quickly. The baby's hatching," Marlena hissed in an excited voice as a giant dark royal blue Apatosaurus accompanied his wife, a bright, yellow, amber female Apatosaurus, over to where Marlena was standing and then hovered over the egg as they eagerly anticipated the birth of the first child born to their minuscule herd.

A ruby tail sprouted out of the egg from the side as a head poked out of the top shell before the breaking egg fell over on its backside; the hatching newborn then spread out her legs one by one as she wiggled her tail freely and rolled over on her chest as she was sprawled on the floor. The young ruby Apatosaurus then lifted her head up and her eyes went wide upon seeing three grown Apatosauruses staring at her with proud smiles.

"Hello there, little one; my name is Doug and I'm your uncle," the elderly Apatosaurus greeted her with a friendly smile and the newborn dinosaur scurried away from him with a terrified yelp as she quickly backed away towards her mother. "What's the matter, sweetheart? It's okay; come here. There's nothing to be afraid of," Marlena coaxed her new daughter gently as she grabbed her by the nape of the neck and pulled her close to her before nuzzling her lovingly.

Rhonda then glanced around to see Julie, who was standing near Marlena with a gentle smile, and smiled a little upon seeing her. Marlena then glanced at Julie and gently nuzzled her daughter on the head and Rhonda giggled in return.

Rhonda then was about to skitter away when Marlena caught her by the tail and licked her three times on the face; as the newborn Apatosaurus squirmed and wriggled to get away, Marlena held her firmly in her arms as she continued to wash and bathe her. Rhonda continued to giggle in delight as she shook wildly and then peered over to see a group of mice, rice, sparrows, blue jays, golden finches and canaries entering the residence to take a closer look at the newly hatched dinosaur. Rhonda retreated from view and hid in her mother's arms as she attempted to avoid being seen by the small animals.

Marlena then nuzzled her tenderly once more and gently nudged her to take a peek at the visitors. "It's okay, Rhonda. They won't hurt you; they just want to see you, that's all," she reassured her calmly as Rhonda squinted her eyes curiously at the horde of mice and rats that now converged around her mother's cradle. Among them were Mortimer, Mickey and Minnie, who were astounded and amazed to see the newborn Apatosaurus.

...

"Well, acha, cha, cha. Look at that beautiful longneck. She has the sexiest sapphire blue eyes I have ever seen and she has the most gorgeous color of any dinosaur here on this earth," Mortimer commented seductively as Minnie slammed her foot on his left foot, causing him to yelp out and bounce around in agony. "That's what you get for saying suggestive comments in front of a newborn," Minnie scolded him fiercely as she glanced at her boyfriend.

"Gosh, Minnie, don't you think we should go and visit the new mother?" Mickey inquired her anxiously as the two lovers continued to hear excruciating cries from Mortimer while he could be heard screaming unmentionable obscenities in the background. "Oh course, Mickey. That's what we're here for. Besides, Rafiki should be here any minute now to give his blessing to the new baby," Minnie chuckled gaily as she grabbed Mickey's hand and led him over to Marlena, who was now curled up with her head resting as Rhonda was also settled on the ground with her head cradled in her forearms.

"Wait a minute, since when Rafiki is in this picture?" Mickey asked Minnie quizzically. "Why don't you go ask the writer of this fanfiction? I don't know," Minnie laughed as they approached Marlena slowly and the middle-aged woman lifted her gigantic head up and nodded to greet them. "Hello, Mickey, Minnie," she welcomed them openly as she turned to gaze at them. "Hello, Marlena. Minnie and I just came here to see the baby and give you congratulations," Mickey replied back in a friendly manner as he noticed the sleeping form of Rhonda and the young Apatosaurus perked her head up and peered curiously at the tiny mouse.

"Aww, she's so cute!" Mickey gushed as he petted Rhonda lightly and Rhonda chuckled at the touch. "And she is just so adorable!" Minnie added while beaming. "Her body is so soft, delicate, yet smooth and wrinkled. She is pretty tiny I admit," Mickey commented wryly. "I know that Rhonda may be small, but she has yet some spunk and life in her. And she is truly a beautiful child," Marlena returned loyally as Rhonda gazed wonderingly at the mice couple.

