Chapter 4 – Lizards of London
London, England…
It was a well-known and practiced ritual in London. The first few drops of rain would start the fall, giving just enough time for umbrellas to be raised, for those who could dashed indoors and for everyone to brace themselves. Then would come the deluge. The heavens opened bathing all below in a cascade of icy water.
Zander and Ed shivered as they trudged along behind Ursula along Regent Street. Between the three of them, they only had one Umbrella, which was, of course, being used by Ursula exclusively despite being large enough to cover all three.
A trio of tiny dinosaurs brought up the rear; Terry, Mycaelis and Blue. Surprisingly, they attracted very little attention from passers-by. Perhaps they were assumed to just be strange looking dogs, or maybe Londoners were just too busy or uninterested in the people around them in their hurry to get out of the storm.
"Ugh, this is absurd. Here we are in London because of a bone-headed bone game that Doctor Z likes to play," Ursula groaned. "And to be quite honest, I'm quite surprised at the both of you for buying into it."
"But Ursula, all you've been doing the whole time is shopping anyway," groaned an equally despondent Ed. "And we're supposed to be looking for dinosaurs."
Unlike Ursula he had rather more to complain about. Soaking wet with only a jacket to shield him from the rain and loaded down with the fruits of the mornings work – Ursula's shopping. Several heavy bags full.
His remark earned him a womp over the head from Ursula. "Oh, then it's my mistake, I thought we were here looking for designer stores!"
"Well, that's an easy mistake to make," laughed Zander, sarcastically. "It could happen to anybody."
Ursula ignored him.
While arguing amongst themselves, the Alpha trio had had failed to notice how their dinosaurs were faring in the wet and the cold. When dinosaurs had ruled the earth 65 million years ago, the earth's climate was around eight degrees warmer.
Needless to say, this rainy day in London was far more frigid than they were used to. Even Terry, the mightily tyrannosaur, was struggling. He shivered as he wrapped his small arms around himself in an effort to keep warm. The wind and the rain felt almost like knives against his skin.
"Terry, you okay." Mycaelis put an arm around his tyrannosaur boyfriend to comfort him.
"Just cold," Terry replied, pressing himself as close to Mycaelis as he could. They rubbed the ends of their noses together in a gesture of mutual affection.
"Could really use feathers now," Blue grumbled from behind. "All the humans in this period seem to think we have them."
The other two dinosaurs let to snorts of ironic laughter, as blue threw his head back, looking up at the London skyline and the rainclouds above. "What has happened to this world?"
[Dinosaur]
Meanwhile, somewhere on the river Thames…
The Never Taken was a 35-meter luxury Yacht, complete with a full bar, pool and cabins that could house up to six guests. It belongs to an obscure Russian Oligarch who frequented London and who owned a large amount of real estate and business holdings around Woolrich. It was also quite ironically named for what was about to happen.
An unfortunate series of events…A small rift in time and space opened causing an egg like object to enter the world, appearing on a tray just as it was slid into the hot oven. It split open to reveal a pair of cards lying inside.
The chef on the boat was Australian – a former restaurant owner hired to work exclusively on the yacht when it was at sea. Or in this case on the river. He would later go onto tell a journalist writing for an obscure conspiracy theory magazine the last thing he remembered seeing was a bright white light before it appeared…
"MROO…"
The dinosaur was a tarbosaurus bataar; A tyrannosaurid of a similar size and shape to tyrannosaurs rex. Indeed, this theropod rather resembled Terry, except his scales were bright green, and his skin had a rougher texture to it.
Being 10 meters in length from muzzle to the tip of his tail, 3 meters tall, and weighing 4.5 tones, his presence caused the Never Taken to sway horribly as its way along the river Thames. After all, the dinosaur was nearly a third of the size of the boat.
In fact, his card activating had blown the entire top deck, including the yacht's wheel, to shatter into smitheries. There were screams and yells from the crew and passengers, as they all desperately threw themselves off the vessel and into the freezing water of the Thames or else into any confided space that in an attempt to hide from the almighty lizard.
But Tarbosaurus wasn't interested in those. He was more alarmed to have found itself stuck on this Shakey object in the middle of a large body of water, in the freezing cold. He gave a great roar of anger and confusion, his head throwing this way and that. More of the yacht disintegrated around him as he shuffled trying to keep balanced.
"RAAHHHHH!"
[Pokémon]
Back on Regent Street…
"Ahh there's nothing like a hot cup of tea on a rainy day," said Ursula happily as she sipped the warm perfuming liquid from the ivory bone team cup.
