Can You Feel the Pain Tonight?
Disclaimer: Dinosaur King is owned by Sunrise, Shout Factory, 4kidsTV, and any other company I missed. I own nothing
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Flashback"
DK
The only sound in the room was the sound of the clock ticking. On one couch sat Aki while the D-Team sat on the other couch, or on the floor next to it. The kids and dinosaurs all looked at each other nervously. It was just yesterday that the D-Team's secret was not only revealed to the world, but also to Max's mother, and now they had to come clean an explain themselves. Jonathan, Rod, and Laura were also there off to the side, sharing the worry of their friends.
After what seemed to be an eternity, Spiny broke the silence. "Sooooo. I'm Spiny. This is Terry, and this is-" He said while gesturing to each dinosaur he mentioned before he was interrupted.
"I already know your names." Aki cut him off, sounding slightly harsh, before turning her attention to her son. "So, all this time Terry, Chomp and the rest have actually been dinosaurs?"
"That's right." Max nodded.
"And you've been calling them dogs so no one would know that you have dinosaurs for pets." She continued.
"We prefer the term partners." Rex corrected her.
"Right, partners." Aki turned her attention to Rod and Laura. "And you two were once part of a gang that kept trying to steal them?"
Rod and Laura nodded silently, too afraid of her reaction to say a word. "Before you get mad at them, understand that they were only doing what they did because their grandpa lied to them about sending them back to their parents." Max quickly stood up for them.
"I see." Aki said quietly before asking the next question. "And, where did all the other dinosaurs from yesterday come from?"
"Most of them were with us." Terry said. "Throughout the last year, we've been going all over the world, collecting the cards before the Alpha Gang, the gang that Rod and Laura were somewhat a part of, could use them for more nefarious purposes."
"Until now they've all actually been living in a large sanctuary at the D-Lab if you want to see for yourself sometime." Chomp added.
"So that's why I thought I saw Max in Barcelona, because he was actually there." Aki said.
Jonathan nodded. "My creator, and Rex's birth father, Dr. Ancient created the cards in an effort to preserve the species. The teleportation was part of the gift of the Stone Plates that allowed us to go back and save them. The other is allowing humans to understand them."
Aki nodded, still having a hard time taking all this information in at once. "Mom, I'm so sorry we didn't tell you sooner." Max apologized. "I swear we-"
"Max." Aki stopped her son. "I'm not mad at you."
The others all blinked in confusion. "You're not?"
"I'm slightly upset for not knowing this sooner, but I'm more proud than anything." She said before embracing her son in a hug. "You've not only been saving dinosaurs, but they've also saved my life and the lives of many others. I'm proud of you, Max. All of you." She said as she looked at everyone in the room before looking at Terry and Chomp. "Thank you for keeping him safe." She whispered to them. The two dinosaurs winked in response.
"Thank you, Ms. Taylor." Rex said. "Because I'm afraid that wasn't the last of the Alpha Gang. There's still more dinosaurs out there, lost in this unfamiliar world. And we need to find them before the Alpha Gang or something just as bad as yesterday's attack might happen again."
Aki's eyes widened at this. She had silently hopped that whoever attacked with the dinosaurs yesterday was just doing it once. But now she was starting to fear for her son's life, as well as those of his friends. However, as much as she wanted to object, she knew deep down that stopping them would only do more harm than good for everyone. She owed the dinosaurs her life, she should help them in return.
"Don't worry, Ms. Taylor." Terry said, noticing her worry. "I can promise that we will make sure that your son stays safe."
"Thank you." Aki thanked Terry before moving onto the other matter she wanted to talk about. "But there's still one thing I don't understand." She told them.
"What'd you mean, Mom?" Max asked her.
"Zoe's parents knew about the dinosaurs, and so did Rex's father and his assistant. You told your father Chomp and Terry were dinosaurs, so why didn't you tell me?" She asked him, starting to look very hurt. "I could've helped you."
The D-Team all looked at each other nervously. They didn't know exactly how to word it without it coming off as petty. "I-it's not that we didn't want to tell you, Mom." Max tried to assure her. "It's just that..."
"Well..." Zoe tried to say for him, but couldn't find the words.
"We kinda..." Rex tried to help his friends, but also fell short.
"What're you guys so nervous about?" Spiny asked them. "Didn't you tell us that Dr. Taylor told you keep to us a secret from her?"
The others glared at Spiny while Aki's eyes widened in shock. "Spike told you to hide this from me?"
"Yeah, he said that right before he told Reese everything, and then Dr. Owen, and probably some other people." Spiny went on.
"That last part didn't happen. Mr. and Mrs. Drake found out on their own." Paris corrected him.
But at this point Aki was only half listening. "Where's your father?" She asked Max.
Max shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. He said he had important business to take care of."
Aki's expression turned to one of anger. "I see." She said as she got up from the couch and walked away.
"Mrs. Taylor, are you okay?" Laura asked her.
"I'm fine, Laura." Aki assured her, though her tone and the fact the didn't turn around said otherwise. "I just need to talk with my husband about something."
That was almost five months ago, and neither Aki or Spike have spoken about that moment. Causing them to slowly diff apart.
(Intro Theme)
"Zander!" Ed knocked on the door to their bathroom, which was shared by all of the trio just like their room. "Zander, are you almost done in there?! Because it's only a matter of time before-"
"Out of my way, Ed." Ursula rudely said before moving the fat man out of her way to the bathroom. "I have a beauty appointment." She was referring to putting her makeup on, which really didn't make her look any different than normal.
"And there it is." Ed muttered to himself. "Uh, Ursula? I wouldn't go in there if I were you."
"Well, clearly you're not since you don't have a reputation of beauty to uphold." Ursula said before opening the door.
"Seriously, Ursula, Zander is in there!" Ed tried to reason with her.
"The door's not locked, you big baby." Ursula pointed out as she turned the handle and opened the door.
Once she did, the whole room became flooded to the point the door to the room was forced open. All the while, they could hear Zander singing to some instrumental metal song. "Without you! I can't breathe!" He sang from under the water. "Without you! I can't breatheeeeeee!"
As the water carried him down the hall, Ed and Ursula were left in their soaked bedroom. "What was that?!" Ursula screamed, furious at the mess not only of her face, but their room as well.
"That was Zander singing a depressing song about his love life." Ed answered. "He normally finishes before you wake up."
"And it's normal for him to flood the bathroom?" Ursula asked, having a hard time processing this information. "Do I even want to know how many times he's damaged the pipes?"
"Actually, that was a flood of tears." Ed corrected her. "It usually disappears once the song is over. Which is why Helga never gets involved in cleaning."
"And how long he has been doing this?" Ursula now was starting to get annoyed.
"I just found out about it a month or so ago." Ed replied. "I'm positive he's been doing it since we came back from Mexico."
"Why that-" Ursula stopped herself when she recalled the conversation during their escape.
"How could you do this to me, Ed?!" Ursula yelled as he strangled him, the short man's face turning blue as his tongue stuck out.
"Acck! Gaack!" Ed chocked out.
"I don't care if you were making sure our dinosaurs weren't captured! Why would the brats want them?!" Ursula's eyes started showing blood-shots, so did Ed's. "We had two dinosaurs to capture, and you didn't even get one!"
Through out the scolding, Zander stayed quiet. He knew that saying anything about what happened would earn him a ticket to the afterlife once Ursula was through with him. At the same time, he knew that Ed didn't deserve to be chocked to death by Ursula for his mistake. Well, if he would call making sure the Saurolophuses stayed together a mistake, which he certainly didn't. Sighing to himself, he just hoped that maybe he might be allowed into heaven. "Ursula, leave Ed alone."
Ursula slowly turned her head to Zander while keeping her hold on Ed. "And why should I do that?"
"Because..." Zander paused before uttering the words. "I gave the brats one of the cards."
There was a silence in the aircraft for a good minute after Zander said those words. At first he thought he needed to repeat himself, but Ursula made it clear she heard him. "WHAAAAAAAAT?!" She screamed as she dropped Ed and picked up Zander by the shirt, looking at him like a raged bull. "WHAT ON EARTH POSSESSED YOU TO BETRAY US LIKE THAT?!" She screamed at him.
"...Love." Was all Zander could say for himself.
Immediately once he said that, Ursula's face changed to one of confusion. "W-what?" She asked him. But before he could answer, because no one was driving the Alpha Craft, it started plummeting out of the sky. "Aaah!"
