The time has come guys... Littlefoot or Rhett, find out in 13k words who will be victorious at the end of the chapter 
(Do I need to mention that there will be language unsuitable for children and young teens as well as considerable violence in this chapter? 
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Chapter 7: Rhett vs. LittlefootA slight breeze touched his skin. Rhett looked into the evening sky, where he could see it peeking through the trees left and right of him at least. Some harmless clouds were floating gently across, seeming to be as if they had no burdens to carry at all. It was unusually quiet too where he decided to take a nap earlier after having a large pile of treestars for lunch. In many ways, it was like the calm before the storm came rushing in with its full brutality. It summed up Rhett’s situation perfectly and, while he didn’t mind the calm atmosphere around him, he only truly lived once the storm would arrive. He was fairly certain that he was built to prosper under its harsh conditions yet a grain of doubt remained. Would the storm play along with his rules or would it do as it pleased, stabbing him in the back when he was expecting it the least?
“All nonsense, I’ll win no matter what he tries to pull on me…” Honestly speaking, Rhett was all in favor of him breaking the rules just so he could look at Ali’s horrified expression when he’d repeatedly kick the pathetic boy she’d chosen in his bloody, unrecognizable face… Yes, surely it’d come down to that and even if Littlefoot played this game fairly, Rhett just knew how to torture him and Ali likewise while entertaining himself to the fullest…
As he was indulged in his fantasies and theories about beating up his opponent, and small figure took a seat on a tree above him with watchful eyes.
*
It was about thirty minutes from sunset when Littlefoot and Ali met up at the girl’s nest. Ali had reported the events of the day to her mother already who clearly seemed to be in a foul mood when Littlefoot came charging in, sprinting all the way to her nest after his grandparents had kept him back for a while to have dinner with them - which was something he had been planning to do all along as he’d skipped lunch and needed the strength later but yet it seemed like time was running twice as fast due to his constant nervosity. There were many things that could go wrong after all.
“Hey Ali, shall we go?” he panted once he came to a standstill in front of the girl he loved.
“Sure,” Ali replied and without further notice, the two jogged away to make their way up the steep walls of the Valley.
“What’d your mother say, Ali?” he eventually interrogated once the forest the herd resided in was out of hearing range.
“Well, I didn’t tell her of the actual plan we have of course but she’d have preferred if you just let the grown-ups handle things with Rhett instead of fighting him…”
“Well, if it lead to any tangible results, I wouldn’t mind going that route myself but that’s all but wishful thinking now. We’re as prepared as we could be… we’ve just gotta hope that things play out in our favor in the end,” Littlefoot said, slightly out of breath due to the demanding ascend.
“Yeah…” Ali sighed.
Much to their delight, Rhett wasn’t present when they arrived but Cera was already digging a sizable hole just between a group of trees with great dedication under the instruction of Ruby who had placed as many snapping shells as she could carry in a pile next to her.
“Let me help you!” Ali called but Ruby quickly shrugged her off.
“If you’re dirty with mud, Rhett is going to be wondering why you’re dirty with dirt so don’t help us or you’ll get dirty, okay?”
Ali supposed that there was no fault with the fastrunner’s reasoning so she halted in her movement and began aiding Littlefoot in walking around the area to look for possible ways to exploit their surroundings and, as soon as Ducky and Spike arrived around sunset, she helped the swimmer to stock up on berries that contained a sticky, gooey juice and those tree sweets which had a tremendously hard shell. Just when dusk began to roll in, the sound of pesky insects indicated that Chomper had managed to find some buzzy stingers after all. Throwing as many leaves and grass as they could onto the trap, they somehow managed to avoid getting stung by the insects (largely because Chomper ate most of those that had escaped) and hide the trap so well that even Littlefoot had to double check before he realized where it was, memorizing its position well to exploit it during battle. Cera and Spike had prepared a strong and thick vine between a group of trees with lots of bushes to hide in while Ruby had added a few smaller rocks and pebbles to her arsenal, hiding it all behind a large boulder from where she had a good overview of the designated battlefield, and she even managed to retrieve a few anti-bleeding leaves just in case they’d be needed. Chomper, meanwhile, had chosen a hollow log which was so old and hollow in fact that the wood would break as soon as he rammed his thick skull through the ceiling, hopefully creating a surprise for Rhett he surely wouldn’t like…
As the last light of the day vanished, Petrie finally arrived with the news that Rhett would arrive soon. Everyone wished Littlefoot the best before they took their positions, well hidden in the dark of the quickly spreading night. Rhett would regret choosing the nighttime very soon, Littlefoot noted while grimacing. Ali stood next to him in a supportive manner as they dreadfully waited for Rhett to arrive. There was no going back now and, slowly, Littlefoot began to wonder what had bitten him when he agreed to his own plan but now he had no choice but to stick with it and show more courage than he actually felt in his heart…
“Remember how much you hate him,” Ali whispered quietly into his ear when she noticed the mental state her love was caught in. “Don’t worry for a second, only focus on how much you hate him. It’ll make you stronger if you think like that, see?”
“R-right, you’re right,” Littlefoot said, taking a deep breath and seeking support in Ali’s neck which calmed him down enough to be able to focus on what was important. “Right… we’ll show this insolent idiot!”
“Much better,” Ali smiled, snuggling up to the boy. Whispering, she added. “I’ll give you something very special once this is over, okay?” And with these words, she licked across his cheek again. It was just in time as the sounds of distant, quickly approaching footsteps reached their ears just then as the Night Circle began to rise on the horizon.
*
Rhett could only smile as he saw the two longnecks appear in front of his eyes when the designated battlefield slowly came into view. There had been a small chance that Littlefoot wouldn’t have the courage to face him after all, ruining all his anticipation in the process but, thankfully, it hadn’t come to that. Littlefoot was standing in front of him, his eyes and his posture radiating off hate and determination to win. The boy was grateful to be greeted in such a manner, given that it’d make this fight worthwhile and memorable at least to a certain degree. It sure wouldn’t be boring if that pathetic idiot gave his all to stop him, even if it’d turn out to be an effort wasted in the end for there simply wasn’t any chance he’d actually lose to such a wimp; or was there? No, he was simply too awesome and skilled to lose to a rookie in battle whose determination to achieve his goals was simply too weak and his body too frail to keep up with his ambitions.
Yes, he, Rhett, would win this struggle for Ali’s sake as well as his own.
“Nice guts, Littlefoot, Ali. You really came here after all…” he sneered once they were face to face, confidence radiating off him while Ali was clearly displaying fear and Littlefoot looked as if he couldn’t wait for their fight to commence. “I suppose there’s no need for further words, is there?”
“We’ve talked plenty,” Littlefoot said through gritted teeth.
“That’s right!” Rhett exclaimed with a laugh. “Let’s settle this with the power of our muscles until one shall grovel before the other!”
“Let’s do this!” Littlefoot shouted, trembling as he felt his rage, fueled by his feelings for Ali, seep through his whole body, embedding every muscle with much needed strength.
“Ali, step aside and give the signal,” Rhett ordered. “Once you do, I’ll prove to you how worthy I truly am of being the one to walk at your side!”
“Tsk,” Littlefoot snorted.
“There is nothing left to prove but the depth of your idiocy,” Ali said coldly, stepping back and coming to a halt in the small opening that lead to the ledge where she’d spent the previous night with Littlefoot stargazing. Funny how fast things could change. Inhaling, she exclaimed.
“May the better longneck win. Start!”
*
One last time, Littlefoot saught eye-contact with his enemy, Rhett, who was clearly looking down on him in entertainment, yet he could tell that he didn’t take this lightly either.
“Rhett, I see you’re prepared but are you prepared to learn the difference between strength fueled by love and your strength originating from your desire and greed? Well, I’m going to show you with everything I’ve got that Ali doesn’t belong anywhere near you!”Gritting his teeth, Littlefoot reinforced his footing, ready to charge.
*
“I wonder how long he can keep up a fight?” Rhett wondered as he mustered his opponent in a disparaging manner. Naturally, for the sake of his own entertainment as well as to break the insolent flathead’s will, he didn’t plan to secure his victory in a swift manner. Rather, he would make sure the boy would walk through hell before he’d unleash his full power and destroy him utterly lest he becomes an obstacle ever again. Not only him but Ali too; he’d have to break her resistance as well and there was no better way than to demonstrate the difference in strength in the most imposing, most impressive and least destructive manner; that was until Littlefoot would break.
*
Littlefoot’s gaze wandered over to Ali as the girl overlooked the two combatants. Their eyes met for a brief second before Ali finally gave the signal with a pained expression.
