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!

54. Friends to the end

Chapter 54

Friends to the end

In the middle of a sparsely populated village, where houses appeared like metallic huts in the shape of igloos with wooden poles at their doors, along with open air eateries and in an asian style setting in the middle of a rather flat plain, a portal soon opened ip and appearing from it was Max and Rex in their mesozoic mobiles, with Chomp and Ace who had their faces pressed against the windows closest to them in excitement as they barked energetically to see what was outside.

"Here we are Rex." said Max as he began to look around to see it was rather barren and almost empty like a ghost town, as greyish clouds covered across the skies giving off a most gloomy feel to the surrounding area.

"So this is Gobi Village….the Resistance's Asia base." Rex narrowed his eyes feeling a bit unsettled, they were expecting to be greeted by the townsfolk for coming to save them from their plight, but not even a trooper or so much as a pet dog came to meet them upon their arrival, so it was clear something wasn't right. Chomp and Ace picked up on that feeling too, as they became rather unnerved and restless as they tried to pinpoint where it was coming from.

After driving in a little further to the center, Max caught sight of a large pitched up tent (with a cross on it giving away its purpose as a medical bay) with a few small dinosaurs like zuniceratops or piatnyzkysaurus just waiting outside appearing restless for some reason. He widened his eyes as he saw a gallimimus push in what looked like a sick child dressed in traditional clothing and a bamboo hat on a stretcher inside! Curious he drove ahead to right in front to see as Rex followed, the both of them widened their eyes in horror to see not just villagers, but even a handful of troopers lying down amongst the many beds in the medical bay, all of them looked almost lifeless as they lay so peacefully on the beds and stretchers inside with only a small handful of doctors, wearing gas masks for some reason, looking after them!

"AH! What's happened here!?" He gasped while Rex widened his eyes in sheer shock to see what looked like an epidemic of some sort and it seemed to have infected nearly the entire village! No wonder the dinosaurs appeared rather anxious or restless, for innocents as well as their partners to be sick and bed ridden like that no doubt was worrying them deeply.

"I don't know but we'd better get down and see." Rex then said back to Max who nodded.

"Yeah, let's-"

Before they could open their doors, "No! Stay inside! Don't get out! Keep your windows shut too!" a voice and familiar face shouted from their communicator screen inside their mesozoic mobiles!

"Huh!?" Looking up ahead they saw a yellow heavy hauler truck come in towards them from behind one of the large tents. As they looked at it in front of them and then at the computer screen they saw who it was.

"C…Captain Raina?"

"What's going on here?" They both asked her in surprise before they looked to the medical bay with all its' sick inside, "Why's everyone all lying down in bed like that?"

"Is everyone sick or just tired?" Max then asked before deciding to crack a joke hoping to lighten the mood a little, "Did they like stay up way too late and overwork themselves?"

Raina shook her head with regret, "It's worse than that," she said heavily wishing it was that simple or that was the case. Swallowing rather hard she soon began to get to the really hard part, "Apparently…the entire village has contracted a kind of sleeping sickness and they won't wake up!" she then cried as Max and Rex widened their eyes and gasped.

"A sleeping sickness!?" They exclaimed in disbelief, it may have sounded silly at first but to see it with their own eyes as they did made it way more serious than it first sounded.

"Yes, apparently it's something in the air." she explained to them rather seriously, "I observed it myself, the moment I arrived here to aid Gobi Village in retaking Darkwood Forest's dig site from the shadow empire." She said recalling how she arrived to help supervise and mobilise resources and personnel together before they would then launch an attack against the enemy outpost at their Asian dig site, "But then….one by one….the villagers soon began to fall into a sleep with no plausible explanation." She then said feeling disheartened as she recalled how some of the villagers began to have much slower and sluggish reactions and movements, followed by drowsiness and constant yawning before finally they began to collapse into a comatose like sleep! It wasn't just them but also many of her own staff too and it wasn't before long before even she began to feel the effects of the sickness herself!

Fortunately for emergency situations like this she had some gas masks on standby which she used to quickly save herself and the few that remained, and thankfully the mesozoic mobile air conditioning systems had been equipped with special air filters to be used when travelling through hostile or toxic environments, and they proved to be a very useful feature in this dire scenario. "After taking blood samples from the victims who were unfortunate enough to fall prey to this illness, along with taking samples of the air itself, I concluded that there are toxins in the air." She then said as she sent Max and Rex some data and simulations on what would happen should the toxins come into contact with human blood, "Once inhaled and absorbed into the human bloodstream, they stimulate the brain's gland that induce sleep, in fact, cause it to produce so much…'sleepiness' hormone, that it renders anyone into a near comatose like sleep." She explained turing to use small words so the kids could catch on, but the way she did so made them realise the situation to be far more grim than they believed since they could understand every single word she said as they felt rather unnerved themselves too, feeling grateful that they were safe inside and hadn't opened the doors otherwise they'd be sleeping too.

Raina then sighed heavily as she looked to the side as one of her staff brought in defibrillators and began to shock some of the sleeping patients with mild currents but to no avail as they only served to make the bodies bounce and no more, "And we've tried many ways to wake them, from splashing them with water, loud noise or even pain stimulation…." she then shook her head feeling pity for them and disappointed in herself for being unable to awaken them, "But sadly none of them worked or yielded any promising results."

After hearing her words both Max and Rex had mixed reactions come over them as they reflected on her words.

"Freaky…." Max shuddered, feeling greatly unnerved at the situation seeing it almost comparable to death.

"Yeah…." Rex sighed feeling more sympathy for the people who were trapped in sleep unable to awaken and how much it worried their friends and loved ones. Hearing some growls ahead he saw a trio of dinosaurs (Gallimimus, dromicieomimus and struthiomimus) run off past them and a zuniceratops walk by, "Though the dinosaurs seem alright to me." He then noted curiously.

"How very observant," Raina then smiled before eying the dinosaurs too with them, "For some reason only people are affected and the dinosaurs still remain vigorous and active as they usually are."

"Thats good to know." Max then sighed with relief, seeing now that Chomp and Ace won't have to worry about going to sleep themselves, and at the same time the village wouldn't be so defenceless either.

Raina's momentary smile however soon passed, "But without their partners they are growing increasingly restless. Plus with fewer personnel on standby the village is now heavily vulnerable to any kind of surprise attack." she then said with concern on her mind.

"That really doesn't sound good at all…." Rex commented understanding her fears.

"Yeah no kidding…." Max agreed, "I mean I like sleeping in a lot too especially on the weekends, but to be using sleep as a weapon against us, it's just diabolical! Now who knows how much on life you'll be missing out on!" He then cried cracking a light joke too, he also heard of the story of sleeping beauty but this was just madness, he'd also feel sorry if they had to be kissed by their dinosaurs to be awakened.

"It's more serious than that Max," Rex sighed as he face palmed at his inappropriate joke, "If you sleep and never wake up isn't it pretty much the same as dying? Think about how much those people may be suffering unable to wake up and how worried their friends, family and dinosaurs will be too….lying helpless and bedridden like that…." he then scowled at him in disappointment.

"Y….Yeah I know…." Max croaked, "But at least they're still alive at least and people do fall into comas and eventually wake up from them too! That's a bright side to it all right?" He then asked hoping to lighten the mood and not leave it as dark and bitter as it was now.

"That's only if we can find the source of what's causing all this," Rex then pointed out as he tried to focus on the reality of the situation and not delude himself with false hope, "Unless we deal with it we'd only be wasting time and energy."

"Which is why, I took the liberty of determining where that is." Raina then proudly stated which made the boys blink at her in surprise.

"Huh?"

"You have Raina?" They asked her in surprise.

"Indeed." she nodded as she brought up another data screen depicting a map of the surroundings with wind directions and where they originated from, as well as the pollutant particles being blown along them, "From what I've determined the toxins in the air which caused this illness to occur, was carried in by winds blowing in from the Darkwood Forest dig site just beyond the horizon." She explained as the map traced away to a nearby dense forested area several miles away from their current location, "If we can find it, maybe we can develop some kind of antidote or remedy for this illness, and if not, shut it down and then contain it, keep it from spreading." she stated.

"Sounds like a plan." Rex then nodded with Max with determination.

"Then what are we waiting for!? Let's go already!" Max then cried feeling angsty and restless, "These people are counting on us to wake them up and we're not going to let them down!" He shouted out loud.

"Don't let emotion cloud your sense of caution." A stern voice suddenly shot out at them out from a black screen on the communicator which surprised them!

"Huh!?" Even Raina was surprised as a cloud of wind and swirling leaves appeared in the middle of them!

"Whoa!"

"What the!?" They widened their eyes and backed away, as a black turf shredder mobile appeared before them in the wind vortex all a sudden! As they stared with widened eyes in disbelief at what they witnessed the screen soon lit up with Kaze's face on it. The sight of him again made Rex grit his teeth as he was put back in a bad mood upon recalling his first experience at the wind station the other day.

"It's been a while kid, didn't think you had the bearings to come out here to the real battlefield." he said towards Rex almost tauntingly and with disapproval, who kept a hard gaze at him while Ace hissed aggressively, sensing some very nasty vibes from him.

"….."

Max sweated feeling intimidated by Kaze's appearance and demeanour, as so did Chomp, as they uneasily looked towards his friend on the other video screen, "Rex…is this guy-"

Rex nodded at him through the monitor screen, "Yeah, he's Kaze, the captain of wind that I told you about." he answered.

"Hmph! Say what you want about me, I'm merely a realist and have no intention of deluding myself with childish beliefs like either of you." Kaze scoffed in disapproval which earned him a couple of hard scowls from both kids at his rudeness and insults, though he paid them no mind as he felt himself to be in the right as he looked around to show them what they were dealing with, "As you can see this situation is as serious as it gets, playtime is over, you're in war territory now and the first mistake can be your last." He said motioning off to the many sick in the medical bay and the unnerved and agitated dinosaurs about the premises before shooting them a vicious glare which made their hearts skip a beat, "Don't expect 'friendship' and honour to carry you through, there are many who'll play underhanded just to win, so unless you keep a sharp eye out you'll both be doomed before you can even move."

"…." Rex said nothing back, what he spoke of was nothing more than pure refined truth, though he couldn't stand nor accept the way he was giving it. But as much as he wanted to defend himself and Max he couldn't find the words to do so, as he'd only give Kaze more reasons to belittle him for being an immature child who knew nothing of what they experienced on the frontlines….

"Wow isn't he a bottle of sunshine….." Max whispered to him though in disapproval, making it obvious to the wind captain on only rolled his eyes.

"Now now Kaze, it wouldn't be productive to undermine the boys," Raina then spoke out in a calm manner, "After all they came all this way to help us both investigate the cause of this epidemic and so it wouldn't be right to put them down for having good intentions." She said in a way which made the boys feel more at ease that they were more appreciated, though Kaze didn't seem to agree with her.

"Hmph!" He then scoffed, and the boys could clearly see the polar opposite behaviours between the 2 captains, one being a futuristic and bubbly positive girl with moving forward while the other was more stuck in the past and in traditional methods of working…..ironically it was somewhat similar to how Max was courageous but also reckless, while Rex was more level headed but sometimes not as confident.

The 2 of them could though agree that Kaze had to back up his words as they demanded it straight from him, "You said you could help us out?"

"Let's have it then." They then spoke out at him.

"Very well, as you wish." he scoffed in response, "He should be arriving about now…." He replied which made the boys raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"He?" As soon as Max asked, a ninja suddenly appeared in the middle of them before Kaze in a flash which made the boys and their dinosaurs jump in surprise!

"Whoa! Where'd he come from!?" Rex gasped as his heart skipped a beat as Ace fell silent in shock and bewilderment.

"Don't know," Max blinked still recovering from the shock, "But it's pretty cool we have ninjas on our side instead of against us like back in Ancient Japan." he then said with a grin while Chomp only barked out in awe.

As the ninja presented himself before his captain, "You've finished preparing them?" Kaze asked him as his subordinate took a bow.

"Yes we have master," he answered as he held out what appeared to be a wooden tree charm in the shape of a dinosaur's footprint while tied around with a lace, "We harvested enough wood from the nearby Wanderwood forest to prepare these special charms." He explained calmly, "The trees there help clean the air, therefore these will prove to be far more effective in providing protection than gas masks when entering the far more concentrated area in dark wood forest."

"Excellent work." Kaze smirked under his face cloth knowing they'd be perfectly equipped for their mission now and had nothing to fear.

