Author's note: I wish to thank Metalomaniac, Red Witch, L1701E, pauloj1983, and Sparky Genocide for the kind reviews! Also, I found out something interesting! The person, Len Carlson, who did the voice work of Allo in "Dinosaucers" was ALSO the voice of Senator Kelly in the 90's "X-Men" cartoon! What a weird coincidence!
Allo (groans): Thanks a lot, RogueFanKC! Now I'm going to be even more humiliated when people start comparing me to that bigoted twit!
Justin: Well, to be fair, you DO sound like him, Dad...
Allo: I DO NOT SOUND ANYTHING LIKE SENATOR KELLY!!!
Oh be quiet and let's meet the entire Dinosaucer team!
CHAPTER 4: Never Piss Off A Drunk Dinosaucer
"Happy egg day, Justin!!" chorused Stego and Bonehead in perfect, and slightly annoying, harmony as Justin, slightly groggy and disoriented from his 6:30 A.M. wake-up call, emerged from his bedroom, still clad in his pajama shirt and shorts. His short, brown hair was already tussled and messily spiked from his pillow, and his hazel eyes had slight bags of restlessness, yet Justin still managed to graciously look surprised...and gratefully appreciative.
"Thanks, you guys," Justin murmured as Stego knelt down and gleefully gave him an immense, if not a little painful, hug of excitement. Stego was a gigantic stegosaurus, but like Allo and the rest of the Dinosaucers, he was perfectly anthropomorphic in the sense of being able to speak, stand upright, having opposable thumbs, and humanistic body proportions, especially in his arms and legs. Stego has light grayish green skin which contrasted the metallic gray and midnight blue sleeveless suit he was wearing. The pointed scales on his back were flaky slates of dead bone, matching the exact color of the set of six thorny spikes on his tail. However, contrary to his intimidating exterior, Stego was, in all senses of the word, a loveable, naive idiot. Though he was a Dinosaucer, Stego most likely fit the role of the comedy relief in this group. Yet Justin wouldn't have his friend any other way for Stego was also had a cheery, kind interior which was very lighthearted, despite his tendency to goof up missions and be completely oblivious to what was going on around him.
Bonehead just happily clapped his hands as he jumped up and down, cheering excitedly. Bonehead was a light-brown pachycephalosaurus, the infamous dinosaur with a large, oversized, spiked cranium and thick skull perfect for head-butts. He was also Allo's nephew, and he was almost as naïve and senseless as Stego, but Bonehead also possessed a pure stubborn and loyal streak that was hard to break, an endless, exuberant spirit. Even though a decade of being on Earth did mature and harden Bonehead's demeanor somewhat, he was always like a child at heart.
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" laughed Bonehead in anticipation, "It's your bestest egg-day yet, Justin!! It's number sixteen! We should make this one special!!"
The words did threaten to bring a cold feeling of dread to Justin, but he just shook it off desperately as Bonehead gave Justin a huge, crushing bear-hug as well.
Stego looked confused as he said innocently, "But...but I thought we were doing something special!! What about the secret party we were planning later today?"
Bonehead irked, his eyes widening in alarm.
"STEGO!! You ruined the surprise!!" he exclaimed to Stego. Stego blushed in a brilliant crimson color that clashed with his skin tone as he looked down on the floor and twiddled his legs together bashfully. Justin had to fight not to laugh at the sight.
Justin turned to Bonehead, explaining, "It's all right, Bonehead...I already knew about birthday surprise party because Montacera told me about it two nights ago while I was doing my homework in the study."
Stego groaned, "I knew we should have paid her more! That dino-girl does not know when to keep her beak quiet!"
Justin had to smirk with smugness as he clarified, "Actually, even if you did pay her what she wanted, she still would have told me. She wanted to get back at you two for breaking her TV set when you crashed into her room."
"That was an accident!" whined Stego.
"Playing touch-tag football in the hallways after Allo and Dimetro told you two ten billion times to not roughhouse inside the Lavadome isn't considered an accident," Justin smirked, "And Montacera was more mad at the fact that you happened to break her set when she was taping VH1's 'Pop-Star Boy-Band Jamboree'."
"Please, we did her a favor," sniffed Bonehead at the memory, "not to mention everyone else who was close to losing their sanity after listening to her play that junk that she passes off as music for that past month. She should have shown us mercy for sparing her from that tasteless garbage."
"She did show you guys mercy, remember? She only threatened to shove the remains of the coffee table down your throats when she tried to smash it on your heads; she didn't actually do it."
