Chapter 30
Ancient Roman Holiday
The D Team and Alpha gang, who were racing through time and space uncontrollably without a set time, were doomed to be trapped in the never ending expanse of the time tunnel for all eternity, but when all hope seems lost, it came before them in a most unexpected form, a shining pterosaur coloured like that of the stones, soon came into view and glided gracefully along the currents of time before the Backlander as everyone eyed her in awe and amazement, "Follow me and I will guide you to your destiny." she said to them as she awaited for their response patiently.
As everyone stared and their jaws hung speechlessly, Rex suddenly snapped out of his funk and looked to the others, "Whoa! What do you guys think that thing is?" he asked.
"Looks kinda like….a pterosaur?" Cera blinked her eyes observingly before seeing something rather familiar about her, "Wait….it looks kinda like…." she turned to look at her partner on her shoulder, and after a little observing she could see that Miku in full sized form did resemble their new friend, could it be a coincidence though she wondered.
"I don't know but I say we follow it!" Max replied to Rex in excitement as Cera looked up to them.
"Yeah, I think we should," she said rather confidently as they turned their attention to her, looking puzzled as to why she sounded so trusting. "After all we've got nowhere else to go from here and we've got nothing to lose." she then replied which the others were satisfied with, though for some reason in her own heart and mind….she felt a sort of peace with this pterosaur and believed sincerely that they could trust her.
Sadly not everyone was on board with the idea as Dr Z suddenly let out a violent protest, "Ha! We're not following some weird looking wacko bird!" he yelled out.
"If anyone's weird and wacko around here it's you…." Cera muttered narrowing her eyes at the old man while taking offence at his words.
"I think it's pretty….." Ursula commented, which made the red headed girl smile a bit seeing at leasts he could appreciate its beauty.
Unfortunately as before not everyone thought the same as she did, "Hmph! You remember Jennifer?" Ed suddenly scoffed in disapproval for some odd reason.
"She was pretty and Ed followed her right off a cliff…." Zander followed which made both Ursula and Dr Z growl.
"Grrr!"
Cera sweat dropped knowing it must be one of their old personal issues that she shouldn't bother asking, before Max then spoke out, "Well I think we can trust her!"
"Trust her with your fate not mine!" Dr Z retorted in defiance.
It was at that very moment, the dinosaurs all began to bark with excitement as they came to the front seat where Jonathan was so they could get a good look at the pterosaur up close. In fact, Cera could also notice they were rather fixated on her too and it looked as though they either know her or shared some sort of connection somewhere. Even if she couldn't deduce what it was, the dinosaurs had no doubt better instincts than people had and anyone the dinosaurs can trust was without a fact good no doubt.
"Her voice reminds me of the one I heard from the stones!" Max then added feeling assured of himself before looking up front with a smile, "Hey look!" The dinosaurs were all barking eagerly and with excitement seeing her as their owners looked on with a smile, "These guys think we can trust her too."
"It's like they know her…." Zoe smiled in agreement with Rex and Cera as they all became increasingly restless, hogging Jonathan's seat and pushing on his head.
"We can't control where the time machine takes us anyway so we might as well follow her." said Max feeling excited as to where they'll go while also making the best of their current situation.
"Yeah, I totally agree." Rex smiled before focusing on Jonathan, "Jonathan! Take us to our destiny!" he ordered.
"Right away sir!" The android responded obediently despite feeling overwhelmed by the chibi dinosaurs overwhelming him like hyperactive children. Pushing on the controls the Backlander followed after the pterosaur as she lead through another time warp tunnel which diverted away from the main stream! It soon sped ahead at a bright light at the end and as it broke through into a mountainous forest region they all found themselves charging straight into a mountain!
"WAAAAAAAAHHH!" Everyone screamed in terror as they were about to crash! Using all the strength he had Jonathan pulled up, causing the Backlander to skid across the side of the mountain and then crashing down across the ground ripping through trees and foliage before coming to a stop in the middle of the valley!
BOOM!
The impact sent everyone off balance as they collapsed where they were initially standing or sitting and after a while, Max and the Chomp were the first to awaken from the bunch, "Huh?" Max looked up as he came to his senses first and his partner Chomp greeted him with a bark. "Where are we?" he asked as he stood up and slowly everyone else began to wake up though still sightly dazed after the crash.
"Ugh….probably in that pterosaur's nest…." Ursula groaned as she looked up.
"About to become it's dinner!" Zander suddenly cried all panicky.
As Cera woke up she then frowned at their remarks, "Ridiculous….." she sighed shaking head at their idiocy and also while still trying to regain her balance as she stood up groggily helping Zoe and Rex up.
"The TPS says we're somewhere around the year 60 or 70 BC." said Rex after pressing some buttons on his device, "And get this! It looks like we're in Italy!"
Jonathan then brought up a couple of screens on for a more precise reading, "According to the time machine the year is 73 BC and we have touched down near Ancient Rome." he explained.
"The Roman Empire I guess?" Cera asked.
"Well that's sort of the same…." Zoe muttered thinking about it.
"Not it's not! That TPS contrition is no batter than a wee gee board!" Dr Z shouted ruling insults at Rex.
"Well modern Rome is part of Italy you know…." Rex muttered taking offence at his word.
Unfortunately the old man hadn't learn to keep his mouth shut or show any respect as he continued to hurl even more offensive insults at the boy, "Ha! Are you sure you didn't get that thing from a gumboil machine!?" he scoffed before folding his arms, "I guess that's to be expected since it was made by a couple of losers like the Ancients!" he grinned which set off as the last straw for the D Team.
"You be quiet!" Rex yelled back angrily taking offence as his friends joined in to back him up.
"The Ancients created this time machine! What have you done that's as good!?" Max countered.
"The better question is what has he done at all?" Cera grunted as she folded her arms and scowled at the old man.
"What!?" he exclaimed at the nerve the children were exhibiting in talking down to him, at the same time having nothing at all to back up his claims !
