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!

44. The forest fire effect

Chapter 44

The forest fire effect

"Jonathan! Can you get her back!? Please!" Rex cried to his butler with panicked urgency in his voice as he then quickly typed away at the console, desperately trying to reestablish the connection with the D Lab.

"I'll do my best Master Rex." he said as he narrowed his eyes hard at the console, feeling somewhat pressured with everything that's already happened and on the line, "But considering the damage we've taken along with the interference of the time space flux this will be a challenge…." he breathed heavily as he kept his full focus on screen while everyone looked on tensely.

"Come on…." Max gritted his teeth tensely as he sweated with anxiety.

"Reese hang in there…." Zoe pleaded clasping her hands together and praying for an answer soon while others like Cera, Dr Z and Ursula either remained serious and steadfast or Ed and Zander bit their nails deeply pressured, especially Zander since his crush suddenly got cut off and that could only mean trouble in the worst possible way.

Nevertheless, Jonathan remained firm and determined to reconnect with their allies back home, for their survival depended on it as it seemed, "Almost….Got it!" he cried as everyone else brightened up.

"Yes!"

"Nice!"

"Yay!"

"Alright! Now patch it in!" Rex then ordered him as he responded with a nod.

"Doing that right away!" Before long the screen depicting Reese's concerned face reappeared, with some static in the background making it difficult to make out what she was saying.

"Jonathan! Are BZZT there!?" she said with a muffled voice as noise interfered with the call, "City BZZT attacked! Send BZZT Help!"

Even with the muffled call, that didn't sound like good news at all to the D Team when they heard what she said, "Wh….What was that Reese?" Cera asked uneasily.

"Speak up! It's kinda fuzzy over here!" Max then shouted loudly, hoping she'd be able to hear them better than they could for her.

As far as he and the others could make out she did say the word attack, and they didn't want to believe it but they had to make sure….though what they were soon to find out would make them wish they didn't.

Looking to the side, Reese typed again on her end of the line, this time managing to stabilise the connection so they could hear her again clearly, "Again! The city is under attack! Do you read!? I'm sending you video feed now!" The screen soon switched from her to live feed and snapshots of the city's buildings slowly being overrun and overtaken by strange eerie vines! Thorny ivy erupted out across the roads and burst through buildings before slowly smothering them over, moss growing on many walls of the town, while roots and vines began to ensnare over lampposts and cars and even strange flowers began erupting out at the tops of buildings too as people looked on in terror and confusion!

Everyone was caught completely my surprise, what they saw seemed like something out of a science fiction movie only it was happening for real!

"AH!"

"Huh!?"

"They're under attack by plants!?" Max exclaimed in disbelief, a sight that would make him and the others unable to look at vegetables the same way again.

The mess didn't stop there, as a second screen shifted to groups of people running away from a group of giant snap jawed ants, a mother and her child running away from a 4 armed scorpion and then a pair of giant mantises, one dark and the other light green, rampaging about in downtown district as they brought down their scythe like arms and pierced into a nearby car before tossing it aside!

"And giant bugs too?!" Max then gasped in alarm as if things weren't already bad enough!

The alpha gang huddled and shuddered, worrying that this was some kind of nature rising and retribution for the all bugs and grass they trampled on carelessly in their lives.

"That's right Max!" Dr Owen responded off screen, "They come out of nowhere and now they're everywhere! And still spreading!" he screamed in a panic.

"We're running out of places to hide! We don't know what to do!" Rod cried as he found himself being ensnared by a wild vine!

"Grampa you have to help us!" Laura cried out pleadingly before the call was cut off again!

"NO!" Cera cried fearing the unthinkable may have just happened to all their friends back home.

"Help is on the way!" Dr Z cried out loudly, showing a rare glimpse of selflessness which he only made known to those he loved and cared for more than anything or anyone else in his life, "Jonathan! Take us home!" he then demanded. Cera too nodded with him wanting nothing more now than to save their friends, and also supporting Dr Z to save his grandchildren.

Unfortunately things were never that simple, "I can't! Time systems are offline!" Jonathan yelled back reluctantly much to their growing discomfort.

"Oh no…how are we going to help them?" Max then asked feeling weak and helpless with his friends as they could only watch as their loved ones suffered under the merciless green thumb of wild plant and gargantuan insects terrorising them out of nowhere!

"More importantly, how are we going to go anywhere?" Cera then asked thinking of the bigger picture, seeing they were also unable to go back and stop Specter and the space pirates from going after the last cosmos stone, "We could be stuck here lost in the vortex for all eternity…."

The others looked to her seeing she was right before sweating nervously, "No….this can't be…." Zoe croaked as her heart sank into despair.

Max gritted his teeth defiant at the odds, "We have to keep trying! No way we can just sit back here doing nothing while our friends are in danger!" he shouted tensing his fist.

"We know Max." said Rex looking to him with empathy, "We want to help as much as you do…..but….what can we do in our current situation? You heard Jonathan, even if we wanted to we can't just zoom over there on a moment's notice…." he said looking down finding this challenge to be really difficult.

As everyone turned silent seeing the logic in his words while harbouring feelings of doubt, even Max was beginning to become infected with such thought no matter how hard he tried to fight it, "But…."

"Come in Backland!" Reese called at the other end catching everyone's attention and lifting up their spirits momentarily, seeing she was still online, as they looked back quickly, "Are you there!? Backland come in!" she cried desperately for a response from the others, hoping she'd be able to get help from them in time.

"This is the SS Backland! Good to hear from you guys! Thought maybe all those greens had you creamed!" Zander replied cheerily as Cera and a few others narrowed their eyes with disapproval at him.

"Not a good time Zander…." clearly he didn't understand the gravity of the situation at hand.

"Have you been leaving all of the different time periods you visited just as you found them?" Reese then asked getting straight to the point.

"Yeah! Of course we have Reese!" Zoe replied as she thought back to the past events that happened in each time they went for the cosmos stones, "When we left Ancient Rome we left things as they were. When we left all those pirates everything was the same. Even when we left China things were just as they should be, which isn't to say that they weren't weird but they were normal." She said as she flashbacked to all the close calls they had while also making sure they didn't change anything big.

"Apart from a few small meetings with people in those times as well as a few….small involvements with our dinosaurs in Japan, Persia and France nothing significant was really altered." Cera added seeing nothing wrong so far.

"We've left each time like we found it." Zoe concluded as Paris chirped after her.

"Maybe not!" Rex then pointed out as the others looked to him, "When we crashed in the jurassic period and had to make that quick escape? We didn't have time to make sure everything was the way it was when we first got there!"

Cera widened her eyes and her heart sank upon realising he was right, "Oh no…." she mouthed out, seeing that they did cause not just the past world to suffer but the present as well.

"Please think!" Reese cried, "Did anything happen there that could have changed the course of history?" she asked.

"The course of history? No not really…" Ursula muttered as she drifted into thought, "I mean I guess there was that fire that Gavro started when we were fighting him and his dinosaur…."

"But 1 little blaze couldn't change all of history." Zander replied feeling doubtful that anything significant could have happened since then.

Ed though begged to differ, "Yes it could! Look here!" he said bringing up a white board as he began to explain a very long and detailed theory he put together after piecing together the evidence shown so far. Due to the fire and lack of available food, the plant eating dinosaurs would die out, followed by the meat eaters and eventually the ancestors of the mammals which relief on the forests for home and food, a devastating chain reaction like the one caused by the meter and the extinction of the dinosaurs which thus gave the opportunity for mammals to replace them. Although that didn't mean life would die out completely, any lucky surviving plants and insects would eventually emerge to fill in the roles left behind by the larger vertebrate animals and eventually grow unchecked by them till they took hold of the planet as its new rulers which they now saw on screen!

Everyone else became completely speechless, either the fact that Ed made sense for once or that everything he predicted was happening exactly as he had predicted.

"Whoa…." Ursula then muttered telling herself not to underestimate his intelligence ever again.

"Wait, so if history is now correcting itself to reflect the fire that happened millions of years ago…." Rex then spoke out as he processed this altogether.

"Right?" Max, Cera and Zoe asked curious as to where he was going with this.

"Then it's just a matter of time….before the entire human race, all of mankind is wiped off the face of the Earth!" he explained.

"Right! Because humans are mammals! We would never have existed!" Zoe then gasped in realisation.

"Not just them…." Cera then spoke out uneasily as the others looked to her uneasily holding Miku in her hands, "The dinosaurs too….we'll all fade away into existence…." she said trembling with few and sadness before hugging in her partner close to her chest, while she and the other dinosaurs remained rather oblivious to the danger that surrounded man and dinosaur kind!

