TW: mentions of miscarriage
—
All ten of them were teleported back onboard the ship and the Backland reverted the damage caused to the areas touched by them all and then opened the time warp, disappearing into the colorful tunnel.
As soon as she could, Anmo headed off to find the weighted blanket she had gotten before. Chusei and Zoe both noticed and went after her, stopping her in a corridor.
"Ma chéri?" the brunet spoke up.
"I'll be fine," Anmo replied as she stopped and turned around, "I just need a little break."
"Is there anything we can do for you?" Zoe asked her.
"I… I guess you could ask Jonathan for some of that tea," Anmo suggested.
"You got it!" Zoe nodded as she and Chusei smiled at her.
"I'll be in one of the spare rooms then," the ginger told them before walking away.
"Hey, kid! Where have you gone with that Stone?" Ursula called at Zoe, stepping into the corridor.
"Oh, sorry!" the girl gasped and glanced at her father.
"I'll go talk to Cretacia," he said.
Zoe nodded and rushed back to the group on the ship's bridge, leaving Chusei in the corridor by himself.
"There you are," Dr. Z who was the first one they met up with groaned when she arrived, "now that we have the Green Cosmos Stone, I can create more Super Dinosaurs with Element Fusion!" He cackled.
"Hold up, what do you mean 'Super Dinosaurs'?" Max wondered, "you aren't experimenting on dinosaurs again, are you?"
"Define experimenting," Dr. Z said, "look, it's no different from the Dinotector you're all using."
"I hate to say this, but the Doc might have a point," Ursula admitted, crossing her arms on her chest, "whatever that 'Element Fusion' is, it saved Terry from being defeated by Sheer."
"That's right. Element Fusion doubles the dinosaur's defense and strength. It isn't perfect of course. Unfortunately, it only lasts until the dinosaur either uses a move or the enemy's move hits them, but it's definitely useful against the Space Pirates."
"Yeah, but how exactly is this power awakened?" Rex asked suspiciously.
"Well, it takes some merging of the power of the Cosmos Stone with the stone place," the Doctor began as he snatched Ursula's Alpha Scanner and opened it from the back. He pulled out what appeared to be a red D battery.
"A flashlight battery?" Zander tilted his head.
"No, you numbskull!" Dr. Z snapped at him, "if you'd put this in a flashlight, you'd blind everyone within a 10-mile radius. This is a Cosmos Stone battery; it contains the essence from the Stone and allows the dinosaur to awaken. Now, I'm still not sure what the trigger for its activation is." He then glanced at Ursula as he put the battery back.
Thinking back to what went down in the castle, she flushed and looked away.
"Don't look at me. I have no clue how that happened."
"Whatever." Dr. Z rolled his eyes and turned to Zoe. "With the Green Cosmos Stone, I can make that Parasaurolophus of yours stronger."
With the power of the Cosmos Stone? With how berserk Paris went after swallowing it?! Zoe took a step back.
"I don't know…" Her eyes locked on the Cosmos Stone and her hands trembled.
"I guess you want her to be trampled in the ground," Dr. Z commented.
"Don't pressure her," Aki scolded him. The old man jerked around, sweat all over his face. "That is her best friend, you can't force her into this."
The girl's glare at the Stone hardened and Ursula noticed. She felt like she had to say something, but couldn't.
"No, it's fine," Zoe spoke up, catching everyone's attention, "you can make that battery." She handed the Stone to Dr. Z and quickly pulled her left arm away. "But I will not be using it. At least not now."
"Do what you will," Dr. Z said, then turned to his minions, "now, I need you three to bring me more equipment!" He left the room, walking past Trias who was standing at the door. The Alpha Trio lowered their heads and followed him.
"Since you've got good news surrounding the Stone, I bring some good news myself," Trias said as he walked up to everyone, "Cretacia and I fixed the ship."
"Really?"
"We are on our way to Sanjo City, Japan 2008," Jonathan added.
"We're going home?" Spike wondered.
"It'll be for the best to go somewhere safe and familiar," Trias explained, "we'll arrive in an hour, so you can all go have some rest until then."
"Good idea," Max agreed, folding his hands behind his head, "some of us really need it." He grinned at Zoe teasingly.
"Oh, shut up." She rolled her eyes and ran her hand through her hair to correct it a bit. "It's not that bad. You should've seen Sheer after Ursula and I were done with her. But you're right; I deserve a nap."
"We all do!" Max objected, "I can't feel my legs from all that horse riding." He and Rex headed out, but before Zoe joined them she turned to Jonathan.
"Jonathan, can I ask you for some tea?" she wondered.
"Why of course," Jonathan responded and left with the children.
With a deep sigh, Trias pressed some buttons on the bridge's control panel. Footage from the D-Team's battles with Gigas and Armatus showed up on holographic screens around them.
"I am afraid that Dr. Z might be right," he admitted as he looked at screens. He paused the footage and zoomed in on the Tyrannosaurus and Stegosaurus. "This new armor is something our dinosaurs cannot handle even with Dinotector."
"One of those armors defeated Spiny in one hit and it took a fusion of three Ultimate moves to take down that Gigas only when he was exhausted," Spike brought up.
"I looked into Dr. Z's research," Trias continued, "and I can confirm that he is telling the truth about enhancing the dinosaurs. The Super Dinosaurs might be exactly what we need to beat the Space Pirates for good."
"The question is if we can trust Dr. Z," the brunet said, "who knows if he has an ulterior motive."
"From what Max said, he has been helping the children with all sorts of stuff," Aki spoke up, "now, don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with him forcing Zoe into this and the fact that he is responsible for a lot of bad things, but so is the Alpha Gang and they're trying their best. I think that for one reason or another, he is trying to help."
