The sickening, pale skinned body of Cronos sat deep below the surface of the Earth. His eyes were closed, as he sat with crossed legs. His body was adorned with rocks and metal he forged himself within the Earth's core, as his eyes suddenly opened.
"My child..." He sensed the recent destruction of his creation by the new being...the Ultrasaur. "You have been struck down? Most improbable..."
He then looked down to a collection of seemingly dormant eggs. These were eggs that many of his creations had swiped from nests themselves, and brought to him. He reached down slowly, and gently lifted one of these white orbs with two of his massive fingers.
"It would seem that Gaia has finally found a vessel for her will to oppose mine..." He thought to himself as he focused his eyes on the egg. "No matter. I still have plenty of my own vessels to spare."
A flash came over the egg, as a bit of his flesh slowly crept over the egg, regenerating on his fingers as the excess covered the egg. Moments later, a tiny creature broke through the ball of flesh, screeching and snarling.
Cronos gently opened his hand as the creature, reminiscent of a triceratops, rolled into it.
"Feed on my energy..." he spoke to the creature. "Rise to the Earth and grow...grow, and bring my reign of death to the lower creatures. Do not rest until every last dinosaur has breathed their last stinking breath..."
With that, a ball of energy crept over the little creature, as Cronos raised his hand, teleporting it to the Earth's surface.
"Hey, there you are!"
Eos looked over at the returning Helios, laying on his back, as Leto and Selene were sunning with him. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you since last night."
Leto and Selene looked to the young longneck expectantly as well. Helios paused for a moment, unsure of what to tell them.
"Go ahead, Helios..." he heard Gaia's voice whisper in his mind. "You are among friends here, and they deserve to know the truth..."
Helios nodded slowly, and walked towards his group of friends.
"Guys...I don't know how to tell you this...but I was out fighting a monster last night."
Eos scoffed at this notion right away. "Oh yeah, yeah right...this from the guy who told me not to go into that cave yesterday."
Helios bit his lip a little. "Actually...I went into that cave last night."
"You what?" Leto's eyes shot wide open, along with the other two dinosaurs. Eos quickly got up and looked in the direction of the cave. He was shocked to discover that the opening had been completely closed off, as if it had never even existed.
Helios nodded lightly. "I have a lot to tell you guys..."
Time passed as Helios slowly went over the events of the previous night, telling them all about Cronos, the monsters, and the giant he could now transform into. The whole group listened with their eyes wide open in astonishment.
"So..." Eos looked at him, in slight disbelief. "Gaia chose YOU to turn into this giant creature?"
"Believe what he says, Eos..." Gaia's voice suddenly spoke out to the group. "Helios was the first to pass my test, and thus the right choice to receive this new power."
"But why did you close off the cave?" Eos called out to her in a demanding tone. "Why is he the only one who gets these powers? What about me? What about the rest of us? It's our world too!"
"Eos!" Helios shook his head slowly as he gave his friend a scolding look. "Stop talking like this is some kind of fun, thrilling thing for me...I nearly died out there, last night!"
"He's right, Eos." Gaia's voice spoke again. "This is a burden that only one of you should have to carry. Helios has an incredible responsibility to save this world from my demented son. He is going to have to grow up a lot quicker than the rest of you will."
"Yeah..." Leto nodded in agreement. "Helios is fighting, so we don't have to, Eos. We can still be kids."
Selene smiled as she walked over to Helios. "And we can remind Helios that he's still a kid when he's not fighting."
Helios nodded slowly. "Thanks, Guys..."
Leto then grabbed a leaf and ran off. "Wait here. I'll get you some water."
Helios nodded and sat down on all four of his legs, very tired. "Thanks again..."
He yawned and settled down to rest as Eos and Selene went off on their own to talk about this some more...
In the area where Helios had rescued his family, a big earthquake had just recently hit, splitting the land in two. It was an explosion of anger from Cronos that neither Helios or Gaia could repress. But, of course, none of the reptilian residents there knew of that.
