Dinosaur King Retold

by Drew Luczynski

What if Terry, Spiny, and Tank Joined the D-Team? What if the translator was actually used? What if there was a dinosaur king? All these questions will now be answered in the epic retelling of the D-Teams adventures to save the dinosaurs.

58. Big Bang Mystery

Big Bang Mystery

Disclaimer: Dinosaur King is owned by Sunrise, Shout Factory, 4kidsTV, and any other company I missed. I own nothing

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Flashback"

Warning: The following episode contains scenes that might be intense for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

DK

If there was one word to describe the Indian Royal Palace it would be busy. All over the place, workers were running around, setting the place up for their upcoming guests; the D-Team. Despite the constant running around, there was a upbeat mood amongst the staff. Well, most of them.

"Ugh!" Rasheed groaned as he looked at his clipboard containing the preparation plans. "How do you keep messing up the meat!" He exclaimed at the cooks as he looked over the banquet, which was enough to feed only the royal family and the kids. "The emperor said that we needed more than this to keep those beasts happy! There's barely enough meat on there for the kids!"

"But, sir, it's unlikely they'd be in the palace full-sized." One of the cooks brought up.

"Do you know what happens if they do show up in those forms?" Rasheed rhetorically asked them. "They won't have anything to eat, they get mad, the Emperor will have to make a sacrifice to keep them happy, and he'll blame me and offer me up on a silver platter!"

"Sir, I think you should calm-"

"How 'bout you do your jobs and I won't report this failure to the Emperor!" The advisor yelled at them.

"Rasheed, that is enough." Turning around, the advisor saw the two princesses approaching him, Zahrah having a crossed expression on her face.

"Your Highnesses." Rasheed bowed to the two princesses.

"Leave the cooks alone, Rasheed." Zahrah ordered the visor, folding her arms under her chest. "The feast they made is plenty for our guests."

"Princess Zahrah, your father told me to check on the preparations. And on that list of preparations is a feast fit for a king." Rasheed reminded them.

"I think that's enough food for everyone, including whatever dinosaurs they bring." Meena said. "They told me the only other one they're bringing is Delta, anyway."

"Delta?" Rasheed repeated before remembering which dinosaur she was referring to. "Oh, right. The one that terrorized the Ganges not too long ago, and wrecked the palace yards." He groaned in annoyance at the memories. "That took forever to fix."

"Father doesn't hold a grudge against Delta, and neither should you. He helped save me from the Alpha Gang." Meena reminded him.

Remembering the Emperor's pardon on Delta, mainly since everything the Deltadromeus destroyed was repaired even before Spectre stepped in by the visor, Rasheed gave a forced smile. "Ah, yes, right. He and that...other one kept our darling little Meena safe from harm."

"Terry." Meena corrected him, not realizing Rasheed simply didn't care. "His name is Terry."

"Right." Rasheed rolled his eyes, making sure Zahrah didn't notice. "Anyway, I'm sure you ladies are busy getting yourselves prepared for their arrival, so I'll not keep you distracted." At that remark, Rasheed took his leave.

Once he was out of their earshot, the advisor banged his head on a pillar. "Damn brats. Not even teenagers and they already drive me up the wall. Why, if I was Emperor, those two wouldn't be treating me with such disrespect. But I need that fat jerk out of the picture if that's to happen."

"So why don't you make that happen?" A feminine voice said from nowhere.

Thinking it was one of the princesses, Rasheed began to panic. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to do that under my master's orders." The woman answered. "However, if you're curious." She tossed him an envelope. "That letter contains our meeting place and an idea on what we can do for you." With her task complete, she took her leave.

Calming himself down from the sudden encounter, Rasheed opened up the letter and read it. "Hmmm. These people seem to know quite a lot." He said to himself, slightly creeped out by the details, but still intrigued. After he finished reading the letter, he put it in his sleeve for safe keeping. "Maybe a quick visit wouldn't hurt." He said with a grin.

(Intro Theme)

Later that evening, the princesses were in their room, preparing for the night. Meena was filled with so much excitement that she couldn't stop jumping on her bed. Zahrah watched her sister from her mirror as she worked on her hair. "Hehe, Meena, if you keep bouncing like that you won't have a bed to sleep in." She joked.

"I can't help it! It's been so long since I've seen Zoe, Terry, Delta, and the others!" Meena exclaimed as she plopped down onto her bed.

Zahrah just rolled her eyes as she laid down on her own bed. "Regardless, it will be nice to finally meet them in person." She admitted. "I've heard much about their accomplishments."

Meena then gave a sly smirk. "I'm sure you'd especially like Rex, considering he is the Dinosaur King and all. Who knows? Father might have you marry him someday." She teased.

Zahrah's face became tomato red as a result. "No, no, no!" She shook her head to get the thoughts out. "Don't be silly! I haven't even met him!"

"I believe that's what Mother said before she met Father." Meena reminded her older sister. "I think I can hear the wedding bells already."

Zahrah's face became even redder as a result, the thought of herself marrying Rex now burned into her mind. "Why you!" She playfully lunged at Meena and the two sisters began chasing each other around the room. There would be time for sleeping later.

DK

At the same time, Rasheed found himself in a particularly shady neighborhood. Knowing the type of people that live in these areas, the advisor had a disguise on so nobody would recognize him for his position of power and get some ideas. The advisor continued walking down an alleyway until he came to the location in the letter.

The location did not look like much, a small building with a detached piece of wood acting as a door. Not even bothering to knock, Rasheed moved the wood out of the way as he entered the building. Immediately once he got in he was grabbed by the wrist and pulled face to face with a thuggish looking man that was surrounded by a few others. "You'd better have tripped by accident." The thug told Rasheed. "Because trespassers get their hands cut off." He raised a sword to prove his point.

"Unhand me, you thugs!" Rasheed struggled. "Don't you know who I am?!"

"Oh, we know you're the Emperor's lap dog." The thug answered. "Which'll make your death extra special." That is until he noticed the envelope in the advisor's sleeve. "Well, lookie here, boys." The thug grabbed the envelope and opened it up. As he read it, his eyes slowly began to widen. "Oh, shoot. You're the guy the boss said was coming!" He quickly realized and dropped Rasheed to the floor. "Just head down those stairs and you'll see them. And please don't tell our boss about this little misunderstanding." He quietly pleaded.

Rasheed ignore them and looked at the path they mentioned. The corridor down the stairs looked so dark that it could've been mistaken for a bottomless pit. At first Rasheed was hesitant to go down, but then remembered why he came in the first place. These guys had the key to usurping the throne.

Swallowing heavily, Rasheed started to descend down the stairs slowly. As the light started to fade, he tightly gripped the handrail and felt for the next step so he would trip and fall to his possible death. When he eventually reached the end of the stairs, a signal light lit up the room. Underneath the light was the hooded man from before.

On his left was a woman in a dark purple ninja outfit with a red sash around her waist and a sword sheathed behind her. On his right was a man wearing a purple cloth with a red shirt underneath and tan colored pants. He also was wearing a hat similar to those in Arabian countries. And like the ninja, he had a sword tied hung by a sash he wore, only this one wasn't sheathed.

Rasheed was about to open his mouth to speak, but the hooded man beat him to it. "Welcome, Minister Rasheed. We've been expecting you."

Rasheed looked at the hooded man suspiciously. It was completely impossible to see who he was underneath the hood. "Who are you?" He asked the mystery man.

"I'm afraid you haven't reached that point in status for me to reveal my identity." The hooded man told him. "But you will refer to me as Master, regardless of your position." He explained. "However, you should know about my friends if you are to work with us." He gestured to the woman on his right. "Minster, I'd like to introduce you to Ofu; leader of the Kunochi Warriors." Ofu bowed in response to her name being mentioned before the hooded man gestured to his left. "And I believe you might be familiar with Zayid of the 39 Thieves."

Rasheed gulped heavily at the name and nodded. The 39 Thieves, who despite the name had more than thirty nine members, were a highly regarded terrorist organization from Persia that even groups like ISIS stood clear of. "I'm familiar with them."

"Good. Now, let's get down to why we called you here. From what Ofu tells me, you wish to become the Emperor of India, correct?"

"Yes." Rasheed nodded.

"Then you will need many things: allies, soldiers, weapons, and a base of operation." The hooded man told the advisor. "Fortunately, my allies and I can supply you with all of those. All we ask is that you complete a small task for us."

"What kind of task?"

The hooded man motioned for Zayid to place an item onto the table, in front of Rasheed. Rasheed looked at the item and saw that it was a rifle. "As you should know, tomorrow the Dinosaur King and his friends will be coming here to discuss peace treaties and the like. And while they are here, they will be staying in the palace you live in."

It didn't take long for Rasheed to connect the dots. "You want me to shoot a child?" He asked, almost horrified at what was being suggested.

"Is that a problem?" Zayid asked, reaching for his sword.

