The Rise of Evil
Disclaimer: Dinosaur King is owned by Sunrise, Shout Factory, 4kidsTV, and any other company I missed. I own nothing
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Flashback"
DK
"Hello, D-Team." Seikatsu greeted them.
No one said anything. The sound of breathing amongst the large crowd was almost impossible to hear. One second, two seconds, three seconds passed before anyone did anything. When some action was finally taken, the dinosaurs all bowed like when Rex first became King. Noticing his partner and friends not doing the same, Chomp tugged at Max's leg with his mouth. "Dude, bow your head." He hissed quietly, barely breaking the silence before resuming his bowing. Finally realizing they were in the presence of God herself, the D-Team also bowed before Seikatsu.
If they could see her face, which is impossible given how bright she is, they would see the white phoenix smiling. "It warms my heart to see you all alive and well after all these centuries. Seeing you here helps weaken the blow my brother made."
The dinosaurs all looked at each other with slight confusion. Never had they heard about there being another being like Seikatsu. The idea sounded nearly preposterous. The humans on the other hand had somewhat of an idea who she was talking about. "You mean Shi, don't you?" Rex guessed.
Seikatsu nodded sadly before glowing brightly. The screen changed to show images of the seven Cosmos Stones. "As you've already been told, the Cosmos Stones were formed by the earth as an attempt to recover from the Great Dying." She explained. "Six of the stones represented the elements of nature, and they would allow me to form. The seventh was meant to be the balance; the darkness to my light, the death to my life. It would create the being known as Shi."
The screen kept on switching scenes to tell the story. "Eventually, when the dinosaurs began to evolve and unite their species together, the Cosmos Stones were located and placed in shrines to keep them stable and allow us to use them to keep the earth thriving. However, as the centuries passed and the world changed, Shi began to feel betrayed. The dinosaurs all praised me as a goddess, the one keeping them safe from the harms of nature. Yet, despite playing just as important of a role by keeping balance, he never even got mentioned at all. The jealously began to cloud his judgement, and by the Late Cretaceous he snapped.
He began to send his wrath down upon the dinosaurs that ignored him. Earthquakes and volcanos, along with numerous plagues, brought the dinosaurs to their knees. I tried as much as I could to repel all of his attempts, trying to reason with him to stop. But it was all for nought. Grabbing a large asteroid from space, he used his powers to guide it towards Earth on a collision course that would kill all the dinosaurs. I attempted to stop it, but Shi prevented me anytime I got close.
Eventually, the asteroid made contact with Earth and began an extinction that killed all the dinosaurs. However, as Shi celebrated his victory, I used to opportunity to sneak attack him. Knowing reasoning with him was out of the question, I used all the energy I had and imprisoned him inside the same Cosmos Stone that gave him life.
It was after that, I realized just how much power we held over the Earth and its animals. I knew that if I continued on using the powers like I have been, I could risk becoming like Shi. So, the last thing I ever did was create the Stone Plates using the pleas and cries from the panicked dinosaurs and hope that sometime in the future someone would be able to stop the catastrophe."
As she finished the story, everyone was speechless. "So Shi has been inside the Cosmos Stone for 65 million years?" Zoe asked.
Seikatsu nodded sadly. "I was fortunate enough to be able to put him into a deep sleep so he wouldn't suffer from the solitude. But I fear what could happen if he were to ever regain consciousness."
Throughout the entire story, three pairs of eyes watched carefully from the shadows. Listening in on everything, it was the trio of Clone Deinonychus. Or as they were referred to as by their allies; The Scouts. The leader, Scout #1, pressed a small button on a device placed around his ear. "Are you receiving this?" He asked to whoever on the other side.
On said other side were Pyro and The Professor. "Loud and clear." Pyro said smugly before turning to The Professor. "I must say, Professor, that scan jammer really has proved to be useful."
"It's The Professor." The Megaraptor clone growled. "But, yes. I would say it could be one of my greatest inventions. And it's only my first." He said proudly, placing a claw to his chest in triumph. Pyro rolled his eyes at The Professor's bragging and began typing into the communicator. "Of course, I couldn't have done it without Seth's help. The blueprints he left behind with his plans will give us a clear sight into what we need to do."
"And I'm sure this news will only help us make sure we keep said goals when we achieve victory." Pyro chuckled as he pressed the send button, sending the information they just learned to a familiar hooded man.
(Intro Theme)
"All right." Dr.Z said to himself as he looked at a small scale he made. On one side of the scale were small toy models of all the dinosaurs he had. On the other side were models for all the dinosaurs the D-Team had. "So, I am here with barely enough dinosaurs to wipe out a tribe of native stereotypes. While Ancient and his bratty friends have enough to conquer Japan." He grabbed as many of the models from the D-Team's side as he could in his arms. "Objective." He placed them down on his side of the scale, causing it to slam on the bottom. "Get those dinosaurs onto my side and have the dinosaur monopoly! Ahahahaha!"
"Doctor." Helga's cold tone made Dr.Z freeze in terror as he slowly turned around to see his maid glaring at him, a broom in her hand. "What did I tell you about throwing your toys on the floor?"
"Someone could trip and fall over them." Dr.Z said as he quickly grabbed the models on the floor and placed them back on the table. Helga nodded and went to clean another room. When she was gone, Dr.Z complained quietly. "It's not like they were in the middle of the room. No one was going to trip on them." The door opened and Dr.Z yelped in terror, almost dropping a few models in his fright as he shook like a leaf. "Gah! I didn't say anything!"
"You know it really doesn't help your image if your maid causes you to cower like an insect." Pyro said as he and The Professor entered the room.
"Pyro! What'd you want?" Dr.Z asked, still slightly in shock from a few seconds earlier and now growing annoyed at the surprise. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"I have some information that might be of interest to you, Doctor." Pyro said.
"I think you mean we." The Professor glared at him for attempting to steal his credit.
