Max stayed in one place, wondering if he said something wrong when the wall came down on him, creating a big cloud of dust.
"Max!" Aki screamed, watching in horror. Her legs attempted to carry her to the rubble, but Spike wrapped his arms around her, holding her back. He could feel her whole body trembling; he wished that there'd be something he could do.
Thankfully, before they knew it, the dust cleared, showing Max standing in the middle of the wall's window in one piece.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed when he realized what just happened. He quickly ran away from the rubble. "Stand back, everyone! This building's falling apart!"
"You think?" Rex wondered jokingly.
"Wow, I think that's even luckier than us," Zander commented.
"That was cool. Do it again!" the King exclaimed, clapping with a big lollipop in his mouth.
Aki let out a sigh of relief, leaning into her husband's arms. He rubbed her arm with his thumb before she pulled away. She watched as Max laughed as if nothing happened.
Now wasn't the time to be worried; they had to go find the Stone. Before they set off Dumas offered all the musketeers and d'Artagnan horses to help them easier traverse the land while Louis was getting ready to head back to Paris with his carriage.
"All right now, Louis, what is it that you're going to tell the Royal Mother the minute you get back into Paris?" Anne asked him.
"Well, the minute I get back, I'll probably tell her I need a new lollipop. I'll be done with this one by then. And I'll tell her that it's amazing how many big monsters appeared," he replied in the most innocent tone.
"No, you're going to order her to call off Richelieu and his search for the Blue Eye of Gaia! You're the King, she has to do what you say!"
"That's true, but she's the mom." The King's answer caught Max's attention. He knew that he really shouldn't, but he couldn't help but listen to the conversation. "Couldn't I maybe just order... you to tell her for me?" Louis suggested.
"No, I'm going with the musketeers to stop Richelieu from finding that gem," Anne said.
"Anne-I mean, Your Majesty, it's too dangerous," Constance told her.
"I don't care," Anne replied.
"Then I'm going with you," the brunette decided, "I may not be good with a sword, but I'll take on that vile man in my own way."
"Excuse me, Your Majesty?" Max spoke up as he walked over to the carriage, "what if I go with the King?" He received confused glances from everyone. "If the King is the only one who can stop Chancellor Palp-I mean, Richelieu–no clue where that slip-up came from." He shook his head. "Someone might try to interfere, so the King could use some protection. It is my duty as a musketeer now."
"So, you just wanna go alone?" d'Artagnan asked him.
"He won't go alone," Aki suddenly said.
"Mom?!" Max shot a shocked glance at her.
"As you said, it's our duty now," she reminded him as she walked up to him.
"Yeah, but-"
"No 'buts', young man. I'm coming with you, no objections."
Max inhaled, getting ready to speak, but…he couldn't.
"Let's head out then," he said as he got on his horse before turning to Rex and Zoe, "we'll try to catch up to you as fast we as can." He held up his hand with his Dino Bracer–the D-Team asked Jonathan to send them all a map with Vassasi Castle's location to find it easily.
"By the time you do we might already have the gem," d'Artagnan commented, getting on his horse and so did everyone else.
"I hope so," Max admitted.
"That is if the ghosts haunting the castle let us take it," the black-haired boy chuckled.
"Ghosts?!" the Alpha Trio and Spike gasped with horrified expressions.
"Don't tell me you're scared," Zoe teased the trio, "I thought you said you were the worst nightmare."
"Ha, ha. Very funny," Ursula groaned.
"I thought you wanted to catch Nessie's ghost," Rex reminded Spike, "what's the problem now?"
"It's plural!" he yelped, "there are multiple ghosts."
"Come on, dear, it can't be worse than that one haunted house ride," Aki told him, a soft smile on her face.
"Yes, it can…" he mumbled.
"I can hold your hand when we get there if you want," Chusei offered.
"Please, do…"
"Now, let's go, everyone," d'Artagnan exclaimed as the two groups headed off their separate ways.
"Are you sure I have to stand up to Mumsy? Can't I just ask nicely?" Louis called out of the window of his carriage.
"You can do it, Louis!" Anne reassured him, "we all have complete faith in you."
"No need to worry, Your Majesty," Max said, "she's right. I'm sure you can do it." He doubted his own words and was convinced that lying to royalty like that would be considered a crime, but what else was he supposed to do? He had to do everything in his power to give the King the confidence he needed.
