The Spiny and The Tank

Disclaimer: Dinosaur King is owned by Sunrise, Shout Factory, 4kidsTV, and any other company I missed. I own nothing

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Flashback"

DK

Despite the fact that they didn't have the subjects that humans have, dinosaurs did have classes like schools. However, these were more based on survival necessities like hunting for food, nesting, and most popular; battling.

These types of classes usually were for the sole purpose of tournaments or other forms of competitive battling. And one of the students in one such class was Tank: one of only two females. She and several other of the vegetarian students where currently either grazing or browsing for lunch, carnivore students were looking for anything to hunt for their lunch.

The Saichania was currently eating from a bush when she felt a disturbing presence. And it wasn't Spiny since he wasn't in this class for obvious reasons. She looked up and saw a Lanzhousaurus approaching her: the other female student. Sighing to herself, Tank readied for the incoming headache. "What do you want?" She asked the Lanzhousaurus once she stopped in front of her.

"It's lunchtime." The Lanzhousaurus replied. "And I'm hungry."

"Then find a tree or something." Tank growled.

"I'm in the mood for shrubs." Was the Lanzhousaur's reply as she took a bite out of the bush.

"That's my bush you're eating from." Tank told her, still growling.

"I don't see anything that says it's for purple Saichania's only." The iguanodont replied, taking another mouthful.

"I doubt I need to piss on it for you to get the message." Was Tank's reply, taking a large bite out of the leaves.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. It's disgusting." The Lanzhousaurus reminded Tank, despite doing the exact same thing.

"In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly use our mouths when we talk." Tank retorted before slightly thinking off topic. "How does that even work?"

"I don't see why you're making a big deal out of me eating from the same bush as you." The Lanzhousaurus said.

A tick mark appeared on Tank's head. Was this flat-mouth seriously trying to pin this all on her. "I don't see why you can't just go and find another damn bush to eat from." She turned the tables on her enemy.

The other dinosaurs in the area noticed the two were starting to have an argument and fled. They knew the bad blood between these two and knew things were about to get ugly. The Lanzhousaurus looked irritated. "I just wanted to chat with my sister from completely different misters."

Tank looked the iguanodont dead in the eye. "We haven't been sisters for a long time." She emphasized at the end.

"And who's fault is that?" The Lanzhousaurus reared up onto her hind legs.

Tank slammed her club tail to the ground. "I seem to recall you left me!"

"And I seem to recall it the other way around, you prideful snake!" The Lanzhousaurus stomped onto her forelegs and roared at the Saichania.

The two of them continued growling at each other, nearby dinosaurs poked their heads from their hiding spots. Waiting to see who would deal the first blow. That is until the roar of the teacher was heard, signaling the return to class. As the rest of them left, Tank and the Lanzhousaurus stayed glaring at each other. "We'll settle this after class." Tank said.

"Once and for all." The Lanzhousaurus added.

It was then that the dream ended and Tank woke up in her room. The chibi Saichania slowly opened her eyes and yawned, stretching her limps. When her eyes became more focused, she saw Spiny lying right in front of her. His snout touching hers. "Morning, Tank." He greeted cheerfully.

Anyone who wasn't already awake in the Taylor Household was definitely awake once now. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

(Intro Theme)

After that unfortunate wake up, Tank and Spiny went to the D-Lab, got themselves full-sized, and joined several other dinosaurs for a soccer match. Currently, Salty had the ball as he charged towards the goal. The goalie, who was Teddy, took stance in anticipation for the upcoming ball. But before the Saltasaurus could shoot, Spiny lunged in front of him in an attempt to take the ball. This resulted in the ball being pushed away by the dirt that was uprooted by Spiny's dive and into Ally's grasp. This would be good if they were on the same team, but they were not. "Thanks, Spiny!" The Allosaurus mocked as she dribbled the ball towards the goal.

"No problem." Spiny replied, muffled by the dirt.

Ally dribbled the ball about to where Salty was when she was tackled away from it by Champ. "Gotcha!"

"Champ!" Rocko called out to her. "I told you before. Tackling your opponents is for football, not soccer."

"Oh, yeah." Champ remembered Rocko explaining the rules of both sports to her when she discovered football.

The referee, who was Jonathan, blew his whistle to signal a foul move. "Penalty kick for Team Saichania!" He announced.

"I got it!" Spiny said as he got into his feet.

"Oh, no you don't." Tank ushered past him quickly and over to the ball. "My team, remember?"

"But Spiny has both longer legs. His kick would be a lot stronger than yours." Rocko pointed out. "Perhaps it would be better for the team if he would do it."

Tank turned around and glared daggers at the Altirhinus. The words he used, plus the memory in her dream the night before, were not exactly ones the Saichania needed to here at the moment.

Instead of verbally replying, she roared in Rocko's face and went up to the ball. She positioned herself behind it before slowly backing up. When she felt she covered enough ground she charged forward and gave the ball the strongest kick she could.

The ball went rolling through the field. Lucky and Thorn tried to catch it, but ended up not only missing but also banging their heads together. Salty tried to stop it with his head, but the ball only rolled up it and all across his back before going off his tail like it was on a slide. The elevation of Salty's tail allowed the ball to fly right over Hana. The Euoplocephalus was the last extra defense for the goalie, who was Jet. The Pteranodon leader had his wings spread out in preparation to fly when he saw the ball flying towards him in a blinding speed. Time seemed to stop for him once the ball was just inches from his face. "Mother." He squeaked.

The force of the impact not only knocked the pterosaur into the goal, but they actually ripped through the net. The other dinosaurs looked at where the ball landed with speechlessness while Tank took this as an opportunity to celebrate. "Ha, ha! Take that! You all doubted me! Said I was took weak! Said I had no place among fighters like you! Well, who's the little girl now!? Ha, ha!" The Saichania was stomping her feet with pride and spinning around as she cheered.