"So how long do we have?" Zoe then asked nervously.

"At the rate this plants are spreading? I'm afraid…not long!" Rex cried growing ever increasingly anxious.

"So let's move!" Dr Z yelled defiantly stomping his foot, "We need to head back to present day at once! No way I'm letting some overgrown side salad take down the entire human race!" he yelled determinedly, not just to save his precious grandchildren but without people no one would bow down and worship him as the dinosaur king, plus he didn't himself or his precious dinosaurs to fade away into oblivion either.

Cera, though she could figure his real intentions, still had to admit it was great he was thinking both good and about others for a change….though if not for one problem which Dr Owen soon pointed out.

"Haven't you been listening doctor!? That won't help us!" he yelled in exasperation which startled the old doctor, "Coming back here to the present won't accomplish a single thing! That is…unless you're looking to go extinct along with us!"

"Ugh!" Ursula shuddered at the thought.

"Dr Owen is correct!" said Reese seriously as she shoved him aside to speak to the others, "Only by going back to where this started can you set things straight! You must go back to the jurassic period!" Reese

"That may be true," Jonathan answered her though reluctant to tell her the catch, "But I'm afraid unless we repair the ship's time systems, we're not going to be going anywhere, jurassic period, present day or otherwise!"

"Then let's repair the systems. It shouldn't be too difficult." said Reese, not giving up knowing that there was no other way to save humanity, "After all we have all the original schematics for the ship's time travel apparatus right here at the lab. I'll send them to you." She said as she began sending the data they needed, though unaware that several vines had managed to break through the lab's walls and were slowly creeping in on their next victim!

"Very well. Standing by…." Jonathan replied as he awaited to receive.

"I'm uploading the plans as we speak, the file transfer should be complete-" Before she could finish her sentence the line was suddenly cut off again much to everyone's shock!

"HUH!?"

"Reese!" Max yelled hoping she'd respond back but unfortunately there were no second chances.

"NO! Where'd she go!?" Zander cried in despair.

"Those plants and bugs must have messed up the connection somehow." Cera thought narrowing her eyes. Without any dinosaurs there to back them up, they had no way of defending themselves against nature's hostile takeover of the planet.

They tried once more to establish contact but sadly nothing came up much to their discomfort, "D Lab's not responding!" Max cried before looking to the others seriously, "We have to make sure everyone's okay! There's no time to spare! We need to get to the present now!"

"Right! That's what I've been saying all along! So let's get going!" Dr Z then yelled in agreement.

As rash as both their ideas were it was the only way they could secure the repair data they needed, and sure it would take valuable time to achieve but their hand was now forced and only one course of action was available to them whether they liked it or not.

"Guys we're not going anywhere." said Rex with great discomfort, "Remember? The ship's time systems are still offline so we can't lock on to any time coordinates!"

"Right, and we lost contact with Reese before she could send us the schematics we needed to get the time systems working again!" Zoe added to their growing list of worries and problems, which they already had more than enough of already.

"Great, so there's nothing we can do?" Zander whined.

Cera and most of the others didn't want to give up, though in this situation it was really hard to stay positive or to think clearly on a plausible clause of action.

"Hmm….No, we can blame people! And I blame you!" Dr Z then whined childishly, which made it increasingly difficult for her to think clearly herself.

"Tch! Yeah real mature Dr Z…." she hissed bitterly, wishing he'd make up his mind on whether he'd want to anger her or make her respect him.

Though while things grew ever increasingly hopeless and downright impossible for most of the others on board, Jonathan soon managed to isolate what may have been a silver lining of hope which also carried a degree of risk, "Actually…there may be a way…" he breathed as he eyed the screen and typed away at what may be their only shot and last desperate measure.

Over hearing him, Cera looked to him, "There is Jonathan?" she asked as she went over to where he sat. As she looked at what he was doing, her eyes brightened up to see they still had a chance!

He soon isolated the signal he was looking for, "Aha! Yes it's just as I thought! There's hope!" he gasped alerting everyone as they eyed him.

Everyone attention

"Uh…you're going to share with the rest of the class or what?" Ursula asked.

"Though we did loose all communications contact with D Lab, the transmission we established with them is still secure." he answered, "By locking onto its' radio frequency we can plot a course for D Lab's time coordinates."

"Then what are we waiting for!? Lock away!" Dr Z demanded impatiently.

"Of course, if we don't achieve a precise lock then we'll all face certain doom in the temporal flux stream." Jonathan added at the end which unnerved some of them.

Cera then sighed deeply, she knew it was just too good to be sure, "There's always a catch….why can't we ever get a good break?" Looking at it, they had only one shot to get this right, a slight miscalculation or error and they'd be in certain doom. However if they did nothing they'd be running straight into oblivion anyways, be it by the time correction or by the space pirates. She wondered why the universe had to be so cruel to them after all they're doing to try and save it from destruction. Just what did it want from them?

"Say what!? Temporal flux uh huh? Well guess now I know what we're waiting for then." Dr Z then muttered having second thoughts and deciding to enjoy his last moments of life while he could still stand.

Max however thought far differently, "We're not waiting!" he yelled, this time with determination and assurance.

"Huh!?" Everyone else gasped.

"It doesn't matter what the risks are! Our friends and the entire human race are depending on us!" Max yelled out loud not wanting to hide and do nothing while letting the others suffer, plus if they were going to disappear he'd much rather them use whatever time they left trying first, "And you better believe we're not gonna let them down!" he yelled as he punched his hand into an open palm.

His words soon inspired some positive feelings in his friends as they felt their spirits fired up, "Max is right, this may be the only way we can make things right." said Rex in agreement.

"We have only one shot to get this right, mess it up and it's over." Cera said cautiously before smiling, "But we do nothing and we're doomed anyways….way I see it we've got nothing to lose so let's go for it!" She said energetically, pumping up her arm and backing the others up as they smiled happy to have her support.

"Well then? What are we waiting for?" Zoe then smiled eagerly.

"For the temporal flux thing and certain doom! I thought we covered that!" Dr Z cried and protested.

At that moment Helga came in most unexpectedly with a hard glare towards Dr Z, "I will cover you in Spaetzle and serve you with Schweinshachsen unless you man up, Doctor!" she growled menacingly as he froze in terror at the burly housemaid's threat! "To fix the past we must start in the present so we're going! Do you understand doctor?"

"Fine…." he gulped submissively in the end as Helga smiled pleased to hear his cooperation. It was clear who truly kept the Alpha gang in line on Zeta Point was.

Cera smirked, knowing they can always count on her when the time demanded it, plus she had to admire her caring nature towards Rod and Laura would always come out on top.

"I just hope the old lady's up for it!" Zoe then said to the alpha gang.

"You just had to squeeze that in didn't you?" Ursula muttered crossly.

"Yes, yes she did." Cera nodded, considering they were all such nincompoops…..

"No one asked you!" Ursula glared at her shaking a fist though Cera remained undeterred.

"Then it's settled, we're going!" Max yelled out having made the final decision with everyone on board.

"Kay…." The trio muttered seeing no other choice on it, though they themselves felt rather insecure on whether they'd make it out of this.

"Very well, then shall I initiate?" Jonathan then asked waiting for their final confirmation, for there was no turning back after this.

"Yeah, and let's hope for the best." Max answered him.

"Yes! Let's!" Dr Z shouted in full but fickle minded agreement.

"Fingers crossed…" Cera swallowed hard as she narrowed her eyes as they readied for their leap of fate.

With his interactions clear, Jonathan proceeded, "Alright, hold on everyone this might get bumpy!" he went in and pressed a button, causing the Backlander to make a very sharp U Turn before it zoomed back in the opposite direction!

It wasn't an elegant move, as the ship's alarms beeped red as everyone held tight on what would be their biggest and fastest rollercoaster ride of all! "URGH!" They all clung on to whatever they could, securing themselves so they wouldn't fly back!

Chomp however, was unable to hold fast as he flew straight into Max's face and then suddenly biting it in order to keep still!

SNAP!

"AAAAH!"

Jonathan closed his eyes, focusing for just the right moment, as soon as it came, "There!" he cried timing it just time right as he made a quick turn and shot into the portal at the side of the time tunnel! Zooming through, with immense pressure being exerted on the ship, they managed to hold on a little longer till at long last the leith shone at the end of the tunnel, "We did it! We've arrived back in present day!" Jonathan cried out in relief as they erupted out at the other end and into bright light of day over Sanjo City!