"If you want to become Emperor, then you should expect to get your hands dirty. And I feel this test is a good way to see if you are able to handle our line of work." The hooded man explained. "Besides, this will help us all in the long run with our own goals. For, if you haven't noticed, those kids are the most powerful beings on the planet with their dinosaurs. By shooting their king, the dinosaurs will go into a state of despair and panic, leaving them all open to attack from the Alpha Gang, who will no doubt seize this opportunity to capture the dinosaurs. And after the battle is over, we come in and take out any survivors."

Rasheed thought about what the hooded man was saying. He did want to kill the Emperor to make sure he was out of the way, and he utterly despised his daughters. Would he have trouble killing them, no. So why would this kid be any different? Knowing those goodie-two-shoes, they'd stick their noses in his plans once word spread. With a smirk, he grabbed the rifle on the table. "I'm in."

"Good." The hooded man explained as he got up. "I have other matters to attend to. Ofu and Zayid will give you the details on the escape plan." Having said everything he needed to, the hooded man left.

Once he was gone, Zayid opened up a map of the area. "Pay attention closely." Ofu told the new recruit. "You will have no more than two hours to meet us at this alleyway." She pointed to the location on the map. "My ninjas and I will be waiting for you to assist in the rest of your escape. If you are not present by the given time, we will leave you to your fate. Is everything understood?"

"Crystal."

"Excellent." Zayid said. "Now, have you used a rifle before?"

DK

The next morning, the D-Team were riding a plane to India. The plane was first class and they had the whole craft to themselves. At the moment, most of them were still pretty tired, having woke up before sunrise in order to reach India before noon, and were catching up on sleep. One of the exceptions was Zoe, who was having a hard time staying seated. "Oooh! How much longer till we get there?" She asked, bouncing up and down in her seat.

"Hehe." Max chuckled at his friend's enthusiasm. "I'm pretty sure they said the flight was going to be eight hours. And we've only been here for about four."

"I just can't help it! We get to see Meena again!" Zoe beamed. "It's been so long! We've got so much catching up to do."

"I know what you mean." Max agreed. "I can't wait to check out more of India. Totally beats going to school."

"This isn't a vacation, guys." Rex reminded them. He was currently holding a blanket that he had since he was a kid very tightly for comfort. "This visit is to discuss peace treaties with the Emperor of India." Ever since he became King, many of the world leaders had messaged Rex about treaties and similar agendas regarding his people. This was mostly out of fear of the dinosaurs being used against them. However, since they had met his daughter personally and saved her life from the Alpha Gang, the Emperor of India thought it best to discuss these matters in person and invited the whole team over.

"Is that why you're holding your blankey?" Max joked.

Rex glared at his friend. "Very funny, Max. You know how I am with planes ever since we went on that ride with Reese."

"Will you shut up! People are trying to read!" Spiny yelled at them before resuming reading the magazine he had opened up on one of the tables. "Oh my gosh!" His eyes widened at one of the bits of news. "Micheal Jackson died!"

Tank groaned as she tried to keep her mate's voice of out her head. "Oh, no. I didn't know that already." She feigned her shock.

"I know." Spiny said, not catching the sarcasm. "It's just so sudden." He resumed reading before finding something else of shock. "And also Billy Mays! Who else am I supposed to buy OxiClean from! Nooo!"

"Spiny!" Tank yelled at the Spinosaurus before whacking his head. "That magazine came out in 2009! They've been dead for years!"

"And nobody told me this?!"

"I guess not." The Saichania grumbled. "Now be quiet and let me sleep, please." She told her lover before closing her eyes and falling back asleep, at least until Spiny decided to read another magazine.

The kids just looked at each other in confusion at what they just witnessed. "Is the blanket still necessary?" Zoe asked Rex.

"If you were in a falling plane you'd be the same." Rex glared at her before turning his back to them and mumbling something inaudible, which Max and Zoe assumed was him talking to the blanket.

"Hey, where's Delta?" Zoe realized, not seeing the Deltadromeus among them.

"He's a little too big for first class, so he's in the bottom of the plane." Max replied before chuckling. "But he was so tired when he got in that I doubt he cared."

What none of them knew was that the Alpha Gang were on the roof of the plane, tightly holding onto the aircraft as the wind was almost blowing them off. "How much longer do we have to keep riding this thing, Zander?" Ursula asked, the wind messing up her hair too much for her liking.

"According to the VPS, the next volcano should be right below us." Zander replied.

"Well, see you in the afterlife." Ursula told her teammates before they all let go together. "Wheeee!"

DK

Eventually the ride ended and the D-Team got off the plane at the airport and regrouped. Once they exited the gate, they found themselves getting surrounded by fans asking for autographs. "Hop on." Delta whispered as the kids and chibi dinos climbed onto his back.

"Sorry, folks. We've got to settle in first and take care of business." Max addressed the crowd. Due to him being a more social butterfly than Rex, Max was usually the one who took care of the crowds. "But we'll have time for autographs and questions later today." This got the crowd to open up a pathway for the Deltadromeus to walk through without stepping on anyone.

Eventually they made it past the gates and through the exit. Meeting them directly outside the airport were the princesses, Zahrah and Meena. "Meena!" Zoe exclaimed as she leapt off of Delta.

"Zoe!" Meena beamed as they two of them embraced in a hug. "It's been so long!"

"We've got so much catching up to do!" Zoe said as they held each other's hands and jumped like little girls.

"Ehm." Zahrah cleared her throat, catching the two girls' attention. "Meena, aren't your forgetting something?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Max, Zoe, Rex, this is my sister; Princess Zahrah." Meena introduced her sister formally with a bow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness." Delta greeted the princess with a bow as the others hopped off.

"Delta Deltadromeus, it is a pleasure to make your..." The future empress stopped mid sentence when she saw Rex hop off of Delta's back. She had to admit he looked cute from the photos and videos she saw of him, but in person he was another thing entirely. Especially his blue eyes.

Things only got more intense when he approached her. "Princess, are you feeling all right?" Rex asked her.

"Zahrah?" Meena shook her sister to get her attention.

Zahrah blinked a few times before snapping back into reality. "Oh, uh, sorry. Anyway, please just call me Zahrah. Save the formalities for our parents."

"Okay." Terry said, breaking the awkwardness Zahrah created. "Why don't we see your parents?"

"Yeah, I still have some sleep to catch up on." Tank yawned. "No thanks to this fool." She nudged Spiny to make her point.

"Ah, yes. We'll have someone escort you all to the palace." Zahrah told them.

"No offense, Zahrah, but I think we already have an escort." Rex said as he climbed onto Delta's back. "You ladies want to join us?"

"Yeah! Come on, Zahrah!" Meena urged her sister as she climbed onto her old friend's back.

"Uh." Zahrah was hesitant. She had never ridden atop an elephant, much less a dinosaur.

"It's okay." Rex assured her as he offered her his hand. "It's actually a lot smoother than you think."

Zahrah eventually gave in and grabbed the blonde's hand before being hoisted onto Delta's back, blushing the entire time. Once she had taken her seat, she gently patted Delta on the back. "To the palace, Delta."

"Here we go!" Delta said as he started moving towards the palace, making sure not to go to fast for the princesses sake.

DK

It was business as usual aboard the Space Pirates ship as it flew through the Time Vortex. The Gel Jarks were keeping the ship nice and tidy while Spectre and his workers were taking care of any time criminals they came across. Their most recent batch being a small group of British loyalists planning to prevent the Crossing of the Delaware.

"You don't understand! We have to stop that man for the good of our country!" The leader pleaded with Spectre as he struggled in his electric confinements, curtsey of Spectre.

"Look, buddy, I don't make the rules on what's allowed to be changed. The British don't own America, that's that." Spectre told the leader before throwing him into a cell. "'Sigh'. Loyalists." He sighed as he left to check things on the bridge.

On the bridge, the other three pirates were playing a game of cards to pass the time. Sheer looked at her two opponents. Gavro clearly had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do, while Foolscap was trying way too hard to keep a poker face. Knowing that she'd win without any trouble, the female pirate played a royal flush. "And that's game."

"Doh!" Foolscap slammed his fist on the table. "Why is it you win ever time?"

"I'm still trying to figure out how to use these cards. Mind explaining the rules again, Sheer?"

"Gavro, If you can't remember them now then you should leave the game to the professionals." Sheer replied as she flew up to a nearby perch and hung from it like a bat to take a victory nap. "Besides, why would I help the enemies?"

Before either of the brothers could retort, they heard something collide with the ship. "What was that?" Gavro asked. "Are we in an asteroid field."

"There aren't any asteroids in the Time Vortex, dummy." Foolscap said as he pulled up a camera on the outside of the ship and saw what was there. "Seems like a pod from another ship."

"Well, losers have to get it." Sheer said as she closed her eyes.

"Aww, man!" Both brothers whined.