...

But then Rafiki entered the abandoned house as he smacked Mortimer to the ground with his gourd staff and the lanky, scrawny male mouse fell back with a thud as he yelped out in pain. The old mandrill then shuffled over to Marlena and bowed to her respectfully as Marlena returned the gesture. "Good afternoon, Marlena Evans. I am here to give my blessing to your beautiful daughter. Now if you would just show her to me I can administer the juice on her forehead to signify her as the next leader of your herd," Rafiki addressed the older woman kindly as Doug and Julie bowed to the wise shaman in reverence.

"It is an honor to have you in our presence, Rafiki," Doug informed the mandrill. "The same," Julie added while raising her head to her normal level. Then she tilted her head to whisper in her husband's ear. "Um, Doug, why is Rafiki in this story?" Julie hissed. But Doug shook his head before answering, "I don't know; just ask the person who is directing this crap." Julie rolled her eyes and refocused her attention back to the baboon.

Rafiki then plucked out one of his gourds and ripped it open, revealing a slimy, red liquid; he then dipped his finger into the shell and smeared it on top of Rhonda's forehead. "Rhonda Evans, daughter of Marlena Evans, I give you this mark to signify your position as the future leader of the herd and perhaps the savior of the entire dinosaur species," Rafiki declared as he wiped the juice on the newborn's forehead and then he grabbed Rhonda by the underarms and lifted her out of Marlena's cradle before nodding his assurance to the three grownups, who then nodded in return.

...

Rafiki then stepped out of the building with Rhonda dangling over his shoulder as the animals parted to let him pass; he then stood firmly in front of the old, ramshackle building as the scant sunrays were now pouring down from the tumultuous and gloomy sky. The thunderstorm continued to rage on as the winds were now picking up and Rafiki grabbed young Rhonda from the sides and without warning lifted her up in the air.

The thunder crashed and roared overheard as lightning danced frantically in the atmosphere and Rhonda's astonished and surprised expression was illuminated by the brief flash of lightning. The clouds parted slightly as the heavenly lights descended onto the ground and shined on Rhonda while the images of Alice and Tom Horton appeared in the sky and the departed, elderly couple beamed proudly at the young Apatosaurus as they nodded towards Rafiki.

Doug, Julie and Marlena emerged from the building and glanced up to see the Hortons smiling down on the newest member of the herd and Julie smiled sadly as tears streamed down her eyes. Rhonda gazed around curiously as a monarch butterfly landed on her nose and she blew it off gently. Doug laid his head on Julie's neck as Marlena beamed at her daughter as she looked on with pride. "My little Rhonda, you are going to do great things, I just know it," she remarked wistfully.

Rafiki then lowered Rhonda down in his arms and carried her back to her waiting family, where Marlena snatched Rhonda by the scruff of the neck and laid her down gently on her sloping, slender back. Rhonda then sat on her haunches as she yawned briefly, making the adults chuckle.

Mortimer scoffed as he beheld the sight of a sleepy young dinosaur preparing for her nap. "Ah, whatever. Let's just head on home and find something to eat, if there is anything," he grumbled petulantly as he stormed off with Mickey and Minnie accompanying. "Gosh, I don't know where we can get something to eat, Mortimer," Mickey commented worriedly. "There is barely any food for miles, you know," Minnie added. "Why don't the two of you just shut up already? Jeez! You're getting on my nerves!" Mortimer shot back at them aggressively and Minnie jumped on Mortimer as she proceeded to give him a good pounding. "Acha, cha, cha!" he shrieked in terror.

...