"Uh, Tank?" Champ said. "None of us said anything about you not being capable."

Tank snapped out of her happiness and saw that everyone else was looking at her with either concern for her sanity or confusion. "You know, Tank, if this is about women proving themselves as athletes you should know that it's by implying there is a difference that creates such ideals." Spiny said, only shocking the others more at his sudden intelligence. "What?"

Tank looked around, embarrassed at herself for letting her feelings get the better of her and making her look like a bigger fool than her boyfriend. "It's not that." She quickly said, backing up slowly. "Just...pride in the moment. I think I've been playing too much. Probably best if I take some time to rest." She said before running off into a forest.

Once she was gone, the other dinosaurs dispersed. Spiny stayed where he was, looking in the direction Tank left. "Follow her." Ally said from behind, making the Spinosaurus jump slightly. "Something's bothering her. It's your job as her boyfriend to comfort her in these situations." Instead of some silly comment as a response, Spiny nodded and followed the trail Tank made.

Back on the field, Rocko rolled the ball off Jet and helped him onto his feet. "You okay, dude?"

"I think that ball knocked out all my teeth." Jet said, clearly dizzy from the impact.

"You never had teeth." Rocko said.

"Oh, yeah." Jet remembered. "How's my tail?"

DK

Tourists from all over walked through the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. As they explored the temple, none of them took into account a large stone in the pathway, assuming it to be just part of a wall that fell off. One kid who was walking with their family gave the rock a kick and it rolled away. The stone was round so it kept rolling till it rolled out of the building and down a small hole in the ground. This hole actually led to a underground cavern below the ruins, completely unknown to the public.

When the rock hit the ground, it turned out to actually be a capsule. The capsule opened up and revealed two cards. The cards both landed by a small plant that was growing directly beneath the hole, where it had sunlight, and glowed green. Out of the green glow emerged an orange iguanodont with several splotches of yellow of various sizes all over its body, and small spines across the back. This dinosaur was a Lanzhousaurus. And Tank's worst nightmare.

DK

It didn't take Spiny too long to find Tank lying down by a small stream, watching the water go by. She didn't exactly look depressed, embarrassed, or anything similar. But the Spinosaurus could tell something was on her mind, and he had an idea what. "Okay, Spiny. Remember what they taught you. Be straight and too the point. No getting sidetracked on things like why does it take Drew so long to post these chapters." Spiny walked up to Tank from behind and stopped a few inches from her tail. "Tank, I need to honest with you."

"That's not a good sign." Tank muttered under her breath.

"I think you're on your period."

Tank blushed so much her whole head turned red before she hit her boyfriend hard on the face with her tail. "WHAT?!"

"Ugh." Spiny groaned from the impact. Understandably to everyone but him, if anyone else saw it, it was probably the hardest she ever hit him. "I said I think you're on-"

"I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID?!" Tank screamed in response. "How could you even...T-that's a human thing, you moron! Dinosaurs don't even go through that!"

"Well, if it isn't you going through mood swings, then what is the problem?" Spiny asked as he tried to get back onto his feet.

"I just...had a memory last night and it won't leave me alone."

"What kind of memory? The tragic one?" Spiny once he got back onto his feet and dusted himself.

"More the unfinished business one." Tank answered before explaining what she dreamt. "If you don't remember, which wouldn't surprise me, our old home was not exactly the most welcoming-"

"You do realize it's because of the daily attacks I've been on the receiving end of that retard is a trigger word now." Spiny pointed out.

"I wasn't finished." Tank growled. But before she could continue, they heard a familiar alarm go off. "And now there's this asshole."

"Am I the only one who realizes this is almost exactly like what happened the last time we had a heartfelt moment?" Spiny asked rhetorically before he and Tank were recalled to the D-Team's side.

"The signal is coming from the ruins of Machu Picchu." Reese told the team.

"Then that's where we're going." Max said as they ran to the platform.

Max was about to join his friends when Spike grabbed his leg, sobbing hysterically. "Please, Max! Take me with you! I've always wanted to see Machu Picchu in person! I promise I won't get in your way.

While his friends laughed at his dad's begging, Max just looked embarrassed as he tried to shake his father off his leg. "Dad, you know I can't even if I wanted to." He tried to reason with him. "Can you let go? We have a mission."

"We can take a plane there! I'm sure they'll let us on for free!"

DK

At the site of Machu Picchu, many tourists continued their observations of the ruins, unaware of the dinosaur in the area. Among these tourists were the Alpha Gang. The trio were wearing disguises they walked through the ruins, trying to find some clue of where the dinosaur was. They couldn't ask anyone for risk of being found out. "Ugh!" Ursula groaned as she looked at the map of the ruins she got at the entrence. "We've been at this for three hours and haven't found hide or scale of that stupid dinosaur! It couldn't have just vanished into thin air!"

"The Alpha Scanner is still giving off a signal, so it should still be here." Zander confirmed as he checked their coordinates again.

"Maybe we have come across the dinosaur, but it's so small we didn't see it." Ed suggested. "Possibly an Antosaurus."

"An Antosaurus?" Ursula repeated, processing the stupidity. She somehow resisted the urge to bash his head in again and simply decided to humor him in response. "I've never heard of such a dinosaur, so I doubt we have one of those." She said with a smile that was basically daring Ed to say something stupid.

Either because he didn't realize his life was at risk or he knew and had an excuse he beloved would work, Ed took the bait. "Well, maybe it's another Secret Dinosaur. Who knows how many of those things Dr.Z made." He pointed out.

"You know, he's actually correct." Zander said, putting a hand to his chin as he thought about it. "Who knows how many times exactly he snuck off while we were in the Mesozoic. He could've made over a hundred Secret Dinosaurs. It's actually quite scary when you think about it."