"Really?" the King mumbled, nibbling on his lollipop.
"Really!" Max grinned at him encouragingly. "You are the King after all. You rule over the whole country; with power like that, you don't need to listen to anyone, not even your mom."
"Max!" Aki called at him from the back. The brunet immediately froze and made his horse slow down, so they could talk behind the carriage. "What are you saying? I did not raise you like this…"
"What do you mean?"
"Everything you're telling the King… Do you truly believe that?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"Of course!" Max replied with a smile on his face, yet his mother didn't share the same enthusiasm. Max frowned and glanced away. "Okay, maybe not everything. I have doubts about him actually standing up to his mom, but he has to."
"Why are you so insistent about it?" Aki wondered.
"Because there are people who need him," Max told her, "the whole country depends on his decisions; he has the power to help them, so he can't just back down. I wanted to go to help him gain some courage, but then…"
"I came along and ruined it for you," Aki realized.
"N-No!" He shot his head to her, seeing her grim expression, subconsciously mimicking it. "That's not…" He gulped, his eyes tracing away from her. "Okay, maybe… The King might think I'm a hypocrite now if he even knows what that means." A sad grin formed on his face.
Aki watched him with wide eyes at first, her hands curled into fists, but then her expression shifted and her horse caught up to the carriage as she started talking to Louis.
—
Things were going relatively smoothly on Anne's end; they were getting closer and closer to the castle, however, a group of men dressed in red cut them off with their horses. As soon as the brunet man in charge spotted the group, he ordered the men to surround them.
Everyone was at first confused, but they quickly managed to piece two and two together. Those red uniforms… These were Richelieu's men.
D'Artagnan tried fighting them, although he only ended up being dragged down from his horse by one of the men, holding the boy's hands behind his back.
"Hey, back away from that kid!" Ursula snapped and pulled out her sword.
More men then went after the time travelers, stopping Ursula in the process, as the brunet spoke: "You're all under arrest by order of-"
"By order of whom?" Anne asked him as soon as she exited the carriage, shocking the man.
"Oh, Queen Anne, what are you doing here?"
"Let the musketeers go," the blonde ordered him.
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, my orders are to arrest anyone who might pose a threat to the recovery of the Blue Eye of Gaia. This comes directly from Chancellor Richelieu, which means directly from Queen Marie."
"Do not forget whose words have more weight," Anne reminded him, her blue eyes stabbing through him, "let them go." The brunet's eyes narrowed and he clicked his tongue.
"Alright then, but then I must insist that you come with us, Your Majesty. Chancellor Richelieu actually ordered me to protect you. His orders are still superior to me, no matter what you say."
"I don't like the sound of this one bit, Anne," Constance whispered to the Queen, "I know we've been trying to find the Chancellor, but he will only use this as an excuse to get you out of the way. He'll have the complete upper hand."
"I've made up my mind," Anne said and turned back to the man, "I'll go with you."
Everyone looked at the Queen with wide eyes.
"But Anne-" Constance tried to object.
"Don't worry, Constance, I will meet Richelieu in person and try to persuade him to give up on the Blue Eye of Gaia," Anne reassured her.
"Then I shall go with you," the brunette said.
"Seize the Queen's carriage!" the man ordered his men. Anne entered the carriage and Constance sat in the front with one of Richelieu's men as the carriage left, surrounded by the guards.
"We have to go after them!" d'Artagnan exclaimed as he got on his horse.
"D'Artagnan, wait!" the D-Team yelled at him, yet he didn't listen and disappeared in the distance.
"Come on, after him," Ursula said, turning to her teammates, "he might need our help." The two men glanced at her in shock at first, but then quickly nodded.
"To the rescue!" And the three of them headed after the boy.
Zoe watched them leave, hearing that the others were speaking, but not exactly comprehending what they were saying. It was a bad idea… She could feel that pressure in her stomach. It was… It was what she had to do.
"Rex, you go get the Cosmos Stone," she spoke up, "I'll help free the Queen."
"Do you think it's a good idea to separate?" the blond asked her, "what if the Space Pirates-"
"You and Ace can handle them, I'm sure of it."
"You know we can't do it alone. Gigas was way too strong for the three of us combined," he reminded her.
