Chapter 21:
"I just don't get it…" Max said and turned towards Rex and Zoe "After all that happened recently wouldn't those Emperors have shown up again by now?" It had now been a whole week since their battle with Juraton and his Brachiosaurus, and once again there had been no sign of any of the Ancient Emperors...
Rex and Zoe both looked at him. It was early in the evening and they had just finished dinner, so they had decided to head out in the garden while the sun was still up, and now they all sat leaned against the wall of the house along with Chomp, Ace and Paris.
"Yeah, that is pretty strange…" Zoe said "Not that I want them to show up again, but it sure feels like it's been a little too quite for a little too long…"
"Judging from what Juraton said before he left, it sounds like they could very well be plotting for the final phase of their plan…" Rex said slowly "And I'd say the fact that we already beaten two of them could very well mean it'll be something big this time around…"
"Yeah, that's right." Max said "Both of those guys Creaton and Juraton already lost once, so that leaves only that old guy…"
"Triaton…" Zoe said quietly.
"Yeah, and from what we've been able to tell up till now, it seems like he's the boss." Max said.
"And seeing as how he hasn't actually done anything yet, that probably means he won't step out until the very end…" Rex said.
"And from the looks of things he must be much stronger than the other two…" Zoe said "Just think about it: When they first appeared before us, both of the others, Creaton and Juraton, seemed pretty scared of him…"
"Well, he's not scaring me!" Max said "No matter how good he is, we can beat them all as long as we work together! I mean; Now Rex has awakened his inner power and knows how to do the Evolution Slash as well!" He said and grinned at Rex, who nodded quietly.
"Yeah…" He said, looking down on the ground. Ever since they had returned from the last fight, he had tried to figure out what actually happened back then, but just like Max had described it before, it felt just like it had all just come to him after he and Ace returned from that mysterious white place. He couldn't help but feeling that it all still felt very strange…
Ace, who had been sitting right next to Rex on the grass, suddenly made a worried little sound and nudged Rex's hand with his nose. Rex looked down on him and smiled.
"It's all right, Ace, I'm fine…" He said and reached out his hand, stroking him "We all made it through back then, and that's what matters." Ace closed his eyes and gave a low little growl in agreement.
"Yes, both of you know how to do it now…" Zoe murmured "I just wish I could unlock my inner power soon as well…"
"Hey, don't start worrying about that again, Zoe! I mean; Both me and Rex unlocked ours without hardly knowing what we did, you know." Max said encouragingly, and Rex nodded.
"I know…It's just that…The next time we end up having to fight the Ancient Emperors, I might end up a burden to you two unless I don't find it soon…" She murmured.
"Come on, Zoe! That's just crazy talk!" Max said, sounding slightly upset "Inner power or not, we'll still need you to help us out the next time as well!"
"Max is right." Rex said "Just think of all the battles we fought in the past: We wouldn't have won half of them had it not been for you andParishelping us out!" Zoe looked at them in amazement.
"Thanks guys…" She said and smiled gratefully at them "I don't know what I would do without you…"
"Yeah, just forget about that whole inner power-thing and focus on what really matters: Think aboutParis. Your mum and dad. Think about us! The only way you'll ever let us down is if you forget about what's really important, and keeps moping about not finding your inner power and mastering the Evolution Slash…" He stopped and blushed slightly "Sorry, Zoe…" He said quietly "I didn't mean to sound so harsh, I just…" But she just shook her head and smiled at him.
"I'm glad you said that, Max" She said "You're right. I shouldn't worry so much about it…" Suddenly they could hear the door to the house open, and in the next second Marco stepped out through the door, as usual with a distant look on his face, almost as if he had walked out there by accident. The same moment he stepped out into the garden Chomp, who had been lying on the grass next to Max, suddenly perked up and quickly ran up to Marco and began tugging at his jeans with his mouth. Marco quickly noticed him and looked around himself, noticing the group sitting in the shadow of the house. He looked almost surprised over seeing them for some reason…
"Hi Marco…" Zoe said carefully. He didn't say anything, but bent down and picked up Chomp in his arms, and then he walked up to the group, putting Chomp down on the ground next to Max again.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you…" He said "I didn't know you were out here…"
"You're not bothering us!" Max said "Why don't you sit down with us for a while?" And he moved aside, patting the ground beside him. Marco seemed a bit hesitant, but then he nodded and sat down on the grass next to them. No sooner had he sat down before Chomp suddenly jumped up on his lap and laid down, and both Ace and Paris left Rex and Zoe and walked up to him, placing their heads on his lap as well. Marco actually seemed to smile a bit, and he reached out his hands and patted Ace and Paris on the head. They both closed their eyes and gave a pleased little sound.