"Wow, is that a big fight?" Hugo remarked curiously as he, Laverne and Victor, (in vulture forms), were patrolling the skies in the drizzling storm, which was now beginning to simmer down a little. "Knock it off, Hugo. You shouldn't get into other people's business," Laverne retorted at him sternly. "It is not prudent and wise to do so, Hugo," Victor conferred Laverne's sentiments. "I can only wish we can get some food around here; I would hate to feast on those poor souls but we don't have much of a choice," Laverne sighed dejectedly.

"Well, we can always start off with the criminals," Hugo suggested to Laverne. "But how can we tell the criminals from the good guys? Everyone's fighting for survival you know," Laverne retorted simply. "We can always try picking off the old and sick you know; there's enough to go around for the three of us," Victor replied.

"Hey, Laverne, there is a bolt of lightning over your head," Hugo addressed Laverne slyly. "Where?" Laverne replied, confused, as she turned around to see where the lightning strike would hit next and that was when a bolt of lightning electrocuted her without warning and fried her to a simmering crisp.

Laverne then coughed out some soot while Hugo and Victor laughed at her. "Hey, that's not funny, you guys," Laverne growled exasperatedly. "Oh, shit! You fell for that, you fell for that!" Hugo jeered as Laverne scoffed and rolled her eyes. Then as the three vultures passed the building in which Marlena, Doug and Julie lived in, they turned towards it and hovered for a few moments to stare at it.

"Wait a minute! Is that the house in which the doc lives in?" Hugo retorted. "W-wait, you mean Dr. Marlena Evans?" Victor inquired him quizzically with a slight stammer. "Of course it is, you idiot! There's been news going around that she has given birth to the future heiress of the entire herd," Laverne snapped angrily at Hugo. "Yeah, yeah," Hugo snorted disdainfully.

"I don't think we should eat her. I mean, she could be the last hope of the entire dinosaur species," Victor expressed his concerns to his friends. "Not exactly, Victor. She ain't the only one left. There are a couple of others that we know of," Laverne replied while shaking her head. "Who?" Hugo quipped curiously. "What others are there?" Victor added.

"Hmmm… there is a swimmer by the name of Mary Jo Shively that has a newborn daughter named Renee. There is also a female Threehorn with real spunk and fire that also has a new daughter by the name of Lee," Laverne replied. "Yeah, wait a minute! Isn't that the Julia Sugarbaker lady with a bad temper?" Hugo inquired. "I wouldn't call her foul-tempered, Hugo," Victor remarked to Hugo. "More like headstrong," Laverne countered with a retort.

"Come on guys; we better head to our nest if we are going to beat this rain," Hugo informed his friends as Laverne and Victor nodded and turned away from the house.

...

It was then in that house where the three adult Apatosauruses lay sleeping on the floor and Rhonda was nestled deep on her mother's back while Marlena snored. Doug and Julie watched over Rhonda carefully and Julie shifted her head facing the doorway as she watched the lightning flash in the sky. "This is a pretty mighty storm, Julie; hard to believe that Rhonda was on this day," Doug commented as Julie nodded.

"I'm worried about Rhonda though; I wonder how she will survive with all of the scarcity of food rampant throughout this land. She could die in a matter of weeks if we cannot provide adequate nutrition. And what if the kids grow up eventually and might have to find mates? They will never be able to find anyone in this town because the entire population is barren. We can't live here forever, Doug. We have to do something. The species will never survive without the next generation reproducing."

"You're right, Julie, but there is another important matter at hand. There are rumors abound that an evil Sharptooth is terrorizing our people and picking off the vulnerable, the weak, the old and the young. What I'm really concerned about is that he's also killing off the healthy members of our herd, particularly mothers that were able to breed before the nuclear crisis," Doug explained to Julie. Julie's jaw dropped as she struggled to find the words to express her terror and consternation.

"You don't mean…" she stammered. "Yes," Doug answered with a nod. "Stefano DiMera, the meanest sharptooth in all of England. He will kill anyone he sees as a threat and will hunt down anyone mercilessly and with pure ruthlessness. Rhonda should take caution to her surroundings whenever she goes out to the streets to play and should never wander far from her home."