"And then their was that whole fiasco when we teleported the girl brat's house here when the dinosaurs got sick." Ursula recalled what she and Ed found on the security cameras. "He lead that nerd woman into the engine room and practically allowed them to escape. If we hadn't removed that footage from the security camera..." Ursula shuddered at the thought. "I think Brontikens would've been his punishment."
"Wasn't that nerd woman also there in Mexico?" Ed slightly remembered.
"You're right, Ed. She supposedly had the bag that contained one of the cards." Ursula confirmed.
"I also remembering him calling her his angel as we were leaving, and during the sick days." Ed also remembered as the pieces started falling into place. "You think it's just a coincidence?"
"With everything that's been going on, I highly doubt it." Ursula said as she got onto her feet and walked out the door, Ed following in suit.
DK
A little while later, the two of them poked their heads out from behind a wall in the dinosaurs sleeping quarters. In there, Zander was dropping food into the dinosaurs' throughs, all while looking extremely depressed. While most of the dinosaurs were gone doing their own things for the day, there was one that still remained: the Diceratops.
Stopping by where she was sleeping, Zander grabbed his shovel and started lifting cycad leaves into her trough. "Oooh, my angel!" He moaned out sadly. The Diceratops perked up when she thought she heard her name. "Not you, Angel." Zander told her as he placed his head against the wall. "I meant my angel. The one that's related to the girl brat. Oooh, why does one so pure have to be related to one of the scums or the Earth!? Whhhhyyyy?!" He screamed to the ceiling as he got onto his knees before face planting on the floor. "At least I have you, Angel. You understand me." Zander told the Diceratops before getting back onto his feet. "Well, I mean, I hope you do, since we modified the Alpha Controller so we wouldn't keep hearing dinosaurs saying 'destroy' or 'eliminate' every time they open their figurative lips. It got really annoying when we had Styracosaurus, let me tell you. Which brings up the point that you probably either don't understand what I'm saying, and are hearing me say things like "uragh" or "bleh", or you do and aren't saying anything because we took away your freedom of speech and you're nothing more than a shell of your former self, internally begging to be released from the prison that is your mind while watching your body commit horrible acts for our sick, twisted purposes." As Zander spoke, Angel simply grabbed a piece of cycad and began eating.
From the sidelines, Ursula and Ed listened in silence. "I can't believe this." Ursula whispered.
"I know." Ed replied. "Who would've realized how messed up the Alpha Controller is."
"Not that." Ursula bashed his head in. "I'm talking about Zander. Look at him, he's become so pathetic it's...pathetic. We need to do something about this."
"Wouldn't be better if we stay out of Zander's personal life?" Ed asked her once his head popped back out.
"Ed." Ursula deadpanned as she grabbed him by the ear, pulling him closer to her. "That is Zander's personal life." She pointed to him sobbing on the floor, a large puddle of tears where his face is. "If he keeps at this much longer, he's probably going to kill himself."
Ed's eyes widened when he realized Ursula had a point. "What're you suggesting we do?"
"Something that'll give his poor heart some release." Ursula smiled.
"I think you mean relief." Ed corrected her.
"Same thing!" The greenette hissed before bashing his head again.
DK
It was a new day at the Taylor Household as Aki put everyone's breakfast on the table. Like usual, Max and Rex were the first to arrive with their dinosaurs; Rex because of routine, Max because of food. "Morning, boys." Aki greeted them, earning a low growl from Tank. "And Tank." She said with a chuckle.
"Thank you." The Saichania said proudly.
"Breakfast looks great, Mom." Max said as he and Rex took their seats at the table, the brunette immediately starting to wolf down his meal.
"Thank you, honey." Aki said with a smile as she placed the bowls for the dinosaurs, Chomp immediately diving into his like Max.
"Thank you, Mrs. Taylor." Ace thanked her as he and the other three started eating theirs at a slower pace. Aki smiled again at everyone enjoying their meal. But then that happiness went away when she heard someone yawning.
Still in his pajamas, Spike rubbed his eyes as he walked into the room. "Mmm. Smells good." Spike said as he walked over to his wife. "Ah, Aki. Beautiful as always."
Instead of smiling at him, Aki refused to look in his direction. "Morning, Spike." She said dryly before handing him a plate with just a piece of toast on it. "Enjoy." She said before leaving to see Cretacia, who had gotten up earlier to go out.
"Uhhhh." Spike tried to say something to her, but couldn't figure out what until after she was gone. Sighing in defeat, he took his seat at the table with the boys. "I don't understand. Why is she so upset with me?" He asked as he played with his fork. Everyone else looked at him like he had two heads. "What?"
"Are you joking?" Terry asked him.
"What'd you mean?" Spike asked in reply.
"Dad." Max told his father sternly. "You can't be this stupid." Before Spike could say something in response to the insult, Max cut him off. "You weren't there when Mom talked with us about the dinosaur secret. The secret YOU told us to keep from her."
"I'm afraid Young Max is right." Jonathan said as he began cleaning up the kitchen. "You've had five months to talk to her about why you lied to her, and you've done nothing but try and avoid the issue."
"And, as a result, you've pretty much broken her trust." Chomp finished.
"Big mistake, Spike." Terry shook his head in disappointment. "I would assume someone married should know that you always should have each-other's backs. That's the whole reason you swore your permanent love for each-other."
"So, what you're all saying is..." Spike slowly started realizing what was going on.
"You fucked up." Tank said.
There was silence for a good thirty seconds before Spike put his hands to his head and screamed. "Aaaaaah! What have I done?! First I forget our wedding anniversary! Now I've basically betrayed Aki's trust! Oh, why did I have to be such a coward?!"
"Are you going to keep whining about it, or are you going to do something?" Rex rhetorically asked him.
"Yes!" Spike clapped his hands together at the realization. "You're right, Rex! Something must be done to make it up to Aki! I will show her that I do trust and still love her!" He declared as a spotlight shined down on him.
"Great. Now, how do you plan on doing that?" Max asked his father, knowing the answer already.
Sure enough, Spike's confidence deflated like a inflatable castle. "I...don't...know!" He cried.
Seeing his dad needed help, Max sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small card. "Here." He said as he handed the card to Spike. "I think he should help."
Spike took the card and read it. On it was the address for Dr. Tokugawa's office.
DK
In an ominously dark room, Zander struggled against his restraints, having been presumably tied to a chair. He was unable to tell for sure as there was a blindfold covering his eyes. "What's going on?!" He demanded to know. "Ursula?! Ed?! Anyone there?!"
He got his answer when someone took of his blindfold. When he was finally able to see, he saw the back of a large chair in front of him under a single light. The chair turned around and revealed Ursula, tapping her fingers together like a stereotypical villain, while also have a wicked grin. "Good evening, Zander. I've been expecting you."
"Ursula, what is the meaning of this?!" Zander asked her. "Why did you knock me out?"
"Actually, that part was me." Ed admitted, holding a frying pan in his hands that had a dent mark of Zander's face.
"Okay." Zander slowly nodded, still having trouble understanding everything about this situation. "But then why did you knock me out and tie me to a chair in our own room?" Right when he asked that, the lights all flickered on and lit up the whole room instead of just the one above Ursula.
The woman groaned in frustration at the change of events. "So much for that fun." She grumbled to herself before regaining her composure. "Very well, Zander. We've brought you in here today to discuss your recent situation."
Zander's eyes started to dart around nervously as he began sweating heavily. "S-s-s-situation? W-w-what situation?"
Ed sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Buddy, we already know how you feel about the nerd girl that's related to the girl brat."
"Reese." Zander corrected him. "Her name is Reese."
"Regardless of what her name is, your love and desire for her has reached unhealthy levels." Ursula told him. "Such as hogging the bathroom so you could sing sad songs."
Zander turned his head around and yelled at his friend. "Ed! I told you not to tell anyone!"
The fat man held his hands up in defense. "I didn't tell her! She found out herself after you sang longer than usual!"
"Enough!" Ursula yelled at them both, making the two men freeze in terror from their leader. Ursula stood up and walked over to a table with a cloth on it. "Zander, something needs to be done, and only you can do it. I have your two options here." She said as she grabbed the edge of the cloth. "You can only pick one, so chose wisely."
