Full Scheme Ahead
Disclaimer: Dinosaur King is owned by Sunrise, Shout Factory, 4kidsTV, and any other company I missed. I own nothing
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Flashback"
DK
At the D-Lab, Reese was working on the old man android that they recovered in Moscow. It was a challenging process as Brontikens' attack had caused several gears to be damaged beyond repair and had to be replaced. And many replacements were hard to find.
The blonde scientist was currently looking at a screen of the android's skeleton when the gears in his chest started turning and his eyes snapped open. "Rebooting... online."
Reese looked up from her work and saw that the android was awake. "I think I've repaired him!" She beamed.
"Run scan..." The android said. "Acquire data."
"I hope there is data." Reese said grimly.
DK
A little while later, Reese brought the rest of the D-Team to see the android. "My name is... Jonathan." The android introduced himself before turning his attention to a theropod fossil behind him that has yet to be constructed.
"What's he doing?" Max asked as they watched him work at lightning speed.
"It looks like he's assembling a fossil model." Spike said.
"Well, it's possible that he was programmed to be an expert on dinosaur bone structure." Reese hypothesized.
"An android dinosaur expert, huh?" Ace said in interest as he and the other dinosaurs went up to the platform that Jonathan was working on.
"I wasn't able to get him completely back online though." Reese said.
"What'd you mean?" Zoe asked. "Is he still all messed up?"
"A little." Reese answered. "I did the best I could with him, but some of his systems are more advanced than what current Earth technology could have produced."
"So, like he came from outer space?" Max asked.
"Not necessarily." Reese told him. "But definitely some futuristic technology."
"From the future?" The kids repeated.
"Say, kids, didn't you say that the Alpha Gang's base had some futuristic-looking stuff?" Spike asked them.
"Yeah." Max confirmed. "And they had tons of androids there, too. One was a maid named Helga that also looked like a human."
"Seems to me that Jonathan was built by the Alpha Gang." Spike assumed.
"But that's impossible." Rex said. "If he was made by the Alpha Gang then he wouldn't have took that blast from Spectral Destroy when we were in Siberia. Guru himself even said that the Alpha Gang had nothing to do with his creation."
"But the Alpha Gang are the only ones with the technology to build such a thing." Max pointed out. "And his knowledge on dinosaurs has to be in relation to something." He said as they looked back up at Jonathan, who had finished work on the fossil as was now petting the dinos.
"Hey, little guy, come up here." Jonathan said to Chomp as he picked him up. "You're Chomp, aren't you?"
"Yeah. Nice to meet you." Chomp said as he gave Jonathan's beard a little nibble.
Jonathan chuckled as he lightly swung Chomp around. But he accidentally put a little too much into one swing and caused Chomp to fly out of his hands. The little Triceratops was still hitting into the android's head and caused it to flip 180 degrees: his beard became his hair, his mustache became his eyebrows, and his eyebrows became his mustache. His eyes glowed yellow as his mouth moved to a more appropriate location.
"Whoa, look at that!" Terry said, in shock at what just happened.
"His head just turned upside down!" Spiny exclaimed.
Jonathan adjusted his head into its new position before he looked around in confusion. "What's this? I have no idea where I am." He said aloud, confusing everyone. "Or who all of you are."
"We're the D-Team." Max introduced themselves. "Don't you remember, we've run into each other several times before?"
"Do you even remember your name?" Zoe asked.
"I am Jonathan. Nice to meet you." Jonathan introduced himself with a bow. "But surely you must already know that since one of you is my creator."
"No, not one of us." Zoe said. "None of us even know how to fully repair you, much less build you."
"I will run a scan to determine which of you, uh... matches my parameters." Jonathan said as he did a scan of the whole room. "How odd. My memory seems to have been partially erased." He then noticed Rex and focused on him. He scanned his eyes and they matched the eyes of someone he once knew. Not his creator, but his creator's son. "Identity confirmed." Jonathan announced.
"Huh? Who, me?" Rex asked, noticing Jonathan focusing on him.
"Dr. Ancient." Jonathan said, causing all the dinosaurs to freeze at the name.
"That name sounds familiar." Terry thought.
"No... uh, my name is Rex Owen!" The blonde answered.
"Who's Dr. Ancient?" Paris asked.
"Uh, I don't know." Jonathan said, starting to look confused.
"But you just called me that name, so you must know who he is." Rex pointed out.
"I have no recollection of having said that." Jonathan said. "You must be mistaken."
"You don't remember what you just said?" Tank asked. "Oh, great, that memory damage has made him just like Spiny."
"In what regard?" Spiny asked.
"So, Jonathan, is that your real face, or is the other one?" Reese asked him, saving Spiny from the truth.
"Whatever are you referring to?"
"Your head just turned upside down." Max told him.
"Oh, that explains the post-nasal drip." Jonathan said, confusing everyone until he snorted and replaced that confusion with disgust.
It was at that moment that Guru walked over to them. "So, he's finally woken up."
"Yeah, but he had some damage to his memory and doesn't even remember things he just said." Terry explained. "All we got was this guy called Dr. Ancient, who I swear I've heard of before."
"You have." Guru said. "We all have."
"Guru." Max spoke up. "You've been here for a while now, and yet we've barely gotten any answers as to how the dinosaurs became cards. Are you ever going to tell us, or do you truly not know?"
Guru looked at them all in silence. He was dreading the day he'd have to tell them all what happened, but he knew that he couldn't avoid it forever. Sooner or later, he knew something else was about to come up. He gave a long sigh before addressing them. "You'll have to give me time to prepare what to say, for it's a story without a happy ending." He said before turning around to leave. "I promise that I'll tell you all tomorrow."
(Intro Theme)
In a bright wormhole called the Time Vortex, there was a single ship. It was a crimson color, shaped like a pen, with various purple-like gears on the outside, 3 small ones that each was surrounded by a much larger one, that had a scythe-like part coming out of each one, and one that looks like a spring. This ship wasn't just any type of vessel. It was a time machine used by a very important group of individuals. The Spectral Space Pirates.
