Littlefoot's friends had all rushed back to find Grandma and Grandpa, and alerted Sue and Bron before they left to find Shorty about the danger their friend was in. They all talked in frantic and rushed tones, which made it hard to decipher what they were talking about, but they knew that whatever it was, it was bad news.
But just as they wondered what they were going to do next, Grandma looked out and saw littlefoot, slightly dirty from being chased by Doras, walking out into the clearing, while Shorty slowed down, and decided to hide behind a tree for now, still unsure of how everyone else will take his changes.
Grandma gasped. "Littlefoot!" and then quickly walked over and nuzzled her dirty, but safe grandson, very relieved. Cera smiled as she ran over."Hey! You're all right!" Littlefoot nodded as he sat down, exhausted from the encounter"Yeah. Boy, that was scary."
Grandpa and Sue looked on as Bron stepped out and looked down at Littlefoot. "What's going on? Your friends have all been saying that you were being chased by some strange 'thing' that came out of the trees."
Littlefoot nodded and shook a little just from thinking of Doras. "Uh-huh. It was ugly. It looked like a giant bug, and it shot this strange powerful light from its shoulder."
Grandpaw furrowed his brow and shook his head a little. "I've been all over this world in my lifetime, and I've never heard of a creature like that one before."
Bron looked up and nodded to his father as he addressed him and the other adults. "Well, whatever it is, we can't have it running around in the valley destroying things and possibly hurting other dinosaurs." He then looked back at his son. "Where is it now?"
A feeling of relief came over Littlefoot as he remembered what happened, and looked up at Bron with happier eyes. "It's dead." Everyone's eyes widened a bit as Bron moved closer to his son. "Are you sure?" Littlefoot nodded quickly as Bron asked "Well, how did it die?" Littlefoot quickly responded. "Well, you'll never believe it but…"
He looked around, finally realizing that Shorty wasn't with him anymore. "Hey…where did he go?" He looked left and right as Petrie gave him a quizzical look. "Where did who go?"
He got his answer as Sue looked out and saw a familiar face peeking out from behind a tree. "Shorty!" Bron quickly lifted his head, and saw Shorty, realizing he'd been spotted, hesitantly stepping out fully from behind the tree. Many gasps were heard as Sue, who had acted as guardian for Shorty with Bron, quickly began to walk out towards him.
"You're safe! Oh, I hoped you would be!" exclaimed Sue as Bron smiled and followed closely behind, only to be met by a "Don't come near me!" by a very distressed looking Shorty. Sue looked puzzled as she gazed at him. "Shorty? What's wrong?" Bron walked up next to her. "We've been looking for you forever. You've got the whole herd worried about you. What's the matter?" Shorty turned his back to them. "I…I can't tell you…you'll be too horrified to know what it is."
Sue and Bron looked even more confused as Littlefoot suddenly ran out, stopping in front of them. "C'mon Shorty…I already know what it is, and I still want to be your friend…can't you trust them in the same way you trust me?" They looked at Littlefoot, and then back at Shorty as he sighed and turned back to face them. "Very well…"
Shorty looked down at the ground as the middle of his waist suddenly opened up, revealing the same multi- pointed, star-shaped symbol from before, as a light enveloped his body, his figure soon rising onto his hindlegs as his forelegs changed to arms, taking a humanoid shape as insect-like features began to appear once more, along with the green and black organic armor, and a pair of glowing red eyes.
Shorty walked a bit as his guardians and the other onlookers watched in amazement, seeing him shift back into his "Gillis" form. Shorty held the form only for a little bit, feeling uncomfortable in exposing it as he sighed and dropped back onto all fours, quickly shifting back into his previous form.
Sue and Bron were absolutely speechless, as were the other onlookers, until Bron finally broke the silence. "Shorty…what happened to you?" Shorty looked more distressed as he shook his head. "I don't know. A few nights ago it just started happening. I got scared and I ran off."
Cera soon stepped forward, a stern look on her face. "You don't look like the creature that came after littlefoot, but you look just as ugly and mean. How do we know you're not working with the other one." Littlefoot quickly jumped in. "Cera! I just told you, it's dead! And he's the one who killed it!" He motioned to Shorty as he mentioned the last part of his sentence. "He did?" Bron asked as he gazed at Shorty. "Yeah." Littlefoot responded. "If it wasn't for him, that thing would've killed me by now. He's a hero!"