"Either way, we don't have any other choice but to trust him for now," Trias told them, "what I'm more scared of is…" He went silent and leaned on the controller with his hands. His eyes shut as his grip tightened. "Seth…" He then looked up at the screens. "It's only a matter of time before the kids realize who created these things and I'm…"
"Scared of them finding out that we've known this whole time that he's out there?" Spike finished for him, "yeah, I get it."
"We agreed not to tell them for a reason," Aki reminded them, "I'm sure they'll understand."
Spike frowned and Trias sighed as he lowered his head.
—
As the D-Team was walking through the corridors, Zoe was waiting for Jonathan to make the tea.
Rex glanced at both his friends, but quickly shifted his eyes away. Now would be the perfect time to talk to them and find out how they actually feel… He can finally apologize for the mess he caused in Persia, yet he didn't. He took a look at Zoe and noticed her gripping her Dino Bracer nervously.
She had different things to worry about right now. Just judging by her reaction to Dr. Z's offer alone, it was clear that there was more important stuff on her mind.
As soon as Jonathan showed up with the tea, Zoe took the tray and thanked him before running off.
The blond watched her disappear, his hands curling into fists. It's better to leave it be for now… He then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to face Max, the brunet smiling at him.
—
Zoe found her mother's room, but with the tray in her hands, she couldn't exactly knock, so Paris let out a screech. Well, that works too…
Anmo opened the door and smiled at her daughter, letting her in. Zoe set the tray beside the bed and poured some tea into the cup as Anmo sat down on the bed and wrapped herself in the weighted blanket.
"Are you feeling better?" Zoe wondered as she sat down beside her mother. Anmo held the cup with both hands, looking down at the tea.
"Yeah, a bit," she replied with a bittersweet smile. Her lips quickly formed into a thin line that Zoe recognized almost immediately. Her mother wanted to say something, but just couldn't.
It wasn't unusual for her to have blocks like this and Zoe knew very well she shouldn't push her. This just wasn't the time. Knowing how this usually goes, Zoe was about to leave, but then…
"I've gotta talk to you," Anmo suddenly blurted out, stopping her daughter from getting up, "mon trésor… I should explain to you what actually happened…"
"You have a fear of being touched," Zoe said. Anmo looked at her in shock. "Don't worry, no one told me; I just figured it out." Zoe shrugged a little. "Ha…Hepa…?"
"Haphephobia," the ginger corrected her and glanced away.
"You don't have to explain anything to me if you're uncomfortable," Zoe told her, "I understand the basics of what I shouldn't do and I'll look up some stuff about it too."
"You truly are amazing," Anmo chuckled softly, "but…" She glanced at Zoe with a sigh. "You deserve to know the truth. Long before you were born, Reese was supposed to have a younger brother." Zoe's eyes widened with a quick gasp. "...unfortunately, when I was pregnant I ran into some…bad people…"
Anmo went silent before drinking some of the tea. Zoe just watched, speechless. Just from that, she figured out what must've happened.
"They hurt me…" Anmo's hands trembled. "I barely survived, but…your brother wasn't so lucky." She shut her eyes and inhaled shakily.
Her arm jerked as she felt a faint grip on her wrist and her head moved slightly up as if something sharp and cold tilted her chin. All of her organs felt like they were being crushed and old scars on her body started to itch.
"Mom…?" Zoe let out worriedly.
Anmo's eyes shot open and she glanced at her daughter.
"You don't have to." Zoe shook her head.
"I'm sorry… This isn't something you should hear about…" Anmo lowered her head and took a deep breath. "But yeah, that's how my fear started. I couldn't stand anyone touching me, not even your dad or sister. It took years of exposure therapy but over time I was comfortable with people close to me and about a year or two before you were born was the last time it affected me. …until now…"
Zoe stared at her with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry you felt like you had to explain it."
"No… It's relieving to talk about it after so long and you deserve to know." She drank some more of the tea and set the cup back on the tray. A very weak smile formed on her face. "You want to hug me, don't you?"
"W-well, y-yeah," Zoe stuttered, "but I won't. I don't wanna hurt you again."
"Then I promise I'll ask for that hug once I'm comfortable with it," Anmo told her. Zoe nodded with a smile, but then turned her eyes away, her hand gripping her Bracer. "But that isn't the only bothering you, is it?"
Zoe shot a quick glance up at her while Paris let out a soft roar. The pink-haired girl let out a sigh, still holding the Dino Bracer.
"You remember what happened to Terry back in the castle?" Zoe wondered, yet didn't exactly wait for an answer, "it's sort of a power-up linked to the Cosmos Stone and with the green one, it can happen to Paris too, but after how berserk she went when she swallowed the Stone… I'm scared."
"Don't let anyone force you to face your fear unless you yourself are sure that you can handle it," Anmo told her, "you'll only end up worrying others."
"Yeah… Right…"
—
Soon, the sky cracked open and the Backland entered the present, floating above the D-Lab. The D-Team, the Taylors, the Ancients, Chusei, the Alpha Trio and Dr. Z all teleported onto the surface. Reese and the others went outside as soon as they noticed the ship.
Owen rushed over to Rex to give him a hug and Rod and Laura ran up to Dr. Z. Reese and Patrick stayed back, smiling, although that wouldn't last long. Zoe and Chusei made their way over to Reese, but someone hugged her first. It was Spike.
"Oh, hello, Doctor," she let out.
"Good to see you again," he told her.
"Yeah, glad to see you are all okay," she said as she pulled herself away only for Zoe and Chusei to embrace her instead, "and glad to see you too."
