Hi all. This is my first Dinosaur King fanfic. Now, an important note – as you read through this first chapter, you may think to yourself, 'What was this guy on when he wrote it?' Yes, it is rushed, I know. But I just wanted to have the format for this complicated storyline out so it would be there in black and white so I could then work from that. It is not very well revised, so I may end up re-writing it. But, I hope you can pick out several plot elements from it and will be able to enjoy it nonetheless.

Disclaimer – I do not own Dinosaur King. If I did, I would provide Rex with a fangirl-proof shield.

Prologue

2129.

Sanjō. The city of endless possibilities.

The sun's light was just beginning to make itself known over the horizon, bathing the mightiest city in the world in its golden rays. All was still and serene, with the exception of a single figure walking along an aircraft landing strip, completely oblivious to the golden dawn, deep in thought.

Seth Yatsu felt that he had been working in the shadows for long enough; it was now time to act.

Breathing deeply, he gazed up into the sunrise, the breeze whispering through his long blue hair. It was difficult to determine which party would act first. Though if things were to go according to plan, he could have little doubt. He turned and gazed back at the enormous building he had just left. The Ancient's laboratory, the most advanced and famous lab in the world. His lip curling in distaste, he fixed his gaze back towards his personal aircraft. A single family should not hold so much technocratic power. He knew that soon, it would be abused…

"Rex Ancient," he murmured to himself. "I'm sorry for how you have been brought up. Maybe a few certain people will turn it around…"

Reaching inside his coat pocket, he pulled out two parting gifts for the Ancients: the last of the Spectral Pirates' Gel Jarks in ball form, and the original elemental stone plates. How they survived the battle with the Black Pterosaur was beyond him, but whatever happened, it was extremely fortunate…

Now, he thought, we simple mortals will have a chance of fighting back.

Without another glance back, he climbed into his aircraft and took off.

Chapter One

2009.

Max Taylor sat up in bed, desperately trying to rub the blur of sleep out of his eyes. Seven in the morning? Who got up at seven in the morning?

Well, he did if he wanted to catch his friend before they went to school…

Slowly heaving himself out of bed, Max trudged into the bathroom and examined his reflection if the mirror. There was the faintest trace of stubble on his chin.

Looks like he would need to use the razor after all.

As he shaved, Max reflected on what his father had said – despite the fact that he had an enormous bushy beard, he had only had to start shaving when he was eighteen. Max was fourteen – if he didn't shave now, who knew what would happen to him?

Two years – it had been two years since Rex, the Alpha Gang and all the dinosaurs had departed to the future. It seemed like only yesterday, and it hurt just as much as it did then…

Max sighed. Still, there wasn't a lot he could do about it. All he could do was hope that Rex, Rod and Laura were enjoying themselves, along with their dinosaurs. Besides, he had other things he needed to work on…

Quickly returning to his room and dressing, he headed out of the front door and straight towards the Drakes' house.

To his relief, Zoe was also already dressed. Her sense of style had changed a lot from two years ago – she now wore her pink hair loose, as well as a yellow tank top and denim jeans. She still kept her sunglasses and green sneakers, but had now dropped the long stockings.

"Hey, Zoe," Max said, swallowing hard. "Umm…do you want to walk to school with me?"

"Er, no thanks," she replied, smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring way. "I was going to meet up with Amy on the way in."

Oof…that was a blow. Max literally felt as though all the wind had been knocked out of him.

"Uh…OK then," he murmured, heading off quickly, leaving Zoe quite perplexed.

"And then he just went off!" Zoe finished explaining to Amy as they walked into school. "It seemed like he was offended or something! I don't really know why…"

Amy too was very different from how she was two years ago. Her dark brown hair was longer, her style, like Zoe, was a lot more flamboyant and typical teenage-girl like, and, most notably of all, she was a far more confident and bubbly person, comparable to Zoe and Max.

"Oh, it's obvious!" she explained, beaming enthusiastically. "He wanted the two of you to take a stroll alone. And you know why?"

Zoe finally twigged into what she was saying.

"What?" she shrieked, blushing profusely. "No…no way…Max doesn't…"

Amy laughed.

"Sure he does! It's obvious! Everyone knows you two were going to go out eventually. Why not make it now?"

Zoe swallowed hard.

"I…I just hope I haven't gotten the wrong end of the stick…" she murmured. "I'll…leave it for a bit…"

Amy sighed, but nodded.

"Alright. But I'm gonna wait until it happens…and believe me, it won't be long!"

Little did she know, they were both being examined carefully.

An unremarkable man in a dark suit, half-hidden by bushes carefully took several photographs of both of them.

"Hmm…" he murmured to himself. "Yes, that's definitely her. She's one of those one's who always used to show up when there was a dinosaur around. I'll have to have her tailed to find out more…"

Back in 2129, Dr. Z placed a card on the table.

"Now this is impressive," he said. "Now that we have the stone plates back, we can finally get to work on the Space Pirates' dinosaurs!"

He gazed down happily at the card of Gigas.

