What Measure

By: Aubrie1234

Author's Note: I know that at the end of DK, Seth is alive and doesn't disappear, but in this story he has. I makes sense later, I promise.

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.

Margaret Mead

Rod didn't know what prompted him awake, but there he was, lying in the darkness. It hadn't been long since the return to the future, where he and Laura had returned to their parents and the rest had gone to their own homes. Even though they hadn't done much, Rod felt that he and Laura had been left out of the second adventure until the end, but maybe that was for the best. They hadn't had their own dinosaurs, how could they have helped against the Space Pirates? It just wasn't fair. With a sigh, Rod turned over, trying to go back to sleep. As he did so, he glanced to his nightstand, checking his clock. 2:56 glowed in the darkness, making him groan. It was going to be hard to get back to sleep like this. He looked at the clock again, glaring, until he saw something different about his nightstand. The clock was sitting on something thin on the nightstand, and Rod didn't think he had placed anything under the clock. Curious, he lifted the clock and took the item, where his breath caught in his throat as he realized what it was.

"No way..." he whispered, eyes wide. It was a dinosaur card, he was sure, but didn't look like any he had ever seen. The card looked like one of the Secret ones, gold with a flash of light as the element and such, but the dinosaur was unknown. It was like a white T-Rex, but Rod had never seen it before. How was it even possible to still have a dinosaur card? All of them had been taken by the Ancients, and Rod knew he hadn't taken one, so how did he have this one? He'd have to catch Grandpa in the morning and hope that they could figure this out. So he slid the card back on the nightstand and hoped it wouldn't activate during the night and crush him, where he tried to go back to sleep. That was basically impossible at this point and in the morning he was the picture of grumpiness. Laura even commented on it when she saw him.

"You look like Terry just tore up your favorite toy." she said.

"I feel like it." he groaned, putting his head down as they sat at the breakfast table. He thought for a moment, then raised his head up again to look at her, "Hey, did anything weird happen last night?"

"Not that I know of, why?" Laura frowned.

"...You promise to keep this a secret?"

"Of course. What is it?" Knowing she would keep the secret (she was his sister after all), Rod dug the card out of his pocket and showed it to her. She gasped.

"How-? I thought Dr. Ancient took all the cards away!"

"I don't know. I just noticed it on my nightstand last night and it doesn't look like any dinosaur I've ever seen. I was thinking of going over to Grandpa's to see if he knows anything about this."

"Could I come?" Rod shrugged.

"Sure, I guess." He checked the card again, "Maybe Grandpa even made this card, since he created most of the Special Dinosaurs."

"Maybe." Laura agreed. After they had told their parents where they were going, the two set off to head into the city and to their Grandpa's house. They had to take a few of the hoverbuses to get there, but eventually they arrived and rang the doorbell. As they waited for someone to answer, they looked around at the city. Even though it had been around a month since they had returned, they still weren't used to the futuristics they had once known so well.

"Rod! Laura!" The two were swept up in a hug after the door opened and they gave small laughs.

"Hi Ed!" Laura greeted and he set them down again.

"It's been a while, how have you been?"

"Pretty good, but we need to see Grandpa. Is he home?" asked Rod.

"Yeah, he's in the Library." Ed closed the door behind them, "What do you need from him?"

"Well..." Rod dug the card out of his pocket, "This showed up last night."

"What?!" Astonished, Ed crouched to get a closer look at the card, "No way..."

"We wanna know if Grandpa knows anything about this dinosaur, that's why we're here." Laura added, "But do you have any idea about it?"

"Nope." Ed shook his head as he straightened back up, "I've never seen anything like it, and I don't think Dr. Z raised it."

"Really?" Rod and Laura knew they shouldn't be surprised by this, but they were regardless. Ed shrugged.

"As far as I know, he only raised Pachy, Therizino, Dino, Dano, Sue, and Megalo. If he raised another dinosaur, then we never knew about it."

"Okay." Regardless, the trio then made their way to the Library to look for Dr. Z. The kids had been to that house so many times they almost knew it like the backs of their hands, climbing the stairs and traversing the halls with ease while encountering Ursula and Zander along the way. The two adults were also happy to see their niece and nephew, greeting them happily, and after learning of the strange card, joined Rod, Laura, and Ed on their quest to find Dr. Z. It didn't take much longer for them to find the Library, filled with all kinds of books of many different subjects (but mostly dinosaurs) and Dr. Z had been on a ladder trying to get a book when they burst in. The sound of the door banging open made him jump, give a yelp, and the ladder almost fell.

"Will you not do that?!" he snapped, turning to them, then softened when he saw his grandkids.

"Hey Grandpa!" Rod and Laura waved as Dr. Z climbed down from his perch, where he them gave each of them a good hug.