In one of the bedrooms, lying in his bed, was the leader of the group; Spectre. He had green skin, ears that looked like they belonged on an elf, a nearly bald head aside from three strands of hair that looked like they were steel, and a connected beard and mustache that looked similar. He also had wings attached to his back that were a light-purple with darker edges that gave him an almost demoniacal appearance.
"Uuuuuh." The pirate leader groaned as he tossed and turned in his bed. There was a loud noise coming from somewhere in the ship that sounded like two men constantly shouting and a television that was keeping him from sleeping. Seeing as he was not going to get any sleep, he gave out a loud yawn before starting to get out of bed. As he raised his body, he stopped and winced in pain. He looked down and noticed that his chest was bandaged. "What on earth?" He wondered.
Before he could question it more, the door to his room opened. Into the room stepped the detective that was there when Zoe's house disappeared, only her appearance had changed. She still had the hair and the bow, but her ears, which looked a lot like Spectre's were also visible. She now was wearing a purple dress with a pink and dark purple trim and edges at the bottom that resembled large triangles. She had long black sleeves that were attached with two yellow cuffs that matched a belt she had, along with long black boots that went up to her thighs. And she had yellow wings that were smaller than Spectre's with a similar color scheme.
When the female pirate noticed Spectre, she had a huge smile on her face. "Boss, you're awake!" She exclaimed as she ran to help him out of bed.
"Sheer, what happened? How long was I out?" Spectre asked as he went to grab the purple cloak he always wore. "Is the Timeline still stable?"
"Calm down, sir." Sheer said as she helped Spectre put on his purple cloak and his gold shoulder plates, which had their symbol in the middle. "You received a bad wound to your chest and went into hibernation to recover for over a year."
"What could've-" Spectre stopped himself when he recalled what had happened before he went out on that ill-fated mission. "How's Cretacia?"
"She's made a full recovery. But for some reason, she hasn't woken up."
"I can't blame her." Spectre said as he dusted off his plates. "After what they did, I don't think I could face the world again if I was in her shoes."
"I won't lie, I was starting to think you weren't going to wake up for that reason." Sheer admitted.
"I'm a guardian, Sheer. I've been chosen by Seikatsu herself to protect the Earth's Timeline. I can't allow my emotions to distract me from my duties."
"Except when it's karaoke night." Sheer joked.
"Ha, ha." Spectre glared at her, though not too seriously. "Back to what I was saying, has anything catastrophic happened while I was out?"
"For the most part, nothing that wasn't out of the ordinary. Idiots trying to change history and so forth."
"Well, that's good new-"
"But, there has been something going on for the past year that we've been keeping an eye on." Sheer admitted.
"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing-" Spectre was cut off again when he heard the shouts of his two other workers. "What are those two doing?"
"Probably playing their new video game they invented."
"They invented a video game? What brought them to do that?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you. Sir, we've found Ancient's cards. And they seem to have integrated themselves into the Timeline."
DK
At Zeta Point, Torch was in the Alpha Gang's training room, working on his new Move Card. He began to form a giant ball of fire in his mouth. It grew and grew until it was double the size it was when he used it in Siberia. There was also a wall of fire that surrounded the target before Torch let go of the ball. The ball flew slowly into the air before it descended upon the target, vaporizing it on impact. The entire room was engulfed in flames, and Torch gave out a roar of pain before he returned to his card.
The card fell lifelessly to the floor as Seth watched. "The attack's become even more powerful, and it's been made even harder to escape. But it still drains all of Torch's energy." He picked up the Move Card and looked at it. "It doesn't matter how powerful a Move is if it leaves the dinosaur unable to preform. I'll have to devise a shield that will protect the dinosaur's energy when they're using it. Still, I'm not sure how long Torch will last." As he thought about his next move, he noticed Laura watching from across the room. "Hmm?"
Laura was speechless at what she just witnessed. She had followed Torch when she saw him up and awake earlier than he normally wakes up, which was in the middle of the afternoon. Or so she thought until now.
The door behind her opened up and Seth walked into the room. "Were you watching?" He asked her.
"What was that Move you were using?" Laura asked, still shaken up by what she just saw. "It looked like you were hurting Torch!"
"Torch is fine. He just needs some rest." Seth assured her. "He's been helping me with a brand new Move."
"A new Move?" Laura repeated. "Grandpa hasn't mentioned anything about making new Move Cards."
"Yes, well, the Doctor hasn't been able to work very much since his back injury. So I've taken it upon myself to design a new Move Card for him, along with other things."
"What other things?" Laura asked.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, for I don't want any interferences with my work. So you can't tell anyone what you just saw. Not even your brother." Seth warned her. "If the Doctor hears about this too soon, the excitement might cause his back pain to worse just after it started healing. And we wouldn't want that to happen, would we?" He asked as he gave a wicked smile.
"N-no." Laura agreed. "I promise I won't tell anyone."
"Good girl." Seth said as he patted her head. "Go take Torch back to the resting quarters. He'll need a lot of rest if he is to continue his job." With that, the took his leave to work on other things. Laura looked down at the Saurophaganax card in the middle of the room, and saw red static coming off it.
DK
Later that night, Max and Rex were eating their dinner at the table with their dinosaurs. Max was currently wolfing down his food, even faster than usual. "Max, you need to slow down or you're going to get a stomach ache." Aki warned him as she walked past the table.
"I can't help it. I have too much energy." Max said as he continued wolfing down his dinner.
"What's the reason for all the excitement?" Chomp asked as he took a break from his food.
"Don't you know what tomorrow is?" Max asked his partners. "It's the one-year anniversary of the day we first met."
"Really?" Terry said in surprise. "It's been a whole year already?"
"Time sure does fly by." Ace said.
Max nodded in agreement before looking at Rex. The blonde had barely touched his food and was instead looking out the screen door. "Something on your mind, Rex?"
"It's what Jonathan said earlier." Rex said. "When he called me Dr. Ancient. I just can't seem to figure out why."
"It's probably because you reminded him of the guy." Tank said.
"But why? I doubt we look that similar, or that Dr. Ancient was my age when Jonathan last saw him." Rex said as he got up from the table.
"The name sounds familiar, so it's possible that he had something to do with the creation of the cards." Terry said. "But other than that, I have no idea."
"I'm sure Guru knows." Max assured his friend as he got up to get seconds. "Just wait till tomorrow."
