A few hours passed and Thunderfoot and his friends soon slept soundly.
"Psst... Thunderfoot..." whispered Cera. "Thunderfoot, wake up!"
Thunderfoot blinked as he woke up. "Cera, where are you...?"
"Here!" Cera's voice replied.
"Where?" Thunderfoot asked as he came out to look around.
"Here!" Cera's voice said.
"Ugh... What's going on?" Gaz groaned as that seemed to wake her up.
"Ugh... Five more minutes, Chedra..." Skye grumbled a bit.
By then, the other kids had been woken up.
"What's the matter?" asked Thunderfoot.
"I can't sleep, it's important," replied Cera. "We've gotta talk."
"Now...?" asked Thunderfoot.
"Yes, now," replied Cera before she smirked. "Scared of the dark?"
"I'm not scared." retorted Thunderfoot.
"Then come on!" Cera said, leading the way away. "Let's get the others."
Skye yawned and rubbed her eye before going with the others.
"This had better be good, Cera." Jenny grunted.
"Sure it is," replied Cera. "It's about grown-ups. I suppose you got the same lecture I did?"
"Mm-hmm." said the other dinos.
"You're too young to wander far." said Pebbles.
"We're not grown-ups, and we should remember that." added Bamm-Bamm.
"There are many dangers," added Thunderfoot. "I must always be careful."
"Don't hang around with Longnecks, Beak Faces, Spike-Tails, and humans," Cera then added before seeing the others looking at her funny as that last one seemed to be just her. "Well, it was mostly the same lecture."
"That's just what parents do, guys," Akito replied. "Especially my mom if I go out after dark. She says people can be dangerous on the streets."
"My mom says not to talk to Cuzzlewitzes." Raul spoke up.
"Grandpa and Grandma were mainly worried that I'd get hurt." Thunderfoot frowned softly.
"That's the problem!" Cera huffed. "They don't think we can take care of ourselves. We've gotta do something so the grown-ups will stop treating us like hatchlings."
"Cera right!" exclaimed Petrie.
"I agree, I do, I do!" added Ducky. "So what are we going to do?"
"Well..." Cera thought. "We could run away from home!"
"Ah, where we run?" asked Petrie.
"Hmm... Oh! We could just stay here!" Cera smiled.
"That's silly," Thunderfoot scoffed, unimpressed. "Anybody could find us here."
"Nuh-uh! See these rocks? This could be our hideout," Cera replied. "And we're up real high. Nobody could sneak up on us."
"Cera right!" Petrie added as they soon came out to the end to take a look around. "Look."
"You can see everything from up here!" Ducky smiled. "You can! You can!"
"It is a pretty nice view," Raul commented before looking out. "What's that going on at Ducky's nest though?"
The kids joined him shortly after.
"There's two guys there," said LJ. "But they're stealing an egg!"
"They're egg-napping part of our family." Ducky whimpered.
"Quick!" Thunderfoot suggested. "Let's tell the grown-ups!"
"No, wait!" Cera stopped them before smirking as she had an idea. "If we catch 'em ourselves, it'll show everyone that we're not babies anymore."
"Oh, yes!" Ducky agreed with the triceratops. "Yes, yes, yes!"
"Oh, I don't know about this." Chrissy said in concern.
"Well... We hafta do something!" Pebbles replied. "Yabba-Dabba-Doozy!"
"Oh, boy, here we go..." Bamm-Bamm said to the others.
"Look, scaredy!" Cera said to Kimberly. "There's a bunch of us and only two of them. What could go wrong? Hmm...?"
The other young dinosaurs soon looked hopeful, except for one lone longneck.
"Well..." Thunderfoot paused nervously.
"They're probably bigger than us." stated Martin.
"Not if we all work together," Cera smirked. "Plus can't one of you turn into dinosaurs like us?"
"I can..." Skye sighed a bit with her hands behind her back.
"Well... That's just Prime..." sighed Bamm-Bamm.
"Please?" Ducky soon asked.
"Oh... Not the cute eyes..." Kimberly flinched, seeing Ducky's cute eyes, having a hard time resisting.
Thunderfoot soon sighed in defeat. "Okay."
"Grr!" Cera then growled before they ran off together. "Let's go get 'em!"
"I got a bad feeling about this," Akito said. "Skye, I'm sorry to drag you into this."
"Oh, it's okay," Skye replied. "I'm just thankful to be involved in another adventure with you."
"Alright... Let's get moving." said LJ, taking a few rocks in his hands.