"You missed us, didn't you?" Chusei teased her.
"Of course I did," Reese replied with a soft smile, "but where's mom?"
"On the ship resting," Zoe answered.
"It…came back," Chusei whispered and Reese's eyes widened.
They then shifted to Zander who waved at her awkwardly and she waved back. His face turned red. The silence was then broken by Ursula's screech as she was running away from Dr. Owen.
"I already said 'no'!" she yelled. Everyone else watched as he chased her and only stopped when Patrick grabbed onto his vest and pulled.
"Señor, no woman is worth this," he told the taller man who was still attempting to run.
"Dr. Owen?" Reese spoke up, light reflecting from her glasses, "what have we talked about?" The blond man froze and gulped, his eyes widening. "Now, if Miss Ursula says 'no', it means no. Understood?"
"Y-yes! Of course!" Owen blurted out, sweat forming on his forehead.
"Good," Reese said before glancing at Ursula who was hiding behind her brothers. She gave the blonde a quick thank you smile.
—
They all moved to the D-Lab and set the two Cosmos Stones and the green battery onto the desk in the main room while they all surrounded it.
Rod and Laura were closely examining the Stones in their respective capsules. The glow was truly mesmerizing.
"If there really is one last Cosmos Stone out there, why not go after it first?" Owen wondered.
"Everyone deserves a little break," Trias replied, "and we currently have no idea where the last Stone could be."
"Wasn't there that Pterosaur thing that helped you look for them?" Rod asked.
"We spent some time in the timewarp after our last mission and she didn't show up at all," Max explained.
"I also thought it'd be for the best if we'd leave a Cosmos Stone here," Trias continued, "just in case the Space Pirates attack us and try to take them. Of course, somebody would stay here to protect it."
"And what about this?" Laura wondered and picked up the battery.
"A power-up for dinos that I've made," Dr. Z said proudly, "it's an extracted fragment of energy of the Cosmos Stone."
"That's actually why we brought it," Cretacia started, "since that power can be risky, we thought someone who easily finished my Dino Bracers and figured out how to make contact with different time periods could take a look at that battery." His eyes were locked on Reese the whole time.
"Me?" Reese let out confusedly, "I am truly flattered, but all that was based on your creations and research, I cannot take credit for that."
"Yes, you can!" Zoe, Chusei and Spike snapped supportively, catching the blonde off guard.
"I suppose I can scan it and see if there is something to worry about," Reese said and took the battery from Laura, placing it inside the console in the center of the room.
At that moment, Rex's Dino Bracer turned on as Johnathan called him.
"There is a flying object heading towards the D-Lab," the android said.
"What?!" gasped everyone and the D-Team glanced at one another.
"We'll go take a look!" Max said as the three of them rushed outside.
They got their Dino Bracers ready, watching a ball-shaped pod with four magenta engines on its sides flying around. A Space Pirate pod! It approached them and as the engines formed into legs, it landed right in front of the statue outside. The colored glass of the pod opened and revealed not a Space Pirate, but a human…?
A human they all knew very well.
Seth…
"He survived…" Max let out in disbelief.
"What is he doing here?" Rex wondered.
The blue-haired man stood there for a bit, staring at the children with his cold blue eyes. All three of them could feel shivers run down their spines as they watched the dead man hop out of the pod and make his way over to them.
They were ready to summon their dinosaurs just in case, but then Seth strumbled. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body plummeted lifelessly to the ground.
The kids immediately rushed over to him in a worry.
—
The D-Team called the others for help and eventually brought Seth inside where he was tied to a chair for safety measures.
"Will he be okay?" Max wondered.
"He isn't hot," Chusei said, feeling the unconscious man's forehead, "but no fever can't rule out exhaustion."
"Why would you be worried about a filthy traitor like him?!" Dr. Z snapped.
"I've gotta agree with the gremlin," Cretacia admitted.
"Hey!"
"Someone like him doesn't deserve pity."
"That's right!" Dr. Z shouted, approaching Seth. However, before he could reach him, Ursula and Zander grabbed him, holding him back. "Let me at him! Let me teach this traitor a lesson!" The old man was throwing himself from side to side like an angry toddler, screaming every word that came to his mind.
"Please, cut it out!" Aki stepped in front of Seth. "I understand that everyone in this room has a good reason to hate him, but at least wait 'til he has a chance to fight back before throwing every cuss word at him." Dr. Z stopped struggling, staring at the brunette.
"Don't worry, I'm used to hearing worse," Seth let out. The whole room turned their attention to the restrained man whose eyes slowly opened.
"You traitor!" Of course, Dr. Z didn't hesitate to start the tantrum once more. "How dare you even show up here!?"
"Doctor, please... hear me out…" the blue-haired man tried to speak up, "I don't wanna cause trouble-"
"After you double-crossed me?! No way!"
"And after you ejected us from the ship!" Cretacia added.
"After you used us to do you dirty work."
"After you hurt Terry!"
"After you threw us in the trash!"
"After you took over the Backland and destroyed Helga and Jonathan."
"After you kidnapped us!"
"After you robbed multiple excavation sites!"
"And after you sent a giant mutated T-Rex on the city," joined in Rod, Laura, Zander, Ed, Chusei, Owen, and Spike, however, Seth was very much unfazed by their attacks.
He chuckled to himself and gazed around the room.
"You all hate me for these things, but let's not forget I am not the only sinner here." He looked at Cretacia. "You're allied with the one who actually threw you off the ship, with someone who tried to improve dinosaurs just like I did." His eyes then traced to the Alpha Trio. "Or the ones that were willing to set the city on fire." The three of them cringed at his words.