She removed the cloth and revealed what was underneath; a piece of paper with a pencil, and a bottle of bleach. "What're these for?" Zander asked.
"One of these will help you in your romantic suffering." Ursula explained. "First, there's the paper and pencil for you to write a love letter to this Reese lady and say whatever you need to say to her but can't in person because reasons."
"I think being related to the enemy isn't a reason that's exactly a minor reason." Ed pointed out.
"Whatever." Ursula waved him off before continuing. "Point is, write down whatever you want and we'll give to her."
"And what's the bleach for?" Zander asked.
"That's if you chose to Romeo yourself out of this situation." Ursula explained. "We would've used your rifle, but Helga wouldn't like the mess."
"So my options are either suicide or love letter." Zander said. "I think I'll go with the love letter."
"Good choice." Ed told him as he undid the roles before whispering. "I don't think I could survive Ursula on my own."
Once the ropes were off, Zander walked over to the table and sat in the chair. He grabbed the pencil, faced the led towards the paper, and lowered it as he prepared to write. However, he stopped just inches from the paper. The pencil shook in his hands as sweat dropped from his forehead. "Wellll." Ursula urged him on. "We're waiting."
"I...I...I..."
"You what, Zander?" Ursula asked him, getting impatient with the lack of writing.
"I can't do it!" The tall man exclaimed as he leapt out of his chair. "I don't know what I should say to her!"
"I would suggest saying something simple like 'you're beautiful'." Ed suggested.
"No, that won't work!" Zander said as he slammed his head against the wall. "It's just not the same! A piece of paper means nothing when it comes to love! Any idiot could send her a message! She's probably received many by more promising men!" He said as he paced around the room, making really dramatics poses.
"If I was her, I'd be flattered to see someone would risk their own behind by sending me a love letter when I lived in enemy territory." Ed said.
"That's exactly the problem!" Zander said as he fell to his knees. "All I want is just one chance to see her face in person again. But how can I do that when her sister has dinosaurs that could tear me apart or stomp me like a pancake?!" He rhetorically asked before sobbing on the floor. "WAAAAAHAHA!"
Ursula went over to Zander and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it's a date you want, it's a date you'll get."
Zander stopped his crying and looked up at her. "You would actually do that?"
"I said we were going to help you, and that's what we're going to do." Ursula declared.
"'Sniff!' How're you gonna do that?" Zander asked as he got back up. "If those brats see me with her." He made a slit throat motion with his hands and stuck his tongue out, like a dead man.
"Don't worry about them. Me and Ed will keep them busy until you're done." Ursula placed her hands on Zander's shoulders. "While that's going on, you have the time of your life."
Tears were starting to fall out of Zander's eyes again. But this time they were ones of joy and happiness. "Thank you, Ursula!" He hugged her tightly, the greenette hissing from the pressure.
Eventually, he let go and jumped right back into his seat and began writing the letter to ask Reese out, allowing Ursula to recover from the pressure. Ed pulled her aside and whispered. "Um, Ursula, how exactly do we distract the brats from not noticing Zander?"
"Just follow my plan perfectly and we'll have no problems." She told him as she pulled out a charter from nowhere, giving a complicated description of her plan.
"Didn't you just find out he wanted a date?"
"Never mind how I came up with it, go to Dr.Z's map and pick a random location for us to lure the brats to." She told Ed as she pushed him out of the room. "Use those darn bones if you have to."
"But I don't remember the song!" Ed said before the door closed on him.
With him gone, Ursula retuned her attention to Zander. "How's the letter coming?"
"See for yourself." Zander said proudly as he showed her the finished draft.
Ursula took the paper and read it aloud to herself. "Dear, my angel. Will you please go on a date with me? Love, Zander."
The woman quietly twitched in frustration, her grip on the letter tightening, before she crumbled it up and threw it in the trash. "Hey, what was that for?!" Zander yelled at her. The look Ursula gave in return made him shrink in fear.
"You are risking your neck to spend at least one afternoon with her!" Ursula countered. "Put some god damn effort into this letter, otherwise she'll just call the dinos on you!" It looked like fire was coming out of her eyes.
"Don't you mean cops?" Zander squeaked.
"I know what I said! Now get back to writing!" She ordered him as she spun the chair around so Zander was facing the table again.
DK
Spike sat patiently in front of Tokugawa's office as he waited for the doctor to finish with his current patient. Well, he looked calm, but he was actually a nervous wreck on the inside. He was so close to ripping the door open and throwing the patient out, but remembered how Tokugawa treated those he called impatient. He could actually see the imprint of the last guy who tried to rush in on the floor.
Eventually, the door opened up and the patient walked out, carrying a bottle of pills while holding their stomach. "Remember, only three pills a day!" Tokugawa called out to them before looking at Spike. "Mr. Taylor." Taking that as his cue to enter, Spike got up from his seat and walked into the room. "Have a seat over there." The doctor pointed to a operating bed across from where his desk was. "Oh, wait. Give me a sec." With the turn of a switch, the bed flipped into a couch. "That's better."
Spike took his seat and laid down on the couch while Tokugawa grabbed a clipboard and sat next to him. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"
"It's my wife. She hates me!" Spike immediately got to the point and started sobbing.
Tokugawa immediately slapped him across the face to stop him. "Keep it together, man!" He told Spike, looking pretty deranged, before regaining his compose and sitting back in his seat. "Now, what makes you think she hates you?"
"It's all my fault." Spike told him sadly. "I told my son and his friends to keep everything about the dinosaurs a secret from her, and now she won't even talk to me beyond the occasional three word sentence."
"Ooooh. Hssssssssh." Tokugawa hissed as he wrote this down. "Definitely not an easy problem we have here. I guess the best place to start is why did you keep it from her?"
"Well...I..." Spike tried to find the right words, but couldn't. "I don't know?!"
"I'm pretty sure you do." Tokugawa told him. "You didn't just decide to hide this from her and her alone for no reason. If you're worried about anyone else finding out about this, I can promise you no one sees my files without permission from said person they want files of. Which is kind of pointless, because you could just tell them then what's wrong and save yourself the trouble...you get what I'm trying to say."
"...I guess I just didn't want her to get hurt. At first, I thought that if she knew Chomp and Terry were dinosaurs she'd get rid of them. But then when the Alpha Gang appeared, I realized that the dinosaurs had something more serious connected with them."
"So you didn't tell her because you were worried for her safety." Tokugawa said as he continued writing his report. Spike nodded sadly. "That makes sense. But it doesn't explain why you would avoid talking to her about it for five months."
"Uh, heh-heh." Spike chuckled nervously as his eyes darted around. "It's...just...that...I was afraid, okay! You know what women are like! It's impossible to tell how they feel!"
Tokugawa looked up from his writing unimpressed. "What kind of marriage do you have? Is this even the first time you messed up badly with her?" Spike's nervous expression and lack of a verbal response gave him the answer. Rolling his eyes, he turned back to his notes. "So, to recap, you were afraid your wife would hurt you for keeping a huge secret from her for a year under the impression that she would get hurt, but still told my niece and that weird guy with the Mexican as a sidekick. And your plan to avoid unconfirmed violence is to hide from her for months and just assume she wouldn't take it the wrong way. Did I miss anything?"
Spike started to look very guilty and ashamed of himself. "Well, when you say it like that, I sound like a horrible husband."
"Mr. Taylor." Tokugawa sighed. "I've dealt with patients with horrible spouses. You're not a horrible husband, just a human one."
"So, what do I do, Doc?" Spike asked. "Is there anyway to make things right?"
The doctor said nothing and looked out of his window before letting out a long sigh. "'Sigh'. With how long this has been going on, I'm afraid a quick and easy solution is impossible. In order to fix your relationship, you'll need to have patience."
"But what should I do, Doc?" Spike asked.
Tokugawa put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm afraid that's something only you can figure out." He told Spike before pulling out a large book that read Dos and Don'ts of Relationship Issues. By: Dr. Tokugawa PHD. "That being said, there are some things would should avoid doing." He said as he opened to a page titled Keeping Secrets About Dinosaurs Living Amongst You and Avoiding the Issue After You've Been Discovered. "First thing to avoid is fighting a dinosaur in an attempt to look all brave and heroic. In case you haven't noticed, the dinosaurs your son fights daily are the types that'll eat you alive, spit you out, and then do it again for the laughs."