"Did I stutter?" Pyro asked rhetorically. "No, I did not." The Professor just rolled his eyes as Pyro continued. "Anyway, I have this friend that-"
"Wait, friend? You mean to tell me you've been communicating with an outsider?!" Dr.Z screamed at the Acrocanthosaurus. "What the hell is wrong with you?! They could easily sell us out to the brats!"
"I can assure you that this friend of mine is on our side completely." Pyro said in his defense, not really showing signs of worry.
"That's exactly how the internet works!" Dr.Z retorted. "I know you haven't been here as long as the others, but come on! You're not like that stupid Stripy."
"You mean Spiny?" Pyro assumed that was who Dr.Z meant.
"Whatever!"
The Professor stepped in when it became clear to him this wasn't going anywhere. "Perhaps it would have been best to start with the fact that he came to us, not the other way around. So, if he was against us he would've sold us out a long time ago."
Dr.Z pondered this information. If what The Professor said is true, then whoever this was clearly wanted to help him achieve his goal. And right now he needed all the help he could get if he wanted to become Dinosaur King. "OK, I'm still mad at you." He pointed at Pyro. "But I will hear what they have to say."
The Professor smirked at Pyro's annoyance and proceeded with explaining his information. "As you know, the war with the D-Team has not been in our favor as of late."
"You don't need to rub it in." Dr.Z pouted as he crossed his arms like a little kid.
"I recently sent out the Scouts to spy on the enemy to see if they can gather any useful information, and what they found is disturbing. The enemy has been using the Cosmos Stones to communicate with the most powerful being in the entire universe; Seikatsu."
If Dr.Z had been drinking something this would be the part he did a spit-take. "They've been doing what?!" He shouted, briefly leaping in the air.
"He said they've been-"
"I know what he said!" Dr.Z cut Pyro off. "That has got to the biggest tub of mayonnaise I have ever heard!"
"Mayonnaise?" Pyro asked in confusion.
"I'm not risking a swear word when Helga's just a room over." The doctor explained, pointing to the closed door while trying to keep quiet.
"And I have no doubt that they have been gaining knowledge and advice from Seikatsu since then." The Professor continued. "So, if we continue as we are now, the D-Team will have us defeated before the year's end."
With that sentence, Dr.Z's entire world shattered. "WAAAAAAAA!" He screamed in agony from this information before fainting on the floor like a sack of potatoes.
The two carnivores looked down at the fainted old man for a few seconds before he sprang back onto his feet in rage. "No! I will not accept defeat! I will pluck that bird's feathers out one by one and make them into a hat, and then wear that hat in public!"
"Hmph." Pyro chucked at Dr.Z's rage. "And they say I have anger issues."
"Fortunately, our new ally has done some research with the information I have presented to him and has come to a conclusion that might serve us well." The Professor said.
Dr.Z stopped mid-flailing and looked confused at the Clone Megaraptor. "There's still hope for me?"
"Remember the true story of how the dinosaurs went extinct?" The Professor asked. "I believe Spectre should have mentioned it at some point during your stay in the Mesozoic."
Dr.Z put a hand to his chin as he recalled what he could about that story. "Hmmm." Obviously there was the part about the asteroid, and the plagues and the disasters that preceded it. "But surely Seikatsu should have been able to stop it." He thought to himself. "So why didn't she? The only way she couldn't have stopped the asteroid would've been if someone stopped her from doing it. Wait..." That's when it started to click together. "Of course! I remember Spectre mentioning something about there being another being just like Seikatsu, that may or may not have been related to her, called Chi!"
"Shi." Pyro corrected him.
"Shi! With him on our side there's no possible way we could lose!" The doctor began imagining all the horrible things Shi could do to the D-Team, namely plaguing them with sickness. But that all came to a screeching halt when he remembered one important detail. "Hold on. How exactly are we able to get him onto our side if he's been banished to literally Seikatsu knows where?"
The Professor responded by pulling out photos and placing them on the table. Dr.Z and Pyro looked at the photos. All of them were pictures of the opening of a cave. However, in the photos going to the right, there started to be rocks appearing in the pictures, each slowly adding more and more. "These photos were sent by our ally. The depict a sudden increase of rock growth in this old mine in the American West." He explained to them. "Obviously, rocks do not appear this fast normally. So the only logical explanation is that this is the work of the Cosmos Stone."
"The Cosmos Stone?" Dr.Z repeated. "But the detector hasn't picked anything up." He pointed over to a detector similar to Spectre's he made with whatever knowledge he had of the machine the pirates used. Needless to say, while it worked, it couldn't exactly pin point locations.
"That thing is nothing more than a bootleg of the real deal." Pyro said. "Sent the trio all over the world before they could find where the Red Stone was and only made it to Atlantis due to a lucky guess."
"While that is true, I would say the enemy's detector can't be that much better given the reports from the previous two missions." The Professor rebutted before looking back at Dr.Z. "Doctor, if we move now I can almost guarantee this mission won't end in failure for once. And once we have a Cosmos Stone in our possession we can use the stone to speak to Shi from his prison, allowing us to possibly figure out how to free him."
Dr.Z's grinned was widening to the point it looked like his face would break. "Boys, I know what we're going to do today."
"Already ahead of you." The Professor said. "The Scouts, Sharphorn and I will use one of the poachers' cargo-copters to fly ourselves over there."
"Wait, what about-"
"My plan only requires us for this mission. Adding anyone else will require me to have to rework the entire plan." The Professor explained himself, sounding almost pretty smug about himself.
Pyro rolled his eyes. "Just let him do it. He no doubt has thought of a backup plan incase things go south."
"Implying I only have one backup plan."
"Hmm." Dr.Z stroked his beard as he thought about it for a bit. While the certainly trusted The Professor and the other two clones to pull this off better than his normal, dimwitted henchmen, there was the risk of them getting defeated and captured, putting a big dent on his already small army. In the end though, the risk was worth the reward. "I'll get an Alpha Droid the pilot the chopper. Besides that, you're free to do whatever so long as we get that stone."
"Trust me, Doctor. By the end of today, a legend will have returned." The Professor assured him.