"Maybe, but they're trying their best to get better," Max objected, "meanwhile you show up piloting the enemy's ship and expect us to trust you. What were you even doing on a Space Pirate ship? How did you get your hands on it?"
"I escaped from the Space Pirates. This whole time I worked for their boss, Spectre."
"What?!" The D-Team and the Alpha Gang gasped and Seth smirked to himself.
"I see. So, they haven't told you, have they?"
"What do you mean?"
"Who are you talking about?" Zoe and Rex wondered.
"Who? Your parents of course," Seth replied mockingly, "they knew."
"You're lying," Zoe said before glancing at her father, "right?" Chusei shifted his eyes away from her, saying nothing. Her lips parted and her eyebrows shot up. She noticed how quiet the Taylors and the Ancients were as well.
"You knew he was with them?!" snapped Ursula, "and you said nothing?!"
"But why?" Max wondered, looking at his parents, "why wouldn't you tell us?" Spike tried to explain, but could only stutter.
"We didn't wanna worry you," Aki spoke up and Max's expression softened.
"Yeah, sure," Dr. Z commented annoyedly.
"It was our idea," Cretacia said.
"My idea," Trias corrected him, catching everyone's attention.
"What do you mean?" Rex exclaimed angrily, "why would you think that would be a good idea?"
"Of course," Seth chuckled mockingly, glaring up at Trias; those pretty blue eyes stabbing through him. "That's good ol' Henry for you."
"What the hell did you say?!" Cretacia snapped at him.
"Always hiding things and lying," Seth continued, "you haven't changed one bit. I suppose playing a good guy is pretty tiering."
"Zip it already!" Cretacia yelled at him, but Seth proceeded to taunt Trias, so the blond resorted to screaming over him in hopes that at least the others wouldn't hear him. To a certain extent, it worked; only some stuff Seth said was audible.
Unfortunately, he shouted one sentence louder than Cretacia: "You created the Black T-Rex, Trias!"
Everyone's eyes widened and traced to Trias. Some of them mouthed "what" while others just stared at him.
"Why would anyone believe you? You're nothing but a liar! You piece-"
"Cretacia," Trias stopped him. He was calm despite his whole situation. "Please, don't."
"But honey…"
Trias just stayed quiet with all eyes on him when all hell broke loose. First, it was Dr. Z who started yelling at him and was joined by the Alpha Trio and surprisingly even Rex. The blond didn't exactly yell, but his resentful tone made his anger clear. Cretacia, Chusei, Spike and Max rebutted immediately and Rod and Laura tried to reason with their grandpa.
Soon the majority of the room was shouting over one another with one half of the argument being confused and furious about the truth Seth revealed and the other half trying to defend Trias. The rest could only watch, not being brave enough to interfere while a wide smirk formed on Seth's face.
Patrick and Owen didn't know what to say, Aki tried to talk the others out of the argument and Zoe quietly watched. She stepped back a bit and cringed at the overwhelming noise. Reese and Paris both noticed, knowing what they must do.
The Parasaurolophus let out a soft roar, nuzzling Zoe's leg. Her owner smiled down at her before glancing back at the argument. None of them clearly had an intention of stopping despite them so obviously falling into Seth's trap.
Zoe inhaled, getting ready to yell at them, but a loud, intense sound was faster. It was Paris' crest.
Everyone turned to the two of them and was met with Zoe's disappointed glare.
"Cut it out!" she yelled at them, "all of you!" Rex diverted his eyes to the floor. "Don't you get that this is exactly what Seth wants?" Everyone glanced at one another in shame.
"Exactly," Aki joined in, "and if you are going to yell at each other at least hear Trias out. If there's anyone who can tell you the truth it's him, not Seth." The Alpha Trio looked away, lowering their heads.
"Speaking of Seth, where is he?" Ed wondered and everyone looked around to confirm he was right. Seth was nowhere to be found even with the chair he was tied to.
"While all of you were fighting, Reese dragged him out of the room," Patrick explained.
"What?"
—
The door closed behind Reese as she brought the chair into a corridor. She stopped the chair's wheels and turned it around to have the man face her. Seth opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off.
"Don't even try it," Reese stopped him, her arms crossed on her chest, "you might know how to get under their skin, but there is nothing you can say that would faze me." Her gaze was cold and stabbing right through the man, yet he didn't seem bothered at all. Instead, he let out a deep chuckle as a dark smirk formed on his face, catching her off guard.
"You care about your sister a lot, don't you?" he asked her.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Reese's glare hardened.
"Nothing." He shrugged. "It's just a simple question." The blonde stayed silent and turned her head away from him. "If you answer it, I'll answer yours." She eyed the scientist suspiciously at first before facing him once again.
"If you'd even touch her, I'd make you regret it instantly," she replied, her voice switching to a more hostile tone, "is that a good enough answer for you?"
"It sure is. Now go ahead; I can tell there's something you're wondering."
"Alright." She let her arms fall along her body. "You claim you escaped from the Space Pirates and that you don't want to cause trouble yet you pin everyone against each other; that sounds like trouble to me."
"I revealed those things only because everyone deserves to know who they're truly helping. As allies, I believe they should be transparent with one another to avoid any situation like the one I caused to repeat, don't you think?" Her lips tightened, knowing that he had a point. "Just like how Zander deserves to know that you tricked him back then."
Reese's eyes widened as she gasped. He knew…
"That poor guy was manipulated by you. His feelings toyed with by a woman he adored."
She could feel her stomach drop as she listened to him.
"But I cannot blame you for turning him into your puppet; you did it to protect your family after all," he just kept going. This guy really didn't know when to shut up and that irritated Reese. "Your precious little sister was in danger-" He immediately went silent when he felt a smack on the back of his neck.
