Dinosaur Queen

by HunterHQ

A young girl named Cera and her partner Miku awaken without a clue as to where or when they are, even as to who they are. Join them on their journey as they work together through trials of many kinds to dig up their past and piecing it together, while battling foes across space and even time itself!

14. Night of the dinosaur

Chapter 14

Night of the dinosaur

It was afternoon at the D Lab, and the 3 chibi dinosaurs were busy playing on the play equipment set up at their play one, with Ace hanging on the tire swing, Paris singing and humming in a corner with Miku swinging to the beat and Chomp was practicing his charge on a t rex balloon dummy as each charge he did ended up sending him right back after running into the balloon!

At the main area, Cera was bringing up some images on the D Lab computer which depicted the insides of the android Johnny, displaying several highly advanced circuits and gears after they did a kind of x ray scan on him not long ago. Reese meanwhile was wearing an eye mask shielding them from the sparks that were flying out while her tools were working on the inside of Johnny's chest, which was a massive opening after suffering a huge burn from Terry's volcano burst not long ago. After that she put aside her equipment and took off her mask before turning to her assistant, "Cera can you hand me the magnifying glass from that table?" she asked nicely as the red haired girl looked to her and nodded.

"Sure thing Reese." She said running to the table and getting the glass for Reese to use. As she did she then backed away slowly while turning away. Even if he was a robot, earlier they had to undress him a little by removing his upper clothes, fortunately he only sustained damage on the upper part of his body so it was fortunate they didn't need to remove his pants.

"Hmm very interesting….." said Reese snapping her out of her thoughts as she looked back to see Reese was staring rather closely to the android's insides.

"What is it?" Cera asked feeling unsettled that she may be getting a bit too close.

Reese however didn't seem to mind though, "These components are unlike anything I've ever seen before," she then said, "In fact this circuitry is far superior to anything we have here at the lab, even I have no idea what some these systems can do or even supposed to do." she then added.

"I'll have to agree with you on that." said Cera turning to the computer to see the schematics drawn up, "I don't think anyone has ever come up with a robot this advanced, let alone an AI that can have emotion or even talk back to you in a conversation." she said recalling how he was able to interact with her on a level almost human the first time she met him, how the D Team also met him several times in the past too and while he did seem odd popping up in the most unusual places he didn't stand out all that much to them so they never would have imagined he'd be a robot, "It's also amazing how he was able to take on so many different jobs, identities and have the skills to excel in them. Just who made him and why?" she then thought before taking a piece of rubbery plastic and handing it to Reese, "I think we might be able to repair his skin with this set of false skin, we should be able to stitch it back together again too." she suggested as Reese took it from her.

"That's a start, but we'd best do that later in the final stages." she said before using a pair of forceps and plucking out a gear which was burnt black and even chipping off, "Most of these parts are still relatively charred up too, we'll need to get them replaced." she said narrowing her eyes through the magnifying glass for a close inspection. "Let's hope Dr Taylor manages to get what we need." She then added.

"Hello! I'm back!" a manly voiced called out as if right on cue.

The girls looked back to see Spike run in with a paper bag, which appeared to be filled up to the brim with mechanical parts and tools in it, before handing it to Reese.

"Hi Dr Taylor, did you come back with those parts we asked for?" Reese asked as she began to rummage through them and sort them out on the table.

"Well yes and no." Spike replied as he scratched his cheek nervously. As they looked to him he then twiddled his fingers and pouted, "Some of the parts you asked were either out of stock or too expensive so I had to make do with substitutes they recommended." Both girls huffed and folded their arms at him in disappointment which prompted him to kneel down in a begging position!

"I'm sorry but that's just what happened!" he cried dramatically much to the dismay of Cera and Reese.

"I see….." Reese replied pushing up her spectacles before eying their entire inventory closely. She narrowed her eyes at some of them and sighed slightly disappointed, "These parts may not be as efficient but they should do for now." she said as she looked to Cera and Spike, "Well don't just stand there, this android isn't going to repair himself."

"Oh! Right of course!" Spike gasped as he went to assist Reese in the repairs along with Cera.

After a while of installing pieces and replacing parts, along with a few hiccups like Dr Taylor tripping over the wires and causing Cera and Reese to face palm or eye him with disapproval, it soon came to the moment of truth.

"Alright, now plug in those cables," Reese instructed Cera who grabbed a set of big wires, "We'll try to reenergise him and give him a jump start."

Cera then plugged them into one of his arms, "Done." she said.

"Alright," Reese nodded before turning to Spike at the computer.

"Dr Taylor, activate the power transfer." she said.

"Right." said Spike as he pressed the buttons and pulled the lever. As it happened, a surge of energy flowed through the cables and into the arms, causing the robot to glow slightly, at first everyone looked on in interest to see what would happen next, but their hopes soon vanished as the light died down and the gurgling sound of a shutdown happened.

"Aww…." Spike moaned in disappointment hoping to see it do something.

Checking the energy levels and seeing they were dropping low, "Energy levels are still too low Reese." she said as Reese put a finger to her chin in thought.

"I see, it's just as I thought…." she said to herself before folding her arms and letting out a sigh, "Well, I've given it my best shots, but without those parts there's not much the can be done."

"Sorry about that….." Spike apologised lowering himself own feeling responsive for letting them all down. "Well, guess that means I'll have to return some of those bits back and hope they'll restock soon. Good thing I saved the receipt." he said repacking the parts and tools they couldn't use into the paper bag.

"Until then there's nothing we can do now I suppose….." said Reese after that.

"So it seems." Cera added in agreement before looking around to see, apart from the chibi dinosaurs running around playing there was no sign of Max, Rex and Zoe in sight. "Say, the place really is quiet when they're all gone huh? Seems almost like a different place."

"Yeah, now that you mention it it sure does…." Spike commented as Reese smiled thinking she could get used to it without the hyperactive kids running around making noise and distracting her for a change. As she sat down and had a cup of coffee enjoying herself and the moment while it lasted.

"Today happens to be the kids' final day of school and their teacher Michelle wanted to reign them all together for a camping trip they'll never forget," said Spike with a smile, "To celebrate the last day of their school year before they move on to a higher level next year."

"Sounds like the perfect way to end it all off." said Cera smiling for them before noticing all their dinosaurs were chirping rather miserably, feeling lonely and left out without their partners around, "Almost perfect," she then added at the end with a sigh as they came up to look at her, "It's too bad they couldn't bring you along this time." she said scratching Chomp under his chin as she flashbacks to earlier in the morning.

(Flashback)

The entire class had gathered in a number of lines outside the schoolyard, as the bus had arrived to pick them all up and send them to the camping ground and their families were standing back seeing their children off. As everyone waited in anticipation and excitement for the experience waiting for them on the bus, the D Team stood at the front looking forward to being the first to come on board. "Alright! Camp here we come!" Max cheered punching up in the air as he began to step up into the bus, only to be halted by a sudden alarm-

BEEP BEEP

"Huh!?" Max jumped in surprise and everyone too was shocked the they saw Michelle pop out of nowhere holding a beeping metal detector in her hand.

"Let's see what you're trying to sneak past the border mister!" she said sounding tough with authority as she took his bag from him much to his dismay!

"H….Hey!" he cried out, feeling his privacy violated as she rummaged through it, but turned pale and his heart skipped a beat when she yanked out his dinoholder!

"Oh? What's this?" she asked curiously as she eyed it all around, unsure what to make of it.

Max quickly snatched it out of her hand, "I…It's a toy!" he cried out suddenly, before blushing red in embarrassment to realise he blurted it out loud. Noticing people were beginning to stare at him, for playing with toys at his age he quickly spoke the first excuse that came to mind, "It's to….entertain myself while I'm at camp or on the bus! Yeah! That's it! Hahaha…ha…" he then laughed nervously as Michelle leaned in towards him with her hands on her hips.

She narrowed her gaze at him unsettlingly as he gulped down hard, "Hmm….well I'm afraid that's a big no no!" she then said wagging her finger at him much to his alarm as well as the other members of the D Team.

"Huh!?" he gasped with his jaw dropping, as Zoe and Rex too were taken aback.

"W…Why's that?" asked Zoe as Michelle turned to face the whole class.

"Because, this trip will be all about getting back in touch with our roots!" she proclaimed pointing out to the sky, "To a time before technology came into our lives, when we lived in a much more simple time away from heavy developed cities and noise!" she announced powerfully before flashing a childish smile at the whole group, "Not to mention we can't have any distractions around the would keep us from being all sociable and all the other things people do when we bond together!" She said doing a spin and grinning cheerily, "We all come from different backgrounds, but we'll all be gathered together as equals on this camp and for this one last day we will be sharing together a glorious experience to end it all off! Even though we'll be lead down different paths this wonderful final memory as a class which will never disappear! And I want us all to be connected as one!" She said doing a rather shakespearen style of drama movement as she kneeled on the ground and held her arms to the sky, "Surely you all can understand where I'm coming from right?" She then sang going back to her usual perky self.

Everyone however didn't seem t share her enthusiam as they began groaning or moaning in displeasure.

"I'm starting to regret signing up for this…."

"I for one can't wait to be rid of her after this camp is done with…." Some of them went hoping this would be the last time they ever see her.

Max and his friends looked to one another uneasily worrying what if a dinosaur were to appear while they were gone, also they knew Chomp and the others would love going on camp with them to the great outdoors to celebrate their last days of the school year.

"Right!" Michelle called as she clapped her hands and grabbing everyone's attention. "Now to everyone else who has so much as a gadget or even a toy on them, now's your chance to drop them off with your folks before we go! This of course includes phones!" She said gleefully as the students all moaned heading back to their parents to handover their earphones, video game consoles and whatever technology they had on them. Some of them were hoping Michelle would at least have some sort of emergency contact in the event there was a kind of urgency since none of them would be able to call for help if something were to happen.

"Aw man….." Max then groaned seeing no way out.

"Guess there's no helping it….." sighed Zoe with a light smile as she go hand her own gadgets to her family to hold onto, before meeting up with Rex and Max who were handing over their dinoholders to Dr Taylor, who was standing with Aki and Cera.

"Hey dad," Max then asked as he collected all 3 of their devices, "Could you hold on to these and take care of Chomp and the others while we're away?" he asked as his father smiled taking them off his hands, fortunately while Aki was talking with the Drakes over the camp.

"Of course Max." he said as Cera stepped up before them.

"And if a dinosaur appears I'll do my best to take care of it while you are away." she said holding a smile and thumbs up to them wishing them the best of luck. "You can count on me as well to keep your dinosaurs happy and healthy too."

The rest of her fiends smiled with relief to her her say that, "Thanks, that makes us feel a whole lot better knowing that Chomp and everyone else are in good hands." said Rex feeling at ease knowing they can trust her to handle everything, for she really did have the talent and skill to fill in for all 3 of them if she really tried.

"Mhmm, well see ya!" Max then waved goodbye as he and the others quickly hurried to the bus while they were followed by a large stream of school kids who followed from behind.