DK
Gigas, Maximus, and Armatus all stood in the training room, having been called there by Brontikens the night before. "What'd you think Brontikens wants?" Maximus asked.
"I have no idea. He's never asked us for anything before." Gigas answered.
"Let's just hope it isn't something extremely painful." Armatus commented.
"You know, I am standing right here." Brontikens glared at the trio, standing right in front of them. "Even if you whispered, which you clearly didn't, I would still hear you."
"Can you just tell us why you wanted us here?" Gigas asked.
"I'll be blunt, we need more training." The sauropod told them.
The trio couldn't really believe what he had just said. "Excuse me? You train every single day." Maximus told him.
"And just because we don't do it daily like you doesn't mean we don't do it occasionally." Armatus added.
"It doesn't matter how much we have trained before. After our little game, I realized we have all been training incorrectly." Brontikens told them.
Now the trio were confused. "Mate, how could we be 'training wrong'?" Armatus asked.
Brontikens answered that question with another question. "Why do you think the D-Team always beat us?"
While Armatus and Maximus thought about it, Gigas answered almost immediately. "Because they're stronger theeeeeeeeennnnn-" Brontikens gave him a glare that made the Tyrannosaurus choose his next words very carefully. "Most of us." He said nervously.
Maximus rolled her eyes before answering. "Obviously, it's because there are so many of them. They always have and always will outnumber us."
"Wrong." Brontikens responded. "It's because they work together. Haven't you noticed that whenever we fight them we do so separately?"
"Hey, we've fought them all together before." Armatus pointed out.
"No, that was just us all fighting separately at the same time." Brontikens said.
"Well..." Gigas tried to remember a time they did fight together to prove the Apatosaurus wrong. "There was our battle with them in Hawaii. Me and Maximus worked together then."
"Yeah, and when they invaded our base all three of us were able to defeat Paris together." Maximus added.
"And you won those battles because you worked together. Any other victory we had was due to either sheer luck or cowardly tactics. It's time we start changing that. If you can work together in a video game, you can do it in real life."
"But video games are much easier than doing it in real life." Gigas pointed out, almost whining.
"Which is why we need to start training." Brontikens empathized. "Since I know you will keep complaining if we trained as long as I normally do, we'll train for about two hours and then we can be done for the day."
"I guess that seems fair." Armatus said, Maximus and a reluctant Gigas nodding in agreement.
"Good. Now, Gigas, you're with me. Maximus and Armatus, you two partner up for today. We got a long road ahead of us." Saying all he needed to say, Brontikens turned around and went to another part of the room so he could train with Gigas.
With him out of immediate earshot, the trio began whispering again. "I don't know how to feel about this." Armatus said.
"I mean it's great he wants to spend more time with us, but does it have to be training?" Maximus asked.
"Guys, he's the only one who seems to truly care about us and our futures. We help him with his dream, and maybe we can discover our own." Gigas said.
DK
In a large cargo helicopter piloted by an Alpha Droid, The Professor, Sharphorn, and the Scouts were going over their mission plan. "Now, #1, can you repeat the plan to me so I know you understand?" The Professor asked the lead Deinonychus Clone.
#1 nodded and repeated what he was told. "My brothers and I will wait outside the mines entrance for you two to find the stone. If any of the enemy arrive, we'll attack and the Battlefield should alert you of their presence."
"Excellent. You're dismissed." Scout #1 nodded and went over to his brothers, who were currently preening themselves. Sharphorn looked at The Professor and the Megaraptor acknowledged this. Sharphorn never spoke to the point many of those on Zeta Point thought he couldn't talk. It wasn't that he couldn't speak, it's just that he never felt the need to unless he absolutely needed to. Perhaps this is why he seemed to form a friendship with The Professor, as they both had one thing in common; annoyance with the other clones, especially Pyro.
"I know it is risky without the rest of the pack. But a smaller party will make this mission easier to navigate and less noticeable to outsiders. I can assure you, my friend, I already have plans in mind in the unlikely event all of them turn up this time. Seth wouldn't have given me this much intelligence if he didn't believe I could use it." He chuckled darkly to himself. "Hmph, hmph."
The rode the rest of the way in complete silence before the Droid announced. "Destination reached."
"Perfect." The Professor smirked as the chopper landed. "Everyone knows their part to play." As the door opened, he said. "Let the show begin."
DK
About an hour later, three small ships flew over the town where the mine was closest to. What was once a simple neighborhood was now the sight of a massive mineral harvest as people from all over flocked in to grab as much as possible. It was considered practically foolish to let this opportunity slip by as every day more and more valuable minerals would appear to replace those taken. "Look at all those ants crawling around that anthill." Foolscap commented from his ship.
"Those aren't ants. Those are humans." Gavro pointed out. "And that isn't an anthill, it's a mine."
"It's a figure of speech, you dolt. Those people are so desperate for rocks it's actually hilarious." Foolscap laughed. "It's like watching a million Sheers at the Gold Rush. Ha, ha-gah!"
His mocking was interrupted by Sheer ramming her ship into his. "Care to repeat that?" She threatened.
"He said that those people down there are like a million yous during the-" Gavro started to say, not understanding Sheer's threat before he was cut off by his brother.
"Put a sock in it, you numbskull!" Foolscap yelled as his ship was rammed again.
"But I'm just saying what you said." Gavro pointed out.
"Gavro." Sheer said with a tone that sounded like a mixture of sweet and threatening. "I'm giving you a warning because you're an idiot. But if I catch either of you saying something like that again I won't be so gentle."
Understanding her message clearly, Gavro swallowed a large lump. "'Gulp'. G-got it." Foolscap, despite being threatened too, couldn't help but snicker at his brother's misfortune.
After that conversation, they were relatively quiet until the time came to land. Problem was landing was not going to be easy as there were large rocks poking out of the ground everywhere near the best landing place. "We'll have to land near town." Foolscap said. "I don't trust that rock garden won't grow on top of our ships even if we can find a landing spot."
"Surprisingly, you're right." Sheer agreed.