About a minute later, they flew out of the ship wearing suits to help them breath in the vortex. "Target in site." Foolscap said through a communicator.

"Lock on and capture." Gavro said as the ship fired a beam at the pod and started to reel it in. As the pod started to get closer, Gavro noticed someone inside. "Hey, that human looks familiar."

"What'd you mean it looks familiar?" Foolscap flew over to the pod and looked through the glass. What he saw inside left him speechless. "Gavro, speed up the beam! It's Cretacia!"

"Dr. Cretacia? But I thought she was still working with the dinosaurs."

"Never mind how she got here! She's bleeding! Get her on the ship now!" Foolscap yelled at his brother before colliding with another object.

Back on the bridge, Sheer was woken up from her nap when Gavro came flying in. "Sheer?! Where do we keep the healing pods?!"

"Two levels down, fourth door to the right." Sheer replied as she flew down, clearly annoyed her nap was ruined. "Why do you need to-" She stopped herself when she saw Certacia in Gavro's arms. "Aaah!"

Sheer's scream altered Spectre that something was wrong. "What's going on?! Is anyone hurt?!" He asked once he entered the room. He looked around frantically and saw Sheer's horrified face before noticing Cretacia in Gavro's arms.

"Boss!" Foolscap called out as he entered the room, a body hoisted over his shoulder before gently laying it down. "Come quick! You need to see this!"

Spectre rushed over to Foolscap to see who it was that he was carrying. Once he saw the person's face, he gasped in horror. "No." He quietly whispered as tears started falling from his eyes. "No! Dr. Ancient!"

"Gaah!" Spectre gasped as he quickly got up from his bed. Breathing heavily, he looked around and saw that he was still in his room. The lead guardian placed a hand on his heart to calm himself down. "Just a bad memory." He said to himself. After getting himself dressed, the feeling of his beating heart could still be felt. "Maybe I've been pushing myself too far trying to prevent another World War 3." He thought to himself. "Perhaps a visit to some friends might calm me down."

He got out of bed and dressed himself, but before he left he stopped by Cretacia's healing pod. Months have passed since Rex's true identity was discovered, and she still hadn't woken up. Spectre just looked at it silently with a serious expression for a while before leaving. "I don't know if you are aware, but your son is waiting for you." He said to her as he went down the hall.

If he stayed a little longer, he would have noticed the heart monitor attached to the capsule started to pick up pace.

DK

About an hour later, the D-Team arrived at the palace gates. Once they were in the eyesight of the two men standing guard, the guards began to panic at the sight of Delta, thinking he was a wild dinosaur, and drew their swords. "Back, beast!" One of them threatened.

"We will not let you harm the Emperor!" The other one said.

"Lower your swords!" Zahrah commanded them from atop Delta. "He's one of our guests!"

The guards nodded and lowered their weapons before moving out of the Deltadromeus' way. Once the path was clear, the gates to the palace opened. "Never thought I'd set foot in here again." Zoe said to herself, recalling the horrible experience the last time she was in the palace.

"I'll be honest, I never thought you'd actually want to come back to India after Mother's lessons." Zahrah laughed.

"Well, I- wait. You knew I wasn't Meena?" She asked the princess before glaring at Meena. "Did you tell her?"

The two sisters just laughed at Zoe's embarrassment. "No, you were just a poor actor." Meena answered. This got Zoe's face to become even redder and the rest of the team to join in the laughing.

Eventually, they arrived in the palace throne room. The door opened to reveal the Emperor and his wife sitting in their thrones with Rasheed by his side. Once they were a good distance in the room; the kids and dinos hopped off of Delta and the D-Team took a bow in front of the Emperor. "Welcome, D-Team. We are most glad to have you here." The Emperor told them.

"The pleasure is all ours." Rex said as they got back up.

"It is truly an honor to meet you all in person after you all saved my daughter." The Empress said before looking at Zoe. "And some for a second time." The pinkette simply shrunk down in embarrassment.

"Charmed." Rasheed rolled his eyes, not interested in the current situation.

"Now, Rasheed, there's no need for that attitude." The Emperor scolded his advisor.

"Forgive me, my liege." Rasheed bowed.

"Well, I can only assume that your flight was a long one and that you'd all like some rest." The Emperor told the D-Team. "My servants will show you to your sleeping quarters during your stay here."

"Thank you, Emperor." Rex said as a servant led them to their rooms. "We'll discuss terms as soon as you are ready."

"Please. Those can wait till tomorrow. Enjoy your stay."

As all this happened, Rasheed had a small, cruel smile in his lips. "This'll be a stay they never forget."

DK

The servants lead each of the kids to their individual rooms and left them to settle in. In their room, Rex's team used this opportunity to catch up on some sleep, with the exception of Rex himself who was pacing around on the balcony. He didn't know what the Emperor wanted of him, or if he'd accepted his proposal of allowing dinosaurs to obtain Indian citizenship. He knew that Delta would probably like to move here when the war was over and be with Meena, at least as friends.

This kind of stuff wasn't exactly new to the young king, but this was the first time he was speaking about these terms in person instead of over an email like he did before. Eventually, Rex decided that he needed to clear his head. "I'm going out for a walk, guys." He told his sleeping partners as he exited the room.

A little while later, Rex was walking through the palace gardens, taking in the scenery from the different types of plants to the statues. What he didn't know was that there were two others in the garden with him. One of them was Max, who was also walking through the garden. The blonde noticed his friend and called over to him. "Max!"

The brunette turned his head to notice the blonde waving his hand to get his attention. "Oh, Rex! I didn't expect to see you out here." He said as he walked over to the blonde king.

"I thought a little walk might help to clear my head." He explained.

And it was right at that moment that it happened. First there was the sound of a gunshot, followed by the sound of it hitting flesh. Time showed down for both Rex and Max as the bullet made contact with Rex's chest and the blonde fell to the ground, his eyes widening in shock before closing when he touched the ground. Max screamed as he ran over to Rex. "Rex?! Rex?! Can you hear me?!"

From their room, Tank and Ace were awoken by the gunshot and quickly ran onto the balcony to see what happened. "What happened?! What was that noise?!" Ace asked before they both saw what happened below them. "REX!" They both cried, leaping off the balcony and rushing to his side.

"Who did this?!" Tank demanded, mirroring Rex's reaction to when she was shot in Oklahoma by Zander.

"I-I-I-I don't know!" Max cried, horrified at what he just witnessed. "We-we were j-just t-talking and-"

"We'll worry about the shooter later!" Ace told both of them. "We have to get him to a doctor! He's losing blood fast!" He pointed to a growing puddle of blood where the bullet entered.

Realizing the Carnotaurus was right, Max quickly picked up Rex as gently as he could, making sure his wound was covered, and ran to the nearest doctors, Ace and Tank right behind him, all thinking the same thing. "Please don't die!"

From his hiding place, Rasheed saw that his plan had worked. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the hunt began, the advisor dropped his gun and ran for the rondevu where Ofu and her ninjas were expecting him to make their escape.

DK

Max and the others quickly took Rex to the palace doctors. Unfortunately, the amount of blood that Rex had lost meant they could not do much to help without the proper equipment so he had to be taken to a hospital. Thankfully, the best hospital in the area was a short ambulance ride from the palace. During the whole time, Ace and Tank never left Rex's side, despite what the doctors kept telling them.

At the moment, Rex was currently lying in a hospital bed. Tubes were placed in his nose to help him breathe while another was inserting fluids into his arm. His shirt was removed to give doctors a better chance to find the bullet. Ace and Tank stood on chairs next to the bed while Max went to alert the Emperor and the rest of the team about what happened. The two dinosaurs looked at each other in silence, Ace showing grave worry while Tank, while still showing concern, showed a look of vengeance.

Eventually, the doors to the room slammed open as the rest of the team and the Royal Family ran in, all wearing looks of distraught. "Ace, please tell us it isn't true!" Terry begged.

Ace looked down sadly, letting them all know the severity of the situation. Zoe and the two princesses put their hands to their mouths in shock while Max just looked even more shaken up. "No." He quietly said as he walked over to his best friend, realizing it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him like he hopped. "Rex, come on." He urged the blonde, gently shaking him to wake up. "Please, stay with us, Rex." Tears were falling out of his eyes the more he tried to wake Rex up.

Eventually, Zoe had to pull him away from the blonde incase he accidentally made things worse and hugged him while Chomp and Terry nuzzled his legs. While she was also distraught by the news, she had to keep a brave face for Max's sake, just like what Paris did for her "What happened?" She asked a doctor. "All Max told us was that he was shot in the chest."

"I'm afraid that's all we currently know." The doctor replied. "We're still trying to locate where the bullet hit exactly. While he has lost a lot of blood, I will say that the bullet most likely didn't hit anything vital." He paused before looking at the Emperor. "But I would be cautious with this optimism." The Emperor nodded in understanding.