Shorty slowly began to walk off. "I'm no hero. I was just protecting you from that thing. And now that it's dead, I have no reason to stick around here anymore. I'll go now…" Cera nodded, thinking that he should leave, before Sue quickly walked to Shorty, and caught him in a big nuzzle. "Oh no you don't." She closed her eyes and held him close. "We were worried sick when you ran away like that, and we're not going to let you leave us again." Shorty shook as Sue touched him. "No…don't touch me…I can't let you be close to me anymore…it may have been mean and ugly, but I still killed another creature with my other form…I'm a monster…" He sniffled a bit, ashamed.
Bron slowly walked up as Littlefoot sadly looked on, looking at Shorty and addressing him gently. "Shorty…you only did what you had to do…I know you're going through some scary things right now…I can't imagine how much changing like that must frighten you…but if it weren't for you, my son wouldn't even be alive right now. I owe you more than any other dinosaur now…believe me, you're the farthest thing from a monster."
A single tear formed in Littlefoot's eye as he nodded, agreeing with Bron's sentiments as he walked in and joined Sue in the nuzzle, comforting Shorty, who sniffed a bit, then smiled. "Thank you." He simply said, as Littlefoot walked up, about to thank him once again, before something strange suddenly came over him. Bron looked up and saw Littlefoot standing there with his eyes wide open, breathing heavily. "Littlefoot?…"
Littlefoot stood there, hearing a strange, vibrating, high pitched noise in his head, as he grunted and jerked his body around a bit, as his friends looked on, stunned as his concerned Grandma walked over and observed him, with his Grandpa not far behind.
As Littlefoot grunted and moaned, Shorty suddenly noticed his middle lighting up in the same symbol again, and looked up to See Littlefoot's middle suddenly lighting up, only this time in a circular symbol, with a swirling pattern in the center! After a few moments of this, The symbol went away, and Littlefoot collapsed onto his side, unconscious as his Grandma called his name, nudging him.
Shorty then moved from Sue and Bron over to her. "Leave him alone. He's fine." Cera gave him a funny look. "Fine? Did you see what just happened?" Shorty nodded. "Yes…and I think I know what it means too…" Everyone looked to him, not even sure if they wanted him to tell them the meaning.
As this was happening, the body of Doras lay motionless, still impaled on the rock he fell on a while ago, a strange new addition to the valley's landscape as some curious dinosaurs walked past to look up at it every once in a while.
But as the coast was finally clear, Doras' hand suddenly moved…some greenish fluid suddenly rushed out of his abdomen, eroding the tip of the rock as he rose, once again alive as he pushed free from the crumbling rock! His back and abdomen slowly closed up, repairing himself quickly as he roared and held out his hand, apparently deciding to up the ante in his mission.
A ball of light suddenly rose from an opening in his palm, letting it travel to the ground as it landed and created a new monster, which was currently the guise of an ordinary praying mantis, crawling away from the scene as Doras shifted back into his spherical form, and flew away.
Littlefoot slowly woke up, seeing nearly every one of his friends and family looking at him as Shorty sat the closest to him. "How do you feel?" Littlefoot stretched a bit. "Ok, I guess. A little tired, though." Shorty nodded and smiled a bit. "That's understandable…has that ever happened to you before?" Littlefoot shook his head. "No, never…" Shorty thought to himself as the others looked on. "Have any other strange things happened to you before then." Littlefoot thought to himself. "Well…" Before Cera suddenly blurted out. "Wait a minute…Littlefoot do you remember when that thing first attacked us? You pushed me out of the way as just as it fired that bright light towards me." Everyone looked at her strangely as she suggested something most unusual. "It was as if you KNEW that thing was going to attack right then and there."
Shorty looked right into Littlefoot's eyes after listening to her. "Heightened sense of awareness. I went through the exact same things…right before I changed." Littlefoot stood right up. "Wait a minute, wait a minute! Are you saying that I'm going to…" Shorty nodded as he knew what he would say next. "…Become just like I am now, yes."