"Just because I actually like to have fun on the job doesn't mean I need you instructing every decision I make." The purple pirate retorted. "I'm not an idiot like some people." He looked in the direction of Gavro's ship.
The ships landed near the outskirts of town and the trio flew the rest of the way to the entrance of the mine. Well, at least as best as they could because it was even more clear than from the sky what the Cosmos Stone was doing. Rocks and similar substances were poking out of the ground, many slowly still growing. It was essentially a forest of rocks. It seemed the rocks mostly grew out of the ground directly in front of the entrance. And the entrance itself was nearly completely sealed off by large diamonds.
"Diamonds." Sheer groaned, putting a hand to her head as she slumped over. "Why did it have to be diamonds?"
"It's that stupid stone. It doesn't want to be found, so it's blocking us out." Foolscap said. What little openings that remained were too small for them to squeeze through.
"Looks like we'll just have to knock." Gavro said as he flew over to the diamonds. "Knock 'em down!" He punched one of the diamonds with all his might. While he is stronger than an average human and guardian, all punching the diamond did was maybe leave a tiny crack nobody could notice without squinting and almost break Gavro's hand. His face turned from red to pale as he processed the pain. "Ouchie!" He cried as he grabbed his throbbing hand.
"Did you forget diamonds are the hardest minerals of all?" Foolscap rhetorically asked his brothers, clearly getting a laugh out of his pain. "Even using our dinosaurs won't work unless you want them getting concussions and/or broken bones."
"But they can in other ways." Sheer said as an idea hit her. "Ways that wouldn't be possible in the old days." Reaching for her card, she placed it on her chocker and summoned Hana.
When the Euoplocephalus landed, Foolscap seemed unimpressed. "And you call me an idiot. I just told you that smashing the diamonds would end with a broken tail before we'd be able to get in."
"Which is why we're trying something completely different." The female pirate rolled her eyes at his ignorance as she activated Hana's Move Card.
Her tail started to glow as a long Quake Saber grew from the tip. Once it was as long as possible, the Euoplocephalus swung her tail at the diamond door. The Quake Saber went right through the minerals and for a while nothing happened. "Wait for it." Hana told the guardians before the tops of the diamonds started to slide off to the ground.
Seeing her work done, Sheer recalled Hana and smiled smugly at Foolscap, who looked like a fish out of water. "Who's the idiot now?"
Someone else had to answer to that "The answer is all three of you."
The trio of pirates quickly turned around and looked for whoever said that. The forest of rocks made it challenging to see, but they could make out at least three figures were lurking around them. All three guardians grabbed their weapons and readied themselves for trouble. "Who's there?!" Sheer demanded.
"Show yourself!" Gavro added.
"Please, don't ask them that. It's usually bad news when they comply." Foolscap pointed out the problem with that sentence.
Suddenly, Scout #1 leapt out of seemingly nowhere at Sheer. The white guardian just barely had enough time to dodge as the Clone Deinonychus missed and slid across the ground when he landed. "Since you asked so nicely." He replied.
"It's those Deinonychus!" Gavro remembered them from the Battle of Sanjo City.
"Correct, Gavro." Scout #1 replied as he looked back at the two brothers. Like that was a cue, the Scouts #2 and #3 emerged behind the brothers. "You're already too late. Sharphorn and The Professor are inside that mine looking for the stone as we speak."
"What?!" The pirates exclaimed before Sheer prepared to take off. "We have to go now!"
#1 swiped his claw at Sheer, stopping her from flying in. "If you want in so badly you'll have to fight us." He told the guardians.
"I have a better idea." Foolscap said as he pulled out his card. "Why don't we fight you instead?"
Gavro was slightly confused by this statement. "Wait, why us?"
"Because I told you to." Was his older brother's reply.
"NOW COME OUT, AMARGASAURUS!"
"OK! IGUANODON!"
Nessie and Iguano landed around the raptor trio, in a way surrounding them. The sky's colors changed to that of a Battlefield. The Scouts smirked as they knew the inside of the cave would light up as well, alerting Sharphorn and The Professor of the pirate's presence.
Sure enough, the pair inside did notice the change in background. "It would appear our adversaries have arrived. Right on schedule." The Professor told his partner. "We'll need to pick up the pace." Sharphorn nodded and they continued down the caves.
Outside, Sheer took the opportunity of the Deinonychus being distracted to fly into the cave. "Are you sure you boys-" She was about to ask before Gavro cut her off.
"Just fly, you fool!" He shouted at her. His tone surprised Sheer so much that she didn't even comment and just flew into the cave.
"Should one of us go after her?" Scout #3 asked his clone brother.
"The Professor will be able to handle her." Scout #1 assured his younger clone brother. "Focus instead on these two. We could walk away from this with double prizes."
DK
Maximus kept one eye shut as she concentrated on where her laser was hitting. The only thing she was thinking about right now was that laser and where she wanted it next. Any other noise could break her concentration and ruin everything. Armatus knew this, so he turned himself around and had his eyes closed and ears covered. He stayed like that until he thought he heard Maximus say. "Done."
Slowly, he got back onto his feet and turned around to see what Maximus made. The Triceratops stood proudly as the wall in front of them had her name written out. "And that's how you use your Move Card to sign your name." She told the Stegosaurus.
"I have to say, Maximus, I'm impressed." Armatus complemented her. "Never saw you as the artistic type."
"I'm not. It's just a little trick I decided to try." Maximus retorted. "I expect you can do something similar, Mr. Keen Eye?"
Armatus looked around nervously. He wanted to say yes to impress Maximus. But if she caught him lying, which she would, that would really ruin the progress the was hoping he made. "Well, I can get my crystals to make walls, but haven't exactly gotten ideas for other formations."
"Maybe you could try something like a cup tower?" Maximus suggested.
Armatus thought about that idea. Not only was it her idea, but doing so might actually impress Maximus enough to date him. "Maybe I could."
"Maybe you can actually do some training!" Brontikens yelled at them, making the two herbivores nearly jump out of their skin. "Just because I said we only have to do this for a few hours a day doesn't mean you waste them!"
