Dinosaur King Retold

by Drew Luczynski

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

68. Friends To The End

Friends To The End

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

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Flashback"

Warning: The following episode contains themes that might be uncomfortable to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

DK

8 months ago.

After what seemed like hours of struggling, Rex was able to muster up enough strength to flip Seth over himself and off the roof of the building. "AAAAH!" Seth screamed as he fell to the ground. Rex looked over the edge and saw Seth lying in a small pool of blood. What was very surprising was the fact that he slowly started to get up, only seeming suffering a broken arm. He weakly looked up and saw three silhouettes he recognized as the Velociraptors, angry looks on their faces. "Ah, my friends." He sighed in relief. "Please…help me."

"Friends?" The Velociraptor leader chuckled darkly, horrifying Seth at the realization of their betrayal. "I seem to remember him calling us expendable. Do you remember that, Veloci?"

"Yeah, that's what I heard, Victor. Right, Vincent?"

"I'm just hoping he tastes better than he acts." Vincent said as he licked his choppers before the three of them started to surround Seth with teeth and claws bared.

Seth tried to find a way to escape, but was completely surrounded. "No! No, l-l-let me explain! No, you don't understand!" He tried to plead for mercy, but his pleas fell on deaf ears as the raptors got closer and closer. "No, I didn't mean- no! No! I didn't mean- I swear, NO! AH!" All anyone else could see were the shadows of Seth getting mauled by Victor and his pack.

Seth could do nothing as Victor went straight for this throat. The Velociraptor bit down and it seemed like that was the end. But then, the three raptors suddenly glowed their respective colors and disappeared. With them gone, Seth quickly rose to his feet as fast as he could. To slow down the bleeding, he covered his throat with his good hand. Lot of good that will do. He still had wounds all over his body from both the fall and the mauling that could easily still kill him. Nevertheless, his survival instincts seemed to take over as he scrambled to safety.

This safety came in the form of a large hole in a wall that was presumably created during all of the fighting. He quickly crawled through and into a warehouse. By now, rain was putting out the fires all over the city. That didn't matter to Seth. His wounds were slowly killing him. "Damn it all." He cursed quietly. "I should have never trusted those Velociraptors. How fitting that it was my own dinosaurs that ending up killing me in the end. One would assume after what I told Dr.Z I'd have known better. I have no one to blame but myself for my inevitable death." He paused to cough up some blood. "I applaud you, D-Team. I was positive my evolved dinosaurs were stronger than yours. Seems I overestimated myself." He paused again, but this time to chuckle darkly. "Hmm, hmm, hmm. While I may die today, my legacy will live on. I swear with my dying breath that my vision for the future of dinosaurs will be the one that survives in the end."

With nothing else to vow, Seth laid down his head and awaited for death to claim him. However, suddenly something happened. The pain seemed to disappear. Seth's eyes snapped open and looked down at his body. His wounds were disappearing and healing themselves. Shifting his focus up, he saw bright rainbow ripples that he recognized easily. "Spectre." He said as he got to his feet and ran out the door to the building.

Looking around, he saw the ripples originating from the Space Pirates ship in the sky, as well as the city being repaired from all the damage caused by the fire and fighting. No doubt they also were healing anyone injured during the fights. And since they didn't exclude him, he was almost certain they thought he was dead. Seth smirked at the thought. "Perfect. I knew that if this mission was going to end in failure that faking my own death was the optimum means of escaping alive. And with a death scene like my own, no one would believe otherwise." He stopped and looked up at the raining sky. "Whoever decides our fates, I thank you. I can assure you, I will not make the same mistakes this time around."

After making sure he escaped from the city undetected, Seth went to work immediately. He wanted to wait a while before returning to the Alpha Gang. There was research he needed to conduct, and if he could avoid having to worry about Dr.Z discovering this he'd gladly take that opportunity.

First, he had to make himself a base of operations. The unexplored, underground caverns in Machu Picchu proved to be the perfect hiding place. Next, he needed allies. The Persian terrorist group, the 39 Thieves, would provide him with the technology and materials he needed to build the resources necessary to complete his mission. The 39 Thieves' leader Zayid introduced Seth to Ofu and the Kunoichi Warriors, allies of theirs that proved to be helpful in keeping Seth up to date with everything going on in the war.

After a while, he sent a message to Pyro, disguised as his will, and had him read it to the other clones. With his dinosaur followers caught up, he continued his research on the Cosmos Stones: what they could do, where they might be, how to use them, and later how to contact Shi. Pyro and the other clones proceeded to give him information and carry out his orders of capturing more dinosaurs and Cosmos Stones, which they sadly couldn't really do thanks to several problems with their summoners, and keeping certain third parties in line.

Having explained everything, minus anything that would obviously make Dr.Z suspicious of his true intentions, Seth went to work preparing the Cosmos Stone for contact with Shi. Dr.Z watched from behind like an impatient child. With the doctor leaning over his shoulder, Seth groaned in annoyance. "Doctor, I told you before. Asking me when is it going to be done will not make it come any faster."

"I wasn't asking that." Dr.Z retorted.

"You were thinking it." Seth replied as he added the finishing touches on the device. "There, it's complete."

"Well, what are you waiting for?! Load up that Cosmos Stone and let's see this Shi already!" Dr.Z jumped impatiently before turning around and pushing his minions towards the door. "Everyone out! I don't want him to be overwhelmed with all of you!"

"Then why is Seth staying?" Ursula asked as she was pushed to the door with everyone else.

"Because he's not only my most trusted henchman, but also the one who is making all of this possible. Duh." The old doctor before shoving everyone out of the room and turning to the dinosaurs. "That goes for all of you, too. Come on! Everybody out!" He clapped his hands.

The dinosaurs all compiled and exited the room, though most were grumbling things Dr.Z couldn't make out. With everyone but himself and Seth absent, the doctor turned to his trusted henchman. "Well, what are you waiting for? Summon him already!"

"Just remember, Doctor, that he's been asleep for millions of years. We need to approach him slowly before offering an alliance." Seth reminded Dr.Z right before he activated the device.

Seth backed away as a digital hologram in the form of purple smoke started to slowly rise from the stone. After it reached a certain height, the smoke began to turn into a cloud, and that cloud started to form a phoenix-like creature very similar to Seikatsu. Its appearance made Dr.Z yelp in fear and hide behind a machine like a scared child. "Ugh." The creature groaned as it slowly opened its eyes. The memories of what happened between him and his sister were still clear as day. How she left him to rot in this prison. By the empty void surrounding him, he knew he was still in said prison, but now there was a window he could see through.

"Who are you?" He asked the two men.

His tone sent shivers down Dr.Z's spine. Seth remained indifferent. "My name is Seth." He replied.

"A-and I'm Dr.Z." Dr.Z answered from behind his hiding place, too scared to go bragging about himself.

"But you can call us your friends." Seth said.

"Friends?" Shi repeated like he was just told a bad joke. "Why would I consider a creature like you a friend?"

"I can give you all the reasons in the world. But first, there is much we need to talk about. Things have happened since your imprisonment that you should know about if you are to get revenge on those who have wronged you."

Despite the fact he did not trust either of these men, Shi's interest was peaked. "I'm listening."

(Intro Theme)

In another part of Sanjo City was a large mansion. This was the home of the richest family in the city, even more so than the mayor. Heir of said family was a young boy named Louie. He was about the same age as the D-Team, Amy, Jim, and all the other kids they go to school with. But Louie did not go to school with them.

His mother, Elizabeth, was the definition of money corrupts. She had a nasty superiority complex that made everyone associated with her miserable. Her servants only stayed either out of fear due to her influence on the public masses or they really needed the money she "kindly" paid them. Even her husband, a man named David who was his own kind of nasty, was like a dog whenever in her presence. Everyone hated Elizabeth, but her power made her essentially untouchable. And of everyone, Louie suffered the most.

One such example of his troubles was just occurring right now. He was trying to sneak outside to join some other kids playing across the street. He was careful to avoid all of the servants on his way to the door. While many of them were more kind to him than his own parents, they would still have to turn him in out of obligation. With no one in sight, Louie slowly reached for the handle and turned the knob. But just as the door creaked open, an angry voice called out to him. "Where do you think you're going, young man?"

Louie froze and slowly turned around to face his angry mother. "M-Mother!" He jumped when he saw her scowling face. "I was just going to-"

"Complete your homework?" She asked rhetorically, already knowing what he was trying to do. And she was having none of it.

"I already finished all my school work for today." Louie answered quietly, looking down as to not see his mother's angry eyes.

"Look up when I'm speaking to you!" Elizabeth snapped, making Louie snap his eyes up to his mother. The poor boy was trembling. "If you're truly done with your assignments then start working on more. You're not finished until I say you're finished."

"Yes, Mother." Louie bowed and walked back up to his room.

As he went up the stairs, his father came down, watching his son disappear down the halls. "I take it he tried sneaking out again?" His wife's cold glare not only gave him his answer, but made him freeze like he looked into Medusa's eyes. Shaking his head to snap himself out of it, he asked his wife. "Don't you think the boy has worked hard enough?" Being a businessman, David knew the importance of people skills, as he couldn't just scare everyone into submission like his wife. "Some time out of the room will prove to be just as beneficial as studying."

"What?" Elizabeth gasped at her husband's apparent betrayal, at least in her eyes. "And let my baby boy be alone out there with those rift-raft?! Are you his father or his executioner?" David didn't need to ask what she meant by rift-raft: the dinosaurs. "Ever since they started invading, they've grown in numbers. One by one." She said as she slowly walked over to a large window. "And now they have moved in on the masses, fooling their simple minds with lies and promises of peace. Every day I feel that I am the only one who can see through their lies." As she looked out the window, her glare turned even colder when she saw Max riding Terry across the street with Chomp at his side. The brunette waved friendly at the other kids from atop the Tyrannosaur's back while Chomp and Terry gave them short, friendly roars as their way of waving. "I don't know which are worse: the ungodly creatures or the traitors that lead their invasion."

DK

While obviously Elizabeth's claims were those of a racist grandma, that didn't mean there wasn't trouble in paradise. Because every day there was something going on.

In a small neighborhood, a cat was running for its life from its chaser; Venom. The Piatnitzkysaurus had his arms stretched out, trying to grab the cat while he snapped his jaws anytime he felt he could bite onto the cat's tail. The feline's salvation came when it reached its owner's house. Quickly leaping through the cat-door, Venom saw his prey disappear and realized he was heading straight for the door. "Whoa!" He gasped as he attempted to slide to a halt. This proved to be ineffective as he crashed into the door and knocked it off its hinges. "Ugh." He groaned as he lifted his head up, the door now stuck to it. He saw the cat right in front of him and was about to try lunging again when he noticed it was underneath an angry-looking woman holding a large broom in her hands. "Uh, I can explain." Venom tried to defend himself, only for the woman to scream angrily and swing her broom at him.

In another part of town, someone's car alarm was going off again. It was a habit that was annoying everyone. And part of that everyone was Boulder. Deciding to do something about it, he used his Rock Roller move to summon a large boulder. The Edmontonia gently pushed it forward and it rolled until it was right on top of the car, crushing it. While it did get the alarm to shut off, the owner of said car was right there when the incident happened. "Boulder, what the fuck!? I just washed this!" He yelled at the Edmontonia.

"Consider it waxed." Boulder replied.

This only further angered the car's owner. "There are city codes!"

Boulder responded to this by summoning another large rock. "Stay right there."

Positioning himself, the neighbor could tell what the ankylosaur was planning and ran for his life. "No! No!" He screamed as he ran out of sight.

Boulder only laughed at the scene that played out in front of him. "What a nice neighbor."

And in an alleyway, a garbage man approached a dumpster to empty it out. But once he opened the lid, the stench from inside made him gag and pass out. See, dinosaurs couldn't use normal bathrooms, there was not enough room for them and the toilets were too small. So, the next best thing was to go in dumpsters, at least until they could make pitstops more dinosaur-sized.

While there were more positives than negatives regarding the new species living amongst man, there were still enough issues that many demanded to see the one they held most responsible.

DK

With nothing else on his schedule for today, Rex decided to see how construction was coming along with the new stadium: the Dinoseum. The name was Max's idea. While the city donated the supplies needed to build the stadium, and the land that was conveniently large enough for a large battle royale between the whole herd, the construction was being done by the Gel Jarks. This was due to the stadium also containing many futuristic devices as well to make it both a place for epic battles and safe for those watching said battles. And since there was basically no one alive in this time period that knew how to handle said devices, the job of construction was given to the Space Pirates gelatin workers, each having vast knowledge of the Timeline's past, present, and future. Also, they really weren't doing anything on the ship, so this gave them something to keep themselves from getting bored.

The young king was currently being lead around the construction site by the lead Gel Jark. The Jark couldn't speak, as when they were first created and given the ability to speak all they did was scream 'I can see the future' and that annoyed the creators to the point of removing speech altogether. To work around this, the Gel Jarks would print what they would need to say like a printer from under their heads. It was weird, and a little gross given the paper was made of goo, but it was better than guessing everything they were trying to say.

Inspecting the barrier surrounding the battlefield, Rex gently poked it with his finger. He immediately recoiled it when he felt the forcefield shock him. "Well, it definitely has the barrier part down. But is it strong enough against a powerful Move Card?" The Gel Jark made some inaudible beeps and printed out a message. Rex grabbed the note and read it. When finished, he nodded in agreement. "I was thinking the same thing. Having the others test their attacks on the barrier should give us an idea of how much stronger it needs to be. Hopefully, they don't shatter it and create a large hole in the stadium."

Just as he was about to give more instructions, his phone started to go off. It wasn't a phone call, but instead an alarm. Pulling it out, Rex saw what time it was. "And it's twelve o'clock." He sighed as he left the stadium.

Just as he predicted, a small crowd of angry people and dinosaurs came by the stadium shouting complaints. "He was going to eat my cat!"

"He totaled my car!"

"I can't do my job when your subjects keep dropping their crap in the dumpsters!"

"How was I supposed to know that cat wasn't a stray?!"

"That dinosaur is a hero and shouldn't be punished for doing everyone a favor!"

"They took my job!"

With all the shouting, it was next to impossible to pinpoint who was saying what and where to start. Once again, shouting over the angry crowd was needed. "One at a time!" He yelled and everyone stopped their complaining. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he began hearing them out, starting with the cat owner. "You, ma'am. What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened! That beast tried to eat my cat!" She pointed at Venom accusingly.

"I can say with certainty that feline had no collar on it whatsoever." The Piatnitzkysaurus defended himself. "Anyone could've mistaken it for a stray."

"That still doesn't change the fact that you were hunting in town again." Yang scolded him. "How many times do I have to follow you around like a baby?"

With that information, Rex looked over to the next group, gesturing for them to speak. "This brute crushed my car with a rock!" The car owner complained.

"You wouldn't turn your car alarm off." Boulder responded. "I was just doing the neighborhood a favor."

"Yeah!" One of the neighbors agreed. "He shouldn't be punished for charity."

"Okay." Rex nodded slowly before shifting his focus again. "And you?"

The garbage man was about to speak, but Michelle pushed him out of the way. "I'm onto you, young man!" She yelled angrily at the king. "You got me fired just so you can have one of your dinosaurs take my job!"

Rex was about to respond, but conveniently Michelle's replacement walked right past them responding to the claims. "Oh, please. Everyone knows you got fired because you crashed a bus into the school while on a sugar rush. And the reason I got your job was because I applied beforehand and was available, so they gave it to me." Meg said.

Everyone watched her leave, finding the interruption slightly awkward, before Rex gave his verdicts. "All right. Venom, like Yang said, you are forbidden to hunt within city grounds. In fact, I've told you many times in as many weeks that you shouldn't be hunting period. You are to return to the D-Lab and are placed under arrest until I can believe you actually learned your lesson. Yang, make sure he gets there."

The Yangchuanosaurus bowed and grabbed Venom by the tail, lifting him up, and carrying him back to the lab. "Wait! No! Please! I promise I won't do it again! I swear!" He struggled, but the larger theropod held firm.

Next, he turned to Boulder's group. "What're the costs for the damage?" He asked the car owner.

"My insurance can cover that. But I demand that the culprit receives justice."

"I owe you nothing. Augh!" Boulder retorted.

"Actually you do." Rex countered. "Since he has the money part taken care of, I won't make you help him pay for a new car. But, I expect you to help this man with any other large tasks for the week starting tomorrow."

"Really?" Boulder complained while the owner looked excited.

But Rex made sure no one got any funny ideas. "I'll have someone present as a supervisor, so don't think I'm giving you a slave for a week. If they and Boulder believe you're using him for lazy tasks then his punishment is suspended."

This relived the Edmontonia, but now the owner was the one complaining. "Really? You know what? Forget it! I don't need a dinosaurs help with anything." He left in a huff.

Finally, it was the garbage man's turn, and Rex already could figure out what he was upset about without him telling. "I know it doesn't look like it, but I have been speaking with the mayor about making bathrooms for dinosaurs. Please understand that making them would mean major construction work in crowded areas. It only looks like we are focusing on the Dinoseum more because we have permission to work here. But I can assure you, we will shift priorities the second we get approval." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"This better be true, because I plan on seeing in the mayor about this, too." The garbage man said before he left. Now that everyone was gone, Rex fell to the ground in relief. If his duties ended there for today he'd be fine. But he knew what was waiting for him when he came home.

DK

Late that afternoon, Max went over to Rex's room to invite the blonde and his team to a gaming session he was in with his dinos. "Hey, Rex, want to join us for game night?" He asked as he opened the door.

Walking into the room, the brunette saw the blonde at his desk with his laptop on, surrounded by books and papers and his face just inches from the computer screen. "I'm a little busy right now, Max. Maybe tomorrow."

Normally Max would've left Rex to his own business went on with his own. But this was the fourth day in a row he's seen him like this. He and Zoe were beginning to notice him having a hard time staying awake in school. Now, he himself has dozed off during class before himself, but this was different. Rex actually paid attention and liked learning. But whatever he was doing on the computer clearly was taking up a lot of time and it was affecting him badly.

Looking over his shoulder, Max saw what Rex was working on. Immediately his eyes hated him for it. "Oh my gosh! That's a lot of words!" He screamed as he covered his eyes and moved away from the screen. "Who would send something like that?!"

"Italy." Rex responded in a dull voice, unaffected by Max's outburst. "It's terms they have that would allow dinosaurs to not only enter Italy without being on a mission but also possibly live there when the war's over."

"And they sent all that?" Max removed his hands from his eyes. "How difficult is it to allow dinosaurs to live among people?"

"I don't know, and that's what all this research is for." The blonde king replied, his voice starting to sound like it was cracking. "I know they're all still scared of dinosaurs, and loathe the idea of having them living like civilized men. But they can't publicly say no to dinosaur citizenship because that would make them look bad. So they send these 'terms' to fool me into thinking they want peace when they're trying to make me sell everyone into slavery!"

"Would the world leaders really do that?" Max asked. Sure, he heard the adults talking about how politicians can't be trusted. But that was just a joke, wasn't it?

Rex moved aside and allowed Max to see the screen better, but the brunette was more horrified now by the blonde's eyes. They looked like they haven't seen sleep in years. "Read the sentence I highlighted and you'll see my point."

Max slowly approached the laptop, worried he might literally go blind. What he saw actually surprised him. The document was only a page long. Clearly, the phrase 'too long, didn't read' really applied to him. Still, why would a smart guy like Rex have trouble with this? From what was saw at the top of the document, this was sent four days ago.

Shaking his head to remove distractions, he found the highlighted sentence. It was part of a list of what he assumed were the terms. Again, it was long, but he was someone who hated reading. "The-" He began reading before Rex interrupted.

"What does that mean?" He asked as he paced the room.

"Um.." Max was about to answer before getting cut off again.

"I have to make sure I know the meaning behind every single word in those terms. One misstep and I just gave Italy to OK to come here and slaughter the entire herd!"

"Rex, I think you're overreacting." That was only slightly accurate in Max's eyes.

Rex responded by grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and dragging him till he was inches from his face, giving the brunette a clear look at his worn-out face, blood-shot eyes with huge bags under them. "I'M NOT OVERREACTING! IF ANYTHING, YOU'RE UNDERREACTING! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT IS AT STAKE?! ONE WRONG MOVE AND I JUST SIGNED AN AGGRESSION PACT!"

"Uh, Rex? I'm over here."

The blonde paused and realized he was actually holding his lamp while looking out the window. Grinning sheepishly, he put down the lamp and walked back to the computer. "The point is, Max, as King, the safety of all our dinosaurs falls on me and me alone."