"I knew there was nothing to fear." Dr Z muttered, though on the inside his heart was racing like a galloping horse….at least things would finally quiet down a bit for them he believed.

Unfortunately he spoke far too soon, despite making it back to Sanjo City, it was no time to celebrate as everyone widened their eyes to see the unthinkable before their eyes.

"Ah…oh my…." Jonathan gasped in disbelief, what he saw outside the windows was far worse than what they first saw moments ago on screen by Reese. In the short span of time between that call and now so much of the jungle had taken over the city and it was only a matter of time before all of civilisation would be swallowed up by nature's complete and hostile takeover! Several umbrella shaped trees with outstretched branches spread out over the city lot and vines sprouted and wrapped themselves around various building lots and sprouting unusual shaped flowers. What was even more bizarre was that some plants seemed completely autonomous as one wriggled like a slug down on the street while passing by another that seemed to be a celery walking on its roots!

"No…" Zoe breathed.

"This can't be present day…" said Rex feeling devastated.

"It is…just…not the one we know…" Max muttered Max at the end as they flew over the city, the streets now barren and devoid of any human or animal life. Where people once crossed or cars rode, now vines

"It looks like some kind of mutant jungle down there…." Zoe commented.

"Or more like an alien planet…." Cera added.

"So this is how things would be if plants and insects ruled the world…" said Max looking over the urban jungle through the screens.

"No this is how things are." Zoe corrected before her eyes began to water, "And as much as it hurts to admit it's all our fault." she sniffled fearing they put people in danger all because of their stupid decision to not only call Specter but also letting Seth both on board their ship and getting away wit their cosmos stones.

Cera and Rex looked at her sympathetically, till Rex spoke up, "Never mind whose fault it is, let's just worry about fixing it." he said encouragingly.

"Right, and to do that we have to repair the ship's time systems and get back to the jurassic period!" said Max determined, since they were still alive and had time they might as well use the chance they have, "You with me?" he asked hoping for her supports.

Wiping away her tear, Zoe then mustered up whatever strength she had left in her, "Yeah…" she said ready.

"Let's get to the D Lab!" Rex then said with affirmation, "We'll fix communications then upload the schematics to repair the ship and then correct history."

"Sounds like a plan! Let's go for it!" Dr Z yelled punching his arm forward feeling pumped up himself.

Out of nowhere the ship suddenly began to rumble, as if it had crashed into a mountain out of nowhere!

RUMBLE!

"AAAAH!" Jonathan gasped in surprise as uneasiness came upon the others.

"Wh…What was that!?" Max cried.

"Trouble!" Rex yelled as a massive cloud of insects began to surround the ship in every corner and angle!

Bringing it up on screen, "We hit a swarm of giant dragonflies!" Jonathan cried. To make matters worse, it wasn't just dragonflies were present but also some large vicious wasps and eerie green cicadas, the size of dogs began to attack the ship, ramming into it or firing projectiles like detachable spines seeing it as an invader on their territory!

"More like mutant flies!" Cera widened her eyes seeing their appearance with 4 red eyes or disproportionate body shapes to be almost alien!

"EWW! I hate bugs and this doesn't make it any better!" Ursula squealed as she hugged herself feeling their itty bitty legs crawling over her precious skin.

"They've jammed the engines! We can't move!" Jonathan then yelled as he found himself unable to turn the ship, as several insects had managed to find their way into the engines from outside and began to mess up the controls inside out!

"Alright, we're gonna have to get to the D Lab on foot! Send us down!" Max yelled to him seeing no other way.

"Right! Be careful!" Jonathan nodded as he prepared to activate the teleporter to send them to the city streets.

"Meantime, the rest of us will deal with the bugs that have gotten on board!" Cera yelled to them as her friends nodded back in turn.

"Alright, we'll leave things to you then." said Max as they shone in bright light before vanishing, "Good luck!"

Cera nodded back at them as they left, "You too…." she prayed before turning around to see Dr Z rallying his team for battle.

"Okay team! It's time we put those overgrown bugs and weeds in their place and show them that man will always rule the world!" Dr Z he declared powerfully as he pointed upwards, "It's time for those pests to get pummelled!"

Despite his great and passionate speech, his men didn't seem all too keen on getting outside into the jungle where they'd be no more than morsel mouthfuls for the invading insects, "A…Are you sure Dr Z?" Ursula asked as she pointed out to the screen which showed several long vines trusting out from the street before grabbing hold of a passing by dragonfly.

"Those things are really prickly…." Ed muttered before turning pale as the vine threw the dragonfly into a nearby giant man eating plant which had a truck sized head as it chomped down on the dragonfly and chewed it up!

"And slimy and icky…." Ursula gulped as the plant licked its lips and grinned baring rows of dagger like teeth in its jaws.

The tables were soon turned as a huge 4 purple clawed scorpion snuck up from behind, cleaving the head of the carnivorous plant with its pincers from the stem causing the plant to screeched in pain, spasming as it died before the arthropod jammed in its stinger into its head and then sucking the juices out of it! "And they've got claws and stings!" Zander yelped grabbing his own neck to make sure it held in place where it belonged.

"We don't want to become plant or bug food!" They wailed out loud in protest and terror before hugging together in a bundle, much to Dr Z's disgust.

"What are you!? Ninnies!?" he growled impatiently stomping his foot on the ground, "Where we come from we stomp on bugs, heck we even eat them too in some places and they taste good too!" he growled which made the trio turn green as they held in their mouths so they wouldn't throw up their last meal.

"Ugh…." they groaned feeling sick as they forced themselves to swallow back down their lunch, as their stomachs churned and they felt nauseous.

"We've even got dinosaurs for crying out loud!" he shouted impatiently, "So get your butts off and let's go do some weed whacking and bug bashing already!" he demanded as he pointed out at the door.

"But Dr Z…this isn't the world we came from….let alone time…." Ed pointed out.

"Yeah plus those things are huge!" Zander cried out loud as he pointed at the screen which showed a mantis screeching viciously as it flared out its arm scythes, "You see the size of those claws, and those mandibles!? I'm not going out there even if you paid me!" he screamed while Ursula nodded frantically.

"I do pay you…." Dr Z muttered in disappointment. Looking back though he gulped and sweated rather nervously after taking another look at the mantis on the screen, "Though I see your point….I hate to admit it but those insects would surely give our dinosaurs a run for their money as rulers of the world…." he muttered putting a finger to his chin. Given the arthropods' history of being on earth long before humans set foot on the planet did and even outliving the dinosaurs themselves to present day he had to give them respect for that. Nevertheless he wasn't about to let those insects and plants stop him from saving his grandchildren and protect his crown as Dinosaur King, "Fine then, we'll put on bug repellent and herbicide, then we go out and do some squashing with our dinos! Happy now?" he then said.

Upon hearing his suggestion, the 3 of them perked up eager and ready for action! "Yes sir!" they answered as he smiled with satisfaction and they headed out through the doors to get fully prepped.

"Hehehe! Those bugs will never know what hit them!" Ed chuckled rubbing his hands together.

"I'll probably have to get my shoes cleaned for the next couple of weeks after this….." Ursula gulped uneasily as she lifted up her shoes for a look at them, treasuring their clean and clear appearance while she could, "But at least it'll be really satisfying to grind some pesky cockroaches under my heel!" She then grinned maliciously as she stomped on the floor and grounded her shoe into the floor.

"But those bugs are way to big to step on." Ed responded.

Ursula then narrowed her eyes at him, "It's a figure of speech you dimwit." she said bonking him on the head with her fist as he clenched it in pain.

Zander on the other hand kept to himself, but snickered and grinned seeing he had his big chance to impress or better yet win over Reese now as the doors shut behind them.

As they left the premises, Cera and the 2 androids looked on, having doubts on their chances of survival, "They're going to get munched alive aren't they?" Cera asked seeing this could only ned badly for them.

"High probability." Jonathan nodded in agreement with her statement.

"Especially since they forgot their scanners." said Helga as she pointed to their 3 alpha scanners which they left near their stations, no doubt they slipped out of their pockets when they weren't noticing, which caused Cera to smack her forehead in exasperation. She knew their chances were bad at first but now they were pretty much zero.

"Sigh guess it's up to us now Jonathan…Helga?" Cera asked them both, as she took the scanners deciding to use them to help out since no one else was going to.

"It would seem that way." Jonathan noted.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Helga asked her as they both looked to her awaiting her ideas.