"Now remember, I get the first bite," Ozzy told his brother as he took an egg. "After all, this was my idea."
"Yo, bozo!" LJ shouted. "Put the egg down gentle-like, or else you're in for some major pain!"
"Huh? Look, don't-" Ozzy replied nervously, trying to grab the egg before it would fall and crack open before glaring to Strut. "Whew. Uh-oh. We've been spotted. I told you not to be so obvious!" he then ran away.
"Ozzy, wait for me!" Strut cried out, going after him as he grabbed the egg.
"Freeze, Pinky and Kowalski!" Chrissy called out.
"Nice." LJ approved.
"Thank you." Chrissy blushed thankfully.
"Bring back my brother, um, or sister!" Ducky called out to the egg thieves.
"Crankshaft... MAXIMIZE!" LJ exclaimed as he grew a metallic coating and shifted into a sabertooth tiger. "YOU'RE HORSE MEAT, BUB!"
Ozzy and Strut kept on running.
"You're not gonna get away so easily!" Skye yelled out, nearly roaring like a T-Rex.
LJ sprinted after the two dinosaurs. "Come back here and take your lumps!" he shouted.
Skye soon ran along with him before she soon became a T-Rex with her hair ribbon still on her head as she roared out.
"Whoa... I guess she can turn into dinosaurs..." Chrissy said nervously.
"They're heading for the Mysterious Beyond!" Cera exclaimed as the two dinosaurs continued running. "Maybe we should get help after all..."
"Too late now," said Thunderfoot. "They'll get away! This was your idea, you coming or not?"
"Yeah!" Most of the others added, though mostly Gaz.
Cera gave a bit of a scared puppy dog pout. Thunderfoot then went off then anyway as Skye began to go with him, growling like a true dinosaur.
"How big are they?" asked Ozzy.
Strut looked at the shadows. "Oh, they're big. Very big!" he replied.
Ozzy soon climbed up before looking down to see a hole. "Huh?"
It looked like a long way down.
"Whew..." Strut sighed as he soon climbed up beside his brother.
"Uh... You first!" Ozzy told Strut, pushing him down suddenly. He then jumped in after him.
They soon made it onto a ledge on the other side and took that time to run off. The others had come by as Skye growled before she now had pterodactyl wings and began to fly off with Petrie.
"It not so far," Petrie smiled to the others on the other side. "You can do it."
LJ leapt over to the other side.
"C'mon, Spike," urged Thunderfoot. "Hurry!"
Spike jumped after the others and Petrie, trying to climb up. Raul helped out his cousins and jumped to the next side with them. Spike then jumped next and he nearly flipped and fell, but luckily helped himself up to the other side.
"You want some help over?" Akito offered to Cera. "I could help you."
"I can do it!" Cera huffed before she soon jumped herself over to the other side. "See?!"
Ducky tried to leap over, but almost fell.
"Don't worry, I got her!" replied Cera as she climbed up.
Meanwhile, LJ and Skye were still pursuing Ozzy and Strut.
"Oh, I hope this egg is worth it..." sighed Strut.
"Worth it?" asked Ozzy. "ALL eggs are worth it, Bark-Brain!" he handed an egg to Strut. "Here, now come on!"
"Not on my watch!" Skye snarled as she looked very angry with her dinosaur DNA taking over.
"Love that enthusiasm," said LJ. "Let's put it to good use!"
Strut looked down. "Who are those guys?"
"C'mon... Let's go!" ordered Thunderfoot.
"Don't stop!" added Bamm-Bamm.
Dark and gray clouds soon filled the sky, passing by the full moon with slight rumbling, meaning that a storm was coming. It soon began to rain as they traveled after the egg thieves.
"Oh, no!" Cera frowned.
"Who said 'How could it possibly get any worse'?!" Zofia glared in accusatory.
"Nobody! It's just that the forecast called for rain!" said Bamm-Bamm.
"Acting grown-up is hard," replied Ducky. "It is, it is."
"Tell me about it." Pebbles pouted about that.
Petrie groaned as Spike soon carried him on his back.
"Aha! We made it, Strut," sighed Ozzy. "Those little grass-nippers will never be able to follow us now! It won't be long, egg; soon you'll be nestled in the pit of my stomach!"
The two of them walked to a cave.
"Oz, when's it your turn to hold the egg?" asked Strut.
The others soon came by only to see that the two thieves were now gone and out of sight.
"Where'd they go?" Petrie wondered as they looked around.