Tank has finished her dinner and was about to leave when she saw Spiny repeatedly tapping the screen door. "Tank? Tank? Tank?" He kept on repeating.
"Ugh." Tank sighed in annoyance before she opened the door and walked outside to meet the Spinosaurus. "What'd you want, Spiny? It's late, and I want to go to bed." She asked harshly.
"This'll only take about however many minutes of your time." Spiny said. Tank rolled her eyes in response to his attempted assurance. "Anyway, I came here to ask you something important. Tank, will you go out on a date with me?"
Tank blinked a few times in silence before she burst out laughing. "Pffff! Ahahaha! You've got to be joking! Me on a date with you?! What retard would even come up with something so stupid?!" She laughed as she rolled on the porch while still laughing.
"What?" Spiny asked, his eyes slowly widening when Tank said the R-word.
"I mean, only a retard would even think that us being a couple was a possibility." Tank said as she calmed down from the laughing and got back on her feet.
"But I thought it was possible." Spiny said, sounding slightly hurt.
"I know. That's my point." Tank said, not noticing the change in Spiny's tone.
That mood then changed from said to pissed as the Spinosaurus glared at the Saichania. "Wow, Tank. I never thought you'd stoop to such a low." Spiny said, all the happiness in his voice gone.
"What are you talking about?"
"Calling me retarded. Of all the ways you could hurt me, you try and do the thing those bullies used to hurt me in the past." Spiny said.
"I've insulted you many times. How is being called retarded any different than what I've said before?" Tank asked, slightly glaring at Spiny, but with little effect.
"We knew each other before this all happened! I know you know how I used to feel about being called retarded! Always made me think I was going to get badly hurt! Well, guess what?! Those days are over! I'm not the stupid crybaby anymore!"
"Spiny, calm down."
"Don't you even try to lecture me, you bitch! I may be a complete idiot, but at least I'm not as selfish as you!"
"Selfish?!" Tank repeated.
"You think that just because you're strong that you're better than everybody! That you're above being nice to others! Well, here's a news flash for you! People have feelings! And feelings can be hurt by being a selfish, purple bitch!" Tank wanted to retort, but Spiny's words were making her unable to.
"You wanna know why I always hung around you?! Because I thought we could be friends! I thought, since we knew each other from before, that we'd be the best support for each other in this new world! And I was thinking that we were getting somewhere! But, apparently, you're just the same as all the other bullies from before! I talk like an idiot and make stupid choices, and that's an excuse to make me feel worthless! Do I choose to act this way?! No! But I've always had this side of me! And I've accepted it! I just go through life being happy! But you guys don't give me a chance! You just give me a label and throw me in with the rest that you don't consider to be good enough! Well, fuck you!" Spiny yelled at Tank before he ran back home, tears falling out of his eyes.
What he didn't know was that Tank was also having tears coming out of her eyes as well.
DK
It was midnight when the door to the sanctuary in the D-Lab opened. From it rolled a familiar pink ball. The ball rolled until it stopped under a tree and morphed into D.R.O.I.D. "'Ugh. Hasn't even been a week and I'm sneaking back into here. Why couldn't Seth just have me do this when I was already here?" Sighing again, he turned his hands into syringes again before rolling over to the sleeping dinosaurs. "OK, my databanks say I can carry about nine species samples. I just hope that's enough to please them." He quietly rolled over to his first target, that being Marlin, and carefully stuck a syringe in him. After a few seconds, he pulled the syringe out, filled it with blood, and stored it in one of his pouches before moving on to his next target.
After getting the blood of six others, D.R.O.I.D looked around as he tried to find the last two. "Come on, I need something powerful. The Ampelosaurus? No, he's too close to the Pawpawsaur. Torosaurus? No, Stegosaur's in the way." He scanned the room before noticing a perfect candidate sleeping on a hill, near a rock where the other perfect candidate was sleeping. "This must be my lucky night." He said as he rolled over to get the blood samples. "Two Secret Dinosaurs have to please them." He stick a syringe in Grumpy, and the Megalosaurus rolled his head on the ground, causing the Alpha Droid to freeze. Thankfully, he was able to get the sample without waking him up. "All right, last one." D.R.O.I.D said as he eyed the Deinonychus. "Wait, would only one be enough, or do I have to do all three?"
DK
About an hour later, D.R.O.I.D rolled into a dark room with only a single light in the middle. "I see you've returned." The voice of Seth's partner said, his eyes looking down at the Alpha Droid like a hungry predator.
"The mission was a success. I've got nine samples." D.R.O.I.D said.
"Only nine?" The voice asked, the eyes starting to glare.
"That was the amount I could carry. But I believe that Seth will be pleased, nonetheless."
"If that's all you could do, then I guess nine will have to do." The voice said before it steeped into the light. The light revealed an Acrocanthosaurus that was mostly a light gray, but the top part of its body was a bright pink, with its tail and part of its face being a more darker shade of pink. Its spine also had yellow barbs sticking out of it that were a lot more noticeable than the ones on Beta. "And with me, that makes ten."
DK
On the Space Pirates' ship, Spectre sat in a small conference room with Sheer and his other two workers; Foolscap and Gavro.
Foolscap had spiky blue hair, skin that matched Sheer, a sharp-looking goatee, and a pointy nose. He wore a tight black shirt with blue markings that was barely noticeable under the purple vest he wore that had a large white collar that could be mistaken for hair, purple pants and a matching headband, and gloves that had claws at the end. His wings were pale blue.
His brother Gavro was way more muscular than him and Sheer, and maybe even Spectre. He was bright red, with a small patch of hair on his head and white markings on the side of his face. He only wore a black jumpsuit, boots, and two large gloves that made his fists look huge. His wings were a brighter red than his skin.
There was a deafening silence as Spectre looked around the table at his workers, looking pretty ticked. He gave out a loud sigh before finally speaking. "Do I even want to know how long these dinosaur appearances in modern times have been going on for?"
"Three-hundred-sixty-four days." Gavro answered. "Almost three-hundred-sixth-five."
"So this has been going on for a year, and none of you idiots thought to try and fix this!" The pirate leader yelled at the top of his lungs.
"But, Boss-" Foolscap tried to say before Spectre cut him off.