“I mustn’t waste any time; gotta start strong to stop Rhett from taking the lead!”Without hesitation and in spite of his lack of actual experience, Littlefoot rammed his feet into the ground to gain speed. He wouldn’t hold back against Rhett, disregarding everything for the sake of getting back at the boy who tried to separate him from Ali even if it was a futile attempt. Knowing though that he had an ace up his sleeve, he could charge in recklessly without having to worry about the consequences of the fight.
“I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done to us!!!” the purple-gray longneck cried as he entered a mad sprint, aiming to crash right into his opponent but Rhett only laughed and jumped out of the way just in time.
“Charging at me blindly without thinking, are we?” he teased as Littlefoot aimed for the next tree, planning to use it as a tool to change direction abruptly and preserve most of his momentum. “Such foolish actions will surely lead to my victory!” With those words, he entered a sprint himself, accelerating much faster than Littlefoot ever could. By the time he jumped at the tree, Rhett was already right behind him and, before he could fling his body back towards Rhett, Littlefoot felt pain erupt in his flank as the beige-coloured longneck thrust his knees right into him, smacking him against the tree and pinning him there.
“You’re so weak that it’s agonizing!” he laughed with a mad expression. “At least show me what you’ve got before I’ll utterly crush you, fool!”
“Crap, this backfired badly!” Littlefoot panicked as he tried not to lose himself in his rage and keep his thinking rational. It was one of the things Cera had taught him, although he could tell from experience that the threehorn had never been one to practise this during their many square-offs in the past. Right now, what he needed the most was to struggle free and Rhett had given him just the push he needed to get his rage under control and turn it into controlled, calculated strength rather than blind anger that’d lead him astray.
“Watch this, asshole.”Suddenly, Littlefoot used his tail in one swift movement to slap Rhett’s feet who lost his footing in surprise. Littlefoot quickly regained his own footing now that he wasn’t being pushed against the rough bark of a tree anymore and, before Rhett could recover, he charged. Upon the impact, Rhett fell and tumbled over. Carried by his own motion, he too lost his footing as he stumbled over the boy clumsily, ending up on top.
“Eat dirt!” he yelled before launching an array of kicks with his forelegs, Rhett only being able to dodge a few of them as he struggled to push his opponent off him.
“Show him!” Ali yelled from the distance as she observed the fight take place, unable to do anything but observe and support Littlefoot with everything she got.
“Don’t worry, Ali, I will!” Littlefoot thought as he landed yet another punch though Rhett was moving his neck in quick succession to avoid most of the impacts while wearing a distorted expression. Clearly, he hadn’t expected to be put in a pinch so soon and it made him mad.
*crash*In the blink of an eye, Littlefoot’s head exploded with pain as Rhett landed a well executed headbutt out of nowhere, stunning Littlefoot which gave him enough time to free himself. With a demonstration of his strength, he threw the other longneck off him where he landed in the dirt ungently.
“Nice try, Littleneck. I’ll take control of this fight from now on!” And before Littlefoot could recover, Rhett was upon him, issuing kicks all over his body in quick succession but refraining from pinning him again. Littlefoot frowned and winded to avoid the worst, waiting for a chance to strike back and regain his footing. Rhett’s kicks surely hurt but it didn’t take him long to realize.
“He’s toying with me; he’s not even trying to hurt me or trying to win for that matter…” Seemingly, as he began to use his legs to block the incoming kicks only to get his face slapped by Rhett’s tail in return, Rhett wasn’t trying to end this fight quickly which left only one possible conclusion.
“He wants to wear me out and trample me only once I’m tired and beat. Also, he wants to humiliate me but he’s not achieving anything with this! No, he’s just making me more angry and stronger… yes, let him do this for now while I prepare my next move!”*
“What the hell is he even doing…” Cera felt like headbutting the nearest tree but that would surely expose her presence on this battlefield. Hadn’t she taught Littlefoot how to fight well? Right now, it seemed like Rhett had gotten the upper hand and way too easily and quickly too. Littlefoot was already stuck on the ground for more than two minutes now, constantly taking the beige-coloured longneck’s assaults with only crude and half-hearted defense. Just what was the stupid flathead thinking?!
*
“As expected, Rhett is really stronger than him…” Ali muttered as she continued to monitor the fight which was surprisingly boring and one-sided now and much less ferocious than she’d expected. Littlefoot didn’t put up much of a fight at this point despite his claims to take all measures in order to win against Rhett, risking injury in the process but, right now, none of that was showing.
“Littlefoot, don’t give up!!!” she yelled in an attempt to wake him up but Ali didn’t realize yet that she had greatly underestimated the boy she loved…
*
“Just how much longer is he going to keep this up?”Several minutes had passed and, while the number of bruises was slowly growing, Littlefoot didn’t feel affected in his agility at all, merely preserving his own strength until Rhett would get careless or impatient. That would be when he’d use the opening to launch a merciless assault, however Rhett didn’t seem to be ready to change his pattern at all, still wearing that smug expression he wanted to wipe from his face so desperately...
“If I wait for an eternity, he’ll still have the advantage after all even if I play along with his little game. Therefore, I should take matters into my own hands and create that opening myself!” With great resolve, Littlefoot prepared his words carefully.
*
“Geez, to think he’d just let me punch him like that… did he see through me?” Rhett frowned as he repeatedly struck the boy with his tail though without the intent to cause injury. Yet. Humiliation was his primary goal for now, however, that insolent flathead endured it without a complaint, without much resistance whatsoever safe for self-defense. Had he already broken him? No, he could tell that he was trembling with rage, his eyes lit up with a fire that made him a little worried.
“If he’s not showing the true extent of his strength, then perhaps I should just crush him right now?” However, that was when Littlefoot raised his voice.
*
“Did anyone ever tell you that you fight like a girl, Rhett?” Littlefoot announced with a bold voice, noting with pleasure that Rhett froze a little. “How do you want to defeat me without the resolve to win? Fight me seriously, you weakling!”
“Shut up!” Rhett froze, anger disturbing his controlled and calm mind as Littlefoot, for the first time ever, switched roles with him. How dare he tease the great Rhett? He’d regret ever taking such a step immediately!
“Very well, let’s stop this game of pretend and fight serio…”
*smack*In a swift and powerful movement his dad once taught him, Littlefoot rammed his leg skywards right into Rhett’s face, who staggered from the ferocity of the attack. Not giving the boy any time to recover, Littlefoot landed a quick succession of tail whips, driving Rhett towards the nearby rock wall.
“NOT ON MY WATCH!!!” Rhett screamed, attempting to charge but Littlefoot felt a power unlike anything he’d ever felt through him as he began to take the upper hand, ramming Rhett repeatedly to drive him back until he finally managed to push him against the rock wall. Now, Rhett had nowhere to go.
“Insolent dumbass!!!” Rhett raged but Littlefoot held control for now.
“You’re the ass around here, Rhett!” he barked, his emotions boiling up. “I’ll show you!”
“OH YEAH?” Rhett screamed, desperately kicking his legs in order to struggle free.
“It’s pointless now, I won’t let go until you acknowledge Ali and me! Surrender or feel the pain you’ve inflicted on us!"
“Pah! You’re one to talk, Littleneck! Soon, I’ll reduce you to a bloody piece of meat!”
“I wanna see you try, asshole!” As he said this, Littlefoot landed a fierce headbutt only for Rhett to return the favor just as ferociously. It was a battle of wills and insults.
“You little dumbfuck, I’LL CRUSH YOU!!!” Rhett cried while wrestling with Littlefoot who didn’t give in.
“You’re all talk, you can’t even break free, weakling!”
Rhett froze again which earned him another painful headbutt, followed by a powerful kick to the stomach which made him wince.
“SHUT UP!!!”
“Guess I hit a nerve,” Littlefoot noted with satisfaction, landing more hits on Rhett who seemed to by more focussed on keeping his face in their verbal exchange for now.
“Oh, did that hurt?” he asked, releasing the pin while Rhett was stunned from another powerful kick and switching into full assault on the boy who had caused him and Ali so much pain. He could hear Ali cheering for him loudly, Rhett flinching and wincing as he punished him for his offenses.
“FEEL OUR PAIN, RHETT!!!” he cried as he worked himself into blind rage, striking without aim, simply trying to cause as much damage as he could to Rhett who merely shielded his face from the array of attacks hailing down onto him.
“ALI. CHOSE. ME!!!” Littlefoot scolded, underlining each word with a tailwhip so powerful that it threw Rhett completely to the ground, panting in exertion but not willing to stop before he’d get enough retribution for his insolence.
“YOU UGLY BASTAAAAAARRRRRD!!!” Rhett cried in pain as he tried to get back to his feet after those heavy blows. “YOU’RE A DISGRACE OF A LONGNECK!!! SOMEONE LIKE YOU SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED TO MATE WITH FEMALES AT ALL!!!”
“SAYS THE ONE NOT EVEN RESPECTING FEMALES!!!” Littlefoot shot back.
