The parents successfully survived their first sleep on the Space Pirate ship without anyone interrupting, however, since they were on guard duty, Spike and Aki were exhausted and fell asleep on one of the couches. They were hugging each other; Aki's head was rested on Spike's chest while he was snoring loudly.
"How does that not wake her up?" Trias wondered, sitting at the table with the others.
"They've been married for about twenty years," Amano said, "long enough to get used to a noise."
"Twenty years...Woah," Cretacia murmured.
"That time passes very quickly," Ryu admitted, "Amano and I have also been married for more than twenty years."
"That's wonderful." Trias smiled and nodded softly. He's usually not the guy to talk for a long time or to maintain small talk, however, he was aware that little moments like this one is what keeps them all from the hopelessness of the situation. "Cretacia and I have been married for only three years; she proposed to me out of nowhere."
"And it took weeks of planning," the blonde chuckled, "I just wish I managed to get that marching band on time..."
"It wouldn't make it any better or any worse," Trias told her, "it was perfect the way it was."
Cretacia giggled softly at that, however, her husband slowly lost that little bit of optimism as he continued.
"That was three years ago and now we have a 12-years-old son... Who would have thought...?"
"Life can be unexpected," Ryu stated.
"This is a quite different level of 'unexpected' than people usually refer to," Trias mumbled as a small smile returned on his face for a bit.
All of a sudden, in between Spike's snores, they heard a knock on the glass door. The four parents jumped off the chairs in alert, tensed up, and ready for whatever was waiting outside behind the closed curtains.
"Is the stick one still unable to open the door?" Cretacia joked.
"What if it's not him?" Ryu asked quietly.
With eyes locked on the curtains, Amano headed to the glass door.
"Am...! What are you doing...?!" her husband hissed nervously. Despite that, she continued and Trias followed her.
Amano swiftly opened the curtains, revealing what was standing outside the house. She gasped and launched herself back, bumping into Trias who stopped her by grabbing her shoulders in a reflex. She quickly jerked from his grip, glancing at the man behind her as she pulled away from him a little more, touching her shoulder, slowly making sense of what happened.
The thing that was standing outside and was staring right at them was nothing like they've ever seen before; a lavender-pink blob of gel shaped like a human body that was missing a head and a neck—its face seemed to be on its chest with one black eye in the middle with a bright pink light, the eye surrounded by hexagonal metal plates. This creature...it was just staring.
"What is that...?" Trias breathed.
The creature reached to the glass door and opened it. The parents hardened their glares whether they were scared or determined, but instead of the gel walking in, they heard a mischievous feminine laugh.
"Wow, you really are cowards, aren't you?"
A pale Space Pirate landed beside the creature, keeping her yellowish wings spread. Sheer... She was actually taller than the creature by nothing more than 5 centimeters.
"Being scared of a Gel Jark." She rolled her eyes as a devilish smirk crossed her face.
"A Gel Jark?"
"That's what we call the droids." Sheer folded her arms and pointed at the Gel Jark beside her with her thumb. "They are dumber than Gavro sometimes but are perfect as bodyguards thus boss told me to have them look after you."
"Is that everything? Or do you have something more like your colleagues?" Trias questioned the pale Kai.
Sheer flew inside, her red eyes pricing through him, coming closer to him and Amano. "I'm nothing like those two idiots. I won't be friendly. In fact-" A pair of strange magenta scissors popped from the alien's sleeve right into her hand as her wings carried her higher. "-the only time I'd wonder here would be if I felt like having some target practice or to simply snip something off for fun." Her voice shifted from bored to murderous in that one sentence.
"S-stay away from her," Ryunanaka snapped at the Kai tauntingly.
Sheer glared at him, got her boomerang in her other hand, and threw it at him.
"Ryu!"
In a state of panic, Drake grabbed his giant needle and hid behind it. The boomerang merely brushed the surface, leaving a little scratch before returning into its owner's hand who chuckled devilishly.
"Well, that was a little showcase of the target practice I mentioned," Sheer announced while she tilted Amano's chin with the scissors.
"You heard him, stay away from her," Trias repeated Ryunanaka's words.
The Kai ignored him and continued her speech. "I also have an example of the said 'snip'. This hairstyle would really deserve some changes~"
"Okay, back the hell off!" Cretacia yelled, rushing right between Amano and Sheer, pulling out her own scissors.
The pale woman flew back.
"You wouldn't want me to bite you again, would you?" The blonde grinned childishly.
Sheer growled, glaring down at her.