"Just because you might be right doesn't mean you can still say something stupid and not be punished." Ursula reminded them as she bashed Ed's head in again and punched Zander in the gut.

As the two men shook off their wounds, at least Ed did as this was a normal occurrence for him, Ursula noticed a bright light appear from the ground behind them. While she hasn't ever seen it happen exactly, she could already tell it had to be the brats and their dinosaurs coming to investigate for themselves. Thinking quickly, she grabbed the two men and ran behind the nearest wall. Out of sight but still able to overhear their plans.

The light died down and the D-Team were able to see the ruins of Machu Picchu. "We're here." Max said.

"Now to find that dinosaur." Terry said.

"Right." The others agreed. But before they could take even one step they found themselves surrounded by tourists, similar to when they first came to India.

"It's the D-Team!"

"What're they doing here?"

"Do you think I can get their autograph?"

The unwanted and unexpected attention made the team back up against each other before Rex addressed the crowd. "Sorry, folks. We don't have time for a meet and great. We're looking for another dinosaur in the area. Have any of you seen one?"

Confused murmurs sweat through the crowd. "A dinosaur here?"

"I haven't seen one."

"Kind of hard to miss a dinosaur."

"Are your scanner thingys broken?"

"Try the ruins next door."

Seeing as nobody around had seen the dinosaur, the D-Team huddled together to decided what to do next. "I'm gonna be honest, you guys. I think our scanners might be broken given my luck with the Dino Holder." Max said.

"I thought you hadn't had that thing broken since we went to Africa?" Zoe asked her boyfriend.

"I have!" Max responded. "I mean I have not had it broken since then. But who knows when Chomp got his teeth on it."

"That was one time and that was when we first got here!" Chomp retorted.

"Maybe it's a really small species, like a Microraptor." Paris suggested.

"That's definitely a possibility." Terry said.

"Somehow I doubt it." Ace told them. "With all these people here, even a small species should've been noticed by someone."

"You know, it'd be really helpful to know what kind of dinosaur we're looking for before we get teleported to random locations." Zoe expressed her thoughts.

"But that'd take out the fun in guessing." Spiny complained.

Tank whacked him on the head and tried to think of a way the dinosaur could escape notice and still be in the area. "None of the pterosaurs brought to the present can activate without a dinosaur, so it couldn't fly out. So if you can't go over a fence..." She looked down as the idea hit her. "Maybe it went underground." The Saichania suggested.

"Is that possible?" Paris asked.

"If they're an ankylosaur; yes." Tank replied. "If it wasn't obvious by the fact our element is Earth, we can tunnel very well." She said proudly.

"Somehow, I doubt that's why you guys are that element." Terry muttered from behind. Tank heard this and growled at him, a tick mark appeared on her head.

"So, if Tank's right then all we have to do is dig a tunnel underground and we'll find the dinosaur." Spiny said.

"Or fall to our deaths." Rex added before turning to the crowd behind them. "Tell me, does anyone know of these ruins have any underground areas?"

DK

The team stood in front of a natural wall that had a hole that was covered by rocks that sealed it from the outside world. "This is supposedly the entrance to the tomb where the Incas buried their dead." One local explained to them.

"These tombs haven't been explored for centuries. Maybe even longer." Another added.

"So we're going to have three teenagers be the first ones in a millennia to venture into said tombs?" Zoe replied with sarcasm.

"Well you are the ones with dinosaurs." Someone in the crowd pointed out.

"And it's not like we haven't explored uncharted temples before." Max pointed out.

This just made Zoe groan. "Oh, boy."

Max ignored this and clapped his hands together. "Welp, better start moving these rocks out of the way." He crouched down at the entrance and was about to grab a rock when someone called out to him.

"Uh, you probably want to know before you start that the main reason why no one has ever explored those tombs is because there are a lot of rocks blocking that entrance. Like, it's a wonder how so many could fit in there lot."

"There's so many that people have died trying to dig through all that rubble." Someone else added.

"Maybe it's too much for people." Rex said as he pulled out his Dino Holder. "But not for Tank."

"Awe, yeah!" Tank said as she was recalled.

"DINO SLASH! LET'S GET TO WORK, SAICHANIA!"

Tank landed to a roaring applause from the crowd. "No autographs please." She said smugly, lifting one leg up to strike a pose.

"We're seeing history about to be made here." Spiny said to Paris. "Exploring the unknown. Adventuring into uncharted territory. Seeing things that have never been seen!" He said with excitement building before it dropped down to a more calm tone. "Would probably be more exciting if we were literally anyone else."

Tank positioned herself at the entrance and wasted no time literally diving in. Everyone behind her quickly moved out of the way as debris was kicked out. In just seconds she was already tunneling in deeper than anyone else had before. However, things were about to take a very nasty turn.

What no one knew was that not too far above from where Tank was currently digging was a device that detected movement. And it was clearly detecting the Saichania's. The closer Tank got to a specific part of the tunnel, the more a small light flashed red and a very faint beeping could be heard if you toned out Tank's digging. When the purple ankylosaur was right at a certain point below the device, it exploded, setting off a chain reaction of more C4 hidden nearby.

Tank stopped digging when she heard the explosions. The ceiling above her started to crack from the pressure. She knew very well what was about to follow. "Oh, shit."

Those outside the cave could hear the commotion going on inside. "What's happening?!" Spiny panicked so much he leapt into the air with fear.

Rex knew what was going on. And it was only a matter of seconds before the tunnel caved in on his partner. "Tank!" He cried. "Get out of there!" Right after he said that, the tunnel began to cave in on itself. The locals were scared off by the falling rocks while the D-Team could only watch in horror. "TANK!"

Seconds passed before the noise died down. The dust cleared to reveal the tomb entrance even more blocked than it was before. Rex fell to his knees in shock. "No." He muttered.

