AN: Minor spoilers for the first seven episodes of "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" ahead!
"What's going on, Lower East Side!" Gabriel shouted, getting a cheer out of the crowd. The Dream Keeper was currently in New York City, specifically the neighborhood of LES, to support one of the newest heroes in the Marvel universe. "I'm here with Rocket Raccoon, one of the Guardians of the Galaxy-"
"And an Avenger!" Rocket added.
Gabriel nodded. "We're here to celebrate your local superhero, the girl with a brain as big as her pet dinosaur. Give it up for Moon Girl!"
"Moon Girl magic!" Moon Girl exclaimed, jumping onto the stage as confetti shot up around her. The teen hero did a few moves on her skates before taking a stand next to Gabriel and taking the microphone for herself. "What's going on, LES? It's your favorite superhero Moon Girl, and I just want to say that it's super cool to get to meet you, Dream Keeper. Heard a lot about you from Adam Jackson, and I've got to give respect to someone that knows how to save the day and listen to sweet tunes."
"Nice to meet you as well, Moon Girl. Say, where's Devil Dinosaur? He's usually not far behind wherever you go," Gabriel asked.
Moon Girl looked around, then frowned in confusion. "Huh, I thought Devil was right behind me. Has anyone seen a giant red T-Rex anywhere?"
"Oh, I'll just see if anyone has posted a new photo on the #DevilWatch tag!" said Casey, Moon Girl's best friend and brand manager. The social-savvy teen opened up the Moon Girl fan page and went to work searching. "Huh, it looks like his last sighting was nearby. But that doesn't explain why he didn't follow you here."
Suddenly, a nearby building was busted open, with an evil laugh coming from within. "Oh boy, that kind of laugh can only mean one thing: super villains," Rocket sighed, pulling out his blaster. "Okay loser, how about we cut the laughter and show yourself already!?"
Out of the smoke swooped a green pterodactyl man in a blue loin cloth, a brown bag and an oversized blaster. "Tremble in fear, humans, for Sauron has come to take over your city!" the dinosaur man cackled.
"Wait, Sauron, like the giant eye in Lord of the Rings?" Moon Girl raised an eyebrow.
Sauron rolled his eyes. "No, I'm Soar-on not Sour-on, as in dino-saur? And either way, I have a surprise for you, Moon Girl. Behold, my trump card to defeating you!" Sauron whistled, and out of the ruins of the building came Devil Dinosaur, though his eyes were all green and swirly.
"Oh, my, gosh! That villain's hypnotized Devil!" Casey gasped.
"Who the heck is thus guy?" Rocket asked.
Gabriel looked to the audience and grinned. "Normally this would be the part of the show where the Beyonder gives you the villain's origin story, but I'll take over that duty today. Dr. Karl Lykos was a scientist who was attacked by a Pteranodon during a trip to the Savage Land, which changed his genetic structure and allowed him to drain the life energy of other living beings. After an encounter with the X-Men, Lykos used his powers to drain the life force of one of the Mutants, but their superpowered nature caused the doctor to mutate into a Pteranodon-human hybrid, while also turning his personality to that of evil!"
"So he's a vampire dinosaur man?" Moon Girl summarized.
Gabriel nodded. "He also can use psychic powers to control other dinosaurs, and has a habit it mutating others into a dinosaurs as well."
"Wait, so you have the power to mutate human cells?" Casey asked Sauron. "Think of all the good you could do with that power, like cure cancer!"
"But I don't want to cure cancer, I want to turn people into dinosaurs!" Sauron said. He then pulled out his blaster and started firing at the civilians, mutating them into a dinosaur army!
"Oh, this isn't good," Rocket said. "Don't worry, guys, I'll just blast him with my-" The raccoon didn't get to say much else as he was hit by the mutant ray, turning him into a brown with black stripes Procompsognathus, or Compy for short.
Gabriel grabbed Rocket before he could run off and join Sauron's army, but soon got hit by the beam himself, turning into an Archaeopteryx. "Rocket, stop struggling, I can't hold you when we're almost the same size now!" Gabriel shouted.
"Wait, how come you aren't being all brainwashed and crazy like everyone else?" Moon Girl questioned.