"I don't see anybody." Cera added.
"They are disappeared," Ducky frowned. "They are!"
"I just know that we should get inside before we catch cold." Jenny suggested.
"Good idea..." said LJ, shifting back to normal form. "We'll regroup in the morning."
"They must have gone in there," Thunderfoot said, finding a cave. "Come on."
"Well, maybe we should go wait in there for the night," Skye said, changing back to normal herself a bit. "It's not good for humans to be out in weather like this. We could get sick."
"Skye is right," replied LJ. "We can crash at the Flintstone place for the night, but the others will hafta head to the cave for now."
"You remember the way back home, right?" Zofia asked Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm.
"Yes, of course," Pebbles nodded. "Hopefully we can make it there, and hopefully Mom, Dad, and Grandma aren't worried about me."
"If we're lucky, they'll have gone to sleep a few hours ago," said Raul. "They won't even know we left."
The groups soon began to split up as Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm led the way, a bit bleary-eyed in the rain though.
Soon, they were led back to the neighborhood; Bamm-Bamm snuck in through his bedroom window, and Pebbles and the others snuck in through hers. Pebbles crawled right into her bed, wrapping herself in her blanket as she shivered from the cold, wet rain.
"You gonna be okay now?" Chrissy asked Skye.
"Yeah, the dinosaur DNA wears off after I calm down enough," Skye replied. "I'm still trying to learn how to fully control it, especially since I'm home-schooled."
"Well, you'd definitely be Maximal material." replied LJ.
"What's a Maximal?" Skye asked.
"Oh, they're a group of Transformers who crashlanded on Earth during the prehistoric era," explained LJ. "There's Rattrap, the pessimist and snarker; the spiritual Rhinox; hot-blooded Cheetor; former villain Dinobot; the cunning Blackarachnia; and leader-in-training Optimus Primal."
"Hmm... That sounds pretty interesting," Skye replied. "I guess I'll have to look them up."
"Sounds like fun," LJ replied as he put his Optimus Primal figure on the nightstand. "Though I figure I could be able to meet the Autobots at some point too."
"Hmm..." Skye smiled thoughtfully.
"I can't believe she's the daughter of Emma Gale, I just can't believe it." Chrissy said to herself in a bit of paranoia.
"How so?" asked LJ curiously.
Chrissy glanced over and looked away.
"Hey, you can talk to me." LJ told her.
"It's... It's complicated..." Chrissy sighed.
"Go ahead, try me," replied LJ. "I've been in complicated situations before."
"Well... Uh... Let's just say I know Skye's mother." Chrissy soon said.
"You were somehow in the Talent Star competition during that incident with Mystery Inc and the Phantoms, right?" asked LJ. "I'm not sure how exactly that works."
"Yes..." Chrissy sighed a bit. "Get comfortable, this is kind of a long story."
LJ shuffled into his sleeping bag. "Ready when you are."
"Well, all right," Chrissy said as she got comfortable with him. "I'll start off with my parents. My parents... Weren't exactly model parents like maybe yours are or everyone else's. After they realized that I had a lovely singing voice, they decided they could use my talent somehow to lead them into a life of fame and fortune. That was, of course, when we came to Talent Star so that I could be on the show, and of course, I was with my imaginary friend Berry at the time. I didn't realize how bad my life kind of was, though behind the scenes, my parents always pushed me to be as good as I could be in singing, and though I seemed to enjoy the spotlight back then on the outside, on the inside, I was a bit unhappy."
LJ shook his head. "Stage parents. I've seen it too many times..." he replied.
"Especially in beauty pageants," Chrissy added. "After my father was arrested, I decided to run away from home. My mother, my biological aunt, and I went back to our hotel, but while she was sleeping, I packed a bag and climbed out the window in my room, and I just kept walking and didn't stop. I was in an alley for a while since I didn't know what to do... Then I saw a small van pulling up..."
Chrissy was shown to be running away and leaving the big city after her father was arrested, looking emotional about leaving, but she felt like she had no other choice until she soon sat in an alley, doing whatever she could do to get food or survive since she had no money or support.
"Biological aunt?" LJ asked. "So Adagio, Aria, and Sonata aren't really your aunts?"
"Biologically, I guess not, but I'll get to that." Chrissy replied.
"Okay." LJ nodded.
