Chapter 15 – Feathered Tyrants

High up in the Tunggula Mountains in Southwestern China, on a grassy plateau, two dinosaurs were staring each other down. At this altitude the land had permafrost and could not support large vegetation. The only vegetation covering the otherwise barren landscape, was long grass. The only evidence of any human activity in the area was the railway line that ran across the plateau; riding on an elevated embankment that cut across the landscape like a slash wound. There was a viaduct just ahead of Yutyrannus where the land valleyed.

The first was Yutyrannus...The Feathered Tyrant. He stood, in his full size, two meters in height from his foot claw to the ridge of his back, and nine meters long from the tip of his tail to his nose. As the name implied, nearly his whole body was covered in a feathery down. All except his claws, foot claws and face. His face and muzzle were adorned with smaller feathers, red and blue in colour making for a vibrant display. The sort of colourful display intended to attract mates.

The second Dino was most certainly not a prospective mate...

He was a Therizinosaurus... Scythe Lizard. A feathered bipedal dinosaur. A theropod, built like a raptor but at least twice the size. His distinguishing features were a pair of giant claws with extremely long and sharp talons. Ten meters in height, he was as tall and menacing as his opponent.

"TRAITOR," Appa roared, baring his teeth at the strange long-clawed lizard. His cries echoed through the valley, bouncing off the surrounding mountains. "Aligning yourself with the space pirates. After everything we've done for you, Blade. After everything he did for you!"

The Therizinosaurus, Slash, opened his beak like maw wide and let out a roar of laughter at Appa. "Hahahaha. Trying to moralise to me, isn't going to save your sorry hide Appa. Now, hand it over."

Appa's eyes widened, before narrowing to angry slits. "I don't have it!"

"Ha, nice try!" Another snort of laughter from Blade. "Don't even bother denying it. You think they don't know. Think they don't have methods of tracking it. You either expunge it or else." He held up his talons. "I'm going to have to cut it out of you."

Without warning, he threw himself forward, slashing at Appa's face with his talons. Appa roared and leapt backwards. He opened his jaws wide so as to try and catch his claws in his maw, and bite down at them. He missed, and the two slashed and snapped at each other, each missing the other by inches.

And then, from somewhere behind him, a nasal voice cried out, "Alright then Blade, use Claw Blade."

Appa glanced beyond his opponent. There was a little man standing in the grass behind him. A humanoid figure with a long pointy nose and spiky hair and holding a card. Appa did a double take at the sight of it. He knew what it was and what was about to happen...

Blade's claws suddenly grew to an exceedingly long length, transforming into sword like blades that seemed to shine with every colour of the rainbow. They were so bright they were almost blinding. Blade darted forward at Appa and swiped at him. Appa attempted to dodge, unsuccessfully. Blade's claws raked across Appa's chest and neck, under his chin.

"Rwahaaah!" The Yutyrannus let out a cry of anguish, the force of the attack causing him to lose balance. He staggered over and fell onto his side, Blade standing over him.

"I won't ask you again," snapped the Therizinosaurus, as he again raised his claw. "GIVE ME THE COSMOS STONE!"

"F-fuck you!" Appa growled.

He gritted his teeth, fighting against the pain from the attack, and bracing himself for the next. Fortunately for Appa, that attack did not come, for at that moment, two beams of light burst, seemingly from out of nowhere, striking Blade on his sides and back. The Therizinosaurus let out a screech as he felt a flurry of claws and teeth digging and biting into his flesh.

He reared upwards, turning his head over his shoulders to find Mycaelis and Blue on his back, nipping at his shoulders and neck with their teeth. He growled, shaking to try and dislodge them, but the two raptors managed to hold on with their claws. He tried using his claws but found he couldn't reach over his back.

"Appa," came a deep voice from behind.

The Yutyrannus looked over his shoulder and his eyes met those of a Tyrannosaurus with red and yellow scales. "Terry," he breathed, a sense of relief washing over him.

"Mroo." Terry approached him slowly and the two tyrannosaurids nuzzled, rubbing the ends of their sensitive noses together in greeting.

The Alpha Gang had arrived, just in the nick of time. The transporter craft had landed in the right behind grass behind Appa. Ursula, Zander, and Ed were standing beside it. Thanks to its cloaking abilities, it had managed to arrive on the scene unnoticed and undetected, permitting the surprise raptor attack to be launched. And leaving the lone Space Pirate and his Dino-minion trying to work out what had happened.