"Rex." Ace tried for comfort him.

But the blonde ignored him and slammed his fists on the ground. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" He scolded himself. "Why did I just have Tank dive in there?! I should've known a cave in was possible, but did I think that at all?! Noooo! I just had to stupidly send one of my best friends to their possible deaths!"

"REX!" Ace managed to snap him out of his sulking and the blonde king looked at the Carnotaurus in confusion. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You didn't know it was going to happen."

"But I should have considered the possibility." Rex retorted. I did when Zoe was buried in China. Why didn't I when Tank was digging? It's my job as King to ensure the safety of all my subjects."

"And you and Tank were doing your jobs." Zoe stepped up and sat next to him.

"Yeah, Rex. None of us considered the risk either. And I was the one who almost crushed Zoe." Chomp added, almost laughing at the memory. Which earned him glares from Zoe and Paris.

Surprisingly, Max was the only one not at Rex's side. This was due to the fact that he was checking the Dino Holder. While he didn't know Tank was well as Rex, he knew she was not someone who would be defeated so easily. Adding on the fact her back was designed to absorb hits, her dying seemed impossible. He zoomed in on their location and saw two signals. One was clearly the new dinosaur by the color thanks to a modification made not long after the big battle in Sanjo City. The other was a color that meant it was one of their own. "I can see her signal on the Dino Holder!" He told the others. "She's okay!"

This relieved the others as they all gave one giant sigh. "Phew! That's good to hear. Right, Spiny?" Paris asked before noticing the lack of reply. "Spiny?"

The others looked around and noticed a severe lack of the purple Spinosaurus. And knowing Spiny, they had an idea where he was. "Oh, don't tell me-" Zoe started.

"Of course he went in after Tank. That's just who he is." Terry said. "We just have to hope he made it to her in time."

"Knowing Spiny, he had to. The guy could probably ride a nuke all the way." Chomp said. Again the girls glared at him for his attempt at joking to lighten the mood. "Shutting up."

Inside the tombs, the pile of rubble creates by the cave in began to move as Tank emerged from the pile. Before the rocks fell, she crouched and let her armor take care of the rest. "Ugh. Thank Seikatsu I'm so tanky." Moving out of the rubble pile and shaking off and remaining debris, she turned around to see her way in totally blocked. "Well, that's just peachy." She mumbled.

"I'll say." Spiny said from behind, starling the Saichania. Tank roared in panic and started attacking the chibi Spinosaurus with her tail. "Wait, wait! It's me, Tank!" Spiny tried to calm her down as he narrowly dodged her club tail.

"Spiny?" Tank said as she turned around and saw her boyfriend standing right in front of her. "What're you doing here?!" She shouted at him.

"Well, you were trapped and I wanted to make sure that you-"

Tank wouldn't let him finish. "You could've been killed, moron! I didn't need saving or company! You needed to stay away!" If she could facepalm she would've at this moment. She probably could, but that's not important. "Remind me why I love you right now before I cause another cave in by banging my head against the wall."

"...You find my stupidity charming." Spiny said.

Deciding to roll with the reply, Tank looked back at the blocked entrance to the tomb. "I'm pretty sure that cave in caused more rocks to block us than before." She said with annoyance. "If we were both full-sized we could just charge through and unblock it easily. Instead I'm trapped with you as a midget."

"Hey! That is offensive to short people everywhere!" Spiny retorted as he hopped onto Tank's head.

"Get off my head, Spiny." She deadpanned.

"No, don't you see? If that way is blocked we need to find another exit. It'll be an adventure!" He cheered.

"I'm pretty sure the locals said that there was only one entrance." Tank reminded him.

"And I'm sure the dinosaur that's also most likely in these caves just walked through the front door and sealed itself in." Spiny replied sarcastically

This actually surprised Tank. "You know, when you do sarcasm it actually stings." Seeing as he had a point and it was a better option then waiting and starving to death, she decided to walk into the caves and hope they'd find some way out.

Outside, the D-Team was reaching a similar conclusion. Without Tank, they couldn't safely dig themselves in. Not that they wanted to after what they just witnessed. So the next best option was to find or create and second way in. "Everyone know the plan?" Rex asked them.

"Yes, sir/Your Highness." They all nodded.

"Then let's move."

As they left, the Alpha Gang peered our from their hiding place. "This might be a problem." Ursula said, having seen everything that transpired.

"That problem won't be one if we manage to get inside those caves before they do." Zander reminded her. "All we need to do is wait for the perfect moment."

"And then strike when the time is right." Ed finished.

DK

There was barely a sound as Tank went deeper into the caverns with Spiny on her head. It was very dark in the cave, so dark they wouldn't be able to see if they had human eyes. Not wanting to risk another cave in, the Saichania reframed from digging and instead searched for another exit they could use. After what seemed like an eternity or nothing but the sound of cave noises, Spiny said something. "Soooooo, we're alone in here." He pointed out.

"I noticed." Tank replied dryly.

"Nobody else in the general area."

"Hence the meaning of the word alone." "Spiny, I swear if you say what I think you're going to say-"

"Maybe you can now tell me about this morning?" He suggested.

Tank paused for a second a looked back at him. "What?"

"You know, the 'unfinished business' you wanted to tell me about before we were interrupted by the cock block alarm."

"Oh, yeah. That." She replied, sounding unenthusiastic.

"You were thinking I was going to go suggested we do something stupid, weren't you?" Spiny accused her, sounding like he was about to cry. "You always think so poorly of me."

Tank sighed and tried to comfort him. "Spiny, the last time you started a conversation like that, you suggested we try sky diving full-sized. They don't make parachutes that big."

"Yet!"

"And before that, I had to stop you from attacking a train full of people."

"Those weren't people! They were zombies!"

"I told you a million times it was just a movie." Tank said, shaking her head to keep herself from yelling and possibly causing another cave in. "And before that, you attempted slug genocide."

