A reminder that this story contains headcanons just in case you're confused

Warning: Panic attack

Max screamed as his feet were sinking into the sand.

"Max!" The others jumped off the Isisaurus' back, rushing over to him. Aki stepped on the edge of the quicksand, the closest she could, and reached her hand to him.

He was too far. He tried to stretch his arm to her, but all it did was set him off balance. He fell on his hands and knees, making the situation even worse.

"Don't move! You're only sinking faster," Trias told him.

"I'm trying!" the boy groaned.

"We gotta pull him out," Aki wept, holding back her tears.

"None of us are able to reach him..." Rex mumbled so quietly as he hoped she wouldn't hear that.

"One of us is!" Zahrah spoke up, a smile crossing her face, "Genie!"

"Wait, he could hurt him," Ryu stopped her, "there's gotta be another way."

"I got it!" Spike exclaimed, pulling out his lasso. He threw it at Max and pulled when the lasso wrapped around him. The boy barely moved, so the others grabbed the lasso to help. And once they managed to pull him out, they ended up falling to the ground due to the sudden relief of pressure.

"I hate sand," Amano groaned as she got up, and brushed her clothes.

"Well, I've got some bad news for you," Cretacia joked, receiving a glare from the tall woman.

Max sat down near the edge of the quicksand, panting when Aki hugged him, asking if he was fine.

"I'm getting used to this," he chuckled as he opened his Dino Bracer and poured some sand out of it.

"Max?"

"Yes, mom?"

"What do you mean by 'used to this'?" The brunet shivered and nervously turned to his mother.

"N-nothing!" He jumped to his feet and headed over to Genie. "We better get moving! We have a palace to save after all!"

They all climbed back on Genie's back and continued their journey. They soon finally spotted something in the distance.

"Look, there it is, up ahead! The city of Zahrah!" the Princess pointed out, receiving confused looks due to the city's name.

"So, what is the plan?" Spike wondered.

"We go to the palace and we find my father," the Princess explained, "we warn him that Rasheed is planning something behind his back."

"I'm pretttý sure I've seen a movie like that," Cretacia pointed out quietly.

"Sounds good!" Max exclaimed, "let's pick up the pace. Genie, can you go any faster?"

"Wait, hang on, Max," Rex stopped him, "we'll freak people out if we charge into town riding a dinosaur." The brunet glanced back.

"But we can't turn Genie back into a card," Zoe joined in.

"There's an oasis nearby. Genie can wait there," Zahrah brought up. And so they headed there first, leaving the Isisaurus behind.

They were almost there. They could finally warn the Sultan—they couldn't. As soon as they set foot in the city, they knew that something was wrong. There seemed to be no order. Men walked around the streets with weapons, demanding food and goods without paying; sometimes snatching them instead of forcing citizens to bring them stuff.

"These are the bandits who captured me," the Princess mumbled, watching in horror, "but what happened to the city guards?"

"No need to worry, Princess, I-we'll set everything right," Rex reassured her.

"We're bringing too much attention to ourselves," Trias said as they received strange looks from people around, "we are a big group of strangers after all."

"So, should we split up?" Ryu wondered.

"Not sure, but we should definitely find a disguise to blend in."

"Well, they don't know you guys, so maybe we can distract them while you sneak into the palace," Max suggested, "we'll meet you there." The kids then ran off.

"T-take care, Max!" Aki called out to him, but he didn't seem to hear her, "that's not really a good plan." She let out a sigh.

"They'll be fine," Spike told her, "they know what they're doing. We should get moving." She nodded before they headed into the city.

They walked past boarded-up shops and houses. Some alleys were completely abandoned and raided. They tried staying in those just to stay away from the thieves. Amano walked over to one of the shops, looking at pieces of torn-apart clothes laying outside. Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the door from the inside.

"Hey, get lost, witch!" a female voice yelled at her. Amano noticed eyes peeking through a hole in between boards on the window. "You're one of them, aren't you?"

"What? No! We're here to help," she tried telling the woman.

"As if!"

"She's telling the truth," Spike added, "what…what is your name, ma'am?"

"Rana," the woman replied and he nodded.

"Mrs. Rana, we're just looking for a way to the palace. Can you help us?"