"Take care kids!" Spike waved calling out to them.

"Remember to brush your teeth! Go to bed early and don't forget to change your underwear every single day." Aki then sang to them, especially Max who sweat dropped in embarrassment.

"Mom….." he whined as Zoe and Rex laughed in amusement before getting on board and the bus began to drive away..

"Hahahaha….."

(Present)

"Hope they all have fun out there." said Cera with a smile as it shrunk slightly as she looked down on herself. Thinking back, she couldn't recall anything about her going to school or any old friends she may have had before losing her memories, how the D Team all had that privilege and opportunity, she hoped they wouldn't waste it and appreciate how lucky they truly were to have what she didn't…..

Her personal thoughts were interrupted by some repeated tugging at her dress. Looking down she saw Chomp, Ace, Paris and Miku (on Chomp's back) all there wagging their tails and hopping up and down with excitement and glittering eyes hoping she could do something fun with them since ethic partners were gone for the weekends. She then smiled sympathetically with them as she gave them each a pat on the head, "Sorry you guys couldn't go, but until they get back want to have some fun and play?" As she asked that they bounced and ran around her with excitement, confirming her answer and hoping she'd play tag with them. "Hahahaha! Alright guys looks like I'm it!" she laughed as she ran after them around the D lab, while Spike and Reese looked on happily for her.

(Meanwhile)

Later that day, the school bus soon parked outside the entrance to Sanjo City Woods on the outskirts of the city, as the door opened, Michelle was the first to hop out of the bus as she went out and took in the sights and smells of the fresh natural air, "We're here kids!" she sang joyously flashing a bright smile to the now grumpy and agitated students who moaned crankily as they got down with their backpacks, some even had bags under their eyes including Max, Rex and Zoe as they stumbled out and nearly tripped upon exiting the bus!

"Finally I thought we'd never get off….." Max moaned groggily as Michelle kept spinning and spouting nonsense in the background in excitement, not caring how she looked to the others.

"Yeah, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse there was a huge jam." Rex sighed deeply wondering what did they ever do to deserve it.

"Then she suggested karaoke to pass the time," Zoe followed sounding sick and almost ready to hurl just remembering it, "I'm surprised the bus driver was able to drive straight with all her noise." she said recalling how Michelle pretty much sang the entire trip without giving anyone a chance! If she had gone a little louder she might have shattered the bus' windows and caused permanent damage to everyone's hearing, also she was grumpy she didn't get a chance to sing herself.

"I almost thought I'd go deaf several times…." Max muttered as he dug a finger into his hear hoping to get it clear even though he tried several times already. Looking around they could see everyone too looked they had just came back from a war zone, how they were all battered and exhausted beyond belief. Many were hoping to get some shut eye on the bus but Michelle's 'singing' kept them awake throughout the journey which soured their mood deeply.

Zoe however caught sight of someone who didn't seem too bothered herself, who was also a familiar face she recognised instantly, "Oh look!" she pointed out to a short haired girl who didn't seem to stand out much from the crowd but was no doubt special to the D Team as they followed Zoe's finger.

Max squinted his eyes a bit for a better look before recognising her, "Hey is that Amy?" he asked blinking his eyes.

"Sure is." said Zoe feeling better seeing her old friend, "I'm going over to say hi!" she said as she hurried off leaving the boys behind to watch.

Amy herself was looking around feeling somewhat nervous to be surrounded by so many people, even if they were her classmates they were more like strangers to her, apart from Zoe she hadn't managed to get herself acquainted with the other students yet. She signed up for the trip hoping to make some new friends but now she was having second thoughts, clutching the straps of her backpack tightly upon feeling overwhelmed. She sighed in disappointment thinking she'd be alone again this weekend and that she didn't end off her school year like how she wanted, that was, until a familiar voice called out to her which caught her attention.

"Hey Amy!"

"Huh?" Turning around in the direction of the voice, she brightened up to see someone she did know and trust, "Oh hi Zoe!" she cried as she ran up to her.

"You look well Amy, hope you've settled into your new house." said Zoe as Amy nodded.

"Mhmm, I sure did and I think I might get used to staying here in Sanjo City." she replied as Zoe clapped her hands together.

"That's great! Good for you!" she cheered before leaning in towards her, "So how's Hana the third doing these days?" she then asked.

"Oh she's been enjoying herself at my house." Amy replied with a big smile, "I'm really lucky to have her, and the fact your parents are all vets so we have nothing to worry about."

"I'm so glad to hear that." Zoe replied as she put a hand on her shoulder, "If anything happens just know I'll be there for you."

"I'll remember that Zoe." Amy nodded as they both laughed together while Max and Rex smiled feeling glad they were enjoying themselves and each others' company.

"Wow, she and Zoe really are hitting it off huh?" asked Max.

"Yeah, it's great that she has a friend now and isn't so lonely anymore." Rex smiled folding an arm on his hip.

The warm moment didn't last long however, as another voice soon cried out grabbing everyone's attention. "Alright kids!" Michelle sang out loud as she assembled all the kids together, though they weren't exactly the most high spirited, since they were expecting to see cabins or readied campsites but found only endless forest and nature. "Now for a little super speech to both brief and pep you all up for this awesome camping experience! Or as I like to call it the wild weekends!" she announced as the kids all moaned in annoyance.

"Awwww….."

"Not again…"

"If I had my earphones I'd tune it all out."

"Here we go….."

"Might as well get this over with…."

Michelle picked up on all their negative whining and groaning, which made her pout before hardening her expression seriously, "Alright children listen up!" she then yelled stomping her foot on the ground as everyone became attentive, seeing she meant business now, "This is trip isn't just some simple camp where we sit around singing campfire songs and have little activities like all other namby pampy camps! This one is all about wilderness survival and to answer the call of the wild!" She said as she strutted about like a drill sergeant and flexed her arm, "To prove my point, we'll all be setting up camp ourselves and over the course of the next few days we'll be working hard to master the art of survival!" She then grinned eagerly as she faced the whole student body who were feeling uneasy about where she was going, "That means we'll be living out here, cut off from the modern world, tap into the survival instincts passed down by our ancestors before us and we live off the land!" She cried to the heavens stretching her arms out.

Upon hearing her words everyone widened their eyes and cried out in alarm, "Say what!?"

"Huh!?"

"EH!?"

"This isn't what I signed up for!" They all yelled realising they were basically stranded in the middle of nowhere because of their air-headed teacher, some of them tried to make a run for it only to find the bus had departed over the hill. They felt hope was lost and some didn't have the will to live any longer, they wanted to go out the easy way rather than meet their inevitable ends by mother nature due to their incompetent teacher.

Realising she may have started off the wrong way and only seemed to make them whine or feel insecure, she quickly reacted, "Now I know this may all come off as a shock to you all, but I wanted us to have an experience unlike any other for to remember our last, lovely and priceless time together, so I made some last minute changes and wanted to surprise you all!" Michelle responded hoping to bring their moods up (and to set a good example to them so they wouldn't hold anything against her) though to little avail.

"Oh we're surprised alright….."

"I'm feeling not too comfortable in putting my fate in the hands of an adult with the clueless mind of a 3 year old child." Some of them muttered.

"This may be our last time together literally by the time these next few days are over…." Michelle then started sounding sad and downhearted before mood swinging into a more positive attitude, "So together we'll grasp life, live the way mother nature intended for us!" she then announced before switching to her serious mode, "When you think about it many of us can't live outside the comforts of our indoor, air-conditioned homes or without our handheld gadgets. How lame." she said mockingly, which seemed to make some of the students reflect on themselves a bit more. "I bet if you didn't sign up for this you'd all like play video games all day long while cooped up in your room, now isn't that just boring and no fun at all when you could be enjoying the breath taking outdoors!?"

As she shouted out that, they began to feel guilty at her words which cut them to their hearts. Even the D Team felt they ma have been living it a little too comfortable lately even if they did go out dinosaur hunting they relied a lot on technology and not much on themselves.

"Sure the inside may be clean and comfy but does it have the enrichment and beauty nature can offer?" Michelle continued sounding more like a strong teacher person now, "We're not born on this planet to stay alive, but to be alive! To tame the wilderness and bend nature with our very own hands!" she yelled out powerfully filling up the children with inspiration and determination as she faced them all, "Now what do you all say!? Are you in!? Or are you in!?"

As she concluded her speech everyone cheered and roared at the top of their lungs, "Woo hoo!"

"Yeah! I feel like I can take on the world and its' creatures!" They cried feeling inspired and ready to seize the day with their own hands.

Grinning with delight to see she did something exemplary as a teacher for once, Michelle felt she was in the clear as she then clapped her hands together going back to her childish persona,"Alright, now we'll all be split into groups!" she said running over to her massive backpacker bag (About as tall as a groan man, double her size) and taking out a container with straws in it, "Now each one of you take a straw and you'll be put into that group along with the jobs that have to come with it!" She said holding them out to the group as the students went over to draw lots.

"So we split the responsibilities huh?" commented Max as he went over to pick one from the 'lottery'.

"Sounds fair to me." said Rex shrugging his shoulders as he drew. As they both eyed their draws, both being blue, they looked to one another, "Looks you and I got the task of gathering food Max." he said to the brunette who nodded as they shared a fist bump.

"And I'll be pitching the tents with Amy." said Zoe as she held out green with her short haired friend who stuck by her side.

"Yippee, I can't wait Zoe." she cheered softly while shooting up her arm modestly.

Around them echoed various comments amongst the students based on the lots they drew, being mixed and varied, "Come on, let's get started!"

"I'm ready for this!"

"Aw man why did I have to get stuck with you…."

"Hehe, we've got this in the bag!"

"Hey, want to switch?"

Once everyone was assigned their groups and finalised, Michelle then clapped her hands to them all and smiled warmly, "Alright kids, now that we're all set I'll be heading over to the little girls' room for a while, I'll check on you all in a bit." she sang as she hoisted up her bag onto her back, with little effort surprisingly, and began to hurry off somewhere she couldn't be seen.

"But Michelle, how are you going to go to the bathroom without a toilet?" Max asked curiously as he raised his hand. As he asked that some of the students listened having realised there weren't any lavatories or restrooms around for miles.

"Oh who needs a toilet when you have a shovel!" she said in a very cheerful but unsettling manner as she then flashed a childish smile and held up a shovel she apparently brought along for digging purposes.

As she said that, everyone shuddered and turned green realising what she meant, "Eeew….." Some even wanted to go throw up behind a tree or in some bushes upon hearing and picturing what she said. Max too was beginning to regret asking.

"I'd better eat and drink as little as possible…."

"This is a nightmare!"

"See ya everyone!" she then sang as she skipped along merrily into a deeper part of the woods leaving the kids to handle their responsibilities on their own., with some of the students began cursing her behind her back.

"Let's hope she gets lost."

"Maybe we can follow the trail back home while she's gone!" Some planned while others decided to suck it up and deal with it like real people.