"They will take control of our brains if we let them! Books say so!"

"Oh, and how can I forget the time you...wait, where was I going with this?"

"You said you don't trust me because I'm an idiot all because I wanted to know what went wrong this morning." Spiny reminded her. "We got really off topic here."

"To be honest, I'd rather we continue talking about stupid stuff you did over having to remember her." The Saichania growled the last word.

"Her?"

"Yeah: her." Another growl exited Tank's mouth as she began the story.

In a small crater like space, pairs of male dinosaurs were sparing against each other: tails were slammed, horns were swung, feet were stomped, and teeth were bared. Watching from a raised platform was a male Parasaurolophus; the teacher of said class.

"You probably could already tell from how you were treated, but the neighborhood we lived in was a very rough and mean spirited. You were picked on because nobody saw you as a functional member of society. And, to an extent, I was kind of the same."

Spiny shook his head in confusion. "Wha? But you're nowhere near as stupid as me. Why would they hate you too?"

"Because I'm a female." Tank answered. She stopped and looked up in reflection.

"Females are supposed to tend to the hatchlings." Her father would tell her. "Leave the fights to the males."

"How can you expect to find a mate when you engage in such masculine behavior?" Her mother would say.

"I lost count of how many times my parent would tell me to focus on being a mother and not what I really wanted to be."

A baby Tank watched from the conveniently formed stands the male Parasaurolophus battle a Tyrannosaurus. The hadrosaur lifted the T-Rex off the ground with his head before tossing him into the air. When he came back down, the Parasaurolophus knocked him away with his tail.

"And what was it you wanted to be?" Spiny asked.

Young Tank's eyes sparkled in amazement as the Parasaurolophus roared in victory.

"I wanted to be a fighter." Tank answered. "I wanted to be in the ring, hearing crowds cheer for me as I battled my opponents. To feel the rush of battle."

"That explains the tomboyish personality." Spiny realized

"Exactly. I didn't want to be seen as a weak female. So, when I was old enough, I entered combat school."

Returning to the beginning flashback, a teenage Tank walked into the crater. This got the attention of the male students and they stopped their sparring. "What're you doing here, sweet cheeks?" A male Saichania asked.

Tank ignored him and stepped up to the platform the teacher was watching from. "I wish to join your class." She said to the Parasaurolophus.

Silence feel over the area before it was replaced by the roars of laughter. "Ahaha!"

"Are you serious?!"

"This is a fighting class! Not about raising babies!"

The laughter continued until the Parasaurolophus used his cone to make that piercing noise for silence. The students fell silent as he walked down to look at Tank closer. "Do your parents know about this choice?" He asked her.

"I have left my family. They were only getting in the way of my dream." Tank replied, standing firm as the inspection continued.

The Parasaurolophus continued his inspection, asking her various questions before stopping in front of her and nodding in approval.

"For a while after I joined I was the only female in the class. Then, one day, a female Lanzhousaurus joined the class. Being the only girls, we hit it off very quickly and became close friends."

The two female students stood proudly on top of various unconscious male students.

"We rose till we were the top of our class." Tank almost smiled at the memory. Well, as best as a dinosaur could. "We were known all throughout our homeland as the best fighters. Together, even our teacher stood no chance against us."

Tank and the Lanzhousaurus used their tails to smack away the Parasaurolophus together.

"You two seemed tight." Spiny said. "What happened to make you dislike her so much?"

Tank stopped and growled at the memory. "Grrrr." Her tail slowly raised up, clearly in position to slam down.

"Uh, Tank? We're in a cave." Spiny reminded her when he saw the tail rise.

The Saichania relaxed her tail as best as she could, which wasn't a lot given her anger, and answered Spiny's question. "That bitch abandoned me just so she could be number one in class."

"What do you mean by abandoned?" Spiny asked.

"You know what I mean! I don't have to spell it out for you!" Tank annoyingly replied.

Spiny didn't say anything in reply and the two of them continued their search in silence again.

DK

They continued their search for a way out. The tunnels seemed to becoming even darker and darker. Yet, at the same time, they also seemed to be getting larger. While Tank noticed this, she didn't think much of it. That is until she felt her foot step on something and the sound of crunching filled the cave. The Saichania froze when she heard the sound, her animal instincts telling her to either flee or prepare for battle. "What was that?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"Let me see." Spiny said as he hopped off her head onto the floor. Tank carefully lifted the foot she felt the disturbance under and Spiny saw what was underneath. "It looks like..." He paused as he pulled it out with his claws.

"What?" Tank asked, hoping it wasn't another bomb.

"A piece of paper." Spiny finished as he rolled out to reveal it was a crumbled up piece of paper. Just the idea of panicking over a piece of scrap made Tank fall over in embarrassment. "Weren't we trying to be quiet?" The Spinosaurus asked her.

Tank didn't say anything besides an inaudible grumble. Looking back at the paper, Spiny noticed there was writing on it. Unfolding the paper, it revealed drawings of seven circles. Each circle had a single letter in them: Y, B, P, W, R, and G. The seventh circle, larger and in the center, had a large S in it. Another thing about the circles was that the ones with R and B were crossed out. "What the hell is this?" He finally asked Tank as he showed her the drawing.

Moving her head so she could see the paper, Tank looked at it with disinterest. "It's just a piece of garbage that rolled into here, Spiny." She told him.

"But there's no holes or anything." Spiny pointed out. "Unless the person lived here, I don't think it could do any rolling."

Getting back onto her feet, Tank laughed at Spiny's idea. "Ha, ha! Living in a cave! Spiny, that's the stupidest..." She stopped herself as she took a closer look around the caverns. Several areas looked like they were carved to make room for something. She walked over to one spot in particular that looked like it could fit a large TV on the wall. "Then again, maybe not."