"We've already provided the rest of our foot soldiers with said protection," the ninja responded as he walked over to the side window where Kaze was as he quickly handed it over to his master who swiped it and wore it in less than a second, "Now we shall await your arrival in Darkwood forest while you and your team get fully prepared. It is a most treacherous route indeed so be most careful." he then said blowing with respect once more.

"Understood, we shall be there momentarily." Kaze nodded in acknowledgement as the ninja trooper vanished from sight yet again.

As that happened, the others all stared in surprise and amazement at what they saw, "Wow, that was actually pretty cool." Rex breathed, he may have saw ninjas before in Ancient Japan but to see it up close again was always a sight to behold.

"Yeah…." Max nodded with him in agreement.

"Oh how I always wondered how they managed to pull off that kind of skill." Raina mumbled to herself as she pouted in disappointment. No matter how many recordings she analysed she couldn't see it clearly even when she slowed the recordings to their maximum, wanting to prove the science and logic behind it all and refusing to believe ninjutsu as magic and sorcery.

Right after that Kaze swiftly vanished from his mobile and then appeared in between Max and Rex's vehicles much to their surprise before handing them each a charm, "Keep that around your neck at all times," he said tossing it to them inside as they held in their breath and opened the windows to take the charms in, "Unless you want to be put into a sleep deeper than the one sleeping beauty fell into." he said at the end rather grimly as he handed Captain Raina one next then appeared right back inside his own transport.

The way he said so made them both sweat tensely with one anxiety too, "Will keep that in mind."

"You don't have to tell me twice." They nodded, not wanting to be put to sleep out in enemy territory where they'd be sitting ducks for any hungry predators too.

As soon as they put on their charms, Kaze then spoke out impatiently, "Alright, now that we're all ready to go. The time for us to strike has come." he grunted to wanting to waste a second longer, as his blade was itching to cut into something and his hand had urges to grab hold of said blades to do it.

"But wait," Rex then said much to his annoyance, "We can't just leave all these people asleep and all alone like that, and their dinosaurs running around all restless and agitated too." He said feeling cornered for the village's wellbeing, with them all vulnerable like that and unable to control their dinosaurs they'd be easy targets or worse their own dinosaurs may go out of control and wreck the place with no one to watch over them.

Once more though Raina then smirked already having anticipated this scenario, "Don't worry about that you guys I've got that part covered." she giggled with a bright smile which surprised the boys once more.

"Huh?"

"You do?" They asked as Kaze raised an eyebrow feeling he should at least see what she had to offer in terms of defences.

She then nodded at them all proudly, "I took the liberty of installing several new defences all around the perimeter of the village." Snapping her fingers, their screens switched to view the outside perimeter of the village which was situated high above a tall hill for defence, at the far base were sensors to detect movement and the slightest detection of large enemy movement would set off alarms to warn any securities on vigilant or alert. There are also fossil cannon turrets, programmed to lock only on spectral pirate signatures, landed with ammo consisting of hard amber to fire out hard rocks at any approaching enemies within a long range and they also had a wide range of movement and mobility too.

Further in were also electrical fences with barbed wire which would be more than enough to deter foes foolish enough to make contact with them, followed with Alpha tie bombs laying in wait under the ground on the path leading up to the village. On top of that, various machines like poison machines or gravity generators were hidden amongst boulders or in nearby shaded outcrops to be used to hinder the enemies or disorient them, as well as neutralise their attacks too. Should they manage to get through these defences, the last line of protection lay in the remaining troopers on standby as they were already heading outside from their camps and getting their dinoshots out. Needless to say it was a rather well fortified defence in the end.

"I can proudly say that the people in this village have nothing to worry about." Raina then boasted with pride and confidence at the hard work she put into organising this near impenetrable formation and how she took so many possibilities into consideration too.

"Whoa now that's fortified…" Max whistled in admiration while Chomp shuddered nervously and backed away into his seat feeling terrified if he were to have to brave all that, even as an adult or for food he'd never get within a mile of that village now.

"I doubt any of of our dinos could get within 3 feet of the village now…" Rex commented impressed himself with Ace, it made it seem almost like a fortress with all this security but in this situation one couldn't afford to be too careful.

"In fact I feel so confident in our newly installed defences, I believe it should be safe for me to join you on your little expedition!" Raina then proudly stated which further surprised the 3 males present.

"Really!?"

"You're coming too!?"

"Great….just what we needed…." Kaze rolled eyes sighing in annoyance, finding her sunny childish personality to be unbearable, he'd much rather wade into the battlefield unarmed than put up with her a second longer.

The D team however had a different concern in mind, "You sure you'll be fine?" Rex asked Raina feeling rather unsure as he eyed her closely, "I mean no offence you are a captain but still you….don't seem like the fighting type." he said trying to sound as polite as he could.

"Yeah what Rex said." Max added, feeling unsure, though Raina was a captain he considered her to be more of the eggheaded bookworm type than someone who'd be on the frontlines in the battlefield.

She however understood full well the risks of battling and felt touched by their concern, but nevertheless she was determined to prove to them just how well adept at combat she actually was deep down, "I may be a scientist but I'm more than equipped to conduct work in the field when I need to." she said to them with assurance, "Plus, I believe that with me on board your chances of success are now significantly higher than just the 3 of you." She added at the end which helped Max and Rex both feel a little more reassured than they were a few minutes ago.

"Heh, you know I actually feel a littler safer now that we have another captain tagging along." Max then chuckled feeling more at ease.

"Yeah, plus…." Rex then turned an eye towards Kaze who kept his hard scowl at him, "It oughta keep things a little less tense too." he thought deep down.

Kaze saw she had made her decision, and not because he wanted to respect her wishes he didn't see any logic in wasting time protesting against it, "Suit yourself, don't hold me responsible if anything happens." he then shrugged before getting serious again, "Now if you 3 are done chatting, it's time we get a move on. Time is wasting and of the essence." He said as he turned around his vehicle and sped out of the gates of the village and down the hills towards the forest further ahead in the distance, leaving behind the others in his dust.

"Man is he a grouch, what's his problem?" Max grumbled in annoyance seeing he was treating them like deadweight and they were all supposed to be in on the same team.

Rex too scowled hard seeing that even in their time of need Kaze didn't seem to be cooperative with them, in fact despite all this he was more fixated on revenge….not that he could blame him though.

"Kaze has lived experienced plenty of struggles and hardship in life," Raina then explained to Max hoping to help him understand the wind captain's side of things a little better, "Plus the shadow empire put him through a lot as well." she said sounding rather solemn as she shook her head and looked away from the communication screen, "Things I'd….rather not say…." she choked at the end.

"Oh…." Was all Max could say as he was starting to feel sorry for him now, feeling regret for not understanding, if he went through what the ninja did he might actually turn out the same too….

"….." Rex remained silent unable to say anything, he knew that despite what Kaze went through it didn't mean he had to push others away or belittle them. Even if he had a bad experience his methods of ensuring others didn't suffer like he did were far from being right.

"I understand if he can get off on the wrong foot, even if he has his reasons, but I sincerely hope you don't hold it against him." Raina then asked Max hoping he'd still give him a chance. In fact deep down she knew that Ma and Rex would not only give rise to their future as it is now, but maybe make a better one for them now in the present and therefore forge a mightier future for them all in the end. TO help shine the light through haze's heart which was shrouded in dark must and hopefully be the light to help him find his way again. Like how science paved the way for humanity she believed that there was still hope for them all especially Kaze and others who suffered, to find the oath towards a better tomorrow with the D Team now aiding them.

Looking to one another, feeling moved by Raina's words, Max and Rex sighed heavily deciding to trust her and give Kaze the benefit of the doubt for now. After that with a firm expression, "Let's just go." Rex then said firmly, deciding not to dwell on what harsh words he was told my the cold wind captain as they drove out through the gates and headed for the forest where the source of the illness was originating from. As they did, the rest of Raina's troops began typing into their computers as they began to arm the defences around the perimeter of the village as well as summon forth whatever dinosaurs they had on them and turning them to their awakened forms (Which included torosaurus or brachyceratops) along with those that have gone through the alpha process like chasmosaurus or einiosaurus, as they began to patrol the outside of the village remaining on high alert.

(Later)

After travelling across the hills pass lakes and old farmland now deserted, the group soon arrived at a very dense and thick grove of trees, their trunks coloured almost as dark as charcoal, and surrounding it was a veil of light mist floating right above it. As they stopped right at the entrance which was a single pathway with a game trail just leading inside, "Here we are gang, Darkwood forest." she said knowing they've reached their destination and where the enemy was lurking within.

"Whoa, now that place looks really spooky." Max gulped down hard as he pulled at the collar of his shirt to let in some air, as he felt rather pressured and constrained to see the source of the poison was hidden deep inside that dark forest where anything could come out and surprise them when they least expect it.

"The name dark wood sure is all too appropriate." Rex added feeling the same as he did, also for the fact that the trees themselves were rather dark in colour too.

Raina then loaded the data schematics on her screen which pinpointed the wind blowing from the forest with the concentration levels far higher further inside, "According to these readings, the source of the contamination lies at the heart of this forest." she said.

Kaze meanwhile narrowed his eyes, seeing that the entire perimeter of the forest had trees that were densely packed together, "Hmm….it's way too dense for us to continue with the mesozoic mobiles." he noted seeing there weren't any game trails or openings large enough for them to go in through, meaning only one option was open to them. Disgruntled he opened up his door much to the surprise of the others as he hopped outside and looked to them, "We'll have to continue on foot, no way around it, now come on." He said to them which shocked Max and Rex thinking he was crazy if they were to set foot in somewhere so potentially dangerous.

"Ugh…how primitive and inefficient." Raina sighed in annoyance as she got out of her truck with heavy reluctance, "Although there is no denying that some circumstances require hands on approaches and are unavoidable and I suppose this counts for one of them." She said at the end.

Soon Max and Rex were beginning to see the truth behind their words, if they tried to go around or go in like they were now they'd probably get stuck or waste more time too. "Yeah, no other way around it…." Rex grunted as he opened the door of his rig and get out, with Ace hopping behind him, "I don't like this either but we've got no other choice."

"Man I really hate it when we get into situations like this…." Max sighed as he slammed his head at the back of his seat in annoyance and then banging it at the steering wheel in frustration, before finally hopping out of his car after coming to the painful conclusion that no matter how hard he protested there was no helping it. Chomp too felt rather anxious at having to head inside that dark forest but began to muster up his courage and growl in agitation in order to support Max.

"That's how life is sometimes," said Kaze in response as he shrugged his shoulders, "Be sure to keep that in mind, because you'll face many more like this and no matter how hard you try to fight it there's only one way forward." He said to them sternly before turning his back to them, "Unless you toughen yourself before then, then your journey would be at its end." With that he leapt into the tree tops and then disappearing into the darkness taking a head start from the others and leaving them behind again much to their discomfort.

"….." Max and Rex said nothing, as much as they still were bitter and raw towards him they could see that he was right and that in war there was no doubt they'd encounter moments such as this without a doubt, they knew this would happen the mount they signed up for this mission and it was time they saw it through. Also, the mission took priority over their own personal squabbles now, as many people, both Gobi Village and the resistance was counting on them as they spoke. With no more time to waste they headed in along the game trail as they made their way into the dark depths of the forest ready for whatever was awaiting them.

As they trekked through the paths riddled with bushes, tree roots and unevener terrain, Raina kept her gaze fixed on her detection device shaped almost like a cross between a compass and a hand held computer, following the direction the wind blew while carrying the toxic gas. It was fortunate they had the tree charms on their necks otherwise they'd be taking a literal dirt nap and be easy pickings for any enemy just waiting for them to fall asleep. While it proceeded smoothly at first the device soon lead them off the path and into some dense undergrowth, as they uncomfortably pushed and shoved against the many dense foliage around them, which proved to be more challenging that they anticipated.

"Man this jungle is really dense…." Rex grunted in annoyance as he kicked out at some roots which caught his leg while Ace had to tear them apart with his teeth so he could proceed better.

"And I can barely see a thing…." Max muttered grumpily squinting his eyes trying to get a good view of his surroundings, as he found there being such dim lighting through the trees as well as mist travelling through the forest itself.

"Watch your step," Raina then warned him with caution in her voice, "There's no telling what may be lurking around in these bushes, keep close together so you don't get lost."

Max and Rex nodded in agreement with her seeing this was a bad time to get careless….something Chomp didn't quite heed as he sniffed at a nearby use and began to nibble at it. Noticing him before he walked too far, Max ran back and grabbed hold of him, "Hey Chomp! This isn't lunch time! We're on a mission here!" he grunted in annoyance as he pulled him away from his snack much to the trike's annoyance.