"It's impossible to get there without being thrown into prison," Rana explained, "bandits are in control now and they use some wild giant creatures. They used them to take over the city..."

"Giant creatures?" Ryu wondered, glancing at the others, "do you think...?"

"The Space Pirates?" Aki suggested.

"No." Cretacia shook their head. "Don't you remember what the kids said? It's the Alpha Gang. They are with the thieves now."

"You better leave," the woman inside the shop recommended before a group of male voices sounded behind them, demanding gold and all of the woman's food.

"Stop!" Amano snapped and walked over to the bandits that surrounded them, "you have no right to do this."

"Wrong!" One of the thieves suddenly caught her wrist, pulled her to his level, and grabbed her by the chin. "We have the right to do anything. This city belongs to us now and so does everyone in it." She completely froze the moment he touched her. "Including all of you." She struggled to inhale...

The others didn't hesitate to interfere; Spike and Cretacia punched the man right away, causing him to let go of Amano and fall to the ground, his nose bleeding. He glanced up and was met with the end of Ryu's needle.

"Never touch my wife," he growled and then eyed Amano, who could finally breathe. "Am..."

She reached to her chin with a shaky hand, hovering near it as it burned her along with her wrist.

"How are you feeling?" Aki worried, keeping her distance not to scare her more.

"I-I..." she let out, "...don't know...I'll... I'll be fine...I-" She quickly covered her mouth, feeling like she's gonna throw up. She shook her head to snap herself back into reality. This wasn't a safe place for this.

"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?" one of the bandits yelled at the parents, "men, cease them!" A group of thieves surrounded the parents.

"So much for sneaking into the palace," Trias commented quietly.

"I've got a plan. Everyone, stay behind me," Ryu told the others and they did so, "now, on three, okay?" He held up his needle. "One...two... Three!" He charged forward, immediately followed by the others. Thanks to the needle they were able to run past the thieves as some of them jumped out of the way due to being scared of getting stabbed. Ryu chuckled to himself triumphantly.

"After them!" the bandits yelled as the parents made their escape.

"What now?" Aki asked.

"I don't know!" Ryu replied, his voice shifting from delightful to slightly distressed.

"I thought you had a plan," Trias pointed out.

"That was the plan! Just run!"

They ran through narrow alleyways, passing several wanted posters. In an alley parallel to them, the D-Team and Zahrah were also fleeing from a group of thieves.

"Dad?" Max gasped. "Why are you running?"

"We kinda got caught up in the middle of something. You?"

"Same!"

Their alleyways soon met and so did the bandits. They continued running, but it wasn't getting them anywhere, the thieves weren't going to just stop. They ran past a few boxes stacked on top of each other as if they were used as stairs to the house windows by young kids and a plank connected two windows as a way to cross between them.

Spike stopped and turned around while the others continued to flee; he swiped his whip and hit the plank, knocking it and the boxes over and blocking the thieves' path, allowing them to escape.

They quickly hid in an empty building—it took them a while to catch their breath, especially Amano. She was trembling and panting; her chin and wrist were covered in hives. It all just sank in...what that thief said...what he did...

The hives annoyingly itched, her chest felt heavy, her eyesight got blurry and dark, and her lungs felt as if they were being crushed. There were fuzzy images running in front of her as if the world was passing by twice as fast. She could hear very muffled voices in the distance; one of them got a bit louder.

"Am? Amano, can you hear me?" she recognized Ryu's voice. Her eyesight started to focus again, seeing a human shape reaching a hand toward her. "Ma chérie...Please, stay with me." She closed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. Other voices were still muffled for a while until one specific one spoke up.

"Mom?" It seemed like everything went silent for a second. Amano opened her eyes—everything was clear again—and turned to Zoe who was looking at her concernedly. "Are you okay?"

"...I'm..." Amano uttered, "...I'll be better in no time..." She smiled at her softly, but not convincingly.

"A-are you sure...?" Zoe worried.

"Yes..." Amano nodded and stroked her daughter's head.

Meanwhile, the others listened to the outside noise, standing near a boarded-up window. They heard Zayid order the thieves around, telling three of them to go their own way while he and the rest searched the alley.

They listened closely to the three bandits and recognized their voices.