"If anything what he's done is way worse than anything good." Cera huffed folding her arms crossly while Miku snarled mirroring her anger.
"W…Well there's lots of things!" Dr Z stuttered before grinning cheekily, "I don't like to brag, in fact I'm famous for not bragging!"
"You're bragging now." Rex corrected him.
"Ha! Well you know, true greatness is hard to hide sometimes." Dr Z scoffed as turned to look away, finding this conversation beneath him but in actual fact he was trying to run away from the harsh and bitter truth.
Suddenly, Rex's TPS device began beeping which caught everyone's attention, "Huh!?"
"What is it Rex?" Max asked curiously as they looked to him taking it out.
"It looks like we found our parents!" he answered as his friends widened their eyes in surprise at their stroke of luck.
"For real!?" Zoe asked as she and Max widened their eyes and gasped in amazement.
"They're nearby….and they're in this time period." Rex answered her.
"You sure?" Max asked feeling hopeful.
"Yeah!" Rex answered firmly.
"That must mean that the flying pterosaur guided us here so we could rescue them!" Zoe stated.
"That could be." Cera nodded before folding her arms in suspicion, "Or perhaps maybe….it's for a bigger purpose in mind, and rescuing the others is merely a luxury in a much bigger picture….." she the thought to herself thinking about it carefully and anticipation of the possibilities. The fact that their parents were in this time period with them meant that their kidnappers were no doubt the same as the ones who attacked them in the ship not long ago, meaning they had time travel technology themselves, and without a doubt wanted them for some sort of evil scheme which could make Dr Z and Seth look like amateurs…..
Fortunately her friends were more optimistic seeing fortune had shone upon them, "Alright!" Max smiled feeling energised and filled with hope once again, "So where exactly does it say they are located?" he then asked eager to go rescue them all immediately.
As Rex began typing on hoping to triangulate their present coordinates he then narrowed his eyes hardly seeing he couldn't focus it exactly, "Urgh….I can't get a clear reading…." he grunted which brought down their spirits a little.
"Why not?" Max asked.
"It seems there's some sort of barrier around them." Rex answered him after looking closer at the readings.
"A barrier?" Max questioned him curiously.
"Dr Owen did say they were kidnapped by some alien." Cera then stated as the others looked to her, "Maybe their ship must be using a cloak like ours so that they can't be found…." she suggested.
"That may be…." Jonathan commented as he did a search with the Backhander's own scanners but turned up with the same results as Rex's TPS much to his disappointment.
"Great…." Max grumbled seeing now they were pretty much reduced to searching the entire world in this time period blind, which would no doubt take them forever and who knows if they would be taken to another time period by then.
Dr Z however was having enough of trying to help find the D Team's parents seeing it was taking precious time away from what he wanted, "You can't believe that hunk of junk!" Dr Z protested before looking down to the driver, "Jonathan! Fire up the engines immediately! Take us back to the time of the dinosaurs!" he demanded as the D team glared at him once more, clearly he enjoyed being the focus of everyone's anger and frustration.
"How can you even suggest that!?" Max yelled, "Our parents were time napped and we don't know who did it! We have to find them!"
"That's right! And besides Dr Z this ship doesn't belong to you!" Rex yelled in agreement.
"In fact you're only in this because Dr Ancient invited you along, this was never yours to begin with." Cera stated with a hard glare having remembered the truth behind all this, "I bet without him you'd be stuck at home wasting your life away doing nothing of value." she said as the rest of her friends nodded with her.
"Listen! If I hadn't fixed it you'd still be parked outside where the shrimp's old house used to be!" Dr Z yelled back in response.
"Fixed it? Ha! It's more like you and the alpha gang messed it up!" Zoe scoffed angrily, "So now we're racing uncontrollably back and forth through time and all over the world!"
"You're just a bad scientist that's all!" Max
"A complete disgrace to be precise, in fact I bet he doesn't even deserve the title of doctor, which I bet he either cheated to get or made firm himself." Cera
"GRRR! That's ridiculous!" Dr Z then growled angrily, taking offence at the children's remarks before looking to his subordinates for support, "Tell them what a great scientist I am!" he demanded from the Trio, though it didn't seem he'd be getting any backup from them this time.
"Err…The thing is Dr Z.…" Ursula squeaked nervously before looking down around them, "We don't really have control of the ship." she said both human wise and also due to it being unstable and unpredictable in its current condition.
"Which seems to be kinda dangerous…."
"Yes and scary too." Ed and Zander followed believing he may have actually made it even more unstable than it was before.
Their remarks made Cera smirk somewhat impressed, "About time those guys started thinking for themselves what's right." she thought to herself seeing for once they were actually being smart for a change.
"You're all a bunch of traitors!" Dr Z grumbled in disgust seeing he couldn't rely on anyone but himself now. He was about to try doing a single handed hostile takeover of the ship himself when suddenly Helga slipped behind him unnoticeably. As she stood behind him, Cera and the others couldn't help but smirk seeing he was going to get it now.
"There you are!" she spoke up starting the old man.
"Helga! Please help me!" Dr Z cried as he jumped onto her like a terrified baby hoping she'd back him up, "Those traitors Ursula, Ed and anger have taken sides against me…." he cried innocently.
Unfortunately his false words of help fell on deaf ears, for Helga had overheard their entire conversation and she didn't buy it one bit, in fact it only spurred her into wanting to discipline him even more, "You're just tired it is past your nap time." she grunted as
"Nap time!?" He gasped in bewilderment while the D Team did their best to hold in their laughter.
Helga then turned to look at Dr Z making sure he was paying full attention, "You're being cranky, now go to your room, put your head on your pillow and go beddy bye!" she demanded as grabbed Dr Z by the collar and lifted him up with ease so she could look into his eyes with a glare that could even pacific Terry!
"Urgh….Yes ma'am…." Dr Z croaked as he sweated bullets knowing there was no way he could possibly win against her at all. Seeing how scary she was made the D Team take note to never get on her bad side at all.