"I'll find you as soon as I can," she reassured him, "I just…I refuse to leave those three behind again; not after what happened the last time we did. Go grab the Stone before anyone else does."
"Okay." Rex nodded. "Just take care."
During the conversation, Chusei and Spike exchanged glances, silently agreeing on something.
"I'll go with you," Spike offered, "in case more of Richelieu's men show up."
"You're just afraid of the ghosts in the castle, aren't you, Dr. Taylor?" Zoe giggled.
"What? No, I'm not!" the brunet exclaimed, sweat forming on his cheek.
"He definitely is," Chusei joked, but quickly switched his tone, "now, Spike, make sure nothing happens to Zoe."
"Don't worry, I always make sure of that," Spike told him, "plus I don't want that needle of yours anywhere near me. And I'm sure that Anmo would descend from the ship and Reese would find a way to time travel the moment something like that would happen."
"We'll be fine," Zoe said, giving an encouraging smile to her father before heading off with Spike.
—
As the rest was trying to catch up to the Queen or find the Cosmos Stone, Max watched his mom talk to the King as they were approaching Paris. He wasn't sure what she was doing until he got close enough and overheard a piece of the conversation.
"With power like that, you don't need to listen to anyone," she repeated his words, "you have to make decisions yourself."
"But that's scary," Louis whined.
"Well, you aren't alone," Max told him as he caught up to them, "making decisions by yourself doesn't mean you have to be alone when making them. You have people that'll stand by your side and support you."
"You mean Anne?" the King wondered, licking his lollipop.
"Yeah!" Max nodded, a bright grin on his face. "People around you, people you meet can teach you a lot. About the world, about life…about yourself. Courage, determination, patience, hope, sincerity. I've learned some stuff this past year and it's only thanks to the people I had by my side. It's really all I can say, Your Majesty. Aim for your goal and when it feels impossible, remember you aren't alone."
"What is my goal?" Louis asked him.
"I don't know," Max admitted.
"But it's for you to figure it out," Aki told the King, "not for your mother to decide it for you."
"The goal sometimes just shows up when you least expect it," Max said, "those big monsters you found so amazing, Your Majesty, they called us, so me and my friends made it our goal to help them. No matter what it takes."
"Well, my goal is to eat this lollipop," Louis replied before stuffing his face. Max sighed defeatedly, sweat running down the back of his head. Well, he tried.
"Um, Max?" Aki let out, getting his attention, "can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure. What is it?" he wondered as they both moved to the back.
"I just want you to be more careful. I watched you almost die twice already and…with everything else you said you've been through…" Her voice faded away, her hands trembling. Max bit his lip when he noticed.
"That's why we didn't tell you," he spoke up, "at first we didn't wanna freak you out since everything was new and weird, but…we kept lying because we didn't wanna make you worried. We were also scared that you'd try to stop us and that's when-"
"That's when you'd have to disobey me," Aki realized, "that's why you're so insistent…"
"I guess so…"
"I understand, Max," she said and Max's eyes widened.
"You do?" he let out, his voice unusually shaky.
Aki nodded, smiling with a hum. Max smiled back.
"I'm glad we can talk things through like this," Aki admitted, "it… surprises me."
"Well, I met a lot of people who helped me understand some things," Max told her.
"I'd like to hear more about them one day then," Aki said.
"I can tell you right now!" her son exclaimed, "so, there was this one girl!" Aki's smile widened as she listened to him talk about their adventures so excitedly.
—
As soon as d'Artagnan saw a building in the woods, he was sure he found the spot. As he got closer he noticed the Queen's carriage and Richelieu's guards. He hopped off his horse and in a rush didn't even tie it to anything.
He was sneaking along the carriage when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jerked around, pulling out his stick. Expecting one of Richelieu's men, he was pleasantly surprised to be met with the Alpha Trio. He didn't exactly know who they were; all he knew was that they were on the side of those strangers, so on his side as well.
"Thank goodness you're okay," Ursula exclaimed.
"Of course, I'm okay," d'Artagnan replied, "what are you even doing here?"
"We wanna make sure you're safe," Ed told him.
"Yeah, running head-first into the enemy base can be dangerous," Zander added, "we were worried."