The Alpha Gang had chosen to wait out the storm at the Langham Hotel, one of the largest and best known of the traditional-style hotels in London. Hot tea and crumpets in a warm cushy parlour were far preferable to the rain outside.
The room was spacious, boasting a large king-sized bed, coffee table and chairs, two long sofas a dresser and a television set. The trio and their dinosaurs had certainly made themselves comfortable.
Ursula and Ed were sitting at the table, drinking tea and diving into the plate of crumpets. Zander lounged on the couch, while the velociraptors made themselves comfortable on the bed. And Terry was trying to pull down the drapes with his jaws.
"English hotels are so classy," exclaimed Zander. "Each room has its own butler."
The butler, a portly man dressed not in a black and white butlers' suit but instead a fluffy pink bathrobe cleared his throat angrily. "Actually, I'm not a butler. This was my room before you broke in here."
"Graahh." Blue raised his head and snarled at him playfully, raising a claw warningly.
The man in the robe jumped, holding his hands out apologetically. "Umm, but the more the merrier and all that."
"Make with the tea Jeeves," said Ursula flatly, holding out her cup.
"Yes, very good sir." The man picked up a large tea pot sitting on the table to refill her cup, muttering something about "my name isn't Jeeves," under his breath.
No sooner had he put it down however, than Terry decided that the fully pink robe would make an excellent chew toy. He bit down on the flap hanging around the man's ankles and pulled.
"Ahh. Get off me, you little…"
Fortunately for him, the Alpha scanner started to beep at the precise moment that the little t-rex succeeded in pulling the robe off him, and leaving him dressed in nothing but boxer shorts, serving as the perfect distraction from his humiliation.
"Have you three blockheads found my dinosaur yet!" Dr Z barked, when Ursula pulled out the device and answered the call. Ed and Zander gathered around, each standing behind Ursula.
"Uhh still looking for it, Doctor Z," said Ursula sheepishly. "London's a big city after all."
"Really." Doctor Z glowered at them from out of the little screen. "According to the Alpha scanner you're in a hotel. You'd better not be playing hooky and having tea somewhere while my dinosaur is out there."
"Of course not," replied a now blushing Ursula. "We thought the dinosaur might have snuck into the kitchens here. You know, all that cooking meat and fresh vegetables and all."
Doctor Z didn't believe a word of it. "Well, you'd better just make sure you don't return without the card! Or the raptors might just be having a tea party of their own. WITH YOUR BLOOD AS THE TEA!"
The three of them flinched as he bellowed the last sentence. Fortunately, at that point the Alpha scanner started flashing and beeping again. The call with the Doctor was cut off as a map appeared, a little red-light blinking.
"Hey what's this," stuttered Ursula in surprised.
"The dinosaur," gasped Ed his eyes widening. "It must have appeared."
It was Ursula's turn to scowl. "Don't tell me those stupid bones were right."
Zander leaned into to take a closer look. "Hmm…The signal is coming from the Thames. And it's not too far from here."
"Then what are we waiting for." The three jumped to their feet, and the three dinosaurs leapt to attention. "ALPHA AWAY!"
[Dinosaur]
The rain came as a shock…
Walking out of a warm building and into a rainstorm is one thing. One has time to prepare, to brace themselves for the cold. To open an umbrella or pull on a raincoat. To be teleported into the middle of a cold London deluge was something quite different. There was no time to prepare. To Max, Rex, Chomp and Ace the teleportation from the D-Labs felt as though a trapdoor had opened beneath them and dropping them into a tub of icy water.
"Oh, man it's cold," Max groaned. He was holding Chomp in his arms and cuddle the little chibi form triceratops closer to him. His red jacket had quickly proven itself poor protection against the rain.
"Rahh." Chomp gave a similar groan of displeasure.
"That figure," muttered Rex irritably.
"Wah Wah Wah!" Worse affected of all was Ace. The tarbosaurus jumped from once foot to another yelping as though each droplet on his skin were acid. Finally, he threw himself into Rex's arms.
"Oh, are you alright Ace," rex asked, grimacing as he looked down at his little dinosaur. "Here." He wrapped the small theropod in his blue jacket. "He hates water remember," Rex added as Max gave him a quizzical look.
"C'mon we need to find the dinosaur," grunted Max. "Where do you suppose it is? Where are we?"
He looked around. The teleporter had brought them to an alley behind two grey concrete buildings in goodness knowns what part of London. Certainly not one of the fun parts, he thought to himself. They weren't likely to see any of the famous sites on this trip.
As if on que, somebody shouted, "HEY THERE'S A GIANT LIZARD IN THE RIVER!"
The two boys looked at each other and nodded.