"Maybe I could help you-" Max suggested as he approached the laptop again. But he was cut off when Rex hugged his computer screen, growling like a wild animal. Clearly, he was not in the right mindset right now. "Oookaaay, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Slowly walking backwards out of the room and closing the door behind him, Max returned to the living room where the rest of the team were waiting for him. Ace and Tank looked up and expected to see Rex with Max, but frowned when they saw no sign of him. "Still busy?" Ace guessed.

Max nodded in confirmation as he sat down and Tank growled in anger. Not at Rex not being able to attend, but the reason why he wasn't. "Damn that UN. This is all their fault.

"The United Nations? What do they have to do with this?" Max asked.

"Rex couldn't go to their stupid meeting in New York because that would be way too much time away from school. So, in response to his absence, those jackasses decided to make a bunch of terms regarding dinosaur citizenship and send those documents to him individually as to not 'overwhelm him'." She explained, her bitterness in her sarcasm growing with each word.

"I'm sure they didn't mean to cause Rex so much stress." Paris said. "They probably thought doing it one at a time would be easier than one giant document of terms and agreements."

"That doesn't excuse them talking about us behind our backs." Tank growled quietly.

"It doesn't matter who's to blame for Rex's condition." Zoe interjected. "What matters is we need to do something before things get even worse."

"And just what are we supposed to do about it?" Chomp asked

"You know what the King needs? A vacation." Spiny said. Everyone stared at the Spinosaurus. "What? It's a good idea."

"It's not the idea that's the problem. It's how would we even set up a vacation." Zoe explained while pacing around the living room. "We'd have to figure out where would be a good spot, how long it vacation will be, how will this affect school, who'll run things with the herd while he's gone, how much it'll cost-"

As Zoe listed the complications with this plan, Max leaned in to whisper to his partners. "Whoever knew vacations were this much work?"

"-and, most of all, what will happen if a dinosaur shows up at the resort. Because, knowing our luck, it's gonna happen." Zoe finished.

"Excuse me?" Everyone looked to the kitchen to see Jonathan approaching them, stopping to take a bow. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance."

"How's that, Jonathan?" Ace asked.

"Dr. Ancient once had a similar problem that Master Rex is in now. Feeling so obligated to complete his work, and starting another large project once the other is finished."

"Oh, my Seikatsu. It is like father-like son." Zoe realized.

"Precisely." Jonathan nodded before continuing. "Thankfully, someone many years before decided to create a small resort for workaholics to relax. Dr. Ancient stayed there for a week, and he came out a much healthier man, with a much better work schedule I might add."

"That's great and all, Jonathan. But how is that supposed to help us with Rex?" Max asked.

"Because that same resort should be here in this time period." Jonathan explained.

Everyone stared at the android like he grew a second head. Which would be as weird considered he's a robot. "Say what now?" Chomp asked.

"The company that funded the resort was founded in 1995. The first resort was opened later that year." The android butler disclosed. "Throughout the next decade, resorts were opening all over the world."

"Including Japan?" Max asked hopefully. When Jonathan nodded to confirm this, the brunette had a huge smile on his face. "This is perfect! We let Rex take a few days off so he can recover from all the stress and be his old self again."

"Good luck getting him to the resort." Terry said dryly. "Getting Rex to stop working will be impossible."

"Not impossible, just really difficult." Max said before turning to Jonathan. "Jonathan, can you schedule for Rex to stay at the nearest resort for about a week, give or take?"

"I'll get on it immediately, Max." Jonathan bowed and was about to leave when Tank stopped him.

"Wait, Jonathan!"

"Yes?"

"With Rex busy, we don't have a third member for our team. Can you lend us a hand?" She gestured to an extra controller.

"It has been a while since I partook in a form of video games with friends." Jonathan said as he sat down and grabbed the controller.

"And what game was that? Super Nintendo?" Terry laughed.

"No, actually, a lot of my fighting moves came from the most recent fighting games." The android replied, making Terry's pupils comically shrink at the realization. I believe, as they should still say now." He glared a challenge at the chibi Tyrannosaurus. "It is game on."

DK

It was probably three AM when Rex finally went to sleep. But, since it was another school day, he awoke at about seven, as was his new custom. After splashing water on his face in a failed attempt to wake himself up, brushing his teeth, and other grooming activities, he went to get himself breakfast before school started.

It was slightly difficult reaching the kitchen, as the blonde continuously kept on bumping into walls. Normally Tank would help guide him, but today she was uncharacteristically absent. When he finally made it, he was greeted by an odd sight. Max, Zoe, their dinosaurs partners, Jonathan, Aki, and Spike were all sitting around the table, clearly waiting for him. Even Utah and Guru were there, the Ampelosaur's head coming through the window. He didn't need to be a genius to know they were all here for him. That still didn't make him any less worried. "W-what's going on?" He asked.

"Rex." Max said as he got up and approached the tired blonde. "This is an intervention. We need to talk about your role as Dinosaur King." If he wasn't already worried before, Rex was definitely worried now. All this work and lack of sleep did not help with paranoia. Thankfully, before he could worry too much, Max continued. "It's not that we think you're doing a bad job. Far from it." He put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "But you might be doing too good of a job."

Now Rex went from paranoid to confused. "What? How can I be doing too good of a job as King? That doesn't even make sense."

"Well, you just found a way to make it." Zoe chimed in.

"What they're trying to say, Rex, is that we're all worried for your health." Ace said. "Ever since the UN met a week ago you've been pushed to the brink of your abilities."

"Those assholes weren't even supposed to meet until a month later." Tank growled.

"Tank, language." Aki warned the Saichania, her maternal instincts not wanting her to hear swearing in front of her son. Tank rolled her eyes in response.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid they're right." Utah chimed in. "I have noticed you dozing off during class with Max." She glared at the brunette, who shrunk down from glares both his teacher and parents were giving him.

"It's not my fault algebra makes me sleepy." He said quietly.

"You may be my king. But if it keeps happening I'll have no choice but to write you up." The Utahraptor warned Rex.

"And that isn't even going into how this could affect your overall health." Jonathan said. "I have been monitoring your sleeping patterns, and have found you getting three hours of sleep at most."

"And we all know how you get when you don't have enough sleep." Terry warned.

"OK, first of all, please do not watch me while I sleep." Rex told Jonathan before addressing everyone else. "Look, guys, I appreciate your concerns. But I'm fine. I pro-"

"Don't say that." Max cut him off, now grabbing both shoulders. "We both know that we shouldn't make promises we know we cannot keep." He said, referring to when Rod and Laura captured Torch. "Rex, you can't keep doing this."

"I have to. It's my job." Rex broke away from Max's grip. "I just need to figure out a schedule to balance everything out."

"You said those exact words before." Ace reminded him.

Guru decided to say his piece. "Sire, you can't take care of others if you can't take care of yourself."

"Guru's right." Spike said. "Besides, you're still young. You should enjoy it while it lasts."

"I don't have time to enjoy it." Rex retorted.

"Actually, you do." Tank spoke up. "We've all decided that you need to go on vacation."

Rex looked at them all confused. "Vacation?"

"There's a resort about an hour away that is designed to help workaholics recover from their...workaholic ways." Terry explained.

"Me, a workaholic?" Rex gave a short laugh. "Come on, guys. Isn't that over-exaggerating just a little bit?"

"Perhaps. But perhaps not." Spiny said dramatically.

"Your father was in a similar position as you once were, Master Rex." Jonathan said. "And, just like you do now, he also needed some time away from work to ease himself and come up with a more healthy system."

Hearing his biological father had a similar problem did get Rex to realize maybe they did have a point. How tempting it was to be able to just get away from it all. Too bad it would be impossible. "Even if I am a workaholic, I can't just take a vacation now."

"Yes, you can. We already paid for your room and everything." Chomp said.

"But what about school? You just said that I am slacking behind. Taking time off would only make it worse."

Utah had the answer for that. "Your other teachers and even principal agree that some time off should help you mentally. We already have plans on how you can make up the work you missed while you're gone."

Hearing that made Rex slightly more relived, but not by much. "OK, but what about everything else? Who's gonna fill out the rest of the UN documents, oversee the Dinoseum's construction, keep the peace?"

"Easy, me and Zoe will." Max said, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend and pulled in close. "With her responsibleness and my stubbornness-"

"We're the perfect team." They finished together.

While Rex knew that his friends understood this wasn't something to take for granted, he still felt uneasy putting all the responsibility on them. The idea of someone else doing his work worried him. "Are you guys sure?" He asked hesitantly.

"Rex, remember what I told you when you first became King?" Max asked as both boys recalled that moment.

There was a silence as Rex absorbed what Max said. "You really need to work on your comforting skills. But that's just one of your Max traits, isn't it?" Rex said, sniffing slightly before turning around. "You really think I could even be King?"

"Are you kidding? You're an amazing leader! When Pyro invaded, you were the one who came up with the plan to defeat him. When you were cornered by Dino, Danno, and Sue, you not only managed to hold them off, you were able to get them to see we weren't their enemies. All the dinosaurs respect you. I know this is what your father would want." Max encouraged him.

Rex remained silent as he looked down at the floor. The feeling of guilt was still there, but it was slowly fading away. Max's words got him thinking about what he had just heard about his father. He sounded like a great leader. One that wouldn't want him blaming himself for his death. He'd want him to stop focusing on the past and work towards the future of dinosaur kind. Sighing, he looked up at Max. "Will you help me?"

Max have his friend a thumbs up in response. "Always got your back!" He said with a smile.

"That was a promise we all made when we took the oath to form the D-Team. And that is a promise we can keep." Max said.

"If you can do this good a job alone, we should be able to keep things stable for the next few days. You already did all the hard stuff." Zoe commented.

Again, they were both right. Still, there was one thing that Rex didn't feel so sure about. Thankfully, it could be easily fixed. "OK, I'll take a vacation on one condition."

"And that is?" Spike asked.

"Ace is coming with me." The blonde said.

The Carnotaurus, and frankly everyone else, were confused by this request. "Why do you need me to come along?" He asked his partner.

"Because I will need someone with me in case a dinosaur shows up." Rex explained.

"Rex, I don't think-" Paris tried to assure him before the blonde king cut her off.

"Futaba, Hana, Utah, Tank, Nessie, the Deinonychus, Lucky, the Pteranodons, Ally, Comet, Beta, Teddy, Sweet Tooth, Meg, and Kui. What do they all have in common?" He asked the others before answering his own question. "All were activated conventionally in the same area at least one of us was in when we traveled. If I'm to go on vacation, I'd like to be able to sleep at night knowing I can defend myself."

It was hard to argue with logic like that. "He's got a point." Tank said.

"Told you." Zoe reminded them of one of her points from the night before that they overlooked.

"OK, you can bring Ace with you." Max said. "Anything else?"

"I'll probably need another adult with me, as I doubt they'll let a thirteen-year-old travel that far alone. And unfortunately Ace doesn't fit that requirement." Rex explained.

"That is where I come in." Jonathan stepped forward. "We already decided that I will accompany you during your stay."

"All right, that should cover everything." Rex said quietly to himself before turning to Max and Zoe again. "Are you guys sure you can handle all this? Because it isn't a simple as you think."

"If we couldn't handle a challenge we wouldn't be here right now." Max reminded him.

"Max is right. We've faced so much together, some politics will be like homework." Zoe added.

"So you go out that vacation and relax." Tank told her partner and king.

"And stay hydrated." Spiny added.

Seeing as they had everything planned and had the utmost confidence in themselves, Rex knew the kingdom was in good hands. "Well, if you all believe you can handle this I have no reason to not do the same. I'll see you all when I get back." He told them as he went to go pack his things. When he was gone, Max and Zoe high-fived each other. The hardest part was over. At least, that's what they thought.

DK

When Rex first saw the resort, he was in awe at how large it was. Hard to believe that such a place was only an hour away. After checking in and finding their room, Rex took the opportunity to catch up on some much-needed sleep.

With the King already taking advantage of his free time, his faithful Carnotaurus wasted no time checking in on the temporary rulers. "You seem to be handling those documents better than Rex was." He complimented Zoe as he spoke to her from the Dino Holder.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's easy." Zoe replied. "Just not as big a deal as Rex was making it." She was currently in Rex's room using his computer, the password provided by Tank, to finish up any leftover documents the UN sent him. "Most of these documents are saying the same things: citizenship will require the same tests that humans would take, laws of said country come before laws of the King, etc."

"Rex may have been overly paranoid about these documents, but never forget-"

"Yes, yes. Never underestimate the power of 'too long, didn't read'." Zoe repeated what she had been hearing from her parents all morning in an annoyed tone. "Relax, I have all of that covered."

Picking up her Dino Holder off the desk, she showed Ace that she had Tank, Paris, and Spiny helping her by either reading a print-out of the document to make sure Zoe didn't miss anything or look up big and rarely used words in the dictionary. "What does it mean by demilitarization?" Spiny asked.

"It means to remove military forces." Paris defined.

"What military?" Tank asked. "The Dino Patrol only has like six members since Sushi and Sweet Tooth left." Grabbing the document, she read it briefly before she looked at Spiny with irritation and whacked his head. "Spiny, this is the Treaty of Versailles. I told you to print out the German peace treaty regarding dinosaurs."

"I typed 'Germany Peace Treaty' on the computer and this was the first thing I got." Spiny defended himself.

Zoe shifted the Dino Holder screen back to her, chuckling in embarrassment. "Hehe. With varying levels of success." Ace just rolled his eyes in amusement.

At around the same time, Max was taking care of the discussion half of Rex's job. Currently, he was talking with both Yang and an exterminator. "Well, we always could use an extra pair of hands. And he does seem to be good at hunting rodents." The exterminator said.

"That may be true, but how can we sure that he won't go wild." Yang cautioned. "You haven't seen him hunting, but I have. His mind changes to that of a wild animal."

"Well, if we help him understand self-control surely he wouldn't go on such destructive chases." Max pointed out before turning to the exterminator. "Why not give Venom a test to see where he's at and work from there."

"That's not a bad idea, kid." The exterminator agreed.

"This might actually work." Yang nodded in agreement.

"Great. We can start once his timeout is done."

A little later, the brunette went over to the Dinoseum to oversee its construction. "Great work, guys!" He waved to some passing Gel Jarks. The gelatin creatures stopped carrying a pole and waved back. But this caused them to lose support and the pole fell down on them. "Oooh." He winced before calling out to them. "My bad, guys! That was on me!"

"Max!" An angry voice called out to him, followed by a few others. Turning around, Max saw a small angry mob of dinosaurs led by Blossom approaching him, with Chomp and Terry, full-sized, following from behind.

When they came to a stop, Chomp and Terry were able to catch up with them. "Sorry, Max. We tried to stop them, but there were too many." Terry apologized.

"It's all right, Terry." Max assured his Tyrannosaur partner before addressing the mob. "Is there a problem, Blossom?" He asked the Lanzhousaurus.

"Is there a problem?" The Lanzhousaurus repeated angrily before shouting. "Of course there is a problem!" She stomped her foot in frustration. "You said that when we all joined the herd that we'd all be given an education so we could better fit in with the humans. Well, I have been here for three weeks and haven't learned squat!"

"Injustice it is." Angel agreed.

"This isn't just something with the new guys. Those of us who were here during the attack eight months ago still aren't allowed to attend schools." Francine commented.

"Do you know how embarrassing it is having to constantly have someone following you because you can't read the signs?" Marlin added.

"We demand justice for our mistreatment!" Blossom stomped again before they all shouted together. "We want equality!"

The shouting was so loud it almost blew Max off his feet. After not getting blown away, Max quickly regained himself and addressed the angry mob. "Blossom, guys, please calm down!"

A few like Francine and Comet quieted down for Max, but the rest were still shouting and stomping in anger. It wasn't until Terry let out a defining roar that they all quieted down. "Max, you have the floor." Terry bowed slightly as he gave his partner some space.

"Thanks, Terry. Now, I am positive this is all a big misunderstanding. I didn't know you guys cared so much about learning to read, and I'm sure the school board felt the same way. Let me and Zoe talk to our principal tomorrow and we can figure something out." He requested.

The dinosaurs all looked at each other and muttered amongst themselves quietly before Blossom spoke. "All right. We're trusting you with this." With nothing else to say, the now not-angry mob took their leave.

With them gone, Max gave a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground. "Phew! Crisis averted."

DK

Once night fell, Max and Zoe meet up again at the D-Lab to discuss their day. "Venom as an exterminator." Zoe said what Max told her about is plans for the Piatnitzkysaurus. "I never would've thought of that."

"Well, if getting him to stop chasing prey isn't going to work, the next best thing is to try and use it to help others." Max explained his reasoning.

"A dino's gotta do what a dino's gotta do." Zoe agreed before shifting topics. "What time should I wake you up tomorrow?"

"I don't need you waking me up, Zoe. I can get up on my own."

"Uh-huh." Zoe wasn't convinced as she crossed her arms. "Yeah, from what your mother tells me, you always wake up late unless someone else does it for you. And we told the others we'd meet with the principal to discuss getting them a tutor as soon as possible."

Max only blushed at the facts. "Hehe. Good point." He rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Let's get to school a half-hour before classes start and we can talk to him then."

"Good plan."

As they shook hands in agreement, their partners, in chibi-form, walked out of the D-Lab. "Well, everyone's back and accounted for." Chomp informed the acting rulers.

"Thanks, Chomp." Max pet his partner on the head.

"Everyone but Gertie and Charles." Tank reminded Chomp. "They're still not back yet."

"They said they'd be out late for some alone time." Zoe explained. "They'll be back in their own time."

"Well, then that settles that. See you guys tomorrow." Max waved them goodnight as he and his partners, plus Tank, went back home.

"Goodnight!" The others called back.

A few hours later, Gertie and Charles were making their way back to the D-Lab. The route they normally took back was closed so they had to take a detour. Problem was not only was it extremely dark that night with no moon or street lights on, but they also had to pass through a really small street that was filled with cars they could only see if they lowered their heads to ground level, which wouldn't be the safest thing to do. While the two giant sauropods walked with extreme caution, even the most cautious can still make mistakes.

DK

Not too far away from the hotel, a pair of men were camping in the woods. They were sitting around the campfire, drinking alcohol, and mumbling a bunch of rubbish while drunk. "And then she 'burp'!" One of the men said.

"Ha, ha!" The other one laughed. "That's my favorite part of the story." Reaching behind himself for another bottle, he grabbed what looked like a rock instead. Attempting to chug it down, he looked at it carefully when nothing was coming out. "Aw, man. It's empty already." He said before tossing the rock away.

What he didn't know was that the rock was actually a dinosaur card capsule that was just covered in dirt. As is standard practices, once the capsule landed on the ground it opened up to reveal a dinosaur card and Move Card. The wind caught the two cards in a small draft and they flowed white.

The dinosaur was a small carnivore, about human-sized. Its body was gray with many large yellow spots all over its body, minus the neck and head where they were more stripe-like, with its underbelly the same yellow as the spots. Along with small spikes going along the back, on its head, from the nose to the eyes, were two small crests on each side. This dinosaur was a Gojirasaurus.

Once released from her card, the Gojirasaurus looked around at her surroundings. From within the trees, she saw the orange glow of the campfire. Being from the very beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs, she did not know the concept of camping, much less campfires. However, she didn't panic. The fire looked small and was hopefully contained.

Deciding not to test fate, she leapt up to the highest tree-branch she could reach and actually used the trees as a means of escape. Back at the campsite, the two men OD'd, unaware of what they had unleashed onto the unsuspecting people spending the night at the hotel.

DK

As Zoe predicted, around the time Max was supposed to wake up he and his team were still sound asleep. And they probably would've slept until Aki woke them up if Max's Dino Holder, which he smartly, or accidentally, had placed on his head when he fell asleep. So when it started beeping to indicate he had a call coming in, it shocked him awake. Not literally, mind you.

"Waah!" Max jumped when he heard the noise, actually flinging Chomp and Terry out of the bed. "I'm up! I'm up!"

"Ow." The Triceratops moaned when they landed.

"A little warning would've been nice." Terry grumbled.

Max ignored them and quickly grabbed his Dino Holder, assuming it was Zoe making sure he was awake. "I'm awake, Zoe. I'll be at the school in-"

"Forget about that!" His girlfriend yelled from the other side. "Get to Baker Street now! It's an emergency!"

"What?!" Everyone in the room gasped. "Is it another Alpha Gang attack?"

"Worse! Everyone believes one of our dinosaurs attacked!"