She looked to them with a serious expression, "I do," she nodded, "I'll take care of the bugs outside on deck, while you deal with any that may have gotten inside." she told the housemaid before looking to the butler, "And Jonathan, see what you can do to get the ship's defences online again while we buy you time, also keep us up to date on where any bugs are coming from or gotten into."

He saluted her, "I'll make sure to keep track of everything."

She smiled seeing they were clear on their tasks as she punched to the air, "Okay team, it's extermination time!" she cried out loud as both robots cheered with her too.

"YEAH!" They yelled punching up as well.

"Be very careful up there my dear." Helga told her as she began to head for the elevator. "I've dealt with bugs before and even the smallest of them can cause the most trouble." She said shaking her head in disgust, "Oh, and in case of an emergency, use this." Reaching into he pocket she held out a can of blue aerosol spray which had a big red logo called 'BBB-Bye Bye Bugs!' listed on it along with a dead cockroach and its soul and halo leaving its body posted on the front, "My ace in the hole against the most pesky of pests! Guaranteed to eradicate any creepy crawly on contact!" she said proudly with a thumbs up before tossing it to Cera as she caught it.

Eying it she didn't find the packaging to be very pleasing to the eye but coming from the future she decided to take her word for it, "Thanks Helga….much appreciated…" She also wasn't sure if something from a vanishing future would do anything against super evolved bugs but it was better than nothing.

With that done, Helga popped her knuckles as she prepared to rally the troops for battle, "Now it's time to clean house!" she announced as she sped past Helga through the doors and down the hallway.

After that, as Jonathan worked on getting the energy shield up, Cera quickly made her way to the elevator room and entered it before taking out her cards and readying her dinoshot. Hardening her gaze and preparing herself as the elevator reached the upper deck, "Let's do this!" she shouted out with confidence as the doors opened and she rushed out! She soon stopped and froze in place to see a huge crowd of giant insects swarming all around the Backlander from all angles! There were as many bugs as the stars in the sky, and seeing them all around ready to come in at anytime and anywhere, Cera gulped realising she may have bitten off a little more than she could chew….

She then shook her head clear and hardened her expression bravely, having faced dinosaurs before this was nothing, also if they destroyed the shio they'd be going nowhere, so like it or not she was going to have to make her stand here! "Altogether now! Dino slash!" Slashing the 4 cards on her dinoshot, it caused Terry, Tank an Spiny to materialise around her and Miku on her shoulder as they all let out battle cries to the swarms, their roars echoing through the skies which made the swarms stop in place as they looked down to see their new adversaries. Cera smirked seeing their behaviour to be both a mixture of curiosity and fear, "Let's show these flying freaks where they belong on the food chain!" She yelled as the dinosaurs roared eager for battle!

In response, the swarm moved like a single entity and charged at the front! Terry first fired out blasts of fire cannon to punch holes in their formation, reducing any bugs hit on contact to ash and scattering them! Spiny came in next, glowing blue as he actitad hydro cutter, generating a blade of water before launching it at the split up swarm, splitting them in half while even slicing them in half or decapitating their heads completely as green or blue blood splurged out onto the deck! Tank swung out her tail to keep several others at bay when they got close to her. Some wasps fired out stings at her but the bounced off her armoured back like toothpicks before she retaliated with spike arrows, skewering them in a rapid fire flurry of crystal spines! As one green beetle swooped in, Miku shrieked as she launched herslef from Cera's arm, wooing out of its way then turning around to pounce from behind! Grabbing hold of its wings and wrestling it down to the ground before sinking her teeth into its neck and ripping it to pieces without mercy!

"Nice work you guys!" Cera cheered unaware that a wasp had flown behind her in the midst of all the chaos! Hearing the sound of buzzing wings and a shadow pass over her, she turned to look and widened her eyes to see the wasp dive bombing straight at her! "AH!" she gasped seeing it intended to skewer her! Responding quickly she grabbed the bug spray Helga gave her, "Eat this!" she shouted before letting loose a big fume of insecticide straight in its path! The wasp was unable to turn in time as it swooped through the cloud, inhaling a breath of the powerful toxic gas as it lost control and crashed to the ground near Cera! She eyed it with horror and disgust as it began to spasm violently before eventually dissolve in a huge puddle of purple slime which bubbled as the last of its limbs faded away inside!

She gulped down hard stopping herself from falling sick as she looked to the spray she had in her hand, "Whoa…this is really dangerous…." not to self she should never doubt anything from the future. The swarm of bugs soon began to mobilise as reinforcement from down below came in to fill the space left behind by their fallen comrades! As the second wave arrived for another attack, Cera and the dinosaurs rallied together ready to make their stand! "Alright! Who wants some!?" She yelled holding out the spray like a gun and her dinosaurs all roared together as the huge mass of insects charged at them straight ahead at all sides ready to engulf them as the dinosaurs responded back with magma blaster, falling water and spike arrows!

(Meanwhile)

Down below in one of the hallways, the battle of the century was brewing. A clash of the ages, on one end a group of futuristic and advanced robots of different sizes and shapes, the alpha droids lead by Helga, faced off armed with fly swatters, bug zappers and bug sprays, faced off against the housemaid's worst enemy, a swarm of invading insect pests! The massive infestation of dragonflies, beetles and wasps crawled along the walls, floor and ceiling before buzzing their wings with agitation. A fight between futuristic technology against millions of years of insect evolution was about to go underway!

As a small breeze blew in from the ventilation ducts, blowing away a speck of dust like a piece of tumble weed, the swarm took to the air and rushed towards the robots like a massive wave of eyes and legs!

In response Helga narrowed her eyes as she threw out her arm which held a massive bug zapping racket, "CHARGE!" she bellowed as the machine rushed towards the incoming insect invaders!

At a pair of incoming dragonflies, Helga swung out her arm and as a few sparks flew out upon contact with the zapper, she smacked the bugs into a wall where they slid down to the floor with charred faces! As she batted them away repeatedly, some droids charged ahead and tackled some bugs down, larger ones used their fists and brought them down, squishing some of the insects into shy piles, or punching them down then stomping on their heads!

Helga then whipped out a can of bug spray from her apron which she sprayed in the face of a large wasp, after digging its stinger projectiles then getting in range! As a result the wasp fell down to the ground and spasmed before dissolving into a puddle of goo! "Works every time." She said smugly with confidence after whipping the can around and blowing its tip and the fumes away, "Maybe now you'll learn better than to tread foot in my kitchen!" she pointed out at the swarm!

Her actions though spurred the insects to become even more ferocious, as a larger wave of them erupted from the back of the hallways and even broke in through the air vents, taking the droids by surprise as they were picked up and ripped apart! Others joined in and piled on some droids, overwhelming them with their numbers till causing them to overheat under their beating wings! Eventually the droids were outnumbered and outmatched by the insects' tenacity and teamwork before soon resulting as a massive pile up of sparking and twitching parts and bolts around Helga's feet. Looking up seriously the swarm rushed at her in full force as she narrowed her eyes and steam erupted from her nose like a mad bull! "Hmph! Bring it on!" She bellowed as she charged into the fray and the swarm engulfed her before a cloud of bug spray gas erupted from within!

(Meanwhile)

Back outside Tank managed to shoot one beetle out of the sky, her spike arrow piercing its wing causing it to crash down in front go her, before she brought her club down and smashed it to bits! Terry on the other hand was able to grab hold of a dragon fly before shaking it in his jaws and then slicing it in half before roaring out! Spiny swung his tail at some incoming wasps, sending them flying away like baseballs before using his huge front claws to disembowl one that was crazy enough to charge head on at him! For a while the dinosaurs were able to hold their own rather well against the insects, but no matter how much they managed to defeat it did little to slow down their ever increasing numbers as more and more came in to replace the ones slain!

"Urgh! There's just no end to these guys!" Cera cried out in frustration, as she sprayed a few more that were coming in! After those ones fell to the ground and dissolved she felt the can growing lighter, and as she shook it, she found it to be completely empty much to her annoyance, "And of all the times to run out of bug spray…." she hissed before throwing the can off the ship's edge. The insects though weren't running out of tricks, in fact they were just getting started! As suddenly a few of the green beetles began to spit out brown acid from their mouths! Miku squawked in alarm as she jumped out of the way and the goo hit a passing dragonfly instead! As a result the dragonfly became glued to the surface of the ship and unable to move no matter how much it struggled!