"It's nice to see you both again!"

"It's only been a month." Rod said, "But anyway, we came over for a reason!"

"Did you now?" Dr. Z raised an eyebrow, which turned into a shocked look upon seeing the new dinosaur card.

"This just appeared in my room last night." Rod continued, handing the card to his grandfather, "Do you have any idea what it is?"

"Hm..." Dr. Z gave the card a onceover, "I don't know. I know I didn't create the card, but I don't know what kind of dinosaur is in it." He turned to the Alpha Gang trio, "You three! Help me find any and all books about Tyrannosauridae dinosaurs!" The trio saluted him.

"Yes Dr. Z!" Immediately they began looking through the Library for said books and Dr. Z turned back to his grandchildren, saying, "I think we should show the Ancients what you've found. I know I want to be the Dinosaur King really badly, but there's something about this card I don't like."

"Hey, you don't think..." Laura paused, "Could this dinosaur be one of Seth's?" Rod and Dr. Z shared a look. As much as they didn't want to admit it, she might have been right. After all, Seth had not only created the Black T-Rex, he had also created a Special Cryolophosaurus and he didn't even have the technology of the Backlander for the second one!

"...Maybe, but maybe not." Rod said at last, "We have no idea and I don't even know how it appeared in my room, either."

"You're sure it 'appeared?'" asked their Grandpa, "You didn't have it before today?" The boy nodded.

"I woke up last night and found it on my nightstand, under the clock, and I know it wasn't there before."

"I see." The old man looked at the card again, "I'm sure it's nothing, Rod."

I hope so, Grandpa. the boy agreed in a thought.

That night, after a fruitless search, there was nothing to indicate what kind of dinosaur was in the strange card, and Rod and Laura had to go home. They promised to be back ASAP the next day and gave goodbyes to their uncles, aunt, and Grandpa as they went home. It sort-of felt strange to leave them again, but Rod and Laura had been away from their parents for so long that they didn't want to spend too much more time away. But then something strange happened that night, something neither had expected…

When Rod woke up again, he had a feeling ti was going to become a pattern that he didn't want. However, when he woke, he didn't find himself in his room anymore. In fact, he found himself in a forest similar to the ones found way, way back in the past, back in the time of the dinosaurs, and he had no idea how he had gotten there, even in his dreams. As it was, Rod got up and tried to find his way around, exploring the area until he came to a clearing, and in the sky he saw a sight he never thought he'd see again.

"Pterosaur?" he asked with a gasp. The bird-like entity nodded, or as much as it could that Rod knew of.

"It is I." she spoke, "But I am not here for a reunion. I and the rest of the Future need your and and your sister's help."

"What? But why us? Why not the D-Team or the rest of the Alpha Gang? I mean, they saved the universe instead of us plenty of times."

"Perhaps, but I had no choice in this matter." She shook her head, "The two of you have been chosen to raise two dinosaurs not of any time period and ask for their help in saving the Future."

"But if you didn't choose us, who did?"

"I cannot say. There are some things even I do not know." She turned and began to fly away.

"Wait!" Rod ran after her, "I still want to ask you a few things!" But the Pterosaur disappeared into the sky and the dream soon ended, leading to Rod sitting up in bed, panting as if he actually had been running. Thoughts were darting through his head as he sat there, trying to understand what his dream had been about. He remembered it clearly, but it was hard to understand. He and Laura had been chosen by someone other than the Pterosaur, possibly even the Elemental Stones, to raise some dinosaurs and save the Future. One of the dinosaurs was probably the one that had appeared the night before, but then, where was the other? Rod groaned and leaned back into the bed. He was not up for this right now, but if he had to, he knew he would take up the task since Laura was involved. She was his sister, he couldn't let her get hurt, especially because she was fully part of this...whatever it is.

Then something else occurred to the boy. The Pterosaur had mentioned that the dinosaurs they were to raise weren't of any time, but what did it mean? Did it mean that the dinosaurs were created, like Laura had speculated? But then, did that mean they were created by Seth, or by someone else? This was too much to think about at the moment, he should try getting some sleep...

She found herself surrounded by darkness, not unlike where she had been before, but this darkness didn't seem cold. In fact, it felt warm and soft, which she had never felt before. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but she wanted to get out. It felt nice, but being here so long was wearing down on her. She had no parents, no idea even what she was, and the loneliness was heavy on her to a point it was almost unbearable.

Someone would be nice...she thought, closing her eyes, Someone for me...

As soon as they arrived at Grandpa's house, Rod went looking for the card, and of course found it with his grandfather. Rod was glad to know where it was, at least, and he hadn't told anyone about the dream. He didn't know if he should, because would it really happen if they didn't do anything? It could have been true, with the Pterosaur being there and all, but he didn't know, so he didn't say anything about it.