Meanwhile as Michelle made it to a hidden bushy area away from the children, pulling through branches and vines, she looked around frantically to make sure she wasn't alone and wasn't followed. Listening carefully and deciding she was alone she breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright the coast is clear." she thought to herself before she snickered to herself and a massive wide grin came across her face as she covered it with her hand, "Hee hee hee!" Reaching into her bag she plucked out a large pink inflatable tent from it along with its pump. She quickly pumped it up in no time as it blew up to be as big as a minivan. After that she quickly took out several other things from her large backpack to spice up her woodland home, which included a small TV, mini refrigerator and several ready made lunchbox meals!

As she eyed it with pride she clapped her hands together and smiled with joy and glistening eyes, "Perfect!" she sang seeing she'll survive for sure out here in the wild before hugging each of her gadgets she laid out inside, "Oh how I just can't live without you my precious phone, food cooler and ready made meals." she said before moving onto the others, "Not to mention my mini tv with super coverage, oh how I'll be able to enjoy the comforts of my home away from home." She thought to herself, knowing she wanted to do this to make herself look good for the teacher board and students after her previous hiccups on their last field trips, but she couldnt bare to stay out alone in the wild so she made sure she came prepared this time. "Sure it may not be a good example for the kids but they don't need to know about this hee hee!" She snickered as she took out her phone which was a new models with a touch screen and data coverage for emergencies, "Of course we still need a phone for emergencies after all, good thing I snuck this into the bus before I got out the metal detector, that way the kids learn how to be tough on their own while I kick back and relax. Hee hee! Its a win win!" she grinned deviously to herself before a thought soon crossed her mind, "Hmm, I've still got a full battery, maybe a game or two wouldn't hurt." she snickered as she proceeded to play a new game she downloaded.

Back at the campsite, many of the kids had already split up in their respective groups to get their jobs done, in 1 of them, Max and Rex sulked as they began to head out to gather food with their lot and their were far from motivated to get started, "Man, I know I wanted an experience to end the year off but this wasn't what I had in mind…." Max sighed as he lowered himself forward and his arms dropped.

"Yeah, we'll be lucky to get back alive at least." Rex followed mirroring his attitude, posture and tone.

"Oh come on guys don't be such sore thumbs." Zoe chirped as they looked to her, gathering a number of poles and strings to pitch up the tents, "Let's give it a chance, after all an experience like this doesn't come everyday, not to mention it'll be a real adventure and a good chance for building character." she said encouragingly as Amy came up to her holding the sheets and tarps.

"I like the way you think Zoe." she said with a nod, "In fact I'm looking forward to enjoying this with you."

"Aww thanks Amy….." Zoe thanked.

Max then scoffed, "You'll be eating those words of yours soon enough….." he grumbled in annoyance thinking they were clueless if they couldn't see the things that could go wrong here, "Also we have adventures a lot remember?"

"Hmm?" Amy blinked her eyes in surprise as Max covered his mouth realising he may have blurted out something he should't have.

"Urk…."

"Ahahahah," Rex laughed nervously as he smacked Max on the back to the latter's surprise, "Well this is the first time we've had it like this, you know being out in the wild and roughing it up out of our comfort zone." he said trying to sound like everything was normal.

"Y…Yeah!" Zoe then followed, "You've just got to enjoy it! Seize the day and try something out of the ordinary like our other friend Cera once said, right?" she then smiled which made the 2 boys pretty much eat their OWN words after recalling Cera once spoke to them about sometime ago.

"When you put it that way….." they said looking away, whistling or scratching their cheeks while sweat dropping.

Amy blinked her eyes unsure what they were talking about, but before she could ask, Zoe then went back to her quickly, "Well Amy shall we get started on that tent?" she then asked with a big smile as her friend nodded in response.

"O…Okay then…." she said softly as they walked away to find a good place to set up.

After they left, Max and Rex both sighed with relief and exhaustion, "Oh boy this is going to be one trip we won't forget alright…." said Max.

"Yeah but not in the way everyone thinks…." Rex groaned begrudgingly, deciding they might as well get over it as groaning and complaining wouldn't get anything done. As they both headed for the river with the food gatherers, they failed to realise that a tree they passed under had a dinosaur card capsule resting gently on a branch that was cracking slowly and ready to snap at any given moment…..

(That afternoon)

They all actually enjoy it, teamwork, change their minds, new experience and learning to get down and dirty

"Good thing dad taught me how to make a fishing pole with just sticks and vines." said Max feeling grateful for Spike's advice as he wiped some sweat from his brow.

"Yeah, who would've thought they come so handy." Rex commented as he tied the last few pieces of vine together to the branch to make a sturdy fishing pole with a small wooden thorn at the end for a hook. Hearing the sounds of chattering behind them, they both turned around to see a bunch of their classmates gather together to show off a bunch of colourful berries and delicious looking nuts and seeds in their hands full, which the found in the forest. Rex couldn't help but smile impressed by their find, "Wow, when you look around you'll see nature provides us all we need." he said.

"Yeah no kidding." Max commented before grinning excitedly, "This will be an adventure for our tastebuds that's for sure….."

"Hey guys look what I got!" another kid called out as he hurried over with a rather large leaf which as craving with worms, grubs, beetles, grasshoppers and other insects on it including a centipede! "I hear it's the real crunchy ones that make the meal, or was it the slimy ones?" he then asked as the group jumped back in surprise!

"Yuck! Gross! No way am ever I eating that!" cried one of the girls as she ran off screaming her head, while the others backed away slowly and nervously.

Max felt his stomach churn and he felt uneasy upon seeing it, and so did Rex, "But let's not get too adventurous…." he groaned at the end as Rex nodded with him in agreement.

"Yeah….."

In other areas some kids gathered rocks and lined them up into a circle for the campfire, while others came in with firewood to put on it. Others were also busy scouting out the area to plot out paths to use or even scouting out best places to go to the bathroom, as well as picking out soft leaves to substitute for toilet paper, much to most of their inconvenience and disgust.

"Alright Amy hold it up." said Zoe telling the smaller girl to hold up the poles in the ground as they and several others worked in setting tents for groups.

"Like this?" she asked shyly as she held them straight.

"Perfect!" Zoe praised as she smiled with joy and relief.

"Now just hold still….done!" She said tying the sheets together with strings she was given. As they stood back they smiled proudly to see the lovely pink tent they managed to pitch together for 2 people.

"We did it!" Amy cheered clapping her hands together.

"Hahahah! We sure did!" Zoe laughed as they clapped hands with one another after, showing exemplary teamwork, while others around them struggled to pitch up tents. Some collapsed quickly into a mess, others complained about setting up tarps above their tents, wanting to use it as a blanket while others worried about the chance of rain, either way it was going to be a long time before it would be ready.

(That night)

Later on that evening as the sun was beginning to set, when everyone barely managed to make it through the day out of sheer effort or luck, the sky was turning orange as the day followed the bright sun's descent over the horizon before the dark blue and purple night followed behind with the first few stars showing up too. A girl student was writing in her tent writing a diary entry in a flower covered journal about the fun activities they did today when setting up camp, when her friend, another girl, came up to her in excitement, "Hey I heard everyone's gathering at the campfire to tell stories!" she cheered with excitement while pumping up her hands into fists.

"Yeah? Come on let's go! Wouldn't want to miss out on it!" the other girl said as she put down her pen and book as they hurried out to the campfire which was further out at an open glade. As they hurried on, nearby the tree branch high above which supported the dinosaur card capsule began to snap as the capsule smashed open on another stalk on the trunk, revealing a dinosaur and a wind move card. As they floated gently down to the ground, a breeze blew both cards together further into the distance as they both shone together in white light before quickly dying down!

"Huh?" Max went as he was strolling along the forest path to the campfire with Zoe and Rex, only to notice the white light in the distance flash before dying down again. He then stopped and looked around curiously sensing as though something was amidst.

Zoe and Rex stopped to see Max was hanging back behind them, "What's up Max?" asked Rex as his friend narrowed his eyes.

"Did you guys hear or see something weird just now?" he asked as they looked around but could find nothing out of the sort.

"Maybe it was just the wind," Zoe suggested before hearing louder cheers and talking ahead as she could see the bright orange light of the campfire in the distance, "Let's go before they start without us!" she cheered excitedly as she hurried along. Shrugging it off Max then smiled as he ran ahead with Rex as they joined the others to share some fish on sticks, crunchy bugs with nuts and juicy berries for dessert at the fire.

Amy and Zoe sat together on a log on one side as they shared all kinds of girl gossip with one another while Rex and Max hung out with the boys talking about the latest TV series, it was fun and enjoyable as everyone bonded with one another and treasured what might be the last time they see each other for a ling while.

Little did they know, was that tonight may possibly be the last night they see each other….

Hidden behind some bushes, a pair of yellow saurian eyes peered through the gaps in the leaves, slitting and narrowing as it fixed its sight on the whole group of juicy morsels. It's nose pierced through the bush, sniffing the air smelling fresh meat and their very breath, as it flashed a set of fierce sharp teeth in its jaws and licked its lips while swallowing pooling saliva. The dinosaur itself was medium sized and purple, with a pair of long white stripes going down from both sides of its' face down the body to the tail, with a small set of spines lining its neck down to the back and tail. The szechuanosaurus had found plentiful prey after finally being released from it's prison of a card, and with night approaching darkness was going to be a trusted ally on its' side, it planned to get food and no matter what it was or who got in its' way it wasn't about to let anything stop it, as it slid back into the darker depths to plan its' attack.

(Meanwhile)

It was late at night over Zeta Point, each member of the alpha gang was asleep in their beds in their nightwear or wearing eye masks under the covers. The only one who was still awake was Seth, as he wore a welding helmet and held a pair of tools in his hands that were sparking violently at the reactor core as he continued welding parts together in the repairs. After a couple days of non-stop work straight, he took off his helmet and wiped away some sweat from his brow using a handkerchief he picked out from his trenchcoat.

He smirked to himself seeing he had finally done it after so long, though the teleporter wouldn't be able to function as he had hoped, at least it was still operational, in due time he would be able to get Zeta Point airborne again and with the stone plates their time machine would work again, allowing his vision to be realised…..but his joyous thoughts were cut short when a wave of pain struck him suddenly forcing him to cover his head as he cringed! "Urgh my head…." he groaned in annoyance realising he may have overlooked himself. He was also frustrated with how long the repairs took him from his experiments as he eyed the 3 dinosaur cards he had at the table. As much as he wanted to work on them, seeing it was almost midnight he then sighed in disappointment, "As much as I hate to admit it, even a genius like myself needs a good night's sleep to keep his brain in gear." he said as he turned around and headed for the door, "I'd best turn it in for now…." he said as the elevator doors closed behind him and the lights in his lab shut off. Unbeknownst to him, as he did his computer monitor depicted a dinosaur signal onscreen at Sanjo City's woods…..