DK

Once he heard that news, Max was out the door so fast he didn't even change his pajamas. Granted he had to come back to grab his bike and he changed then, but he still was on his way to the attack site in less than ten minutes. When he got there, there was a crowd of people and dinosaurs surrounding what he assumed was the damage. "Excuse me. Pardon me." He squeezed through the crowd to get to the front. And when he got there, it was not a pretty sight. Cars all over the street were smashed to pieces. It was like a monster truck rally, only no one was enjoying it.

Terry and Chomp finally caught up with Max and saw the demolition. "Whoa." Chomp said in shock. "Did someone call in the demolition man?"

"That's what we'd like to know." A woman's voice demanded. Elizabeth pushed her way through the crowd and marched straight up to the D-Team.

Despite everything he's faced: dinosaurs, robots, huge explosions, Max couldn't help but be intimidated by Elizabeth's angry face. Perhaps it was because he couldn't just make her go away by summoning Terry or Chomp to full-size. "M-Mrs. Elizabeth." He stuttered when she stopped right in front of him. "W-what makes you think we had something to do with it?"

"I don't think, I know it was one of your beasts behind this attack!" She shouted at him in response before pointing at the damaged cars. "Only a dinosaur could've done this much damage overnight, and I intended to see to it that the culprit gets their rightful punishment."

First one the crowd seemed to suspect was Boulder, given his recent experience with cars. The Edmontonia noticed the looks he was being given and retaliated. "It wasn't me! I'm still on probation! Uagh!"

"Exactly!" Max quickly interjected. "There's no way it could've been one of us."

"Actually, it could've been." Charles admitted as he and Gertie lowered their heads down to Max and Elizabeth's level.

"Charles? Gertie?" Max couldn't believe they were responsible for this.

"This was the street we used to return back to the D-Lab after our night out." Charles explained. "We tried to make sure that we didn't step on any cars."

"But it seems we didn't take into account our tails." Gertie finished before they both bowed their heads and apologized. "We're sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry?! Is sorry going to fix all the damage you've caused?!" Elizabeth snapped at them before turning her attention to Max. "You're supposed to be the Dinosaur King while your friend is away. What do you have to say for this?!"

"Uh-um-I-we." Max stuttered, but Elizabeth's yelling was not helping him think of the words.

Thankfully for him, he wasn't the only ruler around. "Hey, back off, Mrs. Elizabeth!" Zoe said as she got in between the two of them, blocking her boyfriend protectively. "You heard what they said, it was an accident! No one was hurt, and the cars can be replaced. If we're going to point fingers, maybe we should blame the people who never bothered putting their cars in the garage!" She yelled at some of the car owners, who shrunk down in shame.

Needless to say, Elizabeth did not take the idea of being told off by a thirteen-year-old very well. "Listen here, you-"

"That's enough, ma'am." The Chief of Police said as he walked over to her, being tailed by Toro. "Ms. Zoe is correct. This was supposedly an accident. As long as Gertie and Charles help pay their debt back to these people, I see no reason to further press charges."

The people in the crowd began mumbling to themselves. "He does have a point."

"They do seem very sorry for what happened."

"It could just be an act since they were caught."

"But they confessed to doing it."

"My car insurance can't cover much more of this."

"All right, enough!" Toro stomped his foot to get everyone's attention. "Gertie, Charles, come with us to the station and we'll discuss what to do with you there. Everyone else, go about your day."

Seeing no reason to stick around, everyone slowly began to leave until only a few were left. Elizabeth gave one last hateful glare at Max, Zoe, and their dinosaurs before leaving as well. With no people or dinosaurs in the way, the Police Chief got back into his car and drove back to the station, Gertie and Charles following closely behind.

With them gone, Max and Zoe made their way back home so they could get ready for school, their dinos following suit. "I still can't believe Gertie and Charles would do this." Max mused what just happened over.

"I agree. I know Gertie, and she would never intentionally smash someone's car." Zoe concurred. "But you heard what they said, it was an accident."

"But wouldn't they still have felt the cars getting crushed by their tails?" Max asked.

Zoe pondered this information over. Even if they had their heads close to the ground, the two sauropods tails should still have been some good feet in the air. And even if they were somehow dragging on the ground, they should've felt their tails against the cars. Diplodocid tails were sensitive to the touch just like another dinosaur tail.

From behind, the dinosaurs thought about this as well. "Max, Zoe." Toro spoke up. "If it will make you feel better, I can have the Dino Patrol do some late-night patrolling to make sure nothing else happens."

The two of them both thought the same thing. "This is what Rex would do." Frankly, it made perfect sense as well. "OK, Toro. We trust you'll be able to figure this out." Zoe told him.

The Torosaurus nodded and left to tell his team their new mission. However, despite his faith in the Dino Patrol, Max couldn't help but feel uneasy. "There's something else going on here." He thought grimly.

DK

After waking up from the first proper night's sleep he's had in ages, Rex decided a dip in the pool would be relaxing. Sure enough, it was like he never even left his bed. He doesn't know what they did to make the water so comforting, but he felt like he could almost fall asleep in there. And frankly, that's what he might have been doing as he floated on his back. Surprisingly, no-one else was at the pool besides himself, and Ace who was splashing around in the shallows, which seemed odd for such a popular hotel. But that did mean he wouldn't have to worry about bumping into others while he floated.

At least he thought that until he bumped into something that felt like a pool raft. "Hey! Watch where you are floating!" The woman on the raft shouted.

"Sorry!" Rex quickly apologized as he shifted his position so he was essentially standing and saw a familiar face tanning on the raft. "Sheer?"

Sheer moved her sunglasses and saw Rex floating in front of her. "Well, isn't this a surprise." She commented with a smile.

Rex was going to ask what she was doing there, but, given the nature of this hotel, it was obvious. "Spectre gave you some time off?" He guessed.

Sheer's smile disappeared before she rolled on her side and looked away. "Sure, let's go with that." She mumbled in response.

The blonde king took the cues. Whatever it was, she clearly didn't want to talk about it. Leaving her to her business, Rex swam to the edge of the pool, deciding to head back to his room. As he left, Sheer recalled the meeting on the ship that put her in this situation. Desperately, she had tried to redeem herself in Spectre's eyes for her previous failure. Any time an anomaly was accorded in the Timeline, she would be right on top of it and would go out to solve it by herself, regardless of the toll all the missions were taking. And how was she rewarded?

"Sheer, I regret to inform you that as of this moment you are suspended indefinitely." Spectre told his second in command.

"W-what?" Sheer couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"This wasn't an easy decision, but after discussing it with Foolscap and Gavro we came to an agreement. Your recent attempts at 'redemption' are not only selfish, but also reckless and an endangerment to yourself. As leader, I cannot allow you to continue this fantasy of yours for all our sakes."

Sheer looked over to Foolscap and Gavro, who were standing off to the side, to see if they truly agreed with her boss. Their looks of shame away from her were all she needed to know they felt the same way. "However." Spectre spoke up, snapping Sheer out of her thoughts regarding this supposed betrayal. "I assume you want to rejoin as soon as possible. The rest of us want that as well. So, we've given you a little change in living arrangements during your time off to help."

The hotel was great and all, but that didn't remove any of the shame from her previous failure. If anything, it only made her feel even more like a failure.

At about the same time, David was doing paperwork in the hotel's lobby. Seeing as it was his family that founded the hotel, he could come and go as he pleased. It was definitely beneficial whenever he needed to get away from his wife.

"I'm telling you, I saw a dinosaur across the street." Someone's voice said, breaking his concentration from his work. Recognizing the someone as one of the inhabitants of the town the hotel was located in, David's interests were peaked and he listened in on the conversation.

"So? There are dinosaurs crossing the street all the time." Another person said.

"Yeah, in Sanjo. That's like an hour away. And even then, that one did not look tamed."

"What makes you say that? One of their own could've just decided to visit town or something."

"Unlike you, I actually follow the D-Team's status updates and that did not match any of their captures."

"Well, if what you say is true then we should get out of here before it decides to eat us."

David stopped listening after that. If there truly was a wild dinosaur in town, it could prove to be a problem for business. It was a slower time of year so every reservation counted into keeping the company alive. And he would lose money if everyone began hearing rumors about a wild dinosaur on the loose. That's not even considering the possible lawsuits if someone gets killed.

Unaware that one of the D-Team was already in the area, he rose and went to his private quarters. He had to make some calls.

DK

For the most part, the rest of the day went by as normal. After school, Max and Zoe took care of Rex's duties. However, that didn't mean that the events of the previous night were glossed over.

Despite the police agreeing that what happened with Gertie and Charles was an accident, and their punishment was just a warning, many of the people were still treating them like criminals. It didn't just stop with those two. All over town, dinosaurs would receive glares from cautious humans, almost daring them to make one wrong move.

Max and Zoe noticed this and were discussing it on the way home. "I don't like this." Max said to his girlfriend and temporary co-ruler.

"You're telling me. I heard some people calling Paris a gold digger behind my back. Paris! Sweet, kind, innocent, Paris! If she wasn't pinning me down in full-size, I would've-"

"I think I get the picture." Max interrupted her tangent, imagining a gory demise for those responsible. "I'm starting to see maybe you do actually have maternal instincts." He said quietly to himself.

But not quietly enough. "What was that?" Zoe asked. "You implying I only boss you boys around because it's fun?"

From her tone, he couldn't tell if she was mad or just joking around. So, he decided to test the waters. "Well, yeah, kind of. Especially considering how you were just as messy as we were."

Needless to say, that earned him a swat in the back of the head from his girlfriend. "Well, some of us actually took the concept of responsibility seriously."

"Yeah, so long as that responsibility wasn't concerning for you to do anything." Max chuckled before looking serious. "I just hope Toro and the rest of the patrol will find out what really happened last night. Gertie and Charles couldn't have done it."

"The mayor, several other officials, and even Mrs. Elizabeth all agreed it was a good idea to have the Dino Patrol search around. It's what Rex would've done." Zoe assured him.

"I guess so. But I just have that feeling that there's something going on that we're missing." They didn't talk much the rest of the way home.

That night, true to his word, Toro and the rest of the Dino Patrol marched through the city, searching for any signs of trouble. For the most part, it was uneventful, with the only major thing being having to repeatedly remind their leader to use his inside voice whenever he did his march chanting, or whatever it's called. After patrolling the city, it looked like everything was safe a secure. But come morning, everyone was in for a horrible surprise.

DK

Past midnight, David had crept out of the hotel grounds towards a place no one would expect somebody of his status and profile to go to: the middle of the woods. His reasons why were simple: he knew someone there personally. Someone that has a reputation that could work to his advantage and save his business.

Despite being a man of the city, David was familiar with the route and normally wouldn't be too frightened. However, from what he could capture of the Gojirasaurus on security cameras, the dinosaur was fast and liked to strike at night. So, you couldn't blame a guy for nearly wetting himself every time he stepped on a twig.

Eventually, he made it to a large stone in a small clearing. This was a close as he was allowed to go if he didn't want to become his own target. After a few minutes of shaking and mustering up the courage, David finally called out. "H-hello? Hanzo? It's David." The only sound in the woods was a gentle breeze passing by. "I have a job for you." Again silence.

Not sure if he was there or not, David decided to explain his case. "There's a dinosaur running wild in town, near my hotel, and the D-Team haven't shown up for two nights straights to capture it. If I don't do something, the chances of it eating one of my guests grows higher every second I waste here talking to your trees." He walked up to the stone and placed photos he took from the security cameras on it. "I already knew calling the police would be too risky. But these photos prove that it would be impossible for anyone else to catch, including those kids. I'd almost say this creature moves at the speed of light. So, if anyone would be able to take this creature on it should be you: the last samurai. And before you ask, here's your reward ahead of time." He placed a large bay of gold coins on the table. It was a small sacrifice to get them, but all worth it when a sword flew down from the trees, landing directly on one of the photos.

Slowly from within the trees, Hanzo showed his face in the moonlight. "You have a deal."

DK

Another large crowd formed around a large store that had clear evidence of being broken in. The entire place was a mess with trash everywhere. Whoever broke in clearly decided to help themselves and nearly at the whole place empty. What was even more damming was the fact that the damage was no doubt caused by a dinosaur.

Many of the humans in the crowd were livid by this crime, but none more so than Elizabeth. "What do you have to say for yourselves this time?!" She immediately demanded out of the D-Team.

Once again, her tone and posture made Max feel very small. "W-w-we didn't do this!" He stuttered in defense.

"Weren't you the ones who allowed those beasts of yours to wander around town, taking whatever we wanted?" She asked rhetorically.

Gone was the fear from a few seconds ago, replaced by anger. "Toro and his team didn't do this!" Max yelled in their defense. "They were patrolling around for any signs of other dinosaurs that might have been responsible for yesterday's mess."

"'Mess'?! Is that what you call this attack?! Just another mess made by you children?!" Elizabeth shouted at him.

"The boy is right." Toro stepped forward. "We searched the entire town over twice and this place was fine when we left. Whoever it was struck-"

"You mean you struck!" Someone in the crowd yelled in anger. "I bet some of your 'soldiers' snuck off while you were parading around."

"Grrrrrr!" Toro stomped his foot in anger and glared towards where the voice came from. "My patrol was with me the entire time. At no point could any of them have snuck off without me noticing."

"And I can confirm he is telling the truth." Lola jumped in.

"Well, what about those two foodies?!" Someone accused Sushi and Sweet Tooth, who were still eating breakfast. "I didn't see them during your little 'patrol'."

"We left the Dino Patrol months ago." Sushi retorted, actually dropping her salmon breakfast in her anger. "We were in the D-Lab sanctuary all night."

"And everyone was accounted for at the lab when we left to go back home." Zoe added.

"They clearly snuck out when you were sleeping like the snakes they are!"

"No they didn't! We have cameras at the D-Lab, and I bet my horns that if we watched the whole night no one left." Chomp said.

"Don't trust him! They probably had one of their smart ones edit the camera footage!" Michelle yelled from the back of the crowd.

"Once again, you lost your job because of yourself." Meg grumbled in annoyance.

"You took my job!" The former teacher yelled back, sounding slightly deranged.

The Megaraptor just rolled her eyes and whispered to Utah. "And now we've reached the point where the humans won't listen to us because we're different."

"That's just peachy. Haven't seen this happen before." Utah replied sarcastically.

Above all the angry shouts from the humans towards the dinosaurs, Elizabeth glared at Max and Zoe personally. "You two have a choice to make. You can either redeem yourselves now before it's too late, or you can stay with them and betray your own kind."

Between all the shouts of angry people, roars of dinosaurs defending themselves, and Elizabeth's glare that made even Zoe cower, it was hard for both teens to come up with an answer. You'd think that it would be an easy answer, they'd chose their dinosaur friends. But from how Elizabeth worded it, it almost seemed that they had to choose between the dinosaurs or their own parents and other friends.

Thankfully for the two of them, they had slight salvation in the form of their Dino Holders beeping. "Huh?" Max quickly looked and saw he was getting a call from Rex. "Uh, excuse us please!" He said before they quickly bolted away.

"Run all you want! But you can't escape the truth!" Elizabeth yelled at them.

From behind her, Louie saw the whole thing and couldn't help but feel sorry for them. "Uh, Mother, don't you think that-"

"Do you want to join them, boy?" She responded in a hushed threatening tone. "Keep your mouth shut and do as your told!" She raised her hand to slap him.

In an alleyway, Max and Zoe quickly pulled out their Dino Holders and answered Rex's call.

DK

With another good nights sleep having come and gone, Rex stretched as he got himself out of bed. It felt good to be able to not worry about everyone's safety. Not just for his subjects, but his friends to.

He found it a tad selfish to admit, but he had the feeling that he had to carry the whole team through their missions. He was the only one who truly understood the risks of everything involved. Perhaps that is why he prefers to do all of his kingly duties by himself. Doing something alone made him feel like he had more control over the situation. It wasn't that he didn't believe Max and Zoe couldn't handle missions on their own or the terrors of politics, he just felt... like he didn't think the same way as them.

Once he put on his clothes for the day, which were just his regular clothes but who cares, he went over to the table and saw Jonathan making breakfast in the kitchen while Ace was snoozing on the couch. "Good morning, Master Rex." Jonathan greeted as he placed the food on the table.

"Morning, Jonathan." Rex replied as he took a seat and eyed his food. "Breakfast looks good."

Jonathan chuckled proudly at the compliment. "Well, I didn't become a world famous chief for nothing." Rex didn't know what he was talking about and just shrugged it off as one of Jonathan's many alter-egos he had before he got his memories back.

Just as he was about to begin eating, his Dino Holder went off. Pulling it out, he assumed it was a call from Max and Zoe, checking him in on current events. However, when he looked at the screen, he did not see a message saying he had a new call. Instead, he saw a map of Japan with a blinking dot on it. He immediately knew what that meant. "Of course, a dinosaur shows up while I'm on vacation." He grumbled to himself before joking telling Jonathan. "Jonathan, pick up that phone because I called it." Zooming in on the location, he saw that it wasn't in Sanjo City like he expected. Instead, it was about an hour away. Right near- "Oh, come on!"

"Your phone, Master Rex." Jonathan said as he handed the room phone to his master. Whether he was doing this as part of the joke or didn't understand what calling it meant was unknown. What Rex did know was that his vacation was on temporary hiatus.

Running over to the bed, he quickly sent a call to Max, assuming Zoe was with him, and waited for a response. After waiting for a few anxious minutes, his friends finally showed up on screen. "Max! Zoe!" He cried in relief.

"Rex!" His friends responded at the same time, though their responses seemed to be more fearful than relieved. "What's going on?" Max asked.

"Is your vacation going well?" Zoe asked. They really were hoping whatever just happened didn't make the news.

Thankfully, he wasn't calling about that. Though, unthankfully, it wasn't much better. "Didn't you get the signal? There's a dinosaur right by my location!"

"A dinosaur?!" The other two exclaimed before Zoe asked. "Are you sure?"

"We didn't get anything on our scanners." Max added.

"Why wouldn't you-" The blonde then recalled that shortly after they captured Blossom Reese made some update on their Dino Holders that would allow them to communicate with their dinos easier should they be separated. The catch was it would most likely have their scanners offline for a while, leaving the one at the D-Lab being the only one functioning. Needless to say, Rex wasn't happy at this realization. "Grrr. I warned Reese not to do them all at the same time!"

"That doesn't matter right now, Rex. What matters is that we get that card before the Alpha Gang does." Zoe reminded him.

Rex nodded in agreement and it was then that he finally heard all the shouting going on on the background. And from what he could make out, it wasn't a party. "Guys, what is going on there?"

Max and Zoe looked at each other and gulped. This was what they were dreading for the past...two minutes. They had informed Rex of yesterday's accident, but that was just swept under the rug as something that has happened before by the blonde king. But this. They had to come clean and tell him the truth. Sooner or later he would find out. Zoe sighed before explaining. "Huh. Well, you see-"

"Someone lotted to supermarket last night and everyone thinks one of our own dinos did it, even though they are completely innocent, and now it's turning into a angry mob that's forcing us to chose a side!" Max blurted out.

It took Rex a while to process what was just said. "WHAT?!" He gasped so loudly it woke up Ace and made Jonathan almost drop the dishes he was cleaning.

"Thanks for putting it lightly, Max." Zoe grumbled at her boyfriend.

"What? It's the truth! It's pandemonium out there! I'm just skipping the lying portion and getting to the part he inevitably finds out." The brunette responded before turning his attention to Rex. "Me and Zoe will gather Tank and the others and teleport to your location." He told the blonde.

But Rex wasn't listening, or at least fully. "Everyone turning against the dinosaurs? How could this happen? After everything we've all went through together." Many thoughts were racing through his head. "Why did this have to happen while I was gone? If I was there, they'd believe me that the dinosaurs didn't do it." That's when an unpleasant thought came into mind. "Wait a second. These supposed attacks happened right after I left for vacation. This can't just be a coincidence. Someone else has got to be doing this so everyone will turn on us. I need to get back there." He could do it. He had the signal of everyone else. All it would take is the push of a few buttons. But there was still this new dinosaur running around. Never mind the Alpha Gang getting it first, if he left it unchecked it could cause gravely injure someone, which would be especially bad given the increasing resentment towards dinosaurs, or be gravely injured itself.

He trusted Max and Zoe to rule while he was recuperating on his vacation. This would be the ultimate test of that trust. "No." He told them firmly.

"What?"