"We're going over to the Ancients' house today, to ask them about the card." Dr. Z announced, "Maybe they have an idea of what it is."

"But if you don't know what the dinosaur is, how could they know?" asked Zander.

"True, but they could. I'm not as young as I used to be." Dr. Z admitted, "Besides, these books are all a few years old. This could be a newly discovered dinosaur and we wouldn't know it. Also, they have the knowledge and the technology to make a dinosaur into a card, so maybe someone used their research to do it again." The old man had several good points that they couldn't argue, and so they went on to see the Ancients. But before they left, Helga gave them some snacks for later, as she was still the housekeeper, and happily waved them goodbye.

The Ancient house wasn't large, unlike Dr. Z's, but there was a good-sized lab in the basement for their research. In fact, it kinda reminded them a bit of the house the Taylors had in the past, and it was because of the balcony above that they were first spotted by Rex.

"Hey!" he called, waving and smiling. He really hadn't left his parents much after they had been reunited and returned to the Future, but it was still good to see other people once in a while, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We need to see your parents, kid!" Ursula called back.

"I'll get them!" And then Rex was gone. This was not the first time people had called on his parents since their return, but that was okay. It was nice to see the Alpha Gang again, honestly.

"Mom? Dad?" he asked as he peeked his head into their lab. They looked up from whatever they were working on to see him and smiled.

"Hey, sweetie. Is there something you need?" asked Dr. Cretacia.

"The Alpha Gang wanted to see you guys."

"Really?" They were surprised, but went upstairs to greet their guests and welcome them inside.

"Nice to see you all again!" Dr. Ancient spoke, "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"We came over because of this." Dr. Z produced the card from his pocket and showed it to the Ancients, who were shocked at this turn of events, and Rod explained how he had come across the card. As it turned out, the Ancients also had no idea what kind of dinosaur was in the card or who had created it, so they were basically stuck in a dead-end. But the Ancients also announced that they had recreated their time machine, but weren't sure what to do with it. They had thought about returning the dinosaurs to their time but that wouldn't be right, as the whole thing had started when they found the Elemental Stones, which the dinosaurs had used to plead for their help to be saved from extinction. And how would they even reverse the process? The Stones had been destroyed in the fight against the Dark Pterosaur, but Dr. Ancient reasoned that he could create copies of the Stones if need be.

"Seth managed to do it, and he was my assistant once. If he could do it, then so can I." The man assured. This also caused Rod to doubt his dream, because he knew the Pterosaur had come from the Stones, so how could it still exist if the Stones were gone? And yet, it had been so real… They were interrupted as something crashed loudly outside and they went outside to investigate, but what they saw should have been impossible. Then again, maybe it wasn't as out-there as they thought.

"Miss me?" Seth joked, then let out a hiss of pain, holding his side as he collapsed onto one knee. In his other hand were the Elemental Stones, all together and in their circular form. Beside him was the baby form of his Cryolophosaurus, who looked quite battered. It seemed both of them had been in a bad fight and lost. As it was, even though he was a bad guy, Seth needed help, and so they brought him inside the house to treat him. Rod, Rex, and Laura were told to stay out of the guestroom until Seth was wrapped up (probably because the adults didn't want the kids to see how badly injured Seth probably was) and Ursula was told to keep an eye on them, where they all stayed in the kitchen.

"How is Seth here? I thought he disappeared when the Dark Pterosaur was destroyed." Laura asked.

"So did the rest of us." Ursula agreed, "And the Elemental Stones were with him!"

"Maybe, when the collision happened, instead of destroying each other, the Cosmos and Elemental Stones rebounded against each other and went to different places?" Rex suggested, "And the Elemental Stones accidentally took Seth with them?"

"It could have happened." Rod agreed, "But then why is he here now, how did he get back?"

"How did he get injured?" Laura questioned.

"He'll probably tell us once he's wrapped up." Ursula told her, gently rubbing Laura's hair. The kids (with the exception of Laura) weren't that young (13 at the most), but the adults wanted them to stay kids for as long as they could. Ursula understood this, understood why they had to be kept away from the scene, understood why she was the one chosen for the job (she had no medical experience or even the slightest First Aid training and wasn't good with blood), and so she accepted the circumstances with grace. But there there was another crash from outside and it gave them a bad feeling. They were assured of this when the front door was charged down by a small dinosaur that resembled a Pachycephalosaurus, but with bigger horns and a much smaller size. It cried out as it shook its head from the charge and Ursula had the kids get behind the dining room table, which she propped up just in case the dinosaur charged them.