“THAT’S PRECISELY WHY YOU’RE SUCH A D…” but Littlefoot charged so fiercely into Rhett, pinning him once more against the wall that he couldn’t finish his insult.
“Give up or I’ll hurt you!” Littlefoot threatened, even pinning Rhett’s head to the wall but that was, to everyone’s surprise, when a wicked smile appeared on the boy’s face.
“Give up? Hahaha, good joke. I think it's about time I stopped toying with you indeed… " Without hesitations, Rhett increased his strength twofold and easily freed himself from his opponent who fell on his back in utter surprise.
"Shit, he's getting serious now!” Littlefoot cursed, immediately realizing that he was in big trouble now. It simply had been too easy thus far to keep up with the more muscular and experienced longneck. It went without having to raise the thought that he’d have to give his everything from now on lest his resistance died down prematurely but already Rhett’s first serious counterattack was so ferocious and well aimed that he was losing a little faith in his chances to win this fight without the help of his friends. He hardly had enough time to react when he saw the attack coming, failing to protect his well exposed chest. Immediately when Rhett’s fierce kick hit, every ounce of air was being knocked out of his system and the boy collapsed with a pained sigh awfully akin to suffocating sounds.
“This is the true difference of strength between you and me, you bloody piece of shit!” Rhett proclaimed triumphantly as he stepped on Littlefoot’s stomach but the boy didn’t make the same mistake again. Before Littlefoot could recover, Rhett initiated his next attack, using his muscular tail to whip a little sense into Littlefoot’s exposed flank, strike upon strike smashing into the purple-grey longneck who tried to take the beating without crying out in pain. Giving Rhett that kind of satisfaction just wouldn’t do but he had to admit, quite grudgingly so, that he was completely unable to do anything against this series of attacks no matter how hard he tried to get back up, much to Rhett’s pleasure.
“I’ll crush you now, loser!” he announced in a voice mimicking a hatchling, making painfully sure not to launch any attacks that would lead to serious injury and incapacitate the insolent flathead but strong and fierce enough to keep him from getting to his feet and cause him maximal pain - well, that was for now; of course he did intend to hurt him eventually. He deserved no less than that in his book.
Littlefoot continued to tank a lot of damage from Rhett, kicks to his stomach and powerful slaps from Rhett’s tail hailing upon him ever so violently. It took him a lot of willpower to remain silent and to stop himself from crying out in pain. In addition to that, Ali’s constant pleas for him to rise and right back physically hurt somewhere deep in his chest, fueling up his rage slowly but certainly. In spite of this surge of power and aggression, he couldn’t manage to break free and if this trend continued, he might have to rely on his friends much earlier than he wanted to; before he could beat the heck out of Rhett until he was tired of doing so at least. Right now, however, Rhett was making painfully sure to fight him awfully close to where Ali was standing, preventing Littlefoot from escaping and forcing Ali to watch her love getting beat up in all glorious detail. The positions where his friends hid, waiting to take action and interfere with this battle upon his signal, were far away from the rock wall in the bushes and trees. Though he’d prefer to put up a bit more of a fight before he’d have to resort to use them. Slowly, his anger rose to a very high level again as his whole body ached from the bruises all over his body, caused by Rhett’s unrelentless attacks. Ali’s desperate screams were beginning to make him turn a blind spot to his pain and the damage he was receiving. He didn’t want her to feel terrible like this so he made a resolve.
“Enough, I must fight back no matter what! I mustn’t let Ali watch this until I’m too weak to respond… Rhett, that bastard… I’m not done with you yet…”Littlefoot was gathering all of his strength, watching Rhett’s attack pattern observantly until a brief opening popped up.
“Now! Take this!” He was timing his counterattack perfectly as Rhett took a quick sneer at Ali who glared back so fiercely that one would think she’d jump at Rhett any second now, hating the beige-coloured longneck at least as much as Littlefoot did at the moment. He shot forward like a spear from his ducked position, ramming into Rhett’s legs which gave in due to the unexpected pressure but he reacted quickly, stopping Littlefoot with a headbutt, frowning.
“So you can still fight, amateur?”
Littlefoot didn’t answer but put all his strength into holding his ground against Rhett who was attempting to push him against the wall again. Slowly but surely, he felt his power drained from him as he had to use all of his strength just to keep Rhett where he was. Judging from Rhett’s frown slowly turning into mild amusement, it was clear that he was testing the limits of his strength once more and Littlefoot had fallen right into his trap.
“How much longer do you want to get your ass kicked, loser? Isn’t it about time you surrendered to me?” Rhett bragged, slowly beginning to increase the pressure. Littlefoot was able to withhold but for how much longer? Certainly, though, he hadn’t lost his spirit yet.
“Sounds like someone is afraid of losing!” he blurted out between ragged breaths. “If you don’t finish this soon, I might just win, Rhett!”
“Tsk, ridiculous!” Rhett laughed. “Don’t you realize how retarded you sound? But good… luck…. trying!” Without warning, Rhett pushed with all his might. Littlefoot didn’t have any reserve strength to call and felt himself being pushed away like a heavy boulder, somersaulting when he hit the ground again. It was a perfect, intimidating demonstration of the brute strength Rhett possessed but clearly hadn’t used yet. But why though, Littlefoot wondered? By now, he should have gotten just about enough humiliation out of him who had largely been on the receiving end and Ali, who was watching the scene unfold in clear shock, even forgetting to cheer him on. As he scrambled back to his feet, half expecting to be rammed in the guts before he got a chance to do so, he realized with surprise that Rhett didn’t charge in but circled him with a vicious expression.
“I can see on your face that you’re scared, Littleneck!” he called with a victorious expression. Littlefoot couldn’t deny that he was impressed by the toss, however he’d never admit that in such a situation.
“Want me to back out again, Rhett? I’m not thinking about it!” he answered in a loud yell. “I won’t back out until one of us is unable to fight! Keep this up and the Bright Circle will be back before we’re done!”
“Fine by me!” Rhett declared with a shrug. “But tell me, rockhead, most opponents I fought gave up quickly when they realized they were weak! But you keep on rising even though you already look like a bunch of Sharpteeth played a game of Toss the Seed using you!” Littlefoot reckoned that this description mightn’t be too far from reality but what was Rhett aiming at?
“Is Ali really that important to you?! Is it not clear that you’ll never succeed here? Don’t you get it that she’s MINE?! Just fuck off, will you?”
Littlefoot stared at Rhett, wondering whether to be offended or amused about this turn of events while constantly keeping watch in case Rhett tried to charge again.
“Of course she’s that important to me; isn’t this why you called this fight in the first place, idiot?! I could ask you the same thing, you know? You must be extremely dense if you think Ali will accept you, ever!”
“That’s right!” Ali declared proudly from her position at the edge of the battlefield.
“See? Will you finally give up, Rhett? You’re walking on a path to nowhere! You’re a senseless idiot with no friends who pretends to be super amazing and all when you’re just a poor dumbwit with a hang for violence and a very poor understanding of the thing you desire! It’s not Ali you desire; you don’t even care about her and you would beat her up too if it’d make her obedient, wouldn’t you?”
“Loser, you’re the dumb witted individual around here!” Rhett argued promptly, spitting in Ali’s direction for her intervention. “I AM amazing, you’re pathetic. Understand that before we can talk on the same level.”
“Whahaha, who believes that anyway?” Littlefoot taunted in a short-lived fit of laughter which made Rhett’s facade darken. “Would you hurt her for the sake of making her what you say? Answer me, you irredeemable douchebag!”
“Of course I would!!! Ali doesn’t know what’s good for her! She’s been spoiled ever since meeting you and I shall lead her away from your underwhelming existence with my awesomeness! If it means applying force, I will apply force to achieve that goal!”
Littlefoot felt his body twitch and before he knew it, he had charged blindly at Rhett who swiftly outmaneuvered him with a cackling grin on his face.
“Pathetic…” he described the forceful but uncoordinated and badly planned assault. Littlefoot scuffed and resumed the mutual circling and preying game once more.
“You don’t understand ANYthing, Rhett! Is this what you call love!? Answer me, son of a tar pit!”
“Right back at you, offspring of a bunch of retards…” he sneered, taking notice of Littlefoot stiffening up at this particular insult. “Love, isn’t it?” he laughed in disgust. “My idiotic friend, I believe you need to be taught a lesson about the meaning of that word. Love… it’s the greatest weapon to keep the Circle of Life running. It only serves one purpose - to generate worthless offspring the likes of you. It’s just a tool to make females fart out some eggs to keep our kind, most fabulous of them all, from perishing. That’s really all there is. Don’t tell me you didn’t know this? Haha, some wimps you got for parents if they haven’t taught you that…”
Littlefoot’s body twitched once more but this time he managed just barely to hold back his energy.