(D Team)

Back at the campsites, the entire class had gathered together and had already began to talk about strange or awesome things they experienced or done, or tell stories with one another over at the campfire. Either way, what they shared helped them to open up themselves more to other members of the class they haven't had the chance to interact with before and helped others to learn more about them. The D Team definitely had plenty to share with the gang, even if they didn't tell them about how they travelled the world in search of dinosaurs they did at least shared the awesome life of adventure in fossil hunting and learning about history and why it should be respected deeply, which earned them plenty of popularity amongst the class much to Max's enjoyment, though Rex and Zoe preferred to keep out of the spotlight either blushing red in embarrassment or sweat dropping at Max showing off his ego.

The forest was filled with the echoes of laughter and joy, mixed with the light and warmth of the campfire which was a welcoming embrace for anyone passing by, but the sound of a certain voice instantly turned the mood sour again, "Alright kids I'm back!" sang Michelle as she trotted gleefully into the clearing. As she appeared, many of the students scowled or frowned upon seeing her, which reminded them that she dragged them all the way out here against their will in the first place even if they were enjoying themselves now. "Sorry I took so long, but boy nothing feels better than cleaning out your colon." she cheered as she of the others shuddered at the thought of having to relieve themselves in the wild like wild animals or worse savages….Yet their teacher was abel to do it somehow without any qualms about it, some even began to wonder if she was even human.

"Ugh….."

"Glad I don't need to go anytime soon."

"Yeah, who knows what she ate while on the way here."

"Tell me about it." Kids began to mutter amongst themselves, some even turning green and holding back the need to throw up, including Rex, Zoe and Max.

Amy however didn't really pay what Michelle had said much mind, but instead giggled in amusement to hear all the boys' funny reactions, "Hee hee."

Their leader then folded her arms firmly as she began to make an announcement, "Now that we're all set up let's all have a nice get together around the campfire and we get to the most essential part of every camping trip!" she cheered.

"Marshmallows and smores?" asked Max rising his arm.

"Nope!" Michelle shook her head while holding her head up high before shining a flashlight under her face to look as scary as she could be, "It's telling spooky stories…..Woooooo…." she said wiggling her fingers and smiling creepily as some of the others sweat dropped at her sad attempt to look scary.

"Oh….." he replied feeling letdown before whispering to Rex and Zoe, "Doubt she can come up with anything scarier than her losing her lunch." he snickered as they chuckled with her.

Before long, she soon began to do a rather overdramatic retelling of one time in her bedroom when she was a little kid, when she tried to sleep on a dark stormy night and how some unsettling sounds had kept her awake, "I heard scratching noises coming from my closet, so I edged slowly towards it…." she said tiptoeing around the fire to act out her story, though some of the school kids didn't seem that scared or nervous, "I reached out for the handles and when I opened them-" She motioned her hands opening a pair of doors, before noticing a pair of yellow eyes shine in the dark of the bushes just in front of her behind the audience. The eyes then flashed a set of vicious teeth, which made her widen her eyes and scream out suddenly! "WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" she cried waving her arms out which then took the kids by surprise as they all cried in alarm too!

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Some of them felt their hearts skip a beat, others turned pale and even resorted to hugging one another! With Rex hugging Max having been caught by surprise, with Amy clinging onto Zoe's arm!

The sudden scream caused the eyes to vanish as Michelle blinked and rubber her own eyes to see they were gone now, "C…Calm down everyone! I'm sure it's just nothing! Hahaha!" she laughed it off thinking it was just her mind playing tricks on her, "I hope….." she shuddered at the end before taking advantage of it, "But I got you good didn't I? Hee hee hee!" she then giggled much to the annoyance of many of her students.

"If she does that to me again I'm going to rebel against the school order." one boy muttered as some others grumbled, as she caused a few to wet what may be their only set of clean pants for the weekend!

Others though took it rather well and seemed to have a newfound respect for her surprisingly.

"Boy did she really give us a jump that time." Max breathed placing a hand on his chest to still his racing heart.

"Guess we shouldn't underestimate her after all….." Rex chuckled as a bead of sweat fell from his cheek.

"Didn't think she had it in her." Zoe muttered as she laughed nervously.

After brushing off her clothes Michelle then made another announcement, "Well boys and girls, time to hit the hay!" she then added as she grabbed a bucket of water to douse out the campfire so that it wouldn't cause a forest fire in the night, "Hope you've packed your bathing suits because tomorrow we're hiking up the mountain to the nearby waterfall, where we'll also be going for a nice long swim at the waterfall pond!" she cheered as everyone jumped for joy in excitement for the activities next day.

"Yay!" As they all began to disperse for their tents, Michelle put out the fire with the water before using the flashlight to find her way back to her own cheat tent. Eying them carefully from the brush, the Schezuanosaurus licked its lips ravenously knowing it hit the perfect place for an all you can eat midnight feast. As it slunk deeper into the shadows to wait for them all to fall asleep, before he would make its' move…..

(D Lab)

It was night time, the 3 chibi dinosaurs were listening to some music on the radio while dancing to the beat with Cera and Miku, something they did with their owners sometime ago together when they were having fun one time. While they did that, Reese continued to work tirelessly on the monitor specs of Johnny, while Spike eyed Cera having fun with the dinosaurs, amazed she was able to keep them entertained for so long, ere thinking about the kinds of fun the others were having out in the woods, "I wonder how the kids are doing now. Wonder what kinds of adventures they're up to in the wilds." he thought as he smirked recalling his younger days when he first started adventuring, "Oh how it reminds me of my younger days when I went out on week long excursions and had to sleep outdoors." he thought.

He then turned to see Cera had moved on to do yoga with them now, surprisingly they were handling it pretty well, as she and Miku shifted into downward dog position they began wagging their tails in enjoyment.

"Say Cera, do you go to school yourself?" Spike then asked suddenly as she then stopped and sat up, caught by surprise at Dr taylor's words.

Looking down to herself her expression turned somewhat downcast, something the other dinosaurs soon picked up on as they came closer to her, "Umm….not that I know of or remember honestly…." she said rather uneasy as Dr Taylor soon remembered her problem about memory loss….

"Oh, right of course….sorry for that…." he said with regret over what he said, looking away while Reese watched from her table.

Cera shook her and smiled back, "It's fine," she said to his relief, "In fact, I've been remembering bits of myself or things I am capable of here and there lately and I thank you and the rest of the D team for that." she added as Dr Taylor smiled and folded his arms on his hips.

"We're all very thankful to have you with us," he said in response, "I don't think we would have been able to get this far or acquire this much knowledge on the dinosaurs themselves. You really are an irreplaceable member of this team." he said praying her while Reese nodded in the background, Dr Taylor may be a bit much at times but at time he can be firm and a great example to follow, "Also, maybe we can help enrol you in their school too when it begins next semester, no doubt you'll make all sorts of new friends with them too."

"That sounds like something I can look forward to." Cera chuckled considering the thought before her eyes started to feel heavy and she let out a yawn, along with their 4 dinosaurs who were getting drowsy and tired themselves.

Noticing that and eying the clock on the wall Dr Taylor smiled and nodded, "Well, its getting late, shall we turn in for the night?" he asked Reese and Cera.

"I think that's a good idea." said Cera as she headed for the door with the dinosaurs in tow.

Reese then began to save files before initiating the shutdown programme for the lab before closing up for the evening, "We'll check in with the others later tomo-" Before she could finish her sentence and shut the lab down, suddenly the dinoholders on the table began to flash red to everyone's surprise.

"Huh?" Cera went over to her own dinoshot and checked it to see there was a signal, "A dinosaur?" she then questioned as Chomp and the others gathered around her with interest.

"Where is it Reese?" asked Spike as she began typing on the computer.

"Let's see….." she narrowed her eyes as she pinpointed the dinosaur's location. As the map enlarged and focused, she widened her eyes and covered her mouth when she saw it, "Oh my….."

Cera and Spike soon widened their eyes in alarm, "Ah! That's-"

"The campsite!" Spike wailed.

Cera quickly rushed over to grab the 3 dinoholders with her a she ran to the transport in alarm, "We've got to hurry now!" she gasped frantically.

"I'll get the teleporter prepared." said Reese activating the usual protocols, while Spike ran around in a panic unsure what to do.

"Everyone's out there defenceless! Especially Max, Rex and Zoe! They're all sitting ducks!" he cried as he began biting his nails fantasising over them being eaten alive like in a horror movie!

As she ran to the teleporter, their dinosaurs hurried to her barking firmly showing they were ready to go!

"Come on you guys! We're heading out now!" said Cera returning them all to cards and the teleporter began to power up.

As Spike got his act together he shook his head clear and looked to Cera, "I'll join you as soon as I can! Till then take care of yourself and the others!" he said seriously as she nodded back.

"Will do Dr Taylor." said Cera as she disappeared in the light and Dr Taylor rushed out for the pickup truck, Reese stayed behind firmly to keep watch over things, while also worried herself.

As the light appeared at the entrance to the forest on the road, Cera looked around to see nothing but darkness and trees around for miles, with the sounds of owl hoots and crickets chirping she knew finding the dinosaur or the others in this would be like a needle in a haystack. "Whoa it's pretty dark out here." she commented looking around, narrowing her eyes feeling the tension in the air as she clenched her fist, "The perfect time for an ambush no doubt….." Eying her surroundings she knew it would be too dark for Chomp or Paris to see, not to mention their size wold make it difficult to manoeuvre. Considering they hadn't heard any loud crushing sounds it had to be a small dinosaur capable of moving around in the tight spaces and darkness, as far as she knew there was only 1 dinosaur on their team who could handle such conditions. "I think I know just who bring out." She said taking out a card, "Dino slash! Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" Ace materialised on the field with a roar as Cera climbed onto his back, "Alright Ace, I need you to use your sniffer to find the campsite. Also keep an eye out for that dinosaur too." she said patting him on the neck encouragingly as he nodded before charging ahead into the darkness.

(Meanwhile)

It was midnight and all was still and silent, except for the sounds of snoring from the tents that were set up in a clearing near the river so that the kids could go for water whenever they were thirsty. The sounds of crickets and hooting owls echoed in the nightly chorus as everyone slept rather peacefully in their nightwear while wearing earplugs or night caps while awaiting patiently for the sun to rise. However, unbeknownst to the children or even the forest itself, there was a newcomer amidst, who stepped out from the brush, slowly and silently like a nighttime assassin, carefully placing its feet on the sold ground to prevent snapping any twigs to alert its presence to its prey. Sniffing the air, the szechuanosaurus then lowered its head to the ground sniffing the trail and scent of the children which splayed out in several directions, following the strongest one it could lock onto before it lead it to several tents that were pitched, each one it could tell had at least 2 inside.