"The old lady?" Max whispered, not realizing that no matter how quiet he'd be, she'd still hear those words.

"Don't call me an old lady!" Ursula yelled as she burst into the room and the moment she did, she noticed not just the D-Team, but to her surprise even the parents. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, why'd you attack us with your dinos earlier?" Max snapped at her immediately.

"Traitors!" Zoe growled.

The green-haired looked at her, her bottom lip quivered and tears filled her eyes. She fell to her knees as Zander, Ed and their dinos entered the room.

"We didn't want to, I swear!" she wept, "we had no choice, honestly. Those 39 thieves made us do it! ...and Dr. Z did too..."

"Why did you even want Zahrah?"

"And what's going on in the city?" Rex and Spike questioned, "we've heard that you helped the thieves take over with your dinosaurs."

"Yeah, about that..." Ursula let out nervously, "it's all minister Rasheed and Zayid."

"They took Dr. Z hostage."

"And forced us to attack the city," Ed and Zander explained.

"So, then I'm too late..." Zahrah mumbled, "tell me, where's my father now?"

"The Sultan?" Ursula wondered, "they locked him in the dungeon."

"No way..."

"At least he's got company," Ed tried to bring up the positive, "they took Dr. Z and our Scanners as well."

"That's how we got wrapped up in all of this. It'd be smarter for you to join Rasheed too," the green-haired told them.

"Join them?" Ryu exclaimed in utter shock as if that was the craziest idea he's ever heard, "I can understand helping someone out of fear, but joining someone with morals like..." He paused and eyed his wife worriedly. "...that...is too far."

"We didn't know how far they were willing to do before it was too late. But maybe if we handed the Princess over to them, we'd get Dr. Z and the Scanners back," Ursula suggested.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Rex yelled at her, "that's not gonna happen. I promised to protect her!"

"Rex...Really?" The blond blushed when he heard the Princess in such disbelief.

"Y-yeah..."

"No, seriously, what did we miss?" Cretacia wondered.

"Nothing. Really, nothing," Zoe replied annoyedly.

"Fine, just keep your Princess," Ursula scoffed, "all you kids ever think about is yourselves!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max asked her.

"As if you don't know. We helped you when you needed us; the Doctor made the time machine at least functional, so you could save your parents. Why is it such a problem for you to do the same for us?!"

"It means putting people in danger!" Max objected.

"And you didn't mind putting us in danger! You left us in that cave, brat!" He was about to respond to Ursula, but before he could-

"Cut it out! Both of you!" Aki suddenly snapped at them. The two of them shot shocked and scared glances at her. "That's enough. Max, you are right," Aki admitted and a triumphant grin formed on his face, "but so is..." She looked at the green-haired, wiping the grin off Max's face immediately.

"Ursula."

"So is Ursula. Others shouldn't be put in danger like that, but leaving someone behind isn't okay."

"Look, if you kids wanna boost your egos and act upon that hero complex you have, go ahead," Ursula said, got up, and walked out of the building, soon followed by Zander and Ed.

"Wait up, guys!" Zoe and Cretacia called out to them and were about to go after them when they heard Zayid's voice approaching.

"Stop right there, you three!"

The trio gasped and jerked in his direction while Cretacia covered Zoe's mouth and pulled her out of the doorframe, hiding from Zayid's view.

"Are you just slacking off here or what?" the bandit boss asked them, "you better tell me that you found the Princess."

"W-well, we..." Ursula uttered and her sidekicks glanced at each other nervously.

Zoe shut her eyes pleadingly despite the trio not being able to see her as the others quietly listened to what the woman had to say.

"Yes, sir, we did," Ursula replied, causing everyone's hearts to drop. She really just sold them out like that. "She ran down this street right here," she said but pointed in a completely different direction. Some of the others peeked out to see that.

"Come on, men! This way!" Zayid ordered his thieves, leading them in that direction.

Once they were gone, the Alpha Gang looked back at the building. Ursula held up a thumbs up and winked at them before they followed the bandits. Zoe chuckled, waving at them gratefully.

"Those three are truly full of surprises," Cretacia admitted.

"We should get going," Max told the others who nodded.