“One more time, Rhett, and I’ll personally throw you from that ledge over there…” he thought, shaking with wrath. It was a good thing that Rhett wasn’t aware of what he was digging into with these low insults because he didn’t bring any more of them.
Meanwhile, Ali stood rooted at the spot with her mouth agape in shock. It wasn’t like she hadn’t known Rhett’s mindset at all but hearing those words out of his mouth made something break inside of her.
“You’re... “ Littlefoot growled, slowly brewing his anger until he found the right mixture. “YOU’RE UNWORTHY OF EVER GETTING INVOLVED WITH EGGS! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU EVEN THINKING?! I DO NOT EVER WANT YOU NEAR ALI EVER AGAIN!!!”
“I second that!!!” Ali yelled, finding her voice again.
“SHADDDDUUUUUUPPP!!! Rhett screamed.
“I might as well do,” Littlefoot growled, uncontained wrath turning into calculated, controlled power waiting to be propelled at the target of interest. “...for you’re so far beyond help that you couldn’t possibly understand what love truly means! Scum like you will never be loved!”
“Either way, you look like you still wanna go at it?” Rhett raised an eyebrow. “Fine, I won’t hold back anymore. You better had some ace up your sleeve or your head will be a lot flatter than it is already!”
“Answer me one last question!!!” Littlefoot demanded, almost screaming. “WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES YOU TARGET ALI? There are many longneck girls out there; can’t you just bother someone else?!”
“I could ask you the same thing, stupid boy, but I guess our answer would be the same, wouldn’t it? I’ve seen many longneck girls, unlike you, and Ali is by far the most pretty and attractive girl I’ve ever seen. Awesome parents should account to outstanding offspring but I guess as someone who is unfortunate to be blessed with underwhelming features in every regard, you wouldn’t understand this anyway? Well, whatever. I don’t care about your reasons. I only have mine and they’re superior to your lowly ones…” Rhett offered a taunting grin, almost inviting Littlefoot to charge again.
“We’ll see about that now…” Littlefoot hissed, coming to a halt and fortifying his footing in preparation for an attack which came almost immediately. Knowing he couldn’t stop Rhett in full charge, he decided to evade but Rhett was quick to turn and ended up running into him though the power of his charge had been lost. Once again, their battle was stalling in a pushing contest. Littlefoot, feeling enough anger rise inside him to take on a fully grown sharptooth at the moment, was able to keep up for a little while despite Rhett operating at full strength now.
“Go, Littlefoot, make him pay for this!” Ali cheered from the sidelines and Littlefoot felt even more power rush into his muscles. For just a brief moment, he made Rhett step back but then his body ceased to keep up with what his mind wanted to accomplish. His advance quickly halted and he soon found himself fighting on the retreat.
“Is this all you can do, eh?” Rhett barked. “You’re so weak that it physically hurts knowing scum like you even exists!”
Littlefoot tried to block out the penetrating voice and focussed entirely on fighting but it was impossible to ignore this amount of foul language directed at him in its entirety.
“Even a goddamn hornface is still worth more than you and hornfaces truly are the worst!”
Littlefoot could swear that the bush Cera was hiding in had just jerked but the threehorn was showing better self control in that situation than he was.
“SHUT UP!!!” he cried, just in that moment finding a little rock to use to fortify his footing and hold his ground against Rhett while mobilizing some extra strength from deep within. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer but at least he wanted to launch one last and powerful attack to inflict some damage and get a earn a mental victory over Rhett before his stamina would completely collapse and his great scheme would come into play at last. Defeating Rhett on his own was impossible and he knew that now with utmost certainty. Even with his friends’ help, it seemed like an impossible task now but Littlefoot was prepared to go down in glory. Panting, he tried to resist but in spite of having a rock as an additional stabilizing element, Rhett’s sheer charge unbalanced him so much that he had to give up the position which proved to be a fatal mistake. Before he knew it, he felt his ribcage ache as Rhett rammed him against the nearby rockwall using his whole body, the particularly hard and painful knees connecting exactly with the base of his neck, stealing every bit of breath, making him choke for air while yelping in terrible pain. This attack had been on a whole different level, well aimed and executed in such a speed that it was impossible to prevent the damage.
“Aww, did that hurt?” Rhett spoke up with a smirk, rejoicing in LIttlefoot’s suffering before resuming the speech. “This fight is over for you now…” Fiercely, Littlefoot felt a leg crash into his face, stunning him - the time of teasing and toying around was definitely over now, Rhett had been telling the truth for once. With a murderous expression, he took a few steps back and charged at Littlefoot who had sunken into a heap of misery while trying not to suffocate, body screaming after oxygene while his brain was on overdrive from the extreme pain sensation. Now he was fighting not to destroy Rhett but to prevent Rhett from destroying him before he could set off the traps his friends had prepared.
It was a battle for survival. Rhett didn’t grant him a single break, using his hard shoulders and knees to bruise up his flanks and legs while making sure he never got to breathe properly. Quickly, a significant amount of his skin was either sore or covered by small cuts and the underlying flesh was swelling up to form ugly, blackish-blue bruises. Rhett still didn’t inflict any truly horrifying wounds on him but, even like this, Littlefoot knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer if the beating didn’t stop anytime soon. He’d long since given up on trying to endure it quietly, crying out with every punch, every kick, every bang when Rhett’s tail clapped against various parts of his body. Just when he was seriously beginning to ponder about admitting defeat just to stop this hell, Ali stopped crying and insulting Rhett frequently and resolved to aid her lover with a cunning maneuver, hoping Rhett wouldn’t realize what she was up to.
“Let him go, bastard!” she screamed, tears flying in all directions as she shook her head wildly in barely contained rage. It was just one of many insults she’d been throwing at Rhett within the last few minutes but this time it’d be different.
“You’ve won, okay?! He can’t get up, isn’t that the goddamn rule for this stupid tradition?!!” This was a question Rhett could hardly ignore. Ali was merely hoping that Rhett would take the bait and that Littlefoot still had enough strength left to get back up and lead Rhett towards the fortified area of the battlefield where his friends were still patiently waiting, hearing him cry in pain and seeing him suffer in the most cruel fashion.
“Only after he’s out cold or if he surrenders!!!” Rhett screeched angrily, turning his attention to the completely beat up boy again. “Yo, you have enough, retard? Want some more of... THIS?!” With tremendous force, Rhett smacked Littlefoot’s face which he had mostly spared thus far, immediately drawing blood as it came trickling from his left nostril. Pleased with the outcome he displayed a wicked grin. “Serves him right.”
“STOP IT!!!” Ali demanded, realizing that her plan might have failed though, to her utter surprise, Rhett turned his back to Littlefoot and walked a few steps towards her. With a threatening swing of his tail which barely missed the girl, he hissed.
“Watch out, Ali. You’ve heard me earlier; once I win this, I can and I will do with you want I want! Learn to respect me or suffer until you finally get the picture and abide by my w…”
*snap*Littlefoot winced from his countless bruises, every part of his body burning as if bathing in hot water for too long, but Ali’s distraction was too good to let it pass unexploited. With tremendous effort, he heaved himself up and bit down on Rhett’s tail until the taste of blood other than that trickling from his nose filled his mouth. Quickly, he let go as his opponent drew back his tail while crying out in pain and outrage and took the opportunity to kick Rhett precisely into his butt, followed immediately by a well aimed punch into the backside of his left knee with tremendous success. Rhett collapsed like a tree in a storm, unable to use that leg for a few moments (thankfully, Cera had taught him about weak spots like that). Suddenly, Rhett lay before him, paralyzed and almost helpless. Littlefoot knew no hesitation; without mercy he penetrated every inch of Rhett’s back he could reach with his front legs until Rhett finally managed to get up and slap him across the face with his tail, causing his right nostril to start bleeding too. Quickly, he retreated a few body lengths. This was just the kind of mental victory he had been looking for; it needed no genius to tell that Rhett’s ego had taken a bad hit, the surprise sitting so deep that he hadn’t even been able to spew out insults like usual for the duration of his brief beating. However, as soon as he stood firmly on all four legs, his rage couldn’t be greater and same could be said about this mouth.
“ASSHOLE, I’LL MAKE YOU RETCH YOUR OWN BLOOD FOR THIS!!!” the beige-coloured boy screamed while shooting a murderous side glance at Ali. The girl could prepare for some serious punishment once he was done here, that much was certain… However, he hadn’t made that plan in sync with Littlefoot.
“Big words for someone who can’t even protect his own butt hole!” Littlefoot taunted, sticking out his tongue in an almost childish manner in spite of the huge pain he was feeling everywhere. “Guess you’re too big an asshole to protect it all, Rhett!”
“SCREEEEEEEEEEWWWWWW YOUUUUUUU!!!!” Rhett thundered, echoing through the whole Great Valley, seemingly which gave his words a whole new quality. “I’LL STUFF THAT MOUTH OF YOURS!!!”
