Chapter 8 – Construction sight fight

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky, casting longer and longer shadows, and the air was cool and breezy without being cold. School was out, but it was still several hours before the end of the workday, so the streets weren't that busy as Max and Rex made their way home.

"Oh man, I can't believe we got so much homework," Max complained.

"It's not that much," Rex replied, frowning at him with some concern.

"Easy for you to say. I haven't finished the stuff from last week." Max let out a long sigh. The science work would be easy; fossil layers weren't new to someone as obsessed with dinosaurs as he was. But the mathematics was going to take him the next couple of evenings at least. "And if another dinosaur appears."

Rex shrugged. "Ace and I can always just go," he replied, giving Max a sly grin. "If you need time to study."

Max shot him a coy grin. "In your dreams." It was so cute it made Rex blush slightly, and he turned his head in the hope that Max wouldn't notice.

It was happening a lot recently. The blushing, the feeling of butterflies in his stomach and the…fantasies that would visit him in the night. Rex and Max had been friends since childhood and had spent a lot of time growing up together. Now Rex was confronted with the fact his feelings towards Max might be more than just friendship.

There was however, just one major problem….

"Ouch…" Rex felt something sharp strike him in the back of his right leg, nearly causing him to lose balance. He looked down and saw Chomp standing beside him, wearing a deep scowl on his face, shaking his head from side to side ever so slightly.

The message was very clear…Max is mine, not yours!

The dinosaurs went with Max and Rex nearly everywhere they went. It was too dangerous to leave them back in the lab. After all, who knew when the Alpha Gang might show up to take them back, or when another dinosaur card might appear.

In school the dinosaurs stayed in their card forms….Not that was of much help to Rex. High School would have been worst place to make a move on his friend. And school was pretty much the only place Max didn't have Chomp with him. They slept together, ate together; practically everywhere Max went the little triceratops followed him.

Ace, for his part, was busy chasing pigeons just a little way ahead of the two boys up the street. Not noticing what was going on between the others. "Ace don't go too far ahead," Rex called out warningly from time to time.

"You okay," Max asked with a frown, spinning back around, and looking at him with some concern.

Oh dear, that look was so cute, Rex was having a hard time keeping his composure. "Yeah, I'm fine Max. It's just…I think I tripped on something."

Max coxed his head, his eyes still full of concern. "Okay. Try to be more careful."

Chomp continued to glower at Rex, before strolling up to Max and rubbing his body against his legs. He let out a little bark of, "Yahh," and started wagging his long tail. Max looked down and picked the dinosaur up, placing him on his shoulders the way one might a child, with Chomp's head resting on his own.

No sooner was he up there, than Chomp stuck his tongue out at Rex, mocking him. Rex felt a surge of anger, and he clenched his fist, but managed to retain his composure. Max, thinking the sudden burst of annoyance as aimed at him, held up a hand and apologise.

"Hey I'm sorry. I just don't want you to get hurt is all."

They wandered on a little further, and the conversation turned to dinosaurs and the Alpha Gang…

"How's that Parasaurolophus we found," Rex asked. "Any improvement."

Max sighed heavily and shook his head. "In and out. He woke up early yesterday morning around 3:00am, but then fell back into a coma. The injuries are healing though. So that's good." He bit his lip. "Man, I'd like to know who those Alpha gang creeps are and why they're trying to find dinosaur cards…"

"I just want to know what the dinosaur cards are," said Rex. "I mean dinosaurs that turn into cards. In the twenty first century!"

"I don't really care where they come from," replied Max, glancing up at Chomp sitting on his head, a fond smile crossing his face. "I just want to stop those creeps from hurting and experimenting on them. Funny, I've always wanted to make friends with a dinosaur. If it wasn't for the Alpha Gang this would be a dream come true…"

This made Chomp let out a happy little yap, his tail wagging…Rex sighed and glanced down at his feet again. His face burned as he all but felt Chomp glance and scowl at him one again. Max raised a head to rub Chomp's flank.

Rex's moment of personal awkwardness was broken at that moment by loud beeping and the feeling of something vibrating against his forearm. He pulled back his sleeve to reveal his Dino-holder.

"Hey, it looks like another dinosaur has appeared!" he exclaimed, experiencing a lurch in his stomach.