Stego chuckled as he recalled fondly, "That was only because she found out that the fire extinguisher would be more painful to shove down our throats than a crummy wooden table leg."
At the memory, all three of them guffawed loudly and Stego actually fell on his side, chortling, his legs flailing up and down wildly while hooting with glee, the floor slightly resonating from the weight. Which happened to cause a neighboring dinosaur to gripe in agonizing fury from his room.
"Will you two lumbering imbeciles cease jumping up and down in the damn hallway?!!" roared a gruff and gratingly scratchy voice as a black velociraptor's head stuck out irately from his bedroom doorframe, snarling with venom, "I swear, by the gods of Reptilion, if I did not have this blasted pain in my skull, I'd slowly eviscerate the both of you before stuffing your entrails down your whiny throats since it appears to be the only way to have you two half-wits be quiet!!!"
"We love you too, Raptor," drawled Bonehead guilelessly, "And just for your information, the pain is called a 'hangover'. It's what you get when you drink too much to access."
Stego then added, "You can't blame us; we told you that you couldn't win that bet against Compy on who could chug more tequila shooters in one hour last night."
"Oh shut up, you insufferable baboon!" snapped Raptor before wincing and holding his throbbing head with one claw. Apparently, all the yelling and screaming was adding on to the migraine, each word like a hundred bars of lead pounding against his brain tissue. Stego and Bonehead then grinned at each other.
Stego chirped annoyingly in a baby's voice, "Would the widdle 'Waptor wike a hug?"
Bonehead then joined in. He drawled, "Would the widdle 'Waptor wike a gweat big kiss??"
"Would the widdle 'Waptor wike a wullaby??"
"What I would really like right now would involve a crowbar, duct tape, several sticks of dynamite, and your backsides!! But since it's apparent I can't have everything I want, I'll just settle for you two to be out of this hallway by the time I get back in bed and die in peace..." muttered Raptor murderously as his door slammed shut.
Stego then impishly snickered to Bonehead, "Perhaps then a little music would help our Mr. Sunshine..."
Bonehead then announced loudly enough for Raptor to hear, "Good idea, Stego! I'll turn on the Lavadome's base speakers then...does Compy still have that Metallica CD?"
There was a short pounding of feet that indicated even with the hangover, Raptor was still quick enough to dash back out to protest to the suggestion of torture.
"If you two idiots even put one claw into the control room...!!" screamed Raptor as he now ran out of room, panting heavily, looking ready to kill as he advanced towards the stegosaurus and pachycephalosaurus with wild eyes and a frothing mouth. Stego then playfully held Justin in front of him as a shield.
"You wouldn't kill me in front of Justin, would you, Raptor?" he mock-begged, "Not on Justin's egg day?? Not even an ex-Tyrannos would be that cruel and heartless!"
"Don't tempt me, you corpulent, blubbering tub of -!" Raptor let the insult hang as he continued to stomp towards Stego and Bonehead, consequences and maintenance duties be damned.
Feeling sorry for Raptor, Justin then supplicated gently to Stego and Bonehead, albeit smiling, "Hey, come on, you guys, that's enough. Raptor won't kill you if you just let him go back to bed and let him sleep the hangover off. And c'mon Raptor, can't you just let them off the hook for once? Please? They were just joking. And besides, don't you remember Allo telling you that you'd be on permanent monitor duty if you sent Bonehead or Compy to the infirmary one more time?"