Among those separated were Cera and her mother from her father and the rest of the children. They now were walking with Littlefoot, Lila, and the mother of the two longnecks, having been separated from her parents, their grandparents. The two groups had met while searching, and were now part of a slightly uneasy alliance.
"I never thought I'd be traveling with a longneck..." Cera's mother, called Kayla, spoke up. "But unlike my husband, I've always hated being alone."
"This is rather unconventional for me as well..." The mother Longneck, known as Vera, answered softly. "But in these circumstances, perhaps a little cooperation is called for. That, and Littlefoot talked me into it. He and Lila are very persuasive for their age."
Kayla nodded slowly. "I just hope Cera doesn't intimidate them too much. She has that problem with her own siblings already."
As the two adults were speaking, Cera was walking well ahead of the group, looking back at Littlefoot and Lila with an annoyed face.
"Come on, you two slowpokes!" She scolded. "The only reason I'm walking with you guys is to find my Dad and my sisters."
"Why are you being so hard on us?" Littlefoot narrowed his eyes a bit. "We didn't do anything to you."
"You're not three-horns!" Cera frowned. "You're just a couple of slow, dim longnecks. That's reason enough."
Littlefoot's eyes got even more narrow. "Come to my face and say that..."
"Guys, guys!" Lila got in between them. "We don't need this right now. What we need to do is find our families. The more time we argue, the more time we waste in doing it!"
Littlefoot's expression softened as he looked to his sister. "You...you're right, Lila."
Cera nodded slowly, and backed off as well. "You sure know how to talk for a longneck..." she smiled a bit.
Lila grinned and nodded. "Well, that's probably because I'm a girl too."
Cera laughed out loud at this, surprised to hear this. "True, true. You should hear how the boy three-horns try to talk sometimes."
The two girls giggled and walked on, with Littlefoot behind him. He frowned at these comments, but only a little.
Moments later, a scream suddenly was heard just North of where they were.
"What was that?" Lila asked with wide eyes.
"Someone's in trouble!" Littlefoot suddenly took off after saying this.
"Hey, wait!" Lila ran off after him, as Cera furrowed her brow for a moment. Her curiosity then got the best of her, as she ran off with them as well, their respective mothers calling to them as they tried to keep up.
When they arrived, they were shocked to see a dead Spiketail on the rocky ground. Standing above it was the form of another monstrous creature. It was the one that Cronos had hatched earlier, that had grown to an enormous size very quickly.
The creature had the head and horns of a three-horn, but he also stood on two legs and had large, muscular arms. He was dressed in black metal with golden trim, as he pulled out the giant battle axe that it had just buried into the side of the spiketail.
Other dinosaurs were gathering around the longnecks and three-horns, as the creature looked out to the crowd and addressed them.
"Lower beings of the Earth!" He called out in a deep voice that nearly shook the ground. "My lord Cronos has tired of you defiling his beautiful work! The time has come for you, whom he has dubbed his living blunders, to lay down your lives, and serve the purpose of remaking this world!"
"Who are you to tell us that we don't deserve to live!" A male dinosaur shouted from within the crowd.
"I am Enoch. A creation, and a servant to the will of Cronos! I am here to tell you all what it is he wants. And I will tell you now that those who give their lives to his cause willingly will die with far less agony than those who dare oppose it."
"I've heard enough!" A male flyer called out. "Let's show this guy that he can't kill ALL of us!"
Other dinosaurs shouted in agreement as the flyer dive-bombed towards Enoch. The creature quickly reached out and grabbed the flyer by the neck, holding him for a moment, before throwing him onto the ground.
The others quickly backed off as the impact made the rocky floor crack around the flyer. Enoch then growled as he raised his axe over his head, and swung it downward. Littlefoot, Lila, and Cera all looked away in horror as they heard the blade slam and crunch into the flyer's body.
They then heard their mothers calling to them in great anxiety, as they turned and ran through the scattering crowd to join them, Enoch slowly stalking them all from behind...