[Dinosaur]
The river Thames, which flows from Thames Head in Gloucestershire to the North Sea at Tilbury, right through the heart of London, is one of the world's busiest navigable water ways, teeming with all manner of water vessels; everything from ocean going ships, to ferries, police launches, canal boats and tiny craft.
But while the boats floated upon the surface, the depths of the river proved a useful throughfare for the Alpha Gang. Mostly thanks to Doctor Z's invention, the Alpha Torpedo shuttle. Shaped a little like a fish, with two fins on each side and a dorsal fin on its back, and a powerful electric propulsion system on the back, it powered up the Thames.
"We're right on the dinosaur's tail," exclaimed a happy Zander from the pilot seat.
"What do you," added Ursula. "For once one of Doctor Z's inventions worked."
"So, where's it saying the dinosaur is known Zander?" enquired Ed.
Zander looked at the radar system beside the main control console. "Hmmm it's in a place called Canary Wharf! Alright. Prepare to surface."
[Dinosaur]
Finding the dinosaur didn't prove too hard…Just follow the screams and shouts. Max and Rex, Chomp and Ace made their way out of the alley and down a brief stretch of road, into a complex of buildings on the bank of the river. There a gaggle of onlookers had gathered by the railing separating the forecourt from the Thames to get a look at the giant lizard perched on the million-pound yacht like a boogie board.
"It's a tarbosaurus," cried Max, as they managed to push their way to the forefront.
As he spoke, Tarbosaurus reared its head and let out a loud cry of anger and distress.
"And it doesn't sound happy!"
"Maybe it can't swim," mused Max.
As they watched, a small watercraft with blue flashing lights approached the yacht. It was hard to make out exactly what was happening in the rain, but squinting it looked like somebody had fired a gun at it. A tranquilizer or a rifle.
Tarbosaurus let out another cry before rearing its head again. This time a ball of fire appeared its mouth and it fired a jet of fire at the other boat, engulfing it in flames. A second later there was an explosion. The fire musts have gotten to its fuel tank.
"What was that?" exclaimed Max.
Rex clutched his hands into fists. "It's move card must have activated too!"
The sudden fiery display caused pandemonium on the quayside. Where those present had only a second ago been curious, now they were running scared, and the two boys and their Dino's had to fight not to be swept away with the crowd.
As if to make matters worse, it was at that point that the Alpha Torpedo Submarine chose to surface…
[Dinosaur]
"What is that thing, another T-Rex," Ursula exclaimed, as the hatch shot open and the Alpha Trio, Terry, Mycaelis and Blue climbed out.
"Close," said Zander. "It's actually a tarbosaurus, a close relative of tyrannosaurus."
"Well fellas," said Mycaelis to the other two dinosaurs, folding his arms. "Look who it is."
Blue and Terry looked up at the tarbosaurus, blue's eyes widening and Terry's jaw dropping open.
"Oh."
"Him."
"G"DAY, SPECKLES," Mycaelis called out across the water. "GOOD TO SEE YA AGAIN."
The tarbosaurus head snapped around to look at them. For a moment he squinted, trying to make out who had called his name. Upon spotting the Alpha Gang, he had a similar reaction to the other two theropods, his eyes widening in surprise. Then his roared at them. Not a roar of distress, but this time of pure rage.
He wasn't the only one to have recognised the Alpha Gang. From the river bank, a familiar voice called out. "Hey, it's the Alpha Gang. Look, there's the old lady!"
Ursula turned angrily on the spot. Even though the rain, she spotted the two members of the D-Team. "Stop calling me an old lady! Anyway brats, this is a serious expedition the Alpha Gang is on, not a field trip for little kiddies. So why don't you pack up your lunchboxes and go back home!"
"You won't get to the dinosaur before us," Max shouted back.
"We'll see about that!" Ursula turned back to Ed. "Ed, go capture that tarby-whats-asuarus."
"Tarbosaurus," Zander corrected her.
Ed pulled out his Alpha Scanner and a card. "Alright, ALPHA SLASH…Dive mosasaurs!" He swiped the card through the slot in the device and it started to glow in his hand.
Then, in a flash of bright white light, the great form of Levi the mosasaur dived into the Thames with an almighty splash. The subsequently ripples caused the Alpha submarine to sway and lapped at the bank of the river. It would have soaked Max and Rex had they not already been soaked from the rain.
"Whoa I've never see that dinosaur before," exclaimed Max as he gaped at the great marine reptile. "How long have the Alpha Gang had that."
"It's a mosasaur," said Rex. "They're going to use it capture tarbosaurus."
Max gritted his teeth and held up his Dino holder. "Not if I can help it. DINO SLASH…Triceratops roar." Like Ed, he swiped a card through a slot in the device.