"It'll be worth it if I can stick their brainless heads on metal stakes outside the Lavadome!" rumbled Raptor as he continued eying the two Dinosaucers beadily. Yet, Raptor could never refuse the human orphan; out of all the Dinosaucers and the Secret Scouts, Justin was the only one who could soften him. Back at Reptilion ten years ago, Raptor used to be a field commander for the Tyrannos, a ruthless group of dinosaur-warmongers that ravaged Reptilion with wars and were the ones behind the rampant destruction of the planet. In fact, the Tyrannos were the leading forces behind the destruction that killed many of the Dinosaucers' friends, families, and allies...including Allo's wife and daughter. Yet despite his loyal services, when the time came to escape their ruined home planet, Raptor was brutally beaten and left behind mercilessly by Genghis Rex, the leader of the Tyrannos. Allo and the rest of the Dinosaucers came across Raptor's ravaged body and took him back to the Lavadome to heal, despite protests from Tricero, Bronto-Thunder, Itchy, and Compy about showing grace to a Tyrannos mercenary. Even afterwards, Raptor realized he really had no place to return to, no place to call home, and despite argument, Allo offered Raptor a tentative place amongst the Dinosaucers. Raptor obviously didn't accept the offer at first, but considering how damaged his body was from his injuries, he was allowed to recuperate back on headquarters as a prolonged guest and wander around aimlessly. Several of the Dinosaucers, especially Bronto-Thunder, Itchy, and Compy didn't trust the velociraptor and voiced their opinions repeatedly about how he was a hopeless case, how he should have been left behind to die along with the other scum, and how to show blessings on a Tyrannos soldier when so many innocent dinosaurs perished on the Great Reptilion Wars was adding insult to injury. Compy and Itchy would also do everything they could to make Raptor's stay a living hell, ranging anywhere from pranks to open snipes and disdain. Raptor naturally lashed back, but then it would always end up with him being looked upon as a troublemaker and with the ex-Tyrannos soldier being further lowered from everyone's patience, including Allo's. Even the Secret Scouts were wary of Raptor...yet Justin was the only one who didn't follow suit. He remembered how many times the brown-haired kid, as a young child, naively visited the black lizard in the infirmary as company and joined the moody warrior on his long walks under the night sky, despite the Tyrannos' protest for the annoying child to leave him alone. Yet regardless of his red eyes, his black skin, and his lethal smile, nothing could scare Justin away from Raptor. There was even an incident when Raptor was sulkily resting his broken femur in the Lavadome infirmary, he woke up from his stupor to find the six-year old Justin snuggling against him like a teddy bear, covering him with an extra blanket the child managed to scour up from the supply closet. Allo knew of this, but he didn't object because he knew Justin wouldn't associate himself with someone who wished to cause him pain; he trusted his son's judgment, though not with a bit of wariness. And as much as Raptor hated to admit it, it was nice having Justin continually trying to be affectionate towards him. Throughout the Tyrannos' life, he never felt such emotion. It felt like he belonged, like he had a family. And it was a pleasant feeling. Once he was fully healed, Raptor begrudgingly joined the Dinosaucers, much to the wails of agonized protest to Compy and Itchy and Bronto-Thunder. Raptor himself had to admit it was certainly worth it seeing the looks of horror etched on their faces when Allo made the declaration, a pure sight to remember.
Raptor just growled at Justin before turning to Stego and Bonehead.
"You two have until the count of ten to get out of my sight before I hunt you down and pound you imbeciles into the next ice age! One, two, three...!"
Stego and Bonehead dashed off out of the hallway, hooting, and sighing, Justin followed them into the kitchen after he gave Raptor a slight smile. Raptor just huffed and stomped back into his room before slamming the door again.
In the kitchen, Montacera, Compy, and Struthio, and Plateo were already busy with breakfast.
"Dare I ask why Stego and Bonehead just passed by in a hurry?" Montacera asked, deadpanned, as she was taking crisp toast out of a conventional oven nearby.
"Raptor isn't a morning person," Justin shrugged lightly, bringing a murmur of understanding from the female montaceratops as she took out bowls and plates for Plateo to serve breakfast in.
Plateo was a dark-green, bespectacled plateosaurus with bright, orange stripes running vertically across his back, powerful, large hind legs and mammoth tail, and there was a splash of yellow ochre scales underneath his chin as it traveled across his underbelly which contrasted against the grey jumpsuit he was wearing. The Dinosaucer had a small flat head on a relatively long, curvy neck along with powerful clawed hands, yet surprisingly, Plateo was a sage and pacifistic herbivore, so philosophical and scholarly at times, he earned the nickname "Plato" by Sarah and Ryan. In time, all the Dinosaucers caught on to the alias. In a way, Plateo was a Dinosaucer version of Frasier Crane. Right now, Justin found it quite comical to see Plateo struggling to clear his foggy glasses from the steam of the cooking stove as he tended to a large pot of oatmeal with a pan of frying eggs alongside. Out of all the duties of the Lavadome, Plateo absolutely hated cooking. As he voiced so many times in the past, he was a bookworm and a librarian, not a mess hall chef. And right now, due to his frustrations, Plateo was very close to losing his temper and breaking his façade of sophistication as he cursed under his breath when he dropped the ladle of oatmeal on his foot for what appeared to be the umpteenth time. Hearing the stifling chuckle, Plateo gave Justin a deadpanned glare of annoyance.