With its excellent night vision, the predator was able to make out the tents in the darkness while also carefully placing its feet in the right spits as it worked its way around the support pegs and ropes holding the tents. Peering into each one, it decided to size up its' options available before choosing the weakest. Upon doing so it ended up stepping on a few dead leaves, which only made a small cracking sound which it ignored. In 1 tent however, Amy began to stir upon hearing the noise, "Urgh…." She rubbed her eyes groggily but before she could sleep again, she froze still, to see a dark saurian shadow peer through her tent from the outside, as it waved its tail up while sniffing the ground. As it stood up it opened its mouth, flashing a set of sharp teeth in its jaws! The fact that a monster was outside their tent, ready to punch at any given moment, Amy covered her mouth and shivered in fear, as she saw the predator's foot step in front of the opening gap, a 3 toed foot with hard scales and claws. She closed her eyes, tearing up and prayed for it to go away soon as her heart began to race uncontrollably and she did all she could to keep her breathing stable.

Opening her eyes slowly she sighed with relief to see the dinosaur had moved on in the distance. Placing a hand to her heart she turned over to Zoe, out of fear she did the first thing that came to mind, "Zoe…Zoe wake up…." she said as quietly as she could while shaking her friend gently.

"Urgh….huh?" Zoe, who's hair was now down and long, woke up drowsily and was about to yawn before Amy suddenly covered her mouth in alarm, "Mmph!?"

"Ssh….be quiet…." Amy breathed pleadingly to her as she looked back outside to make sure the dinosaur had gone before breathing in relief again.

Noticing her friend was acting on edge, Zoe herself felt a bit uneasy as she then asked, "A….Amy?" she whispered getting her attention, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Zoe…." Amy teared up as she hugged closely to the bigger girl, "I think….there's a wild animal outside….."

"Ah…." Zoe the patted her gently in response, "I….It'll be alright, there's nothing dangerous in these forests, I'm sure it's just a for or a racoon dog or something…." she said reassuringly, but Amy wasn't convinced as her expression grew more fearful.

"I don't know…..the foot was pretty scaly and I heard it hissing too….." she said as Zoe widened her eyes.

"Scaly foot? Hissing?" she blinked as she brought a finger to her chin in thought. Only 1 type of animal seemed to fit that description and that didn't sound like a good thing at all, "Wait, could it be-"

SNARL!

A sudden shriek echoed through the dark of the forest, which caused a chain reaction of sudden awakening and cries of alarm amongst the tents as the kids all got up one by one screaming their heads off!

"AAAAHH!"

"Ah!"

"WAAAAH!" As they all rushed out to see what it was but saw nothing, they became all the more on edge, knowing it was not wind nor their imaginations. Something was out there, stalking them no doubt, they were hunted…..

Kids that gathered together got in a circle to cover all sides while others ran about in a panic.

"Wh…what was that!?" Max exclaimed as he ran out of his tent with Rex who narrowed his eyes on alert.

"I don't know but I don't like it one bit…."

"This is just like that horror movie I watched! About there being some spirit or even a monster that haunts the woods and picking off unsuspecting campers one by one!"

"Oh man are we going to get eaten by some beast's midnight snack!?"

"I want to go home!" Several panicked responses came about amongst the campers which made Amy shudder as she hugged herself in a fright.

"Zoe, I'm scared….." she whimpered sitting down, as Zoe leaned down to stroke her kindly.

"D…don't worry Amy, I'm here for you I promise." she said hugging her and smiling at her reassuringly.

"That's right, we'll protect you." said Max who ran over to them with Rex.

"You can count on us to keep you safe."

Seeing their smiles and encouraging expressions she wiped away a tear feeling motivated as she nodded gratefully, "Thank you….I feel better already."

While the D Team comforted Amy, another girl on the sidelines yelled out, "Hey where's Michelle!? Shouldn't she be out here to make sure we're okay?" she cried.

"I think her tent's over there." a boy pointed out with a flashlight as he and another boy ran over to where it was. As they did they found the tent which appears very unusual and spiffy for a pitch up tent, but shrugged it off as they opened the front and popped their heads in, "Hey Michelle we-huh!?" They both widened their eyes to see the luxurious lifestyle Michelle had been hogging off to herself, the ready made meals in the corner on top of her cooler, not to mention the TV. Worst of all, she was wrapped up in a warm sleeping bag while strapping on a flower eye mask and earmuffs while holding onto a brown teddy hair as she snored loudly. No wonder she was so peaceful while they had to survive in the wild on their own all day!

Needless to say they were really ticked off to see wha she hid behind their back, "You've gotta be kidding me….." he said thing off her earmuffs, he and his fired both screamed at the top of their lungs!

"Hey Michelle wake up!"

"WAAAAH!" she screaming jumping up and striking some kung fu style poses! "Who's there!? You're not getting my lunch you-" As she focused more clearly her heart skipped a beat and she sweated upon seeing all her students had gathered outside her front door and were shooting her with fierce glares that could kill! Some were even popping their knuckles unable to hold themselves back anymore, which she noticed knowing they would try to bury her alive! "Oh hello there, anything I can help you with?" she chuckled nervously.

"What's all this?"

"Whatever happened to living off the land or getting in touch with our ancestral roots?"

"Your talk was all a bunch of phoney baloney wasn't it!?" Her students began to yell out and grumble, any second they could start a riot or worse a revolution against her as she waved her hands out frantically!

"Gah! I…Uh I can explain!" she gasped, "But first tell me what's wrong!? Is someone sick or lost or something!? There can't be any other reason you woke me up from my beauty nap right!?"

Groaning in disappointment and looking to one another wondering if she'd be of any help at all, till 1 student cried out from the back, "There's a big monster out there in the woods and it's going to get us!"

"M….Monster!?" Michelle gasped as she grabbed and hugged her teddy bear in 1 arm while biting her nails in another, "Oh no, oh no this is not good, I cannot get eaten by a monster in the middle of the woods with a whole load of children on me, that wouldn't be good for my image at all!" she thought to herself in a frantic before looking at her self image now, "Okay maybe it is ruined now but now's not the time for that!" She then stood up firmly and marched out to the student gathering putting on a confident face, "Don't worry, I have the solution to this! Ta da!" She proclaimed holding up her phone to the sky as everyone looked in awe at it, while others grumbled out loud.

"A phone?"

"So much for setting a good example…."

"Now now kids, let's not dwell on the past here," she said calming them down as she switched it on, "With just the push of a button I'll save us all and we-" Before she could press the call button, the phone's screen suddenly switched off and turned blank. Pressing the power button a few more time and getting no response, she then froze and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the phone's battery was at 0%! "Uh oh….." she croaked uneasily which was soon picked up by some of the students who were getting restless, agitated, ticked off or anxious.

"Is there something wrong Michelle?" Zoe asked as Michelle quickly hid the phone behind her back and she scratched her head nervously.

"There…appear to be some technical difficulties and well-"

"Say what!?" They exclaimed before yelling out their frustrations to the sky or to one another.

"I am not going to spend the rest of lay life running scared through these woods by some wild animal because of that nincompoop of a teacher!"

"If that monster comes I'll make sure she gets eaten first."

Realising things would get way worse and out of hand if nothing was done soon, Michelle cried out to them all getting their attention desperately trying to win back their trust, "N…Now now there's nothing to worry about! Everything's going to be fine!" she cried as they glared at her unconvinced, which made her sweat profusely and chuckle nervously, "If worst comes to worst maybe the mean old monster will go after them first and not me." she thought before sounding as tough as she could again, "There's no monster I promise you! In fact, let's all just go back to our tents and-"

Suddenly a set of bushes nearby began to rustle, which startled everyone!

RUSTLE!

"EEEK!" Michelle and several other students exclaimed as they backed away from it, some tried to make a run for it while others held them back not wanting them to get lost in the pitch black darkness alone.

"It's the monster I know it!"

Max and the D Team however, narrowed their eyes courageously as they kept a shivering Amy behind them and prepared themselves, "Alright guys, whatever's in there we'll be ready for it…."

"Never fear! Michelle, Science field trip leader extraordinaire is here!" Michelle announced seizing the opportunity to make herself look good, though inside she was shivering like crazy before shaking it off and sporting a confident expression, "This is it, gotta look brave and strong for the kids so they still have faith in me and not tell their folks on me, and because that's what teachers do!" she thought to herself as the rusting died down in the big bush, "I'm sure it's just a rat or something, nothing bigger than a fox." She thought to herself as she pumped up her arm, "I'll go check it out, you all just wait right here and you'll see first hand how man tames the wild!" She said as she marched right in with her flashlight.

"Wow, look at her go…."

"She's so brave…."

Said some of the students as she disappeared behind the thick shrubs. Several others however, including the D Team, weren't so convinced.

"You think she knows what she's doing?"

"Not a chance."

"She's gonna get eaten that's for sure."

"If she does that's the first thing that goes right around here."

On the teacher's side, Michelle walked carefully, slowly through he forest, sweating like mad as she looked around herself on all sides, her heart could explode at any second as the sounds of the night time creatures echoed through the forest. But seeing there really was nothing in sight where she shone her light, apart from a few scurrying foxes and a flying owl, she soon took a breath of relief seeing nothing was out of the ordinary much to her relief, "See Michelle, it was just a bad dream the kids had….hehe….just an owl or a racoon dog or something…." she laughed nervously, almost turning pale. She then gulped down hard as she prepared to turn back, "It's fine….there's absolutely nothing to worry abou-" Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a drop of cold water drip onto her hair which made her stop. "Huh is it raining?" She asked herself as she began to wipe it off. When she did however, she realised it wasn't rain at all. It felt slimy and also it smelt awful as she cringed, "Ugh! What is this!?" she grunted before looking up. As she did, she froze stiff and dropped the flashlight she held which shone on a pair of purple scaled clawed feet. Above her was a set of glowing yellow eyes in the dark night, attached to a large saurian head which then grinned and flashed a set of sharp teeth in its jaws, grinning at Michelle like a serial killer as she widened her eyes and shook immensely with fear!

She wanted to run but her legs wouldn't do what they wanted her to do! She froze, fixated but he dinosaur's sharp eyed gaze which locked into her eyes. As the szechuanosaurus opened its' jaws and prepared to rip her head clean off, she quickly mustered all her remaining strength to jump out of its way as it snapped close with a mouthful of air! Regaining her senses and seeing the carnivore fix its' sights on her, Michelle quickly turned around running as fast as she could away, shaking her hands out and screaming her lungs! "WAAAAAHHH!"

"Huh!?" Everyone turned around herring her echoing cries. At first they assumed it may have been something ridiculous which spooked her, but some of them were getting second thoughts as she burst out of the underbrush with widened eyes and flailing hands!

"EEEEEKKK!"

"Hey it's Michelle!" A girl gasped to see her. "So what'd you find!?" She ran past her without answering much to her surprise, "What the!?"

In the process she even knocked down a pair of boys and shoved them to the side, spurring everyone to stay clear of he path as she charged through them like a maniac!

"H…Hey!"

"What's the big idea!?"

"Out of my way! Every man for himself!" She then yelled as she disappeared into the darkness ahead.

"What's her problem?" Max then asked as he and the D Team eyed Michelle weirdly as she vanished. They didn't have much time to pioneer to over though, as a loud roar from behind caught everyone's attention!