"I told you it won't work," she said, her glare cold once more, "now tell me why you're really here."
—
"Seth was telling the truth," Trias confirmed, leaving the room in complete silence once again, "I was involved with the initial concept of the BTR project. It was my idea that Seth eventually realized."
The whole room stared at him in disbelief, except for Cretacia who placed his hand on his husband's shoulder.
"Can we start screaming at him now?" Dr. Z asked.
"Don't you dare!" Cretacia snapped at him and Trias smiled softly.
"But why?" Rex spoke up. Both his parents glanced at him, seeing the pain in his eyes. "Why would you do it?"
"Do you remember what I said about first love?" Trias wondered.
"Him…?" The blond went pale. "Of all people…him?"
"I was young and stupid." Trias sighed, looking away from his son. "The two of us experimented with life. We 'enhanced' some smaller animals at first, but we wanted to go bigger and so the BTR project was born. It was only when I met Cretacia that I realized how messed up our experiments were. Because of my past with Seth and what he's done to us, Cretacia and I weren't comfortable bringing him up."
"That's why we all agreed not to tell you about him," explained Chusei, catching the Ancients off guard.
"I see…" Max said.
"I understand that lying to you like this won't be easy to forgive," Trias spoke up, "but let's figure out what to do with Seth and what he wants first."
"He claims he only needed to escape the Space Pirates after learning how dangerous the Cosmos Stones could be," Reese said as she entered the room.
"Except he knew exactly how powerful they are," Cretacia corrected her, folding his hands on his hips, "and he planned to use that power for that crazy evolution modification of his."
"Proves that something doesn't add up about him," Reese admitted, "however…" She held out her hand; it was filled with several small hexagonal pieces. "Seth also said he stole these." She then put the pieces into the pocket of her coat.
"The Space Pirates summoners?" Max wondered.
"He mentioned that he took them to prove 'he can be trusted'."
"Has he said anything else?" Trias wondered.
"Yes. Apparently, we are wasting our time fighting while Space Pirates could be on their way to get the last Cosmos Stone."
The moment Reese finished that, the ground began to shake and with a loud crack the platform they were on started to collapse.
The stairs that were their only exit from the platform were slowly crumbling as the platform itself was leaning to the other side. They quickly headed over to the exit one by one, some making it off the platform. Zoe called Paris back into a card before running off.
A brown blur with a purple glow burst from the floor at the room exit, destroying the door, before disappearing through the roof.
With a shake, the platform's pillar was stopped by the other floors below it. The ones who were still on it held onto what they could.
"No quick movements," Owen told everyone, "we gotta get off this thing very slowly."
"Rod, Laura, you two go first," Cretacia ordered the kids. Rod nodded and carefully made his way up the platform while Laura clenched onto him tightly.
The siblings slowly walked over to the top. Aki rushed over to the edge and reached her arm out to the kids, waiting for them to arrive.
"Reese, Zoe, you next," Chusei told his daughters and the two looked at each other.
"Go," the blonde said.
"B-but-" Zoe stuttered.
"Go. I'll be right behind you."
With a nod, the pink-haired girl let go of the edge of the platform and slowly walked up.
"Just a little closer," Aki let out, trying to reach Rod, "it'll be okay. I've got you." His hand stretched further while his other hand held Laura tightly. "I've got you..." Aki was so close to grabbing Rod's hand, but then he slipped away.
She watched in horror as the platform broke in half–a giant thorned vine came right through it. Her breath was shaking and she was frozen in the spot until was dragged back by Max and Trias.
"Are you okay?" Trias asked her, but she didn't respond. Her gaze was locked on where the kids were just a few seconds ago. Max noticed her horrified expression.
"Dad!" he yelled, "are you guys alright?!" There was no response at first. Everyone glanced at each other worriedly. Only a layer below them was Spike and the others. Their half of the platform thankfully landed on the lower floor.
Rod was hugging his little sister tightly as they were kneeling down on the floor. Laura had her face buried in his chest, pulling onto his shirt. As soon as he got ahold of himself, Cretacia rushed over to the kids.
Spike hardly sat up, holding his head; Owen supported him, helping him sit. He shot his head up once he heard his son calling. He looked around–no one was seemingly badly injured.
"Everyone here is fine!" he called out, "but I don't see Reese and Zoe, or the Alpha Gang!"
Chusei who was slowly getting up gasped, his eyes wide. He jumped to his feet, looking around to confirm for himself. His face turned pale.
"Down here!" sounded from the lower floor.
"Reese!" Chusei rushed over to the edge of the floor, looking down the hole.
The other half of the platform was hanging down in the pit, the light panel coming from the center of the main computer only leaning on their level. The platform was leaning down and the Drake sisters and Alpha siblings were holding onto anything they could.
"Are you okay?!"
"As okay as we can be," Reese replied with a reassuring smile.
"Max! You guys go outside!" Spike shouted to the higher floor.
"And leave you here?" Max wondered, "no way!"
"We'll find our way out!"
"Go before it attacks again!" Owen added.
"You know, they have a point," Dr. Z agreed, "one of those things seemed like a Mole Attack. The Space Pirates must be here."
"Alright then." Max nodded and looked back down. "We'll help you as soon as we can!" he yelled before the seven of them headed outside, carefully jumping over the hole at the door which spread through part of the empty corridor as well.
"I'm coming to get you," Chusei told his daughters.
"Don't!" Reese stopped him, "the panel's frail; I doubt it can carry any more weight."
"Yeah, if this thing falls, I'll kill someone!" Ursula yelled.
Everyone else from the higher floor walked over to the edge, looking down.