"Wasn't that a Stygimoloch?!" asked Rex, all of them in shock.

"Maybe." Ursula looked over the lip of the table to see the Stygimoloch sniffing around, as if looking for something. And around its neck seemed to be a collar, which was weird, as no dinosaurs were known to have collars, and she reasoned that someone must either be controlling the dinosaur or had it as a pet and escaped (but that was highly unlikely). She only hoped the others stayed upstairs and the dinosaur didn't decide to use everything in sight as target practice, but was proven wrong when it saw her raised head and charged. She ducked down and covered the kids the best she could as the table went flying over their heads from the charge and they all scrambled to get out of the way, going upstairs. Even though Stygimoloch was built for running, it was not built for climbing stairs, so they had a few minutes if it decided to follow them.

"Was what that?!" cried Ed, who was the first to meet them at the top of the stairway.

"Explain later, run now!" Rod said and they all ran to join the others in Seth's room. As a precaution, they moved a clothing drawer in front of the door to help block it if the Stygimoloch came knocking, then explained what had happened downstairs. And as it happened, Ursula had been hurt protecting the kids, one of the shattered pieces of table catching her across the back and giving her a long (but luckily shallow) cut, which was quickly treated, and the kids felt bad for her getting hurt to protect them. And when Seth heard that they were being attacked by a dinosaur, he struggled to stand but was unable to, in no shape to do anything except rest, really.

"This is really bad..." he said, hissing as he moved his injuries.

"Stay right where you are, Seth, you're not going anywhere." Dr. Cretacia said, giving him a glare, then continuing, "And you know what's going on?"

"Of course. That dinosaur is after the Elemental Stones and things will be very bad if it gets them." Cryo gave a small cry as it tried to stand but was unsuccessful, also too hurt to do anything, to which Laura picked it up and tried to soothe it, "If we had another dinosaur with us, we could fight it off and we'd be safe, but I'm guessing all the dinosaurs are downstairs in your lab."

"Not all of them." Rod announced, and opened his hand to reveal the mysterious new card. It had been left behind at the table when Seth had arrived and he had palmed it until now. The injured man raised an eyebrow, not in simple surprised but in complete shock, which had rarely been seen on his face, but then it grew stony again.

"I would say that's good, only that dinosaur is not a good one to fight with. She's a nasty piece of work and won't listen to anyone."

"But we don't have a choice, do we?" Zander pointed out, and Seth had no choice but to agree. Pulling off the Fire Stone, he handed it to Rod and said, "For now, let her fight on her own and call her back once the Stygimoloch is defeated. There's no point in giving her commands right now." Rod nodded hesitantly, then turned to the window and gave a Dino Slash. The card flew out of his grasp and outside, where it changed into a dinosaur none of them had seen before.

It certainly looked like a white T-Rex for the most part, but it really didn't if you looked close. The head was shaped differently, with spikes jutting out over its eyes like a Carnotaurus, and small spines ran down its neck, sort-of like the ones on a Utahraptor. In fact, it seemed like it was built for an equal mixture of power and speed, and its arms weren't tiny and useless but long and strong, with giant claws like a Therizinosaurus'. Turning its head, it had bright red eyes and the teeth were mismatched, as if they didn't belong in its mouth or in the wrong places. All in all, it didn't look or feel like a real dinosaur, but more of a Frankenstein of several, and they didn't know how close they really were with this assumption. Then it turned all the way around and screeched at them, sounding as loud as a T-Rex and the screech echoed down the street. It was so loud it forced them to cover their ears and back off, away from the window.

"What is that dinosaur?!" asked Dr. Z in shock, both impressed and disgusted by the dinosaur at the same time.

"That is called an Indominus Rex." Seth gave a small smile and soon enough, the Stygimoloch came out to figure out where the screech had come from, only to be confronted with the I. rex that stood before it. It gave a caw in fright and tried to get away, only for I. rex to reach down with one of its long arms, pick up the Stygi, and throw it back to the ground. It then stomped on the other dinosaur ruthlessly before biting it and shaking its head as if to kill the Stygi, only for the dinosaur to glow and become a card, which then floated to the ground. I. rex, pleased at this result, got on all fours and roared her triumph to the skies. At Seth's prompting, Rod returned the and could only stare at the card in his hand with fright and relief.

"...Now do you want to tell us what's going on?" asked Dr. Ancient. Seth sighed.

"Might as well. I don't have anything better to do at this point, but get the other card first and I'll talk. There's a lot that's happened that you need to be aware of..."

I know I haven't been around much lately on here or AO3, but I'm trying to get back into writing things. I've taken a break, but now I hope I can write more and publish my chapters. As it is, I hope you guys like this new story, and please Read & Review!