"You think someone was actually living in here?" Spiny asked. "Because, you know, I was probably just saying something random again."

"Look at this and tell me this is natural." Tank told him.

The chibi Spinosaurus hopped onto her head and looked at the corner they were standing at. Besides the wall, the area looked like it was carved to fit something large into it. "Maybe it was Incas?" Spiny guessed.

"Looks like this place was filled with more technological stuff than those guys ever knew of." Tank said as she noted other areas, like one that seemed to have been holding four large tubes.

"Like the Alpha Gang?"

Tank shook her head. "Those numbskulls would've died making this place. Besides, I doubt they would be smart enough to booby trap the entry way like that with the bomb."

"So who did this then?"

"I don't know. And I doubt we want to find out."

The atmosphere filled with dread after that sentence. To lighten the mood, Spiny decided to shift topics. "So, how did things with you and the Lanzhousaurus end?" He asked.

Tank glared at the Spinosaurus, who shrunk down as much as he could at her angry glare, before she decided to answer. "One day at class we decided we were going to settle things afterwards. So we set up a meeting place and went there to see who truly was better."

Spiny almost didn't want to ask this next question, but he felt he had to. "Did you win?"

Surprisingly to him, Tank shook her head. "Thankfully she didn't either. Something interrupted our fight and the rest is a blur."

"What's you mean a blur?"

"Like the next thing I remember was being on the time...machine." Tank put the pieces together. "Wait a second. If I remember correctly, a bright light interrupted our fight. And the next thing I remember is being on the time machine. That means...that means..."

Her train of thinking was broken by the sound of a unfamiliar dinosaur roar. "Hey! We found the dinosaur!" Spiny cheered as he hopped onto Tank's head. "Onward, Tank!" But Tank didn't budge. "Uh, Tank?"

"No." She said in a hushed tone.

"Tank?"

"No. No. No. No. No." She kept saying as she went straight forward, not even caring about the wall her in way.

"Ah!" Spiny yelped as he ran to the Saichania's back once she started smashing through walls.

"No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No." She kept on repeating until she crashed through the last wall. And there at the end of the tunnel was the Lanzhousaurus.

Spiny looked up and saw who the dinosaur was. "Oh, no."

"MOTHER FU-"

DK

Outside the tunnels, the D-Team searched aimlessly for another way into the caverns. Picking every inch of earth, flipping over every stone, looking for something that would help them reach their stranded friends. Since they had no idea what was on the other side, going full-size and smashing the walls down was not the best idea. Throughout the whole ordeal, Rex was constantly looking at his Dino Holder to make sure Tank was still active and alive. He was doing more pacing around the search area then actual searching.

Ace, who was pawing at the dirt on the hill to feel for any week spots that might be a good spot to start digging, kept looking back at his partner and was growing more concerned every time he did. It was reaching a point he couldn't just stand by anymore and walked over to the blonde. "Rex." He said quietly.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." Rex kept repeating to himself.

"Rex." Ace said louder this time.

"Why did I even send her in alone? We should've just tried digging in by hand."

"Rex!" Ace shouted this time, definitely getting his attention now.

"I won't hear it, Ace!" Rex responded with a tone that caused everyone else to stop what they were doing and look at him. "Nothing you say will change the fact that the whole reason Tank and Spiny and where they are now is because I didn't plan ahead!"

Ace said nothing for a while before responding. "You're right, Sire." He sighed. "You could've predicted that a cave in could have happened and planned around it. But, you need to remember that you are human, and not in the literal sense. And being human means that you are going to make mistakes throughout your whole life no matter how much you learn." The chibi Carnotaurus nuzzled Rex's leg. "I should know that better than anybody."

His words comforted Rex slightly and he petted his partner on the head with a small smile on his face. "Thanks, Ace."

Suddenly, the sky changed color to match that of a battlefield. This made everyone stop what they were doing. "A battlefield." Terry said grimly.

"I hope that means Tank found the dinosaur and not you know who." Chomp said.

"Excuse me!" Ursula shouted from her hiding place. "I have a name besides old lady!"

"I was thinking Alpha Gang, not just you." Chomp replied.

"Oh." Ursula realized her mistake just as Zander and Ed called her out on it.

"What the fuck was that?!" Zander yelled at her.

"You let them know we're here!" Ed yelled.

"I thought they called me old!" Ursula defended herself.

"Oh my god!" Zander slapped his forehead.

Throughout the whole argument, the D-Team just looked at each other in confusion. "Forget it. The moment's ruined." Ursula said as the trio leapt out from their hiding spot in a dramatic fashion no one thought possible. "Ha, ha, ha! Long time no see, brats!"

"Same." Max replied. "I was actually starting to forget what your faces looked like."

"Especially your ugly face, old lady." Zoe added.

This got Ursula pissed off as tick-marks appeared all over her head. "How dare you!" She growled before exploding. "I'll have you know I spend hours to get this face to the way it is!"

"So if that's you with makeup, I'd hate to see you without it." Max said smugly before back high fiving Zoe.

Ursula looked at the couple even more lividly before she just smiled. "You know, it doesn't matter what you think because in less than five minutes you'll be nothing but past memories." She declared before turning to her lackeys. "Zander, Ed! Show them!"

"You got it!" The two men saluted as the D-Team braced for whoever they were about to summon. However, instead of pulling out their Alpha Scanners, the two men just began to walk around and snap their fingers together.

Ursula just watched them; dumbfounded. "W-what are you doing?" She asked them.

"Like it? It's our new intro." Zander said. "Figured having an introduction number would make us more intimidating."

"More intimidating?" Ursula repeated, sounding like saying those words hurt her IQ, before bashing both men on the head. Stopping their little routine. "NO!" She scolded them.

"But we didn't even get to the singing." Ed whined as he rubbed his head.