DK
In Venice, Italy, Ursula and Ed slowly poked their heads out of an alleyway. "I got to say, Ed, not a bad choice." Ursula complemented him.
"It wasn't that hard. I just thought of an ironically romantic place and decided on Paris. But then I remembered we're forbidden to go their after you spent all our money last time." Ed explained before tensing at the look the greenette was giving him.
"Thanks for reminding me." She said through her teeth.
"A-anyway, I then remembered that we've never been to Venice, so I chose that as a backup plan."
"Brilliant! I told you you didn't need those stupid bones to decide a location!" Ursula told him as she pulled out her Alpha Scanner.
"But you said that-"
"ALPHA SLASH!"
Out of a yellow glow, Angel appeared next to them, scaring any nearby people away. "All right, Angel, go..." Ursula stopped as she couldn't figure out what to command the Diceratops. "Uh, Ed what were we supposed to do with Angel once we summoned her?"
"Why're you asking me? You're the one who planned this whole thing!"
"I was busy making sure Zander didn't ruin the date before it started! What's your excuse?!"
"You never let me take part in the planning!" As the two of them argued, Angel, without anyone commanding her, simply walked off and wandered the streets of Venice. Well, more like the sidewalks.
"Seriously, Ed! Why do you have to mess up this important moment?!"
Ed was about to retort, but realized that their dinosaur was no longer with them. "Uh, Ursula?"
"Do not try and distract me when I'm lecturing you!" Ursula yelled at him.
"Even if it's to tell you that Angel just left us?" Ed asked.
"What kind of question is..." Ursula stopped herself when she realized what Ed was referring to. She turned around and saw that there was no dinosaur present. "OH, SHIT!"
"We gotta do something, Ursula! If Dr.Z finds out we not only lost his fortune-telling bones but also Angel he'll cook us alive!"
"You lost the bones!?" Ursula exclaimed as she grabbed Ed by the shirt collar. "How did that happen?!"
"Weeeell." Ed dragged on as he recalled the event.
Ed looked over the map of the world as he held the bones in his hands. "Okay, I think I have it this time. Here it goes! Shake-a-bone! Shake-a-bone! Shake-a-bone, stew! Ride your own dinosaur two by two!" He chanted before he threw his hands over his head. But in doing so, he unintentionally opened them and the bones flew out of his hands. Realizing what he just did, he quickly turned around and saw the bones fly right into an open air duct. "Oh, poop."
"Unlucky brake?" Ed said with a cheesy smile.
Instead of bashing his face in, Ursula just dropped him to the ground. "Find a gondola and go after her!"
"But-"
"Find a substitute, then!" Ursula cut him off, already knowing it was something about how they couldn't afford one or something.
Ed nodded his head like a squeaky toy and began looking around. "Let me see. There's got to be something we can use like a boat." He said to himself before noticing a large cardboard box on the road. "'Gasp'! Pollution!" He exclaimed as he ran over to the box. "Who knew that the lack of etiquette in this bilingual nation and laziness of its burger infested citizens would pull off to give us this tasteful box boat."
"Well, that's what we call recycling." A random old man told him.
"Who are you?" Ed asked him.
"I'm Paul."
"Edward."
After that introduction, Ed threw the box into the water. "That seriously is your idea of a gondola?" Ursula deadpanned.
"Relax, it's totally buoyant." Ed assured her as he hopped in.
Seeing that it didn't sink immediately once Ed was on board, Ursula hopped in as well. "Okay, start rowing!"
Ed grabbed a conveniently placed oar and started rowing in the direction they weren't looking earlier in search of the Diceratops. "Are you sure Zander's message will reach her?"
"I programmed the rocket I attached it to to leave once Angel was called out." Ursula told him, while at the same time, said rocket blasted away from Zeta Point towards the D-Lab. She then gained a huge, unsettling, grin on her face. "The plan is perfect. We set them up on a date, distract the brats, they confess their love for each other, get married and have several babies, and live happily ever after! Mwahahahaha!
Ed slowly backed away as far as he could from his crazed teammate and held up a cross in hopes it would defend him from whatever she was going through.
DK
At the D-Lab, the D-Team arrived once they picked up Angel's signal. "Rome again?!" Max complained as he looked at the map. "We were just there!"
"Actually, that looks more like Venice." Rex said as he leaned closer to the map.
"That is correct." Reese confirmed as she typed in the coordinates on the teleporter.
"Awesome! I've always wanted to go there!" Zoe beamed.
"Maybe we could go on one of those gondola things." Spiny suggested to Tank.
"That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea." Chomp agreed, imagining himself on a gondola with Paris in a romantic atmosphere.
Having the same idea, Paris blushed heavily. Even Tank looked slightly flattered at the idea. Terry and Ace just chuckled at their herd-mates ideas. "Let's focus on the mission first before we have our dates." Terry told them.
"Not to mention some of our girlfriends are too big for gondolas." Ace reminded them, referring to the fact Ally and Beta don't have chibi-forms like them.
The other four chibi dinos all looked embarrassed for forgetting their companions while the kids just laughed. "Maybe we can find one big enough for those two." Max joked as they all got onto the teleporter.
"See ya, Sis." Zoe said to her sister as she and the others disappeared.
Once they were gone, Reese got back up and went out of the lab. As she left, she took a quick glance into the sanctuary. She saw Comet and Francine grazing together, Gertie and Charles walking together, even her friend Utah and her new mate Torch were sleeping side by side. The blonde women remembered what her sister and friends dinosaur partners said earlier and frowned. She was 20 years old and has never had one boyfriend.
The closest she had ever gotten to having one was with Zander, but they are on opposite sides of a war. She hadn't heard anything from him since she and her family were sent to Zeta Point for her dad to heal their dinosaurs. And even then, she had to manipulate his feelings for her in order to figure out a way to get house back home. It was something to this day she wasn't proud to admit of having done. She honestly felt sorry for him, as it was clear this war and separation hurt him more than it hurt her.
Out of nowhere, a paper airplane suddenly hit her on the back of the head. "Ow!" She hissed, putting a hand to where the plane hit and turning around. "Who threw that?" She asked. When nobody responded, she turned to attention to the plane on the floor. She picked it up and noticed that it had writing on it. Wondering what it was, she opened it up and began to read. "My Angel. 'Twas many a fortnight since we've last spoken to each other. Since then, the tensions of war have only increased, further creating a divide between the two of us. All I ask is for just one afternoon of your time to spend together. I swear upon my word and honor as a gentleman that this is by no means a trap to harm you. I shall await your arrival at the park if you chose to attend. Zander."
Once she was done reading, Reese just stared at the piece of paper in her hands. She didn't know what to make of this situation. "Seems very coincidental that this showed up just as Zoe and the others left." She said to herself. "Everything about this note just screams it's a trap. Yet..." She remembered how Zander gave up Juliet's card to her when they met in Mexico.
"Hold it!" He told her has he picked up the card. "I'll get that, if you don't mind." He told her before handing it to her. "Here."
"Huh?" Reese was confused by his action.
"Even I know that two lovers shouldn't be separated." He told her. "I'll have to accept the fact that you could never be mine. But these dinosaurs were meant to be together."
"Ohh." Reese said in reply, feeling sorry for Zander.
"Take it so at least they can be happy!" He cried before running off, thankfully before the D-Team arrived.
"That isn't something a heartless crook would do." Reese reminded herself. "He truly has shown he cares, and he has to know the risks of coming to the place where the dinosaurs they've tried to capture live, even if they purposely sent Zoe and the boys away." She stood up as she knew what to do. "The least I could do is give him an appearance." She said as she left. Even though she was expecting this to be a quick conversation, she should at least wash up a bit.
DK
In Venice, the D-Team arrived on a bridge passing over one of the many water streets. "Wow." Max said in amazement. "Got to hand it to whoever showed up here. They know how to pick their locations."
"Can't argue with that." Chomp agreed as he took in the sites.
"Let's just hope they aren't making a mess of things." Rex commented, not wanting to have to clean up another one of his subject's messes.
"I doubt they're that destructive." Tank assured him. "They probably are more focused on these river streets than on smashing buildings."
"But I thought these streets came form the ocean?" Spiny said. "And the ocean is salt water."
"That's right. The water would be unhealthy for anyone to drink." Zoe confirmed.
"Then we better find the dinosaur and bring them back home with us before they poison themselves." Terry said.
