After a several hour flight, the group consisting of Control Freak, Beekeeper, Tolinator, Box Ghost, & Black Cuervo, had arrived in Japan.
"Okay, anyone have any clue where we can find these three kids?" CF asked.
"To find kids, you need to think like a kid" Beekeeper said, putting his fingers to his temples. "Ooh, I'm a kid" he said in a falsetto voice "mommy, buy me this toy! I wanna eat candy for dinner! Why do I have to go to sleep at nine o' clock?"
Black Cuervo sighed "I cannot believe I ever allied myself with you morons" she said.
"Guys, that arcade has one of those dancing simulator games!" Tolinator said happily "can we go in, please?"
"I guess" CF said "kids are likely to go to an arcade anyway."
"You hear that To…" Beekeeper said, but found that the larcenous loo was long gone.
Meanwhile, the very trio of kids that the villains were looking for just happened to be heading down the street at that moment.
One was a brown haired kid wearing a red jacket with a yellow hood, and a visor with a clear brim and two horns emerging from it, yellow pants, brown fingerless gloves with grey trim, red & white tennis shoes and a black fanny pack. This was Max Taylor, leader of the so-called "D Team" and son of noted paleontologist Dr. Spike Taylor.
The other boy had blond hair and wore a blue jacket with a light blue chest and waist, white pants and tennis shoes, and had a large dino-tooth necklace. It was Rex Owen, Max's friend and son of Spike's colleague, Dr. Owen.
The third was a young girl with two long, pink ponytails wearing a yellow vest & shorts (both fringed in pink), a black t-shirt and long socks, green wristbands, tennis shoes and a neckerchief, a brown belt (with little pouches), had grey goggles atop her head and a tiny dino-tooth necklace. This was Zoe Drake, who's older sister, Reese, worked with Doctor Taylor at his D-Lab.
And now that you've met the other players, let's continue the story.
"Uh Max, are you sure it's a good idea to have Chomp out here without a leash?" Zoe asked, referring to his little triceratops. The three kids each had a dinosaur walking next to them; Max a triceratops, Rex a carnatorus and Zoe a parasaurolophus. The kids claimed they were dogs (which everyone seemed to believe), hence the leash.
"Sure, it's not like he's going to bite anyone" Max explained.
"Excuse me, but his name is Chomp, biting things is all he does" Zoe countered.
"Chomp hasn't bitten anyone in a long time" Max countered "well, except the mailman, but he didn't know any better."
"Come on guys, don't argue" Rex said "the whole reason we're out here is to have some fun."
"You're right" Max said "for once it's nice to relax and not have to track down a dinosaur."
"I heard they installed a new dancing game in the arcade" Zoe said "I'm hoping I can beat the high score!"
"Dancing games are stupid" Max replied "I like games where you have to blast aliens and stuff."
"Hmph, you just don't like the game 'cause you know you'd lose" Zoe said.
"That's not true!" Max replied.
"Yes it is" Zoe said "I've been taking dance lessons for a long time now, and I bet I could beat you on the game."
"You're on!" Max yelled, as he and Zoe headed towards the arcade.
"Those two never learn, do they Ace?" Rex asked his pet carnataurus, who growled back a reply.
Soon, the two competitive kids made their way to the arcade and onto the dance machine.
"You're going down!" Max said.
"You wish!"
"Aww man, some lousy kids are using the dance machine" Tolinator whined "I was going to use that."
"I'm not sure, but I think those might be two of the kids we're looking for" CF replied.
"Those are not the kids you're looking for" Tolinator replied in an Obi-Wan-style voice, as he waved his hand in front of Control Freak's face.
The portly villain ignored him and pulled a picture of the D-Team from his coat. He looked at it, then up at Max & Zoe.
"No question, those are two of the kids we're here to nab" he said.
"How do we grab them in an arcade, with all these people around?" Beekeeper wondered.
"Looks like I'm winning Max."
"The heck you are!"
"I have an idea" Black Cuervo replied "one that will force the kids to bring the dinosaurs to us."
"Excuse me, but I'm in charge of this assignment" CF replied "what makes you qualified to have an idea?"
"Because unlike you, I am familiar with how the female mind works" Black Cuervo replied.
"I believe you have been, as you humans call it, burned" the Box Ghost replied.
"And what is your so-called 'idea'?" CF asked angrily.