“In that case, you’ll have to catch me first!!!” Littlefoot announced boldly, waving his tail while Rhett’s was leaking quite a bit of blood (Chomper would be proud of that bite, he reckoned), before entering a slow sprint (running at full speed wasn’t possible thanks to his bruises). Slowly, he felt the pain wear off just barely, however he was absolutely unable to run away from Rhett even if he sincerely attempted it. His physical condition already was too bad, his stamina almost gone and his body damaged while Rhett had hardly lost much in either category with higher stats to begin with. It was a hopeless case but that was where his friends came into play. Casting a glance into the general direction of where most of them were lying in wait to participate in this battle, Littlefoot confirmed that they were all ready. Taking a deep breath while running, he exhaled the codeword they had previously agreed on to commence the planned attacks on Rhett.
“Travelling Light!”
*
“The codeword!” Ducky hissed, grabbing a fruit with a very hard shell while Petrie next to her prepared to throw berries full of stink juice from the skies. Watching the fight between the two longnecks had been extremely painful, especially for pacifist Ducky, so they were glad that they’d finally be able to support their friend at last and, hopefully, sway the odds a bit in Littlefoot’s favor…
*
“Finally, I’m about to go crazy!”Cera sighed with great relief as the signal rang through the cool night air at last. Being on standby while one’s friend was being abused as a living punching bag wasn’t a pleasant experience, particularly for a belligerent threehorn like her, but her mood was improving quite significantly as she pictured Rhett falling for the numerous obstacles they had planted, including Spike’s and her vine. Nodding to the spiketail, they grabbed both ends of the vine, ready to pull whenever Littlefoot would lead Rhett their way…
“I hope you’ll enjoy this, Rhett…”*
"Come here, Rhett, I'll definitely scare you to the bones..." Chomper gritted his teeth as he practiced his scariest face. He could only hear (and smell) from his position hidden in a log and he was in a way grateful for he doubted that he could stay calm and wait while Littlefoot was beaten senseless. Of course he didn't know for sure how bad the situation for his best friend truly was, however the sounds carrying over from the battlefield and Ali's desperate cries gave him a pretty good idea of Littlefoot's condition. He could only muse as to why the longneck hadn't used them sooner but he guessed that he had truly tried his best to defeat Rhett on his own first. Either way, he hoped to get at least some entertainment out of the situation and repay Rhett a small favor for ruining their days...
*
Ruby smacked her fingers in anticipation of their coordinated indirect attack. It were moments like this when her predatory nature took over her line of thinking. Although her friends weren't always aware of it, a fastrunnner like her was quite capable of killing and right now she really wouldn't mind lashing out at the insolent longneck who had hurt her friends so much. In the end though, Ruby was just barely composed enough to stay on standby, a snapping shell firmly seated in her hand, ready to throw anytime, hoping to land a few good impacts with those shells as hard as rock. Surely a direct hit to the head would be painful, she reckoned.
"Littlefoot, lead him towards me so I can teach him a lesson, a lesson I want to teach!" Ruby begged, however her friend chose to lead Rhett into the range of Ducky's tree base... Ruby didn't mind too much as the trap they had dug was definitely in her range and surely Littlefoot wouldn't forget to lead Rhett right into the buzzy stinger hell... "
*
Rhett shot up a glance towards the night sky, there weren’t any travelling lights dancing across the sky after all. Littlefoot had already distanced himself a fair bit in the meantime. Angry, Rhett whirled around to where Ali was standing, only to be met by her devious smile. He had been had again!
“SCREW YOU!!!” he exhaled before resuming his chase, sprinting after Littlefoot at full speed and quickly gaining ground again.
*
Littlefoot noted with pleasure that Rhett had bought Ali’s distraction wholeheartedly and, apparently, he had also chosen a very fortunate code word. He definitely owed Ali a thanks for not only buying himself some more time but also, as an additional reward for the two of them working together, they had effectively ticked Rhett off which was working into their plan as well. As Littlefoot could contest from his experiences so far, his own attacks gained a lot of spice from his wrath, however they lost coordination and wit quickly when he worked himself into a rage. If Rhett was furious and heated, surely he would focus on him, try to hurt him and not pay much attention to his surroundings. Thus, or so he hoped, he wouldn’t see the traps and attacks coming and every single one would just make him more and more furious. Despite knowing that he was walking on the edge of a smoking mountain at great unrest, he was looking forward to see the spectacle unfold. Soon, he met eyes with Ducky and Petrie as he ran towards the tree they were sitting in, nodding to them. Immediately, Petrie took off and soon a bunch of berries came raining from the night sky, the flyer blending in exceptionally with the darkness, only visible as a diffuse shadow to confuse Rhett. Smacking sounds confirmed that the berries were hitting the intended target, bursting open and revealing their not-so-desirable contents…
“EWW, WHAT THE FUCK!?!?” came Rhett’s enraged cry, slowing down as the berries burst open everywhere on his body, engulfing his nose with a painfully biting stench impossible to ignore and lots of yuck sticking to his body. Due to his now reduced speed, Ducky had an easier time aiming her throw, the first fruit meeting its target, crashing into Rhett’s lower neck, causing the longneck to stagger and gasp in shock and mild pain as the object came raining down from above. Though, unable to tell where exactly the attacks were coming from, he screamed.
“ARE YOU SHITTING ME!?!?”
Ali was already laughing loudly which enraged Rhett even further, suspecting that the girl and her stupid lover were behind this. Furious, he charged again but Ducky hit his hindleg with her next fruit, making him stagger in pain once more. Curious, Littlefoot turned around to see how well things were working so far. Through his intense pain, a satisfied grin made a short appearance on his face. At this rate, he mused, he mightn’t even have to run very fast to keep ahead of Rhett if his friends continued to keep him from picking up pace. Certainly, the distraction was working well.
“YOU SET SOMETHING UP, ASSHOLE!!!” Rhett wailed as a third fruit barely missed his head, Ducky refining her aim with every fruit she tossed at the longneck. “THIS WILL HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!!” Just then, he charged into another shower of berries, some of the sticky juice now covering his nostrils, the stench causing physical pain as his sense of smell was coming under extreme torture.
“SCREW YOU, SCREW YOU, SCREEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW Y…”
*WHAM*The forth fruit, finally, was a full success. Rhett’s repeated standstill had allowed the swimmer to aim perfectly, the hard-shell fruit smashing into Rhett’s forehead with a resounding crack as it burst open while the boy stumbled across his own feet and crashed into a tree head-first, groaning. Littlefoot stopped his sprint to see if he could exploit this but Rhett’s blood was boiling to such an extent that any pain was merely a mild annoyance he hardly felt. Within a few seconds, he had regained his senses and came back to his feet with murderous intent.
“WAIT ‘TILL I CATCH YOU, SON OF A FUCKING TAR PIT!!!” he cried, sprinting through one last shower of Petrie’s stink-juice berries, ignoring it entirely since his sense of smell was now out cold from the overload, and ignoring another few fruits repelling from his body at various places, running into the dense parts of the forest where Littlefoot had already disappeared. Constantly taking turns and running in circles, Littlefoot attempted to confuse the stronger longneck and, as a side effect, Rhett wouldn’t be able to run at full speed if he constantly had to take sharp turns while squeezing through the gaps between the trees. Moreover, it was doing wonders against his much greater stamina which was taking a serious hit during this wild chase while Littlefoot could just barely get by with what endurance and strength he had left. Slowly, eventually, Littlefoot began aiming towards a slightly wider path which Cera, Spike and Chomper had prepared for Rhett. Lots of fun was waiting for his opponent for sure and Ruby and the trap would be just at the end of it when the path would lead back into the open. The plan was almost certain to work - he doubted Rhett would see through the trap or miss stepping into it by chance but one uncertain factor remained. Would Rhett continue to chase after him or run away in the opposite direction once Chomper made his move? Well, he supposed, he’d find out very soon.
“STOP RUNNING LIKE A GIRL YOU ROTTEN GIT!!!” Rhett panted but Littlefoot merely waved his tail and kept running. Slowly, Rhett was catching up, some worry rising in Littlefoot as his legs showed sudden signs of falling off but Chomper’s log was already firmly in sight.
“Just… a little… FURTHER!” he urged himself on, putting in some extra effort to stay just a body length in front of Rhett who was panting like a smoking mountain on a very gassy day. Finally, he reached the log just as he began to feel said breath in his neck.