"Would be so kind as to help me tend to the breakfast rather than standing there and laughing at my misfortune of being on the cooking roster for this week, you little ruffian?" he managed to hiss in an aloof yet silky voice through his teeth as he accidentally burned his hand on the pot.
"Aw, c'mon, Plato!" drawled Compy in a sleazy, rat-like voice, laughing, "Loosen up and get that stick out of your ass! It's Justin's egg day! He's got better things to do than remedial duties and be everyone's butler for today! After all, that's your job!"
Compy was a neon-red skinned compsognathus dinosaur, with black stripes across his back and small head, sharp petite hands and claws and a beige underbelly littered with scars from his rough times on the wars of Reptilion. Compsognathi were small scavengers, and up to his full, upright position, Compy was only three-quarters as tall as Justin. However, his diminutive size was easily made up for Compy's speed and quick resourceful thinking; he was easily one of the fastest Dinosaucers on the team, with his light body weight and ability to crawl through even the tightest spaces a normal Dinosaucers could never get through. However, it didn't comply with his ego or mouth. Compy could also easily agitate anyone with his crude comments and his ability to say things without any respect or thought. It wasn't that he was insensitive; it was just that he simply spoke what was on his mind. Compy also used to be a trade scout for various items and barters back on Reptilion, so it also helped him develop an edge for dealing, negotiation, and a stubborn streak for money-grubbing, gambling and shady deals. Yet, despite his various flaws, Compy was like an uncle...a loud-mouthed, annoying, double-dealing, irritating, drunk uncle of course.
Plateo fought to keep his temper under control as he snapped at Compy.
"Maybe instead of worrying about the proverbial stick up my posterior, you should be worrying about the actual frying pan that is going to be shoved up yours if you don't cease your incessant banter!! And perhaps you would receive your bounty of food with much more care and haste if you would even bother to help me!! Justin may have his valid excuse, but I sincerely doubt your excuse of being a complete sloth and parasite is just as sound!!"
"Hey, I'd love to help you, but I'm still recovering from all those shooters I chugged down last night," Compy drawled as he leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, yawning ostentatiously, "Besides, Raptor was supposed to be the one who was gonna share the cooking duties with you and Montacera, so blame him! Of course, I'd always known you couldn't depend a lousy, back-stabbing Tyrannos for anything."
Justin gave Compy a roll of his eyes as he helped Plateo tend to the scrambled eggs and placed them into a huge serving plate, commenting, "Compy, you know better than that. And Raptor's sick because he's got a hangover from the bet you made with him last night. In fact, Raptor's suffering in bed right now and pretty close to ripping someone's head off if anyone bothers him."
Compy just simply scoffed, "Pfft! Serves him right for getting drunk, that cheap Tyrannos-bastard. The welsher still owes me fifty bucks for losing the bet last night."
"Ex-Tyrannos, Compy," Struthio rectified with ease as he sipped his coffee, "and if I recall correctly, who was the one who dared Raptor into accepting the bet in the first place? As in, who was the one who kept making clucking noises like a chicken and kept goading Raptor by calling him 'a yellow-scaled, pansied coward'? And, as in, who was nearly mauled and nearly had his face shoved into the sink while the garbage disposal was running by Raptor when he threatened said Dinosaucer for not keeping his mouth shut? When it comes down to it, you were the one who was partly responsible for Raptor's suffering this morning."
"Details, details..." waved Compy dismissively as Justin, with some help from Plateo, brought over the mountain of eggs, "but now that I think about it, I think this gives me the perfect opportunity to say 'good morning' to our little sourpuss."
Montacera warned as she finished taking the last of the loaf of brown toast from the oven, "Don't make things worse, Compy. Raptor hates you enough as it is."
The small compsognathus just merely said with mock surprise and hurt pride, though everyone noticed the gleam of wicked maliciousness in his beady, yellow eyes, "Moi? Make things worse for our Tyrannos?? Of course not! I just wanna go over there and see what I can do to help the lumbering dirtball."
As Compy left, Justin sighed to no one in particular, "I'll go ready Dimetro in the infirmary again for a 'heads up'. You'd think after the first few hundred times, Compy'd learn his lesson."