"Mm-hmm!" The others agreed.
But before they could leave, they saw people running over to them. "D-Team! Thank goodness you're here!" One of them said as the group came to a stop.
"What's going on?" Rex asked them. "Where's the dinosaur?"
"In the Grand Canal!" Someone else answered. "It's attacking all the gondolas and smashing them to pieces!"
"We don't even know why! None of them were even moving!" Another added.
"Ugh." Rex groaned in frustration, seeing this would be another mess he'd have to fix. "What was that about them not being destructive, Tank?" He glared at the Saichania.
"Don't blame me. It's not like I'm telling whoever it is to smash the gondolas." Tank retorted.
"How 'bout we take care of the dinosaur first, then we can decide who's to blame." Paris broke up the argument before it could begin.
"All right." Rex and Tank sighed as they all ran towards the Grand Canal.
It didn't take long for them to reach the canal. Once they did, they went on another bridge and saw Angel standing in the water. "A Diceratops!" Max identified.
"And if those pieces of driftwood mean anything, I'd say she plans on making home here." Tank said, pointing to the remaining pieces of gondolas that floated around the Diceratops.
"Maybe she was making room for herself." Chomp guessed and he hopped onto the railing. "I'll try and talk with her." He volunteered himself before calling out to Angel. "Hello! Sister!" Angel heard someone calling to her, at least that's what her programming assumed it was, and turned around to see the D-Team on the bridge. "We want to talk with you." Chomp told her once he assumed he had her attention. "It's about all the wood you're smashing. It's kind of important to the humans here."
Normally the Diceratops would've walked to where the chibi Triceratops was and would've listened to what he had to say, but she wasn't in control of her actions. Instead, her programming recognized Chomp as one of her enemies that she had to eliminate. Rearing onto her hind legs and giving out a roar, Angel charged to the bridge and slammed her head into it.
The force of the impact as enough to make the kids and dinos lose their balance. "Wh-whoa!" Chomp struggled to stay on the railing before failing off.
"I gotcha!" Max exclaimed as he dashed over and caught Chomp. "Looks like diplomacy isn't an option." He said as Angel backed away to charge again with more force this time. "Looks like we'll have to fight." He said as he placed Chomp in the ground and got out his Dino Holder.
Or he would have if Zoe hadn't pushed him out of the way. "I call dips!" She quickly interjected, already having her Dino Holder and card ready.
"DINO SLASH! SPRING UP, PARASAUROLOPHUS!"
"Ugh." Max groaned as he got back onto his feet. "No fair, I wanted to fight her." He complained.
"Sorry, too slow." Zoe smirked as Paris landed in the water with a big splash that actually ended up completely drenching Zoe and Max. "Paris!" Zoe yelled at her partner in anger for her clothes and hair being soaked.
"Sorry!" Paris apologized before noticing Angel charging towards her. Acting quickly, she knocked her down with her tail before pushing the Diceratops away from the bridge with her head.
Not too far away, Ursula and Ed heard the sounds of the battle. "Looks like the brats took the bait." Ursula said with a triumphant smile. "Head for the Battlefield, Ed! Angel'll need some back up."
"Okie-dokie!" Ed replied as he attempted to steer the box towards the Grand Canal. But, his lack of experience rowing anything made it difficult to make a simple turn. "Uh." He said as he desperately rowed his oar, only succeeding in making the box go around in circles. He looked back at Ursula, who had an unamused look on her face. "This might take a while."
DK
After a quick freshening up, Reese went to the park to see Zander for their supposed date. She decided to keep quiet about the whole thing to both her friends and parents. She didn't know if Zander was setting up a trap or not, and she didn't want him getting attacked if it wasn't.
Once she arrived, she looked around for him. Usually whenever he and the other members of the Alpha Gang arrived here, they waited on a bench underneath a large tree. However, this time he wasn't there. As she looked around for him, someone approached her from behind. "Looking for someone, madam?" They asked in a familiar tone.
"Well, yes, actually." Reese answered as she turned around, not recognizing the voice. "An...old acquaintance wanted to talk...about...some...thing..." The blonde couldn't finish when she saw who was standing in front of her.
It was Zander, only he was dressed very different than normal. He wore a blue t-shirt with matching colored pants. He wore a black wig that both matched his hair color, and covered his whole head. And, to top it all of, he wore a mustache, as well. "Zander?" Reese asked to make sure it was him.
"Yes, it is me, my angel." Zander replied with a bow. "You look as beautiful as ever."
Reese couldn't help but blush at this statement. "Oh, this isn't really much different than normal." She said before looking at his outfit of choice again. "Though I can't say the same for you."
"What?" Zander asked before guessing what she meant. "Is this too much? Doh! I knew I should've told them not to go with this look!" He groaned with a slap to his forehead. "I look like a rapist, don't I?"
"N-no! You look fine." Reese quickly interjected. "I was just wondering why you're wearing that at all instead of what you normally wear."
"I think you know why." Zander said grimly. "Ever since we attacked five months ago, or is it six at this point?" He wondered quietly to himself. "Umm, since our attack in January, the Alpha Gang's become pretty popular for the reasons that we may or may not have wanted. I mean, it's great having everyone recognize you for your work, even if it's evil, but it does come with the cost of having to keep ourselves hidden from everyone more so than ever. Let's not forget that your friends with the dinosaurs we've been trying to capture, including some we did for a while. If they saw me, they'd literally eat me alive or give me to someone that could. That's why Ursula and Ed are in Venice right now." He explained before realizing his slip up. "Damn it! I wasn't supposed to mention that!"
"So, it wasn't a coincidence that I got your message for this outing right when the kids left." Reese said as she glared at the man.
Zander quickly waved his hands in front of himself while sweating like crazy. "N-n-no, it's nothing like that! All we're doing is having the Diceratops we captured while you battled the Garden Thief, yes we have a Diceratops now, wonder around and keep the bra- I mean the kids busy while we're together." He explained himself.
He then gestured to his outfit of choice. "If that doesn't convince you, look at me. I have no pockets or anything to hide and gadgets, or gizmos, or guns, or even my Alpha Scanner. I don't even have my credit card, since, apparently, Ursula said that I could use it as a disguise for one of our cards or something. I'm completely unarmed."
Reese didn't say anything and walked around Zander, checking him out for herself, and not because she found him attractive. Sure enough, she couldn't find anywhere to stash weapons of any kind. "I guess you're telling the truth on that part." She told him with a stone-cold glare in her eyes. "But I'll be keeping my eye on you while you're here." She said as she walked away, making sure he wasn't out of earshot.
Zander sighed in defeat and slumped over. "Oooh." He groaned. "Nice going, Zander. You just botched the whole plan." He said before following Reese. Hopefully he could turn things around.
DK
Downtown, Aki was walking through the streets after she parted ways with Cretacia, who decided she wanted to buy a few souvenirs before she went back home to the future. As for Aki, she was simply looking around for anything that maybe could get her mind off her husband's idiocy and negligence. "What's wrong?" Someone asked. "Got no ham?"
Turning around, Aki found herself face-to-face with Ally again. "Oh, it's you again." She said, recognizing the Allosaurus from her trip to Barcelona. "Alllllllllllllen?" She tried to guess her name, and didn't even get the gender right.
"It's Ally. Not the most creative name for an Allosaurus, but it's what I have, and I don't feel like going through the legal procedures to change it." Ally responded. "So, what's bugging you?"
"Nothing!" Aki suddenly blurted out in defense, feeling personally invaded. "There is nothing wrong with me!" She noticed the looks people were giving her due to her outburst and blushed while hiding her face behind her hands.
Ally waited for the crowd to leave before continuing. "Uh-huh." She said, clearly not sounding convinced. "Yeah, usually when someone yells 'I'm felling fine' that usually means they're not. So, you can either tell me the truth, or I can follow you until I see it."
"You wouldn't actually do that." Aki said as she turned around the leave.
"Oh, yes, I would." Ally countered as she immediately started following her to the point Aki could feel the Allosaur's breath on her neck. "Just ask Terry. I'm like a stain that never comes off. How else did you think he put up with me?"
That rhetorical question made Aki stop in her tracks. "You and Terry?" She said before remembering seeing her with Terry a lot. Ally's nod confirmed to Aki that they were a couple. "Maybe you can actually help me." She said. "It's regarding Spike."