They managed to sneak out of the city as they'd be a big target there now that the thieves knew about them. They hid behind a mound of sand once outside.

"See anything?" Max asked Zoe, who was using her goggles with the camera to have a better look at the city.

"Sand," she replied monotonously.

"Zoe," Rex murmured annoyedly.

"Okay, okay. There's a bunch of guards; way more than when we saw when we came in and definitely more than 39. Someone clearly doesn't know how to count."

"Do you think they convert the city guards?" Aki wondered.

"That would mean that my father was betrayed by his own people..." Zahrah let out in disbelief.

"Well, he already got backstabbed by his prime minister," Cretacia pointed out, "it wouldn't be that surprising. Betrayal is one of the most common things in human relationships as seen throughout history, mainly caused by the desire for power or the unhappiness of people. ...both of which seem to play a role here." The Princess watched them the whole time nervously, not able to believe what she just heard.

"The fact that you're right is a little too close for comfort," Trias admitted.

"So, do we have a plan?" Ryu asked.

"Okay, first, we hide behind a rock," Max started, "then we get some of them to come back there with us. And then we come out from behind the rock, and then we'll—"

"We'll be dressed up as the guards!" Zoe finished for him.

"I think you two watch too many movies," Aki told them.

"That's easier said than done," Rex said, "I think those big brutes would cream us if we didn't use our dinosaurs, which we shouldn't do 'cause we wanna sneak in quietly."

Spike cleared his throat at that moment, bringing attention to himself.

"They might cream you, but don't forget that you have us," he spoke up.

"Sorry, dad, but I doubt you guys would be able to put up against ten highly trained wardens," Max told him.

"We're not that old!" Spike objected.

"It's not that, but you got destroyed by Reese in arm-wrestling."

"In my defense-"

"I've got it!" Zahrah suddenly realized, turning to the others with a bright smile on her face, "there's a secret underground passage that connects to a room in the palace."

"Wait a minute. Are you serious? Do you know where it is?" Rex questioned.

"I have...no idea," the Princess answered, "I mean, I... Well, I've heard stories about it, but I... Well, I've never actually used it myself. As I said, just stories..."

Max let out a long sigh and slid his back down against a rock.

"This would be much easier if I wasn't so hungry," he whined, "I'd sell Zoe for an egg and grab fried rice or for some curry."

"Wow, thanks, Max," the pink-haired mumbled.

"I know, I can hardly think straight," Rex agreed, "maybe we should go back to the market and grab some food."

"But what do we buy it with? I doubt they'd accept yen or dollars in 757, Ancient Persia," Cretacia pointed out.

"And we ate all the food I brought last night," Aki joined in. She then looked down at her necklace thoughtfully. "But maybe..."

"You can't be serious," Ryu said when he realized what she was considering, "we don't even know how much it could be worth here."

"There really isn't any other option. It should be enough to at least feed the kids." Aki then turned to Spike. "If it's okay."

"That's all up to you," he told her.

"Oh, man, if we had just grabbed some of that treasure back in the cave," Max said as his stomach growled, "all that gold, silver, and crystals.

"The rubies, sapphires, and emeralds," Rex added.

Zoe traced her eyes away from them, her body getting stiff—Amano noticed right away.

"Wow, such treasure must've been so exciting to see, right, Zoe?" she asked, making her daughter jerk in shock, "all those diamonds and pearls."

"O-oh! Uh, yeah, and platinum, sure!" Zoe gasped and giggled nervously.

"What is it, mon trésor? You seem tense," Amano continued, "are you hiding something?"

"W-what? Hiding? What on earth would I be hiding? Heh..." Zoe blurted out.

Amano's purple eyes squinted as she glared at her.

"Zoe Eleanore Drake. Do not lie to me." The pink-haired gulped.

"Eleanore?" Max and Rex wondered, "your second name is Eleanore?"

"M-mom, I-"

"Pouch," Amano demanded, reaching her hand in front of her. Zoe frowned sadly, unhooked her belt pouch, and gave it to her mother. Amano opened it and spilled several small gems and gold coins into her other hand. "Knew it!"

"I-I couldn't help it, I-They were so pretty, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to just take one," Zoe tried explaining, her voice trembling.

"Except you took about ten," Rex pointed out.