Ace wasn't any better though, as he sniffed out something most intriguing in the bushes and deciding to stick his head in them to find some brightly coloured red and white spotted mushrooms. He was tempted to eat one of them, its bright coloration enticing him, till Rex grabbed him from behind and held him up, "No Ace, no running off. There's no telling what's hiding out here, be careful." he scolded the carnotaurus who let out a sad sigh in response.

"Aha, an opportunity to study new ways of dinosaurs interacting with humans! This I can't pass up!" Raina suddenly said seeing an opportunity to study and learn something new as she quickly took out her notebooks and began to record what was happening with the boys and their partner dinosaurs.

Kaze annoyed with them-he up above and they slow him down below

Right above them, watching them careful while hidden amongst the tree tops, Kaze rilled his eyes in annoyance knowing he could've been at the source of the contamination long ago….but deep down he knew that he'd be disgracing his own honour if he abandoned them like that so he held back to keep a close watch on them to make sure nothing bad would happen….a decision he was feeling conflicted on choosing for they were beginning to test his patience by slowing him down. He was about to consider ditching them and go on his own….when a certain breeze blew past him, carrying both a certain unnerving sound and a sinister scent in it, which made him grow tense and harden his gaze, something was stirring and approaching.

"Wait!" He then shouted out on instinct, his voice caching the others by surprise.

"Huh?" They looked up to see Kaze who was perched on a tree branch as he then leapt down and landed on the ground rather smoothly without even making a sound.

"What's up Kaze?" Kaze then asked him, he was about to ask him where he had gone or if he found anything, when the ninja suddenly held out a hand to him.

"Stay where you are!" he said hard which made Rex's heart skip a beat as he stopped and dropped Ace to the ground, "Be quiet…..don't move…." he said shooting him a hard glare as he looked around to survey the area, his hand reaching for his katana. "This change in the wind's rhythm…..the air itself." He then said before the others could ask him what was going on.

"Wind's rhythm?" Max asked raising an eyebrow questioningly, "The air? What are you-"

"Ssh!" He then hushed silencing them with a glare as they yelped in shock!

"Ah!" Now things were beginning to tense for them…the atmosphere grew heavy and unsettling, as they stopped to listen more closely, they began to sense that they weren't alone…something was watching them….but from where they could not tell, and that worried them. Seeing Kaze all agitated and how their dinosaurs were also on high alert made the D Team and Raina rather anxious too, they were tempted to try and run but were held firmly to the ground out of fear that acting suddenly would spur some kind of attack which may be lying in wait for them. The tension and pressure in the air was peaking as the group couldn't find a chance to move and it felt like they were being cornered and trapped even though they couldn't see or sense anything else other than what they could perceive with their own eyes.

Sensing something nearby, Kaze then grabbed hold of his katana and said to the group, "Run."

Max blinked his eyes, "What?" Before they could question him-

"Run now!" Kaze then yelled interrupting him as he leapt out at them much to their alarm!

"WAH!" Everyone gasped thinking he had gone nuts, but what he said next soon made sense.

"Get down!" He shouted out as out of the bushes a large megaraptor jumped out at them ready to bring its claw at them, only for its attack to be intercepted by Kaze's blade! "GRRR!" he growled angrily as the blade causes sparks to fly as it clashes at the sword before both of them leapt back at some distance from one another!

"WAAAH!" Everyone else cried in shock as Kaze and the raptor squared of, the ninja flashing out his sword in a fighting stance while the dinosaur roared out, tapping its huge toe claw on the ground as it reared down assuming a pouncing position.

"A megaraptor!?" Max then cried out as Chomp growled in agitation, it was coloured black with white feathers and striped along its body and neck.

"It's really big….and black too…." Rex then noted as a drop of tense sweat fell from his cheek, knowing it had to be a bad sign, further enforced by the markings it had on its sides and forehead! "The spectral pirate mark! They know we're here!" He then cried out.

As Kaze and the raptor quickly rushed out at one another, the wind captain held onto his blade ready to swing at it with all his might, but to his surprise the megaraptor made a quick turn to swing out its tail which caught him off guard as it slammed right into his chest! "ARGH!" he yelled as he was sent flying hard into a tree which eh smashed against before falling down to the ground!

"Kaze!" Rex gasped in alarm while Max widened his eyes shuddering at the sound of the slam just now! To take a tail to the chest and then a crash at your back, to have pain sandwiched on your body on both sides wasn't a pretty feeling to experience or even imagine! Before they could react though, the raptor quickly set its sights on them! Or more precisely Chomp and Ace who ran out to try and help Kaze only to realise too late they put themselves in danger as the raptor caught whiff of their scent and shrieked menacingly as it made a beeline towards them!

"AAAH! CHOMP! ACE!" They boys exclaimed as their partners stopped and yelped in fright at the large carnivore which leapt out at them ready to go for the kill!

"Return quick!"

"Get out of there!" They shouted out frantically as they pressed a button on their dinoshots, causing their partners to return to cards and to their hands right before the raptor could pounce on them both, as it landed where they were, its' claws digging hard into the earth where they earlier lay!

"Phew….That was close…." Max wheezed in exhaustion as he held the card close to his chest.

"Yeah too close if you ask me…." Rex nodded in agreement, had they been a second too late Chomp and Ace would have ended up as dinner.

Their moment of peace didn't last long though, "Max! Rex! Watch out!" Raina quickly warned them as the megaraptor set its sights on them next as its next meal!

"Huh!?" They looked up and widened their eyes as the huge carnivore let out a nightmarish shriek which echoed through the dark forest before rushing at them for a full on assault, flashing out its claws and shop teeth ready to tear them to shreds as they widened their eyes at it leaping out at them like a giant bird of prey! "WAAAAH!" They cried holding out their arms or closing their eyes while clenching their teeth, as Raina turned and covered her face unable to look anymore!

"Dino slash!" A white light shone out brightly from behind, and within seconds of the battlefield appearing, a monolophosaurus jumped out at the megaraptor and latched onto its back, biting into its neck as it screeched in pain and was thrown off balance!

"AH!" The boys gasped as the monolophosaurus got on top and tried to reach down and bite its neck, but the larger black dinosaur was able to use its superior strength and arms to hold it off from getting any closer as they tried to bite and snap at one another! Looking to the side they saw Kaze had just gotten back up and he shot them a hard glare and pointed out with his katana.!

"Don't just stand there! Run now!" He yelled, when at that moment his dinosaur got kicked off into a tree as the megaraptor kicked itself back up and roared at him and his monolophosaurus for their insolent attack! As it tried to make a go at the wounded wind dinosaur, Kaze intercepted the attack as he swung out his sword which the megaraptor snapped onto as they tugged and pulled at it!

"Hurry kids! Follow me!" Raina quickly shouted to the boys as she grabbed hold of their shoulders and they looked to her in alarm.

"But what about Kaze!?" Max asked frantically.

"There's no time! Quickly while we have the chance!" She interrupted him.

Before Max could argue further, insisting they stay to help their friend, Rex stopped him, "Max she's right!" he shouted at him much to his surprise that they'd jut abandon their comrade like that but what he said next justified his reasoning, "It won't be long before more of these guys show up! So we have to get a move on now!"

Max gritted his teeth in anger seeing there was no other choice, "Urgh….fine!" he shouted out as he turned to follow Rex and Raina out of harm's way, hoping they wouldn't regret this.

As they headed off, Kaze looked away from the battle he was locked in with the megaraptor and saw how the children were leaving without hesitation and focusing what was truly important without getting sidetracked or having their emotions cloud their judgement, such a clarity was essential in a war like this and he smiled lightly seeing they were starting to mature a little. At that second the megaraptor began to push harder at him! Kaze gritted his teeth as he felt hissed overpowered as the raptor pushed him down and he gritted his teeth densely as he tried to push bak on his blade to hold off the megaraptor but to no avail! It was on the verge of slitting his throat with its claws, when Chase his monolophosaurus recovered from his slam at the tree as he shrieked, rushed in and knocked the megaraptor off his master in time!

Chase hissed at the black dinosaur as it snarled right back at them, before he turned to his master and held his stand as he lowered his head down and helped scoop up Kaze back to his feet. He womb led a bit momentarily before scratching under his partner's cheek who then cooed in enjoyment, "Urgh…thanks…." he said gratefully before they both looked to see the megaraptor roar out at them! Understanding what it meant, Kaze sheathed back his blade and took out his white dinoshot in its place, "Seems I'll have to fight on your terms, tooth to claw then." He narrowed his eyes hard taking out a card, "Alpha slash!" Next materialising in white light was Hunter, now a pink alpha dilophosaurus, which snarled out viciously towards the megaraptor alongside Chase!

In response the raptor rushed out at both smaller wind dinosaurs as they made a dash at it! "Attack pattern Omega! Now!" Kaze yelled in response to his 2 dinosaurs as they charged head on towards their foe! The 3 dinosaurs disappeared in a blur, sparks flying out as they dashed past each other, delivering claw swipes and bites at one another, leaving behind wounds and making their marks each time! Soon they reappeared in the middle of a now cleared area, made by the felling of trees as a result of their many clashes with one another, and despite their best efforts both Chase and Hunter were starting to pant feeling the bite and claw wounds along their bodes from head to tail, while the megaraptor shrugged off their feeble attempts as mere scratches!

Kaze narrowed his eyes seeing they had to take this up a notch as he slashed a wind move card, "Ninja attack!" Hunter flashed white before making a run at the megaraptor, splitting into 6 clones of himself which leapt and circled around the larger dinosaur before striking out in a flurry of hits from different angles! With his smaller size and greater agility the dilophosaurus was able to make good use of the forested terrain darting out from trees and making turns faster than the megaraptor could! As it fell to a knee having felt some hard damage, Kaze saw his chance and took it with another card! "Now finish it off with Jet shuriken!" he cried as Chase his monolophosaurus gathered wind around him and leapt back before hurling a flurry of bladed wind shurikens right at their weakened foe!

The megaraptor however quickly recovered, its eyes flashing with rage as it leapt out of the way in a blur as the sharpens missed their mark and cut through some nearby trees instead, felling them like toothpicks! It landed right behind where they were, however it then fell to its knee in exhaustion as the previous attacks had drained it of stamina despite still being strong itself! As Kaze began to smirk seeing it would be easy prey for him now, it suddenly began to bark out a set of strange ties to the sky which echoed through the forest ominously. Seconds later after that, the sounds of eerie beeping came from all around as gel jarks began to form out of the cracks in the ground or from within tree roots and burrows all around them! It wasn't just them, a handful of enemy dinosaurs including a siamotyrnanus, metriacanthosaurus, abelisaurus and gojirasaurus also appeared with them roaring in fury as they came in to backup their leader, as Kaze narrowed his eyes seeing he knew it couldn't have been so easy.

"Called for backup did you?" the ninja captain mused before the many enemy troops which began to surround him on every corner! He suddenly smirked having anticipated this and he had came prepared, "Good thing I was just thinking of doing the same." He brought 2 fingers to his lips and blew on them, the sound of his whistle echoed through the forest and within moments, out of various hiding places such as within tree tops, behind tree trunks, behind rocks or even materialising from clouds of dust his troops began to appear and mobilise together with him on the battlefield! In seconds they began to summon forth their loyal partners by their sides, among them were eusteptospondylus, indosuchus and allosaurus attrox which all roared and snarled at the enemy dinosaurs and gel jarks before them as the ninjas also armed their blades ready to join the battle too!

As both sides squared one another off, the megaraptor roared viciously as it and its side lunged towards the Wind squadron! "Bring it on! I'll care you and your kind down to pieces for what you did!" Kaze shouted with hatred in his voice as he and his group rushed at them head on too! Within moments the sounds of blades clashing, biting, snarls and brutal carnage began to echo through the dark depths of the forest…..

(Meanwhile)

"Max! Rex! Wait hold up!" Raina suddenly shouted out for them as they ran along the forest path right after Kaze and his group managed to buy just barely enough time for them to get away.

They then widened their eyes and turned to her in alarm, "What is it Raina!? Did you hurt yourself!?"

"Or is there something up ahead we need to worry about!?" They asked anxiously at first, only to suddenly stare in surprise as she stumbled after them, and balanced herself at a tree trunk while sweating profusely and gasping for air….in exhaustion….

"No…it's just…." she suddenly widened her eyes and covered her mouth feeling herself about to upchuck, "Urk….huff….huff…." holding it in the best she could and doing her best mental discipline to keep herself from giving in to her gastric urges she swallowed her lunch back down much to her discomfort, "I need to…catch my breath a little….urk…" she wheezed in exhaustion as she slumped down to the base of the tree and clenched her hand over her heart which was racing uncontrollably and her head was beginning to spin in a dizzy way, "Maybe I should have taken Craig's advice get out of the lab more often….huff….would have done me more good to exercise my body as much as my brain…." she muttered in confusion before fainting on the ground.