"Father, what'd we do now?" Meena asked.

"I will have my guards search the palace for any sign of the assassin and possibly figure out their identity." He said as he turned to leave.

Hearing this got Max to snap out of his depressed state. He hadn't realized that the assassin hadn't been caught, and could come back to either finish the job or target somebody else. "Emperor, would it be all right if we help you?"

"Certainly." The Emperor responded. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"We can help, too." Zahrah volunteered herself and Meena.

But her father looked at his daughters sternly. "No, Zahrah, it's too dangerous. I want you and your sister to stay with Delta throughout the search."

"But-" The Emperor gave Zahrah a look that told her that there was no room for argument. If the assassin was after Rex, he could also be after the Royal Family, and the Emperor would never forgive himself if either of his daughters got hurt. "Fine." Zahrah grumbled in defeat.

The Emperor nodded and left with the D-Team. "Be careful!" Meena called out to them as they left before noticing that Ace wasn't joining them. "Aren't you going to help, Ace?"

The Carnotaurus shook his head. "Someone should stay here in case.." He didn't need to finish the sentence for Meena to understand what he was getting at.

Once they got outside the hospital, they all went into the limousine they used to get there. Everyone except for Tank. She moved pass the limo and started heading towards the city. "Tank, where are you going?" Chomp asked her.

"What does it look like? I'm hunting down that bastard." She growled. "If they think they can shot Rex and run then they have another thing coming."

"But, Tank, you don't even know where to look, much less who to look for." Max pointed out. "It would be better if we all-"

"And what if the assassin's already trying to leave the city?" Tank cut him off. "Do you know what happened after I was shot in Oklahoma?"

Rex wrapped a bandage around Tank's leg while working on a suitable cast for her to wear while it healed.

"He worked all throughout the night to make sure I would heal properly and never left me." The Saichania explained. "I owe him. So I'm hunting this assassin down whether you like it or not."

Max wanted to retort, but knew there was no stopping her. "All right." He gave in. "But I'm not having you search like that." Pulling out Rex's Dino Holder, which he was holding onto for safe keeping, Max recalled Tank before summoning her to her full-size. "At least this way you can't get so easily hurt."

Suddenly, Spiny leaped onto her head. "I wanna help!"

Tank was about to retort and shake him off, but Paris beat her to it. "You do understand what you're about to do, right, Spiny?"

"We're going on a killer hunt." Spiny said. "And don't think I don't know how to weed 'em out."

"Let him come. I might need a good cop, so to speak." Tank said. Zoe sighed and summoned Spiny to his full-size.

Once everything was set and done, the limousine drove away. "Good luck!" "Stay safe!" Their teammates called out to the two dinosaurs.

After they were gone, Tank and Spiny started to head for the city. "So, where exactly do you plan on searching?" Spiny asked his girlfriend.

"If there's one thing I know about criminals it's that they travel in packs." Tank said. "And these packs like to be in places where they're not so easily found."

DK

Meanwhile, Spectre had decided to visit the D-Lab to see Guru and Jonathan. At the moment, he was playing a game of chess against Jonathan while Guru spectated. Neither of them have played this game in a long time; Spectre being asleep and Jonathan doing who knows what, so their memories of how to play were fuzzy. Spectre made his move and moved one of his pieces forward. "Bad choice." Guru told him.

"Why's that?" Spectre asked, just before he saw Jonathan make a move that knocked out three of his pieces. "Androids." He muttered to himself.

"I'll have you know that chess was not part of my programming and is something I had to learn through experience." Jonathan said, slightly glaring at Spectre before the two of them shared a laugh.

Guru couldn't help but share a chuckle. "Glad to see you're feeling better, Spectre." But the Ampleosaurus quickly regretted his words when he noticed Spectre gain a more serious look. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, Guru. I'd be lying if I said I had forgotten completely about that memory." Spectre assured the Ampleosaurus. "What I don't understand is why I had that memory last night. At first I thought I was over working myself, but now I'm thinking it's something else. I just can't figure out why."

It was right at that moment that the television turned on to show the anchorwoman. "Breaking news! We've recently received reports from India that the Dinosaur King; Rex Owen, who was visiting the subcontinent to make agreements with the Emperor, has been shot."

Immediately after those words exited her mouth, there was a collective silence amongst those in the D-Lab, not even the sound of breathing was heard.

At Zeta Point, Dr.Z was watching the same news report with Pyro and Brontikens, eating a large bag of popcorn. "Rumors have been spreading of who the assassin's identity is, but none have been confirmed. The Dinosaur King is currently hospitalized as surgeons try to remove the bullet. More updates are to come."

The TV turned off and Dr.Z had a huge grin on his face. "This is perfect! With Ancient out of the picture, those dinosaurs will have no choice but to look to me as their new king!"

Brontikens and Pyro both rolled their eyes as Dr.Z called Ursula on the TV. "Ursula, drop whatever you and those lugs are doing and head for the brats' hometown!" He ordered her.

"Yeah, I don't think that can happen anytime soon, Doctor." Ursula responded. She was wearing a pink thermal suit while standing in what appeared to be the inside of a volcano.

"Are you disobeying me?!" Dr.Z screamed at the leader of the A-Team.

"No, it's just that we can't attack them right now. Our Alpha Craft crashed into the second volcano so we've had to highjack planes to get to the rest, and all the Alpha Droid workers you gave us melted in the heat so we have to do the work ourselves." She showed him Zander and Ed in their own thermal suits picking at the ground with pickaxes before turning back to herself. "Besides, you said yourself to not even think of coming back whatsoever if we don't find the stone. You even pinky swore."

Dr.Z mentally kicked himself as he just remembered about the stone. "And you'll keep looking until I have that stone in my grasps!" He ordered her.

Right after he said that, the ground beneath the two men erupted into a geyser. Ursula face-palmed as this was the fifth time in this volcano that's happened. "Roger that." She replied before hanging up.

After communication cut, Dr.Z had a gleeful look on his face. "Soon I'll have both infinite power and the entire dinosaur population serving me!" He began cackling loudly at his assured victory. "Ehahahahaha!

At least assured to him. Once again, the two dinosaurs rolled their eyes and left the doctor to himself. "What an idiot." Pyro said. "Thinking he'd actually be able to become King. He wouldn't last a minute on the throne."

"The Doctor is just as much of a coward as the assassin." Brontikens replied. "Deciding to try and kill stealthy instead of challenging them upright. Maybe they would actually succeed in keeping the throne if they won the challenge."

"Oh? Is that your plan?" Pyro asked the Apatosaurus. "Because, hmphhmph." He chuckled to himself. "I'm pretty sure you've lost to them more times then you should."

Brontikens turned around and glared at the smaller theropod. "All that matters is that I defeat whoever the King picks to represent himself. And if I have to fight them all, I will defeat them all." Saying what he needed to, the Apatosaurus went to train.

As he left, Pyro just laughed to himself. "Seth was right about him. He truly is very simpleminded."

At the D-Lab, the silence was gone and replaced with much worry. "Who could've done this?"

"What'd we do if the King dies?"

"This has to be the work of the Alpha Gang."

"What if we're next?"

"If that bastard even tries I'll pop his head off."

As the dinosaurs discussed the recent news, Jonathan looked absolutely horrified. "No. How could this have happened? Protecting Master Rex was the last order that Dr. Ancient gave to me. I should've gone with them!"

"Don't blame yourself, Jonathan." Spectre said, snapping the android out of his thoughts. "Clearly Seikatsu has something planned here. That's why she gave me the dream."

"What do you expect she had planned?" Jonathan asked, now slightly upset at the implications. "What could she possibly gain from having Master Rex get shot!"

"I don't know." Spectre calmly replied. "All I can say is that if she's watching over Rex, then the boy is more than safe. What matters now is that we find the assassin before they harm anyone else."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Guru asked. "We have absolutely no leads whatsoever on the matter. As harsh as it sounds, I think it's best to have the kids and their partners handle this. Remember why you went into hibernation?"

Spectre remembered exactly how it all played out to the tiniest detail. It wasn't until after the fact did he find out why Seikatsu tried to keep him from finding it out. She knew he'd want revenge and that it could've killed him. However, this time he was not going to go in fingers blazing. This time he would come up with a plan and figure out what Seikatsu was up to.

"Ordinarily I'd agree with you. But this is clearly leading up to some bigger picture. The problem is finding the right pieces." As Spectre was thinking, he had his eyes closed and didn't notice a small light appear on his chest piece. Eventually, he opened his eyes and looked at his friends. "Guru, do you have any-" He stopped himself when he noticed the Ampleosaurus wasn't there, only Jonathan with a surprised look on his face. "Where'd he go?"

"Check you hand." Jonathan pointed out.

The lead guardian looked down and saw the Ampleosaur's card in his hand. "What? How did-" It was then that he noticed his glowing chest piece. A smile started to slowly grow on his face. "Oooh, hoho. This is going to be good."