"Here we go again…" Max said and smiled as well when he realized Chomp had actually fallen asleep in Marco's lap "You know, I'm really starting to wonder how come they've been so fond of you ever since they met you…" He said and turned to Marco.
"Yeah, I've been wondering the same thing…" Zoe said as she looked at Paris as Marco stroke her and Ace again "I'm actually starting to believe that he really must have met them somewhere before losing his memory, just like you said, Max."
"Yes, for some reason I think so to…" Marco replied quietly "But I still can't seem to remember anything about my past…" He said, clutching his head "If only my memory would come back…"
"Speaking of…" Rex said thoughtfully "That dream you mentioned before we fought Juraton...The one with the dark room and mystic voice. You said you thought it was about your past, right? Have you had it anymore ever since?" Marco looked at him.
"Yes…Actually I have it every night, over and over again…" He said quietly "First I really did think that it might be able to tell me something about my past, but now it just makes me confused every time I have it…" He clutched his head again "Just who am I? I really wish I knew…"
"Yeah, it's really sad you had to lose your memory in the first place…" Zoe said quietly. Marco looked at her and suddenly he smiled.
"It could be worse…" He said, sounding a little calmer "Had I not ended up losing my memory, I might not have ended up meeting you guys…So it's not all bad…" He smiled at them again "If you think about it you guys have much worse problems than me…" They all gave him an uncertain look "I heard all about what happened during your trip from your dad…" He said, glancing at Rex "It's really a heavy burden you have to bear…"
"Well…Guess I can't argue with that…" Max murmured. Rex and Zoe didn't say anything, but nodded quietly. None of them said anything for a while.
Suddenly they could hear the door open again, and Dr. Ancient stepped out into the garden. He looked around and quickly noticed Max and the others.
"Excuse me..." He said "Have you kids seen..." Suddenly his eyes fell on Marco sitting there along with them "Ah, there you are, Marco! Do you think you could lend me a hand in the lab again? You would be a really big help…" Marco didn't say anything, but nodded. Ace and Paris seemed to have understood, and they both nudged him gently before walking back to Rex and Zoe. Marco put his hand onto Chomp's back, gently shaking him awake, and then he once again picked him up and placed him back with Max before rising up from the ground. Then he turned to Dr. Ancient and nodded again, and the two of them began walking back towards the house.
"Wonder what your dad might need Marco to do for him…" Max said to Rex as soon as they had closed the door behind them "What do you think?"
"I don't know." Rex replied "Maybe because he's a skilled engineer? He did manage to open up that communication link between the past and the future, and he even managed to take you and Zoe here to the future, so he seems to be pretty good with advanced technology…"
"Yeah, probably…" Max said, then he suddenly yawned "I think I'll head back inside, to…" He said "It's getting late, and I feel pretty tired…" He rose up from the grass.
"Well, I think I'm heading back to." Zoe said and rose from the ground as well.
"Guess I'll join you guys…" Rex said, rising as well, and so they all walked back into the house, closely followed by Chomp, Ace andParis.
"Well, goodnight guys." Zoe said as she walked into her room along withParis"I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Goodnight, Zoe." Max and Rex said as they walked into their respective rooms accompanied by Chomp and Ace.
Max quickly changed into his pyjamas and crawled into bed. He looked up into the ceiling and thought for a while: Would the Emperors attack them again soon? Or would they bide their time even more, waiting for the right opportunity? And more than anything he really wanted to know exactly what they were planning…
"Well…" He sighted "I think I'm starting to realize how Marco feels…" Then he turned around in the bed, realizing Chomp had already fallen asleep beside him. He smiled. Maybe he should just forget it all for now and try to get some sleep. After all, he would obviously stand a much better chance against them if he was fully rested. He leaned back against the pillow, closing his eyes, and a few moments later he had fallen asleep.
Max didn't know if he had been sleeping for hours or just a few minutes, when was woken up by a knock on his bedroom door. He looked out through the window. It wasn't quite pitch-black outside, but there was still a clear hint of dark blue in the sky, meaning it was still very early in the morning. The knocking on the door continued, and he groaned as he got out of bed, walking towards the door and opened it. Despite it being pretty dark in the corridor outside his room, he could clearly see two figures standing in the opening. He fumbled for the light switch, and as the room lit up he realized Rex, still wearing his pyjamas, and Zoe, still in her nightgown, was standing in the opening, along with Ace andParis.
"Whasamatter?" Max said sleepily, rubbing his eyes. He heard as little sound down by his feet, and as he looked down he realized Chomp had walked up beside him.