Max did a double take. "Quick we better get back to the lab." Without really thinking about what he was doing, he reached out and seized hold of Rex's hand and started pulling him along the street. "C'mon…"

Rex felt multiple sensations at once; a pain in his arm at being pulled, the beating of his heart and his stomach lurch as though he'd just done a summersault being among them. Max was actually holding his hand. Neither the sensation nor the physical contact lasted long however as he suddenly realised something, and he forced them both to come to a stop.

"Wait…Where's Ace."

The mini-Carnataurous was right above them, scaling the walls of a building. His rationale for such a daring adventure…There was a cat sitting on a windowsill above, hissing at the purple lizard like creature as it drew closer. Ace was staring transfixed at it, licking his lips.

"Wow for a dinosaur that's normally so large Ace is a pretty good climber," commended Max.

Rex however groaned in exasperation. "Ace. Get down from there. ACE!"

"Carr." Ace turned his head and looked down as he heard his tamer calling out his name. Unfortunately, he continued to move as he did so, as wasn't quite careful enough about where he put his foot claw.

"Taaah."

One misstep caused him to lose balance. His right foot claw slipped causing him to lose his grip on the wall, sending him cascading to the ground.

"ACE!" Rex gave a cry and rushed to try and catch him, though he wasn't able to make it in time.

Fortunately, there was an open bin beside someone's front door waiting to catch him…Rex let out a heavy sigh. "Oh man, Ace!" He took a deep breath as he approached the bin, the pungent aroma of rotten food and the usual household disposables hitting him in the face as he leaned over to pull the little dinosaur out. He tried to block out the sound of Max and Chomp laughing.

However, just as he was reaching in, another sound pieced the air around him….Somebody across the road screamed. Rex spun around and, to his and Max's astonishment, saw a troop of robots marching up the street. Human shaped but with thin wispy metallic bodies and a very familiar purple A shaped symbolled painted on the chest plates.

"Droid…Droid…Droid….Droid."

"Aren't those," Max murmured, tentatively raising a finger to point at the droids as they marched by.

"The Alpha Gang," agreed Rex.

It was speak of the devil alright.

"And you can bet wherever they're going, is where the dinosaur will be!"

[Dinosaur]

Meanwhile…

"Oh great…Now my head's stuck."

Mycaelis coxed his head, unable to keep the smirk off his face at the sight of Spiny, laying on the floor with his head inside a small set of chemical toilets that had been placed in the corner of the yard.

"Ooh I'm sorry Spiny," wailed Terry with a grimace, a hot feeling of guilt coming over him.

The bet had sounded innocent enough. "One more game of tic take toe," Mycaelis had insisted. "Come on, before I get so bored and make a snack of Ed." When Terry raised an eyebrow, he added, "Meh, I get hungry when I'm bored."

Terry let out a groan. "Come on Mykie. That game sucks."

"Yeah, but there's nothing else to do, unless you want to roll dirt. Tell you what, let's make it interesting. Truth or dare to the winner. You win, you get to ask me anything."

Terry rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Is there anything about you that I don't already know."

Mycealis let out a long sigh. "So, then give me a dare. Now come on, make your move." He quickly scratched a grid in the dust.

Terry's turn to sigh – long and defeated. "Fine!"

And, of course, had had lost again. And in punishment…

"I choose dare," said Mycaelis, an evil grin plastered across his muzzle. "Tehehe…I dare you to trip Spiny on his way out of the tunnel."

Terry gaped at him. "What…No way!"

The grin on the velociraptor's face widened. "Hey, you agreed to the terms. Truth or dare to the winner, remember."

"Yeah, but come on," whined Terry. "I can't do that. Spiny will kill me."

Mycealis rolled his eyes. "Fine, truth then. Are you, or are you not sexually attracted to Levi?" His shit-eating grin widened as Terry sighed, his head and tail drooping in a defeated manner.

"Alright, alright, you win. I'll do it…"

The prank with even more spectacle than either Terry or Mycaelis had anticipated. When Spiny next exited the tunnel, he didn't just walk out. He came sprinting – chasing after a large ball of dirt…a practical boulder than came preceded him out of the tunnel like a giant soccer ball.

"Come back, dirt ball, come back," Spiny called after it. "Oh, how the hell can it roll uphill. Great idea Tank, push it up the hill with shockwave…WHOA!"