DK

Rex didn't know what exactly happened. One second he was in the palace gardens, and now he found himself in some kind of void. "Hello?" He called out, hearing nothing but the echo of his voice. "Is anyone there? Where am I?"

"Calm yourself, young one." A female voice assured Rex. The blonde looked around but couldn't find anyone else.

Suddenly, there was a blinding light that filled the entire void, forcing Rex to shield his eyes. Once the light died down, Rex was able to see a huge white phoenix-like creature that appeared to be glowing with the colors of the rainbow. The majestic nature she gave off had to make her the most amazing creature Rex has ever seen in his life. "W-who are you?"

"Dinosaur King Rex, it is an honor to finally speak with you." The creature said. "As for my name, you have heard of me many times before from your subjects. I am Seikatsu."

"Seikatsu?" Rex repeated before realizing who he was talking to. "You're Seikatsu?!" He quickly dropped to the floor in a bow.

"Rise, young king. There is no need for formalities here." Seikatsu told him.

"Where is here?" Rex asked. "And how did I get here?"

"To put simply, you are in the Dreamscape. Where humans and dinosaurs experience their dreams. As for how you are here, you were struck by an assassin's bullet." Rex's eyes widened in fear. He looked like he was about to say something, but Seikatsu beat him to it. "Don't worry. You are not dead and will survive without any lasting injuries."

Rex was able to sigh in relief, knowing that he wasn't leaving his friends just yet. "So, why did you bring me here? If I'm not dead, then what's this about."

"I have someone wanted to speak with you." Seikatsu said before flying out of the way to reveal a man in a blue vest wearing the exact same crown that Rex was wearing.

"Rex, it has been a long time since I was able to talk to you." The man said as he walked over to the blonde and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"Do I know you?" Rex asked the man. He felt he had seen him before somewhere, but couldn't tell where.

The man looked down sadly. "I wouldn't expect you to remember. You were only a baby back then. But I have been watching you grow into the man I expected you to be."

It was with those words that Rex realized who he was talking to. "Dad?"

DK

"Guards! Search the palace!" Where the first words the Emperor said when they arrived back at the palace. "I want any possible signs of the assassin reported immediately!"

Once those words left his mouth, pandemonium filled the palace. Guards searched every nook and cranny for clues. All the while, the D-Team were assisting them in the palace gardens where the shooting took place. "Any luck?" Zoe asked Terry, who was sniffing the area like a bloodhound.

"No." Terry shook his head. "I'm not picking up any scents other than your own and Rex's."

"Maybe you'd have better luck if you were full-sized." Paris suggested, who was in her full-size so the Pteranodons could help with the search, who were currently circling the garden like vultures.

"Perhaps. What'd you think, Max?" Terry asked the brunette, but didn't get a response. "Max?"

The rest of the team looked to see Max standing in a corner, looking very distracted about something. They didn't need to be told what he was thinking about, for it was all in the back of their minds. Zoe approached him and hugged him for comfort. At first Max was slightly surprised by the touch, but eventually accepted it. "It'll be okay, Max." Zoe comforted him. "Rex will pull through. He always has."

"I know." Max quietly replied. "It's just...you guys weren't there. I actually saw it happen with my own eyes. The bullet striking him, the life leaving his eyes, his body falling to the ground. I don't think I can ever unsee that." Sounding like he was about to cry, Zoe tightened her embrace around him.

"Everyone!" They all looked up to see Jet starting to descend. "Turbo tells me that he's located the gun used in the attack! It's located in a passageway that looks over the garden!"

This got Max to snap out of his depression. "Any idea who used it?" He asked the Pteranodon leader.

Jet shook his head. "Negative. We couldn't get a grip on the weapon for closer inspection without fear of setting of the trigger."

"Take me to where it is!" Max said.

"Yes, sir!" Jet saluted before allowing Max to climb onto his back and flew to where the gun was.

Max hopped off his back and grabbed the gun. It took a lot of will power to not break the item in his hands out of revenge. Knowing the best thing to search for is for fingerprints, Max looked closely at the trigger, but was unable to find any. "I don't see any fingerprints!" He told the others.

"It's possible they were wearing gloves at the time." Terry assumed. "Maybe the Emperor might be able to help us figure out who it is once I can pick up their scent." He suggested before Jet flew back down picked the rest of them up.

"I hope so." Max replied quietly. "For all our sakes."

DK

"Hmm." The Emperor closely inspected the gun he was given. He had more experience dealing with firearms, so he was able to notice details that Max had missed.

"Well?" Chomp asked.

"I can confirm that this is the weapon used in the assault. Not only was the location you found it too much to be a coincidence, but it clearly shows signs of having been used to fire a single bullet, which was all it was holding as of late."

"Any finger prints?" Terry asked.

The Emperor shook his head. "Unfortunately, the shooter was wearing gloves at the time or they would've been at least somewhat distinguishable." He lowered the gun to Terry's level. "Can you pick up a scent on it?"

Terry nodded before he started sniffing the gun and then sniffed around the throne room to see if the assassin had passed through there on their escape. "I'm picking up their scent." He told the others. "But it's not strong enough to have been here after the shooting."

"If they were here earlier and nobody noticed then it means that they most likely were disguised as one of your workers." Zoe told the Emperor, her eyes widening at the realization.

The Emperor expressed his own look of surprise when he heard this, mainly since he had an idea of the culprit's identity. "He couldn't have." He thought to himself.

"Emperor!" The captain of the guard called out as he entered the room. "I heard that you found the gun used in the attack."

"That is correct, Captain." The Emperor confirmed before asking another question. "Tell me, has anyone seen Rasheed around recently?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." The captain answered. "One of the guards reported to me that they saw Rasheed leave the palace about two hours ago. He said that he seemed to be in a hurry."

That was all the evidence that the Emperor needed. "So, he actually did it."

"Excuse me." Paris spoke up. "But what does that grumpy visor have to do with all this?"

The Emperor gave out a loud sigh. "I'm sure you've noticed that Rasheed has a disdain for his job." The D-Team nodded to confirm. "Well, many of us, including myself believe that his disdain might stem from him wanting the throne for himself. At first, I thought it was just him hating his job and wishing to be Emperor, so we did nothing about him. But now I see that his intentions are real. I don't know the exact motivation, but I'm positive he was the one who shot Rex."

The D-Team girls gasped at this revelations while the boys looked livid. Especially Max, who was gripping his fist tightly. "So, he's the one who did it. And now he's trying to escape." The look on his eyes were those of murder.

Something that worried his friends. "Max, what're you planning to do?" Terry asked.

Max responded by pulling out his Dino Holder. "Making sure he won't harm the Emperor or anyone else."

DK

Not too far from where Rasheed met his new allies was a club that was filled with almost every kind of stereotypical thug out there doing stereotypical thug things. That is, until the door to the club burst open and a large hole was made in the wall. "It's the cops!" One of the thugs exclaimed.

"Hit the deck!" Another shouted as many of the hid under the tables.

However, it wasn't the police who burst in, but instead Spiny and Tank. "All right, motherfuckers, I have some questions, and I better not get any funny answers!" Tank threatened the thugs.

"If you do I'll rip off your hands and beat you with them!" Spiny cheerfully added.

"And I'll let him!" Tank added as she stomped into the club. Looking back and forth, anyone she looked at cowered in fear. "I'm sure you've heard that someone shot my partner, and our king, Rex Owen. One of you either is responsible or knows who did it." She stopped and roared at a small group of thugs hiding under the table next to her. "And I expect some answers!"

"Hehe. Looks like he's finally did it." Tank looked towards the end of the club and saw a short man with a black beard smiling smugly. "And we all thought he was too chicken to actually kill someone."

Tank stopped in front of the table and looked into the man's eyes. "Who is he."

The man scratched his beard, seemingly in thought. "Hmmm. It's been such a while that my memory's a bit rusty. Perhaps if you could give me a-"

The man was cut off when Tank slammed her tail onto the table behind her, making it nothing but sawdust. "Did that help your memory?" She asked the man. The man not said nothing in response, clearly shaken up by the whole thing. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I break your concentration, or are you finished?"

"Uhh, uhh." The man stuttered.

"What's the matter?" Tank rhetorically asked. "Oh, you were finished. So you don't know who the bastard is, and you were giving me a funny answer." She started closing in on the man, slowly raising her tail.

"What?" The man asked, having trouble processing Tank's words.

The Saichania responded to this by shoving him to the ground with her head and placing a foot 'gently' on his chest. "English, motherfucker, do you speak it?!"

"Yes!" The man screamed.

"Then tell me what you know about the assassin! What does he look like?!" She asked again, clearly having lost her patience.

"H-he-he-he's male. He's part of the palace staff." The man stuttered.

"Does he look like a bitch?"

"What?" The man asked before Tank stepped on his arm and broke it. "Aaah!"