“Rhett, I hope you properly enjoy this…” he thought grimly as he passed by. Just then…
*ROOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR*Even though he was prepared, Littlefoot still felt his heart skip a few beats as the terrifying and furious roar of Chomper split the air, shaking the nearby forest and everyone nearby. Chomper’s recent training to become more scary in preparation to leave the valley one day really paid off for them in this situation. Looking back, he saw Rhett petrifying in shock mid-sprint, thus falling to the ground face-first and eating a good amount of dirt as he slid on due to his great momentum. With a violent sound of old wood splintering into little pieces and pieces of the log raining down everywhere, Chomper emerged, whirling around with his short arms frantically while posing above Rhett right in front of the friendly sharptooth, although he certainly wasn’t acting like one right now.
Rhett, as soon as the initial shock wore off, could easily tell at this point that Littlefoot had brought his insolent friends to attack him cowardly from the shadows where he least expected it. Additionally, he could tell that it was that little biter of theirs (who had grown a little less little in the meantime) threatening him and, if their first encounter was any indication, wasn’t allowed to harm him a single bit, but, still, he didn’t like to take any chances, not when dealing with sharpteeth that was. What if Littlefoot hated him so much that he ordered that sharptooth (Chomper, wasn’t it?) to dispose of him secretly? From the corner of his eyes, he could see the predator slowly stepping closer to his poor form lying flat on the dirt, baring his teeth, growling, even salivating… Immediately, he leapt to his feet just in time before the sound of sharp teeth crashing into each other could be heard awfully close to his precious tail which had already been bitten one too many times that night. Screaming in panic, he raced after Littlefoot who was clearly pretending to be afraid, yelling for help though it didn’t even sound a little bit honest. Rhett quickly gained some distance between the sharptooth who was trampling after him with repeated roars and growls and him while gaining on Littlefoot again, his mind patterns slowly making the switch from flight to fight again. Unfortunately, he didn’t get far before he felt something thick and hard ramming into his forelegs. Abruptly, the boy found himself somersaulting a few times before coming to a halt lying on his back. Immediately, Chomper caught up, posing above the fallen longneck in a threatening manner, saliva dripping from his mouth which made him believably frightening despite his small size.
“AHH!!!” Rhett yelped, and crawled away before Chomper’s nuzzle came down, playfully of course, drilling into the dirt with great velocity, but how would Rhett know? Chomper called off the hunt at this point, though lying in wait as Rhett continued to run away like a chicken even without him chasing him around which was no longer necessary as Littlefoot was leading him straight towards the hole he had prepared with a truly tasty surprise…
“LIIIIIIITTTTTLEFOOOOOOOTTT!!!” Rhett yelled, angry beyond comprehension, charging at the purple-grey longneck in an all-or-nothing sprint who had stopping running for whatever reason, the goofy smile he wore driving him nuts.
“PERISH!!!” Rhett screamed, about to ram Littlefoot into a world full of pain when his feet hit a layer of leaves and then… nothing.”
“Wha…” Rhett yelped in confusion before he fell face-first into the trap, crashing into a hive of stinging buzzers butt-first and crushing it entirely. Immediately, Littlefoot ran for it as countless insects were rising from their former prison, their angry buzzing noice filling the air, only interrupted by Rhett’s pained cries as the buzzers attacked him in all imaginable body parts while Chomper jogged up to the scene to snack on as many of them as he could. At this point, everyone began to drop their guard as it became awfully clear that they had won this round of the battle, roaring laughter without holding anything back echoing through the nearby forest, Rhett only screaming and cursing louder inside the pit as the laughter met his ears.
“BASTARDS, now they’ve truly done it! I’ll make them pay for this and if it’s the last thing I do!!!” he decided, calming down as the number of bees injecting their poison into him slowly decreased, taking a deep breath before everything escalated. Suddenly, he didn’t feel the pain anymore, only hate, bottomless, uncontained hate remaining.
“I’ll mess up his goofy face until not even Ali can recognize it anymore! And if they interfere, I’ll give them the same treatment!!!”In one, powerful jump, Rhett emerged from the the traphole and, immediately, the laughter ceased, Chomper retreating from the scene, smelling Rhett’s wrath and knowing he’d best refrain from getting into an actual fight with the longneck for his own sake. Meanwhile, Cera also smelled (in a figurative way of course) the extreme destruction Rhett was about to unleash - Littlefoot had indeed predicted his behavior perfectly. Rhett looked more furious than she’d ever seen her dad, which was saying quite a lot after all… Her friend was about to be attacked by a Rhett so furious that he wouldn’t care about injuring Littlefoot, which was part of the plan of course and also a correct prediction of the longneck but… still it didn’t sit well with the threehorn.
“I’ve got a bad feeling…” she thought but nonetheless allowed the following scenes to happen in order to get Rhett into deep shit. At the very least, she mused, she’d get to save Littlefoot’s butt from the annoying beige-coloured idiot which was something to look forward to, though at the price of seeing her best friend getting torn apart.
Littlefoot instinctively knew that he was about to be slaughtered by Rhett the second he emerged from the pit. Quickly, he retreated, allowing Ruby to fire snapping shells in rapid succession at Rhett, some of them smashing straight into his face but, despite drawing a fair amount of blood, the boy didn’t even falter in the slightest. His face looked truly awful, smeared in blood, berry juice, pieces of broken clam and covered all over in quickly swelling bee stings, some of the insects still chasing after him. But nothing made Rhett look as ugly as the contorted, pained expression of rage he wore.
“LITTLEFOOT, I’LL KILL YOU!!!” he roared before he entered a mad sprint, thrusting his tormented body forward towards Littlefoot as more objects came flying at him from a rock to their left but it hardly mattered. Littlefoot had turned tail of course but his speed had yet to be matched. Faster than ever, he sprinted with a strength and determination matched by no one but the sharptooth the five members of the original gang had once defeated long ago on their perilous journey to the Great Valley. The reckless power of Rhett was reminiscent of him in more than one way and the jump the raging longneck performed to bring Littlefoot down, leaping as high as his own height, seemed just as much out of this world as that of that legendary sharptooth. With incredible force, Rhett crashed belly-first onto Littlefoot’s back whose legs immediately gave in upon the ferocious impact, both longnecks tumbling to the ground as Ali uttered a terrified scream.
“Littlefoot!!!” Ali knew what stage of their plan the fight had reached now. Of course, she had agreed to it in the end but it didn’t change the fact that she didn’t want to see the dinosaur she admired getting hurt. Nevertheless, she forced herself with tremendous effort to watch it all unfold to see for herself how terrible a longneck Rhett truly was.
After a quick wrestle, Rhett gained the upper hand, managing to pin down his opponent.
“YOU BROKE THE RULES YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!” he screamed into Littlefoot’s face who didn’t even try to struggle against Rhett’s effective pin, knowing he had a lot of pain coming his way from now on.
“I’LL KILL YOU!!!” Without hesitation, he brought one of his knees forward, ramming it with extreme force into Littlefoot’s face, repeated this procedure many time over. At first, the boy was able to avoid a few of those kneeing attacks but, after a short while, Rhett succeeded to land a critical hit. Right above the right eye, a big cut opened, spilling blood all over Littlefoot’s face. A groan was all that escaped his mouth.
“TAKE THIS YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!” Rhett screeched, continuing with unrelentless punches, hammering down onto Littlefoot’s face who, at first, attempted to avoid them by constantly moving around his neck but the number of heavy blows quickly dampered his mind. Soon, he blacked out. Rhett got up as soon as he noticed it and continued to kick the poor longneck’s face, soon beginning to use his tail as well on his relentless path of destruction to make sure Littlefoot would never ever get in his way again. Littlefoot’s head was thrown left and right. By now, he was bleeding from several gashes on his head which quickly began to stain the grass in a crimson colour.
“STOP IT!!!” Ali cried, sending a begging look towards Cera as more and more blood seeped out of this wounds. Littlefoot was unable to respond to any of Rhett’s attacks and Ali could only hope that he had passed out by now lest he’d have to endure the unimaginable pain Rhett was putting him through.
“Don’t worry, I’ll kick his butt for this with all I’ve got, Ali,” Cera thought grimly while jumping out of her hideout and hauling her sturdy body towards Rhett who was too caught up in his assault to notice her speedy approach until it was too late. Lowering her head, Cera rammed at full speed into Rhett’s unprotected flank, her nose horn leaving a bloody mark as it stabbed into the longneck, catapulting him away from Littlefoot. Immediately, everybody else raced to the scene to back Cera up.
Rhett screamed in fury, getting up and trying to charge at the threehorn but Ali had closed in the distance and, with an angry swing of her tail, she chopped away Rhett’s legs who fell in the dirt in front of the threehorn looking down onto the violent longneck.
“You know, Rhett, I agree that Littlefoot is worse than a threehorn like me, from my perspective that is, but you’re scum worse than an eggstealer! Attack one of my friends ever again and you won’t be using that foul mouth of yours in a long, long time…”
“YOU ROTTEN B...” Rhett exhaled, angry enough to ignore the threat entirely but when Chomper arrived at the scene, making attempts to bite off his tail, Rhett bolted.