"Helios...Helios!"
Gaia's voice rang in the young longneck's head as he woke up from his sleep.
"Wha?"
"I am sorry to wake you, but something is happening now...listen..."
Helios nodded and yawned...he then heard it, the sound of many individuals crying out in terror, and for help, as the deep voice of another beast bellowed behind them.
He quickly lapped at the water that Leto had given him, and ran out into a wide open space.
He took a deep breath, and looked up to the sky.
"Hyperion!"
More bodies fell as Enoch swung his axe, cutting them down from behind as Littlefoot, Lila, and Cera all ran with increasing speed, doing their best to stay away from the immense weapon.
"There is no use in struggling..." He yelled as he grabbed one unlucky dinosaur and snapped its neck in his hand, tossing the poor male to the side. "Cronos sees all and hears all!"
Vera quickly moved down with her head, and snatched up both Littlefoot and Lila by their tails, placing them onto her back as she moved as quickly as she can, Cera and her mother being separated from them in the chaos that was now occurring.
"What is the profit in running when you know you are already dead?" Enoch asked as he stalked the remainders, including Cera and her mother. "Simply accept your death now, and fear it no more!"
The small group of survivors ran towards what they thought was an open space in the canyon, only to find a long drop below them.
Kayla prepared to protect her daughter as Enoch walked in slowly, raising his axe...
A blast of light then suddenly hit Enoch in the back, making it spark.
Enoch grunted and dropped his axe, turning to see Helios, once again in the form of Ultrasaur, standing in a ready fighting stance.
"It's that giant again!" Cera exclaimed.
Enoch growled as he picked up his axe, and ran towards Ultrasaur, while spinning it above his head. Ultrasaur quickly rolled towards the monster before he could even get his ax all the way down, and smacked him in the stomach with his right fist.
Enoch grunted as Ultrasaur then wrapped his left arm around his neck, putting him in a headlock. The silver giant grunted in his echoing voice as he kept the pressure on the monster's neck. Enoch retaliated by punching him hard in the side, making him let go as he kicked him in the back.
Ultrasaur fell onto his front for a moment, as Enoch picked up his weapon once more. "Even the futile efforts of Gaia herself are of no consequence to the glory of Cronos..."
Ultrasaur then fired off another short beam, from his right hand, only to be deflected by Enoch as he held up his ax. The giant then quickly got back up, and ran towards the monster, grabbing a hold of his ax's long handle.
The two wrestled with it, struggling for a long time, before Ultrasaur then took advantage of his opponent's focus on the ax. He reached up suddenly, and grabbed Enoch by one of his horns, quickly pulling and breaking it off.
Enoch yelled out in pain and frustration, dropping the ax as Ultrasaur then jabbed the loose horn into his shoulder. The monster then fell back and tried to pull the horn out, without success. Ultrasaur capitalized, leaping in with hard kick into the chest, making him fall onto his back.
Ultrasaur then jumped on top of the monster, and began pummeling him with both fists, smashing him repeatedly across the face. Enoch reached down, and picked up a nearby boulder, bringing it up and smashing Ultrasaur along the face with it.
The giant grunted, covering his face, as Enoch threw him off quickly, and got him onto his knees, grunting as he grabbed both of his arms from behind, and pulled them back towards him, placing his right foot on his back, and pushing in an attempt to rip Ultrasaur's arms off.
"Gaaaaaaaahhhhh!" The giant called out in pain, his chest light now blinking as his energy output was getting low...
Ultrasaur concentrated now, needing to do so before losing his arms, as he focused his remaining power...he was able to fight the force holding him down for a few moments, and get onto his squatting legs, allowing him to smack Enoch in the leg with a hard back kick.
The kick was hard enough to break Enoch's leg, making it twist unnaturally for a second. Enoch howled out in pain as Ultrasaur then reached up and grabbed the monster by his arm before he fell, judo flipping him onto his back hard.