"I don't care about your stupid fetishes, Foolscap!"
"I told you making a Smash Bros rip-off was unhealthy." Gavro said to his brother.
"Oh, shut up. You helped me." Foolscap said before slapping his brother upside the head.
"Knock it off, you two." Sheer threatened them as she pulled out her ninja star boomerangs she always has with her to prove her point. The two men both gulped nervously and sat quietly back in their seats.
"Sheer, I'm assuming you have a damn good reason as to why you've just been sitting around on the ship and letting the Timeline get destroyed." Spectre said darkly to his second in command, a purple glow coming off of his hands.
"I already told you, they've integrated themselves into the Timeline. Removing them would cause more harm than good." Sheer reminded her boss.
"And how did you figure this out? Was it the Gel Jarks? 'Cause they're not the brightest bunch, and we have hundreds of them, so you could've easily gotten your information mixed up."
"If you must know, Boss, this information came from Seikatsu." Sheer said.
There was a long silence as Spectre processed the information. "Did she explain why?"
"She gave a few reasons. The main one being that the earth is becoming unstable. You already know about the incident in Peru, but Seikatsu believes that was only the start."
"Sheer, stop being so ominous and just say that the Cosmo Stones are expected to activate in the future." Foolscap said impatiently. "Or at least the future for the D-Team."
"D-Team?" Spectre asked.
"They're the kids that've been keeping the dinosaurs safe from the Alpha Gang." Foolscap explained. "With some setbacks." He muttered to himself.
"And that leads to the second point." Sheer said. "We didn't just find the dinosaur cards. We also found him."
Spectre's eyes widened when he heard the news. "He's alive?" The trio nodded to confirm it was true. Spectre got up from his seat and looked out a window into the Time Vortex. "I think it's time we introduce ourselves to this D-Team."
"But we're all good guys here, so wouldn't it be wrong to kill them?" Gavro asked.
"That wasn't a code, idiot." Foolscap groaned before banging his head on the table.
DK
The very next morning, the dinosaurs at Zeta Point left the sleeping quarters to start their day. All except Torch.
The Saurophaganax was currently lying on the floor, his only movement coming from his heavy breathing. Laura and Rod were there, watching Torch sleep with concern for his health. "What's wrong with Torch?" Rod asked. "I know he usually sleeps in, but he looks like he's in a lot of pain."
"I think he's sick." Laura lied. "Can you help me take him to the hospital?"
"Really?" Rod asked, confused by the request. "Maybe it's best to ask Grandpa about this first." He said before he started to leave.
"No, don't!" Laura begged as she grabbed her brother's arm. "We can't tell Grandpa about this!"
"Why not?"
"Because he'll just get all worried, and then his backache will get bad again." Laura explained.
"Huh?"
"Please, Rod, just help me take Torch to the animal hospital!" Laura pleaded.
Rod looked at his sister and then back to Torch before sighing in defeat to his sister's plan. "We can't physically bring him or the D-Team might find us and start a fight. Record a video of him to show to the vet while I'll get the Alpha Craft ready."
"Thank you, Rod." Laura said before leaving to get a video camera.
About ten minutes later, the runway opened up and an Alpha Craft came out. "We'll go to that girl Zoe's father. He knows about dinosaurs, so I guess that's the best place to go." Rod said.
"All right." Laura agreed before the craft took off towards the vet. The sooner they got there the better.
DK
Seth walked into his hidden laboratory to check on his latest creations. All throughout the room were giant test tubes, filled with green fluid. Inside each of the tubes were dinosaur embryos that were growing faster by the minute. Already they were all in the adolescent stage. All the tubes were connected to a device that was using power from the Dinomond that the Alpha Gang stole while in New York. "I see they're developing well." Seth said to Pyro, who was watching the development of the embryos.
"At the rate they're developing, they should be complete by the afternoon. Maybe even sooner." Pyro said before chuckling darkly.
"Excellent. We're making progress, gentlemen." Seth said before preparing to leave.
"If I could ask you something." D.R.O.I.D spoke up as he rolled over from the control pad controlling the tubes. "I'm curious as to how you were able to use the Dinomond to create these clones."
"They're not mere clones. They're evolved prototypes." Seth corrected the Alpha Droid. "And to answer your question, Dinomond contains great power. It was believed that it is responsible for helping create the first life on earth. As such, its power could be used to create life."
"But just how were you able to get that power?" Pyro asked. "The old fool didn't get shit when he tried to power the time machine."
"For one, the time machine can only be powered by the Stone Plates, to prevent the machine from being used in the wrong hand. The Dinomond would've been rejected even if Dr.Z had figured out how to harness its power." Seth explained. "As for how I figured it out, I'm not positive myself. The process of discovering it was a long one, and I wrote any results I got down."
Seth sat on a desk and wrote down the results he was getting from his attempted Dinomond extraction.
"I was able to eventually figure it out, but it's such a complex and exact system that not even I could memorize it completely. And it's because of this that Dr. Ancient took my data and hid it in his android bodyguard."
Jonathan's eyes were blue as data was being transferred into him by Dr. Ancient. Eventually, his eyes returned to normal and he sat up on the table he was lying on before nodding at his creator.
"That was why I needed to go to Moscow and retrieve it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to create more dinosaurs."
"And what about me?" Pyro asked. "Last time I checked, it was you who made the blueprints that eventually led to the Super Alpha Controller."
"If there's one thing the Doctor is known for, it's stealing other scientists' hard work. And he did the same to me when he came across my blueprints on how to set the minds of my creations."
Dr.Z walked by Seth's desk and saw his blueprints. He picked them up and read over them before getting a sinister grin on his face.
"I don't know how he was able to do it, but the Doctor exceeded my expectations with his Super Alpha Controller. Creating a whole new dinosaur that was almost more powerful than the original."
Seth watched from behind a corner as Dr.Z turned Beta into Pyro.
"I watched the whole battle in secret, amazed at your power. This was exactly what I was looking for with dinosaur evolution. But, despite your power, you still lost."
"Don't remind me." Pyro growled in annoyance.
"And you know what happened from there." Seth said as they both recalled the days after Pyro had fallen.