"Well, I took one...ten times," she joked hesitantly, her face flushed, then hung her head in shame, "I'm horrible..."

"You're wonderful!"

"You're the best!" Rex and Max exclaimed.

"Not very happy that you stole those, but we'll overlook that detail for now," Ryu told her.

"Oh, uh, thanks!" The pink-haired smiled softly.

"Let's go eat!" Max celebrated, but his excitement was cut short.

"We can't just waltz back into the city," spoke Trias, "even if we need food, we have no plan afterward; it won't get us anywhere."

"You have an idea?" Spike wondered.

"Possibly. As weird as it might sound, I think the Alpha Gang had a point. Sort of. Infiltration might be our best bet. We could get our hands on the Alpha Scanners, giving us an advantage over the thieves. Of course, we'd need to gain their trust, and the only way to do that is..."

"Giving them the Princess," Cretacia finished for him.

"Exactly."

"You can't be serious!" Rex snapped out, "we can't just sacrifice her. I won't put her in danger like that!"

"It would give us access to the dungeon," Trias justified, "she wouldn't be in any real danger. If anything, going back in with no plan is much more unsafe. This is only putting her in harm's way."

"It's still better than locking her up!" Rex objected, "I promised to protect her! I won't allow anyone to put someone I love in danger as you did!"

Trias' heart dropped. He really just...said that...

"You don't have to come," Rex mumbled angrily as he stepped back and after what felt like minutes to him, he started running towards the city.

"Rex Owen/Ancient!" Aki and Cretacia yelled at the boy, half-disappointed, half-worried.

"Rex, wait!" Zahrah called out to him and ran after him. Max and Zoe soon followed but took a few coins and turned to the parents for a bit.

"We'll make sure he's okay," Zoe reassured them.

"You should go to Genie and stay there until we get back!" Max added before they disappeared in the distance.

Trias groaned as he leaned his back against a rock and covered his face with his hand.

"He's right... I endangered you, Cretacia." His spouse immediately shot their head to him.

"No, he's not!" they objected, "you know exactly who's responsible for everything." A sad frown crossed Cretacia's face. "Honey, look, I get why Rex doesn't wanna do it, but you do have a point. We can't do much without a plan."

"That's right," Spike joined in, "the children are pretty much safe only because of their dinosaurs, but if the thieves truly have the Alpha Scanners, they could be in big trouble."

"Well then..." Trias smiled at the two of them and then glanced at the others. "I understand why you'd be against my idea."

"I mean, there is a difference between surrendering and infiltration," Ryu told him, "just keep in mind that if any of them try the same thing as before, I won't hesitate to shishkabob them."

"I hate the thought of selling someone out, but I'm not happy with Rex's hyper-fixation on that girl," Aki admitted, "he doesn't think clearly and that can only get him in trouble. If this plan keeps him safe, I'm with you."

Amano took a deep breath.

"After attacking them, we can't just walk up to them; that would be running head first into danger," she said, "that would be insane." She looked up, seeing Ryu, Spike, and Cretacia standing up, holding up their weapons, smirking mischievously. "I'm serious. But I might have an idea."

As he ran towards the city, Rex's face was turning red, his teeth gritted, and his eyes became wet. He was soon out of breath and left panting near the city walls. Once his breath got back to normal, Zahrah caught up to him.

"Rex, are you okay?" she asked him.

"I...think so..." he mumbled as Max and Zoe approached, "...am I in the right?"

"Of course you are," the Princess replied, "you want to protect me. You want to help me save my father and my people. Surrendering to the thieves...surrendering me would be the end."

"Except Dr. Ancient never said anything about surrendering," Zoe whispered annoyedly, "what he meant was that we'd betray the thieves once we get to the palace."

"It's still a risky plan," Max pointed out quietly.

"Less risky than going back with no plan, Max."

"We can't just give them Zahrah."

"Why not?" Zoe wondered, "and don't say it's because 'we're the good guys'; not a single one of us had an issue with using Sanzo Hoshi as bait."

"But Sanzo-" Max tried to object.

"What? Sanzo wasn't a cute girl? Your and Rex's crush on the Princess makes you oblivious to what others say and that can only lead us into trouble," Zoe explained.