"I don't think the net would be able to reach," Spike stated.
"We shouldn't try anything," Laura said, "one wrong move and…"
"Find a way out, we'll be fine," Reese told them.
"But-"
"We'll take care of them!" Zander blurted out, interrupting Chusei. The black-haired man's face turned red as soon as he realized what he said.
"I suppose we owe it to them." Ursula shrugged. "Now go."
"Before you do!" Zoe called out, "do you have the Cosmos Stones?"
"One of them!" Cretacia replied, holding up the capsule with the Red Cosmos Stone that he picked up as he headed to the edge.
"Then we'll look for the other one," the girl decided, "now get out." Her eyes met with her father's, knowing how worried he was. "We'll be fine."
—
Max's group ran outside only to be met with more trouble. As Dr. Z suspected, it was the Space Pirates, but all three of them this time with one dino each. An Achelousaurus, an Ankylosaurus, and an Iguanodon with the Spectral Armor. They still had some backup dinosaurs other than their strongest ones and that posed an issue.
"I knew it! That snake only wasted our time so the Space Pirates could locate us!" Dr. Z exclaimed.
"Or they followed him because he escaped," Aki suggested.
"Either way, we gotta stall them until the others get out," Max said and glanced at Rex and Ed who both nodded before the three of them summoned their dinosaurs, equipping them with Dinotector.
Chomp and the Achelousaurus immediately headbutted each other while Ace changed at the Iguanodon and Tank swung her tail at the Ankylosaurus.
"None of them has those last two Cosmos Stones," Sheer pointed out as her eyes traced from one human to another.
Last two?! Trias' eyes widened. Seth was right; while they were arguing, Spectre got his hands on the last Stone. And the Space Pirates will do anything to finish the collection. The brunet glanced at the crumbling D-Lab, realizing that all of it could've been avoided if it just weren't for him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and his whole body tensed up. He looked to the right to see Aki smiling at him reassuringly. He smiled back.
"Seems like they're under all that rubble," Foolscap suggested.
"Fine. Then I'll get them," Gavro offered and headed towards the D-Lab. The dinos couldn't do anything to stop him as they were distracted by their respective opponents, however, someone else could.
Patrick caught the alien in his lasso, trying his hardest to pull him down. Unfortunately for Patrick, the rope wrapped below the pirate's wings, so he could still fly. Gavro was way too strong for Patrick to hold him by himself and even almost lifted Patrick from the ground. Thankfully, Aki grabbed the rope in hopes of helping. Trias did as well and to everyone's surprise, he was followed by Dr. Z. The four of them pulled, at least keeping Gavro in place.
"Let go of me, you pests!" Gavro shouted.
"Well, then let's get rid of these pests with a pest," Foolscap said and placed a move card to his headband, "Mole Attack!"
His Ankylosaurus began to glow and jumped in the air where it started spinning. As soon as he saw it, Ed quickly reacted and swiped his own card. Tank stomped on the ground with her front legs, cracking it open. The Ankylo fell right into the crack instead of burying itself into the ground as it was supposed to and before it could react, it was slammed by the walls of the hole.
—
The entire building shook again; this time due to Tank's Earthquake move. The sisters and siblings screamed, holding onto the platform. With the earthquake, a capsule lying on the side of the main computer slipped far enough for the four of them to notice.
"I found the Stone," Zander announced.
"I think I can reach it," Zoe, who was the highest of them, said. She stretched her hand out up to the computer. She was so close to touching it, but if she nudged it in the wrong way, it'd only end up falling down the pit below them. She stretched more, but as she did, her grip slipped and she let go of her only support.
Sliding down the platform, she attempted to grab anything that would stop her fall as Reese tried to reach her but wasn't fast enough. When Zoe felt two hands grab her wrist, she finally stopped falling and with one glance up she saw it was both Ursula and Zander who saved her. She smiled at them.
"I'll try again," she breathed.
"No," Reese responded strictly, "it's too dangerous. Get to the lower floor, I'll take the Stone and the battery too."
"You just said it's too dangerous!"
"You have to get out of here."
"No way!"
"Zoe, as your older sister-"
"Oh no, you don't!" Zoe snapped back, "don't start with that."
"Then I'll go get it," Zander suggested, shocking everyone.
"You're just saying that because you're crushing on Blondie," Ursula commented, "you don't really have the guts to do it."
"That's not true!" he yelped, his face turning red, "look, I promised their dad to take care of them and I have the longest arms; I can reach it. And I am the oldest, so it should be up to me."
"No, I can-"
"Listen here, brat," Ursula cut Zoe off, "this thing can't hold us for long and neither can the two of us hold you. Get down to safety before I drop you."
"A bit drastic, but yes," Reese agreed, "also do not call my sister a brat."
"Fine…" Zoe pulled out of their grips, carefully sliding to the edge and hopping to the stable floor.
"Take care of her," Reese told Ursula, "I'll help Zander." The green-haired woman nodded and climbed down.
Reese and Zander crawled up the platform. The blonde supported him while he reached out for the capsule with the Stone. He snatched the Stone. He was about to open the console of the main computer but noticed something on the console.
"There are two bars on this thing," he pointed out, "one's full and flashing and the other is only a bit filled."
"Incredible," Reese responded, "despite its massive energy, that battery is surprisingly stable."
"Huh, I thought it'd eventually blow up like the Doc's other inventions," Ursula commented.
Zander opened the console and pulled the battery out. The two of them then headed down, holding the other's wrist. Once near the edge, Ursula reached out to the two of them, grabbing Reese's wrist to help her and subsequently Zander. She pulled them off the platform.
"Solid ground, how I've missed you," Zander exclaimed as he doubled down, panting.