The Acrocanthosaurus was currently in a large test tube, getting nutrients from it so he didn't die of malnourishment. When the trio found his card and showed it to Dr.Z, the doctor was thrilled. That is, until they called him out and it looked like he was dead. Seth walked over to the body and noticed he was barely alive. He requested that he take care of Pyro and nurse him back to health, and help him regain the power he lost when he was separated from Beta.
It was months before Pyro had enough energy that he was starting to move again. It was only slight twitches, but it was a sign that he'd been waking up soon. D.R.O.I.D saw this and alerted Seth after he was done talking with Rod and Laura about their failure in Cambodia.
Seth wasted no time in heading over to his laboratory and checking on the test tube Pyro was in. Sure enough, he could notice the tail moving, along with his feet. "Ah, so I see you're waking up, my friend." Seth said.
Pyro's eyes slowly opened up as he looked at his surroundings. "What... happened? Where... am I?" He weakly asked.
"You're in my laboratory at Zeta Point." Seth answered. "I've been helping you regain your life energy so you can help me with my plans."
"Help you?" Pyro repeated. The glass on his tube started to crack as the Acrocanthosaurus growled at the human in front of him, who didn't show any signs of panic. "You think I'd work under some weak human like you?" Just the thought was the mere breaking point for Pyro. The tube exploded and the Acrocanthosaurus gave out a loud roar of anger. "I serve nobody!"
Seth covered his eyes from the glass and green fluid. "Clearly you don't understand all the work I did to keep you alive." He said to his creation.
"Oh, you're about to see all that work has benefited me well." Pyro said before he prepared to kill Seth. But before he could even move, he collapsed on the floor. "Wh... what?"
"It seems you are still weak from your battle." Seth said as he walked over to Pyro and knelt down to his level. "You accept my help, and I'll make sure you can get revenge on those who made you this way."
"I don't intend to become a low-level minion of some human." Pyro growled.
"Who said anything about being a low-level minion?" Seth asked. "You're actually the first creation of mine to be a successfully evolved dinosaur. Besides you, all there is are those walking fossils I revived. Once I can create more evolved dinosaurs, like you, they'll need a leader amongst their own forces."
This got Pyro interested. "So, I'd rule over all the other dinosaurs?"
"Technically I'll be the ruler of the dinosaurs. But after me, they'll all turn to you, my friend." Seth gave a smirk as he knew Pyro would be a fool to refuse his proposal. "My second in command. What do you say? You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours."
Pyro thought about it before answering. There was something about this human. Something that made him powerful. Something that made Pyro believe he could help him get revenge, that he could have been responsible for his creation, that he could rule over all humans and dinosaurs. "What is your plan, Master?"
"Oh, no need for that. We're all friends here. Call me Seth."
As soon as the flashback ended, the fluid in the tubes started to increase in flow. Seth and Pyro looked at the tubes and saw the eyes of the dinosaurs snap open. "Seems like your new army has awoken." Pyro said to Seth.
"Then I believe it's time to begin their training." Seth said before pressing the button that released them from the tubes.
DK
Max walked into the D-Lab sanctuary with a spring in his step, his partners mimicking him. "Morning, everyone!" He beamed.
"Happy one-year anniversary, you three." Thorn said as he looked up from his breakfast with Lucky.
"Thanks, Thorn." Chomp said.
Max looked around and noticed that there was one dinosaur missing. "Where's Guru."
"He's still asleep. Poor guy didn't fall asleep till midnight last night. And even then, he only was asleep for five or ten minutes." Lucky answered.
"He seemed really upset." Pawpaw said.
"I guess I can see why. He did say this story wasn't a happy one." Max recalled.
"Don't go feeling guilty, Max." Zoe said as she and her team walked over to them. "Guru knows that he'd have to tell us one day."
"Still, I think we should let him sleep before we ask him." Max said, the others nodding in agreement.
"Where's Rex?" Zoe asked.
"He's coming, he'd just rather take the long way. Like Guru, I don't think he wants to hear the story." Max said.
"I don't know if any of us are ready to learn the truth." Terry said. "We haven't known for so long. So the very thought of what might've happened is... terrifying."
"The truth sucks!" Spiny yelled, the normal cheerfulness in his voice gone.
"What wrong, Spiny?" Futaba asked, poking his head out of the waterhole.
Spiny didn't respond, and just grumbled something inaudible before turning away. "I don't know what happened." Paris said. "He came home last night like this."
"Yeah, I saw him in our backyard last night during dinner." Chomp said as he recalled what he could. "Tank went to talk with him, and then there was shouting from the both of them. I couldn't make out what they were saying, only that the word retard was thrown around a few times, and it was enough to make Tank start crying."
"So that's what happened." Terry realized. "I saw her with tears in her eyes last night. I tried asking her what was wrong, but she yelled at me and told me it was nothing."
"Wait. You said that the word retard was thrown around?" Zoe asked. Chomp nodded in confirmation. "Oh, no."
"What?" Terry asked in confusion.
"Don't you remember in Egypt, when Ursula called Spiny retarded?" Paris asked the boys before they recalled what happened over a year ago.
A tick-mark grew on Ursula's head as her whole face became red. Soon she snapped. "OH, SO NOW YOU DECIDE TO BE SMART, YOU RETARDED PIECE OF CRAP!"
The Spinosaurus stepped back again, shocked at the insult. It brought back painful memories. Tears threatened to fall out of his eyes, but someone prevented them.
"Hey! This Spinosaurus is a lot smarter than you, old lady!" Zoe yelled back. This made the spiny theropod shocked. No one ever stood up for him before.
"Excuse me!" Ursula retorted. "I'll have you know there is a huge difference between old and experienced!"
"Oh, really?! I thought they meant the same thing!" Zoe yelled back. Rex and Max backed away from their friend as they didn't want to be near her wrath.
"Ever since then, I've been teaching Spiny to not let that hurtful word bring him to tears." Zoe explained. "I may have succeeded in that, but not in it having no negative reactions out of him." She frowned as she buried her face in her hands, embarrassed and even a little disappointed in herself.
Max saw her upset and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't blame yourself. You've still helped make Spiny more confident in himself. I'd call that a success."
Zoe looked at Max and smiled. "Thanks, Max."