"What are you talking about?" the brunet wondered.

"You know exactly what I mean. I get it, she's a Princess, she's beautiful and nice, but a little too perfect."

"Yeah, yeah, she isn't your type."

"She can't distract us from our main mission. We need to find the Cosmos Stone and we haven't even come close," Zoe told him.

"Our main mission was to save our parents," Max reminded her.

"And now that we have them back, neither of you two even listens to them. Look, I've learned that your own wants need to be put aside sometimes because they could put the ones that you want to protect the most in danger even more," Zoe told him, making Max frown thoughtfully.

Turning their attention back to Rex and Zahrah, they decided to finally make a move and head to the city.

Not long after the D-Team entered the city, the parents managed to sneak past the guards as well, mainly thanks to the fact that the Alpha Gang were actually the guards at that specific gate. Led by Amano, the six of them made their way over to the same alley with boarded-up shops that they walked through earlier and even went to the same shop where they talked to one of the citizens.

"Mrs. Rana?" Amano knocked on the door.

"Get lost!" sounded from the inside and a pair of eyes appeared in between the boards on the window, "you again?"

"Mrs. Rana, could we talk, please?" Amano asked her.

"Come inside," the woman told them as she opened the door. The parents walked in and shut the door behind them.

"Why are you here?" Rana asked them.

"Are you willing to do us a favor?" Amano spoke up, holding up a handful of coins and gems, "we need some disguises to blend in with the thieves."

Rana glanced down at the treasure.

"You're lucky that they didn't confiscate or destroy all of my goods," she said before turning around, "wait here." She disappeared into a different room and soon brought several pieces of clothing. "Are these enough?"

"They should be; thank you so much," Spike told her as he picked up a brown coat with a hood and red-yellow accents and handed the others the rest. They all started to change their clothes.

"I'm surprised you agreed to this so quickly," Aki admitted.

"I don't have much to lose...I have only one thing to lose," Rana replied as shrugged her shoulders. , "the city has fallen. Sooner or later, they'll put me in prison regardless. ...if they don't decide to..." She shook her head and folded her arms on her chest. "And you did try to defend me. Look, if there is even the smallest chance of things going back to normal, I'm willing to take it. There are people out there that I want to keep safe, but there might be no hope left."

"There's always hope," Ryu said, "it's just sometimes harder to find."

"Yet so easy to kill..." Trias mumbled, his eyes shifting away from the others. He paused everything he was doing and zoned out until he felt a poke in his cheek. He jerked his head to the right, seeing his spouse in a blue robe.

"You throw that sadness out the window right now!" They glared at him with their hands on their hips, pouting.

"C-Cretacia..." Trias let out, "you look gorgeous." The blond blushed and spun around with a smile on their face.

"Thank you! I adore this robe; it's so cozy. Turns out blue is my color. Actually, I think it makes me look like a magician." They struck a cool pose, making some hand signs. They suddenly jolted their body back to a normal position to face Trias. "Hey! If you don't wanna talk about it, just tell me, but don't change the subject like that."

"It's not that I don't want to," Trias started, "I just don't know what to say... I...I think Rex should be kept away from that girl. He doesn't act...right around her."

"Neither did you with your first crush," Cretacia reminded him.

"And you know exactly how that went…"

"Zahrah isn't him. I still don't trust her, but you can't compare her to him."

"No one really knows what the Princess is like," Rana told them, "and despite that, everyone adores her; even my son fancies her. Must be the perks of being a Princess."

"You have a son?" Amano wondered.

"Yes, he goes around the streets as a...scammer...to provide some gold. With zero law around here, it only gives him more opportunities to do so and that's something I wish would end."

Out of nowhere, there was an angry yell heard from the outside. The parents quickly rushed to the front door and peeked through spaces between the boards on the window. They saw Zayid yelling at some of his thieves.

"What do you mean you let them escape again?!"

"B-but, boss, their monsters-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Zayid snapped out "do you know where the Princess went?"

"I do," a man whose appearance resembled the one of a movie genie said as he approached.

"Then spit it out!" Zayid growled.

"Information isn't for free," the man told him.

"Fine." The thief boss pulled out a pouch full of gold and poured half of it into the man's hand. "Here. You'll get rest once you show us, um..."