"Knowing him, he probably planned this," Struthio smiled warmly with jest as he started ravenously attacking his helping of toast and eggs he took from the center of the table while Plateo finally then arrived with the bubbling pot of oatmeal. Struthio was a lanky struthiomimus dinosaur, his tan-gray skin littered with pebbles of brown on his back and ostrich-like body complete with slender long legs, neck, and arms, covered with lean muscle. Not surprisingly, Struthio was an incredibly fast runner and at times, he could run faster than a cheetah if need be necessary, and it was that talent that made him a field outrider in the Dinosaucer team. However, Struthio was one of the younger members of the Dinosaucers, and in retrospect to some of the veterans such as Allo or even Bonehead, Struthio was a minor, a teenager just shy of being a young adult. Right now, Struthio was dressed surprisingly in a semi-buttoned white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and tan slacks, not exactly one wears for casual comfort in one's own home. Yet as Sarah mentioned multiple times, Struthio could have been dressed in a garbage bag and still look like a model that would have hundreds of female fans adoring him. Yet despite his young age, the struthiomimus was very mature and easy-going; he was like a caring older brother who kept everyone's interests to heart and had patience and tenderness for everyone despite disagreement. At the very least, he was an effective peacemaker. Of course, like most people, Struthio was blind when it came to his own needs and matters, especially when one of them happened to be Montacera who coincidentally was looking infatuatedly at Struthio during breakfast.
Montacera was a light orange-ochre montanoceratops, a dinosaur similar to the Triceratops except that she was much smaller, had no horns, a small tail and only a small bone frill shielding her neck. She was taller than Justin and Compy, though only by a matter of inches, and her eyes were green which contrasted against her light-beige skin. Montacera was the niece of the main Triceratops police chief, Commissioner Stonebone, back at Reptilion, and Tricero brought her to Earth for her safety once the wars started. Tricero was a black and brown, gruff yet sage evolved-Triceratops who used to work as a police officer back at Reptilion before he became a veteran Dinosaucer, and Commander Stonebone used to be his boss. Though he mostly kept to himself and most of his past life remained a mystery, Tricero was fiercely loyal and determined. However, why he adopted Montacera wasn't entirely clear. Whenever Justin asked the triceratops Dinosaucer what happened between him and Stonebone back at Reptilion, Tricero would always make some comment about "people being too nosy for their own good" and just say that he was discharged unfairly. It was clear though that Tricero had some bitter resentment towards Stonebone. However when Stonebone was fatally wounded in the heat of the fighting in the Great Reptilion Wars eleven years ago, as a last request, he begged Tricero to take in Montacera and keep her safe. Though Tricero and Stonebone often clashed heads and couldn't honestly be regarded as on "friendly terms", Tricero kept his promise (for reasons unknown) to Stonebone and brought up Montacera as best as he could. She, like Struthio, was regarded as a minor; both were much younger and inexperienced compared to Bonehead. Yet, Montacera was a true teenager. She was a wild tomboy, a sure spitfire. She could give Raptor a run for his temper and moody personality when angered, but she was also bubbly, cheerful and sometimes a bit self-centered, especially when it came to matters of shopping and materialistic things. However, Montacera also knew when things were serious enough to be there for her family, but considering she was in her rebellious teenage years, she and Tricero constantly fought and argued, with Tricero trying to be stern and protective and Montacera being the more frustrated at being treated like a child. And as a result of the conflicting personalities, both of them fought tooth and nail over matters. One of these matters was Struthio.
Like most teenage girls, an enamored Montacera became foolish enough to tell Struthio about how she felt about him, and like most teenage boys, Struthio let her down gently, insightfully letting the montanoceratops know that he didn't see her that way and to him, she'll always be like a sister. Montacera was crushed, but she didn't let that stop her from constantly fawning over Struthio and hoping that over time, his feelings would change. Tricero, upon finding out, was not supportive of the idea and got over into a heated argument with Montacera about her being too young to express such an interest in a boy. Taking this the wrong way, the adolescent argued back on how it was her life, her choice, and that Tricero had no right to say anything considering he wasn't even her father.
Even though that happened several months ago, neither she nor Tricero were the same towards each other again.
Right now, Montacera was so busy observing Struthio, she wasn't paying attention to the fact that she was spooning her oatmeal into her scrambled eggs. Struthio remained oblivious to her as he slurped down some more coffee, but then he noticed that other Dinosaucers were now entering the kitchen, ready for breakfast. Tricero, Bronto-Thunder, Teryx, all dressed in gray, cotton jumpsuits from their morning workout, came in first followed by Itchy who was humorously limping his way into the kitchen like a half-dead zombie, wincing with every step he took.
"Hey you guys!" Struthio called out warmly, "How was training?"