"Well, you don't need to be," the boy snapped at them quietly, but his expression quickly cringed. He traced his eyes away from them. "But…thanks… Let's head inside then."
—
While the four of them were crawling along the wall, Queen Anne got to meet the Chancellor.
"I am asking you to cease your search for the Blue Eye of Gaia," the blonde said.
"I apologize, Your Majesty, but I'm under strict orders from the Royal Mother herself," Richelieu replied, an unamused expression on his face, "orders with much greater value than yours." He turned his back to the two girls and headed to the door. "Now, excuse me."
"Stop, Chancellor Richelieu!" Anne called out to him, but the door from the room shut behind him. Constance rushed over to the door, trying to open it. It wouldn't budge.
"We're locked in here," she announced, "that didn't go well…" She glanced back at the Queen. "Anne…"
"I was truly naïve to think this would work," Anne admitted.
"Cannot blame you for it, but…"
"You told me so, I am aware." Anne glanced away. "I wish people would respect me as their Queen, then this would be much easier."
"You'll always be the true Queen to me," Constance told her as she walked over to her with a soft smile.
—
D'Artagnan and the Alpha Trio managed to get past the guards and were sneaking around the building. Unbeknownst to them, they weren't the only ones.
"They should be around here somewhere," d'Artagnan mumbled, looking around the corridors. He was in the lead when his shoulders were grabbed and he was pulled back by Ursula. "Hey!"
"You gotta be careful, kid," she told him, "it's a dangerous world. There's trouble lurking behind every corner." She leaned down and peeked around the corner to see if it was safe only to be met with bright purple eyes.
She and the owner of those eyes jumped and screamed in shock. It was then that she recognized that behind that corner were Zoe and Spike.
"See my point?" she asked d'Artagnan and turned to the pink-haired girl, "what are you even doing here, brat?"
Zoe inhaled, getting ready to yell back, but she stopped herself. She pouted, her cheeks puffed and turning red, glaring at Ursula instead.
"Look, Zoe wanted to make sure you three are okay," Spike brought up, "that's why we're here."
"You did?" Zander and Ed wondered, glancing at Zoe. She just sighed and nodded.
"Yeah? Well, we don't need someone to check up on us like we're little kids-" Ursula was cut off by Zander covering her mouth.
"Don't listen to her," he said with a nervous smile, "we're glad to see someone's worried about us."
"Yeah, it's nice of you," Ed admitted. Zoe smiled at them.
The whole time Ursula was annoyedly eyeing Zander before shifting her eyes to d'Artagnan. She pulled Zander's hand away.
"Thanks, I guess," she mumbled.
"Look what we have here," a male voice said, catching everyone's attention. As they were talking, Richelieu's men surrounded them. The Alpha Trio shrieked, holding their arms up while Zoe and Spike pulled out their swords against the same brunet man from before.
"So, this is how it's gonna be, Eyelashes?" Ursula mocked him, "fine then. Zander, Ed, you know what to do."
"On it!" The two men pulled out their Alpha Scanners. They both swiped their dinosaur cards, summoning Spiny and Tank. Of course, the building couldn't exactly fit two dinosaurs in, which resulted in them breaking the roof and walls, causing rubble to fall around everyone. The Spinosaurus and Saichania ran in different directions, scaring the men away.
D'Artagnan took advantage of the chaos and fled to look for the Queen. He tried all the different rooms, but they were all empty except one. One of the doors was locked. He attempted to open it, but it just wouldn't budge.
He suddenly heard screams and sounds of falling rubble from the room. His blood ran cold from it. He tried again, but this time he resorted to kicking the door. It didn't work either.
Before he could think of anything else to do, he was pulled back by his tabard. He glanced back to see a black-haired man with ugly scars on his face.
Meanwhile, Spiny and Tank were chasing Richelieu's men outside the building, accidentally breaking the walls down. That was actually where the sounds d'Artagnan heard came from. Tank's club tail hit the outside wall of the room where Anne and Constance were kept. Due to the rubble, they couldn't escape, but they could watch what was happening outside, seeing d'Artagnan being dragged by Richelieu and put in a prison carriage.
They weren't the only ones to see this. Zoe managed to get a glimpse of this too. She was about to rush to his rescue, however, a part of the roof collapsed right in front of her. Spike pulled her back just in time.