Without wasting a second, he reared up on his hind legs and hit Gigas in the face with one of his forelegs when the Tyrannosaurus tired to attack him from behind. "And you." He said harshly as he turned to face Gigas. "You can't have a sneak attack when you charge straight for you opponent."
"What am I supposed to do?" Gigas retorted. "It's not like I have many options when it comes to how I attack my enemies. Even with Move Cards."
"Then pick one." Was the Apatosaur's reply. "Either go for the offensive and charge or use a surprise attack. You can't charge into your sneak attack when you weigh seven tons."
"Easy for someone with a tail like yours to say."
"Even using my tail for sneak attacks would eventually start to fail. From what I've learned throughout this war is that the key to winning a fight is to read your opponents movements faster than they can read yours."
"Let's say for a minute that your idea of thinking is correct. You have been trained to fight since adolescence. I've never even had a childhood. How are we supposed to-" Gigas stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Brontikens' back legs moving into a position he's seen him use many times while training.
As expected, the sauropod's tail came right for him and he quickly ducked the first swing before jumping back at the second. "Dude! What the hell?!"
"How did you know to dodge that?" Brontikens asked him.
"I saw your hind legs move so you were going to attack with your tail, and I knew you'd go for another attempt regardless if the first one failed or not!" Gigas shouted in response. "Now tell me why you-" The Tyrannosaurus stopped himself when he realized what Brontikens was getting at. "Oooh."
Right as he realized, Brontikens swung his neck at Gigas. The white T-Rex stopped it by slamming his chest down on it, almost grabbing the neck with his claws. "See what I'm getting at now?" Brontikens asked rhetorically as they both struggled.
"I believe so." Gigas replied before they both backed away from each other. "Still, I stand by what I said earlier. You've been fighting longer than we've been alive. How the hell are we supposed to catch up with you?"
"If I didn't think you had the potential to fight alongside me then I wouldn't be wasting my time training you." Brontikens answered. "That's enough for today. We'll resume again tomorrow." He said to all three as he turned around to leave.
"OK, so what do you wanna do now?" Gigas asked as he followed the Apatosaurus from behind.
The Apatosaurus cranked his neck back but kept walking. "What'd you mean?"
"I mean what do you want to do now?" Gigas repeated slower. "We still have hours of daylight left. We should find something to past time."
"What does it matter to you?" Brontikens asked.
"We're friends aren't we? Don't friends do stuff together? I mean, don't you have any hobbies."
"I eat, I sleep, and I train. All I need to do to prepare myself."
"So you don't watch TV or anything like that? Play games? Create art?"
"Even if I had the time, what would be worth the effort?" Brontikens asked rhetorically as he moved his neck back forward.
As he continued his way outside to feed, he felt something tug at his tail. Turning his neck around again, he saw Gigas pulling it like a dog with a piece of cloth. "I think it's time you got out from that rock you were living under and see what else the world has to offer."
"Please don't show him that stupid video." Maximus said as she and Armatus appeared from behind them. "No matter what you say, it is not funny. It's just cringe."
"You two don't see comedic genius." Gigas said, clearly offended. "Besides, I had something else in mind."
"Oh boy. Another D&D session." Armatus said with fame enthusiasm.
"That's not the only game I play!" Gigas retorted. Brontikens just watched the trio argue back and forth. Walking away was pointless as they would just follow him. He just had to hope whatever they showed him wouldn't make him want to jump off a cliff.
DK
The Professor and Sharphorn continued their way down the tunnels of the mine. So far they had been lucky with not much challenge smashing though the large rocks and minerals with their Move Cards or just plain strength and there only being one tunnel. Of course, as they expected, things were not going to be easy. There was a fork in the cave leading to two different tunnels. One had more rocks than the other but the other had much larger rocks. While they could split up and go both ways, The Professor knew having Sharphorn with him will make things easier for their escape, and vice versa with Sharphorn. "Sharphorn, which way do you suggest?" The Professor asked his companion.
The Pentaceratops inspected both tunnels in silence. But before he could make a decision, they both heard the sound of a dinosaur approaching and a slicing noise. "Seems we'll have to now play the part of scavengers." The Professor said we he and Sharphorn both hid behind the largest rock they could find.
Sheer and Hana both arrived on the scene with the dinosaur's tail extended to a Quake Saber. While the rocks weren't as large as Sheer was expecting, they were still growing at a rate that required Hana to be out slicing them down. "Oh, you've got to be shitting me!" Sheer yelled in frustration when she noticed the fork. "I do not need this right now!"
She was about to pull out her mini detector when Hana interrupted her. "It's this way." She said, facing the tunnel to the left with more rocks.
"How can you be so sure?" Sheer asked.
"I don't know exactly. But I can just feel the stone's power from here. Almost like it's calling me." The Euoplocephalus explained.
From their hiding spot, The Professor listened with interest. After what happened with Marlin during the last mission, their leader came to an idea about what a Cosmos Stone can do for a dinosaur of the matching element. "Seems like our little theory might be correct after all."
While not distrusting Hana's judgement, Sheer knew better than to take the risk. She quickly pulled out her device and checked both tunnels for signs of the Cosmos Stone. The one of the right was a dead end. But sure enough, Hana's tunnel was getting a reaction that indicated the stone was at the end. "Looks like you're right. Let's hurry before those clone dinos get it."
"Thanks to your help, that's been solidified to happen in our favor." The Professor said, announcing their presence. Sharphorn wasted no time in charging towards Hana. The Euoplocephalus met the Pentaceratops in a headlock, both trying to push the other down without risking a cave-in. Wasting no time, The Professor leapt over the fighting dinosaurs and ran down the cave, his slender body allowing him to squeeze through the rocks without much trouble.
"No!" Sheer cried, just barely able to process everything that happened so quickly.
"Hurry! Go after him!" Hana urged. "I can handle this guy."
Sheer wasted no time in flying after the Megaraptor. Fortunately, she was quickly able to get in front of him. However, the chase had only just started.