"Hee hee hee! Ursula snickered taking amusement in Dr Z being the one to be abused for a change, but that proved to be a fatal error as Helga quickly turned on her.
"That goes for you too!" the housemaid growled shattering her moment of joy.
"Huh!?" Ursula gasped before she and the others were lead out like children.
"I can't believe we have to nap…." Ed and Zander muttered in disappointment as Helga lead them all out to their bedrooms for another timeout and disciplining session.
"Huh? Didn't see that coming….." If there was one thing Cera had to admire Helga for, it was her ability to easily get the Alpha gang to listen to reason, perhaps she could use her to get some leverage agsidnt them in case they stepped out of line next time.
As they disappeared from sight behind the door, Max quickly turned to the rest of the D team seriously, "What do you guys say we get going and find our parents?" he asked them with a serious look in his eyes knowing what they had to do now and they couldn't afford to waste anymore time.
"Alright!" Zoe smiled while Rex nodded in agreement with him.
"Shall I transport you 4 to the surface?" Jonathan asked waiting for their confirmation.
"Yes, and be sure to keep the Alpha gang here." Rex added affirmatively, wanting to make sure they don't cause any trouble for the whole team should they leave or try anything else on board while they're away.
"Smart call." Cera replied commending his wise decision, "Knowing them they'd no doubt cause a scene and draw attention without even trying."
"Yes sir I'll do that." Jonathan acknowledged his orders as he got the ship started up and it took off from the crash site and back into the air.
As Cera looked down from above she then frowned seeing the huge damage they left on the forest and mountains as a result of their crash, "Look at that mess down there…." she sighed sadly, "We'd better fix things up so that we don't cause any damages to the timeline."
"I'll take care of that right now." Jonathan replied as he pressed a button, causing waves of right energy to be emitted from the Backlander, erasing the damage done to the landscape easily as if it had never happened! Even Cera had to admit it was impressed, and no matter how many times she saw it she'd never get used to it….
As Jonathan brought the ship into a position where they could be teleported to a safe area, Cera then realised something else that was equally important as she spoke up to her teammates, "Hey guys," she said catching their attention as they all looked to her, "On second thought I'd like to sit it out for now." she said as they blinked their eyes in surprise at her statement.
"Huh?"
"Sit it out?" Why?" They asked curiously, wondering why she wouldn't want to help them find their parents.
"Well like you said Dr Z did mess up the warp generator quite badly, it might be way worse than it was before, if we fly while it's like this we're basically travelling in a flying time bomb read to go off at any moment."
"So I think maybe it's best I stay behind to help patch it up for when we have to go off again. I'm the one best qualified to do it out of everyone else on this ship here."
The others thought about what she said and looked to one another for second opinions, but seeing no counter arguments they could use or any reason for it they looked back to her and smiled, "Good point…." said Max in full agreement while Zoe nodded with him.
"Alright, we'll keep you posted and call you if anything comes up." said Rex firmly, "In the meantime you keep us up to date on the repairs."
Cera nodded back at them, "Will do." she said standing away from them as Jonathan began to teleport them, "Good luck you guys." she gave them some last few words of encouragement as they nodded back and then gathered together.
"Ancient Rome here we come!" Max cried out as the light enveloped them and they were teleported to the surface.
As they all disappeared from sight, Cera then popped her fingers and stretched herself out a little before folding her arms on her hips, "Alright time to get to work." she said to herself with confidence before looking ahead, "Jonathan, are the alpha droids ready for work?" she asked as Rex's butler looked towards her.
"Indeed they are Cera." he said bowing down respectfully before returning to the controls, "I'll get them started up right now and hopefully they can prove useful." He said as he pressed a few buttons, "Consider this their way of making up for their past misdeeds."
"I'll take it." Cera replied taking his word for it as she headed to the reactor core room with Miku on her shoulder. Walking down the hallways, she could hear the Alpha gang snore loudly like pigs behind their rooms, so she went tiptoeing carefully past them so they wouldn't wake up, before passing into the engine room where a small group of reprogrammed droids of different shapes and sizes were awaiting her orders. Sensing no evil intent from any of them and having their programmes wiped clean from Seth's influence, she smiled feeling safe among them and relieved they were now on their side and could put their manual labour skills to right use, "Alright team, let's get to work!" she cried out as the droids jumped up and down chanting.
WORK! WORK! WORK!
The droids dispersed as they began fetching parts or tools from storage rooms or piecing together new circuit boards to replaced those that may have been damaged beyond repair, "Wow, Dr Z sure put some of these parts out of place….." Cera muttered seeing some of the mechanical pieces in places they shouldn't belong or were put in by mistake. She then turned sick and her stomach churned seeing some parts were also rather filthy, "Ugh, he's got some dirt clogged up in these gears…." she moaned having a feeling it had to be ear wax no doubt. Not willing to touch the old man's filth with her own hands or risk getting it on her, she then behind to a few droids awaiting orders, "You, clean this here!" she commanded as the droids saluted obediently.
"CLEAN! CLEAN!" They said as they ran in with cotton buds and cleaning spray for machines before removing all the gunk, dust and rust inside.
As she moved on to section after section she began to coordinate the droids rather effectively, making sure they were well engaged in their work so they'd be less liable to make mistakes, "Okay, now to weld these bits together….."
"Don't think I can't see you slacking off!"
"Put that motherboard over there!"
For a while progress went smoothly for the repair team and everything was proceeding rather well, especially given the alpha droids' track records at being major screws, perhaps Jonathan's reprogramming of them also may have helped improve their intelligence levels somewhat too, and that was a plus on Cera's book any day. And yet…despite the progress they made, she was still rather distracted as puzzled thoughts began to cross her mind and she stared into space without saying a word after some point, "…" On her mind, after reflecting on her recent flashback regarding the mysterious shining pterosaur who lead them here, she knew for certain that she met that very same pterosaur before once….but she couldn't quite place her finger on it, "That pterosaur….I just know I've seen it before…..but where and when?" she asked herself before closing her eyes and focusing harder, "She did say something about leading me to friends who will help me find my way…..Could this be what she had in mind? To save the D Team's parents across space and time? Or is there something beyond this?" she asked herself in deep thought before gritting her teeth and scrunching up her hair in frustration, "Urgh….it stinks when you don't have all the answers." she grunted in annoyance.