"YIKES!" Cera jumped back in shock as Miku climbed back onto her shoulder where it'd be safer for her. Looking up and seeing slimy saliva dripping from their mouths, she gulped down hard feeling unsure about whether she might be able to handle this new opposition. "That's new….." With that now she could see why the insects were able to survive for so long. Despite being small, they were tenacious and adaptable, clinging onto a world dominated by giants when they themselves were once rulers of the world. And even after the dinosaurs they still survived till the modern age, and with no giant animals left to dominate the land after the fire in the jurassic they were easily able to fill the roles left behind and thus grew and evolved unchecked to become the monstrosities they were now! One thing she had to give them credit for, was their resilience, something they shared with humans and that deserved some respect.

As the swarm regrouped and amassed, Terry, Tank and Spiny began to sweat and pant, gasping for air after having used up most of their energy and barely wiping out a fraction of the invasion! They hunkered down, barely able to keep themselves upright as the insects prepared to aim their ranged attacks at them for one final assault! "Tch!" Cera clicked her tongue in frustration seeing they would outlast them with sheer numbers at this rate. But upon taking a closer look, she noticed something peculiar going on with the dinosaurs, "Huh?" For the briefest of moments she saw them fading slightly and before long she saw her own body start to fade slightly as she widened her eyes realising their time was running out! "AH!" she cried as Miku hugged her close, afraid of disappearing herself and not wanting her partner to leave!

The swarm however wasn't about to let them have a moment's rest as the noise from their buzzing intensified and they were preparing to launch their final assault! Despite the odds, Terry and the others refused to back down as they stomped hard on the ground and roared out in defiance to their foes! Feeling their strength and determination to live, Cera too responded back as she took a stand, "No…not now…not while we're still here!" She yelled talking herself to keep fighting as she managed to resist the effects of the time paradox with her will alone. She then closed her eyes and took a breath to clear her thoughts, "If we're going down….We go down fighting." she said calmly before shouting out at the top of her lungs, "To the end!" She screamed as the dinosaurs roared with her, prompting the swarm of insects to charge at them as a single entity about to sweep them off the ship and into oblivion!

As Cera narrowed her eyes readying herself with the dinosaurs to face their fate, a beeping sound suddenly rang from her dinoshot!

BEEP! BEEP!

Quickly she answered it hoping it to be good news, "Jonathan?"

"Cera! I need you inside now!" He yelled urgently on the other end.

Cera blinked her eyes, "Huh? You mean you've got the defences ready?" she asked hopeful.

"Not yet but I'm getting close," he answered shaking his head, "Right now I need you to back inside! Helga's getting overwhelmed by the bugs that got in!" The screen switched to Helga being surrounded on all ends by the huge swarm of insects as she gritted her teeth in frustration, barely managing to dodge their incoming attacks from multiple angles!

"AH!" Cera gasped in alarm seeing she needed help and fast! There was only so long she'd be able to hold them off on her own.

"I've managed to seal off the vents so no more can get inside, but right now we need you to help back Helga up!" said Jonathan urging her to get back inside both to save her and for her own safety too, "Plus you don't want to be outside when I do get things set up." he said at the end.

Hearing that was more than enough reason for her to comply, "Alright Jonathan! Got it! I'm heading inside now!" She said as the elevator was brought up again! As the doors opened, she rushed inside and quickly recalled Terry, Tank and Spiny to cards which retreated into her hand! As a result the bugs missed their mark with their stings and acid which hit where the dinosaurs were at first and could only watch as Cera escaped from their sight as the elevator descended!

(Meanwhile)

"Grrgh! These things are crawling everywhere!" Helga grunted in frustration as she managed to somersault over several sting projectiles in time! Looking around she widened her eyes and gritted her teeth in anger and disgust seeing bugs, bigs and more bugs no matter where she turned to look! Flying over her, crawling on the walls, through the vents or from the floor, they were everywhere! "This is the worst infestation I have ever seen!" she then cried out loud in frustration as they began to back her against a wall and she held fast, holding out her bug zapper as she prepared to give it her final all!

Fortunately, hope was kind enough to bless her with a miracle, "You called for pest control?

"Hmm?" Looking to the side she brightened up to see Cera had arrived in the nick of time!

"One extreme extermination coming up! Ha!" She cried slashing the cards and summoning Terry, Tank and Spiny to the field as they roared out fiercely! Their combined cries disorientated the warm, allowing Helga to rush through and bat them out of the way as she regrouped with Cera and the dinosaurs! "We'll handle things here! Right now go help Jonathan!" she said to the burly housemaid.

Seeing all the other droids were reduced to spare parts and how she was running low on ammo herself, Helga didn't object to Cera's offer as she nodded firmly, "Very well, but do be careful now. Good luck!" she said saluting her before speeding off down the other end of the hall to help Jonathan initiate the ship's defences!

Cera then looked ahead as the swarm of insects inside the ship began to converge from all around the interior of the ship from the lading bay and the kitchen all the way to the time engine room till they were gathered against her and the dinosaurs, "Okay, now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice." she said to them giving them one last chance of piece. Either they didn't understand or didn't care, the bugs buzzed angrily as they rushed at her in full force! "You asked for it!" she shouted as she threw her arm forward, "Let em have it!" She cried to Terry and the others as they rushed forward! Tank charged and curled into a spike ball as she rolled ahead and bowled through or flattered several insects as they became crushed like pancakes under her weight and spikes! After that she unfurled and swung out her tail like a baseball bat or brought it down like a hammer squishing them to mush!

Spiny swung out his claws cleaving several wasps and dragonflies in the way, and then even managing to grab hold of one that got too close! Opening his jaws wide he chomped down, ripping of its head then swallowing it down before devouring the rest of it! Licking his lips he snarled ravenously as he went on a mass killing spree rushing ahead and snapping up any insects that got in his way like an all you can eat bug buffet! Terry meanwhile stomped hard, sending a shockwave which caused several craving beetles to fly into the air before ehe swung his tail and sent them flying into others as they splatted against the wall! One managed to jump onto his back and bite down, angering him as he roared and turned around, yanking it off before chomping into it!

Seeing the opposition they were met with to be more than they could handle, the flies began to back away, as they cleared the path and allowed a trio of mantises to take the next turn! "Looks like they've brought in the big guns now." said Cera narrowing her eyes before clenching her hand into a fist, "Then we'll just have to bring in the heavy artillery!" As the mantises charged forward so did the dinosaurs! Spiny was able to grab hold of 1 mantis' scythe arms before pushing it up against the wall! "Aqua whip!" Cera cried slashing the move as Spiny ensnared it in a water whip before bringing it up and slamming it hard into the ground, leaving it as a green mushy pile on the floor!

Another mantis brought down its scythe arms on Tank, but she hunkered down as the scythes ended up cracking and breaking off after making contact with her heavy armour! It screeched in pain and stumbled back, giving Tank the opportunity to slam her club into its thorax! "Quake saber!" Tank sprouted a huge crystal blade from her tail and slashed through the mantis' thick carapace with ease as it was sliced in half and blood splurged out from its other end as it fell tot he ground spasming hard!

Terry roared angrily as he charged ahead, biting onto his foes' arm while it locked his head in a vice grip with it's blades! It was able to hold him back a while, but with determination, Terry was able to swing his head and throw it off balance as it stumbled and its grip loosened around his neck as he threw it into the wall! As it crashed Terry stomped hard on it before glowing red, "Take this! Burst of flames!" Cera slashed the card as Terry roared firing a stream of flames at it! The mantis screeched in pain as it became charred to a crisp before Terry grabbed hold of its head and ripped it clean off is body! Slamming it down before crushing it underfoot and roaring in triumph! "Way to show them who the true rulers of the planet are guys!" Cera cheered as the dinosaurs all roared in celebration of their victory!

Seeing their most powerful had fallen, the rest of the insects chattered nervously before turning around and attempting to escape though Cera wasn't about to let them have their way after all the trouble they caused! "You guys aren't getting off that easily!" She shouted taking a move card out, "Time to pay for all the trouble you caused! Magma blaster!" Slashing the move card, Terry stomped his foot on the ground and fired off a massive beam of magma which swallowed the entire remainder of the swarm in flames and as it died down all that was left were charred bits of dust!