"Stop it right now!" Anne yelled at the Chancellor over the rubble, "you're going to be sorry, mark my words."
"Your words don't mean diddly-squat to me, Your Majesty," Richelieu spat in the most venomous tone he could, shooting a nasty glare at her, "you are not France's Queen." He then turned around, heading to his horse.
During all the rucks he gathered a few of his men and used it as an opportunity to flee the scene.
"You…you won't get away with this!" Anne shouted at him, but he was no longer listening. He and his men were heading away as d'Artagnan was calling out from behind the bars of the carriage.
"Queen Anne, I'm sorry!"
Not long after, the musketeers managed to get outside through the rubble with Spiny and Tank still holding some of Richelieu's men back. Spike rushed over to help Anne and Constance to help them get over the rubble while Zoe told the Alpha Trio about d'Artagnan.
"He's gone?" Ursula asked, "then what are we doing here? Let's head after him!" On her order, Zander and Ed called their dinosaurs back.
—
Around that time, Chusei and Rex arrived at a bridge over a cliff. They both looked back in the direction they arrived from with the blond then looking down at his Dino Bracer which went silent.
"I just lost a dinosaur signal," he whispered.
"I'm sure they're okay," Chusei reassured him, "they probably just tried to scare Richelieu off."
"I guess," Rex said as he looked up, "let's get going."
The two of them continued across the bridge, but Rex took one last glance behind them.
"Um…Dr. Drake?" he let out, "do you think Zoe's still mad at me because of Persia?"
"Does she look mad?" Chusei asked him.
"No, but… I don't know." Rex shook his head. "We haven't really talked since then. I'm worried about her and Max just resenting me after that whole thing."
"You're worried that a girl who's a bad liar isn't honest about her feelings?" the brunet wondered.
"You bring up a good point," Rex admitted.
"Just talk to them when you get the chance. It'll make you feel better."
—
Zoe and the others were on their way to rescue d'Artagnan, assuming that Richelieu was headed straight for Vassasi Castle. There was only one small issue. Due to Spiny and Tank showing up the Alpha Trio's horses got scared and ran off since they weren't tied to anything unlike Spike and Zoe's.
Spike actually decided to take a ride next to Constance in the front of the carriage while Zander and Ed took one of the horses and Zoe and Ursula took the other.
On their way, the green-haired woman was looking around, watching the tree pass by, looking up at the clouds; doing everything to avoid glancing at the kid in front of her. This was stupid… Why is she letting being mean to the girl get to her so much? She's been doing that for a whole year. Why is it suddenly such a problem?
Then again, there was the whole thing that happened on the ship… The kid decided to come with her instead of going with everyone else. Sure, it was just to grab some clothes to change into, but still…
"Hey…" Ursula uttered after a while of silence between the two of them. Zoe turned to her with a confused look. "Sorry about before I guess. Old habits die hard I suppose."
"It's fine," Zoe replied and quickly turned back, "really. I get it, it's hard to get used to changes."
And the two fell into silence again. Zander and Ed just quietly exchanged awkward looks.
"So, gotta hurry to save that kid, huh?" Zander mumbled.
"Don't you think I know that?" Ursula snapped at him.
"Seems like you three have a real soft spot for d'Artagnan," Zoe pointed out, "why is that?"
"What are you talking about? We feel the same way about all children," Ursula told her.
"Really?" Zoe wondered, "me and the boys are children and you aren't always friendly towards us."
"That's ridiculous," the woman objected, "name one time."
"Well, you attacked us at home, multiple times. There also was the time you attacked us in Egypt, the London Museum, a TV station, a cave, an airport, the mines-"
"Okay, okay, I get it," Ursula cut her off, "in our defense, you were the enemy. Look, we're trying to get better, it's easier with him because we feel a connection."
"You mean like you and him being mean to people who want to help you?" Zoe wondered.
"No!" Ursula snapped at her, "it's because that kid is an orphan just like us!" She covered her mouth as soon as those words escaped her mouth, her eyes wide open.
"That was supposed to be a secret," Ed told her.
"Yeah, we pinky-swore we'd never tell anyone, remember?" Zander reminded her.
"I know," she yelled as she removed her hand from her mouth, "I'm sorry, it slipped out. I can't really take it back." She let out a long sigh. "At least it's her of all people." She frowned when she noticed the soft expression on Zoe's face as the girl looked at her again.