"Ugh," Itchy complained, moaning, as he heavily landed in his seat and slumped his head tiredly on the cool surface of the table, "Remind me to never weight-lift with Tricero and Bronto-Thunder again! I don't know if my body'll ever stop hating me for it!!"
"Well, you were the one who admitted that he was getting a little tubby and needed to gain back some muscle..." pointed out Teryx as she served herself some oatmeal.
"At this rate, I don't even need to bother! I don't think I even have any muscle left that wasn't injured from today's torture!" whined the ichthyosaurus as Teryx brought over a glass of ice-water for her boyfriend.
Bronto-Thunder just laughed heartily as he thumped Itchy painfully on the back with one hand, guffawing. He was a bulky, tall brontosaurus, with skin the color of pale puce and black-colored eyes. He was the heaviest of all the Dinosaucers, but he was arguably considered to be one of the strongest as well. Strength was a main source of the Dinosaucer's pride. He could turn mountains into rubble without much trouble, and he towered over everyone, including Allo, significantly. Bronto-Thunder was a bit dense at times, especially when trying to learn Earthling culture, but he was very headstrong and brash; whenever there were times fighting needed to be done, Bronto-Thunder provided the pure muscle. Unfortunately, he was quick to judge and fight yet slow to think and plan. Bronto-Thunder wasn't much of a leader, but he was a dedicated follower. And Allo and the other Dinosaucers appreciated that. Well, almost.
He said, "Aw, c'mon Itchy! Your body will adjust, and you'll see you'll lose that fat in no time! Besides, you wouldn't want Teryx to have a lazy, pudgy fiancée, now would you? And lifting weights is the best way to tone down that body! You should be thanking us!"
Itchy looked as if he would rather give Bronto-Thunder a fat lip instead of a "thank you".
"Either that or you can stop pigging out on junk food like you usually do and start eating healthy for once," chuckled Tricero to the underwater dinosaur between bites of toast.
"Pfft! As if, Tricero. Itchy's idea of the four basic food groups are caffeine, salt, grease and sugar," chortled Bronto-Thunder into his coffee as he chugged it in one go, which was an accomplishment considering his coffee mug was about the size of a barrel.
"If I could even move right now, I'd kill the both of you," growled Itchy with his face still resting down on the table, so he couldn't see Teryx as she poured the entire contents of the glass onto Itchy's head, the artic liquid dousing his warm skin and scales. Itchy yelped in surprise as he stumbled out of his seat, jolting the table, but luckily not spilling any of the breakfast banquet. Itchy, now slightly shivering since being a dinosaur meant one was cold-blooded snapped at Teryx.
"What the hell did you do that for?!!"
"You needed to cool off, and besides, didn't you just say you couldn't move?" smiled the female archaeopteryx slyly as the rest of the observing Dinosaucers twittered. Justin just bit his tongue as he brought a dishcloth for Itchy to dry his head while Teryx served another bowl of oatmeal.
Itchy was a light-gray ichthyosaurus, but surprisingly, he was the only member of the Dinosaucers who was not a true dinosaur but an evolved species similar to the mammalian dolphin on Earth. Itchy has pincer claws similar to a crab's claw for hands rather than the normal reptilian appendage and had webbed feet along with a dolphin's tail. However, unlike the rest of the Dinosaucers, Itchy was an adept swimmer and could stay underwater for long periods of time, and surprisingly, he could also communicate with any undersea creature or fish. Itchy was a bit of a wisecracker, quick-thinking and talkative to a fault, but unlike Compy, Itchy was more of a witty comedian. And recently, he proposed to Teryx who had feelings for the ichthyosaurus for quite a while, and once asked, Teryx joyfully accepted. Now, both he and Teryx were engaged, and neither of them could be any happier. Of course, they were still several times Teryx needed to keep Itchy in line like most patient girlfriends.
"Oatmeal?! That's my breakfast?!! C'mon, Teryx!! Lemme crack open a case of bacon and make some pancakes instead!!" moaned Itchy.
"Itchy, fair warning: Bronto-Thunder and Tricero will increase your workout regimen if you even try to cheat on your diet...and it will be hard for you to recuperate your sore muscles when you're going to be sleeping in the den if you keep complaining." Teryx smiled evilly.
Ever since their engagement, it wasn't much of a surprise to anyone when Teryx and Itchy decided to share a bedroom as well.
"You wouldn't!" whined an outraged Itchy.
"The sofa's going to be awfully cold for the next six months, buster."
"Looks like she's got the upper hand on you once again, Itchy," remarked Tricero gleefully.