Suddenly her phone began to ring. She grabbed it from her pocket and answered. "Hello? Oh, hey, Dad." Dr. Drake said something on the other side that caused Zoe's eyes to widen. "What?! Who's there?!" She quickly hung up and turned to the others. "We have to go! My dad's in danger!"
DK
At the same time, Rex was walking to the D-Lab with his team, taking a very unfamiliar route that took twice as long to get to the lab. Something that Ace quickly noticed. "Rex, do you know where you're going?"
"Yes." The blonde quickly responded. "It's just at the end of this road."
"The lab or another path to the lab?" Ace asked.
"What's wrong with the way we're taking?" Rex asked, starting to look nervous.
"The way we're taking is taking us twice as long to get there." Ace pointed out.
"We're taking the scenic route!" Tank snapped, having the same amount of hesitation as Rex in getting to the D-Lab.
Ace sighed as he realized what was going on. "I get why you both don't want to go to the lab. Tank wants to avoid Spiny, and Rex doesn't want to hear the story of our origin. But you both need to understand this, you can't avoid these things forever. No matter how hard you try, you're gonna have to face the fire."
Rex and Tank looked down as they knew he was right. Even still, his words didn't bring as much encouragement as they would've liked. Suddenly they all heard the sounds of hands clapping. Turning around, they saw the pirates emerge from behind and tree and walk over to them, Spectre clapping his hands. "Your friend is correct. Life goes forward, not backwards."
Rex immediately started to get nervous at the four strangers that apparently heard him talking with his dinosaurs. "Uh... I don't know what you're talking about. I was just talking to myself."
"But we heard somebody else talking." Gavro pointed out.
"Don't make him more nervous!" Foolscap hissed at his brother.
"Oh, that was still me. I just changed my voice so it would sound like I'm talking to someone else, that way I could build more confidence..." Rex said sheepishly. He was terrible at lying on the spot.
"Kid, I know those are dinosaurs with you. Let's not bother with the charade, it's just stalling." Spectre spoke up.
Rex looked around frantically before noticing the symbol on Spectre's gold plates; a diamond with two blades and a dot in the middle. "You guys, we've seen that symbol before." He whispered to his team, so quietly that the pirates couldn't hear him.
Ace looked at the symbol and instantly recognized it. "It's the symbol of the Alpha Gang's Move Cards!" He quietly gasped.
"Forget the symbol, look at those three!" Tank pointed to Spectre's team. "Are those wings?!"
Rex and Ace quietly gasped in shock when they realized she was right. "Flying humans?" Ace said in shock.
"Who are you?" Rex finally spoke up to the pirates, now going from extremely nervous to cautious.
"Is that a trick question?" Gavro asked.
"What he means is that who we are is classified, kid." Sheer said. "We just want to ask you something."
This only made Rex more suspicious as he slowly began to back up, his hands moving towards his Dino Holder in case he had to use force. Tank and Ace joined him in backing away, both growling at the four guardians. Spectre noticed this and tried to walk forward. "Look, Rex-"
"How'd you know my name?" Rex asked, his suspicions looking to be confirmed. "Are you with the Alpha Gang!?" He demanded.
"What?! No, we just want-"
"Then why do you have that symbol!?" Ace questioned them. "The Alpha Gang uses that same symbol!"
"They stole it from us!" Sheer said.
"And I'm assuming they also gave you the wings, too!" Tank yelled.
"No, these are just cosplay props!" Sheer said.
"I thought we were born with them?" Gavro asked, not understanding the reason for the lie.
"Gavro!" Sheer and Foolscap yelled at the muscular guardian.
As his workers bickered, Spectre was getting impatient with all the accusations and questions. "Just tell us what you know about Dr. Ancient and we'll leave you alone!"
This caused Rex's eyes to widen. "Dr. Ancient?" He repeated.
Hearing this led to the pirate leader calming down. "So you don't know." Spectre said quietly.
Before Rex could question more, his Dino Holder started to go off. He quickly grabbed it and saw that it was a call from Max. "Max, what's going on?"
"It's Dr. Drake! He's under attack!" Max quickly answered as he ran to the animal hospital with Zoe.
Rex's eyes widened when he heard that. "I'm on my way!" He said before hanging up and quickly running towards the hospital as well with Ace and Tank behind him, leaving the pirates behind.
"What was that all about?" Foolscap asked.
"I don't know." Spectre said. "But we're gonna find out."
DK
Dr. Drake watched the video Laura filmed of Torch, taking in every detail he could find. "Will he be okay?" Laura asked, worried about Torch's health.
"Hmm." Dr. Drake said as he examined the video for the tenth time. "It's definitely tricky, but it looks like that dinosaur was made exhausted to the point of collapse." He observed. "What on earth were you having him do?"
"Oh, I didn't have him do anything." Laura answered. "We just found him like that."
"Laura, I thought you said he was sick." Rod lightly glared at his sister. He knew Laura wouldn't mix up being extremely tired with being sick.
Laura sighed as she knew she was in trouble now. Well, her grandpa was in more trouble than her. Dr. Drake noticed her worry. "It's okay, Laura." He assured her. "If you want me to help you with Torch, you're gonna have to tell me exactly what happened to him. So what was it that made him so tired?"
"Well, um-" Laura tried to find the right words to tell them without giving away Seth's plans, but she couldn't find them.
And things were made much more difficult when the door to the room suddenly sprung open and the D-Team, joined by Rex and his team, came in. "Hey!" Max yelled at them, his dinosaurs growling at the two of them. "What're you two doing here?!" He demanded.
"Step away from my dad!" Zoe ordered them. If it wasn't for the fact that there were other people in the hospital, she would've easily summoned Paris and Spiny to full-size.
"Please, we don't want to fight! We're only here to get your father's help with Torch!" Laura pleaded.
"You really think we're so stupid as to believe that?" Max glared at her.
Rod stepped protectively in front of his sister and glared at Max in the eyes. "Leave her alone! She's telling the truth! Torch is in a lot of pain and needs medical attention! With how you claim to be helping the dinosaurs, I would think that this'd be something you're all okay with!"
"We help real dinosaurs! Not ones that aren't in the least bit of pain!" Max yelled at Rod.