"That's stupid! You're stupid! Stop being stupid! No one would let you finish if you always did some stupid dance or whatever whenever we appear!" The greenette scolded them. "Now either help me capture these dinosaurs, or you're little dance number will be perfect for a dinner show!" She threw Alpha Scanners at them. "And you'd be both!"

"ALPHA SLASH!"

Out of the multicolored glows landed Fang, Thud, and Bailey. "Going with other dinosaurs this time, I see." Terry said.

"Please." Bailey scoffed. "Brontikens and those three other fools couldn't even compare to our power."

"And they suck!" Thud added.

Bailey growled and stomped on his head. "They already figured that out, dipshit!"

"Those two are just like Tank and Spiny." Paris whispered to Chomp.

He nodded. "But without the comedy."

"Ignore those two. I'm the real threat here!" Fang announces and he attempted to look bigger than he already was. "All dinosaurs tremble at my passing!" The Carcharodontosaurus bragged

"Wait, aren't you the meat-headed idiot that Killer said he fought back in Hawaii?" Terry rhetorically asked.

This was a punch to the green theropod's pride. His image shattering like a glass window. "Excuse me! He just got lucky that time!"

"Yeah." Rex snapped his fingers as he remembered something else about that fight he witnessed when rewatching it. "You and Ed caused the whole volcano to erupt and launched yourselves out of there!" He laughed at the memory. "Don't you know how your own Move Cards work? Ha, ha!"

"Hey, there was no previous event that could have told us what would happen!" Fang retorted, sounding almost like he was about to cry.

Rex stopped laughing and looked at the three clones seriously. "You know, I expected the last remaining remnants of my uncle to be just a little more intimidating than this."

The three of them all glared daggers at Rex for his comment. "I get his head." Fang growled.

"Not if I get it first." Bailey growled back.

"WAKANDA FOREVER!" Thud shouted before all three charged at their creator's nephew.

Rex only smirked in response. "Max, you're up."

"Oh, yeah!" Max cheered. "Bring 'em on!"

"DINO SLASH! TRICERATOPS, ROAR! FLAME UP, TYRANNOSAURUS!"

Chomp and Terry landed in front of them and the charging trio of clones screeched to a halt. "You want the comedic duo while I take the big guy?" Terry asked.

"Hell, no!" Chomp retorted. "I get the big guy! You fight the clowns!"

"Stop treating us like jokes and fight!" Bailey roared at them before lunging at Terry, taking the clown insult very personally. Terry roared back and charged towards her, knocking her away with a head bash before he was tackled by Thud.

Chomp and Fang both lunged at each other. Fang, who is larger than Chomp, got the upper hand and placed a foot on the Triceratops' back, pressing down to pin him to the ground. Big mistake on Fang's part and Chomp was able to throw him off like he has done with many opponents before. The Carcharodontosaurus landed behind Chomp with a loud thud. Speaking of Thud, he and Terry both leapt into the air to pin the other down. Needless to say, size was the deciding factor in this as the larger Terry pinned down the smaller Thud under his foot.

"All right, guys! Keep 'em there!" Max instructed them. "Time to finish them off!"

"Puh-lease!" Ursula mocked the teen. "You seriously think you can take out our super evolved dinosaurs in just a few seconds?"

"Clearly you forgot which of us is the champion trainer here!" Max responded as he ejected two Move Cards and swiped one for Terry. "Tail Smash!"

Terry glowed red and Bailey realized too late that charging towards Terry again was not the smartest idea. Lifting his foot off of Thud, the Tyrannosaurus slammed his tail in the Baryonyx's face twice before he spun around and hit both Bailey and Thud at the same time with one last strike. The two clones were launched into a nearby wall and caused a large crack to form before they were carded. Inside the caverns, the trapped dinosaurs heard the sound of the impact and all had a good idea what this meant. "We settle this outside." Tank growled at her rival. The Lanzhousaurus nodded in agreement and they both went out the direction of the noise.

"Electric Charge!" Lightning struck Chomp and he went straight for Fang. The Carcharodontosaurus had just got back onto his feet when the ceratopsian struck him with electricity. Just like with the idiotic duo, Fang was sent crashing into the wall. The force of them impact not only defeated him, but also made the wall break apart.

The Alpha Gang could only drop their mouths at what they just witnessed. "H-how is that possible?!" Ursula cried. "This battle should've taken at least 15 minutes!"

"Guess we must be having an off day." Ed said as they ran to grab their cards.

When they reached their cards, they heard something coming from inside the cave. The sound of a dinosaur roar approaching them. "Looks like we might not be out of luck yet." Zander said as he pulled of his rifle. "If we can just net it, we can carry it back to Dr.Z."

"Brilliant idea, Zander. I like you're thinking!" Ursula beamed.

Ed was less than thrilled. "I don't know. That roar sounds like one we've heard before."

Before Zander and Ursula could question him on what he meant, Tank leapt out of the cave. This made the trio lose all confidence and do the one thing they do best. "Aaaah! Run away!" They screamed before the ran for the hills so fast you could see dust behind them.

"Tank!" Rex nearly cried as ran up to her and hugged her around the neck. "I'm so sorry! I should've thought of another way into the cave!"

"It wasn't your fault." Tank assured him, nuzzling his face to comfort him.

At the same time, Zoe grabbed Spiny from Tank's back and hugged him like a plushie. "I don't care who it is in danger, don't you ever run off like that again, Spiny!"

"Noted!" The Spinosaurus choked.

"Of course it was my fault." Rex responded. "I shouldn't have sent you diving into the cave like that!"

"You wouldn't have known about the bomb." Tank told him.

"Bomb?" Rex repeated in confusion. "What bomb?"

"I'll fill you in on what we find later." Tank told him as the Lanzhousaurus emerged from the cave. "I've got someone's ass to kick first."