"Does he look like a bitch?!"

"I don't know!" The man cried. "We've only heard the rumors!"

"So you were playing with me?" Tank moved her foot back to his chest. "Piss me off again! I dare you! I double dare you, motherfucker! Piss me off one more god damn time!"

"No! I have the answers!" The man begged for his life. "Go to the pier! That's where he should be trying to escape!"

But Tank wasn't satisfied with that answer. "I'm giving you one last chance, one last chance, buddy, to tell me what you know! Who is the bitch who shot Rex?!"

The Saichania was slowly adding more weight to the man's chest, making it hard for him to breathe. "It's-it's th-the advisor! He's the one who shot your friend." The man choked.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tank lifted her foot from the man. "See? Was that so hard?" She told him before turning around. "Spiny, let's go."

"Okie-dokie!" Spiny beamed, trying to hide his fear, before following Tank out of the club. "Sooooo..." He said once they were a good distance from the place. "What exactly was all that back there?"

"Exactly what you thought it was." Tank growled in replied, mostly out of anger instead of annoyance.

"You channeling your inner Samuel L. Jackson to get some answers?"

"Pretty much." Tank admitted. "They were all thugs, anyway. It's not like they weren't guilty of something. I did the Government a favor by scaring them."

"I'm pretty sure Rex won't approve of what you did back there." The Spinosaurus pointed out.

"I don't care about the consequences right now." She stopped and turned around to face her boyfriend. "What matters is that we stop Rasheed from escaping. And when I find that bastard..." She swung her tail at a large abandoned building and caused the whole thing to collapse with just one swing.

DK

Once Rex realized that he was talking to his father, the blonde immediately ran up to him and hugged him tightly, tears coming out of his eyes. "Is... is it really you?" He asked his father, not knowing if this was real or if he was dreaming something really convincing.

"It is, my son." Dr. Ancient replied before slowly separating from his son to get a better look at him. "Look how you've grown." Tears were almost falling out of his eyes as well. Seikatsu had left the two of them alone for some father-son bonding time. "I'm so proud of you."

"I don't understand, though." Rex spoke up. "If you could've talked to me this whole time, why didn't you?"

Dr. Ancient gave a heavy sigh. "Understand, Rex, that I wanted to speak with you since Dr. Owen found you, but I couldn't. I had to wait for two things. The first was for you to learn about your origin, otherwise I doubt you'd believe me." Rex couldn't argue with that. If he hadn't experienced everything he did in the past year he'd probably think he was going crazy. "The second is a little more complicated. You see, despite this taking place in the Dreamscape, not everyone is able to speak to the deceased. I don't know the exact requirements, but only those with a strong will can make contact with Spirit World inhabitants while they are still alive."

"Spirt World?" Rex repeated.

Dr. Ancient nodded. "It is like Heaven in a way. Home to all the great dinosaur rulers and warriors of the past." He explained. "And since I was the last Dinosaur King before you, I found my place among them."

Rex nodded, only somewhat understanding what his father was telling him. "But I still don't understand why you didn't talk to me after I became King." Rex said, starting to sound a little betrayed. "I could've used you."

"Rex." Dr. Ancient brought his son back in for another hug. "It takes more than a strong will to allow me to speak with you. Like I told you, I would've contacted you as soon as you knew the truth. And that's exactly what I did once you were able to access this part of the Dreamscape."

"So then me getting shot was necessary for this to happen." Rex realized.

"Perhaps." His father replied. "Only Seikatsu knows for sure, but I'm afraid she refuses to tell me the answer."

"I see." Rex said, but still had something nagging in the back of his mind. "But why are you really here? Something tells me that you didn't just come here to say hello."

Dr. Ancient gave a loud sigh. "You truly are my son. The truth is... I came here to apologize."

"Apologize?" Rex repeated. "What for?"

"For everything that's happened to you." Dr. Ancient said. Behind him, a projection appeared that replayed key moments in Rex's life, both good and bad, curtsey of Seikatsu. "I know that you'll never regret meeting Max, Zoe, Ace, Tank, or any of the others you've become friends with." He was smiling as he said that part, but that smile soon turned into a shameful frown. "But that doesn't change the fact that you'd never be involved in this war with the Alpha Gang if it wasn't for my failures."

"Dad." Rex knew what his father was referring to. He had the same feelings of guilt when he first heard about what Seth did. "Please don't blame yourself. If I hadn't-"

"Seth would've done something regardless of your existence." Dr. Ancient stopped his son before showing him an image from their past. It showed Dr. Ancient reviving an award for a groundbreaking discovery he made. "You already know that I was a renowned paleontologist. Considered by many to be the best that has ever been in the field. However, the truth is that most of my accomplishments came from Seth." The screen zoomed in on a corner to show Seth behind the stage, looking at his brother absolutely lividly. "It wasn't that I took the credit for all of his work, I still played a major part in every discovery, but I was the only one to receive credit."

The scene changed to show Seth hard at work in his room on the time machine, writing down the instructions on how to work with Dinomond. "This lead to him gaining a resentment towards me. He would spend months trying to find something of value that he could claim as his own discovery. Something to get himself the recognition he felt he deserved. And when I became Dinosaur King, I feel that was the breaking point. Jealousy began to cloud his judgment. Corruption began to fill his heart, and he accepted it." The former Dinosaur King looked down sadly. "If I had noticed this and acted like a proper brother, maybe our fates would all be different."

"Dad..." Rex said quietly, trying to comfort his father.

"Rex, I'm telling you this not because I want you to forgive your uncle, but because I want you to understand that people are not born evil. I need you to understand this because as King your decisions will impact the safety of your subjects, and there might be a time in the future when you'll have to take a life permanently. What you faced before was only the beginning. Seikatsu tells me that a greater evil will be raised in the future. You and your friends need to gather the rest of the cards and make allies with as many dinosaurs as possible if you are to stand a chance. And throughout all that, I want you to promise me that you'll never lose sight of who you are and end up going down the same path as Seth." Dr. Ancient looked his son in the eyes. "Promise me."

There was a complete silence for what felt like hours before Rex responded. "I promise, Dad."

DK

At the docks, Ofu and her ninjas were waiting for Rasheed to arrive so they could make their escape back to their main headquarters. However, he was running extremely late. "Ofu, we've been waiting for hours." One of her ninja sisters said. "I think we should consider the fact that Rasheed might have betrayed us."

The lead ninja shook her head. "No. We've all heard news of the attack, and the Emperor is no doubt sending his guards after any possible suspects. If he values his life, he will show up. And he's probably not going to alone."

Sure enough, it was then that Rasheed finally caught up with them. "You are late." Ofu told the visor.

"Well, sooorry!" Rasheed replied sarcastically. "But, in case you haven't noticed, it's a long way from here to the palace! Especially when you're trying to be stealthy!"

"And you're positive you weren't followed." Ofu glared at the visor.

Rasheed began to sweat nervously as the murder looks he was reviving. "Uh, well, I-" He stuttered before slapping himself out of it. "Of course I wasn't followed! What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

"We're about to find out." Ofu responded, confusing the visor.

Before he could ask her what she meant, a full-sized Terry appeared from nowhere behind Rasheed. "Going somewhere?" He rhetorically asked them.

While the ninjas got into attack position, Rasheed was shaking in his boots. "How did you find us?" He asked the Tyrannosaurus.

"We had some help." Max said, revealing himself, the rest of the team, a good portion of guards, and the Emperor himself.

"E-E-E-Emperor?!" Rasheed gulped in fear.

"Rasheed, you traitor." He glared at his former visor. "I always knew you were unhappy with your position, but I never would've believed you actually try to take a life, much less a child's."

Rasheed's panicked face turned into that of a scowl. "Hey, in politics it's a dog-eat-dog world." He said.

"What was that?!" Max yelled at him, Terry giving a low growl.

"What I'm saying is that your friend should've known better then to leave the safety of his kingdom to venture into the outside world." Rasheed explained. "Who knows what could've happened."

"Like you trying to sabotage our meeting with the Emperor so we'd go to war with them!" Zoe accused him.

Rasheed held out his hands in defense and shook his head. "Hey, woah! I wasn't the one who came up with the plan, though now I'm starting to see some benefits in that." He muttered the last part to himself. "I was given orders by someone to kill the boy. Someone who promised me what I rightfully deserve."

"That explains the ninjas." Chomp said before thinking about something else. "Are those ninjas the ones that kidnapped us? If so, then I bet his boss is the same as Cornelius'."

"You don't deserve the title of Emperor!" The captain of the guard yelled at him.

"Oh, really? Who did all the work around the palace? Me! Who organizes all these events? Me! Who practically runs the whole country? Me! And what do I get in return!? Watching those two little brats of yours!" He yelled at the Emperor.