ROAR

Turning around a large purple and white dinosaur leapt out of the bushes and snarled viciously before eying the entire student body before letting out another ferocious shriek which matched that which they heard earlier!

ROAR!

"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Run for your lives!" Screamed the children as they ran about knocking over some of their classmates with only the instinct to stay alive on their mind! Some ran in groups while others decided to hightail it out on their own! Some were unlucky to get knocked down or shaved about before getting back to their feet an running off again!

As everyone ran about in circles due to the hungry dinosaur, which turned around unable to fix on a single target, the D Team stared at it and gasped, "No way! A szechuanosaurus!" Max gasped recognising it.

"Everyone don't move!" Rex cried out hoping to get the group to calm down, knowing splitting up as the worst thing to do when a predator is about. "Don't run!" His efforts fell on deaf ears as students began disappearing into the underbrush or darkness till their circle grew smaller and smaller.

Overwhelmed by fear and the peer pressure of everyone running for their lives, Amy cried out in a panic as she ran off in the distance too! "AAAAHHH!"

"Amy wait!" Zoe cried out as she chased after her too, to Max and Rex's alarm!

"Zoe!" They cried, but soon found they were pretty much the only ones left! They both turned quickly and widened their eyes to see the szechuanosaurus fixed its' sights on them before charging at the like a freight train! Opening up its arms and jaws ready to seize them!

"Gah!"

"Run for it!" Max and Rex cried out relating there was no other way as they ran together into the darkness and the szechuanosaurus charged into the bushes after them, letting out a loud nightmarish screech which echoed through the forest night!

(Meanwhile)

Further off in the distance Cera rode on Ace through the forest, as he skilfully manoeuvred himself with ease while running through the winding trees and forested ground. His feet carefully placed so he wouldn't step on any twigs to alert their quarry of their approach. As he stopped for a moment he began to sniff the air hoping to pick up sone sort of sense while using his carnivorous night vision to scout out their surroundings, as Cera looked around the dark and almost pitch black forest with only the light of the stars and moon to guide them. "We've come in pretty deep…." she said seriously as a drop of sweat fell from her cheek, knocking at this tense moment they could easily be the hunted themselves, or the others in the campsite, they could easily be prey for any carnivorous dinosaur out there. Even a herbivore can be dangerous in this darkness too if easily spooked or agitated….

Despite the sounds of hooting owls or chirping crickets, Cera tensed up knowing there weren't any sounds she could hear that would give them a sign or clue as to where to go, "It's quiet….too quiet…." she breathed slowly as Ace grunted, starting to feel agitated himself.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Suddenly the sounds of mixed screams followed by an unfamiliar shriek broke the silence as it echoed through the dark depths of the woods, putting the duo on alert knowing it meant danger!

"Ah! Ace quickly!" she warned the carnotaurus who roared and charged ahead in the direction it came from!

(Meanwhile)

The szechuanosaurus found its way to the campfire site where the smell of prey was strong, yet it couldn't see any humans in sight nor hear them. Assuming they were only here briefly it then passed on, unaware there were some students hiding behind some large rocks or in the bushes, some even had climbed up the trees and remained still to avoid detection, as it passed they all sighed with relief but others even began to cry or wet their pants wanting their mommies and to go home.

Passing by the river for a drink it soon moved off, as a pair of students took a gasp of air our of the water before diving back in again.

It then hissed and grunted in annoyance at failing to find any prey, but soon heard a sound coming from nearby as it walked over to where it came from. Eventually it noticed a light coming from a pink tent, inside it was Michelle, who was frantically packing up all her belongings in her backpack, or shove them in, while having a small lamp light it up for her to use, "Okay I've got everything packed with me, now for my last will." she said as she began writing with a pen on a sheet of paper.

"If you've found this note I may have been eaten by a dinosaur. In my honour, make sure my name goes down in history as one of the best teachers ever, maybe even erect a statue of me or even name a state or country after me! Sincerely, Michelle. Science and Field Trip Leader Extraordinaire!"

Upon finishing her last word she kissed it seeing it was perfect. "Alright! With that all set I'm ready to-" Before she could finish, a drop fell onto her sheet of paper, causing it to moisten. Looking up from her note, Michelle quickly turned pale and squeaked upon seeing the szechuanosaurus poking its head into her tent, gazing upon her and flashing a malevolent grin at her like a serial killer! It then leapt inside as Michelle screamed her lungs out!

"WAAAAAAAHHH!" She narrowed avoided getting her head ripped off as she and the dinosaur tussled wildly inside the tent, only for her to barely make it out alive as the dinosaur's claw tore a hole through her tent and caused it to collapse on it, tying it up as it thrashed violently to escape!

"GAAAAH! I don't want to be food! I don't want to be food!" Michelle cried closing her eyes and running away seizing her chance, "If I just keep running forward I'll-"

WHAM!

She didn't get too far though, as she ran straight into a tree and fell backwards onto the ground with a massive red mark on her forehead and face! "Oooogh…." she groaned as her eyes whirled around seeing stars before she passed out on the ground.

It didn't take long for the szechuanosaurus to tear itself free from the remains of Michelle's tent, and after sniffing the ground it soon tracked her down and soon looked over the now helpless woman. It snarled and hissed with delight as it opened its jaws filled with teeth and drooling saliva, its' tongue began to lick its lips ravenously as it slowly reached in to take a bite! It however then stopped at her neck, holding back and backing away as it sniffed the air. It could tell there were a few more humans about, as well as footsteps in the distance. It then grinned maliciously as it gained an idea, before grabbing Michelle by her leg and dragging her somewhere else.

Not far away, Zoe and Amy were hiding within the hollows of a large tree between its roots, as Zoe hugged in Amy close to her while keeping a sharp vigilance for any signs of danger. She looked from side to side as best she could, but without any light it made it very difficult to make out what was out there in the dark. She knew they couldn't stay here forever, they had to regroup with their friends so they had a better chance, but unless she knew what was out there she might as well be charging ahead against a tyrannosaurus on her own! It was a tough situation, and Amy seemed to know it upon seeing her serious expression.

"Is it safe to come out?" Amy then asked nervously, as Zoe swallowed hard realising there was only one way to find out.

"I'll check, stay here Amy." she said looking to her, as the smaller girl gasped and covered her mouth at her bravery. Zoe slowly stood up and pulled herself out of the tree roots as she stepped out into the clearing outside.

As she stepped out and scouted their surroundings carefully, Amy crouched lowly and peeked her head out only slightly from the opening in the roots, "Be careful…." she whispered out to her as Zoe stepped out further into the open.

She narrowed her eyes to get a good focus on her surroundings, and her senses on full alert as she surveyed carefully. Apart from hearing the sounds of the night there wasn't anything out of the ordinary at least for now, as she ushered to Amy behind her, "Alright looks like we're in the clear…." she said calmly as Amy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew….." she pulled herself out of the tree roots, her nightwear now coated in out and dirt like Zoe, but that was nothing compared to the anxiety she was feeling as she stepped out slowly to Zoe's side, clutching onto her arm like a child to a mother at the mall. "What should we do Zoe?" She asked nervously looking around, "It's still dark and there's a hungry dinosaur out there…."

Zoe sweated nervously and scratched her cheek unable to answer back, "I…well…." It was a good question, what which Zoe had no answer to. Sure they got away from the hungry dinosaur but they certainly weren't out of the woods yet, and they couldn't just stay put all night, either they remain lost forever from the others or the dinosaur would find them….

"I'm so…scared…." Amy quivered as she hugged Zoe tightly and cried fearfully, wiping her tears on her friend and only protection she knew of now.

Understanding their situation and seeing they couldn't rely on anyone else but themselves, with Amy relying more on Zoe, she knew she had to step up for their sakes. Taking a breath she cleared her head and thought carefully before thinking up their next step, "Okay first thing's first we have to find the others, make sure they're okay." she said firmly before stroking Amy's head gently as the small girl looked up to her, "And don't worry, nothing bad will happen, I'll protect you I promise." She said smiling to her compassionately.

Amy sniffled and wiped away her tears with her fingers before nodding, "O….okay…." she replied putting her faith and trust in her close and first ever friend since coming to Sanjo.

As they both walked together slowly through the game trail in the woods, in Zoe's mind she prayed she hadn't made a promise she couldn't keep, despite smiling calmly to her friend, she couldn't help but swallow hard as she felt the side of her hips where her dinoholder with her, only to find nothing there now, "If only I had my dinoholder with me…..oh this is the worst night ever…." She tensed before shaking her head clear again and putting on a more firm expression, "But I have to be strong, for Amy and everyone else's sake…."

In another part of the forest, Max and Rex pulled themselves out from some bushes and pushed away some low tree ranches as they tried to find their way back to the camp and hopefully some of the others knowing they'd stand a better chance together than divided. "Man where did everyone run off too?" Max grumbled in annoyance as he began to sweat immensely in his thick pyjamas.

Rex had all sorts of soil and muck coating his pyjama pants but he pressed on with determination knowing what was at stake, "I don't know, but let's just hope they got away from that dinosaur." he said seriously as he narrowed his eyes, "No doubt it scared and scattered us on purposely so we'd be easier to pick off…."

Max then gulped in fear at the thought as he kept reaching down to his hip but kept grabbing a handful of air, which made his heart race faster as he gritted his teeth in immense frustration, "Man I feel almost naked without my dinoholder with me." he hissed cursingly. It also make him realise how much he and the others may have relied too much on their dinosaurs for protection, on their own they really were but helpless prey or targets for the dinosaurs they hunted.

"Don't worry Max," said Rex to him as reassuringly as he could, "I'm sure Cera is on her way right now with our dinoholders and everything will be alright."

"But what if she's asleep at home?" Max then croaked which made Rex gulp down nervously.

"Okay didn't think of that….." he croaked before shaking his head, "But we can't dwell on the negative, let's just all hope for the best and make do with what we can for now." he said focusing on the task before hand as they climbed over a large rock, helping each other over it, "Our best chance is to regroup, we stand a much better chance together than alone."

"Mhmm." Max nodded firmly as they pressed on. Eventually, after trekking through the bush and trees long enough, they noticed a clearing up ahead between several trees in an opening, which they soon to recognise as the campfire site, which was now a pile of white and black ash in the middle. The pair of boys breathed a sigh of relief seeing they were close to the camp, "Can't be too far now." said Max with relief, hoping some of their friends had made it back and were safe without any injuries. As he looked to the side for anyone in the area, he noticed someone lying there, "Huh? Looks like someone's over there!"

Narrowing his eyes Rex recognised who it was, "It's Michelle!" As they ran over to her they noticed the massive bump on her forehead and how she was still mumbling nonsense while out cold, "Whoa looks like she knocked herself out." Rex commented as he snapped his fingers but got no response from her.

"Well, let's get her somewhere safe," said Max as he grabbed one of her arms, "She's pretty much free food for that dinosaur while she's in the open out here." he grunted as he tried to drag her along, surprisingly she was much heavier than he expected her to be.