SQUAWK!
A loud screech cusddnely caused her to open her eyes and snap her out of her funk, "Huh?" Looking around frantically and also being surprised she soon took notice of Miku who was standing on a railing near her, who as eying her with concern. Seeing her again and realising what she had done, Cera then smiled back at her friend as she gently nuzzled her chin, "Thanks Miku, I needed that." she said gratefully before turning worried having seen the same kind of expression in her dinosaur's eyes, "You know what I'm thinking aren't you?" As the young raptor cooed in response Cera sighed back at her, "I feel the same…..but there's no point in worrying about what we don't know just yet." she said feeling disappointed before shrugging it off and smiling lightly, "Maybe next time we see her, we'll ask her for some answers if she gives us the chance." she said as Miku nodded and flapped out her wings in agreement with her.
BEEP! BEEP!
"Hmm?" As she heard the noise of her dinoshot beeping, she assumed it to be her friends trying to contact her for either updates or help, but as she switched it on she got a slight surprise to see a red beacon blinking on the map! "A signal? Could Max and the others have summoned their dinosaurs to fight?" she wondered before narrowing her eyes more closely and zooming in on the target, "Wait a second…this location, it's far off from where Max and the others were sent." she thought seriously with Miku looking on uneasily. They didn't have long to triangulate its position as it suddenly, vanished before they could lock onto and identify it.
"It's gone now…." Cera sighed in disappointment before taking a look at the data she did manage acquire of it, "That dinosaur, it's not one of ours….." she said to herself seriously, knowing something wasn't right. Since the cards were separated across time it would be possible it could be a wild dinosaur, but for it to vanish and be an unidentified signal must mean someone else was using dinosaurs like they did…. "But who else could possibly-" she suddenly stopped herself as she soon came to a realisation, "Wait…." A flashback memory passed through her mind, portraying the 3 flying figures summoning dinosaurs (Centrosaurus, gondwanatitan and alioramus) through cards, which then roared out in anger, with glowing marks on their heads and sides before charging out and firing streams of lightning, fire and water out in several directions which shredded through buildings, tossing vehicles and landmarks aside and people crying out in terror and running for cover as they rampaged through the city laying waste to all before them.
As it ended Cera's heart skipped a beat as she put a hand to her chest to still it, "Could it…..no…it couldn't be….." she muttered to herself shaking her head clear and taking a breath to calm herself down not wanting to assume the worst. Seeing the situation to be rather serious, she then typed on her dinoshot as she attempted to make contact with the others to see how they were doing, "Better check in with the gang." she said as Miku leaned in closer to see the screen on her dinoshot. After a few seconds of waiting, Rex's face suddenly appeared on screen as he answered the call, "Hey guys, come in."
"Cera! How's repairs coming with he time machine?" he asked as Zoe and Max tried to lean in near him to look.
She smiled back at them, "It's going smoothly so far, but it's still got a ways to go before we're fully functional again." she answered feeling confident about their success.
"Good to know." Rex smiled as the others smiled or laughed happily with relief behind him.
"Hey! Who's that you're talking to?" an unknown female voice suddenly asked which made them look uneasily in the direction it came from.
"Umm….well…."
"Also, how are you talking? What is that device?" the girl asked once more sounding curious, though she still couldn't be seen.
"It's err…..hehe…." Rex chuckled nervously as he sweat dropped while Max and Zoe both whistled casually while looking in different directions.
Cera blinked her eyes clearly not having expected anyone else to be with them, clearly they made contact with local people and drew in attention which they didn't need right now, "Am I interrupting something guys?" she asked as they turned back to her frantically.
"Umm we'll talk later Cera!" Rex cried, "Sorry we have to go now!"
"Keep up the good work!"
"Catch with you later!" Max and Zoe added at the end cheerfully, as the signal was cut off and the screen turned blank, leaving both Cera and Miku to stare at the blank screen a little longer while processing everything that had just happened.
"Okay then…." she sighed before rubbing her temple a little in deep thought, "So much for keeping a low profile….." she muttered seeing how one of her worst case scenarios had come to pass, "But I guess it was inevitable…just as long as don't do anything that will affect time later on…." she said after that though knowing it was far easier said than done, considering their new enemies gave her the impression they wouldn't hesitate to do just that to achieve their goals whatever they were….considering they time napped the D Team's parents, meaning they were at a slight disadvantage and were a couple of steps behind them somehow, meaning she'd just have to hasten her efforts. "Well time to get back to work." She then said looking up at the reactor core and returning to her job at hand.
A while had passed and thanks to Cera coordinating their movements and supervising them, the Alpha droids made significant progress in repairing some of the misplaced parts and wirings in the systems, and she saw it was all good, "So far so good….hopefully these repairs would-" Before Cera could finish, her dinoshot suddenly started beeping again.
BEEP! BEEP!
"Huh?" She walked up to it and picked it up, assuming it was another call, but instead what tuned up was not 1, but 2 dinosaur signals! "The signal….it's Chomp's….and another dinosaur?" Cera muttered in surprise after seeing it. Feeling suspicious that something wasn't right she narrowed her eyes knowing she had to be there this time, her gut telling her to do so, "I can't ignore this anymore, I've got to go see." she said as she ran out of the room with Miku, leaving the droids to do the rest of the work on the reactor core, hoping they'd at least be able to clean the place up while she was gone.
As she ran down the hallway up to the control deck, she soon came along the corridors where the Alpha gang were sleeping as she went from running to tiptoeing as carefully as she could, knowing how sensitive some of them were when it came to noise. It was then that one of the doors opened and stepping out of it was Tank, who yawned out before her eyes turned all droopy and cranky. Her hostile mood however dissipated as soon as she laid eyes on Cera which made her less aggressive, "Oh hey Tank, the others woke you up huh?" Cera said to Tank as she yawned once more.