The timing was perfect. Terry swung his tail around as Spiny came running by. The force of impact caused Spiny to fall head over heels, and then roll several times until the momentum was finally stopped by the block of portable chemical toilets, which collapsed around him as he crashed into.

"Damn it Terry…I'm going to kill you for this," he cried, as he tried to pull himself free, pushing as much as his arms would permit.

"S-s-sorry," stuttered Terry, as he watched racked with guilt.

Mycaelis had doubled over laughing, much to Spiny's chagrin.

"It's not funny guys…Ugh…There's shit up my nose, that should not be up my nose!"

"I think you'll find that is shit mate," laugh Mycaelis.

"GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

"Alright alight, hold on," cried Terry. He threw a scowl at Mycaelis, signalling to his boyfriend this is your fault, before walking up to Spiny lowering his head and biting down on his right foot claw.

"FUCK…What the hell Terry!" Spiny cried, as the tyrannosaurus rex pulled on his legs, trying to get him free of the makeshift building. "Stop…STOP! That's not helping!"

"What's going on in here?"

Two voices called out simultaneously, one from in front one from behind. Terry spat Spiny's leg out and looked up at the gate. Mycaelis looked over his shoulder at the entrance to the tunnel. Ursula, Ed, Zander, and Tank had exited the tunnel at the same time as Max, Rex, Chomp and Ace, entered the yard.

"A Tyrannosaurs and a Velociraptor," remarked Max.

"And a Spinosaurus too," added Rex.

Max's cast his eyes around noting the large ball of dirt that had finally come to a stop near a pile of concrete piping, and the entrance to the tunnel in the pit. "Looks like they were moving rock and Spinosaurus got its head stuck and…" And that was when he spotted Ursula and the others, and with a gasp added, "the old lady! We should have known."

A look of murder flashed across Ursula's face. "You'd better not be talking to me," she snapped, pointing at Max.

"What are you doing in this construction site?" Rex demanded.

To which Ursula snapped, "It's none of your business what we're doing. Mycaelis, Terry! Get them!"

Mycaelis and Terry sprung up and advanced on the two teenagers. The ground trembled as the Tyrannosaurs rex moved, and the roar he let out echoed off the buildings all around. Max turned to his friend, crying out urgently, "Are you ready Rex!"

"Sure am," he replied.

Dino-holders were raised, and cards drawn, and the two boys gave a unified cry of "DINO-SLASH!"

"Triceratops Roar!"

"Carnataurous. Blow them away!"

In bursts of light the two little dinosaurs at their sides grew to their full size so as to match Terry and Mycaelis and the air filled with the sound of their battle cries. The battle had begun! Chomp attacked first, charging at Terry his horns aimed at his vulnerable throat and chest.

By Mykie launched into action to protect his boyfriend, taking a running jump at Chomp. He was successful in leaping over Chomp's horns and landing on the triceratops, where he sunk his sharp teeth and claws into the exposed scales. Chomp let out a cry of pain and stopped dead in his tracks.

Terry was left free to have at Ace. The two massive theropods attacked each other with their big jaws, each trying to rip at the other's neck. There was a might CRASH as their two massive bodies clashed together. Roars of aggression and anguish filled the air.

"This looks bad Max!" Rex exclaimed, his heart thumping in his chest and his stomach turning over as he watched Terry biting down hard on his Dino-partner's neck.

Meanwhile, everybody had forgotten poor Spiny, with his head stuck in the portable toilets. His shouts of, "HEY GUYS, WHAT ABOUT ME!" and "I'M STILL SUCK HERE," fell on deaf ears. Until finally, Tank took pity on him.

"Hang on Spiny, I'm coming."

The Saichania took a hold of the end of Spiny's tail in his mouth and bit down hard.

"Ah…That my tail you Idiot."

And takin no notice of Spiny's objections started pulling.

"Yah…Ah…AHHHH…Tank that's not helping!" yelped Spiny. "STOOOOOP!"

"Alright Terry. Finish him off with volcano burst," Ursula cried, swiping a card through her own Alpha scanner.