Everyone's jaw dropped in disbelief as Littlefoot breathed heavily and looked himself over, overwhelmed at the thought, but not as stunned as before after seeing Shorty change. "Why? What's the connection to all of this?" Shorty thought back at what the strange insect had told him before. "I'm not exactly sure…but do you remember back when we had that huge battle between the longnecks and sharpteeth, and after that all those big balls of fire fell from the sky?" Littlefoot nodded. "Of course" Shorty then narrowed his gaze. "I think that event did something to us…it put something inside some of our bodies, and whatever those things are, they're reacting to us now…"
Cera looked at Shorty skeptically. "How do you know all of this?" Shorty just turned back to her for a moment. "A grasshopper told me." Cera looked at him like he was crazy as Littlefoot tilted his head. "Grasshopper?…" Shorty chuckled a bit. "I know, it sounds strange, but it's true. It landed near me in the forest, and it started talking to me. I could understand what it was saying for some reason, and it was saying that you were in danger." Littlefoot shook a bit as he heard this. "This is all so sudden…" Cera sat and shook her head, adding "And strange…"
Grandpa then leaned down and smiled at Littlefoot. "Well, I know it's a distressing thing to think about, the possibility of changing like Shorty has, but I always like to think that there's a purpose for things of this sort happening. We might not always understand them, but in the end, there's always a purpose behind it." Grandma nodded encouragingly as Bron joined in. "You know, he's right. Shorty, you've always been strong, and a great protector, so maybe you were meant to receive these powers. And if Littlefoot gets them too, then he was also meant to have them, because of his sense of leadership, caring nature, and his respect for all life." Shorty smiled as he thought about this. "Yeah…you know, I never thought of it that way. Maybe we were supposed to become heroes, Littlefoot." The others, including the skeptical Cera, beamed encouragingly at Littlefoot as he nodded. "If that's the case, then I can't wait to see if I really do change…"
Little did Littlefoot know, he wouldn't have to wait too long to find out. Not far from where they were, Cera's father munched on some grass, once again indifferent to the world around him. He looked over and saw a praying Mantis walking slowly past his favorite patch. Not being a fan of bugs to begin with, he reached out with his big foot, and brought it down to crush the mantis.
But before he could bring the foot completely down, the bug suddenly transformed, taking the shape of a large, ugly humanoid praying mantis monster! It caught his foot as he shouted out in surprise, and tried to crush it even harder, only to find that this smaller creature was somehow much, much stronger than he was!
Eventually, the mantis creature growled menacingly, and threw off the big foot, making Cera's father fall over loudly as he shouted at the creature and grunted in pain, which immediately attracted the attention of Shorty. He suddenly bolted up, as a flash came over him, sensing the presence of the creature nearby as he ran off towards where it appeared. "Shorty! Wait up!" Littlefoot shouted as he ran off, and the others followed, as Cera soon ran up to her father. "Daddy, are you ok?" Her father shook it all off quickly. "I'm just fine. But those stupid bugs seem to be getting bigger every season. Just what's going on with those things anyway." Cera sighed as she wondered how she was going to explain all of this to him.
Shorty ran up and faced down the mantis creature, before finally focusing and making the star symbol appear on his middle, and gently muttering a strange single word, as the force inside his body entranced his mind. "Henshin…" Littlefoot then saw a strange sight as Shorty fully accepted his alternate self now, a field of white light around him as he swore he saw the figure of Gillis stepping out from behind, and standing right next to Shorty, until the vision faded and the two became one, leaving only Gillis behind as he growled a little and got into a fighting stance.
The others could only watch in amazement as Gillis yelled and ran towards the growling mantis creature, which swiped at him with his large sharp claws, missing him over and over as Gillis caught him with a series of kicks and jump kicks, extending small claws from his own wrists and slicing parts of the mantis with them, appearing to gain the upper hand, until the mantis suddenly caught Gillis in it's claws and flipped him up, over its head, and onto his back, knocking the wind out of him, as it lurched over and tried to take a bite out of him with it's large mandibles.