"Scram!" Cretacia launched at the Kai, but Amano reached out and grabbed the blonde's vest, stopping her.
"Cretacia, no."
The blonde looked back at her and sighed defeatedly. "Fine..."
Sheer let out a low chuckle. "Well, I'll leave you with your shenanigans. I might return for some target practice~" And with that, she flew out of the house.
"You okay?" Cretacia asked Amano, reaching to her arm.
The tall woman pulled away. "I'm fine," she breathed softly.
Ryunanaka slowly walked over to them. "Am..." He frowned at her apologizingly. His wife smiled at him reassuringly.
"I'm just glad this didn't happen while we were asleep," she said, eyeing the Taylors who were still sleeping on the couch, "who knows how...that would have gone."
"Oh, if they try anything like that again-!"
"As infuriating as this scene was, we can't make impulsive decisions," Trias interrupted Cretacia, touching her shoulder. She nodded little.
Ryu sighed and looked at the scratch on the needle. "Right..."
"I don't think we should tell Aki about this," Amano spoke up again.
"Huh?"
"She's been distressed enough before; this wouldn't make her situation any better."
"She isn't the only one," Ryu pointed out, "I think she mentioned having some calming herbal tea. I'll go make some; we deserve it."
"We sure do," Trias agreed, "thank you, Dr. Drake."
"It's the least I can do right now." The vet headed to the kitchen as the rest glanced at the opened glass door and the Gel Jark standing there and still staring.
"So, what are we going to do about...that?" Amano wondered, folding her arms on her chest.
"I guess it's supposed to guard us so we don't leave," Trias said.
"Yeah..." Cretacia nodded. "I'm gonna poke it with the needle!" she gasped after a few seconds of silence.
"No!"
"Don't touch Bertha!" sounded from the kitchen.
Shocked by what he heard, Trias turned to Amano. "Wait. Did your husband actually name that needle?"
"What do you think?" the tall woman replied, raising her eyebrow
Meanwhile, Cretacia grabbed the big needle and rushed to the glass door. Before anyone could stop her, she stabbed through the Gel Jark.
The droid was unfazed by a giant needle sticking through its body.
"Oh!" The blonde's teal eyes widened in realization. "That's why you're good as a bodyguard..."
The Gel Jark tilted its head, making strange, robotic sounds.
Cretacia pulled the needle out and walked away backwards.
Trias frowned at her. "You poked it. Happy?"
"Yep! I found out that we can't hurt them, but they won't attack back. Or at least this one won't. Now we know what we're dealing with." She winked at him.
"That is clever," Amano admitted, "and...reckless at the same time."
Cretacia grinned proudly.
"Can you lay Bertha down now?" Ryu called from the kitchen.
"On it!" The blonde gently laid the needle on the floor while her husband went to close the glass door and the curtain right in the Gel Jark's face.
"Let's not mess with any alien technology from now on. Please."
"Okay, honey..."
—
The four parents were sitting at the table again, drinking the herbal tea. It was indeed calming—Amano slowly switched from clenching convulsively her mug to letting go of it.
Ryu reached to her but paused before touching her. She smiled at him and he rubbed her back.
"Feeling better?"
"As good as it can be now," she admitted.
"If they try anything like that again," Cretacia growled, "I'll-" She was quickly interrupted by the front door opening.
The four once again jumped up.
"What now?"
"Just no rushed decisions," Trias said, "stay back..."
Two Gel Jarks walked into the living room, making robotic sounds again.
"What do you want?" Cretacia snapped.
One of the gel creatures started strangely moving and slither, the gel turning green and changing shape into a humanoid-like body as it transformed into the Space Pirate boss Spectre.
The parents stared in shock. "What the-"
Fake Spectre spoke up in a glitchy voice: "Br-bring...bring m-me the An...the Ancients!"
Trias stepped back, his arm keeping Cretacia behind him. "They must be able to imitate whoever they recorded; interesting..." He glanced at his wife who looked ready to brawl. "Fine."
Spectre's body then suddenly widened, stretching the alien's body out, shortening it, turning it lavender-pink. The Kai's face melted, forming back into a Gel Jark.
"That's..." Amano murmured, her face pale.
"Disgusting..." Ryu covered his mouth.
The Gel Jarks made more, slightly aggressive, sounds.
Cretacia glared at them. "Fine, fine. We're coming." She looked at the Drakes. "Are you going to be okay?"
Ryu uncovered his mouth, letting himself smile reassuringly. "We can somehow manage."
Trias sighed. "Alright. Lead the way then."
The Gel Jarks and the Ancients left.