“Works everytime…” Chomper commented in a gruff voice when he got a closer look at Littlefoot, Ruby already rushing to retrieve the leaves against bleeding she had previously deposited nearby while he, along with Cera and Spike, was staring Rhett down and keeping him from attacking again.
“Littlefoot, oh brave Littlefoot…” Ali sobbed as she hung over Littlefoot’s bloodied, unconscious face, her tears falling into the pool of blood in quick succession. He had done it all for her sake and now she could only hope that he’d survive and recover from these horrible injuries lest his sacrifice would be for vain.
“Oh crap, this bad,” Petrie flinched as he arrived at the scene along with Ducky who immediately teared up as she got a closer look.
“Oh no no no… “ There was only one cause for this, only one dinosaur responsible for hurting her best friend so Ducky darted over to the others to take a threatening pose on top of Spike, however silly it may look, Petrie taking to the skies, ready to swipe down with his talons any time in case Rhett tried something funny.
“Darn them!!!” Now, a few body lengths separated him from his target who, in his opinion, still had a recognizable face so his revenge was far from being complete. However, he was not only facing the threehorn who, without doubt, was a worthy opponent on her own but also that sloth of a spiketail, the dangerous sharptooth and those pesky little squibbeaks. No matter how he looked at the situation, it was impossible for him now to reach Littlefoot, their advantage of numbers simply too great to ignore. Angrily, he glared at the group.
“You’ll regret the day you stood up to this loser, all of you…” he announced in a cold voice while trembling with unresolved fury, the resurfacing pain and the slowly increasing effect of the poison. Turning towards Ali who had left Littlefoot’s side to allow Ruby to treat him well, joining their front against Rhett, he demanded.
“Well, in spite of his unfair methods, I won, Ali. Come, you’re mine now…”
While Ruby began treating Littlefoot’s worst bleeding injuries, Ali froze.
“That’s right, technically, he won, but…”“Ali is going nowhere!!!” Cera shouted, positioning herself in front of her friend, showcasing her horns. “Unless you wanna feel those horns again, that is, I suggest that you drag your filthy ass out of here right now!”
“Yeah, get lost, idiot!” Petrie puffed from above.
“Yep yep yep!” Ducky stated angrily, pointing her finger at the longneck. “Go go go!!!”
“A-huh!” Spike grunted, stomping the ground in anger.
“I’m kind of hungry, y’know?” Chomper casually mentioned, smacking his lips to intimidate Rhett a little more, although Cera shot him a worried glance. “Wonder what that tail of yours tastes like…”
“Better than mine, I shall hope…” Cera said sourly which Chomper shrugged off in the heat of the moment and their shared anger directed at Rhett.
“You heard them!” Ali declared firmly. “I’m not going with you, leave us alone!”
“I’M NOT THINKING ABOUT IT!!!” Rhett roared, puffing his chest in wrath. “I WON! YOU’RE COMING WITH ME!!!”
“NO! I stinking will not!” Ali declared, sending tears flying in every direction as she shook her head frantically. “We never wanted to participate in this stinking tradition so it doesn’t concern us!!!”
Rhett deadpanned before he screamed at the girl.
“THEN WHY DID THAT ASSHOLE FIGHT??? WHY DID HE ACCEPT MY CHALLENGE?!?!” Rhett was furious.
“You’ll see soon enough…” Ali frowned, Rhett ignoring her completely and rampaging on.
“And besides… THERE. IS. NO. SUCH. THING. AS. DISOBEYING. TRADITIONS!!!”
“Oh?” Cera sneered,” now that’s a debatable opinion.”
“SHUT UP, HORNFACE!!! I WASN’T TALKING TO A LOW CREATURE LIKE YOU!!!”
Cera’s expression hardened. Although her temper had somewhat grown more controlled and stable over the years, insults like this still got her blood boiling. Luckily, Ali saved her the effort of starting a fight with the longneck as Ali rescued her.
“He’s not worth it, he can’t do anything now,” she mumbled as she stepped in front of Cera who had been scraping her feet at the ground in preparation to charge.
“Oh, I guess you’re right…” Cera grunted though she still wasn’t happy. “He’d deserve it though.”
“Me no doubt that,” Petrie commented, flying down to Cera to completely the rest of his statement whispering. “But he get what he deserve when grown-ups see Littlefoot, just be patient.”
“I know, I know…” Cera hissed, reluctantly relaxing a bit though still staying on alert in case Rhett was pulling something.
“Whatever, you’re not even worth my attention,” Rhett hissed at Cera, whose eyebrow began to twitch dangerously. “Anyway… WHY DID HE ACCEPT?!”
“You’ll see for yourself soon enough,” Ali repeated with a derogative tone in her voice.
“I DEMAND AN ANSWER YOU STUPID GIRL!!!” Rhett thundered. “TELL ME!!!”
Angry, Ali suddenly stepped forward until she stood right in front of the boy.
“You want to know? FINE!” she spat out as she eyed Rhett with disgust and hate. “Littlefoot accepted only to protect me! Both of us figured you might just take me by force if he declined… Isn’t that true!?”
Rhett gave a cold laugh.
“Of course it is! You were going to be mine either way but that dumbass chose the hard way!”
“Right,” Cera deadpanned. “You’re awfully smug for someone who can’t even see through Littlefoot’s reasoning!”
Rhett frowned.
“I should’ve just taken you away…”
“But that’d surely be against your oh so holy traditions, right?” Cera continued to tease, gritting her teeth at the boy.
“Yes, indeed!” Ali spoke before Rhett got a chance to reply. “Why are you so keen on following those traditions anyway!? They’re just stupid!”
“DON’T YOU DARE CALL THEM STUPID!!!” Rhett roared. “They’re ensuring the survival of our species; your retarded love thing is only for stupid females and wimpy cunts like that bleeding meatface over there!”
*smack*In one fluid motion, Ali whirled around, slapping Rhett across his face with her tail before quickly retreating behind Cera’s protective body and taking a look at the boy she admired enough to gather the courage to slap Rhett. Littlefoot’s face had been covered with leaves by Ruby and, by the looks of it, the bleeding was subsiding quickly.
“Coward,” was Rhett’s only comment, continuing where he had left off as if he hadn’t felt the powerful hit at all.
“Only the BEST should mate; that’s why there’s a tradition to determine the strongest, most fit longneck! Strong longnecks are parents to strong eggs who will live up to adulthood and become strong adults who ensure the survival of us longnecks and our superiority! I AM strong; I WON the fight BECAUSE I AM strong! You finally get it? ALI, COME HERE NOW!!!” But Ali had decided to walk away some distance, the group of her friends standing firm as a wall between the two longnecks.
“Try seizing me if you can!” the girl challenged, making Rhett’s expression freeze. “You’re strong, right? A few lowly leafeaters and a juvenile sharptooth are no match for you anyway, right?” Ali said with sarcasm Cera was proud of as she listened to her friend. “Come on, come and get me, Rhett. Should be easy for you…”
Rhett’s face twisted, going through many different stages but, in the end, all that happened was Ruby joining the protective wall around Littlefoot and Ali while Rhett’s face got stuck in an angry frown.
“Just as I thought, now who’s the coward around here?” Cera taunted.
“Shut the fuck up, threehorn,” Rhett hissed but Cera could only laugh at his poor attempt to cover up his obvious fright to charge at the whole group in order to get Ali who decided to go on a rant about the traditions.
“Anyway, that tradition is just barbaric and obsolete!”
“Right…” Ruby said, joining the conversation at last with an angry frown. “Don’t you have any empathy for how Ali feels? How can you keep saying these bad things without feeling thoroughly bad? I’ve had to kill to survive before yet I’ve never lost my empathy towards those who had to perish so I can live on. But you who knows no such struggles can’t even understand and won’t even acknowledge something as simple as love? Has no empathy for the girl he claims to love? Excuse me but you’re one of a kind and that kind is the worst among all living creatures and I couldn’t care less if it went extinct!”
Not just Rhett but everyone was stunned momentarily by Ruby’s heartfelt speech, however that effect was only of temporary nature.
“Say what you want, killer, you don’t survive with crap like that,” he declared firmly.
“... and you’ll never get laid with that mindset of yours, just saying…” Cera deadpanned but nobody laughed at her joke.
“FEMALES MUST OBEY THE MALES, BECAUSE THE MALES ARE STRONG AND THE MALES DECIDE WHO THEY MAKE EGGS WITH!!!” Rhett continued to spew nonsense but the group was slowly growing tired of it.
“When he finally go deaf from all nonsense he spouting?!” Petrie sighed in annoyance.
“Yeah, his stupidity will never end,” Chomper sighed as well.