"Very well then. Go for it, Tank!" Rex cheered her on.

"With pleasure!" Tank replied as the battle began.

The Lanzhousaurus lunged forward and attempted to pin Tank down with her forelegs. But the Saichania sidestepped and tackled the iguanodont into a wall before pouncing on her stomach for good measure.

The Lanzhousaurus shook herself around to force Tank off. Getting back onto her feet, the Lanzhousaurus started to glow green. Tank crouched and prepared to take whatever Move Card she had head on. "Bring it!"

Instead of firing any form of projectile or charging forward, the Lanzhousaurus simply opened her mouth and began draining energy from her opponent. "W-what?" Tank said in confusion as she suddenly found it hard to stand. The Saichania collapsed onto one leg while the Lanzhousaurus finished her Power Drain, even burping at the end for added mockery. "You bitch!" Tank growled as she struggled to stand.

"Hang on, Tank! We're coming!" Terry said as he and Chomp both prepared to enter the fight in her place.

"Do that and I'll knock you all out!" Tank warned them as she got onto her feet in time to stop the Lanzhousaurus from tackling her.

"What're you talking about? You need help!" Rex tried to reason with her.

"I am finishing her off on my own!" Tank said as she and the Lanzhousaurus struggled to flip the other one over.

"Spiny, what's going on?" Zoe asked, hoping he might have an idea behind Tank's attitude.

"The Lanzhousaurus is an old rival of Tank's and they were about to have a battle to the death for Dr. Ancient captured them." Spiny explained.

"And Tank doesn't want anyone else joining or else the victory won't be hers." Rex realized just as Tank lost the struggle and was flipped onto her back, leaving her completely helpless. The Lanzhousaurus backed up slightly and prepared to activate Power Drain again. "Hopefully Tank won't be upset by this." He said to himself as he ejected a Move Card. "Dino Swing!"

The new power surging through her gave Tank the strength she needed to flip herself back onto her feet just in time to dodge the attack. She did this by flipping over the Lanzhousaurus surprisingly. "Whoa!" The rest of the D-Team gasped as Tank landed behind the Lanzhousaurus.

While she would have liked to swing her rival by the tail into a wall, there was the risk of her zapping her power away again as she charged towards her. She needed to block her mouth. "Rex!" She called out to her partner. "Use the secret weapon!"

Rex nodded and activated Tank's strongest Move Card. "Ultimate Earth!" Tank's eyes glowed before she roared. Purple crystals erupted around the Lanzhousaurus, completely trapping her inside. With her biggest problem taken care of, Tank started charging forward, building up speed as she smash crystals before she struck the Lanzhousaurus dead center. The orange ornithopod was knocked back like a bowling pin before she was carded. "All right, Tank!" Rex cheered as he ran and grabbed the cards. He smiled as they have protected another dinosaur from the Alpha Gang, albeit by using force, before frowning slightly and looking at Tank. "What did you mean by bomb?" He asked her.

"I don't know who, but there was someone living in those caverns." Tank answered. "And I'm positive they planted the bomb to keep people from entering. Not only that, from there leftovers they seemed to be incredibly intelligent."

Rex mulled over what she said as the rest of the team ran over to join them. While part of him wanted to believe this was all just a coincidence or Tank was wrong. the other half began believing there was someone else out there.

DK

"Okay, I take back what I said. That is the scariest thing on the internet." Tank said to Spiny as they sat by the stream in the D-Lab the next day.

"No, it was the cringiest thing on the internet. The scariest is the replies from me saying the video was cringe." Spiny corrected her.

"Well, isn't this adorable." The couple looked and saw Blossom the Lanzhousaurus approaching them. "When I heard we were starting to be more open about species couples, I just knew you two had to be together. Pathetic likes pathetic these days." She mocked.

"I seem to remember kicking your but yesterday." Tank replied smugly.

However, Blossom didn't respond with the sour she was expecting. "Ha! You only one because the King helped you. Without him, you'd have lost."

"But you were using a Move Card too." Spiny pointed out. "So, wouldn't that make it even?"

"Shut up! This doesn't concern you!" Blossom roared at him.

In response, Tank roared at Blossom. "No one mocks him but me!"

"Whatever." Blossom rolled her eyes as she turned around to leave. "Don't go thinking you won the war. Because next time we fight, I'll be the one taking you down." She threatened, smashing a tree with her tail for emphasis.

"I await your attempt." Tank replied.

DK

A piece of paper emerged slowly from a printer before a claw grabbed it and tore it off. The claw raised it to where Pyro's eye could see it more clearly and read what it said. "What does it say?" The Professor asked.

"It's from the boss. He has some new instructions for us."

Next time on Dinosaur King:

The Professor: The D-Team have been using the Cosmos Stones to reach out to Seikatsu.

If my theory is correct, the stone will allow us to speak to Shi

Dr.Z: Impossible!

A/N: The Spiny. The Spiny and the Tank. Tank. Tank. Tank. Tank.

On another note: it's about fucking time!

Blame the quarantine, it's making it way too easy to procrastinate nowadays. But I feel that it could also be that these chapters I just haven't had the full thing planned out by the start of production. And that takes a toll on the writing process. I will say next two I have more planned out than the last few.

Some things I want to clear up before confusion possibly starts. No, Blossom is not a villain or even a mean person/dinosaur. She is only like the way she is to Tank and by extension Spiny. Anyone else, she gets along with just fine. As for the backstory, yes I left the falling out vague on purpose. I feel you all can maybe connect the dots with what I gave. If not, it's both their faults. No need to build it up, as the payoff would've been disappointing.

Some minor questions I feel I should answer: No I'm not using the armor, and anybody who hasn't had a chibi form yet isn't getting one.

Be prepared, kids. *Twitches* Next chapter's gonna be a big one. And I don't just mean possibly by size.