"So I'm guessing your mission to protect the dinosaurs only implies when they share your world views!" Rod yelled back. "All those who think differently should be left to die! Is that what you think?!"
"Only if they're snakes like you!" Max countered.
This was the breaking point for Rod. "Take that back!" He yelled as he attempted to tackle Max. The brunette caught his arms and the two of them were in a struggle.
"Never! There's no way that I'm listening to any more of your fake sob stories after what you did on Christmas!"
"Is it wrong to want my sister to see our parents again?!"
"All right, that is enough!" Dr. Drake yelled, pulling the two of them apart. "This is a hospital, not a boxing ring! So, I don't want any fighting inside of the building! Do I make myself clear?!"
The doctor's tone was frightening enough to get the two boys to cease in their fighting. "Yes, sir." They both said timidly.
As Dr. Drake let them go, Jonathan walked in carrying a tray of tea, having followed Max and Zoe after he saw them bolt out of the lab. "Excuse me, but would anyone like some tea after that little scuffle?"
"Not now." Rex told him.
Rod looked at Max, now showing remorse and concern. "Look, I'm sorry about stealing Zoe's Dino Holder. It was wrong of me, and I have no excuse for what I did. But this isn't about me or Laura, it's about Torch."
"What exactly is wrong with him?" Paris asked.
"I'm not positive myself." Dr. Drake answered. "All I have is this video." He said before pulling up the video of Torch lying on the ground. "He doesn't appear to be sick, just overly exhausted. Something happened that made him collapse from exhaustion."
"What caused that?" Terry asked, looking at Rod and Laura, expecting them to know.
"I don't know." Rod quickly answered, knowing they still didn't trust him. "We found him like that and came here."
"And why didn't you bring Torch himself?" Chomp asked.
"Because then you guys would've found out we were here and would've attacked us." Rod pointed out.
"Makes sense. But still, what caused him to collapse?" Rex wondered.
"I'm still wondering the same thing." Rod said before turning to Laura, who was looking down at the floor with shame for being caught lying. "Laura, tell me what's wrong with Torch."
"But Seth made me promise not to tell you." Laura said.
"What does he have to do with it?" Rod asked.
"He said something bad would happen to Grandpa if I told anyone." Laura told him.
"Seth told you that?!" Rod gasped.
"You don't think?" Max asked his teammates.
"Who is this Seth person?" Dr. Drake asked.
"He's one of the Alpha Gang." Rex answered.
"He's re-engineering dinosaur DNA for his own twisted purposes!" Terry growled in anger at the thought.
"I've always felt that he was the worst villain of them all in the Alpha Gang!" Tank said.
"The worst villain..." Jonathan repeated. It was at those words that it all slowly started to come back to him. The attack on the train, the fire, the blood, the knife, and the evil smile he gave. And he remembered how it was him who was behind his lost data. "The worst villain!" He glared before slipping out of the room unnoticed.
He exited the hospital and noticed the Alpha Craft Rod and Laura used parked to the side. He walked over to it and was about to enter before Spectre and his pirates stepped in front of him. "Jonathan, I know what you're thinking. But I cannot allow you to go after Seth."
"Get out of my way, stranger." Jonathan demanded.
"Going after him will only get you killed. He's more dangerous than any human I've ever seen." Spectre warned him.
"He injured the boss so badly that he went into hibernation for over a year!" Gavro added.
"Your freedom isn't worth losing your life." Foolscap said.
"I won't ask you again." Jonathan said, getting into a fighting position.
"Neither will I." Spectre said as he took off his cape and shoulder pads, revealing a purple burgundy-patterned combat suit that ended with a skirt, his fingers starting to glow purple.
Back inside, no one was aware of the brawl beginning outside. "So, did Seth do something to Torch?" Max asked.
"He said it was just a new Move he was working on." Laura said.
The D-Team gasped when they heard that, remembering what Seth did in Siberia. "Was it a Fire Move?" Max asked.
This caused Laura to become more distraught, worried she might have said too much. "I'm afraid that Grandpa's gonna get hurt!"
Before anyone could ask another question, they heard the sound of a fight going on outside. The D-Team, plus Rod and Laura, ran outside and saw a fight going on between Jonathan and Spectre. "It's that guy again!" Rex said in shock.
The android currently had his arm pressed against Spectre's while the guardian's hand was glowing purple. "I don't want to hurt you." Jonathan said to Spectre.
"Then you should quit while you're ahead!" Spectre told him.
Rod and Laura looked closer at the two men and immediately recognized one of them. "Spectre?!" Rod gasped.
"You know him?!" The D-Team all asked in shock.
Spectre looked to his side and saw that his fight had attracted the kids. "Hey, kids. Give us a minute."
"Can you move this along? I kind of want to get this over with." Sheer said
Agreeing with Sheer, Spectre kicked Jonathan with his foot while the android was distracted with blocking his hand. Jonathan was knocked back and crashed into the Alpha Craft, thankfully not breaking it. But the force of the kick was enough to cause Jonathan's head to spin around 180 degrees repeatedly. "Oops. Might have put a little too much force into that." Spectre said sheepishly, putting on his cape before turning to the kids. "So, how're you doing?" He asked, sounding like he wasn't just in a battle.
"Why are you following us?" Tank asked.
"Fitting how when I leave you alone someone else follows you." Spiny muttered, but Tank could still hear him and looked down guilty.
"You left in a rush. We wanted to make sure you're okay." Spectre answered.
"Why? Who are you four? And how do you know Rod and Laura?" Terry asked.
"Same reason I know them." Jonathan said as he got back up, readjusting his head.
"Looks like you're back, Jonathan." Foolscap smirked.
"Yes. It would appear that all that spinning caused my memory to start to resurface." The android said before turning to Spectre and bowing. "I apologize for acting so hastily, Spectre. My memory's been damaged by Seth."
"You're not the only one he's damaged." Spectre said, moving his cape and showing the wound on his chest.
"Jonathan!" Rod exclaimed as he and Laura ran over to him and hugged him
"You're alive!" Laura cried, this time with happiness.
"It's great to see you kids as well." Jonathan laughed as he patted their backs.
"Okay, does anyone want to tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" Max screamed.