"You guys need to stay there and fix this mess. I'll handle the dinosaur." His friends looked like they were about to object, so he quickly stopped them. "Whoever is doing this knew I would be gone and that the people would have a harder time believing you two. We need to send whoever this attacker is a message that, no matter who is in charge, the D-Team will not be messed with!"

His words managed to inspire his friends. Rex had complete trust in them. He was trusting them with everything, essentially bargaining his rule and Dr. Ancient's work on them succeeding. "You're right, Rex. They try to mess with one of us, but that won't happen!" Zoe agreed.

"We're the D-Team! We protect the dinosaurs together!" Max pumped his fist in the air along with Zoe.

Rex smiled and mimicked their actions. "Smack that jerk hard for me!"

"We will!" They promised before hanging up.

After the call ended, Rex quickly ate his breakfast, as Jonathan wouldn't let him leave on an empty stomach, and ran out the door. "Come on, Ace! We've got a job to do!"

"And what happened to taking a break from work?" Ace asked as he hopped off the couch and followed his partner out the door.

"There are some jobs you can never take a break from!" Rex replied with a smirk. Ace smirked back and they ran to the nearest elevator.

As they ran, they passed by Sheer's room. The guardian was woken up by their running and opened the door to see what was up. "What's all the racket?" She asked while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before seeing Rex and Ace run by her in a blur. Looking the direction they were running, Sheer just blinked in confusion. "Where's the fire?"

DK

After having filled in Shi on everything the phoenix needed to know, which he hoped it was enough, Seth immediately went back to work on his other projects that were either being worked on in his temporary hideout or shelved during his time away. And thanks to the Scouts and ninjas, he was able to acquire the parts needed to continue with his own plans from the pervious day. And his adversaries were none the wiser. Oh, how he couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when it was time to reveal he was alive to them.

After having worked himself to exhaustion the night before, Seth awoke late that morning and visited Shi. The Cosmos Stone was still in the communicator and active, so the phoeinx knew immediately when Seth entered the room and appeared in the hologram again. "I was expecting you to come here earlier." He told Seth.

"Forgive me, Lord Shi." Seth apologized with a bow, calling Shi Lord to appease him. "I was busy through most of the night catching up on projects that will insure your release and total rule."

"I haven't even considered you an ally and yet you still plan for my release. For all you know, I could destroy you and this entire establishment the second I am freed." Shi told him.

Seth just chuckled darkly. "I always was one who, while remaining cautious, likes to tempt fate and see how far my luck will go."

"A foolish way to live, as I'm sure you've been told many times." Shi replied.

"Oh, I have been told many times by my brother. But I was not given this genius mind to have it wasted by not going beyond the limits. To not do so would be an even greater sin then those I have already committed."

Shi said nothing to this and just laughed in amusement. Not because he found Seth's thought process ridiculous. The exact opposite even. "Ha, ha, ha! I thought you were a fool to awaken me from my slumber! The truth is the exact opposite. You truly are someone worthy of the Devil's respect."

Seth smiled in response. "Glad to know we both see the same future, My Lord." Suddenly, a little beeping sound filled the entire base as maps began appearing with a signal in Japan. "And it would appear you're not the only one who has awoken from a long slumber." He joked as Dr.Z came running into the room.

"Seth, has Shi made his decision?" He asked eagerly, like a child wanting to know what their Christmas present is.

"He has, Doctor." Seth answered. "As long as we play our part in his uprising, he shall grant you a safe pathway to the throne of Dinosaur King."

"Excellent!" Dr.Z cheered as he leapt into the air in celebration. Once he landed, he ran over to the hologram. "I swear you won't regret this, Shi!"

"That's Lord Shi." The phoenix growled, lightning appearing around him as to show off his power.

Even though he was only an image on a screen, his intimidating nature scared the living daylights out of Dr.Z as he hid underneath a table. "I-I-I meant Lord Shi! That was a slip on my part." He hastily replied.

"Clearly." Shi replied, unamused by the doctor's pathetic personality. The day Seth booted him couldn't come soon enough.

Just then, Ursula, Zander, and Ed came running into the room. "We are ready for our deployment, Doctor!" Ursula announced as the trio saluted.

"We'll nab that dinosaur before those brats even show up!" Zander and Ed said together.

"No, you won't!" Dr.Z yelled at the trio.

"Uh, what?" Ed asked as they dropped their salutes and looked at their boss in confusion.

"You three haven't even been able to find any new dinosaurs! Much less fight them!" The old man scolded them before looking away and crossing his arms. "With only eight cards left to be found, including this one, I am not taking any risks by sending you three out to catch it."

"Wise words, Doctor." Seth complimented him. "However, we shouldn't let them go to waste. They can be useful in capturing dinosaurs."

"How on earth can those three be useful?" Dr.Z asked.

"Uh, hello? We're right here." Ursula pointed out.

"Quiet, you."

"The D-Team clearly have strong bonds with the dinosaurs they use in battle. And that bond allows them to battle as one." Seth explained. "Let them take this leave of absence as an opportunity to work with their dinosaurs more." He said as he walked over to the trio. "Pyro's told me you three are using him and his pack more in missions. If you're going to be fighting together, you should be working on strategies, combining attacks, and just getting to know how the function."

The trio pondered what Seth told them. "He's got a point there." Zander said.

"We could use some exercise." Ursula added.

"But what about the dinosaur? If we're not going after it, who will?" Ed asked.

"Who else do you think?" Dr.Z asked them before answering immediately. "Those ninjas that came with Seth. After all, anything you can't do a ninja can certainly do."

Before anyone else could reply, a smoke bomb erupted in between him and his minions, making them jump back in shock. "Ah!"

Out of the smoke appeared Ofu and her Kunokchi ninjas. "We are happy to serve you, Doctor." She said as they bowed.

"Perfect! Take the Scouts with you and bring me back that dinosaur."

"It will be done." The four of them said at once before they all leapt up to the vents.

Ofu was about to join them before Dr.Z grabbed her hand and stopped her. Looking back at him, she noticed he had a uncertain smile on his face that she didn't like. "So, hey, when you're done with this mission maybe you and could, uh..."

"Not interested." Was Ofu's reply as she joined her ninja sisters.

"OK, I'll call you!" Dr.Z called out to her as she left before turning to his henchmen. "I think I've got a shot there." Everyone, including Zander and Ed, just rolled their eyes.

DK

Once they exited to hotel, Rex and Ace immediately went to work on finding as yet unknown dinosaur. First was to ask anyone in town if they had seen it. What they got was helpful and not at the same time. Any information they could get claimed that the dinosaur was only around at night and that it was very, very fast. Some began thinking they might have been mistaking on what they saw, it was that fast.

After spending the rest of the morning gathering info, and resisting the urge to scream at all the fans that wanted autographs and photos of or with them, Ace and Rex rendezvoused back at the hotel. "Did you find out anything?" Ace asked.

"That depends. Did you constantly get told that it was fast?" Rex asked back.

Ace sighed at the frustration he recalled. "If they weren't trying to cuddle me to death, that was all I got." The Carnotaurus paused for a second before remembering the only other detail. "That and it only seemed to come out at night."

"Well, that really helps our search." Rex grumbled sarcastically.

"Tactically speaking, it does help us limit our search options." Ace reminded him. "Most likely, the dinosaur is a Wind Element due to its speed. It also does not show itself except at night."

"Which would mean it most likely has made itself a hideout somewhere." Rex connected the dots. "One where it can stay away from people and not be disturbed during the day."

"There's some woods not too far from here we drove through when we arrived." Ace remembered. "No doubt they would be using those woods as a hiding place where they can wait to strike at night." With this information, he turned to his king and partner and asked. "So what do we do know?"

This was the tricky part. Rex had two options. He could either search the forest for the dinosaur, or wait 'till nightfall and have it come to them. Both had their risks. If they waited, then it's possible the Alpha Gang could grab it without any issue. They did have poachers on their side after all, so they wouldn't even know they were there due to no Battlefield being present to alert them of a fight breaking out. But if they went into the woods they would be the perfect sitting ducks for an ambush.

It was just like every other day at this point for Rex. One hard decision after another. Was it too much to ask for some time off? Apparently; yes. But there wasn't time for wallowing in self pity now. "We'll have to wait until nightfall for it to come to us." Rex finally gave his verdict.

Being at strategist like Rex, Ace was weighing the same options and came to the same conclusion. However, he still felt at unease with the plan. "But how can we be certain that the Alpha Gang won't get the card before nightfall?"

"How can we be certain that we won't get ambushed by whatever this dinosaur is in that forest?" Rex asked back, already knowing the answer. "Of the two options, our chances are better to wait than to jump in. Besides you, I have no other dinosaurs to battle with."

Frankly, both would rather go into the forest now and find whoever the dinosaur is right now. But suicide missions were one of the first things Rex outlawed after he became King. Also, while neither will admit this, they probably wanted to continue their vacation and do nothing. Much like a certain other individual we all know and hate right now.

What neither of them realized was that Sheer had been listening in on the entire conversation from a rooftop. "Don't worry about that dinosaur, Rex." She thought with determination. "I'll take care of it. And once I do, the boss will have to forgive me!" With her mission in mind, Sheer spread her wings and took off towards the forest. She will make it up to Spectre for failing him. She had to.

DK

School went by relatively the same as always. At least, for everyone that wasn't one of the D-Team. While no one was out right harassing them, that didn't mean Max and Zoe didn't receive many cold glares from students and staff. While they pretended to ignore it, they heard the whispers many students were giving them in the halls and at lunch. One term they heard thrown around a lot was 'Dino Lovers'. Amy seemed to be lucky. No one associated her with the D-Team despite her still helping out around the lab and playing with Hana. But out of fear of being rejected she was once again as extremely quiet as she was when she first came to their school. As for Utah, she wasn't even there, and that was concerning for Max and Zoe.

Many questions about what happened to their dinosaur friends kept flowing through their heads as the day kept dragging on and on. When the final bell rang, they sprinted out of the school to the D-Lab. Not seeing any other dinosaurs on the way only increased their worries. When they finally got there, they were relieved to see everyone was still present. However, the mood was not that of when everyone was usually here.

Mostly everyone was lying down under trees or by the waterhole all depressed and miserable. Even their own dinosaurs, who they haven't seen since that morning, were among them in their full-sized forms. Knowing it had to be related to the issues from this morning, they went over to their partners to get an idea of the situation. "Everyone was forced to hide in here to escape the mobs, huh?" Max asked.

"I know it seems pathetic that a bunch of dinosaurs were driven off by angry civilians that had no weapons besides small rocks they found on the ground, but when you don't want to hurt anyone..." Terry said, not needing to finish for Max and Zoe to understand what he was getting at.

"Frankly, I would have gladly crushed those ingrates!" Blossom stomped her foot on the ground in anger to make her point. "We protect them and this is how they thank us!"

"I know it's rich coming from me, but calm down." Diamond told her. "You weren't even there when Seth invaded."

"Blossom's not entirely wrong." Meg said. "They go from adoring us to hating us in one day."

"All because we're different." Utah grumbled at the cliche.

"That reminds me, Utah. Where were you today? You weren't in class." Max asked.

"I was suspended until further notice to 'avoid any drama with the students and staff'." She moved her claws like a apostrophes to make her point.

"The same thing happened to us, too." Toro said, referring to himself and his team.

"And I don't even know if we're being paid." Swift said. "And who knows how long our leaves will be."

"You think that's bad? They're fencing off parts of town and only letting humans pass." Rocko told everyone. "I couldn't see my bros at all today."

More grumbles were muttered among the rest of the herd, but Max and Zoe were barely paying attention. Many thoughts were running through their heads. Who did this? Why did they do this? It couldn't have been the Alpha Gang. This was too cleverly put together for those goofballs to have come up with and execute. Maybe if Seth was still alive, but as far as they knew he was dead.

Those were all thoughts going through Zoe's head as she pondered the possibility of another one of their enemies teaming up with the Alpha Gang. Max, on the other hand, had other thoughts going through his head. What would Rex do if he were here? Probably keep everyone in the D-Lab so nothing could happen. But why did that feel like a bad idea.

As the two acting rulers pondered their thoughts, their partners sat down next to them. Looking down at them and giving them quick pets on their head Max stood back up. "I'm going out tonight."

Zoe looked at him in confusion. "What for?" She had a feeling on what he was going to say, but still had to hear it from him.

"I'm catching whoever did this." He answered with determination.

"How're you going to do that? You don't even know where to look." Chomp pointed out.

"You're forgetting that I have the greatest tracker in the world as a partner." Max answered and he held Terry in his arms, to the Tyrannosaur's surprise. "If there's anyone that can catch this crook, it's Terry."

"I don't know, Max. Maybe it would be better to just stay put for the evening and try to figure out a plan tomorrow." Paris said, the rest of her team and Tank nodding in agreement.

"Given how everyone suddenly changed overnight, I'd rather not risk another attack happening and us getting the blame." The brunette explained his reasoning.

The girls had to agree with what he said, and Spiny was just going along with them. No doubt the criminal would strike again tonight to further anger the masses. "I'm going with you." Zoe stood up as well.

"No, Zoe." Max shook his head. "The less of us out there tonight the better."

"You can't seriously think you can cover the entire city by yourself!" Zoe told her boyfriend. "If me and Spiny join in the search, we'd have a better chance of stopping this now."

Max tried to object, but the look on his girlfriend's face said it all. She was doing this whether he liked it or not. "'Sigh'. All right, you win."

He couldn't help but smile when he face lit up with joy. "Good choice." She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

DK

Once night fell, Ace and Rex set their plan into action. Getting some help from the locals, many trash bins were left open on the streets. Ace confirmed what Rex already assumed; no dinosaur would be able to resist an easy meal. Now came the part where they wait.

They had prepared themselves for a whole night out, but they didn't need to. Luck seemed to be on their side tonight. Out of one of the alleyways, the Gojirasaurus slowly stuck her head out. With his predator vision, Ace saw her first. "I see it." He whispered to his partner, pointing in the direction he saw the dinosaur appear.

"Can you tell what kind it is?" Rex asked, not able to make out the dinosaur in the dark.

Ace squinted to get a better look, but had no idea what species he was looking at. "I...have absolutely no idea. I've never seen that species before."

The thought of a possible unknown species of dinosaur was exciting for the blonde. As if he wasn't already going down in history already. However, once the Gojirasaurus stepped more into the street to reach the garbage, Rex was able to see her more clearly. "I think that's a Gojirasaurus." He identified the dinosaur.

"Gojirasaurus?" Ace repeated, his eyes blinking in confusion. "I can't say I've ever heard of that kind before."

"It lived during the Triassic period, so that might be why." Rex guessed as he pulled out his Dino Holder.

But right when he was about to summon Ace to full-size, the Gojirasaurus lifted her head and growled. At first the two D-Team members thought she had noticed them, but they quickly realized she was not looking in her direction. Suddenly, the Gojirasaurus leapt back as darts landed right where she stood. Before Rex or Ace could even ask what that was, Hanzo landed in front of the dinosaur with his sword drawn.

Before anyone could so much as blink, Hanzo rushed towards the Gojirasaurus. The Triassic theropod responded by doing the same. Wasting no time, the samurai swung his sword to counter, but the Gojirasaurus caught the sword in her jaws. This didn't faze Hanzo as he kicked the Gojirasaurus in the stomach, knocking her back and freeing his sword.

The Gojirasaurus slid across the street before coming to a stop. She didn't wait for Hanzo to make the next move and attacked with a claw swipe. The claws just barely scrapped Hanzo across the chest. Before he had time to react, he saw the Gojirasaurus appear before him in the air, clearly leaping towards him to do a death blow. With speed no-one thought a human could achieve, the assassin leapt out of the way. Once he landed, the two stared at each other, seemingly acknowledging the other's skills in silence before attacking again simultaneously.

From the sidelines, Ace and Rex watched in silence, both too surprised at all that was happening so fast to give any form of verbal response. "W-what is going on?!" Ace finally spoke up.

This snapped Rex out of his own shock. "I don't know." He responded. "But I'm not going to stand around and ask." He recalled Ace to his card and was about to swipe it. "DINO-"

Suddenly, a black figure swooped past him, breaking his concentration. Hanzo noticed this too, and the fact the figure was heading directly for him. He quickly raised his blade in time to stop Sheer's ninja star from impaling him.

Sheer grunted as she tried to break through their struggle, Hanzo keeping his neutral expression the entire time. But it was no use and she had to back off. Landing back on the ground, she began to circle the samurai. Hanzo kept his sword pointed forward, eyes on both of his opponents. "That Gojirasaurus is mine, buddy." Sheer finally told him. Hanzo said nothing in reply. "What? No clever remarks? No 'I'm going to kick your ass'? Can't say I haven't seen many opponents who don't love the sound of their own voice in my job." Again nothing was said. A tick-mark appeared on Sheer's forehead. Now she was getting to annoyed. "Really? You could easily say how I'm doing the exact same thing I criticized, but instead you-"

Toning out the guardian's rambling, Hanzo kept his other eye on the Gojirasaurus. She didn't look tired, and could probably continue their fight for hours. But instead, she decided she has drawn enough attention to herself and retreated back into the darkness. Hanzo was about to follow her when Sheer landed in front of him. "I wasn't joking earlier. That dinosaur is coming with me." She threatened him, pulling out her stars again.

This time, Hanzo responded. "I have no reason to fight you. Move aside so I can continue my mission."

"Your mission?" Sheer repeated. "So, I take it the Alpha Gang hired you for this mission?"

"My contractor is to remain anonymous unless they wish to not be. I'll ask you again, move." He drew his sword and pointed directly at her, but Sheer didn't budge.

Just when it looked like they were about to duel again, Hanzo' free hand reached behind him. Sheer saw this and threw her stars at him. The samurai dodged them with ease and pulled out a blowgun. He blew into it and fired a dart that hit Sheer before she could even react. The pirate fell to the ground, her ninja stars, coming back like boomerangs, crashing right behind her. "Sheer!" Rex called out as he ran to help her.

Hanzo saw him approaching and leapt onto a roof to get out of the way. Rex crouched down and flipped Sheer over. He noticed the dart in her chest and quickly pulled it out, thinking it was poison. "The paralysis will wear off by morning." Hanzo assured the boy. "I'd take her back home if I were you. And stay out of my way. I don't want to have to add more targets to my list."

Rex glared at the samurai in anger. "Do you not know who I am?"

"I do. And that changes nothing. I was contracted to slay that dinosaur, and I always follow through for my clients." With nothing else to say, he disappeared into the night like the wind.

Rex clenched his teeth and growled at where the samurai stood. As far as he knew, this was a not another new recruit of the Alpha Gang. Dr.Z would never order one of his dinosaurs to be killed. Maybe he was connected with those ninjas they fought back in India that kidnapped Max.

Whoever he was, that wasn't important at the moment. Neither was catching up to the Gojirasaurus. He'd come up with a new plan later. Right now he had to get Sheer back to the room so Jonathan can treat her. Hoisting the unconscious guardian onto his soldiers, Rex began to trek back to the hotel. The sooner he was back on his mission the better.

DK

After taking care of school business and other chores for the night, Max and Terry were out in the streets downtown. They were on guard for anything. The slightest movement that wasn't their own was enough to bring Terry out to full-size. Throughout the whole search, there wasn't much talking. Not just because they had to keep a low profile, but because Max seemed more occupied with something other than the search. Terry knew something was bothering the brunette, but decided to hold off on asking him until after the mission.

While the Tyrannosaurus scouted ahead, Max decided to take this moment to check up on Zoe. He called her on his Dino Holder and her face appeared on the screen. "Everything good in your end, Zoe?"

"So far." She responded. She was about to ask him the same when she noticed the look on his face. Having known her boyfriend as long as she has, she knew he was being troubled by something. "All right, Max, what's the problem?"

"Wha-" Max tried to retort, but the look Zoe was giving him told him it was pointless to deny it. "'Sigh'. I don't know why, but I feel we are handling this the wrong way."

"What'd you mean?" Zoe asked, confused my his uncertainty. "You were the one who suggested we do this."

"I know. But I got this feeling that we are making a mistake." He admitted.

Zoe's confusion only rose. "How so?"

"I know this is what Rex would do, but I feel I know who is responsible for this."

"Really?" Zoe asked, surprised he actually had a suspect in mind. "Who is it?"

"It doesn't matter." Max shook his head. "Rex wouldn't go after someone without evidence, so neither should we. We have to keep Rex's reputation as King positive, as well."

"But Rex would want to know all possible suspects." Zoe pointed out. "We're not going to find evidence unless we check. So, come on, tell me who you think it is."