She wanted to let the little dinosaur go back to sleep, but after realising the situation she then thought of an idea to turn her frown the other way, "If you like, I'm planning to go down and it'd be nice if someone were to accompany me." As she said that Tank perked up and looked to her with full attention, "Feel like you're up for some action?" Cera smiled as Tank barked joyfully while wagging like a dog looking forward to play with its master. Cera giggled glad that she had back for this time now, "Alright then, let's go." She said pressing a button and returning her to card form before she and Miku headed for the control deck.
(Meanwhile)
Back on the ground, Zoe was in hot pursuit of the burly red flying man who was chasing after Sophia, whom was beginning to tire from exhaustion having to run so much while her pursuer wasn't bound to such limitation having wings and all, "Hey! Big guy with wings! You leave Sophia alone do you hear me!?" Zoe shouted out at him in anger.
The alien turned around to look back at her in annoyance, "Of course I can hear you. You're screaming loudly…." he said in a clueless tone while also uncaringly as well.
"Then listen because I have 5 words for you!" Zoe growled deciding to take things to the next level in order to protect Sophia and squeeze out some answers. She pressed a button returning Paris to a card, "Dino slash! Spring up Parasaurolophus!" she cried out loud as she summoned her partner to full size, putting herself in front of the Alien as she roared out!
Sophia turned around and widened her eyes in surprise, "Ah! Zoe….you can summon a dinosaur too?" she gasped in amazement.
Zoe only looked back to her with a serious gaze, "Get out of here Sophia! Find cover!" she said before sporting a firm look as she and Paris made their stand.
"O…kay…." Sophia nodded uneasily as she ran to hide in the brush.
Noticing her trying to make another break for it, the alien widened his eyes seeing his target was getting away, "Hey! Come back here!" he yelled but before he could go after her again, Paris jumped into his way and bellowed loudly which made him grit his teeth in frustration before backing off a bit.
"Go Paris! Take him down!" Zoe punched forward determinedly.
"Take me down? But I can land on the ground just fine." The alien blinked his eyes puzzled before becoming serious as he took out a purple dinosaur card, "Though if it's a fight you want, then saltasaurus here would be more than happy to give you one!" he yelled as he placed it against his chest plate, causing a symbol to light up followed by bright purple light, causing a large saltasaurus to appear on the field! 3 marks appeared on its head and sides as it roared out, making Paris step back a bit nervously realising there was something not right with it.
As Sophia looked from behind the tree she was at, she placed a hand over her chest in fear, "Oh dear…." she worried whether Zoe would be able to protect her against this monster, and what was going on today for her.
Zoe clicked her tongue in response, seeing things got a little harder but that didn't mean it wasn't impossible, "Tch! Go get him Paris!" she yelled as Paris rushed ahead and the saltasaurus responded too by shifting sides and causing her head to ram into it! It shook her off as she backed away from the recoil of slamming into that bony back armor! As the saltasaurus tried to lunge in and bite her crest, she let out a loud sonic wave from her crest which made it shake its head in disorientation before backing off!
"A lot of humans have been giving me greetings today so why not I give you one of my own!" The alien then said out loud as he pointed to himself with a thumb, "The name is Gavro! I'm a space pirate!" He said introducing himself proudly.
"Space…pirate?" Zoe blinked her eyes in confusion.
He then grinned in response, "That's right! And say hello to water jammer!" he said placing a move card onto his chest plate! The saltasaurus then bellowed loudly glowing blue as it roared out, causing water to collect into an enormous solid mass right above Paris' head as she widened her eyes in shock and froze in place feeling overwhelmed!
"AH! Paris run!" Zoe cried to her partner, but her warning came to late as the water let itself down all at once putting immense pressure on the parasaurolophus as she cried out in pain! "Oh no Paris!" Zoe cried out for her partner realising she may picked a fight she couldn't win.
(Meanwhile)
"Jonathan! What's the situation!?" Cera cried as she burst into the control room. When she saw the scene playing out onscreen in front of Jonathan, she widened her eyes and her heart skipped a beat, "AH!" On screen it depicted a torvosaurus, erased in purple and red crystal like armour and had just thrown Chomp off with ease after taking a thunder bazooka head on! But it wasn't just its immense strength due to its new armour, but the marking on its head which drew in her eyes and rendering her and Miku incapable of turning away, "That dinosaur's symbol….." The very sight of it seemed to awaken some very bad memories inside her, and not good ones either. She could explain how or why, but the sight of it made her boil up with anger inside as she gritted her teeth and clench her hand into a fist. "GRRR!" Miku as well, her eyes turning slit and primal seeing it to be a symbol of evil, corrupting dinosaurs and using them in ways that made the Alpha gang's methods look like mere child's play.
The screen suddenly shifted to a saltasaurus which was under the control of a red flying alien, and had just used water jammer to drop a huge mass of water on Paris as she struggled to keep her head above it! "ZOE!" Cera cried out in alarm as Jonatahn quickly looked up at her, being surprised by her sudden outburst himself. She then shot him a serious look, "Jonathan! Send me down now! I've got to help them!" she cried pointing at the screen.
"What!? Are you sure?" he asked feeling shocked and surprised.
"Positive!" Cera nodded as Miku followed with a bark.
"But you don't have a dinosaur to fight with!" he said a little hesitantly, though she was skilled he had doubts whether she and Miku were capable of battling a new threat such as these armoured dinosaurs.
She then flashed him Tank's card to prove she was well equipped for the task, "You were saying?" she said to him proving her point, "And even if I didn't I can't just stay up here doing nothing, I've got to help! You'd do the same in my position too would't you?" she said with determination, en expression on her face showing she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Seeing it in her eyes, Jonathan knew she had made her choice and nothing he said would change her mind or stop her, so he closed his eyes calmly, "Very well…..good luck." he said wishing her the best as he pushed a button causing her and Miku to be enveloped in bright light.