"Haven't you noticed, Max?" Zoe said impatiently and both she and Rex held up their DinoBracers, and Max immediately realized both of them were beeping, and a blinking dot had once again appeared on the screen…
"Another Dinosaur Signal!" Max cried, immediately feeling wide awake "But…" He whirled around and rushed up to his bedside table and picked out his own DinoBracer. Now that he was awake he couldn't really understand how he could have been sleeping without noticing the beeping from the DinoBracer...
"But another Dinosaur Signal…" Zoe said as Max rejoined her and Rex in the opening "Do you think that means…?"
"I don't see what else it could mean…" Max said grimly.
"The Ancient Emperors…" Rex said "Looks like they're up to something again."
"Yeah, but what?" Zoe said worriedly.
"It doesn't matter! Whatever it is we have to get over there and stop them!" Max said, before quickly turning to Rex "So where's the signal coming from?"
"It's from the west side of town" Rex replied "I think it's from the abandoned storage area, so it's not very far from here…"
"Good, then let's get over there! Just a moment..." Max said and closed the door, quickly changing into his ordinary clothes. When he opened the door a moment later Rex and Zoe was standing outside the door in their usual clothes waiting for him.
"All right, let's go!" He said and was about to run off, but before he could turn around he heard something from behind him.
"Max? Is that you?" A voice said in the dark corridor. Max squinted into the darkness. He was certain that he had recognized the voice…
"Rod? Laura?" He said as he opened the door to his still lit bedroom, causing the light to leak out into the corridor, allowing him to see who stood in front of him "What are you doing here?"
"We had to ask you…" Laura said, and Max couldn't help but noticing there was a hint of worry in her voice "Do you know where grandpa and the others might be?"
"Dr. Z?" Zoe asked, slightly surprised, as she stepped up to them "Shouldn't he be in his room sleeping?"
"No, he's not!" Rod said "And not the others either…"
"I thought I heard strange sounds coming from grandpa's room, so I went to see what was going on, but when I got there his bed was empty, so I rushed to Rod's room to wake him up…" Laura said.
"And then we checked Ed, Zander and Ursula's rooms to see if they knew where he could be, but they were gone to. Also" Rod said "The Alpha Scanners were missing, and Terry, Spiny and Tank were gone as well." They all looked at them in surprise.
"Now that's odd…" Max said "They're not exactly the kind to get out of bed this early, huh?"
"Hold on, Max…" Zoe said and looked at her still beeping DinoBracer. Rod and Laura both looked at it.
"Wait, so does that mean another dinosaur's appeared here in the city?" Laura said.
"Yeah, don't you think their Alpha Scanners might have picked up this signal as well?" Zoe said "So maybe they went to investigate the whole thing?"
"But this isn't like the old days of hunting Dinosaur Cards!" Rod said, suddenly sounding frightened "The only way another dinosaur would appear here is if it was sent out by those Ancient Emperors you guys talked about!"
"And those guys are really dangerous and powerful, aren't they?" Laura asked worriedly.
"No joke." Max said bitterly "From what we've seen up till now, those guys could wipe out the whole city in mere moments should they want to…Not to mention what they plan making smash right into Earth…"
"The Reaper…" Rex said "The very meteor that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct…" Both Rod and Laura looked shocked.
"Then we have to find grandpa right away!" Laura cried "We can't let him fight those guys!"
"Yeah, we have to save him!" Rod said. Max, Rex and Zoe all nodded.
"You got it!" Max said, turning towards the rest of the gang "Let's hurry!" And they all rushed off, followed by Chomp, Ace,Paris, Rod and Laura.
"The signal's getting closer!" Max said as he rushed ahead of Rex and Zoe through the city, with Rod and Laura running right next to him "We're almost there!" He cried back to the others. He looked at his DinoBracer again to ensure they were going the right way when, suddenly, the dot on the screen disappeared!
"Hey, where did it go?" Max cried in surprise and stopped "It just vanished!"
"Did that happen to you to, Max?" Zoe said as she and Rex ran up to Max, Rod and Laura.
"So you lost the signal to?" Max asked them.
"Yeah…" Rex said as he and Zoe held up their DinoBracers before Max, and he saw that the dot had vanished from the screen.
"Does that mean the dinosaur vanished?" Max said and looked around. They were now standing on a large asphalted area, lit up by several street lights, next to a long row of what looked very much like some very old storage buildings. He was pretty sure that the signal had come from around here before it vanished. So what had happened to the dinosaur?
"What if it means there's just been a battle?" Laura said in horror "And what if grandpa…"
"I don't think so…" Rex said as he looked around the area "I can't see any signs of a battle anyway..."