Just as Max was about to say who he thought it was, Terry suddenly growled ahead of him. Max quickly hung up his call with Zoe and ran over to his partner. "What is it, Terry?"

"There's something nearby." Moving his head like a periscope, the Tyrannosaurus searched for any signs of movement. He smelt something, but it wasn't human or dinosaur. Suddenly, he saw what he thought was a tail disappear in-between two buildings. "That way!"

The two of them immediately began to give chase. While one might think catching up with a dinosaur shouldn't be too challenging, the reality was the complete opposite. Even the heaviest could run fast enough to give any human chaser trouble. And that was what went through Max's head as he pulled out his Dino Holder. A human couldn't catch up. But a Tyrannosaurus...

"DINO SLASH!"

Terry continued running, before he even landed, and grabbed Max by the shirt, lifting the boy onto his back. However, even with Terry's increased speed, the dinosaur was still ahead of them. Due to only seeing the tail, Terry couldn't tell what species it was. Maybe it was a Wind Element seeing how fast it, but it could also be a Grass or Fire Element given how the tail looked raised, but maybe he remembered wrong and it was a Lightning or Water Element. All he did know was that there was no club or spikes on the tail so the Earth Element option was basically gone.

They continued on chasing the mystery dinosaur, at least to the best of their abilities, 'till they reached the docks. When they arrived, they found no trace of whatever they were chasing, just warehouses. "Damn it, where did they go?" Max said before asking. "Did you get a smell on them?"

"That's the weird thing. Whatever it was, I couldn't get a could smell on it. Something seemed to be blocking it." Terry said before remembering another detail. "Come to think of it, I didn't hear and footsteps while we were chasing them besides my own."

"Couldn't smell, and we didn't hear footprints. Just what were we chasing?" Max said before thinking. "This is really starting to put holes into my original theory."

That was when all hell broke loose. Before they could even think another thought, a huge explosion came from the warehouses behind them. The blast was so huge that it knocked Max and even Terry off their feet and to the ground. The blast was also large enough that it could be heard from the other side of town. Zoe heard the blast and knew immediately something was very wrong on Max's end. "Quick, Spiny!" She told her partner before summoning him to full-size and riding him down to the docks.

Back at the scene of the explosion, Max and Terry both laid on the ground in pain from the force of the blast. Aside from a few scrapes, Max was relatively uninjured. But that was mainly due to him being behind Terry at the time, and he took most of the blast. While it was nothing life threatening, there were noticeable burns on the Tyrannosaur's side. "Ugh." Max groaned as he slowly got back onto his feet. "You okay, Terry?"

"I'm fine." Terry replied as he got back up. He looked at his side and saw the burn marks. "Nothing I won't sleep off." He assured his partner before licking what parts of the burn marks his neck could reach, ignoring the wincing pain.

Once back onto his feet, Max saw the destruction the explosion caused. All the warehouses, which there were about twenty, were now nothing but large fires firemen were already working on putting out. "What could have done this?"

"That's what we'd like to know." An strict voice said. Max and Terry turned around and saw a large number of cops with the chief stand in front. Looking behind the vehicles, Max also saw a large crowd of angry looking civilians. "Young man." The chief addressed Max. "Do you know what caused these fires?"

Max was about to answer, but he was interrupted when he heard a unwelcoming familiar voice. "Out of my way! Let me through!" Elizabeth yelled as she pushed her way to the front of the crowd, even past the officers. When she reached the front, she saw the damage the explosions caused and gasped in horror. "Aaaah! My warehouses!" Her terror was quickly replaced by rage. "Who did this?! Which of those monsters did this?!"

"Ma'am, can you please-" One of the officers tried to usher her back, only to be knocked to the ground.

Elizabeth marched right up to Max and looked the young boy dead in the eyes. "Didn't I warn you this would happen?" She said to him, venom coming out with every word.

"What'd you mean?" Max asked before quickly realizing what she meant. "What a minute, Terry didn't do this!"

"Who else could it have been?! You were the only one's here, correct?"

"There was another dinosaur we were chasing!" Terry quickly butted in. "Or, at least, I think it was a dinosaur. I couldn't tell what it was, I-"

"Silence!" Elizabeth yelled at him before turning to the crowd. "You hear that!? This beast was hunting some poor, defenseless civilian before deciding to take his anger out on these warehouses, destroying countless supplies we need as a society!"

"That's not what happened!" Max tried to object, but was promptly ignored.

"This is who we put our trust in?! This is who we believe will protect us from even more dinosaur invasions?! A T-Rex is not a hero! It is a killer! A cold-blooded murderer that serves no one but itself!"

Max was about to attempt to interject again, but someone beat him to it!" You're wrong!" It was Zoe, riding on Spiny as he leapt over the crowd to reach where Max and Terry where and came to a stop. Zoe slipped off his neck. "Terry is nothing like that!"

"Maybe in some inferior, alternate universe he is the villain! But not here!" Spiny added.

The crowd responded with angry shouts. "Shut up, you dumb lizard!"

"You're not any different than he is!"

"Kill them!"

"Shoot 'em!"

"Throw the beasts in cages!"

Spiny and Terry slowly backed away from the angry crowd. While they could easily take them all on, they knew doing so would only worsen their situation. But things were about to get even nastier when Elizabeth asked Zoe. "And why were you out here, young lady?"

While she wasn't a nervous as Max, Zoe still felt the hate coming off of the rich lady. "Me and Spiny were simply helping Max search the town for-" She didn't get to finish. Elizabeth had gotten what she wanted.

Her smile was so quick you wouldn't notice it before she said to the crowd. "You hear that?! We aren't just under an invasion from dinosaurs! Their leaders are some of our own!" She pointed an accusing finger at Max and Zoe. "These two were behind it all along! They're using these monsters to take over the entire world!"

"WHAT?!" The D-Team members present shouted.

"Are we just going to stand by and let them enslave us?!" Elizabeth have a rallying cry to the crowd.

"NO!" They shouted in response. Some were even throwing rocks and other stuff they had at Max and Zoe.

"Ow! Ow!" Max hissed from the pain.

"Stop it!" Zoe pleaded, but fell on deaf ears.

"Get them! Do not let them escape!" Elizabeth gave the command to charge.

Realizing what was about to happen, Terry wasted no time leaping into action. He quickly grabbed Max and Zoe in his mouth and placed them both on his back. "Let's get out of here, Spiny!" He said before bolting away.

"No need to tell me again!" The Spinosaurus replied as he joined Terry in retreat.

"After them!" Someone in the crowd yelled as they began to follow the two dinosaurs.

That was until all the officers present pulled out their guns and pointed them at the crowd. "Enough!" The chief ordered. "Anyone take a step forward and we'll shoot you on the spot!" That stopped the angry mob in their tracks. "All of you go home, and don't even think of attempting any vigilante justice! Anyone who does goes to jail without any form of parole!" The mob started to break off and head back home. The chief shot Elizabeth one last look. "And, Mrs. Elizabeth, remember that you are not the law here."

Elizabeth glared at the chief but nodded and went back to her own home. When she arrived, she slammed the door open, startling all of her servants. She ignored every last single one of them and marched up to her room. After slamming the door open to the point it smashed the wall, she saw her son waiting timidly on her bed. "What are you doing in here?"

"Mother I-" Louie paused as he contemplated what he would say next. "This has to stop."

It looks could kill, Louie would've died at birth. "What?" Elizabeth said with a voice that could crumble buildings.

"I don't think that the D-Team deserve all this hate you are-UAH!"

He didn't get to finish as his mother grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground. "Did you forget who is the one keeping you off the streets while your deadbeat of a father is gone?" She hissed at him. "Unless you don't want to have a roof over your head anymore, you will remember you place below me and DO AS YOUR'E TOLD!" She screamed so loudly her chandelier, actually all the chandeliers in the house, shook violently. "Do I make myself clear?" She asked her son, daring him to defy her. Louie was terrified beyond all reason. He couldn't say anything in reply, only nod his head like a squeaky toy. "Good." Elizabeth gave a cruel smile and released him. "Now go to your room." Louie didn't need to be told twice as he was already halfway there once his mother dropped him.

Once he was in what little sanctuary he had, Louie collapsed on the floor and cried. His mother was getting worse by the minute, and his father wouldn't be back for days. As he wept, he came to a horrible realization. "No matter if I do the right thing or not, I still lose in the end."

At the same time, things were just as miserable for the D-Team. Spiny and Terry had arrived back at the lab and the Tyrannosaurus lowered his head, allowing Max and Zoe to jump off. The two of them didn't say anything, their heads hung low, and began walking back home without saying a word. "Wouldn't it be safer if we all stayed at the lab tonight?" Terry called out to them. "There's no telling what that mob will do."

"You guys stay here with the others. We should all be safer if we don't sleep in the same house tonight." Zoe said as they continued walking away.

This didn't ease Terry and Spiny's worries as they roared out to them. "Max!"

"Zoe!"

"Stop!" Max cried as he stopped briefly to apologize. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I failed you!" He started running back home now, tears streaming down his face and being blown away as he did. Zoe followed suit, crying the exact same way.

When they were gone, Terry looked at Spiny. "Now would be a good time to say something funny."

Spiny looked at Terry with tears rolling down his eyes. "I'm sorry, but even I can't find anything funny about all of this."

With nothing else to say, the two of them entered the lab where Chomp, Tank, and Paris were waiting for them. "Well, did you guys do it?" Tank asked, oblivious to what had happened. "Did you find the imposter and kick their butt?"

Terry said nothing and just looked down at the floor sadly. Chomp could tell what that meant. "How had was it?" He asked.

"No one else was hurt." Terry said, looking back at his burn mark. "But now everyone seems to be against us."

"What!?" The three herbivores gasped.

"It's true." Spiny confirmed. "They want to either kill us or lock us all up in cages."

"WHAT?!" The three herbivores gasped even louder before Paris asked. "What do we do now?"

Terry slowly looked up, tears streaming down his face. "Tell the others what happened and tell them to get ready. We leave at dawn."

DK

Back at the hotel, Rex took Sheer to his room and had Jonathan look her over. The android wasted no time in scanning the guardian for whatever was in the dart. "How is she doing?" Rex asked.

"Finishing scan." Jonathan answered before his eyes turned back to normal and he gave his diagnosis. "Fret not, Master Rex. It is just as the samurai said. The drug only knocked her out. In fact, she should be waking up right about..."

Sheer's eyes snapped open and she looked around frantically. "What happened? Where am I?" She tried to get up, but found herself unable to as an excruciating pain went through her entire body. "Agh!" She hissed, clutching her side.

"The drug also contained some paralysis side effects." Jonathan explained. "They should ware off by morning."

"What? No!" Sheer struggled to get up, but every time she did she found herself back on the couch. "I have to get back out there!"

"You can't!" Rex tried to assure her while also trying to keep her lying down. "What were you even doing there? You could have gotten yourself killed!" It was kind of funny he was saying this to a grown adult, but ever since he became Dinosaur King the role of who was the adult seemed to differ a lot. Actually, it started differing when they first met the dinosaurs.

Seeing as force wasn't going to get her back on her feet, she tried a more sympathetic approach. She sighed as she looked down, ashamed about what she was going to say. "You wanna know why I'm even here in the first place?" She asked Rex.

"I just assumed Spectre gave you some time off for all the hard work you've done." The blonde answered.

"Oh, he gave me time off, all right." Sheer answered bitterly. "But it wasn't a reward. It was a punishment."

The others in the room blinked in confusion. "He punished you with a vacation?" Ace tilted his head, trying to fathom how that would work. Then he remembered the whole reason they chose this hotel in the first place.

Sheer nodded before continuing. "You already know how I botched the last mission and allowed the Alpha Gang to get the Cosmos Stone. That was the first failure of my whole career as a Spectral Space Pirate. After that, I tried to make it up as best as I could by taking on as many anomalies in the Timeline as I could." She recalled her missions including stopping an early Lincoln assassination, saving the Titanic's second officer, and convincing Harry Truman to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

"But it seems that wasn't enough. Spectre claimed I was 'endangering my health'." She made air-quotes with her fingers. "So he said that I was to remain here until I was 'sane enough' to return." She finished before rolling over so she wasn't facing the boys with a huff.

Rex couldn't help but feel sorry for the guardian. Acting on first impulse, he sat down next to Sheer and rubbed her arm in comfort. "I understand how you're feeling." He said to her.

"I fail to believe that." Sheer grumbled, the couch muffling her.

"You think that you're the only one on your team who takes things seriously. That you're the only one who understands the consequences of failure. That everyone depends on you."

Hearing no sarcastic remark from Sheer as a response, Rex continued. "I'm in the same position as you, Sheer. I trust Max and Zoe, but I keep having this doubt that the fail to understand the severity of my position as King. I'm the bridge that keeps the peace between humans and dinosaurs connected. If I fail, everything collapses."

"And that's why you're both being selfish." Ace spoke up.

Rex looked at his partner in confusion. "Selfish?" He repeated.

This got Sheer to roll over and look at the Carnotaurus with the same level of confusion as Rex. "How are we being selfish? We're both taking all the blame for when stuff goes wrong and carrying our respective teams."

"And that is exactly the problem. You're assuming the worst in your teammates and thinking you have to do everything yourself. But you can't carry your entire life by yourself." He looked directly at Sheer as he recalled previous events from when he came to this time period. "I used to think the exact same thing you were thinking now, Sheer, when Beta kicked me out of the pack. I thought that to had to make it up to her somehow for failing her. That mentality led me to closing myself off and making decisions that could have gotten me killed." He explained, referring to when he hid from Rex in London and decided to fight Pyro alone. "Spectre was right to give you some time off. Such way of thinking is unhealthy. Especially on a team."

He then turned directly to Rex. "And, Rex, Your Highness, I used to think that my fear of water was a drawback that I should deal with alone. But you supported me and gave me the courage to face my fear. We've been a team since we've first met. You said it yourself, every dinosaur we save is not only one of your subjects, but also your teammates."

Jonathan chose this moment to add his thoughts. "And before you say that leadership is an exception, it isn't. Your father would never have become the king he was without the support of not only Ms. Cretacia, but his council of advisers. And even excluding them, he still turned to his, your now subjects for help in guidance. Even the mightiest of smartest of kings can only do so much alone."

Both Rex and Sheer looked down, feeling slightly guilty at their actions as the absorbed what Ace and Jonathan said. "Do you understand what we're trying to tell you?" Ace asked.

"Yeah." Rex nodded as he got up and hugged his Carnotaurus partner. "Thank you, Ace."

"I'm only trying to help." He said before asking once he hug broke off. "So, what do we do now about the Gojirasaurus?"

The blonde thought for a bit before turning to Jonathan. "Jonathan, can you scan for specific life forms? And if so, how far?"

The android immediately caught onto what Rex was planning. "It has been some time, but I do remember I was given the ability to locate organisms within a hundred mile radius. If I am correct..." He paused as his eyes glowed red before preforming a scan around the area. "Just as I thought." He confirmed once the scan was done. "The Gojirasaurus has retreated back to the woods. And judging by her heart and breathing rate, she has escaped the samurai." He explained as said data appeared in his screen. Granted, only he could see it, but still.

"Then we'll have to strike soon." Rex explained his plan. "I doubt he samurai just gave up after that last fight. So he'll be back. And we don't know where the Alpha Gang is."

"Leave the samurai to me." Sheer said. "I can take him."

Rex and Ace looked at each other with uncertainty. "I don't know, Sheer. I don't think your stars will be enough." Ace expressed his concern. "We're talking about a man who fights dinosaurs."

Instead of coming off as insulted by Ace's remark, Sheer just smirked and reached into her outfit. "Then it's a good thing Rex isn't the only one who came prepared." She said as she showed them a card she was carrying.

Rex leaned in and recognized the card. "So that's why Spectre wanted them."

"Mmm-hmm." Sheer nodded and put the card away. "So, am I allowed in on the fun?"

"Sure." Rex nodded before saying. "After you've rested and the paralysis wears off."

"But I'm-"

"AFTER you've rested." He said sternly. "It's two AM. We'll move out at the first crack of dawn." He told them before retiring for bed himself.

"Yes, sir." Ace and Jonathan bowed while Sheer just grumbled in annoyance. Even if he was clearly a smart kid, taking orders from someone that was way younger than her was embarrassing for Sheer.

DK

When Max and Zoe both went down to their respective breakfasts, they both looked like they were just told someone close has died. And considering what happened last night, it might as well have been that.

The two of them barely got any sleep after what happened. Come breakfast, they barely touched their food at all. Their appetites gone completely. Their parents noticed this before they even came down.

Spike and Aki looked at each other worryingly before Spike addressed his son. "You gonna eat that, Max?" He asked, pointing a fork at the still full plate.

Max put his arms on the table and pushed the plate away. "You can have it, Dad. I'm not hungry." He said before placing his head on his arms.

At Zoe's home, the exact same scene was being played out with Zoe doing same thing with her dad. Dr. Drake looked at the food, tempted to eat it himself, but a glare from his wife stopped him. Her husband shrunk back before Mrs. Drake walked over to her daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Zoe, I know things seem bad.."

"'Seem bad'?" Max repeated what his mother said, taking her hand off his shoulder. "Do you not understand what just happened?"

"Because of MY stupid thinking, I made everyone in town hate dinosaurs!" Zoe shouted at her parents. "I put a large target on our backs!" She covered her face with her hands. "Had I only listened to Max-"

"Had I not tried to play the hero-" Max said, in the same position Zoe was.

"NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" They both shouted at the same time, tears streaming down their faces, before collapsing on the table and openly crying.

Both of their parents looked at each other with concerned looks on their faces. "And now Terry and the others are going to be kicked out of town all because of me." Max said through his tears.

"And, Rex, he'll be so heartbroken when he sees what happened to all his hard work. He'll never forgive us." Zoe said. "Maybe Brontikens was right. Humans will never really accept dinosaurs as equals." She whispered so quietly even she could barely hear her own words.

"I suppose I should help you pack, then?" Mrs. Drake said out of the blue.

Max looked at his mother in confusion. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Well, you are going to be going with them, aren't you?" Spike asked his son. "You'll need some food and supplies to hold you off until you find a safe home."

"Personal recommendation; have the other dinosaurs in their cards while you travel. I don't know how it works in there, but it should hopefully save on how much food you're carrying." Dr. Drake added.

Max was only half listening at this point. "Wait, you think I'm going with them?" He asked his parents. They nodded slowly, almost sadly, in agreement.

"I can't!" Zoe almost shouted. "Ignoring the fact that this is my fault in the first place, I'm not a dinosaur! I don't belong-"

"Young man, don't you dare finish that sentence!" Aki yelled at her son with a tone neither Max or his father ever heard her use before.

Quickly recovering from his shock, Dr. Drake added. "Your mother's right, Zoe. If you continue thinking about abandoning them you're grounded."

"But, Daddy-" Zoe tried to explain.

"No buts, young man! I'm taking no TV, no computers." Spike said before his expression softened into a more sympathetic one. "Max, for the past year and a half, I have seen you grow from a young boy into a young man in everything but age."

"You've accomplished more great things than some of the most famous heroes of history." Mrs. Drake continued for her husband.

Dr. Drake nodded in agreement before picking back up the conversation. "I've never been more proud of you then when I see all you have accomplished."

"I won't have you insult me by giving up on this hardship when you have conquered harder challenges before." Aki said before all the parents said together. "That is the only thing you should be ashamed of!"

Max and Zoe took in what their parents said. They knew deep down that their parents were right. Can anyone else say that at twelve years old they traveled across the whole world? Who else can say with honesty that they essentially lead what is essentially an entire kingdom, or race depending on how you view it, of prehistoric creatures? And, to top it off, they were the ones who led the attack on Seth and the Alpha Gang when they invaded and saved nearly everyone in town. People like Elizabeth probably weren't even there when that happened.

Both of them looked back up after thinking all of this over, a look of determination in their eyes that pleased their parents. "Mom, Dad. You're right." Max told them, making his parents smile. However, their child's look of determination then shifted to one of concern.

"Still, how are we going to manage with everyone else in town against us?" Zoe asked. Hiding wasn't possible this time, and there was no way they could fight back without a safe place to live.

Their parents look at each other and smirked in response. "Who said it was you against everyone?" Aki said as she turned on the TV, showing a news update from the previous night.

Max watched the report with wide eyes. And when it finished, he had once thing going through his mind. "I've got to tell Zoe!" Coincidentally, she was thinking the same thing as they both called the other immediately. "Meet me at the lab ASAP!"

DK

It took about twenty minutes for them both to reach the D-Lab. "Max!" Zoe called out when she saw him and ran to greet him.