Max and Rex both squinted their eyes at her in disappointment, that with everything that was on the line they suddenly stop for something as ridiculous as this. Losing patience Max gritted his teeth and ran over to where she was and grabbed hold of her limping hand, "Come on Raina! Pull yourself together! Everyone's counting on us!" he shouted at her impatiently as he tired to yank her off her backside but soon lost his grip and fell backwards! "WAAH!" he cried as he fell on his back and hit hard against the forest floor much to his discomfort.

"Oh great…" Rex grunted in annoyance as he face palmed and shook his head in dismay, "Somehow I'm starting to think maybe she should've stayed behind if things were turning out like this…." he muttered to himself inside while covering his face. His moment though was interrupted as he and Max quacky felt some rumbling through the earth itself, which shook them up somewhat!

"Whoa!"

"What now!?" They gasped in surprise as the shaking caught them off guard, at first they were going to assume it was an earthquake, but the sound of a loud roar followed by trees crashing in a straight line proved them wrong!

ROAR!

"AH!" Widening their eyes they turned to see a black pentaceratops emerge from the forest, with its dark coloration and lightning steps lignin tis face, horns, frill and body as it flashed them and snarled at the 2 kids much to their alarm!

"A pentaceratops!" Max gasped as he stepped back feeling intimidated by its violent behaviour and menacing appearance.

Looking closer, Rex could see it was like the megaraptor they encountered a few moments earlier, "It's black too…." he noted next as he narrowed his eyes realising a connection, "These black dinosaurs….they're almost like…." He soon flashbacked to his mind as he recalled Seth's black t-rex which he unleashed on Sanjo City a while back, the sight of this mad black dinosaur was bringing up most unpleasant memories he tried to forget and to see it with his own eyes was putting him in a rather foul mood.

He didn't have time to dwell on it, as he quickly shook his head back to reality upon recalling Kaze's words echoing in him to never let his guard down or get sidetracked when out in the field, a second is all it would take to decide the difference between life and death! As he did he and Max gasped as the pentaceratops scraped the ground and snorted before mouthing a full on charge at them!

"Here he comes Rex!" Max shouted out loud to him in alarm as Rex gritted his teeth and sweated in a panic!

"Run!" He shouted as they split up away from one another hoping to confuse it!

"AAAH!"

The pentaceratops began to bulldoze over several trees in its path like they were dominoes, as the boys split up Max hurried off putting as much distance as he could between himself and the rampage spectral dinosaur! Unfortunately Rex wasn't vigilant enough of his surrodunings and he ended up tripping over a large tree root he did;t see coming! "WAH!" He cried as he fell on the ground and gritted his teeth as his knee and foot stung with pain upon the fall!

Hearing his cry, Max turned around and gasped, "Rex!" he cried out to him, running as fast as he could back to him, as the black dinosaur was on the verge of crushing him underfoot!

"WAAAAAH!" He screamed closing his eyes and holding his arms out in fear!

"Dino slash! Alpha slash!" A voice suddenly shouted followed by a pair of yellow lights!

"AH!" Rex and Max gasped to see a pair of new dinosaurs appeared on the scene, an anhiceratops and an alpha triceratops, which both rushed head on against the pentaceratops as they scooped it up form underneath at its sides then threw it out against some trees which it smashed right through then collapsed on it!

"Raina!" Rex cried in relief to see the captain of lightning had recovered in the nick of time, motivated upon hearing the cries for her allies in need, as she hurried over to where he was and then helping him stand up. As Max regrouped with them, they both smiled in relief to both her and her dinosaurs, "Thanks, you really saved my life there." He said gratefully to her.

She shook her head in response, "It was the only logical thing to do after all. Plus I couldn't let that behemoth crush you like that, it'd be just plain disrespect to our future." she said to him, knowing that if anything were to happen to him their future may be altered in a most bad way, but also out of concern for him as well as Max and Rex both smiled back at her feeling grateful nonetheless. The moment didn't last long though, as the pentaceratops quickly recovered and kicked itself back up and roar out at them, as Jolt and Spark both rallied together in front of them, forming a defensive wall of horns to protect the humans! "Pick on someone your own size and species you brute!" Raina shouted at the black dinosaur as her dinosaurs roared angrily at it as they both faced off against one another. After that they lunged at one another, the pentaceratops clashed horns, one in between each of Raina's dinosaurs' horns as they found themselves locked in a hard struggle trying to overpower the other!

"We'll help you too!" Max called out as he regrouped with Rex and they both prepared to take out their dinoshots.

However to their surprise she held out her hand, "No! You kids have a more important task at hand!" she yelled stopping them.

"Say what!?"

Not giving them a chance to explain she reached into her lab coat's pocket and threw out her handheld detection device, "Take this with you!" she shouted a heads up as Rex jumped and caught it in time before it hit the ground!

"AH! Got it!" He cried grabbing it in time before looking ahead towards Captain Raina.

"It'll lead you to the straight of this toxic soup! It's all on you to shut it down now!" She urged them to continue on without her as she focused her attention back towards the battle.

"But what about you!?" Max cried out in response, "We can't just leave you here by your lonesome!"

"Max let's do what she says!" Rex grabbed his shoulder suddenly much to his surprise, "She's trusting us on this and so is everyone else, so now we need to trust her too." He glared at Max making him unable to protest back at him, "They're risking everything to buy us time, let's not let it go to waste." He then said with a most heavy heart, accepting the reality for he situation and seeing the opening they were given it was now or never to take it.

Max clicked his tongue as he began to see this was one of those moments Kaze warned them about….and to his reluctance he "Tch! Fine…." he spat before looking back to Raina, "You'd better win this and come back okay!" he shouted at her, hoping he would;t regret this choice as he and ex both ran off in the direction the device pointed them in as they ran out of harm's way.

"Oh I have no intention of losing you kids…..that I have no intention of doing in the slightest…." She said with a smirk to herslef as her dinosaurs squared off against their black foe. As they circled one another, Raina took out a power analyser from her other lab pocket and after doing a scan on her black foe she couldn't help but smile most eerily as it roared out at her and its energy levels began to spike hard! "You're definitely a most unique and fine specimen, of course without a doubt altered and produced unnatural but you would still no doubt provide me with excellent quality battle data." she said grinning with excitement at the possibilities she could achieve with this, though the pentaceratops wasn't all too enthusiastic with her ideas as it roared out at her in defiance! Raina though was used to handling uncooperative specimens such as this one before, and she had her ways of making them far more…cooperative and manageable as she grinned towards both her dinosaurs, "Come on girls! Let's give our guest here a welcome to the world of science!" she shouted out to them as her dinosaurs bellowed out loudly in response while the pentaceratops growled back at them in anger!

As Raina began to ponder over a possible strategy to catch it by surprise or to take it down without exerting too much energy, she noticed something shining nearby the large tree root Rex tripped over just now. "Hmm? What's this?" Curiously she snuck over to pick it up, and after observing it closely, she covered over her mouth in shock to realise it was Rex's element booster! "Oh dear…." she muttered in concern realising he must have dropped it when he tripped earlier and now he was at a notable disadvantage! She was about to consider calling him back on her communicator when she looked up and widened her eyes to see the black pentaceratops swing out its tail and knock away Spark before focusing on Jolt who was all alone! "AH! Watch out!" she cried out for her second assistant dinosaur and quickly forgetting about contacting Rex, seeing this took priority to her.

(Meanwhile)

"We've come in pretty deep Rex….." said Max as he sweated tensely, not from exhaustion but from the immense pressure and tension he could feel in the air as they approached the heart of the forest. Ahead through the underbrush as they forced themselves through tree branches, bushes and vines he could make out some light shining in through the fog and mists, meaning an opening was just up ahead.

"Yeah, and we're getting close too." Rex then told him as Max blinked his eyes at him.

"We are?" he asked as Rex nodded to him in response.

"Mhmm, the gas tracing device is showing that the source of the sleeping gas is just beyond that clearing." He said seeing the detector's homing signal on the red beacon pinpointed right ahead at the clearing where the source of the fog was originating from.

Max then narrowed his eyes hard and need his hand into a fist with a tight grip, "Good, then we shut it down and everyone wakes up." He then said hard, "Raina and Kaze entrusted this to us and we're not gonna let them down." He said as he closed his eyes and recalled how they gave themselves up so that they cold not only escape but also see this through, not because there was no other choice but because they believed in them that they'd be able to do it, "It's not just them, everyone else is counting on us. Both the village and the resistance, if we fail then we let them all down, and I'm not going to let that happen." He said at the end with fierce determination.

Rex then narrowed his eyes as he also recalled how Kaze told him to start acting like a real man and see reality, this wasn't like any of their past adventures in fact this wasn't an adventure at all, now this was war, a whole new ball game with a new set of rules. No matter how hard he'd want it he couldn't cage it, all they could do was follow them and play to their best and toughen themselves for whatever situation comes their way so that they all could live in the end, "You're right Max." Rex nodded to him before smirking with confidence, "Then let's see this through."

Max soon smiled back at him as the 2 of them hurried on towards the light ahead. Eventually as they peeped out from some thick dense bushes they both widened their eyes to see a pair of giant dark purple ventilation fan like devices spinning hard and blowing out a kind of black and purple gas mix from a nozzle at the central cone which sprouted from the middle of the spinning fan blades, situated in the middle of an open clearing. "That must be where that fog is coming from….." Rex noted seriously, recognising the marks it bore to be those of the space pirates!

"And look over there!" Max pointed out making Rex look, the both of them saw a familiar blue haired skinny space pirate step out from behind one of the power generators that was hooked up to the fan machine, one they knew all too well, "Foolscap…." he hissed through his teeth angrily as Rex too hardened his gaze.

"Tch! Should have known we hadn't seen the last of him and the other pirates." the blond boy hissed through his teeth as it all soon began to make sense, "So he's the one behind the sleeping sickness…" Rex then thought out loud before hardening his gaze with anger and determination, "Well I say it's time we give everyone a wake up call and knock his lights out."

"Yeah I agree." Max nodded in agreement with him as they got their dinoshots and cards ready in their hands.

"He looks pretty busy…." said Rex as he quickly noticed Foolscap was eying the machine closely, putting a finger to his chin as he surveyed and inspected it all over, they could see he was most preoccupied and there was no better opportunity to attack than now, "Let's get behind him and take him by surprise, he'll never see us coming." He then suggested to Max who nodded back to him as they snuck back into the bushes and decided to go around him while his attention was fixated on the machine.

After a few more checks on the machine's systems, Foolscap then flew back a bit and folded his arms proudly as he then grinned with deep satisfaction, "Hehehe he sure picked the right man for the job! Those humans will never wake up again!" he proclaimed as he began to rub his palms together eagerly, "Then once I tear that village apart piece by piece he may even make ME his right hand! Ahahaha!" He then laughed out loud before snapping his fingers, "This job will be a singe for sure!"

BEEP! BEEP!

A warning sound from the machine caught his attention, "Huh? What's that?" he mumbled as he trotted around to the back where the machine's chemical loads were. Leaning down, he put his fingers on his beard, stroking it gently as he saw a pair of fuel tanks connecting to the machine, each holding a liquid chemical inside, one black and the other purple, and they were running out as their levels reached below the suitable requirements. "Hmm….the chemical levels are running kinda low….." He mused as he looked ahead to see the gas layer squired out was beginning to look dilute and weak as a result of low supply, "If that happens the gas will soon wear off and those annoying humans will wake up and begin to cause trouble for us again….then I can kiss my reward goodbye….drat…" He grunted in annoyance as he then folded his arms and closed his eyes in serious thought, "Now what did he say again when this happens?" he then asked himself as he drifted back to moments before his arrival.

(Flashback)

Hours easier, Foolscap stood before Goma as a screen appeared before him, revealing a pair of large ventilation fan shaped devices situated deep in Darkwood forest's glade. As Foolscap narrowed his eyes closely at it he pondered over what Goma told him earlier curiously, "So then this thingamajig puts people to sleep?" He asked with suspicion before shrugging his shoulders, "Big deal! I hear all sorts of things put people to sleep, long boring speeches, counting sheep, hearing a nursery rhyme." he snarked which made the younger Goma frown at him somewhat for taking him lightly, "Well not from your dad definitely but you get my point!" Foolscap snarked at the end.