Jonathan put Rod and Laura down and looked at Spectre. The pirate leader nodded before they both turned to the D-Team. "It's best if we go to the D-Lab to explain all this. Guru should help fill in the gaps of the story."
"What story?" Zoe asked.
"The story of the Dinosaur King."
DK
"You have not been studying enough!" Helga yelled at the trio, now joined by Dr.Z in one of her classes.
"Just flunk us then and get it over with." Dr.Z said.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Helga told him. "No, there will be no flunking! If you do not study then you will get no dinner!" She threatened them. "Understood?!"
"Understood." The four of them slumped.
"There will be an essay due when I get back." Helga said before she left. "So get cracking!"
"On what?!" Ed called out, only to be ignored.
"I don't think I can take another day of this." Zander said, almost crying.
"Can't you just reprogram her to mellow out?" Ursula asked Dr.Z. "You were the one that built her in the first place."
"She was a do-it-yourself android kit I ordered online." Dr.Z told her. "I bolted her together, but I have no idea how her brain works."
"Yeah, I've seen those kits." Ed remembered. "The ones where you can custom order what you want in all different shapes, sizes, and colors, right?"
Dr.Z nodded as he recalled that was how he started building the Alpha Droid army when he was younger.
A younger Dr.Z sat near a mostly built Alpha Droid, painting the Alpha Gang symbol on its chest. "Oh, yellow is pretty too!" He beamed.
"Looking back, choosing a cook with a nuclear temper and built like a bulldozer might not have been the wisest choice." Dr.Z admitted. "Especially now that she's gone haywire, and no one but the company that designed her could ever fix her hopelessly scrambled brain!" He yelled as he moved his hands around on his head.
This caused the trio to tense in fear. "Are you saying she's going to stay like this forever?" Zander asked in fear.
"Well, I do remember the kit saying that a good two-thousand-volt shock will reset her and return her to normal." Dr.Z recalled.
"Normal? That's a good one." Ursula joked. "But if it only takes a shock to fix her, why don't you just do that?"
"What kind of heartless monster do you take me for!? Her head was smashed, don't you remember?" Dr.Z reminded them. "Such a shock might cause her head to be damaged beyond repair and I'd have to throw her out!"
"At this point, it's looking like it's us or her." Zander said.
They all heard someone walking towards them and froze in fear when they thought it was Helga. "Aah!"
It only turned out to be Seth. "Doctor."
"Ooh." They sighed in relief before Dr.Z hopped off his seat to speak with Seth. "Hello, Seth. Do you know where my grandkids have run off to?"
"No idea."
"Well, they're missing, and we can't seem to communicate with or locate them." Dr.Z said. "Why is that? I depend on you to keep things running smoothly around here when I'm unable to, but now everything's breaking down and my grandkids are missing!"
"I'm sure Rod and Laura are just playing somewhere on the island." Seth assured him. "But I do have some good news."
"And what would that be?"
"I'm sure you've noticed our lack of dinosaurs compared to the D-Team."
"The ones that these three nincompoops failed to get?" He pointed a finger at the trio, who shrunk back in shame.
"Yes. Well, I've managed to find a way to tip the scale more in our favor." Seth said before he pressed a button that opened a door.
The door slowly opened up and Pyro stepped out. "Aah!" The trio screamed in fear as they hid behind Dr.Z, shaking like leaves. "Not him again!" Ursula said nervously.
"I thought you died!" Ed said.
"I wish you died!" Zander added.
"Well, too bad for you three. I'm back, and I'm not alone!" Pyro said before giving out a loud roar.
The sound of many dinosaurs approaching them filled the room. Out of the door Pyro came out of came nine other dinosaurs: a Baryonyx, a Megaraptor, a Mapusaurus, a Carcharodontosaurus, a Pentaceratops, an Anchiceratops, an Ankylosaurus, a Megalosaurus, and a trio of Deinonychus. They all looked almost exactly like the ones from the D-Team, but the evil aura they all gave off made it hard to get them confused with the originals.
The other dinosaurs kept on walking until they stopped behind Seth and Pyro. Dr.Z looked at the new dinosaurs in amazement, tears almost coming out of his eyes. "This is fantastic! How were you able to create these?"
"I gathered samples of some of the D-Team's dinosaurs and used them along with the Dinomond to create these clones. Of course, these ones were designed to be much stronger than the originals they were made from." Seth explained.
"And how can you be so sure?" Ursula asked, unconvinced of the clones' power, though still terrified of them thanks to their evil aura that matched Pyro's.
"Well, there is one way to test our their power." Seth said with a smirk.
"And what might that be?" Dr.Z asked, liking where this was going.
"We invade Sanjo City."
Next time on Dinosaur King:
Guru: I knew in my heart that I couldn't avoid this forever. I knew that one day something or someone would come up that would force me to come clean. Listen well, all of you. It's time you know the story of Dr. Ancient.
A/N: College sucks. That is all.
Anyway, let's talk about this chapter, because a lot of things were revealed in this chapter. I'll be honest, I was a little worried about this chapter being too short. But it's actually one of the longer ones.
Let's start off with Spiny and Tank's argument. I think it's no shock that Spiny and Tank were shipping material from the day they first interacted. But I wanted to first have their relationship tested, since Tank isn't exactly nice to Spiny. As for why I made retarded a trigger word, I needed something to help get Spiny to join Zoe, and I remember all the respect weeks at my schools.
Now onto the interesting stuff. First is the pirates. I've already mentioned before that they were gonna show up before, but I bet nobody expected them to be good guys. I did slightly hint at it in Temple Tempest at the end, but nobody said anything about that. I'll get more into what they do in the next chapter in case you didn't pick it up already. What I'll say is that they're a species of creatures from the future called guardians.
And finally, we have the reveal of Seth's partner, Pyro. I feel people only guessed it was him when I accidentally mentioned it in Kyoto Caper. Expect him to be doing a lot in season 2. As for the clones, while I did say I wasn't doing doubles, I was kind of lying, kind of not since they aren't the same as the other dinosaurs aside from Pyro.
For the poll: Terry has two votes, Chomp, Guru, and Ace each have one, and Brontikens has none along with other. Better vote if you haven't, because the king will be crowned next time.