Ryu's expression immediately switched from trying to stay calm to panic. "That was so sickening... What in the world was that...? What was that?!" He walked over to the empty sofa and sat down. He took his glasses off, covering his eyes.
"Ryu..." Amano placed her hand on his shoulder.
The brunet shuddered a bit, gazing up at his wife. "Panicking isn't going to help. I know... But this whole situation..." He shook his head rapidly, putting his glasses back on. "We all feel like this, I know... And as much as we're scared...everyone must be worried even more."
"I thought of that too..." Amano's voice went more strict and cold, although, her hand on his shoulder shook. "When our house disappeared right in front of me, I had no idea what to do. The first thing on my mind was that I might not see you and the girls ever again. Just staring at the spot where the house used to be made my heart drop so low, so many different scenarios ran through my mind. I haven't felt so desperate for 13 years..." Her hand twitched as she was looking into nothing. Ryu took her hand, squeezing it tightly.
"Imagining Reese and Zoe going through the same is painful, but don't forget who got the house from that island," he reminded her, "our daughters are incredibly smart and brave; they can deal with so much."
"I wonder who they got that from," Amano joked.
Ryunanaka could only chuckle.
Soon enough, the couple wasn't alone as Aki started to wake up. Once her purple eyes opened, she immediately spotted the Drakes reassuring each other. A soft smile crossed her face. She got up carefully not to wake her husband up. "Good morning..." she yawned as she rubbed her eyes.
The Drakes turned to her.
"Are you feeling okay?" Amano asked her.
Aki only smiled more without replying.
Spike shivered and quickly sat up, showered in a cold sweat as he felt that Aki slipped from his grip. His fear wore off once he spotted Aki standing beside the couch, safe and sound. He sighed in relief as she took his hand.
"I'm so glad you're here," he mumbled.
"Sorry, I didn't think it'd wake you up."
"It's alright. What did we miss?" he wondered.
Ryunanaka crossed his arms. "The Ancients just left. Before that, guards were brought to watch the house. ...and Dr. Cretacia tried to attack it with my needle."
"She what?!" Aki gasped worriedly.
What caught Spike's attention was the second point, guards around the house. He got up and walked over to the window, pulling curtains out of the way, ending up facing the same Gel Jark that scared Amano before.
"What...is this...?"
"They called it a 'Gel Jark'. They can't take damage; when Cretacia attacked it, she stabbed right through it, leaving no wound," Amano explained.
Spike peeked outside, seeing several more Gel Jarks far from the house. "There's more of them walking around. What's this one's deal?"
Aki looked at the Gel Jark and tilted her head, holding her hand near her chest. The Gel Jark spotted her and tilted its head like her, mirroring her. She scaredly stepped back and so did the Gel Jark.
"That doesn't seem like something a guarding droid should do," Spike pointed out, "it can be a defect."
"It looks curious," Aki said, "if it's a defect, maybe it's friendly? We can call it Gelly!"
"We're not naming that thing!" Ryu yelped.
Spike closed the curtains with a sigh. "This will make any plan to escape way harder."
"Do you have a plan?" Amano asked him, "we don't really have where to escape, remember?"
"I have a few ideas." He turned to Aki. "But first we should take a shower and wait for the Ancients."
—
Meanwhile, the Ancients were consulting how exactly they're going to execute orders they were given, drawing blueprints while thinking about what the Space Pirates need in Ancient Rome, where they recently traveled and sent one of them with a dinosaur to its surface as the Ancients overheard.
But why Ancient Rome? It's a strange time and place to go to. Do they want to learn more about humans through their history? Kidnap some soldiers? Or just cause some havoc?
Such confusing moves of the pirates didn't calm the parents down, it only added to the worries about their unknown future.
"But this actually makes an escape possible," Cretacia said, drawing into the blueprint through a touchscreen, "once we get off the ship, we don't have to worry about getting sent into random time periods and getting separated. Rex can locate us thanks to his TPS. We can esca-" Her ramble was suddenly cut off by Trias kissing her. "W-why exactly I should shut up...?"
"We're right in the middle of their lab," he whispered, "they're very likely spying on us." He leaned in, kissing her on the cheek to hide what else he was saying. "Great thinking, but the Backland is still broken..."
"Right..."
"Okay, lovebirds, do that somewhere in private," a voice groaned behind them. The Ancients turned around and to their surprise, Spectre was standing there with his pet Apatosaurus in his arms.
"What the-You can teleport?" Cretacia's voice cracked due to the shock.