"Jon-Jon. I accept that as fair trade," the man admitted, "a boy that I work with leads her to a passageway behind the city. He thinks that he's helping the Princess and her little friends, but doesn't realize how easy it is to buy trust."

"Perfect," Zayid grinned triumphantly and then turned to his thieves, "go find more men, it's time for an ambush!"

As the group disbanded, the parents glanced at each other.

"This is our cue," Spike said, "we'll-um, Drake?" He paused when he noticed the giant needle on Ryunanaka's back.

"What?"

"The needle's a little too on the nose."

"I can't leave it here," Ryu replied, "what if we need it?"

"He does have a point, Ryu," Amano told him, "it could easily give us away and-" She went silent as soon as she noticed his grim expression and quickly pulled him to the side. "What is it?" she asked quietly.

"What if they try it again?" he wondered, "I won't be able to protect you... I might've been able to fight off those Gel Jarks, but that was an adrenaline burst and I had Bertha with me. If any of them touch you again-"

"Oh, mon chéri..." Amano placed her hand on his cheek, stopping him. "I can handle it."

"You're not just saying that to calm me down, are you?" he asked her as he leaned into her touch, "you usually..." He reached his hand to hers—Amano's hand twitched and then she swiftly pulled it away in panic.

"Don't recover that quickly...?" she finished for him, "I know." He watched in concern as she clenched her shaking fist.

"Am... You can stay here and so can I."

"I'll be fine. Don't forget that you aren't the only one who can protect me."

"Right..." Ryu nodded and reluctantly took the needle off his back, laying it on the ground. Amano pressed a kiss on his forehead.

The six of them headed outside and with their heads and faces covered joined a gathering alongside some townsfolk who seemed to have the desire to help the bandits to capture the Princess. They were all led by Zayid to the secret passage behind the city.

They walked up to a path in between sandstone which led to a cave and surrounded the three children, the Princess, and a 16-year-old boy.

"Get 'em!" Zayid exclaimed.

"The bandits!"

"I knew it. I knew this was a trap!" Rex snapped out at the older boy, "Aladdin, you traitor!"

"No, wait! They're not with me!" he tried to explain. The kids had no clue...

Zayid, who the parents were near, chuckled and tossed a half-full pouch to Jon-Jon, then walked forward. "Here... Your reward, as promised."

"Pleasure doing business with you," the man said as he caught the pouch and hid it in his vest

As Jon-Jon walked away, the parents glared at him, and Aki tripped him by putting her foot in his way. The man fell to the ground and groaned annoyedly.

"Oh, sorry," she said nonchalantly as he got up and continued to make his way away from the scene.

"Rasheed is waiting for you, Princess," Zayid announced once the bandits grabbed the kids and Zahrah, "bring her here!"

"You let her go right now!" Rex yelled as he struggled against a man's grip.

"Stop it! Put me down!" Max groaned.

The parents watched as their children were restrained and the Princess was being dragged over to Zayid. Cretacia looked like they were about to attack the men, but they couldn't…not right now…to protect their cover, but also, before they could, someone else interfered.

A sharp purple boomerang flew right at Zahrah and the bandit that dragged her and it cut his hand, making him let go. The boomerang returned in a pale hand—Sheer was flying above the humans, her eyes focused on the Princess.

"Who are you?" Zayid asked her, staring in disbelief.

"Sheer! What are you doing here?" Zoe wondered.

"It's simple: that girl may know where the Red Cosmos Stone is," the pirate replied, "so if anyone's going to take her, it's gonna be me." She put a card to her choker and summoned her dinosaur. A Lexovisaurus dropped right beside the parents and charged toward Zayid and the Princess.

"Why do monsters keep falling from the sky?!"

"Spiny monster!"

"Run for your lives!" the bandits yelled as they ran away, letting go of the kids.

As soon as he was free, Max called Chomp out and the parents nodded at each other before heading into the battlefield.

While her dino faced off against the Triceratops, Sheer reached out to Zahrah who was trying to escape.

"You're coming with me, Princess." She grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her from the scene.