Chomp, who was standing beside him, started to glow until he was nothing more than an orb of light. The light was then sucked into the card, before bursting out and reforming as a full-sized triceratops. Complete with three giant horns.
"WAAAAHHHH!" Chomp roared, rearing onto his hind legs and waving his two front feet in the air.
"Levi, knock that tarbosaurus into the river," cried Ed.
Levi obediently dived; his massive form just visible under the surface of the water. A massive wake formed in the water around him. He rose up just beside the Never Taken, causing it to flip over as though it were a mere toy. The tarbosaurus disappeared under the water.
There were subsequently cries of triumph and horror from the Alpha Gang and the D-Team respectively.
"YES! Way to go Levi"
"OH NO!"
Under the water, Tarbosaurus…Speckles was his name….Allowed himself to sink, away from the wreckage of the Never Taken, before kicking out with his giant hide legs towards the surface. Like all therapods, Speckles was a strong swimmer; airless bones allowed him to float, while large hind legs and feet were great for kicking.
But of course, the mosasaurs were a much more able swimmer…
Levi shot through the water like a torpedo, propelled by his long shark like tail. Before Speckles could reach the surface, Levi was upon him, locking his giant jaws around the poor tarbosaurus neck, and pulling him down.
Speckles was no helpless shark and was more than capable of fighting back against the mosasaur. He kicked his giant legs and bit into the side of Levi's head with his teeth, all the while thrashing to get himself free. But here in the water, the mosasaur's territory, Levi had the advantage.
"Now all we need to do is wait for him to run out of air, and he'll turn back into a card," said Ed, dusting his hands in mock triumph. From the surface the underwater dinosaur duel was little more than bubbles and waves as the two lizards thrashed about.
"Alright Chomp, do you reckon you could get in there," Max asked his partner desperately, before turning to Rex and adding, "Triceratops can swim right."
"Of course, Chomp can swim," replied Rex. "Most dinosaurs can swim…. Except." He looked down at Ace still wrapped in his jacket, his face pressed against his chest.
Max took a deep breath, before taking out another card and raising it in preparation to swipe. "Okay Chomp. Thunder Baa…"
BOOM!
Before he could swipe however, a bright orange light appeared from the middle of the river, as a mighty explosion caused water to launch into the sky like a geyser. Two things happened simultaneously.
Firstly, Levi was throwing clean out of the Thames and into the air. In a bizarre spectacle, the giant mosasaurs rose up high into the air, flipped over and landed on his back on top of the Alpha Gang's subs.
"WAAAAHHH."
The three humans all screamed in unison, while Mycaelis cried out, "Oh fuck," and grabbed a hold of Terry's claw, before submarine split in two and they were all dragged under the water.
A second later, Speckles surfaced and started swimming towards the shore.
"Now's your chance Max!" cried Rex.
Max nodded and raised his card again. "Alright Chomp. Thunder Bazooka!"
Chomp's body and horns surged with electricity as he took a run before leaping into the air. He swirled around and around as he dived down into the Thames towards Speckles. But Speckles was ready for him, opening his jaws wide again to shoot another jet of fire into the air. The move was so powerful it sent Chomp flying back onto the shore where fortunately, he landed on his feet.
"Oh no," gasped Max, slapping his cheek with his hand. "It's too powerful."
The Alpha gang had resurfaced. Terry, Mycaelis and Blue, now in the full forms, were paddling after Speckles. Ursula and Zander were clinging onto a piece of submarine debris floating on the surface.
"Uhh, I try so hard," whined Ursula as she spat out a mouthful of water.
"Hey what's Ed doing," asked Zander, half dazed.
Ed was floating nearby…Well, not so much floating as flailing. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
"Oh," he doesn't know how to swim remember," said Zander.
"Then perhaps you should get out there and save him." Ursula lifted and leg and kicked him off the wreckage and back into the river.
"I'm not much better!" Zander cried in protest.
Fortunately, at that moment Levi resurfaced from below and the members of the Alpha Gang rose onto his back. Ursula and Zander just behind his head, with Ed closer to the tail. Speckles had made it to the river bank, but Terry, Mycaelis and Blue were only inches behind. One after the other the four theropods clambered out of the Thames and onto the shores of Canary Wharf.
"Well, this is turning into a lovey afternoon now isn't it," Mycaelis cackled as the three Alpha Gang dinosaurs moved into attack formation. The two raptors taking either flank of the tarbosaurus, while Terry confronted it head on. Speckles quickly realised he was backed into a corner. "Good to see ya, Spackles! Remember us?"