The green alien chuckled. "This is my ship, I can do things not even my pirates know about. Have you moved with the blueprints?"
"Yes," Trias replied, "we were able to figure out a good structure for a detector, however, it would help a lot if we knew what we're supposed to detect."
"A 'huge amount of power' isn't exactly specific," Cretacia complained, doing air quotes with her fingers, "there are many different types of power and energy. We have no clue what type we're looking for."
Then, the door opened and Gavro walked in.
"Seems like here comes your answer," Spectre exclaimed, "Gavro, give them the stone."
The orange man frowned nervously, sweating. "Um, boss...about that..."
Spectre's red eyes glowed as he shot a nasty glare at his minion. "Don't tell me you didn't get the Cosmos Stone."
"Cosmos Stone...?" the Ancients wondered.
"Okay, I won't..." Gavro was about to turn around and leave to get away before his boss gets angrier, but he was too slow.
Spectre walked over to him, screaming. "I told you not to come back without the stone!"
"I know...but a bunch of kids confronted me," Gavro started explaining.
"Tch, some dumb kids." Cretacia rolled her eyes. "Trying to face an alien with a dinosaur."
"Kids?! You had a Torvosaurus."
"Yeah, but they defeated it; they had a Triceratops, a Carnotaurus, and a Parasaurolophus."
At Gavro's words, the Ancients looked at each other in absolute shock mixed with a bit of horror.
"Those are our dumb kids," Trias mumbled quietly, making sure Spectre and Gavro don't hear him.
"Did you at least manage to locate the Cosmos Stone?" Spectre wondered.
"I think so..." Gavro scratched his temple. "I found a girl that should have it."
"Fine. Give a description of her to Foolscap and send him out right away," Spectre ordered him.
"Yes, sir!"
The buff alien left, the door closing behind him, and Spectre headed over to his prisoners, stroking his pet's head. "Kids with dinosaurs... Do you, by any chance, know what that is about?"
"No clue," Trias spoke up.
"Interesting..." Spectre grinned.
—
After what felt like hours, the Ancients finally returned to the house. They walked in, ready to say the good news.
"You're back!" Everyone in the living room looking up at them; the Drakes were sitting on one couch while Aki was on the other one.
"We have some news, guys!" Cretacia blurted out immediately, "where is Dr. Taylor?"
"Right here!" Spike called from the hallway, "what did I miss?" He walked into the living room, wearing only towels around his waist and hair—he just left the shower. Everyone had their eyes on him, even slightly flushing.
"Huh?" He tilted his head confusedly.
Aki turned away, covering her mouth while her face was completely red. "Clothes, darling. Clothes..."
"O-oh!" The muscular grinned and blushed. "I'll be right back!" He quickly left.
"What kind of exercises does he do to get so buff?" Cretacia asked Aki.
"Cretacia." Trias glared at her.
"What?" She looked at her husband. "I'm asking for myself, I'm tired of not being able to carry heavy stuff around."
"I was about to ask the say thing..." Ryu admitted.
"...Despite that, one of those pirates was able to throw him like a tennis ball," Amano pointed out, "incredible strength, high speed, murderous personality; the three pirates are dangerous even by themselves..."
Once Spike came back all dressed up with only his hair went, the Ancients finally delivered the news.
"So, we're currently in Ancient Rome," Cretacia started explaining, "the Space Pirates are looking for something called a Cosmos Stone and Spectre sends his minions with dinosaurs to get it. But the best thing is that the children are here!"
"What?!" the others gasped, standing up.
"Do you know for sure that it's them?" Aki wondered.
"The buff one mentioned that he lost to kids that had a Carnotaurus, a Parasaurolophus, and a Triceratops!"
Just that brought smiles to everyone's faces. "They're really here...but how?"
"Rex's TPS, a device that helps him locate me and Cretacia," Trias told them, "I doubt he can find our exact coordinates; the Space Pirates seem to be cautious about that, but if they managed to fix the Backland, they can track at least the time period we're in. I'm actually impressed they repaired the time machine."
"Well, someone's daughter is very skilled with technology," Ryu noted, shrugging.
"No need to brag about that," Amano commented with a soft smile, folding her arms on her chest.
"The children attempting to rescue us makes our escape way easier," Spike said, "once we get out of here, we just need to find them and we're saved!"
"But how exactly do we get out?" the others wondered.
Spike grinned happily. "As I said, I have a few ideas."
—
That's it for this chapter. I know this took me so long to finish, but I just wasn't able to do it for some time. I'm so happy this chapter is done and I hope you liked it.