DK
If someone where to tell Foolscap and Gavro the Scouts were the weakest of the Clone Dinosaurs they'd assume they were crazy given how this battle was playing out.
Iguano was chasing down Scout #1 through the rocks. While this alone was not an easy task given how the Deinonychus was clearly faster than the Iguanodon, it didn't help that there was a clear size difference that was working against Iguano's favor. Scout #1 would use every chance he had to make a sharp turn that Iguano had no chance of making due to his greater inertia. Every time he would try to make a turn was met with him crashing into a large rock.
Getting tired from all the chasing and crashing, Iguano decided to act and make a desperate move. He leapt Into the air in an attempt to pin down the Deinonychus leader. Of course, #1 could tell what has going on from the sounds coming from behind and leapt out of the way just as Iguano landed. Bouncing off one of the rocks like a ninja, he took advantage of his enemy's opening and latched onto his neck, similar to how raptors killed larger game back in the old days. Iguano stomped his feet, swung his body around, and ran in circles in an attempt to get the Clone Deinonychus to let go. But Scout #1 held on firm.
Nessie wasn't faring much better. While she wasn't chasing Scouts #2 and #3 like Iguano was, she still could not land a hit on them. The main problem being these two could jump while Nessie was stuck on the ground. And the two Deinonychus took complete advantage of this, using the rocks to gain leverage. They would repeatedly strike Nessie simultaneously from different positions, and then bounce onto other rocks while Nessie smashed the ones they were previously standing on with her head. While eventually they would run out of rocks to leap from at this rate, both the Deinonychus and Nessie knew that she would run out of energy before that.
From the sky, Foolscap and Gavro watched the beat down occurring. "This is bad, isn't it?" Gavro asked his brother.
"What gave it away? The fact we can't land a hit, or the fact we can't land a hit?" Foolscap asked rhetorically.
"No need to sass me because your dinosaur is losing." Gavro retorted.
"So is yours unless we do something!" Foolscap said as he pulled out a Move Card. "Go, Aqua Whip!"
"Okay. Super Impact!" However, as the two men prepared to activate their Move Cards, the Deinonychus regrouped and all leapt into the air to preform a Dynamic Galaxy. "Where'd they go?" Gavro asked.
"They're using Dynamic Galaxy! Be ready to strike once they land!" Foolscap instructed his brother.
"I think you'd probably want to dodge." Nessie warned them. "Because it looked like they were aiming that attack at you."
"What?!" Both guardians exclaimed just as a Deinonychus meteor crashed right behind them and blew them off their position and onto the ground. With those two unable to activate the Move Cards, the trio leapt out of the meteor and immediately transitioned onto a Spinning Attack.
With #1 taking on Iguano and his subordinates taking care of Nessie, the raptors made contact with their opponents and spun against them with all their might. All their targets could do was roar in pain until the attack ceased. The attack made both dinosaurs collapse to the ground and return to their cards. Luckily, the cards conveniently appeared right in front of Foolscap and Gavro, who were currently rubbing their heads in pain from the Dynamic Galaxy attack. "Oooh. That felt like getting hit by a truck." Foolscap complained.
"It wasn't the worst thing to happen to us." Gavro pointed out.
"What could be worst than a meteor to the head?!" Foolscap yelled at his brother, getting up in his face.
"Getting torn apart by them." Gavro pointed ahead. Foolscap turned around and saw the Scouts looking at them with looks that you don't want to be given by carnivores.
"Gah!" Foolscap screamed as he and Gavro both quickly grabbed their cards and took off back into the air before they could become raptor food.
"Let's just hope Sheer's having better luck than us." Gavro said.
"Gavro, are you nuts?!" Foolscap bonked his brother on the head. "This is Sheer we're talking about. She has never failed a mission before. And she definitely won't fail when all hope rests on her wings."
DK
Sheer flew as fast as her wings could carry her down the cave. The Professor was at her heels like a hungry wolf dog, and she couldn't tell if he was actually snapping at her legs or if it was her paranoid imagination. That didn't matter. What did matter was the glowing, purple light at the end of the tunnel. There was no mistaking it, it was the Cosmos Stone. That only heightened the intensity of the situation.
The Professor knew this was one part of the plan he had to gamble. He could've made a million different strategies and he still would have to make a gamble at some point. That was just part of the art of battle. Regardless, that did not mean he was going easy on the pirate. If he needed, he would kill her.
He didn't have Pyro's blood lust and love for destruction. He preferred to just kill the opponent quick and move on. He had to wonder why Pyro was the leader of the Clone Dinosaurs. Yes, he was the strongest, far stronger than the Megaraptor was, and he did know how to use his words to emotionally manipulate on occasion. But he didn't have the strategic mind that Seth had. Didn't see the bigger picture most of the time. That was a trait he believed was passed on to him. Regardless of their current standings, after today things were going to change. And that started with getting that stone.
However, one thing both The Professor and Sheer either failed to take into account or just ignored was the energy needed to reach the stone and escape. Sheer was beginning to notice this. Her wings were starting to get sore. If she didn't do something, she would collapse and possibly be killed. Thinking fast, she grabbed one of her ninja stars and threw it back like a boomerang. The razor blades scratched across The Professor's face and the Clone Megaraptor roared in pain, slightly slowing down.
This was the opening Sheer needed as she gave herself a large boost and sped forward. She kept going until she could see the Cosmos Stone, surrounded by gold rocks that were just the right size for her to fit through and keep The Professor out. However, just as she was about to fly through the opening, a plethora of wind baldes flew right past her and sliced through the gold barrier. The resulting explosions knocked Sheer off her course and made her crash on the ground, just feet away from the stone.
Before she could get up, The Professor leapt over her, landing just in front of the guardian, and grabbed the stone with one of his claws. "I must say I enjoyed our little game." The Professor said as he glowed white and started running back the way he came. "But today the game is mine." In an instant, he used Mayfly to escape without a trace.