At last after a gruelling and hard fought battle, it was finally over as Cera fell to her knees in exhaustion, "That takes care of them….phew….finally…." she wheezed heavily, but then smiled seeing their ordeal had finally passed. After that she pressed a button, returning the dinosaurs to cards before summoning them in chibi form, "Great job you guys….you deserved a good rest and relaxation after all that." she said petting them on their heads as they came up to her for praise for their good efforts, which he did as they barked happily with her. With the situation down below taken care of for the time being, Cera then patched in a call to the upper deck to check on the situation there, "Hey Jonathan, I took care of those insects inside already." she said on her dinoshot as he smiled back at her on screen.

"Excellent timing, I just managed to drive off the rest of the swarm outside, plus I received the schematics from Reese and now the ship's systems are repaired." He replied, "Not only that, the communicator also seems fully functional and now we'll no longer suffer any interference from the time vortex." he added.

The news brought a big smile to Cera's face, "Great, that means not only did Max and the others manage to fix things down below, now we can go back to the past fix the trouble the space pirates caused." she said.

"I'm on my way to pick Max and the others from the D Lab," Jonathan replied before a beeping sound came from the console which took his attention from her a bit, "Oh? Seems Helga has just arrived back with Dr Z and the alpha gang. I'll bring them up too." He said as he exited the call to beam them back to safety.

"Well, let's go up there and rendezvous with the rest of the gang." said Cera to the dinosaurs as they headed for the elevator and and went back to the upper deck. Stepping through the doors and into the bridge they found Helga, smacking her hands clean as the Alpha gang breathed out deep sighs of relief after their narrow escape from the mantis she saved them from.

"Phew….I almost thought we were bug food…." Ed muttered putting a hand over his beating heart as he sweated like a stuffed pig.

"Remind me never to step on ants ever again." Zander wheezed as he collapsed down on the floor.

Helga shook her head in disappointment at their whining attitudes, but brightened up when a light shone getting their attention, revealing the D Team along with 2 unexpected guests with them, as Dr Z welcomed them with a smile, "Rod and Laura! You're safe!" he cried with joy happy to see his grandchildren face to face after being separated from them for so long.

"That's right!"

"Hey grampa!" They each said greeting him with big smiles, to them even if it was a few minutes a lot had transpired and they were glad to be with family and in familiar surroundings again.

Cera smiled happy to see them again, it had been a long while since they were on board their own home too, plus now they had their chance to go back home to their parents again. "Nice to see you guys on board," she said making herself known as they looked to her, "Makes me feel a whole lot more safe with you backing up the team now." As she said that Jonathan began to type on the consoles and send the Backlander into the time hole again.

"Hey Cera." waved Laura happy.

"Long time no see." Rod smiled as he folded his arm on his hip.

"Mhmm, same here," Cera nodded back before stepping aside, "Also here are some friends who missed you quite a lot too." As soon as she said that, Terry, Tank and Spiny came up and wagged their tails with excitement before running up and jumping at the siblings!

"AH! Terry!" Rod cheered opening his arms out and welcoming the chibi tyrannosaurus in! Easily Terry tackled down Rod before licking his face all over, "Ahaha! That tickles stop it!" he snickered as he held him off from going too far.

"Tank and Spiny too!" Laura smiled as she knelt down and hugged the 2 of them in, "Oh I really missed you!" she smiled nuzzling her face into theirs.

"Aww I always love a happy reunion." said Zoe clapping her hands together as she, the D Team and Dr Z smiled happy to see them together again.

Though the trio pouted jealously seeing their dinosaurs smothering the children with affection instead of them, "Why don't they ever do that to us?" Ed pouted.

"I take it everything went well down there?" Cera then asked as she looked over to Max and Rex.

"Things were pretty crazy…." he replied scratching his head before smiling, "But we did manage to save Reese, Dr Owen and Patrick in time before they became plant chow." It was very weird being the one on the other side of the dinner plate for a change.

"That's good to know." Cera noted.

"Tell me about it…." said Rod with a deep sigh, "I'll never look at ants or vegetables the same way ever again…."

Laura muttered, "Me too…"

"Same for us…." The A Team an Dr Z whined as they slumped to the floor relieved to have escaped being stomped on by a giant bug.

Cera frowned seeing they didn't have it any easier than she did, "Things were pretty chaotic up here too," she sad before filing her arms and smiling with confidence, "But we took care of the pest problem so we won't have to worry about any bugs bothering us for a long while." she said as the others brightened up relieved it was over with.

"Good," said Max as he turned serious, "Cos now we can finally nip this problem right in the bud." he said grasping his hand into a fist as they looked ahead to see a light at the end of the tunnel, signalling they were nearing the jurassic where this problem first began. Everyone remained focused on what they had to do, their top priority to set things right, as they shot through and returned to the prehistoric world again.

"We're here!" Ed cheered as they arrived back over the burning forest down below.

"Actually…it looks like we're…already here!" Ursula gasped pointing ahead as they saw both the Space pirate ship and another Backlander right ahead of them!

"It's us from before!" Rex stated as the past Backlander soon disappeared into a time tunnel, "See! We're just leaving!"

"And so are the space pirates thank goodness." said Max as their enemies vanished from sight.

Cera nodded in agreement, "If they saw us things would get way more complicated…." she muttered.

"Now then, let's do this!" Max then told Jonathan as he quickly responded post haste.

"Right! Putting out the fire and restoring vegetation now!" Pressing a button, the Backlander released a bright light of energy which then spread as huge waves over the prehistoric landscape, wiping out all traces of the blaze and restoring the surroundings to their original and pristine state.

"Alright! Everything looks good as new!" Zoe smiled brightly as she clapped her hands together to see the forest healthy and the prairies lush once again.

Rod and Laura then rushed out and leaned at the windows for a closer look, as their eyes glistened with excitement and amazement, "Wow, it's so cool….." Rod breathed.

"I haven't seen the prehistoric world since like…forever!" Laura cheered having saw it once and it was amazing, and even though she went on time travel once to the dinosaur world she never got tired of it, in fact who would and why should they?

Max didn't stay to enjoy the view though, for there were other important matters at hand, "Only way to make sure everything's okay." he thought out loud as Rex nodded back at him knowing what to do.

"Jonathan, patch in a call to D Lab." he instructed as the android responded obediently.

"At once master." Jonathan initiated another call to D Lab, as a screen slowly began to form with static on.

"Reese! Come in!" Max cried hoping for a response and that nothing bad happened at the lab since they left it.

To their relief Reese quickly responded and answered, "This is D lab."

"Hey Reese! How's the situation back home!?" Zoe cried as they all waited in anticipation for her answer on the situation.

She soon smiled with ease, "See for yourself." she said as she brought the live view of Sanjo City screen, all traces of the plant and insect invasion were disappearing, leaving no trace of their existence and their city untouched by nature, "The plants are all gone, things are back to normal. Mankind is safe." she said calmly as everyone erupted with joy and cheers.

"YEAH!"

"Still, remind me to be nicer to my houseplants from now on just to be safe." said Ursula calmly to Ed as he nodded back to her.

As screens lit up, they depicted the charred or bloody remains of the defeated insects inside the ship, as well as the stains on the walls and even the taste of bug from Terry and Spiny's palletes slowly begin to fade away from existence just like in the present day. While everyone smiled with delight at their victory, Cera though couldn't help but feel a little sorry for having to cut their reign short, but there was no other way to ensure the survival of mankind, plus what happened was because of an accident and was never meant to be.

"Good work all of you. Thanks to your efforts you saved humanity, we owe you much." said Reese at the end before ending her call to do a final check to see if they hadn't missed anything.

With the age of plants and bugs behind them, the gang decided to take the time to enjoy the scenery a little longer while they were at it, this time happy to see the dinosaurs weren't suffering anymore and thankfully apart from some mild burns or the shock from close brushes with a flaming demise, the dinosaurs seemed to be able to settle down once more and return to their normal business of feeding.

"WOW! How cool!" Rod gasped in awe as he looked down to see a tuojiangosaurus herd drinking from a nearby lake.

"Neato! Look at that big one over there!" Laura pointed out at a shunosaurus which was grazing at a tree on the edge of the forest. Miku even chirped out hyperactively seeing the jurassic forests again, especially when she noticed another microraptor down below too, as Cera looked on happily to see everyone enjoying themselves, especially the children.

"Oh can we go down there?" Laura then asked Dr Z as he smiled at her and her brother.

"Yeah and get a closer look?" Rod pleaded.

"Sure, you kids go and have yourselves a good time!" he replied with a big smile thinking they deserved it after what they went through.

Cera liked seeing this side of Dr Z, now convinced that there was good in him. Like the siblings she too wished they could stay and enjoy the moment, but her smile soon vanished as she recalled they still had a duty to fulfil, as Helga soon bluntly stated.