Gillis roared as he wrestled with the mantis, kicking and chopping at it, but still couldn't free himself from its powerful claws. Littlefoot stood and watched as a desire to jump in and help his friend came over him strongly. As this was happening, the grasshopper from before suddenly appeared, landing on Littlefoot's leg as it drew his attention. His friends looked on as Ducky spoke "Uh…Littlefoot…is that what Shorty was talking about?…" Littlefoot didn't respond, only listening to the insect as it spoke to him, while Gillis still wrestled with the mantis. Bron was about to jump in and help, before Cera's father shouted. "Don't bother! I tried to crush the thing myself, but it's a lot stronger than we are."
Littlefoot then slowly nodded as the grasshopper just flew away and disappeared. He then closed his eyes as Petrie flew over to see he was ok. He was soon startled by a sound, as Littlefoot concentrated, and a belt with a swirling design on the middle suddenly materialized on his body! A humming sound emanated from the belt as Littlefoot kept his eyes closed, and suddenly muttered "Henshin…"
He then stomped one of his forelegs on the ground, as his belt suddenly lit up, and let out a roaring mechanical sound, like a motorcycle zooming away. Everyone looked over and watched in awe as Littlefoot walked towards the mantis creature, which let go of Gillis and kept it's eye on the now glowing figure of white light. With every step, the figure of Littlefoot suddenly rose up and became bipedal, taking a humanoid shape in the light as the mantis creature ran over to attack, only to receive a graceful kick to the chest!
The light soon left the figure of Littlefoot, leaving behind a new figure in armor. It was mostly black, with gold and silver gauntlets and boots, a gold chest plate with a silver outline, a helmet with an insect-like face, silver with red eyes like those on Gillis, and a pair of short golden horns.
As the Mantis was distracted by Littlefoot's change, Gillis took advantage, by rolling up and springing off with a kick on his hands, sending it onto the ground as Littlefoot ran smoothly and gracefully, moving almost like a samurai as the Mantis got up and swung at him, only to be blocked as Littlefoot instinctively delivered a quick and accurate series of punch combos, before sending it flying again with a well placed side kick to the chest.
Gillis then revved himself up again, roaring like an enraged man into the sky as he leapt and landed on the Mantis, biting it with his mandibles! Littlefoot then ran over to the Mantis, grabbed a claw as it swung at him, and karate chopped it, lopping the claw off! Gillis then leapt back down in front of the mantis, taking it's claw and ramming it into it's abdomen!
The mantis shrieked in pain as this happened, trying to run away as Littlefoot pursued him, the gold horns on his helmet suddenly spreading out like a fan, adding two smaller horns to each side of his head as energy built up in his feet. He gracefully leapt into the sky, somersaulted in mid-air, and soon extended his foot into a kick, zooming down and hitting the Mantis very hard with it! He then landed smoothly onto his knees, kneeling in a position with his hand extended, before turning away from the mantis, which got up, before it's other arm suddenly exploded, then it's head, and then its entire body, killing it!
Doras was watching far off, behind some more trees, as it saw the newly transformed Littlefoot walking away from the vanquished mantis. He scanned him with his eyes, found more schematic drawings in his memory banks, and simply uttered a new word for his discovery. "Agito…" (Pronounced Ah-gi-toe) He then growled lightly and walked back off into the darkness.
Littlefoot's friends, Bron, Sue, and his Grandparents, could only stand and watch, utterly amazed as the form of the newly formed "Agito" walked slowly into the clearing, as Gillis walked up and joined him. The two remained in their transformed states for a moment, before finally shifting back to their old selves, both clearly changed inside and out as they held the stoic looks on their faces.
"You know something?" Bron told Sue. "Littlefoot always told me that he always wanted to think of Shorty as a brother…and now, I'd say they really are brothers from this point on." Sue, a bit overwhelmed by all this, soon smiled anyway and nodded as they watched the two walked over to their amazed friends, who were soon bombarding them with the usual "How do you feel?" type questions…
It was clear that from here, life in the great valley would never be the same. There were still questions left to be answered, and most likely more enemies left to fight. But Shorty and Littlefoot were fine with that now, because as they looked at their friends and family, they realized that they were doing this all for them, and that they would always be in it together. Indeed this was one brotherhood that would truly not go down without a fight.