"Zoe!" Max called back and did the same.

When they met up, they immediately began discussing what they were told. "Did you get a pep talk from your folks about not giving up, too?" They asked simultaneously before answering simultaneously. "Yes, I did. And they're right. We can beat this..." Now the talking at the same time thing was starting to get uncomfortable. "Okay, you can stop talking at the same time as me now. Stop it. This isn't funny anymore." They paused briefly. "I won't say anything and you do the talking, gah!" They gripped their heads in frustration.

After about a minute of silence, debating if they should say anything or not, Max finally spoke up without Zoe saying the same thing. "OK, that annoyance over with, you ready?"

"Yep." Zoe nodded before they both entered the lab and went straight for the sanctuary.

When they did, they were greeted with the herd running around like bees in a swarm. Terry and the rest of their partners were looking over everyone on a raised platform. "Come on, everyone! We should have left hours ago!" Terry called out to the crowd below.

"Has anyone seen my toothbrush?"

"Kui, know you stole my medal!" Trooper accused the Fukuisaurus.

"It was only the one time, I swear!" Kui retorted.

"Shep, where are you?" Mia panicked as she frantically search for her baby in the crowd, worried he might he squished.

"What is it with you and swallowing luggage?" Lola scolded Grumpy as Aqua slammed her forelegs onto his stomach again.

"Oh, here it is." Trooper said as he found his medal hanging from the same tree branch he put it.

Max was about to interject and get their attention, but Zoe placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her. "When you live with a Parasaurolophus, you tend to pick up on a few things." She explained before stepping forward, taking a deep breath of air, and shouted at the top of her lungs. "HOLD IT!"

Every dinosaur present immediately stopped what they were doing, many basically freezing in place. Terry and friends winced, realizing they have been caught trying to escape, and turned around to face their partners. "Max. Zoe." Terry greeted them, though the usual happiness in his voice was gone. "We were hoping you wouldn't find out this way."

Instead of looking mad, the two teens shared understanding looks at their partners before walking over to the platform they were standing on to address the rest of the herd. "Listen, everyone!" Max told them. "I know you're worried and scared about what's going to happen. You don't know what's going to happen next."

"We were feeling the exact same thing this morning." Zoe took over. "We felt that we had hit rock bottom and had failed completely."

They both grabbed each others hand and shouted together. "But it is not over yet!"

The dinosaurs below, even their partners, looked confused, so Max continued. "Come on, guys. We're the D-Team, the Dinosaur Kingdom. You guys have ruled the earth over 150 million years. And during that time, you never let any other creatures threaten you into hiding like cowards."

The herd took this in and mumbled among themselves. "He is right."

"We did do that." Were some of the mumbles heard.

Others were less optimistic. "That was a long time ago."

"We didn't have to deal with racist humans in the old days."

Seeing the doubts still lingering, Zoe took over. "Did we give up when Pyro threatened to burn down the whole town?"

This got the herd chatting among themselves. "We did kick his ass."

"There was a little deus ex machina near the end, but we did defeat him."

"And did we give up when the Seth and the rest of the Alpha Gang invaded town and held everyone hostage?" Zoe asked this time, feeling the crowd starting to rise in spirits.

"Of course we didn't!"

"They invaded our home!"

"It's the dinosaur way to defend your territory!"

Now was the time for the finishing touch as Max walked over to the large TV screen, everyone else following him. "And if that wasn't enough to prove to you that this isn't hopeless, then I think these guys have some words of encouragement to say." With that, he played the recording from his phone.

On screen appeared the anchorwoman, for once not in the studio but instead in front of a house many of the dinosaurs recognized as the Mayor's. But that wasn't the surprising part. That came in the form of the large crowd behind her, shouting inaudible words and carrying large signs around. "Great, now they're protesting." Tank said bitterly before turning to the acting rulers. "How is this supposed to make us feel better?"

Max and Zoe shared a knowing look. "Just keep watching." Zoe told the Saichania. Tank huffed and rolled her eyes before looking back at the screen, where the anchorwoman began to speak

"We are reporting live from the Mayor's mansion where several protestors have gathered expressing their outrage over last nights attack-"

"Told you." Tank grumbled as the other dinosaurs were quickly losing faith again.

"-On the dinosaurs." The anchorwoman finished.

"Wait, what?" Tank and many other's eyes widened in confusion. Max and Zoe looked at each other again, victorious smirks on there faces. They got 'em.

While the anchorwoman continued her report, the camera showed some of the crowd protesting. There was Amy up front, both surprising due to her shyness and not at the same time given her friendship with Hana, along with other fellow classmates, even some of their teachers were there. There was Rocko's gang, along with many other friends the dinosaurs have made in the past eight months. What was most surprising were the police present. They weren't just there to keep order in the crowd, they were a part of the crowd, even the chief, carrying signs that read things like 'Justice for Dinosaurs' 'Dinosaurs are People too' and, of course, 'Dinosaur Lives Matter'.

"Despite majority of the city's population believing last nights port bombing to be the result of local resident Terry Tyrannosaurus, a growing number appears to lean in the opposite direction." The anchorwoman reported. "Protesters have since gathered in front of the Mayor's mansion to voice objection to what they believe will be an inevitable and unjust punishment." Suddenly, the crowd started shushing themselves as the door to the mansion opened and the Mayor stepped out. "And here comes Mayor Alexander now to address the crowd."

The camera changed to focus on Alexander as he gave his speech. "I know everyone is shaken up by all the attacks that have been plaguing our city the past few days. However, despite all the claims that point to a potential culprit, I can say with absolute certainty that I find all these accusations to be false."

The crowd present at the speech starting to cheer while the dinosaurs watching remained silent, some even forgetting to breathe. Alexander raised his hand for silence and the crowd slowly quieted down before he continued. "Over the past few months, I have gotten to know Terry personally. And I do not see it in his character to commit such a crime, if any crime at all." Terry couldn't help but swell with pride at that statement, small tears coming out of the corners of his eyes. "Like everyone I see before me, I believe this to be an act of aggression against the Dinosaur Kingdom. And all I have to say to said aggressors is this, you may have tricked some into believing our allies are savage beasts, but those of us who know the truth stand firm and will defend the dinosaurs just as they have defended us!"

As the crowd below once again roared into applause, the camera shifted back to the anchorwoman. "Truly an inspiring speech given by our mayor. More to come at eleven."

The screen shut down and Max and Zoe walked back up front to address the herd. "See now?" Zoe asked the crowd. "We are not alone in this. We have allies."

"So are we going to just stand around and do nothing while people are hurt trying to defend us?" Max asked, already knowing the answer.

"No!" The herd all said together.

"And are we going to run away like cowardly lizards?" He asked again.

"NO!" The crowd said again with even more energy this time.

Max and Zoe took each others hand and raised them up in the air like a fist. "Then let's say we fight back and defend our home and ourselves!"

The crowd roared in agreement. "Yeah!"

"Let's murder these people!" Venom said with crazy enthusiasm.

"Yeah!" The crowd once again agreed.

"Let's blow them up, and hang their corpses in the trees for the-"

"Okay, Venom, Venom!" Max called out to the Piatnitzkysaurus. Everyone stopped cheering and looked at the smaller theropod. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but let's not go that extreme."

Venom just growled and looked away in a huff. "You guys just don't understand the fun of hunting your enemies and killing them like-" He muttered to himself before being interrupted.

"Venom." Yang growled alongside Killer. Seeing his fellow triumvirate members baring their teeth at him was enough to shut the Piatnitzkysaurus up.

Max smiled at seeing everyone's confidence return. "Glad to know we're all on the same page, because we have to act now and capture whoever is responsible for this." His smile being replaced by a more serious and possibly urgent face.

This confused some of the herd. "Why do we need to act so soon?"

"Wouldn't just standing by for another night at least raise some suspicion off us?"

"We don't have that luxury." Terry said as he and the other partner dinosaurs walked over to where Max and Zoe were standing.

"After that speech, whoever is behind these attacks will no doubt target the Mayor to push the public over the edge so even the most supportive can't stay on our side." Chomp explained.

"Tactically speaking, a pretty ingenious move." Tank commented.

"And evil." Spiny added.

"Which is why we need to move now instead of waiting for them to come to us, we have to knock on their front door this time." Paris finished for them.

The herd all silently nodded in agreement, though some still looked unsure of this plan. "But now can we do that if we don't even know their name or face, much less a fake identity?" Sushi asked, others agreeing with her question.

"I believe Max already has an idea on who we should start with." Zoe said as she looked at her boyfriend with a knowing smile before addressing him. "Max, last night you said you had an idea on who is responsible for these attacks. Who do you think it is?"

Max looked slightly surprised that his girlfriend remembered that little conversation, he sure didn't, before looking slightly uncertain. "Umm, I don't know. It was really more just a gut feeling if anything."

"You don't just get gut feelings for no reason." Terry pointed out.

"Yeah, whoever you think it is has to have done something to make you think that." Chomp agreed.

Seeing his partners point of view, the brunette decided that they had nothing else to lose at this point and have start from somewhere. Might as well go with his instincts. It's not like they've always steered him wrong. "I think Mrs. Elizabeth is the one behind these attacks." He told the herd.

As expected, their was some surprised looks and muttering amongst the crowd. "The rich lady?"

"It couldn't have been her."

"She's way too high profile."

"Yeah, she'd never get her hands dirty."

"That's what money is used for. To pay stupid people to do your dirty work for you."

"But then who would she pay?"

"Someone with good criminal skills, I can tell you that."

Up front, Max, Zoe, and their partners were having their own chat. "What makes you think that Elizabeth lady is the one doing this?" Tank asked.

"Well, every time there was a supposed attack, she was the one making the biggest fuss." Max pointed out. "And she knew about the Dino Patrols plans to patrol the city the night the store was raided."

"Not to mention, if memory serves correctly, those warehouses blown up yesterday were owned by her." Zoe remembered.

"So she would get money back from the destruction." Paris said as the dots slowly connected.

"Typical communists." Spiny commented. Tank just rolled her eyes at his response, deciding not to correct him since it didn't matter what Elizabeth was called so long as it fit the description of a bitch.

Suddenly, the door to the lab opened and the entire herd stopped their chatting to see who it was; friend or foe? Slowly walking into the room was Elizabeth's son; Louie. "Who is that?" Champ whispered to Rocko.

"That's Elizabeth's son." Delta answered.

Hearing this, many dinosaurs gave the boy angry glares, some even growling and snorting angrily at him. "Someone hold me back." Trooper said as he raised his tail, before Guru promptly stepped on it to keep him down, making the Ankylosaur wince at the pain. "Oooh! I said hold me, not crush my tail." He said, whimpering to hold back the urge to scream.

Max, Zoe, and their partners walked over to where Louie was and met him halfway. Before any of them could ask what he was doing there, he answered for them. "I want to help you stop my mother."

Many were taken aback by this, though majority still held onto skepticism. "Pff! And why would you go against your 'mommy dearest'?" Diamond spat in the kids direction.

Louie wanted to tell them about all she had been doing to him, by decided against it. This wasn't about him, and he shouldn't be bringing up sob stories to gain their sympathy that, frankly, he was certain many would assume were lies he created as part of a trap. This was about proving their innocence. "Because I know what she's planning." He told them. "She wants to attack the Mayor."

"Yeah, we just came to that realization." Comet harshly pointed out.

Louie gulped nervously. So far he wasn't gaining any support. "Yes, but I also know how she is doing it. She's getting help someone who also hates you and wants revenge. He and his henchmen been doing all the work while she pays for everything."

This got even the most stubborn curious. "What exactly have they been working on?" Terry asked before Louie explained everything he knew and a plan of attack was made. This time, the tables would be turned.

DK

The sun had barely risen when the Gojirasaurus returned to her hideout after a night of hunting. After that tussle with the samurai, she chose to remain in the forest and look for food there. But this proved to be difficult and the only sizable prey she could find was a wild boar, or some mammal she didn't recognize.

However, as she went to sleep, something was prowling in the treetops and bushes. It was the Kunochi Warriors and the Scout Deinonychus. They had been watching the Gojirasaurus for the last six hours, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

True hunters wait for a opportunity of vulnerability before attacking their prey, and after watching how well she handled that samurai, the ninjas and Deinonychus knew it would be suicidal to attack the Gojirasaurus at full strength. They were not the muscle of Seth's army, so they needed to use stealth to overpower this opponent.

Every second they inched closer and closer to the unsuspecting dinosaur. Ofu then raised her hand, as a signal for the ninjas to stand by. She silently dropped her hand and the four of them leapt at the Gojirasaurus from different angles. What they didn't expect was that the Gojirasaur's eyes snapped open and for her to leap out of the way. "What!" Ofu quietly exclaimed as the ninjas quickly recovered from the shock and landed in the dinosaur's den.

"Impossible. We were absolutely silent. How could she have seen us coming?" Oren wondered aloud.

The Gojirasaurus landed near the bushes and the Deinonychus were about to attack. But again she saw them coming and quickly swung her tail, destroying their hiding place and knocking them all down. "It would appear you're not the only ninjas in this fight." Scout #1 assumed as an answer, looking straight at their opponent as he and his pack got back up. "My guess would be, she's an assassin of some short."

The Gojirasaurus didn't respond to his claims and instead chose to run away. "After her!" Ofu said with urgency as the ninjas leapt from the trees while the Scouts chased the Triassic theropod on foot. With the colors of a Battlefield filling the sky, it was only a matter of time before Rex and Ace showed up.

Sure enough, Rex's group was at the entrance of the forest when they saw the sky change. They knew immediately this wasn't good. Well, technically it meant that the Gojirasaurus was still out their and the samurai hadn't gotten to her yet, but she won't be free for long if they don't move now. "Let's go!" Rex told his team, who nodded in agreement, before they all ran into the woods.

Back with the Gojirasaurus, she was having a hard time losing her enemies. With them moving both on ground and through the trees, she realized that if she wanted to escape this alive she'd have to fight back.

She halted in her tracks and turned around to face her opponents. The ninjas came down from the trees and joined the Deinonychus in surrounding the Gojirasaurus. "Ofu." Scout #1 addressed his fellow leader. "You and your ninjas may take this one. It would prove to be good practice for your new suits."

"Very well." Ofu agreed and she and the other Kunochi stepped forward. They all put up fighting stances, but carried no weapons: no ninja stars, no smoke bombs, no kusarigamas, nothing. To the Gojirasaurus this didn't matter. The only other human she's ever fought was the samurai, so she doesn't know how humans defended themselves.

However, one thing the Gojirasaurus did not expect was for Ofu to suddenly blow a gust of air from her palms at her, literally almost blowing the dinosaur away. Another ninja took this opportunity to leap at the Gojirasaurus and, in what appeared to be a kicking attack, spewed fire at her. The attack struck the target and knocked her down. But the Gojirasaurus was quick to get back on her feet, something the ninjas obviously expected.

Now it was Oren's turn as two vines emerged from the bottom of her palms and latched onto the Gojirasaurus like ropes. Raising her hands like they were the vines, she slammed the Gojirasaurus on the ground while the final ninja raised her hands and got her attack ready. Chunks of dirt and rock suddenly started to raise up from the forest floor behind the ninja. Not wasting any time, she hurled the debris at the Gojirasaur's face.

The attack came to fast for the Gojirasaurus to dodge and blinded her in the eye. She roared in pain and she tried to rub the dirt out. From where they were, Rex and company were able to hear this. "This way, quick!" Sheer told them as she took off in that direction. Jonathan quickly followed after with his android speed, nearly leaving Rex and Ace in the dust.

Once again, the ninjas didn't wait to give the Gojirasaurus an opportunity to fight back as Ofu blew another gust of air, this one more powerful than the last, at the Gojirasaurus. This one did blow her away, right to the edge of a cliff.

The ninjas and Deinonychus quickly surrounded the downed dinosaur as the Kunochi prepared to use all four of their elemental attacks at once to finish her off. But before they could, they heard something coming down towards them. "Yaaaaah!" They all quickly leapt away in time to avoid a hard punch to the ground by Jonathan.

The android looked up with a furious face at the attackers. No sooner did Sheer swoop in, weapons at the ready, while Rex while able to keep up surprisingly well without losing his breath. "Back off, all of you!" Rex yelled at them in a commanding tone. "Leave this Gojirasaurus alone!"

"No offense, Your Majesty." Scout #1 said in an almost mocking, almost venomous tone. "But we do not live under your kingdom's rule. Your orders mean nothing to us."

"Who said we we're giving you a choice." The blonde replied back as he got his Dino Holder ready while Sheer pulled out her card and placed it on her chocker.

"DEINONYCHUS!"

"DINO SLASH! CARNOTAURUS, BLOW THEM AWAY!"

The summonsed dinosaurs landed and immediately began squaring their opponents off. The Gojirasaurus was able to remove the dirt from her eyes and see what was going on. If she wasn't in a panicked/battle driven state she would have realized Rex and the others standing in front of her were there to help, but she was in that state and thought the worst. She quickly lunged at Rex, the blonde only narrowly dodging as he fell onto the ground. "Whoa!" Before she landed off to the side from everyone else and ran back into the forest. The young king got back up, saw their target was escaping, and acted fast. "After her, Ace!" He commanded his Carnotaurus partner as he climbed onto his back and ran after the Triassic dinosaur.

"Don't let him get that card!" Ofu commanded her ninjas as they leapt into action after them.

But with lightning fast reflexes, Jonathan appeared in front of all of them individually and knocked them down with a karate swing from his right hand. They all landed on the ground and Jonathan got his arms ready like they were blades. "If you want to get to Master Rex, you'll have to go through me first." He told the ninjas as they got back up.

"That can be arranged in more ways than one!" Ofu declared as they all leapt at Jonathan, who stood ready to block their fist strikes and kicks.

With the Scouts, they were in no position to help as they were focused on their own opponents; the Deinonychus sisters Seth used to create them. "So, you are our DNA donors. I guess that would make us family." #1 claimed as he and Dino began circling each other with their respective kin following close behind.

"After all you have done, I'd say that comparing we were even the slightest bit related would be an insult." Dino hissed back with disgust.

"Considering how impure you three are, I couldn't agree more." #1 stated before lunging at Dino, who did the same in reply. Danno and Sue wasted no time in going after #2 and #3.

Before long, all six Deinonychus were tussling with each other. "Sheer! Go and help King Rex! We can handle this!" Dino told their summoner, keeping her eyes on #1.

Sheer was about to object before realizing that she was doing it again, having a lack of faith in others. That was why she was on this vacation to begin with, and she needed to prove what she learned last night stick. "All right." She nodded. "But be careful. Those three are not easy to fight." She warned the three female raptors before taking off after Rex.

"So are we." Dino quietly responded as she and #1 backed up from their tussle, their respective siblings doing the same. "Time to see which pack truly is best." She declared as both sides went in again.

DK

Back with Rex, he and Ace frantically search the forest for the Gojirasaurus. "I don't think I've ever seen a dinosaur move so fast in my life." Rex said while keeping his eyes peeled.

"I would take offense to that if I hadn't just watched it myself." Ace commented in agreement before coming to a stop. He sniffed the air and was able to pick up the Gojirasaur's scent. "She's right here."

Rex looked around but saw no sign of the dinosaur. "You mean she's nearby?"

"No, I mean we are right on top of her." Ace repeated as he also looked around.

"How? She is nowhere in sight." Rex said before a leaf fell on his head. While this normally could be seen by many as just trees shedding leaves, the blonde thought differently and looked up. Sure enough, in the canopy was the Gojirasaurus in pouncing position. "Never mind! She's on top of us!" Ace knew what that meant and was able to locate the Gojirasaurus in time to dodge her attack. "I thought dinosaurs couldn't climb trees!" Rex said in shock from what he just saw.

"Well, I'm afraid she disagrees, Sire. And she is the expert here." Ace responded as Rex hopped off his back. Just in time, too, as he was met with a kick to the face by the Gojirasaurus.

Ace crashed into a large rock and the Gojirasaurus immediately leapt onto his side for some extra damage. However, before the Gojirasaurus could make another move, something leapt out of the bushes towards her. She barely had any time to dodge the sword swung at her and fell off of the Carnotaurus. She didn't need to look again to know who it was who attacked her. Hanzo had joined the battle, standing on top of the still downed Ace, his sword ready to strike the dinosaur down.

Rex recognized the samurai as the man from the night before who had poisoned Sheer. "Not you again!" He said with disdain at Hanzo.