"I was on my own for a while," Chrissy then continued. "I hated that I ran away with nowhere to go, but I didn't know what else to do. Eventually, I found jobs for taking out the trash or washing dishes in restaurants and even became a waitress despite my young age. I then heard about an upcoming music festival, and I thought I'd try to use the money I earned to go there to get some good food... Then I heard some singing unlike any other."
Chrissy was shown to be looking around in the music festival, looking a bit different now since she didn't have much of a glamorous life anymore, but no one seemed to know her or recognize her as she soon came to a trio of singers who were soon revealed to be The Dazzlings.
"We had a bit of an interesting meeting..." Chrissy then narrated.
Adagio and Aria looked hostile while Sonata beamed and cooed to Chrissy.
"Ooh, she's cute, you guys," Sonata beamed. "Can we keep her? Can she keep us?!~"
"...Can we?" asked Aria. "It'll be the only way to shut her up."
"Where'd you come from, kid?" Adagio asked Chrissy.
"Um, it's a bit of a long, complicated story," Chrissy replied. "I've been on my own for months now."
"Haven't you got a family?" Sonata then pouted.
"Not so much anymore." Chrissy shook her head.
Sonata gasped. "That's terrible! She totally needs a family! Hey... Maybe we could be her family!" she suggested.
"Us?" Adagio and Aria asked.
"Yeah!" Sonata beamed. "We're kind of having a rough life ourselves, so maybe this little lady could help brighten up our day."
Adagio and Aria glanced to each other before Sonata giggled and hugged Chrissy out of pure joy.
"Eh... I guess so," Adagio shrugged. "Not like we have anything better to do in this world."
Aria sighed. "Fine..." she sighed. "Guess we're family now, kid."
Chrissy looked a bit hopeful.
Shortly after the music festival ended, the Dazzlings rode home with Chrissy as a new part of the family.
"Sometimes I wish I could do my childhood ever again," Chrissy said, looking out the window wistfully. "Have a chance to be a kid again. My parents usually saw me as just a trophy than a daughter."
"Gosh, and I thought we were bad." Adagio commented.
"Well, we're gonna treat you like one of our own!" Sonata replied. "We promise!"
Chrissy smiled hopefully from that. Adagio and Aria weren't too sure about that as they soon came to their home in the forest which was their own little cottage like when Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather raised Sleeping Beauty AKA Princess Aurora who they called Briar Rose.
"Well, that explains that," LJ said to Chrissy, not mad though. "So, how are you still young now if you should probably be an adult by now?"
"Right... That..." Chrissy said. "Well, some people wish to be young forever. I guess my wish came true somehow... Like that child star from Gotham City."
"You mean Mary Dahl?" asked LJ. "Although unlike her, I guess your aging was slowed down..."
"Something like that, yes," Chrissy replied. "After a few birthdays, Adagio said something must've been in the air when I wished to relive my childhood with the Dazzlings taking care of me. I know it sounds strange, but I guarantee you that it really happened."
"Hey, I understand," replied LJ. "And... It doesn't make me love ya any less."
"Really...?" Chrissy asked, looking over at him, a bit emotionally.
"Really," said LJ. "Tell ya what: after this is over... We can go on a date."
Chrissy smiled bashfully. "Just for the heck of it?" she then asked.
"Just for the heck of it." LJ nodded.
Chrissy soon thanked him with a hug as she felt really good inside. "Wow, it felt nice to tell someone that story." she then said in relief.
"Hey, when you got a problem, I'm all ears." said LJ.
"You're sweet," Chrissy giggled. "Why couldn't I have met a guy like you when I was with my parents?"
"Guess you just needed time." replied LJ.
"Yeah, I guess so," Chrissy said. "I just hope that Skye girl doesn't get mad at me since I sorta hated her mom back then as well as everyone else involved with 'The Phantom of the Talent Show'."
"That was in the past," said LJ. "And you're a different person than you once were. She'll hopefully not blame you for what happened back then."
"I guess I won't know unless I see her somehow." Chrissy replied.
"Hopefully that won't happen for a long while." replied LJ.
"Yes, I suppose you're right," Chrissy said before taking his hand. "Thank you so much for listening to my story."
"It's no trouble, really." smiled LJ.
Chrissy smiled back before hugging him, then kissing his cheek in thanks. LJ blushed at that as he settled into his sleeping bag for the rest of the rainy night.
"I hope Thunderfoot and the others will be okay." Chrissy whispered before she pulled down a sleep mask to get some sleep.
"Me too." LJ nodded as he dozed off.
It seemed to be a peaceful night so far despite the rain. Eventually, the night gave way to the morning.