"N-no!" Sheer yelled one frustration as she got to her feet. She grew her wings to fly after him, but winced when she opened them up for take off. Her right wing was damaged during the crash and couldn't be used. "Son of a bitch!" She hissed as she did what she could only do and ran after the Cosmos Stone.
Meanwhile, Hana and Sharphorn were still in a headlock. Both seemed to coincidentally have the same idea, wait for backup to arrive and take out the other together. Out of the corner of their eyes, they noticed that the rocks and minerals started to shrink back into the earth. Most likely a result of the Cosmos Stone being taken from its place. "Looks like Sheer got the stone." Hana said as she backed away from Sharphorn.
The Pentaceratops did the same, but due to the way he was facing he didn't seem distraught about that information. Before Hana could either question or mock him, The Professor used his head to knock Hana down the cave. "Time for us to make our escape, Sharphorn." The Pentaceratops nodded before they both started glowing and ran down the tunnel. The running soon changed to spinning as the two of them activated Thunder Storm Bazooka. The attack went straight through Hana, knocking her aside and carding her instantly. But even after hitting a target, they still weren't done.
Outside, Gavro and Foolscap circled above the mine entrance like vultures, waiting for Sheer to come out. "She sure is taking her time." Gavro pointed out.
"Women take their time with everything. Waiting for them is like waiting for paint to dry." Foolscap said. "Except paint drys much faster." Just then, the mine entrance exploded with a blast of wind and lightning so large it almost blew the pirates away. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"
"Sheer certainly knows how to make an exit." Gavro commented. However, out of the smoke came not Sheer but The Professor and Sharphorn. The Scouts saw their leader with the Cosmos Stone in his claws and followed them back to the chopper. "Uh, isn't that purple orb the Megaraptor holding the Cosmos Stone?"
"Ha!" Foolscap laughed nervously. "That isn't the real Cosmos Stone. It's a fake one that they painted purple and added glitter for the glowey effects."
"Looks like a Cosmos Stone to me." Gavro said, not paying attention to his brother's tone.
Foolscap dropped the lying act and went straight into commanding big brother mode. "That's because it is the Cosmos Stone, retard! Come on!" He gestured Gavro to follow him as they went back to the ships. If they hurried they might still win.
The clones made it back to the ship relatively quickly. The cargo-hold opened up and the five of them ran in. "Set course for Zeta Point." The Professor instructed the Alpha Droid piloting. "And send a message to Dr.Z to let him know we've succeeded in our mission."
"Orders received." The Droid said as the cargo-copter slowly rose to the sky and began its flight back to Zeta Point.
With nothing else to worry about, The Professor placed the stone in a container and laid down to rest after everything that happened. "Well, my friends, I believe things are about to change for the better." But just as he closed his eyes to take a nap, the entire helicopter jerked around like something had hit it.
The dinosaurs were all sent crashing into each other or against the wall while the Alpha Droid struggled to regain control. "What the hell was that?!" Scout #1 screamed.
"I don't know." The Professor growled as they felt the chopper jerk around again. "But we're going to find out." The cargo-hatch door opened and immediately Sharphorn and The Professor jumped out of the way of lasers being fired at them.
Growling and looking in the direction they were fired from, the Megaraptor saw that the lasers came from the ships being flown by Foolscap and Gavro. "You're not getting away with that stone!" Foolscap told them through a speaker before ordering Gavro. "Fire!"
Again lasers were being shot at the dinosaurs. However, The Professor didn't seem fazed by this much. At most he was annoyed, but barely worried at all. Again, he and Sharphorn glowed white and yellow respectively before using their Move Cards on the ships.
Sharphorn's was simple. A Lightning Strike that hit Gavro's pod directly. The electricity caused the pod to short circuit and the controls to fail. "Foolscap, the controls are failing!" Gavro exclaimed as he desperately tried to regain control. "The engine's shutting off!" And right after he said that, his pod started plummeting to the ground.
"Gavro!" Foolscap yelled in despair before turning his attention to the dinosaurs and glared daggers at them. "Nobody kills my brother but me!" He prepared for fire at them again, but The Professor moved faster.
He actually leapt out of the helicopter to preform a Hurricane Beat. Two small tornados caught the pod and held it in place as the Megaraptor Clone pelted the ship repeatedly before giving on last powerful kick in the form of a backflip and landing directly back in the cargo-hold. "Like I said. This game is mine." He said as the door closed again.
Foolscap's ship was out of control as the steering was completely damaged. "Mayday! Mayday! I'm losing altitude!" He hoped Gavro's ship might still be functional and could save his, but all he got was static. Knowing he had seconds to spare, he quickly opened the escape pod and flew out just as the ship crashed in a fiery explosion.
Having escaped certain death, Foolscap scanned the area before the spotted Gavro's crashed ship with the large pirate outside. Relieved that he was OK, the purple pirate flew down and saw his brother inspecting the damage. "You okay?" He asked him once he arrived.
"I mean, the ship didn't blow up so why won't it start?" Gavro asked.
That comment made Foolscap lose all worry and bonk him on the head. "You said it yourself! The Lightning Strike made it short circuit! That thing won't fly until it's repaired!"
"I thought it crashing might've fixed that problem." Gavro replied as he rubbed his head.
Before Foolscap could say anything in response, Sheer ran over to where they were. One arm holding her wing while the other hand held Hana's card. "What happened? Did you get the stone?!" Neither of the two men had to say anything. Their defeated looks was all it took for the message to be made as clear as day. They had failed in getting the purple Cosmos Stone.
DK
After calling in Spectre to pick them and their damaged pods up, they filled their boss in on everything that happened. Needless to say, Spectre did not look happy in the slightest. His made this twisted face of anger than would haunt anyone's nightmares, and his left hand was crackling with purple energy. He wasn't so much angry at his workers as he was mad that they failed. The Alpha Gang now has a Cosmos Stone, and who knows what they would do with it.
All while she gave her report, Sheer kept her head down, looking very ashamed at herself. After what seemed to be hours of silence, Foolscap decided to break the tension. "I'm sure it's nothing to really worry about, boss." He attempt to assure him. "I really doubt they know how to use the Cosmos Stone's earth powers to make earthquakes or anything. We don't even know how to do that. We've had only been collecting them so they wouldn't keep causing catastrophes."