A ball of flames appeared in Terry's maw, which he spat at Ace. Rex could only watch in horror as his Carnataurous disappeared in a spiral of flames. There was a faint flash of light from within the otherwise bright orange flames as Ace turned back into a card. That left only Chomp to fight the Alpha Gang. And Chomp was laying on the ground as Mycaelis repeatedly jumped on his back.

"Ahahaha…face it kiddies," laughed a gleeful Ursula. "You're no match for the Alpha Gang. Now why don't you run along and hopscotch and leave the dinosaurs for us."

"And you can leave that triceratops and Carnataurous card with us, thanks," added Ed.

"Ugh." Max clenched his fists an overwhelming sense of anger and fear erupting within him.

Rex put a hand on his shoulder. "I think we're going to have to retreat and regroup Max. You need to call Chomp back before…MAX!"

Max brushed his friend off and, to everybody's surprise, threw himself right into the dinosaur battle. He took a run at Mycaelis and crashed tackled him, throwing himself over Chomp and into the Velociraptor.

Caught off guard and by surprise, Mycaelis was thrown off Chomp and too the ground, with Max on top of him.

"Leave him alone," Max cried, as he punched Mycaelis hard in the muzzle and neck.

But that was where Max's upper hand ended. The raptor was nearly as big as he was and far more muscular. He kicked out with his powerful legs, pushing Max off him and onto his back and in a flash was on top of him. Max quickly found himself pinned to the ground with the raptor's right foot claw on his chest.

"That was foolish, wasn't it mate." Mycealis leant down so that his nose was only inches from Max's face. Max could feel his hot breath on his face, heavy with the stench of rotting meat. It made it hard to breath. Teeth sharp as knives hung above his eyes and a long tongue dripping with saliva produced, licking his jaws. "You sure look like a tasty boy. I think I'll have an early tea."

"Urgh." Max gritted his teeth, a thrill of fear running through him, threatening to bust out. He turned his head to try and find fresh air and not have to breath the raptors putrid breath. He fought hard to hold back tears. He would not give Mycaelis or the Alpha Gang that satisfaction.

"Don't play with your food," laughed Terry. "What would Helga say!"

"MAX," Shouted Rex in horror.

All the voices sounded distant to Max. Mycaelis leaned back, still keeping Max pinned under his right foot. He lifted a claw, which Max knew he would use to disembowel him and feast on his entrails.

"Max, no….TAKE THIS YOU DIRTY LIZARD!"

It happened in a flash of horns. Chomp was back on his feet and, with his last ouch of strength, tackled Mycaelis, using his horns to throw him off Max.

"No, you don't." Terry charged at Chomp as he and Mycaelis started to fight again, but not before Max managed to slip free and get back to his feet, running back over to an ashen faced Rex.

"You okay," whispered Rex as he threw his arms around his friend and hugged.

"Fine," breathed Max, so shaken that he didn't object or even react to the hug.

They parted a second later as Terry's roar cut through the air like a cannon.

"Come on Chomp, we need to go," cried Rex.

Chomp, with two predators bearing down on him, didn't need telling twice, he turned tail and ran out of the construction site after the two boys.

"And that's how it's done," said a triumphant Ursula bumping her fists together as the D-Team fled.

"Good riddance," said Zander, folding his arms and nodding.

"Alright, back to work," Ursula ordered. "Spiny, Tank. Quit messing about and get back down there." She turned to head back into the tunnel not acknowledging the site of the great Spinosaurus with his head still stuck.

"WHAT IS GOING ON OUT THERE," Spiny screamed, nearly hysterical at this point. "WILL SOMEONE GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

"Okay, okay stop whining," said an exasperated Tank as he stopped trying to pull Spiny out by the tail and instead sidled up to the portable toilet itself. "Keep your spines on…Now don't move a muscle," he said as he spun around, raising his club like tail into the air.

"Wait…What are you doing," asked a desperate Spiny. "Don't."

KABOOM!

Tank brought his tail down into the building shattering into a thousand fragments of metal, plastic, and glass.

"Owww!"

Spiny raised his now free head, looking dazed and confused. He rubbed the end of his long snout with his claws then sneezed. A mixture of something unmentionable shot from the end of his nose to join the rubble of the place where it had come from on the ground.

At the sound of giggles from the dinosaurs behind him, he spun around. He rounded on Terry, pointing to the t-rex with a single long claw. "You're dead Terry. You hear me, dead!"