“Yeah, he should just leave us alone, yes he should, he should!” Ducky demanded.
“I agree!” Ali stated firmly, meanwhile having joined back up with the group since Rhett hadn’t made any attempts to go after her.
“He should just converse with dinosaurs on his own low cognitive level, converse with other stupid dinosaurs he should!” Ruby spat out.
“Shut up, I’m not going!” Rhett declared.
“Ruby, you won’t find anyone this hopeless,” Cera sighed. “I mean, even those Yellowbellies are brilliant compared to him…”
This actually stifled a few weak chuckles. Ali was not among them though.
“Just to clarify, I am NOT going with you, EVER!!!” she declared firmly, demonstratively placing herself next to Littlefoot who was still unconscious. “Now get lost!”
“YOU ARE COMING WITH ME!!!” Rhett screamed but it was a futile demand. He was badly outnumbered and, with horror, he realized that the seven still standing dinosaurs formed a slowly advancing line with firm stares directed at him.
“Last warning, Rhett,” Cera sighed. When would the violent flathead finally get the picture and piss off? “It’s seven against one; you’re strong, no doubt, but we’re stronger. Run or get hurt trying to take Ali with you while we chase you away!”
“Rhett’s mind was in a turmoil as he realized that he couldn’t take Ali with him. Despite his spirit, he possibly wouldn’t fight well anymore as the buzzers’ poison slowly dampered his movements and the pain was getting ever so prominent as it slowly began to return to his awareness. It was a fight he would lose even on a good day. Grudgingly, he cast a decision.
“Fine, I get it. That coward just barely got what he deserved but don’t think for a second that I’m done with you!!! As soon as we leave this cursed valley, there’s nothing you retards can do against me claiming Ali for myself anyway! Good riddance.”
And with that, Rhett took his leave.
*
Seven empty faces were following Rhett’s retreating figure until their fiend was finally out of sight. They had won; the plan Littlefoot had deviced had worked perfectly up until now and, somehow, they had managed to show Rhett his rightful place… and yet, despite the emotional victory over Rhett, it felt more like a tremendous defeat. What good was it if Littlefoot was hurt and out of commission, his recovery still on the line? They could only hope that their dear friend would recover and that he would be correct about Rhett’s possible banishment as a result of what had just transpired between them. As the adrenaline of the confrontation slowly faded from their tired bodies and minds, only Ali’s occasional sobs broke the serene silence of the night which was suddenly a welcomed gift after all the ruckus and shouting, the tolls of the long day finally catching up with them as they all congregated around Ali who was sitting at Littlefoot’s side.
“Will he be alright?” Ducky wondered in a meek voice.
“He’d better be…” Ali cried silently. “So soon after we…”
“Hey, I’m sure he’ll be fine!” Cera declared in an attempt to cheer Ali up. “He may be many things but he’s not weak. He’ll be up to his feet in no time, just you wait!”
“The bleeding stopped so since it stopped I think he’ll recover,” Ruby added while undertaking one last examination of his condition. “Though I can’t say for certain how much damage his skull has taken.”
“Well, it’s rather thick for a flathead, he’ll be fine,” Cera commented without any sarcasm for once. “Just give him some rest and he’ll be back up, right?” She looked into the circle.
“Right!” the others exclaimed with more or less forced smiles to cheer each other up. Awkward stares followed since nobody knew what to say or what to do.
“Well, I’m beat,” Cera eventually sighed. “Daddy’s gonna yell at me for this but let’s just spend the night here…”
“Yeah, there’s no point walking home if we can’t walk home together,” Ruby pointed out with a slightly concerned glance at the fallen longneck.
“Will he be alright though…” Ali asked again in a fretful voice, still scared of her big love never opening his eyes again.
“Sure, have some faith!” Cera demanded with slight anger at Ali’s lack of belief in her words. “As I said, he’s tougher than he looks,” she shrugged in an attempt to cheer the depressed longneck up if just a little. “He’ll be back to his usual annoying self sooner than you think!”
“Yep yep yep, he will be fine, he will, he will!” Ducky piped up to support the threehorn although deep inside the swimmer also had her doubts.
“Thanks guys, L-let’s hope so…” Ali mumbled with a deep sigh, curling herself up next to Littlefoot in preparation for sleep.
“Me beat too, Petrie gonna nap now,” the flyer sighed, finding himself a comfy spot on Ali’s back.
“Yep yep yep I am tired too, I am, I am;” Ducky agreed, lying down next to Spike who had already taken his sleeping pose while yawning contently.
“Night guys.” Cera commented quickly before dropping like a boulder where she was standing.
“Good night my friends, my friends good night, “ Ruby cooed before resting herself, only Chomper quietly sneaking off to look for leftovers from the hive of buzzy stingers.
“I’m not sure if I can sleep…” Ali winced, feeling fresh tears welling up in her eyes. That was when she heard the sound of a body getting up and footsteps approaching until another warm body seated itself on her other flank (she was leaning against Littlefoot). It was Cera.
“I’m gonna keep you company, okay?” the girl said quietly as she lied down next to the other girl. “You’ll see, everything will be fine tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Cera,” Ali mumbled. “I hope so…” That was when a slightly more satisfying thought entered Ali’s mind which put her more at ease immediately.
“Tomorrow Rhett will learn the true reason why Littlefoot chose to fight…” It was the last, crucial part of their plan and it better damned worked out as they had schemed. Rhett had dealt a serious injury and, with some twisting of facts, they would be able to frame Rhett for committing a crime they both agreed on… but that was something the grown-ups didn’t need to know, right? With a slightly better feeling, Ali eventually found into an uneasy sleep.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
This may be slightly late but this chapter was supposed to enter for the March 2019 prompt challenge One could argue that it also fits the category for April, however I have another scene in mind that I could enter though it lies somewhat it the future of the story 
Okay, first off, take a breather lol. This was intense, even though I've written this I still feel how intense this was after reading it all myself to spot the last couple awkward typos I still hadn't spotted until now (and who knows how many I've still missed). Since I ended up having to explain a lot in responses to reviews and since this chapter, at best, is even more controversial than the previous installment, I shall attempt to mention the most obvious ones in my author's note here.
I've carefully reviewed the language used here after people deemed it a little unfit in the previous chapter. Arguably, in a situation where emotions get this heated, you'll have to endure a bit of extreme language, especially since the characters are a little older and the last couple sequels do their mental maturity no justice. People think of the cast as never-changing in terms of age while I think that they do age gradually over the course of the sequels (which has largely been ignored by the writers but this is not the place to ramble about these things lol). That being said, I removed most of the really extreme language and, following a suggestion of my proofreader/editor I also removed any insults that would sound a little awkward if dinosaurs are using them (like "pussy" or "bitch").
Did Rhett go too far? Did the Gang go too far as well? Those are questions I probably can't fully answer but I feel like I was able to reach the maximum effect here. Rhett has shown us an even more extreme and over-the-top behavior here, one that has certainly reached its peak with this chapter. As for the Gang, they will get to reflect critically on what has happened on that night soon enough 
^
Out of character? No need to mention that, of course the gang aren't in-character. The whole situation demands it and causes them to act outside of their usual patterns and preferences. Out of character isn't bad, it just has to make sense in the context of what's happening around them. I don't hear people rambling about Ducky being awfully OOC in "The Big Freeze" when she clearly was (but this ain't the time and place to ramble xD)
I am very curious about the pacing in this chapter. It's a very long chapter for sure because, especially with fights and action, it's never a sign of great writing if it's awfully short. I've wanted to address a lot of things in this chapter aside from the obvious conflict and of course it's easy to get carried away when things go absolutely crazy I tried to focus on the action between the two combatants but also give them some moments to reflect and give the reader an insight into their mindset and motivations. The dialogue is getting heavier the longer the chapter drags on and I hope that I was able to write it in a way that works in the context of this story. It was extremely emotional dialogue, a lot of bullying and teasing and shittalking, a lot of ugly words etc. I've never written such a thing before so I'm really curious to hear your thoughts. I was certainly trying to write a rather epic and fierce fight and if I've managed to make that impression, I think I'm happy with myself as I can already predict that not everyone might agree with the style of this story.
Littlefoot is significantly hurt now, Rhett has won and yet lost, the gang have lost and still won... and the big question is what the next morning will bring when the Great Valley learns of what has transpired over night. Will Littlefoot's plan really work? Will Rhett get into trouble? What are the characters going to feel about everything that's happened once emotions have calmed down again? And why the heck is this story called "Return To The Land Of Mists" when, so far, this was all about Rhett being a *censored* and Littlefoot and Ali discovering their love for each other? The next 4 chapters should answer these questions; I planned and wrote the outline for them two days ago and story will revive from its hiatus immediately!!! 
Thanks for reading until now, we've gotten over the toughest part now and the really interesting events are about to unfold! 