"Hand over the girl," Ryu ordered her as he got in her way. She didn't even bat an eye and thankfully didn't recognize his voice. It was Ace in his full size, who managed to scare the alien off. Zahrah fell to her knees, panting.

"Quick, follow me!" Zoe rushed over to her, helping her get up. Taking the Princess' wrist, she led her away.

"Hey, you two, get back here!" Sheer watched them escape. She couldn't get any closer yet, as Ace was still preventing her from doing so. She got higher and higher, keeping her eyes on the Princess from a distance.

Amano and Cretacia made their way over in Zoe's direction as she and Zahrah were cut off by Zayid which Zoe countered by calling out Paris. The two continued to run away, but the Lexovisaurus and Chomp got in their way.

Once the Spectral Armor was equipped, the Lexovisaurus defeated Chomp with no problem by knocking him into the stone arch above the cave, causing rubble to block the entrance.

While all this went down, Amano and Cretacia got in Zoe's way to help their cover. Paris seemed to hesitate for a bit until Zoe ordered her to go forward. The two parents jumped to the sides to avoid the Parasaurolophus.

"Ugh...I hate sand," Amano groaned as she got up. Hearing that voice, Zoe froze and glanced at her in shock.

Sheer smirked as she flew above them.

"Oh, what was that? I heard you didn't like sand?" the pirate chuckled to herself, "Sand Trap!"

As Sheer was placing a move card to her summoner, Cretacia hopped to their feet and pushed Zoe away before their and Zahrah's feet started to sink into the sand.

"Zahrah!" Rex made his way over to them, reaching his hand to the Princess. Meanwhile, Ace attempted to jump on top of the Lexo, but it smacked him away with its tail.

"Rex, the Lexovisaurus!" Zoe called out to her friend, but he ignored her. Zoe growled and took the matter into her own hands. She swiped a move card, summoning three Pteranodons.

"Pull them out of the sand and attack the Lexovisaurus!" she ordered them.

One Pteranodon flew over Zahrah and Cretacia while the other two charged at the enemy. The Princess crouched and yelped in fear. Cretacia reached their hand to her and Zahrah hesitated.

"C'mon! You wanna get out alive, right?" Cretacia asked her with a slightly deeper voice. The Princess took their hand as the other grabbed the leg of the Pteranodon and got pulled out of the sand. The Pteranodon dropped them beside in a safe spot and joined the other two.

The three of them struck while the Lexovisaurus was distracted by Ace who was biting at its neck. Ace then attacked with Tornado Toss which combined with the sand, creating a sand tornado that lifted the enemy in the air.

Once the tornado vanished, Sheer was gone and the Lexovisaurus dropped to the ground, turning into a card, making the quicksand around Paris disappear.

"Zahrah! Are you okay?" Rex immediately rushed over to the Princess as he and Zoe called their dinos back.

"Yes... I'm fine, Rex, thanks," she replied. Zoe just growled and pouted when she heard that.

Amano made her way over to Cretacia, revealing a soft smile as thanks for saving Zoe before.

"What are we going to do now?" Max asked the others, "the passage is blocked now."

"I'm more concerned about these two," Rex said, glaring at Amano and Cretacia.

"One of them saved me," Zahrah pointed out.

"Yeah, and Aladdin was also acting nice before he betrayed us," Rex reminded her.

The two parents glanced at each other and Cretacia decided to take the matters into their own hands.

"Jaf-I mean, Rasheed wants the Princess alive," they said with a made-up voice.

"Well, you can forget about that!" Rex snapped out, holding up his Bracer.

"Rex, two bandits aren't worth it," Zoe told him, "we should find a different way to get to the palace and especially find the Cosmo Stone."

Suddenly, something shot out of the sand.

"If you think I'm letting you get the Cosmos Stone, think again!" Sheer yelled at them, her shuriken weapon in her hand.

Geez, that's a long one.

So, we have Rex being totally stupid, which he actually was in the anime, just because of his crush. Trias has an actual plan with some questionable morals added because why not. I just feel like he's got something to him. I gotta say that I adore the dynamic Amano and Cretacia have even if there wasn't much shown yet.

Also, Eleanore is a small reference to Alcor's OC who is Amano's sister.

Oh yeah, and Rana's based on a scrapped idea from Disney's Aladdin.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!