Hanzo looked at the boy, his expression indifferent. "I warned you before not to stand in my way, Dinosaur King Rex. If you and your dinosaur don't retreat from this fight now, I will have no choice but to consider you obstacles that need to be put down."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Sheer said as she swooped down and landed in front of Hanzo. In both of her hands were her own ninja stars. "You haven't gotten rid of your first obstacle yet." This time, she didn't wait for Hanzo to reply at all as she immediately flapped her wings and lunged at him. The samurai quickly used his sword to block her on coming attack.

They struggled for a bit before Hanzo leapt off of Ace and onto a tree branch. Sheer threw one of her stars in his direction, but the samurai leapt into the canopy and all the star did was break the branch he was previously standing on. "Grr." Sheer hissed as he star returned boomerang style. "So it's a treetop fight you want, eh?" She accepted his challenge and flew into the leaves.

As they battled, Rex quickly climbed back on Ace and they began again their hunt for the Gojirasaurus. They didn't get very far this time, as the Gojirasaurus hadn't run away at all. Instead she tricked them and waited for an opportunity to grab Ace by the tail and, with all her strength, toss him away. "Aah!" Rex screamed as he fell off of his dinosaur and hit the ground while Ace hit a tree. "You all right, Ace?" Rex asked, hissing as he got back up.

"I'm fine." Ace replied as he shakingly got back up. "But not for long."

Rex looked forward and saw the Gojirasaurus charging towards them with lighting speed. "Aaah!"

With Jonathan, his fight was only going slightly better. The ninjas had been holding off on using their new weapons against the android since they believed it was unnecessary to waste the energy. But now it was becoming clear he was just as strong as any dinosaur.

Oren went first as swung her vines at Jonathan. The android's eyes widened in brief shock before he quickly grabbed the vines in his right hand. He then gave the vines a powerful tug. "Whoa!" Oren screamed as she was pulled in from another karate chop from Jonathan.

"Oren!" Ofu called out as the Fire Ninja quickly acted as cut the vines with a punch of fire. Oren dropped to the ground and quickly got out of the way from a punch from Jonathan. Ofu glared hatefully at the android. "How dare you try and hurt her!" She yelled before she and the Earth Ninja combined their attacks and fired a barrage of wind and dirt in his direction.

Jonathan quickly raised his hands and covered his face from the attacks. "Something they have on them is allowing them to use these elemental attacks." He through as he struggled to keep his footing. "All I need to do if figure out what it is and find the weak point." He quickly scanned the two ninjas attacking him to see what was giving them these powers. What he saw surprised him. "Those suits the ninjas are wearing have some kind of neurotransmitters covering them completely."

Needing more time to scan, he leapt out of the way of the attack and into the trees. But he didn't have time for a breather as the ninjas knew this was not a retreat and leapt in after him. This gave Jonathan the ability to scan Oren and the Fire Ninja's suits as well. Again he found transmitters in their suits. But each suit had a different layout.

The Earth Ninja's seemed to be all magnets, which had to be how she was able to levitate the rocks and dirt. Oren's whole suit seemed to be filled with vines, the transmitters acting as an activation button. The Fire Ninja's suit contained pyrotechnic features, so it was clear where the Fire was coming from. And Oren's was similar to the Fire Ninja.

Knowing how they got their powers was step one. Step two was figuring out how to stop them from using those powers. And as he dodged the various elements thrown at him, this was something he had to figure out fast. Fortunately, fast thinking was something he was built for.

Back with the raptor battle, both packs had chained up together to form a Whip Attack and both pack leaders swung their siblings and their opponents. When both whips struck, they shattered and both sibling pairs fell to the ground. Seeing their siblings down, Dino and Scout #1 both glowed rainbow colors and activated solo Spinning Attacks before hurling themselves at their enemy.

The two attacks collided and grounded against each other until they ran out of power and had to back off. By this time, the other four Deinonychus had recuperated and their leaders signaled for them to use Crossing Attack. Both pairs charged at each other like comets before they collided in headlocks, Danno with #2 and Sue with #3.

Once again with the rest of their packs distracted with each other, the Deinonychus leaders began to slowly approach each other. Both were getting tired, but #1 clearly was struggling more. And Dino noticed. "Come on, you're supposed to be my clone, and I'm running circles around you. I guess if there was one thing the old fart did right it was give me and sisters the training we needed."

The Clone Deinonychus leader chuckled darkly. "Heh, heh. You were lucky enough to have a childhood. Those years were denied for my life when Seth forced us to have to reach adulthood immediately."

"So, you spite your old boss for denying you a childhood, yet you still plan on carrying out his plans." Dino didn't know Seth was alive, and only assumed, like the rest of the D-Team, that they were continued Seth's plans solo.

Scout #1 heard this and laughed out loud, even putting a claw to his head to calm himself. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"What's so funny?!" Dino hissed, immediately getting into attack formation.

#1 stopped laughing, lowered his claw, and did the same. "I never said I held it against Seth for what he did. If anything, getting us to where we are now allowed us to avoid getting corrupted by your ways."

"You say that like he didn't corrupt you with his ways." Dino countered as they begun circling each other again.

"Perhaps, but I can't blame him. And, I should make it clear, many of us do see your way of thinking. But we chose to believe that it is our way that will help us survive in life." #1 retorted. Dino roared at him in anger.

Up in the trees, Hanzo had just escaped Sheer's attack and awaited for the guardian to come after him. He clenched his sword and prepared to strike he down the once she flew through the leaves. But to his surprise, she did not come through. He knew she was following him. Not only did he hear her wings flapping, but he could tell she wasn't one to give up so easily. However, it appears she wasn't as inexperienced as he originally thought.

And this was proven when when she attacked from above with a stomp to the neck from both of her legs. Hanzo landed on a lower branch and quickly drew his sword, preventing Sheer from getting closer as she landed in front of him. She pulled out her weapons, and the two of them were in a stand off. "It's your move." She told the samurai. "As long as you stay where I can see you, it doesn't matter what you try and do. I have no interest in fighting you, just keeping you busy. So, what is your plan to get away?" She asked mockingly.

Hanzo grit his teeth in frustration. He never had faced an opponent like this before. He was starting to think this was a fight he couldn't win. However, he was paid to do this mission, and he had a contract to honor. Even if she could see his next move coming, he'll just have to counter it faster than she can act. He raised his sword and swung it down behind him, severing the branch from the tree.

Obviously, Sheer expected something like this and just lifted her legs and hovered above where she stood. Meanwhile, Hanzo fell, but keep his posture so that he landed on his feet, ready for combat. But something Sheer and Hanzo didn't know was that they had just dropped in the middle of the Deinonychus fight. Literally in Hanzo's case.

The two Deinonychus leaders dropped their attack stances and looked confused at the sudden intruder. "Who are you?" Dino asked before looking at #1. "Friend of yours?"

Scout #1 looked at the man's face. He recognized him as the man from last night who attacked the Gojirasaurus. "The Last Samurai." He said in slight amazement before hissing and moving towards him, claws ready to slash. "I could use some extra meat to help with this fight."

It was then, Sheer appeared, arms holding stars that were ready to be thrown at both Hanzo and Scout #1. "Be on your guard, Dino. We have another enemy to worry about." She warned her Deinonychus partner.

"I'm always on my guard." Dino responded by crouching into a pouncing position.

And the four of them stood there in a stand still. Waiting for one of their enemies to make the first move.

That first move came from Scout #1 as he charged at Hanzo and struck the samurai in the gut with his head. Before he could add another blow, Dino grabbed his neck with her teeth, the dinosaur equivalent of a chokehold, and slammed his head to the ground. Sheer immediately joined in and began to clash with Hanzo again. While it might seem stupid to fight them both instead of just leaving and having both their enemies just fight each other and help with the Gojirasaurus, they both believed that if they left them alone that one of them would break off and go after the dinosaur. They didn't know where the ninjas were, so this was their best option to keep Rex from having more problems to worry about.

However, it was clear at this point everyone was starting to get tired. They couldn't keep fighting forever, and had to do something before they lost all their energy. This was especially a problem for Sheer as Hanzo seemed to be the one who would last the longest. Seems both of the Deinonychus knew this too as Dino swung her tail at the samurai when he landed near their fight as he dodged an attack from Sheer before #1, breaking free of Dino's grip, slashed a claw at him.

The claw made contact and a large gash appeared on Hanzo's torso. Hanzo clenched his teeth to hold in the pain as he almost collapsed, using his sword as a crutch to stop himself from hitting the ground. #1, seeing that Hanzo was basically defeated, turned his attention back to Dino. But when he turned around, the female Deinonychus wasn't there. He looked around and saw no sign of her, but did see something just as bad.

#2 and Danno's struggle came to an end when the female raptor used a sneak attack and scratched the male's leg with her hook claw. This made #2 briefly brake the headlock to screech in pain, giving Danno the opportunity to ram him to the ground with her head, knocking him out of the fight. And Sue managed to over power her enemy by doing a mock retreat, causing #3 to fall on his stomach as he was putting too much force into pushing forward. With this opening, Sue leapt onto his back and knocked the wind out of #3, eliminating him as well.

The two sisters looked at #1, who roared angrily at them while backing away. With his brothers gone, he stood no chance against the two of them, and he still didn't know where Dino went. But suddenly, he heard a voice call out to him. "Up here!" He looked up and, as if she had read his mind about his previous thought, there was Dino coming down in a Dynamic Galaxy. #1 had no time to dodge as the meteor slammed in front of him, sending the Deinonychus flying through the air before crashing hard on the ground and returning to his card.

But Hanzo wasn't as done as #1 had believed. Using the Deinonychus scuffle as a chance to recuperate, he grabbed his sword and lunged directly at Dino. "Dino, look out!" Danno and Sue both warned their sister at the same time. The lead Deinonychus turned around and saw Hanzo just inches away from her, with his sword ready to plunge into her flesh.

Then, so fast you could blink and miss it, Sheer stomped on the samurai's sword, causing Hanzo to lose balance. Wasting no time, she gave him a quick double kick to the chest. Hanzo rolled across the ground like a tumble weed before digging his sword into the ground to slow himself down.

Two enemies knocked out, one left to go. Jonathan had been studying the ninjas suits while leaping off tree trunks and holding off their attacks. And he was able to find a potential weakness. The suits activated through transmitters that activated neurally. If he could cut off that connection, that should not only cut off their suits, but their entire bodies temporarily as well. Thankfully, he was programmed with many forms of martial arts, and also knew the layout of he human body. Most importantly; the location of the pressure points.

The catch to all of this was that he would only get about three seconds to paralyze all of them before he would risk getting hit by fire, air, vines, and rocks. Luck seemed to be smiling upon the android today as all four of them were approaching him at the same time. But he could tell from the way their arms were positioned that they were going to fire another barrage of attacks at him.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breathe to ease his circuits, the next tree his feet touched he reversed his direction and launched himself straight towards the ninjas. The Kunochi did not see this coming and their eyes widened in shock. "What?" Ofu gasped

"Is he asking for a death wish?" Oren wondered aloud.

This confusion proved to be a big mistake as this gave Jonathan the opening to strike the pressure points on their neck with enough speed to hit all four, and enough force to make them all fall to the ground. "I can't move." The Fire Ninja said as the tried and failed to raise her arm.

"Me neither." Oren said as she tried and failed with her legs.

"What have you done to us?!" Ofu demanded to Jonathan, glaring hatefully at the android.

Jonathan responded by giving them a strong kick to the clearing where Sheer and the Deinonychus had just finished their battle. The raptors and Sheer looked at the ninjas in confusion before they saw Jonathan walking over to them. "I paralyzed you from the neck down. It should only be temporary, as I have been programmed with hesitation to kill even my most hated enemies. But it gives me enough time to do this."

Jonathan then sucked in a large breath of air to the point his cheeks were puffing greatly. The ninjas tensed with fear when they realized what was about to happen and Hanzo quickly used all of his strength to leap out of the way. Jonathan then released a big gust of wind from his mouth, blowing the ninjas and the Clone Deinonychus card away. "Ugh!" The ninjas cried out as the wind literally blew them off their feet, or would have if they could use their feet, and sent them far away from their current location.

And Jonathan's breath died down, the turned around and explained to the confused dinosaurs and guardian. "My motherboard is from a weather simulation droid, and those features can sometimes come in handy." He explained with a bow.

"Nice." Sheer said with a thumbs up.

DK

Unfortunately, the fight between Rex and the Gojirasaurus was anything but over. She was attacking as by ramming into him, but she was so fast that she always rammed into him again before he hit the ground. She was basically running around in circles playing dinosaur volleyball, and Ace was the ball. "Ace!" Rex cried out. Unable to see his friend getting tossed around, he immediately opened up his Dino Holder and prepared to use a Move Card.

"No! Not yet!" Ace told him while being knocked around by the Gojirasaur's ramming. "Wait until I hit the ground, then use it!"

"What?" Rex asked with confusion before catching onto what Ace was planning and smirked. "Clever boy, Ace."

Sure enough, Ace finally was able to catch a break, if you could call it that, and crashed on the ground. As the Carnotaurus slowly got up and looked at the Gojirasaurus. "As I thought, you're all out of juice from that little game."

"Now it's our turn!" Rex finished for his partner before ejecting and swiping the Move Card. "Cyclone!"

A tornado formed around Ace and he immediately charged towards the Gojirasaurus. Rex smiled and assumed this was going to be the finishing blow. But to his surprise, the Gojirasaurus didn't run away, or even try to move. Instead, she just stood there, arms open like she was about to accept the attack. "What are you doing?" The blonde wondered what the Gojirasaurus was planning, and when he saw her glowing, his eyes widened at the realization. "Pull back, Ace! It's a trap!"

But Ace had gathered to much momentum and was unable to change his course. His struck the Gojirasaurus, but instead of doing any damage, she absorbed the power of the cyclone, creating a blue ball of energy. Using her forehead, she smacked the ball straight at Ace, giving the Carnotaurus the feeling of the attack that was meant for her.

Ace collapsed on ground and struggled to stand. "What was that? She just absorbed your attack." Rex wondered what that Move was.

"I believe it is called Defense Burst." Ace responded while panting. "Any Move Card we use against her, she'll absorb the attack and send it back at us." Rex grit his teeth in frustration. This was going to make finishing her off much harder. Ace could sense his partner's troubles and decided to offer his advice. "Rex, if we attack faster than she can activate the Move, we should be able to finish this fight with a win."

"Are you sure?" Rex asked, concerned about this plan.

"Like I said before, she's just as tired as I am. She doesn't have the speed to run fast. And that should also play a part into her reaction speed." Ace explained his reasoning for the plan.

"Then we'll have to dig deep." Rex exclaimed as he got out his strongest Move Card. "Ultimate Wind."

Ace roared in agreement with Rex's statement about digging deep and once he had the power raced towards the Gojirasaurus like a bullet. The Gojirasaurus obviously saw him coming, but in her tired state was unable to react in time. Ace's attack struck her and the Carnotaurus sped to a stop behind his opponent. At this point both dinosaurs could barely stand, but the Gojirasaurus couldn't stand even more and roared in pain as she glowed white and returned to her card.

"All right!" Rex cheered as he recalled Ace and went to claim the cards. "And to the victor goes the dino."

"Well done." An unfamiliar voice congratulated him.

Rex froze and turned around to see Hanzo leaning against a tree. "You again?!" He said with frustration. "I told you before, this Gojirasaurus is one of my subjects." He held up the card for emphasis. "And now she's under my protection! And that includes from people like you!" As he said this, Sheer, Jonathan, and the Deinonychus met up with him, all getting into fighting stances, especially when they saw the samurai reach into his shirt and pull something out.

"You seem to be mistaken." Hanzo responded as he pulled out a large bag. "I'm not hunting the dinosaur anymore now that it has been defeated."

He tossed the bag over to Rex. The blonde slowly walked over to the now opened bag with caution and saw that it was filled with. "Money?" He said with confusion before looking at the samurai.

"You caught the prey, you get the reward." He said as he turned around to leave, but not before giving Sheer one last look. "Perhaps the next time we meet, we will meet as allies, not enemies." With nothing else to saw, he leapt into the trees and disappeared.

"Hey, wait!" Sheer called out as she attempted to fly after him, but he was already gone. "Who was that guy?" She wondered aloud as she flew back to the group.

"Hopefully someone who will be a friend more times than an enemy." Rex responded. They others nodded in agreement. Whoever that samurai guy was, he clearly was not someone they wanted to fight again anytime soon. Or maybe they did in Sheer's case. But that's her little secret, she thought with a wink.

DK

Once again, it was night in Sanjo City. In his mansion, Mayor Alexander was in his living room, having his dinner. He had had a busy day. Along with normal political things, he also had to deal with several anti-dinosaur protestors angry with his decision to not punish Terry and the other dinosaurs for his supposed crime. This was nothing too out of the ordinary, he's had to quell these riots before, but he did worry if tonight might force him to do something he knew he would regret for the rest of his life.

However, the mayor seemed to be oblivious to the danger that lurked right outside his front door. His mansion was isolated from majority of the rest of the city, which meant that no one was able to see the large shadow of a T-Rex appear. Only this wasn't a real Tyrannosaurus. It was a life-size robot, the real culprit behind the attacks.

The man driving the thing was located in the head, while his henchmen worked on keeping the body functioning. A machine this large took a whole crew carefully operating it to function in full effect. Thankfully, this should be the last time they needed to use this thing.

The plan was simple; smash through the gates and break into the house. There, they will eat the mayor, or at least use the robot dinosaur's mouth to swallow him and then slaughter him on the inside. With him dead, the public would no doubt unanimously believe it was a dinosaur who had done it, and then they would have no choice but to exile the dinosaurs from the city, and hopefully civilization as a whole. "Payback time." He driver said quietly with glee as he prepared to advance in the mansion.

But what the crew of the robo T-Rex didn't know was that they had just walked into a trap themselves. Suddenly, the ground started to shake and a rumbling noise was heard that. "S-Sir, what's going on?" One of the crewmen asked nervously.

"H-how should I know?!" The leader responded, trying and failing to sound brave. "It's probably just an approaching storm."

"Storms don't shake the ground." Another man pointed out.

Inside his mansion, Alexander continued on drinking his tea when he also felt the shaking. He finished his cup and placed it on the table, where it rattled like, well, china during an earthquake. But unlike the men outside, he did not appear afraid. "So it begins." He said as he got up and prepared to go outside.

Back in the robo T-Rex, all of the men inside were starting to lose their nerves. "It's getting closer!" The first crewman told the leader.

The leader grit his teeth in frustration and fear. "I know that!" He shouted at his men, making them wince at his tone. "Turn this thing around and get us out of here before it comes!"

The men didn't need to be told twice as they already were shifting the direction the robot was facing. Then, the leader pulled a leaver and the fake T-Rex raised slight off the ground, revealing wheels under its feet that it used to escape Max and Terry the night before.

The wheels immediately began spinning as fast as they could as the robo T-Rex took off like a bullet towards the town, the shaking and rumbling still following. When in town, if it wasn't the sound of a speeding robot dinosaur that woke people up, it was the literal shaking of the Earth beneath their feet. Lights everywhere flickered on as people opened their windows and doors and looked to see what was going on out side. "What's going on?"

"It feels like an earthquake!"

"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"That thing that just flew by!"

"I think it was a dinosaur!"

"Look! There are more of them!" Someone pointed up and those that looked up saw the Tupuxaras and Pteranodons quickly flying over head. Their eyes all set on the same robotic target.

The inside of the robo T-Rex was mayhem as men frantically tried to keep it from falling apart. "I don't think she can go on like this for much longer, sir!"

"Just keep going 'till we reach the bay! Then we'll be home freeeee!" He suddenly screamed when he finally saw what was making all the shaking as at least ten dinosaurs appeared directly in their path. "Floor it!" He yelled before shifting the gears into overdrive.

By now the chase was on as more dinosaurs started following the machine from behind, including Terry who had Max atop his head. "All right, everyone! Chase them to the junkyard, just like we planned!" Max commanded.

Nearby, Zoe was leading the other half of the herd from atop Paris as they rendezvoused with Max's half. "Come on! Let's save our kingdom and our home!" She yelled at the stampeding dinos.

By now some of the fast dinosaurs were catching up with the robot itself and slammed their heads on its side. These attacks did more damaged as now the inside was flashing red and making an alarm. "Engines at fifty percent capacity!" A crewman yelled to the leader.

"Keep it going! We can lose them in the scrap heap!"

By now everyone could see the stampede and many were following it one foot. "What are they doing now?"

"Who is their victim now?"

"I bet it's the Mayor!"