"Are you okay?" Reese wondered.
"Yes! Of course!" He quickly straightened with a forced smile. "I should be the one asking you! …Since you know…I promised to keep an eye on you and…" Reese smiled back and his face turned red. "It's nice of you to worry."
Ursula just grinned at her brother teasingly and coughed to cover up saying "crush". Meanwhile, Zoe was just glaring at the three, specifically at their hands since the Alpha Gang members were still holding her sister. As soon as Zander noticed, he jerked away, his face even redder. He was soon followed by Ursula, whose cheeks were pink.
"I am impressed by the amount of energy the battery has," Reese admitted, taking the battery and the Stone from Zander, "I wonder how powerful the Cosmos Stones could be if this is just a fragment."
"Powerful enough to make a dinosaur go completely berserk," Zoe uttered, frowning down at Paris' card. Reese walked up to her and placed her hand on her sister's shoulder.
"Then you have my word that this one is safer than that," she said, holding up the battery before placing it in her hand.
—
Spike's group was wandering through the lab. Certain routes they just couldn't take due to the rubble around the corridors. They ran around until they noticed a chair lying on its side. As they approached it Cretacia started giggling.
"Well, would you look at that?" he teased, "I found a snake!" As they came closer they realized what chair that was, it was the one Seth was tied to. The blue-haired man glanced up at the group.
"Karma," Chusei commented.
"Enjoying the view?" Seth wondered.
"After what you've done to my boy? Yes," Owen told him. Seth just shot a death glare at him and the blond jumped back, hiding behind Spike.
"Well, this is what you get for being a bad person," Laura snapped at Seth.
"Do you truly want to waste your time yelling at me while Spectre and his pirates are out there?"
"We should've known you'd bring them here," Rod said.
"Who says I brought them? I told you I escaped, so they must've been looking for me."
"If they're really here, we should get out of here as soon as possible," Spike suggested.
"Are you that evil that you'd leave me here?" Seth asked mockingly.
"Yes," Cretacia replied with a bitter tone, "I am not making the mistake of trusting you again. I refuse to put anyone else in danger. Not again."
"But if we leave him, the Space Pirates will get him," Owen pointed out, "it's much better if we have him with us than them."
Cretacia grabbed onto a sleeve of the pink shirt, clenching it tightly.
—
Outside, Gavro was still tied up by the lasso. He didn't seem very fazed, but more confused than anything. After a while of being pulled down by the four humans, he had enough and broke the rope with one swift motion of his arms, causing the humans to tumble to the ground.
Once free, he pulled out a move card.
"Attack Burst!" he exclaimed before placing the card to his summoner.
Surrounded by a purple aura and lightning, his Achelousaurus let out a roar as several bolts of lightning moved in different directions away from it. As they hit the soil, they created a cloud of dust. Everyone on the surface shut and covered their eyes.
"That move again!" Max let out. The last time Chomp was hit by that attack, he almost lost the fight and that couldn't happen now. Max grabbed a card out of this Dino Gadget and swiped. "Electric Charge!"
Charged with electricity, Chomp ran forward, colliding with the Achelousaurus. The dust cleared on the impact, allowing everyone to see the battle. The Achelousaurus was launched away by a ball of lightning.
"Great job!" Max cheered as the dino hit the ground, but then…lightning struck Chomp. The move wasn't prevented…
Max's Dino Bracer began to flash red and Chomp just stood there, panting as the enemy got up.
"Thorn Whip!" Sheer placed her move card on her choker. Her Iguanodon stomped on the ground with its front legs, causing it to crack open with a large thorned vine coming out of it. It flailed around in an attempt to strike Ace.
Thanks to his speed, he easily dodged the hits, but it wasn't enough. Once he got smacked, he was thrown off and failed to dodge every subsequent hit.
"Gigarock Hammer!" Foolscap joined in with his new move. Purple crystals gathered around his Ankylo's tail club. The dino jumped in the air, with the crystal becoming much larger, before slamming Tank with it.
—
Around that time, Zoe and the others ran out of the D-Lab from a back door. Unfortunately for them, they were spotted by Sheer.
"I found the Stone," she announced before bolting towards Zoe's group. She charged at the blonde, reaching for the capsule. Reese hugged the Stone, shielding it from the woman. Sheer charged at her again, this time lifting her in the air.
"Hands off my sister!" Zoe yelled at the pirate.
"If she won't let go of the Stone, I'll just be taking her with it," Sheer replied with a smirk.
"You won't get away with that!"
"Exactly!" Ursula and Zander snapped at her.
Zoe and the two of them immediately called their dinosaurs into battle. Sheer however didn't hesitate to summon Maximus. The Alpha Gang members equipped their Dinotector.
Maximus and Sheer wasted no time and activated Spectral Punisher.
The Triceratops rammed into the T-Rex and Spinosaurus, tossing them in the air.
"Ha! Good luck with that!" Ursula laughed as Maximus charged his beam. She held up her Alpha Scanner. "Element Fusion!"
Nothing happened… Well, nothing intended did. The Scanner let out a beeping sound and showed red text on the screen.
"What do you mean 'power overload'?!" Ursula yelled.
Terry and Spiny were both struck by the beam, turning back into cards. The siblings stared in shock.
—
Meanwhile, the Iguanodon activated Thorn Whip again. The vines swung around, but Ace jumped back. Rex then swiped multiple move cards.
Cyclone was first. Thanks to the boost from the move, Ace launched himself into the air, flying over the enemy.
Then was Ninja Attack. Still in the air, the Carnotaurus created multiple clones of himself.