"Grandpa!" Rod called "Ed! Zander! Ursula!" But his words just echoed through the area "Maybe we were wrong and he's not here..." He said as he looked around for any signs of them.
"But where could he be in that case?" Laura asked worriedly.
"Hold on guys, I have an idea!" Zoe said and turned towards the row of storage buildings "Hey! Are you around here, Old Lady?" She called. No sooner had she said it before the door to one of the old warehouses flung open, and suddenly someone came rushing out through the door, closely followed by two others, and with a slightly shorter one following behind. As the four of them came out into the light they could clearly see that it was Ursula, running first with a furious look on her face, followed by Ed and Zander who hung on to her arms, trying to restrain her, with Dr. Z following behind them.
"WHEN WILL YOU LEARN, YOU LITTLE BRAT, THAT I'M NOT AN OLD LADY!" Ursula bellowed as she ran up to Zoe "I OUGHT TO…"
"Looks like that old trick always works..." Rex said, smiling a little as Ed and Zander desperately tried to prevent Ursula from getting to Zoe.
"Yeah, nice one Zoe…" Max said with a little grin "Now we know for sure that they're here. And that they're all right…" Ursula eventually seemed to calm down slightly, and Ed and Zander released their grip of her arms and slumped down on the ground, breathing heavily from exhaustion.
"Grandpa!" Laura cried and rushed up to Dr. Z, hugging him "You're okay!"
"I'm fine…" Dr. Z replied, apparently very surprised over seeing her there "But why are you kids here?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Rod said as he stepped up behind Laura "We came here to save you."
"Save me?" Dr. Z repeated in confusion "But I already told you I'm fine…"
"Well, you won't be for long if you just run of without thinking like this…" Zoe said "We just picked up a Dinosaur Signal from here. That's why you guys came here in the first place, right?"
"Indeed" Dr. Z replied "As soon as we noticed it, we knew we had to head here to investigate…"
"But don't you realize it could be those Ancient Emperors again?" Rex said incredulously "And if so, they'd wipe you out in an instant should you run into them! You guys wouldn't stand a chance!"
"That's exactly what we tried to tell him…" Ursula said darkly.
"But do you think he listened to us?" Zander sighted.
"I think the fact that we're here in the first place answers that question…" Ed said.
"Put a cork in it!" Dr. Z snapped as he whirled around towards them, then turning back towards Rod and Laura "You see…I just thought we'd…"
"Grandpa…Sometimes you're just so hopeless…" Rod said and sighted. Dr. Z didn't say anything, but just stubbornly looked the other way.
"Well, at least nothing bad happened to you guys." Max said as he stepped up to them along with Rex and Zoe "And if that dinosaur really isn't here anymore, maybe we can all go…"
"Go? I don't think so…" A cold voice said from behind him. They all whirled around, looking wildly for who had been speaking.
"Who's there?" Max cried, but at the same time he couldn't help but feeling there was something familiar with that voice…
"Do you even need to ask?" Another voice said, and almost immediately they could hear someone giggling…
"Is it…?" Rod said as he and Laura stepped closer to them.
"No doubt…" Rex said darkly "I know that giggle anywhere…"
Before anyone of them could say anything else, three figures suddenly stepped out from the shadow of the nearby buildings. And as they walked out into the light they could see that they all wore white cloaks with a red Tyrannosaurs-skull emblem on their chests…
"Long time no see…" Creaton said coldly as he removed his hood, staring coldly at Max.
"Have you missed me?" Juraton said sarcastically as he removed his hood as well, giggling maniacally as his eyes fell on Rex.
Triaton, on the other hand, didn't say anything as he removed his hood, but just eyed the group quietly with his one grey eye…
"So it was you guys after all?" Zoe said angrily as she felt Triaton's eye at her "You're the ones behind that signal from before, right?" Creaton smiled evilly at her.
"Of course it was. What did you insects expect?" He said coldly.
"And they're not the only ones!" Another voice suddenly called, and before anyone could say anything three familiar figures suddenly swept down from the sky.
"Oh yeah, I remember…" Max said thought gritted teeth "You're still working for them…"
"That's right! And it looks like all the waiting is finally paying of!" Gavro said.
"Yeah, and it looks like there's a lot more spectators here than we thought!" Foolscap said.
"Looks like that plan of yours worked better than expected…" Sheer said with a look at Triaton. Just like back then his wrinkled face curled into a smile as he once again looked at the group.
"Indeed…" He said with his deep, dark voice "I would have thought that only the children would notice the signs…But now all of the Stones lie just within our reached…" His eye suddenly seemed to sparkle with a menacing glow "Today is the day…" He said "When the Reaper becomes ours to command…The day when Earth will be reborn..."