"This extra-powerful Tyrannosaurus will be my key to becoming the Dinosaur King!"

"Err…but, doctor…" Ursula murmured. "You know the Ancients would never let us…"

"Who cares about them?" Dr. Z snarled. "What are they up to anyway…?"

"How do you mean?" Zander asked, confused.

"They seem to be preparing something in secret," the doctor explained. "And they have Rex in on it too…and if there's something that they're keeping from us…"

"Oh, didn't I mention?" Ed remarked casually. "Cretacia's pregnant."

There was a stunned silence.

"WHAT?" Dr. Z finally yelled. "How…?"

"Only a few weeks, I think…" Ed replied uncertainly.

Dr. Z growled in frustration.

"This spells trouble for us – last time she was pregnant, we ended up having to dispose of them!"

"Not quite…" Ursula muttered in response. "You were just being manipulated by Seth…"

"Well, what can I say? Seth's quite a charismatic one…where on earth is he anyway? He went off somewhere about a month ago, leaving behind the stones and a useless old Gel Jark, and nobody's heard from him since then…" he lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

"Well maybe he's planning to betray us all again!" Zander cried. "He wants to get the Ancients out of-"

He broke off as the door to their lab opened. Jonathon walked in.

"Pardon me, doctor," he said. "But Dr. Ancient sends his regards, and he would also like to study that Gel Jark that Seth left us."

"Uhh…yeah, sure," Dr. Z muttered, gesturing toward it. "It's useless anyway."

As Jonathon went to retrieve it, Dr. Z, suddenly called out,

"Actually, while you're here Jonathon, perhaps you can give us a little insight. What exactly are the Ancients working on so intensely?"

"It is a terraforming device?"

"Terraforming?"

"Yes. They are working with the International Cosmological Society in order to Terraform a local newly discovered planet."

"And…then what?"

"Presumably they'll go and live there," Jonathon replied, exiting the room.

There was a stunned silence.

"D'arrrhghggh!" Dr. Z suddenly howled.

"What?" the Alpha trio asked in unison.

"Don't you see?" Dr. Z hollered. "Once they move to this new planet they'll take all the dinosaurs and technology with them, they'll be left with nothing! And we rely on funds from the Ancients. Without it, we'll be without a home, and what fate will befall my poor grandkids…?" A look of worry passed across the old man's face, before he began to growl in determination.

"Seth obviously had the right idea, leaving before he gets chucked out! Well, I won't stand for this."

He picked up Gigas' card from the table and ran to the door.

"Come on, you three slugs!" he screamed. "We have to rise to the challenge!"

The three reluctantly followed.

Rod let out a deep yawn.

"Wow, all this extra homework's getting really intense…" he murmured.

"Yeah…" his sister agreed, shutting down her computer. "I don't understand why we shouldn't just do this all at school?"

"Well, maybe mum and dad want us home while Grandpa is working," Rod shrugged leaning back in his chair.

"Mm," Laura nodded. "Probably to keep an eye on him…hey, I wonder what Rex is doing?"

"He's probably helping Dr. Ancient out in the lab with that Gel Jark thing," Rod replied. "Actually…" he slid off his chair. "Let's go and see how that's going."

They headed off to the centre of the lab where Dr. Ancient was examining the Gel Jark under the intense scrutiny of an ophthalmoscope. Rex was observing nearby. When he saw Rod and Laura enter, he waved them over.

"Hi guys," he said. "How's your work going?" Rex's style had not changed much over two years, though there were still differences. He now wore a mid-blue long-sleeve shirt unbuttoned over an ordinary white T-shirt, but his large dinosaur tooth necklace still hung around his neck.

Rod sweat-dropped slightly.

"We're taking a little break…" he replied.

"That's right," Laura nodded. "So…what's going on?"

"Dad's just examining this," Rex gestured towards the Gel Jark. "It turns out the Space Pirates had a lot more advanced technology then we could previously tell."

Dr. Ancient stopped his scrutinization of the alien android and walked towards them.

"Very interesting…" he murmured. "From what I can tell, this thing is like an all-purpose action tool. But right now, it'll be no good to us as a robotic servant, considering we have Helga and Jonathon for that. And considering Seth's gone AWOL, it won't be much use to him either. But, we could use it as fuel."

"Fuel?" Rex asked. "What for?"

Dr. Ancient glanced at him.

"The Space Pirates' time machine," he said. "Once we've repaired that, we can take it back to Max and Zoe's time, and use the stones to repair the Backlander."

Rex suddenly went wide-eyed.

"You mean…?"

"Yes," Dr. Ancient nodded. "Seems this little reminder of our mortal enemies will be your key to seeing your friends again."

And there you have it people! I hope the fast-paced nature of this fic didn't make any of you feel motion-sickness. So, where has Seth gone? Will the Ancients terra-form their planet? Will the Alpha Gang try and stop them? What has this mysterious photographer got in store for Max and Zoe? So many questions that you probably don't care about, but I hope you may have the heart to come back a read next time. *sheepish grin*

So, R&R, and I'll see you next time!