And the last was Sonic Blast. As the clones flew in different directions, a ball of blue energy formed in their mouths and then shot out in the form of tornados, striking the herbivore and defeating it.
"Lightning Ax!" Gavro exclaimed and activated a new card.
A curved blade of electricity formed between the Achelousaurus' eyes and the dino launched itself in the air.
Crystals surrounded the Ankylosaurus' tail and it was ready to attack Tank once more.
Max and Ed knew how to counter this time. Chomp shot an anchor at the Achelosaurus, striking it. He swung it around and threw it right at the Ankylosaurus. Both dinos hit the ground which opened beneath them thanks to Tank's Earthquake, slamming them, defeating the two.
—
It was Zoe's time to shine, but when she grabbed her Element Booster, something cut her hand, making her drop the Booster. She gasped and glanced up to where the sudden blur that cut her came from; it was Foolscap with his harpoon.
Before she could pick up the Booster, Foolscap summoned Armatus, using Spectral Stinger, and Sheer activated Lightning Strike. Maximus shot a lightning bolt and Armatus shot her armor's spikes past the dinos and right at Zoe. Zander knocked her to the ground, the attacks barely missing them. Instead, the lightning and the spikes struck the D-Lab, resulting in more parts of it collapsing.
Zoe watched with a horrified expression on her face. She was sure people were still inside as she noticed Max's group, but not other people. Including her father… Reese seemingly realized this too as she stopped struggling against Sheer and stared at the rubble. With tears in her eyes and her face red, Zoe grabbed the Element Booster and got up. She mumbled something.
"What was that?" Sheer mocked her, "didn't hear that."
"How dare you?!" the girl shouted and her pocket started to glow green. She reached in to pull out the battery. Without hesitation, she inserted it into the Dino Bracer. "Element Fusion!"
Paris was surrounded by a glow and once gone, it revealed a dark green body covered by a light green and yellow bird's nest fern-like pattern.
"Metal Wing!" Zoe swiped her move card. Three Pteranodons flew up from behind Paris and charged at the pirates. Two of them started chasing Foolscap who was screaming as he aimlessly flew around. The last one struck Sheer, causing her to drop Reese.
Both Ursula and Zander rushed over to catch her. Once she landed, she glanced down to see that they didn't exactly catch her, but instead, she landed on top of them.
"Apologies." She hopped off them, smiling softly.
"Now, make them pay!" Zoe yelled. The Pteranodons left Foolscap alone and all flew high up in the sky.
Paris slapped Maximus with her tail, knocking him into Armatus. The Pteranodons then formed into one big bullet and flew at the two Space Pirate dinos at full speed. They hit the two, leaving them weakened.
As soon as Metal Wing returned into its card, Paris reverted back to normal and Zoe burst into more tears. Reese rushed over to her when she noticed. Her little sister fell into her arms, embracing her tightly. She grabbed onto the lab coat as she cried into Reese's shirt.
Max's group walked over to them, not sure what was going on until they noticed the state the D-Lab was in. Their faces turned pale.
Sheer and Foolscap didn't take advantage of it as their dinosaurs needed to catch their breaths and they were both caught off guard by both the Super form of Paris and Zoe's breakdown. While Gavro made his way over to them.
"Hey!" sounded in the distance. Zoe's head shot up and they all looked in the voice's direction. It was Spike and the rest of his group and they were largely unscathed. The others couldn't help but smile.
"You're okay!" Zoe exclaimed.
"Not for long," said Gavro as Gigas dropped beside Maximus and Armatus.
"Oh, great…" Max let out, "what do we do? Our dinos are all out of energy and so are the ones we picked up." Not to mention that three dinosaurs barely defeated Gigas, and four exhausted ones won't defeat the full set of the Space Pirate dinosaurs.
"We've got another problem," Patrick pointed out. A round magenta pod was descending to the ground.
"Spectre…" Trias recognized the pod, his voice shaking.
"The star of the show finally shows up," Foolscap said.
"It's better if we stand clear," Gavro suggested.
"This is gonna be a fun watch," Sheer added.
The D-Team and the others watched the pod get closer and closer, but once it stopped, a magenta light came from it. With another flash of the same light, a giant creature landed in front of them. A several-meter-tall monster stared down at them.
"An Apatosaurus…?" Max whispered.
—
And there you have it! Chapter 8! Also ended up longer than expected, but I think that's fine, especially with the long hiatus that I had.
I apologize for not posting for months, I just kinda lost the motivation for writing DK for a bit. I will try to finish EtF quickly, but not too quickly. I want this to be good, so the next few chapters (if everything works out it'll be the last three) might take a while. I am currently working on a decently sized fic for an AU in a different fandom.
So, yeah, Dr. Z actually being a decent person and helping people since he's already done that with the Dinotector.
Zoe is very much not having a good time and needs a hug; I'm honestly not sure how Zoe ended up being the victim of this story, but she did.
Anmo's phobia finally has an explanation! Yay! I won't go into detail about what exactly happened as that's not important and I'm aware the current explanation can already be uncomfortable for people. I'll leave it to your interpretation, so your mind can go places or it doesn't have to be that bad.
Also, Seth is…well, Seth. And yes, he has been left behind in the D-Lab.
As for the dinos, I felt bad for rushing Ankylo's fight, so I decided to do this since it and the Achelou were retrieved by the SSP. The Iguano comes from the TCG where it does have a Spectral Armor variant.
Also, new moves! Yay! I'm very happy with the use of some of them and especially with Ace's attack. It does feel more like Pokémon, but it makes the fight more unique.
And yeah, I decided to take a bunch of inspiration from Bad Deal and Forest Fire Effect. I couldn't do these two episodes since without the parents, no trade can happen.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you next time!