By now it was gave over for the robo T-Rex as now every dinosaur had it in their sights and was chasing it down, even the slowest sauropods. There was no escape for it as they approached the junkyard. But just to be safe. "Now, Boulder!" Max and Zoe commanded the Edmontonia simultaneously.

Boulder knew what this meant and charged up his Move Card. "Have some Rock Roller! Uagh!" He pushed the large rock towards the robo T-Rex, and like that it was game over as the rock made contact with the weakened robot, completely destroying the legs, making the top collapse to the ground.

"Aaah!" The men inside screamed before they buried under all the rubble.

The dinosaurs started to slow down and went from running to walking as they approached the downed robot. Max and Zoe leapt off their respective dinosaurs. "Make sure it's completely surrounded." Max told them.

"And keep your guards up." Zoe added. "There's no telling if they have any surprise weapons in there."

Just then, the crowd of spectators showed up with the sirens of police cars behind. As expected, Elizabeth marched right up to the two kids. "What have you monsters done!" She pointed a finger at them accusingly.

This time, however, Max and Zoe looked at each other with confident smirks, slightly frightening Elizabeth with their lack of fear. "I think you'll see that we caught the ones who were really behind these attacks." Max said with confidence as he and Zoe stepped aside and allowed the crowd to see who they believed was the culprit.

Many were confused and curious about what they two teens meant and went to see for themselves. But Elizabeth remained furious and marched forward. "So now they've decided to not only assassinate, but to frame someone else for their crimes!" She told the crowd as she tried to rile them up. But when she reached the front and saw the wreck of the robo T-Rex, her expression changed. "What?!"

"Hey, that's not a real dinosaur!"

"Yeah, it's a robot!"

"The kids were telling the truth!"

"It was all a diversion!"

Elizabeth looked around with panic in her eyes, desperately thinking of a way to turn this around. "W-well, th-that doesn't mean that those other times weren't real dinosaurs." She hastily retorted.

Just then, a hand emerged from the rubble and the leader pulled himself out, revealing himself to be Blackbeard II. Behind him, the rest of his crew emerged from the rubble. For the most part, the pirates were still dazed from all that had just happened. But Steve climbed onto the captain's shoulder and saw the angry dinosaurs, and now people, glaring at them. "Uh, Captain?" He nervously tapped Blackbeard's head.

"What is it now, Polly?" He asked, too tired to yell before Steve lifted his head up to show him the angry mob. "Oh, shit."

"Those are pirates!"

"They were the ones wrecking our town!"

"They were behind all this!"

"Actually, that's only half true." Blackbeard spoke up in his own defense. "The old lady hired us."

"Quit telling everyone I'm an old lady!" Everyone looked around in confusion when they heard Ursula's angry voice from nowhere.

"Actually, he doesn't mean the Alpha Gang." Max said as he and Zoe walked forward with their backs to the crowd and authority in their steps. "It was someone else who hired them. Someone with a lot of money and resources that allowed them to make this robot."

"Someone who knows the town quite well. Someone who knew about our plans in advance. Someone who hates dinosaurs." Zoe took over.

"And that someone-" Max and Zoe said together as they turned around and pointed their fingers at the culprit. "Is Mrs. Elizabeth!"

The entire crowd, at least anyone human, gasped when they heard this. "What!?"

"That's impossible."

"She's way too high profile."

"That's exactly what I said." One of the dinosaurs said in response to the last comment.

Elizabeth herself looked horrified. It would take quick thinking to get the crowd back on her side. "I-it's all a set up, I tell you! This is all a part of those ruffian's plot to frame me and have me cast out so they won't have any oppressors for their invasion."

"No, Mom, it's not." The last voice anyone expected to speak in defiance to Elizabeth spoke, shocking the crowd again, this time including the dinosaurs, as Louie stepped forward with a hateful look in his eyes before turning to the crowd. "Everything the D-Team accused her off is true. This whole event; the car smashing, the store robbing, the warehouse bombing, and this attempted assassination on the mayor were all orchestrated by my mother so you all would kick the dinosaurs out of Sanjo City."

"And if his word isn't enough to warrant your belief, then take mine." Alexander said as he stepped forward, too. "The D-Team phone called me this afternoon about a potential assassination plot that would happen at my mansion. And as we all know from the chase, the ground was shaking. I can confirm that that shaking started right outside my house, which would mean the robotic T-Rex was there." He glared at Elizabeth.

By now Elizabeth knew it was all over, as no one present looked to be on her side. She turned to her child and glared at him with such a hateful look, almost all of Louie's confidence was gone. "You ungrateful bastard of a son! I took care of you for all these years while your deadbeat of a father runs off like a coward! And to repay my kindness, you betray me!"

She was about to grab the kid by the throat and strangle him to death, but Venom quickly leapt into her way. "You know, I recently got a job as an exterminator. Which means I get paid to kill pests." He said with dark glee as poison came out of the side of his mouth. "And I think we all can see who the biggest pest of all is tonight! Ahahahaha!" He laughed like a maniac.

"Aaah!" Elizabeth dropped to the ground and crawled back in horror. "You see! That beast just threatened to kill me!"

"And considering everything you just committed these past few days, I think he is well within his right." Alexander told her as officers appeared behind him, awaiting commands. "Officers, arrest these criminals!" He ordered.

The police wasted no time handcuffing Elizabeth, Blackbeard, and the rest of his pirate crew. They even had small handcuffs for Steve. While the pirates knew better than to fight and went into the cars quietly, Elizabeth still resisted even after being ordered to be arrested. "You can't do this to me!" She struggled in vain as she was shoved into the car and the door slammed in the face. But that didn't stop her from smushing her face against the window and continuing her hate filled speeches. "You fools! It's all a trick! They don't want to be equals! They will conquer you all! You'll see!" She screamed as the car drove away.

"Ah, shut up." Blackbeard said as he slapped her face, even he finding her racism annoying.

"Aah!" Elizabeth gasped as she felt where she was hit, a large handprint on her cheek. "Did you just slap me?!"

"Yes. And I'm going to do it again since you clearly won't be paying us." Blackbeard responded before following through with his slapping.

With the cars gone, you'd expect there to be cheering. But instead, near total silence before Meg spoke up. "So, in the end it wasn't the dinosaurs who were the monsters, but the humans all along."

Both she and Utah looked unamused. "Isn't that a dumb message we've all heard before a million times." Utah commented.

"Frankly, I'm not surprised." Blossom spoke up. "All humans ever do is segregate those different from them."

"And now comes the humans suck speech." Both Meg and Utah droned together.

"I can already hear the thoughts of them." The Lanzhousaurus said before mocking what she believed the humans would say. "'Oh, well, this time they didn't do anything. But sooner or later they'll prove themselves as the animals they really are'."

Many people in the crowd, particularly those who really weren't fond of dinosaurs before looked down in shame, knowing the ornithopod was right.

"You are right about that, Blossom." Guru stepped forward. "There will always be those that would rather see us back in the ground. But we shouldn't let them slow down our progress. We can only do so much to convince them otherwise. And if we can't, we can't. But you know as well as I, and everyone else here, that there are those that accept us for who we are. And I'd say if there was one good thing to come out of this misconception, it's that I think both peoples are closer no than we were before."

People cheered and applauded while dinosaurs stomped and roared at Guru's speech, even Blossom had to admit she too was touched by the Ampelosaur's speech, though she was too proud to show it. While that happened, Alexander approached Max and Zoe. "Max Taylor. Zoe Drake. What Elizabeth did, while it effected Sanjo City, was mainly an act of aggression against your kingdom. As a result, I will differ her punishment to you."

Max and Zoe looked at each other and, supposedly simultaneously, came up with an idea. "I think we have just the punishment in mind." Zoe said.

"Crucify her!" Venom and Boulder exclaimed, already holding torches in their mouth. For dinosaurs, crucification meant lighting the criminal on fire.

"No, something worse than death." Zoe said with an evil smile that would make even the most evil of villains scared.

DK

Three days later, and Jonathan drove back to Sanjo City with Rex and the dinosaurs they had on them. Rex sat with Ace in the back and had the back window open so he could talk to the Deinonychus and Nightmare the Gojirasaurus, who were all sitting in the pickup portion of the vehicle. Ever since having been filled in on everything that had happened, Nightmare had apologized repeatedly for her actions. "I can't believe I attacked the King." She said as she covered her face in embarrassment. "How could I betray my cause like that?"

"Nightmare, I told you before, it's fine." Rex assured her. "You didn't know I was King, so there is nothing I need to hold against you. Not that I was going to anyway."

The Gojirasaurus removed her hands and looked directly at the blonde king. "But, Your Majesty, I took an oath to protect the King no matter what for the rest of my life. Even with the creation of the crown, I should've known better. Had things gone differently-"

"Had things gone differently when we first met, I would've teared his throat out." Dino popped in from behind.

This shocked the Gojirasaurus. "You WHAT?!" She shrieked the Deinonychus, possibly almost making her deaf while the others covered their ears, even passerby's.

"I should point out that was months before I was crowned King." Rex said as he slowly removed his hands from his ears, making sure that ringing noise wasn't permanent. "Besides, all that is in the past. Now we should focus building our futures."

"And I will serve you just as I have served the First King, Your Majesty." Nightmare said with the bow of her head.

Jonathan smiled at the conversation before he saw the familiar shape of the Dinoseum. And what he saw surprised him. "We'll, I'll be."

"What is it, Jonathan?" Rex asked as he and Ace moved over to the other side of their seats and looked out the window. "Is that?" Rex said with amazement as he saw the Dinoseum was now over half built.

The other dinosaurs saw the coliseum too and were amazed at the progress taken in such short time. "Impossible." Danno gasped.

"At this rate, the Dinoseum should be finished before the end of the year." Ace told his partner, making Rex's eyes widened even more so at this information.

When Jonathan pulled the truck over and allowed for everyone to hop off, Rex was able to see how this all became a reality. Along with the Gel Jarks, he counted possibly another hundred human workers helping the gooey androids out. His dinosaurs walked up to him, joining him in amazement. The Dinoseum truly was becoming a symbol of unity between humans and dinosaurs. "What happened while we were gone?" She asked aloud.

But before anyone could even guess an answer, the ground started shaking. Looking at his phone, he saw what time it was; twelve o'clock. "And here come the complaints of the day." He signed as he prepared for the angry crowd of dinosaurs.

But what he got was something different. "Hey, everyone! Rex's back!" He heard Terry shout. Looking in the direction, he saw what he again assumed was the rest of the herd running towards him. Only instead of aggression like the other times, their expressions were those of joy.

When the crowd came to a stop in front of him, he was immediately almost knocked off his feet by simultaneous hugs from Max and Zoe. "We've missed you, buddy!" Max said like he was holding back tears.

"Welcome back, Rex." Zoe said in a similar tone.

Rex just chuckled as they broke off the hug. "It's only been a weak, guys. I mean, how bad could things have gotten besides that little mistake?"

Max and Zoe looked at each other with what could be described as nervous expressions and laughed. "A lot." They said together before Zoe realized something. "By the way, you owe me another ice cream for that jinx."

"Oh, come on! I'm going to lose my whole allowance!" Max playfully whined before realizing the bigger object. "So, the new dinosaur was a Gojirasaurus."

"Yeah." Rex said as he shook his head, smiling at the chaotic memories. "You would not believe what we went through to capture her."

"After this week, I accept that challenge." Max said with a smirk and he and Rex grabbed each others hand and squeezed. It felt good to have his brother back.

DK

"And with the extra donations and manpower given my Mayor Alexander, construction for the new Dinoseum has reached an all time popularity." The anchorwoman reported, now back in her studio. "And, they're not the only ones getting their hands dirty."

The screen changed to show the pirates carrying a large column. As punishment for their crimes, they had to help out in Dinoseum construction. And Blackbeard was not happy. "I am the descendant of the greatest pirate of all time!" He said angrily, stopping and letting go of his portion of the column to declare. "Not some construction worker." Of course, without his help keeping it up, his portion fell down right onto his foot. The pirate's face paled as he grabbed the injured limb and hopped around in pain. "Ooow! My foot! What, are you trying to give me a peg leg?!"

The screen then switched back to the anchorwoman. "And speaking of recent criminals, fortunes have all but reversed for Elizabeth after her punishment for the recent acts of aggression, over fifty percent of her fortune has been given to the Dinosaur Kingdom to help with Dinoseum construction and other things." On the small screen the the anchorwoman's left, it showed a picture of Elizabeth's mug shot before changing to that of her husband. "Her husband, David, recently publicly announced his divorce for his wife, denying any knowledge behind these attacks."

The screen then enlarged before showing David's press interview, where he had his son by his side, an arm wrapped around him. "I will admit I am not particularly fond of dinosaurs, but what my ex-wife did was nothing but uncalled for villainy. I would say marrying her was the biggest mistake of my life, but I would give that honor to me not taking proper care of my son." He looked down at his son, who looked up at his father. "With his mother gone from his life, perhaps now I can give him the childhood he deserves."

Louie smiled realizing what this meant, no more being locked up in the mansion and he would get to play and go to school with the other kids. Filled with such emotion, he hugged his father, who returned the hug. The reporters couldn't help but aww at the site. "Awww."

Once again, the screen went back to the anchorwoman. "Along with also having to help with Dinoseum construction, and at least twenty years in prison for her crimes against both the Japanese Government and Dinosaur Kingdom, another form of punishment was handed out that allows citizens of both worlds to dish out some wanted aggression." Once again to screen shifted, this time to show Elizabeth in a wooden stock having Spiny repeatedly hit her face with his tail. Behind him was a long line of people and dinosaurs, waiting to smack her with either their hands or tails.

And again, the screen shifted back to the studio. "And, finally, major changes are happening in the Dinosaur Kingdom as Dinosaur King Rex has announced a major shift in power."

DK

In the D-Lab sanctuary, Rex stood atop a large rock, looking down the entire herd. To his left was Max and Zoe, and to his right were Terry, Chomp, Ace, Tank, Spiny, and Paris in their full-sized forms. With everyones attention on him, Rex addressed the crowd. "This past week has been a massive learning experience for many of us. And I can say that I feel I have possibly learned the most out of all of us. Our herd will only continue to grow, and with that growth will come new challenges. And as your King, I have to face reality that I cannot handle all of this on my own. That is why it is time for me to appoint members of the Royal Council." He gestured to the dinosaurs on his right. "And from what I have heard from you, I think we can all agree these six deserve it more than anyone." A loud roar was made in agreement, Ally and Beta roaring loudest of all. "But they are not the only ones. Throughout this crisis, my two best friends have shown leadership that even I don't think I could have accomplished. In fact, without them, I wouldn't have been able to become King." He turned to his friends. "Max, Zoe, come up here please."

The two didn't hesitate, as Rex had already told them everything before hand to get their permission, and went up to Rex, standing at both of his sides, Max left and Zoe right. "Dinosaurs of the D-Team, it is with great privilege that I crown Max Taylor and Zoe Drake with the title of fellow Dinosaur Kings!"

The crowd below was shocked to hear this. Never before had there been a second Dinosaur King, much less three, ruling the same kingdom. But that silence was replaced by cheers and roaring in less than a second. The loudest off all this time came from Max and Zoe's parents.

"That's my baby girl!" Dr. Drake wrapped his arm around Comet's neck and pointed excitedly at his daughter, which the Pentaceratops didn't mind his excitement.

Meanwhile, Spike was in tears. "My little boy. All grown up! Bwaaahaahahaha!" He cried. Aki and Mrs. Drake just smiled while Aki handed her husband a tissue, which he quickly grabbed and blew on.

From atop the cliff, the Three Dinosaur Kings looked down over their friends and subjects. As their partners joined them, they all thought the same thing. They had no idea what the future would bring, but that they would face it all together.

DK

The door to the bridge opened and Sheer walked in. Spectre was in his hover chair, looking at the large screen in front of him. "I take it you have learned your lesson." He asked Sheer and he turned around and lowered himself.

"I have, sir." Sheer saluted. "I promise to no longer carry such burden alone."

Spectre smiled at her reply. "That's what I wanted to hear. Welcome back, Sheer." He said before his face got serious and he moved his chair back to the screen. "I'd hate to send you out again so soon, but it seems Foolscap and Gavro have gotten themselves into a bit of a pickle trying to find a stolen Mona Lisa."

He pressed a button on his chair and the screen showed the two pirates on the decks of the sinking Titanic. "Thanks a lot, asshole." Foolscap glared at his brother, ignoring the people running around them.

"What did I do?" Gavro asked in reply to the accusation.

"Because of you not finding the stupid painting, our time machine is broken and now we're going to die from freezing cold water because there aren't enough lifeboats and it's woman and children first." Foolscap responded angrily.

"Well maybe if you helped instead of referencing the movie we wouldn't be in this mess!" Gavro shot back.

"Why you little-!" Foolscap yelled before the two of them got into a tussle of whose fault it was.

"Ugh." Spectre signed as he stopped the footage before turning around to Sheer. "Get them out of there and tell them that the Mona Lisa left the ship when it docked in Queenstown."

"I will not fail you, sir!" Sheer saluted before flying off to get her time machine.

When she was gone, Spectre shifted the screen back to a picture of the Earth and looked with uncertainty. "Seikatsu, what you told me leaves many questions unanswered. I know Shi's release will mean certain death, but what do you mean when you say he has an equal?"

DK

"It would appear that your ninjas and Deinonychus have failed." Shi told Seth once they had some privacy after hearing the report.

"While their defeat is unfortunate, I wouldn't call it a complete failure." Seth responded. "This was more of a test run for the Kunochi's new suits than anything. While it would have been useful to have that Gojirasaurus, I'm not quite yet ready to receive any new dinosaurs. So I'd take this defeat as a blessing in disguise rather then a waste."

"You seem pretty confident you have everything planned out." Shi told his new friend.

"My Lord, it will take the unpredictable to stop what I have planned. And, fortunately for us, that is what I am working on to prevent."

"Excellent." Shi chuckled before his hologram disappeared back into the stone, allowing Seth to continue his plans in solitude.

In his dark void, Shi curled himself up before suddenly flaring his wings out with a bright light shinning from his center. From this bright light, miniature versions of himself began to appear all around him until he appeared to be surrounded by millions of himself. "Soon, my brothers." He told them. "We shall be avenged."

Next time on Dinosaur King:

Ally: Happy anniversary! I can't wait to show you the meal I have planned for us-

(Ally turns around and sees Terry disappear in a red light)

(She glares in the direction her boyfriend went)

Ally: I don't think I have ever seen such bullshit before

A/N: FINALLY! FUCKING FINALLY! This chapter took way longer than it had any reason too and I apologize deeply. Needless to say, I'm going to try my hardest to not make this mistake again, at least until we reach the last few chapters hopefully.

Honestly, I should have just split this into two chapters, each showcasing one side of what happened. At least then I'd have less to write as this is over half the length of my previous longest chapter.

The main reason I decided to give Max and Zoe the title of Kings, or rather Co-Kings as Rex is still Main King, is because part of what I feel the message of Dinosaur King Retold, and really Dinosaur King in general, is that no one has to carry such heavy burdens alone. Max and Zoe are just as important to the herd as Rex is, so they deserve the same amount of respect. Also, it keeps me from having one overshadow the other two massively.

And yes, I know the reveal of Elizabeth being the villain isn't a shock. The mystery wasn't the point of that plot. It was to show Max and Zoe's leadership skills and how they are similar to and differ from Rex's. Also, I know people wanted to see tension from between humans and dinosaurs and I felt I should include that. Please don't ask for more, though. I don't like writing racism, and people don't like reading racism. It makes the world these characters live in seem cruel and I don't want that.

And for those of you who have watched Dinosaur King and wonder who the new characters are based off of: Elizabeth-Royal Mother, David-Richeilou, Louie-King Louis, and Alexander-Duke Damas. David and Alexander got their names based on who voiced the original characters in the English dub.

Also, I started a Dinosaur King Retold Discord. So if you're a fan and have Discord why don't you join? Link is on my Deviantart which you can find on my profile.

Finally, I got them things to clear up. While I haven't seen them happen recently, I don't want to risk them happening again.

1: I don't know what species of lizard Hana III or the one Salty chased are. Please stop asking. They're just generic lizards.

2: While I appreciate people trying to defend me from people that seem to be harassing my story and keep saying negative things about it, please don't do that. Those "harassers" are actually site friends of mine and their criticisms are actually appreciated. Also, I'm an adult, so if I feel someone was harassing me, I will take care of it myself.

I believe that's all to say and don't worry, next chapter shouldn't take over half a year to write.