"It's you who fails to see the point Foolscap." Goma replied calmly with a smirk which made the older pirate liked up at him with a scowl, "My special fog machine creates a nearly invisible gas layer from a most….potent mixture of rare and deadly chemicals. It'll put anyone who inhales even a whiff of it into a deep sleep that they'll never be able to awake from." He then explained as a rather malevolent grin came upon his face, "And with the resistance's forces all in sleeping death, unable to escape from dreamland, they'll make easy prey for our own troops for they'll be completely helpless and unable to fight back!" He proclaimed with sinister pride in his voice knowing this plan was his silent but deadly sneak attack and one with almost no holes in it.

After hearing what he had to say Foolscap folded his arms and smiled pleased to hear it, "Ah now I catch your drift…." he said feeling intrigued.

"And you need not worry about being affected by the gas yourself," Goma then replied to him, "This formula is designed to only affect humans therefore ensuring our dinosaurs remain wide awake and battle ready as they should be," He then said as the image switched to an oversight view of the Resistance's Asia base, "Otherwise they won't be able to breach Gobi Village's heavily fortified defences before then laying siege to the Resistance's base."

"It'll be like taking candy from a baby!" Foolscap grinned rubbing his palms together and grinning with disgusting delight, "Ahahaha! I like it! You can be assure I won't let you down!" He then said saluting to the younger male who merely folded his arms behind his back as he turned away from him.

"That remains to be said Foolscap." said Goma calmly in response, "Succeed in this task and I'll make sure to reward you generously, fail….heh, I'll leave that to your imagination." he chuckled at the end, in a way which made Foolscap sweat nervously and swallow hard down knowing his imagination could run very wild and whatever he could think up Goma may actually do to him a thousand times worse, as he paled at the thought of a hundred and one ways he'd be punished.

"Urk…."

"One more thing." Goma then snapped his fingers, and coming in from the side were a pair of Gel Jarks, each of them carrying a crate with the spectral pirate markings on them.

As they settled them on the ground, Foolscap looked over to them and opened them up curiously, "What's this?" He then asked Goma.

"The ingredients you need to make more of the sleeping gas," He answered, "Your job is not only to set up and make sure it runs smoothly, but also to refill it when supply begins to run out." He then stated it in a way that even a child could understand and succeed in doing.

Hearing all he needed to, Foolscap then grinned to himself with confidence, "Hehe, this'll be easy as pie! How hard could it be!?" he snickered as he opened up his wings and flew off towards the ship depot as the gel jarks then followed after him with the supplies, unaware that one of them accidentally dropped the necessary instructions as it trotted after him, which then blew away in the wind as Goma began to summon Sheer in next to his meeting room.

(Present)

"Tch! Easy as pie…..why did I have to go and jinx it!?" Foolscap then cursed himself as he ruffled up his hair in annoyance and stomped his foot in a rant! It was all going perfectly well and then all a sudden it turned south for him, how he wished things had gone the way he wanted then he could get on with living the good life with the rewards Goma had promised him. Shortly after that he took in a breath and let out a deep sigh as he collected his thoughts, "Calm down, you can do this…." he told himself smoothly as he looked to the supply of chemicals he was given earlier. Opening both up he took out 1 bottle from each box, 1 black and the other purple, one of which he filled till half full of purple liquid in a nearby beaker which was resting on a lab table. After that he reached for the other bottle and began to add equal amounts of black solution to it.

"Okay I'll just mix this Slumbera Ex with a dash of Snoozium G…." he said as he carefully added the black chemical into the other beaker. After that he took a stirring rod which was at the table as he carefully stirred the solution till it began to bubble slightly, "Ehe, now we're getting somewhere…." he smirked as the reaction became increasingly violent which caused his grin to widen, "Alright! Now we're cooking!" he laughed with pride at what he did, till the chemical suddenly exploded in his face!

BOOM!

As the dust cleared Foolscap found his whole face covered in dark dust and the remainder of the mixture steaming hard and smoking hot inside his beaker, "Uh….…." he stared speechlessly at what just happened before settling it back down on the table. "Ahahahahah! I knew that was going to happen from the start! Yes I did! No mistakes here! Hahahah!" He then laughed out loud, trying to hide his humiliation as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and began to wipe the muck of his face.

Max and Rex saw their chance as they ran out of the bushes right behind him, "You're not fooling anyone Foolscap!"

"Yeah, you messed it up big time and you know it!" They shouted at him pointing out his mistake much to his surprise and annoyance!

Foolscap was somewhat startled by the unexpected voices but soon gritted his teeth and tossed down his hankie in frustration, taking their words as insults, "Grrgh! Be quiet! Don't you know it's common knowledge to make mistakes and then learn form them!?" He growled in a fury as he turned to face them, only to stutter in surprise at who they were! "GAH! It's you!" He gasped being taken aback to see 2 of his old enemies, he soon recollected himself and rubbed his palms together, "I mean, well well well….what do we have here? The same nosy brats who kept sticking their noses into our plans to rule the universe with the cosmos stones, not to mention dogging us at every turn like space leeches." He snickered with a rather malicious grin, "It's been a really long time ehehehe!"

The D team then shot back angered glares at him, "Not long enough Foolscap!" Max shouted at him.

"Speaking of mistakes, your first was kidnapping our parents, the second was trying to take the cosmos stones and doom the entire universe." Rex hardened his glare before gritting his teeth, "And your biggest one of all was attacking Earth in the first place!" he then yelled out bitterly, as he began to remember Cera's tragic story and how she and many others had suffered and lost so much all because of the space pirates' greed, "Way I see it you space pirates haven't learnt anything and never will!"

Foolscap however only snorted back at them unfazed, "Hehehe oh me and my pals have learnt plenty since that time you ruined everything we worked towards." he grinned with malice before gnashing his teeth and grasping his hand into a tight fist, "About how you brats are the worst thorns in our side in the entire universe! Why'd you have to go and ruin everything we worked so hard towards!? Why couldn't you measly meddling maggots keep your meddling out where it isn't wanted!? GRRRR!" He growled in immense anger before stomping on the floor a couple of times in frustration, before an idea came into his head making him widen his eyes in realisation, "Say, I've just got a great idea!" He then snapped his fingers before shooting at the 2 kids a sinister sneer which unnerved them.

"Oh boy….That…doesn't sound good Rex…." Max gulped nervously, realising his idea was no doubt involving them!

Rex shook his head in agreement with him, "No it does not Max…." he muttered.

They stepped back nervously as Foolscap began to grin malevolently at them, "You kids will make excellent guinea pigs for this new concoction I just cooked up here!" he cackled as he held up same batch of volatile and heavily unstable chemical formula he just whipped up, "Try this on for size! Ha!" He shouted as he mustered the strength in his right arm then threw it out at them!

"WAH!" Rex widened his eyes seeing it head towards them! Max however, acting on his own quickly looked to his friend and shoved him!

"Rex! Get out of the way!" he shouted as he pushed him aside!

"WHOA!" His friend gasped as he tumbled to the ground and cringed with pain, "Urgh!" As he looked up again he widened his eyes to see the chemical beaker smash where Max was and he was enveloped in dark mist to his horror! "AH! MAX!" he cried holding out his arm as Max screamed as the gas began to overwhelm him!

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed out in pain as he could feel it flood his entire bloodstream and as it cleared he stuttered about unsteadily as his eyes began to go heavy, "Urgh…..my eyes…..getting woozy….can't stay…awake….." he muttered as his vision blurred and he fell down to the ground knocked out cold and sound asleep!

Rex widened his eyes in horror at what happened, "Max! No!" he cried as he ran to his friend's side and held him up in his arms, "Max! Get up! Say something!" he pleaded desperately for a sign that he was fine….unfortunately it was too late, he was too far gone in dreamland and it didn't look like he would be leaving anytime soon.

"*mumble* *mumble* Zzzzz….You won't beat me…..Zzzz…" Max muttered as he began to snore in Rex's arms, who could only stare, feeling totally responsible for his friend to now be in a sleeping death…..

Foolscap meanwhile scolded in disappointment to see he didn't manage to take them both out as he folded his arms on his hips, "Hmph! You just had to give yourself up for your precious pal and make me use up all I had left….." he scoffed before shrugging his shoulders and smiling casually, "Oh well, 1 out of 2 isn't bad, plus that's what you get for messing with us! A 1 way ticket all the way to dreamland! Ahahahaha!" He then laughed out loud.

Rex looked up, narrowed his eyes and clicking his tongue in anger, "Tch! Our charm doesn't work against that kind of smoke!?" he hissed bitterly as he looked to his best friend now resting peacefully in his arms as he hugged him close, "Oh Max….you really took one for the team and you saved me….I promise I won't let your sacrifice go to waste." He swore under his breath as he then settled him on the ground and glared at the flying space pirate with rage, "Let's go Foolscap! I'll make you pay for what you've done if it's the last thing I ever do!" he shouted out loud with determination further fuelled by the fires of justice.

"Oh I'm so scared!" the skinny space pirate feigned fear before sticking out his tongue at Rex's challenge which further annoyed him, "Ha! Tough talk for a brat who's all by himself now! It took 3 of you brats to simply slow me down, what makes you think you stand a chance against me?" he scoffed folding his arms at him.

Rex gritted his teeth, no way was he about to let this felon get away with what he just did, "Grrr…..I don't care! You messed with my best friend and you're going to pay for it big time!" he yelled furiously as he took out his blue dinoshot as well as Ace's card! "Dino slash! Carnotaurus! Blow him away!" He shouted out loud as Ace appeared on the field and roared out angrily as he stood before Rex who was standing over Max, "It's go time Ace!" Rex cried out to his partner who let out a loud roar of confidence as he whipped up his tail ready for battle and to avenge his allies for their sacrifice!

Foolscap soon smirked in amusement, deciding to accept Rex's challenge if it meant he'd be able to entertain himself and pass a little time, and on top of that earn a few extra brownie points from Goma for his loyalty and for defeating one of the D Team, "Heh, let's see how well you can back it up!" he laughed taking out a card from his pocket and then waved it in font of Rex, "I've got an old pal here who despises you as much as I do, and I'm more than willing to grant his wish of letting him do his worst!" Rex gritted his teeth as Foolscap placed the card at his headband, "Come on out and say hello Armatus!" Appearing in purple light was a greyish stegosaurus with white stripes and yellow plates on its back as it roared out in anger upon seeing Rex again, flashing out its spiked tail in a rage!

"Great…Not him again…." Rex grunted as he began to remember the power that dinosaur held and the trouble it put him and his fiends through before a while back. It was clear this wasn't going to be an easy fight….till Rex noticed something peculiar about him this time, "Huh? Wait a sec…." he blinked his eyes in surprise as Foolscap soon caught on.

"Say wha!? Where's your armour!? You can't go into battle looking like that!" he cried out in shock, unable to comprehend how this was possible was he grasped his hair in bewilderment.

Rex however soon caught on, "I remember now…." he thought to himself, recalling a time when he handed the cards over to his dad, hoping he might be able to do something about them now that the space pirates were beaten that time. Now he knew what his dad meant, "Heh good job dad and Seth…." he said with a light smile. While they may not have been completely freed from the space pirates' influence it was a start at least and it should give them a fighting edge at least in this battle.

Sweating nervously Foolscap then waved his hand out, "Hey kid give me a sec while I get my game face on." he asked nicely before trying to put Armatus' card at his headband to activate spectral armour!

Rex was tempted to let him do as asked, thinking it'd be underhanded to just attack like that…..but soon he began to remember what Kaze told him earlier, how his enemies would resort to playing dirty or that in war you'll have to strike while the iron is hot or you may never get another opportunity. It's those who act first that determine the difference between victory and defeat, narrowing his eyes and remembering how despicable the space pirates were, Rex then gritted his teeth in anger seeing no reason to fight with honour if his enemies had none to begin with, "Fat chance! You think I'm just going to sit back and LET you get ready!? Forget it!" he shouted out which caught Foolscap completely by surprise!

"Huh!?" The space pirated widened his eyes, he couldn't believe the kid would have the nerve to pull off something so sneaky, that's something only he'd do!

"It's your fault for not realising it sooner now you'll pay the price!" Rex then shouted out loudly as he pointed forward, fuelled by his drive to help the Resistance and to make their enemies pay for that they put him and his friends through, "Go Ace!" He yelled out loud as the carnotaurus roared and rushed in, seizing the opportunity presented before them as he grabbed Armatus by the neck and chomped down hard! The stegosaurus roared in pain as he swung out his tail in retaliation! Anticipating it, Ace leapt back in time and out of the spikes' reached before swinging put his own tail which slammed into Armatus' head and knocked him somewhat off balance!