Ally could already tell where this was going. "Look, I don't care if he has the Wind Stone, I'm not becoming his partner in another million years."
"W-wha?" Aki blinked in confusion. "No, not that. I just want to know if you've ever had to deal with Terry hiding things from you."
Ally paused as she thought about it. "Technically, everyone hides their meals from me if ham is ever severed at the lab. But I'm assuming you meant the secret kind of hiding."
Aki angrily nodded in confirmation, her frustration returning. "He lied to me about Terry and the others being dinosaurs for a whole year, got my son and friends in on the lie, told his friends anyway. And, to top it all off, when his secret is revealed, he just hides like a damn coward!"
Aki finished her rant and expected Ally to be looking at her with sympathetic eyes. Instead, the Allosaur's gaze seemed to harden. "So, have you tried talking to him about it yourself, then?" She asked the human.
Aki blinked in confusion. "Wh-what'd you mean? He's the one that has to fess up! It was his lie!"
Ally's gaze only hardened. "I'm not going to act like he's the victim here or anything, as you're right in that he should have spoken to you about it instead of avoiding it for so long. However, you did nothing but sit there and glare at him. No partner gets more rights than the other in a relationship." She said, her fun voice changing to one that was fully serious. Ally turned around to leave, but not before casting Aki a shameful glance like a parent scolding their child. "If you've made it where you don't take responsibility, and he's too scared to speak with you when he messes up, I think you might wanna rethink your marriage."
As Ally left, Aki just stared blankly into space, absorbing all of what Ally said about her behavior and their marriage. Was she right? Was this mess all her own fault instead of Spike's? What had she done?
DK
Back in Venice, the battle between Angel and Paris was still going on. Currently, both combatants were in a struggle, Paris' tail trying to flip over the Diceratops while Angel countered with her horns. "You're doing great, Paris! Keep it up!" Zoe cheered her hadrosaur partner.
Her words of encouragement seemed to empower the Parasaurolophus as she was able to overpower the Diceratops and flip her onto the floor, where she was susceptible to Paris' tail knocking her away. "Something's wrong." She told the others. "She's not saying anything."
"Of course she's not talking. You are having a battle." Max pointed out.
"Yes, but even then our opponents would say something that only we understand." Paris retorted. "I haven't heard a word out of her. Not even a grunt." Her eyes suddenly widened in realization. "I don't think this has happened since..."
"Since when?" Rex asked.
"Since we fought Rocko after the was captured by the Alpha Gang." Paris said quietly and grimly, but loud enough for the others to hear.
The rest of the D-Team remained silent as Angel got back onto her feet and roared in anger. As she roared, they noticed an Alpha Ball appear and float around her before disappearing. "Alpha Gang." Max grit his teeth, saying the name like it was venom in this mouth.
"How did they even get her without us noticing?" Tank asked.
"We'll worry about that later." Rex told her. "Right now, we need to focus on getting that card, so hold nothing back, Zoe."
"Yes, sir!" Zoe saluted as she pressed buttons on her Dino Holder, supposedly sending commands telepathically to Paris.
Speak of the devils, after what seemed to be hours of rowing, and whining that it was taking too long by Ursula, the two Alpha Gang members were able to catch up with the fight. "Finally! We made it!" Ursula almost cried in relief as they entered the canal through a smaller one. "Now everything can go much more smoothly." She sighed in relief as she laid down on the edge of the box.
"Alpha Gang!" They heard a voice call out to them. Looking ahead, the two of them yelped in fear not only at the kill on sight looks the D-Team were giving them, but also the fact that they were now completely exposed. "We know what you did to that Diceratops!" Terry snared at them.
"And we'll be taking her back with us!" Chomp added.
Ursula dropped her head like she had just died. "I just had to open my mouth." She though as she made a muffled scream into the box in frustration. After a few seconds, she regained her composure and stood proudly, ignoring the shift in weight on the box. "So, it seems you brats are smarter than we thought! Even though you've managed to evade our trap, our dear sweet Angel here will stomp you all into next Tuesday!" She declared before turning her attention to Ed. "Ed, hand me the Move Cards, now!" She whispered.
Ed, instead of handing her their set of Lightning Move Cards, looked down depressingly. "I didn't bring any Move Cards." He told her.
"What'd you mean you didn't bring any Move Cards!?" Ursula hissed at him, having a hard time keeping her voice down. "They were right where they always were! I saw them!" She was gritting her teeth so hard it was a miracle they didn't crack.
Ed covered his head and cowered in terror. "I know! I was going to grab them, but Pyro stopped me and said that unless it was Slasher or Sharphorn that I wasn't allowed to use those Move Cards." He explained himself. "If I touched one, he'd eat me piece by piece!"
"Oh." Ursula calmed down as she realized that no one would argue against Pyro. Especially when he makes threats. "Well, we're screwed." She said as the fight continued.
DK
Back with Zander and Reese, the two of them were sitting on a park bench near a large lake, looking at the sight ahead of them. Reese had made sure that Zander was as far from her as possible, only avoiding the urge to leave due to wanting him to reveal their scheme. She wouldn't even look at his face.
Zander sighed to himself, cursing his big moth for blabbing to much. "I really should have talked with Ursula about what she might say." He thought to himself before trying to start a conversation. "The view's nice, isn't it?" He asked her, looking at the people enjoying themselves, along with a few dinosaurs also there, and the sun glistening off the water.
"It's fine." Reese muttered grumpily.
Zander winced at her tone of voice. "Ummm. I bet the others are having fun in Venice right now." He smiled weakly, trying to make a joke. "Probably giving each other the smack down, am I right?"
"Almost makes you wish you were with them, huh?" Reese retorted.
Zander sighed deeply, clenching his fist in frustration. He was beginning to lose his patience. "Oh, come on, Reese. I told you that there's no trap involved here. What'll it take to prove it to you?"
"I don't know." Reese replied rhetorically, actually turning around to face Zander. "You'll have to forgive me for being slightly skeptical around you, or any of the Alpha Gang for that matter." She remembered hearing what Dr.Z did to Rex's mother. She didn't know if his lackeys played any part, but she had all the reason to believe they did. And to think she had been so foolish and forgot that ever happened, believing that Zander wanted to actually spend time with her.
Realizing she was wasting time, and that he wasn't going to fess up about their supposed trap, Reese got up off the bench to head back to the lab. "Wait, Reese!" Zander called out to her. "Please! Just give me a chance! We literally have nothing that can hurt your sister, Ancient, and the third one! Angel didn't have any Move Cards with her, and Pyro won't share his. Does the fact I named her after you not mean anything!?"
Reese was still walking away, but she was doing so now at a much slower pace. "How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you're not just luring me into a trap of your own?" She gripped her arm tightly at the thought.
Zander got onto his feet and followed her, making sure to keep his distance. "Look, Reese. I know we don't have the best reputation. But you have to believe me when I say that we're not the kind of villains with no remorse. We all have a good side to us. Even Dr.Z."
"I have a hard time believing that." Reese told him, having stopped entirely.
Knowing what he had to say, Zander gave a long, serious sigh. "OK, what I'm about to tell you is something you can't share with anyone else. Ever!" He emphasized. "And I'm 100% serious about that this time." He sat back down on the bench. Reese, seeing that he was looking serious about what he had to say, sat down next to him.
Zander gave off another sigh before starting his story. "I'm pretty sure you were already told by some of your friends that we aren't from this time period, and instead the future." Reese nodded to confirm this. "Okay, so I don't need to reveal that. However, there is something that none of them would know about, and that is how me, Ursula, and Ed met Dr.Z."
In a small orphanage, the children were playing in a playground.
"Ursula, myself, and Ed all met each other at the orphanage we grew up in. None of us knew our parents. As far as we knew, they just left us because they knew we'd turn out to be mistakes."
Ursula screamed and kicked as she struggled to get out of Zander and Ed's grasp that was holding her back from two frightened young boys.
"Ursula was always known for getting into trouble, and starting fights with the other kids."
Ed sat in front of a large pantry, shoving any food he could reach into his mouth.
"Ed had a tendency for making a big mess all the time."
The three of them sat in-front of a desk, getting scolded for their recent behavior. Zander has his head down, Ursula huffed and crossed her arms, and Ed was more focused on a bag of pretzels.
"And since I was always around them, I was given the same label of troublemaker and grouped with them. Which lead to me taking revenge on the others."