"Might as well tell you the whole thing." Ursula took a deep breath. "Years ago the three of us met in an orphanage. I'd say Ed and Zander were pretty unlucky to get stuck with me since I would always misbehave and drag them into trouble with me."
"That's not true," Ed interrupted her. Ursula glanced at her teammates in shock. "I don't remember much, but I know for a fact that you're wrong."
"We chose to be stuck with you," Zander confirmed, "back then we had a good time together." He turned to Zoe with a smile on his face. "We started hanging out after Ursula protected us from bullies."
"So, you just stuck around to have a bodyguard?" Ursula wondered annoyedly.
"No, I stuck around because no one else would talk to me about musicals," he replied teasingly, "and Ed just liked listening to our rants."
"Yeah sure, musical rants," Ursula chuckled and tried to nudge the tall man with her elbow. After a while, she sighed and continued: "Musical rants are why the three of us are here now I guess." She glanced back at Zoe. "When I was like 7, a man showed up and was looking to adopt. He ended up with us and another kid you might know as Rod and Laura's dad."
"Wait, does that mean…?" Zoe mumbled as her eyes widened, "that man was Dr. Z?!" The Alpha Trio nodded, smiling. "That…That actually explains a lot."
It truly did… Especially with how those three acted and their "loyalty" to Dr. Z.
"So, that means you three are siblings," Zoe realized.
"Haven't thought of it like that in a while, but yeah," Zander said.
"Oh no…" Zoe murmured and rolled her eyes nervously before glancing back at the tall man.
"What? What have I done?" he wondered.
"Yeah, what's the deal, kid?" Ursula asked her. Zoe glanced at her with a "duh" expression before shifting her eyes back to Zander. Ursula scanned her brother and soon her face cringed. "Oh no…"
"What are you talking about?!" he yelled at the two of them.
—
Rex and Chusei arrived at the Vassasi Castle. They stopped in front of a closed gate to the abandoned castle and hopped off the horses.
"Was expecting it more haunted," Chusei joked, but as soon as he did the gate slowly opened. The two of them jumped with a shriek.
—
Zoe's group was nearing the bridge Rex and Chusei crossed earlier. In front of it, Richelieu and his men had to stop to fix the wheel on the prison carriage and gave the Queen and the others a chance to catch up.
"All for one and one for all," Spike yelled as they approached, "help has arrived!"
"If you really want to help him," Richelieu told the strangers and pulled out his sword, "I suggest that you stop right there." He held the sword up to the bars of the carriage. D'Artagnan backed away into a corner.
The Queen's carriage and the horses stopped. The time travelers hesitated about what to do next, scared of what could happen to the boy, but when they heard the flapping of wings approaching, their fear extended beyond that.
"Looks like a party! How come no one invited me?" Foolscap who just arrived wondered. Richelieu looked up at the slim man and a smile crossed his face.
"Ah, another one of you winged creatures, good," the black-haired man said, "I could use the backup."
"Happy to help," Foolscap began, "so long as you tell me where the 'Blue Eye of Gaia' is."
"Yes, of course, right after you stop these insects," Richelieu replied nonchalantly.
"In that case," the pirate chuckled, "let's get it started, Ankylosaurus!" He placed a card to the summoner on his headband, calling out his dinosaur.
"Tank and I'll handle this," Ed announced as he got off the horse and swiped the Saichania's card. Both he and Foolscap equipped armor on their dinosaurs before the two ankylosaurs' tails collided.
"Let's see if you can handle this," Foolscap said with a wide grin. He held up a new card. "I can tell you she's a real tough cookie. Armatus!" As the card touched the summoner, a Stegosaurus already covered in armor landed near the two other dinos.
The Stegosaurus charged at Tank, but before she could reach her, Spiny and Paris were summoned to the battle and equipped with their armor. Spiny blocked Armatus from getting to Tank while Paris tried to ram into the Stegosaurus.
Armatus swang her tail, smacking Paris' head before ramming into her herself. Paris was pushed at Spiny and rammed into again.
"I think she might be even stronger than Gigas," Zoe pointed out, getting off her horse with the others, "we could at least land a hit on him."
"Constance, we must save d'Artagnan," Anne said as she was about to exit the carriage.