"Leave my daughters out of this!" The Emperor told Rasheed. "I'm sorry you felt that way. It was never my intention to make you think you were a slave. But I cannot forgive you for attempting to murder someone uninvolved instead of talking to me about it personally. I'm giving you a choice, Rasheed. Come with us willingly, or we'll take you to the palace for your trial by force."

"I think I'll chose neither." Rasheed said before the ninjas attacked.

"Here they come!" Terry warned as the ninjas began to strike.

The guards readied their weapons, but the ninjas showed no interest in them. Instead, they focused all of their attacks on Terry. The Tyrannosaurus snapped his jaws and swung his head, trying to catch the ninjas. But the four kunoichi dodged every one of his attacks with ease. "Kunoichi, attack!" Ofu ordered as all four of them unsheathed their swords.

Terry found himself getting attacked from all sides: Ofu's second-in-command, Oren, attacked his left foot while another attacked the right, one other ninja atruck his backside, while Ofu herself went for his head. Their swords may have been small, but they were still very painful, as Terry was discovering first hand. Every time he tried to go after one, he'd get many slashes from the others. Thankfully not cutting into his skin, but it still hurt a lot. "Come on, Terry! Don't let 'em beat you!" Max encouraged the Tyrannosaurus.

"Quit climbing on me!" Terry roared at them. Eventually, the ninja seemed to stop their attacks only to switch to a different one. They all started running around Terry in a large circle. "What're you doing?" He asked them before recognizing the ironically named Move. "Wait a minute, that's Ninja Attack!" Knowing how the Move works, he quickly swung his tail around to knock them away. But the ninjas were too fast and leapt into the air before they all descended upon the Tyrannosaurus, attacking him from all sides in a manner similar to Ace and Meg, only this time using blades instead of just ramming him. Eventually, the ninjas ceased the attack and regrouped. Terry stumbled as he tried to regain his footing from that attack. "I have to admit, never thought I'd see the day humans were actually able to fight against a dinosaur own their own." Terry told them.

The ninjas didn't respond and concentrated on their next attack. "Now!" Ofu ordered as all four of them leapt into the air and threw explosives at Terry that exploded on combat. The Tyrannosaurus roared in pain from the explosions, having a difficult time staying on his feet. But he had to, for the King's sake. For Rex's sake.

The ninjas stopped throwing the explosions and landed. "Wait a minute!" Zoe quickly realized. "Rasheed's not there!"

The others looked and saw that the former advisor was nowhere to be seen. "You were distracting us this whole time so he could escape!" Max yelled at them.

"He needs us if he actually would be able to escape alive." Ofu told them. "I doubt he made it far. Search for him if you like." She suggested.

The Emperor seemed to agree with this suggestion. "Guards, search for him!" The Emperor ordered. His soldiers nodded before running off in different directions, leaving the D-Team and himself to deal with the ninjas. "As for you four..."

"Don't waste the time making threats, Emperor." Ofu stopped him. "If the famous Terry Tyrannosaurus couldn't defeat us, you should stay on the sidelines where you belong."

"I'm not finished yet." Terry told them, preparing for their next attack.

"That was because we weren't attacking to kill." Ofu said as they all unsheathed their swords again. "But things will change when we're in lethal mode."

Just when it seemed they were about to go in for another strike, the sound of someone singing darkly could be heard. "Laaa! La, la, la, la, la, laaa! La, la, la, la, laaa!" Everyone looked around in confusion, fearful of discovering who that voiced belonged to, even the ninjas.

"Who's there?!" Max asked, gripping his Dino Holder tightly.

"Show yourself!" Terry demanded.

There was a silence before the voice said. "I'll let the fact you didn't say please slide this once." Suddenly, Spectre appeared out of nowhere in front of the ninjas, he had ditched the cape and was in his combat outfit, and his wings were on full display. "Surprise!" He said to the ninjas, slightly startling them to the point of getting into defensive positions.

"Spectre!" The D-Team said in delight.

The Emperor, on the other hand, was still confused by the guardian's sudden appearance and just his overall appearance, looking like that of a demon. "You know this demon?"

"Trust us, Emperor. Spectre's anything but a demon." Paris assured him.

"Well, I wouldn't say that." Spectre joked. "I am known to put fear into my enemies. However..." He held up Guru's card. "I think my friend here would give a punishment far worse then what I have in mind." He placed the card on his chest piece and it dissolved. At the same time, a blue glow appeared and out of it came Guru.

The D-Team were shocked and speechless at what they had just witnessed. "Did Spectre-" Zoe said.

"Just summon Guru?" Chomp and Paris finished at the same time.

"How is this possible?" Terry asked as he came up to the Ampleosaurus.

"Divine intervention." Was Guru's reply, and that was all Terry needed to get the message. "Now. I believe we have the matter of an assassin on our hands." Guru said as he looked at the ninjas.

"They're not the ones who did it. They're just helping him." Terry explained. "The palace guards are already searching the area for him."

"Good. Then that should mean we can take them all into custody."

"I'd like to see you try." Oren told the two dinosaurs as she grabbed more explosives, but Ofu stopped her.

"Stand down, Oren. They have us outmatched." She told her second-in-command. "At the moment we only have the skills to battle one dinosaur at a time."

"A pretty foolish move if you ask me." Terry growled as he and Guru advanced towards them.

"Maybe. But this was all just a field test." Ofu said as they all grabbed smoke bombs. "We'll meet again someday." She told them before all the ninjas slammed the bombs to the ground and releasing a white smoke.

Guru and Terry coughed as the smoke began to fade. Once it was gone, the ninjas were nowhere in sight. Terry sniffed the air, but couldn't pick up their scent at all. "They're gone." He told them. "Not even a trace."

"We'll worry about them later. Right now we need to focus on Rasheed." Max told his partner.

Both dinosaurs nodded and Terry sniffed the air again. "We're in luck. He's not too far and he doesn't seem to be moving. Follow me." He told them as he went to the location.

From his hiding place, Rasheed quietly looked out from behind a corner to see if any guards were nearby. Sure enough, it seemed that the path was clear. The former visor couldn't help but give a sly chuckle. "Hehehe, idiots. Now all that's left is for me to make my escape."

Just as he was about to leave, the wall exploded. From the debris, Tank's head popped out. "There you are." She said sinisterly to Rasheed. The former visor backed up until he found himself cornered. "If you thought I was going to let someone like you get out of here alive, you're sadly mistaken."

"No, please!" Rasheed begged as Tank turned around and raised her tail. "Have mercy!"

"If you wanted mercy, you shouldn't have shot my friend!" She said before she lowered her tail like it was a guillotine. Rasheed screamed before the tail made contact with his body. He was clubbed at least seven times before his screams were silent. Tank backed up and saw a bloody pile where Rasheed previously was. "That was for Rex."

"He's over here!" She heard Terry tell someone. It was then that the D-Team showed up. "Tank, what're you doing here?" Terry asked when he noticed the Saichania.

"I told you already. Hunting the bastard down." She answered before moving aside to reveal to corpse of Rasheed.

"Oh my god!" Max exclaimed, his face turning green as he had to hold back the urge to vomit.

"Tank, what did you do!?" Paris asked, horrified at what she was seeing.

"I did what had to be done, all right!" Tank countered, not liking the looks she was receiving. "Don't tell me none of you were thinking the same thing!"

The others looked like they were about to retort, but the Emperor stopped them. "What's done is done. We can't change what's happened. All that matters now is that we see how young Rex is doing."

"The Emperor is right." Guru agreed. "It would be best to hear Rex's opinion before any judgement is handed." The rest of the team nodded in agreement. They just hoped that Rex was still alive.

DK

Once they reached the hospital, they saw Ace still standing in the same place he was when they left. The tubes inserted into Rex were removed, replaced by bandages wrapped around his chest. "Is he?" Max tried to ask, but couldn't finish.

Ace shook his head. "No. They've removed the bullet, and all his injuries have been patched up." He told them, a wave of relief washing over them. "It's a good thing you showed up. They say he should wake up any minute." He looked around and noticed there was still some tension among the group, along with the addition of Spectre and Guru, who was sticking his head through a window since he didn't have a chibi-form. "Did you find the assassin?"

"I personally saw to his execution myself." Tank said proudly. Ace was shocked at what he heard. It seemed like only yesterday Killer had killed Cornelius, which he later found out Rex had given him the OK on doing to make sure he didn't escape.

"Let it be known we don't all agree with her decision." Guru told him, slightly glaring at the Saichania for her pride.

Ace nodded in understanding before looking back at Rex. The blonde had a peaceful expression on his face, like he was in some short of paradise. Everyone stayed silent as they waited for a sign of him to wake up, Spectre even started chewing on his cape. "I do it when I'm nervous, okay!" He told them when the saw the looks the others were giving him.

Suddenly, Rex's heart rate began to slowly pick up speed. "He's waking up!" Zoe said quietly but with excitement. The others began to usher around the bed in anticipation.