Rex then nodded with Max in agreement as he went to help Max with Michelle's other arm, "Yeah, apart from that huge bruise on her head, I'm surprised she's perfectly-" It was at that very moment, recalling how Cera once told them to assess the situation, Rex then widened his eyes sensing something was amidst, "Wait a second….." Rex suddenly let go and stopped pulling, as he stood still looking around them carefully, something which Max quickly took notice of, which worried him.

"Rex what's wrong?" Max asked him nervously as his friend seemed to be in deep and concerned thought.

"Something's not right….." he thought to himself before looking down at their unconscious teacher, "For her to be exposed out here so conveniently….." he mused before noticing something unsettling nearby. A large drag trail, no doubt belonging to Michelle, followed by 2 sets of footprints, one coming from the forested area and another entering, "Drag marks…..footsteps…." He breathed as he then froze and stared, at Max seemingly. But now him, at a pair of glowing yellow eyes behind him!

"R…Rex? What's-"

"Max! Run! Behind you!" Rex warned cutting him off as the spiky haired boy turned around in alarm!

"Wha!?" Out of the brush the szechuanosaurus burst out and shrieked ferociously before charging like a bullet at them!

ROAR

"WHOA!" Max jumped as he scrambled to his feet with Rex, unfortunately dropping Michelle back with the instinct to save themselves!

"Run for it!" Rex cried as they ran away! Looking back the szechuanosaurus was picking up speed terrifyingly quick and would no doubt be able to catch up to them in seconds! Looking around frantically, with panicked thoughts racing through his mind, he quickly caught sight of a tree sturdy enough and tall enough to hold them both! "There! That tree!" He cried pointing to it as they both made a beeline for it! They quickly grabbed the stalks and branches and pulled themselves up in time, as the szechuanosaurus jumped and barely missed Max's leg by a few centimetres much to the boy's shock and relief!

SNAP!

"Whoa!" Max cried pulling in his foot and hugging it close to him with Rex hanging on at the other side putting a hand to his chest in relief.

"Phew that was close….." he breathed.

"Yeah, a second later it would have taken my leg off…." Max sighed finding it too close for comfort.

Their worries weren't over yet as the szechuanosaurus jumped up high and snapped at them!

"AH!" They cried in alarm as it continued to leap into the air and only succeeding in biting off branches that were close to them! As it tore through more and more the boys could only hand on and hug the tree trunk tightly in the hopes they wouldn't fall off and become dino food! It then slammed in its claws into the tree as it began to pull itself up much to their horror!

"Get away!"

"Leave us alone!" They yelled terrified as their attacker came close to ripping them to pieces!

Not far away, Amy and Zoe were trekking together through the underbrush when they heard shouting in the distance which caught their ears. "Huh? Do you hear something Zoe?" Amy blinked as she looked around curiously.

Listening closely, Zoe soon picked up on the cries for help as she widened her eyes in realisation, "Yeah, sounds like Max and Rex!" she gasped pointing ahead of them, "They're over there!" She said as they both ran out to where the voices were, unaware of what else was lying ahead….

Back at the tree, as the szechuanosaurus came close to where they were perched, the 2 boys began throwing sticks and other solid pieces they could break off from the tree at it, bonking it on the head and even hitting its eyes as it shook its head disoriented and then falling back down with a loud thud!

"Aw yeah take that!" Max grinned as Rex turned to him frantically!

"Max, you don't want to make that guy angry…." he said nervously as the dinosaur kicked back up and snarled at them viciously as it began circling the tree like a shark at a boat! They stared at it, never taking their eyes off it for even a second as it waited for an opportunity, searching for an easier way to get at them, before eventually snorting in annoyance and walking away from them

"Phew….Looks he can't get us." Max breathed deeply as he felt his heart could explode any second from the pressure.

"Yeah…..for now…." Rex replied in agreement before they noticed the szechuanosaurus had moved back into the opening of the clearing and snarl at them in frustration, nearby where Michelle lay, still out cold apparently. It was then Rex and Max both widened their eyes upon realisation, "It set a trap…..it actually set a trap…." said Rex realising it put Michelle out there to lure them over intentionally, if it wasn't them and one of the other students they'd get eaten for sure…..

"That's one really clever dinosaur…." Max gulped down as a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek and onto the forest floor, "It's very fast, really smart and extremely deadly…..Not the best of combinations.…"

They then noticed, for a brief second, that the dinosaur flashed them a rather sadistic grin as it turned around and began to hone in on the very bait it used to lure them in, Michelle herself!

"Oh no! It's going to eat her!" Max cried out in alarm with Rex gasping speechlessly at the fact they were about to witness something unthinkable with their very eyes! The dinosaur put a foot on Michelle's back and spend its jaws reaching in slowly as it prepared to snap her neck with 1 bite!

"Hey! Stop! Leave her alone!"

"Over here! Come get us!" Rex and Max both shouted out, hitting the branches using twigs or throwing out at it, but nothing they did made the dinosaur budge as it came within inches of sinking its teeth into Michelle's flesh!

"NO!" They both cried out covering their eyes unable to look any further. As much as they wanted to jump out of the tree they knew the result would be the same nevertheless, they'd only end up starting a feeding frenzy and turning the forest into a bloodbath, all seemed hopeless until-

"Max! Rex!" a voice called out to them.

"Huh!?" They looked out, and even the szechuanosaurus turned around in the direction it came from, as Zoe and Amy are upon the scene.

"What are you guys doing up there?" Zoe then asked with Amy peeking behind her unaware of their imminent danger.

Max and Rex widened their eyes seeing the szechuanosaurus had some new targets in mind as it turned around, "Zoe! Amy! Get out of there now!" They both yelled much to the girls' surprise.

Amy blinked in surprise while Zoe raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Huh? What's going on with you-" As she looked to the side, she turned pale as the dinosaur roared out at them viciously, focusing on them both as it flared out its claws and teeth!

SHRIEK!

"GAH!" They both screamed as it then charged straight at them like a freight train!

"Run for it!" Max yelled as the girls hurried off back into the trees!

Amy unfortunately didn't see where she was going, as she lost track of her surroundings and tripped over a large tree root! "Aaah!" she cried as she fell forward onto the ground as Zoe turned around in horror!

"Amy no!" she cried running to help her up. As she did they both widened their eyes and froze as the szechuanosaurus leapt into the air, its figure illuminated by the night of the moon as it closed in ready to sink its fangs into fresh meat, as Amy hugged Zoe tightly and Zoe put herself in front to shield her!

SNARL!

"AAAAAHHH!" Amy cried while Zoe teared up, not budging an inch, ready to protect Amy with her very own life, while Max and Rex looked on in horror as the predator was soon about to take the lives of their friends before them, and they were helpless to do anything about it…..

"NO!"

ROAR!

A new roar echoed through the forest, and out of nowhere a carnotaurus leapt over a fallen log and into the air, ramming the side of the incoming szechuanosaurus in time as it was sent flying back into a tree, smacking against it and falling down with a loud thud!

"H…Huh?" As Amy and Zoe both looked up, they widened their eyes in surprise to see another dinosaur had came in the nick of time to save them! "A…Another dinosaur?" Amy breathed in surprise, one which the D Team were all too familiar with.

"Ace!" They cheered in relief to see their miraculous saviour who now stood over Zoe and Amy, shielding them from any further harm!

"And look who's here!" Zoe pointed out as a familiar long red haired girl leapt down from the wind dinosaur.

"Sorry it took so long you guys!" said Cera with relief in her then thats he made it in time, "It was really hard tracking you through these woods." she said as Max and Rex both came down from the tree and hurried to her.

"Heh, well your timing couldn't have been more perfect Cera." said Max as he high fived her.

"Really glad she wasn't sleeping there…." Rex thought with relief.

As Cera handed Rex his dinoholder, Amy then looked to everyone in confusion unable to process what was happening, "U…Umm….Zoe?" she asked catching the taller girl's attention, "Who's she? And…what's going on?"

Zoe croaked realising the complicated situation they got themselves into, "W…Well Amy….you see…." she said scratching her head uneasily while the others looked away unsettled or whistled. They did;t have much time to explain as the szechuanosaurus kicked itself back up and snared viciously at Ace, furious for interrupting its meal as the 2 dinosaurs faced off the skies turned from dark night to bright multicolour!

All around kids who were hiding in bushes, trees or the river looked out in amazement to see it!

"H….Huh?" Michelle soon began to sit as she sat back up rubbing her sore temple, "Wh…What's going on? Why does my head-Ah!" She gasped speechlessly to see 2 dinosaurs facing off with one another, what's more so, Max and the others were there too and it seemed that they were with the horned dinosaur facing off against the purple one that terrorised their camp just now! Realising she was in a sticky situation she quickly ran behind a big tree and peaked out from it, "Now this I've got to see!"

Meanwhile as Ace and the szechuanosaurus exchanged roars and snarls, the others got out of the battlefield and held back on the sidelines where it would be safe, "Amy stand back!" Zoe warned her holding her back with her arm, "This is going to get rough!"

"O…Okay…" she replied as Rex stood out with Ace ready to fight!

"Go Ace! Take that dino down!" Max cheered as the carnotaurus roared and charged forth and the szechuanosaurus did the same! First Ace lunched forward but the szechuanosaurus jumped out of the way in time before leaping at him! Ace in turn dated out of its path before charging at it from the side, only for it to leap out of the way again! Ace charged forth and snapped at the szechuanosaurus' tail, throwing it but it reacted quickly and landed on its' feet before swiftly counterattacking with a claw swipe at Ace's face but barely missing it as the claw nearly grazed Ace's side! Despite both being wind dinosaurs and very fast, the smaller szechuanosaurus was more evasive and able to turn better than Ace could.

"Man that thing's fast!" Max grunted in annoyance as he, Zoe and Cera narrowed their eyes, while Amy covered her outs with her hands fearfully.

"Yeah, but nothing Ace can handle!" Rex replied undeterred as he took out a move card, "Ninja attack!" He called out as Ace charged at it splitting into 6 clones and surrounding his enemy on all sides in a circle! While the D Team smiled seeing they had him cornered, Cera quickly noticed the szechuanosaurus had glowed white for a brief moment. She blinked her eyes and looked again and saw Ace had already begun to dart in and attack it on all sides violently!

"Alright we got it!"

"Nice!" Max and Zoe cheered, but instead of returning to a card, the dinosaur instead exploded in a pile of dust, revealing only a tree stump in its' place!

"Huh!?" They all gasped in surprise. Even Ace was taken aback by what he saw, only to get ambushed by a sneak attack from the side as the szechuanosaurus ran in and kicked out at him, knocking him across the forest floor!

"Wh…what the!?"

"Ace!" Rex gasped in alarm as his partner got back up and only barely managed to dart away from the szechuanosaurus' leap!

"Wh…what's going on here!?" Max asked as he and the others couldn't understand what just happened.