"But how?" Constance wondered.
"You distract Richelieu," Spike told them, "get over the bridge. I'll help d'Artagnan." He rushed towards Richelieu's men guarding the carriage, pulling out his fixed lasso. "Now go!"
"He's right," Constance mumbled, heading towards the bridge with her carriage.
"Best of luck," Anne whispered.
"The Queen's carriage's heading to the castle!" Richelieu shouted, "stop her!"
"Sure, monsieur, it'll be my great pleasure," Foolscap chuckled and waved his hand over his summoner, "Spectral Stinger!"
A hoard of small white crystals covered the huge pink spikes on Armatus' back, similar to how they did with Gigas' Spectral Lancer. Once the spikes became smooth, they shot out of Armatus' body like arrows, heading towards the start of the bridge. The Queen's carriage was far enough to avoid being hit, but the prison carriage d'Artagnan was in wasn't.
One of the spikes hit the reins, separating the horses from the carriage, while the others landed near the cliff or the ropes and pillars supporting the bridge. All of the spikes then exploded. It did open the door, but at the same time, the cliff began to crumble, taking the carriage down with it.
"D'Artagnan!" Anne screamed, watching the carriage fall in horror.
Spike sped up toward the carriage, throwing his lasso to d'Artagnan in hopes that it can reach him.
The boy jumped and reached his hand out to grab the rope, however, he grabbed something else. A hand. Ursula caught him. She was clenching his hand tightly as if her own life depended on it. She was hanging in the air, held only by Spike's lasso.
"You saved me…" he let out in disbelief, "thank you…"
"Don't mention it, kid," she replied, a strained smile on her face.
Spike pulled the two of them up and told them to get on the other side. They had to get to the other side quickly; the explosion from Spectral Stinger damaged the pillars and ropes of the bridge.
"Guys, I don't think the bridge will stay stable for long," Zander pointed out.
"We've gotta hurry," Ed said. They rushed over to the bridge with Zoe.
"So, that gem is across the bridge?" Foolscap asked Richelieu.
"Yes, in a place called Vassasi Castle," the Chancellor replied, "now finish them off, will you?!" He ordered the pirate, pointing at the dinosaurs.
Foolscap shot a glance at the battle and then at Zoe and the rest. He smirked to himself before calling Armatus and Ankylo back into their cards.
"Well, now that I know where the Stone is, I don't need to waste my time here," he said as he started flying off, "see you around, chump."
"What?! Come back here!" Richelieu yelled at him.
Zander and Ed continued running as they turned their dinos back into cards, but Zoe stop right before stepping on the bridge.
"Zoe, what are you doing?" Spike who waited for everyone asked her.
"Paris, stop him!" she ordered her dino.
The Parasaurolophus looked up at the pirate; he was right above her. On his way to find the Stone, he froze in place and covered his ears when he heard an ear-piercing sound. It soon ended, but before he could come back to his senses, he was smashed from the air by Paris' tail.
"Nice job!" Zoe praised her and called her back. She and Spike then continued on the bridge, but it seemed like it was too late.
The pillars began to collapse and the ropes started to break. They could feel the wood under their feet coming loose.
Thankfully everyone else was already on the other side and the two of them were nearing it.
Spike jumped toward the edge, grabbing onto it in time, but Zoe wasn't so lucky. Her hand was stretched as far as possible, but she couldn't grab him. She slipped from his reach by mere inches, dropping down with the remains of the bridge.
And he wished that there'd be something he could do…
—
And that's chapter 6!
Yes, I made Armatus a girl because there's never a moment in the anime where there'd be any pronouns used for Armatus. That's literally it. Also, Foolscap feels like the type of guy to have a female pet.
Anyways, the D-Team being separated is something I wish we saw more cause it gives us more of them and there were already a lot of characters to keep track of, so smaller groups were a better choice.
I must admit that I really like the scenes between Aki and Max as it allowed me to develop their relationship. I was inspired by The Owl House for a part of that conversation and did my best not to just copy-paste the dialogue and make it fit the two of them.
I also slightly altered the Alpha Trio backstory to just have a bit more.
Btw, Ursula and Zoe's "oh no" was referring to ReeZan and the possible in-law connections they could have because of it.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in The Haunted Hunt!