"They will do no such thing!" she bellowed starkly much to the chagrin of the kids and Dr Z.

"What!? Why not Helga!?" Rod moaned.

"Is it cos I didn't finish my lunch? 6 pounds of schnitzel is a lot…" Laura muttered.

Cera sweat dropped hearing her statement, "Who eats that much?" she wondered, also someone of Laura's age and size should never consume that much fried meat in one go.

What Helga said next came as a big shock to the others, "It's because we must go after the space pirates right away!" she bellowed which surprised some of the others that she of all people would think about their mission, she was unpredictable but no one would have expected her to say that.

Max smiled in agreement as he popped in, "Helga's absolutely right! Let's move!" he said to Jonathan.

"And 6 pounds is not too much!" Helga then added at the end going back to her usual quirky self, which made Cera's stomach churn a little when she imagined having to consume that much food in 1 sitting.

With their next course of action decided, Jonathan fired up the time drive as they shot straight into the time stream once more, this time to finish things with the Spectral Space pirates once and for all. After a few minutes of travelling through the time stream, they managed to catch up with the one who had guided them for so long since the start of this journey, "Look! The Pterosaur!" Rex called out as the massive multicoloured energy bird flew in front of where they were and glided gracefully, riding the currents of time and space itself and signing brightly.

Rod and Laura, having seen her for the first time up close, couldn't help but feel completely entrance by her beauty as they stared with mouths gaping widely in awe, "Wow…it's way prettier than I saw it on screen the other time." Laura breathed unable to describe her feelings towards this incredible moment.

"Yeah…." Rod nodded, before blinking his eyes realising something, "Wait a sec….doesn't it-" Looking to where Cera was, he eyed Miku on her shoulder and squinted his eyes to see a slight but sharp resemblance the microraptor shared to the pterosaur.

"Pterosaur! Guide to the time where the seventh cosmos stone is!" Max then called out to her, interrupting his train of thought as he looked ahead again.

Strangely though, the Pterosaur gave him no response, an that unsettled the group since she never did such a thing before.

"Pterosaur are you okay?" Zoe she asked with concern.

"No…" the Pterosaur said in a sad tone, "The closer Specter gets to collecting all 7 cosmos stones…the closer he is to destroying all of space and time…and me…." she cried before vanishing into the depths of space…..

"Just great….we saved all of mankind and already we have to worry about space and time." Ursula muttered unhappily seeing they get no sort of break or relief after all they just went through.

"And the pterosaur…" Zoe added.

"And in case no one noticed, she didn't give us any hint as to where we should start looking for that seventh cosmos stone." said Rex uneasily.

"I don't blame her though." said Cera as the others looked to her, "We came so close and then we let her down…." she then clenched her hand into a fist hard, "She's probably given up on us and hope….no wonder she sounded so sad and scared….." she hissed herself feeling regretful for letting failing her, because of their mistakes now they the balance was in danger of being disrupted forever.

Despite the odds, Max still remained determined as ever, "Then we're just going to have to find it ourselves." he said having no intention of giving up yet after all they endured, "We can't let Specter and the space pirates get to it before we do, there's too much at stake!" he shouted out, "Now then, let's get looking!"

"Any idea on where we should start?" Ed then asked.

"Well we know it's somewhere in the universe so at least we're in the right place but we probably should try to narrow it down a bit…" Zander muttered.

Cera sweat dropped at their ability to state the obvious being more staggering than ever, "More like a lot…."

Rex suddenly gained an idea that just might give them the edge they needed, "I know!" he cried getting the others' attention, "By tracing our parents with the TPS we'll be able to get the location of the space pirates!" he said as he took it out and it displayed the red blimp on the radar, "And since they're sure to be looking for the cosmos stone too, wherever they are the cosmos stone probably is!"

Everyone soon brightened up with smiles and hope, but Zoe however remained a little unsure, "You think you can do that?" she asked feeling insecure, "There's a barrier around the ship like you said plus they could be miles ahead, what if we get the wrong coordinates and end up on a wild goose chase?" she pointed out as Rex narrowed his eyes at the TPS, it was a risky gamble but it was their only shot left.

"Maybe I can help with that." Cera then spoke up having thought up a way to tip the odds in their favour a little more, "I last remembered putting in a remote link into their computer systems….." she took out her dinoshot and began to type on it, "If we can just get a strong enough connection with them I should be able to disable that jammer." A rather small wavy line appeared on her dinoshot's screen as she narrowed her eyes hard at it, "The signal's pretty weak….but should be enough…." Everyone looked to her closely as she typed away as fast as she could, going through as many firewalls and security measures she came upon, "Come on…." she sweated tensely as she neared the end till she finally succeeded in breaking through! "Alright! Jammer deactivated!" she cried with a smile as the others jumped for joy and celebrated happily!

"YEAH!"

"Woo hoo!" Even their dinosaurs barked in excitement as well.

BEEP! BEEP!

Rex smiled as the signal became stronger on the TPS, "Yes! The signal's clear now!" he cheered, "And we've got a lock on them too!"

"Hehe, they won't get away from us this time!" Dr Z grinned as he rubbed his hands eager for payback for the humiliation they suffered in the jurassic an present day because of them.

"Jonathan, where is it?" Cera asked as he brought the data from the TPS up.

"Apparently it's located in the stone age, 10000 BC." he answered having inputted the exact data into the time systems.

"Then that's where the last cosmos stone is!" said Max clenching his hand into a fist as he pointed ahead, "Full speed ahead!"

Pressing the lever, Jonathan activated the warp drive as the ship shot ahead through an incoming portal and soon out of the light and into the stone age! Already as soon as they arrived trouble was waiting for them, in the form of 3 dinosaurs, fully armoured and armed to the teeth, ploughing through a village of cavemen while their owners, the trio of space pirates, hovered right behind them as they cleared the way towards a massive active volcano!

"There they are!" Max gasped as he pointed at them on the visual screen.

"Look! They're terrorising that village of cavemen down there!" Cera gasped as the others looked on with expressions of horror or anger.

"Grr! How dare they do that to our ancestors like that!?" Dr Z growled spitefully as he clenched his fists an shook it at the screen.

"I used to see tv series of cavemen living with dinosaurs but not like this!" Ed muttered as he began biting his nails.

"Grow up Ed, you know they never lived together in the first place." Ursula muttered as she rubbed her temple in exasperation.

Rod and Laura however remained fixated on Gigas, Armatus and Maximus, seeing them to be unlike any dinosaurs they've seen before, but there was something off about them too, eerie but strangely familiar, "Those dinosaurs….They're like….really scary….even more than what we saw on the data sent to us…." said Laura feeling deeply unnerved.

"Yeah…and I thought Seth's black t-rex was bad news but these guys are coming in a very close second!" Rod breathed finding them to like monsters out of a nightmare.

"Funny you should mention that." said Cera to them upon hearing that name.

"Huh?" They blinked their eyes puzzled by what she meant as she looked to them and let out a deep sigh, knowing it'd shock them to their cores but they had to hear the inconvenient truth.

"You're not going to believe who's truly responsible for those monstrosities down there." After that she told them the whole story, about how the space pirates had dinosaurs in the first place, was all because of a man whom Rod and Laura used to trust till he turned traitor, a man they thought was gone from their lives for good but how wrong they were.

"Say what!?" They both exclaimed in disbelief and bewilderment, "Seth's behind this!?"

Cera nodded reluctantly, "Yeah, he's the one who made those 3 dinosaurs down there." she said with a hard expression looking at the screen to see Gigas, Armatus and Maximus rampaging through the village, the cavemen's weapons bouncing off them like toothpicks as they crushed houses in their path, "And he stole the cosmos stones from us too when we worked so hard to get them."

"He's the one who pointed Specter towards our parents in the first place!" Rex concluded as Max and Zoe nodded with angered looks on their faces.

Hearing their horrible story and experience made Rod and Laura burn up with rage, "That snake! I thought he was gone for good but now he's stirring up even more trouble!" Rod growled as he tensed his hands into fists.

"How horrible!" Laura shouted.

"Tell me about it…." Cera muttered in agreement.

Max then tensed up his hand, "Come on, there's no time to play blame game or catch up!" he shouted.

"Yeah, we have to go down there and stop those guys before they get that last cosmos stone!" Zoe added seeing it was now or never.

"Jonathan beam us down now!" Rex yelled to him as his butler nodded in response.