Itchy groaned again as he sulkily ate.
Teryx was an archaeopteryx, the only reptile known to mankind to have wings, feathers, and the ability to fly. She was a tall, slim yet attractive pink-skinned reptile with tufts of white feathers surrounding her collarbone and atop of her head like a Mohawk while her wings were various shades of brown and blue outlined with white. Teryx was the Dinosaucers' bio officer, and her knowledge of science almost rivaled that of Dimetro, but she was also quite erudite in literature, history, and art. Not only was she one of Justin's tutors but she also took role as a nurse in the medical ward, assisting Dimetro whenever there were medical emergencies. Being one of the few female residents on the team was a bit stressful, but Teryx was mature enough to handle it, and she didn't take any guff or nonsense from anyone, not even from Itchy. However, as she confessed secretly to Sarah, she fell in love with all aspects of the ichthyosaurus, loud-mouth and all. Patient, gentle, yet having a take-charge demeanor...it was hardly a wonder Itchy was smitten with Teryx.
Now the rest of the Dinosaucers which consisted of Allo and Dimetro joined in for the meal, and eventually there was nothing but general conversation mixed with the scraping noises of chairs and clinks of dishes and forks. However, with a slight nudge from Montacera, Justin was able to notice that all the Dinosaucers were glancing at him and giving each other secretive, knowing looks. He wasn't a fool, but he decided to play along as being ignorant.
"So...what's my lesson plan for today, Dimetro?" he asked to the dimetrodon Dinosaucer. Dimetro was tech officer of the team and was also Justin's main tutor, teaching the human child multiple subjects of math and computers ever since Justin arrived to the Lavadome. Dimetro was large, bulky and one could always notice the dark webbed-frill running alongside his back and tail like a huge oversized fan. What was most noticeable about the Dinosaucer, however, was the blue cowl he always wore like a mask over his head, leaving room for his brown eyes and mouth to poke out. Dimetro was always the inquisitive and curious scientist in the group, and despite the number of failures and dangers and explosions he endured (and they've had many), Dimetro was always willing to see any and every mechanism, every formula, every machine and analyze it thoroughly in order to understand its inner workings. However, it didn't mean he wasn't graceful and careful when he was concentrating; Dimetro himself put together many of the gadgets and mechanisms of the Lavadome base itself, ranging from the defensive controls to the computers to the basic kitchen appliances and none have backfired yet. Thankfully. Yet, Dimetro was also fun-loving, loveable, and very patient and soft-spoken. That was one of the reasons why he made an excellent teacher to Justin and took it upon himself to school the child. Dimetro then had a calculating look in his eye as he warmly smiled.
"I decided to give you the day off from your studies and let Struthio and Montacera take you on an expedition to observe the local flora and fauna of the desert as a field trip. However," and with this, Dimetro gave Justin a stern look, "I would recommend that you immediately start reviewing your past math notes from last week considering I just finished grading your trigonometry test..."
Justin winced; math was never his strong subject.
"How bad is it?" he asked timidly.
"Let me put it this way...even Stego and Bonehead could answer the questions better than you could."
"Did you have to be so brutal?" whined Justin as the rest of the Dinosaucers eavesdropping chuckled. Dimetro just grinned as he ruffled Justin's hair affectionately as he rose from his seat to get more coffee.
"Ah, but remember, young Justin: there is no room for emotion and sympathy in the harsh world of mechanics and mathematics. I know you're trying...but you're not trying hard enough. Hey, and speaking of which, where are Stego and Bonehead?"
That mention then reminded Justin.
"They're hiding from Raptor," Justin answered with some afterthought, "and Compy went to go 'help' Raptor with his suffering from the hangover after his bet last night. So..."
Dimetro rolled his eyes as he sighed, "What number is it this time, Teryx?"
"I don't know, I lost count after five hundred," the archaeopteryx quipped, "Should we go to the infirmary now or later?"
"Let's wait until after breakfast," groaned Dimetro, "I've already have had enough stress and headaches from those two to last me several ages, and besides, perhaps not jumping to his help immediately afterwards may help Compy learn to not aggravate Raptor?"
"Personally, Raptor deserves everything he gets from him, and then some," muttered Itchy darkly. He, like Compy, never fully trusted the ex-Tyrannos and vindictively enjoyed every bit of torture the velociraptor got. It also didn't help the Itchy lost his sister and parents to the Tyrannos when they caused their hometown to cave in and be buried alive by a major earthquake the warmongers caused. Itchy never got over his family's deaths. Teryx hushed her fiancée warningly as Stego and Bonehead finally finished hiding and cowering.