Foolscap grasped his hair in a panic! "WAH! Hey no fair! I wasn't ready yet!" he ranted shaking his fist at Rex in protest.

"What's the matter!? Afraid to fight without your precious armour?" Rex taunted him back bitterly, "Didn't think you were really that weak Foolscap!"

The space pirate then widened his eyes as a tic mark appeared on his forehead, "Weak!? How dare you!?" he growled tensing up with rage at Rex's insult.

Rex ignored him and instead cheered his partner on to keep the attacks going! "Keep it up Ace! Don't let up!" he cried out for him as Ace roared and rushed in again towards Armatus while his partner took out a move card, "Ninja attack!" Ace soon glowed as he sped up at the stegosaurus, splitting into 6 clones which then surrounded Armatus before striking him mercilessly from all angles, rendering him incapable of fighting back or defending himself!

"Tch! Fine you want to play that way!? Let's play!" Foolscap growled in annoyance as he retaliated with an earth move, "Earth barrier!" Armature flashed purple as he bellowed, slamming hard into the ground causing pieces of earth to fly up before recollecting around him in a purple shield! As Ace struck out repeatedly form all sides with ninja attack, he soon returned back to Rex, shaken up from baking his head multiple times against such an impenetrable hard shell.

Rex then gritted his teeth seeing his usual moves weren't going to cut it, so he had to try something else, "Urgh! Then we'll just take things up a notch!" He shouted out unwilling to surrender as he slashed another move card, "Mayfly! Go!" Ace roared as he stomped his foot on the ground and flashed white again, this time making a swift dash at the shielded stegosaurus, spinning around it in a blur before smashing at the earth shield with the full force of wind from all sides! For a while it held together, but soon it began to crack unable to withstand the relentless assault from the carnotaurus, till eventually he was able to smash through it and cause it to break apart into several pieces as Ace retreated to the side while the stegosaurus bellowed out at him! "Alright! We broke through!" Rex cheered pumping up his arm now that the enemy's shield had been broken through.

"Yes you did…." Foolscap grunted in annoyance before a sneaky smirk came upon his face much to Rex's surprise, "Hope it was worth it though!"

Rex was confused but as he looked closer he widened his eyes in realisation, "AH! Ace!" he gasped to see his partner was gasping in exhaustion for air, he had been running much and had exerted much of his energy trying to break through Armatus' outer curst earlier his stamina had begun to drain and take its toll on him.

"While you stand there catching your breath, how about a little mole attack to shake things up!" Foolscap smirked as he played the move card. Armature roared angrily as he glowed purple once again, leaping into the air he spun like a shredding gear before digging into the ground and escaping from Ace's sight underneath!

"Oh no!" Rex widened his eyes now that Armatus was out of sight, and that was at his most dangerous! Before he could warn his partner to get ready, purple light began to shine right under where Ace stood which alarmed the carnotaurus as he stumbled about at the earth shaking underneath his feet! "Ace watch out!" His warning came too late as Armatus suddenly struck out from underneath him! The sharp plates grazed underneath his underbelly before knocking him away across the ground! "NO!" Rex cried seeing his partner get hurt before turning to Foolscap as he began to cackle evilly.

"Ahahaha! You had your chance to beat me and you blew it big time!" he mocked pointing out at Rex who gritted his teeth and clenched his fist with spite.

"Grrr!"

"Too bad for you but now it's time to kick things into overdrive! Spectral armour!" As Foolscap activated the armour card to his headband, Armatus' spectral marks flashed as dark purple energy enveloped around him before forming into his signature spectral armour!

The sight of seeing the stegosaurus at full strength made Rex widen his eyes in horror, "Oh no! Not good!" he gasped.

"For you perhaps but plenty good for me!" Foolscap snickered as he held another move card in his fingers and played it across his headband! "Let's see how you like Quake saber!" Armature then glowed purple as a long crystal sword sprouted from his spiked tail, which he waved like a rattlesnake would before swinging it out at full force towards Rex and Ace!

"Ace! Dodge it quick!" Rex shouted to him in time as the carnotaurus awoke in time and managed to roll out of the way in time as the saber smashed down onto the ground causing a huge crack to form in the earth where Ace lay earlier!

Foolscap gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in frustration, "Grr! Darn it!" he spat in annoyance as Armatus ended up getting his tail stuck in the ground and now was trying to yank it out!

Rex meanwhile let out a heavy sigh of relief as he placed a hand over his racing heart, "Phew…that was too close…." he wheezed calming down as Ace managed to muster enough energy to stand up again before roaring out at his foes.

"Hmph! You guys got lucky there, but luck only gets you so far and there's only so much you have." Foolscap scoffed as he folded his arms crossly, right when Armatus was able to free his tail from the ground and the crystal sword then vanished, "Now hit him again Armatus! Spike arrows!" the lanky space pirate called out as he added in another earth move to his headband! Energy surged within Armatus' plates up to his tail spikes as he then fired out a barrage of arrows towards Ace as they rained down at him from above!

"Run Ace!" Rex yelled out to the carnotaurus who roared out in a panic at the incoming arrows! He ran away as fast as he could, trying to put as much distance between himself and Armatus' arrows! The stegosaurus however was relentless as he kept his arrows pinpointed at Ace as he ran! Each one barely managing to strike his tail or hit his feet! There were a few times Ace nearly got shot as he stumbled as a result much to Rex's worry, and as he tried to do zig zags to avoid the arrows they provided only momentary relief as he began to pant with exhaustion while Armatus showed no signs of letting up anytime soon!

"This is really bad…." Rex gritted his teeth tensely seeing Ace wouldn't last much longer, "I'm gonna need my-" As he tried to reach into his pocket to use his secret weapon, he widened his eyes to realise it was empty! "AH! My dino-tector!? Where'd it go!?" He cried out frantically feeling all around his pants and pickets to realise it was gone! "Oh no! I must have dropped it when we were running away just now!" He then cried out in a panic! At that moment Ace let out a panic roar as Armatus changed his attack direction, firing a row of arrows right in Ace's path cutting him off from escape before firing some into the air which landed right behind him as well as around his sides till he had nowhere else to move as he aimed his tail right directly at the trapped carnotaurus much to Rex's horror! "NO!"

Foolscap soon broke out into uncontrollable laughter seeing his victory was no assured, "Ahahah! Your luck's just run out! Face it kid! You're outmatched! Now you're going to be sorry you ever stuck your nose in my business!" he taunted him threateningly before pointing out at the now cornered Ace! "And the first who's gonna pay the price is your precious little dinosaur! Ahahah!" he laughed out loud as Ace stepped back ranxisouly as Armatus' spikes began to glow again and were aimed right at where he was! Foolscap soon grinned and rubbed his palms together knowing the best part was soon about to come! "Say goodbye cos this is the last time I'll ever have to see your ugly mugs forever!" he hollered in anticipation as Armatus was about to fire! First he gets his revenge on the kids who humiliated him and his pals, and then the rewards from his new boss! This really was turning out to be the best day for him and the worst for Rex!

"Grr!" Rex on the other hand gritted his teeth tensely, feeling furious at Foolscap for what he was doing to innocent people as well as angry with himself for not being able to keep his promise to the others to see their cause through, "This can't be…not after everything we fought through…." he closed his eyes tensely feeling he had failed them before hearing a weak groan behind. Looking behind he saw Max begin to utter out a few weak words that made him widen hisses in realisation.

"Go Rex….uuh….you can do it….win…zzzz…" he mumbled in a dreamy manner.

Whether he was dreaming or that his words reached him, Rex took to heart what he said, as Max's faith in him hadn't changed either even when asleep. Rex then closed his eyes as he took in what he said, "Max…..I promised your sacrifice won't be in vain and I plan to keep that promise!" He said with reassurance before opening them up with determination, "No way am I going to let us be stopped here!" He then shouted out at the top of his lungs to Ace to do the same, "Ace! Don't give up! I believe in you!" he yelled as Ace roared out fiercely, his fighting spirit revitalised along with his own energy too….as something began to stir and awaken deep within them.

Foolscap though, scoffed in disagreement believing there was nothing they could do to change things now, "Heh, save your breath kid! It's over!" he taunted him before holding out his arm, "Armatus! Put him out off his misery with spike arrows!" He commanded as the stegosaurus bellowed out as he wagged his tail and prepared to fire out his barrage of arrows straight at his adversary and end both the battle and maybe even his life for good!

It was at that very last moment that Ace began to glow in a bright white aura and Rex shout out as he glowed the same too! "Elemental fusion!" Driven by their desire to protect as well as tapping into the bond they both had, Ace and Rex unleashed the great power they had deep inside them as a bright white light shone out which disoriented Armatus and made Foolscap grit his teeth in pain at the glaring brightness!

"GAH! My eyes!" he cried covering them with his hands. As it died down and he lowered his hands he gasped in shock and disbelief, his jaw hanging speechlessly as Ace emerged from the light now coloured in bright white with shades of black on his underside!

Roaring out powerfully, Rex smiled brightly as he punched out in excitement at his partner's newly achieved power! "Aha! Way to go Ace! Now that's what I call an upgrade!" he cheered for him as his dinosaur partner roared out proudly boasting his newly acquired strength before they both glared at Foolscap and Armatus who were becoming greatly unnerved at this unexpected and no less dangerous development for them both!

As Foolscap recovered form his shock he pointed out weakly at them in disbelief, "WAAH! What the!? Since when could you snot nosed kids do that!?" he croaked as Armatus even took a step back nervously, sensing something completely different about the carnotaurus he was fighting just now. Rex smirked enjoying the look on his face, which then made the space pirate grit his teeth in annoyance, deciding to shrug it off as a trick, "Grr….so you changed colours like a chameleon, big deal! You're still going down!" he yelled before pointing out at them, "Spike arrows!" He commanded Armatus who hesitated momentarily before firing out the spike arrows at them once more!

This time however, they were ready, "Dodge Ace!" Rex commanded, and in a flash his awakened carnotaurus disappeared from where he was and the spike arrows only ended piercing the ground where he stood!

"Huh!? No way!" Foolscap widened his eyes in shock to see he missed! Looking to the side where Ace reappeared he sneered hatefully before pointing at him, "Hit him again Armatus!" The stegosaurus fired once more but once again Ace vanished in a cloud of dust as the arrows pierced into a nearby tree instead! "Again! Again! Don't let him get away!" Foolscap then ranted as he stomped his foot on the ground impatiently while Armatus continued to fire non-stop but again and again he tried and failed miserably to land even a single hit on the speedy carnotaurus who kept dodging each attack attempt like it was with ease!

Ace had gotten so fast he made a rocket look slow and that deeply amazed his human partner, "Awesome! I knew awakening would be awesome but I didn't think you'd be so much faster!" Rex cheered joyfully for his dinosaur who roared out back to him while continuing to dance circles around Armatus and Foolscap much to their frustration and annoyance! "Way to go!"

"Grr! Stand still so I can hit you!" Foolscap growled in frustration seeing that each and every one of his attacks were missing and the carnotaurus seemed to be exerting little to no effort at all! much to his disbelief!

"Yeah, real motivating…." Rex scoffed shaking his head wondering why he'd be stupid enough to do that, as Ace roared out mocking Armatus as he fired and missed once again, as his spike arrows began to run out of energy and his tail began to slump down to the ground and he began to pant with exhaustion due to overexertion!

"Grrr! That case if I can't hit your dinosaur." Foolscap gritted his teeth in frustration before locking his eyes on Rex and Max himself, as he smirked deviously knowing what to do, "Then I'll just hit you instead!" he called out loud pointing at Rex and the helpless Max as his stegosaurus set his sights on them much to Ace's alarm!

"AH!" Rex widened his eyes in shock at what he heard the space pirate say, he knew they were sneaky but to try something so downright underhanded was utterly despicable!

"Take this quake saber!" Foolscap grinned as he activated the earth move which caused Armatus to glow purple and sprout forth the crystal sword again as he prepared to charge at Rex!

"Ace! Help!" He shouted out to his partner who rushed in to intercept the attack as he put himself right in quake saber's path! Quickly reacting, Rex took out a move card and slashed it in time! "Dino illusion!" He yelled as Rex flashed momentarily in white before the saber slashed right through him! He roared in pain before collapsing tor the ground to Rex's shock as well as Foolscap's disgusting delight!

"Aha! Got ya! Told you ya couldn't beat me!" He laughed out cockily, knowing he could have taken advantage of their bond seeing that to be their greatest weakness, of only he had done it sooner then he could have saved himself a whole lot of trouble. His victory celebration was soon cut abruptly short as Ace suddenly exploded and in his place was an old stump much to his and Armatus' bewilderment!