"Which is very possible if they know how to use it." Spectre growled at the idea.
"You really think Dr.Z would figure out how to activate the stones power?" Gavro asked.
"I don't know." Spectre said as he got up from his seat and left to go where they were holding the Cosmos Stones they've already retrieved. "I will have to speak with Seikatsu about this. Hopefully, she'll fill me in on what exactly are the dangers now that the Alpha Gang has a Cosmos Stone. Let's hope they aren't major." Sheer winced at his tone as he exited the room. Never once in her career had she failed before. And now, her first failure might be her last, and not for good reasons.
DK
"Why would you pick Maleficent as Best Villain? She's overrated." Gigas asked Brontikens.
"Because she has grace and elegance." Was the Apatosaur's reply. "Not to mention she carries herself with a sense of purpose." The four of them had spent the afternoon watching Disney movies and were having a bit of a disagreement on who was the best villain.
"But her motivation is just plan stupid. Not being invited to a baby shower. Who wants to go to baby showers?" Gigas asked rhetorically.
"She obviously only used that as an excuse to declare war on King Stefan. Brontikens said before turning the tables on Gigas. Besides, if anyone is overrated it's Scar."
"You mean the villain with the best villain song? The only Disney villain to actually succeed in what he wanted? Maleficent was successful for maybe a few hours, if you'd call it success."
"You just say Scar is the best because you always cry when Mufasa dies." Maximus pointed out.
"Well, I don't see your favorite creating such an emotional response." Gigas said.
"That's because Hades brings something unique to the table of villainy." Maximus explained.
"We already had a balance of comedic and threatening with Captain Hook." Brontikens reminded her.
"True, but he didn't have James Woods' talent. Seriously, the guy completely steals the show. Why do you think Disney always used Hades when marketing Hercules? And don't get me started on the TV series."
"Y'all are wrong." Aramtus interjected. "Chernabog is clearly the best. After all-"
"We get it! He's the Devil!" The other three dinosaurs said simultaneously before Gigas added. "Doesn't excuse his segment dragging on so long."
"Besides, I'm pretty sure the Mistress of All Evil is more threatening of a title than Devil." Brontikens said.
Before Armatus could say anything else, the door to the room opened and D.R.O.I.D rolled in. "Excuse me, but Dr.Z has called a meeting and he wanted everyone present." He said before rolling back out.
"I wonder what this is about?" Maximus asked.
"Maybe he finally has a good idea for once." Brontikens joked, making all four of them chuckle.
DK
The four dinosaurs joined the A-Team, Clone Dinosaurs, and the poachers as Dr.Z stood in front of them all with a proud smile on his face. "My minions! For too long we have been struggling in our battle with Ancient and his bratty friends. Loss and loss, failure after failure. Well, no more! Thanks to my incredible planning!"
"You mean my planning?" The Professor asked rhetorically.
"Details." Dr.Z waved him off before continuing his speech. "We have finally obtained a Cosmos Stone!" He held the stone up high for everyone to see. "And with this stone, we will be able to contact the long lost forgotten brother of Seikats; Shi! And with him on our side, we will be unstoppable!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd. "Whooo, whooo!"
"Yeah! Go us!"
"How're we going to speak to him anyway?"
The cheering ceased and everyone turned to look at Ed. "What was that, Ed?" Dr.Z asked angrily.
Ed shrunk down from all the attention he was receiving. "I'm just asking how are we going to use the Cosmos Stone to talk with Shi?"
"Well, I'll..." Dr.Z paused as he tried to think of a response. But he had absolutely no idea how to use this stone, much less use it to communicate to a being trapped in another realm of existence.
And everyone immediately caught onto this. "Ugh!" They all groaned before Ungaro yelled. "Just when we'd be having a change of luck!"
Dr.Z glared at Pyro and The Professor. "This is all your fault!" He pointed an accusing finger at the two theropods. "Why'd you get my hopes up thinking we could talk to Shi when none of us know how to use this stupid stone to reach him in the first place?!"
"None of you know how." A new voice said, making everyone in the room freeze and turn to the source. In the entryway were Ofu, Zayid, and their hooded boss. "But I do."
Everyone grew tense at the sudden intruders and prepared for a fight. All except Pyro and the other clones, who looked more happy than anything. "Who are you?! How did you get past the Alpha Droids?!" Dr.Z demanded to know.
The hooded figure only laughed at the doctor's questions. Before Dr.Z could ask what was so funny, he slowly reached for his hood and pulled it down. All those unaware of who this was froze at who was underneath the hood all along. "Impossible!" Dr.Z screamed in terror.
Seth smirked in response. "It's been a while, Doctor."
Next time on Dinosaur King:
Max: Rex, I think you might be overreacting
Rex: I am not overreacting! If I miss a single word in one of these documents I might accidentally sign an aggression pact! Every single sentence has to be analyzed carefully!
Max: Uh, Rex? I'm over here
(Rex pauses and realizes he's been yelling at his window the entire time)
A/N: HOLY SHIT! SETH IS ALIVE! IT'S THE APOCALYPSE!
I'm not sure how many of you saw this twist coming, probably more than have admitted, but this was always planned. Did everyone seriously believe I'd kill off Seth in just the first season, just as he was starting to make his villainous impact? Well, probably. But that was never going to happen except in early drafts that were scrapped before I started writing the first chapter. And before anyone asks, how he survived will be revealed next chapter.
Onto the other aspects of this chapter. I want to make it clear that The Professor is not going to be engaging in any betrayal of any kind. He simply doesn't think Pyro is a great leader, just a maniac. But since Seth is back that won't be much of a problem.
As for the B-plot with Brontikens and the others. Let's just say this bonding is going to help them get closer. And the next time we see them in battle, they'll be new dinosaurs.
If this chapter was big in terms of shock value. Next one will definitely be big in terms of size.