As it glowed brighter, she narrowed her eyes hardening her gaze, "Just you wait guys…..I'm coming." she said to herself firmly as she vanished, though he memory isn't very clear, she knew that this new enemy would be far more dangerous than anything they've faced thus far, and they'll need all the help they can get if they're to have even the slightest hope of not just rescuing their parents but surviving this.
(Later)
The saltasaurus swung out its huge tail and sent Paris flying through a drive of trees as she fell to the ground and roared out in agony and pain! "No Paris!" Zoe cried as tears fell from her eyes seeing her partner suffer so much like that was beyond what she could handle, while Sophia looked on in horror from afar, unable to take it any longer she was about to consider giving herself up to the space pirate so that her new friend wouldn't need to keep suffering for her sake.
"Hehehe….." Gavro snickered to himself in enjoyment knowing it wouldn't be long now. He was about to have his dinosaur deliver the final blow, when suddenly-
"Hey! Back off you big bully!" a new voice cried out coming in at them!
"Hmm?" The space pirate blinked his eyes in surprise as he and Zoe both turned around.
"Huh?" As they both looked they could see a new girl, one with red hair and a small microraptor perched on her shoulder charging at them while holding her dinoshot in one of her hands.
"Cera!"
"I'm coming Zoe!" she cried in response as she stood before Gavro and his saltasaurus who turned around to face the new arrival.
"Another one? Just how many humans am I supposed to greet today? I don't have the time for it…." Gavro muttered feeling annoyed before noticing something vaguely familiar about the girl, "Say….why does she look like someone I've seen before?" he thought to himself as he curiously scratched his head before shaking it off, "Never mind, I've got a job to do and I can't be late for it!" he growled while holding up the grey card, "So I'll make this quick with some spectral armour!" He bellowed as he added it into his chest plate, absorbing the card as the marks on saltasaurus glowed before enveloping the huge beast in light and then transforming into armour which covered along the head and back of the sauropod!
As the newly armoured saltasaurus bellowed a battle roar, the sight of its newfound appearance made Cera step back as she widened her eyes at the sight of its empowered form, "That armour….." she breathed as she began shaking, as screams and cries of people running in terror from dinosaurs equipped in similar armour were terrorising a futuristic city, destroying all in their wake, and the very symbol they all carried had been burned into her eyes, mind and soul….a reminder of that very tragedy which made her shake with both fear and rage as it approached her.
"Cera run! You can't fight him without a big dinosaur!" Zoe cried out seeing she was frozen and fearing her friend's safety as the saltasaurus began closing in on her and Paris still wasn't able to make it to her feet yet.
The sound of her friend's voice calling to her snapped her out of her thoughts as she shook her head and became serious, "I've got that covered don't worry!" she yelled back at Zoe before holding out a card in her hand and looking to Miku, "Get ready you guys!" she said as her partner held a sharp gaze as she was returned to a card, "Dino slash!" She yelled slashing the cards, "Microraptor! Shine! Shake em up Saichania!" As Miku appeared on Cera's shoulder screeching viciously, Tank appeared next to her and roared out in anger, raising her tail and shaking it in an aggression display as she was both raring for a fight and aiming to protect Cera!
"Oh wow! Amazing!" Sophia hasped in surprise to see that this new girl could also control dinosaurs like Zoe could.
"Huh?" Gavro muttered surprised that Cera had dinosaurs of her own, meaning there would be more problems he'd have to take care of first as he gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Alright! Now we're talking!" Zoe cheered seeing they were back in business, as Paris kicked herself back up on her feet and bellowed loudly before charging back into battle.
"Miku! Energy equaliser!" Cera commanded as the mircoraptor screeched out before jumping onto Tank's neck and latching on, glowing in a rainbow aura as she transferred her energy into the ankylosaur! Feeling a new power rising in her, Tank roared with her fighting spirit being enflamed as she rushed ahead towards the charging saltasaurus! "Go for it Tank!" Cera then took a card out and slashed it, "Mole attack!" Before coming into contact with the enemy armoured dinosaur, Tank glowed purple as she jumped into the air and spun, with Miku clutching onto her closely so she wouldn't get shaken off, as she dug under ground causing the saltasaurus to stop in its tracks as it surveyed its surroundings keeping a close eye on where she'd pop up from. Though while its' guard was up against Tank, it unwittingly lowered it against another opponent it failed to account for.
"Now it's our turn Paris!" Zoe cried seizing the chance as she slashed a move card, "Chaos green!" Paris glowed green bellowing out, catching the saltasaurus' attention! As it turned around to face her, the ground suddenly opened up as it began to fall in, it quickly latched onto the side of the hole, struggling to keep itself from falling as its back legs scraped the walls of the pit hoping to get a grip so it could climb out! Before it had the chance though, Tank suddenly shot out of the hole striking from the sauropod's underside as it flew up into the air and crashed down on its back as Tank and Miku appeared next to Paris and Cera regrouped right next to Zoe!
Gavro widened his eyes at his opponents ganging up on him, "Hey! Three against one? Isn't that unfair?" he protested as saltasaurus struggled to get back on its feet.
"Who are you to talk about fair!?" Cera retorted.
"Yeah! You snatched our parents and picked on defenceless Sophia! Now you'll pay for it!" Zoe followed just as furious as Cera was.
Gavro blinked his eyes in surprise, "Pay for it? Sorry but why do I have to pay anything at all?" he asked in confusion before checking his pockets, "Besides I don't have any money on me right now. "
"Then just take this!" Zoe yelled out having had enough with Garo's nonsense and wrong doings as she looked to Cera. They both nodded together as they each took out an earth and grass move card.
"Egg Machine Gun!" They cried together slashing them in sync causing Tank and Paris to both glow purple and green respectively!
Tank roared as she reared up on her hind legs, slamming the ground causing several chunks of earth to rise into he air before combining into a massive boulder! She then charged forth and rammed it, sending it flying towards Garo's saltasaurus, while Paris summoned a trio of oviraptors who fired a barrage of egg bullets together, pelting the boulder till it cracked and exploded into many shards of stone which were sent flying at their armoured enemy! The force of the stone shards pelted against saltasaurus, causing it to roar in pain as it was blasted with a powerful barrage of attacks, too much for even its spectral armour to handle!