"You will see" Black Cuervo replied "and I think you will be quite impressed."
"I know it's not just me, but this whole mission reminds me of a TV show, but I can't put my finger on which one it is" Tolinator replied.
He pulled out a notepad and wrote down:
1. kids travel the world and collect odd creatures.
"First things first" Black Cuervo said, "I'll need someplace to change."
"Try the front of the arcade" Tolinator suggested.
"I said 'to change' not 'get change' paper for brains!" she yelled "and once I do change, I can put my plan into effect."
"Well Max, I'll give you credit, you put up a good fight" Zoe said "but in the end there was only one true winner, and that was me."
"Okay, so you beat me on a dance game, big deal" Max said "you don't have to rub it in."
"Excuse me" a voice called to them. Both kids looked and noticed a Goth girl standing there.
"Oh hi" Zoe said, "um, did you want something?"
"Yes, I'm new here and I don't really know anyone" the girl explained "I was wondering if I could play with you."
"Sure, I guess" Max said "what's your name?"
"Zoe Aves."
"Your name is Zoe?" Zoe asked, "so is mine!"
"Wow, that's a coincidence" Black Cuervo replied.
"I know, what are the odds?" Zoe said "oh it'll be so fun to have a girl to hang out with. Not that Max & Rex aren't great friends, but you know, there are times when a girl wants to hang with her fellow girls, ya know?"
"I thought you had other female friends" Max said.
"I do, just not any from out of town who happen to share my name" Zoe explained.
"Oh."
"Come on, let's introduce you to Rex" Zoe told BC, "I think you'll like him."
"Where is Rex?" Max asked, looking around the arcade.
At that moment, their blonde haired friend was playing the local claw machine.
"Man, I don't know why I bother, these stupid things never work" he said "or you end up getting a really lame prize."
"Hey Rex" Zoe greeted him, "having any luck?"
"No, I think this darn thing is rigged" Rex replied, turning to face his pals "so, who's your new friend?"
"This is Zoe, and she's from out of town" Zoe replied "isn't it amazing that we have the same name."
"Yeah, it's downright fascinating" Rex replied, "but how are we going to address the two of you?"
"If you want, I could be called 'Z' or something of that nature" BC replied.
"'Z', that has a nice ring to it" Zoe said "maybe I should take it and you can go by Zoe."
"Whatever you want" BC replied.
"Okay, from now on, when both of us are together, I want to be called Z" Zoe explained.
"'From now on?'" Max questioned "just how long are you planning on doing this."
"For as long as the other Zoe is in town" Zoe replied.
"I don't know about this" Max said "you've only known this girl a few minutes, and you've known Rex and me practically your whole life. Now it seems like you're favoring her over us."
"That's silly" Zoe said "I would never do that. You're just upset because I found a new female friend that just happens to share my name!"
"It's just a little weird is all" Max replied.
"No, what's weird is you, Max Taylor!" Zoe shouted "if you can't be cool with this, then maybe I'll go hang out with my new friend for a while!"
"Come on Zoe" Rex said, but the pink haired girl already stormed out in a huff, her new friend following behind.
"Shouldn't we go after her?" he asked Max.
"You know how girls are" Max replied "she'll calm down after a while."
"I guess" Rex replied "in the meantime, maybe you should stop Chomp from biting the claw machine."
"Ahh, no Chomp, that's not food!" Max yelled, trying to extract the tiny triceratops from the metal leg it was currently clamped onto.
Control Freak: Okay, due to my "suggestion" in the last chapter regarding video games, we got into a little trouble with the Japanese.
Motor Ed: So they agreed to totally let us off the hook if we gave you people some facts about dinosaurs, seriously.
CF: So let's see. The word "dinosaur" is Latin for "thunder lizard", I think.
Ed: Hey, remember that old cartoon show, the Terrible Thunderlizards?
CF: Oh yeah, they were commando-like dinosaurs that hunted down humans, and the one was always like "I think that would fit nicely in the bad things category."
Ed: Was that on with Eek the Cat?
CF: I think so. Well, I guess that should satisfy our dinosaur education part of the story. In our next chapter, we make our move and grab the whiny pink-haired girl.
Ed: And my pal here sends a less than stellar ransom tape, seriously.
CF: So until next time, remember that a good review would fit nicely into the review category.