Gabriel paused before looking at himself. "Huh, you're right. I'm a dinosaur but I still have my regular mind. I wonder…" He reached out a claw tapped on his headphones that had magically still stayed on his head despite the transformation. "Maybe the music from my headphones mixed with my Fantasia magic caused interference with Sauron's telepathic abilities."
"Then we need to pump up the volume to get Devil and Rocket back to their senses!" Moon Girl exclaimed, before ducking under a blast from Sauron. "Yikes, I do not want to be dino-brained today- no offense."
"None taken," Gabriel chuckled. With his smaller dinosaur body, he hopped onto Moon Girl's shoulder and pointed forward, summoning his Keyblade as well. "Alright then, let's go make some noise! First, we need to get close to Devil Dinosaur so I can blast him with Fantasia and break Sauron's connection."
"Then we'll grab that dino ray gun and turn everyone back," Moon Girl finished.
"And I'll film it all from over here where I'm safe from getting zapped!" Casey called, waving from behind a park bench. "Hm… What dinosaur would I turn into though if I was zapped? Oh, that should be a poll on the fan page!"
Gabriel shook his head. "Anyways, Moon Girl, let's do some Dream Keeper Magic!"
Moon Girl smiled and started up her cassette player, the music giving Gabriel a groove to summon Fantasia through as they went about saving the day.
Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom!
Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom!
"Oh yeah, this is fitting," Gabriel nodded as Moon Girl started skating towards Sauron and Devil Dinosaur. The transformed raven waved a claw at Rocket, the transformed raccoon currently digging through a trash can. "Rocket, I need you to focus!"
The Compy sat up, before getting a blast of Fantasia that broke Sauron's hold. "You better not tell the other Guardians what I was doing," he said, before picking up his dropped blaster. "Luckily this dino body still has functioning arms. Let's do this thing!"
Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom!
Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom!
"Ha-ha-ha! This is almost too easy!" Sauron boasted, gleefuly using his ray gun on civilians. "Soon all of New York will be mine to rule as the king of the urban jungle!"
"In your dreams, Sauron!" Moon Girl taunted, catching his attention as the three heroes got into action.
"Minions, after them!" Sauron commanded, sending his newly turned dinosaurs at the trio.
It was a night like this
Forty million years ago
I played my favorite songs, picked up a monkey skull to go
First up where a pack of velociraptors, which Moon Girl ducked and weaved around while Gabriel used Cosmic White to fend off their claws. Once they were in position, the teen hero used her boxing glove gauntlet to knock out each of the raptors.
I heard the sound of drums,
Didn't know where they were from
Wherever I was it stared to buzz, and now I'm having fun!
Rocket meanwhile climbed on top of an ankylosaurus, dodging its club tail and placing gravity charges under it. Once they detonated, the dinosaur was sent flying into the air before crashing back down on the ground, its shell now stuck upside down making it unable to get up.
Everybody walk the dinosaur, they do the- do the dinosaur
Put your back into it, do the dinosaur
They'll be shocked, do the dinosaur
"Doing great, you guys!" Casey called.
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur
Gabriel and Moon Girl moved in sync, the music seeming to lick them together as they effortlessly dodged around all of Sauron's minions.
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur
The dinosaur man was not happy that these heroes were being a lot more trouble than he thought they would be. "Fine, then I'll just use your friend against you! Devil Dinosaur, squash Moon Girl and her friends!" Sauron ordered.
Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom!
Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom!
"Come on Devil, you gotta hear us, buddy!" Moon Girl shouted. "Gabriel, share our feelings with that magic of yours!"
I met you in a cave,
You were painting buffalo
I said I'd be your friend, follow wherever you go
As the heroes dodged around Devil Dinosaur, Gabriel focused on Fantasia and he reached out to the T-Rex, finding the link that Sauron had on him. "Devil, remember who you are: a hero, a sidekick, but most importantly, Moon Girl's best friend!"
"Besides Casey, of course!" Moon Girl added quickly, the Latina girl giving a thumb's up from her position.
"Hah, those words are meaningless to my connection!" Sauron laughed.
That night we split a rattlesnake
And danced beneath the stars
You fell asleep, I stayed awake and watched the passing cars!