Julie nodded and she nudged closer to Doug as they stared intently into the doorway and the older woman remained silent to gather her thoughts. "I just don't want Rhonda to be lonely; it can be rather depressing being alone out in the world that has just suffered a nuclear attack. I would want her lineage to survive if possible," she said as Doug nodded with a gruff snort. "As long as she finds someone she loves, I have no problem with that," Doug answered in reply, prompting a smile from his wife. He then nuzzled her lovingly and they lay together in silence.

"It's been more than 30 years, huh?" Doug chuckled as Julie nudged him playfully with a smile. "Yeah, it has been that long," Julie answered softly. "Wow, all these years we've been together. Who would have thought of that?" Doug remarked wistfully as Julie picked her head up and glanced at her husband quizzically.

"Doug, you don't think they're going to mistake us for a young couple, do you?" she inquired. Doug shook his head. "I don't think so; I think it's highly unlikely. Besides, even if we can't have offspring of our own, at least we're together," he answered. "Don't get me started on that again," Julie grumbled while shaking her head and she lay down to go to sleep.

Doug did the same but before he closed his eyes he lifted his head up and smiled upon seeing Rhonda dozing on top of her mother's back. "Good night, Rhonda; sweet dreams," Doug whispered before he lay down again and closed his eyes to go to sleep. As the elderly man drifted into dreamland, his thoughts quickly turned to his late half-brother Byron and his untimely death. Rhonda then purred as she snuggled deeper into her mother's skin and drifted off to sleep.

...

It was now all quiet as the thunder rumbled into the night and darkness soon fell; the adults kept on dreaming even then. The herds had settled onto the outskirts of the city and remain located into separate groups as usual, with the threehorns on one spot, the swimmers on another spot near a lake, the longnecks on another spot near the pile of dirt, and the flyers were hanging on the dry and bare branches as they doze off.

The moon's haziness and smoky mists still lingered in the night sky as the world was rendered murky, ominous and foreboding; nobody knew what was going to come or even if they will make it into the next night. What was known for certain was that three newborn dinosaurs had been born into three different herds this very night and might serve as a remainder of a glimmering hope in these bleak and desperate times.

If the children can survive long enough to reach adulthood and avoid the murderous rampage of Stefano DiMera, then they might possibly become the next leaders of a herd on the brink of extinction and perhaps save the entire species from hopelessness, despair and death. It was a matter of life or death.

Author's Notes:

Yep, here's my first chapter all right! Whoa hoo I made it! Now that I have read over this, this is actually pretty good! There were some funny and bizarre parts but it's still good. If you thought the breaking the fourth wall parts were a bit weird and awkward, remember that this is only a parody and I guess in a way I'm making fun of myself. Oh yeah, and in case you noticed, at the beginning of the chapter I have added in some various characters from movies and such, even Fievel, who is going to become an important character in the story later on; I have a pretty good idea what's going to happen to him eventually...

I was worried that I did not describe the setting in enough detail but this is all I can do for now; besides, I'm not going to focus all my energy describing the scenery since that's not what the story's about; this story is about the characters and the plot line; granted the setting has a lot to do with the storyline, as is the case with most stories and novels, but it shouldn't be the only main focus though.I also know that some of the key scenes in this story are kind of similar to those of the original but I have added some twists and also put in some original, improvised dialogue, such as the scene with Lee and Julia. And yeah for Mary Jo & Renee this time I added a crocodile. Ha, ha, ha, ha!

And wow... it's been a while since I've even used Mortimer, Mickey and Minnie in any of my stories! Mortimer actually has a long and complicated history with Team Legacy; he was one of their very first enemies before he eventually wised up upon realizing that he turned evil because Rhonda treated him horribly. He even participated in some of the missions to defend the El Manantial universe, (El Manantial was a Spanish soap opera that they used to show when I was a lot younger), probably including that infamous mission in which they killed one of Jen Deson's twin brothers and sent the other one to jail. Mortimer also had a huge crush on Rhonda and Rhonda would rebuff him several times.