"Right away!" Pressing the button the D Team was soon enveloped in bright light.

Rod and Laura waved out to them as they vanished from the room, "Be careful everyone!"

"Good luck!" They each said while Cera narrowed their eyes and looked to the screens, depicting her friends already engaging their enemies by summoning their dinosaurs and armouring them up too.

"They're going to need it….lots of it…." she thought seriously as the battle commenced between the 6 dinosaurs!

Dr Z wasn't about to sit on the sidelines and let them have all the fun and glory, plus he had plans to get the cosmos stone while everyone was distracted, "Come on team! Let's go get prepped up so we can grab that cosmos stone!" he waved to his gang as they saluted him.

"Yes sir! Dr Z sir!" They said salting him like soldiers before running off out of the room to get themselves prepped, only to leave behind their most important devices back at their same stations as before.

"And they forgot their scanners again…" Cera muttered as she face palmed and shook her head in dismay.

"And their dinosaurs….." said Rod as she looked to the side to see Terry snuggling in with him while Laura was stroking Spiny's back and petting Tank on the head. They meant well but if only they used their heads first a little more than their hearts or their guts.

The rest of them looked to the screens and already things were looking pretty bad, despite their best efforts the D Team found themselves overwhelmed by Gigas, Armatus and Maximus as their attacks were either easily overcome or they were forced to retreat from the enemy dinosaurs' attacks instead!

Rod and Laura both gulped anxiously seeing the immense struggle their friends were going through, even they were having doubts as to whether they could handle such powerful foes themselves, "Whoa…those things are really tough…." Rod gulped.

"They're barely making a dent in them!" Laura cried in shock as she covered her mouth seeing the huge damage they were taking in turn.

Despite the odds, Rod then gritted his teeth unwilling to give up on them just yet, "But still we've got to believe in them." he grunted as Laura nodded back at him.

"You can do it guys!" They both cheered together while Terry, Tank, Miku and Spiny barked for their comrades.

The battle continued to rage, and still the odds still were stacked against the D Team, as Cera narrowed her eyes, "They're fighting bravely…..but…no way can they do this alone…." she thought deciding it was time that she went down there to help them since no one else would.

Before she could bring out her dinoshot, Laura suddenly noticed something odd as the space pirate ship suddenly appeared and something came down from it, "Hey look! Something's coming down from the space pirate ship!" she pointed out as they all looked. Appearing from the ship in a yellow energy field was a red space pirate pod, and inside piloting it was none other than the notorious leader of the space pirates himself!

"It's Specter!" Cera gasped as she finally managed to get a good…or more like horrible look at the lead pirate with her own eyes. "What's he up to now?" she and the others narrowed their eyes uneasily.

If he's planning on joining the battle himself now, she could only imagine things could only get worse, though no situation she could think of would be far worse then what Specter called to the field, a massive sauropod soon materialised and landed with a thundering crash on the battlefield! It was enormous, towering over the D Team's group and encased in heavy purple armour which covered its whole back! Raising up on its hind legs it bellowed a thunderous roar which shook the land as the D Team's dinosaurs felt overwhelmed by its presence alone!

"AAAAH!?"

"It's huge!" Rod and Laura exclaimed stepping back while the Alpha gang dinosaurs looked up and widened their eyes, squawking nervously, fearing their own chances if they had to fight such a foe!

"An….apatosaurus….." Cera breathed, as Miku widened her eyes too, her heart skipping a beat as an old memory lashed through their minds. The huge sauropod's armour activating, as it developed 2 tall appendages with 6 coloured stones in them which combined energy into the center of its armour before firing a huge beam which levelled an entire city to dust as it then roared out in triumph with its eyes glowing dark purple! Recalling that memory of what the behemoth was capable of, she knew they needed help more than ever! "Tch! We need to help them now!" Cera hissed as she turned around to run to the loading bay, as Terry and the others notice her leave and begin to run after her!

"Huh?" Rod noticed their dinosaurs leaving with her as he and Laura looked to see them leave.

"H…Hey Cera what's going on!? Where you going!?" Laura cried to her as they ran after her through the hallways before they reached the open space loading bay.

"They have no idea what they're up against! Plus it's 4 against 3, they need help!" she answered them as they made a stop in the middle of the room, "Rod! Laura! We need to summon Terry and the others to full size now!" she then said seriously.

"O…Okay!" Laura nodded deciding to take her word for it.

"I don't know what you're thinking but here goes!" Rod questioned as they returned their 3 dinosaurs to cards and prepared to summon them.

"Alpha slash!"

"Dino slash!" The 3 of them summoned out Terry, Spiny and Tank to full size before preparing to equip them for battle!

"Element booster! Dino tector on!" All 3 of them glowed and gained their armoured forms before roaring at full strength!

After that was done, Cera took out a computer chip like device from her pocket, "Okay, just one last little tweak…." she said to herself as she inserted it inside, and her dinoshot glowed having completed the update! "There! Good to go!"

"Aw yeah! Time to kick some pirate hiney!" Rod and Laura both cheered punching their hands to the sky ready for action…..till Cera told them otherwise.

"No guys, it's way too dangerous for you both. You're staying here." she said as they widened their eyes in shock.

"Say what!?" They gasped before retorting in defiance.

"No way!"

"We want to help too!"

Cera shook her head, "Forget it, you don't know these pirates like we do." she said with disgust, "They're the worst of the worst, doing anything to achieve their dastardly goals and they won't hesitate to play dirty with every trick in the book or out of it. I can't let you guys get caught up in that." She said advising they stay here where it'd be safe.

"Then why'd you have us help you summon Terry, Tank and Spiny to full size then!?" Rod then demanded, "We've watched from the sidelines long enough, no way we're sitting this one out let you guys be the ones risking your lives out there!" he yelled shaking a fist at her in anger, thinking she may have just used them.

"Yeah, you also know we're just as good as you are handling dinosaurs!" Laura protested, "Besides you can't control them all at once, we summoned them with separate controllers!"

"That's why I just added this new function to my dinoshot." she said holding up her device, "With this I'll be able to command dinosaurs from other controllers that it recognises, which includes the D Team's dino bracers and the alpha scanners." she explained before lowering her head sadly to them, "We can't take any chances here…..We've got too much at stake and we've lost far too much too….we can't afford anymore mistakes or casualties…..I'm sorry you guys….we risked our own lives over and over many times….and I don't want to risk yours too." She said with a pained regretful tone, "Plus Dr Z wouldn't let me hear the end of it if he found out I put you in danger." She knew he cared about them too much and she was doing this out of respect for him as a grandfather.

"But Cera we-" Before Rod could protest any further, Laura, having been moved by her words and seeing no more time left, she held her arm out an stopped him to his surprise.

Before he could say something, she shot him a glare before looking to Cera with a nod, "Go then….but please be careful." she pleaded as Cera nodded back to her with a light smile and assurance.

"I promise." she replied as Rod looked away, folded his arms and clicked his tongue in frustration.

"Tch! Fine…." He hissed before looking up to Terry and the other dinosaurs, "Terry, make sure you and the others protect her okay?" He then punched his arm out, "And kick those pirates' butts back into space! Or you can forget about treats for the next week!"

In response the 3 of them roared out fiercely as Cera smirked and nodded in approval of their attitude, "Heh looks like I've got their full support." she thought feeling much safer with them by her side. Pressing a button on her dinoshot, a bright light erupted around her and the 3 huge dinosaurs as they prepared to enter the battlefield. "Wish me luck, and don't worry I promise we'll all be back safe and soon." She said to Rod and Laura before they vanished from sight.

"Take care….." said Rod looking anxious as a drop of sweat fell from his forehead, till Laura tugged at his arm.

"She'll be fine….they all will….I hope…." she said as she put a hand to her chest closely before they returned to the upper deck to see how things would go, hopefully for the better.

Hope you enjoyed the good bug squashing here with Cera and the Dinosaurs, stay tuned as the fight for the final cosmos stone draws near!

On the topic of Ed's theory-not sure how else to explain it but we could say that Gigas' armoured fire move had enhanced properties that spread across the planet wiping out all life or making it nearly inhospitable for large life to be sustained except for the small like insects and plants.

Some of the fight scenes I got from transformers fall of cybertron when you use the dinobots against the insecticons.

In response to reviews:

Drew Luczynski

-It won't be the last deep conversation they'll have. Also Cera keyed in the controller to reset the dinosaur's behaviour to normal and erase any abnormalities in it, including the armour attachments as well. And I had a feeling you meant Seth as well in your review too.