"URGH!" Gavro grunted as he held his arms forward, desperately trying to shield himself against the shards that did manage to make it past his dinosaur, but even he was beginning to feel the same pain saltasaurus was feeling as the shards continued pelting against his arms! Eventually, saltasaurus, unable to withstand the relentless assault any longer, was pushed back and sent flying by the sheer force of the fusion move into Gavro, who widened his eyes and screamed in horror as the massive behemoth landed ontop of him! "AAAAAAAHHHH!"
CRASH!
A huge cloud of dust erupted from the crash, followed by shine of purple light caused by the spectral armour shattering, followed by a blue light which signalled the defeat of the saltasaurus once and for all!
Seeing they were victorious, Zoe jumped up in pure joy, "We did it!" she cheered in excitement.
"Nice teamwork Zoe!" Cera praised her as they both high fived one another.
"Haha!"
As Paris went over to get stroked by Zoe, Cera turned over to Tank who wanted to receive the same kind of praise as Paris wanted, as she smiled back proud at her efforts, "You did great Tank, I knew I could count on you." she said gently stroking the ankylosaur's snout causing her to roar out happily and wag her tail as Miku popped her head up from Tank before jumping back onto Cera to get nuzzled by her.
As Sophia looked out from her hiding spot, she couldn't but stare in admiration "Incredible…." she breathed overwhelmed with emotion she couldn't explain, "For children so young they really are brave….." She said, knowing it wasn't just the children being brave as they were, but the fact they were able to tame such powerful creatures and establish strong bonds with them. If children younger than her could accomplish such great things, maybe hope wasn't all lost for her, her brother or their people….she thought as she smiled feeling more reassured in herself.
The dust soon began to clear, and as it did, Gavro could be seen getting back up on his feet as he rubbed his head groggily and slightly dazed. Despite the huge sauropod landing right on top of him, he was a tough one as he managed to get out of it with nothing more than a mild headache, "Urgh…." he groaned shaking his head before noticing the saltasaurus card right in front of him which he quickly took back.
"Alright! Now you tell us where our parents are!" Zoe demanded pointing out at him causing him to look ahead.
Cera folded her arms seriously and shot him a fierce glare, "If I were you I'd talk before things get ugly." for some reason, seeing that mark had sparked something hateful inside her towards them, it's like every fibre of her being hated these pirates with a passion, and though she couldn't explain it she knew her instincts were right to tell her to be on guard against them.
"Ugly?" Gavro muttered in confusion before gritting his teeth in anger, "Hey! Who are you calling-" Before he could finish, Tank and Paris roared out and charged at him causing him to sweat anxiously, "Uh oh, time to get out of here!" he cried out as he opened up his wings and flew away as fast as he cold before Paris could stomp down on him!
Zoe and Cera quickly gave chase after him, with Sophia tailing behind them closely, "Hey! Get back here you!"
"We want answers!" They each yelled as they pursed him through the woods, "Urgh…for someone so big he's pretty fast…" Cera grunted seeing they were lagging behind and how their only lead to their families was about to escape from them!
Zoe quickly reached into her dino gadget, "Good thing I've got just the card!" she said taking out the grass move card then slashing it, "Go metal wing!" As she did, Paris bellowed flowing green as the 3 pteranodons swooped out from the sky chasing after Gavro with the 2 girls and their dinosaurs both chasing after him closely!
The red pirates gritted his teeth in frustration knowing he couldn't take them on his own and they were gaining on him fast. He headed back to where his torvosaurus was only to find something which added to his worries, "Huh?" he gasped seeing his last dinosaur collapsed after taking a thunderstorm bazooka directly, with its armour shattering and it returned to a card! "Beat by a bunch of kids…." he grunted knowing there was no way he could win and his only option was to run away, "This isn't going to go over well…." he muttered worryingly knowing his boss wouldn't like to hear news of his failure. His ship quickly took to the air and he entered it before jetting far out of the pteranodons' reach!
"Oh no he's escaping!" Zoe cried out while Cera narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist in frustration.
"Grr! Next time then…." she grunted as she and Zoe both returned their dinosaurs to card form seeing there was nothing that could be done now.
"Hey you come back here!" Max yelled angrily as Gavro escaped and his ship disappeared from sight.
"He's already gotten away…." Rex grunted in annoyance seeing there was nothing they could do about it as they recalled Chomp and Ace.
As soon as they disappeared, Terry suddenly crashed down on the ground from out of nowhere, followed by a bright light from the sky, "Get him Terry!" Dr Z yelled out as he and the alpha gang appeared from the light only to realise they arrived a little too late, "They're gone?" As they looked around in surprise to see their enemies had flown the coop, Dr Z took notice of something shining on the ground, "Oh? What's this?" he mused as he reached in and picked it up, "A piece of that dinosaur's armour…." he said eying it closely.
"Can I have it?" Ursula then asked.
"It's not jewellery it's for important research!" Dr Z said seriously while denying her at the same time.
"He called that stuff spectral armour." said Rex as he walked up to him.
"The torvosaurus turned into a card." Max stated as he held up the dinosaur card left behind.
"It would make a really nice ring…." Ursula asked again, her mind still on jewellery as Dr Z sighed in disappointment that he missed the big fight and glory, while returning Terry to a card.
"Yeah or a keychain for me…" Ed followed in agreement wanting it for himself too.
"So strange that that guy had a dinosaur card…." Rex then said feeling deeply suspicious, having thought the only they had cards.
"Very…." Max added in agreement knowing something was definitely wrong with this picture.
"Look who's late to the party." said Cera as she Zoe and Sophia soon walked in.
"Huh, it's the old lady." Zoe muttered carelessly which made Ursula growl in response.
"Hey! Don't call me an old lady!" she shouted.