"What this? What's going on," The pointy nosed figure exclaimed. "Come on Blade, you can deal with these two can't you! Throw them off." He took out another move card and lifted it up to a device strapped to his head. "Gyro Claw!"

Blade pirouetted and began to spin, very quickly. Almost as if he had become a Dino-spinning top. His claws became one exceptionally sharp edge. The force from the spinning was too much for the Raptors. Mycaelis and Blue were thrown from his back. They managed to straighten themselves in the air and landed on their feet in the permafrost beside Terry and Appa.

Blade stopped spinning and let out a roar. "Thwaa!"

Ursula, Zander, and Ed ran over to them from the Transporter.

"Terry, Appa!" shouted Ed.

"Check on them, Zander," ordered Ursula.

"Right." Zander nodded, dropping to his knees beside Appa, and pulling out his Alpha scanner.

Ed did the same thing, patting the feathered tyrannosaurid on his flank. "It's alright buddy, we're going to get you out of here."

"S-space pirates," Appa gasped.

"We know!"

Ursula turned her attention to the pointy nosed man in the background. "Well, well," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Who do we have here."

The pointy man let out a laugh before, to the Alpha Gang's surprise, took off into the air. Like an insect taking flight. As he came in closer, Appa, the Alpha Gang and the Dinosaur's present could finally get a good look at him. He was relatively tall, but slender. About the same build as Zander. It was clear from one glance however, that he wasn't human. His skin was purple, and his ears a pointy shape, like an elf from a work of fantasy. He seemed to be able to get around by a pair of angle like wings on his back. Whether these were organic, or mechanical was unclear.

"I am the mighty Foolscap of the great amazing Spectral Space Pirates," he said. His voice had a distinct nasal quality to it. "And while I'm in a good mood, I suggest you hand over the stone."

Ursula blinked. "Stone? What stone?" She looked over her shoulder at her compatriots, who both shrugged.

"He means me," gasped Appa.

"The Cosmos Stone," snapped Foolscap. "The one that's inside that of that Yutyrannus there!"

"Cosmos Stone," Ursula repeated. "What's a Cosmos Stone?"

"I've never heard for it," said Ed, while Zander shrugged.

Ursula shook her head and returned her attention to Foolscap. "And while we're in a good mood, I suggest you beat it," she retorted. "Unless you want to join, your friend in Terry's digestive tract!"

Foolscap's eyes narrowed. "Ah wise guys ha! Well after you feel my might, you will quake with fear and beg to hand over that Yutyrannus!" He produced a card and raised it once again to his forehead. As it started to glow, Blade let out a cry and started to spin like a top again.

Ursula produced a card of her own and swiped it dramatically through her Alpha Scanner. "ALPHA SLASH! Volcano Burst, Terry!"

Terry lumbered forward with a great roar, charging at Blade as the rapidly spinning Therizinosaurus spun towards the Alpha Gang. He came to a halt, straightened into an upright position opening his jaws wide. A great fireball burst from his maw directly at the oncoming Blade.

The flaming comet launched from Terry's mouth was travelling faster than Blade was. The force of impact, as the Blade collided with the Volcano Burst attack was not only enough to stop him in his tracks, but to send him flying in the opposite direction. In fact, he flew into the air, like a firie Therizinosaurus spinning top, arching up towards Foolscap's.

"Nyaaaa," Foolscap gasped as the flaming meteor that was the Therizinosaurus, crashed into him. Together they rose higher into the air, a burning spinning asteroid of feathers and flesh, finally falling back to earth, leaving a smouldering creator in the permafrost.

The grass around the landing site disappearing in flame. Unfortunately, on its way down, it crashed through two of the supports viaduct on the railway line that crossed the gulley. The lack of support caused a large section of the railway to collapse downwards, forming a pile of twisted and melted steel around the crater.

"Nice shot Terry," cried Ursula triumphantly.

Zander and Ed cheered in the background, and Mycaelis and Blue chanted, "Terry, Terry!"

"Ahh, that hurt," Foolscap groaned as he extracted himself from the smouldering creator. "I want to go home!"

Kneeling in the grass, he reached back inside the crater to retrieve Blade's dinosaur card. He cursed inaudibly, before rising back into the air.

"Don't think you beat me," he shouted down at the Alpha Gang. "Because you didn't. I just...need to get a band aid." He turned and shot upwards into the sky, eventually disappearing into the clouds.

"That's him taken care of," said Ursula, dramatically dusting her hands off.

"Rahh. Thank the great Dragon!" Appa gave a sigh of relief, before keeling over. His body promptly dissolved into energy as it turned back to a card.