However, a female flamingo named Penny (from George & Martha; she later joined Team Legacy as well) invaded the mansion and corrupted Mortimer once more and the young mouse returned to a life of crime for close to two years. It wasn't until during World War 2004 that Mortimer rejoined Team Legacy and came back to the mansion. I guess the only female he likes now is Minnie but it may be possible that he is still in love with Rhonda, although there is no chance of them hooking up together. Also when Julie said, "Don't get me started on that again" when Doug starts talking about how they're still together even though they have no children together, it's a reference to one of the old story lines in the television show. Basically what happened was that Julie wanted to bring her son David along on vacation and Doug was infuriated and they got into a heated argument before Julie broke up with Doug right then and there.

And I know it's kind of weird having the gargoyles as vultures too, especially since I'm having Laverne as Rooter, but whatever. At least it was hilarious to see Laverne get electrocuted by lightning. I was also hesitant about bringing Rafiki over since I thought I was ripping off The Lion King and it was very unoriginal in a sense but I figured it was just a parody and I might as well go with it since I'm planning to make fun of certain elements from the movie. I was also going to have Rafiki anoint little Rhonda with citrus fruits but I decided against it because it would burn out her poor eyes.

Oh yeah, if Marlena seems a bit out of character I'm sorry since I haven't used her that much outside of my Team Legacy series and I'm also sorry if Julia Sugarbaker seems a bit out of character as well since this is my actual first time I'm using her in a story I'm writing. I don't think Julia seems to be the motherly type if anything but I also don't think she's abusive either. I think that trait fits in well with Mary Jo if anything and so far she's the easiest character to use. But I think Julia is fun to use too and eventually I'll get a hang of her; even if I botch her characterization, this is indeed a parody, so yeah.

I just realized something very interesting while I was preparing to post up this chapter; both The Land Before Time and An American Tail feature main characters who are separated from their families through unfortunate circumstances and must find their way back to them through unforgiving and dangerous places. If you think about the storylines of both films, it will surprise you how similar they kind of are at times. And to think they were both directed by Don Bluth! Wow...

Well, now here's Chapter 2! Just in case Chapter 2 gets too long, I can post up Chapter 3 and title it Death and have Chapter 2 called Friendship. But we'll see for now.

By the way, I do not own the lyrics to "Original Sin", which is a song sung by Taylor Dayne from the soundtrack of the 1994 movie "The Shadow"; just to let you know. I do not mean to plagiarize or anything and it's just kind of a little snippet; it's kind of my way of livening things up a bit and using that technique in movies of putting in songs that don't seem to fit the context of the situation; you should see "Almost Famous" and "Watchmen" for good examples.

And another thing before I forget: I'm sorry if I keep on switching between LBT terminology and the actual names given to dinosaurs in real life in this chapter. I started to refer to them by their real species names at first but I couldn't spell the actual name of Renee's species for the life of me and I finally threw my hands down and decided to use the terminology commonly used in the Land Before Time universe. And I also put in the meaning of the names of the protagonists in italics to symbolize their importance to the story and also their foretold destiny of leading their respective herds to salvation. I'll put down the actual meaning of the names for your trivia:

Lee: Clearing, meadow, (I think it's a very good Southern name for a daughter of the Sugarbakers, don't you think? After all there was a Southern general named Robert E. Lee) (:

Rhonda: Good pike, lance, or spear; also means rose, (interesting!), and a woman from Rhodes.

Renee: Reborn (No wonder Stefano named her that! He probably thought the baby would represent his immortality or something. Goodness knows what that guy thinks)

Cliff: Cliff ford, riverband ford; settlement of the cliff. Originates from a surname found in various Old English towns.

Buddy (You're going to love this!): Thickset person; beetle. Also means good friend. (It's true! Buddy is indeed a good friend to everyone she knows, even if she is a bit rebellious at times!)

Courage: Brave, valiant, etc. (It's just a word that happens to be used as an actual name for a fictional cartoon dog)

Read and review!

R.P.