Poof!

"Huh!? What the!?" Foolscap stuttered but was caught by surprise as Ace then rushed in from the side and knocked Armatus away several feet, sending the stegosaurus crashing to the ground at the force of the impact as he roared in pain from the ram and throw! "GAH!"

"That was really dirty move Foolscap," Rex glared at him in a way which made the pirate's heart skip a beat, "Because of that I now see no more reason to hold back anymore!" He shouted out loudly in anger!

"S…Say what now!?" Foolscap was terrified, because this time Rex sounded like he could actually back up his words and Foolscap himself was beginning to believe him!

"Hurricane beat!" Rex slashed the move card as Ace fired out a pair of tornadoes which ensnared the stegosaurus! Helpless and spinning about in the vortexes, Ace leapt up and kicked rapidly at his head before flipping up his tail and sending him crashing across the plains much to Foolscap's horror!

"WAH!?" He darted over to where his stegosaurus was on his back, struggling to get back up, then shouted out at him, "Armatus! Don't let that little gnat beat you! Fight back already!" He demanded, as Armatus mustered the energy in his tail to use as leverage as he flipped back up and rushed towards Ace! Stampeding towards him, Ace responded by making a rapid dash at the stegosaurus, sending him flying into the air with ease before pelting him mercilessly with non-stop attacks as fast as lighting from different angles, before being swinging out his tail and sending Armatus crashing into the ground once more! "AAAH!" Foolscap began to sweat and his heart raced with terror as he looked back widening his eyes to see the immense fighting aura surrounding both Ace and Rex at that very moment! He never imagined any earthling or dinosaur could ever have amassed such power without alterations or armour!

"No way….how could he be this strong so easily? It's like he's completely different from last time!" Foolscap gritted his teeth tensely as a bead of sweat dripped from his forehead down to his chin, the power Rex was exhibiting right now was completely unlike anything he had ever demonstrated before! Plus it was without armour and still he was matching or more precisely overpowering Armatus no matter what he did! A horrifying through soon crossed his mind, "And if he's this good….does that mean that his pals are all….." he gulped down hard as he began to realise that not just his but maybe even the space pirates' days were numbered! He gritted his teeth tensely with spite as he saw he was going to have to use his last desperate move….one he wished he didn't have to resort to but under the circumstances he had no choice, if he wanted to make it out of this alive in one piece!

"Let's finish this now Ace!" Rex yelled as he held out his move card that would seal the deal, "Air raid-"

"Wait! Hold up! Time out!" Foolscap suddenly cried out waving his hands which stopped him much to his surprise.

"Huh?" Rex looked ahead and blinked his eyes to see the space pirate even take out a white flag and wave it out at both him and Ace begging him to cease fire!

He couldn't believe what he was seeing, especially when Foolscap suddenly fell on his knees and began to prostrate himself before them! "Please! No more! Time out! You've won! I give! I give!" he whimpered frantically as both Rex and Ace could only stare at him, unsure of what to make of it.

"Is he….serious?" Rex wondered, for all he knew this could be a trick so he shouldn't let his guard down….but still, as he looked to Armatus he could see the stegosaurus' knees weakening before he collapsed to the ground and let out a pained bellow.

"Listen! Let's not be so hasty! Sure we may have gotten off on the wrong foot but we don't need to go further than we already have right!?" Foolscap then smiled in a terrified way as he quickly pointed out to his near defeated dinosaur, "I mean look, Armatus is so worn out he can't move a muscle! You don't want him to suffer anymore than he already has do you? You're one of those dinosaur lover types aren't you!?" his eyes turned all watery like puppy dogs as he then clapped his hands together being for mercy.

Rex narrowed his eyes, as much as he detested the pirate with all his heart, he did however have a small sense of pity for Armatus, who was just following orders against his will and he didn't want to put the poor dinosaur through more than what it already had. Nevertheless he couldn't just let them go, he still intended to bring them in to justice, but not before deciding to wring out a little information out of Foolscap seen the opportunity presented, "Start talking Foolscap! Or Ace and I will blow you all the way to the moon!" he threatened the lanky space pirate as Ace snarled out viciously which made Foolscap shudder and nod.

"Okay okay, take it easy now…." he then calmly replied as he waved his hands out and held them up and began to girl cheekily, "I'll tell you everything you want! In fact I'll even tell you what our plans are! But of course they're really really complicated and long so it might take a lot of time to explain but hey I'm not the one who comes up with them so-"

Rex raised eyebrow in annoyance at Foolscap's constant rambling which was beginning to get on his nerves, "Quit stalling! I want answers on what you're really after, and I want them-" He soon widened his eyes as he realised what he was playing at, just like how Specter did a while back when he pretended he was going to accept their deal about trading the cosmos stones, when a sinister grin came upon Foolscap's face and Armatus suddenly got back up again and roared out having fully recovered much to Rex and Ace's alarm! "AH!"

"Haha! Too late! Now you're going to regret ever crossing me!" the blue haired space pirated grinned as his headband flashed purple with the spectral pirate symbol on it! "Spectral stinger!" Crystal spikes began to form all around Armatus' body which he then fired in a flurry of missiles which began to home in towards where Rex, Ace and Max were! "Say good night forever!" foolscap laughed out loud believing he had won and there was no way they were getting out of this one! Or so he thought….

Rex having had enough of Foolscap and his ridiculous games, as well as recalling all the horrible deeds he and his fellow pirates had done, he wasn't going to show them anymore mercy! "That won't cut it this time!" he yelled back in retort, "Ace and I have tapped into a power so great your armour will never be able to lay a finger on us anymore!" He declared as Ace roared and he pointed out at him, "And we'll show you the difference between how we were before and how we are now!" he vowed as he slashed his new wind move card, "Air raid storm!" The move made Ace glow bright white as he roared out, infused with immense power before charging head on at Armatus courageously!

"Ahahah! Charging us head on!? You've completely lost it didn't you!?" Foolscap laughed in amusement as the missiles locked in on Ace as he rushed at them!

"That's what you think." Rex spoke to himself as Ace leapt over one then slid underneath the next, did a spin spiralling through the slim opening between some of them and then swinging out his tail in a flurry which knocked away the remaining crystal missiles like they were toothpicks! To him the missiles looked like they were coming in slow motion as he easily evaded or deflected them as they came as some of them exploded in the background one by one till he got within range of Armatus!

Foolscap widened his eyes in bewilderment unable to comprehend what he just witnessed, "No way! You dodged them all!? Impossible!" he exclaimed as he began to sweat non stop and even Armatus was beginning to feel genuine fear as the carnotaurus closed in at striking range of him after easily besting his strongest move!

"Your dirty tricks won't save you this time! Now you're finished!" Rex yelled as Ace swung out his tail knocking Armatus off balance momentarily, before swiftly flipping up the armour stegosaurus high into the air much to Foolscap's disbelief!

"AH!" He could only watch as Armatus was helpless and at the mercy of Ace, who blew out a tornado and struck out with his tail through it, sending a set of wind blades to slice through him! After that in a gust of wind he vanished, appearing right above Armatus as he slammed down his tail on the stegosaurus sending him falling back down! Ace then disappeared in a flash once more, repeating the tail strike at a lower level and sending him flying high into he sky again before boosting at him like a rocket! Grabbing onto Armatus' unprotected stomach, he spiralled down like a torpedo right down above Foolscap and the fog machine down below! "GAAAAH!" Foolscap could only shake out his arms in terror as he sped out of their way as Ace slammed Armatus right into the machine causing it to erupt out in flames in a massive explosion!

BOOM!

"NOOOO!" Foolscap cried out widening his eyes and grasping his hair frantically seeing his hard work gone to waste, as Ace leapt out unscathed from the wreckage and landed right in front of Rex who jumped up in joy at their outstanding victory!

"Nice work Ace! You did it! Aha!" He laughed joyously as Ace roared out to the sky mightily in triumph!

"Grrr….." Foolscap meanwhile was able to fish out Armatus' card from the wreckage, and as he flew up and hovered over the charred and burning wreckage of the machine and seeing his opportunity for promotion gone up in smoke, he then shook his fists out in a rant! "No fair! I was supposed to win!" he yelled out his frustrations before pointing out at Rex accusingly, "I won't accept this! You cheated! You cheated!" he spat out.

"Me cheat? That's a laugh." Rex countered as he shot a hard glare at the defeated space pirate, "Way I see it you cheated more times than I can count on both my hands." he continued, "And like they say cheaters never prosper, so this was the only possible outcome, you brought it upon yourself when you put so many people along with my friend to sleep." He said at the end.

"Grrr….." Foolscap felt immense pent up anger building deep inside him as he clenched his hand into a really tight fist and gnashed his teeth till they were on the verge of cracking under the pressure he was exerting on them! "Just you wait kid! You haven't seen the last of me! I'll be back and badder than ever before! You'll see!" he shouted out at the top of his lungs as he fumed red before pointing out at Rex and Ace! "When the boss hears about this you'll be very sorry!" he cursed him at the end.

Rex however only shot back at him with full confidence, "Yeah? Well tell Specter we'll be coming for him next!" he retorted showing no signs of fear or hesitation, knowing that they beat him once and they could no doubt do it again if they had to!

"Specter?" Foolscap blinked his eyes before suddenly snickering to himself most eerily which put Rex off uneasily….especially with what he said next, "Heheheh…you really have no idea with who you're messing with…."

Rex then blinked his eyes in surprise at what he heard, "Wh….What?" he asked before glaring at Foolscap angrily, "What do you mean new boss? What are you guys planning now!?" he then demanded.

"Since you beat me, I'm not gonna tell you anything! Too bad!" The space pirate stuck his tongue out at Rex mockingly before deciding there was one bit of info he could part with, if it meant it'd help stir up insecurity and fear in his enemy the next time it came around, "But I will say this, hehehe….Me and my old pals now answer to a new boss. A boss so downright terrifying he makes Specter look like a toddler doing a tantrum…which he is of course but you get the point!"

Hearing his words to be truth, Rex sweated tensely and began to grow nervous at the idea of a new enemy far more dangerous than Specter was, "That doesn't sound good…." he said heavily.

Foolscap grinned seeing the insecurity and anxiety in Rex's eyes and he decided to deepen it even more, "You'll regret stopping me here, if you had this much tribe beating me then you don't stand a chance against Goma!" he threatened Rex, "Oh how I can't to see the look on your face once he mops the floor with you and your puny friends! Then you'll know the true strength of the shadow empire! Ahahaha!" He laughed out loud maniacally before stopping himself at the last minute, "Whoops, I said too much…." he said covering his mouth stopping himself from spoiling anymore, before waving at Rex playfully, "Later loser! Hahahah!" he laughed out loud at him as he spread his wings and jetted away through the dark clouds above, out of sight and clearly out of reach!

"Wait! Get back here!" Rex yelled as he ran out after him to no avail as he disappeared high above in the sky and the dark clouds covering Asia soon began to dissipate and become replaced by the bright glowing evening sky that was hidden from view. "He's gone…." Rex then sighed seeing there was nothing he could do about it now, seeing there was no sign of Foolscap anywhere above. As Ace walked over to where he was and returned to normal, he noticed Rex put a finger to his chin in careful thought, "A new boss….way stronger and more terrifying than Specter….." he mused before looking very concerned, "What have we gotten ourselves into this time?" There was without a doubt the space pirates had not just a new leader, but also new plans and a new aim…and that may make them twice as dangerous as they were before….knowing they'd have to be at their very best or even more than that from here on out.

"Urgh….Aaaah…." The sounds of groaning were heard behind them, which snapped Rex out of his thoughts as he turned back in surprise to see Max had sat up and was starting to rub his eyes as he regained consciousness!

"AH! Max!" Rex gasped as he ran over to his best friend and knelt down to his level while Ace stood above them keeping a lookout for any foes that may still be hiding in the forest, "Max! Are you alright!?" Rex then gasped his attention focused solely on Taylor who turned his head in the direction he heard his voice.

The spiky haired brunette slowly began to open his eyes, and after blinking his eyes groggily and his vision began to return he saw Rex's face of concern and worry, "Y-Yeah…I'm fine Rex…." Max moaned to assure him he was fine…till his head suddenly throbbed with aches to which he cringed and grasped with his palm, "Urgh….My head….I feel like I just woke up from a really bad nightmare…" he groaned as Rex backed away form him, giving him his space as he recuperated from the toxins and the bad sleep he just went through.