"Is it safe to come in?" Stego asked timidly as his and Bonehead's head popped cautiously out of the doorway to the kitchen, "Or is Raptor hiding behind the refrigerator waiting to kill us?"
"It's safe," Allo commented as he rolled his eyes in a silent moan, "you two can come out now before your breakfast gets -"
Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, from the east wing of the Lavadome came a huge belt of trumpet fanfare, playing "Reveille" loudly enough for it to be heard throughout the Dinosaucer base. And it appeared to be coming from Raptor's room.
"Compy's handiwork, I presume?" groaned Allo tiredly.
"He can sure play that horn loud enough," murmured Tricero before an angry roar from Raptor rang throughout the hallways and was immediately followed by a series of yelps, curses, and crashes that could only be made by something heavy hitting the floor.
"Sounds like Raptor didn't enjoy Compy's wake-up call," Tricero stated, smirking, before Compy let out an incredibly falsetto scream.
"AAIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!"
"That didn't sound good," winced Teryx as Compy's scream was drowned out by several more moments of smashing objects and booming blows before it got quiet.
"He didn't kill him, did he?" Bonehead twitched nervously.
"I daresay we are hardly that fortunate," Plateo sniffed as Raptor finally emerged into the kitchen in an extremely foul mood, noticeably sporting a few bruises, as he walked in, ignoring the amused stares and disapproving glares from the breakfast table. He was wearing nothing but a pair of white boxers which contrasted against his lean, muscular black body. Raptor shot Bonehead and Stego a warning glower that meant they would meet a similar fate if they dared piss him off. Stego and Bonehead visibly gulped.
"The coffeepot's next to the sink, Raptor," Justin provided gently.
Raptor snapped, irritated, "I am not blind, Justin!!"
"If you wore any less clothing, we would be," sneered Itchy at Raptor's apparel.
"Dare I ask if Compy is still alive?" Struthio leered good-naturedly at Raptor as Raptor sulkily got his coffee mug and poured himself a scalding cup from the pot; ironically, the coffee cup was a joke gift the Secret Scouts got for the black velociraptor, but it turned out that the Dinosaucer liked it enough to be his personal favorite and his general response to his demeanor. The cup has the words glazed onto the ceramic, "My Shitty Attitude Is None Of Your F$king Business".
"The little vermin tried to awaken me by playing that damned trumpet next to my bed and with the horn blaring directly into my ear," muttered the black carnivore murderously as he sunk heavily into his seat and slurped down the black liquid.
"Lemme guess: you got mad, tackled Compy to the ground before he could run out of the room, gave him a little pounding while sitting on him, and then shoved the trumpet into Compy's mouth," surmised Bronto-Thunder thoughtfully.
It was then that Raptor finally smiled evilly.
He replied, "Right idea...wrong orifice."
Everyone at the breakfast table winced and made small noises of discomfort.
Dimetro sighed as he got up, "I'll go get the infirmary ready..."
Teryx added with afterthought, "Tell Compy he probably wouldn't want to use the trumpet again after where it's been through."
Yep, another chapter done and gone! A reminder that I DO own the characters Struthio, Raptor, Compy, Montacera, and Plato along with Justin. The inspiration for Raptor and Compy came from the love/hate relationship between Dinobot and Rattrap from the Transformer series "Beast Wars Transformers". Hey, what can I say? I LOVE Dinobot and Rattrap, and this just adds more fun to the story! So of course I'd incarnate them into "Dinosaucers" canon! It's funny!
Raptor: Correction, it's funny for YOU, you twisted deviant!
Compy: Yeah, only a nitwit would actually think I'd ever be friendly to this stick-in-the-butt!!
Raptor: YOU WANT ME TO USE SOMETHING BIGGER THAN A TRUMPET NEXT TIME, YOU LITTLE DUNG-BEETLE?!!
Compy: Not without forfeiting a few teeth, you won't!!
Anyways, while they're pounding each other, next chapter will be next Friday and I'm finally brining in the Secret Scouts, now all adults, as they attend Justin's birthday! But this is certainly going to be a birthday no one will ever forget!
Justin (deadpanned): You really love putting me through the gauntlet, don't you?
Hmmmmmm...yep. Read and review! Criticisms and suggestions are always welcome, but flames will find themselves mailed back to your doorstep with a bag of dog poop! That said, see you next Friday!