"I don't know, and I don't like it…." Cera gritted her teeth seeing Ace was beginning to sweat and pant from fatigue. "Ace could waste all his energy quickly at this rate…." she noted putting a finger to her chin, "It's like the dinosaur we fought just now was an illusion…." She then opened her eyes realising what happened, "Wait…..dino illusion!"

Back at the battlefield, the szechuanosaurus glowed white for a bit as Ace charged in and battered it in the chest, sending it flying into a tree with a loud crash! But as it fell down it exploded into another tree stump as Ace stepped back in surprise.

"Oh no!" Zoe gasped.

"It happened again!" Max followed as Rex gritted his teeth in frustration and Amy looked on fearfully behind Zoe's back!

Out of nowhere, the szechuanosaurus leapt from above and onto Ace's back, biting down hard on his neck while clawing at his back with its' arms and foot claws! Ace roared in pain and agony as his attacker kept slashing at him mercilessly while crunching down in a double sided attack, one he couldn't escape from so easily as his energy drew into the red zone!

"Gah! If this keeps up….." Max grunted in frustration. Zoe meanwhile covered Amy's eyes and ears so she wouldn't need to see nor hear Ace's cries of pain, though that meant it left her to bear witness it herself….as she sweated anxiously wishing there was something she coddle do for him.

Rex gritted his teeth refusing to give up as he yelled at the top of his lungs, "You can do it Ace! Don't give up! I believe in you!" Rex's words of motivation were enough to spur the carnotaurus to shift side and shake off his relentless attacker who fell to the ground hard though it managed to get back up again and roar!

Cera then narrowed her eyes, knowing they had to end this battle quick as Ace panted hard and was bleeding from his wounds…but how….She then closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could, "Wait, when it uses its move it glows for a solid second…." Cera then opened her eyes in realisation as she turned to Rex, "Rex! Get it when it glows!"

He looked to her in surprise at what she said, "Glows?" he couldn't understand what she meant at first, before recalling who it glowed before ninja attack and when "Wait, so that's its' move?" He then observed his surroundings and realised something he could do to tip the odds in their favour, "Okay, I'll aim for that!" As he said that, Ace nodded knowing what the plan was as he ran to the side of the campsite, nearby the ahed of the campfire. He then lowered his head and roared out a challenge to the szechuanosaurus who shrieked in response and charged at him! "Wait for it…." he said hardening his gaze as it closed in. Max and Zoe closed their eyes unable to look or take the pressure, but Cera smiled seeing they had their fore right where they wanted!

It then leapt up into the air ready to dive down on Ace before light began to gather around it, "Now!" Rex commanded as Ace whipped up his tail, sending a wave of ash at the szechuanosaurus' eyes which caused it to screech in pain as it tumbled back down to the ground! Getting back up it kept scratching at its' face with its' claws hoping to remove the unbearable pain of the soot in its eyes but to no avail! Stumbling about, Ace seized the opportunity to strike with his tail at its stomach, causing it to cough up and stumble back in disorientation!

"Alright it's off balance now!" Cera cheered with Max, Zoe and Amy in amazement.

"Now to finish it!" Said Rex as he slashed the final move card, "Tornado toss!" Ace glowed white as he charged ahead and spun around the szechuanosaurus rapidly, building up speed and wind as he went, before creating a massive tornado that carried it up into the air, before it soon crashed down hard in the middle of the fireplace! The dinosaur reached out its claw desperately and shrieked in pain before collapsing in exhaustion, returning to its dinosaur and move card while the skies returned to the starry night again.

"Woo hoo we did it!" Rex cheered patting Ace on the head as his partner nuzzled him relieved to see he and his friends were safe.

"Yeah!"

"Nice work Ace!" Max and the others cheered as they went out to congratulate him, while Amy held her hands together in awe at what she witnessed.

"Amazing…." she breathed upon realising her friends actually used dinosaurs….

As Rex returned Ace to card form and picked up the cards in the ash pile, she walked out to them all slowly, "That was….incredible…." she said clapping her hands together catching their attention, also making them remember they had to explain things to her. "So then, you have dinosaurs too?" She asked looking to Max, Cera and Zoe.

"Uh huh….." Zoe nodded simply while Cera and Max looked away, whistling or scratching their heads.

"This is awkward…."

Zoe then walked over to her friend and leaned down to her, "Amy, you have to keep this a secret okay?" she asked hopefully as she stroked her cheek, "If anyone else were to know about this well….it wouldn't be nice would it if everyone were to have experiences like this again right?"

"Oh…that….wouldn't be very fun at all…" she replied as she saw the others looking to her too hoping she would do it. She then smiled and nodded in response, "Okay, I promise…." She said to their relief.

"Thank you." said Zoe who smiled back at her.

Max and Rex meanwhile held a hand out to Cera as she shook them, "You really came through for us Cera."

"Yeah, you saved our hides before we became dino chow." They said to her as she smiled.

"Heh, well I guess that should be enough adventure for you all huh?"

Max and Rex both laughed in amusement, "Yup, I've definitely had my fill of that for a while."

"Oh…my…gosh…." another voice said to them from behind. Turning around their hearts skipped a beat to see their teacher Michelle, apparently had recovered and regained her senses and now was eye goggling them all over, "You kids are like dino wranglers!? That's like so amazing! You've like tamed the greatest wild animals on the planet! To think you are all my students! Oh when word of this gets out-" She kept going on and on much to their dismay and unease

"Oh boy…." Zoe swallowed uneasily.

"We'd better find a way to keep her quiet about this…." said Max sweating hard knowing she could easily get this info out to the public and to all sorts of people they wouldn't want on their backs.

"Good luck keeping that motor mouth of hers' shut…." Rex groaned thinking it would be hopeless.

At the most impeccable of timings, a tree branch from above suddenly snapped and felt right on top of Michelle, striking her hard dead center on her head!

WHAM

"YOW!" she cried out as the D Team jumped back in surprise before she slumped down again out cold! "Urgh…."

Everyone stared speechless at what just happened before Max said out loud, "That works…."

Taking it as it was, Rex then began dialling on his dinoholder for help, "Let's call for help now, I've had enough of this night in the wild." he said as they all nodded in agreement.

(Next morning)

It was dawn, and several authorities had gathered at the woods to escort the children in groups back to their homes, while others had their parents come directly as they hugged them closely or cried deeply to see they were alright, also scared out of their wits that something awful would have happened to their loved ones. Emergency rescue teams were also scouting out the area to make sure none had gone missing, while doctors and nurses went to treat the scrapes and injuries some may have suffered in their horrific experience last night either by trampling or forest related injuries like cuts or stings by plants or insects. It was a heartfelt reunion for most, the only one who didn't get a good sendoff was Michelle, as she was being carted away by some paramedics on a stretcher into an ambulance with a huge bandage wrapped around her head while still out cold. As she was loaded in and the doors shut, most kids snickered or grumbled glad to be rid of her at least.

"Hope we don't get to see her again for a while."

"Yeah this was all her fault…." Some muttered with relief holding begrudging expressions, scowls or grins as the ambulance drove off, finally free of Michelle's crazed antics once and for all.

Spike meanwhile stood with the rest of the D Team, checking intently for injuries with a first aid kit he brought with him. After her arrived he stayed with them through the night since Michelle was out of commission, and he was by far a better wilderness survival expert than she was any day. "I'm glad you kids are all safe, and without a single injury to boot." he said with a sigh of relief as he wiped some sweat from his brow before smiling at Cera who stood behind him, "Be thankful Cera here was able to find you all in time."

"We're really grateful for that." said Rex breathing a sigh of relief before putting a finger to his chin, "But still, that szechuanosaurus attacked us unlike any other dinosaur we faced so far….." he said recalling back to how it was out for blood, split up the group and set a trap that really worked….

"It was so vicious and really wanted a piece of us too…." said Zoe as she shuddered at the thought, knowing she wouldn't be able to live it down for a while.

"Well in the end dinosaurs are wild animals, and wild animals are unpredictable, we mustn't forget that." said Spike to them with a firm gaze telling them to be careful from now on as they nodded back knowing they had to take this seriously more, this night would remind them that it isn't all fun and games, one mistake can be the difference between life and death.

"Yeah, let's hope we won't go through another experience like that again…." said Max uneasily, knowing this experience would give them all nightmares for a while. On the other hand, this might have been a fruitful experience, now they knew how it felt to be without their dinosaurs, on their own they were people and people alone were no match against dinosaurs. From this, they knew they'd have to take better measures in the event something like this were to unfortunately happen again…

(Later that day)

"No! Stop! Hear me out! I saw dinosaurs in those woods! Dinosaurs!" Michelle screamed as loud as she could while strapped in a white straightjacket, her hands were tied behind her back and her legs bounded up while she was strapped to a stretcher pushed by doctors! She kept thrashing about restlessly though the binds kept her held down while her hair became insanely frazzled and her face sported several scrapes and bandages on it to show she encountered 'resistance' when they had to hold her down! "Not to mention my very own students were handling them! You've got to believe me! I'm not crazy!" she cried more frantically but all it earned her were some concerned or weirded out expressions from the doctors and nurses, one of them even doing a twirly finger sign to show she was cuckoo…..

"Poor lady, she must have really hit her head real hard out there." muttered a nurse as she eyed the restrained teacher uneasily.

The head doctor accompanying them, carried a clipboard in his hands while shaking his head, "I've never heard anyone spout such nonsense before, this may be our greatest challenge yet." he said as he nodded to the staff who began to push Michelle's stretcher to the intensive care ward.

"I'm telling you there are dinosaurs out there! Dinosaurs!" she screamed her last few words in agony and bitter tears as the doors soon closed behind them, "What about my precious students!?"

Hope you all enjoyed this, i had a blast writing it, also special thanks to pokemonking0924 for suggesting some of the ideas for this chapter. I enjoyed writing this and wanted to give a kind of horror movie vibe to it, also szechuanosaurus setting a trap using Michelle as bait comes from a certain scene in jurassic park 3. Also this takes place before Kyoto Caper.

Fun Fact, the yoga and dance moves that Chomp and the others were doing with Cera earlier are the same ones that happen in the dinosaur king japanese OP and ED, wanted a chance to have that.

In response to reviews

Drew Luczynski

-I wanted to add that little tidbit in since I think they should have had that addressed, maybe you can have a mini arc on it after that massive battle in Sanjo City. Maybe you can address other bits here and there too like environments and how they can play a role in dino hunting. Wanted to come up with something for Helga doing something wacky while she's malfunctioning. Also that bit at the end with tarbosaurus and tarchia fighting one another, I had the idea for a while and wanted to do that but now that you mention it it does have similarities with your story idea too with the torvosaurus.

pokemonking0924

-Glad you enjoyed it. I don't think tarchia and tarbosaurus will be coming out again for a while though, also their moves were sand trap and burning dash respectively. Cera also mentioned it when they used it. Glad I was able to have that drama and emotion too, hope it didn't disappoint. Also wanted to make funny moment for Helga, wish I thought of the incinerator idea too.