Suddenly from out of nowhere and most unexpectedly, Helga crashed down in the middle of the group starling everyone with the huge impact she caused!
BOOM!
"GAH!"
As soon as she landed she quickly got down to business, "Not one of you made your beds or straightened up after your naps." she grumbled towards the Alpha gang as they closed their eyes in shame, "Get back there and do it now!" she said naggingly.
"Yes ma'am…." They replied knowing it was hopeless to go against her as they vanished in bright light returning to ship. The sight of her easily pacifying the Alpha gang, her own makers, made Cera shudder a bit at the authority she commanded. She had the makings of both a maid and a strict mom too, though it was a wonder why they never learned, they truly were gluttons for punishment.
Meanwhile Sophia was startled by the unusual turn of events, for her it's been one strange event after the next today, "Whoa! Who are those people?" she asked confused.
"Umm….you could say they're…..acquaintances…." Cera sweat dropped as she scratched her head.
"Dr Z, Ed, Zander and the old lady." Zoe answered her as Ursula's voice roared out from the skies above.
"I'm not an old lady!" she cried out loud.
"Wow she really does have good hearing there….." Cera whistled feeling quite impressed as she and the others summoned out their dinosaurs in chibi forms to play at the other side of the hill.
Seeing now that the danger had passed and all was calm once more, Sophia then turned to look at the D Team with a smile of gratitude, "Oh right, I forgot to say thank you, to all of you." she said then turned over to Cera, "And you for coming to our aid when we needed it most." she said.
"You're welcome," she smiled back, "I couldn't just let that brute hurt you and my friend now could I?" she then held out a hand to her, despite not wanting to get involved with the locals of this time since it was already done they might as well roll with it and get acquainted, "I'm Cera by the way." she said as Sophia shook her hand.
"And I'm Sophia." The taller girl replied before bowing down to them all, "Thank you, I really am in your debt."
"Aww it's nothing." Zoe smiled happily.
"Yeah we're just really glad you're safe and that all that matters." said Rex.
Sophia then looked up and took a deep breath as she tried to calm down herself, "Today really has been quite a day…." she thought to herself out loud, though strange it wasn't all bad as she had now made some new friends and gained plenty of hope and reassurance in herself. That reminded her, she still had a mission to carry out and she had to quickly make up for lost time, "I really must get going, my brother needs me if he's going to have any chance at surviving the gladiatorial battles." she said which made Cera narrow her eyes.
"Gladiatorial battles….." she breathed realising this was serious, knowing that the romans were known for pitting soldiers in the arena against wild beasts for sport and entertainment for the crowds, or to punish their enemies at the same time. She could understand why Sophia would be so worried, as much as she wanted to help, she felt the D Team interfered enough already with this time's events so it'd be best they left things as they were now.
The others could tell whats he was thinking just by looking at her facial expressions before looking to Sophia once more, "Then we won't keep you waiting any longer." said Max.
"Take care of yourself now." said Zoe.
"Thank you and good luck to you." said Sophia in response, "I hope you find your parents very soon."
"Good luck to you too Sophia."
"And we hope that you find your brother." said Max and Rex as they gave her their parting words too
"Watching you tame dinosaurs, it made me believe I could save my brother Spartacus!" she said filled with joy and hope before realising she had to move now, "Ah! Bye guys or as they say in Rome, Bona Fortuna!"
"Goodbye!" they all waved to her as she disappeared down the road from sight.
Zoe suddenly realised the name Sophia mentioned as she turned to the others, "Did she say that her brother's name was Spartacus?" she asked curiously.
"Hey there was someone famous with that name." Rex added recognising too.
Cera then nodded, "Yeah…in ancient roman history if I remember…." she mused before putting a finger to her chin in thought, "Wait, it had to do with some sort of rebellion in Roman times….could this be that very time?" she thought to self before Max spoke up interrupting her thoughts.
"That's great." Max replied though his mind was on more pressing matters, "But right now I'm a little more worried about that flying time traveller guy." he said tensing up and everyone soon became as serious as he was, "How are we ever going to find him? And find our parents?"
"You're right!" Rex and Zoe said to him in agreement.
"With any luck we'll be seeing him again." said Cera before drifting into thought, "No doubt he was after Sophia for something….so should we really be leaving her be?" she then wondered.
Suddenly Max widened his eyes realising someone was missing from their little bad of misfits, "Oh wait!" He then began to look around, "Where's Chomp?" he wondered finding no trace of him for miles around.
"Paris? Ace? Tank? Miku? Do you have any idea where Chomp went?" Zoe asked as they all turned around to see the dinosaurs all at the edge of a cliff barking at them.
As they did, Max widened his eyes guessing who may have happened, "AH!" he cried running over to the edge frantically, "Did Chomp fall!?" he exclaimed as everyone gasped worryingly at the thought of that happening. He then fell on his knees at the edge and began crying out loud, his voice echoing down the valley from above pleading for some sort of answer back to him, "CHOMP! CHOMP!"
Hope you enjoyed Cera's first battle in season 2 being alongside Zoe. Here she'll be using the Alpha gang's dinosaurs here and there since they weren't given many opportunities to shine so thought it would do them justice. Also as for Gavro using saltasaurus here, it's the one that appeared in desert heat later when the parents were escaping, in fact I'll be having the pirates use those spare dinosaurs here and there to give chances for Cera to fight too so stay tuned for more to come. She won't be travelling with the D Team everywhere on their time travel adventures though.
As for Egg Machine Gun, it's a grass fusion move with earth used in the DS game, thought maybe use this as a chance to show off more of them too. Will be using fusion moves I have tried out myself when I played, but I don't have the game now so I don't know how some of the others work, though for anyone who has tried them do let me know how they look and work otherwise it's mainly guess work.
Also hope I got Gavro's personality done right too.
In response to reviews:-
Drew Luczynski
-It'll be revealed the pirates' connection to Cera later on, when we reach season 3 if I get that far. Well the alpha dinosaurs can't usually do much when they have the alpha controllers controlling them, except on certain occasions.