Very slowly, the blonde's eyes began to open. At first, his vision was blurry and he could only make out the bright lights of the hospital room. "Ugh." He groaned as he shielded his eyes from the light. "Dad?" He quietly said as his vision started to clear, revealing the faces of his friends and family. "Guys?"

"Rex!" The D-Team, minus Ace and Guru exclaimed as they all embraced their friend in a hug or nuzzled him affectionately.

Rex hissed at the sudden contact, his wounds still sore from earlier. "Glad to see you too, guys."

"I almost thought you weren't going to make it." Max burred his face into Rex's neck, silently crying.

Rex was his friend's distress and gently patted his head. "I'm fine, Max. Whoever did this didn't hit anything important."

"How exactly do you know that?" Ace asked. "I only just told them and I doubt that you were awake by then."

Rex looked down for a bit, silently debating if he should tell them or not. Spectre was able to put the pieces together. "You finally saw your dad, didn't you?"

The rest of the D-Team looked confused before Rex nodded. "Yeah." He answered quietly.

"How on earth did you speak to Dr. Ancient?" Spiny asked. "Last time I checked he was dead. Did we miss a chapter of the story or something?"

Rex shook his head. "It happened while I was dreaming. Seikatsu was there, too."

"Seikatsu?!" Everyone gasped. "You mean you actually saw her?" Max asked.

"What did she look like? Was she as beautiful as I imagined?" Zoe asked while gushing.

"She was... extraordinary." Was all Rex could say.

"She has that affect on mortals." Spectre joked. "Did any of them say something they wanted you to tell us?"

Rex put a finger to his chin as he thought. "Dad hinted at something being a part of Seikatsu's plan, but he doesn't know what it was exactly."

"I want to say it involved you getting shot, but I doubt that was the case after what happened with me and Spectre." Guru said.

"What'd you mean?" Rex asked by what he meant before realizing the literal sauropod in the room. "How did you even get here?"

"You're not gonna believe this, Rex, But Spectre can now summon dinosaurs like us." Max said. "Isn't that cool?!"

"I doubt this was a one time thing." Spectre said. "I'll have to speak with Seikatsu to understand what she wants us to do with this power."

Rex nodded before realizing something else. "Oh!"

"What is it?" Chomp asked.

"The assassin! What happened to them?"

"Oh, Tank clubbed the guy to death. Turns out it was that visor guy." Spiny quickly responded, unaware of the tension involving the situation. "Who would've thought he was evil?"

"Tank, is this true?" Rex asked his Saichania partner.

Instead of looking proud, Tank now looked ashamed, like a dog being scolded by its owner. No one knew why, but it seemed that disapproval from Rex was enough to make her realize what she truly had done. "I was just so furious at what happened." She confessed. "I-I wasn't thinking straight. I thought you were-"

Rex held up a hand that was a signal for her to stop. He then turned to the Emperor. "Emperor, I'm sorry for Tank's actions against one of your own." He apologized, bowing as best as he could.

"It is fine, young one. Rasheed would have no doubt faced the death penalty for his treasonous acts. I will not press charges on you or Tank. If anything, I ask for your forgiveness since it was because of me that Rasheed was even able to attempt to take your life. I should've got rid of him the moment we were suspicious." The Emperor bowed apologetically.

"Don't blame yourself. Everything's fine now." Rex assured the Emperor.

It was at that moment that the sound of a cellphone went off. "Sorry, I have to take this." Spectre said as he turned around and pulled out a device that projected an image of Gavro. "What is it, Gavro."

"Boss, I'm by Cretacia's pod and there's this red light flashing. What's that mean again? Is she dying?"

"No, you buffoon! That means she's waking up!" Spectre yelled, alerting the D-Team of this news.

"My mom's waking up?" Rex said.

"Yes. Gavro, bring the ship to India, I'll beam back on from there." Spectre told his worker before hanging up. "Sorry, but I have to go."

"I'm coming with you." Rex said as he started to get out of the bed.

"Rex, no! You're still hurt!" Ace told him, trying and failing to keep his king bedridden.

"I am not going to miss this." Rex told the Carnotaurus as he got out of the bed, only to immediately stumble and fall over, thankfully caught by Max. "Thanks, Max."

"Rex, normally I'm not the responsible one who would tell you to stay in bed." Max told his friend before giving him a smile. "So, I'm not going to bother."

"Come on, Spectre. He hasn't seen his mother in years." Zoe pleaded.

Spectre sighed in annoyance, knowing he couldn't win this argument if he was opposed to it. "Fine. But please watch your step."

"Thanks." Rex said as the team followed the lead guardian to his ship, Max helping Rex stay on his feet the whole way.

DK

Once they were on the ship, everyone gathered around Cretacia's pod. "Remember, she probably isn't aware of what happened to Dr. Ancient, so tread lightly." Spectre warned them as the pod slowly started to open.

"What if she doesn't remember anything?" Rex started to worry, given a pair of crutches to help him move around easier. "What if she doesn't remember me?"

"If Seikatsu's been watching over you, she wouldn't let that happen." Tank assured him, gently petting his leg.

When the smoke from the pod cleared, Cretacia slowly started to open her eyes. "Ugh." She groaned as she tried getting onto her feet. But she was asleep for so long that he legs weren't working properly and she nearly fell onto the ground if someone hadn't caught her.

That someone being her son. "I gotcha!" Rex said as he ran over to his mother and caught her before she hit the floor, ignoring his own pain.

"Thank you." Cretacia said before she looked at who caught her and gasped. "D-Dear?" She assumed it her husband was when she saw the crown on his head.

Rex slowly shook his head. "No, it's me." He corrected her.

Cretacia knew what this meant. "Rex? You're alive?" She gently touched his face and felt his skin. She looked at his neck and saw the tooth amulet she gave him as a baby. "That amulet. It really is you!" She cried before embracing her son tightly, something Rex accepted without any problem. "My baby boy! I thought I lost you, too!"

"I'm still here, Mom." Rex assured her as he returned the embrace, quietly crying himself. "I won't leave you again."

The rest of the team watched as mother and son were reunited, many having tears of joy in their eyes, as well. Spectre, in particular, was having a hard time keeping it in. "Boss, are you crying?" Sheer asked with a smirk.

"No, I'm not! I just have something in my eye!" Spectre bawled before chewing on his cape again. "GwwwwAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

DK

In their hidden location, the ninjas bowed in front of the hooded man. "Master, we're sorry. We were unable to complete the mission." Ofu apologized.

"Nonsense." The man assured them. "Everything went according to plan."

"What'd you mean?" The lead ninja asked.

"The purpose of this was not to gain an ally in Rasheed, he would've been dealt with easily if he started being a problem. No, I needed him to shot the boy so I'd know how the D-Team would react in grief if one of them was killed. And it seems they focused heavily on bringing the visor to justice, just as I expected."

"If that was what you wanted, why didn't you have one of us do it?" Oren asked.

"Because you were already on thin ice after Cornelius opened his big mouth. No doubt some of them are already connecting the dots with the kidnapping last week. I couldn't risk having them hunting you down, especially without your upgraded suits. Which, are conveniently about finished." He looked behind himself at four ninja suits exactly like the ones they were currently wearing. "Of course, your skills today give me confidence you might not need them with the right training, but it's still best to fight safely. Rasheed's death will give them a chance to calm down. Think they're safe for now." He turned back to his soldiers. "I believe this past week has been most informative. The pieces are all starting to fall into place."

Next time on Dinosaur King:

(Killer's Gang and Trooper square off against Fang and Screamer inside a volcano)

Ursula: Ed, do something to get rid of them!

Ed: I'll use Heat Eruption!

Sheer and Foolscap: Nooo!

(Volcano starts to erupt)

A/N: Man! What a chapter! And the next first place for longest chapter! As well as the darkest chapter yet.

We know have a better understanding of hoodies faction. And, trust me, they're going to be a huge problem for our heroes.

Some tidbits and points to make out for this chapter. One: Zahrah and Rex. I won't spoiler what happens, but this first bit was simply a case of a girl seeing a guy she finds cute by looks. Remember that Rex was a chick magnet even before he was king. Little BTS, originally she was going to be the one who saw Rex getting shot, but I changed it to Max since I thought it worked better emotionally.

The next involves Spectre's role in this chapter. This was mainly used to help develop his character more, which was the reason for the flashback, but I also found a way to use this to set up the Pirates' role in later chapters. Which some of you might be piecing together.

Finally there's the big character introduced in this chapter: Seikatsu. I'll be honest, no one guessed that Seikatsu was the name I gave the pterosaur. For those who don't know, Seikatsu is Japanese for life, while Shi means death. I was debating on bolding her dialogue like I did in earlier chapters, but decided it'd get really frustrating really fast.

Since we're a good way into season 2, I made another poll for favorite characters, so vote on that if you can.

I believe I've covered everything, so I'll see you all soon. Hopefully.