Children cried as the sprinkler rained on them from inside, while Zander watched from outside with a evil smile.
"With how rotten we were, it was no surprise we weren't wanted by anyone. That is, until he came."
"Who?" Reese asked.
Zander gave a nostalgic smile as he remembered that day well. "Dr.Z." He answered, surprising Reese. "Granted, he wasn't yet a doctor yet, so he went by just Mr.Z."
Zander and his friends were called to the main office for something. They didn't know the details, but it probably wasn't good. "What did you eat this time, Ed?" Ursula asked him.
"Why're you assuming I did anything? Maybe you were pulling pig-tails again!" Ed accused her before turning to Zander. "Or maybe Zander decided to ruin arts and crafts again by spraying the room with a garden hose!"
"That was one time! And I said I was sorry for soaking you two as well!" Zander retorted as they reached the room.
As Zander grabbed the door handle, he could hear voices from inside. One of which was the orphanage director, while the other was s complete mystery. Slowly opening the door, the trio peaked in and saw the orphanage director talking to a bearded man, with another child sitting next to him. "Sir, I have to ask again, why would you want to adopt those three? You already have an outstanding son of your own. Why do you want more kids?"
The man just chuckled in response. "I told you before, what I've heard about those three is exactly what I'm looking for in children. My boy here can only fill so many voids after my wife passed." He said, now starting to sound more sadden. "She always wanted more kids, and I feel that I should give her what she wanted as a last gift." He then turned around and looked at the door, spotting the three kids listening in on their conversation. The trio squealed in fright and closed the door.
The man chuckled again, got onto his feet, and opened the door. The kids shook nervously at the adult looking down at them, fearing he might have changed his mind about them. Even worse, he might not have been talking about them at all, and he caught them eavesdropping. The man, however, just smiled and gently pat each of their heads. "Yes, I can tell you three will complete me after what I have lost."
The trio were speechless as their eyes began to water with tears of joy. Unable to say or think anything else, they all ran up to their new father and leapt into his arms for a hug. The man was taken aback by this gesture and couldn't support the weight and fell to the ground. All four of them laughed while the man's son and the director smiled. "Looks like they weren't a lost cause after all." The director said quietly as he filled out the papers.
"It was the happiest day of our lives." Zander continued. "We finally had a home and a family."
Dr.Z placed a tray of brownies into the oven and closed the lid. However, he didn't preheat it properly and the brownies exploded, covering him and the entire room in fudge.
"Granted, he wasn't the best caretaker for even his own son, who would later become Rod and Laura's father, so he ended up making Helga so the house wouldn't burn down...again."
Helga pulled out a tray of brownies and placed them on the table where Dr.Z and kids were waiting, drool coming out of all of their mouths.
Reese was surprised at how much of a nice man Dr.Z was when he was younger. "I almost can't believe that you're talking about the same Dr.Z." Reese told him.
"Yup! The very same!" Zander nodded before looking solemn. "But then, things began to change once he got his PH.D. He became much more colder, and a lot more violent."
Dr.Z chased a teenage Alpha Gang around with a chainsaw.
"He has this obsession with becoming the best scientist ever. His main focus being in the field of paleontology."
Dr.Z had a wicked smile was he stood in front of many large test tubes. Behind him, his henchmen watch with worrisome expressions.
"He claimed he was going to revolutionize dinosaur science as we knew it. That was when he was told about Dr. Ancients discovery of the Stone Plates, and his plan to save the dinosaurs." Zander finished. "And I believe you know the rest from there."
Reese nodded. She was unsure if Zander knew how the time machine broke, or what Dr.Z did during the incident, but she didn't want to tell him. Call it stupid, but she felt that this was something he and the other two had to find out themselves.
"Well." Zander said as he got up and stretched. "I believe we're done here." He told her. "Sorry for wasting your time, Reese."
Just as he was about to leave, Reese grabbed his hand and stopped him, confusing the tall man. "Zander, wait." She said to him. "I'm...sorry...I've been unfair to you and stubbornly refused to believe you just because of bad blood between our friends. I know I can't really make up for how I've behaved, really wasting your time more than anything, but I would like to let you know that, if you want to, I'd be happy to spend some time with you."
Zander turned around and looked her in the eyes. "Really?" He asked her. When Reese nodded to confirm, Zander had a huge smile on his face and leapt into the air with joy. "WOOOHOOO!" He cheered. It wasn't until he landed that he realized he lost his composer slightly. "Uh, I mean, thanks." He smiled awkwardly.
Reese could help but laugh at his antics. Maybe they might actually work if they both make it out of this war alive. Would defiantly give her bragging rights over Zoe that she got her boyfriend before her.
DK
Speaking of Zoe, she had just pressed a button on her Dino Holder that ejected three cards. "Let's finish this with a bang! Spring Awakening!" She exclaimed as she swiped the three cards.
Max and Rex looked at each other with unsure looks. Ursula and Ed looked confused. "Uh, Spring Awakening?" Ursula repeated.
"I don't remember any of Dr.Z's Move Cards being called that." Ed scratched his head as he tried to remember if there was a Move called that.
Paris glowed green and roared at the sky. Purple clouds appeared and Gertie's foot came down into the canal, the rest of the Seismosaurus following, creating a large splash. Ursula and Ed gulped at the size of the sauropod before being swept away by a wave that was created by Gertie while Angel backed away. "Aaah!"
"Let's go, Gertie! Just like we practiced!" Zoe told the Seismosaurus.
Gertie nodded and grabbed the Diceratops by the tail before tossing her high into the air 'till she looked like a star in the sky. As she began to fall back down, Jet and his Pteranodons appeared flying towards her. The trio grouped up into an Aerial Strike and struck Angel dead center. This increased the speed of her fall and also caused her to start spinning rapidly.
Now it as Paris' turn. As Angel approached the water, she glowed green again and charged forward with Ultimate Leaf. She struck the Diceratops just before she hit the water and sent her crashing into the water. Right by where the Alpha Gang was.
"No! No! No! No! No! No!" The duo hopelessly pleaded as Angel landed right in front of them, destroying their box boat and returning to her card.
As the water calmed down, the duo gasped for air as they emerged from the water. "'Gasp!' That...'Gasp!'...was...'Gasp!'...so...'Gasp!'...unfair!" Ursula said as they held onto what little of the box remained above water.
"Thanks. We've been working on that combo." Zoe bragged as she recalled all three of them. "And you wanna know something else?" She said with a grin.
Ursula and Ed did not like the look she was giving them. "W-what?" Ursula asked nervously.
"Did we win a prize?" Ed guessed, really trying to remain optimistic.
"We're taking your card. Bye!" Zoe told them as Rex grabbed Angel's card with the device they used to get Marlin and teleported back home.
Leaving Ursula and Ed alone in the canal with nothing but their soaking, wet clothes. "...Really?! We couldn't keep her for an episode?!" Ursula shouted.
DK
Zander and Reese were continuing spending time together as they walked through the park. While they still weren't talking much, they were at least this time able to enjoy each others company. They continued on their stroll until they noticed an episode ice cream stand nearby. "You hungry?" Zander asked her.
"I wouldn't mind some ice cream." Reese answered before asking. "What flavor do you want?"
"Wait, I should be the one buying for us." Zander interjected. "It's the polite thing to do."
"Never thought one of the Alpha Gang would try to be polite." The blonde woman joked, the two laughing in response. "But, if I recall correctly, you don't have any money on you."
Zander was about to retort, but then remembered that he didn't bring anything but the clothes on his back to avoid suspicion. Even though it failed regardless. The black-haired man could only slump over in humiliation. "I'll take a vanilla." He said as he waved at his head. Reese nodded and went to make their orders. As she left, Zander regained himself and smiled. "Ah." He sighed. "What a woman my angel is."
"She truly is amazing." A feminine voice replied from behind. "Thought me everything I know about computers."
"Really now?" Zander said in response, not knowing who he was talking to. "How did you two meet?"
"I believe it was sometime after you brainwashed me." She said with a growl.
That growl was enough to make Zander realize he was in trouble. Slowly turning his head around, he found himself face-to-face with Utah. "Eep! I'm in trouble."
"What're you doing here, Zander?" Utah growled, taking a small step towards the disguised Alpha Gang member.
"Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh." Zander looked around nervously, sweat dripping like crazy, trying to come up with an excuse or a lie she'd buy. "I'm not that Zander guy! We just happen to look like the other! Didn't they have look a-likes in Vegas?" He asked nervously, twiddling his fingers.
Utah didn't loosen her glare. "I believe you should know that since you were there." She replied before she swung her tail at him.
"Eep!" Zander helped as he quickly ducked to avoid his head getting smacked off. But Utah wasn't aiming to take his head off. Instead, the wind from the swipe caused Zander's wig to fall off, officially confirming it was him. Not that Utah had any doubts to begin with. Zander slowly got back onto his feet and felt that his wig was no longer there. "Uh-oh." As if fate decided to be funny, his mustache conveniently fell off, as well.
"I'll ask again. What are you doing here?" Utah moved her face close enough that Zander could feel her breath, which actually wasn't as disgusting as one would think.
"I-I-I-I-I mean no harm!" He stuttered.
"Funny. Usually when someone says that they soon follow up by meaning harm." The Utahraptor placed a foot on the wig and tore it to shreds. "Now answer me or I'm going to claw your face off!" She threatened, raising her left claw to prove a point.
Just when it looked like Zander was done for, Reese quickly ran over to where they were, holding two ice cream cones. "Utah, wait!" She said as she got in-between them. "Zander just wanted to spend the afternoon with me! I know it sounds odd, but it's the truth. He has nothing on him that can hurt me."
Utah was surprised to see Reese standing up for one of the Alpha Gang, actually taking a step back in response to her surprise. However, she remembered what Reese told her about Mexico and how Zander gave up one of the Saurolophus Cards. And she wasn't oblivious to the flower that Reese had with her once she returned to Zeta Point.
Still, that was before they discovered more about how ruthless the Alpha Gang was. Or were they? Nothing in the story ever really mentioned something the trio did on their own accord. They didn't really do anything but listen to Dr.Z's whining. She didn't trust this man, especially after what he did to her, but she did trust Reese to not be so easily fooled.
She turned to Zander one last time. "If I find out this was all a set up for some scheme or yours, may Seikatsu have mercy when I'm done with you." Snorting in his face, the Utahraptor turned around and left, but not before giving Zander one last warning glance.
Once she was gone, Zander was able to catch his breath. "Phew! Thank goodness you showed up when you did, Reese. I thought I was about to be raptor food."
"It was nothing. I'm just glad I got our ice cream when I did or else she might have killed you." She said as she handed the man his vanilla ice cream cone. She then looked down sadly. "Still, I think it's best you head home now. There's no telling when Zoe and the boys are coming back, or if someone else might see you and attack you."
Zander didn't want this to end now, but he knew she was right. But he still had something he had to do. He went over to Reese and gave her a hug. "Hopefully we can have our day when the war is over." He whispered.
"I'd like that." Reese replied as she gave him a peck on the check.
Blushing from the kiss, Zander had to slap himself on the face before quickly running back to his Alpha Craft, assuming it wasn't destroyed. "'Till we met again!" He called out to Reese.
Reese just smiled and waved as she watched him run off into the sunset.
DK
With Aki she had just returned back home after a long day of thinking. Ally's words from that afternoon kept ringing through her like church bells. Had she really been a terrible spouse?
She was going to make some dinner to forget about it, but then the back door opened up and Spike walked in. "Oh." He said once he realized Aki was there, hoping she wouldn't notice him.
Aki noticed him coming in as well. "Oh." The two just stood their in silence for what felt like a good hour before they both were able to muster up the courage to speak.
"Look, Spike/Aki I..." They said at the same time. They paused before trying again, assuming the other wasn't going to speak first. "I'm sorry." They both said together.
Hearing Aki apologize confused Spike, blinking his eyes as he processed the information he heard. "Wait, why are you sorry? I'm the one that's been avoiding talking to you for months."
"Because I've been a terrible wife." Aki told him as she sat sadly down on the couch. "You wouldn't have needed to go through the fear of me hurting or even leaving you alone if I had just came to you and asked that we talked. Instead, I've been giving both you and myself a hard time."
Seeing her about to cry, Spike sat down next to her and put a hand under her chin. "Aki, none of this is your fault. I was the one being a coward. I assumed that you would be mad at me because of my past mistakes, such as forgetting our anniversary, and believed you would act unreasonably. But that's not how you, and I should've known that."
Aki sniffed at his words and wiped a tear from her eye. "I guess we both messed up, huh?" She smiled weakly
"Yeah, I guess we did." Spike agreed with his own small smile.
"Spike, you mean the world to me." Aki leaned against her husband.
"You do, too, Dear." Spike did the same. "Let's agree to be honest with each other from now on."
"Agreed."
As they sat on the couch together, the boys and Tank watched from behind a wall and silently gave each other high fives for their plan being a success.
DK
"AAAAUUUUGGGHHH!" The scream of Dr.Z was heard throughout Zeta Point as the trio ran for their lives from the arrows he was firing at them like a machine gun after they told him they lost Angel to the D-Team.
Eventually, they were able to get to their room and lock the door so Dr.Z. couldn't open it. All he could do was shoot arrows at the door until he ran out. "Phew!" Ursula gave a sigh of relief as she sat down on her bed and turned on the TV. "That was a close one."
"I felt like I was a moving target." Ed said as he laid down on his.
"You could say that again." Zander replied as he mimicked the other two.
After being quiet for about a minute, Ursula broke the silence. "So, how'd it go?" She asked Zander, a smirk on her face, wanting to know the details.
"It went great." Zander smiled happily. "Knowing I might have a chance one day, makes the whole world seem brighter. And I don't mean literally."
"Well, that's to be expected. I do have amazing plans." Ursula bragged.
"And I thank you greatly for that, Ursula." Zander said.
Ed listened in on their conversation and remembered something he wanted to ask. "Oh, that reminds me. Ursula, why were you so determined to help Zander with his love life. Normally you'd tell him to grow up and threaten to throw him off a cliff."
"Yeah, now that you mention it, Ed, it did seem kind of out of character for you to be so nice all of a sudden. What gives?"
Ursula blushed heavily and rolled onto her side so she wasn't facing the two men. "If you must know, it was because I wanted you to be happy, Zander. With everyone constantly calling me an old lady, I know my chances for love are next to nothing. And I refuse to date the king brat's new dad!" She quickly interjected. "The point is, I wanted you to at least have someone to call a partner in life before you passed on, since I'm pretty much a lost cause."
"Oh, Ursula, don't say that. There's plenty of people out there. I'm sure you'll find the right man someday." Zander assured her.
Ursula rolled back over to where she was facing them and smiled. "Thanks... Bro."
"Yeah, I mean that whole lady thing is just used to anger you anyways." Ed decided to add. "I mean, you look more closer to late 20s-early 30s."
That earned him a pillow to the face. "Don't push it, Little Brother." She half joked, half threatened.
Next time on Dinosaur King:
Max: We need your ship to help us look for a dinosaur
Blackbeard: Do you take me as a fool? There's no dinosaur in these waters
(Jobaria rams the ship from underneath, causing everyone onboard to lose balance)
Blackbeard: OK, so I was wrong
A/N: FINALLY! After months this chapter is over! I am so sorry for the long wait. Between summer classes and poor management of time, this chapter just wasn't easy to write. And I feel it might show now that I mention it.
This chapter mainly exists to give development on the Alpha Gang trio, as well as to give some idea where Reese and Zander's relationship is going. I want everyone to know I don't hate this ship. It's not one of my favorite ships in fiction, but it's tolerable. It's just that the situation they're in does not make it easy for them. If they survive, I'm positive they'll be together. If I just foreshadowed anything I'll leave up to you.
As for the B-plot, I think that was the harder one to do. I've never been in a relationship before, but I'm hoping I did things good. It defiantly got a little close to ranting at some points, which I hope I took out completely.
As for the fight, I seem to really not like letting Angel's fights play out since I skipped over most of them. Hopefully I won't when we reach the tournament. Still, it did give me a chance to create Spring Awakening, and that was fun, if not extremely overkill for a Move Cardless dinosaur.
One last note, I have a poll on my profile that asks if you'd be interested in reading a sequel story that would contain elements from the video games. Vote if you would read it or not. I'll explain more details as the story continues.
Hopefully next chapter won't take nearly 3 months to finish. And since it's back to the D-Team, I think it will be.