"If my family has taught me anything, it's that love is the most powerful force of all!" Moon Girl said. She stopped in front of Devil Dinosaur, the T-Rex snarling at her. "Devil, come on, are you gonna let this guy use you? We're a team, and I need my partner to win this!" She held out a hand to his snout, which made Devil Dinosaur paused. As Gabriel's Fantasia started cutting through Sauron's mental link, the T-Rex remembered all the good times he had with Moon Girl, shaking his head as his eyes turned back to normal.
"What? Impossible!" Sauron exclaimed.
"Anything is possible when you work as a team!" Gabriel exclaimed. "Now then, let's get NYC's dinosaur population back down to a more manageable level!"
Everybody walk the dinosaur, they do the- do the dinosaur
Put your back into it, do the dinosaur
They'll be shocked, do the dinosaur
Moon Girl hopped onto Devil's head as he let out a mighty roar, which made the other dinosaurs stop their rampaging. From there, Rocket and Gabriel started firing projectiles as Sauron, forcing the dinosaur man to dodge around them and stop using his own ray gun.
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur
While Sauron was distracted, he failed to notice Devil Dinosaur jumping in his path, the T-Rex grinning as he caught the dinosaur man in his mouth before comically slamming Sauron against the ground repeatedly.
"Ah, the Hulk Smash Loki maneuver. Classic," Casey mused, watching as the views of her livestream went up.
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur
"You've still not… beat me…" Sauron wheezed out, only to get captured in a bubble from Moon Girl's capture gadget.
"No, I think we did," Moon Girl said. "Now then, let's get everyone back to normal!"
Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom!
Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom!
As the song came to an end, Moon Girl and Rocket managed to reverse the effects of the ray gun, turning the dinosaurs back into the humans. "Good thing their clothes came back with them, or else this whole thing would have been really awkward," Casey mused. "But great job beating Sauron, guys!"
"Oh my beautiful fur, how I missed you," Rocket said, caressing his tail.
"That was pretty fun, even if I got turned into a dinosaur against my will," Gabriel said. "I might need to learn a spell to do that on my own time now, though…"
"Did you see those moves we were pulling out there? We slayed!" Moon Girl cheered, her and Devil both posing.
"This young heroes and their poses," Rocket shook his head.
"You know, Moon Girl, I'm a big fan of your show, and I noticed that you tend to use music when you fight evil, especially during the big end-of-episode brawl," Gabriel pointed out. "Do you think that maybe you have some Fantasia in yourself?"
Moon Girl hummed. "Maybe, but I prefer to use science. I wouldn't be opposed to studying more about Fantasia, though."
"You should meet my friend Beth then. I hear that she's big into combining magic with science as well," Gabriel said. As he shook hands with the teen hero, a medal suddenly appeared in front of him and flew into his chest. "Woah, that was weird. Did my Keyblade just react to our bond?" He put a hand to his face and started pacing. "I mean, Moon Girl is my current favorite show, so it makes sense that I would have a strong connection to it, but this is the first time since I got my Keyblade that I've made such a connection. I know I can call on my friend's power to use special moves, but could their be other applications as well…?"
As the raven rambled, Moon Girl looked to her friends. "Is that how I sound sometimes when I'm in the zone?"
"Oh yeah, totally," Casey said, Devil nodding in agreement.
"He'll be like that for a while," Rocket chuckled.
Author's Note
This chapter is dedicated to my new favorite show, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur! I hope their appearance here inspires you to give their show a chance, because it's a lot of fun with entertaining characters, awesome animation, and a fight scene every episode that plays out like a music video. Also, for you're a fan of other Disney shows, Moon Girl is voiced by Fuli from The Lion Guard and Casey is voiced by Violet from the Ducktales reboot!
Sauron is a Marvel villain that has made appearances in the 90's X-Men cartoon as well as Hulk and the Agents of SMASH. You might also know him from the Spider-Man meme "I don't want to cure cancer; I want to turn people into dinosaurs" which I made reference to. He's a pretty camp villain but I love me some goofball baddies to fight. The song that Gabriel and Moon Girl fought to is "Walk the Dinosaur", specifically the Queen Latifah cover from Ice Age 3.
Next Time: We see what game night is like with the Dream Defender crew!