Enoch got back up slowly, hobbling on his good leg, as Ultrasaur then crossed his arms once again, and let loose with the great beam of light he used to finish off the last monster. Enoch crossed his own arms as it hit his gauntlets on his armor, trying to block it.
Cera panicked as she saw Enoch walking back towards them, still blocking the beam. She tried to run away, only to find him backing towards her.
"Cera!" Her mother called out, rushing towards her and pushing her out of his way.
At the same time, the beam suddenly caused Enoch's gauntlets to buckle, then break, burning his arms away in seconds. He roared out in pain as the beam smacked right into his chest, making him fall right onto Cera's mother. The impact of both of them falling then caused the floor of the canyon's edge to give out, sending them both over.
"MOM!" Cera screamed out as the two plummeted down to the ground. Ultrasaur saw this, and ran towards them both, but he was too late...Enoch exploded in a ball of fire as he hit the ground, a fire that consumed everything in its way...including Cera's mother...
"MOM! NO! MOM!"
Cera began crying histerically, as Ultrasaur stood there, stunned at what just happened. He had just killed an innocent bystander. He didn't meant to, of course, but still.
"Helios, you can't linger in this form any longer." He heard Gaia's voice in his head. "You're running out of energy."
Ultrasaur just nodded slowly, and reached towards the sky, taking off.
"Where are you going?" Cera asked him, angrily, as he took off. "You just killed my mother, and now you're gonna leave me here? You monster!"
"You monster!" She sobbed as she fell to the ground, all alone now that the other dinosaurs had fled during the battle. "I hate you! I HATE YOU!"
She mourned her mother's passing for what seemed like an eternity, head in her front paws as she cried, much more sedated now.
She then heard a deep voice speak out from the wind.
"Amazing...such rage from someone so young..."
Cera quickly looked up with a tear stained face. "Who's there?"
The form of a pale skinned man in armor walked onto the scene slowly, staring right at the young three-horn. "I am Cronos, Child..."
"Cronos..." Her eyes suddenly shot open at the name.
"Get away from me!" She got up and bolted away from him. "I saw what your monster did to the others!"
"I'm afraid you've been misinformed..." He told her calmly. "It was not my monster that attacked you...it was that of my Mother, Gaia...along with the other monster who killed your mother..."
Cera tilted her head a bit. "I don't understand...why would two monsters from your Mother fight each other?"
"It is all part of her plan..." Cronos continued. "You see, my Mother went insane...she killed my father, and all my brothers and sisters, before I escaped her. Now, she has help...she has tricked a young longneck in the Great Valley into fighting for her, making him think that her monsters were created by me...he can become that silver giant you saw, called Ultrasaur..."
"Where is he?" She quickly walked towards him before he could say anymore. "I want to find this longneck...I wanna kill him! I wanna ram his brains out of his head for what he did!"
"So eager for vengance..." Cronos smiled slyly. "But first, you must be given the power to face him on equal ground. If you charged in on him as you are now, you wouldn't last a minute..."
Cera gave him a curious look. "What are you suggesting..."
Cronos then pulled out what looked like a chunk of a stone. "This is a piece of my beloved sister, Rhea's life essence...I shall mix it with a piece of my own to give you unparalleled strength..."
He then focused and closed his eyes, as a beam shot out from the stone, and from his free hand, both of them hitting Cera right in the chest.
Cera grunted and struggled, before she felt an odd, giddy sensation come over her. She felt an incredible strength filling her body, as she almost lost herself in it, laughing just a little before Cronos opened his eyes again.
"Track down this longneck, and take down any monsters that get in your way..." He instructed her. "Gain strength from their deaths, and use it to take down Ultrasaur. Then, we will kill my Mother together."
Cera felt, and saw swirls of dark energy come around her, as she grinned to herself in a very evil fashion.
"You are no longer a mere mortal creature..." Cronos continued. "You are now Ultrasaur Hades!"
Cera's grin then vanished, as she looked up at Cronos again, a dark gem now embedded on her chest.
"Show me the way to the Great Valley..."