Rex soon smiled at ease, "Well at least this one is over now." He said as he looked over to the charred smoking remains of Foolscap's fog machine, "The gas is dissipating, guess destroying that horrible machine really did it…." He then said.

"Which means everyone else should be waking up in Gobi Village too…." Max added before grinning cheekily at Rex, "Hehehe, great job Rex, you and Ace really saved the day this time!" he laughed happily as he did a playful fist bump at Rex's shoulder.

Rex shook his head in response, "No Max, we did it." He corrected Max, "If you hadn't jumped in front of me we both would've been knocked out."

Max then smirked and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Heh, well my body acted all on its' own just now. Then again you'd have done the same for me and Chomp." he said back to him.

"Haha well I don't doubt that one bit." Rex nodded back at him agreement as he returned Ace to card form and took his card back. After that though, as he began to remember what Foolscap's last words were, he then sighed and frowned as he began to remember that this battle was just the start as he looked up to the sky where he last saw the space pirate depart from, knowing they'd see him and the rest of his fellow cronies soon.

Max, unaware of what happened while he was knocked out, blinked in surprise to see his friend not acting cheerful in celebration of their hard earned victory for some odd reason, "Huh? what's up Rex? Aren't you happy we won?" he asked curiously tapping on his shoulder.

"Yeah I am….we did win this round," Rex answered him calmly before letting out a rather heavy sigh, "It's the next one I'm worried about most."

Max raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Next one?" he asked him in confusion.

Rex hardened his face before letting out a deep sigh knowing Max wasn't going to like this either but he had no choice, "Before Foolscap left, he said he and his old gang are now working under a new boss named Goma," he said uneasily, "He said he's powerful he makes Specter look like a tame kitten in comparison."

"That…doesn't sound very good…." Max then gulped down hard at the thought.

"Not a chance…." Rex added, knowing they had plenty of trouble with Specter in the past and he was crazy strong, if this Goma was way stronger then they'd have their work cut out for them without a doubt, "I don't know what they're up to now….But we've got to stop them." He then said as he looked up to the sky again, eying it with a hard gaze as he clenched a fist hard.

Max soon put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, "And we will Rex, we will." he said to him, feeling confident that they'd be able to win against this new enemy no matter what he may throw their way, "Together no matter who stands against us we'll always win in the end."

Seeing Max's high spirited smile inspired good feelings in Rex as well as he then nodded back to him, "Well said." he replied in agreement, feeling more confident and assured that they could no doubt prevail in this war and set things straight once more for humanity and dinosaurs alike. As he looked ahead to see the wreckage of Foolscap's machine he then smirked seeing now they were 1 step closer to achieving that goal and it was mission accomplished for them, as he then reached for his dinoshtr and typed on it, "Now let's report back in." He then said as he prepared to pitch in a call to HQ to update their status to them, no doubt it'd please them all to hear of their accomplishments.

(Meanwhile)

Further off in the distance, the ninja troops were having the enemy dinosaurs routed and the gel jarks on the run, as they threw out their shurikens and smoke bombs, aiming them right at the gel jarks' vulnerable rock faces while parrying their own attack attempts thus driving them off into the forest! Their dinosaurs, having been trained in highest level of combat expertise and teamwork were able to get the better of their foes too, as an alpha sinraptor along with its super counterpart jumped onto a shunosaurus and after spilling their weight upon its back were able to drive it into several trees as it collapsed down and crashed before they bit into its neck and turned it into a card!

The same was also said for many others who used skill to target their foes' weak spot thus inflicting maximum damage in only the most precise points thus minimising the time needed to bring down their foes as well as their risk of being attacked back too, as shown by a pair of ceratosaurus that were both awakened and alpha, as they snapped at a siamotyrannus' legs in a series of mock charges till eventually managing to force it back over a huge tree root then slam its head on a nearby boulder, knocking it out and then returning it to card form!

With the enemy forces driven off, now all that was left were their leaders…which proved to be much more of a challenge than even Kaze could handle, as his monolophosaurus Chase and Alpha dilophosaurus Hunter, were kicked away by the black armoured megaraptor! As it tried to deliver and eagle strike like kick to them both while they were still down, Kaze leapt in between them in time and swung out his katana, the lade clashing with the claws of the megaraptor causing spark sot fly as they repelled one another! As the raptor flipped away and landed on its feet like a large cat, Kaze then fell to his knees gasping for air in exhaustion, "Urgh! This one is really persistent…." he hissed in annoyance as his own dinosaurs kicked back up and ran to his side snarling viciously towards the black megaraptor which remained unfazed at their that display!

"And this one's endurance is far greater than I first anticipated…." Raina then grunted in serious thought as she stepped back near to where Kaze was, as the black armoured pentaceratops shook out its horns threateningly at Jolt her anchiceratops along with her alpha triceratops Spark. Now both captains found themselves trapped in a pincer like attack from both armoured black dinosaurs and they were beginning to close the gap on them like a guillotine! Seeing their options were limited, assessing what was left to them, Raina then gained a small smirk knowing jus the strategy to implement at this point in time, "Kaze, perhaps it's time we try another approach?" she then suggested to him as they stood back to back with one another, "Like say….A little dash of teamwork followed by a touch of friendship between us and our lab partners hmm?"

The ninja captain then narrowed his eyes in thought before looking ahead to see themselves cornered by both the black megaraptor and pentaceratops which were closing in on them, further boxing them in and restricting their movements! "A change of tactics does sound like the best course of action at this point." He then said before rolling his eyes, "Fine let's go for it, not like we have any other choice or anything to lose."

His answer made Raina grin and jitter with glee, "A most excellent answer indeed! Just as I expected you to say!" she grinned eagerly as they felt energy rising within themselves and their dinosaurs which soon glowed in the colour of their attributes!

"Elemental fusion!" As they yelled out a blinding light erupted from both anchiceratops and monolophosaurus! The bright light caused the megaraptor and pentaceratops to halt their advance as they closed their eyes in surprise at the light! As it died down they looked again in surprise to see both dinosaurs had awakened to their super forms as they roared out back at their enemies with a newfound power they unlocked from their strong bond with their partners!

Raina was unable to contain her excitement deep down inside her as she exploded into uncontrollable joyous laughter, "Ahahaha! Such a momentous development!" she laughed out loud most joyously before quickly taking out her notepad to record down this very moment of her performing awakening for the very first time along with her own personal thoughts too for Jolt's new yellow and black form, "I must record this for future references!"

Meanwhile as Kaze eyed Chase who was now glowing bright white and grey he couldn't help but smirk in admiration of his dinosaur's newfound power, despite his grim outlook on life his dinosaurs still stood by him to the end deep down bearing a kind of bond of trust between them as well, "Not bad…." he then nodded, while he still saw friendship to be childish it did at least work effectively too so that more than made up for him going against his usual nature. "Let's get this over with!" He then shouted out his angered battle challenge towards the pentaceratops, which roared out in anger and agitation at its foes before glowing yellow, a bolt of lighting striking down energising it as it made and electric charge towards them!

Despite that both maze and Raina held fast and relied themselves, "Let's see how it stands up to this formula for victory!" She proclaimed proudly as she and Kaze made eye contact, nodding at one another before slashing a move card together in sync!

"Thunderstorm bazooka!" They yelled together as both Hunter and Jolt both flashed in bright white and yellow in colour before they swapped battle partners with each other! The alpha dinolophosaurus gained a veil of wind in cyclone as he rushed ahead creating a wind tunnel, as Sparks ran and leapt through, carrying wind in her thunder bazooka as she absorbed it around her and like a spiralling bullet she punched right through the Pentaceratops' electric charge attack, overpowering it with ease and then sending it flying through several trees before crashing to the ground and returning to a card defeated! "Aha! A perfect reaction indeed!" She then laughed victoriously punching up to the sky as the alpha dilophosaurus and super anchiceratops roared out with her in celebration!

Kaze smiled momentarily, but upon hearing a hiss nearby, he narrowed his eyes seeing the black megaraptor snarl at them in fury at the defeat of its' comrade before rushing in for the kill towards them! "Don't celebrate yet, here comes the next one!" He yelled as Raina turned to see it glow white and begin to use mayfly!

"Kaze, why don't you take the lead this time?" She then suggested to him as he nodded without hesitation.

"Very well then, as you wish." he replied before looking ahead, "Just make sure you keep up."

"Haha, there's nothing faster than the speed of lightning!" She laughed accepting the challenge as Spark and Chase leapt in front next seeing it was their turn next for a combo attack!

"Lightning razor wind!" As they both slashed their move cards in sync once more, Kaze's monolophosaurus generated a tornado with its breath as it prepared biting wind. After that, Raina's triceratops fired lightning strike into it, causing the air particles inside it to be fully charged! As the megaraptor rushed out towards them in a blur, having unleashed mayfly it tried to leap above them but the now supercharged blades of wind travelled as fast as lightning bolts would! They struck through it before but could have a chance to leap above them, stunning it in its tracks after the first struck it! It shrieked in pain as electricity coursed through its veins and it began to spasm violently, before the remaining 2 struck through it next! Feeling overwhelmed by both wind and electricity it let out a heavy gasp before collapsing to the ground and returning to a card!

"The ingenuity of science combined with masterful tactics and strategy, I'd say I couldn't have asked for a way more compatible and explosive pairing!" Raina then cried out as she jumped up and down energetically while her alpha triceratops and Kaze's super monolophosaurus roared out in triumph too.

"Whatever you say Raina." he muttered in annoyance, despite the results this battle had for them, Kaze preferred to be a solo fighter and after this he was going to get some much needed alone time away from all the noise.

As the battlefield in the sky changed to normal, Raina then checked her spare gas detection device, as she switched it on it she saw the level of toxins was rapidly dropping to safe levels, "And it appears the gas levels in the air is dropping, which can only mean one possible hypothesis and conclusion." she then noted before switching to a screen on her dinoshot, which showed her squadron helping some of the villagers out from their bed who were yawning drowsily or jump up from their bed in shock like they just had a bad dream. Seeing everyone was waking up at last Raina then grinned, "Hehehe, I just knew those children would pull it off! The odds of them failing was 0% just as I predicted!" she cheered feeling most positive and fully charged as she jumped up and down cheerfully with her 2 ceratopsians join gin her too as they jumped up and down with her in excitement, much to the dismay of Kaze and his men, as they stared at her from the trees or around the premises with their dinosaurs, seeing how she was her happy go lucky attitude made her completely oblivious to her surroundings, it was like she was a little kid in a grown woman's body…much like the D Team were….

Nevertheless they did do a good job in the end, as Kaze then closed his eyes calmly and smiled, "Yes….so they did…." for the first time feeling gentle breeze blow through his heart rather than a howling storm of hatred. Looking ahead to see a cloud of smoke erupt in the distance it was clear they pulled it off in the end and he could feel a wind of change blow over them all and possibly a new turn in the war for them all, "Well done…." He nodded with thanks that they were able to do this for them.

As she cheered non stop in joy, Raina quickly stopped as she recalled something important she had, "Whoops I almost forgot!" she then said as she reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out Rex's element booster which she picks dup earlier, "I'd better make sure to return this to Rex next time I see him." she told herself a she began to make contact with Max and Rex so they could regroup and then go home.

And now round 2 goes to the resistance once more, can they keep their winning streak going? Especially when one of the toughest missions lies ahead for the final pair consisting of 2 ferocious females ready to go at it, with each other more so and at the same time where one of the more complex situations has developed in America. Stay tuned to see who they may prevail against the challenges set against them there.

Had this chapter based off the second stage in the DS game, with Max taking the fall for Rex as a show of friendship, since he already had Chomp go Super, and now Rex and Ace being the ones to take home the victory, as well as notice Foolscap's bluff a second before it was too late.

In response to reviews:

tsukikami02

-Yup everyone's getting along and settling down again, something made possible thanks to the D Team.

Yeah the black dinosaurs are back but a scaled down version for Goma didn't want to use too many resources and it'd make them harder to control if he did the same Seth did.

Interesting theories indeed especially for Zoe and Ursula, something to consider later maybe, also the theme of nature reminds me of the En cards from Arc V.

Also nice suggestion, I already have an idea for myself but will see how it goes

Guest

-Glad you liked it and that could be a name for it.

-Would rather not spoil anything to come later.

-Glad you enjoyed it, I think they deserved that glory after getting the short end of the stick so many times.

Drew Luczynski

-No the black dinosaurs won't be as big a role like Seth did but they were used to control the army better, the dinovoc controls the black dinosaurs and they control the rest of the army.

Glad it helped inspire you too.

Hope to give everyone a role somewhere in this story too, also Rex did indeed learn from Kaze too